Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

The fragrance of the figs filled the entire cave, and the tension between the two parties was becoming more and more apparent.

“Come on, everybody! Those that are quick enough will get some and those who are too slow will get none!” someone yelled from among the wandering cultivators.

Those words were like a command that finally caused both sides to begin their fight.

“Kill off all those people from the Seven Kill Sect, or we’re all going to die here!”

“Juniors, listen up! Get into groups of threes and cover each other! Do not fight alone!” Yan Wuheng brandished his heavy sword and immediately turned one of the wandering cultivators to mush.

“Yin Yang Mutual Joy, the Clear Heavens and Spirit-filled Earth,” murmured Mu Tian with a solemn look on his face as he sent hand seals into his Yin Yang Mutual Joy Bell. Green beams of light flashed continuously and sent out a blast all around it. A pink Qi that carried the sweet and intoxicating smell of orchids instantly hit the noses of the wandering cultivators.

“That’s a Yin Yang Dual Cultivation move! It’s poisonous, so watch out, everyone!” a voice yelled out from within the chaos.

Hang Chulong leaped up and stared straight at the wandering cultivator who had yelled hints to fellow wandering cultivators.

He knew that things would become much easier to handle once he killed off this troublemaker.

“Oh my goodness!” Hang Chulong’s target was a sneaky-looking man with beady eyes who stood barely six feet tall. He held a dagger in his hand and would quickly stab someone before hiding again. When he saw how Hang Chulong looked ready to eat him, his knees trembled, and he yelled, “My friends, this fellow from the Seven Kill Sect is going to get the Blood Jade Figs! Don’t let him get his way!”

“What the…” Hang Chulong had a furious expression and held up his long sword that gleamed as brightly as the moon. He brought it down while casting a protective spell on himself as he fought off all the wandering cultivators attacking him from all directions.

“Ha! That’s all you’re capable of?” The sneaky-looking wandering cultivator cackled when he saw how Hang Chulong could not get through the wave of wandering cultivators and gave Hang Chulong a smirk.

“Great, just great.” Hang Chulong found himself back where he started in a matter of seconds. The sneaky cultivator, who was probably only at the Qi Activating stage, turned and gave him a smirk made him so angry that his entire body shook. He scoffed in anger, and his eyes were filled with a malicious and murderous look.

“Myriad Spell of Heaven and Earth, Blood Sacrifice to the Sky, Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, Divine Thunder Descends,” chanted Hang Chulong as he gently ran a finger down the blade of his sword. He raised his bloodstained sword and sent his spiritual energy flowing from his body into the sword like a rushing river.

WOONG! The sound of his sword vibrating wildly spread through the entire cave. Everyone who felt threatened by that sound instinctively turned to look at Hang Chulong.

He chanted the last part, “The Sword Moves the Storm Clouds.”

“Run!!”

“This crazy fellow!” Yan Wuheng’s lips twitched, and he swung his fists hard to punch the wandering cultivators and knock them away. He stomped a deep and clear footprint into the ground, leaped up, and put his sword away. He was about to find an excellent place to hide from Hang Chulong’s powerful move when he noticed that the Blood Jade Fig tree was swaying wildly from all that wind that Hang Chulong’s technique was creating.

Yan Wuheng’s expression instantly darkened, and he bellowed, “Hang Chulong, are you dumb? This part of the cave exists because the wandering cultivators dug it out and it’s not stable at all! How could you execute a thunder move?! If the Blood Jade Fig is destroyed in this process, I’ll skin you alive!”

His desperate shouting was even louder than the ear-deafening thunder that Hang Chulong had created. It was so loud that it snapped everyone out of their initial fear of Hang Chulong’s moves.

“Stop fighting and help us block against the thunder! If the fig tree gets destroyed, there will be nothing for us to fight over!”

Hang Chulong’s anger instantly disappeared when he heard Yan Wuheng’s words. The spiritual energy that was bubbling within his body began to slow down, and the long sword in his hand slowly stopped flickering so wildly and also stopped creating more thunder. The threatening feeling that everyone felt earlier had eased up a lot.

“They can’t move now because they’re afraid that they’d suffer an injury if they attack during this cooldown period! We need to get those figs right now!”

“It’s you again!” Hang Chulong was so pissed off that he nearly flung his sword out.

But it made sense for him to be this angry. He and the other two internal disciples had the Blood Jade Fig tree to themselves initially, and nobody even knew about it. After that, Mo Yuluo turned up, and they had to give two of the five fruit to her instead of being able to sell them.

After that, they even had to tell everyone else inside the secret realm about the existence of this fig tree just so that Mo Yuluo could kill an external disciple.

And now, everybody was fighting tooth and nail for that fig tree. He figured it would be tough to even get one fruit out of that tree.

“You’re all asking to be killed!” Hang Chulong fumed as he looked at the wandering cultivators just biding their time to attack him again. He steeled himself and had a threatening look on his face.

“The Glorious Might of Heaven, Thunder Smites the Clouds!”

Hang Chulong’s sword trembled, and lightning gathered itself around him.

KABOOM! An ear-deafening clap of thunder resounded in everyone’s ears, and they watched in terror as purple bolts of lightning pierced through the rocks above them and brought them crumbling down.

“You’re Gu Suihan!” Hang Chulong’s eyes nearly bulged out as he saw that sneaky-looking fellow seizing the opportunity to make his way towards the fig tree in the chaos.

His long sword trembled loudly, turning the lightning it created into white-hot bolts of electricity that crackled around the sword's blade. He charged forward and swung his sword viciously towards the sneaky fellow.

“Whoever kills him will get 1,000 Spiritual Stones! We’re not giving up the fig tree, but if you bring that boy’s head to us, we’ll give you 1,000 Spiritual Stones for it!” yelled Mu Tian. He rang his Mutual Joy Bell and started chanting a hypnotic spell as he dashed towards Hang Chulong and the sneaky cultivator.

Mo Yuluo remained in one corner and drew a protective qi shield around herself as she looked at the sneaky cultivator in the distance and frowned puzzledly.

She hated how scheming Gu Suihan was, but after putting together everything she had heard about him, she began to respect this external disciple more and more. Gu Suihan had entered the sect for barely a year, yet he carried himself with such arrogance and reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

From the way he did things, she could see how careful and detailed he was. He was like a venomous snake hiding in the grass, striking only if he was sure he would succeed in taking his target down with one attack. He was a vicious fellow but also very confident. If he weren’t confident in taking his opponent down, he would not allow himself to be cornered.

The wandering cultivator who was now running towards the fig tree had purposely riled up the other wandering cultivators and seemed to have done it purposefully. But dashing towards the fig tree at this point was definitely a suicidal move. Even if he managed to get the Blood Jade Figs, he would have to find a way to escape all the Seven Kill Sect disciples and wandering cultivators running after him. Some of these cultivators were even at the Foundation Establishment stage, and he was no match for them.

“No, it’s not him.” said Mo Yuluo with confidence.

Boom! Hang Chulong’s thunderous strike landed several meters away from the lake that the fig tree was in. The lightning crackled and colored everything in its vicinity a brilliant purple color.

At the same time, the poisonous powder from Mu Tian’s Mutual Joy Bell struck that sneaky-looking cultivator.

The entire cave shook and the sound of rock cracking and crumbling thundered through the whole cave.

“The cave’s going to collapse!” someone immediately yelled out in fear and ran out without even turning to look at the Blood Jade Fig tree when he realized that the cave was still shaking and rocks were falling rapidly from the cave walls.

That Blood Jade Fig tree was precious, but one’s life was even more precious.

No cultivator loved anything else more than their own lives.

“Now is the time!” Some of the stronger and more confident cultivators weren’t panicking. Instead, greed filled their bloodshot eyes as they charged toward the Blood Jade Fig tree that looked like it would collapse anytime now.

The chanting of spells filled the air while the sound of colliding swords and spears echoed loudly.

The sounds of cultivators fighting one another filled the cave once more.

“That’s not Gu Suihan!” Mo Yuluo walked swiftly with light steps towards the body, which was already burned to a crisp from that lightning attack earlier.

“He didn’t come?” asked Hang Chulong while panting, his face pale.

“I suppose,” replied Mo Yuluo in a distracted voice.

“Damn it!” Yan Wuheng was really annoyed. He didn’t think Gu Suihan would come right from the start. Which idiot would walk into such an obvious trap?

“Dancing Flames of the Radiata!” Mo Yuluo called out as she drew a picture in the air with her pretty finger. The wandering cultivator that came towards her instantly turned into a ball of fire without any warning.

“Let’s get that fig tree first.” Mu Tian kept going, and he targeted several female wandering cultivators, spreading out the toxic pink powder with his Mutual Joy Bell.

“Ahh! Save me!” A voice that Mo Yuluo and Mu Tian were highly familiar with suddenly rang out.

“Xingyuan!” Mo Yuluo turned to see Nan Xingyuan clutching her chest as she leaned weakly against the side of the cave. Her face was deathly pale, and blood kept flowing from the wound on her chest.