Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

Li Rong immediately completed the set of hand seals that he had already prepared, sending dozens of jiangshis roaring threateningly toward the Blood Jade Figs that Gu Suihan had thrown toward Mu Tian and Yan Wuheng.

“Li Rong, you’re asking for it!” bellowed Yan Wuheng furiously. A 15-centimeter flame surrounded his large sword as he slashed away at the oncoming jiangshis.

“Yin Yang Great Compassion, Sacred King of the Spirits!” Mu Tian was equally furious. The tiny bell in his hand rang continuously, sending out ear-piercing rings while pink poisonous powder shot out from Mu Tian’s body.

A ferocious-looking nine-meter tall monster with blurred facial features and a lustful air around it appeared behind Mu Tian instantly. It had one head but eight arms and each arm held a strange-looking weapon. The creature's sheer size was imposing enough to put pressure on everyone else.

“Sacred King of the Spirits, forward!” Mu Tian touched the ground lightly and flew towards the jiangshi coming his way. His expression remained frosty as he made a hand seal and thrust it forward. The Sacred King roared at the sky, and its eight arms hacked at the jiangshi with such force and speed they made loud swooshing noises.

Their weapons gleamed like the grim reaper’s sickle as they slashed away at the jiangshi. A sickening slicing noise could be heard as the jiangshi was quickly covered in dozens of wounds that measured half an inch deep.

“I knew that was going to happen.” Gu Suihan’s other hand looked like a claw as he soundlessly tried to grab hold of Mo Yuluo’s fair wrist.

“Humph!” Mo Yuluo didn’t panic at all. Instead, she used her left hand to throw a talisman at Gu Suihan’s hand and raised her sword with her right.

“A Bone Eroding Talisman!” Gu Suihan was alarmed when he realized which talisman was and immediately withdrew his hand to avoid its attack before stretching it towards the Soul Freezing Sword that was coming for his arm.

“Inches Away – Ends of the World!” The two of them were only a meter apart, and Mo Yuluo’s sword was only a few inches away from Gu Suihan’s arm. But she suddenly felt a tremendous weight on her arm before Gu Suihan moved further away from her at an incredible speed. He had become nothing but a black dot in the distance in just the blink of an eye.

The sudden turn of events shocked her, and she froze on the spot. How could this even be possible? Gu Suihan had moved as quickly as an Origin Core cultivator.

“Hoho!” Gu Suihan’s faint laughter rang in her ears as he suddenly reappeared and thrust his sword towards his waist.

“What sorcery was that?” Mo Yuluo was perspiring. What she witnessed earlier had clearly frightened her.

At the same time, her wrist quickly rotated to block Red Dust from stabbing her, and she thrust it towards Gu Suihan’s abdomen.

“Heavenly Wind Finger!” Gu Suihan brought Red Dust up to block her sword while flicking his left finger towards her. More than ten tiny little knives the width of willow leaves flew towards Mo Yuluo.

The knives glowed brightly and looked like shooting stars.

ROAR! A terrifying roar was directed at Gu Suihan from the side, and the air instantly stank. Li Rong had summoned his bronze corpse again, and it was swinging its huge fists toward Gu Suihan.

“Screen of Frosty Air!” Mo Yuluo shouted as her sword sliced through the air, creating a wall of ice that blocked the knives from Gu Suihan. Her dress flapped in the wind as she flew towards Gu Suihan.

Gu Suihan was busy trying to avoid the attacks of the bronze corpse, so this was her chance. Her long sword rang loudly like a phoenix soaring into the sky. She had a stern look on her pretty face as she stood still in midair. She cut her fingertips and allowed the blood to flow onto the sword. Her hands formed hand seal after hand seal so quickly that they were nothing but a blur.

“Sounds from Hell, Tons of Frost! Let the blood be led by my sword!” Mo Yuluo’s charming face turned whiter and whiter as she continued to form hand seals. She looked even more mesmerizing as blood dribbled from her lips beneath the cloudless sky.

Meanwhile, Mu Tian had chopped that jiangshi in half and picked up the Blood Jade Fig that had landed on the ground. The Sacred King illusion behind him slowly faded, and he sat down weakly on the ground covered in the smelly remains of the jiangshi to smirk at the grim-faced Li Rong standing not too far away from him.

“Your plans didn’t work out, eh? You’re too young and green to outsmart us!” said a red-faced Yan Wuheng with a laugh after he exhaled deeply from the fight earlier, picked up his heavy sword, and caught the Blood Jade Fig that Mu Tian threw him.

“I’m not your match, so I won’t continue this fight,” said Li Rong calmly. He didn’t seem discouraged at all. But there was a grim look in his eyes when he looked around at the jiangshis that lay in pieces everywhere.

“It’s snowing?” Mu Tian looked up and wondered aloud after he felt something fall on his face.

“That’s not snow. The laws of nature that govern this secret realm are messed up, so it’s impossible to experience the four seasons here,” said Yan Wuheng flatly. He had a grim look in his eyes as he watched Gu Suihan fight Mo Yuluo. Loud explosions constantly filled the air.

“That’s…that’s the Light of Heavenly Frost!” exclaimed Mu Tian in shock when he followed Yan Wuheng’s gaze and connected the technique that Mo Yuluo had executed with the rapidly falling temperatures.

“We’d better run for it.” They exchanged glances and ignored Li Rong as they pasted a stack of Lightweight Body and Rapid Escape talismans on themselves. They ran like the wind into the distance and didn’t even turn back.

Li Rong gritted his teeth as he watched Gu Suihan dodge his bronze corpse repeatedly despite how hard the bronze corpse was attacking Gu Suihan. He pulled out another bag and looked a little reluctant as he commanded, “Nine Corpses of Destiny, here is my blood sacrifice.”

He bit his tongue hard enough for it to bleed, then drank it down.

The bag instantly grew in size and opened up to let out nine muscular and frightening-looking corpses covered in gleaming metal. The nine of them quickly surrounded Li Rong in a strange formation.

The foul-smelling corpses that had been hacked to pieces by Mu Tian and Yan Wuheng earlier seemed to be attracted to these nine corpses and began flying towards Li Rong.

“Giant Millstone of Flesh and Blood!” yelled Li Rong loudly as he drew mysterious lines in the air before thrusting his arms forward.

KEBABOOM! Boom after boom resounded as the remnants of the corpses slowly came together to form a gigantic and grotesque-looking millstone of bones, lumps of flesh, and random internal organs.

The millstone grew bigger and bigger, and the volume of the explosions grew louder as well.

The bloodied millstone that measured nine meters across and one meter in height was finally fully formed when it had rolled within a hundred meters of Gu Suihan. As it moved, some pieces would fall off from time to time, leaving an unmistakable trail of darkened blood behind it.

“I can’t fight this off. I need to run right now!” Gu Suihan had noticed the creepy and gross millstone rolling towards him, and the rapid decrease in temperature plus the constant attack from above by the tall bronze corpse set off all the alarm bells in his head. He raised his sword to block one of the bronze corpse’s attacks and tried to use the impact to help him escape more quickly.

“Trying to run?” Li Rong’s expression was nasty as he noticed Gu Suihan’s nimble moves.

“Heaven and Earth Destiny Defining Talisman!” This was something Li Rong had received from his father, a talisman that only a talisman maker at Origin Core could make. This thing cost at least 3,000 Spiritual Stones in the open market.

If this talisman landed on an Origin Core cultivator, he would lose all his internal Qi and feel a mountainous pressure on his body. After just 15 minutes, the cultivator would be unable to fight anymore. The effect on a Foundation Establishment cultivator would probably be much worse.

It was a waste to use it on Gu Suihan, but Li Rong decided to go all out to get that item in Gu Suihan’s possession¹.

“Crap! That’s a talisman that can change the laws of nature!” Gu Suihan was even more alarmed and started to summon the spiritual energy within him. Red Dust whined at an ear-piercing pitch like an injured animal. A murderous air carried a tinge of red as it surrounded Gu Suihan immediately.

He started contemplating his options.

Ghostly Shadow Seven Stars? That needed time to execute. He didn’t have time for that.

Send Suihan’s soul out? This secret realm was lacking in Qi, and the laws of nature governing it were messed up. If it collapsed from being unable to withstand Suihan’s soul’s power, he wouldn’t even get the chance to cry in regret.

Inches Away – Ends of the World? Nah.

All the techniques and spells that he had amassed from his previous life ran through his mind like a gushing river, but he eliminated them quickly. Either he wasn’t at a sufficiently high level to execute them, or he didn’t have the time it took to execute them. Or he didn’t have the other items that were required for execution.

It seemed like Gu Suihan had finally been pushed into a corner.

The snow fell more and more heavily, covering an area several kilometers wide. The long sword in front of Mo Yuluo as she remained in midair had turned entirely transparent. Mo Yuluo had activated the runes inscribed all over the sword's body, and she had even removed the seal within her sword.

The frosty winds were so strong that they sliced through everything in their way. The freezing temperatures trapped Gu Suihan within its reach. That powerful talisman was flying slowly but surely towards him. The bronze corpse kept launching attacks on him, and that disgusting wheel of corpses was also getting closer and closer.

Bootleg Clacker Snacks:

Ever had apple chips? Just chop up some sour apples (like granny smiths) and put them in your oven, preheated to the lowest possible temp. Leave them there until they have been thoroughly dried out, and season them to taste (I recommend cinnamon if you like apple pie). Please don’t burn your house down; alternatively, you can just use a dehydrator.

1. This is referencing the item that he had stolen from the tax ship mentioned back at the beginning of the story (the thing filled with mysterious energy).