novelraw Chapter 190 - 188: Leaving (2)
Chapter 190 - 188: Leaving (2)
"You’re courting death!"
Hu Qi’s gaze turned cold.
As his words fell, he slashed out directly.
BAM!
The Sword Light crashed against the golden barrier.
The barrier rippled, but the blade could not advance an inch.
"Sir, don’t waste your energy..."
Fa Ji’s expression was calm, but just as he spoke...
The next moment.
CRACK. A faint cracking sound echoed.
The Buddha Beads in Fa Ji’s hand shattered, completely breaking apart.
Seeing this, Fa Ji’s expression changed drastically.
The Sword Light struck again.
Fa Ji formed a Dharma Seal with his hands and thrust out a palm.
The instant he struck, his palm and arm swelled, his skin turning a pure golden color, like the arm of a Buddha statue plated in gold.
The palm and blade collided in an instant!
It produced the clang of metal on metal.
The next instant.
Fa Ji grunted and retreated rapidly.
He put distance between himself and Hu Qi.
Red blood dripped freely from his palm.
A massive gash had been pierced straight through his palm.
Seeing this, Guo Yi’s expression changed as well.
One had to know that the Golden Buddha Temple’s Inheritance Secret Martial Arts greatly enhanced the physical body. Although it couldn’t compare to their Thunder Gate’s, it was still extraordinary.
Yet now, he had suffered a setback at the hands of a Secret Martial Artist who had just become a Qi Dao Grandmaster.
It was simply unbelievable.
Hu Qi didn’t linger.
With a flash of movement, he disappeared into the lake.
’In that moment, I wanted to kill that bald donkey, Fa Ji, right here and now.’
’But in the end, I gave up on that tempting idea.’
’He must have some tricks from a Refining God Venerable on him.’
’To kill him, I’d have to use Modification Points to power up the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique.’
’Besides, there’s no guarantee that Guo Yi wouldn’t intervene.’
’After all, the two of them seem to be on good terms.’
’If that happened, the Modification Points I’d spend would be completely disproportionate to the reward.’
"Let’s go too! I’m afraid those two are already dead."
Guo Yi said.
With that, he also turned and entered the lake.
Lu Mei followed close behind, not daring to delay.
Fa Ji stood on the shore for a moment.
He raised his blood-stained palm and chanted a Buddhist mantra.
"Alas! Amitabha! May the Buddha Lord protect you."
With that said.
He too transformed into a streak of golden light and plunged into the water.
After entering the passage, he smashed a fist into its side.
In an instant.
On the stone walls of the passage...
...a dense web of cracks spread, and the tunnel began to collapse behind him.
To be safe, this passage could not be left open, regardless of whether those two were alive or not.
...
「Surface World.」
Hongling Mountain Range, near the central region, at the Cold Pool beside a mountain stream.
The Golden Crow sank in the west, and twilight descended like a veil.
A waterfall hung like a bolt of white silk, and the deep pool reflected the gradually darkening sky.
The surrounding trees were lush, their branches and leaves swaying gently in the breeze, with the occasional chirp of birds returning to their nests.
The afterglow of the sunset cast a warm, golden halo on the water’s surface and the leaves.
On a grassy patch to the side, Cao Ping, who had just caught a fish, built a fire, and was roasting the cleaned grass carp on a spit, suddenly had his expression change.
He could clearly feel a faint tremor coming from beneath his feet.
The shaking grew stronger. Rubble tumbled from a nearby cliff, and the water in the Cold Pool churned.
Seeing this, Cao Ping’s expression changed drastically.
"Fuck, I can’t be this unlucky!"
The Hongling Mountain Range was vast and did cover a portion of a seismic zone, but a normal earthquake was nothing to a Martial Artist.
But this was an Earth Core Passage.
If the earthquake widened the entrance or caused a sinkhole, allowing the Black Blood Species from the Earth Core to reach this place, it would all be over.
At this thought.
Cold sweat beaded on Cao Ping’s forehead. He had no time to think.
With a flash of movement, he quickly put distance between himself and the area, abandoning the half-cooked, fragrant roasted fish.
In just a few leaps, he covered a hundred meters, landing on a branch as thick as an arm, dozens of meters above the ground.
He watched the constantly shaking ground.
His expression was grave.
Just as he was about to contact the Federation to report the anomaly...
He heard a loud WHOOSH! The water of the pool erupted like a high-pressure jet, shooting dozens of meters into the air.
Several figures shot out like lightning and landed steadily nearby.
He looked up and saw that it was Hu Qi, Fa Ji, Guo Yi, and Lu Mei.
At this sight, Cao Ping’s tense muscles instantly relaxed.
He immediately came down from the tree, took two steps forward, bowed, and said respectfully, "Cao Ping congratulates the sirs on their return!"
However, no one present paid him any mind.
Even Fa Ji, who was usually easy to talk to, was now silent.
A flash of embarrassment crossed Cao Ping’s face, but he also keenly sensed that something was wrong.
’If I remember correctly, there were six of them when they went in. Why have only four returned?’
’Could it be...’
He was startled as an ominous thought occurred to him.
But he didn’t dare to dwell on it, merely standing respectfully to the side.
Just then, Hu Qi glanced at Fa Ji.
He hadn’t expected the man to destroy the passage here.
"Everyone, I’ll take my leave!"
With that said!
Without the slightest hesitation, his figure moved, transforming into a streak of crimson light that shot into the sky and quickly vanished over the horizon.
"Everyone, this old woman still has matters to attend to in my sect. I’ll be taking my leave as well!"
Lu Mei also spoke up.
Then, without waiting for a reply, she moved and left the area.
She was naturally displeased with Fa Ji’s earlier actions of preventing them from leaving.
But given his status and strength, she had been suppressing her feelings, not daring to show them.
Now that she was back on the surface.
She no longer wanted to stay with him.
’Besides, if my guess is correct, there’s about to be a major shake-up within the Federation.’
’The two prodigies from the Sword Pavilion and the Holy Rain Sect are still in the Earth Core.’
’It’s even highly likely that they’re already dead.’
’The repercussions will definitely be significant.’
’As someone who accompanied them, the Black Spider Sect might even be implicated. I need to go back now and report this matter to the Earth God Hall as soon as possible to seek their protection.’
’It’s just a pity that the Shexin Sect probably won’t be so lucky.’
She recalled the scene of Hu Qi fighting Fa Ji.
She shook her head slightly.
’What good is being strong?’
’That man is backed by the Seven Upper-tier Schools and has a Refining God Venerable as a master. Offending him so rashly means that even if he doesn’t retaliate openly, he’ll definitely make things difficult for you in the future.’
In her opinion, Hu Qi was still a bit too impulsive.
But that had nothing to do with her.
Fa Ji stood his ground as the two left, saying nothing.
"Let’s go. I’m afraid the tides are about to turn."
At this, Guo Yi, who was standing to the side, spoke, then also turned and left.
Leaving only Fa Ji standing there.
Fa Ji looked down at the slowly healing wound on his palm.
He replayed the scene of his clash with Hu Qi in his mind.
’I am a Qi Dao Grandmaster from the Golden Buddha Temple, and my cultivation has already reached the state of Unity of Essence and Qi, yet I was wounded by him.’
’This man definitely has a great secret.’
At this thought, an inscrutable look flashed in his eyes.
His figure shot into the sky and flew into the distance.
A voice was left echoing in his place.
"This Earth Core Passage has been destroyed. You don’t need to stay here any longer. Go back!"
"Yes!"
Cao Ping bowed his head and cupped his fist.
He waited for a moment, and only when no other sound came did he finally relax.
He glanced at the Cold Pool before him with a complicated expression, not having expected his work to end so early.
However, for him, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It’s just...
’I shouldn’t be implicated in this...’
Based on the earlier conversation between those few, he had keenly sensed that something was amiss.
’Forget it. When I get back this time, I’ll just lay low and rest for a while.’
At this thought, he pushed off the ground, took a single stride that covered more than ten meters, and quickly disappeared into the mountain forest.
...
The very moment Changzhu and Wu Yu died, on a certain mountain peak in the western part of the Xia Federation, in a place called Red Cloud City...
...stood a complex of magnificent, jade-like pavilions, their architecture distinctly archaic.
The moonlight was like water, gently spilling over the mountains and draping the buildings in a silvery gauze.
From a distance, the sprawling silhouettes of the buildings were faintly visible in the night, their black tiles and white walls blending into the surrounding mountain forest.
This was the location of the Sword Pavilion, one of the Seven Upper-tier Schools.
At this moment, in a brightly lit room, the CRACK of shattering jade suddenly rang out.
The sound was abrupt. A Sword Pavilion disciple, who had been guarding the side with his eyes closed while circulating his Qi and Blood, heard the noise and looked up.
In the very center of the room, dozens of white jade longswords were suspended by ropes.
These longswords were not ordinary decorations. They were Lifebound Spirit Swords, personally crafted by the Pavilion Master of the Sword Pavilion using the essence blood of his Direct Disciples.
Any disciple qualified to have a Lifebound Spirit Sword made and displayed here was at least a Martial Artist who had opened their first Essence Element Divine Treasure.
The disciple’s expression was grave. While the shattering of a Lifebound Spirit Sword was rare, it was not unheard of.
Therefore, he remained relatively calm.
He walked forward, preparing to see which unlucky senior brother or sister it was.
Tied to each jade sword with a red string was a palm-sized wooden plaque bearing the name of the Lifebound Spirit Sword’s owner, making them easy to identify.
However, when he saw the wooden plaque that had fallen to the floor and made out the name "Changzhu" written on it, his vision nearly went black.
"This... It’s Eldest Sister Changzhu! How is that possible!?"
His voice was filled with astonishment. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and after confirming that he wasn’t seeing things...
...he froze on the spot.
...
A similar situation was not an isolated incident; it also occurred in the Holy Rain Sect.
The Seven Upper-tier Schools were different from ordinary Middle and Lower-tier Schools; they had Refining God Venerables.
Their foundations ran deep.
They naturally had items similar to the Lifebound Spirit Sword, although their appearance and names might differ slightly. The effect was the same.
For a time, both the Sword Pavilion and the Holy Rain Sect were thrown into a state of tense activity as they reported the news up the chain of command.
A Secret Martial Artist at the level of a Qi Dao Grandmaster was an absolutely core existence, even within the Seven Upper-tier Schools.
Not to mention, the ones who had died were top-tier prodigies among them.
It was just that, for some reason, the Sect Leaders of both the Sword Pavilion and the Holy Rain Sect were not currently in their respective sects.