Within the continuous Shu mountains, Li Yunâs exceptionally enormous Spirit-Drawing Array took a full ten days to arrange.
Its set-up had been no different from ditch-digging. The entire time, he hadnât dared to make a single mistake, out of fear that one bad part would cause disaster for the region.
Anyone in this group still able to breathe had all been run around in circles by him. Some had lead the way, some had gone to search for spiritual stones all over the place, some had helped compute the arrangement of the array. After the passage of ten day, they were all spent, to say nothing Han Yuan and Shui Keng, who had been taking turns holding off Sacrifice.
All of the pills the group had had gone into those twoâs stomachs.
When Shii Keng had just swallowed that yao core, she had felt that the thing was going to make her burst. Now, though, she thought that three-thousand years wasnât of any use at all â she needed thirty-thousand!
The second Li Yun declared that the array was finished, Han Yuan could no longer maintain his dragon form, instantly turning into a human and collapsing into a half-dead, paralyzed heap on the group. He had expended too much, the deathly aura of an incurable illness nearly coming off of his face.
Even so, this devil that was on deathâs door stubbornly reached out a paw and desperately grabbed Li Yunâs foot, his breath like gossamer. âDonât⊠forget⊠the FlagâŠâ
Li Yun didnât have the spare time to openly mock him, immediately peeling his shoe off and going up on his flying sword with one bare foot.
He flew like the wind, tense beyond compare while he followed along Sacrificeâs path as it whizzing through the Spirit-Drawing Array. His originally-abundant Bag of Hoarding had been dumped clean for this thing, all of his spiritual items and talismans completed used up, but even so, he had still underestimated the techniqueâs strength.
It nearly leaked out of the Array several times. At each occurrence of a rupture in the arrayâs workings, this group of cultivators would go into an uproar like burlaks on a riverbank, swarm up, fix it, and block it up. With how this work looked when it was in full swing, it was like they were making huge ditches in the mountains of Shu.
The White Tiger elder had been injured by the ghosts, messed up to the point that he didnât look like a person, yet persisted with charging forwards on the very frontlines. He crouched on his sword in the sky with both arms resting on his knees, mouth agape and neck stretched out as he witnessed at close hand how Sacrifice flowed downwards like a flood. In passing, he caught Nian Dada, who was about to run into him like a headless fly, and set him to the side, mumbling, âWe actually did itâŠâ
Seeing this, Li Yun immediately issued a signal from the distant and waved like his life depended on it, ordering everyone that was on a flying item to get down.
The next moment, the boom of splitting earth rose up from the level ground, and all the people that were still stupidly parked in midair were effected by it, stumbling off their weapons in succession.
This Sacrifice seemed to contain immeasurable grudges, rages, enmities, and despairs, flowing down from the high cliffs at a slant. Like a river of stars overturns, it landed on the ground and became a lake, gurgling and shifting, razing countless barren mountains flat. The original landmass was completely unrecognizable, its unfathomably deep precipices displaying vicious grooves.
GodsâŠ
The shaking of the land caused by Sacrifice took a full day and a half before its dust settled. Li Yun had his shoeless foot raised in a golden rooster pose, blankly mumbling, âThat you could block this for even a second⊠Han Yuan, youâre a pretty promising punk.â
Han Yuan, on his last breath, did not answer, looking like he had already suffered the loving caress of his dead ancestors.
âWhatâs wrong with him?â Shui Keng anxiously asked.
Li Yun leaned over to size Han Yuan up for a short bit, then shook his head. âOh, dear. Looking at you like this, I might not be able to get that True Dragon bone for you. Youâre lacking a dragon skeleton, yet are already like this; if you actually do get one, wouldnât you overturn the sky?â
The formerly near-death Han Yuan immediately came back to life at that, beginning to struggle like the rays of a setting sun and doing all he could to throw that shoe he had at Li Yun. âYou wouldnât dare! Weâll be enemies for life!â
The Estate elder, ever with free hands, contacted a few major sects in Shuzhong, including Mingming Valley. The sects knew right from wrong; the very next day, they all sent various wound medications and supplements, and the group rested in Shuzhong for over half a month before continuing southward.
Aware that he had helped clean up Tang Zhen and Bian Xu, after his recovery, Han Yuan became all the more cocky, taking the initiative to efficiently slaughter in warning a couple demonic cultivators that had the gall to rebel on the road. By the time they reached Nanjiang, the demons that had gotten disloyal due to the deaths of the Nine Sages were basically already intimidated by Han Yuan, quickly going dormant.
âThat area up ahead where miasmic qi is blocking the road is where the Nightmare Travelers are,â Han Yuan said. âYou righteous sects arenât welcome here. Scram.â
Shui Keng stuck her neck out from behind him, very curious about the highest den of demons in the land. âBrother, are you demonic cultivators the type to rob wealth and beauties?â
âYeah.â Han Yuan looked at her, sneering in full contempt. âBut we only steal human beauties, not birds with long tailfeathers. You donât need to worry.â
She wrathfully spewed fire at the back of his head.
âDonât forget to deliver the True Dragon Flag to me.â He waved his hand to dissolve her little fireball, then he strode towards the hideout of the Nightmare Travelers.
With one flick of his sleeve, a huge mountain gate appeared out of nowhere, the word âNightmareâ boldly inscribed on it the spitting image of a monster with a bloody, gaping maw. Dark and eerie demonic qi floated up and down and fused with the miasma of the forest, making this look indescribably sinister.
A blood-red, eight-trigram diagram flew out of his panlong robesâ tattered sleeve, smacked right next toâ Nightmareâ, and immediately left a sigil of bloodied qi on it.
The bloody symbol was like a drop of oil going into boiling water. In short order, countless pairs of prying eyes rose and fell within the Valley of the Nightmare Travelers, cautiously observing the returning devil.
He wore clothes as ragged as a beggarâs, but his gait was like a regentâs that was returning to his court, his figure gate-crashing the demonsâ native land without a care.
Pitifully, that was ruined after no more than a few steps. Shui Keng, who had just wanted to roast him into a husk, suddenly felt empty-hearted again upon seeing his retreating figure, and couldnât help but loudly cry out, âBrother! Weâll come find you to play later!â
ââŠâ
Play, my ass, Han Yuan thought, gritting his teeth. You lost me face.
An enormous dragon silhouette flashing behind him, he dove headfirst into Nanjiangâs miasma like the Azure Dragon entering the sea, and didnât look back.
He would be standing guard here for all of his life.
The group went their separate ways from here. You Liang, who had finished the funereal rites of the Bureau, had nowhere to go â Li Yun went along with Yan Zhengmingâs promise to Wu Changtian, deciding to bring him back to Fuyao Mountain.
In contrast, after reporting as much, Nian Dada went to the East Sea alone to look for Nian Mingmingâs reincarnation.
However, wasnât finding an unremarkable infant boy amongst this sea of people something easier said than done? On top of that, Han Yuan had only told him a general direction, nothing precise.
Nian Dada spent several days wandering about the East Seaâs vicinity. Refusing to back down, he thought to find a place to stay in for a time and slowly scout around.
Pretending to be a mortal, he sought people out to inquire after cheap places to lodge, then was led by a fisherman to a very remote area on the East Seaâs shore. There was a wolfberry tree that was so big, it would turn into a spirit soon; its branches stuck out at random, seeming like they had sky-reaching ambitions, and it had rows upon rows of hanging fruit as red as blood beads. Beneath this tree sat a small, worn-down courtyard.
A few large rocks near the entrance made up a pigpen. Beside the entrance was a couplet pair; the left said âThree coins a nightâ, and the right said âStay or piss offâ.
Nian Dada was subdued by this overbearingness. It took a long time for him to shyly knock on the door, and he dared not do it loudly, just like a scratching mouse.
Following a good deal of scratching, no one answered. He was about to leave, only to hear a creak as a burly man came out from inside. He was obviously mortal, yet his entire being had an aura that was majestic, but not violent.
The beefy guy glared at him. âHave you not eaten your fill? Youâre not going to give a real knock? Are you staying, or what?!â
Nian Dada was pressured by the unspeakable bearing of this mortal. âY-Yes, S-Senior⊠Iâm staying,â he blurted.
âSenior?â The man raised a brow, voice like a gong. âHuh. All that messing around, and youâre a cultivator. Iâve never seen such a good-for-nothing, useless one like you before. Pay and get in here!â
Nian Dada dared not have a hint of objection, smoothly getting in.
It wasnât until he had stayed in the East Sea for over two months that the demonic qi over the land slowly settled, then vanished.
The one-hundred-and-eight-thousand steps of the Tower of No Regrets had forced two superpowers of the modern world to trudge through it for right about a whole three months.
The two had uncountable wounds of all sizes on their bodies. At this moment, even Cheng Qian, the second he caught sight of the top, couldnât help but stumble, nearly landing in a kneel.
This had been way too hard. Shuang Renâs swordlight had been worn down into dimness. He pretty much wanted to roll straight off of here â he had no idea how Tong Ru had managed to ascend back in the day.
The Tower was empty, quiet, and somber. Yan Zhengming suddenly stopped in his tracks from where he was walking in front.
âWhat is it?â Cheng Qian asked hoarsely, exhausted.
âCome and look.â
A footprint was seen on the Tower, inundated with blood. As of now, the bloodstain betrayed the color of old rust, but had still been faithfully preserved by the Tower, having not faded for centuries.
Just from seeing this shocking footprint, one could imagine what the scene of Tong Ru barging in alone had been: as one foot tread upon the Tower, the other was still on the stone steps, his body full of wounds.
He must have been at the end of his trajectory, weakly supporting himself on his knees with heavy hands, in order to leave such a serious footprint behind.
When he had exhausted the very last of his strength to look up at the dazzling Wish-Granting Stone, had it seemed like he was seeing an out-of-reach dream?
No one had taken turns holding the sword and defending each other with him. He had been alone, burdened with impetuous thoughts, having nowhere to relay them. Under the dual interrogation of his heart demon and his conscience, he had turned his back on the mortal realm, stepping on blood.
Thinking as such, even though his juniors knew well that he had qi deviated out of selfish desires, thus attracting many calamities, they suddenly couldnât criticize him.
The original impression of the Wish-Granting Stone was still there. Subsequent to a short moment of rest, they withdrew it from the Ice-hearted Fire in a flurry of limbs.
The Stone acted like it was alive. Given that it was gently pushed, it would return to its rightful place, then settle in seamlessly. The light flowing inside it went stagnant for a moment, the demonic qi eternally coiling around it seeming to turn into a handful of fine ash, which quickly disappeared.
Not a speck of dust tainted the Tower, and not a talisman was seen, yet it still gave one a sense of extreme silence. All the various types of excessive hopes and ambitions in peopleâs hearts could automatically be quelled upon coming here, returning oneâs behavior and nature to purity.
Trudging up those one-hundred-and-eight-thousand steps was like the ending to surviving one-hundred-and-eight-thousand calamities.
Cheng Qian heard those complex cries, shouts, laughs, and roars all get far away from him, like a dream that he had been submerged in for years had reached its end, an unprecedented clearness in his mind, like he was once again hearing the distant path of Heaven in the universe again.
His legs were a bit numb, feet staggering beneath him, so he simply followed his instincts and laid on his back, listening to the surrounding chaotic heart demons gradually calm and become meek. He felt like he didnât have a single bit of energy
Yan Zhengming was not any sort of better of than he was. Putting the majority of his weight onto Shuang Ren as he leaned on it, he stood there in a blank daze. âBack when Tong Ru made a wish on the Wish-Granting Stone, he was willing to make a million resentful souls as a sacrifice⊠what now, then? What happened with that?â
Cheng Qian shut his eyes, answering almost inaudibly. âNothing happened. The Stone didnât actually grant him his wish, now, did it?â
The bloodline of Fuyao was still cut off. Master Muchun was still dead.
Thus was why people had severed all ties and left, one by one, and the human world had still been dragged into drawn-out chaosâŠ
âŠcoming to a rest only just today.
The calamity had been like an inferno raging across fields, unfeelingly and unstoppably crushing what it passed, everything ruined into ashes.
Only tender sprouts yet silently burgeoned in the spring wind after the deathly stillness went by.
âA Withered Tree Meets Springâ was like a beginning, and also, perhaps, an ending.
Yan Zhengming stood there quietly for a while. âAfter we get back, take me to the Valley of No Worries when you have the time. I kind of want to see Master and our martial grandfather.â
The sensation of being seen right through by his junior⊠was pretty uncomfortable.
Shamed into anger, he raised his leg and gave Cheng Qian a kick. âI told you to lead the way, so lead the way! Why are you talking so much shit?!â
Unfortunately, this planned trip was doomed to disappoint.
Two months later, Yan Zhengming held a âBlindfold Leafâ in his mouth, struggling to conceal his own ire as he hurried to infiltrate the Valley of No Worries at the split second of dusk with Cheng Qian. The two passed through ghostly creatures the whole journey, then found Tong Ruâs burial site down a familiar path.
However, the bones that had been there were not seen.
They searched the site several times over, finding nothing. Cheng Qian almost suspected that they had remembered the wrong spot, until he finally dug out a copper coin spotted with corrosion from under the giant tree.
Then, he remembered that Tong Ru had said that they likely wouldnât be able to meet again the next time.
In all likelihood, the manâs penance term had probably been fulfilled, his heavy sin redeemed, and he had finally gone to be one with the land and its greenery.
By dawn, they left the Valley on the same road they had taken. After spitting out the Blindfold Leaf, Yan Zhengming asked, âHave their souls scattered?â
Cheng Qian thought it over. âIt would be better to say that they ascended.â
With a thought like that, the heart suddenly felt at ease.