Translator: transcendentwings
Editor: teaff
Xu Xingzhi didn’t want to delve into it too much, and only briefly mentioned a few places where he had wronged Xu Pingsheng: “I know what thoughts my elder brother harbors. But how could I tell him not mind it ne.”
Wen Xuechen looked towards Zhou Beinan.
Zhou Beinan also thought of the impudent remarks that he had used to taunt Xu Pingsheng just now. He knew that he had done something foolish and could only laugh dryly: “Having your thoughts run wild, being overcautious and indecisive, is this still you? Since he doesn’t acknowledge his relationship with you, why should you still care about what he does. . .”
Wen Xuechen glared at him: “. . . Ze.”
Zhou Beinan: “. . . Okay, got it, I’ll stop talking alright ba.”
Xu Xingzhi glanced at the two and his mouth twitched, feeling restless. Just when he was about to ridicule Zhou Beinan with a few words, he heard a commotion outside with a xili huala.
Regardless of Zhou Beinan’s obstruction, Xu Xingzhi hopped off the bed barefoot and yanked the door open.
The buckets that were originally on top of Meng Chongguang and Jiu Zhideng’s heads were now both buckled on top of the other’s head.
The two of them were dripping, drenched in water. It was obvious that they got into another argument and got into a scuffle yet again.
Seeing this situation, Xu Xingzhi felt his head throb with pain.
Wen Xuechen rolled himself out on his wheelchair. With a frown on his brow, he lectured with a voice as cold as frost: “What is this? Is this appropriate?”
Xu Xingzhi rarely agreed with him and echoed his opinion: “Improper!”
Both Meng Chongguang and Jiu Zhideng hung their sopping wet heads in silence.
Xu Xingzhi ordered stiffly: “Get up. Scram back to get a change of clothes, wash up. . .” At this point, his tone softened unconsciously, “. . . Don’t catch a cold.”
The two answered “yes” in unison, stood up despondently and turned to leave.
“Halt.” Wen Xuechen stopped them with a cold voice, then turned to Xu Xingzhi and asked with his brow furrowed, “Does your Fengling Mountain have no regulations? Offending their seniors, not complying with their punishment, all just brushed off so easily?”
Xu Xingzhi pinched the bridge of his nose that was swollen and sore and replied with a grin: “If Fengling Mountain really had rules, wouldn’t the first one to be down and out of luck be me ma.”
Wen Xuechen: “. . .” He found that he couldn’t refute Xu Xingzhi’s skewed reasoning and iniquitous explanation.
Seizing the opportunity before Wen Xuechen could make things difficult again, Xu Xingzhi stretched out his hand to lean against the armrest of the other’s wheelchair and muttered in a low and feeble tone: “. . . Wen-baimao, I’m dizzy as hell.”
Meng Chongguang and Jiu Zhideng looked back towards him at the same time, the intense worry and distress in their eyes couldn’t be disguised at all.
However, Xu Xingzhi kept gesturing to them secretly, signaling them to depart quickly and not to provoke Wen Xuechen again, this pestilence again.
With Xu Xingzhi’s order, the two had no choice but to bow to Wen Xucehen, then reluctantly part ways and leave.
After the figures of the two disappeared, Wen Xuechen shut the door for him properly, lest Xu Xingzhi be exposed to the winds again: “You are too lenient on them.”
Xu Xingzhi sat on the armrest of his wheelchair and replied perfunctorily: “. . . Passably ba.”
“Leaving Meng Chongguang aside.” Wen Xuechen continued, “Jiu Zhideng will return to the demonic cultivators sooner or later, could he stay on the righteous path for a lifetime?”
Hearing this, Xu Xingzhi was somewhat unhappy: “Whoever wants to return can return, Xiao-Deng won’t.”
Wen Xuechen frowned and in a rare occurrence, raised his voice: “Why do you insist on getting mixed up with those who aren’t of the righteous path? Why did I beat you today? It was just to make you learn your lesson. If it weren’t for the fact that I treat you like a youn. . . close friend, I couldn’t care less about who you hang out and become friends with.”
“. . . Xuechen is right. Spoiling one’s son still wouldn’t go as far as you do.” Zhou Beinan stepped forward and sat on the other side of the wheelchair, smoothing things over, “However, not all who aren’t from the righteous path are wicked. That brat surnamed Jiu seems to me like he possesses quite the pure mind. He has never caused any trouble since he entered Fengling Mountain and even ranked fourth on the Heavenly Rankings last time. Seems that his talent. . .”
Wen Xuechen shoved Zhou Beinan away: “Get off.”
Zhou Beinan didn’t even get to warm the seat yet when he was pushed off, almost making him stagger and fall flat on the ground.
After regaining his balance with much difficulty, he complained aloud: “. . . Wen Xuechen, I’m warning you ah, after you get engaged with Xiao-Xian’er, I’ll be your older brother-in-law, treat me better.”
Xu Xingzhi raised his eyebrow in surprise and reached over to hang his arm around Wen Xuechen’s neck: “. . . So it’s decided ah. Ah?”
Wen Xuechen pursed his lips, his face slightly flushed: “The third of March next year is the actual day.”
Xu Xingzhi was overjoyed, and threw his headache, fever, and bodily discomfort to the back of his mind as he laughed heartily: “You are the first among the four of us to get married, I’ll have to prepare a big red envelope for you and Xiao-Xian’er.”
Zhou Beinan snorted disdainfully: “You only know how to give red packets to others, why don’t you have any news? I heard that your Fengling Mountain Yuan-shimei still hasn’t gotten together with anyone so far as a cultivation companion, don’t you know why?”
His voice was cut off in the middle by a gentle knock by the door: “Xu-shixiong, Xu-shixiong.”
We Wlcuhtl: “Qtb?”
After gaining permission, Lu Yujiu, stepped through the door “Xu-shixiong, I brought some medicine. . .”
When he raised his head and saw Wen Xuechen sitting in the middle of the room, silently looking at him, his legs went limp, and he immediately lifted his robes to kneel down: “. . . Wen, Wen-shixiong.”
Wen Xuechen responded indifferently with a light “en”, demonstrating his acknowledgement.
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Even the haughty Zhou-dagongzi had a slight impression of this young Qingliang Valley disciple. After all, he had seen him several times before and his appearance hadn’t changed too much. His white and delicate baby face was pleasant and attractive.
The petite medicine bottle clenched in Lu Yujiu’s hand was so hot that he could barely hold onto it, even his face was on fire.
Since Wen-shixiong was present, what medicine would Wen Xuechen have that wasn’t a hundred times better what he possessed?
However, Xu Xingzhi didn’t exhibit any disdain at all, and walked over to Lu Yujiu while supporting his waist and back. Crouching down, he spread his palm before him, beaming from ear to ear: “And the medicine ne.”
Lu Yujiu gripped the medicine vial, somewhat embarrassed: “Xu-shixiong. . .”
Xu Xingzhi took the bottle from his hand without further ado, treasuring it as he placed it cherishing into his lapel. Stretching out his hand, he ruffled the other’s raven hair: “Thanks la.”
Seeing that he treated Lu Yujiu so warmly and intimately, Zhou Beinan felt mischievous, without waiting for Lu Yujiu to leave, he continued to poke fun at the other jokingly: “You seem to hang out with your two shidi everyday and also capture the young disciples from other sects to tease. . . Xu Xingzhi, could it be that you share the same interests as Long Yang?”
Lu Yujiu’s back completely stiffened.
Noticing that Zhou Beinan’s words were growing out of bounds, Xu Xingzhi couldn’t help but fall into his bad habit of protecting his own: “I’m four years younger than Qu Chi and two years younger than you. Xiao-Xian’er is already about to get married, and you still have the gall to make fun of me, Fatty Zhou? From what I see, you and your Yingtianchuan Cheng Ding hang out together every day, it seems no different.”
Naturally, Wen Xuechen wouldn’t let go of the opportunity to taunt Zhou Beinan: “Didn’t you stare at Xiao-Lu for a long time when he came in? If we were discussing similar interests as Long Yang, I think you fit the bill more than he does.”
Zhou Beinan was a little irked by the two tag-teaming him and blurted out: “What do the two of you mean? A young disciple of Qingliang Valley, are they worthy of me?”
Lu Yujiu, who was kneeling on the ground, felt as if he had been slapped and his face was burning hot.
Zhou Beinan’s tongue has always been faster than his head, after speaking, he realized that it was inappropriate, but to have him swallow the words he uttered would also make him feel discomfited all over.
Next, however, Yuan Ruzhou’s sudden intrusion dispelled this unspeakable blunder: “Shixiong, the three of you are all here. . .”
Yuan Ruzhou and the other disciples had been away for more than a day gathering intelligence on the whereabouts of the nine-tailed serpent. If they rushed back in such a hurry, then they must have discovered something.
She grabbed Xu Xingzhi’s sleeve in a flurry: “Shixiong! That nine-tailed serpent has appeared at the western foothills of Pingding Mountain. Shifu and Qu Chi-shixiong have already gone ahead. Shifu asked me to come and inform all of you, bring your immortal weapons and hasten to move out!”
Getting tugged on without regard to the force used, the wound on Xu Xingzhi’s back was jostled and he couldn’t help but let out a muffled grunt.
Yuan Ruzhou’s thinking was already meticulous and yanking on his sleeve just now was also because she was so anxious that she lost her head for a moment. Catching sight of Xu Xingzhi’s expression, she instantly let go and inquired restlessly: “Shixiong, what’s wrong with you?”
Xu Xingzhi waved it off with a hand, indicating that he was just peachy: “. . . Continue with your report.”
Yuan Ruzhou has been with the sect for many years and has performed no fewer than a hundred such tasks of subjugating monsters. Although the nine-tailed serpent was tricky to deal with, it still shouldn’t have been enough to make her show such a flustered look.
And the situation was truly urgent. Yuan Ruzhou clutched onto him lightly and elaborated in a rush: “Somewhere, that nine-tailed serpent found another of its kind that has been cultivating in the ancient forests deep in the mountains for a hundred years. They are of opposite genders and have copulated for an unknown period of time. Now that their powers have undergone a qualitative leap, they have exited their reptilian nest and are already headed to Pingding City at the foot of Pingding Mountain!”
Xu Xingzhi’s heart sank.
Snakes were promiscuous and the nine-tailed serpent was the most promiscuous. Once they mate with their own kind, not only will they have a growth spurt, but their abilities will also increase exponentially.
Since the establishment of the four sects, there were only a handful of nine-tailed serpents in the world. This particular nine-tailed serpent who has cultivated until the golden core stage, was captured by the elders of the sects who intended to release it into the savage wasteland, however the disciples guarding it accidentally let it escape on their watch.
According to the intelligence brought back by Yuan Ruzhou, the other nine-tailed serpent that coupled with this one has also been cultivating for a hundred years and was at the very least at the ninth level of foundation building. After the two fornicated, they would have the might equivalent to that of a nascent stage cultivator where just by exerting the pressure that came with their formidable power was enough for them to tread unhindered through any land.
If Qingjing-jun hadn’t entered seclusion at Fengling Mountain for the Divine Transformation stage before the nine-tailed serpent escaped in order to comprehend and break through to the Divine Transformation realm, he should’ve been the one to lead this mission.
However, matters have already reached this point, thus Xu Xingzhi stopped wasting his breath: “Everyone, get ready. Lu Yujiu, gather all the disciples in the temple, we will set out in half an hour.”
Lu Yujiu couldn’t care less about the verbal offense just now: “Got it!”
“Yes what?” Zhou Beinan pressed on his shoulder roughly, “Xu Xingzhi, you don’t want your life anymore?! The three of us and Guangfu-jun will be there, would we need a patient like you flaunting your power and prestige?”
“Guangfu-jun is only at the sixth stage of the golden core. Among the accompanying disciples, I’m the only one who has arrived at the cusp of the Golden Core stage!” Xu Xingzhi roughly brushed his hand away, “To put it bluntly, even if all of you had to self-destruct your cores to take those two serpents done with you, it wouldn’t be sufficient!”
Zhou Beinan still wanted to refute, but Wen Xuechen interrupted him resolutely: “Don’t waste your breath, go get ready posthaste. Xingzhi, I still have a rapid pain relief medicinal pellet here, wait for me to get it from my room. You must take it before we head out.”
Even though they were prepared early on, Zhou Beinan still couldn’t help but mutter an expletive or two when he saw the two giant reptilian worms with their bodies that could coil around a mountain and their eloquent mouths.
Guangfu-jun wrestled with this creature for no less than an hour and the sleeves of his robes were cut into ribbons by the strong spiritual pressure as he panted endlessly.
Noticing that Xu Xingzhi also followed, an ill at ease expression surfaced on his face.
As early as last year, Xu Xingzhi’s cultivation had already surpassed that of Qu Chi’s and was in a league of his own amongst his peers. If he knew that the nine-tailed serpent would choose this day to wreak havoc, he wouldn’t have chosen today to punish Xu Xingzhi no matter the case.
Xu Xingzhi didn’t want to get entangled in such trivial matters with Guangfu-jun and just greeted him directly with a “Shishu”, snapped open his fan and flew off.
Pingding City was a big city with tens of thousands of residents and was less than ten kilometers away. If this gigantic creature was allowed to enter the city, absorb the living energy, partake of blood and flesh, and replenish its malevolent power, then the consequences would be too dire to contemplate!
Imagining the aftermath, Wen Xuechen didn’t dare to be negligent. Retrieving the jade array from his sleeve, he commanded briskly in a flat voice: “Disciples of Qingliang Valley, where is the formation?”
Despite the best combined efforts of the Qingliang Valley disciples who arrived first to repair the array, their casting was like a drop in a bucket in the face of such a huge monster possessing such preeminent spiritual power. Just when it seemed like they were unable to halt its momentum anymore, Wen Xuechen arrived in the nick of time, coalesced his spiritual power and started casting, strengthening the patchy formation instantly by several layers.
The already mottled and weak formation exploded with light as the surging spiritual power whisked Wen Xuechen’s black and white hair, making it dance in the wind.
Qu Chi, who had already thrown himself into battle, didn’t show his usual relaxed expression. He carried Fuchen on his back, his single blade already morphed into seven. Hearing the arrival of aid, he was just about to say something when a figure arrived with a wisp of flowing spiritual energy.
“. . . Xingzhi?”
Holding his fan behind his back, he inquired solemnly: “How is the battle situation now?”
Qu Chi exclaimed anxiously: “Why are you here? Your injuries. . .”
Xu Xingzhi didn’t answer his question: “. . . Forget it, the circumstances will be clear after fighting a bit. I’ll go east, you west, Beinan is north, Shishu will stay south, then the fourth of us will take action in conjunction.”
Qu Chi still wanted to persuade him a little, but the moment the words reached his lips, he ultimately swallowed them back down.
He only raised his hand to press down on Xu Xingzhi’s shoulder and murmured softly: “You stay here. I’ll go east, you be west.”
Qu Chi’s tone has always been genial, like warm jade radiating light, and while he spoke, he unreservedly pushed a wave of spiritual power into Xu Xingzhi’s body, alleviating the pain in Xu Xingzhi’s back that was suppressed by the medicine.
Xu Xingzhi knew that this wasn’t the time to be polite, so he gladly accepted the spiritual power. With a wave of his folded-fan before him, he transformed it into a double-edged jiao blade and charged straight towards that which was entangled into one mass, trapped in the middle of the mountains by the Qingliang Valley grand array.
However, things didn’t develop in the way they hoped.
The two long serpentine worms were especially hard to deal with after their dual cultivation. The spiritual pressure of the Nascent Soul stage alone was enough to make the blood of everyone present surge. Not to mention, their invulnerable scales and mammoth bodies could practically take one’s breath away.
As its name suggested, the nine-tailed serpent possessed nine tails. When it encountered a joint attack, it would frantically raise its numerous tails in unison and wave them wildly in midair, like an octopus. Furthermore, its tails were like iron whips and steel maces, with the swipe of one such tail, two practitioners from Qingliang Valley who maintained the formation were immediately swept flying. Red and white ran down all over their faces as they collapsed among the rocks, motionless.
Xu Xingzhi and the others took great pains to avoid those rattling tails, but the nine-tailed serpent was still able to spit out bullets as well. The fiery iron bullets made contact with the rocks and seared fist-sized holes. The sizzling jet-black liquified stone flowed out continuously, just listening to the resulting noise was enough to make people grit their teeth.
The first one who couldn’t hold on was Wen Xuechen.
Wen Xuechen was a cultivator with a focus on formations and was proficient in various arrays. One could say that if Xu Xingzhi fell prey to his arrays, he would also only be able to squat within a circle immobile, protecting his head, waiting to be beaten.
However his heart disease posed as an immense hidden danger after all and he was unable to even survive the few days of toil brought on by the Heavenly Ranking competition. Thus facing this sort of strange beast whose cultivation level was far superior to his, even if he went all out, he would only have been able to trap it for a brief moment at best.
For practitioners, the difference of one rank signified a world of difference.
Within the lesser half of two hours, Wen Xuechen’s lips were already completely white, his breathing was becoming more and more rapid, and his heart began to ache with a dull pain. He endured the discomfort, pulled out a dagger at his waist with one hand, then cut his wrist with a backhanded gesture. Soaking the rapidly spinning array in front of him with blood, the formation was instantly covered with a dim bloody glow.
He nourished it with his own blood, only hoping to prolong its duration for a moment longer.
Wen Xuechen was just about to bite his pale lips until they bled when he whispered urgently to those who were righting with the nine-tailed serpent: “Hurry ah, quickly. . .”
If they really couldn’t hold on anymore, it would be equivalent to forfeiting the lives of tens of thousands of civilians to these two monstrosities!
One of the two snakes trapped in the formation was slashed by Xu Xingzhi’s volley with his jiao blade and it raised its head to roar again, spurting out a stream of venom along with the dozen of iron bullets that whizzed out.
When the blade fell, Xu Xingzhi went all out as per custom, disturbing the wounds on his back, and the pain was so intense that it was as if he was trampled by the hooves of a horse. When he wanted to withdraw and retreat, Xu Xingzhi was hit by an unbearable dizziness and his vision was so blurred that it seemed as if a kaleidoscope had exploded before his eyes, allowing an iron bullet to brush past his waist, almost piercing through him on the spot!
Jiu Zhideng, who joined Xu Xingzhi into the fray, had always been worried about Xu Xingzhi’s condition and seeing this scene was even more shocking for him. However, he was also already deeply entangled within the skirmish and was caught between a rock and a hard place. Protecting himself was already a stretch, so how could he take care of Xu Xingzhi as well?
Xu Xingzhi had been concentrating on picking the weaker of the wild nine-tailed serpents and the strike just now already dampened its spiritual aura by a lot. It frantically swung its tail in response, emitting wave after wave of pulsing air, furious and fierce, while iron bullets also rained down on everyone!
Xu Xingzhi’s vision burst with stars, fortunately his combat power was still there, allowing him to avoid it.
Yet, when he turned his gaze, he suddenly noticed that Xu Pingsheng was on the periphery of the battlefield, trying his best to resist the rolling serpentine tail and didn’t even realize that a few iron bullets were bearing straight towards his back!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Xu Xingzhi hurtled the jiao blade in Xu Pingsheng’s direction.
The blade tumbled and drifted through the air like a butterfly, coming behind Xu Pingsheng to morph into a golden shield, blocking all the iron bullets spat out by the nine-tailed serpent.
Xu Pingsheng heard the strange noise from behind, and the moment he turned his head in astonishment, he caught sight of a smear of blood blooming in the air out of the corner of his eye.
Without his immortal artifact, Xu XIngzhi failed to dodge the tail of the furious nine-tailed serpent and was swept between the rocks by one of them. A bloody laceration opened up on his abdomen, staining his clothes red.
He was embedded between the rubble with his head lowered, motionless.
Xu Pingsheng’s pupils constricted as he cried out involuntarily: “Xingzhi!”
Seeing Xu Xingzhi afflicted with injuries upon injury, Jiu Zhideng and Meng Chongguang were both thrown into shock and unspeakable pain. A sour taste bubbled in their throats, but one of them was placed on the periphery of the array and the other was fighting fiercely making it difficult for either one of them to get close.
Jiu Zhideng was so anxious that his eyes became bloodshot, while Meng Chongguang’s were bathed in a demonic energy in an instant as the tail ends of his eyes dyed red. He left his original position and rushed towards Xu Xingzhi.
Zhou Beinan narrowly avoided a blow and when he caught sight of the person jammed within the rock wall, his mind was disturbed while a serpentine tail swept down again during this momentary distraction.
He attempted to block it horizontally but the tail was ensnared in the shaft of the spear. After violently curling it up, the steel long spear unexpectedly emitted a kacha sound as dense cracks spiderwebbed from the center!
Wen Xuechen down below was already powerless to continue and more and more defects appeared in the the array that was forcibly assaulted by the two serpents; Guangfu-jun and Qu Chi were even more at a loss because they had entered the fray earlier than Xu Xingzhi, thus they were already arrows at the end of its flight.
The knicks on Guangfu-jun’s sword were mottled, and each chip seemed to land on his heart one by one, cutting him until even his heart’s blood seeped out.
. . . What to do? What should he do? What could be done to delay the progress of this monster?
. . . If Shixiong was here. . . If only. . .
At this time, an unknown injured cultivator abruptly exclaimed a word with extreme surprised: “Look!”
Guangfu-jun also felt something strange above his head. Sparing some time to look up, he couldn’t help becoming greatly astonished—
Large gray clouds accumulated on the top of Pingding Mountain at some point and layers of violent clouds swept in. The sky was white, as it swallowed the moon and nourished the sun, forming a spectacular scene.
. . . Guangfu-jun has had the good fortune of seeing these clouds before.
The realms of cultivators practicing the arts were roughly divided into the six stages of Refining Qi, Building Foundation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, and Ascension. Starting from the Golden Core period, any practitioner who has made a leap in cultivation must be examined by heavenly thunder.
Only those who survived the falling lightning were able to successfully ascend to the next level of cultivation.
. . . Among the dozens of disciples hailing from the immortal sects in this fierce conflict, the only disciple who has reached the perfected cultivation base of the Golden Core stage and may ascend to the Nascent Soul stage at any time could only have been one person.
Xu Xingzhi struggled to break free from the slab that his figure was embedded into and snapped his dislocated shoulder back into place as a trickle of blood slid down the corner of his lips.
“Come ah.” Xu Xingzhi sneered and shook his sleeves as they were embroiled by the wind, floating in the air. He tilted his head slightly and smiled at the howling and violently squirming twin serpents, “How about having a taste of this nascent soul heavenly thunder with me?”
With a roar, Zhou Beinan abandoned his precious spear and spinted straight for Xu XIngzhi, fortunately he was stopped by Qu Chi who rushed to his side in time.
Qu Chi shouted in a hoarse voice: “Leave quickly! None of us can stand this nascent soul thunder!”
Zhou Beinan struggled continuously: “He’s crazy! How could he dare?! He’s still running a fever, he can’t stand this thunderous calamity at all!”
The author has something to say:
—The higher the cultivation of the cultivator, the more intense the lightning they will suffer from. Among the practitioners who were transitioning from the golden core stage to the nascent soul stage, only three to four out of ten survived the lightning.
Therefore, unless they were fully prepared, cultivators above the Golden Core stage would rather not cross this tribulation and spend hundreds of years suppressing their cultivation at the critical point at the pinnacle of the Golden Core stage rather than take any risks lightly.
There were hidden flashes of lightning between the clouds, reflecting Xu Xingzhi’s tranquil and grinning face into a stark white hue.
Before the first strike fell, he beckoned with his hand, summoning “Xianbi” back. Stepping on the winds with one foot, he charged towards the billowing serpents which were intertwined together, loathing to part, unwilling to be separated!
Translator: transcendentwings
Editor: teaff
Xu Xingzhi didn’t want to delve into it too much, and only briefly mentioned a few places where he had wronged Xu Pingsheng: “I know what thoughts my elder brother harbors. But how could I tell him not mind it ne.”
Wen Xuechen looked towards Zhou Beinan.
Zhou Beinan also thought of the impudent remarks that he had used to taunt Xu Pingsheng just now. He knew that he had done something foolish and could only laugh dryly: “Having your thoughts run wild, being overcautious and indecisive, is this still you? Since he doesn’t acknowledge his relationship with you, why should you still care about what he does. . .”
Wen Xuechen glared at him: “. . . Ze.”
Zhou Beinan: “. . . Okay, got it, I’ll stop talking alright ba.”
Xu Xingzhi glanced at the two and his mouth twitched, feeling restless. Just when he was about to ridicule Zhou Beinan with a few words, he heard a commotion outside with a xili huala.
Regardless of Zhou Beinan’s obstruction, Xu Xingzhi hopped off the bed barefoot and yanked the door open.
The buckets that were originally on top of Meng Chongguang and Jiu Zhideng’s heads were now both buckled on top of the other’s head.
The two of them were dripping, drenched in water. It was obvious that they got into another argument and got into a scuffle yet again.
Seeing this situation, Xu Xingzhi felt his head throb with pain.
Wen Xuechen rolled himself out on his wheelchair. With a frown on his brow, he lectured with a voice as cold as frost: “What is this? Is this appropriate?”
Xu Xingzhi rarely agreed with him and echoed his opinion: “Improper!”
Both Meng Chongguang and Jiu Zhideng hung their sopping wet heads in silence.
Xu Xingzhi ordered stiffly: “Get up. Scram back to get a change of clothes, wash up. . .” At this point, his tone softened unconsciously, “. . . Don’t catch a cold.”
The two answered “yes” in unison, stood up despondently and turned to leave.
“Halt.” Wen Xuechen stopped them with a cold voice, then turned to Xu Xingzhi and asked with his brow furrowed, “Does your Fengling Mountain have no regulations? Offending their seniors, not complying with their punishment, all just brushed off so easily?”
Xu Xingzhi pinched the bridge of his nose that was swollen and sore and replied with a grin: “If Fengling Mountain really had rules, wouldn’t the first one to be down and out of luck be me ma.”
Wen Xuechen: “. . .” He found that he couldn’t refute Xu Xingzhi’s skewed reasoning and iniquitous explanation.
Seizing the opportunity before Wen Xuechen could make things difficult again, Xu Xingzhi stretched out his hand to lean against the armrest of the other’s wheelchair and muttered in a low and feeble tone: “. . . Wen-baimao, I’m dizzy as hell.”
Meng Chongguang and Jiu Zhideng looked back towards him at the same time, the intense worry and distress in their eyes couldn’t be disguised at all.
However, Xu Xingzhi kept gesturing to them secretly, signaling them to depart quickly and not to provoke Wen Xuechen again, this pestilence again.
With Xu Xingzhi’s order, the two had no choice but to bow to Wen Xucehen, then reluctantly part ways and leave.
After the figures of the two disappeared, Wen Xuechen shut the door for him properly, lest Xu Xingzhi be exposed to the winds again: “You are too lenient on them.”
Xu Xingzhi sat on the armrest of his wheelchair and replied perfunctorily: “. . . Passably ba.”
“Leaving Meng Chongguang aside.” Wen Xuechen continued, “Jiu Zhideng will return to the demonic cultivators sooner or later, could he stay on the righteous path for a lifetime?”
Hearing this, Xu Xingzhi was somewhat unhappy: “Whoever wants to return can return, Xiao-Deng won’t.”
Wen Xuechen frowned and in a rare occurrence, raised his voice: “Why do you insist on getting mixed up with those who aren’t of the righteous path? Why did I beat you today? It was just to make you learn your lesson. If it weren’t for the fact that I treat you like a youn. . . close friend, I couldn’t care less about who you hang out and become friends with.”
“. . . Xuechen is right. Spoiling one’s son still wouldn’t go as far as you do.” Zhou Beinan stepped forward and sat on the other side of the wheelchair, smoothing things over, “However, not all who aren’t from the righteous path are wicked. That brat surnamed Jiu seems to me like he possesses quite the pure mind. He has never caused any trouble since he entered Fengling Mountain and even ranked fourth on the Heavenly Rankings last time. Seems that his talent. . .”
Wen Xuechen shoved Zhou Beinan away: “Get off.”
Zhou Beinan didn’t even get to warm the seat yet when he was pushed off, almost making him stagger and fall flat on the ground.
After regaining his balance with much difficulty, he complained aloud: “. . . Wen Xuechen, I’m warning you ah, after you get engaged with Xiao-Xian’er, I’ll be your older brother-in-law, treat me better.”
Xu Xingzhi raised his eyebrow in surprise and reached over to hang his arm around Wen Xuechen’s neck: “. . . So it’s decided ah. Ah?”
Wen Xuechen pursed his lips, his face slightly flushed: “The third of March next year is the actual day.”
Xu Xingzhi was overjoyed, and threw his headache, fever, and bodily discomfort to the back of his mind as he laughed heartily: “You are the first among the four of us to get married, I’ll have to prepare a big red envelope for you and Xiao-Xian’er.”
Zhou Beinan snorted disdainfully: “You only know how to give red packets to others, why don’t you have any news? I heard that your Fengling Mountain Yuan-shimei still hasn’t gotten together with anyone so far as a cultivation companion, don’t you know why?”
His voice was cut off in the middle by a gentle knock by the door: “Xu-shixiong, Xu-shixiong.”
We Wlcuhtl: “Qtb?”
After gaining permission, Lu Yujiu, stepped through the door “Xu-shixiong, I brought some medicine. . .”
When he raised his head and saw Wen Xuechen sitting in the middle of the room, silently looking at him, his legs went limp, and he immediately lifted his robes to kneel down: “. . . Wen, Wen-shixiong.”
Wen Xuechen responded indifferently with a light “en”, demonstrating his acknowledgement.
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Even the haughty Zhou-dagongzi had a slight impression of this young Qingliang Valley disciple. After all, he had seen him several times before and his appearance hadn’t changed too much. His white and delicate baby face was pleasant and attractive.
The petite medicine bottle clenched in Lu Yujiu’s hand was so hot that he could barely hold onto it, even his face was on fire.
Since Wen-shixiong was present, what medicine would Wen Xuechen have that wasn’t a hundred times better what he possessed?
However, Xu Xingzhi didn’t exhibit any disdain at all, and walked over to Lu Yujiu while supporting his waist and back. Crouching down, he spread his palm before him, beaming from ear to ear: “And the medicine ne.”
Lu Yujiu gripped the medicine vial, somewhat embarrassed: “Xu-shixiong. . .”
Xu Xingzhi took the bottle from his hand without further ado, treasuring it as he placed it cherishing into his lapel. Stretching out his hand, he ruffled the other’s raven hair: “Thanks la.”
Seeing that he treated Lu Yujiu so warmly and intimately, Zhou Beinan felt mischievous, without waiting for Lu Yujiu to leave, he continued to poke fun at the other jokingly: “You seem to hang out with your two shidi everyday and also capture the young disciples from other sects to tease. . . Xu Xingzhi, could it be that you share the same interests as Long Yang?”
Lu Yujiu’s back completely stiffened.
Noticing that Zhou Beinan’s words were growing out of bounds, Xu Xingzhi couldn’t help but fall into his bad habit of protecting his own: “I’m four years younger than Qu Chi and two years younger than you. Xiao-Xian’er is already about to get married, and you still have the gall to make fun of me, Fatty Zhou? From what I see, you and your Yingtianchuan Cheng Ding hang out together every day, it seems no different.”
Naturally, Wen Xuechen wouldn’t let go of the opportunity to taunt Zhou Beinan: “Didn’t you stare at Xiao-Lu for a long time when he came in? If we were discussing similar interests as Long Yang, I think you fit the bill more than he does.”
Zhou Beinan was a little irked by the two tag-teaming him and blurted out: “What do the two of you mean? A young disciple of Qingliang Valley, are they worthy of me?”
Lu Yujiu, who was kneeling on the ground, felt as if he had been slapped and his face was burning hot.
Zhou Beinan’s tongue has always been faster than his head, after speaking, he realized that it was inappropriate, but to have him swallow the words he uttered would also make him feel discomfited all over.
Next, however, Yuan Ruzhou’s sudden intrusion dispelled this unspeakable blunder: “Shixiong, the three of you are all here. . .”
Yuan Ruzhou and the other disciples had been away for more than a day gathering intelligence on the whereabouts of the nine-tailed serpent. If they rushed back in such a hurry, then they must have discovered something.
She grabbed Xu Xingzhi’s sleeve in a flurry: “Shixiong! That nine-tailed serpent has appeared at the western foothills of Pingding Mountain. Shifu and Qu Chi-shixiong have already gone ahead. Shifu asked me to come and inform all of you, bring your immortal weapons and hasten to move out!”
Getting tugged on without regard to the force used, the wound on Xu Xingzhi’s back was jostled and he couldn’t help but let out a muffled grunt.
Yuan Ruzhou’s thinking was already meticulous and yanking on his sleeve just now was also because she was so anxious that she lost her head for a moment. Catching sight of Xu Xingzhi’s expression, she instantly let go and inquired restlessly: “Shixiong, what’s wrong with you?”
Xu Xingzhi waved it off with a hand, indicating that he was just peachy: “. . . Continue with your report.”
Yuan Ruzhou has been with the sect for many years and has performed no fewer than a hundred such tasks of subjugating monsters. Although the nine-tailed serpent was tricky to deal with, it still shouldn’t have been enough to make her show such a flustered look.
And the situation was truly urgent. Yuan Ruzhou clutched onto him lightly and elaborated in a rush: “Somewhere, that nine-tailed serpent found another of its kind that has been cultivating in the ancient forests deep in the mountains for a hundred years. They are of opposite genders and have copulated for an unknown period of time. Now that their powers have undergone a qualitative leap, they have exited their reptilian nest and are already headed to Pingding City at the foot of Pingding Mountain!”
Xu Xingzhi’s heart sank.
Snakes were promiscuous and the nine-tailed serpent was the most promiscuous. Once they mate with their own kind, not only will they have a growth spurt, but their abilities will also increase exponentially.
Since the establishment of the four sects, there were only a handful of nine-tailed serpents in the world. This particular nine-tailed serpent who has cultivated until the golden core stage, was captured by the elders of the sects who intended to release it into the savage wasteland, however the disciples guarding it accidentally let it escape on their watch.
According to the intelligence brought back by Yuan Ruzhou, the other nine-tailed serpent that coupled with this one has also been cultivating for a hundred years and was at the very least at the ninth level of foundation building. After the two fornicated, they would have the might equivalent to that of a nascent stage cultivator where just by exerting the pressure that came with their formidable power was enough for them to tread unhindered through any land.
If Qingjing-jun hadn’t entered seclusion at Fengling Mountain for the Divine Transformation stage before the nine-tailed serpent escaped in order to comprehend and break through to the Divine Transformation realm, he should’ve been the one to lead this mission.
However, matters have already reached this point, thus Xu Xingzhi stopped wasting his breath: “Everyone, get ready. Lu Yujiu, gather all the disciples in the temple, we will set out in half an hour.”
Lu Yujiu couldn’t care less about the verbal offense just now: “Got it!”
“Yes what?” Zhou Beinan pressed on his shoulder roughly, “Xu Xingzhi, you don’t want your life anymore?! The three of us and Guangfu-jun will be there, would we need a patient like you flaunting your power and prestige?”
“Guangfu-jun is only at the sixth stage of the golden core. Among the accompanying disciples, I’m the only one who has arrived at the cusp of the Golden Core stage!” Xu Xingzhi roughly brushed his hand away, “To put it bluntly, even if all of you had to self-destruct your cores to take those two serpents done with you, it wouldn’t be sufficient!”
Zhou Beinan still wanted to refute, but Wen Xuechen interrupted him resolutely: “Don’t waste your breath, go get ready posthaste. Xingzhi, I still have a rapid pain relief medicinal pellet here, wait for me to get it from my room. You must take it before we head out.”
Even though they were prepared early on, Zhou Beinan still couldn’t help but mutter an expletive or two when he saw the two giant reptilian worms with their bodies that could coil around a mountain and their eloquent mouths.
Guangfu-jun wrestled with this creature for no less than an hour and the sleeves of his robes were cut into ribbons by the strong spiritual pressure as he panted endlessly.
Noticing that Xu Xingzhi also followed, an ill at ease expression surfaced on his face.
As early as last year, Xu Xingzhi’s cultivation had already surpassed that of Qu Chi’s and was in a league of his own amongst his peers. If he knew that the nine-tailed serpent would choose this day to wreak havoc, he wouldn’t have chosen today to punish Xu Xingzhi no matter the case.
Xu Xingzhi didn’t want to get entangled in such trivial matters with Guangfu-jun and just greeted him directly with a “Shishu”, snapped open his fan and flew off.
Pingding City was a big city with tens of thousands of residents and was less than ten kilometers away. If this gigantic creature was allowed to enter the city, absorb the living energy, partake of blood and flesh, and replenish its malevolent power, then the consequences would be too dire to contemplate!
Imagining the aftermath, Wen Xuechen didn’t dare to be negligent. Retrieving the jade array from his sleeve, he commanded briskly in a flat voice: “Disciples of Qingliang Valley, where is the formation?”
Despite the best combined efforts of the Qingliang Valley disciples who arrived first to repair the array, their casting was like a drop in a bucket in the face of such a huge monster possessing such preeminent spiritual power. Just when it seemed like they were unable to halt its momentum anymore, Wen Xuechen arrived in the nick of time, coalesced his spiritual power and started casting, strengthening the patchy formation instantly by several layers.
The already mottled and weak formation exploded with light as the surging spiritual power whisked Wen Xuechen’s black and white hair, making it dance in the wind.
Qu Chi, who had already thrown himself into battle, didn’t show his usual relaxed expression. He carried Fuchen on his back, his single blade already morphed into seven. Hearing the arrival of aid, he was just about to say something when a figure arrived with a wisp of flowing spiritual energy.
“. . . Xingzhi?”
Holding his fan behind his back, he inquired solemnly: “How is the battle situation now?”
Qu Chi exclaimed anxiously: “Why are you here? Your injuries. . .”
Xu Xingzhi didn’t answer his question: “. . . Forget it, the circumstances will be clear after fighting a bit. I’ll go east, you west, Beinan is north, Shishu will stay south, then the fourth of us will take action in conjunction.”
Qu Chi still wanted to persuade him a little, but the moment the words reached his lips, he ultimately swallowed them back down.
He only raised his hand to press down on Xu Xingzhi’s shoulder and murmured softly: “You stay here. I’ll go east, you be west.”
Qu Chi’s tone has always been genial, like warm jade radiating light, and while he spoke, he unreservedly pushed a wave of spiritual power into Xu Xingzhi’s body, alleviating the pain in Xu Xingzhi’s back that was suppressed by the medicine.
Xu Xingzhi knew that this wasn’t the time to be polite, so he gladly accepted the spiritual power. With a wave of his folded-fan before him, he transformed it into a double-edged jiao blade and charged straight towards that which was entangled into one mass, trapped in the middle of the mountains by the Qingliang Valley grand array.
However, things didn’t develop in the way they hoped.
The two long serpentine worms were especially hard to deal with after their dual cultivation. The spiritual pressure of the Nascent Soul stage alone was enough to make the blood of everyone present surge. Not to mention, their invulnerable scales and mammoth bodies could practically take one’s breath away.
As its name suggested, the nine-tailed serpent possessed nine tails. When it encountered a joint attack, it would frantically raise its numerous tails in unison and wave them wildly in midair, like an octopus. Furthermore, its tails were like iron whips and steel maces, with the swipe of one such tail, two practitioners from Qingliang Valley who maintained the formation were immediately swept flying. Red and white ran down all over their faces as they collapsed among the rocks, motionless.
Xu Xingzhi and the others took great pains to avoid those rattling tails, but the nine-tailed serpent was still able to spit out bullets as well. The fiery iron bullets made contact with the rocks and seared fist-sized holes. The sizzling jet-black liquified stone flowed out continuously, just listening to the resulting noise was enough to make people grit their teeth.
The first one who couldn’t hold on was Wen Xuechen.
Wen Xuechen was a cultivator with a focus on formations and was proficient in various arrays. One could say that if Xu Xingzhi fell prey to his arrays, he would also only be able to squat within a circle immobile, protecting his head, waiting to be beaten.
However his heart disease posed as an immense hidden danger after all and he was unable to even survive the few days of toil brought on by the Heavenly Ranking competition. Thus facing this sort of strange beast whose cultivation level was far superior to his, even if he went all out, he would only have been able to trap it for a brief moment at best.
For practitioners, the difference of one rank signified a world of difference.
Within the lesser half of two hours, Wen Xuechen’s lips were already completely white, his breathing was becoming more and more rapid, and his heart began to ache with a dull pain. He endured the discomfort, pulled out a dagger at his waist with one hand, then cut his wrist with a backhanded gesture. Soaking the rapidly spinning array in front of him with blood, the formation was instantly covered with a dim bloody glow.
He nourished it with his own blood, only hoping to prolong its duration for a moment longer.
Wen Xuechen was just about to bite his pale lips until they bled when he whispered urgently to those who were righting with the nine-tailed serpent: “Hurry ah, quickly. . .”
If they really couldn’t hold on anymore, it would be equivalent to forfeiting the lives of tens of thousands of civilians to these two monstrosities!
One of the two snakes trapped in the formation was slashed by Xu Xingzhi’s volley with his jiao blade and it raised its head to roar again, spurting out a stream of venom along with the dozen of iron bullets that whizzed out.
When the blade fell, Xu Xingzhi went all out as per custom, disturbing the wounds on his back, and the pain was so intense that it was as if he was trampled by the hooves of a horse. When he wanted to withdraw and retreat, Xu Xingzhi was hit by an unbearable dizziness and his vision was so blurred that it seemed as if a kaleidoscope had exploded before his eyes, allowing an iron bullet to brush past his waist, almost piercing through him on the spot!
Jiu Zhideng, who joined Xu Xingzhi into the fray, had always been worried about Xu Xingzhi’s condition and seeing this scene was even more shocking for him. However, he was also already deeply entangled within the skirmish and was caught between a rock and a hard place. Protecting himself was already a stretch, so how could he take care of Xu Xingzhi as well?
Xu Xingzhi had been concentrating on picking the weaker of the wild nine-tailed serpents and the strike just now already dampened its spiritual aura by a lot. It frantically swung its tail in response, emitting wave after wave of pulsing air, furious and fierce, while iron bullets also rained down on everyone!
Xu Xingzhi’s vision burst with stars, fortunately his combat power was still there, allowing him to avoid it.
Yet, when he turned his gaze, he suddenly noticed that Xu Pingsheng was on the periphery of the battlefield, trying his best to resist the rolling serpentine tail and didn’t even realize that a few iron bullets were bearing straight towards his back!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Xu Xingzhi hurtled the jiao blade in Xu Pingsheng’s direction.
The blade tumbled and drifted through the air like a butterfly, coming behind Xu Pingsheng to morph into a golden shield, blocking all the iron bullets spat out by the nine-tailed serpent.
Xu Pingsheng heard the strange noise from behind, and the moment he turned his head in astonishment, he caught sight of a smear of blood blooming in the air out of the corner of his eye.
Without his immortal artifact, Xu XIngzhi failed to dodge the tail of the furious nine-tailed serpent and was swept between the rocks by one of them. A bloody laceration opened up on his abdomen, staining his clothes red.
He was embedded between the rubble with his head lowered, motionless.
Xu Pingsheng’s pupils constricted as he cried out involuntarily: “Xingzhi!”
Seeing Xu Xingzhi afflicted with injuries upon injury, Jiu Zhideng and Meng Chongguang were both thrown into shock and unspeakable pain. A sour taste bubbled in their throats, but one of them was placed on the periphery of the array and the other was fighting fiercely making it difficult for either one of them to get close.
Jiu Zhideng was so anxious that his eyes became bloodshot, while Meng Chongguang’s were bathed in a demonic energy in an instant as the tail ends of his eyes dyed red. He left his original position and rushed towards Xu Xingzhi.
Zhou Beinan narrowly avoided a blow and when he caught sight of the person jammed within the rock wall, his mind was disturbed while a serpentine tail swept down again during this momentary distraction.
He attempted to block it horizontally but the tail was ensnared in the shaft of the spear. After violently curling it up, the steel long spear unexpectedly emitted a kacha sound as dense cracks spiderwebbed from the center!
Wen Xuechen down below was already powerless to continue and more and more defects appeared in the the array that was forcibly assaulted by the two serpents; Guangfu-jun and Qu Chi were even more at a loss because they had entered the fray earlier than Xu Xingzhi, thus they were already arrows at the end of its flight.
The knicks on Guangfu-jun’s sword were mottled, and each chip seemed to land on his heart one by one, cutting him until even his heart’s blood seeped out.
. . . What to do? What should he do? What could be done to delay the progress of this monster?
. . . If Shixiong was here. . . If only. . .
At this time, an unknown injured cultivator abruptly exclaimed a word with extreme surprised: “Look!”
Guangfu-jun also felt something strange above his head. Sparing some time to look up, he couldn’t help becoming greatly astonished—
Large gray clouds accumulated on the top of Pingding Mountain at some point and layers of violent clouds swept in. The sky was white, as it swallowed the moon and nourished the sun, forming a spectacular scene.
. . . Guangfu-jun has had the good fortune of seeing these clouds before.
The realms of cultivators practicing the arts were roughly divided into the six stages of Refining Qi, Building Foundation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, and Ascension. Starting from the Golden Core period, any practitioner who has made a leap in cultivation must be examined by heavenly thunder.
Only those who survived the falling lightning were able to successfully ascend to the next level of cultivation.
. . . Among the dozens of disciples hailing from the immortal sects in this fierce conflict, the only disciple who has reached the perfected cultivation base of the Golden Core stage and may ascend to the Nascent Soul stage at any time could only have been one person.
Xu Xingzhi struggled to break free from the slab that his figure was embedded into and snapped his dislocated shoulder back into place as a trickle of blood slid down the corner of his lips.
“Come ah.” Xu Xingzhi sneered and shook his sleeves as they were embroiled by the wind, floating in the air. He tilted his head slightly and smiled at the howling and violently squirming twin serpents, “How about having a taste of this nascent soul heavenly thunder with me?”
With a roar, Zhou Beinan abandoned his precious spear and spinted straight for Xu XIngzhi, fortunately he was stopped by Qu Chi who rushed to his side in time.
Qu Chi shouted in a hoarse voice: “Leave quickly! None of us can stand this nascent soul thunder!”
Zhou Beinan struggled continuously: “He’s crazy! How could he dare?! He’s still running a fever, he can’t stand this thunderous calamity at all!”
The author has something to say:
—The higher the cultivation of the cultivator, the more intense the lightning they will suffer from. Among the practitioners who were transitioning from the golden core stage to the nascent soul stage, only three to four out of ten survived the lightning.
Therefore, unless they were fully prepared, cultivators above the Golden Core stage would rather not cross this tribulation and spend hundreds of years suppressing their cultivation at the critical point at the pinnacle of the Golden Core stage rather than take any risks lightly.
There were hidden flashes of lightning between the clouds, reflecting Xu Xingzhi’s tranquil and grinning face into a stark white hue.
Before the first strike fell, he beckoned with his hand, summoning “Xianbi” back. Stepping on the winds with one foot, he charged towards the billowing serpents which were intertwined together, loathing to part, unwilling to be separated!
