Archfiend

Chapter 280: Tianzi Mountain and the Azure Snake’s Treasury (4)

Xu Yangyi’s spiritual sense coiled throughout the devastation. He was somewhat regretful, at this moment. In front of him… an incomparably wide gulch appeared. A chasm that was of his own doing. In the past, such skill was absolutely beyond him!

Third Master’s body was sunk deep into the gulch. His feet, so thick that a few people could wrap around them, were powerlessly hanging out and pulling down the remains of countless trees. Crushed rock littered the ground. Both sides of the gulch were a scattered mess. The power of one slash from the Ketu-Rahu Sword was actually so great. This was something that not even he had expected! 

Crack… Crack… At the same time, his ears captured a nearly inaudible cracking noise. In the next second, four rumbling noises followed! In the Tianzi Mountain scenery, four tall mountains in his surrounding thousand meters all crumbled apart!

“This is the power of Foundation Establishment…” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in pleasure. “Such an omnipotent power… No wonder… everyone wants to advance to Foundation Establishment… Right now, it takes the dispatch of two or three elite camps to obstruct me, but… at Foundation Establishment, not a single group will think about getting in my way! At least a couple regiments. They’ll have to be equipped with heavy firepower, too!”

Xu Yangyi regretted that no one was left alive to speak.

The power of this sword was too great, and presently he couldn’t control it one bit. Even an ordinary initial-stage Foundation Establishment senior wouldn’t think of generating this level of might. The sword’s nature was almost equal to Wei Zhongxian’s Heavenly Opening Six Erosions. Those not of Foundation Establishment couldn’t exhibit its power, however.

But this was nothing more than thought. He was also relieved. Those able to hunt him down possibly belonged to the Nalan Clan’s main house. Apart from soul-searching, there was no question whatsoever that these people could answer. And soul-searching… was a Foundation Establishment divine ability.

Confirming that there wasn’t a single person left in the vicinity after scanning the environment a few times, his face finally became white. With a thud, his body went soft and landed on the ground.

His hand was firmly planted in the ground. The feeling of all his qi being drawn empty in an instant was even worse than what he had imagined. Due to Old Man Di’s suppression last time, he hadn’t been completely emptied out and become weak, but this time he really did indulge himself. He wanted to measure to power of his ace, and how great the residual effect was.

His chest heaved up and down rapidly, and his face appeared pale because the spiritual force mobilization was too great. His left arm was shaking fiercely and even his vision grew hazy. He was more or less able to make a detailed judgement. Once this move was brought into play… he would be sapped of any additional battle strength.

From a distant place, a figure ran over. It was Li Zongyuan. In his hand, he gripped a glowing blue object, a demon core, Jadewave’s demon core.

His prior investigation was to see whether or not there was anyone else. If there weren’t, he could confirm this move was definitely able to sweep away everyone. Nonetheless, he really wasn’t defenseless. Jadewave’s demon core was his ultimate trump.

“Master.” Li Zongyuan helped Xu Yangyi up with deep concern. It would do no good to not be worried… His life was linked together with Xu Yangyi’s. He asked fawningly, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine…” Xu Yangyi gritted his teeth and answered, a feeling of emptiness taking refuge within his body. The discomfort of qi exhaustion invaded him, bit by bit. He laughed bitterly, sat down again, and took out a bottle of pill elixir and drank it. After no less than four hours of meditation, he took a long sigh of relief and opened his eyes.

The spiritual force returning to his body was like the return of the soul. He opened his eyes, calmly looked at the sky, and suddenly asked, “What time is it?”

Li Zongyuan was dazed and looked at his watch. “It’s 4:47, Master.”

Xu Yangyi nodded and laughed, “Have you ever thought that qi is a kind of addiction?”

“Yeah… huh?” Li Zongyuan hadn’t responded. He pondered and instead said approvingly, “That’s right, as long as one cultivates, having less qi in the body for even a day feels extremely uncomfortable.”

Xu Yangyi stood up and patted his clothes. “Walk.”

“Yes… but Master, this corpse…” Li Zongyuan said hesitantly, “When cultivators engage in arcane combat, using isolation techniques is already a custom for Earth’s cultivators, but once someone dies…”

“Someone will come clean things up.” Xu Yangyi laughed, “Maybe you don’t know, but after my privileges were upgraded, I read in the Featherwood Guard’s resources that any cultivator that holds the SF ID has their aftermath work taken care of by the Cultivation Court and the Chinese government.”

“Master…” Li Zongyuan wanted to say something but hesitated, “this person’s position shouldn’t be low in his clan. His formation isn’t something available to an ordinary person.”

“And how is that my concern?” Xu Yangyi glanced indifferently at the giant corpse. “He had the obligation to pay things off for me. What do I care about whoever’s behind him?”

“Go.” He looked ahead. The sword might of moments ago had collapsed the surrounding mountains into rubble. However… one lone mountain hadn’t fell to ruin.

He wasn’t worried in the slightest that someone else would see. Even if they had, could they seize Xiaoqing’s key? Xu Yangyi was also very sure that even if one’s fortune defied the heavens and they stepped into the treasury, there would only be a journey of death without the key. Moreover, who would dare come interrogate him? The reputation of a Dao Master disciple was pretty useful.

But in Chengdu, Xichuan Province, the young branch master was none the wiser that the seventh story of a hotel had already been completely encased. In the early hours of four in the morning, a wretchedly mournful voice was heard hoarsely wailing from inside a well-soundproofed room! 

“Feng’er!!!” An old man drilled his eyes into the two broken halves of the jade slip in front of him, his body trembling. “Who… Who killed Feng’er! Wasn’t Feng’er supposed to reach the logistics supply later?! Don’t tell me that logistics have been attacked?!”

“I don’t care who you are… This Throne will definitely smoke you out… drink your blood… pull out your tendons… and ignite your soul to a celestial lantern. I’ll burn you to death for 99 nights!”

His voice was like a demon of hell, seething through the gap of his teeth as he gnashed and grinded his molars. Cursing for several seconds, he ultimately clenched his fists to a knuckle-white pallor and closed his eyes. His lips gently moved and a thread of silk spat out from his mouth, swiftly spreading to another room.

“Fourth Uncle.” In the other room, a middle-aged man suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at the silk thread in front of him in doubt and said respectfully, “Do you have some command?”

“Feng’er has died…” Unexpectedly, the man’s voice was strangely heard through this thread. Even with a mind less disturbed, he was unable to prevent the bone-deep hatred that now seeped through. “He died in Xiang Province… Go investigate… I had three juniors, two had already passed away. He was my last and only child… Who would want to sever this old man’s progeny!!!”

Bang! A crisp sound echoed through the silk thread. Evidently, the old man had smashed it or something under his towering fury.

“Fourth Uncle…” The man was somewhat awkward. “but the situation now…”

“I don’t care about that!!!” The old man’s angry roar was heard from the silk thread, echoing throughout the entire room. The grinding sound of clenched teeth accompanied his wrath. “I’m making advance preparations here; I’m in charge of the situation… In a week, the Bluedawn Winding Corridor will arrive above Chengdu… I can’t leave… but I left a jade pendant on Feng’er’s body. It was congealed with my heart blood, but even now it hasn’t triggered…”

He sucked in between his teeth. “This can only explain that the invader’s strength was far above Feng’er’s… but he dared to provoke the Nalan Clan… I have to make him regret that he was born in this world… Assign men and go retrieve the jade pendant. It has my divine ability. Once someone uses the same technique, I’ll react to it to some extent as long as it’s within a fifty kilometer radius.”

“If I do not inflict upon him a death of a thousand cuts… how can the great grievances of I, Nalan Cuo, be resolved!”

“Yes.” The man took a deep breath and stood up. Likewise, he was left confused in his heart. Although Nalan Feng wasn’t a supreme genius, his ancestral grandfather Nalan Cuo was one of the Nalan Clan’s five great steward-elders! The Nalan Clan’s 500 Dao defenders, 52 Foundation Establishment cultivators, and 8,000 surrounding Qi Condensation cultivators were all under the command of five elders on Nalan Cuo’s level! The jade medal that Nalan Cuo had bestowed upon Nalan Feng was bound to possess some code words that only their clan’s Foundation Establishment cultivators could understand. Despite the Nalan Clan’s prestige, who had gone so far as to eliminate Nalan Feng?

He didn’t consider the possibility of a Qi Condensation cultivator, nor did Nalan Cuo as well. This stemmed from the fact those of the Qi Condensation realm… were fundamentally unable to obliterate this jade pendant in a flash! So long as it wasn’t an instantaneous annihilation, this curio was able to save Nalan Feng’s life!

Now, Fourth Uncle himself said not to mobilize, only Foundation Establishment cultivators were to act! And yet as barely a month remained to begin operations anew in Longsu Province… perhaps Nalan Feng’s death was not so simple.

Was someone provoking the Nalan Clan? Or were there some other clans planning on weakening the Nalan Clan’s power?

As the matter stood, he was already compelled to dispatch forces to assess the situation.

“Get out… right now.” Nalan Cuo’s voice carried a bone-deep hatred, ultimately fading away, “I want results within a week.”

Xu Yangyi simply had no knowledge of this. His unintentional masterpiece has caused the Nalan Clan to think of many things. He couldn’t imagine that the blood-fueled and malevolent gaze of a Foundation Establishment heavyweight from a first-rate clan was already cast forth, that of a cultivator who far surpassed Thousandedge.

He didn’t care for whatever those behind him did. He only knew… that he would kill them and snap their joss sticks, relentless until death!

At the horizon, Venus had already ascended high above. Along with Li Zongyuan, Xu Yangyi was walking the path towards the lonely mountain. The key came out once again. Presently, its entire body was like green jade, seeping through with azure light and guiding the duo ahead. 

As they reached the foot of the mountain, the key orientated itself vertically and pointed straight up. Xu Yangyi and Li Zongyuan didn’t say a second word. As if they were walking on level ground, they rushed up the mountain.

Almost all grounds of the scenic Tianzi Mountain range appeared to be level, but this was in no way a hindrance to a cultivator’s steps. In less than three minutes, Xu Yangyi and Li Zongyuan reached halfway up the mountain. In front of a pitch-black cavern, the key stopped and pointed straight at the cave entrance, azure light also flickering.

“So it’s here…” Xu Yangyi’s gaze carried scorching-hot expectation. What kind of treasures… would the 3,600-year-old treasury of a greater demon be hoarding? Would he be able fulfill his wishes in taking an item he fancied? 

He didn’t enter the cave immediately but instead used his spiritual sense to sweep through it. There was nothing inside and moreover not a single vestige of life. Li Zongyuan saw Xu Yangyi nod and raised his leg to walk in, but Xu Yangyi yanked him back and shook his head.

“Master?” Li Zongyuan said doubtfully.

Xu Yangyi said nothing, rather hooking out with his finger. A three-eyed spirit ape puppet pawed out and ambled in.

However… at that very instant, an azure shadow surged out of the cavern like lightning and chomped down on the puppet. In a fleeting moment, a layer of azure mist pervaded the puppet. In less than three seconds, the puppet had transformed into fine dust!

Such ferocious toxicity!

Li Zongyuan clenched his teeth so hard that his face took on an ashy-white pallor, and stepped back a few steps. Xu Yangyi immediately unfurled both of his wings and hovered outside the almost perfectly-straight cave, studying the entrance with great focus.

That silhouette was a snake, an azure serpent. An azure… three-headed serpent!

It possessed the thickness of an arm and was a meter and a half in size. The serpent’s neck divided into two heads, yet its tail was also the head of a snake!

“Demonbeast.” The duo shared a glance, both of them understanding what the other wanted to say.

Furthermore, this was an extraordinarily rare demonbeast… With another look at this small snake, Xu Yangyi actually felt a sensation of danger that wasn’t inferior to a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

This snake didn’t possess spiritual pressure. The creature should’ve been Xiaoqing’s guard dog. It was unknown whether her incarnation had placed the serpent here, but something with the capacity to keep watch for Xiaoqing was in no way ordinary.