by <unknown>
It would be unwise for him to cast the flying skills to wing across the mountain ridge, after all, there were too many experts garrisoning the mountains. Flying in mid-air would only make him an easy target for them, and his ending would not be favorable.
Furthermore, Zhong Yue was still clueless on the levels and prowess of the experts coming after him. Hence, he opted to restrain and confine the activity of the battles he must engage in to a minimum so that he would not attract the attentions of the Atman Body and Inner Core Qi Practitioners!
If the attentions of the cultivators at the stage of hall masters were attracted, his life would be placed in great jeopardy.
In addition, if he was held back in the air while casting the flying skill, he would attract even more attention and things would spiral out of his control. Alerting the Atman Body and Inner Core leveled cultivators would likely cost him his life.
All in all, traveling on foot was his only viable option. Even if he were to engage in battles, he would have to refrain himself from flying into the air and confine the battles to the ground!
However, even if he was only walking, his speed was still comparable to the flying speed of ordinary Qi Practitioners.
“It’s the Zhong Shan Clan member, that human brat!”
Someone yelled from afar. All of a sudden, the snowy weather worsened, one after another, skills and spells blasted over above the thick layer of snows. The experts pounced down from the sides of the mountain slopes, and soon, they had entered the valley and were only tens of miles away from Zhong Yue. In the midst of all this, they had already launched their skills out towards him!
Judging purely by their skills and techniques, they are all just Awakening Qi Practitioners, none of them are at the level of Atman Body or Inner Core at all!
Rays flashed in Zhong Yue eyes, all of a sudden, he rushed down from the mountain top, a single stride would carry him a thousand feet away, bolting over to the celestial experts on his right!
The celestial Qi Practitioners on his right launched their skills in the forms of burning flames, huge rock boulders, and swords – all of them were incredibly strong.
Right then, totem patterns started to emerge on Zhong Yue’s skin. Without a decrease in speed, he rammed right through the skills and strode forward. The next second, he was already right in front of a celestial Qi Practitioner. Lifting his hand high and slamming down —Bang— a loud boom sent the Qi Practitioner flying through the air before he suddenly exploded into fleshly fragments!
“【Sword Nine Style】!”
Nine sword silks danced in the air, enshrouding another celestial Qi Practitioner and as they flitted over him, the Qi Practitioner grew stunned. Blood started to seep out from the narrow cutting lines, and he was eviscerated into small and tiny pieces.
Seeing things taking a sharp turn for the worst, another Qi Practitioner quickly fly into the air. Just when he was in mid-air, a figure appeared above him, casting its shadow over him. He raised his head up to soon realize that Zhong Yue was already above him, stomping on his head.
The Qi Practitioner’s head was crushed into his own chest, while Zhong Yue stepped on his shoulder and pressed him down. They plummeted down from the air and the Qi Practitioner was crushed into a meatloaf deep in the valley of the snowy mountain.
“Trying to contend with me in the level of Awakening? You are simply begging to be killed!”
Right when Zhong Yue alighted, he bolted away as fast as his legs could carry him, treading on the falling snow towards the deepest part of the Lian Yun Mountain Ridge.
It was only then when the celestials on the right side reached to the battlefield. Looking down, they saw the three congealed pools of blood that were the final remnants of their fallen comrades. Casting their gaze forward, they only saw Zhong Yue’s back as he bolted away.
Zhong Yue was too quick, the celestial Qi Practitioners were slain right when the battle started, leaving behind only their corpses. Such prowess, he was even stronger and terrifying than during the duel in the Xiao Mang celestial temple!
“It’s a small matter to hunt for him when compared to our lives. Let’s leave this Zhong Shan Clan member to the other Qi Practitioners, it’s better for us to just spare our own lives,” the Qi Practitioners looked at each other, they could clearly see the fear in their eyes.
Meanwhile, Zhong Yue had already traipsed past another mountain. There were also a few Qi Practitioners on guard. They could hear two loud bombs blasting in their ears, the first was short and the following one was even shorter, they should have been let out during two battles that ended quickly.
Then, the Qi Practitioners saw the silhouette of the human hiking the mountain at great speed, leaving a blizzard trail behind them. From afar, it looked like a snow dragon was slithering up the mountain.
When he had reached the mountain top, only then the sounds rumbled in their ears.
“What a strong guy! Is this the Zhong Shan Clan member?”
Zhong Yue kept mum and he went all out right from the start, immediately blasting his skills out. The Qi Practitioners on the mountaintop bellowed in anger, they cast out all of their skills, soul weapons, Yuan Shen, all five secret realms and wheels!
On the first mountaintop, the Qi Practitioners had not left yet, they were looking on from far. They could see marvelous rays glimmering on the second mountaintop, and vaguely, a few figures moving around, flickering here and there in the battle!
The next moment, all the rays disappeared, a figure leaped down from the mountaintop and rushed down the mountain.
While the celestial Qi Practitioners were stunned, they still maintained their position and battle stance; however, they remained stationary for a long time.
“Weird, why aren’t they moving at all?”
The Qi Practitioners on the first mountain leaped into the air and rushed towards the second mountain; and when they arrived, to their shock, they found holes that penetrated through the brains of the celestial Qi Practitioners on the second mountain!
“What a fast sword, how could there be a young human that is so strong!”
They quickly cast their gaze over to the third mountain, but found nothing there. There was only a pile of remains of the celestials on the ground that acted like a beacon of terror in their hearts.
One of them tried to look over to the fourth mountain, but the snowy weather was getting heavier, heavily limiting visibility. He mumbled, “The fourth mountain is guarded by Zhu Jushan of the Zhu Jian celestial race, he is the strongest Awakening Qi Practitioner among the Zhu Jian celestial race, the blood that flows in him is very noble; he probably could've stopped the human.”
Another celestial Qi Practitioner nodded and said, “The Qi Practitioners of the Zhu Jian celestial race, their spirits, Yuan Shen, arcane energy and physique are all stronger than the other races. Zhu Jushan, as the strongest Awakening Qi Practitioner in the Zhu Jian celestial race, is way stronger than Xiao Jin. Its probable that only he can take down this human at this point….”
“Not probably, but surely! The Zhu Jian Celestial Race is a race of strength, the Shan Shen Celestial Race ranks third in terms of strengths, while the Zhu Jian Race is ranked second. They are on par with the Zhu Yan celestial race, only a fine line weaker in terms of physique!”
“Zhu Jushan has opened the Yuan Shen third form, his prowess is definitely in the top three among the Awakening Qi Practitioners of West Barren! He is here for this Zhong Shan Clan member. He had heard that this Zhong Yue is the strongest Awakening Qi Practitioner of the human race, one who has reversed opened the five Yuan Shen realms – a feat that is purported as the foundation to ascend to the level of the gods. Hence, this was why Zhu Jushan will come after this human, his intention is to see who the strongest between the two of them truly is.”
“He wants to kill the Zhong Shan Clan member, to ascertain whether he has the potential to become a god?”
“That’s right! He is here to kill the one who reverse
opened the five Yuan Shen realms. He is here to prove himself, and to prove that conventionally opening the realms is a path no weaker than reverse opening the realms!”
During the time they were discussing, Zhong Yue had already reached the summit of the fourth mountain. The snow showered down like a rainstorm. There was a cottage, albeit small and simple, that carried the imposing air of a grand palace. In the cottage, there were a few Qi Practitioners sitting down around a bonfire with a pot of boiling tea above it, bubbling and emanating white steam.
“Your bravery is truly admirable!”
A celestial sized like a little mountain sat in the middle of the cottage, donned in a marten coat. He had the body of a leopard, the face of a human and ears of a cow. He cast his gaze over and stared at Zhong Yue smilingly, “The Zhong Shan Clan member, Zhong Yue?”
“Swords Gate, Zhong Yue.”
Zhong Yue clasped his hands and greeted.
“Zhu Jian Celestial Race, Zhu Jushan.”
The celestial patted the marten coat on his shoulder, raised his hand and introduced, “They are….”
However, Zhong Yue waved his hands in the air and strode into the cottage, “No need for that, they are too weak, they will die anyway. Save the trouble of introducing the dead.”
The Qi Practitioners growled in anger, standing up immediately as if looking for a fight while Zhu Jushan smiled and said, “Please, calm down. Senior Martial Brother Zhong Yue had endured a long and arduous journey here. He must be tired, let him rest, then we can start the battles.”
Rays flashed in one of the Shan Shen Qi Practitioner, he said, “Brother Jushan, it’s best to let me test his strengths first!”
Zhu Jushan flared up, raising his hand and slammed the Shan Shen Qi Practitioner into a clump of mashed meat, the other Qi Practitioners were shocked and beseeched, “What is Brother Jushan doing?”
“I said wait, but he didn’t want to listen, so I killed him.”
Zhu Jushan flared out his barbaric aura, he said, “I’ll have a battle with Senior Martial Brother Zhong, fair and square, I’ll kill whoever dare stands in my way. Even if they are my comrades! Senior Martial Brother Zhong, please sit.”
Zhong Yue thanked him and sat right in front of Zhu Jushan.
Zhu Jushan raised the tea pot and poured some tea, his eyes were filled with enthusiasm, “Rumors said that if you can reverse open the five realms, then you will have the potential to become a god. My heart aches and boils whenever I think of battling with experts like you. I dream of the moment that I crush you with my own hands. When you’ve rested enough, please fight me, I’ll kill you and prove that I’m even stronger than the one who has reverse opened five realms! Senior Martial Brother Zhong, please, enjoy some tea.”
Zhong Yue lifted the teacup and drank it all, he said, “Give me 3 minutes.”
Zhu Jushan was overjoyed, he said to the other Qi Practitioners, “Don’t you all dare to make a sound, I’ll kill whoever dares to disrupt Senior Martial Brother Zhong’s rest!”
The other two Qi Practitioners shuddered in fear and dare not make a single sound.
Chapter 198: Zhu Jian Celestial Race |
Zhong Yue rested for awhile, then opened his eyes and stood up, he said, “Senior Martial Brother Zhu, shall we?”
Quickly, Zhu Jushan also stood up and said happily, “Senior Martial Brother Zhong, don’t you want to rest a little bit more?”
Zhong Yue said in a serious tone, “Killing those celestial Qi Practitioners from before was nothing to me. The only reason I accepted your offer to rest was to ease Senior Martial Brother Zhu’s heart. After this short period of rest, you wouldn’t think that you are taking advantage of my fatigue, and this way, you can also die peacefully without any grievances.”
The other two celestial Qi Practitioners gazed at one another and exited the cottage, the atmosphere was too suffocating for them to endure.
This was the battle between two young and talented cultivators. They were enemies and yet, they treated one another with respect. The celestial offered the human to rest and the human did so to ease the celestial’s mind.
Their hearts longed to crush one another in their hands, but at the same time, they acted with extreme civility. It might seem absurdly odd to others but it was normal to them as they were both men of honor and pride. Having extreme trust in their own powers and abilities. This conviction all stemmed from their utmost confidence in the belief that they were the strongest in their level, the one and only invincible one!
Showing this level of consideration towards their opponent was because in their hearts, the other one was already a dead man. Showing some politeness to the dead was merely nothing to them.
This in turn, however, suffused the air with a mentally oppressing atmosphere that could infuse fear into weaker opponents.
However, Zhong Yue and Zhu Jushan remained placid, all while the other Qi Practitioners on the side hastily departed the cottage in terror.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve met with a strong guy like you, all the other celestials avoided me because I’m too strong, no one dared to challenge me ... merely cowards that feared death.”
Zhu Jushan moved his limbs around and stretched his muscles. He whined, “As for the other two celestials that are able to stand against me — one is a lady from the Zhu Yan celestial race, but it’s no fun to fight a female. The other kept running away from me, avoiding a battle. It’s hard to come by a strong and formidable opponent like you. Finally, I can go all out in a battle! Oh yes, is Senior Martial Brother Zhong a fan of soul weapons?”
Zhong Yue was empty-handed, even when he had fought with the Qi Practitioners from before, he did not use any soul weapons; hence, the reason as to Zhu Jushan’s question.
When the cultivators advanced into the level of Awakening, they would usually store their soul weapons away in their secret realms. Although Zhong Yue had only opened the realms two months ago, Zhu Jushan believed that with Zhong Yue’s prowess and cultivation base, he could definitely expand the realms to a size that could store his soul weapons.
However, unexpectedly, Zhong Yue nodded and replied, “It’s a hasty trip to the West Barren, I didn’t bring any soul weapons with me.”
“In that case, I’ll not use my soul weapons.”
The other two Qi Practitioners stood with their mouths agape as they heard him. Not having any soul weapons was Zhong Yue’s one disadvantage and yet, he had just forthrightly told his opponent.
Even more so, when Zhu Jushan was told that Zhong Yue did not have any soul weapons, rather than taking the chance to take advantage of his weak point, Zhu Jushan instead decided not to use soul weapons as well!
These two guys, their brains are somehow deformed! The two Qi Practitioners gazed at one another and thought to themselves.
Zhu Jushan walked out of the cottage with his hands on his back, he was nearly twice as tall as Zhong Yue. Raising his head up, he took a moment to appreciate the downy snow, “It’s coming to the end of the year, the winter will once again paint the ground into a sea of snow. Every year this season, I’ll always go back to the Zhu Jian celestial temple without fail. My tribal people will be busy preparing for the ceremony to worship our ancestors and listen to the voices and words of the Zhu Jian god.”
Zhong Yue followed behind, and resonated with him, he said placidly, “In our Swords Gate, the Lawless Battles of the upper house should also be starting soon. The upper house disciples must be doing everything they can to try and increase their strength now. This year’s Lawless Battles will be incredibly amazing as the atmosphere in Swords Gate has changed as compared to last year. There is a kind of … oppression lingering in the air, I suppose that there will be more experts emerging this year.”
“Senior Martial Brother Zhong, you humans worship your ancestors?” Zhu Jushan asked curiously.
“We do.”
Zhong Yue smiled in return, “Worshiping our ancestors is a form of ceremony to express our defere
nce to the ancestors. We humans think that when our ancestors receive our worship, their spirits would become the gods that guards over us. The totem spirits of the big clans are usually the spirits of the ancestors or guardians of the clans. Even the smaller tribes worship the ancestors, just that they were not as strong as the bigger clans, most of them wouldn’t have totem spirits guarding over them.”
Zhu Jushan cast his gaze over to the West Barren and said, “It’s been a long time since Senior Martial Brother Zhong returned to your home, hasn’t it? Cultivators like you and me, as we grow in age and strength, we don’t get to return back to our home as often anymore. Whenever there is a festival going on, my heart yearns to go back and reunite with my friends and families, is Senior Martial Brother Zhong the same as me?”
Far away from them, the two celestial Qi Practitioners gazed at one another; Zhong Yue and Zhu Jushan were chatting leisurely among themselves, pontificating on the cultural lives of the Zhu Jian celestial race and the human race, and by the looks of it, it seemed like the conversation would last for quite some time.
One of the Qi Practitioner mumbled softly, “So … are they going to have a battle, or are they trying to become sworn brothers….”
KRONG——
Just when he finished his sentence, a loud din came from the mountain top, striking right on their eardrums, temporarily deafening them with the buzzing sounds of the immense impact force!
An avalanche was created from the mountain top, the snow rumbled down all over the mountain to the mountain-foot! Revealing the true face of the snow mountain— a mountainous glacier!
Zhong Yue’s palm and Zhu Jushan’s palm clashed together, pushing the snow away from them, the impact was so strong that the cottage was instantly torn into pieces!
“Nice strength! I never would have thought that a human can be so strong. However, this is only just the start!”