CH 2

Red blood colored the jade stair. In front of the Ascension Palace, countless cultivators pointed their swords together at one man.

These cultivators, led by the Thousand Leaf Sect, took advantage of the cover of night to break the barrier at the foot of the mountain, and slaughtered a path of the Arrogant Venerable’s underlings as they climbed. Their progress was very smooth so far, and the space outside the Palace was filled with demons’ corpses, leaving Gu Lingxiao all alone.

Hence, the Thousand Leaf Lord was very pleased. If he could eradicate the Arrogant Venerable today, his merit would be beyond great, and he would definitely be able to sit upon the Hundred Alliance Leader’s throne. 

An imposing figure stood on the steps, covered in black, the fingers peeking out from his sleeve a morbid, sickly white. His thin eyelids drooped down, and he laughed airily. “You want to kill me?” His voice was husky and cold, bringing a musing sneer. “A herd of good-for-nothings? Haven’t you noticed? The ones you’ve killed so far are nothing but weak puppets.”

The scent of blood suddenly retreated. The corpses, limp on the ground, suddenly morphed into rotting pieces of wood and yellowed paper. The red blood coagulated into icy trumpet vines.

The sound of a cultivator shouting “Not good!” could be heard, and the crowd fell back in a panic.

It turned out the opponents they’d worked so hard to eliminate were nothing but puppets that Gu Lingxiao created with a flick of his hand.

“Gu Lingxiao!” A sword cultivator at the head of the group berated, “Stop flaunting your underhanded tricks! Today, the Hundred Alliance assembled here to punish you, evil being. It will be your death date!”

Gu Lingxiao squinted at him for a while, before finally remembering this man’s name was Huo Liu. Huo Liu came to the Ascension Palace to try and curry favor with him not long ago, wanting to become the Thousand Leaf Lord.

Hah, this famous righteous sect was nothing but a two-faced hypocrite.

Huo Liu’s hair stood on end as he noticed Gu Lingxiao’s stare, but to maintain his image, he straightened his neck and said, “Heaven and earth are clear and bright. You will meet the wrath of Heaven and die a violent death!”

The others were motivated by this speech, and began to cry out fervently as well. “That’s right, the shining principles of yin and yang…”

“Y-you even wronged your teacher and killed your ancestors, imprisoning the venerable Cloudless Immortal!”

“You devil, conducting yourself so twistedly!”

One by one, the heinous accusations were called out. Gu Lingxiao gathered his sleeves, his pupils falling as he stayed silent. Only when he heard the words “Cloudless Immortal” was his state of mind disturbed even the slightest.

He thought, if they’re so noisy, Master won’t be able to rest well.

“Quiet. If you say another word, I’ll cut off all your tongues.”

Once these words dropped, most of the cultivators clamped their mouths shut in fear. Only one man continued indignantly, “As I see it, that Chi Ning is also quite cheap! How can he do it so shamelessly with his disciple…”

His voice faltered.

Gu Lingxiao took that cur’s life with a swipe of his hand, the way one would flatten an ant.

Even members of the Hundred Alliance were frightened still, daring not to act recklessly.

In the half month that they hadn’t met, Gu Lingxiao’s abilities improved monstrously, to the point that he could kill a late-stage Golden Core cultivator so easily. Even if the Jade Foliage Lord Jiu Ze was still alive, and went against this demon, the odds of success might not even be thirty percent.

Gu Lingxiao glanced around the cultivators’ faces which were all twisted in thought, and suddenly felt dull.

“The entire Sinking Star Continent belongs to me. Since you always scurry around like a bunch of grasshoppers, thinking you can run from me, and even get together from time to time to have delusions about–what do you call it?–upholding the righteous methods. Why don’t we settle this today?” His palm ignited with dark smoke. “If any of you think you can kill me, then come right up.”

The people beneath the stairs stayed silent. Huo Liu’s back was covered in cold sweat. The reason he dared to waddle to the head of the V-formation this time was because he heard Gu Lingxiao went overboard while cultivating, and was hiding in the Ascension Palace recently to lick his wounds.

But nothing about this man looked like he’d run into troubles cultivating. In fact, he only seemed so strong that no one could match him.

“Ready the sword formation!” Huo Liu summoned his courage to shout.

Thirty-six young, white-clothed sword cultivators leapt up, transforming into ice-blue seals in the air. It was the Lunar Formation.

This Lunar Formation was the secret art passed on by Clustering Jade Peak. With the power of heavy water and piercing ice, it combined thirty-six cultivators’ swords into one, able to pierce one straight through.

Gu Lingxiao’s pupils slowly turned a deep blood-red. With a raise of his hand, his internal force stirred the air around him. It suddenly surged like a gathering storm, flaring the dust and gravel.

“Not good, he’s going mad again!” The Everlasting Sect’s elder stepped back, recoiling before the enemy even struck.

Although Gu Lingxiao was quite powerful normally, sometimes, when he was in a good mood, he would spare his opponent’s life.

When his pupils grew red, he became especially brutal, and would not rest until there were hills of corpses and seas of blood, with not a single living thing left.

The earth trembled, and the fierce winds circling the ground, seemed able to whisk people straight into the night sky. Every rock and stone buzzed and whistled.

Puppets clawed their way out of the dirt, and began to fight fiercely at Gu Lingxiao’s signal. The dead were unable to die again, and even as their heads were sliced in two, the wound closed up quickly until they were as good as new, and they continued to attack relentlessly.

The earth will never reach the heavens.

The people at Huo Liu’s side decreased at an alarming rate. He filled in holes in the battle array left and right, bearing serious injuries, and eventually could only form a small circle with his remaining companions, fighting back-to-back as they barely resisted the demons’ attacks.

If this continued… None of them would leave this place alive…

Gu Lingxiao half-heartedly surveyed the battlefield, feeling a bit fed up. His slender and pretty hand lifted. With a flick of his forefinger, the people at the bottom of the stairs would explode into bits and pieces.

But his wrist was caught by a smooth strip of plain white brocade.

This feeling, like ice-cold lakewater, slightly startled Gu Lingxiao.

“Why are you here?”

Chi Ning used the spiritual energy in his horn, curling around the bones of Gu Lingxiao’s wrist as he walked to his side. “Lingxiao, don’t let yourself be controlled by your inner demons.”

“Look at me.” Chi Ning grabbed his hand, slowly transferring his own energy to Gu Lingxiao. This warm and pure internal force guided the chaotic force in Gu Lingxiao’s body.

The blood-red in his pupils slowly retreated.

Gu Lingxxiao held the gaze of those light, glass-like eyes. He heard Chi Ning speak as his lips parted. “Does your head still hurt?

Gu Lingxiao had a sudden realization. 

In his heart, Chi Ning would always choose the world first. Gu Lingxiao would only ever be second.

And now, Chi Ning was actually asking him…

…Whether it hurt or not.

“No.” Gu Lingxiao flipped his hand upwards, a trumpet vine appearing in his palm. “Here, have it.”

The dark night was heavy and deep, and the smell of blood suffused in the air, yet he handed Chi Ning a blooming flower.

The outer corners of Chi Ning’s eyes squinted as he smiled. He took the flower with one hand as the other spread its fingers. In it appeared the Swan-Treading Sword, its thin blade flashing with pallid light.

Huo Liu’s core and inner force were already exhausted, and he sprayed out blood with a puff. He thought he’d die without a doubt, yet suddenly realized in shock that the evil spirits were backing away!

Unexpectedly, things have taken a new turn.

He raised his head to see that it was actually Chi Ning standing side-by-side with Gu Lingxiao.

“Hah! He’s willing to humble himself to this point.” A female cultivator next to Huo Liu yelled at Chi Ning. “You raised this kind of disciple, who is rejected by humans and demons alike, and even allowed him to wreak havoc all over Clustering Jade Peak. I’m ashamed that I once even called you Martial Uncle! Now I want to throw up at the sight of you. What, is being Gu Lingxiao’s mistress that great?”

“I’d rather you kill me! At least I’d never have to see such dastardly filth again!”

Even with such vicious curses spewed by his then martial niece, the deep expression of grief only flitted by Chi Ning’s eyes for a moment. He immediately stood before Gu Lingxiao protectively. “I, Chi Ning, expunged myself from Clustering Jade Peak, hence giving up the title of Cloudless Immortal. There is no need for all of you to waste your breath arguing with me.”

“If you want to take Gu Lingxiao’s life, you’ll have to defeat me first.”

His jade-like fingers gripped his Swan-Treading Sword, and his clear and cold phoenix eyes swept across the crowd. Unexpectedly, he was still the man whose name stirred the nine continents back then: the Cloudless Arahant.

It was only that his heart had already been tormented in an oil furnace, splitting apart at the seams and reduced to a shadow. Not much was left, and he had given it all to the Gu Lingxiao behind him.

“Chi Ning, are you really going to rebel against the orthodox practices, and associate yourself with this monster?”

The Chi Ning now, set the rest of the world aside. The one he wanted to accompany was Gu Lingxiao, and only Gu Lingxiao.

He owed Gu Lingxiao a lot, and he wasn’t sure how many years or decades it would take to repay even a bit.

“Apologies, I have wronged the common people.”

But I don’t want to wrong Gu Lingxiao.