Chapter 75: Zhou Erlian

Chapter 75: Zhou Erlian

The sound of thunder rumbled dangerously as Tianyi sat upon his throne. He rested his head on his hand as he looked at the figure standing next to the Sect Master of the Five Poison Sect.

That figure’s presence was weak as if he was part of the world. Qi indistinguishable from the world’s qi, that was the hallmark of a Unity Realm Venerable. Should a Venerable wish, those under the Unity Realm would not be able to sense them.

The figure’s presence was a result of that. But, Tianyi was clearly able to sense the cultivator next to Sect Master Fivepoison! But that wasn’t because Tianyi’s sensing abilities were extraordinary, but the Unity Realm Venerable had a problem.

Tianyi observed the Unity Realm Venerable. He was of average height and wore a green robe artifact that was only at the Core Formation Realm. This, in itself, revealed a problem.

A revered Unity Venerable using Core Formation Artifacts? What a joke.

The Unity Venerable had sparse white hair, so thin that it could be ignored. His skin was full of dark blotches, and the numerous wrinkles nearly buried his eyes. The bloody aura and death qi surrounding him were also extremely familiar to Tianyi. It was akin to Lei Jingye from the other timeline who had forcibly raised his realm, only far worse.

Not just the Unity Realm Venerable, the other Nascent Soul Grandmasters, aside from Sect Master Fivepoison, also had bloody auras and death qi.

According to Tianyi’s estimation, the Unity Realm Venerable had less than a year to live while the other Nascent Soul Venerable had at most five years.

Tianyi snorted. The Unity Realm Venerable was incomplete; otherwise, Tianyi would not be able to sense him. When one ascended to the Unity Realm, there was a qualitative difference far greater than when one ascended to the Core Formation Realm from the Foundation Establishment Realm or Nascent Soul Realm from the Core Formation Realm.

It was a unique characteristic known as Harmonization.

“Hmpf. Friend from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, I advised you to stay out of this. This is a matter between the Five Poison Sect and the Fleeting Mist Sect.” Sect Master Fivepoison said.

Tianyi gave a mirthless chuckle. “Who was it who said that the Buzhou Immortal Sect could not do anything? Yet the moment I unleashed an attack, you cry for peace?”

Sect Master Fivepoison’s facial expression darkened before an ingratiating smile appeared. “I have eyes and did not see Mount Tai. I only heard of the legends of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Seeing the power of this hero, I can see that I was a frog at the bottom of the well. Do not concern yourself with a petty person like me. If I have offended you, I will apologize. But this is truly a matter between the Five Poison Sect and the Fleeting Mist Sect.”

Tianyi felt his lips twitch at how quick Sect Master Fivepoison changed his stance and even lowered himself after all those words.

“It’s true that I don’t have much of a relationship to the Fleeting Mist Sect,” Tianyi said, nonchalantly.

Sect Master Yun’s face fell while Sect Master Fivepoison showed a joyful expression. “Friend from the Buzhou Immortal Sect-“

“But,” Tianyi cut off Sect Master Fivepoison. “My elder, who has taken care of me since young, is friends with Sect Master Yun.”

It was now Sect Master Fivepoison’s turn to have an ugly expression while Sect Master Yun’s expression brightened.

“Besides, those Nascent Soul Elders and even that incomplete Unity Venerable,” Tianyi paused as he took in the three of them, ignoring the now dead Nascent Soul Grandmaster that he had struck earlier. “You guys refined mortals in order to forcibly increase your realms, didn’t you?”

Sect Master Yun who heard Tianyi stared in shock at Sect Master Fivepoison and the three others. “Impossible, how come they don’t have Karmic Sins then!?”

For a Core Formation Master to refine people and enter the Nascent Soul Realm, they would incur a huge amount of Karmic Sin. But Sect Master Yun did not detect much Karmic Sin from them and simply thought they were blood or slaughter cultivators.

As for Tianyi.

Tianyi never considered himself a moral person. At least to the moral stratum developed from modern Earth. But Tianyi had this thing called standards. He had no problem causing endless misery to people he didn’t like or just kicking while they were down, but refining an unaccountable number of people for power?

How many people would it take to refine in order to raise a Foundation Establishment Disciple to a Core Formation Master? How many would it take to raise a Core Formation Master to a Nascent Soul Grandmaster? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? Millions?

Tianyi didn’t know, but the numbers would be unaccountable. A mere mortal could never compare to a cultivator, so they would have to make up the difference with quantity.

The explosion was cataclysmic.

Zhou Erlian, even as an incomplete Unity Venerable, was, frankly speaking, underwhelming. His techniques were still that of a Core Formation Master’s. Only his realm had increased, nothing else.

In addition, because he had refined numerous mortals in, Tianyi’s attacks were especially effective against him, who was surrounded by Karmic Sin. Lightning already suppressed evil and yin attributed attacks and cultivators, but it was doubly so since Tianyi embued his attacks with his Tribulation Essence.

But Zhou Erlian had never planned to live. He had been planning revenge since the day he received news that his brother had died. A mysterious benefactor had given him the technique to refine mortals to increase his cultivation base. By the time he gathered the necessary amount of mortals, his brother’s killer had long left.

It was only recently that the mysterious benefactor contacted him with news that his brother’s killer had returned. Zhou Erlian had wanted to beat Tianyi and mock him with his Unity Realm cultivation, but alas, he was suppressed in both techniques and attributes.

Zhou Erlian unleashed the only method he could kill Tianyi with. He used his body and cultivation base as a bomb and ignited himself.

Sect Master Yun and Sect Master Fivepoison were knocked away by the wind created from a Unity Realm Venerable’s self-destruction.

“No!” Sect Master Yun cried out. The blast radius of Zhou Erlian’s suicide attack was nothing to laugh at, and he could see the explosion widening even further. At this rate, all the people in the Fleeting Mist Sect would be killed.

Even Sect Master Fivepoison had a nasty expression. His own sect members would be caught up within the radius as well.

Just as it seemed that the self-destruction would enlarge, the thirteen lightning pillars bent and caged the explosion. Under the disbelieving eyes of everyone, the explosion was locked within the cage. Slowly the light brought about by the explosion dimmed until it entirely disappeared with the lightning pillars.

Tianyi stood in the air with smoke was rising from his robes; his face was dark as he sent a glare towards Sect Master Fivepoison. His throne was nowhere to be seen, and parts of the landscape caught with the blast radius had turned to glass from the extreme heat.

He turned his gaze towards Sect Master Fivepoison.

Sect Master Fivepoison and the members of the Five Poison Sect all felt chills up their spines.

“RETREAT!!!” It was an action brought about by his intuition, but Sect Master Fivepoison ordered his sect to retreat immediately.

Tianyi said nothing and raised his hand in the air. Black clouds gathered above him, streaks of lightning were even absorbed into it from the Fleeting Mist Sect’s lightning seas. Miles upon miles, black clouds could be seen, blotting the night sky once more.

Tianyi brought his hand down, and endless lightning bolts struck down upon the fleeing Five Poison Sect members.

Sect Master Fivepoison vomited blood after a bolt of lightning struck him, his body burnt black. The last two Nascent Soul Grandmasters attracted the most lightning with their massive amounts of blood aura and died under the onslaught of lightning.

Strangely, half Core Formation Masters and Foundation Establishment Disciples survived the lightning bolts that fatally injured Sect Master Fivepoison. But soon, half of them stopped as they descended into despair.

Core Formation and Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation descended upon those near the peak of their realms, sending the whole Five Poison Sect into a panic.

Sect Master Fivepoison could feel himself choking as he witnessed this scene, his eyes caught sight of Tianyi’s emotionless eyes as if he was the ruler of lightning passing judgment.

The Sect Master quickly continued to flee. He didn’t have the leisure to worry about his sect. But even as he ran, his heart bled profusely. After this, how many years would it take to rebuild the loss forces of the Five Poison Sect?

That was assuming Tianyi didn’t chase after him.

Tianyi paid special attention to Sect Master Fivepoison and deliberately ordered several lightning bolts towards Sect Master Fivepoison. Sect Master Fivepoison in response, split into five versions of himself and fled in different directions.

In response, even more lightning bolts descended upon. A happy side effect was that the lightning falling upon the other Five Poison Sect members decreased in numbers and power. Not that Sect Master Fivepoison would be pleased if it was at his expense.

But before Tianyi could continue, an argent pillar of light erupted from within the lightning seas and destroyed the black clouds.

Tianyi frowned as he felt himself unable to summon the black clouds and even his true qi being suppressed. He sent one look at the fleeing Five Poison Sect members before he descended to the grown, his innate ability to step on air suppressed by the argent light.

As time passed, the fragrance of lotus enveloped the Fleeting Mist Sect and its surroundings. He could see a tiny figure next to the pillar of light. Even from a distance, Tianyi could see that it was his mother, Xi Mengfei.