Episode 119

“My fellow cultivator in the Way, where are you going?”

Gu Suihan had just returned to the border between the forest and the desert and heard a chuckling voice before he could even catch his breath.

“Li Rong?” Gu Suihan turned around with a stern expression on his face. He immediately narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, “Xiexin?”

“I’m so sorry about ruining your plans, my friend,” said ~~Li Rong~~ Xiexin zhenren with a laugh and a smug look on his face.

Gu Suihan smiled faintly but his eyes were filled with greed. He stared hungrily at Xiexin zhenren, who was now in Li Rong’s body, just like how a pervert would stare at a pretty lady. The burning desire in his eyes made Xiexin zhenren shudder as a shiver ran down his spine.

“You’ve finally arrived. I’ve waited so long for you.” Gu Suihan smiled sinisterly and revealed his pearly whites as he took a big step forward. His sword flew out of its sheath and he swung it at Xiexin zhenren immediately. He clearly wasn’t interested in going through any formalities before fighting.

“Humph! Demon Lord Bronze Corpse, come out now!” Xiexin zhenren’s eye twitched when he saw how fiercely Gu Suihan was about to attack him and made a hand seal in order to summon a huge and heavy coffin made from black-colored wood. The runes on it lit up with a red glow and murderous demonic qi surged from the coffin. A blood-curdling howl came from deep within.

“It’s just a bronze corpse – did you think I’m still that Seven Kill Sect disciple with a lot to worry about?” scoffed Gu Suihan. His blade suddenly shone brightly and its ringing resonated to the skies. It stirred up the wind and clouds as it came down accurately on the Demon Lord Bronze Corpse that had just gotten up from its coffin.

SCREECH! Bright sparks flew in all directions. Gu Suihan’s left hand instantly turned into a demonic hand and he brought it down toward the corpse’s head hard. His nails instantly grew by three inches and they gleamed murderously in the light.

“You think you can pierce my bronze corpse’s head with just a bunch of sharp claws? Who do you think you are? One of those physical cultivators?” Xiexin zhenren scoffed disdainfully. He slapped his sack of corpses and the entire place suddenly turned dark as a thick layer of miasma floated out from the coffin.

“Watch me set up my Eight Direction Demon Trapping Corpse formation!” yelled Xiexin zhenren as he looked just as greedily at Gu Suihan. This boy was a high-level Gold Geng cultivator, so he would make a really good five-element king jiangshi.

“Jiangshi are dead but not stiff. Their bodies are strong but their souls are pathetic. Otherwise, it would be impossible for someone at Mid Foundation Establishment stage to fight the bronze corpse of an Origin Core cultivator.” Gu Suihan grabbed the head of the bronze corpse with his demonic claws tightly. The ear-piercing scraping of his nails against the corpse’s head filled the air and the sparks from the friction measured almost three meters high.

Gu Suihan knew that principle well – if he couldn’t take it down with one strike, he had to run. He made use of the momentum that the bronze corpse had in retaliating and retreated a few hundred meters into the trees. He now stood on a tree branch and looked down at the group of corpses emanating huge amounts of yin energy.

Xiexin zhenren glanced casually at the bronze corpse and his expression instantly turned to one of horror. The bright scalp of the bronze corpse now had five holes measuring a little more than an inch deep. He couldn’t believe Gu Suihan had actually managed to stab his fingers through the skull of the corpse. The holes were wide enough for one to see those disgusting maggots crawling about inside.

“He’s really good,” spat Xiexin zhenren through gritted teeth. Healing up these five holes was going to take quite a bit of effort on his part. Thinking about that really infuriated him.

He raised a bell for summoning spirits and started shaking it. The tinkling sound of the bell filled the air and a strange scene followed soon after.

The jiangshi were like soldiers that had received a command. They hopped a few times to form groups of twos and threes that surrounded Gu Suihan from all directions. The awful smell and the surge of murderous qi almost made Gu Suihan faint.

When he snapped out of his initial repulsion, he realized that the jiangshi had encircled him and there was nowhere to run. His surroundings had become foggy and dizzying. The jiangshi howled and growled nonstop as they used their green, scaly nails to claw at Gu Suihan maliciously.

“How dare you use a cheap formation like this on me? You little bastard, you’re really too green for this.” Gu Suihan wasn’t panicky at all. He split his sword qi to protect himself, so the poisonous claws of the jiangshi attacking him were mercilessly lopped off in seconds.

“Finger of Desire Severing and Soul Shocking!” Gu Suihan used his sword to protect his body while a finger on his left hand turned into a sword as it shone with a dazzling golden light. The air around it was absorbed quietly and it looked like it was warping the space. It didn’t look particularly impressive, but the effects were terrifying.

That finger broke through the fog and cut through his dizzying surroundings. It shone brightly like the bold rays of the sun, its golden light as piercing as a phoenix’s cry.

Xiexin zhenren had barely managed to dodge the sword qi coming from that finger. His heart palpitated fearfully as he touched the hair accessory that had been knocked off its original position. He exclaimed with some disbelief, “What in the world was that?”

“I’ll be happy to share more information with you–after you’re dead! If my guess is right, you didn’t split your soul at all. You’ve just completely taken over his body.”

Gu Suihan snickered and waved his arm. His sword qi fell like rain as it minced the mess of jiangshi in front of him. These jiangshi could be barely considered to be half as powerful as a cultivator at Qi Activation. Gu Suihan could kill them as easily as killing an ant.

“Nine Clouds, Eight Deserts, Seven Stars, Six Combinations, Five Elements, Four Phenomena, Three, Talents, Two Rites, One Qi Combined Forces Heaven Breaking Sword!”

Gu Suihan flew into the air and suddenly rattled off this long technique name that sounded more impressive than it really was. His sword howled loudly and the bright sword glow came down hard toward the slightly confused Xiexin zhenren like it was ready to split the ground in two.

Xiexin zhenren’s heart nearly stopped when he heard the long string of words and automatically assumed it was some powerful move. When he saw that powerful blade coming toward him, his heart instantly trembled and his instinct was to retreat as quickly as he could.

“You idiot! You actually believe that!” Gu Suihan laughed as he suddenly let go of his sword and let it fly toward Xiexin zhenren by itself as he suddenly made a hand seal. A mysterious blood-red seal was instantly formed. He held it in his hand and a cloud seemed to carry his feet as he executed another technique.

“Ghostly Shadow Seven Stars – Follow Like a Shadow!”

Before Xiexin zhenren could wrap his head around what was happening, Gu Suihan appeared right behind him in an instant, then suddenly popped up from the shadow beneath Xiexin zhenren’s feet. Gu Suihan smiled faintly as he launched the seal in his hands and it hit his opponent in the abdomen.

“You tricked me!” Xiexin zhenren finally realized what just happened. His entire face was red and he was utterly furious, partly from the pain and partly from his sheer anger.

“A good soldier doesn’t mind resorting to trickery sometimes,” said Gu Suihan with a chuckle. Instead of moving backward, he swiftly floated upwards, grabbed hold of Questioning Heaven, and looked down at Xiexin zhenren.

“You ancient monster! Go to hell!” Perhaps Xiexin zhenren knew that he couldn’t meet Gu Suihan’s standards at all, so he let out a mighty roar as his spirit summoning bell suddenly exploded. The shards glowed brightly as they flew right into the part between the brows of the bronze corpse.

ROAR! The bronze corpse let out a terrible roar. Its eyes were blackened and its entire body was covered in taut muscle. It took a thunderous step out, creating a deep hole in the ground as it leaped toward Gu Suihan in the air like a projectile.

“Inches Away – Ends of the World!” Gu Suihan was no fool. He had retreated earlier so that he wouldn’t end up killing himself along with his opponent. Once he saw the bronze corpse coming for him, he instantly disappeared out of sight because he was already prepared to do that.

“This fellow is really smart! Since he couldn’t get me with one blow, he decided to just run for it!” Xiexin zhenren glowered venomously in the direction where Gu Suihan was standing earlier. He did not dare to let his guard down, so he waved his arm and summoned the bronze corpse back to him so that they could protect him. He then quickly swallowed several pills in hope of recovering from his wounds as quickly as possible.

“You’re really still too green,” sniggered Gu Suihan as he hid in a tree about 10 kilometers away. He narrowed his eyes and his storage ring gleamed as he retrieved a ballista made entirely from metal. It was almost six meters in length.

He had stolen this thing from the Fenglin military arsenal. It was a meteoric metal ballista that was meant for attacking a city’s walls. It wasn’t a magic weapon and was worthless to cultivators, so Gu Suihan didn’t run into any problems when he stole it.

There was an arrow that was as thick as a baby’s fist in his hand. The part near the tip had been fashioned to look like the teeth of a saw and four channels carved into the body gleamed with a greenish glow. The metallic smell of the ballista and arrow could send shivers down one’s spine. The arrow alone was about three meters long and weighed more than a hundred kilograms. It usually needed at least four or five martial artists to operate this thing, but Gu Suihan was at Foundation Establishment and didn’t need anybody to help him.

He adjusted the angle, covered the arrow in poison, then gently placed the arrow in the slot meant for it. He aimed straight for where Xiexin zhenren was sitting cross-legged and trying to recuperate as a frosty smile spread across his lips.

“Here goes the first one,” whispered Gu Suihan as his strong fingers released the arrow.

Boom! The release of the arrow sounded like the boom of thunder as it sliced through the air and stirred up a mighty wind. The inertia from the arrow made the ballista move three meters back, creating two deep troughs in the soil.

The ear-piercing shriek of the arrow traveled several miles through the air. The trees it passed through were sliced by the wind it caused and stirred up splinters and cut leaves in its wake as it flew straight for Xiexin zhenren like a bolt of lightning.

The arrow spun rapidly, stirring up a whirlwind that made it go even faster than before. One could even see a blur of purplish black behind it.

“What in the world?” Xiexin zhenren was still on high alert, but when he heard that whooshing sound coming toward him, his body immediately moved several meters away before he even opened his eyes. The Demon Lord Bronze Corpse took a few heavy steps forward to protect its owner.

“What is that?!” Xiexin zhenren stood up and exclaimed when he saw that whirlwind that seemed to be tearing through the skies toward himself.

“Heavenly Demons Fill the World – Bronze Corpse Shield!” yelled Xiexin zhenren at the top of his lungs as he sensed the threat from the arrow. He immediately turned whatever spiritual energy he had just regained into a seal and slammed it onto the back of the bronze corpse like his life depended on it.

ROAR! The bronze corpse let out a loud roar and its muscles made a cracking sound like it was a machine that had just been started up and all its gears were just beginning to move. Its thick veins and tendons tensed up like a bowstring that was pulled back all the way as it sank its feet into the ground until the soil came up to its knees. It folded its arms and curled its body as it waited for the arrow to strike it.

Xiexin zhenren did not think of dodging at all because he could clearly see that the huge whirlwind coming behind the whooshing arrow in front had cut off every escape route he possibly had.