Episode 184

Ba-thump! The sound of a heart beating became more and more frequent, and the vibration and pressure everyone felt became stronger as well.

Most of the disciples from the major sects that had come were howling and crying inconsolably. Some couldn’t take it in the end and died while clutching their chests with indignant looks on their faces.

Besides those were the deacons and elders at Origin Core. All of them were also barely breathing as they did their best to meditate, hoping to hold up against the pressure that was attacking their five bodies from all sides. Unfortunately, as the drumming of the wardrum-like sound got faster and faster, their faces also became paler and paler. Blood seeped out from every orifice and stained their clothing. The gloomy weather gave them a different sort of beauty and depth.

The expressions of You Hantian and the rest darkened as time went by. Their faces grew sinister, and some even looked a little twisted.

But there was nothing they could do. They were barely even able to move. In the sky, that mysterious and strange eyeball had reappeared, and it was now staring at the opening of the well that was overflowing with devilish qi.

An almost unnoticeable tinge of fear flickered in that giant eyeball. A fear that only appeared when it was faced with its natural enemy.

“Senior sister!” Shuang’er leaned against the side of the flying ship and looked down at Jingjing, who had collapsed and looked like she was in a lot of pain. The younger girl immediately burst into tears and wailed desperately, “Father! I beg you! Please, please save her!”

“Shuang’er…” The middle-aged man looked at the hopeful look in Shuang’er’s eyes, his usually indifferent expression shifting slightly as the guilt in his heart increased.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to save her. He couldn’t.

He knew that the thing inside the well was watching him from the shadows, waiting for a moment of weakness. If he had to turn and pull Jingjing onto the ship as well, it would only take a moment, and it might not take a lot of effort, but…

That one moment was all the other party needed. He knew that well.

“I beg you!” Shuang’er eyes were brimming with tears, and they rolled down her cheek and onto the deck like pearls. Each pearl hit the floor very quietly, but it felt like a punch in the middle-aged man’s heart.

“I…can’t!” The middle-aged man turned away from his daughter, his eyes filled with fury, hatred, and seriousness.

“I’m…I’m begging you!”

Shuang’er fell to her knees with a loud thud and continued begging her father as she bowed again and again. Her fair and smooth forehead hit the deck again and again, making a thumping sound.

“Are you going to save her? Or watch her die?” A voice tinged with schadenfreude resounded. In that instant, a wind blew, and the clouds parted. The trenches in the ground grew deeper and widened, swallowing the corpses of the cultivators who had just died. The trenches were like huge mouths gobbling up the dead bodies and emanating a terrifying, sinister aura.

“Ahh!” Jingjing let out another bloodcurdling scream when the voice spoke. A bright red patch of blood appeared on her white dress and began to spread like a rose in bloom. It was an elegant yet eerie and bloody sort of beauty.

“Senior sister!!” Shuang’er reached her little handout and screamed from the safety of the deck.

“Junior sister…” Jingjing had a beautiful smile on her ashen face. She was like a fading lotus flower, gentle, sweet, and reticent.

“Senior sister…” Shuang’er glared at the back of her silent father and bit her lip so hard that it bled a little. She had a resolute expression on her youngish face, then suddenly leaped off the deck.

At that moment, the expression of the middle-aged man finally unfroze. There was some anger, some panic, and even a dash of disbelief.

Almost instinctively, the middle-aged man stepped off the ship without hesitation. His spiritual energy was as mighty as a dragon as it picked up both Jingjing from the ground below and Shuang’er in midair, then he waved his hand and brought them both onto the ship.

“How noble a father’s love is!” The voice was filled with mocking, a faint disdain, and much sarcasm.

At the same time, the trenches in the ground suddenly exploded. Sand and stones flew up, and the sound of a spear vibrating could be heard as it launched an attack like a venomous viper on the hunt.

It was as nimble and rapid as lightning.

Immediately after, the middle-aged man turned around.

That spear that looked like it could pierce the sky broke through the heavy layers of the laws of nature. The air shook violently, and the sound of glass breaking could be heard as dark, and deep cracks kept appearing around the spear. The spear itself was like a python, and its tip was like the tongue of the snake.

The spear was stabbed hard into the waist of the middle-aged man. The spear glinted brightly as it tore a large piece of flesh off the middle-aged man as he howled in pain.

A bloodied mist filled the air, and the broken bloodstained flesh turned to nothing in the wind, quietly becoming part of this world.

“Across the Skies Cloud Rolling Sword – Hack the Waves in the Wind!” The middle-aged man walked several steps in the air and raised a bright white sword. Its glow was majestic enough to cut open the ground as its blade hummed gently. He brought it down hard, so angry that he didn’t care anymore.

“Move your spear horizontally, draw your sword, and stab his chest!” A clear and unbothered voice suddenly rang out in the silence.

“It’s you…”

“Gu! Sui! Han!”

“You shameless, despicable fellow!”

Angry shouts poured out of the mouths of You Hantian and the rest. Their vengeful, twisted expressions nearly caused all their features to merge into one.

“You’re at a high level of cultivation, but your techniques are too weak. I’ll give instructions, and you listen to me!” said Gu Suihan with a domineering air that nobody would dare to question. “Gather fiendish qi and solidify it. Move nine meters to the left, turn your spear, and smash the tail end down.”

The devil was a little annoyed by how Gu Suihan was treating it with such disdain, but at the same time, its sneak attack on the middle-aged man had hardly caused the man any harm. It looked embarrassed when it remembered how smug it had been earlier and immediately did as Gu Suihan said.

“Break the space, slice the void!” The middle-aged man brandished his sword once more. His move was like wisps of clouds in the sky that were tainted with indescribable gloominess and helplessness. It was like a flower, yet not quite. Like fog, yet not quite. It was just enough to cover the devil.

“Keep your spirit steady and watch your soul. Swipe your spear to the left, take three steps forward, and bend your finger to gather fiendish qi.” Gu Suihan’s extremely annoying voice resounded once more. It was calm yet sinister and very, very confident.

“Kill that young fellow!” the middle-aged man yelled frostily at You Hantian as he barely dodged the spear attack of the devil and stared down in dismay at his torn clothing.

“Damn it!” You Hantian, and the rest hated Gu Suihan to the core and were definitely more than willing to literally skin and eat him alive. They took a heavy step forward and made a huge crack in the ground.

“Listen to my instructions. If we succeed, we’ll hold this world in our hands. If we fail, go back into the Devil Abyss.”

Gu Suihan looked down at the admiring expressions of the countless members of the devil race below. He raised his arm and spoke boldly, “Get into groups of three and form the Triple Genius Extreme Dao formation. Cooperate with each other and stall them. Once your leader successfully kills this man, we’ll win.”

Oddly enough, Gu Suihan seemed like a great orator now. His voice was filled with confidence, and everything he offered sounded tempting.

Earlier on, he had already sent the instructions for this formation directly into their minds via telepathy, and this seemingly magical technique made them feel in awe of Gu Suihan. Still, it also made them even more afraid of him. That was why none of the devils were unhappy or upset even though he was ordering them around like this.

When they thought about how they might possibly have a better life ahead, they put on a threatening expression and roared angrily as they quickly got into formation. They got into groups of three and worked with one another to create the formation.

In a matter of seconds, a living formation was made just like that.

“Your mission is simple – stall for time. The longer you are able to stall them, the higher the chances of winning.”

Gu Suihan stared at them while giving these instructions, then dispelled the hypnotic spell he used that had consumed quite a bit of energy. He then moved upward and entered the crack in the ground above again.

The trench was pitch black, and a thick layer of devilish qi filled the air around him. It was impossible to see anything.

Somehow, Gu Suihan managed to move through the tunnel without running into You Hantian and the rest.

“You traitor! How dare you betray the human race! I must kill you today!” spat the middle-aged man with a furious look on his face when he noticed Gu Suihan walk out from the trench with a frosty smile and his hands folded behind him.

“Human race? Are you still human?” Gu Suihan gave the older man a mocking look. “Are cultivators still human?”

Were they? Weren’t they?

What Gu Suihan meant by these words was simple.

To a certain extent, once a human decided to take the first step to become a cultivator, they were no longer human. Becoming a cultivator was to surpass the limits of human life, an evolution of sorts.

It was the same with the demons. Were creatures without sentience considered a demon or demonic beasts? Clearly, they weren’t. They remained merely beats.

In the same way, were those ordinary people with no spiritual root and no ability to cultivate considered to be of the same race as cultivators?

“Heaven has made all things to benefit mankind, but mankind has done nothing to repay heaven. Instead of giving back to the world, you’ve brought enemies to attack us. You deserve to die!!” bellowed the middle-aged man angrily. There were ripples in the air from the soundwaves of his voice. The veins on the arm he used to grip his sword resembled green dragons and looked just as imposing.

“Heaven has made all things to benefit mankind?” Gu Suihan snorted. “How do you know that all these things were meant for mankind? You’re as pathetic as an ant, and you know so little. You’re as ridiculously foolish as a frog in a well.”

These harsh and pointed mocking words made the middle-aged man so angry that he shook all over. He lost focus for one moment, and the devil was able to stab its spear fiercely through the man’s left leg, creating a bloody hole.