Chapter Seventy: Entering the Path Through Killing

A cool breeze stirred, and the sky stretched vast and clear. Riding eastward on Grandmaster Sun Yougong’s flying treasure, the surface of the Endless Sea below shifted from glassy calm to towering waves. Hongjian leaned out, letting the sea wind buffet her face, and called out, “Grandmaster, are we almost at the sea beasts?”

Any demon beast daring to reveal itself on the open sea in broad daylight possessed formidable strength and a certain notoriety.

Sun Yougong chuckled, “Almost there. Once we spot one, I’ll toss little Hongjian down to feed them.”

Hongjian knew her grandmaster was only teasing and replied with a laugh, “With you here, none of them would dare resist. When I go down, I’ll use ‘Moon Surge’ to open its belly.”

Noticing how her grandmaster’s mood had lifted since leaving Evening Tide Peak, Hongjian felt her own spirits lighten. She hadn’t expected that when he told her to bring ‘Moon Surge’ for cultivation, he would—without telling anyone—suddenly whisk her away to the Endless Sea.

This time, their journey went much deeper than any training she’d done with her senior brother. She understood well enough: Ding Chunxue always chose safe, coastal waters, where the beasts were easily dealt with. Such pitiful creatures would never catch her grandmaster’s eye.

Hongjian was a little excited; since he’d told her to bring her magical weapon, he must intend for her to slay the demon beasts with her own hands, rather than just practice her spiritual sense by dodging their pursuit.

Seeing Hongjian’s eager expression, Sun Yougong was gratified. “Fearless in battle—good. Chunxue has taught you well.”

He slowed their flight and descended to just a dozen feet above the sea’s surface. “When I examined your cultivation the other day,” he continued, “I found many oddities. Your water affinity is exceptionally strong, and your spiritual sea and true essence are different from others’. That alone would make you gifted and your foundation sturdier than most. But strangest of all, your true essence is laced with an abundance of blood energy. That, I believe, is what’s hindering your path to Foundation Establishment.” He glanced at Hongjian. “You often train with Zhaizhi, but he doesn’t have this problem.”

Even Sun Yougong, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator of vast experience, could not fathom that Hongjian had pushed the ‘All Rivers Return’ technique—a useless skill—to the point of mutation, or that she’d absorbed its detonation during Jianhui’s self-destruction.

Hongjian broke out in a cold sweat. She had no wish for her grandmaster to learn the truth, so she forced herself to remain calm. “Grandmaster, am I going to be stuck at Qi Completion forever, unable to form my foundation?”

Fortunately, Sun Yougong had other matters on his mind and did not press for explanations. He simply smiled at her. “I didn’t have a solution at first, but your situation reminded me of a powerful neighbor of ours. His cultivation path might be worth trying. Unfortunately, he and our Dancliff Sect maintain only a distant truce. There’s no chance he’d instruct you himself, so I’ll have to guide you to imitate his method and see if it works—a desperate measure, perhaps, but better than nothing.”

A name leapt from Hongjian’s lips. “You mean the God-Transformation cultivator, Xing Wuya!”

To hunt demon cores, to forge the path through slaughter—Xing Wuya had haunted the Endless Sea for centuries, bringing terror and destruction to its demon beasts and gaining unrivaled power. Was she now to follow in his footsteps?

Their flying treasure dipped, then suddenly soared several dozen feet. Hongjian saw her grandmaster raise his hand; with a resounding crash, a monstrous creature was hauled from the depths.

Startled, Hongjian saw that the beast’s body was wide and flat—large enough to serve a feast for thirty or forty people—yet beneath its tabletop back thrashed a thousand jet-black tentacles, writhing and lashing. The unknown force binding its body only enraged it further: it spat black liquid in all directions, and where the droplets hit the sea, clouds of blue smoke billowed up. The air filled with a hissing sound. Hongjian exclaimed, “Is that poison? How powerful!”

But Grandmaster Sun Yougong was mightier still. His hand seemed to hold an unbreakable watery prison; the beast’s struggles were futile. Even the poison, which could have reached them, was easily blocked by a water shield he conjured with a casual wave of his sleeve.

As their flying treasure continued east toward the “Heavenly Curtain,” Sun Yougong dangled the demon beast beneath them as if he were towing a great kite.

Hongjian watched as the beast gradually quieted, apparently realizing that resistance was useless in the face of such power.

But Sun Yougong shook his head and murmured, “Though this creature is water-aspected, it’s laden with venom—not suitable.” He released his spell, and with a splash, the beast plummeted back into the sea, vanishing into the depths.

“We’ll try another,” he said, and conjured a second beast from who knew where, smiling. “This serpent turtle should do. It’s still young, but if it lives long enough to become a dragon turtle, we’d have a much harder time catching it.”

From his words Hongjian gathered that the beast’s strength was likely equal to a mid- or late-Stage Golden Core cultivator.

A chill ran through her as she studied the struggling creature: a turtle’s head, a serpent’s body, its scales coated in a thick, slimy mucus, four legs below, and two beady eyes shifting anxiously—who knew what dangerous tricks it might have.

Sun Yougong pointed at the serpent turtle. “Weren’t you going to open it up?”

Hongjian nodded and gripped ‘Moon Surge’. With her grandmaster suppressing it, she had no fear of this Golden Core demon beast. She examined it carefully. “Grandmaster, is there anything I should be wary of?”

Sun Yougong nodded slightly. “Beware its breath.” As he spoke, he unleashed the overwhelming pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator. The serpent turtle, possessed of some intelligence, instantly sensed doom and shrank in on itself, trembling.

Hongjian leapt from the flying treasure. Having reached the peak of Qi Refinement, her body was light as a swallow, and with her water-aspected true essence, she could easily float on the surface for a while.

Though restrained by Sun Yougong, the serpent turtle was still far stronger than Hongjian. She had barely come within two or three yards when sudden darkness fell before her eyes. Alarmed, she had no time to react until Sun Yougong’s voice rang out: “Freeze!” The serpent tail, thick as a steel whip, halted just a half-foot from her face.

Though the tail stopped, the wave it had raised crashed down on Hongjian, knocking her off balance and sending her sprawling into the sea.

Sun Yougong burst out laughing. As a drenched and bedraggled Hongjian struggled out of the water, he said, “That won’t do! Golden Core demon beasts have more than one trick. You must stay alert!”

Tomorrow ‘Dancliff’ will officially launch, and the coming chapters will bring a major turning point. Next week, I’ll do my best to keep up double updates.

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