Chapter 114

Chapter 114 – Asserting Authority

“Advanced Origin Core,” murmured Gu Suihan after a long time. He slowly exhaled a mouthful of impurities.

The burden that had been circling inside his mind for a long time also felt lighter now.

He waved a hand to dispel the formation and walked out of the cave he had been sitting in. He squinted as his eyes took time to get used to the slightly glaring sunlight.

“It’s been seven days. Why isn’t Li Rong here yet? Did something bad happen to him?” wondered Gu Suihan to himself as he subconsciously put a hand on the heavy sword hanging on his belt.

“Shuang’er, do you know why he gave you this thing?”

A man dressed in embroidered robes, a fine headdress, and a magnificent sword on his back, bent down to speak to the sweet-faced little girl next to him in a gentle voice. His ink-black hair was neatly combed on both sides, most of it cascading past his shoulders, and a few flyaway strands swayed gently in the wind. It matched his deep-set eyes that shone brightly like the moon and stars in the sky, as well as his fair and genteel face with well-defined features. There was an indescribable charisma about the man.

The little girl hung her head and held the man’s hand tightly. When she heard what he asked her, two dimples appeared in her chubby little cheeks as she looked up at him. She gesticulated as she replied, “That man was as handsome as you, senior brother. And just like you, he doesn’t seem to like keeping his weapon inside his storage ring and prefers to leave it hanging on his belt. He wore black on the inside and had an equally black cloak on the outside. He looked like those wandering martial artists among the ordinary folk.”

“Shuang’er, I’m asking if he did anything out of the ordinary when he gave you this item.” The man sighed a little before patiently squatting down to pinch the girl’s cheeks as he looked dotingly at her.

She wasn’t too pleased as she slapped his hand off her cheeks. Her face was scrunched up as she pouted and said, “He had a really weird smile on his face. That’s all.”

The girl was one of the Youthful Clarity Sect disciples that Gu Suihan had let off earlier, and the mild-mannered handsome man talking to her was the current top senior of the sect, Li Xiaoyao.

“Senior brother, you mustn’t let that fellow off. He killed our fellow disciple just like that, so we’ve got to take revenge.” A woman dressed in royal robes over her long pale yellow chiffon dress was standing among the crowd of a dozen people or so behind Li Xiaoyao.

“That’s going to be tough.” Li Xiaoyao picked up the girl and turned to look at his riled-up juniors. He explained in a deep voice, “According to Shuang’er; he killed junior brother Wang with just one swing of his sword, which means he is a very formidable opponent. On top of that, he did not kill Shuang’er and even got her to pass a message to us, which means he isn’t afraid of us at all. The message in this jade slip is about a secret plan that the Seven Kill Sect has for this inter-sect competition. I don’t know if it’s real or not, but that’s not important right now. That fatal blow he dealt our fellow disciple is something we need to be wary of. All of you need to be careful.”

The woman who spoke earlier stared infatuatedly at Li Xiaoyao, and even an idiot could tell from her gaze that she was in love with him. But when she heard Li Xiaoyao warn the juniors, her expression faltered slightly as she said quietly, “Senior brother, don’t you think you’re thinking too poorly of yourself? As far as Shuang’er’s description of the man goes, he doesn’t seem to fit the description of anyone on the list of cultivators we have to watch out for.”

“It’s better to be careful. All of you should know well that the difference between cultivators is more than their level of cultivation. The spells they can cast, the treasures and weapons they possess, the secret techniques they’ve learned, and more – there are way too many variables.” Li Xiaoyao’s bright but fierce stare made the juniors feel rather pressured. “And this man is a variable in himself.”

Nobody protested anymore when they saw the grim look on Li Xiaoyao’s face and quietly reminded themselves to be warier.

“He’s here. That stench of blood. I smell it.” Shuang’er suddenly started struggling in Li Xiaoyao’s arms. Her little face was pale, and her tiny hands gripped his hems tightly.

“He’s here?” Everyone was horrified and looked around them immediately, summoning their spiritual energy as they got ready to attack anytime.

“What sharp senses you have,” an emotionless voice as clear as a stream on a mountain rang from afar. A figure who was dressed in clothes as black as ink appeared in front of them, like the king of the night.

“May I ask which sect you are from?” Li Xiaoyao put Shuang’er down and gently stroked her little head as he stood in front of her to protect her while staring straight at Gu Suihan.

“My name is Gu Suihan, and I’m currently a Seven Kill Sect disciple.”

“Currently?” Li Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow as he caught a word that Gu Suihan had thrown in rather nonchalantly.

Gu Suihan looked at the ten odd cultivators standing around him with guarded expressions and shot them a harmless and gentle smile. “How about we strike a deal?”

Before Li Xiaoyao could respond, the woman in royal robes glared hatefully at Gu Suihan and said, “I’m sorry, but we’re not interested in striking a deal with an enemy.”

“Are the dogs you keep all so rude?” Gu Suihan’s smile faded as he looked indifferently at the frowning Li Xiaoyao. He didn’t even bother looking at the woman.

“Who are you calling a dog!” The woman stared venomously at Gu Suihan with a furious look on her face. She raised her sword, and the blue sword qi around it surged toward Gu Suihan like a heavy downpour.

“Who do you think it is? Besides, did you really think you could fight me?” Gu Suihan gently put his foot down and appeared a mere ten meters away from Li Xiaoyao. It was as if he was completely ignoring the powerful wave of sword qi rain coming toward him.

“I’ll try!” Li Xiaoyao boldly took half a step forward, and his right hand was already on the hilt of the sword he carried on his back.

“If you slip up, she dies.” Gu Suihan looked approvingly at Li Xiaoyao. His sword buzzed as it flew out of its sheath, accompanied by a terrifying wave of murderous qi. The stench of blood that hit everyone’s nostrils not only struck terror in their hearts, but they also stared at him in horror now, as though he was a demon who had killed millions of people and had just thrown their bodies into the wilderness.

Immediately after Questioning Heaven flew out of its sheath, Li Xiaoyao looked gravely at Gu Suihan as alarm bells went off in his head. How many people had this seemingly handsome middle-aged cultivator killed?

“Watch out,” said Gu Suihan with a wicked smile on his face. His sword vibrated slightly as it pounced toward Li Xiaoyao like a blood-colored dragon.

Li Xiaoyao was staring at Gu Suihan sternly, and his first instinct was to dodge the attack, but he suddenly remembered Gu Suihan’s nonchalant words and couldn’t help but waver for a bit. Gu Suihan’s sword was now just inches away from him.

“Sword Protecting Method!” There was no time to think. Instead of retreating, Li Xiaoyao moved forward instead. The round, opulent gems on his sword suddenly gleamed brightly, and he brandished the sword so quickly that it was nothing but a silvery glow. Regardless of which angle Gu Suihan tried to thrust his sword from, he couldn’t get to Li Xiaoyao at all.

“Very interesting! You have actually understood the will of the sword.” A surprised look appeared in Gu Suihan’s bloodshot eyes for just one second before disappearing. His sword was like the tongue of a venomous snake, while his body moved like a ghost as he quietly floated to Li Xiaoyao’s back.

“I will not let you have your way!” Li Xiaoyao’s eyes bulged angrily. A silver glow burst from his sword, and he had the upper hand as he tapped the air with his left hand, and the swirling sword glow that measured no more than three inches wide swooshed shrilly toward Gu Suihan. At the same time, another whitish sword glow burst forth and flew toward Gu Suihan’s neck.

“Ghostly Shadows Seven Stars – Like a Shadow!” Gu Suihan executed a technique and turned himself into a cloud of black mist, successfully dodging Li Xiaoyao’s aggressive attack.

Gu Suihan cackled and made Li Xiaoyao suddenly feel afraid. He immediately yelled out, “Run and hide!”

If they were fighting one on one, Li Xiaoyao wouldn’t have been afraid of Gu Suihan. But now, he had juniors behind him. He was trying his best to protect them, but unfortunately, the Way of the Sword was one that used the sword to attack, so its defense was not its strongest suit. Furthermore, his opponent was a demon with no moral boundaries like Gu Suihan.

“Too late!” The bloodied symbol in Gu Suihan’s eyes rotated as though it were a black hole sucking everything in. Two almost unnoticeable beams of red light shot out from his eyes as he smiled and retreated.

The woman in royal robes collapsed to the ground with a look of disbelief on her face, her pretty face twisted in horror. Her eyes were glazed over, and she was no longer breathing.

“Was that a secret technique that attacks the spirit?” Li Xiaoyao had a nasty look on his face. The veins on his right arm bulged as he gripped his sword, crisscrossing like a green dragon.

“Can we talk about the deal now?” Gu Suihan did not answer Li Xiaoyao’s question and shrugged as he put his sword back in its sheath.

Li Xiaoyao could not help but turn and look at his terrified and even silently trembling juniors and sighed heavily. “You’ve succeeded in asserting your authority around here. What deal do you want to strike?”

He took the jade slip he got from Shuang’er out and smashed it in front of Gu Suihan before staring back indifferently at the handsome man with white sideburns.

Gu Suihan knew what his actions meant. Li Xiaoyao was saying that once this deal was settled, regardless of whether it went well or not, he was going to avenge his junior no matter what.

“Mo Yuluo is dead and so is Yun Lianyi. Out of the remaining Peak Leaders, Xiexin zhenren is with Li Rong, but I don’t know about the rest. I want you to find out who the rest are, but don’t attack them. I need them for something else.” Gu Suihan gave the terrified-looking Shuang’er a friendly look, then said emotionlessly, “You can tell me what your conditions are now.”

“Give each one of us a secret technique. I want techniques that are no lower in level than the one you just used,” demanded Li Xiaoyao. “Otherwise, the deal is off.”

“Sure. I can pay the deposit first. But I need you to swear by the Way too.” Gu Suihan agreed readily since he could remember a few dozen of such techniques easily. He might as well let them have a few.

As for Li Rong, Gu Suihan figured that since he hadn’t appeared over the past few days, Xiexin zhenren had probably already wiped his consciousness out. Gu Suihan wasn’t going to care if Li Rong was alive or dead.

It was just that the plan to fool Li Rong didn’t end up happening. He had hoped that Li Rong would come looking for him so that he could kill Li Rong and gain both souls.

“You can have this. This contains the Soul Ambush and Destroy secret technique, and only one person can read it. Once the jade slip detects a second spiritual sense trying to read it, it will shatter by itself,” Gu Suihan kindly reminded Li Xiaoyao. Immediately after saying that, he slowly faded out of sight.

“This speed.” As Li Xiaoyao watched Gu Suihan quickly disappear on the spot, he decided that Gu Suihan was even more dangerous than he had initially judged him to be.