Within the Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array in the First Song Sect:
Boom!
The din of battle came from outside the ritual array, prompting five thousand-odd spirit-assimilated cultivators to pause for a moment.
“Don’t stop. The primogenitor can deal with Gu Hai. We just need to continue eating and strengthen the ghost treasure!” a spirit-assimilated cultivator said.
“Yes!”
——
Outside, Venerable Liu Nian had stepped out of the white fog. The flood dragon, Fu Xue, stirred up havoc before him.
“Roar!”
The flood dragon reared its head and roared. Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed in the sky. Dark clouds covered the place, and berserk winds blew. It looked like the end of the world.
“Liu Nian?” The flood dragon glared.
“You recognize me? Ha! Fu Xue, you are really bold. You actually dared to abduct the hall master? You must be tired of living!” Venerable Liu Nian said coldly.
“Humph! Old baldy, the winner is king, and the loser is wrong. Rescuing Long Wanqing depends on whether you are capable enough or not! Roar!” the flood dragon roared.
Boom!
Suddenly, seawater shot to the sky, surrounding the area and charging at Venerable Liu Nian. The flood dragon swung its body and used its tail to fling the heavenly lightning in the dark clouds at Venerable Liu Nian.
“Guardian Deity’s Body, Buddhist Halo Shining Gloriously!” Venerable Liu Nian pressed his palms together.
Buzz!
A manifested body of golden light appeared around Venerable Liu Nian, forming an energy barrier and blocking the seawater. Then, two manifested palms pressed together appeared in front of him, smashing towards the lightning.
Boom!
The huge impact shook the surroundings, causing the ground and mountains to tremble, strong winds to blow, and the seawater to spray everywhere. The entire place turned chaotic.
Rain and seawater filled the air, veiling the center of the battlefield. As Venerable Liu Nian fought Fu Xue, the battle intensified.
After a while, Gu Hai and the others could no longer see the center of the battlefield.
Slush! Slush! Slush!
A large amount of seawater arrived like a flood, rushing at the twenty thousand ordinary people.
“Argh!”
“Second Brother! The water washed away Second Brother!”
“Hurry! Hide here!”
“Argh!”
The intense battle caused a flood, forcing the twenty thousand ordinary people to hide from the water and shock waves.
Furthermore, there was only one safe place: the entrance of the Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array.
Gu Hai leaped over.
“Gu Hai is here! Quickly run! Quickly run!” exclaimed two of the spirit-assimilated cultivators who followed Fu Xue outside.
Shing!
Gu Hai chopped down a spirit-assimilated cultivator with the sword in his hand.
Just when the other spirit-assimilated cultivator wanted to run, dozens of the cultivators among the ordinary people surrounded him.
“Don’t come over! I’ll eat you!” that spirit-assimilated cultivator yelled ferociously.
The dozens of cultivators shrank back in fear. However, that delay allowed Gu Hai to catch up.
“There are a few dozen of you, yet you cannot capture him? He is only in the Innate Realm—the early-stage Innate Realm, at that,” Gu Hai barked.
Shing!
“Argh!”
Gu Hai chopped down that spirit-assimilated cultivator while he shouted at the dozens of cultivators.
The cultivators appear unsightly, not knowing what to say.
Indeed. That spirit-assimilated cultivator was only an early-stage Innate Realm cultivator. Even if his strength increased fivefold, he was not a match for the dozens of them. Why did they feel afraid upon seeing him?
Gu Hai let out a long breath.
“Benefactor, the water is worsening. We cannot get out. What should we do?” one of the ordinary people anxiously asked.
Gu Hai turned his head to look at the Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array. “There is no water in there!”
The twenty thousand ordinary people took a step back in horror.
“Benefactor, let’s block up the entrance instead. There are demons in there, many, many demons!” one of the ordinary people shouted.
“Yes! Block it up! Block it up!” the twenty thousand ordinary people shouted, feeling horrified.
As they spoke, the ordinary people started moving rocks to block up this ten-meter-tall entrance.
Gu Hai frowned slightly. It looked like these twenty thousand people were already frightened out of their wits.
Hence, saying anything to them would be pointless.
Gu Hai raised his feet and stepped into the Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array.
“Ah! Benefactor, don’t…” the ordinary people cried out.
The people moving rocks paused at this point, not knowing what to do. Should they block it up? Their benefactor was in there. Should they leave it open? There were many demons in there.
After Gu Hai stepped into the Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array, he immediately rushed to the summit of a mountain.
Then, he started surveying the First Song Sect.
Some of the spirit-assimilated cultivators who managed to flee earlier ran in a particular direction.
The entire ritual array seemed quiet, showing no signs of the many spirit-assimilated cultivators.
Suddenly, Gu Hai opened his eyes wide as he noticed a valley.
A black crystal ball hovered in the air, absorbing surging black energy coming from the valley.
The five thousand-odd spirit assimilated men appeared like demons, showing their heads of snakes. Right now, they did as they pleased with the corpses in the valley. The various snakes ferociously bit and tore off the flesh of the corpses, eating them.
Now, it was no longer just hearts and livers; it was human flesh. As they frantically consumed the flesh, it seemed like a scene from the asura hell.
“Eating humans? You are eating even the flesh of corpses? You all can stomach it?” Gu Hai’s eyelids twitched.
As Gu Hai looked at the distant bloody scene in the valley, the light in his eyes grew increasingly icier. He radiated a murderous air.
Bang!
Gu Hai leaped down the peak and returned to the Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array’s entrance.
“Benefactor, quickly come out!” the ordinary people outside urged anxiously.
“Listen up! Block up the entrance now. Do not let anyone out until you hear me!” Gu Hai shouted to the twenty thousand ordinary people.
“Ah?” The many ordinary people and dozens of cultivators felt confused.
Turning away, Gu Hai went back in. Then, he took out two coffins filled with explosives with a flip of his hand and buried them at the foot of the mountain, where the exit was.
After setting the fuse, Gu Hai took out flint and steel.
Crack!
Gu Hai quickly made a spark and lighted the fuse.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
Then, he rushed off into the distance.
——
By the ghost treasure, the spirit-assimilated cultivators continued consuming the flesh of the human corpses, ignoring the sounds coming from outside.
“Oh no! Elder, it’s not good!” A spirit-assimilated cultivator ran over.
“Huh?” The spirit-assimilated cultivators turned their heads to look.
“The primogenitor is fighting with that old monk, Liu Nian!”
“What? Venerable Liu Nian?” Everyone’s expression changed.
“Where’s Gu Hai? Are his three thousand men here too?”
“No. Gu Hai is alone. He killed several of our senior brothers!” that spirit-assimilated cultivator said.
“Just Gu Hai alone? What are you afraid of, then?” Everyone immediately glared at that spirit-assimilated cultivator.
“No, that Gu Hai…!” that spirit-assimilated cultivator said worriedly.
“Alright, the ordinary people and cultivators outside are already frightened out of their wits. It would be best if we can capture Gu Hai. However, we cannot stop what we are doing here. One hundred men should go and capture Gu Hai!” the elder said coldly.
That elder pointed to one hundred spirit-assimilated cultivators. They immediately nodded and leaped out of the valley, heading towards Gu Hai.
Boom!
Two large mountains suddenly collapsed after an explosion rang out.
The one hundred spirit-assimilated cultivators’ expressions changed.
“Is that where the exit is? Quickly, go and take a look!” Everyone rushed anxiously to the explosion site.
However, they saw the two large mountains already crumbled from the explosion, completely blocking the exit. Dust clouds rose into the air from the rubble.
“The exit is blocked?” a spirit-assimilated cultivator said, his expression changing.
“What’s going on? Is Gu Hai worried about us going out to capture him?”
“That must be the case. He is alone, so he is afraid!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators speculated with ferocious expressions.
“Look, there’s someone there!” one of the spirit-assimilated cultivators suddenly cried out.
Everyone saw a man stroll out of the churning dust clouds above the rubble of the two collapsed mountains. Black energy surrounded this man as he held a long, slender, black, bone saber.
This black saber looked very strange and felt sinister, even from afar.
Shing! The many spirit-assimilated cultivators drew their weapons as they looked over with wide eyes.
“Gu Hai? That is Gu Hai?” The expression of one of the spirit-assimilated cultivators changed.
“He is alone? He is really alone?”
“He blocked the exit. Now, he can’t run. What is he doing?”
“Is he sending himself to death?”
“It does not matter whether he sent himself here to die or not. I have long wanted to eat Gu Hai’s heart and liver!”
“He killed my senior brothers and junior brothers more than half a month ago. I want to eat not only Gu Hai’s heart and liver but also the hearts and livers of his children, his parents, and his entire family!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators showed ferocious expressions as they slowly surrounded Gu Hai.
Gu Hai showed no fear; a cold, sharp light even flashed in his eyes. As he looked at this group of spirit-assimilated cultivators, his eyes brimmed with indifference as though he did not see these people as humans at all.
“When I was in the mundane world, I only learned the military’s saber techniques. The military’s saber techniques are not flashy, seeking only to kill. They are saber techniques created to kill for the sake of killing—fast, ruthless, and accurate. Immortals? Ha! No, demons! Back then, I sincerely begged to be let into the First Song Sect. Today, I no longer desire that. You bunch of demons, I will slaughter your entire First Song Sect to prevent you from harming others!” Gu Hai said coldly.
As Gu Hai spoke, he burst forth with his full power and charged at the one hundred spirit-assimilated cultivators while holding the Life Ender Saber upraised.
“What? He is charging over?”
“You are seeking death!”
“How bold of you!”
“Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators immediately charged at Gu Hai, advancing ferociously with the snakes on their heads.
Before the spirit-assimilated cultivators arrived, a large saber qi shot out of the Life Ender Saber.
Shing!
When the saber qi shot over, the sonic boom startled the spirit-assimilated cultivators, immediately causing their expressions to change.
“What? Why is his saber qi so powerful?”
“Didn’t he just advance to the Innate Realm?”
“This saber qi is even sharper and stronger than a Golden Core Realm elder’s.”
“No, this is a hallucination. I don’t believe it!”
The complexions of the spirit-assimilated cultivators changed. Then, the frontmost spirit-assimilated cultivator swung his sword.
However, that spirit-assimilated cultivator was too slow. Before he could finish swinging his sword, the saber qi instantly sliced through him, vertically bisecting him.
Boom!
Gu Hai instantly charged amid the spirit-assimilated cultivators.
“Oh no!”
“Gu Hai possesses the strength of a Golden Core Realm cultivator?”
“That’s impossible! Argh!”
“My sword shattered? No!”
“Argh!”
“The black energy! The black energy! There are skulls in the black energy?!”
“Junior Brother! Junior Brother got eaten?!”
“Hurry! Attack together! Kill Gu Hai!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators raised an outcry.
Gu Hai moved extremely swiftly, and his saber danced rapidly amid the crowd. He continuously swung his saber and sent out saber qi to clash with the spirit-assimilated cultivators’ weapons. Black energy immediately surged through the surroundings. All the spirit-assimilated cultivators cut by the Life Ender Saber got eaten by the skulls.
Rumble…! An intense battle broke out.
“Argh!”
“Argh!”
“Don’t!”
“Argh!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators kept screaming miserably, in despair at the threat of the Life Ender Saber.
