“Argh!”
“Quickly, kill him! Quickly, kill him!”
“He is running that way. Hurry! Block him!”
“Argh!”
“Argh!”
“Argh!”
——
The miserable screams carried outside the ritual array.
The twenty thousand ordinary people rejoiced. In their hearts, Gu Hai was already the strongest hero. All of them cheered for Gu Hai.
However, the cultivators inhaled sharply.
“Less than a year has passed since Gu Hai advanced to the Innate Realm?”
“More than two thousand screams rang out already. Did Gu Hai kill them all by himself?”
“However, those demons had their strengths increased by fivefold!”
“Just one man?”
Hearing the miserable screams coming from the ritual array, all the cultivators understood how intense the battle was.
If Gu Hai were not alone, the cultivators might not have been able to guess the scene in there. However, right now, every cultivator could easily imagine it. How ridiculously powerful was Gu Hai?
——
Two hours later, all the sounds coming from the Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array stopped. It seemed like the fight was over.
Gu Hai stood on a small hill, riddled with wounds. His clothes were tattered, and his hair in disarray. Surging black energy surrounded him as he clutched the Life Ender Saber. He showed a ferocious expression, appearing like a powerful demon as he stood on a large pile of dry bones.
Dry bones also littered the place. When Gu Hai looked around coldly, the spirit-assimilated cultivators around the small hill, trying to surround him, suddenly stopped, their faces horrified.
Previously, the demons had been united in will. However, it seemed like they had reached their breaking point. When they discovered that they could not defeat Gu Hai, all the spirit-assimilated cultivators’ attitudes changed.
Half. Gu Hai had killed half of the spirit-assimilated cultivators.
At the sight of the surrounding white bones, all the ferocity in the spirit-assimilated cultivators’ hearts vanished. They lost all their will to fight, their hopes dashed.
“He cannot be killed! He cannot be killed?!”
“His Veritable Energy is never-ending, and his saber qi is becoming even more ferocious!”
“There is no stopping him! We are just sending ourselves to death!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators gazed at Gu Hai in horror.
Morale worked in mysterious ways. When one’s morale flourished, one’s combat prowess increased significantly. When one’s morale declined, one’s combat prowess declined sharply.
After this moment, Gu Hai had already overcome the most difficult part.
Now that the most difficult part of fighting with his life on the line had ended, all that remained was for him to reap the lives of the remaining spirit-assimilated cultivators.
“Quickly, run!”
“Save me!”
Two thousand-odd spirit-assimilated cultivators scattered. No one wanted to continue fighting an endless battle. No, there was an end. The end would be them sending themselves to death?
When one turned from being fearless to being scared to die, that person had already lost all fighting spirit. Even when everyone was united, they could not do anything to Gu Hai. Who could be Gu Hai’s match now?
“Still thinking of running at this point? You demons!” Gu Hai glared, showing a ferocious expression as he charged forward.
“Argh!”
“Don’t kill me! Argh!”
“Save me… Argh!”
“Stop chasing me! Don’t chase me! Argh!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators fled nonstop in horror. Now, it was no longer everyone pursuing Gu Hai but him running down all the spirit-assimilated cultivators.
Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing!
A series of saber qi flew out. As if just harvesting wheat, Gu Hai relentlessly chopped down the spirit-assimilated cultivators, resulting in more skeletons appearing.
As Gu Hai killed more spirit-assimilated cultivators, more skeletons appeared. The horrifying atmosphere intensified. Now, the dread in the spirit-assimilated cultivators’ hearts grew even more; they no longer had the courage to face Gu Hai.
The spirit-assimilated cultivators could only flee, flee as fast as they could.
“The exit is blocked? No! Why is it blocked?”
“Hurry! Make an opening!”
“Oh no! Gu Hai is here! Gu Hai is here! Argh!”
With Gu Hai chasing them, the spirit-assimilated cultivators could not find time to unblock the exit. They could only scatter in all directions, fleeing as Gu Hai slaughtered them.
Gu Hai grew more ferocious the more he fought. This was now just a mindless slaughter, much more relaxed than before. He just needed to keep running around the First Song Sect’s ritual array.
“It’s over! Quickly undo the ritual array! How do we undo the ritual array?”
“Only the sect master can undo the ritual array. We can’t!”
“Force it open! Try breaking it!”
Boom! Boom!
The spirit-assimilated cultivators all anxiously attacked the Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array. However, no one could break it.
The Gold Armor Water Crystal Ritual Array was the pride of the First Song Sect. It was the strongest ritual array of the five major sects in Nine-Five Island.
However, it now seemed like everyone’s grave. They could not break it open at all.
Since they could not escape, they became easy targets for Gu Hai.
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!
Gu Hai killed mercilessly. Now, he seemed to have forgotten everything, becoming just a killing machine, killing without pause.
Gu Hai killed more and more spirit-assimilated cultivators. He did not seem to tire. Everywhere he went, dry bones filled the place.
After two hours, less than one thousand remained of the two thousand-odd spirit-assimilated cultivators.
As the number of spirit-assimilated cultivators decreased, they grew more terrified.
“No! Don’t kill me! What should I do?!”
“Sect Master! Save me!”
“Primogenitor! Save me!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators were already frightened witless. They could not even flee if they wanted to. They could only remain here for Gu Hai to chop down.
“Hurry! Let’s regroup! Gather back together! Argh!” a spirit-assimilated cultivator shouted in horror.
Perhaps with more people, they could bolster their courage. Hence, the spirit-assimilated cultivators gathered once more.
However, Gu Hai had not felt afraid even when the spirit-assimilated cultivators were at their greatest number and united in will. How could he fear these gutless cowards when they grouped together?
“It’s good that you gathered together. That saves me the trouble of rushing around. Humph!” Gu Hai snorted coldly as he charged over.
Boom!
After Gu Hai charged into the crowd of spirit-assimilated cultivators, another one-sided slaughter started.
The black energy grew increasingly larger as Gu Hai knocked more and more spirit-assimilated cultivators into the air with his saber. By the time they landed, they had already been reduced to dry bones.
Bang! Bang!
Miserable screams rang out as dry bones fell to the ground. These were like bells of death. Every time they rang, boundless despair stirred in the spirit-assimilated cultivators.
“Don’t kill me! I won’t eat people again! I won’t eat people again!”
“I’ll stop eating human hearts! I’ll never eat human hearts again!”
“I won’t eat human flesh anymore! Let me off! I won’t eat it anymore!”
The spirit-assimilated cultivators continuously begged for mercy as miserable screams rang out.
——
The many cultivators outside felt confused.
The twenty thousand ordinary people did not understand what was going on, unaware of Gu Hai’s strength. However, the cultivators knew.
From the demons chasing Gu Hai to the demons pleading for mercy, the information was too much for the cultivators.
What exactly was going on inside? How did Gu Hai do it?”
Now, no one paid any attention to the battle between Venerable Liu Nian and the flood dragon Fu Xue. Even if that battle grew more violent or caused more destruction, everyone paid attention to only the ritual array.
The miserable screams rang out in chorus, intensifying over time. However, they soon began to dwindle, growing fewer and fewer.
Eventually, the ritual array fell silent. No more miserable screams rang out.
There was not a single sound at all?
Countless cultivators stuck close to the ritual array. They listened intently but could not hear anything.
“What happened?”
“What’s going on in there?”
The cultivators revealed anxious expressions.
——
Inside, a panting Gu Hai stabbed the Life Ender Saber into the ground as he looked around. The First Song Sect appeared to be in a sorry state, with dry bones filling the surroundings, like a ghost city of hell.
There was even a small mountain of dry bones under his feet.
“Ha! First Song Sect?” Gu Hai revealed a complicated smile.
Not so long ago, he would never have imagined that he would slaughter the entire First Song Sect one day.
Back when Gu Hai was in the Acquired Realm, he had gone about pleading with the immortal sects. The major sects of Nine-Five Island, like the First Song Sect, felt unreachable. Now, he had destroyed such a major faction, slaughtering all its disciples?
Hundreds of wounds riddled Gu Hai’s body. The most severe one even nearly ripped open his abdomen. Fortunately, he had the Life Ender Saber. Surging energy poured into his body, constantly nourishing him and helping him recover quickly.
However, even after consuming so many spirit-assimilated cultivators, his cultivation had yet to break through. It was not that the energy was insufficient; he seemed to have reached a critical point. Despite all the energy in his body, he could not break through.
Gu Hai frowned as he trudged down the bone mountain and slowly headed for that valley.
There was a pitch-black crystal ball above the valley, absorbing a black energy coming out from the corpses of the ordinary people below.
“What a cruel, evil technique!” Gu Hai frowned.
He swung his saber at the black crystal ball.
Crack!
The ghost treasure trembled, appearing like it suffered a wound.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The Life Ender Saber’s black energy suddenly enveloped the black crystal ball. Hundreds of millions of tiny skulls gnawed on the crystal ball, seeming to savor the strange energy of this crystal ball.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The ghost treasure appeared to be struggling, even trying to counterattack. However, it could not do anything before the Life Ender Saber. It could only remain trapped in the middle and get consumed.
Rumble…!
Surging energy poured into Gu Hai’s body.
Suddenly, he felt bloated. Despite having the necessary energy, he could not break through—an incredibly uncomfortable sensation.
Crack!
Suddenly, the ghost treasure trembled violently. The Life Ender Saber thoroughly consumed all the sorrowful and resentful energy, revealing a clear, crystal ball that abruptly turned to powder and scattered on the wind.
——
Outside the ritual array, the flood dragon’s expression suddenly changed. “Something happened to the ghost treasure? Roar!”
The flood dragon roared and kicked up an even more violent wave at Venerable Liu Nian.
——
Inside the ritual array:
Gu Hai felt bloated with energy and quite uncomfortable. His face flushed red, and some cracks even appeared around some of his scabbed wounds, resulting in blood seeping out.
“The Life Ender Saber is not perfect. If there is too much energy for me to absorb, it is also a burden to me!” Gu Hai said bitterly, still appearing flushed.
Just as he prepared to leave, he turned his head to look at the corpses in the valley.
He took out a few coffins stuffed with explosives from his compressed space. Then, he buried the coffins midway up the mountain and lit the fuses.
Boom!
The two mountains flanking the valley collapsed, burying the corpses of the ordinary people and forming a massive tomb.
“Hah! You all suffered an absurd calamity, eaten by demons. However, I have already helped you kill all of the evil demons. All of them died under my saber. Now, I have erected a grave for you. You can rest in peace now!” Gu Hai sighed softly.
Just as Gu Hai turned away, intending to leave, a cool breeze suddenly blew at him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
That wondrous feeling came again.
Gu Hai’s expression changed as he turned his head to look at the massive grave.
Gu Hai could not see it, but right now, one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred mortal souls were looking at him and kneeling to him in gratitude.
Many thanks, Benefactor!
Many thanks, Benefactor!
Gu Hai could not see the mortal souls. However, he could sense the gist of their thoughts.
One hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred portions of beneficence was an eon of providence.
An entire eon of providence poured into Gu Hai’s body.
Suddenly, that wondrous feeling stimulated his dantian.
Boom!
A loud sound rang out around Gu Hai as a shock wave swept out.
“The Innate Realm’s ninth layer? I broke through?” Gu Hai exclaimed in shock.
The bloated feeling from earlier vanished. The energy responsible for the discomfort had somehow transformed into Veritable Energy, helping Gu Hai break through.
Gu Hai did not leave, remaining and looking around in surprise. Although he could not see anything, he could guess the reason.
“Providence? Is that providence? By helping these aggrieved souls kill the demons and burying them, I gained their gratitude. Every portion of gratitude is a portion of beneficence. Am I accruing providence through service to the dead? So, a good deed to the dead also counts as beneficence? I can obtain beneficence from not just the living but also the dead? Providence? Providence actually has such a wondrous use?” Gu Hai sighed.
As Gu Hai looked at the massive grave before him, he bowed.
