Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the pitch-black wilderness, a tree that reached the sky glowed divinely. The area north of the huge tree was a mess. Countless destroyed Sword Emanations Race beings lay there, along with countless Lunar Beast corpses. The green blood was splattered across the ground, causing the air to reek with the smell of death. The stench caused Jiang Yi to want to vomit.
In between the corpses and the divine tree, hundreds of thousands of Sword Emanations Race continued to stand firm like stone sculptures. They did not have any sign of life about them, and they were so silent that onlookers would be fearful of them. In the middle of this group of Sword Emanations Race beings was a youth dressed in white robes, seated on the ground and hugging his guqin. There was fresh blood on the guqin, and the upper half of the man’s body was slumped atop it. His face was devoid of color, and fresh blood spewed out of his mouth.
The scene was extremely strange indeed!
If there had been anyone around, the hairs on the back of their necks would stand at this scene. The man was dressed in a white robe and had red hair. There were blood patches around his white robe, which would shock anyone. His eyes were closed as he lay motionless atop his guqin, looking like he was already dead.
Gong!
A moment later, a frustrated noise came from underground. The man’s body shook violently, and a pained expression appeared on his face. Still, his eyes remained closed. More blood spewed out of his mouth.
After a long time…!
Jiang Yi finally opened his eyes, but there was no more color within them. There was also no helplessness. There was only a sense of seriousness—extreme seriousness.
The situation was finally clear.
Under the divine tree, his chances of survival had increased greatly. Still, this was of no use to him.
If he did not think of a solution soon—after about twenty more times of the red light shining down on the mystic realm, all the Sword Emanations Race beings would be dead. The Sword Emanations King might be dead, too; but even if it was not, he and the Sword Emanations King alone could not hold off the Lunar Beasts.
Twenty or more rounds of attacks by the Lunar Beasts were equivalent to twenty or so Lower-Domain days. Within these twenty days, he had to figure out a method to suppress those Lunar Beasts. Otherwise, he would be stuck as this tree’s companion forever.
“Little Ferocious!”
He shouted in a low voice. The Fire Dragon Sword lit up, and the little beast shot out of it in a stream of light. At last, it congealed to form a physical body, seated on Jiang Yi’s shoulder. The little beast looked at Jiang Yi, confused, and sent a voice transmission: “Big Ferocious, what did you summon me out for? Is there something good to eat?”
“Keke!”
Jiang Yi laughed bitterly and said, “I’m in trouble now. Many monsters are trying to kill me. Can you help me suppress them?”
The Heaven-Swallowing Beast looked far away and took several glances at the corpses of the Lunar Beast. Then, it shook its head and said, “No, I cannot suppress them. These monsters are too strong. I’m not their match. If you give me more powerful flames, black rainstones, and golden hearthstones, I can grow bigger and help you fight them.”
“Alright… go back to sleep.”
Jiang Yi smiled bitterly and sent the Heaven-Swallowing Beast back into his Fire Dragon Sword. Where could he find these treasures now? Even if he could, the Heaven-Swallowing Beast could not possibly advance in such a short time. This little beast had to fall into a deep sleep to digest the energy after consuming food. He would be advancing too slowly to help Jiang Yi deal with this immediate danger.
Since he could not count on the Heaven-Swallowing Beast, Jiang Yi could only count on himself!
After mumbling to himself for an hour, Jiang Yi had a clearer picture of what was happening. Twenty Lower-Domain days was far too short a time. Only idiots would hope to realize new nomological mystical abilities during this short time. His only option was to deepen his understanding of the Divine Sound Heaven Skill and the Heaven and Earth Quintessence, the Heavenly Springs Rhythm.
If even his Divine Sound Heaven Skill could not be improved or if he could not realize the Heavenly Springs Rhythm, even immortals would not be able to help him.
He could use the Divine Sound Heaven Skill to suppress the Lunar Beasts. If he strengthened that skill, perhaps he could suppress the Lunar Beasts more to the point that they would not be able to move. Then, he would be able to stay under the divine tree for as long as he wanted, without any threat. Moreover, he could progress in his cultivation as quickly as fire arrows. It would be akin to entering the Primitive Mystic Realm at no charge.
“Ai, don’t think too much. Let’s see if I can survive first!”
Jiang Yi entered the State of the Union of Heaven and Man and closed his eyes, preparing to cultivate. There was too little time. Spending too much time thinking of a way to improve his Divine Sound Heaven Skill would only lower his chances of survival. Jiang Yi had no choice but to focus on realizing the Heavenly Springs Rhythm. If he could realize this Heaven and Earth Quintessence, the Divine Sound Heaven Skill would surely improve along with it.
Images of the Heavenly Spring filled his mind, along with the mysterious rhythm that he heard there. As he cultivated his heavenly powers, he tried to study the rhythm as closely as he could. He forgot everything around him. As time went by, he even ignored the sounds coming from underground. Even as his physical body spasmed and his soul spirit came under attack, he forced himself to forget what was happening around him. Instead, he poured himself into studying the Heavenly Springs Rhythm. He really did not have much time left.
Unfortunately…
Although the heaven and earth spirit energy under the tree was rich, the speed at which he was realizing these laws was not as perverted as it was back in the Primitive Mystic Realm. In fact, there was no improvement whatsoever. Thus, despite all his focus, Jiang Yi was progressing too slowly to figure anything out. He made no headway whatsoever. Twenty hours passed just like that. The red light appeared in the sky once again, and the Lunar Beasts from underground were activated. The next massacre was beginning.
Clang-clang!
Jiang Yi helplessly stopped cultivating and released his Divine Sound Heaven Skill with all his might. At the same time, he summoned hundreds of thousands of Sword Emanations Race beings to fend off the attacks from the Lunar Beasts.
Clang, clang!
The sound of his guqin spread out in all directions. The Sword Emanations Race beings and Lunar Beasts were fighting a distance from him. One by one, the Sword Emanations Race beings were reduced to dust by the Lunar Beasts. One by one, the Lunar Beasts were ripped into pieces by the Sword Emanations Race beings. The Sword Emanations King was so powerful that it managed to kill many high-grade Lunar Beasts at once. Its limbs kept dancing around, covering the entire ground with fresh blood. The stench was pungent; the area under the divine tree had become purgatory.
Jiang Yi focused all his energy on playing the guqin. His face was devoid of all color and his eyes were closed, but his body emitted intense killing intent. He looked like a ferocious, wild beast, roaring from his gut at the other ferocious beasts in front of him. All his energy was channeled into the guqin. Occasionally, he looked up from the guqin at the battle taking place in front of him, just to check if the situation was under control.
As he played the guqin, he analyzed the sounds in his head to see if there was any way he could play the guqin in a more relaxed manner, to create even more terrifying results!
Therefore, from beginning to end, he did not take a single glance at the huge tree or its branches.
He did not know… that while he was playing his guqin, the huge tree’s branches above him were swaying. What’s more, they were swaying according to a rhythm that was exactly the same as the Heavenly Springs Rhythm. Even the few leaves hanging from the branches were swaying as well. It was almost as if the divine tree had turned into a dancer on hearing Jiang Yi’s guqin-playing, instinctively twisting and swaying its body to the melody.
Two and a half minutes had passed. Jiang Yi used his divine senses to scan the battleground and ensured that the situation was under control. Then, he changed the melody that he was playing. Originally, the sound he was making was jarring and violent, but now, it became much gentler. However, it was only the rhythm that had slowed down slightly. The sounds were still sonorous and powerful.
If one compared the former piece to a raging thunderstorm or crashing waves on a shore, the latter piece was more like a gentle breeze on a winter day. It was much less crazy, but it could still pierce right into one’s heart, causing them to freeze up immediately!
“This isn’t right!”
The moment he changed the sound, Jiang Yi released his divine senses to scan the battleground again. However, he found that the effect on the Lunar Beasts had weakened slightly. The Sword Emanations Race was being massacred. He quickly changed the song again, recovering the crazy and violent sound. He frowned as he continued to change the song several times. None of them proved effective. It was obvious that the very first song was the most powerful.
“Pfff!”
Once the red light disappeared, and the Lunar Beasts ran back to their hiding places like water into holes, Jiang Yi finally could not hold himself up any longer. He spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed on top of his guqin once again. The guqin stopped, and the Sword Emanations Race beings quickly ran back to his side.
The tree branches and leaves that had been swaying this entire time finally stopped as well. Its glow intensified as peace was restored in the mystic realm. Only the sound of Jiang Yi’s weak breathing remained, setting its own new rhythm.
