Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The presence of the imprint isolated his scent, causing Su Yu to be transported to the flower yard alone. Now he was unable to meet up with his companions.
While all the students of other influences could gather together, Su Yu was on his own. Chances of him being targeted by other people were marginally increased.
Despite his annoyance, Su Yu had no intention of displaying his emotions while outsiders were around him.
“Will your eldest senior brother sell me his flying bird?” Su Yu asked.
Shayin laughed softly. “Junior Brother Su belongs to the Supreme Heavenly Demon Faction, so our senior brother is most likely to show you some respect. He still has some wooden birds available.”
“Great. Can you take me to your eldest senior brother then?” Su Yu said.
The three of them stepped into the air and flew through the sky.
The flower yard was immense and seemed endless. Along the way, they encountered many unfamiliar challengers, but those who spotted Su Yu from afar hurriedly moved away.
The corpses they discovered along the way were innumerable.
“The massacre has begun,” Shayin said plaintively. “We have to meet up with our eldest senior brother as soon as we can. Running into the lone challengers won’t be much of a problem, but if we encounter a coalition of forces, we’ll be in deep trouble if we only have the three of us to rely on.”
Ding Ping was clear about that. “Once we meet up with our senior brother, we’ll be safe. He always has an All Creations Stage One puppet with him. Once activated, it’ll be nearly invincible.”
“Our senior brother himself is also a superb ninth-grade Almighty being. His name is widely known in the Heaven’s Craftsmen Region.”
At the mention of their eldest senior brother, both Shayin and Ding Ping were full of respect.
Half a day later, Shayin caught sight of a distant hill with colorful flowers in full bloom. She heaved a soft sigh of relief. “We’re here at long last. I can sense the scents of our eldest senior brother and ten other senior brothers. They’re inside the hill now.”
Ding Ping chipped in. “I sensed it too. We’re finally safe for now.”
But Su Yu came to a halt, his shrewd eyes gazing at the hill ahead of them.
“Junior Brother Su, what happened to you?” Shayin turned to ask as she noticed his peculiar behavior.
Su Yu wrapped his arms around his chest, and calmly said, “Your senior brother may be facing some kind of trouble.”
Shayin was doubtful. After exchanging a glance with Ding Ping, she flew ahead of the others and landed at the foot of the hill.
At that moment, several hidden figures showed up. “Stop right there! Ah, it’s Senior Brother Ding and Senior Sister Sha!” Both delight and agitation were clear in their words.
“Wei Zhuang, Zhang Li, what’s with the wounds on you guys?” Ding Ping noticed injuries of different severity on their bodies and was taken aback.
Wei Zhuang’s face was full of blood, and there were a substantial number of bloody wounds on his abdomen. Zhang Li had fared even worse: one of his arms had been severed. Strangely, both of them had crystallized fragments inside their bodies, including within the injured areas.
Zhang Li clutched at his arm, from which blood was gushing ceaselessly. He had an agonized look on his face. “We have run into trouble!”
Shayin couldn’t help but look back at Su Yu, feeling inwardly stunned. Could he have acquired some kind of visual power? Had he seen through the hill in advance to discover that their senior brothers had run into trouble?
“While we were waiting for everyone to gather here, we were attacked,” Wei Zhuang explained. “Eight of our junior brothers and sisters have been killed and 18 of them were injured. Even our eldest senior brother has been severely wounded. He is recuperating now.”
Shayin’s face fell a little. “Even our eldest senior brother was severely injured? The attacker’s influence must be extremely powerful. Did you manage to obliterate them?”
Wei Zhuang shook his head. “No, our attackers were unscathed!”
Ding Ping’s face grew solemn. “Since the opponent is so powerful, why did you all remain at the place where you fought?”
If the attackers returned, they would sustain even more injuries.
Wei Zhuang replied, “It’s not that we don’t want to leave! Eldest senior brother can’t leave! He has been trapped in the cavern by our enemy!”
Shayin was stupefied by that. The eldest senior brother has been totally confined?
“What influence are the attackers actually from? How many of them were there?” Shayin queried.
Wei Zhuang hesitated for a moment “There was only one person, and I don’t know which influence she’s from,” he said.
“One person?” Shayin and Ding Ping were both shocked.
That one person had killed eight challengers from the Heaven’s Craftsmen Faction and injured 18. Even the eldest senior brother had sustained serious injuries and had been confined by her!
“Did the eldest senior brother use the puppet?” Shayin asked as a thought occurred to her.
Wei Zhuang said, “It was shattered by the opponent!”
Hiss!
Upon hearing that, all of them inhaled a lungful of cold, sharp air. The attacker had even been able to destroy the All Creations Stage One puppet! Who on earth was this person?
“Let’s go inside and take a look at our senior brother,” Shayin said with urgency.
The two of them flew into the depths of the cavern, and the scene before their eyes had them flabbergasted once again.
The 18 brothers and sisters were each healing their wounds. Some of their injuries were more severe than Wei Zhuang’s and Zhang Li’s. Similarly, signs of crystallization could be seen on their wounded spots.
In the deepest part of the cavern, there was a crystallized figure. It had an ordinary appearance and a tenacious look on his face. At the moment, he was gritting his teeth and tending to something.
There was a blood hole the size of a bowl on his chest which was trickling incessantly with essence blood. His entire being was covered with pieces of crystal.
“Eldest senior brother!” Ding Ping’s expression changed dramatically as he rushed forward.
“Don’t come near me!” The eldest senior brother stopped them with a low yell.
The warning came too late. Ding Ping had was merely two steps away from him. Right at that moment, one of the crystalline pieces on the body of the eldest senior brother shot out and struck Ding Ping.
Pow!
Ding Ping managed to fend it off using his sword, but the sharp bronze sword in his hand was brutally split apart. Shortly after, the piece of crystal pierced Ding Ping’s chest as if it were a piece of paper.
Ding Ping flew backward, and an arrow of blood shot out from his mouth. Amidst the blood, fragments of the crystalline body were scattered.
Bang!
Ding Ping fell heavily onto the ground, pain, and misery written all over his face.
“Senior Brother Ding!” Shayin was caught unawares. She was on the verge of lifting him up but was stopped in her tracks by the crystallized eldest senior brother. “Do not touch him!”
Shayin’s palm stopped abruptly in midair. Frantically, she asked, “Senior brother, what’s with these crystalline bodies?”
The eldest senior brother answered in a low, hoarse voice. “The crystalline bodies you see are actually a kind of highly reproductive flora, which is called the Grass of Crystallization and feeds on spiritual blood. Once it gets into contact with blood, it begins to propagate very rapidly. Do not touch any of the injured people because then you will be infected by the Grass of Crystallization.”
“Grass of Crystallization?” Shayin was startled. “Isn’t that a spiritual grass? I thought it had been extinct for an eternity. Why does it still exist now?”
The eldest senior brother replied in a lowered voice, “It just hasn’t emerged for an eternity, but that doesn’t mean that it’s extinct. There’s an influential family at the Easternmost region which has always held it.”
Both Ding Ping and Shayin exclaimed in shock. “Senior brother, are you talking about the Great Oriental Family?”
The Great Oriental Family was a grand-scale, prestigious family that had produced two Prefecture’s Kings, and ruled over the entire Eastern continent. Merely the name itself was enough to intimidate the heroes.
“How did you come across the powerful individuals of the Great Oriental Family?” Ding Ping swallowed his saliva. All of a sudden, things made sense. If they had been attacked by some powerful being from the Great Oriental Family, it was understandable that the eldest senior brother couldn’t rival them.
The eldest senior brother was vexed. “Who knew what was wrong with that woman? We didn’t expect her to start attacking us all of a sudden!”
“Since you guys are here, please stay and protect us. In half a month, we will be able to resolve the Grass of Crystallization in our bodies.” The eldest senior brother changed the subject.
Shayin nodded. After a moment of contemplation, she said, “Senior brother, I have brought a powerful person with me. Perhaps he can help us.”
The eldest senior brother and all of the other senior brothers became interested. “Is Yu Liang back?”
Yu Liang was the second-ranking powerful person of the Heaven’s Craftsmen Faction, whose capacity was only slightly below the eldest senior brother.
Shayin said, “We didn’t run into Senior Brother Yu, but a student from the Supreme Heavenly Demon Faction!”
The people’s faces changed drastically. One of the students with high cultivation looked infuriated. “Shayin, you’re silly! Which student from the Supreme Heavenly Demon Faction isn’t a murderous, bloodthirsty character? Once they know we’re seriously injured, they won’t show any mercy! You, you’re leading the wolf into the house!”
Shayin felt aggrieved. She said, “This person saved mine and Ding Ping’s life. He doesn’t seem like a bloodthirsty person. Besides, I have brought him here only to strike a deal with senior brother. He wants to purchase a wooden bird.”
“Don’t believe a single word uttered by those evil demons!”
“Indeed, people of the Supreme Heavenly Demon Faction are cunning; don’t be fooled by them.”
Everybody chipped in to chastise and blame Shayin.
Right at that moment, a soft, mellifluous voice floated into the cavern. “If I wanted to kill you, would I have waited until now?”
All of them were in utter shock. “Everyone be careful!”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
All 18 of the senior brothers stood up at once as if they had met their worst enemy.
Under the faint sunlight, the silver-faced, white-haired Su Yu stepped into the cavern with his hands behind his back. The people inside assumed he had been able to get in with such ease that he had finished off the two guards at the door!
“How dare you barge into the territory of our Heaven’s Craftsmen Faction!” an eighth-grade Almighty female student yelled.
Su Yu said, “You might as well save your energy for recuperation instead of acting so fiercely.”
“Go to hell!” the female student yelled. “Senior brothers, get him!”
They couldn’t discern Su Yu’s cultivation. But based on their years of training and experience, it didn’t exactly seem strong.
Three students whose injuries were relatively less severe struck at the same time, attacking Su Yu from three different directions.
Shayin wanted to stop them, but it was too late.
Su Yu’s eyes turned cold as the demonic energy roiled in his chest, and five growling demonic dragons rushed out.
With a few screams of agony, the three attackers, including the eighth-grade Almighty female student, were blown off their feet while spitting blood. Their injuries were not even more serious.
His actions had enraged all the other students.
“How dare you hurt the people of my Heaven’s Craftsmen Faction! Let’s fight him together!”
The remaining strong men were about to vent their rage on him.
All of a sudden, the crystallized eldest senior brother screamed, “All of you, stop it!”
His aura was so intimidating that all the enraged students stopped at once and looked over at him.
“Stop it. He’s right. If he wanted to kill you, you would have all been dead already, including you, Leng Zhu.” The eldest senior brother looked at the eighth-grade Almighty woman.
In the Heaven’s Craftsmen Faction, Leng Zhu was the third-ranking powerful being. Her capacity was only slightly inferior to that of the absent Yu Liang.
“Him?” The students were startled. They had never doubted the eldest senior brother’s judgment.
From behind the crystals, the eldest senior brother said in a low voice, “It looks like you’re really here for business. Do you want my wooden bird?”
Su Yu nodded.
“We can strike a deal, but what are you offering in exchange?” the eldest senior brother said. “The items crafted by our Heaven’s Craftsmen Faction, which involve late-stage Almighty levels, are never given to outsiders. If we allow it, we’ll most likely be strictly punished by the faction. At the very least, we’ll have to introspect. In severe cases, we’ll have our cultivations removed to warn the rest. That will include me.”
Su Yu cast a look at Shayin. She had never mentioned this before.
Shayin tried to avoid his eyes, and argued, “Junior Brother Su, I didn’t have any bad intentions.”
That might have been the case, but she certainly didn’t have good intentions either. Presumably, she was trying to use the prominent reputation of the Supreme Heavenly Demon Faction as cover, to ensure her own safety on the way to meet the eldest senior brother.
Su Yu looked at the eldest senior brother, and said, “Your deaths are fast approaching and I can save you. You’ll have to agree with me.”
“That’s an overstatement. The effects of the Grass of Crystallization aren’t irrevocable,” the eldest senior brother remarked expressionlessly.
Su Yu sneered. “You could remove the Grass of Crystallization, but could you also get rid of those challengers out there who have their eyes pinned on you?”
How could the challengers in the vicinity not notice the great battle that took place in this area at all?
Over the last couple of days, perhaps no one had dared to take the risk due to the great reputation of the Heaven’s Craftsmen Faction. But over a prolonged period, people would be able to work out what had happened to the group that was still in the cavern. Even the arrival of a rudderless group of people could pose a great crisis to them and severely injure them.
The eldest senior brother’s pupils shrank. This was what he was most concerned about. The Grass of Crystallization wasn’t great enough to be a worry, but human intentions were.
“Can you really remove the Grass of Crystallization in our bodies?” the eldest senior brother asked.
Su Yu looked at him but did not answer.
The eldest senior brother fell silent momentarily, and said, “Fine. If you can remove the Grass of Crystallization from within all of us, we can strike the deal.”
But Su Yu shook his head and said, “No, only you.”
Wouldn’t he create trouble for himself if he removed the Grass of Crystallization from all of them? Who could be certain that they wouldn’t team up and attack him?
After a moment of consideration, the eldest senior brother nodded slowly. “Alright! Deal!” If he could get out of his predicament, they wouldn’t need to remain in the cavern and would be free to search for another site of recuperation.
Su Yu walked up to the crystallized eldest senior brother. His right hand was behind his back as it began slowly rotating a ray of dazzling galactic silver light.
“If you come within thirty feet of me, you’ll be attacked,” the eldest senior brother reminded him.
Su Yu nodded and stepped forward.
All of a sudden, the crystals on the eldest senior brother’s body seemed to be responding. One of them shot forth in an explosive manner.
Su Yu grasped it with his right hand and held the crystal fragment tightly. When he opened his palm again, the crystal had disappeared, leaving behind a granule the size of a sesame. It turned out to be the seed of the Grass of Crystallization!
The scene made the eldest senior brother’s pupils constrict forcefully. Such tactics were truly astounding!
Su Yu was unruffled. He continued approaching. With every step he took, more crystals shot towards him, but all of them were perfectly resolved by Su Yu.
When he reached the eldest senior brother, Su Yu already had a few dozen seeds on his palm! Su Yu pressed his palm onto the eldest senior brother’s body, and the crystals on his body surface vanished rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. At last, nothing was left. Now, Su Yu had about a hundred seeds on his palm!
The eldest senior brother had gotten out of his plight. He operated his Vital Energy immediately to seal the blood hole on his chest. Due to fatigue, his body was slightly trembling.
“Woo…” The eldest senior brother heaved a long sigh of relief and stared deeply at Su Yu. He couldn’t help but look at Su Yu’s right palm. Cupping his fists, he said, “Junior Brother Su, thank you so much for your help.” He retrieved a petite, delicate bird from his sleeve.
Su Yu’s eyes gleamed. It was finally his. After being modified by Yun Yazi, it could become a Void-navigating aviation treasure. This was a great propelling force that might help Su Yu pull through his three ordeals.
Su Yu nodded and stretched out a hand to accept the wooden bird.
Right at that moment, an intense, ferocious green brilliance pointed straight at Su Yu’s palm. He had to quickly dodge the light and was unable to take hold of the wooden bird.
A gruff, cold snort sounded all of a sudden. “Humph! Even outsiders want the treasures of my Heaven’s Craftsmen Faction?”
