Translated by Jouissance of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Returning to Xi Jing meant that they had to pass through White Bone Town.
Originally, they hadn’t planned on stopping, but You XiaoMo observantly noticed that the town didn’t seem quite right. The prospering town had a beaten down air to it, and there weren’t many people on the streets.
You XiaoMo thought he was seeing things at first.
He remembered passing through White Bone Town with Ling Xiao on their way to Dong Zhou. Back then, the streets had been bustling with people, and the entire town was filled with life. It was nothing like now. Business was bleak, and customers were few, like when first visited.
They went to boss Wang’s inn and found out what had happened while they were away from Xi Jing. The identity of the level twelve demon beast that had perched itself here had been figured out.
The reason why the town was so empty was because most people had run over to witness the show of Tian Dao coming to deal with that guy.
…
The Tian Gou were very careful in selecting their members. This was clear from the number of their members. If they really did plan on recruiting an army, then it wouldn’t be possible for them to only have less than twenty members after almost ten thousand years.
By now, Ling Xiao had accepted Tian Gou, and so Tian Dao and company looked to him as their leader. This wouldn’t change. Ling Xiao was also planning on developing Tian Gou as his powerbase, so if anyone wanted to join Ling Xiao, then they would certainly become a member of Tian Gou.
However, Tian Dao didn’t want to recruit a bunch of people with ulterior motives, so while Ling Xiao and You XiaoMo were in DongZhou, Tian Dao was investigating the level twelve powerhouse in the town, and he really did find something.
Though, on the surface, that person said they wanted to join Ling Xiao, after building up a his own base, he often pressured the other powers there in Ling Xiao’s name, forcing them out of White Bone Town.
Soon enough, none of White Bone Town’s groups were a match for him.
However, he didn’t stop there, instead doing a lot terrible things in town, like charging protection fees and town entrance fees.
White Bone Town was protected by Tian Gou. Cheng Yi took the position of a member of Tian Gou and often boasted without shame. Apart from that, he often bullied outsiders under the banner of Ling Xiao and Tian Gou’s name. With these incidents becoming known, the people no longer held the same worshipful and amiable attitude when Tian Gou and Ling Xiao were brought up.
Tian Dao had already confirmed that Cheng Yi was here to throw dirt on their names.
A few days later, after Tian Ming came back from his mission, Tian Dao sent him and Tian Hen to deal with Cheng Yi.
By now, Tian Ming was already a Sacred level one star. As for Tian Hen, his body had been destroyed before, and it was already lucky enough for him that he was able to recover it. Though his strength hadn’t been able to be improved much, he was already at the peak of seven star.
Both of them were battle-thirsty. Though they weren’t as crazy as Tian Gui, they were equally as good at challenging those levels above them.
Tian Dao thought that they were enough to deal with that troublemaker, but reality was always surprising.
Tian Ming and Tian Hen lost, and afterwards, they sent back important information. Cheng Yi wasn’t a level twelve one star at all, but two star. He just used something to conceal his true cultivation level, tricking others into thinking he was one star.
Tian Dao was suspicious that Cheng Yi had been sent here by someone, but they hadn’t found the mastermind behind this yet. This person had hid themselves well, and no matter who he sent to gather intelligence, they always only came back with what was already known or obvious.
However, ever since the Weasel Beast became a part of Tian Gou’s information network, the situation had changed. Very few people knew of the Weasel Beast’s existence, and even less knew that he could control all other rodent demon beasts, so Tian Dao had the Weasel Beast’s minions keep an eye on Cheng Yi.
As expected, they eventually found out who had sent Cheng Yi.
Cheng Yi was good at keeping secrets, but no matter how good he was, he would let something slip some time. Plus, he had to communicate with whoever was behind this. The Weasel Beast’s minions followed the trail he left and, while they couldn’t figure out who exactly was behind this, they knew where that person came from.
Cheng Yi was sent over by the Black Spider.
Before the DongZhou incident had even ended, Black Spider was becoming even more wild and vicious in their expansion in Xi Jing.
Tian Dao had never thought that Black Spider would set their eyes on them. No matter what intentions they had, they would sit there and wait, and it would be great if they could find out what Cheng Yi’s goal.
Thus, the next day, Tian Dao contacted Tian Gui.
By now, three of Tian Gou’s twelve members were Sacred level elites, it was just that two of them were only one star, while only Tian Gui was three stars.
However, since it was never certain when Tian Gui would return or where he would go, getting into contact with and waiting for him to come back would require time, so it took a while before he arrived.
Knowing that the opponent was two stars, Tian Gui was a little reluctant.
He generally liked to challenge those levels above him and didn’t have any interest in those weaker than him. However, he was a member of Tian Gou and he couldn’t refuse these missions.
The next day, he set off for White Bone Town.
The show boss Wang was talking about was the battle between Tian Gui and Cheng Yi. Both of them were level twelve powerhouses. Fighting here would destroy White Bone Town, so they went into the Ghost Tomb Mountain Range. Many of the other practitioners followed suit.
They weren’t too late to the show. Tian Gui and Cheng Yi had set off two hours ago. Boss Wang pointed them in the right direction. Even if they weren’t going to go and help, it was worth it to watch.
As a three star, there was no need to worry about Tian Gui not being able to deal with a two star. After all, the combative Tian Gui even had a chance to win against a four star. You XiaoMo hadn’t forgotten the moment he found out how Tian Gui managed to kill a three star practitioner of TongTian Palace while only at two stars.
Not long later, they arrived at their destination.
Rumbling booms shook the landscape, thunderclouds boomed in the sky every now and then, the earth shaking and mountains trembling. The intensity of the battle was as clear as day.
There were many unfamiliar presences as well, all looking around.
“Huh? That’s not right. Didn’t they say that Tian Gui only had one opponent?” You XiaoMo expressed his confusion. He only just noticed that it was a two on one fight. Two against Tian Gui’s one.
“Seems like the situation has changed,” Fang ChenLe said softly. He had be told about the situation here by his smallest shidi and he had also heard of the whole thing with Cheng Yi.
Not far off, the three figures were tightly engaged with one another.
Apart from Cheng Yi, the other was also another member of Black Spider. He was also a level twelve powerhouse, but he wasn’t just one or two stars, but a four star practitioner.
This was very much unexpected.
This person came in after Cheng Yi built up his base in White Bone Town. He was rather strong, but he never displayed any particular talent. Later on, he simply acted as a normal underling of Cheng Yi’s, performing not at all out of the norm when going up against others. Thus, no one ever suspected that he was with Cheng Yi from the beginning.
In order to successfully execute their plan, they had barely interacted, perfectly playing their roles of subordinate and superior. This was why not even the Weasel Beast had figured out that they had something to do with one another.
This battle was also a part of their plan. In reality, Black Spider was never targeting Ling Xiao or Tian Gou in the first place, but Tian Gui.
Tian Gui was the third critical figure in Tian Gou. His death would be a huge blow to Tian Gou and this was also Lin ShaoYi’s gift to Ling Xiao.
It was just that Tian Gui was far too difficult to draw out. Unless Tian Dao called him back, it would be extremely hard to catch him, which was why they had planned to this degree. What they hadn’t thought of was that Tian Gui’s opponent would be so uncooperative, dragging things out so that they only managed to execute their plan today.
“Ling Xiao, shouldn’t we go and help Tian Gui?” You XiaoMo asked Ling Xiao nervously.
“Wait a little while longer.” Ling Xiao watched for a while before looking away, seemingly uncaring.
You XiaoMo asked, “Why?”
Ling Xiao replied, “Haven’t you realized that Tian Gui is enjoying this?”
As he said, Tian Gui really was enjoying this unfair two on one fight. His opponent being stronger than him didn’t cause him any fear. On the contrary, his expression was one of wild excitement, his eyes bloodshot. He strikes swift and heavy. Cheng Yi wasn’t all that strong, and often was almost blown away by Tian Gui’s attacks.
In the end, he even had to temporarily retreat to catch his breath.
You XiaoMo heard the spectators booing. Fearing death was human nature, but others would still react with disdain when this fear was displayed.
“The end is nigh,” Ling Xiao commented lightly.
The four immediately looked towards Tian Gui. Tian Gui was the kind of person who grew fiercer as the battle raged on longer. Without Cheng Yi, his attacks grew even more piercing, and his movements even more unpredictable. His opponent was flushed all over, spiritual energy being depleted at a shocking pace.
Not long later, a dark, bloody shadow flew in their direction, crushing a small mountain not fifty meters away from them with a massive boom
Seeing this, Cheng Yi’s face twisted in shock, turning to flee without another thought for his companion’s fate.
A cold anger flashed through Tian Gui’s eyes as he gave chase without hesitation.
