Following the sound of the voice saw Head Honored Elder hurrying their way while being supported by Gu Beiyue. Han Yunxi and the rest were surprised that Gu Beiyue had moved so fast. He not only took care of the hostages down the mountain, but even saved Head Honored Elder.
Did he save him as soon as he got up here?
“Feiye, quickly! Hurry to Nirvana Gorge, the sword sealing platform’s about to break!” Head Honored Elder was so panicked that he even ignored the poison beginning to eat at his insides. Both him and Second Honored Elder had been poisoned and locked up in the top floor of Scripture Depository.[1] Third Elder was in charge of guard duty. The two Honored Elders had heard all the commotion at Celestial Mountain but had no idea what was going on. It wasn’t until Gu Beiyue took care of Third Elder and rescued them both that they found out Long Feiye and Han Yunxi had arrived.
Heretical Sword Sect’s leader wasn’t on Celestial Mountain, so Long Feiye’s sword skills and Han Yunxi’s poisons were enough to take care of the Heretical Sword Sect disciples and the traitors from the two Depositories and one Courtyard. Thus, they had Gu Beiyue take them to Nirvana Gorge immediately.
Nirvana Gorge (梵天谷) was one of Celestial Mountain’s most secret forbidden areas. It contained a single platform that sealed that ancient treasure sword, Ganjiang! The founder of Celestial Mountain Sword Sect had discovered the blade was was unable to subdue it. Thus, he spent his life’s energy building the sword platform to lock it in. Although Heretical Sword Sect seemed to be targeting their sect, their true aim was for Ganjiang. However, Heretical Sword Sect’s leader had limited internal reserves and was unable to subdue the sword either. Yet before leaving, he had damaged the sword platform to threaten the three Honored Elders. Once it was completely destroyed, the Ganjiang sword spirit would slowly awaken within one year. The Heretical Sword Sect was waiting for that moment to force the Honored Elders to subdue the spirit.[2]
As the three Honored Elders had all cultivated to the top level of Nirvana Heart Arts, they had immense reserves of internal energy. However, even their combined efforts weren’t enough to subdue the sword. They didn’t tell this to the Heretical Sword Sect leader, though, hoping that they could wrest their freedom before the Ganjiang sword spirit regained consciousness. Then they could use their combined strength to seal up the sword platform again. Who knew that they’d see Ganjiang beginning to wake as soon as they went for a quick peek?
Logically speaking, there should be a sign or omen before the sword spirit stirred. At the very least, they would’ve felt something in the peak. But there was no hint to the awakening, leaving them at a loss.[3]
There was no time to waste. If Ganjiang awakened, it’d be difficult to seal it up again. If they couldn’t lock up its powers, the sword would simply fly away from Celestial Mountain. Then it’d be nearly impossible to track down again. Head Honored Elder had no idea whether their strength would be enough to re-seal the partially awakened Ganjiang sword spirit again, but no matter what, they had to seize the time to try. After finding out the situation, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi both had misgivings, but there was no time for questions.
“Gu Qishao, keep an eye on them!” Long Feiye tossed back before leaving with Head Honored Elder and Han Yunxi to Nirvana Gorge. Along the way, she carefully examined Head Honored Elder’s poison and gave him the appropriate antidote.
After the trio vanished from sight, Gu Qishao came back to his senses and realized he’d been left behind again.[4] How could he be happy missing out on such an important spectacle?
Meanwhile, the five mountains of Celestial Mountain Sword Sect were wreathed in chaos. Some disciples were surrendering while others fled for their lives. Still more were on a slaughterfest. Granny You, who had been locked up in one of the lower peaks, had already killed her way to the top and was currently fighting against some Heretical Sword Sect experts. Despite the mess and various advantages being lost or seized, no one dared to approach the stage and provoke Gu Qishao. Even the strongest experts of Heretical Sword Sect had no guts to try and rescue their three sect elders.
In the unrest, Gu Qishao sat down and crossed his legs, his expression gloomy. His hands drummed restlessly while clutching a pill in one palm. No one knew what he was planning. The three Heretical Sword Sect elders knelt before him. They had already exchanged looks multiple times, trying to figure out a way to escape.
Gu Qishao might have the Moye sword spirit on him, but he was no Long Feiye. It was impossible to escape under Long Feiye’s eyes, but they might have a chance with Gu Qishao if they coordinated with each other. No matter what, someone had to make it back to Heretical Sword Sect to oversee the big picture. Otherwise, the sect would be in danger once Long Feiye and Han Yunxi came calling. Meanwhile, their own sect leader was too far away to put out any of these fires.
In the end, they truly underestimated Gu Qishao. He was scary enough when he was careless, but even more terrifying when he got serious. Long Feiye didn’t know anything about poisons, but he was an expert in them!
Just as the three elders exchanged a final look between them, multiple thorn-covered vines flew out of Gu Qishao’s sleeves and trapped the trio inside. Despite being tied up, Head Elder strove to reach for his sword as he said quickly, “Gu Qishao, since were you reduced to being Long Feiye’s dog? Why not--”
Gu Qishao stuffed a poison pill into his mouth before he finished, which Head Elder swallowed on reflex. Alarmed, he cried, “What did you just feed me?”
Gu Qishao simply ignored him while beckoning the vines with his finger. They delivered Second and Third Elder before him as the frightened duo took out their swords to hack at the plants. Shockingly, these vines were different and didn’t budge beneath their attacks. Very soon, the vines stole their weapons away. Gu Qishao wrenched their chins up and fed each of them a poison pill before turning to walk away. A few steps later, he stopped and backtracked. By now, Head Elder had already succumbed to unconsciousness from the poison while Second and Third Elder were fearfully wondering what Gu Qishao would try next.
Gu Qishao simply knelt by Head Elder’s side and dug out a dagger concealed by his shin. The next second, he cut off Head Elder’s tongue. Although the unconscious Head Elder couldn’t feel the pain, blood kept flowing from his tongue nonstop. A blood-red vine soon grew from inside his mouth before moving to trap in Second and Third Elder.
With a gloomy face, Gu Qishao slowly cleaned off his dagger and turned to leave again. Second and Third Elder were left with horror beyond words. They rejoiced in the fact that they hadn’t spoke, or else they’d be suffering the same fate as Head Elder right now!
Gu Qishao was no easier to provoke than Long Feiye!
A grumpy Gu Qishao suddenly hollered, “Who’s Granny You? Stand out!”
The chaotic battle scenes stilled at his shout. Granny You was currently surrounded by Heretical Sword Sect experts and yelled back, “Sir Gu Qi,[5] I’m over here!”
“Take me to Nirvana Gorge, quickly!” Gu Qishao urged.
Granny You was in a difficult spot. If she hadn’t been poisoned and her internal reserves limited, she would never be trapped by a bunch of Heretical Sword Sect disciples. However, all of them got out of the way as soon as Gu Qishao glanced in their direction. Freed from the fight, Granny You immediately took Gu Qishao to Nirvana Gorge.
The Heretical Sword Sect disciples saw that Head Elder was already dead and Second and Third Elder trapped. They accepted the reality of the situation and stopped fighting to flee.
--
Nirvana Gorge was located in the deep valley behind Nine Xuan Hall. Granny You and Gu Qishao hadn’t even gotten close before they sensed the potent sword qi around them. A person with ordinary internal reserves would be injured by such energy before ever reaching the treasure sword Ganjiang. The two of them hurried on before Gu Qishao abruptly stopped as if frozen in place.
“Sir Gu Qi, what’s wrong?” Granny You exclaimed.
Gu Qishao didn’t answer, seemingly lost in deviation as his pupils turned red. Despite her life experiences, Granny You had no idea what was going on. She pushed him a few times and tried, “Sir Gu Qi, what’s the matter with you?”
When her repeated questions met with no replies beyond Gu Qishao staring blankly into space, Granny You made sure no one else was around before hastening towards the sword sealing platform. By the time she arrived, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi were in the middle of working with the two Honored Elders to suppress the Ganjiang sword spirit with their Nirvana Heart energy. Long Feiye and Han Yunxi had both cultivated to the tenth and final level liked the Honored Elders. With Gu Beiyue supporting them on the side, they were five people strong. However, even that put them at a disadvantage against the Ganjiang sword spirit. It looked like they were on the verge of being overwhelmed, so Granny You forgot all thoughts of Gu Qishao and rushed in to help. Although her internal reserves were limited, she still counted as a source of power!
However, her efforts were like trying to put out a cartload of burning wood with a single cup of water. As the Ganjiang sword spirit awoke further, its strength grew in proportion. Long Feiye withdrew his Nirvana Heart energy and switched to Lustbite energy instead. It temporarily weakened Ganjiang, who soon flared up in strength again. Gradually, the suppression of their powers grew more obvious.
“Feiye, we can’t hold out any longer!” Head Honored Elder didn’t want to admit it, but this was the truth.
“Give up, we’ll only use up our own reserves this way,” Gu Beiyue advised. Everyone had already given it their all. But Long Feiye and Han Yunxi persisted, their strained faces showing their reluctance. There was no such thing as “give up” in their world, only “I don’t want this anymore.”
“Princess, even if Ganjiang leaves Celestial Mountain, no one else in this world can subdue it. Why waste everyone’s internal energy like this? There’s plenty of other matters we have to deal with!” Gu Beiyue coaxed again. His words were right, because having Ganjiang disappear now wouldn’t affect them in the short run. If even they couldn’t subdue the sword spirit, then who else had any hope? Bai Yanqing was more unlikely, which was why he’d tried to force the three Honored Elders to do it for him.
Han Yunxi was really to call it a day, but suddenly thought of an idea. After some hesitation, she said, “How about giving me one more chance? I’ll try something!”
Naturally, everyone agreed, but they didn’t know what she was planning. Neither the two Honored Elders nor Granny You were aware of her Phoenix energy. Long Feiye and Gu Beiyue did, but they never guessed that was her plan. Han Yunxi could only control a limited portion of the energy now, which was weaker than her full-leveled Nirvana Heart energy!
Still, that was what she wanted to try.
Would a miracle happen?
1. REALLY? The secret hiding spot was at the top of a building on sect grounds? I was expecting like, a cave or an underground dungeon, maybe even dangling over the edge of a cliff/fire pit/ice pool/etc.
2. Again, I’m all for long-term plans by villains, but not when they...progress...soooooooo slowly. Too many chances for sabotage here between seven-month killer poisons and one-year sword seal decay schticks. Hmm. Maybe having immortality screws with your sense of time.
3. Perhaps it sensed its girlfriend Moye coming for a visit cough cough. I don’t know actually, this was just my random thought after reading this bit, haha.
4. At least this time we stand a chance of seeing what LFY and HYX are up to instead of “and then the villains ran out after LFY and HYX discovered their trap blahblah.”
5. Yes, she used “Gu Qi” instead of “Gu Qishao.” Kinda sounds like “Gucci” now that I think of it..GQS would make an excellent fashion icon in our world.