Book 6: Chapter 1: Into The Wilderness
Li Jinyao naturally agreed to Bai Qiuran’s request.
After seeing Su Xiangxue and Bai Qiuran’s close relationship, Tang Ruowei quietly wrote her this news, also informing her that Bai Qiuran was leaving again. That’s why Li Jinyao ran non-stop to the Qingming Sword Sect.
Su Xiangxue’s unprecedented offensive not only made Bai Qiuran overwhelmed but also made Li Jinyao feel a deeper sense of crisis.
Of course, Bai Qiuran couldn’t let Li Jinyao casually follow. There might be some danger in the Wilderness, but their destination this time was the cemetery of the gods.
The first Demon Emperor had been dead for so long, yet he could be reborn as a zombie by magic. Bai Qiuran didn’t believe that the gods who used to be known as ‘natural incarnations’ would not have similar methods.
And he himself couldn’t use more than 10% of his power on a whim anymore. Last time, the first Demon Emperor forced him to exert a little more strength. Now, whenever he used more than 10% of the Qi in the Purple Mansion, he would feel a very strong impulse to break through.
Considering that even Wise Immortal’s initial advice to him was to suppress it, Bai Qiuran decided that in this exploration, unless they encountered a really terrible crisis, he couldn’t afford to be too serious in fighting.
But when facing the gods, Bai Qiuran couldn’t be so sure. He needed to be ready in case something causes him and Li Jinyao to become separated. It was his responsibility to ensure that Li Jinyao has a way to escape back to the Nine Provinces and Ten Lands, even if that means she returns alone.
However, after Bai Qiuran told Wise Immortal of his concerns, Wise Immortal bluntly stated:
“It’s easy. Come on, little girl, I will teach you a technique for manipulating space!”
“Wait a sec,” Bai Qiuran shouted, “Why didn’t you tell me that you still had such a spell?!”
Unexpectedly, Wise Immortal replied with disdain. “The hard threshold for this series of spells is the Deity Transformation stage. Even if I told you, could you even practice?”
Bai Qiuran was speechless.
Space spells were a series of many spells, but to access it, one must, at the lowest, have the Deity Transformation stage. Naturally, it’s an extremely difficult skill to learn.
However, it turned out that Li Jinyao, who possessed Heavenly Demon Physique, was quite gifted. Ordinary cultivators had to practice for a long time to get started with space spells, but she succeeded in only half a month. At the same time, she also learned what Wise Immortal had taught her – the Shuttle Space Spell.
Under Wise Immortal’s guidance, she set her return location on the Seven Star Peak, in Bai Qiuran’s courtyard. Then, at Bai Qiuran’s request, she took the time to return to the Heavenly Demon Sect and told her master Ji Lingyun and Huangfu Feng about their plan.
Ji Lingyun naturally opposed this plan, not to mention that Bai Qiuran was the teacher of Jue Yunzi whom she hated the most. More importantly, she wouldn’t let Li Jinyao blindly follow Bai Qiuran and put her life at risk.
However, Huangfu Feng agreed and believed that with Bai Qiuran around, this would be a rare experience for Li Jinyao.
If something happened to them, then no one in the entire Nine Provinces and Ten Lands would be spared.
Regarding seniority, Huangfu Feng was Ji Lingyun’s master. So inevitably, Li Jinyao succeeded in obtaining the sect elders’ consent, finally following Bai Qiuran on his journey into the wilderness.
After agreeing to Huangfu Feng’s request, Bai Qiuran deliberately trained Li Jinyao. After entering the wilderness, the two slowed down. Li Jinyao basically took care of the tide of beasts that came along the way, while Bai Qiuran stood by.
Observing their method, Bai Qiuran found that Li Jinyao’s talent was refreshingly terrifying. At first, when she first encountered these crazy wild beasts, she was still reluctant. Even so, after fighting waves of them, she had to rest for a long time.
But soon, her fighting skills were like a rocket’s, soaring upwards at a speed visible to the naked eye. It really seemed that lacking control over power didn’t happen to her.
The same was true for her blademanship. After being handled by her, the pair of blades motions were jerky at first, but the more she got used to it, the more she could control them freely.
In just four or five days, she mastered the blade, and a newly-born spirit also became devoted to her and became loyal lackeys.
After getting over, Li Jinyao also began to take over the housework in the evenings. Her cooking skills were really not something to brag about, but after Bai Qiuran would finish eating, he felt that it was a rare delicacy in the world, and every night, she would prepare sleeping places for two people in a regular manner.
After a week or two, Bai Qiuran felt as if he was using her. She was almost like a slave.
All the while the two would often stop and rest, making the trip take Bai Qiuran and Li Jinyao more than a month before they finally reached the banks of Broken Soul River.
Compared to the last time, the appearance of various aquatic beasts had become weirder and weirder. Bai Qiuran even saw monsters with dog heads, duck heads, and white bear heads bobbing up and down in the waves, hunting and killing other aquatic beasts.
“This river is really getting weird,” Bai Quiran said with emotion.
He had stepped onto the back of Li Jinyao’s sword, as he said this. The two flying over the Broken Soul River.
It was the first time that Li Jinyao had seen such a ruthless scene of the strong devouring the weak in the wild. She turned her head from the bloody scene.
“Senior Sword Patriarch, you said that if they swallow each other like this, what will the last beast evolve into?” she couldn’t help asking.
“I don’t know, we still know very little about things in the wilderness at present.” Bai Qiuran replied.
“What about Wise Immortal?”
“It’s a pity that we didn’t work out a reason in our time. Resisting against devils has already occupied all our minds.”
Wise Immortal rattled from Bai Qiuran’s belt.
“But following you this time,” Wise Immortal said, “I learned a lot of interesting information through Great Wisdom… For example, the air that is poisonous to the human race in this wilderness, in my opinion, is actually a kind of [residual grievance], and these wild beasts are also related to the master of these grievances.”
“It seems that this time, our gains won’t be so measly.”
Bai Qiuran smiled.
Li Jinyao drove the flying sword, landing on the other side of the Broken Soul River, and then the two began to walk from the banks.
The wave of beasts on the west bank of the Broken Soul River was no longer something Li Jinyao could deal with herself, so now, it became Bai Qiuran’s duty to clear the way.
According to the map, Bai Qiuran was leading Li Jinyao towards the Land of Divine Death. The source of these mysterious resentments seemed to be the Land of Divine Death itself. As the two of them ventured deeper, the resenting aura within the wild grew in intensity. The effect was so strong that Li Jinyao, a cultivator in the Deity Transformation Stage, had to use her True Qi with all her strength, as she needed to maintain her defenses in order to avoid the aura’s corrosion
Eventually, Bai Qiuran reluctantly led Li Jinyao to the entrance of the Land of Divine Death, but they stopped there.
Because in front of them, on the only way to the land of the gods, a few great devils appeared, stomping back and forth.