Chapter 80: The Ancient Battle and the Desolation of Today

Zhang Kuang’s transformation made Qin Haoxuan feel that this boy he had grown up with had become increasingly terrifying. Although his cultivation was nowhere near the level of the Undying Witch Fiend, the sheer presence he now projected was somehow even more oppressive and unsettling than that of the ancient demon.

Qin Haoxuan took a deep breath to steady his nerves. “Junior Brother Zhang,” he said, “you should go with the Sect Master to Emperor Peak and have your body checked. It seems the fall may have damaged your brain, for you to be speaking such nonsense.”

His words did not anger Zhang Kuang. He simply let his gaze drift over Qin Haoxuan’s face, as if committing every feature to memory. “I didn’t die,” he said calmly, “and I’ve thought things through. So, you had better stay alive as well. On the final day of the Trial of the Immortal Path, after we enter the Aqueous Manor, I will kill you with my own two hands. Until then, you will live, waiting for the day I come to crush you.”

Having said his piece, he turned and walked toward Perfected Man Huanglong, only to see that the Sect Master’s face had turned hard and cold. A Purple Seed, even a Purple Seed, was not permitted to speak of harming a fellow disciple in front of the Sect Master.

“I think your brain truly has been damaged by the fall,” Huanglong said after a long silence. “Come with me back to Emperor Peak. If an examination shows that you are unharmed, then for the words you have just spoken, you will suffer the torment of the Profound Ice Grotto.”

Under the Sect Master’s stern gaze, Zhang Kuang lowered his head. In the entire Taichu Sect, he found that the only person he truly respected was the Sect Master. The guidance he had received from him before had greatly broadened his horizons. In his heart, the Sect Master was like a parent, and he found it difficult to harbor any rebellious thoughts toward him.

“You are a Purple Seed,” Huanglong said before the crowd. “You should be a guardian of every blade of grass and every tree in the Taichu Sect, to say nothing of your fellow disciples. Not only must you never again speak of killing a sect brother, you must not even think it. A Purple Seed is still a disciple of this sect, and the rules of the sect apply equally to all. If you truly were to kill him, then even as a Purple Seed, this Seat would dare to kill you in turn.”

Zhang Kuang nodded his assent, but in his heart, his opinion remained unchanged. He would indeed protect every part of the sect, his fellow disciples, and his elders. But… that protection did not include Qin Haoxuan.

“Come with me,” Huanglong said. With a flick of his wide sleeve, a spiritual light enveloped Zhang Kuang, and the two of them vanished from the Spirit Field Valley in a streak of rainbow light.

Remembering the look on Zhang Kuang’s face as he spoke, Qin Haoxuan felt once again that he had become unfathomable. The final day of the trial, in the Aqueous Manor? Why did he mention that specific place? Does he think he can defeat me before then? Is there something special about the Manor, or does he have another fortuitous encounter he didn’t speak of? But judging from his earlier sincerity, it seemed he had been telling the truth.

As these questions swirled in his mind, the crowd dispersed, and Pu Hanzhong came to his side. “Don’t take Zhang Kuang’s threat to heart,” he said. “Focus on your cultivation. Raising your own strength is the key to everything. As the saying goes, ‘no alchemy, no cultivation.’ Although you can’t refine pills yet, I will start teaching you how to make medicinal powders.”

Qin Haoxuan nodded. His senior brother had mentioned them before. The difference was that pills preserved medicinal potency and spiritual energy far better, while powders were less efficient with the raw ingredients. But making pills required a formula, the process was difficult, and it demanded high-quality ingredients and a skilled alchemist. Powders were far simpler, a good way for new cultivators to practice and boost their strength. For a cultivator who couldn’t afford to buy pills and lacked the skill to make them, medicinal powders were the best option.

Just as he was about to leave with Pu Hanzhong to find a quiet place to study, a rooted disciple with a five-mu plot of land walked over, an obsequious smile on his face. “Senior Brother Qin,” he said, “your land will be tilled in another two days. After you plant the seeds, you’ll only need a few monkeys for watering. If you have no other use for them, could you perhaps lend me a few to help till my land?”

This disciple was also part of Xu Yu’s faction. He was one of the Uncolored Seeds who had managed to root through sheer effort, but he hadn’t been able to attract any Attendants. For the past few days, he had been working himself to the bone, but his five mu was still not fully cleared. And after that, he still had to fertilize and water it all. The workload was immense. As a low-level cultivator, his physical stamina was limited. By the end of each day, he was too exhausted to do anything but collapse into bed, leaving no time for cultivation. He had wanted to catch some apes himself, but his Guiding Senior Brother from one of the four great halls had patiently talked him out of it, considering such a method beneath them.

Seeing Qin Haoxuan’s hesitation, a thought flashed in the disciple’s mind. “Senior Brother Qin, how about this? Once your own work is done, if you lend me your monkeys in their spare time, I’ll give you two-tenths of my harvest.”

Qin Haoxuan considered it. It was a good deal. With Little Gold in command, his own ten mu would be finished quickly. To get a twenty-percent share of another’s harvest just for letting Little Gold help out in its spare time… why not? He nodded his agreement.

Another disciple with sharp ears overheard the successful negotiation and rushed over, eagerly offering the same deal.

“Alright,” Qin Haoxuan said. “After my field is tilled, planted, and watered, I’ll have Little Gold bring the monkeys over to help you.” Having to do no work himself for a handsome reward, he was more than happy to be generous with Little Gold’s time. He ignored the monkey’s resentful look and patted its furry head. “Work hard, and I’ll reward you with a bag of dried figs with even more honey on them.”

A monkey is a monkey, after all. At the promise of extra honey, Little Gold’s eyes began to sparkle, all traces of resentment gone.

By the time he and Pu Hanzhong had gathered the tools for making medicinal powders, night had fallen, and it was too late to start the lesson. As one of the few disciples who had sprouted, Qin Haoxuan had been assigned a private dormitory. It wasn’t as exquisite as those of the special seeds, but at least he had his own space. After meditating for a while, he waited until the dead of night, then impatiently sent his soul into the snake and headed back to the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley.

After two consecutive nights of finding nothing, even his calm demeanor was beginning to fray. Zhang Kuang had survived a fall from a thousand-fathom cliff and had a major breakthrough. He was now a much greater threat. If he couldn’t find some treasures soon and increase his own cultivation speed, he would be nothing but fish on the chopping block when Zhang Kuang became more powerful.

He ventured about a hundred paces in and found himself in the area he had already searched. This time, he resolved to go deeper. The pressure was immense, making it hard to breathe, but for the sake of finding treasure, he pushed on. Ahead of him was a small, ten-meter-high hill, just large enough to block the snake’s line of sight. He could feel a terrifying, immense aura radiating from the other side. This was the only area within his range that he hadn’t yet searched.

Should I go, or not? If he went, he could run into a demon even more terrifying than the Undying Witch Fiend. But if he didn’t, he would likely find nothing. Sooner or later, he had to take this step. After a long hesitation, he decided to risk it. If things looked bad, he could always turn and flee.

Steeling himself, he began to crawl up the hill, pushing against the immense pressure. It took him the time it takes an incense stick to burn to climb the small mound. When he finally peered over the other side, a spectacular and harrowing sight met his eyes.

Beneath the eternally dim sky of the valley, the ruins of a desolate and tragic battlefield stretched out before him. As far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with severed limbs and broken bodies. The black skeletal remains, having been corroded by the poison for thousands of years, had become extremely brittle. When the toxic wind blew, some of the skeletons finally succumbed, crumbling into dust with a dry, crackling sound that carried far on the breeze. Many of the experts from both the immortal and demonic paths had died on their feet, caught in the blast of the Myriad Poison Demon Venerable. The tattered remnants of their clothing still hung from their frames, fluttering in the wind like ragged banners.

Qin Haoxuan looked out and saw that the valley stretched on endlessly. This was just the edge of the battlefield. He was shocked. How vast had this place truly been?

In this outer area, one skeleton in particular captured his full attention. It was enormous, ten zhang long, the size of a small hillock, and it was the best-preserved skeleton in this part of the field. It looked like the corpse of a gigantic ape. Beside it lay a massive iron staff, eight or nine zhang long and as thick as four or five men clasped together, its surface covered in mottled rust. The immense, heart-stopping aura he had felt was radiating from this very skeleton.

(End of Chapter)