Archfiend

Chapter 247: Survivors

The number of great lineages was estimated to be over a hundred, yet the teams that they had brought contained no less than dozens to a hundred personnel! Presently, several thousand gazes all converged on the door.

None had expected jade slips not to break. Not everyone could survive. In the fleeting instant the enormous heavenbound door opened, the terrible might of the Eight Great Deadlands was truly displayed!

Swoosh… Following this flash of light, a dog’s head sneakily popped out. Just as the dog saw the door, he was promptly startled. As he planned to turn back, it seemed that he was kicked by something from behind. All of a sudden, the dog took on a power stance, adopting the attitude of a deputy wolf. His front paw dug at the ground, and he extended his neck and began to wildly howl.

“AWOOO! AWOOOOO… Awooo~.”

It was unknown how a husky could make a wolf’s howl, but the dog had accomplished it.

No one laughed. Everyone gazed intently at the door. Indeed… someone had exited. They needed to see who this person was! Which great lineage was it?!

White light flashed again. The second person to come out was a young single-armed man. He appeared young, very young. His monotone camouflage had long since become tattered. Several long marks hung on his upper body, and his left arm had been moreover severed at the base. There was no lack of blood and scars left behind by divine abilities on his body. What kind of ruthless combat had this young cultivator experienced within Danxia Temple? However, in the eyes of the tens of Foundation Establishment Seniors present, his spiritual pressure caused their brows to suddenly jump.

“Late-stage Qi Condensation…” A seemingly young cultivator floating in the sky breathed in deeply. “Based on his skeletal age… he’s less than thirty. He actually has the promise for Foundation Establishment?”

“Which clan’s genius is this?” An old man fixed his eyes on the young cultivator and whispered to the person beside him, “This Throne… only feels that he is somewhat familiar. We examined and counted the core cultivators from the clans before, but his face wasn’t there.”

“That’s the commander of the Xingtian Legion, Xu Yangyi, late-stage Qi Condensation.” At his side, a young man in glasses pushed back on his spectacles out of habit and gritted his teeth. “I really didn’t expect… that all the jade slips of our Zhu Clan would break, but the trifling commander of an A-rank legion actually managed to come out…”

In the sky above, Ancientpine suddenly opened his eyes and looked down incredulously. His seventeenth disciple… had actually come out?

He’d already lost a few disciples to Danxia Temple. Which one wasn’t a branch master of the Featherwood Guard? Yes, if a game had to be used as a comparison, now was the Qi Condensation level. His disciples that had died were on the Foundation Establishment level. However, this was merely a lowering of level! The difficulty hadn’t changed at all!

“He actually…” Ancientpine took a deep breath and stood up. This was the second time, and also the first time, that he truly carved Xu Yangyi’s silhouette into his heart.

As a cultivator, not as the pill master’s agent.

“Master-Ancestor.” Jadesun’s voice was heard from behind. In the same vein, it carried disbelief and a shred of rejoice. He said happily, “Congratulations, Master-Ancestor. Seventeenth Disciple truly managed to come out alive. This Danxia Temple journey will become one of his most valuable treasures on his path of cultivation.” 

Ancientpine was quiet and intensely studied Xu Yangyi. After ages, he veered off topic, diverting to a completely unrelated matter.

“Cultivation and arcane efforts are not difficult. The number of geniuses are many. Tell me, why are there only over a dozen of us who have reached Core Formation?”

Jadesun bowed deeply. “Please tell, Master-Ancestor.”

Set over Xu Yangyi’s body, the black qi in Ancientpine’s eyes surged and billowed. He pointed at his chest. “There is nothing else… merely the heart.”

“Several years, ten years, decades, a century, centuries… bitter cultivation year in and year out, day after day to pursue destiny. Dancing on a razor’s edge… Only such a cultivator can forge a great heart. Only then would they possess an unswerving seeking heart. Only a cultivator who has crossed through life and death can ascend this world’s apex…”

He stowed his gaze and said lowly, “Those who survive the Eight Great Deadlands hold great destiny. Yet the great destiny that you all speak of points to arcane efforts and magik treasures. I see it just as great wisdom and great courage tempered through life and death. Steady continued survival and the determination to journey above and below is the true treasure.”

“This child… His future has no limit.” He spoke no further. Jadesun waited respectfully. A few seconds later, Ancientpine spoke again.

“Jadesun, do you think he can serve as Longsu Province’s branch master?”

“Master-Ancestor?” Jadesun coldly gasped. In the past, there might have not been too many people willing to come to Longsu Province. The area wasn’t wealthy or prosperous at all. From the mortal world’s perspective, its GDP ranked at the several bottom places in the entire nation. To the cultivation world, the region was barren, containing part of the Gobi Desert and numerous other deserts. In kind, it wasn’t a very suitable place for cultivation. Thus it could be said that this area… was a difficult undertaking.

However… the land wasn’t the same now!

Jadesun forced down the shock in his heart. He lifted his head to look at the enormous heavenbound door that was in the process of qi return… Such a massive secret realm… A supreme secret realm that was over 200,000 square kilometers in size. Once this qi returned to the world… then… 

It could be said that apart from Beijing, Longsu Province’s qi would reach the most terrifying level in the entire country! Perhaps it would even surpass the nation’s capital!

Presently, the city with the heaviest qi in China was Beijing! The second was Haojin! The third was Jinling! These were ancient capitals that had experienced five to six dynasties! And there was a chance that following the completion of this qi return, Longsu Province would transcend these places! The branch master and minister positions for this land were bound to be the most contested seats in the Featherwood Guard! [1]

“Master-Ancestor.” After coming down from astonishment, Jadesun pondered and said, “Currently… there has never been a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator who has been bestowed the glory of a branch master’s position. That’s not to mention that there are several Foundation Establishment greater demons in Nanzhou. If Seventeenth Disciple serves as a branch master, I’m afraid that he will be unable to suppress them. Besides…”

He sighed, “Seventeenth Disciple’s left arm has already been done away with…”

“If I say it is to be done, then it will be done.” Ancientpine uttered, “I am the master of the Featherwood Guard. Could it be that the desires of This Dao Master must still hearken to the comments of Foundation Establishment Seniors?” 

“Unable to suppress?” Ancientpine glanced at Xu Yangyi. “Jadesun, in the discussion of cultivation, you are above him. But in the discussion of connections, you fall far short of him. In the future… you’ll have to get much closer to your Seventeenth Junior Apprentice-Brother…”

Jade was stunned, realization quickly dawning on him. He involuntarily cried out in surprise. “Master-Ancestor, are you speaking of… the pill master’s one-way liaison?!”

“Indeed…” Ancientpine reared his head back and laughed heartily, “He wants a stage. To use his own strength to prove himself. I will grant him this stage!”

“Being the youngest branch master is nothing. If anyone dares not accept it, they can come and discuss it with me! Even if they say he is a cripple, it does not matter. If anyone dares to say a word, you can exterminate them on my behalf!”

“Give him time. I want to see whether he can use his connections on this stage to firmly seat himself upon the branch master’s position!” His smile vanished, and he murmured to Jadesun with a voice that was simply inaudible, “If… he truly can break his way through and establish himself… then… he is bound for Foundation Establishment… After Foundation Establishment, he will possess the qualifications to enter… that place where the true elite converge…”

None were any the wiser concerning Daomaster Ancientpine’s shock. He was a god in the sky, yet the numerous people below were already dumbfounded.

“The Xingtian Legion… I’ve never heard of them!” An old woman gritted her teeth as she looked at Xu Yangyi. “How was he able to leave?! This Throne knows a little bit about this junior Xu… The pill master’s one-way liaison… How did he not die inside?”

“Yes… if he died inside, the pill master would’ve had to choose a new contact. We… would’ve been able to dig up his background.” Another middle-aged man at her side was standing in the air, his face heavy like water. “I didn’t expect that he would actually make it out at all!”

“Insignificant late-stage Qi Condensation!” The eyes of the Nangong Clan’s hawk-nosed man were somewhat flushed red. “What on earth was Xiaoran doing? And what of Qiao Wu?! Quan Liu?! Have both of their jade slips not broken?!”

“N-No…” A man at his side replied, trembling with fear. This loss was too great, so great that the Nangong Clan found it somewhat painful to the flesh.

The deaths of tens of Qi Condensation cultivators was fine, but Nangong Xiaoran’s jade slip had actually shattered into pieces! This was tantamount to striking the Nangong Clan’s face!

“Where are they?!?!” The man couldn’t help but roar. “They actually have nerve to drift about without purpose even though Sixth Young Master fell in Danxia Temple?! Find them! Ransack all of China and find them! This Throne… will bury them all together with Sixth Young Master!!!”

After the white light twinkled before Xu Yangyi’s eyes, he was stunned. In front of him… were a throngs of people. Several thousand people, all of them China’s prestigious and renowned. The clans that he’d regularly looked at on Heavens Law’s web page. Countless flying magik artifacts faced him, floating in the air. There were all kinds. Furthermore, there were tens of people standing in the sky. Their gazes were trained on him, deep like the ocean.

And above these people, there were clan emblems of interweaving qi. They were multicolored with myriad rays of treasure light. They died the sky with a rainbow of prismatic sunlight.

Xu Yangyi turned his head and glanced at the enormous white door. Following the incorporalization of the qi rays above the door, the enormous door’s appearance gradually became hazy.

“Hurry up,” he said behind him and formed a fist with his hand towards everyone. He stood at the side. Afterwards, the white light behind him continued to flash. One after another, blood-soaked, solemn-faced cultivators walked out. 

Quan Ningyue, Zhao Wuye, Zhan Twelve, Fang Cheng… In the sky, Daomaster Ancientpine’s eyes became brighter and brighter as each person came out.

All of them were from the Xingtian Legion!!!

Jadesun was also shocked. From one of the Eight Great Deadlands… not only had his seventeenth junior brother come out, Xu Yangyi had even left with a majority of the people he’d entered with!

Even now… this was beyond the course of destiny! Without great wisdom, this feat couldn’t be accomplished!

“This child… His future has no limit…” Ancientpine repeated these words again as if he was certain of this. He said faintly, “Jadesun, hear and obey.”

“Disciple is here!” Jadesun immediately took a knee on the ground.

“Bring your Seventeenth Junior Brother to my treasury.” Ancientpine laughed, “Let him choose. As long as the treasure is favorable to the restoration of his left arm, I will allow him to take it.”

“Yes.” Great astonishment rocked Jadesun’s heart. This was beyond his expectations. In the wake of Xu Yangyi’s exit from Danxia Temple, Ancientpine’s valuation of Xu Yangyi had reached such a degree of importance!

1. Haojin is Guangzhou. Jinling is Nanjing