The Attack of the Wastrel

Outside the formation, there was only chaos, whilst on the inside it was a killing formation that created a slaughtering hell. Shrieks and wails reached the heavens, while corpses covered the ground.

The situation Gu Lingzhi and the others found themselves in did not look optimistic. Although Gu Chengze stood imposingly at the front, the people surrounding them still eyed Qin Xinran with greed.

Seeing this, Gu Chengze instinctively moved to position himself in front of her, blocking their line of sight. For some reason, his back seemed to emanate a sense of dependability.

Gu Lingzhi hoped that after this incident, Beicheng Haoyue would not be too severely punished by her family.

When Beicheng Haoyue broke the formation, Gu Lingzhi’s group was too far from the gap to escape through it. Still, she could hear Beicheng Haotian cursing violently on the other side of the formation. Based on what she heard, she suddenly felt extremely concerned for the talented female Alchemist that she had only met once.

Towards Beicheng Haoyue, she had always been somewhat wary of her. Even though Beicheng Haoyue seemed like an innocent girl with pure intentions, she still maintained her wariness during her interactions with her, holding back her knowledge. She never expected that Beicheng Haoyue would do something like betraying her clan in order to save her today. Even though her attempt did not succeed, it still made her feel moved.

“Lingzhi, I’m begging you, go!” Qin Xinran begged. Qin Xinran was looking pitiful as her spiritual energy was almost completely spent, but her eyes still shone with determination.

“I’m not leaving,” Gu Lingzhi replied. Then, looking at the state that Qin Xinran was in, she decided to reveal some of her secrets, “As long as you all are safe, I will have my own methods of getting out. I…”

Suddenly, as she felt something, Gu Lingzhi’s eyebrows creased together and she sucked in the air painfully.

This was because her cultivation which had stubbornly refused to breakthrough earlier had suddenly broke through in the middle of battle, and it rose from the peak of the Martial Student rank into the Martial Practitioner rank. Along with the cultivation breakthrough, an immense amount of spiritual energy was being drawn in suddenly.

As with all Martial Artists, Gu Lingzhi’s cultivation breakthrough required her to absorb an enormous amount of spiritual energy to stabilize the increased cultivation.

To the surprise of all present, a countless number of Heavenly Law Fragments flowed uncontrollably into Gu Lingzhi’s body. The rapid absorption of such an immense volume of spiritual energy caused her a lot of pain.

“Oh heavens, all these Fragments are voluntarily drawn to her.”

“It seems to be the case. Could it be that breaking through in the Lingjiutian area of the Cangwu Realm would enable one to absorb all these Fragments?”

“No, but it seems that some seniors in the past had attempted to breakthrough in the Lingjiutian area as well. None of them have undergone anything like this.”

“If she really manages to live on, she will really become a legend,” someone said. It was commonly said that those who could completely absorb all Heavenly Law Fragments would become a True God. The people all looked at Gu Lingzhi with envious gazes.

For someone who had only awakened her Spiritual Roots a year ago to already ascend to the Martial Practitioner rank, she was extremely talented. This was even faster than the Third Prince who was already regarded as a monstrous genius. Now, she had even managed to draw all of these Heavenly Law Fragments to herself. It really was a pity that Gu Lingzhi was going to be buried here, because of the Tianfeng and Beicheng Clans. It seemed like their plot to kill Gu Lingzhi would really remove a huge threat to their futures.

Even as those inside the formation were stunned by the disturbance created by Gu Lingzhi, those outside also noticed the sudden gathering of spiritual energy inside. The first one to notice the abnormality was Tianfeng Wei.

Seeing Gu Lingzhi in the middle surrounded by the gathering Fragments, the hatred in Tianfeng Wei’s eyes intensified. However, thinking that Gu Lingzhi was going to die today, the hatred immediately transformed into an intense feeling of joy.

“This is just her final struggle before death,” Tianfeng Wei mused. She could not wait to see Rong Yuan’s expression when he found out the news. He would definitely be devastated. Since she could not be together with the Third Prince, she was determined not to let him and Gu Lingzhi get together either.

However, even as she was thinking of that, there was a sudden change in the situation.

“What’s going on? Why is the spiritual energy gathering all of a sudden?”

In an area ten meters around Gu Lingzhi, the Heavenly Law Fragments that were competing to be absorbed by Gu Lingzhi had formed into a small tornado of spiritual energy, and it was as though the previous turbulence had found a focal point. Faster and faster, the tornado grew, becoming a whirlpool of spiritual energy.

And yet, this was not the end but merely the beginning.

As the Fragments gathered around Gu Lingzhi increased, the whirlpool grew wider and stronger. Eventually, the whirlpool became so violent that everyone found themselves unable to even absorb the spiritual energy.

“Spiritual… Spiritual Energy Surge?” A female Martial Artist closer to Gu Lingzhi became pale seeing the whirlpool, suddenly recalling a natural phenomenon she had heard about before.

“Nonsense, this is just Gu Lingzhi trying to scare us!” Tianfeng Wei angrily berated the girl who said this, but her eyes were also filled with fear.

What was happening right now was indeed like some of the legends described as a Spiritual Energy Surge. However, could a Spiritual Energy Surge really be started by a person? Besides, this whirlpool was somewhat smaller than how a Spiritual Energy Surge was supposed to be.

“No, it’s definitely a Spiritual Energy Surge!” someone else shouted in a panic, even as Tianfeng Wei berated the other girl.

She looked around the surroundings and was greeted with an even scarier scene.

Far away in the distance, she could see a “wave” of pure white energy surging towards them. Even from here, she could feel the terrifying fluctuations in the air as the wave got closer. It was clear by now that this was indeed what was known as a Spiritual Energy Surge.

For those who had never experienced it before, they simply had no idea how fearsome it could be.

“Quick, help me escape!” Tianfeng Wei shrieked. However, she immediately realized that the people who were supposed to be protecting her had long since abandoned her, fleeing for their own lives.

Faced with such a threat, who would dare to throw their lives to let someone else live?

“This bunch of cowards! Traitors!” Tianfeng Wei cursed, before turning to escape. As she ran, she clutched her belly. However, her speed was clearly much less than before.

“Damn it! This child shouldn’t even exist!” Tianfeng Wei cursed even as she escaped. If not for the pressure that Rong Yuan was exerting on the Tianfeng Clan, threatening that he would cut all relations between the Royal Family and the Tianfeng Clan unless Tianfeng Wei got pregnant within a year, her father would not have forced her to marry Lang Jingchen. She would not have been burdened with this child either.

It was all Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan’s fault! And that detestable Lang Jingchen! If not for him cooperating with the Third Prince, how would the Third Prince have known that she was the mastermind in the shadows? He wouldn’t have ordered for her to get pregnant otherwise.

Thinking back to how she had been drugged on her wedding night by a servant, only waking up to find that she had already become Lang Jingchen’s woman and was already carrying his child, she fumed with rage!

“If I survive this, I’ll make sure that all of them suffer for what they did to me!”

As the deadly Spiritual Energy Surge closed in on them from all corners, even those who were trapped inside the formation began to detect the abnormality outside. Seeing the wave that towered high into the skies, the people inside the formation began to despair.

If it was the previous Five Calamities Formation they were trapped in, they still had a slim chance of fighting their way out. However, faced with the Spiritual Energy Surge right now, they would not have a chance of escaping at all. Gu Lingzhi looked on with despair at the incoming wave.

She despaired not for herself, but for her friends. She despaired because she had no way of saving them from their fate.

Just as the Spiritual Energy Surge was upon them, almost everyone closed their eyes. With their present cultivations, no one had the ability to withstand the disaster.

Even Gu Lingzhi had prepared herself for the worst, while watching the wave encroach.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths…

However, the feeling of being ripped apart did not come. Everyone only felt themselves being thrown into the air by the fearsome spiritual energy before they lost consciousness. As for Gu Lingzhi, she felt her vision go dark while the spiritual energy that was surrounding her lifted her up, bringing her to some unknown place.

When she could finally see again, she noticed that she was no longer in the Cangwu Realm. Or perhaps it was better to say, she was in a part of the forbidden region that no one even knew existed.

In front of her was a small yard blocked by a pond containing multicolored fishes. At the moment, Gu Lingzhi was standing on a bridge crossing over the pond.

“Come in, child.”

Even as Gu Lingzhi looked around warily, she heard a gentle and hoarse voice call out to her from the yard.

For some unknown reason, when Gu Lingzhi heard this voice, she began to tear up. Even though she did not recognize the voice, and that it could be a trap for all she knew, she could not resist the voice.

Following the bridge, she walked to the yard and stood in front of the open door, before she finally succeeded in using all her concentration to stop herself from walking in directly. Warily, she called out, “Who are you, and where am I? How did I get here?”

As though finding her reaction extremely amusing, the owner of the voice laughed and answered, “This is a space-dimension realm within my Spiritual Sword. As for me, I am… your ancestor.”

Her ancestor?

Gu Lingzhi’s eyes widened.

“You don’t have to be suspicious, child. Our Spirit Tribe has fallen into ruin many years ago. As one of the elders in the Spirit Tribe, I guess I could be considered as your ancestor.”

From somewhere within the courtyard, a handsome man clothed in white walked out. He had a pair of big, clear eyes and he seemed like he had a lot of things to say to Gu Lingzhi. Just standing there, he gave her a feeling of familiarity.

“Come, child, tell me how the Spirit Tribe is faring now. Also, how… did you escape from the Forbidden Land?”

Forbidden Land? Escape?

Even before she had recovered from the shock of his previous words, she was stunned again because of what he just said.

“Escape? What do you mean by escape? Are you from the Spirit Tribe too?”

“Of course. If we weren’t from the Spirit Tribe, how would you be able to absorb the knowledge of the heavens that were left behind by me when I was alive?”

Knowledge of the heavens?

Once again, she was thrown an unfamiliar term. Gu Lingzhi suddenly felt that today, she would be able to understand the secret of why the Spirit Tribe disappeared. Also, she had a premonition that because of this new understanding, her life would change forever.