Unnamed District Arc: Chapter Eighty-Seven — Fellow Daoist, Please Wait

In the vast chamber of a cavern, Zhou Xuanhong hovered cross-legged in midair with his eyes closed, resting his spirit. From his golden core there flowed a devouring force that drew the surrounding power of destruction into his body. Part of it was absorbed by the core, while the rest gathered at the tips of the index fingers of both hands, turning the two finger joints a dull gray.

Ever since he had stepped onto the teleportation array and left the Form and Shadow Sect, Zhou Xuanhong had come to the depths of the Destruction Cavern and laid down numerous formations here, so that while condensing his fleshly body, he would not be disturbed by the extinction beasts.

Now, five years had passed in the blink of an eye. Zhou Xuanhong had also extracted the fragments of his original body from the fusion array and recombined them. He then condensed everything within the fusion array that had been refined—material and living alike—into a golden core. As for the faint will that had once belonged to the small world, together with the soul power of all the beings who had died within the fusion array, he refined them anew into a second golden core. Zhou Xuanhong named it the Core of Intent.

All of this sounded simple, but in practice it was exceedingly difficult and required immense energy to sustain the formation. That was why Zhou Xuanhong had needed to kill the Corpse Body True Man.

Had it not been for the mighty flesh and soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator serving as the power source to reverse the fusion array and re-refine his own body, he would have turned his gaze toward Great Evolution True Man and the old black ghoul Daoist instead.

Back then, Great Evolution True Man and the old black ghoul Daoist had thought they were fighting for Zhou Xuanhong, when in truth they had been fighting for themselves. Before the Corpse Body True Man had perished, they had still been Zhou Xuanhong’s reserve resources, and that included the old mountain goblin as well.

In five years’ time, Zhou Xuanhong had not only re-refined his original body, but had also thoroughly refined the small world that had once been his, directly using it as his golden core and placing it in his dantian, greatly expanding the space available for storing spiritual power.

Most importantly, when his Foundation Establishment Platform in the sea of consciousness broke through to the golden core stage, it absorbed the vast majority of the soul power and the bewildered will within the fusion array. A peculiar connection seemed to have formed between the two golden cores, like the relation between the heavenly order and heaven and earth themselves.

In fact, he had already broken through to the golden core stage two years ago. During these two years, the bodies that had been re-formed after the fusion array was reversed had been used by Zhou Xuanhong to improve his puppet-refining and soul-refining arts.

By now, he could already refine corpse puppets and vengeful spirits at the golden core stage, and by combining puppet-refining with soul-refining, the puppets he produced had seen a tremendous increase in strength, perfectly inheriting most of the power they had possessed in life.

Among them, the corpse puppet Zhou Xuanhong was most satisfied with was Li Li’s. When the Corpse Body True Man had struck to kill Li Li, Great Evolution True Man had intended to intervene, but Zhou Xuanhong had stopped him, which was the true reason for Li Li’s death.

Originally, Li Li had been meant to be saved by Great Evolution True Man. Yet until his dying breath, he never understood why Great Evolution True Man had not made a move. Even he, one who cultivated the emotionless sword path, had come to harbor doubt, unwillingness, and resentment.

Of course, he could never have known that all of this had been within Zhou Xuanhong’s calculations. From the moment Zhou Xuanhong first laid eyes on Li Li, he had set his sights on that body. A corpse of a sword cultivator who had cultivated the emotionless sword path was priceless, even in the great domains.

Suddenly, Zhou Xuanhong opened his eyes. Two streaks of golden light flashed and vanished within them. He turned to look toward one of the cavern tunnels, a teasing smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Stepping onto his flying sword, Zhou Xuanhong moved his divine sense and threw a set of ordinary spirit robes to the corpse puppet Li Li from his storage ring. He also changed into the clothes of a wandering cultivator himself and donned a Face of a Hundred Forms.

The Face of a Hundred Forms was an upgraded version of the Ten-Form Shift, enough to keep cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage from seeing through it. With the aid of his powerful soul force, even a Nascent Soul expert would be unable to discern through it.

At the same time, he switched positions with Li Li and pretended to be studying the severely corroded remnants of the formation here, as though entirely unaware of the approaching crisis.

"Roar!"

The roar of the Thousand-Footed Rot Beast echoed especially far through the cavern. If one was too near, the deafening shockwave alone could send them flying. After hearing the roar, Zhou Xuanhong immediately flew side by side with Li Li toward the distance, his expression somewhat panicked.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait! Let us join forces and meet the enemy together!"

Guang Riming’s voice rang out. Very soon, he himself flew out from one of the many cavern passages, followed by the other three, as well as the ever-approaching Thousand-Footed Rot Beast.

Of course Zhou Xuanhong did not stop. His current cultivation was only at the first level of the golden core stage, and Li Li was only at the third level—far inferior to the four of Guang Riming. If he did not run, he would merely be waiting to be dragged down.

But this, too, was within Guang Riming’s expectations. In an instant, he had already analyzed Zhou Xuanhong and Li Li as wandering cultivators. Fleeing at once when they sensed danger was perfectly normal. If they truly stopped, he would have suspected foul play. In the cultivation world, who among those who had reached the golden core stage was not keen of mind?

Right now, all four of them had already expended a great deal of energy. If no other accident occurred, they might not leave this Destruction Cavern without losing one or two people. And now, that accident had arrived.

Though they were righteous cultivators, which cultivator would still cling to rigid rules when their own life was at stake?

When Yin Qimeng saw Guang Riming flying toward Zhou Xuanhong’s direction, she understood her companion’s intention. She sighed, but said nothing more. She, too, knew their current predicament; with even the slightest lapse, they would be torn apart by the Thousand-Footed Rot Beast behind them. As the saying went, let the fellow Daoist die, but not oneself.

Zhou Xuanhong said coldly, "What do you mean by this, fellow Daoists? My brother and I bear no grudge against you. Why must you drive us to our deaths?"

Guang Riming said nothing further. Relying on the advantage in speed, he was about to overtake Zhou Xuanhong and Li Li. He had no time to speak with two dead men now.

But an unexpected situation arose: the Thousand-Footed Rot Beast, which had been relentlessly pursuing them from behind, stopped at the mouth of the passage. Its eyes fixed on the six of them with deadly intensity, yet it dared not take a single step out of the passage, as if there were something terrifying within this cavern.

Seeing this, everyone came to a halt. Guang Riming immediately changed his expression and clasped his hands, saying, "Please do not misunderstand, fellow Daoists. We harbor no ill intent. We only somehow provoked this Thousand-Footed Rot Beast earlier and accidentally fled here. We do not know what place this is, nor why that accursed beast dares not approach."

Zhou Xuanhong snorted coldly, giving Guang Riming no face at all. "No ill intent? If not for the special circumstances here, the two of us would likely have been killed by the lot of you!"

Guang Riming gave an awkward smile. "This matter was indeed our fault. I ask that fellow Daoists inform us of the situation here. Once we leave safely, my Guang family is willing to offer some compensation."

Thus, after the two of them swore an immortal oath, Zhou Xuanhong’s expression finally eased, and he explained, "I do not know the exact situation either. I am a third-rank formation master, and I can infer that there was once a powerful formation here. It seems to have been the most basic fusion array, used to aid in refinement, along with many residual defensive formations. However, much of it has been destroyed by the laws of destruction here."

Upon hearing this, Guang Riming immediately thought of a strange figure from five years ago and blurted out, "Could it be that demon named Zhou Xuanhong?"

At that title, Zhou Xuanhong felt a trace of amusement in his heart, but his face showed certainty. "I think so too. I heard that he used the fusion array to wield Nascent Soul-level strength. It would be reasonable for him to intimidate a golden core beast."

Jing Yuanxun interrupted them, pointing at the Thousand-Footed Rot Beast. "We can discuss that after we get out. Right now, we should think of a way to escape. Although it seems it will not enter for the moment, that cannot be guaranteed!"

Zhou Xuanhong nodded. "Fellow Daoist, judging by its condition, it likely will not leave for a while. Did you perhaps do something to it?"

Yin Qimeng was about to speak, but Guang Riming stopped her and said, "Fellow Daoist, you know the temperament of extinction beasts. The moment they see a human, a bloody slaughter is inevitable. Do you have any method to leave this place?"

Zhou Xuanhong frowned. "This is its domain, and the tunnels branch in all directions. The moment we leave here, it will circle through other passages to continue the pursuit. It seems that if we want to shake off its chase, we can only rely on the residual restrictions of the formations here."

In his heart, Zhou Xuanhong sneered. He knew this Thousand-Footed Rot Beast. When he had first arrived, this beast had come to probe him, only for its forelimb to be directly refined away by the fusion array. Moreover, he had often refined corpse puppets and gone to spar with the pair in real combat, which was why the four of them had seen so many corpse puppets outside its lair before.

He knew that these four golden core cultivators must have killed the beast’s mate, and probably even taken that gold-element ore crystal, which was why the male Thousand-Footed Rot Beast had gone into pursuit. But that mattered little to him. Dead was dead. Judging by its behavior, the beast was probably unwilling to give up the black pearl, while its mate’s death was only secondary.

Guang Riming asked, "How does fellow Daoist intend to proceed? Is there any place where you need our help?"

Zhou Xuanhong nodded. "I need you to restrain it. Though it is fierce by nature, it is still a golden core beast. If it sees me setting up a formation, it will surely become wary. Give me half an hour, and I can trap it."

The four of them exchanged glances and were about to speak when Zhou Xuanhong gave a cold laugh. "What? Worried that I’ll run first? Fine—my brother will go with you. If you do not trust me, surely you can trust my brother, can you not?"

Guang Riming turned his gaze toward Li Li. Li Li nodded and said in a hoarse voice, "I trust my brother to handle things. Go ahead. If my brother runs first, then you can just take me and feed me to the beast's belly!"

Having said it so plainly, the four of them had no choice but to do this. At worst, they could just flee back here later. Besides, when they were first being chased, Guang Riming had already sent out the family’s distress jade slip. Even if the plan failed, there would still be rescue from the family elders.

"Then our lives will be in fellow Daoist’s hands."

With that, the five of them immediately left the cavern in another direction, leaving only Zhou Xuanhong behind.

The Thousand-Footed Rot Beast’s target was very clear: kill everyone present, and in the end its treasure orb would still be its own. Thus it changed tunnels and pursued the five of them.