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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
[What’s going on here? Why did they just send us here for no reason and kill everyone? Was this Xiao Ruoyin’s plan? But we have no quarrel with her, so why did she do this… No, this wasn’t her plan. She’s innocent and will never do such a thing. It must have been Young Master Gu… Damn it! Why is he doing this when we have no hatred between us?] Niu Tian, Jiang Chen’s best friend, was also running for his life. His face was pale, limbs weak and back cold from his fear.
If he hadn’t persisted, he would have collapsed onto the ground. He couldn’t believe that these well-behaved beings had suddenly attacked them. Now, even worse, they were trying to kill them all, bringing them to this remote forest first before attacking so there would be no evidence. They really wanted his companions to all be killed. Even if they managed to escape such beings, they might never escape the forest, which was brimming with danger and most likely would end up dying here.
[Young Master Gu is certainly not a good person, just like Chen said. I can’t believe I thought he was some great and generous person!] Niu Tian gritted his teeth, never feeling such hate for someone else before. He recalled what Jiang Chen had said; it might be true that the test stone had been tampered with so everyone could be kicked out and eventually killed. That way, Xiao Ruoyin wouldn’t be able to find any trace of them after she had successfully started cultivating.
[What a cruel person! It’s too dangerous for Xiao Ruoyin to be with him. Who knows what motives he has towards her…] Niu Tian, gritting his teeth, ran further into the woods.
Very quickly after, he heard a terrible scream, which came from one of his companions. This made him turn pale. Fortunately, Jiang Chen had reacted faster than him, though these beings didn’t seem to be in a rush to hunt them. Instead, they were allowing their victims to flee, as if they were cats waiting to catch their prey. That meant everyone wouldn’t be caught immedaitely.
[If I can get out of here, I swear to take my revenge!] Niu Tian’s expression was full of hatred.
As he went deeper into the forest, he noticed that the fog was becoming much denser. Trees towered into the sky while further away, grey smoke with strong corrosive properties appeared. Niu Tian could feel his skin sting, even feeling like it was about to split open as blood began to flow from his skin. However, the blood was strange, as it wasn’t the normal shade of red but had a tinge of gold. He didn’t notice that, and continued to run.
*Boom!* Suddenly, he could feel a terrifying aura above him. Black fog churned and armour-like scales glimmered as if a frightening being was circling above him. The aura was enough to make him choke on his breath.
[Damn it! They’ve caught up to me.] Niu Tian’s expression became stricken as he had no time to react. He dived straight into the swamp in front of him, not daring to move a muscle amongst the rotting leaves and mud around him. He held his breath as he waited for the being to leave.
“I’ve already noticed you. Do you think you can escape?” That being seemed to have noticed him though, his expression full of cruel mockery. A red bolt of lightning shot from his mouth, flashing above the swamp and landing on Niu Tian’s body. Very quickly, terrifying cracks and crevices began to appear.
*Poof!*
Niu Tian became desperate after seeing such a powerful attack. He had the feeling that this shot would reduce him to nothing, and destroy him entirely just like with his companions. However, he didn’t expect strange energy to suddenly rise within him, moving along his limbs and torso as it surged from every cell of his body. It materialised as a light golden mist which surrounded him.
As the bolt of lightning landed, the ground and mountains began to shake as if going to explode. However, he only grunted and spat a mouthful of blood, sustaining a few broken bones and organs but otherwise, was relatively unharmed.
[What was that just now?] Niu Tian was shocked but reacted quickly, getting to his feet and stumbling forward. He had been stunned when that strange power surged from him as he hadn’t expected such a change to occur. [Does my body have some kind of secret?]
“Hmm? What happened? Was this the strange change Master Changge wanted us to report? Well, I’ll give him a chance to flee once more.” The terrifying being hovering in the sky had been taken aback as well, eyes narrowing in interest. That attack didn’t have even one per cent of its original power but should be more than enough to kill a mortal. There was probably something extraordinary about Niu Tian.
The being continued pursuing Niu Tian leisurely on a black cloud, taunting him so he continued running. This was an ordinary mortal who he could catch up to within a split second’s thought; it had been Gu Changge’s orders to let the mortals flee this way. As for the reason, he couldn’t figure it out, as he should never guess how frivolous his Young Master was.
[Fuck me! There’s a cliff in front of me!!] Niu Tian didn’t run for long as he soon became desperate once more. A terrifying wind blew from the churning clouds in front of him, strong enough to probably blow one’s skeleton to pieces. There was a bottomless valley about ten metres away from him and if he fell into it, he would definitely become a pile of minced meat judging by his current physical condition.
There was a cliff in front of him and a pursuing soldier behind him. This made him turn pale with helplessness and he couldn’t decide whether to wait here for death to take him or jump off. Even so, there might be a slim chance at survival if he chose the latter.
“Why aren’t you running?” The black fog slowly blocked out the light, as the being showed himself. His tone was intrigued, sounding like a cat ready to catch a mouse.
“Why are you hunting me when there’s no hatred between us?” Niu Tian gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down before shouting at the being with frustration and anger.
‘Why should I need a reason to kill a mere bug? I gave you enough time to flee so you could survive but I ended up catching up to you. Now, how would you like to die?” The being laughed, not saying anything else. His hand moved forward, emitting a bright light while the black mist swirled as the being prepared to strike him to death.
“I will rather jump off this cliff than die by your hand! Tell your Young Master this! If I manage to survive, I will repay what he has done to me!” Seeing this, Niu Tian became extremely brave. He quickly turned and ran towards the cliff, not afraid of the fact that he would fall into a deep valley which would end up crushing his body.
“He actually chose to jump. I don’t think I can explain this properly to Young Master. He has already ordered us to give them a chance to survive. So, I am acting in accordance to his order if I cannot catch him. But still…” The being frowned, expression ugly. He hadn’t anticipated the cat-and-mouse game to turn out this way. To him, Niu Tian might be a little special but might end up dying anyway if he fell into the valley.
At that thought, he rode his cloud up into the sky, preparing to return and report to Gu Changge.
…
Jiang Chen, meanwhile, did not know what had transpired to his best friend, Niu Tian, as he was already having a hard time trying to survive. He had run as hard as he could but he was still just a mortal; he knew already that something was wrong when his other friends screamed one after the another.
Now, three terrifying beings had appeared before him on black clouds. They were all covered in scaled armour and had enormous wings which surrounded him. The nearby mountain range and ancient trees had already been flattened, so he had no place to hide and eventually was blocked by them. They looked at him with gazes full of interest and scorn, not rushing to attack him as if wanting to see how he was going to deal with this.
[What should I do now? Will I die here today? It’s too unfair…] Jiang Chen was pale with extreme fear as he screamed internally, trying to communicate with the Artifact Spirit of the Celestial Boat of Creation. If there was no other way, he would die here as these beings were frighteningly strong. Their auras were enough to make his knees weaken, ready to prostrate himself on the spot.
The Artifact Spirit was scared as well, since it had only awakened not too long ago and did not have enough power to assist him. Jiang Chen might be the vessel for the Artifact Spirit, but he was currently just a mortal occupying a human body after going through reincarnation. He had no chance of surviving these beings, who were at least in the Enlightenment Realm. [Are we going to die here?]
The Artifact Spirit of the Celestial Boat of Creation became desperate. Given more time, it was confident it could assist Jiang Chen in becoming a powerful cultivator. In fact, it initially believed that it might not be able to help him currently beat these beings but could at least flee from them.
“Puny human. Are you still thinking of running? Why can’t you just wait for death to take you? We let you flee for so long but eventually caught up with you, so don’t you think it’s fate?” The three beings appeared in the sky, surrounded by churning clouds and wearing mocking smiles. They looked like they were looking at a bug that they could crush easily.
Jiang Chen was pale and desperate as he was just a mortal who hadn’t started cultivating and could never fendthem off. He would be caught even if he tried running.
Suddenly, a terrifying divine sense rained down from the sky. It was like a galaxy had fallen to the mortal world exuding great waves of energy which made everyone shiver.
“Who’re you?” The three beings shouted, looking stricken as they gazed above warily.
“Hmph, a mere bug just in the Enlightenment Realm is brave enough to misbehave in front of me?” With a cold snort, a black-robed old man walked out into the sky. He wasn’t tall but had a hooked nose and cold face, which gave others the feeling of fear.
*Pui!* The beings shook with the words of the elderly man, blood boiling and eventually spitting a mouthful of blood. Their expressions were ones of shock and disbelief, but they did not look frightened. Their gazes became murderous and cruel, not caring that the other man was in the Sacred Realm.
“Do you know who our Master is?” they shouted. “How dare you rescue someone our Master wants dead? Do you want to die?”
“I don’t care who your Master is. Get out of here. I’ve got my eye on this boy, so bugger off if you don’t want to die! Aren’t you worried that people will laugh at three Enlightenment Realm experts hunting just one mere mortal?” The elderly man sounded hot-tempered, laughing coldly. In the next moment, he waved a hand and summoned an infinitely powerful wave of energy.
The beings flew backwards from the blow, coughing up blood as they landed someplace else. It wasn’t known if they survived.
The scene shocked Jiang Chen, who stood stunned with wide eyes. [Is this man going to save me? But, why do I have the feeling that he is up to no good as well? His features and aura still contain coldness in them. Did I just escape by jumping out of the pan and into the fire? But, I shouldn’t judge based on how one looks. After all, who would have thought that Gu Changge was so evil when we first met him?]
“Thank you for saving me…” Jiang Chen came back to himself quickly and expressed his gratefulness to the man.
“Young man, I will be your guardian from now on. I will assist you to the peak where you will compete with the young prodigies of the Upper Realm for the top spot, and become famous! It will be easy for you to avenge yourself too!” A freezing cold hand suddenly landed on his shoulder as if judging his physique. The man had disappeared without him noticing and appeared right beside him while saying such things.
“Guardian?” Jiang Chen was confused and could not answer. [Why did this man suddenly appear and save me, then offer to become my guardian? Could I really be that lucky?]
<Jiang Chen, you need to be careful. This old man seems to have evil motives towards you… so, don’t believe him.> The Artifact Spirit of the Celestial Boat of Creation suddenly said. It did not know the man’s purpose here but could detect the man’s evil intentions.
Just as it spoke, a beam of black light suddenly appeared on the man’s palm. It looked like a seed surrounded by black light and looked extremely strange. The instant it appeared, it flowed from his shoulder to every part of his body. After that, it penetrated his skin, flesh, and bones, eventually moving to his Dantian, to where his Spiritual Sea would be. The seed was very mysterious and seemed to be made out of runes, yet was dark black, with many mysterious vortexes within.
[Just what is this?] Jiang Chen’s eyes widened, feeling like every movement including his breathing was now one with the black seed. A mysterious power was surging from his flesh, seemingly strong enough to consume everything. The seed probably contained a complex and unsurpassable sutra, each word incomprehensible. As the seed went inside him, Jiang Chen could feel a strange energy surge within his Dantian and the essence of the universe rushed towards him. He could feel a strong energy which made him feel confident in battling his powerful enemies.
<It seems to be some sort of cultivation technique…> The Artifact Spirit sounded shocked as well. <It feels really old and strange, yet feels demonic. It doesn’t seem to be something from a reputable good Sect…>
Jiang Chen didn’t care about that, though. [I don’t care if it’s demonic.]
“Ha ha. Young man, you are now the 108th Successor for the Everchanging Demonic Arts from now on. Can you remember that?” The man, seemingly satisfied with his shocked reaction, clapped him on the shoulder. A small smile appeared on his cold face which made it more ghastly and frightening.
“Everchanging Demonic Arts? 108th Successor?” Jiang Chen was stunned. It didn’t sound like a good thing judging by its name. However, he felt a kind of relief settle over him. The man in black robes looked fierce and didn’t look like a good person, yet this man had saved his life and passed down his teachings to him. He didn’t know how to repay such a great favour and one couldn’t judge a book by its cover.
“Thank you for saving me and also passing down your teaching!” Jiang Chen said gratefully after calming down his racing heart.
“Ha ha. Don’t thank me too quickly. I’m not a good person and you won’t be this grateful when you know what it is. You may even hate me!” The elderly man snorted contemptuously in response.
Jiang Chen did not really mind that. The old man had claimed he wasn’t a good person but he was much better than people who pretended to be good but were secretly cruel. Jiang Chen could discern by its name, that this cultivation technique wasn’t something of a Dao that was righteous and good, but he didn’t care.
“I don’t mind. It doesn’t matter whether you are good or bad, as it’s indisputable that you saved my life.” Jiang Chen exhaled slowly and calmed down.
“Hmph…” The man snorted again, a hint of approval in his expression. “I saw you were being hunted for some time. These beings didn’t look like they were planning to kill you immediately but to make you lose hope. Just who did you offend?”
He seemed curious yet his tone sounded explanatory.
“Someone surnamed Gu!” Jiang Chen’s gaze filled with hate. He actually knew that too since he wouldn’t be able to flee for so long while being a mortal. Gu Changge not only wanted him dead but also wanted him to lose all hope. [That man is pure evil! I can never exist in the same world with a man like that!]
…
“Young Master Gu, we’ve done everything you’ve told us to. We gave them the chance to survive and other than that stocky man, who committed suicide by jumping off a cliff, the one named Jiang Chen was saved by a man in black robes, who suddenly appeared… everyone else has been dealt with. There are no blunders as both their bodies and souls were destroyed.”
In the pavilion, Gu Changge blew on his teacup slowly as he listened to the report, as the one reporting kept his head low.
“I know. You’re all dismissed.” He drank from his cup, eyes distant. Since Jiang Chen was an incarnation of the Celestial Boat of Creation, Gu Changge couldn’t make a move on him before the man acquired the complete version of the Boat. So, Gu Changge had given him a guardian, to make sure his leek grew lush and ripe.
As for Niu Tian, that was a little unexpected but not by much. After all, he was the best friend of a Fortuitous One. His initial plan had been to see if any of the Fortuitous One’s companions could gain some sort of enlightenment in a dangerous situation and thus, reverse their chances of dying. After all, Fortuity was a fickle thing and who knew what would happen? That was why he hadn’t let his men kill everyone outright. But, disappointingly, no one else was unique except for Niu Tian. All were meant to die in the end.
[Judging by this situation, Niu Tian may not die after jumping off the cliff. I just don’t know what strange encounter he will have after that though. Hopefully, he will give me a surprise the next time we meet.] Gu Changge smiled, already prepared for this stage of the plan. That Fruit of Knowledge wasn’t so delicious after all. Besides, it was a pleasant surprise to gain another prey too.
More like a Gardener than a Guardian 😀