Sima Qingshan’s legs were shaking. The cold rain was pattering on his face. The coldness of the autumn rain spread to every inch of his body, as if it had penetrated his skin.
Nanjin City had been taken. The barbarian soldiers from Nanman intruded into the city. The general who was guarding Nanjin City tried to use his own body to stop them from entering. When several spears were pierced into his body, he knelt down on the ground, yet he did not let go of the sword in his hand.
It’s as if even in his last dying moments, he would still grasp the sword tightly and try to kill those barbarians.
Sima Qingshan closed his fist.
Living in Nanjin City, he knew those barbarian soldiers very well. Nanjin City was constantly in war with them. There had been countless big or small battles.
However, it was never such a large-scale attack like what was happening this day.
As a result, it caught Nanjin City unprepared. They did not even get a chance to ask for Nanjiang City’s help.
“Poor painter?” That white-clothed man said with a smile.
“Never heard anyone using the word ‘poor’ in their title.”
The man smiled.
Sima Qingshan wiped off the rain on his face. He looked at the white-clothed man.
It was raining. However, when the rain was about to fall on the white-clothed man’s body, the curtain of rain distorted all of a sudden.
“You…”
Sima Qingshan opened his eyes widely.
That was really spooky.
“Hello there, poor painter. I’m just a butcher.”
A smile tugged at the corners of the white-clothed man’s lips.
Sima Qingshan was stunned.
In the distance…
The ferocious barbarian soldiers started to charge. Their straw sandals stepped on the flagstone-paved ground, water splashing all over.
Some muscular barbarian soldiers approached and then threw their spears over.
The sharp, cold spears tore open the gloomy curtain of rain. They whizzed across the sky toward Sima Qingshan and the white-clothed man.
The barbarian soldiers were shouting excitedly.
They could not wait to see the two men killed. They were eager to rush into Nanjin City to loot wealth, food, and women.
The approaching spears forced Sima Qingshan to take a step back. He suddenly went limp due to fear.
However, the white-clothed man simply smiled.
“I guess you became a cultivator not long ago…” The white-clothed man said.
“Young Master never taught you, and you didn’t become a cultivator because of the warriors in the Dragon Gates or the Spirit Qi on the Hidden Dragon Ridge…”
“You must have visited some Immortal Ascension Site,” the white-clothed man added.
Sima Qingshan threw him a confused look.
“So, I guess I was right.”
The white-clothed man smiled.
Then he raised his hand and waved it. Magnificent Spirit Qi flowed out of his Qi Core.
The dreadful pressure pushed countless oncoming spears to fall to the ground.
Piercing the ground, it looked as if these sharp, cold spears were kneeling before the white-clothed man.
“Young Master said no battles in three months.”
“However, if the barbarians invade, kill them all.”
The white-clothed man waved his hand. He grasped the butcher knife he was carrying at the waist.
He looked at the dead soldiers of Nanjin City and the general, whose body had been pierced through by several spears, but eyes were still wide open.
He let out a sigh.
It was like a sigh from a dragon.
When the sigh was almost over, it suddenly turned into an aggressive killing intent.
In the distance…
The barbarian soldiers unsheathed their knives. They rushed at the white-clothed man madly.
They were so close to the victory.
The had broken Nanjin City’s city gate and stormed into the city. Food, wealth, and women were close at hand. Why would they give up just because a white-clothed man was trying to stop them?
The white-clothed man looked back at Sima Qingshan.
“Watch this. A real cultivator will never wait for his death in such a situation.”
“We, as cultivators, can turn the tide,” the white-clothed man said.
When that had been said…
The hand on the handle of the butcher knife exerted more effort.
He unsheathed the knife quickly. The black butcher knife moved in an arc in the curtain of rain.
Buzz…
Under Sima Qingshan’s shocked gaze…
An invisible curved energy from the knife went out. It became a half arc in the next second and swept over at the approaching barbarian soldiers. These barbarian soldiers were sliced in half right away.
Warm blood spilled all over.
The white-clothed man was neither soaked by the rain nor stained with the blood.
He let go of the butcher knife. The knife floated in the air, slightly shaking and chiming with excitement.
Buzz…
The butcher knife suddenly started to spin.
The white-clothed man waved his hand gently.
The butcher knife went out.
Poof! Poof!
Blood spilled. Human heads fell to the ground and rolled.
Sima Qingshan saw the most unforgettable scene in his life.
There had been so many barbarian soldiers. However, they were like piglets being slaughtered before the butcher knife. The butcher knife, which had been flying across the sky, killed all of them.
Outside of the city…
A barbarian warrior snarled.
He jumped. He had nine feathers in a circle on his head.
The slack flesh of his face with camouflage makeup was shaking wildly.
He threw his hands over toward the butcher knife. Despite bleeding profusely, he still did not give up.
He eventually stopped the butcher knife.
The white-clothed man could not help but raise his eyebrow.
It seemed he had never thought this barbarian could have warded off his knife.
“Is the barbarian’s nine-feathered warrior similar to Ninth Resonance Grandmaster in the Great Zhou Dynasty?” the white-clothed man asked in a plain voice.
Then, he flicked a finger of his.
The butcher knife, grasped by that barbarian warrior, started to rush again. It pierced into the barbarian warrior’s chest.
The barbarians were freaked out.
The butcher knife, suspended in the air, was spinning at high speed.
A shadow outline emerged along the tip of the butcher knife gradually.
“Knife Control,” the white-clothed man said.
The next second, the giant knife shadow struck down. Even the ground was cut open. When the knife had been struck, over a hundred barbarian soldiers were cut in half in an instant.
Before Nanjin City…
If one man guards the pass, then 10,000 are unable to get through. It was true for cultivators.
The barbarian soldiers were scared out of their wits. Directed by their leader, they retreated from Nanjin City immediately like a collapsing mountain.
Sima Qingshan was amazed and shocked.
This man repulsed the barbarian army alone.
That was fantastic.
Sima Qingshan felt a pile of fire was burning in his chest. So, that was what a cultivator was supposed to be like?!
In the distance…
Footsteps came. One after the other, a shadow flew over from the other end of Nanjin City quickly.
Soon, almost a hundred light-armored men landed on the flagstone-paved street of Nanjin City.
Throwing those light-armored soldiers a glimpse, the white-clothed man lifted the corners of his lips. He wiped the butcher knife with a white cloth. Then, carrying it at the waist, he turned his head to look at Sima Qingshan.
“You gained a big Immortal encounter. Don’t waste it,” said the white-clothed man.
The light-armored soldiers looked at the white-clothed man. A man was approaching from far away.
He landed on the ground. Water splattered.
Looking at the white-clothed man, he cupped his hands seriously.
“Thank you,” he said very sincerely.
If the white-clothed man had not helped, Nanjin City would have been taken over by the barbarians this day.
The light-armored soldiers around also cupped their hands.
The white-clothed man smiled. He waved his hand casually as if he did not think it was a big deal. Carrying his butcher knife, he stepped forward slowly.
“Don’t thank me. North County Mayor once said those who are not of our kin surely have a different mind… It does make sense. Besides, our Young Master told us to kill all of the barbarians if they invaded during the truce.”
Smiling, the white-clothed man disappeared in the rain.
Sima Qingshan finally came to himself. He hurried to run toward where the white-clothed man had disappeared.
“Senior… Who are you?”
However, with his voice echoing on the flagstone street, no one answered him.
The man in a light armor came up to Sima Qingshan. “I’m Tang Yimo, leader of South Manor Army,” he said to Sima Qingshan.
Sima Qingshan was stunned. He certainly had heard about South Manor Army. As the cultivator army of South County, it was mysterious and powerful.
“That white-clothed man is called Nie Changqing, a disciple from White Jade City. He is a great cultivator traveling around the world—strong enough to fight an army alone,” Tang Yimo said while looking into the long street, which had been empty.
Sima Qingshan trembled.
Butcher Nie Changqing from White Jade City?
The mysterious White Jade City!
Tang Yimo ignored Sima Qingshan, who was in a trance.
Followed by the South Manor Army, at the sight of the corpses on the street and the general who died without closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.
He would not let up on the barbarians.
Tang Yimo lifted his head. With a sharp look, he flung his arm forward. Then he led South Manor Army out of the city gate.
They caught up with the barbarian army who were retreating.
After a desperate battle, over a thousand barbarian soldiers died. The remnant barbarian soldiers fled with fear.
In the city…
Gazing at the autumn rain, Sima Qingshan picked up his scroll from the ground.
He unfolded it. Stained, the painting had lost its charm.
Sima Qingshan sighed. He threw the scroll and went back home with his clothes all wet.
When he had been at home…
He wrung out the azure robe he was wearing. Then he came up to his desk in a hurry. After unfolding a piece of paper with care, he took a paintbrush and dipped it in ink.
He concentrated, feeling Qi flowing in his cinnabar field.
He started to paint.
His stroke was vigorous and powerful, curvy like a nine-turn trail.
Soon, the white-clothed man carrying a knife in an alley in the rain showed up on the paper.
Sima Qingshan took a step back.
The man in the painting seemed to come to life.
Sima Qingshan saw that white-clothed man, with an unshaven face, look back and smile at him.
Sima Qingshan sat into the old wooden chair.
Looking at his hands stained with ink…
He suddenly realized something.
******
Lake Island, Beiluo.
On the second floor of White Jade City Pavilion…
Lu Fan’s white robe was blowing, although there was no wind. His consciousness shifted as if it had turned into thousands of threads and intertwined with the golden light at the bottom of Beiluo Lake.
The golden light was growing. It had been the size of a fingernail, but by now, it had become as big as half a fist.
There was tremendous energy flowing in it. It was a vast power.
Lu Fan stared at it. Although the energy was only as big as half a fist, he vaguely felt he was facing an entire world.
A low growl came.
That was a wisp of Spiritual Sense of some Lord of the Plane. Lu Fan suppressed it and used it as the core of his formation.
Lu Fan managed to keep absorbing the Origin of another world through this Spiritual Sense.
“This is the Origin… A very powerful energy.”
“Life, destruction, and creation—all these are extremely powerful,” Lu Fan involuntarily murmured while staring at the Origin by the rail. His hair was blowing.
However, as the Origin was absorbed, this restless energy was growing wild and becoming violent…
Like a runaway mustang.
Lu Fan knew it was because the Origin was no longer bound to anything or suppressed after leaving another world and arriving in this new world.
Consequently, it became unruly.
In Lu Fan’s words…
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
On the island…
No one else could sense the Origin’s energy, because Lu Fan had isolated it.
“The Origin is the Natural Law.”
Lu Fan squinted.
“The Origin, that is, the Natural Law, is a must if a Low Level Martial World wants to level up to be a Mid Level or High Level Martial World.”
Therefore, Lu Fan had to subdue this Origin.
That was why Lu Fan had decided to live in seclusion for some time.
Soul Strength pervaded the place.
Lu Fan closed his eyes.
Sitting in his wheelchair, when he had opened his eyes again, he showed up in the form of consciousness before the Origin, the size of half a fist, at the bottom of the lake.
Dong. Dong…
Something sounded like heartbeats.
It was the glistening water surface over Lu Fan’s head. However, the lake was under the control of a formation.
The formation was giving off a sucking force.
Lu Fan extended his hand. He pointed at the Origin with his long, delicate finger.
A warm feeling wrapped the finger.
In the next second…
This Origin, the size of half a fist, started to grow before Lu Fan. It continued to grow…
When everything in his sight had become clear again…
Still pointing at the Origin, Lu Fan saw the Origin that had been as big as half a fist had grown to a ball with a diameter of half a mile.
The ball was still giving off extremely dreadful energy.
Raising his eyebrow, Lu Fan looked around. “The other end of the Origin?”
In other words, the Origin of the world where that Lord of the Plane was living in?
Boom!
The sky was overcast.
Various weird energies were surging.
Gale and storm. Fire burning the sky. Thunderbolts. A vast wavy sea…
Those were different kinds of elemental powers—powers of elements.
The Origin of Wuhuang Continent did not have such powers…
Lu Fan exactly aimed to take in such powers through creating the Origin…
After feeling it clearly, Lu Fan seemed to gain some insight. Gazing at the Origin in the sky, he was feeling the flow of all kinds of mysterious energies.
He lifted his hand and decided that wind should blow, so a gale started.
He decided fire should burn, so a big fire started to burn in the sky.
He decided there should be earth, so earth fell into the vast sea, and the sea turned into a vast plain.
He decided there should be wood, so seeds fell, and flowers instantly dotted a mountain…
He decided there should be light.
So, the dark clouds were broken, and bright sunlight shone through them. The world was thus lit up.
Elemental Spirit Qi.
That was it. A smile tugged at the corners of Lu Fan’s lips.
Wuhuang Continent had its limits. The strongest power that could be achieved here was only Internal Organs Realm, with all five organs refined. Elemental Spirit Qi could not be produced at all.
However, as the Origin was created and improved, such limits might be broken very soon, and elemental Spirit Qi would be produced.
Wuhuang Continent would also upgrade to Mid Level Martial World from being a Low Level Martial World.
Of course, provided that…
Lu Fan could tame and subdue this Origin.
All of a sudden…
Lu Fan looked toward the horizon.
He saw clouds approaching.
They turned into a giant human face very soon.
That face was staring at Lu Fan in anger.
“How dare you suppress my Spiritual Sense duplicate and show up in the world of the Origin! How dare you!” said the face.
Then it turned into a giant palm of a hand that covered the whole sky.
It swatted at Lu Fan.
Lu Fan, leaning on the back of the wheelchair, pulled the armrest of the Thousand Blades Chair gently.
Instantly…
Silver blades showed up, like shooting stars flying across the dark night sky.
They assembled before him immediately.
Dong!
The giant palm of hand swatted at him.
Clouds exploded.
However, the shield assembled by the silver blades was intact.
Lu Fan took the blades back.
The human face formed by clouds vanished. In the distance, a golden light showed up.
It approached Lu Fan in an instant. In the blink of an eye, it had come up to Lu Fan.
The golden light vanished. A man with his hands behind his back emerged. He was wearing a red robe that was blowing in the wind and a tall hat. His skin was very fair. With two strokes of long hair draping down, he seemed to have rouged the middle part of his forehead.
With his hands in the shape of orchid fingers, he was standing on a shining flying sword.
A dreadful energy spread.
Lu Fan seemed indifferent to see that man. His white robe was fluttering in the wind.
He was that Lord of the Plane?
No wonder he was always making the hand gesture of orchid fingers…
That was really weird.
Lu Fan had guessed if he meditated on the Origin, he would absolutely draw this man here, but it was a surprise that he came faster than Lu Fan had imagined.
