Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Passing through Fengdu City, Encounter with Junior Sister Xu Again
After crossing Black Dog Ridge, they reached Golden Rooster Mountain.
The mountain path was even more rugged and difficult to navigate, but for cultivators, it still wasn’t a problem.
However, there were always those wild chicken spirits that would take advantage of the night to launch an attack, pecking wildly at their faces, aiming for the skin, flesh, and eyeballs.
Luo Yan still had a look of indifference on his face and remained silent, as usual, wielding his Flying Sword Treasure haphazardly, beating those wild chickens until they flew about chaotically, crying pitifully.
Before long, numerous malicious ghosts emerged in plain clothes, approaching the two and advised softly,
“These avian creatures also feel pain. Isn’t it cruel to kill them like this? Why not follow us and eat vegetarian…”
Qiu Changtian felt oppressed in his chest, but he only saw Luo Yan, without a word, treat these malicious ghosts like the wild chickens and killed them together.
As a result, another item burst forth, resembling a feathered command arrow.
Luo Yan stepped forward to pick it up, carefully stored it away and said,
“This is a Chicken Feather Arrow, similar to the Black Dog Spike, it has the effect of expelling evil, and we will need it later on.”
After passing Golden Rooster Mountain, they arrived at Wild Ghost Village.
The path through Wild Ghost Village was not difficult, but the houses were disordered and maze-like, making it hard to discern the direction.
And from time to time there were ragged lone ghosts with eyes glowing green, fiercely pouncing from dark corners.
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Luo Yan, without caring for explanations or distinctions, once again indiscriminately attacked.
Shortly thereafter, many neatly dressed malicious ghosts appeared, pretending to be kind and benevolent, pointing at the carcasses of those wild ghosts and said,
“These refugees…”
“Shut up!” Once again, a demonic voice penetrated their ears, and Qiu Changtian’s blood pressure surged as he unleashed the Jade Pivot Thunder, attacking indiscriminately.
Ever since they started from Black Dog Ridge, there kept being all sorts of nonsensical ghosts and specters coming out, giving them strange lectures.
Not only were those words meaningless, but the entities also prattled on incessantly, trying to drill into their minds. Even with Daoist Heart Clarity, it was tough to endure such a terrifying mental assault.
They could only cooperate with Luo Yan and kill indiscriminately. After a few Thunder Methods were unleashed, it seemed as if the entire world had become quiet.
Luo Yan picked up an item from the ground, which appeared to be a red cord.
When he combined this item with the Black Dog Spike and Chicken Feather Arrow, the three spontaneously merged into a token. The front had ‘Yin’ written on it, the back had ‘Yang’, neither gold nor jade, the material was unknown.
“This is the Yin Yang Order,” Luo Yan said softly, “With this, we can now enter Fengdu City.”
The two continued deeper until they reached the Hall of Soul-Bewildering.
There, someone of high stature, indistinct in appearance, said,
“Visitors, please halt and drink the Soul-Bewildering Water before entering Fengdu City to face the final challenge.”
But Luo Yan didn’t respond, simply showing the Yin Yang Order in his hand.
The figure beckoned slightly, drawing the token from them through the air, and said with a laugh,
“Very well, with this order, you can pass without drinking the Soul-Bewildering Water.”
He waved his hand, and a great door opened in the back wall, indicating that the two could pass through.
“If you drink the Soul-Bewildering Water, you will have to endure the torment of diminished intellect,” Luo Yan led Qiu Changtian through the opening, heading deeper, “Without drinking the Soul-Bewildering Water, the following Di Ting incarnations are easier to deal with.”
“Later, pay attention to my hand signals. Wherever I strike with the Heaven-flipping Seal, you shoot the Jade Pivot Thunder.”
Qiu Changtian nodded seriously.
The two entered Fengdu City and saw the air filled with white joss paper, fluttering like drifting snow, and the bluestone pavement was covered with lit candles, their little flames flickering, casting dancing shadows.
In the houses on both sides of the street, behind the window lattices, there were faint shadows moving, but no sound of people was heard.
Directly ahead, a massive beast lay in the middle of the candle-lit street, lazily licking its paws.
It resembled a tiger but was not one, with a single horn; resembled a dog but not, covered in scales, its body pure white. Suddenly, it turned its head around.
“Hold!” Luo Yan immediately raised his hand to call out, “Venerable Di Ting, looking at the two of us, who is real and who is fake?”
The beast’s face showed a perfectly human-like expression of suspicion.
It looked at Luo Yan first, then Qiu Changtian, noticing traces of Illusion Technique disguised on both of them.
But when it activated its Divine Skills to see through the disguise, the Divine Souls inside were exactly identical.
But how could there be two identical divine souls in this world?
Thus, the mythical beast turned its head, seemingly trying to distinguish between the two voices.
But as soon as it turned its head, it was smashed on top by a Heaven-flipping Seal from Luo Yan.
Qiu Changtian, poised to strike, fired a Jade Pivot Thunder that burst into the beast’s head wound, spilling blood like a cascading waterfall.
The beast, in pain, shook its head, and Luo Yan, with his quick reflexes, sent another Jade Pivot Thunder, once again piercing into the creature’s skull.
This time, the skull completely exploded, reds and whites spewing everywhere like a burst dye vat, scattering a myriad of colors all over the ground.
“With that, the chain of ten realms comes to an end,” Luo Yan said softly, and then Qiu Changtian’s vision began to whirl and spin.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in another realm altogether.
Here, the sky was blood-red and the ground crimson; clouds in the sky rolled like flames, stretching across ten thousand miles with no sun in sight.
The plains were covered in red soil which, when stepped on, began oozing red liquid, resembling contaminated blood.
“This realm is the land of the Asura kings,” Luo Yan stated impassively. “It’s inhabited by Asura people ruled by four Asura kings: Poya Zhi, Luo Qiantuo, Vimalakirti, and Rahu.”
Qiu Changtian hastily memorized these four names, repeating them in his mind several times.
“Well, you need not remember these names,” Luo Yan said slowly after Qiu Changtian had memorized all four names. “I’m just educating you. It might be useful later on.”
Qiu Changtian:
“The Asura people are constantly at war with the deity Shakra and his army of heavenly beings,” said Luo Yan, expressionless. “The trial of this realm is to assist the Asura people in defeating Shakra who has kidnapped an Asura beauty.”
An Asura beauty kidnapped by deity Shakra? Qiu Changtian wondered in his mind if there might be any elements not suitable for children here.
“You’re thinking if there could be any elements not suitable for children,” said Luo Yan impassively. “The answer is no because this isn’t truly the Asura Path, only an illusion created by the Pavilion Secret Realm.”
“This land of the four Asura kings tests your will to prevail. The path of cultivation is narrow, and one must compete with others. Those who are timid and afraid will hardly find the greater way.”
Qiu Changtian remained silent upon hearing this, thinking to himself that Junior Sister Xu must be thriving in such an environment.
“Hmm,” Luo Yan paused for a moment and sighed, “Junior Sister Xu… is more than just thriving.”
Qiu Changtian: ?
“Come with me,” Luo Yan instructed as he began to control his sword for flight.
The two turned into streaks of light, swiftly passing over the crimson plains. Below, trees were devoid of leaves, their trunks twisted like demons.
The grass was mostly parched yellow and withered; their leaves were thin and sharp like needles.
After traveling several miles, they came to a large river with water as red as blood.
On the opposite bank, a massive army was engaged in battle.
One side was adorned with garlands, able to fly low in the sky, smashing their Vajra Pestles towards the opposition, each strike bringing down a bolt of lightning.
Despite their might, it seemed that these thunderbolts were not as powerful as Qiu Changtian’s Jade Pivot Thunder.
The other side stood barefoot on the ground but had four arms each.
The males had fierce appearances with bristling beards, and the females had slender figures with beautiful faces.
But regardless of gender, each held a chakram with blade edges in their hands, continuously hurling them forcefully into the air.
Amidst the clash of thunder and the whirl of chakrams, combatants from both sides fell swiftly, some hacked by the spinning blades, others struck fatally by the lightning.
Bodies fell or collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely, further staining the already crimson earth.
Qiu Changtian could guess why the land of the four Asura kings was so replete with red… Wait, who is that?
His gaze traveled over the river and saw, in the distance, a woman in white riding a sword, intoning aloud:
“The phoenix departs, the empty nest; the nascent flames are just beginning to spread!”
No sooner had her words faded, countless birds of flame split from the sword light, swarming toward the flying army adorned with garlands.
In the blink of an eye, numerous fire-bound soldiers screamed and struggled as they rained down like drops from the sky.
Therefore, the four-armed clan on the ground cheered, while the woman in white remained unperturbed, simply pointing her sword forward, urging them to quickly clear the enemies and continue to advance.
This woman in white was none other than Qiu Changtian’s Junior Sister Xu Yinglian!