Chapter 998: Chu He
The Azure Wood Great World was bleak and desolate in all but its core region.
In the periphery of the Azure Wood Great World, there was a mountain range, and the sky above the mountains was black in color. Despite there being the sun to illuminate the sky, the sunlight was dim, like it was a dying old man.
The series of mountains continued on incessantly, but they were barren. Everywhere was a scene of desolation.
Some of the mountains were flowing with lava as billowing black smoke floated into the sky and filled it to the ends of its horizons. Other mountains were littered by swaths of withered trees and weathered bone. They were filled with death and looked more like mass graves. There were even other mountains that were enclosed in terrifying black storms. Some of the storms could rip powerful Fey beasts apart.
In the valleys between the mountain peaks, there were large series of black lakes. They emanated a stench with miasma filling the environment around the lakes. They were highly toxic and if an ordinary person breathed it in, not only would the person die from the toxicity, the person’s corpse would also be corroded, leaving only bones behind.
“What can we find in this godforsaken place?”
Near one of the black lakes, two burly men were searching the area. They were not young geniuses from large sects, but a league that was created from itinerant cultivators.
In the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven, leagues were very different to sects. Sects had their own heritages with strict sect rules. Disciples from the sect would usually cultivate similar cultivation techniques.
As for leagues, they were much more undisciplined. A league was only a group of people coming together for the same set of interests. The cultivation techniques that they cultivated were multifarious and people could leave at any time. Some leagues were simply bandit gangs, especially organized together to engage in the armed robbery of others.
The Azure Wood Great World was large, so there were many entrances into the Azure Wood Great World. A few itinerant members of certain leagues would enter the Azure Wood Great World’s periphery, but of course, they would only linger around its periphery and not dare venture deeper.
“Junior Brother, this Azure Wood Great World has lots of good stuff. It’s the location of a former seclusive sect, the Azure Wood Sect. When such an ancient sect collapses, could its treasures be anything inferior? Let’s not even talk about the Azure Wood Sect, just the Azure Wood Great World itself would give rise to several treasures. Now that the world is about to collapse, those ordinary plants and animals have all died. The only things left are the treasures that will expose themselves.”
As the two men conversed, they suddenly heard a staccato scream ahead of them —
“Save, save me— ”
The voice was charming and it was clearly one that belonged to a young girl.
“What’s the matter?”
The two men exchanged looks as they immediately rushed towards the voice. Their eyes lit up the moment that they saw what was in front of them.
A sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, who had a pair of bright, beautiful eyes, was trapped in a marsh. A thick, black vine was extended out of the mud as it held onto the girl.
It was a Fey tree!
“Haha, Junior Brother, what did I say? After the Azure Wood Great World’s plants die, the only things that survive are nothing to be scoffed at. Look at that Fey tree. Due to the lack of Yuan Qi, it’s already starving in agony. It captured the girl in its quest for food. If I’m not wrong, it’s a Black Blood Vine. Using it as a herb or as a poison would be rather effective. Good luck has befallen us, the Heavenly Calamity Duo.” One of the men said as his eyes flashed with a glint.
“Black Blood Vine? That’s indeed a great thing! Also, that babe is covered in treasures.” As the other man said, he looked greedily at the girl’s items. The Heavenly Calamity Duo had made it a career to rob graves, so they had keen eyesight. They could tell that the clothes that the girl wore, and the hair accessories that she wore, were all valuable ornaments.
“That’s right. The babe must be from some large sect. Her elders must have given her lots of great stuff, but unfortunately, her cultivation level is too low and she was unable to use them to their full power. What a waste if she can’t even finish a Black Blood Vine. Hey, Beauty, don’t be in a rush. When I’m done finishing that Black Blood Vine, I’ll treat you with tender loving care,” said the man as he revealed a licentious smile.
The girl’s aura was pure and unadulterated. She had a substantial foundation, so she was definitely a genius from a large sect. Such women stood high and mighty in the world, one that they could only look up to. But now, in the Azure Wood Great World, they could do as they pleased with her. How could it not excite them?
“What… what are the two of you going to do!?”
The girl turned flustered as she struggled with all her might, but the vine only tightened its grip on her. At that moment, the two men in front of her seemed to be more fearsome than the Black Blood Vine that wanted to consume her.
“Asking us what we want to do? Hehe, you are still asking such a silly question even at this point in time? Lass, all you can blame is that you are too willful. You entered this area riding on your master’s coattails, I suppose? How you were trapped by the Black Blood Vine can be ignored, but for you to scream for help here really shows how quickly you want to die. But don’t worry, in my hands, you will at least have a good time before your death.”
“Senior Brother, the lass looks like a virgin. Senior Brother, you were given the honor to take the last virgin’s virginity, so shouldn’t it be my turn this time?”
The Heavenly Calamity Duo exchanged lewd and sinister words as they moved closer to the girl. However, they did not lower their guard either. It was imperative that they finished the Black Blood Vine first.
Of course, with their combined strength, a Black Blood Vine was not a problem.
“Cha! Cha!”
The Heavenly Calamity Duo pulled out their sabers as they leaped up and coming from two different angles, they slashed at the Black Blood Vine!
The girl turned flustered as though she was extremely horrified, but at that moment, the black mud slush suddenly blasted open thirty feet in front of her!
“Si!”
The chilling sound of a snake’s hiss echoed as a snake, whose circumference was about the arm span of three men, emerged from the mud and attacked the Heavenly Calamity Duo!
“Ah!”
“What is that!?”
The Heavenly Calamity Duo was alarmed. Before their attack, they had used their perceptions to survey the surroundings, but they had failed to discover any danger. How did that enormous python appear?
“Die!”
The Heavenly Calamity Duo changed their targets suddenly as they slashed their sabers at the snake.
However, the snake opened its mouth at that moment and a black vortex swirled from its throat. The surrounding void began to collapse as the Heavenly Calamity Duo felt themselves losing control of their bodies. They even dropped their sabers.
Engulfing laws!?
It was a Fey beast that was proficient at engulfing laws!?
The two were horrified, but they eventually fell into the snake’s mouth. Spear like-teeth stabbed into their bodies as they cried out in agony!
“Ah, ah, ah!”
The duo spat out blood and felt extreme despair. However, the snake did not seem like it had any intention of giving them instantaneous deaths. They were forced to experience the torment before death.
At that point in time, the Heavenly Calamity Duo realized that the girl who was trapped by the Black Blood Vine had already escaped. She stood tall and gracefully above the marsh. The tip of her foot was gently placed above the water surface, while her watery-green dress was untainted. She looked like a beautiful lotus flower that had just bloomed, causing one to be ashamed of one’s ungainly appearance.
And at that moment, there was a clear sneer on the girl’s exquisite face.
“Wh… What?”
The Heavenly Calamity Duo had drastic changes in expression as they came to a realization that the girl in front of them was not some unworldly girl. They were the ones who were actually silly. From the beginning, it was a meticulously laid out trap.
“You witch… ” One of the men said through gnashed teeth.
He wanted to lash out with more invectives, but his breathing was turning weaker. Finally, he was completely swallowed into the snake’s belly.
“What dirty meat. Little Blue feels sick just eating you.” The girl said with a wrinkled frown.
Little Blue was none other than the gigantic snake in front of her. Mud flowed down the snake’s body, revealing beautiful blue scales. Although the snake had been in the mud, it was not tainted by the mud at all.
At that moment, there was a distortion in the void beside the girl. Space was ripped open as a silver-haired girl walked out and appeared in front of the green-dressed girl.
“Chu He, you are up to your mischief again. You left the Azure Wood Divine Residence on a whim and came all the way here. If you meet someone really powerful, will you even be able to return?” The silver-haired girl reprimanded Chu He, clearly furious at her antics.
The silver-haired girl was the successor of the Azure Wood Manor, who had just been praying in front of the Divine Tree Garden. She had prayed countless times, but she had never managed to stir the divine tree.
With her prayers unmet, the silver-haired girl came searching for her junior sister. To date, other than herself and her accompanying old servant, the Azure Wood Manor only had Chu He left.
“Senior Sister, these outsiders are here to rob us of our treasures, so can’t I punish them?” The green-dressed girl pouted her lips as she answered unhappily.
The silver-haired girl shook her head and said, “What they do cannot be faulted. Searching ruins is a justified act in the martial world. If there is anything to be blamed, it is that our Azure Wood Manor has waned.”
“I know,” said Chu He as she blinked with her pair of black eyes. With a look of innocence, she said, “But I don’t wantonly kill anyone that I meet. If not, why did I act? I could just get Little Blue to swallow them directly. I was acting so as to see who had bad intentions towards me. These people with ill intentions deserve death! If they are good, I’ll spare them. I know too that the Azure Wood Great World is about to collapse. Even if the outsiders don’t come to search for treasures, many of the items would be destroyed as well.”
“I really can’t do a thing about you.” The silver-haired girl shook her head. Suddenly, her eyebrows pricked up. “Oh, there are more people coming again!”
As she spoke, she vanished into the void. At that moment, about fifty miles away, a youth was shuttling through the sky with a sword in his hand.
And not far in front of him, a man looked ashen. He had sweat dripping down his forehead as he desperately fled. He was feeling extreme despair.
He never expected that the sword-wielding youth was that terrifying! The youth’s cultivation level was only at the half-step Dao Manifestation realm, but his strength was extremely formidable!
A single strike. All it took was a single strike to kill his partner. Not only did his partner die, his partner’s body aged rapidly and was reduced to bare bones.
Such a terrifying sword technique gave one the chills just thinking about it!
Without any thought, he fled immediately. Although he had stunning achievements when it came to his movement technique, he had never expected that the movement technique that he was proud of failed to help him escape the pursuit of the youth. Now, the gap was shrinking rapidly!
He would rather commit suicide than experience that terrifying sword technique that rotted bodies!