Volume One: A Thousand-Year Stream - Chapter 61: Breaking the Siege

Half an hour later, deep within the dense forest two to three miles away from the heavenly chasm, Sun Zikai sat down, leaning against a large tree. He lifted his robe and unbuttoned his tunic, revealing a pronounced, massive bruise across his chest. He had never imagined that the Yu beast would far surpass the strength of the Golden Core realm. The recent battle had nearly cost him his life, and a lingering terror still gripped him at the thought of it.

Down at the bottom of the chasm, the situation of the Yu beast was equally dire. In truth, the actual clash between the two had lasted no more than thirty breaths; the rest of the time had been spent in mutual probing. Because the aura of death and terror erupting from Sun Zikai had fooled the Yu beast into mistaking him for a formidable, high-level cultivation master, it had acted with extreme caution.

Within those thirty breaths, the Yu beast had nearly killed Sun Zikai in an instant, but Sun Zikai had utilized spatial arts to close the distance, devouring half of its life force. At this moment, the Yu beast was extremely weak, surrounded by a horde of Northern exotic beasts guarding their king.

Sun Zikai spat out a mouthful of blood, tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and muttered to himself, "Is this my limit? Even with a physique as hardened as mine, I couldn't completely withstand a single blow from that Yu beast. That was too close; my chest was nearly split open."

Two or three small beasts trotted past his feet in a group. Having concealed his vital energy and aura, Sun Zikai elicited no reaction from them. He suddenly wondered how that girl Feng Yueyi managed to transform herself into such a tiny creature. This must be a technique Wu Lanmu had brought from the Zhaoge Wu clan; the creator of such an art was truly magnificent.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was already within the Qiling General Domain. As expected, in just this short span of time, a large contingent of the Zhaoge Wu clan had arrived within the territory. Concealing his presence, he watched from afar.

He saw Hu Xincheng, supported by Gao Yang and Jiang Yujin, standing before a man whose arrogant demeanor radiated hostility as he barked reprimands about something. Sun Zikai guessed that the rapid breakthroughs in Gao Yang and Jiang Yujin's cultivation realms had likely aroused the suspicions of the Zhaoge Wu clan.

After all, who ever heard of someone achieving profound cultivation mastery while running for their lives? Although Sun Zikai's physical refinement had granted him eyesight and hearing far superior to ordinary mortals, the distance was simply too great for him to hear their exact words. Shortly after, Cui Qingrui and Ma Dairan arrived as well. Cui Qingrui, the head of the Yanming Sect, acted with utmost deference before the Zhaoge Wu clan, bowing both his back and his attitude, yet his words clearly failed to satisfy the Wu clan members.

As Sun Zikai was pondering how to help extricate them from the predicament, he saw Gao Yang draw his long sword and slash his own throat.

The scene unfolded with such suddenness that everyone was frozen in shock. Blood sprayed onto Jiang Yujin's face and clothes, jolting her mind completely out of her wits.

Hu Xincheng wailed as he threw himself forward, clutching Gao Yang and screaming for help. A man of his pride was driven to such desperate panic.

Cui Qingrui immediately stepped forward, tapping the acupoints on Gao Yang's body to stem the flow, but the bleeding would not stop; the wound was simply too severe. Even the medical arts of the Medicine Faction were powerless to reverse this.

At that moment, a dark shadow flashed by, and Gao Yang's body instantly vanished, reappearing dozens of paces away, suspended in the air beside a figure clad in black robes. It was an immediate action taken by Sun Zikai the moment he recovered his wits.

He still kept his face masked and his lower body obscured, hovering in the air while using his internal energy to generate a massive surge of spiritual qi. Unlike before, the acquisition of the Divine Devil Pill had vastly increased his energy storage capacity and utilization efficiency, allowing him to sustain this illusion for a prolonged period.

"Hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph..." Laced with teasing amusement, Sun Zikai's mocking voice rang out, "How absurd. You people of status and influence have actually driven a child to this extent."

Sun Zikai raised his hand, using his sleeve to cover Gao Yang's head as life force surged forth. Within dozens of breaths, he roughly mapped out Gao Yang's vital pathways and channeled his vitality along them. Combined with the Healing Art—now amplified a thousandfold in its effect on flesh and blood thanks to the massive influx of energy—he completely healed the boy's neck while stimulating his bones to generate fresh blood.

Lowering his hand, the onlookers stared in utter astonishment at Gao Yang's condition. Even for a master of medical arts, the recovery was impossibly fast.

Gao Yang dropped softly to the ground, still unconscious.

A member of the Wu clan shouted, "Guiyou fiend, you actually dare to return!"

"Guiyou? Heh..." Sun Zikai sneered with disdain, "Are those fools even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me?"

Ma Dairan whispered anxiously in Cui Qingrui's ear, "It's him! The person behind that boy is him! The aura cannot be mistaken!"

Another Wu clan member yelled, "If you are not a fiend, then who are you?"

"What business is it of yours who I am? However, I can at least vouch for this child. They were not lying; those fools chased them for two hours. Heh, how laughable—not only did they fail to catch them, but they were left far behind."

"What makes you think I should believe you?" the leader demanded coldly.

"Because I was right there at the time. Oh? Heh! Why should I make you believe me? Are you worthy?"

Sun Zikai channeled the spatial art of the fourth realm within the Yin-Yang Pill, releasing a circular domain outward. As the domain ripples brushed against the soles of the leader's feet, Sun Zikai instantaneously materialized right before him, his hand clamping directly onto the man's forehead to leave his own energetic imprint.

Everyone was stunned. The man whose head was seized was acutely aware of the terrifying power of the entity before him, and the aura of dread spread right on cue.

"Gr—Great Master, who... who are you?"

"Hush," Sun Zikai murmured close to his ear, "You are already a dead man. There is no longer any point in talking to you."

And his words were no falsehood, for the man felt as though his body—no, his very life—was being tightly clenched in the palm of Sun Zikai's hand. In truth, his entire body's vitality was slowly dissolving under Sun Zikai's absolute control.

"Great Master... please spare me! As long as... as long as you spare my life!" The man's voice trembled, while the surrounding Wu clan members anxiously pleaded with Sun Zikai to show mercy.

"Easily done," Sun Zikai chuckled wickedly, "Ah... down in that deep ravine, there is a small beast with the head of a dragon and the body of a donkey."

"A Yu beast?"

"A Yu beast? Is that its name? Hmph, hmph, hmph... No matter. It has already been beaten half to death by me..."

Exclamations of shock escaped the Wu clan members, and one shouted angrily, "Utter nonsense! As if someone of your caliber could!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the atmosphere plummeted to freezing. In broad daylight, the surrounding area abruptly plunged into darkness. The ability granted to Sun Zikai by the essence of the sun absorbed through his skin allowed him to swallow light and heat, shrouding his vicinity in gloom and bitter cold.

When had these conventional cultivators ever witnessed such a phenomenon? Within the darkness, Sun Zikai looked even more like a demon. He released his grip and drifted toward the man who had just spoken so arrogantly.

An elderly man standing beside the arrogant cultivator reacted swiftly, forcing the younger man's head down to make him kneel. "Great Master, this brat has a loose tongue; please do not lower yourself to his level. I am willing to offer three rare treasures, and I beg you to show mercy."

Of course, Sun Zikai could not afford to actually strike; he was still nursing internal injuries. "Very well. Just roast that Yu beast and send it to me."

The leader stepped forward. "Great Master, that Yu beast is a supreme treasure of our clan. Forgive us, we cannot comply. If you desire other items, name them freely. But if you insist on that beast, then even though the Zhaoge Wu clan is a modest lineage, we are willing to stake the lives of our entire clan to fight you to the death." With that, he unleashed his spiritual pressure, and instantly, hundreds of Wu clan members present released their pressures as well.

Both sides were, in truth, extremely tense. Putting on a facade of calm, Sun Zikai emitted a mocking chuckle and said, "You people seem remarkably united?"

"Naturally."

"Then are you lot in league with the so-called Guiyou fiends?"

"Impossible."

"I don't think so." Sun Zikai took a deep breath, and from every person present, wisp-like currents visible only to him began to drift upward. He continued, "How do you suppose those fiends managed to set foot upon this land in the first place? The fiends are right among you."

Among thousands of drifting currents, four suddenly underwent a drastic shift, reflecting the violent emotional fluctuations of their owners. Sun Zikai's guess was correct; since the Guiyou pervaded everywhere, they had inevitably infiltrated the Northern realms as well.

He instantly materialized behind a particular figure and tapped her on the shoulder. It was a woman who looked refined and scholarly, with an exceptionally soft voice. Sun Zikai asked, "Tell me, is that not so?"

Feigning composure, the woman replied, "This humble maiden knows nothing of this."

"Hmph, hmph, hmph... Fiend, you still have three accomplices present."

A young man standing beside her cried out in shock, "S-Senior Sister Tian... Could it be that you..."

"Brother Guang, don't listen to his nonsense."

"It doesn't matter," Sun Zikai remarked smoothly. "Once this matter is settled, whether your conscience is clean or not, they will naturally strip you open and inspect your bones. Whether they are black or white will be instantly clear to all."

As Sun Zikai drifted slowly away, he tossed out a parting remark mid-motion: "Aren't you going to run?"

Pausing for barely a breath, the woman suddenly made her move. A burst of demonic mist erupted beneath her feet, and her figure vanished, reappearing hundreds of paces away moments later. She was truly fleeing—she truly was a fiend. She knew that with Sun Zikai exposing her thus, an investigation was inevitable, and she would never survive one.

With her usual facade of tranquil detachment and indifference to worldly disputes, who could have guessed she was a Guiyou fiend? The Wu clan members could no longer maintain their composure; even their leader stared with wide eyes, his expression a mask of sheer disbelief.

"Hmph, hmph, hmph, look at that—such exemplary unity you have. Oh, right, there are plenty more fiends; many of them haven't even arrived yet."

Sun Zikai retracted his power, and the surrounding brightness was restored. Turning his back, he drifted away slowly, calling out, "I merely roam about as I please, going wherever I fancy. Not a single soul in this domain can stop me. Rest assured, however, I have no interest in anything you have here. Go on and fight or slaughter each other as you please—it is none of my concern. But when I witness something, I speak of it, and none of these children have any ties to the fiends."

With those words, his figure vanished instantly, and his aura entirely dissipated from the Qiling General Domain.

It took a long time for Hu Xincheng to snap out of his daze. He fell to his knees in the direction where Sun Zikai had vanished and kowtowed. "Many thanks to Senior for saving my disciple! May I be so bold as to ask for Senior's honored name?"

Naturally, no one answered. Silence hung heavily for a long time until the leader of the Wu clan finally spoke. Turning back around with a gloomy expression, he declared coldly, "Today's affairs will not be held against your Yanming Sect. Please leave!"

With a simple acknowledgment, Cui Qingrui led Ma Dairan, Hu Xincheng, Gao Yang, and Jiang Yujin away.

The leader called out once more, "Sect Master Cui, please return to the main hall in half a joss-stick's time for a private gathering."

"Understood." Cui Qingrui naturally knew they intended to muzzle them regarding the day's events.

Once the outsiders had departed completely, the leader wore a dark expression and muttered, "Third brother."

"Brother."

"Write down the names of everyone here. There are still three left."

"I know. They have already been recorded."