Volume 1 Volume 7 Chapter 86

Volume 7 Chapter 86: The Eerie Treasure Hunt (17)

Xu Qingfan had already thought that the space surrounded by wild brush strokes would not be simple, but he did not expect its power to be so great.

When the warrior-like master entered this space, his speed suddenly slowed down; to the master, this speed was almost like that of a turtle.

Even from miles away, Xu Qingfan could still clearly sense the strong pressure coming from all around the warrior-like master.

Almost the moment the warrior-like master entered the space, his skin turned blue-purple.

This was because the pressure was so great that the small blood vessels beneath his skin burst under the immense pressure.

Inch by inch, again inch by inch.

The master dressed as a warrior slowly moved towards the scholar dressed as a master under immense pressure. Blood seeped from his mouth, eyes, nostrils, ears, and even the pores of his skin under the growing pressure. Though they were only a hundred steps apart, it felt as distant as the ends of the earth.

Xu Qingfan had no doubt that under this overwhelming pressure, the warrior dressed as a master would soon be crushed into meat paste.

Although the divine sword had immense power, it could not be displayed at this moment.

The enemy of my enemy is my ally; Xu Qingfan understood this principle well. Yet at this moment, he was in such a difficult situation himself that he could not help the warrior dressed as a master.

Turning to look, Mr. Liu still had his eyes closed, mumbling to himself, and was not yet ready. But suddenly, he held an ancient manual in his hands.

"Junior Martial Brother Wu Da, how is it? Did you not expect this? I have combined ‘Three Thousand Cosmic Seal’ with ‘Heaven and Earth Fan’, just to wait for the day you come to me with your ‘Heaven and Earth Sword’! Haha, what do you think, my dear master? Feeling your organs and energy channels slowly breaking apart, doesn’t it feel good? You have spent your whole life scheming against your master, against me, and everything else, while I have been patient. Now, the clever one, who always thought he was so smart, has fallen right into my hands. How do you feel inside?"

The scholar dressed as a master, who usually had a gloomy face, suddenly twisted into a fierce and distorted expression, pointing at the warrior dressed as a master with difficulty before bursting into wild laughter.

One thousand four hundred years! A full one thousand four hundred years!

Since the two of them were taken as disciples by their master, they have been vying with each other openly and secretly. This scholar-like master, though older and slightly stronger, often finds himself at a disadvantage due to his inferior mindset, suffering losses in their every conflict.

This time, he prepared for three hundred years. Underestimating him, the warrior-like master finally gained the upper hand once and for all. For the first time, he drove his exceptionally clever younger brother into a corner, so it was no wonder he felt proud. Even though he was one of the greatest masters in the world, who should have a calm mind, at this moment, he felt a wave of excitement he could not control.

"Why don’t you speak? Beg, little brother. If you beg me, maybe because of our friendship of over a thousand years, I will spare you. What do you say? Beg properly, use the most humble words you can think of. I will let you go. After all, a bad life is better than a good death."

The scholar-like master noticed that the warrior-like master was only staring at him with blood-red eyes, showing no intention of speaking. A flicker of nearly mad hatred passed over his face but vanished quickly. Then, he spoke again in a tempting tone.

Several miles behind him, the ancient book in Mr. Liu’s hands suddenly emitted a faint blue light. Unfortunately, the scholar-like master had already focused entirely on his younger brother and did not notice anything unusual. Besides, in his eyes, under his unique skill "High Mountains and Flowing Water," Mr. Liu and Xu Qingfan could only defend themselves; they had no strength left to fight back.

In front of him, Wu Da, that master, still stared at him fiercely with bloodshot eyes. It was unclear whether the red-eyed anger was due to the pressure causing blood vessels to burst or his overwhelming fury. It was supposed to be his plan against the scholar-like master, but in the end, he found himself in a desperate situation.

Perhaps, for over a thousand years, being in a superior position made him inevitably underestimate his elder brother, forgetting that someone who could stand against him for such a long time was not so easily defeated.

"Since you are so stubborn, do not blame me for not considering our brotherhood."

Seeing that Wu Da still refused to plead for mercy, the scholar-like master finally grew angry.

Suddenly, as he waved his folding fan, the wild calligraphy in front of him changed its arrangement, and then these wild characters flew towards Wu Da in a mysterious pattern.

Although he did not know what would happen if these characters hit him, it certainly would not be anything good.

Upon seeing this scene, the master named Wu Da changed his expression, a look of determination flashed in his eyes, and he opened his mouth to spray a great gush of blood onto the ancient sword in his hand.

In an instant, the ancient sword shone with a gray light, its power suddenly increased several times, breaking through the surrounding space’s restraints, and its speed surged as it shot towards the scholar-like master.

Meanwhile, far away, Mr. Liu suddenly opened his eyes wide, a gleam shining in them, and he shouted, "Three thousand pure spirit seals, activate!"

As he shouted, the ancient book in his hands flipped rapidly; with each page turned, the writing on that page would suddenly disappear. When all the writing on the book was gone, it instantly transformed into pieces of paper, scattering deep into the "Azure Crystal Treasure House."

At that moment, Mr. Liu, holding the ancient book, showed a look of holy majesty, but upon closer inspection, one could see the sorrow hidden deep in his eyes. This treasure was far more powerful than an ordinary treasure, but clearly could only be used once and was incredibly precious, which was why Mr. Liu appeared so pained.

However, what puzzled Xu Qingfan was that as this ancient book exploded, nothing happened at all.

Yet, the scholar-like master suddenly changed his expression drastically, completely disregarding Wu Da who was shooting towards him with the divine sword, and turned to look at Mr. Liu in disbelief.

Then, his body suddenly shook, and with a flick of the magical fan in his hand, all the wild characters returned around him, blocking Wu Da’s attack. Although the characters shattered one by one under the sword’s power, they were able to temporarily stop Wu Da.

Next, the scholar-like master made a move that left everyone astonished.

The folding fan in his hand shone brightly, seeming to weigh a thousand pounds, as he drew upon all his strength and swung it fiercely.

A fierce wind erupted!

At first, the wind could not move or scatter the extremely dangerous "Clear Spirit Qi" and "Chaos Qi," which were moving around the "Azure Crystal Treasure House," yet they suddenly began to swirl wildly with the force of the wind.

In an instant, within a hundred miles, everything was caught in the chaotic swirl of "Clear Spirit Qi" and "Chaos Qi."

"Clear Spirit Qi," upon contact, could turn any object into nothingness, while "Chaos Qi" could turn anything it touched into something as solid as stone, causing its soul to fade away.

Everyone’s expressions changed dramatically, except for the master named Wu Da.

The divine sword in his hand glowed a bright gray, wrapping him in a protective shield, and even the "Clear Spirit Qi" and "Chaos Qi" could not harm him at all.

The wild grass-like characters blocking his way shattered completely at that moment.

There was no longer any obstacle between him and the master dressed as a scholar.

Seeing this scene, the scholar-dressed master’s face changed greatly. Just as he wanted to take action, the mysterious power that Mr. Liu had just used suddenly took effect.

Countless characters suddenly appeared around the scholar-dressed master, looking even more ancient and mysterious than the wild grass-like characters he had created.

The scholar-dressed master suddenly realized that he had lost connection with his external powers, those like the fierce wind, the White Tiger, the Seven-colored Deer, and the High Mountains and Flowing Water.

The High Mountains and Flowing Water attacking Xu Qingfan, along with the fierce tiger pouncing on the deer, suddenly vanished. Xu Qingfan felt no pressure at all and finally had the energy to escape with Mr. Liu from the swirling "pure spirit energy" and "murky energy."

The fan in his hand still held power, but it could no longer extend that power beyond the range of the ancient characters.

Moreover, the fan in his hand was blank on both sides, with no images or writing left, and all the powerful abilities were no longer available.

The "Ancient Book of Pure Spirit" could cut off the connection between a cultivator and the outside world, and it was exactly the magical treasure that Mr. Liu had used this time!

Just then, the master named Wu Da rushed in front of the scholar-dressed master.

The divine sword was very powerful, and the characters made by Mr. Liu seemed to protect the inside but not the outside. They were instantly shattered by the divine sword. The scholar-dressed master wanted to do something else, but his eyes suddenly went blank.

On his chest, the ancient bronze sword had already sunk deep inside him. Under the overwhelming power, his internal organs and meridians were crushed to pieces!

"Y-You have been hiding your power from the very beginning!"

The scholar-dressed master weakly pointed at his junior brother in front of him, stammering and filled with unwillingness as he spoke.

"Yes, my dear Martial Brother Wen Ru." Wu Da suddenly smiled, his face no longer holding the unwillingness and anger from when he was pushed to the brink. "The ‘Three Thousand Cosmic Seal’ you rely on is nothing but a joke in front of my ‘Heaven and Earth Sword’. I could break it anytime I want. My earlier show of being forced into a corner and having to spit blood to break it was just an act. Tell me, did I do it well?"

"W-Why?"

"If you ask me why I acted, it’s because I needed to gain the trust of Liu Ji and that kid. Humans are strange creatures; they tend to trust those who fought alongside them in tough times, but only if that person is not too strong. So I had to collaborate with them to kill you without appearing too strong. This is important for my next plan."

9。 Wu Da paused and then softly said, "If you ask me why your ‘Three Thousand Cosmic Seal’ is so weak, I will tell you that your direction has been wrong all these years. The power of your ‘Heaven and Earth Fan’ should have been greater than my ‘Heaven and Earth Sword.’ Unfortunately, you made it too complicated. It can summon mythical beasts, move mountains and seas, and has the ‘Three Thousand Cosmic Seal’ too. But the ‘Heaven and Earth Fan’ has limited capacity; you can do everything but nothing strong. My ‘Heaven and Earth Sword’ focuses only on attack. Though it holds only one power, it is stronger than all your powers combined. It’s a pity you only realized this right before you die. Now, can you die with your eyes closed?"

As Wen Ru looked on with unwilling eyes, Wu Da twisted the ancient sword in his hand, and Wen Ru lost all his life.

A grandmaster fell here, or perhaps, this is the first grandmaster of the Soul Splitting Stage to fall in the "Azure Crystal Treasure House."

With Wu Da completely defeating Wen Ru, Xu Qingfan and Mr. Liu finally broke through all the "pure spirit energy" and "dirty energy" that surrounded them and rushed to Wu Da’s side.

The first thing they saw was Wen Ru’s body and the divine fan quietly floating beside him.

"Thank you, two Taoist friends, for helping me rid my sect of this disgrace!"

In that moment, Wu Da’s smile suddenly changed from cunning and mocking to sincere and open, his face showing a gentle yet determined expression that made people feel good, as he deeply bowed to Xu Qingfan and Mr. Liu and then said loudly.