“There’s no saving them.”
Fu Xu Immortal Venerable’s voice was completely void of emotion, standing alone atop the World-Scorching Flower, his bowed posture as if he was watching a group of people fated to die.
Gu Ze had still harbored a sliver of hope that Fu Xu would take action to save them.
Before, when Fu Xu disguised himself as Lin Tianhai, he had revealed himself in order to defeat the Songhuo Peak disciples who were threatening Gu Ze and his companion, even risking exposing several flaws.
But now, Fu Xu was completely indifferent to the lives of these disciples. Was it all because the Divine Fire was now so close at hand?
Gu Ze’s heart sank, but his actions never stopped. He snatched several Songhuo Peak disciples’ storage bags, slashed with the Moon Mark Dagger, and a torrent of materials poured out, blocking the road once more.
The Qi Refining disciples, muddled by poisonous miasma, were reduced to instinct alone, blindly crashing into the barricades, stiffly trying to climb over.
Fu Xu did not move, watching his struggle in silence. “Fate has already been set. I followed along this entire way just to be a witness to the birth of the Divine Fire.”
As Wang Xiao said, the birth of a Golden Core Divine Fire is the result of karma set in stone. This secret realm was constructed by the forebears in order to seize the world’s fortune from Weijin Mountain.
Over the centuries, countless disciples have come to harvest and plunder here, leaving the spiritual energy of the realm drained, full of holes, on the verge of collapse.
Now, with the secret realm suddenly nurturing a Golden Core treasure, it was clearly irregular.
This World-Scorching Flower is Weijin Mountain’s dying struggle—it wants to use this Divine Fire as a bargaining chip to exchange for enough spiritual energy to sustain the secret realm a little longer.
The cultivators who entered the secret realm this time are the chips for that exchange; it can only continue if it devours them all completely.
Fu Xu explained the tangled karmic ties of Weijin Mountain, swinging the Body Tempering Hammer in his hand. In an instant, countless hammer shadows smashed apart the barricades Gu Ze had set up.
The terrifying force blasted Gu Ze backward. He barely managed to steady himself against the wall.
His legs were numb, and he barely managed to straighten up. “Is a Golden Core-level natural treasure really more important than the lives of hundreds of disciples from Cloud Sea Immortal Pavilion?”
“In one hundred thousand Qi Refining disciples, there is only a chance for a single Golden Core to be born.”
He didn’t answer directly, but the meaning was clear.
The lives of Qi Refining disciples—are worthless.
Gu Ze let out a self-mocking laugh. “So, because Li Xun has hope of reaching Hushan, that’s why Wang Xiao guarantees she won’t die in the secret realm?”
“Mm. I will also make sure you two don’t die. Before, I only worried that if you attacked the Songhuo Peak disciples, you might trigger the Protective Talismans they carried and end up gravely injuring yourselves.”
He waved his hand in the air, and the giant hammer smashed down again.
Gu Ze wanted to leap away, but the ground beneath his feet grabbed his legs like a swamp.
A vast power surged through him, throwing his spiritual energy into chaos. For a moment, he struggled even to resist the searing heat around him.
Having dealt with Gu Ze, Fu Xu still hid his face behind a white mask, not turning around, yet he was perfectly aware of Li Xun’s movements on the other side.
“I advise you not to waste your strength. The Qi of the Yellow Springs is strong, but it cannot harm me.
Right now, it’s better for you to just tend to your senior brother quietly. When you leave this secret realm, forget everything that happened here—for your own good.”
Though Fu Xu said this, in truth he simply disliked trouble and did not wish to tangle with Li Xun.
The Qi of the Yellow Springs couldn’t harm him, but it was extremely troublesome; if he were actually struck while his cultivation was suppressed at the eighth level of Qi Refining, Fu Xu would not fare well.
By suppressing Gu Ze with divine abilities, he could easily restrict Li Xun as well, making her wary.
Fu Xu could faintly sense it—although Li Xun only displayed the cultivation of the fourth level of Qi Refining, she was certainly more troublesome than Gu Ze.
But things did not go as planned.
Li Xun gave a cold snort, ignoring his advice, sword in hand as she leapt atop the heads of several cultivators, vaulting straight for the World-Scorching Flower.
“Courting death.” Fu Xu was not surprised, withdrawing his hammer, intending to send Li Xun flying.
He held nothing back, determined to end the battle quickly.
If Wang Xiao, who’d been knocked into the Lava Pool earlier, managed to crawl out, that would be truly troublesome.
Gu Ze watched Li Xun’s fluttering figure, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and pointed forward.
His brow relaxed as he murmured, “Fortunately, luck is on my side.
Good thing you suppressed your cultivation at the eighth layer of Qi Refining and not at its peak.
And thanks to Wang Xiao, I refined the medicinal power early and broke through to the eighth layer.”
Gu Ze gently urged the spiritual energy at his fingertip.
The storage pouch that had always hung at Fu Xu’s waist—even after he swam through the Lava Pool without a scratch—moved.
The red cord attached to it suddenly shot out, winding around Fu Xu’s waist, then quickly wrapping his whole body up like a zongzi dumpling.
The Dragon Binding Cord! It could completely immobilize any opponent whose cultivation did not exceed Gu Ze’s own, unless Gu Ze released it voluntarily—it could not be broken.
He had long since handed it over to Fu Xu when he first suspected Lin Tianhai’s true identity.
Thankfully, the system’s treasure could only be used by Gu Ze, and others couldn’t detect its secret. Fu Xu was completely unprepared.
Even as the Dragon Binding Cord snared his whole body, sealing his cultivation, Fu Xu remained calm.
It was merely a magic treasure; with the physical strength of a Golden Core cultivator, breaking it should be simple.
But no matter how hard he struggled, the Dragon Binding Cord didn’t budge.
Li Xun’s sword drew ever closer. Fu Xu could only suck in a cold breath, letting the blade fall upon him.
Countless sword-lights looked fierce, but only slashed his outer clothes. When they struck his limbs, the sound was like clashing metal.
“What a fine treasure. Who gave it to you? Qingquan? Or… Gong Lixing?” Fu Xu looked toward Gu Ze. He immediately realized this was Gu Ze’s doing.
A treasure that could restrain a Golden Core cultivator—that was beyond what any Qi Refining disciple could manage.
If Gong Lixing was secretly aiding him, then it all made sense.
Fu Xu sighed, “Judging by your face, I must be right.
Those wishing to stop the birth of the Divine Fire… it was never just me from the very start.
Karma is set in stone; you cannot change it.”
As his words fell, a burning figure crawled out from the Lava Pool.
“Fu Xu! And those two disciples of Qingquan, you really have some nerve!” Wang Xiao’s wounds from Fu Xu’s hammer had already healed.
He’d secretly swallowed a medicinal pill, and now looked even better than before.
Watching Fu Xu being chased and hacked by Li Xun like a sandbag, Wang Xiao burst out laughing: “You used that treasure on Fu Xu and solved a big problem for me. But if you’re really from the Sect Master, you must have another trump card, right?
Come out.”
He didn’t step onto the flower’s petals, but instead looked warily around him.
***
After fighting for so long, with not a single disciple falling into the Lava Pool to be devoured by the World-Scorching Flower, even Wang Xiao felt a sense of unease.
Gu Ze’s methods were crude—just blocking the path with piles of ore. How could there not be a single gap?
Unless someone had been interfering from the shadows all along, arranging the scattered rocks into a Mist Array, causing the poison-maddened disciples to lose their way completely.
Both Golden Core cultivators became wary, while only Li Xun continued madly hacking at Fu Xu.
Fu Xu listened to the constant clanging coming from his body, on the verge of breaking composure.
“Li Xun, all I did was disrupt your senior brother’s spiritual energy a little. He wasn’t even gravely hurt—do you really need to hack at me with red eyes for so long?”
He spoke helplessly, craning his neck to let her test her swordplay as she wished.
“Hmph.” Li Xun had no intention of withdrawing her blade, and though her hands were sore from the shock, she did not stop.
The Zangtian Sword was no ordinary weapon; even Qingquan praised it highly. If she swung enough times, Li Xun was confident she could lop off Fu Xu’s arm.
Of course, he would just regenerate it afterward using the golden constitution of a Golden Core cultivator.
Wang Xiao ignored the tangled pair and acted instead, snatching two disciples from a distance, preparing to toss them into the Lava Pool.
As expected, the person lurking in the shadows was lured out.
A crystalline water screen rippled open, separating the disciples from the scorching magma, catching the two within water bubbles and sending them bouncing away.
No longer concealed, that person revealed their hand—countless bubbles appeared from all sides, enveloping the Qi Refining disciples and rolling them down the Weijin Mountain slope to safety.
One bubble surrounded Li Xun as well, carrying her to Gu Ze.
Gu Ze, having just stabilized his spiritual energy, looked up to see a light figure floating toward him.
He opened his arms and caught her steadily. Li Xun, not at all shy, threw her arms around him in a full embrace.
Seeing his “materials” vanish into thin air, Wang Xiao’s eyes bulged with rage. He swung a fist into the void, and the unleashed power shattered the ground into cracks.
That punch was intercepted, and the figure finally revealed themselves.
Surrounded by violet mist, standing on a White Water Lotus, the figure stood elegantly in midair.
In that instant, the air around them grew refreshingly cool.
“Qingquan? Why is it you?” Wang Xiao had imagined countless possibilities, but never expected the hidden helper to be Qingquan.
Even though the two disciples swept up into the center of the storm were from their very own Biluo Peak.
Given Qingquan’s personality, she would have come straight to Weijin Mountain for a showdown before the pair even arrived.
Why bother to hide the whole way, acting even more secretly than Fu Xu Immortal Venerable?
Fu Xu stared into the violet mist; even under his mask, his expression was one of utter shock.
But after a mere instant, he realized—this could not possibly be Qingquan.
Qingquan was in secluded cultivation, breaking through to Nascent Soul, and had borrowed Songhuo Peak’s Spirit Gathering Array. She could not possibly appear in this irrelevant place at such a critical time.
Compared to the Nascent Soul path, what did a Golden Core Divine Fire matter?
“No… Qingquan wouldn’t be this weak. You’re not Qingquan. This is Qingquan Divine Ability, imitated with etheric energy.” Wang Xiao quickly caught on.
He shattered a bubble in his hand; instead of splashing, it turned to white vapor and vanished.
Etheric energy could transform into all things.
The one who appeared was none other than Lian Yue Immortal Venerable—the same Lian Yue who had been secretly guiding Gu Ze all along.
Lian Yue laughed lightly, but used Qingquan’s crisp voice: “What? Even if my imitation only displays thirty percent of Qingquan’s true strength, isn’t it enough to deal with you two?”
“Oh, and one of you is already restrained—so only you need to be handled, Wang Xiao.”