The Creation of the Heavens and All Realms

Chapter 28: The Tactics of the True Essence Realm

Zhou Tianci patted Lei Dong on the shoulder: “You won’t regret this decision. I’ve already figured out a way to help you enter the Posthuman Realm.” “Really, Sir!” Lei Dong was overjoyed. “Haha, the Posthuman Realm is nothing,” Zhou Tianci chuckled. “Work hard—the path we’ll walk in the future will be far longer than anyone can imagine!” Zhou Tianci was directing his men to set up camp when he suddenly sensed a fluctuation in spiritual energy to the east. “Lei Dong, notify Qi Shan and the others to prepare for battle. I’ll go see what’s happening!” Before Lei Dong could reply, Zhou Tianci teleported a dozen zhang away and vanished in the blink of an eye. Across the river, the three Li brothers lay sprawled on the ground, and Gu Dali had been knocked flying by Huang Bai; he appeared to have lost all ability to fight back. Huang Bai didn’t spare the three Li brothers a second glance; instead, he walked slowly toward Gu Dali. “Gu Dali, you have some nerve—daring to kill a member of my Huang family!” Gu Dali gave a bitter laugh. “They say the Huang family is the most domineering of the Four Great Families of the City of Tears and Blood—and sure enough, it’s true. Your Huang family struck first against my Giant Bear Adventurers’ Guild; are we not even allowed to defend ourselves?” “Enough of this nonsense,” Huang Bai said coldly. “You’re as good as dead today—no one can save you. If you hand over the *Flying Bear Back-Mountain Force* manual without a fight, I’ll grant you a quick death and leave your body intact. But if you try any tricks on me, I’ll make you wish you were dead!” “Hahahaha, Huang Bai, don’t even think about it. I, Gu Dali, have roamed Jiangzhou for over fifty years—what haven’t I seen? What haven’t I experienced? You think you can threaten me?” Gu Dali laughed twice, then coughed up another mouthful of blood. “What’s so great about your Huang family anyway? What gives you the right to look down on everyone else? If your Huang family hadn’t discovered the Yuan Jing in Shepan Mountain, how could you possibly have come to dominate the City of Tears and Blood? Truth be told, you’ve just been incredibly lucky.” “You actually know about the Yuan Jing!” Huang Bai was somewhat surprised. Knowing he was doomed, Gu Dali felt no fear in his heart: “It’s not just me who knows… Just wait and see—before long, news of the Yuan Jing will spread throughout the Great State of Yu. Your Huang family dares to target us independent cultivators—do you really think you’d dare to go after the great clans in the capital?” Huang Bai said coldly, “So what if the news spreads throughout the Great State of Yu? The City of Tears and Blood belongs to our Four Great Clans. Anyone who dares to set their sights on the Yuan Jing will be killed by me! Those who know about the Yuan Jing won’t be spared either—starting with you, Gu Dali!” Huang Bai struck out with a palm toward Gu Dali, who lay on the ground, and the illusory figure of the Azure Dragon lunged straight at him. Just as the Azure Dragon was about to strike, Gu Dali—who appeared to have no strength left to resist—somehow managed to dodge and reached out with both hands toward Huang Bai. “A real old fox, as expected,” Huang Bai sneered coldly, kicking Gu Dali in the body. Severely wounded as he was, Gu Dali couldn’t dodge the blow and collapsed beside the Li brothers. “It’s a pity I’ve dragged you into this…” Gu Dali forced his head up and said to the Li brothers. The Li brothers remained silent. They had originally set out to hunt fierce beasts for Zhou Tianci, but who could have imagined they’d run into Gu Dali and Huang Bai? Although Huang Bai hadn’t taken them seriously, a single sweep of his palm had left all three severely injured and lying on the ground. Now that they’d overheard the conversation between Huang Bai and Gu Dali and learned the secret of the Yuan Jing, their deaths were certain. “Sir, we hope you’ll hurry over…” the three Li brothers prayed inwardly. Huang Bai paid no attention to the three Li brothers; in his eyes, they were nothing more than ants. All he wanted now was to force Gu Dali to reveal the “Flying Bear Leaning on the Mountain Force.” “Gu Dali, you’d better behave yourself!” Huang Bai hoisted Gu Dali into the air; Gu Dali was truly powerless to fight back. “You don’t know what a True Essence Realm cultivator is capable of—I’ll let you get a taste of it!” Huang Bai struck Gu Dali’s body more than ten times in rapid succession, implanting green-hued True Essence into his acupoints. He then channeled that True Essence, and Gu Dali was instantly struck as if by lightning. His entire body convulsed, his facial features contorted—he was clearly in excruciating pain! “Enjoying that, are you? It’s no different from having your bones scraped and flesh carved away,” Huang Bai murmured. “You’re only at the True Qi Realm—how could you possibly understand the power of the True Yuan Realm? I’ve only implanted energy into 16 of your acupoints so far, and you can’t take it. If I were to implant energy into 365 of them, do you think you could withstand it? Do as I say and hand over the *Flying Bear Leaning on the Mountain Technique*!” Seeing Huang Bai’s methods, the Li brothers felt a chill run through their bodies. They had heard of Gu Dali’s formidable reputation; now, seeing him tortured by Huang Bai to the point where he couldn’t even utter a sound, how could the three of them not be terrified? Zhou Tianci followed the direction of the spiritual energy fluctuations, worried that something might have happened to the Li brothers. “That spiritual energy fluctuation was most likely caused by a Pre-Heaven cultivator. I hope Li Feng and the others haven’t run into him…” Having reached the Innate Realm, Zhou Tianci’s *Wave-Surfing Step* had advanced even further; with each undulation, he covered a distance of a hundred zhang. In no time at all, Zhou Tianci had crossed the small river and found the three Li brothers. “We really did run into a Xiantian-level cultivator!” Zhou Tianci suppressed his aura. With his powerful spiritual essence and the support of the Tree of Eternal Creation, no one could sense his presence unless he chose to reveal it. Hidden nearby, Zhou Tianci listened to the conversation between Huang Bai and Gu Dali, gaining a general understanding of the situation and finally uncovering the secret of Shepan Mountain. “Yuan Jing—no wonder…” Zhou Tianci realized with a sudden flash of insight. Huang Bai was still grilling Gu Dali, but Gu Dali was tough as nails; even under the torment of Huang Bai’s True Essence, he refused to yield, and Huang Bai was gradually losing patience. “Forget it. It’s just a cultivation manual.” Huang Bai’s expression turned cold as he thought of his clan’s mission. Zhou Tianci keenly sensed Huang Bai’s state of mind. “Oh no, he’s going to kill someone!” Zhou Tianci knew he had to intervene. It didn’t matter if Huang Bo killed Gu Dali, but once Gu Dali was dead, the three Li brothers would certainly face certain death—and that would directly involve Zhou Tianci. Moreover, the opponent was clearly a member of the Huang family, and Zhou Tianci harbored a deep grudge against them. He had not forgotten how Huang Jue had once tried to kill him right in front of the General’s Mansion. Huang Bai raised his right hand and struck out with a palm strike aimed at Gu Dali’s head. A look of utter despair filled Gu Dali’s eyes. Huang Bai’s “Azure Dragon Palm” was renowned throughout the Great State of Yu; with his level of cultivation, shattering metal and crushing stone was child’s play. Even if Gu Dali had cultivated his physique, there was no way he could block that strike. “Whoosh…” A blood-red beam shot out from the woods, heading straight for Huang Bai. The beam was incredibly fast and powerful; it effortlessly pierced through a Tiexin Tree so thick it took more than a dozen people to encircle it, without slowing down. Its sharpness was so fierce that Huang Bai had no choice but to dodge. Huang Bai was startled: “Who’s there!” Following the blood-red beam, Zhou Tianci descended from the sky and landed before the three Li brothers. “Sir!” The three Li brothers were overjoyed to see him, feeling as though they’d been saved from the brink of disaster. “Are you a member of the Blood Battle Legion?” Huang Bai immediately recognized Zhou Tianci’s identity upon seeing his battle armor. He glanced again at the blood-red light from moments before—it turned out to be a long halberd. “Wait—I know Cao Ming, the commander of the Blood Battle Legion. Aside from him, there are no Innate-level cultivators in the Blood Battle Legion. Who exactly are you?” Zhou Tianci sensed Huang Bai’s mid-Xiantian cultivation level and felt a hint of wariness, though he was not afraid. “Who I am is none of your concern. Why did you injure my men?” Zhou Tianci asked defiantly. Huang Bai replied casually, “They were just three Post-Heaven cultivators. It’s their own fault for seeing what they shouldn’t have.” A flash of anger crossed Zhou Tianci’s face. Huang Bai’s demeanor was strikingly similar to that of Huang Jue back then—that attitude of utterly disregarding the value of human life was particularly despicable! “So, does that mean I’ve also seen something I shouldn’t have?” Zhou Tianci said coldly. Huang Bai sized up Zhou Tianci, somewhat puzzled by the hostility radiating from him. However, Huang Bai couldn’t be bothered to ask—after all, he was merely an early-stage Xiantian cultivator. “Could this man be a hidden asset prepared by Liu Yuntao?” Huang Bai wondered to himself. He knew that the struggle between the Four Great Clans and Liu Yuntao for control of the Northwest Legion had reached a fever pitch, and the two sides were on the verge of an open confrontation. “There’s no one around here—even if I killed him, no one would ever know…” As Huang Bai’s murderous intent flared, Zhou Tianci sensed it immediately; in terms of the strength of their spiritual essences, Zhou Tianci still surpassed Huang Bai. “No matter who you are, if you dare to offend the Huang family, there’s only one path for you—death!” Huang Bai suddenly struck. Worried that delaying any longer might draw others to the scene, he intended to kill Zhou Tianci as quickly as possible. Zhou Tianci had already prepared himself before Huang Bai could act. He drew the long sword from his back; a flash of blade light streaked toward Huang Bai’s palm. “*Blood Battle Art*, *Blood Shadow Sword Technique*—you’re definitely a member of the Blood Battle Legion…” The moment Zhou Tianci made his move, Huang Bai confirmed his identity and immediately launched a full-force counterattack. To end the fight quickly, Huang Bai immediately unleashed his most powerful technique, the *Azure Dragon Palm*. Two azure dragons appeared and vanished in his palms, darting up and down—extremely difficult to counter. Yet those illusory azure dragons possessed immense power, as if they were solid. Zhou Tianci’s long sword struck them as if piercing solid steel, unable to penetrate even a fraction of an inch. “No wonder he’s a先天 practitioner from the Huang family—the power of this martial art secret technique is truly formidable. The three martial art secret techniques I’ve cultivated are all of the后天 level, far inferior to his palm technique.” Feeling the power of Huang Bai’s palms, Zhou Tianci’s expression shifted slightly. After a few exchanges, Huang Bai felt a surge of secret delight. He realized that the martial arts secret technique Zhou Tianci had mastered was extremely rudimentary, and his control of true qi was very unpolished—he must have broken through to this level only recently. “No matter who you are, if you dare to fight me, you’ll die!” Huang Bai roared, his speed suddenly increasing. His figure shifted unpredictably, darting left and right. Zhou Tianci didn’t recognize it, but Gu Dali did—this was the Huang family’s *Roaming Dragon Step*! “What an eerie footwork technique!” Zhou Tianci was taken aback. He realized he had underestimated Huang Bai; his opponent’s figure flickered in and out of sight, making it impossible for him to lock onto him. “Roar…” Zhou Tianci faintly heard the sound of a dragon’s roar—it was Huang Bai’s Azure Dragon Palm! Huang Bai suddenly appeared behind Zhou Tianci. He thrust out both palms, sending two Azure Dragons, each over a meter long, hurtling straight toward Zhou Tianci. Though the dragons were mere illusions, they were accompanied by the sound of a dragon’s roar. “It’s over!” Gu Dali thought to himself. “Huang Bai has perfected the *Azure Dragon Palm*. Even a cultivator at the late Innate Realm’s Gangqi Stage might not be able to block this strike…”