"Hmm? Lu Qing Ming is dead…" Qin Bai Sheng muttered under his breath, attracting the female gu immortal's attention. She couldn't help but frown at the revelation before shaking her head and maintaining her silence, further hearing Qin Bai Sheng muse to himself rather audibly. "It seems the Traveling Three Elites were caught unprepared by the defending gu immortal."
However, his speech was merely an act. He transmitted his true thoughts to the woman besides him using an immortal killer move.
'Things aren't so simple. Be cautious when you coordinate with me. Something feels off.'
The woman barely held her shock.
Qin Bai Sheng was a man of frightening strength and even greater attainment. Furthermore, he spent precious immortal essence to activate an immortal killer move just to convey something so simple, indicating that he placed his greatest attention on this sensation.
The duo continued attacking the cloud building even more furiously, no longer spending any thoughts on capturing the desolate beasts. Qin Bai Sheng was simply unstoppable. Meanwhile, he ordered the pair of rank 7 gu immortals to investigate the area where Lu Qing Ming was ambushed and killed.
It wasn't long before Chang Shan Yin faced two rank 7 gu immortals. Lo Jik observed all the battles and kept taking mental notes for his devious schemes. Chang Shan Yin displayed a great battle strength, resisting one of the rank 7 gu immortals who was a transformation path expert capable of transforming into two ancient desolate wolves. But his defenses crumbled when the other wind path rank 7 gu immortal joined the battle. He couldn't help but retreat quickly with Lang Ya Land Spirit appearing and teleporting away alongside Chang Shan Yin.
'At least an enslavement path and time path master. But why do I feel there's something more than meets the eye when it comes to this Chang Shan Yin and Qin Bai Sheng?' Lo Jik cupped his chin before observing those two rank 7 gu immortals. 'At least transformation and wind path grandmasters coupled with flying path attainments.'
He was quite pleased with such a collection as he continued roaming the continent and stole the rare and extinct immortal materials alongside some immortal gu worms.
Meanwhile, Qin Bai Sheng and others continued destroying the cloud buildings until there were only two of them left.
Lo Jik observed an inkman gu immortal fly out of the cloud building. Lang Ya Blessed Land's defenses were quite impressive. Lang Ya Land Spirit roped in three gu immortals for assistance. Earlier, a gu immortal defended a cloud building against the black-robed rank 7 gu immortal. Chang Shan Yin was the second gu immortal. And this rank 6 inkman gu immortal was the third one.
'How will this rank 6 gu immortal fare against Qin Bai Sheng?' Lo Jik mused. Qin Bai Sheng revealed astounding strength. While a supreme elder belonging to one of the ten great ancient sects and possessing some understanding of the other four regions, Lo Jik did not boast an intimate level of understanding towards Qin Bai Sheng. In fact, among all the invaders, Lo Jik merely identified Qin Bai Sheng initially. Only by observing the various battles did he finally identify Chang Shan Yin, the Traveling Three Elites, and Hui Feng Zi, who was the rank 7 wind path gu immortal known as the fastest gu immortal in Northern Plains. Hui Feng Zi had a great movement immortal killer move, allowing him to once outrun one of the five rank 8 gu immortals of Northern Plains, Yao Huang.
What gave Lo Jik a pause was another matter.
He focused on the only female gu immortal. She was following Qin Bai Sheng for a considerable time before separating and attacking other cloud buildings. Lo Jik observed the woman's luck and noticed her connection with his own luck—or rather, the part of his luck influenced by Chen Jiu.
'Is this woman part of the organization behind Chen Jiu's origin?' Lo Jik wondered. He couldn't observe Qin Bai Sheng's luck given his current luck path foundation but that didn't stop him from deducing about Qin Bai Sheng. It was clear to Lo Jik that this mysterious force had some malicious scheme against him. Surprisingly, aside from her luck vanishing in Qin Bai Sheng's direction, the swirling dark mist-like luck also traced towards the hooded rank 7 gu immortal boasting an extreme physique and three other locations. Three tendrils of mist disappeared in the sky.
Most amazing aspect about this luck was the heavy sense of suffocation and death… defending it. Usually, such a wicked sensation indicated imminent danger. But this female gu immortal was somehow protected by this force of fatality!
'Just who are these people?'
Lo Jik cupped his chin and pondered on the question for a brief second before finally capturing a rare blood path immortal gu worm!
His focus barely shifted to the immortal gu worm when everything went to hell. The old inkman immortal only neared Qin Bai Sheng when the former's expression shifted to shock. The inkman's body paused midair while Qin Bai Sheng's body let out a sharp golden glow. Lo Jik's eyes pricked and he felt countless needles stabbed into his eyes as he hurriedly stopped his investigation killer move. Blood leaked from the corner of his eyes as his heart still shuddered in terror.
He didn't even need to look at the result of the so-called battle.
The old inkman gu immortal was killed in a single move!
'Rank 8 battle strength!' Lo Jik sucked in a breath of cold air and started focusing more on the battle above the clouds. The deeply-concealed anticipation in his eyes nearly surged forth with vengeance as he suppressed his shock and excitement.
But that wasn't all. Qin Bai Sheng didn't destroy the cloud building and after killing the gu immortal and flew towards the last of the two remaining buildings.
'He plans on destroying the enemies using his power. Such a domineering method against Lang Ya Land Spirit… and what was that move earlier?'
Lo Jik was cautious of Qin Bai Sheng's metal path immortal killer moves, but there was something else about the man. He took a few seconds to deduce that Qin Bai Sheng used a soul path immortal killer move to strangle the poor inkman gu immortal's charge and restricted the latter before killing him with a single attack. The mechanisms of that soul path immortal killer move eluded Lo Jik since he did not have enough clues but he was certain that such a killer move was not something he could face with his current level of ability.
'He is like father-in-law.' Lo Jik licked his lips. Feng Jiu Ge was a genius only seen once every thousand years. There had been a great many records of rank 6 gu immortals battling and even defeating rank 7 gu immortals, but only Feng Jiu Ge was the rank 7 gu immortal who could hold his own against a rank 8 gu immortal in the recent years… and now there was also Qin Bai Sheng!
However, Feng Jiu Ge's name was already spread throughout the five regions. Meanwhile, Qin Bai Sheng could be considered relatively obscure and merely a potent gu immortal among rank 7 gu immortals. Lo Jik resisted the urge to purchase more information about Qin Bai Sheng from Treasure Yellow Heaven right away to prevent leaking any clues of his participation in this invasion and observed calmly.
Another change occurred as things progressed to the point of Qin Bai Sheng materializing a large golden hammer far surpassing the size of the cloud building—another metal path immortal killer move of immense might.
"What audacity!" A figure flew out of the cloud building at the moment with a surging momentum and a fierce roar. This individual boasted thick muscles and thick brown hair growing from every corner of his body—a hairy man!
"This…" Lo Jik was tongue-tied.
A land spirit?!
What the hell was happening?
Lo Jik had already seen Lang Ya Land Spirit earlier when it saved Chang Shan Yin and fled the battlefield. Where did another land spirit come from? Who was this hairy man?
Lo Jik most certainly knew many details about the blessed land, but even he could not know everything. Such a change caught him off-guard.
Even more surprising was this hairy man's actions.
The land spirit did not dodge and instead faced the gigantic golden hammer directly.
Dozens of gu worms flew out and surrounded the land spirit the moment he came into contact with the hammer.
*Whoosh*
The mysterious killer move used by the land spirit instantly cleared the sky. The hammer disappeared as if it never existed. Meanwhile, the air currents generated when the hammer moved howled and blew unceasingly, still left behind by the momentary metal path immortal killer move.
'Could the land spirit be using a disguise earlier?' Lo Jik mused, unable to grasp the truth.
This hairy man was a land spirit—that was a fact.
'No matter. Be it a human, a variant human, or a land spirit, every one has attainment towards the great dao. My killer move should still be applicable. It's just that this land spirit is rather fierce.'
Land spirits were a blessed land's core. Their destruction or captivity could greatly ease the eventual takedown of the blessed land. Most land spirits usually stayed hidden and controlled their blessed lands to deal with the enemies and other tribulations alike. Lang Ya Land Spirit was the complete opposite.
A forest of golden spears materialized around the land spirit as the burly hairy man continued switching several mortal and immortal gu worms. The spears shot towards Qin Bai Sheng, prompting him to retreat.
'Eh? Why isn't he using his impressive battle strength like before?' Lo Jik narrowed his eyes. He had to reevaluate Lang Ya Blessed Land as a whole. The land spirit clearly had way more immortal gu worms than Lo Jik anticipated based on the information he acquired through his trait. Earlier, Lo Jik believed he nearly plundered 20% of the blessed land's immense wealth but the constant activation of immortal killer moves forced him to reconsider this approximation to about a mere 10%. There was also Qin Bai Sheng's sudden retreat. This was a major clue.
'Soul path… I see, Lang Ya Land Spirit is a special existence birthed from Long Hair Ancestor's obsession fusing with the blessed land's heavenly power. It doesn't have any soul. It seems that Qin Bai Sheng's earlier killer move targeted the soul and is entirely ineffective against a land spirit. But he should possess more trump cards. After all, he decided to invade Lang Ya Blessed Land despite such a weakness in his killer move.'
The golden spears struck a pillar around Qin Bai Sheng. However, the latter's hair started turning white and bursts of chaotic starfire snuck through the pillar's gaps opened by the fierce forest of spears, burning Qin Bai Sheng's flesh and martial attire.
Lang Ya shouted and continued attacking. Leaves flew around, a bloody smoke coiled around Qin Bai Sheng's waist, and a beautiful blade light shot towards him. The constant attacks forced Qin Bai Sheng to retreat continuously. The more he retreated, the more passive he fell. Lang Ya attacked like a maniac, his aura surging endlessly. This was Lang Ya Blessed Land. Furthermore, Lo Jik was aware that Lang Ya Blessed Land possessed the rank 8 Heavenly Essence Treasure Imperial Lotus, allowing the land spirit to accrue an untold foundation in terms of beads of rank 8 white litchi immortal essence.
Lang Ya Land Spirit could continue such a fierce offense for a considerable time, effortlessly capable of killing the enemies by exhausting them!
'How come he didn't just kill all the invaders from the beginning?' Lo Jik shook his head. It was obvious he was missing the big picture but there was nothing he could do about it. He acted like an observer and realized that even if relentless at a superficial level, Lang Ya Land Spirit had no sense for combat. His immortal killer moves were all over the place. Some attacks even interfered with each other and were weakened as a result. Also, Lang Ya Blessed Land had a great accumulation of refinement path dao marks. Refinement path immortal killer moves used by Lang Ya Land Spirit received a monstrous buff while immortal killer moves of the other paths were suppressed by this environment.
As expected, Qin Bai Sheng gave a loud shout and erupted with a shocking killer move. Golden light flooded the scene, burning and destroying nearly all of the fog covering the space between the blessed land's pure-white sky and white cloud soil. It was as if a sun descended on the blessed land.
'A compound killer move?' Lo Jik furrowed his brows. 'Is this Qin Bai Sheng's true battle strength?'
The metal and soul path compound killer move created a sphere glowing an intense golden light, allowing Qin Bai Sheng to defend and attack at the same time. Moreover, Qin Bai Sheng's control was impeccable. He maintained the killer move while launching a flurry of counterattack. He activated other immortal killer moves and attacked at one-tenth the pace with which Lang Ya Land Spirit moved earlier. However, Qin Bai Sheng's every attack was planned and struck Lang Ya Land Spirit's weaknesses, forcing the poor land spirit to despair. Another attack from Qin Bai Sheng slammed Lang Ya Land Spirit into the cloud soil. The bed of soft soil instantly sunk and expanded into a massive crater.
'Oh, no!' Lang Ya Land Spirit struggled and wished to teleport but the golden chain coiling around his body immobilized him.
'He planned all this for a reason… Qin Bai Sheng wanted time to activate another immortal killer move.' Lo Jik gulped.
Qin Bai Sheng flew over the sky slowly, floating above Lang Ya Blessed Land. His expression was cold as he retracted the entirety of his aura. He gathered his arms at his chest and pressed his palms together like a meditating monk after shutting his eyes and lowering his head.
'This posture…'
Lo Jik stopped and focused entirely on Qin Bai Sheng.
'How could it appear in Northern Plains?'
Lo Jik had seen a recording of this impressive killer move. He knew quite a bit about this technique and the legendary individual who created this killer move!
Immortal killer moves come in many forms and actions. The immortal killer move Qin Bai Sheng currently activated forced him to discard his earlier fierceness and converge his entire strength within himself. It painted quite a contrast. No one would look at Qin Bai Sheng's valiant style and confuse the man for a peaceful monk standing so still that one might mistake him for a piece of dead wood.
Qin Bai Sheng slowly moved his right hand away from his left hand as if pulling onto something precious. His right hand clenched into a tight fist as it moved away. Still maintaining his left hand near the center of his chest, Qin Bai Sheng raised his right fist above his head.
Qin Bai Sheng was like a tiger ravaging through mountains or a dragon casting a disaster upon the seas. He transformed into a miniature sun that could attack and defend against Lang Ya Blessed Land's methods.
Now, however, he stood still. The earlier coldness in his expression and his ferocity was nowhere to be seen. He donned a mask of indifference, his eyes shut and his head lowered. His open left hand stayed near his chest in an incomplete praying posture. Meanwhile, a tightly clenched right fist rose high up in the sky.
Lo Jik's throat dried as he couldn't help but replace Qin Bai Sheng with another character.
Below the vast heaven stood a green-haired man. Strands of green and his robes alike swayed in the wind but he stood in converged defiance. This man was like a sharp sword, his edge completely concealed within the body. This convergence was not a retreat but a state right before one drew their sword and put an end to their enemies. That right fist raised towards the sky contrasted with the monk-like posture, revealing the green-haired gu immortal's true ideals and ambition.
Rank 8 sword path gu immortal—Bo Qing.
Spirit Affinity House was currently famous because of Feng Jiu Ge. But before Feng Jiu Ge, there was Bo Qing.
Feng Jiu Ge was known as the strongest rank 7 gu immortal.
But Bo Qing was the strongest of his generation—period. A rank 8 gu immortal only weaker than venerables. His sword light pierced past countless enemies and challengers, piling a mountain of corpses that did not exclude several rank 8 gu immortals. A figure that went unchallenged in his generation—unchallenged by everyone but heaven!
Such a demonic overlord also fell prey to love. A nameless inkman slave in Spirit Affinity House snatched his heart and that generation's fairy position after being acknowledged by Love Gu. She was none other than Lo Jik's predecessor, Mo Yao.
'Bo Qing was fearless and ambitious. He died in Central Continent when facing his tribulation. He wanted to become a sword path venerable but could do nothing against the whims of fate. His body and soul were supposed to be destroyed alongside Fairy Mo Yao, who wanted to support her husband till the end. How did his immortal killer move resurface in Northern Plains? How could a metal path gu immortal from northern plains get the sword path immortal killer move—'
Qin Bai Sheng did not care for Lo Jik's doubts.
Immortal killer move—Five Finger Fist Heart Sword!
First finger!
Qing Bai Sheng raised the thumb of his right hand.
A sword light shot out from the right fist held against the sky.
Fast! Fast!Fast!
It was simply too FAST!
The sword light instantly pierced Lang Ya Land Spirit's head the moment it shot out.
The intense struggles of the land spirit came to a screeching halt as the sword light punctured through his skull. He stared at the floating Qin Bai Sheng like a stone statue before coming to be as if jolted by lightning and struggling even more intensely!
Lo Jik unconsciously touched his forehead.
That would have killed him without a doubt.
But Lang Ya Land Spirit was a special existence without any notable weak points. The sword light, however, weakened the land spirit considerably. His original clear and compact hairy man head now appeared blurred and fading.
Second finger!
Qin Bai Sheng raised his index finger.
Sword light pierced Lang Ya Land Spirit's right arm, making him cry out in pain as he trashed against his restraints.
Third finger!
Qin Bai Sheng raised his middle finger.
Sword light pierced Lang Ya Land Spirit's left arm as he cried out in agony. Both his arms now appeared blurred and faint. Air of death hung around the land spirit as he couldn't help but scream out in panic.
"Help me!"
Fourth finger!
Qin Bai Sheng raised his ring finger.
*Clang*
The sword light did not manage to pierce Lang Ya Land Spirit as a figure appeared alongside the sharp noise of collision. A rank 7 gu immortal appeared between Qin Bai Sheng and Lang Ya Land Spirit.
Surprisingly, this gu immortal was not one of Lang Ya Land Spirit's earlier reinforcements in the form of Chang Shan Yin and two inkmen gu immortals.
*Whoosh*
*Whoosh*
*Whoosh*
Eight figures appeared one after another, surrounding Lang Ya Land Spirit.
Qin Bai Sheng dispelled his killer move and opened his eyes by a slit, observing the newcomers.
The other gu immortals aside from the first rank 7 gu immortal were all rank 6 gu immortals. The most surprising thing about the reinforcements was their appearance.
Hairy men!
These were all hairy men.
***
A/N: No alternate titles again. I've noticed that I don't have the heart to write additional titles. Might be a slight author's block.
***
Join the discord through the link in the synopsis.
Read 60 chapters ahead @ Patron and Subscribe Star (Links in the synopsis.)
Support the Fanfic through comments, likes, reviews and such (if the published site allows it.)