Lady Cultivator

Chapter 132: Showdown

Translator: Cenniwdyl Editor: Caron_

Once Kuang Zhu saw how intense their murderous gazes looked, he simply retreated. He stood together with Zhan Bai in front of Xiaoguzi and Xiaozui to protect them. Right after, however, his body moved in a flash, taking the two Aura Refining cultivators with him and standing in the doorway.

Upon seeing this, the smiles on Ye Jingwen’s and Mo Tiange’s faces widened. By taking Xiaoguzi and Xiaozui, Senior Martial Brother Kuang Zhu settled their worries and thus freed their actions. Furthermore, he even blocked their opponents’ way out at the same time. They had absolutely nothing to worry about now.

In contrast, the expressions of the Gujian Sect cultivators became even more unsightly.

Despite all of this, Kuang Zhu seemed to think he hadn’t destroyed their opponents’ morale enough and tossed out another sentence, “Since sending them on their way will happen sooner or later, we better do it a bit sooner.” His words should’ve been full of murderous intent, yet he said it in such a careless and graceful manner.

Before he could act, a Gujian Sect early stage Foundation Building cultivator, who could no longer retain his composure, howled, “Don’t go too far!” His eyes were red as he rushed towards Kuang Zhu.

When that early stage Foundation Building cultivator rushed over, Wan Hongan shouted, “Lay the formation!” However, his shout was still one step too late.

An early stage Foundation Building cultivator against a late stage Foundation Building cultivator—that cultivator naturally had no chances of winning at all. Even when his sword light 1 , which seemed to have solidified, was about to reach Kuang Zhu, Kuang Zhu simply brandished his sleeve, spilling powdery objects that quickly wrapped around and stopped it.

The fact that his seemingly light white fog could block a flying sword as if it was a solid thing was already enough to astonish people. However, the white fog was even able to wrap around that sword cultivator and his divine sense, as if it was coiling vines, and bind them together! Even Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen, in addition to the Gujian Sect cultivators, were astonished.

Without realizing it, Mo Tiange’s and Ye Jingwen’s momentary astonishment allowed the Gujian Sect cultivators to almost complete their sword formation.

They then heard Kuang Zhu’s calm, graceful voice: “I’ll help you lay your formation.”

Before his voice completely disappeared, that early stage Foundation Building cultivator fell like a broken kite into the sword formation which was currently taking shape at an alarming speed. A wisp of white fog was also attached to his back.

Seeing their companion falling into the formation, one of Gujian Sect middle stage Foundation Building cultivators instinctively reached out to help. He caught his companion’s body without much effort, but no one noticed the white fog attached to that cultivator’s body.

Kuang Zhu’s moves naturally snapped Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen out of their distracted states. Mo Tiange hurriedly maneuvered her Shuttle of Flying Apsara, directing it towards an early stage Foundation Building cultivator standing on the core position of the sword formation. That cultivator naturally didn’t dare to meet this attack head-on, so he had no other choice but to abandon the position. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, Mo Tiange managed to injure him with the flying needles she secretly threw.

Wan Hongan gnashed his teeth with rage at this turn of events. Since they couldn’t lay the formation, they could only defeat their opponent one by one. He assumed that since all of them were middle stage Foundation Building cultivators, the female cultivator would naturally be a bit easier to handle. Thus, he used both his index and middle fingers to wipe the blade of his sword. As dark red blood permeated through his sword, Wan Hongan moved his sword from his right hand to his injured left hand. Soon afterward, his sword aura transformed into numerous dark-red flying blood blades, which rushed towards Mo Tiange to bombard her.

“Senior Martial Brother Wan, you…?” The youngest early stage Foundation Building cultivator from Gujian Sect was shocked.

Mo Tiange was wary of these unusual blood blades. The White Silk Handkerchief floating above speedily created a brick wall in front of her. However, right when the blood blades were about to make contact with the brick wall, they actually bypassed it and went straight towards Mo Tiange.

She immediately retreated and also strengthened the aura protecting herself at the same time. But something surprised everyone—her body-protecting aura only managed to slow down the speed of the blood blades by a tiny bit. Two blood blades even managed to dodge. “Tuff, tuff” – two successive noises appeared as the two blades struck Mo Tiange on her left shoulder and lower leg.

Seeing that his attack succeeded, Wan Hongan displayed a sinister smile. “Xiaogaizi, if you want to survive, you definitely have to bet your life first. Do you want to escape alive?”

After hearing what Wan Hongan said, the young cultivator called Xiaogaizi also followed Wan Hongan’s lead. He cut himself and smeared his blood on his sword.

On the other side, when the three Gujian Sect cultivators fighting Ye Jingwen saw this, they also followed suit.

In a flash, there were countless blood blades flying and rushing all over the place. Ye Jingwen and Mo Tiange were so overwhelmed by them that they somewhat lost control of the situation. Meanwhile, the five cultivators from Gujian Sect relied on the blood blades to clear their way and once again tried to lay their formation.

Kuang Zhu, who hadn’t made any other moves, showed a faint sneer. From inside his robe, he took out a bottle of medicinal pills he was fiddling with when everyone began fighting. He poured out several greenish pills into his palm then tossed them forward.

The people of Gujian sect naturally scrambled to dodge them, but Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen, who were under a barrage of attacks, weren’t so lucky. It was too late for the two of them to dodge, so they could only brace themselves for this attack.

Unexpectedly, the moment those pills made contact with their body-protecting auras, they transformed into a white fog, followed the scent of blood overflowing from the wounds Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen received during the fight, and entered their wounds.

The two of them were startled by the cool sensation that suddenly entered their bodies. When they took a closer look, they realized their wounds were starting to heal at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye.

Kung Zhu didn’t stop there. Everyone saw green fog suddenly appearing in the middle of the fight, causing the blood blades to disappear in an instant. On the other hand, Gujian Sect cultivators stared at the healing wounds on their fingers in astonishment, but their fighting strength decreased.

Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This was the first time they found out the art of healing could be used to attack.

A gentle, elegant smile appeared on Senior Martial Brother Kuang Zhu’s face. “I can be considered to have brought myself up a level today.”

Wan Hongan unexpectedly still had the same malicious smile on his face. “It was the time for the blood to stop, so I won’t thank you.”

After he finished speaking, he actually directed his palm toward his chest and slapped himself. A mouthful of blood from his heart spouted at the center of the main hall. All of a sudden, the messy marks left on the ground by the blood blades started to squirm as if they were alive. Wan Hongan broke into deranged laughter. “Since the Thousand Shapes Star Formation can’t be laid, it’s not bad to give you guys a taste of our Gujian Sect’s Thousand Shapes Asura Formation. Hahahaha!”

One of Gujian Sect middle stage Foundation Building cultivator had a huge change in expression. “Wan Hongan, you’re crazy! You dared to learn our sect’s forbidden formation and involved us in your scheme!”

The blood blades on the ground naturally couldn’t be created by Wan Hongan alone. In order to kill his opponent, not only did he sacrifice himself, who already had no other way out, but he even turned his fellow disciples into the blood medium for the Thousand Shapes Asura Formation.

Watching the rapidly squirming bloodstain inside the main hall, Wang Hongan laughed until he almost exhausted all his strength. “Since I’ll be dead anyway, all of you should follow me down to hell! Hahahaha!”

Gujian Sect cultivators turned pale out of fright. Before Mo Tiange could fully understand what was going on, she heard Kuang Zhu’s clear voice from the doorway. “Xiaobai, protective formation.”

Within one second, the bloodstain under Wan Hongan formed a circle with him at the center. From the very middle of that circle, countless bloody words that had a very cold, gloomy vibe to them spread outward rapidly.

Kuang Zhu, who was already sitting crossed-legged on the floor, suddenly made a pushing motion with both hands. White fog spread at lightning speed from where he was sitting towards Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen, just in time to stop those bloody words from spreading towards the two of them.

When Gujian Sect’s cultivators saw this white fog, it looked like their savior had arrived and they wanted to rush over. However, before they could get there, their bodies were already engulfed by the spreading bloody words and were thus anchored to the ground.

Mo Tiange was shocked by the next scene. While the Gujian Sect cultivators were quickly losing all the color in their faces, the bloody words moved even more violently. They spread towards the walls of the main hall as well as the area covered by Kuang Zhu’s white fog.

Upon seeing that Kuang Zhu, who was controlling the white fog to resist those bloody words, had a forehead full of sweat, Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen looked at each other. They naturally understood that Wan Hongan was the key, so Mo Tiange maneuvered her magic tool, ready to kill Wan Hongan, who had laughed until he was hoarse. Nonetheless, they suddenly heard Xiaobai’s shout: “You can’t!”

Mo Tiange looked at him. Her eyes were filled with doubt. Inside the protective formation, Xiaoguzi stuck out his head from behind Senior Martial Brother Bai and said, “This Thousand Shapes Asura Formation can only be somewhat restrained using formless things like senior martial brother’s objects. If this formation touches any corporeal objects, it will use them as a catalyst…” Xiaoguzi stopped as he tried to find the right words to explain. In the end, he could only point at several Gujian Sect cultivators who had been chosen by Wan Hongan as the blood medium and said, “The corporeal objects will become like that.”

Ye Jingwen also explained, “The blood ring below him looks like it’s on the ground, but if someone really attacks, it will rise from the ground, forming a column around him to block the attack. At the same time, it would also transform the attackers into another blood medium.”

Ye Jingwen continued on: “The Thousand Shapes Asura Formation is a very vicious blood-refining formation. This formation became an overnight sensation in the demonic beast riot several hundred years ago. However, because its destructive power was too great, and because the master of the blood-refining formation could easily turn evil and so on, it was classified as a forbidden formation by Gujian Sect. But Tiange, you didn’t grow up in west Kunwu, so it’s understandable that you don’t know about it.”

The fact that Ye Jingwen could say it was normal for her not to know this formation since she didn’t grow up in west Kunwu in this kind of critical situation really made Mo Tiange speechless.

As the thoughts in Mo Tiange’s head were turning at lightning speed, she heard Ye Jingwen say, “Tiange, you’re proficient in formations. If you know any formations that can create illusory beasts, we might be able to break this formation. Unfortunately, the area is too small, so formation discs and the like are also considered corporeal objects… pity…”

Mo Tiange was delighted when she heard what Ye Jingwen said. “We can use illusory beasts?”

Ye Jingwen nodded. “We can use everything that’s not corporeal.”

Mo Tiange asked another question, “Then what about divine sense?”

Ye Jingwen smiled wryly and said, “Of course it could work. But if we’re talking about divine sense, in addition to practicing their sword art, sword cultivators also cultivate their divine sense. Even a late stage Foundation Building cultivator like Senior Martial Brother Kuang Zhu couldn’t necessarily defeat the divine sense of a middle stage Foundation Building sword cultivator.”

Mo Tiange thought inwardly. With the Soul-Refining Art, I’m no longer an ordinary cultivator.

Nevertheless, she stored her Soul-Refining Art at the bottom of the trunk. She naturally didn’t want to expose how powerful her divine sense was to so many people. Therefore, she took advantage of what Ye Jingwen said about her being proficient in formations and said, “Formations also vary in size; there are small and large ones. We’d better try one first.”

Ye Jingwen didn’t really understand formations, so he just said, delighted, “Then quickly give them a try.”

He had no idea that every single formation that could generate illusory beasts was complicated and large. The Eye of the Formation alone had to be controlled by many people.

As Mo Tiange watched Kuang Zhu’s expression, she knew he and Xiaobai couldn’t hold on for much longer. Therefore, she didn’t dare to dawdle. She took out several spirit stones from inside her Qiankun Bag and laid them into a golden element formation that would allow them to perceive spiritual aura. She then said to Ye Jingwen, “Senior Martial Brother Ye, please protect me.”

Because Ye Jingwen was anxious, he didn’t consider why someone laying a formation would need to be protected and immediately nodded.

Mo Tiange quickly released her divine sense, sending it, which had been cultivated using the Soul-Refining Art, towards Wan Hongan’s completely unguarded primordial spirit to kill him. Frail primordial spirits naturally weren’t as strong as the physical body; a defenseless primordial spirit was even worse. Once the Soul-Refining Art was used, the result would naturally be a one-hit-kill.

When Kuang Zhu suddenly felt his whole body easing down, he opened his eyes and saw that Wan Hongan had already fallen to the floor. The bloody words around them went ballistic and rushed back towards Wan Hongan’s body.

Kuang Zhu hastily clapped once then spread his hands open. White fog once again protected them just in time as Wan Hongan’s body exploded.

The power generated from the explosion of a Foundation Building cultivator was enormous. The main hall of Qianmen Ridge was completely razed to the ground. As for the Gujian Sect cultivators outside Kuang Zhu’s white fog, instead of dying inside the Thousand Shapes Asura Formation, they died under the rebounding power of the Thousand Shapes Asura Formation.

By the time the aftermath of the explosion dissipated, Kuang Zhu was standing above the ruins, his sleeves fluttering in the breeze. He glanced at cultivators from other cultivation groups who had rushed over but didn’t say anything.

Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen certainly wouldn’t explain things to them, but these Foundation Building cultivators weren’t stupid. They had been using their divine sense to pay attention to the fight, so they probably roughly understood what happened.

“Thousand Shapes Asura Formation! It’s the Thousand Shapes Asura Formation!” someone said in a whisper.

However, even though he only muttered to himself, due to the hearing abilities they had as Foundation Building cultivators, they all heard him clearly and turned pale.

Now they could still feel the aftermath of this Thousand Shapes Asura Formation. Although they didn’t know what happened that resulted in the activation of Thousand Shapes Asura Formation, the strength of this extremely aloof medical cultivator was demonstrated from the fact that he could break out of the Thousand Shapes Asura Formation alive.

Several prominent cultivation groups on friendly terms with Gujian Sect inside Qianmen Ridge Station naturally didn’t dare to meddle. As for Gujian Sect, which didn’t have any Foundation Building cultivators left among them now, they were even more afraid to say anything.

In just a short while, five Foundation Building cultivators died inside Qianmen Ridge Station. This matter couldn’t be settled just by making explanations even in normal times, let alone now, when Gujian Sect had gone through the demonic beast riot and lost many of its Foundation Building cultivators. Coupled with the two Mo Tiange and Ye Jingwen killed outside Qianmen Ridge Station, Gujian Sect lost seven Foundation Building cultivators this time.

This matter was reported back to the sect, outraging the Sect Head of Gujian Sect. He went as far as to unhesitatingly rush thousands of miles towards Qianmen Ridge to directly behead Kuang Zhu and several others who were involved in this matter.

In a certain room, six people were gathered; four Foundation Building cultivators and two Aura Refining cultivators.

“We’d better run away quickly. After news of this matter spreads, Gujian Sect cultivators will definitely rush over. At that point, we’ll be in huge trouble.”

“We can’t! Brother, now that news of this matter has reached even Core Formation grandmasters, how can we run away?”

“Then what should we do? We can’t just sit here and wait for them to kill us, can we?”

“Well… Anyway, even if we wanted to run, we wouldn’t be able to!”

…

The four Foundation Building cultivators remained silent while the two Aura refining cultivators made a ruckus. Xiaoguzi and Xiaozui argued for a long time, but nobody could persuade the other. In the end, two people were crouched on the side, engaged in a staring contest.

Kuang Zhu glanced at them then said, “This matter has been reported to the School Head; you don’t need to get a headache over it.”

Xiaoguzi and Xiaozui turned towards Kuang Zhu at the same time and glared at him. “Why didn’t you say that earlier?!” He really did them wrong. They argued for so long for nothing; even their lips were dried out from talking!

Kuang Zhu lightly answered, “You didn’t ask.”

Neither of them could say anything in return. They only “hmphed” furiously.

Zhan Bai felt rather helpless as he watched the two children shutting their mouths in anger. He then turned towards Kuang Zhu and asked, “Senior Martial Brother, how will the School Head handle this matter?”

Kuang Zhu lifted his teacup and said, “I called you guys to talk about this.”

At that point, Ye Jingwen put his teacup down and said, “Senior Martial Brother Kuang, Junior Martial Brother Zhan, this matter happened because of me, so the two of you don’t have to sugarcoat things—you can tell them the truth.” Before he killed those people, he already considered the consequences. The School Head would protect his disciples no matter what. Therefore, at the end of the day, this matter would still be a strength contest between the two cultivation groups.

During the demonic beast riot this time, each cultivation group suffered disastrous losses. Gujian Sect’s strength was also weakened greatly. Nevertheless, although Xuanqing School lost many of its Foundation Building disciples, it still managed to preserve its fundamental strength because it sealed its mountain. Hence, between the two cultivation groups, Xuanqing School would still end up the winner.

Besides, Grandmaster Jinghe had a blood-thirsty temperament and was extremely protective. If he found out the disciples from his Clear Spring Peak did this kind of thing, he would absolutely clap his hands and burst out laughing instead of reprimanding them. With the protection of Grandmaster Jinghe, what was there to be afraid of?

However, after he finished speaking, Kuang Zhu said faintly, “No, I think it’d be better if you don’t tell the truth.”

Ye Jingwen was puzzled. “Why?”

Kuang Zhu’s gaze shifted between everyone present before it eventually fell on Mo Tiange, who was calmly drinking her tea. “This matter… We’d better push the blame onto Junior Martial Sister Mo.”

Once he said that, not only Mo Tiange, but Ye Jingwen and Zhan Bai were stunned. Even Xiaoguzi and Xiaozui, who were crouching and sulking, also raised their heads.

Ye Jingwen once again blurted out: “Why?”

Instead of answering, Kuang Zhu simply lowered his head to drink his tea. Mo Tiange, however, calmed down quickly and nodded her head. “Okay.”

Ye Jingwen was even more dumbfounded. He turned to look at her.

Mo Tiange smiled and said lightly, “Did Big Brother Ye forget about the identity I had in the school?”

After a dazed moment, he suddenly understood. “You mean…”

“Junior Martial Sister Mo is Grandmaster Jinghe’s registered disciple.” Kuang Zhu once again took over. “What Junior Martial Brother Ye said a moment ago is reasonable, but it’s also reasonable for Junior Martial Sister Mo to be one stepping forward.”

Grandmaster Jinghe indeed had that kind of temperament. However, in the end, he and Ye Jingwen were separated by one generation. Mo Tiange, on the other hand, was his registered disciple. If she was guilty of something like this, whether it was according to emotions or logic, Grandmaster Jinghe would interfere. Even if he didn’t show up, he would certainly have Martial Uncle Xuanyin, who was the highest-ranking senior in Clear Spring Peak, to step in. Thus, not to mention the other disciples, but even Mo Tiange herself wouldn’t necessarily be in trouble.

Once he figured that out, Ye Jingwen couldn’t help but lament the solution inwardly. This Senior Martial Brother Kuang Zhu might seem cold, indifferent and aloof, but his mind was incredibly calculating. Furthermore, his vision was also vicious…

As he thought about that, he suddenly felt a chill running down his back. What they were about to do—weren’t they involving a Nascent Soul grandmaster in their scheme?

Even though he sensed an odd stare from Ye Jingwen, Kuang Zhu still looked as unperturbed as before. On the other hand, Mo Tiange muttered to herself for a while then said, “That being the case, we might as well be in the wrong until the end. Just say they wanted to kill me to rob my belongings and even harbored some improper thoughts, and they were unwilling to give up after they failed. Senior Martial Brother Kuang, if we say this, do you think I’ll get some rewards from Grandmaster Jinghe?”

Ye Jingwen felt the chill running down his back becoming even colder. Based on Grandmaster Jinghe’s temper, if his disciple ran into people plotting against her but was able to kill those people, not only would he likely not blame her, but he might even give her a lot of praise and rewards.

Mo Tiange let out a soft chuckle. She shifted her gaze towards Ye Jingwen and said, “Big Brother Ye, if I indeed get some benefit, I naturally won’t enjoy them alone.”

Before Ye Jingwen could answer, they heard Kuang Zhu’s voice: “What about us?”

Mo Tiange glanced at those bright eyes belonging to Xiaoguzi and Xiaozui, who were still crouching in the corner. She smiled and said, “Of course. Everyone will have their share.”

Ye Jingwen was completely drenched in a cold sweat. He thought he was already vicious and merciless enough; he never imagined these people would have even bigger guts than him. Not only did they want to involve a Nascent Soul grandmaster in their scheme, but they even planned how they would divide up the rewards in advance…

After obtaining approval from Mo Tiange, Kuang Zhu took out a Summoning Talisman with a smile on his face. “Then we have to thank Junior Martial Sister Mo for her generosity first. The School Head already replied back. He said Grandmaster Jinghe is already on his way here.”