Chapter 94: This Venerable One Sees the Heavenly Rift Again

>>mild violence and gore for the rest of book 1

Nangong Si looked displeased, his gaze dark like rolling, molten iron.

The line of his sight scanned past and paused for a moment on Mo Ran's blazing red Holy Weapon before it moved on.

"Who's that?" "He's the gongzi from Sisheng Peak, surname Mo," Ye Wangxi replied.

"Mo?" Nangong Si knitted his brows slightly. "The one that was picked up off the streets some years ago?" "En." Nangong Si gave Ye Wangxi a side-eyed glance. "You know him?" "We resided in the same place at Peach Blossoms Springs." Nangong Si sneered. Who knew what that meant, but when Ye Wangxi saw his reaction, his quietly handsome face paled some, eyelashes dropping, then he pursed his lips and fell silent.

"Since he has to keep waiting then I might as well grant him some face," Nangong Si said. "A master of a Holy Weapon at such a young age, I gotta see what he's made of." Mo Ran, however, had no time to mind the Rufeng Sect. He turned around,

his robes whipping in the wind. The barrier had already cracked, there wasn't much time left—— Chu Wanning, are you not done yet?

SHA! Luo Xianxian's nails ripped through the silk curtain. The white cloth fluttered and the plain fabric was shaken into thousands of pieces of falling snow.

Chu Wanning only sensed an incredibly familiar presence, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He widened his eyes. "Tianwen?!" No.

It wasn't Tianwen.

But when he parried with her, there was an energy that was incredibly similar to Tianwen coming from her person.

The inner curtains of the huge Chen household were like a thin mist, locking within it a living soul, a vicious ghost. After having exchanged a dozen moves,

the fog in Chu Wanning's mind dispersed, and a thought struck him, waking him up. Suddenly, he understood.

"Heartpluck Willow…" Luo Xianxian was already dead, her body cremated to ashes. Back then, she could only depend on old Madame Chen's body in order to haunt, so there was no reason why she should be able to show her true form now.

That mysterious man had taken a withered branch of the Heartpluck Willow and temporarily fabricated a shell for her, allowing for her soul to come back.

The broiled hearts of the people outside and the steaming haze of fumes.

Metal, Water, Fire, Earth, they were all waiting for Xianxian's 'Wood', the body of the Heartpluck Willow.

Just what was that man planning!

Had he gone through all this trouble just to have Luo Xianxian regain her flesh body so she could slaughter her way into the Ghost Realm to be with Chen Bo'huan once more? Who would do all this for her?

All her relatives had died.

Relatives…

A relative!!!

Something stirred in Chu Wanning's mind, and his blood boiled and rushed.

He suddenly recalled, back when he first met Luo Xianxian, she had told him something—— She had a brother, who'd gone missing many years ago…

Was it him?

"All in my path shall die!" Luo Xianxian was a real flesh body, Chu Wanning was a living soul. While her spiritual powers were nowhere near his, when solid met air they were evenly matched for the moment.

In the blink of an eye, her blood red nails came lunging towards his heart. In order for his soul not to suffer damage, Chu Wanning abruptly dodged, then flipped his hand and tapped between her brows.

"It's useless. You can do it however many times you want, but the purification spell can't hurt me!" She laughed savagely, throwing her head back to howl to the heavens, and summoned from all around them bands of corpses from Butterfly Town.

"You feral ghosts, obey my command! Gather here and drink blood til there is no more!"

Terrifying wails and howling started to ring. Butterfly Town had been trampled to complete pandemonium, and the berserking, heartless undead all came rushing to the Chen Manor when they heard her call.

The walking corpses came pouring like a flood, shrieking and roaring like crashing waves dying in the howling winds. The blood-curdling cries were like the screams of a battlefield, and in an instant, all could hear them clearly, inside and outside the barrier.

Outside the barrier, the cultivators were shaken.

Inside, Chu Wanning battled all alone.

There was only his silhouette, his lone soul, a streak of white standing before Luo Xianxian. She was laughing in glee, madness and wretchedness filling the depths of her eyes. But a gentleman was like a bamboo, and he remained unfazed in the face of hundreds of ghosts. Only his brows were furrowed deeply,

a layer of gloom shadowing over his eyes.

"Luo Xianxian, do you still remember what you once told me?"

"Hm?" She didn't seem to expect he'd ask this, and was slightly taken aback.

In her daze, Chu Wanning had already flapped open his sleeves and leapt onto the top of the courtyard of the Chen Manor. His silk boots, untainted and pristine, landed upon the edge of the black sandalwood eaves.

"You once told me you never wanted to become a vicious ghost, and you also said you didn't want to hurt anyone."

As his voice dropped, winds from all around picked up.

Chu Wanning raised his gaze and looked over, and saw a heavy black troop of corpses pouring in from every direction. He knitted his brows slightly and suddenly swung an expansive sleeve, the haunting winds whipping the robes of this living soul.

Between his hands, there was suddenly a golden glow.

"Please excuse my offense."

All of a sudden, thousands of willow vines pulled out from the ground!!

Blood flowed all over Butterfly Town, dead corpses covered the ground, and in an instant, millions of gashes opened, thick and strong roots of willow trees broke through the earth one after the other! They glowed a blinding gold,

appearing like millions of chains, and bound every fleeing corpse!

Chu Wanning's eyes were closed, his long hair a whipping mess before a face as cold as melting snow in a stream.

He called darkly, "Tianwen, Ten Thousand Coffins."

Then his eyes flashed open, blazing like lightning.

Those rows upon rows of golden drooping willows suddenly flashed brilliantly, and countless branches started sprouting out and growing in dense numbers, trapping those walking corpses that were still roaring and struggling.

Then right after, a gap cracked open in every willow tree, and as the hole widened, the trees dragged all the dead into the gaping hole before brutally sealing them within.

Ten Thousand Coffins.   The largest drooping willow emerged from the courtyard of the Chen's household, and fast like the sharpest arrow, it chased after the dodging Luo Xianxian.

However, that Luo Xianxian had a body made from the Heartpluck Willow herself; Heartpluck Willow, Tianwen, Jiangui, they were all born of the same body, all seeds Gouchen-shanggong had brought to the mortal realm from the heavens, and so the Ten Thousand Coffins of Tianwen couldn't immediately catch up to the small and swift shadow of Luo Xianxian.   Her vividly red robes, embroidered with a golden phoenix, rolled in the winds like waves as the giant willow followed after her, pulling taller and taller, breaking through the barrier and gunning straight for the skies.

Outside the barrier, the entire crowd was shocked into silence by this skyshattering tree; there were some with weaker spiritual powers who already couldn't hang on, their legs going weak by the Zongshi's oppressive presence,

and they fell to their knees soundly.

The willow tree that sprouted with the spirit of Tianwen grew taller and taller,

almost to the point where it could reach the moon. Chu Wanning had unleashed his spiritual powers to a point he never had before; there were already cultivators around Butterfly Town whose eyes were bloodshot, and even Nangong Si, with his cultivation, was having difficulties breathing, his chest tight and his heart beating rapidly.

Nangong Si gritted his teeth. "A character like this exists at Sisheng Peak?

Yuheng Elder?"

Next to him, Li Wuxin was calm; he was the head of a sect after all, so he could still hang on. "Nangong-gongzi, this man is Chu Wanning, I'm telling you!"

"WHAT?!"

Under such heavy oppression, Nangong Si was dumbstruck, letting out an "ugh" as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"It's Chu... Zongshi?"

"Young Master, please don't speak anymore."

Seeing him hurt, Ye Wangxi raised his hand and pressed on two meridian points on Nangong Si's body, helping him circulate his spiritual powers. Yet unexpectedly, Nangong Si wasn't grateful in the slightest, and roughly pushed him away, wiping hatefully at the blood on his lips, "Don't touch me."

"…"

"Ye-gongzi, allow me." Song Qiutong was a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast so she wasn't greatly affected. She came forward gracefully, her pair of eyes delicate and scared as she gazed at Ye Wangxi, nominating herself in a small voice.   However, Ye Wangxi didn't seem to be as friendly as he was when they first met, and actually ignored her.

Having received the cold shoulder, Song Qiutong turned her head to gaze at Nangong Si with her watery eyes. Nangong Si's attitude towards her had become much better since the beginning, but he also declined. "Your help isn't needed. I was just shocked by someone I haven't seen in many years. I'm not that weak, if you have the free time, go help other people."

Over on this side, Mo Ran didn't notice at all the things that were happening between Song Qiutong and the two gongzi of Rufeng.

He'd dropped next to Chu Wanning's empty body, lifting his head to watch Chu Wanning's living soul engaged in the heat of battle with Luo Xianxian. Then he looked at that band of corpses temporarily sealed by thousands of willow trees, his heart and mind both alarmed and nervous.

It must be known that to use a spell like this, even under normal circumstances it'd exhaust spiritual powers greatly. Never mind that Chu Wanning's soul was currently out of body?

Just how unpredictably strong was this man's ability…

Before he could finish his thought, there was a sudden splitting cry.

The Heartpluck Willow couldn't defeat Tianwen after all, and beneath the lonely moon, Luo Xianxian was bound by the willow vine, branches and leaves sprouting so fast she was swallowed rapidly. That gigantic, sky-reaching tree enveloped her in its gap before that ancient willow that had crossed the clouds finally, slowly, shrank down towards the ground, gradually descending below,

until it finally stood equal once more with the other ancient great trees.

At this point the barrier had been completely shattered, however, since the Ten Thousand Coffins formed by Tianwen were still keeping all the walking corpses hostage, there was no immediate danger.

Xue Zhengyong didn't dare to relax, and ordered the rest of the people of Sisheng Peak to stand guard before every willow tree just in case. As for the others, they all followed the flow and dashed straight for the courtyard of the Chen Manor. Since the situation was dire, Mo Ran didn't think too much as he immediately swept up Chu Wanning's cold body and rushed over too.

When the group arrived, the ancient willow chaining Luo Xianxian had already transformed into a solid coffin. She lay within, her expression sometimes savage, sometimes sad, her eyes sometimes vicious, sometimes aggrieved.

From her lips, two separate voices continued to switch between one another,

one full of madness as it shouted, "WHY DO YOU OBSTRUCT ME!! WHY OBSTRUCT ME! YOU ALL DESERVE DEATH! ALL OF YOU!!"

The other was soft and helpless. "Yanluo-gege, is it you... is it you who's come? Please I beg you... Save me... I don't want to hurt people... Please..."

Those two voices changed between each other, and after a long while, dead silence fell within the coffin.

At this point, the spiritual power of Chu Wanning's living soul was already at its limit, barely holding on. Yet, relying on his will alone, he pressed his fingers between the brows of the girl inside the coffin.

"Who are you?"

The closed eyes of the female ghost slowly opened, and it was still vivid red within.

Li Wuxin blurted, "Not good!!"

Just as he was about to charge forward to take the maiden's life, Chu Wanning pointed into the air and a strike of lightning dropped down, blocking his way.

"CHU WANNING, YOU——!"

Chu Wanning ignored him, and only stared at the delicate girl who slowly sat up from within the coffin.

She opened her blood red eyes, yet there was not a trace of killing intent in them, instead they were full of panic and loss as she answered softly, "I am Luo Xianxian."

When Chu Wanning heard her answer, he finally breathed in relief, dropping his lashes as his living soul dispersed.

A moment later, the man in Mo Ran's arms softly twitched, and Mo Ran quickly put him down, letting him lean against a colonnade on the side. He bent one knee to the ground, kneeling to be at his level and spoke, "Shizun, you're back?"

Chu Wanning's phoenix eyes were dazed, and it took a moment before they slowly focused.

He glanced at Mo Ran. He'd exhausted too much of his spiritual powers and was a man with a weak spiritual core, and so he appeared somewhat weak, the colours of his face no better than when his soul had been out of his body, still equally pale.

"En..." Chu Wanning responded, and leaned where he was for a moment before slowly rising to his feet using the colonnade as support.

With slow steps he came before Luo Xianxian, and dropped his eyes to gaze at her.

Luo Xianxian opened her tiny mouth a little, watching him in shock. "Yanluogege... Why am I here? W-what happened?"

"Other things aside." While Chu Wanning was physically weak, his eyes were still bright and sharp, and he cut straight to the subject. "Tell me, who was the one who fabricated your body? This is an important matter, do you remember?"

"I..."

Chu Wanning waited, but because of nervousness, his nails dug into the stone colonnade, nearly to the point of breaking.

"It's not very clear, but there are some impressions..." Luo Xianxian mumbled. "It was a man, he... he..."

Next to them, Xue Meng was also getting impatient. "Think harder!"

Luo Xianxian strenuously tried to recall her memories. "At the time,

everything was in a daze, I really didn't see his face clearly, but I heard his voice,

he's got a bit of a northern accent... It seems to be... it seems to be..."

"AH!!" She suddenly exclaimed, terror filling her face. "I remember now! It's him! IT'S HIM!!! THE CLEMENTINES!! THE CLEMENTINE THIEF!!!"

"What clementines, what nonsense..." Xue Meng grumbled.

However, Chu Wanning instantly understood—— What she meant was that madman who chopped off the clementine tree she bumped into when she was young!

There was a man from Linyi whose heart died at twenty.

Who was it…

Linyi, it couldn't be Rufeng Sect, could it?

Was it…

Yet right then, a sharp crash of thunder suddenly exploded in the sky, and the Zhenlong Chess Formation that enveloped the entire sky above Butterfly Town flashed red.

"Not good!" Xue Zhengyong instantly shouted. "Keep watch on the Ten Thousand Coffins at your sides!! The formation creator has probably noticed by now, something's gonna happen!!!" Right at that instant, sand flew and debris rolled, smoke and dust began to rise from all around.

All the cultivators were on high alert, their backs against one another, holding their long swords before them.

Chu Wanning's eyes darkened, and he turned to Luo Xianxian. "Get up!

There's a white piece from that man left in your body, don't be controlled by him any longer, I'll help you purge it. Once the white piece falls, you must leave immediately. Go to the Underworld and return to the cycle of reincarnation, you must not linger in the mortal realm!" Chu Wanning stopped. There was a sudden chill that rushed to his head,

sparking in a flash. His gut instincts sensed danger, and he shouted to Luo Xianxian, "Leave, quickly!" But it was too late.

"AH!!!!" There was a sharp scream.

From the heart of the Zhenlong Chess Formation in the sky above came a blood red light, and it struck like lightning right onto the willow vine-made body of Luo Xianxian.

RUMBLE!

Firelight roared to the skies!

"Luo Xianxian!" The silhouette of the girl quickly contorted in the sea of fire, and in a split second, a wisp of a fragrant soul rose to the skies, mixing together with the thick fumes that stank of burning.

The soul mingled with the fumes, the fumes and the soul forming one entity.

Where Luo Xianxian once stood, there was suddenly a stream of jade-green light that shot toward the heavens.

"A spiritual essence of the wood element?!" In an instant, all blood left Chu Wanning's face, and his eyes turned extremely hostile. He'd been thinking about this wrong——He'd been thinking about this whole thing the wrong way!! Whilst alive, Luo Xianxian must've been someone who possessed great wood-elemental spiritual energy. The culprit behind the scenes wasn't trying to raise a wood element Heartpluck Willow with Metal Fire Water and Earth, but instead he was waiting for enough resentment to gather to form that crash of thunder, have it strike upon Luo Xianxian's body and have her resentful spirit become the temporary source for the Heartpluck Willow!

Metal Wood Water Fire Earth, all five spirits were now complete.

He could now do whatever he wanted to…

Chu Wanning lifted his head to look to the sky. Everyone was looking at the sky. Everything stopped; in that moment it was terrifyingly quiet.

Then, all of a sudden.

The earth started to quake!!

It was practically the same as what they had once seen in the ancient city of Lin'an, in the illusion at Peach Blossoms Springs.

Above Butterfly Town, a gigantic purplish black rift ripped open across the skies. Inside, it seemed to hold endless, bloody chaos, death, pestilence, and hatred, like the eye of the devil himself as it slowly opened.

Li Wuxin pointed at that rift and yelled with a trembling voice, "The Infinite Hells— The barrier to the Infinite Hells— It's— it's broken!!!!" "The heavenly dome above Butterfly Town has been torn, the door to the Ghost Realm is open!!"