Chapter 3: Four Perils of Star State
Looking at the overjoyed Gu Jinlai, the Star State Four Fierce exchanged glances, their expressions growing increasingly solemn.
"Something's not right."
The second among them said, "Do you think there's a possibility that the Ancient Demon voluntarily asked to be transferred to Changjun City, then feigned deviation to appear weak, when in fact he was feigning weakness to draw out his nemesis—Lin Xiao, the Deputy Sect Master of the Purgatory Demon Sect?"
"His deviation is no facade. The Sect Leader of Zhengyi Dao visited the residence of the Ancient Demon and replayed the scene using the Mystical Mirror Technique. He had indeed suffered a great loss of power. Right now, he's at best in the Hugging Pill Realm, unable even to exert the full strength of the Hugging Pill. We four have joined forces for many years, with tacit coordination. Even if we face someone in the Hugging Pill Realm, we can still retreat unharmed. What is there to fear?"
The third one said.
"Stay alert. If it's not feasible, saving our lives is the priority!"
The lead elder said.
The four were extremely decisive.
Act swiftly when necessary!
"Four Evil Formation! Rise!"
The four of them shouted lowly, acting in unison to form a battle formation.
And as they acted, they exerted their full strength.
These four, possessing Devil bloodlines, seemed to transform into four Fierce Beasts as they struck. Horrifying and fierce, they surged from four directions towards Gu Jinlai.
Qi Refining to Gang! Gang Qi takes form!
Before they arrived, the fierce beasts formed from Gang Qi were already roaring and pouncing down!
Gang Qi, fearsome in its lethality.
In Daqian World, thousands of elites can indeed kill those in the True Qi Realm, but facing the invincible Sword Gang and Knife Gang, they would be overwhelmingly broken through.
A peak Gang Qi Realm full-force attack could tear a path of blood over ten meters long.
Now, four Circulators of Gang from four directions surged forth, and any of the manifested beasts could shatter boulders weighing tens of tons.
Unfortunately...
Just as Gu Jinlai had said, better late than lucky.
Having fully grasped the mysteries of the Red Lotus Sword Qi, he needed opponents to test the results.
As the four beasts formed from Gang Qi pounced, he swung his treasure sword, and at its center, a lotus made of red sword light seemed to bloom, its numerous petals of sword qi bursting forth, following a strange frequency to slice at the four beasts formed of Gang Qi.
"Buzz, buzz!"
In a flurry of almost instantaneous vibration, the four beasts of Gang Qi were shattered inch by inch.
"Such swordsmanship! Not good! The old demon is cunning!"
With one strike, depth and shallowness were immediately apparent.
Gu Jinlai, possessing such swordsmanship and in the Hugging Pill Realm, was considered a formidable figure.
"We were careless! Retreat!"
"Withdraw!"
The Star State Four Fierce acted decisively!
"Withdraw!?"
Gu Jinlai fell silent for a moment.
The next moment, a fierce killing intent exploded from him, like a volcano that blasted out, carrying endless fierce flames, soaring directly to Yunxiao.
"Withdraw!? When hunting me you were like four mad dogs, biting non-stop, and now, after catching up with me, you want to retreat!?"
"Clang!"
The sword broke the heavens.
A point of cold light, like a star tearing through the night sky, with a chilling brilliant glow, stabbed through like lightning.
"Who allowed you to retreat!?"
Before they arrived, the Sword Gang had already struck.
Being a Circulator of Gang in Daqian World definitely qualified one as an expert.
If wearing mystical armor to charge into battle, a single rider could break through a thousand.
But to reach Hugging Pill is the extreme many cultivators yearn for.
Gu Jinlai's Sword Gang howled, its cold murderous intent causing the Star State Four Fierce's hair to stand on end.
The four took a deep breath, their True Qi circulating and boiling, vibrating at a special frequency!
"Thousand Swings!"
"Buzz, buzz!"
As the True Qi of the four vibrated, Gu Jinlai felt his own Qi was somewhat interfered with, causing slight chaos in his sword technique, revealing a flaw that nearly allowed the four to break through his lightning-fast strike.
"A dying struggle!"
However, his Red Lotus Sword Qi, having been fully realized through two Sudden Enlightenments, was as if repeatedly forged, changing at will.
The moment his True Qi was disrupted, he immediately used the momentum to his advantage, transforming it into even colder sword qi, like turning into threads of blood, slicing out along the sharp sword in his hand!
Qi Guan Changhong!
"Careful!"
"Retreat!"
The first and second leaders of the Star State Four Fierce shouted simultaneously as their battle formation was disrupted by these blood-red sword qi strikes.
"Let's see how long you can hide!"
Gu Jinlai roared, his tattered clothing fluttering, his sword whistling like a dragon, True Qi sweeping across, killing intent filling all directions.
His sword swiftly turned, in the moment their formation broke, viciously sweeping towards the third elder who was closest to him.
"Third brother!"
"Bang!"
Cold light reflected the frost, swift as a shooting star.
The third was directly consumed by the sword light, torn to shreds.
"Gu Jinlai!"
The leader of the Star State Four Fierce glared fiercely.
"Die!"
After killing one, Gu Jinlai's sword turned again, like a shooting star piercing the moon, charging at the second elder.
Facing Gu Jinlai's swift-as-a-meteor strike, this Gang Condensation powerhouse took a deep breath, and in the instant the strike was about to land, he let out a low roar.
"Roar!"
True Qi violently shook!
Secret Skill: Tiger Roar Thunder Sound!
The soundwaves exploded, agitating the True Qi within Gu Jinlai's body.
"Return my third brother's life!"
Seizing this opportunity, the other two fiercely attacked.
Among them, the leader of the Star State Four Fierce circulated Gang Qi in his arm, transforming it into the claw of a fierce beast, and with a flash of lightning, he cut in, fiercely swinging at the treasure sword that Gu Jinlai stabbed towards him!
"Clang!"
The treasure sword wailed!
The treasure sword in Gu Jinlai's hand seemed to have been struck by a giant hammer swung 360 degrees, emitting a sound as loud as a great bell, splitting his tiger's mouth, and vibrating out of his grip.
No!
As the sword vibrated out of his hand, he quickly used the force of the swing to propel it forward, instantly piercing through the head of the second member of the Star State Four Fierce.
"Second brother!"
"Stop!"
Blood spattered, accompanied by the mournful cries of the other two.
Without his sword, Gu Jinlai's movements were not a bit slower, his eyes emitting a cold light, locking onto the fourth member, his body angled as he condensed True Qi in a split second during his murderous charge, transforming Qi into Gang, Gang Condensation into a sword, like a supreme divine weapon that ferociously unsheathed, carrying an irresistible sharpness, tearing through the void!
"Bang!"
The head of the fourth member exploded like a watermelon hit by a sniper bullet, scattering everywhere.
"Swoosh!"
Only after the fourth member was instantly killed did the piercing sword squeal caused by the Sword Gang friction with air explode in the less than ten-meter space between them, creating ripples.
"No…"
In the blink of an eye, only one of the Star State Four Fierce remained.
The sudden attack finally sobered the only remaining leader, his eyes filled with mixed terror.
Having killed three people, Gu Jinlai's ferocity surged as he was covered in blood.
"You liked to laugh loudly, didn't you? Laugh for me, laugh out loud for me!"
These past ten or so days...
In the month or so since he had crossed over, he had lived under too much repression, and it was a miracle he had not gone mad.
Now, facing these sin-laden people, he held nothing back, unleashing his killing moves, and all his negative emotions poured out without restraint.
Seeing the somewhat frenzied Gu Jinlai, the leader of the Star State Four Fierce shuddered and dared not hesitate any longer, turning around and running frantically!
"The devil is too crafty!"
"You dare to run!?"
Gu Jinlai burst out with killing intent, his True Qi boiling as his figure, resembling a blood cloud, soared in pursuit, travelling ten meters with every light step.
As he swept over the ground, he scooped up the treasure sword that had killed the second brother.
A sword in hand, a blood-red lotus seemed to bloom and spin rapidly behind him in the void, and in an instant, thirteen Sword Qi bursts were shot out towards the leader of the Star State Four Fierce, howling through the air.
Where the sword light passed, trees snapped, and grass was sent flying.
Each streak of Sword Qi left sword marks several meters long on the ground.
This was the Hugging Pill Realm!
If the Gang Condensation could only break through a thousand-man army, allowing one to escape, the Hugging Pill, given time to recover True Qi, could annihilate a thousand-man army.
Under this relentless barrage of Sword Qi, the leader of the Star State Four Fierce could not escape his fate.
First, a streak of Sword Qi grazed his waist.
Even though he protected his body with True Qi at the first moment, his figure staggered, and immediately another streak of Sword Qi penetrated his thigh, followed closely by another through his chest, then another through his throat, and another through his head...
"I…"
As he wildly ran, he surged forward for a moment due to inertia, but ultimately fell to the ground, his body torn apart and dismembered by the successive Sword Qi, becoming chunks of flesh.
...
The pursuing Gu Jinlai looked at the mutilated corpse of the leader of the Four Fierce, continuing forward for a moment due to inertia, then slowly stopped.
He distinctly felt his own weakness.
To ensure the enemy did not escape, he had fully unleashed his inner core, causing his condition to become somewhat unstable.
This world was not one where a higher realm meant one could easily crush dozens or hundreds of lower realms. In the Immortal Cultivation World without cultivating movement techniques, chasing the fleeing leader of the Star State Four Fierce meant he had to use powerful techniques, naturally resulting in tremendous exhaustion.
"I survived!"
Gu Jinlai looked at the barely recognizable corpse and muttered.
The Star State Four Fierce who wanted to kill him were dead.
He had survived.
"When people are killed, they die."
Gu Jinlai looked up, watching the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves, his eyes unfocused.
His thoughts drifted to the experiences of the past month.
He wanted to turn away from evil and do good, facing those who tested him, bearing it, making concessions, showing mercy to those from the Zhengyi Dao during those ten days of being hunted.
But it was useless, instead fostering their arrogance, making them even more aggressive.
Thinking this, he slumped to the ground, an expert of the Hugging Pill Realm shaking all over, his hands and feet cold.
Is there any hope for this world?
Hell is empty, and the devils are here!
How was he supposed to live to satisfy those who hunted him?
Looking at the battered body of the leader of the Star State Four Fierce and his hands covered in blood...
He felt lost.
This Immortal Cultivation world was filled with the law of the jungle, when would a law-abiding, good-hearted person from Blue Star find peace?
After a while, Gu Jinlai calmed down from the intense emotional turmoil.
Having been hunted for so long, he understood clearly.
Weakness would not earn any sympathy; it would only lead to a quicker death.
He was Gu Jinlai.
One of the Ten Great Demon Sects, a Purgatory Demon Sect Elder, the notorious devil Gu Jinlai!
The sunlight, blocked by dark clouds, cast a shadow over him.
"You claim to eliminate devils and uphold justice, 'righteous' in nature, I explain, and you don't listen…"
Gu Jinlai stood up from the ground, shaking off the grass from his body.
"Then my plea for survival and taking lives is equally righteous and just."