Chapter 0028: Breaking into the Warrior Realm

Now, Yang Wu had made the skin-clad skeleton angry.

He sensed the powerful pressure bear down on him again, bowing him over. He looked like he might snap in half.

“How dare you try to bargain with me?” hissed the creature, his sharp glare boring into the young man.

Yang Wu stood his ground. “In here, my survival depends on you. If I don’t demand a few conditions, you’ll kill me the moment I save you. If that’s the case, you might as well kill me now. See if anyone will help you destroy the ritual array then.”

He had caught the enemy by his Achilles’ heel. No one but a King could endure this endless bloody aura, yet if a King approached the altar, this skeleton would not stand a chance with his current strength. The situation was a paradox.

“I can’t believe that I, a King, am reduced to bargaining with an insignificant Foot Soldier. How repulsive!” The skin-clad skeleton grumbled, indignant. After a pause, he let out a baleful howl, “Damn you, Evil Boy King. How dare you imprisoned me here for two hundred years! I’ll kill you once I’m free!”

Of course, Yang Wu had no idea what the skeleton was talking about, but the pressure he faced was becoming too much to bear. Simultaneously, he circulated the Supreme Nine Profound Art and slid into the Dragon Turtle Water Suppression Stance, attracting a massive amount of water from the earthly spirit spring through the soles of his feet. Suddenly, his twelve major meridians and minor meridian, as well as the thirty open acupoints, resonated.

Whoosh Whoosh!

It sounded like whistling arrows flew through his meridians while cyclones spun at his acupoints. Soon, the sounds combined, creating something he had never heard. The vibration grew even more intense as if his body were undergoing an incredible transformation.

As the meridians and acupoints rang, Yang Wu’s body sucked in a large amount of the bloody aura. A stream of the unique energy from below the altar also began to merge with the Supreme Nine Profound Art, hastening its circulation. This heightened the peach pit dantian’s ability to absorb the energy, and as a result, he absorbed a small portion of the concentrated bloody aura from the altar as well.

The scene astonished the skin-clad skeleton.

“This young man has a technique to consume the bloody aura? Don’t tell me he’s an inheritor from the Blood Fiend Sect?” The skin-clad skeleton’s knowledge was expansive, and he easily understood Yang Wu’s situation at a glance. It only emboldened his hopes of escape.

The world had a number of techniques, but finding one that could consume and refine this aura would be difficult, baring a few extremely rare evil arts. The Blood Fiend Sect was a nation-nurturing faction but not one of the Xia Dynasty. It was also located relatively far away. It was one of the six sects, equally as famous as Mount Emei, located on the Xia Dynasty’s borders.

Yang Wu was hardly aware of the Blood Fiend Sect, though. The Supreme Nine Profound Art and his peach pit dantian were the only reasons he withstood the bloody aura around him. If not for these gifts, it would have killed him by now.

At this moment, he felt as if he stood at the top of the world.

He had not expected to step into the Warrior Realm, which he had never previously reached, in his current predicament. The energy raging within him felt truly majestic. His newly-open minor meridian functioned as a link between his twelve major meridians and his acupoints, accelerating the circulating Profound Energy within and multiplying his manifested power.

It felt as if this Profound Energy could burst out of him whenever he willed it, allowing him to shield his body in energy. It was another characteristic of a Warrior.

The skeleton withdrew the pressure, unhappy that he had only assisted this young man’s breakthrough into the Warrior Realm. The man before you would likely have needed some more time to fine-tune his cultivation before taking this critical step if left unaided.

After a while, Yang Wu looked up, locked eyes with the skeleton, and smiled. “Thank you for your help, Senior!” he said respectfully, offering a cupped-fist salute.

He knew the skeleton was no friend and would kill him if possible, but he was too pleased with his latest achievement to care.

“Hmph, even after that breakthrough, you’re still only a Warrior. Ending you would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken for dinner!” the skin-clad skeleton commented with a snort, annoyed.

“You’re not wrong, but no one would help set you free if I died.” Yang Wu confidently reminded the being. Without waiting for a reply, he continued, “My three conditions aren’t too demanding, actually. First, you must promise not to kill me after I set you free. Second, you have to offer me your protection for a time, and third, set Uncle Wan free. You don’t think these conditions will be too hard to meet, do you?”

“Are you trying to rip me off? I can agree to the first and third conditions, but the second is impossible!” the skeleton hissed in answer.

“Why not?” Yang Wu was not inclined to give up.

“You’re not worthy!” the skin-clad skeleton mocked.

Hurt, the young man silently wailed, I’m a prim and proper viscount! In what way am I unworthy?

Of course, he did not say that aloud. He would not dare risk his life further by complaining to his enemy.

“Then, we shall die together! After all, I’m just a prisoner here. My death is no big loss!” Yang Wu tried to put up a brave front.

The skeleton’s glare sharpened, and he refused to waste more time on this young man. Opening his mouth, he proposed, “I will agree to your first and third terms. However, rather than meeting your second condition, I’ll teach you a King Class technique.”

“We’ve got a deal!” Yang Wu agreed without a second thought.

He had hoped to secure a free bodyguard to protect him, allowing him to cultivate in peace. Unfortunately, he could not force the skeleton’s hand.

But acquiring a King Class technique was not a bad bargain.

Truthfully, King Class techniques were few and far between in the empire. Only powerful factions that support nations like Mount Emei possessed such rare treasures. Sadly, no average man was allowed entrance to a celestial place like Mount Emei.

Besides, no matter how he looked at it, this skeleton was a formidable force, one that could easily take down a top cultivator like Wan Tianlong. Yang Wu had no reason to doubt his enemy’s status as a King or its ability to gift a King Class technique.

“Why aren’t you destroying the ritual array since we’ve now reached an agreement” the skin-clad skeleton complained.

Yang Wu explained, “You need to release Uncle Wan first, or he’ll die here, voiding our agreement.”

The skeleton said nothing, only snorted as he sent some energy into the dying man, shoving him away from the bloody altar.

As the poor man tumbled away, Yang Wu shouted instructions, “Big Sister Lanxin, get Uncle Wan out of here! I still have something I need to take care of. Do not let anyone close to this place. Their lives will be in danger. Keep this in mind, please!”

From beyond the bloody altar, Wan Lanxin and Zhang Xiong heard the shout and spotted Wan Tianlong falling from the altar. The two of them rushed forward to catch him.

“Dad!”

“Warden!”

The two captains shouted simultaneously.

Seeing the warden alive, relief flashed across their faces. The woman immediately retrieved a healing pill, feeding it to her father.

“Uncle Zhang, get my father to the infirmary now!” Wan Lanxin barked at Zhang Xiong.

“Come with us, Young Miss. Your little brother told us to leave together.”

“No, I’m going to wait for him!” The woman was resolved to stay.

“Then … I’m so sorry!” Zhang Xiong abruptly reached out, striking the nape of her neck and knocking the unsuspecting woman out cold. He carried both her and her father out of the pit. Before leaving, he yelled back to Yang Wu. “Hang in there, young man! If anything is to happen to you, I’ll burn paper money in your honor.”

[TL Note: The Chinese burn paper money, also known as hell notes, to the dead and deities as an offering. These paper money are just paper, and modern ones have some designs printed on them. They believe that the paper money would turn into real hell money for the person they are offering it to. There is a folklore that explains why this culture developed. There was a couple who earned a living by selling paper. However, business was not very good. So the wife came up with an idea. She told her husband to play dead. Then, she set a grand funeral and burned the paper that they made, to commemorate her “dead” husband’s occupation, attracting a lot of attention. Then, her husband came back to life, claiming that the king of hell let him return because his family sent him enough money to pay for all his sins. When questioned where the money came from, he said that it was the paper his wife burned, that they turned into money in hell.]

This man was indeed one of action. Without further delay, he dragged the father-daughter pair out of the dangerous pit.

Inside the bloody altar, Yang Wu got to work, breaking down the ritual array.

The art of forming ritual arrays was considered a rare skill, which not many could comprehend. This cumbersome and mysterious art form not only required a lot of effort and patience to learn, but more importantly, it demanded outstanding talent. Without that, great achievements in this field would be nearly unreachable for a cultivator within a single lifetime.

Having never encountered a ritual array, Yang Wu did not understand the intricacies of this underground ritual array. He could only rely on the skeleton’s instructions. At each specified location, he used the Tiger Feng Saber to break the nodes, slowly unraveling the ritual array.

However, the skin-clad skeleton did not warn him about the node’s defensive energy. Once a node was disturbed, this defensive energy launched a counterattack. As Yang Wu dug about sixty-six centimeters into the first node, the saber struck the defensive energy, throwing him back.

Pfft!

The weapon fell off from his hand and fresh blood spurted from between his lips. The impact had felt like an expert’s punch, sending him flying over two meters away. His bones felt as if they were about to snap.

“Useless bump!” the skeleton chided.

Lying pathetically on the ground, Yang Wu moaned, “You’re welcome to break the ritual array yourself, Senior.”

“I will, then!” The other man responded before the bloody aura coalesced and curled around Yang Wu’s body.

The aura began to control his movements, forcing him to take up the saber again and slash at the node.

“No!” Yang Wu screamed, at the skeleton’s mercy. With no power to resist, he was thrown, again and again, helpless against the defensive energy.

Smash!

Seemingly possessed by the King, the strength he used to wield the saber multiplied drastically. After a heavy strike, the node exploded, and the saber left a deep slash where it had hit. The impact lacerated Yang Wu’s arms, blood flowing freely. He felt as if he had been maimed.

“Argh!”

The pain cut through the poor man as he wailed in agony. But that did not deter the skeleton. Controlling Yang Wu’s body, the creature walked him to the next ritual array node and struck hard.

The young man had become a mere puppet, suffering at another’s hands!