Chapter 154 – Fate Comes And Goes

“Why?”

Inside Gu Suihan’s consciousness, the created personality did not start roaring at the top of his lungs as most people would, and he didn’t cry out in despair either. He asked this question in a very calm and emotionless voice.

“Because…you’re no longer of value to me.” The voice of the creator came from that long and deep crack. His voice was as cold as winter winds, as cutting as knives. The complicated runes that overlapped each other like a long chain suddenly gave off a bright light and creaked loudly like they couldn’t take the pressure from within.

One rune gave way, then another, then the innumerable runes burst from the intense pressure, turning into gold sparkles that were absorbed entirely by that crack.

The entire consciousness was filled with bright light, and a tiny infant as fair as ivory slowly appeared in the light.

The two of them looked at each other quietly, like they were anybody on the street. But while the created had a curious look in his eye, the creator only had indifference.

“Will I die?” The created finally broke the silence, his voice filled with indignation and sadness.

The creator calmly explained what he intended to do with his creation, “No. You will disappear completely.”

“You…you’re not even…going to consider…merging us? Perhaps?” the created said in a trembling voice as a pleading look crept into his eyes.

“Would a dragon choose to merge itself with an ant? You were made by me in the first place, and you’ve been gaining an awareness of yourself recently, so it’s fair to say that you’re actually another person separate from me. But we were supposed to be one and the same. I could be greedy and absorb you for that insignificant amount of energy you have, but that wouldn’t be worth it,” said the creator emotionlessly. His spiritual sense was like a giant wave that gushed toward his creation from all sides.

“What…what is the Way?” the created suddenly asked as he looked at the creator with a hopeful look on his face.

“The Way…is a collection of rules.”

“What…is the Great Way?”

“The Great Way…is alive,” said the creator. There was a slight falter in his voice.

“What…is the Way of Heaven?”

“The Way of Heaven is…the will of the world. It’s not alive!”

The created had a calm and satisfied look as he heard these answers, happy that the creator could answer them.

He did not struggle like crazy and suddenly gave off some amazing aura to fight back like some of those novel MCs.

After all, that was simply impossible. A cultivator at the Divine Soul stage would win even if he were severely injured. An ordinary person was still like an ant to him. It was impossible for such a lowly person to turn the tables or go against the natural order.

A piece of metal, no matter how badly rusted or eaten away, would still be able to smash a piece of glass. This was an irrefutable fact, and it couldn’t be changed.

Boom! The inside of Gu Suihan’s consciousness shook violently. The created disappeared completely. The creator’s tremendous spiritual sense had wiped him out in his entirety and did not leave even the tiniest trace behind.

“The Great Way…is alive…”

He felt like the last lowly, sad cry the created made just before dying was still ringing inside his head.

“I am Gu Suihan. I have always been!”

His spirit shook slightly as it withdrew his spiritual sense. He had no expression on his face, but his eyes seemed to be lit with countless fireworks. His will immediately took control of the physical body without encountering any resistance.

“If my guess is correct, the Seven Kill Sect is an organization sent by the Qin kingdom to oversee the Ethereal Court and the other sects. That would explain why the techniques taught in the Seven Kill Sect are such a mess. They have so many techniques and so many types, yet none of them seem to come from a particular place or are compulsory to teach.”

“In that case, it makes sense for the Ethereal Court and the other sects to join hands and try to drive the Seven Kill Sect out. But why did they decide to send their middle-level disciples into the secret realm to die on the pretext of fighting to get on the list of disciples to head for the Upper World?”

“Qingming’s domain was supposedly discovered a few hundred years ago. The cultivators of this world aren’t that silly. They wouldn’t keep sending people into the secret realm just to collect a bunch of useless herbs, right?”

“Wait, the Huangquan Evil Ghost!” Gu Suihan’s eyes suddenly lit up as an enlightening thought struck him. “Perhaps it’s possible that Qingming had taken the Huangquan Evil Ghost with him and angered the Qin kingdom. That would explain why Qingming was severely injured and forced to go into a deep sleep. After all, no matter how formidable a Divine Soul cultivator is, he couldn’t possibly fight against an empire that stretches across hundreds of worlds.”

“Let’s push this hypothesis a bit further. If everything I’ve guessed so far is correct, then does that mean that…these sects happened to discover traces left behind by Qingming, and they’re hoping to use their killing of Qingming in exchange for something from the Qin kingdom? If that’s the case, then sending all those disciples into the secret realm would just be testing how much more strength Qingming still has. No wonder Qingming’s spirit was so weak after he woke up.”

“Is that…the sad part about being a bottom feeder?”

Gu Suihan thought about Li Xiaoyao and the rest, then smiled faintly. “Shuang’er must be part of this plan. This girl had a Divine Soul cultivator inside her. If anything happened to her inside the secret realm, this Divine Soul cultivator would get to the bottom of it, and he…he might even descend upon this world. If that happened, then no matter how scheming Qingming was, he wouldn’t have been able to escape from an unhurt Divine Soul Cultivator coming to kill him.

“Once that happened, the Youthful Clarity Sect and the others would just remove the soul from inside Shuang’er and use that to exchange for the reward for killing Qingming. That’s…that’s a perfect plan.”

There was a red glow spinning faintly within Gu Suihan’s eyes. A thought moved within his mind, and the entire courtyard turned into an icy world. The plants, trees, and pond were instantly covered in a thin layer of ice. The carp fish swimming in the pond struggled as they attempted to shake off the coldness that was slowly spreading through the waters. Unfortunately, no matter how sentient they were, they were merely animals, and they turned into ice sculptures within seconds.

“There are two more people in the house.”

When Gu Suihan snapped out of his daze, he flicked his fingers as he decided to kill them. But just when qi had gathered around his fingertip, and he was about to launch it toward the house, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and withdrew his qi. The shapeless layer covering the entire courtyard slowly disappeared with the wind.

“The two of you…are still useful to me,” murmured Gu Suihan to himself before slowly floating into his room like a ghost, lying down on his bed and shutting his eyes.

“I wonder if that fellow has regained his memories.” The Huangquan Evil Ghost sighed while hiding beneath a swamp, ignoring how awfully stinky it was. Ever since it had gone around destroying all the small sects started by wandering cultivators, in order to distract the major sects, it didn’t dare to do any more damage. The rejection he was facing from this world had grown stronger.

“Damn it! I’ve already put in so much effort, so I’ve got to make sure it works out. That fellow is the only way I can make it back to the Upper World in the shortest time possible so far.”

After it struggled to decide whether to come out of hiding or not, it finally decided to peek out from the swamp. It carefully sent its spiritual sense out to check out the situation. After killing so many people over this period of time, its body had quickly grown to a height of nine feet. The multiple claws it had on its back had become whiter and sharper, gleaming as brightly as metal. But its ugly, nasty face looked really tired.

HUU! A gust of cold wind blew past it, and an aggressive surge of qi came toward it like a sword, not bothering to conceal its presence in any way. The Huangquan Evil Ghost instantly shuddered, withdrew his spiritual sense, and hid in the swamp again.

“Damn it! If I could return to my full strength, I’d have gobbled up these stupid ants by now,” it cursed inwardly as a look of determination appeared in its eyes. It moved its claws as swiftly as the wind, stabbing itself in several places and making itself invisible. It immediately flew several kilometers away from the swamp.

Using a secret technique like this one helped it to escape, but it also came at a cost. Its body had shrunk by half a foot.

“Pfft! Just you wait! I’ll be back for revenge!” The Huangquan Evil Ghost spat a mouthful of blackened blood out and stumbled a few steps forward, which nearly caused it to trip and fall onto the ground. It glared venomously at the quiet forests behind him, then executed another secret technique before disappearing in an instant.

“He’s gone.” Zhou Lingfeng suddenly appeared in the sky above the forest, his piercing gaze as sharp as a sword. The glow around him made soft explosion sounds as it faded.

“Humph! He’s definitely going to strike again. We must not let our guard down.” Zhan Wuchang flew over like a ferocious beast and scanned the forest with a grim look on his face.

“Never mind! If he’s determined to hide himself, then we’ll never be able to find him. The Falling Star Sect tracking technique comes at a high price too. If we ask her to use it once or twice, she’d probably be willing to do so. But if we want her to execute it more times than that, I’m pretty sure she’s not going to agree to it,” said Zhou Yunjian in a low voice. He pulled out a small piece of bamboo with a cloudy white mist swirling around it. The smell of it alone was enough to make one feel energized like your entire body had been cleansed.

“What’s this for?” asked Zhan Wuchang in shock as he clutched his head and realized how effective this item was.

“It’s just a precautionary measure. These underworld creatures have many techniques and spells that could be really powerful, so it’s better to be careful,” said Zhou Yunjian calmly. He shot qi at the bamboo piece, causing it to break apart and send the cloudy mist into the sunny skies, and covered every inch of sky above the forest.

“Nope, nothing. Looks like he’s really gotten away.”

Zhou Yunjian sighed disappointedly. He looked carefully at the words that were slowly appearing on the bamboo piece. He had a slightly nasty look on his face as he kept the piece of bamboo again. Then, he flew into the sky and left without even turning back.

“There’s only one year left to go. Is the exchange still going to happen?” Zhou Lingfeng suddenly asked Zhan Wuchang.

“I have no idea. It’ll depend on what the old man at the Ethereal Court thinks. He’s the leader of the alliance after all, even though he’s of no bloody use at all,” said Zhan Wuchang as he raised an eyebrow and spat disdainfully. After saying that, he left as well.