Blood and flesh dripped from the treetop, where half of the insect’s body was embedded, emitting a chilling chewing sound. Occasionally, droplets fell on the insect fruits below, which quickly writhed to consume them. The scene was both gory and eerily beautiful.
As the Insect Mother ate intently, Nan Yan watched Mu Zhanting seize the opportunity. He slipped into the tree hollow like lightning, causing her a moment of anxiety until she confirmed the Insect Mother Tree hadn’t noticed. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief?
The underground space was vast. Looking up, they saw the roots of the silver trees from above hanging down in intricate patterns. Nan Yan touched her face, marveling at how quickly the tree resin had absorbed into her skin. Despite months of harsh training with Senior Brother Zhenheng, her face now felt as smooth as silk. Curious, she asked, “How were the resin walls built so far from the Insect Mother Tree in such a huge space?”
Cloud Nian shook his head. “This is my first time seeing a thousand-year-old Insect Mother Tree. Even ancient texts don’t describe them in detail.”
As Nan Yan continued to survey the cave, an ominous feeling crept over her. Soon, silver light filtered through cracks in the ceiling as a swarm of silver insects pushed aside concealing bones. They dropped blood-soaked monster corpses into the cave, which the Insect Mother’s tentacles swiftly gathered and began to chew.
Suddenly, something stirred within the pile of monster carcasses. A moment later, a figure wrapped in a blood-soaked beast hide cautiously raised its head. It was a living person, though some special cultivation technique made him appear as lifeless as a corpse to spiritual senses.
Beside her, Cloud Nian sat up abruptly, glaring hatefully at the figure. Nan Yan quickly restrained him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“It’s Hu Rui,” Cloud Nian growled, clenching his fists. “He’s the one who coveted the silver forest and pushed my two fellow disciples out to block the insect swarm!”
Despite his burning desire for vengeance, Cloud Nian dared not reveal even a hint of his presence, knowing Mu Zhanting was still in the spirit well.
Terrified by the Insect Mother Tree, Hu Rui remained motionless for a long time. Once certain he hadn’t been detected, he cautiously looked around. His eyes immediately locked onto the fire-attribute spirit well at the tree’s base, greed flashing in his gaze.
However, he didn’t move immediately. As he scanned the surroundings, he spotted the small, half-person-sized hole Nan Yan’s group had dug to enter.
“Heaven helps me!” Hu Rui rejoiced silently, slowly crawling towards the tree roots from beneath the corpse pile.
“Block the entrance,” Nan Yan instructed, dividing her attention to monitor the Insect Mother Tree. She crept around a pile of rocks just as Hu Rui reached for the tree roots. In one swift motion, she flung her prayer beads around his neck and yanked him back.
“You!” Hu Rui exclaimed in shock. Realizing his attacker was an unarmed woman, his fear quickly turned to anger.
“Use spiritual power, and you’re dead,” Nan Yan warned telepathically.
Hu Rui, having survived this long, knew that using spiritual power would immediately alert the Insect Mother Tree. Yet, with the spirit well so close, he couldn’t bear to give up.
“Fellow cultivator… little Bodhisattva,” Hu Rui pleaded, barely containing his rage, “How about we split the fire-attribute spirit well fifty-fifty?”
Nan Yan eyed him skeptically. “How do I know you won’t deceive me?”
Hu Rui hastily explained, “I’m from the Cloud family of Shen state. We’ve always been on good terms with Mao state. We even met at the Treasure Pavilion, remember? You’re friends with our Young Master, aren’t you?”
Nan Yan feigned contemplation. “True. I’ll trust you this once, but I have a big appetite. A fifty-fifty split won’t do.”
Hu Rui countered, “Then sixty-forty!”
“Seventy-thirty,” Nan Yan insisted.
“Sixty-forty is my final offer!” Hu Rui protested.
Nan Yan shook her head. “No can do. My senior brother divined before I came that a seventy-thirty split would be auspicious.”
Hu Rui’s frustration peaked, but then he realized something was amiss. Listening closely, he heard a strange roar from the spirit well. “You’re stalling! You already have an ally in the spirit well!”
In a flash, Nan Yan channeled the strength she’d honed during her rigorous training. With a fierce expression, she pinned Hu Rui’s head with her foot and tightened the prayer beads, immobilizing him.
“Staying quiet is best for everyone,” she warned.
Hu Rui’s anger turned to desperation when he spotted Cloud Nian moving towards the cave entrance. “So you’re working together,” he snarled. “If I die, we all die!”
“Sister Zhenyuan, be careful! He has a fragment of a celestial treasure!” Cloud Nian’s warning came too late.
Nan Yan saw Hu Rui disregard the risk of alerting the Insect Mother Tree. With a sigh, she unleashed her spiritual power, manifesting a spectral image of Guanyin around her. Simultaneously, Hu Rui threw the supposed celestial treasure fragment.
“Luoshen Scroll!” Hu Rui shouted as he tossed a broken painting scroll. It instantly burst into black flames, transforming into a blurry-faced, graceful woman. With a determined air, she cast out a silk ribbon that spun outward.
Everything the ribbon touched withered. Although Nan Yan managed to block and retreat, the aftershock still struck the Insect Mother Tree’s golden trunk forcefully.
“Roar!!!” Blood rained down like a waterfall as the silver Insect Mother’s enormous body descended through the dense branches, its thousand legs piercing through like a prehistoric monster.
The true battle had finally begun.
Nan Yan glimpsed crimson light surging from the spirit well, sensing Mu Zhanting’s presence drawing nearer. Gritting her teeth, she moved to draw the enraged Insect Mother Tree’s attention away from the well.
“Mountains roar, seas calm, subduing all evil!” Cloud Nian activated his Mountain Roar inkstone, instantly transforming the ink into a mist that formed a solid defensive barrier around Nan Yan. “Be careful!”
“Stay put and guard him. Don’t let that thief escape,” Nan Yan instructed.
Cloud Nian nodded, knowing that demons and ghosts despised Buddhist cultivators most. The Insect Mother would surely target Nan Yan. As he turned, he saw Hu Rui seizing the opportunity to climb the tree, reaching for the translucent insect fruits.
“Hu Rui! How dare you!” Cloud Nian shouted.
Already harboring hatred for Cloud Nian, Hu Rui plucked a fruit and tucked it into his robe. “You rejected Wu state’s invitation. What right do you have to interfere with our fortune? Besides your better aptitude, how are you superior to me? Why did the elders choose you as the Imperial Son?”
As Hu Rui tore off the fruit, the entire golden tree shuddered. The roots coiled at the well’s mouth suddenly tightened, sealing it shut.
“You!” Cloud Nian exclaimed.
Hu Rui glanced at the sealed well, then darted towards the cave entrance, taunting, “Don’t you have a friend down there? Killing me will only waste your time…”
Gritting his teeth, Cloud Nian rushed to the tree roots, preparing a secret technique to break through the Insect Mother Tree’s barrier.
Hu Rui chuckled inwardly, the exit in sight. He planned to use this as leverage to persuade other Imperial Sons to cooperate in excavating the spirit well. Just as he was relishing his scheme, a razor-sharp Buddhist energy slammed into his back, hurling him through the white jade wall and out of the cave.
“I’m not wasting time!” Nan Yan called after him. She hadn’t held back, likely breaking half his bones. However, the Insect Mother was now upon her as expected.
“Roar!”
As the Insect Mother lunged frantically, blood bees buzzed out of Nan Yan’s storage ring. Their demonic communication made the Insect Mother hesitate.
Seeing the Insect Mother’s ferocious expression, Nan Yan doubted it would heed the blood bees’ persuasion. Sure enough, some bees returned, forming a message before her:
“The Insect Mother demands a sacrifice of your companions in exchange for sparing you alone.”
“Tch,” Nan Yan clicked her tongue.
…
The space between mountains and seas was peculiar. Though divided into four realms, anyone watching the Ten Karma Mountain would ultimately arrive at the same place: the Ghost Gate.
Endless dilapidated walls rose above the moonlit sea, silently guarding the millennium-old boundary between the Nine Tribulation Sea and Ten Karma Mountain.
As Mo Xingzhen burst from the sea along the city wall, he had no time to admire the serene moonlight on the water. Anxiously, he hurled his sword, pinning it at the feet of a figure ahead.
“Stop!!!”
The ethereal wind from Ten Karma Mountain carried the scent of burning joss paper. The person before him seemed just one step away from entering that inscrutable eternal night.
Mo Xingzhen’s eyes are bloodshot, he trembled, “You’ve already been suppressed by the Heavenly Way Masters. Your physical body has been destroyed by righteous energy, and your life force is scattered. One more step and the myriad ghosts of Ten Karma Mountain will surely possess you!”
The other calmly replied, “It matters not. This isn’t our first time on Ten Karma Mountain. If the living can walk it, why can’t the dead?”
Mo Xingzhen’s eyes blazed red. “Are you truly betraying the Way of Life in Heaven? Don’t you know what lies ahead is the path of demons, forever barred from reincarnation… it’s against the Way!”
“Against the Way?” The familiar phrase elicited an absurd laugh from those eyes frozen in the night. Qi Yang softly said, “Since childhood, our teachers taught us to be the sword-bearers of the cultivation world’s five precepts. Every word and deed should set an example for the world.”
Mo Xingzhen spoke painfully, “Yes, I believe in Master. He’s the foremost cultivator, the one who raised and taught us… How could he possibly harm you?”
A hint of mockery entered Qi Yang’s voice: “Don’t you know? Possession, going against the Way, falling into demonic cultivation… I’ve committed them all. And the first was possession.”
As the long-obscured truth revealed its bloody corner, Mo Xingzhen instinctively stepped back, his voice hoarse, “You possessed someone? How is that possible? I thought you were just changing your identity to escape the Way of Life Heaven’s pursuit. I thought your remains had been moved from the Mountain Sea Forbidden State. I… I’ve delayed my Core Formation until now just to see if you were truly dead on Ten Karma Mountain.”
Mo Xingzhen knew him too well – unparalleled talent, disciple to an unparalleled master, receiving unparalleled training… During his time in power, he had severely punished and executed countless criminals guilty of possession and wanton killing.
Ironically, he had become such a criminal.
Qi Yang’s hand vaguely covered his slightly distorted right eye. “Do you remember whose face this is? A junior disciple who could only cry before the Dao Venerable’s statue in the Treasure Pavilion, barely able to reach the Foundation Establishment. That day, when the Heavenly Way Master came to the Hall of Righteousness to arrest me, he only wanted to warn me to be careful of someone framing me for betraying the sect.”
Mo Xingzhen’s face twisted in anguish. “That day… the day they said you were assassinated, what happened?”
Qi Yang remained silent. Mo Xingzhen stepped forward urgently, “Keeping secrets from those who should know doesn’t always protect their lives. I’m not afraid of death, I’m afraid of dying ignorant and confused! This is the space between mountain and sea. Master’s Great Way of Heavenly Justice can’t reach here. Tell me!”
After a long standoff, as if seeing someone’s shadow before him, Qi Yang slowly recounted the events of that year.
“That day, I was about to engrave all the truths on the Righteous Heaven Stele for all to see. The Heavenly Way Master came with a message saying that our teacher had injured his primordial spirit while suppressing the evil ghosts of Minhe Waterfall. He was feared to be dying and wanted to see me one last time, asking me to engrave his memorial tablet.”