Book 1: Chapter 31: Heavenly Saber Death Match

Carefree Valley:

“Division Master Meng, wait for me!” Song Qingshu shouted in terror.

“Roar! Roar! Roar!”

Fifty animal spirits chased close behind, herding Song Qingshu and his group into the valley.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Song Qingshu missed a step and tumbled down the mountainside.

Meng Tai led his Elite Hall subordinates and stopped at the waist of the mountain, looking at the fifty animal spirits in horror.

“Roar! Roar! Roar!”

Roars of animal spirits filled the surroundings. Many animal spirits appeared above Carefree Valley. There were wolf spirits, leopard spirits, snake spirits, tiger spirits, and all sorts of other animal spirits. All of them had ferocious expressions, roaring as they chased various figures into the valley.

“How could it be like this?”

“Why are there so many animal spirits? How can there be so many animal spirits?”

“Let me off! I am innocent! I did not kill anyone!”

“I’ll immediately leave the Innate Puzzle World! Let me out!”

The animal spirits roared in the surroundings. Black-clad men playing flutes appeared behind the groups of animal spirits.

The flute music sounded wondrous. However, it was as harsh as funeral bells to the outsiders’ ears.

“Division Master?” The Elite Hall disciples looked at Meng Tai anxiously.

“We are in trouble!” Meng Tai said with an unsightly expression.

Outside the valley, the red-clad Ninth Young Master revealed a cold smile as he looked at the crying people in the valley from the summit.

“Ninth Young Master, we have herded over practically all the outsiders in the surroundings. There is a total of two thousand six hundred outsiders!” a black-clad person reported respectfully.

“They are all here? Good!” Ninth Young Master said coldly.

As Ninth Young Master walked, he looked down coldly.

“Who are you? Aren’t the Heavenly Go Pavilion disciples not supposed to interfere with our business?” Meng Tai shouted.

“Not supposed to interfere? Humph! You are just getting what you deserve. You lot are becoming increasingly unruly!” Ninth Young Master said coldly.

“Roar!”

The thousands of animal spirits roared together as they glared at the outsiders. All the outsiders looked at Ninth Young Master as well, appearing worried.

“What are you trying to do by forcing us here? This is not part of the Innate Puzzle World’s rules—” Meng Tai shouted.

“Don’t bother mentioning the rules to me. I just like hearing you scream. What’s wrong with that? Now, don’t say I did not give you a chance. Back then, the pavilion master left behind a Go puzzle, one of the simplest ones. If you can solve it, I’ll release you all. If you cannot, well, then we will let this puzzle decide your life and death!” Ninth Young Master said coldly.

As Ninth Young Master spoke, he flung his arms out, along with his wide sleeves.

Boom!

Suddenly, surging black fog spewed out of Ninth Young Master’s sleeves. The black fog that seemed like dark clouds covered the sky, blanketing the entire Carefree Valley in the blink of an eye.

Rays of bright light appeared above the black fog, looking like stars in the night sky.

“A Go puzzle left by Old Mister Guan Qi?!” Meng Tai suddenly bellowed in alarm.

Countless cultivators in the valley revealed horrified expressions.

“What? How can we solve a Go puzzle left by Old Mister Guan Qi?”

“Old Mister Guan Qi was the best Go player in the world. Who can solve this?”

“What kind of ritual array is this? Why do I sense death looming over us?”

“Me too. All my hairs are standing on end. It feels like a saber hovering over my head!”

The surrounded cultivators cried out in horror.

“I already said, this is not the pavilion master’s strongest Go puzzle. This is just something the pavilion master casually made. However, I think you cannot solve it, either. Weren’t you very arrogant when you slaughtered the natives in Carefree Valley? Well, feel the same despair as they felt then!” Ninth Young Master’s cold laughter came from the clouds.

“This has nothing to do with me. I did not kill them!”

“I did not! Let me out!”

“I’ll leave immediately! I beg you, let me go! Please!”

Many of the outsiders cried out.

Boom!

Suddenly, a huge platform descended from the dark clouds in the sky and landed in the middle of the valley.

Buzz!

A gigantic Go board appeared on the platform. The Go board already had many Go stones placed on it, forming a puzzle. Beams of lights came from the stars in the dark clouds, descending on each Go stone. It seemed like every Go stone connected to a star.

“What is this puzzle?” Meng Tai exclaimed.

“The Heavenly Saber Death Match! The victor lives, and the loser dies! Everyone is ready, right? Hahahaha!” Ninth Young Master’s cold laughter came from the dark clouds.

“Run!”

A cultivator immediately rushed up the mountain in horror, trying to break out of the black fog.

Shing! 

Suddenly, the sound of a saber rang out. Everyone felt a chill in their hearts as they saw a bright, white light appear in the dark clouds.

The bright, white light was a super huge, three-hundred-meter-long saber qi. This saber qi tore through the air, producing a sharp whistle as it charged at the man running up the mountain.

“Ah!”

That man let out a startled cry. Then, he drew his sword to clash with it.

Shing!

The sword stopped in midair, and the saber qi directly cut through the man’s body before disappearing. 

Everyone goggled at the scene. It looked like that man got fixed in place by some technique.

Plop!

Just as everyone felt surprised, that fleeing man suddenly split in half from his forehead down. Then, he fell over in a pool of blood.

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

Startled screams came from some female cultivators in the crowd. That fleeing person had been fine just now, but a saber qi cut him in half in an instant.

“Break out! Let’s break out together! We definitely can do it!” someone shouted.

“Ha!” Ninth Young Master’s cold laughter came from the dark clouds again.

“There are still nine thousand three hundred twenty-four heavenly sabers in the Heavenly Saber Death Match. If you don’t believe me, you can try!” Ninth Young Master’s voice rang out.

This startled everyone.

There were only about two thousand-odd people. However, there were more than nine thousand heavenly sabers?

When everyone looked at the dark clouds in the sky, they felt a chill in their heart. It felt like many heavenly sabers pointed at them in the dark clouds, ready to kill them in an instant if they made any strange movements.

“No! I don’t want to die! Sob! Sob! Sob! I don’t want to stay here anymore!”

“I did not kill anyone! I did not kill anyone!”

Horrified cries rang out in the valley. Many cultivators with weak minds were already crying in a panic. Everyone understood from the earlier saber strike that even if they were Golden Core cultivators, that saber Qi could kill them in one strike, what more now when they were Innate Realm cultivators? Even Nascent Soul Realm cultivators could not flee. With more than nine thousand heavenly sabers over their heads, everyone showed expressions of despair.

Meng Tai had an unsightly expression.

Song Qingshu was wide-eyed, despair filling his eyes.

——

In the spirit spring cave, Carefree Valley:

Bang!

A sound rang out around Gao Xianzhi as ripples spread out from his body.

“I broke through? Second Layer Innate Realm?” Gao Xianzhi said excitedly.

However, when Gao Xianzhi saw everyone immersed in raising their cultivation, he quickly suppressed his excitement and continued to work on absorbing the surging Spiritual Energy.

Gu Hai’s pool gave off the brightest blue light. That was the pool with the most vigorous water-attributed Spiritual Energy. However, Xiaorou’s body seemed like a bottomless pit. The surging water-attributed Spiritual Energy gushed into her body at an extremely horrifying speed, nourishing her.

Xiaorou coiled comfortably around Gu Hai’s shoulders, enjoying the boundless water-attributed Spiritual Energy.

On the other hand, purple light still lingered on Gu Hai’s body.

Spiritual Progenitor quickly poured into Gu Hai’s body, not pausing at all. It seemed like this spring contained an endless amount of it. Two hours…four hours…six hours…after eight hours, Gu Hai felt that he absorbed more than what he had absorbed when the Clear River Sect Master assisted him with spiritual stones. 

“Roar!”

A dragon roar rang out in Gu Hai’s dantian.

From the initial drop of Veritable Essence, he now had nine drops of Veritable Essence.

Boom!

The nine drops of Veritable Essence merged into one, turning into a peanut-sized Veritable Essence pearl. Vast energy surged out from Gu Hai’s body, kicking up splashes in the surrounding springwater.

“Gathering liquid into a pearl, the Innate Realm’s second layer?” Gu Hai opened his eyes, a bright gleam appearing in them.

Then, he closed his eyes again without hesitation, continuing to absorb the Spiritual Progenitor in the water wildly.

After one entire day, Xiaorou completely recovered from her injuries. At this moment, she breathed in the surging Spiritual Energy while staring at Gu Hai, appearing entranced. As she looked at Gu Hai, she blushed slightly, smiling sweetly.

—

One day later:

Gu Hai’s consciousness stared at the Veritable Essence pearl in his dantian. As the surging Spiritual Energy poured in and his Veritable Essence consumed it, the one Veritable Essence pearl turned into nine. Then, the nine peanut-sized Veritable Essence pearls seemed to show signs of a second merger, his cultivation rushing to the Innate Realm’s third layer.

“Roar!”

The dragon-shaped Veritable Energy surrounding the Veritable Essence seemed to be storing up power to break into the third layer with a greater force.

Buzz!

Suddenly, Gu Hai opened his eyes.

This startled Xiaorou, who had been staring at Gu Hai. She shifted her gaze away in a fluster.

“There is no more Spiritual Energy?” Gu Hai frowned as he looked at the pool.

Indeed, the pool now lacked color. The earlier blue and purple lights had already vanished.

“Ah?! Ah?! Hey! That seems to be so. It’s all gone!” Xiaorou also noticed the strangeness in a fluster.

Gao Xianzhi and Chen Tianshan, who were in another pool, also opened their eyes. When they saw the clear pool water, a trace of regret appeared in their eyes.

“How unfortunate. If only it lasted longer!” Chen Tianshan said with a disappointed look.

Gu Hai also found it a pity. However, he quickly smiled and said, “Never mind. This breakthrough is already sufficient.”

“Hey, Venerable Lian Sheng is still not awake yet?” Xiaorou asked, feeling curious.

Everyone looked at Venerable Lian Sheng, finding this strange. He seemed to be in a meditative state, not moving at all.

“Should we wake the venerable up?” Chen Tianshan asked with a frown.

“There’s no need. The venerable did instruct us not to disturb him.” Gu Hai shook his head.

“Right.” Everyone nodded.

“By the way, I seemed to have heard screams coming from outside earlier. No, it seemed like a scream sounded periodically,” Xiaorou suddenly said with a frown.

“Oh?” Everyone’s expression changed.

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