Chapter 1404 - 667: Book Reading Convention (Part 2)

Chapter 1404: Chapter 667: Book Reading Convention (Part 2)

Besides, while his mind might be a bit scrambled, his comprehension actually isn’t bad. Even though those last four water-brained idiots hadn’t killed for real, Gou Dan could still see that this kid was already imitating his own breathing and rhythm of swinging the sword. Looks like that whole set he used to slaughter the Master of Wind Tower just now really was seen with his eyes and memorized in his heart.

So in Gou Dan’s eyes this piece of jade really hasn’t rotted beyond cure yet; it’s just that he’s been kept hidden by his clan in the inner chambers, buried in powders and perfumes, raised up delicate till his temper turned soft and sticky, his head stuffed full of romance and love, his spiritual light temporarily smothered.

What he’s missing, in the end, is nothing but a good, cathartic battlefield grind. As long as he can survive tonight’s Demon Tide, come out alive and personally take a hundred lives or so, he’ll definitely be able to connect all the dots and feel out the threshold of Sword Dao.

What? And if he dies?

Then dead is dead, what else can you do. Heaven’s Chosen Son, Sun Dao Seed isn’t allowed to die or what? Wouldn’t that be way too unfair to all the other small fry dying tonight just to hone him?

If he really just dies like that, maybe this karmic entanglement ends right there.

After all, speaking plainly, Gou Dan and Huangfu Yi don’t actually know each other at all; even in dreams they only met once. How does that count as any sort of master–disciple fate?

All that "first disciple, second disciple," all that "saving the world, saving all living beings, saving All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds" crap was entirely forced onto him by other people.

But do all those disciples the various future Gou Dans of parallel worlds took in, all those debts they racked up, sins they created, bonds they left behind, really have to be repaid by this Gou Dan? That makes no sense at all, does it? If you only look at Gou Dan’s own years of experience, he just wants to say this trash world might as well hurry up and go extinct already.

It’s just that, back then Huangfu Yi really did come to repay the favor owed to some parallel old Gou Dan, offering up his life to the sword, awakening Gou Dan, keeping him from going down a road with no exit. Even by the karmic calculus of the Mystic Sect, that does count as Enlightenment Grace. Gou Dan himself also feels a hitch in his heart; if he doesn’t repay this cause and effect, it’s like he’s shortchanging something.

So Gou Dan only wants to settle this master–disciple karma; if he can ferry him all the way to Doomsday that’d be ideal, but if he falls halfway, then it can only be said his fate was written that way. Either way, the opportunity has been given, the Daoist Skill has been passed on; whether he can grab it is up to that guy himself.

Right now Gou Dan ignores Zhu Yuer and flies straight toward the cave where Demon Qi pierces the heavens and the crowd of demons is gathering.

After all, the ten Divinity Transformation cultivators in the city—five dead and three maimed—were all taken down by him. If you’re going to do things, you need to keep the bowl level; obviously he has to butcher the demons outside the city until not even one in ten is left before he can consider the karmic tab cleared on this side.

Originally Gou Dan planned to just charge in without a word, hack his way through from one end to the other, slaughter straight until dawn and then go back to pick up Yu’er. But when he reached that Demon Cave and took a look, he realized something was off. He paused mid-cloud, let his eyes flash with Divine Light, and sent his Qi Observation down to the Lower Realm for a sweep.

Well damn, that’s a lot of freaks... two, four, six, eight...

There were actually eighteen Divinity Transformation demons! Nascent Soul Transformation ones at least a hundred! Core Formation ones numbering in the thousands! And on top of that, the huge swarm of monsters was still constantly gathering!

Like hell, why are there so many people? And they really are all people!

Gou Dan focused his eyesight and looked down, clearly seeing that all those Demons had taken on human shapes—though the Core Formation ones didn’t transform that well, leaving claws, tails, or beastly heads, at least they all wrapped themselves in a layer of human skin to cover up. Those above Nascent Soul were even more human-looking, dressed up as Taoists, monks, and scholars, riding clouds in from caves and mountaintops in all directions, driving foul winds and Demon Qi straight toward the mountain peak. For a moment it was like a gathering of immortals, Demon Qi surging to the sky; from the looks of it they were obviously convening some grand conference, sharing in some great enterprise.

Gou Dan rolled his eyes, pressed down the cloud he was riding, and decided to watch for a bit and head down to join this meeting. After all, bottom line, he’s not human either; Demons and ghosts definitely fall under the "ghost" character—so why shouldn’t he get to attend the party?

"Master, please hold your steps!"

The bald-headed monk was skimming along the cliffside of the Mountain Dao, feet brushing the grass as he flew, rushing up the mountain to attend the gathering, when he suddenly heard someone call from behind his head. He turned to look, but there was no one at all behind him.

Still puzzling over it, he suddenly turned back and saw a mass of vast silver light flash into being in front of him, like moon-radiance splashing in his face, an ice-disc dropping to the ground. He was scared out of his wits on the spot, startled so badly even his fox tail popped out.

But then that silver light whirled and vanished; the moon-radiance in front of him completely withdrew and abruptly condensed into pure Death Qi. In the blink of an eye it congealed into a woman in front of him, who lifted her own face right to his, revealing a grim Bone Appearance and a body draped in Blood Clothes,

"Dark night, bright moon—Master, from whence do you come, and to where do you go?"

Seeing this classic Yaksha-resentful-ghost look she had on, the bald-head actually felt his heart settle a bit; as long as it’s not human, that’s fine. He figured he’d probably stepped on someone’s grave by accident, hurriedly bowed with palm pressed together, offering Ritual apology,

"Sorry to disturb Fellow Daoist in your Moon Worship. This humble monk is Liao Chen, cultivating at Universal Compassion Monastery of Old Locust Village. I’m here at the invitation of Red Sun Dharma King, to attend the Heavenly Dao Reading Club."

"Red Sun Dharma King? Heavenly Dao Reading Club?"

"Oh, Fellow Daoist may not know. Red Sun Dharma King is one of the three Great Demon Kings of Sizhou. Last month a meteor fell from heaven and delivered a Heavenly Book for it to gain Enlightenment from. The Great Demon, grateful that cultivation is hard for our kind, is specially convening a Heavenly Dao Reading Conference to personally instruct us in the Cultivation Method and secret essentials of the Heavenly Book."

"...Do you have an invitation?"

"Yes, yes. Here is the reading token—please have a look, Fellow Daoist."

Liao Chen kindly took out a sheet of Token paper; sure enough, it was covered in all kinds of notes and insights.

Gou Dan nodded,

"Much appreciated."

After saying thanks, Gou Dan slapped the bald-head into pieces with one palm, peeled off the human skin he’d wrapped himself in, ripped the fox fur coat away in one tug, tossed the corpse down into the ravine, fastened the tail at his own waist, then donned the monk’s robe and wrapped on the head scarf, disguising himself as a nun, and headed into the mountain.