28 – Battle for Jinchuan part 2

I looked around. I am already outside in the palace’s courtyard. Theoretically, I can try to use Thundergod Steps to run. But Gujian and the others are still fighting with the enemies. Should I run, they will be surrounded. And running away after I am the first to stay would be disgusting. Ideally, my eyes are back on the middle aged man, I need a cheap shot. 

I focus to see if there’s anything I can do. He wears flowing daoist robes with grey cloud motifs. Hands still behind his back. Still with a faint smile. His emotional halo is extremely stable. He is supremely confident in dealing against me. No visible weapon. Or small enough to be hidden behind him. Haven’t extended my divine sense either to check. I don’t know how well he can detect my divine sense. But as he is seven levels higher than mine, let’s say yes. Other than the aura of peak Foundation Establishment, he looks very plain.

“Enjoying what you are seeing?” He starts

“I prefer women.”

“Of course.” Then silence returns

Why the small talk though? Is he delaying too? What is he delaying for? Whatever that can make peak Foundation Establishment to delay can’t be good. I need just one chance. A cheap shot that will level the playing field. I need to distract him.

“Thank you for letting the king of Jin and his men pass.” I start to probe

“You seem fond of them. Why?” He plays along, so this might be good

“Well, I know for certain the feeling of being useless. So I give the king a little nudge.” Let's see if I can tug on some of his emotions.

“To send him to his death?” He raises his eyebrows

“Well, not exactly. Death adjacent.” I wave my palms. “But a king should lead his men shouldn’t he? Besides, dying to achieve something is better than dying in a dark and damp room alone.”

“Indeed. But from what I know, he won’t be dying alone in his throneroom.” His eyes rolled as he thought to himself. “More like hanging under a tree.”

“Still suicide.”

“True. But why bother for the mortal king? Or do you bother because he is the king and not a common peasant?” He asks some genuine question

“Truthfully I don’t know. He is the first king I ever see. I don’t know if I will be able to maintain the same attitude with others. But I can only promise to try.” I answer honestly. Which once again results with a raised eyebrow

“That is a good mindset, yes. But that is for mortals. Not for cultivators like us. Surely you should have understood this! Has your master never taught you the proper mindset for immortals?”

“Eh… no. Well, he did say that when I need to kill, then kill. So maybe some of it.”

“Then nothing else?” He asked and I shake my head

“Would you tell me this proper mindset then? You know, just in case I manage to leave here alive.” I ask with genuine interest. I am already here as one of these cultivators so hearing what the proper mindset be might be important

“Very well. Listen well. Never show your entire strength and if you do, you must kill your enemy. Never engage in a fair fight. Never show mercy, for mercy to your enemies is cruelty for your future. Self preservation above all else. Do not let morality, emotion, or attachment cloud your judgement and action. Plot, scheme, betray, and as you already know, kill when it is necessary. Even to those close to you before they do the same to you. When you have a goal, focus on it to the exclusion of all else.” He recited the mindset.

“Better heed these mindset well boy. I have to learn all of these the hard way.” He then add

I looked left and right as I absorbed his words. Coming to a conclusion.

“That sounds like a sad and miserable way to live.” I said my conclusion. Especially the part to plot, scheme, betray, and kill when necessary. Knowing someone while thinking about these, these cultivators are then extremely paranoid and cannot form genuine relationships. Perhaps this kind of mindset is justified, especially if others have the same mindset. It's like self perpetuating misery.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His halo of emotions spiking in sadness before immediately calming again. It was so quick that I missed my chance for the cheap shot. Then realize that my kind of thought is what made people like him.

“You seem like a fine fellow. I’d hate to kill you.” He sighed

“You also seem like a fine fellow. I’d hate to die.” I answer in the same manner. “Is there really no way for both of us to walk out of this alive?”

He shake his head

“Since my cultivation is higher than yours, I will allow you to make the first three moves. Consider this my last courtesy.”

My mouth opens and closes again. All my effort to distract him and gain a chance for a cheap shot. And he gave me three for free!? FUCK! Let’s make note of this so I can ask if I am fighting against cultivators with higher cultivation. Assuming the opponent will follow this courtesy as this middle aged man said it.

“Alright.”

“This one is Wáng Yúnyì (王云逸|King Cloud Wanderer). Loose cultivator.” He cupped his and bowed

“This one is Xuan Danxing (玄旦星|Mysterious Morning Star). From Tianhe Sect.” I do the same and return the polite greeting

As soon as I introduced myself, his emotion spiked. He immediately sent a telepathic link somewhere to his right. In tracing this link, I missed my chance for my cheap shot again. I spread my divine sense in a wide circular manner.

“Who are you talking to?” I asked

BOOM!

I take the shot as soon as his emotion spikes once more from my question. A railgun rifle, already primed and fired as soon as projected. A little behind and right above him. The jackal special. But this is no clean hole like the Spartan. Chunks of his left head are gone. Splattering the destroyed ground as the railgun bullet strikes the earth. Dead before he even realizes it and his body crumples forward to the ground.

I walk towards him. Looking down on his dead body. This is not fair. But I cannot win this in a fair way. I won this. But it felt worse. As what I did practically justifies his mindset that I cannot agree with. I will, hmmm, I will bury him properly later. I take his storage ring, then put the body into my storage ring. Picking the railgun hovering above him, the barrel glowing bright red. Now then, I need to help others.

—

Brilliant sword flashes towards green ghostly chains. Severing them instantly and Yiye’s arms and legs. She grimaces in pain but from every opening of the wound, more Nether Soul Binding Threads erupt and force Gujian to evade before he can chop the front of her face once more. Then the threads sew the cut limbs and reattach themselves. This has repeated multiple times and it is clear Yiye is struggling. If she hadn't reached the mastery where she can create the threads from all body parts, she would have died half a dozen times already. Gujian meanwhile, still hasn't really exerted himself. Such is the difference between Cultivator belonging to a sect and Loose Cultivators. The former will always be more powerful. But the latter will have more bizarre skills and techniques for staying alive.

“Come on. Just let me remove your face so I can kill you properly.” Gujian complains

“What kind of insane sword cultivator are you!?” Yiye screams as she lands on the road. She has thought of just running multiple times. But the prospect on becoming an elder to the newly revived Nether Bone sect should they won made her stay

“I’m not insane. It’s just a bet I have with, well, you won’t understand.” Gujian said as he slashed horizontally. Bisecting Yiye in half. Immediately he jumps for the kill but once again, multiple blood nest Gu centipede strikes at him from various angles. Forcing him to dodge. Allowing Yiye to stitch her body back.

“Was this thread technique originated from Heavenly Demon Sect? Their branch on this world should have been eradicated from this world a thousand years ago.” Gujian comments on the side. Noting the bizarre technique like the one he heard in the stories.

Meanwhile Yiye herself is speaking with Wuyi with voice transmission. Ignoring the sword cultivator’s question.

“Where’s the old man and the diviner? What took them so long!?” She questioned anxiously. As she has delayed the sword cultivator much longer than the sequences of prediction the diviner have made for them.

“Shut up! This is still within prediction's range! They must have some complications with the deer head from Tianhe Sect!” Wuyi silences her complaint. But from above, he can’t exactly know what happens in the inner palace. As for Guzhou, Wuyi looked down to see the Buddhist monk had broken his left arm and was heavily suppressed. His attention too is full on distracting the daoist in front of him and he almost sends all of His Gu. Else, she alone can wipe the three of them. So he cannot see what is happening within the inner palace. Though the eerie stillness wasn’t a good sign. The two others from the Nether Bone sect are still flying above. Waiting for Yunyi's signal. Though he has given him permission to proceed with the plan if he is taking too long. Which it is already now.

“MOVE TO TWELFTH SEQUENCE!” Wuyi shouted loudly. Deciding to proceed without Yunyi and the diviner. Immediately he gathered more of his Vital Qi to his neck. His mouth opens as wide as his head. Then shoot Blood Death Gu towards Qingling. A headsized beetle with dagger for horns, its horns radiating red poisonous Qi that become stronger the more lifespan the target has.

Qingling reacts in a calm manner. Capturing the Blood Death Gu within her blooming lotus flower. She has known that the enemy is working with some kind of sequence of predictions. This one is targeting her. Confident she can deal with whatever comes. In front of her however, is a corpse puppet of an extremely old man. His body is still radiating the strength of a Golden Core. Qingling tries to raise the defensive array as fast as she can. But with a casual Corpse Poison Palm, the corpse puppet breaks through her defenses and sends her slamming to the ground. The Corpse Poison immediately rot her flesh and Qi.

The sudden revelation caught Fumo and Gujian in surprise. Guzhou and Yiye immediately take the chance. The former landed a solid hit to Fumo’s ribs sending him spiraling backward. But the latter, already exhausted, failed to press the advantage. Gujian immediately turned serious. Executing three horizontal slashes, targeting her brain, her neck, and her heart, then ending with a vertical slash. Immediately killing her as he has cut all her three Dantians. No more chance to resew her flesh anymore. Then a jade tablet on the rest of the invaders' hip breaks, showing that Yiye is truly dead. A preparation for some of the sequences where they divide the three to different battlefields. Gujian then splits an arrow made from the human spine, coming from above, in half. But one half of the arrow grazed his shoulder. Immediately corpse poison Qi rots his shoulder and Qi.

Up above, no longer hidden under a veil, is another peak Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Holding a bow made from two cultivator’s spines. The previous confidence of Qingling, Fumo, and Gujian shatters. As the two from above finally join the battle. The corpse puppet alone requires a combined force of the three to handle but there’s still three other cultivators and Qingling has been knocked out.

“HAHA! Not so confident anymore are you?” Wuyi laughed as all his Gu that he unleashed finally broke free from all restraints. Immediately falling down to the city. But then, with a thunderous boom, another Jade tablet on each invader’s hip breaks. This one belongs to Yunyi, another peak Foundation Establishment Cultivator in their ranks, who is now dead. This stunned the rest as there’s no sequence of prediction in which he is dead. The diviner, running away from the inner palace and leaving the city.

Capitalizing on the new advantage, Gujian moves to rescue Qingling while Fumo distracts the Golden Core puppet. Spending his Merit Essence (功德之力), to empower his strike in purifying the corpse puppet. The strike landed on the puppet’s face. Forcing it to take a step back. Displacing the earth from his step. But otherwise minimally damaged. The puppet delivers Corpse Poison Palm with all its strength. Fumo roars back and consumes more Merit Essence to empower his Compassion Palm. The two palms meet with a deafening earth shattering might and sound that split the city in half. Monk Fumo pushed back from the clash.

Guzhou jumps, tries to strike Fumo from behind with his right arm. But then he senses a divine sense locking on his head. Then with another thunderous boom, the projectile hits his head, crushing his skull and brain despite his body tempering and stumbling forward lifelessly. Not obliterating the part of his head like with Yunyi, but still dead nonetheless.

—

I locked my divine sense to the head of the insect user in the sky. He sent his insects in panic. Again, I pulled the trigger. 

BOOM!

The railgun bullet obliterated his head. That’s three. I spin and reload my railgun. Now taking aim at the woman with a bone bow and arrow. She immediately dives down. My divine sense is locked on her head. But shooting now will kill all the civilians between me and her. She moves quickly to the side. My divine sense is still locked. But she ran between dense housing.

“Don’t toy with me!” She screamed in anger and indignation. Thinking I didn’t take the shot to toy with her and not for the consideration of the mortals.

Fortunately Gujian intercepts her after securing Qingling. Brilliant horizontal slashes, forcing her to jump up. Nice support. Then I pull the trigger.

BOOM!

I took a second look. The bullet is intercepted by the palm of an extremely old man. His sunken eyes looked directly at mine and I blinked. Immediately, he is already in front of me. Palm raised and radiating necrotic Qi. I hastily raise my AT field and the slap connects. Throwing me to the other side of the city.