Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way - Chapter 173: Sudden Change

“The Devil Abyss… The seal is about to be broken!” You Hantian suddenly turned around and reached out to receive a beam of light that had come toward him. He frowned immediately after he used his spiritual sense to read the jade slip.

The other sect leaders paled when they heard these words. They knew what terrors lay deep inside the Devil Abyss.

“We shouldn’t waste any more ti…” Zhou Lingfeng had just started speaking when his expression suddenly froze, then darkened. An aggressive sword qi shot out from his eyes, and his Peak Origin Core aura burst from within him. He turned around and looked into the distance.

He was looking at where the Youthful Clarity Sect was.

“What’s going on?” Everyone turned to look as well and craned their necks after they noticed the twisted expression on Zhou Lingfeng’s usually elegant face.

“The formation that protects the sect…has been activated!” spat Zhou Lingfeng as he flipped his sleeves out of the way and flew into the air.

“Heaven and Earth Confirming the Cause – Search for the Effect in the Skies!” The old man from Falling Star Sect reacted quickly as well. His storage ring flickered, and a formation compass appeared, creating several whirlwinds of qi that measured a few meters high.

The runes glowed brightly, and a gold spark ran over them.

A seal was formed and thrust out.

In that instant, everything shook violently. The qi that had just settled near the First Peak of the Seven Kill Sect was now swirling like boiling water, and it made a gurgling noise. It seemed like the laws of nature were gathering together as a fog slowly appeared in the middle of the compass and one could make out some figures in the fog. But the fog was too thick, so it was difficult to see clearly through it.

The old man instantly clenched his teeth and punched himself in the chest. His face turned red as he sprayed a mouthful of blood out.

Woong! The formation runes started gaining speed, and the mysterious power of the laws of nature slowly became clearer. The old man’s gaze flickered, and a green light appeared in his eyes. He looked up to the sky, only to find that it was now cloudy and overcast.

Amidst the mess of runes, the lines of karma in differing lengths and thicknesses began to appear faintly.

“Confirm the Cause!” he yelled hysterically as he thrust the seal against Zhou Lingfeng’s body. A hardened look filled his eyes, and he had a grim expression on his face as he held the compass up. The internal energy from inside his body was like a river flooding the banks as it swooshed loudly onto the compass that was trembling violently.

The karma line connected to Zhou Lingfeng was extremely thick and reached the sky. It was clear that this line was the karma that the Youthful Clarity Sect had created but had failed to resolve.

“Search for the Effect!” There was a brief look of joy on the old man’s face when he suddenly looked shocked before he spewed three mouthfuls of blood. He choked and panted heavily to catch his breath. The compass grew several times larger, and the blurry figures in the fog became clearer. One could make out voices as well.

“Junior brother…”

“Hurry up and leave! That ghost thing is here! Elder Li is dead too!”

“Why did the sect protecting sword formation attack us? AHH!”

“This is the day the Youthful Clarity Sect will fall! Woe is us!”

Tragic cries resounded from within the fog. Spells shook the place, qi billowed wildly, fiendish and murderous auras howled loudly, and blood and flesh flew in all directions.

All they could see was a place where living creatures had been slain, and sword qi reigned supreme.

“It’s that thing!” said You Hantian suddenly. A frostiness flickered in his eyes as he stared unblinkingly at the large and imposing Huangquan Evil Ghost in the fog.

“Who’s that? Who’s trying to peek at me?” The Evil Ghost was very sensitive and started looking around and shouting once all the sect leaders were able to see it in the fog.

“We must not delay! We have to capture that thing. That’s the Evil Ghost that managed to survive!” said You Hantian in a grim voice as he waved his arm and made the billowing qi around him calm down.

“Let’s go.” The other sect leaders had equally solemn expressions on their faces. They exchanged glances and were in agreement with one another.

“Step through the world, leave no shadow behind!” You Hantian took out a small and intricately designed talisman. He looked reluctant to use it, but he quickly sent his energy into the talisman and activated it. A thick layer of qi engulfed all of them.

The will of this world seemed to know what You Hantian and the rest intended to do, so it gathered the laws of nature together and opened a dark and deep hole about ten meters in diameter in front of them.

“Let’s go!” You Hantian flipped his sleeve aside and took the first step in.

“Hmm? They’ve disappeared?” Gu Suihan was meditating inside his room when he suddenly felt a response from his spiritual sense. His expression turned grim immediately.

He didn’t bother to conceal himself anymore. He reverted to his actual body and shot energy out into the air. It caused the meditation room to collapse and turn to rubble. He flew into the air and headed for the First Peak of the Seven Kill Sect.

“A crack in the space…” Gu Suihan’s expression was grim when he noticed that black slit that was slowly joining back together again.

A smile spread across his face. He didn’t know what could have made You Hantian and the other sect leaders pay such a high price to leave in such a hurry, but this didn’t clash with the plans he had.

“The Devil Abyss is in…the southeast!” Gu Suihan recalled what Han Heng told him. He activated his internal energy and moved like an apparition.

“I’m not moving fast enough. I’ve got to go faster.” Gu Suihan could feel the wind swooshing past him like a knife as he passed through the clouds, but he was not satisfied. He retrieved a few dozen talismans from his storage ring and activated them without caring, then took out a flying object after that. He disregarded the formation runes on it that kept shattering and breaking as he forced it to fly beyond what it was able to bear. His speed increased by several times in that instant.

“Who’s that?”

“Looks like he came out from where the Youthful Clarity Sect disciples are.”

The moment Gu Suihan flew into the skies, countless others were shaken by the sound and turned to look, only to see a black figure disappear slowly. They couldn’t help but start whispering among themselves.

“That’s…” Jingjing and Yan Hua disguised as Gu Suihan were enjoying their little chat when she felt a familiar presence. She looked shocked as she got up and looked into the distance.

Thankfully, she had very good eyesight, since she cultivated in an eye-sword technique. She happened to spot Gu Suihan’s profile and black hair flapping in the wind as he leaped into the sky.

“Gu Suihan?!”

“Big brother!”

Shuang’er had noticed who it was too, and exclaimed at the same time.

“Sir…” Yan Hua’s expression instantly fell. But considering how much more formidable Jingjing was, he figured it was best to just keep his mouth shut.

“Who are you?” Jingjing had a frosty look on her face as she drew her sword and swung it horizontally against Yan Hua’s neck.

“Hurry, hurry!” Gu Suihan’s gaze was icy cold as he increased his speed even more. Everything around him seemed to move backwards and he was moving like a typhoon. The air around him made explosive noises as he began to travel as quickly as sound.

In the blink of an eye, the sun started to set and fiery clouds filled the skies.

Pfft! Gu Suihan swallowed several pills and quickly adjusted the messy streams of energy inside his body. He had been flying for nearly half the day at high speed without resting at all.

The smaller spiritual meridians in his body had burst a long time ago and there was blood oozing out from his pores. Thankfully, he was already at Origin Core, so his body had reached a much higher level that a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn’t compare to.

“Phew!” Gu Suihan slowly exhaled an hour later and withdrew the formation around himself. He looked at the place in front of him with a burning look in his eyes.

That was the Devil Abyss he had heard about.

It was also the place that You Hantian had orders to suppress.

This place was also…the one thing that Gu Suihan could use to negotiate with You Hantian. That’s why he was here in the first place.

“Are you…Xu Cangyue or…Xu Ran?”

Gu Suihan laughed. His laughter was an icy one. A cruel one!

“Who’s there?”

There were trenches all over the ground made from pitch black rocks that looked like they had been soaked in something. The rocks gave off a very creepy sort of feeling. In the middle stood a rundown little pavilion that looked like it had been abandoned for years.

A well stood inside the pavilion. Countless formation runes that acted as chains were like a lid over the well. Terrifying howls and roars kept coming from inside the well.

There was someone next to the well. Or rather, there was a humanlike creature. His entire body was covered in a thick layer of dust and it was impossible to see what he looked like.

“Why don’t you guess?” Gu Suihan slowly walked toward the pavilion and smiled brightly at the other person.

“I don’t know you.”

“You don’t know me, but I’ve heard about you.” Gu Suihan strolled into the pavilion and stood across from the person by the well. “Are you Xu Cangyue? Or…Xu Ran zhenren?”

Boom! An invisible aura suddenly exploded from inside that person and the dust silently fell off him to reveal those bright eyes that sparkled like the stars but carried the weight of vicissitudes. The faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and the gray and white strands in his hair gave away the fact that he wasn’t as young as his face looked. His robe was so white, it looked brand new. His hair cascaded past his shoulders, his lips were slightly pursed and his eyebrows were as thick as sabers. There was a frightening air around him.

He stared intensely at Gu Suihan. They stared at each other across the well for a good 15 minutes before he finally broke his silence, “I am…Xu Cangyue.”

“So, it really did fail after all,” said Gu Suihan in an amused voice as he glanced at the other man a little curiously.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Xu Cangyue frowned and his storage ring flickered. A curved knife as shiny and icy as the moon in the night sky appeared in his hand. “State your purpose.”

“There’s no need to, because you’re not the complete Xu Cangyue.”

Gu Suihan looked at the man before him very carefully, not caring that Xu Cangyue had a curved knife within half a foot of himself.

“You…AHH!” Before Xu Cangyue could finish speaking, his expression changed dramatically, followed by a pained expression as he muttered to himself like a madman, “You said this person wants to undo the seal over the Devil Abyss?”

“That’s right. He wants to turn this world upside down.”

“I will not let him have his way.”

Xu Cangyue suddenly let out a depressed sigh and his voice suddenly seemed extremely jaded. “That’s why I’m prepared to let you have your way. We’ve been fighting for such a long time and we’ve gotten used to this physical body. If we continue to fight like this, we’re both going to die.”

“And so? You’re going to sacrifice yourself to give me what I want?” Xu Cangyue’s expression changed again. He now had a disdainful smile on his face.

“Whether you believe me or not is your business. But I have decided to do it. I just hope that you will be kind to the Seven Kill Sect and protect this world. It is…your hometown, after all!”