Chapter 257: Profoundly Vicious and Cruel
The ancient door was covered with the evidence of ancient time. It had obviously seen many, many things, like an old man who had lived for countless years and as a result could see deeply into the core of any person. The black color of the door also contained rot, as if that same old man had grown numb due to the misery of the world around him.
Stifling. Gruish. Sinister.
Those were the things Xu Qing felt when looking at the door.
As it opened, he also realized that everything around him was suddenly very quiet. There was no sound at all. The wind went still, and the clouds stopped moving. It even seemed like his own heart had stopped beating. It was the same with everything, even Master Shengyun, who currently stood atop the opening door.
It was as if the power of this door was too boundless. Too bizarre. Neither the target nor the person using it was spared from its effects. All lost the ability to move.
Xu Qing had experienced a sensation like this before. Four years earlier in the forbidden region outside the scavenger basecamp, he had encountered the Singing. On that occasion, he saw a pair of women’s boots walking through a blood fog. The feelings were the same. Back then as now, he felt immobile down to his soul, as if even his thoughts were frozen in place by the opening of the door. [1]
He wasn’t breathing. Frost formed on his eyebrows and hair. Coldness built up within him. Everything in his field of vision disappeared except for the door. The long, slow creaking pierced into his ears.
Inside the door was pure darkness and frigid coldness. In fact, steam was slowly rising from the edges of the door thanks to the intense cold.
Atop the door, Master Shengyun had a ferocious facial expression, and eyes pulsing with killing intent. This door was called the Darkspirit Everwill Door, and Master Shengyun considered it a precious treasure. He had only used it once since acquiring it. It wasn’t something he was doing lightly, as he knew that the effects would reach both his enemy and himself. Of even greater significance was that opening the door required draining his own soul.
It was an incomparably gruish door with a mysterious history. It was impossible to say what would come out of the door once it was opened, and thus, its killing power and effects varied from person to person. This was information his grandfather had explained to him. [2]
The last time he used the door, targeting himself, what had emerged was a huge rotting tongue, which he had found very unsettling. After all, his grandfather had explained that what came out of the door was a materialization of what already existed in one’s heart and mind. At the moment, Master Shengyun was very curious to see what would come out of the door now that Xu Qing was the target.
Hopefully it will be some sort of evil ghost. An evil ghost that rips him limb from limb!!
Even as those thoughts ran through Master Shengyun’s mind, from within the endless darkness in the black wooden door... a beam of light appeared! It started out very weak, as little more than a speck. But it rapidly grew larger and brighter, until it was an immeasurably brilliant sea of light.
As the light emerged, it turned into numerous shafts of brightness that spread out everywhere.
Outside of the door, the sky turned from dark to light. The lands were illuminated, and all the plants and vegetation were bathed in brightness. As for Xu Qing, he was right in the middle of it all, with the light consuming even his shadow. Within that sea of light, Xu Qing felt immeasurable pain. It was like he was being burned alive, including his skin, muscles, blood, and his internal organs.
The light pierced his body, stabbing into his soul, penetrating everything about him. Wherever it went, it brought pain. Green smoke began to rise up from him, almost as if he were being erased from existence. However, in addition to the pain, he found that he could move again, and started backing away. He moved at top speed, yet couldn’t stop the light from burning him. It was like he was the night, and this light was dawn, bringing radiance and light to wipe away the darkness. His skin was so badly burned it was now black. His muscles and blood were shedding all moisture. His hair had turned into ash. Not even his life lamp or his imperial-class technique could resist this. He took out a jade slip and, despite the hesitant look on his face, crushed it. It gave him a boost of speed.
As he fell back, hardly looking human, Master Shengyun remained atop the door. Seeing what was happening, there wasn’t an ounce of satisfaction on his face. Instead, he looked incredulous. In fact, it almost looked like he couldn’t believe what was happening.
Light? When the Darkspirit Everwill Door is opened on you, it produces light?? That should be impossible! You’re just like me, a ruthless killer! You’ve walked over countless bones to get where you are. You’re a master of poison, a person who consumes souls to further your cultivation. You’re surrounded by black flames! Your soul fire is as dark as night. It’s no exaggeration at all to say that you’re an outright monster. But how could the materialization of your thoughts be... light?? Laughable. Outrageous! Ridiculous!! You’re surrounded by darkness and gloom, but your heart is full of radiance and light?
Master Shengyun’s eyes were bloodshot and his expression was pure ferocity. Then he started laughing, almost like he’d lost his mind. He simply couldn’t control himself after seeing light coming out from this door.
That was because... he had always wanted this for himself!!
He was Master Shengyun! The characters ‘Sheng’ and ‘Yun’ represented radiance and light. Yet when this door was opened on him, a revolting tongue emerged. All of it caused his killing intent to tower to new heights. [3]
As Xu Qing backed up in the face of the brilliant light from the door, Master Shengyun quickly performed an incantation gesture, and the door slammed shut, then blurred momentarily as it shifted directions. Now it wasn’t facing Xu Qing, it was facing Master Shengyun.
He was still poisoned, and considering how critical of a moment this was, he actually had more than one goal in using this door. One was to kill Xu Qing, but the other was to remove the poison from himself. The last time he’d used the door, he had been in similar circumstances, and had used the door to remove a curse on himself.
He gritted his teeth as the Darkspirit Everwill Door spun and opened in his direction. As before, the interior was pitch black. Then, a revolting tongue appeared, which shot out at top speed and wrapped around Master Shengyun. He trembled and his face contorted with pain. Being wrapped up by the tongue, his entire body started to rot. His handsome features withered until he looked like a corpse, and his hair all fell out. And a noxious odor spread out from him.
However, he was more than pleased to pay that price, considering the outcome. The dangerous poison in him was mostly extruded, and the faint traces left behind seemed inactive. But what left Master Shengyun completely overwhelmed with horror was that the shadow covering his 120th dharma aperture was completely unfazed.
Not only that, but an eye suddenly appeared in the shadow, which cast him a contemptuous glance.
What is that thing????There was no time for Master Shengyun to think about the subject. With the poison in him suppressed, he put away the door. He didn’t dare to continue to use it in this fight. He also took out some healing pills that he popped into his mouth. Then he charged back toward Xu Qing.
Some distance away, Xu Qing finally looked up. He was in a very bedraggled state, but his killing intent was just as intense as ever. Though he had been seriously injured just now, the violet crystal was already healing him. During his retreat, he had also consumed quite a few healing pills.
As Master Shengyun closed in, Xu Qing stamped his foot on the ground, launching himself up into the air, where he met the attack. Booms rang out everywhere, and plants everywhere were shredded to nothing. Trees collapsed, and beasts in the area fled. The fighting between Xu Qing and Master Shengyun caused everything to shake violently.
Even a Gold Core cultivator who showed up right now would be shocked. The two of them fought with incredible speed, launching blows, moving about over the terrain, and leaving destruction behind them wherever they went.
As they fought back and forth, Xu Qing suddenly produced a crystal which he threw out. It exploded, releasing a cloud of black fog, out of which charged a headless grue with the body of an ox. It immediately attacked Master Shengyun. There was more. Xu Qing threw out three more crystals, all of which exploded. Out flew a ball of tangled black hair, a withered hand, and a white eyeball. These deathly items were things Xu Qing had taken from Sima Ling, the so-called god of wealth from Revered Ancient. Releasing them all at the same time caused boundless mutagen to fill the area. Then, Xu Qing gritted his teeth and tossed out a huge quantity of black boluses. [4]
Popping sounds rang out as more mutagen filled the area, which attracted the attention of other vile beings in the surrounding forbidden region.
Master Shengyun’s face fell. Backing up, he waved his hand to try to keep the mutagen away. As for the four grues, being in this mutagen made them like fish in water. Without any hesitation, they clumped together. The withered hand attached itself to the neck of the headless ox, and the eyeball connected to the palm of the hand. The hair attached itself to the ox as well. In the blink of an eye, the new grue’s energy surged and it launched itself in Master Shengyun’s direction.
Master Shengyun prepared to dodge out of the way.
However, that was when a decisive look flickered in Xu Qing’s eyes, and he pulled out a bunch of Sima Ling’s grue-controlling magical devices from his bag of holding. He threw them, and they exploded, blocking Master Shengyun’s path of escape. The charging grue slammed into him.
The ravagemist bird howled. Unfortunately, given Master Shengyun’s current state, it was also damaged. Then the golden crow glared at it and launched forth in attack. The two started fighting fiercely.
Xu Qing also closed in, a dagger appearing in his hand. Taking advantage of Master Shengyun’s exhaustion, he aimed the dagger at his throat.
Master Shengyun threw his head back, and the dagger whizzed right past him. Though he avoided being slashed, the balefire still burned him. He was an extraordinary individual, and managed to defend himself by calling on his life flames. But that couldn’t do anything about Xu Qing’s wild style of fighting.
Xu Qing instantly launched into a head-butt.
Eyes bloodshot, Master Shengyun did the same.
A huge boom rang out as both of them staggered backward, stars swimming in their vision.
Master Shengyun was really getting a taste of Xu Qing’s ferocity. But that didn’t reduce his killing intent. In fact, he now wanted more than ever to kill Xu Qing and take his life lamp.
As he backed away, Master Shengyun slapped his own forehead, causing a tremor to pass through his own body. Then, using some unknown secret magic, he shoved his hand into his forehead and grabbed something inside. The next moment, he wrenched a blood-soaked brush pen from inside himself! It started out small, but rapidly became larger. Astonishingly, the tip of the brush was a head that looked exactly like Master Shengyun in every way!
“I was sleeping, big brother. Why’d you wake me up? Is it time to play?”
1. Xu Qing encountered the Singing in👈
2. Specifically, the word here is for ‘paternal grandfather.’ 👈
3. By way of reminder, Master Shengyun’s real name is Chu Shengyun. Because his daoist name uses his original given name, I chose to transliterate it. Sheng means “holy, sacred, saint, sage” and Yun is a fancy and sort of rare character that means “sunlight.” If I didn’t transliterate his given name, then his daoist name would be something like Master Holy Sunlight. 👈
4. Xu Qing looted the items from Sima Ling in👈