Chapter 356: Excelling From the Beginning
The Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar rose to immense heights above the northern tundra. It was 3,000 meters wide and rose high above the clouds, making it seem like it propped up heaven. There were all sorts of magical symbols and totems carved on its surface, some of them protruding as much as 30 meters, some only a few meters. Because of that, the cultivators climbing the pillar seemed very small.
Xu Qing was already at the 600-meter spot. Grabbing the edge of one of the totem carvings, he pulled himself up and stood.
The totem depicted a fierce ghost face with a very baleful aura. Understanding flickered in Xu Qing’s eyes when he noted the ghost face. After all, it closely resembled the face of the figure that had been coalescing moments before in his sea of consciousness.
Not even he could have guessed that when the rancorous will formed a soul within him, the Ghost Emperor mountain would crush it. That went beyond what he understood about how the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar worked. Normally speaking, when cultivators sustained attacks from the rancorous will, they wouldn’t be able to destroy the invading soul. Instead, they had to eject it from their sea of consciousness. Only after that could they continue climbing. Then, when the next attack of rancorous will began, they would repeat the process. The higher one got, the more difficult it became.
Ejecting the souls came with additional rewards, though they weren’t bestowed immediately, but rather, when the participant ended their climb. Xu Qing had witnessed Li Ziliang getting a reward, and others had received similar rewards since. However, the probability of getting a reward wasn’t very high. If you reached 600 meters and drove out a rancorous soul, your chances of getting a reward were roughly 1/10,000. The higher you got, the more likely you were to be rewarded.
If you failed, you would be shoved off the pillar and would fall to the ground. There was no chance of a permanent possession. The rancorous souls were part of the pillar itself, and were suppressed by its battle spirit. Thus, they couldn’t actually leave the pillar.
But at the same time, they were said to be impossible to destroy. And yet, Xu Qing had definitely sensed that rancorous soul completely disappear. In fact, it was correct to say that the Ghost Emperor mountain... devoured it.
After all, when that rancorous soul screamed its last, Xu Qing had sensed the Ghost Emperor mountain becoming a bit more true and real. What was more, the ghost face totem he currently stood atop seemed slightly worn down compared to before.
It was so faint that no observer would notice it. But since Xu Qing was actually touching it, he could tell. This discovery caused his eyes to glitter. For the moment, he decided to wait and see if he had done anything to break the rules.
Shortly thereafter, he could sense a faint stream of divine will emerge from the pillar. It was emotionless and numb, but after it made contact with him, he realized that he was being assigned a reward. He didn’t know exactly what the reward was, but it was there.
Meanwhile, the fact that Xu Qing had stopped was noticed by the crowd below. After his fight with Li Ziliang, everyone was paying attention to him, and that was especially true now that he was making an attempt at climbing the pillar. Whether it was the rogue cultivator or the sect disciples, everyone was paying attention.
“He stopped? He’s only at 600 meters!”
“He’s probably getting used to the rancorous souls. That said, he has been standing there for quite a while.”
“Don’t tell me he has a strong fleshly body and some astonishing magical techniques, but has a weak soul? Is that his weakness?”
“There’s no way. I heard that this Xu Qing has an Elder Brother named Chen Erniu who’s incredibly handsome and has a dashing personality. People call him the number one philanthropist in the Eight Sect Coalition. He completely surpasses Xu Qing. Under his tutelage, there’s no way that Xu Qing has a weakness like that!”
While the crowd speculated below, Xu Qing waited for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn. When nothing else happened, and no one came to punish him for breaking the rules, he started moving again.
He moved up at top speed, and every step he took caused stronger rancorous energy to assail him. This so-called rancorous energy was different from death energy. Death energy was usually frigid, and caused living beings to feel cold. For example, the sinister cold in forbidden regions was often made of death energy. But rancorous energy contained a coldness of emotion, especially hatred. Thus, it affected the minds of cultivators. That influence was the attack.
Xu Qing heard endless screaming, formed from the wild cries and curses of the countless living beings that had been killed by the pillar. Trying to block the sound wouldn’t do any good, as it would echo into one’s soul.
He climbed higher, and the rancorous energy grew stronger, building up in his mind. As it built up in his sea of consciousness, he reached the 1,200-meter spot, whereupon the rancorous will began to coalesce.
The second rancorous soul was forming.
Xu Qing was actually looking forward to it. He wanted to see if what happened the first time was just a coincidence, therefore, he did nothing to stop the second soul from forming. This second soul looked different from the first. It had two curved horns, a hulking body, and a long tail. What was more, it emanated powerful fluctuations and an ancient aura. It was like it had swum out from the River of Time. Hoarse laughter rang out from its mouth, and its eyes shone with brutality and greed.
Xu Qing waited calmly. After three breaths of time passed, the second rancorous soul was fully formed. Eyes burning with madness, it threw its head back and roared, then stretched its arms out as if ready to kill.
Meanwhile, the Ghost Emperor mountain in Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness again vibrated. The second rancorous soul shivered, and the look in its eyes became one of incredulity.
“W-what... the Ghost Emperor?!?!”
A miserable shriek erupted from the soul’s mouth as light from the Ghost Emperor mountain shone out. The soul shattered into pieces, and black energy from it streamed into the Ghost Emperor mountain. The entire process took ten breaths of time, then it was over.
Xu Qing watched as the Ghost Emperor mountain’s face came to more closely resemble his own. His misgivings in that regard grew deeper. That said, everything that was happening seemed to be to his benefit as, yet again, the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar sent out divine will to assign him a reward. Xu Qing waited a bit before starting to move again.
Before long, he was at the 1,500-meter spot. Then 1,800 meters. Some of the magical symbols and totems he passed seemed worn down, which seemed to indicate that other people had also found ways of destroying the rancorous souls.
Before long, a third rancorous soul appeared in his sea of consciousness.
“Be suppressed!”
Before it could even fully form, Xu Qing exercised a thought, and the Ghost Emperor mountain vibrated and crushed the soul. Xu Qing continued on his way.
2,100 meters. 2,400 meters. 2,700 meters. 3,000 meters!
The higher he got, the stronger the rancorous will grew. As a result, more and more rancorous souls appeared in his sea of consciousness. From what he could tell, a new one would appear every 90-150 meters or so.
However, after going past 2,700 meters, they appeared every 60-90 meters. That increased rate made the climb much more difficult for most cultivators. But to Xu Qing, it was different.
“Be suppressed!”
“Be suppressed!!”
“Be suppressed!!!”
As Xu Qing sped along, the Ghost Emperor mountain glittered brightly and crushed one soul after another. The destroyed souls would scream, but only Xu Qing could hear them.
As the Ghost Emperor mountain continued to devour the souls, it grew more and more clear. Xu Qing’s face on the mountain was more distinct, and it seemed to pulse with something somber and desolate. That grim expression, and the stifling pressure from the Ghost Emperor mountain, resulted in a godly resonance building within him.
At the same time, the mountain’s connection to Xu Qing grew stronger, to the point where he got the strong sensation that, eventually, the Ghost Emperor mountain would be able to manifest outside of him.
What was even more shocking to him was that at a certain point he noticed that the Ghost Emperor mountain held something in its hands that vaguely resembled a staff! It was only an outline right now, not very clear. But even from just the shape, he could tell that the staff... looked very much like the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar. That caused waves of shock to sweep through Xu Qing. At the same time, cracks were showing up on the Ghost Emperor mountain’s body. It almost seemed like it was developing too quickly, and wasn’t being given enough time to stabilize.
When he reached 3,000 meters, the crowd below roared.
Before, the highest anyone had climbed was Li Ziliang, who got just past 2,400 meters. Though there were chosen from some sects who, for various reasons, had not yet participated, the reality was that Li Ziliang had reached an astonishing height. But his record had been casually smashed by Xu Qing.
“3,000 meters! I couldn’t even dream of climbing that high!”
“Hmph. If the Eight Sect Coalition gave me dao child remuneration, then I could also climb 3,000 meters. That Xu Qing is just luckier than us, that’s all. I bet he has family in high places in Seven Blood Eyes. He’s not like us from the Frigid School. We have to fight for everything we get.”
“I heard that Xu Qing grew up in some slums....”
“You believe that too? This guy kills everyone he fights. That’s the kind of thing you expect from a silkpants.” [1]
“You’re wrong about that. Based on the intelligence reports I’ve read, Xu Qing is no silkpants. No, he’s the kind of person who knows how to repay his debts. What’s more, he shows extreme respect for his Elder Brother Chen Erniu. I even heard that he once said he would live and die together with Chen Erniu!”
“Who cares about that? I just want to see how high Xu Qing climbs and what reward he gets!”
As the crowd discussed what was happening, Xu Qing stood at a spot 3,000 meters up the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar. The wind at that height was fierce. However, the truth was that he was far, far away from the clouds. And the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar went higher past the clouds.
I think I’m done climbing for now. Thanks to the close connection he had with his Ghost Emperor mountain, he knew that he had reached the point where he shouldn’t absorb any more rancorous souls. He needed to give the cracks on the mountain time to close up before he continued. Having reached the conclusion that this was definitely the best idea, he was just getting ready to drop off the pillar when, all of a sudden, his eyes narrowed.
He had just spotted a black cloud speeding over the horizon. And within that cloud was a giant.
It was over 9,000 meters tall, green, and it emanated fluctuations of godliness. Shockingly, this was a godly entity. As it sped along in the cloud, it was possible to see over a hundred black-robed figures standing atop it. Each had indescribably cold expressions, as if they didn’t even have emotions at all.
On the giant’s head, there was a person wearing red. This person had an evil ghost scythe and seemed boundlessly heroic.
When Xu Qing saw that figure, his eyes narrowed even further.
It was the girl in red.
1. This is the first time ‘silkpants’ has actually appeared in this translation. Those who have read my previous Er Gen translations are probably familiar with the term. For anyone not familiar, it basically refers to entitled rich young people. The idea is that they wear silk clothing, which was a sign of wealth in ancient Chinese culture. ☜