Above the water droplet, a fiery blossom bloomed.
This singular scene was both beautiful and profoundly discordant.
*Zizi zizi, zizi zizi!*
Sounds of terrifying friction rang out.
Such disparate worlds, by their very nature, engendered conflict. From the moment of their genesis, they were engaged in a frantic, mutual consumption.
The realm of fire resided in the sky, the realm of water on the ground.
And between these two realms lay the terrifying power of two yuan force worlds collapsing upon each other!
Water and fire were inherently incompatible.
Their rules repelled, their roots opposed.
Nothing in this place should have existed!
This ought to have been a failed joint dao technique.
Yet, within this failure, a true terror was born!
The rules here were askew, wrong not only in the inherent opposition of water and fire, but also in the presence of all things that had mistakenly entered this place.
That roaring lightning curtain, which had spread to this very spot, swept over with a momentum that flattened all in its path. Wherever it passed, clouds scattered, water waves trembled, and even space itself seemed to distort. Countless fish and crabs in the water were left dead or injured.
But when it collided with these two realms of water and fire, engaged in their mutual consumption…
It silently and utterly extinguished.
The realms of water and fire were consuming each other and shrinking at astonishing speed.
But that immeasurably violent lightning also diminished in the same manner.
Jiang Wang, with precise control of his power, ensured that the consumption of the fire and water realms always maintained the same frequency.
They ceaselessly consumed each other, and they ceaselessly consumed the power of the lightning… until finally, they vanished almost simultaneously.
That lightning curtain, which connected the sky to the sea, paused for a moment when it expanded into this area where the realms of water and fire coexisted. As the water and fire realms were extinguished, this section of the lightning curtain also became exceedingly thin.
It was at this moment that Jiang Wang took a step forward, instantly unleashing his dao yuan in a frenzy. He drew out the “Famous Scholar Down and Out Sword” and, on the spot, cleaved this section of the lightning curtain!
*Hong long long, zizi zizi.*
Terrifying lightning residual waves spread outwards.
Residual lightning serpents, passing above Jiang Wang’s head and beneath his feet, surged towards the distant horizon.
Naturally, they also bypassed Zuo Guangshu, who was behind Jiang Wang.
The lightning curtain was still receding, the gap rapidly healing. Lightning power from other areas would automatically flow in to replenish it – but it was no longer connected to the two brothers.
A sudden calamity had thus been severed.
There is a saying: “The hemp rope specifically picks the thin place to break, misfortune only finds the ill-fated.”
In reality, this is merely because the weak are unable to resist misfortune, and they are often rendered miserable by it, thus appearing exceptionally ill-fated.
But the strong possess the ability to cleave through misfortune. For them, so-called disasters are merely small waves in the ocean of life.
“Not a bad performance.” Zuo Guangshu watched the terrifying lightning disappear into the distance and couldn’t help but smile faintly. “Of course, we can still control it a bit more finely.”
This was the first public display of their training results.
For the astonishing effect of this “Annihilation Realm Technique,” Zuo Guangshu was clearly quite satisfied.
And Jiang Wang had already stepped onto a cloud and was moving.
“Let’s go see what happened over there!”
“Big Brother Jiang, so urgent?” Zuo Guangshu was somewhat puzzled. “Earlier, you said it might still be very dangerous.”
“The most dangerous time has already passed. Even if it’s a Kui Niu, how many times can it unleash such terrifying power?”
Jiang Wang analyzed the situation for a few sentences, then asked, “If the heavily injured Zhong Li Yan is not far ahead, are you urgent or not?”
The further one was within the inner encirclement, the stronger this immense lightning power was, of course.
Even a strong individual like Zhong Li Yan, if they didn’t cope in time, could very likely be heavily injured.
This was Jiang Wang’s initial judgment.
And had the Kui Niu, having summoned such terrifying lightning, perhaps encountered an accident? Had it perhaps engaged with another powerful opponent? Had they both suffered mutual defeat and injury?
Crisis begets opportunity. After the danger, there should be an opportunity, right?
Before Jiang Wang’s words had even fallen, he saw a human figure flash, and Zuo Guangshu had already rushed to his side. Flowing light shone beneath his boots, and his eyes were filled with excitement.
His momentum was fierce, extremely urgent.
An uninformed bystander might even think his relationship with Zhong Li Yan was exceptionally good, that he was rushing to save the man.
The immense lightning created by the Kui Niu madly expanded outwards, covering a range of several hundred li. It supported the array it had come into contact with. Further inwards, however, the mountains and seas were even calmer.
This place had already been ravaged.
That roaring lightning had receded, and was still racing towards the distance, until its penetrating power completely dissipated, or it was struck down by another force.
Jiang Wang and Zuo Guangshu, each clad in smoke armor, brilliant and conspicuous, flew rapidly forward against the backdrop of the gradually receding lightning curtain.
The low-pressure layer of clouds was gradually scattering, and there were sporadic lightning serpents wandering everywhere, giving a sense of inexplicable desolation – yet they harmed them not in the slightest.
Before that terrifying lightning, which connected the sky and ground, expanded, the mechanism Garuda, its golden light concealed, calmly flew over the azure sea. Its twin wings unfolded, casting a massive shadow on the surface of the sea.
And Zhong Li Yan and Fan Wu Shu, too, were each on guard, stepping through the air.
If the Kui Niu’s tail trail were a visible line, someone overlooking from high in the air could clearly see that the positions of Qu Shun Hua and Yue Chan Shi, and the positions of Zhong Li Yan and Fan Wu Shu, were respectively on either side of the Kui Niu’s tail trail.
Zhong Li Yan’s group was closer to the Kui Niu.
The two sides, one left and one right, were temporarily still undetected by each other.
This scene was fully absorbed by an Eye Insect, and then transmitted to a distant location through its unique contact.
“Guess what my last Eye Insect discovered?”
Walking on the waves of the sea, Ge Fei’s eyes shone with light, possessing a sense of surprise at having captured prey.
Although he had been chased and killed by a Sky Dog, and even directly escaped from that floating mountain, his crown remained straight and his clothes were not disordered. He possessed a certain air of having weathered wind and rain.
The Wu Ling beside him clearly didn’t have such good spirits, and simply said, “Release it!”
After getting along for a long time, and seeing many instances of Ge Fei selling suspense, he was even too lazy to say, “If you have something to say, just say it, if you have a fart, release it quickly.” He had directly abbreviated it to a single word: “Release.”
“You insult the scholarly wind, you insult the scholarly wind!” Ge Fei was heartbroken and sternly condemned.
Wu Ling walked forward without making a sound, no longer asking questions.
Finally, Ge Fei couldn’t bear it first. He curled his lip in dissatisfaction, then said, “I saw at least six people in that sea area, which is to say, at least three chapters of the Jade Wall!”
“Who are they?” Wu Ling asked.
“Zhong Li Yan, Fan Wu Shu, Qu Shun Hua, Yue Tian Nu, Zuo Guangshu, Jiang Wang!” Ge Fei reported the names as if listing dishes, effortlessly and smoothly.
Wu Ling stopped in his tracks and turned his head. “What do you think?”
“Scatter the Calamity Insects and see who’s unlucky, keke.” Ge Fei grinned and then looked towards him. “My family only has one Calamity Mother Empress Insect, which lays eggs only once every twenty years. Each time, only two to three young Calamity Insects can survive. Although they will never grow into Calamity Mother Empress Insects, and their lives are very short, they are also very rare. From hatching, they have grown in the best environment. I don’t even eat as well as they do…”
Wu Ling glanced at him with his slightly large eye. “The account is recorded. I understand.”
Only then did Ge Fei stop his endless talk. He took out a transparent glass small bottle from his bosom.
The bottle was exquisitely smooth and very beautiful.
Inside the bottle were three black feathered insects, flying back and forth.
They were about half a finger long, their heads extremely thin and their feathers exceedingly fine.
As their feathered wings vibrated, their tails trailed paths of flowing black smoke.
Their bodies seemed both real and illusory.
“These people are all Heaven’s Chosen, and they think their fortunes are deep and thick. One Calamity Insect might not affect much. Then I’ll give up all three of them. We’ll see the effect in the next blood capital!”
Ge Fei looked at the small glass bottle with great heartache, then handed it to Wu Ling. “Throw it over. It’s fine to smash the bottle, no need for any other actions.”
Wu Ling pushed his iron-cast Enter Wisdom Crown with his right hand, drew out his Literary Spirit, and casually used a brush to circle the glass bottle. His left hand, however, held out a sand plate.
The sand plate was three feet long and three feet wide. The material of the base plate was difficult to discern, but in any case, its color was deep and dark, yet bright.
On the plate, mountains were piled and seas gathered, manifesting the corresponding environment.
The vast majority of the sand plate was a murky, indistinct mess, trapped in fog.
In the clear section, there was a three-dimensional representation of a floating mountain and an azure sea, depicting all the places they had explored or observed since entering the Mountain and Sea Realm.
“Position?” Wu Ling’s words were simple and clear.
Ge Fei looked at the sand plate with envy. He rolled up his Literary Spirit into a line, slightly located the position, and then pointed it on the sand plate.
Wu Ling then directly used his Literary Spirit and wolf hair brush to circle the glass bottle into the sand plate. It landed exactly at the position Ge Fei had indicated, as if falling into clouds and fog, and instantly disappeared from sight.
A pair of large and small eyes stared at the sand plate, looking very serious.
“Actually, it doesn’t matter if your Yuan Stone is not enough to cover the cost. Our friendship…” Ge Fei eagerly said from the side, “Just use this Mountain and River Plate to offset the debt.”
Wu Ling squinted at him. “In this Mountain and Sea Realm, except for Qu Shun Hua, no one is qualified to ask if my Yuan Stone is enough to cover the cost. You are quite benevolent!”
“It’s not just about this Yuan Stone matter, it’s not so superficial…” Ge Fei sighed. “The most important thing is fate. Can you understand fate? This thing has a destiny with me. The first time I saw it, I felt an intimacy, as if it was destined!”
Wu Ling pretended not to hear him.
Ge Fei said again, “Honestly, Brother Wu, don’t you feel that your Mountain and River Plate and my Eye Insects are a perfect match? They can absolutely be called a match made in heaven! Ask yourself honestly, if it weren’t for the help of my Eye Insects, could you have grasped such a large range of intelligence so quickly and rapidly deduced the Mountain and River Plate to this extent?”
“They are a perfect match!” Wu Ling nodded, saying with a serious expression, “Name your price. How much would you sell your Eye Insects, along with the matching cultivation and control methods?”
“I’m too lazy to reason with you.” Ge Fei waved his hand and skipped this topic.
Just at this moment, on the Mountain and River Plate, at the place where the Calamity Insect glass bottle had fallen, a path of lightning suddenly rose up, having already clearly probed the area. It was then covered by thick fog again, and the range of the thick fog was still constantly expanding –
This indicated that the environment was rapidly changing!
And the degree of change was very profound, otherwise, it wouldn’t have caused the already clear area on the Mountain and River Plate to dim down.
Wu Ling looked towards Ge Fei.
By this time, the last Eye Insect had also been affected and killed by the lightning wave. That path of lightning was the last scene it had seen.
Ge Fei knew this, and he was no more knowledgeable than Wu Ling, but he laughed confidently. “Didn’t you see? Did you see this world-destroying lightning? This is just how fierce my family’s Calamity Insects are! When calamity strikes, all things bully each other, even the Kui Niu wants to be affected! Now you know how valuable your Yuan Stone expenditure is, right?”
Wu Ling’s large and small eyes were full of doubt, but that path of lightning was indeed destroying the area the Mountain and River Plate had already seen through, and it had happened just after the Calamity Insects had fallen.
He couldn’t help but ask, “What’s happening there now?”
“Calamity manifests in various forms. Natural disasters and man-made calamities are all intertwined… who can say for sure?” Ge Fei said. “Anyway, there’s definitely something involving the Kui Niu in there. Want to go see? It’s exciting, isn’t it?”
Wu Ling shook his head. “Military strategy says, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles. Our opponents are not just those six people. Let’s stick to the original plan, explore the environment first, and wait for the geographical advantage to be in our hands, then wait for the opportune time.”
Ge Fei confidently said, “My Calamity Insects have already been scattered. The opportune time and geographical advantage in that place are all mine. What’s left to wait for?”
Wu Ling looked at him. “If your Calamity Insects are so fierce, why were you only among the top eight in the Yellow River Meeting?”
Ge Fei raised his chin, nostrils flaring with pride. “Perhaps someone who didn’t even qualify to participate in the Yellow River Meeting isn’t suitable to mock the top eight of the Yellow River, right?”
Wu Ling choked.
He couldn’t very well say things like “Chu country is an overlord country, and the competition is more intense.” Therefore, he was actually left speechless for a moment.
After all, Ge Fei was the “host” of this trip. He was self-aware that he couldn’t offend his financial backer too harshly, and so he voluntarily said, “In a place like the Yellow River Meeting, with the gaze of Emperor Monarchs and the hosting of True Monarchs, what good would my Calamity Insects be? The best two signs for advancing from the top eight to the top four were Yan Shao Fei and Fan Wu Shu. I drew Yan Shao Fei, which was already like my ancestor’s grave emitting green smoke, a result of continuous consumption of misfortune over a long period. What more could I expect?”
“Even if you had drawn Fan Wu Shu, you might not have won.” Wu Ling still said somewhat disapprovingly.
Ge Fei didn’t deny it. “Man sets out to conquer heaven. Luck is only one aspect. For true strong individuals, breaking calamity with force is a common occurrence. Look at that Jiang Wang from Qi country in the Inner Mansion realm. First, he met Xiang Bei, then he met Qin Zhi Zhen, and finally Huang She Li. He continuously battled against the Heaven’s Chosen of three overlord countries, and continuously challenged the strongest in the Inner Mansion like Qin Zhi Zhen and Huang She Li. You could say he had the worst possible luck with the draw, but in the end, he took the championship, and it was the most convincing one.”
He turned his face and smiled at Wu Ling. “This time, if you help me get to the essence blood of ‘Fei,’ then Fan Wu Shu, Yan Shao Fei, and the like, will just be nothing, right? At that time, I will have both luck and force, and it will truly be heaven’s will in me, a hero free to roam!”
“Don’t be too optimistic.” Wu Ling looked at the Mountain and River Plate for a while, then put it away. “This time, our opportunities are both very small. I am just doing my best and fighting. To be truly precise, yours is more difficult… you know how difficult it is.”
“Didn’t you say that as long as we collect all nine chapters of the Jade Wall that enter the Mountain and Sea Realm, we can directly open the Huang Wei Zhen secret library? This is the simplest path, right?” Ge Fei smiled with squinted eyes. “Then we can just dry them all up.”
Wu Ling was silent for a while, then only said, “Your courage is commendable.”
The 《Mountain Sea Strange Beast Records》 records: “Further east two hundred li, is said to be Tai Mountain, upon which are many gold and jade, Zhen wood. There is a beast there, its shape like a cow but with a white head, one eye and a snake tail, its name is Fei. Walking on water, it exhausts; walking on grass, it dies. When it is seen, there is a great epidemic in the world.”
Ge Fei was fixated on the strange beast with the same name as himself, namely the legendary Calamity Beast, the disaster god who wreaked havoc on the world.
Compared to the Heaven’s Chosen who entered the Mountain and Sea Realm, it was much fiercer.
To truly speak of courage, aiming for the essence blood of “Fei” probably requires even more courage.
However, Wu Ling was clear that the Yue country Ge clan had been fixated on the essence blood of “Fei” for not just one or two generations.
In the year 3627 of the Dao calendar, the Ge clan entered Tai Mountain, exhausting twenty-seven elite individuals, none of whom returned.
In the year 3795, the Ge clan’s patriarch personally utilized “Calamity Water” to seek the young Fei. A True Person of a generation, once gone, there was no news.
The Ge clan was an ancient and famous family in Yue country, mysterious and strong. But with the ever-changing cultivation world, many strange beasts gradually became extinct, and the ancient insect control techniques could no longer keep up with the era, gradually showing signs of decline.
To break through their bottleneck, the Ge clan had struggled for countless generations.
Otherwise, why would Ge Fei be named “Fei”?