Wang Meng felt a bit dazed. The feeling was both familiar and strange, and it slowly bloomed into a faint smile. He savored the deep bond of their friendship. 'This is what true living is. This is what cultivation is all about!'
"Alright, your snot is getting on my clothes," Wang Meng said with a laugh.
Zhang Xiaopang pulled open Wang Meng's shirt. The wound was just a tiny dot. "Brother Meng, are you really okay? This isn't just a final burst of energy before you... you know, right?" As he spoke, his chubby face scrunched up, and he looked like he was about to burst into tears again.
WHACK...
Wang Meng gave him a knock on the head. "You're the one having a final burst of energy! What happened to me is called surviving a great calamity, which means good fortune is sure to follow!"
Wang Meng really meant it. He truly had survived a great calamity!
Gazing at the mangled heap that was the Enchanting Spider Demon, Zhang Xiaopang couldn't resist going over and kicking it a few times. The demon's corpse twitched, immediately sending Zhang Xiaopang scrambling far away, which made Wang Meng chuckle.
'This feeling is truly wonderful. Saint? Evil? What does it matter?'
'A Holy Hall Disciple? Not even fate can stop me now.'
'I will be the first person in history to practice Saint and Evil Dual Cultivation. From this day forward, my fate is mine to control, not heaven's!'
"Brother Meng, let's get out of here! This thing probably ran into its natural predator. We shouldn't stick around!"
Having survived the disaster, Zhang Xiaopang was now glowing with vigor. Wang Meng had to admire him; you didn't often meet someone so carefree.
Zhang Xiaopang then put his "invincible intuition" to use and took the lead. Wang Meng didn't mind. A casual stroll was fine with him.
'The Thunder Pool?'
'I've never heard of it. Then again, so many years have passed. A lot of things have changed.'
But then he had another thought. 'I'm a young man myself. How can I sound so old?'
"Brother Meng, hurry up! Want me to carry you?"
"Coming, coming!"
Wang Meng followed effortlessly behind Zhang Xiaojiang as the two of them strode off like shooting stars, sprinting wildly in the wrong direction. A man's intuition is never reliable.
After wandering in circles for two days, Zhang Xiaopang was a little embarrassed. "Brother Meng, why don't you give it a try? If I keep leading the way, I'm afraid we'll be stuck here for the rest of our lives."
Wang Meng smiled faintly. Several days of walking had thoroughly exhausted Zhang Xiaopang. For Wang Meng, however, every day was a new experience, a new epiphany. When the Evil Cultivator's Godhood had passed through the Law of Transcendence, it had been stripped of its power, leaving only its conceptual essence. Although he would have to cultivate his power from scratch again, the process had also purged the obsession that so easily made Evil Cultivators lose their way—the same obsession that had trapped Moo Shan at the very end.
But the current Wang Meng had no such shackles. Nothing and no one could bind him. He had all the time in the world, and the Celestial Dao was something to be comprehended along the way.
"Alright, let's switch directions. We'll head toward where the sun rises."
Wang Meng pointed to their left. Zhang Xiaopang looked up at the dense canopy of trees. 'The sunrise?'
'It doesn't matter,' he thought. 'I can't tell which way is which anyway.' The two hadn't walked for long when a sudden roar echoed from nearby.
"Li Tianyi, stop right there!"
A flash of light streaked past, and a figure appeared about fifty feet from the young man. This young man had a sword slung askew at his waist, without even a scabbard, and looked utterly nonchalant.
He stopped and shook his head helplessly. "Liangyuan, are you ever not annoying? My master just chewed me out and forbade me from fighting. If you want a one-on-one, go talk to my master first."
The man called Liangyuan was serious and solemn, a Long Sword carried squarely on his back. He looked to be no older than twenty, but the shocking thing was the two Golden Swords embroidered on his clothes. It was unbelievable!
Zhang Xiaopang's eyes nearly popped out of his head. 'Good heavens, how can such a monstrous genius exist?'
The other young man, Li Tianyi, was even younger, but he also had one Golden Sword on his clothes. And what shocked the two observers most was yet to come.
"Don't worry, we'll keep it to a spar," Liangyuan said with a hint of sarcasm. "Li Tianyi. Born with a Natural Life Mark at the Tenth Layer. After three years of cultivation, you reached the Fifteenth Layer of Life Mark. At seventeen, you mastered the Nine Heavens Fire Sword, a technique no one in the Li Family is supposed to touch before the Twenty-Second Layer of Life Mark. Hailed as the most outstanding genius of the Holy Hall in a century... Surely your courage isn't that small!"
Liangyuan spoke coldly. As one of the Nine Heroes of the Holy Hall, he had spent the last two days with his master hunting a Fifth-Transformation Golden Rhinoceros. In the past, he and the other Heroes were always the focus of the Elders' praise. But ever since Li Tianyi appeared, all words of praise were reserved for him alone. The most infuriating part was that the guy was a total slacker, treating cultivation as if it were just a part-time hobby.
Li Tianyi shrugged helplessly. "Senior Brother Liang, the old-timers just love to exaggerate. You reached the Eighteenth Layer of Life Mark at age twenty, setting a record across all the Sub-Halls. How could I possibly be your match? Besides, your Qianshui Sword Technique is my natural counter."
"Cut the crap. You beat my junior brother, and as the Senior Disciple of the Immortal Origin Hall, I have to get our honor back. You're not leaving today until we fight... or you could just admit defeat right now!"
Liangyuan declared arrogantly, pulling the sword from his back. Elemental Power immediately surged forth, and the blade radiated with light. This was the might of the Eighteenth Layer of Life Mark.
Wang Meng revealed a knowing smile. 'Fifteenth Layer of Life Mark at seventeen isn't bad at all,' he thought. 'Of course, what's more important is that this boy's Spiritual Attribute is far superior to that Liangyuan's.' Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaopang was shocked speechless.
Li Tianyi shrugged again. "Senior Brother Liang, it was because your junior brother wouldn't let me use the bathroom. Honestly, I hate trouble more than anything. I tried to be respectful, but if you're determined to ask for a beating, then don't blame me. But let's get one thing straight first: if you lose, the people from your Immortal Origin Hall better stop bothering me from now on."
"Hmph. If I lose, we disciples of the Immortal Origin Hall will walk the other way whenever we see you. Now, draw your sword."
Liangyuan said, his focus sharpening. 'This guy is way too conceited.'
"Senior Brother Liang, after you, please." Li Tianyi was still as casual as ever, clearly not taking the man before him seriously.
Zhang Xiaopang never expected to witness a battle between experts. As a standard-issue cultivation newbie and a fan of the powerful, his heart was filled with boundless admiration, and also a little nervousness.
The Nine Heavens Separation Fire Sword was renowned. It was the exclusive ultimate technique of the Holy Hall's Li Family, and one could only begin to cultivate it after reaching the Twenty-Second Layer of Life Mark. Control over one's Life Mark had to be exceedingly complex; a single misstep could cause one to Fall into Demon. Yet Li Tianyi had actually cultivated it with the power of the Fifteenth Layer... and succeeded. 'Comparisons are just infuriating!'
Although his opponent was several layers weaker than him, Liangyuan didn't dare to be the least bit careless. He recited the Sword Formulas, and his Treasure Sword rippled with waves of Elemental Power. 'With my superior Elemental Power, plus the fact that water counters fire,' he thought, 'as long as I fight steadily, victory is assured.'
Suddenly, streams of Sword Qi like silver chains blasted toward Li Tianyi. Liangyuan had already learned of his opponent's strength from his junior brother, so he attacked with full force right from the start, intending to catch him completely off guard!
It was the strongest move of the Qianshui Sword Technique—Endless Sea!
Wielding the formidable Elemental Power of the Eighteenth Layer of Life Mark, he instantly unleashed eighteen streams of Sword Qi, pushing his Elemental Power to its absolute limit. Even the most demanding master would have to nod in praise.
As one of the Nine Heroes of the Holy Hall, Liangyuan's reputation was not just for show.
Li Tianyi still wore that same listless expression. His body swayed and weaved through the Sword Qi as if it weren't a life-threatening torrent but merely a game. And just like that, he effortlessly dodged the dense and terrifying barrage, one attack after another.