Evolution - Chapter 154
Chapter 154
But how could the Sword Maniac have gotten so weak? Could she be playing the pig to eat the tiger?
The leopard-faced beast’s expression turned hesitant.
A tantalizing thought tickled its mind. What if she wasn’t playing the pig to eat the tiger, but was a tiger stranded in the lowlands?
No, no, no! It couldn’t compare itself to a dog! It was a dragon’s son!
It mulled it over, unable to make a decision. Then it saw the other star beasts slowly, slowly trying to sneak away, and it had a sudden epiphany, a brilliant idea.
“Save!” With a loud thud, it smashed an unlucky star beast to bits with its tail! It rolled the creature up and stuffed the entire thing into its innate storage space.
“Don’t save!” The next chosen star beast trembled in terror, thinking it would suffer the same fate and become someone’s crafting material. But instead, it was just roughly flung aside, its little life spared.
Amidst this agonizing cycle of “save” and “don’t save,” the number of star beasts dwindled one by one, while the familiar spiritual presence grew weaker and weaker. The beast grew anxious. It violently smashed the few remaining star beasts, hastily stuffing them into its storage space while grumbling, “A bunch of idiots, why did you have to crowd together? Now I have no choice but to save you all!”
If the spirits of the star beasts that died by its hand could respond, they would surely leap up and curse its shamelessness!
Damn it, have some decency!
The giant beast with the head of a leopard and the body of a dragon had no intention of being decent. It thought being a Yazi was perfectly fine!
It rushed frantically in the direction of the spiritual presence. It was clearly getting closer, yet its perception of the presence didn't grow any clearer. Instead, with the passage of time, it became fainter.
After running for two days and two nights, it finally arrived, its anxious leopard face once again overcome with bewilderment.
What was this pile of scorched black stuff before it?!
Looking closer, it saw a glint of silver mixed in with the blackened mess. Just as it was about to flick its tail to retrieve it, it suddenly realized that the faint spiritual presence was emanating from that very silver glint.
It flicked its tail in frustration, its face a mask of grievance. Pretending it had never intended to snatch the object with its tail, it approached cautiously and extended its noble, albeit short, claws, gently lifting the small silver object out.
Reflected in its large dragon eyes were two tiny people.
It wasn't the Sword Maniac, but two people it had never seen before.
It stared in amazement, then sniffed. There was the metallic tang of fresh blood, and a faint, savory aroma of burnt meat—it smelled delicious.
It looked at the two small figures with great regret. A pity they were juniors the Sword Maniac wanted to protect. They couldn't be eaten.
It looked conflictedly at the two small people. They were still alive, but if it didn't save them soon, they would die. It sniffed again, then shrank itself down. It carefully used its sharp dragon claws to pry open the tattered cabin door, lest it accidentally slice the people inside in two, which would make them truly unsavable.
In the years it had followed the Sword Maniac, although she would beat it up whenever she was bored, she had still taught it a lot of common sense. Of these two little people, one had an injured divine soul but only minor physical wounds. The other, the one with the Sword Maniac’s spiritual imprint, was in much worse shape. She was a bloody mess, looking as if she had been scraped down to the bone while passing through chaotic spacetime currents.
With a pained heart, it took out two bottles and fed a small mouthful to each of them—one was for nourishing the divine soul, the other a life-saving elixir that could keep someone alive as long as they had a single breath left.
Unexpectedly, after taking the medicine, the two people’s faces turned increasingly pale, their features twisting in pain! It panicked. These were rare sacred treasures in the cultivation world, so why did these two look like they had been poisoned?!
If the Sword Maniac found out it had killed her juniors while trying to treat them, she would definitely beat it up again! Help!
It fumbled, casting every healing spell it knew on the two of them, but it couldn't understand why their conditions fluctuated so wildly. This continued until it accidentally cast a spiritual energy defensive shield—and the two finally stabilized, their deathly pale faces gradually regaining a healthy color.
“Huh?” It scratched its chin with the tip of its tail. “So you’re just too weak to survive in space?!” it exclaimed gleefully, looking quite proud. “Right after I was born, I could already travel freely through the stars with the Sword Maniac!”
Pride was one thing, but these two little things were truly a hassle. This was as much as it could do to save them, yet neither of them had woken up, their life force only a tiny bit stronger than before. To save them completely, it would have to return to the cultivation world and find someone.
But it didn't really like humans. Human cultivators were too wicked, always scheming to turn it into a contract beast or use it for materials. The Sword Maniac had threatened it just like that back then: “If you don’t listen, I’ll dismantle you and sell you for parts!”
It got lost in thought. Speaking of which, although she was ruthless when she beat it up, she had seriously taught it many things during those years it spent with her. It even learned how to save money!
A trace of nostalgia flickered in its large eyes. It wondered how she was doing now.
Why not take this opportunity to deliver her juniors back to her and check in on her at the same time? The more it thought about it, the more brilliant the idea seemed. “Wow,” it praised itself. Hehe, if I return these two juniors to her, won’t she owe me a huge favor?!
In that case, could it ask her to give its dragon scales a thorough scrubbing? It wriggled its body. Its scales were too numerous and dense, providing excellent defense and hardness, but… but only the Sword Maniac’s sword qi could get them truly clean.
Having decided to make the Sword Maniac owe it a huge favor, it happily tucked the two small people, along with the wreckage they were in, under the scales of its belly. After setting up protections for them, the Yazi shot off with a “whoosh,” joyfully heading for the cultivation planet where the Sword Maniac resided.
It still remembered! Not long after it was born, the Sword Maniac had forced it to carry her through space, back to a cultivation planet that was on the verge of dying.
When they left, she had looked especially sad, much sadder than when she wanted to buy something but discovered she was poor.
It didn't quite understand. She had clearly brought several of her junior brothers and sisters out to play with, so why was she sadder than when she was all alone?
If it could find a little dragon to play with, it would be overjoyed!
To vent her anger for her, it had deliberately shaken off those junior brothers and sisters, but she hadn't appreciated the gesture at all. Instead, she had beaten it up again, so hard that it had cried and wailed that it knew it was wrong. Then that brute had made her juniors quickly catch its tears and collect its dislodged scales…
After half a month of non-stop travel, it finally found the Sword Maniac’s cultivation planet and dove straight in. Upon entering the planet’s atmosphere, before it could even rejoice, someone came at it with a sword drawn. Terrified, it tucked its head and fled, racing at full speed toward the Sword Maniac’s location.
It ran for three days and four nights and finally reached the Sword Maniac’s sect, but the pursuers behind it were still attacking in waves. It had lost many scales and was covered in wounds. It had suffered greatly to protect these two little people!
It must be compensated!
After a long, resounding dragon’s roar, a clear, childlike voice echoed throughout the entire Xuan Tian Sect: “Chu Ci, Chu Ci, Chu Ci! Help! If you don’t come out, the juniors you’re looking after are going to die!”
The pursuers’ attacks faltered. Chu Ci?!
Chu Ci!
Damn it, if you’re Chu Ci’s divine beast, why didn’t you say so earlier? Why run like such a coward without a word? Have you no pride?
But some still held onto a sliver of hope. This was a divine dragon, a Yazi! Not to mention the immense benefits of taming it, even if they ganged up and killed it, the parts they could divide would all be priceless treasures. Who could bear to let such a prize slip through their fingers?
Besides, after Chu Ci returned to her home cultivation planet over six thousand years ago, her Dao heart had collapsed, and her cultivation had stagnated for millennia. It wasn't until twenty years ago that she supposedly had a fortuitous encounter. Her Dao heart was shattered and then reforged, allowing her to successfully break through to the Integration Stage just before her lifespan ran out.
Two years ago, it was said that she, with just her sword and her Integration Stage cultivation, had challenged and defeated eighteen Mahayana cultivators of the Xuan Tian Sect, reclaiming Ten Thousand Swords Peak, which had been almost completely devoured by others after her master ascended over two thousand years ago.
Only then did Chu Ci, the god of slaughter who had once driven all the sword cultivators of her generation into collective despair, reappear before the world after vanishing for over six thousand years.
What if the Xuan Tian Sect had exaggerated Chu Ci’s combat prowess just to save face?
No guts, no glory!
After a brief pause, the dozen or so Mahayana cultivators behind it unleashed another crisscrossing barrage of various techniques.
Only after they attacked did they realize something was wrong. Why were there only spell attacks? Where were the sword qi, the sword light, the sword intent?
The spell cultivator masters turned their heads sharply and glared. What were you sword cultivators doing?!
The sword cultivator masters had retreated several dozen li, wearing innocent expressions that said, “I’m pure, just passing by, I won’t make a move.”
Under the collective scorn of the spell cultivators, the sword cultivators felt deeply wronged. Which of the Mahayana sword cultivators still in this realm wasn't one of Chu Ci's past defeated opponents? They had lost in all sorts of ways, beaten with a certain rhythm.
A person’s reputation precedes them. It wasn't their fault; the psychological trauma Chu Ci had inflicted was simply too great.
Moreover, after it was rumored that Chu Ci's Dao heart had collapsed, she had never appeared in public again. They only had tragic memories of being defeated by her sword and had never had the chance to enjoy the pleasure of crushing her. As a result, they had momentarily forgotten that their cultivation was now a major realm higher than hers.
But, well, since they had already retreated, they certainly weren't going to go back now!
Did they have no pride?!
It all happened in an instant. After the Yazi had shouted its plea, they had hesitated for a moment before continuing their attack. But in just three to five breaths, a flash of sword light shot out from the Xuan Tian Sect. It was followed by a sword intent that soared to the heavens, its aura so majestic it could steal one’s heart, accompanied by the faint resonance of ten thousand swords singing in unison.
The person had not yet arrived, but the sword came first, intercepting all the attacks with power to spare. The tip of the sword was pointed at them, sending a chill through the hearts of the dozen or so Mahayana masters present.
The expressions of the sword cultivator masters changed slightly. It was a simple move, yet it caused the swords in their own hands to hum faintly.
They were Mahayana cultivators! Mahayana! Mahayana!
Important things must be said three times! For the sword intent of an Integration Stage cultivator to cause the swords of Mahayana cultivators to resonate—that sword intent was truly terrifying!
Damn it, people like her are so annoying!
After being silent for several thousand years, couldn't she have just quietly reached the end of her lifespan? Did she have to break through to a new major realm right before her time was up, rising from the ashes to relentlessly add to everyone's psychological trauma?
“Everyone…” Chu Ci’s voice traveled from afar. She paused subtly before continuing, “Fellow Daoists, since you are at Xuan Tian, why not join me at Ten Thousand Swords Peak for a chat?”
The dozen or so Mahayana cultivators felt a bit strange. That pause… it had soul. Chu Ci was probably hesitating over whether to call them “Seniors” or “Fellow Daoists.”
It was better to be called Fellow Daoists. If she had called them Seniors, it would have shattered their nerves.
After all, they were more or less of the same generation, right? Right?
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