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Nine thousand li outside Zhaoge.
Mount Chongwu. In the mountain, there was a lair known as “the Grave,” and in the lair was a type of creature known as the “jufu.”1 The Classic of Mountains and Seas contained records describing the jufu as similar to a monkey, sporting stripes along their arms as well as a leopard-like tail. They were experts at throwing objects, and they were both as swift as monkeys and as fierce as leopards. In the wildlands, they were fierce existences.
Qi Qi walked up the mountain, gazing at this wild cave. The white ape was on her shoulder. From faraway, they could see the jufu occupying the mountain forest, their numbers beyond measure.
“Is there really heavenly iron here?”
The white ape said: “Great Sage, be at ease. Three hundred years ago, meteoric iron from beyond the heavens fell here. The lumps of metal that these jufu hurl are none other than pieces of the meteoric iron, which is why they dominate this Mount Chongwu.”
Qi Qi’s eyes were stern. After her defeat at the hands of “God Of Wind Music” Prince Changqin, the Great Sage Equal Of Heaven’s self-esteem had suffered a significant blow. Furthermore, the experience made Qi Qi understand that to face a genuinely powerful Star Name without her own weapon was a very significant weakness. For this reason, she listened to the white ape’s suggestion to, prior to going to the East Sea to obtain the Ocean-calming Divine Needle, search for materials to forge herself a Divine Armament. Although it would not compare to a Divine Weapon, it could still bolster her strength.
Following the white ape’s suggestion, Qi Qi first took leave of Qi Lin and came to this Mount Chongwu in search of Beyond Heaven Meteoric Iron.
“You are actually knowledgeable in both astronomy and geomancy, huh.” Qi Qi’s tone ruminated. ‘You even knew the whereabouts of the Beyond Heaven Meteoric Iron.”
“This Lowly One is devoted to the Great Sage and has no intentions of entrapping you.” The white ape hurriedly made clear.
Qi Qi snorted, no longer bothering with it. She indeed required the white ape’s profound knowledge because neither herself nor Big Brother Qi Lin were too clear about the wildlands.
Qi Qi entered the nest of the jufu. The jufu all made their way through the craggy mountain rocks, each and every one of them staring at Qi Qi with pieces of iron ore in their hands. The Great Sage Equal of Heaven’s evil qi spread in all directions, making even these jufu shrink back out of fear.
Qi QI swaggered towards the depths of the nest.
Very quickly, she spotted an immense meteor in the center of a devastated cave. The outer shell of the rock had peeled away, revealing a dark metallic appearance.
Beyond Heaven Meteoric Iron was said to have descended from the starry sky of Primordial World. This meteoric iron had undergone the tempering and conglomeration of millennia of sun, moon, and starfire. Even for a Divine Name, it was formidable weapon material.
Qi Qi saw that hunk of iron and was about to take it.
An even larger jufu appeared on top of the iron. This jufu stood tall, like a giant. Not only was its build towering, its entire body was covered in armor forged from meteoric iron. It was like a soldier. Strange Beasts that refined qi became demons, and its qi would condense into a core. This one had surprisingly reached Golden Core Realm.
“Who are you, why have you intruded into our lands.” This jufu chieftain was capable of human speech.
“This Old Sun wants the meteoric iron to make a weapon. I want to borrow it.” Qi Qi continued to advance.
“This heavenly iron is our treasure. No one should think of taking it so easily.” The jufu chieftain roared, and the entire mountain’s hundreds upon hundreds of jufu hooted. Each Strange Beast stood erect, raising their long arms to toss their iron chunks.
Meteoric iron flew towards Qi Qi like a massive downpour.
These iron chunks carried the demonic qi of the jufu, which was more powerful than a thousand catties crossbow. Back then, there was once a troupe of cultivators who came to Mount Chongwu in search of heavenly iron. Among them was a Golden Core Late Stage cultivator, but against the assault of hundreds of jufu, their physical body was completely destroyed in the end while they barely escaped with their Primordial Spirit. Hundreds of jufu throwing stones at once was comparable to a country’s cadre of elite soldiers.
The white ape ducked under Qi Qi’s clothes in fright.
Bang, bang, bang.
The iron rain pounded QI Qi’s body, emitting the sounds of striking iron. The jufu chieftain was pleased. That Golden Core cultivator from back then was bludgeoned just like this.
After the downpour, the girl emerged unscathed. There was not even a single welt on her body. A piece of Beyond Heaven Meteoric Iron was clenched between her teeth. Qi Qi spat it out: “Using the Beyond Heaven Meteoric Iron like this truly is a waste.”
“Copper muscles and iron bones?” The jufu chieftain was flabbergasted.
Qi Qi straightened her body. Evil qi surged, frightening the jufu into scattering in all directions.
In an instant, Qi Qi came right before the jufu chieftain. This chieftain roared and pounced, its body curling into a ball. Demonic qi gathered into something akin to a meteor; this was its ability, “Meteorfall.” The other jufu immediately began cheering for their chieftain when they saw this.
The formidable power shook the cavern lair into an intense earthquake. Countless pieces of rock fell. This collision truly was like meteors were falling from the nine firmaments.
“Hè.” Qi Qi threw a punch.
Her iron fist released a bang when it impacted the jufu chieftain’s body. Against the Beyond Heaven Meteoric Iron armor it wore, her first punch surprisingly did not repel this Demon Beast. To the Great Sage Equal Of Heaven…If one punch was not enough, then punch more.
Bang, bang, bang.
Three enormous booms. The jufu chieftain’s armor cracked, “Ah!!!” A scream. Qi Qi seized the jufu’s neck, covering it in evil qi, frightening this chieftain into quivering. “Mercy, Great King, mercy. This Lowly One was blind and was not aware that the Great King was a Divine Name.”
Qi Qi was about to snap his neck.
“Great Sage, do not kill him. These jufu are experts in slinging and have cultivated intelligence. We can actually use them.” The white ape hopped back out.
“What use would This Great Sage have for these pieces of trash.” Qi Qi was disdainful.
“Perhaps they can be of help for the Ten Thousand Beasts Unbounded.” The white ape said: “Against these small fry, this would but sully the Great Sage’s majesty.”
“Fine.” Qi Qi thought for a moment and indeed did not need to waste her energy.
The jufu chieftain had escaped disaster and slinked along the ground like a leopard, “Many thanks for the Great King’s grace. We will surely work for the glory of the Great King’s Divine Name from now on.”
“Go bring this entire piece of meteoric iron to me.”
“As you command.”
The jufu chieftain screeched. The other Strange Beasts promptly swarmed that enormous meteor and gnawed at its shell.
“Where is the next location?” Qi Qi asked.
“This one will require some time.” The white ape said.
“I don’t want to make Big Brother worry.”
“Great Sage, there is no need to worry. The young master has already gone to Zhaoge. Presumably, he should be very safe.”2
“Hmph, if only.” Qi Qi coldly glared at the white ape.
Qi Lin was not the least bit safe, at least at the present moment.
Qi Lin stood before a cliff on the outskirts of Zhaoge. Below was a pit a hundred zhang deep. Another peak stood faraway. The graceful black-clothed Guguizi Wang Tingchan stood on the edge of the cliff, the wind blowing the hem of her skirt and her long hair, a picturesque scene.
“Master, is this actually passable?” Qi Lin hesitated. Even a Qi Refinement Ninth Deva cultivator would disintegrate if they fell from this cliff.
“You have already gained an understanding of the Eight Gates over the last few days. This Teacher’s escape technique is able to view the mind. There are networks that connect all things in Heaven and Earth. You need only see the qi of these networks to be able to move as you please. A trifling hundred zhang cliff can also be crossed.” Wang Xu said.
“Oh, Junior Brother, this is very simple. Master’s is the ‘Heavenly Vertical Earthly Horizontal Escape,’ not something you can learn just by wanting to.” Senior Sister Su Qin smiled to the side, “Your senior sister shall demonstrate for you.” The girl activated her Star Energy. With a single step, she straddled the cliff, and an invisible bridge seemed to span the two peaks. In no time at all, Su Qin crossed over, as if she had grown wings. Qi Lin watched in awe.
The escape techniques of the world were all varied and numerous. Qi Lin himself had the Pixiu Escape, but no matter the escape technique, there was one logic: there was no flight. More powerful escape techniques could perhaps cross one zhang to several dozen li, but they needed to be used in tandem with flight abilities or magic treasures in order to move unfettered across these two cliffs like Su Qin.
But Guiguzi’s Heavenly Vertical Earthly Horizontal Escape was this wondrous. In her words, the heavens had horizontal meridians and the earth had vertical meridians. The union of the horizontal and vertical would reveal mysterious spatial nodes. The escape technique stepped on these nodes; at first glance, one would be moving unfettered through Heaven and Earth.
However, this escape technique was very difficult to control. It required mastery of Qimen, Taiyi, and Liuren. Legend said that if one could be proficient in Liuren, then they could move as they pleased through Primordial World.
This actually was a bit like the Third Realm for cultivators, “Primordial Infant Seven Stars.”3 Cultivators who were able to cultivate this could use their Primordial infant to step on the sevens tars and roam free through the world, but if they had that cultivation, the Heavenly Vertical Earthly Horizontal Escape would become even more ingenious.
Qi Lin took a deep breath. Heaven and Earth had qi, qi turned to will, will to form, and form would be like a flight of stairs.
The Qimen art was like opening a door. By entering the door, he could move forward through space.
“Door, door, door…” Qi Lin stared at the two cliffs. A fierce wind howled, and he steeled hsi heart, activating the escape technique. His first step was onto air. Relying on formidable speed, he could maintain balance. Then, he just needed to see the Qimen of Heaven and Earth. But…
Qi Lin did not see anything.
After a few steps, he fell from the cliff.
Su Qin instantly arrived at Wang Xu’s side. She looked sympathetically at the man falling ten thousand zhang down the cliff: “Master, isn’t it too early to teach him the Heavenly Vertical Earthly Horizontal Escape right now?”
“Save me…”
A voice echoed through the air.
The two women ignored it. “We are almost out of time. King Zhou already wants to meet him.” Wang Xu said. “This Teacher has delayed for several days, there is no way to delay any longer.”
Hearing that King Zhou was summoning him, Su Qin’s expression changed. To have caught the eye of that cruel Di Xin, that was not good at all.
“Truly a pity.” Su Qin was very sympathetic, but she had no plans to save him: “It seems falling to death would be more fortunate for Junior Brother than meeting Di Xin.”
Wang Xu’s figure warped.
She vanished from the cliff.
The next second, both she and Qi Lin reappeared on the cliff already.
“Master, this Heavenly Vertical Earthly Horizontal Escape is too difficult. How about another day.” Qi Lin swallowed back his saliva.
“Hm.” Wang Xu nodded.
Su Xin gave a cunning smile. She extended her hand and pushed Qi Lin off the cliff.
“Between being a skeleton or having a crushed body, Senior Sister feels you are still better off with a crushed body.”4
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…Oof. Senior S8ster is.. harsh.
Also, Qi Qi and the Demifiend would get along GREAT! Why? Simple. If there’s a problem in the way, just punch at it.
Literally mother birds throwing a chick out of the nest.
Pretty much, yeah. Still harsh.