Chapter 40: Discovered The effect of the experience pill made Di Jiufeng leap up to the peak of Middle-Stage Deity Transformation. She felt that if she pushed a bit, breaking through into Late-Stage Deity Transformation would not be out of the question, but right now, she had other things to do.
These old boors were intolerable bullies. If she kept swallowing her tongue and giving way, maybe even Ning Guang would be lost here.
She pushed Ning Guang behind her with one arm, then stabbed out with Hong Shang. This was a top-grade flying sword, and connected to Di Jiufeng"s spirit, with her spiritual energy as support, the elders on the platform only saw a flash before their eyes before they were awash in a sea of red peach flowers.
Gentle peaches in their luminous splendor burned as far as the eye could see. Cloying perfume filled every orifice, confusing the mind.
The elders were in the middle of the sea of flowers. They felt a cool wind brush their faces, peach blossom petals fluttering down, glowing with a faint cold light under the bright sun.
The elders trying to grab them suddenly stopped, and in the next second, b.l.o.o.d.y mouths simultaneously opened on all their bodies.
The grand Han Hai Pavilion elders had been stunned by this little viper, just like that! The Sect Leader"s face darkened. He slapped a hand on his leg, the thunderous sound rolling towards the arena platform. "Put your hearts into it! The sword cultivators of my Han Hai Pavilion are absolutely no weaker than others!" This fierce shout exploded by the elders" ears, making their stunned minds suddenly awaken from the spell.
Their faces were very dark, each one clenching their teeth, glaring, furious, at Di Jiufeng.
"So impudent, first you destroy the Luan Feng sword, then you cause a ruckus on the arena, do you look down on our Han Hai Pavilion?"
"You are sword cultivators as well, how could you not know how important one"s flying sword is? You destroyed Luan Feng, do you mean to keep Sui Ying"s sword cultivation from ever advancing another inch?!"
"So young, yet so vicious! If we do not teach you a good lesson today, I"m afraid you might destroy the cultivation world in the future!" Before their words had fallen, the four gathered their oppressive auras into a net, smashing down towards the two.
Though Di Jiufeng"s cultivation was a bit higher than theirs and she could fight one on many, she still was not a match for them.
She humphed, then turned to look at Ning Guang. Her face was still bone-pale, spiritual energy drained. Though the blood flowing from her palm had stopped, there was still a red patch dyed into the mouth of her sleeve. "Ning Guang, you have suffered, I will get justice for you." Di Jiufeng furrowed her brow, pity flowing through her eyes.
Under her gaze, Ning Guang felt like she had been bathed in honey.
She was entirely in love, but could not bear to have her Shifu face these howling winds and torrential rains. She looked at her with lowered eyes and spoke, sincere and confident, "Shifu, I swear, from now on, I will never let you worry again. I will protect you, no matter what, I will never let you carry the burden." The time was not right, and the location was not right either, but this affection more dazzling than the bright sun of the nine heavens and the ten lands washed out the severity of the arena platform by quite a bit.
Di Jiufeng smiled, then said gently, "Alright."
Then, she turned, her gentleness dissolving without a trace, leaving only permafrost three inches deep. "The name of Han Hai Pavilion really does fill all under the heavens, you even have the power to invert black and white!" Tossing Hong Shang onto the ground, she suddenly gave up all resistance.
It was already too late for today"s events to have a good resolution. Luan Feng had dispersed. No matter if Ning Guang had something to do with it or not, Han Hai Pavilion would never let them go. If they did not die here, even if they were saved by a fluke, they would be chased down from today on. Having become a thorn in Han Hai Pavilion"s side, they would never be satisfied until they were not eliminated. So, since Han Hai Pavilion was all-so-virtuous, they might as well go for a life and death struggle.
[T/N: 鱼死网破 (yu2 si3 w.a.n.g3 po4), "either the fish dies or the net split", refers to a life or death struggle.]
She refused to believe that they could be so shameless as to force a Deity Transformation cultivator to self-destruct under everyone"s eyes.
Suffering the oppressive auras of the four, Di Jiufeng forced out a mouthful of blood, bone-pale face burning red in fury, expression full of stubbornness and indignation, making everyone feel as if they were suffering with her. "Though Sui Ying is strong, she is not as strong as my disciple. You feared she would lose, so you sealed my disciple"s cultivation! I can let this go, I know I should not steal your thunder here, it"s not that I cannot accept defeat! But you?
I will forgive you for forcing my disciple to suffer the humiliation of defeat, but this vicious woman wants my disciple"s life as well! If my disciple had not blocked in time, what would be behind me now would be her corpse!
Your disciple is human, then is mine not as well?!
Even her spiritual sword could not condone your actions and dispersed on its own, yet you want to twist the truth and blame my disciple! We come from a small sect, but I cannot tolerate your indifference to human life! Could it be that in your eyes, the life of a disciple from a small sect is not even worth as much as a trifling spiritual sword!"
Di Jiufeng spoke like a barrage of gunfire, intentionally using spiritual energy to amplify her voice so that everyone by the arena platform could hear her loud and clear.
She did not say that Ning Guang"s life was important, she only said that small sects could not touch great G.o.ds. She wanted to arouse sympathy, it was better than a lone army putting up a brave fight.
Because she had intentionally hastened her speech, she had already finished by the time the elders thought to try and stop her. Now that the words had already left her mouth, though those second- and third-rate sects did not move, their gazes gathered in unison. The lead elder lifted a hand, but did not know what to say, gaze subconsciously floating towards the Sect Leader.
Seeing this useless trash, the Sect Leader humphed. Hands behind his back, he walked down, treading across air.
"Such an eloquent little girl, what, do you want to turn the world against my Han Hai Pavilion?" His eyes were like swords nailed onto Di Jiufeng"s body. His cultivation was very high. Releasing all of his oppressive aura, he nearly made every bone in Di Jiufeng"s body shatter. Her legs began to tremble, and the pressure on her spine made her unable to lift her head.
"My Han Hai Pavilion has always taken a modest place in the world. Everyone present, no matter which sect they are from, is a respected partner of my Han Hai Pavilion as long as their hearts are pure and kind, but you! So young, and you do not learn what is right, but disreputable methods to sow dissent!"
The Sect Leader restrained the two with his own power, and Di Jiufeng was pressed until she couldn"t even draw breath.
Lungs full of words rolled around in her chest, but could not push through the obstruction of her throat.
As the number one sect of the cultivation world, as soon as Han Hai Pavilion"s sect leader opened his mouth, all the stirring cultivators pushed down their thoughts. Though they saw what was wrong with the situation, who dared offend this great beast?
The scene instantly quieted, even the Jueqing Elder who was preparing to advance slowly pulled back his foot. These were people from his Zhangjian Sect, people who by affection and by reason he should protect, but they had offended Han Hai Pavilion! The Han Hai Pavilion that could crush Zhangjian Sect with a twitch of its finger! The Jueqing Elder shrunk back, even pulling back the disciples that refused to watch this happen.
Isolated and without help, Di Jiufeng was disappointed, but she did not blame them.
It was not wrong to protect oneself before one"s principles, she just hated that she was not strong enough.
Like a caged beast struggling in its prison, despairing and mournful howls made Ning Guang"s heart start to leak blood. She grabbed Di Jiufeng"s hand, the demonic energy in her body stirring into motion. Truthfully, she still was not a match for this sect leader. Even if she used demonic cultivation, she could not take his life! But she could not see her Shifu struggle.
If Shifu furrowed her brow, she would want to destroy this whole world.
Under the Sect Leader"s oppressive aura, she did her utmost to straighten her back. In this struggle, Ning Guang even heard the sound of bones breaking, but she did not care. Eyes seeping blood, she looked like the demon Luo Cha in h.e.l.l, gnawing at his flesh and blood bite by bite. Her demonic energy gathered a bit, about to pour out of her dantian in the next second.
[T/N: 罗刹 (luo2 cha4), a man-eating demon.]
But at this time, a bright laugh sounded from the observation platform, and the oppressive aura doing its utmost to crush them was scattered away.
Ji Xian wanted to recruit Ning Guang, so, seeing them with no path of retreat, he intended to do them a favor. "Ming Cang ah, these two juniors don"t know anything, why must you pick a fight with them? It is a pity that Luan Feng was destroyed, but Sui Ying was not yet at her peak, a sword that is too high-level may actually hinder her sword cultivation. Its destruction may in fact be an opportunity.
Don"t be angry, I have the sword Liu Yue. Though it is not as good as Luan Feng, it is still the fifth-ranked of the Heavenly Swords. I want to exchange it for a favor, to spare these two girls" lives."
[T/N: 流月 (liu2 yue4), "flowing moon".]
Ji Xian"s protective att.i.tude was clear. Though Sect Leader Ming Cang was still unsatisfied, it was best not to tear down his face here.
But, he knew well what Ji Xian"s intentions were. He did not want to let Ning Guang enter the Ji family just like this, he had to think of some way to eliminate this little girl.
Plots and plans circled through Ming Cang"s head, but none of it showed on his face. He stroked his whiskers, then finally said, "Alright, since you spoke on their behalf, I will not cause trouble for them. Today is on your good name, but if they continue to act improperly in the future, my Han Hai Pavilion will not sit and look on."
Not giving the two another glance, he turned and walked to Sui Ying"s side.
He pulled her to leave, but Sui Ying threw herself to her knees, expression mournful, blood flowing from every word. "Shifu! Please see reason! My Luan Feng did not disperse by itself! It was corrupted by demonic energy!"
Raising her sword over her head, huddled on the ground, Sui Ying"s heart was full of rage, refusing to give up. "Shifu, Luan Feng has accompanied me for many years, it has long connected with my spirit. What "cannot condone Han Hai Pavilion"s actions, so it dispersed", you believe these words?! When it dispersed, its entire form was tinted with black energy, how could I have missed it! Shifu! I plead of you, do not be so permissive of these evil people!"
She kowtowed loudly, over and over.
Ming Cang already wanted to deal with Ning Guang, but sadly he had no excuse. Now, hearing his disciple"s words, his heart thudded into motion.
Swishing his sleeves imperceptibly, the hand hidden in his sleeve secretly made a seal.
"Ying, quick, stand up, Shifu knows you are upset, but the accusation of corrupting a sword with demonic energy is not something that can be made lightly. You have to provide the evidence, or else everyone under the heavens will ridicule our Han Hai Pavilion for spewing blood to tarnish others."
Sui Ying had no way to prove Ning Guang had corrupted her sword in this way, but Ming Cang never needed her to reply.
When he finished speaking, a female cultivator from Ci Guang Temple slowly walked up to the arena platform.
She looked at Ming Cang, and imperceptibly nodded her head. Then, she said with awe-inspiring righteousness, "Of all evil things under the heavens, none can escape before my Ci Guang Temple"s eyes. If this sword really has been corrupted by demonic energy, then my Ci Guang Temple will not sit and look on!"
Walking up to Sui Ying, she took the sc.r.a.p iron from her hands. She collected Buddhist energy in her hand, then slid it down the sword"s body.
Di Jiufeng sensed something was wrong. But Ming Cang was staring at her like a tiger at its prey, and she could only slowly lower the arm she was about to raise.
Notes:
This chapter was translated by Lily.