Chapter 36: Terrifying Strength
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
"Boom doom!"
The huge stronghold belonging to Celestial Sect echoed with a loud boom as the ground beneath shook violently.
A greenish white flame engulfed the air and wrecked the earth, causing flaming ripples to scatter all around, inducing widespread damage.
The red roofed buildings within several kilometers radius were all destroyed and razed down to the ground.
Cracks started forming all over the white washed pavements and roads making numerous potholes.
Zhang Dan Shan and the old woman were at the forefront of the impact, right at the heart of the lotus’ explosion and took the most damage out of everyone present.
The old woman’s entire face contorted in agony as she wailed out in pain before exploding into a mist of blood and gore. Within seconds, even the blood turned into ashes due to the extremely high heat as she disintegrated into nothingness and her spirit scattered away from her physical body.
The protective s.h.i.+eld in front of Zhang Dan Shan cracked and shattered as he was thrown into the air from the impact and collided heavily into a mountain some distance away.
Several Sect Elders standing around were also blasted away from the impact and were thrown into the ruins behind them. When they landed, they spat out mouthfuls of fresh blood, due to severe internal injuries.
The only survivors were those Celestial Sect disciples who were standing behind Xu Que.
They stood quite some distance away from the impact and also had another protective s.h.i.+eld casted by Zhang Dan Shan before the explosion. This group of people sustained only superficial injuries. They didn’t die but were thrown onto the ground as they screamed out in pain and fear.
Tang Xue Rou was one of the few who were standing behind Xu Que and had a clear view of the explosion. She watched on in a daze as everything unfolded before her eyes.
The magnificent and splendid impression of Celestial Sect had been reduced to ashes and ruin.
Her master who she revered and respected disintegrated in front of her as Xu Que vanquished her effortlessly.
Even the well respected and adored Sect Leader Zhang had also been impacted greatly by the force of the explosion.
The entire explosion and its devastating effects spanned no more than several breaths from start to end and was so shocking, making it hard for anyone to believe that it actually happened.
…
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully acting tough. The reward is 50 act tough points!"
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully acting tough. The reward is 80 act tough points!"
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully acting tough. The reward is 100 act tough points!"
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully killing an Original Infant Stage cultivator. The reward is 200,000 experience points and a storage ring!"
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully destroying more than 50% of the Celestial Sect’s infrastructures and buildings, causing widespread destructions to the foundations of the sect. The reward is 1,000,000 experience points!"
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for gaining 4 consecutive levels. You are currently of the Golden Core Stage, level 1!"
…
Xu Que ignored the notifications and beeps which rang out in his head. He watched on intently as the old hag burned to death before his eyes by Buddha’s Fiery Lotus and laughed out wretchedly.
That indescribable feeling of hatred and anger deep down within his heart had been entirely vented out on that old woman!
He reared his head back and gave out a loud laughter.
"Xiao Rou, did you see that?"
"Village chief, did you see that?"
"Da Zhuang, did you see that?"
"Fellow villagers, did all of you see that?"
"The mastermind and culprit which plotted your deaths… This black hearted crazy old woman, I’ve killed her for you!"
"I’ve avenged your deaths!"
...
The greenish white flames were still burning brightly as the Celestial Sect disciples around him screamed out in pain.
Amidst the clamour and din, Xu Que’s vision turned blurry as tears welled up within his eyes.
All those kind-hearted and friendly villagers, their innocent way of life and their naive smiles seemed to appear before his eyes once more.
He could see Xiao Rou smiling sweetly at him!
He could see all the villagers carrying their hoes to plough the land happily!
He watched them for a long time until the smoke and fire had vanished as they disappeared before his eyes.
Xu Que then snapped out from his daze like being awoken from a dream. At this moment, he felt a certain clarity in his heart!
It’s ended!
Everything had pa.s.sed.
Grat.i.tude, grudges, love and hatred are felt by all.
So what if they were mere naive mortals and normal people?
Do you think you’re a big deal just because you’re high and mighty cultivators who dwell within the mountains?
In Xu Que’s eyes, Xiao Rou, the village chief, Da Zhuang and the rest of the villagers were much more important and valuable than these evil cultivators by a million times. Even by killing them a thousand times over, it wouldn’t be able to make up for their losses.
Xu Que gazed down at the desolated and ruined domains of Celestial Sect including all the dead and injured cultivators around him and felt no regret. Looks like this acting tough wasn’t acting after all for I had to be tough. So what if the Sect Leader was an Infant Transformation Stage cultivator? Xu Que still managed to kill that old hag right before his helpless eyes.
Vengeance had to be exacted. Besides, at this point, the most important thing for Xu Que was to ascend in levels so that he could revive Xiao Rou.
"Boom!"
In that instant, a large mountain from far away produced a loud cras.h.i.+ng sound.
Stones and pebbles were thrown high up into the sky as a shadow emerged from beneath the debris. He had a furious look on his face as he flew over the ruined Celestial Sect. It was the Sect Leader, Zhang Dan Shan.
His long and white hair was messy and unkempt while the white robes which he wore was torn and tattered.
The Sect Leader casted a glance at the ruins which used to be the Celestial Sect he had built from scratch. He suppressed the deep and intense anger within his heart.
His eyes were bloodshot as he roared out in fury.
"Little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I’m going to kill you! I will kill you!"
Immeasurable anger welled up from within his heart, showing clearly over his face and was as immense as a volcanic eruption or the heavy tidal waves of the sea as it poured out over at Xu Que.
When an Infant Transformation Stage cultivator was this angry, a hundred thousand bodies will be scattered and the blood which was spilt could form a sea!
Xu Que looked up at him and spoke, "From the time Pan Shan Village was thoroughly obliterated to the time you devised a thousand ways to keep Sun Jue Li safe, you should’ve antic.i.p.ated such an ending! You’ve always appeared kind and polite to me but that was all because of the fear you had for my ‘master’. Let me tell you Zhang Dan Shan. I, Xu Que, will never rely on anyone but my own capabilities. In other words, I come and go as I please. I kill anyone I please and I shall leave when I feel like it! Haha! The next time we meet, you shall see how I will claim your dog of a life!"
As soon as he spoke this, he retrieved the Escape Emblem from within the inventory.
With a whoosh, he disappeared completely from where he stood and not a shadow remained of him.
...
On this day, Celestial Sect suffered heavy casualties and their strength and reputation diminished considerably. Not only did an important member of their sect, who was of the Original Infant Stage die, most of the disciples and Sect Elders sustained injuries as well. Most of their buildings and infrastructure had been damaged and the entire area was now nothing more than ruins.
Following Xu Que’s disappearance, the enraged Zhang Dan Shan seemed to have gone into a crazed frenzy as he tried different ways to track and hunt him down for revenge.
However, he never managed to locate Xu Que’s whereabouts. In fact, he never even managed to get a whiff or a hint of him.
"d.a.m.n it! d.a.m.n it! This is the biggest humiliation and insult to Celestial Sect’s 5,000 years of history. The biggest insult!"
An Infant Transformation Stage Sect Leader actually allowed this mere junior Xu Que to destroy everything under his nose. Even his entire Sect had been turned to ruins with nothing left standing. Right at the end, he even allowed Xu Que to escape through his fingers.
This defeat and humiliation, Zhang Dan Shan wouldn’t be able to swallow even if it took him 1,000 years to get over it. However, he had no outlet to vent his anger and frustration for Xu Que couldn’t be found at all.
Xu Que was long gone now, more than a thousand kilometers away.
Since the day at Celestial Sect’s stronghold, Xu Que was teleported to a desolate mountain far away. He instantly changed into Xiao Yan’s black robes and carried his dark buster sword. Anytime he wore the black robes, he would change physical form and was exactly like he had transformed into someone else. Even if he were to stand in front of Zhang Dan Shan in this form, he would not be recognized.
In order to get to the full foundation of the Golden Core Stage and revive Xiao Rou, Xu Que had been working very hard to attain the level. The minute he stepped into the forests, he never came back out.
The next few consecutive days, he kept pressing onwards, deeper into the forests.
The entire journey saw him kill numerous wild beasts and obtaining tons of experience points. From the little thousand experience points he had, he killed his way until he had more a couple of hundred thousand experience points. He was acc.u.mulating them bit by bit, ascending the levels little by little.
Whenever he was tired, he would sleep in the open wilderness with the skies as his blanket and the earth as his mattress. Whenever he was awake, he would continue his killing of wild beasts for experience points.
…
All the way until half a month later, Xu Que entered a miasma laden forest and met a demonic beast which could speak human language!
The demonic beast took the shape of a gigantic, ugly looking green frog. It had a pair of huge lantern looking eyes bulging out of its face and was emitting a foul smell. Numerous insects were crawling all over its body.
What made it stranger was that this frog had a large boil over its head and was dripping out yellow pus from it. It was a disgusting sight to behold.
This very same gigantic frog leapt out and blocked Xu Que’s path as it spoke his language, "Look, a meal offers itself up for me. It’s a pity you’re so skinny and won’t be enough to fill my belly."
Xu Que paused for a second, stumped before forcing a laugh. "I never expected to meet a speaking beast even after coming to this strange world. In fact, I never imagined speaking to something as ugly and repulsive."
Within the memories in his head, he knew that the beasts needed to cultivate up to the full foundation of Golden Core Stage and survive for the next 49 days. After they enter the Original Infant Stage, they would then be given intelligence and wisdom and be able to speak human language.
Once the beast reached the Original Infant Stage and survived in that form for another 59 days, it would transcend to the Infant Transformation Stage where it can take the form of a human being.
Clearly, this frog was of the Original Infant Stage and its powers aren’t weak.
"Gugu... weak little human, you dare to say your grandpa frog is ugly? You’re looking to die!" The frog lashed out in anger as its tongue jabbed out like as sword, darting straight for Xu Que.
Xu Que instantly summoned his Lightning Haste spell and dodged the attack before laughing out. "You even have a boil on the top of your head. How can you insist you’re not ugly?"
"You’re asking to die!" The frog was incensed. A Golden Core Stage human was mocking him. That was clearly a humiliation.
It closed his mouth and took a deep breath through its nostrils, sucking in all the Qi from its surroundings, entering its body. This caused its body to increase rapidly in size.
Xu Que muttered some vulgarities under his breath and knew that this spelt trouble. This d.a.m.ned froggy was using a powerful spell.
He hurriedly rode atop his Lightning Haste and flew up high towards the sky and transformed into his Soaring Dragons Nine Transformation skill, causing his strength to increase by nine folds.
"Boom!"
At the exact same time, that frog leapt up from the ground like a bullet and charged up into the sky towards Xu Que in its round and fattened state.
"Haha! Good move. Eat this!"
Xu Que laughed out before slas.h.i.+ng his dark buster sword down while casting the Flame Devouring Spell. Along with the nine fold increase in powers, he smacked the frog hard on the top of its head.