Immortal Soaring Blade Book 1, Chapter 35 – Ten Thousand Corpse Elder

The next day, when the first ray of light ripped through the sky and shined on the forest deep within the mountains, even the air became more refreshing, and the spirit force fluctuations seemed to reach a boiling point.

Zhao Jiuge was still quietly sitting there, cultivating. His breathing was slow and long. After a night of absorbing spirit force, the wounds on his body were healing and the majority of his spirit force had recovered.

On the other side, Su Su had already become impatient. She breathed in the fresh air and sighed. She stretched her delicate arms and lazily got up. She then moved around to awaken her body.

They were currently on the side of a mountain. The large trees were covered in leaves and the birds were all chirping loudly. The wind rustled the leaves and the branches swayed, causing the birds to fly away. The early morning fog had wrapped itself around the mountain like it was the heavenly realm. Smoke from the small village under the mountain was slowly rising into the air.

It had been a few months since she had run away from home. She didn't know how angry her father was after finding out that she had escaped. She secretly muttered to herself, “I have escaped several times before but was immediately captured and brought back. How come this time it was so easy and they still haven't found me after several months?”

She turned around and looked at Zhao Jiuge, who was cultivating with a smile. She felt very happy in her heart. She had always been lonely since she was small, and that was why she yearned for the outside world. Her father had never let out, and now she finally had someone to accompany her while traveling the world.

Finally, once the morning sun scattered across the earth and even all the clouds were covered in a layer of golden light, Zhao Jiuge left his cultivation state.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

A loud laugh echoed across the mountain and forest. When Zhao Jiuge stood up, his body was filled with spirit and strength, so he couldn't help but let out a scream. At this moment, his body crackled and his eyes were shining. After a night of cultivation, his body had reached peak condition. It would only take a few more days for him to reach the mid stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm.

It seems that a person's potential could only be unleashed during moments of life and death. Only at those moments could one's cultivation level increase several fold. After experiencing these difficult battles, Zhao Jiuge understood a lot more.

“Hmpth, last night you looked all dead, but now you're alive again.” The girl seemed to have forgotten what had happened last night and was acting all haughty again. Her beautiful eyes stared at Zhao Jiuge, her teeth clenched.

Zhao Jiuge's mood was very good and his body was very comfortable, so he didn't care for her words. “Haha, my body is very strong. A certain someone can't be envious.” The girl grinded her teeth and really wanted to pinch Zhao Jiuge a few times.

The warm sunlight shined on their body and extended their shadows.

The sun was a bit dazzling, so he squinted his eyes as he carefully looked around before he finally relaxed. He should have escaped from his pursuers, but he was still near the Flowing Cloud Sect, so he should hurry. He needed to find a village to get an idea of where he was and then join a sect as soon as possible.

Thinking about this, Zhao Jiuge's smile dimmed down. He thought about Mo Linger and the Mo mansion. He wondered how they were doing. For them to face the Flowing Cloud Sect, the pressure on them had to be great.

The originally warm and comfortable days were destroyed by these people. Zhao Jiuge's lips tightened and he let a cold snort in his heart. “Flowing Cloud Sect, just you wait. Once my cultivation is strong enough. I'll come back to wipe you out first and then the Xiao family. Both of you forced me to run and hide like a dog.”

His eyes suddenly shined brightly and a cold killing intent erupted from Zhao Jiuge's body. Even Su Su couldn't help but be surprised.

Foot of the mountain, a little village.

There was a tall and old tree at the gate of the village. The top of the tree was like an umbrella that blocked out the sun, creating a cool, shaded area under the tree. Not far away was a well and rows of brick houses laid out on this tanned land.

The two of them leisurely walked and would play around as they walked. It was late into the afternoon before they saw this small village at the foot of the mountain. The sun was about to set on this village.

“Stop! What are you guys doing here!?” A loud voice came from the entrance of the village.

A white-haired old man wearing a blue shirt and white pants who was holding the hand of a seven or eight-year-old child waved his cane and slowly walked out of the entrance of the village.

The old man warily observed the young man and girl before him and his brows furrowed. His snow-white beard even trembled because of his wrinkled face. From the looks of his wrinkles, he was very old.

The child with him was filled with curiosity as he stared at the beautiful big sister and the handsome big brother. His right hand grasped the old man and he was half hidden behind the old man as if he was scared. His left finger was in his mouth and he had a bowl cut along with a slightly white face.

“Grandpa, we are from the outside and wanted to enter the village to ask for directions. We'd like to know where the nearest city is,” Zhao Jiuge said humbly. While the old man looked at them, he was also secretly observing the old man and the little boy. Su Su just silently stood there with a faint smile.

The old man carefully scanned the two of them back and forth constantly. When he realized that the two before him were fairly young and had very proper appearances, not like some evil doers, his expression relaxed a bit.

“There is no city nearby, but there is a town not far from this village. That place is quite remote, so it might be difficult to find. If you had come yesterday, then you could have followed the people from the village.” Although he looked like he was at death's door, he was still in good spirits and spoke normally. 

Zhao Jiuge looked toward where the old man had pointed, which was to the south east, and smiled. “Thank you, elder. As long as we know the general direction, it is good enough.” After getting directions, he relaxed a bit and felt more confident. He turned and was ready to leave with Su Su.

He didn't expect to be stopped by the old man. “If the young couple doesn't mind, then stay the night at my house and leave tomorrow. There seems to be something haunting this area at night.” The old man seemed a bit excited as he spoke, and there was a trace of fear and panic when he said that something was haunting this area.

After being called a couple, Su Su's beautiful face burned bright red, but she didn't rebut.

But when Zhao Jiuge heard this, he just had a silly smile and quickly agreed. Su Su looked at this blockhead and couldn't help but laugh. She was annoyed but also found it very funny.

Only after they agreed did Zhao Jiuge remember that the old man had said that it was unsafe at night. No wonder the old man was so on guard against them. Thinking about this, he couldn't help but frown. To ordinary people, it might feel like something was haunting them, but to cultivators, it would not be so simple. He didn't think too much about it though, and followed the old man into the village.

Along the way, Zhao Jiuge got an idea of the situation. During the past couple of weeks, many pregnant women and children had gone missing. Later, they even found that the newly buried coffins in their ancestral graves had all been dug up—not even dead bodies were spared. This had scared the old man greatly, to the point of bringing his grandson everywhere.

Every night, every house in the village would close their doors and the atmosphere would become even worse. Then they realized that they couldn't continue like this, so the chiefs of several villages had left yesterday to head to the town to find a daoist to deal with the situation.

Zhao Jiuge chatted with the old man as they talked, while Su Su would tease the little child from time to time. Soon, they arrived at the old man's house, and Zhao Jiuge saw Su Su pinching the child's cheeks. Zhao Jiuge really wanted to pinch Su Su's cheeks.

It was a house made of dark yellow bricks and there was a large courtyard in front.

After they entered the old man's home, they saw a middle-aged couple that seemed very simple. When they saw guests coming, the middle-aged woman happily greeted the young couple and then led them to a room. She was cleaning up the room, while Su Su and Zhao Jiuge watched but couldn't say anything. In truth, they just needed somewhere to sit and cultivate.

However, they could not deal with the enthusiasm of the middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman looked at the young couple and really liked them. One was refreshingly handsome and the other was extremely beautiful.

Soon, the sun set and night arrived.

The light from the candle flickered in the dilapidated room.

The room was shabby and small, and there was one bed, one table, and one chair.

At this moment, Su Su was sitting on the bed and Zhao Jiuge was sitting on the chair. It was the first time they were both staying in a room with the opposite sex. From the moment they were left alone in the room, Su Su's face had been red.

Zhao Jiuge was secretly happy, as if he had secretly eaten honey. He looked at that white face, gem-like eyes, cherry-red lips, and the pure and lively beauty. He was intoxicated.

The two of them made small talk, but their thoughts were very different. One was happy, while the other felt like a little deer was running around randomly.

Boom!

The two of them suddenly felt a terrifying fluctuation; even the candle in the room swayed violently.

Outside the village, a skinny old man in a black robe was floating in the air. He gently sniffed and determined that the smell of his son's Gathering Corpse Chant was coming from this village. His eyes exploded with killing intent and the spirit force of a cultivator at the late stage of the Foundation Realm spread out.

The leaves in the village rustled loudly and the dogs in the village all barked loudly. The two of them looked at each other in shock before Zhao Jiuge stood up and exclaimed, “What's the situation?!”

Chapter end