Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Li Hong remained silent, looking at Chu Huai and thinking—serves you right! You were warned not to fly around at night, yet you insisted on doing so. Now look, you are the one who has truly implicated everyone!
Everyone had witnessed the argument between Li Hong and Chu Huai. Due to Chu Huai's "intimidation," they had no choice but to heed his words and set off on their journey that night. Now, everyone was filled with anger. Even the timid Chu Hai began to grumble, "Powerful yet foolish, this is it. We ended up back here again, wasting so much spiritual energy. You have Fire Jade Essence, while we have nothing..."
Chu Huai was so angry that his eyebrows stood upright. "If you have the guts, say it out loud!"
Chu Hai immediately fell silent.
Chu Huai was both anxious and furious, pointing at Li Hong and shouting, "Do you think I want this? If it weren't for him wanting to gather herbs, would we need to rush through the night? It's all his fault!"
Li Hong replied sternly, "Enough! I respect you as a Disciple of the Sect Leader and give you some face, but you need to earn your own respect! Look at yourself now—impatient and repeatedly making wrong decisions, refusing to listen to others. If you insist on being stubborn, then I can only go on my own!"
He truly intended to do just that. This Chu Huai was more trouble than he was worth; it would be better to act separately. Chu Xi and Chuxiong would definitely follow him. He looked at the remaining people and called out loudly, "Who wants to come with me?"
"You want to create a split! Sect Leader Uncle once instructed us never to separate!" Chu Huai shouted, fear evident in his eyes.
Currently, Li Hong held the highest prestige and cultivation level in the group. If everyone chose to follow him, it meant that Chu Huai would be left alone—and that spelled one thing—death!
When everyone heard Li Hong's words, they were stunned; unease quietly spread among them as they exchanged glances. The earlier anger began to dissipate.
Chu Liang whispered, "Sixth Senior Brother, have you forgotten Master’s instructions? This doesn’t seem right."
"Then you can go with him," Li Hong replied nonchalantly.
Chu Liang was momentarily speechless.
Chuxuan spoke up: "Sixth Senior Brother, this is not the time for impulsiveness. Let’s not separate; let’s continue together. You two should each take a step back and let’s all calm down."
"Yes, yes," everyone quickly chimed in to mediate the situation.
Li Hong sighed, realizing that this path was not viable; he could not disregard everyone and leave with Chu Xi. He then looked up at Chu Huai.
Chu Huai was initially quite scared, but seeing that the others did not support Li Hong's plan to act separately, his courage grew. He looked up at the sky and coldly snorted, "I don't care, but I'm afraid someone won't accept it."
Li Hong's anger began to rise again. Chu Xi coldly remarked, "Up until now, Brother Chu Hong has contributed the most; the one who won't accept it is probably not him."
Chu Huai immediately wanted to lash out, but the target was Chu Xi. Looking at her cold and beautiful face, his expression changed repeatedly, and he ultimately could not bring himself to say anything harsh.
"Alright, alright, everyone should prioritize harmony. From now on, let's discuss together. If there are disagreements, we will decide as a group. Brother Chu Huai, you won't oppose this, right?" Chuxuan looked at Chu Huai, first seeking his opinion.
Chu Huai was about to flatly refuse; wasn't this taking away his authority? However, he felt that Chuxuan's suggestion seemed to have deeper meaning. Upon reflection, Chuxuan had been very supportive of him along the way, and he indeed had some brains. This approach might be to help him step down gracefully. Chu Huai hesitated and nodded, "Let's do it this way for now," emphasizing the word "for now."
"Then what about you, Sixth Senior Brother?" Chuxuan seemed not to hear him and sincerely looked at Li Hong.
Li Hong replied, "I don't mind."
"And what about everyone else?" Chuxuan continued to ask.
The crowd nodded in agreement, feeling that this idea was good.
"Good, then it's settled. Let's discuss the first question: which direction should we go now? Should we continue on the old path or fly westward?" Chuxuan said calmly.
Li Hong's gaze flickered; Chuxuan seemed to offend neither side but suddenly his prestige rose invisibly. He was truly a skilled manipulator of power. However, it must be said that his method could indeed resolve the conflict between him and Chu Huai. After thinking seriously, he said, "I think we shouldn't take the old path; let's fly westward and see what awaits us; that would be better."
"No way! The west has Bat Elder's lair! I think taking the old path is better." As expected, Chu Huai opposed it outright.
"Then let's vote by raising hands; whichever idea has more supporters will be adopted," Chuxuan said confidently in this situation. "Those who agree with Brother Chu Huai taking the old path, please raise your hands. I'll count as one." He raised his hand first.
The crowd voted one after another; Chu Xi and Chuxiong Huifeng naturally supported Li Hong's method. The remaining individuals had some agreeing with Li Hong and some with Chu Huai. Those in favor raised their hands while those against let their hands drop.
Finally, Chuxuan counted again, looking troubled: "How is it exactly half and half? This..." Before finishing the sentence, he suddenly spotted Chu Hai in the crowd. Chu Hai's right arm was positioned at his chest, neither agreeing with Chu Huai nor with Li Hong. Chuxuan shouted, "Chu Hai, who do you support? Your crucial vote is missing; will you raise it or put it down?"
Chu Hai looked left and right, seeing everyone's gaze fixed on him. His arm seemed to pause at his chest, as if he wanted to raise it but also wanted to put it down. His eyes darted between Li Hong and Chu Huai, clearly panicking and unsure of what to do. After a moment, he suddenly raised his sword high and shouted, "I abstain!"
The crowd nearly spat blood; they felt like kicking him. Considering that both sides had equal votes, they were all deflated. Wasn't this back to square one?
However, Chuxuan calmly said, "Excluding Chu Huai and Chu Hong, and not counting Chu Hai, there are exactly eight people on each side. But here we have Sister Huifeng. She is not one of us from the Nine Li Sect and should not have the right to participate. I believe that those in favor of Chu Huai are in the majority." After saying this, he calmly looked at Li Hong.
The crowd fell silent, all eyes on Li Hong. Hui Feng pouted in dissatisfaction but ultimately said nothing.
At this point, Li Hong couldn't help but admire Chuxuan; he was truly impressive, skillfully maneuvering through schemes—after all, he was a descendant of the Zhao Family. Well, since the vote difference was so slight, it showed that most people indeed feared the West leaving. He nodded and said, "Alright, we'll go with your decision."
Once again, everyone flew east on their swords, just that everyone intentionally forgot to acknowledge the soaring Chu Hai behind them, who shouted loudly, "Why are you leaving? Wait for me—" Chu Hai quickly caught up at an unprecedented speed.
********
This time the group did not stop at all and flew straight through the night to Tenth Peak. Since they no longer divided into groups and flew individually with full effort, they reached Tenth Peak before dawn. Further east was the problematic Eleventh Peak; upon arriving here, everyone slowed down, feeling anxious.
After circling around Tenth Peak, a new range of peaks appeared ahead. Just a short distance away, Li Hong glanced and immediately shouted, "What the hell! It's Peak One and Basin again!"
Everyone was confused. If they had previously overlooked changes in terrain due to stopping and starting, how could they possibly fly straight east only to return to One Peak Basin while flying at full speed?
Chu Huai harbored suspicions as he secretly glanced at Li Hong.
Since Li Hong uttered that phrase earlier, he had been pondering a question. He said lightly, "After flying all night we're tired; it's time to take Fire Origin Pill. Let's rest first."
No one objected anymore; even Chu Huai fell silent. Most people hung their heads in disappointment and took the first Fire Origin Pill they had brought into the Ancient Celestial Field to meditate and absorb spiritual energy.
Li Hong did not cultivate but stood at the summit's edge gazing at the mountains. The stars faded away from the sky as dawn gradually broke with a pale light; he suddenly realized what was unusual and turned abruptly to Chu Xi who was also standing behind him admiring the scenery: "In this place at night there are only stars in the sky; there is no moon!"
Today marks the eleventh day in the Ancient Celestial Field. We entered on June 25, and now it is July 6. For ten nights, I have not seen the familiar bright moon in the sky, whether it be a new moon, crescent, half moon, or full moon—none at all! The sky is always filled with stars. Here, the nights have only stars and no moon! No wonder I feel something unusual about the sky.
Chu Xi quietly nodded, "I noticed that long ago. It's actually not strange if you think about our Nine Li Cave Heaven."
Li Hong shook his head, "It's different. In Nine Li Cave Heaven, there are no stars or sun. Here, there is sunlight during the day and a starry sky at night; it's just that there is no moon. Do you know what this means?"
Chu Xi immediately became interested, "What do you mean?"
"It means that those who set this place up deliberately disrupted our sense of direction. With the sun and stars, we naturally rely on them to subconsciously determine direction. But in reality, the sun may not rise in the east and set in the west at all; the starry sky is constantly changing, and even the ground is shifting. This means that every Basin here is moving; it’s just that during the day it moves less than at night because stars are more confusing to our sight than the sun. If there were a moon, it would be different!" Li Hong's eyes sparkled as he suddenly understood the key point.
Chu Xi tilted her head and thought for a moment before nodding, "You're right. I understand now, but the question is, how can we find the pattern to avoid getting lost?"
"Forget about that broken map from Heavenly Grain! That thing is completely useless. Think about it: each circular Basin moves independently, and as they move further apart, by the time we reach the tenth one, there will be significant movement over a large area. This means we should treat all ten Basins as a whole and fly in different directions after reaching each tenth one—don’t worry about east or west. That’s the truly correct path; we can explore deeper into the Ancient Celestial Field without repeating ourselves and see the Center Restriction of the Ancient Celestial Field!" Li Hong said passionately.
Chu Huai had not practiced; he remained silent behind them with a complex expression as he listened. At that moment, Li Hong's commanding presence deeply impressed him.
Some things and some people are simply undeniable.
Comment 0 Comment Count