Chapter 36 - Cloud Beast

"Self-confident?" A sliver of a sneer appeared on Ninth Young Master's lips.

ROAR!

ROAR!

ROAR!...

The demon beasts all around let out roars one after another, as though they would charge toward the mountain valley immediately and tear every cultivator apart as long as Ninth Young Master gave the command.

One after another, a worried look showed up on the faces of the cultivators surrounding Gu Hai. Earlier, all the cultivators had been compelled here by the demon beasts; how could they escape these demon beasts today?

"In the past, four thousand demon beasts compelled all of you here, and today too, there are four thousand demon beasts present here. How are you going to fight with them? Do you still think you have that evil dragon from before? The evil dragon was only borrowing the potential of the Sky Saber Life and Death Game, that's all!" said Ninth Young Master, sneering.

"Throne Master Gu, what should we do?"

"Throne Master Gu, how is this any better?"...

Everyone grew anxious, yet Gu Hai let out a chuckle.

"Indeed, our numbers are far less than demon beasts, but, why should we fight with demon beasts?" Gu Hai said with a sneer.

"En?" Everyone looked at Gu Hai.

"Ladies and gentlemen, do you see that person?" Gu Hai stretched his hand out as he pointed at Ninth Young Master.

Everyone followed Gu Hai's finger.

"We don't need to fight with demon beasts! There is no need for us to treat those demon beasts as our enemy, our enemy is only one person, him! In the Xiantian Endgame World, everyone is only at Xiantian Level. We are two thousand Xiantian Stage cultivators, whereas he is just one Xiantian Stage cultivator! Two thousand against one, are we still going to lose?!" Gu Hai shouted to all the cultivators as he pointed at Ninth Young Master.

"Ah?" The crowd of cultivators were suddenly woken up.

"That's right, these demon beasts only listen to his command, as long as we kill him, these demon beasts will be without a leader!"

"Once he is dead, the demon beasts will disperse!"

"We, two thousand cultivators only have to fight him alone, that's all!"...

Suddenly, the eyes of the cultivators who were inexplicably afraid a moment ago lit up. At the same time, they turned their gazes towards Ninth Young Master in succession, their eyes red as blood; as long as they could kill him, all of them would be saved!

They might encounter some obstructions, but it was two to one; it was also reasonable to get blocked.

Many cultivators unsheathed their swords and sabers as they stared death at Ninth Young Master.

Atop the peak, Ninth Young Master's expression became ugly.

Gu Hai took a step forward and said, staring icily at Ninth Young Master, "Your Excellency, I could see Elder Guanqi's style from the earlier weiqi game, he must have been a frank and forthright person. Presumably, the Weiqi Empyrean Court would pursue his footsteps and would not do anything like breaking their promises!"

Ninth Young Master glared death at Gu Hai.

"Your Excellency, please withdraw with your people and demon beasts, as I have broken the Sky Saber Life and Death Game already. Otherwise, these fellow daoists beside me will try to behead their final target, disregarding their lives, because if they don't kill you, they will die! If they kill you, they might die, but they might also survive! Back..off!" stated Gu Hai coldly.

A sliver of an evil smile appeared on Ninth Young Master's face as he stared at Gu Hai, his eyes flickering with a cold look. "Are you threatening me? Kid, you are still wet behind the ears! Tear them apart!"

ROAR!

ROAR!

ROAR!...

The demon beasts roared in unison as they charged at everyone.

Gu Hai only smiled in response to Ninth Young Master's warning. "Remember, I am Gu Hai!"

ROAR!

The crowd of cultivators beside Gu Hai rushed towards Ninth Young Master, holding sabers and swords.

"Kil him, once he is dead, we can survive, or we will die!" a cultivator at the forefront shouted in a loud voice.

"Faster, faster, the demon beasts are charging at us, leave him behind!"

"He is in the Xiantian Stage, we are also in the Xiantian Stage, he can't block us!"

"If you don't want to die, follow me up!"

The crowd of cultivators suddenly went crazy as they charged at Ninth Young Master atop the peak.

Ninth Young Master's countenance became gloomy as he looked at countless experts charging at him.

The black-robed men around him moved closer to Ninth Young Master one by one, seemingly wanting to protect Ninth Young Master.

The demon beasts were rus.h.i.+ng from all directions. But soon, they spontaneously went to intercept the cultivators in the forefront, blocking this crowd of crazy cultivators.

BANG!

"Evil beast, go to h.e.l.l!"

ROAR!

Soon after, the cultivators at the forefront clashed with the demon beasts, swords and claws collided with a bang, sending pieces of stones flying, raising a cloud of dust and smoke.

The cultivators at the rear continued their charge toward the mountain without a moment of hesitation.

At this instant, there was no need for anyone to command them as everyone understood that they had to behead Ninth Young Master so as to rescue themselves, or they would be torn apart by the demon beasts. The army of cultivators didn't retreat; if they moved forward, they might get to live; if they retreated, they would die. Having experienced the fear of the Sky Saber Life and Death Game, everyone's desire to survive was getting stronger and stronger.

RUMBLE!

The fight was incomparably b.l.o.o.d.y from the very beginning; the blood of many demon beasts was spilled everywhere, the scars of wounds on many cultivators were strung like beads. Nevertheless, no fear could be found in anyone's eyes, and the cultivators continued to move forward, closing in on Ninth Young Master by the moment.

There were just about a hundred or so black-robed men. Worried looks also showed up on their faces as they saw the outsiders closing on them with savage faces. These outsiders in their eyes seemed completely suicidal. The crowd of black-robed men looked to Ninth Young Master, clutching their swords.

Ninth Young Master narrowed his eyes as his gaze pierced through the billowing dust and smoke, staring at the bottom of the valley, at Gu Hai.

Gu Hai remained where he was, looking at Ninth Young Master coldly. Gathered around him were Gao Xianzhi, Chen Tianshan, and Little Rou.

"Throne Master, should we go now?" asked Gao Xianzhi in a low voice.

"Go? Why should we go? Gao Xianzhi, what do you mean to say? Did you not understand what Throne Master said? As long as that person is killed, we will be safe. Two thousand people are out to kill him, or do you think there is a room for failure?" the nearby Chen Tianshan asked, staring.

Instead of refuting Gao Xianzhi, Gu Hai took a long, deep breath and said, "Something's wrong!"

"En?" Gao Xianzhi was perplexed.

"It seems we cannot leave!" Gu Hai's complexion changed.

"What do you mean?" Chen Tianshan had a perplexed look on his face.

On another side, Meng Tai was stabilizing his injuries, protected in the middle of his Ascendant Hall disciples.

"Let's leave quickly, we cannot miss this opportunity. If we lose this opportunity, it will not come again. Let's escape far away from here by taking advantage of the current pandemonium!" shouted Meng Tai.

"Yes, Your Grace!"

The congregation of Ascendant Hall disciples fled towards the rear, carrying Meng Tai.

When the army of cultivators at the forefront saw they were about to rush to top of the peak and the distance between them and Ninth Young Master was getting closer and closer, ferocious expressions showed up on their faces one after another as they clutched their swords and sabers, giving off the impression that a sword strike of theirs would cut open Ninth Young Master.

Ninth Young Master suddenly seemed to have nowhere to run as the army of cultivators had almost arrived at his front.

"Die!" a cultivator at the front roared.

In contrast, Ninth Young Master had a sliver of a sneer on his lips. Rather than panicking, he pinched a golden weiqi piece in between his index finger and ring finger of his right hand.

"Thought materialization through heaven and earth!" said Ninth Young Master in a cold tone.

BOOM!

Immediately after, the cultivators rus.h.i.+ng to his front were struck flying by a tremendous power; but all they saw was countless clouds appearing out of nowhere around Ninth Young Master. In the blink of an eye, everything around the mountain valley was shrouded by a layer of clouds.

The clouds this time were more than the dark clouds of the Sky Saber Life and Death Game. Suddenly, a layer of mist enshrouded everything, forming a billowing sea of clouds sticking close to the ground.

SWISH

The fleeing Ascendant Hall disciples' expression changed immediately. After being covered by the dense mist, they lost their bearings; they were unable to tell which side was west and which was south, they didn't know which way they were fleeing.

Meanwhile, at Ninth Young Master's location, a terrifying aura spread in all directions, oppressing everyone.

"What the h.e.l.l is that?" Chen Tianshan cried in shock from down in the valley.

However, what came into their view was a giant tail cras.h.i.+ng towards the cultivators charging at the peak.

BOOM!

AHHHHH!

AHHHHH!

AHHHHH!...

Suddenly, dozens of cultivators were smacked flying.

Every cultivator who was charging up the mountain was struck with fear and immediately halted their footsteps, gazing at the peak in horror.

The peak was covered in clouds, but there seemed to be a giant figure at the center of the clouds; it was hovering above the summit just as the evil dragon did before.

A humongous snake that was three hundred zhang long and had nine heads had congealed out of the clouds.

The cloud hydra squirmed its enormous body rather hideously, while a savage look appeared on each of its heads, one after another. Half of Ninth Young Master was sunk inside its centermost head. Meanwhile, the golden weiqi piece in his hand appeared to be placed on its head, controlling the huge cloud hydra.

ROAR!

ROAR!...

A hideous look flashed past the hydra's faces, and a violent and arrogant aura lingered around it as it roared at everyone. Along with its roar, a storm seemed to have been set off, blowing towards all directions and every cultivator.

BANG!

The storm swept past everyone, dragging each and every cultivator towards the center of the storm.

AHHHHH!

AHHHHH!

AHHHHH!...

A series of miserable screams resounded as everyone was hurled high up in the air before they smashed into the ground at the eye of the storm. In fact, even the Ascendant Hall disciples who were escaping far away had also been swept by the storm and were dragged to the center in the blink of an eye.

ROAR!

The hydra swam in front of everyone quickly by just twisting its body.

An intense and ominous qi charged straight at everyone.

A horrified look blanketed the faces of everyone gathered around Gu Hai.

"What happened? Wasn't he just in the Xiantian Stage?"

"What the h.e.l.l is that?"

"What the h.e.l.l is that monster?"

Everyone was shouting in fear.

"Cloud beast? It's that golden weiqi piece in his hand!" shouted Meng Tai suddenly.

"What?" Everyone looked at Meng Tai.

"In the past, someone else had used it! The rules of the Xiantian Endgame World are based upon a huge weiqi board. There are many golden weiqi pieces hidden in this world. As long as one finds a golden weiqi piece, he or she can communicate with this world by relying on their respective weiqi skills and congeal a cloud beast corresponding to his or her weiqi conception, which could be used to repel the enemy. That man used that golden weiqi piece to communicate with this world and summon out this cloud beast!" explained Meng Tai with an ugly look.

"What to do then? Throne Master Meng, what should we do?" everyone asked anxiously.

"I don't have any other means. Unless someone has found another golden piece and summons a cloud beast by communicating with this world!" replied Meng Tai in an apprehensive tone.

"Ah?" Everyone was panic-stricken.

ROAR!

The hydra bellowed in ninefold stereo.

"Didn't I tell you, you can't escape!" An evil smile appeared on Ninth Young Master's lips from atop the biggest snakehead.

While speaking, the hydra swung its huge tail towards the two thousand cultivators with a bang.

The cloud beast was tremendously powerful. As it flung its tail, everyone felt such a pressure that they were unable to breathe; it was even more ferocious than the earlier evil dragon.

"AHHH!"

"I don't want to die!"

While everyone was horrified, an enormous and transparent blue palm appeared from behind everyone suddenly. Although the transparent blue palm belonged to a human, it was thirty zhang wide.

The enormous palm welcomed the oncoming tail.

BANG!

An ear-deafening explosion shook the valley, sending a huge shockwave into the air and throwing everyone to the ground. However, the tail was also pushed back.

"Who is it?!" Ninth Young Master's countenance became ugly as he shouted in surprise.

"Amitabha, Ninth Young Master, please be lenient. In the past, Elder Guanqi was an epitome of faith and justice; the Weiqi Empyrean Court's prestige cannot be ruined by your hands!" a voice slowly replied from behind everyone.

Following which, the enormous transparent blue palm was also pulled back to their rear.

Everyone turned their heads to look. They saw an old monk dressed in a kasaya, and wielding a khakkara. He was solemnly giving Ninth Young Master a Buddhist greeting with a raised hand.

"Master Lian Sheng?" Little Rou shouted happily.

"How is that possible? Isn't everyone here only in the Xiantian Stage? How could Master Lian Sheng unleash so much power without a golden piece? How is that possible?" Chen Tianshan cried out in surprise, as a look of disbelief showing up on his face.

At the top of the hydra, Ninth Young Master's facial features distorted. "Buddha Lian Sheng?"

"Buddha? He is a Buddha?" A look of astonishment appeared on the faces of many people.

"Buddha Lian Sheng, why did you come to the Xiantian Endgame World?" asked Ninth Young Master asked, staring at the old man.

Buddha Lian Sheng smiled slightly as he said, "In the past, Elder Guanqi promised This Lowly One a thing, it should be in your Great Elder's hand!? This Lowly Monk came here for that. Ninth Young Master, are you also going to kill me to prevent divulging your secret for the prestige of the Weiqi Empyrean Court?"

Ninth Young Master looked at Buddha Lian Sheng, his eyes flickering with diverse emotions. Then, he turned his gaze towards the crowd of cultivators, an unwilling look flas.h.i.+ng past his eyes. However, even if he was unwilling, he could only suppress the rage in his heart at this moment.

"Humph, today is your lucky day!" Ninth Young Master said coldly.

As he clenched his hand, the golden piece was suddenly grasped in his palm.. The hydra vaporized and disappeared immediately. The clouds in the surroundings also vanished into thin air with a loud bang as they were reduced to water vapor and dissipated. In the wink of an eye, bright sunlight illuminated the valley.

"Greetings, Buddha Lian Sheng!" the crowd of black-robed men hailed him respectfully from afar.

Buddha Lian Sheng said, nodding, "Go back and tell your elder that This Poor Monk will be arriving soon!"

"Yes!" the crowd of black-robed men obeyed in veneration.

"Let's go!" Ninth Young Master ordered in a cold voice as he stepped onto the head of a demon beast, taking the horde of demon beasts with him as well.

"Wait!" Gu Hai's loud shout came from amid the crowd.

"En?" Ninth Young Master furrowed his brows as he stopped.

Everyone looked at Gu Hai. The cultivators who had been rejoicing just a moment ago appeared worried along at Gu Hai's shout.

"Brat, do you still want to stop us?" Ninth Young Master asked, sneering.

"Fellow Daoists of Weiqi Empyrean Court, This Lowly One didn't enter the Xiantian Endgame World for going against anyone, but to find someone. This world is vast, and searching for someone is just like searching for a needle in a haystack. Since Fellow Daoists are already here, This Lowly One wanted to inquire about a person. If Fellow Daoists know of him, I beg of you, either inform This Lowly One or inform him!" said Gu Hai solemnly.

"Oh?" Ninth Young Master narrowed his eyes.

"This person's name is 'Wei Shengren'. Fellow Daoists, if you know where he is, please inform him that the Ascendant Hall Lord is looking for him, I will be waiting for him at the entrance, one month before this world is set to close.."

"Wei Shengren?" Ninth Young Master's pupils constricted immediately.

"Oh? So Your Excellency knows of him?" A happy expression flashed past Gu Hai's face immediately.

"Hahaha, I indeed know, but, why should I tell you? You want to find him, keep looking, but you are never going to find him! Let's go, hahaha!" Ninth Young Master broke out into laughter.

RUMBLE!

The horde of Weiqi Empyrean Court disciples, demon beasts, and the Ninth Young Master left quickly.

Looking at the disappearing silhouette amid the cloud of dust, Gu Hai heaved a long sigh as a smile appeared on his lips, "Finally, there is some information!"

"Thank you, Buddha Lian Sheng!" The crowd of cultivators quickly paid their respects to Buddha Lian Sheng; displaying their grat.i.tude toward Buddha Lian Sheng for taking action a while ago, and doubtless saving their lives.