Chapter 50#

The Naive Heavenly Master of the Apocalypse#

The next morning, after giving Mu Fei and Jiang Sile a brief explanation, Qin Yi set off for the karst cave. Behind them, Qin Yi and Lu Heng deliberately lagged a step behind, watching the two ahead walk straight into the cave’s range without any guard.

This had been prearranged between Qin Yi and Lu Heng — they would first use this illusion formation to test the waters. Seeing the two become trapped in the formation, Lu Heng’s hand reached behind him to grip the hilt of the Dichen Sword, his entire body tensed, ready to prevent any mishap should that demon escape and cause chaos.

Unexpectedly, before long, Jiang Sile struggled awake, drenched in cold sweat. Reflexively, he looked to his side and saw that Mu Fei was still immersed in the illusion. Jiang Sile grabbed Mu Fei’s arm: “Mu Fei!”

Mu Fei’s whole body shuddered, but he hadn’t fully emerged from the illusion formation. He gripped Jiang Sile’s hand, his lips moving slightly as if trying to call out a name — but at that very moment, he came to his senses. That syllable was never spoken aloud.

Yet Jiang Sile read his lips perfectly. Before the sound could be formed, his lips were closed together — it was definitely not a character from his own name. Instead, it looked like the character “Pan.”

The moment he had escaped the illusion, Jiang Sile had understood it was a formation — the mysterious voice in the jade pendant had taught him about such things. This formation should show a person the one they cared about most, or the thing that weighed most heavily on their heart. Could it be that what Mu Fei had seen was Pan Rongxi?

Mu Fei’s unspoken syllable and Jiang Sile’s reaction were all observed by Lu Heng from a short distance away. Last night, Qin Yi had already told Lu Heng everything about Jiang Sile’s group, including Mu Fei’s younger brother.

Knowing the full picture, Lu Heng could tell at a glance that the unuttered character on Mu Fei’s lips was “Mu,” not “Pan” — while Jiang Sile, who already harbored misgivings in his heart, had clearly misread it as “Pan.”

Even between lovers, no matter how wholly one’s heart belongs to the other, without trust, it is very difficult to walk forward together. Lu Heng sighed inwardly. Jiang Sile’s inner demons were growing ever deeper. But in this situation, all he could do was make the despicable choice to exploit this very fact — after all, nothing new can be built without first tearing down the old. That demon, long lurking inside Jiang Sile, was a ticking time bomb of unknown detonation.

Lu Heng and Qin Yi exchanged a glance. They proceeded according to plan.

“Yunlan!”

Jiang Sile and Mu Fei’s attention was drawn over.

Lu Heng’s thoughts, however, were entirely elsewhere: Thank goodness Qin Yi had the quick wit to turn around with his back to those two, or that would have been exposed in a single second. This man’s acting was bottomlessly bad. Looking at his exaggerated expressions, Lu Heng felt not the slightest emotional reaction — in fact, he felt an urge to laugh.

But that was fine. Lu Heng only needed to maintain a vacant, slow-witted expression as if he hadn’t yet processed what was happening. Otherwise, he was genuinely afraid he might crack and laugh out loud.

“Thank goodness you’re alright! If you had died, I wouldn’t want to live either!” Qin Yi continued his cringeworthy performance.

What kind of terrible television dramas did this man watch? Lu Heng could no longer suppress the torrential urge to roast rising within him.

Qin Yi probably couldn’t keep making things up either, so he simply pulled Lu Heng into a hug — sometimes silence speaks louder than words.

Qin Yi’s last sentence, however, happened to strike the most sensitive spot at the bottom of Jiang Sile’s heart. A wisp of dark energy crept across his pupils.

Lu Heng, whose attention had been fixed on Jiang Sile the entire time, immediately noticed with sharp precision. That demon — it’s come out.

He watched as Jiang Sile stood rooted in place for a moment, his lips moving slightly as though speaking with someone. Mu Fei, beside Jiang Sile, had his entire attention captured by Qin Yi’s antics over here and didn’t notice anything amiss.

“That’s enough.” Lu Heng tilted his head and whispered softly into Qin Yi’s ear.

Yet the man seemed not to hear at all — and even went further, pulling Lu Heng tighter into his embrace.

Though Lu Heng was quite fond of this embrace, business came first. With a hard heart, he shoved Qin Yi away: “You’ve been bewildered.”

“Is this an attack by a psychic-type zombie?” Qin Yi put on a look of astonishment.

“No. This is an illusion formation. Without a way to break it, we can’t get in.”

“An illusion formation? What is that? I’ve sensed it with my spiritual power — though not very clearly, there’s something extremely important inside. If we can’t get in, what should we do?”

Lu Heng and Qin Yi played off each other seamlessly, their coordination so natural it looked completely real.

Jiang Sile gripped the jade pendant at his chest through his shirt, clutching it like a lifeline. After a moment of deliberation, he finally made his decision.

“I know how to get in,” Jiang Sile said.

“Really?” Qin Yi put on a pleasantly surprised expression — though it was rather stiff, the already unsettled Jiang Sile found it just convincing enough.

Jiang Sile took a deep breath and spoke: “Before coming here, I had a prophetic dream — but the dream was too fragmented. Only just now, after entering this illusion formation and being stimulated by its effects, did the entire dream become clear. The dream contains the method for entering this karst cave.”

“But the prophecies I’ve had before all differed somewhat from reality. I don’t know if this method is reliable.” Jiang Sile wavered slightly.

“We’ll try a desperate measure anyway — we absolutely have to get into this cave. Let’s hear it,” Qin Yi said.

“In that dream, I learned a way to use spatial ability. I can use my power to create a small isolated space that blocks out the illusion formation,” Jiang Sile said.

Qin Yi glanced swiftly at Lu Heng. The two exchanged a look, and Lu Heng quietly slipped the Demon-Suppressing Talisman he had retrieved yesterday into Qin Yi’s palm.

To prevent that demon from pulling any tricks, someone would need to stay close to Jiang Sile at all times — ready to use the Demon-Suppressing Talisman at the first sign of trouble. Lu Heng’s relationship with Jiang Sile was too distant; getting too close would only arouse his suspicion. It was better to entrust the talisman to Qin Yi.

Following Jiang Sile’s instructions, the other three surrounded him tightly.

“Done,” Jiang Sile said.

Both Lu Heng and Qin Yi were cultivators, and their sensitivity to spiritual energy was exceptionally sharp. Lu Heng felt a mysterious power enveloping him, and he didn’t ignore the fact that it emanated from the jade pendant. This jade pendant seemed to be far more than a mere storage space.

Jiang Sile’s method proved effective — this time, they entered the karst cave without any obstruction. With Qin Yi’s spiritual power scouting ahead, the four of them proceeded through the winding, complex, crisscrossing cave passages.

“It should be just ahead. Something is blocking my spiritual power. Stay alert,” Qin Yi said.

Lu Heng drew the Dichen Sword in a reverse grip and took a step forward, positioning himself at the front. He was fast and hit hard — leading the charge was the perfect role for him. As he passed Qin Yi, he felt Qin Yi grab his hand, squeeze it firmly, then release it quickly.

Lu Heng understood the meaning — be extra careful. Warmth bloomed in his chest. With a dependable person behind him, he felt no fear whatsoever toward the unknown ahead. A sword cultivator’s blade grows sharper and more unmatched the more fearless the heart.

Rounding a rock wall that had blocked their view, the light suddenly brightened — the path ahead had ended. Before them yawned a massive pit. The pit was dozens of meters high; it seemed the entire mountain was hollow. And where they stood was a small alcove on the rocky wall overlooking the pit.

In the center of the pit stood a stalactite — or rather, a stalagmite — that nearly reached the cave ceiling. It was only as thick as a bowl’s mouth but stood dozens of meters tall. Such scenery would not be unusual in a karst cave. What was unusual was that the bottom of the pit was packed floor to ceiling with zombies.

Even stranger, within a ten-meter radius around the stalagmite, a pile of zombies lay neatly collapsed, forming a perfect circle. Soon, the reason became apparent.

The zombie army below was clearly being directed by some high-level zombie. After a moment, they all surged toward the stalagmite at once. Faint flashes of light flickered across the stalagmite’s surface, and in the pit, invisible gale-force winds materialized out of nowhere — beheading every zombie that stepped within the ten-meter perimeter.

Those winds were razor-sharp. Some zombies were split clean down the middle of their skulls, their crystal cores cleaved in two along with them. Lu Heng finally understood how that half-crystal core had come to be.

Given the wind’s destructive power, the zombies at the bottom of the pit should have been wiped out long ago. How could only that small number have fallen? Lu Heng found it puzzling. His question was answered almost immediately.

The zombies whose heads had been severed began to glow with faint white lights. Their headless bodies simply sat back up. The headless zombies casually groped around on the ground, picked up a head, placed it on their shoulders, and wobbled back to their feet.

“This is…” Jiang Sile nearly cried out. Fortunately, Mu Fei was quick and clapped a hand over his mouth, preventing the zombies below from noticing them.

“A healing-type zombie — at least level eight or above.” Ever knowledgeable, Qin Yi needed only a moment of thought to grasp the situation. “I’ve encountered healing-type zombies before, but they were low-level — they could at most reattach an arm or something. I never imagined a high-level healing zombie could reattach a head.”

The four fell into a stunned silence. A zombie’s only vulnerability was its head — unless the head was severed, they could still move with missing arms or legs. This complicated matters considerably.

Yet within the stalagmite lay something of vital importance. All except Mu Fei knew this. Although the three of them may have had different ultimate goals, right now, they were unanimous in their desire to eliminate the zombie horde and approach the stalagmite.

Lu Heng’s sharp eyes spotted something: the few zombies whose crystal cores had been destroyed had not stood back up. He shared his observation: “If we can shatter the crystal cores, those zombies should be unable to rise again.”

“Easier said than done. Even a level-eight metal-type evoker couldn’t scratch those crystal cores. It’d be more practical to kill the healing zombie,” Jiang Sile said.

“This pit contains a mysterious power. My spiritual power enters it like reaching into thick fog — I can see nothing. Finding that healing zombie would be nearly impossible,” Qin Yi said.

Jiang Sile peered down again. “Those zombies can’t do anything to that stone pillar anyway. Why don’t we go back and bring more people? We clear out these zombies all at once, and the healing zombie is bound to reveal itself.”

But Qin Yi shook his head. “I think these zombies are piling up bodies to drain the stone pillar’s spiritual energy. God knows how long this has been going on. That pillar probably can’t hold out much longer.”

Since he was the one who had proposed shattering the crystal cores, Lu Heng naturally had a method in mind. However, some things were not suitable for Jiang Sile’s ears.

“You come with me.” Lu Heng tugged at Qin Yi’s sleeve, then walked into the passage.

Qin Yi said a few words to Mu Fei and Jiang Sile, then followed him. The two only stopped after entering a side tunnel.

“Do you remember how spiritual power causes an explosion the moment it enters a crystal core?” Lu Heng cut straight to the point.

“You want to use that method on those zombies?” Qin Yi said. “My spiritual power level requires physical contact before I can probe inside an object. I’ve tried the methods in the God-Forging Art, but my spiritual power isn’t sufficient yet — I can’t cultivate them.”

Lu Heng paused. “The third cultivation manual you obtained — it can solve our current predicament.”

“Let me see… Wait — how did you know what the third manual is?” Qin Yi was glad the poor lighting in the cave hid the fact that his face had turned bright red.

“The cultivation manuals in the Scripture Pavilion are all catalogued. When I was still at the sect, I visited the pavilion once.”

“Why did you go back…” Qin Yi didn’t know what to say.

“Curiosity,” Lu Heng replied offhandedly. “Take out the dual-cultivation manual and let me see it.”

Qin Yi was somewhat surprised by Lu Heng’s candor, but he obediently took out the jade slip and handed it over. This manual — he had put it at the bottom of his storage the moment he’d brought it back and had never even looked at it. He didn’t know why he’d compulsively grabbed that particular manual at the time. Could it be that even then, he had already been moved by the person before him?

Lu Heng pressed the jade slip to his forehead, skipping past the content that made his face flush and heart race. Indeed, there was a solution within. Qin Yi’s current spiritual power was only a hair’s breadth away from cultivating the divine sense attack techniques in the God-Forging Art.

However, crossing that hair’s breadth required a qualitative transformation of spiritual power. Without a catalyst or some form of assistance, it would take a long period of repeated training and accumulation to break through.

“Dual cultivation can help you break through your current bottleneck,” Lu Heng said directly.

“D-dual cultivation? Here? Now? That doesn’t seem quite appropriate…” Something occurred to him, and Qin Yi became so nervous he stuttered.

Lu Heng, somewhat speechless, pressed the jade slip directly against Qin Yi’s forehead: “The first section.”

“So that’s how it is.” After reading the first section in the jade slip, a trace of disappointment welled up in Qin Yi’s heart.

This dual-cultivation manual was, in truth, an excellent cultivation method. Two people whose minds were connected and who trusted each other completely could practice together using this method with twice the result for half the effort. However, in the cultivation world, only dual-cultivation partners could open their dantians to each other — which was why the manual included those later sections with their passionate and intimate cultivation techniques.

Thus, the opening sections were, in fact, perfectly legitimate cultivation methods.

Lu Heng and Qin Yi sat cross-legged facing each other. Since they were helping Qin Yi break through with his divine sense, Qin Yi’s dantian would serve as the focal point. Lu Heng pressed his palm against Qin Yi’s dantian and prepared to send his divine sense in.

“Wait.” Qin Yi leaned in a bit closer. “Senior Brother, did you see the footnote at the end?”

“Hmm?” Lu Heng truly hadn’t noticed any footnote.

“Join lips above, press dantians below — forming a complete cycle, the effect is even greater…”

How could this person be so… preternaturally gifted when it came to matters like these? Lu Heng shot to his feet.

Qin Yi thought Lu Heng was annoyed and quickly said, “I was just making a suggestion, it’s not—”

Before he could finish, he felt a weight settle on his lap — Lu Heng had sat directly on him.

“Circulate your energy,” the person on his lap said, and then he felt a warm pressure on his lips — a gentle breath seeping between his teeth.

How could I let a memoryless novice win at something like this? Lu Heng thought to himself.

Jiang Sile kept glancing nervously into the passage, growing anxious. “It’s been so long — what are those two doing? No, I’m going to check.”

Jiang Sile turned to head into the passage, but Mu Fei grabbed his arm. “Brother Yi said to wait here. That’s an order.”

“Come on — do you think Brother Yi would actually mind about something this small?” Jiang Sile shook off Mu Fei’s hand and tried to walk, but was pulled back again.

“Little Le, when we’re on a mission, Qin Yi is first our captain and only second our good buddy. Remember that,” Mu Fei said, his expression grave.

Last night, he had been struck by a word from Qin Yi. Mu Fei had carefully reflected on his relationship with Jiang Sile. How the two of them had ended up where they were today — both bore responsibility, though most of it fell on himself.

He had remained trapped in guilt over losing his younger brother, never having moved past it. This caused him, whenever he encountered someone similar to his brother, to experience a wild, compensatory urge born of transference. It had been like this with Jiang Sile at first, and later with Pan Rongxi. He had never considered that once his relationship with Xiao Le had changed, such behavior would end up hurting him.

Even if Xiao Le’s impulsive, willful temper was the way it was, that was because Mu Fei had always spoiled him — leaving him never truly grown up.

Both he and Jiang Sile had to move forward. Both had to change. Mu Fei had already made up his mind.

But Jiang Sile remained impatient. “We’ve already broken up. Stay out of my business.”

As Jiang Sile finished speaking, he tried to wrench free and head into the passage — but saw Qin Yi and the two walking toward them.

“The plan is this…” Qin Yi began laying out the next phase of the operation.

Jiang Sile, however, was somewhat distracted. He noticed that the aura between Qin Yi and Lu Heng seemed to intertwine. Even now, with Lu Heng standing a little distance away, hugging his sword and observing below, the two of them radiated an atmosphere that no one else could intrude upon.

As for his feelings toward Qin Yi, Jiang Sile himself couldn’t quite articulate them — they were entirely different from his feelings for Mu Fei. But he knew that Qin Yi had been the one light in the dark and desperate era of his past life. With Qin Yi’s salvation, he had not succumbed to madness.

According to plan, Jiang Sile, lacking combat ability, stayed up top as support. Qin Yi once again managed to slip the Demon-Suppressing Talisman onto him, to prevent that demon from causing trouble at a critical moment.

Mu Fei used his plant-type ability to grow an enormous vine, which lowered the three of them to the bottom of the pit. Qin Yi flicked several golden-white flames from his hand. The moment they landed among the zombie horde, they swelled to several meters in size, reducing everything around them to charcoal.

Just as expected, before long, the charred zombies picked themselves back up and wobbled toward them again.

Mu Fei crouched, pressing his hands to the ground. Instantly, a patch of lush wild grass sprouted, entangling the zombies’ legs. Qin Yi seized the opportunity to shape his spiritual power into dozens of steel needles, driving them viciously into the brains of the bound zombies.

Boom, boom, boom—

Explosions rang out one after another. The crystal cores of those zombies, along with their heads, were all blown to pieces.

Lu Heng, meanwhile, stood atop the vine with his eyes closed and his sword folded in his arms, motionless. He was waiting — waiting for that high-level zombie to reveal itself.

Qin Yi and Mu Fei fought in perfect sync, mowing down the horde like scything grass. In moments, a large swath of zombies was cleared. Just as Lu Heng predicted, the high-level zombie could no longer hold back.

There —!

Lu Heng’s figure shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, becoming a streaking afterimage hurtling in one direction. The tip of his blade was aimed at what appeared to be a slow-moving, utterly ordinary low-level zombie.

What the hell is he doing?! Jiang Sile cursed inwardly from above. He’d wasted the opportunity the other two had created.

Lu Heng had no bandwidth to spare wondering what Jiang Sile thought. In the instant the Dichen Sword was about to pierce through, the zombie flipped backward — its agility was something only a high-level zombie could possess.

After a few exchanges, Lu Heng discovered that this healing-type zombie was no slower than himself. It was, incredibly, a rare dual-type zombie. Every wound the Dichen Sword carved into it was healed away, and for a time, Lu Heng couldn’t bring it down. However, Lu Heng’s task was only to keep the high-level zombie occupied, leaving it no capacity to heal the lower-level ones.

Meanwhile, without the high-level zombie pulling strings from behind the scenes, Qin Yi and Mu Fei’s efficiency multiplied several times over. With each volley of fireballs, huge swathes of low-level zombies toppled.

“Mu Mu, leave the rest to you.” Seeing that only a few zombies remained, Qin Yi handed off and went to support Lu Heng.

With Qin Yi joining the fight, Lu Heng’s pressure eased considerably. But this high-level zombie’s crystal core couldn’t be recklessly destroyed — a high-level crystal core was an exceedingly rare treasure.

“Junior Brother, take over.”

Qin Yi stepped in without hesitation, intercepting all of the high-level zombie’s attacks.

Lu Heng retreated to the rear. He gripped the Dichen Sword and dragged his palm across the blade hard — blood surged along the steel. Not a single drop fell; it was all absorbed by the Dichen Sword.

The Dichen blazed with radiance. Lightning — violet and crackling — coiled around its blade. Lu Heng surged forward and re-entered the fray.

This time, the wounds the Dichen Sword carved into the zombie were laced with the power of wind and lightning. They could no longer heal. Finally battered and covered in injuries, the high-level zombie’s speed dropped, and Lu Heng seized an opening — one clean stroke severed its head.

Qin Yi didn’t bother checking whether there were two high-level crystal cores inside the skull. He strode over, frowning deeply, and began bandaging Lu Heng’s wound.

“Your fighting style is way too brutal. You can’t just go around carving gashes this long into yourself every time!”

“I wouldn’t use this method unless it were absolutely necessary. It’s bad for Dichen,” Lu Heng replied.

“Have you never considered that it’s bad for you?” Qin Yi’s face darkened another shade.

Lu Heng was about to say something more when Mu Fei’s alarmed cry rang out from behind.

“Little Mu!”