The disheveled state after landing needs no elaboration.
The moment the ripples of the spatial passage had just settled, before Gu Chengming could even suppress that river-overturning, sea-churning sensation in his stomach, his own little Elder Yu, paying no mind to her own bedraggled state, anxiously tugged at Luo Jinyao's sleeve, urging her to examine Gu Chengming's injuries.
The way she acted, it was as though Gu Chengming hadn't merely run out of strength, but was about to perish body and soul the very next instant.
Luo Jinyao, too, was flustered out of concern, and immediately made to mobilize the divine sense of a Fourth-Realm great cultivator to investigate.
But this examination—no trouble had it not been done; once done, it left both of these Wenjian Sect female cultivators frozen on the spot.
The expected gruesome sight of severed meridians and a withered spirit-soul did not appear.
Apart from a slight weakness caused by the depletion of his strength, the vigorous true essence within Gu Chengming's body was downright absurdly lively. With just a single high-grade pill meant to consolidate the foundation and nourish the origin down his throat, in less than half a cup of tea's time, this "casualty"—who only a moment ago had been pale-faced and in need of someone to support him—was already standing on the city wall braving the wind, brimming with vim and vigor.
Such recuperative power—not to mention that it left Luo Jinyao, this widely-experienced Heaven Ranking great cultivator, astonished; even Yu Wenqiu, who had all along regarded Gu Chengming as "a junior in need of looking after," couldn't help but sink into deep self-doubt.
—Just who exactly was the pendant that needed to wave the flags and cheer from behind?
As the party concerned, Gu Chengming was rather taken aback as well.
After trading a single fist with that demon, he had actually emerged unharmed—and he hadn't even activated Sovereign mode at the time, had he?
Could it be the hidden mechanism of "Hundred Heavens Emperor, Aid Me"...?
A conjecture surfaced in Gu Chengming's heart, but not daring to be certain of it, his expression turned peculiar.
Yet now was clearly not a good time to delve deeply into this "hidden mechanism."
The wind and snow atop the city wall were as biting as ever; though the sounds of slaughter in the distance had gradually subsided, this did not mean it was over.
As a key figure in this battle, Gu Chengming hadn't even had the chance to catch his breath before he was swept up into the post-battle torrent.
The news that Gu Chengming and Yu Wenqiu had brought upon reaching Snowfall Pass was, without a doubt, quite useful.
Many people, Luo Jinyao among them, had gone to reinforce the Night-Watch Bureau.
The final outcome, too, was rather surprising.
Perhaps because the news from Gu Chengming and Yu Wenqiu had come so very timely, and the reinforcements had arrived so swiftly.
Zhou Qingmu not only failed to fall amid the siege, but on the contrary forcibly struck off the heads of the [Xuanshuo Wolf Lord] and the [Azure-Vault Bat Lord], and moreover beat the [Yueting Pan Sovereign]—whose defenses were proclaimed invincible among those of the same realm—until his physical body crumbled, leaving only a tattered demon-soul to flee in panic back into the depths of the Demon Domain.
Though the Night-Watch Bureau had also suffered losses in this battle, to have achieved such a combat record under a certain-death situation dire enough to overturn the entire Northern Frontier defensive line was already beyond what the two words "great victory" could describe.
In the subsequent reorganization, although the members of the Tianshu Squad—to which Li Dujiang, Song Qing, and the others belonged—had sustained some minor injuries, fortunately all of them were out of mortal danger, and were thereafter dispersed and assigned into various relatively stable garrison passes to assist with defense.
And Gu Chengming—being a meritorious official with connections besides—naturally followed Yu Wenqiu and formally took up residence in this Snowfall Pass, known as "the First Pass of the Northern Frontier Great Wall."
After several days of rest and recuperation, the fatigue upon Gu Chengming's body was entirely gone.
Once everything had been settled properly, an invitation from the Northern Garrison Manor was delivered to his desk.
Snowfall Pass.
Here there was none of that grim severity and cold peculiar to a frontier pass; on the contrary, owing to the presence of an earth-fire formation, it was warm as spring.
In the courtyard there were even planted several stalks of red plum-blossom that did not belong to this season, blooming proudly in defiance of the wind and snow.
"Junior Sister Yu has told me about you. You're called... Little Gu, is it?"
The woman who spoke was seated beside a stone table, a pot held in her fair hand, pushing a cup of steaming spirit-tea toward Gu Chengming.
She wore a robe of snow-besting white, with no armor on, her three thousand strands of black hair bound up with but a single, seemingly casual wooden hairpin.
That face was beautifully formed, exuding a certain cold, aloof detachment; yet at this moment her tone was warm to a somewhat excessive degree, even carrying a few notes of the intimacy of a girl-next-door elder sister.
This highly impactful sense of contrast left Gu Chengming, for a moment, even somewhat dazed.
This was Luo Jinyao, seventh on the Heaven Ranking, who had slain until the demon kings of the Northern Frontier trembled at the mere mention of her name?
"This junior is named Gu Chengming."
Gu Chengming hurriedly rose, took the teacup with both hands, weighed his wording for a moment, and explained somewhat awkwardly:
"This appellation 'Little Gu'—it'd be a rather affectionate way Elder Yu addresses me in private, I suppose?"
The words that had originally popped into his head were "pet name," but when they reached his lips he always felt those two words a touch frivolous, and forcibly swallowed them back down.
"Affectionate... that does rather suit Junior Sister Yu's temperament."
Hearing this, Luo Jinyao's lips curled up slightly, and she said with a gentle, tender smile:
"In that case, then I shall call you Little Gu as well; it rolls off the tongue more easily."
She put on no airs of a lofty senior; her gaze examined Gu Chengming carefully from head to toe, a few notes of concern showing in her eyes:
"It was all a bit hurried just now; sitting down to look closely now, your complexion has indeed recovered quite well. But the malevolent qi here in the Northern Frontier runs heavy, and the hidden injuries left behind by chaotic spatial currents sometimes lurk deep. If anything feels amiss over these next couple of days, remember to come find me anytime."
"Many thanks for your concern, Senior; this junior understands."
Gu Chengming's heart warmed slightly. He could feel that this Senior Luo was not merely being polite, but was truly looking after him as one of her own juniors.
After an exchange of pleasantries, Luo Jinyao drew from her sleeve a token, polished entirely from obsidian, with the two characters "Snowfall" carved on its face, and set it lightly upon the table.
"This is Snowfall Pass's Pass-Guarding Token. Keep it safe."
Luo Jinyao's voice was as gentle as ever, but when it came to serious matters it took on an added measure of steadiness:
"Since you've entered the pass, from today onward you count as one of my Snowfall Pass's people."
"The rules here in the Northern Frontier differ somewhat from those in the heartland of the Great Qian or within the Night-Watch Bureau. Here, everything speaks through battle merit, and everything places the defense of the pass first."
She patiently explained the ins and outs of it to Gu Chengming:
"Although you all still retain your Night-Watch Bureau identities, within Snowfall Pass's jurisdiction, Snowfall Pass's military orders hold the highest priority. Of course, you needn't worry overmuch—in most cases the Night-Watch Bureau's deployment orders and our defensive duties do not conflict; indeed, one might say they complement each other."
"As for the specific assignment..."
Luo Jinyao glanced at Yu Wenqiu, who was sprawled over a nearby table, feasting heartily upon a plate of pastries, and gave a helpless little laugh:
"Since Junior Sister Yu has brought you to me, she naturally hopes you'll operate right under my nose. As it happens, I need to sort through the border-defense maps over these next few days, so for now you'll hold a nominal post as a personal guard of the Northern Garrison Manor. On ordinary days, when there's no fighting, you may move about freely within the pass and familiarize yourself with the surroundings."
"Understood. I leave it entirely to Senior's arrangements."
Gu Chengming put away the token, his heart settling.
With this identity, and Luo Jinyao's personal arrangements on top of it, his start in the Northern Frontier could be called smooth sailing all the way—a world of difference compared to those colleagues scattered to the various bitter, frigid mountain passes.
Having finished the official business, Luo Jinyao did not simply dismiss Gu Chengming; rather, as though she had seen through his curiosity about this unfamiliar environment, she actually rose to her feet of her own accord.
"Sitting around all the time is stifling. As it happens, I also need to go make an inspection round of the city—Little Gu, come walk with me."
"This Snowfall Pass may be a little different from the frontier pass you imagine..."
Gu Chengming followed behind Luo Jinyao and walked out of the Northern Garrison Manor.
The two of them, one ahead and one behind, passed through quiet corridors and skirted around several heavily-guarded hidden sentry posts.
As that heavy vermilion side gate was slowly pushed open, a wave of heat mingled with the fragrance of food and the clamor of voices instantly dispersed the tranquil quiet within the manor.
He had assumed he would run head-on into wind, snow, and grim severity—who would have thought that what met his eyes was an altogether different world.
And when he truly stood upon the streets of Snowfall Pass, even though he had been mentally prepared, the scene before him still left him with a trace of astonishment.
Where was this any kind of frontier pass? Compared even to the Capital, it gave little ground, surely?
On both sides of the broad streets, shops stood in dense rows; taverns and teahouses were all present and accounted for.
The cries of vendors, the sounds of carriages and horses, and even the strains of strings and flutes drifting from afar interwove into a scroll-painting of the mortal red dust, thick with the warmth of human life.
Those walking the streets were not only armored soldiers; far more were cultivators in garments of every color, merchants, and even ordinary commonfolk.
Were it not for the black city wall towering into the clouds in the distance, visible the moment one raised one's head, and that biting chill in the air that never quite dispersed, Gu Chengming might even have thought himself returned to some bustling ward-market of the Capital.
"Quite a surprise, isn't it?"
Luo Jinyao slowed her steps and walked shoulder to shoulder with Gu Chengming.
Wherever she passed, the soldiers and commonfolk she went by bowed respectfully one after another.
Smiling, she responded to everyone's greetings, then turned her head and explained to Gu Chengming:
"In many people's eyes, the Northern Frontier is a byword for bitter cold, slaughter, and desolation. But in fact, it is precisely because of the danger here that this sort of misshapen prosperity has been born."
"Because this is one of the safest places in the entire Northern Frontier region."
Luo Jinyao raised a hand and gestured at the passersby all around, who seemed leisurely yet were in fact hurried in their steps:
"This Northern Frontier is vast; apart from the passes our human race holds, every other place is overrun with demon beasts. Those rogue cultivators who come to the Northern Frontier to gather herbs, mine ore, and hunt demons for their livelihood, and those merchant caravans responsible for transporting supplies—they must add blood to the knife's edge, and they need all the more an absolutely safe harbor in which to spend their gold and rest up."
"At Snowfall Pass there is me, and there are tens of thousands of elite border troops; even were a Fifth-Realm demon king to come, it would gain no advantage. So most of those who make a living in the Northern Frontier choose to dwell here, and within the several large garrison passes nearby."
Hearing this, Gu Chengming nodded thoughtfully.
The reasoning was not hard to grasp—in a chaotic age, safety was the greatest capital of all.
"Of course, there is also a more important reason."
Luo Jinyao lowered her voice a few notches, extended a slender finger, and pointed lightly at the earth beneath their feet: "The Great Qian's dragon-qi."
"Dragon-qi?" Gu Chengming's expression shifted slightly.
"Just so." Luo Jinyao explained: "The Great Qian's territory is vast, but the might of this dragon-qi is not present everywhere. The Capital is where the dragon-veins converge, so naturally no evil can encroach upon it. But this Northern Frontier is, after all, a land beyond civilization, far too distant from the Capital, and the dragon-qi's effect here is much weakened."
"Dragon-qi springs from the earth-veins, and even more from the hopes of the people."
"The more people gather, the more flourishing the human vitality, and the more thick and rich this dragon-qi becomes. Were this place without these several hundred thousand permanent residents, without this cityful of human warmth and bustle, then relying on a single solitary pass alone, the Great Qian's dragon-qi could likely not even protect the city walls—let alone suppress those great demons attempting to cross the border."
Realization dawned in Gu Chengming's heart.
No wonder the Great Qian so supported commerce and trade at the frontier passes, even sparing no expense to build these frontier cities.
So it turned out this was not merely an economic calculation, but a political one bearing on the nation's fortune and its defense.
Using people as the formation, using human vitality to nourish dragon-qi.
This was the underlying logic by which the Great Qian held the Northern Frontier down.
The two of them walked all the way to the pass's central plaza, which was also the liveliest place in the entire city.
An enormous stone stele, fully over ten zhang tall and carved entirely from white jade, stood erect in the very center of the plaza, giving off a faint spiritual glow, its surface densely carved all over with names.
"That is..." Gu Chengming's gaze was drawn to the stele.
"That is the 'Myriad Demon Ranking.'"
Luo Jinyao halted her steps, her gaze falling upon the stele: "To be precise, this thing was not compiled by the Great Qian, but ranked by the Demon Domain itself."
"Just as the Great Qian has the Heaven Ranking, the Earth Ranking, and the Hidden Dragon Ranking, the Demon Domain side has its own rankings too. But the names on this ranking are not all of them."
"The demon race is cunning by nature, so this Myriad Demon Ranking can only roughly indicate the distribution of strength among those active powerhouses within the Demon Domain."
At this point, Luo Jinyao glanced at Gu Chengming, the corner of her mouth curving into a somewhat helpless smile:
"Speaking of which, Little Gu, your name now is, I'm afraid, already up on the board over in the Demon Domain."
"Although the Demon Domain and the Great Qian have signed an agreement, maintaining a relative peace on the surface, you've seen it too—frictions in this Northern Frontier never cease, and the mutual slaughter between the two sides has never stopped. The Demon Domain side takes pride in killing human cultivators on the Heaven Ranking, Earth Ranking, and Hidden Dragon Ranking, and can even exchange such deeds for corresponding resources within the demon race."
"You now rank tenth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking—in the eyes of those young demons eager to rise, that's quite the eye-catching mark."
Gu Chengming rubbed his nose; he wasn't surprised by this in the least.
"Of course, courtesy demands reciprocity."
Luo Jinyao's tone shifted: "Our Northern Frontier is the same. Carved upon this stele are the names of the great demons on whom the Demon Domain has placed the highest bounties. Starting from the names higher up on the Myriad Demon Ranking, the more merit one can gain from killing them."
"This merit is not interchangeable with your Night-Watch Bureau's merit system, but the things one can exchange for it here are richer as well."
Luo Jinyao pointed at a grand building beside the stele—that was Snowfall Pass's [Hall of Battle Merit]:
"For instance, if you could slay a Third-Realm demon ranked toward the bottom of the Myriad Demon Ranking, and bring its demon core and token here, the battle merit exchanged could redeem a top-grade Second-Tier Dharma Sword."
"And if you could slay one ranked higher up..."
Luo Jinyao smiled and did not go on, but her meaning was already self-evident.
A single Third-Realm demon could be traded for a top-grade Second-Tier Dharma Sword?
"Well?"
Luo Jinyao looked at the light flickering in Gu Chengming's eyes, and seemed not to think him rash; on the contrary, she nodded with a measure of gratification.
—A sword cultivator, after all, ought to have some edge. If one lacked even this much spirit of striving for victory, then one's sword would never be cultivated to success.
She reached out and, with the utmost naturalness, straightened the collar that the wind had blown askew on Gu Chengming:
"But striving aside, in all things you must still be careful."
"If you really run into trouble you can't resolve..." Luo Jinyao looked straight into Gu Chengming's eyes: "remember to run to me."
Gu Chengming assented, feeling something subtle in his heart.
Walking and pausing all along the way, by the time the two of them turned back to the Northern Garrison Manor, the sky was already near dusk.
Night in the Northern Frontier came extremely fast; the wind that had been merely slightly cool a moment ago now carried a bone-piercing chill.
Luo Jinyao did not seem to have had her fill—or rather, she still had some more private words of advice to impart—so she led Gu Chengming back to that warm side hall.
Within the side hall of the Northern Garrison Manor, the earth-fire burned vigorously, driving away the all-pervading chill of the Northern Frontier.
Luo Jinyao sat across from Gu Chengming, her head bowed as she carefully examined a border-defense map that had just been delivered, while at her hand were set several exquisite jade vials and a stack of protective talismans carved full of runes.
"These are Snow-Returning Pills. The cold qi of the Northern Frontier runs heavy, and you've only just arrived; even with cultivation to rely on, when you cultivate at night you'll inevitably have the cold-poison invade your body. Holding one in your mouth each day can protect your heart-meridian."
Luo Jinyao pushed the jade vial toward Gu Chengming, her voice soft and gentle:
"And these few talismans are sword-talismans I drew casually in my idle time. Though they can't compare to the sect's great treasures, each one has a strand of my sword intent sealed within it. If you meet with danger, don't be sparing with them—just crush them at once."
Gu Chengming looked at this heap of priceless pills before him and the sword-talismans personally forged by a Fourth-Realm sword cultivator, and felt only a heavy weight in his hands.
Instinctively he made to decline: "Senior Luo, these are far too valuable; this junior would be unworthy to accept them..."
"Take them."
Luo Jinyao raised her head, those cold, clear eyes carrying concern: "You're someone Junior Sister Yu brought along, and you call me Senior besides. If I didn't look after you here at Snowfall Pass, Junior Sister Yu would likely come making a fuss with me later."
This meticulous, all-encompassing care, this reliability so thorough it even left one a little overwhelmed by the favor...
Gu Chengming couldn't help but feel an extremely peculiar sensation welling up in his heart.
He instinctively recalled his own Elder Yu.
On ordinary days it was nothing but eating and sleeping; though she would defend her own when something came up, most of the time she wore the air of a hands-off boss who'd say, "Little Gu, just handle it as you see fit." She had even, on the way here, righteously insisted on treating herself as a "pendant."
Both elders of the Wenjian Sect—wasn't the gap between them just a bit too vast?
Wrapped in Luo Jinyao's gentle yet domineering "sense of reliability," Gu Chengming not only failed to feel relaxed but instead felt thoroughly ill at ease all over, like a man accustomed to sleeping on a hard plank bed suddenly stuffed into a pile of clouds—no matter how he lay, it felt unreal.
"What's wrong?" Luo Jinyao noticed his stiffness, and withdrew her hand with a soft laugh: "Do you find me a bit naggy, perhaps?"
"No, no." Gu Chengming hurriedly shook his head and said with a wry smile: "It's only that this junior has been at Elder Yu's side for so long that, suddenly being looked after by Senior like this, for a moment I'm a bit unaccustomed to it."
Luo Jinyao was startled for a moment, then sighed: "I know Junior Sister Yu's temperament well. It's only a sensible junior like you who could put up with her."
"Back in the sect in those years, she was just this lazy and listless. As her senior sister, naturally I ought to make up for it on her behalf a bit more."
"All right, the hour is getting late. Pack up your things and head back to rest early. If you want to go take a look at the Hall of Battle Merit tomorrow, remember to bring your Pass-Guarding Token."
Gu Chengming let out a breath as though relieved of a burden, hurriedly gathered up that heap of pills and talismans, and bowed respectfully: "Many thanks for Senior's generous gifts. This junior takes his leave."
Stepping out of the side hall, struck by the cold wind outside, Gu Chengming couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
So this was what a true thick thigh was like?
No wonder Elder Yu had been spoiled into that carefree, flitting state—who wouldn't go slack with this kind of treatment?
[The Huiyuan Sword Formula, thinking of Luo Jinyao's manner just now, fell into contemplation.]
[It seemed to have found its own direction for future development!]
The next day.
The morning at Snowfall Pass had no rising sun, only fine, scattered snow-flecks dancing across the whole sky.
Following Luo Jinyao's directions, Gu Chengming came to the plaza located in the city's center.
That enormous white jade stele—the Myriad Demon Ranking—was at this moment being watched over by countless cultivators.
This was the place where Snowfall Pass's information was most concentrated, and also a place every cultivator who wished to make a name and earn resources in the Northern Frontier had to pass through.
Gu Chengming squeezed through the crowd, stood before the stele, and raised his head to look up.
This Myriad Demon Ranking was divided very finely; from top to bottom, in order, were the [Demon Emperor Ranking] corresponding to Fifth-Realm demon kings, the [Demon Sovereign Ranking] corresponding to Fourth-Realm great demons, and the [Green-Fang Ranking] and [Crimson Blood Ranking] corresponding to the Third and Second Realms.
Gu Chengming's gaze swept past those densely-packed low-tier names and looked straight to the middle section of the [Demon Sovereign Ranking].
Soon, he found that name that had left such a deep impression on him.
[Demon Sovereign Ranking, Forty-Sixth: Green-Scaled Hawk King]
[Cultivation: Early Fourth Realm (Peak)]
[Race: Collateral bloodline of the Azure-Sky Heavenpeng]
[Combat Record: Has repeatedly attacked frontier supply lines; savage by nature, exceedingly skilled at riding the wind, extremely fast. Three days ago took part in the ambush of the Night-Watch Bureau's flying-vessel formation; fled gravely wounded.]
[Bounty: Fifteen thousand battle merit, or heaven-and-earth treasures of equivalent value.]
Looking at the line of words "fled gravely wounded," Gu Chengming narrowed his eyes slightly.
"So it really didn't die..."
Gu Chengming's fingers lightly rubbed the hilt of his sword, silently drawing a red circle around this name in his heart.
"Green-Scaled Hawk King..."
[The Hundred Bones Resonance said indignantly within the sea of consciousness: Once we go up two more levels, we've got to go pluck out all its feathers, then roast it and eat it.]
Gu Chengming soothed the restless Hundred Heavens Emperor and continued searching downward with his gaze.
Since the old one couldn't be killed for now, then he'd start by taking the blade to the young ones first.
A thing like revenge was all about a single mind set at ease. Since you want to kill me, then I'll start by killing your whole family—perfectly reasonable, no?
Following the Green-Scaled Hawk King's lineage downward, Gu Chengming soon found his target in the latter half of the [Green-Fang Ranking].
[Green-Fang Ranking, Seventy-Second: Iron-Feather Grey Hawk]
[Cultivation: Second-Realm Consummation]
[Race: Direct descendant of the Green-Scaled Hawk King]
[Range of Activity: Three hundred li northwest of Snowfall Pass, in the vicinity of Shattered Stone Gorge.]
[Notes: This demon is cunning in temperament; though only Second Realm, relying on its speed of flight and escape, it often hunts and kills lone Second-Realm human cultivators. Its feathers are like iron, hard to wound with ordinary magic instruments.]
Second-Realm Consummation, with a fixed area of activity, and a descendant of that old demon besides.
It was simply the perfect whetstone. Gu Chengming did not hesitate, and turned to walk toward that enormous notice wall beside the stele.
This was Snowfall Pass's distinctive "listing-claiming" system.
To avoid internal strife among cultivators over snatching prey, and to ensure the accuracy of intelligence, all cultivators who wished to hunt and kill the demons on the Myriad Demon Ranking needed first to come here and "claim a listing."
This so-called "listing" was in fact a kind of specially-made spirit-power talisman paper.
Each sheet of talisman paper was branded with the detailed information and approximate location of the corresponding demon; once torn down, the talisman paper would transform into a temporary tracking-token, and only the holder of this token could exchange it for battle merit after killing the demon.
Of course, this claiming had a time limit too. If the kill was not completed within the prescribed time, or if the claimant died, the mission would refresh back onto the ranking once more.
Gu Chengming walked up to the talisman paper belonging to the [Iron-Feather Grey Hawk].
Quite a few cultivators around were picking their targets, and seeing a young man with a youthful face and cultivation that looked no more than mid-Second Realm actually reach out directly to claim the listing of a Second-Realm Consummation demon beast, they couldn't help but cast sidelong glances one after another.
"Riiip—"
The instant the talisman paper came into his hand, it transformed into a streak of flowing light and bored into his token.
At the same time, an excited prompt-chime sounded within his sea of consciousness.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance cheered loudly: Avenge every glare, repay every grudge—keep love and hatred clearly reckoned! Since we can't touch the old one, kill the young one first! Slaughter the whole family, pull up the weeds by the roots!]
[Worthy of being Emperor Gu!]
[Hundred Bones Resonance favorability +5]
[Current Favorability: 210/∞ (Unforsaken in Life and Death)]
Gu Chengming instinctively ignored the Hundred Bones Resonance's "praise," which sounded rather villainous, but in his heart he found it a bit amusing.
Although this Old Hundred's choice of words was improper, it had to be said that it did indeed fit his current state of mind quite well.
He could both avenge himself and wash away the grudge, calming the resentment in his heart; and he could also use the opportunity of real combat to verify that new characteristic of [Hundred Heavens Emperor, Aid Me], and stack up the multiplier on this fist a bit while he was at it.
Three gains in one stroke—why not?
The preparatory work was not at all complicated.
After collecting the necessary supplies at the Hall of Battle Merit, and spending a few points of battle merit at the intelligence office to obtain a more detailed terrain map of Shattered Stone Gorge, Gu Chengming left Snowfall Pass alone.
The wind and snow of the Northern Frontier, once one was outside the pass, appeared especially violent.
Gu Chengming pulled his great cloak tight, his figure like lightning, skimming at low altitude hugging the snowy plain.
A distance of three hundred li, for him as he was now, was no more than a single shichen's journey.
Shattered Stone Gorge.
This was a typical wind-eroded landform; on both sides were brown cliffs towering into the clouds, while in the middle lay a winding, twisting gorge strewn with jumbled rocks.
Because gale-winds howled here year-round, the rocks here had all been ground sharp as knife-edges.
Gu Chengming reined in the aura of his entire body, circulated the «Yin-Yang Creation Strategy», and lowered his own sense of presence to the minimum, like a single mote of dust amid this sky-filling wind and snow, slipping soundlessly into the depths of the gorge.
Upon a jutting cliff, he discovered his target.
It was a giant hawk with a wingspan of fully two zhang, its whole body covered in feathers black as pig-iron, with only that tuft of plumage atop its head showing a faint green, proclaiming that it possessed a thread of extraordinary bloodline.
At this moment, this Iron-Feather Grey Hawk was lazily preening its feathers, those sharp hawk-eyes full of arrogance and disdain.
As the overlord of this area, and a descendant of the Green-Scaled Hawk King besides, it lived an exceedingly cushy life here in Shattered Stone Gorge.
Suddenly, its movements paused, and it abruptly turned its head to look at the jumbled rock pile below.
There, a human cultivator clad in dark tight-fitting attire was swaggering out into the open.
"Hm?"
A trace of humanlike puzzlement flashed through the Iron-Feather Grey Hawk's eyes.
Its keen perception swept over the other in an instant—Second Realm, fourth layer?
On this Northern Frontier battlefield, a Second-Realm fourth-layer human cultivator could not be counted weak, but before it, a Second-Realm Consummation great demon, what difference was there from a snack delivered to its door?
"Screech—"
The Iron-Feather Grey Hawk gave a short, sharp cry, a few notes of mockery in its voice.
A blood-meal delivered to its door?
It didn't even rise into flight; with a single beat of its wings, several black feathers like refined iron shot out like sharp arrows, carrying a piercing sound of rent air, striking straight for the vital points all over Gu Chengming's body.
It meant to toy with him like a cat with a mouse—first pinning this human's limbs to the ground, then slowly savoring him.
Yet the next moment, the look in its eyes changed.
Facing those feather-arrows that came assailing him, blotting out sky and earth, that young human did not panic and dodge—he didn't even halt his steps.
"Clang—"
A clear, resonant sword-cry rang through the gorge.
Five streaks of flowing light whistled out from behind the man without the slightest warning.
Jiao-Slayer, Wave-Listening, Light-Splitter, Stone-Render, Night-Quelling!
The five Dharma Swords instantly wove into a net in the air, not only easily grinding those feather-arrows to bits, but in the blink of an eye turning the tables, transforming into a forbidding sword formation that completely enveloped that cliff.
Gu Chengming's voice was flat as he lightly pointed a finger.
The air, which had been more or less normal, in that instant turned viscous as glue.
An invisible yet omnipresent binding force, like a great unseen net, clung tightly to the body of the Iron-Feather Grey Hawk.
Sword intent—Cling!
The Iron-Feather Grey Hawk felt only a heaviness all over its body; its once-nimble wings were now as heavy as if filled with lead, and each beat consumed several times the strength.
Not good!
Alarm bells went off wildly in the Iron-Feather Grey Hawk's heart.
Sword-formation control of this caliber, and this uncanny "Cling" sword intent—this was absolutely a genius disciple painstakingly nurtured by some great human sect!
Run!
Without any hesitation, the Iron-Feather Grey Hawk directly abandoned all thought of confronting him head-on.
Arrogant though it was, it valued its life even more.
As a flying demon beast, so long as it opened up the distance and rose into the high skies, it would stand in an invincible position.
"Screech!!!"
It gave a piercing, drawn-out shriek, demonic qi erupting all over its body, a layer of green light suffusing its formerly black feathers; borrowing this burst of explosive force, it forcibly broke free of that momentary sword-intent binding, transforming into a green-black afterimage that shot straight for the heavens.
So fast was it that it even dragged out a long sonic-boom cloud in the air.
"Shift the formation."
At a single stir of Gu Chengming's thought, the five originally scattered flying swords abruptly drew together.
The heavy, antique [Stone-Render] sword and the pitch-black, deep [Night-Quelling] sword blazed with light, and the two utterly different strands of sword intent fiercely collided and fused in midair.
As though an invisible great mountain had pressed down out of thin air, the Iron-Feather Grey Hawk's figure, swift as lightning, abruptly stalled, and immediately its massive body began, beyond its control, to plummet!
It couldn't escape.
A trace of madness and ferocity flashed through its hawk-eyes.
If it couldn't run, then it would stake everything!
"Die!!!"
The Iron-Feather Grey Hawk no longer tried to pull up; instead, borrowing the momentum of that plunge, it madly burned the essence-blood throughout its body.
Its once-black feathers instantly turned crimson as blood, and a demonic qi violent to the extreme burst out from within it.
It folded its wings, turning its entire body into a blood-colored blade descending from the heavens, and with the tragic, mutually-destructive momentum of taking the enemy down with it, slammed fiercely toward Gu Chengming below.
This essence-blood-burning strike—even an early Third-Realm human cultivator who dared take it head-on would end up gravely wounded.
The gale howled, blood-light rushing at the face.
Gu Chengming watched the demon-fowl plunging like a meteor, and in his eyes there was not the slightest trace of fear; on the contrary, a blaze of ardent light lit up.
"Well come."
He drew a deep breath, and the true essence within him ceased its circulation in that instant.
In its place came a domineering power springing from the depths of his physical body, springing from that phantom of the ancient emperor.
Sovereign state, activate!
He did not use his sword, because he wanted to test his initial conjecture.
"Hundred Heavens Emperor—"
Gu Chengming barked lowly in his heart.
[Emperor Gu! Crush it!!!]
An invisible wave of qi exploded outward with Gu Chengming at its center; the void behind him distorted slightly, as though a heaven-supporting, earth-treading phantom of an emperor were slowly raising its arm, overlapping with his own motion.
The strength of his whole body gathered entirely upon this single fist.
"Aid me!!!"
As the last words were spoken, Gu Chengming blasted a fist toward the vault of heaven.
"BOOM——!!!"
The gorge trembled; jumbled rocks burst and flew.
A pillar of white light visible to the naked eye, wrapped in the terrifying fist-intent of sole-self-supremacy, surged upstream and slammed fiercely into that falling blood-colored figure.
There was no stalemate, no scream of agony.
Before the absolute power of [Hundred Heavens Emperor, Aid Me], enough to blast a city wall to pieces, the Iron-Feather Grey Hawk's so-called death-defying strike was like a fragile joke.
That crimson demon-body completely disintegrated the instant it touched the fist-wind.
The iron-hard feathers turned to powder, the solid bones shattered inch by inch, and along with them that burning demon core—all of it was blasted into the finest particles under this single fist.
No rain of blood fell, because in midair it had already been evaporated into a blood-mist by that terrifying fist-force.
After one fist, heaven and earth were clear and bright.
In the sky there was no longer any trace of that Second-Realm Consummation great demon, only a puddle of indistinct mush slowly sliding down the cliff.
Gu Chengming held the pose of his thrown punch, gasping for breath in great gulps.
That familiar sensation of depleted strength assailed him again, leaving his legs a little weak, but his spirit was more exhilarated than ever before.
At the bottom of his field of vision, that line of semi-transparent small characters leapt once more.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance cheered: This is the feeling! Again! Again!]
—It had to be said, this demon was rather tough.
Thinking thus in his heart, Gu Chengming, in the Sovereign state, spoke aloud:
"To have witnessed a single fist of this venerable self, you may count yourself as dying without regret."
[Emperor Gu is mighty! I'm so amazing too.]
[Hundred Bones Resonance favorability +10]
[CG / Hundred Heavens Emperor, Aid Me: Damage multiplier increased to 1.05]
Looking at the raised damage multiplier, Gu Chengming felt fully reassured.
Then, another line of characters appeared before his eyes.
[Current Kill Count: 1]
[Hidden Characteristic Revealed: If your side's clash-stat power is greater than the enemy's attack power, the Heaven Emperor's will completely suppresses the opponent, and this attack will ignore all of the enemy's reflect-damage, rebound, and backlash effects, and you yourself will take no recoil damage whatsoever.
If your side's clash-stat power is less than the enemy's attack, then for this attack the enemy takes no recoil damage whatsoever.
If the two sides' powers are close, the two energies cancel each other out, and this attack is null.]
Holy crap, so that was it!
He had been puzzled as to why he'd taken no injury after receiving the Green-Scaled Hawk King's blow back then; only now did he understand.
So this was a clash-stat skill, then?!
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