There is Still Such A Good Thing? - Chapter 5

“Mobao!”

Since losing his cultivation, Wu Lingchan had frequently encountered people seeking revenge. He never actually knew who those people were, so he would humbly ask for their names and the nature of their grievances. His enemies, however, would invariably break into fits of weeping and shouting, “Wu Lingchan, you go too far!”

Wu Lingchan had no idea how he had bullied them. Every time an enemy rushed forward to beat him, Xuanxiang was the one who settled the matter. In this moment of peril, Wu Lingchan’s first instinct was to call upon his natal magical treasure.

Xuanxiang did not respond.

Wu Lingchan froze, belatedly realizing that Xuanxiang was gone.

There were tens of millions of demonic beasts in Wangliao Tomb; rumors even suggested some had cultivated into human forms. However, most were mindless creatures that knew only how to devour and slaughter. Danjiu Palace was situated in the heart of Kunfu Xu, not far from Chen She’s Bihan Platform. How could demonic beasts possibly break in?

Wu Lingchan murmured blankly, “Xuanxiang.”

He knew the spirit body was scattered, but these two words seemed to grant him unearned courage. Wu Lingchan took a deep breath, and with a flick of his trembling hand, he pulled a sword as black as ink from his shadow.

The red light drew closer. Suddenly, the sound of rushing wind erupted. The demonic beasts pounced all at once.

Wu Lingchan reacted quickly. His lithe body leaped several times to narrowly dodge the strike, his hunting robe of red maple with gold patterns flaring out like a blooming flower.

Clang!

The ink sword slashed through the air, striking the leading beast. Along with the crisp sound of a breaking blade, Wu Lingchan and the group of beasts looked up simultaneously. Their eyes followed the tip of the broken sword as it spun several times in the air, traced an arc, and hit the ground.

Wu Lingchan was speechless.

The surroundings fell silent for a moment. The demonic beasts had been intimidated by his impressive-looking stance, but seeing the fake display, their anger surged. They roared at the sky, sending a wave of air crashing forward with unstoppable force.

Wu Lingchan could not escape far enough. He was flipped dozens of feet by the wind and landed face-first on the ground with a thud. The beautiful ornaments on his body scattered everywhere, and even the golden bell gifted by Chen She rolled aside.

Wu Lingchan scrambled up. After running a few steps, he turned back to retrieve the nearest golden pendant. He tucked it into his messy hair while sprinting away. He realized that, as expected, he still could not win in a physical fight.

Half of Danjiu Palace was filled with beasts. Wu Lingchan scrambled out of a window, and before he could get his bearings, a wave of foul-smelling heat hit him. A beast was already upon him, its massive claws swinging down toward his head.

Wu Lingchan bent his waist, narrowly dodging the blow, and rolled clumsily to the side. The beast seemed to possess some intelligence; the “Chen” character within its crimson pupils flashed slightly as it opened its massive maw.

At that exact moment, a cloud of purple mist drifted toward Wu Lingchan from mid-air. The mist was eerie; a peony blooming in the courtyard withered into dust the moment it touched a single wisp.

Wu Lingchan’s face turned white. Before he could even hold his breath, the purple mist enveloped him. Upon contact, it transformed into a streak of purple light and bored into his internal palace.

This was bad. He wondered what that thing was and if it was supposed to enter his body. He lamented his bad luck, questioning his supposed status as a favored child of destiny. Where was the good luck that usually allowed him to gather immortal herbs without encountering spirit beasts?

In his momentary distraction, the beast pinned him to the ground, its massive body crushing his thin frame.

“Ugh!”

Intense pain surged, starting from Wu Lingchan’s dantian. For a moment, his mind went blank, filled only with the sharp, ear-piercing sound of shattering glass.

Thump, thump, thump.

The weight on him was suddenly repelled. Accompanied by the screams of the beasts, a violent, invisible force erupted from Wu Lingchan’s dantian. His Golden Core, which had been shattered into hundreds of cracks, trembled violently and suddenly fused back together.

The Golden Core stage spiritual power that Wu Lingchan had lost a year ago suddenly returned. He stood dazed, but before he could make sense of it, the startled beasts pounced again.

Wu Lingchan did not have time to think. His wide sleeves, embroidered with maple patterns, fluttered as his fingers curled like a blossoming flower. With that motion, a long blade was pulled inch by inch from his dark shadow.

The beast roared. Wu Lingchan raised an eyebrow and smiled.

This blade was entirely different from the previous fake. The immortal-grade weapon, Xuanxiang Taishou, transformed into a long blade taller than Wu Lingchan himself. Each strike carried a sharp arc of ink, crashing into the giant beasts with overwhelming power.

His Golden Core cultivation erupted.

Clang.

With just one strike, dozens of demonic beasts wailed. Those touched by the blade’s light turned to ash. The momentum of the blade did not diminish; it leveled half of Danjiu Palace and surged forward hundreds of feet.

A dead silence fell over the area. Wu Lingchan raised his hand to gather the ink, flicking his fingers so the ink dropped back into his shadow like a living thing and disappeared.

Only a single drop of ink remained splashed near the corner of his eye, looking like a tear mole. He looked stunningly beautiful, like a figure stepping out of a painting. However, the elegance lasted only a moment before Wu Lingchan began hopping on one foot, grimacing in pain.

“Ah, hiss!”

One of the beasts had bitten his calf, and the pain made him howl, nearly bringing him to tears. With that one move, the Golden Core in his body shattered once again, and his cultivation plummeted back to the Qi Refining stage.

Looking at the ruined palace, Wu Lingchan hopped in place, feeling uncertain. He wondered what that purple mist was and why it allowed him to briefly regain his peak Golden Core power. He decided that the Heavens must still favor him after all. He even muttered to himself that the Demon God was good.

Half of the palace had been destroyed by his strike. The remaining beasts watched him warily, unsure whether to attack or flee.

Despite his shattered core, Wu Lingchan remained stubborn. He held his blade and said with a smile, “Come on, little dogs, try again.”

The beasts looked at one another. Wu Lingchan’s flesh seemed to possess a fatal attraction for them; after some hesitation, they followed their instincts and lunged forward.

Wu Lingchan thought to himself that they actually came back. He turned and ran immediately. However, with his injured leg, he could only manage a few steps before stumbling forward. The beasts were already in the air.

He realized he should not have provoked them. Just as he was about to die, the pupils of the airborne beasts shrank into needles. Before they could even express their terror, their massive bodies were crushed inward by an invisible hand.

Bang.

The beasts exploded into a mist of blood. The remaining few trembled so violently that their claws could no longer support them, and they collapsed to the ground. It was a gesture of begging and submission.

Wu Lingchan froze and looked back in confusion. He saw layers of dark blue robes. Chen She had arrived at some unknown moment. He flicked several spiritual threads from his sleeve, weaving them together to seal the cracks in the air.

“A,” Wu Lingchan started.

Chen She looked down at Wu Lingchan’s disheveled state. “Are you hurt?”

Wu Lingchan seemed to remember something and pouted, refusing to speak to him out of hostility. The few remaining beasts struggled to flee, but Chen She spoke indifferently. “Since you have come, why bother leaving?”

A killing array appeared, and falling bamboo leaves instantly slaughtered all the beasts. With a soft sound, the candles in Danjiu Palace flickered to life. Upon closer inspection, an inner core floated above each beast’s corpse, surrounded by a small cloud of purple mist.

Wu Lingchan instinctively reached for the nearest core, recognizing it as the substance that had restored his power. But before he could touch it, Chen She swept his sleeve, collecting all the cores without leaving a single one behind.

“What was that?” Wu Lingchan asked.

Chen She knelt on one knee, holding Wu Lingchan’s ankle to examine the wound. “Do not ask about things that do not concern you.”

“Then what should I ask?” Wu Lingchan retorted. He wondered why Chen She was acting so hostile now when he had been affectionate earlier at Bihan Platform.

Chen She smiled. “Why don’t I ask you first? You have been in Danjiu Palace for less than half a day. How did you manage to collapse the building?”

Wu Lingchan stammered, “What are you talking about?”

Chen She smiled and placed his warm palm on Wu Lingchan’s bitten calf. With a gentle touch of spiritual power, the wound healed and disappeared without even leaving a scar.

Xun Ye arrived late. “Lord Chen, there is urgent business. Hiss!” Seeing the ruins, he gasped. “Demonic beasts even broke into Danjiu Palace?”

Chen She stood up, pulling a reluctant Wu Lingchan with him. “Even?”

“Yes,” Xun Ye said concisely. “The Second Elder was attacked by beasts tonight and killed. Not even his bones remain.”

Chen She raised an eyebrow.

“There is a barrier in Danjiu Palace. Logically, beasts should not have appeared,” Xun Ye knelt to apologize. “It was my oversight.”

Wu Lingchan was not one to hide his thoughts. Seeing the two of them talk, he interrupted. “Did you not release the little dogs to kill me?”

Xun Ye’s expression darkened. He was offended by the accusation against Chen She’s honor.

“Wu Kunkun,” Chen She said softly. “Think carefully about what should and should not be said.”

Wu Lingchan had never been good at reading people. He did not notice the coldness in Chen She’s expression. He replied defiantly, “I have a mouth so I can speak. There is no should or should not. I will say what I want.”

Xun Ye was furious. “The Second Elder’s death was a deserved retribution. What does it have to do with Lord Chen?”

Wu Lingchan did not quite understand, suspecting he had missed the true meaning of the sentence. He had not mentioned the Second Elder. He only cared about himself and did not connect the elder’s death to his own attack.

He did not understand why Meng Ping envied him, nor did he understand why his brother’s succession was met with criticism. He did not care about the struggles of others.

Coldness radiated from Chen She, and frost began to form around them. Xun Ye fell silent, waiting to see the consequences of Wu Lingchan’s outspokenness.

Chen She reached out and brushed Wu Lingchan’s hair, moving a stray lock from his neck. His gaze fell on the white skin of Wu Lingchan’s neck and the “Wu” seal.

“Why do you think I wanted to kill you?” Chen She asked. He wondered if it was due to Jiang Zhengliu’s influence, his own desire for the throne, or a sense of crisis from the other elders’ deaths. Any of these reasons displeased him. He waited for an answer.

Wu Lingchan did not sense the murderous intent. He decided to be honest. “Those beasts clearly had your name on them. If you did not send them to kill me, who else could it be?”

“What character?” Chen She asked.

Wu Lingchan replied without hesitation, “The character for Chen. It was exactly the same as the one on Lord Xun.”

Chen She’s hand paused on Wu Lingchan’s neck, and the frost around them vanished. He used his spiritual power to pull an eyeball from a beast’s remains, wiped away the blood, and held it before Wu Lingchan.

Wu Lingchan looked at the eye, then at the seal on Xun Ye’s neck. The characters were “Chen” and “Ying.”

“Do you recognize them?” Chen She asked gently.

Wu Lingchan’s face clearly said he would not be fooled. “They are exactly the same.”

Chen She was silent.