When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Fu Guzhou found it incredible that the flowers had uprooted themselves, and he instinctively wanted to draw his sword to resist.

However, before his sword could even be unsheathed, Wenren Qian raised a hand and deftly sent it back into its scabbard once more.

“Hmm?” Fu Guzhou looked at him with a confused face.

Wenren Qian said indifferently, “There are no natural treasures here. Let’s go look elsewhere.”

Fu Guzhou had no objections and gave a compliant “Oh.” Seeing that the other didn’t move, he took the initiative to lead the way in a certain direction.

Yet, before they could get far, the previously harmless little flowers suddenly erupted, surging toward the two of them.

This sudden attack startled Fu Guzhou into drawing his sword and striking out with dozens of sword-light beams. He had thought these purple flowers could be dealt with casually, but they soon used their strength to tell him that they were no simple matter.

As Fu Guzhou manipulated his sword, causing the sword-winds to surge and break through the wild flowers pouncing on them, the flowers actually absorbed his sword-light.

If they had merely absorbed the light, it would only prove the flowers were unusual; however, after absorbing his energy, the flowers suddenly burst apart.

This should have been a good omen, but Fu Guzhou saw the sky full of purplish-black petal fragments and a sort of black mist heading toward them, and he had a bad premonition. He felt as if he had seen a similar description somewhere before.

When he saw the petal fragments still carrying the power of his wind attribute suddenly self-ignite into purplish-black flames, Fu Guzhou knew his premonition had come true.

These were no nameless small flowers; they were the Nether Ghost-Flame Flowers that made many a cultivator turn pale at the mere mention of them!

Those wind-system powers quickly gathered into a purplish-black tornado. Aside from his wind power, the tornado was mostly fueled by his own sword-light. The previously delicate petals were now completely lethal weapons, not to mention these weapons carried their own inherent Nether Fire.

With three types of power coming at once, how was he supposed to handle this?

Fu Guzhou adhered to the fine virtue of “running if you can’t win.” After determining that he, with his cultivation suppressed to the Foundation Establishment stage, was completely unable to deal with this thing, he grabbed Wenren Qian and bolted.

The Nether Ghost-Flame Flower exists almost exclusively in places thick with ghostly energy and rarely appears in the cultivation world; however, once it does appear, it is almost always a scene of slaughter.

Precisely because of its terror, even the cultivation world had left significant records of it. Fu Guzhou previously had no impression of it simply because his past self felt these things were far removed from him; he thought it wouldn’t matter if he skipped learning a bit about them. After all, even if he learned it, he might never use it. Who could have thought he would encounter two things in rapid succession that he once thought he would never meet in his lifetime?

“Wenren Qian, do you know what kind of flower this is?”

Wenren Qian shot Fu Guzhou a peculiar look. “It is naturally the Nether Ghost-Flame Flower. This thing once caused the cultivation world a great deal of trouble. Could it be the Immortal Venerable does not know?”

Fu Guzhou, who was running incredibly fast while pulling Wenren Qian along on his sword, didn’t know what to say for a moment. After brewing for a while, he said, “So that’s why you stopped me the first time I drew my sword?”

Without waiting for a reply, Fu Guzhou said once more with a face full of misery, “Then why didn’t the Demon Sovereign stop me a second time? Was my strike too fast? What should I do? I feel like I am the sinner between us two.”

He expected to hear a sarcastic rebuke, but at such a life-and-death moment, he instead heard a soft laugh muffled in the other’s chest.

“You… what are you laughing at?”

“Nothing. Did this seat not think the Immortal Venerable wished to use the Nether Ghost-Flame Flowers to temper his swordplay?”

“…So you didn’t stop me a second time?”

Wenren Qian said subtly, “If I had wished to stop that strike, I could have intercepted it.”

“So you really thought I was skilled and brave enough to battle the Nether Ghost-Flame Flowers? Demon Sovereign, you truly think too highly of me. Furthermore, I have only lost my memory, not my mind. Why would I use this thing to temper my swordplay!”

Wenren Qian laughed again and told the person who was running wildly without even looking back, “That wind is getting closer and closer to us.”

“I know. I’m already using wind power to speed us up.”

“But at your current speed, it will likely catch us in less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea and sweep us inside. Hurricane, sword intent, and its own Nether Ghost-Flame—it seems we are in grave danger.”

“I know that too, but right now I can only lead you in flight. The aura ahead is very different from the aura here; perhaps we’ll be safe once we get there.”

Such naive words could only be said by Fu Guzhou using his “age advantage” to forcibly comfort Wenren Qian.

Just because the aura was different didn’t mean it was safe. Based on the knowledge Fu Guzhou had previously learned, in places like secret realms, different auras meant different things were nurtured. The other side wasn’t necessarily safe. If this side even had Nether Ghost-Flame Flowers, there might be even more dangerous things over there. Fu Guzhou had even begun to doubt whether this was truly a simple secret realm belonging to ghost cultivators.

A secret realm this unforgiving—even if ghost cultivators came, they would likely be able to enter but never leave.

However, knowing this was one thing; he couldn’t say it out loud and disturb their morale.

Seeing the tornado chasing closer and closer, Fu Guzhou knew this couldn’t go on. Enduring the unbearable throbbing pain in his meridians, he mobilized the spiritual energy in his body to forcibly communicate with the surrounding wind. Wind is the freest and most capricious of all powers; it is the hardest to control, yet also the easiest.

After successfully constructing his defense, Fu Guzhou handed his “Dao Companion Sword” to Wenren Qian and said casually, “These flowers are truly persistent. Being chased like this is no way to live. I’ll handle them; you go first.”

“Oh? And you?”

Fu Guzhou said smoothly, “I will naturally catch up shortly.”

Wenren Qian casually performed a sword flower with the blade in his hand. “Did the Immortal Venerable not say we are Dao companions? How could this seat have the heart to leave the Immortal Venerable behind alone?”

Fu Guzhou: “…”

He was so moved he could almost cry. His Dao companion actually refused to abandon him in such a dangerous situation.

“I know you love me very much and are reluctant to part with me, but you should still go first.”

Wenren Qian, who had been indifferent a moment ago, truly changed his expression now. His brow furrowed deeply, his face darkening like water. He seemed to want to say something, but soon smoothed his expression again. “Enough nonsense. Take the sword; it’s here.”

Fu Guzhou gave an “Oh.” His face remained calm, but his heart was dancing with joy.

Deep down, he really wanted to protect his Dao companion, but having his companion choose to stay and accompany him at a time like this clearly made him happier than if the other had left alone. His companion truly liked him!

The tornado was almost in front of them. Fu Guzhou didn’t forget to try and save face: “It’s not that I want to stay behind to die alone, but I likely have a method to deal with it. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“It’s just that I might look a bit ugly after using this method,” Fu Guzhou said guiltily.

He wasn’t afraid of being ugly; he just didn’t want to leave a bad impression on his companion.

But since the other liked him so much, he probably wouldn’t mind a small flaw… right?

In that brief moment, the tornado had reached the point where it could completely engulf Fu Guzhou. Simultaneously, Wenren Qian felt the wind stop.

Yes, the wind stopped.

The tornado actually came to a halt just like that.

And Fu Guzhou, standing tall and slender in his fluttering white robes—looking every bit the ethereal Immortal Venerable—suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Fu Guzhou felt he had still overestimated himself after his strength was suppressed. However, there was no other way now; he could only speed up the circulation of his mental method.

The sword scars that had barely healed earlier burst open again. Blood converged at Fu Guzhou’s fingertips in a bizarre fashion.

Fu Guzhou used his finger as a brush and his essence blood as ink, actually drawing a complex character in the void.

As the character grew more complete, Fu Guzhou’s complexion grew increasingly ghastly. Once the character was finished, Fu Guzhou shouted a sharp “Break!” A terrifying power gathered, and then the black tornado simply dissipated. Even the flames were entirely extinguished.

Fu Guzhou’s legs went soft, and he sank to a half-kneeling position on the ground.

At this moment, he was in a truly wretched state, panting heavily.

After using this move in that secret realm once before, Fu Guzhou had sworn never to use such a “suicide attack” again. Who could have thought that in less than half a year—even separated by a loss of memory—he would use it once more?

After he managed to catch his breath, Fu Guzhou called out softly, “Wenren Qian?”

There was something slightly off about this tentative call. Wenren Qian did not respond immediately. Soon, he saw the person who had been calm even when covered in blood suddenly become somewhat panicked. He first reached out a hand tentatively to feel the space in front of him, as if afraid of exposing something, then quickly curled his hand back.

“Wenren Qian?” Fu Guzhou raised his voice slightly, but anyone observing closely could see the helplessness beneath his calm surface.

Wenren Qian observed him indifferently.

To be able to use a power that completely decomposed even the Nether Ghost-Flame Flowers—why had he bothered to sacrifice his natal spiritual sword to seal him back then? And what exactly was the cause of Fu Guzhou’s memory loss this time? After all, an amnesiac Fu Guzhou was far too easy to deceive and manipulate. If Fu Guzhou had anticipated he would one day lose his memory, he wouldn’t have been so at ease letting his amnesiac self run wild. So, was the other’s appearance here an accident or an inevitability?

Various questions weighed on Wenren Qian, making him want to finish the other off quickly, yet also making him hesitant to let the other die too easily.

After waiting a long time without any response, Fu Guzhou’s eyes unconsciously dimmed. He no longer cared if he exposed his own condition.

“Wenren Qian, where are you?”

“Dao companion?”

“Have you… left?”

The voice was so light it seemed it might be scattered by the wind at any moment, as if seeking confirmation of something.

“Am I really that ugly?” This time the voice was more of a mumble to himself.

Fu Guzhou hugged his “Dao Companion Sword” tightly, hanging his head low. In his state of utter dejection, he suddenly heard a deep voice slowly ring out:

“You are indeed quite ugly right now.”

It was clearly a discouraging remark, yet Fu Guzhou broke into a smile because of it.

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