Capítulo 70: Cui Senju.
Yin Long wiped Lan Yun's tears and tended to the wounds on her arm, the fractured bones would take a bit of time to heal and the lacerated flesh would likely end up leaving a scar, but there shouldn't be any residual damage. The medicinal paste clogged up the wounds and quickly solidified to form a scab, the immense lifeforce in the Heart-Root Tulips drastically increasing the speed at which her flesh reformed. With her issues taken care of, Yin Long turned to Jin Wang, whose own wounds were already halfway healed thanks to his strong body.
"Alright, it should be your turn now, no? You've gathered up a fair bit of energy thanks to all the corpses you've cleaned up, but you should take these just in case, they should help you along the way."
Yin Long swiped his interspatial ring and took out two more Heart-Root Tulips that he tossed to Jin Wang, who quickly snapped them up and swallowed them. Yin Long was the one who had harvested the most tulips, getting seven while even Xue Qiuling had only gotten five. Of course, he was now down to four after having handed out three without care, but his four were still more than Lan Yun's three.
Jin Wang gratefully nodded his head after swallowing the two tulips, waves of energy starting to erratically surge out of his body. The number of strong corpses he had swallowed wasn't low, and now that Yin Long had finished his own cultivation he could unleash all that stored up energy to start his own. He had been at this size for far too long, but now that they had truly started their travels and encountered stronger, more energy-rich feasts, it was finally time to grow some more.
Jin Wang retreated to the centre of the cavern and laid down on the ground with closed eyes, the waves of energy surging from his body growing in intensity. His faded yellow fur started to rustle under the energy, which morphed into golden threads that spun around him and constructed a cocoon radiating with majestic energy.
Yin Long sat down next to Lan Yun as Jin Wang began his own cultivation, or perhaps enhanced growth-period would be a better term for it since he was a Demonic beast. He stretched out his finger and gently placed it on Lan Yun's wounded arm, using his law of blood to inspect how the blood flowed through her arm.
His brows wrinkled faintly now that he was taking a closer look, some of the medicinal liquid had entered one of her veins before solidifying, clogging the vein. He increased the speed at which her blood flowed so that it broke through the hardened medicine, Lan Yun letting out an involuntary yelp due to the unexpected pain.
He flashed her an apologetic smile and then put part of his focus on the lumps that the hardened medicine had turned into. They continued to flow through her veins so he occasionally increased the speed at which her blood flowed, crushing the lumps into smaller pieces until they finally circulated back to the wounds on her arm so that he could extract them and stick them onto the scab formed by the remainder of the medicinal paste.
Such a rotation would normally only take about 50 seconds, but Yin Long didn't want to risk the lumps entering Lan Yun's heart so he occasionally forced her blood to shift over to a vein it wasn't supposed to enter. It took a bit of experimenting to find the right combination of veins to bring the blood back to her arm without having it enter the heart, or having it flow in reverse due to how harmful it could be, so he needed nearly 30 minutes.
But the end result was exactly what he had aimed for so he didn't mind spending extra time on it to make sure that no complications happened. Lan Yun silently thanked him, the low volume of her voice making Yin Long guess that she was probably still affected by the truth she had just learned. But that was only to be expected, it wasn't easy to quickly overcome the knowledge that you could be turned into a mindless puppet at a moment's notice.
Yin Long removed his finger from Lan Yun's arm and then returned the majority of his focus onto the golden cocoon that covered Jin Wang. The energy radiating from it was still erratic and didn't show any signs of calming down yet so Yin Long guessed that the process would at least take a few more hours, hopefully, they would be able to pass them in peace.
But alas, hoping for something was a surefire way to make sure that things didn't go as you wish. One of Yin Long's eyebrows rose faintly after a little over four hours had passed, his eyes rising as if to peer through the earth around them. He let out a soft sigh and stood up, dusting off his pants as he turned to Lan Yun.
"I'll go out for a bit, I'll leave the guarding of Jin Wang to you."
Lan Yun wasn't a fool and immediately understood that an enemy had likely gotten too close. But her gaze couldn't help but become somewhat uncertain, drifting between Jin Wang and Yin Long.
"But..."
Yin Long's hand shot forward before Lan Yun could even properly start her sentence, landing on her head. He ruffled her hair quickly and then leaned in, looking directly into her eyes as he stated plainly.
"No buts. No matter what, I trust you and have faith in you. No matter what, you got that? So don't look so wavering and uncertain, if you can't trust yourself, then trust in me who has placed his trust in you. Besides, looking weak like this isn't your style, you are far more suited for your usual strength and charm, that is your natural state."
The corners of his lips turned up into a natural smile as he spoke, Lan Yun unable to sputter out a single word as she looked at him, only able to nod her head quietly. Yin Long nodded in return and stepped away, his body phasing through the walls of the cavern after a few seconds. Lan Yun's gaze lingered on the spot where he had just been, a long breath eventually escaping her lips.
"Damn casanova, there'll be no end to my rivals if you keep acting like that..."
The mutter echoed through the cavern but was only heard by her, Yin Long already reaching the surface again. His gaze turned towards the right and he started walking his white sword appearing in his grasp, the tip dragging along the ground.
He didn't know if it had anything to do with the red colour on his soul becoming so resplendent as he gained the law of blood or if it was due to his increasing cultivation, but the range of his senses had increased to a staggering 500 metres. It felt as if everything around him was within his grasp, as if he could just reach out and touch a spot on the 3-dimensional map that his law of space formed in his mind and actually affect the touched area.
He stopped when he got 400 metres away from the underground cavern, his target stopping a few metres away from him. The man standing in front of Yin Long was the bald and brown-eyed man who had been with Xue Qiuling's younger sister, Xue Shuiye. He had stopped her from stepping forward back then, his wary gaze never once leaving Yin Long. The man was alone now, Yin Long sweeping the surroundings with a casual gaze as he questioned.
"You didn't bring the others this time around? Am I so lucky that you're just going for a casual walk despite your determined gait?"
The only person he had detected in the area was the brown-eyed man, but the way he walked earlier had tipped Yin Long off to the fact that he wasn't just walking here for fun. He was heading directly for the cavern where they were hiding, so rather than risk him attacking them there and interrupting Jin Wang's growth, he decided to head out and meet him. The bald man nodded his head, not even blinking in case Yin Long did something when he closed his eyes.
"I'm Cui Senju, and I'm the newest member of the group so they didn't believe me when I suggested that we should track you down. As a result, I'm afraid that it's only me this time around."
The bald man, Cui Senju, even went through the trouble of introducing himself despite clearly having come here for a fight so Yin Long guessed that he was a rather formal man. Cui Senju grasped the handle of his own sword while Yin Long held his ready at his side, but they still engaged in a short conversation despite knowing exactly how things would end.
"Track me down? Now, why would you want to do something like that?"
This man had been wary of Yin Long since he first laid eyes on him so it clearly wasn't due to Yin Long rejecting Xue Shuiye that he wanted to track him down. As such, Yin Long had no idea what his actual goal was and had decided to just ask outright, Cui Senju's eyes narrowing sharply as he responded.
"You are dangerous, far more than Xue Qiuling or anyone else I have ever met. They might not see it, but I know that you are no more than a sheathed sword waiting to reveal yourself to cut everything apart. Even now, just standing in front of you causes my skin to prick and sting as if it's being cut by countless weapons. You... are an existence that I cannot afford to leave alone, you will bring great destruction and chaos if I let you go, that is what my instincts are telling me. But thanks to that it was incredibly easy to find you, I just had to follow the sensation of danger."
Cui Senju's empty hand traced his face as he spoke, showing off the hairs that stood on end on his cheek. Yin Long's own gaze narrowed faintly after he got his explanation, could it be that this Cui Senju had sensed the massive amount of energy gathered within his Soulsea, or had he just detected Yin Long's tremendous affinity with the law of the sword? Cui Senju didn't bother with Yin Long's wandering thoughts, his own vision drifting past Yin Long.
"But seeing as you are alone as well, could it be that your allies are off cultivating? The field of tulips was burned so Xue Qiuling probably dealt with it, and there are no sounds of battle in the imminent area, so I'm guessing that they are absorbing those tulips right now?"
By the time his group reached the field of Heart-Root Tulips they had already been charred to ash, Xue Shuiye fully certain that it had been Xue Qiuling. This was how they did things in larger families so Xue Shuiye didn't say too much about it, part of the fault was on her since she hadn't protected the information well enough, resulting in Xue Qiuling getting her hands on it. Yin Long merely smiled blandly in the face of Cui Senju's question, tilting his blade slightly.
"This road is impassable."
Jin Wang was cultivating and Lan Yun was guarding him, she had also suffered some physical and emotional wounds just now so he didn't want her to fight. As such, if Cui Senju wanted to get past him to get to them, then he would have to tread over Yin Long's corpse. But Cui Senju simply retracted his gaze and focused on Yin Long again.
"It doesn't matter if it is, my only target is you."
Cui Senju drew his sword when he finished talking, revealing a very standard Jian sword that was almost identical to Yin Long's, only the colour being different. The two exchanged no more words, both of them bursting forth with their full energy.
Cui Senju's brows moved slightly when he saw that Yin Long had risen to the 9th Mortal Door, but he himself was still at the 5th Immortal door so he felt a degree of confidence. He also had the feeling that this would be one of his few chances to take down Yin Long, the longer he waited the slimmer his chances were.
Cui Senju took the first move, kicking off the ground and shooting at Yin Long. He drew his sword along the ground as he dashed, slashing upwards so that he gouged out a bit of earth and flung it at Yin Long's face to blind him. But blinding him wasn't a possibility so Yin Long was still able to send out a sideways sweep with his sword to deflect the incoming attack.
The tip of the sword was where the most energy was gathered, but it wasn't the most stable spot so Yin Long used the base of his own blade to cut against the tip of Cui Senju's weapon. His arm trembled slightly from the tremendous power of Cui Senju's attack but he was still able to deflect the attack so that it would slide past him.
He also took advantage of the opening this created to stab his own sword forward, his Qi surging out from the tip and launching a sharp gust of Qi towards Cui Senju's chest. The Qi reached Cui Senju before Yin Long's sword did, but he was able to fully block the ranged attack by relying on his own Qi.
His left hand shot forward and positioned itself in front of Yin Long's incoming stab, his palm taking on a metallic colour as it blocked the sword. Some sparks flew off of the palm, Cui Senju's pupils shrinking slightly when he felt a sharp pain on his palm, a few drops of blood spilling forth from a small wound that had appeared there.
But the wound didn't grow larger, Yin Long's attack blocked by Cui Senju just using his palm and a bit of his Qi. Cui Senju also took the chance to forcefully alter the direction of his slash, the sword that had now moved all the way up to Yin Long's head suddenly tilting to the side and descending in a diagonal manner onto his shoulder.
Yin Long bent his knees and moved to the side while pulling his sword back, stepping beneath the attack and raising his sword in a crooked manner so that Cui Senju's blade slid along it, preventing him from altering the direction once more. Yin Long flicked his wrist the moment Cui Senju's blade slipped past the tip of his own sword, his blade flashing forward and slashing at Cui Senju's exposed upper arm.
But his clothes simply took on a metallic sheen in response. Yin Long's sword managed to cut through them, but doing so used up so much of the strength in the attack that he was unable to cut through Cui Senju's metallic skin. Cui Senju's left fist rushed forward while Yin Long was attacking his upper arm, a sharp aura surrounding the metallic fist.
Yin Long raised his own left hand and brought out the now transparent crimson sword, his law of blood doing its best to reverse the flow of blood in Cui Senju's arm to weaken the attack. But even so, Yin Long still felt as if a boulder crashed into him when he blocked the incoming attack, and that was with him angling his sword and pushing it to the side so that most of the force of Cui Senju's attack moved past him. He spat out a bit of blood, his intestines feeling like they were being tossed around.
He had increased his cultivation to the 9th Mortal Door, but taking on someone at the 5th Immortal Door was still a very tall challenge, the gap between them was not something that could be called insignificant. Yin Long was forced to take several steps back, sweeping his white sword sideways as he did so and unleashing a sharp slash at Cui Senju's face.
Cui Senju blocked it with his own Qi while also turning his face metallic, but a wound still appeared on his face, a horizontal cut going from one end of his face to the other and spilling forth some blood. Cui Senju's gaze was practically piercing into Yin Long, his left hand quickly opening to grasp onto Yin Long's transparent crimson sword.
Yin Long swiftly reacted, a sharp light passing through his pupils. He thought back to the six moves that belonged to the Twin Fangs of the Wolf and tried to unleash the first one, Ravenous Beast. He had only seen the techniques once so he hadn't gotten too much time to study them, as such he could only unleash the technique in the manner that he thought it was supposed to be.
He flicked his left wrist and slashed upwards at the hand grasping for his blade, the law of space filling every inch of the sword. He detected something behind him as he did so, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly as he continued to unleash his attack. The first move, Ravenous Beast, was an omnidirectional attack, so he used his law of space to split up the sharp Qi exuding from his blade.
The sharp Qi, and even the blade itself, was split up into 18 smaller sections that appeared around Cui Senju's hand, striking it from all angles simultaneously. His metallic skin split open and spurt forth a bit of blood, Yin Long taking the chance to jump back, his sword reforming as the law of space left it.
Cui Senju didn't pursue him, looking down at his bleeding left hand and tilting his head slightly. The wounds weren't terribly deep, but just the fact that his attacks could pierce Cui Senju's strengthened skin was something most people would consider a miracle. Cui Senju clenched his hand, thin threads of metal stitching the wounds together as he turned his narrowed gaze onto Yin Long.
"With every strike you unleash, every attack you block, I become more and more confident in what my instincts tell me. The great law of space, is this the secret hidden within your scabbard?"
Cui Senju had seen the strange attack that cut open his hand, even Yin Long's sword had split up to attack him from all sides, such an attack could only be pulled off with the law of space. His gaze narrowed further when he saw that Yin Long was smiling faintly, wiping away the blood that was leaking out from the corner of his mouth.
"You're strong, stronger than the current me even if I give it my all."
Yin Long felt confident that it would be hard for him to take on Cui Senju even if he drew out his Netherworld energy, the amount of energy he had to pull out to deal with Cui Senju was likely so large that his body might not be able to handle it. After all, the energy was nice and docile in his Soulsea, but that didn't mean that his body could handle an infinite amount of it. Pushing too much energy through his body would still ruin it, something he had experienced in the fight against Tao Enlai. But that fact wasn't enough to wipe away the faint smile on his face.
"But unlike you, I'm not here alone."
A golden light pierced into the sky from behind him shortly after he finished his words, a rumbling roar resounding throughout the area. Cui Senju's gaze was quickly drawn to the light, Yin Long's own head turning so that he could look at the result of Jin Wang's growth. And what he saw exceeded everything he had expected.
The golden light receded and vanished, Jin Wang rushing through the large ferns to reach Yin Long. But he no longer looked like a one-metre long overgrown cat, nor was his fur a faded yellow any longer. He had grown to be nearly three metres long and his fur had taken on a regal golden colour, mane of thick fur adorning his neck.
Lan Yun was sitting on his back somewhat unsteadily, but there was still plenty of space on his back for more people. The amount of energy he had stored up after feasting on so many strong corpses had most definitely been more than just a little beneficial to him. Gone was the overgrown cat who looked to be filled with a cute pride, all that remained was a majestic lion filled with arrogance and pride so disdainful that it seemed to look down on everything else.
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