CG Chapter 161: Wei Ji Village
Two rising stars of the Jianghu, a hundred-year prodigies in their own right.
On his left stood the Red Fox of Mount Han An, Hong Gu. While on the right was Young Master Li Wuyou, the man known as the Smiling Death.
Prodigies, Heaven's Favorites, Dragons amongst men, and phoenixes soaring the nine skies.
Prodigies are akin to the true darlings of the heavens, gifted from birth, destined to rise above the masses, their every move shaking the lands.
To a great extent, their existence in and of itself is unfair to all living things.
A man can cultivate nonstop for a hundred years only to reach the realm of a common sword master.
Only to be faced with a crossway where he could either give up to build a family in which he passes his dreams, hopes, and ideals into the next generation; or die with his name worth nothing more than the few worthless copper coins he had on him.
Yet, a single step from said prodigy would surpass all the sweat, blood, and tears of the former.
Such a fate makes one wonder: is it all worth it? Would their work be all for nothing? Wouldn't it be better to just watch the highs and lows of the seas? Such questions had made countless heroes drop their swords, for the weight of those dreams was too heavy to carry.
Still, some found comfort in knowing that even the stars would fall. Because a prodigy's rise might be meteoric, but it also falls just as fast.
Some of these prodigies get too drunk on their own hubris and ego. Believing they are unrivaled in the thousands of heavens, they underestimate their opposition; they underestimate the difficulty of the path; and most importantly, they underestimate the Dao. And those who underestimate the Dao? Heh. They become nothing but a pile of yellow earth.
One must remember that between the two there was a third prodigy. This prodigy, however, isn't of the Jianghu. He is the prodigy of the Starry Sky, a talent chosen from thousands of fractured worlds.
If even the prodigy of the Starry Sky cultivates like death is waiting to court his soul, then what are you doing? What immortality, what peak are you claiming if you have neither hard work nor the talent to back it up?
…
Surrounding the village was a thick, oppressive fog; this fog, however, was unlike any other.
When one pushed against it, it would send you back, acting as a barrier that protected the Wei Ji Village from any unwelcome visitors.
At first, Hong Hu attempted to walk through it, but when that didn't work, she had no other choice but to try to get in by force. She tried to slash through it using a thick silver needle, even striking it with a strange palm art that caused the ears of the two to ache. Unfortunately, all of her attempts were for naught, as the wall didn't seem to be affected by any of her arts or techniques.
Watching this, Li Wuyou didn't offer any smart remarks, merely watching in joy before stepping in.
"Tsk! Haven't they taught you that which belongs to the Yang world should be met with swords, and that which doesn't should be met with theirs? What can the attacks of this realm do to those who dwell in the bizarre?"
Grinning ever so slightly, he said, "Step aside before wasting any more of my elder brother's time."
Hearing that, Hong Gu's eyes shone, seeming to realize something. The failure of these attacks of hers, however, wasn't because she lacked the power or knowledge; instead, it was that she lacked the experience.
Each time such situations happened, she would watch her elders do their thing with disinterest, thinking that such tricks were far too simple. Unworthy of wasting time on.
Exactly due to that reason, even though she had the skill to do it, she didn't realize which technique she needed to use.
Li Wuyou looked at the heavy coffin that seemed to weigh a thousand Jin behind with confidence before lifting it onto his back without a breath.
At the same time, Aretius used this chance to get a closer look at the coffin. It was made using some dark, Soul-Sucking wood that shone with a subtle, nearly unnoticeable gloom.
Still, that wasn't what was truly strange. The thing that drew Aretius's attention was the rusted iron chains surrounding the coffin as if they were attempting to seal some ancient taboo.
To add to this, encircling the coffin were numerous yellowish talismans that were in a worse state than the chains, torn in many places, with vicious, dark blood stains smudging their corners.
Standing in front of the fog, Li Wuyou glanced at it for a moment, and in the next, eight gold coins were scattered in a seemingly random order.
If you looked closely, you would notice that they formed the shape of the Eight Trigrams, representing each of the eight elements. In the same breath, he smashed his right hand against his chest with full force.
From the outside, he seemed like some madman trying to kill himself; this thought would only grow further as one watched the huge volume of blood he started coughing inside the Trigram formation.
However, Li Wuyou ignored the blood. His ten fingers moved with blinding speed, leaving behind a series of blurring afterimages. In an instant, his two pinky fingers locked together in a bizarre manner, forming what appeared to be an equally bizarre seal as he started to chant:
"Heaven and Earth, Sacred and Divine.
The Seven Lands are Supreme, the Eight Elements Eternal.
The Human Dao is Perishing; the Immortals are Ruthless.
The three Nether are everlasting; the Yin is Absolute.
All between Heaven and Earth are One."
"Gate of the Lesser Realm, heed my command! Expel the virtuous and restrain the celestials!"
Yet, most of these doubts disappeared as one watched the results.
Because in the next moment, the thick, impenetrable fog covering the whole village developed a very slight crack, wide enough for a single person to pass.
Witnessing this, Li Wuyou couldn't hide his pride as he gave Red Fox a side glance in contempt, while she stayed there unable to say anything back.
Cling!
Before he could enjoy this victory of his for long, the crack shone with a bright, blinding light for a second, and in the next moment, the place was just as lifeless as it was before.
The breeze was hitting the grass, and none of the three was to be seen.