Chapter 24 - Tianyuan Endgame

The flying s.h.i.+p White Cloud came to a stop above the vast sea, hovering in place.

Gu Hai, Long Wanqing, and Grandmaster Liunian together looked at a huge island from afar.

This island was countless times bigger than the Nine-Five Island. This island was devoid of any vegetation. Although there were many broken walls and a vast number of ruins, it seemed that they had gone through a countless numbers of years; the island was completely barren. The only thing that differed was that some places were pitch black, as if they had been baptized by lightning for a long time.

"This is Tianyuan Island?" asked Gu Hai, as his eyebrows twitched in surprise.

This was not the most surprising part about the Tianyuan Island. Around the periphery of this huge island was a dense ma.s.s in the sky. Thick, dark clouds circled the giant island. Amid these dark clouds flashed bolts of lightning, one after another, unending. Such a horrifying atmosphere was like a heavy weight pressing on everyone"s heart.

It"s not that Gu Hai had never seen dark clouds covering the enter sky, but the sheer size of Tianyuan Island was equal to that of Earth. The dark clouds were enough to surround the entirety of the planet Earth. It was incomparably magnificent.

"That"s right, this is Tianyuan Island. The dark clouds on the periphery of the island are the heavenly tribulation; the part of the heavenly tribulation that had been drawn, but not erupted!" Long Wanqing nodded.

"Drawn, but not erupted?" Gu Hai asked curiously.

"Right, Heaven"s wrath has not dissipated. As long as the Weiqi Empyrean Court disciples who  entered the Xiantian Endgame World in the past step out of the islands, they will suffer the destruction of heavenly tribulation. Although they luckily survived the great tribulation eight hundred years ago, for the rest of this life they can only live in the Xiantian Endgame World. The Xiantian Endgame World is like a prison. They are unable to leave Tianyuan Island!" explained Long Wanqing.

"Hall Lord, you want to find Wei Shengren for his help, but how will Wei Shengren leave Tianyuan Island?" asked Gu Hai inquisitively.

"Wei Shengren isn"t a Weiqi Empyrean Court disciple!" Long Wanqing told him.

"Uh?" Gu Hai was slightly astounded.

Far away, Gu Hai could not clearly see who was on Tianyuan Island, but he could see that there were large s.h.i.+ps sailing towards Tianyuan Island from all around the sea. Obviously, powerhouses from all around the world were also arriving to enter the Xiantian Endgame World.

Gu Hai could not see too much of Tianyuan Island, but Grandmaster Liunian could. Narrowing his eyes, Grandmaster Liunian said, "It seems we"re a step too late. A majority of the people have already entered the Xiantian Endgame World. Let"s go, the Xiantian Endgame World is open for a limited time. The sooner we can enter, the sooner we can find Wei Shengren!"

"En!" Long Wanqing agreed with a nod. With a wave of her hand, the nearby servant at the helm sent the flying s.h.i.+p towards Tianyuan Island.

The White Cloud was probably extremely precious, as Gu Hai had not seen a second s.h.i.+p like her anywhere along the way.

CREECH!

The cry of crane resounded as a celestial crane soared through the sky not far away, and flew towards the flying s.h.i.+p at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed.

"En? It"s grandpa"s messaging crane!?" Long Wanqing"s expression changed to one of some alarm.

CREECH!

The celestial crane was too fast; in the blink of an eye, it was almost in front of the White Cloud.

"Let it come!" Long Wanqing waved her hand.

"Yes!" the servant who was controlling the flying s.h.i.+p answered.

SWIs.h.!.+

The celestial crane landed before everyone, raising a brief gale of wind.

The celestial crane was simply too big. When it stood, it was as tall as two people.

"Greetings, Ascendant Hall Lord!" the celestial crane spoke suddenly.

"En? Demon?" The look on Gu Hai"s face changed.

"Why did you come?" Long Wanqing inquired as a slight furrow crept up on her forehead.

"Hall Lord, His Lords.h.i.+p asked this servant to come and find you. But as I didn"t know where you were, I was waiting for you at Tianyuan Island until I saw your flying s.h.i.+p," replied the celestial crane.

"What happened?" asked Long Wanqing, perplexed.

"His Lords.h.i.+p asks you to come right away, it"s regarding your sister!"

"What? What happened? Is grandpa not around?" asked Long Wanqing,the look on her face worsening.

"She has swallowed a demon soul. The devil has already entered her heart and is fusing with her. When His Lords.h.i.+p discovered it, it was already late. Although His Lords.h.i.+p has suppressed the further fusion, she is willing to undergo demonization. Unless she changes her mind, even if His Lords.h.i.+p forcibly stripped the demon soul out, her three spiritual aspects will also be stripped. His Lords.h.i.+p can only suppress her temporarily. Therefore, His Lords.h.i.+p asked you to return right away and advise her to give up transforming into a devil! His Lords.h.i.+p said that she only listens to you!" explained the celestial crane.

"d.a.m.n that girl! If she didn"t want to, how would this happen?" Long Wanqing became extremely anxious.

"Hall Lord, you must return with me immediately. His Lords.h.i.+p said that the later you return, the greater the variables will be!" stated the celestial crane.

Long Wanqing"s expression kept on changing. As she looked at Tianyuan Island, a look of dismay and unwillingness to give up appeared on her face.

"I will return with you immediately. Grandmaster, it seems I cannot enter the Xiantian Endgame World. Fortunately, you are with me. Please help me find Wei Shengren, okay?" Long w.a.n.gqing begged as she pleadingly looked at Grandmaster Liunian. 

Grandmaster Liunian took a look at the island,and his eyes also flickered with an unwilling-to-give-up look. But he suppressed his wish and shook his head.

"My job is only to protect Hall Lord. I promised your mother that I would stay by your side. I"m sorry!" Grandmaster said, shaking his head.

"But, it opens only once every two centuries. And the longest time it can remain open is one year, or perhaps, it will remain open for even less time! I have no choice but to return, I only have one sister. However, I need to avenge my mother! Grandmaster, please, you must help me!" Long w.a.n.ging begged with a pleading look on her face.

Grandmaster Liunian shook his head, "Hall Lord, I"m sorry!"

Long Wanqing looked at Grandmaster Liunian, her eyes flickering with a bout of pain.

"However, Hall Lord, you don"t need to worry. Apart from me, isn"t Water Throne Master also here?" Grandmaster Liunian pointed out, smiling.

"En?" Long Wanqing looked at Gu Hai as if he had suddenly dropped out of nowhere.

"Gu Hai, you must go on my behalf and help me find Wei Shengren, you must find him!" Long Wanqing ordered anxiously.

Gu Hai frowned slightly. "Hall Lord, this lowly one neither knows anything about Wei Shenger nor about the Xiantian Endgame World, and even less regarding the world of cultivation. This lowly one is perhaps unqualified!"

"Mister Gu!" Grandmaster Liunian, on the other hand, suddenly smiled and called out.

"Grandmaster?"

"This time, there is no choice. We can only ask for your help. Mister Gu, please don"t refuse. As for where Wei Shengren is and what the situation inside the Xiantian Endgame World is, we are also like you, we have never entered it. Hall Lord has no choice but to leave, as there is a problem with her sister. This time, we will have to trouble you, or perhaps this is the cause and effect! Hall Lord helped you enter the Xiantian Stage, that is the cause; you must help Hall Lord to look for a person, that is the effect!" Grandmaster Liunian said solemnly.

Gu Hai frowned slightly and remained silent for a while. Finally, he nodded and said, "Alright, I will do my best!"

"Excellent, thank you very much, Gu Hai!" Long Wanqing forced a smile as she thanked him.

After all, Gu Hai had just entered the world of cultivation. Although Long Wanqing had seen Gu Hai"s ability, she still had a bit of doubt that he could find Wei Shengren.

"Right, since I have to find him, I wonder if you have some clues? What does Wei Shengren look like, what are his distinguis.h.i.+ng features?" inquired Gu Hai.

Long Wanqing shook her head. "We don"t have anything!"

"Uh?" Gu Hai"s expression froze.

Nothing?

"No one has seen Wei Shengren, so no one knows how he looks or what his distinguis.h.i.+ng features are. All I know that he is inside; as for anything else, I know nothing!" Long Wanqing explained with a bitter smile.

Gu Hai, "...!"

How do I find him? With just one name? Should I take a speaker and shout everywhere?

Grandmaster Liunian nodded and said, "I know that looking for someone without knowing any of his distinguis.h.i.+ng features is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but it is what it is. Naturally, Wei Shengren has his own unique traits, but we need Mister Gu to find them out slowly by himself. Right, after you have found him, give him this keepsake!"

Long Wanqing slowly took a small box.

Gu Hai took it and gently opened the lid to look; an ordinary hairpin was lying inside.

"Tell him that the Ascendant Hall Lord has died! I am the new Hall Lord; he will understand!" Long Wanqing told him earnestly.

Gu Hai smiled bitterly and nodded. I am still not sure if I can find him, and you want me to give him this keepsake; what"s the use? 

"Rest a.s.sured, Wei Shengren is too proud to change his name. You can surely find him with his name. Oh, right; previously, a bunch of people from Ascendant Hall have already entered!" Grandmaster Liunian exclaimed after recalling something.

"Oh?"

"Earth Throne Master Meng Tai, along with a thousand people from the Earth Throne. They have also gone to find Wei Shengren. If you encounter them inside, please exercise caution!" Grandmaster Liunian said meaningfully.

"Caution?" Gu Hai"s eyebrows twitched. He was getting different vibes from Grandmaster Liunian"s meaningful tone.

Having prepared Gu Hai, the flying s.h.i.+p brought everyone to a mountain peak on the island.

"Take care!" Long Wanqing encouraged the four people standing atop the mountain peak from the flying s.h.i.+p.

"Hall Lord, take care of yourself; we will do all we can!" Gu Hai nodded back.

"Take off!" ordered Long Wanqing.

BOOM!

The flying s.h.i.+p flew quickly towards the southwest. In the blink of an eye, it was on the horizon, leaving Gu Hai, Chen Tianshan, Song Qingshu, and Gao Xianzhi atop the mountain peak.

Watching the flying s.h.i.+p leave, Song Qingshu"s eyes flickered with excitement. Behind the three people, looking at Gu Hai"s back, a sliver of a grim and cold smile appeared on his lips.

While Song Qingshu was feeling happy about Long Wanqing leaving, and showing a grim smile behind Gu Hai...

SWIs.h.!.+

Suddenly, Gu Hai turned around and faced Song Qingshu.

"Uh?" 

Gu Hai suddenly turning around scared the h.e.l.l out of Song Qingshu. The grim smile on his face suddenly turned stiff, making his expression too ugly to look at.

Having turned around, Gu Hai kept on staring at Song Qingshu.

Chen Tianshan and Gao Xianzhi also realized the change. They curiously turned around, and when they saw the distorted, ghost-like look on Song Qingshu"s face, the two were slightly surprised.

Gu Hai staring at Song Qingshu like this was unnerving Song Qingshu. He was fl.u.s.tered, but he calmed down quickly and said to the staring Gu Hai, "Throne Master, why are you looking at me like that?"

Gu Hai, on the other hand, smiled slightly and said, "Hall Lord and the others have left, leaving us four. I have just joined the Ascendant Hall and don"t understand many things regarding Ascendant Hall. Chen Tianshan and you are sect disciples, you should know the rules of Ascendant Hall, yeah? I wanted to ask, what is the crime of going against your superior in the Ascendant Hall?"

As Song Qingshu looked at Gu Hai"s eyes, he felt inexplicably horrified in his heart. How is that possible? What does he know? No, it"s impossible for him to know anything.

Song Qingshu suppressed the panic in his heart and didn"t dare to speak; he was worried that once he opened his mouth, he would reveal his fear.

The nearby Chen Tianshan was completely oblivious to everything, and answered, "The crime of offending their superior is one of the most serious ones. It"s a capital crime!"

"Why is it serious? If there is a Water Throne disciple who wants to kill me, how will he be convicted?" Gu Hai pressed on, still smiling.

Gu Hai"s smile was very gentle, but in the eyes of Song Qingshu, it was so gruesome that his entire body had turned cold.

Has he discovered me? Does he know? Song Qingshu was getting even more fl.u.s.tered.

"Of course, it"s a capital crime! Any Ascendant Hall disciple has the right to punish him!" Chen Tianshan explained in a natural manner.

"Capital punishment? Song Qingshu, what do you think?" Gu Hai asked, still smiling, still looking at Song Qingshu.

"Right, right!" Song Qingshu blurted out as his eyes flickered with panic.

Staring at Song Qingshu for another short while, Gu Hai smile rose at last and he said, "So it"s a capital crime. That"s good!"

While saying this, Gu Hai turned around, no longer looking at Song Qingshu.

All of this happened in a short time, but for Song Qingshu, it seemed like an eternity. He felt his body had been stretched endlessly in the long river of time. Only when Gu Hai turned around did he finally relax but his back was already drenched in sweat.

Looking at Gu Hai"s back again, Song Qingshu only felt jittery.

Chen Tianshan was completely oblivious to everything. Gao Xianzhi"s expression, on the other hand, changed as he looked doubtfully at Song Qingshu.