Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 287 – The Black Frost Qi of the Snow Mountain Sect, a Slap on the Face, and Poison in the Blood

Just like how Xu Yourong had forgotten about the unconscious Chen Changsheng, Bai Hai had never paid any attention to that young cultivator whose body was caked with frost. Moreover, he was currently reveling in the rapturous happiness induced by the Heavenly Phoenix’s true blood, and so he did not put up any sort of guard. Thus, that hand managed to push him away.

In the quiet of the cave, Bai Hai stared at Chen Changsheng with a stunned expression. Only after a while did he realize that something had happened, that there was something amiss.

Right now, there was a still a drop of blood at the corner of his lips. When paired with his rather twisted and elderly face, it created a grotesque image. Just as that drop of blood was about to drip down, he suddenly sobered up, then somewhat confusedly used his tongue to bring that drop of blood back into his mouth. In order to cultivate the secret method of the Setting Sun Sect and break past Ethereal Opening, every drop of Xu Yourong’s blood was exceptionally precious for him, but he could not help but make the picture even more grotesque.

For some reason, he felt that while he could taste sweetness at the back of his tongue, the tip of his tongue was somewhat numb. He thought to himself, is this the flavor of the Heavenly Phoenix’s blood?

While this was happening, Chen Changsheng used the support of the cave wall to laboriously sit up. He was at present very weak. It seemed like he would be knocked over by a passing gust of wind, so how could he subdue this opponent and obtain victory?

Bai Hai felt a dull pain on his face and used his hand to rub it. He realized that his face was covered with water, then he looked at Chen Changsheng’s hand and realized that it was also covered with frost, and he could not help but squint his eyes.

Without any warning, he pointed his finger at Chen Changsheng, then fired a strand of Qi imbued with terrifying earthfire at him.

Chen Changsheng seemingly subconsciously slapped his palm in the air, causing a mirror of ice to instantly form in the air in front of him.

When the earthfire Qi collided with the mirror of ice, they both evaporated with a hiss.

Bai Hai narrowed his eyes even more, then he made a weird smile. “Actually a secret disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect. You think you can use the Black Frost True Qi to block me?”

The Snow Mountain Sect was a sect located in the northwest of the continent. Tradition has it that the founder of the Snow Mountain Sect possessed the blood of the Black Frost Dragon and created a brand-new method of cultivation, thus founding his monastery on the frigid lands of the northwest. At its peak, the sect was incredibly powerful. Neither the demons nor the Orthodoxy in the Central Plains would lightly provoke it. Yet with the passage of time, the blood of the Black Frost Dragon grew increasingly thin, and the power of the Snow Mountain Sect gradually waned. It had already been several hundred years since it had been placed under the authority of the Li Palace, and it had also been many years since it had produced a true expert or promising young disciple.

No one would underestimate a once-glorious sect. Just as the South Stream Temple was divided into an inner and outer sect, many powerful figures knew that the Snow Mountain Sect also had a secret sect, only it very rarely revealed itself to the world. The Setting Sun Sect cultivated earthfire, so they were natural enemies of the Snow Mountain Sect which cultivated the cold. In the past, they had clashed with each other many times. As an elder of the Setting Sun Sect, Bai Hai naturally had a deep understanding of the Snow Mountain Sect. He saw the frosty aura being released by Chen Changsheng’s bared dagger for him, and with one sentence had seen through his origins. Simultaneously, the killing intent in his heart also suddenly increased several times.

As Xu Yourong looked at Chen Changsheng’s face, she thought to herself, so he was actually a secret disciple of Snow Mountain Sect—no wonder his method of cultivation was so special.

Her vision was somewhat blurry, and yet she could clearly see the tranquility in Chen Changsheng’s eyes. The situation was still clearly desperate and Chen Changsheng was still weak and heavily injured, and yet for some reason, she suddenly felt that she could relax, that she could hand over all the matters that weighed on her to this young cultivator.

“I didn’t think that I would actually meet my old friend, the Snow Mountain Sect, in the Garden of Zhou. Nor did I think that just as I was about to achieve a miracle, I would still have to kill one more person.”

Bai Hai looked at him and gave a strange chuckle. “It’s a good thing that this won’t be too hard to take care of.”

With these words, he wielded his palm like a blade wreathed in fire and ruthlessly chopped at Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng seemed to have little chance in his current weak and heavily injured condition; even if he was healthy and full of energy, he still would not be any match for this Setting Sun Sect elder.

His awakening seemingly had no meaning. One could even say that he woke up at the worst possible time.

The true essence in his body was still exhausted. He did not even have the strength to hold his dagger, much less summon the Yellow Paper Umbrella.

He had no way to block this fire palm. The only thing he could do is lift up his palm and hit that elder’s face.

When he had just woken up, he had no idea what was going on, nor did he know who this old man was. He only knew that this old man was doing a very disgusting and cruel thing. The old man’s face was somewhat stiff and weird, and the sound of his laughter was sinister and terrifying. He could immediately tell that this was not a good man, so… he wanted to hit him.

In the very next moment, he could be turned into slag by this old man’s fire palm, but he still wanted to hit him. As long as he could score a hit on that old man’s sinister and terrible old face, then he would not have woken up for nothing.

Chen Changsheng thought this way, so that is what he did.

However, he had never imagined that his palm was actually able to strike the old man’s face.

A crisp slap echoed through the cave.

His palm had struck Bai Hai’s face.

Although he waved his palm around like a feather, like there was not a single strand of strength in it, the sound it produced was very clear.

Slap.

Bai Hai was at a loss. He had no idea of what just happened.

His palm still hung in the air, separated from Chen Changsheng by one foot. The terrifying earthfire at the edge of the palm was gradually dissipating, seeming rather miserable.

How was the palm of this Snow Mountain Sect disciple able to land on his face? How had his body become so stiff? Why did the true essence in his body suddenly vanish? In an instant, endless questions entered his mind, making him confused and terrified.

In the next moment, that fear expressed itself in his eyes. With great difficulty, he lowered his neck to look at Xu Yourong, then said his last words.

His voice was abnormally hoarse and dry, his words intermittent and hard to form into sentences, full of fear and despair. “Demon… demon… demoness… blood has… poison!”

With these words, he died.

Setting Sun Sect elder, peak level Ethereal Opening expert Bai Hai died in this cave like that.

When he died, his body was already completely stiff. His right hand remained suspended in the air, and even his eyes could not close. His eyes were suffused with a tranquil green. It was just like carving a sculpture made out of ordinary rock and finding jade within.

This picture was very bizarre, and very sinister.

Soon after, his skin began to fester. This festering did not extend to his bones and muscles, only his skin. The surface of his skin gradually began to show a plethora of multi-colored spots.

Some of the spots were beautiful, while others were disgusting.

Chen Changsheng thought all of them were very disgusting.

Only now did he realize that this old man had already been poisoned. He just did not know what it was that he was poisoned by.

The weird smile on the old man’s face was the poison’s doing. At that point, his spiritual sense had already begun to gradually separate from the body.

The poison was really too brutal.

He then realized that there was still someone else in this cave and turned to her.

That young lady’s dress was covered with bloodstains, almost obscuring the original white. Her normally delicate features were also almost covered up by her weakness and exhaustion, and yet her eyes were still clear and cold.

He stared blankly at her, then asked, “Are you okay?”