Chapter 544 (2): All Those In the Same Boat Are Enemies

There were two occasions in which he had almost lost his life to the streak of sword qi during the thousands of years in which he had been lurking in this small world.

Furthermore, killing others through brute force was no different from the actions of a naughty child destroying an ant's nest. Back in his hometown, the old man had been no stranger to such activities, and as a result, he had encountered that guest elder from the Daoist temple, reducing him to the pitiful situation that he was in.

The many treasures, buildings, and immortal scriptures on the mountain no longer meant much to the old man. Once he reached a sufficient cultivation base that would allow him to ensure self-preservation on any continent of the Majestic World, he would establish a sect of his own, at which point all of these treasures and fated opportunities would become part of the wealth of his sect.

However, that was only going to happen far in the future, so none of the treasures were useful to him in the immediate future. The treasures that were too lowly in caliber were of no interest to him, and he didn't mind seeing them destroyed and reduced to spiritual energy to nourish this small world.

This place was extremely abundant in spiritual energy, particularly water fortune, but that wasn't always the case.

At the moment, the old man's attention was focused not on the three Golden Core Tier earth immortals, but instead on three other people.

One of them was too lucky, and that was working against them.

Somehow, they had managed to obtain a third of the fated opportunities from the Daoist temple on the mountain summit, including the wooden fragments of the shattered deity statue, and a bunch of glazed roof tiles and floor bricks.

As for the other two, one of them was someone that he was actually tempted to take as his disciple. There really was some affinity between the two, and if they could become master and disciple, then the latter would surely be able to advance rapidly in their cultivation. From there, they would be able to work with the old man from the outside world to take much of a load off his shoulders.

Perhaps he would even be able to devour Nascent Tier cultivators as he pleased, thereby allowing him to accelerate the attainment of his Great Dao, while his disciple would receive the treasures of the earth immortals that were lured into the small world. It would truly be a win-win situation for both parties.

The two of them would be able to rise to the top of the Master, and perhaps one day, he would even be able to return triumphantly back home and give those arrogant old Daoist priests a massive shock.

As for the final one, they were the most interesting of the bunch, so they had to die, and the old man most likely wouldn't have to kill them himself.

In any case, at the end of the ten days, there would only be five people left, so it would be a simple matter to kill a few more.

In reality, if those people were able to set aside their differences and work together to break their way out of this small world, the old man would find himself in a bit of trouble, given that he had to contend with that streak of sword qi.

He would have to resort to traveling with these people in his stomach until they gradually died of old age in this small world, and their spiritual energy would serve as nourishment for this small world that would serve as their final resting place.

However, was that really possible?

No.

Even if a Nascent Tier cultivator with hopes of reaching the Unpolished Jade Tier were to emerge from this group, the old man would simply have to kill them himself, albeit at a slight cost.

The worst-case scenario would be if someone could secure the approval of that streak of sword qi. In fact, that would be nothing short of a catastrophe for the old man.

Thankfully, it didn't appear as if there were anyone in this group that fit the bill.

With nothing better to do, the old man opened a book, the pages of which were as thin as cicada wings, and the contents of which had all been inscribed in text so small that it was barely visible at all.

The text was also accompanied by images of different cultivators, and it was a chapter book, with each chapter recounting the experiences and demise of a cultivator that had perished in this small world. The accounts were extremely detailed, with each person's words and actions recorded meticulously down to the very last word, but these chapters all varied in length.

All of them appeared to be the protagonists of their story, yet all of them ended up dead.

Aside from refining all those renowned mountains and great rivers, this was the old man's most important form of cultivation over the years.

Even in the midst of the white mist, everything in the small world was visible to the old man in extremely fine detail.

This was the pinnacle of observation mystical abilities.

At the moment, the sages presiding over small worlds weren't doing so with the preexisting knowledge developed by the Three Teachings and Hundred Schools of Thought. Instead, they were all learning by themselves.

The people that the old man most wanted to visit weren't the sages of the Three Teachings. Instead, he wanted to visit the White Paper Blessed Land of the Fictionists.

That would surely be a very fruitful visit for both parties that would benefit their Great Dao on a mutual basis.

The old man raised his head and cast his gaze toward the Daoist temple on the mountain summit with a reminiscent look in his eyes.

Many years ago, he had journeyed together with that man. There were very few people in the mountains, but that man had a vast collection of books, and with nothing better to do, the old man read extensively.

One time, that man asked him how his reading was going, and he replied, "Daoist books are a little cold, with death present in life. Buddhist books are a little hot, with joy present in suffering. Confucian books are a little bothersome to read, given all the rules and stipulations."

The man smiled and told him that he had understood some of what he had read, but was far from a comprehensive understanding.

However, before the old man had a chance to read more books, that catastrophic storm of sword qi descended.

Even now, the recollection of that almighty sword strike still sent chills running down the old man's spine.

On the verge of death, that man tore open the heavens to send this small world and the old man out of their home world. At that point, his ability to keep the old man in check was already quite lacking, so he could only negotiate with the old man and impose some rules.

Countless years had passed since then, and those rules no longer had any binding effects. All that remained to keep the old man in check was that streak of sword qi.

As the opportunity-seekers of this world entered this place, many were just as reckless and brazen as Huang Shi, smashing the wooden deity statue over and over again. Each time, the old man would reassemble and mend the statue, and during this process, what little veneration that he still harbored toward that man had been slowly whittled away.

The old man took a casual glance into the distance.

If anyone dared to try and spoil his fun, such as by using brute force to subdue everyone, then they would be the first to die.

By killing any dissenters, he would also be making an example out of them so that everyone in the small world would become even more convinced that this was indeed a past place of cultivation for some ancient Ascension Tier cultivator.

Doing so would come at the cost of several dozen years' worth of cultivation base, but for a being like him, time was worth next to nothing. In comparison, honing his Dao Heart was much more valuable.

Those who had the opportunity to do this didn't do it, while those who didn't possess the wherewithal were arrogant enough to believe that they could take on the task.

A prime example was Zhan Qing, who had made himself into a complete laughing stock. That one misstep had all but sealed his fate, ensuring that he wasn't going to survive for much longer. In fact, he was most likely going to die in a state of heartwrenching despair.

Perhaps he would perish to one of the vagrant cultivators that he had sought to crush earlier, or perhaps some strings could be pulled to make it so that he perished at the hands of his beloved Big Sister Bai.

At this point, the battle near the arched bridge had already completely subsided, but the mental battle to come was only going to be even more perilous.

Huan Yun had surrounded himself with a talisman formation, while Bai Bi was displaying no intention of withdrawing her Scattered Snow guqin and those eighteen Good Fortune Coins.

The six of them were all communicating with one another through their minds' lakes.

Huan Yun, Sun Qing, and Bai Bi were the likeliest to survive to the very end, but all three of them had obligations to fulfill.

Sun Qing had to look out for Wu Qun and that disciple, while Bai Bi had to protect Zhan Qing, and Huan Yun was serving as a Dao guardian of the two Cloudtop City disciples.

One was striving to protect members of her sect, another her future Dao partner, and for Huan Yun, it was a matter of contending with his own conscience.

For all three of them, this was going to be an extremely stern test of the heart, and even though they were the most formidable figures present in this small world, their situations were no more enviable than that of the others.

Huan Yun had considered joining forces with everyone to oppose the strange rules of this small world together, but that was a very risky move that could very easily send him to an early grave, and Sun Qing and Bai Bi were presumably in the same boat.

Bai Bi was the first to break the silence, suggesting, "Let's go find those five people first."

"Then what?" Sun Qing asked with a smile.

"At the very least, we have to find that old man at the top of the list," Bai Bi compromised.

"Once again, what are we going to do then? You think we can just easily kill someone like that? Will you be leading the charge, or will your almighty young feudal-lord-to-be do the honors?" Sun Qing countered.

The two figureheads of the vagrant cultivators immediately chimed in to support Sun Qing, while Zhan Qing could only shake his head with a wry smile.

After that earlier battle, all of the vagrant cultivators were eager to see him dead.

In contrast, everyone was wary of that black-robed old man, who seemed more like a clown than cultivator. It seemed like no one was going to be hunting him down anytime soon.

Huan Yun hesitated momentarily, then suggested, "How about we don't kill people and only take their treasures? Once we take those treasures, no one will claim them. Instead, we'll leave them at the Daoist temple on the mountain summit for now."

"And why would we do that?" one of the vagrant cultivator figureheads sneered. "Only five of us can survive to the end, so we may as well kill off some people now. Suffering a swift death at our hands will save them the torment of having to dread their impending doom."

Another elderly martial artist nodded in agreement as he chimed in, "I think we should also kill off some people, seeing as they'll die eventually anyway. How about each of the six of us gets to nominate four or five people to be spared over the next five days?"

These were the two people that had supported Sun Qing earlier.

"Five is too many," Zhan Qing opposed.

"Of course you'd say that," the vagrant cultivator scoffed. "Now that one of your servants is dead, you only have two left, so of course you think five is too many. Ideally, you'd only want each of us to only be able to nominate one person to keep alive, isn't that right?"

"Forget I ever said anything then," Zhan Qing shrugged. "I'll take no further part in this conversation, you can feel free to continue."

Initially, he had intended to propose that everyone temporarily work together to target the five people on the list before working out what to do from there, but that was clearly unfeasible.

Given the resentment that he had drawn to himself, any suggestion that he made would most likely have been met with resistance and ridicule.

In addition to the five people on the list, there were forty-two others that were still alive in this small world.

"Let's all nominate three people each then," Bai Bi said. "But Zhan Qing and I get to nominate two more people in addition to our two servants."

Huan Yun didn't say anything. Three was enough because there were only three cultivators from Cloudtop City present.

He was only a temporary Dao guardian. Not only was he not the Dao mentor of the two young official immortals, he wasn't even a cultivator of Cloudtop City at all.

As for the survival of everyone else, he was simply powerless to help them.

Sun Qing didn't want to mingle herself with these people, but she didn't say anything. Outside of Wu Qun and her disciple, Liu Guibao, she would be able to ensure the survival of a third person, and Liu Guibao had already requested her to save someone just now through her mind's lake.

It was a complete stranger, and the only reason Liu Guibao provided for her request was love at first sight.

Sun Qing didn't see a problem with that.

It had also been a case of love at first sight for her with Liu Jinglong, so what right did she have to admonish her disciple over the same thing?

Right at this moment, someone suddenly communicated directly to Sun Qing by condensing their voice into a line, declaring, "I know that you're Residence Head Sun of the Rainbow Sparrow Residence. Brother Chu and I don't trust Zhan Qing's group, so how about we join forces to convince Huan Yun to stand by as a passive observer while we kill Zhan Qing and the others?

“They're the ones who are breaking all the rules, much more so than us vagrant cultivators. Once they're dead, you'll be our leader. Finally, Brother Chu and I will find an opportunity to help the cultivators of your Rainbow Sparrow Residence kill Huan Yun and his group. What do you say? At the end, it'll be exactly five of us left alive."

Sun Qing's brows furrowed tightly at this proposal, and she didn't agree or refuse.

The martial artist was in no hurry to hear a response.

Given Huan Yun's powers, he would've been the ideal collaborative partner in the eyes of the old martial artist, but unfortunately, Huan Yun was too bound by morals and too wary of ruining his own reputation to make any bold moves.

As for Zhan Qing and Bai Bi, both of them were rotten to the core and nowhere near as trustworthy as Sun Qing.

Furthermore, the old martial artist could tell that Sun Qing's two companions were also formidable cultivators in their own right.

Sure, Bai Bi had already revealed her identity as an official immortal of the Water Dragon Sect, but so what? Her status wasn't going to do her any good in this desperate situation. In any case, if she were such a big deal, why didn't she kill everyone and be done with it?

At this point, Zhan Qing had already roughly guessed the situation that he and Bai Bi were in, and he was feeling even more remorseful over his earlier actions.

Only now had he truly come to realize that in an isolated place like this small world, concepts like official immortals and vagrant cultivators failed to retain any meaning at all, and it was clear that his actions had implicated Bai Bi as well.

However, something that lifted Zhan Qing's mood slightly was the thought that eighteen people were going to die very soon.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Not only would his and Bai Bi's party not suffer any further casualties, they would be able to gain two additional temporary allies. The more they could whittle down the numbers of the opposing parties, the greater their chances of coming out on top.

On the riverbank on the other side of the arched bridge, a young man was sitting on the ground in a despondent daze. His complexion was deathly pale, and he had suffered a glancing blow to the shoulder from Gao Ling earlier.

The force of Gao Ling's punch had already torn his brocade robe to shreds, leaving it to drape down limply from his body.

An imposing male vagrant cultivator was seated near the young man with his Dao partner, and he scooped up some water from the river to wash his face with, then exhaled before turning to the young man with a smile as he consoled, "It's fine, Young Master Huai. There's always a way out, even in the direst of situations, and I think you're a man who's blessed by fortune.

“We've managed to overcome all of the perils that we've encountered so far, haven't we? If you ask me, you deserve a piece of this tremendous fated opportunity. Just don't forget to toss us some leftovers once you're done."

"All of the previous scuffles were only against demons of the fourth or fifth tiers," the young man said, and he was rather unfluent in the official language of the Northern Complete Reed Continent. "Even then, if I weren't traveling with you two, then I certainly wouldn't have dared to engage those things in battle. All I wanted was to travel to a Confucian academy to broaden my horizons, but it seems like I'll never get there. We're going to die, all of us."

The woman's brows furrowed slightly in displeasure.

In her eyes, the young man was a useless coward who was always in a state of doom and gloom.

Prior to this, she was willing to tolerate him as through their past conversations, he had revealed that he had some slight ties with a teacher at the academy, allowing him to enter the academy to borrow and transcribe books.

He was only a Qi refiner at the pinnacle of the fourth tier, yet he had been completely overcome by adrenaline during the prior battle. First, he was struck by a mystical technique from Zhan Qing, but that wasn't enough to deter him, and he quickly rushed back into the fray once again like a reckless fool.

In doing so, he almost charged headfirst into Gao Ling's fist, and if it weren't for the fact that he was swatted aside by a young woman, he would've already suffered a horrific death.

It was truly as expected of a scholar.

A slender young woman rubbed a hand over her face, and as she approached the group, she spat out several mouthfuls of blood along the way, then sat down beside the young scholar as she said, "From now on, just follow me and don't worry about anything else."

The young man turned to her with a dazed expression as he asked, "Are there going to be more battles to come?"

"So what if there are?" the young woman asked with a smile. "Are you going to try and save me again, even at the cost of your own life, just like you did on the bridge earlier?"

The young man was rather embarrassed. It was yet to be seen who would be saving who.

The young woman removed the wine gourd from her waist, then offered it to the young man as she asked, "Care for a drink? It could help you settle your nerves."

The young man blushed slightly as he shook his head and refused, "I don't drink."

The young woman began drinking out of the gourd herself, and she cast her gaze toward the mountain summit with an amused smile as she said, "If you think it's inappropriate to be drinking out of the same utensil as me, then you can just say so."

The young man had no response for this.

The young woman was none other than Sun Qing's most prized direct disciple, Liu Guibao.

Everyone in the Rainbow Sparrow Residence, including Wu Qun, were convinced beyond a shred of doubt that she would become the next residence head.

Liu Guibao was still very young. She was a little older than her rather tender appearance suggested, but she was inarguably an exceptional cultivation prodigy, and she had already reached the Abode Tier.

Furthermore, she was the one who had instigated the battle at the arched bridge. Even though Wu Qun was the one who fired the first shot and truly ignited the tensions, the entire setup was thanks to Liu Guibao, and it could even be said that she was the one that Zhan Qing and Bai Bi resented the most.