Chapter 977: There Is An Exit In The Underground

Boom!

When the seal landed, everything within a radius of several kilometers collapsed at the same time. The “Thirty Six Earthly Fiend Swords” could not withstand its weight and crumbled inch by inch. Chu Wangsun himself was overshadowed by the seal as if he was too late to escape out of range.

Suddenly, alarm bells rang in the North Duke’s head. He turned his head just in time to lose half of his face to a formless sword qi that would have taken his head clean off. Blood streamed down his wound like a river.

The North Duke did not take the blow lying down, however. He spun around and unleashed a knife hand at the space behind him. There was a muffled groan, and an invisible silhouette was sent flying through the air.

“The ‘Shadowless Kill Sword’. You almost got me,” remarked the North Duke while staring at a certain point in space. He paid no attention to his bleeding face.

The “Shadowless Kill Sword” was the ultimate martial art of the Shadowless Tower. It was an unpredictable, difficult-to-grasp sword art that was said to be capable of killing someone instantly without a trace. “The sword left, and yet the man was nowhere to be found. The man left, and yet the sword was nowhere to be found.” It more or less described how the sword art functioned.

The “Shadowless Kill Sword” excelled at ambushes and assassination. It was an indefensible martial art to the large majority of warriors. As a result, the members of Shadowless Tower were often mistaken for assassins even though they were no assassin organization.

The “Shadowless Kill Sword” was a deadly martial art to begin with, but it was even scarier and more unpredictable in the hands of Chu Wangsun. Despite the North Duke’s power, he did not notice the deadly strike until the last possible moment. Although he was able to avoid the fatal blow, half of his face was still cut off when all was said and done.

“You’re welcome. Your ‘Knife Hand of Death’ deserves its fame as well.”

Chu Wangsun slowly returned to view, though there was now a bone deep wound at the center of his chest. It was overflowing with deathly qi and continuously eating away at Chu Wangsun’s internal organs.

The “Knife Hand of Death” was one of the North Duke Office’s ultimate martial arts. The knife hand was the blade, and the killing intent the edge. With just one simple turn of the hand, the practitioner could cut off the veins and end the heart.

“As expected of the disciple of the Chief Libationist of the Jixia Academy. You really are extraordinary.”

Despite the North Duke’s cold tone, he was speaking from the heart. Chu Wangsun was top class in both strength and intelligence, and he was a rare dual practitioner of Confucianism and martial arts. As if that wasn’t enough, he was also an expert in many ultimate Dark martial arts, and he had practiced them enough that they came to him as easily as breathing. If he had been just a little careless, Chu Wangsun would’ve taken his head and claimed a Half-Sage under his tally of accomplishments. He definitely deserved to be called a genius.

“Thank you for your compliment,” Chu Wangsun replied slowly even as his energies dropped another level. It was clear he had suffered grave damage. He remained calm and collected, however.

“This is as far as you go though,” The North Duke said. “I’ll give you one more chance. Surrender the Ten Directions Stupa, and I’ll let you live?”

“You’ll let me live?” Chu Wangsun cracked a mocking smile. “Do you even believe yourself?”

“I’ve killed over half of your men, and you’ll let me go just like that?”

“There is now a definite bond of grudge between us, and you’ll forgive me just like that?”

“Hahaha...” The North Duke responded with a savage, bloodthirsty grin. “Guess you aren’t stupid after all.”

“I was going to grant you an easy death, but I guess that won’t be possible.”

Chu Wangsun was right. The North Duke hadn’t planned on letting Chu Wangsun or Su Bancheng go, but not because he had killed his men. All the men who died were just small fries who could be replaced easily. He could lose ten times the number, and he still wouldn’t be concerned.

He was concerned about the potential Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng displayed and the factions behind their backs, however. Now that they were enemies, if he were foolish to let Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng escape, he had no doubt that they would return one day to finish him off. That was why he needed to finish the job while he still could.

Besides that, the Ten Directions Stupa must remain a secret. If Chu Wangsun and the factions supporting them were to learn about its existence, it was entirely possible for them to covet it and even target him for it. No, only the dead could keep a secret.

As for whether his action would offend the Chief Libationist or the Qing Emperor, that actually wasn’t too much of a concern. For one, Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng would be dead, and who could prove that he was their killer? Two, even if they did find out the truth, he still wouldn’t fear them. Once he obtained the Ten Directions Stupa and became a Sage, Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng’s death would no longer matter. After all, not even a thousand geniuses could measure up to a single Sage. Not even close.

Therefore, from the moment he attacked Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng, he had made up his mind to kill them no matter what.

“Of course I’m not stupid. The stupid one—is you!”

Chu Wangsun sneered all of a sudden, and a cry of pleasant surprise broke out before the North Duke could make sense of his words. “Hahaha! It’s done!”

“Su Bancheng?”

The North Duke suddenly felt a sense of unease. The next moment, the ground began reverberating without a sound and forming bizarre, enigmatic patterns. The patterns quickly spread out a couple hundred meters and took the form of a noble, exquisite, and mysterious double door.

The North Duke did not know what the massive door was, but his unease doubled in intensity immediately. Without thinking, he launched an attack against the door.

To his shock, his force sank into the earth like a mud cow entering the sea. It just vanished into thin air and failed to leave even a scratch on the door.

“Hahaha... this is a Chu Gate[1]. You are not strong enough to injure a Chu Gate, so just give it up, bud!”

Su Bancheng’s laughter resounded throughout the area as the double door slowly swung open. Behind the door was a blank void that seemed to be connected to some sort of unknown space.

The North Duke’s unease grew even more. He created a seal and attacked the door again, but just like his initial attack, it failed to elicit any response whatsoever.

Sensing that attacking the door directly was useless,the North Duke crouched down and touched the ground with both hands. The earth around the door began crumbling in earnest, but it suddenly came to a halt right before the collapse would reach the edge of the door. No matter what he tried, his force simply disappeared into nothing, and the collapse could not reach the door.

The North Duke would try a couple more methods to destroy the door, but he could neither damage it nor impede its opening in the slightest.

“Tsk tsk... Like I said, this is a Chu Gate. Even a Sage would be hardpressed to scratch it, much less the likes of you,” Su Bancheng taunted while watching the North Duke’s futile struggles. “You would give up if you know what’s good for you.”

“I might not be able to damage this Chu Gate... but I can certainly kill you!”

Murder flashed through the North Duke’s face before he split into seven silhouettes and charged toward Su Bancheng.

The silhouettes all created a seal as they were charging such as the Deep Sea Seal, the Mountain Seal, the Sun and Moon Seal...

Seven silhouettes, seven different types of seals. When the silhouettes unleashed their seals at once, the sea roared, the mountains fell, the sun rose, and the moon fell. It was like a wondrous painting.

This was the North Duke’s greatest technique. It was based on the “Seven Seals of Northern Sea”, but it was also a technique that surpassed it. One might call it the eighth seal[2].

However, both Su Bancheng and Chu Wangsun were wearing mocking expressions. The answer as to why came just a moment later. The attacks came within one meter of the duo before disappearing as if devoured by something. They had failed to harm even a hair on the duo’s person.

“Impossible!”

The North Duke’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Fool.” Su Bancheng crossed his arms tauntingly. “I told you this a Chu Gate, and yet you still try? How stupid can you be?”

“I will remember what happened today, North Duke. I promise to pay you back in full another day.”

Chu Wangsun did not care to taunt his enemy. There was only calm indifference on his face. Once he was done speaking, he leaped into the door and disappeared.

“See you another day, North Duke.”

After Chu Wangsun was gone, Su Bancheng abruptly looked in Ye Qing’s direction with murder in his eyes. “Friend, I’m leaving my item and your head with you for now, but don’t worry. I’ll return and rid you of the responsibility sooner than you think.”

“Hahahaha!”

With that, Su Bancheng stepped through the door and disappeared into infinity.

After both men were gone, the door slowly swung shut.

1. Not Chu Empire, just Chu. It’s a word so old Google translate can’t even come up with a translation. It means Open Gate/entrance. ☜

2. Now that I think about it, this is straight out of Naruto lol. ☜