Chapter 843: Chapter 842: Encirclement and Interception [Request for Guaranteed Monthly Tickets]
It was still a thousand lashes, with each lash coming in one breath.
Hou Niao silently endured it, treating it as a gift from the Heavenly Dao.
One must be content; since beginning his cultivation, he has treated everyone he encountered as his benefactor, whether friend or foe, able to help him in some way. In return, he gave warmth to friends and reincarnation to enemies, without discrimination.
The Unihorn Clan is a very interesting group. Although they haven’t been on Hell Star for long, one has more or less learned about this tribe; besides being old-fashioned and indifferent to life, this tribe has a big characteristic, which is laziness.
Since he landed on the island, he had never seen a single Unihorn Clansman come out for patrol. Most of their people would stay in the crust caves to enter a deep sleep, which is their daily life, ensuring their longevity to over five hundred years.
Less activity leads to longer life, resembling a tortoise’s lifestyle.
Besides most sleeping, the rest are spread across various islands, ranging from a dozen or so, and according to Wang Wang, they seem to be napping too?
The entire Unihorn Clan is limited in number, with fewer than a hundred thousand, making Hell Star feel incredibly vast and empty.
The longer the lifespan, the lower the fertility, which is also a characteristic of life in the universe.
One can realize that the Unihorn Clansmen manage in a crude way, possibly as the Immortal suggested, even giving the criminals full freedom?
Their management is based on two main lines. One is the Thunder Whip, controlling the activity range of the criminals, which might not be detailed but is sufficient to prevent large-scale migration among the criminals. As for particular individuals, they turn a blind eye, thoroughly understanding the rare truth of feigned ignorance in the human world.
Excessive severity might cause the criminals to go to extremes, becoming messier to manage, so it’s better to leave some loopholes. As long as there aren’t large-scale communal events, the management is a success.
The other main line is the Trial Arena, exclusive to Golden Core Cultivators, including the current Hou Niao; but having just attained the Golden Core, he wouldn’t immediately take the stage. According to Hong Kan, there’s a year consolidation period, equivalent to three years outside.
It’s quite humane, but it can also be interpreted that these Golden Cores are a resource to temper the cultivators of this universe, with each death, one less, so they must be used sparingly.
Currently, there doesn’t seem to be any special defense measures on Hell Star, primarily because the middle to lower level cultivators lack the ability to float through the void. What’s the point even if they leave the star surface?
They’d suffocate to death!
Hence, their freedom is limited, precisely to the number of lashes a cultivator can endure.
Hou Niao could bear it, but enduring a thousand thunder lashes still left him exhausted, as if engaged in a grand battle.
After resting for a day, he replenished his spirit, grabbed his body, rose swiftly, and escaped in a streak of sword light, starting to fly over the wine island while emitting bursts of sword whistles as he flew.
Hell Star’s Nineteen Continents, each island, though not large, nor small, are similar to Anhe Dao Country; this is the only way to summon with the sword. He believed as long as Yue Duo was present, he would surely appear; as for affecting the other cultivators on the islands, time was urgent, and he couldn’t bother with such concerns.
Fortunately, the strongest power here is also the Golden Core, the same realm as him. The only difference is cultivation method; if he couldn’t win, he could escape?
He is now in the Golden Core Realm, his sword flight speed unlike before. With the added range of his sword whistle, it could cover the entire island in about five days, equivalent to fifteen days in the normal world, slightly sluggish.
Along the way, dissatisfied divine senses frequently yelled harshly, apparently displeased by his outrageous action; but since he flew fast, and being an unknown sword cultivator, everyone was wary, not knowing he was just newly advanced to Golden Core, and dared not to act rashly.
On the third day of flying, while passing a hanging waterfall, a bloody hand suddenly extended from the waterfall below, grabbing at his head.
Hou Niao reacted swiftly, flipping his body, integrating with the sword, and pierced directly through the big hand, penetrating into the waterfall…
In an instant, the waterfall reversed, but its color completely changed, like a river of blood, ensnaring the flying sword within. Countless demons surged from the blood river, racing towards the flying sword, slaughtered endlessly, reborn in blood.
The Blood River Gu Zai, this chaotic technique of demons dancing in a blood river, he had witnessed in battles between Jinxiu Constellation True Inheritors and extraterrestrial guests. Back then, a Buddhist Sect Constellation True Inheritor was devoured entirely by the demons, incredibly cruel.
Do not underestimate Jinxiu Continent’s Blood Sect as a second-rate Demon Sect, as that’s merely a matter of lineage. When encountering a true blood river expert, even steady Buddhist Sect disciples couldn’t last a few breaths in it.
Demonic sounds assaulted, constantly stimulating his divine soul; the blood river, thick, could even slightly impede the flying sword, but the most difficult part was he couldn’t find the true body of this blood river disciple to launch a thunderous strike.
The demons were formed from pure blood, cutting them was harmless, they shattered and returned to blood, transforming into another lively demon, this method wouldn’t work.
He had no immediate solution for Gu Zai, and Gu Zai had no effective means against him; his blood river was indeed formidable, but if the opponent’s flying sword was merely a mass of Essence Gold Qi, it would only deplete mana but not harm the core.
The two fought fiercely yet unable to touch each other’s roots, making thunder without rain, needing to exhaust themselves to declare a victor.
Either Gu Zai’s mana would be insufficient to sustain the blood river demons’ rebirth, or Hou Niao’s Body Sword Integration couldn’t continue; alternatively, Gu Zai could force the opponent to separate from the sword, or Hou Niao could uncover the secret of the opponent hiding in the blood river…
It was filled with uncertainties.
Both were newly advanced to Golden Core, their realms elevated, but still using Foundation Establishment techniques, time too short to master Golden Core Realm methods.
Both were mature-minded; after a brief duel, Gu Zai recoiled the blood river, and Hou Niao leaped back out, glaring at each other.
“Brat, don’t think that just because you have a Body Sword Skill, I can’t do anything to you! A year from now, I’ll make sure you have no burial place!”
“Blood Bun, no need to wait a year, let’s settle it now. Whoever chickens out is raised by Unihorn Clansmen!”
Parting unhappily, though boasting in words, both had their concerns.
Gu Zai didn’t want prolonged entanglement, lest the secret of his blood river demons be discovered, opting to wait until mastering some Golden Core techniques before seeking trouble. He knew though this person was impressive now, his lineage was limited, increasingly so upward; how could he compare to his Great Dao Inheritance? As long as he waited, he was sure to gain the upper hand.
Hou Niao didn’t want to engage in a battle of attrition either, planning to learn some legitimate swordsmanship from his senior sister, then first come to sacrifice this guy’s sword.