The Blood of Youth – CH 036

Chapter 36: Garuda

At the summit of Cangshan Mountain.

A middle-aged Confucian man dressed in black was sitting there with a chessboard in front of him and a dark golden spear beside him.

Spear Immortal, Sikong Changfeng.

He held a white stone in his hand and muttered to himself for a while before he placed it on the board.

A “pa” sounded. Every time he placed a stone, another hole would appear on the chessboard.

Sikong Changfeng smiled bitterly and said, “Do you still remember what I told you a few days ago? At Khotan Kingdom, I met the Lei Clan disciple who was travelling with Tang Lian. He practiced Blazing Arts, and if my guess is right, he must be Lei Hong’s disciple.”

“The reports say that he has already arrived in Lower Pass City and has gone to challenge the Tower of Ascension. If I’m not mistaken, he’s here for you. The old debt you have with Lei Hong is not something you can escape from any longer, I’m afraid.”

“Humpf.” A cold snort came from nowhere.

“That child wears a suit of red clothes. I remember his mother also loved to wear red after she removed her sword gear.” Sikong Changfeng placed another stone on the chessboard.

But the person hiding in the dark did not create another hole with their sword aura. After a long silence, the person asked, “Are you sure? Is it really him?”

“If you saw him, you’d be sure too. He looks exactly like his mother. That foolish laugh, though, must have been inherited from his father.” Sikong Changfeng chuckled.

“The seeds have grown up, and the pieces have finally entered the game.” The person hiding in the dark sighed.

“Yes. Tang Lian is a seed, Qianluo is a seed, and now the third seed has finally entered the game. The agreement made fourteen years ago is about to be fulfilled.” Sikong Changfeng saw that his opponent had lost interest in the chess game, so he put away the chessboard. “Not many holes in the board this time. I’ll bring it back and fix it up a bit. We can use it again next time.”

“The chess pieces have entered the game, but where’s the chess player?”

Sikong Changfeng stood up and picked up his spear. “This game of chess has no chess players. Everyone is a chess piece. If there must be a chess player, then when the game of chess officially began, he was already dead.”

“Can we withdraw from the game?” A wave of fallen leaves drifted past Sikong Changfeng, and a person dressed in white and holding a long sword appeared, back facing him.

Sikong Changfeng shook his head. “A gentleman cannot withdraw from chess.”

“But I’m not a gentleman.” The person holding the long sword walked away.

Sikong Changfeng caught up easily. “Are you going to see that child? Judging from his ability, he should be able to reach the twelfth floor at best. But, there was a busybody who invited him to drink a pot of Wind Flower Snow Moon. Right now, the child’s martial arts has advanced three levels, and I believe he’ll really be able to reach the sixteenth floor.”

“Wind Flower Snow Moon? Was it him?”

“Yes, it’s him.”

“Where did he go today? Why didn’t he come with you?”

“In order to brew that Meng Po soup, he said he’s going to that immortal mountain beyond the sea to seek the final ingredient.”

“Meng Po soup? Does he want to forget the past that badly?”

“He only wants to forget that one event. But, in order to forget that one event, he doesn’t care even if he forgets everything else.”

“He’s insane.”

“He’s not the only one. Besides Lei Hong’s disciple, the disciple of another lunatic is also here. He’s acting like he’s a scholar, bringing a little Daoist priest in tow and strolling into the city on an old horse.”

“Daoist? You mean him?” The person with the sword paused.

“Qingcheng Mountain, Zhao Yuzhen,” Sikong Changfeng pronounced slowly, but he didn’t finish saying the last word before a white shadow flashed past his eyes and the person with the sword had already swept down the mountain.

“Sigh. The person guarding the fourteenth floor today is my daughter, you know? Yet I’m not even that anxious.” Sikong Changfeng sighed, leaped forward, and also sprinted down the mountain.

Tang Lian looked carefully at the faintly discernible image of the giant bird behind Lei Wujie and frowned. “Is this the sixth realm of the Blazing Arts, Garuda? It’s only the sixth realm, but it’s already so powerful. Back then, Senior Lei Hong could exert up to the ninth realm. What sort of power would that contain?”

“Shixiong, forgive me for causing offense.” Lei Wujie took a step forward and swung his right hand in a fist move.

Before the fist connected, the qi arrived first! Lei Clan Unseen Fists!

As Lei Wujie expected, the Unseen Fists he’d just used was a bluff, and Tang Lian didn’t bother to dodge, receiving the blow squarely on his right shoulder. Tang Lian grimaced in pain, grabbed his shoulder, and retreated three steps with a loud yell, “Very powerful!”

“Huh?” Lei Wujie was stunned.

“No wonder you’re the Lei Clan’s most brilliant disciple! Your Unseen Fists has already achieved up to the ninth level!” Tang Lian exclaimed fervently, his expression exaggerated and artificial.

“Shixiong, what are you talking about? I wasn’t even punching it properly, ah!” Lei Wujie blinked at him blankly.

“Look out for my Inescapable Net!” Tang Lian pulled his right hand, and the Inescapable Net created by the Dark River blade wires suddenly tightened. Any ordinary person caught in the array would have been sliced into pieces by this move!

But Lei Wujie was no ordinary person. When he exerted his Blazing Arts to the Garuda Realm, Lei Wujie’s entire body was enveloped in a wave of blazing aura. If you wanted to cut him using ordinary weapons, you would have to penetrate that layer of blazing aura first. But the Dark River blade wires were no ordinary weapons either!

“Break!” Lei Wujie immediately exerted his qi throughout his body to withstand the Inescapable Net formed by the blade wires.

However, all the blade wires that came within a foot of Lei Wujie’s body melted into nothing. Lei Wujie, who had been on guard for a big fight, became a little dizzy. “Shixiong, are these blade wires? Isn’t it just spider silk? It breaks if I just pull it, ah.”

“Nonsense! Clearly, your Blazing Arts is just too powerful! These blade wires of mine are top weapons under Heaven. Yet they were all broken by you,” Tang Lian pronounced sternly and righteously. “Go on, then. I’m no match for you.”

Lei Wujie didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “Shixiong, your acting is so bad. What’s more, there are only the two of us here. If you want to go easy on me, I’m not going to tell anyone else.”

Tang Lian retorted in anger, “I’m the most respected head disciple of Snow Moon City. Did you say I went easy on you? I’ll feed you my Buddha’s Fury Tang Lotus.” Tang Lian gestured as if he was about to pull something out from his pocket. Lei Wujie heard the four words “Buddha’s Fury Tang Lotus” and immediately shuddered in fright. But, Tang Lian dug around his pockets for a long time, and in the end, he declared, “I was in a hurry when I left this morning. I must have forgotten to bring it.”

“Shixiong…” Lei Wujie didn’t know what else to say.

Tang Lian had always maintained a serious and dependable image before all the disciples in Snow Moon City. He couldn’t be bothered to act further and waved a hand, tossing a bottle of medicine to Lei Wujie. “Drink this, then go on to the fifteenth floor.”

“What is it?” Lei Wujie accepted the bottle of medicine, but he was still curious.

“You know that the Tang Sect is the number one family in the martial world when it comes to hidden weapons, right? Then, do you know that the Tang Sect’s poisons are as famous as the long-established Wen Clan and the Nanjiang Wu Clan?” Tang Lian said proudly.

“Of course I know.” Lei Wujie nodded hurriedly.

“This medicine is called Clear Ice Potion. If ordinary people drink it, all the blood in their body will freeze in an instant and they’ll die. But, you’re different. How do you feel after exerting this Garuda Realm?” Tang Lian asked.

Lei Wujie chuckled bitterly. “Like my whole body is burning, like I’m about to go up in flames.”

“Just as I thought. Just now, when I saw you exert your energy, I had a hunch that your internal strength has already advanced enough to exert the Garuda Realm, but your physical body can’t sustain it yet. If you overexert yourself, I’m afraid you’ll only hurt yourself. So, I’m giving you this bottle of Clear Ice Potion. After drinking it, it’d at least be able to protect your heart meridian from being scorched,” Tang Lian said.

Lei Wujie nodded gratefully, raised the medicine bottle, and drank it all at once. He felt a chilling sensation spread in his chest. What should have been a poison that causes instant death actually had a miraculous effect on him. The burning sensation he was feeling earlier faded away, leaving behind an indescribable sense of relaxation. But his Blazing Arts remained in the Garuda Realm, not the least bit diminished. He was pleasantly surprised and exclaimed, “It really worked! Thank you, shixiong.”

Suddenly, Tang Lian remembered something and asked, “By the way, you said that after entering the city, someone invited you to drink three bowls of Wind Flower Snow Moon, and that helped you to advance three levels in realms? What did that man look like? How old would you say he is?”

Lei Wujie thought for a while. “Hm, probably in his thirties? He was wearing blue robes and didn’t tie up his hair. And he has a mustache. A bit like Xiao Se, when he speaks, he sounds really lazy.”

Tang Lian frowned. “Could he really be…”

“Shixiong, I’m going ahead to challenge the tower. Do you have any advice about the fifteenth floor for me?” Lei Wujie picked up his package and prepared to walk up the stairs to the next floor.

Tang Lian came back to himself and grinned. “On the fifteenth floor, you’ll face the tower guardian elder. The tower guardians on every floor will change daily, but the tower guardian elder has been there for ten years. Also, when you see him, you should feel a sense of familiarity with him.”

“Familiarity?” Lei Wujie was puzzled.

“Yes, very much so, because his surname is Lei,” Tang Lian said slowly.

“Lei?” Lei Wujie was shocked.

“Yes, the same Lei as you. He used to be very famous in the martial world, and you should have heard of him.” Tang Lian looked in the direction of the stairs to the next floor. “He’s Lei Yunhe!”

Lei Wujie was stunned.

Of course he had heard of Lei Yunhe’s name. Back then, two young men walked out of the Lei Clan, and together, they pretty much turned over the entire martial world. One was Lei Wujie’s master, Lei Hong, and the other was Lei Yunhe. Unlike Lei Hong, Lei Yunhe was born from the Lei Clan’s main family and was the eldest son of the former clan leader, Lei Luoshi. There were also rumors that Lei Yunhe had single-handedly rediscovered the Lei Clan’s lost skill, Summon Thunder from Ninth Heaven Arts, and once stood at the pinnacle of the Lei Clan, nearly taking over the position of the Lei Clan’s clan leader. However, in the end, he suddenly disappeared without a trace, and even his name became a taboo in the Lei Clan. Some people even spread rumors that he was killed by his younger brother, the current Clan Leader of Lei Clan, Lei Qianhu. But no one would have thought that he was hiding in Snow Moon City.

The fifteenth floor had such a guardian? Even though Snow Moon City was known as the number one city in the martial world, wasn’t that a little too excessive? With his reputation back then, he was on par with the three city masters of Snow Moon City.

“There are a total of twenty-eight elders in Snow Moon City, and there isn’t a ranking list in terms of their martial arts. But everyone had always assumed that the tower guardian elder was the weakest amongst them.” Tang Lian saw a flash of surprise in Lei Wujie’s eyes and laughed. “You must be thinking, how could Lei Yunhe, who once aimed for the seat of the clan leader of the Lei Clan, have skills at such a level? You’ll know when you meet him.”

Although Lei Wujie was a little apprehensive, he didn’t ask any more. Instead, he nodded at Tang Lian and walked towards the fifteenth floor.

Behind him, Tang Lian added pensively, “I’ve always wanted to know what you’re holding in that package.”

Lei Wujie didn’t look back and went straight to the fifteenth floor.