Chapter 25: Founder’s enemy
"Oi Peng is that….." Gui Bingwen asked in a trembling voice with his eyes wide open in disbelief.
"Yes, it definitely looks like the ghost worms described by the sect founder in his notes about the person he was running away from to end up in the green fog region.
That must mean Dong Yanlin is also from the same organization as that person. The founder said due to its eerie nature and even its rarity, not many cultivators out there walk around with ghost worms. Only one organization has been known to effectively use them despite its horrifying ability to parasitize its victim into a walking corpse, and that is the Scarlet blood ghost hands syndicate.
The founder fought against one of their members for some treasure in the mysterious realm where he got the Tupelo tree. The founder was almost done in by those worms that he had to escape despite having a higher cultivation realm than his opponent. That member used those worms to siphon energy from the founder into himself using some weird symbiotic cultivation technique turning a battle of attrition in his favor.
The founder was pursued relentlessly that he had to escape into the green fog region despite the many dangers in that place. Years passed by without him ever being chased or spotted by the person. It's like the person just disappeared. The founder's guess was that the member of the Blood ghost hands may have died in the swamp either from the wounds or under the belly of some beast.
Though he did say it was more wishful thinking on his part, which was why he never let up confirming if he was really dead, even after decades had passed, which was how he ended up discovering the background of that attacker, and that he was a member of the Scarlet blood ghost hands.
With the disparity between our two organizations, just a snort from them is able to obliterate our whole sect out of the swamp, which is why despite the dangers there he never left.
If Dong Yanlin is really from that sect then all of us are in danger. I can only hope Dong Yanlin was fishing around the sect for his own interest and it wasn't at the behest of the syndicate. If the syndicate is involved, then I'm afraid we went through all this trouble for nothing," Peng Zhen said as he laughed bitterly.
Dong Yanlin being a core formation expert already made the situation difficult, but if the Scarlet blood ghost hands were thrown in the mix, then it turned from difficult to a definite reality that their whole sect didn't have much to live, even with the involvement of the Order.
The green fog region was secluded which made it easy for them to hide, but it also meant that the Order's presence was virtually non-existent in the area.
"I'm sorry to have dragged you into this, Gui," said Peng Zhen in a remorseful tone.
"There's no need for that Peng. I knew what I was getting into, it's not exactly what we expected but I would still jump into this quagmire despite knowing what we know now. We have known each other for a long time you, me, Cheng Yuan, Hu Qiu, and Kang Mei.
What life and death hurdles haven't we gone through together? It's a pity Kang Mei never got to live this far. She was quite the talent.
The previous sect master was lucky to have gotten three disciples with exceptional talent. You, Cheng Yuan, and Kang Mei made us look bad. If only she was alive the three of you would have pushed the sect to greater heights and it would have only been a matter of time before we got promoted to a rank 3 sect.
But as things stand we may very well end up meeting her and the whole green fog swamp sect along with us if the blood ghost hands were to target the sect. It's been an honor, Peng. I just wish we could see what the sect would grow into, especially with Cheng Yuan's recent plans starting to bear fruit despite some venomous parasites trying to sabotage it," said Gui Bingwen as he threw a glance at the location where Hao Ye and Jia Tingfeng were devoured.
"It's been an honor too old friend. I don't know what will happen to Cheng Yuan after this but he is a resourceful guy I'm sure he will find a way out for the sect. He will end up looking like our friend Dong Yanlin over there though due to all the stress though," Peng Zhen said as he and Gui Bingwen exchanged a serious look before they burst out laughing.
"He'll have Wen Chang's milk to refresh him at least." Gui Bingwen added cheekily
"Don't let him hear you say that. That senior brother of mine loves his face a little too much. Well, Gui we may be beyond our depths here but I have no intention of dying so easily. We still have to avenge Kang Mei. I heard that the black cosmos caiman is now a false king and the strongest of them all. We can't let Cheng Yuan carry that debt of vengeance alone," Peng Zhen said. One could detect a faint hint of boiling fury in his tone.
"I'd rather not die if it can be helped. Cheng Yuan promised me a great retirement plan. I have 100 years left to lay in comfort which I'd rather not let get cut short by some ghost blood member and a leeching bull demon." Gui Bingwen said
"That green swallow earlier looked like someone's cultivation spell. Based on the reaction Dong Yanlin had earlier even choosing to escape after just a single clash, the owner must be pretty powerful to elicit that kind of response from him.
Plus I saw two more birds charging when Tupelo unleashed itself. Just one was enough to push this vicious technique of his to a draw what if two more were added to the mix? We may just be able to survive this. I've always been lucky ever since I was a kid," Peng Zhen said with some unconcealed pride in his tone.
"Luck and you got poisoned while fishing for treasures. That is some luck alright," Gui Bingwen muttered under his breath while throwing Peng Zhen a mocking look who stroked his beard in embarrassment.
The silhouette of Ao Yin had a sudden change to it as the bone saber charged into the mildly colored translucent body. The saber flew forward and positioned itself on its right index finger. The bone saber changed from a saber into a matching skeleton bone of that index finger like it always belonged there.
What was just a translucent finger transformed into real flesh and blood. A thick red-black finger the size of a horse's leg was formed.
Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen started struggling to breathe despite being under the protection of the glow of the Tupelo tree. They felt their insides being corroded and melted at the same time.
From just that small finger they saw the illusion of a river of blood and skulls behind it, with a terrifying creature swallowing that whole river in a single gulp.
They felt their heads almost split open due to the effects of that illusion. Gui Bingwen started screaming as he bled from his eyes, ears, and nose. His mental sea was being invaded with its limit fast approaching.
Once it got broken into, he would lose all sense of himself and be nothing more than a puppet or an empty shell.
Peng Zhen at the side was also barely hanging on but he was much better than Gui Bingwen there was still clarity in his eyes as he gritted his teeth till they bled just to hang on.
Just as they had thought this was their end after bragging about their survival chances, a calming sensation enveloped them. They felt like they were laying on smooth grass feeling the warmth of the sun and a refreshing breeze on their skin. The feeling spread from their heads to throughout their body before they regained the proper feeling of their body.
They both turned towards each other and saw the green, orange, and red light that enveloped both of them.
They both bowed towards the Tupelo tree that was still struggling against Ao Yin but seemed to be losing. The branch that it had produced was being corroded like rust on metal by the right hand of Ao Yin. The branch was tightly gripped with a dark red liquid flowing from the living index finger down the branch.
A sizzling sound and red smoke would be produced every time the liquid came into contact with the branch. The light from the branch would flicker each time the sizzling happened, however, the brightness never dimmed even once.
Peng Zhen couldn't help but throw a hopeful look towards the sky where the earlier green swallow had disappeared off to.
If things remained as they were, the Tupelo tree would lose. With its hibernation stage closing in, some of its abilities had been sealed with no easy way of reversing it.
Right now all it could do was burn its reserve energy and use some of the abilities that were not sealed away such as purification and spectral judgment. The former was what was used to save Peng Zhen moments ago and the latter was the branch of light fighting against Ao Yin.
As Peng Zhen was staring above, the clouds started forming and then they suddenly got darker. Two green lights rapidly flew into the dark cloud before they joined together with a third green light. The green lights looked like small fists. They began to rotate counterclockwise within the clouds. At first, Peng Zhen could track their movements but soon they moved so fast that they seemed to be one single light. The dark clouds were influenced by that movement as ripple waves formed in them as they began rotating in the same direction as the green light till they were completely in sync.
Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen both frowned wondering just what was happening before they had a shell-shocked appearance as the cloud that was just dark moments ago had turned into a light green color accompanied by loud bird chirps that sounded like the clap of thunder.
...
At this moment miles away was a peak surrounded by a white fog so thick that it had obstructed all view in the place. A bird chirp that seemed to have sounded miles away reached this place affecting the deep silent and chilly atmosphere that was present. Immediately after, the fog started gathering inwards from all around the peak like it was being swallowed by something. Within a few seconds, the whole fog had cleared revealing a large courtyard with a three-story building and a large herb garden.
On the roof of the building was a young man seated in a lotus position with white long flowing hair and a sword whose scabbard was pure white just like his hair.
"It seems like the swallows have found them. That was fast. Might be because Yang Qing made these talismans after he broke through to the palace stage. From the sound of the chirp, it seems they are in the northeast direction and they may no longer be in the green fog region.
That's a fair distance away, even if I fully exert myself it would still take roughly 20 minutes. I wish the cloud-swallowing kite was with me. Making that distance would be a breeze for it, but the swamp isn't a conducive place for it to fly with its size.
Mmmh, there is the mirage dragonfly. Even if it is at the early stages of the middle phase of the core formation realm, it should be able to make the distance fast if I feed it the primal lotus dew," Feng Xin said as he jumped off the sect master's building and made his way to Peng Zhen's peak where the Mirage dragonfly was watching over the unconscious members of the Green fog swamp sect.