Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way - Chapter 85

All of them continued on their journey at top speed and arrived at the Seven Kill Sect in just a few days’ time. During this time, the atmosphere between the four men had been very tense, so once they spotted the familiar huge rock with the sect’s name inscribed on it, they all secretly breathed a big sigh of relief.

After finding out who Gu Suihan really was, they had felt a terrible pressure and had become overly cautious with every action they made.

Once the guards verified their identities and let them pass, Murong Wei said to the rest, “Let’s go to Peak Four and look for Peak Leader Xiexin.”

The rest nodded and brought Wan Xin as well as the recovering Ling’er to Peak Four.

An hour later, all six of them stood at the peak of the mountain before the authoritative-looking Xiexin zhenren.

After they reported everything that happened on their trip, Xiexin zhenren had a deep frown on his face as he looked at Wan Xin and Ling’er. Fire was practically spewing from his eyes. He never thought that the other alliance would boldly intrude on their territory and attempt to kill Seven Kill Sect disciples like that.

“I’ve taken note of this matter. All of you may be dismissed. Take these two into custody and make sure nothing goes wrong,” said Xiexin zhenren as he motioned to them to leave except for Gu Suihan.

The peak was now left with only Gu Suihan and Xiexin zhenren.

The two men looked at one another and the atmosphere grew heavier.

Neither party wanted to speak. The sounds of the birds and the crickets around them had disappeared completely. The only thing left was the strong winds that made their sleeves and long hair flap wildly.

A giant whirlpool quietly formed in the air. Countless clouds were split apart and formed again. The skies were clear, and gray clouds gathered only over Peak Four. Lightning and thunder resounded repeatedly, darkening the small peak that measured barely a hundred meters across like the night. Murong Wei and the rest were only halfway down when they saw this sight and their hearts trembled fearfully.

Xiexin zhenren looked emotionlessly at the younger man in front of him who had a youthful face but a deep, matured look in his eyes. Despite the great storm he had created in the air, Gu Suihan stood tall and allowed the winds to blow against him as though he were a skerry in the sea.

“My fellow cultivator, why do you want to see me?” Gu Suihan broke the silence first. It seemed like he had finally grown impatient as the other party attempted to test him with this pressurized silence and menacing clouds. He took a step forward and unleashed an air of violence that seemed able to tear through the skies. An ear-piercing screeching sound filled the air as the two forces collided.

The thick dark clouds above the mountain began to shake and a huge hole suddenly appeared. The warm sun rays instantly shone through the hole and the peak was warm again, as though nothing had happened earlier at all.

“My fellow cultivator, please have a seat.” After Gu Suihan had pushed back so strongly, Xiexin zhenren quickly withdrew the pressurizing atmosphere he had created earlier. He put some tea on the table in front of him and motioned to Gu Suihan to help himself to some tea. His actions were natural and friendly, and there was none of the tension that was there before.

Gu Suihan did not bother being polite at all. He plonked himself down on the chair across from Xiexin zhenren and picked up the cup of tea on the table. He immediately raised an eyebrow. The tea inside the cup was a faint greenish color and he could hear the faint cries of the ghosts of people who had died wrongful deaths. If he looked carefully, he could even see ghosts appearing briefly and disappearing again within the cup.

“Soul Cleansing and Heart Enlightening tea. This is good stuff,” said Gu Suihan as he looked intently at Xiexin zhenren, then drank the entire cup down in one go.

Xiexin zhenren had done everything so naturally as if all of these were his usual habits. But actually, these were all things to test Gu Suihan. The storm he created earlier was to allow him to see exactly what sort of Way Gu Suihan was cultivating in. This tea was to test if Gu Suihan’s soul was suffering from any ailment. It was also a sign that Xiexin zhenren had something that could repair the soul on hand.

For the first one, Gu Suihan was just too lazy to hide it. He was cultivating in the hardest yet simplest Way – the Way of Carnage.

The main difficulty stemmed from the fact that any cultivator doing this would eventually suffer from the bad karma generated from all these unwarranted deaths, and die as a result.

At the same time, it was a simple method because as long as one kept their conscience clear and their heart focused on cultivating this Way, they would not suffer from guilt or other thoughts that might distract them from cultivating properly.

In short, the ones most suitable for cultivating this Way were heartless assholes and demons.

As for the second part, Xiexin zhenren guessed that if Gu Suihan were at Origin Core before this and had to take over another body and restart his cultivation, it meant that his soul was incomplete or damaged very badly and would need a significant amount of spiritual herbs to nourish his three hun and gather his seven po together again.

Unfortunately, even though Xiexin zhenren had a foolproof plan, his hypothesis was limited by his knowledge of this world. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that Gu Suihan had nearly reached the Immortal stage before arriving in this world. A simple cup of Soul Cleansing and Heart Enlightening Tea was nowhere near enough to do anything for his damaged soul.

“The tea’s not bad, but it carries a little too much violent Qi,” said Gu Suihan without even looking up as he greedily continued to consume the tea even as he criticized it.

What a shameless fellow thought Xiexin zhenren as his eyebrow twitched and he resisted the urge to slap Gu Suihan when he heard the fake earnestness in the younger man’s voice. Xiexin zhenren’s facial muscles stiffened as he said, “You are correct, it does carry a little too much violent Qi, so it’s better not to drink anymore of it.”

He was about to keep the teapot when Gu Suihan reached out and snatched the teapot from him. Gu Suihan sighed and said, “Since these poor souls have become tea and cannot reincarnate, then I should make sure they’ve died a worthy death. Don’t waste it.” Gu Suihan then happily poured himself another cup.

This fellow is unbelievably shameless, thought Xiexin zhenren as his eye began to twitch. If he hadn’t been brought up well, he wouldn’t have been able to endure Gu Suihan’s shameless attitude like this. His expression turned grim as he said, “My fellow cultivator, I believe it is time you explained things to me.”

He wanted to know why an ancient like Gu Suihan would want to become part of the Seven Kill Sect. In general, most people who wanted to take over another body to restart their cultivation journey would make preparations beforehand. They would accumulate a large number of Spiritual Stones and amass huge amounts of herbs before making their comeback.

The other category of people who did this were cultivators who were being chased down by enemies and chose to leave their own bodies for another purely out of desperation. Such cultivators were usually killed by whoever was hunting them down, and those who managed to survive would usually end up with a lousy new body since this new body had been chosen in a great hurry.

In such cases, the cultivator and their new body were not always a good match and there would be a difference in aptitude. On top of that, the original soul of the new body would also fight against the new soul trying to take control of the body. All of this made it extra difficult for anybody to just take over a body without a plan.

Gu Suihan and this body he was in seemed to be perfectly matched and Xiexin zhenren was only at Peak Origin Core, so as far as he could see, Gu Suihan had to be the former category.

“I’m not up to anything. I just didn’t want to suffer as a wandering cultivator and hoped to find a place to rely on for good resources, that’s all,” replied Gu Suihan calmly with a faint smile on his face.

“What else?” Xiexin zhenren looked straight into Gu Suihan’s eyes and continued to ask. He was very sure that Gu Suihan had some scheme up his sleeve. That was what his intuition as a cultivator told him.

“What else?” Gu Suihan looked a little bitter and his expression was a little bleak as he pointed his finger upward and did not speak anymore.

“I see.” Xiexin zhenren looked less tense and his heart felt a little more at ease now.

He thought that was all to Gu Suihan’s intentions. After all, it was true that wandering cultivators were actually more like the outliers of the world of cultivators. They were so happy to get their hands on any cultivation technique, even if it were incomplete. Spiritual Stones, pills, and herbs made them even happier. It was common for them to fight tooth and nail over such resources, no matter the amount available.

More importantly, the furthest a wandering cultivator could go was Origin Core. The names of the people who could make it to the Upper World and the path upward was controlled entirely by the seven major sects. The Buddhists had found some other secretive way of getting to the Upper World but that was classified information as well. Wandering cultivators could never get their hands on this information.

He concluded that Gu Suihan found out about something in his previous life and was, therefore, willing to sacrifice his entire life of cultivation to restart his journey, get into the Seven Kill Sect and decide what to do from there.

“My fellow cultivator, the things you know about might be a little different from reality since there are so many rumors floating around out there. Most of the sect members have heard a thing or two, but they do not know the full picture,” said Xiexin zhenren with a smile after thinking about what to do. He decided to be honest with Gu Suihan.

After all, in the past, the Seven Kill Sect would have gotten rid of someone like Gu Suihan. But now, they had a more urgent matter on hand and they needed Gu Suihan.

“I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but there is a limit on how many can enter the Upper World each time. Being an internal disciple is not enough. Out of the seven major sects, the top 100 of the big three get to enter the Upper World, while the top 50 of the remaining four get to enter, making it a total of 500 people. You have to be the best of this world in order to enter the Upper World.”

He paused for a moment and took a sip of tea before continuing, “I’m not sure if you’ve heard about how the Ethereal Court has formed an alliance with several sects to fight the Seven Kill Sect, the War Demon Sect, and the Yin Principle Sect? They are prepared to wipe out the three sects in one go and take our vacancies.”

“They’re going to do that at the inter-sect competition that’s happening in a few months?” Gu Suihan raised a hand to cut Xiexin zhenren off. His expression was nasty and he looked like he wasn’t willing to become part of this mess.

Xiexin zhenren scoffed inwardly. This was not something Gu Suihan could decide for himself. But he maintained a gentle smile and said, “But my fellow cultivator, you don’t really have a choice. You’re already the center of the whirlpool, so how could you possibly get out of it?”