Descent

Skyreach Pavilion.

Because it needed to grow medicinal herbs, Skyreach Pavilion was located on the northern edge of Starlight City.

Although its location was somewhat remote, its area exceeded that of Black Tortoise Gate, Dragon Sparrow Manor, and the Four Great Lineages.

Night fell.

Skyreach Pavilion was brightly lit.

Several places in particular were as bright as daylight.

Those were Skyreach Pavilion's core areas: the Heavenly Principles Hall, which handled the sect's affairs both great and small; the Seven Treasures Hall, which stored pills and supplies; and the Longevity Hall, where the Supreme Elder secluded himself and which therefore maintained extremely tight security.

Although the place where Vice Pavilion Master Bai Yang lived was bustling and crowded with disciples, it was considerably quieter than these core strongholds.

"Master, are we going to kill our way straight in?"

Outside the courtyard, Su Nanxing looked at Gu Jinlai, who was fully armed and wearing armor.

"I'll go over alone. If you sense a Spirit Refining cultivator appear, burn down the Seven Treasures Hall and draw their attention. That'll make our retreat easier."

Gu Jinlai pointed at a box nearby. "There are highly flammable materials inside. Just throw them into the Seven Treasures Hall, and you'll be able to set it ablaze."

The technique of making Molotov cocktails from highly flammable liquids such as alcohol and ether was common knowledge among the people of Blue Star.

"Understood."

Su Nanxing nodded.

"Apart from Bai Yang, the chief culprit, who else took action?"

Gu Jinlai asked.

Su Nanxing pondered.

He did not know any of Bai Yang's disciples, the direct disciples of Skyreach Pavilion.

Perhaps...

Should he name them all?

"Forget it. I won't ask. Whoever stands in my way will be killed. Whether they live or die depends on their own fortune."

Gu Jinlai's expression was calm.

Then he strode toward Skyreach Pavilion.

With a weight of two thousand pounds, no matter how carefully he restrained his aura, his movements could not be quiet when he ran.

He had only just crossed over the tall outer wall of Skyreach Pavilion when three patrolling disciples noticed him. "Who is that!?"

Gu Jinlai ignored them and sped toward the courtyard where Bai Yang lived. In his mental world, he visualized his armor and prepared to resonate with it.

"Stop!"

One of the patrolling disciples leaped into the air and swept his sword across Gu Jinlai's path.

Gu Jinlai did not even look at him. He swept his battle sword out, and the thousand-pound weight, propelled by astonishing speed, whipped up a hurricane. Its might, no weaker than the full-force strike of a Core Forming cultivator, smashed the disciple and his sword to pieces on the spot.

The violent force sent him flying even faster than he had come. Before he could hit the ground, he had already breathed his last.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The other two disciples shouted in terror. One of them immediately launched a signal.

Brilliant flames shot into the heavens and exploded in the pitch-black night sky.

Gu Jinlai remained calm, his objective clear.

As he swept across the grounds, Bai Yang's courtyard was already close at hand.

Because a disciple had released a signal, Bai Yang had been alerted. He led more than a dozen disciples rushing out from within.

Seeing Gu Jinlai's entire body wrapped in battle armor, Bai Yang's pupils contracted. "Who are you, to dare run wild in my Skyreach Pavilion!?"

Gu Jinlai swept his gaze over the dozen or so people.

Yellow Names made up most of them. There was only one Bright Red Name, and it was not Bai Yang. It belonged to one of his Gang Condensing disciples.

"Master, the material used in his armor seems identical to that of the armor Gu Jinlai delivered today..."

One of the disciples suddenly spoke.

"Hmm!? You're Gu Jinlai!?"

Bai Yang was shocked, finding it even more inconceivable.

"You fell from Spirit Refining and even switched to cultivating as a Celestial Master, yet you actually dared to come to our Skyreach Pavilion seeking death!?"

Then he burst out laughing. "Heaven has a path, yet you refused to take it; hell had no door, yet you barged right in! Since you've come, don't even think about leaving! From now on, stay obediently in our Skyreach Pavilion and be an artifact slave. Our Skyreach Pavilion..."

"Rumble!"

Before Bai Yang could finish, Gu Jinlai charged forward with brutal force. His entire two-thousand-plus-pound body pounced down, whipping up violent waves of air. Combined with the fierce baleful intent carried by his mid-tier Demonic Beasts physique, it instantly made Bai Yang's expression change drastically.

"Form the array!"

Bai Yang growled.

His dozen-plus disciples swiftly formed a battle formation.

"Bang!"

In the next moment, Gu Jinlai's figure was like a cannonball, smashing into the formation the dozen or so people had only just assembled.

For a moment, it was as though several kilograms of explosives had detonated in midair. Visible ripples scattered with the shock wave, while pure physical impact mixed with Core Forming-grade qi blasted outward. The formation formed by the dozen-plus people was almost swept away like dead leaves before a gale, a gap smashed open in it.

The Gang Condensing disciple Gu Jinlai had locked onto was struck like a car traveling three hundred kilometers per hour. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was sent flying.

"A Chi!"

Bai Yang roared furiously. The sword in his hand burst into dazzling sword light, seemingly carrying an entire expanse of lightning and sparks as it slashed viciously into Gu Jinlai's body.

"Die!"

"Clang!"

Sparks flew.

A sound like a great bell and massive drum rang out through the air.

It seemed that Bai Yang had not struck a high-grade treasure armor at all, but a lump of solid steel!

A lump of refined steel weighing over a thousand pounds!

The force and qi that erupted tore a sword mark across the steel armor, but an even stronger recoil struck his sword-wielding right hand. The web between his thumb and forefinger split and bled, and his wrist bones nearly broke.

"This armor!?"

Bai Yang's eyes flew wide open.

"Whoosh!"

The giant sword swept across.

The two-meter-long giant sword represented a killing range far beyond that of ordinary weapons.

Gang Condensing was said to let one form swords from breath and kill a man within ten steps, but those targets were ordinary people.

Against protective true qi, one still had to fight with real blades and spears.

Now that Gu Jinlai had charged into the formation, he did not defend at all. As he swung the giant sword around, three of the dozen-plus disciples surrounding him were smashed to death on the spot.

While he slaughtered those three, four other disciples attacked at the same time and struck his armor.

But even Bai Yang, as powerful as a peak Core Forming cultivator, could not cleave the heavy armor on Gu Jinlai with a high-grade sword wielded at full force. How could those Qi Refining and Gang Condensing disciples, holding low-grade swords or even peerless weapons, fare any better?

Sparks flew.

The sword-edge qi merely left sword marks of varying depths across Gu Jinlai's battle armor, failing to affect him in the slightest.

By contrast, the disciples who had attacked with all their strength suffered the recoil. The webs between their thumbs and forefingers split, blood seeped from their palms, and their eyes widened in disbelief.

"What he's wearing... is it a peerless treasure armor!?"

"No, it's treasure armor forged in the form of heavy armor! Anything below a high-grade sword will have difficulty breaking through it!"

"Use penetrating force! Injure his lungs and shatter his organs!"

The surrounding disciples shouted one after another, their expressions shocked and furious.

They were shocked by the ferocity Gu Jinlai had displayed, and furious that he had been so brazen as to charge into Skyreach Pavilion and kill their fellow disciples.

"Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!"

Gu Jinlai wielded his sword and rampaged through the encirclement of more than a dozen people.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Of the three disciples who attempted to injure him with penetrating force, one was crushed to death by a collision, one was smashed to death, and the last was kicked to death!

On the surface, he seemed trapped within the encirclement of more than a dozen people, but in truth, he alone was wielding his sword and slaughtering his way through them.

Wherever his sword pointed, the best outcome was severed limbs.

Once struck head-on by him, it made no difference whether those disciples raised their swords to block or used true qi to protect their bodies. Without the slightest suspense, they were all blasted into bloody mist, leaving no complete corpses behind.

"Junior Brother!"

"Ah! Help me! Save me!"

"My hand... my hand is gone..."

The stench of blood quickly spread through the scene, mingling with the terrified screams.

The minds of those shocked and furious disciples were instantly filled with fear.

"Retreat! Retreat! Quickly, retreat! Stop! Gu Jinlai, have you gone mad!?"

Bai Yang roared in shock and fury.

Of the sixteen disciples beside him—one Core Forming, six Gang Condensing, and nine Qi Refining—more than half had already been slaughtered by Gu Jinlai with overwhelming ease in just this brief moment!

These people were the foundation that allowed him to sit securely in the position of Vice Pavilion Master!

Losing half of them in one stroke made his heart bleed.