Sure enough, Zhu Gaoyang then sighed softly. "An expert like you, whose 'swordsmanship is fairly good'-I really can't beat you as I am now."
"..." Remembering his shameless boasting before the foremost swordsman of the Sword Lineage that day, Pei Ye shot him a sidelong glance.
"I mean it." Zhu Gaoyang poked his shoulder. "With swordsmanship so profound, fierce, and coldly exacting, I fully believe you could kill someone at seventh growth through fighting skill alone. If you'd grown up in Dragon Lord Dongting, who would hold first place in the Sword Lineage now might still be an open question."
"...Thanks."
"You're welcome." Zhu Gaoyang sighed. "I never imagined I'd meet a talent like buried jade here among these treacherous mountains and vicious waters. If only it had been another time, another place."
"Then let's get out and meet all over again." Pei Ye reached out to carry him on his back.
Zhu Gaoyang had already leaned onto him when he suddenly grew dazed, then waved him off.
"What's wrong?" Pei Ye frowned in confusion.
"It's too late. After this delay, the Purple-Robed Men will catch up any moment."
"We still can't just wait to die."
"Who said anything about waiting to die?" Zhu Gaoyang chuckled. "Come on. You'll have to rely on me again."
Pei Ye frowned. "You can still move?"
"Give me some dragon saliva," Zhu Gaoyang said.
"What's dragon saliva?"
"Do you know what a Dragon Tongue is?"
"Yes."
"Mm-hmm. There's one in your belly. Dragon saliva is the liquid it secretes that turns people into 'food.'"
Pei Ye understood at once-he wanted Pei Ye to infect him, so he could burn his life away to resist their enemies, just like Jing Ziwang.
Pei Ye refused instinctively. "No!"
"What do you mean, no?" Zhu Gaoyang smiled. "Having a way to turn our weapons back on them is already a blessing beyond measure, and you still want to pick and choose?"
"..."
"Do you know why Xi Wuchou threw his life away for a friend he'd only met a few times?" Seeing Pei Ye fall silent, Zhu Gaoyang changed the subject. "He could clearly have resolved everything perfectly after breaking through."
"Because he was an idiot."
"No, he wasn't an idiot." Zhu Gaoyang smiled. "Nor was it the sort of friendship that says, 'one drink upon meeting, and I would die for you.'"
"It was because he was proud enough." Zhu Gaoyang grew solemn. "Nothing could force him to retreat, not even his own life."
"..."
"Actually, I'm the same." Zhu Gaoyang smiled. "I'm twenty-seven this year. Are you going to act like my master and tell me I can't do this and can't do that?"
"..."
"Come on, Pei Ye. You did very well just now. It's my turn."
Zhu Gaoyang's shining eyes were set in his pale, bloodied face. He reached out toward Pei Ye, who watched him, then silently raised his hand and clasped it.
As a "human Dragon Tongue," he had indeed possessed this ability all along.
The viscous liquid seeped into Zhu Gaoyang's skin, and his flesh and bones began mutating almost immediately.
Pei Ye had no idea what it felt like. He only heard Zhu Gaoyang release a deep sigh.
"I'll protect my head with true qi. It should keep my mind from being taken over for a little while. I'll go meet the two Purple-Robed Men, but I might not be able to stop both." Zhu Gaoyang flexed his sharp hands as he gave his instructions. "Just keep running west with everything you have. If the black-robed men catch up, you'll have to rely on yourself."
"Mm."
"Oh, right." Zhu Gaoyang pulled a jade pendant out of his abdominal cavity. "Weren't you curious how much stuff I had in my belly? It's all in here. If you survive, help me take it back to Dragon Lord Dongting. I told my master before that whoever brought it back could pick any two things inside."
Pei Ye nodded.
Zhu Gaoyang handed Pei Ye the scabbard. By now, the eerie Dark Blue mutation had spread through almost half his body. "Keep the sword to defend yourself."
"Having an Immortal Hunter was actually only my second greatest wish. My greatest wish was to become a Sword Master." Zhu Gaoyang sighed. "I'll leave that wish to you."
"May your words bring me luck," Pei Ye said, rolling his eyes.
A lot of new readers have joined recently. Thank you all for your tips, your precious monthly votes, and your recommendation votes (some readers have kept voting every day-it really moves me).
After today's single update, I'll have no chapters left in reserve. There really is a difference between writing in whatever spare time I can find each day and writing with my whole heart and mind devoted to it. Mostly, I haven't had time to plan the plot and foreshadowing.
But I'm going home this afternoon, so it's time to get into the groove!
Chapter 56: Chi Flame
The sun sank westward, the waning moon traveled east, and the dense forest steeped in darkness, veiled at the same time in a pallid wash of white.
Seeing that the mood had grown heavy, Zhu Gaoyang gave the youth's shoulder one last pat and laughed. "If we'd met in the Divine Capital, I'd have stood on top of Qilin Tower and told everyone you were my friend."
"...That would be pretty embarrassing."
Zhu Gaoyang's smile faded. Fine scales climbed over his jawbone, and he said softly, "Then I'm off-"
Suddenly!
The youth seized his hand. Dragon saliva surged up his arm and rushed straight toward the crown of his head.
He whipped his head around and glared at the youth, his phoenix eyes blazing like torches, his beard and hair bristling, like a qilin glaring in fury!
Had Pei Ye seen this sight, he would never again have questioned that gentle smile Zhu Gaoyang had shown just now.
For the foremost swordsman of Dragon Lord Dongting's Sword Lineage had always been weak, powerless, and amiable in his presence. He had never turned such a sharp edge toward him.
Pei Ye had therefore never imagined how, if he truly faced such a gaze, his bones would stiffen and his blood run cold, until he could not even draw his sword.
He would probably be a little white mouse before a qilin.
Unfortunately, however, Zhu Gaoyang was not facing Pei Ye.
He might indeed be a qilin before whom all beasts cowered, but the enemy before him was no little white mouse. It was the mountains, the sea, and the sky.
Those golden eyes seemed to look down from the highest heavens, aloof and indifferent. Zhu Gaoyang's body stiffened, and his gaze grew unfocused.
Only then did he realize how foolish his decision had been.
Why had I thought of becoming a Frost Wraith? Once my whole body had mutated, how long could I protect my head?
How would I adapt to this corpse? After losing my true qi, my sword, and everything I'd learned, could I stop two Purple-Robed Men with this body?
How had I... suddenly become so stupid?
But that question soon vanished, and all his thoughts grew hazy.
Scales and bone growing outward covered his face like a thicket of thorns, making him resemble an armored general.
The protection of his true qi still seemed to be working. A flicker of clarity lingered in his golden slit pupils, but it was already a dying candle in the wind.
"Pei Ye" glanced at him. He sprang backward and vanished into the trees in the blink of an eye.
Pei Ye's mind went blank for a moment.
He heard Zhu Gaoyang finish saying, "Then I'm off," and gave a quiet "Mm."
At the same time, Zhu Gaoyang had already sprung backward and vanished into the trees in the blink of an eye. Pei Ye did not know whether he had heard.
Zhu Gaoyang's interception must have had some effect, because Pei Ye ran for a quarter of an hour without a Purple-Robed Man catching up.
The enormous silhouette of a mountain now visible ahead beneath the moon should have been the far side of the same mountain he could see from Fenghuai City.
But the situation still looked grim. Though he could compare himself to someone at eighth growth, that applied only to his muscular strength under the enhancement of dragon blood.
Those black-robed men were genuine seventh- and eighth-growth cultivators who had mastered movement arts powered by true qi. When traveling, they were considerably faster than him.
And the wounds left by the recent battle still hampered his body to a considerable degree. Whether running or fighting, he could no longer move as he wished.
On the way, he fought and killed two more isolated black-robed men, both likewise coming toward him. Pei Ye suspected something had happened up ahead.
After those two fights, his injuries grew worse, and his breathing gradually became labored. From now on, he would have to avoid fighting whenever possible, even if it meant wasting some time.
His body could no longer support him killing his way through, especially when he had no idea how many enemies still lay ahead.
Yet no sooner had that thought surfaced than Pei Ye's heart sank.
He stopped, gripped his sword, and looked to the side. Branches tossed and leaves churned all around him. Rushing gusts like the beating wings of night owls arrived one after another, and new black-robed men kept landing in the surrounding trees.
Dragon blood did not repair his body that quickly. Pei Ye shook his arm; it still hampered him badly. A cursory glance revealed more than ten Torchworld Cult members around him already.
Pei Ye drew a deep breath and slowly unsheathed his sword. Frost gathered around fire in his other hand.
To win this battle, he would need the divine seed in his belly to sprout another ability-something like the one that controlled flesh and blood.
Suddenly.
The night fell silent and the forest grew still. Points of eerie Dark Blue appeared among the trees, like countless seeds sprouting throughout this space.
Those little shoots soon grew into exquisite, familiar flame blossoms.
Pei Ye tilted his head slightly. The surrounding black-robed men were equally bewildered for a moment.
How had this flame, which gave off no heat, caused no harm, and was often used as a spiritual medium in various rituals, suddenly appeared here?
Over a hundred light, beautiful flame blossoms drifted slowly and silently, turning the space into a secluded, tranquil wonderland.
Seemingly drawn by some kinship of shared origin, the flame blossoms gradually gathered around the black-robed men, a dozen or so beside each one.
The cultists watched these familiar, welcoming flames in confusion. Some had already reached out to cradle them.
Then a ferocity none had ever imagined erupted.
In an instant, the quiet spirits swelled into murderous fire demons. There was no escape at all. Every cultist instantly became a human-shaped flame.
No one had ever seen this side of it. This was also the first time Pei Ye learned that this flame still retained the true nature of fire.
The wind howled, trees twisted, and leaves flew. Behind the dozen-odd human pillars of flame, something enormous came soaring and wheeling toward him. Pei Ye's heart clenched as a head the size of a cart bed swept past his eyes.
Then his body grew weightless. The magnificent dream from that night descended into reality. Pei Ye instinctively gripped the long mane beside his hand and looked up. Cold heavens, a dark canopy, scattered stars, pale clouds-he was already above the clouds.
"This is how you use [Chi Flame]. Did you see?"
Only now did an "Aaah-" trail off, and Pei Ye realized it had been his own startled scream.
Before you continue