The Creation of the Heavens and All Realms

Chapter 40: The Ambush on Ming Kui

“What’s going on?” Above the massive crater, Gu Dali was filled with confusion. He and more than forty Innate-level experts had chosen to remain above rather than enter the pit. However, none of these Innate-level experts had left the cave; some were still hoping to score a lucky find. Gu Dali didn’t harbor much hope for the Yuan Jing; what he wanted most right now was to cause some trouble for the Huang family. The commotion caused by the sudden disturbance at the Spirit Lake had startled Gu Dali and his group. Later, they witnessed the retreat of the crowd below, but what puzzled them was that the retreat seemed to have encountered an unexpected setback. Countless speculations flashed through Gu Dali’s mind. He even considered descending into the pit, but ultimately held back. After hesitating for quite some time, Gu Dali actually left the cave! Perhaps sensing that the Northwest Legion had returned, the monster stopped surging upward and instead turned to ambushing the members of the Four Great Clans and the Wanhai Pavilion. However, it wouldn’t be so easy for it to succeed now. The Innate-level experts from the Four Great Clans and the Wanhai Pavilion had quietly formed a defensive formation, maintaining a tight defense in all directions. For quite some time, the monster remained silent. “Where exactly is the monster?” This was the question on everyone’s mind. Zhou Tianci carefully sensed the situation at the bottom of the pit. While the monster could conceal its aura of destruction, it could not suppress the Law of Destruction. Through the Tree of Eternal Creation, Zhou Tianci quickly pinpointed the monster’s location. “The monster is here!” Zhou Tianci shot forward, drawing the Thousand Jun Sword from its sheath. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of sword shadows engulfed the monster, instantly forcing it out of the darkness. “Clang…” The Thousand Jun Sword struck the monster’s body with a metallic clang, yet failed to penetrate even the slightest bit. Zhou Tianci was taken aback—this monster’s defense was far too formidable! Just as Zhou Tianci’s strike failed to make a dent, a figure darted out from the side, hurtling straight toward the monster at blinding speed. “Truly worthy of the title ‘General of the West’—Liu Yuntao’s speed is at least twice mine!” Zhou Tianci recognized the figure and felt both astonished and impressed. It was none other than Liu Yuntao who had given chase. Upon hearing Zhou Tianci’s shout, Liu Yuntao reacted instantly, covering nearly a hundred meters in two strides as his fists, like massive hammers, slammed toward the monster’s head. The monster let out a strange screech, seemingly wary of Liu Yuntao’s fists, and tried to dodge. But Liu Yuntao was no pushover. Under the force of his double punch, the air itself seemed to shatter; the sheer power of the blow caused even Zhou Tianci, standing more than twenty meters away, to turn pale! “Boom!” A thunderous roar echoed as Liu Yuntao’s fist struck the monster’s shoulder, sending it reeling a hundred meters back to the shore of Spirit Lake. By the light of Spirit Lake, the group could finally make out the monster’s full form. The monster stood about two meters tall, bearing a striking resemblance to a human, its entire body covered in black scales. It had two horns on its forehead, each about one cun long, with red eyes set below them. Its nose was flat, its mouth wide, and its ears resembled bat wings. The monster’s hands reached past its knees; its arms were thick, and its ten fingers were each half a chi long, sharp as daggers. It crouched with legs indistinguishable from those of a human and no tail; judging by its silhouette alone, it was almost indistinguishable from an ordinary person. “Ming Kui—this is Ming Kui!” Wan Wusheng murmured after staring at it for a while. Everyone else turned to look at him. “Brother Wan, is this really the Ming Kui you were talking about?” Huang Shuyi asked hurriedly. Wan Wusheng took another look at the monster: “It matches the descriptions in the ancient texts perfectly; there’s no mistake.” “If it really is Ming Kui, aren’t we all as good as dead?” Lü Fei said. “According to Pavilion Master Wan, Ming Kui is capable of destroying heaven and earth—it shouldn’t be this weak.” “That’s right…” The others agreed upon reflection; if the Ming Kui were truly that powerful, why would they even bother resisting? They might as well just sit back and wait to die. Wan Wusheng explained, “Ming Kui isn’t powerful from the very beginning; it needs to grow. According to the ancient texts, Ming Kui grows through slaughter and destruction—the more it kills, the stronger it becomes. In my opinion, this Ming Kui has clearly only recently come into being and hasn’t yet had the chance to commit mass slaughter. However, judging by its actions just now, its ferocious and vicious nature is laid bare. Without absolute power, it actually dared to try to trap all of us here. Such a monstrous creature absolutely must not be allowed to escape!” Wan Wusheng’s assessment was endorsed by most of the group. Regardless of whether the monster before them was the legendary Ming Kui, the aura of slaughter, destruction, and evil emanating from it was undeniable. And considering its immense power, the consequences of such a monstrous creature escaping would be unimaginable! “We must kill it!” the group agreed unanimously. When the Ming Kui retreated to the lakeshore, everyone feared it might flee back into the lake. However, the outcome once again took them by surprise—it seemed the Ming Kui didn’t care for Spirit Lake either. Seeing nearly a hundred Innate-level cultivators closing in on it, the Ming Kui let out a series of strange screeches, as if it were thrilled… “Kill!” Liu Yuntao charged to the very front as always. At first, Ming Kui showed a hint of fear upon seeing him, but it immediately revealed its ferocious side. It thrust its thick legs forward with all its might and collided head-on with Liu Yuntao without flinching. Neither side used weapons; Liu Yuntao’s fists and Ming Kui’s claws clashed repeatedly, and neither gave an inch. “No wonder Liu Yuntao is so strong—it turns out he’s cultivated a body-refining technique!” Zhou Tianci realized that Liu Yuntao was holding his own against Ming Kui and finally understood the source of his power. In this world, the power of body-refining techniques far surpasses that of ordinary cultivation methods; otherwise, why would Huang Bai have set his sights on Gu Dali? Conversely, physical cultivation techniques were extremely rare, and the barriers to entry were high. Even those who had cultivated their bodies to the “Post-Heaven” level were few and far between—let alone those at the “Pre-Heaven” level! Zhou Tianci also noticed that as Liu Yuntao battled Ming Kui, a multicolored aura swirled around his body. The others weren’t idle either. Wan Wusheng drifted down like a wisp of cotton to Ming Kui’s side and thrust the iron ruler in his hand toward Ming Kui’s neck. Sensing the threat from the ruler, Ming Kui swiped at it with its right claw, but it had clearly underestimated Wan Wusheng’s strength. Just as the Ming Kui’s sharp claws neared the iron ruler, a piercing screech rang out, and two of its five claws were snapped off. The Ming Kui let out a bloodcurdling howl. “This iron ruler is a divine weapon even more powerful than the Thousand-Jun Sword!” Zhou Tianci had known all along that this iron ruler was a divine weapon, but he hadn’t realized just how powerful it was. Compared to it, his own Thousand-Jun Sword still fell short by quite a margin. Liu Yuntao and Wan Wusheng moved so quickly that before anyone else could react, they had already engaged the Ming Kui in a fierce battle—a clear indication that the two were far more powerful than the others. “I wonder how strong Huang Shuyi would be if he didn’t conceal his cultivation level…” Zhou Tianci thought. Before long, Ming Kui was surrounded by Zhou Tianci and his group. Liu Yuntao, Wan Wusheng, and Huang Shuyi held Ming Kui in check, while the others provided support from the perimeter. Thanks to their coordinated efforts, Ming Kui gradually found itself on the defensive, taking blows from time to time as weapons struck its body; Zhou Tianci also seized the opportunity to thrust his sword into it several times. “This monster’s scales provide too much defense. Focus your attacks on one spot to break through its armor!” Wan Wusheng said. Wan Wusheng’s reminder came at just the right moment. The Ming Kui’s defense was indeed overwhelming—it had withstood dozens of attacks from Liu Yuntao and Wan Wusheng, as well as hundreds or even thousands of strikes from other Mid- and Early-Stage Innate cultivators, yet remained unscathed. Facing such a being one-on-one, it was unlikely anyone would stand a chance. “Clang!” Zhou Tianci thrust his sword into the Ming Kui’s chest, and the others quickly followed suit, delivering a relentless barrage of strikes to its chest. “Roar!” Ming Kui was enraged. Ignoring Liu Yuntao’s fists, it forced its way through the blockade formed by Liu Yuntao, Wan Wusheng, and Huang Shuyi, leaping straight to the rear of the group. The rear of the group was filled with martial artists at the Early Innate True Qi Realm—they were no match for Ming Kui at all. In the ensuing panic, Ming Kui killed two of them in quick succession. “Watch out! Get out of the way!” Zhou Tianci spun around to charge at it, only to see the Ming Kui bring the head of a Xiantian martial artist to its mouth and bite down with a single gulp. The martial artists present had all reached the Innate Realm and had hundreds or even thousands of lives to their credit, yet witnessing Ming Kui’s savage method of killing still sent a chill down their spines. What made Ming Kui terrifying wasn’t that it ate people—there were plenty of demon beasts that did that—but rather the aura it emitted while slaughtering: an aura of utter destruction that struck fear into any living creature. After breaking out of the encirclement, the Ming Kui accelerated, focusing solely on hunting down the Early Innate-level martial artists. In the ensuing chaos, it was difficult for the group to pinpoint its location. However, this posed no real challenge to them. The Innate-level martial artists possessed extensive combat experience; within moments, those at the Early Innate stage had withdrawn to the side to tie up the Ming Kui, simultaneously clearing a path for Liu Yuntao and his two companions. Zhou Tianci was part of the second echelon; he followed behind Liu Yuntao, ready to strike Ming Kui at any moment. “The Ming Kui’s aura has grown even stronger…” As he approached the Ming Kui once more, Zhou Tianci sensed that the Law of Destruction emanating from it had intensified slightly; he wasn’t sure if this was merely an illusion. As they surrounded the Ming Kui once more, Liu Yuntao and his companions grew even more cautious. Huang Shuyi also drew his weapon—a folding fan that was also a divine weapon. Of the three, only Liu Yuntao was unarmed, though the power of his fists was no less than that of a divine weapon. Zhou Tianci noticed that the five-colored light swirling behind Liu Yuntao was accelerating; his body had grown an inch taller, and his strength had increased even further. Liu Yuntao slammed both fists into the Ming Kui’s claws, while Wan Wusheng seized the opportunity to strike the Ming Kui’s chest—the very spot where everyone had concentrated their attacks moments earlier—with his iron ruler. After two strikes, Wan Wusheng’s iron ruler finally shattered the scales on the Ming Kui’s chest, and a black aura seeped out from the broken scales! “The Ming Kui is wounded!” Everyone was thrilled. After such a prolonged siege, they finally saw hope of defeating the Ming Kui, and their attacks grew even more frenzied. Zhou Tianci was the closest. Summoning all his strength, he transformed the Qianjun Sword into a streak of black light and thrust it straight into the Ming Kui’s wound. With the scales no longer blocking the way, the Qianjun Sword pierced the Ming Kui right through, causing even more black mist to pour out of its body. “Aaaargh!” The Ming Kui roared as it grabbed the Qianjun Sword. Its strength surpassed even Zhou Tianci’s, and it nearly wrenched the sword from his grasp—but fortunately, Huang Shuyi blocked its claw with his folding fan. Liu Yuntao immediately landed a punch on the Ming Kui’s chest, while Zhou Tianci withdrew the Qianjun Sword. Thanks to their seamless teamwork, Ming Kui was severely wounded.