Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

d Gu Suihan and continued to shriek and howl furiously as it tried to break free from the silver needle’s formation.

There was a flash of red as Questioning Heaven flew out and chopped off the wings and limbs of the Icy Po in an instant, turning it into a mere cylinder of a body.

When the Icy Po opened its mouth to shriek, Gu Suihan thrust the tip of the sword into its mouth, rotated his wrist, and pulled it back out.
There was now a light blue piece of flesh on the sword.

“This is a creature that has been cultivating for at least 500 years, but definitely less than 1,000 years.
Otherwise, it would have been able to form a skeleton and speak like a human,” concluded Gu Suihan as he used his spiritual energy to cast an enlightening spell to observe this terrifying yet tragic-looking creature.

“This is for you.” Gu Suihan threw the storage ring of the dead Seven Kill Sect disciple to Zhou Xingwen.
His intentions were clear – he wanted this creature for himself, so as compensation, the Zhou Xingwen could have everything in this storage ring.

Zhou Xingwen was happy to accept the storage ring.
An Icy Po was hard to come by, but this storage ring carried everything that Seven Kill Sect disciple ever owned.
That was equally valuable.

Gu Suihan did not wait any longer and stabbed his sword into the skull of the Icy Po to suck its powerful soul out.
The iciness from the creature’s soul entered his body, and the frostiness made Gu Suihan exhale deeply with pleasure.

“Junior brother, is it a good time to talk about what you said to the Wonderful Sound Sect disciple earlier on?” asked Zhou Xingwen with a smile.

“So, you’re also a chess pawn meant to be sacrificed,” said Gu Suihan with a chuckle as he sensed how his spirit was slowly healing.

“The Seven Kill Sect is going to make some major moves.
I see from the emblem on your sleeve that you’re from the Way Seekers Alliance.
Go ask Mo Yuluo about it.”

Gu Suihan did not intend to explain anything to him, so after saying that, he walked further into the cave.

“It looks like the formation at the entrance of the cave was not left behind by the cultivator who died here.
Otherwise, it couldn’t have been full of weaknesses, and it wouldn’t have been so easily broken.” Gu Suihan looked down at a pile of dried bones on the ground and came to this realization.

Zhou Xingwen was an intelligent man as well, so his eyes widened after he heard Gu Suihan’s analysis as he said, “Are you saying that the Chilly Soul and Icy Po were the ones who put up the formation themselves?”

“I suppose that’s what happened.
Look at these bones.
These are the bones belonging to the Icy Po.
I think the cultivator refined the Icy Po and Chilly Soul to become his personal spiritual beast, which is why the Icy Po eventually awakened its sentience by chance after the cultivator died.
Its instinct was to protect its owner, so it set up this formation.
Unfortunately, the formation turned out to be filled with weaknesses, and the Chilly Soul did not reach Heavenly Fiend level.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy for us to shatter this formation.” Gu Suihan looked around the cave in hope of finding something valuable.

Zhou Xingwen squatted down and picked up a storage ring covered in dust from among the dry bones on the ground.
He scanned it with his spiritual sense and was disappointed.
There were only a few bottles of pills that had already gone bad, as well as some clothing that had rotted away.
Besides those, there were a few magic weapons, but they were also covered with dust, and their runes faded after so many years had passed.
They were even worse off than some of the best weapons that non-cultivators made.

“Don’t bother holding out any hopes.
There should be a jade slip with a cultivation technique in there, and the rest of the items are probably worthless,” said Gu Suihan without even looking up as he continued feeling his way around the dusty platform made from rocks.

“What are you looking for?” Zhou Xingwen was puzzled by Gu Suihan’s actions.

“I’m looking for his last words.” Gu Suihan cast a floating dust spell, which made the thick dust in the cave float into the air and compressed itself into a hardened piece of clay that was the size of a fist.

“It’s here.” Gu Suihan’s eyes lit up as he kicked away the rotting straw cushion.
He took several steps forward, not caring that his feet were crushing the dry bones of the dead cultivator that had flown off the cushion and now were strewn all over the floor of the cave.

With the cushion out of the way, a large number of bloodied words on the platform were revealed.

Zhou Xingwen looked at Gu Suihan with some admiration as he wondered, “How is it that doing such things is like second nature to this young man?” He shivered in fear, and he felt uncomfortable inside.

“This place is a cultivator’s domain, and the rules follow the way the five elements both attract and repel each other.
I have spent several years and found that this place contains the legacy left behind by the owner of the domain.
The secret realm opens once every hundred years, and each time it opens, there is a possibility of obtaining this legacy.
Unfortunately, the secret keys required for activating this legacy have not all surfaced yet.
I tried my best, and I only got one secret key.
Unfortunately, out of the nine secret keys, only eight have surfaced.
What a tragedy.
I was injured by an enemy and was unable to recover from these severe wounds, so I had no choice but to sit here and meditate until I die.
If a fellow cultivator finds my bones, please send my remains to the Song family in the south.
I will be very grateful if you do that.”

“Hoho.” Gu Suihan looked at the dried-up words written in blood on the platform and snorted.