Chapter 26

The moss-covered rock walls of the passage emitted a faint glow, providing enough light for Wu Tie to see everything around him.

After advancing another seven or eight li, the passage continued to slope downward.

The smell of blood grew stronger ahead, and Wu Tie and Lao Tie suddenly stopped. In front of them, an ox-tribe warrior leaned sideways against a large stone, his body icy cold, devoid of breath.

The ox-tribe warrior's limbs were riddled with deep wounds down to the bone; his originally dark skin had turned deathly pale, and almost all his blood had drained. Within a hundred-meter radius, the ground was slick with bloodstains.

The cartwheel great axe was broken; he gripped a handle over a meter long in his left hand and clung to a shattered axe head in his right. Deep scars marred the surrounding rock walls, and Wu Tie could picture him swinging the broken weapon, roaring in battle.

A broken straight sword had pierced deep into the ox-tribe warrior's hindbrain, evidently the blow that finally killed him.

"The ox-tribe are the most loyal and reliable warriors." Wu Tie approached the warrior, placed his hand over the warrior's glaring eyes, and helped him close them. Gazing at the fallen warrior, Wu Tie inexplicably recalled the honest, steadfast, loyal, and reliable ox-tribe giants of the Wu clan.

"Lao Tie, you say… Luo Lin and Shi Lingqing, who is right and who is wrong?" Wu Tie continued forward, running at full speed while asking Lao Tie.

In just half a month, Wu Tie had witnessed countless deaths with his own eyes. Especially the collusion between Shi Lingqing and Qiao, which overturned much of his understanding, left his young mind somewhat confused.

Though Lao Tie's body was incredibly heavy, it was strange that his footsteps made no sound when he ran, almost like a ghost.

After a while, Lao Tie turned his head, his eyes flashing with Blood Light, and countered Wu Tie: "Those who killed your father and brothers—if you go take revenge, who is right and who is wrong between you and them?"

Wu Tie fell silent, instinctively gripping his spear tighter.

"In this world there is no absolute right or wrong." After a moment, Lao Tie spoke solemnly: "It's merely different positions, merely a struggle of interests… You told me your family once slaughtered several neighboring small clans… What if their survivors came to you for revenge?"

Wu Tie opened his mouth.

"So don't bother with these questions of right and wrong. Overthinking will lead you into demonhood… Who do you think you are? A sage who has perfected heavenly ethics and human principles?" Lao Tie sneered: "Even a saint has selfish motives."

"There is no right or wrong; just follow your heart." Lao Tie's tone grew extremely stern: "If it's an enemy, you must destroy it… Believe my words, grandfather—I've survived to now, so my advice has some merit… At least it's far more sensible than your head full of wild fantasies, little novice."

Wu Tie lowered his head and ran shoulder to shoulder with Lao Tie.

Shi Lingqing and Luo Lin, among others, had already penetrated deep into the passage, but this narrow, long corridor had excellent acoustics; their fighting cries and faint shouts echoed out on the cold wind, audible far away.

Faint silhouettes began to appear ahead.

Wu Tie and Lao Tie rushed forward, and a gruesome scene unfolded before them.

Luo Lin's left arm was blown off at the elbow, the wound clearly struck by a powerful current, the flesh charred black.

Wu the Elder's two legs were severed at the roots; he remained with only one right arm, bound by a rope to Ding's shoulder, while Ding carried Wu the Elder, staggering awkwardly beside Luo Lin.

Ding's right leg swelled so much his pant leg split; unknown what poison had struck, his leg became as thick as a waist, entirely black, skin taut and shiny, as if it might explode at any moment.

Black blood continually oozed from the pores of Ding's right leg, dripping steadily to the ground.

Before them, Shi Lingqing's group was also in a sorry state.

Shi Lingqing's beautiful face was half-destroyed; three triangular spikes were driven deep into her left cheek, the spikes coated with some strange substance, her left cheek festering and oozing pus, her visage grotesque like a female ghost.

Only Shi Dian remained as her guard.

Shi Dian had lost his entire left shoulder, the left side of his chest caved in, a bloody mess.

He followed Shi Lingqing step by step, gripping a wooden staff in his right hand; with each step, blood seeped from his mouth.

Only Qiao was unharmed, spotless, sticking close to Shi Lingqing, his chain blade dancing lightly, emitting faint tearing sounds.

"Enough, Wu the Elder, Lao San, and Ding… enough!" Qiao shouted loudly: "So many have died—do you really want mutual destruction? Lao San, for your sister's sake, just for one sister, is it worth it?"

Qiao bellowed: "We should sit down and talk properly. It's not worth it… Lao San, Wu the Elder, and Ding, truly not worth it. How did it come to this? Lingqing said she could give Lao San adequate compensation."

"Pah!" Wu the Elder, Luo Lin, and Ding spat simultaneously onto the ground.

Wu Tie and Lao Tie rushed over, quickly approaching the two groups.

Wu the Elder, Luo Lin, and Ding hastily turned sideways, retreating dozens of meters, warily eyeing Wu Tie and the strangely formed Lao Tie.

Seeing Wu Tie, Luo Lin's trio relaxed slightly, but upon suddenly seeing Lao Tie, their bodies tensed simultaneously, obviously wary of the man with a human head and dog's body.

Shi Lingqing also froze, glanced quickly at Lao Tie, then smiled… not a flower-like smile, but a ghost-like grin as she waved at Wu Tie: "Young master… young master… please, young master, decide for Lingqing. This is your territory; they actually killed Lingqing's guards!"

Luo Lin's trio said nothing, merely stared coldly at Wu Tie and Lao Tie.

Wu Tie gripped his spear, glanced at Shi Lingqing, then at Luo Lin's group. Though he hadn't witnessed the entirety of their clash, he could imagine the fierce wits and deadly struggles during the time he carried the Howling Celestial Dog back to the Ancient Divine Weapons Camp.

Qiao suddenly laughed, holding his chain blade, and took two steps toward Wu Tie: "May I ask, young master, who is this?"

"I am your grandfather!" Lao Tie's eyes flashed with Blood Light as he glared at Qiao rudely: "Grandson, stop sucking up—you, a snake who stabbed his own brother in the back, would not have lasted half a day in my time."

Qiao's face instantly changed, his pale, delicate features twitching violently.

The foreleg impatiently slammed the ground with a heavy thud, creating a pit about a meter wide, and Lao Tie said in a low voice: "Grandfather has no time to settle your petty grudges—make way, ahead… something seems to be there."

Lao Tie snorted coldly and strode slowly toward the end of the passage.

The cold wind blew from the passage's end, where vast strands of night-light vines hung from the rock ceiling. The walls rose nearly a kilometer high; green, blue, and purple night-light vines cascaded like waterfalls, some vines dotted with tiny flowers as fine as lanterns.

The cold wind swept from behind the vines, sending countless vines dancing in the air, like a rolling waterfall.

Several thin red rays shot from Lao Tie's eyes as he swept at the vines, snapping countless vines down, revealing a huge hole hundreds of meters wide and high behind them.

A hazy light poured from the opening, illuminating the stone cavern within a radius of several li.

Lao Tie said nothing as he walked into the opening; Wu Tie followed closely beside him, warily watching Shi Lingqing, Qiao, and Shi Dian.

In comparison, Luo Lin's trio put him more at ease; rather, Shi Lingqing, whom he once liked, now seemed to him like a black widow spider—full of threat and arousing a faint disgust.

Shi Lingqing and Luo Lin remained silent, their eyes flickering as they gazed at the hole in the rock wall.

They had fought desperately all the way here, yet none had spared a thought to examine this place's environment; none had imagined such a massive cavern existed in this rock wall.

"Young master, did you come for this cavern?" Shi Lingqing asked with a smile, seemingly unbothered by Lao Tie's earlier harsh rebuke: "Young master, could you tell Lingqing what lies inside?"

Wu Tie ignored her; Lao Tie certainly would not pay her any heed.

The two entered the cavern, made two right-angle turns, walked several li, and suddenly the vista brightened ahead.

This is a cavern spanning a hundred li, its light astonishing, its scenery beyond amazing.

The floor is perfectly flat, dense clusters of crystals ranging from a few feet to over ten meters in height growing together—red, purple, blue, green, yellow—multicolored crystal clusters emitting dazzling light, the air suffused with an inexplicable mighty power.

The cavern walls and ceiling likewise teemed with translucent, multicolored crystal clusters; countless clusters fused together, some resembling spears or swords, stretching straight out for over a hundred meters.

The mingling crystal light filled the cavern, rendering it so bright it could almost blind one's eyes.

At the center of this hundred-li-wide, several-thousand-meter-high cavern stood a towering figure; even from tens of li away, Wu Tie could see him at a glance.

This silhouette was about a thousand meters tall, naked all over and covered in black hair, its extraordinarily sturdy frame knotted with muscles like huge water pythons coiled around it, exuding a suffocating sense of power.

Even tens of li away, Wu Tie felt this silhouette like a great mountain, heavy pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Ox head, human body; on the giant ox head two curved horns resembled two curved blades, as if they wanted to pierce the vault above.

He raised both hands high, as if holding some heavy object, as if blocking an attack from the sky.

Dozens of spears condensed from crystal pierced his body, the spears embedded within him, flickering and emitting blinding light.

This silhouette clearly resembled the ox-tribe warriors Wu Tie knew, except ordinary ox-tribe warriors only grow to over two meters tall, whereas he, dozens of li away, not counting the pair of large horns on his head, stood over a thousand meters tall.

Surging, mighty power burst from this towering terrifying form, continually agitating the air in the cavern, transforming into gusts of cold wind that scattered outward.

"Who is he? How did he grow so huge?" Wu Tie stared blankly at the gigantic, unbelievable figure: "What does he eat to get this big? One meal of his could devour my family's entire yearly harvest."

Height a thousand meters, so towering and massive.

Having died who knows how many years ago, his body still continuously emitted vast power surges, agitating the air into endless cold winds blowing outward. Such heaven-shaking might made Wu Tie feel repeated chills down his spine.

Such a powerful, unbelievable existence was actually killed by someone.

The killing intent emanating from those dozens of crystal-forged spears was starkly substantive, still making Wu Tie dare not look directly from tens of li away.

"It's him." Lao Tie's voice turned extremely strange.

"Since there is the Minor Manifest Sage True Lord Yang Jian, naturally there would be the Peaceful Heaven Great Sage… Cow Hero." Lao Tie said dryly: "This guy, claiming to be a unique hero through the ages, simply changed his name to Cow Hero."

Lao Tie turned his head, the blood light in his eyes flashing suddenly, he gave Wu Tie a deep look: "Little Tie, from now on don't be shameless like those two. One directly steals another's name… the other simply throws away his face."

With a strange dry laugh three times, Lao Tie muttered: "What's so great about a hero who stands between heaven and earth? He's still dead."

The blood light in his eye sockets flashed rapidly, Lao Tie's tone became extremely urgent: "Wrong, why did Yang Jian rush here? How could that dog thing die fighting here? Cow Hero this fellow… if I remember correctly, he shouldn't be appearing here."

Lao Tie suddenly kicked off his legs and sprinted wildly toward the Peaceful Heaven Great Sage Cow Hero, shouting at the same time: "Little guy, keep up… watch those two groups, whoever dares to approach… kill on sight!"

Lao Tie had always seemed to Wu Tie a somewhat off-kilter old slicker, but at this moment his voice was filled with a killing decisiveness utterly unfamiliar to Wu Tie, a brutal battlefield aura of commanding troops and blood flowing like pestles that hit Wu Tie full in the face, making him shudder with chills.

"No one may approach!" Wu Tie snapped his head back, shouting sternly at the Shi Lingqing and Luo Lin groups that had followed them here: "Whoever dares to come near, don't blame me for being impolite!"

The spear viciously jabbed at Shi Lingqing, Wu Tie suddenly leapt into the air, an invisible force field unleashed fully, his body shot through the air, kicking up a gale as he chased after Lao Tie.

Shi Lingqing's eyes flashed, he quickly exchanged a glance with Qiao.

The two nodded slightly, each taking a step toward Cow Hero, while a hundred meters away Luo Lin burst into a harsh laugh: "Our business isn't over yet… Qiao, and Shi Lingqing, what do you intend to do?"

Luo Lin held a straight blade, stepping slowly toward the three of Shi Lingqing.

Shi Lingqing's face twitched, Qiao whispered urgently: "You idiots, Wu Lao Da, Lao San, you still haven't figured it out? That guy, that big fellow… he might very well be the legendary Ancient Sage!"

"An Ancient Sage who died countless years ago yet his body hasn't decayed—how much good could be on him, you understand?" Qiao hissed low: "If we could…"

Luo Lin remained silent, his straight blade bringing forth a fierce blade-light, howling as it slashed toward Qiao's waist.

Lao Tie and Wu Tie had already arrived at Cow Hero's feet, and they both noticed that behind Cow Hero, surrounded by countless crystal clusters, lay a building ruin almost completely destroyed.

Within the building complex covering roughly a li in size, only the central hall remained intact.

A layer of hazy white light was faintly flickering outside the hall.

Looking at Cow Hero's pose… he seemed to be desperately resisting an attack from the sky, he was exerting all his strength to protect that hall.