Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 162 - 128: The Light Boat Has Crossed Thousands of Mountains

Chapter 162: Chapter 128: The Light Boat Has Crossed Thousands of Mountains

"Uh?"

The golden divine being’s face showed confusion.

By all logic, an ant-like being should have become obliterated under the intense light of the grand sun, which is the norm, Even if Gu Wen possessed a top-notch Primordial Spirit, facing an overwhelmingly vast power disparity, a one or two-step climb would be essentially futile.

Yet now, Gu Wen’s Divine Soul stood firm as rock, unmoving regardless of how fiercely the sunlight scorched.

Perhaps it was the special nature of the True Sword Dao, or maybe there was some other Life-saving Treasure. Under normal circumstances, he could spend a few moments to figure out the reason to come up with a suitable countermeasure.

Strength is not just about raw power, but also includes skill and insight which can overpower the weak. Most strong beings blend power and skill instinctively, much like a seasoned boxer who can’t throw a careless punch.

However, with the Heavenly Girl fast approaching from behind, he could not afford to be concerned with much else.

Taking the field with a split Demi Immortal body would surely invite heavenly punishment afterward, and if he failed to grasp his target, the loss would be tremendous.

Perhaps it’s just a moment’s time, but it could be enough to make a fatal mistake.

"Angri pierces the heavens."

The golden divine being’s body became like the sun, then collapsed into the size of a fist, plunging towards the Heavenly Spring Mountain below.

Yet the area within a hundred miles radius of Heavenly Spring Mountain turned into a furnace; countless trees and withered leaves ignited, and in an instant, mountain fires surged like the sea.

Yu Hua crushed the fierce sun with a finger, but still, some of the light fell into Heavenly Spring Mountain, targeting Gu Wen directly.

"What are you spacing out for!"

At this moment, everyone was fleeing in all directions. They could not intervene in a battle of this level, and seeing that Gu Wen was standing there motionless, Chi Yu Zi, in the midst of running away, gritted her teeth and turned back.

The True Sword Dao was critical to her, and Gu Wen was merely incidental.

Gu Wen wasn’t unresponsive at this point; he was already deeply engulfed in the fierce sun, struggling against the mighty force descending from beyond the heavens.

Chi Yu Zi grabbed Gu Wen and ran, but the lingering fire from the fierce sun was inescapable, and seemed to have a will of its own, chasing after them.

In just an instant, the fire was on them. Chi Yu Zi wanted to defend with her spiritual sword, but as soon as her Divine Thought reached out, it dissipated to nothing.

A momentary misjudgment cost her the chance to react, and she had no choice but to withstand the onslaught with her body.

A streak of fire touched Chi Yu Zi’s back, and her vestment robe was instantly burned through, revealing a large hole in her snow-white back, and then the remnant fire from the fierce sun melded into her flesh.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!"

The piercing screams echoed through Heavenly Spring Mountain. The snow-white skin turned a fiery red as cracks began to form, with blazing light shooting out and blood mingling with fire, much like lava.

A similar streak of fire touched the back of Gu Wen’s hand, fiery red cracks starting to appear, and the intense pain brought him back to his senses.

He struggled to open his mouth, a cry of pain primed to burst forth, when a pale figure descended from the heavens.

A pair of hands touched their heads, and all pain faded away.

[Life-saving Pearl, withstanding attacks from Dao Realm level powerhouses up to ten times]

"Is it over?"

Gu Wen panted, each breath as if it carried fire, and now with Chi Yu Zi lying on top of him, she was like a furnace.

No, hotter than a furnace, as if something like blood was flowing out from her back onto Gu Wen; his clothes were instantly burnt through.

"Not yet, there might still be others coming, and there are some rats that need dealing with."

Yu Hua stretched out her hand to wipe the sweat from Gu Wen’s forehead, her eyes half-lowered, her heart churning with a desire to kill.

She didn’t want to waste too much energy. Some ants brought in to help, like those at the Body Integration Realm, weren’t worth the effort. These people were just pitiful creatures controlled by fate, perhaps without even a consciousness of their own.

But now, someone needed to die.

"You and her rest for a while, I will come back later, and then I will help you extract the Angri True Fire."

"No need."

Gu Wen grabbed Yu Hua’s hand, seeing her intentions and shaking his head with the effort, despite the pain: "There’s no need to waste life on them, they are probably just expendable pieces, and may not even know what they’re doing."

Struggling was a luxury, even those in dire straits seldom manage to rise up and fight back, yet these people hadn’t dispersed, which likely meant a major problem.

Gu Wen might have just begun his journey in immortal cultivation and was unaware of many things, but as long as cultivators remained human, his experience would not fall flat.

Yu Hua said, "You told me, I didn’t have to listen to everything you say."

"..." Gu Wen was rendered speechless, never having thought he would have dug a pit for himself here, "Can you assure me this isn’t just a whim?"

"I can’t. I just want to kill them."

Yu Hua declared beyond doubt, freeing herself from Gu Wen’s grasp, stepping back slightly, and then turning to return to the heavens in one step.

In an instant, the clouds over the top of Heavenly Spring Mountain churned like a tsunami, with thunder booming and lightning flashing, as the power of an ultimate being still poured in from the world beyond. But Yu Hua was no longer willing to wait for the enemies to come.

With the power of an Immortal, the only one in heaven and earth not bound, she tore through the heavens, shattered the realm beyond the Void, and traversed billions of miles.

-----------------

Jun Yan, who had fled, circled back. He intended to take both with him, but the Angri True Fire continually emerging beneath their skin made it impossible for him to intervene. All he could do was leave them at the entrance of a cave, tensely awaiting in uncertainty.

Jun Yan closed his eyes, torn inside.

He wanted to run, for meddling in the fate of the Immortality Pill was too risky, yet the rewards were potentially great. Gu Wen held an Immortal Sword,

the supreme blade below the Immortals, which definitely could cut away the Demon from him.

If he did not take a chance today, when would he have another opportunity?

Chi Yu Zi and Gu Wen were devoid of such thoughts, the searing heat spreading throughout their bodies, destroying their consciousness. They gazed at the sky above, feeling utterly insignificant.

"Chi Yu Zi, what level of battle is this?"

"Beyond the Dao Realm, with the power of a Demi Immortal. We might spend a lifetime trying to reach it."

"A lifetime? Isn’t that what becoming an Immortal is all about?"

"Pfft, hahaha... Ow, ow, ow, stop making me laugh," Chi Yu Zi complained. "Becoming an immortal is incredibly difficult. The Sword Master has forged his sword for ten thousand years and has only attained the Dao today, and my sister is merely a demi immortal..."

Gu Wen laughed and said, "If one does not aim for immortality, then what’s the point of cultivating at all?"

Seeing his determined expression, Chi Yu Zi paused for a moment and replied, "I only cultivate to stay alive, not for immortality. If I ever cultivate not just for survival, then we’ll talk about what it means to cultivate for immortality."

"And you talk as if you’ve really become an immortal. I would also really like to pursue immortality!"

The two could only find humor in their adversity. Gu Wen stared intently at the sky, his current strength insufficient to penetrate the clouds, but he could sense traces of an aura that quickened his heartbeat, even making it skip a beat at times.

He had thought he was closing the gap with Yu Hua, having completed half of the nine levels of the Dao foundation, but now he realized he had only just begun.

He was still as weak as an infant swaddled in cloths.

Chi Yu Zi’s legs sprawled out as she slid down from her sitting position against the wall, eventually closing her eyes. Seeing this, Gu Wen couldn’t help but kick her, reminding her, "Don’t sleep. What if you die?"

"I can’t die. Do you think the Heavenly Girl is an idiot?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Chi Yu Zi fell asleep, her breathing heavy and unfeminine.

After a while, Chi Yu Zi suddenly opened her eyes, scrambled back to a sitting position using Gu Wen for support, and said, "I think my misfortune might actually be a blessing."

"What?" Gu Wen was puzzled. Both of them were already half-crippled.

Even if they gained some resistance after being injured, that was to be considered later.

"Aren’t you training for the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill?" Chi Yu Zi glanced at Jun Yan and spoke through a mind transmission, "The critical part of cultivating the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill is how to break through the Sixth Transition. The mystery lies in consuming rare metals and gems, like directly ingesting a spiritual sword."

Gu Wen guessed, "So, does the Angri True Fire aid in the cultivation of the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill?"

Chi Yu Zi nodded and said, "Exactly. The Angri True Fire can melt fine iron as quickly as a forging furnace does. Of course, that’s all because the Heavenly Girl helped constrain the True Fire. Otherwise, we would have been burnt to charcoal by now."

That simply means speeding up cultivation, right?

It’d be all too easy to ask Yu Hua for help—if it didn’t cost a lifespan, Gu Wen could keep it going indefinitely.

"How much faster can it be?"

"Twice, maybe even three times as fast."

At that moment, a plain white figure descended, accompanied by a multitude of enemies crushed to pieces, as if returning home treading upon a myriad of stars.

She was the first to bend down to check on Gu Wen’s condition. Gu Wen also noticed a few strands of her white hair, but there was nothing to be done now.

"How is it?"

"It’s over."

Yu Hua placed her hand on the crack seared by the Angri True Fire, intending to soothe it, but Gu Wen stopped her.

In a few words, he explained the reason. Gu Wen wanted to use Angri True Fire to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, so Yu Hua simply reinforced and sealed it.

Jun Yan, standing aside, twitched his eyelid uncontrollably. He naturally knew Gu Wen was trying to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, but the idea that someone had already learned the Human Immortal Skill and the True Sword Dao, and now was working on the Golden Core Skill...

Three great immortal skills in one person—if he grew up, how heaven-defying would he be?

But could he really succeed?

Leaving his doubts and confusion for later, Jun Yan did not delve further and said, "Let’s head down the mountain now. My doppelganger has already prepared a boat. We’ll head directly to Nanshui amidst the chaos."

After being treated by Yu Hua, Gu Wen and Chi Yu Zi regained their mobility, and together with the other two, they descended the mountain.

When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Xiao Yunyi saw them off.

Reaching the edge of the Luo River, the setting sun had dipped halfway into the water, turning the entire river golden.

They boarded a small boat that had only enough room for a few, as Jun Yan couldn’t find a larger one in a short period, and they sought to travel incognito.

Without using Flying Escape, they simply followed the river downstream.

That night, a crescent moon hung high in the sky.

Gu Wen dipped his hand into the water, attempting to scoop up the bright moonlight.

Jun Yan sat with eyes closed, cultivating; his body occasionally trembled as he clenched his teeth to prevent the madness within from leaking out and disturbing the others.

Chi Yu Zi, suffering from recurring fits of her ailment, emitted painful gasps intermittently. She hugged the scabbard of the Immortal Sword, curled up into a ball, striving to lower her body temperature to prevent setting the boat on fire.

Yu Hua leaned against Gu Wen’s shoulder, deep in sleep, inadvertently showing a hint of vulnerability.

Gu Wen was the weakest among them, yet he paid attention to everyone’s condition because he was the only one in this temporary team without any serious issues.

They were all peerless in their time, yet they lacked the carefree triumph of their era.

The night passed without words, and a streak of purple dawn approached; the small boat had already traveled a hundred miles.

Numerous mountains lay ahead, and on both banks, strange trees growing from the green rocks, as the river flowed rapidly.

Gu Wen declared aloud, "The ape’s cries on both banks never cease, as my light boat has passed through countless mountains."

Bang!

The boat struck a rock.

Gu Wen hastily scooped up Yu Hua, who was leaning on him, and executed a movement technique to land on a reef, while Chi Yu Zi and Jun Yan, caught in their ’sickness,’ failed to react in time and gurgled down into the water.

Soon after, Jun Yan emerged, and upon seeing Gu Wen holding Yu Hua, he smirked wryly.

Although it was obvious that the two of them were particularly close, the thought of the top-ranked Taoist Heavenly Girl on the Heavenly List being held like this was somewhat strange.

It wasn’t that Jun Yan had any romantic preferences—hell, he couldn’t even clearly tell if his own mental state was male or female.

Wait a second, shouldn’t she be awake by now?

After a long while, Chi Yu Zi had not resurfaced; only bubbles continued to emerge.

A thread of Divine Thought came forth.

"Quickly save your grandma!"