Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 163 - 129 Golden Core Skill

Chapter 163: Chapter 129 Golden Core Skill

Silver fell into the water, where the turbulent river was but a stream to them, yet it was odd that Chi Yu Zi could be trapped.

Delving a hundred meters underwater, the deeper he went, the narrower it became, with countless bizarre rocks.

Chi Yu Zi was stuck in a crevice between stones. With her level of cultivation, she wouldn’t drown, but the rock that could trap her was probably no ordinary object.

The two communicated through Divine Thought. Jun Yan asked, "What happened?"

Chi Yu Zi replied, "I got stuck. I have been burned by Angri True Fire, and the meridians of my Cycle are in a state of breakage, rendering me unable to muster mana or physical strength."

So she was simply stuck.

Jun Yan fell silent, and then suddenly his eyes widened as he grasped the implication in her words.

The Cycle meridians in a state of breakage, what difference would that make from being completely destroyed? Even if one could recover, there was a considerable chance of becoming crippled, like scars that remain after a wound heals, the meridians would retain hidden injuries.

When these hidden injuries accumulate, the minor consequence would be injuring oneself and vomiting blood during cultivation, and at worst, a complete loss of cultivation.

The Heavenly Girl hadn’t said that Angri True Fire would cause the meridians to break, so Chi Yu Zi must have actively guided the True Fire herself.

Had she gone mad?

Chi Yu Zi urged, "Give me a hand, don’t tell me you’d begrudge such a small favor?"

"Of course not."

Jun Yan snapped back to reality, grabbed Chi Yu Zi by the shoulders, and rushed out of the water.

He had no privilege or mood to care about what Chi Yu Zi did, considering the True Sword Dao was with Gu Wen. If this mad girl got herself killed, it was none of his concern, at most he’d be down one helper on the road.

The two of them leapt out of the water and, after a series of swift movements, flew out of the river canyon and landed on the green mountains on either side.

By now, Gu Wen and Yu Hua had been waiting in a clearing for some time, with a woodcutter beside them.

The woodcutter bowed to them reverently, seemingly mistaking them for immortals, while Gu Wen was gathering information.

"In reply to the Immortal Master, this place is the Nanshui entry point, also known as Dragon Head Mountain."

"Where is the ferry?"

"There are several ferries on Nanshui, which one does the Immortal Master wish to know about?"

"The Jinan Ferry."

The woodcutter began to excitedly describe the location of the ferry to Gu Wen, but owing to his limited education, he could only use landmarks, advising to go to a certain village and then to a certain town, and from there, to travel a certain distance in the direction of northeast, southwest, etc.

He probably had never been there himself, just hearsay.

This was normal in ancient society. Apart from county seats and ferries, or some transportation hubs, most places saw little movement of people. Moreover, during normal times, traveling required a travel pass, and without it, one would be arrested and put into forced labor.

However, according to what Gu Wen knew, one could also be conscripted.

At least the direction was clear now, just follow the river southward and continue to inquire along the way.

Gu Wen took out the only ten taels of silver he had left for the woodcutter. Though he still had plenty of gold in his pocket, giving that to this rural woodcutter could cost him his life.

It wouldn’t be surprising if, immediately after spending it, bandits came knocking to kill him.

There were indeed safe ways to handle such situations, but to expect a woodcutter to understand such methods was less feasible than for Gu Wen himself to go down the mountain and buy him a few pounds of meat.

"Thank you, Immortal Master, thank you, Immortal Master."

The elderly woodcutter knelt on the ground and knocked his head on the ground more than a dozen times, taking several steps before bowing again, looking back after every three steps, and bowing after every step.

Chi Yu Zi spoke, "These mortals react as if they were carved from the same mold. Outside of Immortal Land, mortals I’ve encountered usually just bow, but here they seem to wish to bury their heads in the ground."

Outside of Immortal Land, it wasn’t that there were no mortals; they too respected cultivators, but not to such an exaggerated extent.

"In Daqian, mortals usually have no contact with cultivators, while those from the Dao Realm form the ruling class. Consider the scholars of Daqian as cultivators, and us as bona fide immortals, then you’ll understand," explained Gu Wen, his analogy simple and clear. It’s due to familiarity that reverence cannot be maintained; the opposite is true.

Cultivators are also humans, with their emotions and desires, just that they don’t need to toil for their sustenance, hence they appear more detached.

"What happened to you just now?"

"Nothing, I was just simply stuck."

"And you can get stuck?"

Gu Wen’s face showed doubt and soon after, Chi Yu Zi somewhat impatiently revealed the truth: it was purely bad luck and her own doing.

But Chi Yu Zi’s initiative to guide the Angri True Fire made Gu Wen marvel, yet he did not plan to try it himself, as the benefits did not match the risks.

Now, the Angri True Fire was confined within Yu Hua’s Qi Sea by her power. Normally, as long as one did not actively touch it, there would be no problem.

However, like what Chi Yu Zi did, it would directly ruin oneself.

Jun Yan said indifferently, "All you’ll do is hold us back, and I certainly don’t intend to carry a cripple everywhere."

Chi Yu Zi’s face stiffened, and, although she wanted to burst into anger, she had no strength to refute. Suppressing her fury, she said, "After I recover, I’ll come and find you. Give me a way to contact you."

The relationship between them was merely a temporary alliance, each with their own objectives. Jun Yan’s words might have been harsh, but they were reasonable and Chi Yu Zi could accept them.

It was clearer to maintain their relationship by discussing interests upfront.

The last sentence was directed at Gu Wen, who blinked. In the blink of an eye, the ’close-knit family’ seemed to be falling apart.

These favored children of heaven were indeed individualistic and also talked ’sense’; anyone dragging the team down was struck with a heavy blow and on the spot, the one dragging everyone down would admit it.

But Gu Wen could not just let events take their course. Shaking his head to pacify the situation, he said, "It’s fine, companions should look out for each other. Although our relationship hasn’t reached that stage yet, someone has to make the first move."

Even if not for the sake of maintaining the team, he still had to stand up for Chi Yu Zi. After all, she had just saved his life; without her, Gu Wen might have been burned to death.

A glint of fire could take away half his life; if it all came crashing down, at the very least, the Life-saving Pearl would be ruined.

Afterward, Gu Wen turned to Jun Yan to placate him, saying,

"How about I owe you a favor?"

"Agreed."

Jun Yan nodded crisply, without much fuss.

His suggestion was not to start an argument, but simply to state a fact.

The ’affectionate family’ stabilized for the moment, but the relationship between Jun Yan and Chi Yu Zi had fallen to a freezing point.

They hadn’t had much of a relationship to begin with, and this dispute made it extremely difficult for them to become intimate teammates.

Gu Wen suspected this was intentional on the part of Jun Yan, who deliberately drew a clear line. This way, handling matters in the future would be quite simple, and it would also make disengaging easier. Chi Yu Zi, on the other hand, was the opposite. She seemed quite young, or at least her mental age was not that mature.

The former could be used but not trusted, though dealing with him would be comfortable because it was straightforward.

The latter could be trusted and relied on for life, but dealing with her would not be so comfortable, because feelings made things complicated.

Yet often, when truly confronted with life-and-death crises, just like before, Chi Yu Zi would save oneself, whereas Jun Yan would turn tail and run.

Both had their advantages and disadvantages, and Gu Wen felt the current situation was good, similar to a balanced diet of meat and vegetables. For plundering and looting, go directly to Jun Yan; in times of danger, turn to Chi Yu Zi.

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

At dusk, the group camped outdoors.

Jun Yan found himself a corner arbitrarily, but Gu Wen was not so casual; at least he picked up some kindling intending to start a campfire.

With the addition of a fire in the pitch-black forest, swarms of insects rushed over in an instant. Gu Wen’s mind moved and his Sword Intent swept across hundreds of meters, immediately eradicating the bugs.

This showed that ordinary people were not suited for camping outdoors, which is why one at least needed to find a broken-down temple. Because the insects were truly too many, flinging themselves at the slightest hint of light.

If bitten by certain poisonous insects, one might lose half their life.

Soft breaths came from beside him, and Gu Wen turned to find Yu Hua slightly bowing her head, asleep in a meditative posture.

Perhaps due to excessive energy consumption, she had been dozing off and on since yesterday.

This also gave Gu Wen a sense of urgency; his biggest reliance was not completely invincible, and now she was beginning to show signs of decline.

Because the enemies they were facing were no longer a single adversary, but countless nameless evil spirits and strange creatures. Just yesterday, at least two Demi Immortals of Dao Realm or higher emerged. They still couldn’t defeat Yu Hua, but at least they could contend.

It wouldn’t be like those ordinary True Monarchs who could be killed with a slap. Therefore, if someone were to attack oneself, it was possible they would succeed.

Even if the Life-saving Pearl could protect him, one couldn’t always be passively taking hits.

Fortunately, Gu Wen was not without opportunities. His Fate Diagram and talents combined could lead to an incredible rate of growth. What he had to worry about was how to obtain more resources, and how to acquire more Immortal Skills to arm himself.

Rather than worrying about breakthroughs and bottlenecks like others.

Chi Yu Zi took out a spiritual sword to nibble on, the blade that could slice through iron like mud was practically crispy in her mouth. She said, "Didn’t you want to learn the Golden Core Skill? I’ll teach you now."