Where Immortals Once Walked

Considering how noisy it was downstairs, He Lingchuan also set up a soundproof barrier while he was at it.

Once the array was set, he casually took a candle from the table, placed it inside the array, and lit it.

The flame stood perfectly straight and unmoving.

Then the Red General extended her index and middle fingers and jabbed them directly into the captive’s forehead!

If she wished, she could easily poke a hole through refined iron. Those two fingers did indeed pierce through the boy’s brow, but his brain did not burst out.

Instead, a vague shadow was pushed out through the back of his head by the Red General.

He Lingchuan identified it at once. It had to be the boy’s soul. However, his soul was not strong, and its features were extremely blurry, unable to condense into a detailed face.

It was still drifting in midair, dazed and senseless, when the Red General took out half a piece of seabed wood, caught the soul in one motion, and stuffed it inside.

Her movements were as if she were stuffing a crumpled ball of paper into a bottle. Her movements appeared practiced and utterly casual.

With his soul gone, the boy instantly became expressionless.

The Red General casually seized him by the throat and slowly exerted pressure.

The boy began to suffocate, his face swelling red.

“Come out,” the Red General said again. “If you don’t come out, I’ll crush this skin-sack.”

The moment her words fell, the boy’s blank and lifeless eyes rolled suddenly and fixed on the Red General.

“Let... let...” With his throat gripped, his voice was extremely faint.

The Red General released him, letting him cough violently several times.

“Long time no see, Mitian.” The boy clutched his own neck and rasped, “You’re still as crude as ever!”

The mask on her face dissolved rapidly, revealing a face as exquisite as a celestial maiden’s and as cold as porcelain.

Mitian had revealed her true appearance.

After the boy finished coughing, he pointed at He Lingchuan and said grandly, “You, go and get me a drink.”

Mitian also nodded to He Lingchuan, and only then did he bring the captive a cup of hot tea.

Shinan accepted it and gulped it down in several mouthfuls.

“Mitian, where exactly have you hidden your true body?” He cut straight to the point, abandoning all roundabout talk. “The entire divine realm is looking for you. If I want to see you once, I even have to send an avatar down to the mortal realm. It’s horribly inconvenient!”

Mitian’s face showed no expression. “Do you seriously think I would tell you?”

“I don’t care where you are.” Shinan laughed. “But Divine Majesty Lingxu is very concerned about you. He’d like to find you and reminisce about old times.”

“I have long been as incompatible with them as fire and water. Why is he looking for me now?” Mitian’s dark brows drew faintly together. “Just recently, he sent the Ferry-Crossing Ghost Mother to make trouble in my territory; I still hadn’t settled that account with them!”

“You know how they are. They love making a mess of things.” Shinan nodded. “The divine realm has been somewhat turbulent lately. Have you noticed that the Tianluo Star has been flickering often?”

Not the slightest ripple entered Mitian’s voice. “I’ve been in seclusion. I’m not aware.”

Damn, she’s excellent at lying through her teeth with her eyes wide open. He Lingchuan inwardly gave her a thumbs-up. This was his first time witnessing a heavenly god lie.

“When the Tianluo Star flickers, it means the Generous Pot is stirring.” Shinan chuckled. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with you, would it?”

“Why would it?”

“The Tianluo Star and the Generous Pot are both connected to you...” Shinan’s gaze swept over He Lingchuan beside them. He did not continue. Instead, he changed the subject. “After that great war in the mortal realm, you’ve only shown yourself twice. Not long ago, Divine Majesty Lingxu convened an alliance meeting of the gods, and you didn’t attend either.”

“Is that strange?” Mitian said coolly. “The whole divine realm knows I’m irreconcilable with them.”

“Also, I heard that an interesting little copper tube has appeared in the mortal realm.” Shinan gestured with his hand. “It can collect nightmare qi and then hand it over to us through offerings. Have you heard of it?”

He Lingchuan knew that he was talking about the Dragon Punishment Pillar.

It seemed Shao Jian’s mission was proceeding smoothly. The item had already spread quietly.

Mitian asked him instead, “Do you have one? Show me.”

“No. How could I have one?” Shinan sighed. “I’m just a down-and-out little god, a wild god all of you look down on! Who would offer me something that good?”

“Is that so? I’d like to take a look.”

“That thing is extraordinary! No matter who the current holder of the Generous Pot is, I’d say they have grand ambitions. They’re certain to provoke public outrage!” Shinan paused for a moment before continuing, “Such an item has never been seen before. Perhaps only the Generous Pot could create it. I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

“Why exactly have you come today?” For a god like him, even if this was not a divine descent, getting hold of a skin-sack to transmit his voice was no easy task.

“I came only to remind you of one thing: be careful of Divine Majesty Lingxu. His fury isn’t something an ordinary god can withstand.”

Mitian leaned back, the corners of her mouth lifting. “Are you trying to curry favor with both sides?”

Shinan did not feel embarrassed. Scratching his head, he said, “It wasn’t easy for me to get a few temples on the ground, over in Xunyang Sandbar and the Zejia Archipelago. If Lady Mitian can occasionally look after me a little, that would be greatly appreciated.”

Mitian smiled faintly at him. “Scram.”

“You should be careful.” Shinan tilted his head and looked at her. “Someone has already noticed that this skin-sack of yours is very special.”

With that, he lowered his head.

Mitian took out the seabed wood and shook it at him.

The small lump of soul was flung out and drifted slowly back into its own body.

The boy woke up, rubbed his eyes, and still looked utterly bewildered.

Mitian pointed downstairs and said indifferently, “Throw him out of the city.”

He Lingchuan acknowledged the order, helped the boy up, and walked him downstairs.

The cold wind pouring in from outside made the boy shiver.

Though Mitian’s instruction had been to “throw” him out, He Lingchuan still said to the soldiers coming forward, “Escort him out of the city at once! When you pass the market, buy him some bread, dried meat, and water.” After saying that, he tossed over a bit of broken silver, then said to the boy, “A few kilometers outside the southern gate, there’s a post station. You passed it when you came.”

The soldiers accepted the order, took the captive, and were about to lead him away.

The boy suddenly turned his head and said to He Lingchuan, “You little thing. Your heart isn’t bad.”

That old-fashioned tone abruptly startled He Lingchuan. “You still haven’t left?”

Shinan’s avatar still hasn’t departed?

After saying that, Shinan turned to leave with the soldiers.

He Lingchuan stepped forward and asked in a low voice, “This isn’t divine descent, is it?”

“Of course not. Otherwise, this skin-sack would break at once.” Shinan rolled his eyes. “I’m merely borrowing his mouth to say a few words.”

He Lingchuan seized the moment. “Are divine seal marks the marks that heavenly gods plant on skin-sacks?”

Hearing this, Shinan glanced at him with some surprise. “Why are you asking that?”

“And how do you remove a divine seal mark?”

Shinan chuckled. “Hey, look at me, do I seem like some warmhearted fellow who specializes in resolving others’ doubts and difficulties?”

These heavenly gods really are all rotten pieces of work. He Lingchuan drew in a breath. “What’s the price?”

“My answers have never been free.” Shinan then added leisurely, “If you want to ask, then bring an offering and come find me.”

Just then, someone behind him smacked the back of his head hard.

Shinan cried out and stumbled.

By the time he steadied himself again, his face was bewildered once more.

From his eyes, one could tell this was the boy himself. This time, Shinan should truly have left.

He Lingchuan turned and saw that the newcomer was actually the Red General. She had already put her mask back on.

Shinan had probably been directly driven away by her. She ordered the soldiers to drag the boy off, then said to He Lingchuan, “Stay away from heavenly gods. Draw near to them, and disaster is sure to follow.”

He Lingchuan coughed lightly. Aren’t you a heavenly god yourself?

The Red General seemed to know what he was thinking and added, “I speak from feeling.”

He Lingchuan recalled the price she had paid.

Still, he seized the opportunity to ask one more question, “Right, have you ever heard the divine name Naluotian? Which great god is that?”

“Naluotian?” The Red General’s voice remained as flat as ever. “Never heard of him.”

“...”

Excellent. She’s successfully blocked off all my remaining questions.

“There are a hundred thousand heavenly gods. Mitian can’t possibly know every one of them.” The Red General stood shoulder to shoulder with him. “The Gale Army has not even reached a hundred thousand people. Do you know every one of them?”

He Lingchuan could only smile bitterly and shake his head. He could name only about two hundred people. Any more than that, and he would not recognize them.

At that moment, a cry of pain came from ahead. He Lingchuan turned and saw that “One-Eye” had knocked his opponent off the arena.

The official overseeing the platform struck the gong at the same time. “This round is over!”

There was a limit to the number of challengers who could step onto the stage. Otherwise, it would become a blatant battle of attrition, which would be unfair to the arena master.

“Your arena is about to open up.” The Red General stretched out a hand and pointed. “Are you not going up?”

“No.” He Lingchuan answered honestly, “There’s a matter of life and death coming up for me soon. I’m a little nervous.”

“Nervous?” the Red General asked. “Is it something you absolutely must do?”

“Yes. I absolutely must do it.” He Lingchuan smiled wryly. “The chance of success isn’t high either.”

Though each task was proceeding step by step according to plan, the date of execution was drawing closer and closer. How could he not be nervous?

What he faced was Beijia, one of the rare mighty powers of the present age.

What he faced were heavenly gods who had secretly thrown the world into turmoil for thousands of years.

The immortals had lost to them.

Countless human states had also vanished because of Beijia.

Now, he was going to pluck whiskers from the tiger’s mouth, and he was going alone.

It would be strange if he were not nervous!

The Red General suddenly said, “Broken Blade, you’re afraid of dying, aren’t you?”

“I...” He Lingchuan opened his mouth to argue, but swallowed the words “I’m not afraid.”

Why was he nervous? He was afraid of failure.

The place he was going was a dragon’s pool and tiger’s den. Once he failed, no matter how many fallback plans he had prepared beforehand, he might still find death impossible to escape.

The worst possible outcome was death.

“...Yes.” So the Red General’s right; I’m afraid of dying.

He was afraid that after all his careful planning, everything would vanish in the blink of an eye.

“All living beings fear the consequence. Gods and immortals fear the cause,” the Red General said slowly. “I don’t know what you intend to do, but if you dare plant today’s cause, then you must bear tomorrow’s consequence.”

He Lingchuan nodded. “I know.”

If one did something, then one had to bear the responsibility alone.

The Red General patted him on the shoulder and added, “I have a good method that will make you stop feeling nervous.”

He Lingchuan could not see her face, but for some reason, he felt that she was smiling.

He did not ask her what the method she was talking about was, because he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Killing intent!

In the next instant, the hand the Red General had placed on his shoulder changed from a pat to a grip, and she swung him straight out!

He Lingchuan was as light as a walnut in her hand.

Fast, too fast!

By the time He Lingchuan reacted, he was already in midair.

He instinctively adjusted his head-down, feet-up posture, performed a light swallow-spin, and landed gracefully, only to discover that he was standing on an arena!

And it was none other than his Arena Seven.