Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 186: The Curtain Falls

Du Guangchao could no longer stand idle.

He sighed and turned the great bowl toward Sha Dinshan and the other two again.

Sand and stone formed a huge barrier, diminishing the force of two of their Magic Treasures.

The heavenly lightning struck.

It hit Du Guangchao directly, throwing him dozens of zhang away. He fell to the ground trembling, his graying hair and beard standing on end.

The whisk wrapped around him had limited his movement, but it also absorbed some of the lightning. He was gravely injured, yet still alive.

“My whisk!”

Wen Ruixin hurriedly recalled the Boundless Whisk. Seeing it scorched, he was distressed and regretful: he had foolishly helped Du Guangchao withstand the lightning.

Du Guangchao coughed up a little blood, his face full of unwillingness.

He had cultivated for four hundred years, endured countless hardships to reach the late Golden Core stage, and committed his sect’s resources to finding treasures for Nascent Soul formation.

He had lacked only one final step.

Looking at those who had thwarted him, his unwillingness turned to anger.

“You… all deserve to die,” he said in a low, ghastly voice.

“Fellow Daoist Wen, leave! Let him face the tribulation alone!” Sha Dinshan called as he withdrew.

“All right.”

The surviving Golden Core cultivators fled, driving their spiritual power despite their injuries.

Du Guangchao had no intention of letting them go.

“You want to leave? Ask me first!”

He rose with difficulty and sent three dark beads toward them.

The beads killed the two injured Golden Core cultivators outright.

“Sha, you’re the one with the best chance of forming a Nascent Soul. I’ll let you taste what it’s like to have your path ruined!”

Du Guangchao exerted himself, his figure flickering until he appeared before Sha Dinshan.

He drove a fist at him.

Sha Dinshan was shocked. What kind of ability was this?

He tried desperately to dodge, but Du Guangchao’s blow shattered several of his meridians and damaged his foundation.

“How does it feel?” Du Guangchao said with a cold smile. He was about to strike again when a roar sounded and the two-headed python attacked.

Sha Dinshan seized the chance. At the risk of worsening his injuries, he forced himself farther away from Du Guangchao.

“Vile beast!” Du Guangchao cursed, but did not pursue.

With the python protecting Sha Dinshan, he would struggle to kill him.

Instead he turned and struck Zhu Neng. The mid-stage Golden Core cultivator could not withstand the blow and died at once.

“You too!” Du Guangchao turned toward Wen Ruixin, intending to do the same.

Another bolt of lightning struck.

Du Guangchao attacked even as it hit him. His fist shadow weakened and injured Wen Ruixin badly, making him cough blood, but did not kill him.

Sha Dinshan ordered the two-headed python to kill Jin Heng. If Qingyuan lost its last Golden Core cultivator, the Burning Heaven Sect’s disciples could destroy it even while he and his fellow sect member recovered.

“Vile beast, where are you going?” Canghai Sanren returned and blocked the python, shielding the badly wounded Jin Heng.

Du Guangchao smiled in relief.

“Fellow Daoist Canghai, I leave Qingyuan to you. Now I can die without regret.”

In his final counterattack, he had killed three Golden Core cultivators and badly wounded two. Canghai Sanren, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, could guard Qingyuan after him.

Even if Canghai left decades later, Qingyuan would have time to recover some of its strength. Du Guangchao had done all he could for the sect.

With his last strength he looked toward Wen Ruixin.

“Fellow Daoist Wen, all three of our sects have suffered today. Sha Dinshan may still be able to form a Nascent Soul. You’re a clever man; you know what to do…” He coughed.

Wen Ruixin held his painful chest. Boundless Palace had suffered heavy losses. As Du Guangchao said, its chief threat was now the Burning Heaven Sect rather than Qingyuan.

“Fellow Daoist Du, I failed you. I am ashamed,” Canghai Sanren said, seeing how little life Du Guangchao had left.

Du Guangchao showed no anger. “There’s no need to say more. I only hope you’ll keep your promise, Fellow Daoist Canghai: guard Qingyuan for fifty years and preserve its inheritance.”

“You have my word. I will do what I promised.”

Canghai Sanren had his own calculations. Qingyuan had agreed to lend him its spirit mountain for his attempt at Nascent Soul formation, help him find needed spiritual materials, and give him access to its collections and records of breakthroughs. In return, he had agreed to guard Du Guangchao’s breakthrough and protect the sect for fifty years.

But a bargain with a Golden Core sect was different from one with a Nascent Soul sect. If Du Guangchao had succeeded, would he still have honored it? Now Canghai effectively controlled a whole sect and could use its resources. He preferred this outcome.

Everything had gone as he expected. He kept his delight to himself; centuries as an independent cultivator had taught him composure. He turned to Sha Dinshan and Wen Ruixin.

“Fellow Daoists, why haven’t you left? Would you care to exchange a few moves with me?”

Sha Dinshan had planned so carefully, only for Canghai Sanren to reap the benefit.

He was badly injured and could only sigh.

“Fellow Daoist Canghai, we’ll meet again someday.”

He had the two-headed python carry off another Golden Core cultivator of his sect and some Foundation Establishment disciples before retreating.

The sect’s forces had scattered in the panic. The python carried away most of them, but dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators were left behind. Their survival depended on Qingyuan’s mercy.

Wen Ruixin left without a word, not even taking the dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators of his sect who remained.

Du Guangchao looked into the distance and slowly closed his eyes.

Jin Heng stood atop the peak, staring at his senior brother’s body with tears in his eyes.

“Burning Heaven Sect, Boundless Palace—I, Jin Heng, swear I will fight you to the death!”

“To the death! To the death!” Qingyuan’s cultivators cried out in grief.

Canghai Sanren was moved, but he did not intend to remain at Qingyuan forever. He wanted to use its spirit mountain to form a Nascent Soul. If the sect proved useful afterward, he might continue to look after it.

“Don’t let the Burning Heaven Sect cultivators go! Avenge the sect master!”

Qingyuan’s cultivators turned on the abandoned Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Burning Heaven Sect and Boundless Palace.

Those left behind by their sects were now the targets of Qingyuan’s anger.

Wang Hao and the others exchanged glances.

“We have to go back,” Wang Longyou said.

“I agree with Fellow Daoist Wang,” Qian Jiatao said. “Qingyuan still stands, and our families live here. We can’t keep fleeing, or the sect may settle accounts with us afterward.” He brought out a magical artifact to help surround the remaining Burning Heaven Sect cultivators.