FIMA Ch161: Heat

The deeper into the secret realm, the higher the probability of cultivators encountering each other.

When Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi caught up, Ji Jinghuan and Xiao Xinchi were being intercepted halfway.

The four of them were engaged in a fierce battle but stopped almost simultaneously upon seeing Gu Siyuan.

Xie Xueyi’s eyes lit up, and he said energetically, “Ah, it’s you, the one whose arm my brother took as a trophy!”

Gu Siyuan glanced at him, “Mischievous.”

“But I don’t think I’m wrong.” Xie Xueyi chuckled and shook his hand.

Gu Siyuan said nothing, his fingers gently rubbing Xie Xueyi’s slender wrist.

Deng Huan’s gaze at Xie Xueyi was filled with extreme hatred, but glancing at Gu Siyuan’s stern face, he held back and didn’t speak.

“Ha ha…” Xie Xueyi felt even more triumphant, his eyes and brows dancing with joy, winking playfully at Gu Siyuan.

Having someone to back him up was great!

Gu Siyuan’s lips curved into a smile.

Zhu Bumian shifted his focus away from Gu Siyuan and said softly to Deng Huan, “Let’s leave for today.”

Deng Huan gritted his teeth and nodded, knowing that a wise man knows when to retreat. He prepared to leave.

On the side, Ji Jinghuan and Xiao Xinchi also intended to leave. Regardless of what disputes they had with Deng Huan and Zhu Bumian earlier, with Gu Siyuan present now, they had to put them aside for the moment.

Otherwise, it was hard to imagine what might happen next.

Xie Xueyi sneered at the four of them, “Think you can leave just like that? Do you think this is a leisurely outing? This is the Immortal Spirit Secret Realm. Do you think you’re here for a spring outing?”

Deng Huan, filled with both old and new grudges, glared at him angrily, “What do you want?”

Xie Xueyi turned to Gu Siyuan, eagerly asking, “Brother, what should we do? How should we deal with them?”

Gu Siyuan raised his hand and rubbed his head.

When he turned around again, his expression changed, and his gaze became cold as ice as he swept it over Ji Jinghuan and the others. He said succinctly, “You have two choices: leave your storage rings, or leave your lives… and your storage rings.”

The faces of the four changed instantly.

Ji Jinghuan narrowed his eyes, “Senior brother, isn’t this a bit too much…”

Xiao Xinchi quickly added, “Senior brother, according to the sect’s instructions, you should protect us in the secret realm.”

Not mentioning it would have been better. The moment he brought it up, Xie Xueyi’s anger reached its peak. He sneered coldly, “Protect? Do you need protection? When you threw the cold flood dragon’s egg to divert trouble, did you consider my brother as your senior brother? Now you want to play the friendship card?”

“You…” Xiao Xinchi stammered and stopped speaking.

Gu Siyuan stood with his hands behind his back, his voice extremely cold, “Make a decision now, my patience is limited.”

The four of them were extremely unwilling.

It must be said that the Immortal Spirit Secret Realm was indeed a secret realm. Besides Gu Siyuan, they were the strongest ones here, and they had indeed gained some good things since entering.

To give them up so easily, how could they be willing?

Moreover, the rings contained not only the gains from this period but also their accumulations over many years outside.

Deng Huan, unable to bear it any longer, shouted angrily, “Gu Siyuan, if you force us like this, the four of us might join forces, and you might not have an easy time.”

“Four against one, do you even have the face to say that?” Xie Xueyi was first stunned, then burst into laughter.

Clearly, they were all peerless talents, top experts in the outside world. Now they were considering four against one. What a sign of guilt.

Ji Jinghuan and the others couldn’t care about that. They just wanted to solve the immediate problem.

He said coldly, “Senior brother, if you push us too hard, even if we have to cooperate with people from the evil path temporarily, we will draw our swords against you.”

Gu Siyuan’s lips curved in a sneer, “I look forward to it. The final battle of the competition two years ago, is it finally happening today?”

As soon as he said this.

Ji Jinghuan’s face turned extremely ugly.

Was this guy still trying to mock him at this moment?

The next moment, he raised his sword, a fierce, fiery sword light slashing mercilessly at Gu Siyuan. This was one of the Taixuan Immortal Sect’s foundational techniques, “Ziyang Burning Heaven Art.”

At the same time, Deng Huan and Zhu Bumian didn’t hold back either, each attacking Gu Siyuan with their own methods.

Deng Huan used his soft sword, which was coiled around his waist.

Zhu Bumian’s attack method was special. While he sat cross-legged, he controlled a tall copper corpse to charge at Gu Siyuan.

“Brother…” Xie Xueyi called out nervously, wanting to rush up and help.

“Don’t worry. Just stop the last one.”

Gu Siyuan refused. His demeanor remained relaxed, not avoiding or dodging, as if the three before him were not top experts in the secret realm but three small, harmless rabbits.

As he spoke, his long sword left his hand, slicing through the air with bright, dazzling starlight and a terrifying, heart-stopping whistling sound, piercing toward Deng Huan.

Deng Huan, looking at this sword, was furious.

Just a few days ago, it was this sword that had cut off his left arm.

And now, this sword was even more arrogant. Gu Siyuan didn’t intend to block the attack aimed at him but instead aimed to kill him outright.

This was a clear message that Gu Siyuan’s casual sword strike would certainly be faster and stronger than his. Before he could reach Gu Siyuan, this sword would kill him first!

Not only new grudges but also the blatant humiliation made Deng Huan furious at this sword strike.

But he had no other options. He could only retreat; otherwise, he would surely die under this sword.

At the same time, Zhu Bumian, who was controlling the copper corpse, suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood and rolled on the ground, clutching his head in pain.

Under his control, the copper corpse, which had been attacking fiercely, suddenly lost all response and stood still.

Zhu Bumian’s eyes were filled with shock, “My copper corpse… how could it be, the copper corpse’s spiritual imprint…”

Ji Jinghuan, seeing that he was the only one left from the original attackers, was immediately shocked.

At this moment, Gu Siyuan’s Star Picking Hand was ready, greeting the attack grandly. Thousands of stars, carrying the force to cover the sky, roared down.

The palm met the sword.

The starlight was bright, making Ji Jinghuan’s already handsome face even more striking. But in the next moment, he flew out in that brilliant light, spewing blood, even the sword in his hand falling powerlessly to the ground.

“Gu Siyuan…”

A loud crash.

Two angry shouts.

Ji Jinghuan and Deng Huan, unable to withstand the long sword’s attack from afar, were both shattered along with their pride, smashing heavily to the ground, dust flying, almost drawing clear human-shaped pits.

The scene fell silent.

One against three, three peerless talents, ended in such a tragic, pitiful manner.

Originally wanting to rush up to help, Xie Xueyi immediately grinned, ran over to Gu Siyuan’s side, and said, “Brother, your fighting is getting more and more impressive and skillful.”

Gu Siyuan’s expression softened slightly, and he looked down at him, saying, “If you like it, I’ll teach you next time.”

“Mm.” Xie Xueyi nodded vigorously, eyes squinting with a smile.

But at this moment, Gu Siyuan suddenly pressed his temple, lightly coughed a few times, and his face turned slightly pale.

Xie Xueyi nervously embraced him, while retrieving a bunch of porcelain bottles from a ring: “Brother, brother, are you hurt…”

Gu Siyuan gently shook his head: “Just a bit of mental exhaustion, I’ll recover soon.”

Because of the fusion of two souls after crossing over, his soul was inherently stronger than others, allowing him to forcibly erase the spiritual imprint on Zhu Buming’s refined corpse.

However, in such a hasty battle, the consumption was considerable, especially since the three opponents were all top talents in the world.

Xie Xueyi looked at him with worried furrowed brows.

Gu Siyuan pinched his chin and said lightly, “What are you spacing out for, it’s time to reap the rewards now. Let’s hope it won’t disappoint us.”

Xie Xueyi finally smiled, haughtily saying, “Hmph, if there’s nothing good after making you expend so much effort, killing them won’t be enough, I’ll extract their souls and refine them into ghost slaves to make up for it.”

“Good idea.” Gu Siyuan nodded indulgently.

He led Xie Xueyi to those people, instantly resuming his usual stern demeanor.

“What do you want to do?” Deng Huan struggled to ask while spitting blood.

Xie Xueyi puffed his cheeks, smiling sweetly: “Since you chose the second option my brother mentioned, it’s naturally to take your life and your space ring as agreed.”

Deng Huan, Zhu Buming, and the others’ faces changed dramatically, their already pale faces from injuries turned completely bloodless.

Xie Huan sneered: “You reap what you sow. Be smarter in your next life.”

Gu Siyuan extended his hand, and the life-bound sword left nearby to deal with Deng Huan returned to his hand.

Deng Huan’s attitude changed drastically, pleading, “Gu Siyuan, don’t kill us, spare us once. I’m the young master of Hehuan Sect, my father’s most beloved and promising son. If you kill me, my father won’t let you go after leaving the secret realm…”

Zhu Buming also quickly added, “Yes, yes, take the ring, don’t kill us. I’m my master’s most favored disciple. If you kill me, my master won’t let you go, you’ll bring endless trouble upon yourself…”

Gu Siyuan’s eyes grew colder.

This only strengthened his resolve to kill these two. A promising future?

In the future righteous-evil war, if these two lived, who knows how many righteous talents they’d kill on the battlefield. If so, wouldn’t cutting them off now be a great deed?

He raised his sword.

At that moment, Deng Huan took something out and threw it towards Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi’s faces, then used all his spiritual power to turn and flee at a true escape speed.

Gu Siyuan waved his sleeve, creating a gust of wind that instantly dispersed the powder.

Then, with a flash of his sword, Deng Huan, who had not yet escaped a hundred meters, was cut in half, blood splattering everywhere.

When Gu Siyuan looked back at Xie Xueyi, he saw him sheathing his sword, with Zhu Buming’s corpse lying at his feet.

They exchanged smiles.

Gu Siyuan said, “Just now, Deng Huan threw something, are you okay? Quickly take an antidote pill.”

“Mm.” Xie Xueyi nodded, took a pill, then excitedly turned to look at Ji Jinghuan and the others, chuckling, “It’s your turn.”

Xiao Xinchi glared at them, his face sorrowful, “You really kill for treasures? You can’t kill us, according to the Taixuan Immortal Sect rules, killing fellow disciples without authorization is tantamount to treason.”

Xie Xueyi sneered, “You sound like an idiot.”

At this moment, Ji Jinghuan’s eyes flickered as if he had made a decision, his hand secretly reaching for his space ring.

Gu Siyuan’s eyes turned cold, and he mercilessly slashed towards Ji Jinghuan’s hand.

The danger came so suddenly that Ji Jinghuan instinctively dodged, but how could he be faster than Gu Siyuan’s sword.

Starting from the wrist, his entire left hand was cleanly cut off, rolling a few times on the ground, with a space ring still on the middle finger.

“Ah…” Ji Jinghuan roared in disbelief like a trapped beast.

“Jinghuan!” Xiao Xinchi cried out in grief.

Ji Jinghuan held a token in his right hand, just retrieved from his ring: “Gu Siyuan, I want your life!”

A dazzling white light flashed, and a middle-aged purple-robed cultivator walked out of the token, simultaneously unleashing a powerful oppressive force.

Xie Xueyi’s face instantly turned pale, and even Gu Siyuan felt quite uncomfortable.

The purple-robed cultivator waved his sleeve, and the sky changed color. The spiritual energy in the area swirled like a storm, attacking Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi.

Taking this opportunity, Xiao Xinchi used some special talisman to disappear with Ji Jinghuan.

Gu Siyuan couldn’t deal with them for now, swinging his sword continuously to fend off the incoming spiritual power assault.

“Brother, this is a Nascent Soul avatar!” Xie Xueyi stood beside him, urgently saying, “Ji Jinghuan’s ancestor really dotes on him.”

A Nascent Soul avatar is when a Nascent Soul cultivator seals part of their power in a spiritual weapon, usually given to descendants for protection, to be activated with similar spiritual power in times of danger.

However, this practice actually harms the Nascent Soul cultivator themselves, so it’s rarely used.

After a few more swings, Gu Siyuan felt his spiritual power depleting.

Facing a Nascent Soul directly, even if it’s only part of its power, was still a bit too much for him at this stage.

The difference between a Golden Core and a Nascent Soul is like heaven and earth.

He said to Xie Xueyi, “Move aside.”

Xie Xueyi immediately realized what he was about to do and quickly used his lightness skill to move away.

A flash from Gu Siyuan’s space ring, and he used up all the remaining black spirit power bullets, about two to three hundred, blasting them toward the Nascent Soul avatar.

“Boom…” A loud explosion.

The sky seemed to tremble.

In a secluded cave, Ji Jinghuan was meditating to heal while watching the token beside him.

“…Crack” Suddenly, a crisp sound echoed as the token shattered before his eyes.

Ji Jinghuan’s face turned pale instantly, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Xiao Xinchi nervously leaned over, “Jinghuan, what’s wrong?”

Ji Jinghuan looked at the fragments of the token, his eyes full of hatred, “Damn it, Gu Siyuan actually survived and destroyed the ancestor’s avatar.”

Several hundred miles away.

Xie Xueyi and Gu Siyuan also entered a cave. After continuous battles, Gu Siyuan’s spiritual power was somewhat depleted and needed to be replenished.

After an unknown amount of time, when he opened his eyes again, he met a pair of slightly red, watery eyes.

“Brother…” Xie Xueyi, with a flushed face, lay on his lap, his white forehead covered in fine sweat, breathing softly, “Brother, have you recovered… Brother, I… I’m so hot…”