Soaring the Heavens

Lao Bai laughed, “I’m not sure, myself. I’m merely trying it out.”

Miao Yi then warned cautiously, “Lao Bai, don’t act recklessly. Truth be told, the more one knows, the more terrified one becomes. I now know that the Hell Mantis is extremely frightening. With my current cultivation base, I wouldn’t be able to evade even one of its attacks. Don’t joke around with your life. ”

Lao Bai replied, “I still have faith towards the Great Immortal. ”

Miao Yi thought about it and agreed. The gateway that the Great Immortal left to Lao Bai, every single thing that he indirectly experienced through Lao Bai, not once had they experienced failure.

Previously, he’d been skeptical towards the methods Lao Bao used to train him, but after leaving and going through numerous accounts of life and death struggles, he then discovered that everything Lao Bai taught him had proven to be incredibly useful.

Otherwise, he would have died during the battle at Transient Light Cave, not to mention his recent battle against both Mo Shengtu and Zhang Shucheng. He’d faced over a hundred zombies, all by himself, and he wouldn’t have come out of it alive if it weren’t for the painstaking training he went through in the waterfall and the deep sea.

He had communed with that Great Immortal for a long time, and it was such a shame that he’d never have the opportunity to meet him in person.

After coming to an understanding, Miao Yi’s interest suddenly overcame him. “Let’s go, I want to see how you’re going to lure the Hell Mantis out.”

Lao Bai let out a laugh and asked in reply, “Don’t you have any matters to see to? You have the time to do this with me?”

Miao Yi waved his hand and explained, “My own matters aren’t that urgent. It’s fine, I’ll send those two bastards to their deaths later.”

Now Lao Bai wasn’t some parasite in his belly, so how would he know what Miao Yi was thinking about? So, he asked puzzlingly, “Who do you want to kill?”

“Who else?” Miao Yi pointed towards Changfeng City, filled with scattered lights under the night sky. “The pair who wanted to kill me back when I first met you.”

Lao Bai understood, and then shook his head. “You’re already a cultivator, so there’s no need for you to make life difficult for two mortals. You can consider it from a different angle. If they didn’t beat you down, forcing you to steel yourself back then, and if you had lived a smooth and steady life all this while, how would you have today?”

Miao Yi sighed, “Lao Bai, you’ll never understand the feelings of three interdependent orphans, who struggled to earn enough for food and clothes, yet had to put up with being bullied time and again. At the time, I gritted my teeth and managed to pull myself through it all, but in the end, it still left a shadow in my heart. Every time I woke up from my dreams, I would always worry about my brother and sister being taken away. When I sit in meditation and cultivate, in the back of my mind, I will often think about this. And since I’m passing through this place, if I don’t settle things once and for all, my heart will never be content.”

Lao Bai went silent for a while, briefly nodding his head as he said, “Looks like this matter has already become the inner demon in your cultivation. It’s better to resolve it.”

Both of them did not argue about this matter anymore, and mounted their respective horses. They maintained their speed, galloping side by side, went around Changfeng City and hurried towards the Boundless Secular World, a place beyond the predictions of even the gods and spirits.

The Ancient City once again came into Miao Yi’s view. More than ten years had passed and already the Ancient City had become so barren it was no longer presentable anymore. Supposedly, another thousand years would need to pass in order for the Boundless Secular World to lift up its seal once more, and only then would the city be revived again.

As before, the old willow tree was full of vitality. Miao Yi, riding the dragon steed below the willow tree, sighed deeply with sorrow. Back then, the three siblings had hidden themselves in this very tree.

Again lifting his head to look towards the city wall, Miao Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “Back then, I saw a very beautiful woman on the city wall here. Even now, I still remember it. At that time I was thinking that it would be great if I could take her in as my wife.”

Lao Bai let out an ‘oh’ and asked, “Is she a cultivator?”

Miao Yi nodded in reply. “Yes. She’s a cultivator who’s unattainable. It was wishful thinking for me to desire to marry her. She wouldn’t find a lower tier cultivator like me worthy.”

“Unattainable?” Little by little, Lao Bai raised his head, looking towards the vast starry sky, his two locks of frosty hair precipitously dancing in the air.

He gazed at it for a little while in recollection, lightly shooting a glance at Miao Yi before turning his horse around, moving forward at a gradual pace. “Beauties and fine liquors are just worldly things. Immersing oneself in them will leave one with no desire to improve oneself, unable to move forward. Thus, taking a wrong turn in life. If there truly exists an everlasting beauty, then she only waits for the day when the one to ravage her comes along, so why would she be unattainable?”

He smacked the horse’s abdomen with his legs, his plain green cloak fluttering about under the moonlight, as he galloped quickly towards the Boundless Secular World.

Miao Yi was taken aback, but then rapidly turned his horse to catch up.

Both of them came to a halt on their horses beneath the formidable array of the blood mist, which stretched to both heaven and earth. Miao Yi looked behind at the bright moon suspended in the vast night sky full of stars and asked, “How do we proceed?”

“The pavilion closest to the waters receives the moonlight first.” Lao Bai took out the mirror, urging the horse to move about. He adjusted his bearings, the moonlight reflected from the mirror towards the treacherous blood mist. A ray of light could be faintly seen penetrating into the blood mist.

Miao Yi moved Charcoal to his side, and stared at the mirror in his hand. He again looked at the blood mist that connected the heaven and earth together, asking dubiously, “Is this all that’s needed?”

“Trying.”

“What do we do after we lure the Hell Mantis out?”

“The Hell Mantis cannot leave the Boundless Secular World for too long. Once it comes out, I will use the moonlight to attract it, to stop it from struggling. You’ll go and take a look whether there are eggs under its abdomen. If there are, quickly remove some and take them away.”

“Okay. If there are any problems, I will immediately grab you and run.”

Lao Bai gave a smile and asked, “Can you escape its speed?”

“Um....” Miao Yi laughed dryly. “I can’t just sit around and wait for death.”

They waited for a long time, and the sun was about to rise soon. Miao Yi, seeing that there was still no news of activity, couldn’t help but ask again, “You’re sure this method will work?”

It was uncertain what he was doing, but then Lao Bai, who had kept his eyes shut all this time, suddenly opened his eyes and exclaimed, “It’s here. Get ready. Remember, it can’t stay out of the Boundless Secular World for too long. Once I hold onto it, the danger will pass. You need to be quick. Don’t be scared.”

Miao Yi turned around to look. As expected, he saw the blood mist suddenly give a quick surge, seemingly suffering from the invasion of a draft.

Hu! Abruptly, the blood mist split open and an enormous black silhouette charged out from the sea of mist, causing a wave of sand to surge. Its four limbs touched the ground, standing firm beneath its enormous figure.

Casting a look, Miao Yi drew back a cold breath.

The Hell Mantis before his eyes was about ten zhang long, its build was entirely gigantic. He had never seen one like it, even after already entering the Boundless Secular World.

The body was akin to a suit of black armor, reflecting a dark gloss under the moonlight. On its limbs were strands of sharp barbs that were similar to an ox’s horn. On its three-horned head were a pair of lush, green eyes that swayed its feelers about, appearing to survey its surroundings.

The forelimbs, which were akin to the scythe of a death god, gave them a heightened feeling of oppression. Its terrorizing and frightening mouth moved incessantly in a chewing manner.

The entirety of its body emitted the aura of the frightening netherworld, causing Miao Yi to feel his body turning cold, momentarily having goosebumps, as though he had suddenly arrived in the netherworld itself.

Both of their steeds were also exceedingly agitated and restless, even Charcoal. Miao Yi tried his best to steady him.

Yet Lao Bai only gently reached out his head to caress and stroke his steed, causing it to eventually calm down.

A ray of moonlight struck the lush green eyes of the Hell Mantis, which was precisely the lightray that reflected from the mirror in Lao Bai’s hand. In fact, Lao Bai’s lips were also slightly moving, seeming as though he was saying something to the Hell Mantis.

Being blinded by the moonlight, the terrifying, gigantic Hell Mantis fell static within moments.