Witch Wind

Chapter 416 Emerging from the Cocoon (Part 1)

Upon hearing the name "Guan Mou," Xing Tianli shuddered.

The streak of cyan light slid silently, without a trace of smoke or fire, and gently and deftly struck Ran Min's fist.

Ran Min saw the flash of light, but with his cultivation level, he couldn't dodge it at all—Xing Tianli noticed that at the moment the light flashed, Ran Min's fist blurred for a moment and split into dozens of fist shadows.

However, that flash of light blurred for a moment, and dozens of sword shadows, arranged in a staggered pattern, locked onto Ran Min's fist.

With a muffled groan, Ran Min's blood energy surged, and a chilling crimson light illuminated the heavens and earth. He gritted his teeth, too lazy to dodge, and unleashed a brutal, solid punch.

'Clang!'
Sparks flew everywhere, and blood splattered everywhere.

Ran Min's extremely hard fist was cleaved off.

A Green Dragon Crescent Blade gently stopped in front of Ran Min's forehead, its blade pressed against his skin. Xing Tianli saw that, beneath the blade, thirteen hairs on Ran Min's forehead were clearly separated into two.

With two thuds, Ran Min's enormous fists slammed heavily onto the ground. His physical body was extremely heavy; his two fists, each the size of a large bowl, were much heavier than a star. As the fists struck him, his magical power surged, naturally drawing upon the Great Dao. The force field formed by the omnipresent laws of the Great Dao easily counteracted the weight of his fists.

At that moment, his fist was severed cleanly at the wrist. In his shock, Ran Min didn't even have time to pay attention to the two severed fists.

Then, the weight of the fist instantly returned, and like a meteor, it slammed hard into the ground.

Xing Tianli timely waved his sleeve, using the supernatural power of "Turning the Earth into Steel," transforming the land within a thousand miles into a single, perfectly round piece of Vajra, incomparably solid, and firmly locked to the void.

The fist landed, slamming into the solid ground with a tremendous roar that nearly shattered the void and caused the entire Pegasus Star to tremble violently for quite some time.

If it weren't for Xing Tian's divine power protecting him, those two fists would have smashed the entire Pegasus Star, which has a diameter of tens of millions of miles, into dust.

Ran Min took a deep breath, and his two fists turned into two blobs of blood. With two 'crack' sounds, they were reattached to his wrists. On his wrists, wisps of cyan sword energy were constantly shattered by the powerful blood sea divine power and sprayed out. He gently moved his two fists, and his joints kept making loud 'crack' sounds. An irrepressible fighting spirit soared into the sky.

"Lord Guan, what a prestigious title! Shall we go fight in the heavens?" Ran Min licked his bright red lips with his scarlet tongue, like an old wolf spotting its prey, his whole body radiating the most intense bestiality.

"Just now, I used my fist. Here I also have a pair of fine weapons, please have Lord Guan take a look." Ran Min waved his hand, and a halberd and an axe fell into his hands at the same time, emitting a cold immortal light. Strands of blood energy were crystal clear, like blood dragons wrapped around the weapons. The blood-colored flames were like the sun, illuminating thousands of miles.

"Your weapon is a bit weak." Holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, a man who was sixteen feet tall, with a face like a jujube, a long beard reaching his belly, narrow phoenix eyes, a solemn and leisurely demeanor, and an aura that was restrained, without the slightest hint of killing intent emanating from him, shook his head slightly: "I'm afraid your weapon can't withstand three strikes from me!"

Ran Min's face flushed red as he turned to look at Xing Tianli.

Xing Tianli coughed, took a deep look at the long sword in Guan Yu's hand, and reached out to Ran Min to take the weapon from him: "This is a weapon that I forged for Mr. Ran Min on the road a few years ago. His original divine weapon is lost in some world, and we are on our way to find it."

"It was hastily made, an emergency product, so its grade is a bit low." Xing Tianli shook his head, and a towering cauldron slowly emerged from above his head. The cyan cauldron was compressed to about three zhang in height, and the bronze-colored witch flames flowed silently in the cauldron like molten glass. The terrifying high temperature was compressed into the cauldron, without a trace of leakage.

The Tower of Creation flew out, with strands of divine light of creation surging forth, and long rivers formed from innate spiritual gold roared as they fell into the Tower of Creation Cauldron.

Xing Tianli smiled and said, "My cultivation level is limited. The weapons I can forge can only touch the threshold of the Quasi-Saint level, which is the limit... They cannot compare to the divine weapon in Guan Yu's hand, which has been touched for many years and has reached the peak of the Quasi-Saint level."

"However, if the skill level is not high enough, we can make up for it with materials."

"A divine weapon can easily split a single layer of paper, a thousand layers of paper, ten thousand layers of paper... But human strength has its limits, and material resources have their limits... When this pile of paper is piled up to be tens of thousands of miles, millions of miles, or tens of millions of miles thick, can it still split these pieces of paper with a single stroke?"

Guan Yu sheathed his long sword and, together with the middle-aged man with long ears, curiously looked at the bronze cauldron floating above Xing Tianli's head.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is the legendary Nine Cauldrons, quite similar in appearance.” The middle-aged man with long ears frowned and said, “However, the genuine Nine Cauldrons are definitely not in your hands, young friend… Back then, my brothers and I personally witnessed those emperors and emperors fighting a great battle on Tailan Star for the true ownership of the Nine Cauldrons.”

Lord Guan, however, did not care about the origin of Xing Tianli's Tongtian Cauldron. He gently stroked his long beard and said arrogantly, "If your cultivation level is not high enough, you can make up for it with materials? That's very rude... Little Taoist, what materials did you use to assemble a weapon that can withstand my blade?"

Xing Tianli chuckled but remained silent.

Inside the Tower of Creation, divine light of creation surged. Along the way, Xing Tianli had traversed more than a hundred small and medium-sized worlds, plundering countless treasures, including many innate weapons. Although these innate spiritual treasures were not particularly powerful due to the weak origins, shallow foundations, and limited roots of those worlds, each innate spiritual weapon possessed its own mystical power.

Xing Tianli extracted all the Dao patterns related to killing and fighting from those innate spiritual weapons and continuously infused them into the Tongtian Cauldron, remelting them into a halberd and an axe made of molten iron.

Similarly, the innate spiritual gold plundered from those worlds, along with many other top-grade materials, were also incorporated.

The amount of materials thrown into the Heavenly Cauldron is increasing.

Gradually, Guan Yu's smile stiffened. He stared wide-eyed at the innate spiritual metal continuously flowing into the Heavenly Cauldron, muttering, "What a spendthrift! The materials you've incorporated are enough to arm an army of a million, aren't they? This longsword of mine, when it was forged, was nothing more than ordinary iron..."

Xing Tianli muttered without looking up, "But how many years have you lived? How many years have I lived? Not to mention, in your later lives, you were given so many honorary titles and divine positions... How many benefits did you receive from the blessings of incense and faith?"

Lord Guan remained silent, only gently stroking his long beard.

Finally, Xing Tianli, with a heavy heart, cleaved two tree cores, each a mile thick and over ten miles long, from the tree core 'gifted' by the World Mother Tree, and threw them directly into two clumps of molten iron that had expanded to the size of stars.

With a loud shout, Xing Tianli formed hand seals, and countless innate Dao patterns flowed out from his fingertips like water.

"Mr. Ran Min, let's bleed a little!" Xing Tianli shouted.

Ran Min glared fiercely at the long sword in Guan Yu's hand, let out a long howl, and tore open his own chest with both hands. His huge heart was like a burning ruby, and the dazzling red light made everything red.

Streams of scorching, viscous blood essence, radiating endless life waves yet brimming with murderous intent and deathly aura, gushed forth from Ran Min's heart, spraying onto the two divine weapons that were taking shape.

In an instant, a deafening roar erupted, and two dragon-like crimson auras soared into the sky. A vast, rolling river of crimson blood swirled in the air. Ran Min let out a long, hoarse cry and laughed wildly, "Carp Daoist, you finally didn't fool me... Heh, this feel is wonderful!"

Xing Tianli laughed dryly.

The halberd and axe I made for Ran Min before weren't exactly cheap, but they certainly didn't use many high-quality materials.

But now that he's seen Guan Yu, Xing Tianli inexplicably wants to see what a spectacular scene it would be if Ran Min and Guan Yu were to fight each other.

A flood of inappropriate thoughts rushed into my mind.

What's with all this talk of Guan Yu fighting Qin Qiong... or Zhang Fei fighting Yue Fei, with them flying all over the place...?

Xing Tianli really wanted to see Ran Min and Guan Yu fight, so he used all his current skills and all the good materials at hand to create this newly made halberd and axe. He even used the heartwood of the World Mother Tree, a very precious sacred material.

Without the heartwood of the World Mother Tree, the new weapons forged by Xing Tianli can at most be considered two extremely heavy Great Luo Immortal Weapons. They can only withstand the sharpness of Guan Yu's long sword by relying on their weight, size, and the materials they are made of.

However, after being integrated into the heart of the World Mother Tree, this halberd and axe were completely transformed.

Even though the Dao of the World Mother Tree is incompatible with the Blood Sea Slaughtering Divine Power cultivated by Ran Min, with the support of these two tree hearts, it won't be so easy for Guan Yu's blade to cut through this halberd and axe.

Ran Min soared into the sky, transforming into a surging sea of ​​blood, its blood energy permeating the entire Tianma Star, and even directly enveloping more than a dozen nearby natural satellites.

"Guan, come and fight!" Ran Min's maniacal laughter shook the heavens and earth: "You, Guan, what a grand name you are!" Guan Yu snorted lightly and cupped his hands towards the long-eared middle-aged man: "Brother!"

The middle-aged man with long ears smiled slightly: "Go, go, hold back a little, don't really hurt him."

Xing Tianli coughed lightly, took out a jar of century-old aged yellow wine, and casually pointed at it. A bonfire appeared on the ground, and the wine jar floated steadily on the fire, filling the air with its aroma.

Lord Guan was slightly taken aback, then burst into laughter.

High in the sky, Ran Min also witnessed this scene. Enraged, he cursed, "Carp Daoist, do you really think I'm a pushover like Hua Xiong? This Guan Yu, I might just kill him while the wine is still warm... kill him..."

Ran Min suddenly roared, "Outrageous! Back then, when we warmed the wine before beheading Hua Xiong, the wine was poured into the wine cup... How could you put the wine jar on the campfire? Won't the wine never cool down?"

Xing Tianli laughed dryly.

A streak of azure light shot into the sky, and Guan Yu had already flashed into that sea of ​​blood.

The clanging sounds were incessant, and countless sparks flashed like exploding stars... A streak of green light, like a blue dragon's brain, swept across the land, shattering Ran Min's overwhelming sea of ​​blood into dust.

Ran Min's sea of ​​blood was domineering, arrogant, and rampant, possessing the power to sweep across the heavens and earth and annihilate all things.

Guan Yu's blade was clean and pure, possessing a strange sense of transcendence, looking down upon all living beings—Xing Tianli even sensed a trace of the ultimate sense of 'equality of all living beings' from the blue blade light.

All beings are equal. In Guan Yu's heart, in his eyes, and under his blade, whether they are saints or demons, they are all just a matter of one strike!
Xing Tianli's body tensed slightly; this was an incredibly terrifying Dao.

A vast sea of ​​blood swept and surged forth, boundless and endless. Within that sea of ​​blood, countless malevolent energies, malevolent energies, resentful energies, ferocious energies, and evil energies annihilated and assimilated everything, turning all things into nourishment for the sea of ​​blood.

This ferocious sea of ​​blood kept shattering and exploding, with Guan Yu's figure in a green robe appearing and disappearing within it. He stood calmly at the core of the sea of ​​blood, letting it wash over him, and with a simple slash, he could cleave the endless sea of ​​blood in two.

An invincible presence.

Flawless and without omission.

Xing Tianli let out a soft breath. Guan Yu's Dao had reached the perfect state without any flaws... This was almost the limit that a Quasi-Saint could reach. If he wanted to go further, he could only break through that step.

Sanctification?

Xing Tianli felt a chill run down his spine.

Nine Heavenly Cauldrons hung high in the Spirit Platform Purple Mansion. On the cauldrons, dense ancient Dao patterns spread out wisps of chaotic light, and the faint sounds of the Great Dao continued to ripple outwards.

Having received personal instruction from the Tongtian Daoist and the blessings of two Buddhist patriarchs, Xing Tianli had a considerable understanding of the path of the 'sage'—the sages of the Nine Provinces during the primordial era had gone through countless years and tribulations before finally taking that step.

It is said that the two Buddhist patriarchs, with their true strength and cultivation, could not even ascend to sainthood through their own hard power. In the end, they had to borrow a large sum of money from the Heavenly Dao and make a great vow before they were able to achieve enlightenment.

How many years did Guan Yu live?
Even though the flow of time in the chaos is vastly different from that on Tailan Star and in the homeland of Kyushu, how many millions of years, or even tens of millions of years, did Guan Yu wander in this chaos?

He actually got to this point?

The middle-aged man with long ears, his hands tucked into his sleeves, looked at the astonished Xing Tianli with a slight smile and said, "Second brother is indeed close to that point. This chaotic world, though it torments people, is also the best at tempering them. In particular, second brother's path is quite different from ours. Later emperors and generals have been very close to second brother."

Xing Tianli suddenly realized.

Compared with other famous historical figures, Guan Yu was indeed blessed with unique advantages. He received numerous honors from successive dynasties. How much incense did he receive in his homeland of China?
Such immense power of incense and prayer.

The Bodhi Sutra, personally taught by two Buddhist patriarchs, slowly resounded, revealing many profound mysteries concerning incense and the divine way, as well as the blessing and use of the power of faith. As a result, Xing Tianli, referring to the fundamental method of "A Stick of Incense in the Furnace of Heaven and Earth," felt an endless stream of profound mysteries growing in his heart.

The next moment, Guan Yu's light laughter rang out: "The wine is warmed, shall we drink together?"

A deafening clang of a blade shook the heavens and the sea of ​​blood that had spread for trillions of miles, enveloping the entire Tianma Star and more than a dozen nearby natural satellites, was instantly shattered by a beam of light.

With two loud clangs, Ran Min's ten fingers shattered, and the halberd and axe newly forged by Xing Tianli in his hands spun rapidly, being cleaved hundreds of millions of miles away. Just like before, Guan Yu's long sword remained silently in front of Ran Min's forehead, the blade pressed against his oily skin, and beneath the blade, another twenty-one hairs were severed in the middle.

On Ran Min's chest, there was a large, crisscrossing cross-shaped cut. The knife technique was extremely precise, breaking the skin but not damaging the flesh. Thin streams of blood were constantly seeping from the cuts and flowing back into Ran Min's body.

Ran Min's face was deathly pale as he stared intently at Guan Yu.

"You are very strong," Guan Yu said in a deep voice. "Among my brothers, I'm afraid only Zhao Yun, besides my third brother, can surpass you... Hmm, you can't face Han Sheng. If he uses his bow and arrows and attacks you from a distance, you will be badly beaten..."

Shaking his head, Guan Yu commented, "If you were to face General Ma, you would be evenly matched. Your methods are unpredictable and fierce, surpassing General Ma's, but in terms of imposing grandeur, you are inferior to him."

"Of course, if you encounter the Prime Minister or Military Advisor Pang, your path, though fierce and ruthless, will not be able to penetrate their bodies."

Lord Guan spoke in a calm and sincere tone.

Ran Min, upon hearing this, turned pale and broke out in a cold sweat. He angrily retorted, "Are all the heroes of the Three Kingdoms truly like dragons? Dian Wei, well..."

Guan Yu sheathed his long sword, stroked his beard, and smiled: "That Dian fellow is a scoundrel who sells his head for profit. Don't talk about him. If you could find Lü Bu back then, you could make him come and take three blows from me. Alas, the world is vast and chaotic, and old friends are hard to find."

Ran Min remained silent.

With a wave of his hand, the two weapons that had been knocked away flew back rapidly with a piercing whistling sound, landing heavily in his hand.

He carefully examined the weapon in his hand for a while, then nodded in satisfaction.

Guan Yu, as swift as lightning, examined the two weapons intently.

He had just used all his strength, slashing fiercely at the halberd and axe. Not to mention a Great Luo Immortal Weapon, even an ordinary Quasi-Saint Treasure would have been cleaved apart by such a powerful strike.

However, these two weapons, which he considered to be of little brilliance, were clearly weapons that Xing Tianli had hastily forged in just a quarter of an hour, yet they remained completely undamaged.

"What is the origin of those two tree trunks? How could they be so extraordinary?" Guan Yu descended from the sky and landed in front of Xing Tianli. He casually picked up a wine jar from the campfire, took a big gulp, and then asked Xing Tianli with a smile.

Xing Tianli said in a deep voice, "This item was traded from a senior. If Guan Yu is skilled in turning stone into gold, then obtaining such a tree heart would not be difficult. Hmm, this must be Emperor Zhaolie of Han, Liu Bei, Liu Xuande, right?"

Xing Tianli bowed deeply to the middle-aged man with long ears.

The expressions on Liu Bei and Guan Yu's faces were quite comical—Emperor Zhaolie, that's a posthumous title, how can it be used to refer to a living person?

Guan Yu said softly, "This young Taoist priest probably hasn't read many books."

(End of this chapter)