"I still can't believe that he's still alive..." Wan Qing muttered.
"If it's anyone who would survive against most of the factions in the Inner Court making an ambush for them, it would definitely be Hu Tao." Bing commented.
"How did he even get on the bad side of so many factions?" Lei Zhi wondered as Bing laughed.
"It's Hu Tao." Was his only answer.
"I'm seriously starting to have second thoughts on joining this group..." Wan Qing lamented.
"Ror." Ni Xong added to the conversation.
"Or maybe he picked a fight with all the factions in the Inner Court himself." Lei responded to Ni Xong's guess.
"The Empress wouldn't allow him to do something as stupid as that." Bing said with confidence.
"What if he did it without talking to Jing first? He does seem like the type of person to act first instead of thinking of the consequences afterwards." Wan Qing suggested.
Bing shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea of the true situation, just that Hu Tao got in a big conflict with a majority of the groups in the Inner Court and needed saving. They all got a message from Hu Tao asking for help on the 20th floor. Thanks to Jing's special talisman that she gave them all, he could directly communicate with them even though he was trapped inside of a powerful sealing formation. The message Hu Tao sent to them all said this,
"Is this thing working? Hey? Can you guys read this? Respond if you can read this message."
Everyone had wondered why Hu Tao was trying to message them all.
"Pick up! I need some help from you guys. We're all a team, right? Part of the same group, following the same crazy bitch. So, we're supposed to help each other out, you know? It's kind of a funny story but I need some saving."
Everyone in Jing's group focused on Hu Tao's message. It wasn't often that he used the message talisman and it was probably his first or second message ever and it was him asking for help. One of the strongest members in their group needed help. This led to many of them guessing that he's really provoked the wrong person and deserved whatever happened to him.
"It turns out that the Inner Court is filled with a bunch of pussy shit cowards too scared to properly fight me. They set up this whole trap for me and everything with like hundreds of cultivators. Before we started fighting, they spouted a lot of bullshit that was just them saying how scared they were of my godly talent. Because of how amazing I am and how I would get even more incredible in the future, they said they had to kill me now. Complete bullshit, you know?"
This is where he started to get on the nerves of some people in the group.
"I would've been fine with the whole trap to kill me if they didn't decide to fucking seal me in this shitty formation just because it looked like I was winning! Literal hundreds of disciples being so scared of a single talented godly handsome young man. So shameful. What has our great sect come to with disciples like these? Honestly, I can't wait till we change this place for the better Jing. Now can you please come and save me? I think I'm going to starve to death if you don't. This formation is unbreakable from the inside and I tried everything to get out. I'm on the 20th floor and I got a buttload of magical treasures too."
This was when Jing ordered everyone in the tower to head towards Hu Tao to save him.
Ying responded that she wasn't in the Great Tower and was at the Great Volcano, giving her a valid excuse to not save Hu Tao.
'Annoying bastard probably deserved it.' Ying chuckled inside her Void world.
"Don't fucking bullshit me Princess! I know you aren't doing shit! Come and help me out! We're teammates remember? I'll even let you know about a fatal weakness in your sword art!" Hu Tao tried to bargain.
"Fuck off asshole! Unlike you, I've actually been doing important stuff!" Ying responded.
"Important stuff like what?! You don't do shit but get in fights with weaklings! Save me!"
"Even if I was in the Tower right now, I would leave you to rot in that formation!"
"Come on Fire Crotch. The one time I'm asking you for help and your squeezing my balls? Is this how you think friends treat each other?"
"FRIENDS!? Who would ever want to be friends with a piece of shit like you!? Actually, just go die and stop messaging me! I'm busy!"
"Hey. Hey. Let's just calm ourselves down and think of a way of saving me, okay? If we put both of our heads together, we can surely think of something, right Ying? Ying? Hello? Did this thing break?"
"Yingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingyingying" Hu Tao spammed her.
"For fucks sake! I'll come and save you just to beat you to fucking death Hu Tao! Just wait till I finish my training with this shadow! I'm going to break you into pieces!" Ying vowed with her heart.
"Thank you, Ying. See it wasn��t so hard to just agree to come and save me, now was it?" Hu Tao messaged.
A very long list of swears and insults left Ying's mouth inside her Void World, greatly scaring Hao Gang and the shadow.
"Now where the hell are you other bastards at? I know you can read my messages." Hu Tao was not finished just yet.
"I'm on my way." Bing responded, hoping to avoid any conflict with him.
"We can try and save you. We're in the Great Tower right now." Lei Zhi wrote.
"I guess we can see how strong this formation you're trapped in is." Wan Qing sent.
"You guys are the best teammates a guy could ask for. After you get me out of this thing, I swear I'll pay you all back with one favor." Hu Tao said to them.
"Hu Tao. You do know what I will ask of you afterwards, right?" Jing suddenly messaged, arousing everyone's attention once again.
It wasn't often that Jing messaged with the special talisman either. So, whenever she did, everyone in the group paid close attention to her words.
'Ah fuck.' Hu Tao cursed inwardly.
"Of course I do! I remember mostly everything about the bastards that trapped me in here! I can tell you the names of the leaders, their cultivation realm, fighting styles, weapons, and what type of cultivator they were." He spouted off from memory.
"Hmm. What about their appearance? If I asked you what they looked like would you be able to describe them in more than 2 words?"
"Aha... Jing. You have to give me a break here. I fought over 100 cultivators! How could I remember what each and every one of them looked like?!" He tried to reason.
"But you do remember how each and every one of them fought, right?"
'Fuck!' She knew him too well! As expected of the first girl to capture his heart.
Hu Tao remembers how all of his opponents fight. It isn't something he does consciously but just happens because of his innate nature. Remembering the movements of all of his opponents helps improve and perfect his own fighting style. Fighting is nearly everything to Hu Tao and most of his brain is focused on that one thing due to his obsession with fighting.
"That's different..." He knew his counter to her statement was weak.
"If you manage to free yourself before the Plains end, I expect a full report afterwards. If not, well, I'm sure you can imagine what will happen." Jing left her message with that, ending the entire conversation.
Bing, Wan Qing, and Lei Zhi made their way towards the 20th floor with some haste. If it was up to Wan Qing, they would be going at the same speed they were always going at. Bing thought that if Ying was here, they would be going as fast as possible. Based on the two of their messages earlier, she's really going to try to kill him when she sees Hu Tao again.
The reason why they headed up at a fast pace was because the Treasured Plains were almost over. Their time inside was coming to a close and anyone that didn't make it out in time would be trapped inside forever. Even if they stayed alive till the next time the Plains opened, they wouldn't be able to leave through the giant gates as they became a part of the Treasured Plains formation. Their souls wouldn't be placed back into the reincarnation cycle of the universe but the reincarnation cycle of the Plains. Perhaps they would become one of the Tower inhabitants if they were lucky or one of the cubs of the powerful spirit beasts lurking deep within the Plains.
There was also another reason why they were moving so quickly. Jing promised them rewards for successfully saving Hu Tao. The rewards for saving Hu Tao along with the rewards they'll get after the Plains for doing the tasks given to them by Jing made them all excited. Everyone except Hu Tao wondered what kind of reward they would get from Jing, knowing that it would great regardless of what it was.
"I hope I get a good cultivation technique or a good amount of spirit stones." Bing said.
��Spirit stones would be nice. I don't have a particular need for anything specific as of now. Maybe something that could help me reform misguided youths but I don't know what that would be or even look like." Lei Zhi shared.
"I could use a spirit tool." Wan Qing joined in.
"What kind of spirit tool?" Bing asked.
"Something that'll help me deal with people up close. My fan is good at a distance but I'm still not used to fighting up close with it. It's too different from using a sword." Wan Qing said.
"Wouldn't Ni Xong be perfect for that then?" Lei Zhi spoke.
"He's too young. When he gets older and grows a bit then he would be helpful but as of now, he would only be deadweight."
"Ah, he is only in the Qi Gathering realm. Trying to place him against the people you'll face is dangerous." Bing reasoned.
"Rur raor." Ni Xong agreed with a nod of his head.
"That's why I'm trying to raise his cultivation. The faster he makes it to my realm, the more useful he'll be." Wan Qing told them.
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"Oh, that is a concern that some beast masters go through. I suppose I am rather lucky that I can pull out spirit beasts equal to my cultivation stage." Lei Zhi realized.
Wan Qing nodded in agreement as they continued their way to the 20th floor of the Tower. Nothing out of the usual happened to them as they went up the floors. Just several life or death battles with spirit beasts or other cultivators, finding some lucky breaks here and there, and occasionally brushing shoulders with death every now and then. Unfortunately, on the 18th and 19th floor Bing and Lei Zhi ran into an incident involving the Fearsome Garden, Huan clan, and another faction. This incident led to the two of them getting caught up in some trouble with them and getting on their bad side.
The two hoped that on the 20th floor, that they'll manage to escape from the groups and they would completely forget all about them and what they did. Bing and Lei Zhi even failed to mention this close call with Wan Qing because of how confident they were that they wouldn't see either groups again until they left the plains. Once they escaped the 19th floor with Qing, the trio searched around for a giant formation. Hu Tao said that they'd be able to find it no matter where they were on the 20th floor.
And he was right. The three immediately sensed the immense amount of qi coming from a certain direction on this floor. Wan Qing led the way due to her being the strongest out of all of them. She spread her butterflies out all around them, keeping an eye out for any dangers or potential attackers.
"He's right up ahead." Lei Zhi informed.
They saw Hu Tao's shirtless figure trapped inside a qi cube. The qi cube was filled with incredibly dense qi and honestly felt impenetrable to all three of them. Around the cube were the countless dead bodies of their fellow disciples. The manner in which some of them died were hard to identify while others were the opposite. The injuries ranged from a simple hole through the torso to ripped apart bodies to black piles of ash every now and then.
Seeing the horrific battlefield sent various emotions through the three of them. Seeing Hu Tao's basic hunched over figure on the ground made them realize just what a powerful cultivator he truly was. Not just any cultivator at his stage could kill this many opponents in one battle. Especially when they were all equal to or higher than his own cultivation realm! He was a truly the epitome of a monster...
Wan Qing doubted she could've pulled off a feat like this either despite how much she wanted to refute. Acknowledging that this guy of all people was better than her? It would be a massive blow to her self-esteem. But she wasn't blind or stupid. She definitely couldn't do what Hu Tao did at his stage or even the stage she was at now. He was on an entirely different level than her even though he was at a lower stage.
Her win from before meant absolutely nothing now if he could do something like this. He must have held back or refused to go all out against her in their duel. There was no other reason to how she could've won if not for one of those two reasons. It looks like she'll have to put herself through physical and spiritual hell if she wants to make it anywhere in this world with freaks like Hu Tao, Kun Lao, and Jing around.
Bing was in utter shock at seeing all the corpses. It was the first time he's ever seen such a bloody and gruesome sight. It hasn't been long since he's started his cultivation journey and seeing something like this was very eye opening. But after being with the Empress so long, a bloody view like this, didn't get to him too hard. Thanks to the Empress, his adaptability to new experiences has greatly increased.
Plus, the way his devil hand ate its victims wasn't anything less horrific than this. Bing has already gotten used to grisly sights thanks to both his blood-draining shield and devil hand. Personally, he would rather not have anything to do with fighting, killing, or the like. But one cannot live a free life without having the strength to run underneath the heavens unhindered. A brutal and unfair life but one that was unavoidable. Especially since they were cultivators. Mortals who were actively defying and going against the heavens.
'These bodies would be a great addition to my strength...' Bing secretly thought in the back of his mind. The only reason he stopped himself was because of the sorrowful look on Lei Zhi's face.
Lei Zhi looked at the horrendous sight solemnly. This was just another situation out of thousands that happened in the world. Lei didn't fault Hu Tao for his actions based on what he's heard so far. He was plotted against and almost assassinated. It would be ridiculous to expect him to spare any of his potential killers. Only an old fool like himself would hold back against someone aiming against his life.
Lei Zhi knew he was foolish and would wholeheartedly claim the title of Fool. His goal of changing the ways of this world and reforming the youth hasn't changed at all. Most would say it's an impossible task. Lei Zhi himself also believes it's an impossible goal to strive for. But just because it was impossible didn't mean it wasn't worth attempting. Taking the first step towards something is always the most important step in actually conquering it.
"Hahaha! You bastards actually made it! Quickly get me out of here! You don't know how long I've been in here! I'm going to die any second now! I can feel it!" Hu Tao banged on the cube filled with numerous talismans.
"How do we do that exactly...?" Bing tapped on the array with his finger.
His finger was forced away even though he didn't use that much force on the cube.
"Hmph. Let me try something. Get out of the way." Wan Qing brandished her fan behind her as Bing quickly got out of the way.
Just as she was about to take a mighty swing with her weapon, suddenly numerous talismans were thrown around her feet. The moment she noticed them she tried to fly out of the center but it was too late. The formation activated nearly instantly and she was trapped inside as numerous figures suddenly came out into the opening. Bing groaned and Lei Zhi shook his head regretfully.
"What the hell is this?!" Wan Qing shouted as she tried to break out of the trapping formation. Ni Xong tried to help by punching with his gauntlets but they had no effect on the barrier in the slightest.
"I suppose we were unlucky this time around as well." Lei Zhi spoke.
"I'm seriously going to start doing good deeds after the Plains are over. My karmic luck has to be at zero or something." Bing promised.
"What the hell did you two do?!" Wan Qing yelled. The both awkwardly turned their heads in embarrassment and chuckled.
"Didn't expect to see us again, did you?" The incredibly beautiful and sweet Lam. One of the deadly Roses from the Fearsome Garden.
"To think you two would try and hide out in a dreadful place like this after what you did to us." The playful trickster of the Huan clan, Chun smirked.
"We've already apologized about that. How were we supposed to know you two would be fighting there?! It's not our fault that we got chased by that tiger in your direction." Bing replied.
"It was the most unfortunate of circumstances. But you must believe us that it wasn't our intention to harm any of you." Lei Zhi added.
"Keep the Fatty alive. My clan has a debt to repay with him." Chun smiled.
"Kill the nasty old guy then. Make sure he's screaming before he passes on though. I really love it when they're screaming before they die." Lam giggled cutely.
"I don't think they'll listen to reason anymore, Lei Zhi." Bing whispered.
"Yeah... I guess we have to fight our way out of this one regrettably. We can't leave Hu Tao and Wan Qing behind."
The old and the young prepared themselves for battle against the many foes. Bing's entire physique strengthen into an entirely different one filled with muscles and pure brawn. Two pairs of arms shot out from the sides of his abdomen and the back of his shoulder blades. Lei Zhi whipped out his pink fishing rod along with Xiurong growing into the size of a tiger. Quon floated behind the two, ready to paralyze anyone that got close.
"Kill!" Chun ordered.
'Kill?' Bing questioned inwardly as the three factions headed straight towards the two.
"What kind of battle cry is just the word kill?" Bing asked again.
"Maybe he couldn't think of a better thing to say." Lei tried to explain.
"If we die to someone like this, I'm going to be embarrassed all the way into my next life..." Bing muttered.
Bing shot himself forward with Swift Devil, crashing into the incoming cultivators with his strong body. Some were badly injured by Bing's charge and were forced to swallow recovery pills if they hoped to reenter the battle. For those that avoided the shield charge or got off with light injuries, they quickly aimed to attack Bing together. Their combined attacks were pushing Bing backward as he blocked with his shield.
The attacks themselves were not strong enough to burden his shield holding arm but they were enough to force him backwards.
"Art of Counter!" Bing shouted.
Bing redirected the direction of their collective attacks towards the ground, giving him a moment to breath and a second to set up his counter attack.
"Not on my watch!" A few cultivators approached from his back to attack him, not all of his opponents were dumb enough to face him from the front.
Bing ignored the danger at his back and dealt with the threats in front of him. He raised his shield above his head and struck down with unbearable force, shattering the ground itself along with the bodies of a few disciples. The arms grown from out of his shoulder blades shrunk back into his body before one giant hand emerged from his back. The big hand reached out and captured the cultivators attempting to strike him from behind. They were helpless to resist as their bones were crushed simultaneously and soon devoured from the large monstrous mouth that opened from the center of the palm. Their screams sent chills into the remaining cultivators.
Bing's physical prowess sharply rose from the bodies of those he ate. Seeing how much of a boost in power it gave him, made him more inclined to eat with his devil hand. And so, he did. With every enemy defeated, one of his hands would drain them of their flesh and increase his body's strength even more. This forced Chun into action lest he wanted all of his men killed right in front of him.
Chun was a 3rd stage Qi Consolidator. Bing might have grown stronger but he doubted it was enough to cross realms. He didn't believe it would be enough to even take on a regular 9th stage Qi Gatherer. He would have to be careful... This wouldn't be an easy fight to survive.
Lei Zhi was also in a similar situation with Lam. At the start of the fight, he and his pets were doing relatively well against their foes. Xiurong was their front line against the many disciples. Her strength was far greater than her cultivation stage suggested. Lei Zhi's spirit beasts shared his own cultivation stage, so they were both at the 7th stage of the Qi Gatherer realm. But this did not mean that they were just as strong as a normal 7th stage Qi Gatherer.
Quon was far quicker than the average 7th stage and could match an 8th stage with his speed. Xiurong was an absolute monster with her strength. Lei Zhi had no doubt that she crossed over into the Qi Consolidation realm with her power. But besides that, the only other advantages she had was her tough shell and ability to change her size at will.
They still had their weaknesses despite their potent innate abilities. Lei Zhi had the misfortune of finding these weaknesses out during this very life or death battle with them. Xiurong smashed, slapped, and tossed plenty of cultivators with her claws. None of the disciples' swords or spirit tools could harm her shell, so they were forced to improvise by attacking spots they believed were vulnerable.
Her eyes and the underside of her belly were targeted. Lei Zhi used his fishing rod to snag the clothes of any disciples and toss them away or straight into Xiurong to crush. He always made sure that she did not use lethal force, just enough to injure them so that they couldn't move again. Quon also helped in incapacitating their enemies by stinging anyone caught by Lei Zhi or trying to sneak up behind the middle-aged man.
The ghastly screams of those stung by Quon frightened the disciples. This was around the time that they figured out the weakness of Xiurong and the target they should all focus on, Quon, the giant octopus. Those from the Fearsome Garden and the Huan clan realized that the crab that could kill them in one hit wasn't for some reason. The disciples fed valuable recovery pills that could heal their injured allies while the others kept Lei and his pets busy.
Multiple disciples used talismans to boost their speed, easily allowing them to dodge the mighty crab whose dominance lied in strength and defense. They moved straight towards Lei Zhi who understood that he couldn't use his fishing rod to snag all of the young men and women coming towards him at once. He hasn't trained to the level of skill required to do that yet in his Fishing Art. Since he couldn't deal with them all, he did the next best thing and activated the magical treasure he gained from the 11th floor.
The large golden sarcophagus on his back softly started to shake due to the flowing qi of Lei entering inside of it. It unstrapped itself from his back and fell to the ground with a mighty thud. Lei Zhi tossed a capturing bead at Quon to save him from any harm. He placed him in his pocket before hooking his fishing rod behind him and latching himself to a great tree behind him, quickly pulling him away from the dangerous situation as the being inside the coffin opened itself to the world of the living once again.
"Huu. Huu. Huu. Huu..." The figure wrapped in ancient coverings laughed.
A fierce wave of evil qi spread from its body, terrifying any and all nearby. The cultivators stopped their assault and cautiously watched the strange creature.
"Don't kill them. They are young and still have time to reflect on their actions." Lei Zhi commanded.
Sand rose from its coffin and headed straight towards the disciples with fast speeds. They barely had any time to react as the sand wrapped itself around them and slowly began to crush them.
"Hey! Hey! I said no killing!" Lei Zhi brandished his fishing rod towards the bandaged corpse.
The mummy didn't release the barely living disciples at Lei Zhi's "request." He instead crushed all of their bones and completely incapacitated them. Preventing them from joining back into the fight. Lam walked onto the scene with an upset look on her face. She wasn't having much fun seeing her cute little Weeds getting hurt because of this old man. It was time she took this into her own hands and dealt with it. And the first thing she decided to do was deal with the biggest threat.
Just as soon as she arrived, everything changed for Lei Zhi. Xiurong was instantly wrapped in sharp vines that restricted her movements entirely. No matter how much she grew or shrunk, the vines matched Xiurong's size. It was like the vines could stick into her qi and alter itself according to her qi! She was completely helpless and couldn't move at all!
"Huu. Huu." The mummy acknowledged her.
"The dead should stay dead. Don't you think, Corpsey!?" She sweetly smiled.
Hundreds of vines appeared behind her like a giant wave of thorny green towards Lei Zhi and his mummy. The wrapped corpse responded with his own 'wave' and sent forward a sand large enough to topple multiple trees. Lei Zhi wasn't sure that his mummy could hold up but it wouldn't be in this fight alone. They could survive this battle.
"You two weaklings better not fucking die before you save me!" Hu Tao gave a polite request.