Chapter 355: Gazing at the Mountaintop
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Hua Qingqing gazed at the Black Wind Eagle. Its eyes were filled with terrifying bloodthirsty light. Faint evil thoughts rushed into her mind. The evil current flowed around the Black Wind Eagle. It seemed to be evolving. The shadow of a Demon Bird seemed to rise above him.
The melody wrapped around, protecting her will. Hua Qingqing’s robes fluttered. She looked as pure as an angel. The fairies around her were like shadows. They uttered sacred chants as light loomed over the Black Wind Eagle, trying to purify it.
Wham. The Black Wind Eagle, slightly transforming into a Demon Bird, flapped its wings. They covered the sun as evilness snaked around it. Darkness flashed through the wings as it filled the sky. It pounced towards Hua Qingqing. It clawed at her, wanting to rip everything.
Hua Qingqing hurriedly strummed her instrument. The angelic illusions pushed their palms forward in a sacred mudra to restrain the demon. The sacred mudra clashed with the evil claws. The blackness broke through. The claws continued tearing towards Hua Qingqing. Under the might of the Demon Bird, Hua Qingqing looked especially small and fragile. She was like a weak girl who was about to be destroyed by the demon.
However, Hua Qingqing’s expression didn’t change. Her delicate pale fingers continued playing the instrument. Sacred light enveloped her and continuously expanded. Sacred music wrapped around her, transforming into a divine halo. It flowed towards the Black Wind Eagle, enveloping the shadow of the Demon Bird. The Black Wind Eagle cried out. Its evilness was about to be purified by the sacred light.
Hua Qingqing lowered her head. Her slender fingers danced over the instrument strings. She was fully immersed in the music, unaffected by anything else. The glow about her dazzled even brighter. She was like a saint that could not be tainted.
The Demon Bird’s light dimmed and brightened erratically. The Black Wind Eagle’s light crashed around. It screamed and continued crashing towards Hua Qingqing without caring about anything. Its sharp wings cut through the curtain of light. Its claws crashed towards Hua Qingqing but they seemed unable to touch the sacred light around her.
With a scream, the Black Wind Eagle soared into the air and then swooped down. It covered the sky, filling the air with evilness. It continued attacking but couldn’t breach Hua Qingqing’s defenses. After that, the air filled with countless afterimages. The Black Wind Eagle attacked wildly.
Sacred light wrapped around, covering Hua Qingqing in dazzling brilliance. She couldn’t be tainted. Right now, she was pure and flawless like a saint.
The Black Wind Eagle soared again. With a scream, it gulped the evilness of Sky Mountain. Its eyes grew more demonic. Spiritual Qi snaked around it and the Demon Bird’s shadow swelled. When it lowered its head, it looked down on everything arrogantly. The last shred of reason in its mind was about to be extinguished. The Demon Bird’s will would take over entirely.
The Black Wind Eagle turned to Ye Futian, taking one last look at him. Then its eyes started burning. It gazed at Hua Qingqing and the large body rushed down again. It transformed into a true Demon Bird, the king of darkness in the sky. It was like a bolt of black lightning that could destroy everything.
Hua Qingqing looked up. Before her, endless sacred light converged, transforming into a sacred and sharp sword. It could behead all evil. It stabbed towards the incoming the darkness. That moment, darkness and light collided. There was a horrible sound as the sacred light pierced the dark body. Dark power was driven back but those evil eyes were still coming. It looked extremely determined. Its claws came tearing down onto Hua Qingqing’s body. With a ripping sound, the untainted clothes were torn apart. Blood seeped out and Hua Qingqing flew backward, crashing against a boulder. Her face paled.
The Demon Bird transformed by the Black Wind Eagle instantly turned around and rushed up. It pounced towards the Arhat who was battling with Yu Sheng. Yu Sheng had long become exhausted. He forced himself to continue with his will, burning up his potential energy. The Arhat kept pushing him back. He was hit by the Buddhist light but he continued on.
Just as the Arhat was about to end the battle, he saw the king of darkness descend. The Arhat’s expression changed slightly. Buddhist light burned and the Thousand Hands of the Buddha appeared. They covered the sky and restrained the demon.
Rumbles kept sounding. The Demon Bird tore through all the hands, letting them fall on it without being affected. It just kept swooping down at the Arhat, the sharp claws coming down. The Arhat chanted and the Buddhist light dazzled, covering him. The sharp claws came down through the light. It hit the Arhat and sent him flying downward. He spat out blood; he was badly wounded.
The Black Wind Eagle was covered in blood. It screamed. Darkness covered its body to completely transform it. Its reason was disappearing. Bloodthirsty light filled its eyes. It cried out and soared up, going straight to the peak of Sky Mountain. If it remained there, it would kill everything, including Yu Sheng and Ye Futian.
“Little eagle.” Ye Futian looked up at the departing figure. He felt the spiritual mark the Black Wind Eagle had left get buried. Ye Futian could still sense its existence but he couldn’t control it anymore. He knew that the Black Wind Eagle had transformed into the Demon Bird to fight for him.
Boom. At this time, Yu Sheng fell too. He was at his limit and couldn’t keep going. The demonic will around him gradually faded. He was back to normal and lay quietly in the snow. Ye Futian walked over to him. He helped Yu Sheng up and put the other on his back. Turning, he looked at Ye Wuchen. The youth smiled at him. “Take Yu Sheng up. I can’t do it anymore,” Ye Wuchen said.
“Be careful.” Ye Futian nodded at Ye Wuchen. Then he continued up the path.
“You’re so heavy,” Ye Futian muttered. The two figures had a tragic feeling.
Ye Wuchen watched them continue up. He turned and started walking down. He couldn’t keep going anymore. Even if he recovered, he still couldn’t go to the top. Ye Futian had to take care of Yu Sheng. He had to give up. When he was close to Hua Qingqing, he saw that she had stood up. They exchanged glances. Ye Wuchen asked, “Did Qin Li and the people of the Qin Dynasty not deserve to die?” With that, he continued downward.
Hua Qingqing stared at his back. She obviously knew Ye Wuchen’s hatred of the Qin Dynasty. She could tell that the Qin Dynasty had arranged things to destroy the Liu Kingdom and take over the Eastern Barren Territory. The royalty of the Liu Kingdom had been killed. Ye Wuchen and Ye Futian obviously had a reason to want to avenge Liu Chenyu. Did the people of the Qin Dynasty deserve to die?
Her heart trembled, but she was from the Donghua Clan. She was the daughter of the clan leader. Yu Sheng had killed Qin Mengruo, wife of her senior brother, Qian Shanmu. She and Qian Shanmu were both good at rhythmic sorcery. They often learned with her mother as children. Thinking of this, she smoothed her thoughts and started walking up again. Her clothing was messy and bloodstained, but it was still pure.
The Arhat walked back with difficulty. He sat down and meditated with Buddhist light glowing around him. Hua Qingqing glanced at him and then to Ye Futian. She was confused. What was just? what was evil?
The Arhat tried to stop Ye Futian and kill the evil. But Yu Sheng, the evil in his eyes, risked everything to protect Ye Futian, even if it meant dying.
Even a beast sacrificed itself to be controlled by a demon to protect its master from getting injured.
How did one determine what was evil or just?
How could the handsome figure carrying Yu Sheng be so attractive? He could risk everything for his friends, Ye Wuchen and Liu Chenyu, and kill Qin Li. From Ye Wuchen and Liu Chenyu’s perspective, this was a friend for life. Because of that, they would live and die together.
Hua Qingqing liked rhythmic sorcery since childhood and had pure thoughts. She didn’t like conspiracies and didn’t care about the rivalries of the world. But this time, her will wavered. It was quite traumatic.
Perhaps her mother was right. It was too hard to preserve a pure heart in the world of cultivation. She was able to keep her innocence because of her high status and protection from her parents.
Three figures on the mountain path seemed to never be exhausted. They were so tired but still kept going.
The snow was still coming down, filling the air. Snow kept falling onto their bodies. Ye Futian often used fire spells to chase away the coldness around Yu Sheng.
Hua Qingqing kept following behind him. They continued climbing. After who knew how long, Ye Futian looked back at Hua Qingqing. The icy wind blew against his face. His eyes were tired but his smile was still like the sun.
“I have a girlfriend. You can’t keep chasing me,” Ye Futian said. Hua Qingqing froze. He blinked and then started walking again.
“Ah, it’s so annoying to be handsome.” Ye Futian was frustrated. He continued walking; he was so tired.
Time passed. The two figures on the snowy paths seemed especially tiny and lonely. They climbed higher and higher. Gradually, they could see the sky when they looked up.
The mountaintop was getting close.
The evil intent was extremely terrifying now. The invisible pressure weighed down on them. It felt that they were carrying the entire Sky Mountain.
Ye Futian paused and then continued. Each step left a footprint in the white snow. Each step looked extremely heavy. But he kept going without stop.
Behind him, Hua Qingqing left behind footprints as well. She was slow, very slow. She’d heard that only those with hearts pure enough could climb onto Sky Mountain.
Then what about Ye Futian?
She looked up at the figure up ahead, carrying Yu Sheng through the heavy snow. What kind of person was he?