Chapter 46
The scenery of the sky above has not changed for a long while now as if the idea of time seems to have not existed in this place. The clear blue skies and clouds are just like murals that cover the sky. Although the scenery is truly fascinating but after a long while it became boring and stale. The island down below which is surrounded by the sea seems to be in tranquillity and peace. But behind its quiet surface and deep within its bowels, a boiling rage is slowly getting ready to blow up as time passes by.
At this time Shin Jiao is observing his surroundings and looking at the two figures from afar. He can see that the two girls were not hurt and just had an anxious look, especially Susu Ling. Qin Lou just sits there quietly but her hand would always rub each other every now and then, which shows that she too is a little anxious and worried about something.
"I need to find a way to rescue them." Shin Jiao thought.
"Shin Jiao, we need to go." Lemy suddenly said while looking out.
"Hey, I'm older than you why do you call me by my name? You should call me a big brother or something." Shin Jiao said in low voice with an annoyed tone.
"Haha… you seem to forget you're either a mortal or a cultivator. If I think about it you might have the power of a cultivator still your main aura is a mortal. So your life is shorter, you should be the one calling me big brother." Lemy said with a teasing tone in Shin Jiao's head.
"Haha… A little kid like you wanted me to call you his big brother?" Shin Jiao laughed shaking his head.
"Let's go, BIG BROTHER! Haha…" Shin Jiao teased.
The two quietly sneaked out of the village, but unknown to them, someone is already keeping an eye on them.
"Shin Jiao I know you wanted to rescue your friends. But remember that Mok Dong is very strong is not an easy opponent. With your cultivator power gone because of the environment, you are not a match for him. Wait for three days, and then you may have a chance to rescue them." Lemy said while they slowly sneaked out.
"What do you mean? What's going to happen in three days?" Shin Jiao asked.
"Um… in three days the villagers will sacrifice your friends to the Mountain God. At that time you can have a chance to rescue them as Mok Dong would be weakened like a mortal." Lemy explained.
"What!... But… Okay, I understand. But you always say that Mok Dong is very powerful? How strong could he really be?" Shin Jiao asked with a tinge of worry and curiosity in his face.
No one knows that he could still use his strength in this place but himself. Although cultivation skill can't be used, for Shin Jiao who didn't know any skills he didn't mind. He can just use the things he crafted to fight against anyone in this place. So he is not worried to face that Mok Dong person, but what worries him is that he didn't know if they would use his friends as a shield, and that is the thing he cannot risk.
"He is very strong, stronger than both of us. He is even stronger than this whole village fighting together. So you have to follow what I say okay?" Lemy explained.
"Okay, I'll go with your suggestion…" Shin Jiao said but then suddenly he became vigilant as he felt that someone's looking at them.
"Killing intent! Someone is watching us." Shin Jiao immediately realized the situation.
"Lemy, we need to escape quickly! Someone already found us." Shin Jiao said with panic in his voice.
"What? I don't see anyone." Lemy answered while he spreads his spiritual sense all over but still could not find any trace of a person who is near them.
"Trust me…" Shin Jiao said but then suddenly look at the distance on the far left from Lemy.
"Watch Out!" Shin Jiao shouted as he quickly jumped by reflex wanting to protect the little boy.
A short spear is actually flying really fast towards Lemy who is still unaware of his predicament. Then when he heard Shin Jiao's shout he became a little cautious and spread his spiritual senses further which is around 20 meters. In this place, this is the most distance that a cultivator's spiritual sense that lives here can reach. But when the spear enters his spiritual range the boy's eyes went wide in fear and trepidation as the speed the spear is traveling is too fast for him to react. Before he could move he saw Shin Jiao's figure moving also at an impossible speed and went in-between him and the spear.
Shin Jiao wanted to catch the spear, but judging from its speed and power it would be nay impossible, as the power from that throw may have been exerted from an infant soul realm cultivator which is at least a realm higher than his current strength. If only he is at the 40th sphere then he may have a chance to stop it as his raw strength at that time can be compared to a peak of gold core realm cultivator. This made Shin Jiao sighs in regret with his slow progress. If only he could quickly find a way to improve his cultivation and enhancement method he could quickly have the strength to protect others. Well, cultivating is actually easy for him, what makes it hard is the path he needs to take, which requires a lot of research and encounter with luck itself.
His train of thoughts at this time was interrupted when Shin Jiao felt that something has inserted itself in his right shoulder. The sudden pain that comes with it made Shin Jiao grimaced as he knows that the spear may not be as simple as he thought.
Shin Jiao's body was thrown towards a wall because of the power behind the throw. But luckily the spear wasn't able to dig deep enough through his skin and not even enough to penetrate through his back. This made Shin Jiao felt thankful at the bone density and structure of his body which was enhanced by the orb in his dantian. He didn't expect his bones to have already been tampered to such degree that Shin Jiao felt it's tougher than metal. The big orb containing all the spheres inside his dantian has automatically refined his body every day little by little to such extent already.
Shin Jiao's gaze suddenly was focused on the top of the mountain. Although the distance between them is a little far maybe around 30 or so kilometers still his eyes were able to see the small figure standing on a rock and also seem to be looking at him.
Meanwhile, the man is also looking at them down below.
"The spear didn't hit that brat but instead hit another. It seems the little boy found someone to help him. Anyway, I'll just hunt that brat Lemy again. But that person who helps him is a dead man already. He can't survive the poison that I Mok Dong made, hehe…"
Shin Jiao saw the figure retreat casually so he stood up and wanted to start walking but then felt his body become heavy. Still, he forced himself to walk so that they could get away from this place.
"We need to go! I think the villagers have found our location. I can now sense their presence... Wait a minute... This... this is bad. I think that is... that is Mok Dong's spear." Lemy said with worry and horror in his eyes as he looks at Shin Jiao and the spear embedded in his shoulder.
Lemy supported Shin Jiao with ease even though he is shorter as his cultivation level is enough to carry 50 or more of Shin Jiao's weight.
"By the way, thank you for saving my life. If not for you Mok Dong would have killed me back there. I don't know why he is desperate to hunt me; it's been a couple of hundreds of years now." Lemy said as he and Shin Jiao escaped the village.
While Lemy is talking Shin Jiao is actually not paying attention as his consciousness is starting to get muddled. Then he can clearly feel that something is seeping into his veins which slowly corrode his body on a cellular level. Without a choice, Shin Jiao could only exert his own spiritual Qi to try and fight against the foreign element trying to invade his body.
Upon reaching the cave Lemy lay Shin Jiao down on the ground. His face was full of anxiousness as he knows that the poison on Mok Dong's spear has no cure. He had seen thousands of cultivators for the last hundreds of years being killed by that spear. Even those who took medicine are still unable to sustain and would eventually turn into a puddle of blood.
"I… I… sorry… I… can't… help…" Lemy forcefully said as he can sense that Shin Jiao's mind is already closed.
The boy shook his head in dejection because he finally found someone to be his friend but then fate seems to play a cruel game and would take his new friend away from him. Then without a choice, Lemy slowly pulled out the sphere from Shin Jiao's shoulder, which immediately spurted out some thick green blood.
Then Lemy shook his head in sorrow and went outside with some tears in his eyes. He decided to just wait for the moment that his newfound friend would leave him. He cannot bear to see Shin Jiao die and so he just sadly sit near the suspicious tree that emits the thick and chaotic energy.
Meanwhile, Susu Ling and Qin Lou are not feeling too happy as the situation they were in is a little unusual and hopeless. They discovered that in this place they are unable to use the spirit Qi or any skills. No matter how hard they try to absorb or use spirit Qi it would just disperse in the air. Plus they can feel their body is as weak as a mortal in this place making them desperate and worried. The only consolation is that they saw Shin Jiao before coming to this place. Making them feel relieved as he is not actually dead but alive, and when they were about to be eaten by the worm he was there about to rescue them.
"Senior Qin Lou what should we do now? You've heard what the man said; we are to be the sacrifice to the Mountain God of this place." Susu Ling said worriedly.
"Sigh, what can we do? It's hopeless. Without our cultivation, we are powerless against them." Qin Lou said as if resigned to her faith.
"But… I will not go down without a fight." Qin Lou added.
This made Susu Ling smile, she truly is her idol. In any situation, she would always display her gallantry and heroism which can inspire people to fight and never give up.
"I think Shin Jiao is in this place too." Susu Ling said as she looks as Qin Lou on the other cage beside hers.
"I think so too." Qin Lou replied looking down.
Then the two look at each other and chuckled as if having a tacit understanding of Shin Jiao.
"Why do you put your trust on that mortal Senior sister Qin? I mean yeah, he might be a genius when it comes to formation array but still, he's just a mere mortal." Susu Ling casually said while she calmly sits on the ground.
"Chuckle… I don't know if it's right for me to say this but I guess if we are to die here. Then it's no use in keeping this secret. At least you are also our friend." Qin Lou said as she calmly looks up in the clear blue sky.
"Secret? Don't tell me you two are… no way! You two?" Susu Ling had an incredulous thought which shows in her reaction.
"What are you thinking about? I'm talking about Shin Jiao being a cultivator." Qin Lou said trying to be defensive.
"What!? That's impossible, right? I mean no matter how I look at it he doesn't have an aura of a cultivator." Susu Ling asked still unable to believe this information.
"I don't know how he did it either, but I know that his cultivation level is at the core-forming realm." Qin Lou said while thinking of the first time she saw Shin Jiao's peculiar aura.
"Really, even master Ju was not able to determine him as a cultivator either. This is really an eye-opener. If only master Ju knows he would gladly take him as his disciple. That old man is crazy when it comes to people who are talented with formation arrays." Susu Ling said.
While the two women casually talk, Shin Jiao, on the other hand, is fighting for his life at the moment. The poison is slowly spreading through his bloodstream. Most of the veins in his body are starting to turn green and his skin is already pale. On the side of Shin Jiao's mouth, green blood is slowly coming out as he is trying to suppress the poison from spreading. But no matter how hard he tries it's already futile as it's already in his heart.
"Am I going to finally die here? After my painstaking cultivation and gain in strength, is this really the end?" Shin Jiao said to himself with a tinge of regret as he thought of the things that had happened so far.
"No, I can't accept this… I… I have to fight… this… but… but how? Arggh!" Shin Jiao said as he squirms in pain.
Inside Shin Jiao's body, something actually happened. When the poison suddenly enters Shin Jiao's dantian it stopped spreading as if frozen by time. Then the big orb inside his dantian suddenly trembled as if it became excited upon tasting something very delicious. Without any warning, Shin Jiao suddenly feel his dantian shivering and the orb began to do a suction motion which slowly sucks the poison in it. Although this is just a simple suction it actually gave Shin Jiao a huge amount of pain, as his whole body has already been infected with the poison.
He didn't expect this to happen so he just gritted his teeth and try to bear the agony as it slowly tortures his whole body. At this time Shin Jiao has experienced the most gruesome experience he ever had in his whole life. It's like the pain of a thousand knives slowly cutting every single nerve and tissue in his body. He wanted to scream but his voice is already muffled as his vocal cord has already been ruined by the poison.
And right now the only thing that's keeping him sane and conscious is his will to survive and live.