Chapter 956

In centipede valley, a miniman clinging to Hong Yi’s head urges him to outrun a wild rank five golden horn centipede. Hong Yi holds only rank two upper stage cultivation, already very rare for his age. It counts for nothing against the beast closing on him. The miniman cannot fly; its wings are already broken. It had stolen the rank five material hundred flower dew from a cave, drawing the guardian centipede’s hostility, and now flees with Hong Yi on his greater speed. Hong Yi later blames it for screaming instead of taking the dew quietly while the centipede slept. ^{ch. 956}

With the centipede nearly on him, Hong Yi risks his one killer move, a movement technique built from nearly ten mortal Gu, a relatively huge number for a Gu Master. He has only recently learned it and rarely practiced it. Its success and failure odds stand at fifty percent each. Activating it demands intense concentration he cannot spare while dodging rocks and outrunning death. Fang Yuan can use such moves with ease, from a huge amount of experience across five hundred years in his previous life, but Hong Yi remains a newbie who has not reached an expert’s absolutely calm focus. ^{ch. 956}

Each time the centipede lunges to bite, it lifts its head and half its body off the ground before landing heavily, dropping its speed enough for Hong Yi, running flat out, to dodge every strike. The miniman notices the pattern and laughs. Hong Yi takes offense. The two bicker over whose carelessness caused the danger. ^{ch. 956}

Unable to bite him, the centipede switches to its horn, the same reflex it uses on prey too large to swallow. Its size makes the strike unavoidable. The horn stabs into Hong Yi’s buttocks. The sudden, intense pain gives him a moment’s inspiration, and he activates the killer move. His speed rises by a huge amount, and he shoots free like a cannonball, pulling the horn loose and bleeding. ^{ch. 956}

The pain distracts him again, and the move falls apart; his speed drops until the horn stabs his other buttcheek. The same shock of pain lets him activate the move once more and sprint clear. Both wounds run very deep, bleeding heavily from his intense movement. His primeval essence, already scarce for a Gu Master, runs out from the repeated activations. With death closing in, the terrified miniman begs the centipede to eat Hong Yi instead of itself. ^{ch. 956}

A sword light that shakes the world flashes, and everything turns white and silent. Hong Yi keeps running before he notices anything wrong and looks back. The centipede has vanished completely, and half of centipede valley has vanished with it, replaced by a huge, deep trench with sides extremely smooth like a mirror. Both of them are left completely stunned. ^{ch. 956}

On Central Continent’s east coast, a Gu Master leads youngsters to profound ice island, naming it Flying Frost Sect’s home and their own future. The sect has no Gu Immortals and is not a super force, yet within a huge surrounding area it is the supreme overlord, contested only by Five Virtues Sect. Its reputation has spread widely since it recently hosted part of the Refinement Path Convention. Very excited, the Gu Master calls these youngsters the highest-aptitude intake in ten years. ^{ch. 956}

Sword light flashes again. The blinded youngsters open their eyes to find the whole ice island gone, replaced by a deep trench. The sea itself is split, a stretch five to six li long completely emptied of water. The lingering sword path dao marks are extremely overbearing, blocking the water path dao marks from filling the gap. ^{ch. 956}

In Heavenly Court, Heaven Overseeing Tower Lord stands below the tower. He gently rubs fate Gu in his old hand. He is extremely excited that it has just been repaired to a great extent, with his three fellow restorers, Bai Cang Shui, Lian Jiu Sheng and Bi Chen Tian, already gone to the mortal world. Heavenly Court rules the ten great ancient sects of Central Continent and draws its own members from them. Beyond attainment, battle strength and rank eight cultivation, Heavenly Court selects on values: Star Constellation Immortal Venerable defined it three million years ago as following heaven’s will and upholding justice for heaven. ^{ch. 956}

Reasoning that fate Gu can now use half its power, the Tower Lord expects Heaven Overseeing Tower to find and eliminate more people who escaped fate, repairing fate Gu further in a cycle that will restore the tower’s former glory. Full of anticipation, he prepares to step back inside. A sword light shoots down like lightning and slices through Heaven Overseeing Tower. His mouth falls open, and his pupils shrink to pins. His body turns extremely stiff as he watches its upper half tilt and crash onto the jade floor. He screams the tower’s name. ^{ch. 956}