Chapter 92 - Dividing the Sabers
One after another, thunderous rumbles rose from the valley. Gu Hai and his party spared no effort attempting to break the barrier. However, they could do nothing, the barrier was just too sturdy. Even after the entire band attacked in concert, they were unable to cause even a single ripple in the barrier.
"My Lord, it cannot be broken, this barrier is just too powerful. Perhaps, it is indeed something left behind by Elder Guanqi, we can only remove the barrier by a certain method!" Shangguan Hen said with a frown.
Gu Hai's face turned gloomy as he stared at the scene beyond the barrier. Clearly, there were things past the barrier, but he couldn't take them, no matter what he did. It was extremely frustrating.
An imprisoned, blind old man and a golden dragon's tail under the barrier?
"After working so laboriously for so long, are we not going to be rewarded?" Chen Tianshan grimaced as he protested futilely.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes and a sliver of a cold smile crept up on his lips as he said, "Don't worry, someone will help us remove the barrier!"
---
The next day, Chen Tianshan, leading a team of men, walked out of the grand array, where he was met with countless deadly stares. Everyone’s nerves were taut. Only this group of former convicts appeared to be extremely relaxed.
Walking out of the array, with a sliver of a cold smile hung on his lips, Chen Tianshan looked about at the cultivators staring at him with ill intentions. "Hang it up!"
"Yes, sir!"
Having received their orders, a group of his men quickly hung a sign.
Whoever breaches the array without permission will be killed!
Astonishment took over the faces of numerous cultivators after reading the sign.
"How presumptuous!"
"Hmph, does Gu Hai really wants to make an enemy out of everyone?"
"What a joke! That day there were a hundred people who were acting recklessly and blindly; nothing more, nothing less! Today we have...!"
"Hmph!"...
The cultivators in the vicinity had a spiteful look on their faces after reading that plaque.
---
In a corner...
Meng Tai, with Feng Ling in his embrace, was also gazing from afar. Having looked at that plaque, Meng Tai narrowed his eyes. "Gu Hai, don't blame me for enticing them, you are blocking my road!"
Feng Ling, on the other hand, remained muddle-headed, as if she cared about nothing around her.
---
In another corner...
The Ninth Young Master, his mouth covered by a handkerchief, coughed for a while before speaking, "Why has Luo Tiange still not arrived?"
"He should be arriving very soon, Ninth Young Master!" a subordinate answered respectfully.
"Hmph!" the Ninth Young Master snorted in irritation.
---
Atop an enormous hill in the VIP section...
There were two men standing there, one dressed in golden robes, the other in silver robes. The golden-robed man was none other than Golden Horn, who had chatted with Meng Tai not too long ago.
"Great Brother, we are almost ready, there are already twenty thousand people who are willing to attack the array with us!" the silver-robed man declared in a deep voice.
"Silver Horn, be patient. It's us who gathered everyone, we can't just sit back and enjoy the labors of others. I have to prepare a good way to break the array," Golden Horn replied calmly.
"But, we can't drag on for any longer. If we keep dragging out the time, other Nascent Soul Stage cultivators may arrive. At that time, bigger variables will be added to the mix!" Golden Horn stated, his face lined with furrows.
"We will be ready by nightfall, okay?" Golden Horn answered easily.
"Okay! I will tell everyone to get ready to attack the array!" Silver Horn nodded.
Golden Horn nodded in return.
---
Today, the air in the Colosseum had become stranger.
Chen Tianshan was responsible for hosting the gambling. While at it, he was also spending money to buy outside news.
Although Golden Horn and Silver Horn had organized twenty thousand people, they did not unite them completely. It was quite easy to buy news from them.
Later in the afternoon, Chen Tianshan sought out the cultivator who was willing to sell information once more.
"Golden Horn and Silver Horn have organized twenty thousand cultivators?" Chen Tianshan blanched by this revelation.
"That's right! I heard that they will begin attacking the array in the evening. Well, I know this much only, don't tell anyone I told you this!" that cultivator, after taking the spirit stones, quickly disappeared from Chen Tianshan's view.
Chen Tianshan's face kept on changing with varying emotions.
---
After two hours...
"Captain, something's wrong. Some gambling cultivators are dispersing!"
"Yes, they appeared to be organized, they are moving in other directions!"
"Keep a close eye on them!"...
The men’s faces blackened as they reported their observations.
Gazing at the Colosseum, Chen Tianshan turned his head and said to the group of cultivators, "Well, as per my Lord's instructions, we have to return to the array to greet the enemy!"
"Yes, sir!"
A group of his men quickly cleared up the Golden Tong disciples before following Chen Tianshan towards the array.
"It’s about to start!" Cuddling Feng Ling, Meng Tai slightly narrowed his eyes as he watched these actions.
As Chen Tianshan and the others retreated towards the array, numerous cultivators swarmed after them.
"They are returning to the array, enter the array with them!" Golden Horn stared at the retreating Chen Tianshan with his eyes wide.
Along the way, the faces of Chen Tianshan and the others turned somber as more and more cultivators encircled them.
When Chen Tianshan and the others arrived at the entrance of the array, the cultivators around them unsheathed their swords and sabers, awaiting the order to attack.
Chen Tianshan looked about. Somewhat to his surprise, five thousand cultivators were encircling them, and their leaders were none other than Golden Horn and Silver Horn.
"Fellow daoists!" Chen Tianshan suddenly cried out.
"Hmm?" Golden Horn narrowed his eyes as he looked at Chen Tianshan.
"You see this sign?" Chen Tianshan pointed at the plaque that was hung a while back. "My Lord asked me to hang this up. Fellow daoists should be able to read it clearly: Whoever breaches the array without permission will be killed!" Chen Tianshan shouted loudly.
"Are you looking to die!?" Silver Horn rebuked coldly as he slashed his sword at Chen Tianshan.
"Enter the array!" Chen Tianshan shouted quickly.
"Yes, sir!" Hundreds of former convicts followed Chen Tianshan into the grand array.
The sword of Silver Horn cut only empty air.
"Charge into the array right here, together!" Golden Horn shouted out.
"Yes!" More than five thousand cultivators immediately shouted their agreement as they followed the Golden and Silver Horn to hunt Chen Tianshan down.
At the same time, many cultivators started rushing into the array from other fronts.
"Chen Tianshan, hold it right there!" Silver Horn shouted aloud as he hurried into the grand array.
From all directions, about twenty thousand cultivators charged into the array of clouds at the same time.
Sounds of swords and sabers rang out in the array as the men retreating into the array fended off some of the cultivators on their tails.
However, so long as it wasn't a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, the group of former gladiators was calm and fearless.
A vast white mist promptly spread everywhere as all the cultivators raced into the grand array.
"Chen Tianshan, I will see how Gu Hai will save you now!" Silver Horn shouted out as a vast sword aura came rushing at Chen Tianshan again.
However, Chen Tianshan, with an extra spirit stone in the shape of weiqi piece in his hand, directly stared at Silver Horn, his eyes intense.
Suddenly, a qi saber appeared out of the white vortex and charged at the incoming sword aura.
A thunderous bang deafened everyone's ears as the sword aura and qi blade collapsed into nothing in the subsequent collision.
"What?" Upon seeing this, Silver Horn's expression turned ghastly.
"I have already hung the plaque; whoever breaches the array without permission will be killed! Since you are looking to die, then, don't blame me! Sky saber unit, attack!" Gu Hai's voice suddenly reverberated across the grand array.
Upon hearing this, countless cultivators across the array were stuck with an ominous premonition, and a rush of terror rose within them.
"Senior Brother, look, that convict is coming toward us!"
"Why is there a sky saber floating over his head?"
"Ah? He can control the sky saber!"
"Not good, that sky saber is cutting towards us!"
"Block it!"
With a thunderous bang, a deep gully appeared on the ground as the sky saber came rushing down on their heads before splitting them into two. Surprisingly, one of Gu Hai’s men was controlling a sky saber.
Clutching a weiqi piece-like spirit stone and manipulating that qi blade like his arm, that man was over the moon with excitement, he felt like he was controlling a peerless weapon.
"Hahaha, what a powerful sky saber! Come on, you f**king bastards! Do you think you can rush into my Lord's Sky Sabers Life and Death Board? Do you think with so many people, my Lord will not be able to divide his attention to deal with you? There is no need for my Lord to divide his attention, all my Lord has to do is divide the sabers, that's more than enough! My Lord has given a sky saber to all three thousand of us! Unless you are a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, you will be chopped for sure! Kill!" that man shouted aloud.
With a loud screeching of metal rasping on the air, the man quickly propelled the sky saber towards the crowd with the help of a spirit stone shaped like a weiqi piece.
"Not good, I will smash it into pieces!"
"Smash my ass, you are just a Xiantian Stage cultivator, you think you can block the sky saber, cut!"
BANG!
"Ah!" "Run!" "Escape!"...
In a flash, three thousand criminals, each holding a sky saber, started a bloody massacre everywhere. Under the pressure of the grand array, the terrified cries of twenty thousand men rang out all across the array, wanting to escape. However, they seemed to be unable to tell which was north and which way was south.
Among the attackers, only the Gold and Silver Horns could block the sky sabers. Seeing the horrifying slaughter all around them, a ghastly look appeared on the duo's faces.
At this moment, Chen Tianshan, along with twenty other men, were attacking with the sky sabers.
"Break!"
The two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators shouted aloud as they pushed the sky sabers away.
"Retreat! Forget them, let's kill the others!" Chen Tianshan said in a loud voice. His men roared their acknowledgement of the order.
"Where do you think you are going!" Silver Horn glared murderously, wanting to chase them down.
"Silver Horn, don't chase them, it's useless! Let's rush deeper, Gu Hai is all alone at the moment!" Golden Horn said excitedly.
"Good!" Silver Horn's eyes lit up.
The two charged deeper into the array.
As expected, the Sky Sabers Life and Death Game was simply unable to block the Nascent Soul cultivators! After all, laying an array using spirit stones had its own drawbacks. Its power could only be this much. As a result, the two Nascent Soul Stage cultivator ran towards the Dragon Turtle Palace.
Along the way, the two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators' faces darkened listening to the miserable screams coming from every direction.
"Great Brother, why haven't we arrived yet? Are we going in the wrong direction?"
"With this mist everywhere, maybe we lost the direction!?" An ugly look immediately appeared on the two Nascent Soul cultivators' faces.
"Let's fly up!" Golden Horn suddenly proposed.
The duo quickly flew up. But in the blink of an eye, it appeared as if everything had turned upside down, they couldn't tell right from left, up from down.
"Great Brother!?" Silver Horn cried out anxiously.
"Let's use the trees as a reference!" Golden Horn proposed in a loud voice.
"Alright!"
The two brothers fumbled their way towards the Dragon Turtle Palace.
---
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Dragon Turtle Palace...
Gu Hai, dressed in white robes, quietly sat before a weiqi board jam-packed with spirit stones. As a matter of fact, Gu Hai was controlling the entire array with this weiqi board.
"Ah~, don't kill me!"
"Help!"
"Murderers, sky sabers!"
"Sky saber again, noooooo!"...
All across the array, blood-curdling screams rang out without end. Once anyone stepped into the array, he could not tell east from west, north from south. More importantly, Gu Hai wasn't picking them off one by one, on the contrary, he had sent three thousand criminals to hunt the attackers down with everything they got. It was completely one-sided.
As for Gu Hai’s men, they didn't need any directions. So long as they found any invader, it was all well and good. They killed them on sight.
"I warned you, but humans die in pursuit of wealth and birds die in pursuit of food!" Gu Hai heaved a sigh.
---
Outside the array, there were still many cultivators who hadn’t participated in Golden Horn's attack.
When the miserable screams from the array floated into their ears, each and every one of them gulped nervously.
"Massacring everyone who rushes into the array!"
"Is Gu Hai really planning to kill everyone completely?"...
Everyone's faces turned horrid. They felt incomparably gratified that they had not joined Golden Horn's and Silver Horn's team.
Earlier, the few words on that plaque looked like nothing more than a joke. But now, those very same words scalded their eyes.
Whoever breaches the array without permission will be killed!
While the cultivators outside the array were feeling lucky, the same could not be said for the cultivators inside. Despair rose within their heart. Gu Hai was holding true to his words. He was truly going to kill everyone!? He wasn't afraid to make enemies out of various major sects in the entire Thousand Islands Seas!?
---
Outside the Colosseum, Meng Tai's eyebrows twitched madly.
---
Under another roof, the Ninth Young Master sat next to a rock table, drinking tea while gazing at the distant array.
"Ke ke ke, in the years I stayed in the Endgame world, did the cultivators outside turn stupid? They even dare to rush haphazardly into an array which they have no idea about! Did they think that if they gathered more people, things would turn out fine? More people just means more deaths, ke ke ke!" The Ninth Young Master coldly smiled between his coughs, listening to the shrill cries coming from the grand array.
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Translator’s Note:
I was using Jin Jiao and Yin Jiao. But with a discussion with my editor, this chapter gave us a new perspective. We felt Jin Jiao and Yin Jiao were more like titles than their names as both of them are blood brothers. And it wasn’t complying with chinese naming sense, meaning surname comes first. So we will be using Golden Horn and Silver Horn.