CRACK!
Tengkorak itu terbuka, inti iblis jatuh dari dahinya. Sisa kerangka raksasa itu runtuh tanpa dukungan inti iblis.
Melihat kerangka yang runtuh itu, Yue Xiaoqian terkejut. "Kamu menanganinya semudah itu?!"
Long Chen hampir tersandung. Dia terkejut hanya karena metode sesederhana itu? Long Chen bahkan curiga dia sengaja mencoba mengganggunya.
Dengan satu pikiran dari Kekuatan Spiritualnya, inti iblis itu jatuh ke tangannya. Kali ini, dia secara khusus menggunakan Kekuatan Spiritualnya untuk merasakan energi di dalamnya.
Dia menemukan inti iblis itu dipenuhi dengan niat yang brutal dan ganas. Niat semacam itu hanya mengandung keinginan untuk membantai dan menghancurkan.
"Ini." Long Chen menyerahkan inti iblis itu kepada Yue Xiaoqian.
Yue Xiaoqian dengan hati-hati menatap Long Chen. "Apakah kamu ingin menanyakan sesuatu padaku?"
"Tidak."
"Bohong lagi. Kamu jelas-jelas sangat penasaran, dan kamu juga sangat waspada. Ibuku benar; orang-orang dari dunia luar memang semuanya munafik," dengus Yue Xiaoqian.
Long Chen memutar matanya. Tampaknya dia sekali lagi kembali menjadi dirinya yang cerdas. Dia membalas, "Jika kamu menempatkan kecerdasan seperti itu untuk bertarung, kamu pasti tak terkalahkan."
"Bohong lagi. Ibuku berkata bahwa alasan para ahli bisa menjadi ahli adalah karena mereka memiliki hati untuk menjadi lebih kuat. Jika mereka mengandalkan kecerdasan untuk menyelesaikan masalah mereka alih-alih mempercayai kekuatan mereka sendiri, mereka tidak akan pernah menjadi lebih kuat," bantah Yue Xiaoqian.
Kali ini Long Chen terkejut. Tampaknya pemikiran ibu Yue Xiaoqian identik dengan pemikiran Long Chen. Jika seorang ahli ingin menjadi lebih kuat, mereka tidak bisa sepenuhnya mengandalkan kecerdasan.
Mereka harus lebih percaya pada tubuh mereka daripada kepala mereka. Hanya dengan begitu mereka bisa menjadi lebih kuat. Itulah artinya memiliki hati seorang pejuang.
Meskipun kedengarannya agak kontradiktif, Long Chen telah mempercayai teori itu sepanjang waktu. Dalam menghadapi skema-skema ini yang ditujukan padanya, dia bisa saja memikirkan metode yang tepat untuk menyelesaikannya.
Namun, jika dia kemudian membentuk ketergantungan pada kecerdasannya, menggunakan otak untuk menyelesaikan semua perselisihannya, maka hati yang berani itu akan diam-diam terkikis, akhirnya hancur. Itu hanya cara malas untuk menangani sesuatu.
Jadi dalam menghadapi skema-skema ini, Long Chen tidak pernah mencoba melawannya dengan kecerdasan. Dia akan menggunakan tinjunya untuk menghancurkan skema lawannya.
Yang dia inginkan adalah kekuatan absolut. Dalam menghadapi kekuatan absolut, semua skema dan intrik hanyalah awan yang berlalu.
"Ibumu pasti seorang ahli yang luar biasa," puji Long Chen.
"Tentu saja. Ibuku adalah iblis..." Yue Xiaoqian senang mendengar pujian Long Chen tentang ibunya, tetapi di tengah pernyataannya, dia menutup mulutnya.
"Mari kita lanjutkan," Long Chen tersenyum.
"Long Chen, apakah kamu tidak takut padaku?"
"Aku tidak takut." Long Chen menggelengkan kepalanya. Aku bisa takut pada apa pun di dunia ini, tapi tidak pada seorang gadis.
"Kamu bahkan tidak tahu mengapa aku mengumpulkan inti iblis, juga tidak tahu latar belakangku. Tapi kamu tidak takut aku akan menyakitimu?"
"Apakah kamu tidak tahu membaca pikiran? Tidak bisakah kamu mengetahuinya?" Long Chen tertawa.
"Tentu saja aku tidak tahu cara membaca pikiran. Satu-satunya yang bisa kulakukan adalah menilai pikiran seseorang dari mata, ekspresi, napas, detak jantung, panas tubuh, dan fluktuasi spiritual mereka."
"Apa, serumit itu? Mengapa kamu repot-repot mempelajari semua ini? Supaya kamu bisa menjadi peramal untuk orang lain?" Long Chen tidak mengerti.
"Omong kosong. Nasib siapa yang akan kutebak? Ibuku berkata bahwa dunia luar sangat berbahaya, dan kata-kata tidak pernah mengungkapkan isi hati. Semua orang bermuka dua, kejam dan tanpa ampun, setuju denganmu di luar untuk menusukmu dari belakang. Dia tidak mengizinkanku keluar untuk berpetualang sebelum mempelajari hal-hal ini," kata Yue Xiaoqian dengan sedikit kesal.
"Ibumu sepenuhnya benar. Baik itu jalur Benar atau Korup, mereka semua orang yang berbahaya dan kejam yang memberimu kata-kata manis sebelum menusuk perutmu. Jalur Benar sangat berbahaya dalam hal itu," desah Long Chen.
Kata-kata Long Chen mengandung ejekan diri yang dalam. Dia adalah murid Benar, tetapi orang-orang yang paling ingin membunuhnya sebenarnya adalah sesama murid Benar. Itu cukup ironis.
Dibandingkan dengan kekejaman dan kebiadaban jalur Korup, intrik licik jalur Benar, kemampuan mereka untuk membunuh orang tanpa melakukan apa pun secara pribadi, itulah yang membuat orang menggigil.
Itu karena jalur Korup sebenarnya jarang menusuk dari belakang. Mereka biadab, tetapi persaingan mereka selalu dilakukan secara terbuka. Itu adalah kelangsungan hidup yang terkuat, hukum rimba.
Tetapi jalur Benar tidak seperti itu. Segala macam skema tercela ada di mana-mana, dan ada banyak aturan tidak tertulis. Orang-orang yang berkuasa menghalangi jalan banyak jenius, karena siapa pun yang bisa mengancam posisi mereka harus dieliminasi secara diam-diam.
Hanya memikirkan perilaku biara pertama, Long Chen dipenuhi amarah. Lalu ada juga dua bajingan Han Tianyu dan Han Tianfeng itu. Hutang mereka padanya harus dibayar dengan benar.
"Long Chen, apakah kamu orang jahat?" Yue Xiaoqian penasaran mengapa Long Chen benar-benar setuju dengan kata-kata ibunya. Bukankah itu berarti memasukkan dirinya sendiri ke dalam kategori itu?
"Ya, aku orang jahat. Dan di masa depan, aku akan menjadi semakin jahat."
"Kenapa?"
"Bahkan jika aku memberitahumu, kamu tidak akan mengerti. Pikiran kita tidak berada pada frekuensi yang sama." Long Chen menggelengkan kepalanya. Dia sudah tahu orang seperti apa Yue Xiaoqian itu.
Meskipun asal usulnya pasti membingungkan, dan kekuatannya tak terduga, dia masih seorang pemula, seorang amatir yang belum mengalami apa pun tentang dunia. Dibandingkan dengan rubah tua seperti Long Chen yang telah berjuang melewati berbagai bencana berkali-kali, mereka benar-benar tidak berada pada level yang sama. Long Chen tidak mau repot-repot menjelaskan semua ini padanya.
Tetapi bagaimanapun juga, dia adalah seseorang yang telah menyelamatkan nyawanya. Bantuan ini harus dibalas, dan karena dia membutuhkan inti iblis, Long Chen akan membantunya mengumpulkannya.
Mengenai asal usulnya, Long Chen tidak peduli. Karena dia menolak untuk mengatakannya, itu berarti dia memiliki masalah rahasianya sendiri. Memaksakan diri untuk mengetahui rahasianya bukanlah gaya Long Chen.
"Baiklah kalau begitu. Tapi aku tidak merasa kamu seburuk itu," kata Yue Xiaoqian.
Long Chen hampir tertawa. Mengapa kalimat itu terdengar begitu canggung? Jika dia tidak seburuk itu, bukankah itu berarti dia masih cukup buruk?
Tampaknya dia tidak mengerti apa yang sebenarnya Long Chen maksud ketika dia menyebut dirinya orang jahat. Long Chen juga terlalu malas untuk menjelaskannya, dan kedua orang itu hanya melanjutkan perjalanan dalam diam. Sebuah tikungan di jalan muncul di depan mereka.
Setelah melewati tikungan itu, mereka tiba-tiba melihat tumpukan kerangka. Mungkin ada ratusan, membentuk gunungan tulang.
Baik Long Chen dan Yue Xiaoqian terkejut. Mereka tidak menyangka akan melihat pemandangan seperti itu. Di depan tumpukan kerangka itu ada sebuah ruang kosong.
Di dalam ruang kosong itu ada kerangka lain. Tetapi kerangka ini hanya setinggi tiga meter. Setelah bertahun-tahun yang tak terhitung jumlahnya, pakaian dan dagingnya sudah lama hilang.
Seluruh kerangka itu berwarna perunggu, tampak seperti terbuat dari logam. Tubuhnya memancarkan tekanan yang kuat.
Bahkan dari jarak bermil-mil, mereka masih bisa merasakan kehendak kuat yang datang dari kerangka itu. Kehendaknya seperti lautan yang bergelora.
Kerangka itu memegang pedang lebar berwarna darah yang ditusukkan ke tanah. Meskipun sudah mati lama, ia masih berdiri di sana, memancarkan niat bertarung yang dahsyat.
"Kehendak yang sangat kuat." Long Chen tercengang. Ternyata ada ahli yang begitu menakutkan di dunia ini.
Mungkinkah Manusia Iblis Bersayap Dua di sekitarnya semua dibunuh oleh orang ini sendirian, dan sebagai akibatnya, orang ini kehabisan energi, juga mati dalam prosesnya?
"Orang itu seharusnya adalah seorang pejuang dari ras barbar di era kuno. Mereka disebut pejuang terkuat dari sepuluh dunia planar. Masing-masing dari mereka sangat pemberani, dan kemampuan bertarung mereka cukup untuk mengguncang langit," gumam Yue Xiaoqian, yang juga tercengang melihat kerangka itu.
"Aku tidak merujuk pada apa yang disebut suku barbar di duniamu. Kembali ketika dunia sedang makmur, pada awal mulanya, tujuh ras besar lahir, dan mereka adalah salah satunya. Nenek moyang mereka adalah seorang dewa yang disebut Dewa Barbar."
"Apakah dunia ini benar-benar memiliki dewa?"
Yue Xiaoqian ragu-ragu sejenak, tetapi pada akhirnya, dia melontarkan satu kata. "Ya."
Satu kata itu menyebabkan gelombang besar di hati Long Chen. Jadi ternyata benar ada dewa di dunia ini.
Kalau begitu, apakah legenda-legenda itu benar? Kembali di era abadi, dewa ada di mana-mana? Dengan lambaian tangan mereka, bintang-bintang hancur dan seluruh sepuluh dunia planar bisa dihancurkan?
Jika itu benar, maka mimpi yang dia alami bukanlah fantasi tanpa dasar. Dalam mimpi itu, dia melihat seorang pria, atau mungkin lebih tepatnya seorang dewa, bertarung melawan binatang yang sangat kuat di dalam bintang-bintang.
"Terima kasih. Jawabanmu sangat penting bagiku." Long Chen sangat berterima kasih. Ini memungkinkannya untuk mengkonfirmasi teori tertentu: Seni Tubuh Hegemon Sembilan Bintang bukanlah teknik biasa untuk kultivator, tetapi teknik ilahi.
Mungkin selama dia terus berlatih dengan tekun dalam Seni Tubuh Hegemon Sembilan Bintang, dia suatu hari akan mencapai keilahian. Darahnya mendidih ketika dia memikirkan adegan pria dengan cincin ilahi yang meledakkan langit, yang bisa menghancurkan kehampaan dengan lambaian tangan. Mimpi itu benar.
"Ayo pergi." Yue Xiaoqian mengangguk sambil tersenyum.
"Pergi? Kenapa? Kamu tidak menginginkan inti iblis itu?"
"Terlalu banyak kerangka di sini, dan mereka terlalu berdekatan. Kita tidak bisa menangani mereka satu per satu, jadi kita hanya bisa menyerah. Jika tidak, kita akan berakhir membuang nyawa kita." Yue Xiaoqian menggelengkan kepalanya.
Meskipun dia sangat menginginkan inti iblis itu, dia memiliki kecerdasan untuk menyerah padanya. Jika mereka mengaktifkan semua kerangka ini, mereka berdua pasti akan mati dengan cara yang tragis.
"Menyerah seperti ini bukan gayaku."
"Long Chen, jangan ambil risiko seperti itu. Tidak peduli betapa berharganya sesuatu, kamu tetap membutuhkan hidupmu untuk menikmatinya," nasihat Yue Xiaoqian.
"Tetapi..." Long Chen benar-benar tidak mau.
"Terima kasih Long Chen. Tetapi hanya dua inti iblis saja sudah cukup bagiku. Itu setidaknya bisa menyelesaikan sebagian
Translator: BornToBe
CRACK!
The skull split open, the devil core falling from its forehead. The rest of the huge skeleton collapsed without the support of the devil core.
Looking at the collapsed skeleton, Yue Xiaoqian was shocked. “You handled it so easily?!”
Long Chen almost stumbled. She was startled over such a simple method? Long Chen even suspected she was purposely trying to mess with him.
With a thought of his Spiritual Strength, the devil core dropped into his hand. This time, he specially used his Spiritual Strength to sense the energy within it.
He found the devil core was filled with a brutal and savage intent. That kind of intent only contained a desire to massacre and destroy.
“Here.” Long Chen handed the devil core to Yue Xiaoqian.
Yue Xiaoqian carefully looked at Long Chen. “Do you want to ask me any questions?”
“No.”
“Another lie. You are clearly extremely curious, and you are also heavily on guard. My mother was right; the outside world’s people really are all hypocrites,” snorted Yue Xiaoqian.
Long Chen rolled his eyes. It seemed she had once more returned to her smart self. He retorted, “If you placed that kind of intelligence on fighting, you would be unrivaled.”
“More lies. My mother said that the reason experts are able to become experts is because they have the heart to get stronger. If they relied on intelligence to resolve their problems instead of trusting in their own strength, they would never get any stronger,” refuted Yue Xiaoqian.
This time Long Chen was startled. It seemed Yue Xiaoqian’s mother’s thoughts were identical to Long Chen’s. If an expert wanted to get stronger, they couldn’t rely entirely on smarts.
They had to be more confident in their body than their head. Only then could they get stronger. That was what it meant to have a warrior’s heart.
Although it sounded a bit contradictory, Long Chen had believed in that theory the entire time. In the face of these schemes against him, he could have thought of an appropriate method to resolve them.
However, if he then formed a dependence on his intelligence, using brains to resolve all his disputes, then that courageous heart of his would be quietly worn down, eventually becoming obliterated. That was just the lazy way to handle things.
So in the face of these schemes, Long Chen had never tried to fight them with smarts. He would use his fists to crush his opponent’s schemes.
What he wanted was absolute strength. In the face of absolute strength, all schemes and plotting were just transient clouds.
“Your mother is definitely an amazing expert,” praised Long Chen.
“Of course. My mother is the devil” Yue Xiaoqian was happy to hear Long Chen’s praise of his mother, but halfway through her statement, she shut her mouth.
“Let’s continue onwards,” smiled Long Chen.
“Long Chen, are you not afraid of me?”
“I’m not afraid.” Long Chen shook his head. I can be afraid of anything in this world, but not a girl.
“You don’t even know why I’m gathering devil cores, nor do you know my background. But you refuse to be afraid of me hurting you?”
“Don’t you know mind reading? Can’t you tell?” laughed Long Chen.
“Of course I don’t know how to read minds. The only thing I can do is judge a person’s mental thoughts by their eyes, expression, breath, heartbeat, body heat, and spiritual fluctuations.”
“What, it’s this complicated? Why would you bother learning all this? So you can be a fortune teller for others?” Long Chen didn’t understand.
“What nonsense. Whose fortune would I tell? My mother said that the outside world is extremely treacherous, and words never reveal the inner heart. Everyone is two-faced, vicious and merciless, agreeing with you on the outside in order to stab you in the back. She refused to let me come out adventuring before learning these things,” said Yue Xiaoqian with a bit of vexation.
“Your mother was entirely correct. Whether it is the Righteous or Corrupt path, they’re all treacherous and cruel people who tell you honeyed words before stabbing you through the stomach. The Righteous path is especially dangerous in that aspect,” sighed Long Chen.
Long Chen’s words contained a profound self-mocking. He was a Righteous disciple, but the ones who wanted him dead the most were actually his fellow Righteous disciples. That was quite the irony.
In comparison to the Corrupt path’s cruelty and malevolence, it was the Righteous path’s crafty scheming, their ability to kill others without even doing anything personally, that made people shiver.
That was because the Corrupt path actually rarely stabbed people in the back. They were savage, but their competition was always fought openly. It was survival of the strongest, the law of the jungle.
But the Righteous path wasn’t like that. All kinds of contemptible schemes were everywhere, and there were many unwritten rules. People in power blocked the path of many geniuses, as anyone that could threaten their position had to be quietly eliminated.
Just thinking of the first monastery’s conduct, Long Chen was filled with fury. Then there was also that pair of bastards Han Tianyu and Han Tianfeng. Their debt to him would have to be properly repaid.
“Long Chen, are you a bad person?” Yue Xiaoqian was curious why Long Chen would actually agree with her mother’s words. Wouldn’t that be including himself in that category?
“Yup, I’m a bad person. And in the future, I’ll get more and more bad.”
“Why?”
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. Our minds aren’t on the same frequency.” Long Chen shook his head. He had figured out what kind of person Yue Xiaoqian was.
Although her origin was definitely puzzling, and her power was unfathomable, she was still a rookie, an amateur who hadn’t experienced anything of the world. Compared to an old fox like Long Chen who had fought his way through calamity multiple times, they really were not on the same level. Long Chen couldn’t be bothered to waste his breath explaining all this to her.
But no matter how he put it, she was someone who had saved his life. This favor had to be repaid, and since she needed devil cores, Long Chen would help her gather them.
As for her origin, Long Chen didn’t care. Since she refused to say, that meant she had her own secret troubles. Forcefully getting to the bottom of her secrets wasn’t Long Chen’s style.
“Alright then. But I don’t feel like you’re that bad,” said Yue Xiaoqian.
Long Chen almost laughed. Why did that sentence sound so awkward? If he wasn’t that bad, didn’t that mean he was still pretty bad?
It seemed she didn’t understand what Long Chen had truly meant when he called himself a bad person. Long Chen was also too lazy to explain it, and so the two of them simply continued onward in silence. A bend in the path appeared in front of them.
After making their way past the bend, they suddenly saw a pile of skeletons. There had to be hundreds of them, forming a mountain of bones.
Both Long Chen and Yue Xiaoqian jumped in fright. They hadn’t expected to see such a scene. In front of that pile of skeletons was an empty space.
Within that empty space was another skeleton. But this skeleton was only three meters tall. After all these countless years, its clothes and flesh had long since disappeared.
That entire skeleton was a bronze color, looking as if it had been made of metal. Its body emitted a powerful pressure.
Even though they were miles away, they could still sense the powerful will coming from the skeleton. Its will was like a surging ocean.
The skeleton was holding a blood-colored saber that had been stabbed into the ground. Despite having died long ago, it was still just standing there, emitting a torrential battle intent.
“What powerful willpower.” Long Chen was stupefied. There was actually such a terrifying expert in this world.
Could it be that the surrounding Two-Winged Devilmen were all killed by this one person, and that as a result, this person had run out of energy, also dying in the process?
“That person should be a warrior from the barbarian race of the ancient era. They were called the ten planar worlds’ strongest warriors. Each one of them was unspeakably brave, and their combat ability was enough to shake the heavens,” muttered Yue Xiaoqian, who was also stunned to see that skeleton.
“I’m not referring to the so-called barbarian tribes of yours. Back when the world was flourishing, at the very beginning, seven great races were born, and they were one of them. Their ancestor was a god who was called the Barbarian God.”
“This world really has gods?”
Yue Xiaoqian hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she spit out a single word. “Yes.”
That one word caused huge waves in Long Chen’s heart. So there really were gods in this world.
Then, were the legends true? Back in the immortal era, gods were everywhere? With a wave of their hands, stars shattered and the entire ten planar worlds could be destroyed?
If that was true, then that dream he had had wasn’t a baseless fantasy. In that dream, he had seen a man, or perhaps more accurately a god, fighting an incredibly powerful beast within the stars.
“Thank you. Your answer was extremely important to me.” Long Chen was extremely grateful. This let him confirm a certain theory: the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was not an ordinary technique for cultivators, but a divine technique.
Perhaps as long as he continued to bitterly train in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, he would one day reach godhood. His blood raced when he thought of that scene with the man whose divine ring burst apart the heavens, who could destroy the void with a wave of his hand. That dream was true.
“Let’s leave.” Yue Xiaoqian nodded with a smile.
“Leave? Why? You don’t want those devil cores?
“There’s too many skeletons here, and they’re too close together. We can’t handle them one by one, so we can only give up. Otherwise, we’ll end up throwing away our lives.” Yue Xiaoqian shook her head.
Although she felt great longing for those devil cores, she had the intelligence to give up on them. If they activated all these skeletons, the two of them would definitely die a tragic end.
“Giving up like this isn’t my style.”
“Long Chen, don’t take such risks. No matter how precious something is, you still need your life to enjoy it,” advised Yue Xiaoqian.
“But…” Long Chen really was unwilling.
“Thank you Long Chen. But just two devil cores is already enough for me. It can at least resolve part of the desperate situation in my clan,” said Yue Xiaoqian gratefully.
She really hadn’t thought Long Chen would be so loyal to her. These devil cores were extremely important to her, but she had already given up on them. However, Long Chen was actually willing to brave this danger to get this many devil cores for her. She really was incomparably grateful.
“Ah, but it’s not enough for me. I want that saber.” Long Chen was unwillingly staring at that blood-colored saber, a fervent passion burning in his eyes.
“You…scoundrel.” Only now did Yue Xiaoqian realize she had misjudged him. She reached out a hand and gave Long Chen’s arm a vicious pinch.
“Aiya, what’s wrong with you?!”
Long Chen felt an incomparable pain from his arm. He didn’t know what energy Yue Xiaoqian was using, but she was actually able to ignore the power of his physical body, causing him to feel incredible pain. Sweeping over his divine sense, he saw a large bruise.
“You…!” Seeing Long Chen get angry, Yue Xiaoqian felt wrong, and a wet mist appeared in her eyes. “My mother really was right, the outside world’s people really are all scoundrels! You’re also a bad person.” Yue Xiaoqian actually began crying.
Long Chen really hadn’t expected that just his mouth would be able to cause this woman, who was unimaginably powerful, to cry. “Hey, hey, don’t cry! Here, as my apology, I’ll do my best to think of a way to get you more devil cores, alright?”
“Really? I guess you have a conscience.” Yue Xiaoqian’s tears turned into smiles.
Long Chen was speechless. This woman was outrageously powerful, but why did she seem like a child?
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