Dao Of The Salted Fish

95. Battlefield

The air around Lin Yijun became increasingly heavy as they approached the location.

The vast plain below him was carpeted with grasses and flowers, swaying in the wind. Someone walking on the ground might view it as a pastoral idyll, but from overhead, he could see the deep, dark ravine that split the plain in two.

On one side, the Golden Sun Sect members and other righteous sects gathered. On the other side, demonic forces gathered.

Lin Yijun felt a nauseating sense of déjà vu. It was exactly like in his past life.

The junior righteous cultivators would fight the junior demonic cultivators. The senior righteous cultivators would fight the senior demonic cultivators.

And Lin Yijun would fight his best friend, Zhou Sheng.

“Wow, the Golden Sun guys came quickly, eager to fight, aren’t they?”

“OII!! YOU M*THER F*CKERS!!”

“HAHAHAH!!”

“...How utterly vulgar.”

“Those demonic rabble are a blight on the world.”

“It’s best to kill them quickly and release their hoarded qi back into the natural world.”

Dark and bloody and ghostly qi emanated from the demonic side like a cold wave. Some of it arched across the ravine, only to be blocked by a senior cultivator’s shield.

The wind became turbulent, caused by the chaotic movement of qi. Dark clouds rolled in on the demonic side, casting the ground into such deep shadow that it seemed that night had fallen.

Righteous cultivators countered with high winds that pushed those dark clouds back. Just like that, demonic and righteous cultivators threw flashy and dazzling moves. The ground shook as some cultivator decided on an earthquake as an intimidation method, just as the Golden Sun disciples were landing.

Sun Fuyu absently grabbed onto Wen-ge, stabilising both of them. He stared as huge amounts of qi were thrown back and forth violently. He rested his free hand on his sword, a fire burning in his heart. One day, he’ll be that strong too!

Wen Zhihao, however, wasn’t moved by the actions. Who made him have consumed power creep media? Why, punching an entire asteroid is nothing! With those kinds of posturing moves, was this meant to be a war or a game?

Lin Yijun descended as he approached the ravine. He landed at the edge and peered across to the other side, trying to catch a glimpse of Zhou Sheng amongst the crowd of demonic cultivators. Lightning crashed down, disappearing into the depths below: the heavens were watching.

Elder Wang precisely assessed both sides. The righteous side would win, this he was sure. Of course, people will die on their side too, but if they died, then they were fated to die. However...the junior disciples, headed by Lin Yijun, were remarkably calm. Elder Wang’s eyes narrowed: it was good that they are not nervous about this war, but that calmness might also lead to a weakening lethargy.

“Offering your junior disciples for sacrifice?” a senior demonic cultivator asked, his voice carrying to Elder Wang across the plain.

Elder Wang snorted. “They can sharpen their blades on you demonic scum.” And if certain members of certain factions could die...that was their fault for being weak. He was about to order the Golden Sect disciples to make the first move, when loud roars and growling filled the air.

“—Is this an attack—???”

The ground shook as a herd of big cats and one wolf came bounding over towards the Golden Sun Sect disciples. Cultivators rushed out of the way, eyes widening as the demonic beasts tackled Wen Zhihao.

“Grrrrr!!” Hey, where did you think you were going without us?

“Woof! Woof woof?!” Play play play? Is this a new game?

“Meowwww~” Pet me~~

Wen Zhihao laughed warmly, extending his hands to catch the large creatures, until he had a pile of them towering above him. “One at a time,” he chided them, as he lowered the pile to the ground.

On the plain, on both the demonic and the righteous sides, eyes grew bright. Look at those powerful and large demonic beasts! Not only could demonic beasts fight, but they also had a heart-soothing effect, which was increasingly important for stronger cultivators. While righteous cultivators had to hold back, demonic cultivators became injected with chicken blood—fight the righteous cultivators and capture a beast to be their pet slave!

Elder Wang’s forehead pulsed in annoyance, cursing Elder Liu Ru and her slovenly disciples. He opened his mouth, ready to command—

“The junior disciples have not seen war before. I will go first.” Lin Yijun’s voice was low but, with the help of his wind qi, carried across the entire plain.

Elder Wang’s jaw twitched. “…Very well.”

Lin Yijun held his sword and floated up into the air and over the ravine.

On the other side, multiple demonic cultivators tugged at Zhou Sheng’s robes.

“Come on! Zhou Sheng, let’s go and kill him!”

“They’re so stupid to send one person!”

“His blood must be so potent….”

“Zhou Sheng, don’t you hate Lin Yijun? It’s time for your revenge,” an elder of the Blood Sect drawled.

“Lin Yijun is my business, and I will deal with him myself. If any of you approach, I’ll kill you,” Zhou Sheng snarled. He had no scruples slamming the blunt end of his polearm into multiple stomachs, to the point that those demonic cultivators fell to the ground, curled up in pain from bloody wounds. They were lucky he didn’t use the sharp side.

With a powerful sweep of his polearm, the blood whip extending beyond it, he forced the other demonic cultivators back. Then, he walked forward. Qi condensed under his feet, allowing him to rise up into the air.

A sharp pain clawed his heart. The dark clouds, the lightning rolling overhead...

He had done this before.

He had walked this path before.

Those flashes of ‘memories’ dug into his mind, threatening to cripple him, but Wen Zhihao’s calming stone kept the headache at bay.

Zhou Sheng kept walking across the air, over the ravine, towards Lin Yijun.

One was the genius cultivator of the Golden Sun Sect: long black hair, pulled back into a golden hair ornament; pale golden robes embroidered with deep gold patterns laced with qi; and a shining sword with a golden-white tassel with a jade carved cat.

The other was the uprising cultivator of the Blood Sect: long black hair that whipped casually in the wind, the red hair ornament an afterthought; black robes edged with red the colour of blood; and a cruel-bladed polearm with a red tassel with a jade carved cat.

Their qi auras expanded out, clashing where it met in the air between them.

Although the war was happening earlier than expected, certain sharp, powerful eyes believed that this time, Lin Yijun, son of Heaven, would triumph with the combination of his power and knowledge of his past life.

Those sharp, powerful eyes above narrowed slightly. Tassels with a jade carved cat? Those did not exist in the previous life. But they were such minor things, and would not affect the outcome of this war.

As Lin Yijun and Zhou Sheng came closer and closer, their flight slowed down tacitly until their approach was like a casual stroll.

Cultivators watched expectantly. Who would make the first move? Who would spill the first blood? It had to be their side!

Lin Yijun’s sword cut through the air, from high to low, ending with its tip pointed down. “Zhou Sheng.” His voice was cold.

Zhou Sheng met his gaze.

The other cultivators place their hands on their weapons, ready—

“...This may be a bad time to say it...But I like—”

Zhou Sheng’s polearm arced through the air as he spun it in his hand. “I’m going to kiss you now, and don’t you dare stop me!”

Lin Yijun’s eyes widened. In a blink of an eye, his sword was put away, leaving his hands free to hold onto Zhou Sheng. Their lips crashed together, painful yet sweet.

A ferocious joy burst in their hearts as their qi clashed together, exploding like fireworks and momentarily blinding all onlookers.

 

95. Battlefield

The air around Lin Yijun became increasingly heavy as they approached the location.

The vast plain below him was carpeted with grasses and flowers, swaying in the wind. Someone walking on the ground might view it as a pastoral idyll, but from overhead, he could see the deep, dark ravine that split the plain in two.

On one side, the Golden Sun Sect members and other righteous sects gathered. On the other side, demonic forces gathered.

Lin Yijun felt a nauseating sense of déjà vu. It was exactly like in his past life.

The junior righteous cultivators would fight the junior demonic cultivators. The senior righteous cultivators would fight the senior demonic cultivators.

And Lin Yijun would fight his best friend, Zhou Sheng.

“Wow, the Golden Sun guys came quickly, eager to fight, aren’t they?”

“OII!! YOU M*THER F*CKERS!!”

“HAHAHAH!!”

“...How utterly vulgar.”

“Those demonic rabble are a blight on the world.”

“It’s best to kill them quickly and release their hoarded qi back into the natural world.”

Dark and bloody and ghostly qi emanated from the demonic side like a cold wave. Some of it arched across the ravine, only to be blocked by a senior cultivator’s shield.

The wind became turbulent, caused by the chaotic movement of qi. Dark clouds rolled in on the demonic side, casting the ground into such deep shadow that it seemed that night had fallen.

Righteous cultivators countered with high winds that pushed those dark clouds back. Just like that, demonic and righteous cultivators threw flashy and dazzling moves. The ground shook as some cultivator decided on an earthquake as an intimidation method, just as the Golden Sun disciples were landing.

Sun Fuyu absently grabbed onto Wen-ge, stabilising both of them. He stared as huge amounts of qi were thrown back and forth violently. He rested his free hand on his sword, a fire burning in his heart. One day, he’ll be that strong too!

Wen Zhihao, however, wasn’t moved by the actions. Who made him have consumed power creep media? Why, punching an entire asteroid is nothing! With those kinds of posturing moves, was this meant to be a war or a game?

Lin Yijun descended as he approached the ravine. He landed at the edge and peered across to the other side, trying to catch a glimpse of Zhou Sheng amongst the crowd of demonic cultivators. Lightning crashed down, disappearing into the depths below: the heavens were watching.

Elder Wang precisely assessed both sides. The righteous side would win, this he was sure. Of course, people will die on their side too, but if they died, then they were fated to die. However...the junior disciples, headed by Lin Yijun, were remarkably calm. Elder Wang’s eyes narrowed: it was good that they are not nervous about this war, but that calmness might also lead to a weakening lethargy.

“Offering your junior disciples for sacrifice?” a senior demonic cultivator asked, his voice carrying to Elder Wang across the plain.

Elder Wang snorted. “They can sharpen their blades on you demonic scum.” And if certain members of certain factions could die...that was their fault for being weak. He was about to order the Golden Sect disciples to make the first move, when loud roars and growling filled the air.

“—Is this an attack—???”

The ground shook as a herd of big cats and one wolf came bounding over towards the Golden Sun Sect disciples. Cultivators rushed out of the way, eyes widening as the demonic beasts tackled Wen Zhihao.

“Grrrrr!!” Hey, where did you think you were going without us?

“Woof! Woof woof?!” Play play play? Is this a new game?

“Meowwww~” Pet me~~

Wen Zhihao laughed warmly, extending his hands to catch the large creatures, until he had a pile of them towering above him. “One at a time,” he chided them, as he lowered the pile to the ground.

On the plain, on both the demonic and the righteous sides, eyes grew bright. Look at those powerful and large demonic beasts! Not only could demonic beasts fight, but they also had a heart-soothing effect, which was increasingly important for stronger cultivators. While righteous cultivators had to hold back, demonic cultivators became injected with chicken blood—fight the righteous cultivators and capture a beast to be their pet slave!

Elder Wang’s forehead pulsed in annoyance, cursing Elder Liu Ru and her slovenly disciples. He opened his mouth, ready to command—

“The junior disciples have not seen war before. I will go first.” Lin Yijun’s voice was low but, with the help of his wind qi, carried across the entire plain.

Elder Wang’s jaw twitched. “…Very well.”

Lin Yijun held his sword and floated up into the air and over the ravine.

On the other side, multiple demonic cultivators tugged at Zhou Sheng’s robes.

“Come on! Zhou Sheng, let’s go and kill him!”

“They’re so stupid to send one person!”

“His blood must be so potent….”

“Zhou Sheng, don’t you hate Lin Yijun? It’s time for your revenge,” an elder of the Blood Sect drawled.

“Lin Yijun is my business, and I will deal with him myself. If any of you approach, I’ll kill you,” Zhou Sheng snarled. He had no scruples slamming the blunt end of his polearm into multiple stomachs, to the point that those demonic cultivators fell to the ground, curled up in pain from bloody wounds. They were lucky he didn’t use the sharp side.

With a powerful sweep of his polearm, the blood whip extending beyond it, he forced the other demonic cultivators back. Then, he walked forward. Qi condensed under his feet, allowing him to rise up into the air.

A sharp pain clawed his heart. The dark clouds, the lightning rolling overhead...

He had done this before.

He had walked this path before.

Those flashes of ‘memories’ dug into his mind, threatening to cripple him, but Wen Zhihao’s calming stone kept the headache at bay.

Zhou Sheng kept walking across the air, over the ravine, towards Lin Yijun.

One was the genius cultivator of the Golden Sun Sect: long black hair, pulled back into a golden hair ornament; pale golden robes embroidered with deep gold patterns laced with qi; and a shining sword with a golden-white tassel with a jade carved cat.

The other was the uprising cultivator of the Blood Sect: long black hair that whipped casually in the wind, the red hair ornament an afterthought; black robes edged with red the colour of blood; and a cruel-bladed polearm with a red tassel with a jade carved cat.

Their qi auras expanded out, clashing where it met in the air between them.

Although the war was happening earlier than expected, certain sharp, powerful eyes believed that this time, Lin Yijun, son of Heaven, would triumph with the combination of his power and knowledge of his past life.

Those sharp, powerful eyes above narrowed slightly. Tassels with a jade carved cat? Those did not exist in the previous life. But they were such minor things, and would not affect the outcome of this war.

As Lin Yijun and Zhou Sheng came closer and closer, their flight slowed down tacitly until their approach was like a casual stroll.

Cultivators watched expectantly. Who would make the first move? Who would spill the first blood? It had to be their side!

Lin Yijun’s sword cut through the air, from high to low, ending with its tip pointed down. “Zhou Sheng.” His voice was cold.

Zhou Sheng met his gaze.

The other cultivators place their hands on their weapons, ready—

“...This may be a bad time to say it...But I like—”

Zhou Sheng’s polearm arced through the air as he spun it in his hand. “I’m going to kiss you now, and don’t you dare stop me!”

Lin Yijun’s eyes widened. In a blink of an eye, his sword was put away, leaving his hands free to hold onto Zhou Sheng. Their lips crashed together, painful yet sweet.

A ferocious joy burst in their hearts as their qi clashed together, exploding like fireworks and momentarily blinding all onlookers.