Chapter 20: Chaos Qi
"We're family — no need for formalities. Come on, let's go! Move too slowly and the treasure will be gone!" Nan Rou said with a smile.
"Mm!" Nan Qiao nodded.
* * *
On the other side of the mountain, with only a few dozen steps left before the summit, Qin Guan's movements began to slow.
He hadn't expected the gravitational suppression up here to be this intense. At this moment, it felt as though an entire mountain had been pressed down upon him — every single step was a grueling ordeal.
Without iron willpower and endurance, reaching the summit would be nearly impossible. This first trial alone would likely eliminate a great many people.
Time passed, moment by moment. When he finally set foot on the last step, the gravitational suppression vanished instantly. Qin Guan let out a long breath, feeling as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
He had cleared the first trial!
He quickly surveyed the summit. Before long, a wooden puppet not far away caught his attention. Behind the puppet stood a heavy stone door, wrapped in a strange, pulsing energy.
Creak! Creak!
The wooden puppet noticed Qin Guan and walked straight toward him. Then, mid-stride, it suddenly vanished.
Bang!
Qin Guan reacted instantly, throwing a fierce punch to his left — connecting squarely with the fist of the puppet that had reappeared right beside him.
Boom!
A violent Gang Qi blast erupted outward. The surrounding air seemed to be sliced apart by invisible blades, letting out a sharp, piercing shriek.
"Not bad at all, this wooden puppet — it's actually a bit stronger than that old scoundrel Cangyuan!"
After trading that single blow, Qin Guan muttered inwardly with quiet admiration.
Whoosh!
A sharp, whistling crack rang out as the puppet's other fist came hurtling toward Qin Guan's head like a bolt of lightning.
Bang!
Before the puppet's fist could even get close, its entire body was sent flying by a single punch from Qin Guan.
Boom!
The moment it hit the ground, the puppet immediately launched itself back. Just as it was about to close in on Qin Guan, it abruptly changed direction — and in the next instant, four wooden puppets appeared simultaneously, surrounding him from all four directions.
The four puppets moved in perfect unison, attacking from the front, back, left, and right all at the same moment.
A four-way shadow clone technique!
Seeing this, the corner of Qin Guan's mouth curved slightly upward. He twisted his body sharply and delivered a sweeping kick at the puppet behind him.
Bang!
The puppet went flying once again.
This time, before it even hit the ground, Qin Guan was already airborne above it. He crossed both hands into a double-fisted hammer and brought them crashing down.
Bang — Crack!
The puppet was smashed to pieces. A black key clattered to the ground.
Qin Guan picked up the key and looked toward the stone door. He quickly spotted a keyhole on the wall to the right of it.
Rumble!
Qin Guan inserted the key, and the heavy stone door slowly ground open.
Beyond the door was a void — nothing could be made out. It was like a passage leading into endless hell, or a bottomless abyss stretching ten thousand feet deep, enough to make anyone hesitate.
This was a test of one's state of mind. Qin Guan saw through it at a glance.
Such a simple door — and yet, for most people, overcoming the psychological barrier to step through it would be nearly impossible.
Without a moment's hesitation, Qin Guan stepped through.
The instant he crossed the threshold, his vision suddenly brightened, and he found himself standing inside an ancient hall.
Qin Guan looked around. The hall had been worn by the passage of time — crumbling in places, blanketed in thick layers of dust, exuding an air of age and desolation.
Could this be the floating palace he had seen from the base of the mountain?
He wondered to himself.
"What's that?"
Just then, a luminous screen of light suddenly blazed to life on the wall at the center of the hall.
Qin Guan strode over quickly. Mysterious runes shimmered faintly across the surface of the light screen, radiating a subtle but unmistakable aura of energy.
As Qin Guan stared at the screen, a line of text suddenly appeared: Break the Array Formation, and the Heaven-Defying Inheritance shall be yours.
"Heaven-Defying Inheritance — 'Heaven-Defying'... 'Defying Heaven'... Could this truly be the Inheritance of Senior Yang Tianni?!"
Qin Guan's eyes blazed with excitement. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest!
"Hah!"
Qin Guan exhaled sharply and forced himself to suppress the surge of emotion, willing himself to calm down. He turned his gaze to the Array Formation light screen before him and furrowed his brow.
Break the Array Formation?
There were generally several ways to break an Array Formation: find the underlying mechanism governing its operation and dismantle it from within; use a powerful artifact to shatter it; or take the most direct approach — overwhelm it with sheer brute force.
Array Formations were driven by Spiritual Energy, and he had no aptitude for that whatsoever. His only option was to try brute force.
Qin Guan stepped back a few paces and threw a punch at the light screen.
Poof!
To his surprise, his fist sank into the screen as though striking a mass of cotton — all his force was absorbed and dispersed without a trace.
Undeterred, Qin Guan increased his power and struck again. The result was identical. Not a single scratch on the light screen.
Growing irritated, Qin Guan activated his Martial Artist's Gang Qi and unleashed a relentless barrage of punches, fast as a storm. The previously smooth light screen began to ripple and distort under the assault, a massive vortex forming at its center — but his fists still could not break through.
"With your current level of power, even if you opened all eight battle gates, you still couldn't break through this Array Formation barrier."
Just as Qin Guan was hammering away furiously, the voice of the Little Black Pagoda suddenly rang out in his mind.
Hearing this, Qin Guan withdrew his fists. He had nearly forgotten about the Little Black Pagoda — perhaps this thing could break through the Array Formation.
"Pagoda Lord, can you break through this barrier?" Qin Guan asked urgently.
"Yes," the Little Black Pagoda replied.
"Then hurry up and break it! Once this Array Formation is broken, I can claim the Dual Cultivation of Sword and Martial Arts Inheritance!" Qin Guan's voice was tinged with urgency.
"And why should I help you?" the Little Black Pagoda said flatly.
Qin Guan's expression darkened.
"If you want my help, you'll need to agree to one condition," the Little Black Pagoda said, abruptly shifting its tone.
"What condition?" Qin Guan asked immediately.
"Share a little of the Chaos Qi on your body with me, and I'll break this Array Formation for you," the Little Black Pagoda said calmly.
"Chaos Qi?" Qin Guan frowned.
"That white qi that appeared inside your body the night you and your wife had your little... encounter," the Little Black Pagoda reminded him.
Qin Guan was taken aback. So the black pagoda's appearance that night really was connected to that white qi inside him. Thinking about it, he asked curiously, "Pagoda Lord, what exactly is Chaos Qi?"
"The primordial source of all things in the universe," the Little Black Pagoda replied.
"The primordial source of all things in the universe?" Qin Guan's brow furrowed. Why on earth would something like that appear after he and Nan Rou had their little romp?
"Enough — stop overthinking it. I can't explain it all to you in a short while anyway. Just share a little with me, and I'll tell you how to break through this Array Formation," the Little Black Pagoda said.
Hearing this, Qin Guan's mind immediately went on alert. After a moment, his eyes lit up and he said with a grin:
"Wait — Pagoda Lord, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten entirely. Let me try channeling the power within that white qi and see if it can break through this barrier."
"You little brat — are you playing me?"
Upon hearing Qin Guan's words, the Little Black Pagoda was furious. It could have kicked itself — why had it been so hasty and tipped off this fool?
"Pagoda Lord, what do you mean? When have I ever played you? I never had any such thought. Right now, the only thing in my heart toward you is respect — even more respect than I have for my own master!"
"Get lost!" the Little Black Pagoda snapped, and then fell silent.