Chapter 81: The Finishing Blow

In the Wind and Fire Gorge, two groups stood in confrontation. The sound of molten lava surging beneath the ground could be heard. The mere presence of Chu Jie and his companion had struck such terror into the hearts of more than eighty Spirit-Convergence experts that none dared make a rash move; the atmosphere was stiflingly silent.

Chu Jie occasionally toyed with a few talismans in his hand, his gaze playful as he watched Huang Zhengde. Huang Zhengde’s expression grew ever darker, his eyes fixed on Chu Jie with murderous intent. The men behind him looked equally grim. Some of the lower-ranking martial artists had faces ashen with fear, for they knew that death might soon claim them.

There had always been rumors of the dangers lurking in the Wind and Fire Gorge, but before, the place had been an inferno, and few ever ventured here. Now, having truly entered, they realized just how perilous this land was. Of course, the greatest danger was Chu Jie himself.

Chu Jie spoke. “If you submit to me, I will spare your lives.”

Huang Zhengde burst into laughter, as if he’d heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. “Are you mocking us? You expect all of us to kneel to you? That’s hilarious! You may be fierce, but do you know how many people want you dead? Everyone who comes to the Abyss of Gods and Demons wants to kill you. You’re doomed!”

“Still so stubborn? Soon enough, you’ll be begging me for mercy,” Chu Jie replied coldly.

Furious, Huang Zhengde shouted, “Attack! Take him down! If we don’t kill him, we’re all dead today!”

To send a call for help now would be too humiliating, and besides, Huang Zhengde was not ready to admit defeat. This time, he personally charged forward.

Their intent was clear: to throw everything they had into catching up to Chu Jie and killing him and his companion. Though they’d failed to catch up before, they were determined to try again.

As the group surged forward, Chu Jie glanced at Huang Zhengde with disdain. When Huang Zhengde was just five meters away, Chu Jie finally moved. He and Duan Kun swapped positions, the distance between them and Huang Zhengde growing steadily wider.

Huang Zhengde nearly spat blood in frustration. He’d thought he was on the verge of catching them, but the gap only widened.

At that moment, an intense sense of danger surged. Chu Jie activated a talisman, sending a streak of light into the ground. Huang Zhengde dodged with all his might, just barely managing to avoid the sudden eruption of a pillar of flame.

This time, the group was careful, and none were directly struck by the flames. Still, when the fire burst forth, some were injured. Rage boiled in Huang Zhengde, but thanks to tight control, only two men were incapacitated; they were left behind to tend their wounds, while the rest kept up the pursuit.

“I refuse to believe I can’t catch you!” Huang Zhengde gritted his teeth and drove his spiritual energy to the limit. He was at the seventh level of Spirit-Convergence, and when he fully mobilized his power, his speed was formidable.

Now, he pulled far ahead of his men, none of whom could keep pace. Chu Jie glanced back to see Huang Zhengde gaining on him. Chu Jie himself was at the fifth level, and though his physique made up for much, there was still a gap. At full speed, Huang Zhengde was indeed faster.

But Chu Jie was untroubled. If Huang Zhengde caught up, he’d be alone; the others couldn’t match his speed. Two against one—a seventh-level expert was manageable.

Huang Zhengde quickly realized the awkwardness of his situation and slowed to match his men, but this only let Chu Jie pull farther ahead. Chu Jie kept activating talismans, sending pillars of fire into the sky. Huang Zhengde’s followers dwindled, some unlucky souls launched skyward by the eruptions.

From afar, the gorge was a line of rising fire columns. Each time, several of Huang Zhengde’s people were rendered useless or killed.

“Sixty left,” Chu Jie observed. Only sixty remained in pursuit.

“Boss Huang, this isn’t working. We can’t catch them, and we’re almost at the edge of the gorge. Shouldn’t we leave while we can?” one subordinate suggested.

Huang Zhengde’s group had nearly traversed the entire Wind and Fire Gorge, which was not large, and they’d soon reach the exit. But Chu Jie and Duan Kun doubled back, re-entering the gorge.

Huang Zhengde hesitated. Should he leave, or press on? He’d noticed that the ground traps only triggered when Chu Jie activated them; many innocuous spots hid deadly snares, impossible to predict.

He’d already lost forty men—forty Spirit-Convergence experts. He couldn’t swallow the humiliation, and if he returned with so many casualties, without so much as harming a hair on his enemy, his fate would be sealed.

“Let’s go. We’ll leave for now,” Huang Zhengde ground out. He felt unsafe inside the gorge, so he led his men to rest at its edge, not yet ready to retreat completely.

...

After circling around, Chu Jie and Duan Kun found that Huang Zhengde hadn’t followed.

“Forty left behind. Let’s finish them off,” Chu Jie said coldly.

Within the gorge, many had fallen to the traps, but some wounded fighters remained. They were all abandoned now.

Some still lived, grievously wounded and discarded. All had tried to kill Chu Jie and Duan Kun, so the pair set out to cleanse the gorge.

On their way back, they stored each corpse in the Wild Cauldron, saving the inventory for later.

“There’s one still breathing up ahead,” Chu Jie said after collecting five bodies.

“Please don’t kill me, I beg you!” The wounded man saw the newcomers were not Huang Zhengde but Chu Jie, and collapsed in terror, pleading for mercy.

Chu Jie hesitated. The man’s thigh had been blown through by the ground fire, blood pouring from the wound. He was only at the second level, and kowtowed desperately, hoping to be spared.

“Shall we spare him?” Duan Kun asked. He saw no point in killing such a man.

“Let him live, but strip him of anything valuable. If you want to kill us, you must pay some price,” Chu Jie replied coldly.

Duan Kun stepped forward. “Hand over anything of value, or you die.”

The martial artist produced two bottles of Azure Pills, a flare, and some Xuan Crystals—nothing else. Head bowed, he waited for their decision.

Chu Jie was short on Azure Pills, so he took one for each of them and ignored the man.

Just as they turned to leave, Chu Jie sensed danger. He spun around to see a streak of light shoot from the kneeling man—it was a treasure weapon attack.

The surrender had been a ruse; the man had feigned submission to land a sneak attack. Chu Jie’s Heaven and Earth Wheel flashed, blocking the light—a low-grade treasure weapon.

Chu Jie leapt forward, seized the weapon, and tossed it into the Wild Cauldron, severing its connection to the user.

“Hmph! I spared you, and you dare attack me? You deserve death!” The Heaven and Earth Wheel became a stream of light, slicing off the man’s head.

Without a backward glance, Chu Jie and Duan Kun continued their search.

After this, any who begged for mercy were cut down without hesitation.

Body after body went into the Wild Cauldron—forty Spirit-Convergence corpses in all. The cauldron’s interior seemed endlessly spacious.

They swept the entire gorge, finding that of the ten ground traps activated, plenty remained—enough to finish off Huang Zhengde’s group.

Now, the remaining enemies posed little threat. However, Huang Zhengde’s high cultivation meant that if he re-entered the gorge with many experts, it would still be troublesome. So, Chu Jie and Duan Kun stayed put, waiting for Huang Zhengde to return.

Both sat cross-legged to recover their spiritual energy. Once restored, Chu Jie sent his divine sense into the cauldron to inspect their spoils.

Though all were Spirit-Convergence warriors, their cultivation varied. The weakest, lacking treasure weapons, had died to the fire traps; the stronger ones had been finished off by Chu Jie and Duan Kun.

From their belongings, Chu Jie gathered twenty bottles of Azure Pills, several hundred middle-grade Xuan Crystals, and three treasure weapons—all low-grade. He tossed the weapons into the cauldron without a second glance. He no longer cared for low-grade weapons—they could be given to subordinates or distributed later.

All in all, the haul was decent. Even low-grade treasure weapons were valuable, and with these, their faction would grow stronger.

He disposed of the stripped corpses, dumping all forty into a lava flow, where they quickly burned to ash.