55. The End of the Path

“So boring. Is the swordsman still not finished?” Chen Shang had already forced Chiyo to learn how to play Dou Dizhu and couldn’t help but yawn.
“By the way, do you want to hear about the Daoist sect’s stories? For example, how they manufacture artificial spirit roots.”
“I don’t want to hear it. It must be disgusting,” Chiyo refused immediately.
“I… want to hear it…” Black Calis struggled to sit up, her voice buzzing with electronic distortion.
“Then I’ll keep it brief,” Chen Shang smiled. “The way artificial spirit roots are produced is by capturing those who are naturally gifted with high-grade spirit roots, then extracting their essence blood and root bones, and sealing them into special containers.”
“I told you not to say it…” Chiyo frowned deeply, but curiosity got the better of her. “So what happens to those whose spirit roots are extracted?”
“They die,” Chen Shang replied. “And the ones who receive the artificial spirit roots take their place as cultivation prodigies.”
“From the perspective of the conservation of matter, this equivalent exchange is quite logical, isn’t it?”
“It’s truly vile.” Chiyo turned away. “But perhaps I have no right to judge them…”
“I think so too,” Chen Shang laughed. “So, shall we play another round?”
...
Chu Jianlai cradled the artificial spirit root, tears of blood streaming down his face.
“Brother?” Xu Qing called out in shock.
But Chu Jianlai paid him no mind. Instead, he gazed thoughtfully into the distance, gently crushing the spirit root in his hand.
The wind carried the blood and flesh from the container, scattering it into the night sky.
“Brother, you’re free now.” Chu Jianlai lifted his head, and once again, his vision was flooded with crimson.
But this time, he saw nothing terrifying.
He saw only a chivalrous young man in his early twenties standing before him, smiling softly, before dissolving into sand and vanishing into the darkness.
Chu Jianlai reached up and gouged out his own eyes, the scarlet vision swiftly fading away.
“My brother was a prodigy, his talents not much inferior to mine, and from a young age he entered the Daoist sect to cultivate.” Chu Jianlai stepped forward and patted Xu Qing on the shoulder. “Since the fall of the Chu clan, I’ve never heard news of him again… As I thought, he was turned into an artificial spirit root.”
“Go to hell!” Xu Qing, burning with rage, seized Chu Jianlai’s arm, trying to throw him bodily to the ground. “I don’t care about your damned brother! You killed Qiu Xue, and I’ll see your blood repay her!”
But Chu Jianlai’s muscles suddenly tensed, and with even greater strength, he threw Xu Qing to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

“I remember your surname is Xu—you’re the young master of the Xu Corporation, aren’t you?” Chu Jianlai planted a foot on Xu Qing’s chest, asking coldly.
“So what if I am?!” Xu Qing shouted, face smeared with dirt.
“During the catastrophe that destroyed the Chu clan, the Xu Corporation sent plenty of people to seize the engine.” Chu Jianlai pointed to the glowing engine embedded in his chest. “If I’m not mistaken, the Xu Corporation killed five members of my Chu clan and twenty-one civilians from Gusu Town.”
“Why… why do you remember so clearly?” Xu Qing’s brows drew together tightly.
“This damned thing lets me see what ordinary people can’t, and those things told me all of it,” Chu Jianlai explained, tapping his heart-engine. “So I’ll slaughter the Xu Corporation—starting with you. No objections, I hope?”
Xu Qing’s chest heaved, his heart pounding faster.
Ordinarily, he’d have had something to retort. But faced with this monster, whose eyes blazed with hatred, he dared not utter a word.
The man before him seemed the very embodiment of despair and murderous intent.
Just then, a thunderous shout rang out from the distance: “Brazen criminal! Stop!”
Chu Jianlai looked up and saw the Daoist sect’s master and a host of elders flying toward him on their swords.
Seizing the distraction, Xu Qing shoved aside Chu Jianlai’s leg and pressed a button on his mechanical armor.
“Quantum warp initiated—!”
His body twisted in a localized distortion and vanished from the spot.
“Escaped?” Chu Jianlai sighed, yet showed no regret.
Revenge is like a strong liquor simmered over a low flame—down it all at once and it will scorch your throat; savor it slowly, and only then is it truly satisfying.
The Master of Jade Talisman and the elders arrived in haste, surveying the devastation with mournful shakes of their heads.
But when the master saw Jade Talisman Qiu Xue lying in a pool of blood, his forced composure instantly twisted into a grimace of anguish.
“You… you killed my granddaughter?” the Master of Jade Talisman raised his head, teeth clenched.
“Yes.” Chu Jianlai wiped the blood tears from his eyes, his tone even. “Your granddaughter always believed she was a peerless prodigy, but you never told her that her gift came from my brother’s spirit root.”
The master had no intention of further conversation. With a flick of his wrist, several mechanical talismans shot forth. “Wretch! You dare kill my granddaughter! Prepare to die!”
The talismans formed a searing web of infrared lasers in midair, flying at Chu Jianlai.
He dodged with swift steps, barely avoiding the net.
When it hit the ground, it melted a smoking pit into the earth.

He scarcely had time to breathe before dozens more talismans shot toward him. Some fired scorching lasers, others exploded in midair, releasing acrid smoke—the variety was dazzling.
Chu Jianlai parried with his sword along the way, but his iron blade was soon battered and ragged.
Swish—!
The master charged with his sword, seized an opening in Chu Jianlai’s defense, and drove the blade into his chest.
The sword pierced through, knocking out the Heart of the Earth Core, which hung on by a mere thread of flesh.
“Now! Kill him!”
The other elders surged forward, their swords hacking at Chu Jianlai, severing his connection to the Heart of the Earth Core.
The core fell to the ground, and with his energy source cut off, blood streamed from Chu Jianlai’s orifices as his body withered at a terrifying speed.
One elder snatched up the core, laughing wildly. “I have the Heart of the Earth Core! Chu Jianlai is finally dead!”
Indeed, without it, Chu Jianlai should have died, his body withering into oblivion.
That should have been the end—
But suddenly, a small mechanical claw extended from the core engine and sank into the elder’s wrist.
“This… it’s sucking my blood!” The elder realized too late, trying to shake it off, but it was futile.
The mechanical claw pumped like a siphon, greedily draining everything from the elder’s body.
His flesh shriveled visibly, and he soon collapsed, lifeless.
Sated, the Heart of the Earth Core, guided by its mechanical claw, hopped back to Chu Jianlai’s body.
Before the horrified eyes of the elders, color returned to Chu Jianlai’s face.
He calmly picked up a sword from the ground and swung it at the Master of Jade Talisman.
“Jade Talisman Aolong—once led disciples to slaughter thirteen of my Chu clan and fifty-two civilians of Gusu Town… This blood debt must be repaid.”
The next instant, a red line appeared across the master’s throat.
Then, suddenly, Chu Jianlai’s gaze grew wild. He began to whirl his sword in a frenzy, slashing hundreds—perhaps thousands—of times in a single breath.
When he finally stopped, his arms were torn and bleeding black blood.
The bodies of the elders collapsed in pieces, as if carved into blocks of flesh the size of toy bricks.