Enemies Chapter 38: Worshipped as a God

Translated by Ceti of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

 

“Look at the light from this treasure. It’s clearly a low-level Magic Artifact.” Some of the cultivators were envious and exclaimed. The number one sect was really so extravagant when they made a move. Even they who had been ripped off couldn’t help feeling covetous.

One should know that most of the cultivators in the cultivation world use magic items that were divided into ten ranks, and the items above the tenth rank were magic artifacts.

Compared with magic items which were purely used as a medium for spells, magic artifacts had their own unique skills. Cultivators only needed to inject spiritual power into them and speak the incantation to activate the spells. One such example was the Immortal Slaying Ship.

The poorer cultivators did not even have a Magic Artifact when they reached the Golden Core stage which was the peak of the lower realm. There were even a few of them who were still using Rank Seven or Eight magic items. As soon as this Magic Artifact appeared, the envy of all the cultivators could be imagined.

However, this Magic Artifact was handed out by the Patriarch of the QingLing Sect in front of everyone. No one dared to snatch it. If someone snatched it, they would be despised by the QingLing Sect.

Secondly, everyone was afraid of the current strength of the XianLing Sect and dare not move even if the Patriarch of the QingLing Sect was not present.

Originally, the disciples of the XianLing Sect were shocked when Chu WuQing called out the spectating great sects and demanded to be paid a viewing fee. Their Eldest Shixiong dared to fleece these great powers. Even if they had great trust in Chu WuQing, they still felt anxious in their hearts.

The XianLing Sect desperately made preparations in the event where they antagonised numerous powerful Golden Core cultivators. They absolutely never expected that the Patriarch of the QingLing Sect really took his money out!

It could still be like this?!

It seemed that this treasure was rather extraordinary. If it was said that the cultivators of the XianLing Sect only felt powerful like they never had before, erasing the shame that plagued their history, they had now truly built up the self-confidence of a powerhouse.

A month ago, they were just a small and weak sect that was on the verge of dying out and were humiliated by others.They struggled bitterly for the sake of a small portion of cultivation resources, and were randomly ridiculed by other sects. Let alone their dignity, they could even lose their lives at any time.

Now… They saw the light from a treasure that filled the sky shining down.

With the Patriarch of the QingLing Sect setting an example, who would dare to renege on this so-called ‘expression’ of intentions. Yet, the items that were taken out could not be ordinary goods, otherwise they would be remembered by the other sects who paid a large amount.

The treasures were laid out on the ground. Many Golden Core cultivators and famous sects were secretly spying, but no one dared to muddy the waters. They even had to say, “Tomorrow we will send someone to congratulate you on the return of the XianLing Sect’s warship.”

This was the awe and equality brought about by absolute strength that no one dared to violate.

The former Foundation Establishment Elders of the XianLing Sect were all red in their eyes. They didn’t realise when the tears that were welling in their eyes had dripped down onto the ground.

It was not known who had knelt down first. For a period of time, all the cultivators knelt down one after another, just like a tide.

Those low-level cultivators who had been protected by Chu WuQing had also returned to the bottom of the Ancestral Peak. They knelt down one after another, facing in the same direction as the figure standing on the warship, and kowtowed!

The fanaticism in their eyes was burning like fire. It was as if Chu WuQing was their Path.

Daoists did not live forever, but Chu WuQing gave them everything they could not have imagined of before and gave them an infinite future.

The ones that had been secretly watching gradually left. Chu WuQing stood on the warship. The development of this scene in front of him had completely exceeded his expectations.

However, he actually felt the spiritual power in his body boiling with the kowtow from these numerous cultivators. The intensity of this boiling was second only to that when he broke through to Foundation Establishment. There seemed to be an invisible yet fleeting force coiled inside his body.

Chu WuQing’s eyes brightened, “Faith and the power of worship?”

Faith and the power of worship were not cultivation methods that were known by the Cultivation World. Naturally, Chu WuQing did not know about it in his previous life. He only found it by accident from the original novel after his death.

While he was searching for treasure in a secret realm, Lin Yi encountered the remnant soul of a powerhouse from the higher realm. The remnant soul mentioned that some people in the Divine Realm had no spiritual roots, but they were able to ascend and become an immortal by relying on the power of worship and faith, transforming their corporeal body into a saint.

In the limited portions of the novel that Chu WuQing read, the power of faith and worship was only vaguely mentioned once without any specific explanation.

It was only until Chu WuQing felt the vigorous life force that he suddenly remembered this.

Chu WuQing guessed, “It’s probably because the power of faith is still very weak, so the flare of spiritual energy disappeared in an instant.” He gently waved his hand, trying to verify whether this power was the power of faith and worship.

Ke Yun knelt on the ground. He had pledged to follow Chu WuQing for his whole life ever since Chu WuQing helped him to successfully ascend to Foundation Establishment. He would never hesitate even if he had to give up his life, his dignity or his Path.

All of them knelt down on one knee and bowed their heads. Obviously, they harbored great piety in their hearts, but Ke Yun couldn’t help but look up secretly. He only raised his head a little – no one would discover it if it was a little peek.

Their Eldest Shixiong stood on the warship. His long robes fluttered in the air without the power of the wind. The vast backdrop of the night had hid the mountains and the only thing left was a touch of white that seemed to have come from the moonlight, yet it stole all the splendor of the moon.

Ke Yun felt something beating in his chest. He did not dare to take another glance after looking at it. Even his fingers on the ground were trembling slightly.

He was clearly so close, but Ke Yun felt that Eldest Shixiong was farther than the sky, and was something that could be seen but not be touched for his whole life.

Just at this moment, a magic item fell in front of Ke Yun with a wave of Chu WuQing’s sleeve.

Everyone looked over.

Gu Yu loudly announced with a Messaging Talisman, “In the battle with the TaYue Sect, the small team led by Ke Yun killed one of the enemy’s Golden Core cultivators, twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators, hundreds of Qi Condensation cultivators, and achieved first class combat merit. In the battle with the LingYang Sect, he used his body to protect the Lord, thus a Seventh Grade Magic Item will be conferred on him.”

The sound of the conferment reverberated across XianLing mountains.

A Seventh Grade Magic Item!

In a flash, everyone’s eyes were burning with fervent gazes. If the increase of their cultivation and the protection of their dignity was an internal power, then the reward for meritorious deeds at this moment was the external force that everyone yearned for, which was closely tied to their own strength.

Let alone the XianLing Sect disciples who were shocked and envious, even the cultivators from the other sects who had not left were extremely envious. They had enjoyed the offerings from living in a giant sect, and went through fire and water in all kinds of secret realms and immortal abodes before they could get a high-level magic item. If they were unlucky and were not loved by the heavenly law, they might not be able to get a high-level magic item for their whole life.

Yet, in the XianLing Sect, they could rely on outstanding military service to get it!

For a while, many of the Foundation Establishment experts who heard Gu Yu’s message were tempted and started to think about whether they could be accepted as a vassal in the XianLing Sect.

Ke Yun, who was rewarded in public, was feeling extremely complicated in his heart. This was not because he was on tenterhooks due to all the stares of admiration and jealousy.

Instead, it was because he was always the one who was being rewarded and receiving the favor. Then that would mean that he was no different from the rest of the disciples of the XianLing Sect in the eyes of Eldest Shixiong. The only difference was that he was more loyal and useful, but he was still a thousand miles away from being his trusted aide.

He was kneeling so close to Gu Yu, but the distance between them was like a natural moat. He knew that the lowly and inferior him should not fantasize about impossible things, but he could not control the wild hope in his heart.

With his hands on the magic item, Ke Yun’s determination to become stronger became more intense than ever at this moment. Only in this way could Eldest Shixiong truly notice him.

Worshipped as a God.

Chu WuQing could feel the intense worship of the people from the XianLing Sect below. This feeling was very intriguing and it reached its peak after he conferred the magic item. The boiling feeling of the spiritual energy that disappeared came back once more.

Although it dissipated quickly again, it dissipated a beat slower than before and gathered into an incorporeal aura that penetrated into the hundreds of bones of his four limbs, condensing his aura.

The past feat of fighting alone against ten million was not something Chu WuQing was able to do by himself. It was because Chu HuanZhi’s shade descended and brought Chu WuQing into a mysterious state to pass on his Path. Only then could he kill ten thousand with his strength.

Chu WuQing sensed that if he wielded his sword at the moment his spiritual energy boiled, he could display the strength of a middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He could even vaguely imitate the shadow of the Sword Path and use the First Form of the Sword Path of Slaughter!

This discovery made Chu WuQing feel particularly excited. When the Immortal Abode appeared three years later, he would have another card up his sleeve.

After muttering to himself a little, Chu WuQing motioned to Gu Yu to continue the conferring of rewards. He then bestowed healing medicine and commanded everyone to meditate as soon as possible after giving out the rewards.

 

Fighting a war depends on courage. Battle fervour is roused at the first beat of war drums, weakened on the second and exhausted on the third. ¹

Excluding the warship and Gu Yu, the overall strength of the XianLing Sect was extremely far from that of the other famous sects. Although they could easily seize the warship this time, a great part of the reason for this was because the Golden Core Elder from the LingYang Sect had underestimated them and because no one thought that the warship was owned by the Chu Clan. Thus, they were caught by surprise.

After the death of Elder Tang and the incident with the warship, the XianLing Sect had already become mortal enemies with the LingYang Sect. There was absolutely no possibility of reconciliation. If they didn’t take advantage of the fact that the LingYang Sect did not know of the current situation to launch an attack on the LingYang Sect, and gave them to deploy their forces instead, it would be very difficult for the XianLing Sect to defeat them again.

Even without the warship, a big sect which had maintained an army for thousands of years already had an extremely perfect combat system. A cultivator that had been trained as a war cultivator since childhood was far from the XianLing Sect which just had crash-course training for one month.

What’s more, no sect would be willing to see the XianLing Sect grow stronger after this night and they would secretly support the LingYang Sect financially. At that time, it would become a protracted tug of war.

With the war dragging on, there would be many changes and the other disciples of the Chu Clan would also have an inkling of this.

When the cultivators of the XianLing Sect had recovered through meditation, Chu WuQing asked Gu Yu to put up the XianLing Sect’s Greater Array again. Thinking about how the previous Greater Array had been easily broken by many cultivators cooperating together, Chu WuQing asked, “Gu Yu, do you think you can incorporate the warship into the array? The defensive ability of the Mountain Guardian Greater Array is too weak. The enemies do not even need to send out a Golden Core cultivator, they only need to attack with the tactic of a sea of people to break it. They would even be able to break the Greater Array by depending on Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators. If the warship is integrated into the Mountain Guardian Greater Array, it can be turned from a passive to active array. If the attack of the war specters from the First and Second Forms of the War Array, and the yellow sand from the Third Form of the War Array can cover the entire sect, we would even be able to trap Golden Core cultivators for  a long time.”

Gu Yu’s eyes brightened after listening to Chu WuQing’s thoughts and he spoke up after thinking a little, “My Lord, please lend me the warship to study. I’ll try to see if I can decipher the War Array. If I can crack it, I can directly combine the runes for the four changes into the Mountain Guardian Greater Array and would be able to achieve the same effect without the warship.”

“Good.” Chu WuQing praised, “If you can do it, I will bestow the warship together with the five high grade spirit stones to you.”

High grade spirit stones were rare. The Golden Core Elders that held real authority in the top three sects probably had no more than five high grade spirit stones after saving for their whole lives.

In the small clan that Gu Yu belonged to in the past, the income of the entire clan in a year was no more than six hundred low grade spirit stones. A thousand low grade spirit stones was equivalent to a middle grade spirit stone, and a thousand middle grade spirit stones was equivalent to a high grade spirit stone.

That was just the value assigned on the market. In actuality, high grade spirit stones were extremely rare. They were often used as a life-saving item and an item to assist in breakthroughs. Almost no one would exchange a high grade spirit stone for a thousand medium grade spirit stones.

In the past, Gu Yu would have been extremely excited to become rich overnight after hearing of such a reward.

But now, Chu WuQing only saw a faint reddening of Gu Yu’s earlobe. He didn’t show any excitement at all. Was he too kind to Gu Yu and he got used to being lavishly rewarded? Disappointment flashed in Chu WuQing’s heart. He could not tolerate the slightest betrayal, even if it was just embers that may not spread in that direction at all. Should he… should he put a restriction on Gu Yu, and firmly control him with other means?

However, he saw Gu Yu raise his head before one breath had passed. A cautious begging flashed through the shining obsidian pupils.

Gu Yu’s lips trembled as it opened and then it closed hesitatingly. He appeared particularly lowly as he bit hard on his lower lip.

Gu Yu looked at Chu WuQing. His upper body was motionless and his back was as straight as a sword, yet his right leg bent a little, as he kneeled on the ground on one knee.

He looked so proud, but so… lonely and weak.

“My Lord, Gu Yu doesn’t need a reward, Gu Yu just wants,” the voice trembled, “Just wants the Lord to pat Gu Yu on the head.” It seemed that Gu Yu’s courage had been exhausted after saying this. His head that was held high was hanging down. His back that had been as straight as a sword collapsed suddenly, and his pride was completely drained away.

Even so, he did not come into the slightest contact with the edge of Chu WuQing’s clothes, strictly abiding by the old-fashioned ways and the distance that attendants should have.

Chu WuQing blinked. He never thought that Gu Yu would request such a thing. Was this still the incomparably arrogant, cunning and cruel Gu Yu that treated everything with contempt from his memory?

This present Gu Yu was as lowly and weak as a pet abandoned by its owner.

Although this result was accidental, Chu WuQing was very happy in his heart. When he deliberately stepped in to save Gu Yu during the time he was being blatantly insulted, was it not for the purpose of making Gu Yu loyal and devoted to him? The effect now was better than what he had expected.

No matter how mature Gu Yu’s heart was, he was still a child and would have a weak side. It was just that in the environment from his past life, Gu Yu had to rely on his fangs to survive and was refined till he had become ferocious. Only in this way could he erase the last fragility and thirst for warmth within him.

Gu Yu had probably imprinted onto him like a chick. When he was disillusioned and the last vestiges of his pride were about to be crushed, Chu WuQing appeared. Wasn’t this what he had orchestrated from the beginning?

However, he was the master and Gu Yu was the servant. Gu Yu was unable to receive acknowledgement for his feelings, so he had to bury them. 

The more he thought about it, the more happy Chu WuQing was. In his last life, Gu Yu was so cruel to him. He definitely never imagined that one day he would regard Chu WuQing as his Father ² !

What kind of pleasure would it be if this Gu Yu and Lin Yi tried to kill each other?

Looks like he should deepen Gu Yu’s attachment.

Chu WuQing’s hand patted Gu Yu’s head.

The youth’s fingers were particularly delicate and long. Every inch of his skin was like concentrated snow jade, delicate to the extreme. At such a close distance, Gu Yu could smell bursts of cold fragrance coming from his skin.

It was obviously an arrogant fragrance, yet it was extremely provocative. It gave one the frantic urge to touch his skin, to hold his wrist, to slowly push up his long sleeves…  

To… 

Gu Yu lowered his head, and his pupils that could not be seen deepened and darkened. The timidity and loneliness coming off him increased, but his lips rose slightly. He raised his neck, that was next to Chu WuQing’s palm, slightly. Slowly, his upward moving cheek grazed Chu WuQing’s palm, and the feeling was more wonderful than he imagined.

He really wanted to kiss the tender palm and lick the slender fingers with the devoutness of a worshipper.

As soon as his eyelids were raised, Gu Yu’s eyes became clear and bright, carrying a sheen of water, “My Lord, can Gu Yu… hug you?”

 

Reaching out for a yard after taking an inch. This was really such a beautiful phrase.