Chapter 1170: What Kind of Door Is This?!
It was a rare day off. There was no need to attend private school or go to the martial arts school today.
Gong Che and Shi Yi made plans to tour the streets together.
“You only said we’re out to have fun, but what are we actually doing?” Shi Yi rolled his eyes. He felt that Gong Che had been unusually excited lately. It wasn’t just in class; even on rest days, Gong Che couldn’t sit still, waking him up at the crack of dawn.
Ever since Mom returned from the Ice Jiao Tribe, Dad and Mom have been lovey-dovey all day long. I feel like I’m the third wheel. It’s probably because of this that they used the excuse of “It’s rare for a friend to invite you out, so you should go have fun” to chase me out of the house.
“We’ll slowly figure it out along the way. It’s not like you’ve got anything to do at home, right? How about this? Lunch is on me today!” Gong Che said magnanimously.
“Did something good happen?” Shi Yi eyed him suspiciously.
Gong Che had been waiting for Shi Yi to ask this question. “I can finally live past sixteen.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m only telling you this, so don’t go sharing it with anyone else.”
“Go on.”
Gong Che said solemnly, “The truth is, I’m an orphan my parents took in. I was born with cold energy in me and wasn’t supposed to live past sixteen. I only found out one night when I got up to use the bathroom and overheard my parents talking.
“They think I don’t know, but I know everything.”
Shi Yi was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Gong Che to have such a tragic background. “So now you...”
“To live past sixteen, I must expel the cold energy in me. My parents tried every method, but nothing worked except the Tiger Roar Fist, and even that only had a tiny effect. It couldn’t change my fate.
“Not long ago, Teacher Lu started teaching us Tiger Roar Fist, and the cold energy in me finally began to dissipate. Five days ago, it was completely gone!”
“Does that mean you can live now?” Shi Yi finally understood why Gong Che had been so happy lately. Now that he knew, he was happy for him too.
Shi Yi felt that Gong Che sharing his secret with him was a sign of trust. He figured that he should share his own secret in return. “Actually, half the blood flowing through me is from the Ice Jiao Tribe...”
Shi Yi told him everything he knew. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the jiao-dragon scales on his arm that resembled ice crystals.
“No wonder I could never beat you in fist techniques no matter how I practiced. So it’s because you’ve awakened your bloodline.” Realization dawned upon Gong Che. I’d been at the top of the class, but Shi Yi surpassed me after Teacher Lu came. After learning from Teacher Lu, I overtook Shi Yi again, but then Shi Yi somehow pulled ahead once more.
“But what did your mother mean when she told you to thank Teacher Lu? And why did she also send a brocade banner?”
Shi Yi shook his head. “I don’t know. She didn’t mention the reason.”
“Boss, give us two roasted sweet potatoes. He’s paying,” Shi Yi said as they passed a sweet potato stall.
Holding their roasted sweet potatoes, the two couldn’t suppress their smiles.
Shi Yi continued their earlier conversation. “Enough about me. What about you? Have you ever thought about finding your birth parents?”
Gong Che took a bite of his sweet potato and mumbled with his mouth half-full. “When I first learned that I was adopted, I did think about looking for my birth parents. But then I came to terms with it. Rather than chasing after birth parents I had no leads on, it’s better to cherish what I have now.
“Perhaps if I ever meet my birth parents, I’ll ask them one question—why did they abandon me in the snow?”
The two suddenly halted. A young man who bore a striking resemblance to Gong Che stood before them.
The young man’s sinister eyes contained a thick, murderous intent, and the corners of his mouth curled into a creepy smile.
“Wu Horse,[1] I didn’t expect you to still be alive.”
Gong Che was stunned. Who’s Wu Horse? Me?
The young man stepped closer to Gong Che. “You were the most unsuccessful test subject back then, useless trash discarded by Father and Mother because you couldn’t withstand the Mystic Heaven Cold Energy. Yet not only are you alive, but you’ve even expelled the cold energy within you?
“I thought I’d killed Zi Rat, Chou Ox, Mao Rabbit,[2] and the others, earning the right to cultivate the Mystic Heaven Scripture. But never have I thought that you’d still be alive!
“The Mystic Heaven Scripture is a supreme cultivation technique with harsh requirements. Only those who endured Mystic Heaven Cold Energy in childhood are qualified to cultivate it, and it can only be cultivated when there’s just one qualified candidate.
“Now both of us are qualified. As long as you live, I cannot cultivate it!
“Before you die, remember my name. I am Yin Tiger!”
Yin Tiger pounced, but Shi Yi lunged forward and pinned him to the ground while he was midair. Yin Tiger tried several times to get up, only to find that Shi Yi’s strength was astonishing. He simply couldn’t stand up.
Who is this person?!
“Your elder brother?” Shi Yi looked up at the bewildered Gong Che.
“I don’t know him. But judging by all the stuff he was rambling about earlier, he doesn’t seem like a good person.”
Yin Tiger looked up, fixing his gaze on Gong Che with eyes that looked more like a viper’s than a tiger’s. “Wu Horse, if you’ve got any spine, tell him to let go of me. Let’s fight and see who’s the strongest successor!”
Gong Che thought for a moment. “Shi Yi, let go of him.”
“Alright.”
Yin Tiger broke free and lunged at Gong Che, baring his fangs and brandishing his claws like a ferocious tiger descending the mountain, thirsty for human blood and flesh.
Awoo!
A tender tiger’s roar burst forth. Two punches sent Yin Tiger’s face swelling and bruised, knocking him to the ground.
Yin Tiger’s pupils widened, his face full of disbelief. How could this guy be more like a tiger than me?
“That’s it?” Gong Che was dumbfounded. After all that bluster, this person can’t even take a hit?
But Gong Che didn’t let his guard down. I remember Teacher Lu saying in class that some opponents seem easy to deal with, going down with one move, but they may actually harbor some terrifying power within and rise to fight again.
Gong Che and Shi Yi watched the fallen Yin Tiger warily.
No response.
Just as the two thought the matter was over, a man and a woman approached, their refined bearing signaling that they were cultivators.
Seeing them, Yin Tiger used his last ounce of strength to scramble up and clutch the woman’s leg, imploring desperately, “Father, Mother, give me one more chance! I’ll definitely defeat him!”
The woman shot Yin Tiger a look of disgust and sent him flying with a kick. She then put on a tearful expression as she gazed at Gong Che. Anyone who saw her would find her pitiable.
“Child, Mother has finally found you!”
“Stay back!” Gong Che yelled. Connecting Yin Tiger’s ramblings with the woman’s reaction, he roughly guessed who these people were.
They are my birth parents! They brought me into this world just to select the strongest child for cultivating that so-called Mystic Heaven Scripture!
“Child, what’s wrong? We’re your birth parents,” the woman called out.
“Why did you abandon me back then?!”
“Child, it was precisely because Father and Mother abandoned you that you’ve grown so strong. That allowed you to obtain a fortuitous opportunity and achieve what you have today, defeating your worthless brother.
“Perhaps Father and Mother’s actions back then were ill-considered, but we are your birth parents after all. As the saying goes, blood is thicker than water. Isn’t there anything we can sit down and talk about?” The woman’s voice carried a hypnotic quality, making people instinctively trust her.
“Come, child. Come to Mother.” She opened her arms.
Without a second thought, Gong Che grabbed Shi Yi and fled.
“Run!”
“Think you can run?” The man flicked his sleeve, and an invisible giant hand shot out to catch Gong Che and Shi Yi.
To the man’s surprise, a jiao-dragon’s cry rang out from Shi Yi, deflecting the invisible hand.
“After them!”
The man and woman gritted their teeth. Although they were Nascent Soul powerhouses, they would attract the attention of Muxue City’s law enforcers if they acted too ostentatiously. They had no choice but to weave through the crowd with masterful footwork, pursuing Gong Che and Shi Yi.
“Where should we go? How about my place? Maybe my parents can help?” Shi Yi suggested.
“No. Your place is too far. We won’t make it. Let’s go to the martial arts school!”
They narrowly escaped danger several times, but their familiarity with the streets saved them. Racing against time, they sprinted toward the martial arts school.
“We’re here!”
They burst into the martial arts school in a panic and shut the door with a bang.
“How naive. Did you really think running to a martial arts school would save you?”
The man and woman smiled when they saw Gong Che and Shi Yi enter the martial arts school. This is sect territory. We can use “kick the school”—challenging a martial arts school to a fight—as an excuse to attack without restraint. We wouldn’t have to fear any law enforcers then.
They had investigated the Tiger Roar Martial Arts School beforehand. Its strongest fighter is merely at the Basic Golden Core Stage.
“Heavenly Devil Hand!”
“Fallen Heavenly Fire!”
The man and woman unleashed their respective unique arts, striking the martial arts school’s door.
Their eyes widened as if they had seen a ghost. It felt as though they hadn’t struck a door but a towering mountain.
Their attacks rebounded completely, sending them reeling and coughing up blood nonstop.
What kind of door is this?!
Isn’t the Tiger Roar Sect Leader only at the Basic Golden Core Stage? Even selling every Golden Core cultivator in the building wouldn’t be enough to afford a door like this!
The martial arts school door slowly opened, and three figures emerged.
Gong Che and Shi Yi hid behind Huo Huashen, pointing at the man and woman on the ground.
“Uncle Huo, they’re the ones trying to capture us!”
Huo Huashen’s brows shot up. “How audacious! You dare lay your hands on people from our martial arts school? You must be tired of living!”
The man and woman trembled uncontrollably. This oppressive pressure... Divine Transfiguration Stage?!
How is this possible? Isn’t he just a gatekeeper?
In the face of a Divine Transfiguration cultivator, the man and woman didn’t hold back. They bit their tongues, activated a secret art, and escaped in a mist of blood.
Huo Huashen snorted coldly, commanding the twenty Nascent Soul cultivators through his spiritual consciousness.
“I’ve marked them. Go bring them back.”
“Yes!”
Huo Huashen’s expression softened into a smile as he comforted Gong Che and Shi Yi. “It’s fine now, it’s fine now. I have scared the bad people away.”
He then escorted the two boys home. Upon returning, he dragged a small stool over and sat down at the martial arts school’s entrance.
Before long, the twenty Nascent Soul cultivators returned with two remnant souls.
One of the cultivators reported to Huo Huashen. “Big Boss, we searched their souls after capturing them. These two seem to be from the Heartless Creed.”
“The Heartless Creed?” Huo Huashen hissed. When we destroyed the Nine Ghost Alliance, we had told Young Creed Leader Lu that it was a subsidiary faction of the Heartless Creed.
So the Heartless Creed really does have forces in the Extreme North?
1. “Wuma” refers to the year of the horse. “Wu” is also the seventh earthly branch and refers to the time between 11 am and 1 pm. ☜
2. As you can tell, the code names are all based on the Chinese Zodiac. ☜