Northern Yan Chapter Twenty-Three: Tearing Off the Mask

Mo Hao heard a rumbling sound coming from behind him and cursed under his breath. The other two had run off in different directions, clearly intending to leave him to bear the brunt of the resentment-beast’s fury. He had no one to complain to, so he hurriedly took spirit stones and Awakening Pills from his storage bag, using the potent medicinal power of the pills to replenish his exhausted mana.

Mo Hao steered his Cold Paulownia Sword and fled rapidly into the distance. However, after a quarter of an hour, he realized that this resentment-beast was incredibly stubborn. Despite having suffered an injury from the Great Dao, it kept chasing him relentlessly, which made him groan inwardly. He began to feel pained over the consumption of his spirit stones and Awakening Pills.

Fortunately, the beast was not a true half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator; otherwise, given the speed he had seen from such cultivators, he would never have been able to outrun it. Seeing the distance closing, the beast let out a roar, and black light erupted from its body. It accelerated in an instant, frightening Mo Hao into channeling even more mana into his Cold Paulownia Sword.

It was to no avail; the distance between them continued to shrink. Mo Hao thought of the very last escape talisman hidden within his bell. Was he really going to have to use such a precious item? The beast had suffered a Dao-wound, and he could still hold on for a little longer.

He still had a few trump cards left unused, so he decided to drain the beast’s strength first. However, he needed to widen the gap; if the beast caught up, not even ten Mo Haos would be a match for it. He grabbed three Awakening Pills and swallowed them, formed a hand seal with one hand, and chanted silently:

"Heart-Derivation Sword Art!"

He was actually using a technique as mana-intensive as the Heart-Derivation Sword Art to escape. Yet, he was not fleeing aimlessly; he chose paths dense with trees that made straight-line flight difficult, causing the pursuing beast to roar repeatedly as it crashed through swathes of forest.

"Didn't Feng Xing say this beast was wounded by the Great Dao? Why does it feel so fierce? It’s been chasing me for nearly half an hour. By my estimation, I should have covered over a hundred miles by now, yet I still can't shake it."

Just then, the beast suddenly slowed down. Mo Hao was ecstatic; it seemed the so-called Dao-wound was finally taking its toll. The beast slowed further, eventually stopping a hundred paces behind him, lowering its head to roar while gasping for air. Mo Hao slowed down and came to a halt as well.

At a distance of a hundred paces, he was not afraid of a sudden charge, but the beast did not give up. It raised its head to look at Mo Hao, and the gaze made his hair stand on end.

The beast lowered its head, and Mo Hao saw the tightly shut third vertical eye on its forehead quietly open. The light within was restrained, as if it were gathering power. Mo Hao seemed to realize something, turned his sword, and fled. At that very instant, a beam of black light shot toward him. Mo Hao tried to dodge, but he felt as if the black light had locked him in mid-air, making it impossible to evade. He hurriedly held his Five-Elements defensive artifact in front of his chest; he had no choice but to take the hit head-on. The light struck the tortoise-shell-like artifact, which emitted a five-colored glow that enveloped his entire body.

The impact pushed Mo Hao backward. When he had been forced back ten yards, the artifact let out a crisp sound and shattered under the force of the black light. Mo Hao was sent flying. Looking back at the beast, it collapsed heavily to the ground as if it had exhausted its final ounce of strength, its breathing growing faint. Mo Hao climbed up from the ground, covered in dust. He acted as if nothing had happened, patting the dirt off his clothes. Suddenly, he smacked his own head, circulated his mana, and with a shake of his robes, the dust vanished. He muttered to himself:

"To think I’m a middle-stage Grain-Fasting cultivator, acting like a commoner patting off dirt—I’ve really lived in vain!"

He checked himself and found no major injuries, thanks to the tortoise-shell artifact. Had it not been for that item, he would surely have perished. The moment he was struck, he realized the black light was equivalent to a full-power strike from a late-stage Grain-Fasting cultivator. He could only imagine the destructive power the artifact had absorbed. Mo Hao rode his sword toward the beast, approaching cautiously, fearing it might be feigning rest. Only when he was certain it was dead did his heart settle. He had not expected the beast to be so persistent, willing to risk its life to take him down even with its Dao-wound.

"Lier Heaven Sword Art!"

Only a faint indentation remained on the beast’s forehead.

"Qingyang Sword Art!" "Heaven-Slaying Strike!" "Gold Sword Slash!"

Mo Hao tried every sword technique he had just learned, but he couldn't crack the skull of the half-step Foundation Establishment beast; there wasn't even a scratch. It seemed he had to use the Heart-Derivation Sword Art. He poured half his mana into the blade, unleashing the peerless power of the technique. With a *ding*, the Cold Paulownia Sword rebounded off the beast's skull.

He looked at the beast with mixed feelings. He was happy that the Heart-Derivation Sword Art had finally managed to break the skin, but worried that it had left only a tiny mark. How long would it take to crack the skull and retrieve the beast core? As for calling Feng Xing and Li An for help, that was out of the question.

Mo Hao had long since been aware of the secret voice transmissions between Feng Xing and Li An. Along the way, he had prepared thoroughly, even learning a few minor techniques used by low-level cultivators to detect such transmissions. These two were treacherous, and once they encountered such an opportunity, they would surely turn on him.

But haste makes waste. He began to strike the beast’s skull with the Heart-Derivation Sword Art again and again. Half an hour later, he finally breached the skull. It had cost him over fifty spirit stones, but compared to a half-step Foundation Establishment beast core, it was a small price. Moreover, this beast had once entered the Foundation Establishment stage, making the core priceless.

"If only this beast hadn't been so single-minded in its pursuit, it could have lived for another three or five years," Mo Hao sighed. He extracted the core, which was suffused with demonic power. He couldn't waste the carcass either; his eyes lit up as he spent great effort skinning it.

Just then, Mo Hao quietly hid his Cold Paulownia Sword beneath the beast’s body.

A skinned carcass and a refined young man sat ten yards apart. The youth was Mo Hao, who was quietly practicing the Qingyuan Technique. His mana had long since returned to its peak, but he didn't intend to leave; he seemed to be waiting for something.

An hour passed, and he was still waiting. Just before nightfall, rustling sounds emerged from the surrounding forest. A flicker of emotion crossed Mo Hao’s calm face. Moments later, two figures stood beside him: Feng Xing and Li An, the two who had fled earlier. Hearing the movement, Mo Hao slowly opened his eyes.

The two arrivals were filled with shock and hesitation upon seeing him awake.

"Junior Brother is truly lucky! This is a half-step Foundation Establishment resentment-beast. Not only did you survive its pursuit, but you even skinned it—it makes me feel ashamed! It seems you've already retrieved the core. Could you let us have a look? This core belongs entirely to you, and we have no claim to it; we just want to see what a half-step Foundation Establishment core looks like!"

Mo Hao smiled.

"Indeed, Brother Mo is a man of great fortune. We both wish to see the core of such a beast," Li An added, echoing Feng Xing. Mo Hao wiped his hand across his storage bag, and a massive beast core appeared in his palm. Both Feng Xing and Li An stared, their eyes filled with unmasked greed.

Mo Hao put the core back into his storage bag, and the two men finally shifted their gaze to his face. For some reason, Feng Xing felt this little Junior Brother was different today; there was a sense of estrangement between them. Feng Xing seemed to recall something, looked back at Li An, and transmitted a short message.

Suddenly, Li An brought out a handful of small, finger-sized formation flags and scattered them around. But before he could make another move, a crack appeared on his forehead. Feng Xing watched in horror as Li An was cleaved in two by a small sword, dying on the spot.

It was the Cold Paulownia Sword Mo Hao had hidden under the carcass, launching a surprise attack. Li An would never have imagined he would die such a miserable death. Feng Xing looked at the small sword that had returned to Mo Hao’s side after slicing through Li An, and asked in astonishment:

"Junior Brother, how did you know we were going to move against you?"

"Brother, you went to great lengths. I learned a secret technique to detect voice transmissions. While it might be useless to Foundation Establishment cultivators, it is extremely effective for us Grain-Fasting cultivators. I just don't know what grudge you held against me to make you plot such a scheme!"

Feng Xing laughed, his fat cheeks wobbling:

"Junior Brother, since you know, it seems only one of us will walk out of this valley today. I’ll tell you the reason so you won’t be a confused ghost in the afterlife."

"First, your Cold Paulownia Sword. I remember when you joined, it was just an ordinary low-grade artifact. Now, it’s a mid-grade one. Second, when you went to Yue City, you only had a dozen spirit stones. Even with two hundred contribution points, you couldn't have exchanged for so many Awakening Pills. I heard five Glazed Palace cultivators tried to seize Old Ghost Xing Huang’s Foundation Establishment Pill and failed. You must have obtained his storage bag, and the pill is definitely in your hands. I don't know how you snatched it from under the nose of a half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator. Li An and I were wary of you, but after seeing this beast, I realize you’ve just been relying on luck!"

Mo Hao looked at Feng Xing with complex eyes. Feng Xing was the only senior brother he had in the Outer Affairs Sect, yet he had plotted against him so ruthlessly. It was a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

"Brother, enough talk. Since you said only one of us will leave this valley, let us fight!"

Mo Hao gritted his teeth. Feng Xing laughed and unleashed his full cultivation—he actually possessed late-stage Grain-Fasting power. However, Mo Hao noticed his aura hovered between the third level of the middle stage and the first level of the late stage; he must have used some technique to force his cultivation upward.

Feng Xing summoned a fan and waved it at Mo Hao. It was so fast that Mo Hao couldn't react, and he was blown back ten yards. The wind contained countless dense wind blades. Mo Hao used the Lier Heaven Sword Art to deflect them, but discovered that when the blades were cut, they split into two, shooting back at him.

Mo Hao was shocked. Using the Sea-Turning Technique, he leaped away. The ground where the wind blades passed became pitted and scarred.

"Wind-attribute spirit veins? You actually have wind-attribute spirit veins!"

Mo Hao groaned. He never imagined his luck would be this bad—to encounter both a lightning-attribute and a wind-attribute spirit vein user. These were the most difficult types to handle. Feng Xing laughed:

"Junior Brother, prepare to die!"

Feng Xing continued to cast spells with his fan. What frustrated Mo Hao most was that if the resentment-beast hadn't destroyed his Five-Elements defensive artifact, he could have blocked some of these wind blades. Now, the wind-attribute attacks were relentless and pervasive, leaving him no room to counterattack. He could only retreat while fighting, but Feng Xing wouldn't let him escape the range of the blades.

"Fierce Wind Art!"

The surrounding wind blades transformed into visible whirlwinds composed of countless transparent wind knives, closing in on Mo Hao. Just as he was about to be shredded, he flashed away using the Sea-Turning Technique and pulled the bell artifact he had taken from Old Man Xing Huang from his storage bag. He channeled his mana into it. Although he hadn't fully refined it, the bell began to ring, emitting sonic waves that shattered the whirlwinds.

Feng Xing spat out a mouthful of blood as his technique was broken, clearly suffering a minor injury. He didn't care about the wound, instead wiping the blood from his mouth, his eyes fixed greedily on the bell.

"The Nightmare Bell! It really is the Nightmare Bell. You truly kept Old Ghost Xing Huang’s belongings! Wonderful! Simply wonderful!"