Chapter 28: The Chill of Wind Upon Lifeless Bodies
The scent of blood filled the air. Ning Xuanyuan pondered for a long while before gritting his teeth and speaking, “One... one million Vitality Pills!”
“One million Vitality Pills?” Ling Xiao let out a cold, derisive laugh.
“Last year, Ghost Valley’s revenues reached two trillion. Your Hall of the Divine Healer, with just over nine hundred members, took away one point two trillion directly. And now you’re telling me you only owe me one million Vitality Pills?”
Beads of sweat as large as soybeans rolled down Ning Xuanyuan’s forehead.
“This year... this year medicinal ingredients have been hard to come by, as you well know. The environment is deteriorating rapidly, spiritual energy is thinning, and rare treasures are all but impossible to find! So... so prices have soared. Ginseng that once cost a million now takes three million!”
Ling Xiao tapped the armrest of his chair, closing his eyes slightly and leaning his head back.
“Kill.”
The two disciples from the Hall of the God of War drew their blades again. Accompanied by two wretched screams, two more disciples of the Hall of the Divine Healer fell. Yet no one in the Hall of the Divine Healer dared to move. Setting aside Ling Xiao’s unfathomable strength atop the hall, even the ten thousand War God Hall disciples outside were enough to obliterate them entirely.
Ning Xuanyuan clenched his fists, taking deep breaths to forcefully suppress his rage.
“Ten million Vitality Pills. One hundred thousand Auspicious Cloud Pills.”
“Hmph! Quite the appetite!” Ling Xiao shot him a chilling glance. “One month. I give you one month—no matter what means you use, you will fill this deficit. If you delay my grand plans, I will annihilate your Hall of the Divine Healer!”
“You—! Ling Xiao, there’s a limit to killing! Do not push me too far! I am, after all, one of the Three Masters of Ghost Valley, yet you press so hard and leave me no dignity at all. Do you even acknowledge me as the master of the Hall of the Divine Healer?”
Ling Xiao slammed his palm on the table and stood abruptly.
“You’re right. I am giving you no dignity. What will you do about it?”
“You—! Ling Xiao, the Hall of the Divine Healer and the Hall of the God of War are both among the three halls of Ghost Valley. What gives your War God Hall the right to be so overbearing?”
“What gives me the right?” Ling Xiao clasped his hands behind his back and strode outside, treating the entire gathering as if they were nothing.
“Your Hall of the Divine Healer dares not to kill, but I do! You dare not take charge, but I will! With the world in my gaze, I will defend the everlasting hegemony of Ghost Valley—none dare provoke us! This... is the foundation of the War God Hall’s dominance!”
Outside the courtyard, over ten thousand disciples from the War God Hall, roused by Ling Xiao’s aura of supremacy, drew their blades in unison and roared:
“War God Hall! Long live! War God Hall! Long live!”
“Long live the young master!”
The thunderous shouts made the alchemists of the Hall of the Divine Healer tremble with fear.
“Kill a hundred from the Hall of the Divine Healer, display their corpses at the main gates, let them hang high as a warning—lest they think my words mean nothing!”
“At your command!”
A surge of murderous cries erupted. A hundred alchemists were slain on the spot. Their corpses were hung upon the outer walls of the Hall of the Divine Healer, fresh blood streaming down the walls, staining the ground crimson.
Ning Xuanyuan dared not so much as twitch.
Only now did he truly realize that Ling Xiao was not someone to be trifled with. If he angered him, even as the master of the Hall of the Divine Healer, Ling Xiao would not hesitate to kill him as well!
…
Leaving Ghost Valley, Ling Xiao made straight for the main base of the War God Hall. Compared to the Hall of the Divine Healer, the War God Hall’s headquarters was far grander—after all, their numbers were a hundredfold greater.
Ling Xiao arrived at the foot of the building. The war bell tolled.
“The young master has returned! Disciples of the War God Hall, assemble to pay respects!”
Moments later, eighty thousand disciples descended swiftly from the cloud-piercing tower, joining the ten thousand who had gathered earlier to form nine colossal phalanxes within three seconds.
Once the formations were set, ninety thousand men knelt in unison.
“Welcome home, young master!” The resounding voices shook the heavens; even the clouds above seemed to scatter.
Ling Xiao nodded in satisfaction.
“These days I’ve been away from the valley, you have all suffered.”
“Young master!” Many of the disciples could not help but feel their eyes redden.
They were the backbone of Ghost Valley, its steel blades, its bloodstained banners. Yet they were also flesh and blood. What they needed was not only glory, but also care.
“But…” Ling Xiao took a deep breath. “The disciples of the Hall of the Divine Healer have already been severely punished—I executed a hundred as a warning! Supplies of pills will be replenished in due course. I have promised that I will forge you into the strongest legion in the world, that your glory will shine across the earth! That day... will not keep you waiting long!”
Together, they shouted,
“Willing to give our lives for the young master! To spill our blood and stain the world crimson!”
At that moment, Xiu’er came to Ling Xiao’s side and whispered a few words in his ear. Ling Xiao frowned slightly, then said to the crowd,
“Resume your drills. Leave all else to me. If the Hall of the Divine Healer dares misbehave again, just kill them outright!”
“At your command!”
…
A stick of incense later, Ling Xiao entered the deepest hall of Ghost Valley—the Seven Star Hall.
Legend had it that this hall was forged by the founding ancestor of Ghost Valley while studying the movements of the stars. It was imbued with its own formation, allowing Ghost Valley to ceaselessly absorb the spiritual energy from the surrounding mountains. This was one of the secrets behind Ghost Valley’s enduring strength.
Ling Xiao, hands clasped behind his back, strode slowly within.
In a corner of the Seven Star Hall stood a middle-aged man with long hair, also standing with his hands behind his back, gazing out through the window. Sensing Ling Xiao’s presence, he spoke calmly,
“You’ve come?”
Ling Xiao replied with a slight “Mm.”
“You went too far with the Hall of the Divine Healer. After all, we are all brothers of the same sect, and moreover, the Hall of the Divine Healer is indispensable to Ghost Valley.”
“The people of the Hall of the Divine Healer have grown too complacent. Without bloodshed, they have no drive.”
The middle-aged man shook his head, turning to look at Ling Xiao, his gaze complex.
“I truly don’t know if bringing you back from Jiangzhou three years ago was a blessing or a curse. You are bloodthirsty by nature, yet your talent is terrifying—unmatched under heaven. But your methods will make you many enemies.”
“The name Ling Xiao eclipses the sky! However many enemies there are, they’re just marching to their deaths!”
Such arrogant words, if overheard by others, would certainly invite ridicule and scorn—an ignorant upstart, unaware of the vastness of the world! Yet only the man before him knew just how frightening Ling Xiao truly was. This youth could not be measured by ordinary standards.
“The next great contest among the Hundred Schools is approaching. For thousands of years, Ghost Valley has abided by its ancestral rules, never participating in the struggle. Now we are joining the bloody fray, taking a dangerous gamble. If we win, Ghost Valley will become the number one sect under heaven. If we lose, we may never recover—perhaps even be wiped out completely! Have you truly thought it through?”
Ling Xiao smiled.
“Surrounding China, wolves and tigers eye us hungrily. This so-called contest among the Hundred Schools is a farce! If we united against the outside world, the land would have long belonged to China alone!”
The middle-aged man’s pupils contracted sharply.
“Your ambition isn’t merely the contest among the Hundred Schools? You... you want the whole world? Is the martial world of China not enough for you?”
Ling Xiao turned and walked away.
“How could a roc slumber contentedly in a nest of sparrows?”