Chapter 105: The Death of Ganixi

Draped in animal hides and bird feathers, a bone spear in hand, Garunixi silently ascended the high platform. His aura, already at the Foundation Establishment stage, was bathed in the brilliant morning sun, the golden light making him appear like a god descended to earth.

Below the platform, an immense, dark mass of Shan Yue tribesmen knelt in devout and peaceful reverence. Their eyes were filled with hope and light, for the hundred years of chaos and disorder among the Shan Yue were drawing to a close, and this king would usher in a new era for them.

In stark contrast to the fervent excitement of those below, Garunixi's eyes were filled with sarcasm and disdain. He stood rigidly on the high platform, coldly observing the kneeling Shan Yue.

"Garunixi, it's time." The old shaman beside him, clad in a black robe and holding aloft a beast-head scepter, spoke in a raspy voice. His aura, surprisingly, was at the peak of Foundation Establishment. His hoarse words drifted to Garunixi's ears: "Do not delay... As long as you go willingly to your death, we will not harm your people."

The old shaman's expression was one of helplessness, and in his heart, he had already cursed every one of his fellow disciples who had pushed this task onto him. "So, Garunixi already knew something was wrong. No wonder they all kept passing the buck... After so many years in seclusion, I actually thought this would be an easy job! It's truly difficult to force him to be a willing sacrifice. This man has no children, no wife; the only thing he cares about are these hundreds of thousands of Shan Yue. We can only threaten him with them. If he didn't have to walk onto this altar himself, why would we bother with all this talk? We'd just tie him up and throw him on."

Garunixi gave him a contemptuous glance, gripping his spear tightly as he slowly stepped forward. A faint red light was already flowing from the patterns etched onto the high platform. Suddenly, he spoke: "Old man, let me ask you, have you ever nurtured a people, or led an army?"

Seeing Garunixi's look of disdain, completely devoid of the helpless reluctance he had shown when threatened with the lives of hundreds of thousands of Shan Yue days earlier, the old shaman's heart skipped a beat. His hairs stood on end as he said hoarsely, "Garunixi! Do not disregard the hundreds of thousands of Shan Yue; do not do anything rash!"

Garunixi let out a loud laugh, his hair bristling with rage. "The army is my spear and blade, the people are my chariot," he said coldly. "How can a man die for mere tools?"

The moment these words were spoken, the old shaman sensed something was terribly wrong. He felt a surge of spiritual energy within Garunixi's body, a sensation as if he was about to shatter his own Profound Scenery cultivation. He cried out repeatedly, "Master!"

Immediately, the sky churned with wind and clouds. A gaunt, large hand materialized out of thin air, poised to suppress the anomaly within Garunixi's body. However, a mysterious light shot forth from the east, striking the hand directly and momentarily impeding it.

"Crack." Within Garunixi's body, his six spiritual wheels shattered in response, and the foundation of his Great Dao, painstakingly built, violently exploded. Crimson blood gushed forth, staining the entire high platform, and the sight caused the old shaman's expression to drastically change.

"What do you want, woman?" Garunixi asked her, his voice flat, as he removed his armor.

"For the King to live," she replied.

The memory abruptly ended. Before the eyes of tens of thousands of Shan Yue, their king exploded into a shower of flesh and blood, his crimson essence dyeing the entire high platform.

Garunixi's brown eyeball flew dozens of yards, bouncing and rolling until it landed at the foot of the high platform, coming to rest before a kneeling Shan Yue woman.

The Shan Yue woman, who still carried a child on her back, recoiled as if bitten by a snake. Trembling, she picked up the deep brown eyeball. Her face turned an ashen white and blue; she coughed a few times, then forcibly spat out a mouthful of blood.

A deathly silence fell over the world. An immense terror stifled the army and civilians below, leaving them utterly speechless. In the sky, dark clouds and lightning rapidly converged, and a fierce wind swept through every corner.

"Who is it..." A murmur echoed in the old shaman's ears. He knelt, trembling, his peak Foundation Establishment cultivation offering him no sense of security. A deathly stillness settled in his heart. "Not an old friend... A newly ascended Purple Mansion realm cultivator... Who is it?!"

A thunderous roar exploded in the old shaman's ears. The Qi Condensation cultivators among the Shan Yue on the platform instantly burst into a bloody mist. The high platform, constructed of mud and bricks, collapsed with a crash, sending torrents of earth and rubble cascading down. The thick scent of damp earth immediately permeated the entire Da Jue Ting.

"Who taught him the Shattering Wheel Disintegration?! Who!" A middle-aged man in black robes stood in the void. The old shaman, covered in mud and kneeling miserably, watched as the man raised a hand, his expression filled with tyrannical fury.

"For so many years... no one has ever made me suffer such a tremendous loss!" A vast, oppressive aura swept in all directions, causing all the Shan Yue in Da Jue Ting to tremble uncontrollably.

"Master! This is the Profound Light Art... it was most likely done by the Demonic Sect!" The old shaman's blood ran cold, and he stammered his reply. He then heard the middle-aged Purple Mansion cultivator say coldly, "The Qingchi Demonic Sect... When I was at my peak, they were nothing but a small sect guarding a dilapidated mountain gate. Now they dare to cross me!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he vanished from above the ruins. The old shaman remained kneeling for a while before daring to quietly lift his head. Seeing that the middle-aged man had already departed in a flying shuttle, he slowly rose.

Only tens of thousands of Shan Yue remained, prostrate on the ground, weeping softly. Thousands upon thousands of ethereal incense offerings transformed into pale gray wisps of resentment, lingering over the Da Jue Ting.

"Our Great King..." The Shan Yue on the ground cried and knelt around the brown eyeball. In the distance, a rustling, earth-shaking sound of wings slowly approached.

"Locusts! Locusts!" the guards on the city wall shouted. In the distance, grey-black locusts surged forward like a tidal wave, their rustling wings creating an earth-shaking din. They flew freely over the Da Jue Ting, consuming the lingering resentment born from the great drought and disaster.

"Buzz..." The locusts blindly crashed into people, causing only minor pain. Yet, the Shan Yue cried out in terror, trampling and shoving each other. The entire Da Jue Ting instantly transformed into a living hell.

"Our Great King!" Witnessing the surging crowd rapidly converge, the woman carrying a child quickly lifted her son high, throwing him with all her might onto a low boulder. She was immediately swallowed by the tide of people, becoming mere flesh and crushed bones on the ground.

Amidst the overwhelming sound of locust wings, the golden morning light was obscured by dark clouds, and the entire North Foothills plunged once more into the deepest darkness.

Moist air began to spread, and the towns filled with joyful laughter. Villagers brought out all sorts of containers, from chamber pots to large jars, eagerly awaiting the coming downpour.

"Finally, rain!" The worried frown on Li Xuanxuan's face finally vanished as he chuckled, watching the townspeople bustling in the streets. The great drought had lasted for eight months; now, at last, rain was coming.

Alongside him, Li Xuanling pursed his lips in silence, but his expression too showed joy. The grey Profound Water Sword Aura on his Qingfeng sword gleamed, clearly indicating significant progress.

Li Jingting held her brush, smiling as she gazed out the window, watching raindrops softly tap the flagstone path. Beside her, Chen Donghe quietly observed her.

"Donghe," Li Jingting suddenly called out. Startled, Chen Donghe blushed and lowered his head, though he quickly responded, "Huh?"

"Tell me about my father's affairs in the west." Chen Donghe's expression immediately brightened, and he recounted all the details of the westward advance to her. Li Jingting listened quietly, nodding slightly from time to time.

The torrential rain swept through every corner. All the villagers ran through the downpour, celebrating with joyful smiles on their faces. Li Tongya rode the wind above the clouds, observing for a while, a hint of relaxation appearing between his brows.

"Good rain, truly good rain," he mused. He cast a distant glance to the west; the suffocating aura he had sensed before was gone. Li Tongya thought to himself, "Garunixi must be finished. I'll have to wait for the news to arrive... Only then can we truly breathe a sigh of relief."

Having an enemy like Garunixi always made one restless. But once Garunixi was dead, the fifteen Shan Yue villages would be nothing more than a disorganized rabble. As long as the cultivators on Mount Wu didn't emerge, the remaining Qi Condensation Shan Yue wouldn't be enough to even challenge one of him.

"Moreover, with the blood sacrifice completed, who knows how many Qi Condensation cultivators are left among the Shan Yue." It was just a pity that this boundary had been drawn by the Shan Yue Purple Mansion and the Qingchi Sect; otherwise, Li Tongya might have crossed it to annex a few villages himself.

As he slowly descended into the courtyard, Li Tongya saw Liu Rouxuan approaching with a smile. "My husband is back," she said.

Liu Rouxuan had cultivated for many years, but her cultivation was still only at the third layer of Fetal Breath. Her talent was not particularly high, and she practiced a first-grade Fetal Breath cultivation method, making little progress for years. Now, a few strands of white hair had appeared at her temples.

"Hmm," Li Tongya responded gently. He and Liu Rouxuan had been together for nearly twenty years and knew each other intimately. Taking her hand, he noticed a hint of worry in her expression and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

"My husband..." Liu Rouxuan lowered her gaze and replied, "I have chosen several concubines for you; they are all waiting outside."

Li Tongya froze instantly, then with a strange expression, he waved away the women who had entered, chuckling, "What are you thinking!"

Liu Rouxuan arched her eyebrows, whispering, "I know my talent isn't high; I fear I may never reach the Qi Condensation realm and thus cannot accompany my husband for long. Now, we only have Xuanling as offspring, and our lineage is thin..."

Li Tongya opened his mouth, but no words came out. The clan's medicinal pills and spirit rice had always been distributed according to talent. Even Xuanxuan and Xuanling barely had enough, so Liu Rouxuan had naturally been overlooked. With her aptitude, it was likely she would never break through to the Qi Condensation realm in her lifetime.

"This..." Li Tongya uttered a single word with difficulty. Given his principles, it was naturally hard for him to divert clan resources to favor his wife. But Liu Rouxuan gently shook her head. "That's not what I meant," she said.

"I am not skilled in combat, and my aptitude is poor. Even if I were to reach Qi Condensation, it would simply be a waste. How could I dare to squander the clan's resources? I merely wish for my husband to have more descendants."

Li Tongya shook his head, quite moved. "There's no need to speak of that again," he whispered. "We come from a farming background; we don't adopt the ways of having three wives and four concubines. Xuanling is well-behaved and steady, and he works hard daily. These are all your achievements, and I haven't properly thanked you yet."

Liu Rouxuan tried to speak further, but Li Tongya gently silenced her. As he brushed his cheek against hers, he murmured softly, "If you want more descendants, you need only bear one more child for me."