Chapter 318 - Bone-chillingly Terrifying!
Huangfu Manor.
The speed at which Gu Xiqiao traveled was so quick that she appeared right in front of her destination in just the blink of the eye.
Her figure landed softly in front of the main entrance, surprising the two men who were standing guard there. They stared at her in disbelief for a brief moment before they unsheathed their blades. “Declare who you are!”
“Get Huangfu Xuan out here!” yelled Gu Xiqiao at the gatekeepers. The murderous look in her eyes indicated that she wasn’t here for a friendly visit.
“Do you think Miss Huangfu is a person who answers your call like a dog?” The gatekeepers scoffed upon hearing her order. What she said was utterly preposterous. “Who do you think you are?!”
“If you don’t turn around immediately, prepare to stay here for eternity,” threatened one of them. They were no longer who they used to be. Despite being mere gatekeepers, their abilities have already far exceeded that of a normal human’s. Thus, they looked at Gu Xiqiao as if they were looking at some delirious fool who had unintentionally stumbled upon their doorstep.
They were supreme cultivators, so how dare a puny little human act so arrogant in front of them?
“I’ll only repeat this one more time. Get her out here right this instant,” said Gu Xiqiao casually.
“You don’t seem to understand what sort of situation you’re in, do you?” One of the gatekeepers reprimanded her as he approached her with his blade. There was a white glow to his blade and he didn’t appear to be in a particularly good mood today. Then, he dashed towards Gu Xiqiao with his blade, ready to strike.
Underneath the street lamp, the iridescent glow of his blade was almost blinding!
His comrade did not stop him from attacking the innocent human. In fact, he wore a smug expression as he watched the show unfold. “I did tell you not to mess with the Huangfu family, didn’t I? I’m tellin’ ya, even the Lord of Hell would slam the gates of hell in your face if he knew that you were messing with us before you di-…”
Before he could finish his sentence, before he could express how powerful he and his comrade was, his entire body froze up like a statue. He gulped down his words and his eyes were so wide open that they almost popped out of their sockets.
To his surprise, the young lady was not chopped in half by his comrade’s blade. She did not move, but with a pair of dark eyes, she stared at her attacker.
Boom!
A streak of purple lightning came out of nowhere and struck down his comrade!
The young lady, who was supposed to have been sliced in half stood on the ground, expressionless and calm.
The blade-wielding gatekeeper’s eyes were wide open before he slumped over dead. He never would’ve thought that his life would be taken by a girl as young as her, especially after considering how powerful he had become.
Wait, it all made sense now. How could she possibly be a regular human? She descended from the sky like an angel and demanded to see Miss Huangfu after all.
But, as he collapsed to the ground, it was all too late!
“Tell Huangfu Xuan to come out,” said Gu Xiqiao with her arm raised. A pillar of lightning with the thickness of a man’s arm hovered above the center of her palm. “Or else, you too will die like you friend.”
The other gatekeeper’s legs turned into jelly. Averting his gaze, he desperately crawled back into the compound.
“Tell her that my surname’s Gu.”
Her voice was soft and gentle but it almost exploded his eardrums, as if she was yelling straight into his ears. Suddenly, a terrorizing aura swept over him, making the gatekeeper trip over in fear as he made his way to his mistress.
Dear god! What a terrifying person! How on earth did they mistake her as a regular human in the beginning?!
In the study room of Huangfu Manor, nothing felt particularly out of the ordinary.
“Young Mistress, something’s happened to the Leng family.” The butler walked up to Huangfu Xuan and proceeded to report the recent developments in regards to the Leng family to her.
Huangfu Xuan frowned upon hearing the news. “What a bunch of garbage. We’ll ignore them for now. Master’s matter remains the top priority. Are there any developments on the Hua family’s side?”
“No, not for now.” The butler groaned. “About the Wei family…let’s just say, you won’t need to bother with them from now on.”
Huangfu Xuan looked down, hiding the dark look in her eyes. “That assassin probably has already infiltrated the Wei family by now. Miss Gu is irrelevant now. It’ll only be a matter of days before the entire Mingzhou comes under our control. When that day comes…”
“Why does Master care so much about Miss Gu?” The butler was confused.
He found it odd that so much effort was being invested by people of such great capability, solely for the sake of a budding university girl.
It didn’t make sense to him, no matter from which perspective the butler approached the matter.
“The Leng family is useless. I want you to send men over to keep an eye on the Hua family. The laboratory here still needs me. Time is running out.” replied Huangfu Xuan.
The butler nodded and was about to head out when someone came clambering into the room.
“Young Mistress, the gatekeeper said that someone with the surname ‘Gu’ is waiting for you outside.”
“Miss Gu? Are you sure it’s her?” Huangfu Xuan looked up and her suspicion was confirmed by the man. A sly smile broke across her face instantly. “Very well. It appears that I don’t need to look for her after all!”
With the wave of her hand, she signaled for the men to leave the room. Standing alone in the middle of the room, she announced triumphantly, “Master, Gu Xiqiao has arrived.”
Suddenly, a strong aura descended upon the quiet room. Following that, a lion whose body was surrounded by a layer of dark mist materialized out of nowhere!
“Let’s go.” The beast turned into a cloud of smoke before slowly transforming into a tall human figure. As attractive as he might appear to be, his eyes were filled with darkness and anguish. “The boss won’t let me kill her and has specifically ordered me to not act rashly. But…now that she has walked into his trap, Xiao Liu, Xiao Qi, the pain you have endured prior to your deaths, I will avenge you!”
The door of the study room swung open the moment he intended to leave its vicinity.
Despite knowing that he was a nobleman and a member of her own family, Huangfu Xuan was momentarily taken aback. She knew just how strong he had become.; the people in the underground laboratory were all created by his own two hands. They had enough to form an entire army in fact. With so much power in her grasp, she could literally see the Huangfu family’s road to glory right in front of her!
“Gu Xiqiao! Hell hath no doors and yet you come here on your own will!” The figure led all of the elite fighters of the Huangfu family out through the front door.
Of these men, half were the products of experimentation while the other half consisted of true Huangfu family members.
They harbored the same feelings towards Gu Xiqiao as the two gatekeepers from before; they assumed that Gu Xiqiao was just a regular human, just insanely more arrogant. They were confused as to why Miss Huangfu stationed them here when they were only facing off with a person like her.
Realizing that they were committing the same mistake as his friend did, the gatekeeper made the call to desert his position.
As he ran, he bumped into a bunch of acquaintances who had arrived late. “Miss Huangfu’s looking for us. Where are you going?”
“Look, you have to trust me on this. Run while you can. That person outside mustn’t be messed with!” To be able to bend lightning to her will, we simply are no match for her. Let’s escape while we can!”
What a shame, that group of men ignored his advice. They laughed in his face. “Sounds like you’ve gone mad from all the gatekeeping duties.”
They then continued on their way, marching ignorantly towards their own deaths.
The gatekeeper looked back at them for one last time before letting out a sigh and leaving.
“Hell…” Gu Xiqiao peered over in the direction of the tall man. With a gaze as sharp as a blade, she said, “You will soon know what it feels like to experience suffering greater than hell!”
“Puny Houtian martial artist, how dare you make such a preposterous claim!” yelled the man in response. A red sword suddenly appeared in his grip. “I will cut you down in revenge for what you have done towards Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi!”
He swung his sword with all his might, and it was that moment that its blade grew larger and larger, while fiery red flames wrapped around it.
A terrifyingly powerful wave of energy exploded, sending most of his men ducking from the pressure.
Gu Xiqiao however, was unfazed by this show of force!
The sword was milliseconds away from slashing into her body!
And yet, she did not move a single muscle!
Huangfu Xuan cackled, and the people behind her followed suit. They figured that Gu Xiqiao must’ve been so scared that she froze up!
“My Lord, what a powerful man…”
“Yes! That’s My Lord!”
Huangfu Xuan and the others were mumbling to each other about that blade of his and how it was powerful enough to destroy the world!
“Gu Xiqiao, and I thought you were so powerful…” Huangfu Xuan smirked when she saw Gu Xiqiao frozen in place. In the next moment, however, that smirk of hers stiffened up.
Just when the flames were about to scorch Gu Xiqiao’s skin off, the shriek of a beast echoed through the sky!
Suddenly, a massive flaming bird appeared right in front of her.
Its body was covered in black flames, and the red flames on the man’s sword flickered inconsistently following its unexpected appearance. And then, the unthinkable happened—the flames on his sword went out.
The bird, in a seemingly human manner, looked at the men in disgust.
The ordeal was far from over!
It was time for Gu Xiqiao to make her move. She did not say a word as she reached up to grab the red sword that was floating in mid-air.
Snap!
Without hesitation, she broke the sword in half and threw it on the ground.
Clang!
It was the metallic sound of the sword hitting the ground.
What in tarnation?! Huangfu Xuan and her men were stunned. The invincible sword was snapped in half, by her?!
“Little Ba,” the man did not stop to look at his destroyed weapon. He was staring straight at Xixi and his brows were furrowed as if he was holding in an incomprehensible amount of rage and frustration. “Aren’t you supposed to still be sealed underground? Why are you here? Why are you together with this woman? She’s the one who murdered your seventh sister and your sixth brother!”
“Are you talking to me?” asked Xixi as it flapped its wings.
“I am your fifth brother!” said the man whose body was shrouded in darkness. In the surrounding air, traces of space tearing started to appear.
Xixi responded with a skeptical look. “Fifth brother?”
“That’s right!”
“Well, forgive me if this sounds a bit blunt but, I’m a bird but you, a dog, are claiming that you’re my brother?” Xixi returned to its original size and perched on Gu Xiqiao’s shoulder. “Come on girl, teach that dog a lesson!”
The man’s rage surged. Looking at Gu Xiqiao, he said, “Very well, no wonder you were able to kill my brethren!”
Roar!
A lion’s roar shook the earth and the man transformed into a humongous lion. Its body was emitting an endless supply of dark mist and its eyes were like two individual dark holes, where not even light could escape from!
The men behind him fell into formation following his transformation.
“God-binding formation! Unleash it!” Human words came forth from the lion’s maw. “Launch cyberspace!”
“Understood!” replied the men behind him. They swiftly returned to their seats and began to release the binds on him.
“Prepare to die, Gu Xiqiao!” The lion hopped into the air as a wave of pure, unfiltered energy flowed into its body. It charged aggressively towards Gu Xiqiao. No mercy this time, it thought.
With the power from the cyberspace, the god-binding formation and his unrivaled prowess in formation construction, he was planning to wipe Gu Xiqiao off the face of the planet with one single blow!
In his cyberspace, the chances of one escaping the attack were virtually zero. The man knew perfectly well the cards he was playing, and so, he funneled all his energy into this single hit. After all, the person he was facing against was a mere Houtian martial artist. There was no way she could repel his attack, even with all sorts of tricks she might have up her sleeve. In the face of an almighty force, she was nothing but a helpless fool!
A number of spatial cracks appeared in the air around him.
Gu Xiqiao stuffed Xixi into her pocket and slowly turned towards the beast. “Do you know how your seventh sister died? She failed to kill me, even in her cyberspace. Do you think you can achieve what she failed to do?”
The virtual training ground was projected around herself in the blink of an eye.
Almost simultaneously, a large pillar of lightning struck down next to her.
Huangfu Xuan’s jaw almost dropped to the ground upon seeing this. The confidence she had was shaken out of her immediately after witnessing this scene. She had thought Gu Xiqiao was just a nobody, someone who she could eliminate with just the snap of her finger. Never in a million years would she expect the enemy to be on par with the lord on the battlefield. In fact, the longer the battle went on, the more it seemed like she had the upper hand. S-She, she’s too strong!
As the two forces clashed, a strong gust of wind, almost hurricane-like, swept through the area.
His body, like a super-condensed battery, contained an immense amount of energy. And yet, he was being forced back again and again by this supposedly ‘Houtian’ young girl!
Spatial compaction!
Force of Thunder!
Anti-God-binding Formation!
He was dumbfounded! How could it be? Isn’t she a filthy Houtian?! How could she possibly use such powerful attacks? Why did her energy seem limitless?
As hard as it was for him to believe his eyes, she really did possess such great strength!
Several different types of auras were combined into a singular blow, creating an ear-splitting explosion in the air. The man suddenly found himself entangled by lightning bolts and in the next second, he smashed into the ground violently.
She was practically abusing him at this point!
Her show of force was way too terrifying as it was demoralizing! His men were stupefied.
Gu Xiqiao’s attacks, however, were still far from over. She pulled back the lightning bolts as she turned towards Huangfu Xuan and her men. She sneered at them. “Be patient, you’ll get your fair share of punishment!”
“All of you, come forth!” she ordered.
“Understood Miss Gu!”
The booming voice of seventy men shook the earth. Right after that, a formation of troops materialized out of thin air.
One could see that there were seven groups of men, with ten in each group. The Besieging Formation they constructed was multitudes more powerful than the God-binding Formation Gu Xiqiao’s opponent was relying on.
Rumble!
The noise went on non-stop, paralyzing the men around Huangfu Xuan through fear alone. She watched as the strongest men she had on her side got struck down one-by-one by Gu Xiqiao’s underlings. Her people offered little to no resistance against the attackers!
What baffled Huangfu Xuan the most was that despite all the bloodshed going on, the mythical great boss did not come to her rescue!
Gu Xiqiao just stood there calmly, with her hands behind her back as she watched her men butcher the enemy.
Huangfu Xuan’s body was now shaking uncontrollably. Scary. This is way too scary!