Chapter 4: The Eight-Branched Vast Heaven (Part 1)

Guo Shier turned to look and saw a giant palm resembling a huge tennis racket, with the man acting like a tennis ball. With a whoosh, he was sent flying high and crashed into the platform that had just taken shape. With a loud boom, a large hole appeared in the platform, and the man plunged headfirst into it.
Eagle Demon was shocked—someone as skilled as a master of the Virtual Form Altar could be flung away like a fly. That old man was truly formidable.
The old man’s spirit transmitted, “Kid, the solution lies with that guy. Go after him!”
Guo Shier replied fearfully, “Old man, he’s a master of the Virtual Form Altar!” He had a psychological aversion to those who possessed altars. Ever since he first witnessed Chou Mo in action, he knew how powerful such masters were. But he didn’t realize that with an ally like the old man, his strength was no less than that of a master of the Virtual Form Altar.
The old man grew impatient. “You’re not the type to fear death usually. Why are you so hesitant? Go! That master of the Virtual Form Altar isn’t even my match… No, not yours either. What’s there to fear?”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan couldn’t help but laugh. The old man and Guo Shier loved to bicker all the time, especially the old man, who loved to scold Guo Shier. This spirit master truly carried himself with great arrogance.
Guo Shier remained wary of the master of the Virtual Form Altar, but with the old man’s support, he no longer felt afraid. He flew straight to the platform. At that moment, the man with the horse-like face rushed out of the hole in the platform. Spotting Guo Shier, he roared, “I’ll kill you!”
The old man’s spirit commanded, “Beat him!”
Guo Shier shouted, “Attack together! Fight!”
After roaring, the man with the horse-like face tried to activate his Virtual Form Altar, but Eagle Demon already acted. At the level of a high-ranking Grand Sage, his close-quarters combat skills were astonishing. With one punch to the man’s face, he was sent flying again. Luo Zhan rushed forward and kicked him.
Bang!
Before the man with the horse-like face could even land after being punched, Luo Zhan kicked him into the air again. Guo Shier waited in the air, watching as the man flew up before slashing down with a palm strike.
Ah…
The poor man with the horse-like face was knocked back down by another palm strike.
Such attacks weren’t fatal, especially for a master of the Virtual Form Altar, whose body was protected by the altar. Punches and kicks couldn’t threaten his life. But such attacks prevented him from fighting back and caused severe pain. Especially Eagle Demon, who loved to hit faces, delivering punches and slaps to his face until he was dizzy.
Ugh! Ah! Ha… Mm…

Ma Lian could only emit meaningless screams and launch attacks as fierce as storms, leaving him no chance to resist. Even Guo Shier didn’t dare face the close-quarters battles between Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan. The three of them combined their forces to pummel Ma Lian relentlessly. In truth, they too had their own concerns—they just didn’t dare stop, as once the opponent deployed the Virtual Form Altar, things would get extremely troublesome.

“Ah… stop… oh… please… stop fighting… ahh… it hurts so much…”

After a fierce beating, Guo Shier grew increasingly panicked. This guy was like an indestructible pest; despite screaming in pain, he didn’t seem to be seriously injured at all. He knew that mere punches and kicks couldn’t harm him unless they used their signature blades, but they certainly didn’t dare slack off at this point. As he kept punching wildly, he communicated with the old man and asked, “Old man, continuing like this won’t work. Do you have any trick to make him submit?”

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were fighting with great enthusiasm, having not had such a chance to vent their anger in a long time. What excited them the most was that they were beating a master of the Virtual Form Altar—the sense of achievement was immense. It could be summed up in one word: exhilarating!

“Stop… or I’ll get angry… ahh…”

The three of them kept beating him mercilessly, ignoring Ma Lian’s cries entirely.

The old man was stunned. He hadn’t expected these three to be so violent. He couldn’t help but laugh and say, “Alright, let me take over!”

Guo Shier finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, he was also on the verge of exhaustion. A few consecutive blows were fine, but prolonged attacks that didn’t kill the opponent and didn’t even cause serious injuries were extremely tiring. He shouted, “Stop!” The three of them immediately jumped back.

A golden chain shot out and instantly bound Ma Lian.

It was the Soul Locking Treasure Chain—the sacred artifact of the old man from his lifetime. It quickly tied up Ma Lian and locked his soul as well. No wonder the old man had seemed so confident. Not only could masters of the Virtual Form Altar hardly resist it, but even those of the Physical Form Altar, unless they had reached the third level, would find it difficult to withstand its restraint. Of course, if it were a master of the Physical Form Altar who took proper precautions, the Soul Locking Treasure Chain would also find it hard to succeed.

Poor Ma Lian, after being beaten mercilessly, had no idea the opponent had such a terrifying tactic. He didn’t even have time to react. As soon as the Soul Locking Treasure Chain wrapped around him, he was tightly bound and suspended in midair. He screamed, “Damn it, you guys… you’re not high-level Grand Saints… are you…?” He simply couldn’t understand why, despite being a master of the Virtual Form Altar, he had been dealt such a miserable fate by professionals at the Grand Saint level.

“What… what do you want?”
Looking at the three approaching men, Ma Face regretted it bitterly—why had he provoked them? He tried to lift his head, his small green eyes surrounded by dark purple circles from being punched repeatedly by the Eagle Demon, just like a giant panda in his past life, which made Guo Shieri can’t help but laugh.
Not only were his eyes bruised, but his nose was crooked, his mouth askew, with blood foam at the corners—looking utterly pitiful.
The Eagle Demon clicked his tongue and said, “Tsk tsk, did we go too far?”
As soon as Guo Shieri spoke, Ma Face was filled with shame and anger. “Elder…”
Ma Face shouted, “I’m not an elder! I’m… I’m…” He didn’t even know what he was. After being beaten mercilessly by three great masters, they still humbly called him an elder, while he was tied up like a dead pig—how humiliating!
Guo Shieri asked curiously, “If you’re not an elder… then what are you?”
Ma Face was on the verge of going crazy, stammering, “You… you… I…” He was so distressed that tears welled up—this was too much bullying. He roared, “I was blind! Just kill me!”
Guo Shieri said, “I don’t plan to kill you… What? Are you impatient to live?”
Ma Face had never heard such infuriating words. Of course, he didn’t really want to die. After struggling to reach the Void Form Altar, though he had just been promoted and was full of confidence, how could he really want to die? He just couldn’t bear Guo Shieri’s words and had no way to resist. From the start, he had been at a disadvantage, with almost no chance to fight back. Tears and snot streamed down uncontrollably as he said, “You’re the one impatient to live…”
Hahaha!
Guo Shieri and the other two burst into laughter.
Ma Face was completely defeated. Not only could he’t beat them, but he couldn’t even argue with them—what was he supposed to do? He demanded, “So what are you going to do?”
Guo Shieri couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not me who needs to decide—it’s you! You’re the one who provoked us from the start!”
Ma Face was speechless. Indeed, he had been aggressive from the beginning, giving no chance for them to defend themselves, attacking right away. He fell silent for a moment before saying, “It’s my fault…” He actually admitted his mistake.
Guo Shieri was stunned. He’d give up so easily? The handsome old man reminded him, “Ask him how to get out.”
Although Ma Face felt a hint of reluctance, at this point, if he continued to be stubborn, he would truly be dead—no one would spare an enemy.

Guo Shier asked, “How many natural runes are there here?”
Ma Lian was stunned. After a long while, he replied, “Just this one. This is a single rune core. Only with a dual rune core would there be two natural runes.”
Guo Shier asked again, “Hmm, how do we get out?” He asked suddenly. Ma Lian blurted out an answer instinctively before realizing that this guy was trying to trick him.
“Activate the acquired rune… uh…”
Guo Shier immediately understood why this guy reacted so violently when the natural rune was acquired. Once he activated the acquired rune, he would be trapped here, possibly for hundreds of years, until the natural runes reformed and he might be able to leave. He couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. This place was truly deceptive—any failure to meet the conditions meant no way out.
Guo Shier continued, “Besides activating the rune, is there any other way to get out?”
Ma Lian said, “Yes. Craft a small ancient rune gate before entering, set it outside, and then you can exit directly through the rune core.”
Guo Shier asked, “Do you have an ancient rune gate?”
Ma Lian smiled bitterly. “I can’t craft one, so I don’t.”
Guo Shier said, “So… if you can’t get a natural rune, you can’t leave?”
Ma Lian replied dejectedly, “Yes…”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh, though his laughter was a bit terrifying. Ma Lian asked despondently, “Are you going to abandon me?”
Eagle Demon said, “We have no need to take you with us. It’s already good enough that we’re not killing you. Do we also have to save you?”
Ma Lian let out a long sigh. If it were him, his methods would definitely be more ruthless than these people’s. He would never spare them and would just kill them outright. The fact that they were sparing his life was already merciful, but leaving him here seemed even crueler than killing him.
Guo Shier said, “By the way, after fighting for so long, who are you?”
Ma Lian’s face stretched long as he replied weakly, “Gu Nan family, Nan You.”