Chapter 9: Holy Land (Part 1)

When the old man uttered the words “strangers,” the atmosphere instantly became tense. The group acted as if facing a formidable enemy. Li Ran and the others stared at him in confusion. Li Ran stepped forward and asked, “What do you mean?”
The old man, holding a shield and a giant axe, pointed at Li Ran and said, “Are you strangers?”
Li Ran replied, “Strangers… is that so strange?”
The old man nodded and said, “Any stranger… kill them! This is our holy land. Strangers, surrender!”
Li Ran touched his nose and said, “We just got lost here and want to leave. We don’t want any fights.” He tried to explain and communicate.
The old man’s wrinkles seemed to stand on end as he said coldly, “Strangers, since you’ve come in, don’t even think about leaving. Kill them!” He swung his giant axe in a fierce strike. Instantly, the axe emitted a dazzling golden light, and the old man’s body began to change dramatically—his thin frame swelled rapidly, turning him into a hulking giant in the blink of an eye.
Guo Shier said in surprise, “Damn, transformation!”
All the old men and women expanded in size, their presence terrifying. Realizing communication was impossible, Li Ran said, “Get ready for battle! Leave this bastard to me!”
The leader among them was famous in the Wild Lands—a king-level expert known as the “Dual Master of Shield and Axe,” nicknamed the Madman. He was the leader of the king-level experts in this area, possessing immense strength.
Before entering the Wild Lands, these people had all been renowned super barbarian spirit experts, each a top-tier figure. Having survived the deadly outer regions for hundreds of years, they all appeared as old men and women.
As the golden light from the axe flashed, Li Ran teleported to the side. The light crashed to the ground, creating a deep trench dozens of meters long. The three old women at the periphery drew their bows, the strings trembling, as three arrows were shot out.
Angered, Li Ran shouted, “Damn it… kill them! Kill them all!” Following his command, everyone teleported away instantly, scattering in all directions. The twelve men were now surrounded, and the three arrows missed their targets.
Qi Wu Zhen cried out, “I’ll take on two of them!”
Li Ran said, “The three archers are mine!”
Ezekiel shouted, “Leave the old guy with the shield to me!”
…
They quickly chose their opponents. Li Ran roared, “No mercy! Kill them fiercely! There are no rules here!”

Guo Shier also chose an old man, a guy wielding a large two-handed sword. He slapped the guy, then used his Virtual Talisman Hand to strike him fiercely, sending him flying dozens of meters away, which enraged the man greatly. Guo Shier was inwardly shocked; he knew how powerful his Virtual Talisman Hand was and was surprised it hadn’t injured the other man. He immediately flew to a slightly farther place to avoid getting caught in chaos if a fight broke out.

Despite his shock, Guo Shier restrained himself from using the altar. Instead, he deployed the Soul Calming Cauldron and the Moon Blade. At that moment, he clearly sensed the power of this world. Fortunately, the altar was in his soul, protecting his body, but he still felt a strange force interfering while controlling the Soul Calming Cauldron and the Moon Blade.

When he first arrived in this world, Guo Shier hadn’t noticed anything amiss because his opponents were weak. So he hadn’t used the altar or his treasures much, and thus hadn’t realized anything. If it weren’t for Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen noticing and warning him, he might have stayed for a few more years and never left.

Guo Shier called out, “Hey, may I ask… do you really have to fight and kill?”
The old man roared, “Daring to attack my Gudel, you’re dead!”
Guo Shier was speechless. It was you who wanted to fight and kill—don’t blame me. He said mockingly, “Gudel, if I kill you… wouldn’t that be a pity?”
Gudel sneered, “Kill me? Dream on! A little kid like you—what strength do you have? Blame your parents for bringing you into this world…” He added, “But if you don’t resist and agree to surrender, maybe I’ll spare your life. I just need someone to serve me—you’ll do.”
Guo Shier was amused and said, “Gudel, have you gone crazy? Do you really think I’d serve you?”
Gudel was decisive. He felt he had already given the guy a chance, and since he didn’t appreciate it, he’d just kill him. He said, “Fine, then die!” Raising his large two-handed sword, he let out a fierce roar and swung the sword down. That roar certainly didn’t sound like an old man but rather like a strong adult man.
The sword trembled slightly, and three sword beams shot out, followed by three more. Gudel quickly retreated. The sword spun rapidly like a wheel, with countless sword lights flying. Suddenly, he roared again, and those sword lights merged with the first three, forming numerous phantom sword shadows. Like falling meteors, they traced bright paths through the air, slashing toward Guo Shier.

Guo Shier said, “Not bad!” He had already disappeared from his original spot. Teleportation was common in the world of talismans, even among mid-to-low-level professionals, but it was an unimaginable skill here. Countless sword beams suddenly pierced through the afterimage left by Guo Shier and struck the ground head-on, causing a massive explosion that left the ground in chaos.

Gudel laughed triumphantly, “Haha, dead, right?”

Guo Shier suddenly appeared about ten meters behind him and said calmly, “I can’t die!” As he spoke, he slapped Gudel on the back. This time, his illusory hand was condensed to its extreme, only the size of a palm fan, and the slap sent Gudel flying a hundred meters away. Gudel could no longer hold on and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Furious to the extreme, Gudel couldn’t believe that he could still be struck even when fully focused. Previously, it could be attributed to carelessness and he hadn’t been injured, but this time it wasn’t an accident. He felt a slight chill in his heart—unaware that his opponent was so strong. Yet he still refused to admit defeat and roared, “If you’ve got the guts, don’t hide!”

Such an instinctive demand for a duel had no effect on Guo Shier. He had seen many like this, people who wanted their opponents to fight at their strongest. With a cold sneer, he said, “Don’t you want to kill me? Come on! Let’s see how good you are.”

Rings of light emanated from Gudel’s body, a sign of him pushing his brute spiritual energy to its limit. Gritting his teeth, he swung his greatsword and charged at Guo Shier with all his might. He wanted close combat.

Guo Shier sneered and suddenly disappeared from his spot. The two chased each other back and forth. Guo Shier didn’t want to engage in close combat—he still hadn’t figured out what was so peculiar about a king-level expert, so the wise approach was to attack from a distance. But he found that Gudel was fast; even though he could teleport, the guy’s pursuit speed was only slightly slower, leaving him no enough time to launch his attacks.

Moon blades surrounded him, while the Soul-Calming Cauldron, the size of a fist, rotated slowly above his head. Guo Shier continued to teleport back and forth, searching for an opportunity. This time, he didn’t use illusory hands for attacks—this method, favored by most high-level professionals, was useful for both offense and defense. But he knew that to kill his opponent, illusory hands weren’t enough.

Gudel was furious—Guo Shier was simply too slick. He had never seen anyone who could evade attacks so well; every time he struck, it was only the opponent’s phantom image in mid-air, and he couldn’t hit the actual opponent at all. Moreover, using brute spiritual energy continuously also left him feeling exhausted. He had to exert all his strength with each attack, and even as a king-level expert, he found it overwhelming.

Gudel roared in anger, “You bastard… If you’ve got guts, stop running!”

Guo Shier suddenly stopped and said, “Fine, as you wish!” The Moon Blade instantly transformed into a torrent of blades, emitting a blinding light in an instant. He shouted, “Blade Tsunami!” Layers of blades surged like a tsunami, roaring toward Gudel. In the blink of an eye, Gudel found himself surrounded by countless blades.

But Gudel refused to dodge. He wanted to fight Guo Shier head-on. Guo Shier’s constant evasion had given him endless confidence; he thought Guo Shier was just avoiding fights because of his inferior strength. Seeing Guo Shier launch an attack, he was instead overjoyed and shouted, “Great!”

Gudel swung his two great swords, unleashing pure brute spiritual energy to empower them. He became like a hedgehog of light, with countless glowing sword blades flying out. Using all his strength, he unleashed his strongest move in a desperate attempt to defeat this annoying enemy in one strike.

The attacks from both sides were similar in nature—direct collisions between brute spiritual energy and soul power.

It was like blacksmithing; after a few clanging sounds, the collisions turned into a continuous roar. The intense sounds merged into a deafening blast, with violent gusts of wind spreading out like a comet hitting a planet. The blinding light turned everything around white.

The Soul Calming Cauldron above Guo Shier’s head suddenly descended and blocked in front of him. The recoil force slammed into the cauldron, producing a rumbling sound, like a giant bell ringing. He was shocked inwardly, not expecting the opponent to be so strong. After colliding with the Moon Blade and his great swords, they retracted with a clanging sound.

Before Gudel could utter a word, he was flung away by the immense force. Without the Soul Calming Cauldron to absorb the recoil, his great swords shattered into pieces with a crack. He managed to stabilize himself barely, feeling sharp pains all over his body. Only then did he notice the cracked wounds on his body, from which blood gushed out instantly, making him look as if he had been pulled out of a pool of blood.

Gudel felt dizzy and terrified. He couldn’t believe he couldn’t even block a single strike. His greatsword was now reduced to just the hilt and a short piece of the blade; the rest had shattered and fallen to the ground, with a broken fragment even stuck in his chest. He coughed, unable to hide the horror in his eyes.

The Soul-Calming Cauldron retracted back to his head. With a gesture of his hand, Guo Shier made the Moon Blade turn into a golden light that circled in his palm. He was also surprised—without the Soul-Calming Cauldron, he might have been injured too. Only when he saw Gudel’s condition did he breathe a sigh of relief. It was obvious that Gudel had been severely damaged.

Gudel’s expression gradually turned vicious. He stared intently at Guo Shier, holding his broken sword in one hand and charging forward desperately, determined to fight to the death.