Chapter 469 - 261: Xuyin (Part 2)
’Or... was the Celestial Dao itself imperfect?’
He pushed the thought aside.
"Husband, that Miyue fled without a fight!"
Yu Feng’Er’s eyes blazed with anger. She utterly despised Miyue Master. She had thought that the master from the Profound Moon Lineage, for the sake of the Four Spirits’ legacy, would at least put up a symbolic resistance, if not fight to the bitter end. But she had never expected Miyue to abandon all her disciples without a second thought.
"Let her go," Lü Zhong said, his expression calm.
In fact, he had expected this.
Miyue Master was fundamentally a two-faced individual. Her resistance to the sect merger was half-hearted at best. She had surrendered to Shuini at the first sign of mortal danger, and even after being granted amnesty, she continued to harbor ulterior motives.
Her decision to abandon her post and flee was entirely in character.
"Get ready. We need to take out this group with lightning speed. If the other fronts collapse, these enemies will regroup and become much more difficult to handle."
"Mm," Yu Feng’Er nodded lightly, then summoned her Lifebound Treasure.
For Core Formation Cultivators, a distance of a thousand li could be covered in a matter of moments.
The newcomers were two Core Formation Cultivators: an Evil-looking Black-faced Monk at Mid-stage Core Formation, and a Jade-faced Scholar at Early-stage Core Formation.
Lü Zhong knew of these two; both were famous Loose Cultivators from the Southern Barbarian region.
No one knew the Black-faced Monk’s real name, so the world simply called him the "Evil Monk."
This moniker came from his past. It was said that years ago, he was a Toutuo who tended the fires in a Heterodox Buddhist sect in the Profound Sun Domain. Unable to bear the persecution of his peers, he secretly learned a Cultivation Technique. After thirty years, he had only achieved minor success, but when his secret was exposed, he rose up and slaughtered them.
After fleeing the Buddhist Sect, the Toutuo switched to the Immortal Dao, and unexpectedly, the Evil Monk showed even greater talent for cultivation. He supported himself through robbery and murder, acquiring resources along the way. With no fewer than a thousand cultivators dead at his hands, he still managed to reach Core Formation within a century.
As for the Jade-faced Scholar next to him, he was also a legendary Loose Cultivator.
The scholar’s name was Xuu Lin. He was originally a student from the Changchun Domain on his way to the capital for the imperial examinations. One rainy night, he took shelter in a deserted mountain temple where he encountered and killed a strange white snake, devouring its gallbladder and flesh. By a stroke of luck, he completed the process of introducing Qi into his body and thus stepped onto the Immortal Path. Relying on a Furnace Secret Technique, he successfully reached Core Formation in a mere sixty years.
Men like these were definitely the cream of the crop among Loose Cultivators.
"I’ve heard you once slew a flood dragon, Fellow Daoist. I wonder if it’s true. Allow me to test your skills today!" Although the Evil Monk spoke boldly, his body didn’t move an inch. In fact, he even retreated a little.
This was enough to show how wary he was of Lü Zhong.
How could Lü Zhong not see that the Evil Monk was stalling for time? Without another word of nonsense, he activated an Escape Skill and charged at him.
As he made his move, Yu Feng’Er attacked as well.
Compared to Lü Zhong, who was renowned as a "Nascent Soul Seed," the obscure Yu Feng’Er seemed like an easier opponent. But once the Jade-faced Scholar, Xuu Lin, crossed swords with her, he realized how terribly mistaken he was.
"It directly harms the Divine Soul! What kind of technique are you using?" Xuu Lin exclaimed in horror.
Just now, he had only exchanged a single sword strike with Yu Feng’Er, yet he felt a stabbing pain in his Divine Soul. ’I can’t imagine what would happen after a few more blows!’
"I see now! You have an Ice Soul Spirit Body!"
Upon hearing this, the Evil Monk standing nearby began to gloat.
But soon, he wasn’t laughing anymore.
The Evil Monk wielded a Precepts Saber, a Magical Treasure into which a "Blood Bodhi" had been refined. This was a notorious blood-defiling item in the Southern Barbarian Immortal Cultivation World, and the Precepts Saber was exceptionally good at corrupting others’ Magical Treasures.
In the past, the Evil Monk had been invincible with this treasure.
But today he had hit a wall. Lü Zhong’s Purple Nether Extreme Fire was the perfect counter to this saber.
After just a few rounds of combat, the Blood Bodhi Precepts Saber grew listless, losing the ferocious, rolling blood flames it had when it was first summoned. As a result, the Evil Monk, for whom it was a Lifebound Treasure, began coughing up blood repeatedly.
Only then did he realize he had been played.
’The person who hired me never mentioned anything about Yang Fire.’
The Evil Monk quickly understood the hirer’s true intention. ’They clearly want me to self-detonate my Golden Core. They don’t expect me to take Lü Zhong down; as long as I can weaken him, they’ll consider it a worthy trade.’
"ARGH!!!"
Lü Zhong’s expression remained unchanged as he directly controlled the Cyan Glaze Sword to shred him to pieces.
Immediately, a dazzling ball of light erupted.
After the incomplete Golden Core detonation, Lü Zhong hovered in mid-air, his clothes intact. Most of his Star Yang Gang Qi had been stripped away, forcing him to consume a Replenishing Qi Pill to replenish his Magical Power and restore the Gang Qi.
On the other side, Yu Feng’Er successfully slew the Jade-faced Scholar.
Her breathing was rapid, a clear sign that the fight had not been easy.
Seeing that no more enemies were approaching for the moment, the two seized the rare opportunity to restore their Magical Power, regulate their breathing, and compose themselves for the brutal battles that were sure to come.
「Barely a hundred breaths later.」
The celestial phenomenon of stars and the moon vanished, replaced by roiling thunderclouds.
The Celestial Tribulation would soon descend.
「A short while later.」
Cloud Obscurity Ancestor’s defensive line was breached.
He was being tied down by one person, while three Core Formation cultivators flew toward Lü Zhong’s position. The leader was at Mid-stage Core Formation, while the others were at Early-stage Core Formation. They, too, were Loose Cultivators.
"What clever methods," Lü Zhong remarked, admiring the Sects’ strategy.
’Paying a fortune to hire these people is a surefire deal with no downsides. Regardless of success or failure, the Sects profit. Either they eliminate a future Nascent Soul cultivator, or they get rid of the unstable elements in their territory.’
’A pity. These three are just being used as hired blades.’
’More likely, they’re perfectly aware of this. But faced with the cultivation resources they’ve craved for so long, they couldn’t resist the temptation and signed the Spirit Contract.’
Whatever the truth, Lü Zhong would not let a single one of them pass.
The great battle erupted once more.
Fighting two opponents at once was one thing, but for a single person to intercept two Core Formation cultivators was another matter entirely. Left with no choice, Lü Zhong activated Yinn Li, ordering him to use the Spirit Fusion Secret Technique to hold them off.
"Main Body, sometimes I truly feel that you reviving me was a mistake."
With those words, Yinn Li charged forward without a moment’s hesitation.
’Perhaps,’ Lü Zhong thought to himself.
Seeing a Mid-stage Core Formation Cultivator suddenly appear, the three opponents instantly understood their true purpose: they were merely tools, meant to wear down Lü Zhong’s strength.
But what did it matter if they knew?
If they failed to fulfill the terms of the Spirit Contract, they would die even if they managed to escape.
They could only brace themselves and charge.
「A quarter of an hour passed.」
The battle ended with Lü Zhong and Yu Feng’er victorious.
But it was a pyrrhic victory.
Although Lü Zhong remained unharmed, Yu Feng’Er was injured. One of their opponents, an old woman skilled in Poison Skills, had spat out a cloud of potent poison mist with her dying breath. Yu Feng’Er had taken a Pill in time to save her life, but her strength was inevitably diminished.
Not to mention, he had also lost an Incarnation.
Worst of all, Chuu Yueyun’s front could no longer hold.
Just moments ago, a mushroom cloud had risen in that direction. Lü Zhong couldn’t help but suspect that Chuu Yueyun had self-detonated her Golden Core.
Holding Yu Feng’Er, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but laugh. "Sometimes, I don’t even know why I fight so desperately. I could just run, escape to a safe place, and focus on my own growth."
’When it comes to lying low, I’m quite the expert.’
"Husband, this is the real you," Yu Feng’Er said with a light laugh.
Complex and contradictory.
Before the two could rest for long, five streaks of rainbow light streaked toward them.
"One, two, three... four, five! I thought there would only be four. You people don’t play by the book, do you?" Lü Zhong said, looking at the five newcomers. His gaze finally settled on a Late-stage Core Formation cultivator. Though the man had concealed his aura, it was useless before the Celestial Net Eye.
"Fellow Daoist from Huayi Temple, you can drop the act and show yourself."
"As expected of Fellow Daoist Lü!" the withered, Late-stage Core Formation elder praised. He then completely released his aura, a fire of hatred igniting in his eyes as he sneered, "I wonder, Fellow Daoist Lü, if you still remember Lian Yin, who died at your hands one hundred and twelve years ago in the Long-toothed Burrow of the Chenyuan Palace Secret Realm?"
"Of course I remember. Her Thunder Skill nearly took my life," Lü Zhong said after a moment of recollection.
"Very good. Then you shall die to that same technique today!" The old Daoist from Huayi Temple nodded in satisfaction, slowly summoning nine Thunder Banners. Stroking his beard, he laughed boisterously and said, "Lü Zhong, you whelp, remember this well!
The one who kills you is the master of Huayi Temple’s Lian Yin—Xuyin!"