Chapter 300: Forbidden Technique
But Xu Hong seemed to have anticipated this and was long gone from his original spot. Then, a soft whisper echoed once more.
"The Seven Divine Commandments. The Fifth Commandment: Against Sloth!"
"The Seven Divine Commandments. The Sixth Commandment: Against Wrath!"
In the next instant, the sky itself changed color as dark clouds abruptly gathered.
An extreme radiance streaked across the sky, splitting it like a curtain. A bizarre spectacle unfolded as one half of the heavens turned blue, the other red.
Shen Daoxing felt as if he had been plunged into a frigid, bone-chilling abyss in the far north, left to tremble uncontrollably. The next moment, he was at the foot of a blazing volcano, suffering its unbearable heat.
In a matter of moments, the summit of Ancestor Mountain had been transformed. Half was a sea of flames, the other half a land of ice and snow—a world of two extremes.
Seeing this, the onlookers on the mountain retreated again and again, their eyes wide with astonishment.
But Xu Hong’s murmured incantation was not yet over.
"The Seven Divine Commandments. The Seventh Commandment: Against Envy!"
RUMBLE!
The ground quaked and the mountain trembled.
The entire Ancestor Mountain shook violently, as if it could collapse at any moment.
CRACK!
The sound of shattering suddenly echoed.
Shen Daoxing looked down to see the mountaintop cracking apart. One after another, Swords of Judgment from the Underworld erupted from the fissures below.
In mere moments, the entire summit of Ancestor Mountain was covered in blades, becoming a true mountain of knives and sea of fire, a world of ice and flame.
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, a manifestation of the Underworld’s judgment—a blade brimming with sharp, imposing killing intent—shot up from the ground.
PFFT!
With a soft sound, a foot of the Sword Intent Giant under Shen Daoxing’s control was effortlessly pierced.
At the same time, a bone-deep cold—a chill that felt as if it could freeze the very soul—spread through the Sword Intent Giant. One side of its body was instantly encased in a block of crystalline ice.
Meanwhile, a raging fire that seemed capable of incinerating anything erupted on its other side. Black smoke sizzled and rose as the other half of Shen Daoxing’s Sword Intent Giant was engulfed in roaring flames.
But it wasn’t over.
The effects of the Seven Divine Commandments—Abstinence from Sensuality! Humble! Fasting! Avarice!—were still unfolding.
A massive cauldron of oil materialized, boiling over and sending a scalding wave of liquid surging forward.
A blood-drenched torture device, constructed from interconnected iron rods, drifted eerily forward.
A pair of golden shears sliced an arc through the air, blocking Shen Daoxing’s path.
There was also the red-hot pillar of torture. With a WHOOSH, it burrowed into the ground, broke free from the entanglement of the Venerable Dharma Seal, and reemerged directly in front of Shen Daoxing.
But Shen Daoxing did not halt his advance, even when faced with attacks from all sides.
The Sword Intent Giant strode forward, wrenching its foot from the mountain of blades. BANG! It smashed the flying golden shears aside with a punch, then raised the colossal Treasure Sword in its hand.
CLANG!
An arc of silvery-white light flashed, and the red-hot pillar of torture was violently sent flying.
Shen Daoxing’s Sword Intent Giant pressed forward resolutely, ignoring the ice and fire that were steadily consuming its body.
The next moment, what awaited him was a strike from the Celestial Pig Ruler that was like Tianze himself—a blow that spanned the heavens and the earth, meant to sever everything in its path.
But Shen Daoxing still did not retreat. The seven-colored light from the Profound Platform within him flared brightly as he slowly raised a hand and pointed toward the sky.
"Taiyi Demon Suppression, Nine Supreme Swords!"
BZZZT!
Black arcs of lightning crackled.
On Ancestor Mountain, the nine colossal Treasure Swords embedded in the ground began to flicker simultaneously with black arcs of light, and the space around them started to warp.
VMMMM!
A booming hum rang out.
VMMMM!
VMMMM!
Then, a series of resonating hums rang out in succession. The nine colossal Treasure Swords trembled slightly, then suddenly shot out of the ground.
The tips of the swords pivoted to point at Xu Hong. Then, from all directions—front, back, left, and right—they transformed into streaks of black light and shot out with the speed of a lightning flash.
Black lightning crackled around them, and space itself warped wherever they passed.
In that instant, the golden shears, the red-hot pillar, the flying cauldron, and the blood-soaked clamps all seemed to possess a life of their own. They shot into the air and then fell in a dazzling cascade, forming layered defenses in front of Xu Hong.
However, the nine chilling Treasure Swords flew in from all directions at once. Black lightning crackled around them, warping the very fabric of space. It was as if everything in their path was being compressed toward a single point.
The golden shears at the outermost layer were the first to buckle. They were stretched and compressed before shattering with a bang.
BANG!
Next was the flying oil cauldron.
BANG!
Then came the red-hot pillar of torture.
BANG!
And the blood-soaked clamps.
Finally, only the Celestial Pig Ruler, with its Tianze-like presence, remained in their path.
BZZT!
Black lightning crackled.
CRACK!
A crisp cracking sound rang out.
A crack appeared on the Celestial Pig Ruler. It quickly grew, spreading out like a spiderweb.
BANG!
With a loud bang, the Celestial Pig Ruler shattered, its fragments scattering in every direction.
But the nine colossal Treasure Swords continued onward, their momentum unchecked.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Flashes of black light streaked past.
PFFT!
Xu Hong’s colossal Golden Dharma Aspect was suddenly pierced through from every direction by the nine giant Treasure Swords.
???
’He won! The kid actually won!’
Not far away, from behind a large rock, the Tianze Emperor’s eyes flew open in disbelief. ’This kid, from who-knows-where, actually broke Xu Hong’s Seven Divine Commandments... and won!’
The Tianze Emperor’s eyes were wide with disbelief.
His excitement lasted only a moment, however. His expression suddenly changed as a premonition of dread washed over him.
GRIND... CREAK...
Suddenly, a blood-curdling grinding sound echoed.
Xu Hong’s Heaven and Earth Dharma Aspect, which should have been destroyed, did not vanish. In a bizarre and horrifying display, while his massive body remained motionless, the head on his neck began to twist unnaturally. It slowly rotated a full half-circle, revealing the back of his skull.
But what they saw was not the back of a head. It was another face, identical to Xu Hong’s.
This new face, however, was ghastly and grim, shrouded in an eerie black energy. It radiated a terrifying, demonic aura—the complete opposite of Xu Hong’s previous sagely and transcendent demeanor.
As this face was revealed, Xu Hong’s originally brilliant golden Dharma Aspect was suddenly engulfed by a burgeoning black light. An unnatural dark glow radiated from it.
His entire being became sinister and demonic to the extreme.
"This... this is demonic corruption! He’s become a demon!"
The Tianze Emperor was stunned, but realization quickly dawned. "Cultivating the Daoist path with one aspect and the demonic path with the other... This is the Dual Saint Technique! No one in the entire East Continent has managed to learn it for over a thousand years. Xu Hong, you actually mastered it! Your secrets run deep."
The emperor looked up at Xu Hong, his face a mask of disbelief.
’The Taoist and Demon Dual Saints... Legend said it was a Forbidden Technique left behind by an Unparalleled Great Power from beyond the East Continent. One righteous and one demonic, one yin and one yang, each complementing the other. It was a Forbidden Technique even more terrifying than the Seven Divine Commandments.’