Chapter 145: Inauguration



Zhong Yue prepared himself, he walked into the saint city lord's manor to see it already brimming with people. Envoys from all the major forces in the East Barren gathered in the hall. The old man first brought him over to meet with the envoys before leading him into the inner hall and asking him to wait.

The inauguration was grand and majestic, the forces that came in congratulations were also many. The atmosphere was very lively. Zhong Yue's name had spread widely through the East Barren – all over the mountains, rivers, and every place in between.

Whether it be his outstanding performance in the Black Mountain secret realm or the battle against Heaven Monster Li Jun in saint city, or the massacre he carried out on the street ... they were all the hottest topics in the monsters' daily discussions and gossips.

Of course, Zhong Yue noticed a few of the envoys whose attitudes were subtly less than cordial; their words held many hidden meanings and were effused with hidden killing intents. He knew that it was all because he had killed either their friends, families or disciples in the massacre on the street.

Although his name was renowned around the East Barren, but it was clear to him that the more fame and attention he accrued, the greater the hatred and jealousy it would engender. It was, after all, the taller trees in the woods that got their tops blown off — if a person was exceptionally outstanding, he would be liable to attack. This adage also rung true with the monsters.

The inauguration ceremony had started, the monster saint city lord made his appearance and Zhong Yue was publicly inaugurated. He covertly gazed at the saint city lord in the corner of his eyes. The saint city lord was a middle-aged man and his countenance was solemn and dignified. Although he had not shown his Ming King eight arms, there was a half-opened vertical eye on his forehead. Vaguely, Zhong Yue could distinguish golden rays burgeoning in it. The power it contained was so overwhelming as if it was an enormous volcano that had fermented for tens of thousands of years!

He was not a handsome figure like Heaven Monster Li Jun. He carried himself as a stately man – stern and unflustered, like a grand mountain that would remain immovable in front of the legends of heroes, the vicissitudes of the world, and the ravages of time!

Shi Buyi, so this is the saint city lord's name.

Halfway through the inauguration ceremony, Zhong Yue heard the saint city lord's name from the master of ceremonies and he thought, The name has a 'Shi' in it, could he have cultivated from a lion monster beast?

"Junior Martial Brother Long, that is the envoy from King Teng's teacher sect, Qinghe."

After the inauguration ceremony, Zhong Yue stood beside a wall while Qiu Qingshan walked towards him, twitching his mouth towards one of the guests, said, "The sect that King Teng came from were all cultivators from plants. His teacher is an old creature, an old tree, called 'Shu Qianqiu'. Shu Qianqiu is a terrifyingly strong old geezer; although not yet a magnate, he is not far from that stage either – very horrific. Junior martial brother you need to be careful of this Qing He, the congratulatory gift she brought was a coffin."

Zhong Yue's heart thumped, he gazed at that Qing He and thought to himself, This Qing He will not be as annoying like King Teng right? If she is, then it's not so good. She sent a coffin, not only as a congratulatory gift, but more like she wants to put me into the coffin….

"Junior martial brother, you've killed too many disciples and children of the strong experts. For example, that old man, Xiang Shan, an expert cultivator at the level of Atman Body, his son, Xiang Zhuo had his head crushed into his chest by you."

Qiu Qingshan pointed here and there, telling Zhong Yue the monsters that have hatred against him, "That old lady there, Maolao Taijun, her daughter Mao Qianqian was sliced into bits by your Sword Qi. Another one there, Xun Shaoshi, his disciple, Xun Hengjiang was beheaded by you. And that one there, his lover's head was smashed away by you…."

Qiu Qingshan was very enthusiastic when introducing Zhong Yue's enemies among the guests to him. The more Zhong Yue listened, the darker his face turned. In that battle on the street, he had killed nearly two hundred monsters, some were Rebirth Qi Practitioners and there was even an Awakening Qi Practitioner that opened the Wu Xing Wheel!

In this inauguration ceremony, his enemies had all gathered together, not to congratulate him but to take a good look at him — so that they would know who to look for when they inevitably go to claim his head!

Among the guests, nearly half of them were his enemies!

And if he dared to leave the saint city, one could tell what kind of assaults he would be faced with!

In the saint city, these monster experts didn't dare to touch him but once he gets out of the city, not even the saint city lord's prestige would be able to restrain these wild and unruly experts!

"Among the congratulatory gifts from the envoys that came to the inauguration, there were over fifty coffins, there were also funeral banners that wrote junior martial brother's name, and also loess, which literally means that they will bury you in the loess."

Qiu Qingshan was gloating, he smirked and said, "Junior martial brother, you are very well-known now, even your senior martial brother, I and your other two senior martial sisters didn't enjoy such a high prestige as yours! You don't know it yet, but you've earned yourself a nickname in the East Barren – the evil dragon, all thanks to that battle on the street."

Zhong Yue's face got even darker and he said, "Senior Martial Brother Qiu is making a joke of me."

"No, no, definitely not a joke!"

Abruptly, Qiu Qingshan turned solemn and said, "Not only the East Barren, but your name has spread through the West Barren, Great Wilderness, North Barren and South Barren! Being the saint city lord's closed door disciple will naturally attract attention, even more so after the battle you had against Heaven Monster Li Jun, and the blood-curdling battle on the street. You've proven your prowess to be at the highest peak in the level of Rebirth. Such an exceptional performance ... surely the other major forces of the other barrens would've noticed you and remembered your name and appearance, all so they can put you down in their own little hit list!"

Zhong Yue was shocked, he cursed in his heart.

Qiu Qingshan sneered coldy and continued, "Back then, during the time of my inauguration, I went out to train myself traveling in the barrens. I was assaulted and ambushed countless times and even brushed with the edge of death a few times. Surely, you will be faced with the same thing when you walk out of the East Barren!"

"Don't worry junior martial brother, you are our teacher's closed door disciple now, no one dares to ever touch you in the Xian Kong Saint City."

Chi Liannu was the second disciple of the saint city lord, her clothes were thin and little, only wearing a tube top and a mini skirt that barely covered her butt – she was extremely seductive. while she chuckled melodically, "But, it's hard to say if you are out of the city, and even harder to tell when you are out to the other barrens. But, junior martial brother wouldn't leave the city so soon right?"

Zhong Yue's eyelids thumped, it was even dangerous to stay in the saint city, although the saint city lord, Shi Buyi, was now his teacher, but there was definitely no room for him in his teacher's heart!

Staying down in the saint city would be even more precarious than leaving the city!

The inauguration ceremony has finished, and the saint city lord Shi Buyi clapped his hands to summon the seneschal over and said, "Send the congratulatory gifts to the Fengbo Palace."

The seneschal lowered his head and answered, he ordered the servants to carry the gifts and indeed, Zhong Yue could see dozens of coffins in the gifts. Shi Buyi stood up, he cast his gaze over at Zhong Yue and said, "Long Yue, follow me."

Zhong Yue's heart thumped quickly as he followed behind, he was anxious and thought, The saint city lord is asking for me, I wonder what he wants? He wouldn't possibly kill me now, after all, he has just taken me in. He still needs to save himself some face. If he kills me now, his face would surely be lost … Oh yes, he wants my [Monster God Ming King Art]!

The [Monster God Ming King Art] had a huge flaw as the part that contained the Ming King Divine Eye was lost. As one's progress in the art advances, the flaw would only become a greater impediment. At the stage where Shi Buyi stood now, it was starting to threaten his life!

All this hassle Shi Buyi went through in selecting a closed door disciple was in fact, a cover for him to acquire the complete [Monster God Ming King Art]!

After the battle on the street, Zhong Yue had killed that unknown Awakening Qi Practitioner, during which he used two Ming King Divine Eyes — one was the sun pupil while the other moon pupil. These two divine eyes were exceptionally strong and powerful, and attracted the saint city lord's interest!

My sun pupil and moon pupil, although they aren't the Ming King Divine Eye, their prowess is extraordinary. They would only be better than the original Ming King divine eye! If he acquires the sun pupil and moon pupil, his prowess would increase greatly!

Zhong Yue lowered his head while following behind Shu Buyi, But, it's impossible to cultivate the sun pupil and moon pupil without the sun spirit and moon spirit. Even if I've taught him the arts of sun pupil and moon pupil, he wouldn't be able to learn it either. So then, I shall give them to him, the more efforts he spent on the moon spirit and sun spirit, the more time he will waste, and the more time I can earn for humanity!

Saint city lord's manor, in the empty main palace, Shu Buyi placed his hands on the back and stared longingly at the murals on the palace wall, not saying a word.

Zhong Yue stood behind the monster magnate, and he also looked at the murals — paintings that depicted the ancient history of the monster race.

In the murals, the monsters were bullied and enslaved. The enormous gods stood high in the lofty sky, their countenances were vague and blurred while below them were the petty and low monsters. Despite all the worshipping and offerings, one of the gods reached out his hand and clenched a handful of monsters before callously throwing them into his mouth.

While the other monsters were trembling in fear and terror, they dared not run nor recede, and they were just beside watching as their people were eaten as food by the gods.

Then the paintings changed, the second mural was the uprising of the monsters. Monster gods and the other gods fought a bone-rattling battle — the dragon god loomed in the clouds, the phoenix god emerged within the fiery flames, countless monsters contorted their faces in anger, and mustered their strengths in insurrection against the heavens. Their grueling war with the gods was illustrated in the blood-soaked land and its sanguine reflection against the crimson sky.

The third mural was the massacre and repression of the monster race. The monster gods were killed and it was then that the monster emperor emerged. The monster emperor carried on the battle with the gods.

And in the fourth mural, the monster race's emperor signed a treaty with the gods, earning the monsters a place in the world and their own statues. But the monster race was heavily impaired after all the battles – they were now weak and fragile.

However, through the treaty, the monsters had earned their place, they could now stand up high as they had escaped their prison of being the inferior race. It was then where the tables shifted and they started to enslave the humans.

While in the fifth mural, the ancestors of the monster race opened a path and claimed the land of East Barren and built the Xian Kong Saint City on top of the Black Mountain. They enslaved and raised the humans on this land to offer them to their monster gods.

One mural after another, Zhong Yue witnessed the unfolding of the magnificent history of the monster race. Although the monsters were rivals with the humans, there were many respectable and honorable existences within the monster race that emerged one after another and fought with the celestials, battling for their survival.

And to the last mural, it recorded the battle between the late saint city lord and a mother insect. That monster saint city lord died protecting the monster race while the severely wounded mother insect had seemed to escape.

If I was really a monster, my blood would've been boiling and my heart would've been filled with fighting spirit. But I'm a human; the monster race's history was indeed glorious and sensational. But what I fight for is the survival and glory of my race! We of the human race, will not be condemned as food for the monsters from the time of our births!

He said to himself, We of humanity will return to the rightful place we should've held in the history – the leaders of all races, and the gods among gods!

"Can you see this, these, they are all our greatest ancestors of monster race!"

Shu Buyi was high-spirited, his sleeves fluttered in the wind and he whispered lowly, "This is the glorious history of our monster race! Long Yue, although half of your blood belongs to the dragon race, the other half belongs to us of the monster race! In the dragon race, you were nothing. But here, in our monster race, you can truly shine with your talents!"

He turned around and his gaze piercing into Zhong Yue's eyes like thunderbolts. He yelled, "I am, Shi Buyi, and you are my closed door disciple, and one of the top talents in our monster race! Lang Qingyun can't be trusted, he is very probably a spy from the celestial race. Lian Xin and Chi Lian are both girls while Qiu Qingshan's talent is not so good. Hence, when I die in the future, you will be the next monster overlord, the monster saint city lord that rules the whole East Barren! I will foster and train you as the next saint city lord! Whatever you can't have the in the dragon race, I will give them to you here, and all I ask for ... is your loyalty to the monster race!"

Chapter 146: Lighting Up The Soul Lamp



It was as if Zhong Yue was piqued by the high-spirited words, his blood was boiling hot and his face was red as he shouted out loud, "I will not disappoint my teacher's expectations in your disciple, my loyalty to the monster race shall never be doubted, my heart will have no room for anything else!"

Shu Buyi measured him carefully, trying to see through him and reach his deepest thoughts. Showing a gratified expression, Shu Buyi smiled and said, "I'm very content that you have such high spirit and loyalty. You are able to attain the [Monster God Ming King Art] this is truly exceptional. Now, show me your [Monster God Ming King Art] and tell me your attainments on it, I'll point out your weak points."

He smiled and said, "Your teacher, I, have spent more than two hundred years on the [Monster God Ming King Art] I don't dare to boast that I've fully attained all of the abstrusity in it, but I sure do know very much more than you do."

Zhong Yue feigned surprise and joy and his eyes started to turn red as if they were on the verge of bursting out in tears, "Teacher, for you to treat me like this, this is … your disciple cannot repay your grace anymore other than swearing my life to you!"

Shu Buyi's eyes also turned red and he mumbled, "You are really my good disciple, good disciple … Yue'er!"

"Teacher!"

The two teacher-disciple gazed at each other, their visions blurred in tears, Shu Buyi choke with sobs and said, "What more can anyone ever wish with such a good disciple? Yue'er, now you may show me everything you have and tell me everything you know about the [Monster God Ming King Art] to teacher, I will clear your questions and answer your doubts!"

"Yes, teacher!"

Zhong Yue bowed, he told him everything he had attained from the [Monster God Ming King Art] totem patterns on the pontoons. He even took the initiative to visualize them with his psyche and showed Shi Buyi all of the totem permutations, not hiding or concealing anything at all, not that he dared to anyway. In front of the eyes of such a strong expert like Shi Buyi, doing so would be tantamount to voluntarily seeking death.

Shi Buyi listened carefully, nodding from time to time. After a long while, Zhong Yue had finally demonstrate every minutia of everything he elucidated on the [Monster God Ming King Art] he said sincerely, "This is all that your disciple has managed to attain, may the teacher please enlighten me."

Shi Buyi smiled and gave a look of deep introspection while his words were laden with meaning, "Yue'er, isn't there still the Ming King Divine Eye totem patterns which you haven't talked about? Don't hide it, it's useless to conceal in front of your teacher."

Zhong Yue's face blushed red in shame, he said, "Your disciple I'm useless, I can't attain the divine eye totem patterns. That's why I've replaced the Ming King divine eye with the Yin pupil and Yang pupil. In this part, disciple I'm so much more inferior than you teacher. I'm afraid and fearful which was why I've never shown it to you, teacher."

It was intentional, he changed the sun-moon pupils to the Yin-Yang pupils, it was done so that he could conceal his moon spirit and sun spirit away from Shi Buyi. As long as Shi Buyi was kept in the dark to the fact that acquiring the sun spirit and moon spirit was the only way to cultivate the sun pupil and moon pupil, he will spend more time in researching the two divine eyes, which would eventually lead to him spending all his effort in this matter, leaving him no time on uniting the monster race and go against the Great Wilderness.

En— Shi Buyi made a muffled sound and said with an amicable manner, "It's fine, it's fine. Show them to me, I'll point out your weakness."

Zhong Yue bowed and said yes, then showed the sun pupil and moon pupil to him. Shi Buyi was shocked, the sun pupil and moon pupil totem patterns were very complex, either one of them could be said as a superlative divine eye of the highest caliber, especially the sun pupil, it was even more powerful!

If he could cultivate these two divine eyes, he could patch up on the flaw on the [Monster God Ming King Art] pruning the flaw smaller, or even more, removing it completely!

It could be said that, the value of these two sun pupil and moon pupil was not inferior to the [Monster God Ming King Art] itself in the least!

"Good disciple, very good…" rays flashed in Shi Buyi's eyes as he stared enthralled at the sun pupil and moon pupil totem permutations and changes. He branded them into his heart as he mumbled.

How shrewd was he, he could surely tell that Zhong Yue had shown him the totem patterns of the two divine eyes without concealing a single carving, completely revealing every abstrusity held within it to him!

His talent and perception were peerless, otherwise, he would not have been named the strongest existence in the monster race. Although the sun pupil and moon pupil Zhong Yue showed were very complex, with his intelligence, he was able to remember it all with just a single glance From there, he would be able to slowly research and study them to a deeper level!

Even more so, he could tell that if he had cultivated the sun pupil and moon pupil, he would be able to get the Yin Qi and Yang Qi. They were strong and overwhelming – among the rarest of skills!

Hence, it was evident how attractive the sun pupil and moon pupil were to him!

After a long time, Zhong Yue had shown all of the totem permutations of the sun pupil and moon pupil to him. He glanced at Shi Buyi who was still immersed in the enthralling divine eyes and was attaining the abstrusity in them. He sneered coldly in his heart and thought, The greater your attainments, the greater the pain you'll suffer. Without the sun spirit and moon spirit, even if you were to attain all of the abstrusity, you still wouldn't be able to cultivate the sun and moon pupil!

Soon, Shi Buyi recollected his thoughts and he gazed deeply at Zhong Yue, smiled and said, "Good disciple, your teacher will now pass my attainments in the [Monster God Ming King Art] over to you."

He raised his finger up and his psyche billowed like ocean waves into Zhong Yue's forehead. In the psyche, it contained a huge clump of cluttered messages that turned into a multitude of patterns, attainments, abstrusities, combat skills, and even methods of forging the Ba Ji Weapons — all of it rushed rushing into Zhong Yue's mind and branded itself into his memory!

Zhong Yue could feel that all sorts of cultivation-related arts relating to the [Monster God Ming King Art] were in his head. Some were even ones that he had never thought of, while some he had yet to attain. He was surprised and overjoyed in his heart.

Shi Buyi was in a hurry to study the sun pupil and moon pupil. That was why he had just recklessly tossed over all of his knowledge to at Zhong Yue. He then took out a dark-green colored copper lamp and said, "My good disciple, this is the soul lamp, one that could only be lit up by your soul. Once you've lightened it up, I would then be able to know your whereabouts. And if you are in trouble, I can know your position in the first minute so that I can rush over and save you. Now, light this lamp with your soul, then you may return to the Fengbo Palace and study the attainments I've given you. Don't disappoint your teacher."

Soul Lamp?

Zhong Yue's heart thumped heavier, he cast his gaze over at the copper lamp, his heart was hesitating. In his initial plan, he would be departing back to the Gu Xia City right away after the inauguration ceremony and ratifying his status as the saint city lord's disciple. He was simply unwilling to stay in this perilous place, beleaguered by enemies that wanted his head.

And now, Shi Buyi was asking him to light up a soul lamp, something that would expose his location to Shu Buyi at anytime like a tracking device.!

That said, even if he had left the Xian Kong Saint City, wouldn't Shi Buyi still be able to know it easily?

Zhong Yue knew that Shi Buyi would never let him off, although he would not do it himself, he would still definitely end Zhong Yue's life through the hands of others. If Zhong Yue had lightened up the soul lamp, Shi Buyi would be able to know his positions and when the word got out, Zhong Yue would be tracked and hunted down by his innumerable enemies. Only death would await him!

Not only that, if he lights up the soul lamp, then he would not be able to return to the Great Wilderness. Otherwise, Shi Buyi would realize and easily surmise that he was not from the dragon race, but a spy from the human race!

"Yue'er?" Shi Buyi smiled warmly while rays like sword flashed across in his eyes.

Zhong Yue remained placid and cast out out his atman to light up the soul lamp. With that, Shi Buyi was finally content, he retrieved the soul weapon, smiled and said, "You may now return back to your palace and study the arts."

Zhong Yue bowed and left, he slowly strolled out of the saint city lord's manor and leisurely ambled back to Fengbo Palace.

In the middle of Shi Buyi's forehead, a divine eye suddenly opened, the eye moved slowly, watching at the walls. It was as if his divine eye could see through the walls and reach Zhong Yue, carefully observing every facet of Zhong Yue's being; his expressions, his heartbeat, even the flow of his blood!

"The rate of your heartbeat and the blood flow wasn't disturbed at all, interesting…."

Shi Buyi mumbled to himself, "Although the sun pupil and moon pupil you've shown me are full and complete without concealing anything, I didn't believe a single word you've said. What a shrewd and sneaky little brat…."

Zhong Yue furtively heaved a breath of relief when he arrived at the Fengbo Palace, and his face turned solemn. In his psyche ocean, Xin Huo turned back to a little flame from the fireball, he said, "Brat Yue, that saint city lord, none of his words are trustworthy!"

Zhong Yue nodded and said, "His words, I've taken in none of it to heart. But the knowledge he has given me is true, except that some of the core attainments were missing. He has kept a hand in the shadows. He is probably doing so just in case I survive so that he can use them against me in the future! But all of this doesn't really matter, what's more important is that I lit up the soul lamp, no matter where I am, I can't hide from Shi Buyi. If he knows my whereabouts, then I'm dead for sure!"

Xin Huo laughed and said, "What's so hard about it? It's just a soul lamp. Well, if he has placed some seals in your body to surveil you, then it would indeed be a very knotty problem. But soul lamp, it's a toy that can easily be broken. I have a small trick, it's called the [Can Carrier] it can change the oscillations of your soul and render the soul lamp ineffectual. Find a plum wood, sculpt yourself with it and immerse it with your soul for two days, let the plum wood carry the air of your soul, and then change your soul's oscillation frequency, the plum wood totem pillar will then become the substitute soul in your place. What the soul lamp detects would then be the position of the plum wood, while you yourself would be free and unfettered, able to stroll freely to wherever your heart so desires!"

...

Zhong Yue was shocked and overjoyed, he said, "There's still such intriguing and marvelous little tricks?"

Xin Huo turned proud and conceited, "This is because my twenty-first Xin Huo inheritor had too many lovers, he had to create this little trick to mislead his wives and lovers so that he can continue gallivanting and finding more lovers."

Zhong Yue was speechless, he asked in a very stately and serious manner, "Xin Huo, do you think that we the Fuxi Celestial Race has waned to such an extent because our ancestors had placed too much attention in this area?"

"Pui ! This was for the noble purpose of passing down the esteemed bloodline of the celestial race, this isn't some basic promiscuity!"

Xin Huo preached solemnly, "Only by finding more lovers to make love with can we produce more celestials. This would in turn cause the Fuxi Celestial Race to flourish and prosper, so that the inheritance can be continued to be passed down from generation to generation! You don't know how much hard work and effort the Xin Huo inheritors had poured in for their posterity!"

"They were just horny people, spending all of their time on females!"

Xin Huo was heartbroken and aggrieved. He lamented, "Young man of the Fuxi Celestial Race, I am so very disappointed in you, you spit at the diligence and arduous endeavors that your ancestors undertook to ensure the prosperity of the race!"

The plum wood was not hard to find, Zhong Yue managed to find himself one but he did not start sculpting immediately. He first soaked it with his soul and allowed the aura of his soul to permeate through the plum wood.

Another two days passed, rays flashed in Zhong Yue's eyes and he mumbled, "I can't stay in the Xian Kong Saint City any longer. But this [Can Carrier] can't be used now, I can only use it when I'm back in the Gu Xia City. Otherwise, if I were to use it right after I leave the city, Shi Buyi will definitely be able to notice the abnormalities. His psyche is too strong, he can identify my movements with just a single scan and if he checks with the soul lamp again, he would soon realize that I had tampered with the soul lamp. But, if I don't use it now, I would lose my opportunity to leave the city. At that point, my enemies will definitely come after me…."

The journey back to the Gu Xia City seemed like it would be another journey beleaguered with danger!

Chapter 147: Leaving Saint City Alone



"Long Yue moved, laying low for two days, and you've finally lost patience, departing back to Gu Xia City already?"

In the saint city lord's manor, saint city lord Shi Buyi reached out to the soul lamp and he mumbled, "You can't trust me, can you? Suspecting that I'll make short work of you because you've acquired the [Monster God Ming King Art] right? That's why, you want to avoid me, leaving the saint city as soon as possible back to the little nest you've built. My dear disciple, soon, you will come to understand the old saying that the older gingers are spicier than the younger ones…."

"Lang Qingyun, the heart of a wolf filled with wild ambitions, half of his blood belongs to the monster race while the other half is of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race. He suspects you only because he was worrying that you might replace him. So if this soul lamp was accidentally stolen away by him, he must be very happy to tell your whereabouts to your enemies."

Shi Buyi smiled and said, "How can my own disciple die by my own hand? Wouldn't it be better to kill him with the borrowed hand of others? Don't you worry, Lang Qingyun will definitely be able to steal this soul lamp away … what I'm going to deal with, is Yu Xuanji's teacher, the Lord of Jade Dragon Keep and Hu Qimei's teacher, Lord of Luo Ying City — these two old brats, how dare they have their eyes on my [Monster God Ming King Art]

Xian Kong Saint City, Jade Dragon Keep's assembly building – Yu Xuanji, Hu Qimei, Hei Hu, Hu Qingqing, they all stood reverently below an old man and a beautiful woman whose faces were solemn, while the atmospheric air was also thick and heavy.

"The [Monster God Ming King] is very important, Shi Buyi will definitely prohibit his cultivation technique from being leaked, Xuanji and Qimei will surely be exterminated by him!"

The old man was Yu Xuanji's teacher, the Lord of Jade Dragon Keep. He said solemnly, "Now, the problem is, how are we going to send them back safely. With his prowess, Shi Buyi can easily kill either one of us, he could hang us up and batter us!"

The beautiful woman smiled and said, "We split up."

Lord of Jade Dragon Keep shook his head and said, "Splitting up will only allow him to break us down one by one, it'd be even worse!"

"No, I mean, splitting up into dozens of groups, and leave at the same time!"

The Lord of Luo Ying City softly clapped her hands, one after another, female Qi Practitioners of the Luo Ying City walked out from the back of the hall, all of them were grasping lutes in the arms. Standing alongside with Hu Qimei, even their clothes and ornaments were the same as Hu Qimei. From appearance alone, it would be nigh impossible to distinguish the real Hu Qimei among them.

"Masks," Lord of Luo Ying City then behested.

The female Qi Practitioners then raised their hands up and all of them donned masks of the same patterns. While one of the ladies tucked a mask into Hu Qimei's hands. This additional measure made it even harder to identify the true Hu Qimei among this sea of doppelgangers.

The Lord of Luo Ying City glanced at them and her eyes filled with unbearable grief, "You are all honorable Qi Practitioners of our fox race. Today, for Qimei, I need you all to be her scapegoats, and I don't know how many of you can make it back to Luo Ying City…."

The female Qi Practitioners answered in unison, "The city lord need not say anymore, for the fox race, we are willing to die in place of Qimei!"

Hu Qimei took a step forward, she turned and knelt down onto the ground, crying and sobbing as she spoke, "Qimei thanks the senior martial sisters…."

The harried sounds of the ladies speaking could be heard, "Quick, quick, get up, the [Monster God Ming King Art] relates to the revitalization of our fox race, it must not be lost. We aren't doing this for you, but for the fox race!"

The Luo Ying City Lord then turned to the Jade Dragon Keep Lord and said, "Keep Lord, this is my stratagem – a diversion! Preoccupy Shi Buyi with these look-alikes so that he wouldn't be able to neglect one in place of another. Like this, he would surely be unable to identify the real Hu Qimei. And not only that, I'll personally bring one of the ladies myself to attract Shi Buyi's attention so that Qimei can escape away easier."

The Jade Dragon Keep Lord pondered earnestly before saying abruptly, "Alright! My Jade Dragon Keep will do the same to protect Xuanji! Hei Hu, get me our warriors and form a death squad, let Xuanji return back to the Jade Dragon Keep safely! And pick the closest-looking one, I'll personally bring him along to mislead Shi Buyi!"

Hei Hu bowed, turned and left while Yu Xuanji said shudderingly, "Teacher…."

The Jade Dragon Keep Lord laughed and said, "Don't you think too much, as long as you live, everything will be worth it. Rest assured, your teacher won't die, I'll live long enough to see you ascend to be the next Lord of Jade Dragon Keep!"

Yu Xuanji went all down onto the ground and kowtowed, "If your disciple, I, survives this, I'll never forget what teacher and the other senior martial brothers have done for me today!"

Lord of Jade Dragon Keep supported him up by the arm and said, "The one that enlightened and warned you all was the closed door disciple of Shi Buyi, Long Yue? He is worth making friends with. Sadly, the time is not our friend, we don't have time to meet with him. From what I see, he is in an even more dangerous position, Shi Buyi will definitely not let him walk away alive. But judging from his intelligence, he would've known of his precarious situation already. I am certain that he will surely leave the saint city as soon as possible!"

It was midnight and the moon was at its zenith. The Xian Kong Saint City was inundated with killing intent. Although the totem pillars on the sides of the streets have illuminated the city to be as bright as day, other than this saint mountain itself, the surroundings were completely steeped in darkness.

In the Fengbo Palace, there were dozens of coffins among the congratulatory gifts from the major forces. Naturally, Zhong Yue would not bring any along with him; and he did not bring any of the gifted soul weapons either, he had concerns as to whether these soul weapons were marked and that if he were to bring them along, they would provide a beacon with which his enemies could traced him down.

These past two days, he had extracted all of the Gold Qi and Wood Qi out from the soul weapons that the envoys had gifted him to nourish his five elemental Sword Qi. However, other than the coffins and soul weapons, he had brought along all of the medicinal pellets given by the major forces.

There were quite some high caliber medicinal pellets among the gifts, and if he was hurt, these medicinal pellets could have saved his life!

"Now, it's time to leave this chaotic saint city and return back to the Gu Xia City. Although that place was still dangerous, the Gu Xia City belonged to the Gu Hongzi and with his wild ambitions and high aspirations, he would not tolerate any other monsters wreaking havoc in his territory! Especially when I'm one of the lords under his territory despite having become the closed door disciple of the saint city lord. Surely, he wouldn't sit by and watch as I'm exterminated by the other forces!"

Rays flashed in Zhong Yue's eyes and he walked out of the Fengbo Palace under the cover of darkness and headed straight for the city gate.

Just as he left, the next moment, the servants in the Fengbo Palace all moved, they went out and reported his movements to the monsters that were hiding beside the Fengbo Palace.

It was never a problem for the major forces that held resentments against Zhong Yue to bribe the servants in the Fengbo Palace.

The saint city was menacing with dangers and perils. One after another, Qi Practitioners of the major forces moved and waited on the side of the pathway to Gu Xia City, lying in wait to ambush him.

Meanwhile, Lang Qingyun had also smoothly 'stolen' away Zhong Yue's soul lamp without any difficulties, he thought in his heart, It is true, Shi Buyi wants Long Yue to die, that's why he purposely let me stole the soul lamp away!

Zhong Yue stood before the city gate of the Xian Kong Saint City, he turned back and looked at the grandiose saint city. He knew that once he stepped out of this saint city, his life would be at stake, and along the way, there would be foul wind and bloody rain, it was still uncertain whether if he could make it back to the Gu Xia City!

He turned and walked into the shade, allowing the darkness to completely engulf him.

This was a night where the fish and dragons danced, a night where he left the saint city alone.

And the night that was destined to be stripped off from its usual calm and peace.

Just as Zhong Yue left the gate, figures began to dash out of the saint city. They were wearing masks and their clothes were the same as Yu Xuanji. Then, there were ladies following behind, leaving the city, this time, their clothes were the same as Hu Qimei — they have all scattered out, diverging from one another to disappear into the darkness.

Meanwhile, the Jade Dragon Keep Lord and Luo Ying City Lord also brought one man and lady along with them into the shadows.

"These two old cunning foxes, but if you think you can bring out the [Monster God Ming King Art] like this, wouldn't you be underestimating me?" In the city lord's manor, rays flashed in Shi Buyi's eyes as he sneered coldly.

Zhong Yue did not take the shortest path back to Gu Xia City, instead, he first turned to the direction of Southwest, the path he had chosen was thirty thousand miles longer than the shortest route!

The Southwest region of the East Barren was where the south keep — Yan Qiu Keep was positioned at. The location connected the East Barren and South Barren together, and it was close to the Gu Xia City, but the only thing was that taking a detour would naturally increase his travel distance.

Zhong Yue traveled quickly in the dark. He did not fly in the clouds, opting to stick close to the ground. This was mainly due to the unneeded attention he would attract if he were to fly in the air. There were many bird species among the monsters; eagles, hawks, cranes and others. Their eyes were sharp and flying in the upper air would leave him vulnerable to their keen eyes. This would pose a significantly greater risk as compared to flying close to the ground.

The forest blurred beneath his feet as Zhong Yue zipped past. He didn't use the Golden Crow Wings due to the fact that they emitted a blazing fire when operated, something that would be a detriment to his escape under the darkness of the night.

He was instead, using the Jiao Dragon visualization art given to him by Ao Fenglou to step on the Jiao Dragons beneath his feet while they quietly slithered in mid-air to carry him forward. Although their speed couldn't compare to the Golden Crow wings, they were not too slow either.

Suddenly, Zhong Yue could hear sounds of wind blasting behind him, he quickly turned and looked behind — a male and female monsters were wearing masks, flitting at a great speed in low-air towards him, the lady even had a lute in her arms!

"Brother Xuanji and Qimei!"

Zhong Yue's heart palpitated in shock, just when he was about to call them, he suddenly felt a surge of obscured psyche surging past, it was like a silver thread cutting through the air!

What a terrifyingly strong psyche!

Zhong Yue distorted his body like a Jiao Dragon in mid-air and in an instant, his body had already made dozens of maneuvers as the psyche like silver tread slipped past him by a hair's margin!

His psyche erupted out and reached out to the thread's source, extending out in all directions. Zhong Yue's heart was shocked as the psyche-formed thread was incredibly long, his psyche had reached out a hundred miles and he had yet to reach its end!

The psyche-formed thread's length encircled the perimeter of the Xian City Saint City in a guillotine. Zhong Yue was already a couple hundred of miles away from the saint city. That circumference would make at least over three to five thousand miles, which means that, this thread of psyche would be of the same length!

Following after that, the man and lady that continued to rush forward suddenly had a line of blood appear on their necks shortly before their heads fell off from their bodies. The two dead corpses plummeted down onto the ground.

"Xuanji! Qimei!"

Zhong Yue's body stunned, he then flew down to the ground, and as he flicked his finger, the two masks on the heads were pushed away, revealing the countenances of two strangers.

"Not Xuanji and Qimei! It must be a diversion to shadow the real Qimei and Xuanji in their escapes!"

Zhong Yue startled, although they were not Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei, they were still strong and powerful Qi Practitioners, ones that stood in the level of Awakening. But in the face of the silver thread psyche, they were killed before they could even put up a fight!

And furthermore, the power of the thread was not channeled through any skills or visualizations, it was just purely psyche by itself, and yet, it was capable of killing two experts so easily!

"The saint city lord has moved, most probably the Lord of Jade Dragon Keep and Lord of Luo Ying City will move also, or otherwise, there wouldn't be any Awakening Qi Practitioners that are willing to die in place of Xuanji and Qimei!"

Rays burst out from Zhong Yue's eyes and he immediately turned and left, "The Xian Kong Saint City has turned into a war zone, I must leave now!"

While at the same time, the monster Qi Practitioners from the major forces that were waiting on the route to Gu Xia City were getting impatient, they were waiting to ambush Zhong Yue but who knew that he had not made his appearance at all.

All of a sudden, a burst of laughter came from the shadows, "Hehehe, the dragon race didn't take this route, he took a detour headed towards the Yan Que Keep-Savanna Wasteland, and yet, you are all for him here, how could you possibly see him here?"

"Who are you?" The Qi Practitioners shouted loud in question.

In the darkness, six eyes like lanterns appeared, their owner laughed and said, "There is no need for you all to know my identity. It's more than enough for all you to know that even the saint city lord is unable to bear a dragon becoming his disciple…."

Chapter 148: When The Night Falls, The Dragons Dance



"The saint city lord can't tolerate a dragon as his disciple?"

In the dark, the experts from all over East Barren were shocked before quickly coming to a realization — Zhong Yue had killed Heaven Monster Li Jun, who was rumored to be the saint city lord's disciple. Also, Zhong Yue's carnage on the street where he killed over hundreds of monster Qi Practitioners had invariably spawned enmity between himself and countless major and minor factions. Whether it was Heaven Monster Li Jun, or the bloody slaughter on the street, the saint city lord would not allow Zhong Yue to live on!

This six-eyed freak hiding in the shadow of darkness must be an expert that was sent by saint city lord with the purpose of uniting all the major forces and giving them directions to kill Zhong Yue!

"Go, go all out and hunt for Long Yue, I'll be thousand miles away giving his position to you all!" The owner of the six eyes guffawed in the dark.

One after another, the monsters bolted away, rushing to the route towards the Yan Que Keep.

Hehe, teacher, you let me steal the soul lamp away, but how could I possibly be your scapegoat?

Lang Qingyun showed his stature, he was holding a soul lamp in his hands while he sniggered, It's better if teacher takes responsibility as I will not be your scapegoat!

"Knowing my position and coming to search for me so quickly, seems like the soul lamp is really useful."

Zhong Yue felt the auras that were getting closer to him, and there were some stronger ones that even flew straight towards the Yan Que Keep. He sneered coldly in his heart, Selling me off so quick and fast, this closed door disciple of saint city lord really doesn't worth anything at all! But wanting to kill me, it's not that easy!

His pace suddenly sped up, tonight was the crux, if he could escape into the darkness until the daybreak, he could then summon his Golden Crow wings and break out in full speed to escape. With the Golden Crow wings' speed, not many Qi Practitioners would be able to keep up with him!

Zhong Yue traipsed across the woods rapidly. He was like a specter – ethereal and undetectable. But it was not long before a Qi Practitioner neared his position. In the dark, a ferocious growl came from the summit of a huge mountain, Zhong Yue lifted his head and gazed over. There was a huge and humongous silhouette standing atop the mountain summit.

It was well-built and muscular, lifting up half of a hill with two hands and it abruptly tossed it over. The dark and blackish hill rocketed down towards his position like a falling meteor!

"Strong warriors from the monsters! These guys that possess such incredible strength are all Awakening experts!"

Zhong Yue's heart stiffened up, with a thought, countless Jiao Dragons emerged from the woods, soaring into the sky and clashed into the meteor-like hill that was smashing down, stealthy and furtively.

In mid-air, the Jiao Dragons came to the face of the hill and mustered all their strength to lift it up. While it was this moment where the silhouette atop of the mountain summit leaped down and smashed into the little hill!

Right away, the hill crumbled into pieces and rays of saber with dozens of feet long slashed in the air —Shua shua shua— The Jiao Dragons were eviscerated into pieces.

Dong——

The giant landed down, in the darkness, silver rays of saber light came right at Zhong Yue. Zhong Yue's figure flickered with an imperceptible movement, and eight arms, wielding Ba Ji Weapons, blasted out. Both of them were quiet and silent and the only thing that could be heard were the sounds of trees crumbling and the incessant ringing of clashing weapons. In an instant, the trees of a ten mile centering around them were all crushed away.

Against the pitch-black darkness, two figures could be discerned flickering here and there. Saber rays and sword rains flitted around them. It was so rapid that even their faces were blurred. The two combatants remained silent, the only semblance of communication coming from the discordant sounds of their colliding weapons.

All of a sudden, blood spouted into the air, followed by a deep muffled groan.

"What a strong [Monster God Ming King Art] not even a fly could enter its perimeter and the killing moves were concealed deep in it. You are indeed worthy as the saint city lord's disciple!"

The Qi Practitioner praised as a multicolored wheel rose behind his back. The unknown Qi Practitioner cast his Wu Xing Wheel that was immensely more powerful than the Awakening Qi Practitioner that died in Zhong Yue's hands during the carnage on the street. As the Wu Xing Wheel emerged, it started to repress the five elements, it spun slightly and the mountain rocks crumbled and the trees got pulverized to dust.

Meanwhile, in the darkness behind Zhong Yue, a huge eye suddenly opened — it was the sun pupil! The Pure Yang Qi in his eyes blazed bright like a little sun.

The unknown Qi Practitioner was shocked —Woongg— the Wu Xing Wheel flew back and erected vertically in front of him, he sneered coldly, "Ming King Divine Eye? How many times can you cast it?"

The small sun was immensely bright, all of a sudden, the eye closed shut and the surroundings were swallowed by darkness again.

The unknown Qi Practitioner prepared himself for combat. Moments later, he released a furious growl and slashed horizontally over while bellowing in anger, "Shameless prick, you ran away!"

Just when he was preoccupied with combat, preparing himself to withstand the assault of the Ming King Divine Eye, Zhong Yue seized the chance to flee from right under his nose.

Zhong Yue bolted away, threading in between the auras of the monster experts to slip past the encirclement by a fine line.

While at this time, there was an obscure psyche blasting over, forming into a wider and bigger circle. And the monsters who were flying in the air were suddenly beheaded with their remains falling onto the ground.

Zhong Yue groped over for the corpses. He lowered his sights to see the fallen corpses wearing masks on their faces – they were another pair that was pretending to be Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei.

"How lively, the saint city lord seemed to have also wash the city night with blood!"

He traveled forward at a swift pace. Suddenly, the sounds of streaming water could be heard, and the water mist grew thicker with the increasing volume of the water sounds. In the darkness, the mist had now reached a palpable density, before this, he was still able to discern the silhouettes of trees and mountains, but now, his entire visage was filled with nothing but mist.

Zhong Yue could sense the air of the monster experts coming close behind him, he gritted his teeth and rammed into the mist.

"Where did this mist come from? Which Qi Practitioner's work is this?"

Outside of the mist, there were sounds of a few Qi Practitioners shouting, "We are also here for that brat from the dragon race, we are on the same side! Don't accidentally injure us please!"

Zhong Yue then could sense that the few auras following behind him had entered the heavy mist. Even if the Qi Practitioners' sights were exceptional, their visions were still blurred and foggy outside of a radius of twenty or thirty feet.

Zhong Yue's speed was slower and the mist continued to thicken. While behind him, there was clearly a monster expert present that was gifted with a keen sense of smell. leading the other experts bolting right at him!

This mist is too peculiar, I must use my psyche in front of me to scan the topography or otherwise, staggering and stumbling to find a way would only drag down my speed.

With a thought, Zhong Yue paved his psyche forward to scan the landscape before him. With the Jiao Dragons beneath him, he traipsed across the land faster. All of a sudden, there were sounds coming from the mist —Gruu Gruu— following by another sound —Shua!— Something blasted over and curled on one of the Jiao dragons beneath his feet, pulling it back forcibly, the Jiao Dragon was lashed into the air helplessly before disappearing into the mist.

Then, the sounds of gobbling came from the mist, an unknown creature had pulled over his psyche-formed Jiao Dragon and eaten it away!

Gruu, gruu——

The peculiar growl continued to near his position, and he could vaguely distinguish a multicolored wheel spinning in the mist. Other than the sounds of spinning that came from the giant wheel, there were still some other strange sights. It was as if there was a gigantic creature walking in the mist, and on it's back was the huge Wu Xing Wheel, accompanied by some other spinning wheels!

"An Awakening monster expert that has opened the Wu Xing Wheel, Wan Xiang Wheel and Shen Cai Wheel…."

Zhong Yue visualized another Jiao Dragon and the twin dragons marched away at a great speed, taking a detour to circumvent the giant creature. It was at this point in time, the monster experts behind him spotted him and began to catch up.

The sounds of water splashing could be heard again —Shua— something slipped past through Zhong Yue's side and curled onto a monster expert. It pulled him over abruptly and shortly thereafter, the disturbing gobbling sound resonated out once again!

"Who's in the mist?" There was a monster expert stammered in a voice trembling with fear.

Then another sound came —Shua— and like that, another monster expert was dragged into the mist to be devoured.

"It's Ha Ming'er! The water is the soul weapon he forged from a river!"

A round of commotion followed in the mist, and some shouted and said, "Ha Ming'er is cruel and ruthless! He eats whoever enters his territory. Long Yue has killed his lovely son, and now even he has come out to kill Long Yue!"

'He's blind, don't move so that he wouldn't be able to find us!"

All of the monsters stood stock still, even Zhong Yue dared not to move an inch.

A mountainous figure slowly walked out into their vicinity, Zhong Yue could see a huge toad slowly crawling over. Its body was covered with grotesque pustules and the smell of noxious fumes invaded his olfactory senses. While beside the poison toad, a river was streaming in mid-air, it should be that soul weapon Ha Ming'er had forged from a river.

When the Ha Ming'er appeared, his eyes were blind, he could only perceive the surroundings with his other senses, such as smell. This detail provided made Zhong Yue and the other monster expert with a small solace at which they heaved a collective breath of relief amidst their fear and terror.

Suddenly, Ha Ming'er heavily sniffed the air. The river lashed out like a venomous python —Shua— it curled onto a monster expert and sent him into Ha Ming'er's mouth.

The monster expert groaned in pain while getting gobbled and eaten into his mouth.

Cold sweat rushed out of the other surviving experts head, and suddenly, another Qi Practitioner was furtively dragged away into Ha Ming'er's mouth!

Then, the river soul weapon curled onto another one. The other monster Qi Practitioners were shocked, trembled in fear, they leaped away and ran for their lives while giving out shrill cries, "He can see, he can see us!"

The mountainous beast lunged into the air, and chased after the monsters.

Zhong Yue heaved a breath of relief before manipulating the twin dragons to tread away, This Ha Ming'er really can't see, he has smelled the Qi Practitioners' cold sweat and monstrous air….

Fortunately, he had learned the ways of Martial Masters from the Swords Gate headmaster and was able to close off all his pores so that not a single iota of his scent would be able to waft into the nose of the monster, not even his perspiration was able to escape from his pores. Hence, Ha Ming'er was essentially rendered blind to his presence, leaving him safe from his assault.

The other monster had escaped, attracting the ire of Ha Ming'er , which gave Zhong Yue a chance to make his way out of the mist.

There are many experts in the monster race, and more among my enemies. Thankfully, the envoys that came weren't too strong. Ha Ming'er could be considered to be at the top of the experts already!

Zhong Yue had strode for hundreds of miles before he managed to extricate himself from the mist. Exiting, he could see that there were ghost fires hovering in mid-air among the woods. But soon, he realized that they were not ghost fires, they were eyes, the eyes of the monster experts, gleaming in the dark in search of him.

It's really not so easy being this saint city lord's closed-door disciple!

Zhong Yue gritted his teeth and just when he was about to thread past them, a voice sounded abruptly in the air, "Guys, Long Yue is right here."

As the voice faded away, flames began to blaze in mid-air, it was an expert that cast a fire skill, illuminating the land in the surrounding hundred miles in a light as bright as a day at the height of noon!

"This voice, although it is now twisted and disguised, it can't hide from me."

Xin Huo suddenly said, "He is the first disciple of Shi Buyi, Lang Qingyun!

Chapter 149: Breaking Through The Encirclement



Lang Qingyun?

Zhong Yue didn't have time to process as the pythons, crows, dragons, and phoenix manifested from psyche visualization skills started forming from the flames in the air. All of them were shuttling about within 50 miles around him, each of them was followed by a Qi Practitioner flying behind them, and each of them intent of finding him!

There's no time to lose, if I'm trapped and surrounded here, I'll die even if there's a hundred of me!

The fire behind Zhong Yue roared and suddenly split into two. They then formed a pair of golden wings. The Golden Crow wings flared out, flapping with all his might and a blast as loud as thunderclap rumbled in the air!

"Run!"

He leaped into the air as fast as lightning, casting the art of the Martial Masters, stomping in the air and bolting away, augmenting to his speed to the peak!

"There he is!"

"Brat, he's so fast!"

"So that brat thinks he can escape us? If he manages to escape, then experts like us better go home and drink milk!"

...

The winds were wild, the sky was lit up by the agitated fire, the clarion cries of birds mixed within forceful blow of the winds. A giant monster appeared in the forest below, racing between the mountains so fast that it could have been mistaken as flying. It leaped into the sky, chasing the flying Zhong Yue.

Some experts cast their skills and countless trees shot up and were sent thrusting towards Zhong Yue like loose arrows!

And there were giant vines like pythons shuttling mid-air, lashing towards Zhong Yue!

The sound of swords clanking reverberated in the sky, indicating that the Qi Practitioners are now armed with soul weapons, increasing their speed, getting closer to Zhong Yue!

And there were experts that reached out their hands, grabbed onto the hills and tossed the crumbled mountain rocks over!

More monster race experts gathered within the 50 mile range, all armed with different types of soul weapon and exhibiting different styles of attack. All of them charged towards him like a swarm of bees with the firm determination to kill him!

Apart from that, multicolored luminous wheels started appearing in the sky. As they began spinning rapidly, they started to shoot towards Zhong Yue!

This was the result of the experts in the Awakening level casting the Wu Xing Wheel, Wan Xiang Wheel and Shen Cai Wheel. The Combat Yuan Shen of the Awakening level had high combat strength; once they opened the wheels, their combat strength would experience a quantum leap, with some of them even exceeding their mortal body's strength capacity!

The Combat Yuan Shen emerged, casting the luminous wheels, its speed immediately caught up with Zhong Yue, slowly nearing him!

"You want to kill me? You'll have to try harder than that! Yuan Shen, activate! Ba Ji Slaughtering Array!"

Zhong Yue shouted angrily, his wings fluttered and his speed increased gradually while his Yuan Shen appeared behind him, the hundred and eighty feet tall Yuan Shen extended out its eight arms with the Ba Ji Weapons in their hands, crossing and laying them over one another and formed into the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array. Any small movement would cause the woods that were flying about to be pulverized to dust.

Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen widened his mouth and spat out a blaze of fire. Even the wood chips in the air were instantly set alight, not to mention broken wood. A big explosion blew out in the air, sending out violent wind in all directions, some of the the weaker Qi Practitioner were blown away by the blast!

The airborne Qi Practitioners blown by the hurricane could not stable themselves and retreated unwillingly.

Swoosh—— Soul weapons were aimed across the explosion towards Zhong Yue. Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen extended out the eight arms and cast the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array to its fullest power, the rattling sound of impact were like pearls falling into a bowl, taking down all the attacking soul weapons without a miss.

He had attained the saint city lord's knowledge and comprehensions of the art, enabling him to understand the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array to an even more profound degree. When the slaughtering array was triggered, the eight Ba Ji Weapons criss-crossed over one another, forming a shimmering sword with a length of ten over feet. And as the sword was swung down heavily, the sword rays diverged like a peacock spreading out its tail, blocking the entire wave of soul weapons!

One after another, the Combat Yuan Shen approach with the Wu Xing Wheel, Wan Xiang Wheel, Shen Cai Wheel spinning towards him. Together, they cast an array formation to unleash the potential of their Yuan Shen to the fullest as they struck towards him!

Just as Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen came in contact with one of the Combat Yuan Shen, he was repressed by the Wu Xing Wheel. He mustered all his strength and cast the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array into a saber array before finally managing to ward off the Wu Xing Wheel.

But immediately after, the other Combat Yuan Shen had started its assault. Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen began turning the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array into sword arrays, shield arrays, hammer arrays, hook arrays and whip arrays – undergoing a seemingly infinite number of transformations. He summoned the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array's might to the fullest extent, where it was now very much stronger than when he was battling King Teng.

However, his opponents this time around were also far stronger than King Teng, the Combat Yuan Shen's strengths were astonishing. One by one, they flew fast towards him and battered at him swiftly, soon overpowering his Ba Ji Slaughtering Array!

Moreover, the other Combat Yuan Shen charged forward past the flanks of his Yuan Shen, towards Zhong Yue's true body that was located behind it!

"Great Sun Golden Crow Yuan Shen!"

Zhong Yue released a dreadful whistle, the sun pupil on his Yuan Shen's left eye behind him started brightening up before his Yuan Shen suddenly transformed into the Great Sun Golden Crow which was ten feet tall. The three-taloned Golden Crow spread it wings and took off, its three talons reached for Zhong Yue, and picked him up, effectively evading the attack of the Combat Yuan Shen that soon came crashing towards his previous position!

"Fang Blade, Attack! Sword Silk, Go! "

Zhong Yue yelled, the Fang Blade wrapped with silk behind him flew free, while the five elemental Sword Qi turned into long sword silks, swiftly wrapping around the hilt of the blade. Zhong Yue had not manage to cultivate his psyche into a pool of lightning, therefore, he was unable to soul manipulate his Fang Blade. But now, he had manipulated his sword silks, using them to spur his Fang Blade!

Whoosh———

The Fang Blade slashed as fast as lightning like a flying sword. It beheaded a twenty feet Combat Yuan Shen with a succinct sound before sweeping across to gut another Combat Yuan Shen on its right!

Those mighty Combat Yuan Shen were tantamount to tofu in the face of the god's fang, easily chopped apart!

"Ahhh——"

Cries were let out behind him and the bodies of two Awakening experts stiffened as they drew their last breath before plummeting down to the earth from the sky. They were unequivocally dead!

Their Yuan Shen were rent asunder, and when one's Yuan Shen dies, his mortal body!

The other monster race experts were shocked, the Qi Practitioners who were attacking Zhong Yue quickly summoned their Combat Yuan Shen back. Zhong Yues' three-talon Golden Crow Yuan Shen immediately seized the chance to escape and flared out its wings before flying away.

Some Qi Practitioners began chasing after it, but the three-talon Golden Crow Yuan Shen was simply too fast, leaving them far behind his tail.

"He has not yet cultivated a Combat Yuan Shen, his Yuan Shen would not be able to go far carrying his mortal body, go after them!"

Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen carried his body as he flew. After flying around a thousand miles, his Yuan Shen had already reached its limits. After all, his Yuan Shen had still not evolved into a Combat Yuan Shen, the secret realms of the Yuan Shen had not been unlocked yet, and so his endurance would, accordingly, still leave a lot to be desired..

Zhong Yue recalled his Yuan Shen, an action that sent him into free-fall from the sky. But before he reached the ground, two ferocious Jiao Dragon emerged beneath his feet, slowing down his descent to allow him to safely alight onto the ground. They then proceeded to bolt away while carrying Zhong Yue on their backs.

Boom——

The ground shuddered, the earth began to split and a gigantic creature rose from the darkness below, "That guy did not deceive me. You are taking a detour route through the Yan Que Keep! Long Yue, I have hidden myself here for a long time, waiting for your arrival….", the creature cackled.

Without delay, Zhong Yue swayed his body, and multiple Jiao Dragons surged out from his body before burrowing into the the ground.

Before the hidden monster race Qi Practitioner could jump to the ground, he felt something below the ground biting his limbs, dragging him deeper into the ground.

"You bastard!"

The enraged Qi Practitioner bellowed in anger and he chanted as he was dragged into the dark. Countless totem carvings were lit up within the ten miles around him, beams of light intersected mid-air — he had set up an array formation on this spot waited to entrap Zhong Yue.

When the countless Jiao Dragon burrowed into the ground, they had triggered the array formation, allowing Zhong Yue to detect it beforehand.

The Qi Practitioner was furious as he raised his mountain sized fist, slamming it onto the earth. In a short instant, over hundreds of punches were sent out to batter onto the ground. The ground fissured and was cracked into pieces, even the crust a few tens of feet deep beneath the surface was crushed into dust!

The Jiao Dragon visualized by Zhong Yue was smashed into fragments. The Qi Practitioner leaped onto the ground, looked around to find Zhong Yue already bypassed his trap, and has long since escaped.

"You cannot escape me!"

The Qi Practitioner lifted his feet. He charged forward towards the direction where Zhong Yue had left, but after chasing for some time, he still could not spot Zhong Yue and sighed, "How could this brat run so fast..."

There was a presence of weak sunlight, the beginning of the dawn. A bright light rose from the east, Zhong Yue had been travelling for a full night from the saint city, a total distance of eight thousand miles. He was tired, both physically and mentally, his muscles ached, but eventually, the dawn of a new day had finally arrived.

Once dawn breaks, I will summon the Golden Crow wings to fly into the high skies, just right below the lightning zone. By then, it would not be easy to find me and stop me! he thought.

The sky was getting brighter and clearer, the sun was peeking from the horizon and after a while, half of the bright red sun was already sitting above the horizon.

Suddenly, peals of laughter emanated from afar, trembling Zhong Yue's eardrums and disrupting the blood essence in his body. He was nearly unable to endure it and was on the verge of puking out a mouthful of blood!

Shit, is this another expert hunting for me too? His laughter alone is overpowering….

His placid heart grew flustered. And as the laughter faded, a hoarse voice said, "Shi Buyi, you took some time to catch up with me, seems like your [Monster God Ming King Art] does have some flaws, your cultivation technique is incomplete, leaving a great flaw in you. No wonder you had closed door training for such a long time, you were trying to get rid of the flaw, weren't you? You're too late now, I have sent Yu Xuanji away, you won't be able to find him even if you have a battle with me!"

"You really are cunning, Lord of Jade Dragon Keep, I have killed all the masked Qi Practitioners on my way here, I have even caught up with the Luo Ying City Lord and killed the little girl at her side, but still I couldn't find Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei."

Zhong Yue looked across the distance and found Shi Buyi standing on the mountain summit, while the other elder man sporting a whitish-green beard was standing on the opposite mountain summit. The two were confronting each other, with a gushing river between the two mountains.

"I'm curious, just exactly how did you send them out of the saint city?", Shu Buyi asked.

"Simple."

Long of Jade Dragon Keep smiled and responded, "The Luo Ying City Lord and I each brought a death warrior out of the city, while the others of the death squad followed us to leave the city. Our departure had evidently made you anxious and you were anxious to make a move to kill us. Once you stepped out of the city, Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei left immediately. They would already be on the Eastern Sea, taking a voyage to Jade Dragon Keep while you were busy tracking us down for one whole night. It will be too late if you decide to track them down now, how could you possibly find them in the vast sea?"

Shu Buyi grinned, "Aren't you worried that I will hunt them down in the Jade Dragon Keep?"

"Well, my totem spirit in the Jade Dragon Keep, the Azure Dragon God, has been awaiting your arrival for a very long time!"

The Lord of Jade Dragon Keep sneered coldly, "Your flaws are very serious, if you battled with the Azure Dragon God totem, the concealed danger within you cultivation technique will erupt. Do you not fear death?"

Zhong Yue shuddered, So it is true that Shi Buyi suffers from immense defects, it was no longer a secret kept away from the world….

"Keep Lord, you leave me with no other choices but to kill you," Shi Buyi sighed and said.

Chapter 150: The Death of the Jade Dragon Keep Lord



The lord of Jade Dragon Keep said, "It is my honor to die by the hands of someone as strong as you. What a shame, my lifelong wish was to die fighting for the monsters, or in the battlefield against the humans, the celestial races or the dragon races. Never have I thought that I would die by the hands of my own kin, and especially by you."

Shi Buyi said calmly, "That's because you are too ambitious. If you had not tried to steal my [Monster God Ming King's Art] to find out my weaknesses then you would not have to die here today. Perhaps, you might fight with honor and die with glory in the battlefield after I conquer the East Barren."

"HAHAHAHA! What is the point of living if one is not ambitious and strives for nothing in his life?"

The Jade Dragon Keep Lord laughed and said, "Shi Buyi, you too have your own wild ambition, which is why you've hidden your true strength. But I too have my own wild ambition! But what I wanted was to cultivate more powerful generations for the future of the monster race, whereas you just wanted the position of the Saint City Lord! This is what makes us different, you are jealous of the better individuals and you desire control over everything while I want fight for the prosperity of the monster race! Your ambition … is self-centered and small-minded."

Shi Buyi sighed and said, "Seems like we are not on the same page… You leave me no choice but to kill you, senior martial brother."

On the other side, blood flowed out from Zhong Yue's seven orifices as he was affected by the thunderous voice of the two incredibly strong individuals. He rushed towards somewhere further away as fast as he could and he thought, Fights between strong individuals could bring calamity to the weak individuals. There are barely any Rebirth Qi Practitioners that could defeat me now and I could even put up a decent fight with the Awakening level Qi Practitioners, but I do not even have the power to observe the battle between these two. I have to leave this place as fast as possible or I would be killed by the aftermaths of their battle…."

Without having much attention to spare, Zhong Yue visualized the golden crow wings and he flew away in high speed, just like a meteor.

At the same time, the Jade Dragon Keep Lord and Shi Buyi finally began their fight. Two bright rays ascended from two huge mountains that covered the sunlight, which brightened up the area around them!

Then, the rays dispersed and the surroundings became pitch black in a second. In the split second where the surrounding brightened up and turned black again, invisible waves were emitted in all directions vigorously, evaporating the water in centre of the river between the mountains, causing the water on the side of the river to gushed towards the sides, which turned into rogue waves within seconds!

Then, the sound of a huge explosion could be heard. Zhong Yue was flying in the air and he had already flown for about 50 miles with a speed faster than sound. But it must be understood that this was the speed of sound in the air. The shockwaves created by the fight caused the air outside to compress, crazily increasing its density.

The rate of which sound propagated through a material increased with its density; traveling quickly in the air, even faster in water, but the fastest through solid matter! The shockwaves of the attacks of the Jade Dragon Keep Lord and Shi Buyi created a vacuum around their immediate vicinity which only served to compress the air further out to a density that was virtually equivalent to solid matter. This enabled the sound wave to travel with a ghastly velocity!

With little effort, the soundwave soon caught up with Zhong Yue, shattering his wings and causing him to fall from the sky. As he fell, he was no longer able to stop the blood from gushing out of his mouth!

But he did not stop moving even after falling; as soon as he touched the ground, he started running with his life on the line quickly!

Dong——

A second sound wave was emitted and Zhong Yue vomited blood again, causing him to stagger as he continued to run away with gritted teeth. He ran with his life and after running for a few hundred miles, when he felt that the sound waves no longer posed a threat to his life, he stopped and let out a long breath.

Then, Zhong Yue immediately took out the various precious pills given by the messengers from various factions and he swallowed them down as he treated his wounds with the medicinal efficacy from the pills.

Judging from the powerful waves created during their battle that almost killed him, even if the power of the Jade Dragon Keep Lord is not as strong as the Saint City Lord, there would not be a huge gap between their power. I wonder if he could survive….

As soon as he thought this, the cacophony of the battle unexpectantly halted and Zhong Yue's heart sunk, The Jade Dragon Keep Lord is dead….

Cruelty.

This showed just how cruel the competition was between the monsters!

From the point of view of a human from the Great Wilderness, Zhong Yue once viewed the monsters as a united and incredibly strong race but now, what he saw today had shown how broken and splintered they truly were as a race.

Although the Jade Dragon Keep Lord's actions were more beneficial for the monsters, his downfall was destined as there was still Shi Buyi who desires all the power onto himself.

Zhong Yue suppressed his injuries and thought, If the Jade Dragon Keep Lord had succeeded, it would only bring a disaster to the humans. Thank god there was someone like Shi Buyi within the monsters to brew discord among themselves….

Zhong Yue was of two minds when it came to characters like the Jade Dragon Keep in the monsters. He admired his personality, but also worried about the calamity someone like him would bring to the human race!

Shi Buyi is a formidable lord in this generation and he can ensure the prosperity of his race for the time being but after his death, there will be no one to continue his legacy and what he had achieved. His death would only cause the monster race to spiral into chaos due to the massive power vacuum that would be left in the wake of his conquest for power. But a hero will cultivate a new bright generation that could bring light his entire race. Without the likes of the Jade Dragon Keep Lord, the monsters will welcome a deteriorating scene after the death of Shi Buyi!

He then looked and checked on his injuries, causing him to laugh bitterly. This was because the two waves of soundwaves inflicted even heavier injuries than the injuries he suffered in the battle with the supporters of Heavenly Monster Li Jun back then.

But what decides the fate of a race is not on the people, but the strong individuals who stand on top of the world. No matter how many low-leveled Qi Practitioners there are in a race, they are all ultimately trivial ants when placed in front of the true paragons of a race. Humanity needs someone that could be the pillar of the race in order to ensure our survival! And this man has to be a hero, not a formidable tyrant!

Again, a pair of golden wings formed behind the back of Zhong Yue, lifting him up flying him out of this place. This time, instead of heading towards the Burning Sparrow Keep, he headed back towards the Savanna Wasteland. He thought, Countless enemies await me on the path to the Burning Sparrow Keep, and Lang Qingyun holding my soul lantern that allows him to precisely detect my location, Hmph … then I shall take you guys for a walk!

His pattern of movement then became very irregular, erratically heading towards the east and west, front and back without rhyme or reason. After a night of fleeing, he had already breached through the encirclement of his enemies, which was why he was acting much more leisurely.

Although there were still countless monsters tailing him, eager for his life, a situation like the battle that happened that night where he was besieged by enemies would not happen again.

What worried him the most was the likes of Ha Ming'er among his pursuers that followed him tightly behind his back!

In the whole process of running away, his speed was even faster than during the night, but the same could be said for his fatigue. The entire East Barren is incredibly big and was littered with jungles and mountains. While the Gu Xia City is located at the border of the Wilderness, making it impossible to reach there in a short period of time.

Despite trying his best to return to the Gu Xia City, he only managed to push forward for five thousand miles during the day and he was even ambushed by some Qi Practitioners, forcing him to retreat a five thousand miles away to avoid them.

It was easy for an average person to run quickly for over 50 miles but the person's speed would decrease if it was over 50 miles. In order to be able to sustain a long period of running, one must slow down his footsteps and adjust their breathing accordingly to accommodate for the distance.

The same applied to Qi Practitioners. Although being stronger than most of the normal people, Qi Practitioners could not maintain an explosive rate of running for a long time.

Zhong Yue had been running at full speed from day to night, in which time he managed to advance nine thousand miles. But this took a toll on his body and mentality. As much as he wanted to rest, he was forced to keep on running as once he stopped, he will be surrounded by the monster Qi Practitioners brought by Lang Qingyun.

He then dispersed the golden wings and landed on the ground as he quickly visualized the [Sun Moon Prodigious Emanation Art] to recover the strains on his body and soul as well as his injuries. After a long time, he had already recovered from the injuries he suffered as a result of being dragged into the battle of Shi Buyi and the lord of Jade Dragon Keep.

Although his body and mentality were still tired, his combat proficiency was maintained at the peak state and the prolonged hours of running also increased his cultivation base.

But when fatigue struck him, he felt very sleepy and he wanted to lie down on the ground and sleep immediately, throwing his problems and stress behind!

Zhe——

A sword qi shot out from Zhong Yue's finger and he cut himself lightly on the chest. With that, he managed to use the pain he inflicted on himself to temporarily curb his fatigue and continue his escape on the Jiao dragons under his feet.

Somewhere in front of the path Zhong Yue was running on, there was a jade-green colored lake. The lake's waves surged in all directions and at the center of the lake, there was a lonely boat on the water. On top of the boat, was a lotus picking girl paddling while singing with a clear and beautiful voice that resonating to every corner of the landscape. She was singing a traditional monster song that storied a girl who and a monster hero sitting on a tree under the light of the moon, voicing out their love for each other.

The boat, the girl, the lake and the green leaves formed a picturesque scene as the sunset shone upon them.

As Zhong Yue heard the melodious singing, he was uncontrollably sent into a deep sleep while standing beside the lake but the dragons under his legs were still carrying him towards the center of the lake!

So tired… No! This is a voice art that is messing up my mind!

Zhong Yue had a shock and as he almost recovered from the charm, the singing sounded again, enticing him back to sleep!

At the same time, two powerful auras closed in rapidly, and the two pursuers must have been notified by Lang Qingyun and they continued to pursue up to this point!

Zhong Yue forcefully opened up his eyes and he faintly saw the lotus picking girl getting closer to him on her lotus boat. He knew that he cannot sleep anymore deep inside him but each time the succumbing voice sounded, he felt that his psyche, soul and body became very heavy and he felt so comfortable to the point that he could not bring himself to wake up at all!

Zhe——

Sword qi flew out and he cut himself again in desperation to stymie his descent into unconsciousness, but despite his efforts, his will began to succumb to the enthralling voice!

He struggled to open his eyes and along with the two pursuers, the lotus boat inched ever so closer. Zhong Yue then cast another sword qi and he stabbed fiercely into his stomach and twisted it, inflicting immense pain to himself which kept him slightly more awake.

The Heavenly Emperor on his throne that repels all sorts of evil!

Zhong Yue shouted and psyche gushed out from his psyche ocean while his soul turned into the Sui Sovereign that sat on his throne in the Flame Orderly Palace. With that, he was able to banish the seductive charm of the voice and his soul, psyche and body were roused from their stupor!

Yuan Shen out, Monster God Ming King!

Boom——

On his back, his soul leaped out and turned into the eighteen feet tall Ming King with eight hands. Zhong Yue then looked behind and he saw two Awakening level QI Practitioners closing in quickly on their monster cloud and as the cloud dispersed, two weird looking Qi Practitioners appeared.

Zhong Yue turned back again and he looked towards the lotus boat and the lotus picking girl on top of the boat as he smirked and said, "Disciple of Shu Qianqiu and the senior martial sister of King Teng. Am I right? Senior Martial Sister Qing He?

Chapter 151: [Voice of Succubus]



The lotus boat shook and stopped while the lotus picking girl laughed and said, "To be able to regain consciousness from my [Voice of Succubus] Brother Yue, you are indeed very strong. No wonder Junior Martial Brother King Teng died by your hands. But then, Brother Yue, my teacher loves King Teng the most and if I do not bring your head to my master after you killed King Teng, how would I explain it to my master? How about you do me a favor and cut off your head for me?

Behind Zhong Yue, the two monster Qi Practitioners closed in even more and suddenly, one of them became emotionless and he raised his sword and beheaded himself. That person then threw his sword away and he held his head on his hands while he walked towards the lotus boat on the river.

Pu chi——

Following after his footsteps, the other Awakening level Qi Practitioner also raised his sword and cut towards his head!

However, he immediately regained consciousness just before his blade touched his neck, letting out a shout at the realization of what he was about to do before running away!

" [Voice of Succubus], [Voice of Succubus]!"

The monster Qi Practitioner shouted in fear and he pierced his ears with his sword to destroy his sense of hearing so as to escape from the prison of her voice. After he ran for a few tens of miles, the Qi Practitioner suddenly stopped running and decapitated himself. The headless body then obediently returned to the lotus boat on the lake with his head on his hands!

The scene was extremely eerie and macabre as the two headless bodies carried their heads on their hands as they walked towards the lotus picking girl on the boat to present them to her in deference!

Zhong Yue's hand trembled and unknowingly, a Sword Qi shot out from his finger and his hands raised themselves to slice towards his neck!

As soon as the Sword Qi touched his skin, Zhong Yue's palm stopped moving any further.

Qing He then said sadly, "Brother Yue, can you bring yourself to allow me to be punished by my master? Come on, do it, sister is just asking a small favor from you. Simply slice off your head down and everything will be gone. All your stress, problems, grievances and conflicts … all will disperse like fleeting clouds. I would even think of you every time and think of the good deeds you've done for me…."

Her [Voice of Succubus] did not act on the ears of its victims, rather, it directly penetrated to the psyche ocean and soul to force the victim's will to succumb to the seduction of her voice. If the person's will is weak, then they would become a slave to her every will and wile!

That is why the Awakening level Qi Practitioner just now had succumbed to her voice and beheaded himself even after destroying his own eardrums!

Cold sweat dripped down from Zhong Yue's forehead and his hands shivered vigorously. Suddenly, he laughed in relief and the cold sweat was stemmed and he put his sword down, "The [Voice of Succubus] is indeed very strong. I was worried that I would die if I was surrounded by three Awakening level Qi Practitioners. But since Sister Qing had killed the two of them, I felt relieved and couldn't help it but joke with you. Sister Qing, was my acting good just now?"

Qing He's pupil tightened as the two headless bodies threw their head into the lake and their bodies sunk into the lake with their heads.

"So you managed to break my [Voice of Succubus] ?" Qing He exhaled deeply, heaving her well-endowed chest in and out. The girl's curvaceously alluring body belied the innocence of her face. The juxtaposition posed an indescribable charm to all who beheld her visage.

However, Zhong Yue ignored all of these and shook as he said, "The [Voice of Succubus] of sister Qing is indeed very strong and I was lucky to be able to get away just like that. Since you purposely said that you could not seduce me with your voice yet continued to do it regardless, I decided to play along, pretending to have succumbed to your voice. Otherwise, I would not stand have stood a chance against three Awakening Qi Practitioners together. Fortunately, your [Voice of Succubus] was so strong that it could even seduce the Awakening level Qi Practitioners to kill themselves, helping me to escape death. Sister, I have no other ways but to kill you to repay my debt to you for the aid you provided."

Zhong Yue then unsheathed the Fang Blade, releasing a flurry of Sword Qi around the hilt as he walked towards Qing He with a smile hanging on his face as if his previous utterance of murdering her was just a joke.

Qing He's pupil tightened again and she suddenly laughed and said. "What a wise dragon, using me to get out of this bad situation. So King Teng really did not die in the hands of an amateur. Since you are not willing to cut your head down yourself, I guess I have to do it myself then."

The two Jiao Dragons under Zhong Yue's leg moved and they walked on the water as they carried Zhong Yue towards the lotus boat. He then said, "I once fought with King Teng ... I admire the arts of master Shu Qianqiu very much, especially the techniques that gave strong plant monsters such glaring weaknesses. I guess sister Qing He is also like that, eh? So could you please be so kind as to tell me your weaknesses?"

"There's no point telling you cause you will not be able to kill me."

Behind Qing He, a Yuan Shen appeared and unlike the other Yuan Shens which came in the form of Gods and Demons, hers was a lotus flower with stems and roots.

Zhong Yue had seen the Yuan Shen of King Teng, which came in the form of strange vines, and he guessed that maybe that was the similarity between all kinds of plant monsters.

As the lotus flower Yuan Shen appeared, the Wu Xing Wheel emerged from the surface of the lotus flower.

Qing He then laughed and said, "There's a huge gap between our strength and it would not be easy to pass through me! You may have defeated quite a few of the Wu Xing Wheel Qi Practitioners but they have yet to show you the amazing power of the Wu Xing Wheel. However, worry not as today you will have the privilege of beholding the true might of the Wu Xing Wheel!"

As the Wu Xing Wheel appeared, the waves froze, the air stopped blowing and the birds and insects fell silent. Everything soon became steeped in an eerie and disquieting tranquility, just like the calm before the storm.

Suddenly, the lake undulated vigorously and the lake water burst up into the sky before turning into colourful Wu Xing Wheel; a wheel in red, like a fiery flame; another in white, like it was made of platinum; another in green, like a jade dragon; another in black, like dark steel; and the last one in yellow, like the earth element!

The Wu Xing Wheel spun and formed a huge array formation on the lake!

Although Zhong Yue fought with a few Rebirth level Qi Practitioners, he has never seen such a scene before, which made it clear that Qing He was much stronger than the other Wu Xing Wheel Qi Practitioners he encountered!

Weng weng weng——

The lotus flowers floating all over the lake started waving and on tiny Wu Xing Wheel appeared on the lotus leaves and they started rotating slowly!

At that moment, Wu Xing Wheel appeared all over the green lotus leaves on the lake, forming an eerie scene!

Zhong Yue let out a groan as he suffered immense pressure from the countless Wu Xing Wheels unleashed by Qing He. He felt that his body and soul was being torn apart and they showed signs of disintegrating from the power of the Wu Xing Wheel!

He knew the advantage of the Shu Qianqiu's heritage was the seemingly immortal body that refuses to die under all forms of attack!

Other than that, King Teng's body was also able to spawn even more King Tengs to assist him in battles!

Zhong Yue never thought that this girl that went by the name of Qing He could not only cast the same skill, but in an even more unstoppable and powerful manner!

There were countless lotus flowers on the lake and each and single lotus leaves on these flowers were equivalent to a part of her body and there was one tiny Wu Xing Wheel on each of these leaves!

With that many Wu Xing Wheel combined together, a complicated Wu Xing array formation was formed. The lake that Zhong Yue landed on was the center of the array formation and he just landed himself in deep water!

Anyone that could become a pillar for the monsters must not be underestimated and this Shu Qianqiu is an incredibly strong existence in this world!

Zhong Yue thought as he initiated the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array with his Yuan Shen and shrouded himself in his array in order to resist the smothering of the Wu Xing Wheel Array.

"The [Dragon Binding Technique] taught by my master finally has some use now!"

The lotus boat under Qing He moved and paddled towards Zhong Yue. She lifted her finger and the lake water raised up and shot towards Zhong Yue. A little curve blade then appeared in her hand and she dashed out towards Zhong Yue, trying to cut his head off as she said in fake apology, "I'm sorry, Brother Yue, I have already ordered a coffin for you and if I don't have you lie down in that coffin, then I really would have no way to explain all of this to my master…."

Zhong Yue, however, could not do anything as he was suppressed by the Wu Xing Array and his Jiao Dragons were pressed deep into the water and they could not move at all. Zhong Yue was even immobilized by the array and all he could do was try his best to resist the power of Qing He's array.

The situation became even worse when the water streams launched by Qing He bound him.

Qing He slashed her curved blade towards Zhong Yue's neck as if she were cutting lotuses and her other hand grabbed Zhong Yue's hair and raised it up.

Whenever the lotus picking girl harvested lotuses, she would always grab onto the stem and swing her sickle to cut the lotus from that part smoothly. An experienced lotus picking girl could execute all of this smoothly and efficiently while emitting a unique aura.

This applied to Qing He as well. Her delicate hands grabbed onto Zhong Yue's hair and she swung her curved blade with a smooth and practiced motion towards Zhong Yue's neck.

However, before her curve blade landed on Zhong Yue's neck, her heart received a sudden inexplicable and eerie feeling. Just before she could react in time, Zhong Yue's hair bristled and silk-like Sword Qi flew out from his hair and shot towards Qing He's arm!

Seven Sword Qi immediately bound her feminine arms and as the Sword Qi twisted together, the bones in her arms became mangled and crushed to pieces!

Then, the Sword Qi shook and entered into her chest and ventricular through the wound on her arm!

The seven Sword Qi entered into the heart and scattered out in all directions through the seven different veins, tunneling indomitably towards her four limbs!

Qing He had a shock and just when she wanted to cut down Zhong Yue's head with another hand, her body was eviscerated into pieces by his Sword Qi and the mutilated body fell into the lake!

Zhong Yue laughed and the seven Sword Qi flew back and winded around his body while countless Jiao Dragons formed under his legs. In a split second, the entire lake was filled with dancing Jiao Dragons that slithered all over the lake. As their long and huge bodies slithered through the lake, their scales that were as sharp as blades cut towards the lotus flowers that filled the lake!

The lotus flowers were shattered by the Jiao Dragons and the Wu Xing Wheel on the lotus leaves dispersed. Suddenly, the lotus leaves waved and they turned into the alluring body of Qing He at the other side of the lake.

The ferocious Jiao Dragons had brought destruction to the lotus flowers on the lake and with that, they destroyed most of her Wu Xing array formation!

"Sister Qing, are you unaware that the dragons are all experts when it comes to battling in the water?"

Zhong Yue laughed and the lake water waved vigorously before he vaporized the entire lake, immersing the surroundings in a dense mist. As such, what was left were the thousands of ferocious Jiao Dragons that slithered throughout the mist within which was suspended scattered mud and defiled lotus!

Chapter 152: If I Live, Your Family Dies



"Consider yourself ruthless enough!"

Roots of lotuses connected to Qing He beneath her feet, it was as if she was a beautiful maiden that grew on the lotus leaf. She raised her head and gaze at the lake that floated in mid-air. Her face changed drastically and all of a sudden —Shuo shuo shuo— the lotuses and lotus leaves all disappeared into the muddy silts!

"Little Brother Yue, be sure to keep your eyes open when you sleep, sister will come for your head when you are asleep~!" Qing He also disappeared into the ground as the remaining echoes of her voice crept into his ears before fading into silence.

Following which, the whole water lake suddenly plummeted down and crashed into the ground and the lotuses all disappeared.

Zhong Yue's body flickered, the Jiao Dragons soared over from all directions and entered his boy.

"Consider yourself escaping fast enough … Wah!"

Zhong Yue's face turned pale white and he spurted out a mouthful of blood. His body swayed violently, almost falling off from the dragons' back.

In the end, he was still severely wounded, the Wu Xing Wheel array formation nearly killed him, and manipulating the hundred dragons in moving the water lake had also exhausted all of his energy. How heavy was the huge lake? No lighter than the weight of a mountain. Moving it nearly crushed his internal organs!

In addition to the prowess of the Wu Xing Wheel array formation, although Zhong Yue seemed to have won the battle with ease, but in actual fact, it was he who was at the end of his rope. If Qing He had decided to fight to the bitter end, this place would most likely have been his final resting place.

Claiming that he was one of the dragon race, proficient in the ways of manipulating the water and wind, all of these were just words he had to use to scare Qing He. He only managed to survive due to the reputation of the dragon race.

"Why are the disciples of Shu Qianqiu all so knotty and bizarre?"

Zhong Yue wiped off the trickling blood with the back of his hand, although he had not engaged in a frontal combat with Qing He, but the internal injuries on his body were grievous. This lady's prowess was even stronger than the other Wu Xing Wheel experts, this outcome had really put Zhong Yue out of his wits.

"Move ... I need to move away from this place as fast as possible, although my battle with Qing He didn't last long, it was still long enough to attract the notice of the other monsters and Lang Qingyun. It won't be too long before they come rushing over!"

Zhong Yue was coughing blood, he forcibly mustered his strength and bolted away towards Gu Xia City. Although they did not exchange many attacks in the battle, it was tortuous and hard, he also felt like just laying down and letting the monsters catch up to him

Every movement he took required the utmost of effort, his muscles ached as if they were tearing themselves apart, and the pain was so intense that his heart twitched. Even his bones were crying out in pain.

The journey was long and arduous, along the way he had been exerting all of his strength as his life depended on it, there was simply no room for reprieve. Even a body made of metal was unable to bear such an immense amount of stress, and as of now, Zhong Yue was only driving his body with his unyielding and indomitable will.

Wong wong—— the sun and moon behind him emerged, shining and irradiating on his body, alleviating the injuries in his body as he ingested medicinal pills like candy to give his feeble body the meager sustenance it needed to persist in its struggle for survival.

"Xin Huo, thank you for all the torments you've put me through, and for all your unreliable moments. Now, I finally understand your good intentions and the efforts you've spent on me. " Zhong Yue's atman smiled and told Xin Huo in his psyche ocean.

Xin Huo scratched on his own head and said, "I'm gratified that you can understand it. But, am I really that unreliable?"

Zhong Yue laughed out loud which inadvertently exacerbated the injuries on his chest, causing him to pant and gasped deeply for breath like a broken wind box. He said, "You are actually quite unreliable…."

The twilight faded away and the sky became enveloped in darkness once again. Today was the first night the moon made an appearance for the whole month. The little crescent moon shone in solitude, accompanied by the blinking luminescence of the stars.

Zhong Yue traveled under the light of the elegant moon and the star spangled sky, with the wavy mountain ridge beneath him. Soon, he had reached the latter half of the journey back to Gu Xia City.

It should be the safest time by now, right?

He thought to himself, Those that can't keep up to my speed, naturally wouldn't be able to chase up to me. While the other batch of experts should've taken the shorter route and are most likely waiting for me around Gu Xia City already.

Unbeknownst to him, he had been sleeping the whole while standing erect on the backs of the two Jiao Dragons the whole way as they were moving towards Gu Xia City. This was the marvelous aspect of the subconscious and unconscious visualization. Even in his sleep, he was still in a constant state of visualization, making the psyche-visualized Jiao Dragons continue marching forwards without deliberate command.

Not only that, the moon and sun behind him was still continuing to refine his body, mending his injuries. The tortures and torments Xin Huo had put him through were now starting to show their benefits.

His sleep was sweet and deep. It was only until midday when he started to open his eyes lazily. His body was still aching, and his psyche was still strained as if it was going to snap off. But Zhong Yue could tell that after the one day and two nights in his unconscious state, his psyche has been purified to a new level and his cultivation base had advanced dramatically!

His hundred and eighty feet tall atman had even grown a foot taller.

When he fought and struggled against the encirclement of enemies, he had unleashed all of his fighting spirit and potential. The battles within this period of time had forced the eruption of his latent potential. It was inevitable that his cultivation base would experience such a leap after that grueling and harrowing experience that many don't even get a taste of throughout the course of their life.

Sadly, this can't be compared to the effects of the jade liquid. But through this battle, my foundation has also gotten stronger and more solid than before, and I have better control over my own prowess!

He visualized the water totem carvings and washed his face, shaking off the laziness within him. The twin dragons beneath his feet then started accelerating, detouring to the Savanna Wasteland so that he would travel to the Gu Xia City from there.

As long as he arrived back at the Gu Xia City, he would be like a dragon that had dived into the ocean, a Jiao Dragon plunging into the abyss. As another magnate of the monster race, Gu Hongzi was very young, he was about the same age as Lang Qingyun, and yet, he was now already a regional governor of the monster race. There were not many monsters that dared to kill a lord underneath his jurisdiction in his own territory!

Now, I'll have to prepare myself and accumulate my strength, there's only one last obstacle in front of me — the battle before Gu Xia City! As long as I pass through this, then I'll be safe!

Zhong Yue again took another path, he walked out of the Savanna Wasteland and turned to the East Barren, taking on a "Z" shaped course. He had done so to mislead Lang Qingyun away from his precise location. If he was able to force Lang Qingyun to constantly change direction, the other monsters would inevitably start to bear grievances in their hearts against Lang Qingyun as their trust in him would be incessantly be eroded with his every show of hesitance. This would only make it easier for Zhong Yue to pass through the last obstacle.

"What a sly brat!"

Lang Qingyun had already arrived at Gu Xia City. He was tracking Zhong Yue's position through the soul lamp and had notified the monster experts from a thousand miles away. But Zhong Yue kept changing direction position to the point that even he was beginning to have doubts. He was wondering where Zhong Yue was planning to enter the Gu Xia City's region boundary from.

The monsters that were following his directions were beginning to lose their patience. Some monster experts even ignored him as he informed them, simply standing still and disregarding him, causing him to grit his teeth in resentment.

"This Long Yue … his cunning and prowess are all of the highest calibers. Although he is still weak now, as long as he escapes, he would eventually command the wind and clouds to become a mighty dragon. He would turn into someone just like Gu Hongzi, someone that will threaten my place!"

He drew a long breath as his eyes flashed with foreboding rays, "Should I personally step out and make short work of him? But if I do, I'll have to do so stealthily so that even the ghosts and specters would not notice a thing at all. And if any monsters become aware of my activities, they must be promptly exterminated. There must be no loose ends. After all, he is still Shi Buyi's closed door disciple and my little junior martial brother, if word gets out, Shi Buyi would also kill me…."

"En, find a chance, if the other experts can't get rid of him, then I'll try and find myself a perfect time to act…."

It was midday, Zhong Yue was closing in on the boundary of Gu Xia City.

For the past few hours, he had been preparing himself, honing his strength for the last battle!

The territorial land of thirteen thousand miles around was all under the jurisdiction of the Gu Xia City. Gu Hongzi was the regional governor, a high post with accordingly high power. His own prowess was also at the level of an elder, no inferior to magnates such as the Jade Dragon Keep Lord or the Yan Que Keep Lord.

To kill Zhong Yue in his territorial land, one would have to notify Gu Hongzi beforehand, but whether they would be permitted to do so would be uncertain. Hence, in order to kill Zhong Yue, they would have to do it before he entered Gu Hongzi's territory.

Zhong Yue changed his direction in the Savanna Wasteland again. There were only a few dozen miles left before he would reach the Gu Xia City territorial land. The wasteland extended endlessly to the horizon, wide and vast, the dark black soil was rich and fertile. It was just that there were not any humans or monsters that settled down here.

"Long Yue, we've been waiting for you a very very long time."

All of a sudden, a voice came into his ears, Zhong Yue stopped down and abruptly, the earth trembled while totem pillars emerged one after another from underground. They were not made of woods, but rather, stone!

There were at least two or three hundred stone pillars that had emerged from the ground, the air was effused with killing intent — if these totem pillars were to form into an array formation, it would undoubtedly be very powerful!

"Meng Xiang!"

Zhong Yue's pupil constricted as a mongoose beast, sized like an elephant, came into his view. He could see Meng She standing behind Meng Xiang, both of them making an appearance on the wasteland. Meng She was even bigger, Meng Xiang was twenty to thirty feet tall while Meng She was tens of times larger, as if he was a black mountain!

Meng Xiang was only a Rebirth Qi Practitioner, while Meng She was an Awakening expert that had opened the Wan Xiang Wheel, one that had pummelled Hei Hu and Hu Qingqing!

"Hu——"

Zhong Yue exhaled out a breath, smiled and said, "Only you two brothers? I suppose there are more senior martial brothers here right? Please, may the hidden senior martial brothers show yourselves!"

"Hahahaha!"

A burst of shrill, ear-piercing laughter buzzed into his eardrums. Zhong Yue lifted his head and he was met with two Qi Practitioners with wings on their backs and a mist-like white net hovering in mid-air. They said in a shrill voice, "Ying Bai and Ying Ji of the Ying Family, greets Junior Martial Brother Long Yue! Long Yue, you've killed our little sister Ying Fang on the street, today, we will return the favor to you!"

Two Qi Practitioners of the Ying Family, holding a net in the air. That must be to prevent me from flying away with the Golden Crow Wings. Meanwhile, the Meng She and Meng Xiang brothers are on the ground so block my escape into the ground.

Zhong Yue furrowed his brows, coughed and said, "And which senior martial brother would it be that is underground, please, show yourself too!"

"You aren't stupid, knowing that there is still someone underground!"

A huge eyeball extruded out from the ground, but he did not show his face. He smirked and said, "You, you are a dragon, I'm also a dragon too. But I'm the dragon of the earth. Under the ground, I am the dragon. Don't you even think about slipping past through me!"

"Only a big lizard, how dare you to call yourself an earth dragon?"

Zhong Yue's eyes were sharp, he looked at the monster Qi Practitioner in the ground, it was a huge lizard that was merely proficient in burrowing into the ground – furtive and stealthy. He sneered coldly and said, "I want to enter the Gu Xia City, and I'll kill whoever stands in my way!"

He strode forward while his hand reached out and clenched onto the Fang Blade on his back, his face was ferocious and dreadful as he said maliciously, "Not only will anyone who bars my path die, but so will all nine generations of their kin! If today I live, then you shall all await my vengeance!"

Chapter 153: Bone-rattling Battle in the Underground



His words were determined and imperious. They had the power to tremble the hearts of the monster experts like Meng Xiang and Ying Bai. They had seen the measures and means he had taken, his ruthlessness and decisiveness. But more importantly, he was from the dragon race, giving him the inherent aptitude for incredibly rapid learning and growth. In such a short while, his name flourished throughout the region as he took the place of a disciple of the saint city lord, became publicly acknowledged as the strongest cultivator in the level of Rebirth!

Creating enmity with such a generational talent and allowing him to escape would become a noose around their necks that is simply waiting to tighten. Once he grew into his own potential, the revenge that he would seek to mete out would be ferocious and indefensible, spelling out their imminent doom!

'Killing your whole family', this wasn't merely empty bluster used to threaten them, this was a very real possibility!

"Hahaha! As long as you die, then wouldn't it solve the problem?"

Meng She laughed out loud and said, "Dear martial brothers, with our prowess, how can we possibly be unable to kill a petty Rebirth Qi Practitioner? Right here, right now, we will drink the blood of a dragon, roast the meat of a dragon, we will have a feast and we will drink till the world in our eyes spin!"

His was so high-spirited that the words he said cast away the doubts in the hearts of Ying Bai, Ying Ji and the others. Zhong Yue squinted his eyes and maintained a light smirk of his face as he said, "Seems like, in the future, I'll have to wash your families in blood before I would be able to stand firmly in the East Barren, and to instill fear and terror into all monsters."

His speed suddenly increased greatly as he lunged over towards the weakest of the group — Meng Xiang. Just when he moved, the earth flipped and overturned and an uncountable number of Jiao Dragons disappeared into the ground as they drilled into the earth. Traces of their bodies would reappear above the surface intermittently as they continued to plow holes into the savanna landscape!

"Be careful, Meng Xiang, he's coming for you!" Meng She prompted as his figure flickered and dashed over towards Meng Xiang behind him.

He was an expert who had opened the Wu Xing Wheel and Wan Xiang Wheel, whereas Meng Xiang was a Rebirth Qi Practitioner that might not even survive a strike from the likes like fierce and relentless Zhong Yue!

In the underground, the 'earth dragon' gigantic lizard was shocked, he quickly dug deeper into the soil and evaded the ferocious Jiao Dragons. Meanwhile, Zhong Yue's speed reached his peak, and all of a sudden, draconic whistles could be heard while the Jiao Dragons crisscrossed over one another. One of the dragons opened its mouth and swallowed Zhong Yue before heading down and disappearing into the ground!

The other Jiao Dragons followed along, the ground surface was left littered with perforations as a thunderous din resounded out from underground. Zhong Yue had hidden himself within the mouth of a Jiao Dragon while manipulating it to travel deeper into the soil layer so as to avoid contact with Meng She!

It was truly an inspired maneuver. Zhong Yue could not travel at will in the soils but the Jiao Dragons could. Utilizing the Jiao Dragon as his vehicle would effectively allow him to avoid the three experts — Meng She and the two Ying family brothers. In the end, all he was faced with was the solitary 'earth dragon'!

More importantly, Meng She and the others had been laying out their arrangements here for a long time, They had even placed an array formation of stone totem pillars. Moreover, one could easily surmise, from just a cursory glance, that the totem pillars that were made of stone instead of ordinary materials would be immensely dreadful!

However, all of this was rendered moot once Zhong Yue had burrowed underground, effectively circumventing the wrath of the array formation!

Meng She quickly yelled out loud, "Earth Dragon, quickly kill him, if you can't kill him, at least force him to the surface!"

The earth shook violently from underground. Clearly, Earth Dragon had heard his words and was now on the move. Drilling through the soils to intercept Zhong Yue!

Suddenly, a huge hill bulged up from the ground. It was shaped like a fist — it was definitely formed from the battle happening underground between Zhong Yue and the Earth Dragon. A punch had resulted in the ground bulging out!

Pang——

Another huge palm mark bulged up from the ground, followed by a series of palm marks and feet marks. Each mark left a hill that was an astounding tens of feet tall – clearly, the battle between the two experts had reached a simmering point!

The Meng brothers and Ying brothers had never seen this kind of underground battle before. The four Qi Practitioners followed the trail of bulges that would appear from their battle underground, a pair was striding on the ground while the other two took to the air while also sticking close to the battlefield.

Soon, they had traveled for a few miles, and the track was getting closer to the boundary of Gu Xia City, causing their hearts to thump in anxiousness.

"Up!"

Meng She yelled out, one after another, stone pillars flew up while retaining the form of the array formation. The stone pillars hovered in the air, waiting for the time where Zhong Yue would be forced to surface to entrap him in the slaughtering array and to cut off his last chance of escape!

The battle in the underground was growing more intense; breaking, snapping and crumbling sounds could be heard incessantly. Suddenly, the earth abruptly sunk down to form a large pithole in the ground!

The Meng brothers and Ying brothers were getting even more unsettled. They moved quickly, shifting their positions while keeping their eyes close to the ground.

The Earth Dragon was also an expert cultivator that had opened the Wu Xing Wheel, especially the arts of Earth. For him to battle in the underground was the same as the others fighting on the ground surface, strong and powerful.

However, the Ying brothers and Meng brothers could not see what was going on with the battle in the underground; all they could do was helplessly wait in anxiousness, unable to do anything at all.

They were unclear whether Zhong Yue possessed any Earth arts. But judging from the bulging hills from the ground, it was not hard to see that Zhong Yue's combat prowess in the ground would not be inferior either Otherwise, he would not have been able to battle with Earth Dragon until now!

The two of them battled in the ground for another ten miles.

Rays flashed in Meng She's eyes, he snarled abruptly and said, "I can't wait anymore! If we sit by and watch as Long Yue enters the boundary of Gu Xia City, I'm afraid we won't be able to kill him anymore! Why the need to battle underground? Once we've forced him to surface, killing him will be as easy as pie!"

He inhaled a deep breath of air and his body started to enlarge while the figure of a god emerged behind him, twin heads with six legs. When it stood upright, four of the six legs turned into arms, roaring ferociously with its heads up!

The roaring was so loud that it trembled the air and reverberated in the empty Savanna Wasteland, it was simply astonishing!

"Wu Xing Realm, Open!"

"Wan Xiang Realm, Open!"

The god Yuan Shen growled, the Wu Xing Realm and Wan Xiang Realm in his body opened and augmented himself with the mighty power of Wu Xing and Wan Xiang. The terrifyingly strong power blasted the air away as lightning began to cackle in the surrounding – Zilaaaa zilaaa!

"Augmentation of the Wu Xing Wheel and Wan Xiang Wheel [Mountain Quaking Godly Fist]!"

Meng She cast the god Yuan Shen and crouched down with one knee down and launched a punch smashing heavily onto the ground!

Krongg——

The earth fissured, cracks creeped out from the center of his fist as huge trenches of a thousand feet long and hundred over feet deep were formed!

He was indeed an Awakening expert that had opened the Wu Xing Realm and Wan Xiang Realm — he could transmit the attack to the underground while still retaining the immense power in the strike, smashing over at Zhong Yue and Earth Dragon. The immense strength in his punch even compressed the earth to a degree that was even harder than ordinary metal plates!

" [Mountain Quaking Godly Fist]!"

Meng She struck again and soon, a barrage of punches rained down onto the ground. The impact waves could be seen pulsing out in all directions while the earth swayed violently like water waves!

Peng——

Suddenly, a figure surfaced from the ground, blasting into mid-air while blood sprinkled tens of feet high away like water fountain from his mouth. Pa-ta, he slammed down onto the ground.

"What are you doing?"

It was Earth Dragon! He looked bitterly at Meng She with a pair of eyes filled with unexpressed resentment. He spurted out blood from his mouth as he spoke, "What are you doing? That brat's mortal body is stronger and more durable than mine, but his prowess in the underground is weaker than mine. I was so close to capturing him, and you've just ruined it all with your punches that broke my bones and impaired my tendons…."

Hrong——

The ground overturned, and another figure blasted out into the air. It was undoubtedly, Zhong Yue. A pair of shining golden wings flared out and carried him into the upper air in a swirling motion before bolting away into the clouds!

Meanwhile, Meng She was ramming on the ground, it was too late to manipulate the stone pillars and stop Zhong Yue with the array formation!

In mid-air, the Ying brothers held the net and their bodies swayed, transforming into two gigantic birds that fluttered behind into the clouds.

"Long Yue, are you still thinking of running away? Please, may you come into our net!"

The two brothers adroitly manipulated the big net and cast it forward. The net grew bigger and bigger, following Zhong Yue's heels as it came across a patch of cloud. It then shuddered violently and lunged forward, trapping the whole patch of cloud in it.

One of the gigantic eagles reached out with his talons and clawed onto the big net while flying away. The net continued to pass through the clouds only to come out with nothing. Zhong Yue had already flown out of the patch of cloud. The other Ying brothers were hot in pursuit, fluttering their wings and turning their feathers into innumerable sharp swords —Shua shua shua— thrusting at him!

"The Ying family is the ruler of the sky, it's not so easy to shake us off in our own domain! And to think of defeating us in flying combat skills is even more preposterous!"

Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen appeared, casting the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array and forming a phalanx of shields to block the hail of sword feathers. Meanwhile, the Ying brother from before had reclaimed the net and immediately cast it out again!

Zhong Yue had to stop, the Golden Crow wings behind him abruptly extended out and golden sword rays were blasted out to counter the attacks from Ying Bai and Ying Ji. Meanwhile, he slapped his head and the Wood Sword Qi surged out, swaying in the air and morphing into a towering tree.

The net covered down and was stopped by the tree crown, hanging on the tree and could not be recollected.

Zhong Yue reached out his hand and clenched onto the big tree, Ying Li and Ying Bai quickly tried to reclaim the net, afraid that it would be taken away by him. The three of them pulled and wrestled with their strengths as thousands of golden dark sword feathers flitted in the air, revolving around the trio, clashing into one another — it was indeed, a spectacular scene!

"Yuan Shen!"

"Yuan Shen!"

The Ying brothers fought for the net, but their strengths were inferior to Zhong Yue's. Seeing that they were on the verge of losing the net, they quickly released a shrill cry as they cast their Yuan Shen out together Two bird-headed human bodied gods emerged behind them!"

"Wu Xing Realm, Open! Wu Xing Repressions, Wu Xing Refinements!"

The two of them released a sonorous battle cry, immediately defeating Zhong Yue, causing him to abandon the towering tree formed by the Wood Sword Qi. Zhong Yue fluttered his wings and flew backward while Ying Ji and Ying Bai bolted over from below. Zhong Yue fly away even higher into the sky, passing through clouds after clouds as his altitude relentless climbed.

"Be careful, the lightning zone!"

Meng She raised his head as he closely watched the battle, he shouted, "You guys are going into the upper air lightning zone!"

Meng She immense body weight gave him an accordingly immense amount of inertia. This lent him incredible momentum on the ground and air, but at the cost of agility. This disadvantage would only be further accentuated in the air Thus, he was unable to intervene at all in the intense airborne battle between the Ying brothers and Zhong Yue.

Zhong Yue, Ying Ji and Ying Bai flew higher and higher. Gradually, the distinct cackling of electricity started to inundate their eardrums as the clouds turned heavy and gray. Soon, the Yang lightning in the upper air was triggered by their Yuan Shen, surging through the clouds like aureate dragons. The stronger the Yuan Shen, the stronger the lightning it would attract.

Of the three, Ying Ji and Ying bai were both Awakening Qi Practitioners, while Zhong Yue was not far away from the level of Awakening. It was a certainty that the lightning they would attract would be incredibly astounding.

This was the ferocious lightning zone of the upper air, the lightning even formed into a complete dragon replete with claws, scales, head and body. It loomed in the gloomy clouds – dreadful and fierce. Their hearts trembled and they withdrew their Combat Yuan Shen so as to mitigate the force of the lightning in any way possible.

But the bone-rattling battle continued, prismatic sword rays flung and slashed about in the air, each of them frighteningly sharp and incisive.

Ka-cha——

The lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled. From within the gloomy clouds, a volley of lightning bolts burst out and struck at the trio. It was horrendously quick, the three of them were fighting a second before and as the lightnings struck and the fire sparkled, the three of them became charred and plummeting back to the earth from the upper air lighting zone!

The upper air lightning zone was incredibly overpowering, the three of them each took a full-blown lightning bolt, and in only a single strike, they were all severely injured, nearly blasted to the afterlife!

Chapter 154: Your Ill-intent Brings You Death



"Ying brothers, well done!" Meng She bellowed out, he crouched and lowered his body, springing himself up into the air and clawing over at the plummeting Zhong Yue!

"Now come down and die!"

Just as his hands were about to land on his target, Zhong Yue's charred figured suddenly moved and Jiao Dragons emerged to barely help him slip past under Meng She's attack.

"[Million Miles The Dragon Soars]!"

Zhong Yue soared in the air as if he was swimming, bolting towards Gu Xia City.

"How are you not severely wounded under the lightning strike?"

Meng She missed his target, and his heart shuddered. All of a sudden, he clenched his palm into a fist and punched over, the power of the [Mountain Quaking Godly Fist] was unleashed and blasted the air, compressing them into a dense shockwave that impacted onto Zhong Yue's back!

Quickly, Zhong Yue turned around and took the blow, his body swayed violently before falling to the ground, with blood spurting out from his mouth. But as he was descending, he immediately bounced back up and dashed towards Gu Xia City.

Meng She bellowed in anger, trying to stomp onto the air and chase after Zhong Yue, but his body was too heavy, he could not stop himself from falling down from the air. And just as he plummeted down, Meng Xiang leaped into the air from the other side, his psyche curled on the stone pillars and came closer to Zhong Yue!

"Little brother Xiang, come back! You are no match for him!"

Meng She's face changed drastically, he quickly shouted, "Ying brothers, quickly catch up to that Long Yue brat!"

Meanwhile, the Ying Ji and Ying Bai brothers were as dead as coal. They fell down from the sky with their charred bodies, immobile as black fumes and blood was constantly released out of them. Clearly, they had suffered injuries a few folds more severe than Zhong Yue!

The Yuan Shen was also the atman; they were inherently Yin in nature whereas lightning was Yang in nature. Yin and Yang co-existed together and hence, the lightning would naturally be attracted to strike them.

The higher the cultivation level, the stronger the lightning one would attract, this was also the case as one flew higher in the sky. It could be said that even an overwhelming cultivator on par with magnates could not exit out of the atmosphere. This was because as the magnates' Yuan Shen were stronger, the lightnings they would attract would be immensely strong too!

Only when one ascended to the level of the gods, realigning the attribute of the Yuan Shen to pure Yang, could they avoid from getting struck by the lightning.

Ying Ji and Ying Bai were both cultivators that had their Yuan Shen opened to the Wu Xing Realm. Hence, the lightning they attracted was far stronger than Zhong Yue's. A single strike of lightning had the potential to reap their lives!

Although Zhong Yue was also getting struck by the lightning, he had tempered his body and soul with lightning during his days in Swords Gate. Although the lightning that struck him was terrifyingly strong, the injuries they inflicted upon him were not as severe as Ying Ji and Ying Bai.

And as of now, the two Ying brothers were struck into a swoon by the lightnings, they could not even defend themselves, let alone flying over to save Meng Xiang.

Meng Xiang mustered his strength and dashed over, gradually increasing his speed, leaving a thunderous boom in his wake. Sure enough, he could not hear the Meng She's shouts behind him. And it was this moment that seven strands of sword silk emerged consecutively in front of him, positioned vertically upright and looking like thin cicada's wings.

Meng Xiang's speed was ghostly and in his dash towards Zhong Yue, he was left with no time to react as he passed straight through the sword silks.

His figure maintained his incredible speed, but slowly, he was split into eight pieces. Each of the pieces continued flying forward for another mile before collapsing down onto the ground. Meanwhile, the stone pillars that were manipulated by his psyche also fell from the sky with the death of its controller.

The seven sword silks flew up inconspicuously and bolted back towards the fast running Zhong Yue before disappearing into his body.

"Little Brother Xiang!"

Meng She shouted out loud, he leaped incessantly into the air as if he was flying, trying to catch up towards Zhong Yue. His speed was faster than Meng Xiang and his prowess was stronger. Against him, Zhong Yue knew that the sword silks would not work nearly as well as they did against Meng Xiang. Hence, he put his head forward and ran with all his might, trying to step into the territorial land of the Gu Xia City before Meng Xiang up to him.

The boundary tablet between the Savanna Wasteland and Gu Xia City was getting closer, and so was the distance between Meng She and Zhong Yue. Finally, Zhong Yue rushed past the boundary tablet into the Gu Xia City territorial land. He turned around and looked back, Meng She had leaped up high into the air, smashing down like a small mountain right at him. Immediately, his countenance changed, he visualized the Golden Crow wings and bolted into the sky!

"Do you think you can just run away after killing my Little Brother Xiang?"

Meng She growled in anger, he punched out his fist and instantly, golden feathers scattered in the air. Zhong Yue muffled a deep groan as his Golden Crow wings were blasted off, and he fell down from the sky uncontrollably.

Meng She took a step forward, the air beneath was blasted away with his every stomp. He soon reached a speed in the air that was no slower than his speed on the ground.

"Come down here, [Mountain Quaking Godly Fist]!"

Meng She roared and growled, mustering his strengths and running crazily. He launched one punch after another at Zhong Yue. The winds blasted by the punches compressed the air, disrupting the air beneath Zhong Yue causing him to miss the stomps as he got battered by the punches. He was forced to stop intermittently in order to defend himself against the blows of the [Mountain Quaking Godly Fist].

"Meng She, come back!"

The Earth Dragon raised his head up and prompted loudly, "That is the territorial land of City Lord Gu Hongzi, his prowess is incredibly strong. You'll have to notify him before you enter his land to kill his lords!

"Notify my ass!"

Meng She's eyes turned crimson red and he shouted furiously, "He killed my Little Brother Xiang, I'll avenge my brother! What's with this Gu Hongzi, enraging me, I'll kill him along together with this dragon!"

"You are blinded by your hatred!" Earth Dragon stomped his feet, he wanted to enter Gu Hongzi's territorial land but he hesitated with worry.

In mid-air, Zhong Yue walked quickly, his body flickered about, but it could not stop his injuries from getting heavier. Soon, he could feel that his body was reaching its limit, and the wounds were still gradually increasing and getting heavier. The Martial Masters' flying combat skills were strong, but it placed a great strain on the body's energy. It was simply impossible to continue walking through the air as he has been doing.

Especially when Meng She's prowess was too overwhelming. The [Mountain Quaking Godly Fist] was dominant and filled with power, forcing him to delegate more than half of his attention on Meng She so that he would not be killed by his punches!

And it was improbable for him to cast the Golden Crow wings, the [Mountain Quaking Godly Fist] was too overbearing that it could shatter the wings into pieces with just one strike!

The disparity between him and Meng She was too great. Zhong Yue could still put up a fight against the Wu Xing Wheel experts, he could even contend against a strange and peculiar monster like Qing He. However, against a Wan Xiang Wheel expert like Meng She, Zhong Yue was definitely not a match!

It was impossible to fly in the air, nor was it feasible to travel underground. Meng She's power was so overpowering that when the [Mountain Quaking Godly Fist] slammed on the ground, the impact transferred to the ground would be like a mountain that smashed on his body – it was simply unbearable.

Running on the ground would not work either, his body was mountainous, he could leap on the ground as if he was flying, a single leap would be equal to Zhong Yue's tens of steps. Surely, outrunning him on the ground would be impossible!

Hence for now, Zhong Yue could only drag the time while he rushed towards Gu Xia City with all his might. or otherwise, the raged mongoose would kill him here!

From the start of my cultivation until now, I've been through so many things, how could I possibly die in the hands of a mongoose beast?

Zhong Yue bellowed in anger, the Yuan Shen on his back emerged out and all of a sudden, the Ming King divine eye opened, bright golden lights irradiated from the sun pupil while the Pure Yang Qi turned into a fine light ray slashing down!

The light ray was incredibly strong, Zhong Yue once used the Ming King Divine Eye to kill an Awakening Qi Practitioner that had opened the Wu Xing Wheel, exterminating his foe as if he was chopping vegetables.

The golden light ray slashed down, Meng She bellowed while his Wan Xiang Wheel emerged on his back, spinning rapidly and heavily to block the blow — Zheng! — a light metallic clanking sound could be heard as the two clashes together, and a crack soon appeared on the Wan Xiang Wheel.

Meng She was shocked, and all of a sudden, another light ray blasted over, Once again hitting the Wan Xiang Wheel and causing it to tremble. The crack was made deeper and spread further, almost snapping the Wan Xiang Wheel completely!

Such a strong divine eye, it is indeed the [Monster God Ming King Art]. Sadly, your cultivation is too weak, you can't break off my Wan Xiang Wheel!

Just as he thought this , Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen's third eye — divine eye, opened again and blasted another light ray over at him!

Zheng——

The Wan XIang Wheel shuddered vigorously, and was broken in half!

Meng She was greatly shocked. His blood essence was instantly disrupted as the Wan Xiang Wheel was broken. The Yuan Shen realm closed and shuddered his blood essence, causing him to spout out a mouthful of fresh blood. His once strong and overbearing prowess immediately declined, weakening to the level of Wu Xing Wheel Awakening!

Whether it was the Wan Xiang Wheel or Wu Xing Wheel, they were all attained by opening the wheel-shaped realms in the Yuan Shen astral body. When the Wan Xiang Wheel was cast, it meant that the Wan Xiang Realm was opened, bequeathing the mighty power of nature onto the user!

And now, his Wan Xiang Wheel was slashed in half, causing the Wan Xiang Realm in his Yuan Shen astral body to close, robbing him that profound power; leaving him with only the Wu Xing Realm!

His divine third eye is stronger than any others before this, it was even able to impair my cultivation by a small cultivation level!

Meng She's heart shuddered as his mortal body's strength declined rapidly. He thought, Before this battle, he had never cast these three divine eyes before, it can only mean that these three kinds of divine eyes consume a great amount of energy. But now that his life is at stake, he was left with no other option for survival!

Just as he was thinking about this, Zhong Yue staggered in the air, falling down from the sky before bolting away on the ground with all his might on the ground!

Meng She quickly caught up to him, although his cultivation base was impaired by a minor realm, he was still an Awakening Qi Practitioner that had opened the Wu Xing Wheel. On the other hand, Zhong Yue was now exhausted and debilitate, how could he possibly still put up a fight against Meng She?

"Die, you fool!"

Meng She's speed was immense, closing in on Zhong Yue with haste. The two of them soon became locked in combat and their rapid movements were imperceptible to the naked eye. Very soon, Zhong Yue was sent flying by a punch, muffling a deep groan in pain with blood oozing from his mouth.

Meng She guffawed loud, he leaped up and followed right behind Zhong Yue. Just as he was about to slay his brother's murderer with his mighty fist, a surge of overbearing aura billowed through the air. Abruptly, Meng She's vision blurred and a young man appeared a step behind Zhong Yue. His stature was slim and slender, with a youthful and elegant look. And yet, the aura he carried was wild and overpowering. Raising his hand, he held onto Zhong Yue, and with a wave of his sleeves, Zhong Yue was pulled to his back.

"Gu Hongzi!"

Meng She quickly stood down and his eyes became suffused with vigilance. He bowed in greeting, "Meng She of the Meng family, greets City Lord Gu Hongzi!"

Gu Hongzi raised his brows, En, giving an indistinct sound in response. Meng She then mustered his courage and said, "Please, I plead City Lord Gu Hongzi to hand over Long Yue. Long Yue is a reprehensible criminal that had committed a monstrous sin. He killed my brother and killed over hundreds of innocent monsters in the saint city…."

"Saint city lord's closed door disciple, you want to kill him? Your ill-intentions brings you nothing, but only death."

Gu Hongzi lifted a finger up and instantly, a blood hole appeared on Meng She's forehead. His eyes became filled in disbelief. Gu Hongzi was too quick, he wasn't even able to react in time before his untimely demise!

"Furthermore, the saint city lord's closed door disciple is also one of the lords under my jurisdiction. Killing my lord under my watch, you are being too presumptuous. Do you agree with me, Senior Martial Brother Lang?"

After Gu Hongzi killed Meng She with the lift of finger, he then raised his head and gazed into the air. A laughter suddenly emanated out from mid-air, and the voice grew increasing distant, "True, true. Meng She has committed a riot. How dare he hunt for Junior Martial Brother Long, he deserves death. Thankfully Senior Martial Brother Gu Hongzi is here, or otherwise, there would've been a great misfortune…."

Lang Qinyun's speed was immense, leaving behind only his voice.

"Little brat."

Gu Hongzi recollected his sights and cast his gaze over at Zhong Yue, showing a seemingly smiling expression on his elegant countenance, "It's not so easy being a spy in the monster race, isn't it … Junior Martial Brother Zhong?"

"You, you…." Zhong Yue was stunned speechless as he stared at him dumbfoundedly.

Chapter 155: A Fight They Cannot Afford to Lose



Zhong Yue had the shock of his life and his mind went blank as if millions of galloping horses trampled over him and he couldn't bring himself to believe it! The whole situation was just far too surreal!

He knew that there was a human spy among the monsters and it was this spy that wiped out all the traces left behind by Zhong Yue when he was saving Jun Sixie, which made Lang Qingyun unable to prove that he was the one that saved Jun Sixie!

But now, just imagine the shock given to him by Gu Hongzi when he suddenly addressed Zhong Yue as 'Junior Martial Brother Zhong!

Is he really the spy placed in the monster race by the Swords Gate? There's a possibility of this since none of the four aces of Swords Gate had died during the ambush and only senior martial Sister Jun Sixie had almost lost her life. There was also not a single strong monster Qi Practitioners that pursued me and Senior Martial Sister Jun, which means that someone had distracted the experts in the monsters in order to let us escape. As such, the Gu Xia City Lord, Gu Hongzi could very well be the spy!

Zhong Yue recollected back his thoughts and he said with a blurred laugh, "What are you trying to say, city lord? I don't understand."

Gu Hongzi walked towards the direction of Gu Xia City and he said, "You worry that I am trying to expose you? Rest assured as there's no need of this. I could kill you like an insect if I wanted to so what is the point of trying to expose you? I could kill you straight anyway. Junior Martial Brother Zhong, stay at Gu Xia City and treat your wounds. After that, we shall talk again."

Zhong Yue was skeptical but he still followed behind Gu Hongzi as he grabbed the pile of spirit herbs and tossed them into his mouth.

Heavy injuries were inflicted to him, but after cultivating the [Sun Moon Prodigious Emanation Art], he managed to suppress his injuries and after walking for one day, he had recovered to a certain level by the time they arrived at somewhere near the city. However, there were still some of the more stubborn injuries that were not able to be treated easily. So continuous cultivation of [Sun Moon Prodigious Emanation Art] was required for his complete recovery.

Zhong Yue then returned to the Falcon Ridge and he secluded himself to treat his injuries.

Is Gu Hongzi really the spy placed in the monsters by the Swords Gate or is he trying to draw me out? If he really is a spy, then how did he manage to secure his foothold among the monsters? I managed to get into the monsters with the identity of a dragon and that was also after being covered by Ao Fenglou to prove that I am half-monster half-dragon. So how was Gu Zhongzi able to reach such a position without getting suspected at all?

The Gu Xia City is a very important strategic location for the monsters as this was the fortress that led into the Great Wilderness. It was also one of the six cities in the Eastern Barren; to become the city lord of this city fortress ... his identity and cover must've been impeccable!

Before he became the city lord of Gu Xia City, Gu Hongzi must have been investigated by the monsters and they must have found nothing wrong with his bloodline. This was also why Zhong Yue did not immediately admit that he was a human.

Besides, Gu Hongzi is one of the most talented young aces among the monsters and maybe only the likes of Lang Qingyun could compete with him. Could someone with such a bright future and who is a city lord at the same time possibly be a spy for the humans? But since he asked me to treat my wounds first and that he will have a talk with me after a few days, I can only wait for the next few days.

He quietly treated himself and managed a full recovery after five days. Zhong Yue then checked on the condition of his body and found out that his cultivation base had increased dramatically along with his body physique, soul, and psyche. They became much stronger after the few ten thousand miles of pursuit!

The few ten thousand miles of pursuit was like a grindstone honing every aspect of his being. Each time he fought to the death, his opponents would be akin to hammers tempering hot iron, helping him refine his abilities: his soul, psyche and body physique.

Every time he unleashed his full power and fought with his life on the line, he would erupt with all his hidden strength, allowing him to deepen his understanding on the level of Rebirth and thereby solidifying his base!

In the few days where he treated his wounds, he also did not stop cultivating himself and now, his Yuan Shen again. There was now only a little gap before his Yuan Shen would reach the extreme limit of twenty feet!

And also thanks to the few ten thousand miles of pursuit, his speed of absorbing the essence of the beast god became faster, translating to an additional increase in his power base!

All these augmentations to his cultivation were obtained through firm and solid mean, not through shortcuts like the jade liquid or other precious items as he had previously used!

It would not be long until I reach the level of Awakening! I will return to the Swords Gate and prepare to advance into the Awakening level after I'm done with the matters with the monsters!

Zhong Yue got up and he headed towards the Gu Xia City and requested to meet up with Gu Hongzi.

"So I see that you have recovered completely?"

Gu Hongzi measured Zhong Yue and praised, "Such a strong body, no wonder you could escape from the mad pursuit of various monster factions and reach Gu Xia City with such perseverance! I have received accurate information that the death of a total of fifty-eight Awakening level Qi Practitioners was because of you on your way here! Among them, there was even someone like the Jade Dragon Keep Lord!

Zhong Yue's expression changed a little bit and he shook his head, "I did not kill all of them, only four of them died by my hand. Most of them died because of their own squabbles, resulting in some of them being eaten by that old monster, Ha Minger. Most of them were killed by the Saint City Lord Shi Buyi, including the Jade Dragon Keep Lord."

Gu Hongzi laughed and said, "Shi Buyi will not bear this sin and neither will the blind Ha Minger. This will leave you as the only scapegoat for everything that transpired back there. The death of these Qi Practitioners will be pinned onto you and even the blame for the death of the Jade Dragon Keep Lord will be directed towards the dragon faction behind you! This is both a bad and a good thing. From now on, your name will spread all over the world and you will become known by everyone as a ruthless and brutal man!"

"Ruthless and brutal…," Zhong Yue said in a very low voice as his face darkened.

Gu Hongzi then said again, "When I first heard that a young dragon entered the Gu Xia City, I suspected whether or not this young dragon was a Swords Gate's Qi Practitioner in disguise. But I confirmed my answer after I saw you saving Jun Sixie. When I saw you casting the [Great Boundless Sword Qi] from afar, it was that point that I was absolutely certain. I then went to ask the old man and he said that the young dragon must be you. I was also asked to take care of you as well."

Old man?

Zhong Yue was stunned but he remained expressionless as he said, "I have no idea what the city lord is saying, could you please elaborate further?"

Gu Hongzi laughed and a Sword Qi flew out from his finger. Zhong Yue looked closely and he saw that the internal structure of this Sword Qi precisely the same as that of the [Great Boundless Sword Qi]. The worry he carried in his heart was greatly eased by this point.

"I am the disciple of the old man, but his intentions for taking me in weren't completely pure. He wanted me to infiltrate the monsters to become a higher up among them."

Gu Hongzi then shook his head and he said, "I am a half-monster, the blood flowing inside me belongs to the blood of a human and a monster. My mother is a human but I have no idea who my father."

This kind of situation was very common all over the monster land. The humans were treated like slaves and with that, half-breed monsters were very common in the monsters land. However, because the half-monster is the child of human and monster, they occupied one of the lower echelons of monster society, only slightly better than humans.

Zhong Yue saw innumerable strong Qi Practitioners in the new generations of the monster but he had yet to see any strong half-monster. This was all because of the lowly position of the half-monsters in the eyes of the pure-blood monsters that left them bereft of any resources for their cultivation. Consequently, there would be a pitifully small number of Qi Practitioners among the half-monsters.

"Then, my mother was eaten by the monsters and I got away because I was a half-monster. The monsters viewed me as neither monster nor human and I met the old man during my toughest time. He asked me if I wanted to do something for the humans and I said that I wanted to."

"With that, he took me in as his disciple and he would come here to teach me for a month or two every year. He taught me how to cultivate and how to hide the human blood in me and how to look like a pure-blood monster."

"I do not have a father and after encountering him and what he did for me, I felt like I truly had a father for once…."

Gu Hongzi laughed happily and tears could be seen in his eyes as he recalled the wonderful times back then. After a moment, he recollected back his thoughts and he said, "Then, I became stronger and my cultivation base became higher. Finally, I became a strong Qi Practitioner among the monsters and the city lord of this city, the city that leads to the Great Wilderness. Old man said that this city is the door to the Great Wilderness and the East Barren and I have been guarding this place ever since I became the city lord. Old man also said that he might not need me in his life anymore. However, he mentioned that the next Swords Gate's headmaster might have use of my position in the future."

Zhong Yue's face changed rapidly and he replied in fear, "I never thought that Gu Hong City Lord had such a tragic life! I am a dragon and a monster, which makes me a half-dragon half-monster. It seems like we have something in common ... Is the city lord planning to shut my mouth forever by killing me after telling me so much?"

"You still don't believe me. You really have grown a lot as compared to the old you."

Gu Hongzi praised and looked at him as he said, "When you first came to the city, you were like an unripe apple. You left behind too many trails and I felt a little dumbfounded by the old man for sending some unreliable guy like you, as someone like that should just roll over and die. But when you came to the city for the second time, I saw a growing young man, developing and honing his capabilities at a pace that shocked even me. Hence, I destroyed the traces you left behind and I sent you to participate in the disciple selection battle. In the end, you grew even more and even became the final disciple of Shi Buyi. Not only that, you survived and returned to the city and used my strength to fend off your enemies. Such boldness is greatly astonishing!"

He then took out a sword token and hurled it towards Zhong Yue as he said, "This is the sword token that was returned to the old man by the girl that goes by the surname of Qiu. Old man then asked me to hand it over to you and he said that you would understand everything upon seeing this token."

Zhong Yue took over the sword token and he confirmed that this was indeed Qiu Jiner's sword token after measuring it carefully. As such, he slowly began to believe Gu Hongzi's words.

"Then why did you not do something for the humans that are struggling in your territory?" Zhong Yue asked.

"I could not do anything for them as that would attract the suspicion of others. Sometimes, something will have to be sacrificed for a greater good."

After a moment of silence, Gu Hongzi stood up and said, "If I want to stand my ground among the monsters, then I will have to act like one. I would only draw unnecessary attention if I were to show any modicum of pity towards the humans. In our quest for humanity's future, there will always be sacrifices. Whether it be me, you, the old man or those humans. All of us must be prepared to die at any time for this goal…."

"Old man is dying soon and the chaos will spread all over the Great Wilderness. Now, the crucible for the fate of humanity has come. With the imminent chaos, I would not be able to sit here to do nothing. I will definitely participate in the battle. I've never had a father until this foolish old man took me in and treated me like a son. So I, too, view him as my father. He wanted me to stay here to guard the door to the Great Wilderness for the new headmaster of Swords Gate, but how could a son just let his father die in the battlefield alone?"

Gu Hongzi tapped Zhong Yue's shoulder and he said with a smile, "Thank god there's you now. You will replace me and become the next lord of the Gu Xia City. You will provide the haven for the humans here and be the vanguard that leads them out of this devastating land of monsters!"

Then, Gu Hongzi continued saying, "The old man is preparing for an inevitable battle that he cannot afford to lose. If he wins, peace will blossom all over the Great Wilderness and if the Swords Gate loses, the Great Wilderness will be destroyed and the only place for the humans left will be Gu Xia City."

Chapter 156: A New Problem Arises



"What is the old man thinking?" asked Zhong Yue after he recollected his thoughts.

Right now, the humans were stuck in a really terrible situation. The Great Wilderness was the last haven of survival for the humans and the Swords Gate that protected the Great Wilderness faced imminent destruction. They were akin to a candle fire weathering the storm that threatened to extinguish it at any time.

The humans were now faced with a situation where there was no one to bridge the gap between the stronger Qi Practitioners and the weaker Qi Practitioners. The five elemental innate spirit bodies: Feng, Fang, Lei, Jun, and Qiu all had yet to reach a level where they hold the bastion of humanity up, and coupled with the fact that and the headmaster was getting older each day, the situation that humanity found itself in was bleak. On top of that, there were also spies from the celestial race, human traitors and Tian Myriad Mother in the Swords Gate. With the currently unstable Devil Soul Forbidden Land, the Swords Gate was in deep water now!

And as the headmaster of the Swords Gate, how would the old man manage to pull fend off all these overt and hidden threats?

"You will know it by then. You are too weak now and knowing too much is not good for you."

Gu Hongzi laughed and said, "I met up with you just to tell you that if the worst case scenario were to happen in the future, you would have some time left to get ready. Right now, you have to give in all you got for the worst scenario. It would be good if this does not happen, but if it did, then Gu Xia City will be the last foothold for all humanity!"

Zhong Yue remained silent and he nodded his head firmly.

The five elemental innate spirit bodies of the Swords Gate appeared too late and the other Qi Practitioners would not be of much use if they could not reach a stronger level; they would be elder level figures at most.

This was the other tragedy of Swords Gate. There were no geniuses that were born into the world during the old man's prime, thus, he was not able to cultivate the new generation. It was only when he had entered the twilight of his life that the five elemental innate spirit bodies made their appearance. Unfortunately, it was already too late by then and the old man was bereft of the opportunity to see them grow into their potential.

Gu Hongzi then murmured, "The old man has already given his best, trying all he could to live another day just so he could see the five elemental innate spirit bodies grow into the pillars for humanity. But he cannot hold on any longer…."

Zhong Yue remained silent as he did not know what to say.

"You are now the disciple of Shi Buyi and you have quite some among the monsters. I will assign more territory to you and if I do not die in the future, I will compete for the position of the Saint City Lord. Then, you and I will control the power of the monsters and the door to the monsters!"

After that, Zhong Yue returned to the Falcon Ridge and not long later, the area within three miles radius of the Falcon Ridge was conferred over to Zhong Yue by Gu Hongzi. Zhong Yue then immediately proceeded to summon all the Qi Practitioners around his territory to build altars and various building structures. He then ordered them to erect totem pillars everywhere and he carved the Xiang dragon's totem carvings onto the pillars, allowing the humans in his territory to worship.

I've promised Ao Fenglou that forty percent of my territory will be given to the dragons. Since I made a promise, I will honor it.

Zhong Yue thought, Gu Xia City is the only city that stands between the Swords Gate and the monsters. If the old man really died, chaos will engulf the entire Swords Gate and the monsters would need to pass in order to enter the Great Wilderness. By letting the dragons into my territory, they can become another tool to fend off the monsters!

Without hesitation, he quickly separated his territory into many parts and he had the four girls, Chun'er, Xia'er, Qiu'er and Dong'er each take over a part of the territory, handing over the remaining forty percent to the dragon race.

The four girls had improved rapidly in this period of time. After all, they were quite talented themselves and their starting point was also higher than the others. After a period of cultivation, they managed to absorb all the power of the spirit herbs and because of the visualization art of the moon spirit given to them by Zhong Yue, their souls became very strong. In no time, they were able to sense the spirit and ascend to Qi Practitioners.

Zhong Yue became a Qi Practitioner in half a year time after he encountered Xin Huo but these four girls were not any slower than him.

He then thought, Should I let them manifest the spirit of a monster or human?

In truth, be it human or monster, their spirit would take the form of Gods like the God of Nature and the other type of Gods. There was countless totem carvings spirit among the humans and monsters that were provided to their people to cultivate.

But it would be impossible for the four girls to enter the sun or moon to sense the spirit as the paths were destroyed.

En, after I initiated the totem pillar given by Ao Fenglou, and after he arrives here with his kin, I will ask him to do me a favor by taking the girls to the dragons to sense the spirits!

He then triggered the totem pillar of the dragons and he handed it over to the girls. Zhong Yue also told them to hand over the remaining territory to the dragons if any guests from the dragon race were to arrive.

It would take them a couple of months for the dragons' messenger to arrive. I think it's better for me to return to Swords Gate and get ready to advance into the Awakening level!

After having dealt with the matters on his hands, Zhong Yue immediately triggered the plum tree that had been nourished by his soul for a long time and he activated the [Can Carrier Art] and had himself replaced by the plum tree. With that, even after someone used the soul lantern to locate Zhong Yue, the person would only be able to locate the location of the plum tree instead of Zhong Yue.

I wonder what is happening in Swords Gate after having left the place for such a long time. I'm sure there would've been a ruckus in the Swords Gate after I killed Xiao Chuqing.

A few moments after Zhong Yue left, Gu Hongzi received news that Zhong Yue had already left after Gu Hongzi asked someone to fetch him to the city hall. He frowned and thought, This brat is just one who couldn't sit still. He left again after returning for a few days. Could it be that he returned to the Swords Gate? I forgot to tell him that there has been a long argument between the Swords Gate and the Xiao Mang Celestial Race because of the death of Xiao Chuqing. But there shouldn't be a problem since he is not related to the case….

After five to six days, Zhong Yue finally returned to the Swords Gate located in the Great Wilderness. For a prolonged period of time, he had been trapped in a chain of adversity and blood, his days were filled with fighting and killing, leaving him little time for rest. As such, his return to the Swords Gate was a very welcome change of pace, allowing him a reprieve from the life he led only a few moments ago. He thought, This is my home after all. Home is where one feels the safest!

He held the Swords Gate dearly and nothing could ever usurp its position in his heart. He may have established his own power in the Gu Xia City and had become the final disciple of Shi Buyi, but ultimately, the Swords Gate was his home.

Huh? Why is the Swords Gate's atmosphere so tense?

As soon as he arrived at the mountain of the Swords Gate, he looked at the sword-shaped mountain and felt that the atmosphere of the Swords Gate now was different to when he left. Prior to his departure, the atmosphere of Swords Gate was much calmer and harmonious but now, there was a palpable tension and frigidity he could feel hidden in the atmosphere of the Swords Gate.

An average person may not be able to sense the atmosphere, but Qi Practitioners are very sensitive to such things, able to perceive things others may not.

It is not the mountain of Swords Gate that is emitting this dense aura, but the Qi Practitioners in the mountain. What happened after I left?

As Zhong Yue got to the cliff in front of the inner hall, a huge white crane flew close and Zhong Yue mounted it. On top of the back of the crane, Zhong Yue asked curiously, "Tao He'er, what happened recently in the Swords Gate?"

"Young Mr Zhong must have left the Swords Gate for some adventure, right?"

The white crane said, "Something did happen recently. The moon spirit innate body girl, Xiao Chuqing was killed outside of the Wilderness in a few couples of months ago. As news got to the ears of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, they all snapped and rushed here demanding for an explanation. Those weird looking guys forced me to carry them up the mountain and not only that, they were all so dense and their faces were so black….

Zhong Yue coughed and said, "Tao He'er, just telling me the main points will do."

"The celestial race came and said that Xiao Chuqing died not long after entering the Swords Gate and the Swords Gate must give them a valid explanation or they would have to relinquish part of their land and people over to the celestial race.

The rather loquacious Tao He'er then continued, "But of course, Elder Yu definitely did not agree to their terms and he said that Xiao Chuqing broke the rules, leaving for the Wilderness by herself. With that, she had left the protection of the humans of her own volition, leaving the Swords Gate no longer responsible for her safety. The celestial race then got enraged and they all fought. In the end, the messengers from the celestial race did not manage to win the fight, then the high priest of the celestial race came forward with the other priests. They were so heavy and they had me carrying them up the mountain to fight with Elder Yu and the others…."

Zhong Yue's heart squeezed as he heard that even the elder high priest of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race had made an appearance as well!

The elder high priest is the leader of the celestial race temples, a figure on the same level as the Swords Gate's headmaster!

Seems like the death of Xiao Chuqing really did cause a ruckus!

Then, Zhong Yue started to become worried as he was the one who had caused all of this by killing Xiao Chuqing. Now, he feared the repercussions that his rather reckless actions had brought about on the Swords Gate.

"Then?" asked again by Zhong Yue after he recollected his thoughts.

"Then Elder Shui Zian left the Swords Gate and went to the West Barren. He then brought back a few elder high priest from the other celestial races to play the peacemaker. Elder Shui is such a great man! He brought back a few tall, huge and weird looking elder high priest. Some of them had one eye or countless of eyes and the Xiao Mang Celestial Race elder high priest dared not have any other moves. Finally, they decided to fight one by one."

Zhong Yue was shocked and he shouted, "Qi Practitioners of the level with headmaster actually listened to Elder Yu?"

"Elder Yu said that Elder Shui has lots of contacts and he is on good terms with many people. Seems like he was right that, but the celestial race have such heavy bodies that I was almost unable to even lift off the ground.

Tao He'er then continued saying, "If the Swords Gate lost, then we will have to give part of our land and population to the celestial race."

"Then?" Zhong Yue asked harriedly.

"Then they fought of course," replied Tao He'er.

Zhong Yue blinked his eyes and he urged, "You have yet say the ending of it!"

"If they have yet to finish their battles, how could there be an ending?"

Tao He'er laughed and said, "The helpers brought back by Elder Shui Zian said that the elders should not fight together and they should solve the problem by letting their disciples compete with each other. Each party will send out the strongest Qi Practitioner of every level to compete and if the Swords Gate lost, then we will have to give our land and population to the celestial race and if we won, the Xiao Mang Celestial Race will have to go home. After all, Xiao Chuqing was not a pureblood so there is no need for too much hassle. With that, the inner hall disciples all got ready and challenged each other for the qualification to participate in the battle with the Xiao Mang Celestial Race. If I wasn't still on duty, I would've gone to have a look."

Zhong Yue then felt relieved and he took out a few spirit herbs which he delivered to the crane. He then said, "He'er, you requested me to help you in raising your level and I had not forgotten it. These are a few spirit herbs that I got from the outside and I am giving them to you now."

Immense joy and happiness struck Tao He'er as she felt the potent power emanating out from the spirit herbs. She could instantly tell that these would provide a great boost to her cultivation base. Tao He'er then expressed her gratitude to Zhong Yue and picked up the spirit herbs before flying back into the clouds.

How could Tao He'er not be happy? The spirit herbs given to her by Zhong Yue were all precious ones whose rarity simply made them beyond the reach of most. These spirit herbs were all given to Zhong Yue by the various monster factions during the ceremony and Zhong Yue managed to stay alive thanks to these herbs. Those herbs that Zhong Yue gave Tao He'er had a lifespan of a few hundred years and they were rare resources even in the Swords Gate.

She had been stationed here for quite some time and that was the first time an inner hall disciple gifted her spirit herbs, not to mention that they were incredibly rare spirit herbs!

Chapter 157: Immense Killing Intent



The competitors in the inner hall must be competing for the title of the strongest Spirit Nurturing Qi Practitioner, Rebirth level Qi Practitioner and the Awakening level Qi Practitioner. Whereas among the hall masters, they will be competing for the title of the strongest Atman Body Qi Practitioner and the Inner Core Qi Practitioner. The title of the strongest Heavenly Dharma Qi Practitioner will be competed for by the four aces of Swords Gate then.

As Zhong Yue returned to the inner hall, he could feel that the atmosphere of the inner hall was even better than before. All the disciples were motivated, they diligently cultivated and challenged those in the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board almost every day!

In such a short period of time, immense changes could be seen in the inner hall disciples as their cultivation base increased rapidly and it all the difference between themselves now and before was night and day.

The pressure from the Xiao Mang Celestial Race is driving them forward to become stronger.

On the way back to his own cave dwelling, Zhong Yue stopped and observed a few competitions between the disciples and he thought, But this is not enough. They may be more motivated and their strength has increased but they have yet to experience the naked cruelty of the world. Their battle intent is apparent, but their killing intent is severely lacking!

As he now stood on a higher peak as compared to the inner hall disciples, he could able to glean such things as easily as observing his own palms.

This imminent battle with the Xiao Mang Celestial Race would be a rare opportunity for the Qi Practitioners from the Swords Gate to have a taste of outer world.

The inner hall disciples may be too unprepared to fight with the celestial race but they really need an encounter that could change their lives greatly.

Zhong Yue thought this, but without realizing that he was the same age as the inner hall disciples.

Not long later, he arrived at his own cave dwelling. After a long absence, the lack of proper care is evident by how the beautiful flowers were now overshadowed by weeds.

Zhong Yue picked up the hoe and attended the garden. He first removed the wild grass and he fertilized the flowers. Then, he came to the waterfall and cleaned the area. He spent quite some time attending the hygiene of his cave dwelling and before he could finish what he was doing, he heard a few familiar voices calling him from the outside.

He then went to get the door with the hoe in his hand. Upon opening the door, he laughed and said, "Oh, so it is the few of you. Junior martial sisters, please come on in."

Ting Lanyue, Yu Feiyan, Tao Yanran and Li Xiuniang looked at him curiously and Ting Lanyue laughed as she said, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong, I heard from a few junior martial brothers that you have returned. Why did you shut yourself in your place after returning instead of challenging the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board. And why are you still dressed like that?"

With him now being Rebirth level Qi Practitioner, and the girls still being at Spirit Nurturing, they would have to address him as Senior Martial Brother Zhong.

Zhong Yue welcomed them into his place and he said, "This place got messed up after in my long absence. So, as you can see, I am cleaning this place up."

The girls walked into the cave dwelling and Li Xiuniang could not hold herself back and asked, "Senior martial brother Zhong has no intention of challenging the disciples on the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board at all?"

Zhong Yue shook his head and said, "Not really."

Yu Feiyan smirked and said, "I'm not buying it. Even we sisters went to challenge them and we have had more than a few ten battles in these few months. I don't believe that you are not interested at all!"

Ting Lanyue then said proudly, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong, with the rapid improvement in our strengths and your long absence, I think that you will not even be able to beat us anymore! How about a little friendly match? I will definitely make you cry!"

Zhong Yue had already realized that the girls' strengths had increased a lot and felt genuine happiness for them but he still said, "Please behave."

Ting Lanyue immediately sulked and Li Xiuniang said, "Are you sure you don't want to? I have been looking for a chance to fight you ever since losing to you last time! If you won, I will help you clean up your place! Fei Yan, do you want to have a match with Senior Martial Brother Zhong as well?"

Yu Feiyan nodded and said, "I'm a little worried that Senior martial Brother Zhong has gotten lazy in this period of time. Fine, why don't we have a look at Senior Martial Brother Zhong's improvement. Yanran, what do you propose?"

Tao Yanran laughed and said, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong is a Rebirth level Qi Practitioner and we are all Spirit Nurturing Qi Practitioners. I think that it's better if we fight him together. If Senior Martial Brother Zhong loses, you will have to clean our cave dwellings as well!"

Ting Lanyue got excited immediately and she said, "Then it is decided! You will become our junior martial brother again in no time!"

Without any options left, Zhong Yue said speechlessly, "Alright. Fine. Dear junior martial sisters, let's go!"

After a moment, the four girls could be seen cleaning his place obediently; removing the grass, watering the flowers and sweeping the dust.

"I lost before I could even deliver an attack. Senior Martial Brother Zhong is such a bully!" voiced the indignant Ting Lanyue.

"I was extremely frightened and I cried."

Tao Yanran said in embarrassment, "He was emitting a ferocious aura just now that I thought he wanted to eat me alive…."

Yu Feiyan and Li Xiuniang faces' were still a little bit pale. Before they could deliver their attacks, Zhong Yue's aura immediately billowed over them and their mind immediately went blank. They instantly conceded defeated and now, they were cleaning Zhong Yue's place, just as they promised.

"Is Junior Martial Brother Zhong in?"

Suddenly, a voice could be heard shouting loudly outside, "Stop hiding inside, I know you are back!"

Zhong Yue was carving something onto a rock and he put the rock down and immediately opened the door as he heard the voice. Then, Tan Zhen could be seen rushing into his place and he said with a laugh, "You really are back! Good, good! You have no idea what happened since you were gone for so long. My strength has improved drastically and I am sure I could take on two of you at the same time ... Huh? So many junior martial sisters at your place and they are helping you in your housework? Junior martial Brother Zhong is indeed incredible!"

As soon as Tan Zhen saw the busy Ting Lanyue, Yu Feiyan and other girls, he gave Zhong Yue a thumbs up and praised, "Although junior martial brother is not as handsome as me, I will admit that you are still no lesser than me. I have five fiances and you have four!"

Li Xiuniang and the other girls blushed and they all shouted, "Stop talking rubbish, Senior Martial Brother Tan Zhen. You better be careful or you might bite yourself!"

Tan Zhen remained unflinching he said with another laugh, "None of my five fiances want to see me. Each time they see me, they will definitely want to kill me. Unlike my Junior Martial Brother Zhong, all your girls seem very docile with you. With so many girls that listen to you obediently, it's no wonder that you haven't been showing up these past few days."

"I like this kid's shamelessness!" praised Xin Huo in Zhong Yue's psyche ocean.

Tan Zhen sat down and said, "Elder Feng is preparing to split the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board into three lists. Spirit Nurturing, Rebirth and Awakening level will have one each. I am now the sixth disciple on the Rebirth level list and I am getting ready to challenge the number five disciple. Junior Martial Brother Zhong, our last fight ended with a draw. How about we fight again? I am sure you would want to know where you stand as well right?"

Zhong Yue shook his head and said, "The Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board is meaningless to me now. Who is the first and second on the Rebirth level list?"

"The first is the Yu Zhengshu from the Yu Clan and the second is Qiu Jin'er from Qiu Tan Clan. The third is Shui Qingyan from Shui Tu Clan and the fourth and fifth place are disciples from from the big clans."

Tan Zhen then continued to say dejectedly, "I can't believe there are two girls occupying the top three places. Yu Zhengshu entered the inner hall earlier than the other two girls and especially for Shui Qingyan from the Shui Tu Clan. She entered the inner hall less than a year ago and received third place … Don't worry, I will challenge and defeat them one by one and represent the Swords Gate to battle the Xiao Mang Celestial Race! Junior Martial Brother Zhong, come, we shall have a battle and let me see your improvement in this period of time!"

Zhong Yue rejected and he said, "Senior Martial Brother Tan, there's no need for us to do this/"

Tan Zhen could not resist the temptation and he insisted to fight with Zhong Yue. However, shouts calling for Zhong Yue could suddenly be heard again. A confused Zhong Yue walked towards the door to see ten plus Qi Practitioners standing in front his place. Those Qi Practitioners were those that he had once beaten up.

"Anything that you want from me?" Zhong Yue greeted them and asked

"Zhong Shan Clan's member, I am extremely dissatisfied that I lost to you back then. But now, I've improved and I want to challenge you again!"

"Come on, young man!"

"Fight us fair and square!"

...

Tan Zhen looked at them angrily and shouted, "Junior Martial Brother Zhong was as equally strong as me long ago and I am already the sixth place in the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board. Are you saying that you can best me then? Get lost, garbage!"

Zhong Yue stopped Tan Zhen with a raise of his hand and he said, "You don't have to waste your breath, Senior Martial Brother Tan. The inner hall disciples of Swords Gate have lacked such motivation for a very long time and I am happy that they wish to challenge me. Why should I turn them down if they are seeking for more advice from me?"

Tan Zhen blinked his eyes and said, "You are going to fight them?"

Zhong Yue shook his head and said, "I can't resist them, dear senior martial sisters and senior martial brothers, please!"

Then, Zhong Yue unleashed his aura, a dense killing intent permeated a surrounding radius of ten miles and everything around him became deathly quiet. Everyone's minds in the radius of his aura went blank and they saw blood start gushing out from the ground, flooding the area around them. In but a split second, a blood ocean had formed around them and they saw corpses floating all over it!

Then, the shrill sounds of shrieks coming out of the floating corpses could be heard beside their ears, gradually growing louder in a rising crescendo before culminating into a deafening cacophony that threatened to render them insane!

This was an abnormal phenomenon created by Zhong Yue and it stressed their souls greatly, sinking them ever deeper into the abyss of Zhong Yue's immense killing intent.

Then, Zhong Yue retracted his aura and the killing intent dispersed like the passing wind. The next thing he saw was the scene of the ten plus Qi Practitioners all sitting absently on the ground, faces pale and pupils dilated. Some of them shouted and ran away while some of them directly collapsed onto the ground, crying and trembling in fear after their terrifying ordeal.

Meanwhile, somewhere far away, the eight hall masters became shocked by the killing intent and they flew up into the air and looked towards Zhong Yue's direction. The Sword Qi hall master murmured, "Such incredible killing intent, did a demon intrude on the Swords Gate?"

After all, they had never experienced any battle involved killing, which is why they lack the killing intent that one should possess at their level. They lost their will immediately after witnessing my killing intent.

Zhong Yue shook his head and he turned towards Tan Zhen as he said, "Senior Martial Brother Tan, we… Senior Martial Brother Tan?"

He saw cold sweat percolating all over Tan Zhen's forehead and back. Zhong Yue was left speechless and he thought, Seems like Senior Martial Brother Tan also lacks such experiences; he seems strong from the outside but weak on the inside. But I guess he will become strong after experiencing a few true battles.

Zhong Yue's killing intent was incredibly overbearing and was not something an average Qi Practitioner could handle, despite the Swords Gate being a gathering place of geniuses. Even so, those who shared the same experiences as Zhong Yue were in the scarcest minority.

We Qi Practitioners in Swords Gate usually lack killing intent needed to survive. Their current power may be sufficient for friendly matches among each other, but it is not enough for a real battle where life and death hang in the balance, thought Zhong Yue.

Somewhere far away, Feng Shouzhu appeared beside the eight hall masters and he said disappointedly, "Unable to withstand even such killing intent. These little guys could only fight among themselves and they will not be able to win against the ferocious disciples of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race…."

Chapter 158: The Soft Spot in His Heart



The hall master of the Hall of Sword Heart shook his head and said, "All these days, the duels and battles are getting staged non-stop in the inner hall, the disciples' prowess have already improved greatly, Elder Feng is being too strict to them."

"It's not strict, but these inner hall little brats lacks the sharpening from life and death situations! What are we Qi practitioners? Ages ago, the ancestors of Swords Gate came to the Great Wilderness that crawled with monsters and demons. They fought with their lives to protect humans, tempering themselves through countless life and death situations. With a thought, their wills to kill surged and billowed a million feet high into the sky, and the demons and monsters would stay a thousand miles away — these were the true Qi Practitioners!"

Feng Shouzhu raised his withered hand and pointed at Zhong Yue, saying, "This little brat from the Zhong Shan Clan is good. His killing intent could render his opponents defenseless against him. Of all the other disciples of the inner hall, who could be of his match?"

However, the eight hall masters were dismissive, Feng Shouzhu glanced at them and saw their attitudes. He sneered coldly and said, "Not long ago, there was news from the East Barren. The monster saint city lord Shi Buyi took in a dragon by the name of Long Yue as his closed door disciple. This Qi Practitioner is also only at the level of Rebirth, but in the bloody massacre in the saint city, over hundreds of monster Qi Practitioners died by his hand. Among which, there was even one at the level of Awakening! Of all the disciples of our Swords Gate, which Rebirth disciple is able to accomplish such a feat? And word kept coming in, this Long Yue has returned to Gu Xia City from the saint city, slashing and killing every obstacle along the way. In the end, he was responsible for the death of a total of fifty-eight Awakening Qi Practitioners!"

The eight hall masters shouted out in involuntary shock, "Rebirth killing Awakening, how is that possible?"

"Elder must be joking right? A battle that resulted in the massacre of two hundred Qi Practitioners, moreover, monster Qi Practitioners, even the dragon race couldn't have done it right?"

"That's true! People get tired, and defense could never be flawless, except if you wrapped yourself in like a cocoon, perhaps only then, would you be able to block down most of the attacks. But this is also useless against sonic and soul attacks, as long as there are a few Qi Practitioners that are proficient in the sonic and soul attacks, his defense would be broken through!"

"Nearly two hundred Qi Practitioners, how could it be that easy? One would invariably receive innumerable small wounds that would eventually deteriorate into severe life-threatening wounds – it's a sure death situation! The monster race must be boasting!"

"Definitely boasting! The disparity between Rebirth and Awakening level is too great, other than the five elemental innate spirit bodies, no one else could battle across higher realms! And it is still very difficult to win against the Awakening level even if one had the five elemental innate spirit bodies, let alone killing fifty-eight Awakening Qi Practitioners!"

"We of the elder council have only received the news a few moments ago. Even the elder council was shocked when the news arrived!"

Feng Shouzhu sighed, he said, "Not long ago, the celestial race visited us. The few high priests were also talking about it. Clearly, they've also received the news, knowing that Shi Buyi has taken in a very formidable closed door disciple. The high priests were talking to us — if Long Yue were to make his appearance, he will be of the highest priority to be exterminated, so that he wouldn't develop into a larger issue in the future! Can you all find me a Qi Practitioner from Swords Gate, one that can stand match evenly with this Long Yue?"

The eight hall masters just stood rooted at their positions in stunned silence.

On the Swords Gate's Tiger and Dragon Challenger Board, there were countless experts at the Qi Practitioner level, especially the top three — Yu Zhengshu of the You Yu Clan, Shui Qingyan of the Shui Tu Clan and Qiu Jin'er of the Qiu Tan Clan. But if speaking of killing the Awakening level Qi Practitioners and slaughtering over hundreds of other Qi Practitioners in a battle, they all did not think that any one of them would have the ability to do so.

Shui Qingyan's identity was kept concealed, the hall masters did not know that she was the Tian Myriad Mother, hence, they evaluated her as a normal Qi Practitioner.

"In actual fact, Qi Practitioners like Long Yue still exist in all of the races."

Feng Shouzhu was disheartened, "All of the Qi Practitioners nurtured by the races have been through strict and ruthless selections, they only cheer and crowned the winner; while we of the Swords Gate are still messing around like juveniles. As such, we can never nurture a dominant overlord that can stand above the world … Have a look, this is how Long Yue looks like."

He took out and opened a picture art which depicted the image of Long Yue. The images illustrated the bloody massacre he incited. It appeared as if a human spy had recorded the event in the monster saint city and sent it the intelligence back to Swords Gate.

The eight hall masters' faces changed drastically. On the image, they could see over hundreds of monsters falling under Zhong Yue's indomitable strength – swift and fast. The street became paved with corpses, and the cobbled ground became flooded with streams of blood. He appeared just like a god of death!

"Each of you, make a copy of this image, and request the disciples to remember this Long Yue's face when the teaching classes are on."

Feng Shouzhu gave his orders, "If this dragon comes out for a training trip and our disciples become so unlucky so as to meet him, they must know that they can only run, run for their lives immediately and do not think of engaging him in battle! Following which, they must inform the hall masters and elders immediately so that this dragon can be exterminated before he evolves into a bigger problem in the future!"

The eight hall masters' hearts quivered as they quickly made copies of this 'Long Yue'.

This Zhong Shan Clan member….

Feng Shouzhu's spirit shuddered in zeal and his eyes shone brightly as he gazed at Zhong Yue. He murmured to himself, "This Zhong Shan Clan member's killing intent is thick enough, he might just be able to match with that Long Yue. But I wonder how significant his improvements on cultivation base are now. However, even if he is not as strong as Long Yue, he is still a talent worth nurturing, only by going through hundreds of battles could one obtain such a thick and heavy killing intent!"

The master of the Shield Wall Hall said, "Long Yue, Zhong Yue ... both have the same character of 'Yue'. If this Zhong Yue has been nurtured properly, then it would be like the contention of the Twin Yue's of the Great Wilderness and East Barren. Sadly…."

He lamented, "This brat Zhong Yue, ever since he has entered the inner hall, he has never once attended a single class! He has never been to my Hall of Shield Wall at all!"

"Neither did he come to the Hall of Sword Heart!" The hall master of Hall of Sword Heart was also saddened.

"He has also never appeared in the Hall of Sword Qi!"

"He didn't attend the classes for Hall of Array Carvings either, half a year's time but not even his shadows came!"

….

The hall masters all blurted out their complaints, Feng Shouzhu who was initially holding high hopes for Zhong Yue also hesitated for a moment after hearing it. He thought, Could this Zhong Yue just be impressive-looking but useless, only his killing intent is strong but his prowess is subpar? He has entered the inner hall but didn't attend any of the classes of the eight halls, I'm afraid that his achievements will be very limited….

Zhong Yue's immense killing intent erupted out, instilling fear and terror in the inner hall Qi Practitioners that came looking trouble. However, there were so many things happening in Swords Gate at the moment; this was merely one of the little tiny ripples of the vast ocean. Feng Shouzhu and the other elders were burdened with a multitude of matters, all of the elders from the elder council could not spare a single second to other trivial things. Other than the Xiao Mang Celestial Race coming forward asking for duels, and the other celestial race guests coming over to alleviate the tension, there was another issue that needed attending to; that was, the investigation on the identity of who killed Xiao Chuqing.

This time, the Swords Gate elder council has marshaled all of the power at their disposal; searching for the slightest hints in the battlefield, but they always came back empty-handed.

Not long later, the eight hall masters displayed 'Long Yue''s image to all eight inner hall disciples, the scene the disciples witnessed instantly instigated a furor among themselves; one could easily tell how tyrannical he appeared in their eyes!

'Long Yue' was thereby unanimously acknowledged as the strongest Rebirth Qi Practitioner!

All of the inner hall disciples viewed him as their strongest enemy, even the attention of the Swords Gate higher-ups were grasped. However, when Zhong Yue heard their depiction of himself in their words and news, he became lost on whether to laugh or cry.

He was a tiny and inconspicuous character in the Swords Gate. but who knew that his other identity would become a symbol of fear and terror in the same eyes.

All these days, all the inner hall disciples were just gossiping about the bloody battle he had on the street, the great event about him fighting his way back to Gu Xia City. Especially the incident where he fought his way back to Gu Xia City. Because Swords Gate did not have much information regarding that, it was gradually twisted to something far from the truth. Even Zhong Yue would blush with shame after hearing these stories of 'himself'.

These dudes, they didn't describe me as a dragon but more like an evil king that eats monsters like carrots….

Zhong Yue stayed in his cave dwelling, not participating in the battles of the inner hall disciples. He spent his passing days sculpting. Soon, there were over hundreds of Jiao Dragons with different postures and different auras. He carefully studied the Jiao Dragon totem patterns given to him by Ao Fenglou through this sculpting method he learned from the old man, attaining an increasingly profound understanding of it.

Suddenly, knocking sounds started coming from the door. Zhong Yue stood up and answered it — Grandmother Lu was standing there with a dark and gloomy countenance; a meek and soft voice sounded out from behind her, "Senior martial brother…."

A young lady walked out from behind the cover of Grandmother Lu. Dressed in an elegant blouse of verdant green, she lowered her head and stopped a dozen feet away from Zhong Yue. She proceeded to snatch covert glances at Zhong Yue while her face continued blushing with ever-deeper shades of red.

"Ah, so it's Junior Martial Sister Jin'er!"

Zhong Yue was surprised and overjoyed, "Your legs are fine now? Quick, quick, come in!"

Grandmother Lu rolled her eyes at him and said furiously, "My missy knew that you were back a long time ago. She thought that you would visit her and spent nearly a whole day dressing herself up, waiting here and there. More than two or three days and you're still nowhere to be found. My missy wanted to see you but then she was afraid any unsavory gossips; and so she continued waiting for you, and yet your dense head didn't think to come! See, she has cracked her head for nearly half a day and finally still decided to come!"

"Grandmother——"

Qiu Jin'er pulled Grandmother Lu's sleeves as she walked cautiously trying to follow Zhong Yue's pace, her voice was soft and ear-smoothening, "My legs are nearly recovered, but it's just that, I've never walked before since birth. My legs are thin and weak, they are still quite unstable at times. Grand Elder Yu had a look, he said that the Wood Qi in my body is still fairly thick, it's not so easy to get rid of it from the roots. And the muscles are not strong enough too, I need to train them more. It's still more advisable to sit in the wheelchair during normal cultivation or engaging in a fight."

She nearly fell down onto the ground, but Zhong Yue quickly supported her by her arms. Qiu Jin'er heart immediately sweetened while Grandmother Lu faked a cough behind them which was ignored. She gave another cough, and Zhong Yue turned back and said, "Rest assured grandmother, I'll support junior martial sister, I won't let her fall down."

Grandmother Lu's eyes were furious as if they were about to spit fire as she remarked, "Men and women should keep a distance…."

Qiu Jin'er then replied seriously, "Grandmother, my legs aren't too inconvenient, senior martial brother is only holding me as he is worried that I might fall down."

Zhong Yue held the young lady's hands and brought her into his cave dwelling, Grandmother Lu quickly followed behind with vigilance to prevent him from taking liberties with Qiu Jin'er.

Qiu Jin'er turned her head and said, "Grandmother, can you leave us for a moment, Senior Martial Brother Zhong is here, I have something I'd like to ask him."

Grandmother Lu's face turned dark like metal as she refused, "No! I'm worried that he will not be able to control himself, you'll end up like madam!"

Zhong Yue's expression was between laughter and tears while Qiu Jin'er was also feeling helpless. They could only acquiesce to Grandmother Lu's demands and allow her to follow them as they walked to the bridge under the waterfall in the cave dwelling. They could see a colorful rainbow forming from the water vapors in the air, looking utterly spectacular.

Qiu Qin'er glanced at Zhong Yue with her expression filled with worry. Moments later, she gritted her teeth and asked, "Senior martial brother, Junior Martial Sister Xiao Chuqing is dead, the joke you made that day…."

Zhong Yue startled, then he laughed out loud, "Wouldn't junior martial sister be thinking that I've killed Xiao Chuqing?"

The young lady quickly waved her hands and said, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong will not do that, I'm just asking only, senior martial brother you are so kind-hearted…."

Zhong Yue thought to himself, It's not that I'm kind-hearted, it's that you are overly kind and benevolent…

There was also a soft spot residing in the depths of his heart, a place that the innocent young lady beside him had managed to touch upon.

He had changed his appearance and identity in the outside world, fought like a savage beast in the monster race, and contended exchanged moves with magnates. But when his eyes fell upon this young lady, he was able to see something in her that he never had, or rather, something that he intentionally chose to forget.

He relaxed his mind, and the din and chaos of the blood-soaked battles faded away, further and further….