Mu Hua stared, furious and flustered, at Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple. He roared, “Second-class Hepatitis! You dare provoke my Nine Hells Path?”
Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple, exquisitely handsome and bewitching, offered a seductive smile. He spoke in a soft, effeminate tone, “Kill them all. Who would know it was done by us, the Jizo Temple clan?”
The Yong Blade flashed, its cold light slicing the air as it stabbed directly toward Mu Hua’s heart. Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple roared, “Thank you for killing my worthless, deadbeat father; only then could I take command of the Jizo Temple clan!”
This Yong Blade possessed an extremely bizarre property; its blade light was so fast that Peng Hua didn't have time to react.
The fierce nature of the zombie was ignited. Mu Hua glared with blood-red eyes and roared, “Fight to the death? Am I afraid of you? What’s the worst that can happen? I just die again!”
Tilting his upper body slightly to the left, Peng Hua allowed the Yong Blade to embed itself deeply into his chest. He let out strange howls as he sprinted forward, his body gliding rapidly along the blade’s length. In just two or three strides, he was in front of the stunned Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple. With a wild laugh, Peng Hua threw a punch toward Ichinyo’s chest, seemingly putting all his strength into it.
Startled, Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple released the Yong Blade with both hands. He drew two slender, pale-green tachi from the wide sleeves of his kimono and slashed with all his might toward Peng Hua’s fist.
The fist was lightly withdrawn, the two arcs of blade light nearly grazing the fine hairs on his knuckles. Under the horrified and bewildered gaze of Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple, Peng Hua’s body gracefully recoiled. He executed an extremely standard football move: a bicycle kick! The toe of his boot, studded with alloy spikes, savagely hooked into a sensitive spot on Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple.
With a sharp crack, a lump of ambiguous flesh, trailing a spray of blood, erupted outwards. Spots of blood spattered across Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple’s pale-pink kimono embroidered with scattered cherry blossoms—like the heart’s blood coughed up by a peerless beauty onto a peach-blossom fan!
A cry like that of a lone, bereaved wolf tore from Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple’s mouth. He howled at the top of his lungs. Instinctively, both hands gripped the hilt of the Yong Blade, violently tossing the long sword up toward the sky before turning and fleeing in disarray, dragging the blade behind him.
This toss and flick, though seemingly simple, brought immense trouble to Mu Hua. A gash over a foot long split his body from his chest to his right shoulder, and two flaps of pale-red lung tissue drifted lazily out of the wound. There was no blood in the opening, only thick, viscous black miasma spewing out continuously. Peng Hua shrieked in pain. He dared not pursue Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple either; he turned and fled in the opposite direction. As he ran, he pried open the torn wound at his shoulder and carefully shoved the exposed lung back into his body.
“Oh my heavens, thank goodness I’m a zombie; if I were a normal person, I’d be dead for sure!” Peng Hua muttered as he sprinted wildly.
But in the blink of an eye, he shouted again, “Oh, I am already a dead person, so what am I afraid of dying for?”
He spun in a full circle and vigorously swung his right arm. Discovering that his wound was already beginning to heal rapidly, he excitedly turned to meet the onslaught of the Jizo Temple ninjas.
Nearly three hundred remaining Special Operations Bureau commandos wisely stayed close behind Peng Hua, forming an extremely durable multiple circular formation. Relying on the powerful freezing ray cannons in their hands, they engaged the swarming Jizo Temple ninjas in fierce combat.
Peng Hua stood at the forefront, guarding the exit of a narrow mountain valley, barely twenty meters wide, and single-handedly withstood the frenzied charge of the ninjas.
The commandos gathered a hundred meters behind Peng Hua, unleashing continuous barrages from their freezing rays, turning large groups of ninjas into stark white blocks of ice, frozen rigid on the spot.
These frozen ninjas further obstructed the charge of their comrades behind them, causing the pressure on Peng Hua to gradually lessen.
The battle in the high-altitude warships had concluded. The attacking fleet fled amidst rolling black smoke; less than thirty percent of their warships managed to escape. Seeing their fleet retreat, the ground-based ninja army instantly scattered like rats splashed with boiling water, vanishing without a trace in an instant. Peng Hua, caught off guard, only managed to punch the slowest-running ninja to death; he didn't even manage to grab a single strand of hair from the rest!
In the cavern, beside the lava lake, the Red Feather Warlock King raised the Crimson Vine Staff in his right hand and lightly received all thirty-six bolts of lightning one by one. With a wave of his hand, a plume of Yin Fire ignited beneath the nine large men surrounding Gu Xichen. Like Xin Jia and Xiao Zhao Yi, the flames melted away more than half of their bodies, causing them to dissolve into streaks of purple light and retreat back into Gu Xichen’s body.
“Insolent fool!”
The Red Feather Warlock King roared in anger. He perceived from Gu Xichen’s gaze that Gu Xichen had no intention of submitting to him. He immediately raised his right hand, flicked out a jade talisman carved from red jade, and it shot into the rock ceiling of the cavern, disappearing to an unknown destination. He sneered at Gu Xichen, “Good, very good. You refuse a toast only to demand a forfeit. Today, this King will make you understand the meaning of regret!”
The emission of the red light was the signal for the surprise attack by the fleet on the Special Operations Bureau fleet in space. Ichinyo of the Jizo Temple had also received this signal before leading the Jizo Temple clan to ambush Peng Hua.
A massive hand, composed entirely of lava spanning several zhang in circumference, rose from the lava lake, bringing waves of heat as it reached for Gu Xichen. The Red Feather Warlock King grinned menacingly, “Boy, once I’ve killed all the subordinates you brought this time, I’ll deal with you slowly!”
The lava hand instantly enveloped Gu Xichen. The heat washed over him, causing his hair to emit wisps of smoke.
Gu Xichen remained silent, raising his Zhenqi. His right claw expanded to nearly a foot in diameter. Under the astonished gaze of the Red Feather Warlock King, he unleashed a fierce 'Snowy Soul Claw' directly toward the nearby molten rock.
With a tremendous crackle, a section of lava several meters wide instantly froze from the chilling energy. The heavy strike sent this frozen chunk of lava flying nearly a hundred meters, slamming into the Red Feather Warlock King’s chest.
The Red Feather Warlock King scoffed disdainfully. With a tap of his vine technique, the solidified lava boulder instantly turned to ash. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and the lava hand immediately wrapped around Gu Xichen.
A faint, continuous hiss of cold energy sprayed out from Gu Xichen’s body. Where the lava met the cold, a large amount of water vapor sprang forth.
Gu Xichen sank to one knee, both claws bracing the giant lava palm pressing down from above, trembling as if barely able to bear the weight.
The Red Feather Warlock King grinned triumphantly, his eyes flashing with electric coldness as he stared down at Gu Xichen. “Agree to my terms, and this King promises you a bright future. If you refuse? Then this King may have to resort to extreme measures and destroy you, then search your body for what this King desires.”
Gu Xichen let out a low gasp. He roared, “Old man, you rely on your superior cultivation to bully me—what kind of hero is that? I’ll agree to your outrageous conditions if you let me hit you nine times with my full power! If nine punches don't kill you, I will obediently take you as my master!”
“Nine punches?” The Red Feather Warlock King hesitated for a moment.
Nine punches in exchange for all the treasures Gu Xichen obtained from Heaven Star.
Nine punches in exchange for Gu Xichen, the Special Operations Bureau Director with real authority in the Federation.
Nine punches in exchange for a disciple taken under the wing of the Corpse Emperor!
The Three Warlocks had plotted with the Three Great Warlocks to force Gu Xichen out of the Sect, but their true intention was for Gu Xichen to act as an undercover agent within the Nine Hells Path! If they could simply endure Gu Xichen’s nine punches, all these things would be theirs!
The Red Feather Warlock King’s eyes flickered for a moment, then he sneered, “Fine, I agree to your terms!”
With a wave of his hand, an invisible red light enveloped his entire body. The Red Feather Warlock King dispersed the giant lava palm and flew directly in front of Gu Xichen. He coldly and arrogantly sneered, “Let’s see how you plan to kill me in nine punches!” He stood with his hands behind his back, forming a bizarre seal, fully prepared for any contingency.
If Gu Xichen showed any sign of using a magic treasure, the Red Feather Warlock King would immediately strike him down!
Slowly standing up, Gu Xichen looked at the fully alert Red Feather Warlock King and unleashed a heavy punch.
Power output: fifty tons. Zhenqi output: less than ten percent. This punch was heavy and fierce, yet before it even came close to the Red Feather Warlock King’s body, it was blocked by a crimson light.
Gu Xichen roared in surprise, “This counts as taking my nine punches? Protecting your flesh with magic treasures and spells—what kind of skill is that?”
The Red Feather Warlock King’s old face flushed. He retorted, “How should this King know if—”
Without allowing the Red Feather Warlock King to finish, Gu Xichen raised his right hand and swore an oath: “I, Gu Xichen, swear to the heavens, if I say nine punches, it means nine punches! If I use even one magic treasure or auxiliary item, may I be struck by lightning and die a terrible death!”
The Red Feather Warlock King paused, then suddenly burst into laughter, “Good, I believe you!”
With a wave of his hand, the red light on his body vanished. The Red Feather Warlock King laughed wildly, “This King has already dismissed his protective magic treasures. Now it is your turn! The first punch doesn’t count; you still have—”
This time too, Gu Xichen did not let the Red Feather Warlock King finish speaking. Gu Xichen concentrated all his power, cloaking his right palm with a three-inch-thick layer of White Taiyin Profound Flame, and struck the Red Feather Warlock King’s lower abdomen with maximum speed. The bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped the Warlock King, who roared in terror, “What demonic thing is this?” In the next instant, however, he began laughing maniacally, “Hahaha, I knew you wouldn’t submit willingly! Hahaha, what kind of magic treasure is this?”
A ball of red light was just about to erupt from the Red Feather Warlock King’s body when the Taiyin Profound Flame burned through his lower abdomen. The red light within him lasted less than the time it takes to snap one’s fingers before it dissolved into a thick, cold liquid. The Taiyin Profound Flame spread throughout the Red Feather Warlock King’s entire body with blinding speed, white icy flames jetting out from every pore.
A hazy figure drilled out of the Red Feather Warlock King’s body—his fully cultivated Nascent Soul. With an angry shriek, the Red Feather Warlock King was about to flee via his Nascent Soul, but a ball of white ice flame erupted from deep within his soul out of nowhere. The pure Taiyin Profound Flame enveloped the Red Feather Warlock King’s body and his Nascent Soul, burning quietly and magnificently.
His physical body was broken down into the smallest atoms; his Nascent Soul was decomposed into tiny energy particles, ultimately condensing into a fist-sized mass of pure, pristine soul origin energy.
A purple torrent shot from between Gu Xichen’s brows, seizing this nearly transparent, colorless mass of soul origin energy and pulling it into the Purple Mansion within his Sea of Consciousness.
A deafening boom echoed in his Sea of Consciousness. Gu Xichen’s soul madly devoured this soul origin, which was thousands of times more powerful than his own but had lost all sentience.
Excruciating pain engulfed his entire body. Every cell convulsed violently. The agony stemming from the soul origin forced Gu Xichen into a heart-wrenching scream.
Driven by instinct, he pulled out nearly ten thousand cubic meters of Zakula energy crystals from his Qiankun Pouch and collapsed onto them.
Innumerable purple tendrils shot out from his body, slowly coating the mountain-like pile of energy crystals.
Reminder: Mid-point break.
Fifth release on May 1st.
Where are the monthly tickets? (To be continued)
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