Immortal Paladin

380 Expensive Lesson

380 Expensive Lesson

[POV: Gong Bao]

Gong Bao had long forgotten the feeling of growing old, yet age clung to him now like a damp, heavy cloak. Once, he had been a proud denizen of the Promised Land, one of the Heavenly Temple’s most prestigious High Elders. In those days, the elders of the Promised Land numbered in the hundreds, each one an existence who could command the world with a gesture. But the calamity a thousand years ago had reduced them to a handful. Death would have been kinder, yet the cruelest wound he endured was the one he inflicted upon himself, that of severing his own immortality to stop his mind from slipping into madness.

He could still remember the sickening sensation of his soul fracturing as he regressed from an Eleventh Realm Perfect Immortal, already half a step into the realm of the True Ascended Soul, to a mere Tenth Realm Endless Path. The act saved his sanity, but stripped him of eternity. Ever since, he had moved with the weight of a man racing against time, watching as those who shared his burden grew weaker with the passing of each decade.

Now, he was reduced to a figurehead, sitting at the Seat of Asura of the Six Elders. While it was a prestigious title, it brought him no pleasure, as someone considered the weakest in the Six Elders. Of course, it wasn't exactly like he could complain.

Lately, however, a breath of hope stirred among the Temple Council. They had obtained intel suggesting ascension to the Eleventh Realm could be achieved safely if done off-world. Two paths were placed before them. One was the search for the mythical False Earth, a hidden world said to exist beyond the Hollowed World. Reaching it required crafting a vessel mighty enough to pierce the void, survive the star-forged formations adrift in the abyss, and avoid the gaze of the Warden who patrolled that space.

The second path was more dangerous, more ambitious, and entirely uncertain: to construct a gate capable of breaching the black veil and entering the Greater Universe. But the black veil’s laws were shaped by the supreme existences even the Heavenly Master dared not provoke. If the False Earth was a distant land reachable through perilous travel, then the black veil was a sanctified wall, one no mortal or immortal was ever meant to cross.

Amid these troubles, Gong Bao had taken his own assignment lightly. Subduing a troublesome external disciple was a matter he intended to finish with a single reprimand. Yet in an instant, everything fell apart.

“To think I’ve even entertained taking you in as my disciple,” spat the old man. “I’m a fool!”

A streak of divine fire shot at him from across the sky, and the jade shield he carried cracked as he crashed into the side of a mountain. The cliff face shattered like brittle clay, boulders collapsing around him in a storm of dust. Fiery whips coiled toward him from the horizon, each one carrying enough force to peel bark from ancient trees. Gong Bao steadied his footing, raised the shield again, and shouted through the smoke.

“Little girl, you are making a mistake!”

With little quintessence, he restored his jade shield.

“Since you want to die so badly, then I will grant it to you!”

He hurled the wooden club in his hand, and it twisted midair into a spear overflowing with the strength of nature. Roots curled around its shaft, leaves sprouted along the haft, and a wind-heavy pressure surged forward. But the figure he aimed at did not even flinch. She raised one arm and slapped the spear aside as if brushing away a fallen leaf.

And then she was before him.

Her draconic wings cut the air with a sound like thunder. Golden and red scales shimmered across her limbs, and her horns glowed faintly in the sunlight. Her eyes, slit like a true dragon’s, held none of the innocence he saw earlier. Only righteous fury.

The kick she delivered struck him square in the chest. His ribs groaned beneath the impact as he was launched from the shattered mountainside into the forest. Trees splintered under him, and the ground cracked when he landed. Even so, he rose at once, bracing his jade shield as she descended upon him with graceful, terrifying precision.

“This…” Gong Bao realized with a sinking heart, “was no longer a mere beast child. This was a dragon-born monster raised under the protection of something far worse.”

Each of her attacks bore the sharpness of martial mastery mixed with the divine ferocity of a sacred beast. Flames wreathed her hands and tail. Blessed runes flickered on her gauntlet-like scales. Her strikes were controlled yet overwhelming, as if someone else was guiding her movement with practiced ease.

‘How tragic,’ Gong Bao thought as he deflected a flaming whip and retreated three steps.

Someone like her who could refine a draconic bloodline on the spot and maintain clarity should have been guided properly. She could have soared among the heavens had she joined the Promised Land. What a pity. What a waste.

But talent was talent, and even an old monster like him could appreciate it.

With a faint sigh, Gong Bao steadied his breath and spoke over the roar of burning trees. “Little girl, you carry astonishing vigor. It is sad you cannot become my disciple… yet acknowledging you is the least I can do. Tell me your name.”

The dragon-winged girl halted just long enough to answer with a proud, unwavering voice.

“My name is Ren Jingyi, Third Disciple of Da Wei!”

“Hah!” Gong Bao scoffed as the flames of the whip licked at his arm. “Do you take me for a joke!?”

He snatched the blazing whip with one hand and suppressed its heat with a surge of World Force, the pressure of an Endless Path expert crushing the air around them. Before Ren Jingyi could shift her footing, he drove his jade shield forward in a brutal thrust. The shield smashed into her face, sending her tumbling across the fractured ground. He didn’t give her a moment to recover. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the shield like a spinning meteor. It slammed into Ren Jingyi again with a sharp crack that echoed across the forest.

Gong Bao staggered.

A stabbing migraine shot through his skull, and blood trickled down his brow. His vision swayed as fractures spread along his cranium. It took him a breath to understand what had just happened. The damage he inflicted had rebounded on him. Such a bizarre exchange could only come from some crude mortal-tier body-tempering taken to absurd heights by pure talent. To think someone could elevate a defective cultivation technique this far…

“This is pointless,” Gong Bao muttered as he healed his skull with a pulse of emerald light. He pulled, and the jade shield shot back to his hand, dragging Ren Jingyi along by the flaming whip still wrapped around her hand. “Jade Thorn Execution—”

He stopped.

Ren Jingyi’s face, only moments ago cracked from the shield’s impact, looked perfectly healed, and she was smiling with bright, vicious confidence.

“Divine Smite!”

Her laughter rang like a bell as golden radiance blazed from her right wing. She drove the glowing appendage into him as if it were a sacred blade. The shield crushed the wing completely, shattering scale and bone, but Ren Jingyi didn’t slow. Her leg snapped upward in a fierce arc, wrapped in the same golden glow. Gong Bao caught the strike with an open palm, only for his expression to freeze when the ground beneath him dropped.

His leg had vanished.

Rather, it had been cleaved clean off by the other wing, its edge wrapped in a thunderous golden light that crackled like a divine storm.

Gong Bao tried to swing his shield to clear her away. “Immortal Jade of the Forest Path!”

But the motion halted halfway.

The blazing whip had already coiled around his arm, twisted up to his throat, and locked him in place. Flames erupted from the coils, the heat growing unbearable.

“Searing Smite,” Ren Jingyi whispered, her voice a mix of glee and cruelty.

Gong Bao’s disbelief turned to cold dread. Her strength read as Tenth Realm in his Qi Sense, but it was fake. It was a counterfeit realm, since she had no comprehension of Heart Reading, no mastery of World Force, and none of the finesse that defined those who completed the three Celestial Paths. What she possessed instead was raw, unnatural power fueled by something external, something that made even his ancient bones tremble.

“It’s strange how she can adapt to such powers…”

Then Gong Bao saw her eyes.

The faint gold swirling within her pupils reminded him of a forbidden dossier, one that contained centuries of stolen intelligence gathered on the “Holy Emperor Da Wei.” Rumors described a ‘sense’ that pierced through deception, a perception that ignored distance, barriers, and even fate. They called it many names. The one that stuck, the one whispered by the seers who risked their souls spying through the Heavenly Master’s Shadow, was… “Divine Sense.”

If that was true, then the power of ‘Reflect’ must also belong to that monster. Observing it directly explained why no one had ever reported its nature; the ability only manifested when struck.

So this girl… This Third Disciple… Was standing here as a living extension of the Temple’s most troublesome enemy.

Gong Bao’s chest tightened as he exchanged blows with her again. Each clash shook the forest. Even as he pushed his World Force to suppress her flames, his mind spun. Why were there no reinforcements? He had called them. He had signaled. Yet not a single elder arrived.

Did the intruder’s companions already take the others out? Or was something manipulating the forest?

Nothing made sense, and the dread blooming in him only deepened.

Gong Bao gritted his teeth as Ren Jingyi barreled through his defense again. Her strikes came faster, sharper, backed by a holy ferocity that cracked his bones with each exchange. She should not exist, he thought. Not here. Not in the Temple’s sacred territory.

As she reared her burning fist for another Divine Smite, Gong Bao finally found an opening.

Roots erupted from the earth like snapping jaws, wrapping around her leg and locking her in place.

“Decimation Jade Boulder!” Gong Bao roared, his hand slicing down.

A jade sphere of crushing weight materialized above Ren Jingyi and smashed into her with explosive force. The impact burst her body into a violent mist of blood and flame as she was hurled through the air, crashing deeper into the forest with a thunderous tremor that shook the whole mountain.

“It’s a pity,” Gong Bao remarked as he steadied his breath. “You would’ve been a promising disciple.”

His gaze drifted beyond the shattered trees and burning soil. The Temple Council had grown obsessed with a single goal of ascending to the Eleventh Realm without falling to the creeping madness. Their calculations insisted that off-world cultivation held the key, but Gong Bao considered the idea reckless. The Greater Universe was a place where supreme existences reigned, where cultivators stronger than the Heavenly Master walked freely. Even the late Shouquan had avoided that vast expanse after his first expedition. As for the False Earth, the Council’s alternative route, it was guarded by the Warden, and if not that unfathomable guardian, then the presence known only as the Void.

Gong Bao still remembered the day a deranged “Void Disciple” slipped into their world due to some idiot’s experiment. A single glance into that creature’s existence had nearly erased his mind. Compared to that, the present conflict felt almost comforting. That was why Gong Bao pursued a simpler path to the Eleventh Realm. That was finding a disciple with overwhelming talent, letting them absorb the madness meant for him, and stealing their accumulation at the final step. It was ugly, but far safer than tempting the universe’s horrors.

“You’re delusional,” croaked a voice to his left. “Promising disciple? Master? You? Dream on… You probably suck as a teacher… My master’s different… He could teach me nothing at all, and I’d still learn a thousand things just standing near him…”

Gong Bao snapped his attention to the spot where Ren Jingyi should have been blown apart. Instead, she stood beside the crater, not only intact but fully healed. His jaw tightened as he remembered another rumor. The Holy Emperor was rumored to be a tenacious being who refused to die, even when facing beings on the level of the Love Goddess, Aixin. If this girl carried a trace of that man’s essence, then her survival made an unpleasant sort of sense.

Ren Jingyi wiped blood from her lip, looking irritated rather than injured. “Damn it, I’m still weak… And my five minutes are almost up…”

A cold shiver crawled down Gong Bao’s spine as he recalled the blond boy she called “master.” He refused to believe the thought forming in his mind. The idea that the Holy Emperor himself had infiltrated the Heavenly Temple, bringing a disciple with him, bordered on madness.

Although the Temple tracked the people around Da Wei, they had little information on his actual disciples. They knew of Lu Gao and Yuen Fu to a degree, and had scraps on Hei Mao and Gu Jie, but Gong Bao had never heard of a Ren Jingyi. That uncertainty made her existence even more dangerous.

As the Asura Elder and custodian of the Promised Land, Gong Bao carried the grim duty of eliminating threats before they grew beyond control. If he let this girl go free, she could one day become a calamity for the Heavenly Temple.

His decision hardened.

Ren Jingyi’s aura surged before he could move. Flames roared from her body as her draconic features twisted and expanded. Scales of red and gold layered over one another, spreading across her frame in a river of molten light. Her limbs lengthened with snapping bone, and her wings unfurled with a violent sweep that shattered nearby boulders. When her form settled, a massive dragon crouched before him, limbed, imposing, and crowned with burning horns.

Her roar shook the mountain.

“Dragon’s Breath!”

Gong Bao reacted the moment the dragon’s chest expanded. He layered every defensive technique he had ever mastered, weaving ancient sigils into the air while pouring his life force into the jade shield hovering before him. Verdant Life Equality, the shield, blazed like a small sun as cracks crawled across its surface.

The dragon’s breath arrived a heartbeat later, an eruption of azure flame laced with crimson streaks that carved molten trenches through the earth. Golden motes drifted in the inferno like the last tears of dying stars. The temperature crushed everything around him, and Gong Bao felt his skin dry and peel as his muscles shrank.

He grit his teeth as fear twisted his gut. He was going to die. His body, already stripped of immortality centuries ago, couldn’t sustain the cost of such extremes. With desperate hands, he yanked pill bottles and jade vials from his pocket dimension, swallowing elixirs so potent they scorched his throat on the way down. Their violent energies bolstered him just enough to stand against the torrent. The agony went on and on until the flames finally faded.

When the last lick of azure fire disappeared, Gong Bao collapsed to one knee, trembling. Smoke curled from his robes. His jade shield dimmed and fell into his hand like a dying bird. Ahead of him, the massive dragon shrank in a ripple of red and gold light, bones compressing and scales dissolving until the form of a blond little girl appeared, falling into unconsciousness.

“I’m… still alive,” Gong Bao whispered, half in disbelief. He shoved more elixirs into his mouth until his muscles swelled back, his vitality restored to its peak. He refused to leave anything to chance. In one explosive leap, he descended on the girl, intent on ending her life before she could transform again.

But his body stopped mid-strike.

A pressure colder than death closed around his heart. His Heart Path ability resonated violently, forcing his senses open. A blond woman stood beside him as though she had always been there. She had long ears, gentle green and white robes, and carried an unconscious boy with blond hair and doglike ears draped across her arms. Her presence felt familiar yet impossible. When Gong Bao’s Heart read her intent, his breath caught. If he harmed the girl below, this woman would kill him instantly.

Why? Why was fate treating him like this?

Below them, the little girl stirred. She sat up, raised her arms, and stretched with a lazy groan. “Wait… ugh… a bit more stretching…”

Seizing the opening, Gong Bao unleashed Jade Thorn Execution with a roar, flooding his shield with World Force. The air cracked as emerald qi spiraled toward her.

The tiny girl only smiled. “Animal Path: King of the Wild.”

Light burst around her. Her body elongated into that mature draconic form again, with golden hair shifting into orange and red at the tips, scales forming like liquid metal over her arms and legs. Wings unfurled with a snap. The next instant, she vanished.

Gong Bao reacted on instinct, swinging his shield backward, certain she was behind him. But the blow met empty air. She reappeared high above, floating with effortless grace, eyes gleaming in amusement.

“You know how to fight,” Ren Jingyi said, her tone dripping with superiority, “but I have a feeling you’re a bit rusty. And I must say, you really gave my disciple some traumatic memories.”

The blond woman with long ears spoke softly without shifting her position. “Do you want me to handle this, Da Wei?”

Gong Bao froze as the meaning slammed into him. His pupils shrank. The woman above was no longer Ren Jingyi at all, but…

Da Wei turned his head slightly, wearing a lazy smile. “Give me ten.”

Ten? What ten!? Gong Bao’s mind spun. For a moment, he stood there in stunned silence, unsure if he should feel fear or insult. The tone alone carried such weightless contempt that it stung worse than any wound he had taken today. Ten? Ten minutes? Ten seconds? Surely, Da Wei wasn’t mocking him with something that ridiculous.

“Your arrogance really is beyond measure,” Gong Bao snapped, drawing strength from his indignation. “You plan to deal with me in ten seconds, using the injured body of your disciple? Truly!? I’d love to see you try!”

Da Wei only tilted his head and sighed, as though dealing with a very slow child. “Wow, calm down, you piece of tumor. And what’s with ten seconds? That’s too much time, you know.” He shrugged, lazy and unbothered. “I’ll do it in ten moves.”

Before Gong Bao could spit back a retort, his instincts clawed at him, warning him of mortal danger. As someone who had climbed his way to the top of the Promised Land through countless battles, he trusted those instincts more than anything. His Heart Path flared, allowing him to perceive the changes in Da Wei’s intent, and then everything blurred.

[First Move. 0.018 seconds.]

Da Wei vanished. It wasn’t speed; it was absence, followed by reappearance so sudden that reality seemed to snap. As if to mock him, Qi Speech echoed calmly in Gong Bao’s ears. “That was a combination of Zealot’s Stride, Flash Step, and Divine Speed.”

[Second Move. 0.032 seconds.]

A hand tapped Gong Bao’s shoulder in a light, almost friendly pat. His stance broke instantly, his balance stolen by an invisible force. “That’s Stagger,” Da Wei said cheerfully. “It makes people near me stumble. Cool, right?”

[Third and Fourth Move. 0.424 seconds.]

Gong Bao tried to retreat, but a vice clamped onto his shoulder. Pain shot through his body, and he realized Da Wei had grabbed him with such precision that even his soul center trembled. Then three silver halos coiled around him, binding him in place. Da Wei narrated with the tone of a teacher explaining basic arithmethic. “So that’s the third move: Monkey Grip. Just a really strong grab. And these pretty silver rings? Fourth move, Halo of Restriction.”

[Fifth Move. 0.921 seconds.]

Da Wei’s smile grew bright and harmless, the kind that should belong to a carefree child, not a monster. “Okay, now for the fun part. I’m going to pull a full ‘Reflect’ on you. From this moment, any damage that hits me will reflect on you, multiplied a few times, to make sure you get thoroughly destroyed.”

Gong Bao’s heart slammed against his ribs. He tried to activate every escape art he had, but the halos froze even his World Force.

[Sixth to Tenth Move. 2.778 seconds.]

A divine roar split the heavens. Golden swords the size of mountains tore through the sky, one after another. Each heavenly blade descended on Da Wei hastily, wrapped in thunderous light. Gong Bao felt every inch of his body tremble in raw terror. He braced himself, summoned defensive formations, and overdosed on elixirs from his pocket dimension, but it was useless.

Even an immortal would fall here.

“There are five total,” Da Wei said lightly as the golden swords crashed down on him one by one. “That’s Heavenly Punishment, cast through a Manasoul. I can only afford five of them right now, so I hope it’s enough.”

Each sword struck Da Wei, who healed himself calmly with a flick of golden light. Each strike reflected back into Gong Bao, magnified until his body felt like it was being unraveled from the marrow outward. He tried to run, but Da Wei’s grip refused to let him move even half a step.

The fifth Heavenly Punishment finally fell. The reflected force swallowed him whole.

“Thank you for listening to my lesson,” Da Wei said as Gong Bao’s body and soul tore apart like old cloth. “As for the tuition fee, I’ll settle with your life.”

And Gong Bao died without leaving even ash.