Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 124: Without That Sword, What Will You Kill Me With?

Song Tiangang was born to a distinguished clan.

He formed his Nascent Soul at eighteen and traveled to the capital to sit for the imperial examination.

He passed with distinction. Though not among the top three, he still ranked in the highest tier.

Afterward, he left the capital to serve as Provincial Governor of Xu Province.

He shepherded the land on behalf of the Da Kang Emperor. With a golden seal empowering him, his strength rivaled that of a provincial City God.

The path of cultivation dead-ended at Nascent Soul.

No matter how prodigious one's talent, the only remaining road was to establish oneself as a god.

And in all of Song Tiangang's years of cultivation.

He had never witnessed a cultivator unleash sword light so terrifying, so pure.

That sword light was blindingly fast.In the blink of an eye, it came crashing down toward Song Tiangang's face.

Unstoppable, cutting through all!

Song Tiangang's hair and beard bristled. His eyes filled with blood. The golden square seal at his waist blazed white-hot, and a colossal eruption of human qi surged skyward. Within it, countless blurred mortal faces materialized, their mouths gaping wide.

"Halt!"

At Song Tiangang's command.

The human qi ignited, generating an invisible force that attempted to freeze the sword light in place.

But though human qi possessed infinite applications.

Against this sword light, it was as fragile as tofu — shattering at the slightest touch.

The bone-white sword light fell.

A massive rift was cleaved through the torrent of human qi in an instant.

Song Tiangang, standing at its center, went deathly pale.

"Block!!!"

Song Tiangang bellowed, frantically channeling the golden seal.

Spectral outlines of deities materialized from thin air, one after another, hurling themselves at the sword light with suicidal abandon.

Fortunately, though the sword light was terrifying, though it was extraordinary, it was not without limits.

By the time several hundred divine outlines had been annihilated.

The sword light dissipated with them.

Song Tiangang shut his eyes tight. Two trails of bloody tears slid down his cheeks.

Injured by that sword light.

Thankfully, human qi cycled through him the next moment.

And his eyes recovered as before.

But now, as he looked upon the boy before him — the towering silhouette of a demonic tree rising behind him, the Void-Piercing Sword in his grip — Song Tiangang felt not the faintest trace of contempt. Only a bone-deep chill.

"That Mutant Statue — you took it, didn't you?!"

Song Tiangang exclaimed in horror. "You're not a god! At your age, with cultivation this terrifying — you've already set foot upon the Immortal Dao! How dare you — how dare you!"

He couldn't see through Chen Huangpi's cultivation.

But strength like this was already enough to kill him — a pseudo-provincial City God empowered by a golden seal.

If Chen Huangpi hadn't obtained the Mutant Statue and learned the secret of Immortal Ascension, how could he have achieved such a level?

And that Mutant Statue.

Was supposed to have been Song Tiangang's prize.

He might have been better off not mentioning the Mutant Statue.

The moment he did, Chen Huangpi's liver fire roared to the surface.

"Old thief — die!"

Chen Huangpi was incandescent with rage. He slashed out another blade of sword light.

As the sword light descended.

The Calamity Eye keened with a sorrowful cry.

Even the blade itself was trembling. Back in the Underworld Yellow Spring, Chen Huangpi had unleashed dozens of slashes in rapid succession, pushing the Calamity Eye to its absolute limit. Though he hadn't used it again since, in such a short span of time, the Calamity Eye had barely recovered any of its strength.

Phantom outlines of deities once again streamed from the golden seal.

Song Tiangang's heart turned cold.

With the golden seal's empowerment, he could withstand this horrific sword light.

But each strike.

Cost a full ten percent of his human qi to block.

And though his golden seal had siphoned off ninety percent of Xu Province's annual tribute of human qi, fighting his way out of the city and shaking off the imperial investigators had not been without cost. He now had barely fifty percent remaining.

Meanwhile, Chen Huangpi unleashed each devastating slash as effortlessly as eating a meal or drinking water — zero visible strain.

At this rate of attrition.

It was merely a question of dying sooner or later.

"Flee! Flee! Flee!"

Song Tiangang channeled the golden seal to transform into a streak of escaping light, but the instant he made his move, a tree branch as thick as a water vat and nearly a thousand meters long came crashing down squarely on top of him, forcing him into a stumbling retreat.

That was the Magic Tree's branch.

All the suffering Chen Huangpi had endured mining ore on Desolation Mountain had been absorbed by the Magic Tree.

As a result, the Magic Tree was now eighty percent loyal to Chen Huangpi.

Which meant he could channel its power without the slightest hesitation.

"Magic Tree — suppress!"

At his command, the towering spectral Magic Tree behind him rustled and shuddered.

The Magic Tree was immense.

Its trunk was like the Primordial Firmament Tree connecting the realms.

Its canopy blotted out the sky and the sun.

As far as the eye could see, everything within a hundred-li radius of Mount Yuqiong was swallowed in shadow.

No matter how desperately Song Tiangang channeled his golden seal, he couldn't escape the canopy's coverage — as though he'd been locked inside a cage, and the only key was clutched in Chen Huangpi's hand.

Without killing Chen Huangpi, any thought of escape was a fool's dream.

Song Tiangang snarled through clenched teeth, "Chen Huangpi, you and I share no old grudges nor new grievances. Why are you bent on killing me? Could there be some misunderstanding?"

"You are truly shameless."

Chen Huangpi said with contempt. "The Lin Ye you sent tried to kill me. The Song Qiuyue you sent tried to kill me. The Song Jiu you sent also tried to kill me. And you yourself came to kill me. Now you talk about a misunderstanding?"

"Fine — throw away that golden seal and take one slash from me. Then I'll consider all of it a misunderstanding."

"You want me dead!"

Song Tiangang suppressed his fury and shouted, "Qiuyue was killed by you! Before that, I'd never even heard your name. The only reason I came looking for you was for the Mutant Statue!"

"You and I truly have no quarrel!"

In truth, his sole purpose in coming had been to torture the Mutant Statue's location out of Chen Huangpi and then butcher the boy — settling old and new scores alike.

But with the tables turned — the lamb now wielding the knife — he naturally had to improvise his way out.

"Whether or not there's a quarrel isn't for you to decide."

Chen Huangpi said coldly. "Besides, do you honestly think I can't see through your killing intent?"

Though he couldn't see with his eyes.

Within the Magic Tree's canopy of shadow, every last thing was laid bare to his perception.

Even the thoughts inside Song Tiangang's head were as transparent as glass.

"Brother Chen! Hear me out."

Song Tiangang cupped his fists. "Now that you've set foot upon the Immortal Dao, all my former delusions have naturally gone up in smoke. As the saying goes — when fortune favors, heaven and earth lend their strength. I admire Brother Chen to the point of prostration."

And indeed, he dropped to the ground, kowtowing before Chen Huangpi with his full body pressed to the earth.

"Brother Chen, if you let me leave, I will surely repay you handsomely." "But I yearn for the Immortal Dao. If Brother Chen would release me, I'd sooner die — unless you take me into your service. I am willing to serve as your vanguard, to be commanded at your pleasure."

Song Tiangang had cast away every last shred of dignity. He spoke with fervent sincerity: "I am a scion of the Song family of Qinghe. I served as Provincial Governor of Xu Province for decades. I've met many people and know many secrets. I would undoubtedly be a great asset to Brother Chen."

The Fox Mountain God, seated by the mountain gate, clicked its tongue in wonder.

"This Song Tiangang really can bend and stretch," the Fox Mountain God remarked. "Before the Heaven and Earth Mutation, a man like him might actually have achieved something great."

"Him?"

The Brass Oil Lamp scoffed. "His vision, his ability — they're nothing but the shadow of his ancestors' glory. Before the Mutation, cultivation was all about innate talent. His talent wasn't terrible, but it wasn't anything special either. Foundation Establishment at best."

"And if he truly knew when to bend, he wouldn't still be refusing to accept his fate at a time like this."

The instant those words fell.

Song Tiangang, prostrate on the ground, exploded into action.

He lunged at Chen Huangpi with murderous intent.

"Chen Huangpi — die!"

"The one who dies is you."

Chen Huangpi gave a cold snort. Ignoring the Calamity Eye's agonized pleas, he slashed out once more.

And at that very moment, the ground beneath his feet caved in without warning.

A blazing inferno of burning human qi erupted from below.

Within those roaring flames.

Song Tiangang stood clutching his golden seal, eyes brimming with murderous determination. "Die!!!!"

Two Song Tiangangs — one in front, one below.

One real, one fake.

Timed perfectly to strike at the exact instant Chen Huangpi committed to a slash.

Murderous resolve filled Song Tiangang's heart. He had already identified the weakness: though the sword in Chen Huangpi's hand was formidable, it could only produce one stroke of sword light at a time.

And the sword light was far too sharp for its own good.

To wound others, it first wounded itself.

The sword was on the verge of collapse. How many more strikes could Chen Huangpi possibly manage?

Sure enough.

Chen Huangpi's slash cleaved the Song Tiangang before him clean in half. A few wisps of human qi scattered into nothing.

But when he tried to swing the sword downward.

He saw the Calamity Eye weeping tears of blood ceaselessly, begging him in agony. Every time the sword light manifested, it was akin to ripping the Calamity Eye's body apart. At this rate, it would truly shatter.

Chen Huangpi faltered for an instant.

And that single instant of hesitation was all it took — the roaring inferno engulfed him.

"Ha ha ha!"

Song Tiangang bellowed with laughter. "Huangpi, you brat! So what if you've just set foot on the Immortal Dao? Haven't you heard that even an ant can bite an elephant to death? And I'm no ant, and you're no elephant. The audacity to let your guard down before me — you've already chosen your own death."

Just as Song Jiu had once used his bronze seal to manifest the three protective flames above his head and shoulders.

A bronze seal's empowerment rivaled a county City God.

A golden seal's empowerment rivaled a provincial City God.

The flames of burning human qi from the golden seal were the True Fire of the Human Dao.

Where the hearts of the people converged, mountains could be moved and seas filled.

This True Fire of the Human Dao naturally possessed the power to incinerate mountains and boil oceans.

And though Chen Huangpi's cultivation was mighty.

Song Tiangang came from the Song family and knew full well that pre-Mutation ancient cultivators focused primarily on cultivating their Primordial Spirit — their physical bodies were not especially resilient. Now that the True Fire of the Human Dao had descended upon Chen Huangpi, it should reduce him to ash in moments.

"The Immortal Dao shines upon me — fortune favors me!"

Song Tiangang sneered viciously, channeling every last drop of human qi into the True Fire like kindling heaped onto a bonfire.

He intended to refine Chen Huangpi into a pill.

The ancient cultivators also had techniques for seizing another's foundation.

Now, he would rip away Chen Huangpi's Dao foundation and forge it into his own stepping stone to immortality.

The True Fire of the Human Dao blazed ever higher.

The surrounding temperature became scorching beyond measure.

Yet Song Tiangang's heart grew colder and colder.

Because the towering Magic Tree's silhouette had not disappeared, and the True Fire's glow could not illuminate the surroundings.

And from within those burning flames.

Chen Huangpi walked out — calmly, unhurriedly.

Forget incinerating mountains and boiling oceans.

Not a single strand of his hair had been singed.

"How?!"

Song Tiangang couldn't help but cry out. "You've barely set foot on the Immortal Dao — your physical body can already withstand True Fire?!"

"Not exactly."

Chen Huangpi shook his head. "I could withstand it even before I started cultivating. But your True Fire burned pretty hot, I'll give you that — my throat's a bit parched. I could use some water."

"What?!"

Song Tiangang was beside himself with terror. "Your physical body was already this resilient before you ever cultivated? What the hell are you?!"

He asked.

But Chen Huangpi was done wasting words.

He glanced at the Void-Piercing Sword in his hand. The Calamity Eye was still desperately pleading.

Chen Huangpi had no choice but to stow the sword inside the Soul-Hooking Manual to let it recuperate.

Song Tiangang's expression shifted rapidly.

He suddenly roared at the True Fire of the Human Dao: "True Fire — protect me!"

The flames instantly swarmed back, wreathing his entire body in a blazing cocoon.

Like stars cradling the moon, the fire shielded him on all sides.

"Without that sword, what will you kill me with?"

"That spectral Magic Tree of yours?"

Song Tiangang laughed with rage. "I have the golden seal. I have human qi. You can trap me, but you can't kill me! I suggest you let me go — otherwise, the Song family of Qinghe will never let this rest."

"And neither will the Da Kang Imperial Court!"

The Song family of Qinghe would only come after him.

But at this point, his sole gambit was the hope that Chen Huangpi might be intimidated.

Chen Huangpi stared at Song Tiangang cowering behind his True Fire as though looking at an idiot.

What a strange man.

What on earth made him think that without the Void-Piercing Sword, Chen Huangpi couldn't kill him?

Besides the Void-Piercing Sword.

There was another weapon — one far more natural in his hand.

It had no mystical powers whatsoever.

Channeling vital energy or black smoke into it produced zero reaction.

But it was hard enough.

With sufficient force behind it, he could gouge a crater out of Desolation Mountain itself.

With that thought, Chen Huangpi silently drew his crane-beak pickaxe.

Then, he wound up with everything he had and brought the sharp, hooked beak crashing down squarely onto Song Tiangang's skull.