Chapter 242: Do You Want To Know?
"All in all, it was through my help that Celestial QingYun could progress so rapidly in cultivation, even outstripping mine! This placed her far above her peers in the Sect, to the point where she could rise above all her Sect Mates and achieve the position of Master of the Jade Pearl Pavillon! When she originally sought me out, she was merely a mid-YuanYing stage cultivator. But now, while I have just ascended to the middle stage, she is already a completed YuanYing cultivator, ready to assail the FenShen stage anytime! This really makes people sigh!" Old Devil Feng lamented with a bitter smile.
As he spoke, Old Devil Feng could not help but shook his head and smile ruefully. One could see that his feelings ran deep. SongZhong was stunned silly upon hearing such a story. Though he knew that the death of his parents was laced with suspicious points, he did not expect that it was inclusive of such a secret!
However, they had already reached this stage, and no matter what SongZhong had to delve to the bottom of this. Thus he could only open his mouth and question further, "If that's so, then Huo QianWu only came to you through her mother?"
"That's not the case!" Old Devil Feng waved his suspicions off, "The matter between QingYun and I was an absolute secret. Other than the both of us, no one was allowed to know. Even my Sect was not aware of such a matter! The only reason why Huo QianWu found out was that of an accident! On that day, as I was having a tryst with Celestial QingYun, Huo QianWu coincidentally bumped into us. This old man could not dodge in time and was recognised by her! If it was anyone else, I would have silenced them in 1 move. However, this was Celestial QingYun's only daughter! She could not bear to silence her, thus Huo QianWu and I became acquainted!"
"And then? How did she betray my parents?" SongZhong hurriedly asked.
"How else could she betray?" Old Devil Feng shrugged his shoulders. "She came straight to me, asking me to deploy some men for an ambush, all to assassinate your parents. She was even willing to use her body as payment! I was originally unwilling, after all her mother was still quite against us devil cultivators. However, she used our relationship to threaten me. If I were to disagree, then she would tell every one of our tryst and shift the blame to me, so Celestial QingYun would come for my life! You tell me, is it that this woman became crazy and perverted after she got dumped by your dad?!"
"Aiii! Whatever the case, I had no choice. In actuality, I was unwilling to lay a finger on your parents. After all, they were the direct disciples of the Mystical Sky Yard, not just any small fries. If there was no reason, who would want to provoke that almighty dragon? However, Huo QianWu repeatedly put me in a spot, thus I could only reluctantly accede to her demands. However, speaking of which, that chick Huo QianWu was really fun to play with! The only problem was that when she came, she would always scream out your dad's name, this really infuriated me!"
Having heard up to this point, SongZhong was already close to falling unconscious from anger. He could not help but viciously cursed, "That darned slut!"
"Hehe!" Old Devil Feng could only let out a light smile. "Okay, now that I've told you the entire story, can you tell me the location of the Nine Beauties Painting?"
"Wait, wait!" SongZhong, on the other hand, waved his hands, "You only talked about Huo QianWu, but nothing about the evidence. With nothing to substantiate your words, how do you expect me to believe you?"
"Haha, even if you don't believe it, what can I do? I have no ways to prove that she was the mastermind too! However, if you get to meet Huo QianWu, you can take a look at the tattoo on her chest, that was done by yours truly!" Old Devil Feng delightedly spoke. "That could be considered a form of evidence, shouldn't it? Haha!"
"I guess so!" SongZhong coldly replied. "If I ever get the chance to, I will definitely go and broaden my horizons!"
"Hehe, unfortunately, I'm afraid you will never get the chance to!"
"That might be so!" SongZhong casually brushed it off before continuing, "I have 1 last question, if you can answer me, I'll immediately reveal the location of the nine beauties painting. I will definitely not renege on my promise!"
Hearing this, the eyes of Old Devil Feng gleamed as he hurriedly spoke: "Okay! Ask away!"
"When Huo QianWu betrayed my parents, was Daoist HuoLong aware of it?" SongZhong coldly asked.
"Hehe, regarding this? Obviously, he was not aware of the plan at the beginning! After all, this plan was just too insane. If it had traveled to the ears of the ferocious dragon, then it would be an unspeakable disaster for us! Furthermore, Daoist HuoLong is still considered a long time friend of that ferocious dragon and his Hong Family, and thus he would not allow Huo QianWu to plot against your dad!"
"From your words, he was completely in the dark about this matter from start to end?" SongZhong pressed on. Truth be told, Daoist HuoLong did not treat him too shabbily over the past few years, and he did not want him to be implicated in this, lest the two of them turn hostile.
However, things do not go as one wishes sometimes. Hearing SongZhong's words, Old Devil Feng gave out a cold laughter before saying "SongZhong ah, you are really looking down on us old fellows. Daoist HuoLong is someone who has lived for over few hundred years, roaming unhindered through the vast mountains. He could be considered a major figure in these vast mountains. Thus, no matter is it prowess or psychological tactics, he would have polished all these to a fine degree. If not, he wouldn't have been able to sit on the position of Sect Master of Mystical Sky Yard! Do you think that Huo QianWu's small movements would slip past his eye for eternity? Did you think that with such lofty backgrounds, your parents' deaths would have gone unignored? Hmph, kid, you are too naive!"
"Ah!" After hearing such words, SongZhong exclaimed in shock: "What you mean is, Daoist HuoLong found out about this matter in the end?"
"Of course!" Old Devil Feng replied: "If he wasn't there to personally help Huo QianWu clean up her mess, then how would this matter be kept under wraps? Do you think the people from the Mystical Sky Yard are all idiots? Could it be that they could not even find out where the direct disciple died, as well as died under whose hands? How is that possible?"
"What you're saying is that not only did Daoist HuoLong not bring Huo QianWu to justice, but he helped her conceal everything?" SongZhong spoke viciously.
"Do you still have to ask? In the end, Huo QianWu is still his daughter in name, and if news gets out, there would be irreconcilable enmity between the Huo family and the Hong family. Huo QianWu would definitely die, and Daoist HuoLong would also not be able to escape punishment! Faced with such a matter, Daoist HuoLong could only grit his teeth and do his best to help Huo QianWu cover up the matter!" Old Devil Feng then smiled before continuing, "Of course, Daoist HuoLong did not just let Huo QianWu go so easily. In fact, he went over to Celestial QingYun to create a ruckus, then threw Huo QianWu to her. For the past 10 years, she has not returned to Mystical Sky Yard!"
"Ah, no wonder Huo QianWu has been missing even though she is an esteemed figure inside the Sect. So there is actually such a thing!" SongZhong coldly laughed. "Hmph, no matter what, the truth has come to light today! Huo QianWu you slut, you better wait there, this grandpa will one day cut you into pieces to avenge my parents!"
"Oi oi, you darned fatty. Stop dreaming!" Old Devil Feng interjected. "Now that I've told you what you want to know, then shouldn't you act upon your promise?"
"Heheh!" SongZhong merely smirked and placed both his hands on the shoulders of the sisters SiYu and SiYun.
"Darlings, don't be scared, I'm about to send you to a very safe place!" As he spoke, SongZhong did not even wait for them to reply before directly activating his skill. The next moment, both sisters disappeared in front of Old Devil Feng's eyes. Obviously, SongZhong had placed them inside his natal artifact. Kept together with both sisters was the huge, black flying ship.
Seeing this situation, Old Devil Feng exclaimed in surprise, and nervously shouted: "SongZhong, what are you trying to do?"
"Hehehe!" SongZhong leisurely replied: "I was only clearing up the battlefield, for, the battle between us have no need of them!"
"Of course not! Unlike you bastards, I'm a trustworthy person!" SongZhong proudly spoke: "Since I said I was going to reveal it, then I'll naturally tell you about it!"
Although Old Devil Feng was mocked quite badly by SongZhong, he endured it because the location of the Nine Beauties Painting was more important. Thus he smoldered and smiled in compliance, "Good, good, good, you're a great hero, magnanimous person. So, how about you adhere to your promise now!"
"No problem, don't you want to know where it is? Lookie here!" As he spoke, with a flick of his palm, a jade green fan flew out of his hand, following which, he casually opened up his fan, and even exaggeratedly fanned himself twice, purposefully showing the nine beauties drawn on the fan for Old Devil Feng to see.
"Nine Beauties Painting!" Seeing this scene, Old Devil Feng shouted out in joy. "Haha, this is really the case of wearing out iron soles but finding nothing, then finding gold without any effort at all! Turns out that the painting is on you, kid! This is great!"
"Hmph!" SongZhong could not help but laugh out coldly: "The nine beauties painting is indeed in my hands, but the problem is, do you have the ability to take it?" As he spoke, SongZhong lightly shook the nine beauties painting, and out it came nine cultivators. 5 of them were the sword cultivators, forming a five elements formation with the five elements Essence swords on hand. The other four were holding on to their respective artifacts, all of them staring at Old Devil Feng with wary looks.
Seeing this, how could Old Devil Feng not get a shock? "The nine heavenly demonic witches? How, how is this possible? Even I couldn't overcome the nine beauties painting. How did you make it yield to you?"
Hearing this, SongZhong cheekily replied, "Take a guess?"
"Damn it! Can't you just tell me?"
"Obviously not!" SongZhong replied, "Because I want you to be curious about this forever. Hehe, you want to know? If you want to, you should be more lax with your attacks later on, if you slip and get me killed, then you can forget about finding it out!"
"God damned it!" Old Devil Feng was nearly half angered to death by this statement! He could not help but barked "You are obviously threatening me!"
Chapter 243: Weapon
It must be understood that the Nine Beauties Painting is a spiritual artifact exceeding the ninth grade. Such unique plaything, who would not be greedy for it? A pity that every spiritual artifact has sentience, and not everyone would be able to get its approval. Especially the Nine Beauties Painting, the tests it gave was certainly too perverse. Only death awaits for any ordinary cultivator who tried to overcome the test. Thus, it lay at the Thousand Desires Sect for so many years, without any master.
However, the fact was that SongZhong seemed to have easily obtained the approval of the said artifact! If Old Devil Feng could find out what ways SongZhong had used to overcome the test, and execute the same method, then so long as he obtained the Nine Beauties Painting, he would become its owner! The power that he could wield from them would not be small. At least this would make him unbeatable within the YuanYing stage, and might even help him if he were to transcend ranks and fight the FenShen cultivators!
Under such temptation, how could Old Devil Feng remain unmoved? Thus, when he made his move, he did not dare to use all his strength, as well as his killer moves. Because if he were to accidentally kill SongZhong, it would also mean depriving himself of the possession of the Nine Beauties Painting!
As such, Old Devil Feng was stuck in dilemma. On the other hand, SongZhong could throw caution to the wind and attack with his full strength. This considerably lessened the disparity of strength between the two of them. This was actually a ploy by SongZhong!
Being a monster that had lived for a few hundred years, Old Devil Feng naturally could see through this little ruse that SongZhong had plotted. The problem was that, facing the bait that was the Nine Beauties Painting, even if he knew it was a trap, Old Devil Feng would still willingly jump into it!
After running through all the possibilities, Old Devil Feng could not help but bitterly smile and say, "Darned Fatty, you are smart, I'll give you that! However, if you think that by doing so you can use a spiritual artifact to be able to fight evenly with me, then you can't be any more wrong! A YuanYing cultivator is definitely not something that a foundational cultivator greenhorn like you can afford to handle!"
As he spoke, Old Devil Feng gestured and a thirty feet tall banner appeared in front of him immediately. The banner fluttered proudly in the wind, and emblazoned on it were two green snakes. After the banner had moved a couple of times, both snakes actually came to life, and transformed into two wind dragons over tens of feet tall. Rays of green light actually coalesced into becoming the dragons' bodies. They coiled around Old Devil Feng, flying around him.
Seeing how a single move of Old Devil Feng could create such a fantastic scene, SongZhong could not help but be secretly frightened. He thought to himself, "YuanYing cultivators are certainly not ordinary people, this Old Devil Feng was beaten black and blue after I had scammed him previously. As for his personal magic artifacts, if they were not destroyed, then they were definitely confiscated from him. Normally speaking, a cultivator without artifacts would have his strength reduced by a great deal. But looking at him now, it seems like he had refined another powerful artifact!"
Seeing how SongZhong was staring at his artifact with an expression of shock, Old Devil Feng could not help but sneered, "What? You didn't expect that I would still have such a strong artifact on hand?"
"This is indeed a surprise!" SongZhong acknowledged by nodding his head. "The way I see it, this is at least an eighth ranked magical artifact? But I remember you were stripped off everything when you were taken captive!"
"Hmph!" Hearing this, Old Devil Feng coldly harrumphed, and could not help but snarled, "You stupid Fatty, you really like to open old wounds! I was shamed so badly the last time, wasn't it all because of you? Luckily, my Sect did not blame me for it, and even bestowed two sixth grade Devil Snake souls to me, aiding me in the creation of this Wind Snake Banner! Kid, let's see today if my YuanYing Wind Snake banner or your foundational greenhorn's Nine Beauties Painting is superior!
As he spoke, Old Devil Feng waved his arm once more, and the two Wind Snakes roared before dashing in a zigzag fashion respectively, towards SongZhong who was a few thousand feet away.
Seeing this scene, SongZhong did not take it lying down. With a flick of his hand, the Nine Beauties also went into action, charging ahead to meet the Wind Snakes. Before long, a battle several thousand feet above ground unfolded.
The first to attack was the five sword cultivator beauties. Following the fortuitous encounter they had with SongZhong, the five of them had long ascended to the middle JinDan cultivator stage. With their current cultivation, the Five Elements Essence Swords in their hands could already exhibit a majority of its innate prowess.
Following their movements, a bout of fearsome Sword Qi was generated, and shot forth like a bolt of lightning, crossing the distance of hundreds of feet in an instant to viciously chop down on the two Wind Snakes.
That Wind Snake was a 6th grade demonic beast with the strength of a YuanYing cultivator. Naturally, it would not be destroyed so easily. It turned its body in mid air agilely, dodging the sword Qi. Then, it approached the five sword cultivators and bit down hard.
Both parties became tangled with each other. The sword Qi of the sword cultivators were extremely sharp. But the Wind Snakes did not have a physical body and were extremely nimble. They maneuvered around the sword Qi in the skies, only leaving behind an afterimage. It was almost impossible to spot their bodies. As such, the five sword cultivators were unable to do anything to them as well. Of course, the Wind Snakes were also unable to harm the five JinDan sword cultivators who had laid down the Five Elements Sword Formation.
On the other side, it was a different scene. The Four Directions Devil Subduing Formation which the four nuns had laid down suppressed the Wind Snakes. As such, when the four nuns revealed the golden light of the formation, they forced the Wind Snakes into retreat. However, the Wind Snakes were just too fast. While the nuns were able to suppress them, they were not able to catch them. As such, there was a momentary stalemate.
Old Devil Feng then took a look and smiled indifferently, "Ah ah, it seems that they are well matched!"
"It seems that the Nine Beauties Painting seem to have the upper-hand!" SongZhong said calmly.
"Hehe, this isn't strange. After all, the Nine Beauties Painting outclasses them far too greatly. It isn't surprising for them to lose!" Old Devil Feng smiled, "However, this is enough. I obviously will not wait for them to lose! Brat, isn't it time for us to have some fun?"
As he said that, Old Devil Feng formed a seal with his hands and the clouds in the skies began to change. Consequently, the clouds formed shapes of various weapons. Some of them were blades, while some were swords, axes and etc. All of them were formed from white clouds and were over a few hundred feet long.
It turns out that Old Devil Feng was actually a spell cultivator. He specialised in the use of Wind type spells to invoke different kinds of negative winds to injure people. At the same time, he was also adept in controlling mists and clouds, transforming them into weapons. This execution of this spell is very covert, as he was able to hide his killing moves in the clouds, making it hard for one to guard against them. Hence, this is a very sinister spell.
Due to the fact that his original Natal Artifact had been destroyed in the Mystical Sky Yard, he was not able to recover it anytime soon. As such, he was only able to use this spell to subdue SongZhong.
SongZhong did not know Old Devil Feng's trump cards. The moment he saw Old Devil Feng reveal a spell which he had never seen before, he could not help but exclaim, "What is that?"
"Hehe, little brat, you are really clueless. This is an extremely profound spell called Weapon Forming Clouds." Old Devil Feng laughed, "Now, I will let you have a taste of the strength of these weapons! Slash!"
As Old Devil Feng said that, he flicked his finger. Consequently, a humongous blade composed of clouds went slashing towards SongZhong.
Although the blade was made only from clouds, there was the frightening strength of a YuanYing cultivator's spiritual Qi within it. The destructive force of the blade was probably comparable to a JinDan cultivator's magical artifact. SongZhong dare not be complacent, so he summoned his copper bell above him.
The moment the copper bell appeared, the blade also arrived. With a loud bang, the blade broke into pieces, disappearing as mist. However, there was a four-foot deep mark, left on the wind copper layer of the copper bell.
As SongZhong saw this, his eyeballs turned green, because it was wind copper! Furthermore, it was wind copper that had been strengthened by the many formations of the nine beauties. Although it was not as strong as magical artifacts, it was still comparable to a 5th-grade magical tool. With such toughness, a deep scar was still caused by the cloud blade. How was it possible for SongZhong to not be surprised? Goodness, this blade was even more perverse than a JinDan cultivator's sword strike.
Old Devil Feng was as surprised as SongZhong. He was surprised at the weirdness of SongZhong's bell. The surface of this bell was shrouded entirely by wind copper, which was a low grade material, only capable of refining magical tools. However, the wind copper layer had many craters and battle scars. There were traces of burnt, lightning strikes, corrosion and many more. In any case, it was riddled with holes all over, looking extremely pathetic.
Such a low grade material, with so many scars on it, coupled with how pathetic looking it was, one would deduce that it was a lousy good. But in reality, this junk-looking thing had blocked his powerful attack. It was totally inexplicable from his perspective! Just how was this low-grade junk able to block such a strong attack from a YuanYing cultivator?
Don't tell me I'm old already? I didn't try hard enough just now? As he came to that thought, Old Devil Feng directed a sword slash to SongZhong's copper bell. At the same time, he did not forget to sneer, "I do not believe that this junky looking copper bell will be able to defend against this old man's attacks!"
As they were talking, there was a sudden bang. The copper bell then suffered another scar, but it successfully blocked Old Devil Feng's attack.
As Old Devil Feng saw that, he became exasperated as he cursed in frustration, "Dammit, I can't believe this. I am definitely going to destroy it today!"
"Haha, good! Come and try it! You'll be a hero if you can destroy it. If not, you'll be a little doggy!" SongZhong could not help but retort with a cheeky laughter.
"Darn fatty, this old man will show you what I've got!" Old Devil Feng erupted in anger. Then, his hands began to move as countless weapons composed of clouds, came crashing towards SongZhong's copper bell.