Chapter 667: Devious and Execrable Motives
Kanas hunting grounds.
While holding the Bloodguzzler Dagger, Tang Xiu coldly looked at Xuan Yugu. Yet, what appeared in his mind was Western Nefarious Sangha's cave planted with herbs where the Soul Tranquilizer and solidified Dragon's Eye were embedded on its ceiling.
Don't tell me… it's where the Immortal Trove is located? If the Immortal Trove is really there, then why that monk did not tell me? Did he know about it and yet concealed it from me intentionally?
After pondering for a short while, Tang Xiu slowly said, "Wang Hu and Xuan Yugu are your names, right? The two of you are nothing but trash, the type of people I hate. I, Tang Xiu, always keep my promises to good people, but never restrain myself from taking my words back on the evil ones. So, you two just remember. Become good guys in your next life."
The Bloodguzzler Dagger shot out like lightning and easily sliced off the duo's head, and then returned to Tang Xiu's hand. A moment later, Tang Xiu left with Mo Awu.
At the foot of the mountain, Jie Walie looked anxious and restless, praying that Tang Xiu would come back alive. Needless to say that he had a business deal with Tang Xiu, he did not want him to have an accident in his company, merely because Tang Xiu was related to his former platoon leader.
"Brother Walie, just listen to me. You gotta leave now! If Tang Xiu is killed in the mountain and the other party lives, I'm afraid they will also act against you considering their personalities. You don't know how terrifying these people are," persuaded Gesangjor in a low voice after sighing inwardly upon seeing Jie Walie's expression.
Jie Walie fell into silence for a moment before a firm look appeared in his eyes. He shook his head and said, "My former platoon leader introduced him to me. I must wait until I see the outcome even if I cannot help him. I will collect his dead body if he dies, and I'll celebrate it with him if he lives."
"You are just as stubborn as in the past." Gesangjor shook his head and forced a smile. "Aargh, forget it. Stay you want to, then! I guarantee your protection as you collect Tang Xiu's body as long as those old codgers don't come back."
"Thanks! I…"
Inwardly, Jie Walie felt more downcast as he squeezed out an ugly, thankful smile. However, he had yet to finish his words as his expression turned into that of joy, as his eyes stared at the three men coming down from the mountain pathway.
Gesangjor was baffled and turned his head to the mountain pathway, and then his expression changed into disbelief as he exclaimed, "What the hell happened here? Tang… how did they come down? What about the other three guys?"
Nearly a hundred people from the Xuan House in the surroundings made a ruckus, as they never expected that the people coming down turned out to be Tang Xiu's group of three, and the three people from Xuan House actually disappeared. Could it be… that they were all killed by them? How was this possible?
"OH GOD! LOOK AT THE LAST MAN. HE IS CARRYING TWO HEADS!"
An exclamation suddenly broke out in the crowd.
Everyone's eyes turned wide in a flash. As they saw the three figures coming closer and closer and saw the two heads in the hands of the Everlasting Feast Hall's expert in the back, only then did they recognize that those were Wang Hu's and Xuan Yugu's heads, showing that both of them were dead.
"Does this mean that the Justice Hall's Master of the Serenity Sect failed in his job? How could he watch Xuan Yugu being killed?"
"Then what happened to that guy? Those heads are Xuan Yugu's and Wang Hu's, where's the other one?"
"It's really unbelievable. I never expected that the Young Divine Doctor Tang Xiu would come out as the final victor. He… what is the origin of his two bodyguards, exactly?"
"This is going to cause a big ruckus in the Strange Doors!"
"A great show will happen for us to watch!"
As Tang Xiu arrived in front of Gesangjor and Jie Walie under the disbelieving watchful eyes of the numerous onlookers, he nodded to Jie Walie and immediately shifted his gaze to Gesangjor, saying, "The problems with people from the Strange Doors have been settled with the custom made by Strange Doors itself. I have killed them, so I'm the final winner."
A complicated expression could be seen from Gesangjor's face as silently nodded, "You did win, but I'm afraid you will have to bear the wrath of the Jin Family and the Serenity Sect."
"I dare to kill, so I'm ready for the consequences." Tang Xiu sneered. "However, I have some things to tend to now and won't stay here for long. That's right. I just killed a hare with the hunting rifle. I'll give it to you, and you can immediately eat it with wine."
Gesangjor could only force a smile secretly and said, "Go then! You just killed some of these people, and you staying here will only leave you a road to death. You had better leave this place as quickly as possible to avoid things going wrong later. Walie, come with me to drink a few cups of wine while tasting this hare."
"I gotta leave, too!" Said Jie Walie quickly.
"You gotta stay!" Gesangjor knitted his brows. "I still have important things to tell you."
Tang Xiu deeply gazed at Gesangjor. He could tell that the reason the man's intention to detain Jie Walie was to draw a line between Jie Walie with himself so as to avoid the people from Jin Family and the Serenity Sect from retaliating against him out of rage. Therefore, Tang Xiu let out a tranquil smile and said, "Two Old Brothers, since you have important things to discuss, then I bid you farewell. We'll be in touch later."
Saying that, he did not give a chance for Jie Walie to speak again and left with Mo Awu's group of eleven. He did not take the car as they left the hunting grounds. When everyone in the hunting grounds could not see them anymore, Tang Xiu silently chanted a Dao spell as a wave of air seemed to wrap around the waists of Mo Awu's group of eleven and pulled them to the air and flying toward the direction of Longquan Bay, toward Western Nefarious Sangha's Immortal Abode.
****
Longquan Bay.
Western Nefarious Sangha stood outside the entrance of the cave with a murderous aura emanating from him as he glared at the two brothers, Jin Sanchi and Jin Sijie. If stares could kill, he could have killed these two men countless times already.
The broken-armed old man—Jin Sanchi languidly spoke, "Well, Nefarious Sangha, good people never live long, but evil will keep scourging for millennia. I trust that us—two brothers should be a scourge in your eyes, right? If anything, it was really a pity that you weren't able to kill us with your poison yesteryear, else there wouldn't be any need for us to use such great fanfare, no?"
Grandma Shipo took a step forward as she covered her mouth and smilingly said, "Jin Sanchi, there's something that's rather baffling me here. Since you two brothers covet this Immortal Trove, why did you have to involve these people from the Strange Doors? There are indeed some remarkable guys among them who can break through the shackles of the martial arts path and able to enter the Dao and become Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators by virtue of their own martial arts path. But, do you really think they can help you? Or, could it be that you two brothers intentionally brought them here as cannon fodder?"
Jin Sanchi's face slightly changed and he sneered, "Shipo, I never expected for you to not have the slightest progress in all these years as Nefarious Sangha's beloved mistress, eh? Such a trivial method to sow dissension between us is useless. Now that I have brought them here, I admit that I indeed have the intention to lead them too. That's right, didn't you taste how powerful they are, Nefarious Sangha?"
With a gloomy expression, Western Nefarious Sangha reminded in a low voice, "You two must be careful. These damned people from the Strange Doors unexpectedly have some magic tools. I was careless and not checked them out and suffered some internal injuries a while ago."
There was a disbelieving expression on Shipo's face as she exclaimed, "What magic tools were they carrying to think that you got injured?"
"Those were very strange magic tools." Western Nefarious Sangha forced a bitter smile. "Other than that shield that can be combined temporarily, the other two magic tools have a very destructive power. That's right. Beware of their talisman charms too. They have Raging Flame talisman charms, and its might is quite potent as well. A pity that those two Bloodthirsty Chiropterans I've been raising for so many years got trapped by their nets."
"You should have abandoned those two Bloodthirsty Chiropterans a long time ago," commented Shipo without hesitation. "You've been feeding them with your blood essence to raise them. Not only has it affected your cultivation speed, it will also give you a backlash one day. They will accidentally kill you. Miserably!"
"Let us not speak about that first now, shall we?" Said Western Nefarious Sangha with indifference. "Now that they dared to come here it means that they are well prepared. Fortunately, that guy has left, else we'd be in a huge trouble if we met him."
"Who's this guy?" Asked Shipo, wondering.
With a look of gloating at his companion's misfortune, Golden Armored Zombie let out a strange grin and smilingly said, "Hehehe, this lover of yours was hit with very bad luck, Shipo. He nearly got killed by those people, after which he got a seal cast on his soul that controls his life. Hehehe… that was the kind of scene that depicts the adage that 'humans will die for riches just as birds will die for food'. He unexpectedly dared to conceal the existence of the Immortal Trove from him. I just really hope that this matter won't be exposed in the future, or else… Hahaha…."
Western Nefarious Sangha looked a bit resentful and angry as he glared angrily at Golden Armored Zombie and cursed, "If you did not fucking sell me out to him and told him where I was hiding, I wouldn't have…"
Jin Sanchi and Jin Sijie exchanged looks in wonderment. They never expected that Western Nefarious Sangha was nearly killed by someone else, and even had a seal cast on his soul and had his life under the control of that person.
Who could that person be?
Western Nefarious Sangha was very formidable already, could it be that the other party was more formidable than him? Furthermore, wasn't there also Golden Armored Zombie with him? Could it be that he just watched as the other party trashed Western Nefarious Sangha so helplessly like that?
However, upon recalling their purpose in coming this time, Jin Sanchi did not feel like asking about it and shouted in a deep voice, "Nefarious Sangha, I'm giving the three of you a chance to live, submit and be obedient without putting up a fight, and help us open the Immortal Trove in this Immortal Abode. Else you three will die very tragically."
Western Nefarious Sangha sneered, "Keep talking in your dreams, you fucking idiot! All those who cast their greedy eyes on the Immortal Trove must die!"
A few kilometers away.
Tang Xiu and Mo Auw's group of eleven quietly landed in the woods. After instructing the eleven people to stay and wait, Tang Xiu then turned himself into a cold breeze and silently lurked towards the Immortal Abode where he ambushed Western Nefarious Sangha. From far away, he could see a lot of people gathered there facing three people: Western Nefarious Sangha, Golden Armored Zombie and a woman.
After a while, Tang Xiu hid in the woods four hundred-plus meters away and silently observed them. Even though he stood there, he could faintly hear their dialogue.
"There's indeed an Immortal Trove there! Western Nefarious Sangha did not tell me about it, so he definitely has some selfish motives, or has plotted something devious in mind." A killing intent flashed in Tang Xiu's eyes. The Soul Ruling Spell had a special effect in that the controlled person would be very loyal.
However…
Such negated usefulness on Western Nefarious Sangha was a very rare exception. And with his high intelligence, Tang Xiu could guess that there must be some problems with it.
Chapter 668: Mutual Losses
The real winner would depend on absolute strength, and true powerhouses only believed in the power of their fists. When confrontation between adversaries was inevitable, those who were bolder enough to stake everything they had would come out as the victor.
In this situation, it could only be complemented by the momentum, but one could never conclude the final outcome.
Western Nefarious Sangha, Golden Armored Zombie, and Shipo were not weak people. They had high cultivation and formidable strength, so even if they were against enemies dozens of times in number than them, they had no fear at all.
It was an Immortal Trove!
It was a huge opportunity, and the key to elevating the level of their strength, and those who cast their greedy eyes toward it must cross over their dead bodies.
"Stubborn and hopeless idiots! If we don't have a surefire plan in hands, do you really think we would dare to come for the Immortal Trove and face the three of you with dozens of people?" While giving the order to pressure the trio on the momentum, Jin Sanchi flipped out a golden flag inscribed with a pattern of a humongous red dragon from his hand, then his aura instantly soared the moment he grabbed that flag.
Whizz…
A ray of light, however, came shooting from a distance and was instantly caught by Jin Shijie's hand. It was a halberd that emitted out an aura that depicted great changes through the ages, the Sky Piercer Halberd, which he firmly grasped in hand. "You refuse to bow your head, thus you shall be beaten till your soul shatters. This Sky Piercer Halberd never drank blood ever since I obtained it decades ago, you all shall be its sacrificial offerings today!"
Coldness filled Western Nefarious Sangha's eyes. His figure suddenly retreated while at the same he fiercely shouted, "You two go ahead first, this penniless monk must fetch something, but I'll be back right away."
Golden Armored Zombie and Shipo exchanged looks and their eyes lit up instantly. Without any words, the two people separately flew toward Jin Sanchi and Jin Sijie and simply ignored those people from Strange Doors. Although some of them were already on the boundary of the Dao and became a cultivator, they were just comparable to those cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage.
Tang Xiu, who hid amidst the bushes and saw that both sides began to clash, immediately restrained his aura and quietly retreated towards the back. After he reached the place where Mo Awu and the others were waiting, he immediately led them towards the peak of the mountain in a hurry. Being too close to the battle site would get them affected; it was hard to avoid since the fight between people at their cultivation level would undoubtedly be very big and would affect a very wide area.
Helping them?
The idea did not even cross Tang Xiu's mind. The existence of the Immortal Trove made Tang Xiu wary against Western Nefarious Sangha. He wanted to find out how the matters stand with this monk, as to why he still harbored disloyalty even though he already controlled his life and even promised him benefits such as those concocted pills.
After concealing themselves amidst rocks and trees in the forested mountain, Tang Xiu looked at the four people who were currently engaging in mortal combat. Although their battle was very intense and fierce and they were equal in strength, yet the moves they showcased were rather coarse and crude and the number of magic arts they used was very pathetic. Even their magic tools did not produce remarkable might at all.
"What a waste!"
Tang Xiu secretly shook his head. Whether it was the flag in Jin Sanchi's hand or the Sky Piercer Halberd held by Jin Sijie, each of them was a good magic weapon. But what made Tang Xiu speechless beyond measure was that these two men did not even comprehend any methods and techniques about the refining school of thought at all. They did not integrate their magic weapons into their bodies to foster its power and connected it to their blood vessels, of which qi and blood essence circulated, and thus would achieve a perfect command over the weapons as easy as moving their fingers.
"What I did not expect is Golden Armored Zombie. His strength rose a lot in just these few days."
In the center of a mountain valley in the distance, Golden Armored Zombie brandished his long saber to slash the partly hidden and partly visible huge array laid out by the people from the Strange Doors. Layers of ripples fluctuated in the air and despite his astonishing strength, Golden Armored Zombie was unable to break the flag array at all. Occasionally, a red dragon that emerged from the flag array out of thin air moved and attacked extremely fast and caused a lot of injuries to him despite the dragon itself having no corporeal body.
Shipo at the other side, however, seemed quite relaxed. Although the Sky Piercer Halberd brandished by Jin Sijie created blasting gales, she only held a clay pot that constantly released Gu Insects and black smoke, while the locusts that were looming amidst the black smoke were partly hidden and partly visible. The biggest Gu Insect among them was the size of a thumb.
These Gu Insects, however, moved faster than Jin Sijie. While their attacks were unable to break through the layer of qi enveloping Jin Sijie, they still unceasingly consumed his True Essence nonetheless.
"Raging Flame talisman!" Jin Sijie suddenly shouted and threw the Raging Flame talisman, as layers of flames instantly spread out in all directions. The sudden flame burst instantly covered Shipo inside even though she was always alert, and what made her panic the most was that the locusts she released were burned to death in the raging fire; even the black smoke was also cleansed by the fire.
"Damn, how come you have a Raging Flame talisman? Who could still be proficient in its manufacturing technique nowadays?" Shipo's hemp clothes suddenly fell off and formed a wall to protect her body as she yelled in rage while rushing out of the sea of flames.
Buzz, buzz…
Four Lightning talismans were consecutively thrown by Jin Sijie yet again, and Shipo, who was running away in panic, did not notice it and was hit by dozens of lightning bolts. Although she spewed a green light bead from her mouth and was lucky enough to neutralize 60% of the lightning bolts' might, her body, however, was not strong enough to withstand the bolts and still got seriously injured.
"BASTARD!"
Western Nefarious Sangha just rushed out of the cave entrance and saw Shipo, who was in a serious state and spitting blood. His eyes turned bloodshot and got frenzied. His figure shot forward as though a meteor and appeared in front of Jin Sijie in the blink of an eye. At this moment, he was holding a long spear in his hand.
The spear was jet-black and seemed to be covered with thick fish scales. The diamond-shaped spearhead ridge was high and the sharpness of its blade was peerlessly incisive and emitted out a faint circulating cold light. The soft tassels on the spear were like finely particulate hair, and yet had its own sense of disheveled beauty as the spear was brandished.
"Come!" Shouted Jin Sijie.
The Sky Piercer Halberd and the black spear were then strangled together. In the next moment, however, his complexion drastically changed as a sense of danger came to him. The Sky Piercer Halberd was instantly thrown out of his hand and the black spear seized the opportunity to impale his chest.
"Damn."
Jin Sanchi, who was fighting Golden Armored Zombie in a relaxed manner with the flag array, had always been paying attention to Jin Sijie's situation. He secretly cheered when Shipo suffered heavy losses under Jin Sijie's attack, but his pleasant surprise then vanished in an instant, because his brother's chest was about to be pierced right at his heart.
"OCTAGON NET, DEMON VANQUISHING BELL!"
Jin Sanchi's expression was thoroughly ferocious as he sped up the attacks released by the flag array and constantly hurt Golden Armored Zombie while letting out a loud bellow. Immediately, those eight decrepit old men pierced their hearts at the same time. Along with the splashing blood essence coming out from their hearts, they threw an eight-node large net blazing with flames with the two Bloodthirsty Chiropterans trapped in it.
DONG…
A dull, bell sound suddenly rang from the rest of the Strange Door's people. The magical sound was like the sound of a thunderclap that directly struck Western Nefarious Sangha's ears. At this time, despite his formidable strength, Western Nefarious Sangha felt his head buzz and turned dizzy, and his body suddenly froze while the octagon nets combined into a large net that shrouded him.
"KILL…"
Eight jade swords suddenly appeared in the hands of the eight decrepit old men whose hearts were bleeding, as eight lines of sword qi swiftly and fiercely shot out from the eight jade swords to pierce through Western Nefarious Sangha's body.
"BREAK!"
Western Nefarious Sangha grabbed a porcelain bottle and quickly took the Holy Healing medicine from it. His black spear swept over to tear the huge net. Just as blood splashed from his body, he had instantly appeared in front of the eight decrepit old men and brandished the spearhead on them, resulting in the eight men losing their heads in an instant.
Following that, he kicked one of the old men's head towards Jin Sanchi's direction, who floated dozens of meters high in the air to control the flag array.
Hmph…
The slaughtering of those eight decrepit old men was met with Jin Sanchi's indifference. He flew to the side, trying to avoid the flying head shooting at him. The next moment, however, the head suddenly exploded and a poisonous dark mist burst out and shrouded him inside.
"Impossible!"
Jin Sanchi was very confident about his strength, yet having a poisonous mist sucked in into his body all of a sudden raised a chill inside his heart, because he was perfectly aware that this poisonous mist would corrode his internal organs rapidly. He would be sapped of his strength like his power being extracted continuously if this poisonous smoke was to invade his blood.
"Flag array, self-destruct!"
This turn of events was far from good, and Ji Sanchi was barely able to bear the pain as he bellowed. The flag array that trapped Golden Armored Zombie inside exploded, and Golden Armored Zombie's steel-like formidable was then covered with his own blood in an instant. He spurted out mouthfuls of blood as his body flew in the air like a falling meteorite and then heavily crashed on the ground.
Both sides suffered losses mutually, and both sides played their cards up their sleeves and crazily preyed on each other, with the final result leaving them with mutual heavy losses. The heaviest injured were Jin Sijie and Western Nefarious Sangha, and the injuries were definitely dangerous for both of them if they did not treat it immediately.
Splash…
The blood-colored liquid was splashing out, as a sharp dagger shot by a middle-aged woman from the Strange Doors easily sliced Shipo's throat and made her fall to the ground. Western Nefarious Sangha then looked at Shipo's throat. Her entire trachea was cut along with its arteries. This sudden sneak attack had claimed Shipo's life directly.
"SHIPO… YOU, FUCKING DAMN!"
Western Nefarious Sangha's face contorted. Despite bleeding due to the displacement of his internal organs, yet he was still like a tiger that plunged into its prey as he shot toward the middle-aged woman among those Strange Door's people. Like a tiger entering a flock of lambs, he brandished and swept his spear at the Strange Door's people, and each and every one of the Strange Door's people who got struck was either killed or heavily injured.
"Green snake, turn into an arrow!"
Jin Sanchi, who had landed on the ground, had the green snake coiled around his arm shot like a sharp arrow through Western Nefarious Sangha's chest. Its swiftness made it impossible for him to react. Western Nefarious Sangha would have been able to avoid it had there been time to protect himself, but at this time, he could only watch helplessly as he did not have the means to remedy it.
On top of the mountain, Tang Xiu squinted his eyes and observed the situation where both sides mutually suffered heavy losses. His expression looked solemn. His expression turned nasty since Western Nefarious Sangha took out that jet-black spear, because he could see that that spear was not just an ordinary magic weapon, it was at a higher level than magic weapons, a spirit weapon.
At present, he could judge and confirm. Western Nefarious Sangha definitely had been disloyal towards him a couple days ago. So much so that he did not hesitate to bet on his life by being unwilling to expose the matter about the Immortal Trove and this spirit long spear. Golden Armored Zombie was the same rotten apple as well as he told him that Western Nefarious Sangha was a timid and cowardly person, and eventually led him to spare the monk's life.