Chapter 187 – No Hope of Reprieve!
When Chen Chengwang sensed the fierce ghost qi closing in on him, his cold and indifferent expression turned serious for the first time in this fight.
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Although he didn’t know why Xu Disheng suddenly had so much profound qi, he didn’t have the time to think about it. The pale yellow light above Chen Chengwang’s head finally came into full view. It was a pale yellow alms bowl, which was emitting a sturdy, protective profound light.
(TL: Alms bowl – a bowl for Buddhist monks with a flat bottom and a narrowed opening that was firmly ingrained in their culture and lifestyle, used for receiving offerings and food from humans and heavenly beings)
“Extinguishing Soul Mantra, second form. Blood Light Illumination.”
Seals flashed in Xu Disheng’s hands. The soul-suppressing Evil Spirit skull flew back to him, and after a moment of transfiguration, its eyes opened completely. The blood light condensed into a beam and shot right through Chen Chengwang’s body!
This was the Soul-Extinguishing Blood Light’s advanced form, Blood Light Illumination!
The energy consumption of this technique was extremely large, costing almost all of the Soul Force in the black flute in his sea of consciousness! Although Xu Disheng managed to comprehend this form while training at Refining Heart Mountain, he hadn’t been able to use it until now.
At that moment, the phantom image of the ancient bell representing Xu Disheng’s profound law foundation demonstrated its miraculous effect. It not only rapidly recovered the profound qi in his Jianggong sea of qi, but it also raised the upper limit of Soul Force Xu Disheng could use, allowing him to use another advanced spell.
Chen Chengwang poured energy into the pale yellow alms bowl with all his might. The yellow radiance shining down from it became even more opaque, but it wasn’t able to block the onslaught of the fierce ghost qi.
Chen Chengwang suddenly heard an ear-piercing zizi sound. He turned to the side and saw that there were already several streams of fierce ghost qi piercing and swallowing towards him.
He couldn’t let this fierce ghost qi reach him at all costs!
Black rays of light shone from Chen Chengwang’s robe, and he weaved a series of hand seals. A phantom image of a black lion shot out, and with a roar, it swallowed down all of the fierce ghost qi piercing towards him.
Before Chen Chengwang could catch even a single breath, a beam of glaring blood red light cut towards his body!
There was simply no time to react. Even the Psychic Magic Treasure ranked robe that Chen Chengwang was wearing couldn’t do anything to block it, not even for a moment.
The beam of blood red light had shot out of the mouth of the soul-suppressing Evil Spirit skull and streaked across the entire length of the mist arena. It penetrated through the pale yellow alms bowl and the defenses of the Black Lion Robe, piercing straight through Chen Chengwang’s body. It illuminated the edge of the arena behind him and even destroyed part of the arena, turning it back into a pure mist energy.
“What is that?!”
Many people shot to their feet, staring at Xu Disheng’s figure atop the arena with fiery gazes.
In the Mingxin Mountain Range, countless disciples cheered excitedly for him as they watched through the screens of light projected by their jade slips.
Without the protection of the pale yellow alms bowl, the boundless fierce ghost qi flooded over Chen Chengwang, wrapping him up completely in a ball of pitch black. He was slammed into the arena, where he lay quivering and trembling.
“Xu Disheng is victorious.”
Cloud Stream Spirit Master waved his hand and sent out a stream of profound light to save Chen Chengwang, but it only managed to dispel the fierce ghost qi on him.
The entire left side of Chen Chengwang’s body was gone, completely vaporized by Xu Disheng’s Blood Light Illumination. He was completely drenched in blood, prone on the floor of the arena, drawing his final breaths.
Cloud Stream Spirit Master’s eyebrows furrowed. “Bring him down from the arena.”
A Dao Foundation stage elder from the Chen Clan flew onto the arena and brought Chen Chengwang away with him. After shooting Xu Disheng a hateful glare, he left the Luminous Cloud Abyss without a word.
Xu Disheng cupped his hands toward Cloud Stream Spirit Master. Under everyone’s gazes, he flew down from the enormous mist arena.
“Go Senior Martial Brother Xu!”
“In my opinion, Xu Disheng can contend for the title of Sacred Son!”
“Senior Martial Brother Xu is the number one genius of our Mingxin Mountain Range!”
In the Mingxin Mountain Range, all the disciples were buzzing with excitement. When they looked at Xu Disheng through their screens of light, pride bubbled up in their chests.
Compared to the top ranking Mountain Ranges, the sixth ranked Mingxin Mountain Range received less cultivation resources and produced less true geniuses. Even people like Yu Yangyao and Jian Liangbi were called geniuses mostly because they relied on their identities and Psychic Magic Treasures to crush others of the same rank.
However, Xu Disheng’s meteoric rise in the public eye led others to start comparing him with geniuses like Zhang Yangui, Mo Yue, and Ji Haohan. This incited great excitement in the disciples of the Mingxin Mountain Range, even causing some to harbor unrealistic expectations for him.
They wanted Xu Disheng to crush all of his peers and stand above the rest!
They looked forward to Xu Disheng taking first place in the Sea of Qi division, representing the entire Mingxin Mountain Range!
More than anything, they yearned for him to fulfill the inner heart’s desire of any ordinary disciple, to tower over their peers and earn the title of Sacred Son!
Chu Luo and the group of people he had been watching the tournament with had left Morning Dew Peak and gone to the marketplace on Canxia Peak. When they felt the buzzing, fervent atmosphere spanning the entire Mingxin Mountain Range, they felt enthusiastic and energized.
“Senior Martial Brother Yuan, can you tell us in more detail about that time you went on a mission with Senior Martial Brother Xu?” There were dozens of disciples surrounding Yuan Qi, their faces glowing with excitement as they urged him to speak.
Yuan Qi looked at the disciples surrounding him. When he caught sight of a few pretty girls among the ranks, a lascivious look flashed through his eyes. He forced himself to stay in control, inwardly telling himself, “You were previously one of Xu Disheng’s companions, you can’t let yourself lose your composure in front of these ordinary disciples.”
With a sigh, he looked around at the disciples surrounding him and started to speak in a tone that feigned profundity. “That time Senior Martial Brother Xu and I went on a mission together, we were able to forge our way to the divine palace at the lakebed of Jade Water Lake through our combined efforts. Remaining calm and collected, fearless in the face of death, we…”
He didn’t even bother to mention the person who accepted the mission in the first place, Chen Xingzhou, or any of his people.
Gradually, rumors spread, citing that Xu Disheng cared about his fellow sect members and would even look out for disciples from the same Mountain Range as him, which only raised their respect for him to greater heights.
… …
“The Shangqing Sacred Sect has so many talented disciples!”
“Indeed, as expected of an overlord sect of the Shan Mountains. Even ordinary Dao Foundation stage disciples might not stand a chance against this little fellow and his secret ghost Dao technique.”
“I heard that the Shangqing Sacred Sect’s number one genius at the Sea of Qi division is Zhang Yangui, that youth who went up to the arena first with the seal of the Burning Heart Sword Poison between his brows.”
“I heard it’s a Profound Treasure! Just how precious is something like that?! It’s such an enormous waste for someone to use it just for planting a sword poison!”
In the sea of clouds, the tens of thousands of profound cultivators from the Shan Mountain Territory were talking and discussing amongst themselves. In the cloud chariots up high, there were many Divine Core stage Spirit Masters talking to one another in subdued tones.
“Celestial Tide, why have I never heard you say anything about acquiring such an unparalleled genius of a disciple?”
Unsurprisingly, Celestial Tide Spirit Master had drawn the gazes of many other Spirit Masters from his position atop his cloud chariot.
Celestial Tide Spirit Master looked off into the far distance toward Xu Disheng, who had already returned to his great hall. There was a hint of surprise in his tone as he spoke. “This disciple is indeed great. It’s true that I was nurturing him before, but even I never expected him to be quite so unmatched.”
Celestial Tide Spirit Master only regarded Xu Disheng with such importance because he knew what he did in the Zhao Realm, when he had erupted with fighting strength and killed four Dao Foundation stage cultivators. But even he didn’t expect him to experience such an explosive growth in every aspect.
A Spirit Master from the Spirit Flower Sect exclaimed, “No matter what it is about this disciple, from his secret soul-attacking technique, to the fact that he’s able to undo the second seal of the Fierce Specter War Chariot and use the Controlling Waves technique at only the half-step Dao Foundation stage, any one of these things would be enough for him to be called a true genius.”
“Did you perhaps forget to mention that secret method that that disciple used to rapidly recover his profound qi?” Another Spirit Master said with a laugh. “That secret method was the real key to his victory just now. If his internal profound qi couldn’t keep up with his consumption, using the Fierce Specter War Chariot or the Controlling Waves technique wouldn’t have been more than a pipe dream.”
Celestial Tide Spirit Master nodded, agreeing. “Indeed, that secret technique that allows him to rapidly recover profound qi is even more precious than his ghost soul-attacking technique. It’s a shame that such techniques are useless for Divine Core stage cultivators like us, or even I might not be able to hold myself back from asking him about his methods and losing face for myself.”
The nearby Spirit Masters nodded in agreement. The Spirit Master from the Spirit Flower Sect who spoke earlier opened his mouth once more. “Celestial Tide Spirit Master, in your opinion, do you think this disciple can seize the title of Sacred Son for the Sea of Qi division this time?”
Gazing off in the direction of Xu Disheng’s great hall once more, Celestial Tide Spirit Master replied, “He can place in the top 3.”
Even though he didn’t say it explicitly, he was placing Xu Disheng above Ji Haohan!
Zhang Yangui and Mo Yue were both evaluated as ‘unparalleled’, and were both capable of crushing anyone at the same rank as them. But with Celestial Tide Spirit Master saying that Xu Disheng could place in the top 3, it meant that he was placing Xu Disheng second only to these two geniuses!
Meanwhile, on Ghost Controlling Peak in the Mingxin Mountain Range…
Ghost Dominion Spirit Master, also known as Zhao Leshan, was wearing a gloomy expression. “Help me draft a clan jade slip and send it to the Fourth Mountain. I want to completely resign from my status in the Mingxin Mountain Range and return to the Zhao Clan branch in the Mountain of Law.”
It was a humiliation for a lofty Divine Core stage Spirit Master to be confined to a Peak in this manner, unable to take a single step from its boundaries.
After this matter took place, Zhao Leshan had lost all the face and reputation he had built in the Mingxin Mountain Range.
Now, all of the disciples and members of the Zhao Clan had to yield to every demand and could no longer act as overbearing as they once did.
If things continued like this, Ghost Controlling Peak would soon experience a rapid decline. Ghost Dominion Spirit Master now hated Xu Disheng and Celestial Tide Spirit Master down to their guts. He was even angrier at the Vice Peak Master, Zhao Yan, for being totally useless and unable to do anything right!
Very few people knew about this matter. Only the few Spirit Masters who held authority in the Mingxin Mountain Range were aware. If more people knew, it would cause huge waves in the Shangqing Sacred Sect.
The people in the Zhao Realm who knew what happened had already been taken care of by Xu Disheng, leaving behind only ordinary mortals.
The main branch of the Zhao Clan from the Mountain of Law learned of this matter through Ghost Dominion Spirit Master, but they didn’t believe that Xu Disheng turned the tables and killed Zhao Yan and the others alone. They instead believed that Xu Disheng had some powerful expert backing him, which is why they further reprimanded Ghost Dominion Spirit Master, harshly criticizing him for making a mess of the Zhao Realm and losing face for the Zhao Clan.
“Fortunately, I have that bastard Zhao Yan’s recording jade slip, showing his last moments before death. If I didn’t have that, even I wouldn’t have believed that that Sea of Qi stage brat could kill four Dao Foundation stage cultivators! That pagoda… it has to be at least a Profound Treasure!”
Zhao Leshan waved his hand, dismissing the Ghost Controlling Peak disciples in the hall. He muttered to himself while fiddling with the recording jade slip in his hand.
“Celestial Tide Spirit Master He Wenshu… You must be so pleased with yourself right now. But I have conclusive evidence that Xu Disheng, whom you place such high hopes on, violated sect rules. Even if I have to give up my foundation on Ghost Controlling Peak, I will thoroughly destroy him as revenge for you humiliating me!”
The rules of the Shangqing Sacred Sect were extremely strict!
Ghost Dominion Spirit Master was heavily punished, but it was still Zhao Yan and the others who had borne the brunt of the criminal charges for attempting to slaughter a genius of the sect.
Although Xu Disheng had acted in his own personal defense by killing Zhao Yan and the other Dao Foundation stage beings from the Zhao Clan, he still killed many people from the Zhao Clan, some of which were disciples registered on the sect directory!
Xu Disheng had once been charged with slaughtering fellow sect disciples, but Celestial Tide Spirit Master took action and forcefully cleared these charges.
But this wasn’t Ghost Dominion Spirit Master’s true gambit. Instead, his focus was that pagoda that Xu Disheng had revealed at that moment of truly life-threatening danger, which he had used to kill the four Dao Foundation stage assailants!
The man may be innocent, but others will always covet the riches of another!
The Mountain Range and the sect as a whole could accept Xu Disheng’s secret soul-attacking technique, his secret method of rapidly recovering his profound qi, and even the Psychic Magic Treasures he had, but not a Profound Treasure!
A Profound Treasure was a paramount item ranked above even a Psychic Magic Treasure. They were extremely rare even amongst Primordial Spirit stage cultivators!
And with this… Zhao Leshan now had an extremely good excuse!
Slaughtering fellow disciples of the sect in the Zhao Realm! If Ghost Dominion Spirit Master disclosed this matter and made it known that Xu Disheng had a Profound Treasure, all that waited for Xu Disheng was an inescapable abyss, with no hope of reprieve!
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