West County.
Snowflakes, along with the sand and dust, flurried through the air and made everything dreary.
The vast expanse of the field was littered with the corpses of soldiers. Some belonged to soldiers from the Guifang tribe, some from the Maurya Empire, and some, of course, from Western Liang.
The bodies on the ground highlighted the cruelty of the war.
Three figures stood in the middle of the battlefield.
The Buddhist Monk had turned into a demonic monk who faced the world with the back of his head forward, his neck 180 degrees in the opposite direction.
A jolt of strong, devilish energy which seemed to be filled with howls of souls of the deceased, emanated from his body.
The blond man was holding a sword that still radiated light. The energy around him was coalescing as well.
The strength of a Peak Foundation Building cultivator had started to show.
The blond man had not expected the Buddhist Monk to be decapitated by Overlord.
Nevertheless, the problem was not out of control even with this little mishap.
Although the man in front of him had entered the Foundation Building Realm from the Qi Condensation Realm… He was still far behind, compared to the people who were in the Peak Foundation Building Realm.
The Buddhist Monk, in particular, had taken off his sanctimonious facade and embraced his demonic essence which increased his fighting capacity by a great deal.
The blond man raised his chin and looked at the snowy sky.
A touch of longing flashed in his eyes.
He had to hold tightly to the sword to retain this sense of longing.
Bang!
The energy inside the blond man’s body surged as he stamped his foot. A deep hole formed on the ground below him.
With every step he took, a deep hole took shape like that from an explosion, and this made him move much faster.
Overlord held his black ax in one hand and the blood shield in the other.
Fearless, he rushed toward the blond man.
The two collided at the center of the battlefield with the light sword clashing against the blood shield. The sword nearly slashed the blood shield open with one strike.
When Overlord first entered the Internal Organs Realm, he was only a newcomer. Facing the fierce blond man now, he suffered one defeat after another again and again, only barely defending himself with his blood shield.
In the distance, a sinister smile smeared the face of the demonic monk with his twisted neck.
He put his palms together and chanted Buddhist sutras under his breath.
With red Kasayas wrapped around their upper bodies, old monks walked by him one by one and chanted along with him.
The mournful howls of deceased souls filled the air.
It lingered in each Western Liang soldier’s ears and undermined the morale.
They began to see their comrades in front of them screaming in agony.
Even the cultivators of the Xiang Family’s Army were affected in a similar way.
Their faces twisted in excruciating pain. The soldiers who couldn’t handle the misery killed themselves with the knives and swords in their own hands.
The situation on the battlefield changed immediately. The Western Liang Army was now on the brink of defeat.
Overlord’s body was wrapped in Demonic Qi. He brandished his giant ax and shield as his expression turned.
He was surprised the demonic monk could affect people’s consciousness.
He emitted a deep roar that was meant to wake the Xiang Family’s Army up who was impacted by the demonic monk’s illusions.
However, it did not make much of an impact.
It even gave the blond man a chance to attack him with the sword.
“A demon?
“The light sword in my hand excels at purging demons like you.”
The blond man gave a wicked smile.
Like a shadow, he suddenly appeared on the other side of Overlord. The air made exploding sounds as he pulled out the light sword.
Overlord let go of the blood shield and waved his long ax, trying to hit the blond man at the cost of getting injured himself.
Who was the one afraid now?
The blond man squinted. He ducked backward, not wanting to get hurt.
He had no intention of getting injured at the hands of a native who merely just entered the internal Organs Realm. He needed to save his energy to face the Lord of the Plane.
Overlord was like a wild beast when he launched another vicious attack. Disregarding his life, he was almost an equal match for the blond man.
Even so, he was still under the influence of the demonic monk’s illusions.
Overlord could barely hold the fort against him for much longer.
On the tower at the Tianhan Gate, Lv Mudui walked slowly to the edge, accompanied by the tapping sound of his bamboo cane.
He was dressed in a white robe and led the young woman who wore a veil and held her pipa.
Listening to the Buddhist sutra being chanted on the battlefield, a look of concern furrowed Lv Mudui’s brows.
He turned to the young woman wearing the veil behind him and asked, “Mingyue, can you do it?”
Under the veil, the young woman’s pretty face did not seem so sure. But she was moved by the Western Liang soldiers fighting below on the field.
She nodded solemnly and replied, “I will do my best.”
Lv Mudui turned and ordered the two soldiers of the Xiang Family’s Army standing behind him, “Keep her safe.”
The two soldiers were stunned.
“This…”
But they couldn’t afford to offend White Jade City, so they nodded in acceptance, thinking about Lv Mudui’s background.
Mingyue held up her pipa behind her face veil.
She leaped and sat on the gate tower.
Her slender fingers caressed the pipa.
All of a sudden, the soothing sound of her pipa drifted across the field.
The two soldiers of the Xiang Family’s Army were amazed.
Because the sense of oppression in their hearts, brought on by the chanting of the demonic monk, was alleviated!
Lv Mudui smiled.
Holding the green bamboo cane and looking out over the vast battlefield, he couldn’t help but let out a deep breath.
“Who said the Tianji School couldn’t fight?
“It was only because it’s not the right time to fight.”
“I scare even myself when I become ruthless.”
Lv Mudui didn’t have the courage to jump off the high tower like Overlord did.
After all, he was too old to exert himself like that.
He turned and walked down the gate tower with long strides.
He fondled a shiny turtle shell in his hand. There were three coins inside the shell that made melodic clanking sounds when it was shaken.
Once he was outside the Tianhan Gate, Lv Mudui joined the fight.
He calculated the Tianji with one hand and waved the bamboo cane with his other hand.
The enemy soldiers were knocked aside one by one by the cane.
At a steady pace, he walked across the bloody battlefield clearing the way like it was a drift of snow.
He walked towards Overlord.
On top of the gate tower, the young woman continued holding up her pipa.
As she plucked at the strings, the beautiful sound that drifted from it reverberated like pearls cascading on a plate of jade with the power to slow down the snowstorm.
The high notes wailed like pelting rain, while the low notes whispered like soft confidantes.
The wailing and whispering wove an intricate tapestry and echoed through the battlefield.
It clashed with the demonic monk’s sutra.
Not a direct confrontation, but an invisible battle.
It was just as ruthless and critical, even though it didn’t result in blood and gore.
Mingyue concentrated on playing her pipa. Snowflakes landed on her long eyelashes, but she didn’t even blink. Her hands plucked the strings faster and faster.
The Xiang Family’s Army and the armored horsemen of Western Liang who were affected by the demonic monk’s chant were all freed from the illusionary suffering. The howling souls of the deceased vanished.
They turned to look at the gate tower and saw an elegant figure playing the instrument at the top of the tower.
The soldiers blushed with excitement.
The elegant figure was familiar to them.
Besides, how could they retreat when there a beautiful woman was fighting alongside them?
The song of the pipa inspired the Xiang Family’s Army and boosted their failing morale.
They fought madly with the enemy at close quarters. Their despondent mood was swept away.
Overlord blocked an attack from the blond man and took two steps back.
He turned and looked at the gate tower.
“Mingsang?”
“No…”
Overlord frowned, then thought of something. His expression became complicated.
“Overlord, I’m coming to help you.”
In the distance, a white-robed Lv Mudui tapped his bamboo cane on the ground littered with bodies, and walked toward Overlord in the heavy snow.
The turtle shell in his hand was dimly luminous. The coins inside turned and flipped, calculating the Tianji of every passing moment.
Lv Mudui smiled and showed his broken front teeth. He crossed his legs and sat down.
The bamboo cane continued tapping a rhythm on the ground.
He looked at the blond man.
The blond man charged at him. Lv Mudui started to speak aloud the weak points in the blond man’s movements and gave instructions on how to counterattack.
Overlord’s eyes brightened. He instantaneously began to strike back with his Demonic Qi and grasped every opportunity to overpower the blond man.
In the distance, the demonic monk raised the back of his head and stared at the tower of Tianhan Gate as if he had eyes growing on the bald side of his head.
He “looked” at the young woman who was playing the pipa.
To his surprise, he saw that she was able to suppress the effects of the Buddhist sutras with her pipa.
With the blood-stained Kasaya draped over one of his shoulders, the demonic monk stepped forward.
The snow on the ground was raised in a flurry.
He put his palms together and intoned another sutra loudly.
Standing on the gate tower, Mingyue’s face immediately turned pale.
The sound of her pipa became harsh and grating.
The instrument was smeared with a tinge of red.
Her fingers were cut by the string.
The young woman’s face under the veil was adamant. She kept playing the pipa with her bloody fingers. The melodic music once again resounded across the battlefield and triumphed over the Buddhist sutra.
Lv Mudui’s expression changed a bit.
He calculated even faster.
Overlord also realized that he couldn’t drag out the fight any longer. The battle had to finish soon.
However, the blond man seemed quite relaxed. He waved his sword in an offhand manner.
He recognized that Lv Mudui was an unusual man who was able to calculate his next move and point out his weaknesses.
“Are you from the Tianji Pavilion of White Jade City?
“Under the control of the Lord of the Plane?”
The blond man squinted.
Lv Mudui continued to read aloud the enemy’s openings to Overlord.
“It doesn’t matter even if you can predict my next move.
“You can’t kill me.”
The blond man chuckled.
He swung the light sword and promptly shattered the ground in front of him.
The mud, soaked with blood, flew into the air with snow.
Overlord’s ax swept across and dashed against the light sword. The shockwave spread around.
The blond man’s eyes focused. He cracked an evil smile.
Two deep craters appeared under his feet. He seized the chance to close in on Overlord and slashed the blood shield with his light sword at full speed.
The blood shield exploded into two halves upon impact.
“You are a dead man walking!”
The blond man curled up his lips.
Overlord gasped for breath. “Oh? Is that right?”
Sitting on the ground in the distance, Lv Mudui also smiled with his broken front teeth shown.
“Liuqi… Kill!”
His voice echoed.
An astonishing amount of murderous energy surged into the air!
The sky became hazy from the snowstorm. A corpse far away suddenly stood up. A ray of silver light flashed.
With a clanking sound, the silver light spun rapidly like a windmill.
Overlord’s blood shield had split into halves, so he resisted the light sword attack with his body and gripped the sword tightly with his hand.
The blond man’s pupils contracted.
With Spirit Qi bursting from it, the corpse jumped up from the ground and pressed its knees into the blond man’s back.
The spinning silver light dimmed and became a giant pair of scissors.
The dead body grasped the silver scissors.
And stabbed them downwards emotionlessly.
Fizz!
Blood sprayed.
The corpse, whose knees were still pressing on the blond man’s back, raised its head and stared at Overlord with a stony face.
“Helping you…doesn’t mean I have given up on killing you. Sooner or later, I will have your head,” said Mo Liuqi, the number two—no—number one assassin in the world.
On the other side, the demonic monk walked forward step by step. His bloody Kasaya flapped in the storm.
He walked faster and faster.
Striding across the battlefield, he came to the sturdy tower of Tianhan Gate.
He leaned back as far as he could without breaking his back. Then he sprinted up the wall of the tower of almost ten meters.
Mingyue was concentrating all her attention on playing the pipa and didn’t notice it at all.
With all of her ten fingers bleeding, the strings reeked of blood.
Nevertheless, she was still absorbed in playing her pipa.
All of a sudden, Mingyue’s heart dropped.
Another string broke.
A bloody weal appeared on the back of her hand as the string bounced and cut her.
The two cultivators from the Xiang Family’s Army who were protecting her bellowed in anger.
They pulled the long knives stuck in their belts.
Because, not sure when, within the crenel of the wall, a bald back of a head popped up in front of Mingyue.
His bones gave out a creaking sound.
As the head turned slowly, the bloody, ferocious face of the demonic monk came into view. With a cold smile, he stared at Mingyue.
“The Buddha says your depraved song disrupts people’s minds. You need to be enlightened,” the demonic monk said slowly.
But just as he finished talking, a white figure darted towards him like a bolt of silk.
One leap later, a foot slammed hard onto the demonic monk’s face that appeared through the crenel of the wall.
It was a solid kick.
The tremendous force hurled the demonic monk down the wall like a cannonball. The monk fell to the ground into the pile of dead bodies and snow.
“Enlighten?
“Who do you think you are? How dare you enlighten a girl of White Jade City?”
A calm voice reverberated around the gate tower.
Mingyue raised her head and looked at the white figure nearby who was still holding a kicking pose.
The figure had a stubbly beard and had a butcher’s knife stuck in his belt.
“Uncle… Uncle Nie?”
Mingyue was stunned.
Nie Changqing nodded slightly.
He abruptly pulled out the butcher’s knife.
Spirit Qi condensed around it.
A large shadow was projected by the butcher’s knife.
“Royal Knife!” Old Nie said.
The shadow of the knife immediately released a terrifying force that had reached its finest form in the Internal Organs Realm. It blasted toward the demonic monk laying on the ground below.
…
Beiluo Lake Island.
Ning Zhao raised her head and gazed at the sky. Snowflakes drifted through the air.
“It starts to snow,” Ning Zhao said.
Nearby, Ni Yu nodded. She took out a sugarcoated elixir from her pocket and put it in her mouth.
“I wonder when the Young Master will come out of his retreat,” Ni Yu muttered.
“Sister Ning, do you think the Young Master is hungry since he has been in seclusion for three months? How can people survive without eating?”
Ni Yu put another elixir in her mouth after she spoke.
“Young Master’s capabilities are beyond our imagination. If he can do this in one shot, maybe he can also survive without eating,” Ning Zhao said.
“But that’s no fun!
“I don’t think the Young Master is someone who doesn’t need to eat. He is an epicure deep down. Didn’t you see how much he likes drinking green plum wine and eating laba porridge? Young Master enjoys eating a lot,” Ni Yu said, clicking her tongue disapprovingly.
Ni Yu glanced at Ni Yu and her even chubbier cheeks. This girl… she had become bloated during the three months the Young Master was in seclusion.
“Young Master is right upstairs. You should watch your tongue,” Ning Zhao said.
Ni Yu took out another sugarcoated elixir and handed it to Ning Zhao. She wanted Ning Zhao to taste it as well.
Ni Yu pursed her lips, smiling.
“Young Master is still in seclusion. He can’t hear me.” She laughed.
Ning Zhao didn’t take the elixir. Holding the Cicada Wing Sword in one hand and gazing at the snowy sky, she exhaled a breath.
Suddenly, her body stiffened.
She heard the squeaky sound of snow crunching from behind the Pavilion.
A figure sitting upright in a wheelchair slowly came into sight from the Pavilion and appeared behind Ni Yu who was sitting on the stone stairs.
“Who can’t hear what?”
Ni Yu raised her head and leaned backward. Gazing at the world upside down, she saw a familiar face in the wheelchair.
Her jaw dropped open and her chubby cheeks twitched.
The sugarcoated elixir in her hand dropped to the floor.