“What is that?!”
Mo Shougui was shocked. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Is that human? Alive?
Buried in the Immortal Palace, but… alive?
Tightly holding the ax and shield, Xiang Shaoyun held his breath. He felt his Qi and blood becoming intense. He was ready to attack anytime. After all, this thing—whatever it was—was buried in the underground palace, and he had no idea how strong it would be.
Other than the skinny Daoist priest sitting up in the coffin in the middle chamber, several small ghosts were crawling on walls and the floor and even hanging upside down from the ceiling.
Two muscular ghosts, as tall as six feet and seven inches, stood on both sides of the coffin. Both of them were clad in ancient armor, like something from hell, and holding a giant knife with a long handle, which gave off a cold, sharp light.
“Are they commanders in chief? Or… leaders of these small ghosts?!”
Li Sansi suggested. He was always fighting battles on the border with neighbor states, so he knew their armies quite well.
“The one sitting in the coffin should be the commander in chief. Those two are generals… But they are much stronger than those small ghosts. Those two generals have ten wisps of Spirit Qi in their bodies. They can be compared to Ninth Resonance Grandmasters… They are strong.”
Xiang Shaoyun said.
The fact that even the Overlord thought the two generals were strong shows how formidable these two ghost generals were.
“What do we do?”
Li Sansi gazed at Xiang Shaoyun.
“I will deal with the Daoist priest sitting in the coffin… You three deal with the two ghost generals.”
Xiang Shaoyun said in a calm tone. “If you fail to get rid of them, you know how you will end up.”
“Why are you the one to deal with that skinny Daoist priest?” said Mo Shougui.
Xiang Shaoyun squinted, his muscular body tilting slightly. Throwing Mo Shougui a glance, he added, “Well, I’ll leave him to you if you can deal with him.”
“You are not a match for him.
“The Daoist priest is indeed skinny, but given the fact he is in the coffin, he must be in a high position in the Immortal Palace. He could even be the Immortal who built this Immortal Palace. The Overlord is probably able to fight him, but you, Mo Shougui… You are simply not strong enough.”
Kong Nanfei said as he took out a few rolls of bamboo slips from his book box.
Mo Shougui opened his mouth, but he did not say anything.
Xiao Shaoyun did not bother to speak to him.
Waving his shield and ax, he suddenly ran out.
“Go!”
Tong!
As soon as the Overlord moved, the Immortal Palace seemed to shake.
Li Sansi brandished his wooden sword and then ran out as well.
Kong Nanfei unfolded the bamboo slips, and with a serious look on his face, he began reading something. In the Immortal Palace, the Confucianist Righteousness Qi was repealing those small ghosts.
Mo Shougui, with a cold face, also unsheathed his sword. He rushed at one of the ghost generals holding a giant knife.
The battle broke out instantly!
In the coffin placed in the middle chamber…
The skinny Daoist priest’s skin was dry and gray. With green ghost fires reflected in his eyes, he looked extremely spooky.
However, he looked like he was confused.
Xiang Shaoyun waved his long ax. Before him, the small ghosts seemed to be made of paper.
He could kill one small ghost with every wave of his ax. He made the Spirit Qi circulate his body so that his Qi and blood became more vigorous, and his strength became stronger. He enjoyed the feeling of being strong.
The two generals brandished their knives wrapped by Spirit Qi. Even the air groaned as if it could not bear the heavy burden. The knives were thrown toward Xiang Shaoyun.
“Li Sansi!”
Xiang Shaoyun scowled in a low voice. His hair flying, a look of determination was on his face.
A wooden sword fell from the sky.
Li Sansi, in a white robe, landed on the ground. A wisp of Qi flowed out of his cinnabar field. It rushed through his body. Stepping on seven stars, he launched two consecutive attacks with his sword, with both attacks striking the giant knife thrown over by the ghost general.
Red-faced, Li Sansi almost coughed up blood.
On the other side, Mo Shougui also landed to deflect the other ghost general’s knife attack.
“Ghosts with ten wisps of Spirit Qi… can be compared to Tenth Resonance Grandmasters!”
Mo Shougui was shocked.
Since Li Sansi and Mo Shougui were dealing with the two ghost generals, Xiang Shaoyun, waving his shield and ax, charged forward right toward the skinny Daoist priest in the coffin.
“My name is Jiang Chao. I was a Qi Refiner from ancient times. My Qi Core Realm is in Great Completeness.”
A dry, profound voice, both loud and resonant, came from the skinny Daoist priest.
Waving his shield and ax, Xiang Shaoyun approached the priest but paused and gazed at him.
Qi Core Realm in Great Completeness?
How was it possible that his Qi Core Realm was in Great Completeness?!
Xiang Shaoyun was not dumb. He certainly knew what Qi Core Realm in Great Completeness meant.
By then, he had learned about the realms of cultivators. The cinnabar field absorbed Spirit Qi. When the Spirit Qi filled the cinnabar field, it would be the Great Completeness of the Qi Core.
What confused Xiang Shaoyun was that Qi Core Realm in Great Completeness did not fit the scale of this Immortal Palace at all!
“I fought the rebel army formed by Qi Refiners in Internal Organs Realm at the cost of my life. I was buried in the Hidden Dragon Ridge.
“But why am I still alive?”
Although the skinny Daoist priest’s voice was loud and resonant, he sounded confused.
Holding the shield and the ax, Xiang Shaoyun slowly approached the priest, one step at a time.
He glanced over at the coffin.
All of a sudden…
With eyes wide open in shock, he saw behind the coffin, the entrance to the back chamber was open, and he could see some old parchment unfolded on the stone shelf in the back chamber.
“Immortal cultivation methods!”
Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes suddenly lit up.
His breathing was short and fast. What did he, Xiang Shaoyun, need most at such a moment?
Immortal cultivation methods!
Only with some immortal cultivation method could he draw Spirit Qi into his body and keep it in his body instead of letting them disperse to nothing.
“But why am I still alive?”
Bang!
All of a sudden, the skinny Daoist priest asked the question that mattered to him most.
Xiang Shaoyun had planned to go into the back chamber without dealing with the skinny Daoist priest, but he was immediately repelled by a Spirit Pressure.
He retreated several steps.
“Uh?!”
Xiang Shaoyun squinted.
“This pressure is much weaker than the pressure outside of the Immortal Palace!”
However, Xiang Shaoyun knew it was almost impossible to bypass this mad skinny Daoist priest to get to the immortal cultivation methods smoothly.
“Why are you still alive?”
“You call yourself a Qi Refiner from the ancient times? That’s funny. You know what era we are in now?
“You are not dead because the Immortal doesn’t want you dead. The Immortal wants you to protect the immortal cultivation methods… You are nothing but a puppet of the Immortal!
“I won’t allow a puppet to stand in my way! I’m the Overlord of West County!”
Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes were ablaze with anger. Holding his shield in one hand and his ax in the other, his Qi and blood were soaring, which triggered the Spirit Qi to cling around him.
His voice was proud and resonant, echoing in the grave chamber.
In the distance…
Li Sansi and Mo Shougui, crammed by the ghost generals, displayed a confused look on their faces.
“The Overlord is worth his reputation… The Daoist priest that had come back to life was easily confused by his sharp tongue.”
Li Sansi complimented.
A light thrust of the wooden sword sent the approaching giant knife flying sideward.
Then, holding the wooden sword with one hand, he stood straight with hands behind his back. His lips trembled. He spit out blood suddenly.
In the coffin, the skinny Daoist priest looked like he was completely confused. He was dumbstruck by Xiang Shaoyun’s reply.
Meanwhile, Xiang Shaoyun quickly acted while the skinny Daoist priest was in a trance.
Waving his shield and ax, he snarled in anger without reserving any strength.
He kept using his Qi and blood and Spirit Qi to attack the skinny Daoist priest.
A wave of the ax started a powerful wind. The ax directly cleaved toward the skinny Daoist priest.
******
On Beiluo Lake Island…
Lu Fan was lazily sitting in the wheelchair, leaning against the back of it. Ni Yu took the bronze liquor cup from Lu Fan.
She was about to refill it when Lu Fan waved his hand to stop her.
Lu Fan, cupping his jaw in one hand and pinching the bridge of his nose with the other hand, was staring at the Spirit Pressure Chessboard. He had a deep look to his face. He saw several jumping lines.
“Well… The bug came so soon. Xiang Shaoyun, known as the West County Overlord… He is, indeed, strong.”
Lu Fan seemed to be pondering.
It was his first time to Create Secret Realm. He did have overlooked some regular things.
This Qi Refiner boss was based on the legends of ancient emperors and sovereigns from Wuhuang Continent he had read in ancient books.
According to the book, “The Sovereign sent army forces to defeat the rebel army. The rebel army asked the phoenix to set a Heavenly Fire. The Sovereign ordered Shu Wuchao to gather water to extinguish the fire, and then the rebel army was defeated.”
However, why would a Qi Refiner talk about ancient times as soon as he wakes up from such a long sleep?
Lu Fan pinched the bridge of his nose.
That being said, despite the flaw, it was all right.
He, Lu Fan, was good-tempered. He was not a person that stuck to trifles.
“This Overlord is too tough. He has never been discouraged in the world, so he needs some trials. Otherwise… He will suffer big losses in the future.”
Besides, he was very curious about whether these people would be able to go beyond their limits when facing a desperate situation.
Creating a world not only involved changing the environment but also cultivating really strong people.
And these really strong people were always shaped in desperate situations.
Lu Fan squinted.
A wind brushed over him.
He raised his sleeve and picked up a chess piece. He put it on the chessboard lightly.
*****
In the middle chamber of the Immortal Palace…
Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes were ablaze. The skinny Daoist priest was dumbstruck by his sharp remark. Xiang Shaoyun took advantage of this moment and threw his ax over. The powerful energy even made the air crackle.
This ax was supposed to hit and kill the Daoist priest.
But when it was about only an inch away from the Daoist priest’s head, the ax was blocked by formless energy.
One wisp, two wisps, three wisps… As many as twelve wisps of Spirit Qi were floating in the air. That was the Qi Core in Great Completeness!
The Daoist priest, who had been sitting in the coffin, got to his feet slowly. His ragged Daoist robe fluttered in the wind.
His hair had been worn in a bun. But at the moment he stood up, the bun went loose, and his dry hair was blowing in the wind.
His eyes, which reflected the dark-green ghost fires, became brighter. He kept staring at Xiang Shaoyun.
“The Sovereign ordered me to guard the immortal methods and protect the immortal Dao. Any intruders, kill.”
Zoom…
The Daoist priest waved his hand.
A dreadful Spirit Pressure was suddenly released.
Xiang Shaoyun was dumbstruck. His pupils contracted involuntarily. The ax in his hand was sent flying. The tremendous force transformed by the Spirit Pressure hit his giant body hard. Fortunately, the shield blocked it for him, so his body was not broken in pieces.
But he was still sent flying. He bounced off the wall of the stone chamber and kept sliding on the ground dozens of miles until he finally stopped.