What answered Xu Pingfeng was sabre light and sword radiance, tearing apart his body.
Xu Pingfeng’s figure then appeared on the other side, standing with his hands behind his back, calm and unruffled, as he chuckled lightly:
“You are just as stubborn as ever. Even though you feel an extreme dread of your father in your heart, you insist on acting arrogant and unruly, as if by doing so you are proving to me that you have grown up.”
Xu Qi’an sneered:
“Your attempts to manipulate my heart are impressive. I’m actually starting to get angry.”
Xu Pingfeng smiled, unwilling to argue further, and said:
“Whatever. I’ve already given you a chance. Since you insist on being so obstinate, I won’t press the matter.”
He remained unflappably composed, confident and in control.
It was as if Xu Qi’an, this Silver Gong of the Great Feng whom the court feared and the jianghu revered, was nothing in his eyes.
Of course, Xu Pingfeng had reason to be so confident.
Although the last time he made a move in the capital he failed to recover the fortune, and suffered a defeat in his first open confrontation with his eldest legitimate son;-
In truth, reclaiming the Dragon Qi was just one part of his plan. His other plan, to kill Zhende and shatter the dragon ley, went extremely smoothly.
He never walked away empty-handed.
The more calmly Xu Pingfeng behaved, the angrier Xu Qi’an became inside.
Even a vicious tiger would not eat its own cubs, yet Xu Pingfeng had fathered his legitimate eldest son solely to serve as a vessel for the nation’s fortune.
Were it not for his birth mother’s fierce maternal love which saved him, Xu Qi’an would long ago have been used up and discarded as nothing more than a tool.
Even so, Xu Pingfeng still did not let “him” go, using the tax silver case as an excuse to exile him to a frontier post and have him dealt with en route.
For this goal, he was willing to abandon even his own brother’s family, showing no feeling whatsoever, so cold-blooded it was frightening.
Animal!
Now, seeing his own son’s cultivation improving by the day, he looked down from above and tried to play the family card, as if bestowing charity from a position of strength.
Xu Qi’an understood that even now, Xu Pingfeng had never truly regarded him as important.
“Don’t think of yourself as so unique. In the eyes of the true highest-level experts, those with fortune upon them are only troublesome to kill because of the backlash. In fact, among those who reached first rank who didn’t have extraordinary fate?”
Xu Pingfeng said mildly, “The backlash from fortune is especially severe for an arcanist, but for peak experts of other paths, at worst it just means paying a certain price.”
He said no more, employed a teleportation technique and vanished. When he reappeared, he was standing atop the head of the Vajra Dharma Aspect.
Xu Qi’an did not try to stop him. Both he and Nalan Tianlu were in a half-crippled state.
However, he had the Medicine Buddha Aspect healing him, and in at most ten minutes, he would be able to regain some battle strength.
He still had one trump card left unused.
By this point, the fighting had stopped. The old man stood proudly in the air, facing off against the Vajra Aspect from a distance.
The two were vastly mismatched in size, yet the old man’s presence was not the least bit weaker than the Vajra Aspect. The pride of a martial artist, as always.
“Kou Yangzhou!
“You’ve been in seclusion for four hundred years. Did you ever consider that the day you broke through would be the day you died?”
Xu Pingfeng’s tone was calm, but his voice resounded in the heavens, clearly reaching the ears of Cao Qingyang and the others, as well as the distant garrison troops.
The old man regarded Xu Pingfeng with a loud reply:
“You are the Jianzheng’s eldest apprentice?”
He’d already learned from Xu Qi’an something of the story between the Jianzheng and his eldest apprentice, though, of course, Xu Qi’an had concealed that “unfilial son” meant his own father.
There wasn’t any particular reason, he simply didn’t want to say.
Xu Pingfeng did not answer. Instead, a clear light flared beneath his feet and array after array formed, enveloping the Vajra Dharma Aspect.
A teleportation formation covered its feet, a strengthening formation covered its body, a grand five elements formation merged into the interior of the Dharma Aspect, replacing its heart and viscera…
The golden staff burst forth with a blinding radiance, its immense weight seeming to crush the void.
Black, viscous brilliance flowed over the golden divine sword like water; tiny motes of white light scattered and adhered to the golden sabre; searing flames blazed up from the Vajra halo; azure vines grew out from the golden pagoda’s exterior; the golden bell rippled with a thick earthy radiance.
Boom!
A bolt of thunder struck from the sky, slamming directly onto the Vajra pestle, making arcs of electricity jump from its tip.
Formations were the core ability of an arcanist.
By manipulating the forces of heaven and earth through formations, they could be used for both offence and support.
Xu Pingfeng now used formations to support, enhancing every aspect of the Vajra Dharma Aspect.
In the blink of an eye, the Aspect’s aura surged, going a step further and reaching true first rank combat strength.
Once these arrays were set, Xu Pingfeng’s avatar’s aura weakened to the extreme, ready to dissipate at any moment.
But Xu Pingfeng was not yet satisfied. He reached into his robe and brought out a bracelet, adorned with animal teeth, stones of various colours, copper plates, and other ornaments, all of exotic style.
Basking in the glow of the Medicine Buddha Aspect, Xu Qi’an sensed a familiar aura from that bracelet.
The aura of the Heaven Gu.
So this is how Xu Pingfeng’s double slipped past the Jianzheng and arrived at Jianzhou, via “Shifting constellations”? He mused to himself.
He then saw Xu Pingfeng open his hand and let the bracelet fall, “merging” into the Vajra Dharma Aspect.
He’s going to… Xu Qi’an tensed, already guessing Xu Pingfeng’s intention.
After handing over the bracelet, Xu Pingfeng shimmered with clear light at his feet again, disappearing. He had returned to the Wind-riding Boat, standing by the rail with his hands behind his back, looking down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Vajra Dharma Aspect, as tall as a mountain, turned its massive form, abandoning the old man and swinging its countless weapons as it charged towards Xu Qi’an.
It was like a natural disaster. The ground shook violently for miles around.
Target: Xu Qi’an!
Whether it was Xu Pingfeng or the Buddhist sect, the primary target was always Xu Qi’an.
No wonder he said he was giving me a last chance… Xu Qi’an shouted urgently:
“Senior, run!”
This was called out to the old monk, spirit of the Stupa tower.
Did you need to tell me? The Stupa tower sped away, trailing golden light, with Xu Qi’an wrapped in its wake.
Clear light flared beneath the Vajra Dharma Aspect’s feet, and its immense form suddenly vanished.
Xu Qi’an suddenly felt himself covered by a huge shadow. Turning to look, he found that golden form with twenty-four arms, wreathed in five elements’ force, had appeared behind him at some point.
Bang!
The sabre, speckled with white shards of light, struck the tower. Dazzling gold and blazing white fragments exploded outwards, sending ripples in all directions like a bloom of fireworks.
The blast was so powerful that Xu Qi’an’s not-yet-healed body suffered further. His eardrums ruptured instantly, and under the aftershocks his consciousness briefly faded.
In that moment, the only thought in Xu Qi’an’s mind was:
Good thing I left Mu Nanzhi outside, and didn’t put her into the Stupa tower.
He knew this battle involved beyond-mortal beings and Xu Pingfeng, hence he had prudently transferred Mu Nanzhi and Chai Xing’er out of the Stupa tower beforehand.
Otherwise, just that one blow would have sent the Flower Goddess’s reincarnation from this one straight into her next one.
The Stupa tower tumbled through the air like a meteorite, taking Xu Qi’an with it.
Thump, thump, thump… the Vajra Dharma Aspect thundered after them, lashing down with sabres, swords, staves, pestles and other weapons all at once.
Hum!
Perhaps sensing the great threat, the Stupa tower finally broke its rule of “not acting against Buddhist monks”, the tower’s body quivered, and a stern, overwhelming power surged out like a tide.
Suppressing all enemies nearby.
At the same time, another illusory Dharma Aspect condensed at the top of the tower, draped in a kasaya, its features blurred, a radiant halo symbolising wisdom shining behind its head.
This wheel of wisdom reversed its rotation.
The Vajra Aspect’s frenzied charge was brought to a halt under the suppression of the Stupa tower. As the wisdom wheel reversed, the Vajra Aspect became dazed, as if it had lost its wisdom and no longer knew what to do.
Seizing this opportunity, the Stupa tower escaped with Xu Qi’an. This level of counterattack was already the tower spirit’s limit.
It was not adept at fighting.
After two seconds, the Vajra Dharma Aspect regained its intelligence, light surged beneath its feet, and it was about to use a teleportation spell to give chase.
Whoosh! Clang!
The old man turned himself into a sabre and, with a sound that broke the air, stabbed at the back of the Vajra Dharma Aspect’s head, only to be blocked by the golden bell that crossed in front of it just in time.
The surface of the golden bell glowed with earthen-yellow light, slowly flowing, thick and heavy like viscous liquid.
The old man’s strike failed to shake the golden bell.
The Vajra Dharma Aspect spun and slashed, sending out an arcing light from its sword, waves faintly audible in the air.
Thud!
The old man’s head flew off on the spot, decapitated by a single sword stroke, his martial artist’s danger sense no use at all.
Moving stars and shifting constellations!
Seeing this, Xu Qi’an knew that his guess had been correct.
Xu Pingfeng had lent the Heaven Gu artifact to Vajra Du’nan precisely to counter a martial artist’s danger sense.
“Senior, come over!”
Xu Qi’an shouted.
The old man’s head and body retreated with great speed, moving towards the Stupa tower. During the process, the old monk tower spirit once again manifested the “Great Wisdom Dharma Aspect”. The wisdom wheel reversed, lowering the intelligence of the Vajra Aspect.
Preventing it from pursuing the old man.
Taking the chance, Xu Qi’an opened his palm towards the old man and grasped firmly, as if snatching something from him.
Shifting Constellations, he had also put this buff on the old man.
“You’ve blocked my aura?”
The old man examined himself, realising immediately.
“Senior, may I trouble you to hold on for ten minutes? After that, I will kill him.”
Xu Qi’an said in a low voice.
“Are you confident?” The old man frowned.
Without waiting for Xu Qi’an’s reply, he laughed heartily:
“Very well, ten minutes it is. This old man’ll hold on for you.”
As they spoke, the Vajra Dharma Aspect appeared behind them in complete silence using teleportation.
On the Wind-riding Boat, Ji Xuan paid no heed to the battle below. He took out a small bronze cauldron, upended it, and shook it downwards.
A dozen or so figures spilled out from the cauldron, male and female, ranging from Jianghu wanderers to scholars, and peasants in plain clothes…
These people were all unconscious.
Ji Xuan lightly pressed his palm down, and with a series of “puff” sounds, blood mist burst from the chests of each Dragon Qi host, and they died on the spot.
One after another, golden dragon phantoms rose from their hosts, soaring amidst clouds and mist, trying to escape.
But they were trapped within the barrier set by the formation. No matter how they collided against it, they could not leave the Wind-riding Boat.
“Seventh Brother?”
Xu Yuanshuang was stunned by the scene, utterly confused: “Why are you killing the Dragon Qi hosts?”
Once Dragon Qi left its host, Arcanists could seldom reclaim it. To trap Dragon Qi like this would require their father to act in person.
But even their father could only trap them, not gather and subdue them.
Unless they had an Earth Book fragment.
Ji Xuan glanced at Xu Pingfeng’s back. Seeing he gave neither intervention nor comment, he smiled:
“Sister, this is the National Teacher’s second plan, to help me reach third rank, so that Qianlong City will have a beyond-mortal expert of the direct bloodline.”
Xu Yuanhuai could not hide the envy in his eyes.
Xu Yuanshuang, being an arcanist, frowned upon hearing this:
“Just with that little bit of Dragon Qi?”
Ji Xuan squinted slyly, smiling:
“Aren’t there still people down below? Xu Qi’an is spent, within half a quarter hour, he and that old man from the Wulin Alliance will meet their end at the hands of the Vajra Dharma Aspect.
“To tell you the truth, the real purpose of this excursion to the jianghu was for the National Teacher to help me break through to the beyond-mortal realm using the Dragon Qi.
“Now that Xu Qi’an is a rat in a jar, it’s time for me to prepare to advance.”
He held a box in his hand and opened it, unleashing an intense wave of qi and blood.
Even though they had never seen blood pills before, the siblings recognised them instantly.
Xu Yuanhuai murmured:
“You’re going to steal his fortune and step over him to advance to third rank…”
Ji Xuan raised a gentle smile, looking at his cousin, and teased:
“What, can’t bear to see your dear brother die? He showed no mercy when fighting you in Yuuzhou.
“His very existence is to bear fortune, a tool, and tools are to be used, then discarded.
“Yuanhuai, once he’s dead, you’re the National Teacher’s eldest legitimate son. You’ll inherit everything from him, including Xuzhou.”
Xu Yuanhuai scoffed: “Fame, profit, if it’s not martial arts it means nothing to me.”
He paused, and added, “Back in Yongzhou, had he not shown mercy, I’d be long dead.”
Having said this, he hurried to change the subject:
“Father says that one must always have fallback plans, aiming at only one goal leads to danger and desperation.
“If this fails, what will you do?”
Ji Xuan was about to answer when a loud noise startled Xu Yuanhuai. He turned abruptly to watch the battle below.
“Clang!”
The Stupa tower was struck once again by the buddhist sabre, emitting a piercing groan.
A shallow cut appeared on the body of the tower.
At the same time, the black-light-coated divine sword followed up, “ding!”, its tip stabbing the tower’s door and causing a thin crack to appear.
Staffs, vajra pestles, and other weapons followed, beating the tower relentlessly.
The old man from the Wulin Alliance, like an ant shaking a tree, forced his way between the two, driving his sabre energy into the Vajra Dharma Aspect’s brow.
Bang!
The Vajra Dharma Aspect jerked backwards, staggering several steps, golden lacquer flaking from its brow.
It too could not anticipate the old man’s attacks.
The Stupa tower was given a breather. The tower rotated, unleashing the power of its second level, simultaneously suppressing the Vajra Aspect and manifesting the “Great Wisdom Dharma Aspect,” reversing the wheel.
The Vajra Dharma Aspect was dazed once again.
The old man seized the moment, darting around the Vajra Dharma Aspect, his sabre flashing as he swung, slashing again and again with air-twisting sabre lights. “Clang, clang, clang”, the blows landed on the Vajra Dharma Aspect’s body.
Golden fragments scattered.
Sabre energy that could slice through a third-rank Vajra body with ease could do nothing to this terrifying Dharma Aspect.
This old senior’s guasha technique was masterful… Xu Qi’an consoled himself with lampooning to ease his pressure.1
The wisdom-reducing means of the “Great Wisdom Dharma Aspect” could only affect it for a moment. In less than two seconds, the Vajra Dharma Aspect broke free from its confusion. All twenty-four arms struck out at once.
It looked as if a man with twelve pairs of arms was swatting at a fly, while the fly, relying on agility, weaved and darted through the rain of sabres, spears, and swords, sometimes soaring, sometimes skimming low.
While the old man tangled with the Vajra Dharma Aspect, Xu Qi’an, bathing in the light of the Medicine Buddha Aspect, communicated with the tower spirit:
“Senior, are you all right?”
“If this goes on, I’ll end up the same as that Huntian Divine Mirror.”
Replied the old monk tower spirit.
If only I were versed in Buddhist arts, I could wield the Stupa tower… Xu Qi’an’s anxiety escalated.
Although the Stupa tower was a Bodhisattva’s magical treasure, it too required someone to wield it.
Just like how Xu Qi’an could use the Sovereign Sword to slay Vajras, but to tell it to go kill enemies on its own, let alone “slay” it might not even come back—using a meat bun to hit a dog.
It was the same for the Stupa tower.
As Xu Qi’an did not practise Buddhism and lacked a Bodhisattva’s status, he simply could not unleash the Stupa tower’s power.
He was entirely reliant on the old monk tower spirit’s selfless effort.
“Please, Senior, focus on healing my wounds, repairing my meridians and Qi Sea.”
Right now, he was racing against time.
Nalan Tianlu’s thunder spear had destroyed his vitality, and naturally also destroyed his meridians and qi sea. Since the qi sea and meridians could not fully recover, he was unable to use his trump cards at all.
Zzzt zzzt~
The vajra sceptre, crackling with electricity, unleashed countless arcs of lightning, weaving a net that shrouded the entire surrounding space.
The web filled every inch of space, draping around the old man, and his agile, darting body instantly stiffened. Then, vital energy erupted around his body as he drove away the current.
This barely perceptible moment of stiffness was, in the eyes of experts of this level, a fatal flaw.
The staff, shrouded in the might of thunder, crashed down with the force of a mountain, the sonic boom deafening.
The old man twisted in mid-air, forcibly throwing himself forward a short distance.
Pft!
The bronze staff brushed past his legs, instantly mangling the flesh and exposing snowy bone.
Under such a tremendous blow, the old man plunged downwards like a crashing plane.
The buddhist sabre and divine sword swiftly followed, pressing the attack.
Clang! Clang!
The old man swept his hands left and right in a palm-blade motion, barely deflecting both the sabre and divine sword. In this fleeting instant, the injuries to his lower body had already healed.
His movements became nimble again, dodging the next wave of attacks from the other weapons.
In the distance, Cao Qingyang and the others watching all broke out in a cold sweat.
Let alone the others, even the old man himself felt sweat trickle down his back. Facing the vajra Dharma Aspect was like when he himself fought the two protector vajras before.
Once an opportunity was seized, it was enough to chain attacks until death.
Of course, having already reached second rank, his vitality would not be so easily extinguished. Even though this vajra Dharma Aspect’s combat strength was comparable to first rank, it could not instantly kill a second-rank warrior famed for their vitality.
But if he was dismembered and sealed, his fate could only be death.
At this moment, the vajra Dharma Aspect rose in a flash of light, its towering figure vanishing.
Having already experienced this, the old man immediately dove downwards. This was an effective defence against the vajra Dharma Aspect’s attacks.
It could only appear from one of the four cardinal directions. By lowering altitude, he could guard effectively against the twelve weapons wielded by its twelve arms.
Fly too high, and you only made yourself an easy target.
Just then, the old man’s danger sense flared: the enemy was coming from the south.
Sure enough, the vajra Dharma Aspect appeared to the south.
Hm?
Danger sense?!
Clang…
Suddenly, while diving, the old man crashed into someone: the ugly Asura Vajra.
In the next moment, the old man was gripped tightly and bound by him.
He had not sensed Asura Vajra’s approach at all, the other seemed to have hidden his own aura.
In that fleeting instant, the old man realised…
Pft!
The vajra Dharma Aspect appeared, swung its sword with perfect accuracy, and lopped off the old man’s head without harming the Asura Vajra.
For a Transforming Force warrior, this was rudimentary technique.
The instant the head flew, the Asura Vajra, his mission completed, released his grip and let himself fall.
Almost at the same time, a blast of thunder spewed from the tip of the vajra sceptre, striking head and torso, making the old man’s body jolt instantly rigid.
Next, the golden bell enveloped the head, while the golden pagoda suppressed the torso.
On the Wind-riding Boat, Ji Xuan stood up sharply. He and the Xu siblings stared fixedly at the golden bell and pagoda.
The bell and pagoda shook violently, but as the vajra Dharma Aspect drove the sabre and sword into the bell and pagoda, everything calmed.
“It’s done!”
A wild joy flashed across Ji Xuan’s face, rarely did he show such intense emotion:
“Incredible, using the teleportation as cover to secretly pass the shaman clan’s magical artefact to the Asura Vajra.
“No wonder Buddhist vajras are so experienced in battle. Before, I thought they preferred brute strength to wit.
“It seems that most of their enemies simply aren’t worthy of them using their brains.”
It’s over… Xu Yuanshuang looked at her brother and found him looking back at her.
Brother and sister exchanged a silent glance.
Next, all that remained was to have the vajra Dharma Aspect seal the old man with the power it had left and bring him back to Yunzhou, and the old man would be doomed.
Xu Pingfeng’s face remained calm, as if none of this surprised him, as if everything was under his control.
On the Wulin Alliance’s side, with Cao Qingyang at their head, everyone’s face turned ashen, as if the end had come.
In the forest, Li Lingsu grabbed Miao Youfang, stepped onto his flying sword, both faces ashen.
Ready to run at any moment.
Not far from them, a white tiger with a severed right foreleg waited in the wind, ready to give chase.
None of them made a move yet, as there was still one crucial figure whose fate was yet unclear.
Run, quick, take the Stupa tower and run…
Li Lingsu screamed inwardly.
“Si… Silver gong Xu…”
In the Wulin Alliance crowd, someone called the name in a trembling voice.
The Stupa tower floated quietly, neither fleeing nor saving anyone. In this moment, neither the magic treasure nor the one bathed in the Medicine Buddha Dharma Aspect could be calmer.
Xu Qi’an shifted from sitting cross-legged to standing, then stepped out from within the Stupa tower’s protection.
He strode through the air, eyes not on the vajra Dharma Aspect but on Xu Pingfeng atop the Wind-riding Boat.
The pair locked eyes across the empty space.
“You’re wrong!”
Xu Qi’an stretched out his hand. The Sovereign Sword whistled into his grip.
“Between us, it’s not a matter of whether you want to accept me or not, whether you want to spare me or not.”
Xu Qi’an drew out his Earth Book fragment. Looking up at Xu Pingfeng high above, he said, word by word:
“It is that I, will never spare you!”
Ding!
He flicked the Earth Book fragment with his finger. The little jade mirror spun into the air, and a ferocious golden dragon burst forth from the mirror.
He then produced a long-prepared sheet of paper, and ignited it with a flick.
As the ashes burned, the golden dragon poured into his body.
Xu Qi’an’s eyes blazed with golden light. Bearing half the nation’s fortune, housing the Dragon Qi, and gripping the Sovereign Sword, he cried out:
“I—SUMMON—EMPEROR—GAO—ZU—!”
Between heaven and earth, a pair of eyes snapped open.
…
Guasha, TCM technique ↩
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