Chapter 160: Chapter 116: The Curtain Falls_2
Translator: 549690339
Zhou Mingyu!
Li Jianchen!
In everyone’s eyes, the two stood facing each other.
Who would win and who would lose?
No one knew for the moment.
Only to see Zhou Mingyu pressing one hand against his chest, exerting tremendous force without restraint, yet still, a bit of crimson seeped out. However, he couldn’t care less, his eyes fixed on Xu Yang as he hissed, “Golden Core Sword Jue?”
“Merely a broken move!”
Xu Yang, having transformed from a middle-aged appearance to that of a withered old man, shook his head and gripped the battered long sword in his hand.
Zhou Mingyu stared at him, taking a long while before finally speaking, “For a single tier-one Spirit Land, you would go to such lengths?”
Xu Yang’s expression remained unchanged as he said faintly, “Li Mou has wandered half a life to secure a place of refuge, to leave as a legacy for future generations. For this cause, I wield my sword, preferring to break rather than bend!”
“You…!”
Zhou Mingyu still wanted to speak, but the movement aggravated his injuries, causing his body to tremble and a sweet metallic taste to surge in his throat.
Xu Yang, however, paid him no heed and looked at him coldly, “Are you up for another round?”
“You… very well!!!”
With that posture, Zhou Mingyu gritted his teeth and then flew up, landing directly into the Zhou Family’s Magic Artifact Tower Ship.
“Go!!!”
At his command, the tower ship turned into light, breaking through the sky and away.
“Puh!!!”
Xu Yang’s body also trembled, and to the shock of all onlookers, he spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood.
“This…”
Seeing this, everyone looked at each other, completely at a loss.
Xu Yang did not concern himself with their reactions, raising his hand to wipe away the blood from his lips before turning to look at Bai Yunzi on the Green Jade boat, “Immortal Envoy, what do you say?”
Seeing his condition, Bai Yunzi was silent. After a long pause, he finally said, “Taoist Friend Li, a true man of resolve indeed, worthy of the name of a Sword Cultivator!”
Having said that, he turned his gaze to the crowd and announced solemnly, “In the third round, Taoist Friend Li is victorious. With all three challenges defended, the Dongting Spirit Land henceforth belongs to Taoist Friend Li!”
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, then each summoned their Magic Artifacts and a series of Escape Lights shot out, heading away.
“Father!”
No sooner had the crowd left than an Escape Light descended from above, landing beside Xu Yang and revealing a figure; it was a young man in white with a heroic bearing.
The youth supported Xu Yang, who then looked towards Bai Yunzi and bowed, “Thanks to the Immortal Envoy, may I invite you to the island for a talk?”
“Hmm!”
Bai Yunzi nodded, retracted the Green Jade boat, and accompanied the two as they descended onto the island.
“This is my son, Li Liuxian!”
Once on the island, Xu Yang first consumed a medicinal pill, and then introduced the youth in white to Bai Yunzi.
“A hero indeed emerges from youth.”
Bai Yunzi gave the youth a glance, noting that he was only at the later stages of Qi Cultivation, before shifting his focus back to Xu Yang and said with a wry smile, “What is the need for this, Taoist Friend? It is but a tier-one Spirit Land; with your strength, surely there will be other options in the future.”
Xu Yang shook his head and sighed, “Life is short; only through struggle can we aspire. Who can predict the matters of the future?”
“Indeed.”
Bai Yunzi, upon hearing this, had no choice but to proceed with the formalities.
“From now on, this Spirit Land of Dongting will belong to Taoist Friend, but every five years, the Sect will send someone to inspect the Spirit Land and determine its tier. The higher the tier, the greater the taxes and labor duties to be shouldered. If these cannot be met, the Spirit Land will be reclaimed. I hope Taoist Friend is aware of this.”
“I understand,” Xu Yang nodded and then took out a Storage Bag: “This is the offering for the past twenty years, already prepared. Within, there is also that incomplete sword technique I just demonstrated, which, if I am not mistaken, should come from a set of Golden Core Sword Jue. I am willing to present it to the Upper Sect.”
“This…”
Upon hearing this, Bai Yunzi was taken aback: “How is this possible?”
“It is possible!”
Xu Yang smiled, revealing his motive: “I am aware that all Spirit Lands come with the responsibility of taxes and labor duties. However, my remaining time is short, and I wish only to teach my disciples during that time. Therefore, I present this technique. Although it is only an incomplete move, with the Immortal Envoy’s abilities, it should be enough to exempt me from twenty years of labor, shouldn’t it?”
“This…”
Looking at Xu Yang’s greying hair and the high-tier Storage Bag in his hand, Bai Yunzi hesitated for a while before finally accepting it: “Rest assured, Taoist Friend, I will do my utmost!”
“Thank you, Immortal Envoy!”
A moment later, Bai Yunzi departed by boat, and the island returned to its peaceful state.
“Li Liuxian” then supported Xu Yang, heading into the Medicine Field Spiritual Land.
The divine seal was activated, water flowed into the land, and a secret passage instantly opened up.
Both of them entered. The young man in white, who had just made his first public appearance, couldn’t hide his triumphant joy and straightway waved his arms.
“Master, Master, how was it? My acting wasn’t bad, right?”
Looking at the Golden Eagle who had “revealed its true form,” Xu Yang shook his head and threw a bottle of medicinal pills: “Take my form and go upstairs to heal.”
“Oh, Oh, Oh!”
The young man in white nodded, then activated his mana, and as moonlight circulated, a perfect copy of “Li Jianchen” appeared before him.
It was none other than the Supreme Yin Body Training Skill!
This skill not only helped demonic beings cultivate a human form but also included the wonderful use of illusion and Concealing Presence. Coupled with Xu Yang’s disguising techniques, unless a cultivator had Spirit Eyes, they would unlikely see through it.
Thus, after the Golden Eagle had sufficiently trained, Xu Yang let him appear before Bai Yunzi under the identity of “Sword Minister Li Jianchen’s son, Li Liuxian.”
As an Immortal Envoy of the Green Jade Sect, although Bai Yunzi had practiced some Spirit Eyes techniques, at most, he could perceive Spiritual Roots and Spirit Lands. To see through the disguise of the Supreme Yin Body Training Skill and Xu Yang’s illusion disguise was nothing but wishful thinking.
With these maneuvers, on top of the momentum gained from the previous three successive battles—defeating Yan Changfeng, slaying Wang Tianling, and repelling Zhou Mingyu—the next decade or two should provide ample time for development, without question.
Of course, the premise was that he could get rid of the last bit of trouble.
After sending the Golden Eagle away, Xu Yang changed his appearance, removing the disguise of “Li Jianchen” and adopting the appearance of Yin Mountain Taoist, sitting cross-legged in front of the Yin Altar.
Then he took out a bottle of healing medicinal pills to consume, cultivating the Life Scroll, combining the power of thunderbolt creation, the nurturing abilities of the Divine Spiritual Land, and various other techniques and Wonderful Skills to heal the damage from the recent battle.
Shortly after, his injuries were fully recovered, and he looked vibrant and energetic.
There was no longer any sign of the previous depletion of Qi Blood and Life essence.
Xu Yang stood up and came to the front of the altar, retrieving the longsword used in the previous battles, and he took out a jade bowl from the Storage Bag.
With a touch of the sword, fresh blood flowed out, tinged with strands of Gengjin’s sharp essence.
It was indeed the blood of the Gengjin White Tiger left in the sword.
Xu Yang put away the longsword, took out a Talisman Pen, removed a grass figurine that had been offered atop the Yin Altar for more than two months, and took out two pieces of yellow paper as a base. Using blood as ink, he wrote down a name.
Qingfeng Mountain, Zhou Mingyu!
The six characters of his name and residence were attached to the front of the grass figurine, and then his birth date and hour obtained through the Heavenly Eye Mysterious Light inquiry were pasted on the figurine’s back.
Afterward, Xu Yang offered the figurine in front of the altar, scattered a handful of Yellow Talismans, took positions according to astral influences, and began chanting the curse.
“Heaven pure and bright, Earth Spirit alert and strong, now command Underworld Soldier Five Ghosts to Obey the Charm Order, Divine Skills transform across myriad distances, seize and cut down the unrighteous in the world, exterminate all the improper deities of the mortal realm, left hand bearing the seal commanding Celestial Soldiers, right hand waving the flag leading celestial generals, summoning Celestial Soldiers and generals to come forth…If there are malicious spirits and malevolent ghosts who disobey, let the Five Ghosts seal their heaven and earth and listen!”
“On Qingfeng Mountain, Zhou Mingyu of the Zhou Family cultivates amidst treasured ships, crying to heaven meets no response, invoking earth finds no spirit, eyes dimmed as sun and moon darken, ears ringing with the cry of ghost gods, mouth and nose like stuffed, movement hindered, inviting longevity yet damaging fate, summoning souls and seizing spirits without trace!”
“I execute this command urgently by the divine authority of Yin Mountain Mansion Old Ancestor!!!”