Chapter 120: Ruthless!
Page 1 of 3
“Demon!”
The patrol yakshas all changed color.
Never before had they seen such a terrifying art—one capable of sucking a Dao-entry cultivator dry and leaving behind nothing but skin in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
A fist slammed viciously into the protective demonic miasma of one of the patrol yakshas. Within Qi Xiu, his turbulent Primordial Unity Astral Force surged like a thousand layers of raging waves.
After draining two Dao-entry patrol yakshas in succession, the Primordial Unity Astral Force within him had already reached nearly two thousand strands.
Even a peak, perfected Dao-entry cultivator who had achieved the Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown would fall far short of such a number.
Driven by that immense astral force, Qi Xiu brought down another fist. The protective demonic miasma around the patrol yaksha instantly caved inward, forming a massive depression and nearly shattering altogether.
“Withdraw! This brat was pretending to be weak while hiding his true strength! He must be a direct disciple of some great demonic sect! Hurry back and report to the Dragon King!”
Seeing how terrifying Qi Xiu’s strength was, the patrol yakshas no longer dared to clash with him head-on.
Under the command of their leader, the remaining yakshas poured their demonic power into the towering yellow waves beneath their feet.
Rumble—
The furious waves surged and churned upward. The rising tide seemed capable of washing away everything in its path, its endless spray resembling a vast, dim-yellow mountain range stretching beyond reach.
The patrol yakshas urged the yellow waves forward and brandished their flameglow steel tridents, warily watching Qi Xiu.
Any one of them would have been no match for this fiend alone. Only by joining forces could they hope to withstand his murderous assault.
Watching the patrol yakshas attempt to flee, Qi Xiu’s aura billowed around him, his robes snapping violently in the wind.
He could not allow them to escape.
The effects of the Star-Absorbing Art were far too heaven-defying—practically taboo.
If word of it spread, countless people would turn their attention toward him.
Killing intent overflowing from his eyes, Qi Xiu immediately activated the Minor Five-Element Water Patrol Escape Technique and gave chase.
…
The yellow waves were immense, crushing mountains and pressing down upon the land.
Such a tremendous commotion naturally drew the attention of many cultivators, demons, and evil practitioners.
Yet the moment they saw those distinctive dusky-yellow waves, the people who had initially been eager to go over and watch the spectacle immediately settled down.
They only dared observe from a distance, not venturing any closer.
“That is the Yellow Tide Water-Control Art. Those are patrol yakshas from the Nearwater Dragon Palace. What have they suddenly come here for?”
“I heard that the thirty-six adopted sons of the Nearwater Flood Dragon King came ashore together some time ago, apparently carrying out some sort of mission. The sudden appearance of these patrol yakshas must be related.”
“Speaking of that, I heard recently that the demon dragon of Nearwater is about to break through into the Primordial Spirit realm. Once he succeeds, those living on either side of Nearwater will suffer terribly. When that demon dragon was still in the Dao-Body realm, he already relied on his dragon blood, dragon body, and the geographical advantage of Nearwater to contend directly with Primordial Spirit elders. Once he reaches the Primordial Spirit realm himself, won’t he become utterly lawless and stir up storms wherever he goes?”
“Who can say otherwise? But this isn’t something we Dao-entry cultivators can worry about. If the sky falls, the great sects, mighty religions, ancient clans, and aristocratic houses will hold it up. As long as the Gao clan’s Demon-Slaying and Monster-Subduing Edict remains in force, someone will bear the weight.”
“Wait, look! Why have those patrol yakshas circled back around?”
The murky yellow waves, having made several turns, suddenly came sweeping back.
The human cultivators, demons, and evil practitioners watching from afar all wore astonished expressions.
What in the world were they doing?
“Look! There’s someone behind the patrol yakshas! I understand now—they’re being hunted!”
The words caused an uproar.
The onlookers hurriedly leapt into the air and strained their eyes toward the rear of the dusky-yellow tide.
Sure enough, behind those overwhelming waves, a faint streak of water-mist light was pursuing them relentlessly.
The stark visual contrast was like a cat chasing a tiger, leaving everyone stunned and bewildered.
“Good heavens, what kind of ruthless man is this? He actually dares hunt down the patrol yakshas serving that demon dragon?”
“Ruthless? He’s more than ruthless—he’s formidable! There are at least eight or nine patrol yakshas standing atop those waves. That fellow is chasing so many of them into a panicked flight all by himself. And that escape light is based on water…”
What sort of monstrous talent was he?
Seeing the patrol yakshas, who had always run rampant beneath the authority of the Nearwater Flood Dragon King, now being hunted in every direction, the crowd broke into heated discussion.
Every face was filled with disbelief.
…
Closing in on the patrol yakshas fleeing atop the waves, Qi Xiu condensed a Body-Piercing Invisible Sword Qi in the palm of his raised left hand.
Then he opened his mouth and exhaled.
Vast torrents of pure yang violet fire roared forth, instantly clinging to the Body-Piercing Invisible Sword Qi.
Abandoning its invisible and formless nature, the sword qi was reinforced with pure yang violet fire, gaining even more terrifying destructive power.
Qi Xiu thrust out his palm.
A massive column of violet sword fire howled forth and cleaved into the towering yellow waves controlled by the patrol yakshas.
“What is he doing?”
The patrol yakshas were bewildered when they saw that the sword qi wrapped in vicious flames was not aimed at them.
Sizzle—
Water and fire collided, and billowing white mist instantly rose into the air, as though a heavenly fog had descended to shroud the entire world.
“Not good, Big Brother! He’s trying to evaporate the waves beneath our feet!”
As the fog spread, one of the patrol yakshas suddenly shouted in alarm.
Qi Xiu’s single slash had directly evaporated one-tenth of the dusky-yellow tide beneath them.
“Damn it! We can’t let him destroy the yellow waves! Join forces and stop his sword qi!”
Knowing that once the waves beneath their feet were completely evaporated, they would have no way to resist this fiend’s lightning-fast escape technique, the leading patrol yaksha roared.
All the patrol yakshas raised their flameglow steel tridents and unleashed their most powerful flames, intercepting the violet sword qi that Qi Xiu sent slashing down once more.
They had fallen for it.
Qi Xiu’s gaze sharpened, and his figure suddenly twisted and blurred.
The next instant, he shifted directly to the side of one of the patrol yakshas.
His great hand came crashing down.
The Star-Absorbing Art!
The ambushed patrol yaksha had never imagined that Qi Xiu possessed such a miraculous ability to shift through space. Shock and terror filled his face.
That enormous hand, seemingly concealing a black hole in its palm, had already landed upon his protective demonic miasma.
After draining two patrol yakshas, Qi Xiu now possessed two Primordial Unity Orbs within his body, and the suction force of the Star-Absorbing Art had doubled.
“Big Brother, save me!”
The protective demonic miasma visibly dimmed and weakened. The patrol yaksha had time only for a single desperate scream.
“You!”
The leader spun around in fury and saw yet another brother reduced to a shriveled hide before his eyes.
In a fit of rage, he turned his palm and struck toward Qi Xiu.
“You dare meet my palm with yours?”
Qi Xiu narrowed his eyes slightly. Completely unafraid, he raised his hand to meet the leader’s palm.
The leader’s expression changed, and he hurriedly withdrew his hand and retreated.
That moment of hesitation was enough.
Laughing loudly, Qi Xiu had already pulled away and transformed into a streak of escape light.
“You fiend! Do not push us too far!”
Three brothers had now perished at the hands of this demon. The leader’s eyes were nearly splitting with rage. Fury burned within him, yet he could neither unleash it nor swallow it down.
Qi Xiu raised one hand high. The violet sword qi shone brilliantly.
He merely lifted his brows and gazed at the patrol yakshas without saying a word.
Yet his expression seemed to say:
Will you defend against this sword?
If you dare, I will take advantage of the opening and kill another one of you.
If you do not, I will evaporate your Yellow Tide Water-Control Art one sword at a time and wipe you all out.
“Move!”
After a brief calculation, the leader snorted angrily.
“Drive the yellow tide with all your strength! As long as we can return to Nearwater, this fellow will be powerless against us.”
In the end, the patrol yakshas had been thoroughly frightened by Qi Xiu’s sinister and terrifying Star-Absorbing Art.
Unwilling to clash with him directly, they turned around and poured their demonic power continuously into the waves beneath their feet, accelerating toward Nearwater.
Seeing the water demons flee with their heads down, Qi Xiu showed no mercy.
Page 2 of 3
His pure yang violet sword qi came crashing down again and again, frantically evaporating the waves beneath them.
Soon, as the tide grew smaller and smaller, the space available for them to stand became increasingly narrow.
“Big Brother!”
The twelfth brother of the patrol yakshas suddenly staggered. A hidden hand had shoved him from behind, sending him tumbling from the crest of the yellow tide.
He cried out in terror.
“Twelfth Brother!”
Watching his brother fall from the waves, the leader of the patrol yakshas roared in grief and fury:
“Who did it? Who did it?”
The remaining patrol yakshas looked at one another in silence.
Who would dare admit it at a time like this?
Still enraged, the leader was just about to cast a spell and pull the twelfth brother back when the streak of water-mist light that had been clinging to them like a shadow suddenly pounced forward like a shark scenting blood.
A black hand shot from the thin mist, seized the twelfth brother as he fell from the waves, and dragged him into the fog.
“Ah!”
A scream, short and sharp.
A moment later, a shriveled yaksha hide drifted slowly out of the mist.
“You… sigh. Move!”
Seeing the hide of the twelfth brother, the leader gritted his teeth and sighed. At this point, there was no time to pursue blame.
Yet once certain things began, they could no longer be stopped.
The dusky-yellow tide grew smaller and smaller.
The space capable of supporting them narrowed further and further.
“Ah! Who the hell shoved me?”
The next victim appeared.
This time it was the ninth brother of the patrol yakshas. His face was filled with resentment and unwillingness as he glared fiercely at his brothers.
The water-mist escape light surged forward once more.
Another yaksha hide drifted幽ly downward.
One, two, three…
When the once terrifying torrent had shrunk into a pitiful column of water capable of holding only one person, only the eldest and the sixth of the twelve patrol yakshas remained, barely standing atop the waves.
“Sixth! So it was you!”
The eldest glared at the sixth with furious accusation, his face twisted in pain.
“Big Brother! It wasn’t me! Truly, it wasn’t me!”
The sixth instinctively began to explain, but his expression suddenly changed.
If it was not him…
Then that meant—
Noticing the change in the sixth’s expression, the eldest revealed a cold smile.
“You’re right. It wasn’t you. It was me!”
Before the words had even faded, the eldest struck out brutally with one palm, knocking his last younger brother from the waves.
The sixth widened his eyes and stared at his elder brother before screaming hoarsely:
“You bastard! You’re the real rat!”
“Stop shouting. Do you think that now only the two of you remain, you can still escape?”
An indifferent voice rang out.
All around them, countless golden talismanic seals rapidly emerged. More than a thousand Suppression Talismans appeared, transforming into a hexagonal prison formation that completely trapped the entire crest of the yellow tide within it.
The Suppression Talisman Sealing Method!
Along the way, Qi Xiu had silently accumulated talismans. Once he had gathered a thousand Suppression Talismans, he had acted without hesitation.
The entire crest of the yellow tide was instantly sealed in place.
“Now you can rest your feet.”
After absorbing the lifetime cultivation of ten patrol yakshas, the number of Primordial Unity Orbs within Qi Xiu’s body had reached the horrifying total of nine.
The surging aura around him was like an eighteenth-level hurricane, terrifying beyond measure.
“Do not be afraid. I will take care of—”
Just as Qi Xiu was preparing to finish off the last two patrol yakshas, a vast, resonant voice filled with boundless majesty suddenly rang out across heaven and earth.
“Time is up!
The Divine Firmament Sect’s entrance examination—
officially begins!”
…
End of Chapter
Page 3 of 3