Chapter 1059: You Stole Everything!
In the Immortal Skills Hall of the eastern Devilbirds, the unique properties of the bone cauldron made it impossible for anyone to know what was happening inside it. But they could see the cauldron vibrating. The nine-colored flames indicated that the refinement process had already started.
Previously, the grand elder had held the upper hand. But not now, and the immortal adepts who had sided with him were now very anxious as they cast glances at the emissary from the first mountain.
Young Lord Yun in his fancy robe was also nervous about how things would turn out. He knew about the conflict between Sir Blood Dust and Yue Dong, and was aware that the former was intent on killing the latter. That said, what Sir Blood Dust had said just now was good for Yue Dong. For now, all he could do was place all his hope in Sir Blood Dust.
The emissaries from the other mountains said nothing. They just looked at Xu Qing and the first emissary. Of the two of them, one had risen to prominence recently, and was about as famous as you could get, while the other was a very senior figure with a good reputation.
Of course, the Imperial Sovereigns who backed those two, the tenth and first, were much the same. In other words, whoever came out on top of this clash would make the final decision.
“Look, boy,” said the old man from the first mountain. “I admire you for what you did among the western Devilbirds. But you’re in the east now, and you’re pushing things a bit too far.”
Inside, he was sighing regretfully. He didn’t want to take any action right now, but he did represent an Imperial Sovereign, so doing nothing wouldn’t be appropriate. Unfortunately, if you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off , and thus, he slowly rose from his throne. Nine-world Smoldering God fluctuations rolled off him with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force as projections of worlds appeared around him.
He took a step forward and it caused the entire Immortal Skills Hall to tremble. Even the sky outside flashed with wild colors.
Xu Qing didn’t react at all to the display of force. Although he wasn’t confident that he could beat a nine-world Smoldering God in a fight, just as when dealing with Sir Westdevil, he could definitely inflict some nasty damage. That said, he didn’t need to win. He just needed to buy enough time.
Therefore, he also rose to his feet, his hair whipping about him, his blood-red robe flapping. Blood clouds rolled out and around, which turned into blood dragons that howled loudly. What was more, the godly authority of sound stirred within him, all while the godly authority of fate turned into a carving knife that glinted coldly. Black lotus flowers appeared around him as well, which formed a high level of defense.
All of this caused quite a reaction from the others present, and everyone was thinking about what Sir Blood Dust had recently done among the western Devilbirds.
“Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secret magic.”
“It provides amazing defenses, can shake nine-world Smoldering Gods, and basically makes you invincible to anything under an Imperial Sovereign!”
“Don’t forget that Sir Westdevil actually died, right? Although the exact details aren’t clear, we know that Sir Blood Dust has some incredibly astonishing trump cards.”
As everyone reeled, the old man from the first mountain vanished, then reappeared in midair.
Xu Qing also blurred and reappeared in midair. It looked like the two might begin fighting at any moment.
However, that was when laughter broke out from a spot between the two of them. Lin Kun, the fifth mountain representative Xu Qing had run into earlier, suddenly appeared in between them, his nine-world aura exploding out to create a barrier.
“Do the two of you mind taking some advice from me? The ancient agreement states that although the Imperial Sovereign mountains can interfere with the internal affairs of the Immortal Skills Hall, the reality is that throughout all history, the Imperial Sovereign mountains have never exercised that right.
“Brother Zhang, as the official representative of the first Imperial Sovereign mountain, are you really sure that at this exact moment, when the fires of war burn all around us, and Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities are about to be opened, that you want to respond to Sir Blood Dust’s formal dissent by forcefully interfering in the affairs of the Immortal Skills Hall?”
Lin Kun looked deeply at the old man from the first mountain. “Brother Zhang, there will be consequences for this. In fact, before I came here today, my venerable father ordered me to support any decisions made by the tenth Imperial Sovereign mountain. As such, I highly suggest that you think thrice before taking action.”
The old man from the first mountain had a very grim look on his face. He looked at Lin Kun. He looked at Xu Qing again. Then, after a long moment of silence, he gave a cold harrumph.
“Since you put it that way, Fellow Daoist Lin, I suppose I’ll just drop the matter.” With that, he returned to his throne, sat down, and closed his eyes. Now that he had backed down, the conflict was over.
Xu Qing didn't care one way or another. He had been able to tell from the beginning that, though the old man from the first mountain had been acting aggressively, he hadn’t been interested in fighting. In other words, averting a fight was the best outcome.
It was really Lin Kun who had resolved the issue, so Xu Qing looked over at him and nodded.
Lin Kun grinned. He obviously had his own motives for doing what he did. For one thing, he had sensed that the old man from the first mountain had been looking for a way to get out of an open conflict. It hadn’t been hard for Lin Kun to provide that to him. Another reason was that he wanted to show some goodwill toward Sir Blood Dust.
His one action had resulted in two benefits. What was more, he had cleverly highlighted that the fifth Imperial Sovereign wanted to respect the Immortal Skills Hall’s right to select their own grand immortal adept. It was just like the saying killing three birds with one stone . Still smiling, he went back to his place along with Xu Qing.
The scene that had just played out caused all of the grand elder’s supporters among the immortal adepts to look a bit pale in the face. And though they weren’t exactly happy with this result, it was clear that the emissaries had made up their minds, and there was nothing to do about it. They could only grin and bear it.
Young Lord Yun breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at the cauldron in the middle of the arena. It was currently letting off some intense fluctuations.
***
Given what Yue Dong’s head had just said, and the fact that the cauldron had been fused shut, the grand elder was reeling in mind and heart. He almost couldn’t believe what was happening. There was no doubt about it; Yue Dong’s words surpassed anything he could have imagined.
“You’re saying... that this cauldron is made from your bones? You’re... the megavillain that Grand Emperor Immortal Skill killed? That's not possible!”
The grand elder struggled to control his breathing. His first reaction was to disbelieve. But there was no doubt that his control over the cauldron had disappeared. And it was also true that the words spoken by Yue Dong had caused the flesh and blood to fuse with the bone. It truly surpassed believability.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re lying or telling the truth. You’re not strong enough. That’s the most important thing. If you were strong enough, you wouldn’t have to resort to tricks like this.”
The grand elder’s eyes glittered coldly. He knew that the truth didn’t really matter. What mattered... was whether or not he could come out on top in the end. Therefore, the killing intent in his eyes and heart began to rage.
“I’ll put you to death! That’ll resolve everything!”
The grand elder burst into motion, heading right toward Yue Dong’s head. His nine-world cultivation base, combined with his gruish immortal skill, gave him astonishing speed. In the shortest of moments, he was right in front of her.
It didn’t matter how quickly that head fell back. Trying to evade was pointless. The grand elder pulled his hand back and then viciously slapped the head. A boom rang out, and Yue Dong’s head exploded.
And yet, the grand elder’s face just turned grimmer. That was because... as soon as the head exploded, all of the flesh and blood converged together... and the head formed anew!
But this time, it didn’t look like Yue Dong. It was Erniu. “You want to put me to death, you old codger? You couldn’t do it in an entire lifetime!”
Not offering a response, the grand elder attacked again, this time using an immortal skill. The only thing visible was a huge gray hand that appeared in front of Erniu. It instantly stabbed into him to drag out his soul. What flesh remained rotted into a black sludge that dripped down to the ground. However... it only took a moment for a blue worm to fly out from within that sludge. It exploded into a blood mist, which then shrank back down to reveal Erniu’s head.
This time, however, he looked quite pale. Despite that, he was still shouting arrogantly. “Bring it on, bitch! Let’s see what happens first, fool, you killing me, or me killing you! Let’s do it! Let’s have a little contest and see who’s tougher between the two of us!
“You’d better watch out for my immortal skill, and let me tell you, I want your immortal skill! And incidentally, I’m not interested in wasting my damn time studying immortal skills. I’m going to refine you and gobble down your immortal skill in one bite!”
The grand elder was really starting to get nervous, as the refinement process of the cauldron was already starting to affect him. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to attack again. And yet, every time he blew up Erniu’s head, it would gruishly form again. The only upside was that it looked paler and paler each time. This enemy seemed like some sort of freak who couldn’t be wiped out of existence no matter how hard you tried.
Meanwhile, in the time that had been bought, Erniu crazily unleashed his trump card. “You have your wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and fire? Well I’ll use my damned metal, wood, water, fire, and earth! I hereby summon from my past life’s... eternal frigid water!”
He opened his mouth and spat out a stream of ice-cold water that filled the cauldron and made the refinement process become even more intense.
The grand elder took a deep breath. Looking more anxious than ever, he launched another attack.
After Erniu was resurrected again, he shouted, “I hereby summon my current life’s... undying life force fire!”
A pop rang out as Erniu exploded, then formed again. “I hereby summon the North Emperor’s corpse coffin of wood! I hereby summon from the immortal world the North Emperor’s burial earth!”
With every shout, he spat out something. Life force flame. A coffin’s wood. Burial earth. The refinement in the cauldron grew even more mighty.
After all, each of those four items was extraordinary. Collectively, they included his past and present life, as well as the personhood of the North Emperor’s coffin and burial soil. With that bolstering the refinement, it became heaven-shakingly, earth-shatteringly powerful.
Given how strong the grand elder was, he immediately ignited his fleshly body. His soul also burned. And in that critical moment, his killing intent reached an even higher level. He again attacked Erniu.
Erniu exploded, then formed again. His eyes were flashing with a crazy light. This was the pinnacle of life, and as such, he shouted, “And now, water, fire, earth, and wood are complete. The only piece missing is metal! I hereby summon the karmic bones of metal! I shall borrow the boundless power of karma to shatter your immortal skill!”
As Erniu howled deafeningly, he took out a finger-nail sized piece of bone. Astonishingly, it was the color gold! Dazzling golden light shone out along with an incomparably powerful karmic force.
The grand elder’s face fell.
Erniu was wrapped up in both craziness and weakness. But he was also feeling very pleased with himself.
“This is from my little Junior Brother, from when he self-detonated all those years ago in the imperial capital. Spirit energy burned, drawing on flesh and blood until the entire body shattered, bones included, to produce this little treasure! Back then, I managed to snatch it away secretly. And today... I’ll use it to take care of you!”[1]
1. Xu Qing self-detonated inchapter 966 . ☜