Under the long night, amidst the thunder and rain, after slaying the Bone Immortal with a single sword strike, the big yellow dog sheathed its bamboo sword with a resonant clang and slung it across its back once more.
"A sweep of my palm cleaves peaks; a stroke of my blade splits the sky. Having vanished for five hundred years, I fear the world no longer carries my legend." Clad in a coir raincoat and a bamboo conical hat, it truly looked like a peerless sword immortal as it penetrated the curtain of rain and strode forward.
Suddenly, along the periphery of Black-White Mountain, the pitch-black clouds burst open with a deafening rumble. Violet dawn-glow poured out like molten metal, scattering the night mist and scorching the torrential rain into hazy white steam. Blazing lightning intertwined as a blazing violet sun slowly emerged in the deep night sky.
The nocturnal sky, along with the rain pouring down like rivers, was stained by the abruptly revealed violet sun into an eerie, glazed hue gleaming with a sinister luster.
Though the world was dark, it was not yet deep night. In the villages outside the mountains, people had not yet gone to sleep and were startled by the sudden appearance of the violet glow.
This was a sight none of them had ever witnessed. The sun had vanished long ago, and for millennia people had grown accustomed to living in perpetual darkness. Yet today, a great sun broke through the night mist—and in the middle of a torrential storm, no less! How could it not provoke shock and commotion?
The big yellow dog lifted its head and gazed at the violet sun amidst the cleft clouds. Its canine face instantly darkened, and with a metallic rasp, it drew its bamboo sword.
Abruptly, the dark clouds surged, dozens of lightning bolts arcing across them. From the violet sun, a single droplet of crimson liquid dripped down.
It crashed down like a falling meteorite, bearing a heavy dao rhyme and giving off an exceptionally perilous aura.
With a thunderous crash, the crimson liquid elongated, plunging out of the sky like a hanging cataract of blood, rushing violently toward the big yellow dog.
The dog vanished from where it stood, like a divine demon crossing a sea of night mist, drifting dozens of li across the mountainous terrain in an instant.
Yet the scarlet waterfall actually shifted course. Like a blood-red blade carrying the power of heaven and earth, it cleaved downward with a roar. Along its path, the crowns of towering trees exploded, and an obstructing peak was sliced clean through, tumbling down amidst earth and stone with a series of rumbling crashes.
"The eye of the Torch Dragon? Pity it has long since rotted away!" No longer dodging, the big yellow dog leapt onto a high peak and swiftly swung its sword.
In an instant, a boundless sword intent slit the night open and surged skyward, colliding with that scarlet beam. With a resonant clash, it severed the colossal blood blade.
Furthermore, the big yellow dog let out a long howl and rode its sword upward—dog and sword united as one, like a bolt of yellow-and-green lightning. It erupted with blazing sword-light and a sword intent as immense as the turmoil of heaven itself, shooting straight into the clouds.
Within the dark clouds, it was indeed a decaying eyeball, unimaginably gigantic. As it opened and closed, crimson dawn-glow shone forth once more, transforming into blade-lights and sword qi that slashed toward the dog.
Most terrifying of all, reflected within the eyeball was a hazy figure sitting cross-legged upon a lotus throne radiating tens of thousands of rays of immortal light, casting down a dreadful gaze.
An unfathomable being was actually peering across the void through this rotting eye of the Torch Dragon, observing the realm of Black-White Mountain!
"You are thoroughly rotten, hovering on the verge of death from old age, too cowardly to come here in person and stake it all. You can only pry like this—do not daydream about drinking my old master's rejuvenating blood to prolong your life!" the big yellow dog said.
Riding its sword skyward, it shredded blade-lights and blood mist, charging directly toward the violet sun as though aiming to pierce straight through it with a single thrust.
Above the clouds, the violet sun swayed, its massive pupil blinking. The scenes mirrored within it grew ever clearer: amidst drifting mist, upon an immortal lake blooming with nine-colored divine glow, the figure seated on the lotus throne moved both hands, as if preparing to strike at the dog across the void.
Sure enough, a perilous aura immediately surged. With a sharp metallic clang, a golden halberd materialized within the violet eyeball, bearing a rich dao rhyme and a terrifying divine aura!
The storm clouds over this land shattered, and the torrential downpour abruptly ceased.
*Hiss!* Though proud, the big yellow dog could not help but suck in a sharp breath of the night mist. The beings that had followed behind its old master and escaped from Yujing were truly terrifying. Even without arriving in person, and even though tottering with decrepitude and nearing death, this one could still bring upon it an immeasurably heavy pressure.
"I have nurtured my sword for five hundred years. Today, I shall purge demons and slay the will of a rotten god!" the big yellow dog shouted sharply.
Rumble! Across the entire Black-White Mountain realm, dao rhymes of yin and yang immediately flowed, converging upon the dog. The dual qi of black and white surged tempestuously, pouring into its bamboo sword.
With a ringing clang, the big yellow dog unleashed its strongest sword strike!
In this expanse, bamboo sword, violet sun, golden halberd, and yin-yang power slammed together in full collision, like chaos churning, tearing the deep night sky apart.
"The black-and-white dao rhyme left behind by Liu Mo... after several hundred years, I have experienced it once again," the hazy figure reflected in the violet eyeball said coldly.
The big yellow dog panted heavily, its bamboo sword carrying black-and-white radiance as it drove through the violet sun.
*Puff!*
The rotting eye of the Torch Dragon split open, spraying foul-smelling blood.
Then, the night sky burned as the massive eyeball dimmed and turned to ash, and the abruptly appearing violet sun vanished into nothingness.
"The monsters that escaped from Yujing are truly unfathomable. Purging demons is no easy feat; the road is obstructed and fraught with hardship," the big yellow dog muttered, stepping forward once more.
It believed that such decaying monsters did not have much time left and could not gather and employ many lackeys. Taking advantage of the brief window of its own revival, it wanted to clean them out as quickly as possible.
As the big yellow dog stepped out of the Black-White Mountain realm, it discovered a colossal behemoth flying in from the far horizon, shattering the clouds along its path with terrifying explosions that overpowered the distant thunder.
The big yellow dog knew that just as it wanted to clean up the old human skin, the Bone Immortal, and their ilk, the other side also wished to probe Black-White Mountain's strength, and was now taking the initiative to attack.
It remarked, "It seems you truly are at your wit's end and cannot wait any longer. Claws and lackeys from every corner have descended on Black-White Mountain."
It was a monster without fur or skin, dripping blood all over its mountain-sized body as it loomed amidst the clouds, grotesque and chilling.
"Dregs discarded by a higher god, useless flesh and blood?" the big yellow dog said.
Yet even such "scrap" had grown powerful over time.
With sweep of palm cleaving peaks and stroke of sword splitting the sky, the big yellow dog was formidable indeed as it engaged in fierce battle with this creature of extraordinary origins in the night sky.
In the end, it swept past in a flash, holding its sword horizontally, slightly bending its waist as it stood in the distance, panting hard. Behind it, the massive monster was cleaved in two at the waist by the sword intent bursting from the bamboo sword, like a mountain shorn in half.
Moreover, as the colossal corpse plummeted through the clouds, dense cracks appeared across the two pieces of flesh as sword qi erupted.
Amid a flurry of popping sounds, the monster's fleshy body shattered into bloody mist and burned away, its form and spirit thoroughly annihilated!
The big yellow dog sighed. "Alas, I've grown old. Thinking back to the old days, even facing the astral winds high in the nine heavens that could blow away a person's conscious spiritual light, I could piss eighteen li against the gale! Now that I've come out of the mountains to purge demons again, after just a few clashes, I'm already panting for breath. My lifespan is running short, too."
It sheathed its bamboo sword and gave its coir raincoat and bamboo hat a shake, scattering a rain of blood. Striding through the clouds, the big yellow dog murmured, "The sun and moon may rise anew, but a sword immortal never regains his youth."
The big yellow dog had left the mountain intending to journey far and purge demons, but ultimately halted. It heard Old Man Liu's call: "Come back."
At the same time, the big yellow dog felt it too: its revival time was limited. Its condition was now receding like an ebb tide; not much time remained for it to maintain its sword immortal form!
With a whoosh, the Dog Sword Immortal no longer walked upright on two legs. Dropping onto all fours, it sprinted wildly through the storm clouds back toward Black-White Mountain.
"One of the two old fellows has come in person," Liu Mo warned, his voice echoing by the big yellow dog's ears.
At those words, the Dog Sword Immortal's expression changed. In its current state, it would be hard-pressed to fight again—especially against an unfathomable god who had escaped from Yujing.
Liu Mo murmured, "No matter. Head into the depths of Black-White Mountain. If he dares to act rashly, activate the black-and-white diagram I left behind all those years ago, and we shall see if we can kill a big fish tonight!"
Crossing mountains and ridges, the big yellow dog soon arrived near the former Black-White Dao Arena. Today, this was a concealed Peril, sealed away for five hundred years.
Upon entering this domain, its body inexplicably began to shift. Soon it turned round and chubby, shrinking in size. The coir raincoat became oversized, and the conical hat that had previously fit well now nearly covered its entire body.
"Big Yellow" had actually shrunk into a roly-poly creature with black-and-white fur and heavy dark circles around its eyes.
"Out-of-town bear, how did you break in here? State your name at once!" ahead, a great black tiger demon shouted.
Big Yellow had taken a secret path and approached the sealed Peril.
Yet right now, it did not resemble a dog at all; no matter how one looked at it, it was an iron-eating beast—a charmingly naive, plump panda.
"Call the master of the Black-White Pure Land out to see me." Big Yellow rubbed its dark eye rings, feeling utterly exhausted. Its state was plummeting rapidly, and it plopped down onto the ground.
"Little cat from out of town, who do you think you are to boast so shamelessly, demanding that the lord of the Peril come greet you in person?" The great black tiger demon bristled with murderous intent.
"Tiger cub, do you know who you are speaking to?" The mini panda's chubby body wriggled free of the oversized coir raincoat as it scolded with a stern face.
A moment later, the great black tiger demon stood frozen like a wood carving. First, it watched as Yue Mo and Liu Bai, the two leaders of the Black-White Pure Land, were soundly pummeled by the "panda cub."
Next, it saw the ancestor of the Peril emerge from seclusion, charging out astride monstrous demonic qi.
Yet the moment this ancestor caught sight of the roly-poly little panda, he tumbled straight from the clouds to the ground, prostrating himself and kowtowing with loud thuds.
"Master!" The ancestor of the Black-White Pure Land, who had not shown himself for countless years, wore an expression so agitated and devout that the great black tiger demon nearly wet itself in terror.
Big Yellow spoke: "Stop kowtowing. Right now, I am carrying the burden of my past sins. Open the array of Black-White Mountain immediately and await my order, ready at any moment to activate the Black-White Mountains and Rivers Diagram!"
"Yes!" the group of old demons nodded.
High above in the firmament, a terrifying figure pierced through the nine heavens, accompanied by boundless astral winds, standing upon a withered yellow lotus throne as he approached the Black-White Mountain realm.
He gazed down upon these mountains and streams from within the heavy fog, looking again and again, before ultimately retreating in silence without truly descending upon this land.
In the end, the ancestor of the Black-White Pure Land transformed into an aged beast, personally carrying the little panda out of the great mountains, while the Moon Insect famed throughout the surrounding regions served like a lantern leading the way before them, escorting Big Yellow back to Twin Trees Village in the deep night.
Just then, a woman's voice drifted from the household at the head of the village: "You damn old man! How long have you been standing by the window staring blankly at the rain? What are you standing there like an idiot for? Hurry up and go change the baby's diaper!"
"Aye, coming!" Liu Mo responded.
At the village entrance, the ancestor of the Black-White Pure Land was shaken so violently to his core that he nearly dumped his master off his back onto the ground.
Even the light emitted by the Moon Insect flickered erratically, betraying its intense emotional turmoil.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
After placing Big Yellow on the ground at the village entrance, the beast and the insect vanished without a trace in a flash. Some words were never meant to be overheard—to them, the shock was simply too overwhelming.
Once on the ground, the roly-poly little panda gave its fur a shake, instantly turning back into the big yellow dog.
"L-Lord Dog!"
"Lord Dog, when riches come, forget us not!"
Perched in the Black-White Twin Trees, Yuque and the red squirrel plucked up their courage to greet it.
...
At Black-White Mountain, a peerless sword immortal had struck on a rainy night, suspected of purging demons and slaying a god!
This news spread within a small circle.
In an outer pure land, Cao Qianqiu's eldest disciple, Pu Heng, hurried along with a look of utter shock, bearing a recently acquired secret letter to make a swift report.
When Old Cao saw his head disciple, he glanced at him and said, "What is there to panic about?"
"Master, something massive has happened at Black-White Mountain!"
Cao Qianqiu sat motionless and said, "When facing momentous events, maintain calm. Speak slowly."
...
At Mount Yuhua, amidst the hazy night, Qi Yunxiao could no longer sit still. He stepped to the edge of the cliff, looking out in the direction of Chixia City, thirteen hundred li away.
Earlier, he had been full of self-assurance, nonchalantly waiting for his conscious spiritual light to return by riding the sword. But after waiting and waiting without any word or trace, his composure had crumbled.
At this moment, all poise and gentleness faded entirely from his face. Suspecting that something had gone wrong, he began to feel intensely uneasy.
Cen Jinghong was pacing back and forth as well. If he lost the conscious spiritual light that had traveled so far, his cultivation would certainly suffer damage.
Mu Xingyao could also no longer maintain her ethereal, transcendent demeanor. She was an illustrious banished fairy from Earth Immortal Island in the West Sea; if a portion of her conscious spiritual light failed to return through the night, it would likely tarnish her reputation.
Someone offered a smiling word of comfort: "Brother Qi, there is no need to fret. Perhaps after you struck with two sword strikes, that Brother Qin was so struck with admiration for your mastery of the sword domain that he kept you to drink and converse, and right now you might very well be sitting together discussing the Dao."
Chapter 371