His white hair disheveled, Wu Tianzun let out a roar. His muscles bulged as he strained with all his might to hoist up a corner of the Five-Colored Immortal Mountain.
"Can't lift it!"
With a resounding rumble, the old man was crushed under the mountain, half his body buried beneath it and only his lower half sticking out.
Scrabbing at the dirt to dig a trench, he finally wriggled out from under the mountain. Sensing his essence and qi rapidly draining away, he hurried back onto the mountain and thought, *Good thing no one saw that just now, or I'd have had to silence them!*
The Five-Colored Immortal Mountain was far too heavy; even though he had cultivated a Martial Dao Primordial Spirit, lifting it was completely out of the question.
Yet Wu Tianzun soon thought, *I am already an immortal with endless time at my disposal. I can cultivate for as long as I like. If I can't shoulder this mountain today, then tomorrow, the day after, next year, the year after—or even a hundred or a thousand years from now—I will eventually cultivate to the point where heavy things feel light as a feather, where I can just hoist this immortal mountain and walk off!*
He burst into hearty laughter, his voice echoing across the immortal mountain. "Sooner or later, I'll be able to balance the Five-Colored Mountain on my palm, running and jumping around, maybe even clobbering people with it!"
Gazing into the distance toward Cangwu Abyss, Xu Ying hesitated for a moment, then decided against heading there.
He began his return journey.
He still needed to return to the Other Shore of the Martial Dao.
He had to go back and tell the people on the Other Shore of the Martial Dao that Wu Tianzun had found the path leading to another world—the very world the Martial Sage, creator of the Eight Methods of the God of War, had gone to.
He also had to tell them that Wu Tianzun had not died of old age, but was alive on the Five-Colored Immortal Mountain.
As Xu Ying walked, his mind grew muddled and drowsiness washed over him wave after wave. *It must have been a very long time since I had a good night's sleep,* he thought.
Dazed and sluggish, he unconsciously drifted off to sleep. Yet his feet continued marching forward. His eyes remained wide open, staring blankly straight ahead.
Without his realizing it, the root tendrils of the purple immortal plant had crept onto his eyelids, prying both eyes wide.
Other roots and stems of this immortal plant burrowed into Xu Ying's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Before he even knew it, he had fallen under the plant's control!
Back when Emperor Double Pupils had been suppressed, the immortal plant had served as a vital component of the seal, utilized to seal Double Pupils' physical body and lock him within the jade coffin!
Not only that, but it could steal Double Pupils' magic power and cultivation, absorbing his Dao principles and Dao methods.
Xu Ying was merely a Qi Refiner who had formed a Golden Core; the moment he let down his guard, he fell right into its trap and was taken over.
The purple immortal plant clambered onto Xu Ying's head, puffed up with pride. Now, Xu Ying's physical body was its physical body, and Xu Ying's magic power was its magic power.
It could control Xu Ying's body, manipulate Xu Ying's yuan qi and divine sense, and even mobilize his vitality.
However, the most pressing matter was to find its six leaves. Walking around completely naked all the time was simply unseemly.
It immediately rummaged through Xu Ying's pockets, but failed to find them. Then it sent out more root tendrils, worming into Xu Ying's Realm of Xiyi to search inch by inch.
Oddly enough, it found the ruined door that Xu Ying treasured, yet still could not locate its six leaves!
Raising several tendrils, it scratched Xu Ying's head, only to realize that felt off. It hastily scratched its own stalk instead, which felt much more satisfying.
Right then, a burst of laughter rang out: "To think the dignified ageless immortal would actually be controlled by an immortal herb! Word of this getting out would make people laugh their heads off."
The purple immortal plant twisted Xu Ying's neck around to look toward the voice. There, a person with a hole through his skull was walking on his hands, moving with incredible speed as he advanced toward them.
The purple immortal plant took fright, instantly recognizing this man as the powerhouse whose lower body had been shattered by the iron chain—though as to what this powerhouse was called, it had no idea.
"Aba aba!" Controlling Xu Ying, the purple immortal plant cried out toward the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court.
The Son of Heaven of the Nether Court laughed wildly, his laughter filled with grief and rage: "What do I intend to do? What else could I do? Revive, of course! Did you think I was playing along with Li Xiaoke just for fun? I joined hands with him for none other than the immortal medicine!"
His gaze was fanatical as he brushed aside the disheveled hair on his forehead, revealing the wound left by an eight-sided sword. He snarled at the purple immortal plant, "Do you see this wound? Li Xiaoke left it! But even before this wound, I was already dead! More precisely, my true body had already perished!"
The purple immortal plant made Xu Ying's mouth open and close, asking in bewilderment, "Aba aba?"
"You can't fathom it? Of course you can't!"
The Son of Heaven of the Nether Court sneered. "My past incarnation had long been a corpse, treated as a formation implement alongside the remains of other immortals to form a grand formation! Yet I was dead but not stiffened, and situated at the formation's lowest layer. Every time the jade coffin attempted to break the formation, I was closest to you, catching the scent of the medicinal efficacy you radiated. Over time, reliant on that faint medicinal potency of yours, I developed sentience!"
The purple immortal plant arranged Xu Ying's face into a solemn expression and went, "Aba aba!"
The Son of Heaven of the Nether Court roared with laughter. "That's right! I am a soul born from a corpse! The day I broke free coincided with the jade coffin attacking the various seals. Seizing the opportunity, I broke away from the immortal grand formation and fled for my life, only to be suppressed by the formation! By sheer luck I survived and escaped the crater, only to run into an ambush from Li Xiaoke, who left this sword wound in my skull."
He sneered, "Though I was already dead and this sword wound could not harm me in the least, a grudge was forged all the same. Why would I ever help Li Xiaoke find the immortal medicine? The truth is, I did it for myself—and if necessary, I would offer Li Xiaoke up as a sacrifice!"
The purple immortal plant flapped Xu Ying's mouth up and down, laughing heartily: "Aba, aba!"
"I am your defeated foe? You have probably forgotten that here, you do not have the aid of the mountain's layered seals!"
The aura of the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court erupted as he unleashed his cultivation. "Even if I have only half a body left, even if I have suffered grave injury after grave injury, my cultivation and strength are still not something you can rival!"
His aura surged to its pinnacle in an instant. Behind him, a battered Primordial Spirit and Realm of Xiyi manifested. In the next breath, a Netherworld Pagoda Divine Saber slashed down toward Xu Ying!
Although the purple immortal plant desperately drove Xu Ying's body to block, it had no time to mount any real defense before the strike landed. The blow nearly severed plant and boy in two!
Fortunately, Xu Ying possessed immense vitality. Flesh and blood interwove at the wound, trying to mend it.
Yet the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court was, after all, sovereign of the Nether Court. Though the Nether Court ruled only Shenzhou's Netherworld, his might was beyond dispute.
At Xu Ying's wound, the lingering divine power from the slash continued to ravage his body's functions, preventing the flesh from closing.
As the Son of Heaven's second slash descended, the purple immortal plant hesitated no longer. It yanked out its main roots immediately, returning control of the physical body to Xu Ying.
The instant Xu Ying woke and saw the Netherworld Pagoda Divine Saber slashing down, he executed the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique without thinking, tearing through the air to appear dozens of li away in an eyeblink!
The Son of Heaven of the Nether Court sneered, "You think you can escape?"
Netherworld qi surged behind him, coalescing into a colossal ghostly hand. The moment Xu Ying touched the ground, the nether ghostly hand clawed down, intending to trap him under its palm!
Xu Ying drew a long, deep breath. Channeling the Mountain Ramming Method, his fists thrust forward like long horns to collide with the nether ghostly hand!
His aura surged violently as every cave-heaven behind him opened wide. Twenty-eight cave-heavens spun, dispersing the force of the nether ghostly hand while he retreated continuously.
Simultaneously, the purple immortal plant's roots whipped wildly, striking the nether ghostly hand with rapid cracks. Joining forces, human and plant finally fended off this strike from the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court, though the force transmitted from the spectral hand still sent them skidding backward.
Xu Ying steadied himself and looked up, only to see the upper torso of the Son of Heaven flying toward them. Invoking his divine abilities, the Nether Court supreme darkened the sky behind him into a murky expanse, from which countless nether ghostly hands reached forth!
Uncounted arms flailed in midair, clawing down toward Xu Ying and the purple plant atop his head!
Back on the Five-Colored Immortal Mountain, the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court had been suppressed by five layers of seals. When he engaged Xu Ying in close combat, he had been battered into utter humiliation and stripped of all dignity—though fortunately, most of those who witnessed it were already dead.
Though his injuries were now far more severe than back then, without the suppression of the Five-Colored Mountain's seals, the cultivation and power he could exert were actually greater!
Xu Ying shifted through a dizzying series of stances, pushing the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique to its utmost limit to dodge the barrage of nether ghostly hands.
The youth's heart wept: *My martial spirit is probably down the drain! Then again, the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique is also a martial art. Maybe valiantly dodging the enemy also conforms to the martial spirit?*
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The ground ruptured repeatedly. Whenever a nether ghostly hand struck empty ground, it churned the earth into rolling waves of mud and sent rocks hurtling into the sky, or gouged deep trenches across the landscape!
Steeped in chilling spectral energy, these ghostly hands were the Nether Court's most potent divine ability. Their greatest effect lay in harming a target's souls and Primordial Spirit and defiling their Golden Core; their harm to the physical body was comparatively less severe.
Yet Xu Ying's greatest strength happened to be his soul! Consequently, his soul suffered no harm at all, while his physical body took wound after wound!
Whenever he failed to evade in time, another bone-deep bloody gouge would be torn across his body, stubborn and resistant to healing.
Fortunately, the purple immortal plant did everything in its power to help him resist. Although it knew no Dao methods or divine arts, it possessed natural monstrous strength and remarkably peculiar innate talents, giving it power nearly on par with Xu Ying's.
It also knew that if Xu Ying was finished off by this "half-a-man," it would certainly be doomed.
The Son of Heaven of the Nether Court was here to consume it. Once captured, he certainly wouldn't just nibble a single leaf like Wu Tianzun; he'd squeeze out every drop of its juice to drink and stew its stem into soup!
It had no choice but to fight with everything it had.
Xu Ying's footwork was erratic and blazing fast. Even though the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court had far superior cultivation, he could not bring Xu Ying down for the moment, leaving him both furious and anxious.
Summoning his tattered Primordial Spirit, the ragged spirit brandished the Netherworld Pagoda Divine Saber. Blades of light swirled up and down, never leaving Xu Ying's flanks!
Xu Ying and the purple plant pulled out every trick they had to fend off the onslaught, both person and weed accumulating wounds.
Without enough time to deploy the Eight Methods of the God of War, Xu Ying could only rely on the Thirteen Heavenly Sword Forms, using the Heavenly Sword to counter the Son of Heaven.
The Thirteen Heavenly Sword Forms was the martial art he had mastered best aside from the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique; the Eight Methods of the God of War could only rank third.
He was already proficient in Heavenly Dao runes and possessed a profound comprehension of the Heavenly Dao. Because the Thirteen Heavenly Sword Forms contained the Heavenly Dao, the sword intent he channeled was unfathomable, its moves so exquisite that even the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court could not unravel them.
Yet the Son of Heaven did not need to unravel them.
His cultivation was simply too overwhelming. Crushing forward directly with nether ghostly hands and the pagoda divine saber, Xu Ying's moves were pulverized by raw magic power and divine arts before they could inflict any damage, regardless of how masterful Xu Ying was with the Heavenly Sword or the transformations of the Heavenly Dao!
Just as they reached the end of their ropes, Xu Ying acutely detected a peculiar ripple.
This anomaly was an unusual resonance sensed by the sword intent of the Heavenly Sword.
Xu Ying's heart stirred, and realization struck. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Li Xiaoke, aren't you going to strike? I've seen through you—if you don't act now, you'll miss your chance!"
The moment the words left his mouth, sword qi flooded the air and sword intent filled the surroundings. Bearing a sword qi in hand, Li Xiaoke cleaved directly into the battlefield. His sword radiance splashed outward, shattering countless nether ghostly hands in an instant as he drove straight through!
*Chhh—*
The sword qi shot from his hand, piercing straight through the glabella of the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court.
Caught off guard, the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court had the sword qi plunged into his forehead and went flying backward. With a solid *thud*, he was pinned to a distant cliff, unable to move.
There had already been a sword wound between his brows left by Li Xiaoke's eight-sided sword; now Li Xiaoke had repeated the feat, showcasing in that fleeting moment the supreme grace of a peerless swordsman!
As the sky full of nether ghostly hands dispersed, Li Xiaoke turned around. Though pale, he looked at Xu Ying with a smile and asked, "How did you detect me?"
Xu Ying panted heavily a few times. Only after catching his breath did he say, "When I used the Thirteen Heavenly Sword Forms just now, the swordsmanship was truly exquisite, drawing upon the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao. Seeing that my achievement in the Sword Dao has already surpassed yours, your sword intent wavered involuntarily, which I picked up on."
Li Xiaoke broke into loud laughter. "My achievement in the Sword Dao is inferior to yours? What a joke! Your very introduction to the Sword Dao came from me! How could I be inferior to you?"
Xu Ying waited quietly for him to finish laughing, then said, "We are both masters of the Sword Dao. Who is superior and who is inferior is clear at a glance. Why deceive yourself?"
Li Xiaoke's expression darkened. He snorted, and another eight-sided sword qi condensed in his hand, pointing at Xu Ying. He said chillingly, "Hand over the immortal medicine, and I can leave your corpse intact! Actually, no need to leave an intact corpse. I hear certain people are searching for you. All I have to do is hand you over to them, and they'll take good care of you."
Xu Ying smiled. "I can teach you the Thirteen Heavenly Sword Forms."
The corner of Li Xiaoke's eye twitched. He gave a cold chuckle: "My Sword Dao is superior to yours—"
Xu Ying slowly lowered his right hand, which was still dripping blood. The blood mingled with his yuan qi, gradually coalescing into a sword qi. He said leisurely, "Unconvinced? Why not test it?"
Li Xiaoke's pupils contracted. The sword qi in his hand slowly dropped. The two moved their feet at an agonizingly slow pace, their auras growing calmer and fainter.
Faint beyond detection.
Suddenly, both figures lunged forward. The instant their sword lights clashed, techniques erupted! Sword qi whipped across the earth as countless streams of sword qi collided in midair, ringing with sharp metallic clangs!
Xu Ying and Li Xiaoke brushed past each other. The sword qi filling the air parted left and right, reentering their respective bodies.
Before and behind Li Xiaoke, scraps of clothing fluttered like butterflies—thirteen pieces cleanly sliced away. Xu Ying's clothing, on the other hand, had not torn a single new shred, remaining in its previous tattered ribbons.
In that brief exchange, they had traded thirteen moves, and Li Xiaoke had lost all thirteen.
Li Xiaoke's face was as dark as stagnant water, the corner of his eye twitching violently as his grip tightened on the sword qi in his hand.
As long as he unleashed his full power, he could butcher Xu Ying like chopping melons and vegetables. No matter how lofty Xu Ying's mastery of the Sword Dao was, there was no way it could contest his raw magic power!
After a long silence, the sword qi in his hand dissolved. Without looking back, he tossed over a set of clothes and said flatly, "Put them on. I will learn your Sword Dao."
Chapter 190