As Hong Sihai shattered Five Lakes Hall, Qian Chen took to the air in an escape light. With a Breeze Cloud-Body Talisman affixed to his body, he broke past the normal limits of Foundation Building, riding the mist aloft with the power of the Flying Cloud Pouch. He soared dozens of zhang in the space of a single breath.
From his vantage high above, he released the Black Gold Baleful Hook from his grip for the first time.
The hook transformed into a streak of dark golden light, hurtling through the air.
Opening the distance to fight with swords was the only foolproof strategy for a proper cultivator. To engage in close-quarters melee against a martial artist—where one's life hung by a thread—what sort of madness would that be?
Qian Chen had merely been playing the part of a peerless swordsman and an earnest warrior. When it came to a true life-and-death struggle, his first instinct was still that of a traditional cultivator: unfurl the Heavenly Net Umbrella above his head, conceal the Seven Baleful Banner beneath his feet, keep the Dragon Sparrow Ring on his hand, and manipulate his flying sword from dozens of zhang above to fight the enemy.
Always stack the thickest armor, open the ideal distance, and kite the foe.
Not only did he have to kite, but he also needed invulnerability and damage reduction active... How did one deal with a warrior? Guard against gap-closers, stay ready to pop damage-immunity, whittle them down from range, and layer on proper crowd control.
Even those lunatics of the Shaoqing Sword Sect had no rule demanding they charge in sword-first for hand-to-hand brawls. Most cultivators were essentially archers, or at worst mages. A flying sword could claim a man's head from thousands of li away; there was never any sense in wrestling body-to-body.
Qian Chen cautiously deployed the time-tested, enduring playbook.
Sword light cascaded downward, pouring forth like a swimming dragon.
Yet after knocking back Chan Master Kongming with a single punch, Hong Sihai paused for only an instant before pivoting with effortless grace. Gangqi manifested around both of his fists; the azure Heavenly Unity Pure Gang was like the clear sky after rain, its verdant expanse as pure as the firmament. That Heavenly Unity Pure Gang concentrated upon Hong Sihai's fists, and with a single shockwave, he repelled Qian Chen's sword light.
The Black Gold Baleful Hook was not inherently razor-sharp. While its level of restrictions was decent, Qian Chen had not refined it to a very high stage.
Leaving aside whether the flying hook was sharp enough to pierce the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang—famed as the foremost defensive force among the Thirty-Six Heavenly Astral Gangs—even being struck a few times by the gangqi left the sword light sluggish.
The spiritual radiance of the flying sword's restrictions had been jostled by the gangqi.
Qian Chen clicked his tongue in secret. He had previously deduced that Hong Sihai might have condensed gangqi, transmuting the inner qi of a Martial Dao great grandmaster into astral gang, merging it with an exotic variety of primordial qi between heaven and earth—Qianyuan gangqi. By uniting inner and outer gangqi, Hong Sihai had mastered a supreme art fusing magic and martial arts that would rank among the best even in the Central Divine Continent. But Qian Chen had never expected Hong Sihai's condensed gangqi to be of such an elevated caliber!
Qian Chen could only count his blessings that this world had only divine weapons and no inheritance of magical implement crafting.
Otherwise, after uniting martial arts and magic, Hong Sihai could have channeled the Heavenly Unity gangqi to forge his martial arts into a qi weapon and magic treasure.
From then on, he would have been able to fly and kill unimpeded, becoming a Martial Dao Qi Refiner who would be troublesome even in the Central Lands...
The Heavenly Unity Pure Gang was condensed from the essence of the Pure Qi of the Nine Heavens, possessing an extreme nature. If the Ice Soul Cold Light Gang Qian Chen had previously acquired was the essence of cold qi—bitterly frigid and capable of freezing all primordial qi—then the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang was the essence of clear qi, though leaning toward heaviness, setting it apart from the ethereal nature of the other eight essences of clear qi.
What was more, Hong Sihai's condensed gangqi possessed so pure a hue that its quality was undoubtedly of the highest tier.
The intrinsic foundation of this world was weak. The Thirty-Six Heavenly Astral Gangs were forms of primordial qi produced only in worlds on the scale of the myriad heavens. Qian Chen had already been astounded to encounter a wisp of Ice Soul Cold Light Gang; now even the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang had emerged. What kind of bizarre wealth of resources was this?
*Could the common knowledge I heard at Louguan Dao be outdated? Has a revival of primordial qi swept across the myriad heavens and worlds, making these exotic energies that were exceedingly precious millions of years ago commonplace today?* Qian Chen could not help but wonder.
Yet his hands did not pause. The Seven Baleful Banner planted at the entrance of Five Lakes Hall once again gushed with rolling black baleful qi, rising into the air like seven massive pythons that swept forward along the ground.
Though Hong Sihai was somewhat puzzled as to why Qian Chen possessed so many divine weapons and of such peculiar sorts, these sentiments were merely extraneous, fleeting thoughts that could not disturb the calm, icy killing intent at the core of his battle state. A golden halo manifested behind his head, amplifying his true qi to cast a piercing radiance that tore a rift through the surging tide of baleful qi.
"True Yang Divine Gold!" Sword Absolute Liu Duxing cried out in agonizing despair. "It really was you! It truly was you... you beast!
"Eldest Brother treated you so well! How could you be so cruel..."
Hong Sihai frowned slightly, and a streak of light flicked out from the golden halo behind his head, darting straight toward Liu Duxing.
Qian Chen hastily pointed downward. As the light was ground down by the baleful qi rolling from the Seven Baleful Banner, it was extinguished within the black tide.
Hong Sihai glanced up at Qian Chen overhead. He knew that although he possessed light-body techniques to leap and soar, he could not linger suspended in the sky. Rather than jumping around to battle Qian Chen, it was better to first seize what was on the ground. Splitting his fists, his Heavenly Unity Pure Gang tore through the surging baleful tide of the Seven Baleful Banner.
Although the Seven Baleful Banner had concentrated seven strands of baleful qi, most were impure and motley, not to mention that none ranked among the Seventy-Two Earthly Baleful Shas. How could they withstand the condensed Heavenly Unity Pure Gang?
Hong Sihai pressed forward against the wind of black baleful qi, his fists repeatedly tearing through the haze and sundering the entanglements. Step by step, he advanced toward the Seven Baleful Banner at the doorway, intending to confiscate this strange divine weapon first. Just as he stepped onto the stairs outside Five Lakes Hall, the talisman Qian Chen had long since hidden beneath the steps abruptly detonated—the Three Realms Freezing Light Talisman.
The instantly spreading tide of frost arrested Hong Sihai, and a thick layer of ice enveloped his body.
An ordinary great grandmaster would have been subdued on the spot, but Qian Chen knew Hong Sihai was shielded by the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang and would never be trapped by a spirit talisman equivalent only to a Core Formation blow. If the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang were truly so frail, it would not deserve to be called the foremost defense among the Thirty-Six Heavenly Astral Gangs.
Thus, Qian Chen flicked out an ice needle. The Ice Soul True Qi concentrated from the Ice Soul Cold Light Gang instantly sank into the ice encasing Hong Sihai, deepening the chill until the ordinary frost gradually transformed into thousand-year profound ice.
As long as Qian Chen did not withdraw the Ice Soul True Qi, this layer of profound ice would not melt.
Yet this could only hold Hong Sihai for a time. While the profound ice trapped him, was it not also protecting him? Shielded by the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang within and the thousand-year profound ice of the Ice Soul Cold Light Gang without, Qian Chen's flying sword and magic treasures could not breach such a defense, and the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang was far more profound and pure than the Ice Soul Cold Light Gang.
Once Hong Sihai acclimated to the chill and shattered the ice, his ferocity would only become more terrifying.
Qian Chen gestured, recalling the Spirit Light Mirror. Using the mirror, he focused the glaring radiance of several Luminescence Talismans into a single beam, piercing through the ice to shine directly into Hong Sihai's eyes. Then he retrieved the Seven Baleful Banner and drew in its baleful qi, shaping it into a shroud that enveloped the profound ice holding Hong Sihai.
The blinding light caused Hong Sihai's pupils to contract, and he simply closed his eyes within the ice.
At that moment, Qian Chen moved like lightning to freeze the Dragon Sparrow Ring inside the profound ice, positioning it right behind Hong Sihai. Manipulating the Ice Soul Cold Light Gang, he guided the ring deeper through the layers of ice until it rested directly against Hong Sihai's back.
He then brought out the White Bone Relic, drawing forth its demonic intent to conjure phantom sounds and visions that relentlessly assailed Hong Sihai's mind.
With another point of his finger, the Soul-Binding Rope binding Fan Huiming loosened, retreating to Qian Chen before wrapping several coils around the exterior of the profound ice.
The two exchanged a glance across the thousand-year profound ice, each preparing their final killing move... Qian Chen remained suspended dozens of zhang in the air. He put away the Black Gold Baleful Hook, building killing intent bit by bit and running his hand inch by inch over the flying hook. Stirring the spiritual radiance within, he gathered his momentum; his next strike would surely be a decisive finishing blow.
Trapped inside the profound ice and enduring the harassment of yin demons, Hong Sihai could not calm his mind to comprehend the shifts of his gangqi against the chill, nor could he seize this opportunity to temper it.
He could only sense the momentum of the great enemy in the sky while focusing his mind with intense concentration to shut out the demonic whispers.
The stray thoughts in his heart gradually faded, leaving only a pure will to battle as crystalline as the thousand-year profound ice around him.
Presently, he felt the cold confining him begin to loosen under the battering of his Heavenly Unity Pure Gang. Matching the rhythm, he adjusted his breath. The gangqi over his fists grew increasingly concentrated; he needed only wait for the right moment to shatter the ice and unleash an earth-shattering ultimate strike.
Qian Chen was likewise honing the sword within his heart...
Yet if the stalemate continued, Hong Sihai would be the one more likely to achieve a breakthrough and ascend to a higher level. Under Qian Chen's pressure, the torment of the frost, and the trial of the demonic illusions, Hong Sihai was steadily accumulating power for a counterattack.
Just as the Ice Soul True Qi was on the verge of losing its hold on Hong Sihai, the ice suddenly melted away. The aura Hong Sihai had suppressed for so long erupted. His Heavenly Unity gangqi shook the heavens; the surging force instantly shattered the clouds over Linhai City, the violent tremor making even Qian Chen's footing in the air unstable.
This sudden shift in timing disrupted the rhythm of Hong Sihai's buildup, but he capitalized on the momentum to unleash his honed brilliance. Like a fist breaking from long confinement, his strike blasted forth, rolling gangqi surging along with the trajectory of the blow.
The Heavenly Net Umbrella pressed downward, yet its spiritual radiance could not suppress such mighty gangqi.
It was as if the azure sky itself were rising, shattering the umbrella's radiance inch by inch... It would take painstaking refinement in the future to restore it.
Only then did a smile appear on Qian Chen's face...
*This is the moment I've been waiting for!*
The Heavenly Unity Pure Gang was unmatched in defense and exceedingly resilient, practically the premier tortoise shell in the myriad heavens and worlds. If Hong Sihai remained huddled within, Qian Chen would not be able to harm him even after attacking for three months.
Yet he was known as the Firmament Tyrant Fist, possessed of an overbearing disposition. Though capable of endurance, Qian Chen had calculated that the moment an opportunity arose, Hong Sihai would take the initiative to gamble on an aggressive strike... This was his Martial Dao, intrinsically bound to his nature. How could it be changed so easily?
Thus, everything prior had only seemed to trap him, while in truth fueling his strength.
This was called flattering the enemy into arrogance.
Now that he had broken from his shell like a spring recoiling after being compressed to its limit, his power was undeniable... but this moment of greatest strength was also his moment of greatest vulnerability.
As the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang poured out with the punch, overwhelming the Heavenly Net Umbrella, the remaining frost on Hong Sihai's body suddenly coalesced into a single needle, piercing straight toward his heart.
The residual Heavenly Unity Pure Gang transformed into a thin veil of azure mist, somehow retaining enough power to halt the Ice Soul Cold Light Needle outside his chest.
Though reduced to a gossamer layer thinner than the finest gauze, the needle fell just short of breaching the azure mist.
A supremely confident, cold sneer appeared on Hong Sihai's face, as if he held everything in the palm of his hand.
Mastered under his fist...
The spiritual radiance of the Heavenly Net Umbrella was about to collapse, and the Ice Soul Cold Light Needle, seemingly so close to victory, was entirely spent. Just as Hong Sihai was about to press his advantage and obliterate Qian Chen into a mist of blood with the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang, a jade ring dropped from behind his head, cleanly stripping away the golden halo.
Deprived of the divine weapon's amplification, Hong Sihai's true qi suddenly collapsed.
The Soul-Binding Rope and Seven Baleful Banner snapped tight at the same moment... Within the rolling black tide, dark serpents twisted, grinding against Hong Sihai's physical body.
With a furious roar, Hong Sihai poured out all his true qi to resist the crushing weight of the baleful tide, holding back the rope and fending off the ice needle.
As long as he could hold out until his gangqi returned, he still had a chance at victory.
It was then that Qian Chen's lethal strike erupted.
The dark golden sword light in his hand suddenly dispersed—it had been an illusion cast by the Spirit Light Mirror.
Meanwhile, a streak of dark golden sword light burst from the Dragon Sparrow Ring. With Hong Sihai having exhausted all his measures, and from a distance of mere feet behind his head, it pierced through his glabella in an instant, drawing not a single drop of blood.
In that moment, this hegemon of the martial world, an ambitious man who had sought to rule heaven and earth with his fists—the most decisive, cold-blooded, cruel, determined, and clever Dragon Head of the Twelve Yuan Chen Qian Chen had encountered on this mission—finally fell to his knees.
His formidable physique allowed him, even now, to retain a single lingering breath.
Qian Chen descended from the sky. The Heavenly Net Umbrella could no longer close properly, hanging loosely, battered and torn upon his back.
...
Chan Master Kongming, Daoist Wanshi, Kang Qiandeng, and the others had previously been suffocated by Hong Sihai's overwhelming might. Kongming had even resolved that their generation of great grandmasters should sacrifice themselves for the righteous path, allowing the younger generation to submit temporarily as seeds of hope for the future.
Only when Qian Chen unleashed an endless array of hidden measures, presenting a dazzling display of cards, had a sliver of hope been rekindled in their hearts.
That hope had swelled nearly to cheers when Qian Chen trapped Hong Sihai.
Yet seeing that Qian Chen remained completely on guard as though facing a mortal threat, they had not dared to approach.
Then Hong Sihai had broken through the ice, and his sky-shattering punch had left their minds utterly blank... leaving only the singular notion of the supreme pinnacle of martial arts deeply rooted in their thoughts. Not until Qian Chen outcalculated him, turning the tables in an instant to slay Hong Sihai...
Did they finally begin to recover.
Even now, it felt unreal, like waking from a dream.
...
Hong Sihai's head drooped toward his chest, a thin trickle of blood sliding down from between his brows. His martial arts had truly reached a realm unprecedented in this world, having refined a portion of his will and soul into his gangqi. Even now, he could still speak, his lips parting slightly to utter a voice as faint as a mosquito's hum:
"I am Dragon Head, and I am Hong Sihai... the man who killed his sworn brother, his dearest friend, and his most trusted subordinate.
"The question is..." Hong Sihai's final breath lingered for a long moment as he asked, "Who are you?"
*If I were Luo Shengyi, this tale of vengeance would have reached a perfect conclusion.*
*Pity that I am not...* Qian Chen sighed silently in his heart.
Yet that did not prevent him from giving this story a fitting end, did it?
And so Qian Chen spoke, "My name is Luo Shengyi, the son of the former Demonic Cult Master!"
"So that's how it is..." Hong Sihai murmured in his dying moments, his gaze showing a calm and joyful light. "So that's... how it is..."
"You are that child..."
Perhaps that joy was an attachment to all he had known, or perhaps relief at the resolution.
His head drooped lower, and his breath ceased entirely...
...
Rumors spread across the martial world that before the heroes of the martial realm and the grandmasters and great grandmasters of the major sects, the Demonic Cult Master's son, Luo Shengyi, had achieved his vengeance. With a faint smile, he had drifted away, vanishing from the martial world forever... leaving behind only this legend.
This tale became an enduring myth of the martial world... The Twelve Yuan Chen, Dragon Head, the Demonic Cult, Four Seas Hall... Decades later, all their traces had faded, yet their renown remained immortal, sung by generation after generation of martial artists.
Qian Chen gifted Kang Qiandeng a sword manual from the Demonic Cult's secret vault and returned the lost martial arts of Shaolin and Wudang that had once been seized by the Demonic Cult.
Finally, after entreating Daoist Wanshi and Chan Master Kongming to look after the ordinary disciples of Four Seas Hall so they would not be implicated by Hong Sihai's deeds... he chose to return to the Reincarnation Lands.
Chapter 35