Chapter 733
Chapter 733
“Go!”
At Xue Che’s command. Of the five peak masters he had brought, not counting the grandmasters, four were already dead. The last one gritted his teeth, lunged forward, and swung his sword madly. Big Dummy once again executed his ‘block, block, block’ routine. A moment later, that peak master could no longer hold on, spitting out a mouthful of crimson blood as it poured endlessly from his lungs. Big Dummy let out another roar and tore the master in two, yet Xue Che remained completely unfazed by the situation. What he needed was time.
‘This should be enough.’
He had only recovered his internal energy for a little over half a shichen, but it was enough to fight. Li Qianqiu’s wife had just had her severed wrist reattached, making it difficult for her to fight, and Li Qianqiu’s attention was on her, drastically reducing his combat effectiveness. Su Nan, Si Yin, Zhong Chuke, and Wu Daozi had nearly exhausted their internal energy. On Ying Zheng’s side, only Big Dummy, Xue Yin, and Banya remained, but their energy was also running low.
‘In this battle, I, Xue Che, will kill them and kill Ying Zheng, even if I lose two or three grandmasters.’
“Two senior brothers from Mount Futu, now that it has come to this, there is no need to follow the rules, is there?”
The two grandmasters from Mount Futu hesitated for a moment before taking out a bottle and pouring its contents onto their blades. Instantly, a green smoke formed on the blades. They were not poisons, but venomous insects, making them look particularly grotesque. Wu Daozi’s eyes turned cold as she donned a pair of gloves and took out a bottle. She poured the liquid filling the bottle onto her hand. The liquid was alive. It, too, was made of venomous insects. Countless insects writhed, though they seemed a bit sluggish in the extreme cold. Wu Daozi then took out a red bottle and poured the flame-red liquid within onto her hand. In an instant, the fearsome insects became active, and Wu Daozi was shrouded in a green and red mist.
“Who can’t play at mutual destruction?”
Wu Daozi said coldly. A grandmaster from Mount Futu responded.
“Junior Sister Wu, are you mad? Everyone will die this way! Including your own side.”
Wu Daozi replied.
“At least Big Dummy won’t die. Hehehe.”
Soon, Wu Daozi’s body, wreathed in a mist that made her look as if she were engulfed in flames, became invisible. But it was not fire; it was more than a billion living insects, a mix of green and red that only appeared like a blazing inferno.
The grandmaster from Mount Futu said.
“Hahahaha! To think that our Mount Futu would have a family feud on the peak of this great snowy mountain. Then come!”
As if their hearts were breaking, the two grandmasters from Mount Futu took out two more bottles of venomous insects and poured them onto their blades. A thick smoke rose from their two swords, and like Wu Daozi, they were engulfed in a grotesque, blazing flame.
“Fall back! Fall back!”
At Wu Daozi’s command, Ying Zheng’s side retreated several dozen meters. Fearing they might be touched by the terrifying insects, Xue Che’s side also fell back several dozen meters. The battle instantly turned into a civil war within Mount Futu, a showdown of two grandmasters against Wu Daozi.
*Clang.*
The swords in the hands of the two Mount Futu grandmasters slashed out fiercely, and in an instant, the green smoke coiling around their respective blades surged violently toward Wu Daozi.
“Go.”
Wu Daozi’s body trembled once, and the red and green toxic smoke covering her entire body spread out like the wind. The three streams of venomous insects from Mount Futu clashed in mid-air.
*Boom!*
Without sound or presence, tens of billions of venomous insects exploded like a multi-colored bomb, spreading madly in all directions and covering an area of over ten meters. A grandmaster from the Hidden Yuan Society felt a breeze pass over his arm, and then he witnessed an utterly terrifying and grotesque scene. His hand was rotting away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“Aargh!”
He let out a wretched scream. The decay spread rapidly throughout his body.
“Retreat, retreat!”
Xue Che immediately threw a dagger from his hand, severing the rotting arm of the Hidden Yuan Society grandmaster. Everyone quickly fell back. However, Tang Yan the Toothless was just a fraction too slow in his retreat. In that brief moment, his back suddenly tingled as a patch of venomous insects attached to him. In the blink of an eye, numerous holes appeared on his back, and his body began to rapidly decay.
“Aargh!”
Even someone like Tang Yan could not help but scream in agony. Gou Duhuan quickly took out a medicine bottle and splashed its contents onto Tang Yan’s back. Instantly, the venomous insects on Tang Yan’s back died all at once, falling to the ground like a cloud of fine dust. The main ingredient of that medicine was Shen Lang’s blood. But in that short time, the insects had inflicted a grievous injury on Tang Yan; a moment later, and he would not have survived.
The battle between Wu Daozi and the two grandmasters from Mount Futu continued. The three of them, manipulating countless venomous insects in their fierce struggle, caused an increasingly terrifying level of insects to spread around them, until the air for dozens of meters was completely filled with them. This was truly a battle of mutual destruction. The insects did not distinguish between friend and foe; once they spread, anyone they touched would surely die.
Wu Daozi was shedding tears of blood in her heart, as were the two grandmasters from Mount Futu. To think that the venomous insects they had cultivated for over a decade would all be expended in this one battle. But contrary to the three’s miserable feelings, those watching their battle felt a chill run down their spines.
‘So this is Mount Futu? Their attacks are impossible to defend against.’
If there was no one to suppress them, and these venomous insect weapons from Mount Futu were to spread throughout the world, what a horrifying sight would that be?
The battle between the three using their insects grew more and more intense, until finally, neither side could control them, leading to a situation of complete mutual destruction. But just then!
“In the heavens is our White Jade Capital, and all that the snow touches on earth is under our jurisdiction! For you all to battle on the peak of this great snowy mountain, are you disregarding our White Jade Capital?”
A sudden voice echoed, filling the entire snowy mountain.
*Swoosh.*
Following that, an extremely cold gale blew, and the mist of venomous insects that had spread across the mountaintop suddenly solidified, sealed within countless shards of ice, and fell to the ground all at once. It was like a rain of colorful ice, an incomparably magnificent and beautiful sight. Then, dark clouds rolled in, a cold wind howled, and a blizzard swirled.
“If you wish to battle, do not do so upon the snowy mountain. All of you, withdraw immediately!”
The voice continued, but not even a shadow could be seen. Xue Che spoke in a clear voice.
“Fellow Daoist from the White Jade Capital, could you not grant us a moment’s leniency? Once this matter is settled, both Mount Futu and the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion will journey north to visit the White Jade Capital.”
“There is no need to visit the White Jade Capital in the heavens. Where there is no snow is not our domain, but where the snow touches is all our territory! Disperse at once!”
*Boom, boom, boom.*
As soon as the words were spoken, three streaks of something as white as snow shot up to the ends of the sky and then burst violently. Instantly, the temperature on the mountaintop plummeted madly. The original temperature of around minus twenty degrees Celsius dropped without end, reaching minus forty, then fifty degrees in a single breath. At that moment, the blizzard from the sky intensified, and the color of the snowflakes gradually changed from white to a faint blue.
“All of you, disperse! If you do not leave, do not blame our White Jade Capital for being unforgiving. As the saying goes, in the heavens is the White Jade Capital; where the snow touches, we are invincible. One party descends the mountain to the east, the other to the west. We will be watching everything. If you wish to fight, do so after you have descended!”
The people from the White Jade Capital still did not show their faces. Xue Che, the people from Mount Futu, and the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion exchanged glances, then all shook their heads. The White Jade Capital was the most arrogant of the six transcendent powers in the world, and the most mysterious, rarely interacting with other powers. Now that the White Jade Capital had appeared, the matter of killing Ying Zheng was already a lost cause.
“Retreat!”
At Xue Che’s command, the ten grandmasters quickly withdrew, leaving the frigid mountain peak and descending to the east. Grandmaster Xue Yin endured the cold and said.
“Thank you for your help, Fellow Daoist of the White Jade Capital.”
There was a moment of silence, and then the person from the White Jade Capital spoke.
“In heaven is the White Jade Capital, with its twelve towers and five walls. A celestial being stroked my crown, and since my hair was bound, I have learned the art of immortality. A fine poem, a truly fine poem! Go back and tell Shen Lang. We have paid the price for this poem, so tell him not to seek us out in the future. You all descend to the west. But where the snow does not reach is not our domain. Whether you live or die is all up to your own fate.”
Li Qianqiu, Xue Yin, Ying Zheng, and the others quickly headed west, descending the great snowy mountain. On the peak, the snow still fell relentlessly. The mountaintop, which had just moments ago been exposed black rock, was once again covered in white snow, quickly regaining its former beautiful mystery.
***
Descending to the west, Ying Zheng’s party immediately entered the territory of the State of Jiang. Xue Che’s party also descended with lightning speed. When they reached an altitude of about a thousand meters, there was no accumulated snow. They hurried westward, intending to intercept and annihilate Ying Zheng and the others. However, when they reached the western foot of the mountain, they saw a contingent of cavalry. Queen Aronana, leading thirty thousand cavalrymen, was waiting in an orderly formation on the plains at the foot of the mountain. Ying Zheng’s party quickly rushed into the midst of Queen Aronana’s thirty-thousand-strong army, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared from sight, finally losing the chance to kill Ying Zheng completely.
Xue Che’s side had ten grandmasters. Couldn’t they charge into the thirty thousand cavalry and continue to pursue and kill Ying Zheng’s party? That would be courting death. Martial arts were martial arts, and a large army was a large army. With the exception of someone as formidable as Big Dummy, the moment a grandmaster-level expert entered a large army, they would surely meet their death. It wouldn't matter if there was one grandmaster or ten; the outcome would be the same. If Ying Zheng had chosen the path through the State of Chu to return to the State of Yue, Xue Che’s side could have mobilized a thousand warriors from Mount Futu there. But this was the State of Jiang, not Chu. The assassination had failed. They had to return to the State of Yue as quickly as possible to formulate a new plan.
“Let’s go!”
At Xue Che’s command, the ten grandmasters did not descend but instead raced madly eastward along the mountain range.
“Let’s go!”
At Queen Aronana’s command, the thirty thousand cavalry escorted Ying Zheng’s party, riding swiftly to the east.
***
Inside a large carriage.
Wu Daozi said.
“We can’t wait for Shen Lang to treat Lady Qiu’s severed hand. The temperature on the mountaintop just now was too low. Her hand might become completely necrotic soon.”
The Sword King’s wife, Lady Qiu, said.
“If it can’t be saved, then just cut it off. As I said, I don’t use my left hand much anyway. Now that I have my beautiful face back, losing one hand doesn’t matter much.”
Li Qianqiu said.
“No, we can’t cut it off. No. My lady, I will carry you on my back and find Shen Lang immediately. You must keep your left hand well-protected.”
The Sword King’s wife, Lady Qiu, scolded him angrily.
“If you leave, who will protect His Highness Ying Zheng? Are you going to forsake your public duties for a private matter? I was supposed to be a dead person. Aren’t I content enough to have my life back? What’s the big deal about losing a hand?”
However, Li Qianqiu, ignoring his wife’s anger, was about to carry her on his back and head north to find Shen Lang.
“Wait.”
Wu Daozi thought for a moment, then took out a medicine bottle from her robes.
“My father, in order to save my mother, traveled far and wide, searching ancient ruins for the Marrow-Cleansing Elixir, but he found nothing. However, he did obtain three bottles of ancient medicine. I’ll use one bottle on you. It might save your severed hand. But you must tell Shen Lang when you get back. Tell him he owes me a bottle of ancient medicine and must repay it.”
“I’ll repay it, I’ll repay it.”
To Li Qianqiu’s words, Wu Daozi replied coolly.
“You can’t afford to.”
Then, Wu Daozi examined Tang Yan the Toothless’s back. Damaged by the venomous insects, his back was riddled with uneven holes, looking gruesome and terrifying. She put down another bottle of medicine and said.
“Apply this to the wound twice a day.”
Tang Yan said in surprise.
“Is this also an ancient medicine? Then I cannot repay it.”
“This is a top-grade healing ointment. One gold coin per bottle. But this wound won’t heal. You’ll be this ugly for the rest of your life. Is that all right?”
To Wu Daozi’s words, Tang Yan replied.
“That’s perfect. I won’t have to get a wife.”