Chapter 280
Chapter 280
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 280
Chapter Title: Chapter 280 Jade Words and Jade Words
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Jade Spirit Child burst out laughing. “Chen Shi, this Daoist thought you were someone who held all living beings close to your heart. Now it seems this Daoist overestimated you. Arrogant and conceited, brimming with ambition—if you rise to power, it won’t be a blessing for the masses. It will plunge the world’s creatures into misery and suffering!”
He had been provoked by Chen Shi’s words, and now referred to himself as this Daoist in his speech.
The wooden cart rolled onward, white clouds blooming beneath its wheels. They lifted the cart—and the two inside—aloft into the sky.
This was the Cloud Riding Technique, cast effortlessly by Jade Spirit Child. His Dao arts were otherworldly, a sight to behold.
Blackie Pot whipped his head around. The cart was gone. He scanned frantically in all directions but couldn’t spot it. Looking up, he saw the wooden cart soaring hundreds of zhang into the air, keeping pace with a white jade artifact as it raced through the clouds.
“Woof! Woof!”
Blackie Pot hurriedly activated the Galloping Horse Talismans and Divine Speed Talismans bound to his four legs. He ran faster and faster, as if aided by the gods themselves, treading the wind as he charged into the sky.
Mouth agape, he barreled through the wind, climbing ever higher, closing in on the wooden cart.
Just then, a massive deer came galloping through the air—the very Plum Blossom Deer that Jade Spirit Child and the others had ridden into the city.
The Plum Blossom Deer was like a mobile hillock, its body enormous, over twenty zhang from head to tail. A celebratory cloud sat astride its back, and banners draped its form.
Its antlers were especially peculiar, branching out wildly with sections resembling plum blossoms, each one blooming with flowers. A true Plum Blossom Deer.
It was the guardian divine beast of Taihua Azure Palace. It had followed Jade Spirit Child into the western capital. Now it charged in from the side, lowered its head, and with a leap of its antlers, impaled Blackie Pot and flung him far away!
Blackie Pot spun dizzily, vanishing to who-knew-where.
The Plum Blossom Deer trod auspicious clouds and galloped beneath the wooden cart. The cart settled onto the celebratory cloud.
The Plum Blossom Deer thundered through the air, hooves clattering.
The wooden cart drove onward through the celebratory cloud, trying to break free. But as it moved forward, the cloud only grew larger. No matter how fast the cart went, the cloud’s edge always lay ahead.
It tried retreating backward.
The same thing happened.
This celebratory cloud was surely another treasure, seemingly fused as one with the Plum Blossom Deer. No matter where the wooden cart went, it remained atop the cloud, unable to escape.
Aboard the wooden cart, Chen Shi leaned out to gaze down at the mountains and rivers below. Clouds streamed past the wheels.
Jade Spirit Child sat across from him. “Chen Shi, your killing intent runs too deep. You’re talented yet arrogant, looking down on the world’s heroes. You think I came as a mere envoy to convince you to abandon the top scholar contest because the Young Master fears you? Ridiculous—utterly ridiculous! The Young Master knows nothing of this and wouldn’t deign to care! Forget the Young Master—even I am not someone you can necessarily defeat!”
Eyes on nose, nose on heart, he didn’t meet Chen Shi’s gaze. “I began cultivating at six, took first in the county exam at ten, then entered Taihua Azure Palace to train. Thirteen years of practice, and my realm has reached Deification. One realm towers over the last like the heavens over earth—like an immortal gazing upon a mortal.”
Chen Shi withdrew his gaze, his expression odd. He couldn’t help saying, “Jade Spirit Child, you’ve channeled your magic to lift the wooden cart into the sky, showing off your transcendent might. But you sit so close and spout such boasts—do you realize how perilous your position is?”
The jade ruyi behind Jade Spirit Child’s head glowed brighter, seeming on the verge of turning solid. It radiated supreme confidence. “Chen Shi, Taihua Azure Palace’s heritage is in no way inferior to that of the Thirteen Families. I cultivate the Supreme Truth Jade Art of Taihua Azure Palace and have forged the Supreme Truth Dao Body. The jade ruyi dharma image is its harbinger. ‘Ruyi’ means as my heart desires—when my will stirs, no Dao art or attack can come near me.”
Before he finished, Blackie Pot came howling back on a gust of clear wind, furious, charging straight at the Plum Blossom Deer!
The Plum Blossom Deer stood over twenty zhang tall, its legs long and slender. It trod the clouds unhurriedly, yet at tremendous speed. Blackie Pot had been ambushed earlier, gored by its antlers and flung away. Even at full sprint on all fours, he couldn’t catch up for the moment.
He finally closed in, but the Plum Blossom Deer paid him no mind. It reared a hoof and stomped down toward Blackie Pot’s skull!
Jade Spirit Child kept his eyes on nose, nose on heart. He ignored Chen Shi’s every move, ignored the deer and dog. His expression remained placid. “With my Supreme Truth Dao Body, I’ve roamed West Ox New Continent, subduing countless evils and spirits. I am honored as the Daozi of Taihua Azure Palace. Facing me, you’re like your family dog facing Taihua Azure Palace’s Plum Blossom Deer…”
He got that far when a ferocious yin wind howled up, blowing the Plum Blossom Deer—and Blackie Pot—away in an instant!
Blackie Pot had dragged this Plum Blossom Deer into the underworld!
Jade Spirit Child’s heart jolted. He snapped open his eyes. The celebratory cloud remained, and the wooden cart still rolled across it. Only then did he relax.
The celebratory cloud was a treasure of Taihua Azure Palace. It could fly, grow vast or tiny. With it there, Chen Shi and the cart had no hope of escape!
Chen Shi had seen it too. He was astonished inwardly. *Blackie Pot’s grown some real skill! Before, he could only drag souls and spirits to the underworld, not fleshly bodies! Looks like those books weren’t for nothing these days!*
He felt no worry for Blackie Pot’s safety. He smiled. “Jade Spirit Child, in a bit, I’ll have you sobbing as you repeat every word you just said.”
Jade Spirit Child paused slightly. He sneered. “Make *me* cry…”
Chen Shi struck!
Fingers hooked inward in a half-fist. A thunderous boom erupted as he lashed out!
The fist arrived.
It smashed into Jade Spirit Child’s throat.
The jade ruyi shot out from behind his head to block.
It blocked nothing.
Chen Shi’s fist had already withdrawn.
Yet his Supreme Truth Dao Body was truly formidable. This punch merely snapped Jade Spirit Child’s throat bone. Any other Deification Realm expert would have had their neck vertebrae blasted out, lower body numbed. Just the throat bone broken—that alone made Chen Shi admire the Supreme Truth Dao Body’s uniqueness.
Both sat cross-legged on the cramped wooden cart.
The interior was small, leaving little room to maneuver. Yet as Chen Shi’s first strike landed, his second was already incoming with the retraction.
This fist targeted the upper navel, where it met the ribcage tip—the xiphoid. Jade Spirit Child’s five viscera quaked violently. Blood foamed at his mouth as he doubled over involuntarily. Alarm gripped him. The jade ruyi moved as his heart willed, but it still couldn’t block in time!
As his body bent, Chen Shi’s right hand thickened and grew heavy, thundering down on the back of his head with a clap of thunder. The ruyi flew in, but Chen Shi’s palm had already pulled back. Still no block.
His soul left the body. Chen Shi’s two fingers plunged into the soul’s eye sockets. Unflustered even then, Jade Spirit Child gathered thunder in his right hand. Before the lightning could erupt, Chen Shi’s Five Thunders Law blasted the soul’s face, hurling it from the void!
A thunderburst punch followed. Jade Spirit Child’s soul shuddered wildly, divine soul and spirit nearly torn apart! *Disaster!* he thought. *I’m done for!*
He had no choice. He recalled the celebratory cloud at once.
Deprived of support, the wooden cart plummeted from the sky.
Unfazed, the cart’s canopy unfurled with a whoosh from its frame. It ballooned to half an acre, drifting lazily downward like a parachute.
Chen Shi threw another punch. It sank into the cloud with no resistance. He grunted in surprise, then swept a leg. It clearly chopped Jade Spirit Child’s neck—yet felt like slicing empty cloud, utterly yielding!
He flipped his hand for Five Thunders Law. Bolts crashed into the celebratory cloud, but none affected Jade Spirit Child.
Jade Spirit Child seized the chance to flip upright. His five organs and six viscera throbbed with agony, throat bone shattered and blocking his windpipe. He hurriedly shifted to turtle-breathing technique, inhaling and exhaling through his pores. His head felt nearly cracked open from Chen Shi’s palm, skull fractured in fissures, brains nearly liquefied from the shaking.
His soul was badly damaged too, barely holding together.
Shock and fury warred in Jade Spirit Child. He’d been too overconfident—nearly beaten to death!
Even Chen Shi inwardly praised the Supreme Truth Dao Body’s toughness. He stepped forward. As his foot landed, Ten Absolutes Spirit Banner Talismans erupted from beneath, instantly erecting 256 talismans around them!
Ten Absolutes Array!
He wanted to test if it could shatter the celebratory cloud!
Jade Spirit Child’s blood ran cold. He gritted his teeth and charged out of the array, inwardly frantic. *Why hasn’t Uncle Mei dealt with that black dog yet?*
In the underworld, the Plum Blossom Deer seethed with rage. It was Taihua Azure Palace’s mountain guardian divine beast, over a thousand years old, revered as Uncle Mei by countless disciples. To think a mere black dog had dragged it here!
For it, this was utter humiliation!
It would make this dog pay dearly for its stupidity!
The banners on its body fluttered up. The Plum Blossom Deer reared upright—deer-headed and human-bodied, antlers blooming vivid plum flowers.
Clad in banners bearing Taihua Azure Palace’s thirty-six Star Lord talismans, they activated like gods reborn. The thirty-six Star Lords swirled around it in battle formation! They could even form the Heavenly Tiangang Array, immense in power!
“Dog!” Uncle Mei roared, whirling to hunt the black dog. Then he spotted drifting infernal flames encircling a mountainside.
Uncle Mei’s heart quivered. He looked up—and saw a dog head the size of a hill, teeth bared in a faint grin, looming over him. Sweat beaded on his forehead, even his antlers.
The unimaginable giant hound raised a massive paw and pinned his antler.
Uncle Mei didn’t dare twitch. Irresistible pressure bore down on his antler, sinking his forelegs into the ground. This was the underworld—magma churned below. Even as it scorched his legs, he held still.
Frozen in place, he watched the giant hound slowly back away. *What’s it doing?*
Uncle Mei’s eyes darted. The hound retreated farther and farther. *Run! Yank your legs free and flee! Run for your life—no shame in that for a deer…* He wanted to flee but lacked the courage. His forelegs trembled uncontrollably, as if not his own.
The giant hound backed to a distance, head lowered. Then it charged forward with a howl!
*It’s going to ram me!*
Uncle Mei’s eyes bulged. *Right! I ambushed it earlier, slammed into it, gored and flung it! It remembers—revenge time! No problem, no problem. It has no antlers. Fine…*
The black giant hound barreled in like a relocating mountain. Its head crashed into Uncle Mei!
A colossal boom echoed. Uncle Mei tumbled away, both antlers snapping off his skull. They spun over ten li before plunging into magma. Uncle Mei flew dozens of li, life unknown.
The black giant hound charged over and stomped down repeatedly. Moments later, it dragged the two antlers out of the underworld.
High in the sky, the Ten Absolutes Array detonated. Towering killing intent swept the heavens in an instant. 256 deities arrayed, unleashing a vast slaughter tribulation! The celebratory cloud was a protective treasure bestowed by Taihua Azure Palace’s掌教掌教, a wondrous item famed for its yielding softness without purchase.
It had saved his life many times before. Yet the Ten Absolutes Array swept over, shattering the cloud in a heartbeat. It loomed to engulf him—then the array dispersed. Chen Shi stepped forward, fingers clamping his neck, hoisting Jade Spirit Child up. “Cry or not?”
Jade Spirit Child’s hopes crumbled. *Why hasn’t Uncle Mei come? Uncle Mei…* Then Blackie Pot burst from the underworld, antlers in tow.
Something shattered in Jade Spirit Child’s Dao heart. His eyes reddened, tears spilling uncontrollably. Chen Shi slammed him to the ground. “How did you put it? Recite it again!”
The wooden cart’s eyes widened in curiosity. It circled the massive Plum Blossom Deer antlers. Plum flowers bloomed on Uncle Mei’s antlers, vivid crimson. Fascinated, the cart sprouted six arms, hoisted the antlers, and stuck one on each side.
Jade Spirit Child watched the cart bounce along the post road on its four wheels, imitating a leaping deer’s gait—like Uncle Mei. Sorrow choked him. Tears poured like rain.
Stammering echoed along the post road.
“I began cultivating at six, took first in the county exam at ten… equivalent to standing in the heavens looking down on you, like an immortal beholding a mortal…”
“I… forged the Supreme Truth Dao Body… ‘Ruyi’ means as my heart desires. When my will stirs, no Dao art or attack can come near me… With my Supreme Truth Dao Body, I roamed West Ox New Continent… Facing me, you’re like your family dog facing Taihua Azure Palace’s Plum Blossom Deer…”
He reached that point, grief overwhelming him. He wailed, prostrating deeply on the ground. “Recite it again,” Chen Shi commanded.
Jade Spirit Child lay there, sobbing uncontrollably.
Just now, Chen Shi had reset his broken throat bone, rummaged his body for healing drugs, and made him swallow them—not to die. Then he forced the so-called “Jade Words and Phrases.” Refuse to recite, and get beaten.
Blackie Pot watched. *Little master’s picking up bad habits from big master. Takes two years to learn good from old master, two days to learn bad from big master.* He sighed deeply.
A four-year-old dog raising a thirteen-year-old kid. Too hard.
Chen Shi forced Jade Spirit Child to repeat the Jade Words and Phrases once more. Utterly satisfied, he thought, *So this is how good Father felt making me recite.* He felt pretty good himself now.
He took the wooden cart and Blackie Pot back to Western Capital City, ignoring Jade Spirit Child.
Jade Spirit Child cried for a good while. Then yin winds swirled. A massive Plum Blossom Deer struggled mightily with magic, crawling back to the yang world. It dragged itself to his side before releasing the spell and collapsing, panting raggedly.
Jade Spirit Child froze, then rejoiced wildly. *He didn’t kill me!*
*Dog didn’t kill Uncle Mei either!* *Such a great man!*
Overjoyed, he hugged the deer’s neck and bawled, refusing to let go.
Uncle Mei wheezed, skull bald where antlers once grew—now just bloody pits.