Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: Not an Even Match
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Everyone believed that the clash between Chen Shi and the Young Master would be an exhilarating battle between equals, the height of thrill and skill. But nearly all of them were unaware: it would indeed be exhilarating, but it would never be a battle between equals.
If this had happened during the martial segment of the provincial exams a month ago, when Chen Shi first encountered the Young Master, it would have been a duel for the ages.
The two would trade spells and engage in close combat. The Young Master's immense physical advantages from the Jade Emperor Fetal Breathing Scripture would shine in full force. His Eight Gates Reversal and Compliance Life-Death Art—establishing the eight gates, determining life and death—would bring this technique, said to originate from the Yellow Emperor, to its utmost limits!
Chen Shi, too, would elevate the Firmament Lang Emperor Chapter Art to the Ninth Heaven, fusing it with the Eight Extremes Golden Grotto Divine Chapter. His indestructible sword qi would clash against the Young Master's overwhelmingly robust body, his near-assassin's instincts pitted against immortal-grade spells!
He would counter the Jade Emperor Body with his Dao Body, unleashing the full might of his speed with Wind-Thunder Transformation. Water-Fire Transformation would assault the Young Master's flesh and primal spirit, while Mountain-Marsh Transformation would shape the terrain to his advantage!
The two might even pull back into the Immortal Bridge Blessed Land, distancing themselves by a hundred li to duel with Million-Li Flying Sword Arts—transforming their spells and sword qi into birds lurking amid mountains and rivers, hidden in dense forests, waiting for the perfect moment to strike down their foe.
Even during their decisive battle, countless exam candidates would perish beneath their divine abilities and spells.
At the critical juncture, Chen Shi would unleash the Thunderclap Jade Pivot Great Method, amplifying all his bodily functions and harnessing the supreme thunder power of his incarnation as the Thunder Ancestor to bombard the Young Master relentlessly!
It would be an incredibly grueling fight. If Chen Shi could slay the Young Master with his unparalleled domineering assaults, victory would be his.
But if the Young Master withstood the onslaught of the Thunder Ancestor incarnation, defeat would inevitably be Chen Shi's. The Thunder Ancestor form consumed too much vitality; once dispelled, Chen Shi would be left with depleted qi and blood, utterly incapable of further combat.
That battle would have been a spectacle of dazzling variety, brimming with suspense. But not this one!
As Chen Shi took that step forward, slamming the Young Master's head against the wall of the Hall of Justice with his palm, he felt the feedback of skull colliding with immortal artifact—the crisp vibration of bones fracturing beneath his hand.
At the same time, he sensed the Wind-Thunder Transformation stirring winds and thunder within the Young Master's body. Yin, malevolent Xun winds scourged his five viscera and six bowels, while thunderclaps ravaged his primal spirit.
The Young Master's Jade Emperor Body caused the otherwise invincible Wind-Thunder Transformation to falter slightly.
However, powerful though the Jade Emperor Body was, it had yet to refine into a pure yang physique. It could not withstand the Ghost God Domain.
As long as yin qi lingered in the body, thunder would inspire fear. As long as the flesh harbored flaws, Xun winds could infiltrate every crevice—winds raging inside, dissolving flesh and bone. It was merely a matter of speed!
Simultaneously, Chen Shi's Water-Fire Transformation activated within the Young Master. Gui water scoured relentlessly—even an adamantine indestructible body would be riddled with holes!
True fire blazed—even an adamantine indestructible body would burn to ash!
And Mountain-Marsh Transformation made every step feel like bearing a mountain. Qi and blood ceased to flow in his legs, weighed down unbearably, his body mired in filth like quicksand. Flesh grew leaden, primal spirit chaotic, movement all but impossible.
These Ghost God Three Transformations might pale beside Little Five of Creation's Ghost God Three Shocks, but to wield three Ghost God Domains at the Incarnation Realm was enough to shock the world.
A month ago, slaying the Young Master would have demanded a bloody struggle. But today, one month later, times had changed. With Chen Shi's breakthrough to the Incarnation Realm, the battle held no suspense.
Chen Tang had judged that Chen Shi would definitely break through to the Incarnation Realm within a month—that was why he declared the Young Master doomed to defeat in their duel after one month.
Chen Tang believed this because Little Five of Creation had gifted Chen Shi a Fox-Grape Mirror for cultivation, containing a Lesser Universe of Heavens within, allowing him to reach the Incarnation Realm in a single month.
But Chen Tang hadn't anticipated the upheaval of the white-robed immortal maiden during the provincial exam's martial segment, which caused Chen Shi and a horde of candidates to plummet into the underworld.
It was common knowledge that cultivators could not cultivate in the underworld; yin qi would erode their cultivation, causing regression rather than progress. Yet, against all expectations, Chen Shi could cultivate there. Not only that—he picked up an unconscious "female candidate" and placed her atop the Divine Shrine, yielding effects superior even to those of Stone Trench Niangniang.
In the underworld, not only did he avoid delaying his progress—his vital energy emerged even more refined than before!
Before even stepping back into the yang world, he had already cultivated to a Nascent Infant equal in size to his body, smoothly fusing soul to form his Primordial Spirit.
The Incarnation Realm comprised four stages: one, Soul Fusion; two, Equal Body; three, Soul Egress; four, Sixteen-Foot Body.
Chen Shi succeeded in Soul Fusion; his Nascent Infant was already body-sized to begin with. After fusion, his Primordial Spirit matched his body. Soul Egress was trivial for him, achieved as a matter of course.
Now both at the Incarnation Realm, Chen Shi at Soul Egress stage and the Young Master at Sixteen-Foot Body stage, their realms were exceedingly close.
The Young Master's mind reeled in a haze, a single thought surfacing: "He wants to kill me?!"
His Jade Emperor Body was too formidable, and the Eight Gates Reversal and Compliance Life-Death Art no mere immortal art—it saved his life, preventing Chen Shi's savage strike from finishing him outright.
His birth mother's foundations for him were too solid. The Jade Emperor Fetal Breathing Scripture endowed him with abnormally abundant congenital qi; his Jade Emperor Body far surpassed other Dao Bodies or adamantine indestructible forms!
His skull had cracked, but he could still be saved.
He tried to activate the Eight Gates Reversal and Compliance Life-Death Art, but three Ghost God-like forces choked his body, intertwining chaotically, stalling his technique's circulation. He could not fight back against Chen Shi.
Only now did regret stir in him.
Regret for not heeding Shui Xuanzhi's arrangements.
Had he followed Shui Xuanzhi's plan, there would have been no need to duel Chen Shi at all—no encounter with this god of slaughter!
"Stop!" Voices rang out almost in unison. Hope reignited in the Young Master's heart.
The civil and military officials of the Western Capital could not abandon him—he was the finest True King candidate they had selected from the Zhu clan's bloodline!
They had tried others before: some unruly and defiant, ignoring the Thirteen Families; others ambitious and hard to control; or like Young Master Xiao, harboring no desire for the True King's throne and unwilling to be puppets of the Thirteen Families.
Thus, the Thirteen Families absolutely could not abandon the Young Master. They could not allow Chen Shi to kill him! The Thirteen Families harbored ambitions to break free from the True God's control, impulses to exploit this anomaly of the outer-heaven True God for great deeds. Opportunity was rare—they could not tolerate failure!
Even as these voices arose, Chen Shi paid them no mind. Two hundred fifty-five talismans materialized around him, a heaven-soaring murderous aura erupting.
Ten Absolutes Array Banner Talismans!
He arrayed alone, intent on annihilating the Young Master's Jade Emperor Body with the Ten Absolutes Array! He ignored the outside world entirely, eyes fixed solely on the Young Master. He wanted him dead!
Not for any other reason—for the peers trafficked and harvested by the Tianmu Society; for the boys and girls sent into the underworld to gather lotuses from Taiping Sect on Phoenix Ridge; for the girls soliciting customers in Rouge Alley!
He cared nothing for schemes or grand perspectives, nor for judging the Young Master's deeds, good or evil—background, bloodline, efforts, lofty ideals, or whose descendant he was, and the rivers of blood his death might unleash.
This had nothing to do with schemes or morality. Only the justice in his heart!
He disregarded all external forces, entrusting his back to his father, Chen Tang. In this world, if great power existed, it was surely a father's might sheltering his children!
His sole goal, in this palace examination, this battle for top scholar: brazenly beat the Young Master to death!
At the same moment, Chen Tang's palm pried open the wooden chest.
As the Li Family's two elders, Ma Family ancestor Ma Jun, and former Fei Family sect master Fei Buyi moved to suppress and halt Chen Shi, towering, majestic figures rose from the chest!
They were eight-armed divine fiends, bodies colossal, features handsome as heavenly gods.
They stomped the ground, unfurling Ghost God Domains dozens of li wide before contracting them to a hundred zhang each!
"Talisman God Heavenly Mechanism!" Li Ganjian's face twisted in shock as he cried out. He had heard of these terrifying man-made talisman gods.
The Southern School talisman masters traced their lineage to the Five Lakes Wanderer, cultivating the Talisman Forging Treasure Canon—a secretive, malevolent lot. Their talismans often birthed evils to plague the land.
Among them, the strongest recorded in the canon was the Talisman God Heavenly Mechanism.
Yet the circulated versions of the Talisman Forging Treasure Canon, though describing it, had never been successfully forged—lacking materials or mastery.
Had no one ever succeeded, it would be dismissed as fantasy. But Talisman God Heavenly Mechanisms had appeared several times!
Each emergence heralded earth-shattering battles!
As a family ancestor, he had studied these peculiar creations. Li Ganjian had even visited a battlefield left by one, scrutinizing the traces: these talisman gods were born for war, their might rivaling Void Return Realm existents!
More crucially, Talisman God Heavenly Mechanisms were creations—producible.
Moreover, they were identical. One was not so fearsome, but two together multiplied power far beyond double.
Their auras harmonized, magics interlinked; Ghost God Domains could even fuse! They were nearly like one body split in two!
In other words, the more Talisman God Heavenly Mechanisms, the more terrifying their collective might!
Of course, sustaining Ghost God Domains demanded immense magic; typically, they covered only a hundred zhang.
Thirty-seven Talisman God Heavenly Mechanisms stood in the sky, each several zhang tall, encircling Chen Tang. Li Family Taizu Li Yiran raised a hand, channeling magic for a divine ability—when one Heavenly Mechanism's palm struck, the two collided. Li Yiran's near-Tribulation Transcendence magic shattered; blood trickled from his mouth.
It wasn't the striking Heavenly Mechanism's magic that shattered him, but all Heavenly Mechanisms expanding their Ghost God Domains in that instant, overlapping with the attacker's. It borrowed the others' magic to wound him!
Li Yiran, shocked and enraged, saw three Heavenly Mechanisms charge in tandem. Eight arms each, yet their strikes were disciplined and orderly, without flaw.
Their domains overlapped beneath their feet; every mudra, every sword art, every talisman-drawing gesture from their eight arms, every incantation from their mouths—identical to perfection. No tutor could match the precision of these Heavenly Mechanisms!
Talisman God Heavenly Mechanisms lacked wisdom but executed the most standardized spells, flawless talismans, precise swordsmanship!
They were like perfect, low-wisdom versions of Chen Yindu.
Taizu Li Yiran, old wounds unhealed, took new ones. Trying to counter speed with slowness, he faltered in three exchanges—crack! His left arm snapped.
From the corner of his eye, Li Family Taizu Li Ganjian spat blood, body spinning away. Fei Family former sect master Fei Buyi, merging Void Magnificence Realm with flesh, had his Primordial Spirit scattered by three Heavenly Mechanisms, fleeing his body.
Ma Family ancestor Ma Jun's right leg was hacked and kicked repeatedly by three Heavenly Mechanisms until it broke clean off. The Western Capital's court boasted far more than a hundred officials?
Cabinet, Six Ministries, Three Dukes, Three Marquises, Three Tutors, Three Ministers, Secretariat, Censorate, Hanlin Academy, Court of Judicial Review, Court of Imperial Sacrifices...
Too many experts!
They had realized at once that the Young Master was no match for Chen Shi. Some activated the Nine Halls to suppress him; others surged magic toward Chen Shi and the Young Master to halt the killing.
The instant they moved, the twelve Cabinet grandees faced six Heavenly Mechanisms' siege. The Six Ministries' six Ministers and eleven Vice Ministers endured assaults from six talisman gods, forced to defend themselves.
Three Dukes, Three Marquises, Three Tutors, Three Ministers—twelve experts—likewise met six talisman gods. The clashes brought immediate pressure.
Five Armies Commanders Xia Fanghe and Xia Shouying soared up, charging toward Chen Shi and the Young Master amid the Nine Halls. Two Heavenly Mechanisms intercepted from the flank, so swift the twin commanders nearly collided head-on.
Telepathically linked twins, they prepared the Xia Family's Nangong Collection joint technique—only for the two Heavenly Mechanisms' Ghost God Domains to overlap, preempting them with the very joint technique!
Both commanders took hits, vomiting blood as they flew back!
Eastern Depot Supervisor Yan Shuangtian and Chief Eunuch Bai Sihai rushed in, only to be blocked by two more Heavenly Mechanisms. Above the Nine Halls, exchanges clashed repeatedly until the two eunuchs were jointly smashed down by the pair.
The Western Capital's court—civil and military officials—caught utterly off-guard, reeled in horror. Then Chen Tang's shout rang out: "Lord Feng, why haven't you made your move?"
Eunuch Feng stared aghast at the chaos. Hearing this, he nearly leaped from his wheelchair, jabbing a finger at his nose. "Me?"
Amid the pandemonium, the Central Extreme Hall suddenly emanated heaven-daunting might, cowing the field. Zhang Fujing's flat voice entered every ear: "All of you, stand down."
Seeing the treasure hall left by the True King to suppress Western Ox Fresh Continent's destiny unleash its power, Chen Tang knew resistance futile. He recalled the thirty-seven Heavenly Mechanisms at once.
Civil and military officials, including Li Yiran and the other ancestors, halted in shock and fury.
Zhang Fujing scanned the scene, about to speak—when heaven-piercing murderous aura shot to the clouds. Officials whipped around to see Chen Shi activate the Ten Absolutes Array. A finger-beam annihilating all pierced the Young Master's brow, penetrating his Primordial Spirit!
Light fled the Young Master's eyes; his knees buckled, and he thudded to the ground kneeling.
"In the Taiping Sect, I told you—I remember your voice."
Chen Shi stood before the Young Master, expressionless, voice soft.
"I told you I'd find you and send you to reunite with the Taiping Sect Master. I keep my word."
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