radicalducati Page 86
Page 86
But what about the position of Celestial Master?
That towering, mountain-like authority?
That heavy responsibility of upholding the orthodox tradition and commanding the world?
That's not something Zhang Lingyu should be thinking about!
That was the destiny of Lin Shen, the "chosen one"!
"I...I..." Zhang Lingyu's body trembled violently, more violently than ever before!
He struggled to utter grand words like "This disciple dares not presume" or "This disciple only wishes to follow Master..." but the words were blocked by the immense self-examination that kept him from speaking.
The rain is getting heavier.
After a long while, Zhang Lingyu exhaled a breath of stale air.
“Once, I thought.”
"But now, this disciple does not wish to."
"Because Lin Shen is more outstanding than me."
A Taoist who doesn't aspire to be a Heavenly Master is not a good Taoist. Zhang Lingyu's thinking is quite normal.
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Chapter 93 Crying at the Grave
Late at night in Longhu Mountain.
The sound of wind and rain cut through the towering mountains, swirling up pine needles and fallen leaves, but in the depths of the forest, where perception had been tempered by thunder, it was like a giant net being stirred by invisible threads.
The night rain on Longhu Mountain was like a torrent of ink.
The gale whipped up large raindrops, lashing against the eaves and brackets.
The Quanxing Sect has arrived.
Undercurrents surge, snakes and rats emerge from their burrows.
Inside the cloud chamber, Lin Shen sat cross-legged on a futon, his eyes closed, but a tiny, almost invisible arc of electricity swirled around his fingertips.
This arc of electricity was not pure gold; its center was a fiery white line, while its edges were entwined with a veil of dark shadows, moving, entwining, and endlessly arising and ceasing between his fingers like a living thing—it was the thunderous power that had initially merged with the origins of Yin and Yang and the Five Thunders.
Lin Shen did not move.
........
Meanwhile, outside.
In a certain location on Longhu Mountain, a sudden burst of energy collided like pebbles thrown into a pond, causing several even faster, serpentine streams of energy to converge upon it.
The low shouts and the sharp clash of weapons pierced the disguise of the night.
Clearly, the rabble of Quanxing have begun to create chaos and attract the attention of the Longhu Mountain garrison.
A damp, cold mist snaked upwards from the valley, carrying the scent of decaying earth and vegetation, pressing heavily on every corner.
The bluestone path leading from the back mountain to Elder Tian Jinzhong's recuperation place has long been submerged by turbid mud and water, turning into a winding black stream.
"Linglong! Over here! The residual Qi is chaotic, and there's a bloody smell!" Zhi Jinhua's voice pierced through the wind and rain, carrying a hint of barely perceptible tension.
She held a bright yellow talisman between her fingers. The edges of the talisman were slightly curled in the dampness. The cinnabar runes on it emitted a faint but rapid glowing blue light, pointing like a warning light into the depths of the dense forest.
Lu Linglong wiped the rain off her face. Her fiery red short hair was wet and stuck to her forehead. Her usually bright and lively almond eyes were now sharp as knives.
She pushed off with her feet, breaking a puddle, and her figure shot off like an arrow in the direction indicated by Zhi Jinhua.
"You scum of Quanxing! How dare you run wild in Longhu Mountain!" The clear voice was distorted by the wind and rain, but it could not hide the anger within.
Behind her, Yun, Xi, Xiao Xiao, Canglong, and Bai Shixue dispersed silently and swiftly like cheetahs blending into the rainy night, their Qi surging within them as they warily scanned the distorted shadows of the trees around them.
Following the bloody and chaotic energy indicated by the talisman, the group rushed into a relatively open clearing in the forest.
In the center of the open space, the scene was chilling: several corpses dressed in the robes of low-ranking disciples of Longhu Mountain lay scattered in the mud, rainwater washing away the dark red stains spreading beneath them.
The fatal wounds were varied and bizarre, ranging from a broken neck to a skull smashed by a blunt object, resulting in gruesome deaths, clearly indicating a sudden and unexpected massacre.
"Damn it!" Canglong roared, his fat body trembling slightly with rage.
Bai Shixue's face turned deathly pale, her lips were tightly pressed together, and anger surged in her eyes.
Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses as cold as frost.
Yun and Xi quickly exchanged a glance and stood on opposite sides in tacit agreement, their Qi subtly locking onto the darkest part of the edge of the open space.
"Hehe... Waaah... We have guests? Are they here to mourn these short-lived ghosts?"
A bizarre sound, like sandpaper rubbing against glass, drifted from the darkest shadow at the edge of the clearing, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right.
The sound was sometimes sharp and piercing like the cry of an owl, and sometimes low and sobbing like the mourning of a parent. It was particularly clear and eerie amidst the noise of the wind and rain.
The shadow shifted, and a figure slowly emerged.
The man was hunched over and dressed in a coarse linen garment that had been washed until it was faded and was covered in patches, looking exactly like an old farmer crying at a grave in the countryside.
What was most striking was the enormous, tattered, yellowish-brown straw hat on his head. The brim was pulled down so low that it almost covered most of his face, leaving only a withered chin and two thin, almost bloodless lips visible.
On his shoulder, he lazily carried a strangely shaped "stick"—a pale white one, as if it had been polished from a thick shinbone soaked in lime, with a few filthy black strands, whether hemp rope or human hair, strangely tied to the top, swaying gently with his steps.
It was Xue Fan, the mourner at the grave of Quanxing.
"Playing tricks!" Lu Linglong's eyebrows shot up. She took a step forward, and a pale pink protective aura emanated from her body in the rain, like a lotus bud about to bloom. "So you killed them? You demon of Quanxing, state your name!"
"Hehe... Name?" Xue Fan's lips, hidden beneath his straw hat, parted in a strange arc, revealing a few yellowed teeth. "Those who cry at graves... are all nameless wandering ghosts... Since guests have arrived..." His voice suddenly rose, carrying a chilling sob, "...Then let's cry together! Waaah—my short-lived son—how could you leave your father like that—!!"
The piercing wails exploded like a sonic bomb without warning!
That voice contained the ultimate sorrow, resentment, and a soul-piercing power!
The air seemed to be gripped and twisted by an invisible hand! The dense raindrops were even briefly suspended in mid-air and shattered within the range of sound waves!
Lu Linglong was the first to be hit, and her protective Qi Lotus trembled violently, its pink light flickering like a candle in the wind!
An indescribable sense of sorrow and dizziness, like a cold, venomous snake, instantly coiled around her mind, making her vision go black and her blood surge!
"Watch out! Sound attack!" Yun shouted sharply, his ten fingers flying like butterflies, and several talismans flashing with clear light shot out instantly, transforming into several semi-transparent Qi shields with flowing runes in the wind, layer upon layer blocking in front of Lu Linglong!
"Waaah—!" Xue Fan's wailing suddenly turned into an even sharper scream!
His short body suddenly spun around, and the pale white mourning staff on his shoulder sprang up as if it were alive, sweeping across with a nauseating stench and a dull whistling sound!
The target was not Lu Linglong, but Canglong, who was trying to flank them from the side!
Before the mourning staff even arrived, a chilling, sluggish, and eerie aura, seemingly capable of freezing the soul, had already enveloped the area!
Canglong felt a sudden heaviness all over his body, and his movements slowed down instantly! He roared, and thick, earthy-yellow Qi energy instantly covered his entire body. He crossed his arms into a cross, attempting to withstand the attack head-on!
"Bang-click!"
A dull, thunderous crash, like the sound of leather being struck, was accompanied by a clear cracking sound of bone breaking!
Hidden Dragon's protective Qi was as fragile as a sheet of paper in front of the pale white bone club!
An overwhelming, chilling force surged in!
Canglong's obese body was hit as if by a speeding truck. He screamed and flew backward, smashing into a small tree about the size of a bowl and rolling into the mud. His arms were twisted at an odd angle, clearly broken!
"Hidden Dragon!" Bai Shixue was shocked and furious. Her figure shot out like lightning, and the short dagger in her hand drew several sharp and cold lights, aiming straight for Xue Fan's hunched back!
Her speed was extremely fast and her angles were tricky, precisely when Canglong was knocked away and Xue Fan's old strength had just been exhausted and his new strength had not yet been generated!
"Hehe... Little lady... what a cruel heart..." Xue Fan didn't turn his head, a chilling laugh emanating from under his straw hat. Just as Bai Shixue's dagger was about to reach his body, his shoulder, which was carrying the mourning staff, collapsed in an extremely eerie way, and his entire body twisted and slid sideways at an angle that completely violated human biomechanics, like a boneless snake!
Bai Shixue's seemingly sure-fire strike missed its mark! At the same time, Xue Fan's free left hand lashed out like a ghostly claw!
The sound of tearing fabric rang out! Bai Shixue's clothes were instantly torn apart under her ribs, and five deep, bone-revealing bloodstains suddenly appeared!
Large swaths of snow-white were revealed.
Fresh blood mixed with rainwater gushed out!
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Chapter 94 The Celestial Master's Wrath
Bai Shixue groaned, her face turning deathly pale. She staggered backward, her eyes filled with disbelief and horror!
The other party's reaction speed and uncanny flexibility far exceeded her expectations!
"Xi! Xiao Xiao!" Lu Linglong shouted, and the pink Qi Lotus suddenly bloomed! Several lotus petals, formed from pure Qi, flew like spinning blades, piercing the air with sharp whistling sounds, and attacked Xue Fan from different angles!
At the same time, Xi's figure appeared to Xue Fan's left like a ghost, his palms swirling with pure Qi, carrying a sticky force that sealed off space, as he struck Xue Fan's major acupoints!
On the right, Xiao Xiao's suona was already close to his lips, his cheeks puffed out, and a sharp sound wave, invisible and intangible yet penetrating straight to the soul, was about to burst forth!
A pincer attack from three sides! Perfect teamwork!
"Waaaaah—how lively!—come join my poor son!!" Xue Fan's wailing rose again, carrying a hysterical madness!
Faced with three deadly attacks, he didn't retreat but advanced!
His hunched body suddenly dropped, narrowly avoiding Lu Linglong's flying Qi petal blade that grazed his straw hat! At the same time, his body spun rapidly like a top! He swung the pale mourning staff into a pale white halo!
"Ding-dong! Puff-puff-puff!"
When Hina's palms, which were sealing off the space, struck the edge of the light wheel, she felt a chilling, immense force mixed with a strong mental shockwave backlash. She groaned and was forced to retreat repeatedly, her palms instantly becoming numb!
The suona sound waves that Xiao Xiao was about to unleash were abruptly dispersed and disrupted by Xue Fan's even more shrill and chaotic wails! Like boiling water splashed on snow, the condensed sound waves instantly dissipated!
Xue Fan's spinning suddenly stopped! The eyes that had been hidden in the shadows under the straw hat suddenly opened a crack!
Within the gap, there was no white in the eyes, only a chaotic, viscous darkness, like a filthy darkness churning with endless resentment and death! That gaze, like a tangible ice spike, instantly locked onto Xiao Xiao, who had just stabilized his body and was about to gather sound waves again!
An indescribable chill, originating from the depths of his soul, instantly gripped Xiao Xiao's heart!
He felt as if he had been dragged into the deepest hell, stared at by countless cold and venomous gazes! His movements, thoughts, and the circulation of his Qi all became fatally sluggish!
"Hehe... The suona player... has too long arms... getting in the way..." Xue Fan's playful laughter, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, rang out the moment Xiao Xiao was stunned by that terrifying gaze and lost his composure!