Chapter 64: The Day of Jingrui, Seven Wus Slay the Immortal!

"Th-this... this..."

Having lived for several decades and built the illustrious reputation of the 'Town Martial King,' this was the first time Ji Xiongying had felt a feeling bordering on the absurd.

He only saw Lu Yang raise his hand, and a talisman-covered yellow paper would appear beside him, then be lit, followed by all manner of completely un-martial phenomena manifesting—sword qi slashing across the sky, five thunderbolts crashing down, Jin Guang flashing forth—every yellow paper brought him lethal danger!

Whoosh whoosh—!

Sword qi sliced Ji Xiongying's cheek, Lei Ting struck his body leaving his whole frame tingling and numb, and his full-force punch was blocked midair by a flash of Jin Guang.

"Impossible!"

Ji Xiongying retreated once more, but no longer dared to engage Lu Yang. He could only grit his teeth, watching the Lu Yang before him with fear mixed with hidden longing.

The next second, a single title leapt into his mind.

An immortal!?

Lu Yang's methods at this very moment were exactly like the immortals in storybooks, and in an instant they ignited the desire for eternal life within him.

Thinking of this, Ji Xiongying once more put distance between himself and Lu Yang, his tone fervent: "Wait, there's actually no real grudge between us, right? How about this—as long as you join my Imperial Clan Hall of Offerings and hand over that yellow-paper art to me as well, ten thousand taels of gold, a fief and a border march—take your pick!"

"Take my pick?"

Lu Yang shook his head with a laugh. Do I need to choose? The entire Great Zhou is the Holy Sect's secret realm—it was mine to begin with! And you dare to take what is mine and offer it back to me?

"Sure, I'm quite interested in the martial Heavenly-Man method."

"This is my 'Dominion Under Heaven'!"

Without a second word, Ji Xiongying directly took out a scripture and tossed it to Lu Yang: "There's only half a scroll inside. You give me the art, and the other half is yours too!"

Lu Yang: "..."

Ji Xiongying had practically written his ambition on his face, and Lu Yang naturally saw it too. However, he didn't care, and certainly wouldn't transmit a cultivation method to him.

After all, it would do nothing to help his cultivation of the Sage's Theft, and it would also violate the sect rules.

"What a pity."

Lu Yang shook his head, tucked away 'Dominion Under Heaven,' cast a casual glance at Ji Xiongying, then his figure abruptly dissolved as he prepared to turn and leave directly.

"Want to leave!?"

Seeing Lu Yang actually disintegrate from flesh and blood into a wisp of ethereal white qi, Ji Xiongying roared while the longing on his face deepened even further.

Immortal art! It has to be immortal art!

I must obtain it!

"Power Toppling the World!"

Ji Xiongying exhaled sharply, raised his hand and pinched his five fingers together. Rolling qi and blood surged into it, turning his entire palm blood-red in an instant.

In a flash, Lu Yang seemed to see a vast Shanhe spread out slowly before his eyes—within it scholars rose at the cock's crow to practice, farmers rested at sunset, martial men roamed the jianghu, merchants traded and bartered. The myriad faces of the mortal world—it was unmistakably Great Zhou's national destiny, the very momentum of the world itself.

Power toppling the world is also a fist toppling the world!

Ji Xiongying's fist momentum had no physical form; it was pure pressure of will—the spiritual accumulation of Ji Xiongying, this martial Heavenly-Man, which had already transcended the martial path.

However—

"You want to contest will against me? I cultivate immortality—I have spiritual sense!"

Ji Xiongying's fist momentum might have been invincible against crude martial men who only knew how to brawl with fists and feet, but against him it was futile.

Boom!

The moment Lu Yang's mind stirred, Ji Xiongying's fist momentum shattered instantly. What national destiny, what vast Shanhe—all were swept aside directly by his spiritual sense.

"You can actually take my fist?" Ji Xiongying clenched his steel-like jaw: "Again!"

Yet what answered him was only a cold laugh.

"Stubborn beyond redemption."

As the words fell, dozens of talismans appeared out of thin air. With the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner in hand, he had brought plenty of talismans on this trip and didn't care about the expenditure at all.

The talismans shattered in one breath, transforming into towering sword qi that fell upon Ji Xiongying, drawing a scream from him on the spot. In an instant, blood stained the sky. Still, a physique comparable to Qi Refinement Great Perfection really was that ferocious—although the Sword Qi talisman could slice his flesh, it couldn't sever his bones.

When the sword qi dissipated, Ji Xiongying had already become a man drenched in blood.

Not a single patch of good flesh could be seen on him, as if he had just been subjected to death by a thousand cuts. He didn't dare linger in place, and in the blink of an eye vanished from where he stood.

"Decisive runner, I'll give him that."

Lu Yang's brow furrowed slightly. This avatar of his specialized in the martial path and relied entirely on talismans to defeat foes. Although it could fly, its speed was actually not as fast as Ji Xiongying's.

Lu Yang's expression turned strange. The vitality of a martial Heavenly-Man exceeded his expectations. Despite Ji Xiongying's wretched and sorry state, in reality, as long as he escaped with his life and rested well for a few days, he could recover most of it. A physique comparable to Qi Refinement Great Perfection, yet without the corresponding physical divine abilities.

"Truly excellent material for corpse refinement."

Thinking of this, Lu Yang felt a twinge of self-reproach. One really is tainted by one's company—even a good person like him, after staying in the Holy Sect so long, had grown cruel.

"... I'm not that kind of person." Lu Yang shook his head.

Besides, corpse refinement was too inefficient; using the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner to refine him in an instant was undoubtedly far more efficient.

Though he said so, Lu Yang had no intention of focusing on this path. After all, once this life ended, he would definitely choose cultivation level, and the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner couldn't be taken with him.

"Next life, then!"

Thinking of this, Lu Yang directly dispersed his body, then silently fell into a Jingcheng alley and reconstituted himself, thus melting into the crowd.

"Lost as expected, which is only normal."

In Tianjing City, at the Wei family residence, the Cloud family ancestor calmly withdrew his gaze. Ji Xiongying's defeat was within his expectations—rather, it would have been strange if he had won.

After all, the purpose of this causal manipulation, this battle between Ji Xiongying and Lu Yang, was not victory, but to prompt Ji Xiongying to discover Lu Yang's existence, then slowly spread it outward, eventually influencing the other Heavenly-Men, and finally uniting all the Heavenly-Men to deal with Lu Yang together!

So long as they cut down his avatar, his true body would have to show itself!

For this, he had long since designed a 'fortuitous encounter,' or rather a piece of bait, just waiting for a fish to bite. Now was a perfect opportunity.

Thinking of this, he immediately began manipulating causality once more.

Almost at the same time, Ji Xiongying—who had just escaped with his life, who didn't even dare return to the imperial palace and could only flee toward the outskirts of Jingcheng—was at this very moment lying low in a mountain forest.

His original intention had merely been to evade Lu Yang.

However, while hiding, he "accidentally" found a sealed stone chamber inside a hidden cave, where a skeleton sat upright.

"This is..."

Ji Xiongying approached the skeleton and saw it clutching a dust-covered classic; he immediately reached out, took it, and flipped it open to glance casually.

"... Hmm!?"

At that glance, Ji Xiongying's eyes widened instantly, and then disbelief and rapture appeared on his face: "Heaven truly aids me!"

The author of the book was nameless, and the content was merely a record:

"Immortals exist in the world, ageless and deathless; kill them and eat their flesh to gain immortality... Alas, immortal arts are supreme and hard to overcome. I devotedly studied for decades, and before dying finally realized the method to slay immortals... It requires the Day of Jingrui, when seven great experts wield seven divine weapons and join hands to form an array, only then is there a chance of victory."

The Day of Jingrui, seven warriors slay the immortal!

Besides the cause and effect, the book also recorded the forging methods of the "Seven Divine Weapons," making Ji Xiongying utterly captivated, his ambition reignited once more.

"Hahaha! This King indeed possesses great opportunity and great fortune!"

"Kill that immortal, and I shall surely gain immortality!"

Amidst his laughter, Ji Xiongying's consciousness grew ever more obsessed; cause and effect clouded his original heart, leaving him with no thought other than "slaying immortals to gain immortality."

(End of this chapter)