Chapter 368: First Exchange of Blows

"Boom—" A violent, booming sound suddenly erupted from within Lingyun's Divine Sense Domain.

Lingyun, who was in the Villa adjusting the Technique he had secretly deployed on Itogami Island, suddenly raised his head and looked into the distance. What had caused the boom in his Divine Sense Domain was an extremely massive amount of magic power. In his perception, that magic power manifested a frenzied state, as if it wanted to destroy everything.

"The only one who could stir up such a commotion is that half-baked Fourth Progenitor, Xiao Gucheng. What's wrong with this guy again?" Lingyun frowned slightly, and a Space Array instantly unfolded beside him, drawing him inside.

"This place is? The monastery where Xia Yin was back then?" Lingyun appeared in the sky above the area of the magic power riot, looking down at the situation below with a frown.

Down there, Xiao Gucheng seemed to have encountered something desperate, as he was roaring at the sky, with powerful Thunder Power continuously surging from his body. Not far away, Kirasaka Sayaka had tackled Himeragi Yukina, simultaneously raising a thin Shield to struggle against the raging lightning. On the ground nearby, a girl wearing a Caihai Academy uniform lay, and beneath her, a pool of blood appeared extremely jarring.

"Hmm, no, this person, is she a Shikigami? To be able to summon a Shikigami so similar to a human, it seems the master of this Shikigami is also an extraordinary fellow!" Lingyun's gaze fell upon Kirasaka Sayaka, his brows lifting slightly. "However, the most important thing right now is to deal with this reckless guy first!"

Lingyun formed seals with both hands, and a powerful force instantly spread out from his body, forming a formidable Domain.

"Magic Prohibition Domain!"

The Magic Prohibition Domain spread out from Lingyun's hands, instantly enveloping Xiao Gucheng. Under the suppression of the Magic Prohibition Domain, the lightning on Xiao Gucheng's body continuously receded, finally disappearing completely.

"I'm talking to you, Xiao Gucheng, what kind of madness is this? Are you trying to destroy the entire Itogami Island?" Lingyun frowned as he landed in front of Xiao Gucheng.

"Teacher, Asagi, she..." Seeing Lingyun appear, Xiao Gucheng covered his face with a look of agony and slowly knelt on the ground. "If I hadn't rashly brought her to this place..."

"Asagi?" Lingyun looked toward the girl to the side; it was indeed his current student, Asagi.

"Rest assured, Gucheng, Asagi is not dead yet; someone helped her preserve her life." Lingyun's Divine Sense enveloped Asagi, and after carefully examining her condition, he let out a soft breath.

"Asagi, she isn't dead?" Xiao Gucheng said with some surprise. "But just a moment ago, both her breathing and pulse had stopped..."

"Hmm, she likely fell into a state of suspended animation. However, although Asagi isn't dead, the person who caused this situation cannot be let off so easily." Lingyun turned around and said.

Just at this moment, a cold voice containing laughter drifted over.

"What is this? I was wondering why the head count was off; so they were hiding here!"

Lingyun looked up and saw a man with a pure white afro, wearing a white shirt paired with a red-and-white checkered tie. Although his apparent age was around twenty, he looked like an elderly man, yet also like a child.

"Tianzhong Gong?" Xiao Gucheng gritted his teeth, the fury in his eyes nearly turning into substance. "Are you the one who hurt Asagi?"

"Who is this Asagi you speak of? Are you referring to one of the corpses lying over there?" Tianzhong Gong said with a devil-may-care attitude.

"You bastard..." Xiao Gucheng let out a furious roar, and terrifying lightning flashed upon his tightly clenched right fist.

"Don't get in my way, Fourth Progenitor!" Tianzhong Gong raised his right hand.

His flowing fingertips instantly transformed into whips and lashed out toward Xiao Gucheng. Subsequently, more than a dozen wrists branched out from his elbow, and as if possessing their own intelligence, they attacked Xiao Gucheng from different angles.

To dodge them all, even with the reaction speed of a Vampire, was impossible. Moreover, Tianzhong possessed the ability of Material Recombination; it was an Alchemy secret technique capable of instantly neutralizing even an immortal Vampire.

"You dare to try and hurt my student in front of me, Tianzhong Gong, you have quite a lot of nerve!"

Lingyun's figure suddenly appeared in front of Tianzhong Gong, slamming a heavy punch into his abdomen, immediately sending him flying into the air. At the same time, countless sword lights appeared in mid-air, instantly tearing all the whips into shreds.

"It's over, Tianzhong!" Xiao Gucheng, having regained his senses, had already rushed in front of him, lightning overflowing from his right fist as he slammed it heavily into Tianzhong Gong's body.

Under Xiao Gucheng's full-force blow, Tianzhong's body, twisted into an unnatural shape, was driven into the road, causing the surface to cave in. Facing an attack of this magnitude, even among the Demon Race, few could withstand it. However, under the gaze of the three people present, Tianzhong Gong actually stood up slowly.

Under Xiao Gucheng's full-force blow, his body had been caved in, and it looked as if even his spine had been snapped. It was impossible for a human to stand up in such a state; clearly, Tianzhong Gong was not human now. His skin protruded from his tattered coat. It was metallic skin that looked as if it were covered in black rust.

"Cough, cough, you two, you really are excessive! It seems this body can no longer be saved!"

Tianzhong Gong coughed lightly, and the black gemstone that served as his heart shattered all at once and fell to the ground.

Just at this moment, Tianzhong Gong's silhouette suddenly distorted; his human appearance collapsed, changing into a pitch-black flowing substance, eventually becoming an amorphous liquid metal.

"This guy, he isn't human?" Xiao Gucheng said, somewhat stunned.

With a "ding" sound, an invisible slash was deflected by Lingyun.

"Gucheng, now is not the time to be dazed!" Lingyun spread his hands, Nine Yang Power condensing in them and transforming into a Long sword.

Having failed to land a hit, the liquid metal twisted all at once, extending countless tentacles to attack Lingyun and his group.

"Things as twisted as this really shouldn't exist in this world!" Lingyun sighed softly, and countless Sword Qi swept out from his hands.

The scorching Sword Qi landed on the liquid metal, instantly evaporating large swathes of it. In but a moment, the twisted Alchemist had completely vanished from this world.

"Did we finish him off?" There was not a hint of joy in Xiao Gucheng's tone.

"Don't be happy too soon; this was merely a clone of that guy. His true self is still hiding somewhere, waiting to strike!" Lingyun said.

"Gu... cheng...?"

Just at this moment, a familiar voice came through. Hearing the familiar voice, the silent Gucheng and Xuelai turned their heads as if by reflex. On the road scattered with rubble, the gorgeous high school girl was clumsily sitting up.

"Asagi?" Xiao Gucheng looked at Asagi, who was propping herself up, a joyful smile appearing on his face.

"Alright, I still have to track down Tianzhong Gong." Lingyun turned around, then took a coat from space and tossed it into Xiao Gucheng's hands. "I'll leave the rest to you!"

"Teacher..." Xiao Gucheng took the clothes, looked at the disappearing Lingyun, then looked at Aiba Asagi, who was looking around in surprise, and finally could not help but burst into happy laughter.