Chapter 135: with translation of chapter title

Jade Dragon Mountain is the mountain that encircles Jade Capital City; in ancient times, the Venerable Primordial Yang once refined elixirs here; later, the Venerable Primordial Yang achieved the Yang Spirit and ascended to heaven, and his disciples subsequently settled here to venerate him, founding the Fangxian Dao school, famed for refining elixirs and forging weapons; through dynastic changes, the Fangxian Dao has always held its ground on Jade Dragon Mountain, and in this Great Qian Dynasty it is even one of the only three Daoist sects officially recognized.

"This Jade Dragon Mountain truly has splendid scenery, Princess You Lulai Te—what do you say, how will your lord receive me?" Zhou Shuo, dressed in deep-blue travel garb with a long sword at his waist, gazed at the front-mountain Daoist observatory of Jade Dragon Mountain and asked his companion, You Lulai Te.

"They must have prepared fine tea and are ready to receive you, sir." You Lulai Te glanced askance.

"Wrong, I reckon that Champion Lord is probably embracing a woman and preparing a troop to meet me; others might set up a Hongmen banquet with five hundred swordsmen and axe-men, using a tossed cup as a signal, but I suspect he won't even set out a feast—he'll just bring a woman along." Zhou Shuo gave a faint smile, predicting the Champion Lord's preparations.

"No way!" You Lulai Te raised her eyebrows slightly, turned aside, and looked at the stone flute of the prince who held a chained saber at his side, silent and speechless.

"So the problem arises: if I fall out with the Champion Lord, Princess You Lulai Te, such a great beauty, what should be done with you?" Zhou Shuo looked at the pondering foreign man and woman, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"You're joking, sir; the lord sincerely invites you, so he certainly wouldn't do such a thing." You Lulai Te forced a smile.

"Hmm, we're here, You Lulai Te—your words are far too strained." Zhou Shuo looked ahead; the rear mountain of Jade Dragon Mountain had already arrived.

The ground had been leveled; beside the field stood a thatched hut, before which many people kept watch—some in sturdy warrior garb, some Daoists with yellow sashes; at the center of the field a Daoist altar had been erected, upon which an irregular stone pillar over two meters tall was set; on the altar beneath the stone pillar, a boy with a shaved crew cut was speaking with a petite beauty beside him, and they occasionally exchanged low laughter.

"Hey, Princess You Lulai Te, how is it?" Zhou Shuo looked at the stone pillar on the altar at the field's center and the crew-cut boy accompanied by a beauty beneath it, then turned to You Lulai Te without thinking—the crew-cut boy was none other than the Champion Lord, exactly as he had guessed.

"……" You Lulai Te looked at the crew-cut head on the high steps, her expression turning rather remarkable.

"You Lulai Te, you've returned—wonderful, come to my side quickly." The Champion Lord seated on high looked at You Lulai Te and involuntarily called out, while You Lulai Te's expression became remarkable as she glanced at Zhou Shuo.

"Princess You Lulai Te, that Lord Yang the Great is calling you!" Zhou Shuo gazed at the foreign beauty observing him, then raised his eyebrows to indicate the fellow ahead.

"Well, forget it, Zhou—this lord now gives you one chance: if you're willing to join my ranks, you'll surely have a place in my future hegemony." The Champion Lord looked at You Lulai Te's remarkable expression, seemed to shake his head in resignation, then turned his gaze to Zhou Shuo, his face showing a heavy hue.

"I originally thought human intellect never regresses, but Lord Yang the Great, you've shattered that notion." Zhou Shuo looked at the boy who, during the last visit to the Izumo palace, could still justify himself and adapt on the fly, yet now, in this brazen youth, feigned a shake of the head and sighed.

"Fine, I like your wildness—only bone-deep madness counts as true hegemonic aura—but sadly, your aura ends today, for you have encountered my innate hegemonic qi." The Champion Lord looked at Zhou Shuo's pretentious demeanor, not angry but smiling.

"What a weighty hegemonic aura…." Zhou Shuo's mouth curled with amusement, his conduct fierce within; relying on a strange encounter to stand here, he actually had the nerve to call this hegemonic qi—Yunxiang Xiang, seeing his current state, would surely wear some expression.

"Hmph, I'll properly measure your cultivation, Xiao Anran." The Champion Lord looked at Zhou Shuo's amused expression, narrowed his eyes, reached out to push the petite beauty beside him aside, and let out a call.

"Seven junior brothers, aid me—Primordial Yang Opens Heaven, Ruyi!" In response to the Champion Lord's words, a Daoist before that thatched hut shouted loudly; seven white-bearded old Daoists spontaneously took their places beside him, and then all eight projected their souls outward—eight soul-streams shot up from their heads like fireworks, then gathered together, forming a jade ruyi that bore the aura of creating all things.

"If the Venerable Primordial Yang were resurrected and saw you all like this, he'd probably be so angry he'd die again." Zhou Shuo looked at the ghostly immortal and the seven manifested adepts jointly performing this supreme Dao art; he couldn't help but twitch his mouth, his pupils flickering, and at the point where his gaze met the tip of his nose, a brilliant flash of lightning sprang forth, meeting the incoming jade ruyi head-on.

Crack—amidst the blinding white lightning, the jade ruyi carrying the aura of opening heaven shattered with a bang; the shattered 'jade fragments' turned to ash in the searing white light, except for a larger piece that shot away swiftly like a meteor, falling back into the body of the black-bearded Daoist Xiao Anran; as his soul returned to his body, the Fangxian Dao sect leader's face instantly paled and he plopped onto the ground, while the other seven were less fortunate—their eyes turned white as they collapsed, their breath gradually fading away.

"Ah! Uncle, Senior Brother!" Xiao Anran gazed at his seven fallen fellow disciples and instantly unleashed a heart-rending wail; these were the Fangxian Dao's Daoist experts, having lost the pillars that upheld their gate—how will the Fangxian Dao proceed from now on?

"……" Zhou Shuo looked at the Fangxian Dao sect leader sitting on the ground and wailing outright, his eyes rolling slightly upward, then turned his gaze toward the Champion Lord who had led the Fangxian Dao to such a state.

"I truly never expected your Daoist arts to reach such a level, but unfortunately you overlooked one thing—you actually brought your physical self right before me." The Champion Lord watched Zhou Shuo's strike shatter the eight Fangxian Dao adepts, and his expression darkened slightly.

"So, these thirty-six people—ah, twenty-six grand masters of marrow-washing, plus ten martial sages—formidable, formidable; I really was careless today, ah, what a miscalculation!" Zhou Shuo looked at the Champion Lord's slightly sullen face, then at the thirty-six expressionless warriors before the thatched hut, clapped his hands together with a crackling sound, wore a face of irrepressible regret, but facing his pretentious demeanor, the Champion Lord's expression worsened.

"You'll regret it today." The Champion Lord looked at Zhou Shuo, stepped down from the altar one pace at a time; his wild fist intent, emerging from where it had been restrained and gradually spreading, enveloped the entire area around the altar, turning this place into a field that suppresses and weakens souls.

"Lord Yang the Great, I have a reminder for you: the notion that ordinary people fear aura, that a martial artist's flesh is weak, does not apply to me." Zhou Shuo looked at the Champion Lord releasing his aura, raised his right palm upward in a hollow support, and the huge stone on the distant altar was instantly seized by an invisible force.

"Put down the Heavenly Pillar Divine Stone." The Champion Lord immediately sensed the situation, turned his head to see the long stone being lifted on the altar, his eyes shifting, his body darting forward—he lunged at Zhou Shuo in an instant, but grasped at nothing.

"That won't do, lord—you know? I came here this time solely for this thing." Zhou Shuo dodged the Champion Lord's lunge, flashed to beneath the altar, flicked a finger and sent out a jade-made devouring pouch; the pouch aimed its surface aperture at the Heavenly Pillar Divine Stone, opened a vortex, and the elongated stone fell into the vortex's center, being drawn into the pouch.

"Once I've snatched something in hand, how could I give it back, right?" Zhou Shuo retrieved the devouring pouch, tightened his grip on the petite beauty in his hand, and smiled as he asked the crew-cut boy.

"Release Xixi, or I will surely hunt you down to your death?" The Champion Lord looked at the beauty seized in Zhou Shuo's hand, his face like the sky shrouded by dark clouds.

"Lord, you first told me you possessed hegemonic aura, urging me to surrender; then you wanted to measure my cultivation; next you said I'd regret it; now you say you'll hunt me to death—what exactly should I believe of your words?" Zhou Shuo shrugged his shoulders slightly and, with a thoughtful air, repeated all the various threats the crew-cut boy had made earlier.

"I will surely kill you today." The Champion Lord's eyes bled red, like a humanoid tyrannosaur.

"So, this Xixi beauty in my hand—you're disregarding her, right? Only flirtatious, not base, famed as love that cannot be split, yet you claim to love everyone, Lord Yang the Great." Zhou Shuo turned his head to look at the petite beauty before him whose face had turned pale, teasing the transmigrator who had just been arrogant and overbearing.

"Xixi, sorry." The Champion Lord looked at the petite beauty fallen into the enemy's hands, closed his blood-red eyes, then suddenly launched an attack—his form vanished on the spot and reappeared violently before Zhou Shuo, his fist sealing off all of Zhou Shuo's retreat routes.

"Ah!" The woman's shriek as she flew out rang out instantly, echoing across the entire Jade Dragon Mountain plaza; the Champion Lord, whose strike had missed, stood on the altar, incredulously scanning the surrounding ground—just a moment before, in the instant of his punch, he had seen Zhou Shuo push out the hostess Jin Xixi, then himself sink into the ground, indeed sinking into the ground as if it were water.

"Hahaha, lord, I know you bear the Panhuang Spirit-Life Sword; frankly, I presently have no perfect way to deal with that sword, so today I won't contend with you; I'll return, refine this Heavenly Pillar Divine Stone into a treasure, and another day come back to test your Panhuang Spirit-Life Sword—I'll be off now. Farewell, great beauty You Lulai Te—I'm leaving first; if you have time, remember to come find me."

Zhou Shuo's voice rang out from all directions, then gradually faded away together; the Champion Lord's face on the altar shifted from black to red, then to green, after which he raised his head and let out a furious, mad howl, the sound wave brimming with fist intent rippling outward in circles across Jade Dragon Mountain, startling the hundred birds in the forest into flight, then falling down as if drunk.