Chapter 140

Black smoke billowed out as meteoric fire rained down from the sky; aside from Champion Marquis Yang An, who wore Mercury Moon Armor, everyone else either let out a mighty roar or raised a hand to cast a protective daoist light, keeping the fire rain at bay, not daring to let it near.

"Hahaha, Saintess, well done—let's join forces and take these guys out together." Zhou Shuo deflected the attack of the Sangmang Divine Spear with his Divine Whip, then, protected by the five black silhouettes, he let out a long laugh. Though the meteoric fire rain from above could pierce stone and melt earth, once it reached him it was swallowed by the black smoke.

"Su Mu, you dare play tricks?" Zhao Feier turned her thoughts black and white, joining Yan Zhenzong in shielding herself, and let out a sharp scream.

"You worthless slut, do you think you deserve to be dealt with by trickery? Five Strongmen, kill this slut for me." Xu Jie watched Zhao Feier shout, a smirk curling his lips; he pointed his Divine Whip, and the five black shadows behind him lunged out at once. These five black shadows were like smoke, each flickering with arcs of electricity, gusts of air, vapor, sparks, and sludge.

The Supreme Clarity Sect's most orthodox Talisman of the Five Strongmen differs from the common Five Ghosts Talisman circulated among ordinary cultivators, which summons five ghosts; the five black shadows summoned by the Five Strongmen Talisman are actually transformations of the five corpses of a human body.

Daoism speaks of the three corpses and the five corpses; these five corpses are the deathly qi condensed from the five viscera. Cultivators seek to eliminate deathly qi and draw in vital qi to achieve longevity, and thus the Supreme Clarity Sect developed the Five Strongmen Talisman to control deathly qi, transforming the Five Ghosts into Five Strongmen.

When the Five Strongmen are first summoned, they are merely a puff of black smoke, no different from the ghosts and spirits ordinary people conjure; but after prolonged cultivation, each of the five humanoid specters will generate an attribute power—this is the orthodox strength of the Supreme Clarity Sect's Mystic Gate.

"Saintess, let's attack together." Zhou Shuo sends the Five Ghosts to take out Yan Zhenzong and Zhao Feier, and he himself doesn't let up—under his feet flashes Dean Dai's spell, he swiftly dodges the champion contender's shot, and charges at Zhao Feier and Yan Zhenzong.

Zhou Shuo truly wanted to give the Grand Master of the Great Luo Sect a taste of his own medicine, but before he could get close, a sudden crystal‑bright light flared before him, shield‑shaped, protecting Zhao Feier and Yan Zhenzong within—this was Yao Qinghui intervening from the side.

"Tss." Accompanying Yao Qinghui's intervention, the azure sword light in the void reappeared—not just the azure sword light, but also an ancient bronze bell hanging upside down from the heavens. As soon as the bell appeared, all air and matter ceased to flow, as if time itself had stagnated.

"The Tower of the Great Universe, the Bell of the Cosmic Pole—Saintess, you've finally let me see the techniques of our Supreme Dao." Zhou Shuo felt no hindrance in the frozen spacetime, burst out laughing, and flung a spray of golden radiance from his Divine Whip toward the pursuing Yang An, while simultaneously spitting out his Sword Pill from his mouth.

The Sword Pill left his mouth, turning into a stream of cold stars; relying on the Bell of the Cosmic Pole's suppressive presence, it coiled around Yao Qinghui's waist, and the Yaochi Sect Sect Master's torso was instantly severed in two, collapsing to the ground, leaving only her soul hovering in place, her face wearing an expression of disbelief.

"Hurry up and go." Zhou Shuo sliced off Yao Qinghui's flesh with a single sword, shouting; Yao Qinghui came to her senses, immediately abandoning concern for her fallen, severed corpse as her soul turned into a clear light and slipped away.

Zhou Shuo watched Yao Qinghui slip away, then glanced from afar at the God Eagle King. This composed immortal's face showed a hint of alarm at his gaze, but after a moment he reacted, instantly releasing a ball of clear light as his flesh soared into the sky and fled.

"Today you all will die." Zhou Shuo watched the God Eagle King depart, tightened his grip on the Divine Whip, and golden light instantly blanketed his body; azure light shone from his eyes as his left fingertip traced countless runes, rushing toward the descending bronze bell.

"Boom!" The runes in the air collided with the massive bronze bell, erupting in a tremendous bang that sent the bell flying away.

"I want to see just who dies!" Champion Marquis, brandishing the Sangmang Divine Spear, gazed at Zhou Shuo's dazzling golden light and surging aura, couldn't help but let out a tiger's roar, leaping heroically to pounce atop Zhou Shuo's head, thrusting his spear fiercely at the golden light.

"Then look behind you." Zhou Shuo held his Divine Whip, his azure gaze turned backward, and a smirk curled his lips.

"What…?" Champion Marquis stared at the figure within the golden light, his eyes narrowing; his Sangmang Divine Spear instinctively withdrew and thrust backward. With a creak, the divine spear left by the War God Sang struck the incoming meteor, the spear tip bending under force, then the meteor flew back, while Champion Marquis was hurled sideways through the air for a considerable distance.

"Out of respect for your mother, I won't kill you, but while you may escape the death penalty, you cannot evade the living punishment." Zhou Shuo watched Champion Marquis fly sideways, then traced several talismans with his left hand; the long runes writhed like worms, crashing toward the Champion Marquis clad in Moonlight Silver Armor.

"Boom!" Smoke and dust exploded again; Zhou Shuo stood outside the haze, his blue eyes narrowing to a slit as they gazed at the drifting smoke, his Divine Whip in hand, while his Sword Pill transformed into a meteor that orbited the golden light shielding him.

At this moment on the battlefield, all of Champion Marquis's lesser martial saints had either been cut at the waist or beheaded, their corpses littering the ground—except for Wu Wenhui, the chief steward of the Wuwen Marquis's manor, whose strength was relatively strong; leaning on his residual breath from the wish‑fulfilling staff in his hand, he still clung to life, though his left hand had been severed at the elbow.

"Lord Wuwen Marquis, you wait until now to come clean up this mess—aren't you a bit late?" Zhou Shuo gripped his Divine Whip, wearing the double protection of his Sword Pill and golden light, and asked with a smile as he gazed at the spreading dust.

"……" The air suddenly stilled; a golden silhouette shot out from the smoke and dust, streaking straight toward Zhou Shuo. Accompanying this golden figure drawn out as light, a chilling blade of light fell from the heavens—this icy radiance was ten times sharper than the blue sword light Su Mu had earlier released, of course only in terms of sharpness.

"Tss." The piercing cold light sliced down in an instant, cutting ten or so meters into the ground before snapping back and vanishing as if it had never been, leaving only a bottomless scar on the earth; as for Zhou Shuo, who had dodged the blow, he was already enveloped by layers of golden silhouettes.

"Monster, you will surely die today." The layers of golden silhouettes were none other than Hong Xuanji, clad in treasure armor; the Grand Preceptor of Great Qian projected multiple afterimages, surrounding Zhou Shuo and, in an instant, hurling hundreds of punches—with a bang, shattering the golden light protecting him, while his hands, encased in scales, curled into claws and pressed toward Zhou Shuo.

Under one of Hong Xuanji's claws, the air seemed to splash open like thick broth; each droplet of air‑water manifested countless shapes, appearing extraordinarily beautiful, yet beneath this beauty every escape route for Zhou Shuo was sealed shut—the Great Sage's Claw, this move of Hong Xuanji, has already transcended the realm of mere martial technique.

"I want to see just who dies." Zhou Shuo's azure light faded, he sensed the killing intent pressing in, grinned, and swung his Divine Whip to chop at the palm Hong Xuanji thrust forward.

Facing the incoming Divine Whip, even with his treasure armor's protection, Hong Xuanji did not dare be careless; he turned his palm to grab the whip, intending to seize this divine weapon through precise force control—but before he could touch the whip, Zhou Shuo opposite him opened his mouth and spat out a meteor.

The Sword Pill is ever elusive; even though Hong Xuanji had anticipated it, the meteor still struck his waist, sending him flying backward a hundred or so meters. When he reached out to catch the small object that had flown off him, the thing instead darted like a meteor, weaving left and right, and landed before Zhou Shuo.

"Hong Xuanji, relying solely on this Primordial Heavenly Dragon Armor, you can't kill me—come on, you also need Yang Pan to drag out the Vessel of Creation for a spin." Zhou Shuo swallowed the returning Sword Pill, a fresh layer of golden light rose over him, and he let out a cold snort. Earlier, amid the chaos he hadn't seen clearly, but now the situation settled: Hong Xuanji revealed his true form—a human body with a dragon's head, covered head to toe in golden‑yellow scales, like a humanoid tyrannosaurus; this is the effect of the Primordial Heavenly Dragon Armor, and now this Grand Preceptor of Great Qian cannot even be harmed by a flying sword.

"Insolent, daring to utter the emperor's name directly—today I will make you, this demon, bow your head." Hong Xuanji pointed his sword at Zhou Shuo and issued a stern rebuke.

"Yang Pan, Yang Pan, Yang Pan, Yang Pan, Yang Pan, Yang Pan……" Zhou Shuo stared at the sternly rebuking loyalist, blinked, and began repeating the name of the Qian Emperor over and over, but before he could continue, Hong Xuanji, who had blinked into position before him, interrupted him.

Even cursing Hong Xuanji's ancestors eighteen generations deep couldn't provoke him as much as insulting the Qian Emperor Yang Pan could; this is the life principle of the great Confucian scholar—once this principle is upheld, even the meaningless epithet "dog lackey" falls short of describing Hong Xuanji.

"I will definitely kill you today, monster." Hong Xuanji's fist twisted and distorted the golden light, his killing intent bursting forth wildly.

"I fuck Yang Pan and his whole family." Zhou Shuo gazed at the golden‑yellow draconic figure radiating killing intent from beyond the golden light, smiled, and spat out a phrase; countless white blades erupted from his pores, enveloping him in a blade of light as he leapt off the ground and shot skyward.

"Don't run, demon—have the guts to fight me one round." Hong Xuanji watched Zhou Shuo's golden light fade into white radiance as he soared, roared, then transformed himself into a golden light that rose from the ground, though his speed was not great.

"Hong Xuanji, if you've got the guts, take off that Primordial Heavenly Dragon Armor—take it off, and I'll grudgingly refrain from inquiring after Yang Pan's mother; otherwise I'll greet his mother as well." Zhou Shuo slightly eased his sword light's momentum and, at the same time, tossed out a remark from afar.

"Monster, today I will——" Hong Xuanji saw the white light ahead slowing slightly, heard the distant words, his eyes turned red, his brutal aura surged, and his speed increased—yet he failed to notice that in the void before him, a massive staff as thick as a person's leg, seven or eight men long, with both ends tightly bound by coiling dragons, suddenly jutted sideways; with a boom, it struck him on the head like a baseball bat, sending him flying.

"Well done, but Great Zhou's Founding Emperor, I'm not sticking around here—you play by yourself!" Zhou Shuo saw the ambush‑succeeding massive staff, let out a long laugh, transformed into sword light, and vanished into the distance.

"Hong Xuanji, today I'll mark this blow of yours; someday I'll settle with your Great Qian Dynasty the grudge of exterminating the nation and destroying the family." As Hong Xuanji's form turned to golden light and flew back, the voice faded away from the void.