Chapter 48: Mountain God's Peach Talisman

Luoxia Shan in Huangliang Xian is a mountain with handsome, towering peaks and beautiful scenery. It is late autumn, and one can see the mountains and plains covered in golden yellow, interspersed with patches of fiery red—those are the autumn leaves.

Deep in the mountains, a robust man wearing animal skins and holding a steel fork is walking through the forest; he has bronze-colored skin and piercing eyes.

He is the mountain god of this place, Taofu. Taofu is an Innate Spirit, formed from the vital energy of the great mountain; he possesses astonishing strength and remarkable cultivation.

He has guarded this great mountain for over three hundred years, carefully tending to every blade of grass and tree on it, and protecting the villagers and commoners at the foot of the mountain. Under his rule, the people live and work in peace, and there is little conflict between beasts and humans.

On this day, he is just like usual, holding his steel fork and riding the wind, patrolling back and forth through the green mountains.

Suddenly, a black light flies out from the forest. Before he can react, he hears a "Puchi" sound and is struck in the shoulder.

Being attacked for no reason makes Taofu feel very stifled. He circulates his divine power, seemingly wanting to find the assailant.

At this moment, following a triumphant laugh, a mysterious person in a black robe walks out from the forest.

He wears a mask, which looks very strange. Taofu grips his steel fork tightly, full of anger, and shouts sternly.

"Who are you? Why did you ambush me?"

Black blood is gushing from the wound on his left shoulder, and no matter how he tries, he cannot stop it, which makes him even more furious.

The black-robed person says with an amused expression.

"No reason at all. This lord is Wu Dawang, under the command of Baie Hou.

I was bored today and took a fancy to this mountain forest of yours; I want to transform it into my back garden.

If you are sensible, hand it over to me obediently; otherwise, I don't mind leaving your corpse on this mountain peak."

The other party is arrogant and rude, clearly not putting this mountain god in his eyes at all.

Upon hearing this, Taofu laughs out of extreme anger.

"What Baie Hou? This god does not know him, does not know what this Baie Hou is, and has no interest in knowing. As for you, this so-called Wu Dawang under the command of Baie Hou, this god has never even heard of you.

You mere monster, not only did you ambush me, but you are also there spouting nonsense, attempting to occupy my Daoist temple. Do you really think I am easy to bully?"

He is seen rotating his earth-element divine arts and shouting loudly.

"Surrender your life!"

Only a "Boom" is heard as a giant "steel fork" formed of mountain rock crashes down, hitting the spot where the black-robed person was located; amidst the rumbling, it actually smashes the ground into a depression over two meters deep.

When the dust and smoke disperse, the black-robed person is nowhere to be found, clearly having been killed.

The mountain god cannot help but heave a sigh of relief and withdraws his divine arts. Just as he intends to leave alone, he is shocked upon turning his head to see the black-robed person standing right behind him, a mocking smile in his eyes as he says.

"You mountain god, you are actually quite interesting. Your strength is only at the level of a half-bucket of water, yet you still spout such nonsense. Where do you get the confidence in front of this king?

The mountain gods, land gods, well gods, village gods, and Yinchai puppets who have died at my hands are more than just you.

Now I have changed my mind; I will give you two choices."

He is seen extending two fingers and shaking them.

"First, obediently become my dog and serve me hand and foot! Second, become a corpse."

"Oh, right, you immortals don't have corpses when you die; you can only have your divine souls destroyed. I like that."

Although shocked, the mountain god Taofu quickly calms his mood and scolds sternly.

"What kind of ghost talk are you spouting, you evildoer? Since ancient times, gods and monsters have been incompatible. Making me, a dignified god, act as a monster's lackey—it would be better to just kill me."

Hearing this, the black-robed person shows displeasure in his eyes and says coldly.

"Is that so? Then go die."

Taofu shouts loudly.

"Arrogant monster, stop spouting nonsense! Who will die is not yet certain!"

He finally stops holding back, utilizes the authority of the mountain god, and unleashes his strongest strike as a mountain god.

The steel fork in his hand is seen suddenly thrust into the ground; he claps his hands lightly and shouts, his voice like thunder.

"Qi Chong Lunhui Shan, Heaven's Earth Control."

The ground beneath his feet instantly becomes a thousand times harder, comparable to reinforced steel plates. Suddenly, a pair of earth-stone giant palms as hard as steel extend from underground, like a lotus flower opening and closing toward the sky, and like a giant hand swatting a mosquito, they clap the black-robed person inside with a "Boom."

He is instantly smashed to pieces, and monster blood drips down between the fingers, drop by drop, patch by patch.

When the giant palms suddenly turn into dust and smoke and disperse, all that remains is the flattened body of the black-robed person, incomplete!

The mountain god Taofu walks in front of the black-robed person, sighs, and says.

"As a mountain spirit or wild monster, if you had found a quiet place to cultivate properly, you would not have ended up like this. Why bother ambushing me? You and I have no grudges; why must you occupy my Daoist temple, to the point of your body dying and your Dao vanishing?

Considering that your cultivation was not easy, this god will no longer make things difficult for your soul. Go report to the underworld quickly, go on. I hope you are born into a good family in your next life and will no longer act recklessly or commit evil everywhere."

Taofu is seen chanting a spell, just about to bury the black-robed person on the spot, but following a strange laugh, the black-robed person's originally incomplete body instantly recovers as if new, standing alive before him, saying with an amused expression, "Mountain god authority, Heaven's Earth Control... is it? It seems it is nothing more than this!"

"Are there any more powerful moves? Bring them out to play with me..." At that moment, Taofu's face changes drastically as if he has seen a ghost; he feels his scalp go numb. Before the black-robed person can finish speaking, he roars and uses the mountain god's authority again.

"Qi Chong Lunhui Shan—Heaven's Earth Control."

"Bang!"

The giant rock palms smash the black-robed person flat again, and even the air vibrates.

However, when the giant palms disperse, the black-robed person, who was originally dead, survives again—miraculously recovering as if new, with a devilish smile on his face, and even leaps onto a tree branch to ask leisurely.

"What, is this all the ability you have? You only know this one move?"

"Speaking of which, you gods of Huangliang Xian are really not ordinarily weak."

He extends his finger nonchalantly.

"Hmm, let me count."

"Three Yinchai from the County City God's Inspection Division!

One well god from Liu Sang Cun, and... and many others I can't even remember, but they were really easy to kill, and you..."

He suddenly points his finger at the mountain god Taofu and says quite casually.

"Are the easiest one to kill!"

Sweat appears on the mountain god Taofu's forehead.

For the first time, fear sprouted in the depths of his heart, and he could not help but take a step back.

He could tell that this fellow was not joking; hunting gods like child's play?

What exactly was this fellow's background? How could he be so ridiculously strong?

At this moment, he had a premonition in his heart—this time, he was likely in grave danger!

This fellow simply could not be killed; no matter how he killed him, he could not be killed. Could it be that he had an immortal body? Or was it that his healing technique had already reached the god level?

Huh? No! A more terrifying conjecture suddenly sprouted in his mind, and he could not help but blurt out.

"You... could it be that you can manipulate time?"

That was right, he had already seen it; the black-robed person had not used any healing spell just now, but had directly restored time, returning his own body to its previous, perfectly intact state. This kind of sorcery was comparable to intermediate gods, something that the likes of Taofu could only look up to but never reach.