Chapter 270

Wu Tie

Lao Tie

Taotie Diagram

Lao Tie squatted deeply beside Wu Tie, a large cigarette slowly sending up smoke clenched between his lips.

Inside the fully formed Triple City, strange and wondrous flora and fauna were countless; Lao Tie wandered about casually and discovered a tobacco field that could be over ten thousand mu in size.

He personally rolled a big pile of carrot‑thick large cigarettes, and from then on the cigarette never left his mouth.

After blowing a near‑perfect smoke ring, Lao Tie flicked his tail and said, "Enemies with stiff mouths always end up bloody and mangled when we try to get a confession out of them; he suffers, and we suffer too."

Grinning, Lao Tie pointed satisfied at the Taotie Tu bound to the torture rack, half of his body charred, the other half still crackling with electricity, and said, "That's why we love those whose mouths aren't stiff—they spill their guts the moment torture starts. It saves us trouble, makes things easier for everyone."

Wu Tie chuckled, nodded, and looked at the tightly bound Taotie Tu, whose face bore two clear tear tracks.

Who would have thought that the current head of the Taotie clan, Taotie Tu—father of Taotie Ling—would actually be beaten to tears while under torture? And frankly, the few blows Wu Tie just dealt weren't heavy at all.

After holding out for less than three minutes, Taotie Tu spilled the beans, confessing in full detail his collusion with Xuan Zhu, Hei Luo of the Dark Guild, and the others.

Accustomed to a life of ease and luxury, indulging in extravagant pleasures daily, as the current head of the Taotie clan Taotie Tu was also a spoiled brat who had grown up pampered like a child in a honey jar.

The life of luxury had long since worn away most of the Taotie ferocity and brutality in his bones; when bullying the weak, Taotie Tu tried to display as much ferocity and violence as possible.

Divine Beast Taotie Bone

Myriad Beasts Spirit Grass

Wu Tie opened Taotie Tu's storage bracelet and carefully glanced inside.

There were many gold, silver, pearls, jade and other valuables, many primal herbs and primal fruits as cultivation resources, plus a large quantity of rare materials, among which were dozens of divine weapons and shields/armor made primarily from Taotie bone.

However, among Wu Tie's demands sent via the Dark Guild to the Taotie clan, there was no need for the complete divine beast Taotie bone grafts.

"You didn't bring what I wanted." Wu Tie, a bit disappointed, drew out a heavy two-handed horse-cutting saber.

This is clearly a divine weapon made from a Taotie rib, over two meters long and extremely heavy.

The jet-black horse-cutting saber is of superb quality, its surface covered with tiny runes like ant antennae; these tiny runes flow like water along the blade, occasionally drawing in strands of primordial heavenly and earthly energy, and moreover, threads of Cold Qi constantly seep out from the blade's edge.

Wu Tie's bones all over his body felt slightly hot.

His bones then told Wu Tie that this saber was a good thing, and his entire skeleton urgently needed the essence within the saber.

"What I want is the complete divine beast Taotie bone grafts." Wu Tie solemnly looked at Taotie Tu: "You, via the Dark Guild, tell your Taotie clan that Taotie Lei is in my hands, along with his four Life Pool Realm subordinates; you must bring the complete Taotie bone grafts to exchange."

Taotie Tu gave a bitter smile at Wu Tie.

He regretted it.

He didn't regret opposing Wu Tie, but regretted that, being an old hand in the jianghu, he was beguiled by just a few words from that demoness Xuan Zhu into coming to Sanlian City to attack Wu Tie.

He now realized that demoness was using him as a stepping stone.

He sighed, and Taotie Tu spoke in a low, subdued voice: "It's my fault... I thought that with the strength of my Taotie clan, no ransom was needed to retrieve Taotie Lei."

He slightly lifted his eyelids, cautiously glanced at Wu Tie, and Taotie Tu said in a low voice: "Lord Wu Tie, I can now order my retinue guards to retrieve the Taotie bone grafts you demand from our clan's ancestral lands."

He gave a dry laugh, and Taotie Tu said in a low voice: "As long as you keep your promise and obtain the Taotie bone grafts, you will let me and Taotie Lei and the others leave."

Wu Tie stroked his chin.

He pondered and said to Taotie Tu: "Keeping promises, I will definitely keep them, no problem, definitely. But this price— as the current head of the Taotie clan, your worth certainly cannot be calculated the same way as that foolish Taotie Lei."

He spread his hands, flipping his palms back and forth, and Wu Tie smiled at Taotie Tu: "Taotie Lei and his four attendants— Taotie Lei is worth five bone grafts, each of the others one Taotie bone graft, making a round ten; is that okay?"

He chuckled, then seriously said to Taotie Tu: "As for you, the esteemed head of the Taotie clan, you cannot be too cheap; your price should be ten times that of Taotie Lei— that makes a total of seventy complete Taotie bone grafts, okay?"

Taotie Tu's face turned grim.

His facial muscles twitched violently, a murderous gleam uncontrollably seeping from the corners of his eyes: "Are you intending to become mortal enemies with my Taotie clan?"

Lao Tie Ren rose to his feet, transformed into a beast with a wolf's head and human body, lifted his scepter, and struck a blow that slammed into Taotie Tu's knee.

With a miserable howl, Taotie Tu's left knee was shattered by the scepter.

Taotie Tu burst into tears, immediately shouting hoarsely: "Just as Lord Wu Tie said, a total of seventy complete Taotie bone grafts— as long as you keep your promise, I will certainly have them sent."

"Give me a stalk of Myriad Beasts Spirit Grass, quick, quick, I'm in pain, pain, give me a stalk of Myriad Beasts Spirit Grass— it can stop pain, promote flesh growth, mend bones and tendons, a top-tier external injury spirit medicine."

Taotie Tu wept while shouting at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie blinked at Taotie Tu: "But the Myriad Beasts Spirit Grass is now my spoils of war; what right do I have to give it to you?"

Taotie Tu stared blankly at Wu Tie.

His left knee was completely shattered, his lower leg twisted oddly, with large amounts of blood continually gushing from the fracture.

His entire magical power was sealed, his qi and blood energy suppressed; he is now an ordinary person with no cultivation, wanting to quickly heal his limbs, but he has the will but not the strength, utterly unable to do so.

"One Taotie bone graft..." Taotie Tu quickly named his price.

"Two..." Wu Tie laughed as he looked at Taotie Tu.

"Two?" Taotie Tu glared furiously at Wu Tie.

Lao Tie raised his scepter and, without hesitation, struck Taotie Tu's right knee again.

"Two!" Taotie Tu immediately bellowed, tears streaming even more.

"Now it's four, round it up to five." Wu Tie furrowed his brow: "I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, I can't stand numbers with fractions... Or how about I give your left and right arms a hit too? That would make ten."

Taotie Tu, going along with the flow, cried out: "Ten grafts it is, no need to trouble yourself with action. One stalk of Myriad Beasts Spirit Grass, thank you, Lord Wu Tie!"

Wu Tie took from his bracelet a stalk of strange blood-red spirit grass emitting surging qi and blood undulations, and shoved it into Taotie Tu's mouth: "Well, now we have a total of eighty Taotie bone grafts, and they must be complete— not even a segment of the tail bone may be missing..."

Wu Tie hesitated a bit looking at Taotie Tu: "Does your Taotie clan still have that many complete Taotie bone grafts?"

Taotie Tu gave a bitter smile at Wu Tie, slowly nodding: "Yes, yes, plenty, in our Taotie clan's ancestral lands there are fallen Taotie bone grafts numbering..."

Wu Tie seriously looked at Taotie Tu: "Numbering in the tens of thousands?"

The corner of Taotie Tu's mouth twitched sharply, he gave a bitter smile: "You're joking... tens of thousands? How could that be possible? After all these years, heh, all of our Taotie clan's weapons and armor are made from divine beast Taotie bone, heh, tens of thousands— impossible."

Wu Tie waved his hand: "I'm just curious, not trying to pry into your Taotie clan's ancestral lands— you can rest assured... well, I just want to ensure my interests and decide my future attitude toward your Taotie clan's people."

"You still have Taotie bone, that's excellent; from now on, when we encounter your Taotie clan's people, we can only capture them alive, not kill them." Sigh.

Wu Tie shook his head: "Capturing alive is always a hassle…… If you didn't have Taotie bones, I'd just kill you all—how much simpler that would be."

Lao Tie also sighed: "Isn't that right? To cut the grass you must pull up the roots; leaving enemies alive is truly not good."

Taotie Tu shut his mouth; he saw that Lao Tie was an old scoundrel and Wu Tie a little scoundrel—a pair of thoroughgoing scoundrels…… I really don't know who taught these two scoundrels.

"Obsessive-compulsive disorder!"

"Can't stand numbers with fractions?"

Extortion is extortion—what's the point of making up all these excuses?

After Wu Tie and Taotie Tu settled the price, and had Lao Bai spread the word through the Dark Guild's channels, Mozhang Wang approached with a hint of solemnity: "Lord Wu Tie, that slut Xuan Zhu actually rallied so many people to cause us trouble……"

Wu Tie looked at Mozhang Wang: "The current Triple Link City is as solid as gold and bronze. What are you afraid of?"

Mozhang Wang gave a bitter smile: "Triple Link City itself isn't afraid of them, but the populace of the thirty great domains under its rule will surely suffer terribly at their hands."

Mozhang Wang's face turned extremely grim, tinged with sorrow and indignation: "Didn't that old coot just say? To find a temporary resting place, she ordered the slaughter of an entire small clan."

"Issue an order now to move the populace of the thirty great domains into Triple Link City, and it's already too late." Mozhang Wang looked at Wu Tie: "Besides, those domains possess some fertile lands—abandoning them would be a terrible waste."

"So you mean we have to repel Xuan Zhu and his allies?" Wu Tie looked at Mozhang Wang.

"Not only repel, but annihilate." Mozhang Wang stared earnestly at Wu Tie: "Moreover, now that the situation in Triple Link City has stabilized, I want to open… the lost Triple Link City."

"The true lifeblood core of Triple Link City is the Triple Link Realm!" Mozhang Wang finally spoke that name: "Legend says the Triple Link Realm preserves the last resort prepared by our ancestors for descendants, a safeguard against any eventuality."

Wu Tie's interest piqued, he nodded: "Has Jin Mancang spoken? Did you find a way to open the Triple Link Realm? Then let's go in and have a look."

Beside him, Lao Tie sucked in a few breaths and kept blowing out streams of smoke rings.

Lao Tie felt a bit guilty.

He wasn't entirely sure what lay within the Triple Link Realm.

But the finest things in the Triple Link Realm—at least those thirteen orbs of light storing infinite mysteries—have already been infused into Wu Tie's body, continually strengthening and perfecting him, bringing him all kinds of wondrous benefits.

Lao Tie could only pray that the ancestors of Triple Link City would be generous and not leave only these thirteen light orbs in the Triple Link Realm…

A shrill alarm rang through the heavens.

Three pyramids burst forth with blinding light.

Twelve enormous light pillars slowly rotated, the vast heavenly-earthly primordial energy turning into thick clouds that gathered above the pillars.

As the pillars turned, twelve primordial-energy vortices each a thousand li in diameter appeared in the air, the seven-colored vortices spinning, within them countless dragon-like thunderbolts leaping silently.

The entire Triple Link City was sealed off by a tremendous force.

On the dome, in the cliffs, on the ground—everywhere huge golden runes condensed into streams of light that flickered, filling heaven and earth with a rosy mist.

Mozhang Wang activated Triple Link City's ultimate defensive form.

Even without his control, the whole Triple Link City is completely sealed; no one can enter or leave.

Anyone attempting a violent breakthrough will suffer a heavy blow from Triple Link City; the destructive power unleashed when the city is fully activated far surpasses the force that once struck the Winter.

Immense power is building up.

Wu Tie and his party stood in the main hall on the lowest level of the bronze-colored pyramid.

Inside the hall, Jin Mancang, bound like a zongzi, roared angrily: "Rebel, rebel, this is the legacy of our ancestors, this is the birthright of my Great Peacock royal lineage…… Wah, ancestors, open your eyes!"

Lao Tie silently lit four thick cigars and shoved them into Jin Mancang's mouth.

Jin Mancang choked, smoke pouring from his seven orifices, and could no longer shout or curse.

"At this point, why still struggle and quibble? If I were you, I'd rather die than reveal the secret phrase to enter the Triple Link Realm." Lao Tie looked at Jin Mancang and shook his head: "Since you can't withstand the torture and have confessed, you must accept your fate."

Jin Mancang's face flushed red; he glared furiously at Lao Tie, then at Wu Tie, Mozhang Wa, and the others, as two streams of hot tears trickled down.

Around Mozhang Wang floated twelve fist-sized masses of essence blood.

He chanted the secret phrase, then split his own chest open.

Drop by drop, the essence blood of the Great Peacock royal lineage surged from Mozhang Wang's chest, and the twelve masses of essence blood beside him ignited fiercely.

The heart‑essence blood that flew from Mozhang Wang's body also burned, threads of strange qi drifting in the huge square hall; accompanied by his chant, a bronze archway silently appeared before everyone.

The archway, ancient and unadorned, filled with faint threads of light-mist that brightened; countless motes coalesced, finally forming a dazzling gate of light.

Mozhang Wang greeted Wu Tie and the others; the group hurried toward the archway and passed through the light gate.

The next moment, they appeared in a profoundly strange place.