Chapter 288

"Lowly thing?"

Zhu Ri and Lao Tie, they are the thorn among thorns.

Hearing You Cang's proclamation, Zhu Ri opened his mouth and spat out a beam of Chan light; Lao Tie backhandedly grabbed the witch girl's collar and flung her backward, then, holding his staff, charged at You Cang.

The witch girl waved the wind-and-cloud banner, her little face drawn tight, staring fixedly at You Cang.

Faintly visible, deep in her pupils lay a thread of extreme killing intent. Her petite body shot backward in the breeze, she stared fixedly at You Cang, and her eyes seemed to have countless rippling phantoms flickering.

Zhu Ri's Chan light sprayed onto You Cang's body.

You Cang's body exuded a viscous blue Cold Qi; the Chan light and Cold Qi canceled each other out, producing a piercing sound.

Lao Tie, staff in hand, rushed to You Cang's face and brought the staff down upon his head.

You Cang raised his right hand, palm up, and caught Lao Tie's fierce strike.

With a tremendous boom, You Cang's body shuddered; from Lao Tie's staff gushed a great sheet of wind-blown sand, a black whirlwind rolling fine gravel everywhere, smashing the rapidly thickening ice on the ground into fragments.

"Mundane." You Cang sneered, shaking his head contemptuously at Lao Tie: "Your strength…"

Lao Tie grinned, his right leg lashing out in a sudden kick.

A vast gleam of cold light flashed three inches below You Cang's navel; the azure cold light shattered with a crash, and Lao Tie's foot planted solidly between You Cang's legs.

You Cang's fair, handsome visage twisted abruptly.

He clenched his legs tightly, drawing a deep breath, his face contorted ferociously.

Instinctively he released his right hand, both hands reaching toward his lower body.

Zhu Ri gave a 'hehe' laugh, opened his mouth, and recited a Buddhist mantra.

The mantra thundered; in the passageway ahead, a few hundred li long, the ice layer instantly vaporized, and on the flat ground a vast expanse of condensed golden light formed a ten‑thousand‑character Buddha seal that rose from nowhere, the seal slowly turning, strands of golden auspicious light shooting skyward, bathing the passageway as if it were cast of gold.

The cold light on You Cang's upper body flickered violently.

Zhu Ri's mantra sounded like wave after wave of thunder, relentlessly striking him.

The cold light shielded his flesh, but the mantra's waves invaded his soul; You Cang's body trembled, his hand movements slowed greatly, and traces of blood continually seeped from his nostrils.

"Boom!"

Lao Tie's staff struck You Cang's forehead solidly.

You Cang's surface cold light flared intensely; the thick, enduring cold light cracked layer by layer, then regenerated layer by layer. Yet Lao Tie's blow was extraordinarily heavy; its immense impact, following some predestined causal relation in the dark, passed through the cold light and slammed hard into You Cang.

From You Cang's seven orifices a speck of Blood Light spurted simultaneously.

The witch girl suddenly raised her right hand; her hand emitted a hazy white radiance imbued with intense sacred solemnity, then she slammed a heavy punch into her own chest.

"Ice Spirit clan… You Cang… I remember." Her voice carried a thread of extreme hatred: "It was you who forced me to extinction."

Wu Tie strode on the gale, leisurely heading this way.

With Zhu Ri and Lao Tie taking action, he also knew their strength was formidable, so he did not rush to join the fight.

But when the witch girl spoke those words, Wu Tie's heart gave a shudder.

Although the witch girl's origins were strange, after spending these days together day and night, Wu Tie had come to regard her as most intimate, though not his true biological daughter, she was akin to flesh and blood.

When the witch girl suddenly uttered that eerie sentence, Wu Tie instantly felt cold qi spewing from every pore.

Behind him, the huge metallic wings flung open; Wu Tie tore through the air with a 'bang' to the witch girl's side, seized her slender neck with a slap: "Little brat, no mischief."

"Boom~~~!"

A dense, continuous bell toll rang from within the witch girl's chest cavity, a strange power undulation sweeping the surroundings.

The witch girl's strike seemed hardly powerful; even the dust on the ground did not stir.

Yet Wu Tie and the others all saw stars, feeling only a slight dizziness in their heads.

But You Cang was the true target of the witch girl's strike.

You Cang's body jerked; his face turned deathly pale with a 'swish', his chest ballooned like a ball, then violently collapsed inward.

His chest cavity shrank, shrank, shrank, until it almost crushed his spine into a tight bundle, then burst open again with a violent blast.

With a series of 'cracks', who knows how many of You Cang's chest ribs broke; his five viscera and six bowels, especially his heart, suffered an inexplicable grave wound; he jerked his head up, glaring ferociously at the witch girl, and from his mouth continually flowed blood mixed with ice shards and minced flesh.

"Ha, this feeling…… you are…… the Formless Bone Venerable…… Qing Nu." You Cang's body swayed, then he stepped back a dozen paces.

Above the vault, a thin thread of blue Cold Light fell, entering straight into You Cang's body.

Having suffered several heavy blows, with his interior gravely wounded, You Cang drew a deep breath; his pallid complexion quickly returned to normal, he gasped violently a few times, his breath swiftly recovered, and his distorted, deformed chest returned to its original shape.

"I remember you, I remember you." You Cang laughed exultantly: "How many years ago was that? I have a deep impression of you…… not only did you slaughter dozens of the Heavenly Crystal God Clan's fools, but also because I personally moved to capture you alive, and yet I failed."

The strange light in the witch girl's pupils faded.

That blow just now seemed to have exhausted all her mana and vital energy; her body swayed, her limbs went limp and slack, and she fainted completely.

Wu Tie gently encircled her tiny body, turned and handed her to the arriving Zhu Yue: "Look, you're good material for carrying a baby; help me take care of the witch girl."

Zhu Yue took the witch girl blankly, puzzled, and asked Wu Tie: "What does 'a poor monk is good material for carrying a baby' mean?"

Wu Tie gave a faint smile, making no reply to that question.

Afterward, the smile instantly faded; Wu Tie stared at You Cang with a blank face: "You two, are you old acquaintances?"

You Cang grimaced, one hand kneading the vital spot kicked by Lao Tie, the other kneading the place where his chest ribs had shattered: "I hate this body, weak points, weak points, all kinds of weak points…… yet some old fogies claim this is the perfect body? I cannot comprehend."

Shaking his head, You Cang pointed at the witch girl in Zhu Yue's arms: "Formless Bone Venerable…… no, no, no, we are gods, and our enemies are demons. So she must be the reincarnation of the Formless Bone Demon Qing Nu."

With a sigh, You Cang said in a low voice: "That is, which descent campaign is this? Probably the eighteenth or nineteenth? She is the rebel army…… no, she is one of the chief commanders of the demon army."

"Although she is a woman, she is decisive in slaughter, and moreover…… she never negotiates with us at all, simply like a mad dog. We once captured her few female friends, tried to force her surrender, but she resolutely slew her own companions and then fought us to the death."

"We finally beheaded her." You Cang lamented: "The cost we paid was also grievous. If I recall correctly, that bunch of fools from the Heavenly Crystal God Clan were slain by her in seventy‑eight…… I too was grievously wounded by her, and lay asleep in the Ice Palace for thirty‑five thousand standard great cycles before barely waking."

You Cang gazed deeply at Wu Tie: "'M' is boundless; to meet here is the manifestation of the gods' will being fulfilled…… she is destined to die by my hand. I will bring her head back; her head still carries a huge bounty in the Heavenly Crystal God Clan."

"If she failed to reincarnate, she is already dead…… by your reckoning, after thirty‑five thousand standard great cycles, is there still a bounty?" Wu Tie looked at You Cang in astonishment.

"Oh, oh, in life we demand to see the person, in death to see the corpse, even ashes must be brought back to honor the departed kin." You Cang, with an inexplicable tone, spread his hands and sighed: "The Heavenly Crystal God Clan bears grudges fiercely…… no matter how much time passes, they always remember, they always keep the bounty."

You Cang's tone grew somewhat excited: "Her bounty is high; bringing her back, the resources I gain will be enough for my true form to advance a small level…… truly, excellent."

"The vast and boundless 'Mu', I'm really glad to meet the Blue Maiden here." You Cang laughed happily.

Wu Tie waved his right hand, and the White Tiger Split appeared in his hand.

Too lazy to say more nonsense, after figuring out the cause and effect of the old grudge between the shamaness and You Cang, Wu Tie didn't want to waste any more time.

Want to take the shamaness to exchange for a bounty?

Heh.

Wu Tie leapt, transforming into a brilliant splendid golden long rainbow, and in an instant stood before You Cang; the White Tiger Split let out a low tiger roar, and with a "puchi" it pierced You Cang's chest.

With a shake of both hands, a violent tiger roar burst from the White Tiger Split; You Cang's body exploded with a "boom", shattering into tiny ice crystals that sprayed far away, then quickly vaporized into wisps of Cold Qi.

"Impossible... mortals... how could this be...?" came You Cang's incredulous roar from the Cold Qi.

Wu Tie poured his mana into the White Tiger Split.

Dozens of straight icy beams shot through the air, piercing the strands of Cold Qi that You Cang had turned into.

A horribly miserable howl came, obviously having suffered heavy injury.

"Beating the drowning dog, how splendid!" Zhu Ri suddenly shouted happily.

His four hooves stomped heavily on the ground, and on the ground countless swastika Buddhist seals emitted dazzling golden light; golden light swirled across the sky, golden light vast, golden rosy clouds scattered, and a mighty, vast, sacred and solemn aura burst forth.

"The poor monk specializes in exterminating all heretics and evil paths... specifically, beating the drowning dog." Zhu Ri, while using great divine powers to annihilate any possible remnants of You Cang's soul, also winked at Lao Tie with a smile.

Lao Tie snorted coldly and proudly lifted his head.

"I am a Hu wolf, not a dog." The projection of the Rebirth Tower rose slowly from Lao Tie's head, rings of black ripples spreading across the void.

Osiris is the god of death; the Rebirth Tower possesses extremely strong lethal power against all souls and spirit forms, and at the same time possesses extremely strong nourishing and restorative power.

Black ripples surged forth, black and golden light tangled wildly in the void for a moment; Zhu Ri and Lao Tie exchanged a glance: "He should be dead, right?"

To be honest, this incarnation of You Cang isn't very strong.

Roughly speaking, it's at the level of half-step into the Embryo Treasury realm; relying on the so-called heavenly divine artifact's power, it was boosted to the strength of the Embryo Treasury realm, which is why it could hold out against Zhu Ri and Lao Tie for a short while.

However, the heavenly divine artifact is strange and powerful; You Cang's body had been blown apart by Wu Tie, plus the might of the White Tiger Split, yet he could still speak in the void. Zhu Ri and Lao Tie also couldn't be sure whether they had truly completely annihilated this incarnation of You Cang.

"He should be dead through and through." Wu Tie held the White Tiger Split, hovering three feet above the ground, silently gazing ahead down the passage.

Zhu Ri's two hooves tapped, and the ground's countless golden‑cast swastika Buddhist seals gradually faded, the golden light filling the passage slowly disappearing.

Lao Tie grunted, the Rebirth Tower slowly receded into his head; he waved his scepter, vigorously shaking his head left and right, making his neck emit a few loud "crack" sounds.

Very mighty and marvelous, he threw a white eye at Zhu Ri; Lao Tie said bluntly: "If he isn't dead, I'll make Lao Tie's grandfather strike him thirty thousand times... I'll whip him until he dies and lives again, lives and..."

Before the final "death" character even left his lips, a blue Cold Light dozens of meters thick poured down from the dome; countless extremely fine Cold Qi gathered from all directions, quickly forming a human figure radiating Cold Light.

On the figure's face, a pair of eyes shot out extremely bright Cold Light.

Two bowl‑thick strands of Cold Light howled forth, slamming heavily into Lao Tie's chest.

"Mortals... ignorant mortals..." You Cang's voice went boom boom rumble: "You... you now, absolutely cannot comprehend the greatness of the gods."

"Do you really think you can defeat a great god? Even if it's just an incarnation, your opponent is still a god!"

"We can destroy your ancestors, and we can still destroy you."

"But compared to annihilating your bodies, I would rather... destroy your faith, your hope, your dreams... I love hearing your cries of despair, I love hearing your curses in despair."

"So... despair!"

You Cang raised both hands high and laughed loudly: "You vainly try to break the shackles the heavens have given you, you vainly try to transcend fate, but let me tell you, mortals are mortals, everything is in vain."

Strands of Cold Light howled forth from You Cang's fingertips.

The Cold Light writhed rapidly, turning into light threads, then light bands, then coiling into piercing double‑helix light dragons that wrapped themselves around Wu Tie and the others with a terrifying aura.

There was no time to dodge, nor did they know how to defend.

Wu Tie's Eagle God Armor flashed rapidly, but this armor with extraordinary defensive power had no resistance against the double‑helix light dragons. The light stream pierced the armor, entered Wu Tie's body, then quickly merged into his flesh, bones, viscera, and marrow, into every tiny cell of his body.

Wu Tie suddenly felt a chill all over.

The loud‑calling donkey beside him let out a loud sneeze.

Zhu Yue also shivered with a sudden chill.

The unconscious shamaness even let out a low humming sound.

Only Lao Tie's face looked grim, but upon close inspection, only his aura remained unchanged.