Chapter 55

Outside the dock of Thousand Fish City, several large wooden rafts float on the water.

Thousand Fish City

dock

Several stone giants seven or eight meters tall shouted loudly, pushing the wooden rafts toward the Yin River entrance at the lake's center.

Stone Giants

Yin River entrance

Recently, to slay the flood dragon, among the stone giant tribe raised by Mist Blade, ten adult stone giants were all killed. Those still somewhat shy of adulthood, but with considerable combat strength, were naturally conscripted by Mist Blade.

Flood Dragon

Mist Blade

Stone Giant tribe

They were immensely strong; each paddle of the specially made wood pulp drove the raft forward a great distance.

Soon they arrived above the Yin River entrance; several Mist Blade senior members cloaked in robes called out in low voices, simultaneously taking off from their wrists several three-foot-square small nets woven of metal wire.

Mist Blade senior members

After chanting a few low incantations, several Mist Blade senior members simultaneously bit their tongues, spraying a mouthful of blood onto the small net.

No new.

These completely black small nets immediately spewed out large patches of black mist, accompanied by a piercing 'hiss' sound; altogether six small nets rose into the air, in a breath forming a large net hundreds of meters in diameter, then they exhaled black smoke and gale, whooshing into the lake with a 'whoosh'.

No new.

The six small nets overlapped each other, tightly sealing the Yin River entrance.

No new.

Strands of black eerie light moved back and forth along the extremely fine, densely packed black metal wires; a huge fish seven or eight meters long suddenly burst from the Yin River, lunging headfirst toward the lake surface.

big fish

When the big fish touched the black net, its body was instantly and silently sliced apart, finally turning into sesame-seed-sized flesh fragments that mixed with the blood and floated up on the lake surface.

No new.

"Six Yin Slaughter Demon Net... heh, heh, this secret realm now truly belongs entirely to my Mist Blade." A Mist Blade senior member wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and laughed triumphantly.

Six Yin Slaughter Demon Net

"It's not over yet... we need to kill that little brat and that 'human-head dog' curious object." Another Mist Blade senior member took a deep breath, then turned into a gust of wind flying toward the direction where Wu Tie and Lao Tie were besieged.

"It's not over yet... we need to kill that little brat and that 'human-head dog' curious object." Another Mist Blade senior member took a deep breath, then turned into a gust of wind flying toward the direction where Wu Tie and Lao Tie were besieged.

Several Mist Blade senior members burst into laughter, then either turned into gusts of wind or black mist and swiftly flew away.

No new.

Several stone giants sat cross-legged on the wooden rafts, expressionlessly stroking the specially made flying axes in their hands. Their mission was to seal off the Yin River entrance, preventing any outsiders from entering the lower Yin River.

No new.

Anyone who dares to approach will be killed without mercy!

No new.

Strands of earth-yellow qi continuously seeped from the lake bottom, constantly passing through the deep lake water into these stone giants' bodies. The stone giants' breath was long and heavy; their qi merged as one, thick mist rose from their pores, and before them a small earth-yellow mountain faintly appeared and faded.

No new.

Their supernatural power used when slaying the flood dragon by their ancestors comes from the same lineage.

No new.

This is the Five Ding Open Mountain Method, an earth-attribute bloodline supernatural power. As long as a stone giant's bloodline is sufficiently pure, they naturally master this offensive-defensive supernatural technique of immense power.

Five Ding Open Mountain Method

Wu Tie and Lao Tie directly faced the Mist Blade Chief Steward.

Wu Tie and Lao Tie directly faced the Mist Blade Chief Steward.

Old Iron stayed silent, just flashing a toothy grin.

No new.

Behind the Mist Blade Chief Steward, one after another cloaked Mist Blade senior member kept appearing.

No new.

They perhaps didn't hold the title of Steward, but they were absolutely masters of the Steward level, i. e., masters of the Chonglou Realm, all being masters who had mastered supernatural powers.

Steward

In just a few breaths, eighteen Mist Blade senior members successively appeared behind the Mist Blade Chief Steward.

Not long after, the six Mist Blade senior members who had just gone to the lake surface to seal the Yin River entrance also rushed over, so the number of experts behind the Mist Blade Chief Steward reached twenty-four.

No new.

"Are you trying to silence us by killing us?" Lao Tie remained silent, Wu Tie drew his long spear, held it at his waist, and took a step forward.

No new.

long spear

long spear

"Only a dead man's mouth is most reliable." The Mist Blade Chief Steward lowered his hood, revealing his gaunt face: "Of course, there is another option—if you become my disciple…"

No new.

"Unwilling." Wu Tie cleanly cut off the Mist Blade Chief Steward's words: "You…… are not a good person, so I am unwilling."

No new.

The blood light in Lao Tie's eyes dimmed slightly; he rolled his eyes upward, making an eye-rolling gesture.

Blood Light

"Am I not a good person?" The Mist Blade Chief Steward laughed, shaking his head: "Truly, a naive and cute child—these days, people still use 'good' and 'bad' to decide their conduct… really, naive… naive to the point of stupidity."

No new.

Taking a deep breath, the Mist Blade Chief Steward said in a low voice: "I have occupied that secret realm; I can let the millions of people dependent on Mist Blade eat their fill and live in peace… am I a bad person?"

No new.

Wu Tie stared blankly, left speechless by the Mist Blade Chief Steward's words, unable to give a definite effective response.

No new.

Lao Tie coughed once, then said in a low voice: "Enough, using verbal tricks to bully a child doesn't show your ability… you have a hundred excuses not to let us leave, while we have ten thousand reasons we must leave… everyone has their own stance, so… why waste words?"

No new.

"Old Jianghu!" the Mist Blade Chief exclaimed, giving Old Iron a thumbs-up: "You're truly a veteran of the martial world—your words are blunt and to the point, I like that."

Named: Old Jianghu, a generic term meaning a veteran of the martial world, not a proper name.

He burst out laughing, and the thumb that the Mist Blade Chief had raised suddenly glowed, swelling eerily to about a foot long and as thick as a fist.

No new.

A spray of blood light shot from his swollen thumb; the next instant, blood mist burst forth, and the light condensed into a foot-long blood-colored curved blade that whistled shrilly as it spun toward Witch Iron's neck and slashed.

Named: Blood-Colored Curved Blade, a generic term.

The blood-colored blade light reached its peak, and with the distance between them small, it almost sliced Witch Iron's face the moment it appeared.

No new.

Fortunately, Witch Iron's foundation-establishment training had progressed a bit, sharpening his senses and making his movements more agile. He instinctively raised his right hand, placing the White Tiger arm guard before his face.

Named: Foundation Establishment style (referring to the Foundation Establishment cultivation realm). White Tiger Arm Guard, a piece of equipment.

The Origin-Breaking Blood Blade howled as it struck the White Tiger arm guard.

Named: Breaking Origin Blood Blade, a technique/weapon.

Blood sprayed, but the arm guard was unharmed; a tremendous force slammed into Witch Iron, making him grunt as his innards convulsed, he spat blood that splattered inside his sealed helmet, blocking his view.

No new.

The tremendous force sent Witch Iron flying; he arced backward over two hundred meters before crashing headfirst into a large group of Mist Blade assassins behind him.

Named: Mist Blade Assassins, a generic term.

From every direction, countless straight swords, great axes, and spiked clubs rained down like rain, and even a few specially made Opening Mountain Thunder bombs—used by Mist Blade archers that day to bombard flood dragons—fell.

Named: Opening Mountain Thunder, a technique/item. Mist Blade Archers, a generic term.

Witch Iron was battered, rolling on the ground, unable to get up.

No new.

The Opening Mountain Thunder exploded with a roar; though it couldn't breach Witch Iron's tight armor, it shook his entrails, nearly making him vomit several times.

No new.

Old Iron gave a cold snort and charged at the Mist Blade Chief.

No new.

Lightning crackled along two rows of grim white teeth, flowing like water and accompanied by a piercing crackle of exploding electricity.

No new.

The Mist Blade Chief stood firm, unmoving; he swept his left hand forward, releasing a mass of black mist that condensed before him into a hexagonal shield. The shield, thick and solid, held firm against the lightning strikes, the mist inside roiling yet unmoving.

No new.

He grabbed his cloak with his right hand, releasing a shooting cold light; a straight blade with a slight curve burst forth, emitting a blade aura several meters long that whistled shrilly as it fiercely slashed Old Iron's body.

No new.

Amid the piercing impact, sparks flew from Old Iron's body as the Mist Blade Chief's slash hurled him tens of meters away.

No new.

Long, sharp claws sprang from Old Iron's four feet, digging deep into the ground; the blow pushed his body sideways, and the claws tore long fissures in the rock.

No new.

"Great Strength God Magic... what tremendous strength." Old Iron fixed his gaze on the Mist Blade Chief and sneered, "You little bastard, back in the day a single glare from me would have felled ten thousand worms like you."

Named: Great Strength God Magic, a technique. Little Bastard, a generic term.

"Perhaps?" the Mist Blade Chief, leaving dozens of afterimages, surged toward Old Iron, saying, "A true hero doesn't boast of past courage... you're weak now, so don't say such things... even if your body is as strong as ever, how many of my strikes can you block?"

No new.

The Mist Blade Chief moved like wind, leaving countless afterimages as he swiftly circled Old Iron.

No new.

Streams of cold light continually slashed out with a piercing whine, the blade light falling like snow on Old Iron and throwing up great showers of sparks, leaving him rocking back and forth like a small boat in a hurricane.

No new.

After countless heavy blows, Old Iron finally lost his footing, his four legs buckling as he collapsed heavily to his knees.

No new.

The Mist Blade Chief laughed, then suddenly halted, flipped onto Old Iron's back, and pressed both hands down on his head, growling, "Submit... or die!"

No new.

A mountain-like heavy pressure emanated from the Mist Blade Chief's body, his arms' veins bulging as a tremendous force crashed down from above; he sought to use brute force to subdue Old Iron.

No new.

The next moment, the Mist Blade Chief let out a hysterical wail; his gaunt face twisted into a hideous, demonic grimace.

No new.

He trailed a large afterimage, a layer of thick black smoke enveloping his body as he let out an inhuman howl and shot straight up, slamming headfirst into a vaulted dome hundreds of meters high, half his body sinking into the hard rock.

Named: Vaulted Dome, a generic term.

Several stone stalactites, shaken, snapped off at their bases and fell.

Named: Stone Stalactites, a generic term.

Along with what fell, there was also a bit that was glaring, mixed with a trace of strange-smelling blood water.

Lao Tie let out a strange 'hehe' laugh. On his back, a metal palm several times larger than a normal human hand jutted out abruptly, and a metal middle finger, several times thicker than a normal person's finger, pointed straight up toward the sky.

The middle finger was deathly pale, with a faint electric current flowing on it, and a few drops of fresh blood clung to it.

Fresh blood slid down the smooth, mirror-like finger and fell onto Lao Tie's equally spotless body. The blood hit the ground, leaving Lao Tie completely clean, not a trace of blood left.

"Any technique, whether noble or vile, is effective as long as it can injure the enemy."

Lao Tie straightened his body, lifted his head to look at the Mist Blade Chief Steward half-embedded in the dome, and laughed loudly: "Ancient secret art, Thousand-Year Kill… one kill lasts a thousand years, a thousand years unforgettable… Hey, are you happy?"

The Mist Blade Chief Steward's voice came from high above, clear and cold, like a pig-slaughtering blade just pulled out of ice.

"Kill… kill… kill… slice them to death by lingchi!"

The Mist Blade Chief Steward's last few words were almost a hysterical roar. As he roared, perhaps due to his blood surging and flow speeding up, another strand of fresh blood drifted down in the air.

Twenty-four Mist Blade senior members let out a long whistle in unison, some turning into afterimages, some into gales, some into black mist, howling as they charged at Lao Tie.

Several hundred meters away, Wu Tie was surrounded and beaten by a large group of Mist Blade assassins and servant warriors, pinned to the ground and struck wildly, unable to get up at all.

Suddenly a long whistle rang out; the assassins and warriors restraining Wu Tie scattered in all directions, and among the twenty-four Mist Blade senior members, three turned into afterimages and rushed toward Wu Tie.

Their straight blades flickered with a faint light, runes faintly winding along the edges; three streaks of cold light, bringing forth a chilling Cold Qi, slashed down at Wu Tie's whole body as fast as lightning.

Along with the slash came their Mist Blade's secret divine ability, 'Shatter Origin Blood Blade'!

The three straight blades turned into three arcs of electricity, and three blood-colored curved blades condensed from blood qi flew through the air, arriving before Wu Tie in an instant.

Having just been slammed to the ground and beaten, though his flesh was unharmed, his inner organs shook with pain. Wu Tie roared in anger, raising his right arm guard to meet the three Blood Lights formed from the Shatter Origin Blood Blade.

At the same time, his left hand guard spread open, the five fingers of his left hand vibrating intensely, especially the first phalanx of his index finger trembling at a frequency several times faster than the other palm bones, emitting a buzzing sound as it met the three straight blades.

"Ding ding ding"—three clear sounds, the three straight blades shattered under Wu Tie's fingers.

Several fingers on Wu Tie's left hand were mangled by the blade light, but the bones suffered no damage.

A dim, dark glow wrapped around his left hand; tiny specks of invisible light sprayed from the shattered straight blades, turning into three streams of light that Wu Tie's left index finger's first phalanx swallowed in one gulp.

Streams of heat flowed into his palm, gradually gathering on Wu Tie's forearm bone.

The color of his forearm bone deepened, and at the same time, the three Blood Lights struck Wu Tie's right arm guard; the tremendous impact sent him spinning rapidly on the ground, his armor scraping the stone floor and sending out large sparks that slid backward.

Three Mist Blade senior members stared, dumbfounded, at the hilts remaining in their hands.

"Crack crack"—the essence in the hilts was devoured by Wu Tie's finger bones; the hilts quickly disintegrated, turning into a thin thread of iron filings that trickled down between their fingers.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward, half of his body embedded in the dome, hysterically roared, continuously shouting "Kill!".

Lao Tie looked at the twenty-one Mist Blade senior members charging straight at him and burst into a wide grin.

"Kill… that word, I love it!"

Two clusters of electric light flowed on his back, and two tall, humanoid arms emerged from the electricity, accompanied by a faint ringing; the mirror-smooth surface of the arms cracked into countless tiny fissures, and flakes of scale-like armor sprang up like dragon scales.

Beneath these plates lay dense, honeycomb-like pores; most of the pores were empty, but in the thirty-six finger-thick pores, a faint red, ominous glow seeped out.

"Pfft pfft"—twelve arrow‑shaped strange objects shot out from the pores.

These crossbow bolts moved at extreme speed, tracing mysterious arcs forward, and in an instant covered the twenty-one Mist Blade senior members charging from all directions.

Then came an explosion that was not particularly loud but whose audiovisual effect was terrifying.

Each bolt exploded, blue‑white flames sweeping a radius of tens of meters; within hundreds of meters around Lao Tie, everything became a hell of fire.

The twenty‑one Mist Blade senior members were vaporized outright in that sea of flame.