Chapter 357: Zanpu Dunzhu

Yang Simin walked out from behind the mountain with a flushed face. She arrived behind the main hall, one hand clutching her chest, the other supporting herself against the wall; the side effects brought on by the Ghost Gate Needle's immobilization were still taking effect.

Dizziness washed over her, yet the scene from just moments ago echoed with absolute clarity in her mind.

Yang Simin was both ashamed and annoyed, gritting her teeth as she cursed, "Bastard, to think you dared to take off my clothes!"

Several loud shouts came from the front of the main hall. Yang Simin had recovered enough, and with a leap, she arrived at the plaza.

In the center of the plaza, the four elders each occupied a corner. The Binding Dragon Stabilizing Sea Array had already been deployed, forming a pocket-like net large enough to cover the sky, trapping the wave-like swarm of death servants.

Sharp chains extended from the Array Diagram, as flexible as tentacles, shredding the death servants that crashed into the net.

Yuan Ming and the other disciples had already retreated to the side. Most of them were severely injured, and even those still able to fight could not be of much help within an array cast with the power of a Heavenly Master, at most contributing a trace of insignificant True Qi to the four elders.

The tide of death servants grew increasingly intense, showing no signs of stopping, but for now, although the four elders were struggling to maintain the array, they had basically brought the situation under control.

However, the culprit behind this war had yet to appear!

A gust of eerie wind blew past. The trees around the buildings rustled, leaves falling in a flurry to form a tornado on the ground, and Zanpu Dunzhu revealed his figure from within the leaf tornado.

Yang Simin looked up at the figure wreathed in black Qi. Zanpu Dunzhu's figure hovered in mid-air, overlooking the scene in the plaza, but he did not make a move; he was mostly observing, searching.

Zanpu Dunzhu only paused for a few seconds before turning into an arc of light and streaking toward the direction of the Lotus Cave behind the mountain.

Yang Simin withdrew her gaze and loosened her tightly clenched palms, which were slick with sweat.

She had not met Zanpu Dunzhu's eyes just now, but merely by looking at that mass of swirling black Qi, she had felt a dense aura of death and a terror sufficient to suffocate.

That person was strong—very likely strong beyond imagination!

She dared not imagine what miserable situation would befall her if she had been discovered and fallen into that person's hands!

Thinking of this, Yang Simin looked down at her clothes—or, to be precise, Xie Wanning's clothes.

It was not just the clothes; her appearance now was also that of Xie Wanning.

Chen Che had swapped the two of them, changed their clothes, and used the Ghost Gate Needle to alter their appearances, hoping to deceive Zanpu Dunzhu.

And Chen Che, along with Xie Wanning, who had been transformed into Yang Simin's likeness, were waiting in the Lotus Cave for Zanpu Dunzhu to arrive.

Chen Che had set the battlefield with Zanpu Dunzhu there.

"A cat swapped for a prince; it seems you aren't confident in defeating Zanpu Dunzhu either... That makes sense, Zanpu Dunzhu is at the Heavenly Master Great Perfection, and he has been for a hundred years. You are only at the Acquired Heavenly Master Realm, how could you possibly win..."

Yang Simin lowered her head, talking to herself, "And that senior sister of yours is only at the Earth Master Great Perfection, about the same as me. The two of you combined are no match for him. Once Zanpu Dunzhu discovers he has been tricked, none of you will survive..."

Yang Simin muttered softly, her thoughts drifting—from the impending battle at the Lotus Cave to being forced to swap identities... and then suddenly floating back to when she was in Shanghai, when she was coerced by Luo Tianxiang and Chen Che saved her...

And further back, to when she and her mother had just arrived at the Chen Family, that ten-year-old boy, pretentious and annoying, had reached out his still-chubby little hand to her and said with an air of maturity, "From now on, I am your older brother. No one is allowed to bully you except me!"

She had hidden behind her mother, staring at this smiling boy, her little face full of vigilance.

But in the end, hindered by her mother's pressure, she had reached out her small hand to hold one of the boy's fingers.

From that moment, the Contract was made.

She had indeed never been bullied by others again, but she had certainly been bullied by him plenty, though most of the time, she had enjoyed it very much.

Until that incident happened!

Two lines of clear tears slid down her cheeks. Yang Simin bit her lip hard until she tasted a hint of blood before letting go.

She raised her head and punched the wall, viciously saying, "Wouldn't it be simple to just kill me and transfer the Heavenly Book into your body?! Why must you keep my life to torture me! You are always so self-righteous. Who asked you to save me! And who cares for your salvation!"

Yang Simin turned and streaked toward the direction of the Lotus Cave.

………

Zanpu Dunzhu's figure drifted, landing steadily on the ground. The leaves around his body spread out, and he squinted at Chen Che, who was guarding the entrance of the Lotus Cave.

"We meet again at last. I never expected you to be the Sect Master of the Taiyi Sect, the disciple of that person, and you even killed the Gu Yuanzong... When you think about it, we really are fated."

Zanpu Dunzhu's body was wreathed in black Qi, making it impossible to see the expression on his face; only one eerie, ferocious eye was visible.

"I would rather not have such fate."

Chen Che sized up Zanpu Dunzhu, "Cult Leader, can you answer a few questions for me?"

"Of course."

"How did you resurrect?"

"Your question itself is flawed."

Zanpu Dunzhu let out a few laughs, containing mockery and triumph, "After I saw the Token of the Taiyi Sect, I intentionally ran into your hand. Although my heart was pierced, I did not die. Using a few small tricks to make you think I was dead was not difficult to achieve."

"The Cult Leader's cultivation is profound; indeed, you could."

Chen Che asked again, "Second question, did the Six Harmonies Divine Sect participate in the Chen Family extermination case ten years ago?"

Zanpu Dunzhu shook his head, "I never deigned to participate in the struggles of any family, or even any country, because I see further. But I did provide some help to those three families in Xia.

It was also that incident that made me realize the Six Harmonies Divine Sect should disappear from people's sight, so since then, I have never appeared in the name of the Six Harmonies Divine Sect again."

"You provided some help... that means you really did participate."

Chen Che's gaze became sharp, "In that case, even without counting your attack on the Taiyi Sect today, we are already enemies."

Zanpu Dunzhu sneered, "Mere mortals, mere ants, no need to care."

Chen Che's mouth twitched, and a Lightning Spear slowly took shape in his palm, "The last question, what do you want the Heavenly Book for? Like the Gu Yuanzong, to ascend to the Heavenly Kingdom?"

"Of course not!"

Zanpu Dunzhu lifted his foot and walked toward Chen Che. His steps were slow, yet the surrounding air distorted in an instant.

"What is so good about ascending to the Heavenly Kingdom? You would still be subject to the constraints of the Creator God. What I want to do is break through the shackles of the human body and become the god of this world!

When that time comes, I will destroy and then rebuild; I will be the creator of this world!"

"Understood!"

Chen Che raised the spear, "In that case, I cannot give the Heavenly Book to you!"

The spear thrust out, as swift as lightning.

Zanpu Dunzhu did not stop his pace, spreading his palm forward to catch the incoming spear with ease.

Chen Che was taken aback, immediately withdrawing the spear to swing and attack Zanpu Dunzhu once more.

Zanpu Dunzhu still moved with light, slow steps, using only two fingers to easily block or deflect the attacks of the Lightning Spear.

"If your master were here today, I would still have some reservations; you are indeed gifted, but compared to me, you are still far behind."

Zanpu Dunzhu no longer defended blindly; after flicking the Lightning Spear away again, he took a step forward and struck a soft, palm-forward blow toward Chen Che's chest.

He easily shattered the Lightning Spear that Chen Che had hurriedly held horizontally before his chest, and as Chen Che retreated at high speed to dodge, his finger caught up and tapped lightly against Chen Che's chest.

A thunderous, violent force erupted from Chen Che's chest; he spat out a mouthful of blood, his body shooting backward and crashing into the stone wall at the cave entrance.

………