Chapter 325: Mount Mo Tian Spirit Form

A sudden storm—wind and rain lashed down, and heaven and earth alike went dark.

Li Yuan crouched motionless. Before moving, he had weighed many considerations; but the moment he was truly about to act, he emptied his mind, regarding himself as nothing more than a stone.

……

The best ambush is to lie in wait—this was the experience Li Yuan had accumulated from poring over many books and from his own many nighttime excursions.

No stealth art, however fine, can match the virtue of waiting by the stump for the rabbit; especially when facing a great master very likely above the Grandmaster realm, one could never be too cautious.

The only drawback of this lying-in-wait method was that one might wait for nothing. Fortunately, someone had come.

Li Yuan half-closed his eyes. Within his mind-sea, the Martial Soldier Register blazed with light as he drove the Hammer Soldier.

After the Ten Thousand Blade Spirit Dragon Body reached Great Completion, Li Yuan could already withstand the brief eruption of three Thunder Dragon Jun Heaven Hammers; even with thirty thousand jun of tremendous force bearing down on him, he could remain still as a boulder.

Yet the blood within his body seemed to be ignited by fierce fire, boiling over; the great sinews all over his body tensed in concert, like a fully drawn longbow.

Awaiting the instant of eruption…

Outside the ancient temple, in a patch of shadow, Long Xi Xiang narrowed his eyes slightly. He was somewhat astonished in his heart, feeling he had somewhat misjudged the situation.

This disciple of his actually had a deep grasp of the arts of stealth and assassination. Had he not followed along the whole way, he truly might not have discovered the lad's hiding place.

It's just that his nerve is a bit lacking. Lying in wait is certainly concealed, but what if that old ghost never shows up—wouldn't it be a wasted wait? No, that's not right; this lad probably knows we're following behind…

Long Xi Xiang was merely forgetful; his thinking was unimpaired. With a single turn of thought, he guessed Li Yuan's intention. Yet he too did not rush to act, and was also waiting.

"What are you thinking?"

Long Yingchan appeared out of nowhere; even Long Xi Xiang had not sensed his arrival before he was at his side.

"Inside the city, besides that old ghost, who else is there?"

Long Xi Xiang transmitted his question. One Mount Mo Tian old ghost, and not even his true body descending—what need was there for the several of them to come together? He always felt Long Yingchan was hiding something.

"That traitor should be there as well, but he is far too cautious; even this old man could not find any trace of him."

Long Yingchan did not conceal it either; he felt a measure of regret in his heart.

Though he could wield the Yang Sheng Furnace, he was not its master. The inner sect of Dragon Tiger Temple was as clear as fire to him, yet he could not see through the entirety of Mount Hengshan City.

"That traitor!"

Long Xi Xiang's face darkened.

"Beyond that, only a few small fish and shrimp."

Long Yingchan suddenly raised his head, looking toward Mount Mo Tian Temple; his two long white eyebrows fluttered up and down: "That old ghost is about to come out."

"Mm?"

Long Xi Xiang was half a beat slow, only then seeing the black-robed elder who pushed open the door and stepped out from the rear courtyard of the ancient temple. Instinctively, he tightened his grip on the Jiang Mo Chu.

Crack—

Lightning serpents rolled across the sky, tearing through the curtain of night and rain.

Almost at the same moment, Li Yuan, who had lain dormant for so long, erupted into violence amid the explosive thunder.

For great masters above the Grandmaster realm, front and back held no meaning; for Li Yuan at this moment, it also held no meaning.

What he wanted was to close in and strike first.

Boom!

Li Yuan's movement blended entirely into the thunder. He had replayed it in his mind many times; his opening move was the Hundred Beast Thunder Dragon, and he activated every Soldier Control he had besides the Splitting Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer.

Including the Mirage Dragon Whip at his waist, which was spreading at extreme speed to cover his entire body!

"If this god were to descend in true body…"

In the rain, Mo Tian spoke inwardly, weighing pros and cons. His interest in the Splitting Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer had originally been slight, but if it concerned the Eight Directions Temple…

Li Yuan's eyelid twitched. He was certain he had struck true, yet there was no sensation of a heavy hammer hitting a human body—as if that old ghost were truly a spirit, utterly unaffected by force.

"How dare—!" A cold rebuke rang out from within the mist. In an instant the mist coalesced into a human figure, which was then blasted apart once more by the violent heavy hammer into a cloud of mist. "Audacity!"

The cold voice could not be dispersed by the wind. Under two successive hammer blows, Mo Tian's figure reappeared, and the heavy hammer followed like a shadow, descending once more.

"Seeking death!"

After being blasted into mist three times in succession, Mo Tian's furious voice finally echoed through the ancient temple's night rain, and only then did he see the assassin shrouded in crimson scales—like a Mirage Dragon that had cultivated to sentience.

A top-grade divine weapon…

The thought flashed through Mo Tian's mind; the fourth hammer descended in its wake. Without any resistance, he once more burst apart into a cloud of mist: "You seek death!"

Having landed a strike, Li Yuan, cloaked in the Mirage Dragon Armor, nearly vanished into the rainy night; his speed had surged to a degree invisible to the naked eye.

The heavy hammer rampaged through the ancient temple like a thunder dragon—rainwater, rockeries, great trees, houses…

Wherever the hammer wind passed, all was reduced to powder, lifted into the sky by the violent blast of air.

"Ah!"

As the hammer rose and fell, Mo Tian's roars of fury drifted out intermittently. This assassin's hammer technique, speed, and grasp of timing had reached an extremely high level; for the moment, he could not even coalesce his form, being blasted apart by the heavy hammer again and again!

"Good!"

Outside the ancient temple, Long Xi Xiang's eyes blazed. Gazing at that violent, dragon-like figure and the pure, domineering hammer technique, he could not help but cry out in admiration.

Watching that domineering hammer technique that stirred wind and rain and swept all before it, he felt as if drinking fine wine; every pore on his body opened in pleasure: "He has the bearing of my younger days!"

"Bragging big!" Nie Xianshan had arrived at some unknown point. Hearing Long Xi Xiang's words, he could not help but snort coldly: "At his age, did you have such hammer technique?"

"Did you?"

Long Xi Xiang, unusually, did not get angry. As he retorted, his gaze never left Mount Mo Tian Temple, ready to strike at any moment.

"Indeed not."

Cang Xian Zhi arrived late, looking at the figure rampaging through the night rain like a true thunder dragon running amok, and slightly furrowed his brow: "This Thunder Dragon is fearfully powerful—is it not the Wu Gong of the Great Dragon Gate?"

"The Hundred Beast Thunder Dragon was first drafted by Han Han Chuijun, an elder of the Divine Weapon Valley. This lad has cultivated it for several years, refining and innovating—he may have already surpassed his master!"

Long Yingchan stood at the highest point, his gaze encompassing this district of the city. His eyesight was extremely keen; in a single glance he spotted the little tiger cub crouching atop the ancient temple as if no one else existed. "Where did he get a top-grade divine weapon?"

The little tiger cub, perched high above, had transformed to the size of a cat. She was inconspicuous in the rainy night, barely hiding at all, and was also watching the battle: "It already has two parts the flavor of the Dragon Demon Heart Scripture!"

She paced through the rain, growing more puzzled the more she looked, more and more alarmed. In just a few days, how had this kid improved so much? Apart from that divine weapon, his hammer techniques and various Wu Gong had all grown tremendously — he could probably take a hundred blades now?

"Boom—!"

Another hammer fell, the furious roars within the dark fog scattered. Li Yuan already felt the stabbing pain in his meridians and viscera, and the weakness of true Qi and blood draining away.

He can't be killed!

His hammer danced like a dragon, shattering the lingering fog once more. Li Yuan felt it was tricky — when he struck first and surged out, he had the upper hand, so he could suppress this mass of fog and keep it from taking shape.

But if this kept up, he couldn't kill this old ghost, and he was afraid he'd run out of strength. "Transform Qi into dragon!"

At that moment, Li Yuan suddenly heard a voice — he didn't know where it came from, but he had no time to think. He swallowed that Qi-Boosting Pill, and surging true Qi burst from his body, outside the Dragon Mirage Armor forming into a furious thunder dragon: "Roar!"

"Ah!"

The dragon's cry was like thunder, and as the sound waves reverberated, Li Yuan heard the voice again — this time not fury, but fury mixed with pain.

"This old ghost fears Yin Bo Gong!"

Li Yuan's reaction was incomparably swift. Driven by true Qi, the thunder dragon's long cry nearly drowned the temple.

"Damn it!"

Within the dragon's cry, the dark fog dimmed. Mo Tian's heart was shocked, furious, and aggrieved — being pushed to this state by a junior from a later generation was simply the greatest shame of his life.

"Mount Mo Tian!"

For the first time, his shocked and furious voice overpowered the dragon's cry.

Crack!

Lightning serpents split the long sky. When Li Yuan's heavy hammer fell, the dark fog had already vanished. He looked up — the Mount Mo Tian temple in the night rain had already crumbled and collapsed.

Only the divine statue with nine heads stood in place. Behind it, the dark black fog seemed to interweave with the night rain of heaven and earth, and at a speed visible to the naked eye, behind the statue, it sketched out a demonic god's shadow, a hundred meters tall, seeming both illusory and real.

"Is this a spirit manifestation?"

Li Yuan's eyelids twitched wildly.

In the night rain, the shadow's heads writhed through the air like giant pythons, like the demonic gods and great demons of legend.

"How do I fight this?"

Li Yuan's heavy hammer touched the ground. The thunder dragon formed of true Qi coiled around him — though several zhang long, beneath that demonic god's spirit manifestation it seemed incomparably tiny.

"You — die!"

The nine heads writhed sideways. Mo Tian was shocked and furious to the extreme; he had never imagined he would be forced to reveal himself by such a junior.

Boom!

When Mo Tian let out a low roar, Li Yuan felt his vision go black — the nine heads of the demonic god's dance locked down every direction he could dodge.

Only—

……

The Dragon Mirage Armor automatically receded. Li Yuan held his hammer in one hand and gripped the long whip in the other, looking at the savage, fierce demonic god's shadow, and actually let out a long breath: "Look behind you."

"Behind me?"

Mo Tian first sneered, then Yu Yu Xuanji sensed something was wrong. One head turned back, and all nine heads swiveled together.

In the rainy night, a black dragon coiled, a six-tusked white elephant lightly swung its long trunk, a divine sword came through the air — and even more terrifying, a giant dragon prowling among the dark clouds had stretched out one claw that already encompassed all nine of his heads!