Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 153: The Martial Arts Circles

Yin Ci couldn’t feel pain.

He had once leaped from the highest mountain of Great Yun, shattering his body into pieces upon the abyss below. He had also swallowed the most potent poison, which burned his internal organs as if they were being tortured slowly. He had tried burning himself countless times. Even the most excruciating pain felt pleasant at this moment.

A century-long floating hatred found its target, and the puzzle that tormented him day and night had its answer. Recognizing his opponent, Yin Ci seemed to glimpse the battlefield from three hundred years ago. Old friends were still around, but unrecognizable. His poisoned body transformed into armor, and his broken bones became sharp blades. The silent black flame burned, evoking sounds of war in his ears.

Yin Ci turned his face slightly, glancing at Shi Jingzhi from the corner of his eyes.

As the True Immortal was regenerating, Shi Jingzhi used his immense qi to ignite the yang fire. Pure yang fire passed through the Hanging Shadow Sword, and the black flames burned the True Immortal’s body again and again.

The Hanging Tree was also burning.

It was just a tree, still obeying the laws of nature. With the effect of the “curse” of the Twin Roots, as the True Immortal was entirely set ablaze, so was the Hanging Tree.

Amidst the destruction, for the first time, Yin Ci felt a connection to the Hanging Tree. From the roots to the trunk and then to the branches deep underground, it burned slowly under the vast earth. There was no smoke, no light—only boundless darkness.

Beside him, a smile was on Shi Jingzhi’s face, but his eyes revealed intense pain. Amidst endless agony, Shi Jingzhi reached out; his palm warm but gentle, like a tear dropping on a red-hot furnace.

Yin Ci tried to utter comforting words, but the flames silenced him.

All he could do was look at the other calmly and gently.

Bare branches ignited, revealing burn marks. Thousands of tangled roots moved like snowballs, their semi-transparent tendrils coiling. Set against the continuous black fire, the once mundane wilderness transformed into a legendary eerie “Flesh Forest”.

Yin Ci’s eyes were burned, and his vision was blurred, making the surreal scene even more distorted. Yet, for some reason, Yin Ci felt that this scene was more “human” than any he had seen before.

Ten lives of monsters, a step between life and death.

Yin Ci’s body was battered, crawling on the ground. He firmly pinned the True Immortal, wishing he could nail it to himself with his bones.

The True Immortal didn’t scream. After a moment of stiffness, it struggled fiercely. Its skin loosened and rotted due to the poison fire, oozing a mixture of liquid and blood. Yin Ci tried his best to hold it down, but his muscles, also affected by the fire, weakened and couldn’t exert full strength.

After a series of spasms, the True Immortal twisted in ways impossible for humans. Ignoring the blade piercing its chest, it broke free from Yin Ci’s grip, leaving burnt flesh behind. One of Yin Ci’s arms was burnt to the bone, regenerating slowly, and was broken in the ensuing struggle.

The True Immortal and Hanging Tree both struggled, continuously burning and regenerating. The creature’s face alternated between reddish muscle and charred remnants. Amidst this cycle of destruction and rebirth, the True Immortal wavered, far from its earlier composure.

Shi Jingzhi picked up Yin Ci’s regenerating arm, leaving a gentle kiss on his bones. Yin Ci’s condition was no better than the True Immortal’s. Once like an immortal, he now resembled a creature crawling out of a chaotic grave.

Jiang Youyue and Qu Duanyun looked pale. Without hesitation, they charged. The Imperial Preceptor poured out spells relentlessly while Qu Duanyun danced with his sword, confronting Shi Jingzhi. Their combined attacks were golden and radiant, offering a contrast in the bleak surroundings, echoing a sense of righteousness.

Shi Jingzhi dodged with a sneer, not retreating but instead sticking closer to the True Immortal.

The two opponents’ intentions were clear. They hoped the poison fire would weaken, allowing the True Immortal’s self-healing to prevail. If the fire on the True Immortal went out, the Hanging Tree could be saved.

Qu Duanyun’s sword moves were swift and gradually became unrestrained. He unleashed powerful moves, pressing for Shi Jingzhi’s weaknesses. Jiang Youyue, the cunning fox, would seize lethal moments to launch intricate spells. Under their combined onslaught, Shi Jingzhi became more cautious with every move.

It was apparent that the Child of Desire was out of control, causing a severe blow to the Hanging Tree. Let alone the Immortal Assembly, even the True Immortal wouldn’t want him anymore. Unlike Yin Ci, his “immortality” was entirely determined by the True Immortal. If he was gravely injured again, he would surely die.

He danced on the edge of death. The natural fear of death in the Child of Desire boiled uncontrollably, causing his limbs to feel icy cold and his whole body to go numb. Shi Jingzhi was drenched in cold sweat. His pupils were dilating, and his hand holding the sword trembled incessantly.

Yet, he charged at the regenerating True Immortal time and time again, trying to make the poison fire burn longer.

The True Immortal was much harder to burn than they imagined. Although the Hanging Tree was set on fire, the True Immortal suppressed the black flames through rapid regeneration, only suffering burns but still showing signs of life.

If they couldn’t burn the True Immortal completely, at best they could only inflict minor burns on the Hanging Tree. Within decades or even years, the Hanging Tree would recover. Such a strategy could only succeed once; next time, the True Immortal would be prepared, and getting close would be harder than ascending to the heavens.

They had no way out.

Two fists were not match for four hands*. The wounds on Shi Jingzhi’s body increased while the True Immortal was getting further and further away from him. The battle had lasted for hours, and he was utterly exhausted, with the black flames on his sword weakening significantly.

*(双拳到底难敌四手) Idiom referring one person can’t defeat two.

With Jiang and Qu guarding him, the True Immortal got a moment to breathe. He absorbed a large amount of nearby Threads of Worries, and its sprawling roots retracted into the ground. The burning branches curl up into balls, keeping the poison fire on the outermost layer.

Although still aflame, its flesh slowly regenerated. Conversely, blood-red roots climbed up Yin Ci’s bones, struggling to gather and take shape in the black fire. The moist wasteland reverted to its original state, with rain-soaked mud looking like swamps and deformed corpses lying next to rotten roots. On the wasteland, there was no twisted “flesh forest”; only house-sized root balls, faintly visible in the poisonous fire.

As the Threads of Worries faded, Yan Qing and Shi Zhongyu finally appeared. Those like Su Si, standing further away, were okay, but Yan Qing was too close to the center of the battlefield. His clothes were drenched in blood. If not for relying on the Sword of Compassion, he’d look like he was about to collapse in the mud.

Outside reinforcements were in disarray, Yin Ci was immobile, and Shi Jingzhi was extremely weak. Everywhere was desolate and filled with the aura of death.

The momentum of the mortals was declining.

“You… have… talent…” The True Immortal finally manages to barely maintain a human form. Its lips hadn’t grown back, but its burned tongue had just regenerated. Because his damaged gums were still exposed, it made his speech somewhat unclear. “If you… wish to become immortal… What a pity…”

Shi Jingzhi took a deep breath, with only a thin layer of flame left on the Hanging Shadow Sword. His long hair was soaked in blood, his collar was messy, and his exposed skin was covered in bloodstains and ashes. His breathing was weak and fragmented, with life fading like a dying candle.

Behind him, Yin Ci leaned on a flagpole, trying to stand up. Yin Ci seemed to be at the end of the Hanging Tree; his burn wounds appeared even more horrifying than the True Immortal’s. His leg muscles were dry and cracked. As he tried to stand, his bones collapsed to the ground. The once-mighty general now looked like a butterfly stripped of its wings—fragile and ugly.

The master and disciple of the Kushan Sect, whether in appearance or situation, were in a pitiable state. The vastness of the world highlighted their insignificance and desperation.

“I will destroy all wushu mines and carefully cultivate the next generation of Child of Desire,” Qu Duanyun said coldly, realizing that Shi Jingzhi was no longer taking action. “Next time, even if we test their intentions, we won’t let the Child of Desire come in contact with ‘outsiders’.”

To assess the “quality” of a Child of Desire, love and hate, life and death were essential. Next time, they would make sure to handle those emotions as well.

Jiang Youyue sighed in relief, then said solemnly, “It’s my fault that they found a loophole this time.”

“It’s… okay…” The True Immortal’s head was still burning, but within the black fire, a pair of green eyes stood out. “The great Child of Desire… truly exceptional…”

It sighed deeply, raising its burning hand towards the sky. The broken clouds gathered again, and a heavy rainstorm ensued. The ground continued to tremble, with mud dragons moving forward.

The corpses of the Immortal Assembly members shakily rose, their broken limbs swinging limply. Like the time with Wu Huai at the Chigou Sect, “vine-like jade people” of various sizes emerged from the corpses’ mouths. They appear weaker, seemingly underdeveloped, their dry arms stretching towards Shi Jingzhi.

Shi Jingzhi, a mere mortal, couldn’t possibly escape. Though Yin Ci couldn’t die, with the heavy blow that the Hanging Tree just suffered, his threat level was greatly reduced. The situation was extremely perilous. Just as Shi Jingzhi seemed about to be overwhelmed by the True Immortal’s puppets, Jiang Youyue finally felt relieved. He fixed his disheveled hair, standing tall and straight.

Qu Duanyun heaved a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off his face. “You turned a perfectly safe path into a deadly trap. How could you think of destroying the True Immortal with your power alone? Even if you were to ambush, you should’ve chosen a more appropriate place.”

Choosing such a barren land for setting the trap was clearly not well thought out.

Shi Jingzhi remained silent, seemingly devoid of fighting spirit. Raindrops rolled down his cheeks, and the black flame on his Hanging Shadow Sword dimmed once again, nearly extinguishing. Expressionless, he stepped back and gently held up Yin Ci’s battered body, holding him close.

“Zizhu, I…”

His voice was drowned out by the pouring rain.

The jade-like puppets were only ten steps away from them. In a matter of moments, Shi Jingzhi would be torn into shreds and then buried deep beneath the mud—

Fwish.

In the midst of the thunderstorm, this soft sound was nearly overshadowed. Qu Duanyun felt a numbing sensation on his shoulder, followed by an indescribable cold and weakness. His vision blurred, and he fell to his knees.

A poisoned arrow.

Despite the heavy rain, no presence approached; the archer must be quite distant. Only one person with such archery skills came to Qu Duanyun’s mind. And he also knew only one person capable of such a treacherous and venomous act.

Taiheng’s Yu Zikuan, and the Ling Sect’s Yan Zheng.

Was this a desperate struggle, a reckless act of bravery, or had the Child of Desire’s counterattack just begun?

Jiang Youyue was quick to react. He quickly cast a spell to mask his presence with mist. Mortal poison couldn’t harm the True Immortal. Jiang Youyue remained in place, continuing to control the puppets.

However, that single arrow was like a faint light in the fireworks.

Soon after, countless unfamiliar presences approached from all directions. The rumbling of the mud dragons ceased, replaced by the clear and righteous chanting of Buddhists scriptures. Pillars of bright light shone from afar, and numerous battle formations activated. The endless clouds were torn apart, revealing a clear blue sky.

A black horse charged into the group of puppets, exuding a powerful aura. As they observed their surroundings, Su Si was the first to arrive, piercing through the vine puppets with blade-like precision.

He took a slight detour on his way, scooping up the well-rested Yan Qing, who had been pretending to be severely injured. This time, Yan Qing didn’t hold back. Seated behind Su Si, he wielded his sword, displaying a more unrestrained and wild aura.

The third stance of the Jade Chime Sword technique: “Opening Gold and Stone”.

With a long whistle from Yan Qing, his Sword of Compassion trembled, emanating a faint golden glow. A gust of wind emerged, thundering like a surprise tempest or an uprising mountain. His young, solemn aura broke free, transforming into pure majesty.

The duo communicated without words, their coordination impeccable. The black horse leaped over the heads of the Kushan Sect’s master and disciple, releasing a powerful sword intent, instantly blowing away the puppets. A multitude of presences rapidly approached; there were thousands, all from the martial world.

Things were about to get worse.

Qu Duanyun pulled out the long arrow, trying to stand. But the poison from the Ling Sect was intricately venomous, and despite his unique abilities, he struggled. Jiang Youyue gritted his teeth, continuing his attack without rest. But even with his potent magic, Su Si blocked everything using treasures from the Chigou Sect. He had a large bundle of precious artifacts, using and discarding them as if they were cheap commodities.

“Apologies.”

The bastard said with a grin.

“Since I’ve become a Demonic Lord, it’s only right to splurge a bit.”

The move “Opening Gold and Stone” nearly exhausted all of Yan Qing’s vital qi. He didn’t fall, instead holding onto Su Si’s waist with one hand and wielding the Sword of Compassion with the other, continuing to fend off the approaching puppets.

The puppets that were blown away were immediately subdued by the first wave of “external reinforcements”—all were disciples of the Chigou Sect, stationed at various strongholds. Among them were many new members indoctrinated from the Ling Sect, all displaying a touch of madness in their actions. The members of the demonic sect couldn’t defeat the enchanted puppets one-on-one, so they ganged up and brutally dismembered them.

The next to arrive were the monks.

It wasn’t just the monks from the Jianchen Temple who arrived; the Jianchen Temple, as the head of all temples, had astonishingly persuasive power. The monks all wore impassive faces, continuously chanting their mantras. This time, it was a case of many ants biting an elephant to death. The True Immortal was already severely injured and hadn’t recovered. The ability to command wind and rain was confined to a tiny area, and he couldn’t unleash the Threads of Worries or his root tendrils.

The dark flames on him had not yet been extinguished, so he focused his attacks on Shi Jingzhi and Yin Ci. Unexpectedly, the third wave of reinforcements arrived shortly thereafter—the Taiheng Sect brought nearly a thousand people this time. Just among the elders, there were over a dozen, and they also brought many smaller sects that were affiliated with Taiheng. They rushed over from another direction, clearly intending to protect the master and disciple.

There were those who restrained with their spells, those who actively attacked, and those who supported and defended. It was clear that this had been planned in advance, but… it seemed impossible.

Qu Duanyun tried hard to stay lucid, but his thoughts became increasingly bewildered.

When did the two foxes from the Kushan Sect start their scheming? They had just told Monk Juehui and Protector Hua to leave, so how could the martial arts circle prepare so quickly?

Although the matter of the Hanging Tree was leaked by the Yueshui Pavilion, it was incredibly elusive. How could they possibly persuade so many people to risk their lives?

After the True Immortal indiscriminately attacked earlier, the officials and soldiers of the Immortal Assembly were either killed or injured. Facing an encirclement of nearly ten thousand people, they were reduced to just three individuals.

“With my strength alone, I indeed cannot burn the True Immortal.”

Shi Jingzhi slowly revealed a twisted smile, yet it was incredibly sincere.

“So, we invited more people—mortals, after all, are fragile and mundane. I ask for your patience.”

“You will die.”

Qu Duanyun gritted his teeth, his vision growing dark.

“You… even as a Child of Desire, disregarded your own life… With the Hanging Tree gone, Yin Zizhu will also die. What do you truly desire…”

However, he was too shocked by the scene before him to finish his sentence.

Shi Zhongyu had also regained her breath, leading the disciples of Taiheng to protect the two. The True Immortal’s assault was so fierce that the superior Taiheng Sect could barely withstand his intricate spells. Meanwhile, over a dozen elders stood behind Shi Jingzhi, infusing him with their vital qi.

A Child of Desire was inherently weak due to an excess of vital qi. Was this man not afraid of death?!

“I won’t die, and Zizhu won’t die either.”

Shi Jingzhi supported Yin Ci, who was still burning with dark flames, his body broken and battered, but his eyes sharp enough to send chills down one’s spine.

This time, Qu Duanyun clearly heard the words previously drowned out by the rain.

“Zizhu, I’m ready.”

---

The author has something to say:

Sect Master Shi: I want it all, I want it all!

Demonic Lord Yin nods approvingly (?

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>