Chapter 7 of 100

Chapter 7

17 min read4,362 words

This young Taoist priest who appeared out of nowhere was naturally Zhu Hong. Looking at him, Yue Qing felt a surge of uncontrollable anger rising from the depths of his heart, filling his entire chest.

Seeing no one respond, Zhu Hong sneered, "You came to find me, surely thinking that the root of your master's death lies with me, and you came specially to take revenge. You must also have your eyes on our sect's secret manuals and the Taiyi Five Smoke Silk. But before you came, you should have weighed your own worth. Just because you can set up a crude array and illusion, you dare to come to me, not fearing that I might disregard our fellow discipleship and send you to your death!"

The woman, both shocked and afraid, stood behind him and asked in a trembling voice, "Is the one who came also from the Wutai Sect?"

Zhu Hong said, "Sister Lan, there's no need to panic. He doesn't dare show his face, so he must not be an expert. If it were someone like Immortal Wondrous Fairy or the Golden Body Arhat, they would have directly used the Five Elements Divine Thunder to destroy my cave. Moreover, this array is extremely crude. Watch me break it!" As he spoke, he gathered the Five Elements True Qi, and his palms glowed with colorful light. He struck out with a powerful blow.

A deafening explosion echoed, and the surrounding mountains and waters seemed to shatter like a broken glass, disintegrating in an instant. As the colorful light and dust dispersed, Yue Qing appeared, holding Sito Ping.

Zhu Hong had originally thought that the one who came would be someone like Hu Shi, the Fire-Winged Vajra, or Sun Fu, the Lotus Walker. Even if three or five of them came, he could handle them. But when he saw the elegant white robe in the sunset, he was terrified, his voice trembling, "Senior Brother Yue, how could it be you..."

Yue Qing said coldly, "Why can't it be me?"

Zhu Hong was also a cunning person. He had already observed from above that the array below was indeed very crude, and he could break it with a single move, so he assumed it wouldn't be an expert.

He was intelligent and had good potential. In recent days, he had devoted himself to practicing the secret techniques of his sect and had refined several powerful magical treasures according to the secondary texts of the Daoist scriptures. He believed that in the Wutai Sect, only a few like Xu Feiniang and Fayuan could pose a threat to him. That's why he came down to save the woman, never expecting that the person would be Yue Qing.

Ever since the death of the founder of the Wutai Sect, Yue Qing had been in seclusion in the Cloud Lock Cave on Heng Mountain, rarely venturing out. When the Wutai and Huashan Sects joined forces to capture him, Yue Qing did not participate. He didn't know why he would be found here today!

Zhu Hong knew that this senior brother had been practicing Daoism for over three hundred years, and his magical powers were far beyond his reach. If he had known it was him, he would have fled and never returned.

Zhu Hong composed himself and asked tentatively, "Senior Brother Yue, this array of yours..."

"If I hadn't set it up this way, you would have run away long ago," Yue Qing stared at him, his cold gaze as if trying to pierce through him. "You say my array is crude, but that's because your realm is too low, and you can't recognize its subtle and profound nature. Let me show you its power!" Yue Qing waved his sleeve, and the array immediately changed, generating many golden flying swords that rained down on Zhu Hong.

Zhu Hong was startled, not knowing what kind of divine flying swords his senior brother had refined. He didn't dare to be careless and quickly sprayed a mouthful of immortal breath onto his San Yuan Sword to defend himself. However, when the golden swords met his, they turned out to be illusions, and all his efforts were in vain.

"Senior Brother Yue..." He looked up to find Yue Qing gone. Surprised, he quickly turned to the woman and said, "Sister Lan, we can't resist this senior brother. While the array is not fully formed, let's break out together!"

The woman nodded, "Okay!" But she made no move. When Zhu Hong looked at her, her face was already covered with a strange smile. Her white, tender hands grabbed Zhu Hong, "Brother Hong, are you really willing to stay with me for life and explore the Dao together?"

Zhu Hong nodded without hesitation, "Of course!"

The woman reached up and peeled off her face, revealing a blurry mass of flesh and blood. She sighed, "What if one day I become like this?"

Zhu Hong felt a chill run down his spine and suddenly realized what was happening. He pointed and sent his San Yuan Sword flying, and the woman instantly vanished, also an illusion.

"Yue Qing, don't push me too far!" Zhu Hong shouted and flew away with his sword. He was also skilled in the art of the Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements, but he had always relied on the favor of the founder of the Wutai Sect and had chosen to practice powerful techniques, so his skills in the Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements were only superficial compared to someone who had studied for two or three hundred years.

Zhu Hong released the Five Elements Divine Thunder at the calculated position. He had already identified it as an Eight Gates Golden Lock Array, using the surrounding mountains and valleys as the eight gates. He wanted to use his magical power to stabilize the array and find the gate of life.

However, he didn't know that Yue Qing had set up the array with all the gates reversed, making it completely different from a regular Eight Gates Golden Lock Array. The directions were mixed up, and the space was inverted. He thought he was flying south but turned northeast, and what he thought was the gate of life turned out to be the gate of shock. Even when he thought he was flying up, he ended up diving into the ground, hitting his head on a rock. The surroundings constantly changed, with colorful and complex scenes, making it impossible for him to escape. He couldn't see Yue Qing and could only fly around aimlessly like a headless fly.

Since Zhu Hong was the traitor who caused his master's tragic death, Yue Qing didn't rush to deal with him but went to see the woman first.

The woman had heard of Yue Qing's reputation and knew his power. Now, trapped in his array and burned by a fire that seemed both real and illusory, she thought it was an illusion. But the fire burned her body, making it hard to resist, and the heat seared her internal organs. If it was real, her skin and flesh were in unbearable pain, yet they didn't burn. Seeing Yue Qing appear with Sito Ping, she quickly knelt in the fire and begged for mercy, "Immortal Master Yue, spare my life! I only met Zhu Hong a few times and just wanted to learn some Daoist techniques to protect myself!"

Yue Qing asked, "Who are you? Who taught you the Soul-Shaking Spell?"

The woman initially wanted to lie, but when Yue Qing called out the name of her spell, she didn't dare to take the risk and had to answer honestly, "I am Ni Lanxin..."

"Chasing Soul Lady Ni Lanxin?" Yue Qing had heard of this name. Ni Lanxin was famous, not for her powerful spells, but for her promiscuity. She would seduce any strong and handsome man, whether from the righteous or evil side, immortal or mortal. Many in the Wutai Sect had relations with her.

Ni Lanxin said, "Do you know me, Immortal Master?"

Yue Qing nodded, "I've heard a lot about you. Are you a disciple of Heavenly Lust Lady?"

Ni Lanxin quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, my master has also heard of Immortal Master Yue and said she regretted not meeting you..."

"Heavenly Lust Lady has a better reputation than you," Yue Qing said disdainfully. In fact, Heavenly Lust Lady was even more promiscuous, but she only seduced those with cultivation and never harmed mortals. "Today, I will cleanse the Wutai Sect. Since you are not from my sect, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll open the gate of life, and you can leave!"

Ni Lanxin was overjoyed, "Thank you, Immortal Master, for your kindness!"

In reality, Chasing Soul Lady was also a ruthless person. Feeling unprepared and trapped in the array, she appeared humble and grateful on the surface but secretly hated Yue Qing. When she saw the surrounding flames slightly dissipate and a gate appear in the dark clouds, she thought it was her escape route. She quickly flew out, and when she saw the sunset and drizzle outside, she was overjoyed. But she also harbored malicious thoughts and threw a handful of Cold Flame Soul-Chasing Sand at Yue Qing, shouting, "Demon, what are you? You dare to call yourself an immortal? You ambushed me, but now that you're out, let's fight again..."

Before Ni Lanxin could finish, three sword lights—blue, yellow, and black—flew in from outside the gate. In her moment of triumph, she didn't have time to defend herself and was cut into four pieces. She recognized them as Zhu Hong's San Yuan Sword and died without knowing why he suddenly appeared outside and killed her.

Her eyes wide open, she and her half-body fell into the fire and were instantly reduced to ashes.

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