Chapter 32

Xuan Kong stood on the cloud, laughing coldly as he watched the Daoist Priest Shen Hui approach, and said, "You Daoist, I want to see what skills you have to teach me, a young master!"

Seeing Xuan Kong's hostile expression, Priest Shen Hui was also annoyed at having gained an enemy for no reason, but he did not back down, smiling and saying, "Our Pure Brightness Sect naturally has great powers to subdue demons and evil spirits. You are a junior, and I don't want to make things difficult for you. Why don't you hand over the fox spirit, and we can end this peacefully?"

Xuan Kong shook his head. He had only saved the little fox because it seemed quite human-like, and on a whim. If it weren't for today, he might not have kept the fox he had saved on a whim, and would likely have released it into the wild. But now, facing Priest Shen Hui's threats, if he handed over the fox to this Daoist, the reputation of the Laoshan Sect would be completely ruined.

As the eldest disciple of Laoshan, Xuan Kong was certainly unwilling to bow his head. He "hmmphed" and summoned his sword from behind his back, saying coldly, "Let's settle this with a fight!"

Priest Shen Hui had devoted hundreds of years to Daoist cultivation and had experienced countless battles. Seeing Xuan Kong's swift movements, he clapped and laughed, saying, "The victor is the king, the loser is the bandit. Very well, if you don't see the power of Priest Shen Hui, you won't be convinced, young man!"

He did not move forward, but suddenly brought out an incense burner from under his Daoist robe and held it in his hand. The incense burner was about the size of a palm, gilded and silver-decorated, extremely ornate. As Xuan Kong watched intently, Priest Shen Hui slowly opened the lid of the incense burner, summoned a fire cloud from the south, and lit the incense burner. Green smoke rose and condensed in the air, refusing to disperse.

Knowing this was Priest Shen Hui's magical treasure, Xuan Kong did not dare to be careless and prepared himself with utmost caution.

Xuan Kong laughed, "You Daoist talk big and act rashly. I thought you had some skills, but it turns out you only know how to light incense!" Priest Shen Hui did not respond, silently using his mystical powers to force a wisp of incense smoke out, which shot toward Xuan Kong through the air.

Xuan Kong watched coldly, fearing the Daoist's magical treasure might be poisonous, and did not let the incense smoke near him. He waved his sleeve to push away the mist and used a strong wind to surround and blow the incense smoke away.

Priest Shen Hui laughed heartily, saying, "This incense has a name; it is made from the Unyielding Flower from the Northern Heaven Palace, refined by the Southern Ming Fire. No matter how powerful you are, you cannot escape the incense."

Xuan Kong did not have time to change his spell, and just as he was about to dodge, the incense smoke circled around his nose. Realizing the danger, he held his breath, pulled out the Purple Yang True Talisman from his sleeve, and bit his tongue to spray a mouthful of essence blood onto the talisman, instantly activating the true power within to protect himself.

Priest Shen Hui, with his remarkable insight, saw the Purple Yang True Talisman glow brightly, recognizing it as a true relic of the Maoshan Sect and a powerful spell of the Purple Yang True Man.

Seeing that the incense could no longer approach Xuan Kong, he smiled slightly and put away the incense burner. He also drew his sword, shouted, "Watch my sword!" and leaped forward, charging at Xuan Kong.

"Come on!" Xuan Kong, worried about Priest Shen Hui's mysterious magical treasure, was not afraid of his sword skills. Seeing him put away the incense burner, he naturally charged forward with his sword.

With a loud "bang," the two immortal swords clashed, sparks flying. Xuan Kong felt a tingling in his palm, not knowing how much strength Priest Shen Hui had, which shook his arm and made him feel weak, but he did not retreat.

He laughed coldly, "You Daoist have great strength, why don't you go to Lin'an to perform instead of making things difficult for me?"

Priest Shen Hui was so angry that his nose was almost crooked. "So, if I have great strength, I should go perform on the street? There are many immortals and demons in the Three Realms who are stronger than me, but none of them go to the human world to perform for a living."

But he stood still, watching Xuan Kong dance his sword like a madman, and said, "You are still a junior, and you are still lacking."

"Still lacking?" Xuan Kong gritted his teeth, not believing that Priest Shen Hui was a saint in the flesh. He cast a spell to increase his strength and swung his sword at Priest Shen Hui's sword again. In his eyes, Priest Shen Hui also shouted and leaped into the air, fighting with his sword.

Xuan Kong groaned, wishing he had used his spells first. Now he was trapped in close combat and could not even find the time to cast a spell. The two immortal swords continuously clashed and separated, then clashed and separated again.

Xuan Kong felt like a fool, mechanically swinging his arms, not knowing how many rounds he had fought with Priest Shen Hui. Each time he thought he could strike, he was blocked by Priest Shen Hui's fierce sword technique.

This battle must not be lost!

Xuan Kong fought with increasing strength, surprised to find that whenever he felt weak, his body could draw a thread of true power from the Purple Mansion and the Cinnabar Field. "Is this the dragon power from the White Dragon's pearl?" Xuan Kong realized. Indeed, the White Dragon, when it was enfeoffed in the West, was nearly at the level of a Bodhisattva, and its dragon power was not something he could fully absorb at once.

With the White Dragon's dragon power supplementing him, Xuan Kong felt increasingly at ease. Seeing Priest Shen Hui's sword coming, he did not dodge, blocking it with his right hand while secretly casting a spell with his left. In an instant, the wind and clouds changed, and hundreds of heavenly fires and thunderbolts shot out from Xuan Kong's limbs and bones.

Each thunderbolt was filled with true fire, tightly surrounding Priest Shen Hui. The hundreds of thunderbolts merged into one, lightly stirring and engulfing Priest Shen Hui.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Xuan Kong clutched his chest, the force of the thunder spell had already injured him internally, but seeing his strong enemy fall before him was indeed a joy!

Xuan Kong laughed wildly, "Taoist Xu's skills are high, but he failed to teach his disciples well, turning out a waste like you, who is now reduced to ashes by my thunderbolt?" His internal organs were shaken by the backlash of the thunder spell. Just as he was about to sit cross-legged on the cloud to rest, he heard a stern voice:

"Who do you say failed to teach his disciples, and who was reduced to ashes by your thunderbolt?"

The speaker was none other than Priest Shen Hui. Compared to the disheveled Xuan Kong, Priest Shen Hui was still standing in the same spot, holding the incense burner and smiling at Xuan Kong, "Who do you think I am?"

"You Daoist!" Xuan Kong was greatly shocked. Recalling the events, he realized, "No, this incense is problematic, I fell for your trick!" He thought and thought, his gaze finally falling on the incense burner in Priest Shen Hui's hand. It seemed he had been deceived from the beginning, trapped in an illusion without realizing it.

Indeed, Priest Shen Hui stroked his beard and said, "That's right. The Unyielding Flower has another benefit; you don't need to smell it. Just a little on your body is enough to trap you in an illusion. Your magical powers and cultivation are among the best I have seen recently, but it wasn't me who defeated you; you injured yourself."