In the area, everyone looked over seriously. In the past, they merely sensed it. Now, upon seeing Xu Yangyi take action with their own eyes, they knew that their feelings weren’t off by a bit!

This fire-dragon… was very troublesome! Especially Xu Yangyi’s nature. In no way was he a timid and submissive character. Instead, he dared to attack and stake his life. One wrong word in a secret realm, and there was no doubt that he would promptly use his murderous heart to slay his foes off horseback in strife! 

“Amitabha…” Finally, a few ripples emerged in Fahui’s gaze. “This poor monk remembers… on that day, God Ming Eighteen was slain at the Four Great Joint Pools. It can be assumed that the cultivator who the Ming Clan put a high bounty on is this Fellow Daoist surnamed Xu.”

“But right now, except for a single digit-ranked God Ming successor, I’m afraid that the others…” Ling Xiaozi’s gaze flashed, and he muttered, “aren’t Fellow Daoist Xu’s opponent whatsoever.” 

In the Nangong Clan’s garrison, Sixth Young Master stopped smiling. Narrowing his eyes, he carefully studied the roaring fire-dragon that was charging straight at God Ming Twelve.

“The other party is the Ming Clan… one of the Five Great Demon Clans…” the young master murmured. “He’s actually attacking when God Ming Nine is around… That girl is even a constant headache for me…”

“Young Master.” The expression of an old man behind was also incomparably solemn. “This person is not easily subdued.”

“Arrogance is in his bones and a murderous aura in his heart.” Another old man said lowly.

Sixth Young Master faintly nodded yet began to laugh strangely. “If he was normal, what fun would there be in suppressing him?”

The people of the Ming Clan encampment were completely dumbfounded. How long… How long had it been since someone dared to move against the Five Great Demon Clans?! Even in the secret realm, could it be that Xu Yangyi wasn’t considering their revenge after exiting?!

“That’s not right!” A cultivator seemed to recall something, his voice warbling. “He… He’s a Dao-Master Disciple!”

A quick word reminded everyone. The crowd then thought of this. Daomaster Ancientpine had accepted this disciple in low-profile. Xu Yangyi himself was also low-profile, but he was indeed a Dao-Master Disciple! It was natural… that he had no misgivings in killing the people of the Ming Clan!

The speed of these developments unfolded in a twinkling. Just as this thought occurred to everyone, the fire-dragon raged towards God Ming Twelve in the next second. The temperature seemed to cause the air to ignite. God Ming Twelve was merely dazed for half a second and cried out with a screech that tore at his heart and split open his lungs, “SISTER NINE SAVE ME!!!”

At the same time, his hair transformed into countless silken threads, entirely wrapping himself. It was like a giant cocoon.

“Spinning a cocoon around yourself?” Xu Yangyi sneered as he saw this divine ability. At the Four Great Joint Pools, he’d once encountered this absolute defense. However... 

That was back then!

Now… his left hand had already condensed rays of red brilliance.

If you want to kill me, then you better be ready to be killed instead!

But shortly following, the fire-dragon halted. Countless golden threads bound the dragon, not burned by the Ten Cardinals Red Lotus. On the contrary, both sides struggled over and over in the sky! The golden threads were all coming from Sister Nine’s mouth. In the air, her gaze locked together with Xu Yangyi’s for the first time.

“Fellow Daoist has a very heavy murderous heart.” At some unknown time, Sister Nine had already stood up. Her stance was strange, like a giant spider was lying on the stone platform. Even her entire body was making a kind of light trembling sound. She said in a grave tone, “I can’t disregard Fellow Daoist killing one of my Ming Clan’s God Ming echelon in front of me. How about we temporarily set aside everything from before in this place and discard our hostilities for the time being?”

Everyone’s gazes flashed. Xu Yangyi’s strength… really was powerful, a clear exhibition of not giving face to the Ming Clan. Sister Nine… actually wasn’t planning on looking further into this?

Xu Yangyi didn’t reply and sneered, his left fist suddenly waving out. An extremely slender red light, containing a heart-shaking qi, fiercely rumbled towards the soul-stricken God Ming Twelve!

The people present sucked in even more softly. This person… wasn’t intending to give the Ming Clan the slightest fraction of respect!

“God Ming’s Supreme Dao…” Sister Nine cautiously took a deep breath, endless jade light suddenly flaring out from her seven apertures. “Jade Congeals Viridian!!”

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

 Seven green light beams flew out from her head. In the air, they condensed into a large green net with a speed visible to the naked eye. A loud explosion boomed, and the net collided together with Azure Dragon Seeks Cauldron.

A crash seemed to blast a huge typhoon inside the giant cave. A meter deep and seven to eight meters in radius, an enormous chasm suddenly exploded open. The surroundings could even be said to be flying with sand and stone. In the place where the two divine abilities were, everything faded away!

Xu Yangyi looked at Sister Nine, cool and collected, and eventually nodded. “I’ll give you this respect.” Afterwards, he turned his head towards God Ming Twelve whose complexion was already snow-white. Xu Yangyi looked at him like he was looking at a dead man. He abruptly burst into laughter. “Don’t find yourself alone.” A finger wagged in front of the other’s face. “And don’t come provoking me.”

In an instant, God Ming Twelve’s pale face bubbled into a deep-red. This red stemmed from his fury congealed to the utmost, yet he could only tightly choke down on this extreme awkwardness! This… mongrel that he’d threatened to crush into bones and scatter into ash before… had now actually dared to speak to him with such an attitude in everyone’s presence!

As for himself… he was like a child, unable to put up the least bit resistance!

“You…” 

“Twelve!”

Two voices rang out at almost the same time. God Ming Twelve was planning on giving a harsh word, but Sister Nine’s angry bellow suddenly interrupted him. He clenched his teeth, turned his head back, and walked away. In his heart, he was terribly sullen. Such a slap of crushing strength was blunt and resounding. It caused the anger in the core of his being to nearly burn the heavens!

Moreover… his release of harsh words had even been stopped by Sister Nine! In his throat, he choked back on a mouthful of blood, close to spitting it out due to anger! Just as he turned his head, however, he stared blankly.

Sister Nine… was still in that spider stance, yet her hair had already extended four to five meters, flying all around!

“This is… a battle stance…” He exhaled sharply and glanced at Xu Yangyi, not daring to believe. “He’s actually able to bring a single-digit successor of the God Ming echelon… to assume a full-powered battle stance?!”

“Although Sister Nine ranks ninth in the top ten… she’s the only successor to awaken three elysial divine abilities… Her level of difficulty… isn’t even inferior to brother God Ming Two. H-He can actually…” 

God Ming Twelve no longer ventured to think of anything else and returned to his encampment with quick steps. He didn’t utter a word.

Only then did Sister Nine completely stand up. Her hair had also started to pull back and returned to its original position. Icily gazing at Xu Yangyi, she cupped her fist. “Perhaps Fellow Daoist’s strength may be regarded as number one in this place. I admire that.”

Xu Yangyi laughed grimly. 

Sowing dissension, eh…

 In this place, it was impossible for there not to be hidden dragons and crouching tigers. He didn’t have the confidence to defeat the three Foundation Establishment seniors who had suppressed their realms or the two half-step Foundation Establishment… This maneuver was to make everyone pay attention to him. Upon entering the honeycomb wall, the strongest would also be the most conspicuous after going in!

In the unknown world that followed, the more conspicuous one was, the more likely they were to be targeted!

“Fellow Daoist’s strength is above mine. What’s there to be modest about?” Xu Yangyi sneered, cupped his hands, and returned to his encampment.

The Xingtian Legion’s encampment was a stretch of silence. After a long period, Mao Ba’er said in disbelief, “I really didn’t risk believing… that you actually reached late Qi Condensation!”

Numerous eyes looked at him, red as fire. Xu Yangyi laughed, “I did say that I had a stroke of luck.”

“Damn, I want this stroke of luck, too!” Mao Ba’er was hard-pressed to give vent to his tension. “Do you know who that is? One of the five great geniuses of this generation’s God Ming, God Ming Nine! She’s known as Sister Nine! Among the five great geniuses, there are three who have comprehended elysial divine abilities! She’s one of them! You killed God Ming Eighteen, and the Ming Clan only put you on the wanted list. If you attack her, the Ming Clan might not rest until you’re dead!”

“Since she’s cultivated, I’ve heard that she’s never tasted defeat in the same realm.” Jun Man glanced deeply at Sister Nine. “I’ve also heard… she’s strong. Scary strong…”

“She’s a monster…” Mo Yeyu had also heard of Sister Nine’s name and sighed wistfully. Soon afterwards, he looked at Xu Yangyi. “But… you’re a monster too, Commander.”

“Alright.” Xu Yangyi waved his hand and said seriously to everyone, “No matter what, entering the honeycomb wall is our first order of business right now.” He turned his head and looked at the Zhao Clan’s group which still hadn’t regained their wits from shock. “Zhao Wuye, Fellow Daoist Fenglai. Next is your time to reveal your methods.”

Zhao Wuye seemed to wake up from his reverie. His eyes looking towards Xu Yangyi already carried fear and respect. He coughed dryly. “Naturally… Brightness falls to the Death Gate. Fellow Daoist, I’ll speak out of turn again, are you certain?”

“Affirmative.” Xu Yangyi nodded.

“Okay…” Zhao Fenglai took a deep breath, not saying a second word. He took out the box with the effigy inside and formed a seal, a wave of white light suddenly flashing. Rubbing his eyes, Zhao Ziqi emerged in front of everyone.

Xu Yangyi waved his hand, and the entire outside world was isolated. He then cautiously nodded towards the Zhao Clan’s people.

Zhao Wuye pursed his lips, his complexion grave. Looking at the sleepy Zhao Ziqi, he gritted his teeth and both his hands swiftly weaved seals. In the same vein, Zhao Fenglai at the side made a seal.

Unexpectedly, their speed was exceptionally fast, so fast that only afterimages remained. The both of them formed seals!

After ten-odd seconds, both of their heads were actually secreting beads of cold sweat. Suddenly, one of them extended their left fist and the other extended their right fist, bumping together. They shouted loudly, “Yin-Yang reincarnation, bend and straighten to pierce through the nether!”

Swoosh…

 In each of their hands, a half of the Eight Trigrams shockingly appeared, one black and one white. In the wake of this alternating black-white radiance, the Eight Trigrams immediately melded together. Shortly, it disappeared from the duo’s hands but appeared behind Zhao Ziqi’s body, slowly rotating.

Rustle… Rustle… 

Silent yet more touching than sound, after the Eight Trigrams rotated forty-nine times, Zhao Ziqi opened his eyes. The current him was unlike a living person, and his expression was rather calm. Instead, the pupils in his eyes had already transformed into black-white symbols of the Eight Trigrams, quietly spinning!

Zhao Fenglai didn’t have the time to wipe his sweat and growled. A plate of Fuxi’s Eight Trigrams were struck out and happened to rotate in front of Zhao Ziqi. In a twinkling, a projection of the honeycomb wall immediately cast onto the Eight Trigrams plate. At the same time, the image turned into a light screen and appeared before the entire Xingtian Legion.

[1]

“The Netherpierce Eye… leads directly to the netherworld, the location of the Ten Heavenly Stems and Twelve Earthly Branches, the Five Phases and Eight Trigrams, and the Eight Desolaces and Six Essences. It cannot be found once among the myriad masses!” Zhao Wuye panted heavily. The seal that had just formed seemed to consume an endless amount of his physical strength. However, his gaze carried limitless expectations as he looked at Zhao Ziqi. “All questions related to the Eight Trigrams and Fengshui… The Netherpierce Eye cleaves through every illusion to directly reach the heart!”

[2]

No one spoke. Xu Yangyi studied the roughly meter-wide light screen in front of him with great focus. As expected… it really was the same as he thought!

The seemingly irregularly arranged honeycomb wall disturbed one’s line of sight because of countless holes, but...

It was an octagon!

An orderly octagon!

1. Fuxi is an ancient Chinese god. He is said to have created the Eight Trigrams to understand and master the world. Brother to Nüwa. Also credited with helping create humanity, fishing, hunting, cooking, and Chinese characters.

2. Ten Heavenly Stems and Twelve Earthly Branches - concepts used in ancient Chinese times to calculate date/time via cosmology.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter