Chapter 77: Chapter 77

His Primal Aperture began to feel warm and his spirit was stretching like a web, his senses were focused on nothing but the battle and he was immersed in his own world. Apart from the clanging of the sword and blade hitting each other, the sound of the long sword penetrating the skin, and the enemy seemingly about to fall, there was nothing else.

No, he wasn’t really focused a hundred percent, there was only one thing that concerned him.

Hence when Duan Xiangfei dove onto the gray jade coffin, anger rose from his heart and evil was added to his courage. He couldn’t help his twisted expression as he shouted,

“How dare you!”

Meanwhile, with his web-like spirit stretching, he deflected Meng Qi’s attention. He slashed towards Duan Xiangfei to behead the wretched man.

Suddenly, a bright flash of blade light filled his vision.

On a night where thousands of fruit trees were in bloom coupled with an easterly wind, leaves and stars were falling like rain. This ray of blade light was grounded, earth-like and not at all bloody. It seemed more like it belonged in this secular atmosphere, just like going to a lantern show on the night of the lantern festival. The rays of blade light represented warmth and bustle.

Cui Xu suddenly began to reminisce about the past… growing up together, the innocence of childhood playmates, “that” year on the night of the lantern festival, the burning of the red candle on their first night together, waking up the next morning, getting dressed to pay respects to the elders… These wonderful yet dreary memories had interrupted his peace, rendering him unable to control his ever stretching spirit, and drive his Primal Aperture at Mid-brows.

All of these memories of Cui Xu were wonderful, yet at the same time painful to the core. If he were to choose again, he would give everything for a lifetime together.

The next moment, the blade light, carrying with it his past, sliced his body and soul, the course of the blade was mysterious and unpredictable. It couldn’t be stopped.

Cui Xu’s pupils contracted and by the time he realized what had happened it was hard to pull out. He didn’t know whether the noise interrupting his peace was real or an illusion.

When he looked at the gray jade coffin, he’d seen the beautiful and gentle girl who had always had a smile on her face. So he returned the smile and never avoided or blocked the sword that was coming directly at him.

At a moment like this, the only way to have a chance was to not be afraid of death and fight to the end. Doing so would perhaps force the opponent to withdraw.

This was the exact same scenario as when Jiang Zhiwei had been sneak-attacked by Cheng Yong, she made the same choice. Cui Xu had indeed lived up to his title of grandmaster, the head of the Twelve Animal Zodiac Gods.

Faced with the flash of the sword and the countercharge of pain and suffering brought about by Peace Quietude Split, Meng Qi gritted his teeth ferociously, but he didn’t dodge or retrieve his blade.

Let’s see who’s afraid of death!

I can still rely on the Golden Bell Shield and the Dominator of Samsara in the Six Realms. As long as I don’t die on the spot, what is there to be afraid of?

When the light is gone, so is life.

Meng Qi and Cui Xu both backed off. One had a long sword go through his right shoulder, his lungs were clearly punctured badly too because he was coughing up blood bubbles. The other had deep blade wounds between his abdomen and stomach, even his heart and spine were visible.

“Great… bladesmanship…” Cui Xu said in a raspy voice, but before he could finish his words, he fell to the ground.

His eyes had lost their glow, yet he was still staring at the gray coffin.

Duan Xiangfei had witnessed the last strike of the blade and stopped in front of the coffin. He watched as Meng Qi appeared to be seeing a ghost. He caught his breath and said, “It’s a good thing that I didn’t fight you. This blade move is divine. It beats every supreme art of the Snow God Palace Clan.”

Though he hadn’t seen much of the world, just then, he’d felt the subtle change of heaven and earth, like he was a part of this world. It was as if the flash of the blade contained the “way” and “truth”, all that that was missing from his other martial arts.

Meng Qi didn’t dare pull the sword out from his chest, he just sealed his acupoints to stop the bleeding. He saw the cold air freeze behind Duan Xiangfei,

“Killing the Primus Rat will award 60 Karma points.”

“Killing the Zodiac Dragon will award 120 Karma points.”

“Once the second sides task is complete and the battle won, you can return at any time within an hour, or return on order thereafter.”

He looked at Duan Xiangfei and smiled, “Duan my old boy. ahem… just then the memorization of the ‘Transformation Strategy’ was incomplete… ahem, please get on with it.”

Meng Qi was a little surprised, “Duan my old boy… ahem… since when have you become so generous?”

He didn’t want to return straight away because he wanted to see if he could coax the “Transformation Strategy” from Duan Xiangfei’s mouth.

Duan Xiangfei looked at Meng Qi half laughingly, he too was holding his wounds and said, “If I refuse, you’d definitely threaten me of being insincere, but I don’t know if you could take me now.”

Meng Qi laughed dryly and said, “What are you talking about… ahem… I was just asking, but if I get angry… ahem… then I’d start on a killing spree.”

He was just trying to frighten Duan Xiangfei off by shattering Cui Xu’s reputation, telling him that without reciting the “Transformation Strategy”, then he’d kill Duan Mingcheng.

“It doesn’t matter, I was going to tell you the Transformation Strategy anyway.” Duan Xiangfei laughed.

Meng Qi was a little surprised, “Duan my old boy, since when have you become so generous?”

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“You and I are both seriously injured. It’ll be difficult for us to leave before Luo Qing and his men get here, so we have to straighten our stories,” Duan Xiangfei said joyfully. “The only way for you not to accuse me of being the head of the Snow God Palace Clan is by letting you know the ‘Transformation Strategy’. After all, there are many that want a piece of you, being seriously injured and all. Besides, who doesn’t want to learn the bladesmanship that could kill the old ghost Cui?”

“We’ll just say that it was that old ghost Cui who formed the Twelve Animal Zodiac Gods and intended to use it for the rebuild of the Snow God Palace Clan. Alas, my poor child, kidnapped just for wanting the treasure map.”

As Meng Qi listened, his face became more contorted.”Duan, aren’t you afraid of Fei Zheng Qi and others?” he asked.

“What is there to be afraid of? Are they not part of the Zodiac Gods? Who’d believe the words of the Zodiac Gods? As long as we can hold them off for a bit, even if people became suspicious afterwards, I would’ve recovered and could go anywhere.” Duan Xiangfei laughed cunningly.

These words gave Meng Qi a bit of a chill, he sighed and said, “Duan, you… ahem… are an old, cunning fox!”

Duan Xiangfei said no more and started reciting the contents of the Transformation Strategy.

Meng Qi didn’t doubt whether it was authentic, the Dominator of Samsara of the Six Realms could check it later. As long as most of it was real, then filling in the rest wouldn’t require too many karma points.

The Dominator of Samsara of the Six Realms really was a must for travel and home.

When Duan Xiangfei had finished reciting, Meng Qi asked some questions on the parts he couldn’t memorize, then laughed and said, “Duan my old boy, I won’t wait for Luo Qing with you, you… ahem… make up what to say.”

“You can still move?” Duan Xiangfei asked with a tone of joy.

“One more thing… ahem… when you gave out the task… ahem… you mentioned something about a secret gift?” Meng suddenly remembered and couldn’t help asking.

Duan Xiangfei took out a pendant, and hesitantly tossed it to Meng Qi. “This.”

When Meng Qi caught it and looked at it, a tumultuous wave of shock rose in his heart.

This pendant was of a little Jade Buddha. Its face was kind and benevolent, the texture was smooth and cool. It was the exact same as his, which had shattered!

The Jade Buddha Pendant had been something of the evidence that guided him towards the samsara realm, but now another exact piece appeared. How could he not be surprised, shocked or confused? How could he not feel a sense of chill down his spine?

“Where… ahem… ahem… did you get that?” Because Meng Qi felt a bit emotional, his cough became more severe.

Duan Xiangfei looked at Meng Qi with uncertainty. “Perhaps this Jade Buddha Pendant has something to do with Buddhism secrets?”

When he saw that Meng Qi didn’t answer, he continued, “when I was young, I went to the Changhua temple to pray, and his abbotship, Master Yuan Meng gave me this protective talisman. He said that before I got to the age of 60, this talisman would protect me from harm, after which, I must give it to someone who’s destined to have it, then I would live a peaceful life. But last year, after I turned 60, all sorts of troubles came into my life. I was thinking of giving this pendant to you.”

“Master Yuan Meng didn’t say anything else? He didn’t say what would happen after the destined man procures it? Ahem… would it protect him too?” Meng Qi’s face was perplexed.

Duan Xiangfei thought for a moment, then said slowly, “He just said that after I give it out, it would lose the protection effect. As for whether it has other powers, he didn’t say.”

“Where is Master Yuan Meng at the moment?” Meng Qi asked in a weak voice, feeling heavy-hearted.

“He passed away about a decade ago.” Duan Xiangfei answered directly.

Meng Qi took the “little Jade Buddha”. Just as he was about to ask more questions, footsteps could be heard inside the course way. He silently recited “return”.

He was severely hurt and could not fight, so he decided not to confront anyone.

If he fell into battle again, he would no longer be able to return!

Luo Qing was in front, then Cui Jinxiu, the head of the Longyou clan, Ning Daogu and others closely followed, they all passed the course way and saw what had happened inside the ice cellar.

They saw that Cui Xu was lying on the ice, looking at the gray jade coffin with a lethal wound between his chest and abdomen. You Tongguang’s body was full of silver pins and turning dark. Duan Mingcheng had his eyes closed. His breathing was weak and his face was turning blue.

Yet Duan Xiangfeit was leaning on the coffin and staring blankly at the front, his body was full of wounds too, it was clear that he was hurt badly.

Two grandmasters, one dead and one seriously hurt, could this be any more frightening?

The head of the Longyou Clan and others suddenly felt as if they had mistakenly entered hell. What shocked them most was that Duan Xiangfei was staring blankly into nothingness. There was a handsome white monk and his body was kind of opaque with a long sword plunging into the right side of his chest. Though his frock was torn and full of blood, his eyes still had some of that out-of-this-world glow.

A kind of imaginary golden lily surfaced and surrounded him. By the time it disappeared, so did the monk, leaving behind a sense of peace at the spot where he had been.

“This…” Even Luo Qing, a seemingly cold grandmaster, was now in full shock.This is like something that would appear in mythical legends!

Duan Xiangfei was the first to come to his senses, then he said loudly, “Cui Xu is the head of the Snow God Palace Clan, the Zodiac Dragon of the Twelve Animal Zodiac Gods. He conspired to kill me. It was fortunate that Master Zhen Ding came to my aid, but the power of his blade broke the boundary of the earth and heaven realms. What ensued was Master Zhen Ding flying towards the heaven realm. It’s a pity that I didn’t have a chance to discuss Kung Fu with him!”

“The Power of his blade?” Luo Qing asked rhetorically, his pupils contracting. He looked at the wounds on Cui Xu’s chest.

“Fly towards the heaven?” The head of the Longyou clan, Yue Shishi and others couldn’t help questioning, mouths wide open.

They were all in disbelief, but they couldn’t ignore what had just happened either!

How astounding the power of Master Zhen Ding’s blade was. It could actually break the boundaries of heaven!