This Calamity Is His Due

The distant moon shadow transformed into a streak of light. In just a few leaps, its speed increased several times over, bypassing the blazing sun figure and arriving ten zhang before Yang Lingrui.

With outspread hands, he summoned a Dharma Sword and thrust it fiercely from his chest straight at Yang Lingrui's face.

This late-stage Qi Gathering seventh-layer cultivator unleashed his sword with the clear intent to take Yang Lingrui's life.

But in the next instant, a ripple of golden light bloomed from Yang Lingrui's palm.

The Dharma Sword struck the golden light with a piercing clang, yet it could not advance another half-inch.

"Hmph! A Vajra Talisman. Is this the source of your confidence?"

The Lone Moon Mountain cultivator leaped into the air, recalling his Dharma Sword to infuse it once more with the power of moonlight. "If you wish to survive my hand, a mere low-grade Vajra Talisman is far from enough!"

"Go!"

The Dharma Sword struck again, radiating shimmering moonlight. Empowered by his technique, its might had swelled, now comparable to the Qi Gathering eighth-layer!

With two slashes, the golden light around Yang Lingrui shattered.

The Lone Moon Mountain cultivator smiled arrogantly. He pressed forward, grabbed the hilt of his Dharma Sword, and thrust it directly at Yang Lingrui's chest.

Whoosh-

Yet in the very next moment, golden light flared once more!

A look of deep disdain flashed across the cultivator's eyes.

If a flying sword could break your talisman technique, a sword thrust by hand would easily pierce it!

But the instant the sword tip touched the golden light, a sharp pain shot up his entire arm, as if he had plunged his blade into a wall of refined steel.

"How can this... No! This isn't low-grade, it's a high-grade Vajra Talisman!"

Realizing this, his heart trembled with shock.

The local clans here only possessed mid-stage Qi Gathering cultivators. Managing to buy even a single low-grade life-saving talisman for a family cultivator was already a remarkable feat.

Where did they get the Spirit Crystals to equip the exact same person with both low-grade and high-grade late-stage talismans?!

Even on Lone Moon Mountain, a low-grade late-stage talisman was a precious commodity. He had been an inner disciple for many years, yet he only carried two low-grade talismans on his person, both strictly for auxiliary use.

Yet the man before him had casually burned through two in this brief exchange, one of them being high-grade. How could he possibly remain calm?

His astonishment lasted only a fleeting second before a scorching heat at the back of his head warned him of imminent danger.

"Hmph!"

His expression turned ruthless. He spun on his heel, twisting his wrist to swing his Dharma Sword backward, unleashing two arcs of moonlight that shattered the blazing orb of white light behind him.

Seizing the opening, Gao Hui vaulted into the air, leaping over the man's head to land squarely in front of Yang Lingrui.

That man's movement art was truly formidable; it had instantly created a vast distance between them.

Fortunately, Yang Lingrui had prepared thoroughly, stalling just long enough for him to catch up.

At this moment, Gao Hui wore a Dharma robe embroidered with golden runes and red trim. This was a late-stage Qi Gathering Spiritual Treasure lent to him by He Shenglai.

This treasure vastly enhanced the power of fire and supreme yang arts. Only by relying on this item could a Qi Gathering sixth-layer cultivator like him fight to a standstill against a Lone Moon Mountain disciple.

Seeing the arrival of reinforcements, the Lone Moon Mountain cultivator temporarily lowered his Dharma Sword and shouted, "Gao Hui! You have obstructed me time and again, allowing a vile murderer to slaughter my sect's disciples. What is the meaning of this?! Are you truly determined to make an enemy of Lone Moon Mountain? Have you forgotten the ties between City Lord Song and my sect? Beware, or you may lose your official post!"

Gao Hui sneered, a hint of mockery dancing in his eyes.

Lone Moon Mountain had acted as the local tyrant for so long that they had begun to dream of being true emperors.

Their intelligence was so woefully outdated that they still believed they could threaten him using Song Kaiyang's name.

Little did they know, the Wangchao's Imperial Guard secret envoy had covertly entered Wangyue City half a year ago.

Now, every single move Song Kaiyang made was under strict surveillance. How could he possibly dare to cover up for Lone Moon Mountain?

To put it politely, he was accompanying the imperial envoy. To speak plainly, he was already under house arrest within Wangyue City.

"A vile murderer? Fellow Daoist, you truly excel at reversing black and white."

Gao Hui scoffed. "Lone Moon Mountain has failed to pay tribute for years. Now, you attempt to reap benefits without cost, brazenly poaching talents within the Wangchao's territory. Am I not supposed to intervene?"

"Furthermore, you claim Fellow Daoist Yang is a vile murderer for killing your disciples, yet you turn a blind eye to the slaughtered Xie Family members at our feet. Do you truly not know why they died?"

"Absurd!"

The Lone Moon Mountain cultivator raged. "Cease this mindless babble! The lives of these mortals are no more than ants. Dead is dead! How can they compare to the noble disciples of my sect?! Besides, this is an independent clan, not one of the Wangchao's towns. Even if I slaughtered his entire household, it is merely the fated calamity of his lineage!"

"As for this tribute you speak of, hmph! I will only say this: it is not the place of a petty Baishi Town Chief to interfere! I offer you one final warning-do not bring ruin upon yourself!"

Gao Hui remained entirely unfazed. He shrugged. "Words are wasted on those with different paths. Since we cannot agree, let us dispense with the nonsense and let our methods speak the truth!"

The instant his voice fell, blistering white flames surged around him, and he lunged forward to attack.

The two clashed once more. The violent collision of moon shadow and blazing white light illuminated the surrounding forest.

As the exchange continued, the Lone Moon Mountain cultivator's expression darkened. He had already realized that Gao Hui's Dharma robe was incredibly problematic.

Combined with the True Yang Body Protection, his Dharma Sword simply could not pierce the man's defenses.

Although Gao Hui's attacks posed no lethal threat to him, dragging the battle into a stalemate was highly disadvantageous.

After a brief moment of calculation, his eyes shifted to Yang Lingrui, and a scheme formed in his mind.

"Since Gao Hui is protecting him so desperately, their ties must run deep. I will use him as my breakthrough!" he thought.

His mind made up, he began to retreat while fighting, subtly shifting his position toward Yang Lingrui.

Once the distance was right, he abruptly activated his movement art. He threw his Dharma Sword to draw Gao Hui's attention, while his actual body shot forward like a phantom, aiming a lethal palm strike directly at Yang Lingrui.

"Let's see you survive this! Draw another talisman to block it if you can!"

He simply did not believe Yang Lingrui could produce a third Vajra Talisman. Thus, he abandoned his defense in favor of a ruthless offensive, leaving his own guard wide open.

But when the golden light flared to life for the third consecutive time, his state of mind completely shattered.

"How can he possibly have more?!"

Whoosh-

The situation shifted too rapidly for him to react. In the very next instant, the overwhelming glow of a Mountain-Splitting Talisman rushed directly into his face.

Crack!

"Urgh-ah!"

Seizing the perfect opening, Yang Lingrui flung the Mountain-Splitting Talisman, striking the man squarely in the right side of his chest.

Simultaneously, Gao Hui unleashed a blistering beam of pure sunfire directly into the man's exposed back.

Caught between two devastating blows, the cultivator suffered catastrophic damage to both his physical body and his internal meridians.

Realizing the situation had turned fatal, he frantically swallowed a healing Pill to suppress his collapsing injuries, then slapped a late-stage Qi Gathering Sky-Soaring Talisman onto his chest.

With a single bound, he soared a hundred zhang into the air, fleeing the battlefield at a terrifying speed.

"Mayor Gao, catch!"

Yang Lingrui drew out a premium-grade Divine Movement Talisman and tossed it to Gao Hui, who immediately activated it and gave chase.

Unfortunately, the Sky-Soaring Talisman was an authentic late-stage Qi Gathering talisman. Even with Gao Hui pushing his movement speed to its absolute limit, the distance between them steadily grew.

"Damn it! Once I return to the sect, I will report this to the Elder! I will have Gao Hui's head on a spike! And I will exterminate this pathetic Yang family to the last dog!"

The Lone Moon Mountain cultivator cursed viciously in his heart as he fled.

By now, he had almost completely shaken off Gao Hui. In just a few more breaths, he would successfully escape.

Just then, he sensed the aura of a cultivator directly ahead.

He swept his Divine Sense forward to lock onto the position, and his pupils violently shrank. He focused his gaze. It was the very same brat who had shouted, "The enemies may be killed!"

It was precisely because of this brat's shout that Yang Lingrui had mercilessly beheaded his three junior disciples.

At the thought of this, a surge of venomous rage consumed his heart.

"I might not be able to kill those two, but you think I cannot crush a pitiful first-layer insect like you? I will take your life to vent my fury!"

With this vicious thought in mind, he twisted his trajectory mid-air and charged directly at Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qi had begun fleeing the moment the three of them started fighting.

He had burned through three Divine Movement Talismans and exhausted all his energy just to reach this location.

Assuming he had put enough distance between himself and the battlefield, he had intended to hide in the brush and regulate his breathing.

However, he was a deeply cautious man. Intimately aware of his own terrible luck, he had kept the talisman Yang Lingqing had given him tightly clenched in his palm, ready to trigger it at a moment's notice.

As it turned out, his paranoia was entirely justified.

Hearing the shrill howl of tearing wind, Zhao Qi looked up to see the Lone Moon Mountain cultivator hurtling toward him with a twisted, murderous expression. Without a single trace of hesitation, he hurled the talisman in his hand.

"F*ck! You have one too?!"

The Lone Moon Mountain cultivator was completely dumbfounded. He had assumed that crushing a first-layer cultivator with his seventh-layer cultivation would be as effortless as stepping on an ant.

He never imagined that a simple act of venting his rage would result in throwing his own life away.

If he had just fled obediently, he would have escaped without issue. But no, he had practically begged for death by going out of his way to kill Zhao Qi. Now, his ship had truly capsized in a shallow ditch.

Pfft-

He sprayed a mouthful of fresh blood and tumbled violently to the ground.

To take the brunt of two Mountain-Splitting Talismans and still not die on the spot-his flesh and vitality were undeniably resilient.

Jingle-

The chime of a bell followed immediately after, pushing his already fractured Sea of Consciousness to the very brink of collapse.

"Why..."

"Why..."

"How do you... also have such a talisman!"

He simply could not comprehend it.

Just what kind of monstrous background did this Yang family possess?

They could casually equip a Qi Gathering first-layer family member with a Mountain-Splitting Talisman!

Did they think they were some ancient noble clan?!

As his consciousness began to scatter, he vaguely saw Zhao Qi slowly walking toward him, muttering, "Why... why must I die at your hands..."

Hearing this, Zhao Qi immediately stopped in his tracks. Suspecting the dying man was playing some sort of trick, he maintained a safe distance, hurled out five Fire Talismans, and directly set him ablaze.

As the flames roared to life, he made sure to continue bombarding the man from afar with the Golden Light Art, ensuring his absolute destruction.

Only when the corpse was entirely reduced to ash, successfully completing his familiar routine, did Zhao Qi cautiously step forward to inspect the remains.

Looking down at the pile of scorched black cinders on the ground, he muttered to himself:

"My luck has always been rather poor. If you wanted to kill me, it was likely my fate to encounter such a calamity."

"Then for you to die by my hands... I suppose it is also your fate to suffer this calamity."

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