Repaying Kindness

Old Dog Wulong burned with jealousy inside his heart, wishing he could devour Yan Nu.

Perhaps doing so would allow him to absorb some of the medicinal efficacy as well.

"Roar!" Wulong let out a long howl toward the sky, his body rapidly undergoing changes.

Growing from a height of seven feet originally, he suddenly shot up to nine feet, wisps of black qi wreathing his entire form.

His physique was as vigorous and fierce as a dragon or a tiger, every inch of him filling out to maximum capacity. Furthermore, the black fur no longer fluttered, instead clinging tightly to his entire body like armor, outlining his knotted muscles and taking on a texture that seemed exceptionally tough.

This was precisely the strengthening art that Wulong had painstakingly researched for so many years, one sufficient to multiply his close-combat capabilities several times over.

Meanwhile, in midair, because Yan Nu knew he could freely use true qi, he decided to strike with one effort and finish the battle swiftly.

Yet he underestimated Wulong's might. The creature had devoured countless humans, and his magical power was double that of Shen Leling!

Coupled with the fact that Yan Nu had no time to condense the vortex of the Great Emperor White Jade Scripture, the hammer true qi inside his body was merely of superior quality, making its potency much lesser.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"

Yan Nu swooped down, thrusting his spear straight ahead as the shaft let out a loud, resonant hum!

Yet before he even touched Wulong, he felt a wave of resistance first.

It was the wreathed black qi, seemingly ethereal, but in reality blocking the way like a wall of force.

The mysterious iron spear shook wildly, a sense of sluggishness arising as both speed and power plummeted drastically.

When he drove it down like this, it encountered Wulong's skin-armor-like clinging black fur on the surface; that material was tough and dense, extremely difficult to pierce.

By the time even the black-fur armor was pierced and the spear drove into the flesh, the power of a thousand years of true qi erupting from the mysterious iron spear was almost completely spent.

Yan Nu had bent the spear in half just by driving it in, yet it penetrated only three inches, the spearhead getting wedged fast in the muscle.

"Humph, humph! Mortal!" Wulong showed disdain.

An expert makes a move and you know if he has the goods. Yan Nu had zero techniques, and even his posture in holding the spear was all wrong!

This posture didn't look like he was holding a spear at all; it looked more like he was clutching a hoe or a hammer.

There was a feeling that he was about to start swinging it at any moment, which was simply laughable.

Originally, the existence of a mortal in the mountains had been a bit strange, and Wulong had been pondering what sort of character this actually was... But now, seeing this spear strike from Yan Nu, Wulong instantly concluded that he was indeed a complete and utter mortal, practically just a common village bumpkin.

He didn't even have any clothes, wearing instead the rattan armor that Water Woman had crafted for him, which was now nearly burned away.

That made it even more infuriating! To let a person like the current one consume the dragon fodder grass—the more he thought about it, the angrier he got!

He struck out lightning fast, seizing the spear shaft with one hand while grabbing for Yan Nu with the other.

Yet at that moment, the bent long spear automatically straightened due to its elasticity, causing Yan Nu's entire body to shrink backward and making Wulong grab thin air.

Wulong reacted swiftly as well, instantly pulling the spearhead out and giving it a hard yank toward his back while simultaneously throwing a punch!

"Bang!"

"Boom!" Following the pull, Yan Nu took Wulong's punch hard, slamming his legs fiercely onto Wulong's chest.

At this, completely disregarding everything else, Yan Nu had eyes only for the wound carved out by the spearhead, directly erupting all his remaining true qi straight into the wound!

Not only that, but his intensely glowing soles, the moment they brushed Wulong, ignited the fiend's hair.

In an instant, a great fire ignited on Wulong's chest!

"What? You used it all up?" Wulong's expression shifted as he felt a searing pain in his chest and a terrifying energy on the verge of bursting open, causing him to hurriedly suppress it with magical power.

Even so, his body was kicked fiercely flying away by that foot, to the extent that his hand could no longer hold onto the spear.

Because Yan Nu exerted force with his feet, it was like unleashing a wave of fierce blast from the sky; combined with taking Wulong's punch head-on, it generated a massive backward explosive force.

With a resounding crash, the two of them flew backward separately.

Wulong smashed into the forest, wood chips flying everywhere, blood gushing from his chest.

As for Yan Nu, his true qi completely exhausted, he flew out over a dozen zhang like a shooting star, about to plummet down the cliff.

"Rise!"

Mr. Feng pointed his sword toward the edge of the cliff, and with a rumbling roar, the section of the cliff edge directly shifted out of alignment!

A large section of rock rose like a staircase, intercepting Yan Nu.

"Thud!" Yan Nu's head smashed fiercely into the rock face.

Shattered stones splattered and dust flew everywhere.

He was completely devoid of true qi now, tumbling down the steep rock face like a rolling boulder.

Because this was a towering, massive conglomerate rock that formed a standalone stone peak, its surface was exceedingly uneven.

Yan Nu bumped and crashed all the way down as he tumbled, smashing through an unknown number of protruding conglomerate stones along the path.

When he finally hit the ground, he was already covered in dust and ash, his entire body caked in pulverized debris.

"Cough, cough..." Wulong coughed twice, walking out while clutching his chest with a gnashing of teeth.

The black fur on his body was scorched, leaving a large patch completely bald.

Yan Nu truly didn't understand technique, yet his actions were completely unfettered and erratic.

In that exact situation, an ordinary person would either have neutralized Wulong's punch or simply let go of the long spear to dodge.

Yet he refused to do so, preferring to take a punch head-on just to hammer away relentlessly at Wulong's wound.

Even more absurdly, having exchanged blows only twice in total, Yan Nu had already used up all of his three thousand five hundred years of cultivation.

Kill a thousand enemies, self-destruct ten thousand?

"Trading your life for my grievous injury?"

Wulong looked at the rock face pitted and scarred by Yan Nu's impact, realizing this was Mr. Feng's spellcraft, and nodded toward Mr. Feng.

Mr. Feng nearly lost his composure, looking toward the old dog and nodding back.

"Eh? He's still not dead?" Wulong suddenly froze, having assumed that such a brutal collision would surely have killed Yan Nu.

Who would have thought that Yan Nu shook his body, crawled back up, and patted the stone dust and powder off himself.

Despite being covered in dirt and ashes, he seemed completely fine again.

Blood seeped from the corner of Yan Nu's mouth, and black qi invaded his body, but a water talisman flickered in succession, dissolving it.

Between his chest and abdomen lay a huge, indented fist print—pure brute force that had shattered his viscera.

Yet minor injuries of this sort were something Yan Nu had long since grown accustomed to, treating them simply as nothing having happened.

Mr. Feng's eyes rolled as he realized the intention behind Shen Leling using one-third of her origin to craft a water talisman and placing it inside Yan Nu's body. He thus spoke, "Ah, what a tough body. This kid ate the dragon fodder grass, his physique is ferocious, don't use your fists... Wulong, use your magical power to permeate him."

Wulong frowned, however. "But that water talisman..."

Mr. Feng laughed heartily. "How many times can a mere water talisman block you? Besides, if you want to consume this kid with the Essence Absorption Secret Art, don't you have to destroy the water talisman first?"

Wulong thought that made sense; he grabbed Yan Nu by the scruff and directly initiated the Essence Absorption Secret Art.

Although blocked by the water talisman, as long as he kept invoking it continuously, he would eventually break it...

As for the stinging sensation in his hand, as long as he paid a little attention, it was impossible for it to shake him off.

Yan Nu's head was gripped by the dog claws, his feet dangling in the air as he was unable to break free. Feeling the water talisman expanding and contracting while dissolving the Essence Absorption Secret Art in waves, he fell into deep contemplation.

"Hanging River Downpour!" Seeing Yan Nu exhaust his true qi so quickly, Shen Leling felt somewhat helpless.

She had hoped Yan Nu could hold out for a bit longer, but she hadn't expected him to fail after five breaths...

Yet Yan Nu's choice hadn't been wrong either. The dog demon was formidable; decades or centuries of true qi were merely a scratch, and making a flashy commotion was nothing more than shaving off some fur. Better to land a couple of heavy blows instead!

One could only say that the time Yan Nu had spent cultivating was simply too short...

The current situation was extremely precarious.

Even though Wulong was single-mindedly intent on devouring Yan Nu with the Essence Absorption Secret Art, and the water talisman could hold out for quite a long time, what if Wulong grew impatient and simply bit Yan Nu to death?

After pondering for a moment, Shen Leling had no choice but to enter the battle prematurely, spitting out rolling torrents of water that swept and surged forward like a floating river in the air.

"Soft and weak spellcraft." The corners of Wulong's mouth curled upward as black whirlwinds coiled around him.

Although the black qi whirlwind was only three feet in radius, the rolling waves could not penetrate it by even a fraction of an inch; it truly was impervious to water.

Old Dog Wulong's spells were all centered around defense and boosting physical might. Although he didn't understand any long-range spellcraft, his methods for guarding against such spells were formidable indeed.

At this, Shen Leling furrowed her brows deeply; this dog demon was unexpectedly formidable.

She excelled more in transformation and fostering growth rather than combat, unless given time to create a favorable terrain where the might of her spells would be sufficient.

At this moment, she was secretly deploying vines—this was why she had hoped Yan Nu could hold on a little longer.

"Is that all the level you have?" Seeing that this mighty and grand attack couldn't even break through his protective true qi barrier, Wulong mocked as he looked toward Shen Leling.

Meanwhile, Mr. Feng spoke in a self-satisfied tone, "This fiend fought a great battle with the likes of us all night long; he is already at the end of his rope and can no longer unleash powerful spells, unless—"

"Unless what?" Wulong tilted his head in slight distraction, his hand habitually initiating the Essence Absorption Secret Art once more.

Right at that moment, Yan Nu thrust his spear into Wulong's wound without a moment's hesitation. Being inside the protective circle of true qi, he remained unaffected.

"Pfft!" Even though Yan Nu currently had no true qi, Wulong's wound was too massive, and the sharp spearhead still plunged straight into his lung.

Simultaneously, the water talisman reacted instinctively to dissolve the Essence Absorption Secret Art, causing Wulong's palm to jerk and actually let go.

Yan Nu seized the opportunity to break free and charged wildly toward Shen Leling.

"Damn it! Cough, cough..." Wulong was so angry his lungs felt fit to burst, blood gushing from his windpipe.

Because the timing of Yan Nu's strike coincided precisely with the backlash he suffered when the water talisman dissolved his art, he had managed to break free from his restraint just like that.

This wave of carelessness was truly real. He never expected that this mortal, caught in his hand and at the mercy of others, would actually dare to stab him?

"Want to run? Go to hell!" Wulong raised a hand, launching a ball of wolf-head-like black qi that shrieked forward!

The moment it touched Yan Nu, the water talisman surfaced, dissolving it frantically.

With a bang, Yan Nu was sent flying, crashing headfirst into... a suddenly protruding stone wall.

"I blocked him!" Mr. Feng shouted while lifting his sword.

"Good!" Wulong kicked off with his dog's leg and caught up to Yan Nu.

Yet before he could make a move, another rock jutted out, sending Yan Nu crashing away.

"Huh?" Wulong looked suspiciously toward Mr. Feng. "Your spellcraft is too weak, don't cause trouble!"

With that, terrifying black true qi gathered in his palm and blasted outward.

Yet Yan Nu was crushed against the ground by this wave of black qi, plowing a trench over two zhang long, only serving to make the water talisman's light flare brilliantly as it frantically protected his body.

"Why won't this water talisman break?!" Wulong was somewhat bewildered.

Little did he know that the water talisman was brimming with vital energy; even with just the remnant fraction left behind by Shen Leling, it amounted to nearly five hundred layers.

Since Wulong didn't understand exquisite spellcraft and relied purely on true qi forms and magical power bombardment, he was essentially just wasting his effort. To exhaust the water talisman, he would have to expend roughly five hundred layers of magical power... which directly equated to the entirety of Wulong's magical power!

"Awoo!" Mad with rage, Wulong finally chose to pounce forward and tear into him, no longer wasting his magical power.

Facing the pounce and bite, Yan Nu's eyes were about to burst as he desperately swung the long spear and smashed it fiercely onto Wulong's head.

And sure enough, Wulong actually stopped.

"That's not how a spear is used!" A familiar voice came from above.

Huang Banyun came into view holding a spear, plunging it straight into the crown of Wulong's head while hanging upside down in midair, his body and the long spear forming a straight vertical line.

He had been overlooking the battle in front of the cavern from a high vantage point for a long time. Yan Nu had displayed mighty divine might and defeated the old ghost—watching that had left him utterly spellbound, prompting him to sigh repeatedly at the peerless nature of the Scripture of Peaceful Governance.

Yet the situation had suddenly turned, and Old Dog Wulong had arrived to kill at the very moment Yan Nu was at his weakest.

Even though Yan Nu had consumed the dragon fodder grass and surged with power for a brief moment, he was still no match.

Seeing his benefactor about to die at the hands of his father's killer, Huang Banyun could finally sit still no longer.

He leaped straight down from the mountain, carrying the momentum of a swooping dive with a full-strength strike, exhausting his lifelong ultimate skill to thrust a spear right into the top of Wulong's head!

This was the sole blind spot in Old Dog Wulong's black true qi body protection!

"Hah..." Old Dog Wulong rolled his eyes upward, let out a sneering laugh, and jerked his head abruptly upward.

Huang Banyun's expression shifted drastically; he was directly blown away, the long spear in his hand shredding apart like a broomstick amidst blossoming splinters...

He crashed onto the ground, and when he looked back at Old Dog Wulong, that fellow was rubbing the top of his head, brushing away a clump of hair without even a single drop of blood.

"How can this be..." Huang Banyun's complexion turned ashen, filled with sheer disbelief and resentment: I found the blind spot... and it didn't even break his defense?

Old Dog Wulong glanced at him. "You scared this old man to death."

As it turned out, the reason he had stopped was purely because the true qi blind spot on the top of his head had been abruptly assaulted, giving him a startle.

"What are you here for!" Yan Nu asked in shock.

Huang Banyun gnashed his teeth. "I share a sea of blood and deep enmity with this fiend."

He stood up, blocking in front of Yan Nu. "Hurry up and eat the dragon fodder grass, I'll block him!"

Yan Nu frowned. "You'll die!"

"My father taught me since I was young: a great kindness unrequited must be kept in mind at every moment. Repaying kindness, even unto life and death, I shall never betray it!" Huang Banyun spoke with resolute tone, his heart filled with a sense of release.

He was too weak, yet at this moment the hatred for killing his father and the grace of saving his life merged into one. Perhaps this was an opportunity given to him by Grandfather; regardless of whether he could win or not, if he had to die, he would die right here.

However, hearing this, Yan Nu was instead overjoyed. "Repaying kindness? Where is it? Give it to me quickly!"

"Ah?" Huang Banyun was dazed.

p.s: Sorry.