Provoking the Authorities

City God Xue Lingfu and Zhou Yihang each gave a cold snort, their auras tightening as they bound Xu Ying even more tightly.

The two men's auras grew stronger and stronger, locked in a head-on clash!

City God Xue Lingfu's eyes flickered as he said with a smile, "Master Zhou, let's speak plainly. Your Zhou Family wants him—could it be for the matter of his annotations on the Guidance Skill?"

Zhou Yihang raised his brows slightly. The ground beneath his feet suddenly cracked with a series of sharp pops, the bluestone slabs crushed into ever smaller fragments beneath the pressure of his aura. He chuckled. "It seems the City God's information is quite reliable too. That's right. Xu Ying killed Steward Jiang and several deities, and I don't care about that. But he can annotate the Guidance Skill. That is something this old man cannot ignore. City God, you came out personally. Could it be that the Yin Court has taken an interest in Xu Ying as well?"

Their auras forced the surrounding crowd to scatter in haste, retreating far from this temple in the town.

Even Huang Sanduo, the Steward Huang who had just moved into a statue and become a deity, hurriedly jumped down from the shrine and hid behind the temple.

City God Xue Lingfu threw back his head and laughed. His robes fluttered and billowed without any wind as he said, "Your Zhou Family has been digging up ancient abodes everywhere and exploring the mysteries of antiquity. The Yin Court has watched it all—how could we not know? To be frank, the Yin Court has also obtained many ancient secrets over the years, and we need someone to decipher them!"

His divine might spread in all directions. Incense Qi condensed behind him, forming a towering shrine, while his divine might grew stronger and stronger!

A mysterious voice sounded in Xu Ying's mind. "If I had not been injured, a wisp of my aura would have been enough to deal with them. But I am injured now. Still, you needn't worry. From what they mean, you are very important. In that case, let them kidnap you first. In just a few days, I can borrow your vital blood to recover a little. Even if I can only use the slightest bit of power, it will be enough to eliminate them!"

Xu Ying was greatly encouraged by this, though a trace of doubt rose in his heart. "Borrow my vital blood to recover? Then could this senior be..."

A strange energy flowed through Zhou Yihang's body, countering City God Xue Lingfu's increasingly powerful divine might. His eyes flickered, and he smiled faintly. "But our Zhou Family has no intention of sharing the ancient secrets with anyone. If we cannot obtain Xu Ying..."

He sighed. "Then Xu Ying had best become a dead Xu Ying. His soul scattered and his spirit annihilated—that would be his best destination."

City God Xue Lingfu smiled. "The Yin Court feels the same way. If I cannot take Xu Ying away today, then I must kill him. We cannot leave him for the Mortal Realm!"

Xu Ying's expression changed drastically, and he let out a muffled groan.

In his mind, Great Bell also gave a clang. Clearly, even Great Bell was somewhat dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events.

"But Master Zhou, there is one advantage I possess."

City God Xue Lingfu chuckled. "Even if you kill him, you will still have to strike again and destroy his soul. That gives me an opportunity. I may not be able to take his physical body, but taking his soul is just as good."

Zhou Yihang's aura rose to its peak. Even after City God Xue Lingfu summoned his divine shrine, it could not suppress him in the slightest. He said indifferently, "You can rest easy. If I strike, Xu Ying will surely be annihilated in body and soul in a single blow. He will die so thoroughly that he cannot die any further!"

Xu Ying let out another muffled groan.

By now, the street was completely deserted. Only the three of them remained.

The horns, suonas, and great drums from earlier had all fallen silent. Offerings, paper ingots, and candles lay scattered across the ground.

The wind gradually rose, blowing the drifting spirit money about. A little calf gave a lonely moo in the wind.

Xu Ying stood in the biting cold wind, looking somewhat desolate. He thought, Yuan Qi is still waiting for me to bring the medicine back...

Suddenly, City God Xue Lingfu struck first!

The shrine formed from Incense Qi behind him radiated countless rays of light. As he flipped his hand and formed a seal, the shrine also erupted with the sound of all the people chanting, throwing one's mind into confusion and making it difficult to steady one's spirit!

At the same time, brilliant golden light radiated from within City God Xue Lingfu's body. That was a deity's golden body!

Deities absorbed incense and cultivated Magic Power over a hundred years, then refined a golden body over three hundred years. City God Xue Lingfu had enjoyed incense for five hundred years. His golden body was firm and stable, extraordinary beyond compare!

He flipped his hand and formed a seal, unleashing a world-shaking thunderclap. When Xu Ying heard that thunder, he felt his soul tremble. In the next moment, he saw himself flying upward!

Looking down, he saw another Xu Ying standing where he had been. Only then did he realize that City God Xue Lingfu's seal had actually shaken his soul out of his body!

That was not all. In his soul state, he also saw things invisible to the naked eye—clusters of flames drifting beneath City God Xue Lingfu's palm seal!

Those flames beneath City God Xue Lingfu's palm seal gave him a feeling of immense destruction and overwhelming terror. It was as if the slightest touch would subject his soul to endless torment, even igniting it until his soul scattered and his spirit was annihilated!

However, City God Xue Lingfu's seal was not aimed at Xu Ying, but at Zhou Yihang. Xu Ying's soul had been shaken from his body merely by hearing the thunder erupt from the palm seal. It was obvious how much pressure Zhou Yihang, who faced the attack directly, was enduring!

"Clang!"

A bell suddenly rang beside Xu Ying's ear. He felt his physical body transform into a great vortex that dragged his soul downward. In the next moment, he fell back into his body.

Xu Ying had only just recovered from the shock when he saw Zhou Yihang facing the seal with his hands still clasped behind his back, utterly composed.

In the next moment, two more arms grew from beneath the old man's armpits. He flipped his hands up to meet City God Xue Lingfu's seal, intending to clash head-on with Xue Lingfu, who had refined a golden body!

The City God with a refined golden body possessed extraordinary strength. His incense Magic Power was vast and mighty, far surpassing the giant deity Xu Ying had encountered before. Moreover, his seal targeted the soul. How could anyone receive it head-on?

Yet the instant Zhou Yihang extended his palms, the lean old man's bones suddenly grew wildly, while the muscles throughout his body burst forth. In the blink of an eye, his lean form transformed into a giant nearly as tall as the City God!

His fleshly body was knotted with muscles like coiling horned dragons, making him look almost like a deity!

Xu Ying's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. He had originally planned to observe Zhou Yihang's techniques while he clashed with the City God, comparing them with the Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method he had obtained from Ding Quan and comprehending the Zhou Family's secret arts.

But once Zhou Yihang began fighting, nothing about him matched the Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method!

Not the slightest bit matched!

Ding Quan was a Nu Master cultivated by the Zhou Family and had followed County Magistrate Zhou Yang. His strength was not poor. Xu Ying had originally thought that the Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method, which Ding Quan had regarded as a treasure and even killed a colleague for, would not be too bad even if it was not a rare cultivation method.

But now, it seemed he had thought the Zhou Family far too kindly.

The Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method was probably a cultivation method the Zhou Family used for its servants. The true members of the Zhou Family cultivated an entirely different method—or even an entirely different cultivation system!

Those bottom-level Nu Masters like Ding Quan could risk their lives and still never obtain the true transmission!

The method Zhou Yihang used to transform his physical body alone was enough to rival the City God's golden body, and might even be stronger!

With four arms added to that, Zhou Yihang was practically a god forged from flesh!

"Bang!"

The two palm seals collided, erupting with a dull yet astonishing boom. Xu Ying was caught in the midst of their clash, shaken until blood flowed from his eyes, ears, and nose.

The City God and Zhou Yihang each let out a muffled groan as their bodies shuddered violently. Zhou Yihang had always believed his soul was stable, fused as one with his physical body, but this seal had nearly shaken his soul apart!

City God Xue Lingfu, meanwhile, had prided himself on the strength of his golden body, believing it could never compare with the physical body refined through the Zhou Family's Ni Wan Secret Treasury. Yet at the very first clash, a crack appeared in his golden body!

"When I kill him, my golden body—and my soul—will surely shatter inch by inch!" Their gazes crossed, and the same thought arose in both their minds.

City God Xue Lingfu and Zhou Yihang understood one another without words. The instant their gazes shifted away, they both landed on Xu Ying.

"Since I cannot obtain Xu Ying even by fighting to the death, there is only one path left: kill Xu Ying, so the other side cannot obtain him either!" they thought simultaneously.

In the next moment, City God Xue Lingfu and Zhou Yihang struck at the same time, attacking Xu Ying!

Beneath City God Xue Lingfu's palm seal burned demon-subduing yin fire that could annihilate every soul!

Zhou Yihang's fist seal was like a mountain, supremely yang and supremely hard. It was the peerless Nu art passed down by the Zhou Family Ancestor: the Dong Jun Pingtian Seal!

This fist seal was certain to smash Xu Ying's physical body and soul into pulp together!

Just then, a Great Bell over a person's height suddenly appeared and flipped upside down over Xu Ying. City God Xue Lingfu's demon-subduing yin fire and Zhou Yihang's Dong Jun Pingtian Seal struck the bell together!

"Clang—"

Great Bell was struck by the two men. City God Xue Lingfu's expression changed drastically as cracks appeared across his golden body with a series of sharp pops. The tremendous force sent him flying backward, where he crashed into and broke an old willow tree by the roadside!

On the other side, the instant Zhou Yihang's thick arm struck Great Bell, his skin suddenly burst apart. His incredibly powerful muscles twisted and turned to dust, followed by a series of sharp cracks as his arm bones exploded.

Zhou Yihang spat blood and was sent tumbling backward. He crashed through the temple behind him and fell inside.

Beneath Great Bell, Xu Ying stood frozen, both startled and delighted. He was startled that the bell that had tried to extort him suddenly appeared, and delighted that Great Bell had actually blocked this calamity for him!

Suddenly, Great Bell gave a loud clang and fell to the ground, rolling several times behind his buttocks.

The mysterious voice came from Xu Ying's mind. "I've used up the last of my strength. You're on your own now. I'm going to sleep."

"Great Bell is that senior who guided me!"

Xu Ying turned around and saw Great Bell lying on its side, its bell nose pointed toward his buttocks and its mouth facing outward like a great horn.

He turned, and Great Bell also rolled half a circle with a series of clanging sounds, remaining behind his buttocks the entire time.

This might have been Great Bell's way of protecting itself. Now that it had fallen into a deathlike unconsciousness, it still kept Xu Ying's form locked in its sights, never leaving him!

"In other words, if I run now, this Great Bell will follow me the whole way, clanging and banging like it's leading a procession..." Xu Ying blinked, somewhat despairing. How was he supposed to flee like this?

"Cough, cough, cough..." Suddenly, coughing came from behind the temple.

Xu Ying turned around and saw the giant Zhou Yihang had become standing slowly with one hand against the wall, his flesh and blood mangled beyond recognition. He coughed blood while staring at Xu Ying.

The old man's muscular frame was hideous, most of it destroyed by the vibrations of the bell. Yet the Ni Wan Secret Treasury contained endless vitality, allowing his physical body to remain undying!

However, the bell's sound had also injured the soul tightly connected to his body, leaving him dazed and muddled. His strength had been reduced by seventy to eighty percent.

But even with seventy to eighty percent of his strength gone, he was still more than capable of controlling Xu Ying's life and death!

"You actually have a magic treasure protecting your body. I was careless."

Zhou Yihang swayed as chunks of flesh dropped from him with wet smacks. New flesh formed over his body, only for that new flesh to split open and fall away again.

The severity of his injuries exceeded Xu Ying's imagination!

Yet the Zhou Family's cultivation method of the Ni Wan Secret Treasury was truly wondrous. Even after being injured to this extent, he still had not died.

Zhou Yihang stared at Great Bell behind Xu Ying in surprise. "This magic treasure was able to block a full-powered strike from the City God and me. It is not bad. But its power has now been exhausted. It is useless and can no longer protect you."

His gaze passed over Xu Ying and fell upon the City God. City God Xue Lingfu's enormous head had crashed into the wall of a house, while his body was pinned beneath the willow tree. It was impossible to tell whether he was alive or dead.

"Heh heh, it seems my strength is still somewhat greater than the City God's."

Zhou Yihang staggered toward Xu Ying. Flesh continued peeling from his bones and dropping away, while his eyes shone strangely. He reached toward Xu Ying and laughed. "Xu Ying, you will be the treasure that allows my Zhou Family to rise..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Ying suddenly spun around. By the time Zhou Yihang heard the clanging sound, it was already too late.

Behind Xu Ying, Great Bell—still standing over a person's height even while lying on its side—swept through the air the instant Xu Ying turned. Accompanied by a clanging roar, it slammed brutally into Zhou Yihang!

Zhou Yihang was crushed beneath Great Bell and swept bodily into the air!

As he flew, his mind was still somewhat muddled. What just happened?

"Bang!"

He smashed through the wall on the far side of the temple, tumbling and rolling dozens of yards before crashing into a stone wall and finally coming to a halt.

Zhou Yihang struggled to rise, but his legs suddenly cracked with a series of sharp pops. Those were the sounds of his shinbones breaking!

Zhou Yihang's heart jolted. He did not dare move again. Great Bell's impact had injured his shinbones, and if he moved recklessly, the bones in both legs might snap at once!

He suddenly raised his head and saw Xu Ying's leaping figure. Rage surged through his heart. "That brat isn't running away—he's actually coming to kill this old man! He's courting death!"

Xu Ying was in midair, sweeping a foot toward his face. It was a move from the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist.

In Zhou Yihang's eyes, this move was crude and worthless. Yet accompanying that kick was an enormous copper bell, which swung over with a whoosh!

"Clang!"

The copper bell smashed into Zhou Yihang, breaking both his legs and sending him crashing back into the temple.

Zhou Yihang was dazed and muddled. He had only just struggled upright when Xu Ying had already reached him. With his back to Zhou Yihang, Xu Ying leaped straight up and then came crashing down.

Great Bell smashed into Zhou Yihang's forehead, burying half the old man's body in the earth. Xu Ying leaped up again and came down again—clang, clang, clang—more than ten times in succession, pounding a huge pit into the temple floor.

Xu Ying looked into the pit and saw that Zhou Yihang was still alive. Xu Ying frowned. Coughing from City God Xue Lingfu came from the distance, and he had no time to bother with this. He immediately rushed out of the temple. "I can't let the City God recover his breath. I need to give him a few hits too!"

The road was far from clean. Great Bell crushed the stones it struck into dust, which spurted from its mouth like smoke.

Everywhere Xu Ying went, Great Bell trailed smoke behind him.

"You desperate fugitive, how dare you act so insolently!"

With both legs completely broken, Zhou Yihang used his arms to haul himself out of the pit. He glared at Xu Ying's back and gnashed his teeth in fury. "You're fleeing for your life, yet you still have smoke coming out of your butt! You're provoking the authorities of Lingling!"