In the pitch-black room, the Old Daoist Priest's words carried a chill and evilness.
Struck by the fly-whisk, Master Sun felt the vitality in his body gradually fading away.
It felt as though his life was being pulled from him. He raised his left hand and pointed tremblingly at the Old Daoist Priest.
"Heretic! You're a heretic, you evil Daoist!"
"Heretic?" The Old Daoist Priest burst into laughter. "Compared to a father as utterly heartless as you, what I do hardly counts as evil. You're far more wicked than I am. To stay alive, you drained the lifespan of your own flesh and blood, using your daughter as a stepping stone. Now tell me, who is the heretic?"
The Old Daoist Priest slowly pulled out the fly-whisk in his hand.
Each time he pulled, Master Sun shuddered.
"How did I ever listen to the words of a vile Daoist like you?"
Master Sun's eyes gradually clouded over. He turned to look at his daughter in the coffin, as though he had finally awakened at the edge of death.
"You never intended to help me. All you wanted was to use my hand to obtain the lifespan you desired."
The Old Daoist Priest yanked out the fly-whisk. Looking at Master Sun's lifeless body on the floor, he said indifferently, "People covet far too many things in this life. The moment greed rises in your heart is the moment I can use you. You have no one to blame but yourself."
With that, the Old Daoist Priest slowly walked over to the coffin. Looking at the sleeping Miss Sun, greed flashed through his eyes.
"What a beautiful woman. What a pity she had a father as foul-smelling as filthy water. Since I was going to kill you anyway, you might as well serve one last purpose."
As he spoke, the Old Daoist Priest actually reached out to undo Miss Sun's outer garments.
"This Daoist has not touched a woman in a long time. My methods of gathering yin to replenish yang have grown a little rusty. Today, you can help this Daoist get familiar with them again."
A lewd smile appeared on the Old Daoist Priest's face.
Just then, as the Old Daoist Priest was about to reach out, the hairs on his body suddenly stood on end.
The temperature in the room had already dropped drastically. An ordinary person would have needed to put on several layers of clothing just to enter.
Yet in this frigid environment, the Old Daoist Priest could still feel his hairs standing up.
He found it far too bizarre.
A sharp whistle tore through the air.
The whistle was followed by the sound of the door opening.
At the critical moment, the Old Daoist Priest flung out his fly-whisk. In an instant, he found it wrapped around a longsword.
Following the sword, he saw a figure with their face covered by black cloth, their features impossible to make out.
Through the person's eyes, the Old Daoist Priest noticed a glimmer of excitement—and that excitement was actually directed at the coffin beside him.
"To think that after roaming the martial world for so many years, someone would dare spy on this Daoist in secret. Then leave your life behind."
The Old Daoist Priest sneered. Power surged through the fly-whisk in his hand, and the tremendous force dragged the longsword, intending to pull Shen Bai closer.
Just then, the Old Daoist Priest saw a fist wrapped in golden light rapidly grow larger.
Bang!
With a heavy impact, the Old Daoist Priest was left dizzy and disoriented, while a violent pain exploded across his face.
Shen Bai's punch had distorted the Old Daoist Priest's left cheek.
Fragments of shattered bone pierced through his skin, and blood poured out like a flood.
The Old Daoist Priest collapsed onto the ground and stared at Shen Bai in terror.
Shen Bai said blandly, "I thought you would be stronger. You could only take one punch."
The Old Daoist Priest's face had been beaten out of shape, but upon hearing Shen Bai's words, his eyes widened.
"Who exactly are you? In Ascending Cloud County, I know every expert, yet I have never seen you."
"I've never seen this swordsmanship or fist technique before. Just who are you?"
Shen Bai smiled. "Who I am is none of your business. Don't move around for now, or I'll have no choice but to reluctantly kill you."
With that, Shen Bai shifted his gaze to the coffin.
The chill emanating from the coffin was growing increasingly intense.
As the cold air seeped out, Shen Bai could see that Miss Sun's face inside the coffin had completely lost its color.
"It seems this locust tree harms people through certain illusions."
Shen Bai stroked his chin as he spoke.
Seeing this, a thought suddenly arose in the Old Daoist Priest's heart. "You want to destroy this coffin?"
He tried to crawl to his feet with both hands and feet.
But in the next moment, he let out a miserable scream.
The longsword flashed past the Old Daoist Priest's hands. Amid spraying blood, his arms fell to the ground.
Shen Bai turned around and gave him an indifferent glance. "I told you to behave. I'll let it slide this time—just your two hands. If there's a next time, it'll be your two legs. And if there's another time after that, it'll be your head."
The Old Daoist Priest's face was drenched in sweat. He rolled endlessly on the ground, his eyes fixed on Shen Bai with venomous hatred.
"You're finished. You're dead for sure."
Shen Bai spoke slowly. "With you looking like that without your hands, I'm dead for sure?"
"Without my suppression, this coffin will take your life!"
The hatred in the Old Daoist Priest's eyes deepened.
Just then, Shen Bai discovered that everything around him had suddenly changed.
"Hee hee, hee hee hee hee..."
A spine-chilling laugh echoed through the room.
Then Shen Bai saw a figure shift from blurry to clear.
A woman in red bridal attire, her head covered by a red veil, was walking gracefully toward Shen Bai.
The woman's hands, exposed beyond her sleeves, were pale as paper, while her black fingernails gradually lengthened.
The Old Daoist Priest burst into laughter, blood spraying from his mouth as though it cost nothing. "You're finished, you're finished! This was made from a branch of that thousand-year locust tree. Resentment has bred within it; even a single branch is strange and sinister. You can't withstand it."
Sword light flashed, and vast, resplendent righteous energy surged across the blade.
The red-clad bride before him turned into black qi beneath the sword light and vanished.
A wisp of Killing Intent appeared before Shen Bai's eyes, and he collected it.
The surrounding scenery vanished. Cracks appeared across the coffin before it shattered all over the floor.
The chill gradually faded, and in the blink of an eye, the room's temperature returned to normal.
The Old Daoist Priest's words came to an abrupt stop. He stared at Shen Bai, his face full of shock.
"How is that possible?"
"Even experts of the Daoist Canon Realm could not achieve something like this. Are you in the Three Treasures Realm?"
"Impossible! I know every Three Treasures Realm expert in Ascending Cloud County. No new experts have appeared recently. How could this be possible?"
Shen Bai smiled faintly. "Whether it's possible or not, we can discuss that later. Right now, I'm especially interested in something else, so you'll have to suffer a little first."
"Suffer a little?"
The Old Daoist Priest was baffled.
Two more flashes of sword light swept past.
Then the Old Daoist Priest felt a burst of pain in his legs. Looking down, he saw both legs separate themselves from his torso.
"Ah!"
The Old Daoist Priest screamed again.
Shen Bai grabbed the Old Daoist Priest by the collar and slowly walked out of the room as he spoke.
"No helping it. To be safe, I can only cut off your legs. They're just two legs—was there really any need to scream so miserably?"
The Old Daoist Priest: "?"
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