Hanyu Battles Asura

At this moment, the Glazed Bottle absolutely could not come out and cause trouble. Little Glazed used the authority of an Artifact Spirit to forcibly suppress the bottle.

"What kind of mess is this? Shouldn't you two be one entity? How can you have separate thoughts now?"

Little Glazed could only helplessly explain in her childish voice, "That's its instinct to devour, not a thought."

Cousin had already opened the umbrella again and called out. Hanyu hurriedly snapped back to his senses and followed.

After passing through the Corrosion Channel and Fire Channel once more, the two of them arrived at that tomb chamber again.

This time, Scorpion Tail had grown much smarter. It had smelled the natural enemy scent smeared on the umbrella from far away and did not dare approach at all.

Cousin sat beside the well. He dismantled the Iron Bone Umbrella completely once more, then emptied out all the iron pieces remaining in his arms.

His hands danced nimbly. Piece by piece, the metal fragments were fitted together. Before long, they had taken shape, and moments later, a black short sword had been assembled.

He continued assembling them. After using up the metal pieces, he hurriedly pieced together two more swords.

"I won't be able to spare any attention later. I need to control three Flying Swords to fight Old Bald Donkey head-on, so you'll have to be careful on your own."

After putting away the Flying Swords, Cousin solemnly warned him.

Hanyu nodded solemnly as well, and then Cousin jumped into the well first.

They walked straight along the way they had come for a while and reached the Dungeon again. The sight before them made both men's expressions change.

The passage outside the cells was strewn with dried corpses, lying every which way. There were probably around thirty of them. Judging by their clothing, they were all monks, and each still wore the terror they had held in life.

Hanyu recognized the face of one little novice monk. His expression darkened as he said, "That Old Bald Donkey actually killed every monk in his own temple."

Cousin's expression was equally gloomy. He nodded and sighed, "He must have been exposed for cultivating the Hungry Ghost Path with living people. He no longer plans to stay here. Now, after killing the two of us, he'll probably flee far away."

"You're absolutely right!"

A sinister voice echoed through the passage.

An aged monk drifted over, slowly walking out from the depths. Wasn't he the very Old Bald Donkey the two of them had been cursing?

Looking at the old monk, Cousin suddenly said, "I remember that when Senior came to our Households back then, he was accompanied by a great monk named Xuan Yin. That should have been you, right?"

Old Bald Donkey—or rather, Xuan Yin—looked up at Cousin, somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect you to be the descendant of an old acquaintance."

Cousin cut him off with a sneer. "You're not worthy of being called an old acquaintance of our Household. You betrayed your teacher and ancestors, robbed your own master's grave, and even cultivated divine abilities with living people."

Xuan Yin seemed to have been struck in a sore spot. His emotions instantly flared, and he shouted in a low voice, "What did I do wrong? I was his only disciple, yet he never taught me the cultivation method of the Hungry Ghost Path. If he wouldn't give it to me, I would take it myself."

Cousin seemed to be deliberately provoking him. He mocked, "Because he knew your heart was crooked. There's still a copy of the Hungry Ghost Path cultivation method gathering dust in my Households. Senior entrusted us to find it a successor—but he refused to give it to you. How does that feel?"

Those words pierced Xuan Yin's heart like a knife. He'd rather let it gather dust than give it to you. The sentence kept echoing in his mind. For a moment, he seemed almost possessed.

Cousin gave Hanyu a meaningful glance. Hanyu understood. Three black short swords shot out simultaneously, stabbing toward Xuan Yin's head, chest, and lower abdomen.

"How dare you!"

By the time Xuan Yin reacted, the short swords were already before his eyes. He hurriedly pressed his palms together, and golden light surged around his body.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

After three collisions, Xuan Yin remained completely unharmed. Regret flashed across Cousin's face. He had missed by only a hair.

Xuan Yin was furious now. Buddhist chants poured from his mouth, and ethereal Sanskrit murmurs filled the air. A Hungry Ghost Diagram appeared behind him, and skeletons howled as they crawled out of it one after another.

Cousin's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly recalled the Flying Swords, but dozens of skeletons surged over like mad. For a moment, the wails of ghosts and wolves rang out, accompanied by gusts of sinister wind.

Hanyu held the Sarira and waited for an opening, but the old monk gave him not the slightest flaw. Cousin gradually faltered while facing dozens of skeletons alone. In an instant, the three Flying Swords were pinned down one by one by several skeletons, and Cousin was in mortal danger.

Seeing the skeletons surge toward them like a tide, they would likely be swallowed up in an instant.

Cousin's face was pale, despair showing in his eyes. He had still underestimated Old Bald Donkey.

One skeleton reached out first. Just as its hand was about to probe into Cousin's chest, it suddenly halted.

Hanyu's figure pierced through from behind the skeleton. With a booming explosion, the skeleton was blasted into pieces.

After hurriedly rescuing Cousin, Hanyu found a tide of skeletons surging up behind him.

"Be careful. These skeletons can strike the soul, and they can also suck out essence and blood."

Cousin covered his violently pounding heart and hurriedly warned him.

Hanyu nodded, then charged straight ahead. He threw his fists with all his might. Amid a series of explosions, skeleton after skeleton shattered and scattered.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Hanyu was struck three times in succession from behind. He spun around and saw three skeletons holding Bone Blades, hacking at him.

Hanyu immediately grimaced in pain. What monstrous skeletons! How can they hit so hard?

What a monstrous physical body, to withstand attacks from Hungry Ghosts of the Hungry Ghost Path.

Cousin stared behind him, dumbfounded.

Hanyu naturally knew nothing of this. Furious, he clenched his fists and first blew apart the three ambushers.

The skeletons seemed endless. Even though white bones flew all around Hanyu, their numbers never seemed to decrease.

Hanyu, meanwhile, kept grimacing in pain as he slapped one skeleton after another away.

"No, this group of Hungry Ghosts is formed from a divine ability. They're endless. We have to destroy the source first." Cousin saw through the trick and hurriedly shouted.

Hanyu was holding a skeleton by the leg and sweeping it across the surrounding area when he heard this. He immediately glanced toward the old monk. Xuan Yin had his palms pressed together, and skeletons continued pouring from the Hungry Ghost Diagram behind him.

Hanyu hardened his heart. He flung the skeleton in his hand away, knocking down a swath of others, then pushed off hard with his foot and shot forward like an arrow.

Hearing the sound of wind and thunder, Xuan Yin saw Hanyu surging toward him. He hurriedly retreated and hid behind the Hungry Ghost Diagram.

Hanyu kicked away several skeletons that had just emerged from the diagram and reached its front. The Sarira in his hand suddenly blazed with light, and Xuan Yin's expression changed drastically.

"You took the Sarira!"

Xuan Yin stared at the glowing fist in Hanyu's hand, his expression dark.

"Break!"

With a soft shout, Hanyu punched with his right hand, driving the Sarira heavily into the Hungry Ghost Diagram. In an instant, the wails of ghosts and wolves rang out. The skeleton Hungry Ghosts seemed to have encountered a terrifying natural enemy, and their shrill cries rose without end.

The Hungry Ghost Diagram began to dissolve beneath the Sarira's radiance. At the same time, Xuan Yin's whole body convulsed as though struck by lightning, and he instantly spat out a mouthful of black blood.

The surging tide of skeletons vanished without leaving a trace. Xuan Yin knelt on one knee, his face ashen and defeated.

"He was too biased. He'd rather leave behind a Sarira to restrain me than trust me."

Xuan Yin spoke with a bitter expression, his face full of misery.

"What a colossal joke. If your heart weren't crooked, how could Senior's Sarira have harmed you at all?"

Cousin walked over, his face still showing the relief of surviving a calamity, and rebuked him.

Xuan Yin's miserable face gradually twisted. "He was too biased. He thought himself compassionate, yet he had no compassion for me at all. I want all of you dead..."

A strange fluctuation radiated from his body. His face gradually withered, becoming like tree bark within a few blinks. Then his neck and hands likewise grew dim and dried up.

"He's making a sacrifice!"

Cousin cried out in terror and pulled Hanyu backward again and again.

A new Hungry Ghost Diagram appeared. Yet it held no countless Hungry Ghosts, only a distorted, empty stretch of barren land.

A heavy sound repeatedly rang out across the earth. Every footstep was weighty beyond measure.

Gradually, a pair of blue bare feet appeared within the Hungry Ghost Diagram, as though someone were walking over from far away.

When the blue figure had completely emerged, Cousin's face instantly went deathly pale.

"How dare you sacrifice an Asura!"

Cousin screamed at the top of his lungs.

Xuan Yin's voice was hoarse, making a sound like a broken bellows. "I'm taking you with me to the grave..."

The blue figure had a human head with only a single eye in the center of its brow. It was powerfully built and held a massive Curved Blade as it slowly walked out of the diagram.

The moment Asura appeared, it turned its head toward Xuan Yin and spoke with a cold laugh, revealing a mouthful of fine teeth. With only a light inhalation, Xuan Yin turned into a pile of withered powder.

Hanyu sucked in a breath of cold air and could not help feeling uneasy.

The sound of chewing rang out without end. Asura seemed to be savoring some delicacy, its expression blissful. Only after swallowing did it greedily turn its gaze toward Hanyu and Cousin.

"Eat!"

Asura uttered the brief word. Its great blade swiftly hacked toward Hanyu. Before the blade arrived, the blade wind had already surged over.

Hanyu's clothes snapped loudly in the wind, and the icy blade edge arrived in an instant.

He dodged narrowly with a flash, but another slash swiftly followed. Asura's bulky body possessed an incredibly fast blade speed.

Hanyu could only dodge miserably on the defensive. "Quick, think of something!"

Cousin's expression shifted between light and dark. Upon hearing him, he hurriedly withdrew. He rapidly dismantled the three short swords, then quickly assembled them again from the large pile of iron pieces.

Asura's blade grew faster and faster. Hanyu slipped aside, but he was still a fraction too slow. A blade ray slashed into his waist.

The intense pain nearly made Hanyu cry out. Looking down at his blood-soaked waist, he saw the flesh split open, blood covering the wound.

Hanyu was horrified. A physical body cultivated for sixty years could not withstand even one slash from Asura!

"Don't let it hit you. The Asura Blade specializes in breaking physical bodies."

Cousin shouted from behind, then threw the giant sword in his hand.

"Use this."

The black giant sword entered Hanyu's hand, and his heart settled. He could not help tightening his grip on the hilt as Asura's blade came slashing again with the force of wind and thunder.

Hanyu charged forward with both hands on the sword. One man and one Asura became locked in a fierce melee.

The difference in strength between them was still too great. After several exchanges, the shock left Hanyu's tiger web numb.

Little Glazed hurriedly reminded him, "Asura fears fire. Use fire."

Hanyu understood. He freed his left hand and spread it open. A scorching flame condensed in his palm. He smeared it across the sword's body, and in an instant, fire clung to the blade.

The two clashed again. Asura truly feared the flames and began to be forced back step by step by Hanyu.

"Hiss!"

Asura glared angrily at the ant before it and suddenly roared.

A powerful suction force seemed about to pull his soul from his body. The Glazed Bottle in Hanyu's mind shook violently.

Little Glazed cried out, "Still!"

The Glazed Bottle instantly steadied, and Hanyu felt much better as well.

"Will the Sarira work on it?"

Hanyu looked at that gaping maw and suddenly asked.

"It will, but you have to hit it into its stomach," Little Glazed replied.

"Isn't that convenient, then? Release your control of the Glazed Bottle and let me through."

Hanyu suddenly felt his whole body loosen. The suction force stirred him again. He clenched the Sarira in one hand and advanced instead of retreating.

Seeing the bloody maw right before him, Hanyu threw the Sarira without hesitation. Under the powerful suction, the Sarira shot directly into Asura's mouth.

"Fire!"

The flame was summoned. Without a second thought, Hanyu thrust one hand into the maw and smeared it inside.

Apparently suffering a severe injury, Asura's body jerked. It tried to spit out the Sarira, but how could Hanyu give it the chance? He leaped forward, fed it another burst of fire, then clamped its mouth shut.

Asura's eyes widened as it struggled with all its might. It dropped the Asura Blade and reached to tear him away. Hanyu likewise dropped the giant sword, using both hands to seal Asura's enormous mouth shut and refusing to let it open.

Man and monster began rolling across the ground and wrestling. Huge forces slammed into Hanyu's back again and again, but Hanyu never let go.

The smell of burning gradually spread. Flames began to burn from Asura's abdomen. Soon, a crack split open. The crack grew wider and wider, eventually reaching its forehead.

"Die!"

Asura let out a shrill cry. The hand it had been raising to strike suddenly dropped, and raging flames instantly engulfed it.

Hanyu collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted, and gasped for breath.

The flames burned only briefly before gradually fading along with Asura's disappearance. In the end, Asura was merely a divine ability produced through sacrifice; it had no true physical body. Once it dispersed, the divine ability was naturally broken...

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