Vast Righteousness

The two Ox Tribe warriors charged at the Flood Dragon with bloodshot eyes, roaring low in their throats.

They swung their great axes. The heavy wheel-bladed axes tore through the air with dull howls. The finely forged steel axes struck heavily against the Flood Dragon's scales, and amid flying sparks, the axes shattered.

The Flood Dragon casually twisted its body, then lashed its tail through the air. The two Ox Tribe warriors flew away vomiting blood.

Its shattered-gold eyes stared fixedly at Wu Tie, its long tail tapping the ground unhurriedly and producing dull, thunderous booms.

Wu Tie stood several hundred meters away, shouting at the top of his lungs. He used every taunt Old Tie had taught him, crazily provoking the Flood Dragon. He swung his spear, which tore through the wind with a piercing shriek.

Wu Tie did not see it himself, but behind him, the figure formed from faint gray mist was slowly growing from the size of an ordinary person.

Eight feet... nine feet... ten feet...

The figure gradually expanded, becoming ever hazier, yet the vast and mighty aura that filled heaven and earth grew increasingly dense.

The blood in Wu Tie's body churned, his bloodline boiled, and the first and second knuckles of his left index finger began to burn, with hazy light faintly shining through.

The Flood Dragon slowly lowered its body, its eyes spraying faint ghostly light as it stared at Wu Tie.

The rich scent emanating from Wu Tie seemed to hold tremendous temptation for the Flood Dragon. Great quantities of saliva spilled from the corners of its mouth, and the fishy stench spread far and wide.

"Come on, you little bastard..." Wu Tie bounced about as he provoked the Flood Dragon. An invisible force field tightly wrapped around his entire body, and he was ready to flee with all his strength.

A deep hiss came from within the Flood Dragon. Its body stretched taut as it crashed through the air, forcibly blasting ring after ring of white air explosions into existence as it shot straight toward Wu Tie.

Its speed was terrifying beyond measure. Several hundred meters separated Wu Tie and it, yet in the blink of an eye, the Flood Dragon was before him.

The white air explosions spread outward. The crude shacks around them collapsed one after another, and the tremendous noise shook the entire outpost. The Gray Rock Gnomes within were frail, and the tremendous sound sent them all tumbling to the ground, rolling without end.

Wu Tie could not see the Flood Dragon's movements at all. He merely reacted on instinct, holding his spear horizontally before himself.

An irresistible force crashed into him. Wu Tie's arms slammed heavily against his own chest, and amid a huge boom, he flew backward. His feet left the ground as he flew hundreds of meters back, smashing through dozens of shacks in succession.

His chest was in agonizing pain, and his internal organs felt as if they had all been turned upside down. Wu Tie's hands trembled violently, his ten fingers spasming as they clutched the spear tightly.

The violent impact had nearly shattered every bone in Wu Tie's body. He lay stiffly on the ground, unable to feel his body at all.

The Flood Dragon raised its head where it stood and let out a long roar.

Then it lowered its body, staring greedily at Wu Tie as it swiftly slithered toward him with overwhelming pressure.

A dull sound of tearing wind suddenly rang out. Old Tie's roar made the ground around them tremble. "A thunderclap rings through the sky—your grandpa enters the battlefield... hahaha!"

A bloody streak of light came whistling over, and Old Tie viciously slammed his head into the Flood Dragon's lower jaw.

The blow was incomparably heavy. Even the Flood Dragon's enormous body was sent flying, winding and twisting as it flew more than a hundred meters backward before crashing awkwardly to the ground. It rolled dozens of times before finally steadying itself.

The Flood Dragon raised half its body in a bedraggled state, blood spraying from the corner of its mouth. Ashamed and enraged, it glared at Old Tie, who stood on all fours more than a hundred meters away, his entire body spitting electric sparks.

"Your grandpa is still your grandpa, and will be your grandpa for life... Even if this old body of mine is weak and depleted now, I can still beat you until you call me grandpa... It's all that bastard's fault..."

Old Tie bared his teeth and let out a strange "heh heh" laugh. "It's all that bastard's fault. If my own body were here, a little crawler like you..."

Old Tie had only gotten halfway through his sentence when the Flood Dragon roared and charged over, ramming into him and sending him heavily flying.

He rolled far away with a clattering racket. Old Tie cursed, then sprang up and turned into a streak of blood-red light once more, charging at the Flood Dragon.

The Flood Dragon likewise straightened its body and rammed fiercely into Old Tie.

With a tremendous boom, Old Tie's head collided head-on with the Flood Dragon.

A great spray of electric sparks burst out. From Old Tie's mouth shot a sword-shaped streak of bloody light, which stabbed heavily into the Flood Dragon's forehead.

A shrill, miserable howl suddenly erupted. A wound over a meter long split open on the Flood Dragon's forehead. Scales flew everywhere, its skull cracked, and a great deal of blood mixed with glittering brain fluid sprayed from the wound.

The Flood Dragon thrashed its body wildly in pain. Its long tail lashed viciously against Old Tie, sending him flying hundreds of meters away.

Its shattered-gold eyes turned blood-red. The Flood Dragon let out a terrifying roar, opened its mouth, and spat more than a dozen nearly solid black smoke balls at Old Tie in rapid succession, striking him squarely.

These black smoke balls were condensed from the poisonous gas within the Flood Dragon's body. They were incomparably toxic and possessed powerful corrosive force.

Old Tie was blasted into rolling all over the ground. Whenever a smoke ball struck him, it exploded violently, sending earth and stones flying and blasting out pits several meters wide.

The smoke balls burst apart, and large swathes of black poisonous smoke spread in every direction, corroding the ground with continuous hissing sounds.

Old Tie's head and body were enveloped in the black poisonous smoke. He jumped and cursed within it, yet his body remained smooth as a mirror, without a single mark left behind.

With great difficulty, Wu Tie slowly propped himself up with his spear.

He panted. Strands of strange power continually emerged from his boiling bloodline—vast and surging, supremely hard and strong, filled with an indomitable aura of righteousness. Nourished by this energy, his badly injured body rapidly recovered, and powerful strength filled him.

The air around him churned violently. The elemental energy vortex above his head grew ever larger, and streams of elemental energy poured continuously into his body.

Wu Tie's body radiated scorching heat. Even the ground beneath his feet steamed from it, and large amounts of vapor rose continuously from the soil, turning into white mist that coiled around him.

As he stared fixedly at the Flood Dragon, which was crazily spitting poisonous smoke balls, all fear, hesitation, and every other negative emotion in Wu Tie's heart were swept clean away.

Courage—unfathomable courage surged from the depths of his bloodline. Wu Tie suddenly raised his spear, and then he became a wild gale.

The wind roared, the wind howled. Wu Tie rose into the air, carrying the boiling, surging air around him with him. Sparkling streams of elemental energy wrapped around his entire body as he gripped the spear with both hands and swept out a flash of cold light. He crossed several hundred meters and arrived before the Flood Dragon in an instant.

His gaze locked onto the wound Old Tie had cut into the Flood Dragon's forehead. He thrust his spear straight into it.

With a miserable howl, the spear tore through the bloody scales and forcibly squeezed into a gap in the Flood Dragon's skull, piercing more than half a foot deep.

The Flood Dragon's body was enormous, and its skull was exceptionally thick. Even so, Wu Tie's spear still pierced about half an inch into its brain. The Flood Dragon squeezed its eyes shut in pain, its body wildly twisting and lashing.

Wu Tie had no time to dodge. The Flood Dragon's long tail came whistling over and struck viciously across his waist.

Wu Tie was sent flying by the tail lash, his whole body jolting as though struck by lightning.

With a "wah," Wu Tie spat out a great mouthful of blood. He hurriedly opened his faceplate, and large amounts of blood flowed down his close-fitting armor.

A violent shock came from behind him as Wu Tie crashed into a protruding stone stalagmite. The stalagmite let out a tearing groan beneath the burden, swayed a few times, but ultimately supported Wu Tie's body steadily.

Wu Tie panted, his eyes wide as he blankly pressed against the stalagmite, unable to move in the slightest.

The Flood Dragon was still crying out in pain, still hissing. It wildly swung its body and shook the spear from its forehead after only a few motions.

Having its brain stabbed by a spear—even though it had not gone deep—was a pain no creature of flesh and blood could endure. The Flood Dragon writhed madly on the ground for a long while, crushing more than half the shacks in the outpost into pieces.

Within the Mistblade Outpost, the Mistblade assassins had long since fled without a trace. The Lineage warriors had scattered in every direction, while the Gray Dwarves and Rock Gnomes had fled far away with their families in tow.

Several great Water Pythons swayed their massive bodies as they chased after the fleeing slaves and likewise left the outpost.

Now, only Wu Tie, Old Tie, and this Flood Dragon crazed by excruciating pain remained in the outpost.

Old Tie chuckled, carrying a trace of uninhibited wildness as he walked out of the rising black poisonous smoke step by step.

"Little Tie, let's give it our all and take care of this big fellow... A potion refined from its flesh and blood—even the most basic Foundation Establishment Potion—would be a fine treasure for you right now."

"Tsk, how heartbreaking... Back then, little grass snakes like this did not even qualify for the soup pot... But now, ah, forget it. We have no room to be picky..."

Old Tie spat heavily, making a motion of spitting. His disdain was plain for all to see.

The Flood Dragon sensed Old Tie's deep malice. It stopped struggling and twitching, then slowly raised its upper body.

Blood dripped steadily from its wound. White brain matter continuously trickled from the spear wound Wu Tie had left behind.

The Flood Dragon's body twitched involuntarily, and scales all over its body stood on end one after another, making it appear much larger.

With heavy, wheezing breaths, the Flood Dragon's exhalations were filled with a fishy stench.

Old Tie swiftly approached Wu Tie. As he ran, he muttered in a low voice, "Kid, do you still have the strength to run? Don't be fooled by how arrogantly your grandpa talks... Your grandpa really has no way to deal with it now..."

"Hey, hey, that move just now, your grandpa can't pull it off again... Ah, the two of us only have one road left—run for our lives..."

Old Tie muttered and rambled. The few sharp little horns on his head had slowly retracted, and the electric sparks covering his body had vanished without a trace.

After that brief burst, Old Tie truly seemed to have no fighting strength left.

Wu Tie was also breathing heavily. He had not heard a word Old Tie said.

His blood churned rapidly, his bloodline burned crazily, and the plasma within his body was undergoing a strange transformation. It became heavier and more condensed, and an unusual color even began to surface within it.

The ball of golden light between his brows continuously transformed into golden rain of light that swept downward in reverse, constantly tempering his body.

The golden rain of light merged with the strange energy seeping from his burning bloodline, then flew back into the space between his brows with a faint tint of blood-red.

A multitude of jumbled voices rose in Wu Tie's mind.

So many people, countless people—elders, youths, men, women—they were loudly reciting something.

What they recited was profound and exquisite, far more profound than the contents recorded in the few scrolls Master Hui treasured as precious. Countless people buzzed as they recited, like countless hornets screaming chaotically inside Wu Tie's head.

Under such circumstances, Wu Tie could not hear any sounds from the outside world.

His body trembled faintly as even more immense heat continually emerged from his bloodline.

A clear, resonant reciting voice suddenly sounded in Wu Tie's mind. An unfathomable force instantly suppressed all the chaotic recitations in his mind. Again and again, the voice recited one simple sentence.

Though facing thousands, I shall go forth!

The previously disordered voices all submitted, like a chaotic flock of geese finding their lead goose again. They became solemn and orderly, following that voice as they recited again and again, Though facing thousands, I shall go forth!

Though facing thousands, I shall go forth!

Wu Tie began loudly chanting the words on instinct. The figure condensed from gray mist behind him gradually became more solid, while the power emerging from his bloodline became stronger and clearer.

The golden sphere between his brows had already taken on a faint layer of blood-red. Suddenly, all the miraculous power surging from Wu Tie's bloodline rushed toward the space between his brows at once. Blood light flared brilliantly from his forehead, and the two characters "Longevity" Shi Lingqing had left there crumbled apart beneath the rush of blood light, vanishing without a trace.

"Heaven and earth possess righteous energy!" Wu Tie inexplicably roared those words.

Before this, he had never heard those words.

Yet under the guidance of that voice in his mind, the words seemed to emerge from Wu Tie's bloodline, crossing the river of time, crossing countless generations of propagation and inheritance, traversing time and space to appear from nothing.

That vast and magnificent power, filling heaven and earth, erupted with a thunderous crash.

Wu Tie clenched his right hand into a fist and threw one simple punch forward.

Filling heaven and earth, embracing all things!

Magnificent and vast, righteous energy surging sky-high!

Grand and majestic, mighty and unstoppable!

A fist imprint several meters wide flew from Wu Tie's fist, swift as a meteor, and struck the head of the charging Flood Dragon in a single blow.

What appeared to be a simple punch contained terrifying power.

Wu Tie's distant punch sent the Flood Dragon's entire body flying, knocking it away across a distance of more than a hundred meters.

The Flood Dragon's enormous body stretched taut in midair. Countless scales shattered with crackling sounds, and fragments large and small rained down like a torrential storm, pattering against the ground.

The Flood Dragon's already wounded forehead caved in over a large area. Its skull was pulverized, exposing a small portion of its brain tissue.

With two thuds, the pair of sharp horns on the Flood Dragon's forehead lost their foundation when its skull shattered and fell heavily to the ground.

Wu Tie's punch sent the Flood Dragon flying over a hundred meters. It crashed heavily onto the ground, and only after a full three breaths did it let out a roar of unbearable agony.

Such a massive Flood Dragon actually shed huge tears. As it cried, it turned around and fled downstream toward the great river as swiftly as the wind.

"It ran, ha!"

Wu Tie laughed. "Old Tie, this is... a divine ability I suddenly learned... Vast Righteousness."

"I don't know where it came from, but it is Vast Righteousness!"

With a thud, Wu Tie's vision went black, and he fell heavily to the ground.