Defeat

"Sun Yang of Ink Bamboo Mountain requests a match!"

The Fourth Sword of Bamboo Mountain leaped onto the jade platform. Though he showed no fear, the magic treasure wielded by Lü Daolian was so powerful that Sun Yang couldn't help frowning.

Before Yu Danian died, he had shattered three layers of the canopy. But a new layer of silk canopy had already formed halfway around it. It was obvious that without a magic treasure to protect him, no amount of pounding with pseudo-Golden Core Daoist arts could break through this Nascent Soul-level defensive treasure.

Moreover, protected by the treasure, Lü Daolian had already recovered. The thought of his disfigured face and the humiliation he'd suffered had sent him into a murderous rage.

When Sun Yang took the stage, Lü Daolian didn't waste a word. He flipped the amber seal in his hand and hurled it at Sun Yang's forehead!

Sun Yang had also come prepared for his third bout. He flicked his right sleeve and sent a meteor hammer flying. Clang! It struck the Heaven-Flipping Seal.

Naturally, the magic treasure had the advantage. It slammed the meteor hammer onto the jade platform, knocking off most of its spikes.

But since the hammer was attached to a chain, it didn't take force the way a sword or saber did. Sun Yang was completely unaffected. He knocked the magic treasure away, then drew the meteor hammer back to block again. He also shifted his steps with practiced ease, and the seal couldn't hit him at all.

Lü Daolian, on the other hand, kept controlling the seal and striking, only for the flying hammer to casually knock it aside each time. He was wasting his strength, veins bulging in his neck. The wound on his face, which he'd covered with silk and medicine, split open again in his fury, and black blood streamed down.

"Lian'er, don't fall for his trick! Have the Wind Leopard pounce on him, then attack!"

The plain-faced lady, whose arms had been severed, still had the energy to watch and offer advice. She was in a sorry state herself. With nobody nearby to bandage her, she could only use her own cultivation to heal the stumps of her arms and stop the bleeding.

"I don't need you to tell me! I know what to do! Wind Leopard, go!" Lü Daolian roared. He recalled the seal, clutched his face, then leaped up and kicked the white-haired snow leopard beneath him.

The Wind Leopard lunged and spun, transforming into a whirlwind that swept toward the Daoist opposite them.

But how could Sun Yang fail to guard against them openly sharing their tactics? Seeing the whirlwind coming, he flicked his left sleeve and sent out a yellow wind that spun into the leopard's white wind. A gale erupted, sand and stones flew, and mangled flesh whirled through the air!

"Ah! Yellow Heaven Dao..." Zhou Sheng covered his mouth in shock. He quickly caught himself, stroked his mustache, and forced himself to remain composed.

Nangong Wushuang and the southern cultivators showed no reaction. They assumed it was some kind of wind-escape technique and kept their full attention on Yao Xuanzhou, who stood beside Zhou Sheng, ready in case he tried to launch a sneak attack.

But the "northerner," Abbot Faji of Tiantai Mountain, saw through it. He pressed his palms together and chanted a Buddhist invocation. "Namo Acalanatha Buddha. I never imagined the demonic cult of Bamboo Mountain would collude with the Yellow Heaven demonic path, which plagues the northern lands and brings chaos to the people!

"Your demonic cults truly have joined forces. Your sins are grave indeed! This time, we cannot spare this brood of demonic scions!"

Zhou Sheng smiled. "The abbot speaks wisely. I've also heard that the Yellow Heaven Dao has been sowing chaos in the six northern kingdoms, secretly spreading its faith and plotting rebellion. It has even defied the Immortal Palace and its orthodox sects, not to mention harmed countless people!"

Nangong Wushuang also weighed in. "So you're all demonic scions! No wonder your attacks are so vicious! You deserve to be put to death!"

The southern cultivators nodded one after another, united in their outrage and even more determined to punish evil and eliminate demons. Together, they denounced Ink Bamboo Mountain for colluding with the Yellow Heaven demonic cult and bringing chaos to the people.

Yao Xuanzhou frowned deeply, watching Sun Yang's Daoist arts for a while.

Sun Yang kept his left sleeve raised, concealing whatever hand seal he formed. He sent out billowing yellow winds, which tangled with the white ones. The wind turned blood-red, and the snow leopard was shredded, its hide, flesh, and bones reduced to an indistinguishable mass that flew through the air. Then the gale swept over the canopy treasure, wrapping it whole and trapping Lü Daolian inside.

The Yellow Heaven Dao's yellow wind was easy to recognize. When it blew, yellow sand rolled in thick clouds, blotting out the sky and sun. Its followers also commonly wore yellow robes, which was how the Yellow Heaven Dao had gotten its name. And although the sect leader of the Yellow Heaven Dao claimed that every one of his arts had been taught to him by an immortal, rumors said he had obtained half of the Tai Su Heavenly Scripture.

This yellow wind indeed did not belong to the Postnatal Immortal Dao. It was not one of the five kinds of spiritual qi born from the Taiji. So the cultivation world generally believed that the Yellow Heaven Dao had inherited the teachings of some Tai Su Dao Ancestor, and called the unknown being who had passed down the arts "Yellow Heaven."

The Yellow Heaven Dao was also considered to be much like the old Luo Sect: an illegal folk cult in the Twelve Countries, with the power and potential to challenge the Daoist traditions of the Three Great Sects. Naturally, its reputation among the established powers was abysmal.

He turned to the disciples beside him and asked, "Have any of you studied this art?"

At once, two Bamboo Mountain disciples bowed and admitted they had.

Yao Xuanzhou frowned. "There's no such art in the Inner Sect's scripture library. Who taught it to you?"

The two answered honestly. "It was Zhang Zhenren, an Outer Sect Disciple."

Yao Xuanzhou had already suspected as much. He nodded and asked no more.

At that moment, only the lady was in a panic. She kept asking, "I've never seen this yellow wind before. What kind of Daoist art is it? Is there any way to break it?"

Monk Faji shook his head. "It's not particularly powerful as a killing technique. But this yellow wind isn't among the five kinds of qi. If it blinds you, the wind sounds all around you, and neither side can sense the other's position. It's also not easy to dispel quickly, so these demonic cultivators usually use it to escape, trap people, or..."

Sun Yang then pulled his right hand from his sleeve. His palm had been slashed open, and he gripped a three-inch-long Heart-Piercing Nail in it. Gushing blood washed over the nail.

By now, Sun Yang's entire face had turned bluish-black. He chewed and swallowed several pills at once, clearly suffering from pill toxicity and unlikely to live much longer. But the blood in his hand was a vivid scarlet. It soaked the magic treasure, which he gripped between his five fingers as lightning crackled around it, gathering immense power!

"Lian'er!" Seeing this, the lady was horrified. She threw herself forward to save him, but Yao Xuanzhou didn't move. Instead, the twin brothers blocked her way. She flew into a rage. "Get out of my way!"

The elder brother, who held a precept saber, shook his head. The younger, gripping a Vajra scepter, frowned. Together they said, "Regardless of whether they're orthodox or demonic, those who agree to take the stage and fight have chosen to face this tribulation. You've intervened to help your side time and again. That's not what we of the orthodox path do!"

"What are you saying, you two ugly freaks? If my Lian'er is killed, I'll make your whole family pay!" The lady threw a furious tantrum.

The twin brothers didn't even look at her. Together, they replied, "E Shenyu will be waiting for you."

She was about to argue again when the situation on the platform changed. The billowing yellow wind gradually faded and came to a halt. Lü Daolian had raised the canopy and drawn the entire gale into its umbrella!

He'd forcibly absorbed the yellow wind, and three more layers of the silk canopy had been damaged. Yet Lü Daolian's face was twisted with rage as he roared, "Don't think you can pull that little trick and escape! You disfigured me! I'll wipe out every last one of you—"

Before he could finish, Sun Yang hurled the Heart-Piercing Nail in his hand.

A flash of blue lightning. A thunderous sonic boom. The nail tore through the remaining three layers of silk canopy and pierced straight through Lü Daolian's chest, sending him flying a full zhang before he crashed to the ground. Thud! He lay there, his fate unknown.

"Lian'er!" The lady screamed and rushed toward him.

This time, the brothers from E Shenyu didn't stop her.

Yao Xuanzhou didn't draw his sword, either. He only slowly closed his eyes. "Fate. Fate..."

Black blood surged across Sun Yang's face. "Don't... insult my sect..."

Then he slumped forward and died.

Lü Daolian lay on the ground, the Heart-Piercing Nail embedded through his chest, directly over the jade pendant at his neck—the one that had blocked a blood sword for him once before.

The pendant had saved him again. He'd only been knocked unconscious and sent into shock; the injury wasn't fatal.

His shiniang rushed over, grabbed him, and fled without another thought of punishing demons, disappearing into the distance on her escape light.

At any rate, Lian'er had won three bouts in a row and survived the tribulation. Naturally, no one tried to stop them.

"...The next match." Yao Xuanzhou closed his eyes for three seconds before opening them and speaking again.

"Liu Zongshou of Ink Bamboo Mountain requests a match!"

The Fifth Sword, Liu Zongshou, leaped onto the jade platform and stood beside Sun Yang's lifeless body.

After repeatedly sending their people to their deaths and being dealt two defeats, with one dead and another crippled, the Nascent Soul cultivators surrounding them didn't dare take advantage of this moment to stir up trouble again. There was no point asking for trouble.

Zhou Sheng's eyes shifted. He smiled at the two cultivators and said, "You two Zhenren stepped in just now. Was it because you witnessed the demonic arts of the Bamboo Mountain cult? Did that make you eager to show off your own sect's abilities?"

The two brothers from E Shenyu exchanged glances, then nodded. Together, they turned to the square-faced, thick-browed youth they'd brought with them. "Go see what the Central Plains' young heroes are made of."

The wheat-skinned youth nodded and leaped onto the jade platform. He cupped his fists and said loudly, "My name is Shi Kai."

"Liu Zongshou. Please show me your skill." Liu Zongshou took up the stance of an advanced Bamboo Mountain sword technique.

Shi Kai didn't attack at once. He looked down at the mess on the jade platform. "Why don't we wait before fighting? Shouldn't you gather up your fellow disciples' remains first?"

Liu Zongshou froze. He kept one eye on Shi Kai and turned the other toward the treasure ship.

"Thank you for your kindness, young Shi." Yao Xuanzhou nodded and summoned the Green Gourd, which sucked up all the blood and flesh on the platform, leaving only a patch of bright red.

Zhou Sheng stroked his mustache with a beaming smile. "Take a look, fellow Daoist. This is how disciples of the orthodox sects differ from you Demon Path cultivators. Young Hero Shi is kind-hearted, and that's why he pities you demonic cultivators, left exposed in the wilderness. But you'd do well to stay on your guard, young hero. These fiends are given to underhanded tricks and vicious attacks. You can never be too careful."

Shi Kai nodded. "Thank you for the warning, Senior."

Zhou Sheng's eyes flickered. Still smiling, he fell silent.

"Come on, let's fight." Shi Kai raised his hand and pulled a pitch-black wooden oar from his storage space. The youth was fairly tall, but the oar still looked long and heavy, hanging from his hand like a great saber.

Liu Zongshou looked at the youth before him. "You're not using a magic treasure?"

Shi Kai grinned, baring a row of white teeth. "If I win, my uncles will buy me one."

The two brothers from E Shenyu immediately looked away. "You promised him?"

Then they both averted their eyes again. "Anyway, I didn't."

Liu Zongshou didn't dwell on it. He nodded, leaped into the air, and poured all his Sword Qi into a single sword thrust, lunging straight at Shi Kai!

"Bamboo Mountain Sword! Please show me your skill!"

Shi Kai's smile vanished. He furrowed his thick brows, gripped the oar in both hands, and held it behind him at an angle. Then he stamped forward with a sudden burst of force, moving as fast as a flying leopard and charging like a tiger. In the same instant, he swept the oar around as if drawing a saber, sending spiritual qi surging like a raging sea. His shout boomed like thunder!

"Riding Waves and Splitting Waves Slash!!"

"What!" Yao Xuanzhou's eyes flew open.

"Blade Aura!" Zhou Sheng's hand slipped, and he pulled out several of his mustache hairs.

One move decided the victor.

Liu Zongshou was swept away by the tremendous saber force, like a crashing tide. The Bamboo Mountain Sword Method couldn't stop that strike, which seemed to split the sea and cleave the waves. He flew off the jade platform like a kite with its string cut.

Luckily, two Bamboo Mountain disciples had been waiting nearby. They leaped forward together and caught him.

When the three of them landed on the deck and examined him, Liu Zongshou's bones and sinews were shattered. His chest was bruised purple, as if crushed by a heavy object, and he was spitting mouthfuls of blood.

But he wasn't dead. Partly because he had a life-saving Golden Core in his mouth, and partly because the crescent-shaped Blade Aura, which looked capable of splitting the sea, hadn't been aimed at his head. After all, Shi Kai had struck him with an oar.

Shi Kai braced the oar against the ground and cupped his fists. "You were too kind."

Then the youth smiled openly, baring a row of white teeth. Perhaps he was happy because he'd earned himself a magic treasure, or because his opponent had survived, or perhaps simply because he'd won a match.

Whatever the reason, it was obvious he was very happy.