Uchiha: I Admit, You've Gone a Little Too Far

Uchiha: I Admit, You've Gone a Little Too Far

"There are too many paths worth strengthening. That just goes to show how weak I still am."

"I can't learn from Sasuke. The moment the sky clears and the rain stops, he thinks he's invincible again."

This experience could hardly be called a brutal beatdown.

Still, Fang Xiu had keenly realized that his mindset seemed to have gotten a little inflated. Luckily, the female Corpse-Dissection Immortal he'd encountered hadn't been particularly hostile, and their battle had remained within a stable range the whole time.

"I'll go meet her."

"Even if something unexpected happens, with my Chakra reserves and Earth Release's properties in Senjutsu Mode, holding out until I return shouldn't be difficult."

A decision was made.

Meanwhile.

Yanxu Daoji deliberately kept the battle from escalating. She calmly surveyed the surrounding forest, her gaze pausing on Huang Huotu. Just as Fang Xiu had anticipated, neither side in the battle had any reason to harm him. He was unhurt, sheltered by countless towering ancient trees.

"Those eyes are far too unusual. If they evolve any further, they may become even more effective against spirits."

"But what's the point?"

"Born only to fight, and in the end, they'll still lose to time. They'll either be forced into Corpse-Dissection or cultivate the lowest form of Ghost Immortal."

"Ah, forget it. As long as my sister and I can endure forever, that's enough. Maybe in a few hundred or thousand years, when Heaven and Earth are connected again, we'll find a way to advance further."

Her thoughts drifting, her clear eyes refocused on the top of a towering tree.

Fang Xiu appeared without a sound.

This time, he'd come in person.

He wore an ancient-style vermilion suit of armor and carried a specially made long sword on his back. His thick black hair was tied at the ends with a red cord and stirred in the wind.

Yanxu Daoji found him rather pleasing to the eye.

She'd been a Daoist nun in the late Song Dynasty.

At the time, the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth had already begun to wane. With a change of dynasties underway, many cultivators had chosen to flee disaster in remote places, even in the wilderness.

Zhenxian Temple in Jiaozhi was where the sisters had gone to escape the world. They'd stayed together for centuries, right up to the present day...

As she studied him, Fang Xiu studied her in turn. She had a fine bearing, but the pair of pupils in her eye sockets looked rather sinister.

Perhaps that was how the Sharingan looked to outsiders, too?

"Greetings, fellow Daoist."

Immortals were worthy of respect, after all.

At least, after their tentative sparring match, Fang Xiu wasn't confident he could defeat her, so he took the initiative to greet her.

Besides, he'd realized that this female immortal was mild-tempered enough, unlike Xie Yali, the younger sister who appeared in the movie and needed the Five Hells Renxiao.

Maybe he could get something out of this?

Of the manuals Hermit Caolu had given him not long ago, only the Hutian Technique remained. The loss had truly made Fang Xiu wince.

After all, one could never have too many skills. Even if he couldn't master them all, it was better to have them on hand. He might need them someday—and not needing a skill was a thousand times better than not knowing how to use it when it mattered.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist." Yanxu withdrew her scrutinizing gaze and gave a slight nod. "It seems we can have a normal conversation this time."

"You won't ask me for an immortal artifact or divine weapon again, will you?"

She added the question after a moment.

"..." Fang Xiu.

"..." Huang Huotu.

Neither man had anything to say.

The former blamed it on the Uchiha family's inherited tendency to get carried away, as well as the fact that the ancients didn't understand jokes and lacked a sense of humor.

The latter was simply out of his depth. He didn't dare join in, afraid he'd witness another battle between immortals firsthand.

The two of them began talking face-to-face. The atmosphere was fairly amicable, and they exchanged stories of the past.

Their conversation confirmed Fang Xiu's guess, as well as the events in the movie. The younger sister had failed to overcome Heaven's Will and couldn't undergo Corpse-Dissection and become an immortal before she was born. With no better option, she'd begun searching for Renxiao and sending them into the Five Hells, achieving the lowest form of Corpse-Dissection:

Weapon-Disintegration.

And Old Huang truly was the fated Sword-Wielding Executor.

Standing silently to the side as a mere backdrop, Huang Huotu was stunned as he listened to the story and learned the truth. He hadn't known he'd been carrying so much on his shoulders.

And without realizing it, he'd incurred an enormous debt of gratitude.

If Yanxu Daoji hadn't secretly intervened back then, the bullet fired by his brother-in-law would have followed its trajectory and blown his beloved daughter's head apart.

"Immortal, thank you very much for your help. But the Five Hells Ascension Method... isn't it too cruel? Becoming an immortal through killing—couldn't that lead to trouble?"

Huang Huotu, still wearing his police uniform, mustered his courage and interrupted. He couldn't help glancing at Fang Xiu.

After all, the Main God had assigned him a new identity as a Hong Kong Island police officer, sent here as a consultant.

"No. The sages of old have already proven it."

"Besides, Renxiao bear the burden of their own sins. My sister has Double Vision and can see all the causes and effects in the Human World. So far, she hasn't killed anyone innocent..."

Ice Prison punished those who acquired ill-gotten wealth. The owner of a chemical company had recklessly dumped heavy-metal wastewater while alive, affecting thousands of households. Some elderly people and children had died as a result, and their families still hadn't received compensation.

Fire Pit Prison punished those who committed sexual crimes. The mistress, Miao, who'd kept a legislator, hadn't just been after his money. For the sake of a proper title, she'd deliberately called his wife to provoke her, causing her to miscarry. The baby died in the womb, and the wife was left unable to have children for the rest of her life.

Intestine-Pulling Prison tormented those guilty of betrayal. The priest preached mercy, but in reality, he dealt with local gangs and smuggled weapons.

The next prison, Heart-Gouging, required the death of an unfilial son. He did nothing but lounge around and gamble away his elderly parents' savings, never changing despite repeated scoldings, until he angered them to death.

Honestly, all four deserved to die. Fang Xiu had no intention of seeking justice on their behalf.

The fifth prison, Tongue-Pulling, was different. In the story, the one offered up as a sacrifice was Kevin, an FBI agent.

He was a man of justice with excellent professional skills. In every way, he seemed like a good person...

Perhaps noticing Fang Xiu's confusion, Yanxu Daoji said casually, "As for the fifth person, Heaven's Will doesn't require us to force someone who doesn't revere the gods. Just find some foreign barbarian and kill him. I think that agent named Kevin would do nicely."

Her voice turned cold.

In an instant, Huang Huotu felt a chill, along with the contempt of a life form on a higher plane. A human life was just a chess piece, there to be moved at will.

Discriminating against foreigners?

Fine.

But killing a capable, upright police officer was taking things a little too far.

Even though Fang Xiu had accepted that he was a member of the Uchiha Clan, his way of thinking might not be twisted enough to understand it.

As for sacrificing wicked people who deserved their fate but couldn't be brought to justice by the law, he was completely on board, even if the methods were bloody and bizarre.

In the silence, Yanxu suddenly asked, "What do you think, fellow Daoist?"

"Why not choose someone else? There are plenty of people who don't revere the gods these days. It shouldn't be hard to find a scumbag to send to the Tongue-Pulling Prison." Fang Xiu spoke his mind.

"Fine."

"A strong person's opinion is always worth taking seriously."

-- Changed the fate of FBI agent Kevin Wright, earning one C-rank side-story mission and 1,000 reward points.

The Main God's announcement descended.

Clearly, that battle hadn't been for nothing.