Hearing Chen Xiao's furious curses, Shi Chou remained unmoved. Words like those could hardly stir the slightest ripple in his heart. But Nangong Xiangyan was so furious that smoke seemed to pour from his seven orifices.
Who was Nangong Xiangyan? He was an elder of the Nangong Family, a powerful Mahayana Realm cultivator known as a Void Immortal. Back in the family, which cultivator didn't treat him with the utmost respect?
Now he had come to Moon-Gazing City, a backwater town, only to be called an idiot to his face by a Qi Refining ant. How could he possibly put up with that?
But at that moment, though Nangong Xiangyan was seething, he had no time to deal with Chen Xiao. Shi Chou's black coffin, as large as a small mountain, slammed again and again into his flying sword.
Nangong Xiangyan could even feel a tiny crack forming on his flying sword. In an instant, his heart turned ice-cold.
After something unexpected had happened at the Chen Clan, the family had sent Nangong Xiangyan, along with several Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivators, to remain in Moon-Gazing City under the guise of a Glazed Heaven Palace delegation, ensuring that everything went smoothly.
To ensure the mission went smoothly, the Nangong Family had specifically bestowed a first-grade immortal sword upon Nangong Xiangyan. It was the dark-red sword.
Although Nangong Xiangyan was an elder of the Nangong Family, he was only an outer elder—an elder among the cultivators. Until he became an immortal, he would never qualify to enter the family's inner circle.
Though Nangong Xiangyan held high standing among the outer members, he wasn't entitled to possess an immortal artifact. He had finally managed to obtain an immortal sword, only for it to be shattered by some inexplicable coffin?
Nangong Xiangyan's eyes reddened. Part of it was heartbreak over his immortal artifact; the rest was fury. And after Chen Xiao had just given him a thorough tongue-lashing, even his Mahayana Realm composure began to waver.
Shi Chou didn't care about any of that. When his black coffin had just clashed with the other man's immortal sword, he'd felt a vast force surge out from the blade. At once, the blood in his veins had begun to boil.
"Mahayana Realm, with an immortal sword too? Good, good, good!"
Shi Chou lunged forward, grabbed the black coffin, and swung it straight down at Nangong Xiangyan's head.
"Open!"
Nangong Xiangyan's heart lurched. He hurriedly summoned a bell-shaped defensive artifact and raised it above his head.
Crack!
The instant the black coffin struck the golden bell, the artifact was crushed like an egg beneath a mountain, vanishing in specks of golden light.
Nangong Xiangyan's chest tightened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. The destruction of his artifact had dealt a heavy blow to his Primordial Spirit.
"What a powerful artifact!"
Nangong Xiangyan reacted quickly. The moment the black coffin came crashing down, a dark-red glow appeared beneath his feet and carried him beyond its reach.
Though damaged, the immortal sword was still an immortal artifact. It was more than twice as fast as Shi Chou's black coffin.
But the very next moment, Nangong Xiangyan spat out another mouthful of blood. In his haste, he pulled a jade bottle from his robes and tipped its spirit pills into his mouth like a handful of fried beans. Only then did he suppress his injuries.
"Ha ha ha! That feels great!"
Shi Chou let out a long roar, swung the black coffin in his hands, and smashed it at Nangong Xiangyan again. His body swayed slightly as he followed close behind.
This time, Nangong Xiangyan had learned his lesson and no longer met Shi Chou head-on. He pointed two fingers toward the sword in his hand, and the dark-red immortal sword instantly split into dozens of streaks of sword light, sweeping toward Shi Chou.
However powerful Shi Chou was, he didn't dare pit his flesh against an immortal artifact. He had no choice but to pull back the black coffin and defend himself.
"Who are you? State your name! I am an immortal envoy of the Glazed Heaven Palace. You dare attack me—aren't you afraid the Glazed Heaven Palace will hunt you down?"
Now that he had a chance to catch his breath, Nangong Xiangyan immediately brought down the great banner of the Glazed Heaven Palace.
"Ha ha ha! The Glazed Heaven Palace, the Glazed Heaven Palace!" Shi Chou gripped the black coffin with both hands and swung it through the air, warding off the sword lights as he laughed. "My coffin holds the corpse of Heaven! I am His Highness Corpse!"
With a roar, a streak of black light burst from the coffin and shattered the sword lights released by the dark-red immortal sword.
An aura of extreme yin and Baleful Intent seeped from the black coffin.
In an instant, the cultivators secretly watching from the shadows felt their hearts grow dark. A wave of nausea rose within them, and the true essence in their bodies ground to a halt.
Fortunately, the two men had already flown high into the sky. Otherwise, Moon-Gazing City would have been nearly ruined by their battle.
Chen Xiao had no desire to join in the excitement. He had seen His Highness Corpse, Shi Chou, many times in his previous life. Now that the man had brought the fight to his doorstep, Chen Xiao wasn't about to get involved again.
By now, the Golden Light Demon-Defending Array at the City Lord's Mansion had been fully activated, and some of the city's other protective arrays had begun operating as well. Only then were they able to hold back the yin and Baleful Intent from Shi Chou's coffin, preventing it from spreading to the other cultivators in the city.
Nangong Xiangyan bore the brunt of the yin and Baleful Intent. He felt a wave of nausea, and his true essence began circulating more slowly. If he hadn't been protected by an immortal artifact, his true essence would already have ground to a complete halt, just like that of the cultivators watching below.
Even so, Nangong Xiangyan's strength was forcibly reduced by thirty percent.
"His Highness Corpse... You practice wicked sorcery! Die!"
Once Nangong Xiangyan realized his condition, fury surged through him. The dark-red immortal sword beneath his feet flashed, releasing dozens of red sword Qi once more.
After all, it was an immortal artifact. Without immortal spiritual power, even a Mahayana Realm cultivator couldn't fully wield it. Splitting it into dozens of sword lights was already the limit of Nangong Xiangyan's ability.
But this time, the sword lights were clearly several times sharper than before. For a moment, Shi Chou was suppressed once more.
Chen Xiao stood in the City Lord's Mansion, watching Shi Chou and Nangong Xiangyan clash as he pondered his next move.
Shi Chou's sudden appearance had thrown his original plans into disarray, but it had also wrecked the Nangong Family's arrangements. Two Mahayana Realm cultivators fighting in a small place like Moon-Gazing City—no one would believe there wasn't a reason behind it.
Still, watching the battle filled Chen Xiao with longing. The Mahayana Realm! Even in his previous life, he had never reached such heights. Yet he didn't envy them; he knew that, given enough time, becoming an immortal wouldn't be beyond him.
"Shi Chou emerged three years earlier than he did in my previous life. His cultivation hasn't reached its peak. Otherwise, that man wouldn't stand a chance against him."
Though Chen Xiao's cultivation was low, he still had a keen eye. He knew that his own actions had disrupted the course of history, bringing about the situation now unfolding.
"Could it be that this Nine Heavens Thunder Virtue Universal Transformation Art—the art of controlling heavenly tribulations—has no other use besides controlling their power?"
Suddenly, a thought rose unbidden in Chen Xiao's mind. He remembered Staff Daoist, who was supposed to appear before long. Why can't I recruit some demonic beasts that have survived tribulation and taken human form?
A timid question: anyone got votes?