Thoughts

Hearing Chen Xiao's angry cursing, Shi Chou remained unmoved; such language could hardly cause a ripple in his heart. Nangong Xiangyan, however, was so furious that smoke seemed to be pouring from his seven orifices.

Who was Nangong Xiangyan? An elder of the Nangong Family, a powerhouse of the Mahayana Realm, and a man hailed as a Void Immortal. In his family, which cultivator did not treat him with the utmost respect upon seeing him?

To come to this backwater Moon-Gazing City today and be pointed at and called an idiot by a mere Qi Refining ant—how could he possibly endure such an insult?

Yet, even as anger burned within him, Nangong Xiangyan had no time to spare for Chen Xiao. Shi Chou's massive black coffin, resembling a small mountain, was slamming against his flying sword with wild, rhythmic force.

Nangong Xiangyan could even feel a tiny crack forming on his flying sword. In an instant, a chill washed over his heart.

Because of some unexpected developments with the Chen Clan, the family had sent Nangong Xiangyan, along with several Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivators, to stay in Moon-Gazing City under the guise of a delegation from the Glazed Heaven Palace to ensure everything proceeded smoothly.

To guarantee the success of this mission, the Nangong Family had specifically bestowed upon Nangong Xiangyan a first-grade immortal sword—the very dark red blade he now wielded.

Although Nangong Xiangyan was an elder of the Nangong Family, he was merely an outer-sect elder, a rank-and-file elder among cultivators. As long as one did not ascend to immortality, one had no qualification to enter the family's core.

While Nangong Xiangyan held a high status within the outer sect, he was not entitled to possess an immortal artifact. He never imagined that this immortal sword, obtained with such great difficulty, would be shattered by some inexplicable coffin.

His eyes turned bloodshot. On one hand, he felt the heartache of losing his immortal artifact; on the other, he was consumed by rage. Combined with the verbal abuse he had just suffered from Chen Xiao, his Mahayana Realm state of mind began to fracture.

Shi Chou cared nothing for such things. After his black coffin collided with the opponent's immortal sword, he felt a vast, surging impact reverberate from the blade. His blood began to boil with excitement.

"Mahayana Realm, wielding an immortal sword—good, good, good!"

Shi Chou lunged forward, grabbed the black coffin, and smashed it directly toward the top of Nangong Xiangyan's head.

"Open!"

Nangong Xiangyan was startled and hurriedly released a bell-shaped spiritual defensive treasure to block the blow above him.

Crack!

The moment the black coffin struck the golden bell, the treasure was crushed like an egg beneath a mountain, dissipating into specks of golden light.

Nangong Xiangyan felt a tightness in his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood. The destruction of his treasure caused severe damage to his Primordial Spirit.

"What a formidable treasure!"

Nangong Xiangyan's reaction was swift. The moment the coffin pressed down, a dark red light appeared beneath his feet, carrying him out of the coffin's range.

Although the immortal sword was damaged, it was still an immortal artifact, and its speed was more than double that of Shi Chou's coffin.

But in the next moment, Nangong Xiangyan spat out another mouthful of blood. In his haste, he pulled a jade bottle from his robes and began downing medicinal pills like popping beans, finally suppressing his internal injuries.

"Hahaha, exhilarating!"

Shi Chou let out a long roar. He swung the black coffin in his hands and smashed it toward Nangong Xiangyan once more, his body flickering as he gave chase.

This time, Nangong Xiangyan had learned his lesson and stopped trying to trade blows head-on. He guided his sword-finger, and the dark red immortal sword instantly split into dozens of sword beams, enveloping Shi Chou's body.

No matter how strong Shi Chou was, he dared not pit his physical body against an immortal artifact. He had no choice but to retract the coffin for passive defense.

"Who are you? State your name! I am an immortal official envoy of the Glazed Heaven Palace. Are you not afraid of being hunted down by the Glazed Heaven Palace for attacking me?"

Now that he had a moment to breathe, Nangong Xiangyan immediately tried to crush him with the weight of the Glazed Heaven Palace's reputation.

"Hahaha, Glazed Heaven Palace, Glazed Heaven Palace!" Shi Chou swung the black coffin in mid-air, the wind howling as he blocked the sword beams. He laughed loudly, "My coffin buries the corpses of the heavens! I am His Highness Corpse!"

Shi Chou let out a thunderous roar, and a black light surged from the coffin, instantly shredding the sword beams split from the dark red immortal sword.

An aura of extreme yin and baleful intent radiated from the coffin.

In an instant, the cultivators hiding in the shadows watching the battle felt their hearts sink. A wave of nausea rose within them, and the true essence in their bodies stagnated for a moment.

It was fortunate that the two had flown high into the sky; otherwise, Moon-Gazing City would likely have been devastated by them.

Chen Xiao had no interest in joining the fray. He had encountered His Highness Corpse, Shi Chou, many times in his previous life. Now that the battle had reached his doorstep, Chen Xiao had no desire to get involved.

At this moment, the Golden Light Demon-Defending Array of the City Lord's Mansion was fully activated, and several protective arrays throughout the city began to hum, finally blocking the yin-baleful aura from the coffin and preventing it from affecting the other cultivators in the city.

As the baleful intent emerged, Nangong Xiangyan bore the brunt of it. He felt a wave of nausea, and the circulation of his true essence slowed. Had he not been protected by his immortal artifact, his true essence would have stagnated completely, just like the cultivators watching from below.

Even so, Nangong Xiangyan's strength was forcibly reduced by thirty percent.

"His Highness Corpse... you crooked, evil path, die!"

Realizing his condition, Nangong Xiangyan grew furious. 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 energy, even a Mahayana Realm cultivator could not fully command it. Splitting it into dozens of sword beams was already Nangong Xiangyan's limit.

However, these sword beams were clearly several times sharper than before, and for a moment, Shi Chou was suppressed once again.

Chen Xiao stood in the City Lord's Mansion, watching the clash between Shi Chou and Nangong Xiangyan, his mind racing as he considered his next move.

Shi Chou's appearance had disrupted his original plans, but it had also ruined the Nangong Family's deployment. At the very least, two Mahayana Realm cultivators were fighting in this tiny Moon-Gazing City; if one claimed there was no reason for it, not even a ghost would believe them.

Yet, watching the two fight, Chen Xiao felt a sense of yearning. The Mahayana Realm—even in his previous life, he had never reached such heights. But while he yearned for it, he was not envious, for he knew that given time, becoming an immortal would be no problem.

"Shi Chou has appeared three years earlier than in my previous life. His cultivation has not reached its peak; otherwise, that man would be no match for him at all."

Though Chen Xiao's cultivation was low, his insight remained. He understood clearly that his own actions had disrupted the original flow of history, leading to the current situation.

"Could it be that the Nine Heavens Thunder Virtue Universal Transformation Art, this method of controlling heavenly tribulations, has no other use besides manipulating the strength of the tribulations?"

Suddenly, a thought sprouted involuntarily in Chen Xiao's mind. He recalled the Staff Daoist, who was supposed to appear not long from now. "Could I not take some beasts that have transcended their tribulations and assumed human form and make them my own?"

Asking timidly, are there any tickets?