White-Robed Youth Seeks Revenge, Fire Dragon Leaves the Aperture

Zhu Ying looked back into the distance and said, "He didn't seem like he could sense the direction we fled in."

Wang Chong shook his head and said in a low voice, "Even so, we came out of the East Sea and headed straight for Wutai all the way. He can probably guess that we are disciples of Wutai."

The moment Wang Chong finished speaking, the white-robed youth withdrew his magical treasures and spells, then rode a willow leaf toward them.

Wang Chong guided the fire serpent slightly off course. The white-robed youth passed right over them, heading precisely toward Wutai.

Zhu Ying's face changed. "Could it be that he actually dares to wreak havoc on Wutai Mountain?"

Wang Chong said, "What I fear most is that he is also from Wutai, and holds a position even higher than ours."

Zhu Ying was greatly startled. This possibility had never crossed her mind, and she cried, "If that is so, then do we not have nowhere left to go?"

"Not necessarily. It is only a guess. His Daoist arts do not seem to belong to Wutai's lineage either."

"Still, we should be a little careful when returning to Wutai. If there truly is nothing unusual, it will not be too late to go back. Even if we miss one scripture lecture, there is nothing to be done about it."

Zhu Ying asked, "Could Tuo Tuo Ancestor not protect us?"

Then she came to a realization and said, "That is true. We are not, after all, Tuo Tuo Ancestor's direct disciples, and the Five-Terrace Sect has many elders from various branches. Who knows what connections might be involved?"

The two rode the fire serpent for another two days and one night before returning to Wutai Mountain. Yet they did not dare immediately return to Southern Zen Temple on Sea-Gazing Peak. Instead, they used an invisibility spell and drifted around the vicinity of Wutai Mountain.

Wang Chong and Zhu Ying had originally thought they would not spot anything so quickly. Yet in less than half a day, they saw the white-robed youth flying about nearby atop his willow leaf. The two sides brushed past one another, but the white-robed youth failed to notice them.

Wang Chong was startled. This brat really knows how to hold a grudge!

He said to Zhu Ying, "The white-robed youth has indeed come to Wutai."

Zhu Ying was somewhat angry and said quietly, "This man clings to us like a lingering ghost. We cannot defeat him either. What should we do?"

Wang Chong touched the fire serpent on his person and thought to himself, I wonder whether this thing can defeat the white-robed youth.

Wang Chong had used the Qian-Li Fire Serpents to drive back Sun Yougui and the Black Eagle Demon King. Yet he had also discovered that although the Qian-Li Fire Serpents possessed boundless might, his own magic power was too weak. Thus, he could only rely on the fire serpents' innate strength in battle. When fighting old cultivators like Sun Yougui and the Black Eagle Demon King, who had cultivated for many years, he could not kill them in a single strike.

Figures who had cultivated bitterly for centuries were richly experienced at adapting to circumstances and repelling enemies in battle. Even if they could not win, they could always find ways to retreat.

Wang Chong secretly pondered, The Qian-Li Fire Serpents alone may have infinite power, but in a fight, I can only let them meet the enemy on their own. They are not adaptable enough.

Last time, I refined one Qian-Li Fire Serpent into the bronze ring. Although my cultivation was still too weak to bring out its full power, it was far more flexible than using the fire serpent directly against an enemy.

Why not refine another fire serpent into the Crimson Lightning Sword? With the Qiankun Ring and the Crimson Lightning Sword, perhaps I can fight the white-robed youth to the bitter end.

Wang Chong now understood that magical treasures were not unique. There ought to be many identical magical treasures in the world.

The bronze ring he had picked up should originally have been called the Qiankun Ring. It was only because the spellwork used to refine it had not been orthodox enough. After he obtained the talismans from the celestial stele, the Qiankun Ring he refined became the true transmission of the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas.

Wang Chong said to Zhu Ying, "Sister Zhu, do not worry. Let us first refine the Crimson Lightning Sword and Crimson Rainbow Sword until we can wield them as easily as our own hands and feet, then face this man in battle."

Zhu Ying felt that Wang Chong's words made sense. With one more flying sword, they would gain many advantages when facing an enemy. Afraid of running into the white-robed youth, and uncertain whether the Five-Terrace Sect would shelter them, the two found an abandoned temple nearby and each devoted themselves to refining their swords.

Wang Chong went into seclusion for seven or eight days, refining a Qian-Li Fire Serpent into the Crimson Lightning Sword. He also further refined the Qiankun Ring.

This sword and ring had each been refined from two Heaven-Mixing Talismans. Though the refinement was still shallow, their foundations were extraordinary.

As Wang Chong breathed in and out sword qi, the sword intent of the Crimson Lightning Sword blazed like fire, fierce beyond measure. The Qiankun Ring also frequently rang out with a clang, gradually gaining spirituality.

Having refined these two magical treasures, Wang Chong had originally wanted to further comprehend the Fire Dragon Sword Technique, or practice the Fragmentation Technique he had learned from Daoist Shen, so as to gain a few more measures of confidence. Yet unexpectedly, after lingering at Wutai for seven or eight days, the white-robed youth suddenly grew impatient and flew south, vanishing without a trace.

Zhu Ying and Wang Chong had been taking turns keeping watch. They had not expected the white-robed youth to lose patience first, and they were both startled and delighted. After waiting another half-day and confirming that he truly had not returned, they quietly went back to Sea-Gazing Peak.

They had missed one scripture lecture, but after remaining outside for another seven or eight days, they happened to encounter the next lecture as soon as they returned to the mountain.

Unwilling to miss Tuo Tuo Ancestor's lecture, Zhu Ying and Wang Chong did not even take the time to tidy up before heading to the lecture hall.

This time, Tuo Tuo Ancestor was still lecturing on the Fire Dragon Sword Technique, but what he taught was even more subtle and profound than last time.

As before, more than half of Tuo Tuo Ancestor's disciples and descendants could not understand this supreme sword art. Even Zhu Ying understood only half of it.

Yet the more Wang Chong listened, the more absorbed he became. Last time, he had thought that he could use the Qian-Li Fire Serpents in place of pure yang qi. Recently, in preparation for fighting the white-robed youth, he had refined a Qian-Li Fire Serpent into the Crimson Lightning Sword. He could not help secretly attempting it now.

Wang Chong did not know that Tuo Tuo Ancestor also understood that the Fire Dragon Sword Technique had been personally transmitted by Patriarch Sa. Although it was still inferior to the Twenty-Seven Fire Dragon Method, it was nevertheless difficult to cultivate. Therefore, he had omitted the sword formula talismans. Even if disciples forcibly attempted to cultivate it, should their cultivation prove inadequate and they suffer backlash from the sword technique, they would not be too severely injured.

Yet he had not expected Wang Chong to possess the Daoist arts of the Langhuan Celestial Stele. The Celestial Escape Sword Formula encompassed ten thousand things and contained all sword formula talismans under heaven. Even the sword formula talismans refined through Patriarch Sa's Fire Dragon Sword Technique were contained within the Celestial Escape Sword Formula and could not escape its pattern.

After passing this obstacle came the cultivation of Dharma apertures. Yet Wang Chong had first learned the Great Five-Element Qi Refinement Art of the Primordial Sword Formula, then the Yin-Yang Five-Element Qi Refinement Art of the Yin-Yang Five-Element Seven-Incisions Sword Technique. Both qi refinement arts were direct transmissions of the Five-Terrace Sect, from the lineage of Zhang True Lord and Patriarch Sa. Thus, the Dharma apertures he had opened also secretly matched the Fire Dragon Sword Technique.

Only after clearing these two obstacles came the matter of supreme yang magic power.

Other disciples of the Five-Terrace Sect did not truly lack supreme yang magic power. Rather, they could not successfully visualize the sword formula talismans, their spiritual apertures lacked sufficient refinement, and many of their Dharma apertures had not been opened.

Neither of these was a problem for Wang Chong. He secretly circulated his magic power, connected with the Crimson Lightning Sword, borrowed the qi of Qian-Li True Fire within it, and attempted to circulate it through the heavenly cycle.

Wang Chong had the temperament of a youth and merely wanted to give it a try. Yet he had no lack of sword formula talismans, spiritual apertures, or supreme yang qi. He perfectly met every threshold for cultivating the Fire Dragon Sword Technique.

Before everyone's eyes, Wang Chong sensed that within the dim and indistinct void, all the spiritual apertures he had opened suddenly darkened. The two cycles of magic power collapsed, and a stream of supreme yang qi emerged, piercing through forty-nine Dharma apertures in succession. A fire dragon vaguely appeared in the void...