Who Was the Oriole?

The Rong Kingdom originally had five Qi Refining Attendants, whom the Rong Clan had paid a fortune to recruit.

Later, upon discovering that Tong Gaolu secretly harbored rebellious ambitions, Rong Tuo had acted decisively. While Tong Gaolu was out hunting, he sent all five Attendants to surround and kill him.

To Rong Tuo, this should have been as easy as reaching out and taking something already within his grasp.

Five Qi Refining cultivators against Tong Gaolu alone.

The advantage is mine!

Even if Tong Gaolu could overturn the heavens, he could never escape this killing stroke. Death was his only possible fate.

Yet Rong Tuo had never expected Tong Gaolu to hammer three of the five Qi Refining Attendants to death in that battle. Only Huang Zaichen and Qian Qi barely escaped with their lives.

Having witnessed Tong Gaolu's tremendous strength-as though he begrudged heaven its lack of a handle and earth its lack of a ring to lift them by-Qian Qi had been so terrified that he defected to Tong Gaolu's side.

At Rong Tuo's sudden shout,

Qian Qi, a short, middle-aged man, instantly grew flustered. He looked awkwardly toward Tong Gaolu, his gaze wavering.

"General, I..."

"A fickle wretch like you will only become a menace if I leave you alive!"

Tong Gaolu sighed. Light flashed in his hands, and a pair of Purple-Gold Baleful-Breaking Hammers appeared in his grip. He swung viciously at the utterly horrified Qian Qi!

A muffled, drumlike boom rang through the air. Qian Qi hastily waved a Red Small Banner, conjuring countless crimson clouds around himself. But the hammer's tremendous force shattered them outright, and its remaining momentum sent him flying several yards away, blood spraying from his mouth and nose.

"What?!"

All three members of the Rong Clan paled. Qian Qi was, after all, at the fourth level of Qi Refining, yet he could not withstand even a single blow?

Rong Jin was the first to lose patience. Forming a seal with one hand, he exhaled a gale from his throat.

Rong Tuo drove his Chain Talisman Artifact forward. Flecks of dark light streamed from it as it coiled toward Tong Gaolu like a long snake, seeking to strangle him. Rong Xuantao and Huang Zaichen unleashed their own attacks as well, filling the air with spiritual radiance.

Facing their combined assault, Tong Gaolu merely opened his mouth and roared. His thunderous bellow made the air rumble, swallowing every attack in its sound waves.

Huang Zaichen, whose cultivation was the weakest among them, felt his embryonic breathing fall into disarray under that roar. His vision went black, and he nearly fell from the sky.

Tong Gaolu paid them no heed. He simply approached the dying Qian Qi and swung his hammer, smashing him into a puddle of mangled flesh.

In that fleeting instant, brief as lightning or morning dew, a Qi Refining cultivator had already died...

Though four attackers besides Chen Heng remained, all of them were now terrified. No one dared strike first again.

"Didn't you intend to take my life, fellow Daoist? Why are you merely watching?"

Without even wiping the blood from his face, Tong Gaolu looked toward Chen Heng. "Have you lost your nerve?"

"Not at all. I merely wished to see what your physical Dao Art could do, General."

"And?" Tong Gaolu sneered.

"Excellent. It rightfully belongs to me!"

Smiling, Chen Heng grasped something inside his sleeve and tossed it into the sky. Thunder immediately erupted with a deafening rumble.

At the sight of it, Tong Gaolu's expression changed drastically for the first time.

"The Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead! Isn't that Mount Yang Daoist's talisman artifact... wait, Yi fell into your hands?!"

Chen Heng lightly swept his hand, sending countless bolts of lightning flashing down. At the same time, the Green Bamboo Thorn in his hand became a streak of emerald light, shooting straight toward Tong Gaolu's eyes.

Clang!

Tong Gaolu crossed his purple-gold hammers before him, barely blocking the bolts hurtling toward him. After just one exchange, he was inwardly astounded.

Driven by Chen Heng's embryonic breathing, this mid-grade talisman artifact was many times more powerful than it had been in Mount Yang Daoist's hands! Fortunately, his body was sturdy. Anyone else would already have been paralyzed from head to toe.

He knew his greatest asset was neither his cultivation nor any mid-grade talisman artifact, but his nearly indestructible body! Rather than trade attacks with Chen Heng, he summoned his flight light and tried to close in and kill him.

But Chen Heng had already anticipated his intentions. How could he let Tong Gaolu get close? He simply flew away, keeping his distance as they fought.

Thunderbolts erupted without end, pinning Tong Gaolu down beneath a relentless bombardment. The Green Bamboo Thorn darted among them from time to time, striking sparks from his flesh but failing to pierce it.

Tong Gaolu's body was indeed extraordinarily tough. Neither the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead nor the Green Bamboo Thorn could do more than batter him into a sorry state; neither could deliver a fatal blow.

"Do you intend to keep watching from the sidelines, fellow Daoist?"

Tong Gaolu launched one golden hammer into the sky. Like a fierce golden rainbow, it tore through the air with a mournful howl.

Chen Heng did not dare take that blow head-on either. He activated the One Qi Essence Jade to hold it off briefly, then used that opening to turn into light and flee, sending Rong Tuo a voice transmission.

"As you know, fellow Daoist, I have a talisman left by our ancestor. But I must get within half a zhang for it to work, and it takes several breaths... oh no!"

Seeing Chen Heng evade the blow, Tong Gaolu, who was pinned in place by thunder and fire and growing frantic beneath the barrage, roared furiously. He forced his other golden hammer up and hurled it toward Rong Tuo.

Apart from the Five Radiances Sect's Heaven and Earth Bag, he had been an utterly destitute rogue cultivator and had never learned any Dao Arts.

Had he not glimpsed the Earth Palace Golden Chapter through a chance encounter, the Imperial House's Attendants would long since have killed him with ease.

But Tong Gaolu's strength was now enough to shake mountains and crush cities. Even Chen Heng and Rong Tuo could not take it lightly, much less withstand it head-on.

Seeing the golden hammer hurtling toward him, Rong Tuo cried out and blew forth a gale that sent sand flying and stones tumbling. But the Lesser Wind and Mist-Summoning Technique was clearly no match for the force infused into the hammer. At the first touch, the gale scattered to pieces.

Helpless, Rong Tuo could only fling the Little Golden Man from his robes in that desperate instant.

As the Little Golden Man exploded in midair, Rong Tuo seized the chance to fly away, narrowly escaping death.

"Within close range... I understand. It seems this is the only way."

Chen Heng formed a seal and recalled both the bead and the Green Bamboo Thorn. After communicating with Tu Shan Ge through his thoughts, he lowered his flight light.

"Tong Gaolu, don't you want your son to live?"

Chen Heng barked coldly.

With Chen Heng's talisman artifacts withdrawn, Tong Gaolu finally gained a moment to breathe. He had just struggled to his feet when he saw a yellow-robed youth approaching in the distance, escorting Tong Yi, who was missing an arm.

"What's this?" Rong Tuo's eyes lit up.

He knew Chen Heng had flown off yesterday and brought several people back to his side. Only now did he realize that Tong Yi had been among them.

Just then, another voice transmission arrived from Chen Heng, immediately putting him on his guard.

"Yi?" Seeing his son's wretched condition, Tong Gaolu grew even more furious.

"If you want him to live, sever one of your own arms."

Chen Heng pointed at Tong Yi and spoke calmly.

"You..."

Tong Gaolu's face turned livid. After a moment's silence, he suddenly sneered.

"If I sever an arm, will either of us survive afterward? Your embryonic breathing is formidable, and I can do nothing to you. I can only endure your talisman artifacts beating me down! But can you actually break through my body?"

Tong Gaolu's gaze grew colder still. "Kill him, then! He's only one son. I can father another!"

"Father..."

Tong Yi's eyes had lit up upon seeing Tong Gaolu, but those words left him frozen in shock. Vicious hatred seeped across his face.

"You old beast, you damned bastard! You're going to watch me die? What do you think you are? A lowborn stable slave..."

Tong Yi cursed savagely, spewing an endless stream of filthy abuse. Even Rong Tuo was dumbfounded by it before breaking into a snickering laugh.

"...That worthless brat!"

Tong Gaolu was so stifled with rage that he wanted to tear Tong Yi's mouth apart.

"If you refuse to sever your arm, so be it."

Just then, Chen Heng suddenly seized the still-cursing Tong Yi by his collar and hurled him toward Tong Gaolu, saying:

"I have a kind heart. I cannot bear to see the living parted from their loved ones. Let your family reunite."

Tong Gaolu secretly rejoiced at those words. Paying no heed to whatever Chen Heng might be plotting, he hurriedly spread his arms and caught his son.

Whatever else Tong Yi might be, he was still his son... had the young man not possessed truly exceptional aptitude, even Tong Gaolu himself might have been unable to resist killing him.

But the instant Tong Gaolu caught him,

Suddenly!

A savage burst of freezing true qi erupted and surged straight into his body!

His internal organs all but froze solid. The cold rampaged like a frenzied dragon, turning his insides upside down!

Despite his remarkable physique, Tong Gaolu stiffened under the cold and froze in place.

Already forewarned by Chen Heng's voice transmission, Rong Tuo hesitated no longer. He took out a scarlet talisman, forced down his terror, approached within half a zhang of Tong Gaolu, and activated it with his embryonic breathing.

The talisman slowly floated upward. Threads of scarlet spiritual light intertwined, taking a full four or five breaths to gradually condense into the shape of a Blood-Red Flying Shuttle.

"Why... isn't it ready yet?"

Hovering far away on a cloud, Huang Zaichen could not keep his teeth from chattering. Only hot-blooded courage and loyalty had emboldened him to come this time.

But once the actual battle began, he, Rong Jin, and Rong Xuantao had merely provided support from the sidelines, serving little real purpose.

"Damn it! Why isn't it ready yet!"

Beside Tong Gaolu, Rong Tuo was frantic, his heart burning with anxiety.

At this distance, if Tong Gaolu recovered, a single slap would reduce him to a puddle of flesh.

As everyone held their breath, the Blood-Red Flying Shuttle finally took full shape, giving a clear, low hum. At that very moment, Tong Gaolu's eyelids began to tremble violently!

"Move! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Rong Tuo screamed repeatedly, terror tearing through his heart.

The flying shuttle leaped up and became a streak of piercing rainbow light. Amid a grinding noise that set everyone's teeth on edge, it finally bored through Tong Gaolu's skull with great difficulty before slowly dissipating.

"Aaaah!!!!"

Having barely shaken off the Cold Dipper True Qi, Tong Gaolu let out an earthshaking scream, clutching his head and howling at the sky.

The sound waves tore countless cracks through the ground. Rong Tuo felt repeated waves of pressure in his chest. Seeing Tong Gaolu go berserk, he did not dare linger, scrambling away on hands and feet in his panic.

"Still alive? What an excellent Dao Art!"

Chen Heng exclaimed in admiration. He summoned the Solid-Sinking Inkstone he had obtained from Tong Jizhen, sent it above Tong Gaolu's head, and made it self-destruct!

The blast's power, bought at the cost of destroying a talisman artifact, was only slightly inferior to the Blood-Red Flying Shuttle's strike!

With the destruction of a talisman artifact refined using his essence blood, Chen Heng trembled, his face instantly paling.

The others rejoiced at the sight and hastily unleashed their own attacks. Dozens of blows crashed into Tong Gaolu, showering sparks from his body.

In the end, Chen Heng had to drive the Green Bamboo Thorn through Tong Gaolu's skull several times before finally ending his life.

"A body truly worthy of a heavenly demon..."

Chen Heng forced himself to walk over to Tong Gaolu and put away his corpse. Watching all this, Rong Tuo's eyes suddenly flickered.

"I shall take my leave, then. Do not forget the terms you promised me, fellow Daoist."

Chen Heng cupped his hands in farewell. As he did, several strands of cold, ghostly blue-green true qi drifted from his sleeves, dancing like dragons and snakes in a dazzling display.

He still has true qi?

Already wavering, Rong Tuo abandoned his thoughts entirely at the sight. He hastily returned the salute and watched Chen Heng leave.

Without another word, Chen Heng swept Tu Shan Ge up with his embryonic breathing and became a streak of white light soaring into the sky.

Half a tea's time later, the white light suddenly descended beside a stream in the mountains. Under Tu Shan Ge's terrified gaze, Chen Heng's aura faltered, and he spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

"Master! What's wrong?"

He caught Chen Heng and shouted.

"My embryonic breathing was exhausted fighting Tong Gaolu. Destroying my talisman artifact just now injured me badly as well..." Chen Heng coughed up another mouthful of blood. "I feared Rong Tuo might grow greedy, so I forced myself to muster one last breath and barely managed to bluff him into backing down."

"Don't you still have Cold Dipper True Qi, master?"

"That was a deception. I exhausted it long ago... where would I get so much Cold Dipper True Qi?" Chen Heng smiled bitterly.

"Stand guard for me. I need to recover some embryonic breathing first."

With that, he took a Talisman Coin in his hand and began drawing in spiritual energy.

Tu Shan Ge nodded hastily. Just as he was about to use his divine power to conceal their surroundings, the vegetation suddenly rustled, followed by a woman's voice.

"You're injured? At last, the moment I've been waiting for."

A brilliant streak of crimson light swept violently through the mountain woods, striking with murderous force!

Tu Shan Ge tried to intercept it, but he was far too late. He could only watch, his eyes nearly splitting with anguish, as the crimson light slashed toward Chen Heng's head.

Thud!

Countless currents surged with a metallic clang, condensing into something as solid as iron. With effortless ease, they blocked the crimson light that had seemed certain to succeed.

"Master?"

Tu Shan Ge froze.

Right before him, a layer of translucent armor surrounded Chen Heng. He rose leisurely from the ground, his aura flowing steadily, vast and powerful. He was utterly unlike his earlier debilitated self, as though he had never been injured at all.

"You were too impatient. I thought you would wait a few breaths before attacking."

Chen Heng spoke calmly.

"You weren't injured? You pretended to trick me!"

The woman's voice wavered with shock and suspicion. "Wait, when did you notice me?!"

"Did you think you were so well hidden? Had I not been wary of that flight talisman artifact of yours, I would have killed you long ago."

Chen Heng's gaze darkened.

"Zhou Chuyu, was that your name? This place has mountains and water. It will make a fine resting place for your bones!"