Chapter 171: Disciple

Chapter 171: Disciple

"Master..." The instant this voice rang out, Danyang Zi spun around in a start, only to be met immediately by a familiar face.

It was Zhengkun, his once most favored disciple, standing there in a cyan Daoist robe, gazing at him calmly with not a trace of hatred in his eyes.

He was so vividly lifelike, looking for all the world as if he were a living, breathing man.

Yet Danyang Zi distinctly remembered that he had stomped Zhengkun's skull into pulp himself; there was absolutely no way he could still be alive!

The next moment, as if suddenly snapping to his senses, Danyang Zi flew into a towering rage. "Dare to play ghosts and spirits with this Daoist Lord! I think you're tired of living!!"

Having finished his rebuke, Danyang Zi tossed the longsword in his hand high into the air.

Pressing his middle and index fingers together, he bit them with his teeth, then used his bloodied fingertips to trace a blood talisman across the descending blade.

"Heavenly Pole Seven Primes! Vast Qi commands the heavens! Piercing water, entering smoke! Transmitted through the Three Heavens! Slaying fiends, erasing traces! Returning from death to ascend to immortality! Swiftly, by the supreme decree of the Ultimate Truth!!"

The moment the talisman was completed, the blade instantly changed color, as wisps of black, fluff-like matter flowed from the heavens and the earth, clinging to the blade.

Gripping the hilt, Danyang Zi stamped his feet and launched himself through the air toward Zhengkun, who stood firmly in the distance.

Faced with his master's attack, Zhengkun seemed not to dodge, standing his ground as if he still had something to say.

Danyang Zi brought the sword down with a fierce cleave, imbued with a bizarre aura; as the blade and its sword qi sliced through Zhengkun's body, the latter, a faint smile on his face, gradually dissipated.

With a gloomy expression, Danyang Zi stood inside the cave, vigilantly scanning the silent surroundings.

A slow yet brief incense stick's worth of time passed, and the cold, deserted cave revealed no further anomalies.

"Hmph! Consider yourself lucky! Whoever you are, if you dare offend this Daoist Lord, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your miserable life!"

The harsh words were spoken, but they were all just a facade.

In truth, Danyang Zi hadn't relaxed his guard in the slightest; listening in all directions and watching on all sides, he gripped his sword and began to slowly make his way out of the cave.

Once out of the cavern, Danyang Zi immediately employed his movement technique, rushing down the mountain.

He sprinted all the way, not stopping until he reached the foot of the mountain and laid eyes on the dead town, now covered in burial mounds.

Danyang Zi had no intention of running too far; otherwise, he feared his original body wouldn't be able to find him upon its return.

All he needed now was a safe place to wait.

The various items brought by Master You were quickly spread out on the ground, and Danyang Zi immediately began to set up his formation with rapid precision.

"Brilliant and radiant, the gleam of thunder! Those who meet the curse shall die, those who invoke the Dao shall perish! I serve the True Dao, instantly slaying the inauspicious! All ghosts and fiends, depart from my side! What thing dares to stand against me? Water cannot drown me, fire cannot scorch me! Within and beyond the Three Realms, swiftly, by the supreme decree of the Supreme Lord!"

The moment the incantation ended, the yellow flags planted atop the surrounding graves swayed in unison.

Faint, ethereal lines appeared between the flags, forming a massive Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams formation.

Danyang Zi was now crouching in the very eye of the formation, intending to meet all changes with constancy.

"This Daoist Lord is in no rush at all; if you have the skill, you can play with me all night long!"

Sitting atop a burial mound, Danyang Zi kicked away the tombstone before him and began to wait.

Gazing at the mounds of earth all around, Danyang Zi couldn't help but worry about his original body.

"Though the three Xi Shen are troublesome, my original body should be able to handle them; even if he can't win, he can surely escape, so why hasn't he returned yet?"

Remaining inside the Eight Trigrams formation, Danyang Zi pondered for a while, but seemingly still uneasy, he raised his sword and began drawing something on the ground.

"Master, what kind of formation is this?" Hearing the ingratiating words from his side, a hint of disdain flashed across Danyang Zi's face.

"Just watch carefully, it's not yet time to teach you the---"

His words abruptly ceased as Danyang Zi slowly raised his head, staring in shock at Zhengkun standing right before him.

He was actually standing right beside him in the center of the formation, and the array he had spent so much effort setting up had absolutely no effect on him whatsoever.

"This is absolutely impossible! A formation set by this Daoist Lord, even if it cannot block, cannot fail to even trigger an alert!"

"Swish!" The sword slashed out once more, yet this time it passed straight through Zhengkun's chest, leaving the other party completely unharmed.

Just as Danyang Zi was about to try another method against this bizarre disciple, he suddenly heard a different stirring from the grave mound to his left.

Turning his head, he saw Xuan Yin, another of his disciples from the Qingfeng Temple, standing there in the exact same manner.

"Master, it has been a long time; this disciple has missed you dearly."

As the shocked Danyang Zi took half a step back, two men with long swords strapped to their backs swiftly stepped forward from the side, their hands forming Daoist seals.

"Changming and Changren pay respects to Master! Congratulations on attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal!!"

Yet this was merely the beginning; more and more people emerged from the surrounding graves, speaking to Danyang Zi.

Among them were not only those from the Qingfeng Temple, but also others who had crossed paths with Danyang Zi in the past.

As time passed, "Danyang! You thieving bastard who stole our techniques! You've actually resorted to heretical ways, using people to refine pills! My original body should have slapped you to death!"

"Lai Zi! We were brothers, yet you dared to scheme against me behind my back! What kind of bullshit sworn brother are you!!"

"Why did you sell my daughter! She was your wife! You damned, thousand-times-cursed wretch!"

"What right did you have to kill my father! What right!! My father even treated you to the white flour we couldn't bear to eat ourselves! What right did you have to kill him!! Boo hoo hoo..."

The voices grew increasingly chaotic and disordered, and as more and more people filled the Eight Trigrams formation, Danyang Zi's mind began to unravel.

"This... what on earth is this..." His breathing gradually quickening, he slowly lowered his head; looking at the ever-growing crowd of familiar faces, a trace of fear slowly surfaced in his eyes.

When he saw a burly, obese man also appear among them, the terror in Danyang Zi's heart was instantly magnified to its absolute peak.

"Enough!" Danyang Zi stepped through the Gang steps, wildly brandishing the sword in his hand.

The ethereal lines forming the Eight Trigrams formation around him drifted wisps of white smoke into the air, dancing in tandem with the blade.

Unknowingly, the sky had become overcast with dark clouds, just as Danyang Zi fiercely thrust his sword into the ground.

With a "crack," a bolt of purple lightning struck down, illuminating everything in the vicinity.

The purple thunder surged along the Eight Trigrams formation on the ground, radiating outward to engulf everything around it.

All the burial mounds and tombstones, and even the surrounding houses, rapidly turned a charred black.

Yet when he raised his head once more, he found that those people hadn't even torn their clothes.

"What on earth is going on! Who are you people!! The Zuowang Dao? Do you truly dare to provoke a True Immortal!!" Danyang Zi screamed at them hoarsely.

He was furious, yet someone was laughing—it was the fat man who had just appeared.

Looking at Danyang Zi with feigned surprise, he said, "Well, well, isn't this Yang Danzi? You've grown so much! Let me tell you all, back when this kid wanted to learn my craft, he knelt on the ground and licked my ass. Hahaha!!"

As soon as the fat man spoke, everyone around was amused; they burst into simultaneous laughter, their mirth brimming with contempt and mockery.

"What right do you mortals have to look down on this Daoist Lord!! I am about to ascend to immortality! What right do you have to despise me!!"

Suddenly driven to a state of madness, Danyang Zi began to unleash all his abilities, attempting to slaughter these people.

Yet no matter what divine powers he employed, they had not the slightest effect on them.

Nearly exhausted, Danyang Zi collapsed onto the ground; breathing heavily, he pulled a long thorn from his hem and thrust it into his left and right ears.

Yet after the agonizing pain subsided, those mocking laughs not only failed to fade, but grew even louder.

"Ahhh!!" Danyang Zi picked up a stone and began frantically smashing it against his own head.

Just then, a figure slowly emerged from the crowd, and he was the only one not laughing.

Danyang Zi recognized the figure before him; it was his final disciple, Li Huowang.

Li Huowang stepped closer, a smile playing upon his lips as he gazed upon the wretched and piteous appearance of Danyang Zi.

"Master, is my body serving you well?"