Chapter 106: Staring Eyeball to Eyeball

Chapter 106 Staring at Each Other

Why did the treasure-hunting instinct trigger at this moment? There might be members of Dark Rose lurking nearby... Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly bid farewell to the shop aunt and dashed out of the convenience store.

Among the members of Dark Rose, there must still be Night Wanderers; if Little Goofball encountered them, it would be all over.

On the empty and silent street, cars occasionally sped by, but the fierce battle in the school seemed invisible, including in the nearby residential buildings, where many windows were lit.

Countless night owls in the big city, but no one was drawn to the battle at the school.

After leaving the convenience store, Zhang Yuanqing followed Little Goofball from a distance along the street.

The infant spirit crawled to the intersection, raised its sparse-haired head, looked left, sniffed right, and finally, it confirmed a direction, lowered its head, and crawled swiftly.

Zhang Yuanqing had to quicken his pace, following not too far, not too close.

...

The Great Protector, wrapped in a black robe, looked around the lush forest and said hoarsely:

"Zoo projection... you old thing, you finally used this rule-type artifact."

At the top of a towering tree, the curly-haired Teddy sat, gazing down with deep eyes:

"A level 7 Sunwalker, even in Taiyi Sect there are few. I have remembered your aura. If you are not from Taiyi Sect, then so be it. If you are... heh, your death is near."

As they spoke, Fu Qingyang dragged a white afterimage on the spot, crossing dozens of meters with pure physical strength, arriving behind the Black Impermanence.

The young master of the Fu family, with a stern face, like a killer devoid of emotions, raised the bronze octagonal sword in his hand.

At that moment, Black Impermanence's face showed extreme terror, his limbs spasmed violently, not knowing whether to dodge left or right, his brain seemed to crash, unable to send commands to his body.

Even for a peak Saint-level evil profession, facing Fu Qingyang's sword, a strong sense of helplessness surged in his heart.

Can't dodge, can't dodge... Black Impermanence made a quick decision, hardened his skin, covered it with keratin, and at the same time knelt on both knees, shouting:

"Accept my bow!"

Thud! His forehead heavily struck the ground, cracking the cement.

Fu Qingyang's descending sword blade suddenly froze, his face covered with a layer of grayish decay, as if polluted by an invisible force.

Sorcery — Fortune Reduction!

The Witch Gu Master, as the name suggests, controls Gu techniques and sorcery, both known for their strangeness and viciousness.

Fortune Reduction is an active skill that only level 6 Witch Gu Masters can learn, which can weaken the target's luck through kneeling, rituals, formations, etc.

Among these, kneeling is the simplest trigger method but has the weakest effect; if given enough time, Black Impermanence could make Fu Qingyang suffer continuous bad luck, get his teeth stuck when drinking cold water, have diarrhea when defecating, and have trouble when sleeping with women.

The sword blade froze in midair, Black Impermanence's limbs stopped trembling, and while maintaining the kneeling posture, he rolled to the side.

Suddenly, red threads as thin as hair wrapped around Black Impermanence's ankles, more and more threads extended out, in clumps, in patches, like countless twisted tentacles.

The Stop Killing Palace Master floated in midair, her skirt fluttering, like a gorgeous female demon.

She did not speak from beginning to end, but her attacks were extremely ruthless.

"Crack, crack..."

The red threads tightened more and more, breaking the hard keratin on Black Impermanence's body surface.

But Black Impermanence was completely unaware of his situation, just staring infatuatedly at that unparalleled red figure, with a look of obsession, as if she were his beloved.

A clear, pure golden light descended upon Black Impermanence, and the purifying force made the Witch Gu Master roar in pain.

But it also melted the red threads and dispelled the mental control.

"Whoosh!"

A large burst of flames surged toward the Stop Killing Palace Master; the Fire Master of Dark Rose used Fire Walk, pressing close to the Stop Killing Palace Master for a series of short, rapid attacks.

Flames exploded continuously, red threads flying everywhere.

On the other side, Black Impermanence had just broken free from the "infatuation" control when he saw that he was surrounded by all kinds of animals: grinning baboons, fierce and majestic colorful tigers, tall and mighty elephants, and other animals like lions, leopards, dogs, cows, and bears.

Their eyes were hollow and indifferent, just pure projections, yet they contained immense power.

Suddenly, Black Impermanence felt a chill in his crotch, followed by a piercing pain.

A hyena attacked from behind, biting his family jewels; fortunately, the keratinized skin saved him again, only bitten to cracks, sparing him from being empty in the pouch.

The hyena's attack seemed like the horn of offense, and the other animals surged forward.

"Hmph!"

The Great Black Robe Protector snorted coldly. The goal of the Hundred Flowers Society elder was very clear: kill Black Impermanence and let the Fallen Grail in the item bar return to the spirit realm.

No one else should get it.

He took a deep breath and exhaled large amounts of yin energy.

In the yin energy carrying frost, vengeful spirits swam in the air, pouncing into the beast group with claws bared.

The scene instantly fell into chaos, as the illusory animals and illusory spirits fought in a tangled mess.

Seeing this, the Gu King returned his blood mist to his body, re-forming into a fleshy humanoid, then his body exploded, bursting into chunks of flesh that fell all over the "forest."

These pieces of flesh melted, flowing like petroleum, covering trees, covering flowers and grass, covering the ground.

The entire campus, the entire forest was polluted, emitting a degenerate aura.

This is a skill of the Witch Gu Master at the Dominator stage, capable of corroding and polluting all things in the world.

The animal projections suddenly lost their power source and dispersed unwillingly.

At that moment, a mass of fleshy matter fell behind Black Impermanence and formed a humanoid figure.

But in the next instant, golden light descended, annihilating the Gu King's incarnation.

A group of high-level Walkers fought in chaos, a real mess.

Black Impermanence sat slumped on the ground, his left leg and right hand gnawed bloody, his clothes torn to shreds, his keratin cracked all over, bleeding profusely.

He let out a low, strange laugh: "You want the Grail, right? Fine, take it. I, your father, am not playing with you anymore."

His right hand grabbed into the void, pulling out an exquisitely crafted crystal goblet, its body covered with cracks, the liquid inside as red as blood, and in the scarlet liquid, a golden halo floated up and down, like a miniature sun.

The golden luster shone through the crystal goblet, refracting a rose-colored glow.

The chaotic battle suddenly stopped, and everyone looked at the crystal goblet, deeply attracted.

On the towering tree, the curly-haired Teddy gazed at the crystal goblet and sighed:

"So that's it, so that's it... I never thought the Demon Lord obtained this item; he was only one step away from reaching the top."

A clump of minced flesh condensed into a human form, and the Gu King's eyes blazed with greed: "Ghost Eye Judge died without injustice, haha, without injustice..."

Black Impermanence forcefully threw the Holy Grail into the night sky and shouted, "Fight for it! Whoever gets it, it's theirs."

The crystal goblet, reflecting a rose-gold luster, flew higher and higher, everyone's eyes chasing it intently.

The curly-haired Teddy at the top of the tree leaped with a dive, turning into a two-meter wingspan crane, swooping toward the Holy Grail.

Plop, plop, plop... Clumps of flesh burst up from the thickets below, coalescing in the air into a giant hand reaching for the ever-rising Holy Grail.

But ahead of them all was the Great Black Robe Protector, appearing silently before the Holy Grail, reaching out to grab it.

At that moment, a sharp, clear whistling sound arrived after the fact but before the action, rolling sound waves reverberating.

The black-robed Great Protector, the Immortal Crane, and the giant hand all stiffened visibly.

No one could resist the minstrel's voice.

The Lady of Stoppage stood still on the teaching building roof, howling at the sky, her red dress flapping fiercely. Behind her, clusters of red threads swirled and lunged into the air, aiming for the Great Protector of Night Rose.

She had no interest in the Holy Grail.

The red threads coiled around, instantly wrapping the dazed Great Protector into a chrysalis.

The next moment, golden light burst through the gaps of the red threads, and the black-robed Great Protector broke free.

The Lady of Stoppage raised her hand, her sleeve slipping down to reveal an arm as white as frost and snow, and snapped her fingers with a crack.

The red threads that had been melted seemed to gain a second life, instantly restoring themselves and binding the Great Protector again.

At that moment, a white shadow and a red light shot into the sky, intertwining as they streaked toward the Holy Grail.

"Boom!" Flames burst forth, moving even faster than the white shadow.

Fu Qingyang's expression unchanged, sword in one hand, he grabbed at the void with the other. Immediately, black, white, cyan, red, and yellow lights flew out and attached themselves behind him.

"Rustle rustle..."

The five beams fluttered in the wind, transforming into five large banners embroidered with azure trees, white tigers, flames, mountains, and water ripples.

In an instant, Fu Qingyang became like an old general on the stage, covered entirely with flags.

"Roar!"

The five banners shimmered, and a multicolored fierce tiger leaped out, treading wind, pouncing at the flame above.

The man and the tiger fell, locked together.

Fu Qingyang, coming from behind, overtook everyone else and grasped the crystal cup.

"Excellent!" the Immortal Crane spoke in human tongue. "Quickly put it in your inventory."

The giant hand formed by the Gu King let out an angry roar and swept toward Fu Qingyang.

At this, the Great Protector melted the red threads again, but upon seeing this, he did not attack; instead, he let out a cold sneer.

Suddenly, a strange thing occurred: the crystal cup in Fu Qingyang's hand lost its luster and turned into an ordinary glass cup.

The giant flesh hand's momentum faltered.

The Immortal Crane rolled over, transforming back into a curly-haired teddy dog, looking stunned.

"Ha ha ha ha..."

The Fire Master, pinned by the multicolored tiger, let out wild laughter.

The Black Impermanence, sitting on the ground, laughed and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

The Fire Master mocked, "I laugh at Fu Qingyang's lack of strategy, and at the Gu King's folly. What are you laughing at?"

The Black Impermanence mocked, "I laugh at the Lady of Stoppage's lack of strategy, and at the Dog Elder's folly."

The curly-haired teddy returned to the treetop, his expression grave. "Illusion magic?"

The Great Protector said with a hoarse smile:

"That's right, it was just my little trick to toy with you. Tsk tsk, what a pity: if Fu Qingyang were a Dominance realm, with a scout's golden eyes, he'd have seen through my ruse in a glance."

The Gu King withdrew all its flesh and blood matter, condensing into its true form, its eyes bloodshot, and said:

"Black Impermanence, if you refuse to bring out the Fallen Holy Grail, then die. I would rather it return to the Spirit Realm."

The Black Impermanence sneered, "That's why I say you're foolish. Do you really think killing me will return the Fallen Grail to the Spirit Realm? Do you truly believe this form of mine is the real body?"

The Gu King was startled, scrutinized him for a moment, then suddenly understood. He said in a deep voice, "A Gu clone..."

A Gu clone is a secret technique of the Witch Gu masters, using one's own blood combined with the life-bound Gu to refine a shell. This shell's aura, even its soul, is indistinguishable from the original.

For most Witch Gu masters, this technique is of little use because the cost of refining a clone is a reduction in personal power, making it difficult to return to peak condition for several months.

With the transaction with Night Rose imminent, how would Black Impermanence dare to cripple his own powers?

Fu Qingyang's eyes flickered as something occurred to him. He said flatly, "Your transaction with Night Rose is not what we imagined."

Black Impermanence laughed heartily and said smugly:

"As expected of a scout. That's right, today's transaction was to have this clone sign a contract with the Great Protector. Only after the contract would I have the real body bring the Grail here.

"After all, the jianghu is treacherous; I had to be cautious. I never expected you to find this place, but it's turned out to be a lucky fluke to have tricked you all.

"Though losing this clone will diminish my main body's combat strength, Night Rose now has the Contract Book, and the transaction can occur at any time, even outside of Songhai.

"Next time, your chances of arranging an ambush will be next to impossible. No one can stop me from controlling the Grail and becoming the second Ghost Eye Judge."

Fu Qingyang pondered for a moment, remaining silent.

The lack of trust between Night Rose and Black Impermanence had been bridged by the "Contract Book." They could now trade secretly at any time and place in the future.

Having lost the chance tonight, it would be difficult to interfere again.

So close, yet so far.

"The Contract Book..." the elder of the Hundred Flowers Sect murmured helplessly. "Forget it, Gu King, Lady of Stoppage, we cannot stop this. Let us join forces and kill them; at least that will severely damage Night Rose."

...

A kilometer away from Songhai Third Primary School, at a secluded alley entrance, a dark figure in a cap and mask lurked in the shadows, leaning against the wall with eyes closed.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes; in his palm lay an exquisitely crafted crystal cup. Its surface was cracked, and in the scarlet liquid floated a miniature sun, rising and falling.

Two forces entangled and annihilated each other, forming a delicate balance.

Rosy light illuminated his face—a long face with narrow eyes, ugly in a distinct way. It was unmistakably Black Impermanence.

"I'll just have to wait for the next transaction..."

Black Impermanence sighed, his mood complex.

Being ambushed by the authorities was something he had never anticipated. Though the deal was ruined and he had lost a clone, the Grail remained—these losses were not a problem.

Hence, caution had its uses; being careful enough could imperceptibly avoid risks.

As for whether Night Rose's Great Protector would survive, that was no longer his concern.

"What a pity, such a divine item shall fall into Night Rose's hands." He stared at the bobbing "little sun" in the cup, a greedy look in his eyes.

As one of those present at the time, he fully understood the horror of this "sun." If he could have controlled both items simultaneously, Black Impermanence believed he would become the strongest existence among the three branches of the Spiritual Energy Association.

But now, he had to give up one, or he would get nothing.

At that moment, Black Impermanence seemed to sense something; he shifted his gaze from the Grail to the alley entrance.

Downy yellow light spilled down, the alley entrance was empty, but in Black Impermanence's spiritual perception, he vaguely saw a small resentful spirit lying nearby, its dark eyes fixed on him.

They stared at each other, wide-eyed.

Black Impermanence: "???"