Chapter 463: Settling Old and New Grievances Together (1)

Chapter 463: Settling Old Scores and New Grievances Alike (Part One)

BZZZT!

A dense web of deep-blue electric arcs submerged Liang Renxian's prone body. As the Dragon-Tiger Spiritual Talisman pressed against his brow was incinerated into flecks of flying ash, a focal point finally cohered within his unfocused eyes once more.

With his consciousness still lingering at the moment of his abduction, Liang Renxian subconsciously triggered his divine sense, intending to activate the talismans and Daoist mechanisms upon his person.

Yet, no sooner had this thought arisen than an boundless, all-encompassing agony followed close on its heels.

He felt as though his skull were being torn asunder; his body curled into a tight ball, twitching violently as he retched up a large mouthful of saliva.

"Save your energy. We've already plucked out your spiritual apertures and fed you two transgenic pills. Even if your Dao foundation isn't completely ruined, it's bound to be in a half-dead state by now. You're no different from an ordinary mortal right now—worse, even."

A mocking voice sounded beside his ear. Enduring the blinding pain, Liang Renxian forced his gaze upward, only to find the very suit of black ink-armor that had instantaneously slain his Yellow Turban Guard crouching right before him, its lone crimson optic staring down at him as if looking upon a corpse.

The paralysis of his Dao foundation broke his emotional dam, causing the anxiety and terror that should have been utterly purged from his mind to flare back to life.

Guided by bodily instinct, he swallowed hard, rigidly shifting his gaze.

This was a low hill standing within Osaka Castle. A man clad in a black martial outfit sat upon the guardrail of the mountain path; the mountain wind swept past the hem of his clothes, rustling sharply.

Behind him, an orange setting sun hung upon the horizon, its scattered afterglow draping the entirety of Osaka Castle and dyeing Liang Renxian’s eyes a dull yellow.

Though this was his first time seeing the man’s face in the waking world, they were already well-acquainted within the Yellow Millet Grotto-Heaven.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard's Vice-Centurion of Inuyama Castle, Yama.

Even the man's true name was known to Liang Renxian.

The muddy-water Pao-ge of Chengdu County who had slain Yu Kou in days past, the fugitive for whom the Qingcheng Corporation still maintained a bounty warrant to this day.

The lone practitioner of the Martial Sequence, Li Jun.

A stray dog once forced to flee for his life, an ant he could have crushed with a flick of his finger, now held his very life and death in his hands.

A suffocating mixture of humiliation and resentment weighed heavily upon Liang Renxian's chest like jagged rocks.

Staring at this familiar face, feeling the intense agony that continuously battered his consciousness, a bitter smile slowly surfaced at the corner of Liang Renxian's mouth.

It seemed his prospects today were bleak indeed.

Yet even so, a sliver of desire for survival remained. Struggling into a sitting position, he looked at Li Jun and said, "Vice-Centurion Li, there is no grievance between us. If you wished to see me, you needed only to have that Dragon-Tiger Mountain Dao Sequence pass word in the White Jade Capital. Why resort to this?"

"No grievance? Heh, you actually have the cheek to say that? Our enmity with Qingcheng Mountain should be considered a blood feud, shouldn't it?" Horse King sneered.

"That was the work of Yu Canghai and his son using their status within the Embroidered Uniform Guard! The other Dao Sequences within Qingcheng Mountain were completely uninvolved from beginning to end! Our Liang family knew absolutely nothing of it!"

Ignoring Horse King completely, Liang Renxian kept his eyes fixed dead on Li Jun.

"As for that bounty on your head, it was spearheaded by another major clan in Qingcheng Mountain that had old ties with the Yu family; it has nothing to do with the Liang family either. Is there anything wrong with saying we have no grievance?"

"Is your Liang family part of Qingcheng Mountain?"

Li Jun finally spoke, but his words caught Liang Renxian off guard. Though he did not understand the purpose of the question, he still nodded and replied, "Yes."

"Then have you or have you not used the resources of Qingcheng Mountain, and have you or have you not made use of Qingcheng Mountain's prestige?"

"..."

Vaguely grasping the other man's meaning, Liang Renxian's face grew progressively paler.

"You are bound together in an existence where one's glory is everyone's glory, and one's ruin is everyone's ruin. To try and extricate the Liang family now—isn't that a bit too ungrateful?"

Li Jun said flatly, "Furthermore, you didn't refrain from intervening back then out of the kindness of your hearts, but because I was far beneath your notice! Therefore, I am not targeting your Liang family this time; I am targeting your entire Qingcheng Mountain Daoist Sect!"

"Vice-Centurion Li, isn't this action of yours far too overbearing?!"

"If a Martial Sequence isn't overbearing, why bother being one at all? If one must sort through right and wrong just to seek vengeance, then what kind of vengeance is that?"

Li Jun leaped down from the guardrail, walking forward with measured steps until he came to a halt ten feet from Liang Renxian, looking down with a domineering gaze.

"However, my capturing you today is not merely because of old hatreds from the past, but also due to our current new grievances!"

Liang Renxian shrieked, "What new grievances could there possibly be?"

"You want to protect that Wokou woman, Ashikaga Haruhide, while I intend to leave her life right here in Osaka. Is that not a new grievance?"

Before Liang Renxian could speak, Li Jun continued, "There is no need to play dumb. Let me put it to you bluntly: I have already had someone search your soul. I know that the greatest reliance you hold right now is that Earth Immortal currently in Edo Castle. The reason you weren't beaten to death on the street today but were brought here instead is because there are matters regarding him that I wish to inquire about."

The sharp words cut straight through, slicing away the hypocritical panic on Liang Renxian's face.

He fell silent for a moment, then suddenly sneered, "Since you've already searched my soul, what is left to ask?"

"My subordinate's craft is unrefined; certain critical matters were not extracted." Li Jun paused. "Moreover, you cannot die just yet. You still have to wait for someone with me."

"Wait for someone? Who?" Liang Renxian's expression turned bewildered.

"That is none of your concern. Speak. What capabilities does that Earth Immortal from your Qingcheng Mountain possess?"

"Do you truly think I will tell you? Since I am already facing certain death, how could I possibly betray my own people? Aren't you being a bit too naive, Li Jun?"

Liang Renxian propped himself up with both hands. His head, tilted awkwardly against his shoulder due to his damaged spine, bore a mocking expression. "Besides, there is no need for you to fret over these matters. When the sky falls, Su Ce will be there to hold it up for you anyway. Why not just enjoy this streak of dumb luck that won't last much longer?"

"You scions of great factions always wish to rely on your influence to bully others, yet you hate to be seen as wretched, spoiled brats. You claim to want to stand on your own feet, yet whenever you encounter someone you cannot defeat, you only know how to invoke your background and call for backup. And when you discover that another's background is firmer than your own, you curl your lips and claim they merely stumbled into a streak of dumb luck. You have only ever known how to bring trouble to those backing you, never once considering how to bring them honor."

Li Jun said disdainfully, "That is why people like you will never amount to anything. Even if you were refitted with bones of steel and iron, your entire being wouldn't yield half an ounce of true backbone."

"From the sound of it, you intend to rely on yourself to kill an Earth Immortal?"

Liang Renxian burst into loud laughter, suddenly lowering his brow with a face full of sarcasm. "With just you? Are you even worthy?"

BZZZT!

Horse King’s figure materialized behind Liang Renxian. From his opening and closing fingers, blinding sparks of electricity leaped forth, submerging the man’s figure once more.

Liang Renxian shrieked in agony amidst the lightning. Under the effects of the Dragon-Tiger Mountain transgenic pills, his perception of pain was exceptionally clear and intense at this moment; furthermore, he remained entirely unable to lose consciousness, forced to clearly perceive the electricity scorching every inch of his flesh.

Li Jun raised a hand to wave away the waves of burnt stench before his nose, lowering his head to light a cigarette.

"Liang Renxian, you are a man who has seen the world. You ought to know that death is sometimes not the end, but the beginning of torment. If you do not wish to continue suffering, you had best run your words through your mind before they leave your mouth."

"You cannot possibly be Liang Jianfeng's match."

Amidst the dying electric arcs, Liang Renxian panted heavily, charred skin continuously flaking off with his movements.

"The sheer might of a Dao Sequence who has managed to become an Earth Immortal is something beyond your imagination!"

"I asked for your account, not for your idle chatter. If he were truly that powerful, he wouldn't still be kneeling on the roof of the Thousand-Man Station right now."

Li Jun smiled and crouched down. The flickering ember of the cigarette between his fingers sent a tremor of terror through Liang Renxian's heart.

Yet what truly plunged him into despair was the predicament of Liang Jianfeng revealed within Li Jun's words.

"Aside from the authority of your White Jade Capital, what is the greatest distinction between an Earth Immortal and an ordinary Rank Four Dao Sequence?"

"A Dao Ancestor Dharma-Artifact."

Li Jun raised his hand and pointed toward the sky. "The one hanging up there?"

"'Heavenly Tribulation' is merely one of the Dao Ancestor Dharma-Artifacts; it belongs to the White Jade Capital and benefits all Dao Sequences. Whereas the Dao Ancestor Dharma-Artifact in the hands of an Earth Immortal belongs exclusively to themselves—"

Before his words could finish, they were directly cut off by Li Jun. "Then that Earth Immortal corpse you promised to Ashikaga Haruhide in your transaction—does it possess a Dao Ancestor Dharma-Artifact upon its person?"

Liang Renxian suddenly experienced a flash of realization. So the information Li Jun wished to extract from his mouth had never been about some Earth Immortal from the very beginning; from start to finish, it had been about Ashikaga Haruhide!

And no wonder. The information regarding the Earth Immortal within his mind was sparse to begin with, and the only things sealed behind layers of restrictions were the contents of this trial in the Japanese Sector—only these were things the other party could not ascertain even through a soul search.

It turned out that, from beginning to end, he had been entirely toyed with in the palm of another's hand.

Liang Renxian raised a hand and tore away half his charred, rotting face. Upon the ruined remnants of his features, a bleak expression surfaced. For a long while, he made no sound.

And Li Jun did not press him, waiting in quiet stillness.

The biting mountain wind curled the green smoke from the other man's fingertips, drifting it slowly into Liang Renxian’s nostrils. But he had long since subsumed the functions of his five viscera and six bowels into his Dao Foundation; he could not detect a single scent, feeling only a thread of bitterness dissipating within his chest.

"Must I die? Can you not grant me the chance of Bingjie?"

Liang Renxian’s voice was light, so light it sounded like a soliloquy.

"From the moment your Dao Sequence placed the so-called trial in the Wo Zone until today, twelve Jinyiwei of Inuyama Castle have died in the line of duty, eight are grievously wounded, and nearly every man bears scars. Centurion Xie Bi'an was nearly refined into a Yellow Turban Warrior, and he has yet to wake. If I do not sever all your karmic opportunities and bury every last one who deserves death here, what right have I to be their Centurion?"

"Longhushan’s Yang Xuan, Chen Qisheng—is he not of the Dao Sequence?" Liang Renxian’s face twisted with savagery, grinding his teeth.

Li Jun spoke calmly: "I deal with people by favoring kin, not reason."

Those eyes of Liang Renxian fixed on Li Jun with ferocity, his clenched molars grinding back and forth, as if gnawing at the flesh on the other man's body.

"You die today. That outcome cannot change. If you cooperate honestly, I won't throw you into the Imperial Prison; I’ll let you die a quick death. Don't try to bargain with me—I don't buy that. You want to curse? Curse away. I’ll give you the chance. Vent all you like, then give me an answer."

"Ruthless! You’re ruthless!"

Liang Renxian laughed wildly, unrestrained, nearly laughing himself to tears. The laughter lasted a long time before it subsided.

"I, Liang Renxian, am no fool. How could I possibly honor my promise to that Yellow Millet Ghost right now? The body I gave her holds no White Jade Capital authority, no bound Dao Ancestor artifact—it was merely an ordinary Dao Four."

Having gained his answer, Li Jun turned his head and locked eyes with Lord Ma. The latter gave a heavy nod.

Liang Renxian watched their exchange, frowned in thought, then suddenly cried out in alarm: "Don't tell me you already know Mingzhi Qinxiu's hiding place?!"

"The Osaka Castle Xuanwei Envoy's Office."

Li Jun spoke frankly: "I knew when I moved to capture you."

Liang Renxian shook his head in shock: "How is that possible?!"

"Someone wants to harm me, so naturally someone helps me."

Li Jun’s words were ambiguous, but a figure in official robes flashed through Liang Renxian’s mind.

"Seems the Ru Sequence has intervened? But that’s normal—the Wo Zone is the main battlefield for their New Policies. Once we exit the stage, it’ll likely be their turn to take the spotlight."

Liang Renxian licked his lips and suddenly burst into laughter: "That Yellow Millet Ghost is too arrogant, daring to seize any body she pleases! She probably still thinks everything is in the palm of her hand, not knowing she’s long since become fish meat on another’s chopping block. Hahahaha."

Liang Renxian laughed with abandon. He had always harbored killing intent toward Mingzhi Qinxiu. Now, seeing she too was doomed, he felt a surge of grim satisfaction.

"You said you were waiting for someone. I more or less know who. They haven't arrived yet—chat with me a bit more?"

Li Jun lit another cigarette: "Speak. I'm listening."

"Do you know why Yu Canghai was suddenly transferred to the Wo Zone?"

Liang Renxian pointed at his own nose: "My doing."

"I know. So... thank you."

"No need. I just wanted to borrow your hand to kill him, making it convenient to swallow the Yu family's shares and authority."

Liang Renxian revealed a smile devoid of scheming or malice, remarkably carefree.

He narrowed his eyes, gazing at the red sun half-sunk beneath the horizon, and spoke aloud to himself: "I, Liang Renxian, was born into nobility, a direct descendant of the Liang clan. Above me are Earth Immortal elders, and a Heavenly Immortal ancestor. You mocked me earlier, saying I walked dog-shit luck. That’s because your rise, in my eyes, is nothing but dog-shit luck."

"In Qingcheng Mountain, I, Liang Renxian, am the ultimate dandy. Wealth, methods, companions, territory—anything I set my eyes on, I’ve never failed to obtain. Extortion, framing, kicking a man when he’s down—if I listed every sordid deed I’ve done, we’d be here until nightfall."

"My background doesn't need me to save face for it, because they’ve already reached the heavens! But there is one thing you got wrong, Li Jun: I, Liang Renxian, am not without backbone!"

Liang Renxian’s gaze burned: "I die by your hand today because I wanted to achieve something to bring honor to my elders. That’s why I risked entering the Wo Zone, to contend for this dispensable Earth Immortal position. Too bad my luck was rotten—I ran into you, this reckless desperado who doesn't know death!"

Liang Renxian laughed hollowly, raising a hand to jab vacuously at Li Jun, his bearing soaring and domineering.

"If today you and I were not in the Wo Zone, if the one holding the fort here were not Su Ce, I have a thousand ways to kill you. Believe it or not?"

Li Jun said nothing, merely watching the other man's final madness in silence.

"Li Jun, the Yu Canghai matter counts as me helping you. So you owe me a favor!"

Liang Renxian roared: "Help me kill Zhao Yandong! He sold me out today; he’ll sell you out tomorrow. Kill him early. I fear I won't run into this beast on the Road to Yellow Springs, and then I’ll die with my eyes unclosed!"

"I've noted it."

Li Jun gave a slight nod. His left fingers joined like a blade, suddenly thrusting forward, piercing straight into Liang Renxian’s abdomen!

At that very moment, the evening sun on the horizon fully sank behind the distant mountains. The oppressive darkness descending from above was shattered by the blazing lights rising from the city!

"How dare you?!"

A vicious roar suddenly exploded, but alas, it was too late.

[Mountain Bone (Fifth Grade Body Forging) learning complete, replaced Crouching Abyss Whale Armor (Sixth Grade Perfection)]

[Mountain Bone advanced to Fifth Grade Mid-stage 0/100]

[Consumed 200 Mastery Points, Mountain Bone advanced to Fifth Grade Perfection]

[Consumed 100 Mastery Points, Insight into Five Spirits advanced to Fifth Grade Perfection]

[Remaining Mastery Points: 124 (Yanggu 50, Zhang Qinglv 130, Baima 170, Liang Renxian 70)]

Li Jun stood up. The hideous armor enveloped him from behind, plates locking into place. A bloody, singular eye ignited at the center of his brow, rendering his black-and-white pupils terrifyingly keen, like a freshly drawn blade!

His blood-stained left hand plucked the cigarette butt from the corner of his mouth. The smoke exhaled from his nose shifted from gray-white to pale red. The articulated plates clicked crisply, matching his rising stature, as if another peak had risen atop these low mountains.

Surging killing intent, restless viscera—both now desperately thirsted for blood to quench their thirst.

Listening to the sound of shackles breaking within his body, Li Jun exhaled and gave voice.

"You've finally come, Huang Shilu!"