Chapter 140: Talking About Body Snatching in Front of Me, Huang Doudou?

Xianxia Novel Text / Chapter Ends Here:

Cloth Clothes Town Regulation Twenty-One: Leave the town or slay the town chief, and one shall no longer be bound by the town regulations.

The moment the apothecary proprietor elucidated the exact implication of the twenty-first rule to Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, a singular thought struck the two young men simultaneously.

Since leaving the town was impossible, and slaying the chief was equally unfeasible, what would happen if the two impossibilities collided—which one would emerge triumphant?

Lacking an answer, they resolved to put it to the test.

Whether the town chief departed from the town or was put to death, both outcomes were inherently advantageous to them.

Should the chief depart, Cloth Clothes Town would become their domain, allowing them to seek alternate means of escape, perhaps beginning with the school tutor.

Moreover, they refused to believe that the chief's departure would leave the foundation of Cloth Clothes Town entirely unshaken.

If they could outright slay the chief, it would be even better; they would clear the trial directly.

Yet, coaxing the town chief to step into the passage of departure was by no means an easy feat.

They knew neither the location of the ancestral shrine nor the true identity of the town chief.

No matter; if they muddied the waters of Cloth Clothes Town enough, the chief would be forced to make his move.

He who forged the regulations would never tolerate someone tearing them apart, for such an act was tantamount to a direct slap to the face, proclaiming that his laws were riddled with loopholes.

Thus, the pair elected to exploit the regulations to wreak absolute havoc throughout the town.

Lu Yang began by tossing out a smokescreen, fabricating a grand purpose for the jade pendant, deliberately communicating through written parchment to give the impression of a stealthy, desperate stratagem that could not be exposed.

Knowing full well that nothing in the town could escape the watchful eyes of the chief, how could Lu Yang possibly speak or write down their actual method for clearing the trial?

The town chief mocked the two youths for their hubris, oblivious to the fact that he was the truly arrogant one; he was successfully deceived by Lu Yang, focusing his entire attention upon the jade pendant.

Subsequently, the pair trifled with the yamen constables three distinct times, sending a clear message to the chief: your subordinates are utterly no match for us.

With his lackeys proven incompetent, the town chief was bound to personally intervene to eradicate these two pests.

The chief believed that stealing the jade pendant settled everything, waiting at the ancestral shrine for the duo to walk into his trap, never anticipating that they had no intention of using the pendant at all; what they desired was his mere presence at the shrine.

As for how Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had plotted this, such a simple, minor artifice required no formal consultation whatsoever.

What kind of Demonic Cult Branch Master would he be if he lacked such cunning wiles?

Time returned to the present at the entrance of the ancestral shrine, where the town chief found himself ensnared deep within the Bone-Dissolving Astral Winds, the regulation of immortality and the regulation of absolute death locked in fierce contention, his physical form continuously fracturing and regenerating, the agony so intense he wished he could take his own life on the spot.

"What in the world is this thing?" Lu Yang observed the town chief, having never beheld such a monstrosity.

"This is Beastification!" the Immortal Fairy spoke within Lu Yang's mind.

"Beastification?" Lu Yang combed through the repository of cultivation knowledge stored in his memory, yet found no corresponding term.

It appeared to be a method of cultivation from the primordial era, long since lost to time.

The Immortal Fairy continued, "During the ancient era, this cultivation method enjoyed a brief vogue, using the human physique to devour the demonic beast race, thereby balancing the merits of both humanity and beastkind to become exceptionally formidable. However, the flaws of this method were immense; namely, one could never attain immortality."

"Ascension requires a pristine physique; a body that is half-human and half-beast cannot coalesce a Dao Fruit. Eventually, it fell into obscurity, and none sought to practice it."

"Could it be that this opponent is also a survivor from the ancient era?" Lu Yang asked, perplexed.

"Highly improbable. Denizens of the ancient era were well aware of this method's defects. It is far more likely that a cultivator of later generations stumbled upon this legacy, recognizing only its merits while remaining blind to its flaws."

"After all, people naturally assume that the more ancient and lost a technique is, the grander it must be. Yet, ancient things are not necessarily superior, and that which is lost was invariably abandoned for a reason—either because none could master it, or because none wished to. One must view these matters objectively," the Immortal Fairy said with a shrug, noting that such occurrences were common in the ancient days.

It was much like a youth wandering into an ancient ruin, obtaining a primitive cultivation technique, and believing himself invincible under heaven, entirely unaware that the technique was abandoned precisely because it was incomplete, leaving the path forward utterly severed once one reached the Nascent Soul stage.

Only after countless generations of refinement and the deaths of innumerable practitioners did a complete path evolve, stretching all the way from Qi Refinement to Ascension.

The Immortal Fairy, possessed of boundless erudition, casually imparted lore that was entirely unknown to the present world.

The town chief glared deathly at the pair; having cultivated to the Soul Integration stage, he was naturally no fool, and upon falling into the snare, he instantly deduced the entirety of their scheme.

Alas, it was already too late.

Ultimately, the regulation of immortality suffered defeat against the regulation of absolute death, and the town chief's physical body dissolved into nothingness.

This outcome aligned perfectly with the duo's estimations; Daoist Bu Yu had declared at the very beginning that regulations could not defy the heavens too flagrantly, meaning rules of absolute invincibility or absolute immortality simply could not exist.

The town chief's rule against dying was never absolute.

"Death? This seat is the Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator, eternal through ten thousand tribulations, my true soul indestructible! How could I capsize in a mere puddle like this!" A wisp of black soul energy leaped from the town chief's remains, its visage distinct from the chief's original appearance.

The town chief was merely a vessel possessed by the Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator, not his true corporeal form.

By all rights, with the chief's physical body slain, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had cleared the trial, yet the Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator could not brook such humiliation—a magnificent Soul Integration grandmaster, having lived for thousands of years and outschemed countless adversaries, only to be deceived by two mere Foundation Establishment youngsters in the end.

He could not endure it!

Even if it meant defying the regulations today and braving the damage to his soul, he would slaughter these two brats.

"Oh? You possess a Sword Spiritual Root?" Unfettered by a physical vessel, the Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator grew far more perceptive; he discerned that one youth possessed a Single Spiritual Root while the other bore a Sword Spiritual Root, both being talents of the absolute highest caliber, hundreds of times superior to the town chief.

The Sword Spiritual Root possessed the fiercest offensive capabilities; if he could acquire a vessel with a Sword Spiritual Root and pair it with his Immortal-Felling Secret Technique, he would inevitably surpass his former self, break through his limits, and perhaps even ascend to the Tribulation Transmutation stage!

And his Immortal-Felling Secret Technique allowed him to slay immortals even at the peak of the Tribulation stage, rendering him an invincible existence; when the grand era arrived, who could possibly oppose him?

"It seems Heaven itself is granting me this fortune!" the Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator laughed raucously, never anticipating such a monumental harvest, a sudden gleam of hope in a dark hour.

He regarded Lu Yang's body as a prize already in his grasp; what ripples could a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator stir before a Soul Integration grandmaster?

Transforming into a mass of gray mist, he plunged directly into Lu Yang's mental consciousness, preparing to seize his soul.

Lu Yang stared at the Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator with feigned disbelief, his face painted with sheer terror: "You... as a Soul Integration grandmaster, you refuse to abide by your own regulations, and now you dare to possess me?!"

The Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator sneered, looking down upon Lu Yang with utter disdain; a mere child after all, failing to perceive the true nature of the world: "Before you perish, let me impart a truth to you, so you may die with peace of mind."

"He whose strength is absolute is he who holds the truth; this is an unalterable verity from time immemorial. When you lack the qualifications to provoke a Soul Integration cultivator, you must tuck your tail and act submissively!"

Lu Yang sighed: "How grand it would have been if everyone simply played by the rules and dueled with their own merits. Since you refuse to play by the rules, do not blame me for flipping the table."

He stepped to the side, revealing the figure behind him, and made a gesture of invitation: "Fairy, I leave this to you."

And then, the Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator beheld the Immortal Fairy sitting with her legs casually crossed.

The Immortal Fairy looked down upon the Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator, the corners of her lips curling into a faint, ambiguous smile that seemed born of both mockery and disdain: "Young man, to speak of soul possession in the presence of this Immortal... you possess remarkable audacity."

"Hmm?"

The Immortal-Felling Perfected Cultivator's mind filled with questions; why were there two entities within this mental realm? And why did the other refer to herself as an Immortal?

Without rhyme or reason, an ominous sensation of impending doom washed entirely over him.