Chapter 398: Karmic Backlash

"Six Forms of Heaven-Shaking!

"The Stroke of Sudden Fear!

"Pill-Fire Scorching the Fields!

"Thunder-Listening Talisman!"

Massive waves of arcane energy coalesced and hovered high in the heavens, forcing the disciples who had rushed out to watch the battle to halt their steps; they turned their gazes upward, beholding the four elders displaying their divine wonders and unleashing magnificent spells, completely awestruck by the spectacle.

"The elders have made their move!

"So these are the techniques of the elders—utterly formidable!

"There is still such a vast chasm between us; even if I could occasionally surge to the peak of the Body Integration Realm, I still couldn't execute a spell of this caliber!" a senior disciple of the Void Refinement Realm lamented with deep sigh.

Tao Tianye observed with rapt attention, striving to etch these forms into the depths of her mind.

These were all primary materials that could be applied directly to her Illusionary Bubble.

"No, when adapting them for the Illusionary Bubble, some alterations must still be made; I cannot expose the elders' trump cards to outsiders!" A sense of vigilance arose within Tao Tianye.

Boom—

The four spells condensed into a single mass and crashed straight down toward Qiu Jin'an and Old Master Ba.

Qiu Jin'an struck and shattered his five-colored light wheel, freeing the Five-Colored Divine Light from the constraints of its circular form to shroud the space above his head, enduring the fierce, indiscriminate bombardment.

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you people aiming that directly at Qiu Jin'an!" Old Master Ba cried out, his face covered in soot from the blasts, looking as though he had just survived a heavenly tribulation.

"Apologies, Second Senior Brother, these techniques possess no eyes!" The Seventh Elder's tone carried a hint of contrition.

Old Master Ba flared into a magnificent rage. "You are full of nonsense! You are practically laughing out loud!"

The Seventh Elder turned a deaf ear, continuing to hurl spells downward.

Seeing the tide turn against him, Qiu Jin'an caused the Five-Colored Divine Light to explode across the sky, seizing the ensuing chaos to make his escape.

Seeing that Qiu Jin'an had successfully fled the battlefield and was fleeing in his direction, the River Spirit sighed with unfulfilled desire and retreated back into the river.

"That boy from the Five Elements Sect is exceptional in every way, save for his lack of a desperate, life-risking spirit."

Watching Qiu Jin'an flee into the distance, the Third Elder placed his hands on his hips and barked a harsh threat: "Old Qiu, next time you won't be so..."

The fierce words froze halfway through his throat; his mouth merely opened and closed without producing a sound.

He turned his head to look, and sure enough, it was the Sixth Elder.

"Junior Sister, could you perhaps refrain from appearing right when I am speaking next time?"

The Sixth Elder possessed a breathtaking beauty; the moment she appeared, no one dared to utter a word.

Seeing the Sixth Elder's face as cold as frost, the Third Elder immediately silenced himself in terror.

She had been jolted awake by the Third Elder's loud shouting, and she was currently in a state of supreme impatience.

The Sixth Elder sent a divine transmission to her martial brothers, her tone distinctly unfriendly: "Have you stirred up enough trouble? If you have, I am going back to sleep."

She felt that her martial brothers never spent a single day in peace; why could they not learn from the Laurel Immortal Palace and remain quiet and serene?

Qiu Jin'an rushed back toward the Five Elements Sect at supreme speed, escaping from the Askoi Sect; however, the backlash of the Single Curse Fist had yet to be resolved, and he needed to request assistance.

"Once I have resolved my own backlash, I will help that boy of the Meng family resolve his."

Qiu Jin'an parted the mists and clouds, and a mountain range cutting across the north and south lay before his eyes; this was the Five Elements Spiritual Pulse, the very foundation of their lineage.

Five differently colored terrains surrounded the mountain range, like a multitude of stars bowing to the moon.

Upon closer inspection, one would realize it was not that the five-colored lands surrounded the mountain range, but rather that the five-colored lands pressed against each other, and the jutting portion formed the Five Elements Spiritual Pulse.

According to records, the five-colored lands originated from five distinct ancient planets; an anonymous figure of antiquity had refined the celestial bodies, and the five stars of different attributes transformed into continents, colliding together.

"Lu Yang, are you there? Give me a hand!" After the battle concluded, Meng Jingzhou hurried to Heaven Gate Peak in the dead of night to seek Lu Yang's aid.

"I am here."

Lu Yang's voice resonated from behind Meng Jingzhou; Lu Yang held a dozen skewers of grilled meat, eating with great relish, having only just returned to Heaven Gate Peak.

"What exactly transpired just now? How did Sect Master Qiu end up fighting his way over here?" Lu Yang kindly shared half of the skewers with Meng Jingzhou.

It was all their own sect's property, after all.

Meng Jingzhou sighed, his tone laced with deep resentment: "Just now, in the dead of night, Sect Master Qiu stealthily approached me and asked if I knew the Single Curse Fist. I said I did, so he took control of my body, intending to deliver a couple of punches to Old Master Ba."

Lu Yang recalled Old Master Ba's twilight romance; when he had gone to the herb garden to eat soil a few days ago, Old Master Ba had even asked him what girls liked most. The Immortal Fairy had said that girls liked being praised for being clever and beautiful, and he had conveyed those exact words.

"Did Sect Master Qiu succeed?"

Meng Jingzhou showed an expression akin to severe constipation. "No, he suffered a backlash."

"...My condolences."

Lu Yang remembered the late-arriving Sixth Elder; the Sixth Elder and Sect Master Qiu had not crossed paths, which was likely the effect of the backlash.

Lu Yang patted Meng Jingzhou's shoulder, hoping he would grieve appropriately and accept reality; was it not merely severing karmic relations with women so that he would never see a woman again? You already possess the Single Spiritual Root, so why fear this?

Meng Jingzhou said in a fury, "What do you mean, condolences! What is wrong with my Single Spiritual Root? Even a eunuch can visit a brothel, yet now I do not even possess the qualification to enter one!"

"Was it not said that the backlash would fade after a period of time?" Lu Yang inquired out of curiosity.

"The problem lies in the fact that no one knows precisely how long 'a period of time' actually is. Is the Eldest Senior Sister present? I can only seek her assistance."

"Oh, Eldest Senior Sister left on some business; she has been gone for several days."

"Where did she go?"

"Do I look like someone who dares to question the Eldest Senior Sister's itinerary?"

"True enough."

"Wait, could it be that my inability to meet with the Eldest Senior Sister is also a part of the backlash?"

Upon reflection, Lu Yang realized it was indeed a possibility; he asked the Immortal Fairy if it was part of the backlash, given that karma was ephemeral and difficult to fathom.

The Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang as though he were a fool.

"This Immortal is standing right before the Meng family boy; do you see this Immortal suffering any backlash? The level of the Meng family boy's karmic backlash is not low, but to think it could affect this Immortal is nothing short of a pipe dream."

"Then, Fairy, do you have a method to help Old Meng break this karmic backlash?"

The Immortal Fairy pondered seriously for a moment, conceiving a solution: "This Immortal has never been well-acquainted with karma, yet a method does exist."

"Pray tell, Fairy."

"The Meng family boy can execute the Single Curse Fist and strike himself with a punch. Since the premise for the fist technique to take effect is that the Meng family boy can suppress his opponent, and the opponent now is himself, the effect of the Single Curse Fist will consequently dissolve into utter chaos, thereby potentially breaking through the karmic backlash!"

Lu Yang: "..."

"Fairy, are you certain Old Meng will not punch himself and end up truly single for the rest of his life?"

"Oh, where in this world is there a method entirely devoid of risk? Everything carries risk."

Lu Yang felt it was entirely unnecessary to voice the Fairy's method, lest it add frost to Old Meng's snow.

"Eldest Senior Sister is absent; otherwise, should we consult with the various elders?" Lu Yang counted the figures of the Askoi Sect; with Eldest Senior Sister away and the Fairy unreliable, the most dependable individuals in the Askoi Sect were the elders.

They were all sly old foxes of the Body Integration Realm; they ought to have a way.

"Very well." Meng Jingzhou could think of no other alternative for the time being.

Lu Yang told Meng Jingzhou to wait at Tianmen Peak while he went to invite the elders over.

Once all the elders had gathered, Meng Jingzhou's cultivation took a disastrous turn, causing him to howl in sheer agony and tumble straight into a mountain stream, vanishing completely from sight.

"This makes no sense, I told him to wait right here, where could Old Meng have gone?" Lu Yang muttered, scratching his head as the elders kindly joined the search, yet none could find a trace.

Suddenly, a realization seemed to strike Lu Yang, and he shifted his gaze toward the Sixth Elder.

"Sixth Elder, would you mind terribly returning to your quarters?"

The Sixth Elder also grasped the underlying reason, and with a peculiar expression, nodded and departed.

The moment the Sixth Elder left, Meng Jingzhou's pain vanished, and he crawled out of the stream with twigs tangled in his hair, looking utterly disheveled as the crowd finally spotted him.

Lu Yang let out a silent sigh, thinking that the karmic backlash was severe indeed, and that Old Meng shouldn't hope to catch a glimpse of any woman for a long time to come.