Chapter 269 - 227: Each Showing Their Divine Techniques

’What is this?!’

Qi Hongxuan was suddenly alarmed.

Inside the room, the tall man who had attacked him first—the one he had beaten back, who now lay on the ground covered in wounds, his status unknown—suddenly erupted into action.

The one who had launched the first attack was actually the real Li Ping!

Illusions and reality, truth and falsehood—it was impossible to tell them apart.

Caught off guard, Qi Hongxuan met the attack with a palm strike of his own. The two clashed, but the most terrifying part of Li Ping’s strike wasn’t the physical attack, but the explosion of his Intent.

SPURT!!

The veins on Li Ping’s temples bulged, his eyes flew wide, and blood gushed from his seven facial orifices—the result of his brain being pushed past its limits.

Thousand Illusion Demon Barrier Seal!

The Force was gentle and yielding, yet it shot straight for the brain, a spiritual assault that erupted in an instant.

BOOM!!

It was as if thunder and lightning roared through Qi Hongxuan’s mind. All sorts of horrific, visceral images flooded his thoughts. Under the influence of Li Ping’s Intent, the negative emotions in his subconscious were stirred. Stray thoughts he could normally suppress with ease were now branded into his mind like steel, impossible to control.

His thoughts became blocked, his Spirit impeded, and his Intent impossible to focus. In a duel, this was a fatal flaw.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

The next moment, Li Ping’s body shifted. Unleashing his full Physical Ability, he seized the opening in his opponent’s Spirit and struck three consecutive times.

Three years ago, three palm strikes from Qi Hongxuan had put him at a disadvantage. Today, he was returning the favor!

SPURT!!

With his Intent compromised, Qi Hongxuan could not withstand Li Ping’s assault. The immense force vibrated through him, nearly shattering his internal organs, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

But he was a veteran master, after all. He used the force of the three palm strikes to launch himself into the air. With a wave of his arms, Gang Blades shot out, striking the wall. The thick wall was instantly sliced apart like tofu as his body crashed through it, appearing outside the house. With a tap of his feet, he flew over the courtyard wall and fled at incredible speed.

Li Ping stood inside the room, not giving chase. He knew it was difficult to kill an expert of this caliber; even just detaining him would be no easy feat.

His opponent was now wounded, and more importantly, the Demon Barrier Seal had been planted in his will, spawning endless illusions. It would be impossible for him to resolve it anytime soon. His strength was severely diminished, and he had lost the ability to influence the situation any further. That was enough.

He spun around, retracting his Spirit.

CRASH!

Inside the room, the men collapsed like dominoes, falling unconscious.

Li Ping took a deep breath, and with a light step, quickly departed from the courtyard.

His own business was concluded, but what worried him most was Zhao Xuanqi. ’He’s facing one of the Three Stars. I hope nothing goes wrong.’

「At the Shenxiao Army’s expert garrison.」

In a courtyard, a tall figure sat cross-legged on the ground. His wild hair flew about, his upper body was bare, and his blocky muscles bulged high.

The man had a rugged face and a full beard. Beside him were two large urns, his hands plunged deep inside them. His skin had taken on a blackish-purple hue.

A miasma of ghostly light enveloped the entire courtyard—not an illusion, but a physical presence, spreading and condensing with his every breath.

Any surrounding flowers, grass, or trees that came into contact with the ghostly miasma would rapidly wither, eventually dissolving completely into a pus-like liquid.

This man was Bi Celestial Mansion, the Yin Wood Thunder.

He wasn’t originally from the Divine Night Sect. He came from a certain folk Martial Dao, only later joining the Divine Night Sect to cultivate their Thunder Technique under the prevailing trend. Eventually, he fused the two Martial Arts, forged his own path, and made a formidable name for himself.

The Yin Wood Skill was an exceedingly sinister Martial Arts Cultivation Technique. It involved tempering the body with venomous insects, poisonous herbs, and toxic liquids to achieve a hyper-toxic physique. Upon reaching the Harmony realm, one could even spread toxins through their bodily fluids and Gang Qi, controlling them with their body’s magnetic field to form a terrifying miasma Realm around themselves.

After fusing it with the Thunder Technique, his Martial Dao did not become grand and majestic; on the contrary, it grew even more sinister.

Adversity, at its peak, brings change. Yang, at its peak, brings forth yin.

Just then, Bi Celestial Mansion’s eyes snapped open.

BOOM!!

His will erupted, coalescing like heavenly thunder. Under the influence of his own magnetic field, the ghostly miasma around him instantly condensed, forming countless tiny lightning snakes that writhed violently throughout the courtyard.

For a moment, the courtyard seemed to transform into a field of black lightning.

If any living creature were in the courtyard at that moment, the Yin Thunder would instantly invade its body, the toxins would attack its heart, and it would die on the spot—an exceedingly vicious technique.

This was how he had earned his place among the Seven Fiends.

Bi Celestial Mansion’s gaze sharpened as he looked toward a certain corner of the courtyard. A figure stood there, enveloped in a brilliant golden glow, his hair standing on end. Murderous intent billowed from his eyes as he walked forward, step by step. Like Fierce Beasts that had scented blood, the black lightning in the courtyard lunged ferociously at the figure.

FWOOSH!!

In an instant, the golden light around the figure erupted once more, exploding into a pillar of light that shot toward the sky.

Terrifying Physical Ability, an intense aura, a soul-shaking presence.

"Bi Celestial Mansion! Three years ago at the Battle of Longling, you used your Yin Wood Thunder to slaughter three thousand of my National Salvation Association comrades! It’s time to settle that debt!!"

Yang Xun’s expression was sharp. This was his strongest state, a state he called "Wusheng."

By stimulating his body with a powerful Secret Technique and his Spirit, his regenerative abilities were pushed to their absolute peak. For the duration of this state, he could nearly achieve the terrifying level of "Non-Birth and Non-Destruction."

This was the true origin of his title, "Undying."

This also meant that while supported by this state, his body’s tolerance for the strain of Life-taking Secret Techniques was drastically increased. He could even withstand the stacking of multiple Life-taking Secret Techniques at once.