Immortals of the End Times

Chapter 250, Part 302: Sword Pavilion Changes Hands, Carefree Kunpeng (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets 7171)

Yan Lan's figure flashed like a blood-red lightning bolt, suddenly appearing between the two terrifying forces.

She spread her arms wide, her robes fluttering in the violent spiritual pressure, the red threads of the blood-locking talisman in her hair snapping inch by inch, and the blood spilling from the corner of her lips condensing into ice crystals in the baleful aura.

"Stop it, all of you! I went with him willingly!"

These words struck like a thunderclap. Zhao Wuji's pupils contracted sharply, and the Cold Soul Flying Sword hovered three inches between her brows with a clang.

Hua Qingshuang's icy sword energy deflected at the last moment, cleaving a ten-zhang-deep ravine into the distant cliff.

"Uncle-Master, you..." Zhao Wuji frowned, the phantom of Xiang Yu flickering on his face.

Hua Qingshuang's expression turned grave. "Senior sister, you've been bewitched by him!"

"Junior sister!"

Yan Lan raised her hand to wipe the blood from her lips, then suddenly burst into laughter.

The laughter lacked its usual boldness and flamboyance; instead, it felt like a dull knife, cutting into one's heart with a sore throat.

"Is it weird?"

There seemed to be a flame burning in her eyes, yet it flickered like charcoal embers soaked by rain.

“Good nephew, you have a family tradition of medicine and martial arts.”

"Junior Sister Hua possesses the resources of the Wang family, and is also blessed with the bloodline and fortune of Xiang Yu."

With each word she spoke, her voice grew hoarseer. "And what about me?"

"Back in the Linglang Cave Heaven, I was fighting for resources on the brink of life and death. After leaving the cave heaven, I also risked everything to obtain the Inner Realm Refining Spirit Technique. This is my fate!"

Yan Lan looked at Zhao Wuji, her gaze fixed, then suddenly softened, and said, "Good nephew, this is your uncle's fate. Let your uncle fight for it. Now that spiritual energy is recovering, it is a time of great competition. If your uncle doesn't fight for it, he won't be satisfied."

Huang Chang gave a cold smile, and the rusted dragon seal lowered its blue light to protect the two of them: "Did you hear that? This is the awareness that a seeker of the Dao should have."

"Shut up!"

Zhao Wuji gave a low shout, and Xiang Yu's true head's double pupils shone brightly, radiating astonishing spiritual power. He stared at Yan Lan: "Senior Uncle, even Huang Shang can't guarantee what good cultivation resources he'll provide."

"Senior sister!"

Hua Qingshuang's usually cold eyes now showed a hint of urgency. "Come back with us. The Wang family's fourth-level spiritual vein will definitely be upgraded to a fifth-level spiritual vein in the future."

"and then?"

Yan Lan suddenly suppressed all her emotions, her eyes as calm as an ancient well, reflecting the outlines of the six peaks of the Wang family in the distance: "After we go back, will you continue to be a burden to us?"

Junior sister, have you forgotten that we used to be competitors like this in the Linglang Cave?

"We've been fighting all along. Has my senior sister ever bowed her head to you? Has she ever accepted your charity?"

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, felt the patterns on the Blood Locking Talisman, and revealed the ruthless smile she had shown when she fought for the position of Cave Master: "The opportunities I, Yan Lan, want have always been snatched by my own hands! They are earned through my own hard work."

Even the Inner Realm Spirit Refining Technique we cultivate was something I fought for. If it weren't for my junior nephew's intervention, I probably would have died long ago. My path has always been—won through struggle!
But I would rather give to you than be a burden to you.

"Good! Good! Good!" Huang Chang clapped his hands and laughed, his dark blue robe billowing in the spiritual pressure. "Now you are worthy to be my disciple!"

Huang Shang smiled faintly and said, "You guys are really behind in intelligence. Do you think you're the only ones with resources, while I, Huang Shang, don't?"

Suddenly, a water mirror flew out from his sleeve, and as the ripples spread across its surface, the scene of Penglai Sword Pavilion in the East Sea was revealed.

However, the protective array of Penglai Sword Pavilion had been shattered, and the two patriarchs of the Sword Pavilion, along with the sect leader, had all submitted.

On the surging waves of the reef, not only could Huang Shang's figure be seen, but also a blue-scaled dragon coiled in the clouds, its scales menacing.

Another black-robed ghost cultivator, holding a blood-red banner, stood in mid-air, his body shrouded in eerie ghostly energy.

What's most alarming is that hanging above everyone's heads is the "Canghai Mingyue Sword," the treasured artifact of Penglai Sword Pavilion, passed down for thousands of years!
The sword shimmered with a deep blue light, but it was already entangled in blood-red runes, clearly indicating that it had been completely refined.

"The two level-four spiritual veins of Penglai Sword Pavilion"

Huang Shang's withered fingers gently stroked the water mirror, and the scene in the mirror changed, revealing two winding spiritual veins like giant dragons beneath the Sword Pavilion. "Now they are under my control."

"As long as Yan Lan helps me obtain the Nine Cauldrons of Yu the Great in the future, this Sword Pavilion will be her cave dwelling! Consider it a gift from me to this disciple."

These words exploded like thunder.

Zhao Wuji's double pupils gleamed like a blood moon as he coldly said, "You've colluded with that deep-sea dragon? And those demon kings from the states beyond the river? Aren't you afraid the Qilin Sword Sect will come after you for doing this?"

"Hahaha!"

Huang Shang laughed loudly, then calmly put away the water mirror and said meaningfully, "Fellow Daoist Xinghe, why bring up the Qilin Sword Sect to suppress me? You and I both have secrets, so don't speak so harshly. We're all just taking what we need."

Zhao Wuji frowned deeply.

"Besides," Huang Chang's eyes flashed with disdain, "so what if it's the Qilin Sword Sect? When I achieved the Nascent Soul stage, the Qilin Sword Ancestor was just a fellow practitioner."

He paused, and seeing that Zhao Wuji and Hua Qingshuang were unwilling to give up, a hint of impatience appeared in his eyes, and his sleeves fluttered in the wind.

"It seems that none of you have grasped the situation clearly."

His withered fingers gently stroked the ancient scripture before him, a dangerous glint flashing in his cloudy eyes. "Yan Lan is now under my control, not someone you can take away as you please. Today, I must take her away."

Before he finished speaking, a terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from his body, his dark blue robe fluttered without wind, and blood-red talismans were faintly flowing in his sleeves.

"If you can't take it with you," Huang Chang's voice suddenly turned cold, like the chill of the deepest hell, "what I can't have, I've always only chosen to destroy!"

As he spoke, he loosely clenched his fist, and the Blood Locking Talisman wrapped around Yan Lan's body suddenly shone brightly with red light.

"Old dog!" Hua Qingshuang's eyes were icy cold, and her Frost Flying Sword was sharp and fierce.

"But if it can be taken away..."

Huang Shang changed the subject, and a hint of kindness appeared on his withered face, like a strict teacher facing a beloved student.

"Since I have sworn an oath with the Nine Nether Profound Yin Heart-Slaying Curse to take her as my disciple, I will naturally impart all my knowledge to her."

He turned to Zhao Wuji and said, "Fellow Daoist Xinghe should be familiar with this oath. It was you who proposed it. I have kept my promise and have never revealed anything about your identity or anything related to you over the years."

Although I may resort to any means necessary, I would never gamble with the nascent soul I might one day form!

Before he finished speaking, the ancient scripture in his sleeve suddenly flipped, exuding an ancient and weathered aura, clearly indicating that he was prepared to fight to the death.

"Junior sister/niece"

Yan Lan looked at Hua Qingshuang and Zhao Wuji, a reassuring smile appearing on her usually resolute face. She shook her head and transmitted her voice, "Let me go. I won't go with him. It's probably going to be difficult to end this peacefully."

Besides, you can't possibly protect me for the rest of my life.

With the resurgence of spiritual energy and the resources of the Penglai Sword Pavilion, his cultivation will recover faster and faster. If he fails once, he will try again and again!

Zhao Wuji frowned upon hearing this; this was indeed a problem.

A glint flashed in Huang Shang's eyes, and his withered fingers suddenly formed a hand seal. The Taoist scriptures in front of him turned on their own without any wind, flipping to the chapter "Free and Easy Wandering".

"There is a fish in the Northern Sea."

The ancient scriptures shone with a brilliant blue light, each word flowing like stars, and even sketching the phantom image of a Kunpeng in the void.

"not good!"

Zhao Wuji's pupils contracted sharply, and as his double pupils turned like blood moons, he glimpsed the trajectory of the Blood Talisman that locked the God within Yan Lan's body.

His sword finger flashed like lightning, and a golden needle shot out from his sleeve!

"Whoosh!!"

As the golden needle pierced the air, its tail trailed a trail of ethereal blue light, precisely piercing Yan Lan's Dazhui acupoint on the back of her neck.

The instant the needle pierced the flesh, the light of the Netherworld Technique burrowed into the meridians like a venomous snake, while the power of the talisman water and incantation transformed into invisible threads, quietly binding the soul.

"boom!"

At that moment, the Daoist scripture emitted a burst of blue light.

Huang Shang and Yan Lan's figures suddenly blurred, transforming into the Kunpeng Dharma Image that blotted out the sky.

The phantom with a wingspan of a hundred feet flapped its wings, instantly stirring up a monstrous wave of air!
"Zheng!"

When Hua Qingshuang's frost-covered flying sword shattered the afterimages, it only sliced ​​through the countless scattered azure feathers. At the edge of the sky, Yan Lan's voice echoed like a flickering candle in the wind, lingering long amidst the sea of ​​clouds:

"Junior sister/niece"

"When I reach the Nascent Soul stage, I will surely return with fine wine to celebrate with you all!"

Before the last word had faded, the phantom of the Kunpeng had transformed into a blue rainbow that soared into the sky and disappeared into the horizon in an instant.

"Sister."

Hua Qingshuang gripped the sword hilt tightly with her jade-like fingers, a rare ripple appearing in her icy eyes.

She suddenly turned to look at Zhao Wuji: "That golden needle you just used?"

"It doesn't matter."

Zhao Wuji stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the sky, a cold, stern smile playing on his lips.

“I have already used the spell to hit my master, which is a backup plan so that Huang Shang will not be able to succeed completely.”

At this moment, he could already sense that his golden needles had been removed.

However, the talismanic water attached to the needle tip had already invaded Yan Lan's body and was heading towards her vengeful spirit.

Once things have stabilized, he can use his dream-marriage technique to establish a dream connection with his senior master and ascertain his condition.

In this way, even if Huang Shang takes Yan Lan away, he can still determine her location and condition.

It's tantamount to having a hidden spy lying in ambush next to this old monster.

Zhao Wuji made a casual move.

In the distance, a golden needle that had been pulled out flew back, but as he lightly twirled it with his fingertips, a wisp of dark blue silk thread appeared and disappeared in the sunlight.

It was the power of the talismanic water that connected with Yan Lan's vengeful spirit.

"Though the needle has been removed..."

"The curse is now complete."

Deep within the double pupils, the blood moon revolves, reflecting a blurry location in the distance.

The connection between the Dream Marriage Technique and the incantation is slowly being established along the threads of magical power, like lighting a soul-guiding lamp in the darkness.

"Fortunately, you are very skilled. Alas, what Senior Sister said just now was obviously half true and half false. After all, she had no choice in the matter and did not want to be a burden to us."

Hua Qingshuang's eyes dimmed slightly as she looked at the long-dissipated streak of light in the sky and said softly, "However, Senior Sister's competitive spirit is still the same as before. She has always been competing and vying with me, unwilling to fall behind."

Unexpectedly, things are still the same. Hopefully, after Huang Shang made his vow, he truly accepted her as his disciple.

Zhao Wuji shook his head and said, "A person's character determines their fate and success or failure. Back then, my senior sister dared to negotiate with a tiger for its skin, risking her life to cooperate with Huang Shang to obtain the Inner Realm Refining Spirit Technique. Today's situation is nothing more than the result of her inherent competitiveness and adventurousness."

He paused, looked at Xiang Wang Zhen Shou beside him, and said solemnly, "Huang Shang's strength is indeed extraordinary. Now that there are resources and spiritual energy has recovered, his strength has recovered very quickly."

Even though he hasn't reached his former peak, his methods and treasures are endless. If it weren't for the limitation of his lifespan, he would probably be even more difficult to deal with. That's why he insisted on capturing his master and finding the Nine Cauldrons of Yu the Great.

In that situation just now, if we had fought to the very end, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to capture my master, and would have only left behind a corpse. The only option was to retreat and let them go.

"Oh?" Hua Qingshuang's cool eyes lit up. "From what you mean..."

Zhao Wuji smiled calmly, "As long as my senior sister doesn't resist, the talisman formed from my needle will remain embedded in her body forever."

A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes. "Doesn't she like me to prick her with needles? These needles aren't just for her, they're for Huang Shang too."

"I'm afraid that old monster Huangshang will find out," Hua Qingshuang said worriedly.

Zhao Wuji laughed and said confidently, "Huang Shang's 'Wanshou Daozang' is indeed powerful, as it combines the strengths of many schools of thought, but my family's traditional medical and martial arts skills are not to be underestimated."

A profound glint flashed in his eyes, and he thought to himself, "After all, it's the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends Technique."

Upon hearing this, Hua Qingshuang's tense shoulders finally relaxed, but she suddenly narrowed her eyes and asked, "I noticed that Huang Shang has always referred to you as Xinghe Daoren. What did you do to Xinghe Daoren's primordial spirit?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wuji looked at Hua Qingshuang and laughed, "Peak Master, I think you're worried that I'll be possessed by Xinghe Daoist's primordial spirit, aren't you?"

He hesitated for a moment, and suddenly spatial ripples appeared in his sleeve. "If you want to see the primordial spirit of Xinghe Daoren, I will take you to see him and send back Xiang Yu's true head along the way."

After saying this, he rolled up his sleeves, and the space of the Pot Heaven unfolded in the void like a scroll painting.

But there, clouds and mist swirled, and sacred mountains appeared and disappeared, creating an image of a universe hidden within a sleeve.

Although it wasn't the first time Hua Qingshuang had seen him, she still couldn't help but hold her breath.

The profound mystery of this small space, which forms its own world, always made her tremble with awe every time she witnessed it.

She was once also taken into this strange space by Zhao Wuji.

"Peak Master, please!" Zhao Wuji raised his hand in invitation.

He did not deliberately conceal Hua Qingshuang's knowledge of the existence of the Pot Heaven Space.

Back then, Hua Qingshuang swore that she would never reveal this secret.

However, Zhao Wuji only described the Pot Heaven Space as a magical artifact similar to the ancient Qiankun Bag, and never mentioned the three words "Pot Heaven Technique".

He had previously demonstrated a similar technique, the Qiankun Bag, when he was known as the Tiannan Patriarch.

The art of the Heavenly Pot must not be revealed.

After all, the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Techniques point directly to the secret of the Yin-Yang Pearl.

Even though he trusted this peak master, there were far too many treasures and techniques in this world that could reveal people's hearts.

The existence of the Yin-Yang Pearl has attracted the covetous eyes of many powerful figures.

If it were to be leaked, it wouldn't be a simple secret leak, but a matter of life and death for the two of them.

"Buzz!"

The radiance of the heavens shimmered and flowed.

The two figures, along with the imposing head of Xiang Yu, vanished from the spot.

At the same time, thousands of miles away.

Huang Shang and Yan Lan's escape light suddenly stopped, their dark blue robes fluttering in the wind.

His withered fingers made hand seals to sense that Zhao Wuji and the other person had not followed, and then he breathed a sigh of relief, a trace of fatigue flashing in his cloudy eyes.

Although he used all his skills in the battle just now, he was ultimately old and frail and had not yet recovered his peak strength.

Even he felt immense pressure facing Zhao Wuji, who held Xiang Yu's head in his hand.

"The younger generation is truly formidable."

"Heh..." Yan Lan's lips curled into a mocking smile, her eyes filled with contempt. "Old ghost, you can't even hold on this fast? Are you even qualified to be my master?"

"Shut up!" Huang Chang shouted coldly, his sleeves swung out suddenly, and the red threads of the Soul-Locking Blood Talisman tightened abruptly. He said coldly, "I was once a True Monarch cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage. Teaching you, girl, is more than enough, but first you must learn to respect your teacher!"

Yan Lan endured the excruciating pain in her meridians, but stubbornly remained silent with a cold laugh.

Huang Chang's gaze was sinister, his voice low and chilling like a cold wind from the depths of hell: "I keep my word today and will not harm you. But if you cannot find the Nine Cauldrons..."

A cold glint appeared on his withered face. "When my time comes, I won't care about any oaths. At worst, we, master and disciple, will perish together!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Lan felt relieved, knowing that this old monster truly wouldn't harm her this time; at most, they would all perish together before they died.

She remained outwardly calm, secretly sensing within her body, and felt a familiar fluctuation flowing beside the Yin Soul.

"This is……"

She was shocked, then suddenly realized what was happening.

Zhao Wuji's golden needles had already pierced into her body, and even... were lurking beside her ghostly spirit!

"That little rascal. Before leaving this time, he didn't forget to give his senior uncle acupuncture. That's fine, in case it happens in the future."

(End of this chapter)