Chapter 579: A Battle of Death

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When Zhang Lisheng saw the opening that the Taoist priests, who lost their concentrations, gave, he bit the tip of his tongue and squirted a mouthful of fresh red blood on the ground.

The blood disappeared into the ground without a trace, at the same time, the hilly area under the Gate of Dao’s members began to turn soft and wet.

“Watch out! Beneath our feet…” One of the alert members of the Gate of Dao noticed that something was wrong beneath their feet, so he shouted out loud. Once his words left his mouth, giant toads actually leaped out from the ground with a wide mouth, as though they were leaping out from a river, and instantly swallowed more than ten Taoists.

Upon recognizing the mill-sized scars on the toad that were round on the inside but square on the outside in horror and shock, a skinny short old Taoist who looked like an ape, who was also the only person putting in kind words for Zhang Lisheng when he fell into their trap last time, shouted loudly, “Money Toad! These toads are ancient mutants, and they must not be taken lightly.”

As he was speaking, several toads that either had their backs sliced open by sharp blades or their belly shining with faint glimmers, abruptly blasted open to death. At once, the Taoist masters who had fallen just now freed themselves from the carcass.

However, more toads opened their wide black mouths and spurted whirl of cyclones onto the Taoist priests. The cyclones that seven to eight of them released even had traces of blood, flesh, and bones in them. It was clear that these were the remains of the Taoists who had been swallowed.

“What a brutal fiend! To think that he would actually stop at nothing to make his move.” Upon seeing that he and several dozens more other Gate of Dao’s disciples were still placed in a disadvantaged position, neutralized by the ancient witchcraft’s successor alone despite their combined attacks, the skinny old man took a deep breath when he saw how Zhang Lisheng killed so many people successively in such a short period. A determined look flashed across his face as he spoke with ease, “Junior Sister Lu, this scoundrel’s strength has already reached an inconceivable stage. It looks like we won’t be able to subdue him no matter what if we don’t sacrifice ourselves to cast a critical killing blow. I’ll use the Three Killing Tactic from the ‘Hidden Talisman Classic’ to temporarily take away his ability to manipulate the water and soil of the five elements. When I die, it’s you who have the highest cultivation base above the Yingzhou, so remember, you must kill him before an incense burns no matter what!”

“Senior Brother, it’s me who agreed to the imperial court’s order to eliminate this ancient witchcraft’s successor, so I should be the one sacrificing instead…” Lu Tiandao, who was by the side, replied in a grave voice.

“I have been in stagnation for 20 years without making a breakthrough to the human immortal, and there’s no longer any hope for me to become one. You still have plenty of opportunities to do so; it’s just natural that I should be sacrificed. Junior Sister, I just hope that after I’m gone, you’ll take care of those good-for-nothing disciples of mine. Also, do remember to pour a glass of wine for my cenotaph when you’re free and talk to me a little… Ah be damn with it. I’m already on the verge of dying, but I’m still saying so many words. How unmagnanimous I am! No wonder I can’t make a breakthrough to the human immortal! Excuse me, Junior Brother,” The skinny old man interrupted Lu Tiandao’s words and looked at her gravely for the last time. With a faint smile, his expression gradually turned solemnly as he summoned all the power around him before chanting loudly all by himself, “Follow the patterns of Heaven to find the Dao of Heaven, this is the way to completion… When Heavens commits murder, the stars are pulled out of the sky; when the Earth commits murder, the dragons walk the planet; when human commits murder, the natural way is reversed. When Heaven and Earth are united, ten thousand things will settle… With these three, in particular, those who cultivate over this comprehension will be known as sage…”

When the chant resonated, several dozens of toads that were spurting out a jet of whirlpools immediately turned into muddy piles of water. At this time, the skinny Taoist priest also stretched his limbs, his undistinguished face gradually emitted an indescribable, delicate, and beautiful aura. All of his moves appeared to have a kind of elegant and unconventional bearing.

When he muttered the part “when Heavens commits murder, the stars are pulled out of the sky,” several big stars suddenly shone brightly above the sky under the bright sun. Then, the suction power of the stars gradually interfered with Zhang Lisheng’s manipulation of the seawater unwittingly.

When the old man reached the part “when the Earth commits murder, the dragons walk the planet,” strips of earth veins began to pop up on the island one by one, causing the adhesion of the soil to become more than a hundred times heavier.

Then, the old man continued to chant, “when human commits murder, the natural way is reversed.” At once, old ancient figures that looked like they walked out of paintings began to appear in front of the eyes of everybody, one by one from Heavens and Earth.

These were the remnant shadows of the Taoist sages who had cultivated on the Yingzhou Island before. Whenever one appeared, the state of mind of the Gate of Dao’s members became purer. Just like that, as the old Taoist chanted, he gradually merged into the mountains.

“Senior Brother, just you wait! I’ll go have a drink and a little chat with you after I kill this scoundrel!” Staring at the old Taoist turning into a virtual shadow as dissipated in between Heaven and Earth, Lu Tiandao muttered expressionlessly in a voice that nobody else but herself could hear. Without warning, she raised her hand and sliced a thin bloody line on her forehead using her nails. With two fingers stretching the wounds, she dug out an eye-shaped bone bead.

“The base of a human immortal! Senior Sister Lu, since you have already opened your Heaven’s spirit and form a bead, it’s already a matter of course for you to become a human immortal, so why would you destroy your own foundation?” A female Taoist who combed her long hair into buns of hair had initially been hurling spells to battle with the ancient witchcraft’s successor, but the bone bead distracted her attraction. At once, she could not help but took a glance and shouted in shock.

“More members of our Gate may die in vain if I don’t destroy my own foundation! To let them die in peace, I may have to sacrifice my own life too to kill that witchcraft’s successor!” Lu Tiandao replied as she gripped the bone bead in her hand. After muttering a chant, she threw it calmly at the enemy in the distance.

At this time, Zhang Lisheng found that it was about a hundred times more difficult to manipulate the soil and seawater. He could not even cast the Creation Technique anymore.

He knew that it must be the skinny old Taoist who chanted the Hidden Talisman Classic and transformed into a paradise. When he was trying to solve this problem, he suddenly saw a white light moving towards him. Hurriedly, he dodged cautiously.

To his surprise, the instant the white light went near him, it disappeared without a trace, and right away, Zhang Lisheng felt that his limbs became heavy, causing him to almost fall to the ground.

Sacrificing the foundation of her human immortal as the medium, Lu Tiandao only hurled the simplest Binding Spell on the enemy. She who had become completely pale looked at the enemy in the distance who was growing weaker, and finally, a hint of a cold smile appeared on her face.

When Duan Lianbao, who had been the most active and brave in the fight, and whose strength far exceeded most of the elders in the Gate of Dao, saw Zhang Lisheng’s movement turning slow, his eyes lit up right away. The virtual phantom with thick brows, big eyes, long hair that swayed in the wind willfully, and the white beards hanging from its jaw, wearing a dopo robe embroidered with sun and moon that was originally sitting cross-legged in the air suddenly stood up and slammed his palm downward.

In an instant, the bright sunshine in the sky condensed into a large hand that had a palm of a hundred meter long. All five fingers were kept together as the palm slammed down from the sky. After an earth-shattering ‘boom,’ it smashed Zhang Lisheng, who could not dodge in time into the rocky mountain, several dozens of meters deep into the ground.

After that one blow, Duan Ling Tian snapped his fingers, and at once, the light palm vanished into nothingness. Duan Lianbao ignored the two virtual Taoist phantoms behind him that were about to disappear and walked directly to the enormous pit made by the giant palm in an overjoyed manner.

When a Gate of Dao’s disciples who was lucky enough to escape from this calamity saw him walking ostentatiously to check out the enemy’s situation, he spoke in lingering fear, “Senior Brother Lianbao, watch out. That ancient witchcraft’s successor is extraordinary; it’s better to be more cautious.”

If it had been half a day ago, or half an hour ago, the meticulousness of this Gate of Dao’s disciple would have inevitably been mocked by the comrades from the same Gate. However, now that they had personally witnessed and experienced the ferociousness and powerfulness of this ancient witchcraft’s successor, basically, nobody dared to question his caution anymore.

However, there would always be an exception. When a young Taoist who was closest to the heaven pit saw that Duan Lianbao stopped his track upon hearing that warning, perhaps it was out of his competitiveness, or perhaps he was just too daring, he walked up to the enormous pit instead and even started to talk with ease and fluency, “The Yingzhou’s immortal mountain has a crust harder than steel. Even an ‘Old God’ from the witchcraft would die after being smashed into such a huge pit! No matter how powerful the ancient witchcraft’s successor is, he’s still…”

He had already walked to the side of the pit before he could finish his words. When he extended his neck to take a look, his entire body suddenly froze. Then, like a fermented dough, his body began to swell and continued to do so even after tearing his dopo apart. In particular, his neck stretched to become longer. In the end, his head hung before his chest, with his eyes bulging out of his eye socket. His pupils began to spread continuously and occupied his entire eyeballs.

“That ancient witchcraft’s successor must still be alive. Everyone, be on guard!” Lu Tiandao watched the elite disciple among the younger generation of the Gate of Dao, turning into a monster with a speed of light and spoke while gritting her teeth.

When she looked around and saw that the comrades in the same Gate of Dao were on their vigilance now, she asked the young Taoist who had already become mutated with a lingering of luck in her heart, “Junior Nephew Liu, what’s wrong with you?”

Upon hearing Lu Tiandao’s call, the Taoist that had become a heap of meat slumping on the ground lifted his head with his fat, slightly trembling hands, and looked at the direction of the voice.

He seemed to have lost his spirit but seemingly still had some trace of his past memories. When he looked around, an extremely pained expression could be seen on his face, causing the comrades of the same Gate who were familiar with him to feel mournful for him.

At this moment, a brilliance flashed across the enormous, black, bulging eyes of the young Taoist. At once, two dim rays shot out of them and hit an old man who was not paying any attention, penetrating his body, and taking away his life.

A Taoist beside him saw that the fat head held by both hands began to turn towards him after killing the old Taoist and quickly stepped aside to dodge away in horror. Due to the concern in his heart, before he could make any counterattack, Lu Tiandao, who was standing behind him, had already summoned several flashes of lightning without any hesitation and turned the heap of meat into charcoal.

“The ancient witchcraft’s successor had already killed Junior Nephew Liu and had his body filled with an evil spirit. Destroying his remnant is to free him completely and not a random murder of our comrades of the same Gate. Remember, all of you must immediately return the attack in such a situation,” After killing the disciple, Lu Tiandao did not forget to teach the younger generation.

Once her words left her mouth, a taunting voice resonated from the heaven pit, “All of you Gate of Dao’s people are really absurdly hypocritical. An eye for an eye is indeed the most normal thing, but c’mon, fabricating a reason because ‘his body had been filled with an evil spirit’ is really ludicrous!”

At the same time, a giant snake that had a face with ordinary facial features with black hair, whose body had a golden ratio that was covered with scales while showing patterns of lakes and rivers, except for its rust-red hands, poked its head out of the heavenly pit.