Chapter 127: The Great Yellow Weasel Immortal

Li Yanchu’s heart instantly sank.

Yan Chixiao, a renowned demon-slayer, was known for his formidable physique and ferocious saber techniques. Not only was he aggressive and tough, he also possessed remarkable regenerative abilities.

Though he appeared to be a boorish brute, he was, in truth, a highly skilled expert. He had been one of the nine top cultivators who just battled the berserk old ape, and among them, his strength ranked near the top. And yet now, he’d had his heart ripped out in a single move!?

With a flick of the young man's arm, Yan Chixiao’s massive, iron-tower-like body was flung through the air like a ragged sack.

BANG!

The young man crushed Yan Chixiao’s heart in his hand, and a smile crept across his face. At first glance he looked every bit the refined, genteel young nobleman; yet to onlookers, he radiated a bone-deep chill.

“You all arrived far too late,” he said with a sigh, “You made me wait such a long time.”

BOOM!

The next instant, he appeared before an old monk and struck once again with the same exact technique. Only this time, his strike was faster and deadlier.

The old monk had barely raised the prayer beads in his hands to defend himself when a searing pain exploded in his chest. His gaunt frame was punched through, leaving behind a gaping, bloody hole.

Then, the young man casually flung the monk aside, and he died on the spot. But this time, the corpse was thrown forcefully in the direction of another person.

Mr. Ma, the one from Liaodong who had yet to summon his family’s Great Immortal during the earlier battle with the ape, saw a black shadow rushing at him. He instinctively dodged to the side and silently began to chant an incantation in his heart, inviting his family’s Great Immortal to descend upon him.

He had been practicing the Immortal Summoning Art for quite a few years, so within a mere instant, he had completed the summoning.

A special power manifested within him, overwhelmingly potent. It wasn’t something he’d cultivated himself, but one he’d requested from his clan’s Great Immortal. In essence, it bore some similarity to Li Yanchu's Deity Summoning Art, but the two were fundamentally different.

Deity Summoning Art was a mainstream Daoist ritual, used to call upon the divine power of the legitimate gods of the Celestial Court to bolster one’s cultivation.

However, the legitimate gods of the Celestial Court would never possess the body of a cultivator. They lend their strength to the cultivator, not control the cultivator.

Instead, this Liaodong Immortal Summoning Art actually summoned one’s clan’s Great Immortal to possess the body. In combat, it was really the Great Immortal’s avatar, or even the Immortal itself, that took control and directly manipulated the body by using the Immortal’s power.

Therefore, in the early stages of cultivation, many who practiced Deity Summoning Art would actually be defeated by those who practiced Immortal Summoning Art. Summoning an Immortal was essentially awakening the dormant Great Immortal within and surrendering control of one’s body, so it wasn’t the cultivator’s own strength.

On the other hand, using the Deity Summoning Art had no side effects, and how much divine power one could channel depended entirely on the cultivator’s own ability.

But Immortal Summoning Art carried a cost. First, the cultivator’s qi and essence were heavily drained. They were often sickly, pale, and weak-bodied as a result, though it usually wouldn’t lead to death.

The more times the Great Immortal possessed them, the more essence and qi were lost, and the weaker their physical body became. Worse still, sometimes the Great Immortal being sustained wouldn’t leave and would take direct control of one’s body.

Some only possessed temporarily to wander the mortal world, play their fill, and then retreat. Others, however, grew to love the feeling of possessing a human and just stayed. This was one of the major flaws of Immortal Summoning Art.

That said, those who practiced it usually had ways to negotiate with their Great Immortals, as these beings needed incense offerings and human qi and essence to survive and grow.

Mr. Ma appeared as a middle-aged man with a waxy-yellow complexion, looking every bit the consumptive wretch. After descending into the great tomb this time, his performance remained unremarkable, and no moves of his really stood out. But the moment he summoned his clan’s Great Immortal to possess him, his strength became incomparable. It was like night and day.

“You’re courting death. Dou really think this Immortal of mine couldn’t handle you?”

Mr. Ma’s voice sharpened to an almost piercing edge, and his tone was laced with malevolence. It wasn’t his own tone, which was normally hoarse and low. The new voice was so piercingly sharp that hearing it sent a chill through one’s heart.

Emerging from the giant bronze coffin, the youth in splendid robes let out a cold laugh. “This is heretical sorcery. You’re just a yellow weasel who’s barely cultivated the Dao, yet you dare to call yourself an Immortal!”

With that, he exposed the very deity Mr. Ma had been venerating, his clan’s Great Immortal, the Great Yellow Weasel Immortal among the five Great Immortals.

In that instant, Mr. Ma’s wax-yellow face flickered with murderous intent. “Then go ahead and test me, let’s see if I truly deserve the title of Immortal!”

With a sudden movement, he charged at the robed youth with his five fingers curled like hooks and gleaming with a metallic chill. His movements were agile to the extreme, and he was so much faster than how Mr. Ma had been earlier. It was like comparing two different people!

The Great Yellow Weasel Immortal was furious. Earlier, he had held back when he saw the demonic ape, and he did not want to strike with lethal force. But it seemed that he was being underestimated.

In Liaodong, he held an extremely high status. After all, many households there worshiped the Great Yellow Weasel Immortal.

Of course, there were many Great Yellow Weasel Immortals who had gained sentience. But this also showed just how much respect Liaodong placed on summoning immortals and their clan’s Great Immortals, and he had never been looked down on before.

The two clashed in midair, exchanging more than a dozen blows in an instant. Each and every move of theirs were laced with a lethal intent. At that moment, Mr. Ma no longer gave off the impression of being sinister.

Instead, he was

fierce

. He exuded the kind of fierceness one might feel when encountering a wild beast deep in the mountains. When a human exuded that kind of aura, it made people instinctively wary. Mr. Ma’s current presence could even be said to inspire fear.

A middle-aged Daoist who had drawn near to the fight raised his hand and sent seven spirit talismans flying straight at the young man in ornate robes. Who would have expected this to earn him a furious curse from Mr. Ma?

“Filthy Daoist! Get lost, or I will skin you alive!”

Hearing this, the middle-aged Daoist looked stunned. Meanwhile, Daoist Yuanyi's brows furrowed deeply as a chill crept onto his face. He recalled Yan Chixiao’s strength when he and the others had surrounded the old ape earlier, yet Yan Chixiao hadn't been able to land a single slash with the ghost-headed saber on the robed youth before one strike pierced his heart.

Now, this Mr. Ma, who was possessed by the Great Yellow Weasel Immortal, had exchanged over a dozen blows with that same robed youth. That level of power truly wasn’t ordinary.

“Kid, today I’m gonna show you that there’s always someone stronger,” Mr. Ma sneered darkly.

This particular Great Immortal Mr. Ma worshipped was a little too arrogant. Li Yanchu couldn’t tell if

all

the Great Immortals summoned in Liaodong were so haughty and full of themselves like this, or if such hauteur was unique to this one.

Shing!

The youth in ornate robes closed in and unleashed a knife-hand strike[1], piercing straight through Mr. Ma’s chest.

“I was just toying with you, and you actually thought you were something special! Beasts are just beasts, not even worth noticing,” the robed youth sneered.

The Great Yellow Weasel Immortal, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, fell completely silent with stunned disbelief.

This can’t be happening!

The robed youth then clenched his hand into a fist.

Boom!

With a deafening explosion, Mr. Ma’s body was blown apart and shattered into a pile of bloody flesh!

Immediately after, a shadowy figure burst out from what remained of Mr. Ma’s body.

1. A knife-hand strike is a martial arts technique using the side of the hand, opposite the thumb, to strike an opponent. ☜