Chapter 342: No Martial Ethics! This Old Man’s Gonna Show Off! The Strange Female Corpse! Mount Youming!

The waters of the stagnant pool glowed a sickly green, oozing a nauseating stench. From it, half the body of a powerful female corpse surfaced.

Her wet, jet-black hair veiled her face, and her tattered garments clung to her, exposing a graceful, alluring figure, which was almost indistinguishable from that of the living. She soaked in the pool without the slightest swelling; any ordinary corpse would have long since bloated grotesquely. But this one’s skin was pale and lustrous, her form exuding a dangerous allure, even with her features hidden beneath that curtain of black hair.

The sight stirred the imagination, and the old farmer’s face lit with delight. The three sticks of incense before the pool had already burned halfway, their smoke thick with the stench of rot.

“Almost there! To carry this corpse back to the mountain will be a great merit indeed!” His eyes gleamed brighter and brighter.

Then suddenly, he stiffened. Sensing something, he looked up. And there, descending through the clouds, was a handsome and resolute young Daoist riding the mist like an immortal!

“...!!?” The old farmer’s heart jolted.

Li Yanchu took in the scene at the deathly pool, and when his gaze fell upon the female corpse, his heart lurched violently, and rage boiled up from within him.

“Motherfucker!”

With a snarl, Li Yanchu drew the Jiaoslayer before plunging down from the heavens. Behind him loomed a colossal figure wielding a saber, which was the Martial Dao Manifestation!

Startled, the old farmer flinched. He had expected this cloud-riding Daoist would confront him with righteous words, or probe cautiously into his origins. Here, before a pool thick with corpse-qi, a place that naturally restrained Daoist art, he had thought he held the advantage and felt little fear. Even if a third-realm Yang Spirit powerhouse came in person, he could still rely on his formation to put up a fight.

But never in his wildest thoughts did he expect this Daoist would just curse at him outright, draw his saber, and strike down without hesitation!

Boom

!

The spot where the old farmer stood was ripped open by Li Yanchu’s saber-qi, and a deep trench two zhang deep, stretching for more than ten zhang, was gouged into the earth!

The sheer ferocity of that strike made the old farmer’s heart quiver.

Clang

!

In the blink of an eye, Li Yanchu was behind him.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Daoist Art: Godspeed!

With his ultimate footwork fused with Godspeed, he was as elusive as a ghost, appearing and vanishing at will.

The old farmer’s heart and liver seemed to shatter, as a powerful force instantly enveloped him. He fumbled to draw something from his robes, but before the motion was half complete, his body was split clean apart by the saber!

And yet, he did not die. On the ground lay a straw effigy in his place.

Substitute Strawman Technique!

The old farmer’s heart pounded with lingering fear. Just a fraction slower, and even his substitute puppet wouldn’t have saved him. His eyes grew dark and abyssal, bursting forth with a sinister light.

Curse Art: Demonic Eye!

This was an exceedingly strange sorcery, put simply, “whoever I glare at, dies!”

But Li Yanchu surged with several grand auras at once; he activated the Fire Official’s Sacred Edict, Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, the purple-gold qi, as well as the Clearheart Jade Pendant.

The old farmer’s Demonic Eye curse had no effect at all, and what greeted him instead was Li Yanchu’s razor-edged Jiaoslayer.

Clang!

The saber struck him full on. This time, though, the old farmer was prepared. Clutched in his hand was a verdigris-stained ancient coin.

Clang

!

A deafening, metallic crash rang out, and sparks flew everywhere. The old farmer was slammed violently through the air. His blood and qi surged, and his sternum throbbed with excruciating pain. Just then, cracks crawled across the surface of the coin in his hand.

He stared at Li Yanchu, shaken. Even with the coin’s level of defense, he had nearly been cleaved apart anyway.

Just who the hell is this young Daoist!?

By convention, before anyone exchanged blows, you were supposed to at least trade a few words and sound each other out! What if the other guy had some heaven-defying great master behind him? You talked first, and if the talks collapsed, then you fought.

The higher one’s cultivation, the deeper the wariness toward others. Sometimes, the line between “righteous” and “demonic” didn’t even matter. Those with deep backing, aside from the arrogant young heirs, were usually cautious, steady, and calculating. Because they all knew that this world had terrifying existences, and they were each wary of the other.

And this old farmer was clearly one of those; he was well-connected, and he was becoming ever more sly and dangerous the older he got. He preferred it when everyone showed their credentials first, traded words, and measured each other’s Dao.

But now he shot Li Yanchu a venomous glare.

He’s too crude and too direct! He has no sense of martial virtue! Where has this hot-headed brat come from, and how dare he strike first without a word!? Can’t he see? Anyone who can set up a ghost domain of this scale obviously has serious backing and serious power!

But, Li Yanchu’s eyes were blazing with battle intent, and he simply kept hacking away, strike after strike. He didn’t use any spells or incantations, but just pure, brute force!

The old farmer, with all his tricks and schemes, was actually being forced into a panic.

“Wait, I...!”

He then yanked a Yin Fire Pill from his sleeve. Flames of ghostly fire spread out across the sky, forming a massive barrier, hoping to block Li Yanchu’s advance.

He had so many illusions, curses, and hexes, but all of them needed time to cast and time to talk, to pry at the opponent’s heart demons.

That

was how true masters of sorcery dueled!

But this? He just drew a saber and chopped away, what kind of skill was that!?

Suddenly, a blazing arc of saber energy split the fire curtain clean in two. Li Yanchu burst straight through the sea of ghostfire unscathed.

Flame-Sitting Art!

Even here, where Daoist arts were heavily suppressed, this particular method recorded in the

Methods Section

of the

Yellow Court Classic

was hardly affected at all.

And with The Fire Official’s Sacred Edict protecting him, plus a domineering mythic fire-weapon at his side, these ghostly flames were nothing to him.

At this time, the old farmer’s face went ashen with shock. He then drew a dagger from his chest and slashed open his own arm. Drops of thick, black blood trickled down, but instead of falling to the ground, they vanished into thin air.

Meanwhile, the once-lifeless yet alluring female corpse’s lips turned a vivid crimson as striking as fresh blood. By the stagnant pool, three sticks of secret incense, thick with a corpse’s stench, had burned away completely.

The female corpse suddenly disappeared. An instant later, it blocked Li Yanchu’s path!

Clang!

It actually met Li Yanchu’s saber aura head-on with its bare body! A massive shockwave rippled outward, sending shards of stone flying.

The corpse’s long black hair, which had been covering her face, was blown aside, revealing a pale yet exquisitely beautiful visage. Her lips were blood-red, with a trace of seductive charm.

Seeing her face, Li Yanchu exhaled softly in relief that it wasn’t Fang Qinglan, and his eyes grew cold as he stared at the corpse.

The old farmer finally let out a long breath. “Where did you come from, and how dare you meddle in my affairs on Mount Youming!”

With this terrifying female corpse at his command, the old farmer could finally breathe easier and put on airs. He had the distinct feeling that if the fight had continued any longer, he might have been killed within ten moves!

“Mount Youming? Never heard of it.” Li Yanchu’s voice was icy.

The old farmer’s brow furrowed as he stared hard at Li Yanchu’s face.

He was a bit surprised, as that didn’t make sense. For someone this young to have such cultivation, either he was some ancient monster using secret arts of eternal youth to turn back the clock, or he was a core disciple of some great sect roaming the world. Either way, there was no way he didn’t know of Mount Youming!

Just one “never heard of it” from Li Yanchu, and the old farmer was left speechless, and his momentum for posturing was completely cut off.

“Who are you?” the old farmer demanded.

The other’s aura was undeniably fierce, yet it was clear he hadn’t broken the shackles to condense a Yang Spirit. That only made the old farmer more curious!

Not yet at the Yang Spirit realm, and he could already ride the clouds?

1. T/N: ☜