Chapter 1224: Slaying Erlang

“Hahaha... stop wasting your energy. You can’t hurt me.”

Sacred True Lord Erlang laughed like a madman when Ye Qing was foiled yet again. “Surrender, and will grant you a swift death?”

“Will you?” Ye Qing smirked. “Can’t you feel that something is wrong?”

“Wrong? What is?” Sacred True Lord Erlang scoffed. “Playing pretend until the very end, demon?”

“You’re the one who’s playing pretend.” Ye Qing let out a cold chuckle. “Don’t you feel that your recovery speed is slowing down? That your strength is weakening?”

“What do you mean?” Sacred True Lord Erlang’s smile stiffened.

Now that Ye Qing mentioned it, the god realized that something was wrong. At the beginning, he would instantly recover to full health no matter how serious his injuries were. But now, his broken arm had only recovered slightly even though it had been a few breaths since they started speaking.

That wasn’t all. At the beginning, he was able to endure at least a dozen blows before he was pushed back by Ye Qing after he manifested his Earthly Sovereign True Body. But now, he could only endure three blows before he was forced back.

The strangest thing of it all was that he hadn’t noticed the oddities at all. If Ye Qing hadn’t mentioned it himself, he would still be in the dark right now. It was as if his mind and reflex were much slower than normal.

“Did you find out?”

He didn’t ask why this was happening. It was clear that he knew the reason.

“Of course I did.” Ye Qing smiled upon hearing the question. “All this is related to the Erlang Subjugates Demon performance and the people of Myriad Blessings Town, isn’t it?”

Sacred True Lord Erlang kept quiet, though the sudden change in his complexion said it all.

“The opera performance was probably some sort of primer. It was to engrave the image of Sacred True Lord Erlang deep in the townspeople’s mind. Since they had just seen the ‘Sacred True Lord Erlang’ a while ago, it’s only natural that they would identify you as him when you appeared using the exact same appearance. They even believed that you have descended from the heavens to subjugate a demon just like the opera.”

Ye Qing continued, “The more the townspeople believe that you are Sacred True Lord Erlang, and the more they believe that I am a demon, the stronger your powers would become, and the more you would be like the real Sacred True Lord Erlang. On the other hand, my powers would continuously weaken over time.”

“After all, the demon always loses no matter how strong they are at the beginning.”

On a related note, the Giant Spirit God, Four Generals of Mo, Seven Sages of Mount Mei, the heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals weren’t real people. They were all an extension and manifestation of the fake god’s power.

“At the same time, the people believe that the Sacred True Lord Erlang is invincible and unstoppable. That is why you cannot die, and why you were able to recover instantly.”

“Did I get it all right?”

If he wasn’t mistaken, his enemy’s martial art had something to do with faith and spiritual power, and the people of Myriad Blessings Town were his source of power.

This was also why his enemy intentionally avoided the townspeople when he attacked him. After all, killing or even injuring the townspeople would only shave away at his power source and greatly reduce his strength.

“Hahaha... you’re right. You’re exactly right.”

The fake Sacred True Lord Erlang fell silent for a moment before bursting out laughing. “But so what? It’s already too late for you.”

“My divine body has already been completed. I am Sacred True Lord Erlang, and Sacred True Lord Erlang is me. You cannot change anything even if you kill the ants now.”

“Surrender the Earthly Sovereign Bell now, and I may yet let you live!”

“Is that so?”

In response, Ye Qing beamed at him. “If that is true, then why are you getting weaker and weaker?”

It was a reasonable question. If the fake god’s so-called divine body really was complete, then he would maintain this form for two hours at the minimum even if the townspeople were to perish right here and now. He would not experience any decline in power during these two hours either.

In reality, not only was his power weakening, Ye Qing had not laid a hand on the townspeople. It was quite strange.

When he realized this, the fake Sacred True Lord Erlang asked, “What on earth did you do?”

“Wanna know? I’ll tell you about it in the next life.”

Ye Qing suddenly closed the distance between himself and the fake Sacred True Lord Erlang and punched.

The fake god hurriedly raised his saber to block the attack, but he was sent flying in one punch.

Ye Qing gave chase immediately, giving the fake god no chance to escape whatsoever.

Before, the fake Sacred True Lord Erlang was already losing because of his weakening powers. Now that he was panicking, he was faring even worse.

Just a few exchanges later, the fake Sacred True Lord Erlang was covered in wounds. He could also feel that his power was leaking rapidly.

“That’s it! It’s the ants!”

Suddenly, Sacred True Lord Erlang recalled something and let out a howl of rage. He actually ignored the attacking Ye Qing and opened his third eye once more, firing an all-encompassing shower of hot light that threatened to burn the entire Myriad Blessings Town into ash.

“Haha. Nice try, but it’s already too late.”

Ye Qing punched, his fist intent churning but strangely devoid of killing intent. In fact, it froze the clouds, the wind, even space itself. Naturally, the divine light was frozen in place as well.

To suppress the Five Phases and quell yin and yang. Such was the power of Suppression Hammer.

After freezing both the divine light and the fake Sacred True Lord Erlang, Ye Qing blurred and appeared right in front of his foe. Then, he stared into his terrified foe’s eyes and punched him into pieces.

A few breaths later, the fake Sacred True Lord Erlang came back to life once more. However, he quickly realized in shock and horror that he still wasn’t able to move an inch. Ye Qing’s Suppression Hammer was persistently encompassing this particular area.

So, he could do nothing but let himself be killed by Ye Qing again.

The fake Sacred True Lord Erlang was afraid. Truly afraid. Every time Ye Qing killed him, his powers would weaken just a little more. He had no doubt that he would die if Ye Qing killed him a couple more times, and his well of power ran dry.

Suppression Hammer was immobilizing him in body and spirit though. He couldn’t even extend his spirit, much less do anything else. It would seem that there was nothing he could do except wait for death to claim him.

Ye Qing could guess what the fake Sacred True Lord Erlang was thinking, but he had no intentions of letting him go. The guy tried to kill the innocent townspeople of Myriad Blessings Town, so this was his just desserts.

Besides, he had built up an image of ruthlessness toward all who meant him harm earlier. He must maintain it to continue cowering those who harbored malicious designs toward him.

That was why he ignored the terrified, pleading look in his foe’s eyes and attacked him mercilessly.

Again and again, the fake Sacred True Lord Erlang was shattered into pieces and killed. Gradually, the divine light surrounding his body faded, and even his appearance was changing. He was looking less and less like the Sacred True Lord Erlang and more and more like a military actor[1]. He was wearing heavy makeup, an opera outfit and five colorful flags behind his back, and wielding a wooden three-pronged fork.

Clearly, this was how the fake god truly looked like.

“Shouldn’t have pretended to be a god when you’re just an actor.”

Ye Qing let out a cold chuckle before punching the despairing man into dust.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

This time, the military actor did not come back to life.

1. An opera actor who plays a male military role. ☜