The golden dragon tore great bites from Zhang Mingyang’s body. Its keen teeth chewed, and thick azure light spilled out from its mouth, rising toward the heavens. It dyed the whole firmament a pale azure. This portent was too astonishing, as though proclaiming to the world the fall of a Spirit-Transformation cultivator, returned once more to the space between heaven and earth. In an instant the winds and clouds shifted again, turning into a fine, drizzling rain that soaked the ravaged, wound-covered earth.
Chen Zhong reached out to touch the azure-glowing raindrops, and the old scars on his palm were swiftly smoothed away. Zhang Mingyang’s fall had plainly shaken him beyond measure, and for a long while he couldn’t gather his wits.
Aqing, by contrast, stared hard at the sky, where the savage golden dragon reared its head and stretched its claws, a ring of brambles still looped about its neck — the very picture of terrifying menace. His heart abruptly hung suspended.
Grandmaster Shen might be helping the golden-body Senior, but that Senior plainly wasn’t of any gentle temperament. Even locked in a life-and-death struggle with the White-Feather Demon Emperor, seeing Xuanguang Cave’s man sell him out — even one against two — it had struck to kill without the slightest hesitation. The golden dragon it loosed was more savage still. Best it not fly into a rage and wound Grandmaster Shen by mistake.
All at once, Aqing blinked. He saw that sturdy golden dragon slowly open its mouth and spit out a tattered robe, and then a long saber wreathed in black mist emerged from within its maw. Holding the ink-black saber in its dragon’s mouth, it lowered its head and offered it to the young man. Having just been savagely tearing at Zhang Mingyang a moment ago, it now seemed quiet and gentle.
Shen Yi reached out to take the long saber and slid it back into the sheath at his waist. In passing he touched the brambles at the dragon’s neck, injected aura, turned that treasure back into the shape of a hand-string, and stowed it into his own storage treasure.
“…”
Watching this, Chen Zhong’s heart jumped again, the fine hairs on his body standing on end.
The golden dragon returning the saber was an expression of goodwill. This already counted as a very courteous Spirit-Transformation Senior — clear about grievance and gratitude, not overly haughty even facing a junior.
But Senior Shen casually pocketing another’s spoils of war — among cultivators, that was a genuine, solid great taboo!
The next moment, the golden dragon showed no anger. It simply turned and flew to slay the wretched-looking white crane.
As a renowned great demon emperor of the Thousand Demon Den, it had first been ambushed twice in succession by Zhang Mingyang, its condition plummeting. Then it had been caught off guard by the sudden golden dharma form. And yet the result was that, bearing up under the golden body’s pressure, it had forcibly crippled Zhang Mingyang, a Spirit-Transformation Perfected Master. Having had half its plumage torn away, it had battled the golden dharma form for a good long while — and even now hadn’t been thoroughly defeated! One could only sigh in awe of its terror.
The sturdy golden dragon abruptly struck from behind the White-Feather Demon Emperor, then coiled its whole body about that long, slender neck and wrenched tight! The white crane, in the very act of swinging a wing at the golden body, had its whole frame dragged backward.
“Kreee!”
It opened its long beak in fury, thrusting out its sharp tongue, loosing a shrill, ear-piercing wail.
The golden dharma form keenly caught this opening. It abruptly shot up, prying at the bird’s beak with both palms, then wrenched it apart with wild ferocity! The golden dragon released the White-Feather Demon Emperor’s neck in an instant, soared up, and bored straight into its throat!
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
The keen-edged dragon-claws tore wildly about inside. The White-Feather Demon Emperor staggered backward, shaking its head madly, thick blood-plasma instantly staining its body red. In its two eyes remained only a thick, bitter unwillingness. Exalted as a demon emperor, and yet dying beneath such crude and vulgar means.
Bang!
The golden dharma form released its long beak, raised a fist, and abruptly smashed its skull to pieces.
Amid the curtain of rain, the ten-zhang demon-body toppled staggering to the ground. In the enormous thunderous crash, like a mountain peak caving in, it spattered up a whole sky of mud. The demon emperor’s form slowly shrank, turning back into the shape of the ordinary white crane from before — only, without any of its earlier elegance, its death-state ghastly in the extreme.
The golden dragon circled a few times in the air, then coiled itself back onto the golden dharma form’s right arm. Across its piercing golden body, the blood-plasma was washed clean by the fine rain. The earlier exchange with the demon emperor had left dense, fine fissures on the golden body — yet it also made the crimson patterns on its spine all the more savage. It swept the White-Feather Demon Emperor on the ground an indifferent glance, then turned once more to streaming light and vanished from where it stood.
“Ah…”
Even now, Chen Zhong and Aqing still wore looks of disbelief.
This Senior had appeared out of nowhere. Slain a Spirit-Transformation cultivator and a demon emperor by force, and having at such labor brought both down, couldn’t even be bothered to spare them a second glance. Just left, straightaway? Not for the technique or the treasures, not for the demon emperor’s corpse. It had simply come out to find someone to fight?!
Then all these treasures littering the ground…
The two suddenly recalled something and quickly looked the other way. Sure enough, Shen Yi casually undid his cloak, red light nurturing the pierced wound at his chest as he slowly walked over. And then he gathered the White-Feather Demon Emperor’s corpse into his storage treasure.
Had he not been together with Shen Yi from beginning to end, Aqing would even have suspected that Spirit-Transformation golden body just now was reinforcement the man had summoned.
This… this was too courteous by far.
Chen Zhong likewise swallowed a mouthful of saliva. The young man, at the Mixed Origin realm, had not only dared take part in a clash of arts between Spirit-Transformation cultivators — in the end he’d gathered every last treasure into his own bag. What manner of fortune-protecting-the-body was this? Still, to call it fortune… others hadn’t the nerve for it, and even with the nerve, how many could muster the strength to deliver Zhang Mingyang to the golden dragon’s very jaws. As for Shen Yi knowing that Spirit-Transformation golden body — a thing like that wasn’t impossible either. But that was no affair he ought to be speculating on. Those too curious usually didn’t live long.
By the time Shen Yi walked back before him, Chen Zhong didn’t dare so much as breathe hard. If the man had earned his admiration before, now there remained only awe and dread.
“Go take a look at that bamboo grove.”
Shen Yi covered his wound and said softly. His expression was calm, as though he hadn’t just crossed hands with a Spirit-Transformation-realm Perfected Master, but merely gone out for a stroll.
“You…”
Aqing rifled hurriedly through his storage treasure for a while, and finally dug out a jade-green pill. Handing the pill to Shen Yi, he then said obediently, “I’ll go at once!”
Braving the risk to explore this cave estate had been for the sake of observing the profound formations within, but now he was somewhat distracted.
“Senior, I’ll stand guard for you.”
Chen Zhong hurriedly picked up the thread too. Nothing else needed saying — it was precisely thanks to this young man that he and that Xu-family junior had come through safe and unharmed. The Xu-family people were still of use to Shen Yi; he, old Chen, was purely a burden. Yet the young man had never once disdained him. Puzzled though he was at the reason for such goodwill, Chen Zhong didn’t think he had anything on him worth the other’s regard. For such vast kindness and grace, a pity his strength was so slight — he could only do some odd tasks by way of repayment.
“Much obliged.”
Shen Yi dipped his chin lightly. He didn’t swallow the pill, only casually placed it into his storage treasure. It wasn’t that he doubted Aqing anything — only that, with peacock red-radiance shielding his body, there was no need to run extra risk.
By rights, even a fatal piercing wound — with peacock red-radiance fed on demon blood — shouldn’t be so difficult to repair. But the wood-spear Zhang Mingyang had summoned held some sinister, poisonous means within it; the peacock needed to coordinate with the toad lord to digest it, which would likely take a few days. Still, it happened to serve as time to take stock of the harvest. After all, to Shen Yi now, this cave estate was, of all places, the safest.
(End of Chapter 271)