Immortal

Book 2: The Golden Lock of the Eight Gates

Chapter 32: Turning The Table

Zhong Shan turned to jump off the flying sword after successfully wounding Miao Xianren.

Despite Miao Xianren’s wounds, he reacted swiftly. He managed to grab his fallen limb with his right hand and forcefully kicked Zhong Shan before he could jump.

Zhong Shan flew down into the valley like a cannonball.

“Hong~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”

Zhong Shan’s obliterated a boulder upon collision kicking dust into the air.

With the Silver Jiangshi right at his heel, Miao Xianren with blood dripping from his lips and greenish face, gripped his left arm as tightly as he could and quickly turned around to leave after glancing at the black robed man and Zhong Shan. He soon disappeared from the view of the black robed man.

The black robed man watched Zhong Shan and Miao Xianren fight with each other in confusion. The other jiangshi went to the location where Zhong Shan had landed, but he was nowhere to be found.

Miao Xianren ran away and Zhong Shan had disappeared. The black robed man took a deep breath and directed all the jiangshi to move back in front of him.

He waved his hand summoning 28 coffins.

There were 24 copper coffins, 3 silver ones, and 1 gold. After the black robed man spoke some unintelligible words, all the jiangshi went to lie down in the coffins, even putting the lid back on. It was such an eerie scene.

A bunch of nails appeared in his hand, the black robed man threw them into the air.  Each nail flew into one of the nail holes on the coffins. Next, he took out 28 talisman and pasted one onto each coffin.

Finally, with a wave of his hand, all the coffins disappeared as if they had been packed into a storage item.

After he cleaned up everything, the black robed man checked the ground. The runes that were there before were now gradually fading away until they disappeared completely.

“Hu, hu, hu……………….”

Suddenly, eight people appeared in the sky. None of them were flying on a magic item. They were flying under their own power, which indicated that all of them had at least reached the Nascent Soul Stage.

The one at the front wore a flamboyant purple robe, his appearance was that of a mortal who was middle aged that carried an air of majesty. The seven people behind him acted like his retainers.

“Mr. Shi.”[1] The purple robed man respectfully greeted the black robed man.

Even though he had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, the purple robed man acted deferentially to Mr. Shi, despite the fact that he was only at the Gold Core Stage.

“Your Majesty, I have thoroughly checked the surrounding area, the Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square isn’t here.” The black robed man reported.

“Not here? Then it can only be at Eight Gates Mountain.” The purple robed man frowned.

“En, I have also checked some other areas. Only the Eight Gates Mountain is left. It’s where the roar of the dragon was first heard.” Mr. Shi nodded.

“Then I’ll have to count on you again.” The purple robed man spoke solemnly.

“Rest a.s.sured, Your Majesty, I’ll keep my words. As long as there’s a Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square, I’ll make every effort to get it for you.” Mr. Shi nodded.

“Then, let’s go.” The purple robed man said.

“En.” Mr. Shi agreed.

Mr. Shi took out a wooden sword and threw it into the air to use as a flying sword. He flew on top of the sword with the other eight towards the east.

After they left, among the debris where Zhong Shan had landed earlier, a black silhouette slowly appeared. It gradually took the shape of Zhong Shan.

It was Zhong Shan.

There was a trace of blood at the corner of his lip. He lightly clutched at his chest, the kick from Miao Xianren done a number on him.

Zhong Shan didn’t bother with nursing his wounds, instead he looked at the direction where Mr. Shi and the others were heading.

“Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square? So it is at Eight Gates Mountain.” Zhong Shan murmured.

It was obviously too late to chase after them. For now, it was more important to go back and merge with the body Zhong Shan and kill Miao Xianren.

With a shake of his body, Zhong Shan turned into a black silhouette again and instantly disappeared like a ghost. The shadow quickly dashed through the dark forest.

Meanwhile, Miao Xianren was gravely wounded as he had never before experienced.

Looking at the severed left arm, his annoyance grew. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had to escape, he would have had the time to cut Zhong Shan into pieces. He had been too careless, much too careless.  He wondered if he could still attach the arm back.

Miao Xianren needed a quiet place to quickly cleanse the poison from his body, nurse his wounds, and attach the arm back. If he couldn’t do that, he would succ.u.mb to death one way or another.

If it was like any other instance, he wouldn’t return to his old residence. Rather, he would find a remote place to nurse his wounds. But, right now, there was a treasure in the Xianren Abbey that he had to retrieve.

The severity of his injuries slowed him down quite a bit. But he still managed to reach the Xianren Abbey in decent time.

Blue veins stood out on his forehead, Miao Xianren grit his teeth from the pain and walked to the door. It was then that he remembered about Tianling-er and Yinglan.

He squinted and turned to looked behind him.

“So, it was all a trick. But, you two are quite bold, are you still here? The Soul Chaser can only last for three days. Since you two are still here, then you will pay in Zhong Shan’s stead. I’ll make you two into a cauldron to help me heal. In order to pay back for what Zhong Shan has done to me, I won’t take pity on you two.” A fierce look showed on his face. He turned around to walk out of the valley, speedily heading towards Tianling-er.

Miao Xianren thought the Hongluan Manual was more than enough to handle the two girls.

In the valley where the two girls were, there was another man there. It was Zhong Shan, the body Zhong Shan. He was looking at the two girls very seriously.

“Do you all remember what I had said earlier?” Zhong Shan said.

“Don’t worry.” Tianling-er nodded right away.

“Yinglan, you’re crucial to our plan. You simply can’t miss with the Eight Ox Crossbow.” Zhong Shan looked at Yinglan.

“En.” Yinglan earnestly nodded.

Zhong Shan also nodded. He had just arrived, finished giving instructions to the two girls. Now was the most important moment, there couldn’t be any mistakes, not in the slightest.

As they spoke, Zhong Shan saw a shining object shoot into the previous valley. Miao Xianren had returned.

Get ready!

Zhong Shan, together with Yinglan, hid behind bushes, leaving Tianling-er to stand in a clearing.  “Peng.” A large rock shattered to bits under Miao Xianren’s feet as he abruptly appeared not too far from Tianling-er.

He had hidden his broken arm. He stood there with a listless arm and greenish face, looking at Tianling-er wielding her red silk. The Soul Chaser also indicated that Yinglan was hiding nearby.

He took a look at the direction where Yinglan was hiding.  As he narrowed his eyes, a large amount of Hongluan Mist emerged from his body, flying in two directions towards each of the girls.

It was then that two clear crystal Jade Runes appeared in Tianling-er’s hand. She squeezed, shattered both. Two shining lights emerged from within, one bright red as fire, the other pure white as ice. One was a Fire Phoenix and the other an Ice Phoenix, both under Tianling-er’s command. Once free of the runes, they went straight at Miao Xianren.

“Phoenix Runes?” Miao Xianren widened his eyes in disbelief.

The Fire and Ice Phoenixes were not that powerful, only able to threaten people those at the early stage of the Gold Core Stage. Though Miao Xianren was gravely wounded, he shouldn’t have such a strong reaction.

His only arm was practically useless. He could only control the flying sword with his mind. The pink sword swiftly shot at the Ice Phoenix.

Though Miao Xianren reacted quickly, he still couldn’t compete with quickness of Tianling-er’s eyes. As long as she could see him, the two phoenixes could move faster than Miao Xianren.

The flying sword stabbed at the Ice Phoenix while Miao Xianren could only use his own body to fight off the Fire Phoenix. He raised his right leg to kick the Fire Phoenix. The shield on his leg was breaking off but he still kicked with as much force as he could muster.

“Peng~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”

Despite his weakened state, his kick was still powerful enough to dissipate Fire Phoenix. But it was only temporary, as a Fire Phoenix wasn’t easily defeated. With a forceful command from Tianling-er, the Fire Phoenix managed to pierced through the shield on Miao Xianren’s leg. His pants were set alight, leaving a charred area around his knee.

On the other side, the flying sword stabbed at the Ice Phoenix. Under Tianling-er’s control, the Ice Phoenix suddenly bit onto the sword and refused to let go.

Miao Xianren focused on his sword.  The flying sword suddenly shot a beam of energy shattering the Ice Phoenix in the blink of an eye.

As the flying sword freed itself, Miao Xianren suddenly heard a terrifying sound.

“Peng~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”

A huge arrow, an arrow as big as a spear, suddenly shot through Miao Xianren’s burnt right leg.

The tremendous force of the blow even pushed Miao Xianren back away quite a distance. Blood gushed out, the leg had been blown into pieces.

Miao Xianren had lost both arms and a leg.

He twisted his head to look at the direction where the great arrow had come from. It was where Yinglan should be. Why, why wasn’t she under the influence of the Hongluan Mist?

Nearby, Tianling-er quickly backed away from the approaching Hongluan Mist. She kept her distance but tightly held the red silk which had entangled Miao Xianren’s flying sword.

“Ah~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”

Miao Xianren screamed like a madman. He couldn’t believe that he would fall victim to these girls. Though he knew there was little he could in his current state, his eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with rage.

Then, in but a moment, the appearance of a silhouette changed his rage into horror, the kind of horror like falling into a bottomless hole.

He saw Zhong Shan. How could it be possible? Zhong Shan?

Footnotes