Chapter 136: Su Mo Makes His Move
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
To be able to exert the Qi force externally into rays was a sign of true mastery of the Connate stage.
So when this middle-aged man, riding on a Connate demon silver-crowned crane’s back, started shooting out Qi at the point of a finger with such ease, it only pointed to one fact—that he was an advanced Connate level adept!
Presently, there could only be one master pract.i.tioner from the country of Yunyang that fit that description:
The Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.
Moreover, this master pract.i.tioner that stood before Zhou Donghuang, seemed to have come accompanied by the emperor of Yunyang himself. The latter seemed to cling to him, showing him such reverence and respect; this was yet another reflection of how extraordinary this character truly was.
A Connate stage, advanced level adept pract.i.tioner, riding right alongside the Emperor of Yunyang—if this was not the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, who else could it be?
“Indeed, it is I, the Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo.”
On the back of the silver-crowned crane, Su Mo peered at the young boy indifferently. “18 years old, and already you have achieved the Great Consummation of Qi-gathering. Never—across the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, and even in the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters—has there ever been a pract.i.tioner that has attained this level of wizardry and genius, such as yourself.”
“Although the essence of the Primal Core seems to have helped, this is still rather difficult to achieve,” Su Mo expressed nonchalantly.
“Get down.”
Donghuang gave Su Mo the same look of indifference. “I don’t like people who try to patronize me. I’ll take five breaths. If you don’t come down in that amount of time, I’ll have to make you come down.”
As Donghuang said this, the words seemed to startle Su Mo for a moment.
The Emperor of the country of Yunyang, Jiang Tianchen, who stood behind Su Mo, had heard news of the young man’s arrogance before. Yet, he never would have thought that this young man in front of him would dare to be this impetuous while he was standing face to face with the Valley Head and Connate level pract.i.tioner.
“Hey kid, how dare you show such blatant disrespect for the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters. Do you have a death wish?” Jiang Tianchen’s tone was severe as he regarded the young man coldly.
His eyes flashed with bloodthirsty hatred in need of revenge. This was the very man that had killed his father Jiang Yunding, and he was desperate to exact some vengeance quickly!
“The Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters?”
Having just noticed the commotion outside, Fu, Leng Hanfeng, Lu Qinghu and the others stepped out of their room. On hearing Jiang Tianchen’s words, their faces collectively drained of color.
The Valley of Medicine Masters—by far, the Valley held the greatest sect in all of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, including the country of Yunyang. Every year, the Sixteen Countries would pay the Valley large quant.i.ties of tributes of gold and silver, in exchange for the Valley’s protection.
And within that Valley, where master pract.i.tioners roamed aplenty, legend had it that there was one Connate level pract.i.tioner who was strongest amongst them.
“That’s him, Su Mo, the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters?”
“Isn’t the Head of the Valley supposed to be more than 70 years old by now? How does he look so young?”
“Yes, I’d heard that the Head of the Valley was supposed to have some age-defying abilities, but this looks pretty preposterous, doesn’t it?”
…
Fu, Leng Hanfeng, Lu Qinghu and the rest of the men, had heard about the legendary Valley Head before, but they had stayed in Chu Royal City for far too long, and everything they did hear about this man was through the grapevine—information collected through hearsay and gossip.
And what they’d known so far was from the deliberate investigation on their part.
This was because, up until now, their young master had not yet met a worthy opponent in all of the country of Yunyang, and the only person that was a threat to his reputation was this Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters.
Considering all that they understood about this man, they were naturally afraid and had as a group prayed in their hearts that Su Mo would not interfere in the feud between their young master and the Yunyang royal family. They did not think that Donghuang, their young master, could yet contend with the likes of the Valley Head.
The only thing was, they never would have thought in a million years that not only would the Valley Head interfere in this business with the Yunyang royal family, but the advanced Connate adept would personally come riding on the Connate demon silver-crowned crane to meet them.
And now, looking at the middle-aged man in the unmistakable dragon print robes behind Su Mo, it was easy to guess who that person was—it had to be the Emperor of Yunyang himself.
“It looks like the Yunyang imperial family possesses a short memory.”
Zhou Donghuang cast a casual glance at Jiang Tianchen. “Originally, I couldn’t care less about getting involved in more issues with the royal family, but, since you have personally made your way here today, Emperor of Yungyang, I guess after this, Yunyang is ready for a change in leaders.h.i.+p.”
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Tianchen was taken aback at first, but then he couldn’t help but start laughing. “Zhou Donghuang,” he jeered sarcastically, “you haven’t lost your mind yet, have you? A ‘change in leaders.h.i.+p’ from me—to you?”
“I am thinking, perhaps you should run this by the Valley Head first to see if he’ll give you permission to take over the rulers.h.i.+p.” As Jiang Tianchen said this, the sneer at the corner of his mouth became more and more p.r.o.nounced.
“Ignorant young fool!” Su Mo by now had regained his composure and regarded the young man once more, this time with an icy stare. “I can’t remember, after all these years, the last time that someone has infuriated me this much. I must really say, your courage is admirable. Did you really think, that with the essence of the Primal Core and the weapons and techniques you’ve reaped from the Primal Core adepts, that you’d be completely invincible?”
The same sneer appeared at the corners of Su Mo’s lips as he said this.
“You know nothing!”
“You must know, if I wasn’t thinking of asking you to hand over the Primal Core essence and show me how to use the sword sphere techniques, you would actually be dead by now!”
As Su Mo’s voice fell, there was a murderous intent in his eyes.
“Five breaths. Your time is up.”
Under the gaze of those around him, the young man seemed unperturbed. Instead, he responded to Su Mo’s lecture with his brightest smile, parting his lips to reveal his snow-white teeth.
Hua!
In an instant and with barely any movement in his robes, the young man held the sword sphere in the palm of his right hand. In a flash of light…
The next moment.
Xiu!
With a subtle whistle, the sword sphere was turned into a small iron sword that flew out like a phantom. Su Mo, who stayed vigilant the whole time, found his response to this slower by half a beat.
Xiu!
A long rod of Qi shot out, but this time, it failed to hit its target.
Phoos.h.!.+
With that, the small iron sword went right through the skull of the Connate demon silver-crowned crane’s and killed it in an instant.
The silver-crowned crane’s pair of fierce, twinkling eyes instantly dimmed, and both wings ceased their flapping. The huge creature’s body that had been hovering above everyone, suddenly plunged and landed heavily with a loud crash in front of the stone table in the courtyard.
Thump!
Emperor Jiang Tianchen was flung violently and haphazardly to the ground, and when he stood up, his legs seemed to sway—that was a sure sign of injury to his legs.
Because he was an adept of the Qi-Gathering, at the moment he landed, Jiang Tianchen was able to hurriedly project his qi to protect his legs in time. Even so, the impact of the landing was so strong, that it still managed to cause some injury to his leg.
Boom!
Rumble! Boom! Boom!
…
On the other hand, the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo, seemed to float as he descended. As he landed, a blast of green qi started pulsating from his feet, the cemented ground shattered and stone fragments flew as he landed.
The power of the Qi propulsion helped Su Mo return safely to the ground.
The Connate stage adept had just landed from a 10-meter fall and was completely unharmed.
“Old friend!”
As Su Mo landed, his eyes fell on the silver-crowned crane that had fallen dead to the ground. His eyes flashed in mourning.
This creature had been with him for so many years. And now, it just lay before him, lifeless.
Su Mo instantly locked eyes with the young man again. His eyes were cold and ruthless. “It looks like I’ve underestimated you. I didn’t expect you to be able to use the sword sphere with such a speed that’s no slower than my own attack, all without having reached the Connate stage. This is this the working of the essence of the Primal Core then?”
As he said this, Su Mo’s eyes grew hungry with greed, and he stared at Zhou Donghuang as if he were regarding a rare treasure.
Although Zhou Donghuang’s speed closely matched his, he was responsible for the death of the Valley’s own Connate, silver-crowned crane.
Still, he could not concede that Zhou Donghuang was equally matched with him.
For an adept who had not managed to attain the Connate level, even with the Primal Core sword sphere and other little tricks up his sleeve, there was no way this man could be his match.
If he really did have the ability to kill him, why didn’t he just aim for him directly, instead of killing the silver-crowned crane first?
This was what Su Mo was thinking.
“So what if it is?” Zhou Donghuang replied belligerently, his tone still bored.
“Junior, when I make you kneel, we shall then see… if you can be just as c.o.c.ky as you are now!”
Su Mo’s face darkened, and his eyes grew cold. At the same moment, the gray garments that clothed him started bulging, and green rays of qi started emanating from his body—some rays were short and some were longer, and some were as long as a stake!
“Connate level unleashed!”
Fu and the others had only known that the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters was a Connate level adept from rumors and gossip, but now, they were first-hand witnesses to the sheer display of Connate level power that the Valley Head had.
“Young master!” They collectively held their hearts in their mouths and regarded the young man who was near them with worried faces.
Even though they did have confidence in their young master’s skills, this was Su Mo, the undefeated fighter from all of the sixteen countries!
Could an 18-year-old really contend with the power of this man in front of them?
Emperor Jiang Tianchen gave the young man an icy stare. “You’d better get ready to get on your knees and beg for mercy, brat,” he said darkly. “Perhaps then, the Valley Head will spare you the amount of pain you deserve!”
Despite this, Zhou Donghuang ignored him completely. His eyes were transfixed on the Qi that was emanating from Su Mo, but otherwise, he was expressionless.
“I won’t be a bully. I’ll give you a chance to make your move. If you don’t do something in three breaths, I won’t wait any longer.”
It didn’t seem like Zhou Donghuang thought much of Su Mo at all.
“You crazy kid!”
Su Mo couldn’t withhold his anger any longer, and in that instant, the Qi emanating from his body seemed to swell up. His whole being seemed to become wrapped in green flame as he rushed toward Zhou Donghuang.
Hua!
The green flames raged and transfigured into the shape of a flaming giant beast with its mouth wide open, poised to swallow Zhou Donghuang whole!