Chapter Eighty-Seven: Heresy

After their first exchange, Yang Ze was stunned by the man before him, who wore Fan Yongnian’s face. When Yang Ze had fought Fan Yongnian in the past, their strength had been nearly equal; and after Fan Yongnian’s death, Yang Ze’s own power had improved during this period. Yet now, before this very Fan Yongnian, he had actually been forced back.

A sweeping slash whistled out, only to leave a pale white mark on Fan Yongnian’s hand, with no real wound. Using the force of the clash, Yang Ze put some distance between them.

Standing his ground, Yang Ze studied this Fan Yongnian carefully. There was not the slightest trace of vitality in his entire body; what clung to him was a foul deathly aura and a stench.

“Fan Yongnian is definitely dead. The dead resurrecting? Even in this world, I would never believe anyone could do that. What, exactly, is this thing?”

While Yang Ze pondered, Fan Yongnian struck again.

With a sudden spring of his body, Fan Yongnian pounced straight at Yang Ze. His eyes were vacant, but his speed was astonishing; in the blink of an eye, he was already upon him.

Yang Ze whirled his long blade and sent out several consecutive slashes. Fan Yongnian’s withered hands reached out, and with a series of crisp, ringing impacts, the blade was knocked back, leaving several white marks on Fan Yongnian’s hands.

Leaping backward, gaze sharp as lightning, Yang Ze sized Fan Yongnian up repeatedly. Then he unleashed a streak of blade qi, which shot forward with a rushing sound toward Fan Yongnian’s chest.

Just as the blade qi was about to strike, Fan Yongnian crossed his hands in front of him and met it head-on.

The fierce blade qi sliced across Fan Yongnian’s hands, cutting open the skin on his forearms, and dark red blood splashed out.

“How is that possible!”

Yang Ze’s eyes widened. His blade qi had not even been able to sever Fan Yongnian’s arms.

Let alone Fan Yongnian— even the flesh of a martial artist in the postnatal realm could not possibly take his blade qi head-on. How could a common villager turned into this thing possibly manage it?

But whether he believed it or not, it had happened before his very eyes.

Fan Yongnian roared and lunged at him again. Yang Ze spun aside, slipping behind Fan Yongnian, and brought his blade down in a slash across Fan Yongnian’s back. Unable to evade in time, Fan Yongnian took the strike squarely.

“Though many things about him have become strangely distorted, his body has grown less agile.”

Having failed to finish him with that one blow, Yang Ze nonetheless found Fan Yongnian’s weakness.

He spread out his movement technique and began to rely on his nimble footwork to harry Fan Yongnian. Whenever an opening appeared, he struck with his blade. In a short while, more than ten pale marks had appeared on Fan Yongnian’s body.

At last, after enduring many attacks, Fan Yongnian let out a furious roar and charged forward with explosive force, clawing toward Yang Ze.

Seeing him rush in, Yang Ze did not hesitate in the slightest. With a motion of his long blade, he sent out another blade qi.

Fan Yongnian raised his hands to block it, but the moment he did, Yang Ze ignored the drain on his true energy and sent out yet another slash, aimed at Fan Yongnian’s left foot.

The blade qi struck, and Fan Yongnian’s body stalled. Yang Ze’s blade qi rose again; this time, it was aimed at Fan Yongnian’s head.

Crash!

The blade qi hacked into Fan Yongnian’s head, opening a deep crack that split across most of his face.

“Still not dead? Then die for me!”

Yang Ze shouted. More than half of the true energy within him had already been consumed, yet he continued to send out blade qi, still targeting the head.

Three blade qi strikes in a row— even Fan Yongnian could no longer endure them. He failed to resist the final blow, and it cut directly into his skull.

Yang Ze seized the moment, darted forward, and with one clean stroke severed Fan Yongnian’s head, sending it rolling several times across the ground.

Breathing heavily, Yang Ze’s face had gone somewhat pale. After those few slashes, scarcely any true energy remained within him. If Fan Yongnian still would not die after this, he truly had no other means.

Turning to look at Fan Yongnian’s corpse, he saw it rapidly shrivel away. Within mere breaths, flesh and blood melted down until, in the blink of an eye, it had become a skeleton.

The hairs on Yang Ze’s body stood on end. It was truly nauseating.

But it was not over yet. Within that skeleton, he saw a drop of black liquid—the very same black liquid that had previously shot from the charred monster’s body, though this one seemed far more diluted now.

Afraid to touch it rashly, Yang Ze did not dare reach out. He had already seen how terrifying this thing was; if it contaminated him, he would be finished.

Boom!

Just as Yang Ze’s battle ended, a deafening crash erupted from where Zhang Yongxu and Ye Yinling were fighting. Turning his head, he saw the two of them had brought down the charred monster.

The pair stood there, looking at the beast sprawled on the ground, when before they could even exhale in relief, the monster’s corpse suddenly disintegrated into countless black particles, which gathered into a black sphere.

“Watch out!” Zhang Yongxu bellowed. His qi and blood surged forth, a faint red glow appearing around his body as he shielded Ye Yinling.

Before Ye Yinling could react, the black sphere burst apart. A powerful shockwave swept outward, and Zhang Yongxu, standing at the front, was struck head-on and flung sideways.

“Senior Brother!” Ye Yinling cried as she watched Zhang Yongxu fly past her. She formed a seal with both hands, and true energy burst forth to create a layer of protection before them.

Still not finished, Ye Yinling flung out a ring. True energy poured into it, and in the darkness the ring blazed with light, resisting the shockwave.

Zhang Yongxu struggled to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood.

“I was careless. I actually got ambushed by that thing. But this time, that monster should be dead for good.”

He circulated his power and drew a breath, recovering somewhat.

Ye Yinling nodded. With a gesture, the ring swayed unsteadily back into her hand. Her pretty face had gone completely bloodless, suggesting that wielding the ring had cost her dearly as well.

By then, the black sphere formed from the monster had vanished as well, leaving only a field of ruins before them.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept past, and a man in a black robe and bamboo hat appeared atop the ruins.

“Hahaha! The Martial Academy of Dance Sun is nothing much after all. Two second-rank Blood Condensation martial artists, and I didn’t even need to lift a finger to injure them.”

The black-robed man laughed, his voice especially harsh in the dead of night.

“You’re that wandering Daoist?” Zhang Yongxu had already gotten to his feet and now questioned him sharply.

“That’s right, it’s me. I knew a few trinkets would lure you all here. I had originally thought you might have some formidable methods, but it turns out you’re only two second-rank Blood Condensation martial artists. I truly overestimated you.

“Rest assured, I’ll give the two of you a swift end. Then I’ll refine you into vengeful spirits so you can join the army under my command!”

The black-robed man spoke loudly, spreading his arms in great excitement.

“I thought some important figure had come, but it turned out to be nothing more than a third-rank Meridian Opening heretic.”

As this voice sounded, Elder Ma appeared in the midst of the scene.

Yang Ze stood rooted in place, somewhat dazed. Tonight had seen one matter after another unfold: Zhang Yongxu and Ye Yinling wounded, a black-robed man appearing with an air of strangeness, and now Elder Ma had emerged—while the black-robed man seemed, in turn, to be no match at all for him.

Seeing Elder Ma arrive, Zhang Yongxu and Ye Yinling both showed delighted expressions and cried out excitedly, “Elder, you’re here!”

“A Martial Academy elder!” the black-robed man cried out in shock.

He had originally thought that at most he would encounter a third-rank martial artist from the Martial Academy of Dance Sun, but he had never imagined that it would be an elder. He turned at once to flee.

“Since you’re already here, why the rush to leave? Come back with me.”

Standing in place, Elder Ma lifted his right hand and pressed downward through the air. Above the black-robed man’s head, a giant palm appeared and slammed toward him.

Without a second thought, the black-robed man released a layer of black light from his entire body, enveloping himself, and even hurled a black bead from his hand at the giant palm.

The palm pressed down. Before it, the black bead was crushed and exploded on the spot, and the black-robed man was seized by the palm as well, unable to resist in the slightest.

Elder Ma swept his hand again. Centered on him, a ring of ripples spread out, sweeping across several miles in every direction; all the villagers were struck by that wave as well.

The villagers collapsed one after another, turning into corpses. In each body lay a drop of black liquid, but the moment those black droplets were exposed, they were destroyed by the power of the ripple.

“Vengeful spirits should never have existed in this world. All you heretics of the Nine Provinces deserve to die!”

Seeing the bodies strewn across the ground, Elder Ma roared in anger.

With a motion of his hand, he drew the black-robed man before him and, with several finger strikes, sealed the major acupoints throughout his body.

“I have sealed his cultivation. You two, escort him back for me. As for the rest of you, search Qin Family Ridge and see whether any living people remain. We leave again at noon tomorrow.”

After instructing Zhang Yongxu and the others, Elder Ma departed.

Yang Ze remained where he was, while Lu Qing and Bai Lun walked over to him, both still pale with fear.

“Brother Yang, do you know what those things were?” Bai Lun asked, still shaken.

Earlier, Yang Ze had been the only one to deal with his opponent on his own. The others had all had their foes handled only after Elder Ma arrived. None of them understood what had happened, so they could only come ask Yang Ze.

Yang Ze shook his head. “I don’t understand what these things really are either. We may as well see whether Senior Brother Wu Yong is willing to explain it to us.”