Chapter 2: A Set Up

The old monk stared at the two children without saying a word. He felt compelled to take a closer look at Ling Jing Yu. " Such a bright potential. Why is his personality so extreme?"

Zhang Xiao Fan stepped forward and asked, "Hey, who are you? Why have we not seen you before?"

Straw Village was located at the bottom of Qing Yun Summits. A large part of practitioners here embraced the Taoism training route, and Buddhists were a rare sight here. Hence, Xiao Fan asked.

The old monk gave a smirk as he looked at him. He retorted, "Little Good Samaritan when faced with a life or death situation, all you have to do is to give in. Why did you choose to persist? Had I not intervened, you would have lost your life for nothing."

Xiao Fan, overcame with bewilderment, realized that the old monk's words had some sense in them. He became speechless and stood there nonplussed.

Jing Yu shot a glare at the old monk before grabbing Xiao Fan's hand and said, "Xiao Fan, this old monk is so weird. Let's ignore him."

Xiao Fan's legs started to move intuitively. A few distance away from the temple, he couldn't help but turn around to look behind him. Night has fallen. Despite this, he could still see the old monk's face although it was slightly blurry.

※※※

Midnight.

A crack of thunder sounded across the sky and the turbulent wind viciously shoved the clouds aside. Ink-black clouds started to swirl insanely and amalgamate.

Rain clouds were arriving, and a growing sense of heavy foreboding could be felt.

The old monk was still sitting cross-legged inside the temple. He looked up to gaze at Qing Yong Summit from afar, which was now foggy because of the clouds. Everywhere was dead quiet, devoid of any people. Only the rolling sound of wind and thunder can be heard.

My, what a heavy thunderstorm!

Lightning flashed across the horizon, briefly lighting up the straw temple that looked so lonesome against the howling wind. Instantly after that lighting strike, the old monk was already standing at the entrance of the door with a severe expression. He knitted his eyebrows deeply, looking very perplexed.

At the west of the village, there was a dark, black miasma lurking around for an unknown amount of time. The monk stared intently at the Dark Life Force.

Suddenly, the miasma snatched something off and started to fly out of the village and towards the straw temple at abrupt speed. The old monk saw that it was lifting a child. That child was Ling Jing Yu whom he had met earlier.

The old monk's face darkened and without any warning, he leaped and flew right into the Dark Life Force.

"Iiiiieee!" Somewhere inside the dark miasma, a started voice squealed.

There were some muffled scrambling and thumping sounds and the Dark Life Force ceased circling on the roof of the temple. The old monk hoisted Ling Jing Yu under his arm and slowly descended. A portion of his cassock had been ripped off.

Ling Jing Yu's eyes were closed shut but his breathing was stable. Under the dim light, it was hard to tell if he was asleep or unconscious.

The old monk did not put him down. Instead, he look at the Dark Life Force floating in the sky and said, " Gentleman, with your high capabilities, why would you want to lay hands on an innocent child? Are you not concerned with tarnishing your reputation?"

A deep, hoarse voice sounded out from within the miasma. "Who are you? How dare you meddle with my affairs?!"

The old monk did not reply. Instead, he said, " We are within Qing Yun Summits. If Taoist Gateway learns about the nuisance you are making, I am afraid that you will not have a good time."

The thing within the miasma scoffed and spat on the ground in disdain. The voice said, "Taoist Gateway is nothing to me. They have the nerve to become so arrogant just because of their size. Old farts like you should just stop talking and hand the child over, if you know what is good for you."

The old monk pressed both his palms together in an upright position and said, "Amitabha. As monks, benevolence is our second nature. How can I let you do such a horrible thing to this child."

Infuriated, the voice said, "Wisely spoken for someone who just stole my goods! You are asking for it!"

The moment after the thing finished its sentence, tiny bright crimson lights started to appear and sparkled from the swirling miasma. In a split second, they surround the temple with a tremendous gust of icy wind, and an intimidating, dark miasma started to materialize all around the temple.

"Necrotic Plague Tailsman!" The old monk's expression suddenly became furious. "You despicable creature! How could you train with such an unscrupulous, sadistic Dark Item? I shall not let you live today!"

The deep, hoarse voice sneered without any reply. The wind howls grew louder, and the red light expanded in size and luminosity. A foul-smelling, ghastly talisman of about six foot long raised up from the ground simultaneously. Miserable, pitiful cries started to reverberate the area, making it seem as if the place was filled with countless unrested souls wailing in the night. A disturbing and sinister crunching sound of bones being broken permeated the air.

"Die, you bastard!" The voice within the miasma yelled. A ferocious-looking image of a skull emerged on the red tailsman. The skull had four pairs of eyes and three horns on its forehead. It has pair of long, intimidating canine teeth on its upper jaw and another pair on its bottom. With a hair-raising sound of bones being broken and crushed, its four pairs of eyes flew open. A violent gust of wind erupted from the skull with a loud bellow and without warning, the skull leapt out physically from the talisman. Covered in repulsive, foul-smelling blood, it charged savagely toward the old monk.

The old monk's enraged expression intensified at this. He knew that the more powerful the Necrotic Plague Tailsman was, the higher the number of innocent human lives had been offered up to feed its strength. For such a formidable skull in front of him, the monk gauged that there must be at least three hundred people sacrificed for its sake.

This scum, how unforgivable!

The repulsive skull was closing in quickly onto the monk's face, but the monk did not put the child down. With the jade chaplet on his wrist and the child tucked under his other arm, his fingers curled into the Buddhist Lion's Stance gesture and made a wide circular motion with it in front of his chest. His fingers formed an intricate sequence of gestures and a brilliant light glowed from the tip of his fingers. The light was cast onto a vertical invisible plane in front of his chest. The light developed into a large, golden Buddhist prayer wheel, the Dharmacakra. Acting like a translucent, brilliant light shield, it clashed against the skull, stopping it dead in its tracks.

" Such a pathetic spell and you still dar--" Before he could finish saying the word "dare", he felt his forearm being bitten. Immediately he recoiled and doubled over. A searing numbness spread through his entire upper body and he began to suffer brief bouts of blackouts. The Dharmacakra-shaped shield in front of him had also started to falter.

Simultaneously, the skull began to morph. A sound of bone crunching can be heard somewhere at the top of its four pairs of eyes and a single, giant, bloodshot eye flew open with a thundering gust of wind. Initially, the skull looked very terrifying. After its transformation, it looked extremely intimidating and fearsome.

It let out a ferocious, blood-curling roar. With a flash of carmine red light, the skull shattered the golden contraption and buffeted the chest of the old monk.

The old monk ricocheted backward after receiving the blow and dropped Ling Jing Yu on the floor. There were muffled scrunching sounds as he was sent flying through the air. It sounded like bones being broken and it could probably be the old monk's rib cages. His frail, thin body smashed against a wall in the temple with a loud bang. The wall collapsed into pieces and debris saturated the air.

"Hahahahaha!" The voice gloated from within the miasma, feeling very pleased with itself.

With great difficulty, the old monk slowly struggled back to his feet. He felt something warm forcefully going up his throat and he expelled its contents out from his mouth. It was warm blood. A good amount soaked his cassock, turning it into a glistening, crimson-red mess. Feeling dizzy and stunned, his sight became distorted and he started to see many stars running amok across his field of vision.

Despite all this, he kept his composure and he looked at Ling Jing Yu out of the corner of his eye. He saw an extremely colorful centipede slowly crawl out from the boy's long sleeve. It was as big as a human palm. What made it so magical was its splendid-looking tail which was divided into seven segments. Each of them has a different color, just like a rainbow. It looked very captivating. Yet, a strong sense of menace could be felt underneath all that beauty.

"Seven Prism Centipede!" The old monk groaned in dismay.

The dark smog on his face grew heavier and blood started to seep through the corner of his lips. The blood continued to drip down without any sign of stopping. He looked like he might not pull through.

Still, he tried his best to put up a strong front, refusing to fall. He looked at the black miasma hovering above the ground and said, "You placed one of the most venomous existence in the world on this child, intentionally hide your strength, and strike me at the right moment. It must be me you are after!"

The voice in the black miasma laughed coldly. "You guessed right. You are my target. Pu Zhi you old fart, with all your Buddhist powers from the Buddhist Sanctuary, dealing with you legitimately would have been otherwise very troublesome for me. Now hand over the Draculean Orb and I shall give you the antidote for the Seven Prism Centipede and spare your life!"

The old monk gave a sharp laugh, silently mocking himself. He said, " Even though a part of my name means "wise", I had failed to see the obvious. Why hadn't I realized it sooner that people like you who practice the Necrotic Plague Tailsman would want the Draculean Orb?" His expression turned grim, and said, "You want me to surrender such a destructive, blood-thirsty item to you? In your wildest dreams."

Infuriated, the voice barked, "Then it is time to meet your beloved Buddha!" The red tailsman flapped angrily followed by a brilliant flash of crimson light. Miserable, eerie ghost cries started to infiltrate the area once again, and the gigantic skull resurfaced from the tailsman.

"HAARGH!!" Pu Zhi let out a deep battle cry, and his cassock started to dance frantically behind him. It looked as though his frail, thin body had slightly puffed up. Holding the Serene Jade Rosary firmly with his left hand, a loud snapping sound echoed across the temple as he broke the string that holds the beads together. A dozen or so beads however , did not fall onto the floor. Instead, each of them started to spin continuously in midair. Each spinning bead, glowing dimly with green light, aligned and circled neatly into a wide, vertical circle formation in front of him. Only the dark purple bead dropped.

Pu Zhi caught the orb before it hit the floor. With both hands, he performed the Aquarius Stance sequence. Eyes bulging with concentration, a faint golden light started to radiate from his entire body. He mouthed every word earnestly. "Ong, Ma, Ni, Bei, Mei, Hong!"

"The Six Character Great Bright Mantra." The voice in the black miasma' tone was guarded and wary.

The instant the "Hong" word was uttered, all the jade beads started to give out a brilliant, blinding light. At just the same time, the skull was closing in almost at a hair's breath from the old monk's face. Its putrid, revolting scent of clotted blood could be clearly inhaled from the close distance. However, the moment it came into contact with the shining jade beads, the foul smelling air started to dissipate. The two spells clashed in a gridlock, each not advancing a step further.

Despite this, Pu Zhi's body was shaking, The Seven Prism Centipede was one of the world's most poisonous creature. Pu Zhi found it hard to withstand its venom even though he had trained for Immortalism for over a few hundred years. Underneath the black miasma on his face, the old monk smiled. His smile was pure, poised and dignified.

"HYYYAAHH!"

Pu Zhi's deep, loud cry thundered as he performed the Buddhist Lion's Roar. His cry reverberated far across the horizon. The Serene Jade Rosary beads, filled with Buddhist energy, began to shine even brighter. Suddenly, one of the beads bursted apart, transforming into a Buddhist Manji symbol. It shot forward and slammed on to the skull.

"WAAAAH~~YAHH!" The skull shrieked in pain and reeled a short distance back. The red light enveloped around it started to falter and dim. There was no doubt that it had suffered some injuries. The voice within the black miasma furiously yelled, "Nice work, you old fart. Now you have done it!"

Just as when he was about to react, seven or eight beads turned into Buddhist Manji symbols at lightning speed and hit the skull. The skull kept on shrieking and wailing madly as it continues to retreat backwards. It's ghoulish face was now filled with fear and wariness. When the ninth jade bead struck down, it gave out a high, piercing screech and its five eyes started to break and come apart. Loud bone-crunching sound resonated from the skull as it fell limply on the floor. It struggled feebly before slowly becoming still. Gradually, it dissolved into pool of foul smelling, rancid blood.

"WAAH!" At the same moment, Pu Zhi noisily threw up an arresting amount of blood. The blood had turned black.

"AAHH!" A scream sounded out from the entrance of the straw temple, right at the crucial moment of one of the most sensational battles between two elites.

The sudden scream startled both the black miasma and Pu Zhi. The black miasma turned and tilted at an angle while Pu Zhi looked up toward the entrance. They saw a child whom he met during that day. No one knows why the child ended up in the temple. But there he was, mouth agape and astounded at this remarkable, extraordinary and surreal scene.

"Hurmph!" The voice within the black miasma scoffed. Without warning, the Seven Prism Centipede that was crawling on Ling Jing Yu arched its tail up high and thumped forcefully on the ground, launching its body up into the air. It flew towards Zhang Xiao Fan at breakneck speed.

Pu Zhi raised an eyebrow and pointed with his right hand. One of the jade beads shot out towards the Seven Prism Centipede. The Seven Prism Centipede, being sentient, knew that it was not strong enough to deal with the jade bead head-on. He trusted his tail at an angle. Using it like a flexible rudder, the centipede managed to change its course and avoid the bead. However, in doing so, it shot sideways toward the miasma.

The thing in the black miasma smirked and said with a stuttering voice, "Not bad! Looks like you lived up to your Four Heavenly Abbots title. You can still defeat my Necrotic Plague Devourer despite receiving such a bad injury. However, you have received a blow nonetheless and had been poisoned by the Seven Prism Centipede. How much longer can you last? Why not just give up already and hand over the Draculean Orb?"

Black blood started to seep out from both outer corners of Pu Zhi's eyes and he let out a maniacal laughter. With immense effort, he said, "You vermin, I shall take your life today even if it costs me mine!"

The moment he finished his sentence, the remaining jade beads in front of him lit up. The man in the air immediately became alert and guarded.

"Whoooossh!!" Suddenly a shiny, green-colored object struck the back of the black miasma. It was the jade bead that chased the Seven Prism Centipede a while ago. Secretly controlled by Pu Zhi all along, it flew undetected behind the man and launched a surprise attack on him.

The thing in the black miasma gave out an antagonizing roar. It was evident that it had not anticipated the attack. "PAM! PAM! PAM!" The bead started to ricochet madly all over the place inside the miasma, creating a noisy ruckus. Parts of the black miasma started to disperse and disappear at the places the green light had been. Soon, the black miasma receded into nothingness, revealing a tall, lanky man who slowly descended to the ground. Covered in a wide black robe with his face partially hidden, his age was undefinable. Only a pair of aggressive-looking eyes can be seen. A long sword in its scabbard was tied to his back.

Pu Zhi lowered his voice and said, "Mister why can't you bear to reveal your identity for such a person of high caliber like yourself?"

The black-robed person, whose eyes were filled with immense hostility, swore. "You old fart, today I will turn you into dust!"

"Shinnnggg!" Straight after his sentence, he withdrew his sword from his scabbard. The sword appeared very pure and tranquil, like an undisturbed lake in autumn. It was placid looking with a slight sheen to it. A very faint green film of light seemed to rest on the surface of the sword's blade.

"What a stunning sword." Pu Zhi couldn't help but compliment it out loud.

"Humph!" The black-robed guy scoffed. Making a formation with his sword while synchronously reciting the spell, he performed the seven-step choreography stimulating the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper before climatically raising his sword arm high into the sky.

" Supreme Power Hailed From Above,

Cast Thy Wrath Into Thunder's Might!

Congregate All Thy Heavenly Powers,

Arise And Come Forth To The Sword! "

A few seconds later, charcoal rain clouds started to congregate with urgency. Thunder roared threateningly within the growing cluster of rain clouds and lightning flashed across the sky. Strong gusts of wind also started to blow about madly and scream, throwing its surroundings into a shadowy darkness filled with apprehension and dread.

"Celestial Cleaving Thunder Strike!" Pu Zhi's face instantly turned pale with dejection. Once the initial shock has passed, a variety of contradicting emotions amassed in his heart. First was an intense feeling of awe coupled with a sprinkling of despair, followed by the faintest hint of exhilaration.

"You are from the Taoist Gateway!" ——