10 Clean up the Trash

The common people and scant remaining cultivators of the Azure Cloud Country were astonished. The change was too fast and brutal. They couldn't comprehend how they went from the brink of extinction to seeing their oppressors getting routed in the span of a few seconds.

In that situation, the dark-skinned boy would still be the first to react.

"Immortal brother, please uphold justice for the deceased and clean up the trash!"

Hearing this, the people were further amazed by the boy's courage and looked at him with incomparable respect. What was "bold and daring?" This was "bold and daring."

Even Hou Hui couldn't help but stop for an instant and turn toward him. But before he could say something, the boy's younger siblings quickly followed.

"Immortal brother, please uphold justice for the deceased and clean up the trash!"

And so it began. All reservations the survivors still had at that point were thrown into oblivion.

"Immortal sir, please uphold justice for the deceased and clean up the trash!"

As adults, they had to be slightly politer.

However, Hou Hui's eyes had remained locked on the boy and his two siblings.

"Boy, I like your style! What's your name?"

"My name is Qing Yun!"

"Qing Yun, good name! Alright, I promise you to thoroughly clean up the trash!"

Hou Hui jovially declared then directed the geyser of extreme yin lotus fire at the dozens of fleeing ba serpents.

"Do not falter! Although he's at the peak of Dao Threading, as long as we combine our forces, I refuse to believe that we cannot hold him long enough for Boss to return!"

It was the late stage Dao Threading Immortal who had just spoken. In another situation, his words wouldn't be incorrect. However, unfortunately for him and his lot, they had met Hou Hui. Unlike normal flames, extreme yin fire didn't burn the flesh but devoured the organs and wiped out the creatures it assailed from the inside out.

Those falling under it would feel a bone-chilling force gnawing them from the inside and each affected part slowly but surely vanish from existence, leaving no remains whatsoever. Although the process would seem rapid to the onlooker, it was indeed incomparably painful. Moreover, it also eroded the soul and thus, users of extreme yin flames were often ostracized by their fellow immortals.

Without the deceased ba serpent, there still were twenty-five Dao Revelation Immortals and three Dao Threading Immortals. So, after calming down, although the peak stage of Dao Threading was still a frightening concept, the serpent immortals no longer fled and gathered around their three leaders.

"Law Devouring Formation!"

Ba serpents were all born with the Innate Devouring Skill. It granted them the ability to swallow virtually anything within heaven and earth as long as their cultivation was sufficient. While they usually used that skill to swallow their preys, they had also developed a formation which allowed them to superpose and magnify their devouring power to swallow even the ancient laws.

Facing the incoming geyser of extreme yin lotus fire, the twenty-five gigantic serpents didn't dare delay and formed an exquisite array with their three leaders at the middle. The three leaders served as the core of the formation and swiftly assumed their true form of green seven thousand meters long serpents.

In unison, all the immortals of the serpent clans opened their maws and released formless devouring power which intermingled within the three leaders then returned to the twenty-five other serpents before finally expending to collide with the extreme yin fire.

Once the two forces met, a resounding ghastly noise was released with the extreme yin fire struggling against the devouring power released by the ba serpents.

*BOOM*

The confrontation lasted for a short moment before the fire collapsed in sparks of blue flames which quickly fell onto the ground and dug a multitude of small holes within. The recoil forced the ba serpents to jerk backward. However, they maintained their formation and quickly renewed and intensified their devouring power which now directly locked on Hou Hui.

"Not bad. With this formation, the usual peak stage Dao Threading Immortal can only withdraw. Even an ordinary early stage Great Dao Immortal would have a lot of trouble. I give you a passing grade."

Hou Hui coolly said while his body was being dragged toward the ba serpents.

"Arrogant fool! You still have the gals to say such words when your death is imminent? Today I want to see how you escape from our fangs!"

The late-stage Dao Threading Immortal roared while further intensifying the suction force. To his words, Hou Hui replied by stretching his arms and channeling the power of extreme yin within his body. The ice blue lotus shone with dazzling blue light and extreme yin fire burst from Hou Hui's body, covering it in its entirety.

"Truth Form: Twin Halberds!"

Pure white light rose from Hou Hui's palms and morphed into two ordinary looking steel halberds. The experienced however could feel the truth laws rippling within them. Focused on the formation, most of the serpent immortals failed to see it. The Dao Threading trio, however, didn't.

"Damnable! How can he be a Two Path Immortal?"

Only ancient path immortal cultivators were qualified to be titled Path Immortal. Most, however, were stuck at one while the rare few managed to reach two. Beyond two were the true chosen of heaven and earth and in each era, they could be counted with one hand. The status of Path Immortals was extremely high because usually, they were all guaranteed to become gods. As a result, they were usually well known.

But this one was not only completely unknown, but his second path was truth which excelled at shattering formations.

And so, the three serpent brothers were angry.

"Hateful! Who the hell are you?"

Although Hou Hui referred to himself as "this prince", they didn't believe him to be of the imperial dragon clan. The reason was simple. He looked nothing like a dragon. Even in their human forms, the male adult members of the dragon clans usually stood at around seven feet while the females stood at around six. Hou Hui, however, was only five feet and ten inches tall. Moreover, his eyes and hairs showed none of the distinctive traces of the imperial clan.

"Your ticket to hell."

Hou Hui leisurely replied then swung his halberds and released formless truth laws which instantly shattered the devouring power. He then turned into a beam of blue fire and like a meteor, shot toward the Dao Revelation serpents.

With the formation broken, the twenty-eight gigantic serpents were forced back while spouting large mouthfuls of blood. Hou Hui showed them no mercy and ruthlessly swung his halberds at their necks.

*Slash*

Slashing sounds upon slashing sounds quickly echoed within the air and in the blink of an eye, six ba serpent's heads were flying amidst the sky, leaving massive gushes of blood beneath them. Hou Hui naturally didn't stop there, his blazing form appeared next to another Dao revelation serpent, his halberds struck, and its head flew. The extreme yin fire prevented the blood from staining his clothes, and while still dressed in the plain white robe of a humble scholar, he looked like a god of war.

"Hateful creature! Stop at once! His Excellency will not let you off!"

But Hou Hui had turned a deaf ear to their words and whirled his halberds in a macabre blood feast.

"Aaargh! Why is my head severed from my body?"

Those were the last words of the twenty-fifth Dao Revelation serpent before his brain realized that he was indeed dead. While the scene took some time to describe, it happened in the span of a breath with afterimages of Hou Hui's form still lingering within the air.

And simultaneously, the gigantic, headless bodies of the serpents fell onto the ground…with their heads closely following.

In front of such prompt execution, there was nothing the Dao Threading serpents could do besides turning tails and flying toward their lord. Which they did.

"Escaping now? Delusional. Void Crossing Step!"

Hou Hui took a seemingly slow step forward and immediately appeared in front of the three remaining immortals. While terrified, they still clung onto their lord's name, thinking that Hou Hui didn't know who he was and that upon realizing his true status, he would immediately flee this place.

"Stay your hand! Although you are powerful, if you truly keep going astray, no one can save you! We have already sent messages to our Lord and he will soon return. Do you know that he…"

But before the leader could finish, Hou Hui cut.

"Ba Zu. Seven thousand years old. Early stage Great Dao Immortal and young lord of the ba branch of the serpent clan. Member of the previous generation of the seven sons of heaven. Disciple of the Serpent God."

Hearing his recital, the three serpents were befuddled.

"You…since you perfectly know…"

"And soon to be dead body."

Hou Hui once again cut, then unceremoniously flung his halberds at the weaker two while personally sending a double punch into the late stage Dao Threading serpent's head.

*Bang*

He flew backward, his face caved in and the extreme yin fire coating the punches immediately began corroding his face.

"AAAAARGH! It hurts!"

"Good. That was the plan."

In the meantime, the halberds had crashed into the other two serpents' skulls and ended their lives in a quick eruption of blood. Hou Hui waved his sleeves and the halberds flew back into his hands. He was about to deliver a final blow to the last serpent immortal when suddenly, a furious, overbearing voice thundered.

"Bold swine! In my presence, do you dare?!"

"Boss save me!"

Black fog stretching across several miles rapidly descended upon Hou Hui, but his arms never stopped, and his halberd cleanly cut the last serpent's head. Meanwhile, before it could reach him, the black fog collided with an invisible wall which perfectly suppressed its advance. Every single blow the halberds delivered contained formidable truth laws which shattered their victims' souls. Thus, the twenty-nine ba serpents had all perished in body and soul.

"Hateful!"

The same voice once more echoed from within the black fog, and from it a slender form slowly emerged. It was a green haired man with similarly colored slit eyes and a purple brocade robe. Rather than the handsomeness of men, he was endowed with feminine beauty which could create envy even within many women with vast immortal qi swirling around his body. He was Ba Zu. And seeing the corpses of all his subordinates, he was incensed.

"Why? Why did you slay my subordinates?! What grievances do you have with my ba serpent clan?!"

He roared with indignation. Although they were definitely a powerful clan, the ba serpents were not the most powerful of the serpent race. For them, the loss of twenty-six Dao Revelation Immortals and three Dao Threading immortals was definitely a substantial loss which even he would have a hard time explaining. Moreover, every single one of those people were his long-standing subordinates who had served him for millennia. He particularly loved and cared about them, which was why he decisively abandoned the hunt of the remaining members of the Azure Cloud imperial family to come to their aid. Unfortunately for him, he was too late and could only witness his most trusted subordinate's demise.

"No grievances. I just thought they weren't pleasing to the eyes, so I decided to clean up a little bit."

Hou Hui casually replied.