AZI Volume 7 Chapter 16

"Kuh!"

Having numerous talismans pasted onto his body, along with the coldness that is emanating from the frozen river's surface, Zhu Xu struggles in desperation to maintain his consciousness.

"Tch!"

With his limbs and neck bound by the specialized capturing ropes, Yang Hai clicks his tongue in frustration.

And rather quickly, more than five talismans are thrown onto him—causing his stance to turn unsteady.

...…

Amidst this chaos, Qing Ming Yang approaches the 15-meter statue of Lord Tian She Zi, while leading a group of practitioners along.

"Dammit, that Immortal, he intends to destroy the statue!"

"Someone stop them!"

Realizing what it is that Qing Ming Yang and his followers intend to do, the villagers look on with eyes of despair.

"…"

Looming a few meters above the statue's head, Qing Ming Yang comes to a stop, and remarks—

"Hmph, a foreign deity has no place in the Ling Yuan family's Leng Bing Realm. My fellow clansmen, let us destroy this statue, and let it be a lesson to these weapon spirits!"

"Agreed!"

"Hahaha!"

Booming laughter erupts from the practitioners, who are all in agreement with Qing Ming Yang's words.

...…

"…"

Stabbing her sword and umbrella into the ground, Xun Yu pants for air, as she looks in the direction of the statue with her forehead covered in sweat.

Laceration wounds covered Xun Yu's body from head to toe, and the upper portion of her white oni mask has been shattered—leaving only the portion that covers her mouth and nose intact.

"…"

In a similar state is Qing Yue, who feels like the daggers in her hands weigh as much as a fully loaded barbell each, but different from Xun Yu, she isn't too concerned with the statue.

"Xun Yu, focus on the Immortals near us! You can't afford to have your mind wander!"

"…Tch."

Currently, five practitioners dressed in bloodstained robes have surrounded them.

"…"

"…"

Faced with a similar situation are the members of the Ashen River Hall, along with Ye Chen and Li Xue.

...…

Basking in the cheers of the other practitioners, Qing Ming Yang raises his right hand, and—

"Watch as I-"

Just as Qing Ming Yang points to the 15-meter statue of Lord Tian She Zi—

*Boom!!!!!!!!!!* a colossal pillar of black and white radiance erupts from beneath the statue, and pierces into the high heavens—tearing the white clouds asunder!

"...…"

With how close the pillar's edge had been to the tip of his index finger, Qing Ming Yang—who had been frightened into a state of silence has his face covered in cold sweat.

Different from Qing Ming Yang, who is still in a state of shock, the other practitioners looked to the former's back with evident awe in their eyes, as they remark—

"Wow, Qing-xiong, what's this divine art of yours called?"

"Qing-xiong, you've been hiding your true strength all this time?"

"Qing-xiong, marry me!"

"…"

Towards the praises and questions that are being directed at him, Qing Ming Yang wipes the sweat off his face, and smiles—seemingly in leisure; however, on the inside—

(That scared the living shit out of me! What the hell was that?! Did those weapon spirits still have a-?)

"…"

"...…"

As a silver-robed figure emerges from the burning crater, Qing Ming Yang's thoughts instantly came to a halt.

The familiar air that is emanating from this individual—even if they are wearing a mask, Qing Ming Yang can still recognize them.

(It's him!)

"Uh?"

"Who's that?"

Seeing the same figure as Qing Ming Yang emerging from the massive crater, the Ling Yuan family's practitioners frown with confusion.

Different from the Ling Yuan family's practitioners—

"…"

"…"

Seeing the silver-robed figure, almost all the villagers instinctively fell onto their knees.

Outside of the fanatic villagers—

*Thud!* Xun Yu had also fallen onto her knees, to which, Qing Yue shouts—

"Xun Yu, get up! We can take this chance to run!"

Clueless as to what may happen at this point, Qing Yue figured that they might as well use this opportunity to flee, as she tries to drag Xun Yu along, but regardless of how much strength she applies—in attempting to pull the latter off the ground, Xun Yu refuses to move.

...…

"Lao Long?"

Recognizing the robes on Long Hua, Bai Wen blinks his eye, whereas Yun You remarks—

"What is he planning?"

"Hm?"

...…

Drawing in a deep breath of air, Long Hua shrouds the entirety of this ruin with his divine senses—locking it down completely.

Since he has chosen to assume the identity of Lord Tian She Zi, Long Hua figured that he may as well play this role out fully.

Projecting his voice outwards, Long Hua says—

"This god will give you mortals a chance to flee."

Towards Long Hua's bold statement, the practitioners of the Ling Yuan family—

"God?"

"What arrogance!"

"Qing-xiong, let's kill him!"

Responded with disdain.

Towards Su Xuan—who had called him out, while making that suggestion, Qing Ming Yang felt the urge to cry.

(Kill him? Th-This man is…! H-He's your lord, he's your god, he's your grandfather, he…!)

"…"

Smiling faintly, Long Hua raises Shui Yue, and—

"Since you've chosen to not heed this god's words, then… Die."

Swing the sword once, Long Hua causes a dense body of fog to manifest on the ground.

And rather quickly, the fog explosively expands in volume—engulfing both weapon spirits and practitioners alike within its confines.

Due to the fog's density, it was impossible for those within it to see anything clearly; however—

"Ah!"

"Aaaggh!!!"

"Pfff!!!"

From the viewpoints of the weapon spirits—who were within the fog, screams of misery came from every possible direction.

As for the source of these shrieks, which stems from the Ling Yuan family's practitioners—

*…! …! …!* within this sea of fog, flowers of all breeds manifested themselves and bloomed—to scatter their petals outwards; and anything that was unfortunate enough to come into contact with these petals—

"My arm!"

"Aaaahhh! My legs!"

"…!"

Would have their bodies mercilessly divided into pieces.

"…Dammit!"

Recognizing this to be one of Long Hua's sword arts, Lin Yu Heng—who is also trapped inside the white fog, is quick to make a run for it.

...…

"…"

"…!"

Almost as soon as Long Hua had turned his gaze in his direction, Qing Ming Yang's instinctive reaction was to flee; however—

"Uh?!"

"…?!"

It is unknown as to when this had happened, but by the time realization had dawned upon them, it was already too late.

"Q-Qing-xiong, this…-?"

"…I know."

Finding themselves trapped within a body of water, an unnerving sense of tension looms over the Ling Yuan family's practitioners.

"…"

Knowing this to be another one of Long Hua's sword arts, Qing Ming Yang's complexion turns pale.

Unlike how it was in the past, the bloodstained moon, it's no longer a crescent, but is instead a full moon.