I Am Immortal in Great Yu

Chapter 170: Chapter 72: Spirit Master

After an overwhelming series of disasters—drought, war, the annihilation of the Lin Family, a great plague, and the extermination of the Xia Family—Changshan City had finally fallen quiet. Like a weary, battered old man, it welcomed a rare respite.

A month flew by.

The city remained peaceful. The people rested and recuperated, and the Lin and Xia Families, once two of the most prominent clans, faded from memory like smoke in the wind.

Everyone in Changshan City, from the highest to the lowest, relaxed and enjoyed this hard-won tranquility.

...

On this day, as the sun dipped below the horizon, twilight afterglow painted the entire sky, blazing like fire and red as blood.

Zuo Boyang hitched up his pants and emerged from an ordinary residence, his face flushed.

A henchman immediately sidled up to him with a fawning smile. ”My lord, how was it? Were you satisfied?”

”Hmph, not bad. Make sure you placate that family!” Zuo Boyang tossed him a silver ingot.

He had a peculiar fetish: he enjoyed his sport in front of the husband... What made him slightly better than other debauched scions was that he didn’t slaughter the family afterward, even offering some compensation to placate them.

Of course, this wasn’t necessarily an attack of conscience. Perhaps... he simply wanted to be a repeat customer.

”Heh, my lord, rest assured! I’ve already scouted out another woman from a good family for you. In a couple of days...”

”Oh?”

Zuo Boyang’s eyes narrowed slightly as he listened, a look of keen interest on his face.

Just then, an old man pushing a handcart passed by. When he was still two to three zhang from Zuo Boyang and his companion, the face hidden beneath his straw hat twisted into a strange smile. He suddenly attacked, throwing a handful of Flying Nails.

It was Fang Rui, in disguise!

WHIZZ!

At this moment, empowered by his Great Success level in the Thirteen Throws of the Flying Swallow and his own Transforming Force, the Flying Nails were no longer mere Hidden Weapons. They were a work of art.

Some flew in a straight line, others traced graceful arcs, while still others swirled unpredictably. They filled the air, blocking off every possible escape route.

They were like pear blossoms scattering in a downpour—exquisitely beautiful, yet hiding a deadly killing intent.

”Aargh!”

The henchman let out a single scream before he was riddled with holes.

However, something unexpected happened with the main target: Zuo Boyang.

According to Fang Rui’s Inference, Zuo Boyang should have been completely unable to resist such a sudden attack. Even if he survived, he would be severely wounded.

The reality, however—

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

An incredibly tough membrane of light appeared three inches in front of Zuo Boyang. Countless golden, tadpole-like runes swam across its surface, forming a translucent, bell-shaped barrier that enveloped his body.

The incredibly swift Flying Needles struck the barrier, creating ripples like stones thrown in a pond, before falling harmlessly to the ground.

’Extraordinary Power from beyond the Martial Arts?!’

Fang Rui’s pupils constricted. ’How can a remote place like Changshan City possess this kind of power?’

’Oh, right. That formidable figure in the Rebel Army is anything but ordinary! My hunch was right after all; the Rebel Army is far from simple. The moment they’re involved, all sorts of strange things start happening!’

Suppressing his shock, he tapped his foot to begin a hasty retreat while shouting, ”What is that?!”

WHOOSH!

Zuo Boyang finally recovered from the shock. Perhaps to vent his terror, or perhaps to unleash days of pent-up hatred and frustration, he instinctively sneered, ”You ignorant dog! This is a Life-Protecting Talisman, a gift from Master Zhen!”

”Today, I will offer up your head to avenge my son, Risheng!”

He grinned savagely, produced a fiery-red Jade Talisman, and activated it with his Power.

SWOOSH!

A crimson fireball materialized out of thin air and shot toward Fang Rui with incredible speed.

BOOM!

The fireball passed through Fang Rui and slammed into the nearby handcart, blowing it to smithereens and scattering flaming debris everywhere.

”Haha, die, you dog...”

Zuo Boyang, having activated the Spirit Talisman and seen it strike Fang Rui, had already started to laugh. But his laughter died in his throat as he witnessed something impossible. His eyes bulged like saucers as he choked out, ”How can this be?!”

There, a short distance away, stood Fang Rui, saber in hand and robes fluttering. He was completely unharmed.

That’s right. He wasn’t dead.

What the fireball had struck was merely an afterimage he had left behind.

The real Fang Rui, moving no slower than the fireball itself, had activated his Perfection Level Rapid Trace Step. He dodged with an agility that seemed to shrink the very ground he stood on.

’Good thing I played it safe and raised my Rapid Trace Step and Life-taking Saber Technique to Perfection before coming here,’ Fang Rui thought, his own heart pounding with residual fear.

”My turn!”

He gripped the saber with both hands, channeling his Transforming Force without reservation. The long blade hummed and began to emit a dazzling white Sword Aura.

—That’s right. Once his Life-taking Saber Technique reached Perfection and his Swordsmanship entered the Grandmaster Level, his Transforming Force had fused with his Swordsmanship, undergoing a qualitative change to produce Sword Aura.

’The legends speak of the Hundred-Step Flying Sword. Today, you’ll witness my Three-zhang Flying Saber! Go!’

Fang Rui made a sharp, two-handed pushing gesture, sending the long saber whistling through the air. It streaked through the twilight under the blood-red sun, leaving a trail like a bolt of pure white silk.

At the same time, he tapped his foot and floated backward like a weightless feather.

—’This was his strongest attack. He had no idea if it would work. Best-case scenario, it did. If not, it was a probe and a distraction. Attack and run—what a thrill!’

SWOOSH!

The long saber streaked across the sky, appearing before Zuo Boyang in a flash.

The Buddha said: a finger-snap contains sixty kshanas, and each kshana contains nine hundred moments of birth and death.

The Sword Aura collided with the golden membrane of light. For a single, frozen kshana, everything paused. Then, the bell-shaped golden shield shattered like glass, dissolving into motes of light. The long saber pierced through Zuo Boyang’s chest, and the Transforming Force within it erupted like Dark Thunder, utterly obliterating the upper half of his body.