Chapter 9 – Demonic Body Toning Method
A cave?
Old man Zhong’s eyes brightened when he saw the cave and, with dagger in hand, he swiftly leaped towards the cave.
The opening of the cave was about as tall as a man. It was a stone cave and the surrounding stones were very smooth like they had been polished. The cave looked quite ordinary but outside of the cave, old man Zhong noticed that the miasma was unable to enter the cave.
The miasma is unable enter the cave? It seemed like there’s an invisible force keeping the miasma out.
When he saw this, old man Zhong’s heart sank. Should he go in?
The inside of the cave might have some treasure, but it might also hold great danger. If it’s a den of some fierce animal, then it’s death for sure if he went in. If it’s an empty cave, there might be something valuable, but the sound he had heard before indicated that there must be something living in there.
He just entered Xiantian stage and was at the weakest stage of Xiantian, then the possibility that he would get killed was very real if he walked in. It’s better not to go in and to wait till later when he had the ability to protect himself before returning.
Old man Zhong readied to leave after he had thought through it.
“Xiongshen[1], what are you doing?” Suddenly, an angry shout came from inside the cave.
Old man Zhong halted, tightly grasped the dagger, and began practicing Guixi Dafa while listening attentively.
“What am I doing? Today we have secured the Yaori Sword which had been keeping this secret spring under control and we find that only one of us can have it. There are five of us and certainly four of you have to die.” A ferocious voice said.
“Without us, you can’t get the sword out. It will take the combined efforts of five of us that we can possibly pull it out. Otherwise, with just one misstep, we will all be devoured by the Yinqi[2] of the secret spring and turned into ashes without the possibility of revival. Do you want to die together?” The voice he heard first said angrily.
“Die? Haha, you know I’m Xiongshen, do you know why I have this name? You’ll all die. All I have to do is multiply my power five folds. Certainly I’ll be weak for a while, but the Yaori Sword will be all mine. Haha.” Xiongshen laughed.
“No ~ ~ ~ ~ ~” …………
Three men inside yelled and screamed.
“You, out there, come save me. I’ll give you anything.” Another inside suddenly yelled.
“Huh.” Xiongshen snorted in anger and the sound inside the cave came to abrupt stop.
Old man Zhong looked about his surrounding, having broken out into a cold sweat. Had he been discovered again?
If even one of the four could find him, then that Xiongshen must have noticed him too. If he walked away right now, he wouldn’t live another day in peace.
That man had noticed old man Zhong and even asked Zhong to go in and rescue him? How could old man Zhong rescue him with his meager ability? What’s more, that Xiongshen, why hadn’t he charged out of the cave already?
Old man Zhong quickly weighed the pros and cons. Run away? Or go in?
Old man Zhong believed that this Xiongshen person in the cave must be a powerful person, if he ran away now, Xiongshen would catch him before he reached the Kaiyang School. The fact that Xiongshen hadn’t charged out meant obviously that he was restrained by something inside the cave.
After his prompt analysis, old man Zhong grabbed his dagger and briskly walked into the cave.
The inside was a spacious chamber. In a corner, there’s a fist sized luminous pearl that lit up the whole cave.
There were no sign of the four people, only a man with black robe. The black robed person had both of his arms stretched out in front of him and stood like a jiangshi[3]. There were faint trails of black smoke coming out of his body as if he was cultivating his qi.
Secret spring? Yaori Sword? Where? The ground under his feet was flat. Where were the other four? Did the black robed person deliberately lure him in?
Old man Zhong was alarmed by the possibility, tightening his grip on the dagger as he became more anxious.
“Boy, leave now. I will leave bygones be bygones. Get lost!” The black robed man said.
Xiongshen, this person was Xiongshen. He wanted old man Zhong to leave. If old man Zhong was inexperienced, he would probably run as far away as possible after hearing such a threat. But, old man Zhong was not just anybody, how could he be scared off by a few words?
Xiongshen, he’s that Xiongshen. Old man Zhong was sure that the other four had died, but how did they die, where were the bodies? He didn’t know, the one thing he did know was that Xiongshen was in a critical moment and he couldn’t move.
Get lost? If old man Zhong really walked away then he would really be dead. When Xiongshen recovered, that would be the moment of his death.
The Xiongshen didn’t even let his companions leave in peace, why would he let old man Zhong off the hook?
Many ideas flashed through his head, old man Zhong instantly made a decision; he would kill Xiongshen while he’s weak.
With dagger in hand, old man Zhong gathered all his Zhenqi and swiftly threw the dagger towards Xiongshen who stood a short distance away.
Old man Zhong had reached Xiantian and his power was nothing to scoff at. In addition, the dagger was extremely sharp and could dig a hole into a piece of iron with a throw like this.
“Hong ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”
With a blaring noise, the dagger hit the throat of the Xiongshen, but it only left a red mark and bounced back instead.
Old man Zhong terrifyingly grabbed the dagger and swallowed hard. A red mark, merely a red mark with a hit like that? Was this person made of iron? No, even if he was made of iron, the outcome shouldn’t be this outrageous.
Xiongshen widened his eyes and glared fiercely at old man Zhong, there was some disdain mixed with spite in his eyes. But, he had kept his position without a budge.
Seeing the emotions in the Xiongshen’s eyes, old man Zhong further confirmed his conviction that if he didn’t kill Xiongshen right at this moment, he would die.
Xiongshen couldn’t move?
Old man Zhong was encouraged and walked to the backside of Xiongshen. He held the dagger in hand and stabbed at Xiongshen with all his might.
“Dang”, “dang”, “dang”………………..
It was to no avail, no avail at all. At the same time, Xiongshen was burning mad, his eyes became blood-shot and cold sweat dripped from his forehead. But, he stood still as a statue.
Old man Zhong dared not to go in front of him and simply jabbed at his back, yet Zhong couldn’t even cut through his skin. These failed attempts only reaffirmed old man Zhong’s determination to kill Xiongshen, otherwise, he would find the future full of endless trouble.
“Boy, you’re dead meat.” The Xiongshen cruelly said. It’s unthinkable that Xiongshen, famed in the Demon world, was being humiliated to such an extent.
Old man Zhong was certain now that Xiongshen’s body was indestructible. He pondered what his next step would be since he couldn’t cut through Xiongshen’s body. What could his Achilles heel be? A hole? What holes did he have on him? Mouth? Eyes? Ears? Nostrils? And his rear?
Old man Zhong decided after careful calculation, even though it was a dirty move. But, life is precious.
Old man Zhong mercilessly stabbed his dagger with full force aimed directly between Xiongshen’s buttocks.
TL: Not cool dude.
“Ci ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”
With a heavy thud, Xiongshen’s eyes almost bulged out, sweat poured from his forehead, the muscles around his mouth twitched and he relaxed his arms.
“Pong ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”
Old man Zhong saw a streak of pitch-black smoke suddenly appear in front of Xiongshen’s arms and rush towards his two palms.
“No ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~” The Xiongshen yelled out in horror.
At the same time, old man Zhong hastily retreated without retrieving his dagger.
TL: Well who would want the dagger now anyways?
“Hu ~ ~ ~ ~ ~” Black smoke went into Xiongshen’s body in a blink of an eye.
Xiongshen was only able to show a slight look of regret before he died. In an instant, his body turned into a flurry of broken pieces and disappeared.
Old man Zhong stood against the cave wall and horrifyingly watched the spectacle. Dead? Gone? Was this how the other four died too?
The Xiongshen had died, dissolved into black smoke; even his dagger had disappeared. Had it turned into smoke too? In the location Xiongshen used to stand, there was only a piece of black cloth left?
The secret spring? The devouring Yinqi? Old man Zhong watched what had happened in horror; it was gruesome. Such a strong body disappeared in just one attack of Yinqi? Even his own dagger dissolved with it?
The cave was empty now. The formidable Xiongshen would never have figured that he would die in such a lousy way.
Looking at the black cloth on the ground, old man Zhong broke out into a cold sweat. Had the Yinqi dissipated? Had the people all dead? Yaori Sword wasn’t out yet and this piece of black cloth could resist the Yinqi? It must be a precious item.
Should he pick it up?
Old man Zhong eventually went out to collect a few branches and threw them at the cloth a few times. Nothing happened, then he grasped the black cloth. It was just like Hongluan Tianjing; it was full of tiny, golden characters.
“Demonic Body Toning Method”