Inside Little Mountain City.
The north wind howled.
In the grand hall of the Shanyao Gang, Han Nuo scrambled over, his voice filled with panic, "This is bad, our scouts have found Jile Immortal’s group, and he is heading towards Little Mountain City! He may reach the city gates any moment now, what should we do?"
Faced with a Grandmaster, a strong contender on the earthly ranking, he couldn’t muster even the slightest thought of resistance.
"So he’s finally coming?"
Zhong Shenxiu caressed his gloves and looked around at the anxious crowd, mumbling to himself.
At that moment, Wei Baizhu sneered and shouted, "Liu Yi, you better run! The farther the better! As long as you stay alive, once you make it onto the earthly ranking, you will surely avenge us!"
Wei Hongyao’s eyes turned red, and she gritted her teeth as she stepped forward, "Perhaps we should surrender ourselves, I’ve heard that as long as you obey Jile Immortal’s rules, he won’t massacre us."
"No way!" Zhong Shenxiu laughed out loud, "Hiding behind a woman is not my style. Next, I am going to the city gate. As for you all, please do as you wish, but remember, don’t stay too close to me."
He had recently reached a certain level with his Ten Thousand Gu Hand, able to slightly control it, but he was still uncertain about the range, which could easily harm allies, so it was better to maintain a safe distance.
A quarter of an hour later.
The cold wind howled as Zhong Shenxiu stood atop the gate tower of Little Mountain City, gazing into the distance.
Soon, sounds of bells, drums, and blowing horns rang in his ears.
At the horizon, under the dark sky, a procession slowly came into view.
In their midst, a sedan carried by poles was draped with curtains on all sides. Some disciples blew horns, others carried flower baskets and banners, giving an impression of a high official’s entourage.
Moments later, this group arrived beneath the gate tower of Little Mountain City. A disciple from Jile Sect stepped out and shouted coldly, "Jile Immortal’s divine procession has arrived, do you not come forth to welcome us?!"
Zhong Shenxiu laughed heartily, looked down from the tower, and saw atop the sedan, through the layers of curtains, a pair of eyes coldly watching him.
Those eyes were indifferent and calm, carrying a malignance from the top of the food chain that would even make ordinary Martial Artists, or even Human Ranking Experts, falter.
Like a small rabbit stunned by a mighty dragon.
There’s just such a vast gap in their fundamental essence.
Yet, Zhong Shenxiu seemed oblivious, looked at the snowflakes in mid-air, chuckled again, and waved for Wei Baizhu, Wei Hongyao, and others who had followed worriedly, to move back further.
Then, a hoarse voice came from behind the curtain: "Human List Rank Five, Yin Yang Hand Liu Yi?"
Zhong Shenxiu responded with a laugh, "It is indeed me. I am also a Silver Seal Minister of the Divine Capture Sect, Old Immortal, might you spare us, take a detour perhaps?"
Jile Immortal’s voice carried a mocking tone, "A mere figure from the Human List Martial Artists does not have the power to make me recede by three steps... However, I have a rule, which is each time I pass by a local gang, they must send a girl to me. I’ve heard that your gang leader has a fine daughter, send her over, and I will spare you this time; Otherwise, not even the rules of the imperial court can save you."
Among the eight major powers, although there are unspoken rules, they are predicated on lower-ranked Martial Artists not provoking those above them.
Jile Immortal’s reasoning was far-fetched but still somewhat plausible; after all, it was just about killing someone and leaving, which would essentially just lead to disputes among the major powers.
Of course, if Zhong Shenxiu really obediently handed over Wei Hongyao and let Jile Immortal have no excuse to lash out, he might preserve some peace for now, but internally, it would be extremely vexing to him.
"Sigh, it looks like in the end, we’ll have to fight."
Zhong Shenxiu confirmed the distance again, feeling the Jile Sect disciples were relatively closer, then chuckled lightly and took off his gloves.
With a thought, some inexplicable minute Gu spread from his hands in all directions.
Because of his recent training, he was barely able to control these minute Gu to float towards the disciples of the Jile Sect without causing a tragedy of inadvertently harming his own people.
At this time, the Jile Immortal was still unaware, leisurely laughing from behind the curtain, "I have always heard of the fame of the Yin Yang hand. I have a few useless disciples who wish to experience the power of the Yin Yang Palm. You, child, go first."
A young man beside the carriage immediately responded, appearing in clothing that suggested he was the one who had butchered the Black Tiger Gang on that day.
He looked at Zhong Shenxiu with a grim expression and shouted, "Yin Yang Hand? I’m afraid that after today, it might just turn into a pair of broken hands. Make your move!"
Zhong Shenxiu stared at him with a look of pity, "I have already made my move."
The young man was shocked, looking around himself, when he suddenly felt something wasn’t right; something painful seemed to be gestating inside his body.
Inside the palanquin, the Jile Immortal suddenly had a surge of vital energy, as if clashing with some unknown entity, and with a somewhat breathless voice, he shouted, "All of you, quickly use your energy to heal yourselves. This man uses poison!"
"It is indeed Jile Immortal, at last you’ve noticed. It started when I took off my gloves..."
Zhong Shenxiu looked indifferently at the crowd. Although outnumbered, he felt an illusion of having the enemy surrounded.
’This time, the true combat power of the Ten Thousand Gu Hand might be witnessed...’
Thinking thus, he soon saw anomalies appearing among the crowd below.
A disciple of the Jile Sect screamed in agony as his head felt like splitting open and fell to the ground; his skin turned black as if burnt, and not only that, he was also writhing in extreme pain.
Normally, a martial artist, even if their limbs were severed, wouldn’t scream so miserably, but at this moment, it seemed he was overwhelmed by the pain.
In the blink of an eye, his skin cracked all over, his organs seemed to swell and wriggle, and his bone marrow seemed to emit cries of being overburdened.
Apart from him, other disciples also felt a taste like rust flooding their mouths, fell to the ground, and vomited black blood, clearly not going to survive.
This scene, even when seen by people like Wei Baizhu, sent chills down their spines.
In this era, even the most violent of plagues didn’t act this fast.
And this symptom was very odd, not at all like a plague.
However, Zhong Shenxiu recognized it, feeling it was somewhat similar to acute radiation sickness, which surprised even himself.
"In these minute Gu, is there a type that causes radiation? But since it is one of the most fundamental substances in the world, it seems normal to evolve a radiation type... And this disease, there’s no cure for it!"
"This move... should probably be named—Radiation Palm?!"
Once the human body suffers excessive radiation exposure, the damage is almost catastrophic.
In a blink, the disciples and servants under the Jile Immortal suffered widespread tragedy as they were all poisoned by radiation. They showed symptoms of acute radiation sickness, fell to the ground, some immediately dying; their bodies eerily swelling as if about to burst into a mass of pus and blood.
Many onlookers retreated, chilled to their bones, feeling that this Yin Yang Hand was even more bizarre and terrifying than any enemy they had encountered before.
With no one to carry it, the palanquin fell to the ground with a clatter.
An old man with a youthful appearance and a black wooden walking stick slowly stepped out from it, gazing at Zhong Shenxiu with grave words, "Have you ascended to Grandmaster?!"
By now, if the Jile Immortal hadn’t realized something was off about Zhong Shenxiu, that would have been truly abnormal.