Chapter 200: Ghost God versus the Feilian Beast

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“Hao Xiu, this seat has called you junior brother. Don’t think for a moment that this seat doesn’t dare to touch you!” A murderous aura appeared on Perfected Man Hulu’s face, and he was filled with rage. “If you piss me off today, this seat will teach you a lesson, even if it means being punished by the Temple Master!”

“Such arrogant words. Why don’t you come and try?” Having refined the Feilian, Hao Xiu was naturally unwilling to back down. He sneered and assumed a fighting stance.

Feeling his authority had been challenged, Perfected Man Hulu was not to be outdone. After all, Hao Xiu’s realm was a level lower than his. If he didn’t show him his power, he would be taken for a sick cat. He sneered, “You’re the one courting death. Don’t blame me for being impolite!”

With a single disagreement, the smell of gunpowder filled the air between Hao Xiu and Perfected Man Hulu, and they were on the verge of coming to blows.

General Chang, who was standing to the side, was horrified. He neither dared to intervene nor to stay and watch. He took the opportunity, while the two of them were not paying attention to him, to slip away.

Perfected Man Hulu reached into his robes, took out a Giant Python Talisman Beast, and threw it to the ground. At the same time, he formed a hand seal. The Talisman Beast instantly grew, becoming a giant python some ten zhang long. It raised its head, a cold killing intent in its serpentine eyes, its body wreathed in a deadly poison gas.

He sneered. This giant python had been slain in its prime, and its resentful energy was extremely heavy, making its power astonishing. Hao Xiu’s own Giant Bear Talisman Beast had been destroyed by the enemy cultivator three days ago. He was eager to see what this tough-talking Hao Xiu would use to contend with him now.

The moment the giant python appeared, Hao Xiu’s expression changed. He had long heard of its power; it was ranked among the top ten in the entire Tongtian Temple. Many cultivators, even those two or three leaves stronger than Perfected Man Hulu himself, had died under its coils. His own destroyed Giant Bear Talisman Beast, though powerful, was no match for it.

The giant python slammed its tail on the ground, and spiderweb-like cracks immediately spread out for a full li. At the same time, it kicked up a gale of astral wind, which swept away the nearby tents. For a moment, sand and stones flew, the air was filled with yellow dust and a pervasive poison gas. The nearby soldiers who were touched by the gas immediately turned black and died.

If it were before, this casual display of power would have been enough to frighten Hao Xiu into silence. But now, having refined the Feilian, it was a different story. Although he had not yet formally tested its power, it was a Talisman Beast modeled after an ancient exotic beast. How could its power be small?

Hao Xiu sneered and, under Perfected Man Hulu’s watchful eye, summoned the Feilian. With a flick of his ten fingers, he activated his beast-taming art. The Feilian let out a cry that was neither bird nor beast. The sound shot straight into the sky, shattering the clouds directly above. At the same time, a demonic wind kicked up, and even Perfected Man Hulu, who was a leaf stronger than him, felt a bone-chilling cold.

Perfected Man Hulu, who had been preparing to watch a good show, was greatly alarmed. His body couldn’t help but tremble, and the relaxed expression on his face was swept away, replaced by a grave one. He cried out in shock, “A Feilian! You actually used the souls of ten thousand beasts to refine a Feilian!” He did not know how powerful the ancient beast was, but from the ten-foot-long, seven-foot-tall creature before him, with its bird head, deer body, and wolf’s tail, radiating an awe-inspiring killing intent and a boundless brutality, he could feel its power.

“Perfected Man Hulu,” Hao Xiu said, trying to control the Feilian, which he found was extremely difficult, “for the sake of our shared membership in the Tongtian Temple, I will give you a lesson. As long as you kneel on the ground and kowtow in apology, this seat will spare you.”

Although Perfected Man Hulu feared the Feilian, his own strength was still greater than Hao Xiu’s. He thought to himself that with his superior cultivation and his greater skill in controlling Talisman Beasts, and with Hao Xiu being so new to his own, he might be able to hold his own. To bow his head before the fight even started would be too cowardly. How could he face anyone if word of this got out?

So, he decisively refused. “If you want to fight, then fight. Less nonsense. It’s not yet known who will win!” With that, he commanded his giant python to attack, and a dark brown poisonous wind swept forth.

Hao Xiu retreated several steps and, with a spiritual seal, poured all his energy into directing the Feilian. He commanded it to use an ability called Sky-Covering Flames. A pale white flame shot from its mouth, instantly spreading and burning away the poisonous wind. At the same time, under his command, it pounced on the giant python. The python’s body was enormous; it had no way to dodge. Perfected Man Hulu decided to have it entangle the Feilian.

However, he had greatly overestimated his Talisman Beast. Before the python could even wrap itself around the Feilian, the creature raised its powerful front claw and struck. The immensely powerful python, as if hit by a heavy blow, was instantly shattered to pieces. The backlash sent a mouthful of blood spraying from Perfected Man Hulu’s mouth. His face turned pale, and he stared in utter horror at Hao Xiu and his Feilian.

After a moment, his anger and frustration erupted. “Hao Xiu, you old dog! We are from the same temple, yet you destroyed my Talisman Beast!”

Hao Xiu, having shattered the giant python in a single blow, sneered with great confidence. “Perfected Man Hulu, this was all your own doing. I advised you not to fight me. You brought this on yourself!”

With the Feilian, his confidence was through the roof. So what if Hulu was a leaf stronger than him? If he dared to make another move, the Feilian could easily tear him to shreds.

Perfected Man Hulu was not an unreasonable person. He knew he was no match for Hao Xiu now. He would have to wait until he had perfected his own ancient exotic beast to get his revenge.

Hao Xiu also did not want to press the issue. After all, killing him would bring him no benefit. He squinted his eyes and said, “If you are convinced, then I will go and meet the enemy’s cultivator.” Perfected Man Hulu could only nod with a bitter smile. What capital did he have left to be unconvinced?

Hao Xiu called over the distant General Chang. “In half an hour, I will personally meet the enemy’s High Immortal in battle. Go and issue the challenge.”

“Yes, yes!” The general, who had watched their fight from a distance, repeatedly agreed and went to deploy his troops.

During this half hour, Hao Xiu returned to his tent to meditate and recover his spiritual energy. The ancient beast was truly extraordinary; just activating it for a moment had consumed a great deal of his power. After he recovered, he put a few more spiritual talismans in his robes. Although he now had the Feilian and was fully confident he could tear Qin Haoxuan to shreds, it was always better to be fully prepared.

With everything ready, he rode his horse and leisurely went to the battlefield.

Not long after Qin Haoxuan had finished cultivating the Advent of the Ghost God, Su Wu came rushing to report. “The enemy has come to issue a challenge! Their High Immortal wants to fight you one-on-one, High Immortal! Please go out and meet the challenge!”

Qin Haoxuan, who had just finished cultivating the art, was also eager to test its power. He said to Su Wu without hesitation, “You may go. I will be there shortly.”

“Yes! We are all relying on you, High Immortal! The enemy does not know their own limits. Please show them no mercy this time and slay their immortal. Our army is already in formation. We await your great victory, and then we will crush them in one fell swoop!” Three days ago, although Qin Haoxuan had not killed the enemy immortal, he had gained the upper hand and destroyed one of his Talisman Beasts. Su Wu’s confidence was greatly boosted, and he hoped that this time, he could achieve a great victory and be promoted.

He knew that for his opponent to issue a challenge again today, he must have made ample preparations. Qin Haoxuan did not let his guard down in the slightest and had Xing once again transform into armor to protect him. Xing was very reluctant. “If you just teach me the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art, it would be much more convenient for me to protect you…” he grumbled.

Qin Haoxuan looked at him helplessly. “Speaking of which, can you master the Dragon Demon Golden Body first? Even if I taught you the whole thing, could you immediately go into battle with me and crush the enemy?”

Muttering complaints, Xing transformed into a suit of battle armor and covered Qin Haoxuan’s body.

On the battlefield, Qin Haoxuan looked at Hao Xiu in the distance. Sensing his gaze, Hao Xiu sneered and directly released the Feilian. The moment the forty-foot-long, ten-foot-tall beast appeared, a venomous, yin wind kicked up, filled with the wails of a thousand ghosts. The late spring sun, which had been slightly hot, instantly cooled, as if they had returned to the bleakness of winter.

Hao Xiu pointed directly at Qin Haoxuan, and the Feilian, sensing its master’s command, also let out a long cry in his direction. The roar terrified the warhorses, and they began to tremble and collapse to the ground, refusing to get up no matter how much they were beaten or cursed.

In the rear, Perfected Man Hulu, seeing this from a distance, couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. A Fourth-Leaf brat versus a Fifteenth-Leaf cultivator with an ancient exotic beast as a Talisman Beast. There was simply no comparison. Even if the kid was from the Taichu Sect, he was a dead man for sure. He knew very well the power of the Feilian. Thinking of his own giant python being torn to shreds, his heart bled. But he was also very curious: how had a Fourth-Leaf cultivator defeated a Fifteenth-Leaf Hao Xiu, who had possessed a Giant Bear Talisman Beast, three days ago?