Chapter 219: An Unexpected Complication, One Becomes Two

“Aigh, I’ve discovered you’re really suited to be a demon. It’s a real pity you’re not one!”

Whenever Xing brought up this topic, Qin Haoxuan would shake his head with a serious expression. “I was forced into all of this… I ambushed them only because they wanted to take my life, and I didn’t have the confidence to face them head-on. So, I had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure! If you don’t cooperate with me, I’ll have no choice but to risk my life and fight him!”

Xing thought for a moment and let out a long sigh. He certainly couldn’t watch Qin Haoxuan go to his death. He couldn’t help but sigh again. “Alright, I’ll do it! But I have a condition.”

“Speak!” Qin Haoxuan said with a faint smile. “Anything except the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art is fine. As for that, you’ll have to come back to the Taichu Sect with me and see if my Master is willing to accept you as a disciple.”

Xing’s eyes rolled so far back they nearly disappeared into his head. If he were to fully recover his cultivation, Xuanji wouldn’t even be qualified to hold his shoes, and now he was supposed to take him as a disciple? If anyone else had said that, he would have twisted their head off long ago.

“You stubborn fool! What does it matter if you teach me an orthodox Daoist art without your master’s permission?” Xing grumbled. “My condition is that I want your other two Talisman Beasts, the Red-Blood Ape and the Iron-Backed Centipede.”

Qin Haoxuan was quite surprised by his request. “What do you need so many Talisman Beasts for? Can you even control them all?”

Xing gave him a deep, contemptuous look. “Have you forgotten that I am a peerless genius demon of the Netherworld? Never mind three; I can control five or ten at the same time! As for what I’ll do with them, can’t I just have them fight each other like toys? It’s so boring in this army camp; how can I pass the time without a little fun? Hmph!” It was clear he was still resentful about having to transform into a promiscuous woman tomorrow.

The Iron-Backed Centipede and the Red-Blood Ape were quite powerful, but compared to spirit stones, dragon’s blood, and the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art, they were nothing. Besides, if Xing could really control three Talisman Beasts at once, their side’s combat power would double. So, Qin Haoxuan did not hesitate to give them to him, along with their control manuals. “Then you should familiarize yourself with them. We might have a fierce battle tomorrow.”

Xing excitedly took the two beasts and immediately began to read the manuals, controlling the beasts as he did. To Qin Haoxuan’s surprise, he could actually multitask, controlling all three Talisman Beasts at once and even making them fight each other.

Qin Haoxuan looked at him, who was having the time of his life, with a puzzled expression, thinking to himself, Is this guy really that bored, to be playing with these Talisman Beasts like toys?

From Xu Changsheng’s diary, he knew that Long Tian’ao’s combat strength was far greater than the other three, so Qin Haoxuan buried his head in thought again, perfecting his plan.

He thought for a full two hours, and finally, a complete and flawless plan took shape in his mind. After settling on the strategy, he summoned Su Wu.

When Su Wu arrived, Xing was still controlling the three beasts, having them fight each other. Although it wasn’t as intense as before, it was still enough to startle the general as he walked into the tent. The astral winds kicked up by their battle stung his face.

“General Su, I’ve called you here because I have a favor to ask,” Qin Haoxuan said with a kind smile and a very sincere tone.

Although he spoke kindly, Su Wu did not dare to be arrogant. He quickly said, “Please give your orders, High Immortal.”

“Please find a team of absolutely loyal and brave men, about five hundred of them. Tomorrow, have them all wear the enemy’s uniforms and go with me to welcome the High Immortal who is coming to aid the enemy.”

His tone was still kind, but the information he revealed startled Su Wu. “The enemy has another High Immortal coming to help?”

Qin Haoxuan nodded. “I am preparing to disguise myself as the enemy, greet him tomorrow, and then assassinate him! So, you must select the soldiers carefully. We absolutely cannot have any flaws.”

“Yes, yes! Please rest assured, High Immortal. This humble general will see to it at once!” Learning that another immortal was coming to aid the enemy, Su Wu broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately left to select the men.

The next morning, just as the sun was rising and the land was still shrouded in a thin white mist, Qin Haoxuan and Xing, who had transformed into the Pink Immortal, set out with five hundred soldiers dressed in enemy uniforms.

Following the route Long Tian’ao was taking, Qin Haoxuan decided to intercept him at a place twenty li from the camp. With his strength and his ambiguous relationship with the Pink Immortal, it was normal for her to go and greet him.

After traveling for about an hour, they arrived at the designated location. It was a relatively open area, but it was flanked by mountains and forests on both sides. No matter which path he took, he would have to pass through here.

Xing, in his guise as the Pink Immortal, was all smiles, occasionally casting a lecherous glance at the five hundred strong young soldiers behind him. But not a single one of them, who were all battle-hardened veterans as fierce as wolves and tigers, dared to meet her gaze.

After waiting for about an hour, the sound of hoofbeats came from a distance. Qin Haoxuan and Xing took a few steps forward, with the transformed Xing standing in front. The newcomer was indeed Long Tian’ao. But he was not alone. Following behind him was a middle-aged man in a Daoist robe, with a small mustache, a sallow and thin face, looking as if he were starving.

Long Tian’ao was just as described in the diary. He wore a green robe, a longsword on his back, and his head of black hair flowed freely in the wind. His rugged features were exceptionally cold and stern, and a faint killing intent emanated from between his brows. His entire person was like an unsheathed sword, his aura far surpassing that of Xu Changsheng or Hua Yang.

Qin Haoxuan and Xing’s faces turned grim. Their confidence was completely gone in that instant. Besides Long Tian’ao, there was another rogue cultivator! This was not in the intel.

The two of them exchanged a look. They knew that what was fated to happen would happen. In this situation, retreat was no longer an option. They could only brace themselves and go for it. Find a chance and strike immediately. Risk it all.

While thinking this, they still put on a smiling face, as if the more people that came, the better.

“Senior Brother Long, you’ve come from afar. It must have been a tiring journey,” Xing said coquettishly, throwing him a flirtatious glance.

Long Tian’ao smiled faintly. It was clear from his expression that he had some contempt for the Pink Immortal. He did not dismount and said, “Junior Sister Yanling, is that little fat sheep from the Taichu Sect still alive?”

“Without you here, Senior Brother Long, how could we dare to slaughter him?” the ‘Pink Immortal’ said with a charming smile. “Let me introduce you. This is my Junior Brother Hulu’s disciple.” Xing pointed to Qin Haoxuan behind him, who was wearing a simple and honest smile and occasionally casting an adoring gaze at Long Tian’ao.

Qin Haoxuan quickly stepped forward and performed the etiquette of a junior. “My master often speaks of Senior Uncle Long’s great name. This disciple has long admired you. So today, I boldly asked my senior aunt to bring me here to welcome you.”

This bit of flattery clearly pleased Long Tian’ao. He gave a faint “mm” and said, “This Senior Brother Jin Chan is my friend. We met on the road, so we came together.”

“Greetings, Daoist Brother Jin Chan,” the transformed Xing said with a coquettish smile, throwing him a flirtatious glance.

The Daoist, Jin Chan, cupped his hands slightly and smiled faintly. “They say the Pink Immortal’s charm is formidable. Seeing you today, you are indeed extraordinary. Even a Daoist like me has almost been moved by worldly desires.”

“If you are interested, Daoist Brother, we can study the true scriptures of the Dao together,” she replied.

Jin Chan laughed heartily, and then he and Long Tian’ao dismounted. Seeing them get off their horses, Qin Haoxuan’s heart leaped with joy. It seemed their vigilance had indeed relaxed a bit. He pretended to go and take their horses, while Xing went over and took Long Tian’ao’s arm. As a junior, Qin Haoxuan naturally walked behind them. Seeing Xing chatting warmly with the two of them, he suddenly activated the Advent of the Ghost God. The fierce ghosts sealed on his arms burst through his sleeves and descended. One pounced on Long Tian’ao, the other on Jin Chan.

The moment he made his move, the way Xing held Long Tian’ao’s arm changed, and he clamped down on his pulse gate.

Long Tian’ao and Jin Chan were startled. The two of them simultaneously circulated their spiritual energy to protect their bodies, and a faint light of spiritual energy flashed around them. Long Tian’ao, after all, had been tempered in countless battles. At this critical moment, his body slipped like an eel, and he immediately escaped from Xing’s grasp. The fierce ghost that Qin Haoxuan had released scraped past his shoulder blade. A single blow… had missed.

As for Jin Chan, although he had also circulated his spiritual energy and sensed the baleful qi from the fierce ghost, and he had immediately crushed a Twenty-Third-Leaf protective talisman, his reaction was clearly not as fast as Long Tian’ao’s. He had no way to dodge and could only rely on the defense of his talisman and his own protective energy to take the full force of the ghost’s punch. With a crack, the protective talisman shattered, and his spiritual energy barrier broke. The remaining force still made his face turn deathly pale, and he used the momentum to hastily retreat. A Twenty-Third-Leaf protective talisman, even a cultivator of the same realm would not dare to say they could shatter it with a single blow. Yet this fierce ghost had done just that, and the residual force had even slightly injured him. The ghost soldier was so formidable; how could he dare to face it head-on?

Long Tian’ao’s expression as he looked at Qin Haoxuan was clearly one of shock. He had not expected him to have such a fierce ghost hidden on him. If not for his constant vigilance, he would have been injured just like Jin Chan. At this point, how could he not know that he had been tricked?

Without any hesitation, Jin Chan immediately released his Talisman Beast to attack Xing, while Long Tian’ao also released his own to attack Qin Haoxuan.

Xing sneered. With a wave of his hand and a twist of his fingers, an Iron-Backed Centipede, a two-meter-tall Red-Blood Ape, and a giant python flickering its forked tongue appeared in front of him.

Seeing these, Long Tian’ao’s face changed. He immediately understood. “You bastards! You actually killed Hua Yang, the Pink Immortal, and Xu Changsheng! Today, I will make you pay with your lives!”

Jin Chan’s face also grew more solemn when he saw that Xing could control three Talisman Beasts at once. In the cultivation world, he had never seen anyone who could multitask to such a degree. Looking at Qin Haoxuan’s two fierce ghosts and Xing’s three Talisman Beasts, Jin Chan’s heart grew bitter, and he cursed his luck. He had originally thought he could follow Long Tian’ao and pick up some easy benefits, but who knew he would run into such a tough nut. Now he was in deep trouble, and a single misstep could cost him his life.