“You!”
The cave abode was close at hand, yet he could not return smoothly. This made Lord Nightbone fly into a rage.
You are not much stronger than me. Do you think this seat fears you?
Lord Nightbone’s eyes blazed with ghostly flames. Within the bluish-green ghost fire, a black gleam flashed.
“Insolent little Taoist!”
Lord Nightbone shouted sternly. He formed a hand seal, and a black shadow shot from his mouth, turning into a thin curtain that enveloped Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng’s eyes flickered. He did not meet it head-on. Instead, he cast the White Cloud Great Hand Seal, dissolving the thin curtain palm by palm until it was completely gone.
Seeing Lu Zheng entangled, Lord Nightbone turned and tried to flee back to Yuanyuan Cave. But as he approached, he suddenly found wisps of white cloud qi drifting between him and the entrance. Hazy and indistinct, seeming both illusory and real, they actually blocked his path.
Lord Nightbone reached out with a great claw, but only stirred ripples in the cloud qi without tearing it apart directly.
“What is going on?”
Lord Nightbone focused his gaze and saw a small flag suspended at the centre of the cloud qi. It was the source of this sealing cloud barrier, continuously sustaining the white clouds so that he could not break through in a short time.
While this cloud qi delayed Lord Nightbone momentarily, Lu Zheng dispelled the black curtain spell and pursued once more.
“Very well, very well!”
Lord Nightbone laughed in extreme anger. “This seat originally did not wish to bother with you. I would return to my cave and defend it, leaving you to depart empty-handed. Since you seek death, do not blame me.”
Lu Zheng’s eyes flickered. He prepared to traverse space at any moment. With one hand, he controlled the White Cloud Flag to emit clouds. With the other, he sheathed the True Dragon Hidden Head Blade at his waist, patted his gourd, and drew the lightning-struck peachwood sword.
Instead of advancing, he retreated. He pointed the peachwood sword skyward, then slashed down.
“Qingwei Yuchen, Taiyi Five Thunders, strike!”
Lord Nightbone, “…”
The Taiyi Five Thunders incantation crashed down, directly striking Lord Nightbone.
Heavenly thunder blazed gloriously, unstoppable. It hit him from the crown of his head. Thunderous mana flowed through his body, tearing his flesh apart.
At that moment, Lord Nightbone’s head split open. A wound ran from the top of his skull to the corner of his mouth. One eyeball had fallen out, revealing the deep bluish fire in the socket. His nasal bone was exposed. His lips split, showing gums and teeth.
“Heh heh heh!”
Yet Lord Nightbone felt nothing. He only laughed coldly. “You have ruined this seat’s Nightbone True Body, cultivated for over three hundred years. This seat will extract your soul and torment it night after night.”
In the next instant, his flesh melted like a burning candle, peeling away layer by layer. Then a skeleton was revealed.
This skeleton was not white bone, but golden and jade-like. Points of black light flickered across its surface, as if black shadows dotted heavenly gold and jade. It appeared both sacred and eerie.
“Come take your life!”
Lord Nightbone roared. Lu Zheng felt his vision blur. The surroundings instantly filled with golden light. Then endless black stars emerged. Each star was like a black vortex, fiercely drawing in Lu Zheng’s true spirit and divine soul, as if it could swallow him whole in the next moment.
“Illusion? Domain? Mental secret art?”
Lu Zheng resisted the urge to traverse space. He guarded his origin, protected himself with boundless innate cloud qi, then stirred his divine soul.
“Golden Palace Divine Palace, suppress!”
“Golden Palace Treasure Mirror, disperse!”
A gleaming Golden Palace descended from the sky, suppressing the four quarters.
A golden bronze mirror hovered above his head, its light radiating in all directions.
Yet Lu Zheng frowned, because even after two consecutive mental secret arts, the golden light and black stars remained unmoved.
…
High in the sky, Master Qingsong and Daoist Mingzhang watched Lord Nightbone reveal his Nightbone True Body. Golden light and black stars flickered across his form. Lu Zheng was instantly enveloped in a circle of golden light. The surroundings inverted in all directions, trapping him at the centre.
However, Lu Zheng did not break out. He steadied himself, protected his body with innate cloud qi, and unleashed two Golden Palace secret arts in succession. Yet he still could not shatter the confusion inflicted by the Nightbone True Body.
“This Golden Radiance Night Star White Bone True Body has been nurtured for at least two hundred years. Once revealed, it bewilders the spirit and confuses the mind. It is normal that Yuanzheng cannot withstand it,” Master Qingsong commented.
Then the two saw Lord Nightbone, having bewildered Lu Zheng, slowly walking towards him step by step. His pace was sluggish, clearly showing that dealing with Lu Zheng was not easy for him either.
“Martial Uncle-Ancestor?” Daoist Mingzhang anxiously looked at Master Qingsong.
“No hurry. Let us watch a little longer. His Nightbone True Body is not fully matured. After this use, it will need another thirty to fifty years of nurturing to recover.
So as Lord Nightbone approaches, when he strikes, there will be a tiny, almost imperceptible flaw in the bewildering spell. I want to see if Yuanzheng can seize that flaw,” Master Qingsong said calmly.
Daoist Mingzhang nodded. He was not worried that Master Qingsong could not save Lu Zheng. Moreover, since Master Qingsong had spoken thus, he too wished to see if Lu Zheng could resolve this crisis.
Relying always on superior numbers was certainly steady and safe, but the world was unpredictable. What if real danger arose one day?
It would be good for Lu Zheng to learn a lesson.
Then the two saw Lord Nightbone slowly approach Lu Zheng until he was near the golden circle, about four or five zhang away.
During this time, Lu Zheng unleashed moves in rapid succession.
Golden Palace secret arts, Qingwei thunder arts, Feiyu Chengxia flying sword, Gengjin divine wind, True Dragon martial way, and innate cloud arts.
Each move was at full power, causing the golden light and black stars on Lord Nightbone to ripple and flicker, dimming slightly.
Master Qingsong stroked his chin, quite surprised and inwardly admiring.
Daoist Mingzhang was speechless. He had not expected Lu Zheng to be so formidable already.
Yet the Golden Radiance Night Star White Bone True Body was indeed extraordinary. Despite Lu Zheng’s relentless barrage, it still had not collapsed.
Lord Nightbone was clearly strained. When he reached the golden circle, he prepared to merge into it and deliver a fatal blow to Lu Zheng.
However, just before he merged into the golden light, he saw Lu Zheng stop attacking.
“Given up?”
Lord Nightbone’s eyes brightened. Master Qingsong and Daoist Mingzhang frowned.
In the next moment, all three saw Lu Zheng pat his gourd and draw from it a foot-long bronze mirror. Its back was carved with a heavenly palace piercing the clouds and white cranes soaring.
“Off you go!”
Lu Zheng shouted clearly. He aimed the bronze mirror forward and poured true qi into it.
Then the mirror emitted a hazy faint light, illuminating the space ahead of Lu Zheng.
In the next instant, the golden circle instantly vanished without trace. The boundless night stars hid and fled. Only a skeleton remained, faintly gleaming with golden light and black spots. It stood dumbfounded, raising a hand as if about to greet Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng naturally saw this too. So while holding the mirror in one hand, he raised the other and waved at Lord Nightbone.
“Hello! Have you eaten?”
Lord Nightbone, “…”
Master Qingsong, “…”
Daoist Mingzhang, “…”
