Chapter 2292: Not More Than Knocking on the Door

Elder Xu pushed them away, sternly commanding, "Find Tang Jingye, quickly!"

The only way this ghastly thing could invade an immortal's body was by being ingested. And for the past three days, he had only consumed a few bowls of sugared water.

He snatched a small knife with a backhand, aimed the blade at his chest, and was about to plunge it in.

The object in his chest and abdomen could not be expelled by simply circulating true energy; it had to be surgically removed while he was alive.

The disciple, terrified, tried to step forward and stop him but was sent flying by a flick of his sleeve, shattering his skull.

With life and death hanging in the balance, he exerted no control over his strength.

Just then, the door creaked open, and someone rushed in.

Everyone drew their weapons and prepared to strike, only to realize the newcomer was one of their own: Liao Han.

"Junior Brother Liao? Where's Martial Uncle Tang?"

Before Elder Xu's grave condition, his last question had been about Tang Jingye's whereabouts.

"Martial—Martial Uncle Tang is dead!" Liao Han's face was pale. Only then did the others notice he was covered in blood, his right hand clutched to his chest. "We had just reached the vicinity of Rongshan Sect when the Bingyuan Division, led by a large force, charged out and attacked without a word. The immortal leading them was incredibly powerful. Martial Uncle Tang couldn't defeat him and was killed in just a few moves!"

Elder Xu's knife, held mid-air, froze as he listened, stunned.

Tang Jingye just died like that?

So, was it Tang Jingye who truly ambushed him?

With that brief delay, the object burrowed into his lungs.

Elder Xu, with a backhanded stroke, cut open his chest cavity. Enduring the intense pain, he reached inside to pull it out.

The disciples watched in horror as he pulled out clump after clump of a red and white, viscous substance. The white was clearly the unknown entity invading his internal organs, while the red was Elder Xu's own flesh and blood!

Elder Xu's teeth were nearly ground to dust, yet he focused and asked Liao Han, "Did you—did you personally witness Tang Jingye's death?"

"Yes, yes!" Liao Han nodded frantically, "It—it was the immortal who spoke with the Sect Leader that day. He used a flying sword to pierce Martial Uncle Tang's heart! I—I saw him fall with my own eyes."

Liu Qingdao? Elder Xu was about to speak when another wave of searing pain struck his chest.

He had cut open his own chest cavity, but the healing power of an immortal's body was too strong. In just a dozen breaths, the flesh around the wound began to close up. Yet, Elder Xu knew clearly that the entity had not been fully extracted—

It had forced its way into his alveoli, wreaking havoc and rapidly multiplying.

His alveoli were small and scattered; a live extraction would never be thorough enough.

Elder Xu gritted his teeth, and his five fingers glowed red like searing irons as he plunged them into the wound.

He intended to use the True Fire he had cultivated for years to burn this thing alive.

As for his own lungs, though they would also be seared by the True Fire, they were part of his own body and would not be reduced to ashes.

Elder Xu had killed many, and suffered countless injuries in his life, but he never imagined that one day he would inflict such torture upon himself!

As the True Fire erupted, he was wracked with pain, sweat beading on his forehead, on the verge of fainting.

Just then, the bell hanging outside suddenly rang.

It was a divine ability for warning.

Liao Han exclaimed in alarm:

"They—they're pursuing us!"

Immediately afterwards, the courtyard gate was pounded upon.

"Get Master out of here!" Elder Xu's two remaining disciples immediately stepped forward to support their Master, simultaneously shouting, "Stop them!"

Liao Han's longsword shot out from his hand.

Today, Weian City was teeming with powerful cultivators.

With a swing of his arm, Liu Qingdao instantly summoned six or seven immortals and great demons, including Granny Zhu, sixty cultivators, and over seven hundred Weian City guards.

Such a plentiful force was more than enough to completely surround the Yuefu Inn.

After arranging his people, Liu Qingdao walked towards the backyard of Yuefu Inn, intending to first use courtesy, then force, by personally knocking on Xu Wenqin's courtyard door.

He recognized Elder Xu; the two had spoken on various occasions before. Liu Qingdao also knew that Elder Xu had a relatively gentle temperament and was not an unreasonable person.

Neither side harbored deep enmity, whether officially or personally. It would be best if they could sit down and talk, turning conflict into peace.

However, as he reached the door and was about to extend his hand, an urgent shout suddenly came from inside:

"They—they're pursuing us!"

The voice was loud and filled with anxiety.

Pursuing them? Had their actions been discovered? Liu Qingdao frowned, then decided to knock on the door. "Cangyan Bingyuan Division, Liu..."

Before he could finish identifying himself, the door before him suddenly burst open with a loud crack!

All the fragments flew towards him.

Of course, the most vicious attack was a bolt of sword light, like a streaking silk ribbon, that shot from within the room, piercing straight towards his heart with lightning speed.

It was swift, precise, and lethal.

Liu Qingdao, daring to knock, was naturally prepared. With a quick side-step, he moved half a zhang away, accurately dodging the sneak attack.

With the door blown apart, he saw several people standing in the courtyard. The foremost among them was none other than Xu Wenqin!

Immortals could maintain their youth, and after many years, Xu Wenqin's appearance had not changed much. Only his beard was longer, and his hair bun had been styled into a topknot, but Liu Qingdao still recognized him at a glance.

However, Xu Wenqin was clutching his abdomen with one hand, his hands, clothes, and the ground were covered in blood, and his face was pale with a bluish tinge, his forehead slick with sweat.

Liu Qingdao, sharp-eyed, noticed with a glance that the wound on his chest was very deep.

Before he could speak, Xu Wenqin gritted his teeth and snarled, "Liu Qingdao, you vile wretch! I truly misjudged you before!"

"...?" Having served as the head of the Bingyuan Division for so many years, Liu Qingdao had encountered countless unreasonable immortals and demons, but he had never been so utterly speechless.

He had merely knocked on a door; how did that make him vile?

"Elder Brother Xu, you've misunderstood. Who has..."

Before he could finish, two illusory spirits materialized in the courtyard. The larger one was humanoid, but a translucent green, with bulging muscles. It wielded two giant hammers, swinging them towards Liu Qingdao's head. The force generated by their swings had not yet reached its target, but already, walls, trees, and buildings within thirty meters in front of it were being toppled by the fierce winds.

"Raging Sea Yaksha King!" Liu Qingdao recognized what it was. He raised a hand to stop the Bristle Ridge Giant, who was about to charge forward and clash directly, while with his other hand, he pulled out a smooth, earthy-yellow hard shell and flung it upwards.

The shell expanded rapidly upon contact with the air. As soon as it rotated mid-air, it transformed into a pale yellow spherical barrier, shielding everyone behind Liu Qingdao.

Immediately afterwards, the illusory spirit's giant hammers slammed into the spherical barrier with a deafening thud that resonated for seven li.

The barrier developed several cracks but did not shatter.

However, the fierce winds flowed outwards along the spherical barrier, pushing wave after wave towards the street and nearby buildings. Houses along its path collapsed like building blocks, and dust billowed into the air.

This illusory spirit of Elder Xu was the King of the Raging Sea Yakshas. Exceptionally powerful in life, it had fallen during a conflict with the Dragon Clan, only for the Yuanshan Sect to benefit from its demise. Its ethereal energy was like ocean waves; if an enemy dared to intercept it, they would be struck down like a breaking wave, crushed on the sand by the ceaseless follow-up force.

At first glance, the elders of Qixia Sect appeared similar to demon puppeteers, both capable of controlling puppets in combat, as illusory spirits were considered a type of puppet. The difference lay in the fact that demon puppeteers themselves possessed limited combat ability, whereas every elder of Qixia Sect was a master of multitasking, capable of fighting nimbly themselves while simultaneously manipulating illusory spirits. The combined effect they unleashed was far more than simply one plus one equals two.