The Disciple

“Master.”

The moment the sound reached him, Danyangzi spun around, and he saw a familiar face.

It was his most accomplished disciple in the past, Zheng Kun. Dressed in a cyan Daoist robe, he stood there, looking at him calmly, with no hatred in his eyes.

He was so lifelike. He looked just like a real person.

But Danyangzi clearly remembered that he had crushed Zheng Kun’s own head to paste with his boot. There was no possible way he could still be alive!

The next moment, as if suddenly understanding, Danyangzi erupted in fury. “Dare to play tricks on this Daoist! You must be tired of living!!”

Having shouted his warning, Danyangzi threw the longsword in his hand up into the air.

He put his index and middle fingers together, bit them, and began to draw a blood talisman on the sword blade as it fell through the air.

“Supreme Pole of the Seven Luminaries! Majestic Qi Unites the Heavens! Piercing Water and Entering Mist! Transmitted to the Three Heavens! Beheading the Hidden and Annihilating Traces! Returning the Dead to Ascend to Immortality! Swiftly, in Accordance with the Supreme Utmost True Lord’s Decree!!”

As soon as the talisman was finished, the sword’s color instantly changed. From the heavens above and the earth below, a small amount of black, fluff-like substance flowed out and adhered to the blade.

Gripping the hilt, Danyangzi stamped his feet and leaped into the air, charging toward Zheng Kun, who stood in the distance.

Faced with his master’s attack, Zheng Kun seemed not to dodge. He just stood there, as if he still wanted to say something.

The longsword, carrying a strange aura, was brought down in a fierce chop. As the blade, wreathed in sword aura, passed through Zheng Kun’s body, he slowly dissipated, a faint smile still on his face.

His expression dark, Danyangzi stood in the cave, warily scanning his tranquil surroundings.

A slow, brief incense stick’s time passed. No more anomalies appeared in the cold, desolate cavern.

“Hmph! You know what’s good for you! Whoever you are, if you offend this Daoist, I’ll make you regret it!”

The harsh words were said, but they were all a bluff.

In truth, Danyangzi had not let his guard down one bit. His ears were open in all directions, his eyes scanning everywhere. Carrying his sword, he began to slowly walk toward the cave’s entrance.

Once he was outside the cave, Danyangzi immediately used his movement technique to rush down the mountain.

He ran all the way down until he reached the foot of the mountain and saw the dead town, full of grave mounds, before he stopped.

Danyangzi didn’t plan to go too far. If he did, he was afraid the main body wouldn’t be able to find him.

For now, he only needed a safe place to wait.

The various things brought by the Wandering Lord were quickly spread out on the ground, and Danyangzi began to rapidly set up a formation.

“Blazing and Brilliant Yang, Thunder and Lightning’s Radiance. Those Who Encounter the Curse Shall Die, Those Who Speak the Curse Shall Perish. I Serve the True Dao, Beheading All that is Unclean. All Ghosts and Monsters, Leave My Side. What Thing Dare Block Me? Water Cannot Drown Me, Fire Cannot Burn Me. Within and Beyond the Three Realms, the Supreme Lord’s Decree is Swiftly Fulfilled!”

The moment the incantation ended, the yellow flags planted atop the surrounding graves all swayed at once.

Between the flags, a faint, barely visible line appeared, forming a huge Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Diagram.

And Danyangzi was now squatting in the diagram’s eye, intent on remaining stationary and dealing with any changes.

“This Daoist isn’t in a hurry. If you’ve got the ability, you can play with me all night!”

Sitting on a grave mound, Danyangzi kicked over the tombstone in front of him and began to wait.

Staring at the piles of earth around him, Danyangzi couldn’t help but start to worry about his main body.

“Although the three Joy Spirits are troublesome, the main body should be able to handle them. Even if he can’t win, he can definitely escape. Why hasn’t he come back yet?”

Danyangzi, inside the Eight Trigrams Formation, pondered for a moment. Still seeming uneasy, he lifted his sword and began drawing something else on the ground.

“Master, what formation is this?”

Hearing the fawning tone beside him, a hint of disdain flickered across Danyangzi’s face. “Just watch carefully. It’s not time to teach you yet—”

The words dying in his throat, Danyangzi slowly raised his head, staring in shock at Zheng Kun before him.

He was now standing right inside the formation’s center with him! The formation he’d spent so long setting up was having absolutely no effect on him!

“This is impossible! Even if the formation this Daoist set up couldn’t block him, it’s impossible that it wouldn’t even alert me!”

“Shwish!”

The sword was swung again. This time, however, it passed straight through Zheng Kun’s chest. The other party was completely unharmed.

Just as Danyangzi was planning to use another method to deal with this strange disciple before him, he suddenly heard movement from another grave mound to his left.

Turning his head, he saw another of his disciples from Qingfeng Temple, Xuan Yin, standing there as well.

“Master, it’s been a while. Your disciple has missed you dearly.”

As the shocked Danyangzi took half a step back, the two men behind him, carrying longswords on their backs, quickly stepped forward and formed hand seals.

“Changming, Changren, pay respects to Master! Congratulations, Master, on attaining the Dao and becoming an Immortal!”

But this was just the beginning. More and more people emerged from the surrounding grave piles, all speaking to Danyangzi.

They weren’t just from Qingfeng Temple. People Danyangzi had crossed paths with in the past also began to appear.

As time passed…

“Danyang! You thieving fraud of a master! You started practicing wicked deviant arts and using people to refine pills! I should have slapped you to death!”

“You scoundrel! We were brothers, and you stab me in the back? What kind of sworn-brother are you?!”

“Why did you sell my daughter! She was your wife! You murderous plague!”

“Why did you kill my father?! Why?! My father even treated you to the white-flour noodles we saved for ourselves! Why did you kill him?! Waaaaah…”

The voices grew increasingly chaotic and tangled. The number of people inside his Eight Trigrams Formation swelled. Danyangzi’s heart began to race.

“This… what is this…” His breathing quickened as he slowly lowered his head, looking at the ever-increasing number of familiar faces around him, a flicker of fear gradually appearing in his eyes.

When he saw a large, bulky fat man also appear, the fear in Danyangzi’s heart was suddenly amplified to its maximum.

“ENOUGH!” Stomping out the Gang-step, Danyangzi wildly swung his sword.

The faint, barely visible lines of the Eight Trigrams Formation around him sent wisps of white smoke floating into the air, dancing alongside the blade.

The sky above had become overcast with black clouds without anyone noticing. As Danyangzi fiercely thrust his sword into the ground—

CRACK!

A bolt of purple lightning struck down, illuminating everything around him.

The purple thunder radiated out through the Eight Trigrams Formation on the ground, hitting everything in its vicinity.

All the grave mounds, the tombstones, and even the surrounding houses instantly turned charred black.

But when he raised his head again, he found that the people hadn’t even torn their clothes.

“What in the world is going on?! Who are you people?! Zuowandao? Do you truly dare to provoke a True Immortal?!” Danyangzi roared at them, his voice hoarse.

He was enraged, but someone laughed. It was the fat man who had just appeared.

He looked at Danyangzi with feigned surprise. “Oh-ho! Isn’t this Goat Egg? Look how big you’ve grown! I’ll tell you all, this little brat once knelt down and licked my ass crack to learn my trade! Ha ha ha!”

The fat man’s words got a laugh out of everyone around them. They all roared with laughter, their voices full of contempt and mockery.

“How dare you mortals look down on this Daoist?!! This Daoist is about to become an Immortal! How dare you look down on me?!”

Suddenly driven mad with rage, Danyangzi began to use every trick he knew, trying to kill these people.

But no matter what divine ability he used, it had not the slightest effect on them.

Nearly exhausted, Danyangzi collapsed to the ground. Breathing raggedly, he pulled a long spike from his lapel and shoved it into his left ear, then his right.

But as the sharp pain faded, the mocking laughter didn’t disappear; it only grew louder.

“AAAAHHHH!!!” Danyangzi picked up a rock and began madly beating it against his own head.

It was then that someone slowly walked out of the crowd. He was the only one not laughing.

Danyangzi knew him. It was his final disciple. Li Huowang.

Li Huowang walked up to him, a hint of a smile on his face, looking down at the utterly pathetic Danyangzi before him.

“Master… how is this disciple’s body treating you?”