Chapter 509: Impossible

Gouwa was scared out of his wits, seeing the yellow-robed Taoist priest rushing towards him. It had never occurred to him that this person would react so violently upon seeing the item Brother Li had given him.

As the Taoist priest, gripping his copper coin sword, was about to reach him, Gouwa clutched the decaying wood Ruyi in both hands, frantically yelling as he flung it powerfully in that direction.

However, since the Taoist priest intended to seize Gouwa's item, he was naturally prepared for such a move. A small figure cut from yellow paper, a paper charm, suddenly flew out from his sleeve and positioned itself in front of him. As the decaying wood Ruyi in Gouwa's hand swung down, the paper figure instantly sagged and drifted down to the ground, wrinkled and swaying.

Although it only blocked for a moment, the yellow-robed Taoist priest's objective had been achieved. Before Gouwa could swing a second time, the copper coin sword in his hand had already slashed towards the two of them.

“Ju Lun Tuo Chan Ti Wu She!” On the copper coin sword, the red thread wrapped around the coins rapidly elongated, forming a long whip of ancient coins. With a lingering afterimage, it fiercely struck the back of Gouwa's hand that held the Ruyi. With a forceful pull, Gouwa's hand was instantly ripped open. The decaying wood Ruyi, along with one of Gouwa's fingers, flew towards a nearby rockery.

“Ahhh!” The screaming Gouwa clutched his almost severed hand, lost in despair and confusion.

“Heh heh, just two fledglings,” the yellow-robed Taoist priest sneered, a sinister smile on his face. With a flick of his wrist, the blood-stained string of copper coins flew back. This time, the target was not Gouwa's hand, but his head!

“I... I'm going to die! If I die!” Staring at the copper coins mere inches away, this was the only thought in Gouwa's mind at that moment. Just then, at this critical moment, a hand reached out from the side and firmly grasped the copper coin sword. Though the sharp copper coins cut into the hand, they only managed to break the skin.

“Oh?” The yellow-robed Taoist priest looked somewhat surprised, staring at the young man who was now gasping in pain. One must know that his Seven-Star Sword was capable of slaying demons and expelling evil spirits. To catch it bare-handed, this person likely possessed real skill.

With a 'swish!' the copper coins in Lu Xiucai's hand instantly retracted and reformed into a sword in the yellow-robed Taoist priest's hand.

“Young man, which sect are you from?” When out and about, it's always best to clarify things before acting. He was afraid that striking the junior would bring out the senior, and if it was just for a 'Heart-Calming Tongue', it might not be worth the trouble.

“I'll tell you who my master is: Li Huowang! If you dare touch us! You’re dead!” Lu Xiucai threatened, feigning composure. Even though he had achieved invulnerability after mastering the Spirit Striking Technique, he had still been cut and bled. Lu Xiucai now only hoped to scare the opponent away with his master's name.

“Li Huowang? Never heard of him,” the Taoist priest mused. “And this person only mentioned his master's name, not his sect. It seems both this boy and his master are rogue cultivators.”

Seeing the Taoist priest standing there lost in thought, Gouwa realized that the opponent was definitely not afraid of Li Huowang. Gouwa, breathing heavily and clutching his bleeding, injured hand, quickly took a few steps and stood in front of Lu Xiucai, continuing to threaten the Taoist priest with different words. “We’re from the White Lotus Sect! Don’t mess with us! There are many people in our White Lotus Sect!”

The yellow-robed Taoist priest's face suddenly showed an expression of realization. “Oh, the White Lotus Sect? That makes it easy then.” The next moment, he decisively swung his copper coin sword again. Under heaven, who didn't know that the White Lotus Sect was the weakest and easiest to bully, with no powerful backing? Furthermore, they scurried about like a bunch of rats every day, fearing that even a slight commotion would draw the attention of the Imperial Censorate.

“Can you just shut up?!” Lu Xiucai yelled in exasperation, clutching the incoming copper coins with both hands.

Seeing this, Gouwa decisively turned his head and rushed towards the front courtyard without looking back.

“Damn you, Gouwa! May your sons be born without anuses!!” Amidst Lu Xiucai's furious curses, Gouwa vanished in a flash.

“Hahaha! Don't you White Lotus Sect members all say that once you join, everyone is a brother? How is this the brotherhood of your White Lotus Sect?” The Taoist priest continued to mock him while increasing the force of his attacks on Lu Xiucai. Although Lu Xiucai had learned the Spirit Striking Technique, at best he was only a bit tougher-skinned. Against the Taoist priest, he could only passively take hits, with no ability to retaliate. Before long, he was covered in wounds and huddled into a ball.

Looking at the young man on the ground, the Taoist priest gave a cold smile, then flipped his left hand, and a carpenter's ink-marker appeared in his grasp.

“That's enough, it's time to finish this,” the Taoist priest muttered. As he pressed his finger on the ink wheel and held the ink-marker upright, the viscous black ink slowly flowed down, blackening the entire copper coin sword like asphalt.

Seeing this, Lu Xiucai became terrified. But at this point, escaping was impossible. He immediately collapsed onto his knees, weeping, and kowtowed to the Taoist priest, begging for mercy.

Just as the Taoist priest raised the long sword, preparing to strike Lu Xiucai, a cold glint shot out from the darkness: an iron needle wrapped with white thread, flying covertly towards the Taoist priest's face. Just as the needle was about to pierce the Taoist priest's face, his neck instantly arched, and a wrinkly, bearded baby's head emerged from within his robes. Its mouth, filled with rotten teeth, opened and directly caught the long needle between its jaws.

“Hmph! How dare you two conspire to ambush this Taoist Master!” The yellow-robed Taoist's face gradually reddened, and veins bulged on his temples. It was clear that, compared to his previous nonchalance, he was genuinely furious now.

As the Taoist priest pointed a hand in the direction from which the needle had come, the black robe on the ground floated up on its own and pursued in that direction. Then, he lowered his gaze and glared at the trembling Lu Xiucai, raising the copper coin sword, still covered in viscous black ink. He swung it towards Lu Xiucai's head without hesitation, intending to kill him first before dealing with the second one.

“Ahhh! Mud comes from chaos, the White Lotus appears, and the golden age rises! Unborn Mother, save me!!” In this life-or-death crisis, Lu Xiucai prayed to the White Lotus Sect's Unborn Mother with a fervor he had never before possessed.

The instant the black-inked copper coin sword cut through Lu Xiucai's clothes and struck his flesh, a flash of white light appeared. The red thread on the copper coin sword snapped inch by inch, the entire copper coin sword instantly exploded, and scattered copper coins, along with black ink, splattered everywhere.

When Lu Xiucai, surprised, straightened up after realizing he wasn't dead, a canvas fell from his torn clothes onto the ground. On the canvas was a simple white lotus flower. The moment he saw this lotus, the Taoist priest immediately retreated again.

“This is impossible! The Unborn Mother has long been dead! You White Lotus cultists are merely abandoned pawns!” Yet no matter how much the Taoist priest verbally denied it, his body was remarkably honest. By the time he finished speaking, he was already pressed against the wall.