Chapter 163: The Powerful Huang Ming

After clarifying the entire situation, Lu Yang and his two fellow disciples remained where they were. Zhao Po, accompanied by the living corpse, went to Baishui Village and apprehended Liu San, who was in the process of packing his belongings to escape.

Corpse drivers held a special status in Huangzhou, and as the most orthodox among them, Zhao Po was the ideal person to make the arrest, ensuring minimal obstruction or questioning.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?" Liu San demanded.Lu Yang smiled, showing a perfect eight teeth. "We're taking you to the yamen.""I told you I didn't kill anyone!" Liu San protested."Who says only murderers are punished?" Lu Yang retorted. "Insurance fraud is also a crime. You also turned the pond into saltwater, killing all the fish. Charging you with environmental destruction wouldn't be unfair at all!""You Daxia people even sentence ghosts?" Liu San exclaimed.Lu Yang's smile broadened with pride. "Forget ghosts, even the Sect Master of Wendao Sect and the Minister of Justice are imprisoned if they commit a crime!"Zhao Po was stunned; he had never heard anything of the sort. *Don't the Five Immortal Sects have law enforcement authority? How can they be arrested? The Minister of Justice knows the law best, yet breaks it? Is this a secret known only to immortal sect disciples?*Meng Jingzhou and Mang Gu also stared at Lu Yang in surprise; they hadn't known this either. In fact, apart from Emperor Xia, all members of the Ministry of Justice, and Senior Sister, Lu Yang was the only one privy to this information.

"Sentencing? Junior Brother Zhao Po, is this how you complete the task assigned by the sect?" A cold voice descended from above. A figure flew into view, its expression arrogant, accompanied by a living corpse shrouded in a black robe."Senior Brother Huang Ming?" Zhao Po instantly recognized Huang Ming, who had defeated him and risen to become the sect's top disciple.Huang Ming and his living corpse slowly descended, looking at Zhao Po with displeasure. "The sect's mission demands the complete eradication of malevolent spirits. Why would you spare its life? If you're unwilling to take a life, then allow your Senior Brother to handle it!"As he spoke, he suddenly produced a Soul-Dispelling Talisman, aiming to strike the drowned ghost.Zhao Po reacted more swiftly, taking a large step to stand in front of the drowned ghost, preventing Huang Ming from acting. "Even monstrous beings have good and evil. This drowned ghost has not committed any heinous acts; its offense does not warrant death!""Nonsense! I don't care about the good or evil of spirits," Huang Ming retorted. "I only know that the sect's directive is to eliminate all ghostly threats!"Huang Ming's eyes narrowed slightly. "Zhao Po, are you deliberately obstructing me?"

As a conflict seemed imminent, Lu Yang stepped between them. "Fellow Daoist, we are all fellow disciples. There's no need to make things so tense, is there?"Huang Ming remained unmoved. "And who are you?""I am Lu Yang from the Wendao Sect."Huang Ming sneered. "Oh, it's you. The Wendao Sect disciple who supposedly won against stronger opponents at the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony. What? Are Wendao Sect members now interfering in the internal affairs of our Corpse Driving Sect? As a senior brother disciplining my junior brother, it's certainly not your place, an outsider, to interject!"Hearing Huang Ming's words, Mang Gu was about to erupt but was restrained by Meng Jingzhou. Meng Jingzhou sensed that this Huang Ming harbored significant hostility towards them.Lu Yang's expression remained unchanged, still wearing his pleasant, affable smile. "The drowned ghost was captured by us, so naturally, we'll decide how to deal with it. Rather, it's quite ill-mannered of you, fellow Daoist, to suddenly appear and try to claim the spoils, isn't it?""Hah," Huang Ming scoffed. "It took four Golden Core cultivators working together to capture a Nascent Soul stage drowned ghost, and you dare to mention it? If it were me, I'd be enough alone! Some say you're the best of your generation, but I don't see anything special."Lu Yang's smile didn't waver. "Oh, really? It seems fellow Daoist is very confident in his cultivation.""We'll see when we try."Before he finished speaking, Lu Yang unleashed the Arhat Fist, striking Huang Ming with a punch.

Clang—The living corpse was a step faster, standing like an iron tower, its arms crossed to block Lu Yang's punch. Lu Yang was slightly surprised; though the Arhat Fist wasn't at full power, it shouldn't have been stoppable by an early-stage Golden Core cultivator.The living corpse roared, its body swelling, and it lunged at Lu Yang in a grappling embrace. Lu Yang, unwilling to engage in a head-on struggle with the living corpse, stomped his right foot. His body swiftly merged into the ground, reappearing behind Huang Ming. It was better to directly confront the master than to fight the living corpse!"Arhat Fist!" Lu Yang shouted."Yellow Springs Palm!" Huang Ming countered.Huang Ming seemed to have anticipated Lu Yang's move, gathering power in his palm and turning to strike. Fist and palm collided, sending out ripples. Both combatants, unable to withstand the force of the blow, simultaneously retreated. The residual energies of the fist and palm rampaged through their bodies. They both made the same choice, slapping backward to unleash the remaining forces. Lu Yang narrowed his eyes, a look of keen interest on his face. This was the first time he had encountered an opponent with such extensive combat experience.

"How is this possible!" Zhao Po exclaimed, watching the scene in disbelief. The physical bodies of corpse drivers were typically below average, and he had witnessed Brother Lu's formidable boxing techniques. Yet, Senior Brother Huang Ming was actually able to match Brother Lu's palm strike."You're not an early-stage Golden Core, are you? You're a mid-stage Golden Core?" Lu Yang chuckled, recalling Zhao Po's earlier comment that both he and Huang Ming were early-stage Golden Core cultivators."What makes you say that?" Huang Ming asked."I used ten percent of my power in that punch," Lu Yang replied. "If an early-stage Golden Core cultivator could block it, then my cultivation would have been for nothing."Huang Ming merely snorted coldly, offering no reply. He hadn't anticipated Lu Yang being so difficult, or rather, so troublesome.

"My hair!" Huang Ming cried out. He was about to make another move when he noticed strands of hair falling like snowflakes."Fist-Dharma Unity?!" Huang Ming quickly recognized the rare state, astonished that someone at the Golden Core stage could achieve it. He cared not for his hair, only for Lu Yang's talent."What is Fist-Dharma Unity?" Zhao Po asked, looking bewildered, having never heard of such a concept.Meng Jingzhou stared at Huang Ming, his brows deeply furrowed, but offered no answer. Setting aside Huang Ming's combat experience, his depth of knowledge didn't seem like something the Corpse Driving Sect could have cultivated, especially considering he had only recently been accepted as a disciple by their Sect Master. Where did such knowledge come from?Boom—The two resumed their battle, unleashing auras that surpassed their current cultivation realms. Lu Yang attacked with Samadhi True Fire, and Huang Ming retaliated with Dingmao True Fire. The temperature instantly soared, forcing the drowned ghost to repeatedly retreat.

"Six Ding Six Jia True Fire!" Zhao Po gasped. Among the 108 types of True Fire, twelve constituted a major category known as Six Ding Six Jia True Fire, and Dingmao True Fire was one of them! Neither the Yellow Springs Palm, capable of contending with Brother Lu, nor the Dingmao True Fire had been displayed by Huang Ming during the sect's grand competition. Zhao Po knew Huang Ming hadn't used his full power, but he had only assumed the living corpse held a hidden trump card, not that Huang Ming himself possessed such reserves.Lu Yang became increasingly interested in Huang Ming's origins. The disparity between the Corpse Driving Sect's first and second-ranked disciples was quite significant. Apart from individuals from the Five Immortal Sects, Lu Yang had never encountered an outsider who could contend with him to this extent.The battle between the two intensified. They unleashed various Daoist techniques and divine abilities; their fists and palms were fierce, accompanied by the sound of thunder. They clashed repeatedly, with no clear victor.Gradually, the outcome began to reveal itself. Lu Yang's foundation was more solid, and his aura was long-lasting. In a war of attrition, no one at the same realm could defeat Lu Yang!Huang Ming was furious. Since his debut, he had never suffered a defeat, and he never imagined he would be defeated here today. Absolutely not!Huang Ming's eyes glowed like a tiger's, radiating majesty. An invisible mental force transformed into an arrow, piercing towards Lu Yang. Lu Yang's mental power was incredibly strong, not to mention the Immortal Fairy residing in his spiritual space; in a mental power contest, he wouldn't fear even a Tribulation Stage cultivator! A small shield appeared between Lu Yang's eyebrows, blocking the arrow.The Immortal Fairy suddenly realized, "I see! He's not your peer. He's a grand cultivator who dispersed his cultivation to rebuild it!"