Immortality by Merit and Sin Coins

Chapter 65: Chapter 62: Sick Cat

”...”

Xia Mingtang froze, reaching up to gently touch his face.

It was just a toothpick. No matter how sharp, it shouldn’t have been able to cause him any pain.

But the moment it pricked his cheek, Xia Mingtang’s breathing began to grow heavy.

”Has he always been this arrogant?”

Gu Nanzhi, momentarily stunned, turned to look at her nephew.

She had heard many stories about Greedy Wolf, but she had never seen him in action with her own eyes.

”This is no time to be worrying about that!” If he weren’t being held back, Chang Yi would have been anxious enough to draw his own blade and charge forward.

In contrast to the County Captain’s calm composure,

a figure had already stepped out quietly from among the Black Water Gang members.

”What are you doing?”

Bai Feng tried to grab her, but his hand caught nothing but air.

As Yan Jin walked, she raised her fingertips, and sharp strands of Sword Silk flickered in and out of existence.

She had already gotten the answer she wanted from Lin Shu’s earlier action. All that remained was to figure out how to deal with this mad tiger.

”Heh... Hah!”

The skin on Xia Mingtang’s face twitched, his previously impassive expression slowly twisting into a maniacal laugh.

He reached out and patted the young man’s shoulder. ”You’re a dead man... But before you die, I’m going to make you watch as I swallow that Spirit Medicine whole.”

As he spoke, a red light flared up around him, splitting into a hundred streams that suddenly descended from the sky.

It formed a cage that exuded a terrifying aura, locking down not only the entire courtyard but also the young man himself.

The pillars of light solidified, and cracks split open on their surface, transforming into grotesque eyeballs. They stared intently at the trapped prey, emitting waves of a strange, eerie aura.

In the distance, the other tigers all subconsciously looked away.

Chang Yi was a bit slower to react. Despite the considerable distance, just a single glance at those eyes made his expression turn vacant, as if his very thoughts were being pulled away.

”Now, you watch closely.”

Xia Mingtang slowly stood up and drew back his hand, preparing to walk toward the closed-off small courtyard.

He could already smell the scent of fear emanating from within.

’Cut open its belly, swallow its child whole.’

The old man had already decided how he would unleash the furious rage that had been building all night.

But he found he couldn’t retract his arm.

Xia Mingtang looked back, a hint of confusion on his face.

The young man had casually reached out, and his five long fingers had somehow passed through the cage of red light, resting firmly on his arm.

The next moment, the newly formed cage, along with the bizarre eyeballs on it, shattered in an instant!

’How is this possible?!’

His lips trembled, and utter disbelief flooded his eyes.

’My Immortal Technique seems to imprison the body with Spiritual Power, but in truth, the eyes on it specifically attack the Divine Soul. It’s always been invincible in Black Water City; even the other tigers fear it greatly.’

’Why... did it just shatter like that?’

In a place the old man couldn’t see, the Filthy Moon Wolf Lord had opened its eyes at some unknown point, a hint of instinctual mockery and derision contained within them.

’Using such crude tricks in front of an Immortal Family expert who specializes in Illusion Technique Formulas... It’s as comical as brandishing a broadsword before Guan Yu.’

”You’re courting death!” Xia Mingtang had originally planned to let him live for a few more moments.

Seeing that things had gone awry, his expression darkened, and he abruptly mobilized his Immortal Spiritual Qi.

His entire wide sleeve transformed into a raging Red Flame, threatening to engulf the insolent fool completely.

Feeling the sudden surge in temperature, Lin Shu casually clenched his fist, not even bothering with his usual Black Mist. A sharp, spectral image of a white bone appeared over his right hand, and he pushed it straight through the Red Flame, brutally digging into the old man’s upper arm.

SHRED—

The sleeve disintegrated, and the Red Flame dissipated.

Xia Mingtang was dazed for a moment before being yanked down and slammed onto the table.

The spectral bone claw had stripped all the flesh from his entire arm!

”ROAR!”

Stimulated by the intense pain, the tiger, who had already lost his sanity, became even more crazed.

He actually let out a beast-like roar as cracks split open within the red light surrounding him, his entire body becoming covered in eyeballs that stared fixedly at the young man.

And yet... all they did was stare.

Lin Shu’s expression remained unchanged, completely unaffected.

”Impossible, impossible,” Xia Mingtang’s face was deathly pale.

’This was a Third Grade Immortal Technique I once spent my entire fortune to acquire, and I spent an enormous amount of time cultivating it to the stage of Great Success.’

’How could it be completely useless?’

This blow was even more devastating than the ruin of his Alchemy.

He let out an indignant roar and tried to struggle to his feet.

BANG!

Lin Shu decisively grabbed the tiger’s throat, slammed him back onto the table, and plunged the bone claws on his fingertips deep into his flesh.

When their Realms were the same, the terrifying suppressive power of a First Grade Immortal Technique was finally on full display.

Furthermore, the Illusionary Immortal Technique that his opponent specialized in just so happened to be countered by this young wolf of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

’If I still have to struggle in a drawn-out fight under these conditions, I might as well go find a block of tofu to smash my head against and die.’

The bone claws easily tore through the red light, leaving five holes in Xia Mingtang’s neck. The Black Mist immediately surged inside, heading straight for his skull.

”AHHH!!!”

The old man’s eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets. Only the whites were visible before they were consumed by the roiling Black Mist.

He shrieked piercingly, as if he had seen something utterly terrifying, his limbs flailing wildly as he tried to escape a Black River filled with wailing grievances.

The entire process took but the blink of an eye.

Even as his agonized screams still echoed, Xia Mingtang’s body had already stopped convulsing.

From his nostrils, his ear canals, and even his mouth, which was stretched open to its limit, seeped an eerie Black Mist.

[Those who murder and commit arson wear belts of gold; those who build bridges and mend roads leave no corpse behind. One worthless life killed. Reward: 189 Sin Coins.]

As the prompt appeared,

Lin Shu casually tossed the corpse off the table. He looked up at the woman not far away and raised an eyebrow. ”What are you doing?”

”...”

Over a distance of less than a hundred meters, Yan Jin hadn’t even made it halfway before the slaughter—which could hardly be called Magical Combat—was already over.

She glanced at the Sword Silk dancing on her fingertips, pursed her lips in slight embarrassment, and said softly, ”It’s nothing.”

As she spoke, Yan Jin glanced at the grotesque corpse on the ground out of the corner of her eye, her mind wandering for a moment.

’I’m clearly at the very peak of the Qi Cultivation Realm, yet I can feel an extremely dangerous aura from this young man!’

’Just as I thought.’

Gu Nanzhi took a deep breath.

In truth, she hadn’t needed Chang Yi’s reminder at all. The moment Xia Mingtang had sat down, she had already been prepared to make a move.

But Lin Shu’s unconventional actions had suddenly made her think of something.

It was the Array she had faintly seen when she had previously gone to the Old Woodshed.

Arrays were an extremely rare tool, even in the eyes of an Immortal Sect Disciple.

This was because they weren’t considered Immortal Techniques and couldn’t be comprehended from a Master’s aura.

Only an extremely favored disciple would have a Master willing to waste the energy to teach them.

At the time, the Array had been incomplete and served only for Breath Concealment. Since she and Lin Shu weren’t familiar with each other, she hadn’t felt it was her place to ask about it. She could only guess that he might have stumbled upon a lost Array Map.

But judging from the overwhelming display just now,

he was no Loose Cultivator at all. He was clearly an Immortal Disciple with an incredibly complete inheritance, perhaps even someone on the level of a Mountain Master!

Moreover, the reason he seemed so confident was likely because...

his Master was also in the city!

The moment this thought occurred to her, Gu Nanzhi was so shocked that she briefly lost her composure.

After being trapped for ten years, it was as if she had suddenly seen a glimmer of hope for escape.

”Third Leader!”

The scene had ended so quickly that it took the tigers a long time to come to their senses.

Xia Mingtang had arrived full of menacing momentum, a mad tiger carrying a murderous intent so strong it seemed he would slaughter the entire street.

And then he was just... casually choked to death.

How could they possibly digest such a massive contrast in a short amount of time?

”Insubordination... He must be dealt with according to the gang’s rules, without mercy!”

Rather than anger, their voices were filled more with panic and fear.

For such a ferocious wolf to suddenly appear in the Black Water Gang was simply beyond the tigers’ comprehension.

If it had been any other situation, it would have been fine. At worst, they could have recruited him into the White Tiger Hall, and they could all enjoy Black Water City together.

If he broke through to Foundation Establishment and the gang gained another Gang Leader, they would inevitably feel jealous, but it would still be a good thing for them. It would make their future operations much more convenient.

But why had this Greedy Wolf provoked Old Xia? It was because he had ruined the man’s furnace of pills.

’Today it was Xia Mingtang. In the future, could it be one of us?’

This matter had severely crossed the White Tiger Hall’s bottom line!