After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 424: Chapter 423: One Game to Win the Throne

The movement was incredibly deliberate. Though just a phantom, it seemed to gain self-awareness in that single instant.

That one glance seemed to transcend two hundred years of time and space.

Below, the man and the tiger were locked in fierce combat. Hee Lingchuan had no time to look up at him. If their eyes had met, his hair would have stood on end.

King Yuan’s gaze was profound and full of meaning.

But the anomaly on the city wall lasted only for a fleeting moment, gone in the blink of an eye. In the next second, King Yuan still took his own life, and this piece of history continued on its original path, unchanged.

Meanwhile, on the real battlefield, Uncle Da swiftly retreated the moment his vision was obstructed.

This was a pure combat instinct honed over many years, and it had saved his life once again at a critical moment. Just as Hee Lingchuan blinded him with a flash from his blade, he followed up with a vicious, diagonal slash!

He had been on the defensive for a long time, building up power for this one strike. When unleashed, it was like the Milky Way pouring down from the heavens; he held nothing back.

If Uncle Da hadn’t retreated, he would have had to find out whether his neck was tougher or the Floating Life Blade was sharper.

However, while he managed to dodge the blade’s edge, the foot-long Saber Qi still grazed his chest, tearing open a large gash with a HISS.

The sound was like a blade striking worn leather.

The Demon Race favored Body Refinement, and Uncle Da had tempered his body to be as tough as steel, allowing him to remain undefeated on the offense.

But against the Floating Life Blade, he was still at a disadvantage.

Hee Lingchuan had finally seized the initiative. He executed the Swallow Slash, his attacks flowing one after another without pause.

His presence flared to its full extent, and for a moment, he actually suppressed Uncle Da.

Of course, he knew such an offensive couldn’t last. He had to complete his objective quickly, so he took the opportunity to roll and change positions.

The great tiger turned its head, following him like a shadow.

Yet, when it lunged again, it stumbled unexpectedly.

’Why won’t my paws obey me?’ It was as if invisible shackles were holding it firmly in place.

The great tiger shook its head and thrashed its tail, but for the moment, it couldn’t break free.

If it had looked down, it would have discovered that its shadow was intersecting with the shadow of a tree.

How could Hee Lingchuan let such a golden opportunity slip by? He dashed forward, aiming the Floating Life Blade at its neck.

Uncle Da threw his head back and spat out a mouthful of crushed ice. It instantly formed into a brilliant blue ice shield, surrounded by rotating blue runes, just in time to block the blade.

With a sharp CLANG, the shield shattered, but the runes also exploded outward. A dozen of them rode the shockwave straight for Hee Lingchuan’s face, as fast as arrows loosed from a bow.

Fortunately, Hee Lingchuan was ever vigilant. He couldn’t bet his entire safety on Fushan Yue’s ability to restrain the tiger. Without a second thought, he brought his shield up to his face.

A series of THWACKS rang out as if the shield had intercepted a barrage of hidden weapons.

One only had to look at the runes that scattered elsewhere to see their power. The ground near Hee Lingchuan was peppered with shallow pits, and a small tree behind him was sliced in half at the trunk.

The effect was comparable to machine-gun fire.

One of the runes shot into the tree’s shadow. It was an indiscriminate attack, very difficult to predict, and it elicited a low cry of ”Ah!” Uncle Da’s ears caught everything. He immediately whipped his head around, stared at the shadow, and roared, ”Fushan Yue, I knew it was you!”

It seemed he was familiar with Fushan Yue’s Shadow Control Technique. With a sweep of his long tail, he sent dirt, mud, and grass roots flying toward the tree’s shadow. This wasn’t a fit of pique but a genuine attack, each strike infused with Primordial Power.

He also threw in another mouthful of crushed ice, each piece shaped like a short shuttle with an arrowhead tip, packing immense destructive force.

This time, Fushan Yue took the hits head-on.

Hee Lingchuan’s struggle against the great tiger was not only due to Uncle Da’s immense attack power but also because the Primordial Power radiating from his body had a strong suppressive effect on an Independent Cultivator like Hee Lingchuan.

For one, the Mirror’s Mind Confusion Technique was almost useless against him, and its reflective damage was also reduced.

Just then, the last rune struck the shield.

It was hard to say if he was just unlucky or if Uncle Da was incredibly lucky, but this particular rune’s power was the strongest and most direct:

An explosion!

With a thunderous BANG, Hee Lingchuan was blasted, shield and all, more than thirty feet away.

The small tree where Fushan Yue was hiding was also snapped in two. The upper half of its canopy toppled backward, connected to the trunk by only a sliver of wood.

Unfortunately, Uncle Da’s shadow was intersecting with the canopy’s shadow. If the canopy fell, he would be free!

’What kind of shitty luck is this?’ Fushan Yue cursed.

With a couple of CRACKS, the canopy slowly tilted back.

This meant Uncle Da was only three feet from the edge of his shadow...

Two feet...

One foot...

He was about to break free.

The great tiger struggled frantically, repeatedly trying to leap away. Fushan Yue strained with all his might, but barely managed to hold it in place. He had no spare capacity to do anything else.

He couldn’t even maintain his Shadow Escape Technique and was forced to reveal his true form. He, too, was immobilized.

This was a perfect demonstration of the saying, ”hard to get off a tiger you’re riding.”

Not far away, Hee Lingchuan flipped to his feet. Seeing the scene, he couldn’t help but laugh. ”I asked you to do one thing, and you couldn’t even do it right?”

Fushan Yue squeezed two words through his gritted teeth: ”You try!”

”Fine, I’ll do it myself.” Hee Lingchuan pulled something out of his Storage Ring and tossed it toward Uncle Da. ”For me—transform!”

With a final SNAP, the small tree finally fell flat.

Its shadow moved off Uncle Da’s body.

Uncle Da had been waiting for this moment. He lunged straight for Fushan Yue.

They weren’t exactly face-to-face, but they were less than twenty feet apart. For a beast of his size, it was a distance he could cover by just pushing off his toes.

But just then, the thing Hee Lingchuan had thrown arrived above his head. Following its master’s command, BANG!

It grew larger.

The golden armor copper man, which had been collecting dust in the Storage Ring for so long, finally saw the light of day again.

It came crashing down on the great tiger with the force of a mountain.

The entire ground shuddered violently, sending up a cloud of dust.

Fushan Yue couldn’t help but turn and shield his face from the billowing dust.

In the end, Uncle Da was a step too slow and failed to escape its clutches.

The golden armor copper man wasn’t finished after landing on its back. Straddling the beast, it reached out with both hands, grabbed the tiger’s neck from above, and viciously forced it down.

Uncle Da clawed frantically, his sharp talons sending dirt and grass roots flying, but he just couldn’t reach the enemy on his back.

The golden armor copper man’s weight was astonishing, and it was using its full strength to hold him down. Uncle Da felt like a mountain was on his back, his body completely immobilized from the waist down.

’It feels like my spine is about to crack!’

Previously, Hee Lingchuan had used the Walnut Boat to suppress the Ghost Ape. Now, he was simply repeating an old trick.

Although the golden armor copper man wasn’t as heavy as the Walnut Boat, Uncle Da’s strength was no match for the Ghost Ape’s, right?

Uncle Da roared in fury, ”Stop! Stop!”

’Why is he yelling ’stop’ when he’s at death’s door?’ Hee Lingchuan was taken aback. He followed the tiger’s gaze and saw Fushan Yue’s rapidly retreating back.

The man even tossed back an irresponsible parting shot: ”He’s all yours!”

”...”

Hee Lingchuan could see he was heading straight for the camp.

With Uncle Da here and the Chiyan People out harvesting the lives of the merchant caravan, the camp’s defenses must be weak.

For Fushan Yue, this was a fleeting opportunity to deliver the finishing blow!

Seeing the Eldest Prince vanish in a flash, Uncle Da let out a long howl, summoning all his subordinates to rush back to the camp and save their master. He then managed to turn his head halfway and said urgently to Hee Lingchuan, ”Whatever he promised you, the Chiyan Kingdom will pay you ten times over!”

”It’s not about the money.” ’If I let this tiger go, how could I ever hope to capture him again?’

”If you save my Young Master, you will be a benefactor of the Chiyan Kingdom! Any wish you have in the future will be granted!”

”Wouldn’t it be the same if Fushan Yue became the Monarch?” ’Whether Fushan Yue or Fushan Ji sits on the throne, if I dare to make an exorbitant demand, neither of them would grant it.’

Might is right; promises are not.

Therefore, he was completely unmoved by Uncle Da’s promises.

But Uncle Da misinterpreted his silence and yelled, ”It’s not the same! It’s not the same! Prince Yue is arrogant and bellicose. The Monarch dislikes him!”

”A father wouldn’t be happy to have a son who’s good at fighting?” Hee Lingchuan shook his head and walked over, preparing to lop off the great tiger’s head with one strike to prevent any further complications.

Uncle Da probably thought he hadn’t noticed the solid ice quietly spreading across the ground.

The ice was already about to reach the golden armor copper man’s feet.

If he could immobilize the golden armor copper man, the great tiger might be able to escape, but Hee Lingchuan wasn’t going to give him that chance.

However, before he could reach him, a long cry suddenly erupted from the direction of the camp. It shot into the sky, filled with wild ecstasy!

He could tell it was Fushan Yue’s cry, which was also a burst of utterly unbridled laughter:

”HAHAHAHAHA! Fushan Ji is dead! We’ll see who dares to stop me now!”

’That guy works fast!’ Hee Lingchuan let out a breath of relief. Uncle Da, however, froze. Like a deflated ball, he stopped struggling completely.

’My Young Master is dead. What’s the point of fighting anymore?’

Just over ten seconds later, Fushan Yue’s figure reappeared.

He hurried over, and seeing that Hee Lingchuan hadn’t finished off Uncle Da yet, he let out a long sigh of relief. ”Good, good. Let him go. He won’t attack us again.”

”Are you sure?” ’It’s easy to let a tiger go but hard to catch it again.’ Hee Lingchuan was cautious.

”Of course.” Fushan Yue pulled a bloody, severed head from behind his back and waved it at Uncle Da, a truly detestable grin on his face. ”Now, I am his only Young Master!”

To Uncle Da, his smile was that of a vicious wolf that had just devoured a fat sheep.

The severed head belonged to a young man, not only of a similar age to Fushan Yue but also sharing a thirty or forty percent resemblance to him.

His eyes were closed and his expression was peaceful, but his face was deathly pale from blood loss.

This was the first time Hee Lingchuan had ever seen someone who could smile so brightly and cheerfully, so utterly without burden, after decapitating his own brother.

After seeing the head, Uncle Da finally gave up all hope.

Times had changed. The King of Chiyan’s bloodline was now down to this single heir. What reason did he have to move against Fushan Yue anymore?

Sensing that the tiger’s entire demeanor, from his aura to his expression, had turned despondent, Hee Lingchuan finally recalled the golden armor copper man.

Uncle Da turned and slowly faced Fushan Yue.

”Want revenge for Fushan Ji? You’re not worthy!” Fushan Yue looked down on him, sneering. ”A mere King’s Attendant, you dare put on airs with me? You failed in your duty to protect Fushan Ji. If you don’t pledge allegiance to me now, you’ll be put to death by my father the King when you return!”

Uncle Da’s ears drooped back so far they nearly touched his scalp, but he still slowly prostrated himself on the ground and said in a low voice, ”Greetings, Young Master.”

The situation was decided.

Hee Lingchuan looked at the head in Fushan Yue’s hand and marveled at his explosive luck. ”To think you pulled off the decapitation so smoothly.”