Book 4: Slaying the Demon
Chapter 18: Cursing Southern Palace Wudi
Seeing Southern Palace Wudi closing in from behind, Dugu Baitian grew increasingly anxious. With his current level of skill, confronting an Emperor-level expert would be nothing short of suicide.
He finally understood the terror of an Emperor-level master. Relying on the supreme technique, Divine Void Step, he had pushed his speed to the absolute limit. Yet, to his surprise, the old man had managed to catch up using only ordinary lightness skills. It was clear that lightness skills were not the old man’s forte, but he had narrowed the gap between them simply through his profound cultivation and basic movement techniques. It was easy to imagine that if they were to fight, the outcome would be completely one-sided.
Dugu Baitian was fully aware of his limitations. He knew that, given his current cultivation, he was no match for Southern Palace Wudi. His only option was to flee desperately.
“You shameless old geezer! With your Emperor-level cultivation, you’re bullying a junior like me? How despicable! Aren’t you afraid of being ridiculed by the martial world? Aren’t you afraid of being punished by other Emperor-level experts?”
“You little bastard, shut your mouth!” Southern Palace Wudi was so enraged that he lost his usual composure, his face turning ashen. “You brat, how dare you set fire to my Southern Palace estate? In the 500 years since our sect was founded, we have never suffered such humiliation. Today, I will make sure you die!”
“Damn, old man, you’re really fired up, huh? Is it really that serious? It was just an accident—I happened to burn a few of your houses while playing with fire. Why are you so stingy?”
Southern Palace Wudi was so furious he nearly choked. Com disregarding the dignity of an Emperor-level expert, he cursed loudly, “You motherfucker! You call that ‘playing with fire’ and ‘burning a few houses’? You scheming little bastard, you burned down half of our Southern Palace estate! That’s the foundation we’ve built over centuries! You little brat, let’s see where you can run. Once I catch you, I’ll skin you alive!”
While running for his life, Dugu Baitian tried to “explain” to Southern Palace Wudi, “Damn, old man, you think you’re the victim here? You brought this on yourselves! This is your retribution! Think about what you did to me. First, you tricked me into coming to the Southern Palace estate, then you threatened and bribed me to serve your family. Then you, old bastard, instead of staying in seclusion, jumped out from the backyard and bullied me, a junior—acting all high and mighty, shameless, despicable, rotten, lowlife… In short, you’re nothing but scum! Then, as an Emperor-level expert, you captured me. Do you have any idea how my life took a turn for the worse because of you bastards?”
“Your precious granddaughter, Southern Palace Xian’er, that little slut, used her ‘Enchanting All Beings’ technique to cloud my mind, and then I attacked Crystal, the successor of the Crystal Pavilion. I got nothing out of it but ended up offending both your family and the Crystal Pavilion. Because of that, I had no choice but to participate in that damned New Heavenly King Enthronement Ceremony, hoping to find some respected Heavenly King experts to mediate. But before I could even explain, that little slut from your family labeled me as the Undying Demon. Damn it, I ended up fighting atop Cloud Mountain, staining my robes with blood, and becoming the enemy of the entire martial world. Since then, I’ve been on the run!”
“Old man, do you think your family has treated me fairly? And all I did was accidentally burn down a few of your doghouses. Now you want to kill me? How immoral are you?”
While delivering this long tirade, Dugu Baitian alternated between furious roars and curses directed at the Southern Palace family and playful teasing aimed at Southern Palace Wudi. Southern Palace Wudi was so enraged he felt as if his soul were leaving his body. Especially with Dugu Baitian’s repeated use of “old bastard,” his face turned almost green with fury. Southern Palace Wudi cursed inwardly: I may look young, but I’m over eighty years old! Even if I’ve regained my youth, you don’t have to address me like that! You little brat, you’d better not let me catch you. If I do, I’ll tear out your tendons and skin you alive!
“Dugu, you little runt, stop flapping your gums! Just wait until I catch you…”
“Nonsense! You old turtle, you old bastard, why should I let you catch me? Old bastard, why don’t you hurry back and check on your turtle shell? If you don’t go back soon, there won’t be anything left of it!”
“Gah! You’re infuriating me!” Dugu Baitian truly had a talent for it—using the street thug tactics of Changfeng Town to drive an Emperor-level expert into a frenzy.
Under the bright moonlight, two tall figures raced forward, one after the other, swift as the wind, with curses occasionally echoing in the air.
“Damn, you old bastard! You’re bullying a junior, acting all high and mighty, completely shameless! Using your Emperor-level cultivation to oppress me clearly means you’re stepping into the mortal world and meddling in worldly affairs. Have you forgotten the agreement among Emperor-level experts? Aren’t you afraid other Emperor-level experts will gang up on you?”
“Gah! Shut your mouth, you little brat! I’ll chop you to pieces later! Gah!”
“Old turtle, you’re so noisy! It’s like having 500 flies and 3,000 ducks flying and quacking in front of me. So annoying!” He didn’t stop to think about who was really being annoying. “Damn! You old bastard, you silently closed the distance again! You卑鄙, shameless, treacherous, rotten old thing!”
Southern Palace Wudi stopped speaking altogether, but his eyes were bloodshot, and his teeth ground together with an audible “creak.”
“Old man, how about we make a deal? Stop chasing me, and we’ll call it even. What do you say?”
Southern Palace Wudi’s face remained ashen, and he didn’t say a word, but his feet seemed to glide over the ground as he pursued relentlessly.
“Old bastard, say something! If you don’t speak up, I swear, if I get the chance, I’ll tear down your doghouse, chop up your bear of a son, kill your useless grandsons, fuck your slut of a granddaughter, and then sell her to a brothel! I’ll leave you with no one to rely on in your old age, lonely and miserable until you die!”
Southern Palace Wudi finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Dugu Baitian, your mouth is too vile! I, Southern Palace Wudi, swear on my status as an Emperor-level expert that I will tear you to pieces!”
Dugu Baitian was startled. He knew that even suicide would be better than falling into Southern Palace Wudi’s hands. The old man must despise him to the core.
No matter how Dugu Baitian cursed or insulted him afterward, Southern Palace Wudi remained silent. The distance between them continued to shrink, now less than twenty zhang.
In desperation, Dugu Baitian bit his tongue and spat out a mist of blood. His speed immediately increased significantly. “Damn! Others let their horses bleed to gain speed, but Southern Palace Wudi, that old bastard, is forcing me to bleed myself to go faster! I fucking…”
For a moment, the distance between them widened again. From the start until now, the two had already run nearly a hundred li. Dugu Baitian was drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted. He no longer had the energy to trade insults with Southern Palace Wudi, panting heavily as he ran.
But gradually, the speed he had gained at the cost of his vital essence began to slow again, and Southern Palace Wudi closed the distance once more. When Dugu Baitian glanced back, he saw the old man’s bloodshot eyes blazing with fury. Without hesitation, he spat out another mist of blood, and his speed increased again.
And so, Dugu Baitian ran while bleeding himself. By the time he had run nearly two hundred li, he felt on the verge of collapse, and Southern Palace Wudi was almost upon him.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of flowing water. His spirits lifted, and he rushed toward the sound. Dawn was breaking, and a wide, turbulent river stretched before him. The water rushed and roared, winding into the distance. His heart sank: Damn, this river is too fierce! If I jump in, I’ll disappear in an instant. Isn’t that suicide?
But when he looked back, Southern Palace Wudi was right behind him, his face ashen and eyes bloodshot, like a vengeful god.
“Damn, if I fall into this old bastard’s hands, death would be a mercy. I’d better jump into the river.” He watched as Southern Palace Wudi charged toward him and shouted, “Old bastard, you’ve seen me off for a hundred li, but all journeys must end. You can piss off now. I’m leaving!”
Hearing Dugu Baitian’s foul language and seeing him about to jump into the river, Southern Palace Wudi panicked. His body suddenly soared into the air like a beam of light, instantly appearing behind Dugu Baitian. This was a secret technique Southern Palace Wudi had cultivated after reaching the Emperor level—a momentary teleportation covering three or four zhang. In a fight, it could deliver an unexpected致命 blow. Now, seeing Dugu Baitian about to escape, he had no choice but to use this movement technique, inwardly lamenting that using it against a junior who hadn’t even reached the King level was a waste.
Dugu Baitian was terrified, his face turning pale. If he fell into the old man’s hands, there was no need to think about it—it would be a fate worse than death!
“I’ll risk it all! I’d rather suffer severe damage to my vitality than fall into this old bastard’s hands!” No sooner thought than done. He spat a dense mist of blood toward Southern Palace Wudi. The blood mist shimmered brightly and quickly coalesced.
“With my blood, take form as a sword! Bloodline Divine Sword, manifest!” The blood mist rapidly gathered, forming a gleaming crimson divine sword, as solid as a real blade.
“Divine Sword, slay the demon! Destroy!” A murderous aura surged, and the blood-red divine sword shot toward Southern Palace Wudi’s chest with overwhelming killing intent.
Southern Palace Wudi was startled. He had just closed in on Dugu Baitian when, out of nowhere, a blood-red divine sword brimming with murderous energy “spat” out from the mouth of the detestable brat, and it was already at his chest.
He cursed inwardly: This little bastard truly lives up to his name as the Undying Demon King, to have such a bizarre skill. He deeply sensed the overwhelming, terrifying power emanating from the blood-red divine sword and didn’t dare to be careless. His right hand swiftly gripped the short sword hidden in his wide sleeve, and he unleashed the号称无坚不摧的先天剑罡. A dazzling radiance immediately clashed with the blood mist divine sword. With a loud “boom,” the blood mist divine sword shattered into pieces, transforming into a rain of blood that scattered in all directions. At the same time, Dugu Baitian flipped backward and plunged into the river.
Southern Palace Wudi charged forward abruptly but was horrified to find that the scattered blood rain had pierced through his clothes. He quickly activated his protective energy to block the blood rain.