33 - Crazy! Criticizing the Prime Minister for Being a Servant

# Chapter 33: The So-Called Immortal Master Because she was persuading not Ning Songwu, but herself, she was urging herself to relax a bit, to stop clinging desperately to the only floating grass, telling herself to believe one more time that the heavens were compassionate and would not mercilessly separate everyone again. She was persuading herself to trust Ning Songwu once more. She always believed, so she didn’t lock down the barrier. Ning Songwu, make a decision and act on it once you’re sure. Ran Fanyin wiped away the dampness at the corner of his eye, his gaze fixed resolutely on the battlefield. After exhaling slowly, he brought his two fingers together at his chest and slashed with the sword in his other hand, forcing back those near the barrier, and then landed gently. Helan Mianmian filled the gap left by a disciple. Her fingers moved in the air, creating phantoms, and countless yellow talismans flew out from her storage ring. Layers of formations dropped down, providing defense while pushing back enemies three feet from the barrier. It seemed they had a slight advantage, but a flaw was exposed when the enemy sent a skilled sorcerer. Her strength in swiftly casting spells without chanting was sidelined as the joining sorcerer also required no chants. Helan's “Thousand Icy Shards” was dispelled by the sorceress's explosive spell before it could even fall. Although there were no clashing weapons where they fought, the explosions of their spells were equally heart-pounding. More infuriating was the clear-eyed, composed actions of the sorceress opposite, every move screaming a silent message: she was doing this on purpose. She wasn't bewitched. Today, she was here to break through Shangyun Sect, to defeat Helan Mianmian, the half-demon adept in triple disciplines of talisman, formation, and technique. Realizing this, Helan couldn't free a hand to counterattack but decided to irritate the sorceress in other ways. "Try this, old hag!" She spat sharply, taking out her most treasured possession from her storage ring. A golden dragon began to manifest behind her, possessing a majestic pressure indistinguishable from the real dragon on the battlefield. The sorceress hesitated for a moment, and before she could retaliate, another vermillion bird statue condensing fire. Once the final drop of flame fell into the firebird’s eye, it spread its wings and roared to the sky. The two divine beasts flanked a small cat, astonishing everyone with their pressure, unaware that the cat demon had used the blood of two swordsmen and spent nearly ten years crafting these talismans for this very day. "Borrow half the sky, fall!" Helan Mianmian crossed two fingers in front of her chest, her brush transforming into a short sword. With a gentle press, the dragon and vermillion bird simultaneously swooped down toward the dazed sorcerer. When the dust settled, no human figure remained. Helan Mianmian let out a sigh of relief but immediately tensed again. A figure emerged from the dust, wobbling with a half-smile. Even through the barrier, her voice was clear, "These formations, how convenient that they can easily unleash such attacks." "But Helan Mianmian, I am the true proper battle sorcerer. What gives you the right to always stand like a mountain mocking me? Why!" Helan Mianmian drew a question mark above her head. When had she ever mocked anyone? To avoid conflict with traditional triple disciplines, she had stayed reclusive on the peak for years, pushing away travel opportunities but still quietly managing businesses to support the entire peak, never boasting. So what was she talking about? But those fully consumed by madness couldn't hear reason. The sorcerer raised her head, her dark gold eyes through layers of dust startling Helan Mianmian momentarily. She might have thought the sorcerer was unaffected moments ago, but now it seemed she was deeply and wholly consumed. This toxin's primary function was to amplify greed and obsession. Ningning hadn’t deceived her. Though, she didn’t know how to detoxify it. Maybe knock her out and wait for Ningning to come? Helan tightened her grip on her brush, cautiously readying herself. However, the completely maddened sorcerer became much wilier, shifting her fixation, casting spells at random, letting her spiritual energy erode the sect’s great formation and nearby disciples, even harming her own pupils. The sorcerer condensed another piece of spiritual energy, throwing it upwards, a cold smile on her face, "I’ll make your Shangyun Sect fall even lower than Wansoul Valley!" She leaped up, intending to erode more of the great formation. Not happening! Helan laughed mockingly, spat lightly, "The Wansoul Valley affair was already full of oddities, but don’t forget..." A brilliant light flashed, and in the place of the previously delicate woman stood an enormous eight-tailed demon cat, baring its teeth lightly. All eight tails waved and swayed, summoning layers of barriers, supporting the great formation at all times. "My cultivation is not for show! Asheng—" The sorcerer, stunned by the sight of the eight-tailed demon cat, hesitated momentarily. In that pause, a ball of spiritual light lashed out from one of the cat's tails, striking her dantian. In that instant, she forgot to dodge. After all, increasing tails with each level of a cat demon’s cultivation was a legendary occurrence that now appeared before her eyes. A voice whispered in her mind, "Isn't Helan Mianmian truly formidable?" but soon it was drowned by other noises, vanishing without a trace. The approaching spiritual light began to thin, revealing within a dark golden needle clasped to a sachet. It zoomed in, embedding itself firmly outside her dantian, sapping her energy. The sorcerer slowly lifted her gaze, losing focus, the dark gold spiritual energy around her dimming quickly, drained by the purifying power from the sachet, rendering her powerless as she plummeted from the sky. Helan Mianmian finally let out a deep sigh of relief. In this form, she had truly expended all her might. If she couldn’t defeat this opponent, then perhaps this part of the battleground was indeed lost. Luckily, though it forced her to use her trump cards, it led to a favorable outcome. Too bad for the life-saving talismans, though. Luo Sheng ran over, leaping to stand beside her, speaking in a low voice, "Master, stay focused, enemies are still gathering around." Helan clicked her tongue lightly, "What a hassle, these fools can’t be killed either." "Not everyone knows the truth, Master. I’ll leave this basket of weapons here. I’m heading to support the other side." "Go, go." The cat's tail waved dismissively, grabbed Luo Sheng, and tossed her over, saving some running time. Helan then drew another breath. At that moment, Qin Siyue leapt onto her back, bent over, and whispered, "Junior sister, let's bring the wind." --- [Doubt it’s just to make friends.] [Subtitler, are there mentions of Zonglian religion in the book?] [So that's the plan, inviting me to join, huh?] [Hmph, think you can trick me?] [Alright then, act the part fully, big bad, watch how I play along!] Wu He Zunjue: “Your mistake was calling the item that could bring unparalleled benefits to the people of the nine regions the poison of greed.” The woman, seeing they couldn’t reason anymore, stopped talking and flicked her brush, launching another stream of spiritual energy. Both swords clashed, severing the energy, but the aftershock pushed them back several feet, churning their insides, causing a thin line of blood to trickle down their lips. Standing up, she muttered while flipping her fingers, "In the name of false spirits, rise, my Ten Thousand Ice Lotuses." The spiritual energy of heavens and earth seemed to converge at her fingertips, forming palm-sized ice lotuses around her, flying to Ran Fanyin's side, creating nimble, tiny shields. Most could only block one attack, but one was enough. Several elders from Shangyun Sect approached, each guarding a quadrant, but... It seemed an area was left unguarded. How could this happen? Ran Fanyin stood with his sword, holding a lotus, a smile lingering on his lips, watching the old master trying to break free of the encirclement to regain the upper hand. Wu He quickly noticed something odd about the person, feeling uneasy. She didn't want to waste too much on these people since she had heard the woman's earlier words clearly, and Ran Fanyin’s action drew her attention. If both spirits were indeed on their side, then this battle was not in their favor. Fine, end it quickly. Wu He swung her brush, summoning rolling thunderclouds, gusts of fierce wind, and dispelling a layer of ice lotuses. Those in the rear choked back the taste of blood. With the ice lotuses’ aid, they avoided it, but others were stalled, struggling, unable to advance. Below the clouds, everyone was stunned. Wu He was about to lower her brush when a slight tearing sound pierced the air, followed by a dull thud as an arrow pierced her shoulder, tearing away flesh as it shot towards the sky. Wu He paused for a moment. She recognized the fletching, the Dark Lord Feng Hua. How could she be here? Or did someone else steal this arrow? Unfortunately, a chilling voice rose from below, “Respected Wu He, we still haven't settled the accounts for the two times you conspired against the demon clan.” Feng Hua held a heavy silver bow, his lips straight, with a slight tilt of his head as he looked at the arrogant woman. Feng Hua’s appearance had already caused a stir; once “two times of collusion” was mentioned, the crowd became tumultuous. Two times of collusion! In the Nine Provinces, ever since Wu He got her name, there had only been two human-demon confrontations: the invasion of Wansoul Valley a thousand years ago, and the demonic cult incident from two years ago. This implied she had been orchestrating both from behind! Cen Ran looked at the chaos in the lower realm, spat lightly, and cursed inwardly, “This lot is worse than useless. Can’t they at least not make things worse?” At this moment, she harbored a profound resentment towards this group, finding everyone irritating. It was under such circumstances that Ye Wuchen entered the battlefield, shouting, “Demon clan of Fengling Abyss, heed my orders! Keep the mid and lower-level cultivators in check, don’t let them create chaos. Those at or above Integration, follow me into battle!” For a moment, it seemed to awaken the sanity of the human cultivators. Integration stage cultivators took a step up into the sky, surrounding the woman tightly. “Integration?” Wu He sneered, though only the mouth on half her face moved, “Even the Great Ascension stage cannot match me. What’s Integration?” Ran Fanyin, who had been silent for a long time, finally stepped forward, casually tossing out a jade token, “Integration may not be enough, but take a good look, for this is—” “Encirclement and annihilation.” [Why is this not here again? So, what about the people involved in this matter, like Ye Su?] [...You shouldn’t be system anymore. Just retire.] [I’m also quite terrified to get stuck here, buddy.] [...] [So, this is what they call an Immortal Master.] [...Pretty impressive.] No pop-up ads, permanent domainname.