Chapter 295 - 286: Celestial Master Dao, [Flame Monarch] Stance

Chapter 295: Chapter 286: Celestial Master Dao, [Flame Monarch] Stance

Fu Juemin’s Vitality was amplified by the four Poisonous Demon Souls and the Five Evils Reincarnation. In both quality and quantity, its strength had reached an unprecedented and utterly inconceivable level.

The sheer amount of this amplified Vitality was so immense that even as Fu Juemin did his best to contain it, large amounts of grayish-black smoke still overflowed, creating the spectacular and unnatural phenomenon of "Demon Qi" soaring to the heavens.

As for the black fire floating several feet from his body, it only looked like fire. In reality, it was highly condensed Glazed True Gang.

With but a thought from Fu Juemin, it would detonate like a high-yield explosive.

What kind of Protective Qi Membrane could possibly block such a palm strike?

’Even a Heart Intent Realm Martial Artist with the support of a Heart Scene couldn’t withstand this. Only a top-tier Iron Body Martial Artist like Uncle Tong, who has reached the Great Success of Dragon Elephant, might be able to take a couple more hits. And that’s ignoring the five domineering properties of the Five Poison Qi...’

If he had been in this state when he fought Fan Wuyan of the Black Tower, a single palm strike of "All Five Aggregates Are Void" would have left Fan Wuyan with no chance to open his Seventy-Two Acupoints.

Fu Juemin closed his eyes, carefully sensing the state of his body.

He could "see" his five great Poison Acupoints expanded to their absolute limit. They drew in faint, invisible wisps of Demon Soul Force, exhaling Poisonous Killing Qi that flowed along his Poison Meridians to every corner of his body, stimulating his physical potential...

’If I were to advance the Five Poison Skills by one more level to the Realm of Perfection, could I draw the Poisonous Demon Souls completely into my five great Poison Acupoints?’

Fu Juemin was lost in thought.

On his panel, the Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique at Great Success could still be upgraded further. However, the version of the Cultivation Technique Li Tong had taught him came to an abrupt end at the Great Success Realm.

Besides Fu Juemin, no one in the Martial Arts world had ever managed to cultivate this Poison Technique to such a degree. Reaching Great Success was a death sentence, so how could there be a realm beyond it?

’Since the panel still allows me to add points, a Perfection-level Five Poison Skills must be theoretically possible.

The amplification from just a portion of the Demon Soul Force is already this terrifying. If the Demon Souls were to completely enter my acupoints... God only knows what that would be like...’

For a moment, Fu Juemin was tempted. But considering the priority of perfecting his Dragon Elephant Skill, he decided to suppress the thought of perfecting the Five Poison Skills for now.

"Huuuhh—"

Fu Juemin slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. He retracted the four Demon Souls and deactivated the Five Poison Skills. The dancing black fire around him and the dark, foul miasma filling the Coffin Home slowly dissipated.

In a corner of the Coffin Home, the pale-faced woman in red stopped trembling. She slowly lowered the hands clutching her head, her face a mixture of terror, lingering fear, and confusion.

From within the overturned coffin, the chattering clatter of teeth also ceased.

But at that very moment, an even purer, more terrifying aura suddenly erupted!

SQUELCH—

With the sound of sharp objects piercing flesh, Fu Juemin’s back arched high. One after another, scorching hot, sharp black legs rapidly burst forth from his spine.

Strange, fiery patterns grew across the smooth, fair skin of his cheeks and arms. The aura of a Demon Fiend, that of the Hundred-meter Fire Centipede, began to steam off him... That terrifying presence was like a pot of broth gradually coming to a boil, constantly nearing its peak!

The ghost and the zombie, who had only just calmed down, began to tremble violently again upon sensing this new aura—even more so than before.

HUFF— HUFF—

Puffs of hot air blasted from Fu Juemin’s mouth and nose. After enduring another wave of pain from activating the Hundred-legged Fire Walk Talent, a savage light flashed in his eyes—

’I might as well activate all Four Souls... and see what I become!’

Having made his decision, Fu Juemin’s thoughts churned.

The next second, the three Talents—Copper Hide, Soft Bone, and Meat Mountain—activated in quick succession!

BOOM!!

A massive ball of orange-red flame erupted from within Fu Juemin.

In the instantaneous flash of light, a vast and monstrous shadow was suddenly thrown against the four walls of the Coffin Home!

At the same time, for the female ghost in red cowering in the corner, the terror that had been building inside her finally reached its peak.

"AHHH—!!!"

A sharp female cry, distorted with terror and on the verge of collapse, suddenly pierced the night sky above the Coffin Home, startling several crows on a distant dead tree into flight with frantic cawing...

...

"AHHH—!!!"

On a desolate country road, a group of people holding lanterns stopped in their tracks, listening to the shrill scream of a woman echoing faintly from the distance in the pitch-black night.

The leader, a portly, middle-aged man dressed as a landlord, turned with a terrified expression to the man behind him, who wore an apricot-yellow Daoist robe. "Did you hear that, Daoist Master Huang?" he said frantically. "It’s coming from over there!

That must be the female ghost from the estate screaming. There’s a zombie in there too. Every full moon, it comes out to drink blood. It’s killed all the livestock of the nearby farmers, and several people have died too..."

The Daoist, surnamed Huang, was in his forties but looked older than his age due to years of exposure to the elements.

He gripped his Peach Wood Sword in one hand and made a show of studying the Compass in his other. After a moment, he squinted his eyes and replied, "To the Southeast. There are indeed two sources of malevolent energy."

Then, he changed the subject, speaking slowly and deliberately. "Landlord Wang, catching a ghost and catching a zombie don’t come at the same price.

A female ghost *and* a zombie? The price for that is different again."

The portly middle-aged man nodded hastily. "As long as you can rid our village of these two menaces, Daoist Master, the reward is negotiable.

I just don’t know...

Are you up to the task, Daoist Master? Both that ghost and that zombie are vicious as hell!"

"What a joke!"

Hearing this, Daoist Huang couldn’t help but scoff. "I am a legitimate, 112th-generation successor of the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Dao. A mere ghost and zombie? Once I make a move, catching them will be child’s play."

Seeing that the portly landlord and the surrounding villagers remained unimpressed, Daoist Huang snorted. "Have you heard of the allied army of the nineteen northern provinces?"

"Of course we’ve heard of them."

The portly, landlord-like man nodded.

Wars had been raging everywhere these past few years. The fiercest fighting was against the Xin Republic’s Government, led by the Northern Army Group. Many people had heard of them.

"The current Little Celestial Master of my Dragon Tiger Mountain, Zhang Yuanlin, is now a guest of honor to Grand Marshal Duan Zhenshan of the Ding Wu Army, part of the allied army of the nineteen northern provinces!

Grand Marshal Duan is extremely respectful toward my Junior Martial Uncle Xiao Zhang. A while ago, he even bestowed upon him the title of ’National Savior Celestial Master’..."

Daoist Huang sneered. "Although I can’t compare to our Dragon Tiger Mountain’s once-in-a-century, stunningly talented junior martial uncle, I still possess at least a tenth of his skill.

Countless people out there have begged me to visit their manors, and I couldn’t even be bothered.

If it weren’t for the fact that I saw how much the people of your village were suffering from these two fiends, I wouldn’t have bothered to intervene..."

The Daoist, whose surname was Huang, grew more bombastic as he spoke, rambling on and spitting as he talked, not even noticing when the lantern in his hand inexplicably went out.

Just then, a raspy, deep voice suddenly spoke up.

"Oh? So from the sound of it, you’re quite capable, are you?"

"But of course!"

Daoist Huang replied smugly.

He suddenly felt a wave of heat wash over him, drying the skin on his face.

He looked up and saw that the people who had been surrounding him had, at some point, already fled far into the distance behind him.

They were all scrambling to flee as if they had seen something utterly terrifying. The portly landlord was running so frantically he didn’t even notice he’d lost a shoe.

A rolling heat wave, accompanied by a growing light, crept up from behind him like a silent tide.

Daoist Huang finally realized something was wrong. Large beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead. His face paled, and his body went rigid as he slowly, mechanically, turned his neck toward the source of the light and heat.

The moment he saw the sight behind him clearly, his expression froze. It was as if he had stopped breathing altogether.

—

Not even ten meters away from him, a slender figure about four meters tall stood silently.

Countless intricate, orange-gold patterns of light flowed across the figure’s entire body. Long, sharp Bone Blades grew from the sides of its arms and legs.

Four monstrous, slender centipede legs—composed entirely of burning Chi-colored Demon Fire and obsidian-like carapaces—burst from his body just below the shoulder blades, jutting out ostentatiously behind him.

From their joints, viscous clumps of flame like molten gold dripped down...

The air around the figure distorted and shimmered into a blur, as if viewed through a sheet of burning glass, constantly emitting faint CRACKLES and SIZZLES. The ground in a circle at its feet had been scorched to black earth.

The entire being looked like a statue of a god or demon that had just stepped out of a blazing furnace.

Merely by standing there, it was the source of all light.

An aura of absolute tyranny, pure evil, and inhuman majesty pressed down on him like a tsunami of lava.

Daoist Huang couldn’t make out the figure’s specific features. Beneath a mane of waist-length black hair whipping wildly about, he could only see a pair of cold, dark-gold eyes.

The figure slowly strode forward, its voice a low rasp.

"Dragon Tiger Mountain... Celestial Master Dao?"