Although Xu Ying had comprehended the Scripture of Tuoyu and knew that practicing this art would drain his pure yang—gradually transforming his masculine body into a feminine one—he did not understand exactly how the pure yang was drained, and this piqued his curiosity.
Zhou family's eldest young master, Zhou Zhi, surged upward from below with a howl. While still airborne, the Dao manifestation behind him transformed into a golden-furred savage ape. Its paws gripped the bark like claws, its massive body held parallel to the ground as it charged upward. More than a dozen zhang still separated them when Zhou Zhi threw a devastating punch.
His fighting style was manic, more ferocious than an Ox Demon. With each blow, the towering golden ape manifestation behind him struck in unison. The sheer force of the wind alone sent slabs of bark the size of sleeping mats flying off the great scholar tree.
Xu Ying deployed the Eight Forms of the Ba Serpent, the great serpent coiling around his body as he met the blow head-on. But the impact sent his qi and blood churning, bouncing him upward repeatedly. The Ba Serpent manifestation smoked like burning incense, his vital essence bleeding away.
Xu Ying suddenly formed a sword seal with his left hand—index and middle fingers pressed together, thumb pinning the ring and little fingers—and thrust both fingers forward.
Within the Domain of the Ineffable, the Dao manifestation of the World-Breaking sword qi vanished. In the next instant, a rainbow-like arc of sword light erupted from Xu Ying's right shoulder, slashing downward directly at Zhou Zhi.
Zhou Zhi pressed his palms together to receive the sword qi head-on. Behind him, the savage ape manifestation likewise brought both fists together with a thunderous crack.
Boom!
The explosive sound shook the air as both Zhou Zhi and his savage ape manifestation were forced to their knees. The bark beneath shattered and scattered in all directions.
Xu Ying's World-Breaking sword qi grew stronger against opposition—the harder the resistance, the more powerful the sword energy stored within.
Zhou Zhi knelt upon the bark, the savage ape manifestation already cleaved apart by the sword. The blade's light pressed against his forehead, its force so great that blood streamed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
The sword stopped an inch from his brow. Blood mixed with sweat on Zhou Zhi's face, yet a faint smile crossed his lips.
Behind him, five Zhou family disciples arrived. Seeing this, they opened their sword cases and unleashed flying swords that howled toward Xu Ying.
Xu Ying thrust out his right hand in a sword seal, and instantly each flying sword lost control, seized by his sword intent. With a series of sharp hisses, the swords' power surged—imbued with tremendous force—and pierced into Zhou Zhi's body.
Zhou Zhi's Vajra Indestructible Body proved formidable. The flying swords penetrated only two inches into his flesh before stopping, unable to advance further.
"Impressive!"
Eldest Young Master Zhou Zhi let out a sharp cry, then suddenly leaped into the air. Mid-flight, his manifestation shifted once more—the savage ape behind him burst into roaring flames and transformed into a three-legged Golden Crow that dove toward Xu Ying.
The Golden Crow's wings blazed with searing fire, its temperature extreme, harboring terrifying solar essence. A single sweep of its wings melted the flying swords one by one.
And the Golden Crow's three legs struck with the force to crack skulls and shatter brains, sweeping away all resistance—even flying swords that landed upon its body could not harm it in the slightest.
After exchanging several blows and unable to hold his ground, Xu Ying used the force of each impact to retreat higher up the tree. He suddenly deployed the "Tai" syllable from the Eight Nurturing Notes.
His internal organs were immediately activated, his belly swelling like a drum. He heard the waters of the Heavenly River within the Domain of the Ineffable pouring inward, surging together with his vital essence to strengthen his five organs and six viscera.
Xu Ying launched a punch straight at Zhou Zhi and the three-legged Golden Crow. The sleeve on his right arm tore apart, sinews and bones singing in unison, qi and blood surging to fullness. Even the Ba Serpent coiling around his body solidified many times over in that moment, becoming as real as an actual Ba Serpent—capable of swallowing heaven itself.
With this punch thrown, Zhou Zhi found himself still airborne as the Ba Serpent opened its cavernous maw and swallowed both him and the Golden Crow manifestation behind him whole.
Of course, the Ba Serpent manifestation was not solid matter and could not truly swallow him, but the force contained in this punch landed squarely upon his body.
Zhou Zhi's entire body cracked and ruptured. The Golden Crow manifestation behind him was crushed into oblivion, dissolving into dust and smoke.
"No wonder you've managed to kill so many of our Zhou family's experts. Demon King Xu, you truly are extraordinary!"
Eldest Young Master Zhou Zhi let out a girlish laugh while falling. Even as he dropped, he drew upon his imagination once more, activating another transformation of the Thirty-Six Celestial Hidden Vision Art. A Heavenly Dragon manifestation materialized behind him.
The dragon wove through the tree, charging at tremendous speed, rushing upward from below.
Xu Ying unleashed the full Eight Nurturing Notes, breaking through several transformations of the Thirty-Six Celestial Hidden Vision Art in succession.
The two fought their way from the great scholar tree's midsection all the way to the crown. The five Zhou family disciples had long since been left gasping, unable to keep up, struggling onward with sheer willpower.
With two whooshing sounds, Xu Ying and Zhou Zhi each landed at the crown.
Eldest Young Master Zhou Zhi raised his left hand and gently tucked the stray hair behind his ear, pursing his lips in a smile. "Demon King Xu truly lives up to his name—to actually withstand my Zhou family's Thirty-Six Celestial Hidden Vision Art. Truly a young hero!"
Xu Ying's expression remained calm. "The Thirty-Six Celestial Hidden Vision Art is not the Zhou family's supreme technique. Their Ancestor has never used this Hidden Vision Art when fighting powerful enemies. That tells you the Zhou family's most elite cultivation methods were never passed to you."
Zhou Zhi deeply agreed, sighing with emotion. "My Zhou family's personnel problems have festered for ages—the common ailment of great families. The old refuse to step down, the young cannot climb high enough to receive the most elite inheritances. Everyone fights over a few spots as true disciples, even willing to kill their own kin. Heh—these old fogies won't yield their positions to the younger generation, and the great family loses its vitality. If not for that, why would I have practiced the Scripture of Tuoyu?"
Xu Ying laughed heartily, using the Primordial Unity Guiding Art to recover some vital essence. "You comprehended the true essence of the Scripture of Tuoyu?"
Zhou Zhi spoke with an air of leisure. "I was quite talented from childhood, but I had enough self-awareness to know I was not the cleverest in the Zhou family. With so many bright minds—all those geniuses who tried to decipher the Scripture of Tuoyu and failed—why would I bother? But I knew those clever people would compile their findings and deliver them to the Ancestor."
Xu Ying looked surprised.
Zhou Zhi chuckled. "Did not expect that, did you? Neither did anyone else—not even the Ancestor himself expected that I could steal the deciphered contents of the Scripture of Tuoyu from him. I trained diligently, and within a few years comprehended the mysteries of Great Yin Nurturing, the transformation of heaven and man, and the growth of all things."
Xu Ying's expression grew peculiar. "You mean you did not comprehend it yourself—you stole it from Zhou Qiyun?"
Zhou Zhi giggled. "Deciphering the Scripture of Tuoyu drains mental energy and wisdom, consumes enormous time, requires consulting vast numbers of texts. The clever people delegate that work to others, freeing themselves for other pursuits. Even the Ancestor does not decipher it personally—why should I bother?"
Xu Ying asked, "How long has it been since you last shaved your beard?"
Zhou Zhi's face was smooth and hairless, youthful and gleaming. He answered with evident pride. "I originally had a thick beard, but after practicing the Scripture of Tuoyu, not only did the beard vanish—my skin improved dramatically as well."
Xu Ying probed further. "Besides the beard, have there been other changes?"
Zhou Zhi's expression shifted slightly. His voice, somewhat like a woman's, grew sharp. "What have you heard? Who has been spreading rumors behind my back?"
At this moment, the five Zhou family disciples arrived to find the two chatting instead of fighting, and looked baffled.
Xu Ying pressed gently, drawing him out. "Do you think it is possible that Zhou Qiyun deliberately left the Scripture of Tuoyu where you could find it? To tell you the truth, Zhou Qiyun's mind is far too meticulous. I do not believe you had any chance of stealing anything from him."
Zhou Zhi's expression changed again. He let out a shrill giggle. "He let me steal it? What benefit could there be for him in letting me obtain the Scripture of Tuoyu?"
Xu Ying sighed. "He himself did not know whether the Scripture of Tuoyu was genuine, or whether practicing the deciphered version carried hidden dangers—whether it was compatible with the Nuo shaman cultivation system. So he needed a test subject. You volunteered to steal the scriptures, and just like that, you became his guinea pig."
Zhou Zhi's eye twitched. He snapped, "Nonsense!"
Xu Ying continued. "And he wanted to observe you—to see what changes occurred in your body after practicing the Scripture of Tuoyu. Any change in you, he probably knows better than you do yourself."
Zhou Zhi's expression shifted between dark and pale.
Xu Ying mused, "What I want to know now is this—since he already had a deciphered version, why did he still have me and Yuan Weiyang decipher the scripture?"
As he said this, realization dawned.
The reason Zhou Qiyun sought others to decipher the scripture was to verify it multiple times, checking for any remaining flaws.
After all, for him, it was merely a matter of capturing two young juniors.
Xu Ying said, "After you turned into a woman, the Zhou family Ancestor would have deduced that the Scripture of Tuoyu was a technique only women could practice. Combined with me and Yuan Weiyang each deciphering a copy, he could now confirm this with certainty."
"A woman?" The five Zhou family disciples were both stunned and amused. One called out, "Eldest Brother—is what he says true? You really turned into a woman?"
Another could not help but laugh. "Should we call you Big Brother or Big Sister from now on—"
Zhou Zhi suddenly raised his hand. With a wet slash, the man was cut in two by the flesh-wing blade that was his transformed right arm.
The others were horrified. "Eldest Brother, we are family! He was only joking—how can you resort to killing? If the Ancestor finds out—"
"The Ancestor will not find out!"
Zhou Zhi's eyes glowed with murderous intent. His flesh-wing flipped, sending golden feathers scattering—transforming into a torrent of golden feather flying knives that engulfed the remaining four.
After a moment, four bodies lay upon the ground.
Xu Ying watched from the side without intervening. When Zhou Zhi turned to him with vicious eyes after finishing off the five Zhou family disciples, he spoke. "You did not go far enough. The Zhou family will still trace this to you."
Zhou Zhi was momentarily taken aback.
Xu Ying explained. "The Zhou family has methods to cast golden bodies and also arts for interrogating souls. Their five souls are still intact—interrogate their souls and they will reveal you as their killer."
Zhou Zhi looked at the five corpses and frowned slightly.
Xu Ying continued. "I have cultivated the Celestial Eye and can see people's souls. After death, the soul does not immediately leave the body to enter the underworld—it binds to the feet of the corpse. Right now, those five souls are standing beside their feet, glaring at you with hatred."
Zhou Zhi sneered and slapped the back of his head. A White Bone Banner flew out—a treasure used by the ghost soldiers of the White Bone Emperor in the Underworld.
Zhou Zhi shook the banner, and white bone chains flew forth, seizing the five vengeful souls and dragging them into the banner.
Though he could not see the souls directly, this Underworld artifact was designed to counter spirits, and capturing five souls posed no difficulty whatsoever.
Zhou Zhi put away the White Bone Banner and giggled. "Now, the only one who knows my secret is you."
Xu Ying smiled faintly. "Not quite. Grandpa Bell, Yuan Qi—come out."
Zhou Zhi felt a chill. Behind him, a massive shadow rose slowly, blanketing him. He whirled around and looked up to see a mountain-sized head rearing high, its mane bristling behind it like fluttering banners.
This was a great serpent.
An impossibly massive great serpent.
Its scales gleamed like polished mirrors, reflecting the colors of the world. Sunlight struck them and bounced back as prismatic rainbows.
Upon its head sprouted velvet antlers—one black, one white—branching apart and pointing toward the sky behind it.
Its body coiled around the great scholar tree's immense branches, pressing them downward with its weight.
It hung upside down, raising its mountain-sized head to regard Zhou Zhi with puzzlement—this tiny thing.
It was Yuan Qi.
This time his transformation had not produced a human form. Instead, he had become even more enormous.
An aura emanated from him as if from a primordial, savage age—as though an ancient power had awakened in his bloodline, bringing a suffocating pressure.
And behind his head, a bell taller than a man drifted forward, its surface mottled with green rust. "A-Ying, the great scholar tree is dead."
Xu Ying said, "Zhou Qiyun killed it, borrowing its eight-thousand-year lifespan to heal his own injuries. We should head down—the Zhou family is preparing to fell the tree and carry it away."
The Great Bell spoke. "What a pity—a life of such immeasurable age, yet it could not pass the tribulation of ascending to immortality, and finally met its end at Zhou Qiyun's hands."
Zhou Zhi summoned every ounce of his cultivation. Behind him bloomed a Sea of Chaos, three Grotto-Heavens radiating brilliant light. He shouted hoarsely, "I have opened three Grotto-Heavens! I have practiced the Scripture of Tuoyu! I have reached the second realm of qi refinement—"
Dong!
The Great Bell vibrated, its chime ringing out. Zhou Zhi's soul was shaken free from his body.
Xu Ying thrust his left-hand sword seal forward. A lance of sword qi pierced through Zhou Zhi's physical brow, penetrating his brain—and through it, the Sea of Chaos and three Grotto-Heavens behind him, draining the vitality of his secret reserves.
Overhead, Yuan Qi's massive tail descended and slammed into him, pulverizing his body into pulp.
Xu Ying turned and walked toward the edge of the crown. "Grandpa Bell, Yuan Qi—let us go."
Yuan Qi slid down from the branches. The Great Bell flew to Xu Ying's side. Xu Ying suddenly gave the bell a gentle tap on its wall.
The bell's mouth was knocked toward Zhou Zhi's soul, letting out a resonant dong. Zhou Zhi's soul was still dazed and confused, struck by the chime—and promptly scattered to nothing.
"Though you are already quite pitiful, I will not let Zhou Qiyun learn my secrets through your soul."
Xu Ying leaped from the great scholar tree without looking back and bounded away. Behind him, the enormous serpent wound its way down, clinging to the tree as it followed.