1169 Neither Side Wins

Yin Buddha was confident in victory for his side and was as though he had seen the flag of victory waving in the wind along with its glory dawning upon them. The sudden change, however, hit him unprepared. He would have been killed from the surprise attacks of three cold weapons if he didn't react fast enough and was powerful enough to avoid it.

"Why?!!"

Lines of green veins protruded on his forehead. The killing intent in his eyes almost solidified. No matter how many people he had hated and wanted to kill in this life, never once the urge to slaughter was so strong as at this moment.

"Hehehe…"

A burst of ear-piercing insolent laughter was heard as a black night-suited big man held a stick and grinningly said, "Why? How can such a stupid question be asked from you, Yin Buddha? You really wanna know why we betrayed the Joyous Palace and that damn old vulture? Hahaha… but you've given us lots of cultivation resources, though. Might as well as tell you that so you can be an understanding ghost later. Everything is for FREEDOM!"

"Freedom?!" Yin Buddha said heavily, "You wanna have freedom? Can Kitagawa or someone else give you freedom? Only death awaits those who betray the Joyous Palace, and don't forget about the restriction seal on you!"

The burly big man looked at him as though seeing an idiot, and even the smile on his face turned more unscrupulous. "That restriction seal, huh? Oh, no! I'm so scared! Hahaha…. Do you think we still dare betray the Joyous Palace if we still had that old vulture's restriction spell? Oy, the respectable Sage, Yin Buddha, we will make you Venerable Sage ghost so you can enjoy your time in Hell. Brothers, fight and kill…"

The burly man's words nearly made Yin Buddha cough up a mouthful of blood. Who would dare to speak to him like that in the whole Joyous Sect save for the Palace Master before?

"I'll kill you today!"

Taking off the string of beads he always wore, Yin Buddha chanted and launched a technique as the beads abruptly streaked upward, forming a giant object with a diameter of tens of meters.

BOOM…

Each bead ruthlessly bombarded both the genetic warriors and the Joyous Palace's traitors in the surroundings and directly exploded after the target was hit.

Tens of people were directly killed with each strike.

The burly man himself was hit hard by the bead's explosion but survived as he had been able to avoid his vital parts from being hit. Just as he endured the pain and wanted to call his companion to fight Yin Buddha, a sharp needle suddenly pierced his glabella.

"Thousands of Buddhas' Wrapping Thread!"

Overlapping layers of arms constantly morphed and moved like palms and hands playing the string. Along with the movement of Yin Buddha's fingers, threads were seen moving unceasingly even to the naked eyes, with a needle at the end of the thread shuttling back and forth to pierce the genetic warriors' vital parts.

Blood flowed like a river and dead bodies littered the ground everywhere.

The ballistic Yin Buddha went berserk and was in a killing frenzy, as were the rest of the Joyous Palace members. Both sides were now killing each other in a frenzied state. Dead bodies kept piling up and the red color of blood kept getting more vivid while the Joyous Palace's members gradually gained the upper hand.

Ki Kitagawa removed himself from the battle after having Joyous Palace Saintess under his control. The tens of sturdy men in black around him were similarly not in a rush to act.

"Why has General Fukuda not arrived yet, Master?" A burly man quickly approached Ki Kitagawa with a worried look.

Ki Kitagawa snorted coldly and replied, "What are you being anxious for? General Fukuda is the one who masterminded the whole plan and mapped out the strategy, to begin with. He'll naturally appear with a strong army if the time comes."

"We lost too many people today, and I'm afraid we'll lose more people if this continues," said the big man with a forced smile.

Ki Kitagawa narrowed his eyes and turned to look at the veiled-faced Joyous Palace Saintess. His expression suddenly shifted ever so slightly as he loudly shouted, "Hey, Yin Buddha! I urge you and your Joyous Palace's people to stop at once! Else, I'll kill your saintess now. I'm hella sure you're crystal clear of how important she is for that old vulture!"

"STOP!"

Yin Buddha shouted aloud after smashing a genetic warrior and sending him to his death.

In that instant, both sides quickly separated, although their killing aura didn't recede. Each stared daggers to the other and a single order would make them re-enter the battle once more.

Ki Kitagawa happily nodded and his eyes slowly swept toward the surrounding. A few seconds after, he shouted aloud, "Hey, Tang Xiu! I know you've been watching nearby with your men. You're also targeting the Joyous Palace, so why don't we cooperate now?"

At a spot in the distance, Tang Xiu narrowed his eyes and watched the calm-looking Ki Kitagawa. He then turned to Kuwako and asked, "Do you think we can cooperate with this guy, Kuwako?"

Kuwako gave it a thought for a while before shaking her head and slowly explaining, "We have too few in number now and it's like dancing with the impossibility if we choose to cooperate with him. Besides, Kitagawa has been a member of Joyous Palace before. We have yet to fully figure out his details, so we can't place the gambling stakes on him as of now. I think we better let them devour each other and be the third party who reaps the benefits from the fight."

Tang Xiu gave her an approving look and nodded. "Coming to Japan was originally for the rescue, and only then the idea to expand the territory was raised up. Let's have some fun since Japan is so wonderful, then. Besides, even if we must cooperate with another party, it must wait until those Buddhist Sect experts arrived."

Shortly after, he issued an order to Kuwako, Mo Awu, and the rest to immediately withdraw from the scene, whereas he alone bolted over to the littered-corpse scene. As he came at the spot about a kilometer away from the two people, he cupped his fists and loudly spoke with a smile, "Ki Kitagawa, you're the renegade of Joyous Palace and cooperating with you is rather impossible as the deal is too much of a risk to take. I won't take part in the hostility of both parties even though I have personal enmity with the Joyous Palace."

"Heh, you wanted to get rid of me before, Tang Xiu. That had nothing to do with your private revenge, either." Ki Kitagawa mocked him. "I know you've been trying to uproot the Joyous Palace and now the chance is before you. If you pass it and we face the Joyous Palace independently, it won't be easy for you to deal with them again later."

The eyes of more than 3,000 people who were still alive now focused on Tang Xiu. Save for the few who knew a bit about Tang Xiu's identity, the rest was literally in the dark about who this desperado was.

Expression turning ugly, Yin Buddha shouted in a heavy voice, "What enmity do you have with the Joyous Palace, Brat? Who do you have a private grudge with?"

"With whom I have a private grudge is something that the person himself is crystal clear about. Anyhow, you're called… Yin Buddha, yes? I won't bother taking part in the fight between you both. Besides, I won't need to take action myself if my personal enemy dies in your battles either. Have another go if you will, nevermind me."

Ki Kitagawa deeply furrowed his brows. He wanted to see how strong Tang Xiu was. Rumors had it that Chinese cultivators had mysterious magical abilities, and if Tang Xiu had such a strong power, it was likely that he could thoroughly terminate this bunch of Joyous Palace hoodlums.

"You also know that the enemy of my enemy is a friend, Tang Xiu. How about complying with my request and you can have this saintess?" Ki Kitagawa directly offered his commitment.

"Nah, she doesn't interest me a bit and I won't accompany you to play. Farewell." Tang Xiu shook his head.

After that, he flew away without turning his head and disappeared from the sight of more than 3,000 people's eyes in just a few breaths.

Shortly after, Tang Xiu's fingers knocked on the table as he slowly spoke, "An, create some confusion there. It's best to kill a few of them as it will incite and stimulate them. It would be best if they continue fighting, but you gotta withdraw fast if they stop."

A particular ripple of energy appeared nearby but then quickly disappeared without a trace.

Puff, puff, puff…

Several huge heads flew as Tang An's figure appeared in a flash and then disappeared again without a trace.

"Goddammit!"

Yin Buddha angrily cursed and was furious due to the emergence of the mysterious assassin. He had used the Buddhist's reconnoiter technique as well as activated the Heavenly Eyes, yet he wasn't able to figure out the origin nor the combat power of the sneak attacker.

"Assassins on the spree! Careful of the enemy's assassin!"

Yin Buddha roared and no longer cared about the lone Tang Xiu who immediately left. He bolted to the enemy right away. He had grasped the upper hand in the battle and didn't want to let it go. He had arranged everything for Joyous Palace Saintess half an hour before and was confident to rescue her no matter how astonishing Ki Kitagawa's cultivation was.

Suddenly, the red waterdrop mark on Joyous Palace Saintess appeared once again. Her imprisoned figure slumped as though the bones in her whole body were gone. In just a moment, she silently appeared on the chair on the other end.

"Rescue her!"

Yin Buddha shouted and led a group of Joyous Palace experts to rush toward their Holy Lady. Light reflected from the tips of their swords and weapons, even the images of Buddhas were launched and appeared in the fight.

That was literally a bloody battle—one where the two sides sought to kill each other. Everyone was well aware that they would be dead bodies had they had no trump cards. The expression of Yin Buddha as he looked at the Joyous Palace Saintess' figure that streaked up into the sky suddenly shifted and he shouted in a heavy voice, "Some of you go and protect the Saintess! No accidents must happen to her!"

"Understood!" Eight figures complied and quickly rushed toward their Holy Lady's direction.

Ki Kitagawa himself was totally dumbfounded and now dumbly looked at the Saintess's back with an intense shock on his face. It was out of his imagination that the Saintess had the ability to escape in the last critical moment.

Puff, puff, puff…

Suddenly, a pair of darts suddenly appeared out of the blue as though they had pierced through the space barrier and were coming from another world. The darts kept hitting those who were chasing the Saintess to intercept them. Then… a faint voice was transmitted to Saintess' ear.