Chapter 1096 - My Master is a Great Pretender

The force of Wang Chao’s energy sword was unlike before. It was so fast as it shot up that a protective energy appeared in front of it.

Blood stained the corner of Wang Chao’s lips as he flew up; his eyes shone with killing intent.

Zhu Honggong, who was showing off to the members of the Flood Sect, realized it was too late when he turned around and saw Wang Chao. He instinctively raised his hands and activated his protective energy, and cast the Nine Tribulations Thunderblast. He crossed his arms and tried his best to resist the energy sword with the force of the lightning.

Unfortunately, Wang Chao’s move was too ferocious.

Bang!

Zhu Honggong groaned. A surge of blood rushed out from his throat and trickled out of his mouth.

“Divine Lord!”

The people from the yellow lotus domain watched anxiously.

Meanwhile, Lu Li looked at the scene with a sense of helplessness. He could clearly sense that Zhu Honggong was much stronger than a Four Chart Thousand Realms Cultivator. It was unfortunate Zhu Honggong still had not familiarized himself with the fighting methods of a Thousand Realms Whirling cultivator. There were another two white lotus cultivators; this could not go on.

Zhu Hong Gong kept flying backward. The energy sword kept pressing him back. Like a poisonous snake, it pressed on, not giving him any chance to break free.

Upon seeing that his attack succeeded, Wang Chao smiled arrogantly. “This is it for you. I don’t care who you are. Today, I’ll use your blood as an offering to my sword!”

Buzz!

The energy sword buzzed before its power increased.

Zhu Hong Gong’s Qi and blood surged; his Extraordinary Eight Meridians were in chaos. His face was twisted in a grimace when he recalled his avatar.

“Avatar!”

Buzz!

The Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar appeared behind Zhu Honggong again. The eleven leaves spinning around it were dazzling.

Wang Chao looked at the eleven golden leaves with a hint of fear before he said, “It’s too late!”

Bang!

The sword energy shot past Zhu Honggong’s hands that were blocking. Although its force was reduced by half, it was still shooting toward his heart at this moment.

Bang!

The tip of the sword stabbed into his chest when it suddenly stopped as though it was met with some sort of resistance.

“Huh?” Wang Chao was perplexed.

Zhu Honggong grinned and asked, “What do you think about my zen tunic?”

“Zen tunic?” Wang Chao looked at Zhu Honggong warily. Zhu Honggong’s sudden confidence threw him off slightly.

A wicked smile appeared on Zhu Honggong’s face as he said in a dark voice, “You dare to mock me for being short, I’m going to behead you…”

Following that, Zhu Honggong tossed his gloves into the air.

The avatar grabbed the gloves. When the gloves fell into place around the avatar’s hands, its hands seemed like two mountains. The two mountain-like hands moved toward Wang Chao from both sides.

Wang Chao did not expect the mobility of Zhu Honggong’s avatar to be so high. This was unheard of. The avatar formed by cultivators were like statues and could not move like humans. Zhu Honggong’s avatar had turned his worldview upside-down. In the end, he could only attribute this strange avatar to some evil techniques.

As the energy fists came at him from both sides, Wang Chao resisted with all his might.

Bang!

A heart-wrenching scream rang in the air when Wang Chao was sandwiched tightly between the fists.

“Again.”

The golden avatar moved its fists again.

Boom!

Wang Chao spurted out blood from his mouth.

Zhu Honggong leaped up and retrieved his gloves from his avatar before he stood on his avatar. The golden halo remained with him as eleven leaves shot toward Wang Chao’s neck.

Wang Chao, who was severely injured, was no match for Zhu Honggong.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three of the leaves breached Wang Chao’s protective energy before one of the leaves slashed his throat.[1]

The Thousand Realms Whirling avatar increased in size before it shrank into Wang Chao’s body.

Wang Chao was sent flying backward on the ground, breaking the towering trees that grew dozens of meters behind him.

…

“Ding! Destroyed one Birth Chart. Reward: 6,000 merit points.”

…

“The Divine Lord is mighty!”

Zhu Honggong was no longer careless like before. He looked at his avatar carefully. After fighting, he had gained a basic understanding of his avatar. He could tell the eleven leaves that surrounded the golden halo were stronger than his gloves.

Following that, Zhu Honggong controlled his avatar as he dove and descended on the ground with a loud boom.

Boom!

Lu Li and the others from the Flood Sect landed on the ground as well, but they stayed 100 meters away. They knew they would be caught in the fight between the Thousand Realms Whirling experts if they drew any closer.

When Wang Chao finally came to a stop, he spat out another mouthful of blood. He knew he had lost one Birth Chart. With great difficulty, he turned to look at his subordinates and said, “Y-you… What are you standing there for?”

The two white-clad men watched from afar; they clearly had no intention of participating in the battle at all. How could they dare to make a move now after watching Wang Chao lose one of his Birth Charts? Losing a Birth Chart was no different from losing one life.

“L-leader… You’re injured…”

Wang Chao was angry that he wished he could kill the two men. Unfortunately, they were the only ones he could rely on now. He could only stagger to his feet as he glared at Zhu Honggong. “Good, very good…”

Zhu Honggong smiled. “This is just the beginning. I’m just getting started.”

“You…”

“What? You brought this upon yourself?” After Zhu Honggong finished speaking, he began to cough violently.

Wang Chao’s attack was not completely useless; it caused Zhu Honggong’s Qi and blood to surge in his body.

Wang Chao seemed to have thrown all his rationality away as he glared at Zhu Honggong gloomily and said, “Today… Today… I’ll wash Great Qing with blood. None… None of you can even think about living…”

The anger and hatred of losing a Birth Chart had made Wang Chao lose his reason. He turned to look at his two subordinates and said, “Come!”

The two white-clads flew over before they drew their swords.

“Kill all of them. There’s only one expert in Great Qing, and he’s injured. Moreover, he has no Birth Charts,” Wang Chao said as he pointed at Zhu Honggong.

Zhu Hong Gong frowned. “If you dare touch me, my master will wash Great Ming with blood.”

“If you survive, you can say these words again later.” Wang Chao waved his hand.

At this moment, the white-clad man standing to Wang Chao’s left suddenly brandished his sword.

A white energy sword shot horizontally like a fan. To everyone’s shock, the target was not Zhu Honggong, but Wang Chao!

Bang!

“You…” Wang Chao’s eyes widened as an expression of terror appeared on his face.

At this moment, the white-clad man on the right brandished his sword as well and launched several energy swords toward Wang Chao’s abdomen.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Wang Chao fell heavily to the ground with a loud bang.

Following that, the Thousand Realms Whirling appeared and contracted once before it shot back into Wang Chao’s body. With this, he lost another Birth Chart.

“Leader, I’m sorry. However, the Grand Tutor has ordered us to kill you here.”

Wang Chao’s face was filled with unwillingness. His bloodshot eyes were brimming with terror as he asked, “W-why?”

“Don’t blame us for being ruthless. We’re doing this for Great Ming’s sake. While you were fighting Mister Eighth, the Grand Tutor sent another three messages in a row. I was really worried so I had a look at the messages. After reading the messages, I understood that you have to die for Great Ming’s sake.”

‘Mister Eighth? I must die for Great Ming’s sake?’ Wang Chao was confused; his mind was buzzing.

Even Lu Li was confused by those words.

The two white-clad men suddenly fell on one knee in front of Zhu Honggong and said, “Mister Eighth, please forgive us. We didn’t know you’re Pavilion Master Lu’s disciple. Please show mercy!”

Wang Chao. “???”

Zhu Honggong frowned. He turned around and was about to scold Lu Li when Lu Li walked up to him and stopped him.

“Old Zhu.”

Zhu Honggong turned to the two white-clad men and said, “You have really bad eyesight. No matter how you look at it, how does this Lu guy look like my master? In my life, I only acknowledge my master! I won’t betray my master even if it means saving my life!”

If the first half of Zhu Honggong’s words were like pushing himself to the edge of the cliff, the second half pulled him back from the cliff.

The two white-clad remained level-headed.

“No matter who your master is, you’re from the Evil Sky Pavilion, right?”

“Of course.”

“Your Seventh Senior Brother is Si Wuya, right?”

“Heh, is he that famous?”

“The Grand Tutor has said that everyone from the Evil Sky Pavilion is a friend of Great Ming. Anyone who dares to oppose the Evil Sky Pavilion is an enemy that has to be killed on the spot!”

“…” Zhu Hong Tong was suspicious. Since when did the Evil Sky Pavilion gain such a fearsome reputation and so much respect? The Evil Sky Pavilion did not even have a Thousand Realms Whirling expert so how could these people betray their leader for the Evil Sky Pavilion? Was this some kind of scheme? Were they bluffing and putting on a front?

Zhu Honggong recalled his time in the golden lotus domain when he was still in the Tigerridge Gang. At that time, he truly relied on bluffing to survive. Many smaller forces did not dare to act against him. However, it had to be said he was not completely bluffing; after all, he had his Eldest Senior Brother and Seventh Senior Brother secretly supporting him from behind.

At this moment, Wang Chao roared. His body erupted with dense energy as he pounced toward Zhu Honggong.

“Wang Chao, how dare you!”

The two white-clad men charged out and released their energy swords at the same time, keeping Wang Chao away from Zhu Honggong.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two men showed no mercy and killed Wang Chao.

In just a few breaths, Wang Chao’s body was pierced by energy swords. It was almost impossible for him to survive with these injuries. He had already lost two Birth Charts; how could he still be a match for the two men?

Zhu Honggong frowned and looked at them solemnly. He reminded himself not to panic and to calm his emotions. He could feel a chill coming from the zen tunic; this only happened when he was injured. Nevertheless, he watched with his hands on his back as though he was not injured at all.

After Wang Chao’s death, the two men landed and kneeled in front of Zhu Honggong again. “Now that Wang Chao is dead, I hope Mr. Eighth will forgive us.”

Zhu Honggong said indifferently, “Very good.”

“Thank you, Mr. Eighth.”

“The two of you are quite tactful. Since you know my identity, don’t act recklessly.”

“Of course, of course.”

After that, one of the white-clad men said, “The Grand Tutor has also instructed us to help you. If you need us, we’ve been ordered to stay to help you…”

Zhu Hong looked back at Lu Li.

Lu Li shook his head.

Zhu Hong said, “I don’t need your help.”

Lu Li walked over and asked, “Is there a runic passage?”

“No, we came here without a runemaster.”

Lu Li asked, “Then how are you going to return?”

“With a guiding talisman, we’ll be able to reach Great Ming in half a year.”

Half a year. Just thinking about it was enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

At this time Ji Hong, the emperor of Great Qing, and many palace experts finally arrived on the flying chariot. When the flying chariot was still in the air, Ji Hong looked down and said in a clear voice, “Brother, I’m here. I’ll use the force of the entire country to help you!”

Zhu Honggong. “…”

Zhu Honggong really wanted to retort, but it would be too demoralizing at this moment, and it was not befitting of the Divine Lord. Since everyone worshipped him, saying something now would make him lose his reputation. Hence, he said in a clear voice, “With your help, I’ll win!”

…

At this point, Lu Zhou finally cut off the Heavenly Writing’s power of sight. He had been observing for a long time so consumption of the supreme mystic power was not small.

Since his eighth disciple had sprouted the eleventh leaf, there was no need for him to keep observing. With Lu Li’s help, he believed his disciple would be able to deal with the remaining problems easily.

“Gongsun Yuanxuan, I have to say you know your place.”

When Zhu Honggong was chasing after Wang Chao, Lu Zhou had ordered Si Wuya to send a message to Gongsun Yuanxuan. That was why the white-clad cultivators ended up fighting each other. After all, how could Wang Chao compare to the well-being of the entire Great Ming?

Finally, Lu Zhou rose to his feet and flew toward the depth of the lava. The heat was monstrous and burned his face immediately.

[1] Author’s note: Old Eighth’s life hearts are superior to Old Second’s life hearts. Moreover, Old Eight had the sea beast king’s life heart as well.