Chapter 38
"Hou!" SFX: Roar!
General Tianwei snarled.
A terrifying ghost qi spouted out from his body. Unexpectedly, it directly forced out the five hairpins nailed to his acupuncture points. As the golden light immediately faded, it seemed the artifact itself sustained damage to its spiritual qi, and Gong Caiwei's expression turned cold.
General Tianwei raised his blade and slashed towards Gong Caiwei.
At this time, countless threads encircled them from behind and constricted his hands and feet.
"Countless Links Wrapping Silk Technique!!"
Su Xing urged on the Binding Dragon Whisk. In order to deal with the General Tianwei before his eyes, he could no longer afford to hold back in the very least. His Star Energy surged and was released, turning into countless threads that wrapped around the Demon Corpse, turning it into a mummy.
Gong Caiwei took advantage of the time to control her sword.
"Star Ladle Great Essence, Sword Swiftly Rides the Wind! Go!!"
The Tracing Snow turned into a cold light that stabbed the bound Corpse Demon straight to the bone. The surrounding ghosts tried to intercept it, but they were torn to shreds by the sword qi on the Tracing Snow.
Blue light and ghostly light slammed into each other, and the force from that directly ripped apart Su Xing's Countless Links Wrapping Silk Technique. The powerful shockwave forced Su Xing backwards several meters.
The cold light scattered, and the Demon Corpse was unexpectedly unscathed.1
However, that Golden Thread Fish Scale Armor had given rise to a slight dent. Evidently it had suffered damage that was not light.
General Tianwei twisted his face.
Gong Caiwei hastily recalled Tracing Snow. General Tianwei let loose a great roar, and a great expanse of ghosts pounced towards Gong Caiwei. Five small banners suddenly spun around her, halting all of of the ghosts.
The one who acted was Zhu Sha, of course.
General Tianwei noticed the other people present. He roared, deep and low: "Die, you petty thieves!"
Innumerable ghosts rushed out from within the earth, their enormous quantity covering their field of vision.
The group immediately used their Star Energies to establish a protective barrier.
All of a sudden, Su Xing felt a cold, intimidating force rush at him. Raising his head, he only saw General Tianwei's broadsword hacking towards him.
Su Xing waved the Binding Dragon Whisk, and its copious amount of threads obstructed General Tianwei's blade. However, the thin silk was then immediately destroyed, alarming Su Xing. He hastily raised the Binding Dragon Whisk in front of him to defend himself while also dodging backwards. In the blink of an eye, the Nebula Stage Artifact exploded as it was shattered into pieces by General Tianwei's broadsword.2
Su Xing's heart sunk. This Demon Corpse's power was very strong.
"Young Master, be careful!" Wu Xinjie and Lin Yingmei protected his flanks at this time. The moment the Knowledge Star chanted, she at the same time threw one hundred Splashing Fire Talismans all at once. The hundred talismans turned into several hundred fireballs that lit the tomb, almost like daylight. Rumbling explosions resounded throughout the tomb, making the tomb seem like it was about to collapse. At long last, with much effort was the maelstrom of frightening ghosts dissolved.
Wu Xinjie complained: "Thus, Xinjie hates ancient tombs the most. They do not say if there are no valuables, and we always bump into these sorts of monsters."
General Tianwei was a fierce general during his life, and becoming a Corpse Demon after dying gave him no cause for thought. With a Golden Thread Fish Scale Armor that protected his body, a demonic blade that conquered in all four directions, in this tomb rich with ghost qi and innumerable ghosts at his command, it was unknown how much stronger he was compared to a Star Cultivator's artifacts.
It did not occur to these two that this seemingly nondescript and innocuous ancient tomb would unexpectedly have this sort of evil spirit character at the very end.
Against this Demon Corpse, with the artifacts and Star Energy in their eyes unable to bring an end to this menace, the two changed their tactics.
"Let's see if it's your broadsword that is powerful, or if this Gong's swordplay is even better."
Gong Caiwei whispered. The Tracing Snow in the front rushed to attack the Demon Corpse, and Su Xing could only take out Silver Blade. It was a pity he did not have any more ammunition, else using it against the Demon Corpse would have been just perfect.
A man and woman threaded their way towards the Demon Corpse. A frosty cold sword and a monstrous and strange pistol bayonet continuously attacked. But General Tianwei was a great killer across the land, once leading troops and horses numbering twenty thousand to defeat an army of a hundred thousand, after all. Comparing his battle prowess, he was not the slightest bit inferior.
A white silhouette flew out, and it was Gong Caiwei forming hand seals in midair.
A cold, icy qi shot out of her fingertips, but it was immediately dissolved by ghost qi.
General Tianwei wanted to pursue and attack, but five small banners suddenly appeared over his whole body. An array came into view as thunder rolled and lightning flashed, provoking the Demon Corpse repeatedly with great noise. Su Xing plunged Silver Blade straight into the Demon Corpse's stomach, but this sort of fatal injury was nothing more than scratching an itch for a Demon Corpse. With all its might, it shrugged Su Xing off and flung him several meters far away, and then it spewed out a thick cloud of ghost qi.
Su Xing evaded in alarm.
"Young Master, shall we retreat first?" Seeing the two at a great disadvantage, Wu Xinjie was becoming anxious. She glanced attentively at the pale-faced Lin Yingmei.
The grave was saturated in ghost qi for a hundred years, and the ghosts' stock of ghost qi was limitless. Opposing the Demon Corpse's undead raised with ghost qi, this was extremely unfavorable for Star Cultivators. This was akin to a cultivator proficient in Earth techniques fighting a Water technique cultivator in the middle of a large river. Even if the former's rank was higher, the latter could still rely on the terrain to bolster his own power.
If it was only Su Xing alone in the grave, he only needed to bring out the Blaze Refining Saber, for that was sufficient to cremate the Demon Corpse. The Blaze Refining Saber's Demon Flame Sword Arts happened to be the right item to subdue the Demon Corpse and its ghosts. However, there was currently an oblivious Gong Caiwei nearby.3 Su Xing was the sort that was more cautious about consequences than others. He could tell that the young lady was not showing all of her strength, holding back her power just a bit, seemingly to gauge Su Xing's minimum capabilities.
The Demon Corpse General Tianwei struggled to free himself from the Leader Star's Array, standing strong.
Just at this time, though, a resolute shadow rapidly approached the Demon Corpse without warning. Its speed was like lightning, and no one expected this.
The Demon Corpse's face was struck ruthlessly, and his body twisted backwards and fell.
General Tianwei bellowed, and the ghosts clamored. They wanted to completely devour the flesh of the body responsible for the sneak attack until nothing was left.
SFX: Hè!!!4
The chilly shout that could shake mountains and overturn seas unexpectedly frightened the ghosts, scattering them all.
To have this sort of courage and ferocious attack power just shown, and under the condition of not using Star Energy, in all of Liangshan Continent, the only ones capable of this were the Star Generals of Maiden Mountain.
Shockingly, she was Lin Yingmei!
"The little general dares to show off his might!"
Lin Yingmei tightly clenched her fists very forcefully.
Su Xing's mouth opened and shut, wanting to speak, but in the end, Wu Xinjie pulled at Su Xing, shaking her head in refusal. Su Xing was speechless, but he faintly nodded at Lin Yingmei.
Gong Caiwei and the eternally expressionless Leader Star Zhu Sha were both also frightened. How could this seemingly sick and debilitated girl suddenly produce such courage. Zhu Sha's shoulders sunk, suddenly having a pressure push down on her.
"This General today will take your flesh and blood as tribute." General Tianwei got up, clenching his broadsword, slashing it downwards in a whirlwind.
Lin Yingmei's figure ducked, rushing forward in a low posture with hardly any fear.
Just who was it that was confronting General Tianwei? Liangshan Continent's famous Majestic Star Lin Chong. In all of the continent, comparing pure military force, the number that could surpass Lin Chong could be counted with fingers. Even if her body's condition was not even half of its usual strength, the current Lin Yingmei showed a level that still struck fear into people.
Punching flesh again and again, breaking muscles one after another, every strike was intended to kill General Tianwei.
General Tianwei's odd swordplay seemed to not exist within Lin Yingmei's eyes, every strike easily avoided by the girl. The Demon Corpse that relied on the Golden Thread Fish Scale Armor to avoid being felled and protect his body as he fought Su Xing and Gong Caiwei never thought he would encounter a monster such as her.
The broadsword had no way to prevent the forceful Lin Yingmei's surprise attack. The Golden Thread Fish Scale Armor also seemed to be no more than a decoration, as Lin Yingmei selected to attack the Demon Corpse's weak points. In the blink of an eye, she had pressured General Tianwei into the defensive. Tearing great pieces of rotting flesh off his body, a putrid stench began to spread through the room.
The ghosts howled frantically as they wanted to attack Lin Yingmei.
At this time, Su Xing, Gong Caiwei and the rest were not about to let the ghosts' wish be fulfilled. The group's assault lay down a protective boundary for Lin Yingmei, cutting off the ghosts' counterattack. Having lost the usefulness of the ghosts as well as the utility of both broadsword and Golden Thread Fish Scale Armor, the Demon Corpse was nearly mad.
The broadsword's attacks became sloppy, its discipline gone.
"Just who the hell is this woman?!!"
General Tianwei gave a distorted howl.
The broadsword swiped nothing but empty space, and Lin Yingmei suddenly stepped onto the blade. Making a great leap, she clenched her fist tightly. Her pale face had turned red from the intense movements and exertion.5
As if concentrating all of her anger into her fist, a great pressure was exerted directly on those trembling ghosts.
The girl's figure leapt onto the Demon Corpse's head, and almost like she was Mount Tai of Liangshan's Five Sacred Mountains, he was pinned by a great pressure.
The heavy pressure unexpectedly frightened the formerly arrogant Demon Corpse completely into a dumbfounded state.
Her heavy fist exploded downwards, directly sending the Demon Corpse’s skull tunneling into its own neck and body.6 It seemed that this Demon Corpse was already thoroughly incapable of moving, turning into a pile of pus, and the ghosts floating within the ancient tomb also suddenly crumbled away.
Gong Caiwei's mouth hung slightly agape, dumbstruck.7
"Zhu Sha, she's a Star General?"
The Leader Star Zhu Sha's expression was serious, nodding: "That should be correct, and I fear her rank is not low." In Liangshan Continent, there were only the exceptional Fiend Stars among the Star Generals could ignore cultivation ranks as well as completely pressure down General Tianwei's ghost qi and swordplay.
The vast majority of Star Cultivators relied on artifacts, and not any sort of secret art was able to achieve this feat, either.
This was the greatest difference between a Star General and a Star Cultivator.
"Two Star Generals?" Gong Caiwei was confused. The historical records were not without past Star Masters that could contract two Star Generals at the same time, but they were rare as phoenix feathers; hardly one appeared every hundred years. Surely, she was not that fortunate enough to meet one by chance, and seeing just how unbearably weak this Star General was, she recalled what Wu Xinjie said earlier. Gong Cai wei guess: "Could it be because Su Xing and the Knowledge Star signed a contract, she never signed one with Su Xing and is simply a Scattered Star following him everywhere out of adoration? Or maybe she saved Su Xing once before, so that's why Su Xing would lay down his life to protect her?"
The Resourceful Strategist was also thoughtfully nodding her head. This explained why Lin Yingmei was so weak when they first met. She definitely experienced a bitter duel in the past such that it was even possible that Su Xing defeated her. As a result of some cause, she signed a contract and was unable to yield, thus she followed him around. However, she should know that this sort of following around day and night would one day be destroyed.
Thinking of this greatly relieved Gong Caiwei. After all, those that could contract with two Star Generals at once were very terrifying people, even if he identity and pride were hard to avoid, she still had the heart to kill.
Gong Caiwei and her Resourceful Strategist could not understand if Wu Xinjie's words were meant to mislead them. As for this point, they thought those words were a trap designed to resolve this situation. Even Su Xing might not have thought about this.
"Zhu Sha, can you guess what Star she is?" Gong Caiwei smiled.
"I can name all of Maiden Mountain's Star Generals that are capable of this imposing manner, but even though her Destined Star Weapons wasn't used, I can still achieve this much. Your servant believes there are five Heavenly Stars capable of this, the Strength Star Lu Junyi, the Majestic Star Lin Chong, the Harm Star Wu Song, the Brave Star Guan Sheng and the Skilful Star, Yan Qing. The first three Heavenly Stars definitely do not sign contracts, and the Brave Star Guan Sheng would not face a broadsword empty-handed, so your servant guesses that she should be the Skilful Star Yan Qing. It is a fact that Yan Qing is an expert in boxing8 in Liangshan Continent." Although the Leader Star Resourceful Strategist Zhu Wu did not have Knowledge Star Wu Yong's "Think Then Act," relying on her own analysis, she still thought up a logical guess.
Gong Caiwei nodded, smiling in relief. "So it's only the Heavenly Star that is ranked last."9
"Princess, what do you plan to do?"
"I'll have him accompany me on a trip to enter the Flower Dragon Cave…" Gong Caiwei clapped her hands together while smiling beautifully.
- Hm, “stabbed to the bone” and “unscathed” at the same time…doesn’t make sense, guys. ↩
- NOOOO!! He lost a valuable weapon!! ↩
- Recall that Cong Caiwei believes that absorbing the Star Energy of defeated Star Generals has severe negative consequences. If Su Xing uses the Saber, she’ll immediately realize there is the possibility of harmonization with that Star Energy and may seek to interrogate or kill Su Xing in pursuit of that method. ↩
- 喝, basically a shouting sound effect. ↩
- Could it be…TRANS-AM?! Please let me make this reference… ↩
- Well…damn… ↩
- 呆若木雞 ↩
- 拳術 ↩
- Props to John Cena for the memes… ↩