CHAPTER 536: CHAPTER 535 ANCESTOR MASTER

"Because there’s a peculiar scent in this Underground Palace," Li Ang said with a faint smile. "You might not believe me, but I possess a special Spell. Once cast, I can detect any specific scent within a ten-mile radius. Even a single drop of blood diluted a thousand times, I can trace it back to its source."

Are you a shark or something?

"So that’s how it is. You smelled the bloody scent on the Auspicious Beast and found your way here." Miss Chai couldn’t help but inwardly mock, though her face remained calm and detached. She casually snapped her fingers. Immediately, four iron chains fell from the ceiling, which had been slid open by Special Effect Worms. These chains suspended a cage, inside which the half-human, half-monkey Auspicious Beast lay motionless at the bottom, its life or death unknown.

"To be precise," Li Ang glanced at the Annam Diplomatic Corps in the distance and said with a smirk, "it was the stench of the Auspicious Beast—unbathed for ages yet doused in perfume."

Truly, the ways of eminent monks are profound. The Annam monks, having been pointed out for not bathing the Auspicious Beast for ages and only using perfume to mask the odor, closed their eyes and chanted Buddhist scriptures to themselves, as if the accusation of animal abuse had nothing to do with them.

"Although you’ve forgotten many things, your nature has never changed. You’ve always been fond of collecting all kinds of treasures and exotic creatures, placing them in the chambers of your cave residence for your own collection and enjoyment. Just as the records describe." Li Ang looked at Miss Chai and said indifferently, "That talking Auspicious Beast must have been captured by you, right?"

Li Yushan’s heart skipped a beat, and he unconsciously asked, "Daoist Priest, how do you know that this elder..."

"He is my Grand Master Uncle, Wu Yaozi." Li Ang sighed and said slowly, "Alas, it’s truly a pity. In his life, Grand Master Uncle Wu Yaozi was extraordinarily brilliant and talented. Whether in cultivating the Dao, fighting battles, alchemy, or blacksmithing, he was self-taught and made swift progress. However, he couldn’t see through worldly desires or transcend emotions. Ultimately, love trapped and wounded him, causing him to become deranged, demonized, and confined beneath the ground. I came to Lvzhou this time, firstly for the Auspicious Beast, and secondly, to investigate my Grand Master Uncle’s situation."

The crowd exchanged flickering glances. Before this, none of them had ever heard of any Overseas Fairy Mountain Sect. But considering Wu Yaozi’s strength, could this hidden sect be unexpectedly powerful?

"By the way," Li Ang looked up and asked, "where is Bai Yongyan, the Lvzhou Vice-Helmsman of the White Lotus Cult, the one who took the Auspicious Beast underground?"

"You mean the man who came running in with a cage, disturbing my eternal rest?" Miss Chai pointed indifferently towards the bizarre legion of Natural Disasters below and said, "He probably discovered this tunnel by chance and wanted to use it to escape Lvzhou City. I found the ape-like creature he brought quite interesting, so I guided him to the Underground Palace, turned him into a puppet, and kept the creature."

"As I suspected." Li Ang sighed. "I had thought that centuries of solitude would have worn away your cruelty, Grand Master Uncle. But it turns out your demonic nature is deep-seated and cannot be eradicated. If that’s the case, then don’t blame your unworthy descendant for intending to take you back to Fairy Island to reconstruct the Seal!"

Miss Chai’s brows furrowed, her pale blue eyes under the steel helmet flickering. "What are you planning to do?"

Li Ang didn’t reply. He reached for the hilt at his waist and very slowly drew out an unremarkable Rustic Longsword.

The temperature in the Underground Palace plummeted instantly. A thick layer of frost covered the ground, and the river of quicksilver stopped flowing, frozen solid. Everyone shivered in unison, hastily circulating their Mana to resist the pervasive chill.

Can Daoist Xi Menzi influence the very heavens merely by drawing his Longsword?

CLANG—

Li Ang unsheathed his Longsword, standing proud and solitary, the tip angled towards the ground, his posture impossibly cool.

"Interesting." Miss Chai, standing atop the Pyramid, tilted her head. She gently twirled the Paper Frost of Sorrow rooted in the ground and offered her indifferent judgment, "A pity. With just that level of prowess, you’re still far from enough."

Before her words faded, countless chains binding the Steel Armor snapped all at once. The bricks of the Pyramid beneath the armor exploded, sending up clouds of dust and shaking the entire Underground Palace. It appeared as though Miss Chai had effortlessly broken the Seal, unleashing her power.

"Ah, finally free." She casually clenched her hand, producing metallic CRUNCHES and SNAPS. "Hah," she addressed Li Ang, who was slowly approaching from below. "Instead of fleeing, you choose to approach me? My grand-disciple, you truly are bold."

"If I don’t get close to you, how else could I chop off your limbs?" Li Ang’s expression remained calm as he advanced step by step, Longsword in hand. The supposedly indestructible flagstones turned to powder the instant he stepped on them.

The onlookers didn’t quite grasp the relationship between the two, but they could clearly feel the entire Underground Palace trembling from their confrontation (in reality, it was the Special Effect Worms shaking the foundations).

Is this a battle between God Immortals?!

The crowd huddled together in a corner, feeling the rampant chill within the palace. They watched in shock as the two figures in the center drew closer to one another, involuntarily comparing them to the strongest experts they knew. During this, a small amount of Power of Faith naturally directed itself towards Daoist Xi Menzi.

The plan is a go.

Li Ang maintained his advancing posture, Longsword in hand, his heart perfectly calm. He had gone to great lengths to secretly construct the tunnels and had ingeniously gathered the various eccentrics and experts of Lvzhou. His ultimate purpose, of course, was not to exterminate them. Instead, it was to perform saintly deeds before them, as he had done before. This way, these Cultivators would spread the tales of Daoist Xi Menzi’s achievements in the Mortal World, thereby garnering even more Power of Faith. To achieve this goal, he had to rely on certain ’tools’—both people and worms—to showcase Xi Menzi’s power—

"Qingming Devil Sword!" Miss Chai shouted, raising the Paper Frost of Sorrow and cleaving diagonally towards Li Ang.

The Special Effect Worms hidden in the stone walls immediately created a dazzling light around her, simulating a twenty-meter-long arc of Sword Qi that severed the supporting pillars to her left and right as it flew towards Li Ang.

How is that possible?! The onlookers’ eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Such a wide, long stream of projected Sword Qi floated past them, yet they felt no Mana fluctuations whatsoever. Could this be the legendary realm of perfect Mana utilization, producing no external waste—the state of Qi Condensation and Spirit Focus, where spiritual light is contained within?

"Useless, useless!" Li Ang shook his head. Holding the Longsword vertically before him, he met the projected Sword Qi head-on. With a casual slash, he tore the long arc of light completely in two. He then passed through the gap in the Sword Qi with an air of utter ease, his footsteps and breathing undisturbed.

BOOM! BOOM!

The bisected Sword Qi slammed into the ground, ripping it apart and leaving behind deep, Λ-shaped fissures (actually created by the Special Effect Worms).