CHAPTER 585: 81 CHAPTERS ZHENGTIAN TAOIST

"Damn it!"

Zhang Xuanji formed the Thunder Seal with his hands as sudden lightning and booming thunder appeared, the red light flashing while a Yang Thunder exploded.

"Red Sky Fire Light Shocking Evil Thunder."

The explosive nature of the Bing Fire’s Thunder Skill made the Yang Thunder fiercely oppressive, instantly blasting apart the tide of Qi, but this also caused Zhang Xuanji to stop in his tracks.

From the woods beside the path, a man and a woman each clad in black, powerful attire emerged; the golden patterns on their sleeves signifying their esteemed status within the Six Gates.

Constable Jin Zhang, also known as one of the "Four Great Divine Capturers" from the Six Gates, second only to the Divine Captor.

"Zhang Xuanji, surrender now and you may be spared the death penalty. The Six Gates could really use someone with your talents."

Qin Xihai, dressed in the official uniform of the Six Gates, lost the gentleness he had when previously playing the qin for Ning Wuming, exuding a sharpness akin to swords and knives, truly a sight of heroic spirit.

Beside him, ’Blood Hand Divine Capture’ Leng Kuangtu stood tall, the very image of a butcher, yet there was not a trace of killing intent on him, which seemed completely out of sync with his gruesomely bloody name.

Only the indifference in his eyes could reveal the mercilessness of Six Gates’ top Executioner. That kind of dispassion that saw everything as a dissectible corpse could, given that Zhang Xuanji is a madman capable of dissecting human bodies himself, possibly weaken his resolve under Leng Kuangtu’s gaze.

"Ha, the Six Gates does indeed need talents like me, but I don’t need a boss like the Six Gates," Zhang Xuanji said with a cold laugh.

Qin Xihai’s offer was genuinely sincere—after all, what force would reject an Alchemy Master like Zhang Xuanji?

Even though Zhang Xuanji had a long history of crimes, even though he had just drawn the vitality from a group of people to heal himself, under Zhang Xuanji’s talent in the Alchemy Dao, these were negligible shortcomings.

As long as Zhang Xuanji agreed, he could become a revered Guest Elder in the Six Gates.

However, Zhang Xuanji would never agree to such a thing.

It’s not that he was particularly loyal to the Shadow King. Although the Shadow King had been kind to him, the Shadow King’s investments had always borne fruit. Over the years, Zhang Xuanji had long repaid any debt of gratitude to the Shadow King. Their relationship was more transactional.

If the Six Gates could match what the Shadow King offered, surrendering wouldn’t be so bad—after all, who he worked for didn’t matter much. But the Six Gates would only use him as an Alchemy machine, refining elixirs for them for a lifetime.

If he really had to surrender, Zhang Xuanji felt it would be better to be dead.

"It seems you have chosen a path leading to death."

The Bone Stripping Knife in Leng Kuangtu’s hand was slightly raised, his sword intent locking onto Zhang Xuanji.

"Wait." Qin Xihai stopped Leng Kuangtu, who was about to strike.

"Zhang Xuanji, I’ll give you one more chance. If you help us capture the Dark Gold Mask who went with you to Yu Jian Manor, I will spare your life."

As Qin Xihai mentioned the Dark Gold Mask, his Qi mechanism became even more aggressive, with killing intent relentlessly radiating outward.

Their main target for retribution against Shadow Pavilion was still the masked man who had killed Lu Qifeng, but to their disappointment, despite all efforts by Qin Xihai and Leng Kuangtu, they had only managed to find Zhang Xuanji, who was looking for targets to hunt.

"Looking for him? Huh, it’s to avenge Lu Qifeng, isn’t it?" Zhang Xuanji said.

Having been out of the mountains for some time, Zhang Xuanji naturally knew what kind of incredible things Qing Yu had done. Assassinating a Divine Constable of the Six Gates and thereby destroying almost half of Linchuan Prefecture.

It must be said, Qing Yu had guts to provoke the mad dogs of the Six Gates. During this time, Zhang Xuanji had had enough of being hunted by the Six Gates. As government officials involved in criminal investigations, the Six Gates was far more troublesome than those Daoists from Dragon Tiger Mountain who only gathered information and issued pursuit orders.

"If I really had no other choice, I might indeed sell that guy to save my own life. After all, as formidable as he is, he still can’t make me give up a perfectly good life. What a pity..."

The unfinished words shocked Qin Xihai, who abruptly shouted, "Take action!"

Leng Kuangtu had been ready to strike and, upon hearing Qin Xihai’s shout, immediately launched forward. His sturdy body struck towards Zhang Xuanji, and simultaneously, the fine Blade Energy overlapped, emitting a buzzing sound as it collided from both sides.

"Partition the River and Part the Sea."

Qin Xihai struck out with both palms, his True Qi transforming into waves, roaring forth like a real tidal wave, pressing down so heavily that the ground rumbled thunderously.

"It’s too late," Zhang Xuanji scoffed, without resisting.

"Boom—"

A thunderclap on a clear day, a bolt of lightning struck fiercely from the vast sky, a thick thunderbolt striking down, scattering both the Blade Energy and the waves of Qi.

"Boom boom boom—"

Several more bolts of lightning struck around Zhang Xuanji.

Leng Kuangtu pushed off the ground, leaving a deep footprint, and rapidly retreated. Despite his efforts, the thunderous roars still caused his blood to surge and his face to redden.

"Blessings Unlimited Heavenly Venerable."

A Taoist in a blue robe floated down from the sky, landing in front of Zhang Xuanji, and spoke to Qin Xihai and Leng Kuangtu, "Divine Capturers, I was not aware of what my nephew Xuanji has done to offend the Six Gates, but with me here, I’m afraid you two have no opportunity. Please leave."

His words were gentle, but the implication for Qin Xihai and the other to turn back was unequivocally clear.

Qin Xihai was naturally unwilling to just back down, but what could he do when this Taoist showed such a profound strength that obviously exceeded their own?

"Zhengtian Order Thunder Method?"

Another figure flew in from the sky, the Sacrificial Officer from the Jixia Academy, Ming Rui, who had arrived to block any reinforcements from the Shadow Pavilion for Qin Xihai and the other.

"And here I wondered why the people from the Shadow Pavilion had retreated, it turns out it was you, Zhengtian Taoist. To think that Zhang Xuanji was actually one of your Shenxiao Dao."

Ming Rui observed Zhang Xuanji and the Taoist, saying, "Your Shenxiao Dao once swore off any association with the Zhang Family of Dragon Tiger Mountain, vowing eternal opposition. What, you’ve resumed accepting people from the Zhang Family now?"

"Ming Sacrificial Officer, why pretend you do not know. Is my nephew Xuanji not opposed to the Zhang Family of Dragon Tiger Mountain?" Zhengtian Taoist chuckled, "No need for any further testing, my nephew Xuanji cannot be taken by you today. If the Ming Sacrificial Officer wishes to test his skills against this old Taoist, I don’t mind seeing how much you have improved over the years."

His tone remained gentle, yet the hint of condescension was unmasked.

Zhengtian Taoist had a connection with Ming Rui as well; only, theirs was a relationship forged through conflict, with Ming Rui often on the receiving end.

The Thunder Skill of the Shenxiao Dao was utterly domineering, controlling the majestic power of heavenly punishment, and their combat strength was tremendously formidable.

The "Heavenly Principle Inner Saint Method" practiced by Ming Rui was domineering enough, but facing such an unreasonable Thunder Skill, it was notably inferior.

Hearing Zhengtian Taoist’s words, Ming Rui’s face twitched slightly, evidently hit by a sore spot. Nonetheless, he ultimately did not make a move.

He genuinely wasn’t a match for Zhengtian Taoist’s power.

Moreover, there were others besides Zhengtian Taoist at the scene.

Seeing the purple clouds emerging over Wanling Mountain in the distance, Ming Rui declared without hesitation, "Let’s go."