Stranger Danger

“You crossed the line, Wang Luori.”

As soon as he said this, the principal pointed one hand to the sky, and the other toward the earth. Together, they formed a perfect harmony.

“The sage decreed that one cannot achieve harmony without rules.”

An invisible force spread out and formed crisscrossing lines across the entire academy after Zhang Lanjiang said this. The Sunset Hill group was just giving chase when suddenly, their hearts sank, and their footsteps suddenly came to a halt. As if trapped inside a tiny cage, they were unable to move their limbs, much less break free from their invisible shackles.

It was the same for Wang Luori. He was going to punch Zhang Lanjiang in the face as he was speaking, but the moment he took a step, countless chains appeared out of nowhere all around him. Crisscrossed and perfectly straight, they formed a pocket world that bound him tightly.

There could be no harmony without rules, and there could be no movement without harmony. While the Sunset Hill group was temporarily shackled, the White Horse Academy disciples were able to withdraw back into the academy.

“This is a sanctuary of Confucianism and no place for you ruffians to cause havoc! Get lost!”

Yelling at the Sunset Hill disciples, Zhang Lanjiang sent them all flying with a sleeve sweep.

Almost everyone except a handful of elders spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and became incapacitated. Even then, none of them were able to catch themselves until they were flung out of White Horse Academy.

No one perished, but they were all stunned by how easily the principal had tossed them out like nothing. Was this the power of a Spirit Master?

“Rules are made to be broken! Only a weakling will believe in rules when power is what they should really be worshiping!”

It was at this moment Wang Luori let out a mighty roar and erupted into an inferno. A total of nine fiery suns appeared above him, and every plant in White Horse Academy suddenly withered and burst into flames at the same time. It was like the place had suddenly transformed into an infernal hell. The crisscrossing chains that kept him bound melted without a sound as well. None shall withstand the wrath of the nine suns!

The moment the chains disappeared, Wang Luori pushed off the ground like an earthquake and pounced toward Zhang Lanjiang. Following right behind him were his nine suns.

“Those who respect the rules are civil. If you don’t respect the rules, then what difference is there between you and an animal?”

Wang Luori’s charge looked formidable, Zhang Lanjiang wasn’t afraid. His white hair flying all over the place, he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of clear, righteous qi.

Righteous qi was clear, vast, and righteous, and there was no one better at cultivating righteous qi than a scholar.

The righteous qi transformed into a powerful gust of astral wind as soon as it left his mouth. It looked weak, but it shook the nine suns and extinguished their flames.

As for Wang Luori himself, he suddenly found himself upside down. It took him a moment to realize that he had been blown right out of the academy and even the hill itself. He didn’t stop spinning until he hit the foot of the hill.

A single breath of righteous qi was worth hundreds of kilometers of wind.

The moment Wang Luori was blown away, Zhang Lanjiang took one step forward and somehow appeared at the foot of the hill in the blink of an eye. Then, he moved his hand as if he was physically pulling the air and smashed his astral wind into the disoriented Wang Luori.

What were mountains when you could alter rivers as you pleased?

The world shook, and the earth was torn asunder as Wang Luori was engulfed by the astral qi.

“Phew… They weren’t kidding when they called you the Righteous One whose righteous breath is worth hundreds of kilometers of wind.”

However, Wang Luori slowly stepped out of the dust cloud before it could dissipate. He also looked mostly unharmed.

Floating around him were seven glazed lamps. They spun circles around him and emitted ripples that pushed away all of the dust and astral wind.

It was none other than one of the Seven Treasures of Sunset Hill, the Seven Bejeweled Glazed Lamps.

Out of all the Strange Artifacts, the Seven Bejeweled Glazed Lamps possessed the strongest defense. It could block both astral qi and protect the mind. Without it, it would’ve cost him so much more to shield himself from Zhan Lanjiang’s follow-up attack.

He had to admit that Zhang Lanjiang was incredibly powerful though. He might be a Half-Step Spirit Master, but Zhang Lanjiang was a true Spirit Master, and not a sham like Cheng Nuo either. A Spirit Master was someone who had forged their Yin God and could learn to master the magics of the world. They could summon wind and rain, command lightning and thunder, and cause the very weather to change with the snap of a finger. They were incredibly powerful to say the least.

Moreover, Zhang Lanjiang was a qi practitioner, and qi practitioners were slightly different from your conventional warrior. If a conventional warrior focused on cultivating the essence, qi and spirit, then a qi practitioner focused on cultivating the spirit and astral qi only.

Caring little about their bodies, a qi practitioner believed that their physical body was just a shell and a prison, and that cultivating an eternal qi and Yang God was the true way. One might say that they were the direct opposite of a body tempering warrior.

A qi practitioner’s manipulation of astral qi and spirit were much more exquisite, flexible and potent than your conventional warrior. Barring exceptional circumstances, it would be suicide to challenge one into a ranged battle. That was why the best way to deal with a qi practitioner was to fight at close range, and why Wang Luori had tried to shorten their distance earlier. It was too bad his strategy had failed.

“You can still back down, Wang Luori,” Zhang Lanjiang said indifferently after shooting the Seven Bejeweled Glazed Lamps a glance.

“Back down? I will never back down until you’ve given me Cheng Nuo, Principal Zhang,” sneered Wang Luori. Turning his right foot a little and causing an unearthly screech that sounded like an earth dragon flipping on its back, he sent multiple dragons that were created from earth straight toward Zhang Lanjiang. He himself stayed where he was and gathered his strength.

“Hmph. You truly are a stubborn man.”

Zhang Lanjiang looked disdainful as he manifested a giant palm created from his Righteous Astral Qi. It easily buried the earth dragons into the ground.

While Zhang Lanjiang was wasting his energy on the earth dragons, Wang Luori took one step forward and transformed into a dragon of fire [1]himself. He abruptly appeared beside the principal and landed a solid punch on his ribs.

Bang!

Zhang Lanjiang exploded, but he scattered paper instead of flesh and blood.

“The Doll Substitution Art?!” Wang Luori exclaimed. He knew he was in trouble, but he didn’t panic. He wheeled around and threw a mighty punch at his right.

“Sunset Hill Fist—The Sun Descends On The West [2]”

Zhang Lanjiang revealed himself with his index and middle fingers pressed together. He thrust them forward like a sword.

The wind howled, and the rain showered. The wind and rain from everywhere came together and formed a huge bell.

It was the White Horse Academy’s Hatred-class Strange Artifact, the Eight Directions Bell of Wind and Rain.

Zhang Lanjiang struck the bell with his sleeves like a mallet.

DANG…

Wang Luori’s ears were deafened for an instant as the sound rippled out like waves, the wind and rain howled, and the world turned yellow all of a sudden.

Rumble rumble rumble…

The trees, the rocks, the soil. The sound waves crushed everything in its path and kicked up what looked like an avalanche. That was just the beginning though. The wind and rain transformed into soldiers, and the earth turned into armor that protected the soldiers. They quickly took formation and waited for their turn at the sidelines.

Wang Luori’s eyes grew blurry as he was assaulted by the seemingly never-ending sound waves. His energies fluctuated wildly, and he was pushed back uncontrollably despite the fact that everything under his knees had sunk into the ground. Even the Seven Bejeweled Glazed Lamps controlling him were shaking violently as cracks appeared across their surfaces, and their lights grew dim.

Clearly, Wang Luori had lost this exchange. Not only did he take a huge hit, his Seven Bejeweled Glazed Lamps was severely damaged as well.

While both the Seven Bejeweled Glazed Lamps and the Eight Directions Bell of Wind and Rain were classified as Hatred-class Strange Artifacts, the Eight Directions Bell of Wind and Rain was a tad stronger than the former. Not only that, the Strange Artifact was a rare sound-based offensive-type Strange Artifact. It was perfectly natural that the Seven Bejeweled Glazed Lamps would fail to protect its owner fully and suffer great damage after enduring a full-powered blow.

Wang Luori felt heartbroken when he saw the damage, but he didn’t have time to lament about it. After the sound wave attack had ended, the army of million standing by this whole time charged straight toward him.

“This is nothing, Zhang Lanjiang!” Ruthlessness flickered within Wang Luori’s eyes as he roared. Before the principal could react, he pummeled the ground with his fists and kicked up an entire chunk of earth. It melted into lava before it could hit the ground, and when it did hit the ground, it washed over the whole army like a tidal wave.

That wasn’t all. A purple stele slowly floated out of the lake of lava. Its front was inscribed with old, imperial seal scripts, and its back was engraved with a painting that showed a bunch of living things worshiping the sun. Its whole body was covered in tiny cracks. It looked both weathered and ancient.

The moment the stele appeared, a thick cloud of purple qi abruptly flew over from the east. Wherever it flew, the plants bent backward as if terrified, and the wind and rain fell as if submitting to their emperor.

The purple qi came from the east and lorded over everything.

“You brought the Eastern Purple Cloud Stele?!” Zhang Lanjiang exclaimed in a grim voice. He tapped the Eight Directions Bell of Wind and Rain and unleashed another sound wave attack, but its power decreased rapidly almost as if it could not bear to attack its own sovereign. By the time it finally washed over Wang Luori, it had become as harmless as a mild breeze.

“That’s exactly right,” Wang Luori sneered and tossed the Eastern Purple Cloud Stele into the air. Floating in the sky, it summoned more purple qi and soon engulfed the entire battlefield in purple.

As soon as this happened, Wang Luori rushed toward Zhang Lanjiang like a tiger. In response, Zhang Lanjiang swung his sleeves and sent torrents of Righteous Qi straight at him. However, his counterattack weakened rapidly seemingly without reason, and by the time it made it to Wang Luori it had lost over ninety percent of its original power. The Hill Lord easily shattered it with a casual punch. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought that Principal Zhang was fooling around with him.

Zhang Lanjiang blanched and reacted immediately. He tried to use his Earth Contraction Magic—the very magic that had allowed him to reach the foot of the hill in an instant—and escape the purple qi’s range, but he felt a hitch in his energies as soon as he took action. As a result, he was just a step too slow to get away from Wang Luori.

There was a saying that went something like this: “If your first step is slow, then the rest of your steps are slow as well.” It was the case for Zhang Lanjiang. Wang Luori was able to close the distance and land a mighty punch that blew him into the sky.

Wang Luori wasn’t going to wait now that he had the upper hand. While Zhang Lanjiang was still trying to catch himself, he appeared above the principal and smashed him in the stomach with both fists.

The silhouette of the Eight Directions Bell of Wind and Rain appeared behind Zhang Lanjiang. The next instant, the principal had hit the ground like a meteor.

Zhang Lanjiang burst out of the dust clouds just a fraction of a second later. At the same time, the Eight Directions Bell of Wind and Rain shrank to the size of a pocket watch and hung above his head. It was glowing a little.

Before Zhang Lanjiang could react, Wang Luori flew up to him once more and conjured a multitude of suns once more. His astral qi looked all-encompassing, and his fist force seemed unstoppable as he whaled on Zhang Lanjiang.

Zhang Lanjiang emitted a sword qi between his fingers and met Wang Luori’s attack head on, the wind, the rain, and sword qis blew all around the two combatants. It looked like a scene straight out of a master artist’s ink wash painting.

“Eight Directions Sword of Wind and Rain”

Their forces clashed, and astral winds howled. The shockwaves alone resembled natural disasters that tore up the surrounding landscape like wet tissues.

At first, the duo were evenly-matched. But over time, Zhang Lanjiang was actually pushed back by Wang Luori. In the end, he couldn’t even launch a single counterattack and could only endure Wang Luori’s blows passively.

A fight where you could only defend was destined to end in defeat. Gradually, Zhang Lanjiang grew weaker and accumulated more and more injuries. Somehow, the Spirit Master was being one-sidedly pummeled by Wang Luori, his inferior!

1. Not an actual fire dragon, but dragon-shaped fire. ☜

2. Yes, I find this more convoluted than you do, I’m the translator you know. ☜