Stranger Danger

Chapter 814: Records of Fortune and Merit

In the case of a life-or-death battle, to act was to slay one’s enemy in one strike.

From the beginning, Ye Qing had been waiting for an opportunity like this.

Yes, Armless had never been his target. Duanmu Longhua was.

Armless was a Trueman, but he was nowhere strong enough to pose a threat against him. On the other hand, Duanmu Longhua was easily the biggest threat in this room.

Duanmu Longhua might act like she was careless and distracted, but he knew that it was the complete opposite. She was wary of him from the get go, and there wasn’t a single flaw in her energies whatsoever. She had given him no chance to sneak even a finger past her senses.

That was fine though. If Duanmu Longhua wouldn’t give him an opening, then he could just create it himself.

Armless was the lever he used to create that opening. First, he roused Armless’ anger and arrogance using his demonic thought. Anger led to distraction and rashness, whereas arrogance led to carelessness and contempt. Together, it created the perfect opportunity for him to kill two birds in one stone, nameless Armless and Duanmu Longhua.

On the surface, his punch against Armless seemed weak and powerless. In reality, he had stored his immense fist intent and force inside Armless temporarily. The second Duanmu Longhua caught Armless, he immediately detonated them to slay Armless and to create the opening he needed to kill the city lord in one strike.

The thought he might be able to slay or even deal Duanmu Longhua a serious blow through Armless had never crossed his mind. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was just completely unrealistic to think he could happen. Besides, he only needed an opening to land the decisive blow anyway. Slow and steady was the key to victory here, not hastiness.

So far, his plan had progressed smoothly. An opening had appeared as expected, and it was up to him to make the best of it. That was why he chose to execute his latest ultimate technique—“Suppression Hammer” of the “Three Origin Hammers”.

The wind stilled, the currents halted, and space itself became frozen like ice.

Duanmu Longhua was hurtling through the air when suddenly, she came to a completely standstill.

Right now, the young girl’s eyes were widened in disbelief and helplessness. It was because she discovered that she was unable to move a muscle despite being a late-stage Trueman.

It wasn’t just her body that was frozen. Her blood, her true qi, her spirit and even her yang god had temporarily refused to answer her will. Hell, even her consciousness felt as slow as mud.

It came at a cost, however. Ye Qing looked visibly pale and fatigued after unleashing “Suppression Hammer”.

There was no doubt that “Suppression Hammer” was powerful. After all, it had suppressed even a late-stage Trueman like Duanmu Longhua. However, it was precisely because it was so strong that the energy necessary to sustain it was massive.

It was one thing if he was going up against an ordinary Trueman, but his opponent was Duanmu Longhua, a powerful late-stage Trueman. That was why he hadn’t held back.

It might not look like it, but this one punch had consumed nearly all of his strength. His head was also pounding like a bitch.

There was no time to catch his breath, however. Ye Qing could tell that “Suppression Hammer” was going to freeze Duanmu Longhua for a breath. That was why he appeared in front of her using “Earth Contraction” and clenched both his fists tightly.

Ye Qing opened his mouth and inhaled slowly. The surrounding air immediately flowed into his mouth at an unbelievable rate like he was a world devouring dragon. At the same time, he slowly but surely raised his fists.

When his fists were raised over his head, his inhalation came to an abrupt stop. The next moment, Ye Qing let out a thunderous cry and hammered Duanmu Longhua with both fists.

Bang crack!

His fists struck Duanmu Longhua in the head at the same time. The late-stage Trueman was smashed into the floor so hard that a giant pit appeared, and the shockwave rippled out like waves and disintegrated the surrounding limestone.

It was like a meteor strike. The shockwave of annihilation was rippling out of the room and rapidly spreading to the entire Goddess Palace. The Goddess Palace was Duanmu Longhua’s main residence, and it was the second most important location in the entire city besides the cliff where the Goddess Wall Paintings were stored. Naturally, it was protected by all sorts of restrictions, talismans, and other defensive measures.

However, those defensive measures were currently being snuffed out one after another like candle flames, and the entire palace was falling apart like it was made of tofu. A total collapse was imminent.

“The whole place’s collapsing!”

It was only now Yao Jingce and Yue Hongmian finally awoke from their slumber. When they realized that the place was falling apart, they immediately raced for the exit.

They just barely made it by the skin of their teeth. As soon as their back foot made it out of the door, the palace abruptly collapsed all in one go. Strangely, the rubble disintegrated into fine powder when it made contact with the ground. All of it.

When the dust clouds settled, the Goddess Palace was nowhere to be found. All that was left behind was a massive pit at least ten meters deep.

At the center of the pit stood Ye Qing, and he was currently looking at the ground directly beneath his feet with a deep frown on his face.

Why was he frowning despite having landed a deadly blow on Duanmu Longhua? It was because the attack had failed to kill the city lord, of course.

In fact, his instincts were telling him that he hadn’t even managed to wound her.

His previous two punches were so powerful that they could’ve killed the likes of Armless two, no, three times over. Duanmu Longhua was no Armless, but even so, she was just a Trueman. No matter how powerful or skilled she was, her physical body remained quite frail. So long as he managed to close the distance, he was confident he could end her life in one punch. Even if the city turned out to be tougher than expected, he was still confident that he could shatter her physical body and deal her a grievous blow.

However, his estimations were off. Right before his fists would land on Duanmu Longhua’s head, three golden lotuses had abruptly blinked into existence. One of the golden lotuses had blocked his killer move.

Not only that, Duanmu Longhua had suddenly vanished after he punched her into the ground. As a result, he was unable to pursue her and follow up the attack.

“I underestimated you. I did not know that you’re a body-tempering Grandmaster.”

Ye Qing was still scanning his surroundings with his demonic thought when a voice caught his attention. He turned and saw a golden lotus bursting out of the ground and swelling rapidly in size. The petals unfurled into full bloom and revealed Duanmu Longhua.

The city lord no longer looked like a thirteen to fourteen years old girl, however. She had transformed into a middle-aged woman in her forties. Unfortunately, her energies remained the same despite her drastic change in appearance.

After Duanmu Longhua emerged, the golden lotus began withering at a rapid pace. It wasn\'t long before it disintegrated into dust.

Ye Qing wondered if it was his imagination, but Duanmu Longhua’s gaze gained a tad more murderous after the golden lotus. That was fine though. In fact, he was in quite the good mood. The unhappier his enemy was, the happier he was. He greeted her smilingly, “I am humbled that you think so highly of me, city lord.”

“You have no idea what you just did, didn’t you?” Duanmu Longhua’s hatred reached a new crescendo when she saw Ye Qing’s smile. She only wished she could tear him to bits with her own two hands.

“I would have answered yes, but you look perfectly fine to me, so.” Ye Qing shrugged.

“Perfectly fine? You shattered my Golden Lotus of Fortune and Merit, you bastard!”

Duanmu Longhua uttered through gritted teeth, “Do you know how important it is to me? Do you know that it is the foundation of my Dao?”

Duanmu Longhua practiced a cultivation art known as the “Records of Fortune and Merit”. Although the cultivation art had a righteous and orthodox-sounding name, it was anything but. In essence, it was a cultivation art that grew its practitioner’s strength via absorbing and refining another’s fortune.

A person’s fortune was fixed from the moment they were born, but the “Records of Fortune and Merit” broke that rule. Therefore, it was a cultivation art that went against the natural order. Those who practiced the “Records of Fortune and Merit” would grow strong at a rapid pace, but at the cost of their own good karma. Its practitioner would encounter many hardships and tribulations as a result.

However, all things existed in balance. When something had reached an extreme, they could only move in the opposite direction. What this meant was that those who successfully practiced the “Records of Fortune and Merit” to the adept level and became a Sage would welcome an unprecedented amount of good fortune instead. They would gain the Golden Body of Fortune and Merit and never encounter an unfortunate accident, a natural disaster, or a heavenly tribulation again in their lives. Impervious to all evils, they would enjoy a fortuitous life whose destiny was protected by the celestials and Buddhas themselves.

But before one could enter the adept level of the “Records of Fortune and Merit”, they must first possess three Golden Lotuses of Fortune and Merit.