The Embarrassed Shi Wanshan

It turned out that after leaving the Imperial Mausoleum, Shi Wanshan felt his empty pockets and flushed crimson, then pale.

He felt that returning in such a sorry state would cost him every last shred of dignity.

Gritting his teeth, he turned around and plunged into a minor secret realm he had marked along the way. He figured he might as well scrounge up a few “scraps” to make his return a little less embarrassing.

After searching every inch of the secret realm, he finally managed to obtain a few meager gains. He had just breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out of the secret realm when he ran straight into the Purple-Robed Saint.

The more the Purple-Robed Saint thought about what had happened, the angrier he became. As he was leaving the imperial tomb, he happened to notice Shi Wanshan heading in this direction.

He had therefore called in a friend at the Saint King Realm, promising to give him the Saint King battle armor as payment for helping him reclaim his treasures.

“Misunderstanding! This is a huge misunderstanding!”

Shi Wanshan reacted extremely quickly. His face instantly formed an expression blending helplessness, grievance, and what he believed to be sincerity. He shouted at the Purple-Robed Saint:

“Fellow Daoist! Brother, I’m a victim too! Someone blindsided me and knocked me out, then stripped me clean! Why won’t you believe me?”

As he spoke, he secretly cursed his terrible luck.

Even he himself thought it sounded like a lame excuse, but that was exactly how frustrating the truth was!

When the Purple-Robed Saint heard this, he trembled with rage. His face shifted from green to purple, and even the finger he pointed at Shi Wanshan was shaking. His voice turned shrill, almost breaking:

“Bullshit! Don’t even think about twisting words in front of me! There were only the two of us in that cave dwelling that day! If it wasn’t you, you shameless scoundrel, then who else could it have been?!”

He remembered the miserable state he had been in when he woke up, along with the way Shi Wanshan had looked him over at the time. His new grievances and old hatred surged together. Turning to the gray-robed old man beside him, he said:

“It was this vile thief! Fellow Daoist, please act and help me kill him!”

The Gray-robed Old Man gave Shi Wanshan an indifferent glance. His eyes regarded him as nothing more than an ant, without the slightest ripple of emotion.

He spoke in a flat, hoarse voice:

“You are merely a Saint. Kill yourself, and I will leave your corpse intact.”

Before his voice had even faded, a vast Saint King pressure, mighty as the heavens, came crashing down upon Shi Wanshan like an invisible mountain!

The surrounding space instantly froze. Chains of law flickered into existence, seeking to bind Shi Wanshan completely.

Shi Wanshan’s expression darkened. He knew there was no point in explaining—the other party did not believe him and had no intention of listening.

“Damn it! You really think your grandpa is afraid of you?”

With a furious roar, he not only refused to retreat but strode forward instead. The vigorous cultivation of his late-Saint Realm erupted with a thunderous boom.

He threw a punch. The fist imprint was simple and heavy, yet it contained terrifying power capable of shattering the earth and shaking mountains. Without any embellishment, it slammed head-on into the Saint King domain bearing down upon him!

“Boom——!”

The fist imprint and the domain collided violently, unleashing a deafening explosion!

Shi Wanshan’s body shook, but he forcibly withstood the blow without retreating even half a step!

A flicker of genuine surprise passed through the Gray-robed Old Man’s eyes.

“Hm? You actually managed to take one of my attacks head-on? No wonder you’re so arrogant.”

“Old bastard, you’ve got some skill! Again!”

Shi Wanshan’s battle intent surged. He threw another punch, its force tearing through the sky as he launched an active attack at the Gray-robed Old Man.

The Gray-robed Old Man snorted coldly and pointed through the air, sending several incredibly condensed gray beams of finger force shooting out.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Shi Wanshan met them with fists and palms. The two exchanged blows back and forth, fighting to a standstill!

For a time, fist imprints, palm force, and gray beams of finger force collided and annihilated one another in midair. Explosions rang out without pause, and the battle was fierce beyond measure.

The Purple-Robed Saint watched with his heart in his throat. He had never imagined that Shi Wanshan would be so ferocious as to contend head-on with an ancestor at the middle stage of the Saint King Realm!

Yet Shi Wanshan, locked in battle, remained perfectly clear-headed.

“I don’t have a suitable treasure with me right now. If this drags on, I’ll definitely be the one who suffers!”

His thoughts raced, and he reached a decision in an instant.

After clashing head-on once more, he borrowed the force of the impact to drift a hundred yards backward and stabilize himself. He patted the dust from his clothes, then flashed the Gray-robed Old Man and the Purple-Robed Saint a roguish grin.

“Hahaha! Old man, you’ve got quite a hard punch! But I didn’t bring any decent weapons today, so this fight isn’t much fun! I’m done playing with you. Farewell!”

Before his voice had faded, a flash of blood-red light swept across his body. He transformed into a dazzling rainbow, his speed skyrocketing as he tore through the void and fled in the direction farthest from the Azure Profound Sect!

His decisiveness and speed left even the Gray-robed Old Man momentarily stunned.

The Purple-Robed Saint panicked when he saw this.

“He’s getting away!”

The Gray-robed Old Man stared in the direction Shi Wanshan had vanished. Rather than showing anger, he revealed a strange smile. Slowly, he raised his hand, a wisp of nearly imperceptible pale-gray energy curling around his fingertip.

“Getting away? He won’t escape.”

The old man’s hoarse voice was filled with the composure of one who had everything under control.

“During our exchange just now, I took the opportunity to drive the Shadowless Soul-Chasing Powder into his blood and qi.

“This powder was obtained from the Netherworld Hall at a great price. It is formless and odorless, and it clings exclusively to one’s blood and qi. No matter what concealment technique he uses, so long as his blood and qi remain, he will be like a bright lantern in the dark. It will be nearly impossible for him to shake it off.”

He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the situation for a moment. Then he pointed in the direction Shi Wanshan had fled, his tone filled with certainty.

“He’s over there. After him!”

Shi Wanshan had thought he had escaped, never realizing that the poison planted by the Saint King during their battle had attached itself to him like a bone-eating maggot. It focused solely on his blood and qi. No matter how many secret techniques he employed, he could not drive it away; instead, it burrowed deeper and deeper.

“What the hell is this?!”

“Damn you! You sneaky bastard! I can’t believe you saw that coming! You couldn’t beat me, so you resorted to poison? What a despicable coward!”

He cursed furiously, veins bulging on his forehead.

So that was why the old bastard had allowed him to leave. He had planted a trap beforehand! The method was utterly vile and shameless!

Shi Wanshan tried several secret techniques to force out the poison, but that cold, sinister aura remained stubbornly entrenched deep within his blood and qi.

His heart gradually sank. Did he have to return to the sect and deal with it there?

Within the Azure Profound Sect, both the sect master and the old ancestors were at the Saint King Realm. Not to mention Changge was there as well. A mere Saint King would surely be dealt with effortlessly.

“No! I absolutely cannot slink back to the sect in disgrace!”

He could almost imagine the scene: himself battered and bedraggled, suffering from some strange poison as he fled back to the Azure Profound Sect, only to be seen by Senior Brother Sect Master and the other old peak masters.

Just imagining their inquisitive and mocking looks made his face burn with embarrassment!

He was even more unwilling to lead powerful enemies back to the sect. That was why he had continued hiding and dodging outside, leaving himself trapped in this deeply humiliating predicament.

Damn it! When had Shi Wanshan ever suffered such a crushing indignity?

“So that’s how it is.”

A look of understanding flashed through Gu Changge’s eyes. Then, deep within his eyes, a trace of amusement so faint it was almost imperceptible swept past.

Senior Brother Shi, who was usually rough around the edges but far from foolish, had truly suffered one ambush after another this time.

At that moment, the image above the stone table slowly faded away.

The worry on Xuanyangzi’s face had not yet completely disappeared, but the corners of his mouth had already begun twitching uncontrollably.

“Ah, Junior Brother Shi, this time you really…”

Xuanyangzi tried his best to maintain a stern expression. But whenever he recalled Shi Wanshan’s miserable appearance in the image—desperate to explain but unable to make himself clear, eager to fight but lacking a weapon, and finally falling victim to a dirty trick—he found himself both exasperated and amused.

“Shadowless Soul-Chasing Powder.” Gu Changge idly ran his fingers over the egg, as though recalling some insignificant matter.

The name sounded somewhat familiar. If he remembered correctly, he seemed to have mentioned this substance to Ling Canglan once while offering him some guidance, and had casually refined it a little.

He had never expected Senior Brother Shi to be the first to try it. Judging by the results, it seemed to work quite well.

With that thought, Gu Changge’s gaze remained calm as he turned it once more toward the distant void. His mind stirred slightly.

In an instant, a message crossed boundless distances and precisely entered the depths of Shi Wanshan’s sea of consciousness as he raced through the Wild Mang Mountain Range.