IS Chapter 69
by VolareShen Xinge swiftly cast a talisman forward, chanting, “Freeze!”
Two elders of the Dan Ding Sect waved their sleeves, and a cyan scroll unfurled, expanding against the wind, completely enveloping the open space.
At the same time, a radiant, blue-gold flame ignited before Sect Leader Lin, bombarding towards the “Fortune” beast.
Lin Zhu possessed a Life-Bound Spiritual Fire. Although a medical cultivator, he was not without battle prowess.
The flames swept over, charring many of the blood-red branches. Lin Zhu drew his soft sword from his waist, and in an instant, it transformed into a thirty-foot-long cyan vine, coiling around the woodcutter’s waist and pulling him away from the Fortune beast’s area.
Ye Zhuo, still cloaked in invisibility, hovered in mid-air, watching Sect Leader Lin’s soft sword.
Not a bad magical artifact.
Lin Zhu was already locked in a fierce battle with the Fortune beast, interspersed with Little Daoist Shen’s thunder-fire talismans, causing the ground to shake and mountains to tremble.
The Fortune beast’s branches and roots were not sturdy; they would burn upon contact with fire and shatter when struck by a weapon. However, after being severed, new branches would continuously sprout from that amiable smiling face.
The hollow eye sockets turned towards Lin Zhu, and the Fortune beast’s smile seemed to become even more benevolent, as countless red branches, like all-pervasive strands of hair, coiled towards Lin Zhu.
This thing was about five or six people tall, with a massive body and endlessly growing branches. If one were to be touched by those branches, the consequences would be unimaginable. The battle was greatly hampered by these factors.
But Lin Zhu quickly noticed that each time the branches were about to exploit an opening, sword energy would slice them down.
After a few breaths, Lin Zhu found an opportunity, and the cyan soft sword pierced straight into the Fortune beast’s eye socket. Spiritual power erupted, shattering half of its face.
Just as he was about to continue his attack, new branches instantly sprouted, intertwining like the supple blood vessels in the human body, reconstructing the complete smiling face.
Roots surged, and the Fortune beast was completely unharmed, smiling benevolently as it took a few more steps towards Sect Leader Lin.
Was it only allowed to draw upon others’ fortune, while others could not harm it in the slightest?
Cutting it had no effect, while even a slight touch from it would trigger a transformation. Encountering it, was one simply doomed to be exhausted to death?
Ye Zhuo took in this scene.
In fact, he had previously cleaved this thing in two, but when the Fortune beast reappeared, it was still intact.
In the beginning, it had hidden within the Dead Man Tree, without revealing the slightest aura.
Perhaps this thing was not a tangible object, Ye Zhuo thought.
Just like the word “Fortune,” neither gold nor stone, invisible and intangible, a vague and elusive thing in people’s hearts.
How to deal with it still required a test.
Ye Zhuo: “Everyone, step back.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhu retreated ten feet, and the others also stopped their attacks.
Ye Zhuo grasped his sword, standing alone before the Fortune beast.
The Fortune beast gazed down at him amiably, then slowly turned to look in the direction of the woodcutter, seemingly hesitating between the two.
The Fortune beast used bizarre means to deplete people’s fortune, inviting misfortune, but its ultimate goal was to torment its prey to the point of helplessness, then safely devour its entire life essence.
Among the group, the woodcutter had the least fortune remaining, making him an easier target.
But as far as blood sustenance was concerned, Ye Zhuo’s quality seemed to be higher.
In the end, it chose Ye Zhuo.
Before everyone’s eyes, the Fortune beast slowly moved towards him, like a loving elder reaching out to a beloved junior.
Unfortunately, it was not to offer a greeting gift.
Ye Zhuo drew his sword at an angle, and countless sword energies instantly bombarded towards the Fortune beast. The sword light was not direct and straightforward, but like a vortex storm at the edge of the sea and sky, instantly twisting the Fortune beast’s body into countless fragments.
As its body was torn apart, the Fortune beast’s shrill scream rang out again. Seemingly knowing that it could not gain any advantage against this person, the scarlet fragments scattered outward like exploding fireworks, attempting to flee.
Even so, it wouldn’t die?
The Dan Ding Sect’s scroll artifact enveloped this area, its original intention being to prevent the Fortune beast from escaping, but the Fortune beast’s fragments flew in all directions, and when they reached the scroll, their speed did not diminish in the slightest. In the next moment, they passed through it unimpeded.
The Dan Ding Sect elders and Sect Leader Lin simultaneously paled.
A defensive artifact that could protect the sect was also completely ineffective against this thing?
But then they heard tens of thousands of miserable wails coming from outside the scroll.
The elders retracted the artifact, only to find that outside the scroll was not the night sky.
A blood-colored barrier had been erected at some point, enveloping everyone within. It was burning with an eerie crimson light, casting the ground in a scarlet hue, making one feel as if they were standing in a monstrous blood sea.
Looking at it, one could not help but feel fear.
–This was definitely not something from their Dan Ding Sect, nor did it seem to be the work of anyone present.
The Fortune beast fragments that came into contact with the barrier were like being burned by fire, wailing in pain, while the other Fortune beast fragments stopped in front of the barrier, not daring to approach.
Finally, the fragments slowly fell back to the ground, reforming into the shape of the Fortune beast.
However, that smiling face was no longer amiable. The corners of its mouth slowly drooped, and the Fortune beast still stared at Ye Zhuo, like a loving elder revealing a sinister face behind a false smile.
The branches slowly gathered, condensing an strange energy, as if brewing an extremely powerful attack.
“Sect Leader Lin,” Ye Zhuo sheathed his sword and said, “Come here.”
Without suspicion, Lin Zhu walked to Ye Zhuo’s side.
At the same time, the Fortune beast let out a piercing shriek, and all its branches twisted into one, striking towards Ye Zhuo with the force of thunder!
Ye Zhuo drew Sect Leader Lin’s soft sword, his red-clothed figure leaping into the air. With the soft sword’s hilt in his hand, he swung it forward, transforming it into a scarlet whip entangled with boundless baleful flames.
In mid-air, the cold wind raged, and there were no stars or moon in the sky. Only the blood flames illuminated the scene, and in their vision, the sight of that person casually wielding the long whip was even more bewitching than when he held a sword.
Watching this scene, Sect Leader Lin was somewhat dumbfounded.
–Was this really something a sword cultivator would do?
The baleful flames on the whip tore through the air with afterimages, meeting the Fortune beast head-on.
Everyone was prepared to welcome the moment of close combat, the eruption of powerful forces.
No, Second Palace Master Ye was holding a long whip, and the Fortune beast was using branches. It should be said that they were engaging in long-range combat.
–But then they heard the Fortune beast let out an even more shrill scream.
With a crack of the whip, its entire body was heavily knocked to the ground, rolling twice in an extremely pathetic manner.
But even so, Ye Zhuo had already lost interest.
His divine sense poured into the soft sword, and the soft sword’s will was completely suppressed, controlled completely by a person who was not its master, changing its length.
The Fortune beast rolled over twice, and dizzily tried to stand up again.
The sound of wind breaking through the air rang out again.
–The long whip transformed into a long rope, binding the Fortune beast completely.
The other end was thrown back into Sect Leader Lin’s hands.
Sect Leader Lin stared blankly at the sword hilt in his hand, then looked at the Fortune beast opposite him.
The Fortune beast was bound several times over by the rope, struggling anxiously, with its branches flailing wildly, but there was no sign of it being able to break free.
This scene was as if he was holding a rope, with a trapped beast tied to the other end.
When they first clashed, Lin Zhu had also tried to use the soft sword to transform into a long vine to restrict the Fortune beast’s movements, but no matter what, the Fortune beast’s branches would break free from the restraints without any resistance.
–Why was it so easy for Palace Master Ye to capture it, as if he was lashing a dog?
Sect Leader Lin tentatively took two steps back.
The enormous Fortune beast was actually pulled back a staggering step, following Lin Zhu for two steps as well.
The onlookers were dumbfounded.
The blood-colored barrier had already been withdrawn.
Looking at the scarlet baleful flames burning on the soft sword that had become a beast-binding rope, anyone with eyes could see that the barrier must have been Ye Zhuo’s work as well.
But wasn’t he a sword cultivator?
Moreover, what kind of methods were these? Why were all kinds of spells ineffective, but he was able to trap the Fortune beast with such ease?
“…Buddhist methods?” an elder murmured.
After saying that, he was suddenly startled and immediately shut his mouth, no longer discussing it. Knowing too much about such people would invite great terror.
Ye Zhuo examined the Fortune beast, confirming that it could no longer cause any trouble.
All things were born from nature, but “Fortune” was not among them.
Under the Heavenly Dao, there was neither good nor bad in the operation of things. Whether it was fortune or misfortune was all determined by people. In the end, it was all the karma in people’s hearts.
If it was karma, then use karmic force to subdue it.
It just so happened that he had some knowledge of Buddhism, and Sect Leader Lin was carrying a rope.
The Buddhist beads were filled with the grievances of hundreds of thousands of blood demons, creating countless karmic obstacles, and the karmic force that could be mobilized was even greater. Compared to that, this Fortune beast was truly weak.
“Just keep holding it like this?” Sect Leader Lin’s voice trembled slightly.
Ye Zhuo looked at the frantically struggling Fortune beast.
He could kill it with a single sword. He cultivated in the Void, where there was no birth or death, and naturally, there was no fortune or misfortune.
But Ye Zhuo always felt that there was something special about this thing.
Ye Zhuo: “Catch another one over here.”
“……?”
In the end, the woodcutter was placed in another open space, once again becoming bait.
This time, as soon as the second Fortune beast appeared, before the woodcutter could even scream, it was tightly bound by the karmic fire rope.
The two Fortune beasts looked almost identical. The first one captured was a bit larger, and the second one was a bit smaller.
The Dan Ding Sect disciples stared at the two restless Fortune beasts, lost in thought.
–This scene could not help but remind them of when they first entered the medical path, dismembering spirit beasts together.
Spirit beasts were dangerous, so each time they dismembered one, there would be an elder sitting guard to prevent accidents, while they could safely use their knives.
Fortune beasts were also dangerous, so Second Palace Master Ye was also nearby. This made them want to do something to the Fortune beasts, such as studying whether putting two Fortune beasts together could cause them to reproduce.
Shen Xinge, on the other hand, clasped his hands behind his back in a serious manner: “Daoist Ye, my master once taught me a common proverb from the mortal realm.”
Ye Zhuo untied the ropes on the two Fortune beasts and perfunctorily said, “Is that so?”
Why “Is that so?” instead of “What is it?” Shen Xinge felt that he might have misheard.
Since Daoist Ye was so eager to learn, he would naturally generously impart his knowledge: “That saying is——”
Before he could finish speaking, he saw that the two Fortune beasts had already been tightly bound together by Ye Zhuo.
The two Fortune beasts, which were already restless, immediately began to frantically attack each other. Branches and roots tangled violently towards each other, indistinguishable.
The branches above this thing would trigger a person’s fortune upon contact, while the roots below could draw upon a person’s life essence.
What would happen if two Fortune beasts were mixed together, mutually absorbing and mutually stimulating each other?
After earth-shattering movements, the smaller Fortune beast gradually fell into a disadvantage.
The larger Fortune beast’s roots were firmly embedded in it, and the red representing fortune became less and less, while the red on the larger Fortune beast became even more intense, and its size rapidly increased, and the smile on its face became even more benevolent.
Looking at that face, it was truly a person with great fortune.
What price would one have to pay for obtaining so much fortune?
When that dense red reached its peak, an extremely miserable howl resounded through the night sky. The bodies of the two Fortune beasts burst open at the same time, splattering countless viscous blood and filth outward.
At that moment, a slight tremor came from the depths of the earth, and the atmosphere enveloping the mountain range seemed to have undergone some kind of change.
The bodies of the two Fortune beasts had completely ceased to exist. And in the center of the blood-stained land, a black cocoon pulsated slightly like a heart.
Ye Zhuo attached a layer of karmic force to Sect Leader Lin’s silver knife, and Sect Leader Lin cut open the black cocoon.
The translucent cocoon membrane was separated, and a black, reddish monster with countless tentacles was lying quietly inside, seemingly slowly taking shape.
When the knife was removed, countless wriggling, fine silk tentacles quickly stretched out from the cocoon membrane, healing its wound and continuing to grow.
The words that Shen Xinge hadn’t finished finally came out.
“…It’s ‘Good fortune never comes in pairs, misfortune never comes singly.'”
Good fortune never comes in pairs, is actually saying that the fortune in life is not only difficult to obtain, but also ultimately limited. So the two Fortune beasts mutually devoured each other, and in the end, the fortune on their bodies exceeded their capacity, causing them to explode and die.
Then, they transformed into such an ugly creature. When it grows up and breaks out of its cocoon, will it grow into a “misfortune” beast that is the opposite of a “fortune” beast?
The fortune in life is finite, while the misfortunes in life are endless. Is that what “misfortune never comes singly” means?
However, whether it’s fortune or misfortune, whether it comes in pairs or not, it doesn’t matter now.
Because Second Palace Master Ye has already drawn his sword, and it was a sword light they had never seen before.
It was just a very ordinary sword, but it seemed to fall into everyone’s heart. In that sword, all the origins and endings of the world seemed to have never existed, and had never happened.
The black cocoon that was nurturing the misfortune beast instantly dissipated into nothing.
A disciple lightly said, “Huh?”
It turned out that on the edge of the blood-stained land, many strange flowers had bloomed at some point.
The shape of those flowers was similar to that of the mortal epiphyllum, and the petals had two colors, the red of “fortune” and the black of “misfortune” intertwined with each other, indistinguishable.
The Dan Ding Sect disciples naturally picked them.
There was no need for Second Palace Master Ye to condescend to pick them. The sect master had already said that after going out, all the harvests would be offered to Palace Master Ye first.
Thinking about it, if Palace Master Ye found them handy, magical artifacts could also be “offered first.”
Thinking of this, the method of picking the flowers became even more refined, and even the boxes used to hold the flowers were of the highest quality.
Looking at the strangely colored epiphyllum petals, Ye Zhuo was reminded that what Feng Jiang wanted, the “Eightfold Wheel,” was also a kind of flower.