Chapter 1221: Young People Lack Martial Morality (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

Sometimes, Gongxi Chou also considered reporting it to the authorities.

"Can inner demons be burned?"

He almost made a sharp, explosive sound.

No wonder he reacted so strongly.

Inner demons are like persistent ghosts, omnipresent. They don't usually show themselves, but when a martial artist falls into a low mood or hits a bottleneck in their cultivation, they quietly emerge, like maggots clinging to bones. Which martial artist in their lifetime isn't tormented by a few inner demons? Parents and friends won't accompany a martial artist for life, but inner demons will. Even someone as insightful as Gong Xichou is not immune.

He was almost killed by his inner demons several times!

This results in all martial arts masters having a strong heart.

Because once a crack appears in the mind, inner demons will seize the opportunity to enter. At best, one will fail to break through and suffer internal injuries; at worst, one will become possessed and lose control, making it impossible to make any progress in life; and in very rare cases, the unlucky ones will die and their cultivation will be lost.

Gong Xichou felt his brain wasn't quite working properly: "...But inner demons, to put it bluntly, aren't they just a hurdle in one's heart?"

Perhaps it's a regret that will haunt you for life, or an enemy that has left you with a deep psychological scar... Even in the dead of night, the memory brings unease and depression. How do you burn this thing?

Gong Xichou couldn't imagine it.

Ji Moqiu said, "Of course it can be burned."

Gong Xichou: "..."

Ji Moqiu's answer was somewhat abstract: "Even if it is a demon in one's heart, it is not a truly intangible thing; it naturally has something to rely on."

"I can burn away inner demons with a single breath of fire. I can't even imagine how sought-after I would become if this news got out... All the martial artists in the world would flock to me." Looking at the towering figure that had stepped through the sea of ​​fire, Gong Xichou felt a dull ache in his dragon teeth. "I was just sharpening my teeth with his Mo Dao, and now I feel like his blade could break them."

This is not an exaggeration at all.

The difference in demeanor between the herb gatherers was so great, they were like two completely different people!

Ji Moqiu offered Gong Xichou a rather useless reassurance: "Don't worry, it won't burn completely; this is only temporary."

Inner demons are "qi" (vital energy), while mental obstacles are "nuclei" (the core of the mind).

This "qi" originates from one's own mental obstacles.

As long as the "core" of mental obstruction remains, it will continuously generate "inner demonic energy" to torment the martial artist. Gong Xi Chou's great fire is only a temporary fix. After this period of heightened excitement subsides, the herb gatherer will return to his original state, or even become more depressed.

Mental barriers can only be overcome by the martial artist himself.

The herb gatherer's obsession is deeply ingrained; his inner demons are likely difficult to eradicate.

"It's temporary for him, but a matter of life and death for us brothers." Who knows how long the herb gatherer's exhilarating state of mind will last! Even if he's not at a disadvantage, he shouldn't forget that there's a wolf lurking on the side, watching him intently.

Qi Cang will not let go of the opportunity to eliminate his formidable enemy.

Gong Xichou's smile was bloodthirsty: "But that's what makes it interesting!"

If the herb gatherer was just moments before like the fading glow of sunset, a hero past his prime with no more vigor, then before him was the blazing midday sun, its brilliance dazzling and blinding! His aura surged, multiplying several times in just a few breaths!

He sensed a long-lost threat of death from the herb gatherer!

The herb gatherer was captivated by the subtle feeling he was experiencing.

After many years of absence, the passion that had been dormant for so long surged and boiled again without restraint, and the long sword in his hand roared and howled, making the soul tremble... How strange and yet how familiar all of this was!

He couldn't remember the last time he felt so relaxed and carefree. The damage to his homeland was irreversible, and disheartened, he withdrew from the world. Over the years, not only had his sharp edges worn down, but he had also lost his youthful spirit and forgotten the feeling of forging ahead without hesitation.

"Old buddy, I'm sorry to have put you through this!"

The herb gatherer stroked the blade of the Hundred Ghosts Blade with deep emotion. The gleaming blade reflected his eyes, which gleamed with a chilling light, like those of a demon crawling out of the eighteenth level of hell. At that moment, the hundred demons engraved on the blade seemed to be celebrating the return of the Ghost Lord, each one emitting a shrill and ferocious laugh. Instantly, gusts of cold wind swept through the air, and an astonishing chill filled the sky and earth, briefly forcing back the flames that had been entangled with the herb gatherer.

The Mo Dao emitted a low hum, as if in response.

"Okay, okay, okay—"

Overwhelmed with excitement, the herb gatherer exclaimed "Good!" three times.

"Old friend, I'll find you the best whetstone today!" A broadsword only sharpens with blood; what whetstone could be more suitable than the head of a powerful warrior? Having received his answer, the herb gatherer sneered at the Gongxi Chou brothers, "Kindness is kindness, enmity is enmity. If you help me return to my peak, I can grant you one request. For example, leave your corpses intact!"

A surging, murderous aura rushed straight towards Gong Xichou.

The wind blew, making the dragon's whiskers fly wildly.

Gongxi Chou's enormous dragon body retreated.

"You're afraid? Too late!" The herb gatherer wasn't unaware that Ji Moqiu had already sheathed his armor—a gesture tantamount to surrender in a martial arts duel—but he didn't care. Trying to show weakness and surrender? The herb gatherer wouldn't allow it!

"Afraid? No—" Gong Xi Chou suddenly burst into wild laughter, his dragon eyes burning with battle intent, the dark green light emanating from them sharp and menacing. He moved the dragon claw hovering above Ji Mo Qiu's head, continuously pouring divine power into his meridians. As the divine power flowed through, new dragon scales replaced the original snake scales. "I just wanted to open your eyes, you old thing!"

Its already enormous body grew even larger in the wind, expanding nearly twice its original size in an instant, almost covering half the sky of the capital! The snake scales completely disappeared, and the bull horns on its head transformed into a pair of gleaming dragon horns.

Herb gatherer: "..."

Even without Gong Xichou's personal demonstration, he had already broadened his horizons, because Gong Xichou's Martial Courage Totem state was something that even a Martial Courage Warrior who had just broken through to the twentieth level of Chehou could not achieve.

It once gave him a subtle sense of oppression.

"A true dragon? What a pity, I came here to slay dragons!"

The herb gatherer's attention was completely drawn to Gongxi Chou, naturally causing him to overlook Ji Moqiu, who had "raised the white flag." The latter suddenly made a move, brandishing his wooden staff and uttering an ancient, deep prayer, as if it were a response from the ancient world.

Gongyang Yongye's intuition told him that Ji Moqiu was up to no good!

Without hesitation, he immediately chose to control his blade with his inner energy, aiming directly at Gong Xi Chou's face. Gong Xi Chou exhaled dragon breath, whipping his tail to block the attack, while simultaneously lowering his left claw to protectively bring Ji Mo Qiu into his safe zone. Only when his dragon tail touched the blade did he realize that the opponent's attack was merely a facade, all show and no substance!

The real killer move is elsewhere!

Gong Xichou snapped back to his senses, a powerful killing intent surging from above.

The herb gatherer unleashed a torrent of arrows from his longbow, nearly covering every scale on the dragon's body. Gongxi Chou impatiently swept away a large number, but a few still escaped. Each arrow, accompanied by countless wind blades, was like a slow, agonizing death, each strike akin to three thousand six hundred cuts!

However, the dragon scales possessed astonishing defense; arrows colliding with them could only scatter countless sparks, leaving not a single nick. Once the dense clanging subsided and the sparks dissipated, the dragon scales remained gleaming!

"You want to have an archery contest with me?"

Gongxi Chou gets annoyed whenever he sees others playing archery. Mama once told him that this feeling is called—being most annoyed by others showing off in front of him in his area of ​​expertise! He'll fight them off one by one!

As for what Bking means?

He seems to be a king who has absolute dominance in a certain field!

Mama even gave him an inappropriate example: "It's like shooting arrows, wielding whips, or brandishing halberds—like Yuanmou's spear or Dayi's mace."

Why do you say the example is inappropriate?

Gong Xichou considered himself an all-rounder, even in the fields of spears, maces, and clubs, he had absolute dominance!

He instinctively wanted to retaliate with the same move, but as soon as he moved his claw, he suddenly remembered that he was not in human form. He was completely clueless about how to draw a bow and shoot arrows in dragon form. In that moment of stunned silence, the herb gatherer's hidden killing intent revealed its true sharpness—a few thin, hair-like rays of light mingled with the thousands of arrow shadows, skimming along the dragon scales and slipping into the gaps in the defense.

They share the same goal—

It was Ji Moqiu who was protected by Gong Xichou's dragon claw!

Don't be fooled by these rays of light, as thin as spider silk, seemingly so light they could be blown away with a breath; they actually contained thirty percent of the herb gatherer's power. Gong Xi Chou's dragon claw only grazed the edge, yet a fragment was still slashed off.

The light intertwined to form a cage, trapping Ji Moqiu within. The herb gatherer subtly moved his five fingers, and the seemingly harmless cage instantly contracted inward! Gong Xichou realized something was wrong and looked down at the dragon claw, only to see his elder brother being sliced ​​to death beneath it.

"Big brother!"

His index fingertip grazed the barely perceptible mark on his neck, but Ji Moqiu saw no blood stain on it. The light prison was too sharp, the cut too swift; before he could even feel the pain, his limbs were severed. He watched indifferently as the pieces of flesh fell away, a hint of admiration in his voice: "Not bad archery!"

It was also a bit of a pity: "We were unable to kill him."

Gong Xi Chou's furious dragon roar resounded through the clouds, colliding head-on with the blade aura carrying a hundred ghosts hunting. The blade shadows sometimes multiplied into countless forms, sometimes merged into one, completely enveloping Gong Xi Chou's entire body. Gong Xi Chou, after all, hadn't ascended to dragonhood through the proper path; he inevitably possessed one or more weaknesses. The herb gatherer lacked patience and was too lazy to test each weakness one by one. He would cast a wide net; even if he couldn't find a weakness, he could still make this arrogant young man suffer greatly. His target was still Gong Xi Chou!

As for why they targeted Ji Moqiu first?

Why does Ji Moqiu look like a support/support player?

In the midst of chaos and battle, isn't it common sense to eliminate the meddlesome scholars on the other side first? Even though the herb gatherer hasn't really made a move in decades, I believe common sense still applies throughout history.

The herb gatherer's logic is sound.

The problem is—

My lord, times have changed!

Ji Moqiu, who should have perished, not only survived but stood atop the dragon's head, his hand forming a series of orderly hand seals, his chanting sometimes rapid, sometimes gentle. A vibrant aura swept through the clouds, instantly transforming into a strange crossbow: "It can fire in rapid succession."

One of his gains in the old ancestral lands.

Gong Xichou: "..."

No, let him wield a crossbow and fire at the enemy in rapid succession?

In his understanding, even the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow could only fire ten arrows at a time. While a crossbow powered by gas didn't require manual reloading, it still needed a charging process. The gap between two shots was the enemy's best opportunity to strike! More importantly, the enemy wasn't a stationary target; they could not only run and dodge, but also close in and smash the crossbow in one blow!

Despite his verbal reluctance, his actions betrayed his true intentions, treating it as a test of his elder brother's new weapon's power! If it weren't for his elder brother, the Gongxi Chou Bird wouldn't have given a damn about anyone else!

The herb gatherer was a seasoned veteran, extremely familiar with battlefield weaponry. He had initially worried that Gongxi Chou's defenses were too formidable, and after several rounds of direct probing, he hadn't found any weaknesses. He never expected that this young man would be so easily fooled by his accomplice. It wasn't even a siege or a direct confrontation, yet he was going to the trouble of using bows and crossbows.

Could you shoot him with a crossbow?

What's the difference between this and using a catapult to kill a mosquito?

However, the herb gatherer's smile soon faded.

The smile froze at a very stiff and awkward angle.

This crossbow, roughly the size of a dragon, didn't fire ten arrows at once, but rather sprayed hundreds of dark green orbs of light from different angles, each orb over ten feet in diameter. Calling them orbs isn't entirely accurate; each orb contained an extremely unstable, violent aura. The slightest imbalance would detonate the orbs, the explosions pulling each other together and sealing off a section of space!

What's worse is that it doesn't look particularly dangerous.

Only at the moment of detonation did the victims learn the secret hidden within! The herb gatherer sensed something amiss after experiencing the explosion once and instantly withdrew from the blast radius. Compared to the vastness of the sky and earth, the blast's affected area was utterly insignificant.

"Young man, prepare to die!"

No one understood the advantages and disadvantages of crossbows better than this veteran.

The gap between the two shots was the time of Gongxi Chou's death!

result--

Even as a dignified nineteenth-rank Marquis of Guannei, he was giving it his all, his Mo Dao sword not yet unleashed, when a new wave of light spheres enlarged before his eyes. No matter how he dodged and weaved, the light spheres relentlessly pursued him, showing no sign of stopping to recharge. What was even more insidious was that regardless of whether the herb gatherer dodged or not, the density of these light spheres would cause them to collide with each other, ultimately leading to their self-destruction.

He had dodged all the way around, but Gong Xichou still hadn't stopped.

There was no sign of his martial energy being exhausted.

The herb gatherer was so annoyed that he wanted to capture and kill the man, but Gongxi Chou was a dragon with a bow and crossbow wrapped around its tail. With a flick of its tail, it could dodge very quickly. With the assistance of Ji Moqiu, its speed was on par with the herb gatherer, and its endurance was even better.

Yes, if you can't beat them, you can wear them down.

What's the use of a Mo Dao (陌刀) if it's powerful but can't cut anyone?

That wasn't all; the herb gatherer also discovered that his speed was unknowingly decreasing! Each slash of his blade was weaker than the last!

The muscles in my hands and feet feel slightly numb and sluggish.

The herb gatherer's pupils trembled, as if he had thought of something.

He suddenly gathered his martial energy to disperse the filth in his meridians—they were few in number and had a very low presence; if one did not observe them carefully, one might even mistake them for part of the meridians!

Yes, Ji Moqiu poisoned it.

To be precise, it was a curse.

The power of the light spheres wasn't enough to threaten the herb gatherer's life; even a hundred shots in an instant would only leave him covered in soot and looking disgusting. Gong Xi Chou, however, would have to expend a massive amount of martial energy, making the expenditure disproportionate to the input. However, adding just a tiny bit of Gu worm could completely change the outcome, giving the herb gatherer a huge surprise—the explosion would produce a colorless, odorless poison that could paralyze muscles!

"You brat, your skills are nothing but trifles!"

He can completely remove this bit of poison in less than two breaths!

It won't harm anyone, but it'll disgust them!

The herb gatherer's appreciation for Gongxi Chou vanished completely, and his address changed from "young man" to the clenched-teeth "brat"!

"Do you dare to face me head-on and fight to the death?"

Gong Xiqiu was about to agree.

Spraying bullets everywhere with a crossbow wasn't really his style. He did want to experience the long-lost threat of death, but when he thought of his older brother standing right next to him, he swallowed back the words he was about to say.

Unable to get an answer, the herb gatherer angrily exclaimed, "Useless!"

Fully charged, a single strike slays the dragon!

The blade's energy cleaved through the explosive shockwaves, piercing through clouds and splitting rocks. The hundred ghostly figures twisted into a single, red-faced, fanged monster, swallowing the dragon's shadow whole. The herb gatherer, his face grim, said, "All of you, go into the monster's belly!"

|ω`)

I didn't update yesterday because my family member had recurring high fever from H1N1, and physical cooling methods weren't working, so we had to take them to the hospital again. They received IV fluids for two days before their fever stabilized. _(:з」∠)_

My dad has also had recurring fevers and colds for almost two weeks.

I have a feeling that if things continue like this, it will be difficult for Shiitake Mushroom to retire peacefully at 65.

(End of this chapter)