ILDV Chapter 44

Dead silence.

Numerous furtive gazes swept back and forth over this mighty expert who had suddenly burst through the wall. The moment their eyes landed on the demonic qi swirling around his body, they all lowered their heads, pretending they didn’t exist.

A demonic cultivator who could withstand Heavenly Tribulation… who knew how many great experts from both the Immortal and Demonic paths were hidden in this auction house. This concerned an Integration stage inheritance—it wasn’t something small fries like them could get involved in.

The Second Venerable swept his gaze around in a circle, quickly locking onto the location where the earlier attack had come from, and lifted his foot. A pale golden barrier appeared out of thin air before him. The young monk who had spoken earlier chanted Buddhist verses in a low voice. “Benefactor, why must you be so obsessed?”

The Second Venerable’s lips parted. Everyone thought he was about to say something harsh, but in the next moment, towering demonic qi came rushing at them, carrying an explosively violent aura. In just one-thousandth of an instant, it shattered the pale golden barrier. As if unable to see the dark clouds and wild lightning flashing madly in the sky, he laughed savagely and strode forward with large steps. “Old bald donkey of Tiantai Buddhist Sect, hurry and go check on your blind little bald donkey! That small body of his might have already kicked the bucket, hahahahaha!”

“The Venerable goes too far!”

The ancient voice couldn’t conceal its anger. A huge golden Buddha phantom appeared out of thin air, visible clearly throughout all of Beiyu City. With glaring eyes, it was actually an Angry Vajra form! The Vajra raised its palm and pushed forward. In an instant, the air became thick as paste, and those with slightly lower cultivation couldn’t even move their own bodies!

The Second Venerable snorted coldly and raised his fist to strike back, not forgetting to shout loudly. “What are you still waiting for! If we don’t first drag out these sneaky righteous path turtles, are we going to wait until the end to be ambushed by them joining forces?!”

In the time it took him to shout twice, someone suddenly flashed out from the crowd. Before anyone could see their appearance clearly, hundreds of sword lights came rushing at them, cold light flashing—for a moment, it was impossible to determine where the sword would land.

Flowing golden sunlight cascaded down, and as the sword momentum changed, flowing light sparkled brilliantly.

The old monk was delighted. “Daojun’s righteousness is admirable!”

Fighting two against one, the Second Venerable gradually fell into a disadvantage and became increasingly annoyed. “What are you still sitting there watching for? Do you really want to wait until Laozi is defeated? With just you alone, will you still have a share in competing?”

The Second Venerable’s unexpected maneuver not only shocked everyone, it also shocked his own ally. 

The First Venerable’s subordinate sat dazedly in his chair. Jolted awake by this shout, he cursed inwardly, but had no choice but to burst through the wall and join the battlefield for his superior’s orders, facing off against Shen Muxuan of Tianji who had appeared from who knows where.

After exchanging a few moves, a strange sense of familiarity arose in his heart, as if he had fought with this person somewhere before. With something weighing on his mind, his movements slowed. Suddenly feeling a pain in his shoulder, he had no choice but to temporarily avoid the sword momentum of the Tianji Sword.

“This one is gifted to the Arhat!”

(TL: 罗汉 (Luohan / Arhat) refers to a revered enlightened being in Buddhist context)

Shen Muxuan looked truly disdainful enough. With a thrust and flick of the Tianji Sword, he forced the black-robed subordinate to retreat, then casually enveloped the Second Venerable within his sword momentum range, muttering in a low voice, “Black and grimy with a rank stench—which muddy pit did you roll around in before running out?”

The black-robed subordinate also had the good hearing of a Tribulation stage cultivator. Immediately throwing all sense of familiarity to the back of his mind, his anger blazed as he was about to pounce forward, but was intercepted by the old monk with hearty laughter. “Wonderful! Wonderful!”

He had originally been worried that this junior would be unable to cope, but unexpectedly, even facing a Tribulation stage Demon Venerable, he wasn’t overwhelmed. Immediately relaxing half his concerns, he diverted part of his attention toward a shattered VIP room.

The young monk knelt anxiously beside him. The young monk had fainted in the arms of the black-haired, jade-robed Hua Tinglan, eyes tightly closed and face pale as paper. Hua Tinglan reached into his sleeve, pinched a jade-green leaf, and stuffed it into his mouth, his heart bleeding with pain. 

——His own authentic ten-thousand-year Tinglan leaves—plucking one meant having one less! He didn’t want to go bald!

The clouds rumbled thunderously. The thunder dragons shuttled even more violently. Seeing that they were about to fall, the Second Venerable became even more unrestrained in entangling the two from the immortal sects. “Hahahahaha, this Venerable isn’t afraid of Heavenly Tribulation! But you, bald old turtle—if you get hit once, ten years of merit will be gone, won’t they!”

The Buddhist Sect cultivated the path of merit. While proper Heavenly Tribulations could refine the golden body, this punitive type of tribulation lightning was indeed greatly detrimental to cultivation.

The old monk’s expression worsened. His hands were nearly dancing like flowers, yet he still couldn’t shake off the dogshit-plaster-like black-robed man.

Suddenly, a sword light came from the side. That junior from the immortal sect smiled and said, “Senior, please step back. This junior can still manage for a while.”

No one knew what technique he used—they only saw white robes and golden sword shuttling back and forth through the black fog and demonic qi, nimble as the wind. The two were entangled tightly by him, gnashing their teeth but unable to break free, falling into exactly the same predicament the old monk had faced earlier.

The black-robed man’s eyes went round. Fighting two Tribulation stage cultivators alone—was this something a Mahayana stage cultivator could do?! Even if he could match Yin Lang evenly, this logic still didn’t make sense!

No matter how much he questioned it, the facts were laid out plainly. The old monk hesitated only briefly before quickly flashing a hundred meters away. Xu Rong had been watching with trepidation to begin with. Seeing this made him even more anxious. Not even caring about when his cheap master had followed them, he cried out repeatedly, “Senior Brother, what should we do!”

Qin Xun wore a somber expression. Suddenly grabbing Xu Rong, he made several leaps and stopped in front of a VIP room, then viciously kicked the wall.

With a thunderous crash, dust flew everywhere. In Xu Rong’s bewildered gaze, he forcibly dragged him into Tiantai Buddhist Sect’s VIP room. Hua Tinglan glanced over briefly but didn’t interfere. However, the old monk’s white eyebrows twitched as he flicked his sleeve to cover them within the protective range.

“You damn bastard, do you want to die?!” Shrill angry curses came from far to near, still carrying undispersed white dust.

Hu Yunu rushed in together with the Saintess. The old monk sighed again, hiding them even more securely, taking the initiative, “Two fellow Daoists, this is rather improper.”

Just who was being improper, and who was being insubordinate!

Hu Yunu choked, nearly blurting out his self-address of ‘this lady.’ The Saintess’s expression also wasn’t good as she said coolly, “I didn’t know that Taihua Immortal Sect’s outstanding disciples were such discourteous people.”

Just as they were about to quarrel, the auction platform, already shattered beyond recognition by the Heavenly Tribulation and battle aftershocks, suddenly blazed with extremely intense golden light!

Whether those who had already escaped tens of thousands of miles away or the three fighting fiercely, everyone’s attention immediately turned back to the auction platform.

The treasure map floated in midair. The golden light it emitted gradually weakened, revealing its true form. The withered yellow, brittle paper slowly rolled up from both ends toward the center. The remaining faint golden light transformed into a long ribbon that tied an exquisite knot at the center of the paper roll.

What did this mean?

Before they could sort out their chaotic thoughts, the self-tied treasure map suddenly shot across horizontally with a whoosh!

And then the entire damaged auction hall gradually transformed into golden light particles. From the broken railings to the roof with large holes, it dissipated bit by bit until nothing remained, leaving only an empty flat ground.

…The auction was over? How could this be!

The fox demon reacted fastest, shocked and uncertain. “Someone reported the highest bid silently during the chaos!”

And then everyone’s attention had been focused on the Tribulation stage melee and the heavenly thunder. Out of habit waiting for things to settle before continuing the auction, they had actually forgotten that the auction house rule was that the highest bidder wins!

“Who! Which flat-headed, foolish little bastard!”

“Sneaking around like this—if you have the guts, stand out and compete openly!”

“Damn him, to actually do something so underhanded…”

For a moment, complaints arose wave after wave. Everyone’s eyes blazed with fierce light, wanting to find that bastard who had secretly bid and taken such a huge advantage.

If they couldn’t rob openly, it didn’t matter—just kill the person and the treasure map would become an ownerless object!

The treasure map shot into midair, paused slightly, then rushed straight in one direction. Everyone stared tightly at the treasure map, preparing to act immediately, when they heard a rough laugh. The Second Venerable actually reached out to grab the treasure map flying past him!

That’s right—a Tribulation stage Demon Venerable wasn’t afraid of Heavenly Tribulation at all!

His stubby fingers had already half-grasped the golden light paper roll when Shen Muxuan shook his head and sighed softly amid the silence. “Does Shen have so little threatening presence in the Venerable’s eyes?”

Following his falling voice was magnificent sword light, heading precisely toward those fingers without deviation. The protective demonic qi of a Tribulation stage Demon Venerable absolutely couldn’t block the sword edge of Sword Master Tianji’s full force. The Second Venerable hatefully raised his other hand. Bronze-gold colored light quickly dyed across the entire hand—he intended to resist this divine sword’s edge with just one hand!

The thunderous rumbling overhead suddenly grew louder. The Second Venerable assumed the Heavenly Tribulation for snatching things was coming and completely disregarded it, continuing to reach for the item.

The sword momentum’s direction didn’t change. The Second Venerable only heard a helpless mutter, “So even Demon Venerables would benefit from reading more books.”

He was bewildered by the meaning when sudden severe pain came from his fingertips. Blood mixed with shattered flesh flew out together, the bronze-gold color still not yet dispersed from it. Naturally, the treasure map also flew away.

“Fool!” The black-robed man shouted coldly. “Those seven swords of Taihua Immortal Sect are all divine artifact-level! If not for this, how could Shen Muxuan fight against Tribulation stage with Mahayana stage cultivation!”

As he spoke, he threw himself forward. “First deal with these people from the immortal sect! As long as these troublesome ones are gone, the treasure map is just a matter of lifting our hands!”

However, Shen Muxuan didn’t raise his right hand gripping the sword. The strange expression on his face made an inexplicable sense of unease arise in his heart.

His smile grew thicker, and he even lazily yawned, making a sword flourish and placing the sword behind his back, saying slowly, “This black-robed fellow Daoist, are you perhaps not quite clear…”

The following words were drowned out by the thunderous explosion. The long-brewing thunder dragons burst and struck down. Seven or eight merged together into the thickness of a tree requiring three people to encircle, exploding a huge crater in the ground. The Heavenly Dao controlled the Heavenly Tribulation range quite precisely, only striking the land within a hundred-meter radius until no grass remained. Inside and outside that line were completely different scenes.

Long before the thunder sounds grew increasingly heavy, Hu, Hua and the others had seen the situation was bad and quickly withdrew from the tribulation cloud range. Now looking at the terrifying scene within the hundred meters that seemed to have transformed into a thunder prison, their hearts trembled endlessly.

The black-robed man was chased by the tribulation lightning until his ass was on fire. The Second Venerable wasn’t much better off. This Heavenly Tribulation’s power was unexpectedly strong. Even with Tribulation stage cultivation, getting hit once made the skin and flesh hurt for quite a while. Not to mention that thunder techniques carried vast righteous qi—the residual fine lightning that drilled into the body was like swimming snakes, so uncomfortable that one would rather be directly struck dead.

Gasping for breath and looking back, expecting that the immortal sect brat should have long since turned to flying ash in the Heavenly Tribulation, he instead saw him leisurely leaning against the only surviving withered branch, watching the two being chased and scurrying everywhere by the tribulation like watching a monkey show. Catching the Second Venerable’s gaze, he even nodded in acknowledgment.

“You—how could you possibly—” Before the questioning words finished, the black-robed man was dumbfounded to discover—it wasn’t that Shen Muxuan could resist the Heavenly Tribulation, but that the tribulation simply wasn’t striking him at all!

Within three zhang, vegetation flourished luxuriantly. Beyond three zhang, a sea of thunder surged.

For a moment, even that handsome face seemed to resemble an evil ghost!

Shen Muxuan leaned against the withered branch, slowly repeating the words he hadn’t heard clearly earlier.

“When we of the righteous path undergo tribulation, if there are unrelated people within the Heavenly Tribulation range, the tribulation scale increases according to the number of people. If a demonic cultivator happens to intrude…”

Another thunderous explosion rang out, precisely hitting the black-robed man who had been too distracted to dodge. The smell of burning spread. His movements underfoot slowed, and several more thunder strikes came rushing at him one after another, forcibly striking him into a scorched lump of half-cooked meat.

“…This is what happens.”

“You…?” The black-robed man struggled for a long time and only squeezed out one word, expressing his full heart of bitter grief and anger to the utmost.

“Truly sorry.” Shen Muxuan smiled, folding his fan against his chin, saying leisurely, “Unfortunately, Shen happens to be advancing to Tribulation stage at this moment.” 

“Impossible! Even if an advancement Heavenly Tribulation had ten more demonic cultivators to share the burden, the one undergoing tribulation couldn’t possibly not be touched by any tribulation lightning at all!” Having no energy left to run, he instead observed more carefully. “The aura around your body isn’t the normal advancement transformation process at all. In the blink of an eye, you jumped from Mahayana to Tribulation stage. It’s more like—you’ve always been Tribulation stage, just using some method to conceal your true cultivation level!”

He gritted his teeth, grief-stricken. “You simply saw there was no one else left and couldn’t even be bothered to pretend anymore!”

“Hm?!”

The Second Venerable’s eyes went round with fury. “You little bastard with such paltry cultivation want to keep both of us here? Too arrogant! Let this senior teach you how to properly curl your tail and be a good bastard!”

He steeled his heart and actually charged forward while braving the Heavenly Tribulation.

“Old Qian, be careful! This brat is extremely strange—watch out for capsizing in the gutter!”

(TL: 阴沟里翻了船 → literally “capsize a boat in the gutter,” a Chinese idiom meaning “an unexpected betrayal” or “a sneaky trick that backfires on you.”)

The Second Venerable turned a deaf ear. His hands manifested a blood-red giant sword. Demonic qi mixed with the towering resentment of wronged souls, cleaving down from above!

Shen Muxuan crooked his finger and flicked. The Tianji Sword automatically jumped into his palm. After the sword body filled with spiritual power, it radiated golden light. Disregarding the giant sword already at his head, he thrust his sword backhand, pointing straight at the Second Venerable’s heart.

The Tianji Sword momentum was light, and the sword techniques were also primarily nimble. When moving, it was swift as lightning and quick as thunder. Facing each other, it was clear the Tianji Sword would pierce through the Second Venerable’s heart first, yet neither had any intention of withdrawing their sword to defend.

Puchi.

The sword body entered flesh.

The Second Venerable actually hadn’t even activated his copper skin and iron bones technique. When the Tianji Sword pierced through, it was as easy as stabbing through soft tofu.

Shen Muxuan looked up in surprise. “Actually one of the extremely rare right-hearted people?”

The Second Venerable grinned savagely. The giant sword was only an inch from the top of his head. At this distance, Shen Muxuan couldn’t withdraw the sword and stab again in time!

The Second Venerable stared fixedly at his eyes, anticipating the terror and pleading that would soon appear there, just like every person he had killed before.

Shen Muxuan sighed and withdrew his sword without dodging or evading.

“Hahaha, struggling before death? Too late, stinking brat! Prepare to welcome death!”

“No… I remember now…”

“Retreat quickly!” The dying black-robed man suddenly raised his head, doing his utmost to shout loudly. The scorched yellow scars couldn’t hide the deep terror in his eyes. “Old Qian, retreat quickly! It’s him! Tianji is that person from back then—”

“Indeed, it’s too late.”

He saw the Tianji divine sword being stained inch by inch with an ominous blood color. Though the sword wielder’s voice wasn’t loud, it suppressed the continuously rumbling tribulation thunder beside his ears. Every word and sentence clearly reached the Second Venerable’s ears.

“Do you want to experience how the First Venerable of the Demonic Path, Demon Venerable Yan Yan—had his heart gouged out by me?”

(TL: 严 (Yan) = “strict,” “stern,” or “rigid.”

偃 (Yan / Yǎn) = “to lie down,” “to recline,” or “to stop/cease”)