Above the Great Dao
Chapter 55 - 35: The Banquet Begins

Chapter 55: Chapter 35: The Banquet Begins

Helian Zheng’s eyes were about to split with rage. Before he even had a chance to step around the Eight Immortals table, Chen Shi had already taken the initiative to attack and strike, killing Zhao San with two chopsticks, and Zhao Xue’e, igniting his fury to an uncontrollable blaze.

This time, the Zhao family’s Xuanying Mansion had sent Zhao San out to find Zhao Er, resolve the case regarding the missing housekeeper Zhao Ming and Iron Pen Weng, and at the same time, he led the Jinyi Guard to protect the safety of Zhao Yue and others.

Although Zhao Yue was the Third Son, he had considerable prestige within Xuanying Mansion. Intelligent and eager to learn from a young age, he had a thorough knowledge of poetry and literature and was skilled with the zither. At the same time, he was compassionate, which endeared him to everyone in the mansion.

There were even rumors that if the Eldest Son turned out to be unworthy, and if they could not find the Second Daughter, the old master would have plans to appoint Zhao Yue as his heir.

Beside Zhao Yue was Zhao Xue’e, his sister from the same mother, only sixteen years old, at the flowering age of youth. Learning that her brother Zhao San was going out to search for their Second Sister and seek revenge for Zhao Ming and Iron Pen Weng, she gladly accompanied him.

She was also a compassionate young girl, very kindhearted—so much so that she would not even step on an ant on a normal day.

Who could have anticipated such barbarity from these country bumpkins, stabbing Zhao San to death with a chopstick, and then Zhao Xue’e with another!

With the deaths of Zhao Yue and Zhao Xue’e, Helian Zheng couldn’t possibly escape involvement. He would bear the responsibility of negligence and might even end up buried with the Third Son!

And all of this was thanks to Chen Shi!

"Country bumpkin!"

Helian Zheng charged forward, gritting his teeth. Chen Shi had eliminated two people with two chopsticks and then, with a raise of his hand, flipped over the dining table. The table flew up with a whoosh, blocking the view of everyone in front.

Simultaneously with the flight of the table, Chen Shi rapidly retreated. Reaching out with his left hand, it came down like a cleaver on the throat of a Jinyi Guard behind Zhao Yue.

"What incredible speed!"

Despair filled the heart of the Jinyi Guard.

He had realized something was wrong but was too late to dodge. His neck bone was severed with a chop.

Right two, dead.

Chen Shi turned and threw a punch. There was a whooshing sound as the fist stirred up a gust of wind, smashing into the face of a nearby Jinyi Guard. The guard’s head banged against the ancient temple’s wall, which went "thud" and cracked open a large hole!

The Jinyi Guards outside only saw the temple wall suddenly bulge outwards; several bricks flew out, followed by a head with a shattered skull protruding from it.

Left one, dead.

"Enemy attack—"

The other Jinyi Guards were momentarily stunned, then quickly sprang into action, rushing towards the temple.

Inside the temple, chaos reigned. Nearly everyone was moving in response: some were pushing away chairs, attempting to stand; others stumbled over their chairs; some tried to move forward, others tried to move backward to avoid Chen Shi, the harbinger of plague.

For a moment, it was a mess of stumbling over one another. The other Jinyi Guards wanted to act, but with people everywhere, to recklessly deploy spells would only result in their own people being killed.

Their hands and feet were not the only things in disarray; their minds were too. They wanted to throw the people in front of them out of the way, but holding back when realizing they were their own.

Chen Shi, in contrast, remained utterly calm.

Strangely, before taking action, he would analyze the pros and cons, filled with many hesitations, but once he moved, his heart became incomparably calm. Every strike was both fast and precise, as if he was endowed with the means to kill from birth.

His speed was extremely fast, his body small and slippery. He sidestepped a rushing Jinyi Guard, raised his hand to make a fist, tucking the big thumb under his index finger, cushioned by the middle finger, and with the middle of the index finger, he struck the Jinyi Guard’s temple, breaking through the fragile skull, with the force penetrating deep into the brain.

The right eye of the Jinyi Guard immediately suffused with blood, turning entirely red, and black pupils were no longer discernible.

Blood vessels at his temple burst, first causing the eye to fill with blood, blurring his vision, followed by intense vibrations halting brain function. Then, blood rushed into the brain, leading to instantaneous death without much pain.

Chen Shi moved fluidly like a fish, delivering this strike and then circling to the Jinyi Guard’s back, back-to-back with him, only to see Zhao Yan lift a chair and viciously smash it down.

Chen Shi did not dodge or avoid it; the chair struck his head and exploded with a bang, leaving Zhao Yan holding only two chair legs. Chen Shi took the opportunity to grab the other two chair legs.

Zhao Yan saw the pointed ends of the chair legs, a fierce light flashed in his eyes. Intending to use the chair legs as weapons to stab Chen Shi, but Chen Shi did not let him react, thrusting the chair legs into his throat!

Chen Shi had refined his body; his physical condition was far superior to Zhao Yan’s, and much slower in terms of speed. freewёbnoνel.com

Chen Shi ducked, swept his leg out, kicking the crotch of an approaching Jinyi Guard from the side, then turned and sent his left hand forward, stabbing the other chair leg into the twisted face of another Jinyi Guard’s abdomen.

Right one, left two, Zhao Yan.

Dead.

Inside the temple, utter chaos ensued. Zhao Yue and Zhao Xue’e had not yet expired, and the first Jinyi Guard whose neck bone Chen Shi had severed with a hand chop still hadn’t fallen. Zhao Yan was attempting to pull the chair leg out of his throat, but already another Jinyi Guard had activated a Yellow Turban Warrior Talisman. Surrounded by golden light, possessing immense strength, he charged at Chen Shi like a wild ox, fist poised to smash down.

Chen Shi didn’t care for the two chair legs; this was a lesson he had learned from his time at the Li Family camp—that blood-soaked weapons were particularly slippery and easily dropped from one’s grasp.

That’s why, with chopsticks or chair legs, he had used them and cast them aside, not considering using them a second time, unless they were handy.

He stirred his Qi-Blood, and in an instant, his right arm swelled significantly, his palm as thick and heavy as a bear’s. He confronted the incoming fist head-on.

The Jin Yi Wei activated the Golden Warrior Talisman, and his fist shone brightly with golden light. The radiant golden aura around him made him appear as if clad in a golden armor, like a divine figure!

The Warrior Talisman allowed a cultivator to possess, in a brief period, an indestructible Vajra Body and infinite strength, making it the best talisman for close combat.

"Crack!"

Their fists collided, and the Jin Yi Wei’s palm shattered, with all fingers broken and his arm fractured. Gritting his teeth, he raised his left hand to strike again, but Chen Shi had already grabbed his broken right arm and thrust it forward, impaling his own right arm bone into his chest.

The Jin Yi Wei’s left hand furiously smashed into Chen Shi’s face, once, twice, thrice!

Withstanding the blows, Chen Shi pushed forward with all his might and slammed him against the wall with a loud bang, the broken arm bone piercing through him.

Grasping the protruding bone, Chen Shi yanked it out forcefully, and blood gushed forth. It was then that the Jin Yi Wei finally breathed his last.

Left Three, dead.

One of the Zhao family’s disciples, upon seeing Chen Shi charging at him, thoughtlessly sent out the Meridian Evil Slayer Sword from the god niche, emitting a sharp whistling sound. Chen Shi was just about to be sliced in two by this Sword Qi when he suddenly crouched down sharply.

The Sword Qi grazed the top of his head, and another Zhao disciple pursuing Chen Shi from behind stood dumbfounded as his head rolled off his neck and onto the ground.

That same Sword Qi had severed his neck and, without losing momentum, continued forward, slashing a deep sword mark into the wall of the ancient temple with a thunderous bang!

Chen Shi had not expected someone to dare use spells within this small temple. As he crouched, his hand already clutched a broken piece of a plate’s edge.

The temple floor was slippery, perhaps from spilled oils or blood. Chen Shi slid past the Zhao disciple’s side, grabbed his leg with one hand, dragging the disciple down to the ground, and with his other hand pressed the shard down with rapid strikes—lift and plunge, lift and plunge.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Shi had stabbed from the man’s leg upward, striking over a dozen times until he reached his chest. His hand slipped, and the broken ceramic didn’t come out—instead, he cut his palm.

Rolling his body, Chen Shi leaped up, dodging the falling Three-eyed Fire Gun, and thought, "There were twelve people in the temple originally, now only two remain. If I deal with the remaining two..."

The Three-eyed Fire Gun rebounded off the ground and shot straight forward, striking him in the chest with a thud!

This was not a simple thrust but a piercing attack, aimed to impale and immensely more powerful!

Helian Zheng had no time to turn the gun around, so he could only use this end of the Three-eyed Fire Gun. If he had used the other end with the sharp spearhead, he could have already impaled Chen Shi.

Nevertheless, the heavy gun, combined with Helian Zheng’s brute strength, was incredibly vicious even when striking the chest. Chen Shi, as if hammered by a giant mallet, let out a muffled groan and involuntarily flew backward. Mid-air, he saw Helian Zheng with one hand holding the gun, its muzzle flashing with fire!

He hit the wall with a bang, and despite the sharp pain in his chest, he forcefully thrust his palm into the wall and exerted his strength, flipping his body upward like a python.

The next instant, the spot he had previously struck exploded, half of the wall bursting open as a wave of air roiled through, sending bricks flying everywhere.

The black gunpowder used in the Three-eyed Fire Gun was an invention of the Medicine Saint, Sun Simiao, from the Tang Dynasty, composed of three ingredients refined with tri-Yang Thunder, releasing astonishing power upon ignition. It could blast the flesh and injure the Primordial Spirit, rendering even a Great Cultivator, who had successfully nurtured a Nascent Soul Primordial Spirit, helpless against such a mystical treasure.

Helian Zheng’s Three-eyed Fire Gun, loaded with just a tael and a half of black gunpowder and a tael of thunderbolts, and engraved within with Five Yang Heavenly Thunder talismans, was extraordinarily powerful. Naturally, a larger charge would yield more devastating force!

Helian Zheng, missing with one shot, reloaded the gun as Chen Shi had already climbed to the roof of the ancient temple which lacked a central beam and was only framed by a hexagonal lattice extending from six smaller beams.

Chen Shi scaled quickly, using hands and feet, while Helian Zheng, wielding the Three-eyed Fire Gun, leaped up. As the god niche behind him shone brightly, the sound of piercing wind heralded danger, and Chen Shi immediately let go and fell downward.

Two streams of Sword Qi whooshed past, slicing open the temple roof and allowing sunlight to stream through.

Chen Shi landed and immediately dashed towards the hole blasted by the gun.

As Helian Zheng hung in the air, not yet descended, the Armored Horse Talismans on his legs were already activated. The Divine Embryo in the niche behind his head gathered True Qi, manifesting the Meridian Evil Slayer Sword Qi; simultaneously, the gun aimed downward, erupting in flames along with a thunderous blast—as if lightning had exploded within the temple!

The exploding thunderbolts near the dashing Chen Shi burst open, flinging shrapnel that left several gashes on his back.

But Helian Zheng was thrown upward by the force of his shot, grabbing a small beam of the temple roof with his hand, flipping through the roof opened by his Sword Qi, and landing with a thud above the ancient temple, his gaze coldly fixed below.

However, he did not see Chen Shi’s figure.

Logically, Chen Shi should have burst out of the temple, into his line of sight, and he would have taken the opportunity to blast his opponent with the gun!

"This guy retreated into the temple after bluffing an exit!" Helian Zheng was momentarily startled. "Young Master Zhao Rui is still inside!"

He dropped down through the hole in the temple, and before touching the ground, he saw Chen Shi pressing Zhao Rui’s head against the wall with a thud, blood smearing the wall.

All six of the Zhao family were eliminated, not a single one spared.

Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief, his heart finally at ease.

A gentleman must not forgo might nor exert inadequate force.

If he could not decisively kill them all, how could he establish his authority and deter the Zhao family in the provincial city?

"If Zhu Xiucai were here, he would surely be pleased that I have not failed the master’s teachings!"

—Thank you to the Alliance Hierarch of Liuhetang for the reward, and for the immense support for the new book!

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