The Investiture: Unlimited Blade Works Nezha
Chapter 161 - 160 My Boss is the Great Venerable!

Chapter 161: Chapter 160 My Boss is the Great Venerable!

Shen Gongbao’s mind froze the moment this happened. "What the hell, my dear granny! Aren’t we supposed to be on the same side?"

The Fire Spirit Saint Mother didn’t care anymore about whether or not she was assisting the Yin Shang forces. What could possibly matter more than the dignity of the Jie Sect and her master’s honor?

It was in such moments that the true quality of a direct disciple of a Great Sect became evident. She would never lower her head out of fear. She had personally witnessed the ruthless might of Jin Can before: even Golden Immortals more powerful than Huang Long couldn’t last three exchanges against him and ended up on the ranking tablet.

But that was no reason to back down!

"The Jie Sect stands as the true lineage of the Mystic Sect—how could we associate with the Demon Dao?"

Jin Can’s eyes narrowed, and a grin curled at the corners of his mouth as he burst into maniacal laughter.

"Good, good, good! You’ve earned a sliver of my respect. Perhaps I’ll allow you to leave behind an intact corpse!"

At that instant, a bizarre screech pierced the air. The Hundred-eyed Golden Centipede beneath Jin Can transformed into a black dragon-like shadow and surged toward the Zhou Army, its target set on Master Taiyi and Huang Long.

Meanwhile, Jin Can’s six wings vibrated rapidly, his form turning into golden streaks as he darted toward the Fire Spirit Saint Mother.

Luo Xuan clearly understood the disparity between their powers, but how could he ignore his goddess in peril? With all his mana, he summoned countless Fire Crows to try and block the golden streak while shouting, "Fire Spirit, retreat immediately!"

Alas, the swarming Fire Crows proved futile. The golden streak weaved through effortlessly and closed in on Luo Xuan. Gritting his teeth, he hurled the Sky Light Seal forward with all his might to intercept it.

For a brief moment, the streak halted. However, as the Sky Light Seal shattered instantly, Luo Xuan’s arms were shredded to pieces, and the massive force slammed him into the distant ground, leaving him gravely injured in a single blow.

The Fire Spirit Saint Mother’s eyes turned blood-red. In Jin Can’s brief moment of sluggishness, she swiftly crushed three Jade Talismans in her hand.

Sword Intent soared into the sky, sweeping across the entire battlefield. Everyone felt as though their foreheads had been firmly locked onto by the Sword Intent, breaking out in cold sweats in an instant.

The passive shockwaves alone terrified everyone else present, let alone the direct target—Jin Can.

Flapping his wings desperately, Jin Can’s golden streak darted and danced, trying to evade. Yet it was as though he had been trapped and locked in place, unable to escape.

Hiss, hiss, hiss! Three beams of Sword Qi intersected. Fire Spirit Saint Mother turned pale as all her mana was utterly drained merely to activate the life-saving three shots of Slaying Immortal Sword Qi gifted by her master.

Moments later, Luo Xuan, battered and bruised, flew over to pull the Fire Spirit Saint Mother along with flaming arms he had conjured, fleeing the battlefield together.

A short while later, from the convergence point of the Sword Qi, there was a buzzing sound. A colossal golden cicada emerged violently. While its body bore no visible wounds, the brilliance of its once-dazzling golden light had dimmed considerably.

Without hesitation, it locked onto the Fire Spirit Saint Mother’s direction and gave chase.

Jin Can had resolved the Slaying Immortal Sword Qi’s threat using his innate divine skill, Molting Cicada Escape. In other words, the three strikes had merely cost him one of his lives.

Rather than despair, Jin Can became even wilder and more bloodthirsty. "You—all of you—must die!"

Elsewhere, Master Taiyi and Huang Long battled the Quasi-Saint-level Primordial Fierce Beast, the Hundred-eyed Golden Centipede. But despite their best efforts for what felt like an eternity, they had only managed to damage a layer of its outer black shell.

Seeing Jin Can withdraw from the battlefield, the Hundred-eyed Golden Centipede began slaughtering indiscriminately for amusement before burrowing underground to disappear.

"Ah Chang...I really don’t want to be here." Taiyi and Huang Long exchanged knowing glances. With a relieved sigh, they quickly decided to return to Kunlun Mountain for reinforcements. The situation was spiraling out of control—better leave this up to their master to decide!

Without wasting time, the two zipped back to Kunlun Mountain to report the death of Dao Heng Tianzun, whose name had now climbed onto the ranking tablet.

Meanwhile, Luo Xuan fled toward the East Sea with the Fire Spirit Saint Mother in tow. Unfortunately, heavily injured as they were, how could they possibly outrun Jin Can?

As Jin Can closed in, Luo Xuan shoved the Fire Spirit Saint Mother away and turned back to face him alone.

"Fire Spirit, flee to the East Sea immediately! Don’t argue!"

But how could the Fire Spirit Saint Mother possibly comply? She brandished her Purple Gold Hammer and declared, "This is all because of me! How could I let you die for my sake? If worse comes to worst, we’ll simply vanish into ashes together!"

Luo Xuan was both deeply moved and exasperated. "Fire Spirit, you—"

The Fire Spirit Saint Mother’s pallid face suddenly twisted with disdain. "Don’t overthink it! I already told you—you’re kind of ugly. I’d never agree to be your Dao Companion."

Luo Xuan: "..."

Well, what could he do? He had a thing for women like her.

For Immortals, transforming oneself into a handsome or beautiful form wasn’t particularly difficult. But cultivation was about pursuing truth, and one’s appearance often reflected one’s inner state. If you couldn’t even face your inner self, how could you seek the Dao?

Anyway, Luo Xuan was prepared to risk his life—no matter what, he would protect the Fire Spirit Saint Mother.

The two quickly joined forces to set up a formation, but a golden streak approached from the distant horizon, racing straight toward the Fire Spirit Saint Mother.

The formation seemed ineffective against Jin Can. In mere moments, he was in front of the Fire Spirit Saint Mother.

Her pupils constricted, staring at the golden streak before her, thinking, "Is this the end of me?"

In that moment, the heavens seemed to flip upside down. The streak, which had been right in front of her, suddenly felt as though it was separated by layers of space.

Jin Can instantly realized something was amiss and retreated hastily, narrowly avoiding the strange spatial pull.

In the void, a young man in white flicked his wrist, causing the space to ripple like water before retracting it into a scroll—the Mountain and River Map, now in the hands of Nezha.

Holding the scroll, Nezha sighed in mild regret. He had been hiding all this time, intending to use the Fire Spirit Saint Mother as bait. But Jin Can had reacted too quickly, too cautiously, and narrowly escaped his ploy.

These speedsters were truly infuriating enemies.

Nezha understood Hao Tian’s intentions. After leaving the great hall, he had secretly tailed the Immortal of Colossal Spirit. Predictably, that coward didn’t dare confront Jin Can and headed straight for Kunlun instead.

This made Nezha genuinely furious. Hao Tian, that old schemer—you choose inaction just to suppress me, huh?

If you won’t act, then why hold onto that position?

If these two fearsome bugs aren’t dealt with, the Primordial World will never see peace. My family and friends are all in the Earthly Mortal World!

If you refuse to lift a finger, then don’t blame me for using my own methods!

If I can’t live in peace, neither shall you!

Nezha didn’t continue attacking. Instead, he sneered and said, "Well, well... where did this little bug come from? All shiny and golden, trying to pass yourself off as a lamp?"

Jin Can revealed his human form. Although he didn’t understand what a "lamp" was, having just been struck thrice by the Fire Spirit Saint Mother, he grasped the mockery in Nezha’s tone. Restraining his rage, he cautiously asked, "Who are you? A little brat like you dares to call me small?"

Nezha smirked with a face begging for a beating. "I am the Heavenly Court’s Thundering General of Massacre. Have you heard of me?"

Jin Can, who had spent most of his time buried underground, knew nothing of the Heavenly Court’s matters and grew impatient. Annoyed, he snapped, "Hand over that red-dressed woman, or I’ll kill you with her!"

Nezha raised an eyebrow. "You don’t even know my grand title?"

"Heh, you must’ve heard of that grotesque Mosquito Daoist dwelling in the depths of the Blood Sea, haven’t you? I was under the Great Venerable’s command when we exterminated him. A pitiful mosquito like that? The Great Venerable didn’t even bat an eye."

"With just a casual dispatch of hundreds to a thousand troops, we wiped out his kind clean—eighteen generations’ worth!"

"Little bug, you’d better smarten up and avoid following his footsteps. Dare to provoke me? Do you even know who my boss is? None other than the Great Venerable Hao Tian himself! His authority reigns supreme across the Three Realms, personally acknowledged by the Daoist Ancestor—uncontested by all!"