Checking In for Sixty Years, From Puppet Emperor to Heavenly Emperor – Chapter 52

Ch 52: Tearing Off the Mask

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Zhou An took out four items from the system space and stood up, saying, “Four seniors, this junior has four mundane items to offer as gifts. Please accept them with a smile.”

Originally, they wouldn’t have been interested in mundane objects, but seeing the two scrolls and two books in Zhou An’s hands piqued their interest.

The biggest hobbies of Book Immortal and Painting Demon are collecting famous paintings from various places. They have a inexplicable love for such scrolls, so upon seeing these, they put aside everything else, their eyes fixed intently.

Painting Demon laughed and said, “Good boy, quickly bring them over for me to see. If they aren’t masterpieces, be careful I’ll lose my temper.”

He raised both hands, and True Energy wrapped around the four items, causing them to float onto the four tables.

Painting Demon directly caught them with both hands, carefully unwrapping the scroll and slowly opening it. Upon seeing the contents, he immediately recognized the painting’s origin. His face flushed with excitement, and he swept away the tea on the table, slowly placing the painting on it.

“This is the final work of Lian Yueshan, the Painting Sage of the previous dynasty. It was rumored that this painting encountered bandits during transport, and those brutes didn’t understand and burned the painting. Fortunately, it was just a rumor! Good! Very good! Excellent! Haha!”

Painting Demon, as if he had obtained a priceless treasure, was already lost in fascination looking at the painting on the table.

The same went for Book Immortal beside him. A poem had already made him intoxicated, completely forgetting that there were still guests present.

Seeing the appearance of these two, Qin Fairy and Chess Sage were full of anticipation. They picked up the books on the table and flipped through them. One was a musical score and the other a chess manual, both peerless and unique, with authors who had been famous for hundreds of years.

The two were also delighted upon seeing them. Chess Sage was similar, already entranced upon seeing it.

Fortunately, Qin Fairy still maintained her composure. After putting away the musical score, she said with a smile, “Thank you, young friend. How about I play a tune to entertain everyone?”

Zhou An nodded with a smile and sat down, watching Qin Fairy.

The sound of the Qin rang out, and everyone felt as if the music could cleanse their souls, calming their restless hearts.

The tense atmosphere from before was immediately diluted by the music. Drunken Taoist sat quietly, drinking his wine.

Crimson Sun Lord frowned, looked at the others who were immersed in books, paintings, and chess manuals, and then looked at Zhou An and Drunken Taoist with a strange expression. He wanted to provoke them, but the music had a magical power that made him want to get angry, but his heart was very calm.

Until the end of the song, only Zhou An applauded. The others were either immersed in books and paintings or had ulterior motives, and had no intention to listen.

Qin Fairy nodded and smiled at Zhou An, before saying, “The four of you came here for the Righteous-Demonic War. We don’t want to participate in the conflict. If there’s nothing else, let’s stop here.”

Seeing that things couldn’t be done, and with Drunken Taoist present, it was impossible to win over these four. Pink Fairy stood up and said, “Originally, considering our century-long acquaintance and that your cultivation wasn’t easy, but since you don’t appreciate our kindness, then we can only offend you.”

Crimson Sun Lord stood up and sneered, “I’ll give you one last chance to join us, or the Ethereal Eight Oddities will be removed from this world.”

“The fox’s tail is finally showing.” Drunken Taoist snorted, stood up, True Energy flowing around him. He made a sword gesture, and a Flying Sword appeared, circling above his head.

“Arrogant! The Ethereal Eight Oddities aren’t someone anyone can easily manipulate.” Qin Fairy’s face turned cold, and she placed her hands on the Qin strings.

“Oh, really?”

Crimson Sun Lord’s body surged with Crimson Fire, forming a pillar of fire that burned through the roof. Then, with a wave of both hands, the pillar of fire transformed into a fiery whirlwind that swept through the entire hall.

“Young Friend Zhou Nan, get behind me!” Drunken Taoist shouted, Body-Sword Fusion, the Flying Sword combined with himself, and a sword light shot out from his hand, splitting the approaching fiery whirlwind and heading straight for Crimson Sun Lord inside.

Qin Fairy, Chess Sage, Book Immortal, and Painting Demon flew up and landed on the roof next door. All four revealed angry expressions and released their respective Magic Treasures.

But just as they made their move, they discovered that dozens of Heretical Cultivators had appeared around them, already forming a formation. As soon as they came out, purplish-black clouds pressed down from above, and countless serpentine mists opened their blood-red mouths and swooped down.

“Crimson Sha Ten Thousand Serpent Formation!” Book Immortal exclaimed. A writing brush appeared in his hand, and he drew various Talismans in the void, forming a Talisman Formation that rushed towards the swarms of snakes in the sky.

Chess Sage flicked his sleeve, and black and white chess pieces flew out, forming a formation to protect the four.

Painting Demon flung out a scroll, and various strange and bizarre beasts flew out from within, pouncing towards the swarms of snakes in the sky.

Qin Fairy sat cross-legged, her hands quickly plucking the Qin strings. Waves of sound spread out, shattering the approaching snakes.

Immediately afterwards, several Heretical experts appeared from within the clouds, laughing loudly and releasing various Magic Treasures, attacking Chess Sage’s defensive formation.

Drunken Taoist alone faced Crimson Sun Lord and Pink Fairy, sword light and fire whip colliding back and forth, while also dodging the highly poisonous spider web formation set up by Pink Fairy.

Not only was this spider web highly poisonous, but the spider silk could also ensnare Flying Swords. Even Spiritual Treasure-level Flying Swords, if they weren’t specifically designed to counter spider webs, would be trapped and taken away.

Drunken Taoist achieved Body-Sword Fusion, so the spider web couldn’t take him away, but his body couldn’t be touched. The sword light was blocked by Crimson Sun Lord, not giving him time to break the spider web formation.

Soon, the surroundings were covered in pink spider webs. Drunken Taoist could only stand in front of Zhou An, waving his sword light to block the fire whip falling from above.

“Hmph, Old Drunkard, this Ethereal Mountain will be the burial ground for you Eight Oddities. In recent years, the Righteous Path has been too arrogant, truly believing that the world should follow your rules. This time, in the Righteous-Demonic War, the Heretical Path and the Demonic Path have joined forces, and the Righteous Path will become a thing of the past.”

Crimson Sun Lord laughed loudly, forming hand seals, and dozens of Crimson Sun Fireballs appeared around him. He pointed his hand down, and the fireballs linked together in a string, bombarding downwards.

Drunken Taoist was considered a long-established expert in the Righteous Oneness Sect and wasn’t so easy to deal with. Only by using this method could they exhaust his True Energy, making it possible to kill him. Moreover, they had to deliberately keep Zhou An, forcing Drunken Taoist to be unable to escape.

Pink Fairy took out a small jar, blew a breath on it, and then opened the lid. A group of pink spiders crawled out, moving very quickly, all climbing onto the spider web formation here, waiting for prey to come online.

“What big words! This old beggar wants to see who has such great ability.” The voice of Divine Beggar came from the air. Then, a wooden staff flew over, emitting an orange light as it approached, and struck Crimson Sun Lord in the back.

Although it was blocked by the crimson light barrier released by the robes on his body, he was still knocked away, crashing into the ground next to him, directly leaving a ditch.

Drunken Taoist took the opportunity to sweep his sword light, breaking open a spider web and shouting, “Follow me!”

Zhou An used Universe Steps, closely following behind, rushing out of the encirclement.

At this time, the pink spiders around suddenly jumped over. Seeing that their bodies were about to be covered by these little spiders, Drunken Taoist shook his robes, and a pile of Talismans flew out, his hands forming seals.

These Talismans floated in mid-air, emitting electric light. The little spiders were charred upon touching them. The two took the opportunity to rush out of the spider web formation.

“My treasures!” Pink Fairy felt distressed and hurriedly took back the little spiders.

With an angry expression, she opened her mouth and spat out pink poisonous mist.

Drunken Taoist released a Talisman, tilted his head and took a big gulp of wine, spraying it onto the Talisman, turning it into a tongue of fire. All the Talismans immediately burned, turning into a fiery Talisman rain that rushed towards the poisonous mist.

The exploding flames evaporated the poisonous mist, forcing Pink Fairy to retreat repeatedly. Seeing that Crimson Sun Lord and Divine Beggar were still evenly matched, she hurriedly shouted into the air, “Old Ancestor, if you don’t take action, this matter will be ruined.”

“Useless things, I’ve already given you the Crimson Sha Ten Thousand Serpent Formation. Lord Longyang and Gambling Devil aren’t here, and you still can’t take down these few, you wastes.” A disdainful male voice came from the clouds above.

Hearing this voice, Divine Beggar, who was fighting, stopped. Killing intent erupted, his eyes filled with hatred. The wooden staff in his hand flew out, turning into a huge pillar of light that forced Crimson Sun Lord back. He pointed at the sky and roared, “Qishan Old Demon! Come down and accept your death!”

“Hmph, so it’s you. You actually hid and became a beggar. Today, this old ancestor will send you to see your short-lived master.” Qishan Old Ancestor laughed. A blue light fell, and a fat old man wearing a brown robe flew down, his beard gray, his face full of oil, and his eyes revealing an evil light.

Because of hatred, Divine Beggar’s face became twisted. He formed hand seals and unleashed an orange light. The wooden staff turned into a wooden dragon and pounced over.

Qishan Old Ancestor grabbed the void with his palm, and a blue palm flew out, rapidly growing larger. As the wooden dragon pounced over, it grabbed the dragon’s neck, forcing the wooden dragon to struggle in mid-air, unable to fall even a bit.

“Hmph, you want to kill me with just this little bit of skill!” Qishan Old Ancestor waved his hand, and the wooden dragon was flung into the Ice Lake. A blue light shot out from the lake surface, and the wooden dragon was instantly frozen.

This change surprised Qishan Old Ancestor, and he became wary of the lake surface, thinking that some expert was hiding there.

At this time, Drunken Taoist’s sword light rushed over. Qishan Old Ancestor swept his sleeve, turning it into a blue light curtain. The sword light stopped outside the light curtain, unable to penetrate even a bit.

Drunken Taoist flew over and grabbed Divine Beggar, shouting, “Go, the gap between you and him is too big.”

“You go down, I’ll cover the rear.” Divine Beggar was unwilling, True Energy surged out, forming a Dharma Seal between his hands.

“You’re just throwing your life away. Hide in the Ethereal Realm. Only when the eight of us gather can we fight them. Don’t be muddleheaded again and kill everyone.”

Drunken Taoist’s shout made Divine Beggar’s body shake, revealing an unwilling expression. He glanced at Qishan Old Ancestor and followed Drunken Taoist towards the lake surface. Zhou An was already waiting by the lake.

After Drunken Taoist jumped into a spot in the Ice Lake and fell into the lake, he followed and jumped down from the same spot.

The four, Qin, Chess, Book, and Painting, had also broken through the Crimson Sha Ten Thousand Serpent Formation and flew over, following closely behind Drunken Taoist, jumping into the Ice Lake.

The pursuing Heretical Path stopped by the lake. No one dared to jump down. They had all seen the wooden dragon being instantly frozen just now.

Crimson Sun Lord cultivated fire-based skills and was most afraid of this kind of environment. It was absolutely impossible for him to jump down.

“Qishan Old Ancestor, what should we do now?” Pink Fairy came over and asked respectfully.

“This Ice Lake is strange. It should be a very powerful formation. Find someone skilled in formations and find out what’s below before we talk.”

Qishan Old Ancestor didn’t dare to rashly pursue. Although the Ethereal Eight Oddities weren’t his match individually, he couldn’t deny the strength of the eight together. Qishan Old Ancestor could use words to suppress Divine Beggar, but if he really had to fight, he still had to be cautious.