Chapter 121, Learn Some Modesty in Your Next Life

Translator: Raznick

 

Within the woodland, the sudden appearance of the hunchbacked elder caused Zhou Chun to endure another grueling battle.

 

The hunchbacked man had a physical disability; normally, even in the cultivation world, it would be difficult to survive.

 

Naturally, someone who could cultivate to the Twelfth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage despite their disability must possess abilities beyond those of ordinary people.

 

The hunchbacked elder just happened to be one such individual.

 

He was so antagonistic because his strength could back it up.

 

At that instant, he swung the brass cane in his hand, and the object emitted a brilliant light, resembling a venomous snake striking towards Zhou Chun.

 

Zhou Chun intended to use a familiar technique and immediately waved his hand to summon the Two-pronged Flying Pole, advancing to meet the blow.

 

However, as soon as he activated the artifact to release a wave of cold energy to freeze the brass cane, a powerful shockwave suddenly erupted from the cane, instantly shattering the icy encasement.

 

The silver-white lightning spewed by Silver Thunder Python Whitey was also effortlessly absorbed into a bronze tripod summoned by the hunchbacked elder.

 

After so easily deflecting the attacks of Zhou Chun and his pet, the hunchbacked elder raised his hand and tapped a storage bag, summoning another red copper ball.

 

As he channeled his spiritual power, the red copper ball, originally the size of a fist, transformed into a massive fireball the size of a wheel.

 

Like a fiery meteor, it crashed towards Zhou Chun.

 

Witnessing this, Zhou Chun hastily activated Shooting Moon Edge and swung it towards it.

 

The silver-black wheel merely collided lightly with the fireball and was directly knocked back, even the blade flipping over.

 

Zhou Chun also suffered a glancing blow to his Divine Sense that was anchored to the artifact, causing his face to pale—he had sustained some minor internal injuries.

 

However, he simply didn’t have time to worry about such minor wounds, because the fireball, after knocking away the Shooting Moon Edge, was once again plummeting towards him.

 

Without much thought, Zhou Chun hurriedly retrieved the small yellow flag, injected it with spiritual power, and shook it hard, conjuring a thick screen of yellow spiritual light to block his front.

 

Still feeling it wasn’t enough protection, he also channeled a portion of his spiritual power to summon the Golden Scale Shield for additional defense.

 

Boom!

 

Accompanied by a resounding crash, the burning fireball slammed into the golden scale shield and the spiritual light screen in front of Zhou Chun, then the flames exploded outward, engulfing Zhou Chun in a sea of fire.

 

Whitey felt intense anger and immediately unleashed another silver-white forked lightning bolt towards the elder, also rushing forward to attack him.

 

As a result, another surge of radiant light erupted from the bronze tripod suspended above the elder’s head, drawing the lightning sprayed by the Silver Thunder Python into it.

 

When Whitey got halfway there, the hunched-back elder suddenly reached out and tapped his storage bag, retrieving several spirit talismans and activating them, which transformed into a dozen Fireballs floating in front of him.

 

Then, he swiftly made seals with his hands, and those Fireballs merged with each other, transforming into a burning, searing fire dragon that lunged towards Whitey.

 

Hiss—

 

Perhaps realizing the might of the fire dragon, Whitey let out a long hiss, and a ball of silver-white lightning suddenly launched from its body, quickly transforming into a shield of moving lightning to block the dragon.

 

However, with a thunderous roar, Whitey’s lightning shield shattered instantly, and it was blown back ten meters, with several scales on its body cracking.

 

This was the first time it had ever sustained such an injury.

 

Fortunately, its suffering wasn’t in vain.

 

While it held the hunchbacked elder’s attention, Zhou Chun finally managed to recover.

 

At this moment, Zhou Chun was both startled and enraged.

 

All of this shock and anger stemmed from the hunchbacked elder’s attack.

 

It was because that single attack had ruined a superior first-grade artifact and destroyed another, while nearly injuring him!

 

The power of that copper ball was no less than that of the fully charged Thousand Hills Seal, yet it lacked the need for a charging drawback.

 

Had Zhou Chun not always prioritized his own defense, that attack would have either killed him or left him crippled.

 

Having suffered such a significant loss, he saw the hunchbacked elder’s skillful fire-controlling technique as he confronted the Silver Thunder Python, and his vigilance rose significantly, realizing that he had truly encountered a powerful individual.

 

Therefore, he didn’t hold anything back and quickly released the Rock Turtle.

 

“Another superior first-grade demon beast!”

 

Seeing the sudden appearance of the enormous turtle, the hunchbacked elder’s eyelid twitched, and he was greatly surprised.

 

But it was merely surprise.

 

Confident in his own strength, he still did not believe there would be any unexpected turns in this battle.

 

He waved his sleeve, summoning a jade-green artifact resembling a fan, and stepped onto it, quickly being carried up into the air to a height of about two hundred and thirty feet.

 

This was considered a rather low altitude, but it precisely negated the effects of much of Rock Turtle’s mystical art.

 

This clearly demonstrated the immense battle experience of the hunchbacked elder and his profound understanding of demon beasts.

 

Yet, even so, the defensive bonus Rock Turtle provided for Zhou Chun was enough to cause him considerable distress!

 

Zhou Chun stood behind Rock Turtle, having the Two-pronged Flying Pole deal with the brass cane, while simultaneously summoning a pale gold treasure vial to conjure a golden blade of light that struck at the hunchbacked elder in the sky.

 

At this moment, the Silver Thunder Python had unexpectedly become subdued, concentrating on accumulating power for a Thunder Strike.

 

It was no wonder this hunchbacked elder was the most powerful Qi Refining cultivator Zhou Chun had encountered thus far.

 

Just as the Silver Thunder Python was preparing a Thunder Strike, and the thunderous clouds began to coalesce in the sky, he immediately recognized the potency of this mystical art.

 

He appeared to have a serious expression, reaching out and slapping his storage bag, repeatedly grasping a stack of the lesser inferior first-grade talisman Fireball Talisman to activate it.

 

Then he made signs and performed the Fire Control Technique, instantly fusing dozens of Fireballs into one, transforming them into a massive fireball that slammed towards the mass of clouds in the sky.

 

Boom!

 

As a massive explosion of fire rose, the clouds that had just taken shape scattered in a single blow.

 

And the caster, Whitey, suffers a backlash from the art being broken ahead of time.

 

Seeing this scene, Zhou Chun felt a pang of unease.

 

Despite this, Zhou Chun was confident he would not lose.

 

[Hmph, let’s see if your spiritual power is bigger than mine!]

 

He inwardly scoffed, quickly instructing his Silver Thunder Python to attack the hunchbacked elder with other thunder art while he himself began employing talisman support to intensify his assault.

 

This bout of intense fighting caused quite a commotion, not only causing significant destruction to the forest below but also quickly attracting the attention of some surviving competitors.

 

Both were well aware of this.

 

Therefore, after a quarter of an hour of fierce combat, seeing that despite unleashing every skill he possessed, he still couldn’t even slightly affect Zhou Chun, while his own spiritual power consumption was even greater than Zhou Chun’s, the hunchbacked elder grew anxious.

 

The spiritual musk produced by the Musk Spirit Stag was extremely important to him; if he hadn’t encountered it, that would have been fine, but having encountered it, he truly didn’t want to let it go.

 

However, he had also experienced Zhou Chun’s strength; he was indeed not someone he could easily defeat.

 

If the two continued to deplete each other, even if he eventually managed to win, it would likely be a costly victory, and it would probably benefit those who had heard of the commotion and were rushing over.

 

This outcome was naturally something he was unwilling to accept.

 

Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, he looked at Zhou Chun and said in a deep voice, “Youngster, how about we take a step back? I only want the Musk Spirit Stag you acquired; the spiritual musk remains yours!”

 

He compromised with considerable reluctance, considering it a significant concession.

 

Unsurprisingly, when Zhou Chun heard his words, he directly rejected him without a moment’s thought, “Don’t even think about it!”

 

The Musk Spirit Stag was something he had discovered and hunted down himself; how could Zhou Chun possibly agree to the hunchbacked elder’s so-called compromise? It was clear he wanted to take two steps back!

 

“Youngster, don’t push it!”

 

The hunchbacked elder roared in anger.

 

He felt he had already yielded enough, yet Zhou Chun dared to push his luck. This made his face burn with embarrassment.

 

He saw him roar, then immediately reach out and pat his waist for his storage bag, retrieving a talisman shimmering with crimson spiritual light.

 

“Second grade talisman!”

 

Zhou Chun was startled when he saw the talisman appear in the hunchbacked elder’s hand, recognizing its origin.

 

He quickly patted his own waist for his storage bag, retrieving a second-grade talisman that the Clan Leader had rewarded him with previously.

 

Just then, the hunchbacked elder had already channeled a great deal of spiritual power into his second-grade talisman, activating it.

 

A fire dragon suddenly materialized from the sky, shaking its head and tail before transforming into a streak of fire, lunging toward Zhou Chun below.

 

At the same time, Zhou Chun activated the talisman in his hand, instantly condensing a layer of extraordinarily thick jade-green radiance around himself.

 

Boom!

 

Accompanied by a violent explosion, the blazing fire and jade-green radiance collided and rubbed against each other, quickly dissipating, resulting in mutual annihilation.

 

Pfft!

 

Zhou Chun’s body swayed, and he spat a mouthful of blood.

 

The jade-green radiance, though it had deflected over ninety percent of the explosive force, caused internal injuries because his cultivation was low. The remaining ten percent of the impact still shook his internal organs.

 

However, this degree of injury was insignificant to him and did not affect his strength.

 

The hunchbacked elder in the sky, however, had a very unsightly expression.

 

He never expected that even after using a second-grade talisman, a treasure of immense value, he still couldn’t resolve this young man who appeared to be under forty.

 

He looked at Zhou Chun with a displeased expression, hesitated for a moment, and then suddenly glared and roared, “You bastard! You forced my hand!”

 

Before his words had even fallen, he suddenly waved his sleeves and produced several gold needles, piercing them into several acupoints on his body. Then he made signs for an art, seemingly preparing to cast some self-harming secret art.

 

Seeing this scene, Zhou Chun’s heart sank, and then his eyes hardened, and he made up his mind about something.

 

Whitey spewed a silver-white thunderball towards the hunchbacked old man.

 

The result was as expected; the thunderball was still absorbed by the bronze tripod on the old man’s head.

 

The bronze tripod, which appeared to be only a few feet long, seemed to contain another world, and no matter how much mystical art it absorbed, it could not be filled.

 

However, Zhou Chun, through previous arts, had also ascertained some of its secrets and knew that it could only absorb one mystical art at a time.

 

Therefore, after the thunderball was absorbed by it, Zhou Chun immediately raised his hand and triggered a strand of Hard Gold Sword Energy that was sealed within the meridian of his left palm.

 

The sharp white-golden sword energy emitted a piercing whistle as it broke through the air, startling the hunchbacked old man in the sky.

 

He hastily divided his attention and activated a life-saving artifact on his body, releasing a white qi shield to protect himself.

 

But what he never expected was that this white qi shield, which could block superior first-grade mystical art attacks, was instantly shattered by a single blow.

 

Pfft!

 

Blood burst from the hunchbacked old man’s chest, and then the pain of the chaotic metal Qi scraping his body immediately caused him to let out a painful howl.

 

At the same time, affected by the chaotic metal Qi running through his body, the secret art he was originally performing immediately failed and backfired.

 

Thus beset on all sides, he suffered a devastating blow to his body.

 

Because he had to expend most of his spiritual power and focus to suppress the metal Qi within his body, he couldn’t use the brass cane and the red copper ball artifact as skillfully as he had before.

 

This allowed Zhou Chun to quickly use the Two-pronged Flying Pole to knock down the brass cane and then redirect his aim straight at the hunchbacked elder.

 

Next, he activated a gold vial, unleashing a series of golden, sharp blades to strike the powerful enemy.

 

At the same time, Whitey also once again unleashed Chain Lightning toward the hunchbacked elder.

 

Faced with this opportunistic attack from the master and his pet, the hunchbacked elder was momentarily stunned.

 

He could only muster his remaining energy to activate the bronze tripod for defense and grit his teeth to cast another superior first-grade defense talisman to protect himself.

 

But the bronze tripod, while capable of absorbing mystical art attacks, was powerless against the physical form of an artifact like the Two-pronged Flying Pole.

 

The bronze tripod only managed to absorb the snaking lightning strike that arrived first, and the hunchbacked elder was subsequently struck by the oncoming Two-pronged Flying Pole and golden blades.

 

“Agh!”

 

A piercing scream echoed through the air. The combined attack of two superior first-grade artifacts easily shattered the protective mystical art on the hunchbacked elder’s body, leaving a gruesome wound on him.

 

“Fall!”

 

With a loud shout from Zhou Chun, the Two-pronged Flying Pole, having struck true, swept again across the hunchbacked elder’s body, instantly knocking him from the sky.

 

Then, before his body even touched the ground, sharp, rocky spikes burst from the earth, piercing him through and through!

 

“I-I…”

 

The hunchbacked old man’s body, pierced and hanging on the rock’s sharp spikes, stared with wide eyes at Zhou Chun, who was approaching him, filled with resentment. Then, his head tilted, and he died on the spot.

 

“So what if you’re regretful?”

 

Zhou Chun looked at the corpse hanging on the stone spikes, with no trace of pity in his eyes, and said coldly, “Remember, learn some modesty in your next life!”

 

He didn’t rush to collect the hunchbacked old man’s belongings, but instead, his gaze was sharp as he looked towards somewhere in the mountains.