Ki Kitagawa's expression turned stiff and his eyes filled with a haze. He wouldn't have used this Sky Blazing Mirror had it not been for Tang Xiu who just disappeared as well as that black-robed woman who could use an invisibility technique.
The Sky Blazing Mirror—as the name implied, it had a very fearsome offensive ability and also a magical visualization effect.
He wanted to figure out how that black-robed woman was able to stay hidden. If he caught her, he might be able to force that invisibility technique from her.
"Activate!"
A low and deep voice came out of Ki Kitagawa's mouth. A moment after, no single line of red threads appeared on the surface of the mirror. But the threads now covered the whole of the courtyard and even began spreading outward and gradually integrated with the blue-colored net and extended its range to a kilometer radius as well.
"No way?!"
Ki Kitagawa's pupils shrunk and disbelief was evident on his face. He could sense the cultivation level of that mysterious black-robed woman. She was absolutely not a Nascent Soul cultivator but only a Golden Core one. She may be fast, but it was still impossible for her to escape from the scope of his range in just a short time.
"Does she have an acceleration artifact or something like that?"
Ki Kitagawa thought about it for a moment and finally concluded that it was the only possibility.
A smirk appeared on the Joyous Palace Saintess' face. After killing two men in black in the blink of an eye, she said, "Feeling restless now, Ki Kitagawa? They have escaped already. It's likely they're just laying low and waiting for both of us to get wounded."
"Heh, my main target is still you." Ki Kitagawa coldly hummed. "As long as I can catch you, not only will that fossil monk fail his decades-long plan, I can also reap great benefits for myself. Those two escaping brats will be easy to track once I become powerful after I'm done extracting the energy in your body."
Joyous Palace Saintess shook her head and said, "You're mistaken. I'm not a female furnace. That thing is in your hand."
"You're really stupid! Hahaha." Ki Kitagawa loudly laughed. "Really. You didn't even notice that something is wrong at all even at this time? Why do you think that old vulture has been giving you ma.s.sive resources and protecting you like a treasure for more than 20 years? Do you even know what his real purpose is? Do you think it's because of your figure? You're all wrong. He's just waiting for the opportunity to mature in order to absorb the innate life force you've been cultivating. At that time, let alone your whole cultivation, even you won't be able to preserve your poor life as only death awaits you."
Joyous Palace Saintess' expression turned extremely ugly and she yelled angrily, "SHUT THE c.r.a.p! Miyaji will never say such shameful things! Our relations.h.i.+p is like a father and a daughter. How could he possibly do anything untoward to me?"
"He hasn't done anything to you, huh? That's simply because the time isn't ripe yet. You have yet to make a great success in your Frost Buddhist Relic cultivation, to begin with!" Ki Kitagawa jeered.
"What?!"
The woman was incredulous and she stared fixedly at Ki Kitagawa. Her personal guards she brought were being slaughtered at the moment, yet she seemed to not realize it as she indignantly shouted, "How… how did you know about the Frost Buddhist Relic?"
"You know my superior, don't you?" Ki Kitagawa sneered. "The Sage Yin Buddha who's the deputy Palace Master of Joyful Palace. A great man with great power and a confidante of that old vulture! I overheard about it when he talked to Yin Buddha about a decade ago. Else, why do you think this jade cauldron is in my hand now. That's because Yin Buddha has always been watching you for that old vulture!"
A chill ran over Joyous Palace Saintess' body. She had been curious, doubtful, and suspicious all along. Why would Miyaji never touch her and even forbid any male to touch her?
But now, Ki Kitagawa's brutal revelation shredded all her previous fantasies. It turned out that the woman cauldron was not exactly that jade cauldron but her instead. She was the genuine one… or rather, she was just a… tool.
In order to strike another mental attack on the Joyous Palace Saintess, Ki Kitagawa grinningly said, "You're a Holy Lady, so you're far from being stupid. You must be able to think about it yourself. What exactly is this heavenly Joyous Palace? A paradise for men and women, a palace of joy where you can have s.e.x to improve your power. But what about you? You're unexpectedly labeled as a Holy Lady long decreed that it's forbidden to touch and someone not to be blemished. How come can you display any powerful cultivation art of Joyous Palace without having any intercourse whatsoever, yet your strength keeps enhancing all the time? Just thanks to all those cultivation resources, you think?"
"SPEAK NO MORE!!!"
The Holy Lady of Joyous Palace yelled furiously and stared at the four men in black, causing their dread. A short katana suddenly appeared in her hand and the sword tip instantly slashed forward for several meters away, completely destroying those for men.
Ki Kitagawa's mouth twitched a few times. He had secretly cultivated over 100 experts and spent nearly all his wealth over the years. Every death of his men gave him great distress, but this woman just killed four of them in one strike. More than ten of them now had died in her hands—a loss that nearly drove him mad.
"Oy, Saintess! That Joyous Palace's old vulture will suck you dry sooner or later. Might as well give yourself to me for cheap. At least, I'll spare your poor life given how beautiful you are, so you can be my slave. Not even a peaceful death… is better than being alive!" Restraining the anger inside him forcefully, Ki Kitagawa kept speaking to make the woman fume further. He himself was very powerful and was confident in killing this saintess. But he was also aware this woman definitely had some life-saving measures and even some deadly trump cards. Had it not been for the potential threats around him, he would have gone all out to strike her and brutally catch her. But now… it was not an option.
Hong… hong…
A loud roar came in from the surroundings as the entire courtyard was. .h.i.t by violent tremors as though it was a hit from a major earthquake.
The sitting Ki Kitagawa had a drastic change in expression. The first thing that came to his mind was that Sage Yin Buddha returned. He streaked up into the sky in a flash for tens of meters. His expression turned extremely ugly upon seeing a few people outside the big net.
His guess was on the mark. They were not only Yin Buddha but also two other most powerful combat generals under him, Yang Yi and Yang Er.
"Full attack!!!"
He quickly bellowed and slashed down the broadsword from the air. A blade beam tens of meters long hit lightning-fast to slay the Joyous Palace Saintess.
In the periphery, Yin Buddha's expression enormously changed and he instantly unleashed an ancient bronze seal and bombarded the big net with it. The mesh was broken and he and the other two instantly dashed inside and appeared in the courtyard extremely fast.
BAM…
Even though the Joyous Palace Saintess unleashed everything she had and was able to defend herself against that violent blade slash, the impact of the huge force still injured her and sent her flying at the wall, creating a hole on it.
Without any shred of hesitation, Yin Buddha ordered a "KILL" command and the three men armed with Buddhist artifacts began slaughtering the men in black. The trio was very powerful as Yin Buddha himself had power at the early-stage of Spirit Formation, whereas the other two, Yang Yi and Yang Er were at the mid-stage of Nascent Soul.
With a constant throbbing heart, Ki Kitagawa almost cried in distress and burst out a terrifying aura. A loud, roaring sound came from the unique vessel in his hand as it went straight into the sky.
For a time, Ki Kitagawa was as though turning into a tiger that stormed over toward Yin Buddha. He had shown a very weak power in the past, far below even those two men under Yin Buddha. But his momentum and aura this time were simply fearsome. His speed was lightning-fast and it took him but a flash to deliver hundreds of blade strikes.
"Mortal enemies as we are now, you can go to h.e.l.l first now, fossil monk Yin Buddha!"
While blocking Ki Kitagawa's strikes, Yin Buddha grimly grinned. "I didn't expect you to be hiding so deep all this while, Ki Kitagawa. Miyaji did remind me to investigate any dissidents and traitors before, but I've never found any clues. It's you who turned out to be the one who has been targeting the Joyous Palace these years."
"Heh, you all are just remnants of the Buddhist Sect from China. Do you really think the j.a.panese do not know you've been secretly growing your power here all this time? The plans General f.u.kuda made to target your Joyous Palace have been set on motion. You just wait! You all will be exterminated and none of you will live at that time!" Ki Kitagawa fiercely shouted.
General f.u.kuda?!
Eyes overflowing with killing intent, Yin Buddha shouted back fiercely, "That old s.h.i.+t has been in our way for years, yet Palace Master never did anything to him since he didn't want to invite troublesome issues. Now I can see it. You turn out to be General f.u.kuda's running dog, huh?"
"Nippon Banzai!"
After dodging Yin Buddha's counterattack, Ki Kitagawa found that a few figures were coming over from the horizon in the distance as he burst out laughing.
In the mid-air several kilometers away, Tang Xiu and Tang An were staying hidden in the midst of the clouds and watching the fight in the distance. Tang Xiu felt a bit apprehensive about Yin Buddha before, but now he found that he had looked down on cultivators from j.a.pan. China had formidable cultivators, and it was also similar to j.a.pan.
"Lots of people are coming, Grand Master."
Tang An's expression slightly s.h.i.+fted all of a sudden and she quickly pulled Tang Xiu's sleeves.
Following the direction she was looking at, Tang Xiu s.h.i.+fted his vision in the other direction. The scene was rather a shock for him since he saw several thousand of agile people similar to a tidal wave approaching fast six-plus kilometers away from the scene where Ki Kitagawa and Yin Buddha were fighting.
