Under One Person, your rebellious life has reached the heavens?

Iwasaki Taku, who noticed the strange phenomenon, had no time to escape. The tall, strong old man pressed closer and closer, and he couldn't find a chance to catch his breath.

The air became harder than a wall of copper and iron. While dodging and pursuing, Iwasaki Taku unleashed his ultimate technique on the weakest point of the barrier he sensed.

"Raging Waves - Mosasaurus!"

The ferocious beast, forged from black flames and resembling a giant crocodile, crashed violently into that transparent patch of air with the force of thunder, only to be instantly squeezed back. Ripples slowly spread across the pale blue walls of the cauldron, showing no signs of damage or cracking.

"The scheming bandits should set off soon."

With a light shout, the Shangqing Sect Leader completed the formation quickly under his arrangement.

Having been reminded, Zhang Jingqing stopped the pursuit and halted at the edge of the formation, allowing Iwasaki Kawataka to escape.

"!!!"

Suddenly, the ground shook, and a yin-yang symbol appeared at the center of the formation, its terrifying gravity spreading in all directions.

What horrified Taku Iwasaki even more was that the two enemies' feet were rippled with pale blue light, completely unaffected, while he had to fight with all his might to break free from the pull of gravity.

As a result, he found it difficult to move, and most of his energy was spent resisting the pull of the formation.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhang Jingqing, the 64th Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, was surrounded by dazzling lightning. His will was linked with the thunderclouds in the high sky, and he controlled dozens of terrifying bolts of lightning.

Time seemed to freeze. When Zhang Jingqing's gaze fell on Iwasaki Kawataka again, lightning followed her thoughts, and intertwined heavenly lightning struck down instantly, traversing more than two thousand meters of void, locking onto Iwasaki Kawataka's location.

"Return to Truth: Waterfall Shadow!"

Large swaths of black flame coalesced into the shape of a shield, protecting the area above and attempting to resist.

“BOOM!!!”

The lightning strike was unstoppable, its sharp crackling easily piercing through the black shield and penetrating Iwasaki Kawataka's body. The immense electric current caused the grandmaster of swordsmanship to let out a piercing roar.

Flesh, organs, and skin were all charred and broken, bleeding severely from the inside out, and the surging vitality had been completely extinguished.

The black flames died down, and the corpse slowly fell. The current leader of the Araki school, Iwasaki Kawataku, was defeated and killed in no time by the siege of the Shangqing Sect Leader and the Celestial Master.

That sinister katana, too, was struck by heavenly lightning, leaving it riddled with cracks and on the verge of disintegration.

The large number of warriors who were engaged in fierce fighting were stunned by the thunder. Upon seeing the gruesome death of their leader, they were all horrified. Their hatred and anger were instantly overwhelmed by fear.

"boom!"

Protected by golden light, Zhang Zhiwei smashed the heads of several warriors one after another with his bare hands.

His face was cold and indifferent. He surrounded more than a dozen warriors all by himself, like a lion entering a flock of sheep, hunting them at will. With every move he made, the sound of bones breaking could be heard.

Even when the cold glint of weapons struck the golden light, it could not shake it.

"clang--!"

"Puff! Puff! Puff!"

Zhang Zhiwei flicked his right index finger, and dense golden particles darted across the beach, riddling several warriors who couldn't withstand the attack with bullets, their bloodied bodies riddled with holes.

Tian Jinzhong and two masters from the Shangqing School attacked from the flanks, killing and pressing Zhang Zhiwei as they went, and soon they joined forces with him.

The twenty-odd surviving warriors were panting heavily, cold sweat streaming down their pale faces.

Desperate situation.

There was no way out.

Just then, after the formation dissipated, Zhang Jingqing and the old sect leader, who had been rushing over, appeared on the other side.

The warrior, his heart filled with despair, turned ferocious and launched a frenzied counterattack, but it was all in vain.

"boom!!!"

In a short while, corpses littered the ground. The team that Araki Ryu belonged to had been wiped out by the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Shangqing people.

"Master, what should we do with this knife?"

As Tian Jinzhong swept through the battlefield, he picked up the nearly shattered black sword, his eyes filled with apprehension. In the fierce battle just now, he had personally witnessed his master's golden light being corroded and pitted by the black flames attached to it, so he immediately asked Zhang Jingqing for a solution.

"It sinks to the bottom of the sea."

Zhang Jingqing was indifferent to the broken knife.

"it is good."

Tian Jinzhong turned around, about to throw the knife into the sea, when suddenly something unexpected happened. The flame-shaped patterns engraved on the blade reignited, and several wisps of blood-black flames emerged.

"Um?!"

Tian Jin felt a tremor in his heart, a strange unease rising within him. His senses were not weak, and the moment he sensed danger, he instinctively released his right hand, though intense pain still shot through his five fingers.

"Bang..." The blade fell from a great height, crashed onto the beach, and shattered into dozens of pieces.

But the worst thing happened: the few wisps of flame that had overflowed seemed to be sentient beings, somehow attaching themselves to Tian Jinzhong's right hand and continuing to burn.

"what!!!"

In less than half a second, Tian Jinzhong let out a heart-wrenching wail. The pain that went deep into his soul made his face turn pale and his veins bulge.

The skin on his right hand was constantly corroded, and black pus kept dripping down. The tender flesh was burning fiercely, and the pain almost made him lose his mind. He suddenly plunged his hand into the seawater, but it had no effect, and the black flames did not diminish.

Upon hearing the screams, the Celestial Master, Zhang Zhiwei, and the Shangqing Sect Leader all turned their heads and saw Tian Jinzhong struggling in pain. They all rushed over.

"No...don't come near me!!!"

"Master...Senior Brother!!"

With bloodshot eyes, Tian Jinzhong gritted his teeth, enduring immense pain every second. The flesh of his right hand seemed to be devoured by an invisible demon, revealing bare bones and severed tendons.

"Jinzhong!!"

Zhang Zhiwei and Zhang Jingqing were shocked. They hadn't expected the accident to happen so quickly. The burning black flame covered Tian Jinzhong's palm and burned it to ashes in just a moment.

"Help...help me..."

Tian Jinzhong's voice was hoarse, and the indescribable pain tore his reason to pieces. He suffered terribly and barely managed to unleash the golden light despite the excruciating pain.

"Hiss!!"

However, the golden light could not stop the black flames from spreading; instead, it used the golden light as fuel, making the flames burn even more fiercely.

"Ahhhh!!!"

For Tian Jinzhong, the melting of every inch of flesh was a deadly torment.

"Junior brother!!" Zhang Zhiwei hurriedly tried to step forward to help, but Zhang Jingqing held him back tightly.

"Don't let your impatience cloud your judgment, stay calm!"

Zhang Jingqing was protected by golden light, and golden ropes soared out to bind Tian Jinzhong's limbs, fixing him firmly to the beach. The thick golden light enveloped the black flames, only slowing down the burning speed.

"what!!!"

Even without prior communication, seeing the junior's unbearable pain, the Shangqing Sect Leader seemed to have reached a tacit understanding with Zhang Jingqing. He quickly approached, his right hand glowing with a faint blue light, and placed it on Tian Jinzhong's forehead, using a secret technique to sever the connection between the nerves that sensed pain and the brain.

“Huff…Huff…”

As the pain receded like a receding tide, Tian Jinzhong was covered in cold sweat, trembling uncontrollably, and his lips were pale.

"Jinzhong...Jinzhong...how are you?"

Seeing his junior brother's weak appearance, Zhang Zhiwei could not suppress the panic in his heart and hurriedly came over to check on the situation.

The black flames continued to spread, and even the master's golden light could not completely stop them.

"Senior brother... Master... I'm sorry... I was careless..." Tian Jinzhong's eyes were streaked with tears, and his words were filled with remorse.

"Child, this is not your fault."

While trying to calm him down, the Shangqing Sect Leader raised his hand and used Qi as ink to draw a series of azure talismans. These talismans landed on the wound on his right arm, permeating with golden light in an attempt to suppress the black flames, but to no avail.

"Celestial Master...sigh."

The old man sighed, his words carrying unspoken meaning: he had done his best but could not stop it.

"Jinzhong, don't blame yourself, it's my fault."

Zhang Jingqing's face was grim, his heart aching. He had just unleashed a full-force attack that killed Iwasaki Kawataku, but he had failed to destroy the demonic sword, which led to this disaster. If he had simply destroyed it afterward, it wouldn't have turned out this way.

Chapter 107 There Will Always Be Successors

The black flames engulfed his arm without stopping. If it continued, given the rate of burning, Tian Jinzhong would be reduced to ashes in no more than a quarter of an hour.

This is a difficult problem facing everyone. Neither Longhu Mountain nor Shangqing has the means to extinguish the black flames.

“Master...it is because I am incompetent that I was injured by this evil creature. It has nothing to do with you.”

Tian Jinzhong could feel that his flesh and blood were like cotton wool. His master's Golden Light Rock and Senior Shangqing's talisman were just green wood that temporarily hindered the black flames from burning. It was only a matter of time before they were burned through.

What distressed him most was that his right forearm was also burned and mangled. Although he could not feel the pain, he knew better than anyone that his future path of cultivation had become more difficult.

"Jinzhong...don't be afraid, your master is here watching over you, I will definitely protect your life."

"Master..."

Tian Jinzhong choked up, a wave of regret washing over him. If he hadn't touched that knife, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

However, this is only human nature. Not to mention him, even other disciples would be unable to suppress their curiosity upon seeing a special weapon that could suppress their sect's golden light.

Zhang Jingqing supported her disciple's severed arm. The blood-red flames, almost black, resembled the fangs of a demon, devouring flesh and blood from the end of the wound. Fortunately, no other vital organs were affected by the flames.

Thus, the solution became clear, and everyone knew it: cut off the arm.

However, looking at her pale-faced disciple, Zhang Jingqing felt her words of advice stuck in her throat, as if weighed down by a thousand pounds and impossible to utter.

Zhang Zhiwei stood rooted to the spot, his fists slightly clenched. He understood his master's predicament, so he took the initiative to speak:

"Junior brother, the fire hasn't spread to your whole body yet. If you cut it off, you can save your life."

"Just bear with it, I'll seal your pressure points right away, and I can act at any time..."

"Senior brother..."

Seeing the solemn expressions on everyone's faces, Tian Jinzhong understood everything. The seniors, masters, and fellow disciples of Shangqing were worried that cutting off his arm to save his life would hurt his pride, so they were all waiting for his consent.

“Nephew from Jinzhong, would you please listen to my advice?”

Although the severed arm was serious, the Shangqing Sect Leader, who had weathered many storms in the martial world, was already used to it. He murmured:

"Losing an arm to save one's life is absolutely worthwhile, and besides, it might even be repaired."

"Repair?!" Tian Jinzhong was stunned. His mood, which had plummeted to rock bottom, couldn't help but rise with a glimmer of hope.

"Ah."

The leader of Shangqing Sect fell into reminiscence and recounted old stories: "As far as I know and have seen, there are two forces that can restore missing limbs to their original state."

"First, there's Medicine King Valley in southern Xinjiang. It's a remote and sparsely populated place, but during my travels in my early years, I did indeed see fellow Daoists there possessing this ability."

"Secondly, there is the Sanyi Sect. I once had an old friend whose arm was cut off when he was exorcising demons. Later, he used his profound skills to reattach it completely."

"This alone is not enough to prove that it is a method of his sect, but I later heard that Fellow Daoist Kuang Ya of the Sanyi Sect is the same. Even if his arm is cut off, he can still repair it."

"Moreover, the newly appointed Sect Leader Jiang is at a higher level of reverse regeneration than the other two, so he might have a solution."

The words of the Shangqing Sect Leader gave Tian Jinzhong hope. Most importantly, this was not a rumor, but something that a senior had witnessed.

Seeing his moved expression, Zhang Jingqing took the opportunity to admonish him: "Jinzhong, I would rather you lose this arm than lose your life. Remember, the more you feel you can't hold on any longer, the more you should cultivate!"

"Okay... Master."

With things having come to this, Tian Jinzhong had no other choice. He took a deep breath, suppressing all sorts of thoughts in his mind. Rather than letting his arm burn, he decided to decide the extent of his disability himself.

"Please, seniors, and master, help me..."

"It'll be alright, don't worry."

The old sect leader kept rambling on, relieving Tian Jinzhong's mental stress while using his withered fingers to press acupoints one after another, sealing the flow of blood and qi in the wound.

After everything was prepared, he turned to look at the Celestial Master, indicating that it was ready.

"Jinzhong, just bear with it."

Despite her reluctance, Zhang Jingqing gathered her Qi into a blade, placed it two inches in front of Tian Jinzhong's elbow joint, and decisively struck, slicing down in an instant.

"Pfft!"

The severed arm fell to the ground, but because the acupoints were sealed, it didn't bleed much. The head of the Shangqing sect helped bandage the wound.

As the black flames devoured the flesh and blood, they began to corrode the golden light, but Zhang Jingqing waved her hand and flung it far away. A bolt of heavenly lightning suddenly struck down and annihilated it.