Due to Huang Yuzao going down, his golden python also disappeared. Jiang Chen, having waited for this moment, immediately escaped and fetched his weapons from the ground to reconstruct them into Punished. “I told you that you would sacrifice your lifespan.”
Although Huang Yuzao knew a poison afflicted him, he couldn’t pinpoint where it was hiding regardless of whether he used his internal energy or even Enlightenment. It wasn’t enough to threaten his life; however, the pain was enough to render him dysfunctional.
“Don’t waste your energy; you won’t find it. I spread eight different types of poison onto the blades, but not one of them is effective against you. I’m guessing you wrapped the poison up? That’s precisely why I added a little something extra.” Despite all the attacks Huang Yuzao stung him with, Jiang Chen was still casually smiling. “It’s something I just got my hands on recently called ‘love is pain’.”
“Tang Clan’s ‘love is pain’!”
“Hahaha.” Jiang Chen clapped his hands. “Precisely. You came here for revenge, yet you weren’t angry or upset. You’re so nice that you were somewhat upset to hear my story and show pity. Following my provocations, you were livid and, maybe, shocked. Are you enjoying the pain?”
Technically, it wasn’t a poison but a drug that prevented one from being emotional. Tang Clan’s patriarch used it to become a martial arts adept. Once you consume it, no matter which emotion you indulged in, the poison would induce an unbearable pain. The only way to avoid the pain was to do away with all emotions. Since it wasn’t a poison, it was impossible to locate as a “poison”.
Without the grudge, the traitor and the inevitable emotions experienced in battle, Huang Yuzao would’ve had no problems controlling his emotions. Alas, that wasn’t how life worked.
Since the drug didn’t impact true qi and internal energy to any appreciable extent, as long as Huang Yuzao was still breathing, the gap in strength would remain. That was why Jiang Chen instantly retreated out of Huang Yuzao’s range when he regained freedom.
“I’d say it’s going to be hard for you to not be angry once I do what I’m about to do. If there’s anything worth observing, it’s how much you can put up with.” Jiang Chen simpered. “Besides ‘love is pain’, this here is another new toy I’ve gotten my hands on recently. This is called a ‘blood bomb’. It only requires a small amount of heat to trigger an explosion, and don’t underestimate its impact because of its small size.”
Huang Yuzao’s ears perked up.
“This is said to be a product that Demon Sect designed back in the way. I stole them off a kid who carried it on him. Don’t worry. I have enough to use for today’s agenda. Now, for the climax of the show. I’ve set blood bombs underneath the candles here. Do you want to guess where I obtained these from?”
Jiang Chen suddenly uncorked a scorching palm strike. Huang Yuzao turned side on, resulting in the candle behind him exploding instead of him. Had Huang Yuzao been any slower, he wouldn’t have felt heat energy comparable to boiling water, but he would’ve ended up in the same shape as the candle.
Following his dodge, Huang Yuzao instantly moved in, hoping to prevent Jiang Chen from triggering more explosions. Howbeit, another candle exploited before he could move, and he dodged it by a hair’s breadth. Before Huang Yuzao could figure out how the second explosion occurred with Jiang Chen lifting a finger, a third candle exploded. There was a small moment between each explosion, but it was that – small, small enough that trying to blink before the next one was challenging.
Heat triggered explosions. When a candle exploded, heat would disperse, which triggered another explosive. Therefore, it dawned on Huang Yuzao that the first explosion was all it took to cause a chain reaction. Each explosion would spread smoke. As the smoke spread, vision became more and more impaired. Furthermore, Jiang Chen made sure to strategically place them in order to confine Huang Yuzao’s available area for movement.
Internally, Huang Yuzao was partially disabled due to “love is pain”. Externally, he had to evade whilst being wary about where he moved to in case he exploded. He might’ve had Enlightenment to avoid being blown to pieces, but a momentary second of shock would make “love is pain” kick in and disable him.
In Jiang Chen’s hand wasn’t Punished’s hilt but his third ace for the day. He kept count of the explosions so that he could time his decisive blow the moment it came to an end. However, there were only forty-three explosions when there were a hundred and twenty blood bombs.
Jiang Chen: Are there faulty ones? He can’t do anything right…
Huang Yuzao burst out of the smoke screen, covered in wounds but still revving to fight. Though it wasn’t easy, he maintained his golden python’s form around himself. “You don’t know him well enough!” he brayed as he extended his sword toward Jiang Chen’s chest.
Left with no alternatives, Jiang Chen gritted his teeth and imbued Punished with crimson energy – Enlightenment! Whatever he had left, this was it.
“Helldevil Broadswordplay!”
Winner and loser, this was the moment!
***
“My, my, Mount Qixia, my, my, what a magnificent treat for the eyes.” An individual cloaked in black garments swung his arms around as he strolled with a gait as exaggerated as his arm movements. Why should he have cared when there was no one around to judge him as crazy or otherwise? As he danced and pranced, he looked around in a conspicuous fashion. “What shall I eat for today? My, my, how come there’s a door here?” There was no real sign to tell if his “dance” opened revealed the secret door or if he triggered some contraption to reveal it. Either way, he jumped straight in without reluctance.
A hidden chamber located at apex of a mountain, tucked away behind concealed contraptions… there was no chance it was a coincidence.
Blackness filled every inch of the secret chamber taking the shape of strangely-shaped rock formations. Yet, the visitor found himself a place to sit as though he was at home in the eerie space and casually remarked, “Wow, everyone is early.”
The eighth person seated at the long table griped, “Why did you bring someone along?”
The casual individual had a swordsman wearing a dragon mask right behind him. “Xiongxiong, why so aggressive?”
If “Xiongxiong” had a blade next to him, he likely would’ve swung instead of sitting there in silence.
The fifth individual voiced, “Mr. An, if your provocations incite a fight, how are we going to talk?”
Mr An replied, “Ahaha, fight? Anytime. I’ve pretty much forgotten the swordplay you taught me back then, so how about some revision?”
The fifth individual grinned. “Shall I give you a handicap this time and use my left hand?”
“Enough,” a third person asserted.
Mr. An assumed a serious demeanour for the first time. “Boss is here, too?”
“Boss”, sitting in the middle seat, emotionlessly, yet authoritatively, questioned, “Han Quan called for this meeting, and he arrived shortly after. Huang Quan, why did you personally come?”
Mr. An crossed his legs and titled his head. “Well, it’s boring at Yellow Nether. What’s wrong with checking up on what Jiangjiang is up to?”
The person seated next to “Boss” said, “It seems he will soon be successful.”
The individual in the fifth seat opined, “Confucianism’s leader isn’t fodder.”
The person in the ninth seat conveyed, “Huang Yuzao has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years. Although eliminating him will make the capital susceptible to anarchy, Yellow Nethers’ ambitions are greater than that.”
The person in the eighth seat scoffed. “If he can’t even beat Huang Yuzao, he has no place among Nine Nethers.”
The person in the fifth seat scoffed back. “Huang Yuzao is virtually Yu Sihe in his prime. You fought Yu Sihe to a draw, yet here you are talking big.”
“I would’ve dominated him if I wasn’t limited by time that day.”
Mr. An: “Kekeke, Xiongxiong is the best! Xiongxiong is the strongest!”
The person in the eighth seat picked up his weapon. “Zip it.”
Everyone part of the quarrel piped down instantly.
“We are the heralds of Nine Nethers, people of high standing among of Nine Nethers. We have the best of the mortal realm at our fingertips. It is unflattering to be bickering over something so trivial,” asserted “Boss”. “We will wait for Han Quan to report in.”
The individual in the fifth seat inquired, “He is currently out on a mission. If he is running late, he most probably failed. What then?”
“Boss” hummed for a second, then questioned, “Huang Quan, what do you say?”
Mr. An crossed his arms, pretended to think and then, wearing a straight face, answered, “Just kill him.”
Glossary
Springs and Quans – All these sudden names coming up must’ve had you scratching your head as I did until I read the entire chapter, so let me take a moment to unpack it. The “Quan” in their names and locations, in this context, means “spring”, but these springs are not the literal springs. These springs refer to the nine springs in the realm of the dead, hence the reason I changed the earlier translation of “Yellow Spring” to “Yellow Nether”. It’s now accepted that they are the underworld, which contrasts the heavenly realm, which is above. So, it’s not wrong per se to refer to them as springs, but it will mean that you need an extra level of understanding to understand the reason for the name, which is why I’m making the change from “Nine Springs” to “Nine Nethers”. Moving on.
All their names, or titles in this case, have “Quan” in them because each of their names in the organisation is one of the nine springs (nethers). As they’re proper names, I’m leaving them in pinyin because I don’t want to take liberties and start making up things that will cause confusion (*cough* wuxia’s translation *cough*). And, yes, their individual bases share the same name as their name in the organisation.
Why is the underworld called “Yellow Springs”? Because there was a belief that water looks yellow when it’s deep.
This is all you need to know for now.
