The canine's jagged fangs closed in on Xinzi's unprepared eyes. Instinctively, our monk tried to bend back, but with the lapse of time available, he couldn't move fast enough.
Tusha outpaced him. Reacting faster than both Xinzi and Xue Yuanshao, the infernal nun placed her right arm before the canine's jaw, letting its fang sink in as her other arm wrapped around Xinzi and pulled him tight against her chest.
For once, our monk didn't have the heart to enjoy this cushy feel. The canine's teeth cracked against Tusha's arm, but even as they broke down, the beast leaped out of Xinzi's arm, and with its broken teeth, threw itself at our monk. The red portals littering the scene weren't there just for show. More beasts reared their heads, dozens rushing in promptly, while more grumbled from within the portals. Xue Yuanshao reacted now, joining his hands to channel what bit of Soul Force he had left for a mental blast.
"Don't! They're Dao Beasts!" Tusha and Xinzi said in tandem, shutting down Xue Yuanshao's move. With Tusha to carry them both, they vanished, reappearing far from the first mutt, but with the portals covering the scene, mutts could rise from virtually anywhere, making any attempt at avoiding them futile. Even Xinzi's right arm had now become a mutt-producing factory.
Confused, Xue Yuanshao swept the beasts. On the outside, they looked like a gray breed of shar pei dogs. Thankfully, the glowing red sclera and extra eyes opening and closing all across their furred body warned the ancient expert that any attempt for petting would end up in quick mauling. Still, Xue Yuanshao couldn't understand why Tusha refused to attack. These beasts' strength were only at rank one, absolutely no threat for either Xinzi—to say nothing of Tusha.
But as a mortal expert, how could Xue Yuanshao know that Dao Beasts stemmed from Heaven's Will—dispatched through the mortal world's Heavenly Dao to hunt down and maul those that dared to transgress heaven's most sacred rules. Their cultivation bases scaled according to the person that they faced, so once Tusha attacked, the next wave of beasts would scale accordingly.
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not worried about you. Our fate are tied already, so if I don't protect you, I'm harming myself." Surprised by her body's instinctive reaction, Tusha tried to explain her move. On usual days, she put her pride aside and did her best to flatter Xinzi, but she had not forgotten the master that she truly served: Qiu Meng. This was all a temporary setback in her quest to revive him. How could she allow herself to get attached to an interim boss?
Alas, oftentimes the body spoke the truths that the lips refused to acknowledge. Try as her might, the longer she stayed by Xinzi's side, the more attached Tusha became. This fact rattled her mind—a matter for another time.
"I see. Is that why you're pressing me so hard against your chest? Careful, my fifth limb as a mind of its own, and might not be able to resist the friction."
"Even in this situation, you still have time to jest? What is wrong with you?" Tusha couldn't believe her ears. Even in this situation, Xinzi didn't lose an opportunity to throw in one of his bawdy jokes and smile like a tax collector at harvest time.
The Inverse Dao Seals glowed once more. The grumbles of bloodthirsty beasts filled the Dream Mountain, and with a wave of her hand, Tusha cast a defensive barrier—keeping Xinzi's right arm and all the rest at bay.
"Useless. Although you're adopting a defensive stance, what you're doing will ultimately only make things worse. That said, I didn't expect the punishment to fall so fast. It seems that by refining this grace, I have tied myself to a boat of misfortune. Never mind, we stick to the original plan," Xinzi said, freed himself from Tusha's grip and walked out of her shield. He was correct. Even if Tusha only relied on defensive means to repel the beasts, her aura would still end-up aggravating the situation.
Xinzi wasn't that familiar with the rules related to Heaven's Chosen. In the Celestial Paradise, not many were. And the Gods who did often just stayed out of the Chosen's way, enabling them to grow into a legend before turning into Heaven's food. Said bluntly, in their eyes, the Chosen were Heaven's dual cauldrons. Hell's top players cared for the Chosen more. Still, Xinzi knew all about the Grace and Dao Beasts. This knowledge warned him that what he faced now was just the tip of the iceberg.
Heaven was fair, so fair that once it wanted you to die, it'd give you a chance to fight before crushing your hopes with ever-rising tribulations. Our monk snapped his fingers, and in a whirl of Evil Qi, a skeletal dark-purple arm appeared, carrying a pink beating heart, around which seductive energies swirled.
A strand of Xinzi's spiritual sense flew into the arm, giving it specific instructions. It then turned into a ray of purple light, aiming for the Ice-Fire cave—the True Devil's Evil Qi followed it as well.
"I've sent my Klesha Heart to create the demon we need. Tusha takes over Chun Xu's body while Xue Yuanshao returns to Xiao Hu. The two of you will cooperate to erase anything connected to my demonic and divine attributes from Xiao Hu's mind. No need to rewrite events or add memories. I will take care of the rest." Xinzi said while dodging three incoming beasts, and at first, his words plunged the two into confusion.
Would leaving blanks in Xiao Hu's mind not alarm the Eternal Night all the same? Would it not be better to rewrite the events and add confrontations with the demon they were about to create? Or did Xinzi fear the damages that such a move would have on Xiao Hu?
'Oh, I see!' As their thoughts reached this point, the two realized why Xinzi opted for this path. Any remodeling of Xiao Hu's mind wouldn't escape the Hengye clan's scrutiny. However, Xinzi could righteously blame the blanks on times that Xiao Hu got glimpses of his Divine Powers—forcing him to temper with her memories.
That a boy old enough to be his descendants' descendant could consider so many ramifications in a heartbeat only made Xue Yuanshao more in awe of the Hengye clan's grooming methods. The old man vanished first, but for a second, Tusha lingered. Dozens of Dao Beasts descended from the portal, taking slow threatening steps at Xinzi. The infernal nun clenched her fist, then vanished as well.
Alone, Xinzi shut his eyes and clutched at his chest. Veins beat on his temple, and as the Inverse Dao Seals flickered on his arm, our monk struggled to remain on his feet. Sensing this moment of weakness, the Dao Beasts lunged at Xinzi. More popped out of his seals, diving for his neck!
"On your knees!" Rings of silver light took shape around Xinzi's right arm, a grand halo appeared above his head, and within his body, his bones stirred. Billowing waves of divine power surged upward, sending all starving beast to crater into the ground.
"Wooo!" Their screams had barely come out that they burst into blood fog. In Xinzi's chest, the Silkshifter Heart and Immemorial Blood Gu quivered to no end.
Before, any divine power that Xinzi possessed stayed locked within his soul and didn't interfere with the body, so he could afford to keep this demonic heart and tap in his Evil Qi reserves. But now that he'd turned all his bones into divine variants, the Divine Power clashed with the heart's demonic nature—oppressing it wantonly.
Our monk knew that such consequences were to be expected. But with the problems he had to solve, how could he care?
More beasts leaped out of the portal. This time at rank two, with some rank-three Dao Beasts hiding in the midst. Prepared, Xinzi raised his right hand, unleashing crushing suppression force that nailed the beasts down—before reducing them into exploding gore.
"Wooo…hehehe, no, not this time." Xinzi couldn't help himself, but as his heart spiraled out of control, the monk fell on one knee and spurted blood.
"For someone destined to be buried here, you sure know how to jest. Is it your Divine Soul that gives you this confidence? Or perhaps your belief in Heaven's Fairness convinces you that you can still fight for a way out?" A voice came right from Xinzi's right arm, and from the portal, a multitude of rank-four beasts flew out, each comparable to a Golden Core level expert.
With this new Dao Bone, a full-powered Xinzi wouldn't dread such a lineup. But now that his divine and demonic powers clashed—wreaking havoc in his organs, our monk couldn't present such confidence.
"A single rank-four Dao Beast can squash the average Golden Core level expert into a meat paste. You've brought so many to my weakened self and you still have the nerve to discuss 'fairness'? As laughable as conceited. Then again, after looking down on the world for zillions of years, how can the sky…not get conceited?" Xinzi said, and as a rank-four beast's jaw popped out of his arm, the monk's eyes stretched to the limit, with columns of Divine Powers surging upward. Frigid Flames gushed out of his dantian, the Five Elements Transmutative Technique kicked in, turning the divine power into razor-sharp evil winds that sliced through all these greedy jaws.
Beasts fell, others replaced them, and no matter how hard Xinzi fought, it seemed that an infinite army awaited behind these portals. The only way for him to survive was to suppress these portals—better, suppress the seals!
Could his mortal body support the load that such a feat required?
He'd have to find out now.
Eyes flaring with determination, the monk steadied himself and stretched out his arms. In that instant, Xinzi became a ball of blinding flames, shining so bright that the beast waves floundered under the pressure of his aura.
"Futile resistance. Break down the portals and we will open them again. As for suppressing the seals, that's beyond your current abilities. For a peak Qi Refinement brat to accumulate this much power is already unprecedented. But if Heaven wants you to die, you cannot survive.
Such…is the law of the cultivation world." The voice in Xinzi's seals dismissed his defiance. But at that time…
"Unless you have a heaven-defying master, of course." One large hand grabbed Xinzi's right arm, ignoring the flames that burned so bright that the Dao Beasts hesitated to approach. Both Xinzi and the seals trembled as. behind our monk, a taller, just as herculean man appeared—dressed in the monastic robes of the Clear Heart monastery.
"And he just so happens to have one." Abbot Qingxin said and closed his eyes.
"May All Living Things Return to Peace." Rippling waves of golden light spread from the monk's form, sweeping through the scene, and forcing the bloodthirsty Dao Beasts to bow, before returning from whence they came. Still, the portal flashed, and Xinzi's seals burned more than ever before.
"Treasonous scum! It's you!"
