Chapter 161 — The Ambush
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 6
But Wan Jiangu lifted what remained of the trunk, raising it like a pillar of heaven, majestic and utterly overbearing. In the blink of an eye the tree shadows filling the sky vanished, the storm ceased, the fierce wind halted, and every thing in the world seemed to hold its breath, all gazing at that figure soaring in midair!
He came down from the sky, and with a great shout brought the tree crashing down.
The fierce wind shrieked, piercing the ear; within a three-zhang circle of ground there came a thunderous *boom*, and in an instant sand and stones flew outward on every side. Only Ming Li remained, his robes whipping, his face pale, staring fixedly at the giant tree descending from the sky.
That monstrous shriek rang like thunder in the ear, and in a flash it was upon him. Ming Li set his teeth, then suddenly his hands moved, and the Taiji Diagram spun ceaselessly, soaring up above his head to meet the trunk that fell like a thunderclap.
The two mighty forces collided with a roar in midair, until even the earth and the mountain peaks around them seemed to shake; the ground beneath Ming Li's feet gave way, and his feet sank into the soil.
The forward end of the trunk, pressed by the great power of the Taiji Profound Purity Way, burst apart entirely, splinters flying, then turned to powder and scattered without a trace. But the trunk behind it drove on relentlessly, inching down through the Taiji pattern that flickered with blue light. Ming Li's face went a shade whiter; the Soul-devourer's demonic radiance blazed brighter, and the Buddhist true words appeared once more, just beneath the Taiji pattern, golden light flickering as a further layer was laid down.
The fierce wind howled, making it nearly impossible to breathe in the clearing; the gale raged unchecked as those two men fought, oblivious to all else, in the green mountain forest—and no one marked that dark shadow faintly stirring.
Wan Jiangu's face was alight with fervor; even the deep wrinkles seemed to have vanished, as if the young years of long ago had all returned to him in this moment.
Those years, once so full of fire, that laughed at the world and held it in disdain!
He raised his head and gave a long cry, like a dragon roaring at the sun; the feel of the fierce wind against his face was as if all the hot blood in his body were burning!
Laughing, he charged down, all his cultivation bursting forth through that tree trunk; the whole practice of a lifetime poured out like flame with a roar.
In an instant the Buddhist true words scattered!
Layer upon layer of crushing force bore down like mountains toppling and seas overturning. A thread of blood trickled from the corner of Ming Li's mouth; amid his pallor a flush suddenly rose, and with a jerk he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, which fell upon the Soul-devourer.
Drop by drop the blood melted silently into it, and a cold breath echoed back from the depths of his heart.
His eyes abruptly turned blood red!
At that very moment, poised on the edge of disaster, the howling fierce wind filling the sky suddenly stopped, the killing intent that startled gods and dismayed ghosts vanished, and that figure in midair, majestic as a heavenly god, suddenly began to sway, growing weaker by degrees.
A dark shadow flitted with incomparable speed from behind Wan Jiangu, and the true art Ming Li had long been gathering, losing its suppression in an instant, burst forth at once—blue light, golden radiance, dim red demonic power, the mighty force of three great true arts fused into one, surging heavenward in an instant and striking squarely upon Wan Jiangu's chest. In that instant the sound of shattering bone rattled on like falling beads, *pi-pi-pa-pa* without cease. Wan Jiangu halted in midair and did not fly back; but his body suddenly went limp, and beginning from the chest, the muscles of his whole body seemed to desert him and began to wither beyond any recovery.