Chapter 135
Chapter 135
Liu Ye looked at the last contestant. The Daoist’s face had turned grim. Even a fool could now see that Liu Ye was no ordinary opponent.
“Impressive skills, Fellow Daoist,” the man said coldly.
Liu Ye understood his anger. Who would be happy to see such blatant cheating in a major contest? Especially when the outcome determined who would later run naked through the city…
Come to think of it, where had the first two contestants gone? Were they trying to avoid paying their wager?
The Daoist looked toward the emperor and saw that the man’s attitude had already changed.
After serving him for years, he knew the emperor’s nature well: indecisive, selfish, and coldhearted. He would do anything that benefited him, then discard anyone who ceased to be useful.
“Never mind. What I’ve absorbed is enough.”
The Daoist swept his horsetail whisk through the air and began chanting.
The emperor’s face abruptly contorted. He clutched his stomach and screamed.
“My stomach! Immortal Masters, Imperial Preceptor, save me!”
Several court officials also collapsed, writhing in agony.
The Daoist laughed. “Congratulations, Your Majesty! This proves you are about to ascend to immortality. I welcome Your Majesty’s ascension!”
Golden vapor poured from the mouths of the emperor and his officials and flowed into the Daoist’s body. Wind and clouds churned overhead.
His form began to swell. The arena around Liu Ye’s party transformed into a vast temple, with the Daoist himself enshrined at its center.
He towered over them like a mountain. Liu Ye and the others were smaller than one of his toes.
“Fellow Daoist Liu, imperial dragon energy now fills my body, and my fate is bound to the fortune of this dynasty. Let us see how you can possibly fight me now! Hahahaha!”
“Demonic Daoist! He’s a demonic Daoist!”
The emperor lay trembling on the floor. He was still alive but could no longer stand. Hiding behind the empress, he shouted at Liu Ye.
“Immortal Master, use your powers and destroy him!”
“Destroy him?” Despair filled Physician Zhou’s face. “How? He has bound himself to the dynasty’s fortune. No subject of this realm can harm him in the slightest.”
The binding had taken effect the moment the Daoist transformed. Anyone who belonged to the dynasty at that instant had lost all ability to injure him.
Physician Zhou bitterly regretted his miscalculation. He had assumed the Daoist merely wanted to steal some dragon energy. He never expected such an elaborate plan, much less an act so flagrantly opposed to the natural order.
“Exactly. Even if your powers reach the heavens, Liu Ye, you cannot harm-where are you looking?” the Daoist suddenly roared.
Liu Ye dropped the hem of the gigantic robe, then ran back with a horrified expression.
“Come over here! This guy isn’t wearing underwear!”
Everyone fell silent.
So did the Daoist.
“Could you focus on the actual crisis? At this size, even if I weren’t wearing-wait! Who says I’m not wearing underwear?”
As the Daoist raged, Eunuch Wu crouched before the two Qiqis and spoke earnestly.
“Your Highnesses, a person like that is what we call a pervert.”
“Why are you teaching them that now? And how am I a pervert? I am wearing it! It simply grew with-why am I explaining myself to you?”
The Daoist covered his face in anguish.
The moment should have been terrifying. Somehow, it had turned into a farce.
“I-”
“Boss, I’m hungry!” Qiqi tugged on Liu Ye’s trousers.
“There’s still some snake meat. Go eat that.”
“It’s gone hard. It doesn’t taste good!” she complained with a pout.
“Since when are you such a picky eater?”
“Enough!” the Daoist bellowed.
“You’ve gone too far! Show me some respect! I am standing here in this colossal form, and all of you are going about your business as though I don’t exist. Am I truly so unthreatening?”
Everyone fell silent.
“See? You made him angry. Apologize,” Liu Ye told Qiqi.
She pursed her lips, then bowed to the Daoist. “I’m sorry, Uncle.”
The Daoist stared at them.
“How do you have the nerve to make her apologize? You are the worst one here!”
Unable to endure any more, he raised one finger and brought it crashing down toward Liu Ye.
Everyone else collapsed to the floor without even attempting to flee. The finger was simply too large. There was nowhere they could run.
Liu Ye planted his feet and punched upward.
Boom!
The tremendous collision sent shock waves exploding through the air. Cracks raced across the Daoist’s finger, spread along his entire arm, and shattered it with a deafening blast.
“Impossible!”
The Daoist clutched the stump in disbelief. “Why? You should not be able to harm me!”
The others were equally confused. Then Eunuch Wu remembered something.
“No-Lord Liu can harm him!” he exclaimed.
“Why?” Physician Zhou asked.
“Have you forgotten? Back at the county office, Lord Liu announced that he was rebelling!”
Physician Zhou understood. They had all witnessed it. Liu Ye had openly declared rebellion, which clearly meant he had ceased to be a subject of their dynasty from that moment onward.
The Daoist was dumbfounded. That counted?
Grinding his teeth, he tried to crush Liu Ye beneath the dynasty’s fortune. But the instant he summoned it, all that power flowed toward his severed arm and poured uncontrollably from the wound.
The escaping dragon energy and national fortune streamed into Qiqi.
Warmth spread through her body. On the ground beneath her feet, her shadow appeared once more.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty,” Physician Zhou said to the empress with a smile. “This time, you truly have twins.”
The empress covered her face and wept with joy.
The surrounding illusion fractured in an instant, then burst outward with a tremendous boom.
When everyone recovered, they found themselves back at the contest grounds-or what remained of them.
The imperial city had been reduced to rubble by the previous collision.
Liu Ye stared at the ruins. The scene felt strangely familiar.
The Daoist lay on the ground nearby, his right arm gone and his body pale and shriveled.
Liu Ye walked over.
“Have you come to mock me?” the Daoist asked weakly.
“No. I just want to ask you one question.” Liu Ye rubbed his chin.
“You want to know why I did all this? Heh. Liu Ye, you understand nothing about this world-”
“No. I wanted to ask whether going without underwear feels drafty.”
The Daoist stared at him.
“You…”
His head rolled to one side, and he fell silent forever.