Stranger Danger

Chapter 536: Five Virtue Sword of Star Deities

Boom!

The air within several meters of the combatants compressed and exploded with a boom, but Ouyang De didn’t panic. While the Joy Arhat’s palm was making its way toward him, he thrust his smoking pipe forward, pierced through the layers of palm force, and tapped it on the Joy Arhat’s wrist.

There was an old saying called, “Four taels can move five hundred kilograms.” Weak strength could surpass greater strength if it was applied properly. With a simple flick and push, Ouyang De was able to stagger the Joy Arhat and caused his palm strike to sail harmlessly past his side. As they were brushing past each other, he then reversed his grip and smacked the monk on the back of his head.

Bang!

The Joy Arhat hit the ground at the speed of lightning. It was such an impact that he left a deep pit on the ground.

While Ouyang De was repelling the Joy Arhat, a smooth, slender finger pointed at the center of his forehead. The finger looked a good distance away from its target, but was it? Was it not right in front of its target? Not only that, it looked like it existed in both reality and unreality at the same time. So long as its owner willed it, it could be anything and everything.

“Finger of Whims and Wishes”

At the same time, Master of Swords’ aura had reached its peak. When he swung his sword, a fiery blaze hot enough to burn heaven and earth burst into existence, and a fearsome-looking god manifested in the sky. It had three heads and six arms, and it wielded a bow, arrows, two swords and a fire calabash. It was also wearing a golden helm and a golden armor.

Standing in the middle of the inferno, the god looked as imposing as hell and as ubiquitous as the sea. The next moment, the god executed a cross slash and launched a dragon of pure fire at Ouyang De.

“Sword of the Fire Virtue of the South”

Ouyang De looked like an ant before the god and its fire dragon, but he wasn’t afraid in the slightest. He brought his smoking pipe to his mouth and took a puff, and both entities suddenly lost their cohesion and began shrinking rapidly. Before Master of Swords could do anything, both the god and the fire dragon were sucked into the smoking pipe.

Whoever said that a smoking pipe could not hold a world, much less a god?

The next moment, Ouyang De exhaled and spat fire from his smoking pipe. The flames scattered into countless birds and slammed into the slender finger still sailing toward him.

The Lampholding Protector was exposed as the finger surrounding her dissolved inch by inch. Her face was white with terror as she backpedaled as quickly as her feet would allow.

A short distance away from her, Master of Swords was forced to back away by the swarm of flaming birds as well. He was wearing a severe expression on his face.

He was a Half-Step Grandmaster, which meant that he was only half a step away from attaining the Grandmaster stage. Besides that, he cultivated the “Five Virtue Sword of Star Deities”, a powerful and famous martial art in ancient times.

In Taoism, there were five star gods known as the Five Virtues or the Five True Lords. They were the Wood Virtue of the East “Hua Xing”, the Fire Virtue of the South “Ying Huo”, the Metal Virtue of the West “Tai Bai”, the Water Virtue of the North “Ci Chen”, and the Earth Virtue of the Center “Di Hou”.

Each Virtue wielded a supreme sword, and each sword possessed incredible power. They could even manifest a shadow of the Five Virtues to assist its wielder, each with their own unique qualities.

The Sword of the Wood Virtue of the East possessed the power of life and could revive and revitalize all living things,

The Sword of the Fire Virtue of the South possessed the power of destruction and could burn all into ash,

The Sword of the Metal Virtue of the West possessed the power of killing and could slay any foe,

The Sword of the Water Virtue of the East possessed the power of winter and could turn everything into ice,

And finally, the Sword of the Earth Virtue of the Center possessed the power of thick virtue and could protect anything and everything.

Once, Master of Swords had used the “Five Virtue Sword of Star Deities” to defeat a recently ascended Grandmaster. Although he didn’t slay his opponent, the fact that he defeated him fair and square earned him the title “Master of Swords” and the eleventh place on the Human Champions Ranking.

Although Ouyang De was the strongest Grandmaster in Bei You, he was only ranked ninety-eighth on the Earth Champions Ranking. That was why he naively thought that the power gap between them wasn’t too big. Even if he couldn’t defeat the man, he was sure that the three of them together could go toe to toe against the Grandmaster.

Then, reality slapped him in the face. In just one exchange, Ouyang De had dealt all three of them a serious blow. Not only that, it was clear that the old man hadn’t employed his full strength.

Just how strong was Ouyang De?

They couldn’t back down, however. If they missed this opportunity, and Joy Bodhisattva survived to fight another day, then it would be that much harder for them to eliminate her in the future. Endless Sand’s plans to eliminate the Buddhist Hall of Joy and claim its rightful place as the king of Bei You would also fall into tatters.

Worse still, Joy Bodhisattva would surely transform into their bitterest enemy. Although their factions had never been on the best of terms, the worst they ever did was to back bite and duke it out behind the scenes. They had never clashed against each other in public, much less assassinated the other’s leader in broad daylight. If Joy Bodhisattva died, then all was well. If not, then this would turn into a full-blown war.

Endless Sand would probably win by virtue of being the bigger and stronger faction, but Joy Bodhisattva would make them pay every step of the way. In the end, no one would come out on top.

That was why Joy Bodhisattva must die today.

Master of Swords came to a decision after some quick thinking. He ordered, “Delay Ouyang De as best you can. I’ll kill Joy Bodhisattva in the meantime.”

If Joy Bodhisattva dies, then their grand plan would succeed. Ouyang De could be a living god, and he still wouldn’t be able to change anything. The power of one only extended so far.

The Lampholding Protector and the Joy Arhat understood the seriousness of the situation, of course. They had colluded with Endless Sand to murder their own leader, and Joy Bodhisattva had killed for far less. If she lived, they would die. It was as simple as that.

The two traitors charged toward Ouyang De without hesitation. At the same time, Master of Swords charged toward Joy Bodhisattva at the speed of lightning.

Seeing this, Ouyang De inhaled until his stomach was bulging before exhaling it all at once. Countless sparks flew out of his smoking pipe like stars.

The Joy Arhat let out an angry roar, raised his massive fist, and scattered the sea of sparks with a single punch. However, the sparks also burned his flesh and left many black patches on his body.

The Lampholding Protector also pointed another finger at Ouyang De and summoned countless semi-transparent fingers into existence. Each finger would halt a spark in its tracks before flicking it away.

They had just finished dealing with the sea of sparks when they realized that Ouyang De was standing between the two of them. Stunned, the two betrayers subconsciously attacked the old man.

Ouyang De let out a strange cackle and blocked their attacks with both hands. Then, another pair of hands reached out of his sleeves and slapped them in the chest.

“Can you guess how many hands I have?”

Ouyang De grinned savagely as another two pairs of hands reached out of his collar and his chest and slapped the absolute shit out of the Joy Arhat and the Lampholding Protector. Their cheeks swelled like balloons, and their vision was filled with stars. Not done yet, Ouyang lunged forward from an angle that defied common sense, grabbed their shoulders, and tossed them over and behind him.

As the Joy Arhat and the Lampholding Protector were still paralyzed, they were unable to arrest their momentum. Then, a series of firecracker-like pops erupted inside their body.

“Pwack!”

The two betrayers threw up blood and turned deathly pale at the same time.

This was Ouyang De’s signature martial art, “Grinning Fist and Impossible Move”. The reason the martial art was named this way was because its practitioner used grins to control his force, and its techniques were as unusual as they were unpredictable. Take the way Ouyang De had suppressed the Joy Arhat and the Lampholding Protector just now. Who could anticipate that he would suddenly grow multiple pairs of hands? Surprising enemies with literally impossible techniques and hitting them where their guard was weakest was the epitome of “Grinning Fist and Impossible Move”.

Ouyang De mainly got his moniker due to his unorthodox, unpredictable, and ridiculous behavior, but his signature martial art was also a major part in it.

Ye Qing and Yi Pin were trying to sneak away from the battlefield when the Joy Arhat and the Lampholding Protector landed right in front of them. Then, they heard Ouyang De’s voice from afar, “Please handle them while I take care of Master of Swords, young one.”

You sonuvabitch!

Ye Qing and Yi Pin were speechless to say the least. If Ouyang De wasn’t a Grandmaster who could kick their butts, they would be swearing at full volume already.

When Master of Swords, the Joy Arhat and the Lampholding Protector appeared, Ye Qing and Yi Pin figured out instantly that this was a clash between two of the biggest forces of Bei You. Neither man had any intention of getting involved in this, which was why they had pretended to be blind and deaf and kept a low profile this whole time. While the trio were fighting against Ouyang De, they immediately saw their opportunity and tried to sneak away as quietly as they were able.

At first, things went exactly as they had planned. Neither combatant seemed to have noticed their actions, and they were seconds away from rounding a corner and hopping away like a rabbit.

Then, the son of a bitch threw the Joy Arhat and the Lampholding Protector over and cut off their path of escape. As a result, any chance they had at escaping this battlefield unscathed had evaporated into thin air.

“Ahem. Would you believe me if I told you that we were just passing through?” Ye Qing tried while watching at the Joy Arhat and the Lampholding Protector warily.

“Deal with them, senior brother. I’m going to help Master of Swords.”

The Lampholding Protector leaped into the air and dashed toward Master of Swords and Ouyang De’s battlefield.

The Joy Arhat grunted in agreement and struck the ground with his palm. As it collapsed, he leaped into the air and swung his right arm at Ye Qing and Yi Pin like a hammer.