Holding his head, Elder Hu’s savage eyes glared at Obscene Snake, “Are you here to kill him or to chat up with him? What are you doing getting tongue tied in crap?
“You’re dragging the intellect of our whole sect through the mud!” Elder Hu roared at Obscene Snake and Jackal.
All he got was a huff and puff from them, focussing their angry glares on Zhuo Fan.
It was all this piece of crap’s fault for them ending like this. One in a sorry state and the other without a body. Their reputation as an ethereal stage expert aside, he had now attacked another angle, their brains.
Obscene Snake snarled, “Rotten punk, I will crack your skin, take your bones and torture you, I’ll make you suffer until you beg for death.”
“Did you… give up on possessing me?” Zhuo Fan grinned.
Obscene Snake’s tail was whistling in rage, “None of your goddamn business. Just remember, I will make your life a living hell. You will live a long and painful life, hi-hi-hi…”
Zhuo Fan merely shook his head, [Dumbass.]
“Boy, are these people the target?” An aged voice resounded.
The elders jerked around but saw nothing.
Fear creeped into their hearts for how much weaker they were compared to the owner of this voice.
The three felt perhaps more than a little uneasy.
[Did we just get played, again?! We, the great Ethereal Stage experts?]
[An expert ambush…]
[But Tianyu has nobody stronger than us. Even Li Jingtian’s case took a thousand years to pass yet now there’s another Ethereal Stage expert in hiding?]
The three gulped, their common sense defeated.
Zhuo Fan sneered at them, cupping his hands, “I thank the elder for his support. They are all here, please begin.”
“Fine.”
The aged voice came again. From all around the mountains, space twisted until five aged robes came into view, having the group surrounded.
Every single one of them had a handicap.
One with atrophied ears, one was blind, one had a cut-off nose and one with the tied lips, even though his voice still came out.
The last one was looking quite healthy, if one ignored his other crippled senses. He didn’t even have a tongue, only groaning as he talked.
Following the trend, the five men each missed sensory organs, yet, through a twisted logic, still had the sense that the other guys were missing.
Even Li Jingtian twitched a bit after looking at the creepy five.
While the three elders were downright stumped, even falling back in fear.
Fierce Tiger’s teeth chattered, “Demon Scheming Sect’s Impermanence Five, what are you doing here?”
“Last I checked, Demon Scheming Sect is one of Tianyu Empire’s three guardian sects. Going about our domain is only natural. That being said, I can’t help but wonder, what’s Beast Taming Sect doing here? Are you here to mess with our disciples?”
Four elders simply meditated on a rock, with only the blind, deaf and sealed mouth elder speaking.
The terror was growing within the three beast elders, evident by their sweat.
Fierce Tiger wiped his brow and bowed, “Elders, we had been taunted by some insidious lowlife. We have never touched any of your great sect’s disciples.”
“Never, is it? Then what was that flaying our disciple and taking his body all about? My ears are frail, but I can hear just fine!” The same one spoke.
The trio were panicking now, crying at Zhuo Fan, “You’re a Demon Scheming Sect disciple?”
“Yep, in the making.” Zhuo Fan shrugged.
The trio shook like leaves and hatred exploded within. Oh, not out of regret, but with malice directed at their intelligence reports.
[They did it on purpose! How else could they not find out that our target is with the Demon Scheming Sect!]
What was supposed to be a simple in and out job, beneath the prying eyes of Tianyu’s guardian sects, had now become a task of targeting Demon Scheming Sect’s disciple. They were as smooth as a lummox.
[Tianyu’s emperor in particular. You fool, going around targeting Demon Scheming Sect’s men with your pranks? Is life too good for you?]
The three elders were close to bawling. [Impermanence Five are veterans. We should’ve had an easy time but we just came here and have already hit a wall?]
Fierce Tiger bowed at once, “Elders, we did not know the kid was yours. We ask that you overlook our transgressions out of the goodness of your hearts.”
“Ha-ha-ha, what’s the point of sect rules if a simple apology would suffice? You messed with our disciple and think you can walk away, just like that? Who do you take the Demon Scheming Sect for?” The same elder taunted.
As tears welled up in their eyes, Obscene Snake had to show his dissatisfaction, “Elders, just look at us. It’s him who has messed with us. He is still alive and kicking even after taking out my body!”
“Ha-ha-ha, a Profound Heaven kid destroyed a great Ethereal Stage expert’s body. What a shame! And now you have the nerve to own up to it? The way I see it, death will look much better on you!” The elder mocked.
The other four elders shook a little, each expressing joy in their own creepy way.
Fierce Tiger barked, “Obscene Snake, are you so damn blind? This is a trap. Demon Scheming Sect is splitting hairs just to fish for leverage. We can beg all we want, but they won’t ever let us go.”
“Ha-ha-ha, everyone is a product of their environment. You haven’t been around this kid for long, yet you already have the kid’s brain rubbing off on you, if only a little. I think congratulations are in order.” The elder mocked.
Fierce Tiger turned savage, “Impermanence Five, you’re famous in western lands, but you’re not much different from us. Don’t push it or we’ll take you down with us!”
“Now I really want to see just how three nobodies would go about doing that, ha-ha-ha…” The elder shot back, “Kid, take your men away before they tie us down.”
“Yes, elder.”
Zhuo Fan bowed, giving Li Jingtian a look. The four flew away but didn’t go too far, watching from the sidelines at the edge of the valley.
A fight of this degree would do the fresh Ethereal Stage Li Jingtian and the power couple a world of good.
Qiu Yanhai frowned at the still sitting elders, “Steward Zhuo, what’s the deal with them? Their senses are wilted, but not by accident.”
“Ha-ha-ha, true. It came about from their cultivation method.”
Zhuo Fan explained, “It is a combination art, Vicissitudes Art. It is said ‘A year of vicissitudes, a time of blossoms and a time of wilting. When the year turns, vicissitudes begin anew.’ This is the natural cycle. Everything in this world rises and falls in a never ending cycle.
“These five elders emulate it through their sensory organs. But the cycle can sometimes thrive and sometimes degrade. To compensate for this glaring weakness, they each gave up all their sensory organs except one. Thus, together, they will only thrive. To the point that many experts stronger than them have fallen to their combination art. The elders are named after the sensory organ they picked. Take that talking elder for instance, he is Elder She, because of his tongue.”
The others nodded, with Xue Qingjian found their creepy looks not at all inviting, “But they’re so damn ugly. No matter how great the art is, I’ll never practice it!”
The others laughed. Zhuo Fan continued, “Sister Xue, you’re underestimating the Vicissitudes Art. Not anyone can train in it. The least you should be ready for is to give up your face, but you also have to join four others in using it. While each of them has a sense still working, it is at the group’s discretion to use it. And therein lies the kicker, you can’t control it.”
In reply to their shock, Zhuo Fan smiled, “Anyway, there are three reckless fools trying it out. You best peel your eyes to a true Ethereal Stage expert!”
