Stranger Danger

“Purple Sun Trueflame”

At this range, there was no way Goddess White Deer could’ve dodged out of the way. The seemingly insignificant wisp of flame hit her dead on.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!”

The scream that escaped her lips was anything but divine. The purple flame engulfed her whole body and burned her white deer into a crisp instantly.

The Purple Sun Trueflame was one of the most yang and dominant flames in the world, and it was exceptionally effective against evils and demons. The three goddesses might style themselves as goddesses, but they were really Strangers. Therefore, the Purple Sun Trueflame was the bane of their existence. Given their close proximity, Goddess White Deer didn’t even have time to dodge or muster any sort of defense. As a result, she was dealt a grievous blow.

As Goddess White Deer fell from the clouds screaming, the yin and yang qi shackling him came undone on their own. He did not hesitate to throw a punch straight at Goddess White Deer.

Kick the dog when it’s down, always.

“How dare you!”

Unfortunately, he had just made a move when Goddess Green Lotus’ furious voice pierced through his eardrums, and a terrific pressure enveloped heaven and earth. Suddenly, the wall paintings where Goddess Green Lotus and Goddess Moonview resided unleashed a river of thick river of purple gold light. The two goddesses quickly absorbed them and rapidly grew in size. By the time they reached their full height, their entire body was purple gold, their pressure became so dense that it felt as solid as the sea itself.

The next moment, Goddess Moonview waved her hand. Moonlight merged together to form a round moon big enough to blot out the sky. Brighter than the sun itself, its light encompassed anything and everything.

There was nowhere for Ye Qing to run under such omnipresent moonlight. The moon then crashed into him and sent him flying through countless buildings. When he finally hit the ground, the earth undulated and rolled away from him like it was liquid. Everything within a hundred meters of the point of impact was destroyed.

Lying in the middle of the pit, Ye Qing barked out in laughter. “Hahaha… it’s not too light or heavy. Now that's what I call a proper strike!”

He wasn’t done laughing when a green lotus descended from above. It was the size of a normal lotus, and it possessed neither the power nor the pressure of the moon. As far as the ordinary eye could tell, it was just a normal lotus.

Then, the lotus started spinning. Every petal began emitting a mysterious air of Dao, and each air of Dao manifested a singular star.

The green lotus had given birth to nine stars, and the ground was falling inch by inch as if it could not bear the burden.

“Well met!”

Ye Qing pressed his hands against the ground and slowly pushed himself up. The earth within thirty meters of him began depressing little by little.

Strangely, the earth was undulating like it was a piece of fabric. It did not crack, and it depressed without a sound.

The lotus descended thirty meters. The earth around him too descended thirty meters.

Then, the earth abruptly bounced upward. At the same time, a thunderous thud that sounded like the drumbeat of heavens erupted.

He was one man, but it was like the earth itself was pushing him upward. Tens of thousands of kilometers of ground rose into the air with him. His will was their command.

A green lotus gave birth to nine stars. It was like the will of the heavens itself.

One man bore the weight of the ground. It was like the will of the earth itself.

The two powers clashed, and an unholy shockwave unlike anything the world had ever seen erupted from the center. Every tree and every building in Goddess City disintegrated soundlessly to dust, and the weaker warriors and ordinary citizens went out like a light.

It was only afterward that the rumbling began, and it would not stop until a long, long time later.

In the air, Ye Qing was burning up like a living furnace. His boiling blood was seeping out of his orifices before evaporating into steam by an unimaginable temperature. His vigor was such that the space around him was warped into all sorts of fantastical illusions.

On the other hand, the light of the green lotus was blurry and weakened. The nine stars were flickering on and off like light bulbs as well.

“Shatter!”

Ye Qing growled as his muscles thundered like a dragon’s roar, and his vigor washed out of him like a growing scar in the sky. For a time, the only sound in the world was his groaning muscles, and the only color in the sky was red.

The next moment, the green lotus bearing the power of nine stars and the weight of many mountains wilted in an instant. The nine stars winked out, and golden light surrounding Goddess Green Lotus dimmed considerably.

Goddess Green Lotus could not believe this was happening. She could only stare at everything with shock and horror.

“You will die!”

It was at this moment Goddess White Deer transformed into a gigantic deer with a human head. Over three hundred meters tall, and her one hoof looked as big as an entire mountain. She stomped down on Ye Qing.

“You think you’re the only one who can get big?”

Ye Qing barked out a laugh before rapidly growing in size. Before they knew it, he had transformed into a demonic ape.

The ape was only tens of meters tall and nowhere as tall as Goddess White Deer. There was no denying its dark powers and infinite strength, however.

There was a terrible boom, and Ye Qing was stomped into the ground so hard that a bottomless chasm split open underneath his feet. But in exchange, Ye Qing grabbed Goddess White Deer’s leg with both arms, roared, and heaved her over his shoulders. Despite her struggles, she was tossed up into the sky like a rag doll. She crashed straight into Goddess Green Lotus.

Not done yet, Ye Qing raised both hands over his head and brought it down like a hammer. His fists cracked the moon like an egg and splattered its contents everywhere.

Finally, he grabbed a thick stone pillar from somewhere—it was only as big as a wooden stick in his hand—and executed the “Chaos Demon Ape Fist”. He jumped on top of the three goddesses and fought a great war against them.

No one could doubt Goddess White Deer, Goddess Green Lotus, and Goddess Moonview’s strength. In fact, their combined might was decidedly greater than Ye Qing’s. And yet, Ye Qing in his Chaos Demon Ape form was impossibly strong and tenacious. His recovery speed was also out of this world. As if that wasn’t enough, he seemed to grow more powerful with each passing moment. As a result, they were unable to suppress Ye Qing immediately.

……

“Profound Yellow Mother Qi? Chaos Demon Ape Body? No wonder you’re confident in warrior Ye’s strength!”

Underneath the Goddess Wall Paintings, Wen Anran was watching Ye Qing’s battle with amazement and surprise.

“Indeed. Still, Joyless can’t hold out for long.” Feng Qingyou said unhurriedly, “It’s up to you now, Anran.”

“I will. In the meantime, I must ask you to safeguard me.” Wen Anran saluted her.

“Don’t worry. They won’t be able to lay a finger on you,” Feng Qingyou declared with certainty.

Wen Anran smiled. While holding her bamboo staff and stepping on astral qi, she took seven steps and tapped the ground seven times in a row. Each time, what looked like a star would sparkle on the ground, and a profound wisp of energy would rise into the air.

Seven steps later, seven stars lit up on the ground.

Seven taps later, seven stars glittered in the sky.

The Northern Dipper appeared in the sky, and the Seven Killing Star flashed on the ground. Together, they generated a storm of killing intent that seemed capable of choking the life out of the world itself.

Forget Goddess White Deer, Goddess Green Lotus, and Goddess Moonview, every living being in Goddess City felt the unparalleled killing intent and turned as cold as ice.

“Not good!”

The three goddesses turned as pale as a sheet and turned away from Ye Qing. They flew toward the Goddess Wall Paintings.

“There is neither door nor window for you in this direction!”

Ye Qing wasn’t going to let them, of course. He did not know what the killing intent was, but the three goddesses clearly felt threatened by it. Besides that, he was one hundred percent certain that it had something to do with Feng Qingyou.

Feng Qingyou’s strange words before the Goddess Festival began, his outlandishly potent fortune, and the fact that she hadn’t come to his aid for so long all pointed that the woman was plotting something. Now that an unknown variable had suddenly come into play, he could not help but suspect that Feng Qingyou was behind it. Scratch that, he was absolutely certain that it was her.

In fact, he suspected that Feng Qingyou had somehow manipulated things so that he would be chosen by the goddesses. He just didn’t have any evidence to prove this.

He did not know why Feng Qingyou was doing this either. It could be because she pitied the poor citizens and jianghu warriors who had been exploited by the three goddesses for centuries, or it could be because of something else. In any case, it was now clear that she had used him to draw out the three goddesses and to keep them busy. Why? To buy time for her to slay the three goddesses, of course.

Again, he had no idea how she was going to slay the three goddesses, but it didn’t matter. All he needed to do was to buy as much time for Feng Qingyou as possible.

That was why Ye Qing did not hesitate to go after the three goddesses as soon as they showed signs of leaving.