Enshrinement as a God

Yang Jian felt a chill run down his spine and a coldness spread throughout his body as he saw Shen Gongbao take out a short whip.

Unbelievably, he, who had entered the realm of a supreme master, had his spirit suppressed for a fleeting moment.

'Surely the realm of a supreme master... how on earth did he achieve such a level of study at such a young age...'

After exchanging a few moves with the man of unknown identity in front of him, Yang Jian realized that he had already surpassed the level of a supreme master.

As Shen Gongbao gently turned the Thunder Lord's Whip, the Thunder Lord's Whip coiled like a living snake and raised its head straight, as if to threaten Yang Jian.

In an instant, the clear sky became cloudy, and a damp moisture was felt on Yang Jian's dry lips.

The threatening energy that he had felt in the chamber of the Tang Clan was now beginning to rage here.

Yang Jian instinctively displayed the Thunderclap Divine Art with all his might. And then he swung the Arang Twin Swords, drawing a large circle.

Yang Jian's Heaven-Breaking Three-Section Sword was originally a divine art powerful enough to look down on the world.

But perhaps because of his internal injuries, even though he had gathered his internal energy with all his might, its power was only about seventy percent of its usual level.

Although he would not have felt a sense of crisis even if he had faced many masters with this much power under normal circumstances, it was far from enough to face Shen Gongbao, who was in front of him now.

Shen Gongbao's neat hair became disheveled like a ghost's and stood on end, soaring into the sky.

Shen Gongbao's Thunder Lord's Whip, as if it were alive, floated into the air and began to wriggle. Then a fierce wind raged around him.

A blinding flash of light flashed for a moment, and then they connected with each other and became a flashing lightning. They began to fall around Shen Gongbao like tree branches.

The sight was so strange that Yang Jian even doubted once again whether the man in front of him was really a person.

'He is surely a person who has no relation to my martial arts.'

The identity of the intense light that was raging around Shen Gongbao and was even flashing on his Thunder Lord's Whip could never be the Thunderclap Divine Art.

The Thunderclap Divine Art was a thing where the strong qi, which was the pinnacle of martial arts, changed like a thunderbolt.

In contrast, what the opponent was handling was the pure power of lightning.

The intense energy that was raging on the whip was like having captured the thunder of the sky and having locked it in a human's grasp.

It was a sight that made one doubt whether that power was even made of martial arts.

Yang Jian, realizing that Shen Gongbao had no relation to his sect, regretted that he had pushed him so hard. But he could not back down now. This was because it seemed as if he, a master of the martial world, was running away with his tail between his legs.

This was something his pride would not allow.

Yang Jian shouldered the Arang Twin Swords and composed his long breath.

His Thunderclap Divine Art was also a supreme martial art that was born by imitating a lightning bolt.

The ultimate move of his Heaven-Breaking Three-Section Sword, the Dark Heaven Thunder Light Sword, was an understanding he had obtained while watching a lightning bolt falling in the dark.

Although it was a reckless thought, if the man in front of him were really using the natural power of lightning, it might be an opportunity for him to confirm how far the power of the Thunderclap Divine Art that Yang Jian used would be effective against him.

Yang Jian took the starting stance of the Dark Heaven Thunder Light Sword. Then his whole body's muscles wriggled as if they would explode.

A huge amount of blood and energy also began to surge throughout his body.

At the same time, although he felt a sharp pain in his dantian, Yang Jian put strength into the hand that was holding the Arang Twin Swords, as if that much pain were nothing.

With his two eyes fixed on Shen Gongbao, who was about to swing his whip at any moment.

"No!"

Swoosh!

In a touch-and-go situation, a sharp sound of something cutting through the wind was heard from somewhere.

Shen Gongbao, who had been looking at Yang Jian with a blurred focus, felt something flying towards his wrist, which was holding the Thunder Lord's Whip, and hurriedly moved his body.

Crackle!

When one held the Thunder Lord's Whip, any external attack would melt or burn away due to the powerful lightning qi that flowed around it.

But a transparent and thin long string had pierced through his lightning qi and was wrapped around Shen Gongbao's wrist.

Shen Gongbao, looking at the sparkling string, recalled that there were only two people in the world who possessed such a thing.

"Junior brother! What is this?"

Heavenly Silkworm Thread.

This tough thread, which was made from the thread of a heavenly silkworm, was strong in itself, and if internal energy were to be instilled in it, it boasted a power that was enough to pierce through iron.

Since one of the people who possessed this thing was staying in the Hermit's Valley, and the other was in the world, it was not very difficult to deduce who its owner was.

"You shouldn't fight!"

Jiang Ziya, with his clothes burnt, appeared between Shen Gongbao and Yang Jian, panting.

Although he had protected his body with internal energy, it was clear that the lightning power of the Thunder Lord's Whip had gone up the Heavenly Silkworm Thread and had made Jiang Ziya look like that.

"What's wrong with you, my younger brother?"

Yang Jian also, seeing Jiang Ziya, who had suddenly appeared and had interfered with the fight, put down the Arang Twin Swords that he had shouldered and released his starting stance.

"You two are not mortal enemies, so what is all this fuss about?"

Jiang Ziya, who had hurriedly chased after Yang Jian just in case, was breathing heavily.

If he had been a little late, he would have had to make a grave for one of the two people here.

His whole body was trembling, and it seemed that his interfering with the hand that was holding the Thunder Lord's Whip by wrapping the string of Tonglin around it was affecting him.

"Hmm..."

"..."

At Jiang Ziya's restraint, Yang Jian and Shen Gongbao quietly looked at each other.

Yang Jian had clearly heard Shen Gongbao call Jiang Ziya 'junior brother', and Shen Gongbao had also heard Yang Jian call him 'my younger brother'.

Shen Gongbao, as if it were boring, put away the Thunder Lord's Whip again and wrapped it around his waist, and Yang Jian also put his Arang Twin Swords on his back.

"Is that person your senior brother, my younger brother?"

"Yes, as it happens..."

Not only was Jiang Ziya's identity a secret, but to have the same sect as the mysterious master in front of him. Yang Jian tilted his head.

What kind of place was it that could produce such young new masters...

Since Jiang Ziya's martial arts and Shen Gongbao's martial arts did not feel related at all, it raised even more questions.

"Junior Brother Jiang. What is your relationship with that person?"

"Brother Yang Jian and I have formed a bond of sworn brotherhood. So for my sake, please do not be hostile to each other."

"Yang Jian... as expected. It must be the Four Unrivaled Swords..."

Shen Gongbao had a look of understanding.

Yang Jian crossed his arms and looked back and forth between Jiang Ziya and Yang Jian.

"As my younger brother has said, I am called Yang Jian, the Twin Swords of Guankou. Who are you?"

"I am called Shen Gongbao."

"Shen Gongbao..."

Just like with Jiang Ziya, it was an unfamiliar name that he had never heard before. He was surely a new master.

"Is your sect by any chance the Wudang Sect or the Diancang Sect?"

Judging by his attire and his use of the orthodox martial arts, it was clear that he was not a group of the evil path, but he could not figure out his identity at all.

But Shen Gongbao, at Yang Jian's question, frowned at his calm impression again.

"Do you still need an explanation?"

"No... it seems that I was ahead of myself and made a fuss. Please accept my apology."

Yang Jian cleanly admitted his mistake and apologized to Shen Gongbao first.

Although he was curious about his sect, in any case, it was clear that he had no relation to his martial arts.

Moreover, if there was a part he was curious about, he could casually ask Jiang Ziya later, so there was no need to be at odds with him.

"I also went a little too far in dealing with a senior of the martial world. For the sake of my junior brother, it would be best to consider our faults as non-existent."

"I also think so."

Shen Gongbao untied the Heavenly Silkworm Thread that was wrapped around his wrist.

"If you had made a mistake, you would have been in danger, and I would have had my arm cut off. Why did you jump in without thinking?"

"Since it was such a touch-and-go situation..."

"Tsk... weren't you in a hurry here? I even made a fuss and bought you time..."

Yang Jian, hearing the conversation between the two, was once again convinced that the pile of ashes was Shen Gongbao's work.

Moreover, although he did not know the reason, he could also guess that Jiang Ziya was related to it.

"Are you by any chance related to the murder that occurred in the Tang Clan this time?"

At Yang Jian's question, Shen Gongbao looked at Jiang Ziya with his eyes, and Jiang Ziya hurriedly waved his hands.

"No. My senior brother just helped me for a moment."

"For a help, it was quite excessive. If the head of the Tang Clan finds out about this, it doesn't seem that he will just let it be..."

Now, the place that had become a pile of ashes was something he did not know what it was used for, but he could not think that he had done such a thing with Tang Yizheng's permission.

"That's..."

"And who was the person who was with you? Although I saw him briefly, it seems that he is surely related to this incident."

As Jiang Ziya showed a troubled expression, Yang Jian smiled broadly.

"Don't worry. Since I don't owe the Tang Clan anything, I won't do anything to trouble my younger brother."

"That's..."

Jiang Ziya, after thinking for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, roughly explained the situation to Yang Jian.

Although he had naturally excluded the story that Nezha was a jiangshi or that he was related to the Hermit's Valley, Yang Jian's face was distorted hideously as he listened to Jiang Ziya's words.

"Are there such people who have committed a crime against heaven and humanity!"

Not only had he used his child in the womb for an experiment, but the anger of Yang Jian, who had exploded at the words that he had raised him like a beast, was truly enormous.

To think that the Tang Clan, wearing the mask of a righteous sect and a prestigious family, had done such a thing. It was a heinous act that only the most evil of demons would commit.

"I will go back right now and to question Tang Yizheng, that person, for his act of abandoning the natural order of things."

"You can't do that!"

Jiang Ziya hurriedly stopped Yang Jian.

If Yang Jian were to cause a commotion here, there was a high probability that the current situation, which had been barely covered up, would turn into a mess.

Jiang Ziya calmly persuaded Yang Jian with the situation of the Sichuan Alliance and the Martial Arts Alliance, and the story that Nezha did not want it.

Although Yang Jian did not easily agree, for now, he seemed to be leaving it to Jiang Ziya's judgment.

"You're talking nonsense."

It was Shen Gongbao, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between Jiang Ziya and Yang Jian until now. He had come up to them at some point and was standing by the side of the Black Spot Tiger.

"Since it is a matter that has already passed, why are you arguing about it?"

"What do you mean?"

Although Shen Gongbao often threw out Zen questions, he was not a person who spoke empty words.

Jiang Ziya, at Shen Gongbao's words, seemed to have thought of something. He left Yang Jian and Shen Gongbao and hurriedly displayed his divine footwork.

Yang Jian was bewildered, seeing Jiang Ziya, who had disappeared like a shooting star again.

"What on earth is this situation?"

Shen Gongbao looked down at Yang Jian and let out a short sigh.

"Since he couldn't help but to do so, the old monster's mind is surely deep and dark."

If Shen Gongbao were to pretend not to know everything like this... perhaps he might be able to make a small flaw in Hongjun's arrangement.

But...

How could he be sure that the victory now would continue into the future?

If he were to block the flowing waterway for a small victory, the water would overflow and would soon flood.

The water that had flooded like that would eventually flow into the sea.

In the end, the boatman who had been leading the boat, relying on the waterway, would be the only one to suffer a great disaster and to end up in a mess.

If he were to think of Jiang Ziya, who was precariously holding the rudder and moving, he could not turn a blind eye to the present for his own satisfaction.

Shen Gongbao, looking at the bewildered Yang Jian, opened his mouth with difficulty.

(End of Chapter)