Chapter 256 172: Alchemist Shu's Death
Alchemist Shu was a core member of the Shuyun Alliance and the key figure in their collusion with the Celestial Maiden Sect, a Demonic Sect. He knew far too much, and all of it was critically important.
Any single piece of that intelligence would be enough for the Three Immortal Sects to sentence the Shuyun Alliance's Cultivators to death.
'Alchemist Shu is a Fake Pill True Monarch. Any Cultivator capable of killing him would most likely be a Golden Core True Monarch, someone who would naturally have mastered the Secret Skill of Soul-Searching and Soul-Seizing.'
Therefore, the moment Alchemist Shu died, everyone in the Shuyun Alliance would live in fear. At that point, never mind destroying the Huang Family; if the Alliance didn't completely collapse, it would be a testament to its organizational strength.
And once the Shuyun Alliance was gone, even if Left Envoy Liu still held a grudge, Wei Tu wouldn't be worried. After all, the Celestial Maiden Sect still lacked the power to send forces deep into the territory of the Righteous Dao to hunt him down.
Of course, this was all premised on one thing: Wei Tu had to succeed in killing Alchemist Shu. He couldn't let the man escape, just as the Huang Family had.
...
Soon, an hour passed.
"This is it." Wei Tu's gaze fell upon a patch of barren grassland several miles ahead. The Geomagnetic Primordial Light had located Alchemist Shu's hiding spot even before his Guardian Map Divine Sense could.
Under the observation of his Guardian Map Divine Sense, Wei Tu clearly saw Alchemist Shu enveloped in a faint golden glow, hiding motionless beneath the overgrown weeds.
This time, if not for the Xiangluo Nose confirming the general area and the Geomagnetic Primordial Light scouring the vicinity, finding Alchemist Shu's hiding place with his Guardian Map Divine Sense alone would have been no easy feat.
Wei Tu gave no sign of his discovery. He nonchalantly let his gaze drift toward another area, sweeping right past Alchemist Shu's hiding place.
Unseen by anyone, Wei Tu's sleeve twitched, releasing several thumb-sized, transparent moths.
'He's gone?' Hiding underground, Alchemist Shu saw this and inwardly sighed in relief.
He studied Wei Tu's appearance, trying to guess which member of the Shuyun Alliance he was... first tipping off the Huang Family, then putting on a disguise to come hunt him down.
Right now, Alchemist Shu loathed Wei Tu so much it made his teeth ache.
During his escape, Alchemist Shu hadn't noticed the Sky-Splitting Carving in the sky. After all, his divine sense and eyesight weren't powerful enough to detect the Flying Bird Demon Beast.
He had hidden in this wilderness merely to heal his wounds, not to deliberately evade the Sky-Splitting Carving's surveillance.
Otherwise, the moment he saw the Sky-Splitting Carving, Alchemist Shu would have guessed his pursuer was Wei Tu.
A quarter of an hour later, Wei Tu returned. He looked toward Alchemist Shu's hiding place with a smirk and said to himself, "You almost fooled me, Fellow Daoist. If I hadn't sensed something was off and come back for another look, I might have truly missed out on this Great Opportunity."
Hearing this, Alchemist Shu paid Wei Tu no mind. He remained perfectly still, continuing his Concealing Breath technique.
As a veteran of the Cultivation Realm, he'd survived his fair share of ambushes. He knew many Tribulation Cultivators loved to use this trick to lure out their targets.
However, when Alchemist Shu saw two small, ice-colored swords shooting toward him, his expression changed. The golden glow covering his body contracted as he took out a Five-Colored Copper Ring and threw it forward.
The Five-Colored Copper Ring, covered in shimmering Runes, expanded into a giant ring and directly blocked the attack of the two Ice Flood Dragon Swords.
Then, something strange happened. When Wei Tu saw the Ice Flood Dragon Swords' attack fail and tried to recall the two Talisman Swords, the Five-Colored Copper Ring began to emit a strange suction force, trapping both blades.
'A Fake Pill True Monarch is certainly tough to deal with,' Wei Tu thought, his wariness toward Alchemist Shu growing. 'No wonder the Huang Family failed even after they had intelligence on him.'
Wei Tu wasn't flustered. He slapped his Storage Bag without hesitation, retrieved two more Ice Flood Dragon Swords, and chanted a Spiritual Spell, sending them stabbing toward Alchemist Shu.
'This bastard has so many Magic Swords,' Alchemist Shu thought, a headache building.
After chanting a single word—"Swift!"—the Five-Colored Copper Ring erupted in brilliant light, immobilizing the two newly arrived Talisman Swords as well.
In an instant, the white glow of the sword-light and the five-colored radiance of the ring were locked in a stalemate, neither able to gain the upper hand.
Just then, Alchemist Shu unhurriedly spat out a Black Banner Flag.
The Black Banner Flag was about seven feet long, with a purple copper hoop embroidered on its surface.
Alchemist Shu waved the Black Banner Flag, and streams of black mist billowed out, spreading in all directions.
In moments, the black mist not only enveloped Alchemist Shu's body but also began to creep toward Wei Tu.
Wei Tu couldn't be sure of the Black Banner Flag's specific properties and worried that Alchemist Shu might have laced the mist with poison. Without hesitation, he threw out several Talismans and shot up into the air.
The Talismans detonated, checking the black mist's advance.
But as he flew, the Defensive Magical Artifact protecting him could no longer envelop his entire body.
In that instant, Wei Tu exposed a weakness.
"Go!" Alchemist Shu seized the opportunity. A cold smirk played on his lips as he unleashed a slender green needle hidden in his sleeve, sending it flying toward Wei Tu.
The slender green needle was as fine as a strand of hair. If Wei Tu hadn't been constantly on guard against Alchemist Shu, he might not have noticed it at all.
Wei Tu knew this green needle was likely one of Alchemist Shu's trump cards. Left with no choice, he deployed the Turtle Shell Shield he had obtained from Si Qing.
This Turtle Shell Shield was a Tier Two Defensive Magical Artifact, the highest-grade one he owned.
SCREECH!
The speeding green needle struck the defensive barrier projected by the Turtle Shell Shield, coming to a dead stop.
The two were locked in a stalemate.
"A mere Magical Artifact, how can it possibly stop my Emerald Cloud Needle!" Alchemist Shu sneered, failing to recognize the artifact as one that had belonged to Si Qing.
He chanted a Spell. The Emerald Cloud Needle, which had seemed to be out of power as it pressed against the Turtle Shell Shield, suddenly buzzed. With a burst of might, it pierced a small hole in the defensive barrier, then swerved around to stab viciously at Wei Tu, who was hiding behind it.
But just then, a transparent, hair-thin thread abruptly appeared beneath Alchemist Shu's feet.
At the very moment Alchemist Shu was reveling in his success, the transparent thread transformed into a streak of cyan light and shot toward his Dantian.
"You're playing dirty?" Alchemist Shu's expression faltered upon seeing the cyan light.
He had mistakenly assumed Wei Tu's only offensive measures were the four Magic Swords. Consequently, he had channeled most of his Magical Power into the Emerald Cloud Needle, hoping to finish Wei Tu off in one decisive blow.
As for his own defense, he had only set up a Magical Power Shield, not wanting to waste Magical Power on an additional Defensive Magical Artifact.
After all, he was still badly injured from his battle with the Huang Family Cultivators.
At this critical juncture, Alchemist Shu had no choice but to relinquish control of the Emerald Cloud Needle. He pulled back his divine sense to deploy another Magical Artifact and evade Wei Tu's vicious hidden attack.
This streak of cyan light was none other than the Shadow Silk that Wei Tu had commissioned Meilang to forge. After discovering Alchemist Shu's hiding place, he had secretly used the Seven-Colored Illusion Moths to place the Shadow Silk in the spot where he predicted their battle would take place.
Originally, Wei Tu had planned to use it to deliver a fatal blow the moment Alchemist Shu's guard was down.
He hadn't expected Alchemist Shu's Emerald Cloud Needle to be so formidable. Sensing the danger, he had been forced to activate his hidden trump card, the Shadow Silk, ahead of schedule.
As Alchemist Shu retracted his divine sense, the Emerald Cloud Needle stabbing toward Wei Tu momentarily faltered, its sharpness diminishing significantly.
Seeing this, Wei Tu acted without hesitation. He combined the power of his Guardian Map Divine Sense and the Primordial Forbidden to swiftly suppress the remnant of Alchemist Shu's divine sense on the Emerald Cloud Needle, temporarily wresting control of the Magical Artifact from him.
"Go!" After seizing the Emerald Cloud Needle, Wei Tu gritted his teeth and unleashed the Demon Buddha Bell, an Incomplete Treasure.
Instantly, the Demon Buddha Bell drained over sixty percent of Wei Tu's Magical Power.
The Demon Buddha Bell, floating in midair, erupted with a brilliant, blood-red radiance, conjuring illusions of three blood-colored Buddhas.
The phantom Buddhas glared with wrathful, diamond-hard eyes.
Wei Tu formed a hand seal and shook the bell with all his might.
DONG! DONG! DONG!
The Demon Buddha Bell chimed with a sacred sound, sending a massive sonic wave crashing toward Alchemist Shu.
Alchemist Shu had just finished dealing with the Shadow Silk's surprise attack and never expected Wei Tu to unleash the Demon Buddha Bell, another Incomplete Treasure.
'How does he have so many tricks?' Alchemist Shu was aghast. He scrambled to deploy a Defensive Magical Artifact to face this new crisis.
But it was too late.
The sonic wave from the Demon Buddha Bell struck. Alchemist Shu's Magical Power Shield shattered instantly, and the Spiritual Light of the Defensive Magical Artifact before him dimmed as it fell to the ground.
PTUI! PTUI! PTUI!
Alchemist Shu coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his body flying backward like a rag doll before embedding itself deep into the ground.
His Flesh and Blood were a mangled mess, his form barely recognizable as human.
"Don't kill me, Fellow Daoist! Fellow Daoist! I have Green Flame Pills hidden away!"
"Don't you want to achieve Core Formation?"
His throat was crushed, so Alchemist Shu hastily sent a divine sense transmission, begging Wei Tu to spare his life.
Even though he had less than a decade left to live, even an ant will cling to life, to say nothing of a lofty Tier Two Upper-Grade Alchemist like himself.
However—
the words had barely formed in Wei Tu's mind when Alchemist Shu was met not with a question, but with a whistling streak of sword-light.
The next moment, Alchemist Shu's vision went black, and his consciousness faded completely.
'If it weren't for the Demon Buddha Bell's ability to deal a fatal blow, it's hard to say who would have won this fight,' Wei Tu thought, panting as he put the Demon Buddha Bell back into his Storage Bag.
In terms of conventional strength, he was roughly on par with the heavily injured Alchemist Shu, perhaps even slightly inferior.
If he hadn't prepared the hidden gambit with the Shadow Silk to distract Alchemist Shu, he would have suffered greatly from the Emerald Cloud Needle alone.
But when it came to unconventional strength... Alchemist Shu was far inferior.
Of course, it was also possible Alchemist Shu had already exhausted most of his trump cards while escaping from Cloud Crane Mountain. Wei Tu might have simply caught him during his Weakness Stage.
SCREE! SCREE!
Just then, the Sky-Splitting Carving swooped down from the sky, intending to snatch the Storage Bag from Alchemist Shu's corpse and present it to Wei Tu.
"Not so fast!" Wei Tu called out at once, halting the Sky-Splitting Carving's advance.
Wei Tu had no way of knowing if Alchemist Shu had poisoned his Storage Bag, inside or out, in his final moments.
If the Sky-Splitting Carving rushed forward now, it could be instantly poisoned and become a dead carving.