Chapter Seventy-Five: Conflict

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“The Ninefold Spiral is different from your Worldly Dharma Aspect. While both create a spinning effect, the Ninefold Spiral allows you to guide and manipulate. Your goal now is to use it to lure him in.”

Jiang Feng concentrated deeply, absorbing Jue’s thoughts. As he comprehended the Ninefold Spiral, Jue had already explained everything to him. He had to admit, Jue was a truly devious character. To use such a trick on Xue Qiming was simply underhanded.

“You’ve only just scratched the surface. It’s still a long way before you can convert all the underworld artifacts you’ve devoured into your own necromancy. Still, your talent isn’t bad. To comprehend the Ninefold Spiral—a crucial technique—is impressive. Don’t forget to use the Twenty-Five Forms. Xue Qiming’s Celestial Cudgel is overwhelmingly powerful. If he hits you with it, you might not even have a chance to use your Ninefold Spiral!”

“One more thing—you must stay alert at all times. I have a feeling there’s someone in this Pine Pavilion even more formidable than Xue Qiming. His presence is well concealed, but every appearance is a kill. Such deadly necromancy, in my memory, is only used by one kind of person.”

Jiang Feng was taken aback and asked, “What kind of person?”

“An assassin!” A strange light flickered in Jue’s eyes, as if lost in deep recollection. “Assassins, in any city, are always hunted and wanted. Their appearances are like meteors, brief and fleeting. Their window to kill is incredibly short, so their necromancy is always a one-strike kill!”

A one-strike kill!

These four words sounded simple, but in practice, it was immensely difficult. Jiang Feng was astonished—he had never imagined that such a profession as assassin even existed in the world.

“But for now, you still need to focus on dealing with Xue Qiming. Defeat him first.”

Within Jiang Feng’s body, the radiance of the River-Mountain Bottle and the Ninefold Chainblade intertwined, growing ever stronger. These usually overwhelming forces of necromancy now bowed to Jiang Feng. Though not entirely at his command, subconsciously, they served as reserves for his power.

“How did Jiang Feng learn the Ninefold Spiral!” Liu Tao screamed hysterically. He had obtained the Ninefold Chainblade by sheer chance. Not even the Liu family, let alone the town of Jiuyan, knew the blade’s true method of use. He had searched arduously before finally discovering the corresponding necromancy for the blade. The most formidable among them was, naturally, the Ninefold Spiral. His own son, Liu Mengbai, had trained for seven years before mastering it. Even if Jiang Feng had coincidentally found the method, seven years ago he was still considered the family’s useless wastrel, someone even Jiang Yuehai wouldn’t spare a glance.

Could Jiang Feng have only just started learning the Ninefold Spiral recently?

What a joke!

Liu Tao dismissed the thought with disdain. In his eyes, even if Liu Mengbai’s talent wasn’t as high as Xue Qiming or Duan Xingyun, he was certainly superior to Jiang Feng. If Liu Mengbai needed seven years to master the technique, Jiang Feng would need even longer!

But the truth was before his eyes—he had no choice but to believe it.

“Xingyun, do you think he’ll use the Ninefold Spiral during the Astral Soul Illumination Array?” Master Xuanxing was equally puzzled. He believed he knew everything, yet it seemed he’d overlooked something crucial. Not only had the Fang family produced the formidable Fang Ping, but now the Jiang family’s Jiang Feng was shrouded in mystery.

Duan Xingyun tilted his head, pondering for a moment before nodding. “No. Back then, although his cultivation wasn’t low, he definitely didn’t know the Ninefold Spiral. Even if he had, he couldn’t have used it, since the Ninefold Chainblade was still in Liu Mengbai’s possession.”

The crowd suddenly understood, as if enlightened. They realized the Ninefold Chainblade belonged to Liu Mengbai. Was it possible Jiang Feng had entered the competition to covet Liu Mengbai’s blade?

Seeing the realization dawn on everyone, Duan Xingyun suddenly recalled something else and whispered to Master Xuanxing, “Master, besides the Ninefold Spiral, I think Jiang Feng also knows… the Myriad Phantasms of the Netherworld.”

“What!” Master Xuanxing hadn’t even reacted to what the Myriad Phantasms was, when Fang Yichen’s face turned ashen. His dignified composure shattered, replaced by shock and anger. To him, the Myriad Phantasms was his family’s secret technique, not only powerful but capable of further growth. He always believed it was what set him above Fang Chuhan. Yet now, he heard that Jiang Feng could use it.

That brat Jiang Feng could use the Myriad Phantasms!

“Fang Yichen has sharp ears,” Duan Xingyun thought, pursing his lips and falling silent. After all, deep down, he truly regarded Jiang Feng as a friend.

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But Fang Yichen would not let it go. Bowing repeatedly, he said, “Master Xuanxing, the Myriad Phantasms is a Fang family secret, and I am the only one in the family who has mastered it. Yet Jiang Feng knows it too, and now he’s using the Ninefold Spiral of the Liu family. I seriously doubt whether this is Jiang Feng’s doing alone, or if there is a wider Jiang family conspiracy.”

In truth, Fang Yichen already had his suspicions. His River-Mountain Bottle had fallen into Jiang Feng’s hands, and one of its properties was to store necromancy. Because the Myriad Phantasms consumed so much power, he had compressed a version inside. With enough necromancy, anyone could learn it from the bottle. Now that Duan Xingyun had inadvertently revealed it, Fang Yichen took the opportunity to implicate the entire Jiang family.

Sure enough, Jiang Yuehai could no longer restrain himself. Frowning, he said coldly, “Fang Yichen, you are a renowned master and versed in Zen. You should be the calmest among us, and yet you are so agitated and slanderous. What is your intent?”

Fang Yichen’s expression remained serene, but there was a trace of coldness as he replied, “He has mastered both my Fang family’s and the Liu family’s necromancy. I initially thought perhaps there was some collaboration between the two families, which might explain how Jiang Feng learned the Ninefold Spiral. But I didn’t expect him to know my Myriad Phantasms as well. I have long since ceased using necromancy, but I must question—where did he learn such a technique? He’s just a youth; no matter how ambitious, it’s impossible for him to steal secrets from both the Liu and Fang families unnoticed. I suspect the Jiang family only out of necessity. I mean no disrespect to the head of the Jiang family. I understand your love and pride for your grandson. But you must see, this is not just a matter of Jiang Feng alone. His mastery of other families’ techniques could be an attempt by the Jiang family to sow discord among the four great clans!”

His words rang with authority, flawless and indisputable.

Jiang Yuehai was so furious his body trembled, his hair seeming to stand on end. Yet after struggling for words, he found nothing with which to refute Fang Yichen’s accusations. After a long pause, he decided things were not yet hopeless and asked, “Xingyun, can you tell me whether Jiang Feng truly knows the Myriad Phantasms?”

Duan Xingyun hadn’t initially thought the matter so serious, but Fang Yichen’s words made him realize the gravity of the situation. Jiuyan Town had long been dominated by the Langya Chamber of Commerce, with the four great families each holding their own. Fang Yichen’s remarks now threatened to shatter that delicate balance.

He quickly adapted, replying, “Perhaps I was mistaken. Besides, the Myriad Phantasms is such a grand technique that even in the Fang family only Master Yichen has mastered it. For Jiang Feng to use it, with his level of cultivation, seems impossible.”

Jiang Yuehai’s expression softened greatly. After casting a grateful glance at Duan Xingyun, he declared, “Xingyun is right. Besides, Jiang Feng has never actually used the Myriad Phantasms. Master Yichen, isn’t it a bit premature for such accusations?”

Liu Tao’s eyes darted about—he saw a chance to ease relations between the Jiang and Liu families and quickly added, “The Jiang family head is right. As for the Ninefold Spiral, perhaps my son and Jiang Feng have been too close, and Jiang Feng picked it up unintentionally. I forgive him, so Master Yichen should not press the issue.”

Liu Tao’s words were full of holes, an obvious attempt to curry favor with the Jiang family, drawing looks of disdain from Wang Yu and Fang Chuhan.

Fang Yichen fell silent. For the moment, his verbal sparring was at an end, and he had no choice but to bow his head. “Perhaps I was overthinking. The Myriad Phantasms is indeed too difficult to comprehend. Even I find it hard to believe Jiang Feng could use it. Let’s put this aside and focus on the match.”

The four family heads glanced at one another, saying nothing. Their relationships seemed to shift once again.

Jiang Feng’s Ninefold Spiral appeared even grander than Liu Mengbai’s. Around him, the air, the yin and yang energies, the power of the stars, even the essence of the sun itself, all whirled about him, twisting and collapsing inward to form a massive black hole—a gigantic vortex!

Within this immense vortex and black hole, many spectators seemed to glimpse flashes of blades and swords, mountains and rivers, even fleeting visions of past and future, lightning-quick and brilliant.

Unknowingly, Jiang Feng had incorporated some of the Myriad Phantasms’ techniques into his Ninefold Spiral.

Seeing this, Fang Yichen felt his heart sink like a stone, and he sneered inwardly, “So they claim he can’t use the Myriad Phantasms, yet what are these visions? When Fang Ping arrives, he’ll force Jiang Feng to use it. Let’s see how they explain themselves then!”

This move fused all the power of the Ninefold Chainblade within Jiang Feng. The surging force was more overwhelming than a stampede, collapsing the energies from dozens of miles around—truly a technique to slay gods and Buddhas alike!

“Hmph! You dare use the same technique as before? Don’t you see that, before my Ultimate Shield, such moves are nothing but illusions?” Xue Qiming laughed wildly, his guard completely dropped as he charged in.

From the Ninefold Spiral came waves of blade light, striking Xue Qiming, but they barely tickled him. The only thing that made him frown was that this Ninefold Spiral was far more ferocious than before.

“This Ninefold Spiral seems… different,” Liu Tao said, astonished, sensing something new but unable to pinpoint what.

“Look more closely, and you’ll see,” Fang Yichen replied, a fox-like grin on his face.

A flash of joy crossed Jiang Feng’s heart—he hadn’t expected his intuition to manifest so well. The techniques of the Myriad Phantasms had merged perfectly into the Ninefold Spiral.

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But Jue frowned deeply. “You’re being reckless. If the fusion failed, you’d have wasted much of your necromancy for nothing.”

“It won’t. My intuition’s always been accurate, hasn’t it?” Jiang Feng replied, gentle and calm, as if he could already see victory. “Back in the Sandfall, my intuition helped me unlock the power of the soul, didn’t it?”

Jue rolled his eyes and said nothing.

“Hmph! Jiang Feng, you’re delusional if you think you can kill me with such pitiful tricks. I am the Ultimate Shield—undying and immortal. Unless your cultivation surpasses mine by three whole ranks, you will never defeat me. But you… ha! Your necromancy makes me laugh. Watch now, I’ll kill you and turn the tables!”

Xue Qiming seemed utterly deranged, reaching a peak of battle frenzy. The slightest fluctuation of his opponent’s will, he would sense danger, and his body was so powerful it defied normal understanding.

Everyone believed Jiang Feng was only struggling in vain. Though he’d astonished all by fusing with the Ninefold Chainblade, it wouldn’t change his impending defeat.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Xue Qiming’s puzzled outburst made his supporters’ hearts skip a beat. His Celestial Cudgel slammed viciously into the vortex, but the force felt as if rivers were flowing into the sea, and the power kept twisting his weapon, making him gradually lose his grip.

“He’s taken the bait!” Jue shouted excitedly within the sea of consciousness.

Bang!

To everyone’s shock, Xue Qiming’s cudgel, which had swung into the vortex, suddenly appeared behind him—an identical cudgel striking his back hard.

It was as if a planet exploded—countless volcanoes erupted, the sun was destroyed, the moon fell.

Xue Qiming’s monstrous defense shattered instantly. His body exploded into writhing flesh, spraying in all directions, each piece still carrying his endless screams.

Poor Xue Qiming—perhaps he hadn’t felt pain in a long, long time.

“Ha! His Ultimate Shield couldn’t withstand his own Ultimate Spear!” Jue declared with satisfaction, his eyes full of triumphant joy.

To attack the shield with its own spear!

Jiang Feng’s move had taken everyone by surprise, yet it made perfect sense.

What should have been a prolonged battle was settled in a flash, so swiftly that not even Master Xuanxing had time to intervene.

“Ha! Grandfather, I’ve finally killed that foul-mouthed braggart for you!” Jiang Feng laughed up at the sky, no longer holding back. He cursed Xue Qiming furiously—this victory had come from using his wits, and he had clearly won.

What a marvelous and stunning reversal!