Chapter Forty: The True Self Consumed, The Bronze Mask

“No!” With a furious roar, Duan Wenxuan lunged desperately toward the lotus stalk.

A pitiful, tearful voice echoed in Han Chong’s mind: “Thank you for saving me, but who would have thought this villain would use my spirit body for such evil? I would rather perish with him than let him continue his crimes!”

“No!” Han Chong was shocked. He had not expected that the pitiful true essence of the lotus stalk would resort to self-immolation. His heart twisted with pain.

Though this would throw Duan Wenxuan into chaos and prevent him from fleeing, Han Chong could not bear to see the innocent lotus spirit burn itself to death alongside its abuser. Yet, he also could not stand by and watch Duan Wenxuan charge toward the lotus without intervention. Caught in this dilemma, he could only breathe fire in an attempt to hold him back.

“Out of my way!” Duan Wenxuan finally revealed his true form: the black lotus hovered in the air, scattering sword energy and black flames in hissing, sizzling arcs all around.

Han Chong found himself in dire straits. If he let this fiend seize the lotus stalk, all their efforts would be wasted; if he blocked him, he would surely be gravely injured. But there was no time to hesitate—he just had to hold out a little longer, and Captain Ning and the others would arrive soon, and together, they could take on Duan Wenxuan.

Han Chong dispelled his invisibility and earth-melding technique, appearing before the lotus stalk. In his left hand he wielded the golden Demon-Binding Cord, while in his right he gripped a black sword. The cold-silver silken armor surfaced on his body, and blue flames roared from his mouth.

It was the first time this treasured armor had been revealed. Even the black lotus faltered for a split second. Was this reckless youth truly unafraid of death? Did he believe that this silver armor could defend against black flame and sword energy?

“Die!”

The airborne black lotus spun ever faster, focusing its black flames and sword energy into a relentless barrage at Han Chong.

Han Chong’s eyes blazed with fury—suddenly, he spat blue fire onto himself, becoming a figure wreathed in azure flames. At the same time, he bound the black sword’s hilt with the Demon-Binding Cord and hurled it like a dart at the black lotus!

The black flames struck the blue fire enshrouding Han Chong with a cacophony of hissing and sizzling. Even through the cold-silver armor, pain seared every inch of his body. The sword energy was even sharper; though it couldn’t fully pierce the armor, it dented the surface and stabbed with burning agony.

Yet the black lotus fared no better. Under the fierce strikes from the sword hurled by the Demon-Binding Cord, it rang with metallic chimes and its rotation faltered repeatedly.

Normally, before Captain Ning and the others could arrive, Han Chong would already have been defeated. But as the lotus stalk began to immolate itself, the black lotus’s energy visibly dwindled as well. The lotus and the black lotus were one—if one perished, the other suffered. This was why Duan Wenxuan fought so desperately to reclaim it.

“Monster, meet your end!”

Captain Ning was the first to arrive, stopping about fifty paces away. With a thunderous shout, his longsword radiated a pale spiritual light as he hurled it toward the black lotus. The others followed suit.

“Amitabha.” A pure Buddhist chant rang out as Mingzhen suddenly halted in his tracks. The Demon-Subduing Black Bowl he held floated up, hovering over the black lotus, and descended with the weight of a thousand catties.

“No!” Duan Wenxuan’s voice rang out in terror from within the black lotus. Severely injured and battered, he could barely resist as the black bowl pressed him to the ground. He struggled, but could not break free.

Reeling, Han Chong staggered back several steps and collapsed, gasping for breath. Still, he summoned enough strength to breathe fire and extinguish the black flames on his body.

But before he could feel relief, he caught sight, at the edge of his vision, of a figure: a black-clad man wearing a wide-faced, broad-eared bronze mask had appeared among the distant reeds, a ball of green light hovering in his hand.

The masked man raised his arm and flung the green light, which shot across the air like a meteor. Only when it neared did the others realize it was a half-foot-long, dark green flying dagger. With a sickening thud, it pierced the black lotus.

Agonized screams erupted from within the black lotus. Duan Wenxuan wailed in torment, as if suffering the cruelest torture in the world.

“Kill me, please, I beg you—kill me quickly!”

The dagger was poisoned.

It was now impossible to extract any more information from Duan Wenxuan. Han Chong could only send forth a blade of demon-slaying light to deliver the final blow.

The screams abruptly ceased.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for slaying the Black Lotus Cult Master of Peijun Prefecture! You have reached the peak of the Refining Essence, Transforming Qi stage. Current Essence Points: 40,960!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining one skill point. You may select a new skill or upgrade an existing one!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for advancing to a new minor realm. You are rewarded with a Shadow-Imprint Jade Disk, capable of recording all images and sounds within a thirty-foot radius at any time!]
[Due to the effect of the God-Slaying Life-Seizing Curse, Host's lifespan is now at seventy-six percent!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for completing the bounty mission. Extra reward: permanent increase of attack speed by ten points!]

Shadow-Imprint Jade Disk!

A vertical eye-shaped jade pendant appeared in Han Chong’s hand. With this treasure, he would never again have to worry about villains denying their crimes. Although it had no offensive or defensive power, its value was immeasurable.

The man in the bronze mask, seeing the black lotus destroyed, immediately fled into the distance and vanished.

Alas, Han Chong sighed softly at the unexpected ending. According to Duan Wenxuan, he too had been a victim of corrupt officials and was later coerced by that mysterious black-robed man into committing these atrocities.

Now, with the Left and Right Envoys and Yu Tianlong of the Black Lotus Cult dead, and no more black lotus seeds from Duan Wenxuan, the three remaining Protectors would likely die in agony as well—the Black Lotus Cult was utterly annihilated.

The one who launched the surprise attack must have been the most mysterious of the four Resentful Kings of Peijun Prefecture. Otherwise, who else could have crippled the black lotus with a single strike and left it howling in agony? But with his own injuries so severe, Han Chong had no strength to pursue the masked man.

He turned to the lotus stalk, now half burned and barely clinging to life. Fortunately, with a new skill point, Han Chong entered the system and unhesitatingly selected Medical Arts.

Medical Arts: The Daoist method of healing through medicine and medical practice; a skill for curing illness and injury. Consumes varying amounts of essence points.

The others watched as Han Chong pressed his hands, glowing with a faint blue light, toward the charred lotus stalk. A miracle occurred: as the blue light seeped into it, the carbonized shell cracked and fell away like tree bark. Though its size shrank, within was revealed a fresh, tender green stem, until finally it became an ordinary, small blue-green lotus stalk.

“Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life!” The child’s clear voice once more echoed in Han Chong’s mind.

“I’m glad I could save you. May you grow and thrive from now on.”

Exercising the Mountain-Bearing Art, Han Chong sent the lotus floating gently to the center of the White Egret River, where it fell and vanished beneath the waves.

“Well, well,” Ouyang Jingguan arched an eyebrow and smiled, “Brother Han, you’re even versed in miraculous healing arts. If we’re injured in the future, we’ll be depending on you.”

“You flatter me, Brother Ouyang. Healing arts aren’t omnipotent. I hope you’ll never need me to use them on you.”

Han Chong then pressed his hands to his own wounds. A cool sensation suffused his injuries—a truly wondrous feeling. Not only did the pain immediately subside, but once healed, his body even felt subtly strengthened. The Daoist arts truly were miraculous.

“But who exactly was that man in the bronze mask?” Captain Ning picked up the flying dagger, his brow furrowed in thought. “It’s infuriating that he would appear at the critical moment and, with a single throw, slay the Black Lotus Cult Master.”

“From what I gathered from Duan Wenxuan, he should be the most mysterious of the four Resentful Kings of Peijun Prefecture. With him lurking here, the prefecture is sure to be thrown into chaos,” Han Chong replied, his gaze lingering thoughtfully on the reeds.

Could it be that the masked man had been drawn here by the black-light evil tiger totem Han Chong had released? That would explain the uncanny timing.