The Unremarkable Little Taoist Master - Chapter 178 - Exchange
The two Iron-armored Jiangshi roared furiously as they clawed at each other, the scales of their iron armor clashing and grinding against one another, producing a creaking sound that startled the birds in the forest, sending them fluttering into the sky.
The ordinary Jiangshi huddled together, trembling in fear.
Gradually, wounds appeared on both Iron-armored Jiangshi. The old daoist priest looked a bit anxious: “We can’t let them keep fighting like this; otherwise, they’ll both be severely hurt. We need to separate them.”
I nodded in agreement, and we both charged forward, one in front and one behind.
I swung my peach wood sword, wedging it between the two Iron-armored Jiangshi, and with a strong slash to the left, the Iron-armored Jiangshi were pushed apart slightly. Seizing this opportunity, the old daoist priest bit his finger and let his blood drop onto the heads of both Iron-armored Jiangshi. One of them froze in place, merely letting out a roar, while the other angrily lunged toward the old daoist priest.
Seeing the wild Iron-armored Jiangshi attacking, the ordinary Jiangshi also crowded toward the old daoist priest.
“Kid, you handle the Iron-armored Jiangshi, and I’ll take care of those ordinary Jiangshi!”
With that, the old daoist priest swerved around the Iron-armored Jiangshi and walked toward the ordinary ones.
“You old man! You leave the tough one for me?!” I exclaimed as I jumped, binding my Iron-armored Jiangshi with a rope to ensure it wouldn’t attack or escape again.
“This is your opportunity for training!”
Training? Suddenly, I thought of my parents, whom I had never met. They were still alive and would surely hope for me to inherit their legacy, becoming a true Onmyoji.
Thinking of that, I took a deep breath, stepped forward quickly, and wielded my sword fiercely at the Iron-armored Jiangshi.
The Iron-armored Jiangshi’s eyes turned bright red, and its entire body shone with a flickering red light.
I felt the Qilin on my chest subtly warm, as if it couldn’t wait to emerge upon seeing a formidable opponent.
But this time, I wanted to handle it myself.
The previous strike had done no damage to the Iron-armored Jiangshi. I focused, channeling all my energy into the peach wood sword. I felt a warm current surge from my dantian, flowing swiftly through my body and along my arms, fully pushing into the sword. This warm current guided the peach wood sword straight toward the Iron-armored Jiangshi.
The sword tip completely pierced into the Iron-armored Jiangshi’s body, and instantly, a brilliant red light erupted, letting out a roar as if it were exerting all its strength.
At that moment, a strange scene unfolded. Dozens of ordinary Jiangshi threw their heads back and let out mournful wails, spewing forth murky gray gas from their mouths. This gas flowed continuously toward the Iron-armored Jiangshi, feeding it a steady stream of energy.
I was at a loss as to what was happening, momentarily frozen in place.
The old daoist priest hurried over in a few steps, panting heavily. “This is bad! The Iron-armored Jiangshi seems to be absorbing energy from the other ordinary Jiangshi. With our current strength, we might not be able to handle it.”
Is this really happening?! I was stunned.
“Can the Iron-armored Jiangshi become stronger by absorbing corpse aura?”
“I’m not sure. It’s not mentioned in the texts.”
“Regardless, we need to subdue it first. If it breaks into the village, who knows what kind of trouble it will cause.”
“Easier said than done!” The old daoist priest shot me a scornful glance. “With your current abilities, you would still be at a disadvantage fighting a regular Iron-armored Jiangshi, let alone a strengthened one?!”
Although the old daoist priest’s words were harsh, they were not without reason.
A thought struck me: “Didn’t Blacksmith Hu say that Jiangshi can upgrade by consuming refined corpses? Why not let our Iron-armored Jiangshi…”
“No way! The requirements for upgrading are too high. Not to mention we don’t have enough corpses, we also don’t have time…”
As he spoke, the old daoist priest dodged to the side, and a large tree crashed down right in front of me, kicking up clouds of dust.
The Iron-armored Jiangshi’s scales glinted faintly silver; it had transformed into a Silver-armored Jiangshi. As I looked at this powerful corpse, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it seemed somewhat familiar.
But I didn’t have time to ponder this. The Silver-armored Jiangshi charged at me, its target clearly set on me.
The Silver-armored Jiangshi possessed immense strength, far surpassing its former self. In several clashes, it easily wrested the peach wood sword from my hand and shattered it effortlessly.
Seeing this, the old daoist priest tossed a few black donkey hoofs my way. “Use your blood to coat them and attack!”
The black donkey hoofs were effective against ordinary Jiangshi, but would probably have little effect on the Silver-armored Jiangshi.
As I contemplated this, an idea popped into my head. I leapt to catch the black donkey hoof, concentrating all my strength into it, and then stuffed it directly into the Silver-armored Jiangshi’s mouth.
Black energy erupted from its mouth, and it began to screech wildly, rampaging around while crashing into numerous trees. The forest was filled with the thunderous sounds of destruction.
Suddenly, a shadow darted through the forest, quickly coming to a halt in front of us. It was Blacksmith Hu.
“Blacksmith Hu, you…”
“Let’s skip the pleasantries and subdue it first.” With that, Blacksmith Hu pulled out a bag he carried with him. When he opened it, it revealed various bottles and trinkets. “The Silver-armored Jiangshi is not like the ordinary Jiangshi; controlling it is going to be a challenge, but…”
His voice trailed off, but I was too preoccupied to pay close attention. The old daoist priest also approached us at that moment, having just finished subduing the ordinary Jiangshi. Although that task hadn’t been too difficult, it had drained his energy considerably.
“Here,” Blacksmith Hu said, handing each of us a small bottle. “This contains Jiangshi blood. Apply it to the copper coin sword, and then use a talisman to suppress it. With the three of us together, we should be able to subdue the Silver-armored Jiangshi.”
I was puzzled: How did Blacksmith Hu know the method to subdue the Silver-armored Jiangshi? And how did he know we were here?
But time was short; the Silver-armored Jiangshi was becoming increasingly agitated. Trees were falling around us, and there was no time to think about those questions.
I exchanged looks with the old daoist priest, and we took the copper coin swords from Blacksmith Hu’s bag, following his instructions.
“I’ll attack from the front, you both take a side-one at the lower body, the other at the back!”
With a fierce shout, Blacksmith Hu led the charge, and we all attacked simultaneously.
However, when we weren’t looking, Blacksmith Hu discreetly bit his finger and whispered a few incantations. He then pressed the tip of the copper coin sword to the Silver-armored Jiangshi’s forehead and pushed it straight into the corpse’s brow.
At the same time, the old daoist priest and I drove our copper coin swords into the Silver-armored Jiangshi’s lower abdomen and back, respectively.
The Silver-armored Jiangshi twitched a few times but made no sound before collapsing onto the ground.
The old daoist priest thanked Blacksmith Hu and mentioned he wanted to refine the Silver-armored Jiangshi.
Blacksmith Hu immediately interjected, “This Silver-armored Jiangshi has been weakened considerably by your attacks. Refining it won’t be very helpful for upgrading it. How about this: I’ll make an exchange with you-give me the intact Silver-armored Jiangshi, and I’ll provide you with something in return. What do you say?”
If it were any ordinary daoist, they might have readily agreed. However, Blacksmith Hu’s request seemed quite strange.
Just yesterday, he had spoken of seeking revenge; now he was willing to trade for a broken Silver-armored Jiangshi?
