When Xu Fu heard Zhang Liusun’s words, he indeed froze instantly, his expression dark and uncertain. After a long pause, he spat out angrily, “You little brat, how come you’re even craftier than your ancestors?”
“My ancestors?” Zhang Liusun replied, somewhat surprised. “Do you mean Zhang Liang, the Marquis Liu?”
“Who else could it be?” Xu Fu growled. “He dared to assassinate the emperor and managed to escape from the hands of many high cultivators. That fellow was indeed slippery. Although he was full of treachery, at least he had some sense of integrity. You, on the other hand, although your cultivation is far inferior to mine, you’re still a decent master. Yet you behave so shamelessly—what kind of example is that?”
Zhang Liusun burst into laughter and said, “Although I share the same surname with that Marquis, I wouldn’t dare to claim we’re from the same lineage. As for being shameless and unruly—”
Zhang paused, then continued casually, “If I choose to act shamelessly, what can you do about it?”
Xu Fu was momentarily stunned, unable to respond.
Zhang Liusun continued, “Old freak Xu, to be fair, you’re somewhat of a figure yourself. But today’s matter surely can’t be blamed on me, right? You were captured and locked up here. If I hadn’t painstakingly searched and brought those lightning tribulations here, how could you have escaped? So, whether intentionally or not, I at least did you a big favor, correct?”
Xu Fu’s face turned slightly red as he mumbled, “Even if that’s true, but—”
Before Xu Fu could continue, Zhang Liusun interrupted, “Since you admit it, then what did you do after escaping? You actually took advantage of my劫dou’s moment and attacked me from behind. Heh heh. You caused my劫to fail and destroyed my physical body. Is this how an ancient immortal repays kindness with malice?”
Xu Fu’s face turned bright red, and he was momentarily speechless.
Actually, this place had once been Xu Fu’s own cave dwelling. After a fierce battle with other cultivators here long ago, he had been sealed beneath the sea. Therefore, upon escaping, finding his cave dwelling occupied, he wouldn’t be entirely out of line to fight back. However, Zhang Liusun seized the opportunity to accuse him of repaying kindness with malice. Xu Fu, after all, was a loose immortal with ancient pride, and was left speechless by Zhang’s words.
But Zhang Liusun wasn’t finished yet. He continued, “Even so, I didn’t pursue you to the death. To put it arrogantly, I am also the leader of a sect. If we talk about the Daoist sects across the land, my sect is indeed among the most prestigious. If I had truly mobilized the entire sect against you, you would have been long dead without even a grave! Do you think I didn’t know you were cultivating and recovering under the sea? I’ve always been kind to others and gave you a break. But I never expected you to still harbor ill intentions and attempt a comeback. I’d like to ask, Xu Immortal, what exactly did I offend you so much that you’d pursue me like this?”
Xu Fu was momentarily stunned by Zhang’s question. After a long silence, he replied dryly, “This place is my cave dwelling. You’ve taken it over like a cuckoo seizing a magpie’s nest…”
“Old freak Xu, do you still have the face to say that!” Zhang roared. “Open your eyes and look around. Since when has this Mount Jieshi been your cave dwelling? Why don’t you claim the Kunlun Mountains as yours too? Even if you did cultivate here once, what happened later? You were beaten like a stray dog, crushed beneath this mountain, sealed within formations for over a thousand years, unable to show your face. And now you dare to claim this as your cave dwelling? I painstakingly broke the mountain-sealing formation, cleared this place out, and freed you. Now you turn around and try to fight me for this mountain?”
Xu Fu’s face turned alternately green and red under Zhang’s barrage of words. He wanted to retaliate but hesitated, fearing collateral damage. He wanted to argue but found Zhang’s reasoning seemingly irrefutable. After grinding his teeth for a while, he finally spat out bitterly, “Then according to you, what should be done?”
Zhang stretched lazily, flicked his left hand, and suddenly a reclining couch appeared from the ground. He lounged comfortably on it and said lazily, “Well, this is clearly your fault. But I’m magnanimous and don’t want to dwell on it further. I don’t want anything from you either. We don’t have any deadly grudge, so there’s no need to fight to the death, right? Besides, people like us shouldn’t act like street thugs, fighting over the smallest matters. I’m tired of holding this grudge. How about we have a contest? Regardless of who wins or loses, we’ll call it even. What do you say?”
Xu Fu sneered coldly, “In the end, it still comes down to a fight. But what exactly do you want to bet? If it’s about cunning and deceit, I naturally can’t match you.”
Zhang shook his head. “If it’s about shamelessness and baseness, I willingly concede. As cultivators, if we’re going to compete, naturally it should be about our abilities. How about it? I’ll set the challenge—do you dare to accept?”
Upon hearing Zhang’s words, Xu Fu couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
The reason was simple: since meeting this brat, whether in strategy, battle, or verbal sparring, he hadn’t gained the slightest advantage. Now this fellow suddenly proposed a contest, naturally making Xu Fu suspect some hidden scheme.
Seeing Xu Fu’s hesitation, Zhang burst into laughter again. “Old freak Xu! Although I originally thought you were shameless and despicable, I still considered you somewhat of a figure. But now I see you’re just a coward! If it’s about fighting, you’re afraid of damaging your broken cauldron and hold yourself back. When I suggest a contest, you still hesitate. What exactly do you plan to do? Why don’t you just crawl back under the sea and hide for another thousand years?”
Xu Fu’s face turned purplish with rage at Zhang’s words, and he roared, “Zhang brat, don’t push me too far! Fine, I’ll accept the challenge! Now tell me, what exactly do you want to contest?”
Zhang grinned and said, “Since it’s a contest, we should bet on what each of us is most proud of. What do you think?”
Xu Fu frowned and asked, “What are you most proud of? Just say it outright!”
Zhang Liusun replied, “You may look sharp, but you’re actually quite dull. What special skills do you really have? Nothing but relying on a stolen bronze figure to intimidate others. That’s exactly what I want to challenge you with!”
Not only Xu Fu, even Mei Qing beside them was stunned by Zhang Liusun’s bold claim.
Although they hadn’t seen the full might of Xu Fu’s bronze figure, even its slight display had already made Mei Qing secretly alarmed. If it were to unleash its full power, Zhang Liusun might not fare well. Moreover, in the cultivation world, contests usually involved competing through techniques and magical artifacts. In other words, if Zhang Liusun wanted to challenge the bronze figure, he couldn’t fight directly but must use his own puppet or magical artifact to battle it.
Mei Qing was secretly astonished, wondering whether Zhang Liusun had some hidden treasure. Otherwise, given his personality, how could he dare to engage in a contest without confidence?
Xu Fu also found it hard to believe. After blinking several times, he asked, “A contest on this? Are you serious?”
Zhang Liusun sneered, “Old freak Xu, when have you ever seen me go back on my word? This is exactly what I’m proposing. Are you up for it or not?”
Xu Fu asked suspiciously, “Then what will you use for the contest? Do you plan to fight my bronze figure directly?”
“Tsk tsk!” Zhang Liusun replied indignantly, “Do you take me for someone who disregards rules and acts recklessly? Old Xu, you’re not young anymore. How come you don’t even know the rules of a contest? Since you’re using your bronze figure, although I could easily topple that clumsy copper statue with a wave of my hand, I wouldn’t take advantage of you by breaking the rules.”
“Then what will you use?” Xu Fu scrutinized Zhang Liusun, “Do you have any hidden treasures on you?”
“Old freak Xu, it seems not only are you old and muddled, but your eyesight has also deteriorated!” Zhang mocked. “Haven’t you noticed my doppelgänger standing here for hours? I’ll use it to challenge your clumsy bronze figure. What do you say? Are you game?”
Mei Qing didn’t quite catch on at first, but when he saw Xu Fu looking at him with a strange expression, he suddenly realized that Zhang Liusun’s “doppelgänger” was referring to himself. Instantly furious, he wanted to protest.
It wasn’t unreasonable for Mei Qing to be angry. Initially, pretending to be a doppelgänger to scare Xu Fu was fine, but now he was expected to fight that bronze figure directly? What kind of opponent was that bronze figure? One slap from it, and he’d be flattened like a pancake.
As Mei Qing was about to speak, he suddenly found himself unable to utter a sound, no matter how hard he tried. He then discovered he couldn’t move at all, realizing with alarm that he had unknowingly been enchanted or bound by some technique.
Mei Qing was furious with Zhang Liusun, cursing himself for his own inexperience. He had not anticipated that Zhang, who was clearly skilled in the Divine Thunder Technique and had already displayed his Thunder Prohibition Art, would naturally be far superior. Mei Qing had relied on his Thunder Prohibition to protect himself, but against Zhang, it was almost as if he had no defense at all. If he had considered this earlier and used other techniques for protection, he would have been much safer.
While Mei Qing was consumed by regret and anger, Xu Fu was repeatedly scrutinizing him, deep in thought.
Initially, Xu Fu hadn’t paid much attention to Mei Qing, assuming he was just a doppelgänger of Zhang Liusun. But upon closer inspection, he realized Mei Qing was quite different from an ordinary doppelgänger.
First, he noticed that Mei Qing seemed to possess an independent Yuan Shen (元神), which in his mind meant that this was no longer merely a doppelgänger but could be regarded as a second Yuan Shen. Such a technique was truly astounding. Secondly, he sensed that his own son-cauldron was within Mei Qing. This further solidified his conviction that Mei Qing was indeed a doppelgänger of Zhang Liusun.
According to Xu Fu’s knowledge, creating a doppelgänger was already extremely difficult, let alone making it indistinguishable from a real person. However, difficulty didn’t mean impossibility. In fact, the cultivation of a loose immortal’s physical form could be considered a type of body forging technique.
Moreover, Zhang Liusun had always displayed a wide array of techniques, and even Xu Fu couldn’t claim superiority over him. Now, judging from the situation, Mei Qing’s cultivation level was clearly far below that of Xu Fu’s bronze figure. If that was the case, why would the extremely cunning Zhang Liusun insist on challenging him to this contest?
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