Under Qiao San’s feet, ghostly clouds howled and roared, yet for a moment, they couldn’t break through the barrier formed by the Ten Star Lords. Beside them, Lord Laozi watched with a dark expression, while the sound of approaching heavenly soldiers grew rapidly closer from afar. Meanwhile, the Queen Mother had already left the Palace of the Immortal Sage.
“F*cking hell!”
The rogue’s habitual curse exploded forth. As the three words left his lips, the sound waves didn’t fade away. Within the invisible void, the pressure surged like flying spears, causing the Fire Virtue Star Lord directly in front to stagger and spit out a mouthful of blood.
Pipi San (Rogue San), having somehow survived losing the Ten-Yang Pearl and even further enhanced his magical powers, relied on the might of the “Ghost Sutra” and the “Earth Treatise.” Having survived the ninth of ten deadly tribulations, he still dared to cause chaos in the celestial palace, never wavering before supreme imperial authority—truly the essence of a rogue.
Unrestrained wildness howled through the heavenly palace. Seeing the Queen Mother already stepping onto her celestial chariot drawn by heavenly steeds, Pipi’s heart burned with fury. He brandished his sword and charged forward wildly.
Three Star Lords rushed head-on to intercept him, while another three unleashed their magical treasures and flying swords from the flanks. The remaining few silently and skillfully retreated slightly, preparing for a secondary encirclement.
Watching from the sidelines, Lord Laozi instinctively stroked his beard with a faint smile. Although the Ten Star Lords weren’t primordial deities, their combined strength was formidable enough that even Lord Laozi himself would have to yield three feet.
“Clang—”
The metallic clang reverberated, leaving everyone’s six senses in chaos. Lord Laozi’s withered hand froze mid-stroke on his beard. He quickly summoned his magic, dispelling the illusions before his eyes and the ringing in his ears. As he focused intently, he couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.
Before his eyes, Qiao San sliced through the opposition like a sharp sword cleaving water. No matter how desperately the Ten Star Lords fought, they couldn’t halt his forward charge.
The Tai Xu Divine Armor transformed into a yellow light shield. Qiao San swept his sword sideways, sending Bei Ming Star Lord’s ice spear flying into the air. The rogue’s figure spun wildly like a windmill along with the shield.
Amidst the rapid impacts, San’s right arm stretched parallel to his shoulder. With a wild roar, he swung his arm. Wind followed his sword, and strength surged with the wind. The three Star Lords charging head-on were like broken-winged birds, flung away.
In almost an instant, Qiao San had plunged into the midst of the Ten Star Lords. In the blink of an eye, Lord Laozi could only see the Star Lords scattering like shattered stones in all directions.
His nerves vibrating tautly, Lord Laozi had never felt so tense in his millions of years of existence. Quietly, he slipped his hand into his sleeve, drew out a long-necked jade bottle, raised it high, and aimed it at Qiao San while chanting true incantations.
“Daring San, be sealed—”
A beam of light miraculously wove through the crowd, accurately locating Qiao San. Just as the rogue had sent the Ten Star Lords flying, his feet involuntarily flew toward the bottle. His entire body rapidly shrank.
Suddenly, the cloth binding his hair snapped. His black hair rose without wind, and his left shield instantly expanded. No matter how large the bottle’s mouth became, the Tai Xu Divine Armor always grew one step larger.
“Seal this! Old bastard, take this kick from your grandpa!”
The alchemy chamber trembled slightly. The rogue’s shield slammed heavily onto the bottle’s mouth, and the mysterious beam vanished; Pipi was free again, and his massive foot immediately slammed into Lord Laozi’s old face.
Qiao San wasn’t a man of mercy. With a thought, a bolt of lightning shot from his foot.
As the lightning flashed, a wall collapsed in a roar, but in an instant, Lord Laozi vanished into nothingness, narrowly dodging the rogue’s determined kick.
The old bastard still had some real skills. Qiao San had no desire to linger, so he gathered himself and leaped through the breach. The Queen Mother and the Ten-Yang Pearl were his only targets.
Though it seems like a long tale, in reality, only moments had passed. At this moment, the Queen Mother’s chariot had barely flown a hundred zhang when the rogue raised his hand, hurling a fierce bolt of thunderfire.
“Quickly!”
The eight celestial horses already moved so fast they left no trace, but the Queen Mother still felt they weren’t fast enough. At her command, the five maidens of the Jade Pond simultaneously placed their palms against the chariot walls. With a whoosh, they finally left the thunderbolt a thousand zhang behind.
“Bitch, return my Ten-Yang Pearl!”
Qiao San’s furious shout flew through the air into the carriage. Inside, the Queen Mother instinctively tightened her grip. Right now, she wanted nothing more than a brief moment of peace—a mere cup of tea’s worth of time.
Qiao San naturally understood the Queen Mother’s intentions. His only option was relentless pursuit. With a thought, a fiery phantom shot forth from the void.
Mounting the immortal Fenghuang bird, wielding the Tai Xu Heaven-Earth Sword, the furious rogue smashed through clouds and rosy mists, determined to overturn the entire celestial palace.
One chased, one fled. In no time, they had left the Ten Star Lords far behind. Though Lord Laozi had the ability to catch up, the cunning old fox had also vanished.
“Boom—”
Suddenly, dozens of lightning bolts blinded Qiao San, his vision flashing white. Over a hundred peals of thunder dazed him, ears ringing. Though the ancient divine bird twisted in a spiral to evade, it still allowed the Queen Mother to escape further.
Qiao San looked up and saw over a hundred heavenly generals swarming toward him. Though they hadn’t yet summoned the full heavenly army, their collective magic was enough to momentarily suppress the rogue’s rampant momentum.
Under the leadership of the Thunder God, over a dozen Thunder Division generals soared upward, unleashing a continuous barrage of thunderbolts. Among them was the Four Symbols General, previously beaten black and blue by Qiao San.
In just an instant, the space around the rogue was filled with magical treasures. Various divine weapons formed a wall of artifacts, their glowing mouths aimed directly at the man and the bird.
The wall of treasures tightened, drawing closer and denser.
The heavenly generals’ breathing synchronized with their magic, tightening together. As the rogue seemed to shrink to the size of a fist, suddenly, an explosive force erupted.
“Yaa—”
Daring San roared to the heavens, unexpectedly withdrawing his divine armor that had been blocking the attacks. Nearly a hundred magical artifacts instinctively accelerated, aiming for the rogue’s soul; in the sudden shift between slow and fast, space trembled. A tiny, almost imperceptible crack flickered past, but it didn’t escape Qiao San’s perception.
Nearly a hundred artifacts struck Qiao San, but the heavenly generals’ hearts sank, for what they had shattered was only the rogue’s illusion. Meanwhile, a fierce gale had already blown into their ranks.
Charge forward—charge relentlessly!
Sword strikes, punches, kicks—Qiao San no longer tried to see his opponents’ faces or dodge their divine weapons. He simply charged forward, smashing aside any shadow that dared block his path.
As the blood mist of the first heavenly general still sprayed through the air, Qiao San’s Heaven-Earth Sword had already slashed through the second. When the third heavenly general fell from the clouds, two deep gashes had already appeared on Qiao San’s ribs, exposing bone.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage