Chapter 157: The Strange Fish Reappears, Scheming for Essence Blood (Requesting Monthly Votes)

"Very well! Take me to see him." A flash of light crossed the eyes of Daoist Wuzang.

"My Lord has heard of the madman? This person is not easy to deal with," General Ma said, looking deeply worried.

Lu Qian played the role of a mere follower on the side, assuming a posture of absolute obedience.

He had not expected that Daoist Wuzang would also be interested in Fubo.

However, with such a deranged expert suddenly appearing nearby, anyone would feel a touch of curiosity.

"What are you afraid of? Am I calling the shots, or are you?"

Daoist Wuzang scolded him.

"This old man has never met this fellow, but people call me Daoist Wuzang. My Five Viscera Divine Arts can manifest formidable magic treasures. Could a mere madman withstand even a single round against me?"

Daoist Wuzang had come to attend the banquet today, and upon hearing the news about this madman—specifically that he belonged to a body-refining lineage—he wanted to go and check him out.

Besides, he had backup this time.

"Fellow Daoist Double-Head, come out!" Daoist Wuzang addressed the empty air.

"Here I come!"

A cloud of bloody, malevolent mist drifted over.

Atop the dark cloud stood a tall man with a long beard and two heads.

The head on the left was red, while the head on the right was black.

Behind the Double-Headed Old Monster, faint human figures could be seen lingering.

"Fellow Daoist."

"Haha, I've arrived."

The two heads spoke simultaneously.

One voice was steady and calm, while the other was much more lively.

"Has the madman been found?" The black head stared at Daoist Wuzang.

"My subordinate knows where he is," Daoist Wuzang said, looking at General Ma.

"Yes, this humble one knows the location," General Ma said, cupping his fists.

"Let's go now. Do not waste any time."

The dark cloud took the lead, heading back in the direction the two had just come from.

Daoist Wuzang followed closely behind.

Soon, they arrived at the place Lu Qian and General Ma had passed earlier.

Their figures descended to the ground.

The earth was riddled with craters, hellfires burned incessantly, and blood flowed like rivers.

The air was heavy with a mixed stench of blood and gunpowder.

Severed limbs and broken bones littered the ground.

"Someone has fought here," the right head of the Double-Headed Old Monster remarked.

"Good grief, they flattened an entire city. It looks like the Nether Capital Sword Tower and the Eternal Nether Tomb joined forces. The madman is probably dead," the left head exclaimed in amazement.

"Unlikely. Let this old man investigate." Daoist Wuzang opened his mouth and exhaled.

A red light flew out from his lips, forming a heart-lamp.

Its candlelight illuminated the surroundings, and a stream of lamp flame shot toward the southwest.

The group flew along the trail of the lamp flame.

Soon, they reached a deep mountain forest.

The flame stopped in front of an empty clearing.

Immediately after, the flame transformed into a three-inch-tall girl made of fire.

"Right here!" The flame girl pointed a small finger at the ground.

With picturesque features and skin as red as blood, the girl looked exceedingly dainty and cute.

"This appearance..." Lu Qian felt a shock in his heart upon seeing the girl's face.

Wasn't this the exact appearance of the Candle Ghost King's daughter? Could she have already been refined into a lamp flame?

If that was the case, didn't this mean the task was already completed?

At this thought, Lu Qian instantly developed the urge to leave.

Boom!

The earth below exploded.

A blood-soaked, monstrous fish burst out from the soil.

The monstrous fish now possessed only four bodies remaining.

The moment it appeared, tens of thousands of fireballs and water balls hurtled toward the group.

"Fellow Daoist, hold your fire! We are not here to fight!" Daoist Wuzang shouted hastily.

"Aiyah, striking the moment we meet," the Double-Headed Old Monster said.

Fubo remained as headstrong as ever, the balls of water and fire blotting out the sky as they bore down with immense momentum.

A heavy stone seemed to press upon everyone's chest, making it hard to breathe.

Even Lu Qian prepared to make a move.

At that moment, Daoist Wuzang made his move.

He spat out a five-colored radiance.

The light split into various magic treasures.

Flying swords and shuttles, heart-lamp spheres, and black banners.

All five magic treasures were unleashed simultaneously.

Sword Qi raged like a storm, accompanied by hellfire and toxic smoke.

The earth shook, and the wind and sand whipped into a fury.

The colors of heaven and earth shifted.

The Double-Headed Old Monster also unleashed his arts; one head spewed poisonous fire, while the other spat out an ancient bell.

Hundreds of spells intertwined, and magical lights flew about chaotically, making it impossible to tell for a moment who had the upper hand and who was losing.

The sky-filling radiance blinded the eyes.

After a long while, the gunpowder smoke cleared.

The Hela fish lay prone on the ground, blood flowing like a river as its four bodies weakly slapped the earth.

The crimson glow in its dual pupils slowly faded.

"Do with me as you please, kill or carve me up," the Hela fish reverted into a man with scales growing across his face.

Seeing that Fubo had regained consciousness, Lu Qian hurriedly restrained his aura.

There was no need to worry about being recognized by Fubo either.

After all, before pretending to be General Ma's follower, he had already transformed into a horse-headed demon.

Otherwise, having a human follower by General Ma's side would have seemed far too bizarre.

"Fellow Daoist has misunderstood. We are here to seek cooperation."

Daoist Wuzang and the Double-Headed Old Monster descended to the ground.

Fubo looked wretched, weakly leaning against a tree trunk.

He wanted to resist, but in his current state, he could not muster even a shred of power.

Moreover, an ancient bell suspended above his head completely suppressed his remaining strength.

Hearing Daoist Wuzang's words, Fubo remained skeptical: "Then what do you want?"

"We want the Hela fish's technique for dividing into ten bodies."

Daoist Wuzang stated bluntly, clearly having come prepared.

Fubo glanced at the group and smiled with disdain: "This is an innate beast talent, born with me. There is no such technique of division."

"Fellow Daoist jests. I recall that the Hela fish's essence blood can regenerate its torso. As long as Fellow Daoist agrees to provide us with your essence blood, we will surely help you replenish your blood-flesh and restore you to your peak state as soon as possible. How about it?"

Daoist Wuzang smiled with absolute confidence.

"No. Essence blood is extremely important to me; I cannot give it away easily."

Fubo flatly refused.

He was still in a phase of recuperation and could not afford to expend large amounts of essence blood.

"Rest assured, I will provide you with abundant resources. If you stay cooped up here, you might not recover your full cultivation even in your next life."

Persuaded earnestly by the group, Fubo finally began to waver.

He had consumed many people recently and fought many battles, often being beaten back down before he could fully recover.

Meeting this group of people, Fubo also felt an inclination to forge alliances.

However, Fubo had truly been traumatized by a certain individual.

He had become paranoid and unable to trust anyone.

"Trusting them should be fine..." Thinking of this, Fubo reluctantly agreed.

There was no choice; if he refused, he would likely die here today.

In any case, it was merely a relationship of mutual exploitation.

For some reason, Fubo still felt something was amiss.

Perhaps he had simply become overly sensitive lately, feeling as though everyone he looked at was an undercover agent.

There shouldn't be any problems this time.

That little bastard Lu Qian was currently hundreds of thousands of miles away; nothing could possibly go wrong.

The group flew away together, heading toward the Qianyuan Daoist Field.

"Daoist Wuzang is too powerful. Only someone at the late Nourishing Spirit stage can contend with him. I had better find an opportunity to slip away later," Lu Qian thought to himself.

He wouldn't be able to investigate what was going on with the Candle Ghost King's daughter anytime soon anyway.

Refining Qi into Steel was far more important.

However, before leaving, Lu Qian harbored a bold idea in his heart.

Fubo's cultivation was currently below five percent, and his body still retained a massive amount of residual blood-qi, which would be tremendously helpful for his body-refining cultivation. Perhaps...