Chapter 1 The Young Celestial Master's Confusion

The young Celestial Master remained vigilant, though still somewhat bewildered.

Why was the black-clad youth before him so utterly lacking in manners?

Coming right out and asking him to call him "Grandpa"?

"I'm your grandpa? You're not much older than me, and you want me to call you Grand-Uncle Master? You don't seem like a wokou... If you're trying to take me as a disciple, I'm sorry, but I have no interest in studying under a reclusive person like you. Besides, I already have a lineage.”

The young Celestial Master's expression revealed disdain, his tone haughty.

After all, he was the future successor of the Dragon Tiger Mountain, the foremost of the Three Mountains and head of all Daoist sects. What reclusive cultivator would dare to claim he could teach a Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master a thing or two?

Didn't he know how much he weighed? What a presumptuous simpleton...

"I fully understand your current feelings and comprehend them completely."

"After all, I appeared so suddenly, and it's normal that you don't recognize me. However, I wouldn't object if you called me 'Grandpa'. How about this? For every time you call me 'Grandpa,' I'll do something for you.”

Ji Xiang revealed a rogue-ish and insidious smile. "For example, I can help you kill all the wokou in Yuanshan City, leaving not a single one alive."

The young Celestial Master was about to retort that he didn't need any help killing, but suddenly, he jolted, as if realizing something. With disbelief and great suspicion, he asked:

"Wait... Katō Kiyomasa’s Mountain Mother Goddess appeared here... Could it be that you are... the Ming Dynasty immortal the demons speak of?”

"But who are you? I don't remember any cultivator like you in this world."

The young Celestial Master couldn't recall Ji Xiang’s image. Although some of Ji Xiang's words were arrogant, they were both equally handsome.

How could he not remember him!

Besides, the black clothes were too recognizable... Wait, black clothes?

"You... why are you wearing the clothes for worshipping gods?"

"It's just zao yi (black clothing), it shouldn't be seen as exclusively for worshipping gods, right? I wouldn't bother explaining to anyone else, but you're the young Celestial Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain. Zhang Celestial Masters wear zao yi. You should have seen it, right?"

"That's impossible! The Celestial Master's zao yi is bestowed by the Emperor himself. Only one person in the world is allowed to wear it! It's the highest level of dharma clothing in our Daoist sect. You're about the same age as me. Don’t tell me your clothes were also bestowed by the Emperor!” The young Celestial Master found Ji Xiang's words laughable. There was no way he would believe them.

But...

“Aren’t you quite knowledgeable! These clothes were indeed bestowed by the Emperor. And your grandpa, Zhang Celestial Master, and I address each other as Shixiong (martial brothers)."

"?"

Question marks appeared above the young Celestial Master's head, his brow furrowed. "That's absolutely impossible! You and Zhang Celestial Master address each other as martial brothers? I don't remember my great-grandfather ever taking in an outer disciple as young as you! You dare impersonate my grandpa's martial brother...!"

"Wrong, I'm your grandpa's senior martial brother. Besides, Shixiong (martial brothers) isn't just limited to those from the same sect, but a term used among those of the same Dao (path)."

Ji Xiang calmly interrupted the young Celestial Master, his tone helpless. "It's understandable that you don't believe me, but the truth is right before your eyes. And the Ming Dynasty immortal you're guessing about, that is me."

"Kid, for cultivators, isn't the art of maintaining youth not a difficult technique? Why are you so hung up on my appearance?"

The young Celestial Master's face turned serious. "No! It's not the art of maintaining youth. It's your life force. A person's life and death are the gathering and dispersion of qi. When young, qi is vigorous. In middle age, qi declines. In old age, qi decays. Even with great magic power, the power of time will still cause qi to accumulate. There's no way to change that."

"Your qi is vigorous and full of vitality. That's a sign of youth. You're definitely not an old man who's maintaining his youth. This kind of qi can't be faked. There's not a single trace of age!"

"You can't fool me. Dragon Tiger Mountain's 'Sixteen Qi Transformations' is unparalleled in the world."

Ji Xiang paused, unable to stop himself from praising, "That's truly an impressive technique. It's far more powerful than the art of observing qi."

Having said that, he looked towards Yuanshan City in the distance. The thirty-six Mountain Gods were retreating, despite the newly joined Mountain Mother Goddess. The Japanese forces defending Yuanshan City were numerous and strong.

Ji Xiang was observing, using these divine generals to test the waters, creating divine forms for the god tablets, then using the Heaven and Earth's primordial qi to construct their bodies, and finally sending them to battle, all to gauge the depth of Yuanshan City's defenses.

It seemed that the water was a bit deep, but still manageable.

"[Six Paths Underworld Official Sacrifice], I invite the six Underworld Officials of Fengdu, namely Cao Qing of the Heavenly Path, Tian Yan of the Ghost Path, Cui Cong of the Earthly Path, Ji Bie of the Divine Path, Chen De of the Hungry Ghost Path, and Gao Ren of the Beast Path, with futou (headwear), red headbands, black robes and green boots, to curse living beings to death."

"[Western Mountain True Man Sacrifice] [Great General Sacrifice] [River Descent Sacrifice] [High Mountain Sacrifice] [Ghost Qi Sacrifice]...."

Yuanshan City was like a firework display, because the sudden addition of the Mountain Mother Goddess led to the onmyoji (yin-yang masters) being unable to maintain the array formations. Thus, Sakiide Tomoyoshi, while maintaining the Yato God Grand Ceremony, released shikigami (familiars) to transform into clones and perform other sacrificial spells.

"This great onmyoji is quite skilled."

"What? Who did you see?"

The young Celestial Master heard Ji Xiang's mutterings. Ji Xiang said plainly, "There's a great onmyoji in that city, quite skilled. If he's not killed, these array sacrifices won't stop. But he seems to be very skilled in the art of curses. This is truly troublesome."

Ji Xiang looked up slightly. The calamity of mortal affairs above his head was already extremely large. Due to helping deduce the *Yingshi Emergency Rescue Formula* earlier, the calamity of mortal affairs had further increased. But it seemed that the progress of attacking Yuanshan City was still going smoothly so far.

However, he didn't know when the great disaster would descend.

Could it be this great onmyoji’s curse?

Ji Xiang was cautious about this. The trick of killing people out of one's league with curses was indeed useful. Chen Taichu had initially been knocked down from a true immortal to a demoted immortal by a curse. For immortals, this was probably the only technique they feared when facing mortals. However, not all curses could work on existences at the level of immortals.

"Hmm?"

The wind gradually rose, as if someone was gradually approaching from the direction of Yuanshan City.

Rumble!

A huge divine sword fell from the sky!

Mountains and rivers, their qi boiling, Ji Xiang grabbed the young Celestial Master, standing on the other side of the strike. From the origin of that strike, a swordsman walked out, surging with divine power.

"Yagyū Munenori!"

Seeing this person, the young Celestial Master gnashed his teeth. Yagyū Munenori had brought them a great deal of trouble when they attacked Yuanshan City!

After all, he was the number one swordsman among the wokou. In terms of swordsmanship alone, he had reached the level of a Sword Immortal, but without the power of an immortal!

"It's him. Be careful. No matter who you are, you're a Ming Dynasty person, right!" the young Celestial Master reminded Ji Xiang.

"So, a great swordsman comparable to the peak of Pure Yang. I wonder how much strength and cultivation he has besides divine status?"

Ji Xiang looked at the other party’s surging hostility, and the words of the Inner Vision God Tablet had already appeared in his eyes.

"I see... I understand completely."

"A Large Sword, a divine sword that can cleave mountains with one strike. I didn’t expect it to be a celestial artifact. No wonder it's so powerful."

Yagyū Munenori walked over from afar, his eyes fixed on Ji Xiang. Of course, he also saw the young Celestial Master in the corner of his eye. He couldn’t help but be stunned, and then his expression turned gloomy:

"So that's how it is. Isn't that the young Celestial Master from Dragon Tiger Mountain? You're not dead yet. It seems that heaven hasn't forsaken you, and you've thought of a way to bring reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty, right?"

The young Celestial Master wanted to say that he didn't have the ability, but then he thought, why should he tell the truth to this idiot? So he narrowed his eyes and made a disdainful mocking gesture.

Children's insults are always straightforward, even if it’s a highly cultivated young Celestial Master, he's still just a fifteen-year-old child.

"Very well, this time, you will all die here. I felt something was wrong before. It seems that you are the one who manipulated our country's giant god!"

"Doing such sneaky things, manipulating our country's gods to defect. If you really have the power of a heavenly immortal, why do such demeaning things!"

Ji Xiang raised his eyelids. "I'm waiting for Yuanshan City's false immortal."

"There couldn't possibly not be a false immortal, right? Could it be you?"

Yagyū Munenori narrowed his eyes at this moment, staring directly at Ji Xiang, his killing intent piercing: "So that's how it is. You're the one who killed Tachibana Muneshige?"

"There is indeed an immortal in Yuanshan City, but it's not me. However... you can regard me as an immortal now, because the power of that immortal... is attached to me!"

Suddenly, resentment surged on Yagyū Munenori's body, and surging power rolled up, entering the level of immortals!

Ji Xiang was dumbfounded. "This is really the first time I've seen this. The use of False Immortal power seems to be quite flexible. Immortal power can actually be used to impart power to great masters at the peak of Pure Yang. I've learned something new. However, from what I know, every time a False Immortal uses immortal power, their form and spirit will move further towards destruction. It seems that the False Immortal who gave you immortal power should be running out of time."

"Was power consumed the last time you attacked Yuanshan City?"

Yagyū Munenori didn't speak, but his expression revealed everything. Ji Xiang then looked at the young Celestial Master, and the young Celestial Master nodded: "There was indeed such a decrepit old man, but he only made one move, and our Dragon Tiger Mountain's Thunder Formation wasn't just for show."

"If Tachibana Muneshige hadn't suddenly appeared, we wouldn't have lost."

Ji Xiang: "That matches up. When I wasn’t in the country before, they said that a False Immortal had appeared. It seems that it was that old man."

Having said that, he looked at Yagyū Munenori again: "But you don't seem to have completely inherited his power, but after all, False Immortals can't be compared to True Immortals."

"Yagyū Munenori, I'll learn from you!"

A great aura of Shinto soared into the sky. Yagyū Munenori was unwilling to say anything else. He only wanted to spar with Ji Xiang in front of him now, either being killed by Ji Xiang or killing Ji Xiang!

His appearance also began to change. Both arms held divine swords, and black and red heavy armor appeared on his body. The shadows of the tortoise and snake rose into the air, and a circle of Buddha light shone behind his head!

"Myōken!"

Ji Xiang was taken aback when he saw Yagyū Munenori's image, and then he was stunned, as if he had seen something interesting.

"Myōken, a sword martial god belonging to the Buddhist Devas among the gods worshiped in Japan! The Yagyū family and Japanese Buddhism are very close. His precious sword, Juzumaru Tsunetsugu, was the sword of the ancient Nichiren!"

The young Celestial Master was a little worried, and looked at Ji Xiang: "You... are you really an immortal? Are you going to be okay...?"

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Ji Xiang's expression change, revealing an excited look.

"I see, Myōken. I know about this. A powerful martial god with unique Japanese characteristics, born from a mixture of Daoism, Esoteric Buddhism, Buddhism, and Yin-Yang Dao. I know about this. Unfortunately, if it were someone else, he might be able to achieve something, to make a name for himself."

"Unfortunately, it's really unfortunate."

Ji Xiang walked forward. Yagyū Munenori had already raised his twin swords, about to cleave down from the sky!

Thunder rumbled in the sky and earth, Buddha light lingered, the stars of the heavens revolved, and the momentum was extremely vast!

"Let me personally experience how much skill the Ming Dynasty immortal has!"

"Is that so? Do you know the earliest origins of Myōken's image?"

Ji Xiang's image also began to change in an instant! The black clothes turned into black and white armor, and there was also a huge shadow of intertwined tortoise and snake, but the face had no beard, looking like a young and handsome martial artist. This scene made Yagyū Munenori’s expression change drastically:

"You, you are?!"

Clang! The Thunder Cut Sword was drawn, and Ji Xiang's figure also began to grow taller: "Of course, it's your grandpa."

"The Great Emperor Zhenwu!"