Longevity Chronicles-Chapter 395 - 281: Tao Qian Faces Calamity, Immortal Fish Has Bait

The upheaval within Demon City actually began with Yin Qiye's rebellion. The watching cultivators were somewhat perplexed.

A rebellion is just a rebellion, and it seemed like layers stacked upon layers in a matryoshka doll.

Now, everyone watched that bizarre Secret Demon Child, forcing two major figures, the Ninth Prince of the current court and the Governor of Ancient Qin Province, to kneel before him, offering up the Ancestor God Treasure... Each person was exceedingly shocked and wanted to exclaim in surprise, but at the same time, they all felt they could wait a little longer.

"What if? What if this scene is going to turn around? What if this Secret Demon Child ends up kneeling too?"

It wasn't surprising that the cultivators and demons harbored such thoughts.

It was like a group of conspirators and ambitious characters, playing their games seemingly endlessly.

However, to everyone's disappointment, the scene they all anticipated with the Secret Demon Child kneeling did not occur.

Tao Qian, despite his mutated appearance, took the Mountain and River Map and Sheji Seal from the two men.

During the process, it was clear from the fire burning in the eyes of Zhang Jiudeng and Ling Qi, especially the latter, who had been toyed with time and time again, driving him nearly mad. This thoroughly confirmed Huang Chong's assessment of him: an utter fool.

At the same moment, Huang Chong had already rushed back.

But what greeted him were two auras exploding, with figures about to self-destruct.

Although the "Saint's Avatar" and "Ninth Prince's Body" were now mere Cavernous Mystery Realm Puppets in Tao Qian's hands.

Others would have been ecstatic and taken great care of them.

Yet for Tao Qian, they were nothing more than chicken ribs, of no use to keep, so he might as well recycle waste and controlled the two to confront Huang Chong, the Alchemist Saint Child.

Ordinarily spoken, neither of them was a match for Huang Chong, not even together.

But at this moment, Tao Qian was pushing them to their limits, and that made a difference.

Take Ling Qi, for example. Even though he was controlled by Tao Qian to step forward, his hatred for Huang Chong was clearly greater than for the Secret Demon Child, with fierce anger bursting from his eyes as he was forced to shout, "Huang Chong, pay with your life."

Following that, his body clad in a dragon robe shimmered with numerous cracks, bursting out with blinding Demon Light.

In a haze, Huang Chong and everyone else saw a black Taiyang explode.

Among the surviving cultivators and demons, there were many Demon Cultivators, who immediately recognized the origin of this Magic Skill.

"Taishang Heavenly Demon Shape Splitting Method!"

"This Secret Demon Child is really crazy; he's making mortal enemies with Lingwa."

At this moment, everyone could see the original cause.

Of course, Ninth Prince Ling Qi did not wish to die, but he had no choice.

Struck by the Huangquan poison and then the Desire Sin Worm.

At this breath, he was forced to use this self-destructive spell before the crowd.

A flash of black Demon Light and Ling Qi met a swift death without leaving a single last word.

Amidst the radiance, Huang Chong stumbled out, staggering.

At this moment, the Alchemist Saint Child was in rags, his body with no single piece of unscathed flesh, charred and rotten, with a rotting eyeball falling out of its socket—a truly miserable sight, nowhere near his previous charmer and venomous look.

Even so, Huang Chong didn't intend to let Tao Qian go.

Just then, he was faced with Zhang Jiudeng's Saint's Avatar.

"Damn it, I've been hit too."

"Huang the Strategist, I'm imposing on you, take this 'Heaven and Earth's Longevity' strike, but don't die on me... Boom!"

Zhang Jiudeng's words were not yet cold when the Exotic Treasure, forged with great difficulty over several months by the Heavenly Immortal Dao, exploded.

It was as if millions and millions of people were roaring in anger, the sky and earth trembled as a result, and a terrifying aura swept out, completely submerging Huang Chong.

In that final moment, Huang Chong also let out a hiss filled with resentment and unwillingness.

Not because he was attacked by self-destruction by his new and old masters.

But in that moment, he and the cultivators of Demon City saw an utterly unbelievable scene.

Due to the previous upheavals and scenes, everyone was aware of some of the details of the Mountain and River Map and Sheji Seal. For instance, the two treasures were actually a pair, both born from the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique Fragment. Once refined, they could completely control a certain territory, wiping out the cultivators, demons, and Alien Species and other Transcendent beings within it.

But to refine them, one would need to meet harsh conditions like Blood Sacrifice, True Dragon Blood and Flesh, chaotic times of demons, and strange celestial phenomena.

Hence, there were scenes like Ling Qi stepping onto the Heaven Rank, and Zhang Jiudeng proclaiming himself emperor to the sky.

One might say that although the Secret Demon Child acted as the "Yellow Sparrow," it was impossible for him to refine the Mountain and River Map in a short time.

But the grand spectacle that was unfolding proved it was entirely possible.

The moment the two items entered Tao Qian's hands, they merged without any ceremony or refining process, with the Sheji Seal turning into Golden Light and entering the Mountain and River Map. After covering the markings, one could see the Mountain and River Map unfolding again with a "whoosh," but this time, the radiance within depicted not just scenes from Demon City.

But the real mountains and rivers, the scenery of the vast Longevity Heavenly Dynasty, which included Demon City, Imperial City, Devil City, the views of the seventy-two provinces, famous mountains and Great Rivers, Cave Heaven Blessed Lands, Immortal Birds and Strange Beasts, mysterious celestial phenomena... truly, the entire vast landscape captured within the painting.

If it were only so, it could only be seen as a testament to the power of the Ancestor God Treasure.

But quickly, within that Mountain and River Map, a dazzling column of Golden Light fell down with a rumble, enveloping Tao Qian, and then began to draw him into the painting.

At the same time, behind Tao Qian, the boiling Human Dao Destiny appeared visible to the naked eye as if thousands of hands were supporting Tao Qian, bit by bit, ushering him into the Mountain and River Map.

Seeing this scene, everyone realized the truth.

It turns out that refining this treasure did not necessarily require meeting so many stringent conditions.

If supported by Human Dao Destiny, it was also possible.

"So it is, since the Mountain and River Map is born from the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique Fragment, it naturally also belongs to the Human Dao Magical Treasure."

"Once favored by destiny, any Human Dao treasure can be refined."

In the crowd, some well-informed cultivators began to explain.

At the same moment, from another end of the sky, a thunderous roar came, along with Huang Chong's screams of agony.

If the Alchemist Saint Child had avoided from the start.

Neither of their self-destructions would have harmed him.

But he did not evade, desperately rushing back, only wanting to recapture the "Mountain and River Map."

After suffering two consecutive self-destructive attacks, Huang Chong's body was completely annihilated.

Bound by the same lifespan as heaven and earth, Huang Chong turned to ashes.

But as his flesh vanished, a strange Gu Worm burrowed out from the top of his skull.

The insect, initially no larger than a palm, swelled rapidly upon leaving the human body, and in an instant, it had grown as large as a small mountain, moving about below the sky.

It appeared insect-like yet not, fish-like yet not, its body covered in a hard shell with fish gills and antennae of sorts.

At the forefront of its fish head dangled something like a "lantern," emitting a blinding rainbow light.

What drew even more attention was the giant fishhook hanging from the mouth of the Gu Fish.

At this moment, in the vast Demon City, no one could overlook this enormous, bizarre fish—was it a Gu Worm, or something else entirely?

Even Tao Qian, who was being absorbed by the Mountain and River Map, seemed to sense something and violently turned his head to look.

When his gaze met the rainbow light and the fishhook, a stir arose within him, the Immortal Fish Technique, which he hadn't cultivated for a very long time, unexpectedly sparked a recognition.

Without a moment to spare, the gigantic fish Huang Chong had turned into fixed its bulging phosphorescent dead fish eyes on Tao Qian, filled with an intense, undissolvable resentment.

Suddenly, it spoke human words:

"Disciple's true Gu form is here, willing to pay any price."

"Master, please help once more, capture this child and send the Mountain and River Map to my lord's side."

As Huang Chong finished speaking,

Tao Qian's mind immediately exploded with noise, and his expression uncontrollably distorted.

At this moment, he finally understood where his third tribulation should take place.

While cursing his bad luck, Tao Qian no longer cared about anything else and, with a body as agile as a swimming fish, he actively dove into the Mountain and River Map.

"My TMD...no wonder I have scales among the mutations on my body; it turns out this was a sign as well."

"And the owner of the Immortal Fish Technique, I practiced it just once, shamelessly took your bait once—is it necessary to haunt me so persistently, my great uncle Li Changle being related to you, and the Alchemist Saint Child I managed to trick is your disciple...?"

Tao Qian grumbled as he frenziedly fled for his life.

As he was about to drill into the Mountain and River Map, he also saw that from beside the massive fishhook of Huang Chong's true Gu form emerged a transparent fishing line, appearing without warning; it then jerked upwards, yanking Huang Chong's mountainous Gu form into the void, leaping into an unknown void.

In the last moment, Huang Chong still glared at Tao Qian, howling with bitterness, "You won't escape."

Huang Chong's curse instantly became reality.

Visible was the fishline connected to the fishhook that had just pulled Huang Chong away, dropping from within the unknown void.

At the end hung something. freёnovelkiss.com

It shone brightly and was unclear in detail.

But the Exotic Fragrance it emitted made everyone in Demon City lift their heads uncontrollably, greedily swallowing saliva.

Tao Qian included.

"Damn it, what kind of bait is this, smelling so good?"

Tao Qian cursed under his breath, struggling to resist the impulse to rush over and consume the bait.

He scrambled with hands and feet, pushing his way into the Mountain and River Map.

As he was about to immerse half his body into the Exotic Treasure, surrounded by the support of Human Dao Destiny, he was on the verge of refining this treasure.

He had a premonition that as long as the refinement was successful, there was a high chance of surviving this third tribulation.

But just at that instant, a sudden change erupted within Tao Qian.

The long-neglected Immortal Fish Technique began operating automatically, simultaneously generating a fatal attraction to the fishhook.

The fishing line began to drift toward Tao Qian.

Even as Tao Qian clenched his mouth shut, refusing to bite the hook,

a lump of flesh on his body suddenly burst open, and amid the spraying juices, a ferocious large mouth appeared out of thin air, stretching out and biting the hook on its own.

With this development, a lazy voice, indeterminable in gender, age, or whether it belonged to the Human Clan, penetrated Tao Qian's mind:

"Hmm? Quite an interesting little fish."

"Your origin alone could have exempted you from disaster, but unfortunately, you cultivated my spell."

"Be a good boy, bite the hook, come on up!"

With that voice, a Record also surged forth.

[Bound by the power of the Immortal Fish Heavenly Dao... Exemption available after half an hour!]

Hearing of the exemption, Tao Qian cursed bitterly in his heart.

"TMD! Half an hour, I can't even last half a breath, my wretched luck. I'm about to be fished away."

"No good, call for help, quickly call for help..."

Tao Qian's thoughts churned, despite having other means at his disposal, even fools knew that things like Buddha Bird relics or the Secret Demon Sword Technique were of no use against the current predicament.

The only way was to call for help from his own master, Aunt Bai Yin, and others; that was exactly what he planned to do.

But just as he was about to act, an unexpected change occurred—one that neither Tao Qian himself nor the distant owner of the Immortal Fish Technique had anticipated.

The boiling Human Dao Fortune, sensing Tao Qian's plight,

erupted fiercely at that moment, forcibly thrusting him into the Mountain and River Map.

Even as the "Mutated Immortal Fish Mouth" spontaneously generated on Tao Qian's body officially bit the hook, the Mountain and River Map suddenly closed, turning into a streak of Golden Light, wrapping Tao Qian, dragging the void fishing line, thunderously plunging into the earth, and in a moment, traveling countless miles away.

The fishing line meanwhile, was stretched taut, on the verge of snapping.

Suddenly, that voice came again: "Heh, interesting, interesting. Let's see how far this little fish can go. Can it escape my hook?"

As the words fell, the fishing line began to stretch infinitely, allowing the Mountain and River Map to dash chaotically across the world.