Unintended Immortality

Boom boom boom…

The two towering guardian statues stomped toward the grand hall, each step landing with a heavy reverberation. Their bodies were cast entirely in bronze, adorned in thick, finely crafted armor. Their engraved symbols glowed, casting a dazzling golden light that made them seem like celestial gods descending to earth.

“Impressive work, Master,” Song You said calmly, his gaze fixed on the elder Daoist standing above. He raised his hand, revealing two streams of spiritual qi. “But I too have a similar technique. Allow me to demonstrate.”

With a swift gesture, he sent the streams of energy forward, one streaking down to the ground in the courtyard, the other onto the courtyard wall.

“Where are you, Mountain God?”

Boom!

Suddenly, the earth cracked, and stone tiles shattered. The courtyard wall crumbled, sending bricks scattering. It was as if the ground itself was alive, shifting with a rumbling force.

Chunks of blue stone slabs and bricks trembled and rolled, pulled by an unseen force. In mere moments, they assembled into two massive stone giants, standing resolutely, ready for battle.

The stone giants stood almost as tall as the guardian statues, each towering over a zhang high. Though they lacked the statues' refined and imposing design, their bulky, muscular forms made them look even more formidable. While the guardian statues were robust, the stone giants had waistlines that seemed almost as broad as they were tall, making the statues look almost... normal in comparison.

The two guardian statues, initially advancing toward the hall, halted, turning their attention to the two stone giants. With no hesitation or pause, they charged forward.

The stone giants, still forming, swung their enormous arms as they lunged toward the statues.

One force was refined and authoritative; the other, rugged and indomitable. One was cast in solid bronze; the other, a mass of assembled stone and rubble.

As they moved, their powerful strides shook the ground. They were all massive beings, and when they ran, each step covered nearly a zhang. The courtyard was only so big, and in the blink of an eye, they collided with each other.

Boom! Boom!

Two deafening impacts sent shards flying in all directions.

The guardian wielding a whip shattered the stone giant’s head with a single blow, only to be launched backward as the stone giant’s fist struck it, toppling it straight into a wall.

The spear-wielding statue collided head-on with the other stone giant, nearly flattening the intricate carvings on its armor. The impact left the giant riddled with cracks and shedding fragments, yet when the statue swung its spear into the giant’s arm, the spear bent under the blow, while the giant’s arm remained intact.

In the hall, Daoist Master Yongyang either trusted too much in his supposed invulnerability or took confidence in using merely a decoy body. He calmly sat cross-legged, forming hand seals and chanting incantations.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Loud noises resounded in the hall as beams splintered, wooden pillars snapped, and roof tiles came tumbling down.

Yet none of these broken beams or tiles touched the ground; instead, Daoist Master Yongyang controlled them, sending each piece hurtling toward Song You's direction.

If it was a beam or timber, the thick ones would sweep across with immense force, making them nearly impossible to fend off, while the thinner ones, with their sharp, broken edges, would shoot toward Song You like giant arrows or spears.

If it was a roof tile, it would turn into countless projectiles, dense as raindrops. Even those two bronze guardian statues would likely be battered into pitted, dented forms under such an onslaught.

“Meow!” cried Lady Calico anxiously.

“Don’t worry,” Song You reassured her, one hand protecting Lady Calico and the other forming a hand seal.

Whoosh…

A fierce wind surged through the hall.

It was strong enough to lift the roof if it were outside, likely sending dust and stones flying. But here in the hall, where there was neither dust nor sand, it instead swept up the wooden beams and tiles in its path.

No matter how fierce the initial assault of the beams and tiles had been, once caught up in the whirlwind, they lost all momentum, joining the debris from the collapsing roof to circle harmlessly around Song You.

Outside, the relentless crashing continued.

Though the stone giants were immensely powerful and could match the guardian statues in raw strength, their bodies—made of loosely bound rocks and bricks—were no match for the statues' solid bronze frames. Now, the two guardian statues no longer resembled their original forms; their bodies were either covered in dents or twisted beyond recognition.

But the stone giants fared even worse, with large chunks missing, reduced to a scattering of rubble across the ground.

Even so, both sides continued to clash and strike at each other relentlessly, unfazed by pain, unafraid of life or death, and without any sign of fatigue.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each punch landed with a resounding impact, powerful enough to shatter walls and crack the earth beneath them.

Some of the watching middle-aged Daoists weren’t as lucky—one was crushed underfoot, and another was injured by flying debris.

Meanwhile, Daoist Master Yongyang remained seated, chanting furiously to drive the beams and tiles toward Song You in waves. But however hard he tried, his eyes wide with effort, the beams and tiles behaved just as they had at the beginning—

“Gasp...” Daoist Master Yongyang gasped in alarm.

He quickly glanced outside, and a slight relief flickered across his face.

At least the guardian statues still seemed to have the upper hand. Once they shattered the stone giants, they could lend him their aid.

“No! This won’t do!”

With the aid of the guardian statues, he needed to find a way to break through this Daoist’s spell of flying debris and stone.

Daoist Master Yongyang glanced at the stone giants. They appeared to be manifestations of the legendary technique of turning stone to soldiers—Boulder Legion.

Regardless of the spell, these two stone giants were formed by spiritual energy and were impervious to blades and invulnerable to water and fire, but they were susceptible to lightning spells.

It wasn’t that lightning could shatter the stones but that the spiritual energy binding and animating the stone giants was most vulnerable to lightning. The use of a lightning spell could often disperse them.

Moreover, the spell of flying debris seemed to only affect physical objects and was likely ineffective against lightning.

With this in mind, Daoist Master Yongyang wasted no time, forming another hand seal with a solemn expression.

“With the Exalted Thunder Supreme of the Celestial Heavens as my witness, I, Yongyang Zi of Xuanlei Temple in Hezhou, face an attack by a demonic Daoist seeking to sever my lineage and dismantle my temple. I beseech the deity to summon thunder! Thunder, come!”

As he gestured, he instinctively glanced at Song You.

He saw that the Daoist sat motionless, merely turning his head to stare at him expressionlessly. That look made him feel as if Song You was not the least bit anxious or afraid, merely waiting for him to make his move.

“This…”

The thunder had already descended.

“Boom!” A sudden crack of thunder.

Three bolts of lightning split the clear sky, illuminating the dusk as they streaked down in the direction pointed out by Daoist Master Yongyang, striking the stone giants.

Yet the stone giants remained untouched, continuing with their broken bodies to swing their massive arms. They clashed fiercely with the guardian statues, turning the temple courtyard into a chaotic battleground as the four fought.

As for the bolt intended to strike Song You, it inexplicably vanished midway, leaving no trace.

“As expected...” Song You narrowed his eyes.

Daoist Master Yongyang, bewildered and beginning to panic, was about to attempt another spell when he noticed Song You shaking his head. It looked as if he was confirming something, or perhaps expressing disappointment. With a simple wave of his hand, two more streaks of light shot out.

These beams struck the already damaged stone giants.

Rumble… A rumble spread throughout the temple grounds.

In the earlier clashes, the stone giants and guardian statues had already demolished several walls and buildings, leaving the courtyard littered with broken bricks, tiles, and debris. Now, all of these fragments began to roll and converge toward the stone giants, adhering and building upon their bodies.

In a single blink, the broken stone giants were restored. In another blink, they grew even taller.

The two stone giants, initially only as tall as the guardian statues, had swiftly grown to a height of two to three zhang, towering above the highest rooftops of the temple buildings and standing nearly twice the height of the guardian statues. The once-imposing guardian statues now appeared like mere children in comparison to the massive stone giants.

At the same time, golden light shimmered across the giants' surfaces.

The green bricks and fragments of stone composing them transformed instantly, taking on a metallic hardness akin to iron or steel.

Daoist Master Yongyang, already shaken, felt a surge of terror at the sight. The Boulder Legion spell alone was a feat of divine craftsmanship, awe-inspiring in its own right. But now, seeing the earth-hardening spell, and realizing that two incredible techniques could be combined in such a way—he could hardly believe his eyes.

How was he to face this? Only then did he understand: his opponent had never truly exerted his full strength.

But why?

“Boom!” A thunderous crash resounded through the courtyard.

One of the iron-like stone giants struck down with its fist, reducing a guardian statue to a pile of shattered bronze. The impact left a deep crater in the ground, scattering debris and reshaping the earth.

The other stone giant swung its right arm horizontally, and with a resounding “thud” of metal against stone, sent the remaining guardian statue flying through the air, shattering a section of the courtyard wall before disappearing who-knew-where.

From the astonished cat to the distant swordsman, and even the surviving middle-aged Daoists—all stood frozen in shock at the spectacle before them.

Only now did the middle-aged Daoists' puppet servants finally appear, albeit far too late. Song You turned and swept his gaze across the courtyard.

The figures approaching were all armed jianghu men with swords and spears, relentless and undeterred by fear. They charged forward even when faced with the towering, iron-clad stone giants.

However, what he saw with his eyes were corpses refined through secret techniques, their souls, stripped of free will, trapped within. They were the unfortunate and tragic people of the jianghu, most likely deceived by these Daoists’ schemes.

Or as Magistrate Liu had mentioned, they were drawn by reputation to visit Xuanlei Temple and seek shelter, only to find out that these Daoists were not the revered masters the common folk spoke of but a group of demonic cultivators practicing Demonic Dao.

The dark arts they practiced were directly related to them. Therefore, Song You did not allow the metal stone giants to crush them to death. He simply let them hack away at the giants' calves, producing a series of clanging sounds, before waving his hand.

Whoosh…

A breeze swept through the space, imbued with an aura to subdue the ghosts.

“Clang, clink...”

Various weapons fell to the ground, and the numerous jianghu puppets immediately lost consciousness. Some collapsed limply to the ground, while others, driven by their prior momentum, lunged forward before finally succumbing, each now finding their eternal rest.

“Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve?” Song You turned his gaze upon Daoist Master Yongyang.

Daoist Master Yongyang returned his gaze, watching as the swirling mass of shattered beams and tiles around Song You seemed to grow faster. He finally realized that this man’s cultivation skills were far beyond anything he could handle.

“Fellow Daoist… Why must you...”

While speaking, Daoist Master Yongyang discreetly formed a hand seal. He managed only a few words before abruptly closing his mouth and shutting his eyes.

“Poof...”

A cloud of smoke billowed out, obscuring the view. And in the blink of an eye, the immortal-like old Daoist standing before Song You had transformed into a wooden decoy clad in Daoist robes and covered in talismans.

Song You watched calmly.

As expected, his methods were indeed similar to those of the owner of Leiqing Temple.

Though it was clear that the Leiqing Temple’s owner hadn’t learned everything from Daoist Master Yongyang, their signature tricks were remarkably alike—employing techniques involving yin ghosts, corpse souls, and human puppets, as well as decoys.

“...” Without a word, Song You rose to his feet.

The wooden decoy spell couldn’t be casted if the real body was too far away. Daoist Master Yongyang had not expected that Song You would arrive in Jingyu yesterday and come to the temple today to seek him out, nor had he anticipated that he would do so with such aggressive intent.

Furthermore, this era was far removed from ancient times, when encounters and conflicts among highly skilled Daoist cultivators were more common. Even though he acted cautiously by using a decoy to receive guests, his vigilance had still fallen short.

His true body was initially hidden in the temple’s rear courtyard.

But Song You had already circled the grounds in advance, meticulously laying down a formation to lock the heavens and the earth, preventing his escape.

At that moment, Daoist Master Yongyang’s real body had touched the boundary of the restriction.

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