Stranger Danger-Chapter 1249: Half-Sage

“Palm of Aging...”

This was another one of Sunlao Taijun’s ultimate techniques, the Palm of Aging. By imbuing her palm force with her qi of decay and aging, she could infect her targets with the power of decay and cause them to age rapidly. Their vigor would decline, their vitality would vanish, and they would enter old age in almost no time at all.

Before Ye Qing could react, Sunlao Taijun switched her move again and threw a punch.

Compared to Ye Qing’s Break Hammer, Sunlao Taijun’s punch was slow and unsteady to put it mildly. It looked like the weak punch of an old man with one foot in his grave.

And yet, Ye Qing felt his mind diminishing, and his soul aging by the second. Even his consciousness had become slow and stuttery.

It was as if his mind had become old even though his body was still young.

The punch was named the “Heart Decaying Punch”. A fist intent nurtured by the practitioner’s force of decay and aging, it was a mind-specialized offensive technique. Anyone who was affected by it would continuously age in heart and soul until they died.

Ye Qing must admit that Sunlao Taijun’s martial arts were as anomalous as they were indefensible. It was futile though. He had learned about their characteristics from the Taoist of Sleep a while ago and so was prepared for them.

Ye Qing’s response to Sunlao Taijun’s attack was to visualize the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull” inside his head. Yin and yang cycled, and purple qi spread throughout his mind. Just like that, the intent of decay was vanquished, and his mind regained its usual clarity.

As soon as he recovered, Ye Qing bent his finger and tapped, intending to capture Sunlao Taijun’s soul and summon her heart demon[1].

Sunlao Taijun let out a muffled groan as the attack scattered the focus in her eyes. It only lasted an instant, but that was enough time for Ye Qing to appear behind her back and punch her in the skull.

Sunlao Taijun was not a body-tempering warrior, so her body was so-so at best. Naturally, Ye Qing’s punch easily disintegrated her flesh and blood into powder.

Despite the successful attack, Ye Qing did not look happy. In fact, his brow was locked together in a deep frown.

The next moment, a person appeared out of seemingly nowhere. She was a beautiful woman in her thirties. She boasted a gorgeous countenance and an hourglass figure, sexy and charming.

“Sunlao Taijun...”

Ye Qing’s expression turned curious as he lifted an eyebrow. If it wasn’t for the fact that this beautiful woman boasted the exact same vitality as the young girl before, he would not have believed she was Sunlao Taijun.

That said, if someone were to look closely, they would notice that the woman’s face was a little similar to the little girl’s.

“That’s quite the interesting cultivation art you have there. This is how you look when you’re in your thirties, right?” Ye Qing asked. It was because the Taoist of Sleep did not know anything about this martial art. “What is it called?”

“I’ll tell you after I kill you.” Sunlao Taijun grunted before launching another attack at Ye Qing.

Sunlao Taijun was still using the Lifespan Diminishing Finger, Palm of Aging and Heart Decaying Punch. However, their potency were several times greater than before.

Not only that, Sunlao Taijun was now holding a piece of ragged, bloody cloth. It was giving off a chaotic and terrifying presence.

The cloth was perfectly ordinary, but the dark red bloodstains on it... It was probably the blood of some sort of Stranger.

The cloth danced in the air like a snake, and the blood emitted endless rays of bloody light. They quickly condensed into blood clouds.

The blood clouds weren’t just obstructing Ye Qing’s vision and mental perception, it was polluting his true qi, astral qi, and spirit as well. It was annoying.

In order to finish this quickly, Ye Qing had no choice but to employ the Blue Demon and activate the Earthly Sovereign True Body. He ripped apart both the cloth and the bloody clouds via brute force before killing Sunlao Taijun a second time.

However, a third Sunlao Taijun appeared in front of him once more, though she was no longer gorgeous or seductive. Her head had turned completely white, her face was covered in wrinkles, liver spots riddled her exposed skin, and she was giving off a choking stench of rot, decay, and death.

It felt as if she would pass to the afterlife at any moment.

Even scarier was the fact that Sunlao Taijun’s presence was several times greater than before. In fact, her aura now marked her as a Half-Sage. Unlike Ye Qing, who had forcefully increased his strength to a Half-Sage’s level through Blue Demon, she was a true Half-Sage.

“Half-Sage? So this is your true strength.”

Ye Qing stared at the ancient-looking Sunlao Taijun with a slightly more severe look on his face.

In the Taoist of Sleep’s memories, Sunlao Taijun was just a Great Trueman and ranked thirty-seventh on the Earthly Champions Ranking. But now, she felt more dangerous than even the recently ascended Taba Xuanwu.

Who would have thought that such a powerful warrior was only ranked thirty-seventh on the Earthly Champions Ranking? To this, Ye Qing only had one thing to say: White Jade Capital, you unreliable pieces of shit!

“Be proud. Not anyone can force out my third Tribulation Body.”

Sunlao Taijun sounded even older and more gloomy than before. Even before she finished speaking, her aura abruptly exploded and condensed into a three-headed woman wearing a burial shirt and carrying a willow branch. It was her yang god.

The three faces on the yang god were none other than the young girl, the middle-aged woman, and the old woman’s.

As soon as the yang god manifested, the aura of rot, decay, and death became many times thicker than before. It quickly spread throughout the Nether Mountain and filled the entire sky.

Black fog and innumerable zombies covered the Nether Mountain. The black fog was really a product of the yin qi, and the zombies were creatures of evil and death. However, the aura of decay and rot was such that even the black fog was being assimilated into it. Even the zombies were beginning to age and rot like they were living, breathing beings.

If even the zombies and the black fog were changing, the Taoist of Sleep and Old Man of Zhi could only fare worse.

In just the blink of an eye, the Taoist of Sleep had gained a couple wrinkles on his face, and white hair on his head. It was as if he had aged five or six years in an instant, and this was just the beginning.

Old Man of Zhi had transformed into a sea of insects, but the insects were dying in clumps as well.

Even Ye Qing had been affected by this. As he stood closest to Sunlao Taijun, he felt her decaying presence clearer than anyone else. He could feel his vigor decaying by the second. He could feel his lifespan evaporating from his body like vapor. Even his spirit and mind were becoming slow and rusty.

It was as if he was aging not just in flesh, but also heart and soul.

Ye Qing did not dare to take Sunlao Taijun lightly. Sun and moon rising in his eyes, and yin and yang dividing into separate entities, he grew taller as Profound Yellow Mother Qi enveloped his whole body. For a moment, he became as talla s the heavens and as thick as the earth.

He raised his fists, fist force churning like unstoppable, overwhelming currents. Blue Demon enveloped him, and the Earthly Sovereign’s aura filled the world. Break Hammer shattered the nine heavens, and demonic thought corrupted the heart.

Ye Qing had unleashed the Blue Demon, Earthly Sovereign True Body, Break Hammer, and “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul” all at the same time. He held nothing back. It was because he had a strong premonition that the longer he dragged out his fight against Sunlao Taijun, the more disadvantageous his position would become. Therefore, he needed to end this as quickly as possible.

1. Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul+Boundless Heart Demon Tribulation. ☜