Techniques and Dao

Chapter 117 The Giant Fish of Ran Yi

With the appearance of that enormous mouth that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, a stench immediately wafted out.

Hua Sheng quickly ascended again, and the gaping maw snapped shut, its jaws barely touching the ground.

The monster then plummeted from mid-air, and its complete form was finally revealed to Hua Sheng.

It was a strange fish, over ten meters long, with the body of a fish and the head of a snake, and six sharp claws. Its back and the area beneath its claws were covered in long black hair, and its body was covered in silver scales. It was neither snake nor fish, neither beast nor serpent. The only certainty was that it was a ferocious creature.

The strange fish fell into the water, creating a giant wave tens of meters high. The river water splashed all over Huasheng instantly.

"Oh no! If I get bitten, I could really be swallowed alive!"

Hua Sheng felt a chill run down his spine and immediately sped away from the lake. When he reached the figure beside him, he lightly touched the muddy swamp with his feet, not daring to exert too much force. Then, he grabbed the figure on the ground by the back and lifted her up to get her away from the danger.

Only then did they realize that it was indeed Mie Ying. However, she no longer looked like Xiao Qi, but instead had short, dark green hair.

The short, dark green hair must belong to my second sister, Hua Sheng thought to himself. He found a small slope and put Mieying down.

At the same time, he quickly drew a circle around himself with his golden cudgel, creating a simple defensive magic array. The array emitted a yellowish-white light, which could scare away some wild beasts that wanted to approach him. Only then did Hua Sheng feel slightly relieved.

Hua Sheng patted Mie Ying.

"Hmm..." Mieying seemed to regain some consciousness.

"I am Hua Sheng. Second sister, do you still remember me?" Hua Sheng thought to herself that she hadn't seen her second sister, Mie Ying, for more than half a year, and quickly introduced herself.

Second Sister Mieying slowly opened her eyes, covered her forehead, and said, "Of course I recognize you, Xiao Qi often mentions you..."

"Are you alright? Xiao Qi just fell from mid-air."

Mie Ying rubbed his temples, his tone seemingly tinged with complaint.

"That Xiao Qi was so careless. He was in mid-air, I don't know what he was thinking. As a result, he got struck by lightning, and now I have a bit of a hangover, I'm totally out of it."

"Second sister, what are you saying? How can a minor have a hangover?"

The second sister of the Shadow Extinction said, "It's a bit like the headache you get after sleeping for two days..."

"Alright... Take a break and rest for a bit before we continue our journey."

The second sister of the Shadowless Sect didn't linger. She simply rubbed her shoulders, stood up, and said, "I'm fine. Let's go."

Hua Sheng exclaimed in admiration, "As expected of Second Sister, she's incredibly healthy!"

"Such a talkative person, are you coming or not?" Mie Ying turned around and asked.

Just as Hua Sheng was about to take flight on a cloud, he suddenly heard a rapid thumping sound coming from afar, like a herd of wild bulls charging towards them. He immediately asked alertly, "Wait! Did you hear anything?"

“Even if you don’t hear it, you can feel it under your feet.” Mieying pointed to the ground.

Hua Sheng then realized that the ground beneath his feet was trembling from the thumping sound. As his feet went numb, he quickly gripped his golden cudgel tightly.

The two looked around warily, the sound growing ever closer.

A flash of lightning pierced through the dense foliage, revealing dozens of the same giant six-legged fish rushing towards them.

"Oh no! This strange fish moves faster on land than in the water! I didn't expect it to attract so many!"

Hua Sheng quickly grabbed Mie Ying's arm, trying to fly upwards.

They then discovered that a strange fish was less than three meters away from them, and the fish opened its huge mouth, about to swallow them along with the barrier array.

It was too late to fly anymore, so Hua Sheng could only shout, "Golden Cudgel! Grow longer and longer!"

Then, he held the Ruyi Jingu Bang upright against the monster fish's upper and lower jaws. The Ruyi Jingu Bang instantly lengthened, and with a snap, it perfectly blocked the monster fish's mouth.

The strange fish's tail thrashed wildly, but it was unable to move because of the immense weight of the golden cudgel.

"It stinks! This fish's mouth smells awful!"

Hua Sheng felt nauseous, but then saw another strange fish rushing towards Mie Ying, and quickly shouted, "Run!"

The second sister of the Shadow Extinction Sect rolled up her Taoist robe sleeves and shouted, "Why are you running away!"

She charged towards the giant fish, leaping upwards and punching it on the head. With a deafening roar, the strange fish was sent flying like a bull hit by a high-speed train. It continued its ascent, smashing through two large trees without slowing down.

The six-legged monster fish, sent flying, soared onto the lake's surface, but its speed was too great to stop it from stopping. It splashed and leaped across the turbulent waters, traversing the entire wide river before tumbling and tumbling into the dark jungle on the opposite bank, never to be seen again.

Hua Sheng was so shocked by this that his eyes almost popped out of his head. He hesitated for a long time before finally managing to utter a single sentence.

"Second sister, your skill of skipping stones with that strange fish is truly amazing!"

"Hmph! If I weren't so dizzy today, someone like Ran Yiyu could take down ten of them with one punch!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Sister Mieying went to meet another strange fish.

It turns out that this strange six-legged fish with a snake's head and a fish's body is called the Ranyi fish.

Hua Sheng swung the golden cudgel in his hand, shattering the sharp teeth of the Ran Yi fish, whose jaws were being held up, with the cudgel. Then he pulled the cudgel back, gripped one end with both hands, and hit it hard at the monster fish with a baseball-like motion.

With a muffled thud, the strange fish whose teeth had been knocked out by Hua Sheng was also sent flying into the darkness by the golden cudgel and disappeared.

At this moment, Mie Ying knocked down three more strange fish. However, due to the great commotion caused by the two, more and more Ran Yi fish rushed towards their location.

"This won't go on! We shouldn't get entangled with these strange fish," Hua Sheng advised.

Mie Ying grabbed the tail of a Ran Yi fish and flung it away like a pebble. He then said, "Alright! Let's go!"

With that, she stomped her feet on the ground and flew into the sky like an arrow against the torrential rain.

"Hurry up as a law!"

Hua Sheng followed closely behind, thinking that if they wanted to get on their way, they had to get through the storm clouds; otherwise, with the wind and rain raging, they wouldn't be able to increase their flying speed at all.

But just as the two reached the thick clouds above, a bright light flashed from the dark clouds, illuminating a figure with giant wings on its back.

The attackers have reappeared!

"Watch out! Shadowbreaker!" Hua Sheng shouted from behind, "That's the guy who ambushed us just now!"

The second sister of the Shadow Extinction Sect also noticed, and she shortened her speed and shouted at the figure, "Who's blocking the way?"

The figure flapped its enormous wings and slowly flew out of the clouds.

Hua Sheng then realized that the other person was nearly two zhang tall, three times taller than them. His body was crackling with lightning, his skin was light blue, and his hair was a vermilion color like flames.

The most striking feature was the pair of wings sprouting from its back. However, these wings lacked any visible substance or feathers; the only visible feature was the flickering, crackling electricity, as if the wings were formed from condensed lightning.

The man had a blue face with a mustache, and looked quite old. When he opened his mouth slightly, a row of sharp teeth was revealed. His expression was not only imposing, but a closer look was even more chilling.

Not only that, this strange man was holding a golden staff, which looked just as good as Hua Sheng's golden cudgel.

When Hua Sheng saw how fierce the other party was, he thought it best not to provoke them if possible.

Suppressing his anger, he asked, "Hey, you birdman, we've never met before and have no grudge against each other. Why did you attack us?"

"He is Lei Zhenzi..."

The voice of the second sister of the Shadow Extinction came from the side.

Hua Sheng's mouth dropped open when he heard this.

"He...he is Lei Zhenzi? Is it just someone with the same name, or is it the Lei Zhenzi I understand?"

Mieying didn't answer, but nodded solemnly. Sensing that the other party was no ordinary person, he asked with a hint of respect.

"It's our fault for being so blind as to not recognize the Great Sage. We wonder why the Heavenly Thunder General has appeared today?"

Lei Zhenzi, holding the Golden Wind and Thunder Cudgel, flew closer to the two.

An intense sense of oppression pressed down on the two of them. Perhaps it was because the other person was filled with billions of volts of high-voltage electricity, because Hua Sheng actually felt a tingling and numb sensation all over his body.

He gritted his teeth and endured it, his right hand, gripping the golden cudgel, trembled slightly from the tension.

Lei Zhenzi asked in a booming voice, "So you are two disciples from the Daoist Academy. Why are you, a lone man and a lone woman, traveling from Lingwei Yang District to the Biao Nu Rain Forest, a thousand miles away, when your students are not currently cultivating in the academy?"

Hua Sheng wasn't without an answer to the sudden question. But then he thought that if he told the truth—that he had gone to the Blazing Wrath Prison—wouldn't that be revealing his whereabouts? The other party would definitely continue to press him, and the trouble would only get bigger.

Hua Sheng replied, "We are doing homework outside of class, going to the south to study magic, and also to see the ecological environment of Shengpingning."

“I, Lei Zhenzi, govern this celestial realm. This place is shrouded in wind and rain, and dense with forests, making it unsuitable for disciples of the Xi Academy to wander around aimlessly.”

"Oh... thank you for your advice, Great Sage. Then we'll go and come back quickly." Hua Sheng took the opportunity to leave.

"Wait a minute!"

Lei Zhenzi asked suspiciously, "Do you have any official documents from the Xiyuan Academy to prove your departure?"

“This…” Hua Sheng said, “I left in a hurry and didn’t get any written proof. Since I’ll be back soon, it won’t be long.”

Lei Zhenzi said, "Then go back and have the Xi Academy issue you travel documents. Otherwise, since I have caught you passing through this area, I will have no choice but to persuade you to turn back, lest any trouble occur in my territory."

“Great Sage, we have urgent business. Turning back now will only delay us, so please be lenient,” said Mieying, clasping his hands in greeting.

But Hua Sheng vaguely sensed that given her second sister's fiery temper, she might lash out if they stayed too long.

He could only try to ease the tension by saying, "Alright! Let's go back to the academy to get the receipts first, and come back later."

Hua Sheng thought to himself, "A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. I should avoid Lei Zhenzi for now. This Crimson Blaze Zone is so vast; there must be places to go around it, both in the sky and on the ground."

He winked at Mieying as he spoke, then turned to leave.

"and many more!"

Just as the two were about to turn around on the cloud, Lei Zhenzi called out to them.

"Leave your names here. I will go to the Daoist Academy to verify with the immortal masters. You two look like disciples who have run away without permission."

Hua Sheng's heart sank upon hearing this.

Regardless, he had indeed sneaked out. If Lei Zhenzi found out, he would be punished as well. But dragging Mieying into it was just making things worse.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the second sister of the Shadow Extinction sect could no longer contain herself and shouted at Lei Zhenzi, "Is this ever going to end? Can't we just leave?"

Provoked by Mieying's words, Lei Zhenzi became even more suspicious and asked in a stern voice, "If it's legitimate, why are you panicking!"

Hua Sheng quickly stepped between the two to act as a peacemaker.

"Great Sage, please calm down. My classmate is a bit impulsive. He has offended us greatly today. We will obediently return now!"

As he spoke, he grabbed Mieying's sleeve and prepared to fly away faster.

"What are you afraid of? We spoke to him politely, showing him respect as a senior from the immortal realm. And he, after eating his fill, comes to bother us!"

The Second Sister of Shadows flicked her sleeve and pointed at Lei Zhenzi, saying, "Lei Zhenzi, you're a public servant in the Heavenly Realm, yet you sit around doing nothing while receiving your salary. Instead of properly managing this area, you're causing a plague of Ran Yi fish in the rainforest below, which are already killing people. You're a Great Sage, yet you're preoccupied with such trivial matters, focusing on us disciples of the Academy! You find it quite amusing..."

A deafening thunderclap resounded!

The thunderclap interrupted Mie Ying's words.

Although she spoke eloquently, Hua Shengxin's heart sank to the bottom. She could only say to Mieying, "This is a personal attack. His actions regarding us have no direct connection to whether he's done his job properly..."

"Did I say something wrong? He's going too far!"

Mie Ying was even more resentful, as if he were the one who had been offended.

A rumbling thunderclap slowly traveled from the horizon like a stampede of ten thousand horses, reaching Hua Sheng and Mie Ying's heads. Then it transformed into a bolt of lightning, illuminating the rainforest below as bright as midday.

Hua Sheng covered her ears, but the thunderclap made her ears ring. For a moment, she dared not look directly at Lei Zhenzi's face.

He thought to himself, "This time I've really messed things up big!"

(End of this chapter)