Zhang Kui's Journey to the West in the Investiture of the Gods

Chapter 41 Robbery in Wuyi Mountain

After leaving Kowloon Island, Zhang Kui rode his escape light and traversed the sea of ​​clouds.

The East China Sea is vast and magnificent.

But he was eager to return home, and the Daoist aura emanating from the five Five Elements feathers in his arms was intoxicating. Zhang Kui couldn't wait to find a secluded place so he could properly comprehend the supreme Five Elements principles contained within them.

Following his intuition, Zhang Kui landed in a mountain range on the coast of the East China Sea, a place brimming with spiritual energy. The mountain range resembled a swimming dragon, with red cliffs and strange rocks, sheer walls and bizarre peaks, rare herbs and exotic flowers that never faded, and evergreen pines and cypresses that remained evergreen—truly a blessed land of immortals.

Zhang Kui sensed something and realized that this place was called Wuyi Mountain.

After finding a secluded valley and setting up a simple concealment barrier, Zhang Kui couldn't wait to take out the five Five Elements Feathers he had obtained from Kong Xuan.

Five divine feathers floated silently in his palm, each shimmering with azure, yellow, red, black, and white light, representing the most fundamental innate five elements: wood, earth, fire, water, and metal. Each feather appeared as light as a feather, yet was as heavy as a mountain. The naturally formed patterns on them seemed to contain the deepest mysteries of the five elements' laws, and a trace of Kong Xuan's all-powerful and incomparably sharp five-colored divine light Daoist charm was also hidden within them.

Zhang Kui held his breath and concentrated, immersing himself in the process, first comprehending the most fundamental mystery of the Five Elements' generating and restraining relationships. This, combined with his previous insights from discussing the Dao with Ji Li and Yu Qing, and his own cultivation of the "Five Elements Great Escape," made many previously obscure points suddenly clear. The Five Elements are not isolated, but rather a dynamically balanced, endlessly cyclical whole. Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, and Water generates Wood; conversely, Wood restrains Earth, Earth restrains Water, Water restrains Fire, Fire restrains Metal, and Metal restrains Wood. This principle of generating and restraining constitutes one of the fundamental rules governing the operation of the material world.

His Five Elements Great Escape Divine Power began to operate spontaneously, resonating strongly with the Five Elements essence within the feathers. His escape technique became increasingly refined. With a slight thought, he could draw upon the surrounding Five Elements spiritual energy, transforming it into his escape light. This resulted in greater speed, lower energy consumption, and enhanced concealment.

However, Zhang Kui was not satisfied with this. His gaze turned to something deeper within those five feathers—the "Five-Colored Divine Light" that Kong Xuan used to dominate the world.

The Five-Colored Divine Light is not simply the application of the power of the Five Elements. Its core lies in the word "sweep" and the word "forbidden"! It uses the supreme power of the Five Elements to strip away the "form" and "energy" of all things.

Zhang Kui was completely absorbed in it, his mind captivated by the domineering yet exquisitely subtle application of the laws. Combining his own Five Elements Great Escape technique with his control over the power of the Five Elements, and using the Golden Core Dao to govern all laws, he began to try to deduce, imitate, and even... create.

His body surged with magical power, and his fourth-stage golden core shone brightly, especially the Dao pattern inscribed with the Five Elements Great Escape Divine Power, which shone with unparalleled brilliance. The five feathers seemed to sense his will, humming and vibrating, their five-colored radiance shining brightly, like five dazzling pillars of light that enveloped him.

Gradually, behind Zhang Kui, five ethereal, yet chillingly powerful, divine lights slowly emerged and coalesced. The light was of utmost purity, seemingly the source and end of all five elements. As the light flowed, the surrounding spiritual energy of the five elements became incredibly docile, as if falling into absolute stillness. A terrifying aura of annihilation and the prohibition of all laws began to permeate the air…

After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Kui suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of five-colored light appearing and disappearing in them. He let out a low shout, and the five slightly illusory divine lights behind him suddenly solidified, then swept forward with a powerful slash.

There was no earth-shattering roar, nor any dazzling magical effects. Wherever the divine light swept, a massive blue rock several meters tall melted and decomposed silently, like ice and snow under the scorching sun. First, it transformed into the purest earth elemental energy, then the earth elemental energy dissipated, reverting to more basic particles, and finally... completely vanished into nothingness, as if it had never existed.

Moreover, within a ten-zhang radius centered on Zhang Kui, all the spiritual energy of the five elements was instantly drained and suppressed. The simple concealment barrier he had set up, deprived of its spiritual energy support, flickered a few times before collapsing and dissipating. Within this area, all spells and magical artifacts that relied on the power of the five elements had their effectiveness suppressed to a minimum, or even completely rendered ineffective.

"Great Five Elements Annihilation Divine Light!" Zhang Kui slowly uttered the name, his eyes filled with excitement and shock. Although he had only mastered it to a preliminary stage, and its power was far less than one ten-thousandth of Kong Xuan's original Five-Colored Divine Light, its core essence was already present: first, annihilation, decomposing all things and returning them to the origin of the Five Elements; second, a restrictive technique, suppressing all Five Elements techniques and magical treasures within the area.

This technique will undoubtedly become a very strong trump card for Zhang Kui in the future.

However, just as he was beginning to master his supernatural powers and his mind was filled with excitement, the aura that had leaked out due to the dissipation of the restriction attracted the attention of those who coveted him.

Two obscure auras appeared outside the valley.

"Huh? Just now, that five-colored light shot into the sky, its Daoist aura was extraordinary, surely a rare treasure has been born." A slightly deep voice rang out.

"Indeed! And your aura has suddenly become completely undisguised, it's only right that you and I, brothers, have this opportunity!" another voice echoed.

Before the words were finished, two streaks of light descended, revealing two cultivators dressed as Taoist priests. One was thin with shrewd eyes; the other was somewhat wealthy, with a greedy smile on his face. Both were at the peak of the Earth Immortal realm, suggesting they had been entrenched in this place for a long time.

They spotted Zhang Kui in the valley, holding five dazzling divine feathers and his Daoist aura not yet fully subsided, and their eyes instantly blazed with intense light.

The gaunt Taoist priest put on a warm smile, stepped forward, and cupped his hands, saying, "May the Heavenly Venerable grant you boundless blessings. Greetings, fellow Taoist. I am Xiao Sheng, and this is my junior brother Cao Bao. We two are cultivating in Wuyi Mountain. Just now, we saw a precious light piercing the sky here, and fearing that evil spirits might disturb your peaceful cultivation, we came to investigate. May I ask your name, fellow Taoist? Where is your immortal home? Which famous mountain and cave do you follow?" He spoke politely, but his eyes kept glancing at the Five Elements Feather in Zhang Kui's hand.

Cao Bao smiled and chimed in, "Indeed, the treasure in your hand is dazzling and imbued with the essence of Dao. It's clearly extraordinary. It must have been crafted by some great master, right?"

Looking at the two people in front of him, Zhang Kui couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity.

Xiao Sheng? Cao Bao? So these are the two "celebrities". In the Investiture of the Gods, it was these two guys who used the Treasure-Locking Coin to knock away Zhao Gongming's Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, indirectly triggering a series of tragedies.

His face remained calm, but inwardly he sneered. These two men, seemingly warm and friendly, were actually harboring malicious intentions. They clearly coveted his Five Elements Feathers, but since they couldn't figure out his background, they first tried to find out his origins.

Zhang Kui deliberately said indifferently, "I am Zhang Kui, not a disciple of any great sect of Xuanmen. I am merely a military general in the Shang Dynasty of the mortal realm. I only received a few playthings as a gift from you, senior. I am not worthy of such praise from you two fellow Daoists."

Upon hearing that Zhang Kui was not a disciple of a major Xuanmen sect but merely a military general of a mortal dynasty, the enthusiastic smiles on Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao's faces vanished instantly, replaced by undisguised greed and contempt.

"Oh, so you're a general?" Xiao Sheng's tone suddenly turned sarcastic. "Instead of fighting on the battlefield, you've come to this remote part of Wuyi Mountain, carrying such valuable treasures. Aren't you afraid of inviting disaster?"

Cao Bao, completely abandoning all pretense of civility, sneered, "Senior brother, why waste words with him? A mere mortal general, lucky enough to obtain a treasure, does he even deserve it? It should be offered to us two brothers to honor the treasure's spiritual essence. Kid, if you know what's good for you, hand over the treasure obediently, and we might spare your life."

Zhang Kui watched the two men's instantly changed expressions, his heart remaining unmoved, only a chilling killing intent rising within him. He had been wondering if the Fallen Treasure Coin was already in their hands; if so, he would have to be careful. But now, it seemed that given their character, even with the Fallen Treasure Coin in hand, they were courting death.

He was no soft-hearted fool. In the Northern Navy, he had killed countless demons and rebels. Since someone was willing to die and even delivered themselves to his doorstep, he wouldn't mind sending them on their way, and testing the power of his newly comprehended "Great Five Elements Extinction Divine Light".

A cold smile curled at the corner of Zhang Kui's lips as he slowly retracted the Five Elements Feathers. His gaze swept over the two men, his tone calm yet chilling: "Oh? You want my treasure? Then we'll see if you... have the life to take it."