Chapter 260: Chapter 249: Yun Zhongzi
Tree Hedge Mountain, Long Ridge Cave.
The terrain here was eerie and treacherous. Withered vines, hard as iron, clung to ancient trees with gnarled, sprawling roots, which had naturally formed a labyrinthine network of deep caves.
In a devastated clearing before the caves, Spiritual Light erupted and the air was thick with the stench of blood.
A dozen or so Righteous Cultivators, clad in Daoist Robes of various colors, stood back-to-back in a broken circular formation. The light from their Magical Treasures flickered erratically. Every one of them was wounded, their faces deathly pale.
A layer of faint golden Protective Gang Qi enveloped them, but it rippled violently under a relentless barrage of bizarre attacks.
Surrounding them were dozens of Cultivators in tattered clothes. Though their bodies were maimed, their auras were savage and violent.
Two figures led the assault. One, missing an arm, wielded a ghastly white Mourning Stick forged from a human leg bone. With every swing, ghostly wails echoed, tearing at one’s very soul.
The other had a limp, but beneath his foot was a Skin Drum that oozed foul blood and writhed as if alive. Each time he stomped, the muffled beat sent the Righteous Cultivators’ blood churning and their Divine Souls trembling.
These were none other than disciples of the Sacrificial Sect, an outlier even within the Northwest Demon Path.
This sect’s creed was: ’Virtue must first be forsaken; a broken body brings one closer to the Dao.’
As an initiation rite, all disciples had to mutilate their own bodies or endure some other form of permanent trauma.
In exchange, they gained bizarre and insidious magical powers.
"Heh heh... Vast Righteousness? Before this ocean of suffering made of flesh and blood, it’s nothing more than the faint glow of a firefly on rotting weeds." The one-armed elder cackled, bringing his Mourning Stick crashing down.
From the path of the stick, seven or eight tendrils of twisted, gray-black Qi Force shot out, bypassing the blocks of Magical Artifacts to bite directly at the Cultivators’ Divine Souls.
A young Sword Cultivator was grazed by one of the Qi Force tendrils. He immediately clutched his head and screamed in agony as black blood seeped from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. His Flying Sword fell from his grasp with a CLANG.
"Steady your Heart and Spirit! Do not let the outer demons invade your minds!"
A middle-aged Daoist at the center of the formation roared, his Profound White Daoist Robe already soaked through with blood.
He was the only one among this group of Righteous Cultivators at the stage of Qi Refining Great Perfection.
His condition was the worst of all. His left shoulder was a bloody mess with bone peeking through. He held a Jade Ruler that shone with a clear light, but he could only barely withstand the combined onslaught of the two Sacrificial Sect Elders.
The lame-footed Elder stomped on the blood drum beneath him.
THUMP!
With a muffled sound, the ground transformed into a swamp of flesh and blood. Countless pale arms shot out from it, grasping for Yu Hengzi’s legs.
At the same time, he spat out a stream of foul, stinking blood that transformed mid-air into a ghastly, massive net, descending from above.
Countless agonized faces writhed and wailed within the net, emitting a vile aura that could corrupt Magical Treasures and corrode flesh.
Yu Hengzi’s Jade Ruler erupted with brilliant, clear light, forming a protective ring around him that sliced through the grasping arms. But as the blood net pressed down, the ruler’s light dimmed drastically.
His face grew another shade paler. A sweet, coppery taste rose in his throat, and he forced himself to swallow the blood. A deep chill filled his heart.
’My True Essence is nearly depleted, my wounds are grave... I’m afraid I will fall here today and drag all these juniors down with me...’
Just then—
"Vile fiends of the Outer Dao, you dare to act so brazenly?"
A clear, serene young voice suddenly drifted down from the top of a nearby ancient tree.
The voice wasn’t loud, yet it uncannily pierced through the ghostly wails, the pounding drums, and the roar of Magical Combat, reaching every person’s ears with perfect clarity.
The fighting on both sides faltered for a moment.
A figure in a green robe stood upon a gnarled branch, having appeared there at some unknown moment.
He had handsome, refined features and limpid, clear eyes. Pure Qi coiled around him, and he bore not a hint of worldly anger or violence.
All that emanated from him was a profound and mysterious Dao Rhyme, pure to the point of perfection.
His hands were empty. He merely looked down upon the battle below, as tranquil as an otherworldly scholar who had paused to admire the scenery.
"Where did this whelp come from? Courting death!"
The one-armed Elder’s eyes hardened. He saw that although Qi Yun’s aura was pure, he was clearly very young. Taking him for some reckless fool who had wandered into the wrong place, he casually flicked a gray-black Qi Force toward him, its speed as swift as a specter.
Seeing this, Yu Hengzi cried out in alarm, "Fellow Daoist, be careful! That fiend’s Divine Soul Attacks are treacherous!"
But Qi Yun didn’t even spare the incoming Qi Force a glance.
He raised his right hand, his index finger tapping the empty air. The movement was gentle and unhurried, like plucking a flower or dipping a brush in ink.
At the tip of his finger, a single point of pure, flawless Spiritual Light suddenly flared into existence.
The Spiritual Light instantly stretched and expanded, tracing a mysterious arc through the air.
A spectral image of a Cyan Gold Talisman—formed purely from the condensed Daoist Intents of Suppression of Evil, Breaking Illusion, and Qingxin—materialized out of thin air!
[Purifying Spirit God-Sealing Talisman]!
The instant the Talisman formed, a silvery radiance showered down, like moonlight washing away filth.
Bathed in that silvery light, the vicious gray-black Qi Force was like snow hitting boiling water. It let out a piercing shriek and dissolved completely, leaving not even a ripple behind.
"What?!"
The one-armed Elder’s pupils contracted. ’His never-failing Soul-Catching Qi Force... was dispelled so effortlessly?’
Before the elder could react, Qi Yun’s fingertips moved again.
This time, his five fingers splayed slightly, as if plucking the strings of a zither, or perhaps simultaneously writing five completely different Talisman Orders.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Five spectral Talismans, each a different color and radiating a formidable Dao Rhyme, condensed in the air before him almost simultaneously!
One was blazing gold, like the rising sun, radiating a scorching, evil-smiting power—[Yang Flame Evil-Breaking Talisman].
One was deep azure, like a cold ocean current, suffused with the intent to freeze and seal—[Profound Ice Vein Suppression Talisman].
One was dark cyan, like an ancient, towering tree, pulsing with the power to steal life force—[Cyan Wood Spirit-Stealing Talisman].
One was earthen yellow, like the weight of the world itself, carrying an immense, suppressive force—[Earth Element Mountain-Suppressing Talisman].
One was pure white, sharp as refined metal, coalescing an indomitable will to pierce through anything—[Taibai Exorcism Talisman].
The five Talismans orbited Qi Yun, rotating slowly. Their energies linked together, faintly forming a simple yet formidable Five Elements Talisman Array!
As the Spiritual Light flowed between them, it framed Qi Yun, making him appear like a Talismanic Celestial Venerable descending to the mortal realm—a truly magnificent sight.
"The Five Elements turn; Talismans suppress the universe."
Qi Yun chanted softly, and the five Talismans moved in response to his words.
After having mastered the [Upper Profound Talisman],
Qi Yun had already achieved a state of innate mastery in the Dao of Talisman Skills.
As long as he grasped the corresponding Daoist Intent, he could conjure a Talisman from thin air.
The deeper his grasp of the Daoist Intent, the greater the Talisman’s power.
These Five Elements Talismans, for example, were all based on Daoist Intents he had cultivated during his Qi Refining Stage. Now, he could effortlessly transform them into Talismans of considerable power.
The five-colored light of the Talismans wove into an array, about to descend and annihilate the two horrified Sacrificial Sect Elders!
But just as the Talisman Array’s spiritual pressure surged, on the verge of erupting completely—
"Hmph! What whelp dares to harm the people of my Sacrificial Sect?!"
A low, hoarse snort, like the grinding of two rusty pieces of iron, suddenly boomed from the depths of Long Ridge Cave.
The sound wasn’t loud, but it carried a bone-chilling cold and an oppressive weight that instantly swept over the entire valley.
In the sound’s wake, rocks trembled, withered vines stirred without a breeze, and even the air seemed to grow thick and icy.
Immediately after, a figure took a single step out of the dark cave.
He was tall and gaunt, draped in a wide Daoist Robe stitched together from countless faded, mismatched scraps of cloth.
His face was haggard and his eye sockets were sunken. Only his eyes were as dark and bottomless as an ancient well.
To be met by his gaze was enough to chill one’s Divine Soul and give rise to bizarre thoughts of self-mutilation, decay, and corruption.
The aura radiating from him carried the tyrannical, evil intent of ’harming all creation to mend one’s own brokenness.’ He was, unmistakably, a Foundation Establishment Master.
The Vice Sect Leader of the Sacrificial Sect—Master Cang Gu!
He took a single step. It seemed slow, yet as if the ground itself had shrunk, he instantly crossed several hundred feet to arrive at the center of the battlefield.
Silently, with him at its center, the very world for miles around seemed to age and fracture for an instant.
Plants yellowed and died in an instant, cracks spiderwebbed across the rocks, and the wind itself seemed to carry a mournful, decaying wail.
The glow of the five descending Five Elements Talismans faltered, and their rotation inexplicably slowed by a fraction.
"A little interesting," Qi Yun murmured, his eyes lifting slightly. For the first time, a hint of seriousness touched his expression.
"Whelp, your Talisman Skill is not bad. A pity..." Master Cang Gu’s dark gaze fixed on Qi Yun as a stiff, unnatural smile stretched across his haggard face.
"...that you stand before my [Broken Dao].
Everything whole shall ultimately be broken!"
Before his voice had even faded, Master Cang Gu threw a punch toward Qi Yun from across the distance!
There was no grand fanfare, no dazzling light.
But the space before his fist suddenly twisted and collapsed, as if a chunk of reality had been forcefully gouged out by an invisible hand!
An indescribable power of ’deprivation’ surged out from this collapsing void, washing toward Qi Yun like an invisible tide.
Wherever this power passed, the air lost its ability to flow, Spiritual Qi lost its vibrancy, and even light itself seemed to dim and fracture.
"The Dao of brokenness thinks it can erode the Ten Thousand Laws?"
Qi Yun stood his ground, a clear light radiating from his body.
His hand danced through the air in a series of unpredictable movements, conjuring one spectral Talisman after another. They were born from the void, circling and weaving around him.
He conjured them with ease, each Talisman formed from a basic Daoist Intent, yet under the amplification of the [Upper Profound Talisman], every single one was exquisitely pure and condensed, their miraculous applications endless.
He managed to block every one of Master Cang Gu’s insidious and overwhelming attacks.
For a time, the sky above the valley was filled with flashing Spiritual Light, crisscrossing talismanic phantoms, and darting gray shadows. The two were locked in a stalemate.
Unable to gain the upper hand after a prolonged assault, the malevolence in Master Cang Gu’s eyes intensified.
His true form suddenly materialized from a gray shadow, standing tall in the air.
Heaven-Destroying Hand!
A giant, gray-black palm—condensed from the pure Daoist Intent of ’brokenness’ and large enough to cover half the valley—slowly emerged from the rift in space!
The giant palm’s five fingers were mangled and incomplete. The lines on its palm were twisted like agonizing ravines, and it radiated a terrifying aura that caused all things to wither and the very laws of nature to decay.
The moment it appeared, the forest below withered and turned to sand at a visible rate, and the mountain rocks silently crumbled into dust.
The power of this single palm blanched the color from the landscape, extinguishing all life for dozens of miles around!
The giant palm locked onto Qi Yun. Carrying a Dao Rhyme of brokenness that could annihilate all existence, it slowly descended!
It did not move quickly, but the omnipresent Daoist Intent of ’deprivation’ and ’decay’ had already descended.
It caused the talismanic light around Qi Yun to flicker and dim.
In the distance, Yu Hengzi and the others, sheltered by Qi Yun’s talismanic light, were still oppressed by the aftershocks from the giant palm’s power. Despite the considerable distance, their blood felt sluggish in their veins and their Divine Souls felt as if they were about to crack. Their faces were masks of horrified despair.
Facing a blow powerful enough to shatter hundreds of miles of mountains, Qi Yun’s gaze flickered.
’This old demon is fierce. I’m afraid I won’t be able to take him down quickly, and this is his sect’s home turf. I can’t linger here.’
"Let’s go."
With a flick of his sleeve, a river of talismanic light transformed into a cyan cloud that lifted Yu Hengzi and the others.
Qi Yun himself transformed into a streak of rainbow light, carrying everyone as he fled into the distance.
Yu Hengzi stared at the figure before him, straight and proud as a pine tree, his heart filled with indescribable shock. He couldn’t help but ask,
"Thank you for saving us, Senior. Might I be so bold as to ask for your esteemed name?"
Qi Yun did not answer directly. He simply said, "I am but a humble Loose Cultivator of the mountains. You may call me Yun Zhongzi."
...
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