On the Path to the Great Dao

The Yang family fell the fastest, unable to wait for reinforcements from the other great clans.

The top-tier ghost gods of the other clans were besieging the Imperial Capital, and while they still had plenty of remaining experts, it took time to gather, reorganize, march, and finally reach the battlefield. The military preparedness of the Twelve Great Clans had long been neglected, making them unable to respond with perfect coordination or rescue the Yang family in time.

After Chen Yindu, Creation Little Five, Jue Yangzi, and the others obliterated the Yang family with overwhelming force, they immediately launched a lightning strike against the Xia family.

At the same time, after Long You the Freeholder, Blue Goat, and a group of Heavenly Pool ghost clan chieftains finished dealing with the Xu family, they led their troops into the minor heaven, halting to rest and recuperate.

Some injured cultivators needed treatment. Tong Qianshou and Sang Xixi led the disciples of the Medicine King Sect, tending to everyone’s wounds and applying bandages.

The Zhang family of Juzhou.

Zhang Fucheng, the clan leader of the Zhang family, had already received urgent pleas for help from the Li, Xu, and Yang families. While he was still hesitating, he saw from afar a lone figure walking toward Juzhou City.

Hearing the report from his clansmen, Zhang Fucheng hastily activated his Primordial Spirit to observe. The newcomer was a young man carrying a wooden box in his hand.

"Grand Master of Glorious Salary, Chen Tang."

Although Chen Tang’s strength was no small matter, among the three generations of the Chen family, he was the one with the least presence.

Just one man, daring to wipe out a great clan like the Zhang family?

Zhang Fucheng felt both anger and a flicker of relief, thinking to himself, "They say Chen Tang is naturally cautious—he served as a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Revenue for over a decade, embezzling enough to forge thirty-six Talisman God Tianji, and never got caught. But now, it seems he’s nothing special. Even if my Zhang family can’t defeat him alone, we can still escape Juzhou City. Besides, our family holds enormous power in the underworld!"

He felt victory was within his grasp. Just then, a wheelchair appeared behind Chen Tang, with an old eunuch sitting in it.

Zhang Fucheng’s eyelids twitched. Next, he saw the Embroidered Uniform Guards of the Eastern Depot, clad in vibrant attire and mounted on fine horses, swarming toward Juzhou City like a sea of people.

At Chen Shi’s enthronement ceremony, the only eunuchs responsible for the palace rites were junior attendants from the Directorate of Ceremonial. The rest of the eunuchs, naturally, were all here!

During the era of the Thirteen Great Clans’ rule, there were too many poor people. Many families could barely feed themselves. To ensure their sons could survive, they castrated them and sent them to the Eastern Depot to become eunuchs, hoping their sons could at least get a meal there. As for descendants—that was out of the question.

—This was also the fundamental reason why, after six thousand three hundred years without a True King on the throne in the Western Ox New Continent and an empty harem, the Eastern Depot was abnormally thriving.

It was also why, over six thousand years, the Eastern Depot had been able to stand as equals with the Thirteen Great Clans in the imperial court.

"You dog eunuchs, quick to switch sides! Lost your balls, and with them, your spine!"

Zhang Fucheng gnashed his teeth in hatred and immediately ordered, "Fuzheng, go down to the underworld at once and summon our ancestors from the courts of hell!"

Zhang Fuzheng was about to descend to the underworld when Eunuch Feng’s voice rang out: "Lord Zhang, no need to bother. Right now, the Zhang family’s ancestors are already unable to save themselves, let alone come to your rescue."

The courts of hell.

Before the Ghost Gate of hell, a massive Huo Dog slowly raised its head—a head taller than the Ghost Gate itself—staring at the hell beyond.

This underworld court belonged to the Zhang family. The Eighteen Hells were all staffed by Zhang family ghost gods in key positions, gathering incense offerings to bolster their own strength.

The Zhang family ghost gods guarding the gate stood on the city wall, looking up at this Huo Dog, nervous yet somewhat excited.

Huo Dogs were extremely rare demonic creatures. Though they were Demon Seeds, the blood flowing through their veins was pure yang treasure blood—the finest of all, making cultivation twice as effective. Adult Huo Dogs were incredibly hard to capture; they were fierce-tempered and often committed suicide upon capture, refusing to become slaves.

But Huo Dog pups weren’t so stubborn.

It was said the Li family had luckily captured a Huo Dog pup and raised it in the underworld. They collected its blood daily to forge magical treasures, creating many terrifyingly powerful artifacts.

However, Huo Dogs were exceedingly rare. Back then, the other clans also scoured everywhere for traces of such Demon Seeds. They once found an adult Huo Dog with its pup roaming the Ten Thousand Mountains. They went to hunt them but repeatedly failed, only managing to wound the adult.

Later, the Huo Dog pup suddenly disappeared, and they had to return dejected.

"This Huo Dog isn’t very large—it should still be a juvenile. If we can capture it and raise it in hell…"

The Zhang family ghost gods were thrilled. Zhang Mo, the judge guarding the first layer of hell, laughed heartily and said, "I’ll capture it!"

The moment he spoke, the demonic miasma between heaven and earth suddenly thickened drastically. The miasma was dark and heavy, different from the gloomy Yin energy. As ghost gods, they were especially sensitive to these two types of spiritual energies.

Zhang Mo’s heart jolted. In the deep demonic miasma, massive, mountain-like silhouettes appeared one after another.

They were Huo Dogs—marching toward the Ghost Gate like moving mountains.

Demonic flames blazed around their bodies, and even Zhang Mo felt immense pressure.

Suddenly, the juvenile Huo Dog before the Ghost Gate rose on its hind legs, lifted its front paw, and slashed through the air. A massive realm of thunder and fire burst into existence. The next moment, a towering black iron pillar appeared in its grasp.

That Huo Dog was Black Pot, leading the army of Huo Dogs from the demonic domain. Though not many in number, each one was a top-tier expert.

They were the fourth team arranged by Yang Bi. Four teams rotating for rest ensured combat readiness.

Black Pot swung the black iron pillar and smashed it down toward the Ghost Gate.

"Boom!"

This mighty fortress shattered into pieces amidst the clash of thunder and fire, and countless ghost gods guarding it were instantly annihilated, leaving not even ash behind.

Over twenty adult Huo Dogs filed in one after another, charging into hell and heading straight for Judge Zhang Mo!

Zhang Mo roared, using every ounce of his strength to try to activate hell and mobilize its power. But the next moment, a charging Huo Dog tackled him to the ground, spewing a mouthful of demonic flame onto him, nearly melting his Golden Body.

He flipped back up, extinguishing the flames midair, let out a furious cry, and transformed into a form thousands of feet tall. He saw the juvenile Huo Dog pouncing at him, wielding the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler as they clashed head-on.

Man and dog collided dozens of times in midair, as fast as lightning and sparks.

Suddenly, the Huo Dog muttered incantations. Flesh sprouted from its neck and ribs, revealing Three Heads and Six Arms. The Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler split into three, vastly increasing its attack speed.

"Clang!"

Zhang Mo couldn’t block in time. A blow struck his head, shattering his Golden Body.

The Huo Dog swung another strike, smashing his Primordial Spirit to pieces. Then it landed and bolted off, chasing after the other Huo Dogs.

These twenty-odd Huo Dogs charged through the first layer of hell, spewing streams of demonic flame along the way, reducing approaching ghost gods to ash. Or they leaped up for close combat, killing ghost gods who came at them. Or they worked in pairs, biting the limbs of ghost gods blocking their path and tearing them apart!

They broke through relentlessly, reaching the Ghost Gate of the second layer of hell like the wind. With a thunderous crash, they shattered that gate to pieces!

The mortal world, Juzhou.

"Tap."

A crisp sound rang out as Chen Tang opened the box. Thirty-seven Talisman God Tianji flew out of the box, like thirty-seven eight-armed heavenly deities, masters of all kinds of talisman techniques, spells, and close combat. Whether it was metal, wood, water, fire, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, or the forces of earth, sea, mountains, and marshes, every spell they unleashed was so precise it rivaled master-level experts.

Blades, spears, swords, halberds, arrows, and formations—they wielded them all with flawless skill. Sometimes they formed small groups of two or three, sometimes they split apart, cutting through everything in their path as they stormed into Juzhou City!

Behind them came the grand army of the Eastern Depot’s Embroidered Uniform Guards, surging forward. They carried firearms and were also well-versed in various Dao techniques, but mostly of the underhanded variety—many were demonic arts or harmful heretical methods.

The Eastern Depot’s work had always been shady, lacking any noble traditions, so they learned the vilest tricks and practiced demonic techniques. The Thirteen Great Clans had always looked down on these eunuchs, but when the Zhang family’s disciples clashed with them this time, they found that while these lowly methods were dirty, they worked!

Swathes of Zhang family cultivators fell. The thirty-seven Talisman God Tianji charged straight for the Zhang family estate. Two of the Zhang family’s ancestral masters had been awakened, and the clan’s top experts rushed out to face them. One of the ancestral masters, Zhang Xinqiao, knew that the master of the Talisman God Tianji was Chen Tang. Eliminating Chen Tang was the only way to deal with the Tianji, so he went straight for him.

Suddenly, a dazzling sword light erupted, and countless streaks of sword qi rampaged through the city.

That ancestral master, Zhang Xinqiao, barely dodged the sword light, nearly being killed in one strike. Bewildered, he thought, "Isn’t Chen Tang the most useless one of the Chen family? How is he this strong?"

Just as he thought that, nine Talisman God Tianji flew over and landed around Chen Tang, stacking their ghost god domains together.

Chen Tang breathed a sigh of relief. He was already not much weaker than Zhang Xinqiao, but with the support of nine Talisman God Tianji, he felt even more secure.

Zhang Xinqiao charged again, shouting, "Fucheng! Fuzheng! Aid me!"

Zhang Fucheng and Zhang Fuzheng rushed over immediately. But Eunuch Feng suddenly soared up from his wheelchair, landing before Zhang Fuzheng, and said with a smile, "Chief Grand Secretary, please."

Zhang Fuzheng’s face turned grim. He took a deep breath to steady himself and replied in a deep voice, "Please."

At that moment, Clan Leader Zhang Fucheng had already charged into the nine-layered ghost god domain. He felt his physical body and Primordial Spirit suddenly weighed down, suppressed, and then sword strikes hit his shoulders, heart, throat, and brow. Luckily, he retreated fast enough to save his life.

His heart sank. Abandoning any thought of rescuing Ancestor Zhang Xinqiao, he swiftly retreated, grabbed Zhang You, who was still fighting a Talisman God Tianji, evaded that deity, and said rapidly, "Zhang You, the Zhang family is doomed. Get out of here! Take as many Zhang family disciples as you can! I’ll carve a path for you!"

Zhang You was startled but instinctively followed. Zhang Fucheng fought his way out of the city, driving back one Talisman God after another and rescuing Zhang family disciples as he went.

But strangely, those Talisman Gods kept grouping in twos and threes, dispersing and regrouping. They always split apart just as Zhang Fucheng was about to land a killing blow, dodging his lethal strikes. And every time he covered their retreat, they would form up again, creating more wounds on his body.

"These Talisman Gods are trying to wear down the clan leader bit by bit!"

Zhang You’s heart tightened. When Chen Yindu created the Talisman God Tianji, it shocked the world. The Thirteen Great Clans had also studied these strange creations, knowing that while they were strong, their intelligence was low—only that of an eight- or nine-year-old child.

"Which means someone is secretly controlling these Talisman Gods, letting them cover the entire battlefield while still inflicting damage on the clan leader!"

As Zhang You fled outward, he scanned his surroundings, and his horror grew.

The Eastern Depot’s Embroidered Uniform Guards advanced and retreated with perfect discipline, following some mysterious pattern—clearly guided by someone with extraordinary intelligence!

"That person can’t be Chen Tang. Chen Tang is meticulous and cautious, good at planning, but too careful—he does everything with trembling steps, as if walking on thin ice. But the one controlling this battlefield is bold yet careful, flexible and adaptable, destroying my Zhang family’s effective strength with a subtle, silent approach!"

A chilling sensation ran down his spine. This person’s deployment was so brilliant that he intended to wipe out the Zhang family with minimal cost!

The tactics gave him a familiar feeling, and a face surfaced before his eyes.

"But… he should have been destroyed along with the Upper Realm…"

Zhang Fucheng finally sent them out of Juzhou City, but was immediately surrounded by over a dozen Talisman God Tianji, trapped in a siege.

"Let’s go!" Zhang You gritted his teeth.

He led the group away quickly, his mind racing with thoughts.

"If we can just kill him, the Eastern Depot and the Talisman God Tianji will lose control of the battlefield, and the Zhang family’s chances of survival will increase greatly. But where is he hiding?"

Just then, he suddenly saw a portal formed by a Celestial Court token.

Zhang You’s eyes lit up. He dove into that portal, and what greeted him were countless eyes and countless divided Primordial Spirits!

The faces of these spirits were none other than Yang Bi’s face.

He had expected that the one directing the Juzhou battlefield was Yang Bi, but he hadn’t anticipated that while managing Juzhou, Yang Bi was also orchestrating the battlefields of the Gu family and the Xia family.

"Yang Bi, it really is you!"

Zhang You radiated murderous intent as he strode toward Yang Bi, his aura growing stronger. He said in a deep voice, "I sensed that on the Juzhou battlefield, there was an invisible hand controlling the entire situation—with skill so high it’s beyond imagination. Among everyone I know, only you could pull this off. Yang Bi, you also come from a great clan. Why do you inflict such cruelty on my Zhang family?"

Yang Bi, managing three battlefields at once without the slightest disorder, still had the presence of mind to reply, "I was ordered by the thirteen ancestral masters to oppose Despair Slope, but I was defeated by Zhong Wuwang’s hands. After the Upper Realm fell, the Thirteen Great Clans became useless, even obstacles to eliminating Despair Slope. Zhang You, your talent is extraordinary—you’re one of the few among the Thirteen Great Clans who catches my eye."

He glanced up at Zhang You and continued, "The True King was your classmate. You took the imperial exams together. With that bond, if you surrender, the new dynasty will surely have a place for you."

Zhang You shook his head. "I’ve already told Top Scholar Chen that if we ever meet on the battlefield, he doesn’t need to hold back. I’m willing to trade my life for the safety of my Zhang family! Yang Bi, we’re not that different, but you’re controlling three battlefields right now. You’ll die by my hand!"

Just then, a cough came from behind him.

Zhang You’s body stiffened. He turned his head with difficulty.

Thousands of Red Mountain Hall talisman masters came into view. At their front stood Long You the Freeholder, Shao Niangniang, and other half-immortals.

Blue Goat was offering up the Purple-Green Double Qi Rings, hanging them around his neck, shaking his head with a strange expression as he watched Zhang You.

Beside Blue Goat were dozens of ghost clan experts comparable to the Great Ascension Realm.

A sense of despair welled up.

Zhang You forced out, "Brother Yang, Zhang You will not surrender!"

Yang Bi nodded gently and said, "Which senior would be kind enough to see him off? Brother Zhang, farewell in this life. If there is a next life, don’t be born into a great clan."

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