The Blade-Wielding Legend

However, at the moment of new and old forces alternating and everyone believing victory was in their grasp, a hint of coldness passed through Li Yan’s lowered eyes.

He took a deep breath, a breath so deep it seemed he wasn’t inhaling air, but madly drawing in some invisible substance from the surrounding mountain forest.

Clatter~

The scale armor on Arm Guard Thousand Thoughts shook in unison.

In the mountain forest, especially in the area recently ravaged by the disaster of the "Hundred Ghosts Night Parade" and where many had died tragically, Yin Sha Qi was already dense.

At this moment, as Li Yan drew with Thousand Thoughts, the cold air within dozens of feet, the remnants of wandering souls, blood evil grudge power, all crazily converged towards him as if attracted by a black hole.

Beneath his skin, there were no more silver snakes crawling, but rather a foreboding dark cyan color emerged.

The temperature around him plummeted, the grass and trees underfoot even froze with a faint white frost. In stark contrast to the Supreme Yang and Strong of Thunder God Transformation just now, a sinister, murky, cold aura soared into the sky.

Divine Transformation Technique, transform again!

This time, there was no blinding light, only the surging black mist rising from the Soul-hooking Thunder Lock, quickly enveloping him.

The black mist was thick as ink, rolling uncertainly, vaguely outlining a taller, murky silhouette, resembling the legendary Yin God Ghost General.

In the black mist, two scarlet lights shone. The Duan Chen Blade was also wrapped in black mist, no longer buzzing, but exuding a silent deathly intent.

Yin God Transformation!

"What?!" The cold smile on the face of the old man in black froze instantly, turning into incredulous horror.

He specialized in sinister arts and had a keen sense of Evil Qi. At this moment, he clearly felt the pure and majestic Yin Sha emanating from Li Yan, far beyond ordinary ghosts, causing even him, a practitioner of the Yin Yang arts for many years, to feel palpitations.

Li Yan moved.

Not the thunderous rapid explosion of Thunder God Transformation, but more eerie and unpredictable.

The black mist ensnared him, as if merging with the surrounding shadows, moving along bringing bursts of yin wind, his figure elusive, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, leaving bone-chilling cold wherever he passed.

A samurai at the forefront shouted as he swung down his tachi, but the blade sliced straight through the black mist as if cutting a phantom, coldness seeped up along the blade.

Before he could be astonished, a hand wrapped in black mist silently pressed against his chest.

No explosion occurred, the samurai’s action froze instantly, the color drained from his face, pupils enlarged, and he fell straight down, frost forming on his skin as if his soul had been instantly frozen and drawn away.

"Careful! This Evil Qi can erode souls and seize spirits!"

The old man in black urgently reminded, flicking out his black bead, which transformed into nine black snake phantoms, attacking the black mist.

Li Yan within the black mist did not dodge, the Duan Chen Blade traced a profound arc, the black mist on the blade collided with the black snake phantoms, no clash of metal was heard, only hissing sounds akin to cold water spilling into hot oil.

The black snake phantoms rapidly dissolved, Li Yan pushed forward, the blade light flowed like water from the Netherworld River, silently, yet taking away vitality.

"Wu Ba!"

A low, hoarse shout echoed from within the black mist.

Wu Ba, fighting in the rear all along, responded.

He knew this "Yin God Transformation" by Li Yan could not last long and eroded the mind greatly, necessitating a quick resolution.

His muscles bulged, he hefted the Tiger-Squat Cannon once again.

Having anticipated a multitude of enemies, he had already replaced the single projectiles in the magazine, suited for ambushes, with scatter shots composed of countless thumb-sized lead bullets.

Meanwhile, Li Yan retreated swiftly.

Luring the pursuers while suddenly dodging.

Bang!

Wu Ba’s Tiger-Squat Cannon roared instantly.

This was a tactic rehearsed beforehand.

Centered around Wu Ba, spreading out in a forty-five-degree arc.

In an instant, fierce winds howled across the ground, blood and flesh flew in the distance.

Even the dense forest at the rear was destroyed in swathes.

Sha Lifei had awaited this moment.

His specially reconstructed flintlock gun loaded with custom armor-piercing bullets was aimed steadily at the most threatening old man in black.

Without hesitating, pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The gunshot was particularly piercing in the forest.

The elderly man in black was desperately dodging, but sensed danger a bit too late. He tried his best to twist his body, but the bullet struck his shoulder, tearing apart half of his body and scattering a stream of blood and fragments of his hunting clothes.

The old man screamed and fell to the ground, tumbling back and forth.

Long Yan’er’s gu worms took advantage of the chaos and flew out, not directly attacking but spreading dizziness-inducing, illusion-causing scale powder to further destabilize the enemy ranks.

Lv San shielded and quickly evacuated the Night Crying Man.

Li Yan seized the chaos created by his companions, and his attack in the Yin God state was ferocious to the extreme.

Black mist moved like a specter among the crowd; each flash of the blade resulted in someone falling, each dying in various ways, yet they all bore marks of erosion by the cold evil qi.

Seeing Li Yan’s ferocity and their companions suffering heavy casualties, those few powerful presences that originally locked onto this location hesitated slightly.

Li Yan could no longer concern himself with anything else and let out a shrieking howl, quickly retreating.

With the main chaser dead, the remaining pursuers lost their will to fight, fleeing desperately into the depths of the forest, abandoning their companions’ bodies.

The black mist gradually receded, merging back into Li Yan.

He revealed his form, looking gloomier than before, face alternating between pale and green, lips turning purple, body swaying, using the Duan Chen Blade to prop himself up.

The icy backlash from the yin sha qi seeped into his bones, entwined with the exhaustion from the depleted Thunder Astral, forming an indescribable taste.

The Daluo Dharma Body began to work, significantly improving his injuries.

He dared not use it all up, knowing that more battles were inevitable.

"Go!"

Li Yan took a deep breath, his voice hoarse.

Kuai Dayou stepped forward to support one of his arms, Sha Lifei vigilant at the rear, Long Yan’er retracted her gu worms, and the group dared not linger, unable to properly clean the battlefield, hurriedly disappearing towards the denser forest and more treacherous terrain, leaving behind chaos and rapidly cooling corpses...

A stick of incense later, a figure lightly drifted out from the other side of the woods, cautiously inspecting the battlefield.

He wore ordinary ronin attire, bearing wounds, blending inconspicuously among the previous pursuers.

Quickly examining several corpses, especially the injuries of the black-clad elder and the battle traces left by Li Yan, a flash of contemplation and shock appeared in his eyes.

Silently, he took what appeared to be a regular water bottle from his waist, emptied the water inside, dipped his fingertip in a colorless liquid, and quickly scribbled several barely noticeable symbols on the back of an inconspicuous rock.

After completing these tasks, he carefully put away the water bottle, choosing a direction like a genuine routed pursuer, staggering yet swiftly disappearing.

This person was precisely the spy dispatched by the Great Xuan Court to Japan.

With only one thought in his mind: to quickly transmit the news back to the Divine State through secret channels.

The Great Xuan Court’s spy network quietly operated in the shadows of the foreign country...

......

The courier horse shattered the thin frost on the capital’s official road, delivering the urgent secret report, illustrated with "Ghosts’ Night Parade," to the capital city.

The dossier circulated within the Six Ministries and the Cabinet, quickly spreading.

"Good!"

In the Ministry of War’s duty room, an elder general who had once defended the southeast slapped the table, rattling the teacup, "The pirates committed slaughter along the coast; now the hundred ghosts devour them, it’s retribution! Li Yan did brilliantly!"

His calloused fingers jabbed at the location of Tsushima Island on the sea map, eyes filled with delight.

Wenyuan Pavilion presented a different scene.

Several elders with white hair and beards held the official reports, frowning deeply. "Stirring up millennium-old resentful evil, unleashing hundred ghosts to break seals... this art harms heavenly order,"

An Assistant Minister of Rituals twirled the prayer beads, fingertips slightly cool, "The resentful evil pierces the heavens, producing rampant malevolence, potentially polluting the pure energy of heaven and earth. Even to chastise the Japanese, this method... is too harsh and risks backlash."

What he worried about was the ominous nature of such dark methods.

After all, this world truly had ghostly revenge.

Rumors intensified across the marketplace.

In teahouses and taverns, people whispered, "Did you hear? Li Yan summoned a hundred thousand yin soldiers in Japan’s capital city..."

"Tsk tsk, this isn’t a Daoist skill; it’s clearly a demonic method!"

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