The Blade-Wielding Legend

The Jade-faced Taoist is actually Zhao Changsheng.

If Li Yan were to find everyone who had contact with Zhao Changsheng and inquire, he would find that everyone’s accounts would be different, often changing.

This is exactly where his cunning lies; even in a high position, he remains careful and cautious.

After all, what he does is an act against the heavens.

The Gray Cannon Mage is also not simple, nicknamed Yin Master, with mysterious origins and rarely reveals his background.

But to be noticed by Zhao Changsheng and invited, he cannot be an ordinary figure.

He comes from the Secret Realm of Ailao Mountain at the Dianqian border, inheriting the "Three Miao and Jiuli Sacrifices", actually a branch of the Witch Clan that migrated south after the Yellow Emperor’s campaign against Chi You in ancient times. Fleeing from the Qin Dynasty’s "Burning Temple Mountain" calamity, he bound his Divine Soul to the Dragon Vein of Ailao Mountain with a burial curse, his flesh decayed but his spirit remained, becoming an Earth Immortal.

This Earth Immortal is skilled in the "Seven Sins Life and Death Book", deriving from the Miao Clan’s "Chi You Play"’s "Seven Evils Nail Soul Technique" and Xiangxi Chenzhou Talisman’s "Drawing Name Life-taking Method", where the cursed one’s Divine Soul suffers lingchi within three days.

"Of course."

Upon hearing the Yin Master’s inquiry, Zhao Changsheng remained composed and said calmly, "If the major event is successful, that piece of ’Jianmu’ will naturally be gifted to you, allowing you to roam freely without suffering the calamities of heaven and earth."

"Good! You better not be lying to me..."

The Yin Master issued a harsh remark and then sat cross-legged.

He carefully placed a Black Pottery Jar in front of him, and from his bosom, he took out a piece of Yellow Paper cut into a small human shape covered with strange incantations, inscribed with the words "Yu Longzi" and the Four Pillars of Destiny.

Immediately, he bit his fingertip to draw blood, using it as ink to inscribe intricate talismans on the paperman while muttering, "Earth vein connect to Netherworld, your soul return to Netherworld! Seven Sins descend the fight, three stars hang upside down! One sin crushes liver and intestines, two sins split bone marrow abyss, three sins burn heart cavity, four sins twist Dantian..."

The voice was low and eerie, making the surrounding air much denser and cooler.

...

The bitter mountain wind swept up snow mist, roaring, while Yu Longzi gripped the Wind and Thunder Treasure Seal, stepping on the chariot shaft.

Baba Yaga had been repelled, but he dared not be careless in the slightest.

He could feel that more sinister thoughts appeared in the vast snow mist.

Suddenly, his figure stiffened, cold sweat seeped from his temples beneath the Daoist crown, and his Adam’s apple rolled twice.

Pfft! He suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood.

The blood sizzled on the snow, eroding hive-like holes.

"Martial Nephew!"

Yu Chanzi leaped up, sweeping his horsetail whisk, transferring Pure Yang Qi into his heart meridian.

As his fingertip touched the other’s wrist meridian, his pupils shrank sharply.

The pulse was entwined with seven strands of sinister Evil Qi, Yu Longzi’s face turning bluish-purple in a short time.

The old Daoist’s gaze swept over the faintly visible Ghost Soldiers in the mist and then the dark red powder residue on the snow, coldly saying, "Good scheme of skinning and blood stealing, Seven Evils Nail Soul! Even this ancient spell has emerged. Zhao Changsheng is well-calculated! He’s testing if there’s anyone in our army who can break the curse!"

The Eastward Japanese formation’s taiko drum thudded deeply as ghostly shadows pressed forward in the ice-blue dense fog.

Zhang Jingxuan, the Southern Heavenly Master of Dragon and Tiger Mountain, arrived stepping on the snow, his dark Daoist robe shaking off the drifting snow.

From his sleeve, he shook out a half-charred object, surprisingly a millennia-old core of peach wood struck by thunder, naturally marked with Thunder Fire patterns, having endured four Thunder Tribulations and revived.

Such a treasure, both an evil ward and containing Innate vitality.

"During the Sealing God calamity, Bai Jian died from a curse, and Jiang Shang used the peach man substitute to lead the Heavenly Thunder to break it."

Zhang Jingxuan spoke extremely quickly, biting his index finger to write a Cloud Talisman on the wood, blood beads seeping into the wood grain, "Today, I follow the ancient method, borrowing the young friend’s vital blood for use!"

With that, he dipped his finger in the blood bead that oozed from Yu Longzi’s forehead, swiftly marking the peach man’s seven orifices.

With a reverse hand press, the peach man half-nailed into the frozen soil, Zhang Jingxuan then stepped the Yu Step and pointed to the sky, barking:

"Five Thunders Death, substitute life with a substitute—open!"

The peach man trembled violently as if alive, the surface cracking with spiderweb-like blood patterns.

A suppressed grunt, as a hint of color returned to Yu Longzi’s face.

"Lie still." Yu Chanzi placed a vermillion charm with a turtle and snake coiled on Yu Longzi’s back, turning to look into the distance, coldly saying, "Since he’s probing, let’s use his plan against him."

"Pass the order down, prepare the cannon crew, the rest of the Mystic Sect disciples, follow me to arrange the formation!"

.........

Meanwhile, deep beneath the ruins of the Goryeo Mountain God Temple.

The sense of weightlessness from Earth Escape lasted just a moment.

Li Yan, Gu Linzi, and others felt themselves wrapped and pulled by a cold, dense, earthy stench.

The next moment, they stood solidly on the ground.

The air that greeted them was far colder and more damp than on the surface, filled with rich moisture and the scent of ancient rocks. Everyone quickly formed a defensive formation, lighting a flint, its dim halo dispelling a patch of darkness.

The scene before them made the experienced crowd hold their breath.

They stood in an unimaginably vast underground space.

Where the firelight reached, immense stalactite columns intertwined like giant ribs supporting the sky, hanging from a ceiling that couldn’t be seen, connecting with the stone stalagmites below, forming a magnificent stone forest.

Underfoot was slick rock, a wide underground river flowed silently in the distance, its water dark as ink, with a faint, sulfur-scented white mist on its surface.

The air was so humid one could wring water from it, with beads of water forming on the rock walls.

The sound of dripping was particularly clear in the emptiness.

Most disquieting was the inexplicable "Qi" that filled the place.

Thick, ancient, majestic, deeply embedded in every inch of stone, every drop of water.

"What a... naturally formed Fengshui Dragon Vein cave!"

Gu Linzi looked around, his voice filled with awe, "This place’s layout is naturally formed, storing wind and gathering water, the Earth Vein intersecting, truly a place to nurture spiritual beauty! What a pity..."

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