The Blade-Wielding Legend

The Black Water Sect man in the lead pulled out a dusty clay jar.

He lifted the lid, and a strong, rank, fishy stench spread out.

Black Dog Blood!

He grinned ferociously, dipped a finger in the blood, and was about to smear it onto the straw man.

"Do it!" Liu San let out a low growl.

Chen the Fourth sharply slapped the Yellow Talisman he’d just finished drawing onto the incense burner!

With a soft hiss, the talisman paper burst into a ghastly green flame.

The green smoke clinging to the base of the wall suddenly surged, twisting and morphing into several palm-sized, faceless Paperman phantoms, drifting and fluttering as they slipped along the cracks in the wall toward the courtyard!

"Hmph! Five Yang Sect’s evil spirits tricks!"

The Black Water Sect leader snorted coldly, his blood-soaked finger stabbing viciously toward the straw man’s forehead. "Filthy blood to break spells—freeze for your master!"

A chill, foul aura spread out with his motion. The Paperman phantom that had only half slipped inside suddenly froze, emitting faint, cloth-tearing hissing sounds as its edges began to blur and fade away.

"Son of a bitch!" Wang Wu flew into a rage, snatching up a hatchet as he tried to lunge forward.

But Chen the Fourth was faster. He reached into his coat again and grabbed a handful of soybeans, his mouth racing through a Spell as he flung them hard onto the ground!

The beans hit the earth and rolled, making a rustling sound, and in the blink of an eye transformed into dozens of little figures barely an inch tall, each clutching a wooden spear, surging like a tide toward the straw man formation laid out by Black Water Sect!

The Black Water Sect side refused to be outdone. One man immediately began shaking a shabby copper bell, its tone muffled and piercing.

Another snatched up a handful of incense ash mixed with bone ash and hurled it straight down onto the bean soldiers!

In an instant, beneath the walls of the Zhou Family courtyard, green-smoke Papermen, blood-stained straw men, soybean soldiers, and bone-ash incense mist tangled together.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only faint tearing sounds, corrosive hissing, the rolling and clacking of beans, and low, muttered curses.

Light and shadow flickered uncertainly as gusts of Yin Wind coiled and circled.

It looked lively, but most of it was laced with Illusion Techniques.

Both sides were straining to control their meager scraps of spells, trying to crush the other, to be the first to leave their Sect’s mark upon that unborn "Immortal Embryo."

Just as both sides’ minds were drawn taut—

"Tock."

A faint sound came from diagonally above their heads.

All parties locked in fierce struggle were jolted in fright, their movements halting at once as they instinctively looked up.

Across from the Zhou Family courtyard, beneath the eaves’ shadow on the roof of an old teahouse, two figures had somehow appeared silently, no one knew when.

Their wide black robes wrapped them from head to toe, as if they’d merged with the night itself.

One of them held a hand slightly raised, palm supporting an ancient-styled Compass, its bronze surface gleaming with a dim, cold luster.

The needle at the center of the Compass trembled faintly, pointing at the heart of the Duel below.

The other maintained a strange posture, arm extended level, and from beneath the cuff of his black robe, one could faintly see a dark, hollow, metal tube, gleaming with icy light, held steady and aimed downward—

It was a gun!

A gun that fused precise mechanisms with bizarre runes—a "New-style Fire Gun."

The night wind swept by, lifting the edge of the hood of the man holding the Compass just slightly, revealing a streak of graying hair at his temple and a lean, calm face.

It was Wang Daoxuan!

The one beside him holding the gun was Sha Lifei.

Wang Daoxuan’s gaze fell upon the Compass needle.

The needle quivered, then finally steadied on a certain direction.

His fingertip flicked rapidly over the rim of the Compass, calculating a few times, then he shook his head ever so slightly, his voice low and even, as if speaking to himself: "Good. The Gang Qi may be weak, but it’s still fairly clear, not yet tainted by vicious Sha Qi."

"And... this bit of remaining ’initiator’ has almost been worn away by their little farce."

He was referring to the "mark" both sides in the Duel below were trying to impose on that unborn fetus.

Hearing this, Sha Lifei’s tense shoulders seemed to loosen a fraction.

He flicked his wrist, and that strangely shaped New-style Fire Gun vanished up into his sleeve as if by sleight of hand.

He glanced down at Liu San, Chen the Fourth, and the Black Water Sect men frozen like startled rabbits by the wall, his brows knitting slightly with a hint of hard-to-detect disgust. "These people... we’re just going to leave them?"

Wang Daoxuan’s expression was as still as an ancient well, his face barely shifting as he said calmly, "Immortal Gods reincarnating on a vast scale is like a river bursting its banks—once it starts, it cannot be stopped. These bewildered Divine Souls have lost their memories, yet a trace of Innate spiritual wisdom remains in their spirit platforms; sooner or later, they will step onto the path of cultivation."

"In the world as it is now, Dragon and Tiger Mountain, Wudang, Maoshan—tell me which of these great sects isn’t watching in all directions, listening on all sides, scouring the land in madness? Stopping a few small fry in front of us—what use is that?"

He paused, his gaze seeming to pierce the heavy veil of night. "Those harboring sinister intent, who attempt to directly perform Body Seizing on mortals, preserving their incense foundations while beguiling hearts—that is the true ’malignant growth’ that needs to be dealt with."

"As for these muddle-headed reincarnations... we can’t control them all, and there’s no need to force it."

Sha Lifei silently nodded, knowing Wang Daoxuan was stating the hard truth.

The battle in Japan had torn open the Daluo Law Realm, and the chaos it brought far exceeded imagination.

The reincarnation and rebirth of Immortal Gods had become the mainstream, yet the disasters sparked by Body Seizing and possession of Divine Statues also cropped up one after another.

Fortunately, this era was not without something to rely on.

That "Sui Lun True Monarch," born from faith in Firearms and Steam, saw his Divine Power surge rapidly after the cataclysm, along with the widespread use of Firearms in pacification and frontier expansion, and had faintly become a new pillar stabilizing order in the Human World.

The court also rode this east wind, its power swelling greatly.

The Ministry of Industry, working together with the Mei Mountain Taoist Sect, kept refining "Magic Fire Guns" and various new-style equipment that could effectively restrain Evil Spirits and demons, barely managing to keep the situation pressed down, so that the entire Divine State did not wholly plunge into chaos.

In short, this was an age of the twilight of old gods and the rise of New Gods, a time of upheaval.

The two spoke no further; their figures slid down from the rooftop like specters, landing lightly beside two sturdy horses tethered in the shadows at the end of the alley.

They swung into the saddle, and the two black silhouettes blended into the night, galloping toward the outskirts of the town.

...

After roughly one hour, they left behind the densely populated river-town region and entered a stretch of mountainous terrain.

In a leeward hollow of the hills, over a dozen thick, dark-gray canvas tents had been pitched.

Several campfires, half on the verge of dying yet not wholly extinguished, were scattered about.

In the firelight, one could see silhouettes moving between the tents.

Most of these people wore tight-fitting outfits or short robes suited for quick movement, carrying an air of hardened competence.

This was a temporary operations camp of the court’s Xuan Sacrificial Officers.

Li Yan was seated cross-legged outside a slightly larger tent, eyes closed, adjusting his breath.

The Duan Chen Blade lay across his knees, its blade reflecting the faint firelight, quiet as still water.

The aura about him was more restrained than before.

Wang Daoxuan and Sha Lifei dismounted, and immediately a clerk in standard Xuan Sacrificial Officer uniform, a badge of Eight Trigrams and gears stitched at his chest, came up to them, quickly and quietly confirming something.

Wang Daoxuan briefly reported what they had seen in Wuzhen.

After the clerk withdrew, Wang Daoxuan went over and sat down beside Li Yan.

Sha Lifei grabbed a water pouch, took several gulps, and let his gaze roam over those silent Xuan Sacrificial Officer members in the camp.

Some were tuning various Magic Artifacts, some were checking Crossbows and "Heavy Fire Guns" with unusually thick barrels, their outer surfaces engraved densely with talismans.

"Over in Wuzhen, a few third-rate little Sects were fighting over a pregnant woman who might be bearing a reincarnated Immortal Embryo. Dogs snapping at each other, nothing serious. Their strength was feeble to begin with and has almost dispersed." Wang Daoxuan summarized succinctly.

Li Yan slowly nodded, asking no further.

His gaze, like Wang Daoxuan’s and Sha Lifei’s, passed over the camp and reached into the distance.

In the night, the rolling mountains under the thin moonlight were outlined in a savage, grim profile.

The sporadic cries of night owls made the darkness even more eerie.

"You’re certain... it’s hidden in these mountains?"

Wang Daoxuan’s voice dropped, weighted with gravity.

Clearly, he was not asking about those reincarnated Immortal Embryos.

"Mm." Li Yan gave a slight nod.

This was the real reason they hadn’t bothered with those small-time players in Wuzhen.

The catastrophic aftermath of the Daluo Law Realm being torn was far from as simple as Immortal Gods reincarnating.

That raging fissure was like a taboo gate, sealed for hundreds of millions of years, suddenly forced open.

Some ancient existences—long since buried utterly by the river of time, perhaps never even recorded in human texts, beings wholly alien to this era—

Whether slumbering Demon God remains, shards of alien evil things, or primordial malice leftover from the first dawning of heaven and earth—had been squeezed out along with those Immortal Divine Souls, and hurled down into the Human World!

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