I Killed Gods and Demons in Song Dynasty

Chapter 289: Evil Shadows in the Temple of Annihilation
As night fell, the eaves of Bianjing cast interlaced shadows in the last rays of the setting sun, like torn wings.

The wind howled in the distance, blowing up ruins and dust, making the already worrying streets seem even more depressing.

Since the rumors of the coming of the alien gods intensified, the city has been in chaos, the government and the army are exhausted from coping, and everyone is waiting for a strong-willed force to prop up this crumbling sky.

Li Qingyun paced in the desolate corner of the palace, looking a little tired.

Although he possessed supreme magical powers since he was promoted to a true god, he gradually realized what it meant to "try to support a collapsing building, but one cannot avoid collapse oneself."

The threat of foreign gods spread in the human world, and the people were in panic, but that was only one kind of worry; what made him most troubled was the backlash of the "Temple of Annihilation" in his body, which seemed to have accumulated endless darkness from the ancient depths of the universe and was pouring out little by little.

He stroked his chest gently, feeling the blood in his body become heavy.

As soon as I closed my eyes, an illusion of gray fog appeared in front of me, and there seemed to be broken whispers in my ears, intermittent, accompanied by sharp screams, which made my scalp tingle.

Since the last few times of defending against enemies, he gradually realized that the operation of his divine power was becoming more and more obscure, especially at critical moments, when a dark aura suddenly interfered with his control, as if it was obstructing or backlashing in his subconscious.

But in the eyes of outsiders, he is still the true God who dominates all directions and the only backbone that all people place their hopes on.

At this moment, light footsteps came from a distance.

Mu Guiying hurried over, frowning, and bowed:
"Sir, there is another urgent report. A strange phenomenon occurred in the western suburbs late at night. A black fog emerged from the ground and swallowed more than ten farmers. General Bai led a team to the scene, but only brought back a small amount of debris. I heard that there was a shadow similar to the bone demon in the black fog."

Li Qingyun nodded slightly, speaking wearily:
"The matter of the Outer Gods will probably continue for some time. Marshal Mu and Lord Bao should try their best to stabilize the morale of the troops. If there are any unusual movements, please report them in time. As long as the city is not in dire straits, I... I have other plans."

He originally wanted to stop talking so as not to let Mu Guiying see that his inner strength was waning.

But Mu Guiying was most familiar with his aura fluctuations since she fought alongside him. Seeing that his eyebrows were slightly pale, she suddenly became worried:
"Qingyun, you don't look good recently. Could it be... that you are troubled by something?"

Li Qingyun twitched the corners of his mouth and showed a bitter smile.

Who could have imagined that someone with such great power as him would also be at risk of going astray?
But I couldn't show weakness at this moment, so I just said:
"It's just a small matter. I can handle it. You go back. It's more important to defend the city."

Mu Guiying knew that it was useless to persuade her, so she had to respond and leave.

As she walked away, she turned back to glance at him secretly, her eyes full of complicated expressions, as if she was worried and helpless.

The night wind blew, bringing with it a chill. Li Qingyun stood there for a while, feeling his chest becoming increasingly stuffy.

He looked up in the direction of the palace in the city and whispered:
"I'm afraid we can't put it off any longer."

At that moment, he walked away slowly and went straight to a quiet mansion.

That mansion was the residence specially prepared for him by Emperor Renzong, but there was no servant there tonight.

Li Qingyun ordered all the guards to retreat ten feet away and not to get even a step closer.

He walked in and lit a dim yellow lamp in the courtyard.

The faint halo of light shining on the bluestone ground made the shadows look particularly hideous.

Li Qingyun sat cross-legged on the ground, took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and slowly closed his eyes.

This time, he wanted to confront the undercurrent in the "Temple of Annihilation" in his body head-on. Even if it might cost him a heavy price, it was better than letting it ferment and completely devour him.

The true energy in the body circulated as if going against a turbid torrent.

Every rotation of the heavens made his bones crackle and it hurt as if his joints were about to dislocate.

A low and strange howl sounded faintly in my ears, as if countless wronged souls were crying in the night.

Li Qingyun gritted his teeth to calm his mind, mobilizing his spiritual thoughts and rushing straight into the depths of his sea of ​​consciousness.

In an instant, he felt the scene around him change drastically.

The original courtyard of the headquarters suddenly disappeared, replaced by the extremely familiar palace corridor - the sky was dark, the bricks and stones were dilapidated, there were spider-web-like cracks on the walls, and gray fog slowly crawled on the floor, like countless maggots crawling over the surface of a corpse, making people's scalp tighten.

"It's still so eerie."

Li Qingyun muttered to himself and stepped lightly into the corridor.

Since his promotion to "Hunyuan Taiyi Immortal", he has sneaked into the palace more than once to control his divine power, but the scene now is more terrifying than ever before.

The majestic palace gate in front has collapsed in half, and the capitals seem to have been corroded into black holes. Smelly liquid drips from the cracks, making a dripping sound.

Li Qingyun held his breath and explored deeper along the corridor.

Every step he took felt like he was stepping into a dirty quagmire, his feet stuck together and he couldn't move forward.

Suddenly, he heard a low laugh coming from the depths of the palace, with an indescribable strange resonance, as if it was not a single voice, but countless suffocated souls trembling and mocking together.

Li Qingyun stopped suddenly and gripped the hilt of the knife tightly.

Since he had many contacts with "Silence", he knew that this was some kind of projection of the thoughts of that hidden god, who wanted to use illusions to influence his mind.

However, this time the laughter was more realistic than usual, and it made him more disturbed and even gave him a feeling of powerlessness that he could not resist.

He forced himself to take a deep breath and took a few steps forward. The knife flashed suddenly and slashed towards the dark corner filled with fog.

The blade's light tore through the mist, making a sharp sound of breaking through the air. Strong winds blew through the corridors, tearing the scraps of cloth hanging on the wall and making them fly everywhere.

But the fog only retreated a little, then quickly closed up again, emitting a sneer.

That laughter seemed to gnaw at Li Qingyun's ears:

"In vain...in vain...why do you struggle?"

Li Qingyun's heart sank.

The gray fog surged up in an instant, transforming into countless entangled tentacle-like shadows that covered the sky and the earth.

He only felt a sudden chilly wind blowing around him, and the temperature dropped so sharply that it felt like ice freezing his bones.

There was a strong sense of oppression in my consciousness, as if my soul was stuffed into endless black water and I could suffocate and drown at any moment.

"You think a mere illusion can trap me?"

He gritted his teeth and growled, mobilizing his divine power, and the sword shone brightly, like thunder.

The sharp point of the knife split the large patch of gray fog into pieces, and a shrill and strange howl was heard in the air.

However, wisps of broken mist gathered again towards the depths of the corridor, condensing into a vague black shadow.

"Li Qingyun..."

The black shadow was like a synthesis of the mumbling of thousands of people, speaking out word by word, "You want to protect the people, ridiculous... The Three Realms are a cage, why bother to persist?"

Li Qingyun looked at him coldly, without answering, he just rushed forward, slashing with his sword again and again.

The sword lights crisscrossed and smashed towards the black shadow like a storm.

But the black shadow appeared and disappeared like a bubble, always suddenly disintegrating before the sword energy hit, and then condensing again on the other side, as if it was deliberately playing a game.

A surge of anger rose in his heart.

The mind of "Ji" is more cunning than before, and it takes full advantage of the situation in this gray fog illusion.

If I don't exert more powerful strength, I'm afraid it will be difficult to suppress it completely.

But he also knew that this was the core of his soul. If he released too much sword energy, if the backlash was severe, his soul would be severely damaged.

Just as he was hesitating, the shadow seemed to sense his concerns and laughed mockingly:

"See, you don't dare to do anything serious. Your so-called kindness will only be used by me. If you want to break free from this shackle, you need a stronger power of chaos. Come, devour it... Let me accompany you to destroy this cage and take you to explore a wider world!"

The last sentence was like a sharp knife piercing the eardrum, causing Li Qingyun's chest to suddenly suffocate.

He was so furious that he roared and activated his divine power, infusing the blade with divine force. In an instant, the blade force turned into a long golden-white rainbow, the arc of light shining brightly like the sun at noon, spanning the entire corridor.

Gray fog was flying all around, the brick walls of the palace were shattered into countless pieces, and the space seemed to be collapsing.

The black shadow did not dare to be careless. It gathered the mist in an instant, and a turbid blood-red flame gushed out from its body, colliding violently with the knife light.

The loud noise was deafening, and Li Qingyun felt as if his sea of ​​consciousness was being cut by a knife. The golden blade light and the blood-red mist flames intertwined into a terrifying turbulence, turning into countless energy fragments dancing wildly in the air.

In that instant, the illusion world distorted time and space, and Li Qingyun seemed to catch a glimpse of a series of distorted pictures: the ancient battle between gods, the collapse of the pillars of heaven, and the barren land; countless gods and monsters were dead all over the land, and the rivers were stained with blood.

The scene then turns to himself: from the beginning of his practice, to slaying demons and becoming a god, every life-and-death struggle, every drop of blood and tears were magnified, flashing repeatedly before his eyes.

Finally, the shadow of human war appeared in the gray fog, the people cried, and the black mud invaded by the foreign gods was everywhere, as if it would swallow up the Song Dynasty and all the people.

"Why add to the pain of an outcome that cannot be prevented?"

The black shadow sneered as if it saw through his heart, "Instead of watching mortals wither away, it is better to embrace chaos and return to silence. This is the true liberation."

Li Qingyun's mind was shaking in severe pain, as if even his soul was about to be torn apart.

He tried his best to clear his mind and shouted:
"Nonsense! Although there are many sufferings in the world, there is also vitality and hope. Since this world allowed me to be born, I will protect it to the end!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he took a deep breath of spiritual energy and stimulated the sword energy to the extreme again.

A platinum-colored flame rose up and condensed into a thunder-like force, blasting straight towards the heart of the black shadow.

This was the strongest attack he could launch at this moment, and he was determined to inflict heavy damage on "Ji" regardless of the consequences.

The black shadow let out a sharp scream, and the mist scattered. Countless shattered shadows could be vaguely seen exploding suddenly in the sword light, like burning confetti, being turned into black dust by the hurricane.

Li Qingyun breathed a sigh of relief, as if he saw the dawn of victory.

However, just when he relaxed, a darker darkness gathered behind him like a claw and swung down suddenly.

"Don't even think about leaving—"

The vicious roar pierced his eardrums fiercely. Li Qingyun felt a biting cold wind on his back and quickly drew his sword to block it. However, his power was almost at its limit and he was unable to completely withdraw his attack.

The black devil's claw slapped down from the air and hit him heavily on the shoulder, almost breaking half of his body.

Li Qingyun only felt a roar in the depths of his sea of ​​consciousness. He opened his mouth and spurted out a mouthful of light golden divine blood, and his consciousness suddenly became blurred.

The ground suddenly collapsed, and he saw endless gray fog rolling in his daze, completely submerging him. He didn't know how long it took, maybe just a moment, or maybe it took a million seconds.

He vaguely felt a drip of cold liquid hitting his cheeks, like rain, or like some strange mucus.

When he tried to open his eyes, he saw the empty sky cracked into several dark marks, and the shattered palace was tilted all over the place, like the aftermath of doomsday.

"cannot……"

He wanted to stand up, but his whole body ached and he almost fell to his knees again.

Suddenly he heard Mu Guiying's anxious call. The voice was very light and far away, but it seemed to come from a distant world, awakening his remaining consciousness.

It turned out that in reality, his body was also collapsing due to the fierce battle between his mind and spirit. Mu Guiying and others may have noticed something was wrong and rushed to try to wake him up.

But if he still stays in the illusion at this moment, his soul will be completely swallowed up by "silence" and it will be difficult for him to return.

He bit the tip of his tongue tightly, using the pain to boost his mind and forcibly mobilize the last ray of light in his sea of ​​consciousness.

He was no longer able to fight against the black shadow and could only use the sealing technique to force it back into the depths of the palace.

The sword energy was powerless, but it condensed into a complex rune array, quickly drawing a semicircle on the surrounding ground.

The runes flashed with sapphire and silver light, slowly rotating and pushing the gray fog several feet back. The shadow knew he was trying to escape, so it roared and turned into a bloody rain to attack the rune formation.

But although the talisman formation was reluctant, it still did not let it cross.

"Next time...you won't have another chance!"

The black shadow roared hoarsely, with endless murderous intent and greed.

Li Qingyun no longer responded, but just silently recited the sealing formula, using up his last bit of energy to completely activate the formation.

The runes burned wildly, like a wall of light, forcibly isolating the dark shadows and fog, and suppressing them deeper into the temple again.

Then he himself could not withstand the trauma to his soul, his consciousness was spinning, and he suddenly exited the illusion in his sea of ​​consciousness.

In reality, Mu Guiying was seeing Li Qingyun sitting cross-legged in meditation indoors, his face pale, a trace of blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, and his whole body trembling.

She was extremely anxious, but she didn't dare to wake him up rashly, for fear that disturbing him would backfire.

Xu Liang and the Three Heroes and Five Gallants of Kaifeng Prefecture were also on high alert in the side room. No one had ever seen such a strange scene: in the huge hall, the air seemed to be formed into an invisible layer of cold mist, and the candlelight flickered unpredictably, making people feel cold.

Suddenly, Li Qingyun let out a long breath, opened his eyes abruptly, and then coughed out a large mouthful of blood, which splashed on the bluestone ground, shocking to the eye.

Mu Guiying was horrified and rushed forward to help:
"Qingyun, what are you doing..."

Li Qingyun barely raised his hand to indicate that he was fine, but in fact he was so exhausted that he was unable to speak.

He relaxed for a while, then took a deep breath, allowing his divine power to barely protect his heart.

"I... there is something in my body that needs to constantly fight against the seal. I have suppressed it temporarily, but its will has become stronger."

Mu Guiying was heartbroken, but she didn't know what to do:
"Is there a cure? Do I need to call in the imperial physician?"

Li Qingyun shook his head, a bitter look on his face.

"The imperial physician is useless. This is a spiritual injury, and the only way to heal it is by self-cultivation. Let's keep this a secret for now, to avoid causing great unrest among the people."

His voice was low, but it was filled with unquestionable firmness.

Mu Guiying wanted to persuade him again, but was stopped by his gaze and could only nod in agreement.

She turned and asked softly:

"The chaos of the Outer Gods has not yet subsided, and the court still hopes that you can continue to come forward and calm the people. If...if your divine power is too seriously damaged, how should you deal with it?"

Li Qingyun supported his knees and struggled to stand up, his joints seemed to crackle as he moved.

A hint of ruthlessness and unwillingness flashed across his brows:

"What else can I do? I need to stabilize the situation first. Although I have suffered heavy losses, I will never allow the Outer Gods to wreak havoc. But... I don't know what will happen next."

At this point, he felt confused.

In addition to the threat from the Outer Gods, he also had a vague feeling that there seemed to be some kind of secret resonance between "Silence" and the Outer Gods, or that the two were using each other in secret.

If this is true, the human crisis will double.

He suppressed his anxiety, took a deep breath, and then let Mu Guiying and others leave first.

It was late at night and only a few dim lights were flickering outside the hall.

Li Qingyun sat in silence, but the horrific scenes from the palace illusion just now echoed in his mind: the collapsed statues, the raging blood and fire, the wailing of thousands of ghosts... Was that an ancient relic that "Ji" deliberately showed him, or was it really a piece of history?

This mysterious god has never appeared in any historical records. Where did he come from?
When I thought of this, my heart felt even heavier.

He secretly swore that no matter what, he must never let "Ji" awaken in the world, because the consequences would be more terrifying than the invasion of foreign gods.

The wind suddenly blew outside the window, making the curtains rustle.

The dim light cast a shadow on the wall, resembling a distorted human face.

Li Qingyun was not frightened when he saw this, but he was alert in his heart: although he had retained a trace of divine power, he had not yet truly escaped the clutches of "Silence".

If a strong enemy attacks again, will he be able to mobilize the power of the true god in time?

What's worse is that if "Ji" takes the opportunity to become agitated again, he may lose control at any time.

At that time, let alone saving the people, I am afraid that my soul will be devoured first.

Thinking of this, he smiled bitterly, and recalled that when he had just traveled through time, he relied on the power of "Silence" to practice. He couldn't help but sigh that this path to becoming a god was really like walking on thin ice.

After a moment, he slowly stood up, walked into the yard and looked up at the night sky.

The stars seemed to be hanging, but there were a few dark clouds deposited, flashing with lavender lightning, which were possible signs of erosion by the Outer Gods.

Further away, the sound of hurried horse hooves could occasionally be heard from the direction of the palace, which must be the urgent military intelligence reports coming in from various places.

The soldiers of the Song Dynasty were exhausted from running around, but he could only rest for a while, hoping to stand up at the critical moment.

Thinking of the countless unfamiliar faces and former comrades who had joined hands with him, he gently stroked the hilt of the knife and said to himself:

"Hold on... we must hold on."

In the air, the wind started to blow again.

There seemed to be a hint of mockery in the wind, as if someone was watching coldly from an invisible distance.

Li Qingyun's expression changed slightly, his back suddenly straightened, and he raised his sword, as if he was on guard.

But there was no one around, only a gray cloud shadow flashed by, like a ghost in the night.

He did not chase after him. He just took a deep breath to suppress the dull pain in his chest, then put away the knife and returned to the hall.

No matter how many concerns you have, you have to calm your mind for the time being. After dawn, you still need to plan how to fight against the foreign gods and the remnants of Taoism.

As long as we are still standing, we must maintain the remaining order in this chaotic world.

That night, there were no lights inside or outside the courtyard, only the flickering candles at the end of the corridor, casting uneven shadows on the green tiles, like a giant beast crouching.

Li Qingyun sat cross-legged and adjusted his breathing until the sky was slightly bright. His spiritual power recovered a little, but it was still unable to return to its peak level.

The gray mist that occasionally emerged from the body moved provocatively from time to time, as if it was ready to stir up a more terrible storm at any time.

All he could do was continue to hold it down.

When the first ray of sunlight broke through the gray clouds and shone onto the city of Bianjing, voices began to clamor outside again, and an urgent military call was heard from a certain direction.

Li Qingyun stood up, shook off his fatigue, pushed the door open and walked out. Mu Guiying had been waiting outside for a long time.

Seeing that he was walking steadily but looking pale, she opened her mouth to persuade him, but in the end she only said:

"His Majesty has summoned me to report the reappearance of the Outer Gods. Qingyun... are you able to act?"

Li Qingyun sighed:
"It doesn't matter. No matter how difficult it is, I can't just sit back and do nothing."

The two looked at each other, their intentions already understood, and then they rushed towards the imperial city.

Along the way, although Li Qingyun's figure was still as strong and upright as a bamboo in the wind, he knew in his heart that he was at the end of his strength.

The huge black shadow in the palace is still watching with eager eyes, while the evil power of the Outer Gods' army is also expanding.

Although the world seems calm, the undercurrent has actually reached its peak.

He clenched his fist and coughed lightly, his mind echoing with Ji's threats before he left:
"Next time...you won't have another chance..."

The sneer that rolled out from the abyss seemed to echo the brightness of the day, but also blocked the rise of hope.

However, Li Qingyun still did not intend to retreat.

Even if the crisis is like a needle pointing at his head, he will still block it.

Even if the palace gets out of control again, he will fight to the death to protect this country and its people.

Is it night light, or deeper darkness?
No one can say for sure.

There is only one thing that remains his unchanging obsession: as long as the world is not destroyed, there will be strength to fight.

Even if the gray fog devours the soul, even if foreign gods attack, he will not allow this land to fall into fire again.

So he strode forward, and amid the sound of swords and horses there was a sense of tragic determination.

This is the briefest respite before a new confrontation, and also the eve of an even bigger storm...

……

(End of this chapter)