Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 524

"Senior, it seems we are destined to miss out on appreciating it."

Yayoi stopped and looked up.

Ahead, there was a towering outer wall of blood, flowing yet seamless and opaque. One could vaguely hear muffled sounds and feel the ever-expanding pressure, but there was no way to see what was happening inside.

In fact, even Yayoi, who is not good at formations, could easily break through this barrier, and Junsei could do it with brute force.

But no one dared to do it, with the sun overhead watching them.

It's easy for you to break it open, but it's even easier for it to melt you.

Yayoi looked regretful; he really wanted to watch the duel inside.

Firstly, both sides involved are Buddhists, and observing their fight would be very beneficial to oneself.

Secondly, their next opponent will be determined inside. He knows about his grandmasters, but he knows nothing about the "mysterious person" the boy mentioned, except that the other party is good at divination.

Li Zhuiyuan: "If I say I'll let you appreciate it, then I will let you appreciate it."

Yayoi: "Senior... are you confident?"

In other words, Yayoi's willpower was strong enough. If anyone else had asked that question, they would most likely have taken a step back and distanced themselves from Li Zhuiyuan, fearing that when the sun melted the boy, it would also splash onto them.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Don't worry, there's no danger."

Yayoi: "Little monk, wait and see."

The boy didn't attempt to break the formation, nor did he look up at the sun; instead, he looked down at the ground.

"Crash..."

Even though there was no wind, a piece of paper was "blown" over and stuck to the boy's boot.

The paper was blackened at the edges, and all four corners were damaged to varying degrees.

Li Zhuiyuan bent down, picked up the paper, and turned it over.

On the paper, the woman's clothes were torn, revealing her snow-white neck. Her hair was disheveled and draped over her shoulders. She gently bit her red lips with her pearly teeth, and a strand of hair just happened to pass between her red lips. She looked as if she was about to cry.

Though silent, it was as if one could hear the sincerity of the emotions conveyed:
"I almost thought I would never see you again in this life."

Ah Li turned her head to the side and looked at the paper as well.

The next moment, the scene suddenly changed.

The woman on the paper is fully clothed, her hair is styled in a bun, and she is kneeling gracefully.

Li Zhuiyuan: "You did a great job."

The woman who received the praise held her hand to the corner of her eye, wiping away tears of joy.

As instructed, the evil book was first hidden away, and then actively sought out the boy after sensing his presence.

One reason is the distorted loyalty he developed through torture at the hands of Li Zhuiyuan;

On the other hand, she doesn't even have a book left now, just this piece of paper. No matter how far she flies, it will be difficult for her to leave this place. Even if she could leave... she would have to cross the ocean to get ashore.

Of course, there might be another reason.

The boy took out a clean, white piece of paper from his pocket.

This is a page from the "Book Without Words." When the "Book Without Words" was disassembled and pasted onto General Zeng's body for disguise, there was an extra page, which was then collected by Li Zhuiyuan.

With this piece of paper, even if the woman hides at the ends of the earth, the boy can find her by walking along the river.

Li Zhuiyuan pasted the two pieces of paper together, and the woman quickly moved to the new paper, restoring the boudoir to its neat and cozy state.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

The woman retreated to the corner of the paper, and the scene changed, revealing a pagoda. Standing in front of the pagoda was General Masaki's version of "Yayoi".

In the next scene, the overall scene remained unchanged, except that "Yayoi" exploded.

General Zeng is alright, but his essence has been greatly damaged. Li Zhuiyuan can sense that General Zeng is still there through the second set of talisman armor.

The enemy unleashed their most powerful weapon upon meeting, but General Zeng's greatest fear—being captured alive and having his soul extracted—did not occur.

But that set of talismanic armor was completely annihilated.

If they want to make another one, they'll have to ask Feng Xionglin to go to his family's ancestral graves and introduce some more relatives to help.

Yayoi walked over, saw the pagoda in the painting, and said, "This is the treasure of Hōhei-ji Temple, the Seven-Colored Glazed Pagoda."

Tan Wenbin: "The Seven-Colored Glazed Pagoda? That name sounds like something that was stolen from our house."

Yayoi: "This pagoda can only be activated by those with profound Buddhist nature, and when it is unsealed and about to be used, it will have a suppressive effect on the soul."

Li Zhuiyuan: "What about the physical body?"

Yayoi: "Senior, this is an absolutely powerful thing. Look at its power. For those who are not physically strong, the force of the recoil alone can cause their bones and flesh to fall off."

Lin Shuyou: "Then it's useless?"

The temple also contains the thunder whips and square seals of the Ling and Tao families, all of which are of the same type. Others who do not understand the method cannot bring out the effect, and even Xiao Yuan, who does understand the method, cannot withstand it.

Tan Wenbin: "How could it be useless? Look, isn't this pagoda at the entrance of the temple quite beautiful?"

Lin Shuyou: "Indeed."

Tan Wenbin: "If all else fails, we can still trade it for something, like selling the Thunder Whip to Ling Wuxing and the Square Seal to Tao Zhuming. They definitely need it."

Lin Shuyou: "That's right!"

Li Zhuiyuan said to Yasheng, "You flatter us, we're just terrified of being poor."

Yayoi: "I understand. This is the joy of gaining something. I have also experienced it deeply once, when there were a lot of things I didn't know how to use."

Li Zhuiyuan tapped his fingertip on the paper and asked:
"Don't tell me that this is really the only one you have left."

The wordless book was originally so tough that it could be used to whip zombies. Even after being broken into paper, it was no longer tough, but it was not so bad that it could be blasted into a single piece.

A smile appeared on the woman's face.

The scene changes; on the left and right, there are two groups of people.

There were six people in the group. Although they hadn't used color and had only done simple sketches in order to speed up the drawing process, Yayoi could still recognize that these six were her grand-uncles.

The distinctive features of my grandmasters, such as moles on their faces, red noses, and shrunken eyes, were all revealed.

The other group consisted of three people, two in front and one behind. The person behind held a pagoda in his left hand and a bowl in his right.

Yayoi suddenly understood and pointed to the high wall of blood:

"This is what it's like inside."

A small portion was excited to glimpse the inside story, but most were impressed by the boy's meticulous planning. Senior Li had even prepared in advance how to "enjoy the dog-eat-dog battle."

Inside the sea of ​​blood, in many corners and crevices, there are tattered pieces of paper, some curled up and some inserted. Their existence is so ordinary and inconspicuous, yet they satisfy multiple perspectives.

Li Zhuiyuan was unaware that Miyoshi was once again filled with admiration for him. He wasn't that divine; he couldn't be so omniscient. He only knew that the "Evil Book" still existed, and based on their past interactions, he knew that even if she was on her last breath, she would continue to cause trouble without hesitation.

There are a total of nine characters on both sides.

After the scene froze for a while, the names of each character appeared next to them.

Xuanrun, Xuanhui, Xuanzhen.

Hollow-hearted, empty-hearted, empty-born, empty-eyed, empty-minded, empty-wisdom.

Li Zhuiyuan spread the paper out on the ground so that everyone could gather around and look at it together.

The names of these people were written down by the tattered papers inside when they heard the way the paper addressed each other.

Yayoi pointed out, "Senior, this is Grandmaster Kongxin. The other six Grandmasters who entered here are all here to help him gain Buddhist affinity."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

Tan Wenbin had previously explained to Lin Shuyou the cruelty beneath the seemingly simple rules here.

However, Li Zhuiyuan felt that with the foundation of Qinglong Temple, such internal strife and killings would not happen among these senior monks of the Kong generation.

They may not be qualified worldly monks, but they are certainly qualified monks within the temple. They will not do anything short-sighted and are very likely willing to sacrifice for the benefit of Qinglong Temple.

This powerful opponent, whose strength cannot be dismantled or divided from within, is a major headache for Li Zhuiyuan.

The original plan was to use the other monks here to wear them down, and that's what Sun Baishen did.

However, the results were not as expected, and the only one who passed away was poisoned by Yayoi.

Fortunately, the mysterious person entered.

Finally, a sharp blade appeared, offering a chance to cleave this united and sturdy group of Azure Dragon Stones.

Lin Shuyou: "Brother Bin, this feels so much like reading a comic book, like the introduction of the characters on the previous page."

Tan Wenbin: "Oh, you used to be so busy practicing martial arts, yet you still had time to read comics?"

Lin Shuyou: "You read books during class, piling them up high and hiding comic books and novels underneath. Brother Bin, haven't you ever experienced that?"

Tan Wenbin: "I like to hide under the covers and use a flashlight to look at things."

When he was in school, he was the Left Protector, so he didn't have this advantageous position.

Lin Shuyou: "I can't watch it at home. My grandfather and master sometimes use spirit writing to patrol the night, so it can't be hidden."

Tongzi: "That little brat who got beaten up several times for hiding under the covers reading comic books when I saw him with my vertical pupils, was that you, Tongzi?"

Tan Wenbin: "Ah You, guess which of these three people is the mystery man?"

Lin Shuyou first pointed to Xuan Run, who was standing at the front of the three. His demeanor and bearing clearly indicated that he was the leader.

But Ayou immediately slid his finger to Xuanzhen behind him.

"Brother Bin, I think it's him."

"Is it because he has two treasures? Yayoi just said that carrying these things is a tough job."

"It's because he tightly protected his companions in front of him."

"Cough...cough..."

“Brother Bin, I think all big shots do this. They try to hide behind their companions and protect themselves.”

"Okay, that's enough, Ah You, no need to explain so much."

"Brother Xiaoyuan, do you think my guess was right?"

The spirit medium asked, "Spirit medium, who are you alluding to?"

Lin Shuyou: "..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You guessed right. Since the pagoda is in his hands, then he is the one who smashed General Zeng's armor. Only that mysterious person has the motive to strike first and kill someone."

He wanted to kill Ah Li.

The commotion in the sea of ​​blood continued unabated; a fierce battle had already broken out inside. The painting of the "Evil Book" was clearly severely delayed.

However, she doesn't need to draw so frequently; one drawing per phase, with the audience filling in the gaps in between.

The next painting appeared.

The two sides clashed directly.

There is no need for communication, and there is no need for communication at all. We have to fight sooner or later, because in the end there can only be one winner.

Even if they realize they've been "used to kill," there's no reason for them to stop; they both share the same thought: wishing the other to pass away peacefully.

In the scene, the six monks of Qinglong Temple act together, each displaying their unique skills.

The woman wasn't described in detail, but Li Zhuiyuan could imagine how fierce her attack would be.

Xuanrun took the pagoda to protect himself, while Xuanhui took the golden bowl to bless himself. The two of them showed obvious signs of panic.

Qinglong Temple already held a higher position in Buddhism than Faping Temple. Even among elders of the same generation, Qinglong Temple was superior, not to mention having twice the number of members.

Xuanzhen's performance was relatively normal; he was helping his two senior brothers defend against the enemy's attack.

It's clear that from the very first exchange, Hoheiji was at a significant disadvantage.

Li Zhuiyuan focused on memorizing the strengths of each of the six monks from Qinglong Temple, which was a valuable pre-war resource. The second painting appears.

Following the previous scene, in the phase that was skipped in the middle, the situation did not reverse, and the decline of Hōhei-ji Temple deepened further.

Interestingly, Xuan Run, who was previously dignified and composed in the painting, and Xuan Hui, who was full of confidence, appeared quite disheveled. This was not due to a difference in strength, but rather a significant difference in their mental state.

Logically speaking, having reached such a position in the temple and now coming here, how come he can't even be willing to die for his country?

If you can't beat someone, they'll just get killed, just like how they killed other monks.

Li Zhuiyuan had never heard of Ruoan Temple, the temple of the monk Suiyuan, but he had heard of Faping Temple. It was clearly a remarkable lineage in the martial arts world, but the elders of the temple were so unworthy of their reputation, as if they had been diluted.

In comparison, Shi Sheng, who was surrounded and killed by himself, may have been foolish, but in some ways, he was more worthy of the title of elder of Faping Temple.

Moreover, the six monks of Qinglong Temple did not exert their full strength; they intended to overwhelm their opponents with their power and eliminate them at the lowest possible cost.

It's fair to say that before things even got really serious on this side, things had already started to fall apart on the other side.

A third painting appears.

Xuanrun and Xuanhui each used their precious treasures to prolong their lives, while Xuanzhen, without any protective treasures, was hiding in a limited space.

Neither of the two senior brothers was willing to lend a hand to their junior brother, and of course, the junior brother probably had no interest in associating with these two senior brothers either.

This mysterious person is deliberately concealing their strength.

The bloodshed continues unabated, the fighting never ends, and there's no way to escape. What's the point of hiding your strength now? In the end, won't you still be forced to use it anyway?

Unless... he was deliberately waiting for his two senior brothers to die first.

If Xuanzhen can't be ambushed and killed by him, or even recognize his true face, and die in a relatively reasonable way, he can benefit from it.

Skilled in deduction, at the gate of life and death, the Buddhist path of cause and effect is being rebuilt, and powerful evil spirits are being integrated... Li Zhuiyuan had a guess in his mind: Could this guy be raising me, this cuckoo, in this nest of Faping Temple?

Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds' nests. When the baby cuckoos hatch, they push the other birds out of the nest and kill them, so that they can enjoy the food provided by their parents all by themselves.

No family or clan would be happy to have such a thing hidden within their lineage. Moreover, judging from the painting, this thing is quite old, having reached the position of elder, which means it has been corrupting Faping Temple for countless years.

From another perspective, it's truly remarkable that Faping Temple has managed to maintain its current status in both the Buddhist community and the martial arts world.

As a result, the expected value of the treasures hidden in Shi Sheng's dilapidated temple was also raised by Li Zhuiyuan. He had to go to that dilapidated temple!
A new painting emerges.

This time, the painting depicts the deaths of Xuanrun and Xuanhui. Even with powerful treasures in hand, they were unable to withstand the combined attack of the six monks from Qinglong Temple. Xuanzhen, who did not possess any powerful treasures, however, survived.

Furthermore, in the scene, the leader of the six monks of Qinglong Temple, Master Kongxin, raised his hand. Instead of leading his fellow disciples to press on and finish off the last one, he signaled them to stop and remain on guard.

The Hollow Master discovered Xuanzhen's problem and realized that Xuanzhen's continued survival was not due to good luck.

Yayoi once said that his hollow grandmaster was skilled in the secret arts of cause and effect, and could even slightly conceal the aura of the golden ring scar.

With such a leader overseeing the six monks of Qinglong Temple, things will be very difficult for me to deal with next.

The plans, commands, and strategies of both sides are likely to cancel each other out, leading to a primitive bloody battle.

Even though Li Zhuiyuan had prepared for this day in advance, he still didn't want the situation to get out of control. He didn't want to leave with fewer people returning than those who went out.

The longer you spend time with a partner who has shared life and death with you, and the more you experience together, the less you want to lose them.

On a smaller scale, there's the story of Xiong Shan and his wife, who were disheartened by the sudden loss of too many of their companions; on a larger scale, there's the story of Liu Qingcheng, who, after becoming the Dragon King, wielded his sword to avenge his fallen comrades on the river.

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze narrowed slightly.

No, it's too early to consider that now. The mysterious man's true strength has not yet been revealed. In extreme cases, what would happen if the six monks of Qinglong Temple couldn't subdue him?
If things develop this way, then the ultimate purpose of Heaven's will have been revealed in arranging this wave for me.

The next painting appears.

In the picture, the six monks of Qinglong Temple are surrounded by a halo of Buddha light. Since they were not colored, the woman drew some waves on the monks as a substitute.

Under Kongxin's leadership, all six monks became serious.

On the other side, Xuanzhen bent down to pick up the pagoda and golden bowl from the ground. He was very relaxed and his expression was even more leisurely, showing no sign of being forced into a desperate situation.

On the contrary, the Qinglong Temple, which held an absolute advantage and had already killed two of their opponents, was on high alert.

Even with live footage, separated by a sea of ​​blood, it's impossible to truly experience the scene firsthand. Li Zhuiyuan really wanted to experience the perspective of the Hollow Master and deduce just how powerful this mysterious person was.

Tan Wenbin: "Brother Xiaoyuan, are they about to start negotiating? Everyone listen carefully, isn't the commotion from the sea of ​​blood a little quieter now?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "We won't negotiate because we have no bargaining chips to use."

The stronger the opponent, the less likely they are to back down. Here, it is worthwhile to kill the opponent even at a high cost, as the gray fog area can still slowly shrink, allowing enough time to heal.

A new painting appears.

In the painting, Xuanzhen holds a pagoda in his left hand and a golden bowl in his right, with a smile on his face, his head tilted back, and a third eye has appeared on his forehead.

Lin Shuyou had previously asked Tan Wenbin privately who the "like an old friend" that Xiao Yuan Ge mentioned was, but even so, when he saw Zhao Yi's three eyes appear on this person, it still shocked Lin Shuyou.

After regaining his senses, Lin Shuhao asked curiously, "Brother Xiaoyuan, can his life-or-death gap be transferred to his chest?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "No, not everyone can be Zhao Yi."

Lin Shuyou nodded in agreement: "Indeed, although Three-Eyed is annoying, he is still very powerful."

Zhao Yi dared to dig a hole between life and death to become the master of his own life, and dared to destroy the dirty bird's nest in his home in Jiujiang. These are things that the mysterious person would not dare to do.

The woman is meticulously carving and enriching the details of the painting, with the focus on Xuanzhen.

Soon, what was sealed in Xuanzhen's third eye surfaced. The woman had deliberately colored it; it was the golden ring scar.

Tan Wenbin: "How could he actually seal the Buddhist vow within the crack of life and death?"

Yayoi: "Amitabha."

Their own Hollow Grandmaster Uncle could only partially conceal the golden ring scar to neutralize Sun Baishen's targeting of them, but this person could completely cover the golden ring scar. Such a method had already surpassed that of their Hollow Grandmaster Uncle.

Most importantly, this means that he is currently the only being found here who can "interfere" with the rules.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Sun Baishen may not be able to control him."

Hollow Master was merely taking a shortcut; in essence, he was still acting within the rules of the True Lord Temple. Xuanzhen, on the other hand, literally broke the rules here, and he was not afraid of Sun Baishen's retaliation against the rules.

In the next painting, the faces of the six monks of Qinglong Temple disappeared, and the patterns on their robes became simple and rough.

This is not because the woman was lazy or didn't have time to paint, but because the six monks activated their golden bodies and transformed into golden figures.

In the previous paintings, the six monks went from doubt to being on high alert and then to being wary. Now, they are ready to fight to the death!

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yayoi, I'm starting to hope that your grandmasters can win."

No matter how strong the six monks are, they are still competitors of the True Lord Temple, while that mysterious person may have reached the level of a semi-judge.

Yayoi: "Wasn't it a case of good intentions gone wrong when this humble monk saw off his great-uncle, Master Kong?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If you don't kill him, he'll kill you. Your life is more important to me."

Yayoi lowered her head, pretending to continue looking at the painting, to hide her discomfort with the boy's unusually straightforward words.

The monk misunderstood Li Zhuiyuan's meaning.

On the other side of the screen, Xuanzhen still maintains the posture of looking up.

The two sides have not yet officially clashed in this new phase, so what are the six monks afraid of?
Lin Shuyou was engrossed in reading: "Why aren't you fighting yet? Hurry up and draw, draw faster and draw more."

Ayou was very curious to see what methods this mysterious person would use to deal with the six monks, and wanted to compare him with Zhao Yi to see how they differed.

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at the sea of ​​blood before him, then craned his neck to look at the sun overhead.

Irregular ripples appeared on the sea of ​​blood, and similar rhythms appeared on the sun above at the same time.

not good!

Li Zhuiyuan grabbed a handful of papers from the ground: "Move away immediately!"

Runsheng quickly unfolded the pedal and squatted down.

Li Zhuiyuan held A Li's hand as they stepped onto the pedals, while Li Zhuiyuan grabbed Runsheng's shoulder with his other hand.

Without hesitation or explanation, Lin Shuyou rushed to the front, Tan Wenbin followed behind, and Runsheng ran hard in the middle.

Yayoi followed up very quickly.

Not long after everyone ran away, the sea of ​​blood suddenly hummed and fluctuated violently, indicating that someone was deliberately breaking through the sea of ​​blood's encirclement.

A thick beam of sunlight shone down, transforming midway into scorching golden magma before crashing down with tremendous force.

"boom!"

The sea of ​​blood collapsed, and lava splashed everywhere in the area.

As Yayoi ran, she glanced back and saw that although the place where she and the others had been standing was outside the sea of ​​blood, it was still within the range of dense splashes. The area that the sea of ​​blood had originally covered was now a vast expanse of gold.

This is how the mysterious person dealt with things!

Yayoi didn't know how her grandmasters were doing, nor did she know whether the mysterious person could escape safely from the calamity she had triggered.

All he knew was that the molten droplets splashing everywhere were very hot and burning.

Runsheng opened the air valve, but because he was carrying two people on his back, the air valve barrier opened awkwardly, which also affected his running speed.

As they ran, darkness suddenly fell over them. Looking up, they saw that a demonic cloud was covering them, blocking the falling molten droplets.

As Yayoi ran, he chanted scriptures with one hand. The demonic energy he released above was continuously melted and permeated, and countless water bubbles appeared on Yayoi's body.

Regardless of what the future holds, at least for now, Yayoi truly considers herself a part of this place and is willing to use her demonic body to protect everyone.

Finally, the sun's side quieted down, and everyone was out of its influence.

Li Zhuiyuan connected his companions with red threads, guiding them in the right direction.

Yayoi withdrew the demonic cloud, her body covered in wounds, especially her face, which was pockmarked from the burns.

If the old man saw Tang Sanzang in this state, he would definitely be heartbroken; the White Dragon Horse had turned into a mule.

On the route planned by Li Zhuiyuan, they did not encounter any large groups of monks. It was not that their fighting had come to an end; in fact, it was still early. The young man guessed that they were only in the middle of the journey.

The most brutal battle will only truly begin when the outermost layer of gray fog shrinks to a certain extent.

The reason they didn't encounter many people was due to Li Zhuiyuan's route selection. He didn't intend to waste the team's energy here; he wanted to save it for the final battle.

And right now, the place I need to go is the Temple of the True Lord of Salvation!

Where the magma cooled and solidified, streaks of gold mixed with crimson rushed out.

After some time,

"Glug... Glug... Bang!"

A skeletal skeleton slowly rose from the lava, then walked step by step outwards, cursing as it went:

"Why is this happening? Why isn't it complete yet? I've already avenged you, haven't you already let go of your obsession?"

Xuanzhen dared to do this because he assumed he had reached the Great Perfection of the White Bone Realm, but the magma could still seep into his bones, causing him great discomfort.

He stopped, his fingertips calculating, the gate of life and death on his forehead spinning rapidly, and a brief look of astonishment appeared on Xuanzhen's face:
"How could he not be dead?"
It doesn't matter,
I can kill you once, and I can kill you a second time. Let me see where you are now.

Ok?
Where have you gone? Why can't I figure out your location?

……

Yayoi: "Senpai, it's so quiet here. After entering, we really can't see a single monk."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Because this place does not currently 'exist'."

Yayoi: "Even though I am not proficient in formations, I am still amazed by your mastery of formations."

Li Zhuiyuan: "There are quite a few people in this Zhenjun Temple who are capable of entering. The reason I was able to bring you in is not because of my superior formation, but because they do not know that there is a Pudu Zhenjun Hall here."

If it weren't for the complete map provided by chance, Li Zhuiyuan wouldn't have known there was an unopened area here. The boy judged that eventually everyone would be compressed into this area, and of course, by then, there wouldn't be many people left.

Yayoi: "So, senpai, what should we do next?"

"Healing, resting, setting up formations..."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the distant sky, where a new round of inward-contracting gray fog was being activated, and continued,

"Wait for the circle to shrink!"

(End of this chapter)