Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 416 A Battle of Wits from Afar, Each Displaying Their Unique Abilities (Part 1) (5K words presented, please support with monthly votes~)

Cheng Xinzhan left Luofu Mountain and headed straight west, crossing the Lingdingyang.

However, he did not return to Yunti Mountain, nor did he go to the west coast. Instead, he rode his lion to an unnamed island about three zhang in circumference in the western part of the Lingdingyang and landed there.

This was a solitary rocky island, its rocks a deep black, just large enough for a lion to lie down and rest. Cheng Xinzhan used magic to sweep away the dust, then leaned against the lion and sat cross-legged. He wanted to see what the demons and monsters lurking in the shadows were up to.

Ever since that fetal movement, a vague sense of crisis has always lingered in his mind. He thought that instead of hiding and working in fear, it would be better to wait for the opportune moment, remain unchanged in the face of all changes, and see what kind of trouble those people could cause.

After sitting down, he summoned a fire lotus and released it into the sea. The fire lotus transformed into a red carp, which vanished in an instant with a flick of its tail. Immediately afterwards, he summoned the "Eight Treasures Cloud Light Cloth," which transformed into a hazy sea mist that enveloped the isolated island.

After doing all this, Cheng Xinzhan began to meditate and enter a state of deep concentration.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

South China Sea, Penghu Island, Zhibo Cave.

The devil now looked exactly like a demon, with a ferocious face, gritted teeth, and bloodshot eyes, staring intently at the altar in front of him.

He was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally. The Green-Robed Ancestor had told him to keep an eye on the thief's trail, but he never expected that this watch would last for a year and a half!

Where on earth has that little bastard gone?!

The evil devils would mutter this problem dozens of times a day, and the people of the Southern School would monitor Cloud Ladder Mountain day and night, but they just couldn't find any trace of that famous scripture master.

By now, the evil devil had long since given up. Setting up an altar was an incredibly exhausting task; how could anyone possibly spend a year and a half on it? The evil devil felt completely drained by the altar before him. However, he dared not disobey; it was a death order from the Green-Robed Ancestor. He was obliged to do this one thing. Top-quality sea pearls were sent to him daily to replenish his magical power and strengthen the altar; the evil devil simply couldn't bring himself to refuse.

On this day, the demon's cloudy eyes suddenly saw the flying apsara on the altar twitch. The headless man still looked as if it had just been severed, blood dripping from its neck. At this moment, the head's gaze finally stopped wandering and fixed itself on the hairy man in front of it.

The devil thought it was his imagination, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.

That's right, Feitianman found that little beast!

The evil devil was overjoyed, but he did not act immediately. Instead, he summoned the Green-Robed Ancestor.

Not long after, around the time Cheng Xinzhan landed on the nameless island, the Southern Sect patriarch, dressed in a green silk robe, appeared in Zhibo Cave.

"found it?"

"I ask the one in the green robe."

"Found it! I can cast the spell anytime!"

The devil answered loudly.

The man in the green robe waved his hand and said,
"Let's start descending now, lest this kid run away again."

The evil devil agreed.
He took out the black broom-like ritual implement again, holding it in one hand and making hand seals with the other, dancing around the altar of human heads while chanting incantations. This time, his ritual was much faster; in just a quarter of an hour, he pointed the broom at the human head at the top of the altar and shouted,

"Tracking them for a thousand miles, three demons have invaded the palace, go!"

Then, the head flew up and bit the hairy man.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On the other side, an unnamed island in the Lingdingyang Sea.

Cheng Xinzhan suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. At this moment, having had many experiences with setting up altars, he could tell that the person hiding in the shadows was trying to harm him by setting up an altar and casting a spell.

Almost the instant Cheng Xinzhan became aware of it, a black spot suddenly appeared between his eyebrows, and it was rapidly deepening in color. Moreover, the black spot between his eyebrows was easily visible, and black spots also appeared on his chest and abdomen.

At this moment, it was even clearer in the inner world. Three wisps of cold black mist seeped into the inner world from the outside, and they were moving very fast, drifting towards the Purple Palace, the Crimson Palace, and the Yellow Court in the upper, middle, and lower directions respectively.

The evil devil's curse was intended to directly turn Cheng Xinzhan into a cripple.

Cheng Xinzhan knew a year and a half ago that someone was plotting against him, so naturally he had a plan. When he saw the strange black smoke invading his body, his first action was unexpected. He didn't use any defensive spells or magic weapons. Instead, his right eye flashed and he summoned the "Youdu" flying sword.

The flying sword was a physical object, and a weapon for attack, so it was naturally useless against curses. Therefore, after the flying sword was summoned, it merely circled around Cheng Xinzhan and did nothing.

In fact, Cheng Xinzhan never expected the flying sword to do anything. He summoned the flying sword only to cast another spell.

Previously, he used a secret technique recorded in the *Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi*, "The Crimson Child Riding a Dragon and Chasing a Green Tiger," using his life essence and spirit to guide the pure Yang fire throughout his body, sweeping it inch by inch, driving away the Yin impurities in his bones and blood, and gathering them together to forge the "Netherworld" flying sword. Now, he is offering the "Netherworld" externally, which means that his physical body is now a pure Yang body. In this way, he can use the pure Yang body protection method recorded in the *Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi*.

Among these, the most powerful spell to deal with the invasion of evil spirits is the "Golden Light Protective Divine Mantra".

The black mist rapidly seeped into the three vital points, and a bone-chilling cold enveloped his entire body, making Cheng Xinzhan feel as if he were trapped in a bottomless abyss. However, he did not panic. The Taoist calmly responded, raising his hands to his chest, forming the "Tai Chi Golden Light Technique," and chanting...

"Xuanzong of heaven and earth, the root of Wan Qi.

I have cultivated extensively for hundreds of millions of kalpas to prove my magical powers.

Within and outside the Three Realms, only the Tao is supreme.

There is golden light in my body, which reflects my body.

……

Guardians of the Three Realms, Welcoming Officials of the Five Emperors.

All gods pay homage, and thunder is commanded.

Ghosts and demons lost their courage, and spirits and monsters vanished.

Within lies thunder, and the Thunder God remains anonymous.

With penetrating wisdom and insight, the five vital energies surge forth.

Golden light swiftly appeared, covering and protecting the true person!

Cheng Xinzhan chanted incantations, and at the same time, every corner of his body, his seven orifices, five internal organs, four limbs, three palaces, meridians, bones and blood, and so on, simultaneously burst forth with a dazzling golden light, illuminating the entire island.

In the golden light, the three plumes of black smoke suddenly dissipated.

The lion, awakened by the golden light, leaped into the air, shielding Cheng Xinzhan behind it. However, looking around, it saw no enemies and only the flying swords idly circling the island. Looking at the Taoist priest radiating golden light, it saw nothing unusual, sitting there calmly, unmoved. The lion assumed its master was practicing martial arts, yawned, and lay back down.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Penghu Island, Zhibo Cave.

On the skull altar, the black hairy man in Feitianman's mouth suddenly shone with golden light. Feitianman seemed to have bitten a red-hot iron and quickly let go. Even so, the lips and tongue of the head were burned and mangled.

As for the glowing black hairy man, golden flames ignited at this moment. The black hairs were burned and curled up one by one, then cracked and shattered in the golden light, and were burned into nothingness.

With a series of crackling sounds, the hairy man was rapidly shrinking.

Upon seeing this, the devil was naturally terrified and cried out in alarm.
"The Pure Yang Dao?"

Without a second thought, he immediately produced a dark black clay jar filled with thick, blackish-red blood. On the surface of the jar floated the weeping ghost faces of women, drifting like duckweed.

With a wave of his hand, the evil devil caused the dirty water in the jar to spray out in a jet shape, pouring onto the hairy figure on the altar.

"what--"

"what--"

A series of mournful howls echoed through the Zhibo Cave; they were the cries of the ghosts that had been cast into the sewage.

The sewage was dried by the golden light and could not be poured directly onto the hairy man, but the golden light was dimmed as a result.

The evil devil looked at it with great heartache. This was extremely yin and filthy blood that he had accumulated over the years. It needed to be refined by mixing the blood and soul of a red dragon woman born on a yin year, yin month, and yin day with her heart blood. It was extremely rare and was also a famously yin and filthy substance in the world.

The Green-Robed Ancestor was right there, and the evil devil, not wanting to show weakness, hurriedly continued casting the spell while feeling heartbroken. Because once the hairy man was burned, re-establishing contact would be troublesome.

He descended again, gesturing wildly and chanting.
"Tracking for a thousand miles, seducing and captivating, go!" After chanting, he pounded his chest and spat out a jet of blood that struck Fei Tou Man's face.

Then, the flying head barbarian's eyes flashed with bloodlust, ignoring the golden light emanating from the hairy man's body, and once again opened its blood-red maw to bite.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Lingdingyang, an unnamed island.

Cheng Xinzhan could sense that the golden light emanating from his recitation of the Golden Light Mantra was being suppressed, and the connection between him and the straw figure on the altar had not been severed immediately. Based on this alone, he was certain that the person who set up the altar to incantate him was no less than the fourth realm in cultivation.

Moreover, a second crisis followed immediately.

A faint murmur reached Cheng Xinzhan's ears, like a call or a lullaby, as if it were his mother's voice. He could also vaguely hear his own name. The sound was accompanied by the melodious sound of the tide, making him drowsy.

"Wow—wow—wow—"

“Ooh—Ooh ooh—”

Almost simultaneously, a sharp cry and a rooster's crow rang out in Cheng Xinzhan's inner world, waking him up to the sound of murmuring water.

He recognized it as the voice of "Fushi" Po and the inner vision of the heart.

At this moment, he saw that the two primordial spirits in the Purple Palace had already left their positions and were about to fly out of the Heavenly Spirit.

"Tai Shang Tai Xing, constantly responding to changes.

Exorcise evil spirits and bind evil spirits, protect life and body.

Wisdom is clear and the mind is peaceful.

The three souls are eternal, the spirit undiminished. Return to your place!

Cheng Xinzhan immediately recited a soul-soothing incantation from the "Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi," and his primordial spirit emitted a burst of pure yang light. He then broke free from the control of the murmuring water sounds and returned to the Purple Palace.

After stabilizing his soul, his face remained calm, and he simply said,
"It's rude to come and not reciprocate!"

After saying that, he took out a magical artifact, which was a tall, square white jade seal.

He channeled his magic power into it, and the seal grew rapidly in the wind, reaching a height of twenty or thirty feet and a diameter of five or six feet in the blink of an eye, before disappearing directly into the sea.

The giant seal fell into the water, but it floated as lightly as a leaf, without causing the slightest ripple or making the slightest sound.

The Lingdingyang Sea is not deep, and the Dharma Seal quickly reached the bottom. At this moment, the part of the Dharma Seal that was above the sea surface was exactly the seal knob.

Jar knob.

This button is called a knob on a small seal, but at this moment, the Dharma seal is so powerful that it can suppress mountains and seas. This is no longer a knob, but a true altar.

When he was carving the seal, he didn't create intricate animal, bird, or pavilion-shaped knobs; instead, he used a very simple and rough altar knob. The altar knob is divided into three tiers, gradually narrowing inward. With just a few strokes, it conveys the form and meaning of a mountain altar, making it look incredibly tall.

At that time, he had already figured out a clever use for it.

At this moment, the enormous altar stood before Cheng Xinzhan, as if carved from the mountain. Such a simple and unpretentious mountain altar could certainly not compare to those altars specially built for the altar master to perform the rituals, but the advantage of this kind of altar was that it could be used directly for the vast majority of altar rituals, and could be reused, greatly reducing the time and cost of building the altar.

For example, right now, Cheng Xinzhan wants to fight against the person who is secretly harming him from afar. There is no time to rebuild the altar, so he can directly cast spells with the altar knob of this seal.

At this moment, the Dharma Seal was unleashed, and the sleepy lion finally realized that its master was not practicing martial arts, but engaging in a magical duel. So, the lion leaped up and circled the island, guarding the altar. Although both sides of the island were currently the territory of the righteous path, and protected by the Dharma Cloak, it was still too close to Kowloon Island and the South China Sea; there was no guarantee that demons wouldn't come drawn by the sound.

At this moment, Cheng Xinzhan was focused on the magical duel. With a wave of his sleeve, he summoned all the commonly used magical implements for performing altar magic, such as commands, magic mirrors, talismans, and canopies, and arranged them in their proper positions.

The Taoist priest drew his thunder sword, leaped up, and arrived at the altar, beginning his ritualistic steps. This time, he was going to perform the Thunder Altar Technique again; the "She Lei Altar" among the Five Thunder Altars was specifically used to cut down mountains, destroy temples, and demolish evil altars.

Cheng Xinzhan didn't know how the person in the shadows contacted him, but he could sense that the connection was very strong, and it was definitely not just a simple matter of names.

Ever since he was cursed by Cao Jin in his early years, Cheng Xinzhan has paid special attention to his skin, hair, blood, and armor. Furthermore, although he had a particular fondness for body-based swordsmanship from the beginning of his cultivation, and later learned True Martial close combat techniques from the Innocent Child, he has still largely avoided close combat since then, precisely to prevent his belongings from being taken during close-quarters fighting.

As for the items he used and his birth date and time, the sect had long since taken control of the entire Zhangxiang Town, and the secret would not be leaked. As for the sect's own secrets, there's no need to say more.

Therefore, Cheng Xinzhan couldn't understand how the person in the shadows had established such a strong connection with him, and he could only silently remind himself to be extra careful in the future. Moreover, this also showed that the person in the shadows had been plotting against him for a long time.

However, now that the person in the shadows has contacted him through the altar's magic, and with such a strong connection, he can naturally use this connection to trace back to that evil altar!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Penghu Island, Zhibo Cave.

After the evil devil cast the second spell, both the Green-Robed Ancestor and the evil devil clearly saw that there were two illusory primordial spirits leaving the hairy man's body!

"He actually cultivated a second primordial spirit! How old is he?!"

The evil devil cried out in alarm, realizing that his preparations were inadequate and he might not be able to lure both of their primordial spirits over.

The Green-Robed Ancestor narrowed his eyes upon seeing this, but he wasn't as surprised as the Evil Demon. He had already found out that this kid was present when Xin Chenzi attacked Tianzhen Tongzi, and that his own Xuanpin Pearl had been left behind. So it seemed that Tianzhen Tongzi hadn't kept the Xuanpin Pearl for himself, but had given it to this Taoist priest.

That's really generous.

However, this gives me another reason to kill this kid.

However, the next moment, their expressions changed again. On the altar, before the two primordial spirits could completely detach, they awoke and burst forth with dazzling pure yang light, before returning to their positions.

"what--"

The head on the altar seemed to be alive; it let out a scream, flew back, and blood began to flow from the corners of its mouth and eyes.

"puff--"

The evil spirit failed twice and suffered a backlash from the altar, his blood churning and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. At the same time, his own primordial spirit was also shaking, and he was injured in this level of confrontation.

Seeing this, the green-robed man raised his hand and slapped the evil devil, channeling a fifth-realm dragon essence into him, then coldly said,

"continue."

The evil spirit was infused with a fifth-realm dragon essence, instantly replenishing most of his depleted energy. However, his face turned deathly pale. There are rules and regulations for setting up an altar; things shouldn't be done more than three times. He had already cast the spell twice; if he tried again, it would be the third time. And if the third attempt failed, the altar would at best explode, and at worst, it would devour its master.

Having already suffered a serious injury, the devil didn't want to go through it a second time.

However, with a Fifth Realm True Dragon right beside him, and seeing the Green-Robed Ancestor's expression, the Evil Demon couldn't bring himself to refuse. He could distinguish between the possibility of future injury and immediate death.

At this point, the evil devil no longer held back. He made hand seals and chanted incantations, and two beams of black light flew out. One transformed into a cloaked ape with black fur all over its body, and the other transformed into black water mist that spread out. Soon, it began to rain in Zhibo Cave, and water quickly accumulated.

The black water was quickly absorbed by the altar, and at the same time, the skull altar was growing taller along with the water level.

"boom!"

The altar broke through the roof of Zhibo Cave, and black water filled the cave as well.

Immediately afterwards, black waters flooded Penghu and the surrounding seas, and dark clouds appeared in the sky.

When the altar grew to a height of sixty feet, many black-haired water ghosts jumped out of the Nascent Soul Dao Domain. They walked on the black water as if it were flat ground, and then began to dance around the altar.

At this moment, facing such a huge altar, the ape-like figure took the place of the evil demon and began to form hand seals, cast spells, and chant incantations.

The ape's voice was sinister and deep, its eyes filled with the same venomous resentment as the demon's true form. It cursed...
"Trajectory across a thousand miles, dismemberment of the body, proceed!"

So, the flying barbarian atop the altar soared into the air once more to bite the hairy man. This time, the flying barbarian only targeted the hairy man's head, opened its blood-red maw, and bit down hard.

"Crack!"

A loud bang was heard, and at that very moment, a crack suddenly appeared in the void above the skull altar, and a bolt of silver-purple lightning shot out, striking straight down onto the top of the evil altar.

The evil devil turned pale with fright.

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(End of this chapter)