No taboos

Chapter 468 Ten Thousand Soul Bats

"Is this evil spirit of such great power?"

"Ghost messengers from the underworld?!"

Xu Yuan's first reaction was: It's fake.

In an era rife with evil spirits, the only protection the gods could offer to the mortal world was the "door gods."

On the contrary, the underworld continues to function.

Otherwise, the cycle of reincarnation would stagnate, and the world would be filled with wandering souls.

The wandering spirit will change its ways within three days.

The living would then have no way to survive.

However, the path for the underworld officials to travel to and from the mortal realm has been blocked for some unknown reason.

The day and night wandering gods, ox-headed and horse-faced spirits, etc., cannot come to the mortal world.

The officials of the underworld can only perform their duties in the underworld.

This is also one of the reasons why the number of vengeful ghosts and evil spirits in the mortal world has increased significantly.

There are no more ghost messengers to arrest them.

Normal souls do not actually need the guidance of underworld officials. They will pass through the gates of hell and embark on the road to the underworld on their own, without even realizing it, relying on their instincts.

Therefore, Xu Yuan had seen many evil spirits transformed from broken statues in ancient temples.

Yet I have never seen a ghost messenger from the underworld fall into depravity.

But upon further reflection, Xu Yuan frowned: If it's fake, what's the point of forging it?
Is it intentionally designed to mislead people?

Who will take the bait?

There aren’t many people who can completely kill this black crow. They specifically used Jia Zongdao to lure me into a trap.
It just feels a bit far-fetched...

Another possibility is that the underworld official's tooth token is genuine.

However, it does not belong to any fake village or evil spirits, and it is unknown how it was obtained.

Xu Yuan waited a while longer, and sure enough, the black crow on the withered tree could not be revived again.

Xu Yuan then withdrew on his own initiative.

Back at the camp, Zhong Die opened the fire curtain, and Xu Yuan went inside.

“My lord.” Di Youzhi took the initiative to greet him. Xu Yuan stared at him, pondering the matter repeatedly.

But in the end, I gave up.

Di Youzhi was only a seventh-rate person; his level was still too low.

However, none of the people present were his own subordinates who were of high caliber.

After hesitating, Xu Yuan could only choose Miss Jinxi.

Wei Jinyuan and his group harbored some resentment towards him.

"Miss Jinxi," Xu Yuan said, clasping his hands in a fist salute, "I have a favor to ask of you."

Jinxi smiled and said, "Please speak, my lord."

"I need Senior Geng Qi's help with something," Xu Yuan said clearly. "It's to find out our current situation, but it's somewhat dangerous."

Miss Jinxi tilted her head slightly and asked, "Could I know the specifics of what happened?"

“Of course.” Xu Yuan invited Geng Qi over as well, and said in a low voice, “I need Senior Geng Qi to go into the Turbid Realm and take a look.”

Xu Yuan still has several cocoons on his body, which can sink people into the turbid realm.

But Xu Yuan himself cannot go, as going might attract Shen Xu.

"The turbid space?" Geng Qi asked in confusion.

Xu Yuan opened his palm and showed the two the Yinchai Tooth Token.

Miss Jinxi was still a little confused, but Geng Qi had already figured it out: "You want to... verify whether it's true or false?"

Xu Yuan nodded.

Geng Qi hesitated for a moment, and Miss Jinxi asked, "Seventh Uncle, what do you mean by verifying authenticity?"

Geng Qi explained to her in a low voice.

Miss Jinxi's expression turned serious: "Seventh Uncle, agree."

Geng Qi: "I'm not afraid of danger myself, but my primary responsibility is to protect you, Miss..."

“Seventh Uncle,” Miss Jinxi interrupted him, “Don’t forget we are all from the Imperial Observatory.”

If Grandpa and Father knew the current situation, they would also make you agree.

Since it involves underworld officials, the secrets hidden behind the eeriness of this fake village are no small matter.

The Imperial Observatory's duties were its own responsibility and could not be shirked.

"Alright," Geng Qi reluctantly agreed.

Xu Yuan bowed to Miss Jinxi again, then led Geng Qi out. Once outside the village, he handed the cocoon food to him, saying, "Senior, you only need to take a look to confirm."

"Well, I know what's going on."

Gengqi ate a cocoon.

His body was cold, stiff, and lifeless.

He then entered a state between life and death, his whole being sinking into the turbid world.

Xu Yuan waited patiently.

Before long, Geng Qi trembled all over, his cold body warmed up again, and his heart pounded strongly.

Then, Geng Qi's eyes flickered, and he said, "This place is completely empty."

As soon as he opened his mouth, a chilling aura emanated from him, drifting out like a cold mist.

This is what it means to truly come back to life.

Xu Yuan squeezed the underworld messenger's tooth token again and sighed softly, "It seems this thing is real."

The evil spirits in the fake village are indeed related to the underworld officials.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, both of them felt a heavy weight in their hearts.

This is not merely "related" to anything; it is likely that this evil spirit is a fallen ghost messenger from the underworld.

Evil spirits in the turbid realm prefer large cities.

The more mouths a child has, the more popular they are.

They can enjoy the "vulgarity" of the city.

The more people there are, the more vulgar it becomes.

It is extremely beneficial to them.

But generally speaking, wherever people live, a worldly atmosphere will arise.

Even in a small village nestled in the mountains, the corresponding mortal realm would not be empty and devoid of any evil spirits.

If the turbid realm is empty, then there is only one explanation: the evil spirits of the turbid realm have been frightened away by something.

The imperial court controls the City God's golden seal, and the means to counter the corrupt world is the passage of ghost soldiers.

The evil spirits feared the underworld officials.

Even if it degenerates into an evil spirit, it can still deter other evil spirits.

Therefore, this underworld messenger's tooth token must be genuine.

Xu Yuan and Geng Qi returned together, but what they were thinking about was: Jia Zongdao was related to the corrupt underworld officials.

The underworld officials really do have the ability to bring people back to life!

But why was Jia Zongdao the one who was brought back to life?
The two returned to the camp, but Xu Yuan dared not make any rash moves.

The fake village has too much backing, so we must be even more cautious.

Xu Yuan found Jia Zongdao and secretly told him all his discoveries.

Jia Zongdao's mouth gaped open in surprise, and he was filled with doubt: What... exactly am I?
“You don’t need to overthink it,” Xu Yuan said. “Tonight, we’ll hold back and observe the movements of that evil spirit after dawn.”

Jia Zongdao slowly nodded: "Okay."

Zhong Die sat cross-legged in the center of the camp, holding the incense burner in her hands, gazing up at the starry sky.

Wei Jinyuan asked why the "fire curtain" didn't have a roof, but Zhong Die didn't want to answer.

This "fire curtain" was first passed down from the Supervisor.

If he were to camp outdoors, the Superintendent would like to stargaze at night, so naturally there couldn't be a curtain of fire overhead to obstruct his view.

Now that her master and grandmaster are both gone, Zhong Die has also learned to "observe the stars".

But after looking at it for a while, my neck started to ache, and I still couldn't figure it out.

However, the surrounding villagers showed obvious awe towards her "stargazing" posture—to ordinary people, someone who could "observe celestial phenomena at night" must be a hermit!

This made Zhong Die very proud.

I've decided to put my cervical spine through the wringer and observe the situation for a while longer.

But suddenly a violent evil spirit leaped out of the darkness and crashed headfirst into the fire curtain to the southeast.

With a crackling sound, flames suddenly erupted, and the evil spirit was not only thrown away, but its entire body was also ignited.

The creature let out a miserable howl and fell to the ground, rolling around incessantly. It was a withered corpse iguana, its flesh and blood long gone, its dry skin riddled with holes, from which corpse beetles burrowed in and out.

It wanted to extinguish the flames on its body, but how could it possibly do so?
The flames, like the fire in Danxiu's abdomen, were fueled by the yin energy of evil spirits. Once ignited, the flames would not go out as long as the yin energy continued to burn.

The screams of the corpse iguana continued for a long time before falling silent. Only a black mass remained on the ground, still burning. The corpse beetles exploded in the fire, making a crackling sound like popping beans.

"Overestimating yourself!" Zhong Die finally stopped pretending to be a hermit and lowered her head.

But the withered iguana seemed to have sounded the battle drums for attack. In the surrounding darkness, the bloodthirsty evil spirits and monsters could no longer restrain themselves and came out one after another.

Outside the fire-draped tent, countless eyes of all kinds appeared.

These eyes drew closer step by step, revealing their terrifying forms.

"Ah—!" The children among the villagers couldn't help but scream.

The parents quickly hugged their children tightly and held their eyes.

But the parents themselves were trembling with fear, unsure if they would see the sun rise tomorrow.

Frustrated roars and mournful ghostly howls swirled around the fire curtain.

Finally, a ground squirrel about half the size of a human couldn't wait any longer and burrowed into the ground, quickly digging behind the fire curtain.

But just as the earthen line it had raised reached the fire curtain, a muffled scream was heard, followed by a plume of blue smoke rising from the ground, and then there was no more movement.

Several white-boned eagles with human faces swooped down silently from the night sky.

Everyone was wary of what was above them when Wei Jinyuan waved his hand, and an ice needle pierced through a white-boned eagle with a human face, instantly freezing it into an ice block.

The evil spirit fell and smashed to pieces on the ground.

Wei Jinyuan looked quite smug: "These scumbags have come here to die!"

Geng Qi and the others took action, and the group of white-faced, bone-eagle-like beings were instantly killed.

But the evil spirits outside all sprang into action.

One after another, strange creatures crashed into the curtain of fire, ghostly spirits and vengeful ghosts drifted and howled, and some evil spirits even used their strange skills, staring intently at a certain person inside the fire curtain.

Hundreds of evil spirits rushed forward, causing the fire curtain to shake violently. Zhong Die's expression changed, and the incense burner in her hand immediately became scalding hot!
The flames surged, igniting every evil spirit that charged forward.

However, the "fire" in the incense burner was also consumed very quickly.

Zhong Die's hands were immediately scalded and began to steam. She was covered in cold sweat from the pain, but she gritted her teeth and refused to let go.

If we let go, the fire curtain will be out of control and will be torn apart by these evil spirits.

Encouraged, the evil spirits became even more frenzied.

A bull-like monster roared, its long hair flying everywhere—it turned out to be a bunch of living nematodes!

The nematodes, thirsting for blood, fueled the bull monster's ferocity, causing it to ram its head against the fire curtain.

Boom!
The fire curtains swayed incessantly.

Flames swept across the minotaur's entire body, and the crimson nematodes instantly turned to ashes.

The bull monster felt pain, but it suddenly thrust its whole body forward, and its six sharp horns were about to pierce through the curtain of fire!
Wei Jinyuan was right in front of the bull monster.

All the cultivators on this trip were divided into two groups. One group consisted of only a few people, who were with Zhong Die in the center of the fire curtain tent.

Another group, along with the captains of the Exorcism Division, stood guard between the fire-shrouded tents and the villagers.

When the tasks were assigned, Geng Qi protected Miss Jinxi and stayed by Zhong Die's side.

Uncle Xi also pulled his young master over, but Wei Jinyuan gritted his teeth and stood on the outside.

Having already been looked down upon by Miss Jinxi and Wei Shi, we can no longer cower; we must regain our dignity.

Wei Jinyuan felt good after killing the human-faced white-boned eagle with a single needle.

The bull-like monster's sharp horns were now causing the fire curtain to bulge inwards, and it was only five feet away from Wei Jinyuan. Wei Jinyuan felt that the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived.

I'm not trying to prove how great I am; I'm trying to tell people that I will definitely get back what I've lost!
He pinched two fingers together, and an ice needle appeared, which he then flicked outwards with a flourish.

The ice needles shot towards the minotaur.

"laugh--"

The ice needle struck the bull's horn, sending up a cloud of white steam.

Only a white dot remained on the bull's horn, but a gap appeared in the fire curtain!
The bull monster let out a loud roar and thrust most of its horn through the gap.

Zhou Leizi, enraged, blurted out: "You're making things worse! Don't you even understand the simple principle of mutual generation and restraint?"

Everyone looked at Wei Jinyuan with reproachful eyes.

Wei Jinyuan was immediately embarrassed.

His old face was flushed.

Xu Yuan suddenly felt a little guilty: Could it be...?

Has the "ruling the world" ability come into play again?

Ever since Wei Jinyuan met Miss Jinxi, his intelligence has plummeted.

Hostility towards Xu Yuan resurfaced.

He always seems a bit reckless in his actions.

Uncle Xi, who was standing next to Wei Jinyuan, immediately stepped forward and punched the bull monster on the head, causing the monster to roar repeatedly, stagger back seven or eight steps, and then collapse to the ground.

Its head had split open.

A punch from a fourth-rate fighter is far beyond what such a bizarre creature could withstand.

Wei Jinyuan then gave Zhou Leizi a cold glance.

So what if I make a mistake? I have powerful retainers to back me up!

You, a mere inspector, what right do you have to reprimand me?

The power of "ruling the world" worked again.

In Miss Jinxi's eyes, Wei Jinyuan's behavior would only be a negative, not something to be impressed by.

Even Zhong Die frowned secretly, feeling a bit dislike for Wei Jinyuan.

"This Wei Jinyuan has a good reputation in Beidu, unlike other纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy and powerful families) who are ignorant and incompetent."

"Seeing is believing, and her performance along the way has been far from excellent," Zhong Die thought to herself.

The bull monster lay sprawled on the ground, flames still raging on its body.

Several more evil spirits, no less formidable than the Minotaur, rushed up from beside it.

One of them was a man-eating flower with blood-red blossoms covered in fine, barbed thorns.

Below the flower is a cluster of sepals the size of a water tank.

Each flower is like a head, but this carnivorous flower has four heads!

It rushed outside the fire curtain, its large, belly-like calyx throbbed a few times, and suddenly sprayed four globs of "nectar" towards the fire curtain.

puff!
The foul-smelling, murky nectar was poured onto the fire curtain, instantly extinguishing a portion of the flames!
The evil spirits were overjoyed, and the man-eating flower even launched more than a dozen branches into the camp, intending to engulf the villagers.

"Humph!"

Lord Xu gave a cold snort, and the sword pellet shot out swiftly, cutting all the branches in a flash.

Then Xu Yuan flashed and roared out on his fiery wheels.

The fiery wheels rolled on, and the flames roared!
They ran straight over the carnivorous plant.

The carnivorous plant emitted a strange squeaking sound, and two of its flowers were crushed and set ablaze.

The other two flowers turned their heads, as if trying to spray nectar to extinguish the flames.

The fire within Master Xu's abdomen is different from the fire curtain, reaching the fifth rank.

The nectar of the man-eating flower cannot be extinguished.

After the two flowers released two spurts of nectar, they immediately fell to the ground.

He was beheaded by the sword pellet!
"My lord, come back quickly!" Di Youzhi and Zhou Leizi shouted anxiously.

Xu Yuan charged into the horde of evil spirits without looking back, leaving his subordinates with only one sentence: "Protect the villagers!"

"Boom..." Flames erupted, and wherever Xu Yuan went, the flames were blinding!
Under the firelight, the evil spirits, large and small, screamed and ran away.

But how could they possibly escape?
The powerful fire within the fifth-ranked fire enveloped an area of ​​several dozen feet in a single burst.

All evil spirits within the firelight were ignited.

Xu Yuan, riding on his fiery wheels, had already released the sword pellet and the Dragon Slayer Sword, and was also holding the bell-shaped spike and the Yin-Yang Guillotine in his hands.

It circled the Fire Veil camp, displaying its divine power and wiping out all the evil spirits!
Most of these evil spirits are only of the eighth or seventh rank; the sixth rank is extremely rare.

Furthermore, it was doubly suppressed by Xu Yuan's "no taboos" and "ruling the world", and it was almost certain to die if touched.

After this round of plowing, the restless evil spirits immediately calmed down!

The screams of the evil spirits grew fainter and fainter in the flames, until they gradually fell silent.

The roars and howls from before have disappeared from my ears.

The evil spirits surged backward, retreating into the darkness.

"Hmph!" Xu Yuan snorted again before turning around and returning to the camp.

Seeing Xu Yuan stealing the spotlight, Wei Jinyuan couldn't help but glance at Uncle Xi beside him.

He's just a fifth-rate guy, yet he can still go out and dominate the battlefield.

Uncle Xi, shouldn't you also try your best to get some attention so I can shine a little?

Uncle Xi understands what his young master means, but this old servant really can't do it.

Back in Gangtou Village, Uncle Xi's skills were completely wiped out.

Although he was a fourth-rate martial artist, if he went out now, he could only fight like a clumsy martial artist, using punches and kicks to kill.

In terms of sheer scale, it was far inferior to Xu Yuan's, whose single burst of fire could annihilate a large number of enemies.

Uncle Xi whispered to the young master, "If any evil spirits of the fifth rank or above attack later, I will definitely win back your honor."

Wei Jinyuan nodded.

After the evil spirits retreated, they occasionally uttered eerie whispers among themselves.

They seemed to be communicating with each other from a distance.

This place is not far from Xiaoyushan.

Great evil spirits certainly exist as well.

After Xu Yuan repelled the evil spirits in this round and returned to the camp, he turned to look at Pingquan Village.

All the lights in the village were turned off.

The sound of snoring could be heard from the village; the "villagers" were all fast asleep, seemingly oblivious to the great battle raging outside.

Xu Yuan, however, felt that something was amiss.

After some thought, Xu Yuan opened "Looking at Fate" once again.

This time, under the "Wangming" (望命), it was clearly seen that the "fate" of the evil spirits in the fake village had not changed; it was still as thick and straight as a beacon fire.

But below that fate, the ball of dark yellow flames burned even more fiercely.

Originally, the flames were confined to the center of the body, but now they have expanded to a size of three zhang (approximately 10 meters), far exceeding the range of the body.

It seems to have absorbed some kind of power from the surrounding void, which is why it continues to grow stronger.

Xu Yuan wondered, "Could it be that... killing the evil spirit actually made this fake village even more eerie?"

Did it absorb the yin energy that dissipated after these evil spirits died?

But Xu Yuan quickly dismissed this guess: "No, although I killed a lot of evil spirits, I burned them all with the fire in my abdomen, and the yin energy was also burned away."

"Even if some yin energy leaks out, it won't be much, and it's impossible for that gang to have grown to this extent."

Xu Yuan kept looking at him with a "hope for fate".

During this period of calm, the ball of dark yellow flame did indeed begin to slowly shrink.

But only the flames changed; the life force of the evil spirits in the fake village was not strengthened.

Uncle Xi, who had been closely watching the surroundings, suddenly twitched his ears and said, "They're here!"

"Gu Body" is a comprehensive enhancement of his body.

His six senses also became extremely sharp.

Xu Yuan put away the omen and dealt with the evil spirits outside.

Listening closely, one could indeed hear some unusual sounds coming from afar.

Wei Jinyuan asked in a low voice, "Which school?"

Uncle Xi listened for a while longer, then his expression turned strange: "Hmm... I'm afraid it's at least fifth-rate."

Wei Jinyuan laughed: "Uncle Xi, your chance to show your skills has come!"

Uncle Xi lowered his head and remained silent.

Seeing that Uncle Xi did not respond, Wei Jinyuan was a little puzzled, but before he could ask any more questions, a whistling sound came from the night sky.

wow——

A huge black shadow flew past overhead.

Although they were still several dozen feet away, the strong winds they generated made it difficult for everyone to open their eyes.

After the dark figure rushed past, it circled back several dozen feet away, its two rows of three pairs of ghastly green eyes hanging high in the night sky, like six lanterns!

Wei Jinyuan was speechless.

No need to ask anymore, Uncle Xi has no way to show off his skills.

Uncle Xi can't fly.

We finally got a powerful opponent, but it's a ground-based opponent fighting an airborne one—how can we fight like that?
There's no chance of winning, is there?

Seeing Wei Jinyuan's disappointed expression, Uncle Xi scratched his greasy hair in shame and said with difficulty, "Actually... I can also grow a pair of insect wings on my back."

Wei Jinyuan was overjoyed: "That's wonderful..."

But he quickly noticed Uncle Xi's unusual behavior and asked in a low voice, "Even if you fly, you can't beat him?"

That thing in the sky was a giant bat.

Two bat wings spread out, ten zhang wide! Hundreds of wronged souls lay beneath them.

Uncle Xi spoke the truth: "Insect wings are very fragile. Even the insect wings I produce are not as good as those evil bat wings."

If the insect's wings are broken during combat, it has no chance of winning.

And there's something Uncle Xi didn't mention: he never flew and fought while carrying insect wings on his back.

It might feel a bit unfamiliar to operate.

Wei Jinyuan really wanted Uncle Xi to "give it a try".

But in the end, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

After all, Uncle Xi watched him grow up.

“Fine…” Wei Jinyuan sighed, “Let’s just watch Xu Yuan make a splash one more time.”

The Soul-Binding Bat glided through the night sky for a few circles, then couldn't wait to pounce.

This kind of evil spirit has extremely high potential for growth.

It can indeed grow to hundreds of feet tall, with each of its two bat wings covering tens of thousands of wronged souls.

If it really comes to that, we'd even be willing to fight against Master Ruan Tian.

Before the evil spirit could pounce, Xu Yuan had already soared into the sky on his fiery wheels.

The six eyes of the Myriad Soul Bats were coldly fixed on Xu Yuan, and it spread its wings and swooped down to meet the attack—

Then he plunged headlong into the filthy net.

When Xu Yuan was a child, he saw villagers using nets to catch birds.

The current corrupt web can be considered an upgraded version!
The Soul Bats sensed something was wrong as soon as they crashed in and immediately struggled to get out.

The wronged souls beneath its bat wings were released, helping it escape.

However, the web of evil is three-dimensional, layer upon layer, and once you break free from one layer, another appears.

Xu Yuan shook the long thorn bell in his hand. The jingling sound struck the wronged souls as if they had been struck by lightning, leaving them stunned and unable to move.

Xu Yuan thrust the long dagger forward, piercing it into the head of the Ten Thousand Soul Bat.

(End of this chapter)