From a carp to a dragon god

The two Dragon God Temples were built one after the other, about half a month apart, and Yu Shuyang also stayed in Menzhou for about half a year.

Xuanhu Pengwei dug a Yin Qi Well at Baishipo, getting ahead of Li Zhen and promoting the Ghost Market in Niaolu Mountain.

This caused some of the Bai people from Toriyama to stay up all night and hide during the day, specifically to hunt for goods at the ghost market.

Because of the existence of the sinful ghosts in the City of the Wrongfully Dead, there are many ancient artifacts from the old dynasty in the Ghost Market, most of which were made by the sinful ghosts based on their remaining memories.

Aside from these things, there were also incomplete cultivation techniques and secret treasures from the old dynasty, which attracted the merchants of the North Goods Market.

As a result, the Menzhou Chamber of Commerce also received the news, which attracted its leader, the Fragrant Rat. He dared not come to Niaolu Mountain, so he sent his men to deliver a visiting card to Yu Shuyang.

By this time, the plague had been brought under control, and it was clear to everyone that Toriyama Hakuyi was stirring up trouble and could attack Fengtian City at any moment.

This was something that the Menzhou Chamber of Commerce and the Wuyangshan North Freight Yard had anticipated. To be honest, even among the 36 member chambers, opinions were not unified, and many secretly supported the Bai people.

The Menzhou Chamber of Commerce is based in Menzhou. Regardless of how it cooperated with Shihou City before, it was all for their own benefit, in order to monopolize trade in Menzhou.

At present, both the Toriyama and Yanshan Baiyi are preparing for war. It's like a pot of boiling water, and the Menzhou Chamber of Commerce, this big piece of fat meat, could be thrown into it at any time to be rendered.

When that day comes, there will be 36 chambers of commerce. I wonder how many will die and how many will be left in the end!

It was for these considerations that the Scent-Eating Rat blocked Li Zhen's treasure ship, bought a ship full of goods, and stored them at the Wuyang Mountain North Cargo Yard.

This is like feeding meat to the Toriyama Baiyi, letting the Baiyi people attack the North Goods Market and Fengtian City. As long as they keep targeting the merchant families, that's enough.

Moreover, the Heavenly Army of the Overlord's Palace is stationed outside the pass. If Toriyama Hakuyi dares to make a move, the Heavenly Army of the Overlord's Palace will definitely enter the pass and slaughter them.

The Five Armies were created by the nine holy lands of the human race and do not obey the Central Plains Dynasty. Most of the time, the change of dynasties is unrelated to the Five Armies.

This time, the move of the Heavenly Army of the Overlord's Mansion to the north was also under the pretext of sealing off the "plague," but behind it was also an order from the sacred land of military strategists.

The Scent-Eating Rat specifically told Li Zhen and Yu Shuyang about this, also in order to spread the news, and preferably let the Liu family of Bird Mountain know about it.

In order to provoke the Toriyama Hakui people into taking action, the Scent-Eating Rat went to great lengths; he was genuinely afraid!

What if, after the plague ends, the Heavenly Army of the Overlord's Mansion retreats back to Yuyang in the North?

At that time, apart from the five hereditary marquis cities, who in Menzhou could suppress the Baiyi people? These merchant families were the easiest targets to bully.

Ever since they heard that a "ghost market" was being built on Bird Mountain, the fragrant rats have been terrified, and everything is ruined!
The Fragrant Rat has come to Wuyang Mountain not only to gather information, but also to prepare to act according to circumstances. If the Heavenly Army of the Overlord's Mansion retreats, he will also quickly escape to the border.

At this time, Yu Shuyang and Li Zhen were staying in the Dragon-Raising Cave. They were watching Liu's soldiers being trained. These days, they had come here to observe, hoping to learn the Black Dragon General's Daoist military formation method.

In his early years, Yu Shuyang learned the One-Word Long Snake Formation from Lao Moji and Xia Bing in Xiyu Fudi. Xia Bing learned it from He Zhenzhu, the Clam Girl, and it can be considered one of the inheritances of the South China Sea Palace.

This long snake formation is not a method of formation diagrams. Although it can be used to refine Dao soldiers, it still cannot escape the constraints of military formations and tactics.

As for the training of Dao soldiers, they knew nothing about it; these things had always been the core tradition of the Dragon Palace.

Just as my sixth brother-in-law Shu Qing said, the methods of Daoist warfare are all subject to the oath of the Great Dao, and cannot be broken and passed on outside.

This shows that both human military strategists and demon dragon palaces attach great importance to this, and anyone who has fully cultivated the Daoist military method must make a great oath.

Of course, this matter is not without its loopholes. The Great Dao Oath forbids its transmission to outsiders, but since Dao soldiers need to be trained, they inevitably have to practice outside, and some fragments are always stolen.

Yu Shuyang and Li Zhen were no longer just secretly learning; they were openly stealing knowledge. Every time Black Dragon saw them, he would clear the area and drive them away.

Whether a divine oath is fulfilled or not depends entirely on one's own will; in other words, it depends entirely on one's own perception.

Therefore, the Black Dragon will wholeheartedly obstruct the enemy, fearing that the slightest slackening will trigger the fulfillment of the divine oath.

Although the Black Dragon General needed Yu Shuyang's help and wanted to become the top pilgrim of the Dragon God Temple, he dared not risk his life.

And so, one of them did everything he could to prevent outsiders from learning the Daoist military techniques, while the other two tried every possible loophole to learn them from the master.

By the time Yu Shuyang received the visiting card, they had already circled the Liu clan soldiers eight times, but still hadn't found an opportunity.

After reading the visiting card, Yu Shuyang casually tossed it to Li Zhen and said, "Look, it's a visiting card from a 'fragrant rat.' It's got a good smell!"

He sent Cao Xiaoshan to perform rituals to guide the souls of the dead, with the Menzhou Chamber of Commerce in mind. He believed that if the plague ended early, the losses to the Baiyi people of Niaoshan would be minimal.

"Cousin, my eighth brother-in-law should be here in a few days. Should we go to the Great Snow Mountain too?" Li Zhen asked shyly.

In recent days, Li Zhen has been trying to persuade Yu Shuyang to go to the Great Snow Mountain together, mainly because Yu Shuyang is about to leave Menzhou and return to Donghai.

Yu Shuyang sighed and said, "Li Zhen, you still have too many thoughts on your mind!"
"Right now, Menzhou is filled with the aura of calamity, not only from the plague but also from unseen killing intent. If we go to the Great Snow Mountain, we will inevitably be drawn into this calamity."

During a calamity, even a third-rank demon immortal can suppress the calamity and avert it. The White Fox of the Great Snow Mountain is a first-rank fox immortal. One can imagine how much calamity energy on the Great Snow Mountain will be blocked.

Li Zhen's true intentions were exposed by Yu Shuyang. He wanted to go to the Great Snow Mountain not only to help Yin Chenzi ease tensions, but also to make a powerful ally.

"Cousin, I'm also concerned about the Desolate Sea Market."

Li Zhen awkwardly offered a defense, but was glared at fiercely by Yu Shuyang and dared not speak again.

What are your plans to do about this?

Yu Shuyang pointed to the visiting card in Li Zhen's hand and patiently asked.

Li Zhen didn't take the fragrant rats seriously at all. He had been following Liu Xianzong these past few days and had met the Baiyi tribe on Bird Valley Mountain, so he had learned about them.

"Do we even need to pay attention to him?" Li Zhen said with utter contempt.

The Baiyi people of Bird Mountain have already assembled and could attack Wuyang Mountain at any time. The Menzhou Chamber of Commerce is already up for grabs, and Li Zhen has absolutely no intention of building a relationship with them.

"As the art of war says: surround three sides and leave one side open. No matter how much the Baiyi people fight, the Menzhou Chamber of Commerce still has a deep foundation and cannot be completely wiped out or robbed."

Why don't you take this opportunity to consolidate the influence of the Menzhou Chamber of Commerce? I advise you to think it over carefully!" Yu Shuyang reminded him again.

The murderous aura swept everywhere. Li Zhen had been corrupted by the aura these past few days, and Yu Shuyang had cleared it away twice with the Yin-Yang True Form Fan. Now, he looked as if he was being bewitched by the aura again.

Seeing this, Yu Shuyang took out his True Form Fan, intending to fan Li Zhen to dispel the calamity. Xuanhu Pengwei, carrying a white lantern, approached. "Oh dear! Little Taoist, you've really screwed me over!" Xuanhu Pengwei complained as soon as they met.

These days, as the ghost market unfolds in Baishipo, Xuanhu Pengwei has gained a deeper understanding of Toriyama Hakui, and he already knows the issues involved behind it.

"Xuanhu, you're slandering an innocent person by saying that!" Yu Shuyang deliberately put on a teasing expression.

Xuanhu Pengwei was so angry that he cried out, but in the end, he didn't dare to say anything bad. He really didn't dare to provoke Yu Shuyang. Ever since he entered the Xuanming Netherworld, he had never gained the upper hand.

“Xuanhu, you started the Ghost Market yourself and dragged the Sinful Ghost into it. Isn’t this doing what you wanted and gaining another power?”

Yu Shuyang continued to make sarcastic remarks. To be honest, he had expected the Ghost Market incident and didn't care about the money he earned from the talismans.

What truly displeased him was that Xuanhu Pengwei had released the sinful ghosts. These old ghosts were different from the demons and ghosts of the underworld; most of them still retained their memories.

Nowadays, the cultivation techniques and treasure maps sold in the ghost market may involve matters of the old dynasty. This is not a big deal, since it has little to do with Yu Shuyang.

Unfortunately, this is a time of great calamity, and the sinful demons' techniques, weapon crafting, and treasure maps are like adding fuel to the fire, sweeping over the calamity-ridden energy of Menzhou.

With the protection of Bihulongyun, the Liu family of Bird Mountain is somewhat like a dark lamp under the lamp. Even if the killing calamity is rampant, it still cannot damage the foundation of the Liu family.

In the struggle for supremacy, the most taboo thing is to be a pioneer for the king. To put it bluntly, it means doing the work for someone else. Just like the Eastern Yi Emperor's scheme of fate, he first threw the half-demon race into the northern river to cause trouble, and then secretly supported the Bai Yi race.

Now, thanks to the Xuanhu Pengwei's actions, the calamity aura at Bird Mountain has increased tenfold, and the Liu family is facing a life-or-death crisis.

"Young Taoist priest, you must save me! Don't let my old bones perish!"

Xuanhu Pengwei didn't care about anything else and started playing the victim to beg for help.

Gods are not bound by calamities of slaughter, since cultivators of the divine path are protected by the great oath of the divine path. However, ghosts and gods are suppressed by the Heavenly Dao, and once they are involved in a calamity of slaughter, they will either die or be injured.

"Xuanhu, it's too late for you to say anything now. I advise you to go to the Three Immortal Islands instead. As the saying goes, the one who tied the knot must untie it!"

Yu Shuyang had no intention of interfering in the Eastern Yi Emperor's plans. Now that Xuanhu Pengwei had been caught up in the calamity, that was all he could say.

Upon hearing this, Xuanhu Pengwei's face turned ashen. Ever since he left Youdu, he had been lingering by Yu Shuyang's side, trying to avoid the Eastern Yi Emperor.

"Little Taoist priest, please have some compassion! If I were to meet that heartless Dongyi, I'm afraid I would never survive!"

You've seen those ghost owls before. They're trying to find the Salt Owl Clan so they can rescue Lord Liyang. The Eastern Yi and the Nine Yi are the remaining Li people.

If the war between the Hua and Li peoples is to continue, the name of the Dongyi is not enough; the last great leader of the Li people must be found.

Tell me, how could I possibly get involved in this? Even if I were asked to bring back Gui Fang and Zhongshan, it would cost me my life!

At this point, Xuanhu Pengwei stopped hiding his worries and spoke his mind directly.

The Eastern Yi Emperor intends to lead his people back to the interior of the Nine Provinces and defeat the Human Dynasty, which will inevitably ignite a conflict between the Hua and Li peoples. Xuanhu Pengwei had already foreseen all of this.

Yu Shuyang grew increasingly disgusted with Xuanhu Pengwei. How could he say it outright? The Eastern Yi Emperor's schemes were all secretly woven together, precisely to avoid being detected by the will of Heaven.

To guard against Tianyuan's perception of his feelings, Yu Shuyang often kept his mouth shut, fearing that it might be leaked.

Xuanhu Pengwei felt uncomfortable being stared at, and now he realized that things were not going well. However, he had already said what he wanted to say, and there was no point in saying anything more.

"Xuanhu, you've been entangled too deeply by the calamity energy. I'll help you clear it away now. Let's not talk about anything else. I advise you to go to the Three Immortal Islands."

"You have no other choice now! Either way you're going to die, so why not take a gamble?" Yu Shuyang advised.

The Yin-Yang True Form Fan stirred up a calm, natural wind, which was then wildly fanned at Xuanhu Pengwei and Li Zhen. The Yin-Yang True Intent swirled around them, and wisps of calamity energy turned into smoke and dissipated completely.

Li Zhen was merely affected by the calamity energy, much like a disease on the skin being repeatedly blown away by a gentle, natural breeze; the calamity energy on his body quickly dissipated.

The calamity energy on Xuanhu Pengwei's body had penetrated deep into its bones and taken root. No matter how Qingjing Ziran blew, a lot of the calamity energy was blown away, but as soon as the wind stopped, it was filled with calamity energy again.

Seeing this, Yu Shuyang had no choice but to stop. He sighed and said, "Xuanhu, while you're still clear-headed, hurry up and go to the Three Immortal Islands!"

Xuanhu Pengwei also sensed the abnormality within himself. At this moment, he stopped arguing with Yu Shuyang, knowing that this was the last resort.

"Little Taoist priest, thank you so much!"

Xuanhu Pengwei thanked him, bowed respectfully, and hurried towards Baishipo with the white lantern in his hand.

But Li Zhen was terrified. It was the first time he had ever personally experienced a life-threatening situation. At first, he didn't feel scared, but now he felt like his courage had been shattered.

Seeing Li Zhen's expression, Yu Shuyang couldn't help but laugh and said, "Now you know fear? This is no joke."

Don't you think about it? That calamity resulted in countless deaths and injuries. The calamity itself was designed to eliminate cultivators.

The Demonic Sect's sole purpose is to slaughter the Immortal Sects and Demon Immortal Families, so as to reclaim the Creation's spiritual energy that has been seized from them!

Li Zhen nodded and said, "Cousin, why don't you come with me to Wuyang Mountain?"

Thinking of the terror of being besieged by death, Li Zhen couldn't help but ponder the matter of building a temple. The Dragon God Temple could protect Cao Xiaoshan and Fan Liulang, so he could also build a Happy Rat Temple.

Then he thought of the disciples living on the island in the middle of the lake. Why not send them over in the future? After all, they are all cultivators of the divine path and are not afraid of being caught up in the killing calamity.

Thinking of this, Li Zhen voiced her idea and asked Yu Shuyang for his opinion.

"You should be careful about this. Although the Rat God is not a ghost or god, your disciples are all disciples of the Immortal Path. If they travel outside, will they attract the incarnation of the Immortal Path's founder?"

Yu Shuyang was also speechless. Back then, Li Zhen took on disciples in Chaoju City in order to win over the five islands and eight cities of Yazhou. Those disciples were not ordinary people.

If, as Li Zhen said, they were all sent to Menzhou like Cao Xiaoshan and his group, they might all be drawn into a bloodbath.

The fact that cultivators of the Divine Path are protected by the Great Oath of the Divine Path and will not be killed by the Five Demonic Sects does not mean that they will not be involved in the calamity.

The most typical example is Li Zhen. The reason he was tainted by the calamity energy was because he was caught up in the killing calamity. If he hadn't realized it, he would have ended up sinking deeper into the mire.

(End of this chapter)