Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 199, Chapter 198: Seven Treasure Lotus Seeds (6000 words)
"what happened?!"

Li Cunxiao was refining the golden lotus when, in a daze, he suddenly felt dizzy and heard the anxious voices of Qici and Taiyi in his ears.

A moment of weightlessness, my legs unconsciously stretched out, and true energy covered my whole body.

It landed with a thud.

When I opened my eyes, I no longer saw the cave on Pingdingshan Mountain, but a room that looked like a warehouse, with oilcloth covering the shelves all around.

"Where am I? I just clearly saw..."

Li Cunxiao was extremely vigilant and immediately summoned the Wind and Fire Wheel in his dantian.

The wind god and the Vermilion Bird cried out, responding to his call.

"Not an illusion?"

Li Cunxiao frowned even more deeply, and used his true energy to activate the Cloud-Stepping Boots again, which worked without any problems.

But just a moment ago he was in front of Qici and Taiyi, in the cave on Pingding Mountain.

Right under the noses of two experts no less skilled than De Zheng, he was actually forcibly dragged away?

After pondering for a moment, I couldn't draw any conclusions due to the limited information, but fortunately there was nothing unusual in the room.

With the Dragon Sparrow Blade and Purple Flame Serpent Spear not by his side, Li Cunxiao became even more cautious, moving his feet silently as he began to investigate.

The warehouse was enormous, and the walls, wooden floors, and tarpaulins on the shelves were spotless, yet it had a strange, musty smell.

Pressing my fingers against the beams and floor, I realized the wood was of excellent quality, so hard that even the Flame-Making True Qi couldn't destroy it.

Li Cunxiao's doubts deepened, and he couldn't help but lift a piece of oilcloth. The moment he saw it, he was taken aback.

"empty?"

He quickened his pace, rushing past the rows of shelves, only to find, without exception, that everything under the tarpaulin was empty.

"This"

With a furrowed brow, Li Cunxiao remained unwilling to make any rash moves, but so far, nothing around him had changed.

He had disappeared before Qici and Taiyi's eyes, and if the two of them had any clues, they should have come to rescue him soon.

"Should we stay here and wait, or go out and investigate?"

As Li Cunxiao was pondering, a faint, unusual noise suddenly came from outside.

His heart tightened, and his inner energy surged instantly.

The next moment, the warehouse door suddenly swung open, and a dark figure rushed in.

Although Li Cunxiao was startled, he remained calm. He spun the silver wheel, thrusting out his fists. The immense power distorted the air, and the dark figure was instantly slammed into the warehouse at an even faster speed.

The shelves covered with tarpaulins were in disarray, but the floor and walls were undamaged, surprisingly sturdy.

When the dark figure also got up from the ground, Li Cunxiao was even more surprised.

The figure wore a flat headscarf, trousers, and a two-piece overcoat.

The red top and white trousers, with their vibrant brocade embroidery, looked like newly made clothes.

But beneath this elegant attire lies a head resembling that of a demon.

With a blue face and fangs, a terrifying expression, and bloodthirsty desire in his crimson eyes as he looked at Li Cunxiao.

"This attire... a military officer from the previous dynasty? Has he been possessed by a demon?"

The library of Tiangu Temple is rich in books, including Buddhist scriptures, martial arts manuals, travelogues from the north and south, as well as historical books and illustrated books, including records of clothing and carriages from previous dynasties.

"Damn it, could this be the grave of some remnant of the previous dynasty? Wait a minute."

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Li Cunxiao's mind.

But before he could think it through, the demonic military officer in front of him pounced on him again.

His movements were methodical and his steps were graceful, with even a bluish-black aura rising from his body.

Judging from his current level, he's probably at around the Lesser Completion stage of the Yellow Court Classic.

"Kill him first," Li Cunxiao said coldly. The white crane on his cloud-stepping shoes danced, and his figure was as fast as the wind. In the blink of an eye, he had already circled behind his opponent.

His right hand, fingers loosely clenched as if holding a roulette wheel, slammed down with a resounding crash—

puff!
A strange sound like a watermelon bursting rang out, and the demon officer's body went limp. His head appeared intact, but inside it had actually been shaken into a pulpy mess.

Before the other person could land, Li Cunxiao reacted quickly, grabbed him, gently laid him on the ground, and then hurriedly closed the open door.

Taking advantage of the moment the door closed, he subconsciously glanced outside and saw a wooden corridor with rooms like this on both sides, but he didn't know what was inside.

Beneath the vajra, a yaksha demon draped in a tiger skin appeared.

Li Cunxiao did not rush to study the martial arts manuals. Instead, he went to the corpse of the demon and searched the body while observing the various details on the body.

The other party's clothes were not made of ordinary material; they were extremely tough. Even when Li Cunxiao tried to tear them by hand, he had to exert a great deal of force.

The fabric is as smooth as new, and there is no wear and tear even in areas such as the collar and cuffs;
A knife and a waist tag were clipped to his leather belt.

The knife is a ceremonial knife, and its scabbard is connected by gold bands in a series, forming a bamboo-like pattern. On the hilt, a phoenix is ​​carved in the ring.

The waist tag was in the shape of a fish tally, seemingly an alloy of copper and some other metal, with a purplish-red color to avoid depicting simple fish scales and tail details. The other side had several small characters engraved in intaglio.

Left Guard Yiwei Chuanpei.

"Sigh~"

Li Cunxiao gasped, his guess confirmed, but he felt no joy whatsoever.

The ceremonial sword is a ceremonial weapon, and the decorations on the sword ring have strict requirements.

Dragon, phoenix, and Capricorn rings were historically reserved for imperial guards, high-ranking officials, and dukes.

Not to mention the fish tally that clearly identifies the person. The Left Guard was established by the emperor of the previous Great Zhou Dynasty to be in charge of the palace guards. In this dynasty, it was replaced by the Northern Guards.

"Could it really be the dragon boat of the former Emperor Yang of the Qing Dynasty?"

Li Cunxiao's feelings were extremely complicated.

If both masters were to come here together, he would probably be very excited about the opportunity that was about to arrive.

But now that I'm all alone, this place is no less dangerous than a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.

The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish; in other words, the greater the potential profit, the higher the risk.

That was the last treasure of a deposed monarch, a collection of the nation's best resources, enough to drive the military governors of the sixteen provinces mad, and enough to form the foundation of his grand ambitions.

Could a mere Yellow Court martial artist like myself possibly handle such a treasure, with its hidden mechanisms and traps?
The one lying at my feet is just a Left Guard of the Imperial Guard, an ordinary Imperial Guard soldier, yet he has already reached the Yellow Court cultivation level.

Beyond this door, out into the long corridor, who knows what even more terrifying and bizarre things might be waiting for?

However, just as he made up his mind to stay and wait for reinforcements, the noisy footsteps in the corridor outside suddenly grew louder.

Li Cunxiao's expression changed, and he had no choice but to push the door open a crack.

That was an overwhelming, tidal wave of demons!

"Donkey's blood!"

Li Cunxiao's face turned almost green. With a swift movement, he darted out of the doorway like an arrow, heading straight for the end of the long corridor in the distance.

He could see clearly that, apart from the one who had just died wearing the same trousers and a blouse, there were also demons in full heavy armor and helmets, clearly elite members of the Imperial Guard.

The knives and spears held by those people were clearly magical artifacts.

If we stay here any longer, we might get trapped inside.

In the blink of an eye, Li Cunxiao's inner energy flowed into his Cloud-Stepping Boots without reservation, and flames even began to erupt from beneath his feet.

In the long corridor, only flashes of fire and shooting stars could be seen. He had reached the end of the hundreds-of-meters-long corridor.

Seeing the gate ahead was tightly shut, he didn't hesitate, unleashing two silver flying wheels, his body following closely behind, his hands protecting his head, as he flew out through the shattered window frame—

"Um?!"

With its upturned eaves, vermilion walls, and glazed tiles, the magnificent palace is arranged in four layers from bottom to top, while outside the palace is a huge ship's side.

Instead of blue skies and white clouds, there was only deep darkness outside the ship's side, as if sailing through the night sky. Startled, Li Cunxiao's feet pounded in the air like drums, and he turned sharply, running along the side of the building outside.

During this time, he tried to jump directly to the second level, but it was as if there was an extra transparent barrier above his head. He was blocked after jumping three or four meters, and had no choice but to continue running on the deck.

The deck was extremely wide, several hundred meters long, and Li Cunxiao would occasionally encounter other demons as he moved through it.

Some wore round-necked red robes and turbans, while others wore court robes and sable crowns.

At first glance, they were all high-ranking officials and dignitaries, and without exception, they were all bizarre and grotesque human demons.

The more Li Cunxiao ran, the more demons gathered behind him, forcing him to find a way to the second level.

What he didn't know was that all his actions were being watched by the enormous shadow in the fourth palace.

Looking down from the fourth palace, everything below appeared smaller, with only countless creatures the size of mice running about.

The one running at the very front, his body glowing red, was none other than Li Cunxiao.

And the group behind them was, of course, a huge horde of demons.

Strangely, whenever the number of demons behind them reached a certain critical point, or approached to a distance that posed a danger to Li Cunxiao, a scarlet eye would disappear from the huge shadow.

And so, in the next moment, everything returned to a delicate balance.

Unbeknownst to him, Li Cunxiao, in the midst of a tense chase, crossed the obstacles twice and arrived at the third level safely and successfully.

"call"

The enormous figure let out a weary sigh, as if doing so was not an easy task for him either.

"Finally, the next step has arrived. All we need to do is let this ant obtain the Seven Treasures Lotus Seed."

A sense of excitement and joy was evident, but before the master in the shadows could rejoice for long, a loud bang suddenly came from outside the huge dragon boat.

In the shadows, nearly a thousand scarlet eyes rolled in unison. Beside the massive dragon boat, several smaller versions of it rushed towards them, like owls gliding through the night sky. And a chilling aura, like a raging north wind, emanated from the dragon heads at the prows of these smaller boats, rapidly approaching.
"Your Majesty has guests, why didn't you inform me? Sneaking around like this, where is the demeanor of a ruler?"

"Yuwen Jian! You traitorous murderer of the emperor!!!"

"Li Cunxiao has been gone for almost a quarter of an hour, have you sensed him?"

Inside the cave on Pingdingshan Mountain, Qici paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, his eyes occasionally glancing at Taiyi Zhenren beside him.

The latter closed his eyes in meditation, raising his right hand in a sword-finger gesture. A golden ring, seemingly breathing, shimmered on the ring. If Li Cunxiao were present, he would have noticed that this object was extremely similar to the golden ring on his arm.

After several dozen breaths, Taiyi finally spoke with a frown:

“I left my mark on that golden ring. As it stands, Sanlang’s life is not in danger, but we cannot pinpoint its exact location. It’s like it’s thousands of miles away, yet we have no specific direction.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Ci's expression softened somewhat, but he then looked at the old Taoist priest and snorted coldly again:
"What a scoundrel! He actually left a token on Li Cunxiao in secret. No wonder you were so confident before. Turns out you were sneaking off to steal someone while I was away at night."

"I was doing that for Li Cunxiao's safety," Taiyi said without changing his expression, directly changing the subject.

"Now it seems that Li Cunxiao's disappearance is inextricably linked to this golden dragon, and also to the secret realm that the golden dragon led to."

"Emperor Yang's dragon boat is probably real. But I've been here for decades and haven't discovered any secrets. Why would Li Cunxiao know it?"

"Perhaps it's a matter of spiritual level," the senior monk suddenly thought of something.

“That fellow Yuanjue was at the Huangting Perfection stage. When he fought with Li Cunxiao, he happened to fall into demonic possession and had one foot in the true form.”

"Just now, Li Cunxiao was also refining the Golden Lotus, attempting to step into the Great Perfection realm. If he wishes, he can try to advance to the True Form at any time."

"With the true form established and the mysterious gate untrodden, do you think it could be so?"

The two exchanged a glance, clearly thinking of something, but neither spoke.

"Regardless of whether the one who made the move was human or demon, if they could freely enter and leave that secret realm, they should have left long ago."

"Right now, I'm afraid we can only rely on the power of the Dharma Form to forcefully create an opening."

Having said this, Qi did not hesitate and tossed the golden dragon into the air.

The crimson true essence poured into it as if it were alive, stretching and elongating the originally inanimate golden dragon, transforming it into a ring as tall as a person.

The next moment, a powerful aura burst forth from the monk's body, and the crimson true essence quickly transformed into a deep red, almost black color, condensing into bones, muscles, skin, hands, and feet.

In the blink of an eye, a colossal image of a ten-zhang-tall Mingwang (a powerful deity) stood behind Qici.

It has six faces, six arms, and six legs, with a tiger skin skirt around its waist. It holds magical objects such as swords, clubs, wheels, and tridents. Flames behind it are shaped like mountain peaks, and it releases a terrifying aura that can destroy everything.

"I'm here to help you."

Taiyi Zhenren stomped his right foot, and in an instant, the azure true essence rose up like a giant tree, as if it had gone through a life of withering and flourishing in a moment, and finally turned into a seed.

The seed transformed again, becoming a figure wearing a crown and robes, covered by a canopy of seven treasures, with its body radiating light and sharpness like thousands of spears and swords.

Although both statues are ten zhang tall, this "Eastern King Duke" gives people a feeling of peace and vitality, without the slightest bit of murderous intent.

The two enormous Dharma statues simultaneously extended their right hands and grasped the golden dragon-twisted ring.

In an instant, divine light shot out from the eyes of Qici and Taiyi, and the top of the cave seemed to disappear as two beams of light shot into the sky.

Suddenly, the clear autumn sky changed color, with dark clouds like an army pressing in, and muffled thunder rolling in. The mountain demons trembled and fled frantically, but none dared to rush down the mountain.

Such a huge commotion naturally attracted the attention of others very quickly.

In Tiangu Temple, Dezheng, who was discussing matters with the abbots in his meditation room, suddenly changed color. Before he could explain, he rushed out of the room, gazing in the direction of Pingdingshan Mountain with surprise and uncertainty.

"Is it Senior Qi? What could possibly warrant him revealing his Dharma form?"

Meanwhile, in the prefectural government office, Bai Xiangshan and Zheng Yanchang jumped onto the watchtower one after the other. The former had a subtle expression, while the latter was overjoyed.
"True energy interacts with heaven and earth, influencing changes in celestial phenomena; this is the skill of a grandmaster!"

"Besides a high-ranking Buddhist monk, there is also a martial arts immortal here in Songzhou! I must report this to the patriarch immediately; this is an opportunity for the Zheng family of Xingyang!"

The two people inside the cave were naturally unaware of the outside world. As they poured their true energy into the ring, many chaotic scenes seemed to emerge within it.

The scene was dazzling, changing rapidly like a kaleidoscope, but Li Cunxiao's figure did not appear.

Sixty breaths passed in this way, and the two of them suddenly trembled. It seemed as if a fluctuation came from the void.

The two enormous Dharma images reached out and slammed heavily onto the golden ring.

The golden ring trembled, its light and shadow flickering, and suddenly an image appeared:
In the darkness of the void, the enormous dragon boat seemed to float among the clouds.

On the dragon boat, a black shadow and an ice-blue figure clashed fiercely.

The aftershocks of their battle continuously impacted the small boats in the surrounding void, but the massive warship remained completely unshaken.

Amidst the fighting, intermittent words could be heard:

"...Utter treason! I have treated you well."

"Your Majesty has only yourself to blame."

However, at the same time that Qici and Taiyi discovered each other, the two figures entangled together also noticed it.

A powerful aura filled the void, and both the old Taoist and the monk felt a chill run down their spines, immediately realizing that this was a master no less skilled than themselves.

However, despite being cautious, his hands moved swiftly.

Without hesitation, Taiyi took out the Bone-Illuminating Mirror. With the activation of his Dharma Image, the mirror, which was originally the size of a palm, instantly became a great sun, its intense light illuminating the void and piercing through layers of pavilions and palaces.

Finally, it stopped somewhere in the third level.

"found it!"

"Finally, we've gotten rid of these demons."

Li Cunxiao hid in a room in the third layer of the dungeon. When no more footsteps were heard outside, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"If this really is Emperor Yang of Zhou's dragon boat, why have all these civil and military officials become possessed by demons?"

"Demons do live longer than ordinary martial artists, but the Qin Dynasty has been established for six or seven hundred years."

"Human demons are one thing, but why are all these soldiers' armor and clothing spotless and brand new?"

A host of doubts welled up in my mind, leaving me completely baffled.

But now that he's trapped here, there's not much he can do until his two masters arrive.

Among those demons just now, there were many at the Yellow Court and True Form realms, and some even had auras close to Abbot Dezheng.

When they discovered it, Li Cunxiao was ready to drive the Wind and Fire Wheels for a desperate fight, but for some reason, the strongest demons gradually fell to the back.

It's as if there's something even more terrifying within this third layer.

There was too little information, and something strange was about this dragon boat.

Upon arriving at the room marked "Huizhen Pavilion," Li Cunxiao took out a Qi-accumulating pill and swallowed it, intending to regulate his breathing and recover his true energy. However, a loud explosion suddenly came from the void outside the dragon boat, followed by a roar filled with killing intent.

He couldn't hear what was being said, nor did he care to listen, because just standing there motionless, goosebumps kept rising all over his body, and a sense of impending death gripped his heart.

Since leaving Chuqiu, Li Cunxiao had not experienced this feeling for a long time.

It's as if someone is holding your heart tightly in their hand, and everything is being controlled by someone else.

Almost instinctively, he moved away from the door and rushed into the room.

The third pavilion was built in an extremely spacious manner; if someone ran through it, even the slightest sound would echo clearly.

With his true energy enhanced by the Cloud-Stepping Boots, Li Cunxiao moved so fast that he seemed like a blur, leaving only wispy clouds in his wake, forming a winding arc.

On either side of these rooms are huge wall cabinets with countless small drawers, arranged in a dense array of numbers.

However, even with just a fleeting glance, Li Cunxiao could see that most of the drawers had been opened, revealing their empty interiors.

Since this place is called "Huizhen Pavilion", it must have been filled with all kinds of treasures that the Great Zhou Dynasty had collected from all over the world before.

The deeper they went, the fainter the powerful aura outside the dragon boat became.

By the time Li Cunxiao slowly stopped, he had already walked through a corridor that was over a hundred meters long.

The further you go in, the fewer cabinets there are on both sides, indicating that the quality of the items inside gradually increases.

Similarly, without exception, most of the cabinets had already been opened.

After escaping danger, Li Cunxiao finally relaxed and was about to go closer to examine it when suddenly, the golden lotus beneath his body in his dantian flashed.

"Ok?"

What triggered the connection between the golden lotus and the other woman?

Li Cunxiao wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, so he took another step toward the cabinet.

no response.

Take a step back.

The golden lotus flickered.

Li Cunxiao immediately perked up and began to move around and test. He eventually discovered that the further he went in, the stronger Jinlian's reaction became. In the end, he even had a strange feeling about it himself.

It seemed that deep within this pavilion lay something he longed for most.

His pace quickened, and finally he stopped in front of a tightly closed door, which he then pushed open effortlessly.

A pool of water came into view, and in the center of the pool was a withered lotus seedpod.

"Why does this look so much like the cold pool in the caves of Pingdingshan?"

The familiar scene made Li Cunxiao's heart skip a beat. What caught his attention even more was that something seemed to be emitting a faint light from within the withered lotus pod.

The golden lotus in his dantian once again urged him on, and Li Cunxiao couldn't help but walk into the lotus pond. His cloud-stepping shoes created ripples on the water's surface, and he finally stopped in front of the lotus seedpod.

Inside, there was a lotus seed that shimmered with four colors: gold, red, blue, and white.

Li Cunxiao's heart skipped a beat.

"Seven-Treasure Lotus Seeds?!"

(End of this chapter)