Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 213, Section 212: Defining the True Form, Five-Pronged Pestle (Moving house, one update today)

Thirty miles outside Songzhou City, the densely packed demon army resembled locusts.

At first glance, it's overwhelming, making one feel uneasy.

Li Cunxiao flew towards the city wall and landed. The soldiers guarding the city stared wide-eyed, as if they had seen a god.

With such a commotion, Bai Xiangshan was naturally alerted and arrived at the city wall.

But he was clearly not in the mood to speak at the moment. He simply greeted Li Cunxiao and then leaned against the city wall, gazing at the swarm of troops in the distance with a solemn expression.

"Judging from this momentum, there are probably nearly ten thousand soldiers."

In traditional folk tales, the opening lines often mention hundreds of thousands of soldiers or a million-strong army.

However, in reality, it is already very difficult to lead ten thousand people, let alone support them.

Songzhou governs ten counties, with 124,268 households and a population of 897,041.

A ratio of 100 to 1 is the minimum that won't affect the lives of ordinary people. More than 800,000 people can only support 7,000 to 8,000 city guards.

If he were determined to contend for supremacy, he could also collect taxes and levies, and it wouldn't be difficult for him to amass an army of tens of thousands.

However, Bai Xiangshan loved the people and couldn't bear to see ordinary people's families destroyed and their homes displaced.

Secondly, the imperial court established the Xuanwu Army in Songzhou, also known as the Songzhou Military Governor, which was nominally under the jurisdiction of Prince Liang, Zhu Quanzhong.

The latter is the one who truly intends to seize power. If he were to expand extensively in Henan Province, which he considers his backyard, he would likely soon attract even more ruthless regional military governors.

It was also because Bai Xiangshan lacked such ambition, and Songzhou was close to the Eastern Capital, making its location sensitive, and Zhu Quanzhong was unwilling to break ties with the court and become the first among the traitors, that the several prefectures west of Henan Circuit were able to coexist peacefully.

However, things might change once Qin Fengquan's army arrives.

"Look! They're retreating!"

The soldiers guarding the city shouted, and Li Cunxiao looked closely and saw that the dense swarm of insects was indeed slowly crawling away, retreating little by little.

At that moment, he clearly felt Qin Fengquan, who was 10,000 meters away, glance at him, and the chilling killing intent gave him goosebumps.

The soldiers guarding the city only breathed a sigh of relief when Qin Fengquan's demon army was no longer visible on the city walls.

Although they enlisted in the army, no one liked fighting, and no one was sure they could survive on the battlefield.

Ideally, the enemy would retreat without a fight.

"Young Master Li, please convey my gratitude to my esteemed master, the True Man Taiyi."

Bai Xiangshan's solemn expression softened somewhat, and he bowed deeply.

Li Cunxiao initially wanted to dodge, but upon turning around, he saw that the true essence incarnation of Taiyi Zhenren on his shoulder was gone. Helpless, he still accepted the bow and promised to pass on the message.

"The demon is brutal. Wherever he goes, he lifts the ban and lets his soldiers kill and plunder indiscriminately."

"Although they have retreated briefly, it is likely only because they are intimidated by the power of the several grandmasters in the city."

Bai Xiangshan was deeply worried. The current safety was only temporary. After all, the masters were all outsiders and had no ties to this place. They didn't know when they would leave.

Then, who can he turn to for help?

While thinking about it, he asked Li Cunxiao for the reason, and the latter told him about Qin Fengquan's infiltration of the Flying Tiger Escort Agency.

"According to you, he knew you had two grandmasters backing you, yet after being exposed, he still didn't rush to leave, preferring to risk damaging his true essence."

"Qin Fengquan's actions are likely not just for revenge, but also to gather intelligence within the city."

"Although he has been forced to retreat, the existence of several grandmasters has also come to light."

"He temporarily withdrew his troops and turned from covert to overt. Alas, although this man is cruel, he is a veteran general and not easy to deal with."

Li Cunxiao saw that the other party had a furrowed brow, but he could not comfort him. He could only hope that this Prefect Bai could withstand the pressure of the approaching army.

The Fiery Wheels suddenly appeared beneath their feet, with flames and winds intertwining in a spiral, before landing at the镖局 (镖局 is a type of security escort agency) in the blink of an eye.

The commotion was so great that it must have alerted the entire city. Naturally, the Cui brothers and others couldn't sit still. As soon as they saw Li Cunxiao return, they couldn't help but surround him.

Zhang Lishi silenced everyone's chatter with a look and asked:
"Sanlang, what exactly happened?"

Seeing the anxiety and worry in everyone's eyes, Li Cunxiao tried to clear his mind and smiled.

"Master, everything is alright now. Just now, it was a spy from the Ming Cult who infiltrated the city to gather intelligence, but he has been repelled."

"Even the rioting troops were too frightened to approach and hurriedly retreated."

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but the bodyguards who had quietly gathered around could hear him clearly.

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the previously somewhat oppressive atmosphere eased.

However, the solemnity on Zhang Lishi and Yuan Hua's faces did not dissipate. The Cui brothers and Shi Tie also noticed this, but they tacitly remained silent and naturally dispersed the onlookers.

After closing the study door, only Yuanhua and Zhang Lishi remained in the room. Li Cunxiao felt their gazes and his smile faded.

"That man just now was Qin Fengquan, a master-level expert and vanguard under Huang Chao."

"hiss"

Yuan Hua gasped in shock, while Zhang Lishi looked puzzled.

“He’s a master on the same level as Master Taiyi,” Li Cunxiao said, then quickly added when he saw his master’s face fall.
"However, his avatar was shot and killed by Master Taiyi, so his strength must be inferior."

Even so, Zhang Lishi still held onto the chair and slid down little by little.

The news was so shocking that Yuanhua struggled to process it before hurriedly returning to the temple with Mingzhu.

Before long, news of tens of thousands of rebel troops outside the city began to spread rapidly throughout the city.

After Zhang Lishi found out, he became even more silent.

"Master, if a fight really breaks out, what are your plans?"

Seeing the other person's exhausted appearance, Li Cunxiao couldn't bear it in the end.

"Or you could come with me to Louguan Temple."

"No," Zhang Lishi sighed, but his words were firm, interrupting his disciple before he could finish speaking.

"Sanlang, I appreciate your kindness."

"But I am different from you. Do you know how I am different?"

He stretched out his large, calloused fingers and gently traced a circle.

Li Cunxiao's gaze followed the movement of his finger, as if he could see the escort agency's training ground, stables, storeroom, and backyard through the walls of the study.

He saw that the bodyguards and escorts in the training ground were still in shock.

Some were afraid of the chaotic troops outside the city and were unwilling to continue the escort missions outsourced by the government, and even had the idea of ​​quitting.
Others, however, were excited, eager to use the escort agency as a springboard to join the city guard and make a name for themselves, because they were all alone and only wanted to make a name for themselves.
He saw in the stable that Wei Ying seemed hesitant to speak, while Wei He was simply grooming Chi Li's fur, and the latter snorted contentedly.
He saw Shi Tie repeatedly counting the armored soldiers in the storeroom, while Cui Wei marked up the accounts one by one. Cui Yao didn't say anything, but silently wiped the spear.

He saw Zhang Yuelu and her sisters gathered around Madam Zhang in the backyard, seemingly trying to persuade her about something. Madam Zhang was holding Zhang Xiaohu, who was not yet a year old.

Zhang Que'er and Shi Youniang followed their elder sister and mother respectively, their eyes darting around as if searching for someone.

Finally, the finger stopped in front of Zhang Lishi himself.

He noticed that the other person's temples were now covered with gray hairs.

Li Cunxiao seemed to understand.

Zhang Lishi looked at the tall and upright young man in front of him, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothed out, and a smile appeared on his face.

“Sanlang, you are still young, and you only have one younger brother, Moksha.”

"But I have a wife and children, and a hundred or so brothers in the security escort agency."

“I am from Songzhou. I grew up here and built my business here with swords and spears. I spend every day and night with your master’s wife.”

“I’ve already escaped once, and slunk away to Chuqiu. I thought I would have to slunk back again.”

"But with you here, I can say I've returned home in glory, and I have no regrets." "Master."

"Sanlang," Zhang Lishi stood up, placed his hand on Li Cunxiao's shoulder, and squeezed it hard.

His tone was very soft; it was hard to tell whether he was exhausted or trying his best to remain calm.

"I am old, I don't want to walk, and I can't walk anymore."

"Even if we escape the war temporarily after leaving Songzhou, can we really expect to live a peaceful life?"

"Natural disasters and man-made calamities, war and bandits, famine, plague, levies—which of these doesn't take lives?"

"Prefect Bai is a good official; there are very few people in the world who love the people as much as he does."

"As a teacher, I have too many concerns. How can I gamble on the benevolence or cruelty of the next superior?"

"Besides, although a large army is indeed pressing in, the situation isn't that bad yet. Let's take it one step at a time."

"On the contrary, it is you, Sanlang, whose Louguandao sect is too deeply involved with the royal Li family, making you a thorn in the side of all the heroes in the world."

"When you go there, don't worry about your teacher. Focus on planning for yourself, understand?"

His shoulders felt heavy; it was unclear whether it was from Zhang Lishi's grip or the weight of his words.

Li Cunxiao couldn't utter a single word.

He didn't even know how he got out of the study; only his master's seemingly casual words echoed in his ears.

"But don't worry, I'm not a rigid person. If the city really falls, I will still flee."

"Back then, I still had to rely on you, Sanlang."

Call ~
Li Cunxiao involuntarily tilted his head back and let out a long breath.

The heat swirled and dissipated in the gloomy winter sky, and the ten-thousand-meter-long trail left by Taiyi's arrow had not yet faded.

It seemed as if a biting blizzard could descend at any moment from the cracks in the void.

At that moment, he suddenly felt himself being hugged.

"Mucha?"

Li Cunxiao looked down and found that his younger brother was not crying, and his eyes were not red.

After this year, Mokcha will be fourteen years old.

His delicate features gradually matured, and he unknowingly grew to about 1.67 meters tall, clearly a teenager. No, according to the ways of the world, he might already be considered half an adult.

"Big brother, are you tired?"

Li Cunxiao paused for a moment, then forced a smile that wasn't really a smile.

"Not too tiring."

Mokcha remained silent for a moment, then withdrew his arms and solemnly clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"Brother, I will go through fire and water with you."

Li Cunxiao was stunned again.

My heart seemed to be filled with something all of a sudden. Was it relief? Or something else entirely?
"Going through fire and water is not a very auspicious thing to say," he said, his expression relaxing as he wrapped his large hands around his younger brother's fists.

"Let's live well together with our older brother."

The events unfolded exactly as Bai Xiangshan had predicted.

After discovering that there were four grandmasters in the city, Qin Fengquan indeed dared not attack the city rashly, but he did not remain idle either.

In just half a month, nearly 10,000 demon soldiers were divided into several units and burned, killed, and looted in the nearby rural towns and counties.

Every day, the distress pigeons would fly to the city, but this time Bai Xiangshan saw through their trick of luring him out and was determined to stay put.

As the governor, he had already called on the people to seek refuge in the city before Qin Fengquan's army arrived. Now, all that remains are the fortified villages of local powerful clans.

The latter was unwilling to abandon his established business and enter the city to be controlled by Bai Xiangshan. Choosing independence naturally meant bearing the consequences of independence.

Of the four grandmasters, Zheng Lang and Yang Ling both turned a blind eye. Qi Ci, however, could not stand it and clashed with Qin Fengquan multiple times.

However, the latter was very cautious and would immediately get away as soon as he could buy the army a chance to evacuate.

Qi was helpless, because the caves on Pingdingshan Mountain were sealed with three human demons who were even more brutal than Qin Fengquan.

Once they escape, not only Songzhou, but the entire world will be thrown into chaos. Even Taiyi alone is taking a risk; how could the great monk dare to leave for too long?

"That bastard Zheng Lang! He's the one who asked me for help, and now he's the one hiding his head in the sand."

"As long as Qin Fengquan doesn't attack the city, he'll act like nothing happened?"

"He only didn't want his family to suffer losses; what did the lives of others matter?"

Taiyi watched as Qici stormed into the cave, cursing and swearing, and rebuked him.

"Keep your voice down, Cunxiao is about to break through to his true form."

In the jade pool, the spiritual liquid rippled and continuously turned into water mist, which was inhaled and exhaled by the shirtless youth.

In the hazy light, crimson fire serpents silently appeared, within which lay layers of hell, where ghosts wailed—

This is fire;
The serpent opened its mouth, spitting out a jet-black sword, around which the great dragon Kurikara coiled—

Fire generates earth;
The black dragon and the fire serpent, head to tail, spun and danced, transforming into a golden wheel that suppressed the four continents and the endless ocean beneath Mount Sumeru.

Earth produces metal;
The ocean churned, the waters of the four seas surged upwards, and a dark blue-black giant with three heads and eight arms, its face ferocious—

Metal generates water;
The giant roared to the sky, straddling mountains and seas, holding up the sun and clouds, parting the vast expanse of sky and clouds to reveal the Tushita Heaven, where a Bodhi seed was displayed—

Aquatic wood?
"Vajra."

The demonic essence of that Ming Cult leader has been refined, replaced by a pair of illuminated Capricorn claws.

He himself was certainly not worth this evil energy, but with the remaining master-level true essence from when Qin Fengquan possessed him, he achieved the current effect.

Fifteen days was enough time for Li Cunxiao to master the Longhua Great Seal and plant a seed of enlightenment.

Now, a cool, refreshing mist, like sweet dew, pours down upon the Bodhi seeds.

Sprouting, budding, the tender white quickly turns into dark brown, and the finger-sized buds rapidly sprout branches and leaves, transforming into a sapling.

The tree wasn't tall, but its heart-shaped Bodhi leaves were very dense, forming a canopy, and its branches twisted like dragons, as if dragons were peering out from the sea.

Aquatic wood!
boom--

The Dragon Flower Tree shone brightly, as if burning, radiating the flames of wisdom. From the flames arose fire serpents, which spewed black dragons; the two dragons circled the golden wheel, and the golden wheel cleaved the ocean.
Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water form a complete cycle;

The twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians vibrated simultaneously, and surging true energy filled every corner of the body.

Yin and Yang influence the Five Elements, thus constructing a complete microcosm within the human body.

Within his dantian, the lotus incarnation flowed smoothly and seamlessly into every part of Li Cunxiao's body, becoming intimately integrated with him.

In an instant, true energy condensed into three heads and eight arms, supporting the dragons, asuras, the wheel-turning beings, and the precious tree, merging the form of the deity with the form of the true self.

There was no distinction between entering, dwelling in, and exiting meditation. Li Cunxiao was already in a godlike state, vaguely sensing the invisible pulse of heaven and earth and seeing all kinds of spiritual energy.

Roar--

On the vajra, three pairs of six-headed makara stretched out their heads and claws, radiating golden light, and then two more pairs of four makara took shape.

As they danced and converged, they re-outlined the body of the pestle, the Sumeru pedestal, and the lotus seat.

Finally, the five prongs at both ends converge to form a sharp cone—

Five-pronged Vajra!
(End of this chapter)