Minglong

Chapter 401 My Spirit Pet, Why Is It in Your Hands...?

Wipe it off~
The cloaked figure moved slowly under the clear sky, gradually arriving deep into the mountains. There were no more cattle and sheep to be seen around, only the blue sky and green grass.

Xie Jinhuan followed in the shadows, his mind focused on observing his surroundings. But seeing the magnificent scenery, he still felt as if he had stepped into the world of Teletubbies, quite amazed...

Ye Yunchi and Jiang Xian followed closely, also keeping an eye on their surroundings. After following for a while, they suddenly noticed the cloaked figure in the distance stop in an open area, then turn to face the three of them and speak from afar:
"Yun Chi, it's been a long time."

Her voice was quite gentle, a stark contrast to that of Madam Han.

Xie Jinhuan was taken aback, somewhat puzzled.

Upon hearing the voice, Ye Yunchi trembled, staring incredulously at the woman in the distance:
"You...you vixen, are you practicing ventriloquism again?"

But the cloaked woman in the distance, after speaking, raised her hand, lifted her hood, and revealed a mature hairstyle and a gentle face.

Her cheeks bore a resemblance to Ye Yunchi's, but she looked much more alluring, with a half-smile in her eyes, giving her a touch of the charm of a wicked enchantress.

Seeing this person's appearance and demeanor, Xie Jinhuan initially thought he was Sister Naigua's older sister, wondering if he had run into another romantic encounter. But the next moment, he heard a voice from beside him:
"mother?!"

Ye Yunchi's eyes widened in shock, his expression filled with surprise and doubt. He instinctively wanted to step forward, but then stopped in his tracks and scrutinized the situation carefully.

The two swords at his waist, Junchi and Mingji, were crafted by Ye Ci with all his heart and soul. One was given to the white moonlight he met while traveling the world, and the other was given to his daughter whom he felt guilty about and dared not meet. They were imbued with all the feelings in the heart of a sage.

At this moment, the two swords seemed to react to seeing an old friend, emitting a soft sound:
hum~
Seeing this, Xie Jinhuan realized that this was a "honey trap" aimed at Ye Sheng, and warned him:

"Beware of fraud."

Ye Yunchi had long suspected something was amiss, but with his beloved family member, who had supposedly disappeared, suddenly returning to his side, it was hard for anyone to believe it was fake. So, he still asked:
"Mother, is that you?"

The woman stood still, her voice gentle:
“It was me. I was hiding from that heartless man. He was obsessed with chivalry and fighting for justice, and he had no feelings for us, mother and daughter. I thought that by pretending to be dead, he would repent, but I was wrong…”

Sa——

Just as they were speaking, a mournful sword cry suddenly came from deep within the mountains!
The woman's expression changed drastically. She quickly turned around and saw a gleaming longsword hurtling through the air, already three zhang away.

In this situation, not only Ye Yunchi, but Xie Jinhuan's mind changed drastically, and he subconsciously wanted to help.

But the longsword came too fast, and since they had maintained their distance, neither of them had time to react. Just a moment later, a sound came from ahead:
puff--

The three-foot sword pierced through her chest, drawing a line of blood behind her. The woman almost lost her balance on the spot, her long hair flying as she fell backward.

Thump~
The woman lay on the ground, still struggling to look in the direction of the three people:
"Go...go quickly..."

Ye Yunchi knew that this scene was 99% fake, but as a daughter who had lost her parents at a young age, how could she remain unmoved when she saw someone who looked exactly like her mother die in front of her again? Her murderous intent surged, and she quickly searched for the person who had made the move in the dark.

And like Ye Yunchi, there are clearly more than one person in the world who cannot face this scene.

The evil path exhausted all means, seizing upon a slight weakness exposed by Ye Sheng, and used it to lay out the most vicious psychological attack, attempting to force Ye Ci to reveal his true colors. Even if he only leaked a trace of his aura in the Danluo Plain, his location could be quickly detected.

Unfortunately, Ye Ci, being a wandering knight, is indeed prone to falling for such tricks. Even knowing it's fake, he'll risk gambling on that almost impossible possibility.

But having witnessed the deaths of tens of millions of civilians and the martyrdom of countless fellow Daoists and predecessors for the sake of the common people, Ye Sheng, who ultimately shouldered the last flame of righteousness alone, was already a dead man from the day he became the swordsman.

As a human being, Ye Ci also has feelings, righteousness, and countless people he cherishes. But as the God of Heaven, his heart can only hold absolute rationality. He must make both the righteous and the evil understand what it means to be 'indifferent to Heaven'!
Huhu——

The rustling wind echoed through the mountains.

The cloaked woman lying on the ground gradually lost her spirit. Before her eyes became unfocused, she still looked south, as if waiting for that person who would never return, even just to glance in her direction.

But there was no reaction from heaven and earth; even the wind continued to blow gently.

At the summit of the snow-capped mountain, Shang Mingzhen nervously watched the southern sky, wary of a certain living deity suddenly descending to earth. After a long while, he frowned and said:

"No response? Could it be that Ye Sheng didn't see it?"

Zitong was also on edge, and after thinking for a moment, she said:
"If he could leave behind sword energy to protect his daughter's safety, how could he not sense the danger here? He just didn't show himself. However, in such a heart-wrenching situation, a normal person would come if they could. Even if they didn't care, they would still kill the culprit to vent their anger and establish their authority. Ye Sheng's lack of reaction probably means he really can't come."

Shang Mingzhen nodded slightly, feeling that this news was extremely important, and then looked at the three people in the distance:
"What should we do now?"

"Master Yang has already set up a killing formation. Xie Jinhuan is doomed. If Ye Sheng doesn't come, then Qixia Zhenren, the Goddess of War, and Huang Lin Zhenren will have to step forward. Let's wait and see."

……

woohoo...

A strong wind was blowing across the mountains.

Xie Jinhuan cautiously surveyed his surroundings to avoid being ambushed by a powerful enemy; Jiang Xian also glared around angrily, trying to find where the hidden force behind the scheme was hiding.

As expected, the other side's psychological warfare tactics were clearly not just a charade.

Ye Yunchi stared at the woman who was gradually becoming still, his eyes filled with murderous intent. But halfway through, he noticed that the woman, who had already died, was beginning to change. Her skin and hair turned into a variety of colors, and her plump figure was rapidly shrinking.

"Ok?"

Ye Yunchi's expression hardened with anger. Looking closely, he saw that the woman in the distance had quickly turned into an empty cloak that had fallen to the ground.

Then a round bulge appeared from under the cloak, moving back and forth, before emerging from the hem of the cloak to reveal a black and red octopus.

The octopus was about the size of its head, with two tentacles holding a sparkling hairpin and necklace. Its big eyes were quite intelligent. It glanced at the three of them, then raised the hairpin and shook it to show off. Then, its six legs flew off and it ran wildly into the mountains.

Wow…

A line of dust appeared in the valley and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Coal Ball, who was helping to hold up Ye Yunchi's skirt, saw this and his eyes lit up, guessing that he had already seen the octopus teppanyaki.

Xie Jinhuan and Ye Yunchi looked on incredulously, not understanding what kind of mountain and marsh spirit this was.

Jiang Xian, on the other hand, had a burning gaze, revealing her true nature:

"Hey? My spirit pet, how did it end up in the hands of evil cultivators? Quick, chase after it..."

Although Xie Jinhuan didn't understand what this thing was, he had seen such a realistic disguise before and knew that it should be more valuable than Mo Yuan. He immediately gave chase at full speed, trying to catch this rare and exotic beast that he thought no one wanted.

But after only a few steps of pursuit, the three men and the bird discovered a turbulent crosswind in the valley.

woohoo...

Xie Jinhuan immediately stopped and looked around to determine the enemy's location, only to find that a vast amount of energy fluctuations were coming from all directions.

Then the azure sky was shrouded in darkness, the distant mountains and grasslands disappeared, and the two people who were close at hand could hardly be seen because of the loss of light, as if they had fallen into an endless polar night in an instant.

Xie Jinhuan initially thought he was under an illusion, but he soon discovered that his soul was not disturbed. The entire valley was indeed shrouded in an unknown black barrier, which not only isolated him from the outside world, but also prevented him from mobilizing the power of heaven and earth.

Even with his considerable experience, Ye Yunchi had never witnessed such a scene before. He looked around as if facing a formidable enemy.
"What's going on?"

Jiang Xian, unsure of her own strength and somewhat timid, leaned closer to Xie Jinhuan:

"Why can't I see anything?"

Stab~
Lightning crackled from Xie Jinhuan's palm, illuminating an area of ​​about ten feet in radius. He listened attentively to the ghost's explanation and responded solemnly:
"The Devouring Light and Severing Spirit Array, Yang Huaxian's method."

Ye Yunchi's heart skipped a beat when he heard the name.

The Devouring Light and Severing Spirit Array is not a lethal spell, but a shielding spell that makes it difficult for any energy to leak out. Even if a cultivator is standing right outside the array, they will see everything as normal and will not be able to sense any internal movement.

During Yang Huaxian's active period, he frequently used this technique to massacre cities. As long as the cultivators were not stationed in the city, it was almost impossible to warn of or guard against it.

Yang Huaxian's use of secret techniques here was clearly to prevent outsiders from noticing the commotion and attracting reinforcements, as he was about to strike.

As for her and Xie Jinhuan, they clearly had no chance of winning against an old demon of the Immortal Ascension level...

"What should we do now?"

"Don't panic..."

Xie Jinhuan had never seen this amazing supernatural power before, but fortunately, A Piao had!
Upon discovering that Yang Huaxian was quite cautious, having only set up a self-operating magic array beforehand without personally participating, Xie Jinhuan breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately formed hand seals, and his internal energy surged forth, transforming into an earthy-yellow stream of light that spread across his arms before pressing them to the ground.
"The mysterious land connects to the netherworld, the shifting sands respond to the call, gathering like hills and scattering like stars..."

Rumble…

Although he couldn't draw upon the power of heaven and earth, Xie Jinhuan's own dantian was vast. He used the "inverted candle" technique to activate the Sand-Transforming Divine Incantation from the ancestral scriptures of the Daoist sect, and the surrounding ground immediately began to tremble.

Then the sand churned and swallowed the grass, turning into waves of yellow sand that spread outwards, reaching half a mile in the blink of an eye.

Yang Huaxian's Taoist skills were naturally profound, but in order to prevent being ambushed by the righteous path, he would set up an array in advance. No matter how high his skill was, he would use the mountains and rivers to set up the array. He could not control the array as freely as a cultivator.

Given Yang Huaxian's skill level, it would be impossible for a fifth-realm cultivator to break the formation. However, Xie Jinhuan, along with his strategist, followed A Piao's guidance and shattered the underground formation veins before the killing formation was activated.

As the formation lost its support, the dark barrier that had blotted out the sky vanished completely, and the mountain valley was once again bathed in sunshine and gentle breezes.

woohoo...

Xie Jinhuan was also on high alert, and only after confirming there were no further developments did he breathe a slight sigh of relief, thinking to himself:

"That's it?"

He stopped and stood up, only to find that the baby octopus was gone. Xie Jinhuan was heartbroken, but fearing that Yang Huaxian might actually come to kill him, he dared not linger.

"Let's go first."

……

Meanwhile, atop the snow-capped mountain.

Shang Mingzhen and Zitong, upon seeing the Devouring Light and Severing Spirit Array that covered an area of ​​seven or eight miles, were both amazed by Xian Deng's extraordinary foundation.

However, the formation lasted for less than five seconds before it dissipated completely, and the three people and the bird reappeared and fled towards the outer perimeter, leaving the two looking bewildered.

Zitong looked around carefully, then gazed at the mountains and grasslands:
"What happened? Why did Leader Yang hold back?"

Shang Mingzhen was Shang Lianbi's disciple, and had a broad knowledge of various religions and schools of thought. His knowledge far surpassed that of Zitong. Seeing the sand marks on the ground, he frowned and said:
"This isn't holding back at all. Xie Jinhuan used earth magic to sever the array's energy channels, rendering the array unusable. Since Sect Leader Yang hasn't seen the true Buddha, he certainly won't show himself. You go underground to the Kun position, use earth magic to gather sand into soil, and reconnect the array to put pressure on the three of them..."

"I go?"

Before Zitong left, her superiors instructed her to simply keep watch and not to attempt a direct confrontation. Her response to this was:

"I am a brute from the demonic path, and I do not know any Taoist formations. Young Master Shang is knowledgeable in this field and should also be skilled in earth magic..."

Shang Mingzhen turned her head:
"Your Underworld God Sect is leading this matter, and all you've got is a mouth? If I were Shan Tufa, would I bury myself in the snow? If you won't go, then go and ask the Immortal Ancestor."

"..."

Zitong knew that Yang Huaxian wouldn't show himself without fully understanding the opponent's situation. He had orchestrated this scheme, and if it ended without a result, he would have a hard time explaining it to his allies. After thinking it over, he gritted his teeth and disappeared into the earth, rushing towards the valley...

(End of this chapter)