Dao Qi Wu Zang Guan Guan: I became a Daoist Master in the 1990s

Chapter 164 The time is ripe, the medicine is potent enough (3,000-word chapter)

A sharp, piercing pain! A bone-chilling, stabbing pain that gnaws at your very core!
The pine breeze awoke from chaos and excruciating pain, and hallucinations washed over it like a tidal wave.

He found himself not bound, but rather high above in the center of a huge altar made of bones and black stones.

Below the altar, there was a vast, dark mass of refugees, their eyes vacant and numb.

What shocked him even more was that Yan Chifeng was standing at the head of the group below the altar!
Dressed in the robes of the Qingwei Temple, his face was cold and stiff, his eyes vacant. He was maintaining order with the young Taoist disciples, repeatedly muttering: "For the country and the people, to die a worthy death... to give one's body as a sacrifice, immeasurable merit... the great righteousness of the National Preceptor!"

"Brother Yan... Brother Yan! You!" Song Feng was heartbroken, and the boundless chill instantly overwhelmed the excruciating pain in his body.

In the courtyard, the battle between Qi Yun and Xuan Yin had reached a fever pitch.

Xuan Yin's figure flickered like a ghost, chanting incantations rapidly, and with a wave of his hand, he unleashed three fierce spells in succession:

One is the "Incense Binding God Rope," where golden smoke transforms into a rope that binds and locks the body, bones, and soul;
The second is the "wailing of ghosts in the underworld," with its shrill sound waves penetrating directly into the brain and shaking the mind;
The third is the "Mysterious Yin Soul-Eating Light," a grayish-white death light that corrodes a person's vital energy upon contact!
Qi Yun's expression was calm, his heart as clear as a mirror.

Cheng Yun Sword in hand transformed into streaks of sword light as he unleashed the full power of the Five Elements Thunderclap Sword Technique!
Sword energy surged and spread in all directions!

The crimson flames swirled around his body, radiating extreme yang and strength, burning away all the invading incense poisons, miasma, and yin evil forces.

The Nine Netherworld Silk Seal would occasionally shoot out, and although it was difficult to immobilize the highly skilled Xuan Yin for long, it could always interfere with him at the crucial moment of his spellcasting, interrupting his rhythm.

Xuan Yin grew increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed. His incense offerings and numerous spells, which he relied on to demonstrate his power, were being severely countered by the opponent's strange flames!
His bizarre spells were even more troublesome, preventing him from unleashing his full power and forcing him to use only 80% of it!

The Qi Yun sword technique is sharp and exquisite, its response is swift, and its true qi is powerful and refined, far exceeding his cultivation level!

"Pfft!" A scorching sword aura finally broke through the defense, grazing Xuan Yin's arm. His Taoist robe was instantly charred and torn, leaving a burn mark.

Xuan Yin let out a muffled groan, his eyes flashing with shock, anger, and a hint of disbelief and embarrassment.

He feinted, then quickly retreated, no longer wanting to fight. His figure flashed and disappeared into the Tai Chi Bagua screen behind him, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

A ripple spread across the screen wall, then quickly subsided.

How could Qi Yun allow him to escape?
He leaped into the chase, using the Cloud Sword to clear a path, and thrust the sword towards the screen wall!
The sword tip touched the screen wall, but it was as if it had pierced through the void.

A powerful suction force came, and Qi Yun rushed into it without hesitation.

Suddenly, everything went dark, and then the scene changed drastically.

He felt as if he had fallen into an endless, dark void, with only a faint light in the distance, which seemed to be the exit.

However, from all directions, mournful howls rang out, and countless twisted, semi-transparent ghosts and vengeful spirits appeared out of thin air, baring their fangs and claws, rushing towards them, their resentment soaring to the sky.

Qi Yun's eyes narrowed, and his sword flashed like a wheel, shredding and scattering the approaching ghosts.

However, the scattered ghostly energy and smoke did not disappear. Instead, they re-condensed and transformed into clearer, withered, and desperate souls of ordinary people!

They were no longer fierce ghosts, but retained the appearance of starving corpses in life. Countless withered hands trembled as they pointed at Qi Yun, and countless desperate faces twisted and glared at him!
The resentment of millions of lives converged into a tidal wave of condemnation.

Why are you blocking my path to immortality?

Why have you cut off our path to peace, a path paved with our sacrifices?!

"Hypocrisy! Selfishness! Do you want us all to die unjustly?!"

"The Imperial Advisor is the savior of the world! You are a demon!"

Xuan Yin's cold laughter echoed through the void, penetrating straight to the soul: "Look! The common people you are so determined to protect do not appreciate it!"

They were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good! Your approach is wrong! Utterly wrong!

Qi Yun paused slightly, gazing at the myriad sorrowful and accusing souls, but his mind remained unmoved.

"I have a clear conscience about the path I have followed, and I do not do it to seek favors from others."

Protect life, not indulge evil; prevent evil, not sever good.

Your ignorance is not your fault, but the sin of the evildoers!

boom!
With Qi Yun's resolute heart, the Crimson Hunting Fire erupted with a roar, sweeping out like the sun from the center of Qi Yun's body, its light shining brightly and fiercely!

Where the flames passed, countless phantoms of souls and endless resentment and accusations vanished and were purified, like spring snow meeting the sun. The cold, resentful aura that filled the void was completely gone!
The darkness was forcibly dispelled, and the scene before my eyes returned.

He remained standing in the fourth courtyard, as if he had never moved.

And that Tai Chi Bagua screen wall is not far ahead.

Xuan Yin Zhenren stood before the screen wall, his back to him and facing the screen wall. His hands were forming a complex and ancient hand seal at an extremely fast speed. His aura was connected with the entire screen wall and even the entire Qingwei Temple, fluctuating violently and emitting a dangerous aura far greater than before!
Qi Yun's true qi surged within his body, and the sword's body burned with crimson-gold flames, the scorching sword energy distorting the surrounding air!
Stomp on the ground! Unleash your power! Body and sword become one, transforming into a blazing fire arrow that strikes straight at Xuan Yin with the most resolute, prairie-like force!

The sword's edge reached his body!

Xuan Yin neither dodged nor evaded. The Cheng Yun Sword pierced into his body without any resistance.

However, there was no tactile sensation.

Xuan Yin's figure exploded with a bang, not in a bloody mess, but in a dense cloud of golden smoke that quickly dissipated.

All that remained was his cold, triumphant laugh, echoing in the air:

"Very good... The time is right... The medicinal properties are sufficient... Please—enter the urn!"

The ground beneath their feet vanished without warning!
It wasn't a collapse, but a complete annihilation!

Qi Yun plummeted downwards, the flames on Cheng Yun Sword illuminating his descent.

What lay below was not the dark dungeon as expected, but a vast, crimson, and scorching cavern!

The cave is so vast that it stretches as far as the eye can see.

The cave walls were not rock, but some kind of eerie, dark red, fleshy, and visceral tissue that was still pulsating slightly!
Inside the cave, the scorching yang energy and the icy yin energy were like two raging dragons, entangled, colliding, and boiling!
It transformed into a raging ocean of energy, a tapestry of crimson and deep blue!

At its center, a huge vortex forms, emitting an incredibly terrifying suction force, as if it could refine and devour everything!

Xuan Yin's figure appeared high above the cave. His expression was no longer gentle or angry as before, but a complete and inhuman indifference. His eyes even faintly showed a dark golden color similar to that of the Imperial Preceptor Qing Yun.

He looked down at Qi Yun, who was plummeting into the energy vortex, as if watching a medicinal herb finally being thrown into a furnace. His voice was loud and cold, echoing throughout the entire lava cave.

"The main ingredient has been added; the cauldron—time to open!"

Suddenly, countless eerie runes lit up the flesh-like tissue on the four walls of the cave, the entire space trembled violently, the vortex of yin and yang energies spun rapidly, and the suction force increased dramatically!

Qi Yun plummeted downwards, the wind whistling past his ears. Below him, a terrifying suction force emanated from the intertwined crimson and dark blue energy vortex, threatening to devour him completely.

The alternating clashes of scorching heat and icy cold nearly tore apart his protective Qi.

In a flash, he focused his mind, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and with a roar, he violently swung his wrist!

"Keng!"

The Chengyun Sword emitted a clear and resonant sound, transforming into a stream of light that tore through the darkness, and fiercely stabbed into the pulsating, dark red fleshy mountain wall beside it!
The sword pierced the wall, producing a dull thud that made one's teeth ache, similar to tearing tough leather.

Dark red "blood" seeped from the wound, and was immediately burned and evaporated by the Crimson Hunting Fire swirling around the sword, making a "hissing" sound.

The downward momentum was suddenly halted. Qi Yun gripped the sword hilt tightly, hanging on the eerie and terrifying "furnace wall," his body swaying precariously with the violent fluctuations of energy.

Upon hearing the main ingredient mentioned by Xuan Yin, a thunderbolt struck his heart!
The main ingredient?!
This thunderclap instantly cleaved through the fog of confusion in Qi Yun's heart!

The severe drought in Yongzhou, the famine among displaced people, the burning of corpses into soldiers... all these horrific tragedies, this Yin-Yang furnace that envelops the entire prefecture, the resentment and evil spirits of millions of people gathered there, are not the core of it all!
They are important, but ultimately, they are all just... auxiliary ingredients?!

This all-encompassing evil formation, this heaven-defying feat of using mountains and rivers as a furnace, is ultimately meant to refine himself!
"His intention is to use this alchemy furnace to refine me into a great elixir!"

Enlightenment is like being doused with ice water, bringing a chill to the bone, yet it also ignites a raging fury in an instant!
He suddenly looked up, his gaze like cold lightning shooting towards Xuan Yin high above.

Upon seeing this, a chill ran through my heart!
At this moment, Xuan Yin's aura had changed drastically.

The previous human emotions, whether gentle or angry, completely faded away.

His handsome face was as if covered by an invisible, cold mask, stiff and rigid.

Especially those eyes, which had somehow turned into a pure, cold, dark gold, empty and indifferent inside, like ancient, cold rocks looking down at the struggling ants in the furnace.

This is definitely not Xuan Yin! This is...!
"It's you!" Qi Yun exclaimed in a low voice, instantly recognizing the person!
It was none other than the stone boy descending from the Five Internal Organs Temple of the Immortal Mountain, the current Imperial Preceptor, Qingyun!
It used some strange and mysterious method to completely replace, or rather assimilate, Xuan Yin's body and mind at this moment!

This turned it into a cold vessel that contained its will and power!

The "Xuan Yin" high above remained expressionless, its dark golden pupils coldly gazing down at Qi Yun in the furnace.

He spoke, his voice carrying a strange, chilling sense of overlap, retaining some outline of Xuan Yin's voice while mixing with a deeper, more inhuman, icy tone, as if the rocks were whispering and rubbing against each other.

"Cause and effect are in a cycle, and this time is the time to fulfill it."

"You are an anomaly, usurping my position, and are the great calamity that will hinder my path to immortality. Today, I will refine this calamity into an elixir to aid my ascension to immortality!"

Before he finished speaking, his dark golden eyes gleamed slightly, and he raised his hands, which were already faintly gleaming with a stone-like luster, and ruthlessly pressed them down on the energy vortex below!
"Boom!!!"

The entire alchemy furnace inside the mountain trembled violently, groaning as if it could not bear the weight.

The already raging and boiling crimson yang energy and dark blue yin energy below were completely enraged by an invisible giant hand, roaring and transforming into two ferocious energy dragons with scales showing!

The Yang Dragon is fiery and unrestrained, burning away the void; the Yin Dragon is icy and chilling, freezing the soul.

(End of this chapter)