This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

The shadowy figure moved as fast as lightning.

Mr. Zhao was so terrified that he forgot to dodge and was about to be pounced on!

"You wretched creature, how dare you!"

Zhang Chen roared, his footwork shifting as if he were treading on invisible stars.

He transformed into a blur, instantly blocking in front of President Zhao.

However, instead of directly slashing with the peach wood sword in his hand, he flicked his wrist, and the tip of the sword pointed downwards, actually piercing directly into the marble floor.

That was the eye of the Bagua array that he had previously pointed out with the ink line!

"Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing!"

Zhang Chen's voice became solemn and dignified, each word carrying a strange vibration.

"Imperial Edict!"

With his final decree, the vermilion lines on the floor instantly lit up with blinding red light.

Red light intertwined and shot upwards, forming a semi-transparent red light shield.

The lunging shadow crashed right into the light shield.

"Bang!"

A dull, loud thud resounded, like a heavy object striking a thick cowhide drum.

The dark figure was violently thrown back by the immense force, tumbling and rolling in mid-air.

The ghost puppet was bounced back into the air and regained its balance.

It let out an angry roar, and the black aura around it became several times denser than before.

The black energy surged and transformed into several sharp claw shadows, blocking all angles from all directions and grabbing at Zhang Chen at the center of the formation.

Zhang Chen remained calm and composed, his expression unchanged.

He took out three talismans from his pocket with his left hand.

Without even glancing at them, he flicked his wrist, and the three talismans seemed to come alive, floating into the air.

He pointed his right hand with fingers together like a sword, and then, several meters away, made a virtual point in the air.

He shouted urgently, "This fire is no ordinary fire; it is the Supreme Clarity Spiritual Treasure, a single spark of true fire!"

"Awesome!"

The three talismans instantly burst into flames in mid-air.

They transformed into three crimson fireballs the size of human heads, trailing long fiery tails, and precisely collided with the attacking black claws.

When black smoke meets fire, it's like a hot knife cutting into butter.

"Sizzle—"

A sickeningly loud burning sound rang out, and a burnt smell filled the air.

Those ferocious black claws couldn't even last a second against the crimson flames, and were instantly burned to ashes.

Wang Xiaoer watched in disbelief.

This was completely beyond his comprehension.

Stepping the steps, activating the formation, commanding the true fire...

This is Zhang Chen's true strength!

This is the real skill that Daoist Master possesses!

The black mist was broken, and the true form of the ghost puppet was completely exposed in the air.

It seemed to have been injured by those three balls of true fire; the black aura on its body had thinned considerably, and its movements had become somewhat sluggish.

Zhang Chen seized the opportunity, holding the ebony sword, its blade pointing at the ghost terracotta warrior.

His eyes were sharp as knives.

"I'm giving you one last chance."

Zhang Chen's voice was cold and devoid of any emotion.

"Get back into the box yourself, or I'll make sure your soul is annihilated!"

The ghost puppet hovered in mid-air, its scarlet eyes fixed on Zhang Chen.

It did not back down, but hesitated for a moment.

Then, its small, clay-fired mouth slowly opened into a strange arc.

"Jie..."

"Hehehehe..."

A series of increasingly shrill, eerie laughs, seemingly capable of piercing eardrums, emanated from its throat.

The laughter was full of mockery and disdain.

Wang Xiaoer felt a chill run down his spine, a cold sensation shooting from his tailbone straight to the back of his head.

"Brother Chen, it...it's laughing?"

His voice trembled; he could hardly believe his ears.

"Isn't this thing afraid of you?"

Zhang Chen's brows furrowed slightly, and he tightened his grip on the peach wood sword.

"Afraid?"

He snorted coldly, but his gaze never left the ghost terracotta warrior.

"If it knew fear, it wouldn't have crawled out of that godforsaken place, the ancient Yelang Kingdom."

"This thing is not an ordinary evil spirit; it has absolutely no intelligence."

Wang Xiaoer roughly understood.

As mentioned in "A Detailed Introduction to Taoist Talismans and Magic", the general idea that ghosts and evil spirits lack intelligence is relative. Even wandering souls have some intelligence, though they exist in a state of chaos.

But a ghost that has no intelligence is like a brainless brute.

Completely unable to communicate.

"What should we do then?"

Zhang Chen did not answer.

He suddenly sensed something was wrong.

The ghost puppet's laughter continued, but it did not launch another attack. It simply hovered there, staring at them with its scarlet eyes as if they were dead.

It's stalling for time.

Zhang Chen immediately realized the problem!

He turned his head sharply, his gaze sweeping across the entire study, then quickly penetrating the walls to sense the changing atmosphere of the entire villa.

wrong!

The yin energy of this villa... is gathering towards this study at an extremely rapid pace!

It was as if I had been summoned by some kind of call.

"not good!"

Zhang Chen's expression changed.

"It's not fighting alone!"

Before he could finish speaking...

"Snap!"

Suddenly, a crisp sound came from the lock of the heavy solid wood door in the study.

The brass door handle began to slowly, very slowly, turn downwards on its own.

In the deathly silent room, the creaking sound of the machine seemed to twist right into one's heart.

Wang Xiaoer turned around abruptly, his heart leaping into his throat.

"Who?!"

"Who's outside?!"

No one answered.

The doorknob was turned all the way to the bottom.

"Squeak—"

The door was slowly pushed open a crack by an invisible force.

An aura, even colder and more filthy than the malevolent energy emanating from the ghost puppet, surged wildly in through the crack in the door.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and the putrid smell of rotting corpses.

Wang Xiaoer felt a churning in his stomach and almost vomited on the spot.

"Brother Chen! Outside..."

Zhang Chen's face had completely darkened.

He stared intently at the crack in the door and said, word by word, "I should have thought of that sooner."

"The 'evil-nurturing box' usually contains more than one item."

"The Yelang witchcraft favors the use of human sacrifices to create pairs of 'Yin-Yang figurines'."

He slowly turned his head, looking at the ghostly terracotta warrior still laughing eerily in mid-air, his eyes icy cold.

"That was a male terracotta warrior."

"What's coming from outside now is the truly deadly... the Yin puppet!"

Besieged on all sides.

Wang Xiaoer broke out in a cold sweat instantly. He felt like a lamb caught between two hungry wolves, but he didn't know anything and could only worry helplessly.

"Chen...Brother Chen..."

He subconsciously looked at Zhang Chen, only to find that Zhang Chen's gaze was still fixed on the ghostly terracotta warrior that was still mocking him in mid-air.

Faced with the ferocious creature's sharp mockery, the last trace of warmth vanished from Zhang Chen's eyes, replaced by a chilling, murderous aura.

He knew very well that this evil entity, once it had gained power, had long lost its humanity and was left with only the purest malice.

Any verbal communication is a waste of life.

Since you don't want to be dignified, then I'll help you be dignified.

"If you won't listen to reason, you'll have to suffer the consequences!"

With a cold snort, Zhang Chen moved.

Instead of rushing to the door to intercept the unknown "yin puppet," he suddenly raised his left hand and began to form hand seals rapidly.

Wang Xiaoer was dazzled after just one glance.

He doesn't understand.

Of course he couldn't understand it, because this was the Five Thunder Demon-Slaying Seal, a Taoist seal that was extremely powerful and yang, specifically used to suppress extremely yin and evil things!

As the hand seals were formed, Zhang Chen's aura suddenly changed.

He suddenly grabbed the peach wood sword hilt stuck in the floor with his right hand and pulled the longsword out of the formation with a "clang"!

"Heaven and earth are boundless, and the universe borrows their power!"

Zhang Chen stepped out with a series of powerful movements, each step landing precisely on a point in the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) formation, causing the floor to tremble slightly beneath his feet.

He raised the peach wood sword high in his hand, pointing it directly at the ceiling, and chanted incantations rapidly.

"Nine Heavens Mysterious Temple, transform into divine thunder!"

"The mighty power of Heaven, let us unleash it with our swords!"