A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 151 Waiting

Among the Five Sacred Mountains, although the Songshan mountain range is not as famous for its steepness and beauty as the Huashan mountain range, its vast and continuous peaks and valleys are certainly not lacking in some secluded places to live.

A sinister, whistling wind swept through the air and crashed onto the top of a barren, rugged hillside. The black mist gradually dissipated, revealing centipedes that had been coiled within, raising their heads and hissing.

Sun Ling's body was twisted and contorted beyond recognition, shrouded in black mist, and fell to the side. With a series of cracking and popping sounds as his bones automatically shifted and repositioned, his powerful life force allowed him to quickly return to normal, starting from his legs.

Click!

As his neck, which had been twisted several times, rapidly spun back to its original position, his face turned toward the night sky, his eyes reflecting the moonlight that shone alone in the starry sky.

From this angle, the crescent moon in the sky, echoing the chirping of centipedes on the ground, inexplicably became brighter.

A hazy, watery halo flowed down, making the light of other stars pale in comparison, and like a silver veil, it draped over the centipede.

The enormous centipede demon, with the help of the yin energy within the moonlight, gradually calmed the restless evil magic power within its body.

The hissing sounds rose and fell. After Su Mu's soul hastily merged with the body of this demon, some minor discordant points were smoothed out and made perfect.

The centipede's body slowly shrank, eventually becoming only about three meters long. Its hard shell became much smoother and deeper, as if each segment of its body was a deep, mirror-like pool of water, capable of concealing and containing the ever-rising evil and illusions.

Sun Ling got up from the ground, retracting her extra arms and tail into her body. Her body shrank and she transformed into human form. She cursed and said, "Damn it, after that old man transformed into a body covered in tattoos, he was actually tougher than me. He grabbed my tail and threw me hundreds of meters away."

The smoke condensed into Su Mu's upper body, emerging from the centipede's head. The smoke formed a small Qiankun bag and tossed a set of clothes to Sun Ling.

Sun Ling took the clothes, and with a burst of strength, shattered the tattered pants on her lower body. She put on the new pants, draped the coat over her shoulders, and muttered curses under her breath, clearly annoyed.

He kept cursing and cursing, but he didn't hear a response from Su Mu. He felt a little uneasy, coughed, turned his head and said, "Daoist, this can't be blamed on me. I did my best to stall him. I really didn't expect that steady old bald man to suddenly abandon all defense and unleash his full power."

Su Mu didn't say a word and didn't even look at him.

According to their original plan, after launching the attack on Shaolin, all the Shaolin masters would be tied up. Even if they became alert during the fierce battle, they would only think of protecting the Sutra Pavilion first.

After all, in a martial arts world, martial arts manuals are often the most important thing. Just like hidden figures such as the highly skilled sweeping monk, they often only appear in the library.

For martial arts figures in this world, places like cemeteries and pagodas are not profitable. Even if there is a deep-seated hatred and a desire to dig up graves and whip corpses, such an act should be done at the end of an attack, not during the attack itself, by diverting the main fighting force to do so.

Su Mu's plan was to exploit this blind spot in the local people's understanding.

The Shaolin abbot had to be wary of the unknown powerful enemy who released the yin energy horse, and he was also entangled with Sun Ling. He dared not use his full strength in any direction for fear of being ambushed.

In the original plan, Su Mu Dao Ren could have leisurely taken all the remains, then launched a surprise attack on the Shaolin abbot, escaped with Sun Ling, and after everyone retreated, he could have taken advantage of the enemy's laxity to launch a second attack and steal the scriptures from the Sutra Pavilion.

"It's not entirely your fault that things have escalated to this point. We just didn't take that enemy Reincarnation Squad seriously enough. We didn't expect them to buy our intelligence before they even came in for their mission."

Perhaps because his soul was now residing in the demon, Su Mu's voice carried an increasingly chilling quality as he spoke.

As he was speaking, he wiped his palm and took out a hollowed-out ball from his small Qiankun bag. Inside the ball, one could vaguely see an insect flapping its wings and buzzing.

Su Mu stared at the small ball and asked, "What is it?"

The insect emitted a human voice, originally a melodious and enchanting voice, but it sounded somewhat hoarse and distorted due to the insect's flapping wings: "Just now, the Heart-Connecting Gu on my body was agitated. It must have been because the Yin energy on your side surged and the evil energy condensed, which stimulated it. Shouldn't I be asking you what happened?"

The Heart-Connecting Gu is also one of the magic techniques of the Heshan Sect. After cultivating a pair of Gu worms, they can communicate with each other at any time, even if they are separated by mountains and rivers.

Su Mu paused for a moment, then said, "My physical body was destroyed, so I used the Seven Killings Primordial Spirit Technique to advance to the fourth star."

In a few words, he explained that the hostile reincarnators had appeared, bought their intelligence, and disrupted their plans.

"Oh? Those people have done a lot of preparation."

The person on the other end of the Gu worm was slightly surprised. "So, your plan to have combat power on par with the Lingxiao Sect Leader in fifty days has failed."

For ordinary beings, there is another requirement for advancing to the fourth star level: to find a long-term commitment through their own will and temperament, which transcends the racial boundaries of ordinary beings.

Orthodox cultivation methods of Taoism, such as the White Sun Diagram, require a process of gradually solidifying the foundation from human to immortal and cultivating the inner light of the mind.

Su Mu's soul is now possessed by a demon beast, and he has directly changed his race and is no longer human. With the Seven Killings Primordial Spirit Technique, he has been able to cleverly borrow the essence of the demon beast to advance upwards.

However, this meant that he didn't have a deep enough understanding of his own origins, knowing only what happened but not why. Naturally, his strength and potential after promotion could not match what he had originally envisioned.

Let alone comparing himself to Shao Lingxiao, he estimated that he was about equal to Xu Miyuan.

Su Mu was already feeling gloomy and had to suppress it. Hearing Fu Kesi mention this matter made him even more unhappy. He said, "Although the direct combat strength is not as good as I expected, the Seven Killing Primordial Spirit has its own wonders. It can fly away and disappear without a trace, and it is pure Yin and extremely poisonous. It is more convenient to use the Heshan Dao magic. Its movements are unpredictable. Even two or three Xu Miyuans could not stop me now."

"Haha, it's good that you can take it easy. I also think that your direct advancement with the Seven Killings Primordial Spirit may not be a bad thing."

Fuxman chuckled softly, "Ever since you studied that book on Eastern immortality, you've stopped being as easygoing and cunning as before, putting on a humble posture, yet you don't really want to shoulder the primary pressure."

"Thinking only about taking the lead and getting the best of the game in cooperation with the indigenous people is a very bad mindset for the mission."

"Last time in the Claymore world, we disguised ourselves very well, but it was your attitude that aroused Teresa's suspicion. As a result, when we destroyed the organization later, they took the initiative to burn the relevant data on the demon modification surgery. Otherwise, we could have gained even more."

"Looking back at this incident, if you had been willing to act with Lingxiao Sect Leader and the others, perhaps you wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state."

A mountain breeze blew closer, causing the black mist that had condensed on the Taoist's body to flutter slightly.

Su Mu remained silent for a while, then shook his head: "He hasn't removed Wuwei from his body, and Yu Tu isn't dead. In his eyes, Lao Jun Mountain is the absolute priority, while for me before, the Grandmaster Monk's corpse was the most urgent need. There were many factors involved in splitting up the operation; it wasn't simply about seizing the initiative."

He paused, then said, "But you're right, I shouldn't be so impatient. For now, let's focus on Shao Lingxiao's side."

"By the way, how's things going in Chang'an?"

Fux said, "It went very smoothly. The Jinghong Elder's expertise in medicine is astonishing. Despite not having advanced technology to help her study genes, she was able to understand the flesh and blood of demons from her own perspective and fool those fools into cooperating with the tests. She gave me a lot of inspiration."

Su Mu frowned: "Ye Motian and the others are very concerned about this matter. You didn't rescue her?"

"Don't rush, the old lady feels very comfortable living here, we can wait for a more appropriate time."

Fuchs said, "In a few days, I will bring the prescription to meet with you. If Mr. Motian has any objections, I will discuss them with him in detail then."

"By the time we reunite, I should have reached the four-star level by now."

Their conversation ended with a burst of laughter, and the Gu worms inside the sphere fell silent.

Su Mu put away the Gu worms and waited for a while. The group of protectors from the Fire Luo Path who had dispersed and retreated also gathered at the place they had agreed upon beforehand.

Everyone was somewhat surprised and suspicious when they saw Su Mu's current appearance.

The woman with the flowing ribbon in her hand, Helian Yaohua, is Ye Motian's wife. Although she is not one of the Four Venerable Envoys, she implicitly represents Ye Motian's attitude and joins Su Mu and the others in directing this operation.

She spoke first, saying, "What went wrong during the operation? We didn't receive the signal at the beginning, and then we had to retreat in a hurry. Master Su... it seems he suffered a loss at the hands of the Shaolin abbot?"

"There was an enemy from our sect who happened to be at Shaolin, and he disrupted my plans."

Su Mu laughed and said, "It's alright. Although I suffered some minor setbacks, I still managed to master a secret technique in my sect that is equivalent to the Grandmaster level."

He released a little bit of yin energy, and the thick, dark smog came with the wind and flowed all around.

The Huo Luo Dao members simultaneously felt an undeniable pressure, as if the surrounding dim haze was filled with eyes ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment, staring at them from every corner.

Many people's expressions changed slightly. They had initially found it hard to believe that this suddenly appearing Taoist priest had actually achieved the rare Grandmaster level, but now they had no choice but to believe it.

The people who had suffered losses at Shaolin Temple all kept quiet.

Helian Yaohua smiled and said, "Then I would like to offer my congratulations to Daoist Su."

"It's a minor matter. Let's leave Shaolin alone for now and go find the leader to join us."

Su Mu raised a black mist and took the lead, flying at low altitude. The group sped through the night towards the Lao Jun Mountain area.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Xu Hongmei was already quietly waiting at the entrance of the mountain climbing corridor.

Seeing Su Mu's current state, Xu Hongmei was also somewhat surprised, but she took two steps forward and spoke first.

"The Vice Master has ordered that all Dharma Protectors may rest as they please. Master Su and Madam Helian, please come up the mountain with me first."

The Dharma protectors temporarily halted their advance.

On the way up the mountain, Xu Hongmei secretly used magic to inquire about the situation from Su Mu. After Su Mu gave a brief reply, he asked about the matter here.

"It was going smoothly beyond expectations. The sect leader, who was the most to be wary of among these Taoists, wasn't even on the mountain. Ye Motian and Xu Miyuan didn't even make a move."

Xu Hongmei pinched her lower lip and said, "But then some unexpected things happened."

"After Yu Tu escaped, someone went up the mountain to gather intelligence. He was wounded and escaped. The sect leader sent Xu Miyuan and those two people to hunt him down."

"Just now, those two people came back and said that Xu Miyuan is dead."

Hongmei concluded, "Among the group that fought Xu Miyuan, at least one was a Reincarnator who could summon light armor. The person who actually killed him was completely unknown in the local area before, and was also highly suspected of being a Reincarnator."

Su Mu said, "Three hostile reincarnators..."

After going up the mountain, Su Mu repeated what he had told Helian Yaohua, mentioning that the two nameless masters who killed Xu Miyuan were also enemies of their sect.

"We've already alerted Shaolin, but we haven't been able to inflict serious damage. They'll definitely have countermeasures. What are your plans, Master?"

Ye Motian accurately sensed from Su Mu's disguise that his encounter in this operation was far from as calm and collected as it appeared on the surface.

However, after he transformed into this demonic form fused with a centipede, his strength did indeed improve, so there was no need to expose that secret.

"The leader seems to have realized something; let's not disturb him for now."

Yamotian was confident and said, "We just need to wait. We are no longer in the southwest, and we don't have the same inescapable foundation as we did back then."

"This time, we are the ones in control as we return to the scene. Even a brief pause here is still to our advantage."

As Shao Lingxiao's junior brother, Ye Motian had already infiltrated the Huoluo Dao since his youth, preparing to annex it.

He waited quietly until he became the vice leader, only to receive news that the Demonic Sect had been besieged by an army.

Xu Miyuan resolutely refused to get involved in such a great battle, so Ye Motian continued to wait until an opportunity arose to rescue his senior brother.

After taking control of the Fire Luo Path, he can wait another ten years, so what's a little more time to spare?

"Our goal isn't just these Taoist priests and Buddhist monks, so we need to give them time to react!"

Yemotian looked down upon this Taoist holy land, trampling on one of the culprits who destroyed the demonic sect, and waited with pleasure and ease.

At the edge of the sea of ​​clouds, the east gradually turns white.

………………

Dawn is breaking.

Guan Luoyang and his group entered Xiushuo City.

When Han Wengong received the news, he rushed over from his residence. He was deeply saddened to hear that Guan Luoyang had lost all his martial arts skills. He was also astonished to hear that Guan Luoyang had just killed a grandmaster with a single sword strike.

However, Xu Miyuan's identity is undeniable, as evidenced by dozens of renowned masters such as Wu Pingqiang, and by the Eight Winds Bronze Drum that appeared on his corpse after his death.

The six generals of Xiushuo City—Feng, Lin, Hu, Sang, Yin, and Lei—were gathered at the former residence of Duke Zhuang, already conversing with Master Yu Tu. Guan Luoyang and the others were also invited in.

"Is it really that scoundrel Shao Lingxiao?!"

Several generals with different temperaments were overwhelmed by a series of bombshell news, such as the massacre of Lao Jun Mountain, Guan Luoyang's killing of the Fire Luo Sect leader, and the resurgence of the Demonic Sect. However, they quickly grasped a key point at the same time.

The six men's faces darkened, and they clenched their teeth.

General Feng suddenly burst into laughter: "My worthy brothers, why put on such a show? Since that scoundrel is not dead, that's good, that's good!"

He turned to leave.

General Yin quickly grabbed him: "Brother Feng, I know what you're thinking, but the Duke died at his hands back then. Even if we want revenge, we can't act rashly. The most important thing right now is to spread this news."

Master Yu Tu pulled out a small seal, about the size of a thumb, from his belt and said, "Fortunately, the old Taoist's seal is still here."

"With this seal, and the joint signature of six generals, the Imperial Guards in various regions can use Blood Eagles to relay messages and quickly inform Chang'an."

(End of this chapter)