Old Refining Spirit

Suzaku Avenue.

The spring chill lingered, and a light drizzle fell. Ever since the Sirius Kingdom delegation erected the "Greedy Wolf Blood Totem" in the city square, the entire capital had been shrouded in a suffocating gloom.

It was a bizarre totem, three zhang tall, pieced together from the vertebrae of countless unknown creatures, its surface covered by a layer of dark red membranes that were slowly writhing. Within three zhang of the totem, the floor tiles had all corroded black, emitting a nauseating stench of blood.

In just half a day, the sixteen imperial astronomers dispatched by the Dayuan court were sucked dry by the blood-red tentacles extending from the totem the moment they stepped into the totem's range, without even being able to utter a scream.

At this moment, the square was completely surrounded by the Imperial Guards, and the people hid far away in the street corners, their eyes filled with fear and humiliation.

"The Great Yuan Dynasty, truly a bunch of spineless sheep fit only for food!"

Below the totem, a burly man nearly nine feet tall, draped in a wolf-skin cloak and covered in ghastly green tattoos, sat cross-legged on a bloody human skull. He was Ulanba, the Great Shaman of the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom and the Blood-Eyed Witch Lord.

Ulanba opened his eyes, which were only white with bloodshot pupils, and scanned the surrounding Great Abyss Imperial Guards who dared not speak out. He let out a wild laugh: "So what if the Great Abyss Emperor posted the Nine Dragons Imperial Edict? If no one can break my Greedy Wolf Totem before sunset, then my Heavenly Wolf Kingdom will gladly accept those ten thousand boys and girls!"

Just when the whole city was filled with humiliation and silence.

"Da, da, da."

A steady, powerful thud of leather boots on the ground, mixed with the sound of wheels rolling over bluestone slabs, slowly drifted from the end of the long street.

Gu Qingfeng, dressed in a blue official robe and with a dark blue "Karma-Slaying" magic sword hanging at his waist, walked at the front with a cold expression. Behind him, Xiaoman pushed a four-wheeled wheelchair made of century-old sandalwood.

In the wheelchair sat a man wrapped in a thick white fox fur cloak. His eyes were covered by a pure white, three-finger-wide silk ribbon, and his face was so pale it was almost transparent. Even in the chill of early spring, a faint, lingering layer of cold frost still lingered between his brows. Every now and then, he would clench his fist and press it to his lips, letting out a suppressed cough.

Although he was frail and weak, as if a gust of wind could blow him over, he sat there exuding an absolute aloofness that transcended all living beings.

It was Li Xuangeng who was currently in the backlash period of the [Karmic Fire Devouring Body] and could not even muster a trace of true energy.

"Make way." Gu Qingfeng walked to the foot of the imperial edict and coldly glanced at the imperial guards.

To everyone's astonishment, this lowly seventh-rank official from the Dali Temple reached out and tore down the Nine Dragons Imperial Edict, which represented the highest reward and responsibility of the Dayuan Dynasty, with a "rip"!

"Who are you?! How dare you unsheathe this death warrant from the imperial guards!" The commander of the Imperial Guards was shocked.

Gu Qingfeng presented the imperial edict to his wheelchair with both hands, his words ringing out firmly: "Gu Qingfeng, Judge of the Dali Temple, is hereby ordered by Daoist Li Xuangeng of the Zaohua Temple to unsheathe the edict and break the formation!"

Accepting the imperial edict is tantamount to accepting a military order.

Li Xuangeng and his entourage were immediately and respectfully (in reality, secretly monitored) invited into the palace by palace eunuchs.

Passing through the Meridian Gate, Li Xuangeng walked along the long, red-walled palace path. Although his eyes were closed, his faint [Aura Observation] technique was still capturing every detail of this enormous demonic lair. Here, demonic energy filled the sky, and beneath every floor tile lay unfathomable resentment.

Suddenly, Li Xuangeng's wheelchair paused slightly as it passed a remote and dilapidated cold palace (Yongxiang).

From within the walls of the Cold Palace, the faint sounds of punches and kicks, along with the eunuchs' sharp curses, could be heard.

"Beat him! Beat him hard! How dare this lowly child born of a foot-washing maid defile the snow-feathered pigeon bestowed upon him by His Highness the Crown Prince? Does he really think he's a respectable prince?"

Gu Qingfeng frowned, about to draw his sword, but Li Xuangeng slightly raised his hand to stop him.

"Xiaoman, push me over there to take a look."

Through the half-open, dilapidated vermilion gate, one could see several burly eunuchs punching and kicking a boy who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old.

The boy was dressed in a faded, even somewhat tattered, princely robe. Despite being beaten until his mouth bled and curled up in the mud, he didn't utter a sound. In his eyes, which were as stoic and cold as a lone wolf's, there were no tears of humiliation, only an extremely calm calculation and a dormant spirit.

This was not some adopted son, but Xiao Jin, the ninth son of the Da Yuan Emperor, who was the least favored. Because his birth mother was a lowly palace maid, he lived a life worse than even a favored eunuch in the cannibalistic imperial city.

However, under Li Xuangeng's [Qi Observation Technique]...

This mud-covered boy was the only one in the entire Great Abyss royal family, filled with putrid demonic energy and mutated creatures, who possessed a "clean soul" that had not been corrupted! His faint Ziwei Star fortune was suppressed in the mud, yet it remained unyielding.

"Such forbearance and clarity are what make a perfect piece of jade."

A faint smile appeared on Li Xuangeng's pale lips. His gentle yet clear voice reached Xiao Jin's ears through the crack in the door.

"A hidden dragon should not be used; the sun shines from below. Since Your Highness understands the importance of lying low, you should also understand that rather than desperately protecting a pigeon used by others to set a trap, it is better to break the wrist of the person who released the pigeon at the right time."

Xiao Jin, who had been hit, shuddered and suddenly looked up, only to see a thin figure sitting in a wheelchair with a white blindfold covering his eyes, slowly walking away.

"Master, shouldn't we just leave him be?" Gu Qingfeng asked in a low voice.

"No rush." ​​Li Xuangeng coughed lightly, tightening his white fox fur cloak. "The bait has been laid. Once I've dealt with that lowly barbarian ahead, he'll come looking for me."

The square in front of Taiji Palace.

The Great Abyss Emperor's imperial carriage stopped atop the hundred-step jade staircase, with layers of beaded curtains hanging down, concealing the nauseating stench of corpses emanating from within. The entire court of civil and military officials (a group of demons) stood on both sides, their expressions grim as they watched the Great Shaman of the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom in the center of the arena.

When Li Xuangeng was pushed in front of the totem, Ulanba let out a piercing, maniacal laugh.

"Is the Great Yuan Dynasty out of talent? They actually sent a sickly, blind man in a wheelchair to his death? Hahaha, the weak, lifeless aura you exude is so weak that even my Greedy Wolf Totem wouldn't want to bother with it!"

"Insolence!" Gu Qingfeng roared, his hand on the Zhanye Blade, about to step forward.

"Qingfeng, step back."

Li Xuangeng raised his hand, which was pale and sickly. He didn't even get up from his wheelchair, but simply quietly "examined" the wolf totem with its writhing dark red amniotic membrane.

How can we break this deadly formation that drains people's life essence if we can't use even a trace of true energy?

This totem would indeed be troublesome if brute force were used. But Li Xuangeng's greatest strength has never been limited to brute force. In the eyes of Taoist metaphysics, everything in the world has its own "logic and laws," just like the workplace rules in a vast bureaucratic system. As long as a loophole in the rules is found, victory can be achieved without bloodshed.

"Ulanba, in the Tianlang Kingdom, you're considered a mid-level leader, right?" Li Xuangeng suddenly asked, his tone as casual as if he were having a casual conversation.

Ulanba was taken aback: "What nonsense are you spouting, you blind man?"