Chapter 267: Qinglian Seal (4K)

The Qinglian Purifying Soul Mantra, in Zhang Jian's hands, has already reached the pinnacle of perfection.

One after another, Qinglian blossoms, a compassionate salvation, a vast realm of transcending yin and yang bursting forth from within.

In this mass grave, a portion of the lingering battle souls hidden deep within the bones involuntarily emerge from the killing aura, stepping in twos and threes into one Qinglian after another; after a moment, their obsessions are resolved, their faces show peace, and then they bow toward the direction where Zhang Jian stands, their forms vanishing into the Nine Netherworldly Underworld.

Jingming Daoist stands before the mass grave, gazing from afar at this scene, seeing those magnificent Qinglian blossoms, his expression changes.

In his eyes, that Qinglian falls, and he himself seems able to cast aside worries, let go of everything, his obsessions dissolving, deep within his heart a faint phantom of Qinglian appears.

In an instant, his expression changes, his body surging with pure yang thunderous mana, shattering this Qinglian, only then escaping from that Qinglian Dharma realm.

"How formidable this salvation Dharma is!"

At this moment, Jingming Daoist's expression changes drastically, his eyes turning toward Zhang Jian.

Clearly, he did not expect that this scholar, famed throughout Haojing City for his righteous aura, would also possess such astonishing methods.

If one were to say he is strange, indeed he is boundlessly compassionate, a mere thought releasing countless battle souls.

But if compassionate, this strange salvation Dharma makes his hairs stand on end.

What leaves Jingming Daoist most unsettled is, just how far has Zhang Jian's cultivation progressed?

The sight of Qinglian filling the sky over the mass grave seems as if he possesses boundless Dharma power.

In the distance, Zhang Jian glances at Jingming Daoist, a hint of something unusual appearing in his eyes.

Deep within Jingming Daoist's Dao heart, there appears to be a flaw.

The Qinglian Purifying Soul Mantra evolved to this extent—judging by its essence, it is still a Dharma for liberating the Dao heart.

Only by freeing obsessions can salvation be completed.

Only with a flaw in the heart will one fall under the Qinglian Purifying Soul Mantra.

After salvaging countless battle souls, Zhang Jian's gaze falls into the depths of the void; countless Qinglian blossoms rapidly gather in his hand seals, millions of Qinglian converging toward a single direction.

"Cry!"

A pitch-black infant ghost bursts from the void; not only does it not flee, but it transforms into a fierce black radiance, attacking toward Zhang Jian's direction.

"Nine Sons Heavenly Ghost!"

Seeing this infant ghost, Jingming Daoist's expression changes, and he shouts loudly.

"Scholar Zhang, this little ghost is a Nine Sons Heavenly Ghost; it is the primordial spirit incarnation of the Nine Sons Ghost Mother!"

Zhang Jian's vast Yang God divine awareness has long enveloped this grand mass grave; his expression remains unmoving, only the radiance of the Qinglian Dharma realm envelops the vast expanse of void before him.

Upon hearing this, his eyes show a hint of something unusual.

The Nine Sons Ghost Mother is an extraordinarily powerful ghostly divine manifestation; legend says it possesses the power to swallow heaven and earth, the ghost mother having swallowed chaos before giving birth to the Netherworld soil.

Although this is a legend in the cultivation world, it still shows how troublesome this thing is.

Zhang Jian, however, pays no heed; though the Nine Sons Ghost Mother may be powerful, this child ghost is merely a fragment of its primordial spirit.

Moreover, these ghostly beings are naturally restrained by salvation arts.

He raises his hand; a Qinglian Dharma realm descends as if from the void, countless mana empowering it, manifesting a pure green pure land.

That infant ghost, originally intending to attack him, is forced by the Qinglian Purifying Soul Mantra—suddenly, as if a mortal scalded by boiling water, it lets out a miserable howl, transforming into a black aura seeking to turn away, yet sees Qinglian phantoms filling every direction around it.

One after another, Qinglian phantoms gradually leave it nowhere to hide.

That infant ghost incarnation is extraordinarily ferocious; black radiance flows in its eyes, seeing no escape, in its howl it actually swallows layer after layer of Qinglian, but in an instant it suffers the consequences, its belly swelling ever larger, layer upon layer of Qinglian divine light circulating within.

In that instant, its belly swells to a certain extent, and then it explodes with a boom.

Jingming Daoist watches this scene, and cannot help but change expression.

Though this infant ghost is not the primordial spirit of the Nine Sons Ghost Mother itself, it also possesses extremely strong devouring power, yet is firmly restrained by those Qinglian blossoms.

Jingming Daoist keenly notices that the redemption and liberation contained deep within the Qinglian is the bane of such ghostly divinities.

Because it is not merely a spiritual technique.

But contains the great vow to save all beings, the great Dao heart.

Unless one can shake this great vow, otherwise it cannot be devoured.

But the essence of this Nine Sons Heavenly Ghost is extremely stubborn; after its true form collapses, it actually recondenses from a strand of profound yin qi, possessing the ability to gather and scatter formlessly.

It attempts to break through the void to flee, but is casually seized by Zhang Jian with a single grab, suddenly falling into his hand.

A Qinglian sinks into its brow deep, suppressing it.

At this moment, the infant ghost curses loudly, a sharp, shrewish tirade issuing from within.

"Yellow-haired brat, dare you harm your old mother's primordial spirit?"

Zhang Jian's expression remains unchanged; merely, a Qinglian mantra condenses into form, striking into the brow deep of this infant ghost incarnation, Qinglian divine light continuously flowing, first suppressing it.

Zhang Jian's gaze shifts; he does not immediately attempt to salvage this infant ghost.

The opponent's essence is actually an incarnation of a heretical primordial spirit, namely primordial spirit in nature; salvaging it is not easy.

This requires time.

He now must rush to the next battlefield, to salvage all battle souls within the other battlefields.

He feels this is also the opportunity for the Qinglian Purifying Soul Mantra to advance to the primordial spirit level.

Once the Qinglian Purifying Mantra advances to the primordial spirit level, salvaging such ghostly primordial spirits will be much easier.

"National Preceptor, let us go to the next ancient battlefield!"

Qinglian falls; Zhang Jian's body is clad in azure robes, at this moment his Yang God assumes the Dharma aspect of the Qinglian Heavenly Venerable, a hint of rich compassionate spiritual light appearing in his eyes.

Seeing Zhang Jian's appearance, Jingming Daoist is also slightly startled, takes a deep breath, and quickly says.

"Good!"

At this moment, he finally understands why the Yin-Erosion True Person holds Zhang Jian in such high esteem.

His cultivation method is entirely the bane of all kinds of ghostly beings.

……

"My child ghosts!"

At this moment, deep in the West Shu Mountains, around a vast ancient battlefield, the black-clad palace-attired beautiful woman Nine-Headed Ghost Mother suddenly let out a sharp, furious cry, her eyes deep with coldness as she glared viciously toward the direction of Poison Dragon Pass.

She sensed that the child ghosts she had left in ambush on the Poison Dragon Pass battlefield had instantly lost contact, being suppressed.

This change left her shocked and furious.

Her heart was also unusually alert.

Her child ghosts were themselves part of the Nine-Headed Ghost Mother's primordial spirit, having cultivated a special Ghost Mother Primordial Spirit; she herself possessed nine child ghost primordial spirit avatars, and the child ghosts also possessed the essence of heavenly ghosts, able to easily rend the void and vanish without trace.

By rights, even if encountering a Primordial Spirit True Person, there would still be hope to hide and conceal oneself, or to escape.

Yet the child ghosts had been suppressed.

Nine-Headed Ghost Mother's heart was both vexed and worried.

This cast a shadow over her heart.

However, losing one child ghost would at most merely cause her to lose a portion of her vital energy; given the Nine-Headed Ghost Mother's ability to disperse and reform invisibly, even if all child ghosts were completely lost, they could still be reborn from within her womb.

"For now, we must hasten to complete the Blood Soul Banner; once the Blood Soul Formation is complete, even if a Dharma-Image True Person arrives, this old mother shall not fear!"

She gazed ahead at the ancient battlefield, and suddenly vast sheets of blood rain flew from her body; behold, behind her, banners streamed forth, and leech-like blood ghosts flew out, swarming around clusters of battle souls, frantically gnawing at them.

……

Taiye Pool, this is the third pass among the Nine Passes of West Shu; here, originally there was a summer retreat established by an ancient dynasty, and also a natural hot spring, hence its name.

The scale of the ancient battlefield at Taiye Pool is much greater than that of the Fourth Pass's Ten Thousand Corpse Pit.

This perilous pass's city wall can be considered the lowest among the Nine Passes.

Both banks are lined with green mountains; the battlefield lies before the mountain ridge beside the mighty pass, and this place has a special gap, which is also the necessary route for foreign invaders choosing to advance.

But at this moment, it has already been altered by cultivators using arcane arts, the gap has been sealed, the high mountains now like battlements, arranged to form an urn-like trap, to thus seal and suppress the battle spirits of this place.

Here there is no divine shrine stationed to guard it.

Because the arcane seal of this ancient battlefield is exceptionally strict, appearing especially tight, gazing upon this ancient battlefield, the Pure Bright Daoist's eyes hold some trace of recollection.

This ancient battlefield was indeed arranged by him and the ancestor of the Cavern Spirit Sect, hand in hand; the surrounding Golden Light Subdues Demons arcane seal is even stricter than that of the Three-Eyed Demons-Subduing Well.

This place is also, among the four ancient battlefields, the only one that has not yet been completely breached, a large-scale ancient battlefield.

At this moment, around this ancient battlefield, there are still not a few disciples of the Cavern Spirit Temple scouting in all directions; upon seeing the Pure Bright Daoist and Zhang Jian arrive, they salute, while casting a slightly strange glance at the two.

Zhang Jian's keen, formidable Yang Spirit divine sense faintly felt several strands of primordial spirit divine sense sweeping over, all passing by his surroundings.

Those several strands of divine sense bore no malice, purely curious.

His vast Yang Spirit divine sense sensed this change, and instinctively wanted to erupt, to resist those strands of divine sense from outside, but Zhang Jian suppressed it.

He currently does not wish to reveal his Yang Spirit divine presence before outsiders.

"It seems this place will soon become a battlefield of confrontation!"

Zhang Jian's heart flashed with this thought.

The Cavern Spirit Temple has invited such a number of Primordial Spirit True Persons, yet they remain completely hidden here; likely they are preparing to lie in wait, to strike the enemy unawares.

"Mr. Zhang, please enter the battlefield!"

Pure Bright Daoist slightly clasped his hands, at this moment he also glanced once more around, then said.

"Soon there will be a great battle here; Mr. Zhang, do not worry!"

"However, Mr. Zhang should still be cautious, for later it may be unavoidable that some heretical paths, using secret arts, will sneak into the main battlefield!"

Zhang Jian lightly nodded.

Pure Bright Daoist merely added it offhand.

In the earlier Ten Thousand Corpse Pit at Poison Dragon Pass, he had already seen Zhang Jian's methods.

It is very likely he encountered trouble, yet the other side would not...

Zhang Jian glanced ahead at the vast ancient battlefield before him, his eyes flashing with interest, his form stepping forward in a single stride, entering it, like a wisp of blue cloud.

Seeing Zhang Jian set foot within the ancient battlefield, Pure Bright Daoist breathed a sigh of relief.

With Zhang Jian holding the fort, he could now completely relax.

No need to worry that these ancient battlefields would be exploited by demons and monsters, becoming weapons for these monsters to ravage Zhou Prefecture, or become elixirs for those heretical demons and outsiders to cultivate, enhancing their magical power.

At this moment, by his ear, suddenly a heavy voice came, carrying a hint of a smile.

"Pure Bright youth, this is that Mr. Zhang the scholar, appearing of extraordinary bearing; however, if relying solely on one's own power to suppress the battle spirits, would there be danger?!"

Yet in the void, a figure appeared: a Daoist wearing Daoist robes, with a beautiful jade crown on his head, his form floating in the void, holding a whisk in his hand, appearing like a monk, yet not like a cultivator.

This is the Wind and Thunder True Person, the Yellow Crane True Person having invited a wandering cultivator True Person from the two realms region.

He is also a good friend of the Cavern Spirit Sect's ancestor.

Pure Bright Daoist, hearing this, gave a slight bitter smile at the corner of his mouth, yet he still affirmed.

"Wind and Thunder Senior, Mr. Zhang cultivates the Redemption Method; he will come to no harm!"

"Heavenly Sovereign's Wondrous Method?"

Upon hearing this, the Wind and Thunder True Person's expression changed; only after attaining primordial spirit longevity and carefree wandering could one perceive the terror of the Great Savior Heavenly Sovereign of the Ten Directions, such a mighty being.

The primordial spirit is merely the beginning of the immortal path of longevity.

Such an existence as the Ten Directions Redemption Heavenly Sovereign, even if in the void beyond the realms, belongs to the extraterritorial evil gods; even demon lords would not willingly provoke such a being.

The Wind and Thunder True Person wisely closed his mouth.

After a moment of silent contemplation, a moment later his gaze shifted, looking toward the depths of the void, he said.

"They are already nearly here; let the disciples of the Cavern Spirit Temple activate the killing formation; they may first concentrate on one person, even if merely inflicting heavy damage, it would suffice to reduce future casualties for your Cavern Spirit Temple!"

Pure Bright Daoist nodded.

In his eyes flashed a trace of cold light.

Since their trump card is about to be partially revealed, they must fully utilize its effect, for the Cavern Spirit Temple to eliminate a heartfelt enemy.

……

Inside the ancient battlefield, Zhang Jian entered on his own, and immediately felt a change utterly different from before.

A terrifying yin cold came straight at him.

The ancient battlefield was filled with a layer of resentful killing frost, killing intent like snow, as if it could freeze the human heart.

Wherever his gaze reached, he saw within the black mist ahead countless vague and gruesome figures reenacting the slaughter of ancient battles.

Countless shouts of killing echoed between heaven and earth.

The killing intent shook heaven and earth.

This group of battle souls split into four or five clusters, engaging in chaotic slaughter.

Part of them also noticed Zhang Jian's appearance, numb as they turned their bodies, their eyes bearing strangeness and coldness.

Seeing this, Zhang Jian sighed and said: "You need a little warmth!"

At this moment he formed hand seals, and vast magical power flowed out from within him, one after another green lotuses appearing beneath his feet.

In an instant, a vast expanse of green lotus pure land emerged from under his feet, a delicate green lotus like a seed blooming in the hearts of some battle souls, taking them as fertile soil, putting down roots and sprouting.

The power of the Green Lotus Purifying Soul Mantra blossomed.

As if the boundless heavenly sound lingered over this ancient battlefield filled with slaughter and death.

One after another, the ice-cold, numb battle souls, upon receiving the redemption mantra's spiritual light, gradually regained part of their consciousness; they involuntarily became infected, slowly chanting the Redemption Scriptures, their figures stepping gradually into the Nine Netherworlds within the redemption spiritual light.

As they chanted silently, they sang.

The image of the Green Lotus Heavenly Sovereign became increasingly real in the void, he seemed to have existed eternally, and moreover, streams of vast soul essence flowed into Zhang Jian's Yang Spirit depths, aiding the Yang Spirit's growth.

This kind of reciprocal nourishment of Zhang Jian was already familiar to him; deep in his pupils gleamed spiritual light.

The Green Lotus Purifying Soul Mantra, having evolved to this extent, had already reached a bottleneck; next he should seek to elevate this technique to the level of Yuan Spirit.

The moment before him was the best opportunity.

Zhang Jian also felt at this time that the Redemption Seal condensed in the depths of his sea of consciousness could completely be reversed, transformed into a true Green Lotus Seal.

Of course, he could also use this Green Lotus Purifying Soul Mantra to truly merge the Green Lotus Heavenly Sovereign's divine form into his body, assaulting the Yuan Spirit realm.

But he had initially abandoned even the Golden Crow's body, so he would certainly not care about this Green Lotus Heavenly Sovereign's dharma body.