Chapter 227: Straight to the Lair: The Scripture of the Plague-Bearing Demon

"This must be the place!"

"Strange~ We have already reached the Owl Demon's lair, yet we haven't seen him make a single move."

Mountains and waters are woven together, with wild trees growing horizontally.

Swamps and wild ridges embrace one another; black forests and poisonous waters intermingle. The perilous nature of this place is evident at a glance.

Yang Chan's skirt fluttered as she crossed a stretch of swamp.

Her hair was coiled up, her jade-like face exquisite, as she stood upon a twisted pine tree whose bark was scaly and peeled away in greenish-blue hues.

Her words of doubt echoed all around.

Hearing her doubts,

Fang Longye, standing to the side, observed the surroundings.

Strange pines and odd cypresses grew in disarray, and the mud was covered in layers of pine needles.

Various unknown snakes, insects, poisonous creatures, and others crawled and slithered among them.

The poisonous aura on their bodies mingled with the deep green of the pine needles, emitting a chilling, eerie glow.

Thousands upon thousands of hanging vines, with tiny, serrated-edged leaves, looked like rows of teeth waiting to devour people.

They covered one another, pressing down in layers, emitting creaking sounds like the wailing of a small child.

"Are you sure this is the place? Regardless, just by the looks of it, this territory quite resembles the dwelling of that Owl Demon who spreads Plague Poison."

Fang Longye stood with his hands behind his back, perched on a twelve or thirteen-zhang-tall snake cypress; its bark was cracked, appearing like half-open, half-closed eyeballs, turning from black to green.

He casually held the original owner of the snake cypress—a strange, horned snake—in his hand, playing with it while he asked.

"That goes without saying!" Yang Chan turned her head to look at Fang Longye and said, "My intuition will not be wrong~"

"Moreover, the suppression of our divine sense here is significant; one can tell at a glance that there are Array Restrictions laid out."

Fang Longye nodded and said, "Indeed, the terrain and landscape here are very peculiar. Its Earth Veins are deep and nurture spiritual energy; it should have been a natural Blessed Land."

"Yet, by some strange twist of fate, natural poisonous clouds and miasma have grown here, entangling with it, endless and continuous."

"For you and me, this is not a good place. But for that Owl Demon who plays with Plague Poison, that may not be the case."

Of course, the most crucial point was that the two of them had already learned some information regarding this place from a Witch Tribe nearby.

Because the spiritual energy here was unimaginably abundant and the environment was suitable,

over time, it had become a paradise for poisonous insects and fierce beasts, with many rare species breeding and thriving here.

Added to this were poisonous herbs, toxins, and various precious medicines.

Witch people often came here, either to undergo trials or to collect items to take back for refining medicine or forging weapons.

And according to these Witch people, there was indeed an expert here, skilled in both Witchcraft and Dharma.

This had led the young ones of these Witch Tribes to compete in venturing deep into this place, hoping to become disciples, though none had succeeded.

These pieces of information undoubtedly indicated that a cultivator was indeed entrenched here.

As for whether it was the mastermind behind the spreading of the Plague Poison, that depended on whether Yang Chan's sensing of Heavenly Secrets was accurate.

To be honest, if not for the fear of alerting the enemy, Fang Longye would have long since used his divine abilities to investigate.

……

After some maneuvering and venturing deeper, Fang Longye and Yang Chan stopped and looked ahead.

The empty valley was like a jar, surrounded by deep black water on all sides; in the center, a peak half-emerged, its base coiled with moss falling in rustles, a patch of blackish-green.

Outside the black water, intertwined vines coiled, dark and oppressive, like tentacles, stretching for thousands of miles.

"This is the place."

Seeing the mountain peak, Yang Chan nodded in confirmation.

Fang Longye gazed into the void, seeing no signs of anything unusual. But he understood that this was because the master of this place was hiding extremely well.

It did not mean anything else~ "Fairy, shall we strike directly at the door, or sneak into this person's Cave Abode first?"

Yang Chan rolled her eyes and said, "What do you think?"

Rashly entering another's Daoist sanctum was not a rational thing to do. One must know that the enhancement a sanctum provides to a cultivator is quite significant.

She first threw the Map of Mountains and Rivers toward the void, keeping it ready but not yet unleashed.

Then, with a wave of her hand, she prepared to descend an attack upon the mountain peak ahead.

Fang Longye chuckled, stopping her, and said, "Fairy, I am still here! Why the need to multitask?"

"Please trouble yourself to watch the situation and use the Map of Mountains and Rivers in time. Leave the smashing, grabbing, and burning to me!"

Having said that, his gaze became solemn, interlaced with gold and silver patterns, as if Yin and Yang were corresponding, slowly rotating.

Afterward, his eyes shifted, shooting out brilliant light that went straight into the black water and the perilous peak.

The divine light was brilliant, and everything it touched was annihilated.

It was magnificent and grand, with great power sweeping across.

No matter the Restrictions that emerged or the Arrays that were laid out, none were of any use; under the divine light shot from the Sun and Moon Golden Pupils, they were like paper.

The next moment, with a 'Crack!', the surrounding void revealed spiderweb-like cracks, and pitch-black fissures swallowed everything~ "Damn it!"

"How dare you ruin my plans!"

The person had not yet arrived, but the voice came first.

Amidst a chaotic torrent of space, a pair of cold, ruthless eyes suddenly opened, staring into Yin and Yang.

Without any interval or obstruction, they landed on Fang Longye and the other.

Following that, as if smoke and clouds had dispersed and curtains had been rolled back, a figure appeared before the two.

In just a single thought, the spatial chaos caused by Fang Longye's attack was dissipated.

Above the firmament, a blooming black Dharma lotus supported a Daoist dressed in black Dharma robes, his entire body radiating an Aura surpassing that of a Golden Immortal.

This Daoist was, shockingly, a cultivator who had stepped into the Taiyi Realm.

As the Daoist appeared, inexplicable scriptures began to sound, like murmurs, like prayers, faint and fragmented, with circular arcs of light falling down.

Wisps of gray aura permeated the surroundings, baring fangs and brandishing claws, silent and soundless.

It was identical to the Pestilence Qi that had been ravaging the southwestern frontier of the Great Han, only countless times more powerful.

The Pestilence Qi contained chaos, complexity, pollution, corrosion, and other such negative elements; even for a Golden Immortal, becoming tainted by it would be a significant calamity.

"A Demon indeed! However, what is surprising is that he is not purely a practitioner of Witch Dao."

Fang Longye gazed at the revealed Daoist and thought to himself.

The Daoist sat cross-legged on a Black Lotus, draped in a Dharma robe shimmering with a ghostly light, embroidered with ten thousand faces.

Some roaring, some wailing, some in pain, some sinking, some laughing loudly, some crazed—ten thousand people in ten thousand states, all contained within, vivid and lifelike.

Just one look was enough to make one's scalp tingle.

Sensing the aura radiating from the Daoist's body, it was unbridled, arrogant, evil, and extremely chaotic.

There was the Aura of Witchcraft techniques, as well as traces of the Xuanmen Immortal Dao... and of course, most of all, that scent of Plague Poison that made one feel disgusted.

"I said we made such a big commotion, ruined your plans, and even tracked you down, yet you didn't show the slightest reaction. So, you were refining a treasure!"

Yang Chan's dress fluttered, her appearance ethereal and refined. Above her head, a Necklace Canopy appeared, and her body was shrouded in dignified Divine Light, keeping the Pestilence Qi at bay. She sneered at the Daoist. Before the Daoist stood a large, archaic-looking cauldron, suspended in mid-air.

The cauldron was square, its mouth like a basin, with arched, slightly flared handles on both sides. The outer sides of the handles were gripped by ferocious dragon shapes, their scales trembling, looking lifelike.

As for the surface of the cauldron, it was covered in ancient and long-standing beast-face patterns formed by bronze colors, exuding a sense of antiquity and weight.

Most crucially, both Yang Chan and Fang Longye clearly sensed that something beyond imagination was brewing inside the large cauldron.

Seeing that this Daoist, who carried the air of a demon, continued to channel his Dharma into the cauldron even after revealing himself,

the two understood that this Daoist must have known about them as soon as they began to purge the Plague Poison.

It was just that he was held back by what he was refining in the cauldron and could not take action.

It was only when they attacked his doorstep that he was forced to appear.

"Hmph! Third Holy Mother—things have reached this point, it is merely the work of fate. But I refuse to submit to fate; even if the chance of survival is slim, I must fight for it."

Thanks to her brother and her sect, Yang Chan was a famous female immortal of the age, and as a practitioner of the Taiyi level, the Daoist naturally recognized her.

Precisely because he recognized Yang Chan—even though he had already attained the status of a Taiyi Loose Immortal and could even defeat Taiyi True Immortals by relying on his evil Pestilence Dao abilities—he knew in his heart that he would likely not escape his Tribulation today.

Seeing that things had come to this, the Daoist finally stopped tending to the cauldron before him, severed the flow of his Dharma, and let out a long, heaven-shaking roar, bellowing repeatedly.

It was like an immeasurable demonic sound, every word like a sob, constantly changing. As Fang Longye heard it, strange and eerie patterns appeared before his eyes, crisscrossing and shifting in Thousand Changes.

Clearly emanating a demonic nature, it yet carried the grand and majestic authority of a Taiyi, not to be stared at directly.

"Hmph!"

With a cold snort from Yang Chan, the Map of Mountains and Rivers, which she had prepared in advance, instantly suppressed the void.

A force of unimaginable magnitude descended, forcibly weakening the realm of the Daoist before them to the level of a Golden Immortal.

This was the reason why the Daoist knew he could not escape his Tribulation the moment he saw Yang Chan.

There was no helping it; some people were just too "rule-breaking"! Not to mention that Yang Chan carried powerful treasures; even if she truly couldn't defeat him, by the end of the fight, perhaps a palm would descend from the void and crush him into a pulp.

It was just like the gap between a free-to-play player and a pay-to-win player. What was the point of fighting!

Oh, wait—

The Daoist before them wasn't even a player; at most, he was a villainous NPC.

Fang Longye gave her a strange look and transmitted his voice secretly: "Fairy, why don't you just use the Map of Mountains and Rivers to kill him?"

"Is the consumption too great? Do you need help?"

Yang Chan shook her head and said, "Not at all—with my current strength and the Map of Mountains and Rivers in hand, there is almost no rival below the Daluo level."

"It is mainly because the path I walk is exactly the opposite of his. Fighting him can verify what I have cultivated, which is of great benefit."

Hearing this, Fang Longye couldn't help but suck in a breath through his teeth. With the Map of Mountains and Rivers in hand, invincible below the Daluo level? Having a background is truly great! But this was normal.

In the Honghuang, having a good treasure on one's person makes fighting above one's level an easy task.

What kind of treasure is the Map of Mountains and Rivers?

For a Golden Immortal to have it on their person and sweep through the Taiyi level is not strange at all. It is perfectly normal! It's just that, how could an ordinary person have a treasure like the Map of Mountains and Rivers?

Furthermore, Yang Chan also possessed an Innate Spiritual Treasure that belonged entirely to her—the Lotus Lantern.

To have such treatment at the Golden Immortal Realm, one could say that not a second person could be found in the current age.

Only the disciples of those Hunyuan Saints had ever enjoyed such treatment.

However, those disciples of the Saints had all grown up now, so they were naturally not counted among them.

It could be said that Yang Chan was currently a complete exception: late entry, poor cultivation, high status, deep background—that was why she had such treatment.

Other Golden Immortals, no matter how much they were favored by the big shots behind them, were still lacking.

Because none of those big shots were as wealthy as Nuwa.

Even the Hunyuan Saints could not compare.

Even the Three Pure Ones, who were known as the direct descendants of Pangu, could not compare to Nuwa at present.

Because eighty percent of the treasures in their hands had been distributed to their various disciples.

As for Fang Longye himself, there was no need to mention him.

Seemingly receiving the attention of the big shots of the heavens and suspected of having the legacy of Xihuang, he currently only had the background; if he wanted to be like Yang Chan, he had a long way to go!

To this day, he didn't even have a single Innate Spiritual Treasure—

Thinking of this, the figure of the old Lao Jiao he had encountered in the East Sea surfaced in Fang Longye's mind.

He hadn't forgotten—that Lao Jiao had a top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure on him—the Cuiguang Two Instruments Lamp!...

While Fang Longye was lost in thought and reverie, Yang Chan had already issued a challenge to the Daoist—her gaze fixed and steady, she looked at the Black Robe Daoist and said coldly: "I will give you a choice: use your full strength to help me temper myself. I can spare your True Spirit!"

Hearing this, even though the Black Robe Daoist had long since cast aside all thoughts of Life and Death, he still felt a surge of anger.

Go all out?

You have already stripped my realm down to the Taiyi stage! And you still have the nerve to tell me to go all out? Is this how you bully people? However, after thinking for a moment, the Black Robe Daoist suppressed his anger and said, "Is that true?"

Yang Chan glanced sideways and said, "Believe it or not!"

She then hovered the Lotus Lantern above her head, formed her left hand into a blade, gathered boundless sharpness, condensed it into a streak of golden light, and swung it out.

It was like a streak of axe light that could split heaven and earth, slashing toward the Black Robe Daoist.

Then, with a flick of her right hand, she revealed a Jade Axe, her whole person like a dancing crane, beautiful and slender, charging straight at the Daoist.

Fang Longye, who had been interrupted from his deep thoughts by this commotion, only then realized, as he looked at the beautiful Yang Chan, that she was actually a practitioner of both Dharma and physical cultivation, possessing a not-insignificant level of physical attainment.

"Good! Since the Fairy thinks so highly of me, then I, Lv Wen, shall respectfully comply!"

Seeing this, the Black Robe Daoist could not help but let out a long whistle, and the celebration cloud appeared above his head, like thick, dark clouds, black and oppressive.

A small banner emitting gray Pestilence Qi appeared; the small banner was deep and dark as ink, bottomless, with bizarre and grotesque scenes circulating upon it, endless and ever-changing.

The small banner flew out from the celebration cloud, grew in the wind, and transformed into a rustling long banner.

"Fairy! Behold this 'Plague Demon Banner' of mine!"

This Black Robe Daoist, who called himself Lv Wen, reached out to grasp the banner handle and waved the black banner.

In that instant, Fang Longye only felt the Pestilence Qi in the void become restless, rising step by step, revealing a terrifying Demon might.

An unimaginable Poison of plague surged over.

He could not help but manifest the 'Creation Purifying World Bead' above his head, which shed endless radiance to resist this Poison of plague that seemed to permeate space and time.

The Lotus Lantern above Yang Chan's head swayed incessantly, its brilliance scorching; the lamp flame crackled, burning all the surrounding Poison of plague into ashes.

"'Na Gou Plague World Scripture'? I felt it was somewhat familiar before; I truly did not recognize it wrongly."

"What relation are you to Lv Yue?"

Amidst the exchange of blows, Yang Chan asked coldly.

"If we really must discuss it—he is my master, whom I have never met." Lv Wen's hair was disheveled, his eyes were cyan-green, and he grinned, revealing fangs, looking just like a Demon.

'Na Gou Plague World Scripture'? What kind of marvelous Dao Scripture Dharma is this? It sounds quite grand and imposing.

Fang Longye, watching the battle from the side, felt a question arise in his heart.

(End of this chapter)