Chapter 218

"Eunuch, are you ready?"

Liao Jinzhong looked at the boiling river water rolling everywhere, and the unease in his heart grew stronger. This movement didn't look like anything a martial artist could display.

The difference between immortal and mortal is like a natural chasm.

Martial Dao emphasizes exploring the potential of the physical body to turn the tide with one's own strength.

And those who step into the mysterious Dao, besides their own cultivation, can also mobilize the power of heaven and earth. Water, rivers, mountains, stones, trees, wind, fire, thunder, and lightning can all be used for themselves. This is the difference between martial Dao and immortal Dao.

Liao Jinzhong wanted to get close to Xu Qing, but found that the surrounding air had become abnormally sticky, and even breathing was a bit choking.

Forcibly suppressing the restless water vapor in his lungs, the old eunuch's protective Qi fully opened, like a flame, jumping three feet high, forcibly resisting the water force pressing from the surroundings.

However, the Dao of water is both soft and hard. It becomes square when it meets a square and round when it meets a circle. Liao Jinzhong broke the water force with his front foot, and the river water that broke into rain condensed into shape again with his back foot, just like a maggot attached to a bone, impossible to remove.

Xu Qing pinched the Water Control Formula, borrowed the water force and earth energy, and used the river flood to wrap the mud and sand at the bottom of the river and roll toward the trapped Liao Jinzhong.

At this time, individual greatness was insignificant in front of the general trend of heaven and earth. Liao Jinzhong was like duckweed without roots. Facing the surging waves pressing from all directions, besides struggling to break the water force and escape to the shore, he had no other way.

Xu Qing's figure could no longer be seen on the water surface. Liao Jinzhong couldn't find Xu Qing. He guessed that the other party was very likely hiding in the water, waiting for an opportunity, but he didn't dare to enter the water to find the enemy.

A person who is good at controlling water—if he follows him into the water, what is the difference between that and an old man hanging himself?

Just when Liao Jinzhong intended to escape, surging river water wrapped in river sand, gravel, and the wreckage of broken ship masts rolled over from a hundred feet away!

The momentum brought by those torn ship timbers was far more terrifying than ten thousand arrows fired at once. A Grandmaster, in the end, had not yet left the mortal world. Liao Jinzhong didn't dare to resist hard and just shouted loudly: "Daoist Li, why don't you make a move and stop this demon for me!"

"If I am defeated, I fear you won't be able to survive either!"

In the distance, Daoist He Yi saw giant waves and water dragons roaring and strangling Liao Jinzhong, his expression becoming abnormally heavy.

This person was indeed a person of the Dao, and he must have a relatively complete inheritance. Otherwise, he would never have such high cultivation.

Li He Yi didn't know that the other party did have an inheritance, but that inheritance was not for the living.

"Eunuch, I need to borrow your official seal!"

Not far away, a purple-red official seal broke through layers of water curtains and shot toward Li He Yi.

Li He Yi's face turned black, and he hurriedly used his whisk to wrap the thrown purple-red seal. This old eunuch was afraid that the official seal would be intercepted by Xu Qing, so he used twelve points of strength.

Even though Li He Yi's whisk was a magic tool, it couldn't resist this momentum. Millions of white threads exploded and danced wildly like snow, making Daoist He Yi's heart ache.

Fortunately, the Demon-Hunting Captain made a second obstruction, which intercepted the purple-red seal.

The senior eunuch's official seal is also called a "barrier." Besides proving identity, this official seal is also a credential used by Liao Duzhu when handling palace affairs and executing orders on behalf of the Emperor.

Liao Jinzhong didn't know what Li He Yi wanted his seal for. He didn't have much trust in these alchemists of the Celestial Master's Mansion, but based on the idea of treating a dead horse as a living horse, Eunuch Liao still grabbed this straw of Li He Yi.

At the bottom of the Baisha River, Xu Qing sensed everything that happened outside. He also couldn't figure out what use Li He Yi had for the eunuch's seal.

It wouldn't be that he intended to go and mobilize the Jinmen Navy to come and help. Even if it were true, by the time the Navy came, I'm afraid the day lily would be cold.

Xu Qing noted the matter of this big seal. Then he didn't hesitate anymore. Taking advantage of Liao Jinzhong's distraction, he followed the torrent and arrived under Eunuch Liao's feet.

Xu Qing, who was like a dead object, was really like a water ghost. Even if he touched the feet of a Grandmaster, the other party didn't notice it at all.

"If you have the guts, come and see the truth in your hands with me. What kind of ability is it to hide your head and show your tail!"

Eunuch Liao's gaze scanned back and forth, afraid of being drilled by Xu Qing.

But the more he feared something, the more it came. Seeing that he could jump to the shore with one more step, a giant wave that had been accumulated for a long time and weighed more than ten million jun finally crossed the twenty-mile interval and slapped over.

This wave was obviously premeditated.

Liao Jinzhong was caught off guard. The person who had just jumped dozens of feet high was smashed down by the hundred-foot-high giant wave.

It was like slapping a fly. Not to mention facing the impact, there was nowhere to hide.

The protective Qi was broken, and Liao Jinzhong fell toward the water surface in a sorry state.

"I have enjoyed the grace of the Son of Heaven and was specially granted a third-rank headpiece. How can I be slaughtered here?"

Great Liao Duzhu spat out a mouthful of blood. I don't know where the potential was stimulated from, but he managed to support his protective Qi again before falling into the water, and looking at it, it seemed to be even more powerful than before.

Above the water surface, Liao Jinzhong's feet pointed at the spring energy, barely stabilizing his figure. At this time, although the water flow on the Baisha River was still surging, there were no terrifying giant waves. Eunuch Liao's toes were steadily stepping on half a piece of driftwood, looking around.

"Eunuch, are you looking for me?"

Just as Liao Jinzhong was on guard, two cold, iron-pincer-like hands suddenly grabbed his ankles!

In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night, being grabbed by the ankles in the river, is this still letting people live?

"Ah!" the Superintendent screamed.

Xu Qing's words almost scared Eunuch Liao's soul away.

When did this living person touch his feet? How could there be no sound, no breath of a living person?

Eunuch Liao poured all his energy into his feet, but found that only one of his two legs could move, while the other seemed to be imprisoned by ten-thousand-year cold ice, unable to move at all.

This was the meridians of the entire leg being blocked.

Xu Qing's left hand was entangled with death energy, and his right hand fought back and forth with Eunuch Liao's kicking legs.

While the two were entangled, Xu Qing removed all his light-body talismans. Eunuch Liao only felt that there was a piece of iron lead under him, while he was a light feather tied to the lead weight, and his whole body couldn't help but sink into the water.

This is not any immortal method or Daoist art; this is clearly a water ghost!

Eunuch Liao felt he had been deceived.

When the river water covered his ears and nose, Eunuch Liao jumped up, but was slapped down by a wave.

Eunuch Liao saw that he couldn't struggle, and shouted: "Eunuch, I don't care if you are a human or a ghost. Even if you are a ghost, today you must help me cultivate!"

Before the words fell, Xu Qing felt Liao Jinzhong advancing instead of retreating, actually pushing himself back and drowning into the deep water together.

At first, Xu Qing didn't understand this move. Until Liao Jinzhong took a few of his claws hard and still held his arm without letting go, Xu Qing still didn't quite understand.

On the other hand, Liao Jinzhong had a look of horror. In the Qi shield that was glowing with a faint green light, Eunuch Liao said in fear: "What kind of monster are you? Why is there no blood of a living person on you?"

Xu Qing suddenly realized that it turned out this old eunuch wanted to use evil arts to absorb his essence and blood.

But he was a zombie, so where would he get essence and blood?

Eunuch Liao didn't believe in evil and reversed his evil arts, starting to seize Xu Qing's power and cultivation.

The moment the pure and surging cultivation turned into a torrent and poured into his body, Eunuch Liao was visibly surprised, but after only a moment, the surprise on his face turned into fear.

"No, this true Qi..."

"Ah! Who exactly are you!"

Living people retreat, and the pure Yin Qi that only zombies and evil spirits can possess became the last straw that broke Eunuch Liao's back.

"Eunuch, your cultivation method is not good. Look at mine." Xu Qing counter-controlled Liao Jinzhong, who was suffering from true Qi backlash, and then activated the "Qi-Seizing and Origin-Returning Art." The Grandmaster's power was like a floodgate opening, turning into pure cultivation. In just a few breaths, it all returned to Xu Qing's body.

Liao Jinzhong, who had been youthful and white-haired before, instantly turned into a little old woman with a face full of chapped skin, and even his body shape shrank by a large circle.

He looked like he would fall apart if the wind blew.

"You are not a person of the Dao in the world of the living. You are a man-eating monster in the Yinhe."

Liao Jinzhong supported his protective Qi and said this sentence without beginning or end. Then his Qi body collapsed, and his whole body was squeezed by the water pressure a hundred feet deep, his seven orifices bleeding, and he completely lost his breath.

Xu Qing frowned. What did Liao Jinzhong mean before he died?

Surfacing, Xu Qing collected Eunuch Liao's body and then returned to the towering vessel where Second Master Feng was.

On the mast dozens of feet high, the Demon-Hunting Captain stood at the top, constantly searching the water surface.

Daoist He Yi, wearing a Daoist robe, stood at the edge of the deck. In front of him, several banners formed a strange formation. Not far from the formation, a dozen whirlpools appeared on the river surface, and these whirlpools grew larger at a speed visible to the naked eye. Occasionally, one or two whirlpools touched each other and instantly merged into one.

The position where Daoist He Yi was located was in front of the nearest whirlpool. He held a magic sword in one hand to guard, and held Eunuch Liao's purple-red official seal in the other, not knowing what he was planning.

The Demon-Hunting Captain, who occupied the highest point, was still searching for the traces of Xu Qing and the two. Under his feet, a green flag was inserted at the top of the mast, fluttering in the wind.

The Demon-Hunting Captain didn't take it seriously. The flag looked just like the flag carried by a general on a stage, with nothing unusual.

Obviously, this seven-foot-tall man didn't know how much trauma his heart would suffer because of this small oversight. "Puchi—" the sound of a sharp object piercing a human body came.

Following closely, a devil's whisper sounded in the Demon-Hunting Captain's ear—

"Are you looking for me?"

The vitality in the Demon-Hunting Captain's body was rapidly losing. He lowered his head and looked at the sharp claws that had broken out of his chest, using his last strength to turn his head stiffly, only to see Xu Qing standing behind him, smiling at him gloomily.

"How did you..."

The foot-long sharp claws were pulled out of his chest. Xu Qing used his blood-stained zombie claws to make a "hush" gesture.

The Demon-Hunting Captain obediently breathed his last and never made any sound again.

Xu Qing skillfully collected the corpse into the box garden, then pulled out the flag on the mast and tucked it back into his waist.

This flag was not very convenient to use. Maybe he could ask the embroiderer to work overtime another day to make a set of general's stage costumes. That way, after using the four flags, he could just insert them on his back. Wouldn't that be convenient?

Xu Qing pondered about daily life tips while looking down at Daoist He Yi, who was staring at the river surface below.

What kind of tricks was this little old man from the Celestial Master's Mansion playing?

Xu Qing saw that opening his Yin eyes couldn't see through the mystery, so he reached out and took out the Heaven-grade "Illuminating Ghost Mirror" and aimed it at Daoist He Yi.

"Hmm?" Xu Qing blinked. This Daoist He Yi actually had two shadows!

Also a disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion, Ling Yangzi, who gambled and killed his own parents, had three shadows, but this Daoist He Yi was a bit lacking.

Xu Qing clicked his tongue, moved the mirror, and shone it again.

This time he shone it at those strange whirlpools in the water.

Xu Qing looked at the mirror surface and was stunned.

I saw that what appeared in the mirror was the scene of the Yinhe Ancient Road.

These familiar grave mounds, familiar bones and wind and sand, and those ghost soldiers patrolling back and forth...

Isn't that his old neighbor's house!

A few days ago, he even set off a small firecracker at his neighbor's door. How could he forget?

Xu Qing was amused upon seeing this. He simply re-pasted the light-body talisman and jumped onto the deck.

"Daoist, you have leisure and elegance, and you are in the mood to watch the mountains and water here."

Li He Yi looked at Xu Qing, who was walking toward him gracefully, and finally couldn't help but sigh.

"This poor Daoist originally wanted Liao Duzhu to hurt you, but I didn't expect you to have such high cultivation and be able to easily defeat a Grandmaster."

"Defeat?" Xu Qing smiled and didn't respond.

This Daoist didn't think he could take down a Grandmaster until the end, but Xu Qing was relieved when he thought about it.

If Grandmasters don't naturally restrain each other, or if one party is seriously injured, as long as one person doesn't intend to fight to the death, they won't die.

At least they can escape. Besides that, those who can take a Grandmaster's life, besides Heavenly Humans, are only practitioners who have survived the thunder disaster and have over five hundred years of cultivation.

"Fellow Daoist, this poor Daoist has self-knowledge and knows I am not your opponent. However, it is not easy for you to take my life."

"Speaking of which, this poor Daoist is very curious about your inheritance. If possible, I really want to imprison you in a dungeon and ask for advice day and night, but unfortunately..."

"This poor Daoist is destined not to have the ability to capture you alive."

Xu Qing raised his eyebrows. Listening to this meaning, if he doesn't capture him alive, can he beat him to death?

This is truly strange.

"Old man, don't be too arrogant. Daoist, don't you think that by setting up a small formation, you can have the possibility of suppressing a Grandmaster?"

Daoist He Yi, who had always been expressionless and seemed to have deep hatred, unexpectedly smiled.

"Fellow Daoist, why do you deliberately try to get words out of me? Even if I admit I have the ability to subdue a Grandmaster, would you believe it? If you were truly so cautious, you should escape for your life immediately. Anyway, no one knows your identity, and no one will laugh at you for it."

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist?"

Xu Qing looked at the place where Li He Yi was standing. Those banners and formation tools seemed to have some tricks. As long as there was a slight movement, these formations would be triggered passively.

Xu Qing didn't know much about orthodox formations, but if one method is understood, a hundred are understood. Although he didn't understand the formations of the Celestial Master Dao, he had learned about talismans and Feng Shui, which had some commonalities.

The formation in front of him didn't seem to have killing energy. Looking at it, it looked like an auxiliary formation similar to confusion, displacement, and defense.

Xu Qing walked around the formation, finally stood at a tricky point, and reached out to take down the flag tucked into his waist.

Li He Yi's face changed when he saw this. When the green flag crossed a distance of several feet and fell at his feet, Xu Qing's figure followed like a shadow and appeared at the eye of the formation.

"You are indeed extraordinary!"

Facing Xu Qing, who was close at hand, Li He Yi was surprised but not panicked.

Xu Qing shook his head and reached out to pat away the phantom in front of him.

I saw that under his feet, a stick of soul-bewitching incense and a set of Daoist robes were quietly placed on the ground.

"Compared to Eunuch Liao, Daoist, you make me more interested."

Zombies are different from living people. Some things useful to living people have little effect on zombies, but there is one exception, and that is incense and candles.

This stick of soul-bewitching incense really aroused Xu Qing's interest.

There was no sound response on the deck. Xu Qing knew where Li He Yi was now. He didn't hesitate and jumped straight into the nearest whirlpool.

Passing through a hundred feet of deep water, the river sand that never sees the sun all year round is the gathering place of Yin veins. When Xu Qing passed through the quicksand again, what appeared before his eyes was not river water and silt, but the bones and wind and sand all over the Yinhe Ancient Road.

It was clearly drilling toward the bottom of the riverbed, but when Xu Qing came out, he was head-to-foot, breaking out of the ground on the desolate riverbed of the Yinhe Ancient Road.

This strange feeling was like being in different planes of space. Xu Qing had no such novel experience when he used the Twin Coffins to teleport before.

Over here, just as Xu Qing appeared, he saw a Daoist not far away holding an official seal and shouting loudly:

"The Great Yong seal and military tally are here! Eight Banners Marshal, why don't you appear quickly and help me execute the bandits!"

Xu Qing looked sideways and saw dust filling the air in the distance, with soldiers and horses clamoring, as if a large army was coming!

So this is how the Daoist uses the official seal.

Xu Qing made a prompt decision, took down the green flag, and shot it straight toward Li He Yi!

Daoist He Yi was not in a hurry. He cast a talisman, and his whole body seemed to step on blue clouds, rising and moving on the spot. By the time Xu Qing arrived, he had already moved two miles away.

"This is the Cloud-Climbing Talisman. This poor Daoist only got two in my whole life. You cannot fly. Even if you have means, you cannot do anything to me."

"Do you know a saying: 'Villains die from talking too much'!" Xu Qing was expressionless.

Li He Yi frowned and just wanted to say a few more words, but then he saw Xu Qing take out three more flags from under his robe.

The flag was originally a flag inserted behind a general on a stage, symbolizing the momentum of "thousands of troops and horses."

The function of the flag in Xu Qing's hand was similar, which was to be able to divide into four illusory clones. These four clones had no physical body, but the person with the flag could shuttle freely between the clones transformed by the flags.

In other words, Xu Qing could fly into the sky by stepping on his left foot with his right foot with these four flags!

Over here, while Daoist He Yi was still stunned, he saw Xu Qing throw out the green flag. By the time his figure appeared beside the green flag, the second red flag had already arrived in front of Daoist He Yi.

How could the Cloud-Climbing Technique be as fast as Xu Qing's flags taking turns to relay? Before the golden flag and the black flag flew out, Xu Qing had already grabbed Daoist He Yi's neck like a chicken.

Xu Qing grinned and snatched the official seal from Li He Yi's hand.

At this time, the dust in the distance had just swept to the two of them.

Looking at the military formation in front of him, as well as the general leading the team.

Xu Qing raised the official seal and said: "I am a person of the Great Yong, bearing fame. Now that the official seal is here, the thief who stole the official seal has also surrendered. You can all return to your positions and don't linger here!"

Daoist He Yi was dumbfounded. How could there be such a shameless person in this world?

(End of chapter)