Chapter 199: Helping Hand

The mountains around Lost Trace Lake were covered with a layer of light film, blocking the rain. The river water was surging, dark currents were surging, and the water hit a hundred feet, flying to the mountains, hitting the light film, and exploding into countless water splashes.

The demon paths under the light film looked at the frightening celestial phenomena, and they were also terrified.

On the mountains southwest of the lake, the demon heads here were all wearing blood-colored vine armor and vine-woven hats. The densely woven vine armor wrapped these people tightly from head to toe, exposing only their faces and two hands. However, judging from the exposed faces and hands, these people were extremely thin and had no blood color, as if the blood in their bodies had been used to feed the armor.

This is the attire of the Blood Vine Sect.

The vine armor of the Blood Vine Sect demon crowd is very famous in the Southern Border area, and it is something similar to a natal magic treasure. These demon heads will be given a vine seed after joining the Blood Vine Sect, which is planted in the navel, and then the vine seed takes root and sprouts. Feeding the vine seed with blood, after the vines grow, they turn into vine armor to protect the whole body. Few people in the same realm can break the armor, and the vine armor can also ingest the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to feed back the host, so the cultivation speed of the Blood Vine Sect demon heads is very fast.

The Blood Vine Sect is a demon sect within the Southern Wilderness, and like the Yinhe Ghost Sect, they were originally local strongmen, but now they have all become running dogs under Xin Chenzi. With Xin Chenzi's order, half of the sect had to go deep into the Miao Border to hunt down the remnants of Red Wood Ridge.

In a mountain cave, there was an old man, white-skinned and fat, like a corpse that had been soaked in water for many days, pale, bloated.

A person like a lump of dead meat, his whole body shining with wax, wearing a slippery blue robe, and a small black hat on his bald head, covering a small piece of the heavenly spirit.

This person who looked gloomy and miserable was the Sect Master of the Yinhe Ghost Sect, known as the Yinhe Ghost Master Yang Xuanla.

"The rain is a bit heavy."

He said,

But he was not talking to himself. He said it with the thought of his primordial spirit to the Blood Vine Old Mother Long Youpo, "Dragon Mother, keep a close eye on it, don't let the Red Wood Ridge take the opportunity to escape."

"Hmm."

Long Youpo replied to him, and said,

"Those three Daoist priests have been inside for so long, and there is no movement. The six who were covering outside haven't been seen for a few days. Be careful."

"Heh."

Yang Xuanla sneered, "Two who just formed the Golden Core, haven't even tasted the thunder tribulation, really think they are heroes? And there is one in the Second Realm who wants to join in the fun. The predicament that Hong Changbao can't solve, what waves can they turn out? As for the few outside, I think they went back to ask for reinforcements."

"What if reinforcements are invited?"

Long Youpo asked back.

"Come? Who comes? As long as the one who comes is in the Third Realm, with you and me, and the Mountain Master and Old Farmer are not far from here, why fear him? Fourth Realm or Fifth Realm? Even if these few can invite them, do they dare to come? The Great Sage uses the true dragon body to combine the water veins of the Southern Wilderness. Unless it is an Earth Immortal, it cannot be defeated. The Southern Wilderness is so close to here. If the Fourth or Fifth Realm of the righteous path dares to come, the Great Sage can cast magic from the Southern Wilderness to here. As long as one can be left behind, it is a loss that the righteous path cannot afford."

Yang Xuanla said disdainfully.

Although the tone was quite big, this statement was indeed reasonable, and Long Youpo didn't say anything more.

"Dragon Mother, don't forget my plague insects. Although they can't ruin the Golden Core, it is definitely difficult for those in the Second Realm to survive the plague. The ones jumping inside are just a few people, and most of the others are already unable to move. This credit for exterminating Red Wood Ridge has already been taken more than half. Dragon Mother traps the enemy and the old man annihilates the enemy, sharing the credit. As for Yao Kaijiang, he is just a reckless man."

Long Mother laughed lightly, "Easy to say, easy to say."

Subsequently, the two sat quietly and didn't speak again.

The thunder was still dull, and the sound of water was still surging.

And the lake mist spread, and unknowingly, it wrapped the surrounding mountains into it, or

The demons in the mountains did not see it, but a long, slender white snake was swimming through the rain and mist, appearing and disappearing.

"Ang—"

Amidst the sound of thunder and water, a clear and resonant dragon's roar was suddenly heard, and then a streak of green sword light was seen approaching brilliantly from the southern horizon.

The sword light tore through the rain curtain, like a green dragon galloping through the rain.

The green dragon roared, faster than the lightning, and smashed fiercely into the mountain peak where the Yelang Sect was located.

"Boom!"

The light membrane used to block the rain met the sword light and was instantly shattered. The sword light struck the mountains, instantly leveling two peaks and taking the lives of thousands of demonic soldiers.

"Who!"

With several horse neighs, bronze war chariots flew out from the mountains. The furious Yao Kaijiang had already stood up from his carriage, holding a long halberd of ancient Qin style.

Inside the Lost Lake, Cheng Xinzhan was multitasking. On one hand, he performed altar rituals to increase the rainfall and summon thunder; on the other, he commanded the Inner Landscape God Tengshe of the Cloud Residence to leave his body, enter the Shangqing Talisman, and manifest the Tengshe Dharma form to stir up clouds and mist.

He heard the sound of the sword light shattering the mountain peaks and knew that the reinforcements had already taken action.

"Act!"

He whispered, and then the hand seals changed. The ordinary summer rain and thunder suddenly transformed into the Heaven-Slaying and Plague-Sweeping Thunder of the Five Thunder Method. Purple lightning like a dragon struck fiercely at Yao Kaijiang's head, catching him off guard.

However, the golden mask on Yao Kaijiang's face seemed to be a fine treasure; with a flash of golden light, it absorbed the lightning for him.

But the heavenly thunder fell like rain; the golden mask absorbed one bolt, but countless more followed.

Yao Kaijiang drove his chariot to dodge, but at this moment, he suddenly discovered that he could no longer see through the rain curtain before him, and he could not even distinguish the direction.

"Once burdened by the star-raft across the Underworld River, alone I watched the green dragon chill the night;

Today, three feet of steel break the heavy waves, the Milky Way rolls backward to pull the people home!"

A person recited the poem aloud and walked voluntarily into the mist, then struck another sword blow toward Yao Kaijiang.

The person was close at hand, and Yao Kaijiang finally saw the attacker clearly.

"It's you!"

The newcomer was a Daoist priest, looking to be about forty years old, refined and scholarly, dressed in a green Daoist robe, holding a long sword in his hand.

"It is indeed me."

Liu.

"So it is an old acquaintance."

On the Lost Lake, Cheng Xinzhan also saw the reinforcements and couldn't help but smile knowingly. At the same time, he kept an eye on the movements of Long Youpo and Yang Xuanla. These two seemed uncertain and suspicious of the sudden attack, and both unanimously strengthened the light membrane protecting their mountain peaks rather than helping Yao Kaijiang.

That was good.

Hong Changbao beside him laughed loudly and released a blood-colored curved blade. The blade had no hilt and was shaped like a moon wheel. The blood-colored curved blade flew out of the Lost Lake and struck at Yao Kaijiang, while he himself followed the blade out of the Lost Lake.

Blood-Transforming Divine Blade!

Cheng Xinzhan recognized this magic treasure. The moment the magic treasure was released, he felt as if all the blood in his body was about to be sucked away.

"Bai Jiang, I never imagined it would be you who came."

Hong Changbao laughed happily; he still used the Miao name for Liu Tianfang.

"Last time Qieqing was trapped in the evil cave, have you forgotten how Sukong scolded you and me? Now that you are in mortal danger, how could I not come?"

Liu Tianfang laughed. A few days ago, when several Daoist priests came to Green Dragon Cave and said that Red Wood Ridge was in mortal danger and urgently needed reinforcements, he decided to cast aside all hesitation. This time, even if his entire sect disagreed, he would risk danger for his friend. No more talk of the distinction between the Daoist sects and the side sects, no more talk of the demonic path being too powerful to provoke.

"Yes, yes, Sukong is always right. By the way, she has a good disciple now!"

Hong Changbao laughed loudly, while continuously commanding the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade to coordinate with the long sword in Liu Tianfang's hand, attacking Yao Kaijiang together.

At this moment, Shen Zhaoming beside Cheng Xinzhan rose from the ground. The giant waves from the upper reaches of the Wu River had arrived. Looking from afar, they were like moving mountains. On the crest of the water-mountain wave, a pitch-black snake was guiding the waves.

"Still too small."

Shen Zhaoming muttered to himself.

He flicked his horsetail whisk, and the surging river water suddenly left the riverbed, rose into the air, leaped directly over the mountain peaks of Long Youpo and Yang Xuanla, where the light membranes had been further thickened, and flew across the Lost Lake. As it leaped over the Lost Lake, hundreds of water columns burst from the surface of the lake, merging into the flying river. Under the terrified gazes of the demons, it fell overwhelmingly toward the Yelang Sect's mountain peak in the east.

Yao Kaijiang's eyes were splitting with rage. He summoned the six bronze warriors to block Hong Changbao and Liu Tianfang, while he himself released a rusty bronze coffin, seemingly intending to contain the flying river.

But at this moment, two giant deities suddenly appeared in the mist. One male god held a fire whip, and one female goddess pulled a bow and string. They attacked simultaneously, and the fire whip and light arrows struck the bronze coffin at the same time, causing it to shift aside, failing to catch the flying river.

"Boom!"

!

With a heaven-shaking and earth-shattering roar, five or six mountain peaks collapsed under the flying river. Of the ten thousand demons, only a small thousand fled rapidly before the river water fell; the rest were mercilessly slammed into the mountain mud by the river water. Those in the Second Realm were better off; their internal organs were shaken out of place, but they could still struggle to get up and flee for their lives. However, most of those inside were small cultivators of the First Realm; under the impact of the flying river, they were instantly turned into a bloody mess, merging directly with the mountain mud.

"Ah!"

Yao Kaijiang roared. He had defected from Red Wood Ridge and defected to Xin Chenzi, having no foundation at all. Although these ten thousand shrimp soldiers and crab generals were pieced together by Xin Chenzi from everywhere, they were his only base. Seeing most of them gone, how could he not go mad?

He continuously formed talisman seals with his hands and struck them into the bronze coffin. The bronze coffin let out a wailing sound, and then, one after another, walking corpses crawled out from inside!

At the same time, he yelled,

"Long Youpo! Yang Xuanla! Are you still not going to act?!"

Yang Xuanla had already realized that the mist before him was strange, because he heard a great commotion from Yao Kaijiang's side but could not see what was happening, so he dared not move even more.

However, he did not move, but Long Youpo took action. The blood river in the mist suddenly began to ignite with flames—blood-red flames. The flames made a sizzling sound upon contact with the mist.

Cheng Xinzhan also pinched hand seals and chanted incantations,

"Transform!"

And then the Tengshe was seen flicking its tongue, the mist surging. At the same time, Wu Xuanmiao, who had brought the river water, also released his inner core, emitting mist.

However, the two's actions seemed to have angered Long Youpo. The blood river suddenly transformed into a blood dragon, traveling recklessly through the mist. The blazing firelight quickly dispelled the mist and even went to bite Wu Xuanmiao's inner core, scaring the black snake into quickly retracting it.

The blood dragon circled, emitting a dazzling red light, which also illuminated the battlefield where Yao Kaijiang was located.

At this time, Li Chengyan and Wang Chengyi commanded two giant deity Dharma forms, Song Jishu held a talisman book, Fang Weimin waved a red-leaf magic fan, restraining the six bronze warriors, and the Meng siblings raised thunder flags, exterminating the walking corpses continuously crawling out of the bronze coffin.

And Yao Kaijiang was under the combined attack of Hong Changbao and Liu Tianfang.

Shen Zhaoming alone blocked the only two Third-Realm demons in the Yelang Sect, who were Chi Tongpi and Meng Tianhu, whom Yao Kaijiang had previously named. Fortunately, neither of these two had passed the thunder tribulation.

Huang Miaoluo felt she did not participate in the Third-Realm battle and was just chasing and killing the Yelang Sect demons with her sword.

And at this moment, the blood river turned into a blood dragon and flew away, and the people of Red Wood Ridge also walked out of the Lost Lake one after another to kill the Yelang Sect demons.

It seemed that the Yelang Sect, which had just been established, was about to be destroyed.

"Old ghost, there's no one remarkable here either. Don't shrink back, act quickly!"

Long Youpo shouted.

Cheng Xinzhan, who was presiding over the mist formation in the Lost Lake, was somewhat surprised. This Yao Kaijiang was much harder to kill than imagined. The six bronze warrior guards were all in the Initial Golden Core Realm, his chariot was extremely fast, easy to dodge and ram, the golden mask on his face could actually resist heavenly thunder, and his physical body was exceptionally sturdy. He had been grazed several times by the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade and the magic sword in Liu Tianfang's hand, yet he remained full of vigor. That bronze coffin was also remarkable, as Second-Realm walking corpses could actually crawl out of it.

How could a side-sect defector to the demonic path have such profound body-refining techniques, and how could he have so many magic treasures?

Could it be that Xin Chenzi bestowed them? Would a demon be so generous?

It was just that as this time dragged on, Long Youpo and Yang Xuanla were about to take action.

"You refined yourself into a Mercury-Blood Copper Corpse? You opened the treasury of the ancient Yelang Kingdom?!"

Hong Changbao saw that his Blood-Transforming Divine Blade had little effect, and looking at Yao Kaijiang's many magic treasures, he finally had an epiphany and shouted out a guess.

"Hahahaha!"

Yao Kaijiang swung his long halberd toward Hong Changbao, laughing crazily. "That old immortal finally died. No one is stopping me from using living people to refine mercury-blood anymore. Why shouldn't I refine it?! I am a descendant of the Yelang royal family. What is wrong with taking the Yelang treasure?!"

Hong Changbao was furious. After dodging the halberd, he commanded the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade to attack again. He and his master had always known that Yao Kaijiang was a descendant of Yelang, and they had always known that Yao Kaijiang wanted to take the Yelang Kingdom's treasury. He indeed had the key to enter the treasury, which was to refine himself into the Mercury-Blood Copper Corpse, a secret technique of the Yelang royal family.

But to refine a Mercury-Blood Copper Corpse, one had to use living people as sacrifices, take their blood while alive, mix it with mercury sand and copper juice to refine a secret medicine, and then use this secret medicine to replace all the essence-blood in the body. Only then could it be accomplished.

However, Yao Kaijiang had been taken in as a disciple by the Red-Haired Ancestor when he was young and practiced side-sect methods. The side-sect had rules against using living people to refine methods or tools, so Yao Kaijiang had never been able to refine the Mercury-Blood Copper Corpse and thus could not open the Yelang treasury. Unexpectedly, as soon as his master died, he took action immediately.

"You, you betrayed your master because of this?!"

Hong Changbao had another layer of epiphany. He asked loudly in disbelief, and while commanding the divine blade with his mind, he released a crimson wooden staff and struck fiercely at Yao Kaijiang.

Yao Kaijiang dodged with a grim laugh and released another magic treasure, a string of human skulls, which shook the wooden staff away. At the same time, he blocked Liu Tianfang's sword with his halberd and said,

"Haha, a little bit, but mostly because of you!"

He looked viciously at Hong Changbao. "I am the eldest disciple of that old man. Where is my cultivation not better than yours? But he just happened to like you! He prioritized you in everything! He called you along wherever he went! Even at Heavenly Dog Cliff, everyone listened to you. The newly entered disciples thought you were the eldest brother. Look, he even gave you the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade! Why shouldn't I rebel against him!"

Yao Kaijiang roared loudly. He didn't care that his bronze halberd had several notches hacked into it by the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, and he didn't care that his back had been slashed with several deep wounds by Liu Tianfang; he just desperately hacked at Hong Changbao.

Hong Changbao, holding the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, was actually forced back step by step by him.

This is going to be bad.

Cheng Xinzhan's heart sank. The mist that had dispersed outside the Lost Lake was not created by the power of heaven and earth after all, and he was not a master of formations. After Long Youpo exerted her full strength, the mist was gradually scorched dry, and these two demons, whose realms were still above Yao Kaijiang's, were about to join the battle.

He had originally wanted to join forces to quickly exterminate Yao Kaijiang to establish prestige, and then wait for an opportunity to deal with Long Youpo and Yang Xuanla, but he had not expected Yao Kaijiang to have so many secret treasures of the Yelang Kingdom.

He simply gave up maintaining the mist formation and prepared to join the battle to besiege Yao Kaijiang.

"The demon must be executed!"

An angry shout came from the north, clear and bright like the sound of a zither.

Hearing this, Cheng Xinzhan felt a sense of relief. Song Jishu had clearly said that the reinforcements invited included four Third-Realm cultivators who had undergone two washings, but until now, only Liu Tianfang had appeared. He had thought the other three were timid and dared not appear, but looking at it now, he had been overthinking.

But no, why did the sound come from the north? Both Green Dragon Cave and Immortal Cave were south of the Wu River!

He looked back to the north and saw a green rainbow spreading from the northern horizon, clearing clouds and steaming rain along the way. Its momentum was even greater than Liu Tianfang's green dragon sword light. The tail of the green rainbow was extremely long and lingered for a long time, like a green rope hanging across the high sky from north to south.

(End of chapter)