Chapter 373

The "Northern Emperor God-Controlling Method" is extremely powerful, and while it seems somewhat similar to the God-Communication Technique, they are two completely different methods.

The God-Communication Technique is somewhat like crossing into the underworld; it is to make the spirit temporarily leave the body to see scenes that mortals cannot see.

This behavior itself is very dangerous.

One must use a summons for protection and make preparations beforehand.

The "Northern Emperor God-Controlling Method," however, is to form a thunder seal and borrow the power of the Great Emperor of Northern Yin Fengdu to command gods and ghosts; it is the orthodox Mystic Sect method.

However, this method also has its drawbacks.

First, one must use an altar to amplify one's own divine sense, as if falling into a dream, so it is not as convenient to perform.

Second, the objects that appear after the spell is cast are completely uncontrollable.

Minor gods and ghosts, facing the power of the thunder seal, mostly dare not act presumptuously, but powerful ones can ignore you or even teach you a lesson.

To put it plainly, it is like an imperial token; although it carries the power of the law, whether it can suppress others depends entirely on your own strength.

Li Yan originally wanted to find some local mountain spirits and old ghosts.

But he did not expect that difficult characters would appear.

The Goddess of the Hanjiang!

This type of local deity is a unique existence, and they are completely different concepts from the Earth and Mountain Gods worshipped by humans.

In this world, mountains, rivers, rain, snow, wind, frost, and underground dragon veins all have spirituality and have existed since ancient times.

A single breath of theirs might be a hundred years, a simple turn could cause earthquakes and mountains to shake or rivers to change course, and a movement could cause changes in wind and clouds...

Such as the Lord of the Clouds, the Nine-Headed Phoenix Vein, and the Goddess of the Hanjiang.

Mountains are Yang, and water is Yin, so there are quite a few water goddesses throughout the Divine Land. The Hanjiang has the Goddess of the Hanjiang, the Yangtze River has the Goddess of Mount Wu, the Xiang River has the Lord of Xiang, and the Yellow River has the Goddess of Luo...

And their images also change according to human concepts.

In the "Book of Songs," she is a wandering woman, the beloved of a woodcutter, beautiful and mysterious...

In "Han Shi Wai Zhuan," she is the two washerwomen Confucius met by the Hanjiang during his southern travels to the State of Chu, who refused Confucius's gifts, intelligent and knowing of propriety...

In "Biographies of Immortals," they are the two daughters of the River Concubine, who gifted pearls by the Hanjiang, a story passed down as a beautiful tale, and the people of Xiangyang still sacrifice to them every year during the "Sky-Piercing Festival."

They all seem like beautiful legends, but this type of local deity is actually the hardest to deal with; their images are ever-changing, and their moods are fickle.

Just like the Hanjiang, which nourishes the surrounding people, but when it flooded a few years ago, it still washed away Xiangyang City...

Li Yan felt uneasy in his heart, but those two figures were getting closer and closer.

"Hee hee..."

The playful giggling of a young girl entered his ears.

Li Yan widened his eyes, wanting to see the faces of the two goddesses clearly, but he only felt the surrounding river water surging, rainbow-colored feather garments fluttering, long hair drifting, eyes swaying, and rings and pendants clinking, actually making the sound of bells and chimes.

Immediately, the sound of bells and chimes grew louder.

On the distant Xianshan, several figures appeared, including an old man with a high crown wearing Han clothing, and a black-haired Confucian scholar with the romantic flair of the Tang and Song dynasties, who seemed to be chanting loudly to the sound of bells and chimes:

"By the banks of the Hanjiang, the goddess wanders,

Riding the clear wind to express her heart, treading on waves with light steps as she slowly approaches.

Two sisters like twin flowers, graceful as wandering dragons,

Their beauty hidden in charm, their brilliance illuminating the water and bringing forth radiance..."

And outside the altar, it was another scene.

Wang Daoxuan and the others widened their eyes; they could not hear any sound, but they saw Li Yan suddenly open his eyes, though his gaze was blurred, a flush appeared on his cheeks, and he began to mutter and chant:

"Morning clouds reflect her face, her rosy cheeks like clouds,

Her emerald sleeves lightly lifted, her cloud-like hair loose and winding.

Her jade pendants ring, the sound moving the wilderness,

The fragrant wind brushes her face, and all the flowers lower their heads in shame..."

Sha Lifei was full of confusion. "Little Brother Yan is... why is he smiling so lecherously? Daoist, have you ever heard this poem?"

Wang Daoxuan frowned and shook his head. "I have not."

"Could he be bewitched?"

"It shouldn't be. The thunder seal is still there, and the candle flame hasn't moved. Don't act rashly first; let's wait until Little Brother Yan wakes up before talking..."

After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Li Yan's gaze finally returned to normal. He hurriedly put away the thunder seal, stopped the altar, and stood up quickly.

"Little Brother Yan, how is it?"

Sha Lifei hurried forward to ask.

Li Yan looked at the distant Xianshan and said in a deep voice, "Luck is not bad. I saw some things; there are indeed secret earth orifices in the mountains, and there is more than one exit."

"Let's find an opportunity to enter and take the chance to save the people..."

Sha Lifei asked curiously again, "What poem were you chanting just now?"

"This... I forgot."

"Why do you look like your heart has been stirred?"

"You saw wrong!"

Li Yan's expression was somewhat unnatural, and he hurriedly changed the subject. "We need to set off separately. The secret path in Xianshan is not easy to walk. Old Uncle Sha, you and Daoist Wang immediately take a boat to rendezvous with the garrison navy and go upstream to ambush in a place."

"Give me a signal flare. Tell Commandant Zhou and the others to be prepared. When they see the signal, they should fire the cannons at the position I marked; that is the demons' retreat route..."

As he spoke, he took out a map from his bag, marked it simply with a charcoal pen, and handed it to Wang Daoxuan.

"Brother Lu San and Wu Ba, come with me. There is no time to lose; let's act immediately!"

At the order, the group immediately split up.

Wang Daoxuan and Sha Lifei took most of the useless luggage and the injured falcons to the shore to take a boat.

The passage had been closed, and the river was temporarily safe.

Li Yan and Lu San took out some necessary ritual tools and items and headed toward the mountains, soon disappearing into the dense forest...

…………

Half an hour later, Li Yan led Lu San and Wu Ba to a mountain gully, where dense forests surrounded them and mist rose.

"We're here, it's right here!"

Li Yan's expression was solemn. "Be careful. The earth vein energy here is chaotic, and clouds and mist shroud everything. Back then, Sun Jian, the Fierce Tiger of Jiangdong, was ambushed here and died from an arrow."

"During the chaos at the end of the Tang Dynasty and the confrontation between the North and South in the previous dynasty, soldiers and civilians often stumbled into it, either having their wandering souls trapped or their corpses mutating and ambushing people in the fog. Over the years, it has become a dangerous place."

"There is a cliff below the valley. Wu Ba and I will guard, and Brother Lu will tap with a stone. If you hear the sound of bells and chimes, that is where the secret path is located..."

At this, even Lu San became curious. "Little Brother Yan, how do you know so clearly?"

Li Yan looked around, his eyes somewhat complex. "A single breath of the mountains and rivers is a hundred years of the human world. Just now, I saw thousands of years of changes in Xianshan, like time flowing, yet I was a cold bystander."

"Truly profound. Which deity gave this revelation?"

"This is an unspeakable secret..."

Seeing that Li Yan did not want to talk, Lu San did not pursue the question, drew his mace from his waist, and followed Li Yan down the hillside.

This valley was indeed strange.

The closer they got to the valley floor, the thicker the surrounding mist became. After entering the mountain forest in the valley, they were surrounded by thick fog, and they could only see scenes within ten meters.

Whether it was the little white fox or the mice, they all began to become restless, their fur standing on end.

Even Lu San frowned. "My detection ability has been suppressed. Is this... a formation?"

"Hmm."

Li Yan also drew his Broken Duan Duan Chen Dao, looked at the surroundings, and said in a deep voice, "In Xianshan, there are caves excavated by the ancient Fuxi clan."

"I saw an old man with white hair and a blurred figure, possibly the immortal Chi Songzi, who set up some restrictions in the mountains to hide the Ancient Fuxi Cave..."

"Do you remember Tian Wei saying that it was the great sorcerer Xing Hepu who first discovered the Wang Chan Ancestor's Scripture Forest in Yunmeng Marsh?"

"Tian Squire's son? It seems he said that..."

"To tell you the truth, according to the clues Liu Gang obtained, Xing Hepu was not only skilled in divination but also a living underworld messenger, and he understood many mysteries between heaven and earth. I suspect he learned it from the Wang Chan Ancestor's Scripture Forest. In the illusion earlier, I saw a group of people controlling Yangtze River water monsters, with hundreds of giant turtles carrying steles, entering the mountains from the entrance found earlier. It should be that Xing Hepu hid the stele forest here..."

While talking, the three of them had entered the depths of the dense forest.

The surrounding mist became thicker, and the dead branches and fallen leaves on the ground were layered, and after being soaked by rain and mountain floods, it had completely become a muddy ground.

There were also many pits, filled with sludge and covered by leaves, becoming traps; once stepped on, one would be sucked into them.

Their progress became difficult, but fortunately, their supernatural abilities could still detect scenes within ten meters, allowing them to easily avoid the traps one by one.

After walking a few more steps, Li Yan's Broken Duan Duan Chen Dao suddenly turned and plunged into the ground with a squelch.

"Roar—!"

A roar came, and a black claw covered in mud poked out of the ground, but as Li Yan's blade turned, it collapsed to the ground again.

The two didn't even look and continued forward.

That was a walking corpse, likely a hunter or villager who had died here recently; a breath of resentment had not dissipated, and it had turned into a zombie upon encountering a living person.

!.

Subsequently, shadows appeared vaguely in the fog; some looked like soldiers, some like hunters or civilians, drifting like black mist and emitting sobbing sounds.

Wu Ba's fur stood on end, and he looked around.

"Ignore them!"

Li Yan snorted coldly and led the two to continue forward.

It was noon, but in the mountain valley forest, the light was still dim, carrying a chilling coldness.

Finally, they saw a mountain wall, but the three stopped in unison, their expressions solemn, gripping their weapons tightly.

Ahead was a muddy patch, with densely packed decaying weapons protruding from the dead branches and fallen leaves, and many exposed skeletons.

A tattered flag hung on a tree.

It clearly bore the two characters "Tian Sheng"!

Li Yan narrowed his eyes and whispered, "It seems that it wasn't just that pair of master and apprentice from the Snake Sect; the Tian Sheng Sect has also been searching in secret."

"What should we do?"

"We can't go around it, let's force our way through!"

Li Yan gritted his teeth, turned to look at Wu Ba, and said in a deep voice, "Don't run around, coordinate with me, protect Lu San, understand?"

"Thud! Thud!"

Although Wu Ba's speech was still not fluent, he already understood his meaning and picked up the rough, large board axe in his hand.

This axe of his looked unremarkable and was crudely made, but it was actually a ritual tool of the Renxiao tribe, capable of restraining evil objects.

"Charge!"

Li Yan nodded and took the lead, charging out with his blade.

"Roar~"

Stimulated by the scent of living people, the skeletons hidden in the mud began to writhe, making it look as if the entire ground was squirming.

In this situation, no techniques were needed.

Crackle!

Li Yan swung the Broken Duan Duan Chen Dao with his right hand, electric arcs jumped on his left fist, slashing and hammering, smashing all the skeletons blocking the way.

Lu San followed closely, swinging his mace wildly.

And Wu Ba finally displayed his powerful combat strength, swinging his massive board axe left and right, hacking all the approaching things to pieces.

Like an arrowhead, they charged straight through this army of zombies and approached the stone wall rapidly.

As soon as they got close, Lu San immediately found a sharp stone and began tapping along the stone wall.

Tap, tap, tap!

Unfortunately, they were all ordinary stone collision sounds.

Lu San did not get discouraged and accelerated his chiseling.

Li Yan and Wu Ba guarded behind him, swinging their weapons constantly or kicking away the zombies that pounced.

These things had absorbed yin and evil energy over the years; although they were not as invulnerable as zombies, their bodies were hard enough.

If it weren't for the two of them having astonishing strength and holding ritual tools, they wouldn't have been able to smash them.

However, this was an entire army that had fallen into a trap, and their numbers were simply too many; for every one they smashed, more would surge up.

Seeing the zombie tide becoming more ferocious, Li Yan could no longer afford to hide his trump card and suddenly raised his hand, and the Soul-Hooking Chain roared out.

These things were different from fierce ghosts, and the soul-hooking effect alone was not good, so Li Yan directly triggered the thunder stored in the Soul-Hooking Chain.

Crackle!

In an instant, thunder roared.

It was as if a six-meter-long thunder snake had appeared in Li Yan's hand, writhing wildly with blinding electric light, instantly clearing the area in front of him.

Seeing this, Wu Ba was filled with awe.

In this team, he and Lu San were the closest, but the one he feared most was undoubtedly Li Yan; the power of this thunder magic left an even deeper mark in his heart.

After displaying his divine might, Li Yan immediately put away the Soul-Hooking Chain.

This new supernatural ability was indeed fierce, but it also had limitations.

The thunder contained in the Soul-Hooking Chain was not inexhaustible; it was like a magic treasure that could store thunder, and it had to be replenished after being released.

With the current strength of the Soul-Hooking Chain, this level of thunder attack could be released at most three or four more times, so he had to save some as a trump card.

"Roar—!"

This terrifying thunder strike made the zombie tide retreat, but after Li Yan put away the Soul-Hooking Chain, they surged forward again.

Clang, clang, thud, thud!

Suddenly, the crisp sound of bells and chimes came from behind.

"Found it!"

Lu San's face showed surprise, and he immediately followed Li Yan's prior instructions, exploding with dark energy and exerting force against the stone wall.

Unfortunately, the stone wall did not budge.

"Wu Ba, you go!"

Li Yan hurriedly ordered, facing the zombie horde alone.

Wu Ba also hurried up, let out a roar, his muscles knotted, as if steel bars were twisted together.

Rumble!

Accompanied by a dull sound, a stone door was slowly pushed open.

"Quick, go in!"

Li Yan pushed the two of them in, and then the three of them exerted force together, pushing the stone door to close again, blocking the frantically roaring zombie horde outside.

Pfft!

Li Yan took out a torch again and lit it with a fire-starter.

The three of them then saw clearly that this massive stone door was bell-shaped.

Li Yan shook his head. "Xianshan has many strange stones. In the Pre-Qin period, the Chu court often collected them to make bells and chimes, which were important ritual vessels called Chu sounds."

"This Ancient Fuxi Cave was discovered in the Pre-Qin period, but from Chi Songzi and Chang Sangzi all the way to Xing Hepu, it was always deliberately hidden."

As he spoke, he turned around and shone the torch.

He saw a mountain path leading straight into the darkness, with traces of manual excavation on the surrounding stone walls.

Lu San asked suspiciously, "What is in the Ancient Fuxi Cave?"

Li Yan narrowed his eyes. "Once we find it, we will naturally know."

Having said that, the three continued forward, and their figures gradually disappeared...

Second update in the afternoon.

(End of chapter)