Chapter 510

"Everyone, close your eyes!"

Seeing the strange phenomenon appearing on the river surface, Li Yan hurriedly warned.

Upon hearing this, the Salt Gang members immediately lowered their heads and closed their eyes.

Although they were not sorcerers, they had been smuggling salt for years, either in such remote waterways or traveling through deserted mountain roads.

They had heard of and seen many strange and bizarre things.

When evil spirits harm people, they often confuse the five senses first.

Therefore, in this situation, lowering one's head and closing one's eyes was the best choice, so as not to fall into a trap and interfere with Li Yan's spellcasting.

Just after Li Yan's warning, the movement on the river surface grew even larger.

The mist became increasingly dense; soon, one could not even see their own fingers, and it even obscured the bright moon in the night sky.

"Hee hee, ha ha..."

Strange laughter emanated from the thick fog.

Faintly, it seemed that some red shadows were flickering within it.

Killing intent rose in Li Yan's eyes, but he did not pay attention to it; instead, he continued to pace the ritual steps, form hand seals, and cast the "Northern Emperor Extermination Art."

"Eight Powers spit poison, fierce horses spread wide, Heavenly Soldiers drive in front, Great Commanders wield banners, throwing fire with ten thousand cavalry, flowing bells strike eight ways; dare any interfere or obstruct the Supreme Truth..."

This time, the speed at which he chanted the incantation was very slow.

With the blessing of the brocade arm guard "Thousand Thoughts" and the assistance of the ritual altar, every word and sentence required mobilizing vast amounts of Gang-Sha Qi, making it difficult to be fast even if he wanted to.

But the power was also self-evident.

As the incantation was cast, the Town-Demon Coin fish-scale armor on Li Yan's raised left arm clattered, and terrifying killing intent spread outward.

Whoosh—

In an instant, a gale blew across the river.

Centered on Li Yan's left arm, it seemed as if invisible giant hands appeared out of thin air, stirring wildly, and the thick fog retreated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Only then did they see that under the river surface ahead, one after another, river drifters had risen up, revealing only half their heads; their skin was purple-blue, their hair was soaking wet, and their eyes were blood-red, staring fixedly at them.

Seeing this, Li Yan let out a cold snort.

He stepped on the ritual steps and pointed forward with a hand seal.

Pfft!

The head of one river drifter instantly exploded, black water overflowing.

But this action seemed to have poked a hornet's nest.

Black smoke rose simultaneously from these river drifters—a sign that the Yin-Sha Qi was extremely dense—and the temperature on the river surface dropped rapidly.

The breath exhaled by everyone was clearly visible.

Clatter, clatter!

These river drifters, like swimming fish, quickly dived into the water, and when they reappeared, they had already arrived around the fleet, forming a circle.

The boy spirits moved to the left, and the girl spirits moved to the right, rotating in different directions.

"Hee hee, ha ha..."

The shrill and strange laughter rang in everyone's ears.

Li Yan changed his hand seals, casting the Extermination Art.

Pfft! Pfft!

Every time he pointed his hand seal, a river drifter's skull would shatter.

However, there was not the slightest smile on his face.

Once the "Northern Emperor Extermination Art" was unleashed, it should have directly confronted this fierce formation, borrowing the power of the innate Gang-Sha to completely clear away this Yin-Sha Qi.

However, this formation was somewhat strange.

It was like a substitute-death technique; every time, there was a river drifter that actively bore all the spell power, making it difficult for him to succeed in one strike.

As the fleet was surrounded by river drifters, the demonic sounds filled their brains, causing illusions to arise among the people around; the faces of the Salt Gang men began to look abnormal.

"Yin and Yang are both void; the main culprit is below!"

Wang Fu, who was proficient in this path, saw that something was wrong and said in a deep voice, "There should be a suppressing object below; we must destroy that thing!"

This time, Li Yan had been careless.

He thought that with his current cultivation, plus his magic treasures and ritual altar, facing this formation would be easy.

He hadn't expected that breaking this formation would require clever force.

One had to lure the river drifters away while sending someone down to destroy the suppressing object.

Of course, for them, it just meant spending some effort.

"Lu San, it's up to you!"

Li Yan formed seals to suppress the river drifters while calling out in a low voice.

Lu San did not waste words; he muttered incantations, formed hand seals, and stretched out his palms, slapping the water surface rhythmically.

Splash!

On the river surface, two splashes surged, huge fish fins appeared and disappeared, and finally, two black shadows came from the water area behind.

They were precisely the two fish monsters in the river.

In rivers, lakes, and seas, in places where no one lived, occasionally large fish would accidentally develop spiritual intelligence, either swallowing pearls to cultivate or causing harm to one side.

These two large fish had both been collected along the way.

Although their size was not small, their spiritual intelligence was average; facing Lu San, who cultivated the "Mountain and Sea Shanhai Lingying Jing," they were easily subdued.

The "Mountain and Sea Shanhai Lingying Jing" was a method for ancient shamans to communicate with ghosts and gods; these little things naturally didn't qualify, but using them temporarily was quite useful.

The two large fish churned at the bottom of the water, stirring up murky mud and sand, and then an object floated to the surface.

It was a small boat, capsized and rising; the bottom of the boat was painted with talisman patterns in red lacquer, and it was also nailed with individual decaying coffin nails.

Some broken iron chains were also hanging on it.

Judging by the situation, it should have originally been fixed below, but the iron chains were directly broken by the large fish, so it floated to the surface.

"Ah—!"

Once this object appeared, the surrounding river drifters all went into a frenzy.

They screamed shrilly, immediately stopped confusing the crowd, and with black smoke rising from their bodies, they drifted toward that boat.

Clearly, this thing was their vital point.

Those two large fish had only just opened their spiritual intelligence; hit by the Sha Qi of these evil things, they were scared away in a flash.

And because of this, they broke free from Lu San's control.

Things controlled temporarily were like this—easily stimulated to flee.

But how could Li Yan miss such an opportunity?

He formed hand seals, used the Divine Movement Art, leaped onto the water surface, borrowed force continuously, stepped three times, the splashes exploded with a boom, and he leaped high into the air above the small boat.

Sizzle, sizzle!

His left hand formed a seal, electric arcs jumped on his fist, crackling and popping, and as he descended, he smashed down fiercely.

With a loud boom.

Splashes flew everywhere, and the wooden planks shattered.

This small boat, which was already decaying, was directly smashed to pieces by him.

The object revealed inside made Li Yan shudder.

It was a humanoid monster, not large in size, about the same as a two or three-year-old child, covered in black scales, with webbed claws on its hands and feet, bound tightly with animal skin straps, and its five senses and seven orifices were all sewn shut with needle and thread.

He had seen this thing before!

It was precisely the "Water Tiger" that caused trouble at Goddess Peak.

But looking closely, it was somewhat different.

The "Water Tiger" suppressed near Goddess Peak was transformed from the Qi of demonic evil, becoming an immortal and indestructible demon, surviving from the Great Yu period until now.

But this one in front of him had a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, with only Yin Qi and corpse Qi on its body, and overlapping shells on its back, looking like it was carrying a turtle shell.

So it was a water monkey...

This kind of spirit monster was mentioned in the hunter's classic "Deep Profound Talk"; it originated in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and was later discovered in waterways all over the Divine Land.

It had different names, such as "Water Insect," "Insect Child," "Water Spirit," and "Water Monkey," and in Japan, it was called a Kappa.

No matter what it was called, it was the same kind of spirit monster.

Just as the surrounding river drifters were about to surround him, electric light flashed on Li Yan's palm, and he slapped the water monkey's head to a pulp.

He was not clear about what kind of evil technique this was.

But the water monkey's corpse was clearly the formation eye.

Whoosh—

With the corpse destroyed, a gale blew across the river, and the water surged, as if the screams of many people were gradually fading away.

Before long, the wind and waves calmed down.

Those river drifters also lost their abnormality, drifting away with the current, emitting a foul stench.

Li Yan returned to the boat and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, work hard, drag these things to the shore and burn them all; I'm going underwater for a trip."

Having said that, he once again cast the Profound Xuan Xuan Shui Dun and dived into the water.

Feng Peng Laohai did not waste words either, leading his men to work busily.

Li Yan and the others would eventually leave, but this waterway was a main route for their private salt smuggling; they couldn't just leave it alone.

This time, without obstacles, Li Yan successfully arrived outside the Long Numiao. Unlike what he saw in the illusion, half of the Long Numiao in front of him had already collapsed, and even the Dragon Lady statue was buried in mud and sand.

Li Yan tossed and turned, making the bottom of the water murky.

If he hadn't used the Xuan Xuan Shui Dun, he would have suffocated long ago.

Finally, he reached his hand into the sludge to grope again, suddenly grabbed a handle, pulled upward fiercely, and dragged the flower basket up.

Almost instantly, he felt the innate Gang Qi.

The power contained within was stronger than the "Wish-Fulfilling Treasure Pearl."

This thing was indeed a divine artifact!

Li Yan shook off the mud and sand, broke through the water, and landed on the deck.

Looking closely, this object was far from as dazzling as he saw in the illusion; instead, it was covered in verdigris, looking almost like junk.

"Keep it safe..."

Li Yan handed it to Wu Ba and instructed him earnestly.

Reading the original text!

Wu Ba was not truly stupid; seeing that this thing was quite important, he immediately pulled out a cowhide bag to wrap it and carefully put it into his luggage.

And on the surrounding shore, the Salt Gang members also fished up those river drifters, piled up dry firewood, sprinkled fire oil, and burned them until black smoke billowed and the stench was pungent.

"Young Hero Li..."

Feng Peng Laohai walked over, worried, and said, "This evil thing is broken, but the Dragon Worship Sect still hasn't shown itself; could it be that they have already fled?"

Wang Fu stroked his beard and said, "No need to worry."

"They perform human sacrifices here at fixed times, which must be very important; how could they ignore it? They must have left a backup plan."

"If I am not mistaken, they will arrive soon; we can take a step ahead and set an ambush."

"Good, let's follow the Daoist's advice!"

Li Yan also nodded in agreement, immediately letting everyone find a gentle waterway, abandon the boat, go up the mountain, and wait quietly in the dense forest.

"They're here!"

Sure enough, not long after, Lu San gave a warning.

Everyone looked down along the dense forest, only to see a dragon of fire flashing out from the bend of the mountain road in the distance, moving very fast; it was actually a troop of cavalry.

Judging by the torches, at least a hundred people had come.

The Salt Gang's experts were also numerous, and with the help of Li Yan and the others, their confidence greatly increased; they bent their bows and set their arrows one after another, their eyes full of killing intent.

"Giddyap! Giddyap!"

These people from the Dragon Worship Sect were all dressed like ordinary villagers, carrying bows and knives, and half of them were even holding firearms.

There were also a few people in front, either monks or Daoists, dressed strangely; one look and it was clear they were evil sorcerers from the Southwest hiding here.

Perhaps they were used to being arrogant; when they were close, they still urged their horses forward without slowing down.

Lu San was happy; he formed hand seals, his chest swelled, he took a deep breath, suddenly opened his mouth, and let out a tiger roar.

"Roar—!"

The tiger roar shook the mountains and rivers, and fierce Qi overflowed.

Neigh!

All the enemy's warhorses were instantly startled.

Some stopped suddenly, rearing their front hooves.

Some stumbled, were rammed by the warhorses behind, and flipped over directly.

Others even rolled down from the narrow mountain road.

The people riding the horses were also having a hard time.

Some with good skills leaped up directly, bent their bows and set arrows in mid-air, or even fired directly at the direction where Lu San was.

Others were unlucky.

For example, an old woman in black in front.

Although she was an experienced sorceress, her legs were really not agile; she was directly thrown off by the warhorse and hit a rock by the side of the road.

Brain matter splattered everywhere, and she soon stopped breathing.

"Over there, watch my sorcery!"

One of the red-haired Daoists was furious.

His skills were not bad; he leaped out, hid under a giant rock, shouted loudly, formed hand seals, muttered incantations, and at the same time took two kites from behind him.

The kites were made into the shape of birds, with crows depicted on the paper skin, and surrounded by flame patterns.

In the middle of each kite, there was a bamboo tube.

"Strike!"

After chanting the incantation, he threw the kites out fiercely.

A Yin wind blew out of thin air, and the two kites soared into the sky, flipping up and down, heading toward the dense forest where Li Yan and the others were.

Not only that, the kites also had other changes.

Pfft! Pfft!

When they were close to the dense forest, the kites suddenly caught fire, like two fire crows, falling toward the dense forest.

The firelight was bright, instantly pointing out the target for the Dragon Worship Sect people.

They either bent bows and shot arrows, or fired guns.

Swish, swish, swish! Boom!

The sound of arrows piercing the air and the sound of firelocks were continuous.

Although the Salt Gang people also tried their best to fight back and were in a high position, they had no firearms and were suppressed by the enemy for a time, unable to lift their heads.

"Damn it!"

Sha Lifei took out a flintlock and was about to smash the fire crows in the air.

"Don't mess around!"

Li Yan hurriedly stopped him, "Those are Netherfire Guns!"

The methods of this group of people were somewhat beyond his expectations.

Using secret methods to control fire crow kites and also placing vicious Netherfire; once smashed, the people below would all be in trouble.

"It's the sorcerer method of the Tang Dynasty Mystic Soldiers!"

When Sha Lifei heard this, he also guessed the origin.

But the one who acted faster was Wang Fu beside him.

Only then did the Daoist pull out his copper coin sword, pull out a yellow talisman, pace the ritual steps and chant, and point fiercely at the sky.

Whoosh—

Instantly, a gale blew in the sky.

The fire crows that were about to fall were actually blown back.

"Hahaha!"

Sha Lifei was happy, and at the same time raised his gun to fire.

His marksmanship was unquestionable; after awakening his body's supernatural ability, his five senses were all strengthened, and his shooting accuracy also improved accordingly.

Boom!

Only a loud bang was heard, and the two fire crow kites in the air exploded.

Ghostly blue phosphorus fire fell like raindrops.

"Ah—!"

Several Dragon Worship Sect disciples were instantly struck, their bodies burned by the phosphorus fire, screaming and rolling on the ground, unable to extinguish it.

"They have new-style firearms!"

The red-haired Daoist originally wanted to rush out, but seeing the power of Sha Lifei's firearm, he immediately shrank his head, not daring to show his face.

No matter how high the kung fu, there was no way to survive if hit by this thing.

But Sha Lifei would not be idle.

This old guy rolled his eyes, took out a fire caltrop from his luggage, and smiled, "Brother Wu Ba, it's up to you."

Wu Ba's unique skill with flying locust stones was known to them all; the fire caltrop combined with Wu Ba's strength was also a great killing weapon.

This was the role of a small team.

They each had their strengths, and when coordinated, they were ever-changing.

Swish!

As Sha Lifei lit the fire caltrop, Wu Ba threw it out fiercely, and it flew directly into the crowd below like a cannonball.

Only a boom was heard, firelight flashed, and stones flew everywhere.

The crowd below suffered heavy casualties instantly and had no power to resist.

Such fierce firepower made the remaining people of the Dragon Worship Sect terrified; they didn't even care about their companions and turned to run.

"Follow them!"

Li Yan's expression was cold; Lu San waved his hand, and the falcon in the night sky followed those people into the mountains silently.

The Salt Gang people beside them couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

They suddenly had a feeling that it was the Shu Prince's Mansion that had caused big trouble...

(End of chapter)