Chapter 546

Hou Xuan was truly stunned.

He had good relations with people from Huangling Sect, having seen martial experts and sorcerers perform magic—all within his understanding.

But these Twelve Earthly Branches were entirely another level.

Summoning venomous bees, firearms, spellcraft, martial arts…

The synergy of these powers yielded such devastating force!

Sha Lifei and the others had no time to care for Hou Xuan; they quickly scattered, gathering loot and searching for survivors.

The loot was unremarkable.

Two Divine Fire Guns, both forged from spiritual materials—even if they didn't use them, they could fetch a high price.

And they captured one survivor.

"Kill… kill me!"

A middle-aged man was dug out from a pile of earth, covered in snow and mud, his abdomen torn open, blood gushing steadily out.

His internal organs were damaged; he clearly had little time left.

The piercing pain made him wish for death.

Sha Lifei narrowed his eyes, yanked a badge from the man's waist, and sneered: "A Battalion Commander of the Commandant's Office—when did you become Shu Prince's dog? Have you stopped listening to the Emperor's orders?"

The man gritted his teeth: "We were always under Shu Prince's command. After campaigning across the land, our unit was disbanded upon returning to Shu, and we were reassigned to the Commandant's Office."

"So that's how it is…"

Sha Lifei nodded slightly. "I have a few questions. Answer honestly, and I'll give you a quick death."

Before the man could think, he demanded: "What did the Shu Prince's people find in the village?"

"What are you after?"

"And those Fasajiao sorcerers—they're under Wuxiang Young Master's command, aren't they? Have you allied with them?"

The man, drenched in cold sweat, his vision darkening in waves, screamed, then gritted his teeth: "We don't know why they came—we only brought guns to lend support."

"The Chengdu underworld has been shattered—those Fasajiao sorcerers were the inside men! Ah… hurry up and kill me!"

"Liar!"

Sha Lifei sneered: "Wuxiang Young Master brought a host of experts. Could your lot really have shattered them?"

"Someone else did the killing!"

"Who?!"

"The Ghost Opera Troupe…"

Before he finished speaking, the man could bear it no longer—he spat blood continuously, collapsed into unconsciousness, his breath growing fainter.

Pfft!

Sha Lifei plunged his blade into the man's temple, then spun the knife, flicking off the blood, his expression turning grim: "We must leave quickly!"

They hadn't expected the Shu Prince's mansion to have summoned the Ghost Opera Troupe.

Though newly reassembled, to dare use that name—and to have shattered the Chengdu underworld—meant they were no ordinary force.

Staying here any longer might bring them face-to-face with them.

The others understood the danger; without a word, they gathered their gear and swiftly departed from the ruins of Yang Family Village.

"Gentlemen, we'd be better off not entering the city."

Halfway along the road, Hou Xuan suddenly spoke: "Now that we've killed people from the Shu Prince's mansion, Guanxian will surely be on high alert—perhaps even mobilize the Garrison."

"And the Ghost Opera Troupe…"

As he said this, fear flickered in his eyes; he shook his head: "Confronting them directly is not wise."

"True enough."

Sha Lifei nodded: "Hou brother, what's your suggestion?"

Hou Xuan pondered, then pointed to the mountain range on the right: "There's a tea plantation on that mountain—I've invested silver there. It's closed for winter, guarded only by two of my men, very quiet."

"You can all stay there—it has firewood, rice, and flour, and no one will disturb you."

"That's perfect—thank you."

"Ah, fellow travelers of the Jianghu, no need for formalities."

With a plan settled, the group immediately turned and headed up the mountain…

On the other side, Yang Family Village.

Not long after Sha Lifei and the others left, a parrot flew in, landing on a nearby tree branch, preening its feathers.

This parrot was strange—its entire plumage was blood-red, while its crest, claws, beak, and eyes were pitch black.

It didn't resemble any species from the Shenzhou lands.

Its claws were also peculiar: the tips were sharp and black, but the rest glowed a dull grayish-blue, eerily similar to the color of a corpse.

As the claws gripped the tree trunk, they emitted faint wisps of gray smoke—clearly carrying an extremely deadly toxin.

"Dead, hahaha, dead…"

Seeing the corpses scattered everywhere, the parrot seemed ecstatic—its feathers bristled, its crest flared, and it flapped its wings, emitting a series of eerie laughs.

"Shut up!"

A hoarse, shrill voice rang out.

An old woman slowly walked from the snow, leaning on a dragon-headed cane, dressed in a robe embroidered with the character "Longevity," resembling an elderly female opera performer.

At her waist hung several leather pouches.

From the dragon's mouth on her cane dangled a spinning scripture wheel, emitting a constant "hummm."

The sound carried an eerie power.

Upon hearing it, the strange parrot's feathers stood on end, its tiny eyes filled with venomous hatred—but it dared not resist, lowering its head deeply.

Moreover, movement stirred all around.

Wolves, badgers, rats, rabbits… all manner of animals rustled out of the snowy woods—even hibernating snakes emerged.

Every creature trembled violently, rolling on the ground in agony, yet dared not resist.

The old woman sniffed the air, narrowed her eyes, and coldly said: "The scent of new-style gunpowder."

"Old Lady Chang, can you track them down?"

Another deep voice came from behind.

A tall man stepped forward, his face as black as lacquer, clad in leather armor, holding a Guan Dao, with five magical banners planted behind his back.

He resembled a martial opera performer.

The old woman shook her head slightly: "Difficult, difficult, difficult—their opponents are also experts; they've used powder to erase all traces."

"Hehehe…"

A strange laugh rose from beneath the snow: "Old Lady Chang, they say you once earned the name 'Thousand-Li Soul Tracker'—why's your skill gone dim?"

"Hmph!"

The old woman slammed her dragon-headed cane into the ground.

Thud!

A muffled boom sent snow spraying outward.

It looked like little force was used—but the earth beneath exploded violently, hurling out a small figure.

It was a dwarf, no taller than a child, yet with an adult's body—his head large, chin small, resembling a radish.

Two topknots stuck up from his head; his face was painted with a clown's makeup.

The old woman casually pulled a long tobacco pipe from her waist and tapped it three times against the clown's head—bang, bang, bang.

The clown made no resistance, shrinking his head each time, like a gourd being struck, his face wearing a vacant, foolish grin.

"What a foul mouth."

The old woman smiled: "I only said they used tricks—I never said I couldn't find them."

With that, she flipped the tobacco pipe, scooped up a handful of strange black tobacco from a leather pouch at her waist.

After lighting the pipe, she drew two deep puffs, inhaled deeply, formed a spell gesture, and blew sharply outward.

Whoosh~

Instantly, a gale howled, smoke swirling thickly.

The smoke carried a pungent odor, alive and writhing, surging upward and downward, flooding into the nostrils of every nearby small animal.

Soon, the trembling creatures' eyes turned blood-red; they ran madly in all directions.

Finally, they sprinted in one direction—the very path Sha Lifei and the others had taken…

"You see? It's done."

The old woman tapped the ash from her pipe, refilled it with ordinary tobacco, took a few puffs, and asked: "What were those youngsters called again?"

"I know, I know!"

The clown clapped his hands, hopping around: "They're called the Twelve Earthly Branches—Chou Niu Wu Ba, the Auspicious Earthly Branch; Wu Ma Sha Lifei, the Victorious Earthly Branch; You Ji Wang Daoxuan, the From-Qu Earthly Branch…"

"Enough!"

The old woman swung her tobacco pipe again—but instead of striking, she slammed the copper bowl directly onto the clown's forehead.

Hiss!

The searing tobacco instantly burned smoke from the clown's scalp.

"Hehehe, no pain, no pain."

The clown wasn't angry—he laughed and wriggled happily.

Nothing is missing, nothing is wrong!

The old woman ignored him, tapped the ash off his head, then turned to gaze into the distance and sighed: "These younger generations—tch tch... back in our day, we never spoke so boldly while wandering the rivers and lakes."

"Let's go, meet them..."

Saying this, he leaned on his dragon-headed cane and walked toward the distance.

The black-faced martial actor followed behind, holding his blade, and asked in a low voice: "Old Lady Chang, should we call the music troupe?"

"Of course. Even a lion hunting a rabbit gives it his all."

Behind them, the clown's burn marks on his head vanished at a visible rate; he bounced and skipped after the blood parrot.

Hearing their words, the clown grinned, "I'll go get the music troupe—don't let the miss get carried off by some rogue, hehe..."

Saying this, he formed a spell and leapt straight into the hole he'd just dug out; a streak of snow-white light shot across the ground, racing toward the nearby mountain...

…………

On the high mountain, Li Yan lifted his gaze.

Far away, waves surged violently; the Dujiangyan Dam stood majestic and grand.

His expression grew grave; he glanced at the setting sun, then turned back into the Guanlan Ancient Cave and slammed the stone door shut with a rumble.

Thud!

As the stone door sealed, the wind instantly quieted.

Li Yan checked the Lotus Lamp once more, did not light it immediately, but sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and entered meditation.

Once again entering the visualization space, he found it had changed.

This was the first day of his retreat.

On the first night, he absorbed the spiritual resonance of "Baiyu Jing," and with the power of heaven's and earth's treasures, directly expanded the Louguan.

Now atop Luofeng Mountain, there were not only three divine towers and one palace, but also eight cavern dwellings inside and eight outside; the outer palaces layered one upon another, while the inner space held caves and divine shrines.

Practicing the Fengdu Method alongside the Luofeng Scripture, his visualization technique had now firmly established its framework.

Last night, he primarily stabilized his foundation.

After a full night of cultivation, primordial yin-sha energy gathered, stabilizing these palaces and making their appearance more ancient, solid, grim, and mysterious.

But the most crucial part was still the divine statues.

Within the eight outer palace shrines, eight yin-official general forms had coalesced, mostly clad in yellow headbands and black hemp shoes, one hand holding a talon tablet, the other gripping iron clubs, iron chains, or flails.

These were the Eight Outer Altar Generals.

Their names were Zhang Yuanlian, alias Dao Lian; Chen Yuanqing, alias Dao Qing; Fan Yuanzhang, alias Dao Zhang...

The Eight Outer Altar Generals primarily handled punishment and execution, pursuing and capturing evil spirits; each had a fearsome appearance, symbolizing the Eight Trigrams, each with distinct powers.

Every time Li Yan captured demonic qi, they appeared.

Of course, Li Yan could not fully replicate these generals' abilities—only shaping them from yin qi, he could borrow their power.

Daily, he could borrow the Eight Generals' strength to cast spells.

When setting up the Fengdu Altar Array, he could even summon the power of the yin-officials.

If his cultivation reached the Sixth Tower, and he coalesced the second palace, gaining the "Fengdu Nine Springs Command Talisman" ability, he would qualify to truly command the yin-official generals.

As for the Inner Altar Eight Generals' forms, cultivation must reach the Fifth Tower to coalesce them.

The Six Palaces Demons beneath Luofeng Mountain also required the "Fengdu Nine Springs Command Talisman" to borrow their power.

Though still just the beginning, Li Yan was very satisfied.

Never mind anything else—just these Eight Outer Altar Generals, when he cast Fengdu spells daily, could amplify his power to another level.

This was the advantage of a powerful technique.

Even with shallow cultivation, he could still stand toe-to-toe with high-level experts.

Thinking of this, Li Yan once again embraced the One and held to the Unity, entering meditation to restore his spirit in preparation for tonight's tower-building.

Unaware of the passage of time, night fell.

Tonight, the wind on the mountain blew fiercer, and snow fell again; the howling wind sounded like a ferocious beast rampaging.

At Zi Shi, Li Yan suddenly opened his eyes.

He lit all the Lotus Soul-Guiding Lamps, stepped the Dipper Pace, spat spirit-water, formed the Sword Seal, and pointed at the ground before him.

Hssss~

Instantly, fierce winds surged, and yin-cold qi rose.

This was the purest terrestrial yin-sha qi, carrying traces of power from the Netherworld's yin-officials—like countless arrows striking his face.

Li Yan was already accustomed; he stepped the Dipper Pace again, effortlessly dodging the energy as it neared, guiding it into the altar.

Cold spread rapidly; frost condensed visibly on the ground, and ice cracked and formed around the altar.

Li Yan sat cross-legged naturally, visualized, and entered meditation.

"Master of Fate, Master of Fortune, judging life and death. Ten Palaces all bow in reverence, Six Caverns all offer their hands..."

His soul merged with the divine statues as he chanted the Fengdu Sacred Litany.

Boom!

Below, the yin-sea surged and roared.

On the peak of Luofeng Mountain, primordial yang-sha and yin-sha qi descended—white and black—whirling like a Taiji diagram, enveloping all the palaces.

Li Yan felt neither joy nor sorrow, watching coldly.

His spell seals changed continuously; the recitation of the Sacred Litany never ceased.

Faintly, "Gan Si Lian Wan Lü Tian Gong" began expanding, like a foundation, and above it, another divine tower's shadow appeared.

The past two days had firmly laid the groundwork.

Now building the Fourth Tower was merely a natural progression.

After an unknown length of time, the black-and-white mist dispersed; all the palaces expanded another circle, and the Fourth Tower coalesced fully.

Li Yan slowly opened his eyes and exhaled.

He hadn't expected it to go so smoothly.

Looking around, the Lotus Lamps had burned only halfway.

He checked his pocket watch—the hour had just passed Chou Shi.

A smile appeared on Li Yan's face; he rose and swiftly formed a spell with his left hand, pushing hard.

Crackling!

Instantly, thunderous lightning roared.

This was the Northern Emperor's Yin Thunder Palm.

When normally cast, it never had such power.

Now, with his cultivation at the Fourth Tower and the Eight Outer Altar Generals' power amplified, its strength rivaled that of a Fifth Tower cultivator's spell.

Li Yan stood motionless, letting the thunder in his left hand roar.

After a while, he finally dismissed the technique.

He breathed heavily, his eyes weary.

All things have pros and cons—borrowing the Eight Outer Altar Generals' power granted him greater strength, but drained his spirit severely.

Clearly, this method could only be used in critical moments.

Still, now that he'd reached the Fourth Tower, he could begin cultivating new techniques...

(End of Chapter)