Chapter 568

"Senior, I've finally found you!"

Li Yan smiled, not hiding his joy at all.

He never expected that after going around in circles, this reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun would be in Chengdu; he had thought it would be difficult to see him again in this life.

The Water Ghost Craftsman Tian Qi Ye opposite had an extremely ugly expression.

His cultivation was slightly higher than Li Yan's, and he even had the confidence to escape under the siege of Yin Office troops, which is why he came to intercept and kill him.

The facts were indeed so.

The one plotting to destroy the Huangquan organization was precisely him; the previous group of fools were also deliberately guided by him, wanting to probe Li Yan's trump cards and even lure out the Gang Order.

It's a pity that this group of people was truly unable to withstand a single blow.

He could only take action himself.

But what he didn't expect was that there was another person hiding on the side.

His heart was pounding; although the other party looked lazy and didn't even leak half a breath of energy, it made him feel breathless, as if he were being stared at fixedly by a fierce beast.

And listening to Li Yan's words, they actually knew each other!

Thinking of this, Tian Qi Ye waved his boat oar, chanted a spell, and struck the water surface fiercely.

Clatter!

Water splashed, yin energy permeated, the wooden boat sank rapidly, and at the same time, black mist swirled, covering his figure.

Li Yan frowned and had already formed dharma seals.

But unexpectedly, that Chengdu hero took action first.

Swoosh!

A black shadow whistled past with a shrill wind.

Like a heavy hammer, it directly broke the escape technique.

The black mist dissipated, and Tian Qi Ye also revealed his figure.

He gripped the wooden oar backhanded, turned sideways, water droplets splashed from the tips of his coir raincoat, and he swept upward, shattering the black shadow.

As one of the four demons under the Shu Prince and a fierce expert of the Southwest evil path, this Water Ghost Craftsman Tian Qi Ye is naturally not simple.

His pitch-black wooden oar alone is a brutal dharma artifact, made of sunken wood from the Wu Gorge, carved with Kui Dragon patterns, and the wooden handle is wrapped in the human skin of the Three Gorges' Lady of the Towline.

It is filled with deep resentment and is a true weapon of murder.

But after shattering the black shadow, Tian Qi Ye's expression became even gloomier.

Clatter!

He saw bone fragments scattered on the boat, the smell of mutton fishy and overflowing; it was actually the mutton leg bone that the Chengdu hero had finished gnawing.

Gang Energy!

Li Yan was somewhat pleasantly surprised and slowly relaxed the dharma seals he had been pinching.

The mutton leg bone is a mortal object; now that it can break the technique and force the opponent to use a dharma artifact to block it, he naturally used other means.

This is pure Gang Energy, relying on powerful martial arts divine intent to drive the innate gang-sha energy for reinforcement.

Above Dan Energy is Gang Energy; if a martial artist cultivates it, even without divine abilities, they have the power to contend with Mystic Sect practitioners.

In the Divine Land, the righteous Mystic Sects also have to treat them with courtesy.

Seeing this situation, Li Yan also completely relaxed.

The reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun is somewhat different; he is the reincarnation of a folk incense god, and no one is clear about what state he is in.

The other party has traveled the mortal world for decades, but his reputation is not prominent, and combined with what he saw before, he seems to be trapped in doubt about his own identity.

Li Yan was most afraid that this person would not live up to his name.

Now he can be considered slightly relieved.

Gang Energy can be released and retracted at will; after restraining his aura, even he cannot perceive it, which is a realm he cannot understand.

"Who exactly are you?"

On the gloomy wooden boat, Tian Qi Ye was full of guard.

"Chengdu hero" leaped, jumped from the boat to the wharf, clapped his hands, and said indifferently: "You don't need to know."

Tian Qi Ye gritted his teeth again, "Do I have a grudge against you?"

"Can't count as a grudge."

"Chengdu hero" rubbed his temples and said helplessly: "I ask you, on the rivers of the Shu region, there are often people driving water ghosts to harm others; looking at those on your boat that are full of resentment, is it related to you?"

Tian Qi Ye narrowed his eyes, "So what if it is?"

"Chengdu hero" nodded, "That will do."

Having said that, he looked at the sky, "Tomorrow is the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, welcoming the Jade Emperor, killing is forbidden, fortunately it's not past the midnight hour..."

"Just by you!"

Tian Qi Ye suddenly gave a violent shout, his body spun, he took off his coir raincoat, and took advantage of the momentum to throw it out fiercely.

This coir raincoat of his was also a dharma artifact.

It disintegrated directly in the air, with greasy straw wrapped in yin energy, a wild wind raged, and it scattered like raindrops.

Li Yan could even smell that the straw was covered in rot poison.

What was even more shocking was Tian Qi Ye's body.

His face was still normal, but his body skin was like that of a dead person, soaked pale and wrinkled, and black, fishy, foul-smelling liquid seeped from his pores.

Water Ghost Zhao Changsheng Technique?

When Li Yan saw this, he frowned.

So this guy had long since practiced an evil longevity technique.

Although it was not recorded in the "Zhao Changsheng Immortal Treasury," he had once beheaded someone possessed by demonic energy and knew the characteristics of this evil technique.

The Water Ghost Zhao Changsheng Technique is divided into the Yin Spirit and Yin Corpse methods.

The Yin Spirit method is similar to the Ghost Sect disciple hiding in the river water outside Zigui County, burying the body in water and having the yin spirit impersonate a water god to steal incense.

And the Yin Corpse method is even more tragic.

It requires refining a natal Water Ghost Talisman, cutting open the lower abdomen, and hiding it in the navel; if the talisman is wet, the power is strong, and if the talisman is dry, the soul dissipates.

Therefore, those who practice this method must mostly be in the water.

Situ Bo had told him about the background of this Tian Qi Ye; he belonged to a rare dharma lineage in the Shu region called the "Hanging Coffin Sect," which was originally a dharma lineage that specialized in eating funeral food and helping people perform hanging coffin burials.

They had some small techniques, but not to this extent of ferocity.

It turned out he had practiced the "Water Ghost Zhao Changsheng Technique."

It was only because of the cover of the coir raincoat dharma artifact that he hadn't discovered it.

The coir raincoat exploded in the air, and the yin energy straw fell like a rain of arrows.

Facing this overwhelming attack, the "Chengdu hero" did not care at all, formed seals with his hands, and walked with wide strides.

Bang, bang, bang!

The approaching straw all shattered and fell to the ground.

This is... a protective dharma?

Li Yan's eyes were full of curiosity.

He never expected that an ordinary protective dharma would have such an effect in the hands of this reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun.

Tian Qi Ye was also not surprised.

He had already seen that this was a great expert, and the pressure he gave him was no weaker than that of Cheng Jianxian in his prime.

Using up the protective dharma artifact was just to buy time.

He saw this Tian Qi Ye holding the wooden oar, picking left and right, and the iron chains outside those bronze coffins on the boat snapped one by one.

Pfft~

Black energy immediately overflowed from the cracks in the coffins.

Afterward, he took off the dharma conch from his waist, formed seals with his left hand, held the dharma conch in his right, and puffed out his cheeks to blow.

Listening to the rhythm, it sounded like a boatman's chant on the river.

Boom, boom, boom!

The coffin lids all exploded, and several pale figures whistled out; they were actually water ghost wet corpses, slippery all over, with pitch-black fingernails and eyeballs, wrapped in thick yin mist, charging toward the "Chengdu hero."

Li Yan frowned and gripped his scabbard, preparing to help.

These water ghost wet corpses are recorded in the "Mysterious Records" and are a type of zombie raised in underwater corpse-raising grounds, also possessed by water ghosts.

Extremely yin and extremely fierce, they need to be dealt with using the most yang and most rigid methods. He doesn't know fire techniques, but he can use Lei Gang to suppress and kill them.

Who knew, the "Chengdu hero" continued walking without stopping, and facing the water ghost wet corpses charging madly, he just whistled.

Whoosh~

In an instant, a wild wind raged all around.

The gang-sha energy danced like a storm, whipping up the accumulated snow on the wharf; in the blur, Li Yan heard the barking of dogs.

What kind of thing is this!

Li Yan sniffed, somewhat shocked.

According to rumors, Erlang Zhenjun has a Howling Celestial Dog by his side; of course, that is folk mythology, and the Howling Celestial Dog wouldn't have reincarnated as well.

Listening to the barking, there was more than one dog.

These invisible fierce dogs are also not yin objects, but are condensed from some kind of innate gang energy, and he doesn't know what secret technique it is.

In a short moment, the wind and snow had already ceased.

Those water ghost wet corpses were already scattered, as if they had been forcibly dismantled by some kind of power, and the snow-covered ground was full of dog footprints.

【Content omitted】

"Senior, he ran away!"

Unable to be surprised, Li Yan hurriedly reminded him.

It was that Tian Qi Ye who was so scared that he directly abandoned his own dharma artifact, the sunken wooden boat, and leaped into the water.

This old demon was a water ghost, moving silently in the water, and with extremely fast speed, he quickly swam away from the shore.

"He can't run!"

"Chengdu hero" had cold eyes, hooked a silver pellet from his waist, a golden slingshot suddenly appeared in his hand, and he shot it out fiercely.

Hum!

The air vibrated, and the silver pellet broke into the water.

It's a national sacrificial artifact!

After seeing this, Li Yan's expression was somewhat strange.

Near Guanxian, they had once gone to the Erwang Temple at the Guan River Mouth to worship and search for clues about the reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun, and learned a piece of news.

The golden bow, silver pellets, and three-pointed double-edged blade used for worship on the statue of Erlang Zhenjun, which had been passed down since the Song Dynasty, had all been stolen.

It turned out the owner had taken them to use.

After shooting this pellet, a muffled sound suddenly came from under the river water, and the "Chengdu hero" didn't even look and walked toward Li Yan.

On the water surface in the distance, Tian Qi Ye's corpse slowly floated up, with a large hole already broken in his head, his spirit completely extinguished.

"Senior Yang has great skills!"

Li Yan hurriedly bowed, his eyes full of admiration.

This was the first time he had seen this level of means, but he could also faintly see that it was by no means a simple technique.

During his movements, there was actually the scent of incense overflowing.

Could it be that after reincarnating, he can still call upon his own incense power?

If that were really the case, it would be truly extraordinary.

Erlang Zhenjun is the Lord of Shu, and the power accumulated from thousands of years of worship in the Shu region is unimaginably terrifying.

"Chengdu hero" rubbed his temples, shook his head and said: "Someone has been chanting in my ear, if I don't kill this person, I can't dispel this thought."

As he spoke, he looked into the distance and sighed, "Over the years, the voices in my ears have become increasingly noisy, making it hard for me to find peace."

Li Yan thought thoughtfully, "Could it be the work of incense wish power."

"Chengdu hero" was somewhat surprised and nodded, "You actually know quite a bit; I only understood this recently."

"Speak, what is the matter for finding me?"

The opportunity was rare, and Li Yan was really afraid that this person would run around again, so he said directly: "Senior, your tribulation has arrived, do you want to watch others harm you?"

"Chengdu hero" was silent for a moment, his eyes narrowed, carrying a trace of cold majesty, "What do you mean?"

Hearing this, Li Yan was also stunned for a moment, hurriedly activated the Dragon Snake Token to isolate his aura, and whispered: "Senior, to tell you the truth, I am not only a Living Yin Messenger, but also hold the position of Heavenly Official."

"Within the Great Luo Dala Fajie, an immortal has privately descended to the mortal realm and merged with the River God Great Lord, likely intending to harm you..."

After listening to him recount the matter, "Chengdu hero" was also somewhat surprised, and after a long while, he sneered: "I thought so; all these years I've always been startled, I just felt it was related to that old dragon, and searched everywhere in the Daba Mountains, but could never find his trace..."

It seemed that because of Li Yan's identity, this person no longer hid it and roughly recounted what had happened over the years.

Everything had to start with the Meishan brothers.

Back then, the Meishan brothers had always secretly worshipped and protected Erlang Zhenjun; perhaps because the incense wish power accumulated over a thousand years was very heavy, a true spirit actually gestated within the statue.

It just so happened that the old squire Yang, who had no children, brought his concubine to offer incense, and the Meishan brothers drugged them, set up an altar, and cast that true spirit into the concubine's womb.

Afterward, the reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun, "Yang Chenghua," was born.

The Meishan brothers were naturally happy; they didn't know what had happened, but they knew that the god they worshipped had descended, which was a great opportunity for everyone...

However, disaster followed closely behind.

The "Ghost Opera Troupe" received the task, sneaked into the Yang family to set fires and kill, and the Meishan brothers who were secretly protecting them fought to the death to save "Yang Chenghua."

The only survivor, the Lu Scholar, settled "Yang Chenghua" in a widow's house and secretly protected him until he grew up and left.

"I don't know who I really am..."

Yang Chenghua shook his head and said in a deep voice: "Uncle Lu said I was the True Lord and often bowed to me, which made me very uncomfortable, so I left under the name of traveling."

"I have walked in all directions all these years, always confused, wanting to figure out why I came to this world, sneaking into many dharma lineages, hiding my identity to cultivate, but I never found the reason..."

"Until a few years ago, I suddenly discovered I could call upon the power of incense, and many people's voices kept echoing in my ears; I can no longer figure out whether I am Yang Chenghua, Li Erlang, or the Manifestation True Lord..."

"You are naturally the Manifestation True Lord!"

Li Yan had an epiphany and said in a deep voice: "Born as an immortal sage, this mortal world is actually a shackle; I fear your answer must be sought in the Great Luo Dala Fajie!"

He had already figured out this person's situation.

Anyone who possesses a thousand years of incense, with countless joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness of wish power entangled, would have long since seen through the world and have no attachment to the mortal world.

Some things simply cannot be compared.

Regardless of the other party's background, the reincarnated Yang Chenghua, as long as no one blocks him, is born to be material for ascending to godhood.

Having said that, he hesitated for a moment, "Also, that Mr. Lu is dead..."

"What?!"

As soon as the words fell, Li Yan felt his shoulders grabbed by a pair of large hands, and his flesh felt a bit of pain.

He saw Yang Chenghua's eyes bloodshot, full of murderous intent.

"He was harmed by someone."

Li Yan remained calm, released his hands, and then recounted the events in Guanxian in detail.

Yang Chenghua seemed somewhat unable to accept it, his eyes blank, muttering: "Before I was sensible, my parents were robbed, my foster mother died, and Old Brother Lu also died; why did everyone die? I just went around in a circle..."

While speaking, the muscles on his face actually began to squirm.

The original beard fell off one after another, and his features became extremely heroic, actually having a few similarities to the god statue in the temple.

Combined with his figure, he was truly like a god descending to the mortal realm.

"True Lord!"

Li Yan smiled bitterly: "Mortals all have the suffering of death, separation, and parting; we struggle hard, but you are not of this world; when the time comes, you should go."

"Hmm."

Yang Chenghua was silent for a moment, "What should I do?"

Although he is the reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun, he is not the peerless Erlang in mythology, but a stranger wandering the world in confusion.

He hasn't even inherited all of Erlang Zhenjun's incense.

"Simple!"

Li Yan looked at Chengdu Prefecture, "Help us eliminate the Heavenly People and destroy the monsters of those two Ghost Opera Troupes."

"Once the karmic obstacles are eliminated, you will naturally see your true self!"

(End of chapter)