Chapter 611: Divine Fire Connects Heaven

"What's going on?!"

Li Yan suddenly looked up at the sky, his heart sinking.

The Dragon Palace Water Mansion is a special entity known as a Cave Heaven Secret Realm; according to what he found, it exists between reality and illusion.

To enter, one must wander through dreams.

To make it manifest is even harder—otherwise, the Divine Palace of Yunzhong Jun, having existed so long, would have been discovered long ago.

Lu Sheng spent years plotting to succeed.

And what he sought was not the Dragon Palace itself, but to use this Cave Heaven Secret Realm to fish out the Nine Tripods drifting along the downstream of Shenzhou's earth veins.

Timing must also be precisely controlled.

Otherwise, if the opportunity is missed and the Nine Tripods pass through Shu, it may take many more years before another chance arises.

Thus, before acting, everyone had carefully studied the situation.

According to the rate at which the altar in the Shu King's Palace accumulated primordial gangsha, even with Chengdu's unusual conditions, it would still take several more hours.

Not to mention the townspeople had already broken free of the curse.

Enough to allow them to destroy the altar.

Yet the Dragon Palace Water Mansion appeared prematurely.

Lu Sheng must have used some method to accelerate it.

And the Nine Tripods may have passed even earlier!

Aside from Er Lang, who was still locked in combat with the Nuo mask, everyone now looked up at the sky, eyes filled with shock.

Thunder rolled, and the shadow resembling a palace grew ever clearer.

People could now see the palace's architecture was ancient, as if built purely from stacked stone slabs.

Simple in structure, yet overwhelmingly majestic.

"Hahaha…"

The Shu King, possessed by Lu Sheng, now no longer concealed himself—he rose slowly, hands behind his back, posture straight, no trace of his former aged appearance.

He turned to the side and smiled: "Brother Li, look, isn't it finished?"

"The vastness of heaven and earth cannot be bound by a mere Heavenly Code!"

In his words, his arrogance could no longer be hidden.

Li Wenyuan saw this and felt a surge of dissatisfaction.

If he hadn't planned ahead, turning the Five Prefectures' Princess into a living corpse and using Prince Xiao Jinghong's resentment as a medium to plunder the Shu King's Altar of Soil and Grain incense, would success have come so quickly?

Lu Sheng said not a word of this.

These people, long immersed in the mortal world, have surely forgotten the height of heaven and the depth of earth!

Of course, now they were all on the same rope, so Li Wenyuan didn't wish to offend Lu Sheng too deeply—he could only offer a veiled warning: "The matter isn't settled yet. Controlling the Dragon Palace Water Mansion and fishing out the Nine Tripods won't be easy."

"Rest assured, brother Dao."

Lu Sheng smiled calmly. "The River God Lord has been utterly scattered; the Dragon Goddess's soul hasn't stabilized. This Dragon Palace Water Mansion is now ownerless—what I say goes."

With that, he gestured to the distance.

Zhao Jie, his hair disheveled atop the altar, was still exhilarated.

Seeing Lu Sheng's signal, he stiffened, immediately pulled out a gourd and placed it on the altar, then waved his ritual flag, stepped the gang steps, and chanted incantations around the gourd.

Zhao Jie hailed from the Six Ren Immortal Sect, renowned for its Gourd Method, capable of crafting the "Heavenly Physician Gourd" and the "Eight Immortals' Ruyi Gourd."

One is used for healing and averting disaster.

The other for warding off evil and ritual combat.

This gourd was black, glossy and slick, its surface carved with the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, and densely inscribed with vermilion talismans.

Originally a celestial treasure, Zhao Jie had spent years re-consecrating it.

Though powerful, it was clearly still insufficient.

Seeing this, Lu Sheng smiled slightly and turned to Li Wenyuan: "Brother Dao, I'll need your precious ritual flag to assist."

Li Wenyuan replied coldly: "What are you joking about?"

"That boy summoned Wen Lingguan—he's hidden in the sky, waiting to strike. If I move, I'll be exposed and die."

Lu Sheng wasn't angered—he smiled: "Brother Dao, rest easy. If I've suggested it, don't you think I've prepared?"

He nodded slightly to the side.

Two eunuchs immediately raised a massive ornate canopy.

Crimson silk with golden tassels, pagoda-topped, embroidered with nine cloud-dragon patterns.

The object was grand, like an umbrella shielding the two beneath it.

"This is…"

Sensing its aura, Li Wenyuan was startled.

Lu Sheng shook his head: "Though the Shu King appeared respectful, he was deeply ambitious—only fearing the current Emperor, he bided his time until old age."

"This is the imperial procession of the previous dynasty, passed through five emperors, secretly hoarded by the Shu King after he acquired it."

"Its infusion with the imperial destiny is enough to hold off detection for a while."

"Fine."

Hearing this, Li Wenyuan had no hesitation left.

He came from the Great Luo Dharma Realm—he knew exactly what this object represented. Even if discovered, it could buy time.

But if the Nine Tripods were missed, there would be no second chance.

He picked up the red sack beside him, opened it, and revealed five banners embroidered with the Four Symbols and talismanic script—the Five Directions of the Xuan Gate.

If Li Yan were here, he'd recognize this treasure—the very ritual flag he'd overheard Bai Qi Hong discussing.

That Lu Sheng had noticed it meant it was no ordinary item.

Li Wenyuan chanted an incantation, bit his middle finger, and touched each of the five banners with a drop of blood, then made a hand seal and pointed forward.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The five banners immediately shot out.

Just as before, each could summon gang wind, riding the wind as they spun around the altar.

Soon, more gangsha energy accumulated.

The thick mist that had flooded the palace began to swirl with the altar, forming a massive white cloud.

Zhao Jie atop the altar slumped sideways and collapsed to the ground, soon snoring loudly.

The other sorcerers assisting him showed no surprise.

The Dragon Palace Water Mansion exists between reality and illusion—no matter how hard they tried to draw it to Chengdu and make it manifest, they still had to enter via dream-travel.

They were already prepared.

As the Nine Tripods passed through Chengdu's earth vein orifices, they would briefly appear within the Dragon Palace Water Mansion—once Zhao Jie touched them, he could pull them out.

At this moment, even Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan tensed their bodies.

Years of planning came down to this one moment.

Outside the palace, on the Zhuangyuan Tower, the Qingcheng group had also witnessed this.

"Everyone, prepare!"

Li Yan gritted his teeth and shouted loudly.

He had decided to use Wen Lingguan to push the Dragon Palace Water Mansion away.

This move was originally meant for Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan, whose depths were unfathomable—but the Nine Tripods were the real threat.

Now, he had to choose.

The Qingcheng group heard him and simultaneously stepped the gang steps and chanted incantations.

Li Yan released the hand seal he'd held tightly, bit his fingertip, used blood as ink to draw a talisman in the air, then made a seal and pressed it into the "Bing-Ding Sheng Gui Talisman."

Summoning Wen Lingguan required more than just an altar—preparations were numerous: the incense burner needed vermilion, sulfur, lightning-struck wood, and other sacred objects long venerated in temples.

Fortunately, these were common consumables in ritual practice—he easily gathered them all.

BOOM!

As Li Yan channeled his seal, the incense burner erupted in flames.

With the acrid stench of sulfur, flames shot up three zhang high, casting Li Yan's body in crimson light.

He didn't pause—he continued stepping the gang steps and chanted: "Heavenly fire, earthly essence, Bing-Ding shines bright! Fengdu's Northern Darkness, all spirits hear…!"

"Wen Lingguan, manifest your true form! By the decree of the Great Emperor of Fengdu…"

With that, he pointed the Bing-Ding Sheng Gui Talisman toward the sky.

"Strike!"

A roar echoed—gales surged, and strange phenomena appeared in the air.

Dark clouds churned above Chengdu, lightning flashed and thunder rolled.

The thick mist was torn open by lightning, and the massive shadow hesitating above instantly scattered.

Shhh!

A spark fell from the sky.

It struck the ground and immediately rose in blue smoke.

Soon, streaks of fire rained down like meteors.

A sky of flaming meteors struck the snow, hissing as they melted vast patches, sending up blue smoke.

The air was thick with the acrid stench of sulfur.

It resembled the smoke after fireworks fade out.

Wen Lingguan's name is Wen Qiong, a Heavenly Court "Kangjin Great Deity," holding the "Boundless Azure" golden tablet, said to enter and exit the Southern Heavenly Gate at will.

His divine duties are numerous; his power is thunder and fire. The Xuan Gate calls him "pursuing and capturing hidden evil spirits of the world," and "flame flows like molten gold, nurturing all beings."

These phenomena are all manifestations of his descent.

Even the ash from the incense burner before Li Yan's feet, when falling to the ground, faintly formed the shape of a trident, directly corresponding to Wen Lingguan's weapon, the "Flame-Tipped Spear."

These meteor showers of fire were not merely for show.

They carried blazing, violent primordial gang qi.

Before Chengyun Gate, the gates had been shattered; Chongqing reinforcements and the Black Feather Guards inside fired muskets through the breach.

On the city walls, the southwestern cultivators of evil also unleashed various dark arts to block the ground troops.

When the meteor showers of fire fell, they immediately suffered.

The wailing spirits struck down turned instantly into blue smoke.

The paper puppets with grotesque laughter were incinerated outright by the fiery feathers.

Before the Lingguan's divine fire, these demonic cultivators' techniques were shattered instantly; many suffered backlash, spitting blood repeatedly.

Others were struck by the fire rain, igniting the yin-sha qi within their bodies; smoke poured from all seven orifices as they screamed and rolled on the ground…

"Run!"

Many completely broke down and turned to flee.

Even the Xue Nuo Masters hurried to dodge, too late to stop them.

Yet the celestial phenomena in the sky had only just begun.

Boom!

A thunderous roar echoed through the night sky.

In the square before Chengyun Gate, a massive footprint suddenly appeared, blazing with flames.

Boom! Boom!

The ground trembled as the footprint advanced toward Chengyun Gate.

Wherever it passed, the surrounding snow instantly vaporized.

Though the burning footprints were extinguished by wind and snow, they left behind spiderweb-like char marks on the blue stone slabs.

Ordinary mortals cannot see the invisible yin souls.

Even highly accomplished sorcerers cannot see Wen Lingguan.

The reason is simple: he wields the "Xuhuo Decree," belonging to Bing-Ding fire; his divine power leaks as fire qi.

No mortal, no matter how advanced, can withstand the radiance of his "Thunder-Fire Manifestation," as the Dao Fa Hui Yuan states:

"The divine might is inwardly contained; it slays evil without form."

Mortals can only perceive his presence through these strange phenomena.

This also aligns with the Xuan Gate's principle: "The greatest form has no shape."

The affected were not merely these evil cultivators.

The colossal flame footprint passed by the motionless Erlang, whose third-eye Nuo mask revealed red "demon-evil qi" that dissipated into blue smoke.

The power of the Lingguan was evident.

Li Yan was stunned by this terrifying power, yet inwardly groaned.

Summoning Wen Lingguan—even with his Bing-Ding Sheng Gui Talisman and aid from Qingcheng—still imposed immense pressure.

He could feel his five viscera and six bowels burning as if scorched by fire.

Not only him, but all Qingcheng disciples had flushed faces, trembling feet, and melting snow around them.

Yet everyone gritted their teeth and held on.

Boom!

As the flame footprint halted, a muffled boom echoed in the air; the meteor shower of fire froze, then inverted, converging into a colossal phantom Flame-Tipped Spear.

In an instant, the sky seemed burned through with a gaping hole.

Thick fog rapidly dissipated; even the Long Gong phantom grew fainter…

"Kill!"

Below, morale surged.

This battle had begun with Erlang Zhenjun appearing, then a true deity descending, creating such a spectacle—no tavern tale of spirits and monsters could match it.

As long as you survive, you'll have a lifetime of stories to tell.

The altar before Chengyun Palace was also affected.

As the meteor shower of fire rained down, the swirling white clouds—like cotton—were pierced by countless holes.

Seeing it about to collapse, Li Wenyuan frantically formed hand seals; the Five Directions Flags spun violently, desperately drawing in sha qi to resist.

"Use the talisman decree now!"

He roared, face twisted in fury.

Lu Sheng, hearing this, pulled an object from his chest with a pained expression.

It was a yellow silk banner scroll, about nine inches long, wrapped in gold-threaded yellow silk, lined with black silkworm silk, its front embroidered with dense tiny characters:

"With sincere devotion, I take refuge and bow: Qingling Dongyang, within the Northern Capital Palace…"

It was the "Precious Declaration of the Earth Official's Pardon of Sins" that Li Yan had seen before.

This item was precious; Lu Sheng had received only two upon joining that organization, and one had already been used.

But now, he had no time to hesitate.

"By decree!"

Lu Sheng formed the hand seal and hurled it into the air.

Whoosh!

The scroll unfurled, flapping wildly in the wind.

Meanwhile, the phantom Flame-Tipped Spear formed by the meteor shower began to dissipate—but slowly, as if reluctant…

At this moment, both forces were locked in stalemate.

The Long Gong Water Palace phantom stabilized once more.

Again, this thing!

Li Yan's scalp prickled when he saw it.

His mood was foul.

It was as if he had gone to great lengths to summon his superior, only for someone else to throw down a transfer order, rendering all his efforts useless.

Thinking of this, Li Yan's eyes ignited with killing intent.

Within the Great Luo Dharma Realm,

who was aiding these demons?!

At that moment, the situation shifted.

Li Wenyuan's Five Directions Flags finally buckled under the fire rain; a streak of flame pierced through and struck Zhao Jie.

"Ahh—!"

Zhao Jie, who had been in a dream state, instantly awoke.

He had long since fallen to the dark path, cultivated countless evil techniques, and his body was saturated with grievance and yin-sha qi—now he suffered terribly.

Wen Lingguan's Bing-Ding fire worked this way.

It could both slay evil and nurture life.

Ordinary people struck by it merely felt slightly warm, then a pleasant heat rose through their bodies, making them impervious to the howling wind and bitter cold.

But Zhao Jie, an evil cultivator, was like ice meeting lava—he screamed continuously, blood streaming from all seven orifices.

Good!

Li Yan nearly cheered aloud.

Without the thieves, how will they lure the Nine Tripods?!

Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan, upon seeing this, turned pale.

Yet no one knew that, even as all this unfolded, one person hid in the Eastern Palace pavilion, peering out through the window.

It was the Wuxiang Young Master, who had infiltrated earlier.

He held the Long Gong jade artifact he had taken from the Mei Shan brothers, gazing at the celestial Long Gong phantom, bewildered and uncertain.

Soon, drowsiness surged; his eyelids drooped, and he fell into unconsciousness…

(End of Chapter)