Chapter 639: Underground Palace Destroyed, Celestial Phenomena Change

Boom!

Wu Ba's tiger-crouching cannon roared.

At Mount Qingcheng, the tiger-crouching cannon had already been modified.

The original style had a relief of a tiger swallowing its mouth in front of the muzzle, with two feet below as support.

After all, this thing had too much power, and it also used new gunpowder.

At the beginning of the design, there was no thought of using it as a single-soldier weapon.

Originally, this was impossible, but because of the Cellar Opening Assembly, many Mystic Sect practitioners from all over the Shenzhou gathered on Mount Qingcheng, among whom there were many refining masters. Working together, they modified the tiger-crouching cannon.

The tiger swallowing its mouth remained unchanged, the curvature of the two beast feet in front was changed to be held by both hands, and a shoulder pad was added to the back, which could be stuck on the shoulder when firing, dispersing the force, partly backward and partly downward.

Even so, only Wu Ba's freakish strength could withstand it.

With the roar of the cannon, a large amount of white gas sprayed from the 108 air holes at the tail of the cannon barrel behind him, causing dust to fly behind him, while the terrifying force was transmitted downward.

Crack!

A spider-web-like crack instantly appeared on the ground under Wu Ba's feet.

Although the movement was too large, he finally stood firmly on the ground.

What was truly terrifying was its power.

Wu Ba didn't use scattershot, but a whole lead ball, which had been modified by Sha Lifei, and filled with a large amount of phosphorus fire and new gunpowder inside. Once it hit the target, it would explode.

In an instant, the cannon fire pierced into the cave entrance of the underground palace like a red dragon.

The Five-Colored Corpse Spiders in pursuit behind had their pottery coffins torn to shreds as if they were made of paper.

Rubble and soil fell, submerging the huge rotting insect limbs, and the tunnel entrance was also sealed.

Rumbling!

Before everyone could catch their breath, a muffled thunder-like roar came from the depths of the earth vein.

It was precisely the cannonball exploding underground.

But all this didn't stop.

As if a giant beast was struggling to die, the "crack" sound of rock layers breaking was continuous.

Cracks spread from the cave entrance to the surroundings like a spider web.

Wu Ba opened his mouth wide, looking at the tiger-crouching cannon on his shoulder in disbelief.

"Retreat quickly, the underground palace is collapsing!"

Li Yan reminded loudly, pointing out the reason.

It was because this fake Qin-era False False Yin Si underground palace had been left with flaws by Xu Fu from the beginning of its construction, and the Qi of the Six States' demonic army had been eroding it day and night, coupled with the long passage of time, it was already teetering.

Wu Ba's cannon shot could be considered to have completely broken the balance.

The entire underground palace below began to collapse, and that towering fake "Luo Feng Mountain" also had half of its mountain body collapse amidst huge falling rocks, slowly tilting, and the "Six Palaces of Luo Feng" above were completely destroyed.

Whoosh~

Wild wind whistled, and black mist surged.

Thick, turbid black demonic disaster Qi gushed out, wrapped in dust.

It was precisely the demonic army of the Six States that had been suppressed in the past.

The rolling black mist condensed into a ferocious ghost face in the air, charging upward.

And just then, the "Marquis Sui Snake Pearl" began to show its power.

Just as Yin Jiuge said, this fake False False Yin Si of the Qin Palace was arranged based on the three talents of Heaven, Earth, and Man. The "Earth" position and "Man" position both had flaws, but only this "Heaven" position was complete and firm.

The "Twenty-Eight Mansions" formed by the twenty-eight meteorites above trembled in unison.

The "Marquis Sui Snake Pearl" located at the North Star shone brightly at this moment.

What Li Yan and the others didn't know was that the arrangement of this "Marquis Sui Snake Pearl" was very particular.

It was to set up the Twenty-Eight Mansions formation with twenty-eight meteorites, drawing in the Qi of the entire Mangshan Earth Vein, and even involving the Central Dragon Vein, using the "Marquis Sui Snake Pearl" as the formation eye to transform into a firmament suppression.

For thousands of years, it was precisely because of this formation that it was difficult for the Six States' demonic army to escape.

And the "Marquis Sui Snake Pearl" was also not simple.

This object had already become spiritual. While suppressing this formation, it had been eroded by the Qi of the Dragon Vein for thousands of years and already had the appearance of turning into a dragon.

As the Six States' demonic army escaped, it actually began to suppress them actively.

White innate Gang Qi sprayed out from the treasure pearl, winding and circling in the air, reflecting the white light of the snake pearl, looking like a divine dragon in the clouds tossing up and down, colliding with the black mist of the demonic army surging from below.

The Qi of demonic disasters was a mutated innate Gang evil Qi.

And the "Marquis Sui Snake Pearl" had absorbed a large amount of the Shenzhou's Dragon Vein Qi.

Although it couldn't compare to the Nine Cauldrons, it was truly mysterious.

The collision of the two forces actually erupted with dazzling blood-colored light...

Rumbling!

Li Yan and the others retreated rapidly.

It wasn't until they left the area where the Northern Wei Jing Mausoleum was located that the earth cracking stopped.

Looking up, they saw that a large area of the hillside in front had already collapsed, covered with spider-web-like cracks.

This scene was truly shocking.

Everyone was speechless for a long time.

Li Yan also didn't expect that the collapse of the underground palace inside would cause such a disturbance.

"Inside..."

Long Yan'er had just prepared to ask when she widened her eyes in horror.

Seeing those cracks, a hundred-zhang blood glow suddenly rose.

At this time, it was only one day away from Qingming. Although it hadn't rained, the sky was covered with thick clouds.

Illuminated by the blood glow shooting out from the cracks, half of the sky was dyed blood-red...

…………

The impact of the underground palace collapse had been felt in many places.

Cuiyun Peak, Shangqing Palace.

This was the place where Laozi refined alchemy in the past, and it was also the first Taoist temple in the Shenzhou named "Palace."

During the Great Tang, it was still a royal Taoist temple, which could be said to have a profound foundation.

Inside the Taoist temple, there were red walls and green tiles, groups of pines and cypresses, and a huge alchemy furnace was slowly emitting blue smoke.

More than a dozen Taoists sat around the alchemy furnace, waving horsetail whisks, forming hand seals, and chanting incantations.

Perhaps because Laozi refined alchemy here, Shangqing Palace was also famous for alchemy.

They not only sold ordinary pills but also refined Mystic Sect true pills.

The path of seeking longevity through external alchemy, although it had already killed many emperors, still had people following in their footsteps.

These Taoists were accustomed to scheming, and the current situation in the imperial court made them see an opportunity again.

The current emperor of the Great Xuan Dynasty had been wise and martial since he was young, controlling the imperial court, and had done many great things, making the national strength of the Great Xuan Dynasty flourish day by day, and because of opening the sea, it ushered in an opportunity to go further.

However, the transformation of humanity had arrived, but the emperor was already old.

But the people with ability were most afraid of "unwillingness."

Unwilling to see a lifetime of hard work destroyed,

Unwilling to leave lonely when the stage was brilliant.

This was their opportunity.

Of course, the Taoists didn't think about refining those lead-mercury pills.

Just needing to prolong life and maintain Qi, blood, and energy was enough for them.

This furnace of pills collected many heavenly spirit treasures and had been refined for three months.

It only needed to reach the count of one hundred days to refine "Earth Marrow Powder."

This was a prescription passed down by "Monk Gong" back then.

They had finally gathered enough spirit materials with great difficulty.

Just then, the demon-suppressing copper bell hanging on the eaves of the palace suddenly rang without wind.

The little Taoist boy in the Three Pure Ones Hall widened his eyes, his face full of horror.

The "Capital Five Thunders Talisman" enshrined in front of the Laozi statue actually cracked suddenly!

This was passed down by Zhang Daoling back then and had always been the treasure of Shangqing Palace.

And the Taoists refining alchemy outside also had their hearts and minds shaken, all spitting blood from their mouths.

Another treasure of Shangqing Palace was this alchemy furnace.

Legend has it that it was also passed down by Laozi back then; although this was not the case, it was also a treasure furnace.

When refining pills, not only was the success rate high, but the effect was also astonishing.

And at this moment, the Taoists discovered in horror that this treasure furnace was actually humming and trembling.

Black water seeped from the hole walls, and a furnace of treasure pills was completely ruined.

"Who is it?!"

The white-bearded old Taoist leader stood up suddenly, his face full of exasperation.

Before he could find the reason, he saw the distant sky covered with blood light.

The old Taoist stiffened, quickly calculated with his fingers, and then muttered: "It's bad."

"Master, what is that?" The Taoist beside him asked hurriedly.

"That is 'Red Disaster'!"

The old Taoist gritted his teeth and said: "The 'Han Book: Five Elements Records' states: Red Disaster belongs to fire, presiding over weapons and blood epidemics."

"Something must have happened over there. Ring the bell, open the altar!"

……

Inside Luoyangcheng, Chenghuangmiao.

Clank, clank!

The clay sculpture of the judge in the temple suddenly had its lacquer skin peel off, and blood stains seeped from the cracks.

And the "Inspect Good and Evil" plaque in the main hall also fell rumblingly.

Whoosh~

Yin wind suddenly rose all around, and the paper money hidden on the rafters also fell like snowflakes.

The luck of Luoyangcheng was declining, the people's livelihood was withered, and the incense in the Chenghuangmiao was not prosperous.

Even so, there were quite a few commoners coming to the temple to offer incense.

They were all merchants from outside, because they couldn't go back to sweep the graves during the Qingming Festival, so they came to the Chenghuangmiao to offer incense, entrust their grief, and pray for the City God's blessing.

Seeing this eerie situation, the commoners in the temple were scared pale.

They couldn't figure out why the judge's statue would bleed?

And they couldn't figure out who would put paper money on the rafters of the Chenghuangmiao?

"Everyone, the Chenghuangmiao is closed, please leave first!"

A gloomy-faced monk and a Taoist temple keeper walked into the main hall together.

These merchants from outside traveled everywhere, each with more schemes than the last. Seeing that something was wrong, they lowered their heads and left.

Some didn't want to cause trouble and quickly rushed to the inn.

Others ran to the yamen to report to the officials.

Soon, the main hall became quiet.

The Taoist temple keeper looked at the paper money all over the floor, turned around suddenly, and said in a deep voice: "What's going on? Didn't you say that after Qingming, things would be settled? Why did you make this mess again?"

The gloomy-faced monk looked toward Mangshan, "Over there, I'm afraid something happened..."

The voice was strange and stiff; it was a monk from the East Ying.

"Hmph!"

The Taoist temple keeper sneered, picked up the paper money on the ground, "This method can only be used once. Tonight the City God will patrol as usual. Anyway, I have already done what you asked. After today, we will have no more dealings!"

"Hmm."

The monk nodded in agreement, but lowered his head, his eyes full of killing intent.

Just then, clamor came from outside the door.

The Taoist temple keeper hurriedly turned his head and immediately saw the blood color on the distant horizon.

He was first surprised, then a flash of fear crossed his eyes. He also calculated with his fingers and trembled: "This year's Qingming, 'Ziwei shifts,' the Mangshan blood glow rushes straight to the Ziwei enclosure. This is the omen of national destruction where 'Ghost attacks Ziwei.' What on earth are you doing?"

At this moment, a chill had already risen in his heart.

Luoyangcheng had a long history. Although the incense in the Chenghuangmiao was declining, the Sheling soldiers and horses raised were strong, attracting the Bai Masi and Shangqing Palace to fight for control.

Precisely because of this, as the temple keeper, he was able to eat well from both sides.

Before, the Luoyang paper doll case was because he was threatened, and the Sheling soldiers and horses could not operate normally, allowing the paper dolls to commit crimes in the middle of the night again and again.

Originally thought it was another drama of Buddhist-Taoist contention.

But now it seemed that it was far from that simple.

Pfft!

Just as he wanted to turn his head to ask, he suddenly felt pain in his chest.

The Taoist spat blood, looked down to check, and a Japanese sword had already pierced through his chest.

The monk behind him was full of gloom...

…………

Outside Luoyangcheng, Bai Masi.

This famous Zen temple also showed abnormalities.

In the cellar of the Sutra Pavilion in the temple, the sound of pottery jars shattering rang out constantly.

Clank, clank!

The "Pagoda Forest" where the bones of high monks of the Tang Dynasty were buried also tilted for no reason.

The monks swarmed out, looking at the scene before them, at a loss.

……

Inside the Longmen Inn, the people of the Heluo Horse Gang were discussing.

Coffins and paper dolls appearing at the ceremony of sacrificing to the River God was truly ominous.

So although they tried their best to suppress this matter, the business of the Chamber of Commerce was also affected.

"Shopkeeper, shopkeeper!"

Everyone was at their wits' end when they saw the inn's waiter rushing in like a madman.

"Xiao Wu, why are you so unruly?"

Seeing this, Pei Niangzi Pei immediately reprimanded him in a deep voice.

It looked strict, but in reality, she was protecting him.

After all, she was only the helmsman of the Heluo Chamber of Commerce, and there were indeed a few difficult ghosts among those present.

However, the waiter didn't pay any attention at all, pointing outside and saying urgently:

"On the water, something happened on the water again!"

Hearing this, everyone hurriedly went out to check.

Seeing on the Yihe, water bubbles kept bubbling up.

Many people had already gathered on the shore. They parted the crowd and were immediately shocked.

Seeing a sunken ship slowly floating up in the muddy water of the river.

This ship was ancient, the gaps were full of silt, and the ship was covered with withered bones, all bound by chains.

What was even more eerie was that the ship's body was spliced together from many wooden pieces.

The river water washed away the silt on the surface, but saw that on those wooden pieces, all were carved with the tomb of so-and-so.

The entire ship was actually built from tombstones and spirit tablets.

"This... what is this thing?"

Pei Niangzi Pei only felt the hair on her body stand up, and hurriedly asked.

However, everyone around shook their heads.

"This is a 'Soul-Collecting Ship'!"

Just then, an old voice rang out from the crowd.

Seeing a blind old man in green clothes, carrying an erhu, walking out of the crowd.

Pei Niangzi Pei's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly arched her hands: "Could it be Senior 'Earth-Listening String' Yue San'er?"

The person who came was precisely Yue San'er, one of the "Six Leisurely Ones of the Bamboo Forest."

After leaving Shu, he returned to Yuzhou.

This old man had quite a reputation among the Mystic Sect along the Yellow River, so he was recognized immediately.

"May I ask Senior, what kind of evil object is this 'Soul-Collecting Ship'?"

Yue San'er said in a deep voice: "This thing, I saw it when I helped people with ship burials when I was young. It was also pointed out by a senior, so I knew its origin."

"During the Northern Wei period, there was an outer-path evil sect called the Yin-Fu Sect, which was good at driving Yin soldiers. They imitated the Qin method of sinking jade to suppress water, sinking ships into whirlpools at the bottom of the river. One was to borrow water veins to raise evil, and the other was to collect the souls of the dead in battle, waking them up to charge the enemy formation during wartime."

"At that time, during the 'Heyin Incident,' Erzhu Rong slaughtered more than two thousand Northern Wei court officials at Heyin in Luoyang, and the river turned red. The Yin-Fu Sect took the opportunity to refine 'Soul-Collecting Ships,' which angered the public and were hunted down by the Northern Dynasty Mystic Sect, disappearing from then on."

"If it's a cloudy and rainy night, some people will occasionally see it, which is passed down among the folk as 'Ghost Ship Crossing the Border'."

"It must be a remnant from that time. Just burn it with peach wood arrows, and absolutely do not let it dock."

Saying this, he turned around and arched his hands: "The old man was invited by little friend Li Yan, but was delayed by some things on the way. Someone on the road said they had appeared at the Longmen Inn. Does Helmsman Pei know where they went..."

Before he finished speaking, clamor rang out around him again.

Seeing on the surface of the Yihe, bubbles were bubbling up, and the area of muddy slurry rolling was constantly expanding.

And those eerie "Soul-Collecting Ships" also floated up one after another.

Just when everyone was dumbfounded, the sky in the direction of Mangshan also turned blood-red.

Pei Niangzi Pei trembled: "Li Yan and the others are at Mangshan..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 640 =====