Chapter 647: Breaking the Formation

"What happened?"

Sha Lifei heard this and became extremely anxious.

"This is a trap."

Elder Yin Jiuge endured the pain and said: "After entering Luoyang City, we already discovered something was wrong… To stabilize the formation eye, we could only act separately, and if we want to attack the Prince's Mansion, apart from Little Brother, no one else can do it."

"I thought that with Little Brother Yan's cultivation, no matter what formation it was, as long as he could destroy a little bit and force that Wang Xuanmo to reveal a trace of Qi, he could summon the Underworld's troops to help, so we played along with the ruse."

"But looking at it now, the opponent's formation is far from that simple…"

"Then how do we break the formation?"

Sha Lifei asked with eyes full of worry.

Elder Yin Jiuge shook his head and said: "The distance is too far, I can't see clearly. Someone needs to guard the formation here, while others protect me as I enter the main hall; perhaps we can find some…"

Rumbling!

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a thunderclap in the sky.

This thunder was exceptionally loud, deafening, and the lightning illuminated the world in an instant.

Everyone couldn't help but look up.

Only to see that in the sky, the celestial phenomena had changed drastically.

Originally, the sky was a deep red, and with the collision of the "Six Nations Demon Army" and the "Suihou Snake Pearl," it had completely turned into the color of blood, like a blood river hanging upside down; but now, a huge vortex had appeared.

Lei Guang flickered in the center of the vortex, and the clouds faintly formed the shape of a tripod.

"Oh no, the Yuzhou Tripod is about to be born!"

Elder Yin Jiuge saw this, and his expression changed drastically.

Just then, Wang Daoxuan also suddenly felt something and took out a compass from his bosom.

This compass was somewhat special; the bottom was a jade-like tortoise shell.

It was refined from the "Mystic Tortoise Shell" that Wang Daoxuan had obtained from the Dragon Palace Water Mansion.

At this moment, the needle on the compass was jumping rapidly.

It seemed to be spinning wildly, yet it seemed to contain a certain pattern.

"You have the 'Mystic Tortoise Shell'?"

Elder Yin Jiuge saw this and hurriedly said: "Quick, let me see."

Wang Daoxuan handed it over, somewhat puzzled: "Senior, this is the first time I have seen such a sign. Now that the earth Qi is chaotic, I fear we cannot see anything."

"You don't understand."

Elder Yin Jiuge didn't waste words, explaining directly: "The 'Mystic Tortoise Shell' was used for divination in ancient times. The compass refined from it doesn't just observe earth Qi; it can also be influenced by the stars, so it must be used with a special method."

As he spoke, he looked left and right, seeing a mirror that was still intact among the broken green lanterns beside the Eastern Island old monks, and hurriedly asked Sha Lifei to take it out, then used a cinnabar pen to quickly dot and connect lines on it, drawing a simple star map.

Sha Lifei turned his head to look at the Wang Gong, becoming even more anxious, "Senior, can this thing break the formation?"

Elder Yin Jiuge said in a deep voice: "I miscalculated one move. If that Wang Xuanmo wanted to set up a formation that could trap Little Brother Yan, in such a short time, he couldn't have done it in the Wang Gong main hall unless he borrowed the ancient formation of Mangshan."

"Formations from the Qin dynasty are different from today; most use star patterns for layout…"

While speaking, he had already drawn the star map and reflected it onto the compass.

By the candlelight, everyone looked carefully.

Only to see that the needle, which had been jumping wildly, became very regular in the mirror.

Every time it paused, it pointed to a star.

"I understand!"

Elder Yin Jiuge took another look at the Wang Gong and said in a deep voice: "This is the 'Eight Gates Life and Death Bureau'."

"Inside the Qianyang Hall, it is arranged according to the 'Rest, Life, Injury, Obstruction, View, Death, Surprise, Open' eight gates, corresponding to the False Underworld Twenty-Eight and the Luoyang Seven-Star Dragon-Locking Bureau. It is the Heavenly Canopy Snake-Transformation Grid; the Suihou Snake Pearl corresponds to the 'Heavenly Canopy Star' of the Qi Men, governing water-calamity and strange changes, concealing the Purple Forbidden Enclosure star position."

"If I'm not mistaken, that Ghost Emperor can manipulate the rotation of the 'Death Gate' and 'Surprise Gate', making the Injury Gate and View Gate cycle…"

Sha Lifei's head was spinning, "Senior, just tell us what will happen?"

"It will be like being worlds apart; although there is no worry for life, it will be difficult to escape."

Elder Yin Jiuge said in a deep voice: "The method to break the formation is also simple. This formation requires the Three Wonders and Six Rituals lock. Inside the East and West Liugong main halls, there must be formation eyes hidden. Destroy them, and the formation will break itself."

As he spoke, he looked up at the sky, his face full of sorrow, "Little Brother Yan's side is easy to talk about, but once the Yuzhou Tripod emerges, I fear the Central Plains will face a great calamity."

"Senior, rest assured, there should still be time."

Wang Daoxuan said in a deep voice: "The Shaolin high monks have brought the 'Bodhidharma Shadow Wall'."

"That is good!"

Elder Yin Jiuge's eyes lit up, "Quick, I will suppress this place; you go break the formation!"

…………

Mangshan, Northern Wei Imperial Mausoleum.

Since the collapse of the Qin Palace False Underworld, this place had already been in a mess.

The two forces collided, blood light filled the sky, causing the cracks to constantly expand, like a spider web on the earth.

Amidst the blood light, there were also Buddhist chants.

Even with the thunder roaring, it could not suppress them.

The Shaolin martial monk leader, Master Huiyuan, led the monks to form a formation, sitting cross-legged in different areas.

Looking down from high altitude, they formed a huge lotus flower.

All the monks were chanting scriptures cross-legged, simultaneously striking wooden fish.

"Namo Sadatada, Sugataye, Arahate, Samyaksambuddhaya…"

What they were chanting was the Buddhist "Shurangama Mantra," known as the King of Mantras.

Not only that, but eighteen martial monks held demon-subduing staffs, patrolling the perimeter.

The ends of the staffs were tied with horsehair, like writing brushes, dipped in the sinking water incense oil offered to the Buddha in Shaolin Temple, and as everyone patrolled left and right, they gradually drew a Nine-Rank Lotus Throne pattern on the ground.

With the sound of the "Shurangama Mantra," the oil marks on the ground ignited upon encountering calamity.

Green flames rolled, faintly forming a lotus pattern, enveloping this place.

This was the Buddhist evil-suppression ritual, burning incense to form a barrier.

Combined with the "Shurangama Mantra," even the most ferocious evil object could be suppressed.

And the facts were indeed so; the blood light remained intense, but the tremors of the ground decreased significantly.

Boom!

Just then, the thunder that Wang Daoxuan and the others saw also rang out accordingly.

The monks all spat blood simultaneously and fell to the ground.

The lotus pattern formed by the Buddhist incense also collapsed instantly.

Master Huiyuan looked up at the tripod-shaped strange clouds gradually appearing in the sky, his expression exceptionally solemn, "The Yuzhou Tripod is about to be born. Everyone, respectfully invite the Buddhist treasure!"

"Amitabha."

The monks struggled to stand up and chanted the Buddha's name in unison.

A huge bronze box was opened, and inside was a blue stone shadow wall.

It was over seven feet tall, its surface covered in depressions from a thousand years of wind erosion, faintly forming a blurry human shape.

This item was the Shaolin Temple's treasure of the sect, the Bodhidharma Shadow Wall.

This treasure was famous in the Mystic Sect.

Legend has it that Patriarch Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years in a cave on the Five-Breast Peak of Mount Song, and his figure was imprinted into the stone wall.

The stone wall was soaked in Zen intent, and successive high monks used Sanskrit carvings of the "Lankavatara Sutra" to patch it, gradually becoming a holy object for suppressing demons.

Originally a tool for Zen contemplation, it was secretly buried by martial monks during the Huichang persecution of Fomen in the Tang dynasty, avoiding the calamity.

The most famous instance was during the Yuanyou period of the Northern Song dynasty, when the Yellow River breached its banks, and the monks sank the shadow wall into the riverbed for three days.

Three days later, a dragon corpse floated up in the Yellow River, along with various large fish and turtles; they were burned with peach wood, and the foul-smelling smoke spread for a hundred miles, after which the Yellow River did not have any incidents for ten years.

On the side of the wall, one can still see the blurry inscription: "July 23rd, 4th year of Yuanyou, suppressed the river demon here."

Precisely because of this, Wang Daoxuan and Elder Yin Jiuge felt slightly relieved.

Only to see the shadow wall stone erected in the formation, and the monks once again set up the lotus formation.

As the monks chanted, Master Huiyuan struck the shadow wall with a sandalwood wooden fish mallet in a rhythmic manner.

Ripples visible to the naked eye spread out from the depressions on the wall surface, forcing the surging blood mist back into the cracks.

Subsequently, Master Huiyuan bit his fingertip and wrote four large characters on the back of the shadow wall:

Originally No Mind!

This was the four-character gatha from the story of the first wall-guarding monk, "Huike Severing His Arm," during the Taihe period of the Northern Wei dynasty.

It was also the secret mantra to fully activate the Buddhist treasure.

Only to see that the moment the fresh blood seeped into the stone patterns, a phantom of Patriarch Bodhidharma sitting in the lotus position appeared on the wall surface.

In an instant, the Qi of the shadow wall stone expanded continuously.

It was as if a high mountain was pressing down on this Northern Wei Imperial Mausoleum.

The originally trembling and bulging ground returned to being flat once more.

However, the earth Qi was constantly impacting it.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

As muffled sounds came from underground, dust also fell from the shadow wall stone.

"Master."

A monk beside him looked pained and said: "Below is the Yuzhou Tripod; I fear the Buddhist treasure cannot withstand it. If it is destroyed…"

Master Huiyuan looked at the blood characters he had written, put his hands together, and said in a deep voice: "Amitabha, originally no mind, originally also no object. If we can drag out a glimmer of survival, destroying it is also the karma of this treasure."

"This… where is there any glimmer of survival?"

The monk's face was full of bitterness.

Master Huiyuan glanced at him coldly,

"If we do not persist, how would we know where the glimmer of survival is?"

"Yes, Master."

That disciple immediately shrank his neck, sighing in his heart.

"What time is it, and he still has the heart to play Zen riddles…"

…………

And inside the Qianyang Hall, the battle had already subsided.

Li Yan held the Dust-Severing Blade, panting heavily, the surroundings filled with flying ash.

All the paper puppets and ghost ship yin soldiers that had swarmed into the main hall had been completely slaughtered by him.

It was equivalent to him alone annihilating an entire altar of troops.

If this battle record were spread, I fear it would cause a sensation again.

However, the thunder stored within the Soul-Hooking Lock had also been exhausted.

As Li Yan's shoulders heaved, crackling lightning flickered, and his figure returned to normal.

He looked upward, his eyes filled with murderous intent, yet he did not act rashly.

He had finally witnessed the power of a top-tier formation.

No matter what method he used, it was always difficult to get close.

The short distance was like being worlds apart.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Above the main hall, applause rang out.

The Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo slowly stood up, clapping his hands, shaking his head and laughing: "No wonder Zhao Changsheng ordered a pursuit; at such a young age, you have actually mastered this technique, but in the end, your cultivation is still a bit shallow."

"In the past, Zhang Daoling also had this technique, suppressing the ancient Qi of the Six Heavens on Crane-Cry Mountain, establishing the prestige of the Zhengyi Covenant. Although it borrowed the power of the Great Luo Dharma Artifact, at that time, it was truly supreme in heaven and earth."

"That prestige… tsk tsk, if you even had one percent of it, how would you be trapped by me?"

"It's a pity, the Dala Fajie will not allow such people to appear again…"

Li Yan didn't care to listen to his nonsense, turning his head to look at the surroundings, not missing any detail.

He knew that time was running out.

It was already past the hour of the Rat; if he didn't take down this formation as soon as possible, it would be difficult to stop the Yuzhou Tripod.

Boom!

Just then, the main hall suddenly shook.

Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo looked violently toward the direction of Mangshan, his face filled with uncontrollable ecstasy, "Hahaha, it's done!"

"The Yuzhou Tripod has been fished up; the 'Jianmu' millennium layout is used by me today. Once I take the precious tripod out to sea, from now on, in heaven and earth, let's see who can do anything to me!"

"In your dreams!"

Li Yan's heart sank, his tone even colder, "Go out to sea? You won't even be able to leave Luoyang!"

"Hehe."

Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo laughed dumbly, "Back then, the Northern Dynasty Mystic Sect also said that to me, but I am still alive, while they have already become a handful of dust, and not even their names are remembered by anyone."

"I am leaving; you play here by yourself…"

After speaking, he formed seals with both hands, and white paper talismans flew up from his body with a rustle.

Each one was filled with dense yin energy, restraining yin souls and fierce ghosts.

Inside the main hall, wild winds whistled instantly.

The paper talismans wrapped around trails of black smoke, enveloping him.

Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo's figure also grew fainter and fainter.

Five Ghosts Transporting Great Technique!

Li Yan felt his head grow large upon seeing this.

This technique, when practiced to a deep level, was even stronger than ordinary escape techniques, capable of traveling a hundred miles in an instant.

Back at the Chengdu Prince's Mansion, Hou Sheng had also used this technique, wanting to escape.

He didn't expect that this Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo would also know this move.

Once the opponent escaped, and he was trapped here, I fear no one on Mangshan could fight him.

And just then, Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan had already sneaked into the East and West Liugong.

Inside the palaces, there were dead bodies everywhere.

And in the center of the main hall, a coffin was placed.

All the dead bodies had their internal organs ripped out, and blood was constantly gathering toward the coffin.

Bang!

Sha Lifei didn't say a word, directly raising his Divine Fire Gun and pulling the trigger.

The power of the Divine Fire Gun could destroy even a bronze coffin, let alone this wooden one.

Only a boom was heard, and the coffin shattered in response.

Half a dead body rolled out from inside; judging by the clothing, it seemed to be a noble of the Six Nations, but it was already covered in long hair and had become a zombie.

After being hit into two sections by the Divine Fire Gun, the half-body was still trembling slightly.

Wild winds rose in the main hall, blowing so hard that Sha Lifei couldn't open his eyes.

And inside the Qianyang Hall, things had also changed.

Li Yan felt the Soul-Hooking Document in his bosom suddenly grow hot, and he was overjoyed.

He didn't know the reason, but how could he miss the opportunity?

"Heaven has records, Earth has laws, the Underworld detains souls, mortals keep away!"

Whoosh~

As the incantation was chanted, yin winds rose in the main hall, and it quickly plunged into darkness.

The sound of clanking chains appeared, accompanied by the sound of armor.

"Old brat, where are you running to?!"

Li Yan laughed, gripping the Dust-Severing Blade tightly.

The Underworld's troops would not be trapped by this formation.

The massive amount of Earth Yin Qi brought from the Netherworld was enough to crush the formation.

Moreover, the Underworld's yin soldiers had already locked onto him; even if the opponent used the Five Ghosts Transporting Technique to escape a hundred miles away, they would be captured.

"Seeking death!"

Sure enough, the Ghost Emperor was furious and stopped the technique.

But facing the darkness spreading rapidly, he was not panicked, instead taking a piece of silk from his bosom.

Li Yan's pupils constricted upon seeing this.

"Precious Proclamation of the Earth Official Pardoning Sins"!

This thing was a Great Luo Dharma Artifact; Lu Sheng had also used it, capable of making yin soldiers retreat.

Such a precious item, how could it be everywhere?!

Wang Xuanmo had let something slip just now.

Jianmu!

Could it be that these people were part of that organization?

Within the Great Luo Dala Fajie, who exactly was backing them?

Numerous thoughts flashed through Li Yan's mind.

Unable to wait, Li Yan formed seals again, and eight paper puppets whistled up, spinning around his body.

His Divine Transformation Method had more than just the Thunder God transformation.

By absorbing enough yin-calamity Qi and borrowing the blessing of the Eight Generals of the Outer Altar, he could transform into a Underworld God.

The massive amount of Earth Yin Qi brought by the Underworld's yin soldiers was just right to absorb.

Sure enough, as Wang Xuanmo offered the precious scroll, sounds rang out in the darkness.

"It's the 'Precious Proclamation of the Earth Official Pardoning Sins', retreat."

"My Lord… that living yin messenger is absorbing yin Qi."

"Don't bother."

On the other side, Wang Xuanmo saw the precious scroll had taken effect, the darkness dissipated, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Before he could react, a huge black human figure pressed down from above…

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 648 =====