Chapter 756: Struggle for the Divine Position

"How dare you!"

"How dare you assault the Jade Emperor Temple!"

Hearing Shi Xuanming’s words, several elders wore expressions of furious anger.

As for Li Yan, he had no knowledge of this suddenly appearing earth immortal.

This was not surprising.

Shenzhou is vast, with extraordinary talents emerging endlessly; not everyone seeks to dominate the winds and clouds or thrust themselves into the limelight, especially among the Xuanmen, where the spirit of seclusion runs even deeper.

In mountains, rivers, and great marshes, countless sages lie hidden.

Some are solely devoted to cultivation but cannot take the crucial step forward, yet refuse to fall into the netherworld, so they choose to join the great Xuanmen sects, their identities concealed.

Just as in Wudang and Qingcheng, Li Yan had sensed their presence, but due to personal ties, the pact between living yin messengers and the Xuanmen, he pretended not to notice.

With the transformation of human affairs, even more earth immortals will surely stir.

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Li Yan’s mind.

He recalled that upon first entering Jingcheng, he had discovered someone secretly assassinating living yin messengers—but later, they vanished without a trace, never appearing again.

He had assumed it was connected to the "Peach Banquet," but now it seemed these were two separate cases, merely coincidentally overlapping.

The purpose of assassinating the living yin messengers was to remove these shackles from the earth immortals!

At that time, how many ambitious souls would emerge.

The name "Zhao Changsheng" surfaced again in his mind.

Li Yan had a premonition: this matter was surely tied to him!

As he pondered, the opposite side had already moved.

Seeing words were useless, Shi Xuanming ceased speaking, formed a hand seal with his left hand, and slammed his withered pine dragon staff into the ground with force—immediately, fierce winds howled and black mist churned.

The surrounding scenery blurred once more.

In the dimness, sounds of monstrous howls arose.

Then the ground turned icy cold, frost spread, and faint green glimmers rose, converging and twisting in the air—first taking the shapes of wild beasts, then transforming into human forms, lunging straight at the crowd outside the Jade Emperor Temple.

Mountain spirits—or rather, mountain gods!

Li Yan recognized them at a glance.

After certain beasts or spiritually potent animals died, they often clung to earth, wood, and stone; over time, local folk, influenced by illusions, offered incense and tied red cords to pray for safety.

Over time, they became local mountain gods.

Nowadays, nearly every region has legends of some tree or stone possessing great power.

These are mountain spirits.

In truth, they are not inherently harmful.

When people harbor good intentions and pray for blessings, they often drive away lonely ghosts and protect their land.

They are like simplified versions of temple statues, born of human belief.

But these ones were clearly controlled by Shi Xuanming.

"Form the formation!"

Though startled, Shou Mingzi and the other seven elders swiftly formed the Seven Mysteries Northern Dipper Formation.

Holding various ritual implements, they chanted incantations—the thick fog and the roaring mountain spirits were halted five meters away, unable to approach.

"Shi Xuanming!"

Shou Mingzi’s beard and hair bristled as he roared: "You too are protected by the Dharma Lineage—how dare you stir the earth’s yin poison, disturb this sacred mountain, and commit such heretical acts?!"

In the thick fog, Shi Xuanming’s figure flickered in and out of view.

A mocking laugh echoed: "Shou Mingzi, stop your noise. Mount Tai has always been our place of cultivation. You sects have occupied it for years, monopolizing its qi—when did you ever think to share it with wandering cultivators?"

Before he finished speaking, he thrust his withered pine dragon staff into the ground.

"Boom!"

The entire Jade Emperor Temple plaza—and even the ground farther away—shook violently.

Streams of dense, ink-like earth qi, radiating bone-chilling cold, burst forth like living tentacles from cracks, shrieking sharply, snatching up shattered rocks, and under some unseen force, coalescing into several towering earth-and-stone golems.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Heavy footsteps, surrounded by sinister deathly energy, charged toward the Jade Emperor Temple.

Damn, mountain golems!

Even Li Yan was startled.

This was a fusion of puppetry and earth-translocation techniques, similar to "scattering beans to create soldiers," but Li Yan had never seen anyone wield it so skillfully.

It required not only profound cultivation, but also mastery as a land master.

To dare attack the Jade Emperor Temple—this fellow truly had skill.

Li Yan’s realization: "This is not human power—it is the wrath of the mountain’s grief."

"Watch out!"

An elder clad in black robes, sensing danger, stepped in the Gangbu , swiftly formed a hand seal with his left hand, and with his right palm glowing with lightning, slammed it toward the charging earth golem.

With a thunderous crash, the earth golem shattered into rubble.

This palm-thunder technique was flawless, and the black robe marked him as likely from the Tai Mountain Thunder Academy.

Though the strike succeeded, the elder, old and weakened, was thrown back by the golem’s impact, spouting a jet of blood as he shouted: "All disciples, beware! This fiend is Shi Xuanming, our Tai Mountain earth immortal!"

"He specializes in the land master arts, excels in earth-translocation, and masters 'Examining Ghosts and Summoning Gods.' In his youth, seeking protection, he swore an oath to guard Tai Mountain’s earth veins in exchange for a future mountain god position! Now this madman, blinded by greed, seeks to steal the authority of the Lord of Tai Mountain!"

The old Daoist, enraged, exposed Shi Xuanming’s true origins outright.

At these words, all present disciples drew sharp breaths.

So this man was a Tai Mountain earth immortal—no wonder his methods were so strange; perhaps even their own native sects knew less about Tai Mountain’s earth veins than he did.

But what drew even greater attention was another phrase.

Stealing the authority of the Lord of Tai Mountain!

Who was the Lord of Tai Mountain?

In recent years, folk novels like "Investiture of the Gods" claimed Huang Feihu was the Great Emperor of the East.

In truth, this was false.

Since ancient times, Tai Mountain has been regarded as a passage between the netherworld and the mortal realm; the Han-era "Xiaojing Yuan Shen Qi" records the Lord of Tai Mountain, said to rotate every five hundred years: during Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin, it was Qin Yi and Jin Hongshi; during the Tang, it was Cui Ziyu.

Even after Buddhism and Daoism entered, it retained its place in netherworld belief.

This was a vital divine office of the Xuanmen—how could an earth immortal dare touch it?

Yet...

He had done exactly that!

Coupled with the recent strange disturbances on Tai Mountain...

Had the time for the Lord’s rotation arrived again?

But could such a thing be seized by force?

The disciples’ minds were filled with doubt, but they had no time to ponder.

They surrounded the elders, formed formations, and fiercely defended the Jade Emperor Temple.

After all, they were elite disciples of orthodox Xuanmen sects; they hurled thunder spells and talismans to exorcise evil, while martially skilled disciples with hidden strength combined forces—accompanied by a rustling sound, one earth golem after another was shattered.

Soon, the stone steps leading to the Jade Emperor Temple were littered with rubble.

Below, Shi Xuanming, upon hearing this, did not grow angry—he burst into wild laughter: "Hahahaha! Well said, Elder Wang!"

"But why don’t you tell us what you so-called orthodox sects truly are?!"

"The Lord’s seat lies vacant, yet your old masters have gathered here for seven days and nights, arguing endlessly—aren’t you trying to exploit the earth qi’s anomaly and the transformation of human affairs to jointly send prayers to Heaven, Earth, Humanity, and the Gods, forcing the divine title of 'Lord of Tai Mountain' onto your own sect’s ancestral founder?!"

"Don’t mock each other, black pig and crow!"

"Filthy wretch! Protecting Tai Mountain and bridging Heaven and Earth is the orthodox duty of the Xuanmen—how dare you twist it into evil?!"

Shou Mingzi, enraged, formed a hand seal; his dust whisk spun, and torrents of primordial heavenly Gangsha energy surged from the Jade Emperor Temple, gathering upon the whisk before sweeping toward the source of Shi Xuanming’s voice.

This strike—what secret art was it?