Chapter 756

Yan Shu looked at Ning Ning Qingchen, whose expression was gentle yet resolute, and could only nod, thinking: "Ning Ning Shimei appears mild, but inwardly she is unyielding and fiercely determined. Along this journey, I must watch over her closely. This time, Brother Qian Brother Qian Shidi has orchestrated repeatedly, dragging in every renowned sect from within and beyond the seas. Brother Qian Brother Qian Shidi's nature is playful, yet every move he makes carries profound intent…"

"The Way of Taiyin Refining the Form—I specifically consulted the Sect Master. It is an extremely perilous path to immortality from ancient times."

"The Yuan Shen Zhenxian stage is the most critical threshold for any cultivator, regarded as an impassable abyss. Yet with Brother Qian Brother Qian Shidi's talent and accumulation, he has prepared so many measures."

"He may already have foreseen something…"

"Though Brother Qian Brother Qian Shidi says nothing, I sense an immense danger in this matter—even he has little confidence. He showed me the setup of his own dissolution site and summoned me here; he must need me for something."

Yan Shu turned back and saw Brother Qian Chen gazing into the depths of Suppressing Gui Xu, his eyes half-lidded, lost in thought—his worry deepened.

He knew the worst scenario Brother Qian Chen had prepared for had likely already occurred.

"Sigh! I wonder how much help I can truly offer my younger brother. Ning Ning Shimei must have realized this too, which is why she insists on walking ahead…"

Ning Ning Qingchen carried Feng Shi on her back, yet felt a force tugging at her. She turned to see the green ox nudging its head toward her.

The green ox tugged at her sleeve, but Ning Ning Qingchen said: "Brother Qian Yan Shixiong seems unwell. Why don't you stay behind to guard him?"

The old ox spoke softly: "Do you think he invited me here for what reason?"

"That boy is fundamentally not human! Though I stand just a hair's breadth from a Yuan Shen Zhenxian True Immortal, that boy has long ceased to fear ordinary Yuan Shen Zhenxian beings—why would he need me? And now he is merely a fragment of thought, anchored to a divine treasure; why would he require care? Even if this fragment perishes, it harms him not at all."

"He brought me here mostly to protect you all."

Ning Ning Qingchen's expression turned grave: "So does that mean my brother may soon lose consciousness entirely, and you must guard us?"

The green ox glanced left and right, then whispered: "He sensed this long ago. He joked about it with me—over the past two and a half years, his true body has been plagued by ill omens, dazed and confused, rarely awake. Even this fragment of clear thought may slip into delusion at any moment."

"This fragment is anchored to the red lotus—that's a warning. I just looked: half the lotus has turned black. I fear…"

Ning Ning Qingchen murmured: "My brother's nature is kind. When we first met, he often carried compassion for all beings. Though his manner is playful, his laughter reveals integrity. Yet for some reason, a terrible demonic nature dwells within him, constantly seeking to devour him. That demonic nature is fearsome—just a trace can corrupt an entire age. The Yuan Shen Zhenxian trial strikes at the heart; there is no avoiding it…"

"Beneath his jesting, my brother suffers terribly!"

He inherited Supreme Louguan, the orthodox lineage of Tai Shang, one of the three true branches of the Daoist sects. He likely bears a colossal mission, with countless schemes behind him. When we first met in the Realm of Rebirth, all three Daoist Ancestors' legacies were still intact. Brother Qian Brother Qian Shidi was the sole surviving heir of Supreme Louguan, wiped out by enemies. How could such a coincidence exist? I must have stumbled in by accident, forging ties with them. Otherwise, how could it be that after that, no one else ever caught Brother Qian Brother Qian Shidi's eye? The three Daoist branches are of one breath and kinship!

"Brother Qian Brother Qian Shidi's nature is easy to get along with, yet his demonic isolation is extreme—arrogant, viewing all beings as ants. After his demonic nature surges, no one can ever enter his heart again."

"This Yuan Shen Zhenxian tribulation—his isolation is surely one aspect. If no one in the world cares for my brother, that demonic nature will devour him and sweep through all realms!"

"Yan Yan Shixiong and we all feel this!"

"Many times, Yan Yan Shixiong may not agree with Brother Qian Brother Qian Shidi's actions, yet we all know he is fighting something within that demonic nature. If we also distance ourselves, abandon him, the things he clings to may collapse entirely!"

The green ox sighed: "That demonic nature's origins are too vast—I dare not touch it. And between his true nature and that demonic force, who is the real self? Hard to say. But you three—whether by design or accident—have become among the few he acknowledges. This tribulation may hinge on that."

"Those behind the scenes—some want that demonic nature to emerge; others, I suspect, wish merely to delay it."

The old ox shook its head, refusing to speak further. Many things it had seen, Brother Qian Chen knew—indeed, Brother Qian Chen left many things unhidden, deliberately letting it know.

But the more it knew, the less it dared to look—so it pretended ignorance.

Yet now, clearly, Brother Qian Chen needs it—this pretense can no longer be maintained.

Ning Ning Qingchen smiled: "I don't care about all that. I only wish my brother remains safe."

"Gugugu…"

From the basket behind, Feng Shi stuck its head out, tilting its head, its clear eyes radiating a kind of foolishness.

One of Brother Qian Chen's thoughts lay idle within the lotus. At some point, the corner of his mouth curled slightly—his half-smile finally became a true smile.

The green ox lifted Ning Ning Qingchen. Yan Shu chuckled: "Little brother still favors you—he gave you a proper mount, yet left me to ride a dog."

Saying this, he mounted a white dog as large as a calf.

The three Daoist branches, in unison, used the five-colored soil to conjure canine spirits. Sun En's auspicious clouds rolled out dozens of cloud dogs, which rolled in the five-colored soil, quickly growing flesh and hair dyed white. Dan Gu Chenzi continuously molded clay pellets into his furnace; soon the furnace opened wide, spilling out dozens more white dogs.

The Shaoying elder stole one of Brother Qian Chen's white dogs—he had sent few disciples, while the other two Daoist branches had to spare some to give to the noble families of Southern Jin.

After all, many were graduates of Daoist academies, registered disciples of Yuan Shi Dao, with lingering ties of incense and devotion.

Yujing Mountain cut paper into dogs; Penglai relied on Xu Fu's transformative arts, shaping earth into dogs like the Daoist sects. The northern barbarian tribes, astonishingly, actually released a pack of puppies—descendants of a canine clan's demon king.

That demon king swore: "My ancestors truly had Panhu blood! As a pup, I was pure white—only later did my coat turn mottled!"

The Buddhist master Master Zhutanmo emitted a circle of Buddha light, chanted a mantra, and conjured hundreds of white dog spirit-wards—lifelike, radiating a aura of subduing demons and protecting the Dharma, forged by immense spiritual power.

The Northern Pole Great Radiance Palace, Guanghan Palace, and other scattered cultivation houses each had their own unique methods.

In an instant, over two hundred cultivators, each mounted on white dogs, lined up outside the muddy dog den and filed inward.

Yu Yu Lingxiao held the Mountain-Driving Whip, his face as if he'd eaten shit. Ling Gong of the Doushui Palace also grimaced, slumped on his dog's back. Yet Wang Longxiang, amid the chaotic shirking and embarrassment of the noble youths, remained calm and composed, embodying a spirit of neither rejoicing in gain nor grieving in loss.

All factions shared an unspoken agreement: no Yuan Shen Zhenxian True Immortals, no sect masters, were sent. Instead, the younger generation was left to rely on their own fortune, with at most one Yang Shen to guard and guide.

Yan Shu, having received Brother Qian Chen's hint, and Xiao Yu's trio, knowing they could not avoid this trial, followed beside him, guiding him through familiar paths.

"According to the customs of Yiqu, Xiongnu, Quan Rong, and Panhu, entering this cave carries little risk—but still, there are three barriers. The first is the five-colored robe. Without the Kong Sang five-colored robe, one may use the Xiongnu method: ritualize a five-colored robe with witchcraft to enter. But the Xiongnu and Yiqu possess ancestral witchcraft—if you don't know the secret, there's still danger."

"Without the five-colored robe, we cannot conceal our living essence, and will attract the various traps left by the Quan Rong."

"The white and black dogs are the means of passage—often accompanied by ten thousand dogs protecting and repelling misfortune."

"Lastly, can one restrain greed? The reason we three returned is likely because we didn't greedily seek too much, thus avoiding triggering too many Quan Rong traps."

Xiao Yu switched to mental transmission to Yan Shu: "Actually, I recognize part of those traps—they belong to the Ghost Epidemic category…"

"Ghosts?"

Yan Shu was startled, recalling the entities Brother Qian Chen had conjured when his demonic nature surfaced.

"Not ghosts—ghost epidemics. They are the myriad evils expelled by ancient witchcraft, later squeezed out by demonic sects, gradually vanishing."

"They are the eleven evils: Ghost Tiger, Epidemic, Phantom, Misfortune, Blame, Dream, Disembowel Death, Parasite, Observer, Giant, and Poison. Once they flooded all realms, then were subdued by witch deities, gradually retreating. Later, demonic sects flourished—celestial demons, yin demons, countless formless demons spread, leaving them no room to survive. That's why they quieted down!"

"I've heard of Poison—southern lands have a fearsome cultivation method. Is this just one of the eleven ghost epidemics?"

Yan Shu was deeply alarmed.

Xiao Yu grimaced: "I've stolen tombs of the divine dynasty—some contained these. Today's heretical sects, even those mastering potent left-path arts, merely command evil ghosts or refine terrifying specters. But the Ghost Tiger? It devours evil ghosts and enslaves them. The righteous become Mountain Lords; the wicked become Ghost Tigers. No matter how powerful an evil ghost, it is only fit to be devoured and enslaved by this thing."

"The Ghost Tiger is the demonic mountain deity; Epidemic is the source of all diseases, the ghost of plague."

"Phantom is a thing corrupted into a spirit; Misfortune brings great calamity upon sight; Blame has never been seen by anyone—yet in ancient times, Duke Zhou's Book of Changes opened with 'No Blame'; Dream is boundless and illusory; Disembowel Death is the evil aura of sacrifice, the wrath of divine leftovers; Parasitic things are terrifying beyond measure; as for Observer and Giant—no one in the Earth Immortal Realm even knows what they are anymore, let alone their nature!"

Xiao Yu shuddered as he spoke.

Even Yan Shu felt uneasy—but soon, he relaxed.

Yan Shu laughed: "These things can be driven by demons, subdued by witchcraft—do we, the Daoist sects who subdue demons and break witchcraft, fear the lingering remnants of witch and demon arts?"

Xiao Yu muttered: "Not necessarily. Daoist immortals may transcend, attain Yuan Shen Zhenxian immortality, wield vast powers—but those ancient entities differ utterly from today's laws. Their strangeness surpasses even now."

"Dao Jun and Emperor Lords may ignore them—but we, mere ants, if we encounter them? Who knows how terrible they might be?"

Yan Shu then spoke seriously: "You're right. The Tian Zhou dynasty, entrusted by Heaven to rule, was still shattered by the Quan Rong. Ancient witchcraft, inheriting the old heavenly aura, declined not because it was weak—but because it suffered heavenly retribution."

"Then, we have enough to protect ourselves. But many innocents are here—let's prepare a few methods to rescue them!"

Yan Shu, based on Xiao Yu's warnings, prepared nine sword techniques.

For the Ghost Tiger, the demonic mountain deity: prepare the Shaoying sword art to sever mountain spirits. For Epidemic, the source of all disease: prepare sword qi that cuts through all impurities at the root of primordial qi. Prepare one sword infused with Daoist divine talismans. Prepare one sword to sever one's own fortune. Prepare a heart-sword hidden in the mind-sea, to sever dreams and pierce illusions.

For Parasite and Poison: prepare sword threads refined to formless, subtle enough to pierce through pores…

After preparing all these, only Observer and Giant remained uncountered—since their origins were unknown. Yan Shu shook his head, sighing: "Indeed, the unknown is most terrifying. My younger brother never lied."

"Yet these two have lost even their names and forms across all realms—perhaps we won't encounter them on this journey."

Xiao Yu grimaced: "If you hadn't spoken of them, perhaps we wouldn't. But now that you've mentioned them, you'll likely meet them."

Yan Shu laughed: "Good things don't come true—bad things do. I spoke carelessly!"

After all preparations, the group entered the muddy den.

Everything unfolded as Xiao Yu had said: initially narrow, barely allowing one person to crawl atop a dog. After several miles, it gradually widened, revealing a deep gloom—but all around were walls of yellow earth, no stone in sight.

Yu Yu Lingxiao, seeing the sides now wide enough for several to walk side by side, summoned a clan disciple and ordered him to dig into the walls, clearing a path.

Those passing by saw his probing—some quickened their pace; others stopped to dissuade him.

A Buddhist monk from Northern Wei advised: "This place is no good. Why stir up trouble, noble sir?"

Yu Yu Lingxiao had received his father's orders: the deaths of his group meant nothing—what mattered was uncovering the truth of this place. He bore his father's techniques, implanted by ancestral elders from the upper realms, and feared nothing.

Several Yu clan disciples took turns digging. The yellow mud here was thick and heavy, and for some reason, any spiritual power applied was gradually nullified, as if sinking into glue.

Yet with brute force, they quickly dug a hole deep enough for one person.

The digging Yu disciple grew increasingly uneasy—the mud beneath his pick now felt like flesh and blood.

With one strike, he chipped out only a palm-sized chunk—and the yellow mud immediately writhed, healing half its wound. The more he dug, the more his heart raced—until suddenly, patches of foul blood seeped from the wall, gushing like water.

At once, the entire yellow mud den stirred, writhing like a living thing.

All cultivators ahead and behind cursed inwardly—but the paths forward and back twisted, as if they had crawled into the intestines of some monstrous being.

In an instant, the white dogs within the mud den barked wildly…

The spurting foul blood struck the ground and instantly rose as dark red mist.

The digging Yu disciple hastily summoned his white dog, which transformed into a golden-armored heavenly soldier, its golden light becoming a divine thunder that surged toward the blood mist.

But the golden light vanished into the mist—every thunderclap died. The mist closed inward, swallowing the heavenly soldier. As the mist churned, half a tattered talisman fluttered out.

Before the talisman touched the ground, its blood markings rapidly expanded.

The Yu disciple, seeing the true talisman approaching, had no time to raise his protective artifact—before he could react, the remaining talisman pierced his defense and stuck to his body.

As the blood markings spread across the talisman…

The Yu disciple screamed. In the blink of an eye, he was transformed into a streak of blood-light.

The blood-light lunged toward others—Yu Yu Lingxiao immediately raised his Mountain-Driving Whip. A whip-crack summoned an image of the Yellow Mountain, striking the blood-light like five great mountains crushing down—it shattered the blood-light.

But it immediately reformed, now one-third smaller.

"So it's alive…"

Yu Yu Lingxiao realized the blood-light was a conglomeration of countless tiny living things. Against ordinary magic treasures, it could disperse and reform, evading most attacks.

But his Mountain-Driving Whip was a relic from the immortal Qin dynasty—its spiritual light flawless, heavy and overwhelming. One strike felt like a mountain falling.

He flicked the whip—twelve segments of talismanic light flared within.

With one strike, the blood-light vanished, obliterated by the peerless spiritual radiance. But before Yu Yu Lingxiao could rejoice, dozens more streaks of blood-light oozed from the mud, surging toward the crowd.

Yu Yu Lingxiao's face turned pale; he whipped out three bursts of spiritual light from his Mountain-Driving Whip, repelling the blood glow.

But as a worm-like creature, red as blood and oozing pus, wriggled out from the churning yellow mud, Yu Yu Lingxiao immediately retracted his Mountain-Driving Whip and leapt onto the large dog beside him.

That thing was the Huaxue Strange Gu, ranked eighth among the Nineteen Fiendish Curses of the Universe, a monstrous entity forged by demonic arts from creatures dwelling in the Yu Jiuyou Blood Sea.

The Huaxue Strange Gu is not a single creature but a category of curses, an embodiment of the grotesque, hyper-prolific life forms of the Yu Jiuyou Blood Sea, rendered manifest through the art of Gu.

Its rank of eighth is merely because its lethality slightly lags behind the top seven Fiendish Curses.

Yet it is the symbol of the Blood Sea's ultimate vitality, born only when an entity of unimaginable life force rots away, transformed by the grotesque, indomitable corruption of that vitality—indestructible, unnervingly persistent.

Only a spiritual treasure of the Mountain-Driving Whip's caliber can erode it.

But Yu Yu Lingxiao is merely a Golden Core cultivator; even with the Mountain-Driving Whip, how many bursts of blood glow could he possibly erase?

Yu Yu Lingxiao had already been slow to retreat; the demonic creatures—half-demons, half-disciples—that the demonic sects had unleashed screamed and fled as demons the instant they saw the blood mist.

A few genuine demonic disciples had initially released their magic treasures, hoping to capture a trace of the mist to nourish within them.

But once the blood glow coalesced into wriggling worms, every demonic disciple activated their escape techniques, abandoning all hesitation.

The Yu family disciples, protected by white dogs formed from True Talismans and slowed by three bursts of the Mountain-Driving Whip's spiritual light, still had time to retreat—but the northern frontier beast tribes who entered last had barely time to curse before the blood glow clung to several massive, blood-rich beasts.

The beasts, each at least having formed their Core of Life, titans whose ferocity in Shenzhou would mark them as regional beast kings, fell silent and collapsed.

In moments, their fur and skin melted into foul blood.

A demon of the Blood Sea sect lamented: "Had my Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Ancient Shendao not yet reached minor completion, I'd have sacrificed every soul here to forge it! The Blood-Transforming Ancient Shendao is a killing art forged by the Demon Ancestor from the Blood Sea, specifically designed to counter the Huaxue Strange Poison. To temper it thus… to forge this demonic blade…"

"What a pity… what a pity…"

He knew he had not yet refined his Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Ancient Shendao to a level capable of countering this thing; he decisively shook his head and left, leaving behind the churning blood mist that now sealed off all escape.

The blood mist devoured the last few beasts, until the fox leader of the northern frontier beast tribes severed his own tail, transforming it into a sky-spanning emerald flame to temporarily suppress it.

The entire beast tribe, riding colossal skull mounts, charged furiously forward, heading to settle accounts with the Yu family!