Chapter 834: Four Heavenly Kings Guard a City

The gates of Huairen Town were already closed, but the gates themselves were crafted from dozens of ten-thousand-year-old ironwood logs, each as thick as a man could embrace, and were faintly branded with two Heavenly King door gods to suppress them.

These two door gods were protectors of the Buddhist faith.

Their bodies were filled with malevolent qi, skull prayer beads hung around their necks, they trampled fierce ghosts beneath their feet, and they were draped in demon skins; it was unknown how many fierce and vicious demon souls they had devoured!

Over the years, the Northern Frontier demon tribes had attacked the city countless times, and the massive black rocks of the outer walls were already shrouded in a faint layer of blood-red malevolent qi; the pure black rocks had been stained dark red, and the places where scriptures were inscribed were all left tattered and broken by the hacking of various weapons.

Not to mention that there was still a moat at the city gate, in which a group of Military School blood-malevolent mud crocodiles were kept.

These beasts were born with the ability to burrow through earth, fed daily on soil, and were raised using secret Military School beast-taming methods, specifically to guard against demon tribes born with the ability to burrow underground!

Added to the fact that there was a great array in the city suppressing it, and the city walls were crafted using secret methods of Military School war artefacts, such a majestic city, even a Yang Spirit master could not easily sneak into.

Tuoba Tao led his iron cavalry, staring at the city gate as it slowly opened—

The opening and closing of this war artefact was not simple; it abandoned convenient and fast seal methods and had to be controlled by mechanical winches.

But because of this, it was extremely sturdy; inside, it not only had the two door gods refined by the supernatural powers of Buddhist protectors, but also the Five Mountains True Form Map branded by the Daoist Sect, making it as heavy as a small mountain.

When defending, opening and closing it was certainly difficult, but it would be even harder for the enemy to prevent it from opening or closing.

In daily life, the Hu people liked to refine pillar-shaped artefacts, sending spies to deploy these artefacts when the city gates were about to close.

Whether it was a totem pole, or deer antlers, or a pagoda, they would wedge them against the city gate; such tactics were used in the struggles between the Northern Frontier Hu people, and were very convenient even when attacking the various kingdoms of the Western Regions and the vast seas.

But in the Central Lands, which had experienced the Warring States period, where the Military School flourished and the fighting to conquer cities and seize land was intense to the extreme, that was too amateurish!

A complete Military School city gate, when pressing down, could break ten thousand laws; even if supported by a magic treasure, it could not stop it from closing.

Defending against external attacks, it could even discharge ninety-nine percent of the power into the earth veins.

And the array of the entire city suppressed the earth veins; it would require a spirit treasure like the Immortal Qin Mountain-Driving Whip to disregard karma and evil consequences, and use the great supernatural power of shaking mountains and earth to shatter the earth veins and collapse the city.

Of course, with the defense system of dozens of cities involving massive investment like the Liuzhen defense line, even the Mountain-Driving Whip was a bit difficult to use!

One would have to drive a Zhou Heaven Star Ship to crush over it...

When the city gate finally rose, Tuoba Tao and a group of cavalry drove their mules slowly out of the city gate; hidden in the wall holes all around was a set of magic treasure-level Five Thunder Beads. If they dared to move recklessly without following the rules, the thousands of thunder beads stored inside would all explode together, refining them into flying ash in the gate passage.

The two door gods faintly manifested, their terrifying ghost bodies condensed from malevolent qi supporting the city gate above their heads, their eyes burning with blood flames as large as water vats, staring at them solemnly.

Not letting go of any corner.

"What happened?" Tuoba Tao looked at this scene of strict surveillance and turned his head to ask.

The partner beside him hurriedly said: "A groom in the city has gone missing! The Yin-Yang School in the army used the Six Ren divination to calculate, and this person's past actions were very suspicious; traces of the Demon Sect's Formless Yin Demon were discovered, and quite a bit of key intelligence in the city was stolen."

"It should be a demon lord of the Moon Demon Sect!"

"This disappearance might be him changing his skin again; the Six Ren Heaven Evolution Ball is still calculating the person he might have replaced, but according to the calculation, there is an eighty percent chance he wants to leave..."

"Such caution is necessary." Tuoba Tao nodded slightly: "I didn't expect there to be a demon lord who slipped through the net; the Moon Demon's painting skin is truly bizarre, even using the Demon-Breaking Mirror, one cannot peek into his tracks, and can only use the Six Ren Heaven Evolution Ball to slowly calculate every spider's thread and horse's track!"

"Is there anyone you suspect?"

He just asked curiously, but saw a hint of hesitation on his partner's face, so he smiled: "Why, are you afraid I've been skinned? Who can't you tell me..."

The partner gritted his teeth and whispered: "The monk you brought back!"

"The Six Ren Heaven Evolution Ball calculation has great suspicion, but the Old Lady won't let anyone investigate... saying she is protecting this person, and he absolutely cannot be a Demon Sect spy!"

Tuoba Tao's expression was very colorful; he immediately turned his horse's head and shouted: "Go back, go back, bring him along too, otherwise I won't be at ease..."

The partner hurriedly grabbed the mule he was riding and said: "The inspection entering and leaving the city is strict, and military orders are like fire; we cannot delay! Come back, we'll teach this restless monk a lesson after we return!"

The two door gods' eyes were even more suspicious; they turned over and stared fiercely at the two of them, the water-vat-sized gazes and the dense blood-malevolent and netherworld qi on their bodies couldn't help but put pressure on the two of them.

The door gods were nearly thirty zhang tall, so even in the towering city gate passage, they had to bend slightly and half-squat to lower their heads.

The "Jin Gang Samadhi Amala Sutra" inscribed on the entire city transformed into two magic treasures blessed in their hands; one was a treasure umbrella inscribed with countless scriptures, which could be unfurled under the presiding of this protector Heavenly King, covering the entire city to resist attacks from above.

The other protector Heavenly King held a pipa in his hand, which, when played, specifically attacked people's souls; the pipa sound flew out, causing the demons and fierce ghosts in front to have their souls scattered.

But no one could notice that another scroll of Buddhist scripture also faintly condensed the power of the immeasurable scriptures on the city wall, transforming into two faint protector Heavenly Kings, only they were still gestating in the dark side of the city.

One held a sword, and the other held a Heavenly Dragon!

The four Guardian Heavenly Kings command the four city walls, but that scroll of the "Future Star Sutra" is not limited to this alone.

It even used the four great protector Heavenly Kings as the guardians of the east, west, south, and north; in the center of the city, the merit and karma of countless true people, the infinite wish power scattered over the years, and even the Buddhist thought power of the entire Northern Frontier were faintly gathering toward here, transforming into a divine mountain that was still illusory.

On this Mount Sumeru, there was also a Buddha, condensing as a trace of the Other Shore Dao Fruit fell.

This Buddha was manifested from the wish power of the entire Northern land that did not want the Liuzhen to be destroyed, together with the Jin Gang Indestructible Heart that protected all living beings and delivered everything to the Other Shore.

The two door gods, who had already transformed toward protector Diamonds, scanned a few times, and acted as if they didn't see the one among the flags they were carrying that had the strangest texture, resembling human skin, and turned a deaf ear to the scriptures faintly chanted in the Nine Nether Demon Language from the flag.

Tuoba Tao naturally didn't know that the two door gods were letting them off, but watched as they 'diligently' inspected everything.

Only then did they let them leave!

As soon as they left the city gate, Yuwen Heita beside him faintly felt that something was wrong.

Although he had returned the Wild Goose Cry Treasure Bow to Tuoba Tao, the Bodhi Heart Ring was temporarily borrowed by him under a pretext.

It was mainly because the 'Soldier' character seal commanded all divine weapons, and the move of planting the god from 'myself' into the divine weapons was too terrifying.

It was equivalent to any divine weapon being able to exert twelve times the power in Heita's hands.

This expedition, the most important thing was for the general to watch in six directions and listen in eight, if they couldn't exert mobility and were surrounded and killed by the demon army, then even the best tactical planning would come to nothing.

Therefore, he could only bestow the magic treasure to exert the advantage of Yuwen Heita's archery.

As soon as the group left the city gate, they surrounded Tuoba Tao and formed the Wind-Raising Array; suddenly, the heaven and earth origin qi transformed into rolling wind power, supporting them, and the malevolent qi of the group flowed within the array, instantly increasing their speed tenfold, galloping on the road.

During this period, Yuwen Heita, who was sitting in the position of deputy general, could also transmit his own spiritual sense perception to the main general Tuoba Tao, and all the hesitation in his heart was reflected in Tuoba Tao's eyes.

But Tuoba Tao held back and didn't release it, until the killing intent perceived in the dark became heavier and heavier, and finally the Bodhi Heart Eye locked onto the source of that faint killing intent.

It was the Cloud-Drooping Military Flag that formed the array on the right side above their heads.

Tuoba Tao immediately scooped up the Wild Goose Bow from the bag at his side, bending the bow and nocking the arrow in an instant.

As the Wind-Raising Array changed into the Snake-Coiling Array, the flag surface lost the wind power and slowly fell.

The arrow only transformed into a stream of light and shot into the military flag, but saw a strange cackling laughter coming from the military flag; the falling banner rolled up and entangled the arrow, and a hand stretched out from the banner, grabbing the arrow in its hand.

Then the flag surface transformed into a black skin bag and flew out from the flagpole.

"All soldiers, follow me and release arrows!" Tuoba Tao ordered.

The Military School cultivators acted in an instant, and arrows flew up like rain; under Tuoba Tao's guidance, they shot a malevolent qi arrow comparable to a supernatural power toward the flying banner.

"Good eyesight."

Qian Chen was deliberately hit by that malevolent qi arrow, and by shedding a layer of human skin, he neutralized the arrow, cackling and laughing: "To think you could see through my Moon Demon Sect's Painting Skin Great Method, but I am only a small pawn of the Demon Sect, and I could enter and leave the city as if it were an empty place. If my Sect Master were to take action, hehe, I'm afraid one day your generals, the guarding cultivators in the city, and such big figures would be replaced silently, and you wouldn't even know!"

"Destined to die without knowing why..."

The skin bag he flew up rolled up, transformed into a flag, and disappeared from everyone's eyes in an instant.

For a time, this team of cavalry felt more and more depressed; they carried heavy responsibilities, but were infiltrated by the Moon Demon as soon as they set off, and only discovered it now; now that the Moon Demon had escaped, their future became more and more gloomy and unclear.

Heita rode his horse and galloped out, picking up the skin bag Qian Chen had left behind and presenting it.

Touching the greasy human skin and looking at the face on the human skin, Tuoba Tao said with a solemn expression: "It really is that groom! The Painting Skin Demon Lord's method of escape is that one skin is one life. Now it can be considered that we have shot and killed one of his lives..."

Although he said this, Tuoba Tao and the several deputy generals and officers who knew the truth didn't have good expressions.

It was just a mere human skin, which was not a very big price for the Moon Demon.

Qian Chen didn't go to Wuchuan with them, but detoured halfway to the Yinshan Road; the skin bag was like a black cloth floating in the air, heading toward that dark, mountain range that seemed to cut off the world of the living. ===== CHAPTER 835 =====