Chapter 121: Wh–What Kind of Joke Is This?! Grandmaster, What Are You Doing?!

Lu Yuan's roar carried a desperate, resolute will as it poured into the cold ancestral tablet in his hand!

That wisp of meager yet pure spiritual substance became the only spark to ignite the divine nature.

Hum!

The spirit tablet came alive.

The simple, unadorned ebony wood tablet with its sunken characters filled with gold leaf:

[The Position of Zhang Jiuting, True Man of Nine Heavens Responding to Primordial Principles and Upholding Laws, Thunder-Wielding Celestial Master, Dispelling Illusions Golden Thunder].

In Lu Yuan's hands, it suddenly erupted with a gentle, ancient, yet vast as a sea of stars presence!

It was as if a deity who had slumbered for a hundred or a thousand years had, at this moment, had its eyelids lightly stirred by the call of its closest bloodline.

"Hmm...."

Where the sound wave reached, the omnipresent temptation of the "Deity of Beauty" instantly disintegrated and dissipated.

Shen Shulan and the other three, who had fallen into infatuation, felt their souls violently shake and abruptly jolted awake!

They looked around blankly, their eyes clearing from foolishness, completely unable to remember what had just happened.

Immediately after, the dull gold lacquer within the grooves of the sunken characters on the tablet began to glow bit by bit.

It wasn't lightning, nor was it flame.

It was a kind of gentle, pale golden light, initially like the dawn, then becoming as warm and lustrous as ancient jade.

The light was at first confined to the tablet itself.

But it rapidly spread, rising...

Then, in the void three feet in front of Lu Yuan, the light began to weave and coalesce on its own.

It wasn't sketching a human form from bottom to top, but rather as if a giant invisible brush, dipped in this gentle golden light, had casually swept a few strokes across the canvas of heaven and earth.

First, a corner of bluish-gray robe appeared, fluttering without wind, slightly lifting to reveal the slightly worn yet spotless white undergarment beneath.

Then came a pair of cloth shoes stepping emptily in the air, with layered soles and black cloth uppers, simple and unadorned, yet firmly fixed three inches off the ground, as if supported by mountains and rivers beneath.

Only then did the body's outline appear.

Lean, tall, standing with hands clasped behind the back.

Three strands of frost-white long beard hung down naturally, gently swaying with an intangible rhythm.

The face was hidden behind the light and a faint, hazy mist that seemed condensed from the dust of passing moons, indistinct and unclear.

Only the positions of the eyes vaguely revealed two gentle, peaceful, yet profound as ancient well gazes.

There were no specific facial features, no realistic skin textures, only a conceptual "existence" formed from light, intent, and essence.

A wisp of the Founding Patriarch, Zhang Jiuting's, descending divine consciousness manifested here.

The omnipresent, soul-striking divine pressure and temptation of "beauty" from the "Deity of Beauty", upon touching the area enveloped by this gentle golden light, vanished without a trace like snow meeting boiling water.

The last trace of confusion on the faces of Xu Erxiao and the other three seemed to be completely washed away by a clear spring directly purging their minds.

The four of them stared blankly at the sudden appearance of the golden light figure high in the air.

Even Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an were the same.

Although they were disciples of Zhenlong Temple, they had never seen the Patriarch's dharma form either.

After all, even Lu Yuan was seeing it for the first time.

However, upon seeing Lu Yuan holding the Patriarch's tablet that was emitting golden light, they understood something immediately.

Their knees went weak, and they knelt directly on the ground, their voices trembling as they shouted hoarsely:

"We respectfully welcome the Patriarch!!"

Lu Yuan stared at the illusory golden light figure before him, not yet having time to be shocked.

Another sudden change occurred!

Behind Zhang Jiuting, in the night sky, one after another, clusters of golden light figures appeared in succession!

One, ten, a hundred...

Densely packed, countless!

Countless golden light figures identical to Zhang Jiuting, also standing with hands clasped behind their backs, formed a solemn and majestic array, standing silently behind Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan: "?????"

Who the hell are these??

Golden light figures formed ranks, standing silently under the moonlight.

Looking down from a commanding height, they scrutinized the "Deity of Beauty".

And even more so, they scrutinized Lu Yuan.

...

Fengtian City, Beihua Tower, Tianlong Temple courtyard.

Celestial Master He Xun, who had been sitting cross-legged in cultivation, suddenly opened his eyes, his expression drastically changing. He rushed out of the room in one step, staring dumbfounded at the sky in the direction of Luo Yan Slope.

When he saw the half of the sky completely saturated with golden light, Celestial Master He Xun couldn't help but curse loudly:

"Holy shit!!!"

......

Qixia Mountain, Zhenlong Temple, bamboo forest behind the mountain.

The old man, reeking of alcohol, slowly woke up, looking dazedly towards the horizon.

The next moment, his turbid eyes suddenly contracted, startling him into a jolt.

"!!!!"

"H-how... how did they all come down!!"

The old man sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, his voice trembling.

"In my day... in my day, I didn't manage to invite them all down either!!"

...

Fengtian City, Beihua Tower, Wuqing Temple courtyard.

Shen Jizhou and his junior brother Zhang Fuhai were also staring blankly at that patch of night sky dyed through with golden light.

Not just them.

At this moment, within the entire Fengtian City area, anyone who wasn't asleep was looking in the same direction.

That originally pitch-black midnight sky was now completely suffused with golden light.

"Hiss...."

Zhang Fuhai sucked in a cold breath through his teeth, his expression dazed.

"This scene... reminds me of thirty-three years ago..."

"Tianmu Mountain... that time with He..."

Shen Jizhou looked at the breathtakingly spectacular sight on the horizon, the corner of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.

He fell silent for a long moment.

"Just a Nurturing Malevolence Site..."

"Even if something extraordinary emerged..."

"It shouldn't... warrant them all coming down, right?"

"This lineage of theirs... really does treat this Lu Yuan like a precious treasure to be doted on..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fuhai gave a somewhat helpless, lopsided smile:

"No wonder, after all, he's a nineteen-year-old orthodox Celestial Master."

"Not to mention, last time when Zhao Bing from Biyu Temple desecrated Zhang Jiuting's spirit tablet, this kid dared to chop him down on the spot without a second word..."

"This temper probably suits the taste of that hot-tempered lineage perfectly."

"No wonder they'd treat him like a treasure..."

Shen Jizhou stood with his hands behind his back, watching for a while longer in the courtyard, and finally said nothing more, turning to walk back into the house.

"Get some rest early, we still have to prepare for the Celestial Master Grand Ceremony tomorrow."

Zhang Fuhai stood frozen in place, looking at the golden light on the distant horizon, then at his senior brother's back, and couldn't help but remind him:

"Senior brother, Shulan is still with that Lu Yuan!"

Hearing this, Shen Jizhou's footsteps paused slightly. He then turned his head and looked at Zhang Fuhai with an expression like he was looking at an idiot:

"Are you sick?"

"Zhang Jiuting himself has descended, what else could possibly happen?"

"No matter what they've run into, if Zhang Jiuting doesn't beat the shit out of the other side, it'll only be because the other side shat cleanly beforehand."

"Worrying about nothing!"

With that, Shen Jizhou, hands behind his back, went straight into the house.

Zhang Fuhai: "......"

"... Right."

......

Luo Yan Slope.

Zhang Jiuting's light figure hadn't even "looked" at the Deity of Beauty high in the air.

He merely slightly raised his head and glanced at the moon distorted by the Deity of Beauty's power.

"Whoosh—"

An intangible sound, as if the sky itself was being cleansed by clear water, rolled through everyone's hearts.

The Deity of Beauty's surrounding viscous, honey-like moonlight divine domain, which gathered myriad wondrous scenes, suddenly became clear and pure.

The distorted light and shadows restored, the sticky luminous fluid dissipated.

Transforming back into ordinary, clear, cold, and bright moonlight, evenly sprinkling upon the earth.

The starry mist cloud woven with care beneath her feet, blooming with glazed lotus flowers, at this moment seemed to encounter dew under the scorching sun.

It evaporated completely, silently and without a trace.

Leaving behind only an empty stretch of night sky.

The Deity of Beauty hovered barefoot, having lost all support.

In her starry sky-like eyes, true fluctuation appeared for the first time.

Not anger.

Nor fear.

But a kind of almost bewildered instinctive tremor.

The flawless skin on her body, flowing with seven-colored glaze light.

Now seemed like the surface of porcelain brushed by an intangible cold wind.

Instantly dulled.

She lost all her divine, magnificent brilliance.

Leaving only a stiff, cold paleness belonging to the "object" itself.

She tried to maintain her "divine posture".

Tried to reassemble those rules of "beauty".

But behind Zhang Jiuting, the densely packed, arrayed light figures of successive generations of Patriarchs.

At this moment, simultaneously made an extremely subtle movement.

They did not attack.

They did not cast spells.

They just... sighed in unison.

No sound.

But a collective will as vast as the sea, as heavy as a mountain, spanning long ages.

Like an intangible celestial curtain, slowly pressed down.

This will was not aimed at any individual.

It was aimed at the entire Luo Yan Slope.

This land "defiled by malevolent methods, soaked in resentment".

It was to carry out a most fundamental correction of deviation and restoration of order.

"Nine Heavens Respond to Primordials, All Evil Retreats."

"The True Man Upholding Laws, His Dharma Eye Pierces Like a Torch."

"The Thunder-Wielding Celestial Master, Purges Demonic Influences."

"The Illusion-Breaking Golden Thunder, Returns You to Your True Nature."

In the unseen realm, it seemed as if countless aged and majestic voices were simultaneously chanting.

Or perhaps it was merely the power of the laws inherent to his divine titles and positions, carried within Zhang Jiuting's divine consciousness, operating on its own.

As this will descended—

"Crack... crack crack..."

Fine, dense cracks began to appear on the Deity of Beauty's flawless body surface.

It wasn't caused by external force.

But from within her body itself.

From the countless fused segments of resentful souls that constituted her divinity.

From the soul imprints of the six Beidou Temple disciples she had just absorbed.

Spontaneously, uncontrollably disintegrating.

From the cracks, there was no blood.

No light.

Only streams of gray-black, sticky, glue-like resentment.

Like boiling pus, struggling, wailing.

Seeping out thread by thread from the fissures, dispersing.

Once these resentful energies left her body.

Exposed within the "Law Pure Land" enveloped by Zhang Jiuting and the countless Patriarch light figures.

They immediately made a "sizzle" sound.

Transformed into azure smoke.

Then were purified by an intangible force, dissipated, returned to heaven and earth.

The "Deity of Beauty" made a sound.

Not the ethereal, pleasant, soul-penetrating words of power from before.

But an excruciatingly painful shriek!

She tried to raise her arm.

Tried to make a final struggle.

But her arm, having risen only an inch.

Stiffened in mid-air.

Because Zhang Jiuting's light figure finally turned his gaze and landed it upon her.

Just a gaze.

No killing intent.

No contempt.

Not even the focus of "looking at" an opponent.

That gaze was gentle and peaceful, profound as an ancient well.

As if merely looking at an object... placed in the wrong position.

Looking at a wisp of dust... that shouldn't appear in this place.

But the moment this gaze touched her—

"BOOM!!!"

The Deity of Beauty's entire body, from the inside out, suddenly erupted with a blindingly pure golden light!

That wasn't her own power.

It was the evil-dispelling true intent belonging to the "Illusion-Breaking Golden Thunder" divine position contained within Zhang Jiuting's gaze.

Ignited and erupted within her!

The golden light was like countless tiny, sharp golden blades.

Shooting out from every crack in her body.

Disassembling, peeling, shattering her perfect porcelain body from the inside out.

Inch by inch!

Victory... was decided!!

Lu Yuan was not at all surprised by this scene where the "Perfect Deity" was as insignificant as an ant before the Patriarch.

For this vast, boundless land beyond the Great Wall.

There were still too few Celestial Masters within the Daoist tradition.

Among them, the top-tier combat power of the Daoist tradition, if one didn't count those "Celestial Masters" who only represented a title.

Was merely over two hundred Celestial Masters and nine Grand Celestial Masters!

Distributed across the entire vast, boundless Four Provinces beyond the Great Wall, this number could be said to be pitifully small.

How could these two hundred plus people suppress all the evil entities across the entire region beyond the Great Wall?

After all, evil entities, unlike humans, didn't need to cultivate slowly.

Even the most talented Daoist priests, not counting Lu Yuan, a transmigrator with a system.

Would be his own old man, and Shen Shulan beside him.

And that was merely a twenty-six-year-old Celestial Master and a twenty-seven-year-old Celestial Master.

How could that compare to evil entities that, enhanced and nourished by various malevolent methods for over a decade, or even just a few years, could reach such a level?

Moreover, humans had lifespans.

A human life was merely a short hundred years.

While evil entities could accumulate cultivation, for decades, centuries, even millennia.

Comparing this way, it seemed humans could never triumph over evil entities.

But in reality, humans still lived peacefully on this land.

The reason, of course, was that although humans couldn't live for centuries.

Human inheritance, beliefs, could be passed down for centuries, millennia, tens of thousands of years!

These local "spirits" and "thoughts" became the most fundamental kindling.

And the diverse yet profound "principles" concerning medicine, ritual measurements, thunder techniques, lamp ceremonies, well sacrifices, astrology, etc., passed down through millennia of Daoist tradition.

Served as the "spark" atop the kindling.

The ancient Daoist wisdom of this land and its people was, in the gentlest yet most inexorable way, sorting, guiding, and transforming all evil filth here.

Humans would, of course, die; even those who cultivated to become Grand Celestial Masters would die.

But though their physical bodies perished, they left countless legacies for later generations.

Not merely spells and techniques, but a possibility for a "legal principle" to take root and continue in this place.

This was inheritance!

Mortals' lives were short, the Daoist tradition eternal.

Incense offerings were the kindling, wisdom the flame.

Illuminating and correcting every dangerous path trodden by later generations.

To put it in simple, straightforward vernacular...

Your ancestors would protect you!

Lu Yuan looked at the "Deity of Beauty" that was about to be shattered, thinking this matter ended here.

However—

Just as those countless golden blades were about to completely grind the Deity of Beauty's porcelain divine body into nothingness.

Time seemed to be gently dialed back one notch by an invisible hand.

Not true time reversal.

But the erupting golden light containing the "dispelling illusions" true intent.

Its destructive process was forcibly halted, reversed.

Billions of fragmented golden blades did not dissipate.

They abruptly suspended in mid-air.

Then, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, at a speed faster than when they erupted.

They recoiled back.

Re-submerging into the Deity of Beauty's crack-covered body!

The golden light flowing back not only didn't continue the destruction.

Instead, it acted like the most exquisite adhesive.

Or like the spiritual liquid used for quenching when forging divine weapons.

Smoothing and sealing each of those hideous cracks on her body surface, one by one.

Then...

The "Deity of Beauty" actually recovered to her original state!

Lu Yuan: "?????"

Everyone: "?????"

Huh?!

What does this mean?!

Not killing her?!

And at this moment, the "Deity of Beauty" who had slumped weakly to the ground, lightly parted her red lips.

Then, a crimson-black pearl suddenly appeared within her mouth.

This...

What the hell is this??

Lu Yuan stared blankly, completely not understanding.

But Tan Jiji, who had collapsed sitting nearby, seeing this scene before him, was utterly shocked.

He whispered in a lost voice:

"This... this is a Malevolent Seed!!!"

Huh??

Lu Yuan immediately turned to look at Tan Jiji, his face full of question marks:

"Ma... Malevolent Seed?"

"What the hell is that??"

Tan Jiji turned his head back, looking at Lu Yuan with immense bewilderment,

"It's the thing the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family uses to control Malevolent Deities!!"

"Once a Malevolent Deity is successfully refined, no matter how strong it is, as long as the Malevolent Seed exists, the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family can control it!"

Lu Yuan blinked somewhat dazedly.

For a moment, Lu Yuan recalled the incident with the Life-Severing Wang Family.

Back then, because the Book of Malevolent Spirits was destroyed by Yellow Braised Chicken, that twenty-star malevolent spirit didn't obey the hunchbacked old man.

It was precisely because of this that Lu Yuan managed to keep his life.

Presumably, the relationship between this Malevolent Seed and the Malevolent Deity...

Should be similar to the relationship between the Book of Malevolent Spirits and malevolent spirits.

Come to think of it, since the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family nurtured Malevolent Deities, they must have raised them to obey their commands.

Otherwise, what would be the point?

And this so-called Malevolent Seed must be the unique family ritual method of the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family, as one of the Ten Families!

Before Lu Yuan could ponder further, Tan Jiji, looking as if he'd seen a ghost, stared at the scene before him and muttered:

"But... but how can they forcibly strip the Malevolent Seed from the Malevolent Deity's body..."

"Normally... the Malevolent Seed and the Malevolent Deity are one entity..."

"It's completely impossible to separate..."

"... This... this makes no sense..."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan blinked.

It seemed the binding relationship between the Malevolent Seed and the Malevolent Deity was stronger than that between the Book of Malevolent Spirits and malevolent spirits.

As for Tan Jiji saying things like makes sense, doesn't make sense...

Lu Yuan didn't take it seriously at all.

Nonsense, talking about reason in this world...

Right now, Lu Yuan was just puzzled why the Patriarch didn't directly kill the "Deity of Beauty", but instead extracted the Malevolent Seed from within her...

The next second, before Lu Yuan could think more.

Crack!!!

A crisp sound!

Then that black Malevolent Seed instantly shattered!!

Immediately after, the shattered Malevolent Seed directly weathered, emitting black smoke.

Once this black smoke was exposed within the "Law Pure Land" constructed by the Patriarch and the countless successive generations of Patriarchs.

It immediately transformed into azure smoke.

Was completely purified, dissipated, returned to heaven and earth.

The night sky was clear as if washed.

On Luo Yan Slope, all was silent.

Only the pale golden light on the ebony wood tablet in Lu Yuan's hand was slowly withdrawing, dimming.

The Patriarch's light figure.

And the densely packed light figures of successive generations of Patriarchs behind him.

As if having completed their mission, began to fade away silently and without a trace.

They left behind no words or thoughts.

Just as abruptly, magnificently, and unquestionably as they had come.

They simply, quietly, one after another.

Transformed into dissipating specks of golden light dust.

Merging into the moonlight, returning to nothingness.

Lu Yuan looked at the "Deity of Beauty" slumped weakly on the distant ground.

Then looked up at the gradually dispersing successive generations of Patriarchs high in the sky.

Lu Yuan: "?????"

No way...

You're leaving already?!!!

This... this isn't... right!!!

You're not finished yet, are you??!!

How... how can you just leave like this!!!

What the hell does this mean??!!

Finally, high in the sky, only the initial lean, tall light figure belonging to Zhang Jiuting remained.

Before completely dissipating.

The gaze hidden behind the light and mist seemed, extremely briefly, faintly and indistinctly.

To linger on Lu Yuan for an instant.

In that glance, there seemed to be approval.

Scrutiny.

Expectation...

And even a trace of a sly, mischievous smile...

Like a grandfather teasing his grandson.

Finally...

The light figure completely dispersed.

Moonlight sprinkled down, the desolate slope was silent.

Lu Yuan turned his head.

He looked at the "Deity of Beauty" who had risen from the ground again.

Whose aura had not dissipated, and was even stronger than before.

"Fuck me!!!"

The next instant, the Deity of Beauty's beautiful, starry sky-like eyes.

Instantly locked onto Lu Yuan.

Then, the "Deity of Beauty" looked at Lu Yuan, tilting her head slightly, before twisting her perfect body and walking towards Lu Yuan with a cat-like gait.

Lu Yuan: "?????"

WHAT! THE! HELL!!

PATRIARCH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!!