Chapter 171: Damn, Why Didn’t You Say So Earlier!

The instant the danger level popped up, Lu Yuan was plainly stunned.

In Lu Yuan’s earlier thinking, this so-called Faceless Malevolent Deity posed no real threat.

It was the kind of thing half-dead, on the verge of dissolving into nothing.

Just like those few in Zhenlong Temple.

So at the start, Lu Yuan really did not take this matter seriously.

But now he was a bit bewildered.

No way...

Although Lu Yuan hadn’t fully recovered to true Celestial Master level yet, honestly he was close.

With his current strength, could there still be a ten-star danger?

For a moment, Lu Yuan spun and glanced at the two little Hu Tutu.

Mother of God!

So your Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp really continues everything, huh!!

At the same time, the wind stopped.

Leaves fell silent, grasses ceased rustling, even the wisps of azure smoke left after the column of flame went out rose straight up.

They drifted to midair, then suddenly dissipated.

The valley fell utterly quiet. Not ordinary quiet — every sound seemed sucked away.

No insect chirps, no bird calls, not even the thud of one’s own heartbeat.

The crack in the ground grew wider.

From a finger’s width to a palm’s, from a palm’s to an arm’s width.

The fissure was pitch black, not ordinary black, but the kind light could not pierce.

The talisman fire on Lu Yuan’s shoulder still glowed, but light entering the fissure vanished after three inches.

Not blocked — swallowed.

That blackness was like a mouth, devouring light.

A hand reached out from the crack and kept crawling outward.

It wasn’t simply a hand crawling — something was using that hand to push up from underground.

The “hand” had no fingers, just a blurred, claw-like appendage,

inky-black, gleaming oily under the moonlight as if it had been just pulled out of the water.

Things began seeping from the fissure.

Not mist, not smoke, but a vapor.

Very faint, colorless, yet when you looked that way you knew something was there.

The vapor flowed out of the fissure, hugging the ground as it spread, rolling over ash-paper, which then lifted into the air.

It passed over fallen leaves, which curled up.

It ran over pebbles, which began to roll on their own.

The vapor spread faster and thicker, rising from the ground to waist height, then to a person’s height.

Something within the vapor started moving. Not wind — the vapor itself churned, like a pot of boiling water, bubblin’ and popping.

Every bubble popped, and a face drifted out.

Not human faces, just facial outlines.

No eyes, no nose, no mouth — just a vague, ghastly pale circle, floating in the vapor for a moment, then dispersing.

One dispersed, another appeared.

One after another, packed densely together.

Those faces churned in the vapor, floated to the fissure’s edge, then were sucked back in.

Floated out, sucked back in.

They couldn’t escape.

Soon a large black orb-like head pushed out of the crack.

A head without a face.

The whole head was a smooth expanse of nothing, round, slick.

Moonlight fell on it but produced no reflection, no shadow — it just slid by.

The head turned.

No eyes, yet it was watching.

Watching Lu Yuan, watching living Hu Tutu, watching the paper Hu Tutu.

Watching the lamp, watching those faces, watching the valley.

Then the Faceless Malevolent Deity’s body emerged.

Very thin, as skinny as a bamboo pole.

Very tall, not quite human.

It stood at the fissure’s edge; moonlight struck it, yet it cast no shadow.

Then the Faceless Malevolent Deity raised a hand and scooped into the vapor.

It nonchalantly grabbed a handful of faces, held them, and pressed one against its own face.

At first the face stuck like pasted paper, not fitting smoothly,

but quickly it fully merged into the deity’s face.

It was the face of a sixty- or seventy-year-old woman, wrinkled and deathly pale.

That face, matched to such a tall, skinny body, produced an indescribable, eerie wickedness.

Seeing the Faceless Malevolent Deity before him, Lu Yuan lost any hesitation and shoved the Yansheng Dagger back into his waist.

The Yansheng Dagger was for small-scale fights.

Lu Yuan hadn’t taken the Faceless Malevolent Deity seriously before and only used the dagger to break some malevolent methods.

But what would come next was obvious even without thinking.

Lu Yuan had no intention of running. If it escaped this time, catching that deity later would be much harder.

The next second, Lu Yuan thrust his right hand into the void.

A seam split open in system space at his fingertip, cold wind spilling out.

He felt the sword hilt.

Not the warm touch of a Yansheng Dagger, but icy, like touching iron in winter.

He gripped and drew it out.

The moment the blade left the seam, the moonlight brightened.

Not that the moon changed — the sword reflected light.

A three-foot azure blade, cloud patterns carved along the spine from guard to tip.

The blade was thin enough to let light through; moonlight gleamed on one side, showing through to the other.

The hilt was wrapped with black cord, the knots polished bright from years of handling.

Lu Yuan held the sword across his body, left hand’s two fingers together tracing from the blade’s base to the tip.

The sword hummed, not like iron but like bronze, like a temple bell struck once.

This was Yunting.

A top-tier ritual tool!

Cloud patterns on the blade, it drew thunder when unsheathed.

Clouds bring storm, thunder comes from heaven — clouds move, rain falls; thunder strikes and lightning sweeps.

It matched the old Daoist saying, “Cloud and thunder in the sky, divine power in hand.”

Lu Yuan had no plan to haggle with this Faceless Malevolent Deity or exchange idle words.

He was a legitimate Celestial Master of orthodox Daoism!

This was a malevolent cultist!

No courtesy. Two words:

Kill it!!

After Lu Yuan raised the sword with his right hand, his left hand formed the thunder seal!

Index and middle fingers pressed forward together, ring and little fingers bent into the palm, thumb pressing the ring finger nail.

This was the orthodox Daoist starting formation to summon thunder.

Although Lu Yuan hadn’t fully returned to Celestial Master standard, it didn’t mean he couldn’t use thunder techniques.

They were just weaker than before.

But still thunder techniques — still a powerful suppression against malevolent worship!

“Nine Heavens’ Thunder Patriarch, thunder’s decree, swift as a shooting star, let the ten directions and three realms hear!”

Lu Yuan intoned and took a step back, sword tip aimed at the Faceless Malevolent Deity.

The cloud patterns along the blade began to glow — not reflected light, but self-illumination.

A blue-white radiance ran along the carving from base to tip, then from tip back to base.

The Faceless Malevolent Deity shifted. Not forward — it tilted to the side,

its body swayed like bamboo in the wind.

It tilted then straightened back.

The old woman face’s mouth opened — no teeth, no tongue, just a black cavity.

That black hole faced Lu Yuan and a gust blew out, cold wind carrying the stench of a rotten swamp.

Lu Yuan didn’t look at that mouth.

He watched the sword tip. The tip trembled — not his hand, but the sword itself. It was responding to thunder.

“Five Thunder Fierce Officers, crack the thunderous might.”

“Shake heaven and earth, seize and bind the malevolent spirit.”

Lu Yuan planted his right foot, released the seal, both hands gripping the sword, tip pointing skyward.

Moonlight ran down the blade, following the edge to the guard, to the hilt, into his hand.

His hand glowed — not emitting light, but something welled out from the sword.

It crawled up his fingers, over the back of his hand, wrist, and forearm.

That was thunder qi.

Invisible, yet tangible.

All the hairs on his arm stood up; his sleeve fluttered though there was no wind.

The Faceless Malevolent Deity moved again.

This time it didn’t tilt — it stepped forward.

Slow, deliberate steps.

Its feet made no sound, but the ash on the ground trembled and floated as a thin veil in midair.

The old woman face remained fixed, the black aperture staring at Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan slashed downward; the sword tip pointed at the deity.

“I invoke the thunder’s will, aligned with heaven’s heart. With one thunderclap, all malevolence vanish!”

After the final words, he thrust the sword forward.

Not a stab — a sending motion.

The sword left his hand and hovered, tip facing the Faceless Malevolent Deity.

The cloud patterns along the blade fully illuminated, blue-white light so bright it made eyes water.

Something sounded in the skies.

Not thunder yet — a prelude to thunder.

The sky grew heavy, clouds churned. The moon remained, but its light dimmed.

Dark clouds poured in from all directions, pressing low like they might fall.

Something rolled inside the clouds — not thunder sound, but thunder moving.

From east to west, west to south, south to north, north to east.

Where it passed, that place flashed.

Lu Yuan inwardly fretted: given his current state, forcing thunder technique like this was a stretch.

How long had it been, and the thunder still hadn’t descended!

Not even a Grand Celestial Master would need a seal now — the thunder would fall as soon as the move began.

Even Lu Yuan of old would have had the thunder strike by now, but the thunder darted across the sky...

Still, fortunately...

This Faceless Malevolent Deity was no sharp thing.

Or rather,

there was something wrong with it.

Definitely a problem.

If it were normal, it surely wouldn’t have needed the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp to “continue” it.

The Faceless Malevolent Deity stopped and lifted its head to look at the sky.

It didn’t try to strike Lu Yuan in this moment or do anything else.

Instead it seemed drawn to the thunder in the heavens.

No eyes, but it watched.

A thunderclap exploded in the sky.

Not distant rumble, but a cracking blast.

Just that one blast, tearing open above, making the valley vibrate.

Living Hu Tutu clamped her hands over her ears and crouched, the paper Hu Tutu flattened to the ground, the lamp rolled far away.

Lu Yuan stood unmoving, but after that one sound he heard nothing.

Clouds split.

A beam of light struck through the gap — not a lightning bolt, but thunderlight.

Blue-white, as wide as a bowl, it struck the sword that hovered midair.

The moment the sword caught the thunderlight, the entire valley brightened.

Nothing else could be seen.

No trees, no temple, no mountains.

Only white — painfully bright, too blinding to keep one’s eyes open.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes and tossed the ritual sword slightly toward the sky, forming seals with both hands.

This time he made the “Five Thunder Seal.”

Fingers interlaced, palms outward, thumbs pressed together, index and middle fingers extended, the other six fingers entwined.

“One thunder, heaven and earth move. Two thunders, ghosts and gods tremble.”

“Three thunders, thunderclap resounds, ten thousand evils dare not live!”

He chanted, and the seal changed with each line.

On the first line, both hands pushed forward.

On the second, his hands rose upward.

On the third, his hands pressed downward.

After the third line, thunder descended from the sword.

It finally came!!

Not struck down, but detonated down.

The thunderlight exploded from the sword tip, splitting into five beams.

One east, one south, one west, one north, one downward.

The five bolts hit the ground and blasted five craters.

The pits were charred, smoking.

The Faceless Malevolent Deity stood amid the five craters; the old woman face pasted on it burst open and vanished.

It stood there again, transformed back into that smooth orb of nothing.

Moonlight fell on it, it stood in the thunderlight and moved.

Not retreating, but advancing.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Thunder struck it, producing ripples on its surface like stones tossed into water, ripples that faded.

Strike — ripple.

It moved forward; thunder could not stop it.

Lu Yuan gripped Yunting tightly, staring at the faceless thing.

Thunder techniques failed.

What?!

He had never seen such a thing.

Since childhood training under the old man, he’d seen jianghu ghosts not fear talismans, fierce ghosts not fear incantations,

but something immune to thunder techniques — that was a first.

Thunder is the most righteous force in the world; when heavenly thunder sounds, all malevolence submits.

This was a Daoist rule passed for thousands of years.

But the thing before him had just absorbed five thunder strikes like nothing.

Those bolts merely caused rolling ripples that vanished like water waves.

Moreover...

Lu Yuan glanced at the top of the Faceless Malevolent Deity’s head.

Wasn’t it written there plainly!!!

[Type: Faceless Malevolent Deity]

[Cultivation: 317 years]

[Weaknesses: thunder, electricity, fire]

[Danger Level: ★★★★★]

Thunder was listed first among its weaknesses!!!

This...

How could thunder be useless?!

Now the ritual sword hovering in midair dimmed; the thunderlight on its blade weakened from bowl-wide to arm-wide, then to wrist-wide.

The cloud pattern along the spine darkened in segments, from tip back to base.

This was the result of Lu Yuan’s internal energy rapidly draining.

He’d unleashed his ultimate move without planning to go through a few rounds with the deity first.

That approach had benefits.

It could catch an opponent off-guard and deal heavy damage before it could react.

But it also had drawbacks.

Attacking directly without understanding could backfire.

And now what baffled Lu Yuan most was...

This Faceless Malevolent Deity...

doesn’t take thunder techniques. Then what should he do next?!

Lu Yuan reached out and pulled the sword back.

The instant the sword returned, he felt it burning in his hand.

Not from thunder, but the sword itself was hot.

It was warning him.

At that moment, the paper Hu Tutu’s voice came from behind:

“Daoist Priest! It’s useless!”

The paper Hu Tutu’s tone was urgent and sharp:

“You can’t hit it!”

“It’s those faces!”

“The faces inside the vapor!”

Lu Yuan froze.

The paper Hu Tutu lay on the ground, hugging the eight-hole lamp, its dim yellow light flickering.

She looked up at Lu Yuan, panic all over her small face:

“The faces pasted to it are the souls of those people still on it! They haven’t dispersed!”

“If you hit it, those souls take the hit for it!”

“The old woman just now took the thunder for it, shielding it from disaster!”

“Those souls are its shell! If the shell isn’t shattered, you can’t hurt it! You have to get rid of those souls first....”

Lu Yuan: “????”

“Damn, why didn’t you say so earlier!”