Chapter 71: Bring me my magic weapon!

Lu Yuan's mind and spirit were united, completely immersed in the mystical rhythm of breaking the evil influence.

He was completely unaware that, on the river embankment behind him, an old Taoist priest wearing purple-gold robes had appeared at some unknown time.

The final hammer blow fell.

The wooden nail was driven deep into the soil layer by over two feet, and the frozen, hardened muddy bank of the river shore trembled slightly in response.

On the distant river surface, where the water carrying ice chips had been flowing gently eastward, a circle of counter-flowing vortex abruptly surged up in the direction corresponding to the Kan Palace!

It was effective!

Lu Yuan's eyes sharpened. Without a moment's pause, his figure flowed and shifted as he continued to drive the nails in sequence!

Kun (southwest), Zhen (east), Xun (southeast), the Central Palace, Qian (northwest), Dui (west), Gen (northeast), Li (south).

Eight directions, eight Lightning-Struck Jujube Wood nails.

When nailing the Kun Palace, his feet steadily stamped out an "Earth Bearing Seal."

It was as if he had stirred the deep, heavy power within the earth, intending to suppress that yin and evil water vein.

When nailing the Zhen Palace, he held a fresh peach leaf in his mouth. At the instant he swung the hammer, the sound of the hammer strike actually carried a faint semblance of a sudden clap of thunder!

It simulated the image of spring thunder startling the hibernating insects, and all things reviving!

Nailing the Central Palace was the most crucial.

With a solemn expression, he took out a warm, smooth chicken-blood stone seal and pressed it heavily onto the nail head.

The seal's inscription was vermilion red, strikingly four ancient seal characters brimming with fierce killing intent—"Command the Water Official"!

This series of fluid, seamless operations all fell into the eyes of Celestial Master He Xun on the river embankment.

At this moment, Celestial Master He Xun was already speechless. Of course, Celestial Master He Xun hadn't made a sound to begin with.

Rather, the admiration for Lu Yuan in his heart was like a mighty, surging river, continuous and unending.

Forget the fact that Lu Yuan was already a Celestial Master. Just the speed, accuracy, and fierceness, the clean and decisive manner in which he performed these techniques, was enough to make He Xun, a Celestial Master himself, unable to resist praising it as perfect.

Could this junior apprentice-nephew of his really have only entered the mountain gate for a year?

That was impossible!!

Perhaps before entering the mountain gate, someone in his family was also in this line of work, and he had been exposed to it since childhood!

Otherwise, where did he get such a solid foundation of skills honed since childhood?!

Otherwise, having just entered the mountain gate for a little over a year, being a Celestial Master, and being so experienced in performing techniques... Celestial Master He Xun truly had no way to imagine what heights this junior apprentice-nephew of his would reach in the future.

The moment this thought arose.

An inexplicable fire of jealousy surged once more.

Damn!!!

How does that idiot have such good luck?!!

Given time, when this Lu Yuan becomes a Grand Celestial Master, wouldn't that idiot junior apprentice-brother of mine just lie back and ascend to heaven?

Lu Yuan didn't know what Celestial Master He Xun behind him was thinking.

But if becoming a Celestial Master in a little over a year was because Lu Yuan had a cheat, relying on the "Vanquish Demons and Exorcise Evil" system.

Then performing these techniques was truly purely the result of Lu Yuan's own hard work.

Summarized in one word: if you're bad, just practice more, practice day and night without rest!

When the ninth nail, the jujube wood nail for the Li Palace, was fiercely driven into the soil, a sudden change occurred!

"Boom—"

A muffled sound came from beneath the water.

In the center of the river bend, where only ripples had been before, the water surface suddenly bulged up into a huge mound, as if some primordial beast was about to break through the water!

Seven pitch-black, bizarre water weeds grew frantically upward from the riverbed like madmen.

Between the leaves, countless dense bubbles "gurgled" forth.

When they burst, they actually emitted a sharp, infant-like wailing "squeaking" sound that made one's scalp crawl.

A foul stench mixed with rot and blood then assaulted their faces.

This was the instinctive counterattack of the water evil influence!

"Ink line!"

Lu Yuan shouted.

Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an, who had long been prepared, sprang into action upon hearing the command. Each holding one end of an ink marker reel, they swiftly walked three rapid circles along the outer perimeter of the nine wooden nails, their feet moving like the wind!

The ink line, soaked in black dog blood, was quickly wrapped around each nail, instantly forming a massive Nine Palaces ink net covering the entire muddy bank!

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—"

Where the ink line touched the water vapor spreading up from the river, it actually made the explosive sound of boiling oil meeting water.

Large clouds of white vapor carrying a fishy smell billowed upward, as if yin and yang energies were engaged in the most intense struggle.

The underwater mound slowly flattened, but those seven black water weeds did not recede.

They coiled into a mass in the middle of the river. Amidst the undulating water ripples, they vaguely formed a distorted, agonized, and utterly resentful human face!

"The earth veins have been temporarily severed, but the foundation of the water evil remains unremoved."

Lu Yuan wiped the sweat from his temple, but his gaze grew even sharper.

"Next, we have to enter the water."

Lu Yuan had made thorough preparations. A "Water Avoidance Talisman" written with gold powder mixed with cinnabar was pasted on his chest.

On his back, he carried a seven-inch short blade polished from a rooster's throat bone, with the characters "Break Yin" carved on the blade.

A leather pouch at his waist contained seven "Six Jia Evil-Dispelling Talismans," each sealed in oiled paper with three-year-aged glutinous rice paste, waterproof and stain-proof.

"My fate belongs to the Li Fire element. My eight characters are Ding Mao, Bing Wu, Wu Yin, Ding Si, with three fires in the four pillars."

Before entering the water, Lu Yuan instructed Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an:

"If I don't surface after the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn underwater, then light this bundle of mugwort on the shore. The rising mugwort smoke can guide my way."

With that, he hesitated no longer. Clenching a hollow reed stalk between his teeth, he took a deep breath and leaped forward!

"Splash!"

The splash was very low. His figure was instantly swallowed by the pitch-black river water.

The moment Lu Yuan entered the water, Celestial Master He Xun on the river embankment twitched violently at the corner of his mouth.

"Tsk—"

Celestial Master He Xun looked up at the bright, clear moonlit sky, a trace of anxious expression appearing on his face.

Ah!!!

Entering the water at this time is truly a major taboo!!!

For this kind of yin-poisonous water evil influence, one should wait until high noon, when yang energy is at its peak, to enter the water and suppress it. That would be the completely safe strategy!

But Celestial Master He Xun also understood that his junior apprentice-nephew was definitely not ignorant of this!

Just look at all those techniques he performed earlier. He must surely understand such a simple matter.

But the reason he chose to enter the water at this time was simple, only one reason.

Because he, He Xun, had come, and he had even made Song Yan compete with him.

This kid was afraid his credit would be stolen, so he didn't dare wait until noon and chose to risk a night dive!

At this moment, Celestial Master He Xun turned his head to look at the riverbank on the opposite side.

Under the moonlight, Song Yan was leading two junior brothers, huffing and puffing as they carried the ritual altar, inching toward the riverbank like snails.

Celestial Master He Xun: "..."

Ah!!!

Junior apprentice-nephew!!!

What are you so anxious about?!!!

Can't you just take a look at what those three are like first?!!

Celestial Master He Xun withdrew his gaze, staring intently at the water surface where Lu Yuan had disappeared.

Thinking it over, he suddenly slapped his thigh.

Oh no!!

If something happened to this Lu Yuan because of this, if he couldn't come back up...

That idiot junior apprentice-brother of mine would probably grab a sword and stab eight hundred holes into me!!

Remembering how that junior brother of his used to beat him up every day when they were kids, turning him into a pig's head...

For a moment, Celestial Master He Xun shuddered, quickly shook off the childhood trauma, and directly jumped down from the river embankment.

Holding up his precious purple-gold ritual robe, he walked quickly towards the riverbank on the frozen, relatively solid muddy shore, taking deep, uneven steps.

This commotion instantly alerted Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an on the shore. The two turned their heads sharply, their eyes full of vigilance.

"What are you staring at me with those two fucking holes for?!"

Celestial Master He Xun unleashed a torrent of furious scolding right in their faces.

"Do you see your fucking mother or your fucking father on my face?!"

"Hurry the fuck up and watch the goddamn river surface!!"

Three angry curses, full of vigor, left the two men's ears ringing.

Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an considered themselves quite good at cursing, but compared to Celestial Master He Xun, they were a bit like small potatoes facing a big potato.

The two were angry but didn't dare speak out. They could only suppress their fury, quickly turn their heads back, and stare intently at the river surface.

They were also cursing in their hearts.

Damn it!

If you hadn't suddenly come down, would we have looked back?!

What a hot temper this is!!

...

Time stretched infinitely in the tense waiting.

Every minute, every second felt like torture.

Celestial Master He Xun paced back and forth on the shore, trampling a groove into the muddy ground with his feet.

Finally, he suddenly stopped walking, having completely lost his patience.

"Fuck his mother!!"

After this earth-shaking angry curse, Celestial Master He Xun violently tore off the cumbersome purple-gold Taoist robe from his body and threw it fiercely onto the ground!

He turned around and let out an ear-splitting roar towards the Tianlong Temple members on the distant river embankment:

"Bring me my ritual tools!!"

Song Yan and the other two, who had just finished setting up the ritual altar and were preparing to light incense, froze in place simultaneously, utterly bewildered.

Huh??

Wait...

Didn't you say it was a fair competition??

Why is Master also joining in??

And the most crucial thing is...

Why is he on the opposite side?!!