Chapter 326: Azure Dragon Slays the Gods

A gale swept the dark clouds, and night rain shrouded Hengshan City; visibility was extremely low, and only when lightning occasionally slashed across did there come a flash of brightness.

Li Yuan swung his hammer and retreated violently; his face was slightly pale, yet his eyes were full of envy.

Compared to the thunder dragon formed from his true Qi, the five great spirit forms within the rain curtain at this moment—including Mount Mo Tian's old ghost's form—looked exactly like the legendary great demons and titans.

Flickering in and out of sight, the pressure they brought was matchless; this was the clash of human strength and the power of heaven and earth—the power of entering the Dao.

"?!"

In the heavy rain, nine heads danced wildly, every pupil contracting.

In an instant, he had already recognized the four great spirit forms within the rain curtain.

Long Long Yingchan, Long Xi Xiang, Nie Xianshan, Cang Cang Xianzhi—three Grand Masters, one Great Grand Master!

"How could they be this fast?"

Mo Tian's scalp went numb, as if he had seen a ghost.

Regarding Dragon Tiger Temple, he was quite wary in his heart, and therefore had long been unwilling to employ his spirit form; once he did, after capturing and killing that assassin, he would have to seize the road and flee at once.

He even had a plan in mind for dealing with Dragon Tiger Temple's pursuit, but this was too fast—he had only spurred his spirit form for a few breaths, how could everyone possibly have arrived?

"An ambush!"

The thought flashed through his mind, and Mo Tian only felt his heart turn cold; in the blink of an eye, the body woven from dark mist exploded with a thunderous crash.

Boom!

The gale rolled on, scattering the heavy rain.

Separated by over a hundred meters, Li Yuan's clothes were even blown so they flapped loudly; this Mount Mo Tian old ghost was extremely decisive, using the explosion of his body as an obstruction, all nine heads tearing free from their necks and flying toward the four directions at extreme speed.

"Decisive enough."

Li Yuan reacted quickly as well; with a flick of his wrist, the long whip had already lashed out three hundred meters away, and accompanied by a crisp explosive crack, one head shattered at the sound.

But only one was smashed—not because his reaction was slow, but because an instant later, the dragon claw that had reached out from between the dark clouds had already probed down.

Unlike the first time, seeing this dragon claw up close, Li Yuan felt quite shaken; the patterns and scales were uncannily lifelike, and no matter how he looked, they did not seem false.

Hum!

The instant the dragon claw closed, Li Yuan only felt darkness before his eyes; this dragon claw seemed to have gathered the wind, rain, airflow, and even the light of this entire city district into its palm.

The old ghost could not be called indecisive—some of the remaining eight heads had already fled several li, yet they were still seized into the dragon claw.

Then, kneaded and crushed.

"Ah!"

This time there was no shock or fury, purely a scream born of violent agony.

"Magnificent."

Li Yuan could not conceal his shock.

The instant that old ghost spurred his spirit form, he had only felt his hair stand on end—clearly that was already the power of a Grand Master—yet beneath this dragon claw, there was not the slightest power to resist.

Flee, and still couldn't flee.

And this was merely a single dragon claw, with no dragon body in sight, let alone Long Long Yingchan's "Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon," which was famed throughout the world under his name.

"A terrestrial immortal—that title truly did not come for nothing."

Li Yuan murmured in his heart.

Even he felt such awe seeing a Great Grand Master strike; for ordinary common folk, if this were not an immortal, what would be?

Beyond his awe, he also felt his heart settle considerably at once—a mountain of support, a thick thigh, was naturally the thicker and bigger the better.

Whooosh～

After a momentary silence, the four great spirit forms vanished entirely, and wind and rain swept in once more, washing away all traces.

In a corner of the ruined ancient temple, the little tiger cub shook the moisture from its body, took a deep look at the traces dissipating in the air, and retreated into the darkness.

"The divine is the bridge of heaven and earth, Great Grand Master, ……"

Outside the ancient temple, Long Xi Xiang, Nie Xianshan, and the others stood quietly, none of them having stepped forward to block those eight heads, because they knew it would be pointless.

Regarding this Sect Master of theirs who liked to do everything himself, they had long grown accustomed to it.

"Hah!"

Only now did Li Yuan see Long Long Yingchan; he stood on the street outside the ancient temple, toying with a stone tablet the size of a palm.

His aura was calm and utterly without any worldly flavor.

Clearly his form was already visible to the naked eye, yet in Li Yuan's perception, there was only rainwater there, with not a trace of aura remaining.

"It seems there is only this Mount Mo Tian old ghost."

Nie Xianshan found it rather dull; coming down the mountain this time he hadn't even gotten a chance to strike, and as he glanced at Li Yuan, who was hurrying forward to pay his respects, his mood instantly worsened.

That whip on this boy's body he had also seen back in the day; alas, just like the other divine weapons, it had not deigned to acknowledge him......

"Yan Yan Tianxiong is still cautious; this old man had thought he could at least come face to face with him."

Toying with the Mount Mo Tian Nine Sons Statue, Long Long Yingchan felt it was rather a pity.

But he had always acted this way; even knowing full well there was only this one Mount Mo Tian old ghost, he still had to make this trip.

The main thing was stability.

"Those demons of the Xieshen Sect fly the banner of worshipping the divine, but in truth not a single one truly reveres the divine; let alone merely an incarnation, even if Mount Mo Tian's true body died here, he would not care."

Nie Xianshan was not surprised.

"Indeed."

Cang Cang Xianzhi echoed, expressing his agreement.

"Not necessarily Yan Yan Tianxiong himself,....."

Long Long Yingchan frowned slightly."

Capturing and killing this old ghost and purging the Xieshen Sect's hidden agents were only the surface reasons; he had wanted to use this opportunity to see Yan Yan Tianxiong, but the latter was too cautious.

It was a waste of the formation he had prepared, and a pity he couldn't take the chance to test that Qin Picking Louzhu as well.

"Besides..."

He glanced at Li Yuan, his thoughts somewhat subtle.

By his estimation, for this lad to defeat that old ghost of Mount Mo Tian, he would have had to activate the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer; that azure dragon whip, he truly hadn't anticipated.

Divine weapons admire the strong, but they also care somewhat for affinity; otherwise, Nie Xianshan would still have no divine weapon recognizing a master.

If even divine weapons are like this, let alone top-grade divine weapons?

······

"Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger."

"Long Long Yingchan's spiritual image grows ever more terrifying."

Outside Mount Hengshan city, on a tall barren hill, Yu Yu Banzhou's face was deathly pale as if drained, while Chi Yan Dragon King stood with hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the night sky. After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and sighed with deep feeling.

"Lord Mo Tian has fallen just like that?"

Yu Yu Banzhou took a medicinal pill, his qi and blood much improved compared to before, and forced himself to stand. Watching the dragon claw dissipate within the curtain of rain, he felt cold sweat streaming down.

"What else could it be?"

Chi Yan Dragon King gave a cold laugh: "These old ghosts have been dead too long; hardly any of them have sharp minds. If they didn't die, that would be strange. Fortunately, they weren't stupid to the end—they didn't summon their true selves to descend, otherwise the imperial court's canonized true god positions would lose one more."

Chi Yan Fa Wang's tone was cold, carrying more than a hint of mockery.

Yu Yu Banzhou shrank his neck; he dared not get involved in the conflicts between the Holy Sect's upper echelons and those exalted gods.

"Fa Wang, shall we head back?"

Yu Yu Banzhou was somewhat uneasy; he truly didn't want to go back.

"Back, we certainly must go back, but we'll have to wait for the next old ghost to come."

Chi Yan Fa Wang narrowed his eyes slightly. Without these fools shielding the front, he truly wouldn't dare enter Mount Hengshan city.

That Long Long Yingchan was wont to spy; he had to be on guard.

"More coming?"

Yu Yu Banzhou felt his heart grow heavy. Over these past few years, he had even come to regret why he had become this deputy hall master.

Few benefits, plenty of drawbacks—not only did he have to replenish true qi for the beast before his eyes, but he also faced life-and-death crises at every moment.

"Naturally they will come. I heard the lost Thousand Spirits Salvation Tablet contains a hundred years' worth of Thousand Spirits incense offerings—this is the lifeblood of those old ghosts. Do you think they'd be willing to accept it?"

Chi Yan Fa Wang walked beneath a tree and sat cross-legged.

"A hundred years of incense offerings?"

Yu Yu Banzhou was startled, only now realizing the true purpose of Mount Mo Tian Shangshi's descent, yet couldn't help but feel suspicious: "A hundred years' worth of incense offerings is no small amount. How did Protector Fang dare send it into Dragon Tiger Temple? Could it be..."

"To hold a ceremony at Dragon Tiger Temple, how could it be done without a hundred years' worth of incense offerings? The ceremony failed, and the offerings were lost—that's why those old ghosts are furious."

Hearing the explanation, Yu Yu Banzhou's teeth ached; those old ghosts had far too much nerve, and he felt the pain of the loss.

A hundred years' worth of incense offerings, generally speaking, referred to an entire prefecture. With so many offerings lost, he fully understood the feelings of those exalted gods.

"A hundred years' worth of incense offerings—if I were Lord Thousand Spirits Dharma Master, I probably couldn't swallow this either."

Yu Yu Banzhou sighed inwardly. How did he end up tangled in such rotten luck? He only wanted to practice his Wu Gong in peace.

"Swallow it a few more times and you'll get used to it."

The heavy rain gradually lessened. The Chi Yan Fa Wang beneath the tree transformed into a streak of red light and sank into Yu Yu Banzhou's body. As for those old fellows suffering setbacks, he rather enjoyed watching it happen.

"I bid Fa Wang farewell."

Yu Yu Banzhou gave a bitter laugh.

……

"Wind tiger, cloud dragon."

On the eaves of a tavern, Yan Yan Chunyang stood with hands clasped behind his back, flanked by two old servants on either side. Watching the dispersing shadow of the cloud dragon, they all felt deeply shaken.

"This Long Long Yingchan's Wu Gong is truly formidable; this spiritual image is likely second only to the Wang Ye's Subduing Demons Dragon God Image."

The two old servants were quite reverent.

"This wind tiger, cloud dragon isn't bad either, but it's still not fit to be compared with Shizun's Subduing Demons Spirit God Image."

Yan Yan Chunyang heard this and gave a cold laugh: "Give this Hou ten years, and I'll slaughter him like a dog..."

The two old servants turned pale with fright and hurriedly lowered their voices to counsel: "Hou Ye, be careful with your words."

"This is a Grandmaster..."

"What of it being a Grandmaster?"

Yan Yan Chunyang gave a light snort, but said no more on the matter. Instead, he asked: "I heard this so-called Dao Martial Exhibition has some sort of preliminary selection?"

"Reporting to Hou Ye, there is such a thing."

One old servant bowed and replied: "According to the rules, before the Dao Martial Exhibition, most of the onlookers will be screened out."

The other old servant picked up the thread: "In previous years, this so-called preliminary selection was merely a formality, but Long Long Yingchan has even brought out the Dragon Tiger Pagoda—clearly harboring ill intent. We cannot afford to be unprepared."

"Harboring ill intent?"

A smile immediately appeared on Yan Yan Chunyang's face: "This Hou Ye was just finding it dull."

The two old servants exchanged glances, their expressions shifting. They had followed Yan Yan Chunyang for long; hearing him speak thus, they felt uneasy.

"Hou Ye, please don't act rashly. The Wang Ye, his old self..."

Yan Yan Chunyang raised a hand, cutting off their words, his smile deepening: "When does this preliminary selection begin?"

"This..."

Both old servants felt their scalps prickle, yet could only answer:

"The preliminary selection should last a year; at the latest, it must begin before winter this year. If early, it might start in a month or two."

"Before winter?"

Yan Yan Chunyang counted on his fingers: "Time's a bit tight, but it should be about enough to gather what's needed for the Thousand Yin Ritual…"

Saying so, he glanced at the two of them: "I hope this ritual won't disappoint this Marquis."

"This…"

How could the two old servants dare guarantee that?

"Huff—"

Before the two could say anything more, Yan Yan Chunyang had already strode back to the rear courtyard.

……

……

"Sixty-three strands of third-tier incense, eleven strands of fourth-tier incense — not bad."

Inside the small room, Li Yuan had changed his clothes and was tallying his gains, counting each lighting of the Divine Fire Weapon-Fusing Furnace as one strand of incense.

"Still, the temple's too small. If only it were a Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple, Hundred-Arm Daoist Temple…"

After a quick tally, Li Yuan's heart was undisturbed — this bit of incense was, for him now, nothing more than a mosquito's morsel.

He pushed open the door. The heavy rain was letting up; a lamp burned in the small temple in the distance. His heart stirred, and he carried wine, tea, and some fruits and pastries over.

"Come in!"

Inside the small temple, just as Li Yuan had expected, Long Long Yingchan, Nie Xianshan, and Cang Cang Xianzhi were all there.

Li Yuan nimbly poured tea and wine, said nothing, and simply stood at the side attending them.

"About ten or so on the Chengxi side, all caught in one net, though a few hard cases took their own lives on the spot."

"Same on my end, more or less."

The few of them didn't mind him listening on the side and kept talking — it sounded like they were tallying the scouts purged.

"Before the various martial displays, we still need to purge another wave. This concerns the sect's face — when it's time to act, we must move. Don't just count on the juniors below."

The moment Long Long Yingchan set down his teacup, Li Yuan had already refilled it for him.

"Enough, if you have something to say, say it."

Nie Xianshan held his teacup, and as he spoke, glanced at the Cang Dragon Belt at Li Yuan's waist.

"This disciple is curious about that old ghost."

As Li Yuan spoke, he looked toward Long Long Yingchan. The latter's two long brows rose and fell; he didn't answer, merely drew a booklet from his robe.

"This is?"

Li Yuan reached out and took it.

"This is some intelligence within the sect regarding the Xieshen Sect…"

Long Long Yingchan looked at him deeply, then picked up his teacup:

"Take it back and read it yourself."

"Many thanks, Sect Master."

Li Yuan, made thoroughly uncomfortable by his gaze, took up the booklet and took his leave.