Chapter 687: Blood-Stained Dragon Vein

Elder Chen finally stated his true objective. Before the sect cultivators could even react, I, standing far away in the main hall of the Three Yin Sect, felt a chill. 'He wants to steal my memories!' I focused most of my attention on the old man; seeing the bizarre smile on his lips, every hair on my body stood on end.

If I were captured alive by the sect cultivators, there would still be a sliver of hope for escape. After all, they prided themselves on being the righteous path, and with Leng Qingxuan's master present, they would at least give me a chance to defend myself.

But if I fell into Elder Chen's hands, the consequences would be unimaginable.

This old man was connected to the Two-Faced Buddha, and the grudge between the Two-Faced Buddha and me had long reached a point where only one of us could survive.

'If I really let Elder Chen draw me into a dream, I probably won't even know how I died. He'll definitely hide all the memory fragments related to the Two-Faced Buddha and fabricate baseless lies to fool the sect cultivators, diverting their attention to absolve him.' I exhaled the foul air from my lungs, a terrifying thought forming in my mind. 'Elder Chen is here just to get rid of me. He won't allow the Two-Faced Buddha's plan to be disrupted by the sect cultivators. Thinking about it this way, it's not even certain whether Elder Chen is a true Celestial Master of Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple. He doesn't care about the consequences at all; he just wants to kill me!'

Among everyone present, Elder Chen's murderous intent toward me likely surpassed even Xu Yinglong's. He just hadn't shown it, manipulating everything from the shadows.

'I once left a message for Leng Qingxuan, saying the real culprit was in Xinhu City. Once the sect cultivators catch me, they will definitely go there to investigate, and the Two-Faced Buddha's plan will be exposed. The Five Great Upper Sects represent the orthodox path, and their attitude toward fate usurpers has always been to kill without mercy. Elder Chen is clearly well aware of this.'

Setting aside whether he was truly a Celestial Master from Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple, his earlier words alone revealed how desperate he was to flip through my memories. This gave me a profound sense of crisis.

'On the surface, he's the representative of Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple, proficient in the Dream Dao, and skilled at manipulating people's hearts and stealing memories. If I am captured alive, there's an eighty percent chance he'll be the one to interrogate me.'

Having figured this out, my gaze toward Elder Chen darkened. 'So out of everyone here, the one who wants me dead the most is you.'

On the side of the sect cultivators, the other Celestial Masters had all been deceived by Elder Chen. Xu Yinglong and Ye Qingqiu greatly praised his decision, while Daoist Priest Mei and the Hemp-Clothed Elder responded with silence.

Counting Elder Chen, four people advocated for a forceful assault on the grand formation.

"The yin soldiers are beginning to retreat. Yin is waning and yang is thriving. This is our perfect chance to take him down in one fell swoop." Xu Yinglong cupped his hands toward Ye Qingqiu. "Fellow Daoist, please do not show any mercy."

"Rest assured," Ye Qingqiu said. He swallowed a pill, bringing a trace of color back to his pale face. Chanting an incantation, he waved his hand and sent out over a dozen talismans, continuously accelerating the operation of the Ten Directions Annihilation Grand Formation.

Rolling yang energy crashed forward like a surging river, tangling with the yin energy generated by the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation. They clashed like two flood dragons locked in a savage slaughter.

'No wonder the sect cultivators gave up investigating the place where Xu Yan and the others met their mishap, coming straight to Henshan to hunt me down. It was all because Elder Chen was pulling the strings from the shadows!' Elder Chen was a famous philanthropist in Jiangcheng and even throughout the central regions. Everyone praised his goodness, but who knew his true colors?

'It's truly laughable. Wearing the cloak of morality and benevolence while committing the filthiest, most despicable acts—yet a person like this is put on a pedestal?' If my previous suspicions about Elder Chen had been based purely on intuition, I could now say with absolute certainty that this old man was nothing like the great person he portrayed himself to be.

'To usurp fate, he's willing to sacrifice the lives of an entire city. He is the most selfish person in the world.' I gazed at Elder Chen from afar through the grand formation. Many questions I previously couldn't figure out were slowly finding their answers.

The Ten Directions Annihilation Grand Formation underwent a massive transformation under Ye Qingqiu's frenzied urging. The sky-filling yang energy pressed down, and the eighteen miles of feng shui terrain echoed in response.

"Gao Jian, you can't escape!" Ye Qingqiu shouted loudly. Biting the tip of his tongue, he pulled out an Edict of the Three Purities. This was part of the profound foundation of Miaozhen temple, allowing the caster to merge with the Heavenly Dao to the greatest extent and blend into the terrain's feng shui.

Deploying the edict, Ye Qingqiu chanted the incantation once more. The winds and clouds shifted, giving the distinct feeling that his commands immediately manifested as reality.

"Edict of the Three Purities, commandeer the feng shui of this land for my use!" After he finished speaking, he pointed the edict toward Jiangcheng. A few seconds later, another loud boom echoed from beneath the city, followed by an even more majestic surge of yang energy erupting from the dragon vein.

The sky completely darkened. It felt like the calm before a storm; the air seemed to solidify, becoming so stifling that it made it hard to breathe.

Hearing that loud boom from beneath Jiangcheng, even Elder Chen, whose expression had remained detached all this time, felt his eyelids twitch. The others fared even worse, all feeling an ominous premonition surface in their hearts.

"Ye Qingqiu! You know full well there's a heaven-shaking Grand Feng Shui Layout arranged around Jiangcheng, yet you still dare to touch this ancient city's dragon vein! Such heresy! Are you trying to drag Miaozhen temple into eternal damnation?" While the others kept quiet for various reasons, the Hemp-Clothed Elder had no such scruples. He practically pointed right at Ye Qingqiu's nose as he cursed.

"Daoist Brother, why resort to such harsh words? I know what I'm doing." After using the Edict of the Three Purities, Ye Qingqiu's complexion had become highly unnatural, looking as though he had just recovered from a severe illness.

"You know what you're doing? Are you blind to the sky above our heads?!" The Hemp-Clothed Elder's beard trembled with fury. "The ancient city's layout absolutely must not be carelessly touched! By defying the ancient laws, you will inevitably invoke a massive disaster!"

"If you hesitate when a decision must be made, you will suffer the chaos that follows. Since things have already reached this point, breaking the array and capturing Gao Jian should be our priority." Seeing the Hemp-Clothed Elder's fierce words, Xu Yinglong quickly stepped in to smooth things over. However, after he finished speaking, not a single person chimed in to acknowledge him.

Forcing the use of the Edict of the Three Purities to draw upon Jiangcheng's dragon vein while in such a terrible physical state put an immense amount of pressure on Ye Qingqiu. The path of feng shui was incredibly profound and esoteric; it allowed not even the slightest mistake.

Meanwhile, the Hemp-Clothed Elder's focus was now entirely fixed on Jiangcheng. Judging from his expression, he seemed intent on leaving.

Black clouds pressed down low as the sky turned gloomy. It wasn't just Jiangcheng; even the surrounding counties and districts were cloaked in dark clouds.

"Ye Qingqiu, you've caused a major disaster!" the Hemp-Clothed Elder sighed to himself, his voice carrying a sense of powerlessness.

That loud boom coming from Jiangcheng just now had scared me as well. In my eyes, this group of people was simply courting death. The only problem was that they were trying to drag me down to die with them.

'A bunch of fools being used. They deserve to be treated as pawns.'

The yang energy from the dragon vein had a subtle difference compared to the initial yang energy—it carried a faint, barely perceptible tinge of blood-red.

I didn't know what this blood-red hue was or why it was mixed in with the yang energy. I only saw that the moment the yin soldiers encountered this blood-tinged yang energy, they immediately scattered in flight. Those that couldn't escape in time were swept up by the yang energy and quietly vanished without a trace.

'This trace of blood color seems to have been brought out from the dragon vein. Why would Jiangcheng's dragon vein be stained with blood? And whose blood is it?' I hid within the grand formation, not daring to show my head. Yang energy filled the sky; the Ten Directions Annihilation Grand Formation was linked to Jiangcheng's eighteen-mile feng shui grand formation, encompassing several surrounding mountain peaks within its range.

The power of the blood-tinged yang energy was far greater than that of the malevolent yin energy. Ye Qingqiu had brought out his ultimate trump card, and the balance was broken once again.

The Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation was on the verge of self-destruction. When that happened, and the sky-filling yang energy pressed down on me, I would undoubtedly die.

Beset by internal strife and external threats, I grew incredibly anxious.

The situation for the Fate Ghost located at the center of the grand formation was also far from optimistic. It transmitted a feeling of terror to me.

This was the first time the Fate Ghost had sent me its own emotional fluctuations since its rebirth, but I never expected it to be under such circumstances.

I desperately wanted to tell the Fate Ghost to retreat, but I couldn't. Without it controlling the yin soldiers, the grand formation alone wouldn't be able to hold back the sect cultivators at all. If they were allowed to enter the formation so easily, it would undoubtedly make things worse, pushing me into an even more difficult predicament.

Refining the Living King Yama was already the last trump card in my hand. Ye Qingqiu was right about one thing: compared to these sects, my foundation was shallow. Momentary cleverness truly couldn't compare to hundreds of years of accumulation.

'Among the sect's Celestial Masters, there's still a man in a suit who hasn't made a move. Just the other few were enough to force me into a dead end, so they probably still have backup plans they haven't used.' I would never underestimate my enemies. After pondering for a moment, the thought of leaving sprouted in my mind.

While the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation hadn't completely collapsed yet, I needed to find an empty corner to sneakily use the Realm-Breaking Talisman.

I walked over to the Black Leather Suitcase, preparing to carry the essential items on me. After all, the suitcase was too bulky and inconvenient to lug around.

Opening the case, a thick scent of traditional Chinese medicine wafted out. My nostrils flared, and my brows furrowed.

This strong medicinal scent was exactly part of my agreement with Daoist master Wan. He planned to use the acute sense of smell of Gu insects to track this scent and find me.

If it were under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have mattered. But right now I was being hunted by the sects, and the situation was dire. I was very worried that Daoist master Wan might be swayed by the sect cultivators and use the medicinal scent to track me down.

'I only have one life; I can't gamble it so easily.' I wasn't sure if Daoist master Wan would actually help me, so I took out the packet of Chinese medicine and threw it behind the shrine.

Before I could even finish this action, a booming roar echoed from within the Henshan Yin Vein. The ground shook and the mountain trembled, as large chunks of roof tiles and wall plaster fell from the main hall of the Three Yin Sect.

'This is bad. The grand formation has been pushed to its absolute limit.' I tossed the suitcase aside and dashed straight into the depths of the earth vein. For some reason, the yin energy here had been severely stimulated and was completely boiling over.

"Wang Shi?" I squeezed out of the underground tunnel and happened to see a blurry black figure at the edge of the stone platform. Only when I got closer did I realize that this was the Desire Ghost, having finished its metamorphosis.

Its body was much taller than a normal person's. Its arms hung down, long enough to reach its knees. Its hair was withered and dry, and its pale skin was covered in black, cracked lines.

Right now, it was half-kneeling beside the stone platform. Its eyes were completely bloodshot, its face contorted, and its head tilted to the side. Like a madman, it was greedily gulping down the black liquid from within the stone platform.