Chapter Forty-Four: Ambush
Because it is the imperial clan of Qichao, and Qichao is also the main force used by Yuánzōng to control the secular society within its sphere of influence. Many of Qichao's ancestors held high positions within Yuánzōng, so the treatment of Xiūgōngzhǔ and her entourage was more than a hundred times better than that of ordinary Yuánzōng disciples. They lived in a two-story independent courtyard with green pines and cypresses surrounding it on all sides, and there was also a small lake in front of the gate, with a rainbow bridge leading directly to the main entrance of the courtyard.
There are six two-story small buildings in the courtyard, where five people including Xiugong Princess live.
The small building where Xiū Gōngzhǔ lived alone was brightly lit, with a faint sweet fragrance lingering in the air. The soft and seductive moans echoed from within the building. In the bedroom on the second floor of the small building, on the carpet on the ground, Xiū Gōngzhǔ's two attendants, Xióng Shīxiōng and Yīng Shīxiōng, were working together with Miss Yǎ to... The three had lost their most basic sanity, leaving only their primitive beastly instincts. They were moaning wildly like beasts, squeezing each other's bodies with force.
Miss Ya let out a hoarse cry, her pale face was filled with a strong sense of spring, her body trembled, and her skin turned white in waves, as if the evil spirit was extracting the essence from her body. Her skin had become almost transparent. Even someone who didn't know any magic could see that Miss Ya's vitality was slowly dissipating. The situation of Miss Ya's two opponents wasn't much better. The two young men, who were originally very robust, now had loose and sagging skin. Their eye sockets were dark, their lips were black, and when they breathed, their lungs made a sound like a broken bellows, which was heart-wrenching to hear. Every time they made a fierce dash, it seemed that they squeezed out a bit of life force from their bodies, and their bodies shrunk a little more.
The demoniacal cultivator, Miao Xian Ren, was embracing the naked body of Xiū Gōngzhǔ, sitting on a couch, gloating at the cruel and ruthless scene before him. He sneered with a wicked smile: "Beauty, look, this is what happens when you fall for our sect's Soul-destroying Powder. No matter how great your abilities are, as long as you haven't cultivated your original spirit and don't have the three true fires of life within you, you will only suffer a slow and painful death."
Embracing the pale-faced Xiūgōng Princess, she kissed her forcefully. The Miao Xian Ren sneered and said: "That Lin Xiao is probably already under the effect of the soul-scattering powder brought by your little sister. At this moment, he's also in a state of infatuation! Hehe, as long as your little sister follows the method I taught her, Lin Xiao will definitely fall into her hands. After a while, she should bring him back, right? A small Golden Elixir stage cultivator, humph! If I were to personally deal with him, wouldn't it be beneath my dignity?"
Her body curled up in Miao Xianren's arms, Xiugong slowly twisted her waist and abdomen, gently rubbing her chest against Miao Xianren's body, softly asking: "What if Jie'er loses control?"
"How could I possibly lose?" The Miao Xian Ren said proudly: "The method of harmonizing yin and yang that this immortal has mastered is renowned throughout the entire cultivation world. The Xuan Hun San that this immortal has personally concocted is not a poisonous drug, but rather a supreme spiritual medicine that awakens the innate abilities of cultivators. Even if Lin Xiao were a disciple of Da Luo Tian Dao, even if he truly inherited the Da Luo Tian Jing, he would still be unable to find a spiritual elixir that could counteract my Xuan Hun San!"
With a pleased smile, the Miao Xian Ren grasped Xiū Gōngzhǔ's hand several times and chuckled softly, saying: "As long as a thread of Sōu Hún Sàn enters Lín Liú's body, his life will be beyond his control. Look at your three followers, their fate is the same as Lín Liú's. However, since Lín Liú has formed a Golden Elixir, he can still drag out his life for a few more days. This is enough for this immortal to extract some secrets from the Great Luo Dan Jing." The Miao Xian Ren smiled with a hint of schadenfreude: "That old demon got the Great Luo Dan Jing but doesn't know the secret to unlocking it! Ha! As soon as they heard that Lín Liú, this little brat, had obtained the inheritance of the Great Luo Dan Jing, they hastily sent me over!"
He bowed his head and kissed Princess Xiu forcefully, and Miao Xianren smiled triumphantly: "Little beauty, our princess is under us, this is also a match made in heaven, it's the old sky that has brought us together. Otherwise, how would I have met you so coincidentally? Hehe! We must not disappoint the good intentions of the old sky, we must not waste this beautiful spring scenery. Let's enjoy ourselves early!" With one move, he pressed Princess Xiu down onto the bed and prepared to use his secret technique for lustful pleasure.
Outside the small courtyard, an unknown number of Yuanzong's disciples had gathered. Among them were thirty elders from the One Character Generation, fifteen of whom had reached the Yuanshen Period. There were nearly three hundred Jindan Period disciples from the One Character Generation and below. So many deeply cultivated Yuanzong cultivators surrounded the small courtyard, making it impossible to get through. On the outer perimeter, some lower-ranking disciples came and went, burying pieces of spiritual stone, cores of array techniques, and door flags in the ground. These lower-ranking disciples moved silently, without making a sound, and within the time it took to drink two cups of tea, they had set up an eighteen-layered Tianluo Earth Net Great Array outside the small courtyard, completely surrounding it.
Lin Xiao's shoulder was stuck with a fist-sized piece of dark green moss, closely following behind a Taoist priest, and stepped onto the rainbow bridge leading to the entrance of the small courtyard.
A Taoist priest waved his whisk gently as he walked towards the small courtyard, smiling at Lin Xiao and saying: "Lin Xiao, my young friend, according to Huang Jie's account, the one who dared to sneak into our Yuan Sect is none other than the infamous Miao Xianren, a lecherous and treacherous figure in the world of cultivation. This person has achieved an extremely high level of cultivation, having been famous over two thousand years ago, and his skills have likely reached the pinnacle of the Yuanshen stage. His magical powers are mysterious and unpredictable, and he is also equipped with extremely sinister and vicious poisonous techniques, making him a very difficult person to deal with."
Lin Xiao followed silently behind a group of Taoist priests, but the clump of green moss on his shoulder suddenly shouted loudly: "Bad guys, don't be afraid, Yaojing will help Brother Lin beat him!"
A small, delicate arm made of moss stretched out from the mass of moss and waved vigorously in the air. Lin Xiao slapped the jade pendant hanging on his shoulder and said coldly: "You're just a little demon equivalent to the Qi Condensation stage, lucky enough to borrow the power of tens of thousands of spiritual medicines in the Yin River to take shape, but your cultivation is really too weak. A peak Yuan Shen stage cultivator can destroy a hundred of you with just one finger!"
Yao Jing's fist weakly waved a few times, and he said with some annoyance: "Can one finger destroy a hundred of me? I don't think so! What if it were a thousand of me?"
Lin Xiao didn't make a sound, but the Taoist nodded and smiled: "What an interesting little monster. Lin Xiao's luck is quite good." The Taoist nodded in praise, while Yixin, who was walking behind him, couldn't help but stare at Yaojing with envy in her eyes. A lump of green moss had transformed into a monster, and the human form it took was still that of an adorable little girl, making Yixin's heart move with affection. However, Yaojing only clung to Lin Xiao, not even giving Yixin a glance. And as for Yixin, she couldn't possibly ask Lin Xiao for anything in her current state.
Yi Hang and others arrived at the gate of the small courtyard. Yi Hang looked up to the sky, let out a loud cry, and shouted: "Miao Dao You, since you've come to Qi Yuan Xing, why don't you meet with the master? Instead, you're bullying a few younger juniors! As a renowned figure in the demonic path, why are you doing such despicable things?"
"What's going on? That little girl has ruined my great plan?! How is it possible that Lin Xiao can withstand the Soul-destroying Powder? It doesn't make sense! There's no way, absolutely no way!"
The Miao Xian Ren didn't know, and even Lin Xiao himself didn't know. Lin Xiao's Golden Elixir contained a hint of Purple Thunder Heavenly Fire, which was the most pure Yang flame in the world, far surpassing the Three True Flames that cultivators could refine after reaching the Yuan Shen stage by at least a hundred times! The tiny bit of Soul-destroying Powder that the Jing Gu Main had spat out hadn't even touched Lin Xiao's body when it was already evaporated by the pure Yang fire energy naturally emitted from his body. With the protection of the Purple Thunder Heavenly Fire, Lin Xiao was almost immune to all evil poisons, let alone something as trivial as the Soul-destroying Powder?
"Hmph!" The Miao Xian Ren got up from the body of Xiugong, slowly and calmly putting on his own Taoist robe. He tilted his head in thought, shook it and said: "Listen to Yi Hang Lao Dao's tone. He wants to feign ignorance! Haha, bully younger disciples? That is to say, you few, they won't pursue the matter? Hmm, where in the world can one find such a good deal?"
With a flick of his right hand, a short sword as transparent as crystal emerged from the hands of Miao Xianren. He swung it casually, and the heads of Xiugongzhu, Yajie, and four others rose high with a trail of blood light. The short sword let out a mournful wail, and the souls of the four were sucked into the sword, quickly torn to shreds by the fierce sword spirit nurtured inside the sword using evil methods, and swallowed as food.
"Haha, haha. This immortal can come and go as I please. What can you do to me?" The Miao Xian Ren lightly waved her hand, turning the small building into ashes, and slowly floated up into the sky on a cloud of pink mist. Her right hand wielded a short sword, creating fine streaks of cold light in the air. She sighed, "You're just a minor Daoist, you're not my match. Call out those cowards hiding in seclusion, or else no one here can withstand even one blow from me!"
A Taoist priest sneered a few times, clapped his hands lightly, and countless Taoists in the four directions simultaneously chanted a Taoist mantra, Eighteen Heavens
The Heavenly Net Array suddenly rose, covering the entire sky in all 360 degrees, with layer upon layer of bright halos wrapped around it. An invisible pressure descended from the sky, causing the Miao Xian Ren to frown and shout: "Heavenly Net Array? When did you complete the various flags needed for the formation? One thousand seven hundred years ago?"
A Taoist said calmly: "After all, it was a matter of one thousand seven hundred years ago. My friend, surrender obediently."
The Miao Xian Ren sneered and laughed a few times, his body twisted, and the transparent short sword on his right hand suddenly transformed into countless silver sword lights that were several feet long, swift and agile like a dragon, shooting out in all directions towards the nearby Daoists. The monks of the Yuan Zong simultaneously flew out a sword light to block the attack aimed at themselves.
Lin Xiao was also summoned by a silver sword light, and he unknowingly flew out the Red Dragon Sword, transforming into a red light over two zhang long to meet it. The silver sword light and the Red Dragon Sword only made brief contact, but a heavy pressure like a mountain came rushing forth, Lin Xiao groaned, his body rapidly retreating, with large amounts of fresh blood spraying from his seven orifices. His chest felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, with a fiery pain in his internal organs, the pain almost causing him to faint.
With a crisp sound, Lin Xiao's first flying sword, the Red Dragon Sword, was cut off by that silver sword light. Two scraps of iron fell from the sky with rolling flames, and Lin Xiao's mind suffered another heavy blow, spitting out a mouthful of bright red hot blood again.
Yao Jing loudly exclaimed: "Lin brother, your treasured sword! Why is your body covered in blood?" The Yao Jing stuck to Lin Xiao's shoulder suddenly swelled up and transformed into a human-head-sized ball, with countless tiny palms stretching out from it, rapidly wiping Lin Xiao's face clean.
Lin Xiao sat on the ground with a weak and helpless expression. He stared blankly at the Miao Xian Ren, who was manipulating thousands of silver lights in the sky, and finally understood the gap between himself and these top-notch cultivators. Lin Xiao's sword light, which he had poured all his energy into, was actually cut in two by a single ordinary sword light from the Miao Xian Ren, leaving him speechless. The gap between him, who had just formed his golden elixir, and the Miao Xian Ren, who was at the peak of the yuan shen stage, was simply too great, so great that Lin Xiao couldn't even imagine it.
Then. The Blood God Ancestor who can command a group of demons, how strong is his cultivation? If the Blood God Ancestor has already surpassed the Yuan Shen stage of cultivation, then...
"Is there still hope for revenge?" Lin Xiao's heart was filled with despair and coldness as he gazed at the Miao Xian Ren, who was driving the sword light in the air and forcing Yuan Zong's cultivators to gasp for breath. Suddenly, he let out a deep sigh. The Daoist suddenly shouted loudly: "Heavenly Net Earth Web, Illusion!"
The eighteen layers of the Tianluo Earth Web Array suddenly collapsed. Countless rays of light poured down, among which dozens of extremely large beams of light twisted and merged in mid-air, conjuring up a phoenix with a body length of nearly one hundred zhang covered in flames. At the same time, the bodies of nearly a thousand lower-ranking disciples of the Yuan Sect who had formed the Tianluo Earth Web Array on the periphery suddenly weakened, and they all fell to the ground.
A Taoist priest let out a long whistle, his hands formed a seal, and from his sleeve flew out a dazzling golden light. In the golden light, a large seal could be vaguely seen, which was smashed down on Miao Xianren's head.
At the same time, all the Yuan Zong first-generation elders present shot out various magical treasures from their hands, with dozens of treasure lights carrying a suffocatingly powerful force wave. They all smashed towards Miao Xian Ren.
In the air, that giant fire phoenix let out a soft cry towards the sky, its massive body suddenly condensed into several feet in length. With dazzling strong light, it shot towards Miao Xian Ren.
The fairy looked up at the sky and let out a long whistle, then loudly said: "This immortal is not afraid of you all, right? Look at this immortal's treasured defensive object - the Hundred Immortals' Carefree Bag!"
With a wave of his hand, a five-colored powder light flew out from the tip of his finger, accompanied by a beautiful melody. In the powder light, hundreds of naked beauties could be seen flying out, dancing and smiling foolishly. As they raised their hands and feet, countless soft pink lights were stirred up, and they welcomed the various colored treasures and the pure spiritual fire phoenix that was rushing towards them!
Just as Miao Xianren was about to rely on his own powerful and unmatched cultivation and the dozens of Yuan Zong elders to forcefully collide, a pure white jade-like hand with fingers spanning several inches suddenly appeared silently behind him. On this palm was pinched a two-foot-long red jade Ruyi. The Ruyi lightly shook, and struck Miao Xianren's brain stem with a fierce blow.
A loud, muffled sound. Miao Xianren was beaten so badly that he stumbled forward and ran wildly, spitting out a mouthful of blood, with true fire bursting from his seven orifices, but he was already dizzy and had lost control of the Xianyao Hundred Sages' Cauldron. Dozens of treasure lights almost simultaneously bombarded him, Miao Xianren's Taoist robes constantly emitting clusters of colorful light to desperately resist the invasion of various treasure lights. However, after all, it was a joint effort by dozens of Yuan Zong elders, and Miao Xianren had been ambushed from behind, so the colorful light on his body finally collapsed, and dozens of treasure lights bombarded him.
With a loud cracking sound, half of the Miao Xian Ren's body was smashed to pieces on the spot, leaving only the upper half of his body remaining.
The Miao Xianren was furious and shouted at the sky: "Xuan Luo, you old ghost! Your Yuan Zong claims to be a reputable and orthodox sect, how did you also learn to launch sneak attacks from behind?"
A smooth and oily voice echoed in the void: "Humans, will always change anyway. Why bother fighting you head-on?"
The Miao Xian Ren was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood, and dozens of golden rope shadows flew up to tie him up tightly.
"You despicable, shameless, and depraved bunch! You're a disgrace to the Orthodox Sect!" The Miao Xian Ren was bound by dozens of specially-made demonic ropes from the Xuan Zong, yet he still struggled and rolled around on the ground with all his might. His forehead bulged with blood vessels, his eyes were filled with bloody streaks, and powerful waves of magical energy surged out of his body, causing the ground within a radius of several dozen meters to tremble violently, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle. Within ten or so meters around Miao Xian Ren, turbulent waves of True Essence surged forth, as if they had taken on a life of their own, whipping up gale-force winds that made it hard for people to open their eyes, and stripping away thick layers of earth from the ground. Miao Xian Ren's Daoist robes were torn apart, his muscles bulging out in chunks, as he attempted to use his last ounce of True Essence to break free from the demonic ropes' control.
What's even more incredible is that as the Miao Xian Ren struggled, his shattered body was rapidly growing new tissue from the wreckage. A faint pink glow flickered and circulated, and in just an instant, the Miao Xian Ren's body had restored itself to its original state, except that his complexion had become even paler, almost translucent.
A Taoist priest let out a cold snort, and with a flick of his sleeve, a white-bearded Taoist immediately pulled out a purple talisman from his sleeve, about one foot two inches long and two inches wide. He took big strides towards the Miao Xian Ren. The closer he got to the Miao Xian Ren, the slower his pace became. When he was less than three zhang away from the Miao Xian Ren, just as he took another step forward, the Miao Xian Ren suddenly turned around and shot out a blast of energy at him. The energy was like a steel pillar that slammed into the white-bearded Taoist's body, blasting his body out of a transparent hole the size of a bowl, sending it flying dozens of zhang away.
"What a powerful cultivation!" Lin Xiao's body was excitedly trembling. This white-bearded Daoist, whose Dao number had just been established, was one of the few top masters who had cultivated their yuan Shen to perfection. Such a master was actually severely injured by Miao Xianren's single true yuan strike, this kind of cultivation was truly astonishing. The difference between the late stage of yuan Shen and the ordinary yuan Shen period was really huge, leaving people speechless.
He took a deep breath, and Lin Xiao couldn't help but feel a little downhearted. Perhaps he also needed to have the kind of cultivation that Miao Xianren had in order to more easily achieve his goals. However, was it really that easy to reach the peak of late-stage Yuan Shen? In the Yuan Sect, which had hundreds of thousands of people, there were no more than fifty experts at the Yuan Shen stage, and as for those who possessed the power of the peak of the Yuan Shen stage... perhaps only a few seniors like Xuan Luo Dao Ren, who had been in closed-door meditation for years.
One of the Daoists snorted coldly: "The Miao Xian Ren is indeed extraordinary, having fallen to such a state, yet still has such prestige." One of the Daoists picked up the talisman that Chengdao Ren had dropped and slowly walked towards Miao Xian Ren, intending to personally take action and use this specially made soul-calming spell to suppress Miao Xian Ren's primordial spirit.
One step, two steps, three steps. A Taoist nun cautiously approached the Miao Xian Ren. With a careful and cautious heart, she followed behind the Taoist nun at a distance of about ten feet. Her hands had a soft glow flashing on them, and her left hand was even holding a bottle of spiritual elixir, ready to rescue people at any time. The old Taoist who was lying on the side receiving treatment from his fellow disciples couldn't help but feel a bit resentful, pouting: "We are all fellow disciples and siblings, why is it that One Heart Shifu treats us so unfairly? Hmm, women being biased is understandable, but this is just too much."
The Miao Xian Ren saw a group of Taoists slowly approaching, and he stopped struggling. He lay on the ground, staring at the group with a strange green glow in his eyes, and a low hum of incantations began to emanate from all directions, like the buzzing of millions of flies. The sound was so annoying that it seemed to be tearing apart Lin Xiang's brain, making his temples throb.
