This was the Taoist Sect’s ancient Forbidden Technique, the "Dragon Nailing Technique." It had become completely useless with the disappearance of the world’s Spiritual Qi, but now that it was being used again, it carried with it a grandeur from two thousand years past.
With every "dragon" he nailed, Bi Yuan’s face grew a shade paler, while hundreds of miles away, Xu Yunfan’s physical body began to glow with a Profound Yellow sheen as his Ten Extremes True Qi surged violently.
Just as Bi Yuan reached a critical juncture, the sound of Brahma Sound and Buddhist prayers drifted up the mountain path.
Three eminent monks from Mituo Temple arrived, treading through the air. True Qi coiled around them, transforming into illusory Golden Lotuses that bloomed one after another beneath their feet.
Bi Yuan glanced sideways, his eyebrows raised slightly.
Three Supreme Grandmasters of the Ninth Realm.
"Those bald donkeys from Mituo Temple..."
Not far away, Chang Mei Lao Dao, who was sitting cross-legged on a stone platform to stand guard, frowned slightly, a look of surprise on his face.
’Have these monks gotten this arrogant after only a century?’
He watched as the three eminent monks from Mituo Temple landed atop Qingwei Mountain.
The monk in the lead, Ci Ku, had a face like withered wood, with a crimson, fleshy nodule between his eyebrows. He was draped in a Brocade Kasaya and held an Eight-Treasure Purple Gold Zen Staff.
The monk on the left, Ci Nan, was built like a bear. Around his neck hung a string of one hundred and eight Human Skull Beads, the surface of each bead engraved with a Wan symbol as a Blood Curse.
With each breath he took, Vajra True Qi materialized around him, causing the Bronze Lamps on the edge of the Magic Altar to vibrate with a low hum.
The monk on the right, Ci’e, was a dwarf, yet he shouldered a Demon-Slaying Pestle taller than himself.
The Sariputra embedded in the pestle’s head erupted with a blinding Buddha Light, shining so brightly that the Runes on the Magic Altar seemed to be melting away.
"Sect Leader Bi!"
Ci Ku’s voice boomed like a great bell. "Your Taoist Sect has forcefully drained the Great Zhou Dragon Vein, causing earthquakes and Mountain Collapse in the northwest and leaving the people homeless! Do you not fear retribution for such a heaven-defying act?"
Before his words had even faded, the three monks simultaneously formed the Vajra Demon Suppression Seal. Sanskrit characters manifested as golden chains that lashed out toward the Kan Li Cauldron.
Bi Yuan sneered. Drawing upon the power accumulated by the Magic Altar, he swung his Peach Wood Sword, unleashing a brilliant flash of light that repelled the chains. "Earthquakes in the northwestern Three States? I fear it was your Mituo Temple that collapsed an Earth Palace while digging for Ancient Buddha Relics, was it not?"
His blade’s tip suddenly shifted toward Ci’e. "And this Sariputra on your Demon-Slaying Pestle... why does it look as if it were refined from a skull using my Daoist Sect’s ’Jade Pillow Locking Essence’ technique?"
Though it seemed they were only clashing with words, they had, in fact, already deployed their Secret Martial Arts.
Three of the Bone Beads on Ci Nan’s necklace silently cracked open, and several wisps of Black Qi flew out, burrowing into the Earth Vein in an attempt to cut off the flow of Profound Yellow Qi.
A Bronze Compass in Bi Yuan’s sleeve suddenly spun in reverse. The Tianlang Star on its face lit up, activating the Seven Killings Evil Extermination Array that had been laid on the mountaintop and shredding the wisps of Black Qi to nothing.
Bi Yuan’s brows furrowed. ’These monks trying to sabotage me the moment they arrive is truly infuriating.’
Just as he was about to release his Peach Wood Sword, roll up his sleeves, and step forward...
Three bell tolls suddenly rang out from the depths of Qingwei Mountain.
A surge of Sword Qi shot up from Celestial Sword Peak, cleaving a ravine through the clouds that stretched for several miles. An old man in linen robes appeared, sword in hand. It was Ling Xiao Zi, the Supreme Elder of the Taoist Sect’s Sword Vein. The Longsword he held was "Remnant Edge," the very blade that had once beheaded the abbot of Mituo Temple. As a faint light rippled across its edge, it exuded the faint presence of a Tier Eight Divine Weapon.
As the Sword Qi saturated the air, a fine crack suddenly split across the purple-gold alms bowl in Ci Ku’s hand. He was horrified to find that his Vajra Indestructible Body, the fruit of a century of hard cultivation, was actually aching from the formless Sword Intent.
"Ling Xiao Zi?! You’re still alive?"
Ling Xiao Zi snorted coldly. "You’ve all been living like turtles hiding in your shells. Did you really think I’d be in my grave already?"
"Amitabha Buddha..."
Ci Ku gritted his teeth and retracted his Zen Staff. "Since our friends from the Taoist Sect are occupied, we monks shall return another day to discuss the Buddhist Dharma."
"So pointless..."
Watching the three monks from Mituo Temple—Ci Ku, Ci Nan, and Ci’e—beat a hasty retreat, the linen-robed old man snorted coldly, stroking the sword in his hand with a hint of regret.
"My sword hasn’t tasted blood in decades."
If a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Supreme Grandmaster was determined to leave, it was very difficult to stop them.
Moreover, the Taoist Sect was at a critical juncture. The Mituo Temple monks would not have picked a fight they weren’t prepared for. Forcing a confrontation would likely create an opening for them to exploit.
Bi Yuan’s expression was grim. "Those three," he said, "were probably here to test us. To see how far along we are."
-----------------
As dusk settled, three figures cloaked in the fading sunlight came to a halt beneath a withered willow beside the main road.
Wisps of Black Qi seeped from the crack in Ci Ku’s Zen Staff, bleaching the wild grass at his feet a ghostly gray-white.
He stroked the crack on his Zen Staff, a wound carved by the formless Sword Intent, and cold sweat beaded in the deep furrows of his brow. "To think the Taoist Sect would swallow such a provocation... That old Daoist Bi Yuan has clearly suffered a backlash from the Dragon Nailing Technique, yet he’d rather sacrifice his own life force than show any weakness."
"If you ask me, we should have just mobilized the Eighteen Arhat Formation and stormed Qingwei Mountain!"
Ci Nan snapped three Bone Beads from his neck, clearing away the honeycomb-like holes that the Black Qi had corroded into them. "The Luotian Grand Sacrifice is draining the very foundation of the Great Zhou’s Dragon Vein, three hundred years’ worth! If the Taoist Sect gets to feast, why can’t Mituo Temple have a bite?"
"Careful now!"
Ci’e suddenly said in a low voice.
A flock of crows suddenly burst from the treetops in alarm.
Seven dark figures emerged from the shadows like drifting ash. The one in the lead was an old eunuch, his face pale and hairless, with a crimson blood seal tattooed between his brows.
His fingernails, black and hooked, traced circles on the Demon-Slaying Pestle in Ci’e’s hands. "What fiery tempers you three masters have... Have you forgotten His Majesty’s instructions?"
"Eunuch Cui."
Ci Ku placed his palms together in a salute. "The ’Profound Yin Soul Slaying Saber’ that His Majesty agreed to lend us—did you bring it?"
A hunchbacked eunuch stepped out from behind the old eunuch, Cui Yu, and untied a yellow cloth-wrapped package from his back.
As he unwrapped it, a single-edged saber, as black as ink, was revealed to them.
The hunchbacked eunuch cackled sinisterly. "This is a Divine Weapon the previous dynasty forged for the purpose of felling mountains and destroying temples. It specializes in breaking the True Qi of the Daoist Sect. It’s a shame they were overthrown by our Great Zhou before they ever had a chance to use it..."
"It’s not enough."
Ci’e interrupted abruptly. "That old monster Ling Xiao Zi has already reached the realm of Sword Qi Transformation. This won’t be enough unless you bring out the Buddha Relics from the Imperial Mausoleum."
"Watch your tongue!"
Cui Yu’s expression remained placid. "His Majesty can tacitly allow you to take a share of the Dragon Vein Xuanhuang Qi. But as for the Buddha Relics... your show of good faith is still insufficient!"
From behind the withered willow came the sound of dragging chains.
A burly man in a Bronze mask stepped out of the shadows, the seven Tiger Talismans hanging from his waist clinking together. It was Yan Tieshan, commander of the Northern Palace Six Armies, in charge of Jian Nan Dao.
He kicked aside a young eunuch blocking his path, earning a venomous glare from the hunchbacked eunuch off to the side.
With the Great Zhou now turtled up in the Jade Capital Dao, men like this had grown increasingly lawless. But in order to borrow their power, Cui Yu had no choice but to tolerate it.
Yan Tieshan ignored him and tossed a rolled-up sheepskin map into Ci Ku’s arms. "Nine miles northwest of Qingwei Mountain, there’s an abandoned mine. The previous dynasty called it the ’Profound Nether Eye.’ I had some of those Tufu Zi from Bei Mang Mountain take a look. It’s connected to one of the Taoist Sect’s Earth Veins. If it were to be severed..."
"The Taoist Sect declared that area a forbidden zone long ago."
Ci Nan crushed the edge of the map, his face a mask of conflict.
"There are definitely Taoist Sect masters stationed there."
"I have a plan," Ci Ku said.
"That boy’s True Qi is already nearing a state of flawless integration, but there must be a moment of stagnation when the Profound Yellow energy is poured into his body..."
The hunchbacked eunuch suddenly interjected, "The Ritual Department’s newly developed ’Thousand Mechanisms Powder’ is designed precisely for Nine Realms Qi Cultivation. It can make a person’s True Qi flow in reverse for three breaths!"
"Three breaths? That’s enough time for me to crush his skull! Just let me at him when the time comes."
*(There should be another Chapter later. I think. Still writing...)*