Chapter 267: Heaven Round, Earth Square, Nine Articles of the Law!

The yellow paper umbrella in the old Daoist’s hand radiated a gentle light, shielding him from the whispers of evil spirits. Just moments ago, having fallen prey to Duku’s sneak attack, his aura was slightly diminished.

“Out of the Bare Body Sect’s Four Heavenly Kings, three of you came just to kill

me

. Truly, you’ve gone to great lengths!” the old Daoist said in a deep voice.

The old monk Duku smiled. “The Celestial Master’s fame shakes the world. Were it not for Sudu’s eccentric temperament, all four of us would be here now to send you on your journey.”

Lord Sudu[1] was a peculiar figure within the Bare Body Sect, who was neither fully righteous nor wholly evil. Several murderous demonic cultivators of the sect had died at his hands.

Of course, the reasons for their deaths were not “killing” or “practicing evil arts.” Rather, it might be because he stepped into a doorway with his left foot first, or because his accent was too thick. He was a troublesome man to both righteous and demonic sects alike.

“Someone once told me the Bare Body Sect’s dogs wouldn’t fight so clean, that they’d surely have a trick in reserve. I thought at least the

previous

generation of Heavenly Kings were men of some character, so this generation wouldn’t stoop too low... but I see I was wrong...” The old Daoist clicked his tongue.

Lord Gufeng’s expression darkened, and the eyes of Lord Corpse Matron burned with fury.

Only Duku remained calm, smiling faintly. “The Celestial Master’s words are as sharp as ever, like swords and sabers. Unfortunately, after today, I will have no more chances to hear such teachings.”

Three of the Kingdom of Qian’s great Demonic Dao powers, the three Heavenly Kings of the Bare Body Sect, encircled the old Daoist.

Lord Corpse Matron’s eyes gleamed sharply with a hint of anticipation in them. “If we kill the Celestial Master today, the Bare Body Sect’s name will resound across the world again!”

The old Daoist’s eyes widened, his beard and hair bristling. “Just

you lot

?!”

This old Daoist of Mount Longhu raised his hands and formed a stance. One hand thrust outward, while the other drew inward. In an instant, the snowstorm above whirled into a massive vortex, then plunged down.

Boom!

Three enormous tornadoes roared to life, lifting a storm of sand and stone.

The old Daoist, seizing the momentum, let his aura surge sky-high. The giant tornadoes then swept toward Lord Corpse Matron, Lord Gufeng, and the demonic monk Duku.

Lord Gufeng’s long hair was whipped into disarray by the raging wind. Beneath his middle-aged features, there was suddenly a trace of age and frailty, and his hair turned gray!

The overwhelming force of Heaven and Earth had shattered the dark longevity technique he relied upon.

“Good strike!”

Lord Gufeng was the most bloodthirsty of them all. For this very battle, he had even used Corpse-Refining Arts to restore his severed arm.

He took a deep breath, and that huge, twisted human face reappeared in the sky, its malice and yin qi surging to the extreme. It forcibly blocked the tornado’s advance.

Lord Corpse Matron, his massive frame taut with muscle, bent his legs and launched himself upward, smashing into the dragon-tornado and tearing it apart by brute force.

Meanwhile, the demonic monk Duku pressed his palms together, and behind him appeared a deep, shadowy gate. It swallowed the tornado whole, its destination unknown.

Bang!

The old Daoist tapped the tip of his toe and appeared right in front of Lord Gufeng, thrusting out a palm. Ripples visible to the naked eye spread outward.

He was a formally ordained Daoist priest of Mount Longhu, not some wandering martial artist. This palm was exquisitely profound, and Lord Gufeng’s body was struck backward ten full zhang.

Purple and azure qi swirled, sealing off the vast yin qi surrounding him. A giant sword formed from his white silk ribbon appeared in the old Daoist’s hand, thrusting straight for Lord Gufeng’s chest. He meant to kill Lord Gufeng first and break the three-man encirclement!

“Turn back, and you may still have a chance to survive[2]!” the voice of the demonic monk Duku rang out.

Amid the whispers of a hundred ghosts, the sound of Sanskrit chanting arose. The terrifying sword of condensed spirit power suddenly halted in midair.

Bang!

Lord Corpse Matron, truly enraged now, threw a punch that shattered the air, aiming directly for the old Daoist’s vital spot between the shoulder sabers.

The yellow paper umbrella could shield his body and soul, but Lord Corpse Matron’s attack was not to be underestimated. If he were injured and trapped inside their encirclement, the endless barrage of sinister sorcery would truly destroy his foundation.

The old Daoist turned, abandoning his attempt to slay Lord Gufeng, and slashed at Lord Corpse Matron instead.

A Daoist priest’s manifested techniques carried tremendous power, but his flesh was no different from an ordinary man’s, so he had to guard himself carefully, never trading life for life.

This was unlike Li Yanchu, whose body housed the strength of a dragon and elephant, giving him a martial artist’s domineering physique. His fighting style could be far more reckless.

Clang!

Lord Corpse Matron was driven back by that sword strike. Duku wore an expression of sorrowful compassion, his mouth chanting Sanskrit verses. But this Sanskrit was devoid of any grand or merciful intent, it was filled instead with a soul-stealing, spirit-seizing demonic power.

Dark clouds pressed overhead, turning the place into a hellish ghost domain.

Countless hideous dead beings, beheaded ghosts, waist-severed ghosts, flayed ghosts, and incinerated ghosts, crawled up from the ground. Empowered by the Sanskrit chant, their ghostly qi grew ever more chilling. Then, they swarmed toward the old Daoist.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The white giant sword of spirit power in the old Daoist’s hands slashed down again and again, cutting apart these vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts, as well as the

jiangshi

and walking corpses commanded by Lord Corpse Matron.

Even so, he was being forced into a disadvantage.

Lord Gufeng and Lord Corpse Matron joined forces to keep him entangled, giving the demonic monk Duku a perfect environment to unleash his deadly chant.

The old Daoist’s brows furrowed.

If it were just Lord Corpse Matron alone, he’d be easier to handle, but with the addition of Lord Gufeng’s vicious killing style, he was now thoroughly bogged down.

Lord Gufeng’s curses were nearly impossible to guard against, draining the old Daoist’s spirit power greatly.

“Celestial Master Zhang, today Mount Wu will be your burial ground! Excellent, refine him into a living corpse and make him a guardian of our Bare Body Sect! I’d like to see how Mount Longhu reacts then!”

The shrieking ghosts came surging at the old Daoist.

Suddenly, he pinched a talisman between his fingers and began to chant:

“Heaven round, Earth square[3]; the nine[4] articles of law enacted; filth cleansed, wicked spirits shattered! Swiftly, in accordance with the command!”

He spat a breath of pure qi toward the mass of savage spirits before him.

A stream of pure energy burst from his mouth, sweeping through the ghostly horde, and in an instant, they turned to ash!

Duku’s face instantly went pale; his soul-stealing chant faltered to a halt.

Lord Gufeng’s body was swept by the same pure qi, injuring his very foundation. Meanwhile, Lord Corpse Matron, being an ancient corpse turned spirit, was less affected by this ghost-dispelling energy. Being a veteran combatant, he seized the opportunity to pounce.

Clang!

A resounding bell tolls through Heaven and Earth.

The yellow paper umbrella flared with soft light, shuddering violently as Lord Corpse Matron hammered punch after punch into it. The old Daoist’s face went ashen, fresh blood soaking the front of his robes.

At this time, the three from the Bare Body Sect all felt their spirits lift. Indeed, none of them alone could stand against a Celestial Master of Mount Longhu, but with the three of them working in concert, their combined arts restrained him completely.

The thought of killing a Celestial Master made their blood surge with excitement. Even the ever-serene Duku could not help but reveal a trace of delight.

Damn it! This time, things might go completely wrong!

The old Daoist’s brows furrowed. He had originally thought that even with Gufeng and Corpse Matron joining forces, he had an eighty-percent chance of killing them.

That kid Li Yanchu had offered to help him slay these villains, but he had ultimately refused, insisting instead that he escort the high monk’s relics to Jinguang Temple.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Otherwise, he would at least have had another ally here.

The old Daoist formed a hand seal, casting a secret art of Mount Longhu, forcing the three enemies back several zhang.

Inwardly, he fully understood his current predicament.

“Even if that kid came now, how could he possibly be a match for the Bare Body Sect’s Heavenly Kings?”

1. The name 苏都 (Sūdū) is ambiguous in tone, fitting for a figure whose nature straddles light and shadow. 苏 (sū) can mean “to revive” or “to awaken,” suggesting renewal or deliverance, while 都 (dū) may denote a metropolis, entirety, or even carry a faint echo of “capital/seat.” Taken together, the name can be read as “reviving all” or “the awakening capital,” a lofty, almost righteous-sounding title. Yet, when borne by a demonic cultivator of the Bare Body Sect, the name takes on ironic weight: a man who brings death to his own sect’s murderous cultivators, but not out of pure righteousness. ☜

2. The phrase 回头是岸 (huítóu shì àn) is a well-known Buddhist proverb, literally meaning “turn your head and there is the shore.” It likens human life to drifting in the boundless sea of suffering (saṃsāra), where continuing to follow delusion only leads further into peril. By “turning back,” one finds the safety of the shore, an exhortation to repent, abandon evil, and seek liberation. ☜

3. “Heaven is round, Earth is square” (天圆地方) is an early cosmological view in ancient Chinese culture. It originated in archaic myths, particularly creation myths, and gradually developed into a cosmology that unified understandings of space and time, yin–yang dialectics, shape, and motion.

The idea of “Heaven round, Earth square” belongs to the Gai Tian theory (蓋天說, “Canopy Heaven theory”), one of the three major cosmological systems of ancient China, alongside the Hun Tian theory (渾天說, “Spherical Heaven theory”) and the Xuan Ye theory (宣夜說, “Expansive Night theory”).

This cosmology emphasized the interconnected unity of Heaven, Earth, humanity, and all things. It was a dynamic, not static, worldview, combining elements of primitive religion with numerological reasoning. Later, it was distilled into the doctrine of the unity of Heaven and humanity (天人合一). Under this worldview, ancestors maintained profound reverence toward Heaven and Earth, which evolved into the perspectives represented in the Book of Changes (Zhou Yi) and the Dao De Jing. These ideas permeated Chinese thought, forming the foundation of classical Chinese philosophy, guiding the trajectory of Chinese civilization, and leaving a far-reaching influence.

Since antiquity, this conception of “Heaven round, Earth square,” born from observations of the world, has deeply marked Chinese philosophy, politics, and culture. It also became a cultural symbol, widely embodied in material forms such as architecture (e.g., the Temple of Heaven in Beijing), coinage (round coins with square holes), and artifacts (such as Han dynasty bronze mirrors). ☜

4. In Chinese, the number ‘nine’ represents the greatest yang number, longevity, and supreme authority, and it is closely associated with concepts such as long life, auspiciousness, and good fortune. It holds extraordinary significance in traditional culture ☜