Chapter 412: Grandmaster, Save Me! A Grain of Light Dares Compete with the Sun and Moon!

Second Master Liu cupped his hands slightly toward the two before him.

“This place is steeped in filth and corruption. I truly had no knowledge of it before, and being old and frail, I’ve no wish to be entangled in such strife. I shall take my leave.”

With that, he ignored them both, turned, and departed.

Although his steps were slow, and he looked as if he might collapse and die at any moment, he suddenly appeared several dozen zhang away with just a few strides, harnessing the power of the Qimen Eight Trigrams[1] to quickly leave the area.

“Young people today are full of vigor and impulsiveness,” he murmured with a faint smile. “Though I knew nothing of this beforehand, tongues will wag all the same. Best to withdraw while I can.”

Having roamed the

jianghu

for decades, Second Master Liu could tell at a glance that this young Daoist possessed an exceptionally heavy killing aura and a cold, resolute temperament. His methods were decisive and domineering.

He feared neither lofty, arrogant prodigies, nor old monsters shrouded in scheming. It was precisely

this

kind of youth that made him uneasy, the sort to flip the table at the slightest provocation, disdaining intrigue, charging straight ahead!

He might appear courteous and composed, but in truth, his every edge was sharp, untamed, and utterly fearless.

Men like that... nine times out of ten died young. And those who survived were best kept far, far away!

After Second Master Liu’s departure, the two remaining men exchanged a glance, then escorted the noblewoman, Chen Yun’er, to safety.

Meanwhile, Li Yanchu advanced into the Daoist temple, saber in hand. Earlier, his Qi Sight had detected faint, tangled traces of life force, surely the women afflicted by the beast-transformation spell.

Following the same procedure, he cast the Calming Heart Mantra to break the seals binding their bodies.

Just then, two Daoists appeared, blocking his path.

“Impudent wretch! How dare you trespass upon our sacred ground!”

“Thief, prepare to die!”

They struck immediately, summoning spirits and invoking ghosts. Yellow talismans flashed as they slapped them onto their foreheads.

At once, their bodies swelled, and their muscles knotted and bulged with explosive strength.

Crack!

One of them shattered a stone pillar weighing a thousand catties, hoisted it up, and charged at Li Yanchu in a violent rush!

The other moved with agility, leaping from the shadows like an old mountain ape, attacking from the opposite side. The two clearly practiced combination techniques, as their coordination was flawless.

“Inviting a spirit to possess you?” Li Yanchu sneered.

He caught the thousand-catty stone pillar with one hand, and with the other, he seized the second Daoist’s head, then smashed the two together!

Boom!

The pillar cracked apart. Blood streamed down the man’s face as his eyes flared with rage, as he lashed out with a whip kick aimed straight at Li Yanchu’s neck!

Bang!

The strike was fast, heavy, and sharp enough to split the air with a sonic boom. Li Yanchu pivoted and countered with his own whip kick, meeting the possessed Daoist head-on!

Crack!

The sharp sound made one’s teeth ache. The man was sent flying, his leg shattered and mangled beyond recognition.

Still, the Daoist was tough; he didn’t make a sound, though his heart was filled with disbelief. The spirit he’d invited was a ghost general of the underworld, a fiend who had slaughtered countless souls in life and become a wrathful spectre in death with immense killing aura.

And yet, that borrowed body’s leg had been broken in a direct clash!?

He roared and lunged again, both fists striking out in a textbook martial style, aiming for Li Yanchu’s chest and jaw. At the same time, the other possessed Daoist raised the stone pillar high and brought it crashing down!

Li Yanchu stepped forward and punched.

Divine Astral Hands!

Cannon Fist!

BOOM!

The Daoist with the shattered leg was blasted apart by the explosive force, and his body was reduced to a cloud of blood mist!

Crack!

The thousand-catty pillar splintered against the thick qi barrier surrounding Li Yanchu’s body.

The remaining Daoist, seeing this, turned pale with terror. He hurled the broken pillar aside and fled without a glance back, even as he pulled a bundle of incense from his sleeve, shoved it into his mouth, and swallowed it whole.

Then he drew out a yellow talisman. The talisman ignited on its own without the help of any wind or spark, then he snatched it up and swallowed it too!

Instantly, his eyes became twin balls of blazing fire.

“Ancestral Master, save me! Elder Lord Zhai suffers calamity this day. I beg you, Grandmaster, take action!” the Daoist’s voice thundered through the temple.

RUMBLE!

The ground quaked violently, as though a dragon beneath the earth had begun to stir. A celestial melody seemed to echo in his ears, mingled with the chanting voices of Daoist priests.

From the clouds descended a being, an immortal garbed in robes of gold and purple, floating through the air with a whisk in hand. His bearing was otherworldly and ethereal, the very image of a celestial sage. He was enormous, standing over three

zhang

tall, looking down upon Li Yanchu from on high.

The women who had just been rescued immediately felt the crushing aura that poured from him. Their faces went pale as they collapsed to their knees.

But they were not alone; Zuo Qian and the ferryman, too, dropped to the ground with a thud.

“An... immortal!?” the ferryman gasped.

The celestial tones rang louder in his ears, washing his heart in unnatural calm and peace, a feeling almost divine.

“Why do you not kneel when faced with an Immortal!?” the figure in the gold-and-purple robes spoke coldly.

A vast and oppressive might, as heavy as heaven and earth itself, pressed down on Li Yanchu’s shoulders.

The voice seemed to reach deep into his soul, as if it was a force from another plane, vast and overwhelmingly grand.

Li Yanchu’s expression hardened; his eyes grew cold.

So this Elder Lord Zhai has such a hidden backer? He concealed it well indeed.

Hearing the so-called immortal’s words, he gave a chilling laugh.

“An immortal? You dare call yourself that, you wretched fraud!?”

The immortal’s hair and beard flared, his sword-brows shooting upward.

“Impudent brat!”

He raised his palm and...

BOOM!

A colossal hand materialized and struck downward with suffocating force, as if the heavens themselves had turned against him.

Clang!

Li Yanchu swung his saber, and the giant hand vanished into smoke and nothingness!

The so-called immortal in gold and purple robes gave a cold snort and began to chant the Daoist scripture, “Scripture of Infinite Salvation.” It was one of the ancient classics of the Daoist canon, ordinarily used to guide wandering souls into reincarnation, to dispel disasters and avert calamity.

But now, the immortal’s recitation carried a sinister twist, a force that tugged directly at the soul.

In an instant, the eyes of Zuo Qian, the ferryman, and the rescued women turned dull and vacant. Had a Daoist with Heaven’s Eye or a Buddhist with Dharma Sight been present, they would have seen the truth: the people’s primordial spirits were rising out of their bodies, half-detached, swaying between flesh and void.

Li Yanchu’s gaze turned to ice; killing intent flared in his eyes. From his robes, a yellow talisman blazed with brilliant light.

“I now invoke the divine might of Huo Luo General, the great Spirit Officer and Supreme Enforcer of Heavenly Punishment. Command the Five Lightning to issue their decrees, and reduce all demons, evildoers, and malevolent spirits to dust. I humbly beseech your descent, and grant me the power of lightning to shield and protect. Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, activate!”

A vast, majestic surge of pure

yang

divine energy descended from the heavens, enveloping Li Yanchu. At the same time, a towering figure six

zhang

tall, clad in golden armor, and wielding a golden mace manifested beside him in radiant glory.

The immortal’s chanting stopped at once; the drifting souls snapped back into their bodies. He stared in astonishment at the golden apparition.

“A mere grain of light, and you dare compete with the sun and moon!?”

Li Yanchu’s voice rang out like thunder, “We’ll see whose light endures!”

He brought the golden mace down with a crash.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion split the air. The immortal’s five-colored radiance shattered instantly, and his vast body was hurled backward, crashing to the ground, his condition unknown.

1. The Qimen Eight Trigrams is an ancient military array arranged according to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) diagram, traditionally said to have been created by Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period based on the principles of the Nine Palaces, the Eight Trigrams, and the Five Elements. The modern reconstructed complex is located at the northern end of the temple terrace corridor, with an octagonal Bagua pavilion at its center. Built in the 1990s and covering 2,873 square meters, it is now used for recreation and fitness. The formation is designed according to the Wen Wang Bagua, constructed with blue bricks in formations such as the “Heroes Formation” and “Long Snake Formation,” and includes the eight gates—Rest, Life, Injury, and Block—to pre-set paths that would deplete the combat effectiveness of cavalry. ☜