Chapter 479: Hidden Immortal Artifact! Six Souls Banner! Heavenly King Sudu? Human-Skin litter!

Just now, her consciousness was aware, but a chilling aura had taken control of it, forcing her toward the litter against her will. In her primordial spirit state, she clearly saw that the litter was stitched together from human skin, drenched in fresh blood; it was truly horrifying.

The night owl, or rather the cat-headed bird, peered out with cruel greed. If she had been pulled closer, it was highly likely she would have been devoured by that owl in an instant.

Fortunately, Li Yanchu had rescued her. Li Yanchu’s intervention directly alerted the woman inside the litter.

Just then, the beautiful bride glanced coldly at Li Yanchu. She seemed familiar to him, as if he had seen her in a celestial domain or Blissful Land. But he didn’t dwell on it; back then he had been at the peak of his cultivation, unstoppable against humans and ghosts alike, so the memory wasn’t deeply etched.

Now, the bride looked at him again, her eyes radiating murderous intent, and simultaneously a strange primordial spirit attack was launched at him!

Above Li Yanchu’s head, a black-and-white Taiji diagram appeared. In an instant, the area around him turned into ink-wash colors, shielding the people behind him. A stream of ink-colored energy shot forward, destroying the bride’s spirit attack.

With that, the bride was struck as if by lightning. Her delicate makeup was suddenly soaked in blood, and her primordial spirit had been injured.

This was none other than Heavenly King[1] Sudu[2], one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Bare Body Sect.

She had entered this mysterious Liu ancestral hall to retrieve a powerful magical artifact, the very core that maintained the operation of the entire ancestral hall: the Six Souls Banner. She had learned of its location by accident and, with the aid of a special item, entered the ancestral hall.

Originally, the red bridal litter contained a young, beautiful bride who had died tragically before marriage, her hatred and resentment extreme, making her one of the most ferocious ghosts in this eerie town.

Moreover, she had her own complete team: each of the ghostly litter bearers was a fierce spirit. The drums and gongs they carried were special underworld instruments, capable of influencing human souls. The overall combat power of this wedding procession was among the top in the entire mysterious town.

Heavenly King Sudu initially planned to enter the ancestral hall and seize the Six Souls Banner, aiming to control its immense power. But she soon realized it wasn’t that simple.

The Six Souls Banner was indeed powerful. Although it influenced the formation of the Liu ancestral hall, the hall and the town itself had become a special existence, sustaining themselves even without the banner.

Within the ancestral hall was a powerful ghostly figure, called

Phantom

. She had briefly fought it and realized its abilities were extremely strange and nearly impossible to kill, so Heavenly King Sudu quickly retreated.

She then found another powerful ghost in the town and, using her special item, possessed it. Ordinary people might be possessed by ghosts, and even cultivators could sometimes be controlled by spirits. But a living person possessing a ghost’s body, turning its yang essence into yin, was unheard of. Yet Heavenly King Sudu accomplished it.

However, she had just taken over the ghost’s body, creating a special existence and could not fully master its power yet. Her plan was to use this body to seize the

Phantom

’s control over the ancestral hall, then fully merge with the ghostly body. Once that happened, she would likely break through to the third realm.

At that point, Heavenly King Sudu would no longer risk losing her chance to anyone, gaining immense power to act according to her will.

Boom!

Li Yanchu’s primordial spirit manifestation released another stream of ink-colored energy, smashing a hole straight through the human-skin litter.

Seeing this, Heavenly King Sudu’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Again, it’s you!” she growled.

At the same time, a flicker of surprise crossed her mind.

This young Daoist, even here in this town, possessed such immense power, truly a monster!

The litter she rode in was a powerful underworld artifact, capable of suppressing ghosts. Yet this young Daoist had punched right through it in a single strike.

“This primordial spirit manifestation... why does it look so familiar?”

Her thoughts spun rapidly, and suddenly she realized something. “Mount Longhu Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram Visualization Method!?”

Heavenly King Sudu shouted in shock, “This boy must be killed, or he will become a grave threat!”

A strange aura flickered in her eyes as she also noticed that Li Yanchu currently lacked the overwhelming blood and qi he had before, and hadn’t even used any powerful magical artifacts.

This was the perfect opportunity. If she didn’t kill him here, once he left this town, and she had not yet consolidated her Yin Spirit into a Yang Spirit, she would still be stuck at the threshold of the second realm, and would likely stand no chance against this young Daoist.

Previously, this young Daoist had wreaked havoc in the celestial domain, easily suppressing Arhat manifestations and Taotie primordial spirits.

Meanwhile, the litter bearers beat their gongs and drums more cheerfully, though their eyes were full of malice, giving off a creepy impression.

Shrill, demonic music filled the air, and surrounding houses shook and rattled with every beat. Winds full of malevolent energy swirled as if countless ghostly figures were struggling to escape, creating an oppressively terrifying atmosphere.

Fortunately, Zhang Wei and the others were shielded by Li Yanchu’s primordial spirit manifestation, and the specialized Taiji Yin-Yang visualization further protected them. Otherwise, the strange gong and drum sounds might have dispersed their primordial spirits instantly.

Although Li Yanchu didn’t understand why the living-dead bride in the litter harbored such murderous intent toward him, encountering a ghost that wanted to kill you was not unusual in a town crawling with spirits.

Then, he controlled the Taiji diagram above his head, and a stream of ink-colored energy shot out.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three litter bearers were immediately obliterated, their souls dissipating into nothingness. Even among primordial spirit manifestations, such power was extremely rare, truly supremely suppressive. The reason the old Celestial Master was able to roam the world freely and achieve Yang Spirit at an early age is closely tied to this powerful visualization technique.

The eerie sounds of

suona

and drums were shattered, but that did not stop the remaining litter bearers from continuing their attacks on Li Yanchu. Moreover, the sounds grew sharper, as if needles were piercing his mind.

Daoist art: Transference Technique!

Li Yanchu performed the profound technique recorded in the

Yellow Court Classic

, redirecting the incoming damage.

Then, another stream of ink-colored energy shot forward.

Boom! Boom!

He clashed with this mysterious bride, obliterating the eerie-faced, pale-skinned litter bearers one by one, their souls scattering into nothingness. The human-skin litter itself was reduced to a shattered wreck.

At this moment, both inside and outside the Liu ancestral hall, earth-shattering explosions and sounds of battle rang out.

Meanwhile, the black shadow inside the Eight Trigrams Tower controlled the light screen in front of him, peering out at the scene outside the hall, and involuntarily drew a sharp breath.

1. Please note that even though Sudu is a female, the author uses 天王 which literally means “Heavenly King” and is traditionally gendered male. ☜

2. The character “苏” is a common Chinese surname but also conveys meanings of revival, awakening, or renewal, giving the name a subtle sense of vitality and resilience. “都” can mean metropolis, capital, or all/encompassing, suggesting a sense of breadth, importance, or sophistication. To me, the name 苏都 represents someone who is both graceful and strong, perhaps with a sense of intelligence or worldly awareness. ☜