Chapter 498: The Origin of the Evil Spirit, Once Unleashed, Impossible to Contain! Human Traces! The Three-Headed, Six-Armed Monster!

The incident at Liu Family Village had a huge impact. Even the wandering Daoist who came to exorcise spirits had died, leaving the villagers in a state of panic.

The village elders sent someone to summon a specialist corpse carrier, a tradesman who handles the bodies of those who have died tragic or unjust deaths, whose lingering resentment cannot dissipate naturally.

But what happened next was horrifying: the corpse carrier was found to have gouged out his own eyes, bleeding to death. This incident quickly alarmed the Dongyang County authorities and drew the attention of many exorcists.

At first, to some high-level monks and Daoists, this seemed like a simple haunting or a case of jiangshi causing trouble. However, as more and more cultivators died in Dongyang County, the situation escalated.

A large portion of the county was covered by a strange formation , which caused anyone entering it, ordinary people or cultivators alike, to lose their sense of direction. According to some cultivators, the formation was originally meant to cover the entire county, but for unknown reasons, only a portion of it was active.

The formation severely restricted cultivators, though ordinary people or wandering martial artists weren’t as affected. Even so, the ghostly disorientation within the formation was enough to confuse them completely.

The evil spirit itself was extremely sinister. It could possess cultivators and continually switch bodies, and in a short time, it had already killed many practitioners. What was worse, the spirit could control the corpses of these cultivators, replicating some of their abilities, which was a terrifying prospect.

If the Spirit-Refining Formation fully absorbed the villagers, it would almost certainly spread outward through the cultivators, potentially turning all of Dongyang County into a ghostly domain. Left unchecked, the spirit could give rise to unspeakably horrifying demons.

They had witnessed a case where an old Daoist seemed controlled; the old man’s magical abilities remained intact, and he appeared to have fused with the spirit to a high degree. It was unclear whether the spirit had finally possessed this Daoist or if there was another reason.

Xiao Ce, Ding Rou, and the others were trapped in Dongyang County by this bizarre formation. Fortunately, they encountered Master Yuanjue, the elderly monk in white robes, whose profound Buddhist cultivation and powerful sacred artifact protected them, saving several surviving cultivators.

There were countless strange phenomena. The group didn’t fully understand the spirit’s abilities, nor whether that old Daoist had been the original instigator or another possessed practitioner. Without Master Yuanjue’s deep cultivation, they likely would have been completely wiped out.

The Spirit-Refining Formation was extremely dangerous and domineering, seemingly designed to harvest blood and qi to refine pills, rather than merely kill indiscriminately. This clearly suggested human involvement behind the affair.

Another mystery was why Dongyang County had become a ground so heavily saturated with murderous energy for raising corpses. They had encountered copper jiangshi and even a flying jiangshi.

A flying jiangshi was comparable to an advanced second realm cultivator, even more fearsome than most practitioners of that level. It could absorb blood to enhance its power, and in earlier times, such an entity might have drawn down heavenly lightning. But now, in the era of great chaos with the decline of myths, things were no longer as they had been.

The group quickly left the decrepit village. Just one flying jiangshi was enough to make them feel extremely threatened, let alone the mysterious hand controlling the entire affair.

A careful observer could see evidence of human manipulation everywhere. It was entirely possible that this evil spirit had been released intentionally by someone.

Moreover, they vaguely sensed that this matter was far more than just an ordinary demon rampaging through villages, practicing forbidden arts, or an evil spirit growing strong to harm people. Even a bloodthirsty killer would not brazenly harvest life force so openly to improve their cultivation, and ordinary evil spirits could never set up a Spirit-Refining Formation.

The scale of this incident was such that it would inevitably attract the attention of righteous sects, and possibly even trigger intervention from third realm cultivators.

Master Yuanjue himself was a cultivator who had half a foot into the Yang Spirit realm, a top-tier practitioner just shy of the third realm. He essentially already had half a foot in the third realm.

Yuanjue had spent decades meticulously refining his Buddhist cultivation, lingering at the peak of the Yin Spirit level for a long time. Recently, he had obtained a pure Yang treasure, the Buddhist golden bell. By meditating on it, a trace of yang qi condensed within his soul. All he needed to truly enter the third realm was a single opportunity.

Even with such top-level practitioners and elite Yin Spirit masters gathered here, the formation still trapped them. This explained why, once the overwhelming power dissipated, they were so eager to leave.

Don’t underestimate Xiao Ce and Ding Rou. Though both were peak Yin Spirit cultivators, in front of Master Yuanjue, they likely wouldn’t last three exchanges before being defeated. The gap between Yang Spirit and Yin Spirit wasn’t just large, it was astronomical.

Master Yuanjue, as a half third-realm expert, or pseudo-third realm cultivator, was already among the strongest below the third realm. If he couldn’t handle it, then no one there could.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions continuously rumbled through the sky, shaking heaven and earth. A surge of demonic qi spread, weighing heavily on everyone’s hearts and sending chills down their spines.

“This life force... it’s really from a third realm cultivator!”

A heavy dread settled in their hearts. Indeed, this matter was no longer something they could interfere with. Below the third realm, all were mere ants.

***

Meanwhile, the hideous three-headed, six-armed demon had appeared, roaring incessantly at Li Yanchu. Its bloated lumps of flesh looked grotesque and repulsive.

“I will devour you. Your body will be mine. I will make you part of me and let you feel supreme glory,” the demon said greedily.

“A trash like you?!” Li Yanchu sneered coldly.

The Eight Trigrams Mirror in his hand suddenly shot into the air, bursting with dazzling divine light. A beam of white light struck the terrifying demon directly.

“Ah!” The demon staggered, letting out a horrifying scream. Then, its demonic qi surged outward, erupting violently.

Boom! Boom!

The ground shook, and mountains quaked.

At this moment, Li Yanchu didn’t even need to use Telekinetic Command to manipulate the Eight Trigrams Mirror; it could unleash its full power on its own.

Boom!

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The Eight Trigrams Mirror unleashed another beam of divine light, forcefully pushing back the terrifying three-headed, six-armed demon. A bloody hole appeared on its body, blood pouring outward relentlessly.

“You can’t even defeat my magical artifact, and you still want to devour me? Ridiculous!” Li Yanchu sneered.

“Damn it!” The three-headed, six-armed demon roared furiously and lunged forward.