Chapter 79: The Aftermath, Journey to Southern Border
The buzzing tremor of the bronze key in the miasma had not yet dissipated when Lu Qingyang crushed three Divine Movement Talismans and leaped to the edge of the broken cliff.
The bronze wine vessel in his arms glowed with a bloody light, and a few drops of amber liquid mixed with Dragon Vein Spiritual Qi seeped from the chipped rim.
"If Su Xianzi's Wide-Sleeved Flowing Immortal Dress were to be stained with monkey wine, I fear it would cause the witches of the Southern Border to embroider wedding dresses all night long."
Ice Soul Sword Qi grazed the edge of the wine vessel, shaving off half a piece of bronze rust.
Su Li's toes tapped on the frost flowers condensed in the Void Realm, and a phantom moon wheel hung behind her: "If Fellow Daoist Qingyang dares to secretly drink another drop, Guanghan Palace's Cold Jade Pond will be missing a pond-suppressing stone."
The plain silk flying from her sleeve wrapped around the wine vessel, and the ice patterns appearing on the silk surface were surprisingly identical to Taiyi Pavilion's mountain-protecting array.
Nine red-chained snakes suddenly shot out from the earth vein crack, their snake heads embedded with Witch Tribe totems glowing eerily.
Lu Qingyang threw out seventy-two Qingfu Coins to form the Heavenly Gang Array, but the golden sharp Qi that burst when the copper coins embedded in the snake eyes was instead swallowed by the totems.
"The beasts of the Southern Border are actually more sensible than the old fogeys of Taiyi Pavilion!"
Two clusters of green flames rose from the soles of his boots, and the blood beads thrown out after the greedy wolf dagger cut his palm condensed into three blood Puppets.
The blood mist that exploded when they pounced on the snake group was surprisingly mixed with Devouring Spirit Gu worms.
Su Li pointed her sword at the sky, and the moonlight condensed into seven ice cones that pierced into the snakes' bellies.
The impaled red-chained snakes suddenly transformed into blood-colored chains, which instantly ignited with emerald phosphorus poison fire as they wrapped around her ankles.
"Does Guanghan Palace's Fairy also fear fire refinement?"
Lu Qingyang's Soul-Reaping Banner rolled up the remaining Spiritual Qi of the Dragon Vein, and the evil ghost patterns on the banner let out joyful roars as they bit into the poison fire.
He took the opportunity to pry off the snake head totem with the greedy wolf dagger and threw it back into the earth vein crack: "If Su Xianzi's moonlight ice armor were three inches thicker, it would save Mr. Lu seven poison-avoiding talismans!"
A colossal bronze gate, inscribed with Witch Tribe prayers, rose from the crack, and the single-eyed stone statue embedded in the door ring suddenly rotated its eyeball.
Su Li ran her fingers along the spine of the Ice Soul Sword, and the moonlight blossoming from the cracks in the sword body condensed into a phantom jade toad.
The moment the toad's tongue wrapped around the stone statue's single eye, the witch poison flowing on the door ring surprisingly flowed backward into the jade toad's body.
"Fellow Daoist Qingyang, do you know that Taiyi Pavilion's first Pavilion Master once tempered his sword with the blood essence of three thousand Witch Tribe members?"
Lu Qingyang's sleeve slid out a Phantom Reality Silk, which wrapped around the jade toad.
The phantom images of the Southern Border mountains appearing on the silk resonated with the colossal bronze gate.
His fingertip flicked the blade of the greedy wolf dagger, and the vibrating sound waves surprisingly harmonized with the drum sounds emanating from within the gate.
"Mr. Lu only knows that Ye Lingxiao used the skull of a Witch Tribe Saintess to brew wine, and after getting drunk, he even carved a doggerel poem on the beam of the outhouse."
As he spoke, he suddenly threw out seven Soul-Nailing Spikes, and as the nails pierced into the intervals of the drumbeat rhythm, the colossal bronze gate burst open with a roar.
The poisonous miasma gushing from within the gate condensed into three faceless Witch Puppets, and when their bone staffs struck the ground, they summoned thousands of poisonous insects.
Su Li retreated to the Zhen position, stepping on moonlight, and the Ice Soul Sword Qi swept across, exploding into a sky full of ice crystals.
The poisonous insects froze and fell the moment they touched the ice crystals, but when they landed, they transformed into emerald phosphorus fire and rose into the sky again.
"Kan position, three steps!" she coldly shouted, and her Sword Qi suddenly turned and pierced into the center of the phosphorus fire.
"Su Xianzi's call of 'Kan position' is even more melodious than the pipa in Drunken Immortal Pavilion."
Lu Qingyang circled behind the Witch Puppet using the Greedy Wolf Footwork, and the Yin wind stirred up when the Soul-Reaping Banner was inserted into the earth vein wrapped around the phosphorus fire.
After devouring the poison fire, the evil ghost patterns on the banner surprisingly grew six arms, which splattered dark green poisonous blood as they grabbed and tore at the Witch Puppet's neck.
He took the opportunity to embed Qingfu Coins into the Witch Puppet's joints, and the bursting golden Qi shattered the bone staff, bringing with it a string of sparks.
The sparks touched the prayers on the colossal bronze gate and suddenly ignited into eerie blue ghost fire.
Su Li's Ice Soul Sword completed its transformation at this moment, and the moonlight emerging from the cracks in the sword's spine condensed into a phantom ice Phoenix.
As the Phoenix's cry echoed through the clouds, the figure of Guanghan Palace's first Palace Master appeared in the ghost fire.
"Master..." Her sword momentum slightly paused, and the ice Phoenix's wing was actually torn in half by the ghost fire illusion.
Lu Qingyang's Jianmu Spirit Pearl suddenly flew out, and the roots within the pearl wrapped around the ice Phoenix's shattered body.
The branches, which grew rapidly after devouring the moonlight, pierced through the ghost fire illusion, and the roots, when they plunged into the colossal bronze gate, caused the earth to shake.
"If Su Xianzi's ice Phoenix were three circles fatter, it would save Mr. Lu three array-breaking talismans!"
He threw out a lightning talisman to sever the Witch Puppet's arm, and with a backhand, inserted half of the bone staff into the Jianmu's roots.
The Witch Tribe holy stone embedded in the staff's head suddenly lit up, revealing the bronze coffin suspended above the altar behind the gate.
The taotie pattern on the coffin's surface opened its giant mouth, and the black mist it exhaled condensed into twelve battle axes.
Su Li inserted the Ice Soul Sword into the central groove of the altar, and the moonlight spread along the groove's patterns, freezing three battle axes, but was shattered by the other battle axes.
"Li position, five steps!" She condensed an ice blade at her fingertip and cut her wrist, and the blood beads, upon merging with the moonlight, surprisingly formed red lotus karmic fire.
"Does Guanghan Palace's Fairy also play with blood sacrifices?"
Lu Qingyang threw out a Mountain River Screen to block two battle axes, and the snow mountain in the painting cracked.
He slid out a secretly hidden half-pot of monkey wine from his sleeve and splashed it onto the battle axes.
The green flames that ignited when the wine met the fire surprisingly corroded the axe blades.
"Ye Lingxiao's aged brew is even more potent than corpse-dissolving water!"
When the wine pot smashed onto the coffin's surface, the taotie pattern suddenly stopped moving, and a hand covered in curses emerged from the coffin lid's seam.
The moment the hand grabbed towards the Ice Soul Sword, the Taiyin Star Map formed by Su Li's silver hair strands descended nine ice prisms.
The ice prisms exploded into ice mist when they pierced into the curse's seams, and the phantom Guanghan Palace appearing in the mist surprisingly overlapped with Taiyi Pavilion's mountain-protecting array.
"Yao'er actually carved the 'Soul-Eating Chapter' inside the coffin..." Her pupils constricted, and the moonlight picked up by her sword tip condensed into chains that wrapped around the bronze coffin.
Lu Qingyang's Soul-Reaping Banner wrapped around the edge of the coffin lid, and the evil ghost on the banner let out a scream as it bit the back of the cursed hand.
He took the opportunity to press the qingmu spirit pearl onto the coffin's surface, and the Jianmu roots drilled into the coffin along the curse's seams: "If Su Xianzi's coffin were made of red sandalwood, Mr. Lu would want to borrow it as a bathtub!"
The spirit pearl suddenly vibrated violently, and the roar of the Jianmu devouring the Spiritual Vein came from within the pearl.
The moment the coffin lid was lifted, twelve phantom Witch Tribe ancestral spirits soared into the sky.
Su Li bit her tongue and spat out blood essence, and the Ice Soul Sword, after absorbing the blood mist, returned to its complete state, with the moonlight flowing in the cracks of its spine surprisingly transforming into solid small swords.
"Guanghan Spirit Slaying Array!" She spun and swung out an arc of Sword Qi, and nine thousand nine hundred moonlight small swords formed a sword net, pinning the ancestral spirit phantoms onto the totem poles around the altar.
Lu Qingyang's sleeve flew out three hundred Qingfu Coins, and the copper coins, when embedded in the sword net's nodes, formed the Hunyuan Golden Lock Array.
He stepped on the witch script at the edge of the altar and leaped above the coffin.
The greedy wolf dagger pierced into the forehead of the corpse within the coffin, bringing with it the sound of metal striking stone: "Su Xianzi, do you know that the head of this Witch Tribe Great Priest is inscribed with Taiyi Pavilion's sect-suppressing incantation?"
The corpse suddenly opened its eyes, and the witch curses rotating in its pupils condensed into solid chains.
Su Li inserted the Ice Soul Sword into the corpse's chest, and the moonlight froze the witch curses along the Meridians: "If Fellow Daoist Qingyang continues to hold back, Guanghan Palace's ice prison will be missing a gatekeeper."
Her sword tip lightly flicked, and the armor on the corpse's right arm shattered, revealing a bronze bracelet on its wrist—its patterns were surprisingly identical to the key.
Lu Qingyang's Phantom Reality Silk wrapped around the bronze bracelet, and the Southern Border map appearing on the silk lit up seven points of light.
His finger flicked the blade of the greedy wolf dagger, and the vibrating sound waves surprisingly resonated with the flute sounds emanating from within the bracelet.
"Ye Lingxiao, that old geezer, actually buried the array core in the Witch Tribe Saintess's bracelet!"
As he spoke, he suddenly threw out a lightning talisman to sever the corpse's left leg, and a Jade Slip rolled out from the leg bone, its surface inscribed with Taiyi Pavilion's secret Cultivation Technique.
Su Li's plain silk wrapped around the Jade Slip, and the ice patterns on the silk, after devouring the Cultivation Technique text, condensed into a solid ice book.
Her sword pointed at the corpse's Dantian, and the moonlight Sword Qi shattered the Golden Core, bringing with it a Spiritual Qi storm.
"Yao'er actually hid the Nascent Soul in... careful!"
The corpse's mouth suddenly split open, and Su Yao's 본명 blood lotus, wrapped around the Nascent Soul, rushed out, its lotus petal edges' poisonous thorns aiming directly at Lu Qingyang's back.
The Soul-Reaping Banner completed its transformation at this moment, and the evil ghost on the banner, after devouring ten battle axes, grew bronze armor.
Lu Qingyang backhanded the banner pole into the center of the blood lotus, and the poisonous blood splattered when the ghost head bit the Nascent Soul corroded half of the banner's surface.
"Su Gu Niang's parting gift is even more enthusiastic than the courtesans of Yihongyuan!"
He slid out a secretly hidden Ice Soul Sword sheath from his sleeve to block the poisonous thorns, and the three characters "Gift to Yao'er" on the sheath suddenly lit up, actually fixing the blood lotus in the air for three breaths.
Su Li's Ice Soul Sword seized the opening and pierced into the blood lotus's core, and the moonlight froze the Nascent Soul along the lotus petal patterns.
When the sword tip touched Su Yao's forehead, the bronze key suddenly erupted with dazzling bloody light, and a giant hand reached out from the phantom of the Hundred Thousand Mountains to grab the key.
"Witch Tribe ancestral spirit!"
Lu Qingyang threw out a Mountain River Screen to shield the giant hand, and the rivers in the painting suddenly reversed, sucking the giant hand's fingertips into the depths of the ink painting.
"See you in the Southern Border." Su Yao's Nascent Soul uttered its final curse in the ice seal, and the shattered blood lotus transformed into a stream of light and fled.
Su Li crushed a communication Jade Slip, and Guanghan Palace's unique frost flower imprint was branded on the surface of the bronze key: "The Witch Tribe altar of Burning Heaven Valley..."
Lu Qingyang had already pried off the star iron at the bottom of the coffin and was carving crooked poetry with the greedy wolf dagger: "Old Ye hides wine, witches grieve, Fairy Su breaks arrays, ghosts and gods worry.
If you ask where Qingyang goes, he plays in the miasma of the Southern Border..."
The last half of the sentence was obscured by the wind and snow stirred up by the Ice Soul Sword Qi, leaving only an ice-encased wine pot by the cliff, its spout still clinging to a piece of unburnt Dun Jia Talisman.
A thousand miles away, the earth fire in Burning Heaven Valley suddenly fell silent, and the ancient witch corpse sleeping on the bronze altar at the bottom of the valley opened its single eye.
In the crack of the bronze bracelet on his wrist, a groove perfectly matching the key was faintly visible.
The miasma of the Hundred Thousand Mountains spread westward at this moment, obscuring the last wisp of Spiritual Qi glow above the ruins of Taiyi Pavilion.