Chapter 80: The Burning of Taiyi Pavilion · Greed and Hatred Illuminating the Dao Heart
The Yin Thunder, carrying corrosive Evil Qi, crashed down with a roar. The seventy-two eaves bells of Taiyi Pavilion chimed in unison, and myriad points of light from the Ziwei Constellation Map floated up from the glazed tiles. A three-inch blood-red glow burst from Lu Zhaoxuan's jade thumb ring, just barely deflecting the dark blue lightning snake striking towards his glabella. The fragmented page of the 《Heavenly Mystery Scroll》 in his sleeve fluttered without wind, revealing the Seal script of "Greedy Wolf Devouring the Moon."
"Old Ghost Song, your Nine Netherworld Soul-Guiding Lightning Formation has improved quite a bit since three hundred years ago." He stomped his foot, crushing a wriggling Yin Gu worm on the ground. A red stream of fire suddenly shot out from the wine gourd at his waist, incinerating three lunging copper-armored corpses into glassy crystals. "It's a pity you mixed too much profound Yin sand when refining the corpses. The interaction of lightning and fire will inevitably produce a soul-splitting poisonous mist—do you find this sweet, coppery smell familiar?"
Before his words finished, the sound of porcelain shattering came from the Northwest Kun position. The Nine Aperture Infant Corpse, meticulously cultivated by Pavilion Master Song, suddenly gushed black blood from its seven orifices, and its Early Stage Nascent Soul pressure receded like a tide. Lu Zhaoxuan seized the opportunity to throw the gilded silver pot from his embrace. This was originally a container for the drunken immortal brew, but at this moment, it was Whale swallowing siphon the sky-full of poisonous mist, and taotie patterns appeared on the body of the pot.
The white-haired old man's eyes were bloodshot, and his Lifebound Treasure, the Profound Yin Banner, trembled violently. The Hundred Ghosts Night Parade depicted on the banner began to gnaw at each other, and dark red blood beads seeped from the banner pole: "You brat, how dare you ruin my Dao Foundation!" He bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of vital blood, and the Middle Stage Nascent Soul pressure pressed down like a mountain, causing the entire foundation of Taiyi Pavilion to sink.
Lu Zhaoxuan suddenly revealed a shrewd smile. His left hand formed a sword incantation to activate thirty-six sword talismans buried long ago, but his right hand reached into his bulging Storage Pouch—which contained a thousand-year-old cold marrow he had pilfered from the Treasure Pavilion half an incense stick ago. The moment the Green Ping Sword Formation collided with the Profound Yin Evil Qi, he even had the leisure to wink at the plain-clothed female cultivator watching the battle from afar: "Fairy Mu, look closely. This old scoundrel's Yinfu Seven Arts is missing the most crucial fire-resistant cloth..."
His words abruptly stopped. Seven emerald green centipedes suddenly drilled out from the top of Pavilion Master Song's head, each insect head bearing a fleshy tumor resembling a human face. Lu Zhaoxuan's pupils constricted, and he finally shed his frivolous expression. A bronze abacus suddenly flew out from his embrace. The clinking of the abacus beads sounded like clashing metal, actually outlining the phantom of the River Map and Luo Scroll in the Void Realm.
"So you refined yourself into a Human Gu!" He stepped with strange footwork to avoid the colorful poisonous miasma spewed by the centipedes. Three blood-red abacus beads automatically detached from the abacus, transforming into Sanwei True Fire that coiled around the Green Ping Sword. "Mu Qingge! The 《Taisu Pulse Art》 you want is in the mouth of the Chiwen on the third coiled Dragon pillar—are you waiting for a dish?"
Upon hearing this, the plain-clothed female cultivator lightly traced with her sword finger, and the white jade hairpin at her temple transformed into a stream of light, shattering the stone carving at the top of the pillar. As soon as an ancient text glowing with moonlight appeared, the entire Taiyi Pavilion suddenly shook violently. Pavilion Master Song let out an inhuman shriek. The seven emerald phosphorus centipedes connected head to tail, forming a bizarre Formation, and purple-black poisonous paste bubbled up from the ground.
Lu Zhaoxuan spat out a mouthful of blood foam, then suddenly tore open his lapel, revealing a hideous Seal rune on his chest. The taotie tattoo sealed within the rune opened its vertical pupil, actually beginning to devour the surrounding Spiritual Qi. He formed the Great Vajra Wheel Seal with both hands, and a blurry phantom of a Dragon and Tiger appeared behind him. His Late Stage Golden Core cultivation, under the activation of a secret art, pushed directly to the threshold of the Nascent Soul.
"What's wrong with being greedy for wealth and lustful?" He laughed loudly, trampling the ghost face formed by the congealed poisonous paste. The Green Ping Sword, wrapped in Sanwei True Fire, cleaved through the poisonous miasma. "This Daoist will precisely prove the Great Dao with greed, hatred, and delusion!" As the sword tip pierced Pavilion Master Song's glabella, the last golden abacus bead on the abacus suddenly exploded, and the bursting Innate Geng Metal Qi impaled the Nascent Soul attempting to escape in the Void Realm.
When the smoke and dust dispersed, Mu Qingge looked at the figure rummaging through the ruins for Storage Rings, her usually cold tone rarely tinged with annoyance: "Daoist Lu, since you already knew about the mechanism in the Chiwen's mouth..."
"Oh, this Qiankun Ring has good quality!" Lu Zhaoxuan interrupted her, wiping his spoils with his blood-stained Daoist robe. "Fairy, do you know the cost of that Dragon-Tiger Intertwining move just now? It won't recover its Origin Qi without twenty catties of spiritual crystals—what did you say? Taisu Pulse Art? Isn't that thing in your hand?"
He suddenly leaned close to the female cultivator's ear, his breath, a mix of alcohol and blood, startled the communication spirit butterfly on her shoulder: "It was Fairy Mu's Xuanji Steps just now, the way your waist swayed lightly during the third turn... Tsk tsk, it's even three points more wonderful than the Rainbow Dance of Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion."
The Frostbloom Sword suddenly unsheathed three inches, but was blocked by the bronze abacus before it touched his throat. Lu Zhaoxuan retreated three zhang with a playful smile, casually tucking the purple jade pipe embedded in the beam into his pouch. A dull rumble of thunder came from afar. Taiyi Pavilion's last defensive Grand Formation began to collapse, and torrential rain poured down but couldn't extinguish the poisonous fire surging from the earth veins.
Mu Qingge put away the ancient text and was about to speak, when she suddenly saw the man stroking his chin, appraising the jade hairpin in her hair: "This item should be worth three thousand spiritual crystals..." Before his words finished, an earth-shattering roar came from the southeast, and six bronze ancient lamps slowly rose from the remaining poisonous miasma, their flames an eerie greenish-black.
"Nine Netherworld Soul-Guiding Lamps?" Both spoke in unison, and Lu Zhaoxuan's face showed a solemn expression for the first time. He quickly flicked the abacus, his expression growing uglier as the beads slid: "Old Ghost Song actually divided his life soul into six lamps... No! This lamp Formation requires Peak Nascent Soul cultivation to activate..."
The six ancient lamps suddenly formed a Six Harmonies Formation, and blurry figures emerged from the Netherworld Ghost Fire erupting from the wicks. Lu Zhaoxuan suddenly tore off the red string around his neck, and nine cracked tortoise shells floated into a Formation, each shell reflecting a different hexagram. The torrential rain turned into ice crystals when it approached within ten zhang of the lamp Formation, and eerie Manjusaka patterns condensed on the ground.
"Hurry and go!" He grabbed Mu Qingge's wrist and retreated swiftly, eighteen substitute talismans flying out from his sleeve. "This is from the Huangquan Sect's..." Before he finished speaking, six streams of ghost fire had already penetrated all the talisman defenses. Lu Zhaoxuan pushed the female cultivator out of the dangerous area with a backhand, and the taotie tattoo on his chest let out a pained roar, actually beginning to devour its master's vital blood.
Mu Qingge crushed the jade pendant at her waist, and the Taisu Spirit Light transformed into a barrier, slowing the ghost fire's attack. Seeing Lu Zhaoxuan's Daoist robe already soaked with blood, she gritted her teeth and bit her fingertip, drawing complex forbidden runes in the Void Realm: "By my Mu Clan Bloodline as a guide..."
"Stupid woman!" Lu Zhaoxuan suddenly lunged and tackled her, and a giant skeletal claw drilled out from the ground where she had stood. "How dare you use vital blood to resist the Yellow Springs Soul Chasing Art?" His scorching breath sprayed on the female cultivator's neck, and the abacus in his hand was missing three crossbars at some point. "Hold your breath and focus! Don't make a sound no matter what you see later!"
The six ancient lamps had already formed a encirclement, and the figures condensed in the Netherworld Ghost Fire became clearer. Lu Zhaoxuan suddenly pulled out a greasy roasted chicken leg and bit down fiercely, to Mu Qingge's shocked gaze. A rich meaty aroma mixed with the scent of some secret medicine permeated the air, causing the lamp Formation's operation to pause for a moment.
"Didn't expect that, did you?" He laughed, his mouth glistening with oil, and shook out hair-thin silver needles from his trouser leg. "This Daoist pilfered Five-Watch Soul Bewildering Powder from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's kitchen..." Before his words finished, the six streams of ghost fire suddenly changed direction, forcing a hidden presence in the shadows to reveal its true form.
The Mysterious Grey Robed Man's shriek of shock and anger confirmed Lu Zhaoxuan's guess. Mu Qingge seized the opportunity to unleash the Taisu Ice Soul. The moment the extreme cold froze the lamp flames, the taotie tattoo on Lu Zhaoxuan's chest expanded three zhang, devouring all six ancient lamps along with the Mysterious Grey Robed Man's remnant soul.
The heavy rain had stopped at some unknown time, leaving only the incomplete star map still flickering in the ruins. Lu Zhaoxuan slumped beside a broken pillar, his face as pale as paper, yet he was still counting his spoils. When his gaze touched Mu Qingge's blood-stained skirt, he tilted his head and spat out a blade of grass: "Tackling Fairy just now was truly out of necessity... But then again, your cloud brocade is indeed top-grade. Cut into handkerchiefs, it could sell for..."
The icy chill of the Frostbloom Sword against his neck made him swallow the latter half of his sentence. Mu Qingge watched the man who, even while slumped on the ground, didn't forget to pocket the broken jade on the ground. She suddenly noticed that his left hand, hidden in his sleeve, was covered in spiderweb-like black patterns—that was the price of forcibly activating the Taotie Spirit Devour.
"It's for you." She tossed the jade hairpin into the air, and it transformed into a stream of light, disappearing into the sky. Lu Zhaoxuan caught the falling white jade hairpin and found a miniature spirit-gathering Formation carved into its body. The roguish smile on his lips gradually solidified. The sound of something breaking through the air came from afar. He hastily put away all his treasures, but covered a still-glowing lamp wreckage with his blood-stained Daoist robe.
When the various Schools arrived, only a scene of desolation and a crookedly inserted bronze abacus remained. The residual bloodstains on the abacus surface formed a blurry hexagram, faintly revealing the divination pattern of "Wind Earth Contemplation" in the embers. On a mountain path a thousand li away, a limping figure was haggling over the jade hairpin: "...It's worth at least five hundred spiritual crystals, but that woman seems to have deliberately left a tracking mark?"
A phantom of a Azure Luan suddenly streaked across the sky, which had just cleared after the heavy rain. He cursed and limped into a cave. Inside the cave, the stone walls clearly showed the same poisonous fire patterns as the Taiyi Pavilion's earth veins. Mumbled words mixed with the scent of alcohol dissipated in the wind: "Huangquan Sect... Yinkui Sect... This muddy water is probably unavoidable..."