Lu Qian looked up as Shi Wuyou’s massive palm came crashing down.
In his mind, his spiritual light stirred faintly; his heart was calm, and a smile unconsciously spread across his face.
That palm strike seemed infused with demonic energy and boundless power, but in truth, Lu Qian felt no danger at all.
He stood right where he was, deliberately offering his head under Shi Wuyou’s grand palm strike to open the coffin.
Boom!
Lu Qian’s clothes ballooned out, but his body didn’t move an inch.
Shi Wuyou let out a muffled grunt, feeling as if his palm had struck a solid iron stake.
His wrist bent backward unnaturally, the back of his hand pressed tightly against his forearm, and the joints shattered into pieces.
The power of the Tai Shang Beiming Immortal Sect, the immortal Dao’s fundamental law, the Boundless Return Void Body!
By any measure, this was incomparable to any forging technique practiced in the current era.
Especially since Lu Qian had just taken a drop of the Profound Primordial Spirit Water; his cultivation had just broken through and his strength was at an unprecedented peak.
“Whoa, a high-ranking official of the kingdom?” Lu Qian’s sharp eyes caught the golden plaque hanging from Shi Wuyou’s waist.
Shi Wuyou was careless too.
Thinking he had Lu Qian cornered, he didn’t bother hiding and attacked head-on.
The palm strike failed, and instead Shi Wuyou’s own palm was severely injured—he was dumbfounded.
Instinctively, he raised his left hand to cover his face.
Ah Hu opened his eyes.
On his forehead, a red lotus the size of a thumbnail blazed brightly, radiating a faint glow.
The first thing he saw was Shi Wuyou’s palm striking his big brother’s head.
Ah Hu’s figure was sturdy but looked honest and straightforward.
Silently, he stood up and with a sly sneer, delivered a punch toward Shi Wuyou’s lower back from behind.
Shi Wuyou faced away from Ah Hu and couldn’t see the move.
Luckily, his gray horse was extraordinarily alert and had a wide field of vision.
Its large eyes twisted and caught sight of Ah Hu swinging a fist in a sneaky attack from the side-rear.
The gray horse moved its four hooves to dodge.
Suddenly, it let out a miserable howl, bursting out a gush of fresh blood from its rear abdomen.
Its legs softened, and it collapsed flat onto the ground.
A rabbit lynx appeared beneath the gray horse’s body.
It bit down viciously on an indescribable spot, its two front paws extended sharp claws about an inch long, stabbing deeply into the horse’s abdomen as it struggled fiercely.
The rabbit lynx’s inherent ferocity exploded forth.
It held onto the gray horse’s vital spot tightly while emitting constant ‘huff huff’ roars from its throat.
Big Huang leapt up forcefully, opening his wide jaws to bite hard onto the gray horse’s neck and then shook his head violently.
Crack!
The gray horse’s neck bone snapped.
The fire in its eyes suddenly dimmed.
Boom!
Ah Hu’s powerful punch landed squarely on Shi Wuyou’s lower back.
A sphere of red fire blazed through his fist, ruthlessly smashing into Shi Wuyou’s body.
Shi Wuyou possessed the True Ghost Body.
Suddenly being beaten so hard, he wanted to roar madly to flaunt its strength.
But as soon as he opened his mouth, a chillingly sorrowful howl escaped.
Ah Hu’s punch was like opening a steel furnace, pouring out streams of molten iron, flowing endlessly into Shi Wuyou’s body.
The True Ghost Body was tightly restrained by the Red Lotus Purging Flame within Ah Hu’s fist.
Where the punch struck, Shi Wuyou’s body collapsed like earth crumbling, his meridians severed, wisps of ghost qi turning into white smoke spewing from within him.
Continuous piercing ghost howls sounded from his body.
“What kind of ghostly power is this?” Lu Qian watched as Shi Wuyou’s body shrank and caved in, his spiritual light stirring.
The Pure and Quiet Zen Light Seal lit up, a gentle, clear golden light instantly enveloping the entire hall.
Stimulated by the Pure Zen Light, the inheritance Buddha statue suddenly burst forth with a dazzling red flame inside.
Flames danced within the statue like molten colored glass.
Ah Hu let out a roar and grabbed the little leg of the Buddha statue from behind, shaking it fiercely.
A chant sounded from inside the statue, transforming in Ah Hu’s hand into a nearly ten-foot-long, about one foot thick at its widest point, semi-transparent demon-subduing pestle carved with countless red lotus patterns.
Golden light shone as Shi Wuyou and the gray horse emitted gusts of chilling cold air, quickly vanishing like frost and dew beneath a blazing flame.
Ah Hu raised the demon-subduing pestle, ready to strike Shi Wuyou’s head, but Shi Wuyou was already kneeling on the ground, screaming sharply, “I am Luo Prefecture’s governor Shi Wuyou! You cannot kill me!”
A gust of wind flew past Lu Qian’s side, turning into a green wind blade three feet long that swept across.
Pop!
Shi Wuyou’s head flew off, caught by Lu Qian’s hand.
Then Lu Qian grabbed the plaque hanging from Shi Wuyou’s belt — a black token made of an unknown metal, bearing a statue of the Nine Yin Ghost Mother.
Clang! The token dropped onto the ground.
On it, the four characters ‘Nine Yin Holy Sect’ were clearly visible.
Bang! Ah Hu’s demon-subduing pestle fell, causing the small building to tremble violently.
Shi Wuyou’s body and the gray horse were smashed into countless fragments.
Red flames clung to the shards, burning them into flickering sparks that vanished into thin air.
“The leader of the Nine Yin Sect? The Governor of Luo Prefecture? A second-rank official?” Lu Qian exclaimed in shock. “What monsters and demons have crawled into the court?!”
Holding Shi Wuyou’s head and the token, Lu Qian muttered, “This is a great merit.”
The name of the Nine Yin Sect hung high in the registry of the Palace Monitoring Bureau’s ‘Treason’ blacklist, ranked number one.
In the previous kingdom before Dayin, it was said the Nine Yin Sect corrupted the emperor, acting in opposition to Heaven and the people, plunging the land into chaos.
That collapse was how Dayin rose and founded its state.
Lu Qian clicked his tongue in astonishment.
The leader of the Nine Yin Sect was actually a prefectural governor under Dayin.
This merit was real.
If Lu Qian hadn’t just been granted dukedom, simply for killing the Nine Yin Sect leader, he might have at least earned the rank of marquis.
Big Huang and the rabbit lynx sat nearby.
Big Huang licked blood off his mouth, tongue flicking.
The rabbit lynx looked disgusted, spitting and wiping the blood off its face with its front paws.
Lu Qian shook his head, pointing toward where Shi Wuyou and the gray horse had appeared, asking, “Can you follow them?”
Big Huang and the rabbit lynx shook their heads simultaneously.
The gray horse was an earthwalker, having traveled through vast depths of earth.
For Big Huang and the rabbit lynx now, tracking such a strange enemy was asking too much.
Lu Qian shook his head. “Alright, it counts as your merit. Merit will be rewarded, I’m not stingy.”
He whistled softly. ‘Whoosh!’ Red parrot flapped its wings and darted in first, landing on a beam and looking down warily at the rabbit lynx.
Then a streak of green light swept in.
The emerald snake slithered onto Lu Qian’s arm, affectionately rubbing its head against him.
After a while, the giant alligator turtle slowly got up.
When it entered, the high threshold had troubled it a bit.
It hesitated for a long time before finally crawling over.
The red parrot laughed ‘ka ka ka’ mockingly.
The alligator turtle looked annoyed, glancing at the parrot, then turned and bit down on the door threshold.
Crunch!
The door threshold, made of fine ironwood, instantly had a fist-sized hole bitten through.
The parrot’s laughter stopped abruptly. “Gentlemen use words, not claws!”
Shaking its head, the parrot’s feathers bristled, calling out twice in exasperation.
It suddenly realized the alligator turtle only used its mouth and hadn’t struck anyone.
Lu Qian laughed, shaking his head. “Alright, enough noise. We’re all brothers here. I’ve got something good for you that should help you a lot. It’s still a bit short, so you five will share it for now. When there’s more, everyone will get their share.”
He pointed his finger and a drop of Profound Primordial Spirit Water inside the Boundless Return bottle rose up, dividing into five points of light flying toward Big Huang, the rabbit lynx, the parrot, the emerald snake, and the alligator turtle.
The five gentlemen’s eyes lit up simultaneously.
Instinctively, as beasts, they sensed the powerful allure deep within their bloodlines from this divided Primordial Spirit Water.
They all lunged, swallowing it in one bite.
Then, without their usual playful scuffles, they returned to their own territories, curling up and falling into deep sleep.
In the backyard, imperceptible spiritual light slowly rose.
In this little world, the shattered natural spiritual mechanisms of heaven and earth began to mend, profound Dao melodies filled the yard.
Strands of spiritual energy and essence were continuously absorbed by the five great beasts.
They started shedding fur and scales.
The alligator turtle’s shell slowly shifted and oozed an oily substance.
Its shell grew shinier and more lustrous.
The sharp protrusions on its back became even more rugged and keen.
“Brother Qian, this is good stuff!” Seeing the five great beasts well taken care of, Ah Hu joyfully swung his demon-subduing pestle almost as tall as himself toward Lu Qian, proudly presenting it. “Ha! The weight is just right. The wolf tooth club you made for me before, about a hundred pounds, was too light, too light. This pestle, perfect weight!”
Lu Qian smiled and patted Ah Hu’s shoulder. “Glad you like it... By the way, the Flames of Karma and Wisdom, you can teach the brothers in Bai Hu Hall.”
“Yeah, let them first practice the Flames of Karma and Wisdom. Once they get the basics and improve their strength, we’ll decide whether to pass on higher techniques based on their contributions.”
Ah Hu nodded vigorously, chuckling.
Outside the door came the sharp, soft report of a young eunuch:
“Master, I’ve got the details. The Bai family’s daughter is getting married today. But it’s not at the Bai mansion—it’s up on Cuiwei Peak. They say they’re using some ‘tribal ancient rites’ called ‘Xian Ju Ya He’.”
The young eunuch spoke clearly, explaining the Bai family’s wedding details thoroughly.
The emperor wanted Lu Qian to investigate Bai Changkong.
Lately, Lu Qian had seven or eight hundred men constantly watching over the Bai family’s men, women, young and old.
Plus, he had intelligence support from the palace monitoring bureaus in other districts.
No move the Bai family made, unless extremely secret, could evade Lu Qian.
A wedding so high-profile was obviously not hidden.
Lu Qian stroked his chin and smiled. “The ‘Xian Ju Ya He’ rite? I think I’ve seen that in the clan academy’s ancient books. That’s something from tens of thousands of years ago, when human ancestors were still in the primitive tribal era. And this old man dusted it off?”
“Heh heh, truly a scholar. Using this move, they give the whole world an explanation.”
“Very clever indeed. So Li Erya is just courting death by doing this?”
“Send three hundred guards to surround the backyard. No one allowed in or out. If anyone dares to break in, you have my permission to kill by any means.”
“Everyone else, come with me to Wuyin District. That disciple of Bai Mountain, if I weren’t so busy these days, I would have visited him already.”
“Oh, and get a wooden box. We’ll prepare some quicklime or something to handle this head for now.”
(End of chapter)