The origin of the Jade Seal of the Great Shang Dynasty is extraordinary.
According to legend, the first emperor, “Gu,” was born after his mother dreamed of a Xuan Niao (mystical bird). As he grew older, Gu encountered the Xuan Niao bleeding in the Jing Mountains. He dug into the earth and unearthed a jade piece stained with blood, an extremely rare occurrence, which was later crafted into the imperial jade seal.
The Xuan Niao is a divine bird, and its blood is mystically dark, deeply penetrating the jade’s texture, making it unique in the world. Otherwise, Li Li, a hereditary martial artist from a military family possessing sharp eyesight and many capable followers, wouldn’t have eagerly rushed here to “deceive the emperor.”
Even Taoist Yu Qing was initially deceived upon first seeing the blood-stained jade seal.
But soon his expression changed—unfortunately, a moment too late.
Boom!
A black halo erupted from the seal, creating astonishing ripples. The jade seal disintegrated into powder, and within emerged a small black snake, hissing ominously, its appearance sinister. It bit onto Ji Yi’s wrist, its eyes glowing red as it spewed essence blood.
Roar!
Ji Yi’s fortune surged, as if a dragon’s roar flashed by, and another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, directly striking the black snake.
Zila!
Under the might of heaven, the black snake was instantly reduced to ashes.
However, Ji Yi’s face turned pale and he suddenly collapsed unconscious.
A sudden calamity at close quarters!
Even Taoist Yu Qing, previously overwhelmed by the aura of the true dragon, was momentarily stunned and failed to react in time. In the blink of an eye, Ji Yi was already lying flat on the ground.
“Your Majesty…”
Li Li was utterly terrified, his heart filled with dread: “I deserted the battlefield before, and now I’ve harmed the emperor again… My entire clan might be doomed! What should I do?”
But no matter what thoughts crossed his mind, they were now useless.
In the next moment, Ji Yi’s personal guard commander, a martial sage, appeared before Li Li, his face as cold and stern as a mountain, his eyes burning with rage. With a single finger, he launched a deadly strike.
Within three steps, a single person could rival an entire nation! A paradise for martial artists to display their might!
Facing a sudden attack from a martial sage, even though Li Li himself was a martial expert of a military family, he had no time to react. It felt as if a mountain had pressed upon his heart, paralyzing any thought.
The next moment, the martial sage’s four fingers struck his limbs, and the sound of bones cracking echoed.
“Quickly seize this man!”
Accompanied by the martial sage’s furious roar, the civil and military officials in the tent finally snapped out of their shock. Two guards stepped forward, dragging the limp Li Li away. The highest-ranking official among the civil servants stepped forward to take control: “First, summon the military physician!”
“His Majesty will be fine!”
As a Taoist, Yu Qing was already skilled in traditional medicine. After checking Ji Yi’s pulse, he slowly shook his head: “He has merely lost a large amount of essence blood… Hmph! What a fiendish creature, daring to defy heavenly punishment and even escape?!”
As a terrestrial immortal, he naturally realized that the black snake was merely a distraction, and the true mastermind had already fled.
“What?!”
The martial sage’s fists crackled, his expression turning extremely grim: “I must personally kill that fiend!”
“This person is quite cunning. Even if this old Taoist attempts to track him using magical arts, success is unlikely…”
Taoist Yu Qing murmured, suddenly envisioning Wu Ming’s figure before shaking his head: “It should not be him!”
…
“With the essence blood of the Great Zhou’s founding ancestor as an offering, His Majesty should be satisfied, shouldn’t he?”
Within the secret chamber, looking at Shang Jie at the center of the ritual formation, the Blood Alliance Leader smiled calmly, then took out another jade seal, crystal-clear like jade, streaked with blood veins, though a corner was missing.
At the sight of this, Shang Jie’s previously expressionless eyes flickered again, blinking rapidly.
“The blood jade of the Xuan Niao, the imperial jade seal!”
The Blood Alliance Leader’s eyes also showed a trace of infatuation as he murmured: “If not for long-term infiltration, obtaining this would indeed have been quite troublesome… His Majesty must be wondering where this missing corner went? Hehe… Without the aura of the Xuan Niao’s bloodline, how could it convincingly deceive those clever people?”
Sss!
No sooner had the words fallen than a black snake materialized from the void, only half its body visible. It opened its mouth and spat a jet of blood onto the jade seal’s surface, which was quickly absorbed.
Crackle!
Following the black snake came a flash of lightning, causing the Blood Alliance Leader to stagger slightly.
“Truly the spirit of a founding dragon, its counterattack is much stronger than that of a mere descendant… Even with so many contingencies in place, there’s still residual heavenly wrath pursuing me…”
The Blood Alliance Leader smiled, suddenly raising high the jade seal, now glistening red with the essence blood of the true dragon: “Haste!”
Boom!
The ritual formation on the ground blazed brilliantly, golden runes flashing.
At the same time, countless streaks of pitch-black malevolent energy converged from all directions, forming a vortex, which the jade seal greedily devoured like a whale sucking in water.
“Your Majesty, please proceed to the afterlife!”
The Blood Alliance Leader’s eyes flashed with a cold glint as he pressed the jade seal onto Shang Jie’s chest, at the location of the formation.
The formation on Shang Jie’s body lit up, seemingly extracting some mysterious essence. The jade seal vibrated, resonating with the amber bead that sealed the Xuan Niao’s heavenly mandate.
“Am I… going to die?”
In a daze, Shang Jie recalled scenes from his entire life, from his childhood success and being named crown prince, to ascending the throne and ruling the world. Then came his discovery of the secret of the twelve golden men and the prophecy of heavenly mandate. From then on, like a drowning man grasping at the last straw, he pushed forward with his grand plan, heedless of becoming a tyrant, sacrificing his hard-earned reputation, ultimately leading to this fate.
“I… have failed my people!”
At this thought, under the increasingly sinister gaze of the Blood Alliance Leader, Shang Jie’s consciousness weakened further, finally plunging into complete darkness.
“The imperial aura of Shang Jie! Success!”
Seeing Shang Jie’s death, the Blood Alliance Leader’s face broke into ecstatic delight: “This thread of imperial aura is recognized by heaven, earth, and humanity, attainable only by one who has ruled and reigned over nineteen provinces! Even now, Ji Yi has yet to fully consolidate his… Moreover, only this thread of imperial aura from Shang Jie can gain the Xuan Niao’s recognition, manipulate heavenly mandate, and obtain the essence of divine artifacts!”
In his spirit vision, accompanying Shang Jie’s death, that thread of imperial aura did not completely vanish but merged with the jade seal. The malevolent energy seemed to transform into a black dragon, prompting the heavenly-mandated Xuan Niao nearby to stir slightly, as if about to sing a pure note.
“Hahaha… With this treasure, my Dao is achieved!”
The Blood Alliance Leader laughed joyfully, nearly losing his composure: “If I forge the divine artifact, what have I to fear…”
Chi chi!
But just as he was halfway through laughing, astonishing sword qi pierced through the wall, instantly arriving before him.
Weng!
Although the sword assassination came suddenly, even catching the Blood Alliance Leader off guard, the black robe on his body automatically swelled up, numerous runes flashing, forming a layer of pitch-black arcane light as defense.
“Kui Mu Break Army, Seven Killings and Greedy Wolf! Haste!”
With a light shout, seven flying swords danced like dragons, merging with starlight, suddenly transforming into a white wolf, exuding an air of supreme dominance and wolf-like cunning, as it fiercely clawed down.
“Awooooo!”
The black arcane light emitted a crisp sound, shattering like an eggshell.
“Ahh!”
A jade pendant at the Blood Alliance Leader’s waist emitted a clear glow, instantly shifting his body several meters away, narrowly avoiding being disemboweled.
“Blood Alliance Leader? Truly honored to meet you at last!”
Amidst the swirling dust, a young Taoist priest leisurely walked in. With a wave of his hand, five ghosts howled, transforming into demonic claws, from which emerged a snow-white skull, spewing toxic gas.
“Are you Zhai Xiangzi?”
Five black small flags appeared around the Blood Alliance Leader, each flag bearing a ghost deity roaring and flying out, engaging in fierce combat with the “Kill, Break, Wolf” formation and the skull spirit, battling fiercely while still managing to exclaim in shock.
“Indeed!”
Wu Ming also felt a sense of nostalgia, as his enmity with the Blood Alliance had begun since the world of gods and ghosts.
Once a trembling reincarnator, he had now grown into a controller, even directly attempting to assassinate the Blood Alliance Leader.
Glancing at the deceased Shang Jie, he smiled faintly: “Never thought your target was this!”
“Impossible! How did you find this place?”
The Blood Alliance Leader gritted his teeth, watching five ghost deities, nearly all at the third level, being devoured by the “Kill, Break, Wolf” formation. The remaining ones were surrounded, the secret chamber filled with chilling winds, even Shang Jie’s corpse left incomplete, causing him even more inner anguish.
“Obviously, I followed the imperial aura!”
Wu Ming smiled lightly: “You might deceive others, but not me! Besides… there’s no need to flaunt such mediocre Taoist techniques!”
As he spoke, his right hand flashed with five-colored arcane light, pushing forward, transforming into a bolt of lightning!
“Five Elements Combined, Creative Thunder!”
Suddenly employing thunder techniques, deviating from Zhai Xiangzi’s life trajectory, naturally attracting heaven’s attention, leading to future “calamities”!
However, Wu Ming was determined to kill the Blood Alliance Leader and, after this battle, might directly choose to return, so what concern did he have left?
As the Grandmaster-level Five Thunder Talisman Art unfolded, astonishing flashes of lightning instantly enveloped everything, even the skull spirit whimpering and retreating to a corner.
If even collateral damage was this severe, then the five-faced ghost banners directly in the line of attack burst into flames, the ghost deities screaming as they were instantly reduced to ashes.
“Ahh… Five Ding Divine Generals, attack!”
The Blood Alliance Leader’s face twisted, suddenly throwing out a handful of black beans.
Peng peng!
The black beans landed with a thud, instantly transforming into a squad of iron-armored warriors, punching in unison, boldly resisting the divine thunder!
Peng!
The secret chamber walls trembled, the black-armored warriors’ arms slightly charred, yet they remained unharmed.
“Hmm? Mohist mechanical techniques?! So your primary cultivation is actually mechanical arts? No wonder your Taoist techniques are so ineffective! Using the Five Ghost Banners is truly a waste in your hands!”
Wu Ming was genuinely surprised.
With his vision, he could naturally tell that the Blood Alliance Leader’s technique was not “bean-to-soldier magic,” but authentic mechanical arts!
This “adult” whom even the Heart-Eating Child feared was actually a mechanist by profession?
“Very well, I’ll remember you!”
Wu Ming had seized the initiative, skillfully dismantling and countering a series of attacks, merely destroying five ghost banners. Yet the Blood Alliance Leader seemed like a treasure trove, possessing countless magical artifacts. Shooting Wu Ming a resentful glare, he whistled sharply.
Peng!
The ground cracked open, and a beast resembling a steel pangolin emerged, its back opening wide enough to accommodate a person entering.
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