“Unexpected… Could it be that my identity as a disciple of Maoshan Tao, the Star-Grabber, is inherently that of a heretic cult member?”
Wu Ming inwardly felt both amused and helpless: “But this ‘King One-Brow’ Han Hulin?”
Upon hearing that the Red Lotus Sect was backed by this rebel king, his heart stirred with a peculiar premonition.
“If not for the Primordial God Authority, my original mission was precisely this. I might as well go and check it out, and also see if there are any traces of the Reincarnators…”
Immediately turning his face red with pretended anger and indignation, he said, “Senior sister, rest assured, I will go with you. Let’s see if they dare to do anything to you!”
“Good! With these words from my junior brother, I feel reassured!”
The Red Lotus Holy Mother was delighted. Immediately, she selected eighteen elite disciples of the Red Lotus Sect, boarded a palanquin, and departed the city with Wu Ming heading straight for Wubagang.
“This Wubagang used to be a cursed place. It is said that five extremely vicious evildoers were executed here. Their lingering resentful spirits haunt the area, and no local villagers dare to come here at night…”
Fearing that Wu Ming might not be ruthless enough, the Red Lotus Holy Mother carefully instructed him further: “These adversaries are all cunning. Once you engage them, don’t speak at all. Just immediately deploy your most powerful magical artifacts…”
“A moonless, windy night suitable for murder, and this Holy Mother has ill intentions, using me as a scapegoat…”
Wu Ming glanced at the sky. The night was dark and the surrounding wilderness was eerily quiet, exuding a chilling atmosphere.
“Hey! The evil woman has arrived!”
Upon reaching Wubagang, they indeed found a group already waiting there. The two leading figures were especially familiar to Wu Ming—they were the two swordsmen he had seen during the day.
One of them, upon seeing Wu Ming, immediately shouted, “So you really are a heretic cult member!”
“Rude!”
The people on both sides scattered, revealing a bearded, stern-faced giant wearing leather armor and carrying seven short spears on his back: “Are you indeed the Red Lotus Holy Mother?”
He then glanced at Wu Ming, his eyes revealing a thoughtful expression: “Could this gentleman possibly be the Black-Hearted Taoist? My name is Seven-Battle Zhenren. I must congratulate the Daoist friend on successfully returning from reincarnation!”
“Black-Hearted Taoist? That old Daoist’s name is certainly… quite vulgar…”
Wu Ming inwardly sweated and quickly replied, “This humble Daoist goes by the Taoist name of Zhaixingzi. I am unfamiliar with the identity of the Black-Hearted Taoist…”
“Oh?”
Seven-Battle Zhenren was slightly startled, thinking the Red Lotus Holy Mother had called for other reinforcements. Just as he was about to speak again, the Red Lotus Holy Mother, worried that the situation might escalate, immediately shouted, “Old Seven-Battle, where is my disciple?”
“Holy Mother, rest assured. Why would I mistreat a junior?”
Seven-Battle Zhenren clapped his hands, and a girl in a white dress was brought forward. She pitifully called out, “Master!”
It was indeed Bai Yulian, the Red Lotus Sect’s Holy Maiden, whom Wu Ming had seen once before.
“Let’s not beat around the bush… Holy Mother, you are supporting King One-Brow Han Hulin, while I am on the side of the imperial court, determined to assist in eliminating the rebels. If the Holy Mother is willing to disband her sect and seal off the mountain, not only will I return your apprentice, but I will also apologize and thereafter we shall remain separate, like well water and river water, never interfering with each other. How does that sound?”
Seven-Battle said solemnly.
“Hehehe…” The Red Lotus Holy Mother laughed, swaying like a blooming flower, causing the disciples of the School of Soldiers opposite to look on with vague infatuation: “Who doesn’t know that your School of Soldiers is notorious for its ruthless methods? If I were to believe you, I’d be a thirty-year-old mother who’s helplessly wrapped up in baby’s swaddling clothes!”
“Alas! What a great pity!” sighed the Seven-Battle Zhenren, his tone tinged with regret. “How unfortunate that the Red Lotus Holy Mother has toiled so diligently in her cultivation, only to see all her efforts come to naught today!”
“I see your Shang Dynasty is the one whose fate has ended. King Jie forged twelve golden statues, defying the will of heaven. Divine punishment will surely come. This Holy Mother follows the will of heaven!”
The Red Lotus Holy Mother shouted back. With a wave of her hand, she unleashed the Five-Poison Peach Blossom Miasma, rushing towards the enemy without any regard for her female apprentice’s safety.
“Hmph, heretical sorcery!” Seeing how the Peach Blossom Miasma corroded plants and withered bones into blood upon contact, Seven-Battle Zhenren disdainfully snorted: “Where are my Seven-Battle Disciples!”
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Several sword-wielding youths leaped forth. The two Wu Ming had previously met were among them. Filled with a fierce and formidable aura, they formed a small formation and shouted in unison: “Kill!”
Seven beams of sword light shot into the sky, instantly vanishing into the Peach Blossom Miasma. A mighty and martial aura emerged—an aura of military might very familiar to Wu Ming!
Plop! Plop!
The sword beams swept across, the Five-Poison Peach Blossom Miasma abruptly dispersing. A faint groan from the Red Lotus Holy Mother could be heard, indicating she had suffered a minor setback.
“These seven disciples of mine were raised and trained within the military from childhood, crawling out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. They naturally exude a bloodthirsty aura. Does the Holy Mother find them satisfactory?”
Seven-Battle smiled.
Although the Maoshan techniques appeared sinister and ruthless, they were particularly vulnerable to the counter of martial spirit and bloodthirsty aura. This was precisely why the Red Lotus Holy Mother had taken Seven-Battle Zhenren’s arrival so seriously.
“Cursed!”
The Red Lotus Holy Mother’s face turned as red as blood: “Where are my Eighteen Guardian Red Lotus Generals? Come forth! Kill these people!”
“Obeying the sacred decree!”
Immediately, a wave of Red Lotus disciples charged out, talismans clamped in their mouths, chanting incantations: “I summon the guardian deities to possess my body—hurry, as the command decrees!”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Cold winds howled, and within the fierce gales, shadows of various ferocious ghosts and spirits emerged, swiftly entering the disciples’ bodies.
“Kill!”
The moment they were possessed, the disciples’ eyes turned blood-red, their auras surging violently. Like demons or monsters, they ferociously charged forward to clash with Seven-Battle Zhenren’s disciples.
“Maoshan Spirit Summons? No, this technique seems less like summoning gods and more like summoning ghosts!”
Wu Ming observed clearly. These eighteen spirits were likely the subordinate ghost soldiers and generals worshipped by the Red Lotus Sect. By possessing the disciples, they immediately triggered their potential, combined with their martial arts experience, making them no less formidable than second-tier martial artists.
Moreover, since these spirits now had physical bodies, the influence of bloodthirsty aura was relatively diminished. However, this summoning technique resembled more of a spirit-possession method. Even if these disciples survived this battle, they would certainly suffer severe depletion of vitality afterward, likely falling seriously ill.
“Trivial skills!”
Although they were only eighteen second-tier experts, and despite their lack of coordination due to their diverse backgrounds, they still managed to corner the disciples of Seven-Battle Zhenren into a desperate situation—eighteen against seven.
Seeing this, Seven-Battle Zhenren remained composed, pulling a short spear from his back and hurling it with great force.
Bang!
The spear transformed into a streak of light, piercing through a Red Lotus disciple’s head in an instant, displaying immense ferocity.
“Ahh!”
As this disciple perished, Wu Ming faintly heard a scream in his ears—an accompanying ghost spirit was also killed, its form and soul utterly destroyed.
“Retreat!”
With a wave of his hand, the spear flew back. Repeating the process, the short spear darted through the battlefield like a divine dragon, instantly slaying six disciples in quick succession!
“Deservedly so for a third-tier martial artist from the School of Soldiers! These seven short spears are likely refined using bloodthirsty aura, aren’t they? With mind and weapon united, they fear no impurities, cutting down enemies like grass within a ten-meter radius!”
Wu Ming’s eyes gleamed with sharp insight.
“Junior brother, why don’t you act quickly?”
Seeing that the Red Lotus Holy Mother was quite fearful of the martial artist’s artifact, she shouted several times. Seeing Wu Ming still maintaining his composed demeanor, she inwardly cursed and began chanting incantations:
“Red Lotus Demon Lord, divine might unparalleled, protect my body, slay my enemies!”
Boom!
A crimson glow, thick with the stench of blood, suddenly flashed. A demonic general clad in Red Lotus armor burst forth from the void, bellowing in rage as it charged straight at Seven-Battle Zhenren.
“Roar! Roar!”
This Red Lotus Demon Lord was evidently the primary deity venerated by the Red Lotus Sect. With its initial strike came a sky ablaze with crimson radiance, surging divine power, and the wails of vengeful spirits. It appeared to frequently revel in blood sacrifices—a truly savage and malevolent deity!
“Hmph! Deploy all Seven Weapons!”
Facing this demon god, even the Seven-Battle True Immortal dared not be careless. The seven short spears on his back flew out, transforming into seven streaks of light as they clashed fiercely with the Red Lotus Demon Lord.
“Hmm… This is the Maoshan Spirit Commanding Technique, a top-tier spell in the Maoshan scriptures. To have refined it to the third level, the Red Lotus Holy Mother must be mad!”
Wu Ming inwardly sighed.
This technique was similar to the one used by the Black-Hearted Taoist to cultivate the Night Chariot. It involved cultivating negative and evil thoughts internally, then severing and externalizing them, refining and nurturing them into demon god seeds.
Subsequently, establishing a sect for worship, gathering thousands of incense offerings and prayers to cultivate and strengthen the demon god.
Because of the early-established restrictions and being self-cultivated, the demon god could naturally be commanded. However, there were many hidden dangers. Although theoretically, as long as faith was sufficient, the demon god could be refined infinitely, the stronger the demon god became, the more powerful the demonic thoughts would rebound, leading to great calamity if it exceeded the controller’s cultivation level.
In Wu Ming’s view, the Red Lotus Holy Mother and the Black-Hearted Taoist were both restricted by their techniques, unable to break through to the level of a true master. Yet they had refined the Red Lotus Demon Lord to the third level. This was akin to a child wielding a large hammer—carelessness could easily lead to complete annihilation!
“Such a mighty demon god!”
The seven short spears danced like divine dragons, twisting and turning. The Seven-Battle Immortal laughed heartily: “If it weren’t for this demon god, I would have destroyed your Red Lotus Sect long ago. But this time, I borrowed the precious artifact, the Gengjin Gourd, from my junior brother. It seems your time has come!”
With a serious expression, he threw out a white-gold gourd and shouted, “I invite the Star General to act!”
“Roar! Roar!”
As the howling wind roared, the entire world fell silent!
Countless beams of Gengjin light burst forth, as if tearing the sky, drawing down the western star power, transforming into a fierce white tiger, exuding a terrifying aura!
“Extraordinary! This is a martial artist of extraordinary destiny, gathering military prowess and adamantine essence, refining the artifact with his own fate and vital energy… To cultivate this gourd to such a state would require at least a decade of arduous effort, possibly even shortening one’s lifespan. Truly a daring sacrifice…”
Clouds follow dragons, winds follow tigers! The tiger’s roar shakes the forest, its cry startling the entire world!
The western Gengjin star power transformed into a white tiger, emitting a mighty roar, like an explosion.
Even the remaining few Red Lotus guardian generals on the ground were momentarily stunned, their bodies summoning ghost soldiers and generals in panic, which were instantly reduced to ashes under the starlight!
The might of a single roar reached such a level!!!
“Not good…”
The face of the Red Lotus Holy Mother turned pale as she attempted to summon her demon god. But would the Seven-Battle True Immortal give her the opportunity? In an instant, with a wave of his hand, the seven short spears transformed into streaks of light, swiftly descending to suppress the Red Lotus Demon Lord.
The martial school artifact formed a cage. Despite the demon god’s furious roars, it was helpless.
Another tiger roar sounded. The white tiger advanced, opening its blood-red maw, and swallowed the demon god in one bite!
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