Chapter 247 - 275: Tianyi Cult! Gui Chen Sect! White Jade Skull! A Godlike Advent
After suppressing the Daoist in the Dharma Tripod Prison, Su Bai returned to the Great Xia Imperial City and entered the depths of the prison.
He sat cross-legged in the void.
Then, he immersed his Heart Spirit into the Purification Tripod to check the middle-aged Daoist’s detailed information.
[Criminal: Tianye Daoist]
[Sin Level: Eight-Star]
[Strength: Seventh Layer of the Nine Tribulations Realm]
[Status: Severely Injured (Imprisoned)]
[Suppression Involvement: 90%]
[Reward: 2,000,000 Experience Points / Hour]
’The reward isn’t bad!’
Su Bai nodded slightly after seeing the reward column.
Then, he began to view footage of the man’s crimes.
Before long, he saw the man execute a Divine Technique.
In the footage...
He had also changed his position in an instant.
And he now roughly understood this Divine Technique.
Moving Stars and Changing Moon!
After casting this Divine Technique, one could leave behind a starlight-and-moonlight shadow in a certain location. As long as the shadow didn’t dissipate, one could instantly change their current position and teleport to the shadow’s location.
The duration of the shadow’s existence and the teleportation distance were both related to the mastery of the Divine Technique.
The higher the level of the Divine Technique, the stronger the effect, naturally.
’A decent life-saving Divine Technique.’
Su Bai decided on the spot. Once his own Cultivation broke through to the Nine Tribulations Realm, he would erase this person and extract this Divine Technique.
Although this life-saving Divine Technique didn’t seem to be of much use to him, having another tool in his arsenal was always a good thing.
After some time, Su Bai had also gained a general understanding of the man’s origins.
’Tianye Daoist, Nether Celestial Sect...’
If Rashomon was the branch office within Great Xia, then the so-called Nether Celestial Sect was the head office within Da Yu.
Afterward, Su Bai’s Heart Spirit sank into the Dharma Tripod Prison. He soon saw the middle-aged Daoist, his body being incinerated by Karmic Fire, his face twisted as he let out a series of low roars.
Su Bai stared at him and chuckled.
"Don’t be anxious. After I’m done dealing with the Ancestral Demon Mountain, I’ll pay your Nether Celestial Sect a visit."
"I’ll capture all those sect ancestors and bring them here to keep you company."
When the middle-aged Daoist heard this, his expression froze.
Before he could respond, Su Bai withdrew his Heart Spirit.
Then, he closed his eyes again and continued to absorb the surrounding Demon Evil Qi.
...
「Desolate Province, a small mountain village.」
The group stared at the black thunder rumbling and crackling in the distant sky, their expressions turning grave.
"It’s the Celestial One Sect’s Demon Calamity Thunder!"
The old Daoist was quite knowledgeable and recognized the true nature of the black thunder at a glance.
His face was extremely grim, his eyes filled with apprehension.
The Celestial One Sect!
It was a terrifying Evil Cult that had long hidden in various parts of the Desolate Province, instigating one bloody conflict after another to harvest souls. They were extremely mysterious.
The Orthodox Sects had once united to carry out a major purge against the Celestial One Sect, but unfortunately, with little success.
"The Celestial One Sect! It’s actually them!"
The woman at the side immediately paled, instinctively tightening her grip on the long blade in her hand.
In the past, the appearance of the Celestial One Sect always meant that a terrible, bloody disaster was about to unfold.
The black thunder in the sky vanished in a flash, its aura disappearing so quickly it was as if it had never been there.
But beside them, Su Bai opened his eyes and scanned the void.
Streams of mysterious auras, invisible to ordinary people, flickered past his gaze before finally locking onto a certain spot.
’Found it!’
Ever since Su Bai’s Divine Spirit underwent a transformation, his Heart Spirit had become incredibly powerful, and the distance his Divine Thoughts could perceive had greatly increased.
At the same time, he also had more methods at his disposal.
For example, the Thousand-Mile Soul Lock!
The old Daoist and the woman with the blade only saw a momentary flash before them, as if a streak of silver-white lightning had suddenly cut through the air. An invisible pressure, heavy as a mountain, bore down on their hearts.
They were so overwhelmed they almost prostrated themselves, horrified.
DING—
Then, amidst a sound like colliding Golden Jade, Su Bai stirred.
He glanced at the old Daoist and the woman with the blade beside him and spoke.
"Let’s go."
"Go? Where are we going?"
The old Daoist was startled for a moment, then it dawned on him. "Senior! Could it be that you’ve already found those people from the Celestial One Sect?"
Su Bai nodded slightly. His gaze swept over the nine coffins placed in the courtyard before he strode out of Ning Village.
Above Ning Village, white clouds drifted leisurely, but below, on the Ten-Mile Burial Mound, a sinister wind howled.
Dust swirled up with the cawing of black crows, creating a particularly desolate scene.
SWOOSH!
Before the old Daoist could even react, the woman with the blade flashed past him.
The Silver-White Dog Demon also wagged its tail and followed.
"Senior! Wait for me!"
The old Daoist cried out and stepped through the gate of Ning Village, only to find that the two people and the dog were already at least a few miles away, with no intention of waiting for him.
"Argh!"
He stomped his foot resentfully, took out two pieces of yellow paper cut into the shape of horses from his robes, and stuck them to his legs. Then, he took out a bell and shook it while chanting an incantation.
"One step becomes a thousand, the land itself shrinks! Mountains flatten, and waters run dry!"
HUM!
A moment later, the ringing of the bell and the incantation both faded away.
The old Daoist took a single step and covered several hundred zhang. His legs glowed with red light, wind stirred at his feet, and he rushed to catch up at a speed dozens of times faster than usual.
’This kind of Magic Technique is rather interesting.’
Hearing the whooshing sound of wind behind him, Su Bai glanced to the side.
This wasn’t the old Daoist’s own power; it was the power of heaven and earth, borrowed using a Dao Talisman as a catalyst and an incantation as the key.
In reality, the old Daoist’s Cultivation wasn’t high, but his Daoist Skills were profound. With such a Magic Technique, even a mortal could cover three to five zhang in a single step and travel hundreds of miles in a day, which could be considered Extraordinary.
"Sen... Senior!"
Not long after, the old Daoist stopped, only then realizing that the group had arrived outside a remote village.
"Be quiet."
Su Bai glanced at him, then looked toward the mountain village ahead.
The village before them was called Xiaoli Village. It was one of the larger villages in the area, with nearly one hundred and eighty households. The village itself was not small and was surrounded by iron fences two to three zhang high, making it difficult for even common jackals and fierce beasts to climb over.
In addition, people took turns standing guard, making it a relatively safe village in the vicinity.
Of course, that was before.
Now, Xiaoli Village was completely empty. Only the wailing of the whistling wind could be heard, making it feel like a ghost town.
"Senior! This is..."
The old Daoist’s breathing grew ragged.
Although he was a Daoist with low Cultivation, he could still tell that something was wrong with the village.
’I’m afraid quite a few people have had their souls reaped by that damned Celestial One Sect!’
’Quite greedy.’
After sensing for a moment, Su Bai looked in a certain direction, muttered this under his breath, and started walking into the village.
The Silver-White Dog Demon at his side, its fur standing on end, nervously chanted.
"Blessed Infinite Heavenly Venerable!"
Then it, too, followed.
The woman gripped her long blade, her eyes cold, and followed closely behind.
The old Daoist clutched the bell in his hand and took out a thick stack of Dao Talismans he had accumulated over several years with his other hand, cautiously trailing behind.
The gate to Xiaoli Village was half-open, and the people who were supposed to be standing guard were nowhere to be found.
The slightly muddy ground was covered in footprints, but there were no signs of a struggle.
"That’s—!"
Suddenly, the old Daoist’s expression changed. He saw a couple walk out of a house in the distance, dazed and vacant, as if they had lost their souls.
The couple, however, seemed completely oblivious to the old Daoist’s cry of alarm, and continued to walk mechanically toward the village’s center, step by step.
Su Bai’s eyes shifted. Farther away, people seemed to be emerging from one house after another.
One by one, as if sleepwalking, they all headed for the center of the village.
People from hundreds of households moved in an orderly fashion, without a single sound. Accompanied by the sinister, gusting wind, the scene was indescribably eerie.
...
Outside Xiaoli Village’s ancestral hall was the largest open space in the village.
Usually, few people came here; only occasionally, when it was time to worship their ancestors.
But at this moment, the open ground in front of the ancestral hall was crowded with figures—it was impossible to tell if there were dozens or hundreds of them.
All these people were dazed and vacant, as if they had lost their minds, swaying foolishly in front of the hall.
Directly in front of the ancestral hall, a black-robed Daoist sat cross-legged. He wore a feathered crown, had a thin frame, and his face was cold, fierce, and somber.
Behind him, two tall, burly men with wooden expressions and powerful auras stood, one on his left and one on his right.
Above his head, several incorporeal, distorted shadows that seemed not of this world swam like fish, emitting waves of frigid, sinister energy.
Before him was an Incense Burner the size of a fist.
Wisps of smoke were rising from the Incense Burner. The smoke was as dark as ink—darker than the night itself—and drifted through the air, spreading out in all directions like little, cold snakes.
KAKA-KA!
The sound of grinding bones echoed continuously.
A skeleton that looked as if it were carved from Jade sat cross-legged in front of the crowd.
The villagers, who had lost their minds, gathered around the skeleton as if in a trance, allowing it to suck the Essence Blood from their bodies.
After feeding, a scarlet line would appear on the skeleton’s white-jade-like body.
And the villagers, their faces deathly pale after being fed upon, would tremble as they staggered to the side.
Then another group of villagers would surround it.
The cycle repeated.
This was the nourishment of a skeleton with the blood of hundreds, even thousands, of people.
’If it weren’t for that Daoist from the Gui Chen Sect getting in my way, why would I have to come to this remote village and waste my Enchanting Incense...’
The black-robed Daoist watched the black smoke drift away, his face twitching, his heart aching with the loss.
His Enchanting Incense could befuddle high-realm experts. It was hard to come by, and using it on mortals was a true waste.
But this was the Da Yu Desolate Province, and not far from Jin Yun City. He didn’t dare act brazenly, so he could only nourish the skeleton in secret.
This was already the ninth village he had blood-sacrificed.
’Eh? Someone’s here?’
’Is it another Daoist from the Gui Chen Sect?’
Suddenly, his gaze shifted, and he glanced at the old Daoist.
Abruptly, his gaze fell upon the white-robed young man walking at the very front.
His pupils instantly constricted!
At that moment, the very momentum of the world’s mountains and rivers, the endless light of the sun, moon, and stars, all seemed to converge upon this person.
It set him off as a world-shocking Exiled Immortal!
The Daoist’s eyes went slack, utterly horrified.
’Who... is this?’
As this final thought fell.
A torrent of crimson Karmic Fire came surging and roaring!
In an instant, it enveloped his body.
The White Jade Skull and the two powerfully-aurad henchmen were just about to move to protect their master.
Su Bai swept his gaze over them and then extended his right hand.
He crushed them with a single palm strike!
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere.
Fine shards of White Jade bone shattered in all directions!
The two people and the dog following behind Su Bai stared blankly.
Looking back at the spot, there was no trace left of the black-robed Daoist.
At that moment, their hearts were filled with horror and shock.
They looked again at Su Bai ahead of them.
It was as if a god had descended!