At this very moment, Zhu Fugui felt that compared to this young Daoist priest, that Mount Mao young Daoist Master, Hong Baiwei and the monk Jiekong from Great Xiangguo Temple were nothing. "That was incredible! This is how a true man should be! Daoist Master, let me lend you a hand!" A surge of fighting spirit ignited in Zhu Fugui’s eyes as he shouted and charged forward. His momentum was fierce and unstoppable, as if he was ready to face death without fear. He strode boldly, utterly fearless. He even glanced at Ding Rou out of the corner of his eye. In his heart, Ding Rou was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. A true man ought to marry a peerless beauty like her. Unfortunately, what disappointed Zhu Fugui was that Ding Rou's attention was entirely focused on Li Yanchu at this moment. Zhu Fugui let out a roar, his courage swelling even more! Moments later, Zhu Fugui came scrambling back into the main hall of the Daoist temple hall, panting heavily with his face pale as a sheet. "Oh my goodness! What the hell was that thing?! That was seriously freaky!" Zhu Fugui was still shaken with lingering fear. He looked at the silhouette of the young Daoist who was still fighting outside the Daoist temple hall and gulped once again! This Daoist Master Yanchu... damn, he was fierce! Li Yanchu had no idea that Zhu Fugui, this old fellow, had also once been fired up with passion and wanted to rush out and lend him a hand. But in Li Yanchu’s eyes, there was only an endless swarm of demonic entities. They had grotesque, twisted, and distorted human faces; and they were cold and sinister carvings of evil. For some inexplicable reason, they stirred a deep sense of revulsion within Li Yanchu. He felt a pure and unfiltered disgust, as if it were a hatred imprinted in his very bloodline. Before entering this Blissful Land, he had already enhanced his martial arts manual, elevating it into a peerless martial art of the world. He had fully mastered it, refining his body and blood to become even stronger. Now he possessed the power of dragons and elephants. And with the help of that miraculous jujube, practically a treasure of heaven and earth, his qi and physical strength had grown even more robust. At this moment, he was in an incredibly powerful state. He could now wield the Daoist divine artifact, the talismanic armor, more effectively. It was no longer like before when, despite being a top-tier expert, prolonged use of the armor would backfire and injure him from the backlash. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! One after another, the demonic entities fell at his hands. Boom! A thunderous roar shook the heavens and the earth! "Roar!" a shrill, blood-curdling sound pierced the air. It shook the soul, as if some unimaginable terror was descending from the darkness! The ground trembled violently as a massive black shadow charged in from the distance. Its body towered over ten zhang tall; it was an enormous, hulking figure. In the blink of an eye, it would arrive at their location. A torrent of overwhelming demonic aura instantly flooded the area around the Daoist temple hall. The ever-burning lanterns flickered wildly, and the sacred light of the palace seemed on the verge of being snuffed out. And this was only the pressure from its presence alone. Li Yanchu’s expression turned grave. This kind of demon was far beyond what his current strength could handle. He would have to use either a Five-Lightning Talisman or the Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman. This was clearly an ancient, primeval demon. With his enhanced senses, Li Yanchu clearly saw the creature's form. Its entire body was bare and hairless, with a pair of eerie, emotionless white eyes. It was neither human nor beast. It seemed to embody all the negative emotions in the world. It was far more terrifying than the horde of demons and humanoid carvings he had faced so far combined! Just one glance, and he immediately felt himself being pulled into a nightmarish state of terror. A wave of twisted, dark emotions rose in his heart, but several beams of radiant light flared up from his body, instantly dragging him back to clarity. However, inside the Daoist temple hall’s main hall, Zhu Fugui and Ding Rou were already staring blankly, dazed and unresponsive. They had begun walking toward the outside completely undefended, as if bewitched by the demon! “Snap out of it!” Li Yanchu shouted, his mouth chanting a Daoist mantra in a thunderous voice. Zhu Fugui and Ding Rou, who had been walking out in a daze, instantly jolted awake. The blank look on their faces vanished, replaced by alarm and fear. "Stay inside the Daoist temple hall! Do not come out! Hold your breath and focus your mind, don’t let external evil disturb you!" Li Yanchu spoke in a low, steady voice. With such a bizarre and formidable presence before him, it was clear that a hard battle lay ahead. Just as he was about to activate the Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman to engage this ancient demon... Suddenly, a powerful aura surged from behind him, and brilliant golden light erupted! Startled, Li Yanchu turned to look. Zhu Fugui and Ding Rou also turned their gazes in astonishment toward the source of the golden radiance. The statue of the Mount Jinting Daoist spiritual master, which had originally stood still holding a sword, suddenly came to life! Its body emitted a dazzling golden glow. A Daoist immortal stood there, his feet wreathed in a haze of purple qi. The terrifying demon, sensing the change within the Daoist temple hall, let out a heaven-shaking roar of fury. Then, the stone statue had vanished without a trace. In its place, a Daoist spiritual master with an ethereal, transcendent aura soared out from within the main hall. In his hand was a peachwood sword, and beneath his feet, auspicious clouds rolled! “Insolence! How dare a wicked demon trespass upon my Daoist sanctum!” The immortal spoke with the authority of Heaven itself, and ian the skies above, thunderclouds rumbled, as if a heavenly tribulation were descending. “Heavenly Thunderstrike!” The mighty Daoist formed a hand seal and thrust his sword forward. From a hundred zhang above, purple heavenly lightning came crashing down. The enormous demon with the cold, eerie white eyes was struck squarely by the divine lightning! Its furious cry was instantly swallowed by the thunderclap. The other demonic entities within the Daoist temple hall were also struck by the rolling heavenly lightning. Lightning techniques were the purest yang force of Heaven and Earth, the bane of all demons and heretics! Before the three of them, everything was suddenly engulfed in blinding white light, and their ears were filled with deafening thunderclaps. It was terrifying enough to shake the soul. It felt as if an ancient pool of heavenly lightning had appeared right before them, filled with divine lightning and fire tribulations. But Li Yanchu, who possessed four enhanced Five-Lightning Talismans, had a clear and resolute heart, unshaken by demonic forces. He was the first to recover from the overwhelming state. The thunderous aura of heaven and earth had instead cleansed and refined the blood and qi coursing through Li Yanchu's body, and all the demonic creatures in front of the Daoist temple hall were annihilated by the divine lightning. Even Li Yanchu was somewhat stunned. "This is the might of Heaven!" he exclaimed in awe. This awesome heavenly thunder, punishing evil and slaying demons, was not a power mortals could command. He was amazed, what was going on with this immortal? Could he also be a lingering will of an immortal who once dwelled in this Blissful Land? Suddenly, Li Yanchu's pupils contracted. In the distance, he saw that towering, demonically charged figure. It was still alive! After all, this was not a true Daoist immortal arriving in person, but only the final trace of a lingering will after a thousand years. It had been stirred by Li Yanchu’s righteous aura and awakened by the emergence of this ancient evil. Chapters first released on NoveIꜰire.net Still, this was a Daoist Earth Immortal, one who once presided over this Blissful Land. Even a mere remnant of his consciousness wielded immense, terrifying power. This Earth Immortal formed a hand seal that Li Yanchu himself could not recognize and sent forth another sword strike. A streak of radiant light flew from his hand. It was that peachwood sword! Peachwood, the essence of the five trees, was commonly used in both folk practice and Daoist ritual to dispel evil and ward off misfortune. It's one of the most widely used talismans. It was a magical artifact for slaying demons and exorcising monsters. And the peachwood sword wielded by this Earth Immortal was no ordinary one! As it flew forth, it instantly pierced through the ancient demon’s massive body! The demon dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, scattered into dust. The world fell into a sudden, complete clarity.Then, the horde of demons, the humanoid statues, and the ancient demon itself were all destroyed! In a flash, the peachwood sword flew back into the hand of the immortal, who stood wreathed in auspicious purple qi. That immortal remnant gave Li Yanchu a slight nod, a look of appreciation flickering in his eyes. Then, he slowly raised his hand, and Li Yanchu suddenly felt a great hand gently rest atop his head. A vast, boundless energy began to nourish and refine his very primordial spirit! An immortal once laid a hand upon my brow, In youth I vowed to seek the Dao. The art of life beyond decay, To chase the path where spirits stray.[1] Brilliant golden light shimmered across Li Yanchu's body, while purple qi rose and swirled around him in waves. 1. The line 仙人抚我顶，结发受长生 comes from the Tang dynasty poet 李白 (Li Bai). It appears in his poem 《大鹏遇希有鸟赋》 It means, “The immortal stroked my crown; in my youth, I pledged to learn the Way of Immortality.” ☜