Dark Altar Sect
The mountain range was tall and majestic, with clouds and mist drifting about. The pine trees on the cliffs were bent over, welcoming the sunlight as they extended their branches and leaves. The Daoist walked up and down the mountain path.
However, up on the mountain, the atmosphere was extremely tense. Recently, many disciples had gotten into trouble, and there were Daoists patrolling and patrolling the area.
A disciple in his thirties, with a slightly plump face, wanted to go down the mountain, but was stopped by the Daoist below.
"The True Sovereign has ordered that no one is allowed to go down the mountain." The Daoist guarding the gate had an expressionless face as he asked, "Didn't you receive the order?"
"Senior Brother Fei, my father is very ill. I wish to go back and see him. Please make an exception." The disciple bowed as he handed over a banknote. It wasn't big, about ten taels of silver, "Please make an exception, Senior Brother."
"Do you have an order from an Elder?" The Daoist guarding the gate looked at the banknote with a strange expression on his face as he asked.
"Senior, Senior Brother, no, I don't." The disciple felt that something wasn't right, and stuttered. Hearing this, the Daoist guarding the gate's face fell, "So you don't have permission? What's your name? Which hall and which Senior Uncle are you from? "
"I..." The disciple's face fell as he smiled apologetically, "Since Senior Brother Fei isn't willing, I shall go back and do the paperwork."
"It's too late. Arrest him!" The Daoist guarding the gate stood up, gritting his teeth as he grinned. He waved his hands, and several disciples around him pounced on him, restraining him.
"Very good. You didn't resist. Do you know that if you resist, you'll be killed without mercy?" The Daoist guarding the gate spoke in a sinister tone, "Do you know that before you, there were already two disciples who tried to barge in. They were killed immediately."
"Since you didn't resist, I'll give you a chance to live." The Daoist guarding the gate waved his hands, "Take him back and investigate."
Dao Palace, Underground Corridor
The corridor was a few miles long, three feet tall and five feet wide. Two Daoists escorted the disciple down the corridor. At the end of the corridor, there was a black door that was covered with golden spikes. The door slowly opened.
Behind the door were two Daoists who were about two meters tall. They were clad in armor and wielded a golden dagger in their hands. A strong killing intent emanated from them.
Behind the door, there were many stone chambers that formed a prison. Every cell had different talisman Dao patterns on it, and spirit lights were flashing on the stone walls.
Today, the prison was exceptionally lively. An elder was hung by an iron ring in a stone room. He was chained up, yet he was struggling in pain.
"Senior Brother, Senior Brother, kill me. Kill me. Evil Lord has invaded my spirit. I feel like I'm in hell every day. I feel terrible. Kill me!" The Elder struggled and wailed.
There were a few Elders around, and as they looked at each other, tears flowed down their cheeks, "Elder Brother, we … we will definitely find a way to help you recover."
"Junior Sister, you've seen it all these days. We've tried every method in the sect. You don't know, but I can sense the wretch energy eating away at my soul. Junior Sister, Junior Sister, just kill me. Just kill me!" The Elder looked at his Junior Sister and said, "Junior Sister, Junior Sister, kill me.
"If you really love me, then kill me."
The elder cried out in despair. The surrounding elders all turned their heads, feeling the same way. The corners of their eyes couldn't help but moisten.
"Elder Yu, the outcome of the battle has been determined." Just as he was feeling helpless, someone hurried over and shouted out. Hearing this, Yu Kan turned around and heard, "King Lu has achieved a great victory. He has defeated the army of the imperial court."
Yu Kan's expression was solemn, but he knew that he couldn't be softhearted. He then instructed, "We have to continue trying. If we give up now, junior brother will be beyond hope."
"Besides, King Lu has achieved a great victory. The Imperial Qi will change rapidly. We have to find out the source. Jing Yun Zi, you do it." Yu Kan spoke to the young woman who spoke earlier. He then handed the weapon over, "Try it again."
"You have to stand guard. Find out the source of the evil. Only then can the disciples be saved." Yu Kan spoke out. When Jing Yun Zi heard this, she wiped her tears away and replied, "Yes, Senior Brother."
The sect had checked and found out that a quarter of the disciples had been infected. Once all of them were killed, it would be a huge blow to their vitality. Hence, they had to pay the price. The Elder's soul was strong, and was the most suitable candidate.
"Pure Spirit Pearl, Orchid Heart Fire. Use the twelve methods." The Elder recorded everything down. Jing Yun Zi retrieved a spiritual pearl and flicked it.
"Buzz!" The spiritual pearl glowed brightly. A circle of white light shone brightly, illuminating the entire stone room. In the middle of the circle, a flame appeared. It looked like an orchid. The moment the flame landed on the Elder's body, the evil Qi started to dissipate. His primordial spirit started to recover.
Seeing the results, Jing Yun Zi let out a smile, "Senior Brother, I've found a way to save you."
Even before she finished speaking, the Elder who was tied up groaned. A dark red light shone out from him. It seemed like he was about to escape.
However, the stone room was protected by a spell. A loud "boom" could be heard as the Dao Talisman vibrated. A white light shone from the walls of the room, illuminating the dark red light. It was the shadow of an eagle.
As the evil Qi continued to surge out, the shadow of the eagle started to solidify. The Elder still retained some semblance of consciousness. He then raised his head and spoke with much difficulty, "Junior Sister, please kill me. I can't hold on any longer."
"Kill me. Take this opportunity to preserve my primordial spirit."
"Ah!" Jing Yuanzi, who was holding the mystic artifact, hesitated for a moment. The eagle's shadow had already materialized and pounced towards the elder below.
"Boom!" The Elder's essence blood and soul exploded and landed on the shadow of the eagle. The Dao Talisman on the chain was extinguished.
"Senior Martial Brother!" Jing Yuanzi burst into tears. The rest of the elders saw that something was wrong and were about to act. However, the eagle pounced on her and instantly pierced through her body. She let out a muffled groan and stood still.
Yu Kan heard the scream and no longer hesitated. With a point of his finger, the white light suddenly turned red and struck down.
After killing another person, Old Eagle reacted quickly and entered the woman's body. However, the red light was merciless. With a boom, half of the woman's body exploded, and even the illusory figure inside was shaken to pieces. Even at this point, Old Eagle still did not stop. With a series of crackling sounds, the illusory figure was completely blown to smithereens.
"Roar!" After killing the eagle, the surrounding cells began to tremble, and roars could be heard. Yu Kan's face fell, and the Daoist guarding the Immortal Prison exclaimed, "Elder, Elder, something's wrong. The disciples and Elders who were locked up are all affected, and are growing strange shapes. They're struggling."
"What?" Yu Kan's face fell as he felt a chill run down his spine. He then muttered to himself, "Looks like this eagle is an important figure in Evil Lord."
"But don't worry. Increase the strength of the spell. While they're struggling, find out whose Imperial Qi is affecting them."
"Yes, Elder Yu!" The surrounding people immediately responded and rushed out. Some noises could be heard from the surroundings. Even Yu Kan rushed out. After a while, he returned, his body was already stained with blood, and his clothes were torn in several places.
"Have you found out?" Yu Kan wiped the blood off his face as someone reported, "We've found out. The change just now was due to Evil Lord's Imperial Qi growing stronger. It broke through our spell."
"From this, we can confirm that the source of the Demonic Qi was King Lu."
"Is that so?" Yu Kan paced several steps before speaking out coldly, "That's right. The Demonic Qi grew stronger as well, which led to this disaster. Hurry and inform the True Sovereign's incarnation."
Qi Lin Monastery
"Count Zhong Qin had no choice but to retreat during the night. He lost many of his troops, and was defeated." Pei Zi Yun sighed as he spoke.
The Earth Immortal still didn't understand. He closed his eyes and thought for some time before bowing, "True Sovereign Pei, I'm very curious. When you surrounded Ji Bei Hou, you split up your troops. Count Zhong Qin was defeated one by one? What's the meaning of this? I don't understand. "
"What don't you understand?"
"Actually, I've already told you two key points. Firstly, King Lu took over Han Zhong and forced his way into Shu Jing. This caused the entire world to tremble, and the Emperor had no choice but to issue a decree."
"War is never purely about military matters. In fact, politics plays a larger role."
"By making use of political factors, the enemy will have no choice but to be blinded by greed and take a risk." Pei Zi Yun straightened his back and spoke out slowly, "Many talented generals were forced by their master to take the risk. It wasn't that they were useless, but they were forced by their master to take the risk. In the end, their reputation was tarnished."
"Hence, a true general's first move would be to cause discord between his master and his general. This discord isn't limited to suspicions or small tricks. It's more about the difference in strategy."
"There's no solution to this. When a general is outside, he can't obey the orders of his master. That's all a lie. If there's a general who doesn't obey the orders of his master, even if he wins, would he have a good ending?"
"That's what it means to win a political battle."
"Secondly, I've said it before. The Imperial Court is used to controlling the size of the Prime Ministers. Hence, there's a gap between them. They can take advantage of this gap to concentrate their troops and attack them one by one." Pei Zi Yun then spoke out, "There's no way to save this. There's not a single Imperial Court under the heavens that can solve this problem. The only difference is the size of the gap."
"Hand over all the military power to one person? Only a fool would believe such a thing. "
"Thirdly, it's more detailed and specific. You should know that the more detailed you are, the more effective it is. I shan't continue." Pei Zi Yun laughed, "You and I are enemies. I can't possibly teach you everything I know, right?"
These words caused the Earth Immortal to laugh. Just as they were speaking, another Daoist entered the room and reported to Pei Zi Yun. It was someone from the Earth Immortal's faction, who whispered into Pei Zi Yun's ear.
Pei Zi Yun looked at the Daoist and didn't eavesdrop. He just sipped his tea.
After hearing this, the Earth Immortal sighed, his face was unreadable. After some time, he turned to Pei Zi Yun, "I agree to your suggestion. I shall summon Xie Cheng Dong and kill him."
"But you have to assist him as well. After all, this person has a lot of power within King Lu's army. If he were to deploy his troops, it wouldn't be easy to kill him."
When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he understood. Dark Altar Sect didn't want to fight alone. After much thought, he agreed, "When you're ready, let me know."
"However, the location has to be discussed. I have a rule, it can't be within the boundaries of Dark Altar Mountain."
Seeing the Earth Immortal's expression change, Pei Zi Yun then spoke out, "You're an Earth Immortal. Within the boundaries of Dark Altar Mountain, your powers will be amplified. I don't want to die."
"Don't talk to me about trust. There's no trust between us."
These words were spoken very decisively. The Earth Immortal's face fell as he thought for some time before nodding his head, "Alright, I agree to this condition."
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