novellaaa Chapter 229 Nine Heavens Respond to the Origin, Thunder Spreads Universally
Chapter 229 Nine Heavens Respond to the Origin, Thunder Spreads Universally
Chapter 229 Nine Heavens Respond to the Origin, Thunder Spreads Universally (4000)
Lu Yuan sheathed his sword and walked up to Lin Zhaoxuan.
He crouched down and placed his hand on Lin Zhaoxuan's wrist pulse.
The pulse was as erratic as the sound of horses' hooves being scattered by the wind on a snowy night.
Blood and qi surge upwards, magical power is depleted, and meridians are burned.
If we had waited even a fraction longer to suppress it, it might have truly damaged the foundation.
Lu Yuan took out a calming and pulse-stabilizing talisman from his bundle, affixed it to Lin Zhaoxuan's Tanzhong acupoint, and then applied a dot of cinnabar to his brow.
"Close your eyes."
"Keep your mind focused."
Lin Zhaoxuan was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously did as instructed.
Lu Yuan pinched the "Purifying Heart Mantra" with his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, his thumb pressing down on his ring finger, and his little finger curled inward.
Apply acupressure point to each of Lin Zhaoxuan's four points: between his eyebrows, below his throat, in his chest, and at his dantian.
He murmured, "Supreme Star, responding without ceasing."
"To exorcise evil spirits and protect one's life."
"Wisdom is clear and bright, and the mind is at peace."
"The three souls are eternal, and the spirit is never lost."
As the purification mantra was recited, the abnormal redness on Lin Zhaoxuan's face slowly faded.
His breathing finally calmed down a bit.
Song Qinghe stared blankly at Lu Yuan.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lu."
Lu Yuan didn't look up, only saying calmly, "No need to thank me yet."
"The backlash from the Bloodfire Pill won't be easy to suppress. After leaving Savage Valley, you'll need to rest for at least three months. You can't ascend the altar, you can't use thunder magic, and you can't touch this Thunder Token again."
Lin Zhaoxuan opened his eyes, his voice weak: "Three months?"
Zhou Heng, who was standing next to him, was wincing in pain, but couldn't help but laugh.
"Should."
Lu Yuan then looked at Zhou Heng's shoulder.
Although the bone knife had been pulled out, the edges of the wound were blackened, clearly contaminated with yin energy.
Lu Yuan said to Wang Cheng'an, "Cheng'an, perform a vasectomy on him."
Wang Chengan nodded, took out glutinous rice, cinnabar, and mugwort floss, and applied them around Zhou Heng's wound.
Just as Zhou Heng was about to grit his teeth and endure it, Xu Erxiao stuffed a dry biscuit into his mouth.
"Bite down."
Zhou Heng was taken aback.
The next moment, Wang Chengan pressed the glutinous rice into the wound.
"Sizzle!"
Black smoke rose up.
Zhou Heng was in so much pain that his eyes almost popped out, but luckily he had a dry biscuit in his mouth, so he didn't scream.
Xu Erxiao patted him on the shoulder.
"Bear with it, you're a tough guy from outside the Great Wall, this little bit of pain is nothing."
With a dry biscuit in his mouth, Zhou Heng mumbled a curse, but it was unclear who he was cursing.
Seeing this, Song Qinghe, despite still having tears in her eyes, couldn't help but smile.
The atmosphere eased slightly.
But Lu Yuan did not relax.
He stood up and looked at the old willow tree in the center of the valley.
The stage had collapsed, all eight lanterns were extinguished, and most of the evil onlookers and skeletal soldiers had dispersed.
But the willow tree remained entrenched in the darkness.
The evil eye on the tree trunk blinked slowly.
With each blink, the surrounding yin energy churned a little more.
It did not attack immediately.
But it seemed as if they were waiting for something.
Or rather, it is rebuilding its strength.
Lu Yuan knew very well that what they had just broken was merely a "trick."
It is part of the evil god worship system in this Savage Valley.
The true roots are still under that willow tree.
Moreover, once the stage is destroyed, the willow tree will surely be thoroughly enraged.
Next up is the main character.
Lin Zhaoxuan also looked at the willow tree and said weakly, "Fellow Daoist Lu."
"This thing—is it not over yet?"
Lu Yuan nodded.
"The play is over."
"But God hasn't left yet."
""
As he spoke, he glanced back at Lin Zhaoxuan.
This time, the wariness in his eyes was much less.
"Just now I suspected you were a heretic."
Lin Zhaoxuan was taken aback.
Zhou Heng and Song Qinghe also looked up at the same time.
Lu Yuan remained calm and made no attempt to conceal his true feelings.
"You've come at the perfect time, and your words are too impulsive."
"And in his hand he was holding this old magic weapon from the Thunder Department, passed down from his ancestors."
"I have to be on guard."
Lin Zhaoxuan was stunned for a moment, then he actually laughed.
"I would defend against it too."
Zhou Heng grinned and said, "I told you, senior brother, with your habit of rushing into evil spirits whenever you see them, you'll be considered a fool sooner or later."
Song Qinghe whispered, "It's not just a matter of time, it's happening now."
Lin Zhaoxuan felt somewhat embarrassed by what the two said. He coughed, which aggravated his injuries, making his face even paler.
Lu Yuan looked at him and suddenly asked, "Why did you come to Savage Valley?"
Lin Zhaoxuan paused for a moment.
This time, he didn't say anything as simple as "I've heard of evil spirits."
He looked down at the Thunder Token in his hand and said softly, "Half a month ago, we encountered an old man who was about to die in a dilapidated temple outside Fengtian City."
"He was a ginseng runner. He said that he and his group of twelve went into the mountains, and he was the only one who made it out."
He said that in Yerengou, operas were performed at night and people were buried during the day, and there were things under the willow trees that ate incense.
He also said that he saw people in theatrical robes dragging living people onto the stage.
"Our master hated these evil and harmful things the most when he was alive."
"So here we are."
Lu Yuan asked, "Based solely on the words of an old foreman?"
Lin Zhaoxuan raised his head, his eyes serious.
"Before he died, he grabbed my sleeve and said that his brothers were still in the ditch, with no one to collect their bodies or perform any rituals for them to pass on to the afterlife."
"He begged me to go and take a look if I were a Taoist priest."
"I agree."
Lu Yuan fell silent.
In those days outside the Great Wall, bandits, war, famine, and evil spirits could all take lives.
The dying wish of an old mountain runner may seem insignificant to many.
But for someone like Lin Zhaoxuan, agreeing to it would become a matter of karmic connection within the Daoist community.
Lu Yuan suddenly realized that while his previous precautions were not entirely wrong, he had somewhat underestimated these three young Taoists.
Their spiritual attainment is low, and their vision is limited. They can't even understand the proper order of offerings.
But his spirit is truly upright.
It's a bit silly.
That is precisely what makes it so rare.
Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked back at the willow tree.
"Then let's settle this matter together."
Lin Zhaoxuan tried to stand up.
Song Qinghe quickly pressed him down.
"You still want to move?"
Lin Zhaoxuan said urgently, "I still—"
Before Lin Zhaoxuan could finish speaking, Lu Yuan interrupted him directly: "You can't."
"If you use lightning magic again, you'll be crippled before the willow tree even has to lift a finger."
Lin Zhaoxuan opened his mouth.
Lu Yuan pointed to the area behind the altar.
"You sit in the Kan position, protect the Thunder Token, and are not allowed to make another move."
Zhou Heng injured his shoulder and also stepped back.
"Song Qinghe's talismanic arts are still stable; he will stay behind to help Cheng An guard the incense."
After speaking, Lu Yuan looked at Xu Erxiao and Wang Chengan.
"Second Little One, open the box."
"Cheng'an, restore the altar to its original state."
Xu Erxiao's spirits lifted.
"Brother Lu, are we getting serious?"
Lu Yuan gazed at the increasingly venomous evil eyes on the willow tree and slowly exhaled.
"The play is over."
"Next, it's time to cut down the trees."
Xu Erxiao's eyelids twitched upon hearing this, and he immediately turned around to open the heavy wooden box.
When the lid of the box was lifted, several stacks of yellow talismans, cinnabar ink sticks, lightning-struck jujube wood nails, black donkey hooves, copper coins, and a small wooden box wrapped in red cloth were neatly arranged inside.
The box wasn't large, but it was sealed with two yellow talismans, with the character "镇" (zhen, meaning to suppress) on the top of each talisman. Clearly, it was something Lu Yuan had kept hidden away.
Wang Chengan dared not delay. He first pressed the four corners of the yellow cloth back down, and then carefully smoothed out the circle of incense ash that had been blown away by the cold wind.
Then, using cinnabar on his fingertips, he drew the missing half-corner "Tai Chi Yin-Yang Line" along the edge of the altar.
As he drew, he chanted the incantation for stabilizing the altar in a low voice: "Heaven is round and earth is square, laws and decrees are in nine chapters."
"Suppress evil spirits and protect my ritual site."
"As long as the incense burns continuously, the talisman will remain effective."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
As the incantation ended, the three sticks of agarwood in the incense burner stood firmly upright again, and the smoke rose straight up, no longer being swayed by the evil wind.
Lu Yuan walked to the front of the altar, raised his hand and took out seven yellow talismans from the stack of talismans handed to him by Xu Erxiao, and held them between his fingers one by one.
He didn't draw the talisman immediately, but first glanced at the old willow tree in the center of the valley.
At this point, the old willow tree was no longer just a "tree".
The evil eye on the tree trunk opened and closed, as if it were panting.
With each blink, the black soil around the tree roots rippled, as if something buried beneath was slowly awakening.
Lu Yuan's gaze darkened.
"It's time to turn over."
Lin Zhaoxuan sat on the lower part of the seat, barely managing to lift his head: "Turning the roots?"
Lu Yuan didn't turn around, only saying, "The most dangerous thing about evil wood nurturing evil spirits is that the earth energy beneath its roots is destroyed."
"If it's not in a hurry, it means it still wants to use the remaining pieces to make up for its shortcomings."
"When it gets anxious, it will bring out all the vengeful spirits from below."
"At that time, it won't be the trees that kill people, it will be the deathly aura of the entire gully that kills them."
Song Qinghe's face turned pale upon hearing this, and she asked in a low voice, "Then what do we do now?"
Lu Yuan rubbed the seven yellow talismans in his palm, and fine, bright red lines immediately appeared on the vermilion ink.
With a flick of his wrist, the yellow talisman unfurled in mid-air like flower petals, and he then pointed at it.
"Detain them first."
"Keep pushing."
"Finally, the root is broken."
After saying that, he took a step and stepped out with the Seven Star Step, one foot in front of the other, each step landing on the yin-yang fish eyes of the yellow cloth on the altar.
With each step, he would mutter, "Left foot steps on the protective aura, right foot suppresses the malevolent influence."
"When the seven stars shine, all ghosts flee in terror."
"With assistants on the left and right, and surrounded by attendants."
"Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends, heed my command!"
This is the authentic stepping on the altar.
When Lu Yuan reached the southeast corner of the altar, he suddenly stopped and slapped a yellow talisman in his hand onto a lightning-struck jujube wood nail.
As soon as the talisman was pasted on, the wooden nail immediately vibrated, and the cinnabar pattern crawled down the wood grain, like a red line drilling into the soil.
Immediately afterwards, he placed a talisman in each of the four corners: east, south, west, and north.
As the four talismans were placed, the faint golden aura on the altar surface instantly merged into a single sheet, like a semi-transparent net, making the entire altar even more secure.
Lu Yuan then turned around and flicked his magic sword.
"Cheng'an, ring the bell."
Wang Chengan immediately rang the bell, which rang once and then stopped three times, with an extremely slow rhythm.
Lu Yuan then took advantage of the sound of the bell to begin his action, making a hand seal with his right hand, holding his sword with his left, and shouting: "Heaven has the Three Pure Ones, Earth has the Five Sacred Mountains."
"There are evil spirits in the mountains, and bewitching charms in the water."
"We now request the righteous execution of this body, to restrain its physical form!"
"Imperial Edict!"
As he uttered the last word "敕" (imperial decree), he flicked his sword, and seven yellow talismans flew out simultaneously, arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper, heading straight for the old willow tree in the valley.
Before the talisman arrived, the tree moved first.
As if sensing something, the old willow tree suddenly trembled, and its drooping branches stood up straight, like rows of black hair, whipping into the air.
"Slap! Slap! Slap!"
The three yellow talismans were torn to pieces by willow branches halfway there, turning into a few sparks.
The other two were swept away by a gust of cold wind, tilted half a foot, and fell into the black mist, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The remaining two sheets were stuck to the soil around the roots of the willow tree on both sides.
"boom!"
A muffled thud came from the ground.
It looked like something struggled underground.
Lu Yuan's eyes lit up.
"There's a chance."
He immediately raised his left hand and pointed to his brow, while holding his right hand with a magic sword across his chest. He then whispered another soul-binding incantation: "Soul returns to the underworld, spirit guards the netherworld."
"Leave no trace in life, leave no mark in death."
"If there is any impurity, follow my talisman."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
As soon as the incantation ended, the two yellow talismans pasted on the tree roots lit up simultaneously, and two wisps of black and red evil energy emanated from the ground, which were forced upwards by the talisman light.
The moment that malevolent aura appeared, it condensed into two distorted human faces.
One of them is an old man with a face full of wrinkles and his mouth wide open.
The other one looks like a woman in a theatrical robe, with half her face covered in paint, empty eye sockets, and a long, drooping tongue.
Lin Zhaoxuan's pupils contracted sharply.
"This is... a spirit that was eaten by a tree?"
Lu Yuan nodded.
"Not just one or two."
"Burned beneath its roots are probably people who lost their lives in this ditch years ago."
"The tree refines human evil, corpse energy, and theatrical offerings into a pot, thus cultivating this bit of evil."
Zhou Heng, enduring his shoulder injury, gritted his teeth and said, "So it was forced out of its way now?"
Lu Yuan held the magic sword horizontally in front of his palm, and the blade trembled slightly.
"right."
"But that's not enough."
"Binding the soul only brings the dirty thing into the open; what's truly deadly is the evil acupoint at its root."
As he spoke, he suddenly turned to look at Lin Zhaoxuan.
"Can you borrow some thunder energy from your Thunder Token?"
Lin Zhaoxuan's fingers trembled slightly as he looked down at the ancient token covered in cracks in his hand.
"able."
"But only once."
"6
Lu Yuan nodded.
That's enough.
He immediately stepped aside to give up the rightful place in front of the altar, but his feet did not stop, and he continued to step on the four air vents with the Yu Step.
"Lin Zhaoxuan, hold firm in your position."
"Zhou Heng, holding a peach wood sword, guards the northeast gate."
"Song Qinghe, take three cold talismans and press them down on the tree's eye."
"All three of you, listen to my command! Do not disobey!"
Lin Zhaoxuan forced himself to stand up, and Zhou Heng also dragged his injured shoulder to the east.
Song Qinghe then took out three blue-edged talismans from her talisman bag, flicked her fingertips, and stuck them on the outer edge of the altar.
She chanted urgently: "The Big Dipper is dark and yin, the frost descends and evil forms."
26
"The road to the underworld is frozen, and the traces of demons are locked in the snow."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
As soon as the cold talisman lit up, the yin wind in the valley was frozen and paused, and the blinking of the willow tree's evil eye also slowed down by half a beat.
It was this very moment.
Lu Yuan suddenly swung his magic sword, the tip of which picked up a cinnabar talisman and stuck it on the compass.
"The decree of Heaven is hereby issued!"
The compass needle rang out and pointed to the leaky hole in the southeast corner of the old willow tree.
Lu Yuan raised his hand and pressed his palm heavily onto the black cloth bag.
The spirit-sealing box that he had just put away trembled slightly in the cloth bag, revealing a golden-white aura as solid as a mountain.
Lu Yuan spoke through the energy, his voice as clear as metal and stone: "Heaven and earth are boundless, and the universe borrows its laws."
"Suppress evil spirits and seal away malevolent forces, bringing them back to their rightful place."
"In front is the Gangmen, behind is the Zhengtan."
"The left is the Azure Dragon, and the right is the White Tiger."
"I am acting on the orders of my patriarch to bring you out of the cave!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he pointed his sword at the ground and suddenly stopped.
"break!"
At that very instant, Lin Zhaoxuan also moved.
He formed the "Thunderous Alliance Seal" with both hands, held the Thunder Token upright in front of his chest, and shouted in a deep voice: "Nine Heavens Respond to the Origin, Thunder Sound Spreads Universally."
"By the Thunder Ancestor, your disciple Lin Zhaoxuan."
"Using thunder to pave the way, shaking off evil and dispelling yin."
"go!"