Chapter 21 Test (12) Joining Forces to Subdue the Demon, Mo Tingyu Arrives Personally. ...
Li Xu didn't react much, still staring blankly at Qingxing, looking like a marionette.
The feeling of being cramped at the entrance of the Sutra Repository returned, and Qingxing dared not make any big movements, but simply retreated slowly.
“It’s him,” she whispered to Gudako. “Do you remember what I told you? Ever since I went to the kitchen with Wenren Xi last time, I’ve had this feeling that I’m being watched.”
That feeling had bothered her for a long time, but the person in the shadows was very shrewd. Every time Qingxing was about to notice, he would quickly hide himself. In this way, he followed her without her noticing until the martial arts competition was over and she arrived at Jade Tiger Peak.
"Him?" Gudako looked Li Xu up and down, frowning. "Be careful, his strength has increased a lot since last time."
As soon as he finished speaking, as if to prove his point, "Li Xu" roared and suddenly sprang up. His face gradually contorted, sprouting many horns, his back bulged, and all his joints creaked and groaned, as if some powerful force was bursting forth from the ground.
Qingxing was horrified: This is terrible, he's going to become a demon!
Ignoring the oppressive feeling, she flew to Li Xu almost instantly and slammed the Endless Wood onto him.
"Your conscience is guilty, your spirit has returned to dust; I have received the mandate of Heaven, to gather your bones and expel your soul!" Qingxing swiftly drew an array with her hands, forcefully suppressing the demonic energy on Li Xu's body. "Demon-Subduing Array, activate!"
Click, click.
A blinding blue light enveloped Li Xu from all directions. The Demon-Subduing Formation began to exert its power, and Li Xu's demonic transformation was forcibly blocked. This was not a pleasant experience. He struggled desperately, and the veins on the half of his face that still resembled a human were bulging out, like tree roots on the ground, which was quite terrifying.
The demon-subduing formation given by Jiu Qu Chen has many forms. Because it was uncertain whether Li Xu still had any humanity left, Qing Xing only used the first form - usually used in the early stage of human demonization, which is to forcibly inject spiritual power to violently knock into the demon's memory in order to achieve the effect of awakening.
However, the fact that this person was able to break free from the dungeon's control clearly indicates that demonic energy has taken over the majority of his body.
Li Xu opened his mouth wide, revealing his fangs, and with his hands clenched into claws, he awkwardly delivered a palm strike to Qingxing, bearing immense pressure.
Bang!
This palm strike was clearly a test, but it still made Qingxing's arms go numb.
"Guda, go and call Elder Mo Tingyu!" Qingxing made a quick decision. If things continued like this, she probably wouldn't be able to hold out for long. Putting aside why Li Xu was chasing after her, if she didn't stop him and let this demon go down the mountain, it would probably cause a huge disaster. "Go to the top of the mountain!"
This time, Guda didn't waste any words. It flew away with a "whoosh" and disappeared in a moment.
Li Xu didn't even glance at the departing Book Spirit. The purple flames in his eyes burned ever brighter, and his hands struck the magic circle faster and faster, Qingxing continuously reinforcing it, but cracks had already appeared in the azure light shield—
thump!
Li Xu slammed his fist on the ground and roared. Purple mist enveloped him. Qingxing saw that things were not going well and tried to back away, but it was too late.
A gigantic demon suddenly appeared. It disdainfully touched the Demon-Subduing Array, then clenched its fists together and slammed them heavily towards Qingxing.
brush--
The demon-subduing formation shattered instantly, and Qingxing was thrown away by the powerful demonic energy. She slid along the ground for a long distance before finally crashing into a thick tree trunk with a loud thud.
She turned her head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her clothes were torn by the thorns along the way, and her skin was cut open, leaving a bloody mess.
Her whole body ached, and her internal organs felt like they were being stirred up by a stick. Qingxing hissed softly and used her hands to push herself up. The tearing sensation of her muscles made her close her eyes in discomfort.
She looked at the large crater she had created in front of her and gently pressed her arm: luckily she had quickly used a golden light protective array, otherwise she would probably have been torn to pieces on the spot by this soaring demonic energy.
Seeing that Qingxing was still alive, the demon was not willing to give up. It strode over with heavy steps.
The purple mist had not yet dissipated, and Qingxing could only see its tall figure. She wiped the blood from her mouth and quickly searched her mind for the array formations she had seen in the past.
After much thought, the most useful one right now is the second move of the Demon Subduing Formation: Demon Slayer.
This was Qingxing's first time dealing with a demon, and the opponent was none other than her former fellow disciple. To say she would kill it directly was still somewhat difficult.
As she hesitated, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. Before she could turn around, a childish voice reached her ears.
"I finally... caught up with you..." Duanmu Tingzhu said, panting as he tore off the talismans from his body. He even took the time to calculate Qingxing's debt. "You wasted a hundred talismans on me. Give me back!"
“Okay,” Qingxing silently took a few steps closer to him, “but first I need to ask my junior brother to help me solve this big problem.”
"What trouble? It's only been a short while, how come your clothes are so torn? Did you fall off a cliff?" Duanmu Tingzhu was startled by the bloodstains on her body. Just then, the demon emerged from the mist, casting a shadow on his face. Duanmu Tingzhu looked up and almost fainted. "What is this thing? It looks like a hodgepodge!"
The demon seemed to understand him, its purple flames intensifying as it raised its hand to strike him.
Qingxing reacted quickly, grabbing Duanmu by the collar and jumping aside. Her large hand grazed their hair as they landed heavily on the ground, creating a deep crater.
"As you can see, this is a big problem."
The monster reacted quickly, throwing another punch. Qingxing didn't let go of Duanmu, but instead used the teleportation array to move around, as if playing hide-and-seek with the monster, making it run around in circles. But Duanmu could see clearly that behind that huge creature, the Endless Wood Staff was shining brightly.
"Let me go." Duanmu broke free from her, pinched several talismans between his fingers, jumped up, and threw them at the monster with a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," circling it as he said, "Hurry up and do what you want, I'll buy you some time!"
Qingxing said calmly, "Borrow a few sheets of demon-subduing paper."
Duanmu rolled his eyes, but reached into his bag and threw a handful of things at her.
"Pay me back! Don't even think about defaulting!"
"OK."
The moment the talisman passed the demon, the Endless Wood suddenly erupted, and Qingxing flew out, slapping the magic circle onto its face with a "thud".
"The talisman is created in the vast void, slaying millions of demons; its existence is evident, yet it is also mysteriously absent."
"Demon-Subduing Formation, activate!"
Splash! Splash!
The pile of yellow talismans seemed to be controlled by invisible hands, slowly straightening up and arranging themselves into a neat row, rotating around the demon at an increasingly faster speed.
The demon, enraged, reached out to tear them off, but the moment it made contact, the magic circle formed, and spiritual energy, like thousands of poisonous thorns, pierced its flesh, causing it to roar in pain.
No longer being chased and beaten, Duanmu finally stopped. He looked at the demons suffering from the Demon Subduing Array, then glanced at Qingxing above. The blue light illuminated the latter's eyes. Leaves were flying in the array. Qingxing was covered in dirt, but she did not look disheveled at all. She seemed to be in complete control.
Duanmu had seen the Demon-Subduing Formation before, but one that combined it with talisman techniques... was rather unusual. Judging from its appearance, it was probably created by this senior sister who was a formation cultivator.
Even though this unnamed senior sister had previously angered him greatly, he now had to admit that her array formations were indeed quite impressive.
Duanmu snorted and thought: Of course, it still can't compare to the talisman he wrote!
A surge of resentment welled up within him, and he pouted, jumped to Qingxing's side, and, as if it were free, bought dozens more bills.
Qingxing didn't say anything. The veins on her forehead were bulging, and her arms were sore and swollen from the continuous output of spiritual energy.
Since this demon was able to escape from the clutches of all the senior sisters and brothers, it must be quite powerful. Qingxing has already given her all to hold on until now.
Even with Duanmu's talisman blessing her... Qingxing's hands trembled. She could feel the fluctuations of spiritual energy in the formation. It seemed that she had the upper hand, but in reality, the demon was rapidly absorbing the surrounding power, and the demonic energy was becoming stronger and stronger.
After fighting several battles and being blown away by a demon, the spiritual network in her body couldn't withstand it and started to go into overdrive again. Blood spilled from the corner of Qingxing's mouth. She thought helplessly: Why hasn't Gudako arrived yet?
The talismans in the formation were breaking faster and faster. Seeing that things were not going well, Duanwu threw one here and one there to patch it up, his hands moving so fast that they became a blur.
He was on the verge of collapse as the talismans he had saved up for so long were spent like water: "I mean, are you even capable of this?!"
"It might not work," Qingxing said honestly. "I'm not going to be able to hold on any longer."
"What a joke!" Duanmu retorted angrily. "I only came to help you because you seemed so confident. My talismans are very expensive!"
Click, click.
Several cracks appeared in the formation, and Duanmu stopped talking and hurriedly patched them up.
However, as the cracks multiplied and absorbed the demonic energy from several miles around, the demon's size increased. It gradually overcame the suppression of the magic array and raised its head to crash into Qingxing.
But the next moment, two sword energies, one red and one blue, flew over and forcefully pinned it to its feet, rendering it unable to move.
Purple blood splattered, the demon was enraged, howling incessantly, its voice so loud it nearly shattered Qingxing's ears.
"Senior sister, I'm here to help you!"
The familiar sound of silver bells rang out again. Two hands were attached to Qingxing's back, and two different spiritual energies suddenly surged out. The spiritual net was like rain in the desert, filling up again.
Before the demon in the formation could recover, it was subjected to this heavy pressure again. It had nowhere to go and began to charge around. Qingxing could feel the earth below trembling, as if it was about to collapse at any moment.
"After being so quick-witted for so long, Junior Sister Qingxing is still not very good at exorcising demons."
Su Lin appeared out of nowhere. He had just had his Mirror of Forgotten Past Life stolen by Shen Wan and Xie Yuzhou, and his body was covered in marks from the battle. He had intended to find another way, but when he turned around, he stumbled upon the grand scene of the four of them subduing the demon.
With his fellow disciples all around, how could he possibly miss such an opportunity to shine?
Su Lin walked casually to the four people, glanced contemptuously at the ugly demon in the formation, and said disdainfully, "You?"
He raised his sword to strike, but the demon suddenly turned around and sent the purple flames straight into his eyes.
Su Lin froze, the heavy sword fell to the ground with a thud, his eyes bulged, and his face was filled with terror.
He saw Li Xu.
The once talkative and cheerful Junior Brother Li was now looking at him with his head tilted, bright red blood flowing continuously from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth. His lips moved, and resentful words reached Su Lin's ears:
"Senior brother, it hurts so much..."
"Senior brother, please save me."
"Senior brother, can you please make them stop?"
"Senior brother, are you going to kill me too?"
"Senior brother, senior brother, senior brother..."
Qingxing and the other three were confused. All they could see was Su Lin staring blankly at the spot, his face pale, shaking his head repeatedly.
Duanmu Tingzhu was so busy she couldn't stop, and Su Lin happened to be standing in front of a crack. He frowned and said, "Hey, if you're not going to help, just get out of the way. What are you doing standing there?"
Su Lin didn't move.
Duanmu nudged his arm impatiently: "What are you doing? Taking advantage of your early entry into the sect to act disrespectfully towards your elders?"
This time, Su Lin did react, but he turned his head stiffly to face him like a puppet.
"Holy crap! This person has mutated too!"
Duanmu took a few steps back in alarm. Qingxing caught a glimpse of the purple light in Su Lin's eyes and thought to herself that something was wrong; Su Lin was probably possessed by a nightmare!
"Help me maintain the magic circle." She quickly broke away, then pushed the two people behind her to the front of the magic circle. The demonic energy only leaked for a moment before it was forcefully suppressed again.
Su Lin remained standing in place, while Qing Xing grabbed him by the collar, intending to throw him aside.
But his feet seemed to be rooted to the spot, and no matter how much you pushed, you couldn't move them.
Qingxing wondered: Although she was not a body cultivator, she had a habit of training her body on a regular basis. Surely she could manage to pull Su Lin along?
She tried to exert herself again, but then heard Shen Wan scream.
"Senior sister! The magic circle is pulling me in!"
Qingxing looked up and saw Shen Wan and Xie Yuzhou frowning, their bodies moving uncontrollably into the formation. Their faces were extremely tense, as if they were fighting against some powerful force.
A sense of foreboding crept into Duanmu's heart: "This is..."
"Get out of the way!"
Qingxing shouted, and in a flash, she threw out several golden protective arrays, which firmly enveloped the group.
Almost simultaneously, the demonic energy within the formation surged, the demon puffed out its chest, and spread its arms wide, instantly shattering the formation. The dense demonic energy burst forth, surging towards them, and even had the remaining force to knock down trees within a radius of several miles.
The five men were thrown in different directions, all covered in blood and with tattered clothes.
Qingxing was the closest and fell the hardest. She felt a tightness in her chest and a ringing in her ears; all she could hear was her own heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump.
Her heartbeat gradually synchronized with her footsteps. Qingxing's head was spinning, but she could still see a tall figure standing beside her, looking down at her through her blurry vision.
Her limbs were weak, and her spiritual network was damaged from overuse, leaving her powerless to fight back.
The monster raised its hand, ready to deliver a heavy blow.
The huge black shadow obscured Qingxing's face. She half-opened her eyes and sighed inwardly: "To die before even starting a mission."
Perhaps because she was close to death, she felt that everything around her had come to a standstill. The monster remained in the raised hand position, and even the wind stopped.
Bang!
A bell suddenly rang out, followed by an ethereal female voice, as if coming from the horizon.
[All beings are trapped in suffering, tormented by immeasurable pain; the wondrous wisdom and power of Avalokiteshvara can save the world from suffering.]
[May all evil realms—hell, hungry ghosts, and animals—and the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death, be gradually eradicated.]
Golden light descended from the sky, and the bells rang out. The demon covered its ears and knelt down with a thud, splashing up a large amount of mud.
The woman's voice didn't stop; she continued reciting scriptures. With each verse she uttered, the demon was crushed as if by a thousand pounds, sinking deeper into the mud.
Qingxing looked up and saw Elder Mo Tingyu standing above the tree canopy, her face serene, her prayer beads turning incessantly in her hand.
【The wondrous sound of Avalokiteshvara, the sound of Brahma, the sound of the ocean tide—surpasses all worldly sounds; therefore, it should be constantly recited.】
Do not harbor any doubt; Avalokiteshvara, pure and holy, can be your refuge in times of suffering and death.
The final word, spoken, was like a death sentence for the demon.
The roar abruptly ceased, and the enormous creature crashed to the ground, leaving behind a faint purple flame in the crater.
Like the ashes lying quietly on the ground after a great fire has burned out.
A gentle breeze swept by, and the purple flames vanished.
Qingxing's vision became increasingly blurry. She could see Guda flying towards her. Following her memories, she rummaged through her bag and handed out the Mirror of the Past, intending to give it to Mo Tingyu.
"Second place."
Mo Tingyu reached out and took the result, calmly giving her the answer.
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The author's note: "[When all beings are in distress... one can be their refuge]" - Universal Gate Chapter.
The female protagonist's incantation is taken from the "Taishang Laojun Shuo Chang Qingjing Jing".
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