Chapter 127: Seven Immortal Gates of Nine Mountains
The moonlight inside Qingcheng Temple was cold and dim. Disciples whose red strings had been cut were lying all over the courtyard. They had fallen into a brief coma and were being cared for by the agents of the Abnormal Control Bureau who had arrived late.
Tianjiu's clone stood with his eyes closed, like a magic needle that stabilizes the sea, spanning the center of the mountain gate square. The three judges stood in front, and the first to take action was Diba.
Bai He was also the first to accept the attack.
Di Ba held two hammers in her hands, and the silver bracelets on her wrists and the silver rings on her lips emitted a cold light in the dim environment. The muscles between her bare arms were knotted and undulating. She was as tall as a mountain, and now with the help of Tian Jiu's divine power, she was even more like a god, and with one strike, she pierced through the rock spikes summoned by Bai He.
Bai He also retreated step by step, and under the spur of the nightmare state, he persistently searched for the entry point of attack. Finally, in a gap, he tapped the ground with his toes and used the strange instrument and fierce pattern. The terrain of the entire courtyard changed accordingly. The blue bricks under Di Ba's feet suddenly sank deep, restraining her temporarily, and the rubble under the corridors on both sides shot towards her like a rain of locusts. The attack was fierce and there was no retreat left.
Di Ba had a sullen expression, with a hint of sadness on her face. She calmly raised her two hammers to block, without any panic or hesitation, and without even taking a breath.
Bai He also raised his hands, and with a wave of his hand, a massive wall of thick earth rose from the ground. Di Ba continued to block the impact with his sledgehammer. The wall shook violently, cracking open. Beneath the rubble, the southern barbarian female monk, like an ancient statue suddenly awakened, brushed off the sand and dust flowing from her body, bent over, stretched her joints, and stepped out again.
At the moment the dust and fog dispersed, Di Ba raised his eyes, took a deep breath, and the silver ring between his lips trembled slightly.
Wang Suqing shouted sternly: "Cover your ears and protect your heart!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a deafening roar burst out from the female monk's throat, like the evening drum and morning bell ringing together between heaven and earth, so deep and low that the beams of the house are about to collapse.
Bai Jing, who had hurried over and taken shelter behind the barrier erected by the operators, paled at the sight. "It's the Zen Buddhism's dragon, elephant, and Sanskrit sound."
It is rumored that Di Ba and Wu Caishen, brother and sister, once studied under the Zen sect, and it seems to be true.
Bai He also opened his eyes, and blood dripped from his earlobe onto his clothes.
The chanting tore down the archway, and a vermilion lacquered column toppled in half, its front end piercing the hall's roof, halting its momentum from crashing to the ground. Bai He stood on the tilted column, his hands rapidly forming hand seals, his sleeves moving without a breeze. His eyes reflected the shadowy image of the enemy before him, and he slowly raised his arms, as if supporting the weight of the entire earth.
"Heaven and Earth give form..."
The sound is like metal and stone, resounding to the ground.
The ground in front of him roared dully, the flat ground suddenly rose up, and the steep rocks cracked out of the earth, instantly turning into a towering mountain, and the shadow instantly swallowed up half of the courtyard.
Di Ba frowned and gritted his teeth, then ran away from the temple gate, as if he wanted to divert the attack to prevent any changes to Tian Jiu's altar.
Bai He also suddenly closed his five fingers, as if grasping the invisible mountains and rivers in his palm.
In an instant, the newly risen mountain peaks were pressed down by an invisible giant hand. The rocks collapsed, dust flew, and the ground was buried with an invincible momentum. For a moment, the majestic and towering mountains became flat, as if the towering giant had never existed.
Ren Qi sighed with emotion, "A rise and a fall, all at the palm of my hand. Is this the legendary shaping of heaven and earth?"
The operators who were hiding in the distance and watching couldn't stop sighing, while Bai Jing's face was filled with even more worry.
The Form of Heaven and Earth is an invisible trump card. If it appears so openly before everyone, what will happen in the future...
He shook his head, discarded those unnecessary speculations, and thought to himself: I have to pass this level first.
At this moment, Tianjiu's clone suddenly became full of spiritual energy, and a breath of air accurately penetrated into the earth veins. A deep pit suddenly appeared in the place that had just been buried, and Diba, carrying two hammers, jumped out again.
Her eyes were dark and her body was filled with resentment. Although she was covered in wounds, her aura remained undiminished.
Ren Qi clapped his hands and laughed, "She's starting to get serious, hahaha!"
As he was about to move forward, he saw the pond beside him suddenly boil over, and the leaping waves formed a thick water chain, which firmly wrapped around his waist. It caught him off guard and threw him into the dining hall, smashing a large human-shaped hole in the wall.
Wang Suqing swept the dust off his face and said calmly, "Your opponent is me."
"Old acquaintance, you really don't know how to control your strength."
The light teasing voice seemed to come from far away, but the next second, the smiling face with black teeth and white skin suddenly appeared on Wang Suqing's right side. The wooden sign hanging beside the ear swayed lightly, and the number "seven" on it was extremely eye-catching.
The two of them didn't say much and started fighting familiarly.
Ruan Mengxiu, who was watching the battle from the side, had a gloomy face and whispered to Ruan Meng beside him: "You take good care of the others and guard the mountain protection formation."
As soon as he finished speaking, he flashed and joined the battle.
People from the Ying family also came in a hurry, but the situation was not clear at the moment. The third master Ying was a cunning old fox and did not hold back. He asked the younger generations to help defend the formation first, and whether they would take action or not was another matter.
With the Nine Heavenly Gods supporting them, the Eight Earth Gods, the Seven Human Gods, and the Five Three Judges almost doubled their strength. The three ghosts faced off against half of the Xuanmen sect—Wang Suqing, Bai Heye, Ruan Mengxiu, the Zen Master Wu Liao, and the Master Song of the Miaoxuan Temple...
But the fight still went on back and forth.
While the gods were fighting outside the hall and the atmosphere was tense, Wang Fengxu, who was lying on the altar inside the hall, only felt his soul burning, his whole body felt light and his consciousness suddenly sank. In a blink of an eye, he passed through countless unfamiliar scenes and stopped at a woman leading a donkey.
A cloud slowly moved over my head, and the dazzling light dimmed slightly.
Wang Fengxu relaxed his frown and looked around. The scenery on both sides slowly appeared - low earthen walls, green fields in the distance, yellow mud roads with ruts, and shop signs fluttering in the wind.
Where is this?
He seemed like a visitor from another world, and his eyes subconsciously fell on the first person he saw.
The woman walked with steady and powerful steps. She was wearing a Taoist robe that was starched white, a peach wood sword hung around her waist, and Shuitian Ge's bag was carried on her donkey's back.
In front of him was a charred ruin, with collapsed beams and destroyed furniture. Only a thin child stood there. He wrapped himself in a roll of summer cloth, leaving only his two eyes and messy hair on his forehead exposed. He stared at Kun Dao in front of him motionlessly and raised his hand to hand her something.
The Taoist priest holding the donkey leaned forward slightly and pushed the boy's hand away: "This is your life-saving money, keep it."
As soon as she turned around, her sleeve was firmly grasped by the boy.
Looking back, those two dark eyes held a calmness that did not belong to a child. He did not say a word, and his expression did not contain any pleading, as if he had made a decision spontaneously and then informed others.
"If you want to follow me, you have to follow my rules." The woman raised her hand to stroke the donkey's mane and turned to look at the boy. "I won't ask where you come from, but if you break the rules, you will go back to where you came from."
The young man still had that expressionless look on his face and nodded twice quietly.
The woman smiled and slapped the donkey's butt. The donkey spread its hooves and ran forward. It rushed into the streets and alleys, weaving left and right. Finally, it stopped in front of the clothing store, raised its neck and started neighing.
"Let's go, I'll buy you some clothes first."
As they walked, one in front and one behind, the woman suddenly thought of something and said casually, "I'm a cultivator, my name is Dongxuan. What's your name?"
The young man was silent for a moment, and the word "nine" came out of his throat that was burned by smoke and fire.
Wang Fengxu, who was standing by, came to his senses and wondered: Is this Laojun or Tianjiu's memory? Why did he suddenly see these images?
Just when he was wondering, the scene changed and the scenery suddenly changed - in a small temple in the countryside, Dongxuan was sitting on the ground, closing his eyes and thinking quietly.
Although Wang Fengxu only had a wisp of consciousness, he could feel that this small temple was full of spiritual energy, which was very helpful for spiritual practice.
He couldn't help but feel a little emotional. In the era when technology was not yet developed, the mountains and fields were full of spiritual energy and natural treasures were everywhere. No wonder so many famous cultivators emerged in the past. In modern times, the emergence of cities has reduced the spiritual energy, and the trend of cultivation has gradually declined.
Just as he was muttering about whether he could pack up this pile of spiritual energy and take it away, he found that his gaze was following the Master Dongxuan in front of him and moving rapidly downwards.
When the picture became clear again, a stone door suddenly appeared in front of him.
Wang Fengxu opened his eyes wide in astonishment: "This is... the Immortal Gate?!"
The Immortal Gate is actually underground just as Hu Aqing said!
He saw Master Dongxuan standing outside the door, also looking around, as if it was the first time he had come here in his mind.
"It is rumored that if you cross the immortal gate, you will become an immortal... So it is true that Laojun became an immortal?" Wang Fengxu was shocked. Thinking of the conversation between him and his master's wife before, he felt a little strange.
The only person who is qualified to become an immortal as mentioned by the master's wife is Laojun, Dongxuan Zhenren.
But if Laojun had already become an immortal, how could Zhao Fu still borrow Laojun's help?
unless……
Wang Fengxu looked at Master Dongxuan who was standing at the door without moving, and thought in surprise: Didn’t she go in?
Master Dongxuan looked up, seemingly gazing at the scenery inside the door, his brows furrowed, as if he had discovered some shocking secret, and he suddenly took a step back in a hurry.
Wang Fengxu also followed the other person's gaze, but in his eyes, there was nothing behind the immortal gate, and nothing unusual appeared.
In the blink of an eye, the sight shifted, the scenery changed, and Master Dongxuan left the immortal gate. In the process of his soul returning to the body in the small temple, he encountered another floating shadow.
The shadow was blurry in Wang Fengxu's eyes, but the aura was somewhat familiar.
Seeing this, Wang Fengxu followed, hoping to hear what the two were talking about. In the end, he saw the shadow tilt its head and ask innocently, "Are you saying that as long as I die, I can return to Jiushan?"
Laojun smiled and nodded, looking at the sunset in the distance, muttering: "Yes, remember, if you want to go back, there is only one way."
Shadow said "Oh" in a daze, and then saw the other party bowing to him and asking seriously: "Since I helped you, can you do me a favor?"
Shadow asked, "What?"
Laojun slowly stood up, his gaze fixed on the small temple in the distance, bathed in the sunset light. "Break my soul into pieces and disperse it into the cycle of reincarnation."
Shadow didn't ask why, and said in a relaxed tone, "Okay, now?"
Laojun bowed to her again and said, "Now is the time."
Wang Fengxu frowned even more as he listened.
Why would Laojun choose to destroy his own soul rather than become an immortal? She was clearly "the only one qualified to become an immortal," and she was clearly just one step away from becoming an immortal... What did she see in the immortal gate at that time?
The master's wife said that what Tianjiu has been looking for these years is Laojun's soul. It seems that Laojun does not want to be found by Tianjiu.
What does it mean to be found? The only one qualified to become an immortal... Is this qualification granted by the Tianxiao?
Wang Fengxu suddenly had a strange feeling, as if he suddenly shared the same thoughts with the Laojun who lived a thousand years ago. He suddenly realized a possibility: Tianxiao wanted Laojun to become an immortal, but Laojun knew the secret and voluntarily gave up. In order to prevent Tianxiao from finding him, he would rather let his soul be shattered.
As this thought came to mind, something in my body seemed to be awakened, and my spiritual center became increasingly hot, as if countless points of light were rushing into my eyebrows.
He couldn't help but groan in pain. When he was half asleep and half awake, he saw a pair of emotionless and cold eyes staring at him without blinking.
These eyes suddenly reminded him of the young man who had followed Laojun in the previous scene. He had bandages wrapped under his eyes and seemed not to be breathing. Two strands of bangs hung down in front of his forehead, just covering the front of his pupils on both sides, like two cut marks.
This kind of look was not unfamiliar. Wang Fengxu had seen it when he first met Long Zhu. It was cold, confused, and out of touch with the world... But unlike Long Zhu, the other person's eyes seemed indifferent, but in fact they contained countless complex desires. He seemed to be able to see through a person's soul at a glance, and at the same time he had an attitude of watching the fire from the other side of the river as if it had nothing to do with him. Wang Fengxu suddenly felt that he was being judged by the other person, or like fish on a chopping board, being picked up into countless pieces in an orderly manner by the other person.
Tianjiu's eyes flickered: "Awake?"
He made hand seals, and the soul fragments wandering in the caisson flowed faster.
Wang Fengxu screamed miserably and subconsciously tried to use "Four Seas Returning to the Ruins" to escape the current predicament. However, Tianjiu's eyes narrowed slightly and he whispered, "This move is not used correctly."
As he spoke, he bent his fingers, closed his eyes, and then suddenly opened them. A powerful circle of spiritual energy spread out from his body, and the beams and pillars of the temple all hummed. When the energy spread to the outside world, even the fight between Wang Suqing and others was temporarily halted. Everyone's moves lost their power at this moment. It was simply an enhanced and amplified version of "The Four Seas Return to the Ruins".
Wang Fengxu stood up and stared at the other person's actions in a daze: "You, you..."
Tian Jiu quietly withdrew his hand: "As expected of her reincarnation, she can actually use 'Breaking Delusion', although the power is not even one tenth of hers."
"Breaking delusion? Reincarnation?" Wang Fengxu moved back and waved his hand, saying, "Perhaps you've seen it wrong. How could someone like me be the reincarnation of Laojun? At most, I'm just a related branch of the family, haha!"
Tianjiu ignored his jokes and gave him a deep look. "You're not mistaken. 'Breaking Delusion' is my technique. She's the only one I've ever taught it to in this world."
Wang Fengxu was dumbfounded: "This, this... Aren't you Laojun's disciple?"
Tianjiu was puzzled: "Can't the apprentice teach the master?"
Wang Fengxu didn't bother to argue with the inhuman creature: "Just treat me as if I really am the reincarnation of Laojun. For the sake of our master-disciple relationship, can you please stop letting those shiny things get into me? I feel something is wrong all over my body, I feel like I'm going to die..."
"Don't worry, I won't let you die." Tianjiu clapped his hands, and the ground suddenly began to shake. He heard several screams outside the hall, and no one knew what had happened.
He then turned around, looked at Wang Fengxu intently, and extended a hand: "This time, I will personally take you in."
As soon as he finished speaking, something strange happened.
The entire palace shook, a teeth-grinding groaning and dragging emanated from the beams and roof. Without warning, the ground collapsed, as if the entire palace was rapidly plummeting down a bottomless well.
A huge feeling of weightlessness instantly gripped Wang Fengxu. He hugged the table leg next to him in shock. The overturned incense burner in front of him splashed ash all over his face. Prayer flags were dancing wildly all around. Outside the window was a rapidly rising rock wall, occasionally emitting dazzling sparks.
The beams and pillars in the hall creaked under the weight, and tiles rustled down, as if about to disintegrate completely. However, at a certain moment, the downward momentum suddenly slowed down without warning, from extreme movement to extreme stillness, as light as a feather landing.
Finally, all the sounds stopped.
The hall came to a steady halt. Outside the window, the dim stone walls were no longer visible, but an indescribable void shimmering with chaotic light. An ancient, massive stone gate, seemingly pre-existing, stood silently before the void, emitting a frightening pressure and call.
Wang Fengxu had seen this door in Laojun's vision.
He raised his neck awkwardly, his eyes wide open as he muttered in a daze, "...Immortal Gate."
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