I, the military god of the Tang Dynasty, have risen since I destroyed the Turks

Chapter 789 The Peril of the Quanzhen Sect

A crescent moon hung like a hook atop Zhongnan Mountain. On the bluestone slabs before Chongyang Palace, bloodstains gleamed an eerie dark red in the moonlight. Wang Chongyang's Taoist robe was soaked with blood, yet he stood upright before the palace gate, like a drawn sword.

Guo Jing leaned against a broken pillar, panting, blood seeping from the wound on his right arm again. He looked at the mess on the ground, his heart filled with indescribable shock—Chongyang Palace, as the orthodox sect of the Xuanmen, had actually been breached, something that had never happened in nearly a hundred years.

"Master!" Qiu Chuji staggered out of the side hall, his Taoist hat askew and his long sword broken. "The manual for the 'Innate Skill' in the Scripture Pavilion is gone!"

Wang Chongyang swayed slightly, and Guo Jing hurriedly stepped forward to support him. The hands of this number one martial arts master were trembling slightly, and Guo Jing could feel a chill seeping from his body.

"Not just the 'Innate Skill'," Wang Chongyang said hoarsely, "They took away the Chongyang Palace's most prized treasure—the Seven Star Lamp."

Everyone present paled upon hearing this. Gongsun Zhi's folding fan fell to the ground with a "clatter": "The legendary Seven Star Lamp, capable of peeping into the secrets of heaven?"

Yang Guo stood in the shadow of a pillar and saw a flicker of panic cross Xiaolongnu's usually calm eyes. He quietly moved closer and whispered, "Uncle-Master, is that lamp very powerful?"

"The lamp itself isn't important," Little Dragon Girl said, her lips barely moving, her voice barely audible. "What's important is the lamp oil—it's extracted from the blood of Huang Chang, the author of the Nine Yin Manual."

Yang Guo suddenly felt a burning sensation in his chest, as if something was awakening in his blood. He instinctively pressed his hand to his heart, only to find that the jade pendant his mother had left him was burning hot.

At 3:45 AM, in a side hall of Chongyang Palace.

Wang Chongyang sat cross-legged on a futon, regulating his breathing, with faint white vapor still emanating from his seven orifices. Guo Jing, guarding outside the door, heard suppressed coughing coming from inside. Ma Yu passed by carrying a bowl of medicine, but was stopped by Guo Jing.

"Master Ma, Master Wang's injuries..."

Ma Yu shook his head and sighed, "Master forcibly used 'Innate Qi,' damaging his foundation. The most troublesome thing is," he lowered his voice, "the lingering poison from the Five Poisons Heart-Corroding Powder hasn't been cleared."

Suddenly the palace doors swung open, and Wang Chongyang's voice rang out: "Great Hero Guo, please come in."

The candlelight flickered in the hall, making Wang Chongyang's face appear exceptionally pale. He gestured for Guo Jing to sit down, then suddenly asked, "Do you know the truth about the Mount Hua Sword Tournament thirty years ago?"

Guo Jing was taken aback: "Wasn't it supposed to be a martial arts competition between five masters?"

“That’s just an appearance.” Wang Chongyang took out a tortoise shell from his sleeve, which was engraved with strange runes. “Back then, the five of us were actually there to seal this.”

The tortoise shell gleamed with a bronze hue under the candlelight. Guo Jing leaned closer for a closer look and discovered that the "runes" were actually tiny blood vessels moving about. He instinctively leaned back, feeling a wave of dizziness.

"This is the 'Blood God Child' of the Western Regions Demonic Sect, capable of parasitizing human bodies." Golden light emanated from Wang Chongyang's fingertips, suppressing the tortoise shell's unusual activity. "Back then, we divided it into five parts for sealing. Now it seems..."

Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall. Yang Guo rushed in, holding the reddish jade pendant in his hands: "Uncle Guo! The jade pendant... the jade pendant is glowing!"

Wang Chongyang abruptly stood up, his Daoist robe billowing even without wind. He stared at the blood-red patterns gradually appearing on the jade pendant, his expression changing drastically: "Not good! They activated the bloodline connection using the Seven Star Lamp!" In the forbidden area behind the mountain, a dark figure stood on the edge of a cliff. The blood-robed monk lifted his crimson kasaya, revealing a back covered in bizarre tattoos. Li Kan and Li Zheng knelt beside him, respectfully holding an ancient bronze lamp.

The wick ignited spontaneously without a flame, emitting a ghostly blue light. The blood-robed monk raised the lamp high above his head, and the moonlight suddenly turned blood red. The mountain wind abruptly stopped, and the chirping of insects and birds throughout the entire Zhongnan Mountain fell silent instantly.

"With lamplight as the guide, and blood as the medium," the blood-robed monk's voice suddenly transformed into a mixed male and female tone, "Welcome back, Holy Lord!"

A cloud of blood mist burst from the lamp wick, condensing into a blurry human shape in the air. At the same time, Yang Guo inside Chongyang Palace suddenly screamed and collapsed to the ground, his veins bulging all over his body, and it seemed as if countless tiny insects were wriggling beneath his skin.

"Guo'er!" Guo Jing tried to step forward, but was pushed back by an invisible force.

Little Dragon Girl swiftly pressed seven acupoints on Yang Guo's body, then took out a piece of cold jade from her bosom and pressed it against his brow. The jade melted upon contact with flesh, slightly alleviating the strange movements within Yang Guo's body, but the effects continued.

"We must go to the Ancient Tomb!" Little Dragon Girl picked up Yang Guo. "Only the Jade Bed can suppress the bloodline backlash!"

Wang Chongyang blocked the doorway: "It's too late." He bit his finger and drew a complex talisman on Yang Guo's forehead. "This is a restriction left by Huang Shang back then; it can temporarily..."

Before he could finish speaking, a deafening explosion erupted from the direction of the back mountain. A streak of blood-red light shot into the sky, staining the clouds crimson. The crowd rushed out of the main hall and saw a gigantic human face vaguely emerging from the blood-red clouds.

"Huang Shang." Wang Chongyang staggered back, "They actually..."

The blood-red cloud suddenly contracted, transforming into a streak of light that shot towards Chongyang Palace. Guo Jing instinctively unleashed his Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, but the light easily pierced through him. At the critical moment, Yang Guo suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils now a strange golden color.

"Go back!" The boy's clear voice was mixed with an old man's rebuke. The jade pendant on his chest shattered, and a streak of blue light collided with a streak of blood in mid-air.

A wave of blood overturned half of Chongyang Palace. When the dust settled, everyone found Yang Guo unconscious, and on the ground, a line of shocking blood-red characters appeared:
"On the fifteenth of July, the blood moon hangs high in the sky, and the Nine Yin return to their rightful place."

The writing seemed to be penned with a life of its own making, each stroke deeply embedded in the bluestone slab, its edges gleaming with an eerie dark red sheen. Wang Chongyang stared at the blood-red characters, his face suddenly turning deathly pale. A mouthful of black blood gushed out, splattering onto the characters and emitting a hissing, corrosive sound. He struggled to maintain his swaying form and grabbed Guo Jing's arm.

“Jing’er, take him to the ancient tomb.” Wang Chongyang’s voice seemed to come from a very far place, each word exhausting his remaining strength. “Find the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra left by Lin Chaoying.” Before he could finish speaking, this martial arts master collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Chaos erupted within Chongyang Palace. The Seven Immortals of Quanzhen rushed to his master's aid, while Guo Jing scooped up the unconscious Yang Guo, exchanging a quick glance with Xiaolongnu. Amidst the chaos, no one noticed Gongsun Zhi, standing in a corner, quietly bending down to pick up a fragment of a jade pendant stained with Yang Guo's blood. He gently rubbed the bloodstain with his fingertips, a barely concealed greed gleaming in his eyes.

"Master Guo, we must set off immediately." Xiaolongnu's voice was as cold as frost, but her fingertips trembled slightly. She took Yang Guo from her and found that he was burning hot, with large beads of sweat on his forehead and his brows furrowed, as if he was in great pain.

Guo Jing nodded and quickly arranged for Huang Rong to take care of the seriously injured Wang Chongyang and the other wounded. He then took a bow and arrow and left Chongyang Palace with Xiaolongnu under the cover of night.

As midnight approached, a blood moon quietly climbed into the sky, dyeing the entire Zhongnan Mountain a strange dark red. Little Dragon Girl, carrying Yang Guo on her back, sped along the mountain path leading to the Ancient Tomb, her white robes gleaming brightly under the blood moon. Each step she took was as light as a swallow, yet as swift as lightning, showcasing the exquisite lightness skill of the Ancient Tomb Sect.

(End of this chapter)