Knife splashing

Chapter 743 Demons Subdued
Good heavens, so this is where it was!
Li Yan was unaware that the "Peach Wood" he saw in the Nine Gates Yin Ruins and the "Peach Capital Mountain Wood" discovered by Wang Daoxuan and the others were the same kind of spiritual wood.

He had no idea how Zhao Qingxu had concealed it.

But now that we've discovered them, we absolutely cannot let them escape!

Li Yan suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with murderous intent. Without saying a word, he drew a flintlock musket from his waist and pulled the trigger at the wooden frame in the distance.

"what are you doing?!"

Upon seeing this, Tao Fengchun's eyes immediately turned bloodshot.

boom!
Before he could stop them, gunshots rang out.

At the same time, the spiritual wood waist buckle on the wooden frame, engraved with auspicious cloud and taotie patterns, also trembled, and a large amount of black mist gushed out.

The lead pellet came hurtling towards them with tremendous force.

With the power of this new type of firearm, the wooden frame holding the components would have been completely shattered, let alone the piece of "peach wood".

However, the lead ball sank into the black mist, like a red-hot iron thrown into a cold pool, or like boiling oil splashed with cold water, only making a sizzling sound.

The spirit tree remained unharmed, but the surrounding black mist suddenly exploded.

The filth and evil spirits hidden deep within could no longer be concealed.

This is the flaw of the "Northern Emperor's Divine Control Technique": it can be used to discover hidden ghosts and gods, but at the same time, it will also be discovered by the other party. Therefore, Li Yan did not hesitate to take action.

Now that things have come to this, everyone knows there's a problem.

The surrounding craftsmen were so frightened that they retreated and moved away from the wooden frame.

Grandmaster Huo Yin also said in a deep voice, "Disperse!"

"Surround this place; do not let the monster escape!"

As he spoke, he vanished from his spot, and with a whooshing sound of his clothes rustling through the air, he suddenly appeared ten meters above the wooden frame, exhaling a thunderous breath and slamming down with a powerful punch.

As one of the top two Grandmasters in terms of combat strength, Huo Yin has already reached the pinnacle of the Divine Continent in terms of martial arts alone, and his prestige is self-evident.

A heavy pressure suddenly appeared, as if mountains were pressing down from above.

The martial arts intent combined with the internal force would extinguish ordinary spells, and even the black mist emanating from the spirit wood would suddenly shrink into a ball.

Upon seeing this, Li Yan immediately took out the warrant from his bosom.

This battle can be considered a well-funded one, not only because there are various restrictions and limitations within the academy, but also because Grandmaster Huo Yin is involved, and all that is needed is to summon the Yin soldiers.

However, everyone still underestimated Zhao Qingxu's strength.

"Roar--!"

A roar, neither human nor beast, filled with endless resentment and rage, rang out.

It didn't just come from our ears; it exploded directly in everyone's hearts.

The black mist gushing from the peach wood instantly became thick and tangible, then completely detached from the spirit wood and soared into the air, as if it wanted to fight Huo Yin head-on.

"Humph!"

Huo Yin snorted and unleashed his inner energy, showing no mercy.

Bang!
The black mist was dispersed, and a stench that burned bones and eroded marrow suddenly exploded out.

Four dark, shadowy figures, faster than ghosts, ignored physical barriers and instantly pounced into the bodies of the four closest young craftsmen!

"Ho ho ho..."

"Ugh!"

The four craftsmen convulsed violently as if struck by lightning, their eyes rolled back instantly, their pupils disappeared, and in their place was a chaotic blackness.

Click!Click!
They twisted their necks, their movements bizarre, their joints contorted, and suddenly lunged forward.

Swish, swish, swish~ Like puppets controlled by invisible threads, the four of them smashed through the window frames or jumped over the craftsman's table, fleeing desperately in four completely different directions from the workshop.

The afterimage flickered, stirring up gusts of eerie wind.

"Want to escape?!"

As soon as Grandmaster Huo Yin landed, he lightly touched the ground with his toes, leaving an afterimage in his wake, and instantly appeared in front of a possessed craftsman who was about to crash into the north wall.

The fan-shaped hand made no unnecessary moves; its five fingers, like hooks, carried an overwhelming and irresistible force as it pinched the major acupoint on the shoulder blade.

This single strike could break the bones and muscles of even tigers and leopards.

However, he handled it with ease, pressing the man directly to the ground.

At the same time, several Divine Fist Society experts who had been waiting in the shadows outside the door suddenly sprang into action.

Two of them flew off like wild geese, rushing straight towards the fleeing craftsmen to the west. One used the "Tiger-Taming Hand" to strike directly at the center, while the other used the "Eagle Claw" to seize the ankles, their coordination was exquisite.

The other man let out a low shout, his blood surging and his arm muscles bulging. He leaped up like an old ape climbing a tree and forcefully pulled the craftsman who was trying to escape from the air down.

Everything happened very quickly.

The experts Huo Yin brought worked together seamlessly. If they were ordinary people, they could easily capture them, but what they were facing was the demonic energy of a demon god.

From ancient times to the present, they are immortal and indestructible, and can only be suppressed in the netherworld.

"Ok?"

Huo Yin frowned slightly as he looked at the craftsman whose head he had pressed down.

His fist energy is powerful and pure Yang, which most demons and monsters cannot tolerate. Once they are forced out, he can kill them with a single punch.

However, the craftsmen below only roared like wild beasts, their dark eyes sometimes rolling back and sometimes becoming bloodshot.

At the same time, a vicious resentment was constantly assaulting his soul.

Huo Yin was naturally unafraid, but the others could not stand it.

"puff!"

A master of the Divine Fist Society coughed up blood and staggered backward.

The other person, however, was proficient in magic and belonged to the Fa sect. Despite the noise and dizziness in his head, he suddenly grabbed a handful of incense ash from the leather pouch at his waist, chanted an incantation, and slapped it down.

"Death to the demon!"

With a roar, he unleashed a palm strike imbued with incense smoke, which exploded on the craftsman's head.

The unfortunate craftsman's head was also smashed.

In desperation, the man resorted to ruthless tactics.

However, before he could even catch his breath, black mist, mixed with incense ash, rose again from the craftsman's corpse and entered his nostrils.

The expert from the Divine Fist Society trembled all over, and his eyes quickly turned black.

"The third one!"

The companions nearby noticed something was wrong and rushed to the rescue.

But the possessed Divine Fist expert simply turned his head and grinned menacingly before leaping into the air and continuing his escape.

Of the four streams of black mist, only one was suppressed by Huo Yin and unable to escape.

Of course, the attacks have not stopped.

Outside the workshop, the elite musketeers of the Commandery reacted extremely quickly.

"put!"

boom!boom!
The junior officer gave a stern order, and the sharpshooters who had been lying in ambush, relying on their honed intuition, pulled the triggers directly at the black figure that darted out.

In this situation, no one cares about the lives or deaths of the craftsmen.

The bullets from the Divine Fire Gun naturally traveled at a faster speed.

The three figures in the air were instantly blasted into pieces, their flesh and blood splattering everywhere.

But the demonic energy within transformed into black mist and shot towards the others.

"Everyone, if you don't want to die, close your eyes!"

Just then, Li Yan roared, accompanied by his incantation, "Heaven has its rules, earth has its order, the underworld restrains souls, the living must evade!"

Recruiting soldiers by living underworld messengers…

Huo Yin immediately realized what he had been pressing down on.

"Everyone, close your eyes!"

He let out a low shout, his voice resounding throughout the entire academy like muffled thunder.

Grandmaster Huo Yin's prestige goes without saying, and his voice also carries a sense of authority from someone in a superior position.

Some people who had hesitated before now all closed their eyes.

Call ~
A fierce wind howled, and darkness spread rapidly, engulfing everyone.

Many were horrified, their ears filled only with the sounds of wind, armor, and chains. They gritted their teeth, closed their eyes tightly, and dared not move. Among them, apart from Li Yan, only Huo Yin was able to perceive every detail of what was happening around him with his powerful senses.

He heard the chains rattling and scraping, like venomous snakes, nimbly dancing in the air, wrapping around the legs of the fleeing craftsman.

A shrill, frenzied scream echoed in everyone's minds.

As for Li Yan, he sensed a familiar presence that suddenly appeared beside him, a tall figure resembling a deity.

It's General Wudao!
Li Yan was not alarmed when he discovered it.

This person is considered one of our own, having formed an alliance with Erlang Shen of the Great Luo Dharma Realm. Whenever it concerns his own actions, he will usually take the initiative to participate.

With this person around, we have nothing to fear, no matter how many more demonic energies there are.

He secretly opened his eyes.

Sure enough, they saw that majestic, golden-armored figure again in the thick fog.

The demon god's demonic energy was extraordinary. Even when entangled by numerous ghostly soldiers using soul-hooking ropes, it still struggled frantically, its demonic energy surging and spreading along the soul-hooking ropes.

Suddenly, many ghostly soldiers flickered and turned pitch black.

"Humph!"

The five generals beside Li Yan let out a cold snort.

He quickly raised his hand, and a strong wind suddenly arose around him.

As if space itself were spinning, the demonic energy that had escaped the workshop suddenly reappeared around them.

General Wu Dao then opened his giant palms, pressing down on one of them with each hand. A bone-chilling, nether aura surged out, as if a vortex was swallowing up the demonic energy.

No wonder it took the intervention of the underworld gods to suppress the demonic energy.

Only a god could bring such an immortal being into the underworld.

After sending two away, General Wudao captured two more.

In the blink of an eye, all four demonic energies of the demon god Liu Yuanheng vanished.

That's not surprising.

These demon gods existed before the ancient war of the gods, but their physical bodies had already been destroyed, leaving only their immortal demon souls.

It is no longer possible to fully restore our strength.

Unless the ancient, barbaric era returns.

The problem is their immortality.

However, Li Yan remained vigilant at this moment.

Liu Yuanheng, who was hiding in the capital, possessed five demonic auras. One of them had been captured, and the remaining four had been suppressed, but Zhao Qingxu was still alive.

This demon is a money ghost called "Jiaozi Mei," which shares the same characteristics as a demon god.

It's impossible for them not to be there; they're just better at hiding.

"Senior, there's one more!"

Thinking of this, Li Yan quickly whispered a reminder.

Huo Yin, who was some distance away, twitched his ears slightly, but his expression remained unchanged.

Without wasting words, General Wudao quickly raised his hand, and the breastplate on his chest armor emitted an invisible wave that instantly spread throughout the entire academy.

A dark and gloomy aura also appeared.

A faint black mist was seen on the ground, silently approaching the steam core...

So that was the purpose!
In an instant, Li Yan finally understood Zhao Qingxu's purpose.

This person is a "Jiaozi Demon," which, to put it bluntly, is born from the greed, desires, and resentment of countless people. He is most skilled at manipulating people's hearts, which is why he was able to stir up trouble in the capital of different dynasties.

Now, a humanitarian transformation is on the horizon.

Zhao Qingxu clearly saw an opportunity to infiltrate Suilun Zhenjun. With the popularization of steam engines, he would spread his influence to various places, making him even more difficult to deal with.

"Boy, you deserve to die!"

Upon being discovered, Zhao Qingxu let out a furious roar of resentment.

But it was too late. Before he could even get close to the steam core, everything in front of him blurred, and General Wu Dao directly veered him away and pulled him to his side.

"Roar!"

As the palm pressed down on his head, Zhao Qingxu's demonic soul was directly suppressed.

Just as they were about to be cast into the underworld, the black mist twisted wildly, and a venomous, crazed voice echoed in everyone's minds:
"Hahaha……"

"I will not die. As long as human desires exist, one day..."

Before he could finish speaking, he vanished from the world completely.

The underworld troops quickly departed, and the black mist, the sound of wind, and the clatter of armor disappeared with them.

Silence returned to the surroundings, except for the crackling of the brazier.

Some people turned pale, their legs gave way, and they collapsed to the ground…

Some people looked at Li Yan with lingering fear, as if they were seeing a ghost...

Tao Fengchun, the grandmaster of the Mo School, looked at the mess in front of him, his face ashen and his whole body trembling, but in the end he could only sigh and close his eyes.

He knew that this time, the imperial court's order would likely be impossible to fulfill.

Huo Yin suddenly looked up and gazed at the distance to the left of the workshop.

Over there, a figure in a Taoist robe appeared silently.

His pale beard and hair danced in the night sky; it was Zhang Tianshi who had sensed something was wrong and rushed over.

The two stared at each other, neither making a move.

They knew that if they missed this opportunity, with the leaders of all the various sects and sects in the world arriving, the royal family would no longer be able to monopolize the Suilun Zhenjun...

…………

The next day, in the courtyard of the academy.

"I just saw that the workshop has stopped..."

Shalifei hurriedly returned, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

"That's natural."

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and said, "This morning I saw Brother Yan and Lord Yuan; they had just returned from the palace."

"How to say?"

"Although he was punished, he saved his official position and his life."

"After all, no one expected that Zhang Tianshi would arrive ahead of schedule, and that demons would also infiltrate the academy. They probably took advantage of the time when the Duwei Division took over the defense and drove away the Xuanmen Law Enforcement Hall to do something."

"According to Brother Yan, the other sect leaders have also arrived in the capital. Zhao Wujiu has been ordered to leave with his men, most likely to reach a compromise and discuss a plan..."

"Anything is fine, at least the demons didn't succeed."

"Luckily, Brother Yan was alert..."

Listening to the discussion, Li Yan shook his head slightly, "It's alright, these things are none of our business. The court has increased its defenses, so there shouldn't be any more mistakes."

"We just need to wait until the statue of the True Lord is safely placed in the Temple of the God of Earth and Grain, or until another orthodox religious leader comes to take it over."

To be honest, he didn't care who worshipped the True Lord.

Emperor Xiao Qixuan claimed to be acting for the sake of humanity, but wasn't he also acting for the sake of his own Xuan Dynasty?
No dynasty in this world lasts forever; without checks and balances, it will ultimately bring great calamity to humanity.

They finally managed to leave the capital after eliminating Zhao Qingxu.

Thinking of this, Li Yan told his companions to stay in the courtyard and not go out to cause trouble, and then hurriedly returned to his room.

After locking the door, he rummaged through his luggage and pulled out a wooden box.

Upon opening it, one would find a “bronze Nuo mask with protruding eyes” inside.

Last night, when General Wudao was leaving, he gently tapped him, and then the phantom of the bronze Nuo mask appeared in his mind.

Li Yan knew that this was a signal that Erlang Shen could make contact again.

As expected, the bronze Nuo mask became heavy and cold after I got my hands on it.

Li Yan was already familiar with the process, so he simply lay down and put the bronze Nuo mask on his head.

Soon, a thick fog appeared before our eyes...

(End of this chapter)