Knife splashing

Chapter 766 The Position of the Prefect

Chapter 766 The Position of the Prefect
"not good!"

Seeing the golden flames rushing towards him, Li Yan's expression changed drastically.

This fire is no ordinary fire; it is the culmination of thousands of years of incense offerings and spiritual power from mortals on Mount Tai. It is most adept at burning the soul, and even earth immortals cannot withstand it, let alone him.
I fear that even a little bit of it would lead to death and the annihilation of one's cultivation.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Yan immediately leaped back.

At the same time, the underworld troops that had captured the two earth immortals began to dissipate.

They couldn't withstand the divine fire either, and since their mission was complete, there was no reason for them to stay.

But this caused Li Yan a lot of trouble.

The dense Yin energy around him dissipated, completely exposing him. The incense and divine flames poured down like a celestial river, instantly transforming into a ten-thousand-foot-high sea of ​​fire.

Even though Li Yan dodged quickly, he was instantly enveloped.

He felt as if his soul had fallen into a furnace, and his ghostly body began to crumble inch by inch, with black smoke gushing out from his seven orifices.

"It's over!"

Li Yan hadn't expected the divine flame to be so fast.

He retreated frantically, but the divine flame was faster.

Just as they were about to be swallowed up, the surrounding scenery suddenly spun around them.

As if lifted up by an invisible giant hand, when I opened my eyes again, I was already on the other side of Shenque Square.

The spot where they had stood has been swallowed up by the golden flames of incense.

This method…

Li Yan was overjoyed, knowing that an acquaintance had arrived.

Sure enough, a dense aura of malevolent energy suddenly appeared behind me, bringing immense pressure—not just one, but two!

Li Yan narrowed his eyes and suddenly turned around and retreated.

Within the thick, dark fog, two orbs of light, one red and one gold, floated in the air. They were vaguely humanoid, tall and imposing.

Judge Cui has also arrived…

Although Li Yan couldn't see clearly, he guessed the other party's identity. He pretended not to recognize General Wudao, retreated with a wary expression, and raised the Duanchen Blade.

He knew that even though Judge Cui was his superior and could be considered one of his own, he was still suspected of violating the "Heavenly Laws," and his relationship with Erlang Shen and the Five Paths Generals could not be known to anyone.

As he expected, General Wudao did not speak.

However, neither of them revealed themselves; instead, they transformed into orbs of light and hid within the black mist.

For a moment, Li Yan didn't know what to do.

Just then, the black mist suddenly surged before their eyes, the red sleeves billowed, and a large hand reached out, holding a thick bronze giant brush, using Yin Qi as ink to draw in the air.

In the blink of an eye, a complex and intricate talisman appeared out of thin air, twice the size of Li Yan, and hurtled towards him with unparalleled speed.

Li Yan instinctively retreated, but he couldn't dodge it at all.

Bang!
The dark talisman collided with him, turning into Yin energy that scattered in all directions.

However, a strange power surged into the hook in his arms.

The warrant immediately became scalding hot, and Li Yan quickly took it out.

On the scroll, the original talisman emitted a crimson light that spread outwards, scorching out wisps of green smoke, and the surrounding cloud-like characters became even more complex.

Is this to give "living underworld messengers" higher privileges?
Just as Li Yan was wondering about this, he felt a sharp pain in his palm again.

That's the mark that the gou die (a type of magical artifact) makes on the soul.

Li Yan, enduring the pain, cupped his hands and said, "This humble servant greets the Supreme God."

However, there was still no movement from the black mist on the other side, and after the branding was completely completed, a strong wind arose again, and it disappeared into the darkness.

pat!

A scroll fell to the ground.

Li Yan quickly stepped forward, picked it up, examined it carefully, and his face lit up with joy.

As he expected, the authority of the living underworld messengers was indeed upgraded again.

The power did not increase, but the official rank was promoted by one level, and the degree of freedom was also greater.

Previously, after discovering a criminal, one had to receive a task. But from now on, as long as an anomaly is discovered, the soul can be captured directly, and then escorted to the underworld to receive a reward.

In other words, arrest the person first, then interrogate them.

From now on, there is no need to worry about those Earth Immortals who are hiding their aura.

The key to this is summoning fixed troops!
Wouldn't that be...

Is it possible to contact General Wudao at any time?

Call ~
Just as Li Yan was pondering, a strong wind suddenly arose behind him, and then a huge golden armored phantom appeared. Although it was still surrounded by thick fog, it could be clearly seen that it was General Wu Dao.

"Haha~ I've met the General."

Li Yan laughed heartily and greeted him with clasped hands.

"You're not bad at all..."

A majestic voice echoed in his mind, "This was all by chance. They hunted a large number of living underworld officials, which offended the underworld. Your arrival here made this possible."

"Great chaos is about to break out of the world, and even the underworld has learned to exploit loopholes."

Li Yan was somewhat surprised. "General, you can speak now?"

He was naturally familiar with the voices of the Five Generals, but he had only eavesdropped on them when receiving missions through the jade pendant. Last time in the Nine Gates Yin Ruins, he had only reminded them with hand gestures.

"Humph!"

General Wu looked around and said in a deep voice, "This place is the Daoist temple of Lord Taishan, which connects the Netherworld of the Great Luo Dharma Realm with the human world. It is somewhat special. We must be careful when we go to other places."

Li Yan seemed to understand but not quite. He looked up at the Taishan Fujun Divine Palace and said with a headache, "The restrictions here are very strong. I can't even get close. How am I supposed to make a move?"

He was referring, of course, to the plan to have Erlang Shen take charge of this place.

Although they managed to get to the destination by sheer luck, they had no clue what to do next.

"Can't say."

General Wudao shook his head, but then flicked his finger.

In an instant, the warrant in Li Yan's hand rose into the air, flipped, and fell back down.

The back of his document reads "Heavenly Official's Decree"!
So that's what we need!

Li Yan instantly understood, and strode towards the Divine Palace with the warrant in hand.

Call ~
As he approached the Divine Palace, the mysterious yellow smoke formed by the incense and spiritual power gathered and swirled once more, transforming into golden divine flames that roared toward him.

"The Heavenly Official is on inspection tour; there are no taboos. Retreat!"

Faced with this terrifying divine fire, Li Yan immediately raised the Heavenly Official's Decree.

Sure enough, as he moved forward, the golden divine flames surged to both sides like waves that had been split open, revealing a passage.

As Li Yan moved forward, they closed in from behind.

Upon arriving at the gate of Shenque, Li Yan turned to look behind him.

The five generals were still in the square, but they remained silent.

Li Yan seemed to be deep in thought, and stepped into the Divine Palace without hesitation.

Although General Wudao didn't say it, he already vaguely understood some things.

The rotation of the Lord of Mount Tai is a momentous event.

Generally speaking, decisions are made from the Great Luo Dharma Realm, and then momentum is built up in the human world to gradually form a consensus, since this position involves the center of China and countless incense offerings.

This time, the change of the prefect was sudden.

The Great Luo Dharma Realm remained completely still, which led to chaos in the human world.

Something must have happened, and there must have been taboos involved, to lead to the current situation.

They can compete for this position, but the Great Luo Dharma Realm is not allowed to participate.

That's probably why General Wudao shut up...

Composing himself, Li Yan turned to look around.

The scene inside the Shenque Palace was far more magnificent than what could be seen from the outside.

The entire hall was carved from a single massive stone, with its ceiling designed as an inverted Mount Tai, featuring numerous small recesses in which countless oil lamps burning with golden divine flames were embedded, resembling a sky full of stars.

The ancient murals on the four walls of Shenque were illuminated with exquisite detail:
There are scenes from the construction of the Bixia Yuanjun Temple, the ceremonial processions of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han for the Fengshan ceremony, and even bonfires used by ancient people to worship heaven. Many of these scenes have been seen in the passageway.

Li Yan gazed at the murals, then looked up at the oil lamps on the dome.

The arrangement here matches what he encountered outside, so it must be some kind of mysterious formation, but with his cultivation and eyesight, he couldn't discern it at all, and it was even difficult for him to understand.

Could it be the work of immortals and gods from the Great Luo Dharma Realm?

Li Yan shook his head and looked back at the center.

The most eye-catching feature is the ten-zhang-high shrine in the center of the Shenque Temple.

Below, on the base, the relief of a hundred ghosts carrying a shrine was slowly wriggling. The blue-faced, fanged demon statues had their eyes darting around, baring their teeth and staring at him.

It is similar in style to the Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries outside. Above the shrine, there should be an image of the God of Mount Tai.

Or perhaps the gods reside within them.

However, the spot where the statue should have been was empty, with only a three-inch-wide crack from which a thick, blood-like, dark yellow aura seeped out.

There was nothing else besides that.

Li Yan frowned slightly and searched the entire hall inside and out, but found nothing. There was neither the seal of the prefect nor any written records.

How can one obtain the position of Lord of Mount Tai?

Unable to understand, Li Yan could only turn his gaze back to the outline of the main hall.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck me.

"This is……"

Li Yan's eyes widened, and he vaguely guessed something.

No wonder this place felt strangely familiar. It wasn't built like a palace in the human world, but rather a divine palace that cultivators visualize during their practice.

This disproportionately large ten-zhang-high shrine is precisely the place to contemplate the presence of deities!

"I see!"

Li Yanfu was inspired and leaped to the shrine.

He first contemplated the shrine, but nothing happened.

After a moment of contemplation, he leaped onto the shrine and stretched his palm toward the crack.

Call ~
The primordial energy emanating from the cracks transformed once more into divine flames.

However, Li Yan was not afraid at all, and simply contemplated it in his mind.

Gradually, the entire dome of Mount Tai emitted a deep, rumbling sound.

The restless demon reliefs suddenly froze, and the primordial energy gushing from the cracks coiled up his arm and condensed in his palm into a smooth, lustrous jade seal.

The seal knob is shaped like an intertwined dragon and tiger.

The four ancient seal characters at the bottom, "General Protector of the Underworld," are glowing with a bloody light.

“It’s done!”

Li Yan suppressed his overwhelming joy and immediately jumped down from the shrine.

The only abnormality on the shrine was the crack.

The seal is merely a formality; the key is to establish a connection with the shrine.

Holding the jade seal, Li Yan sat cross-legged once more.

As the Luo Feng Sutra was activated, he visualized the image of Erlang Shen in his sea of ​​consciousness.

This was the position of Lord of Mount Tai, but Li Yan was unmoved.

Firstly, his cultivation level was far from sufficient to support this place; even if he exhausted all his divine power, he could not occupy the ten-zhang-high shrine. Secondly, he also had reservations about this method of becoming a god.

The Great Luo Dharma Realm is far from as carefree as one might imagine.

If he were to be confined to this place for five hundred years, it would be no different from being imprisoned.

Rumble~
As he visualized, the shrine began to tremble.

The mysterious incense energy from the crevice continuously overflowed, first transforming into smoke and mist that filled the shrine, then rapidly swirling and forming a giant human figure, which gradually changed.

A three-pointed double-edged sword, silver armor and a red cloak, the outline gradually becoming clear...

……

boom!
In reality, Mount Tai suddenly shook violently.

The originally churning black mist was stirred up as if by an invisible hand, forming a vortex with a diameter of thousands of feet.

The black mist formed from the Yin energy fell like a waterfall and seeped into the earth's veins.

As the light gradually brightened, a touch of warmth emerged amidst the howling wind.

This is a sign that the balance between Yin and Yang has been restored after a period of change.

Even though the two Earth Immortals tampered with the position of Lord of the Prefecture and disrupted the earth's veins, causing an imbalance of Yin and Yang, this place is, after all, the central hub of the Divine Land, and will eventually adjust itself.

Human power cannot overcome nature.

boom! boom! boom!
The dragon-breaking stakes that "Master Jiuquan" Zheng Boyin had planted began to crack one by one.

"May you enjoy boundless longevity and happiness..." Taishan Taoist Shoumingzi breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Wang Daoxuan and the others turned pale.

"Oh no! The Netherworld Passage is closing!"

"Quickly recall Brother Yan."

No one dared to delay and immediately set up an altar to summon the soul.

But no matter how he tried to activate the altar, Li Yan remained unconscious.

"Master, what should we do?"

"Step aside!"

Enraged, Wang Daoxuan strode forward, brandishing his bronze sword, his white hair flowing, and cried out: "Wandering souls, where do you linger? Your three souls have long since departed, and your seven spirits have come to the riverbanks, roadsides, villages, palaces, prisons, graves, and forests—all filled with false alarms and strange occurrences, for your true souls have been lost..."

"You can't do that, fellow Daoist."

Seeing this, Shoumingzi hurriedly tried to stop him, "The other side is a passage to the underworld. You're using a soul-binding spell; how can you withstand it? Be careful not to damage your soul..."

puff!
Before he could finish speaking, Wang Daoxuan spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

As Shoumingzi said, this soul-binding spell is somewhat domineering. It proclaims to the gods of mountains and rivers that the evil spirits and ghosts along the way must not interfere, and uses soldiers and horses to directly capture the souls.

There are many taboos associated with performing this method.

The distance cannot be too far, and there cannot be any overly powerful or domineering ghosts or spirits around, otherwise you will directly confront them, and your life or death will be uncertain.

Wang Daoxuan dared to use the Netherworld Passage, which clearly showed he was desperate.

Rumble~
As Wang Daoxuan fell to the ground, the opposite hanging coffin cliff also began to tremble.

Numerous rocks and soil fell, and many hanging coffins also fell down.

"It's over..."

Shalifei's face turned deathly pale.

Even he could sense the Yin energy on the other side gradually returning to normal.

The passage to the underworld has been completely closed.

"Everyone..."

Seeing the dejected crowd, Shoumingzi wanted to comfort them, but didn't know what to say.

"Old Taoist."

Shalifei suddenly turned his head, his eyes bloodshot. "How do we reopen the passage?"

"This is not possible."

Shoumingzi quickly explained, "Leaving aside whether it's even possible, the earth's veins were already damaged; reopening them would inevitably lead to a catastrophe..."

He stopped talking abruptly halfway through his sentence.

Everyone on the other side had a grim expression, clearly having made a decision.

Shoumingzi sighed inwardly.

He had already witnessed the abilities of the Twelve Zodiacs on his journey.

If they really act recklessly, the harm they cause will probably be no less than that of those Jianmu demons.

Call ~
Just then, a strong wind picked up again.

In an instant, everything went dark, and all that could be heard was the sound of a heartbeat.

Everyone became wary, but dared not make a move.

They could sense a terrifying aura emerging from the darkness.

But in the blink of an eye, the darkness quickly dissipated.

"Brother Yan!"

The nearest Shalifei called out in surprise.

But Li Yan started breathing again, and his eyes opened.

Upon seeing this, everyone crowded around and asked a barrage of questions.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Li Yan felt a warmth in his heart, then looked at Shoumingzi beside him and smiled:

"Master, the position of Lord of the Prefecture has already been succeeded."

"There are some things I'd like to discuss with you all..."

(End of this chapter)

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