Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 217 The Incense Burning Sect Incident

The Green Coffin Mountain trembled violently, and Lu Xingzhou gave the order.

The two events combined put the entire Incense Burning Sect on edge.

Everyone knows what is suppressed beneath Green Coffin Mountain. Could the long-rumored resurrection of the Demon Lord Wujiu really be becoming a reality?
Mo Suixin had no time for divination and could only obey orders to rush to the Demon Suppression Palace.

The Demon-Suppressing Palace is located in the southeastern part of the 800-li Green Coffin Mountain.

When Mo Suixin rushed there, she happened to run into her master, Pang Duoduo.

However, the Pang Duoduo in front of me was completely different from the usual sleepy-eyed and disheveled woman!

Her once flowing, cascading hair was now meticulously combed into a dignified and elegant Taoist bun. Her ever-present loose-fitting sleeping robe had been replaced with a solemn, dark black Taoist robe.

Upon seeing her master dressed in such formal attire, Mo Suixin was so surprised that she almost thought she had mistaken him for someone else. She quickly stepped forward to pay her respects and couldn't help but ask, "Master, you are dressed so solemnly today. Has something really happened at Green Coffin Mountain?"

Pang Duoduo glanced at her, but her tone remained somewhat nonchalant: "Of course it's a big deal, otherwise do you think the sect leader would call all the managers of the Three Mountains and Five Halls together for a meeting? However, the reason I changed into this outfit is not because the matter is so important, but simply because that gossipy old man from the Longevity Hall has been spreading rumors, saying that I have behaved improperly and disgraced the Burning Incense Sect."

Mo Suixin was in no mood for jokes at the moment, and quickly told Pang Duoduo what Chen Yexin had mentioned.

Pang Duoduo frowned upon hearing this and couldn't help but say, "How come you always seem to run into all sorts of trouble, you little devil?"

Mo Suixin blushed and said, "Whose enemy is this? Master, don't talk nonsense."

"Alright, alright, I'm too lazy to tease you today. Chen Ye is a man with some luck on his side. The recent changes in the celestial phenomena were also related to him. The relationship between the Qinghe Sword Sect and this man has become even stranger, but the entanglement has also deepened. I didn't expect that Chen Ye would even get involved with the karma of our Fenxiang Sect. The demon he encountered must be related to our Fenxiang Sect."

Pang Duoduo said to Mo Suixin, "Disciple, there is still one divination you haven't performed today, isn't there?"

Mo Suixin nodded and said, "Disciple is about to perform the divination, but the sect leader has summoned me. If Master wants me to perform the divination now..."

Pang Duoduo shook her head and said, "No, don't calculate it. From today onwards, do whatever the sect leader tells you to do, and pretend you don't hear or see anything else. Don't try to predict the past or the future."

Mo Suixin frowned, but did not ask for the reason. He simply nodded and said, "Disciple obeys."

Both master and apprentice were top-notch diviners in the world. They would say what they could say clearly, and if they couldn't say something, then it meant they couldn't say it.

The master and disciple were of one mind, requiring no further explanation.

Pang Duoduo smiled and said, "Alright, this is your first time visiting the Demon Suppression Palace, isn't it? Do you know what this place is?"

Mo Suixin replied, "I've heard that the Demon Suppression Palace is the central sealing point of the entire Green Coffin Mountain, pressing down on the head of the corpse of Demon Lord Wujiu. However, I have never actually seen the true appearance of the Demon Suppression Palace."

"Though it may not be perfect, it's not far off. The Demon Suppression Palace is indeed the central hub of the seal, but it's not pressing down on your head. When the time comes, you'll have to hold back and not embarrass our Seven Star Hall."

Before Mo Suixin could understand what he was saying, the master and disciple had already arrived at the gate of the Demon Suppression Palace.

This is a palace carved entirely from white jade, from the steps under your feet to the huge pillars supporting the hall, and then to the roof with its layers of flying eaves and brackets.

Mo Suixin looked closely and couldn't see a single crack. It was as if the huge palace was a single piece of flawless white jade that had been hollowed out to form the shape of the palace.

The plaque that proclaims the suppression of demons and evil spirits hangs high, emitting a faint glow, and looks magnificent and imposing.

This was Mo Suixin's first time visiting the Demon Suppression Palace. Previously, this place was a sacred area of ​​the sect, and only the hall masters of the Three Mountains and Five Halls, the sect leader, and a few elders with special status could enter and exit. Even the chief disciple was not allowed to approach it at will.

But today the sect leader has summoned all the chief disciples of the Incense Burning Sect, which means something really big has happened.

Do not follow Pang Duoduo's orders blindly; do not look too much, do not think too much, and do not ask too many questions.

He silently followed behind Pang Duoduo and entered the white jade palace.

As they ventured deeper into the palace, they encountered many fellow disciples, though Mo Suixin did not recognize most of them.

The Three Mountains and Five Halls refer to Xuantian Mountain, Xingxuan Mountain, and Fenxin Mountain, which are three meticulously designed peaks within the Fenxiang Sect and the core of the mountain-protecting formation.

Burning Heart Mountain is also the training ground of Sect Leader Lu Xingzhou, and the place where the Burning Incense Sect discusses matters large and small on a daily basis.

The disciples of Xuantian Mountain and Xingxuan Mountain, besides shouldering the responsibility of guarding the great formation, usually devote themselves to cultivating various combat techniques and supernatural abilities, and are the backbone of the Burning Incense Sect in slaying demons and eliminating evil.

The five halls are the Hall of Longevity, the Hall of Seven Stars, the Hall of Melting Gold, the Hall of Spirit Beasts, and the Hall of Hundred Crafts.

The Hall of Longevity specializes in alchemy and cultivating various spiritual plants; the Hall of Seven Stars specializes in divination of the past and future and deducing formations; the Hall of Melting Gold is where magical treasures are forged; the Hall of Spiritual Beasts is dedicated to raising various spiritual beast mounts; and the Hall of a Hundred Crafts is the most diverse, where mechanical puppets, talisman drawing, Gu refining, and other miscellaneous skills are all taught.

Among the five major righteous sects, the Incense Burning Sect has the most disciples and is also the strongest.

The Three Mountains and Five Halls each have their own duties, but the Seven Star Hall has the fewest disciples and interacts with the least with others.

Because of the various bad rumors surrounding the Seven Star Hall, many disciples of the Incense Burning Sect avoided Pang Duoduo and her master. When the two stood in the main hall, they were shunned by everyone, looking rather desolate.

But neither Pang Duoduo nor Mo Suixin cared; that's just how fortune tellers are.

Everyone wants to avoid misfortune and seek good fortune, but some misfortunes are unavoidable and can only be silently accepted.

If they do not get the desired result after consulting the oracle, they will blame the diviner.

Such is the nature of human nature, and even cultivators are no different.

People gathered in small groups, mostly looking worried, talking about the previous earthquake.

The hall fell silent the moment a long, resonant sound of a jade chime rang out.

Lu Xingzhou, the leader of the Incense Burning Sect, walked slowly out from the back of the main hall, surrounded by several elders.

Everyone bowed in unison: "Greetings, Sect Leader!"

Lu Xingzhou waved his hand, indicating that everyone should dispense with the formalities. His face looked somewhat tired, but his eyes remained sharp as an eagle's. Before the pleasantries could be finished, he went straight to the point, his voice deep and resonant:
"You are all pillars of our Incense Burning Sect. You have all heard some of the recent rumors about the imminent resurrection of the Demon Lord Wujiu."

"The reason I have summoned you all here today is to make it clear to you that those rumors are not unfounded! The physical body of the Demon Lord Wujiu is indeed mutating and showing signs of resurgence."

Everyone was taken aback by what Lu Xingzhou said.

Lu Xingzhou looked around, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the crowd. Although he saw many expressions of worry and surprise, none of the disciples of the Burning Incense Sect showed any fear.

A great school of martial arts with a history spanning millennia ultimately possesses its own profound heritage.

After a brief murmur, Ren Hongchuan, the head of the Changsheng Hall, stroked his long, white beard and said to Lu Xingzhou, "Sect Leader, even if the Demon Lord Wujiu were to be resurrected immediately, our Fenxiang Sect would simply be repeating the old story of slaying demons and monsters."

Everyone responded in unison.

He's just a demon lord who was buried by the Incense Burning Sect and planted with flowers for over a thousand years. Even if he comes back to life, what can he do?

Lu Xingzhou nodded and said, "Indeed, worthy of being disciples of my Burning Incense Sect. I have summoned you all here today to reinforce the seal. The reinforcement of the seal will be a joint effort between me and the sect elders, with you junior disciples protecting us. You must cooperate fully this time, and there can be no mistakes." The Burning Incense Sect disciples responded in unison, "We will obey the sect leader's orders!"

"Alright, then follow me."

Lu Xingzhou turned around and led the group deeper into the Demon Suppression Palace.

After passing through the layers of halls and corridors of the Demon Suppression Palace, we finally arrived at the entrance to a dark and gloomy underground passage.

The tunnel stretched downwards, its bottom invisible.

As the group continued to descend, a nauseating stench slowly filled the air, the smell of blood and decay growing stronger.

I don't know how deep we went down; this tunnel seemed to have a bewitching effect, causing our five senses to become disordered.

The further down you go, the stronger the dizziness becomes, as if someone is whispering in your ears, saying things you can't understand.

The disciples of the Incense Burning Sect with weaker cultivation levels all frowned, forced to guard their minds and barely maintain their rationality.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, their vision suddenly opened up, and they arrived at a vast space that was indescribably bizarre and disgusting.

This was a large hall constructed of flesh and blood, seemingly much larger than the Demon Suppression Palace, with walls made of fascia and pinkish soft flesh. A viscous, dark red liquid continuously seeped and dripped from the fleshy walls, converging into streams of blood-red liquid, which were eventually absorbed by the flesh and blood beneath one's feet.

Stepping on the soft, yielding ground, Mo Suixin felt nauseous.

She now understood why it was said that the Demon Suppression Palace was nailed to the forehead of the Demon Lord Wujiu. This was not an exaggeration or a metaphor, but truly like a nail piercing through the Demon Lord Wujiu's head.

And everyone should now be inside the mind of the Demon Lord Wujiu.

The 800-mile-long Green Coffin Mountain only suppresses one corpse, which is this Demon Lord Wujiu.

After everyone calmed down a bit, Lu Xingzhou said, "Many of you are here for the first time in the underground of the Demon Suppression Palace, but you should be able to recognize the flowers on the wall."

Mo Suixin looked around and saw that the disgusting flesh and blood were covered with pure white flowers, which were the most famous treasure of the Burning Incense Sect - the Soul Cleansing Flower.

Mo Suixin never expected that the Soul Cleansing Flower grew in the brain of the Demon Lord Wujiu, and why there were so many of them.

At first glance, thousands of Soul Cleansing Flowers were growing in this cavity.

In the past, the Incense Burning Sect could only harvest a handful of Soul Cleansing Flowers each year. It was only in recent years, when the Incense Burning Sect recruited many rogue cultivators and needed a large number of Soul Cleansing Flowers, that the harvesting quantity doubled.

According to Pang Duoduo, it was precisely because so many were harvested that the Demon Lord Wujiu was revived.

But the number of these thousands of Soul Cleansing Flowers doesn't seem to match up.

Mo Suixin looked at her master with a puzzled expression, and Pang Duoduo whispered a reminder: "Look carefully at the color."

Mo Suixin focused his gaze and quickly discovered the problem: among the thousands of Soul Cleansing Flowers, only a few dozen were pure white, while the other Soul Cleansing Flowers had dark red veins on their petals.

Mo Suixin remembered that the Soul Cleansing Flower should be pure white. If there were only a few dozen real Soul Cleansing Flowers, then what were the remaining thousands?

Lu Xingzhou quickly explained to everyone: "Upon careful examination, those Soul Cleansing Flowers with blood-red patterns are the ones that have recently grown. It was these mutated Soul Cleansing Flowers that shook the seal, causing the corpse of the Demon Lord Wujiu to tremble. Now the seal is damaged and needs to be repaired. In the meantime, you must be careful of these blood-red Soul Cleansing Flowers."

"As you all know, every time you pick the Soul Cleansing Flower, there is a life-or-death danger. In the past, your elders protected you, but this time, it's up to you. Guard this talisman until we repair the seal."

With a wave of his hand, Lu Xingzhou revealed layers of spatial rifts, within which countless profound runes were created and destroyed.

A talisman formed from golden light floated out and enveloped everyone.

Within the reach of the golden light, everyone felt refreshed, and the whispers that had been polluting their spirits disappeared.

At this moment, everyone could see the broken formation in the sky. Even if they couldn't see the whole picture, they could tell that the seal was indeed in grave danger.

Lu Xingzhou took the initiative to walk into one of the cracks, and the other sect elders followed closely behind.

Pang Duoduo seemed to have known all along, and she also chose a crack to fly into it. Before disappearing, she said to Mo Suixin, "Remember, do not divine the past or the future."

Mo Suixin nodded, keeping these words in mind.

The elders entered the sealing formation to repair it, and the spatial rift disappeared, leaving only the chief disciples of the Three Mountains and Five Halls, and the talisman in the center that kept emitting golden light.

So, as long as we protect this talisman well, we can wait for the sect leader to emerge from seclusion?

Mo Suixin looked around at the Soul Cleansing Flowers and couldn't help but feel worried. She had never picked Soul Cleansing Flowers before and didn't know what dangers she might encounter.

But at this moment, the chief disciples of the Three Mountains and Five Halls all looked at Mo Suixin.

It is common practice to consult divination before a major battle.

Since no one knows what dangers may lie ahead, it is natural to ask Mo Suixin, the diviner, to predict the future so that everyone can be prepared.

But seeing that Mo Suixin remained silent, Ren Yaosheng, the newly appointed chief disciple of the Longevity Hall, spoke up: "Senior Sister Mo, no matter what unpleasant things we may have had in the past, this is a matter of life and death, concerning the survival of the Incense Burning Sect. As the chief disciple of the Seven Star Hall, shouldn't you fulfill your duties?"

This Ren Yaosheng seems to be a blood relative of Ren Hongchuan, the head of the Changsheng Hall, though it's unclear how many generations removed they are. The head of the Changsheng Hall should have been Wei Changsheng, but he was executed, so Ren Yaosheng was promoted instead.

Mo Suixin sneered, "Chang Sheng Tang is indeed a treacherous organization that has inherited the same vicious ways."

No matter what Mo Suixin calculates, if he's right, it means Changsheng Hall forced him to give in; if he's wrong, it means Mo Suixin harbors resentment and seeks revenge.

However, since her master had repeatedly warned her not to predict the future, she would never do it. She simply said casually, "The Hall of Longevity speaks grand words, but they never believe in the results of divination."

Ren Yaosheng said, "How could that be? We know Sister Mo's abilities. Now, please calculate the fortune."

Mo Suixin replied, "What if I told you that I knew you were doomed to die? What would you do then?"

Ren Yaosheng's face immediately darkened, and he said to Mo Suixin, "Senior Sister, do you have to be so childish at a time like this?"

Mo Suixin shook his head and said, "You see, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. It's not just you; everyone knows in their hearts that I'm only happy when everything goes well. If I were to predict which of you will die a violent death, you would want to kill me right now to defy fate."

"In that case, whatever I calculate, it's best not to say it. If you trust me, then follow my instructions. If you don't trust me, then don't press me about what I've calculated, lest you panic and lose your grip on your swords."

Upon hearing this, the other disciples of the Incense Burning Sect all changed their expressions.

Mo Suixin ignored it and took out her magic compass to calculate the direction.

The future fortune or misfortune cannot be predicted, but the direction of spiritual energy and the four cardinal directions must be determined.

The Seven Star Hall is not only good at divination, but also the best at setting up formations in the Incense Burning Sect.

(End of this chapter)