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

Chapter 244 Testing each other
Chen Ye truly wished that the demons would all be a little stupid and just jump out and be killed by Zhang Qi with a single sword strike, which would be the end of it all.

But when these villains actually appeared, Chen Ye felt no joy whatsoever.

They're so eager to take the bait; no one would believe there's no ulterior motive.

But there's no time to consider conspiracies now; the villains have already launched their offensive.

After Lu Xingzhou left, the weather on Lietian Mountain changed again. Blood-red mist surged in from all directions, dyeing the sky a dark red color.

The five major sects then began to set up their formations in an orderly manner.

The disciples of Tianxin Island created azure ripples beneath their feet, summoning a thousand-foot-long water curtain with a wave of their hands; the illusion array of the Mirage Sect transformed into a glass-like barrier, enveloping themselves within it; the disciples of Yunlu Immortal Sect formed the Five Elements Grand Array, with the five colors of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth transforming into five swimming dragons that circled and danced around them; the Burning Incense Sect directly threw out dozens of magical treasures of various shapes, forming a Hundred Treasures Pagoda suspended in mid-air, protecting everyone with its seven-colored radiance.

Compared to these prestigious sects, the independent cultivators appear chaotic and disorderly.

Thousands of cultivators were in a chaotic state of separation and reunion; some wanted to escape, while others wandered aimlessly.

Chen Ye sighed. This was the predicament of rogue cultivators; in critical moments, no one could take care of them.

However, it's not like nobody cares about these independent cultivators.

Two sword immortals from the Qinghe Sword Sect flew out, leaving behind thunderous sword energy in mid-air, and loudly appealed: "Everyone, please calm down. Lietian Mountain is protected by an array, and the demon cannot easily invade. Please keep your minds focused and do not be misled by demonic words!"

Cultivators are not ordinary people after all. Despite their initial panic, they quickly calmed down after hearing these words.

After calming down a bit, the independent cultivators formed groups of three or five and began to coordinate their formations.

Many minor sects even joined forces to set up rudimentary formations, which, although not as impressive as those of the five major sects, at least became more orderly.

The five major sects were indeed well-prepared. In addition to setting up their own formations, Tianxin Island had also made arrangements here, with layers of water curtains enveloping the entire Lietian Mountain, making everyone feel at ease.

Having stabilized the internal situation, the three sect leaders stepped directly into the air and each unleashed their supernatural powers.

Soon after, a large number of corpses fell from the sky like rain.

However, most of them were not human, but strange beasts with wings and claws, but no faces.

The dark red sky seemed to have been polluted by these beasts, who transformed into invisible, blurry forms, hiding in various parts of the sky.

The three sect leaders joined forces and used various supernatural powers to blast them down from the sky.

Upon closer inspection, Chen Ye exclaimed in surprise, "This is Dijiang?"

With six legs and four wings, chaotic and faceless, these strange beasts reminded Chen Ye of the mythical creature Dijiang recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

But Dijiang in the Classic of Mountains and Seas is an ancient deity, so it's impossible that he's so weak and so numerous.

Regardless, as the three sect leaders took action, the dark red color in the sky began to slowly fade.

The crowd cheered loudly. As expected of the leaders of the five major sects, he had killed these monsters raised by the demon with just a casual move.

However, as more and more of Dijiang's corpses lay on the ground, they began to emit a strange smell.

Chen Ye sensed something was wrong as soon as he smelled it, so he quickly flew into the air and summoned a bronze bell.

"Everyone be careful! The blood of these strange beasts is poisonous. Do not inhale it!"

Chen Ye's voice echoed through Tianlie Mountain via the bronze bell, and many panicked rogue cultivators instinctively held their breath upon hearing it.

However, many people have already inhaled too much toxic gas and are beginning to feel dizzy and lightheaded.

Not only that, this poison also seemed to drive people mad, and many rogue cultivators began to roar wildly and attack their own people.

In an instant, chaos erupted among the rogue cultivators, and casualties occurred within a short period.

The methods of the demonic sect are always so unpredictable.

Just as heavy casualties were imminent, a Buddhist chant rang out.

"Amitabha."

Several golden lights shone from among the rogue cultivators, transforming into a golden Buddha statue that suppressed everyone's heads.

This was a tactic employed by Cixin Temple. Chen Ye's old acquaintance, the monk Fang Yuan, along with several disciples, chanted Buddhist scriptures to suppress the crazed cultivators.

Those crazed rogue cultivators were quickly rendered immobile by the Buddhist light and then subdued by those around them. Buddhist supernatural powers, if used correctly, can be valuable tools for helping and saving lives.

They poured antidote pills directly into their mouths and threw various healing spells at them.

A short while later, the group of people vomited large amounts of pus and blood and regained their senses.

Ultimately, it was just a small trick used by the Demonic Sect to test the waters, and it wasn't difficult to deal with.

But in the end, blood was shed and lives were lost, and to this day, not a single demon has shown up, yet a group of strange beasts has caused deaths.

As a result, morale was inevitably affected.

Chen Ye rode the Black Whirlwind, hovering in mid-air. With the monks of Cixin Temple protecting everyone, he focused his attention on the demonic shadows that had stained the sky red.

The celestial canopy that Dijiang had transformed into was still trying to close in, but it was blocked by the three sect leaders working together, and the strange beast Dijiang was dying in hundreds and thousands.

It's unclear how much of this stuff there is, but it's obvious that both sides are just testing the waters and are far from getting serious.

The five major sects wouldn't care about this small trouble, but Chen Ye knew that if things dragged on, even more rogue cultivators would die.

The Dijiang is poisonous. Although the toxins aren't too potent on their own, they accumulate and will soon turn Lietian Mountain into a toxic pool. It's not advisable to burn it directly; no one knows if heat will cause the toxins to evaporate faster and more violently.

In this way, the rogue cultivators could only fight off the poison with all their might, becoming a burden to the five righteous sects.

As Chen Ye was pondering a countermeasure, a sword light landed beside him; it was Su Chunyi.

At this moment, Su Chunyi was not only a soul, but also a complete body and soul.

The two hadn't had a chance to chat since arriving on the island, and they never expected to finally have time to meet now.

Su Chun immediately said, "Sir, the situation is unclear right now. Why don't you come and hide in my Qinghe Sword Formation?"

The Qinghe Sword Sect has few disciples, and only three people came to Lietian Mountain. Besides Su Chunyi, there was her master Wang Wancheng, and another sword immortal whom Chen Ye had never seen before. He was probably Su Chunyi's elder and at least at the Nascent Soul stage.

Wang Wancheng and another Qinghe sword immortal had already set up a sword formation, preparing to protect those rogue cultivators inside.

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that would fall into the devils' trap. If the Qinghe Sword Sect does its best to help the rogue cultivators, it would be like breaking its sharpest sword."

Although other sects have many disciples and three sect leaders, the three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators of the Qinghe Sword Sect cannot be regarded as ordinary cultivators.

It would be a waste to distract them from protecting the rogue cultivators.

Su Chunyi said, "Sir, those demons are very cautious. They are only testing us from a distance and will not easily reveal themselves. I also want to find their location, but my sword energy cannot calculate their position. Let's save people first."

“The Demonic Sect naturally has ways to hide, otherwise they would have been captured by the five righteous sects long ago. But instead of letting you waste your time dealing with these rogue cultivators, I’d rather do it.”

"What brilliant plan do you have, sir?" Su Chunyi asked.

"It's not exactly a brilliant plan, but it will at least save you the trouble of rescuing people. Miss Su, please protect me." After saying this, Chen Ye flew towards the corpses of the strange beast Dijiang.

Chen Ye waved his hand and summoned the Myriad Souls Banner, then threw it among the corpses.

A chilling wind swept up, and transparent shadows, the ghosts of strange beasts, floated out from the dead Dijiang River.

Whether human or animal, as long as they possess a certain level of intelligence, their spirits will remain after death.

The corpses should have been scattered by a gust of wind, but due to the large number of corpses and the gathering of yin energy, many of Dijiang's spirits lingered there.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chen Ye used the Myriad Souls Banner to collect all these vengeful spirits.

Chen Ye circulated his spiritual energy, and the phantom of the Fengdu Emperor appeared behind him. A large hand descended from the sky and pressed down on the corpses.

The Emperor of Fengdu solemnly commanded, "Myriad vengeful souls, obey my decree!"

Countless threads of incense and prayer power burst forth from the palm of the Fengdu Emperor, landing on each of Dijiang's wandering souls.

The spirits of Dijiang instantly transformed from their dazed state into ones full of energy, all surrounding the palm of the Fengdu Emperor, and then began to rush towards their own corpses like lightning.

Possession is one of the instincts of a spirit. When a spirit possesses other objects, it can cause some disturbance, let alone when it possesses its own corpse, it can move as if it has come to life.

Originally, the spirits did not have this ability, but the Emperor of Fengdu lent them the power of incense offerings to help them reattach themselves to their corpses.

These thousands upon thousands of Dijiang corpses then shakily rose to their feet, flapped their wings, and flew into the sky.

Chen Ye's actions stunned everyone. Not only were the rogue cultivators shocked by Chen Ye's prowess, but even the disciples of the five major sects were amazed by the power of this Fengdu Emperor.

With a single palm strike, all of these Dijiang were transformed into zombie puppets.
How much spiritual energy would this consume? Could someone at the Tongxuan Realm really do that?

Relying solely on Chen Ye is definitely not enough. Even though he has eighteen Qi Seas and his spiritual energy far surpasses that of cultivators at the same level, it is still far from sufficient.

Fortunately, the Emperor of Fengdu has the support of the incense offerings from the northern frontier. At critical moments, by borrowing the incense offerings accumulated by many city gods, he can unleash extraordinary power.

As the Emperor of Fengdu made his move, the deceased Dijiang began to transform into zombie puppets one after another, flying into the sky to fight with his kin. At the same time, they flew in all directions, as if trying to completely break through the strange formation of the Demon Gate.

In an instant, even more Dijiang fell from the sky, and they were continuously refined into puppets by the Great Emperor of Fengdu.

Many of the Dijiang (a type of mythical beast) hadn't even landed on the ground before they flapped their wings and flew back into the sky.

It doesn't matter how many we kill; what matters is that Dijiang's corpse didn't accumulate on Lietian Mountain. The rogue cultivators no longer need to worry about resisting the poison, and the five major sects no longer need to be distracted by taking care of him.

Seeing this, the sect leader of Yunlu Immortal Sect, True Man Wuyun, stroked his long beard and said, "Heroes emerge from among the young, it's just a pity that I cannot take him as a disciple."

Master Jiaoyue from Tianxin Island laughed, "Your Yunlu Immortal Sect has quite a few female disciples; with a little effort, you still have a chance. I've heard that Chen Ye is quite the ladies' man."

Yin Xiaoshuang was the only woman among the three sect leaders. Hearing the two joking around, she couldn't help but spit and scold, "Stop holding back! These demons are just here to test us. There's no need to waste any more time."

The three sect leaders were naturally capable of dealing with this group of Dijiang, but they also wanted to see just how much power the Demonic Sect had prepared for a counterattack.

Now that Chen Ye has resolved the problem of Di Jiang's poison, it seems that those demons have also seen the change in the battle situation. The three of them no longer hold back their spiritual energy and simply eliminate these minor troubles, forcing those hidden demons to show themselves.

Yin Xiaoshuang opened her mouth and blew, and a cloud of seven-colored mist came out of her mouth, which in the blink of an eye transformed into a seven-colored phoenix.

This divine bird had wingspans of over a hundred feet, making it a colossal beast that blotted out the sky.

Each feather flowed with dazzling seven-colored light, its tip adorned with a bluish-white cold flame, drawing a dazzling trajectory against the dark sky.

The phoenix has a long, bow-like neck, and when it raises its head, one can vaguely see the flickering fire essence in its throat, as if it contains a blazing sun that is about to burn the heavens and the earth.

The phoenix spread its wings and flew, turning half the sky into a rainbow. Wherever the flames reached, the Dijiang that had turned into a dark red sky turned to ashes, and in the blink of an eye, it burned away half of the strange beasts in the sky.

The Mirage Sect's secret technique of making the false appear real means that even though the phoenix is ​​fake, as long as no one can tell the difference, then the phoenix is ​​real.

The phoenix spreads its wings and burns away evil spirits.

The Dijiang Formation was broken in the blink of an eye.

The collapsed sky can never be restored. The hundred-foot-tall, seven-colored phoenix only needs to flap its wings twice more to wipe out all the Dijiangs.

In that case, the people behind the scenes will surely get restless, won't they?
Both the Five Elements True Man and the Mermaid Moon True Man were fully focused on sensing all movements.

Just as the phoenix was about to return to Yin Xiaoshuang's side, a golden light suddenly shone in the sky.

"Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot! Amitabha!"

A Buddhist chant rang out, and a gigantic hand that seemed to pierce the heavens and earth descended, slamming down upon the phoenix.

A burst of light appeared, as if a sun had exploded in the sky, the dazzling light so intense that everyone could not open their eyes.

Chen Ye also felt a stinging pain in his eyes, but since he was born with a special physique, he could still see what was happening after squinting.

A golden Buddha descended from the sky, shattering Yin Xiaoshuang's seven-colored phoenix.

At the same time, Wu Yun Zhenren and Jiao Yue Zhenren made their moves simultaneously. Chen Ye couldn't see what secret technique they used, but he knew that the golden Buddha was soon smashed to pieces, and a figure fell from mid-air and was suppressed by the two sect leaders.

This was just the beginning. The bald monk, who had been suppressed by the two sect leaders, seemed to have gone mad, and his physical body suddenly exploded.

This time, there was no golden light, only countless tiny bolts of lightning that shattered the void and struck Wu Yun Zhenren and Jiao Yue Zhenren.

The two sect leaders retreated simultaneously, but their bodies were still covered in flickering lightning, and their faces had turned extremely pale. As for the monk, his soul and body had both vanished, as if he had used all his cultivation in that one move, intending to fight the two sect leaders to the death.

These changes all happened in an instant.

Most of the independent cultivators didn't even see what happened; they only knew that a flash of light had almost blinded them.

When their eyesight returned, they saw only a large expanse of emptiness in the sky, as if Zhang Qi had struck again with his sword.

Chen Ye frowned as he looked at it.

The Nirvana Sect had already been defeated and dared not show its face again, so how could a monk at least at the Returning Void Realm suddenly appear and even willingly detonate his own body to severely injure the two sect leaders?

The monks of the Nirvana School are all clearly afraid of death and cling to life. How could they possibly risk their lives to benefit others?
Before Chen Ye could figure it out, a strange, eerie laugh came from the sky.

"What a bunch of trash! Is this all that the so-called righteous path has become after Zhang Qi left? Do you even deserve to be the leaders of the five major sects? Compared to a thousand years ago, you are simply not even worth mentioning."

A huge dark cloud condensed into a hideous ghost face, looking down at the people on Mount Lietian.

Ignoring the injuries of her two companions, Yin Xiaoshuang summoned another seven-colored phoenix to block the ghostly face and asked sternly, "Where did this demon come from? Hiding your head and tail, dare to state your name?"

The hideous ghost face mocked, "Little girl, you want to know who the ancestor is? Sure, but don't wet your pants after hearing the ancestor's name. I think you have some looks; you'd be suitable as the ancestor's furnace. I'll be enjoying you soon."

Yin Xiaoshuang's face was ashen; for thousands of years, no one had dared to say such offensive things to her.

Just as they were about to teach this demon a lesson, they heard the ghostly face laugh loudly and say, "Listen up! My ancestor's Dharma name is Cangshan. A thousand years have passed. Let me see how much you've improved!"

As soon as the demon finished speaking, countless meteorites wrapped in flames fell, as if the sky were collapsing.

(End of this chapter)