Zhang Kui Asks the Way in Investiture of the Gods

Just as Yao Bin was preparing to close his eyes and await death, a scroll painting filled with the pure and turbid energies of heaven and earth suddenly appeared in front of him, silently and perfectly blocking the sword of water and fire.

The water and fire blades struck the scroll, but it vanished without a trace, like a mud ox sinking into the sea. The scroll trembled slightly, then engulfed Yao Bin within it, before disappearing into the formation with a flash of light.

The whole process was as fast as lightning; from the appearance of the scroll to Yao Bin's disappearance, it was only a blink of an eye.

Chi Yi's sword struck empty air, leaving him stunned on the spot.

"Who is this fellow Daoist who has arrived? Please show yourself and let us have a chat!"

He held his sword protectively, his eyes scanning his surroundings warily. Even with his divine sense fully activated, the Great Luo Golden Immortal could not detect anything, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

But before he could investigate further, something even stranger happened...

The Tai Chi diagram that had been hovering behind him and protecting him suddenly lost all its light. The auspicious five-colored light, the nine-colored auspicious aura, the golden bridge, the scroll... all the strange phenomena vanished, leaving only the ancient scroll, which fell from the void like an ordinary object.

"This...how is this possible?"

Chi was horrified and reached out to catch it.

However, the Tai Chi diagram fell extremely fast, disappearing into the churning black mist within the formation in the blink of an eye.

Chi was stunned.

As one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect, he had cultivated for tens of thousands of years and had seen all sorts of things. But at this moment, he had absolutely no idea what was happening.

The Taiji Diagram is the treasure used by the Supreme Sage of Taiqing to attain enlightenment. As a supreme innate treasure, how could it have fallen for no reason?

unless……

Someone used great magical power to forcibly sever the connection between the Tai Chi diagram and him.

But the moment the thought crossed Chi's mind, he found it utterly absurd. A treasure as precious as the Taiji Diagram couldn't be easily taken even by a quasi-saint level expert. Unless a saint intervened…

But how could a sage possibly get involved in such a trivial matter?

As he pondered, the black sand, yin spirits, and malevolent energy that had been restrained by the Tai Chi diagram lost their suppression and surged towards him once more. Without the protection of the Tai Chi diagram, Chi felt the pressure from all directions increase dramatically, and the yin spirits wrapped in the black sand, each with a ferocious face, pounced on him madly.

"not good!"

His expression changed drastically, and he dared not hesitate any longer. He immediately used the Golden Light Leap Technique, transforming into a golden rainbow, and rushed out of the formation without looking back.

Behind them, the black sand surged wildly, and countless ghostly spirits roared in resentment.

It wasn't until they had broken through the Soul-Slaying Formation for dozens of miles that the pursuers gradually dispersed.

Chi Luo landed on the hilltop, panting heavily, his face ashen. He looked down at his empty hands, his eyes filled with disbelief and deep fear.

The Tai Chi symbol... is it lost?

How will he explain this to the Supreme Saint? How will he explain this to the Primordial Heavenly Venerable?

"It's over...it's all over..."

Chi muttered to himself and staggered as he flew towards Xiqi City.

……

The walls of Xiqi City.

Yang Jian, Nezha, Jinzha, Muzha, and King Wu Ji Fa had been waiting for a long time.

A golden streak flew in from afar, and everyone looked up. When the golden light landed, revealing a naked figure, Yang Jian quickly went to greet it.

"Master Uncle, is everything going smoothly?"

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence. He saw Chi's expression—an expression he had never seen before on the face of this Golden Immortal of the Chan Sect: fear, unease, bewilderment, and even a deep sense of dread.

"Senior Uncle?" Yang Jian called out tentatively.

Chi suddenly came to his senses. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and tried to calm his expression.

"Junior Brother Ziya's soul has been saved." He spoke slowly, his voice somewhat hoarse. "I will now cast a spell to save his life."

Upon hearing this, everyone was overjoyed and failed to notice Chi's unusual behavior.

Moving into the room, Jiang Ziya was still lying quietly on the bed, his face ashen and his breath so weak that it was almost imperceptible.

Chi took out the straw figure, and saw a talisman affixed to it, bearing Jiang Ziya's name and birth date. He took a deep breath, made a hand seal, and gently peeled off the talisman.

The moment the talisman was removed, the straw figure trembled violently, and several beams of light flew out from it, which were Jiang Ziya's two souls and six spirits that had been captured.

Chi dared not delay, and with his hands forming a seal, he guided the two souls and six spirits, slowly pouring them into the Niwan Palace on the top of Jiang Ziya's head.

The moment his soul returned to its place, a faint white light suddenly emanated from Jiang Ziya's body. The white light grew brighter and brighter, gradually enveloping his entire body and merging with his physical form.

A moment later, the white light dissipated.

Jiang Ziya's eyelids trembled slightly, and then he slowly opened his eyes.

He blinked, his gaze sweeping around somewhat blankly. Suddenly, he stretched and murmured, "This old man... hasn't slept so soundly in a long time."

These words shocked everyone in the room.

Ji Fa was the first to rush forward, grabbing Jiang Ziya's hand, his eyes reddening, and choking back tears, he said, "Prime Minister! You've finally woken up. If it weren't for the Immortal Master's timely rescue, we would probably be separated forever."

Jiang Ziya was taken aback upon hearing this, then looked at the red figure standing by the bed. Ji Fa and the others suddenly remembered what had happened before and hurriedly struggled to get up and pay their respects.

"Absolutely not!"

Chi quickly pressed him down, "Junior Brother Ziya's soul has just returned; he still needs to rest quietly and must not move rashly."

Jiang Ziya then stopped, but still cupped his hands and said, "Thank you very much, Senior Brother, for your great help. I am deeply grateful."

"It's alright. With a flick of my finger, I can instantly travel to the wonderful world of Chapter 158, 'Offering a Helping Hand, Fengdu Descends.'" Chi forced a smile. "You should rest well first, and we can discuss the enemy's plans after you've fully recovered."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

Yang Jian watched Chi's retreating figure, his brows furrowing slightly. His senior uncle's condition was clearly off, but he couldn't ask too many questions in front of everyone.

……

Within the Soul-Losing Formation.

With Yao Bin no longer in charge, everything within the formation gradually returned to calm. However, the formation itself continued to operate slowly under the constraints of inertia, and the black sand, ghostly spirits, and malevolent energy still wandered and roamed within it, only without their previous frenzy.

Suddenly, a figure appeared silently on the altar.

It was Zhang Kui.

He looked around to make sure that Aka was far away before letting out a long sigh of relief, secretly rejoicing: "Thank goodness! If Aka hadn't left in such a hurry, I really wouldn't know how I would have ended up like this."

That scene earlier was his doing.

When Chi Ji unleashed the Taiji Diagram and stabilized everything in the Soul-Sinking Formation, Zhang Kui had already quietly infiltrated the formation.

When Chi Ju swung his sword at Yao Bin, Zhang Kui unhesitatingly summoned the Qiankun Diagram.

Although this innate spiritual treasure was bestowed by Grand Master Xuandu, Zhang Kui has refined most of it in recent days and uses it with great ease. The Qiankun Diagram was refined from the primordial membrane of chaos, containing an unformed world within it, capable of controlling yin and yang energies, trapping enemies, and storing objects.

He used this diagram to sweep Yao Bin away, allowing him to escape the fatal blow of the Water and Fire Blade.

The fall of the Tai Chi diagram, however, was achieved through another method...

Just as Chi Quan was activating the Taiji Diagram to stabilize the Soul-Sinking Formation, Zhang Kui secretly unleashed the Treasure-Sinking Coin.

This superior-grade innate spiritual treasure, after being reforged by the incarnation of the Fengdu Emperor using the power of the earth's origin, has connected the human and earthly paths, greatly increasing its potential. Although with Zhang Kui's cultivation at the early stage of Golden Immortal, wanting to acquire an innate treasure like the Taiji Diagram is nothing short of a pipe dream.

But what he wanted was not to actually drop the Tai Chi diagram, but simply to sever the connection between the Tai Chi diagram and the red line.

And this is exactly what Luobao Coins can do.

In that instant, the Taiji diagram lost its connection with Chi and automatically withdrew its light. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Kui used the Qiankun Diagram to steal the Taiji diagram.

The whole process took only a snap of the fingers.

"This Tai Chi diagram..." Zhang Kui looked down at the ancient scroll in his hand, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

The innate treasure, the supreme artifact used by the Supreme Saint of Taiqing to attain enlightenment, lay quietly in his hand. However, Zhang Kui dared not entertain the slightest thought of refining it—the owner of such a treasure would surely sense its power. If he were to forcibly refine it, he feared he would immediately attract the attention of the Supreme Saint of Taiqing.

"Let's keep it for now and decide what to do when we see Master later."

Zhang Kui put away the Tai Chi diagram and turned to look at Yao Bin, who was unconscious beside him.

This one of the Ten Heavenly Kings of the Intercepting Sect was now deathly pale, his aura extremely weak. He had spat out several mouthfuls of blood essence and forcibly activated the formation, already exhausting his vital energy. If Zhang Kui hadn't intervened to save him, he would have been killed by Chi Yijian by now.

"Fellow Daoist, you owe me a life." Zhang Kui sighed softly and took Yao Bin into the Qiankun Diagram.

He then sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes slightly.

With a thought, a majestic phantom of an emperor wearing a flat crown and a black imperial robe slowly emerged from behind him.

The emperor's eyes were as deep as an abyss, and his body was entwined with the Daoist aura of life, death, and reincarnation; he was none other than the incarnation of the Great Emperor of Fengdu.

"My Lord, what brings you here?" the avatar asked, its voice deep and resonant, as if it came from the deepest abyss.

Zhang Kui looked at the wandering spirits in the formation, a trace of pity flashing in his eyes.

These vengeful spirits are all the dead souls that Yao Bin has collected over the years, forcibly imprisoned in the Netherworld Sands, where they are corroded by malevolent energy day and night, unable to escape. They have long since lost their minds, leaving only endless resentment and madness.

They shouldn't have done that.

"Heaven and earth have their order, and life and death are inevitable."

Zhang Kui spoke slowly, his voice low and solemn, "These souls have been trapped here for countless years, and now it is time for them to be free."

The Emperor of Fengdu nodded slightly: "This is my duty."

He took a step forward and hovered above the Soul-Slaying Formation.

The next moment, the vast laws of reincarnation surged from the avatar, transforming into six enormous illusory wheels that hovered in the void. The six wheels slowly rotated, each wheel displaying dense, profound runes that emanated a chilling Daoist aura.

This is the cycle of six realms of existence—the realm of gods, the realm of humans, the realm of asuras, the realm of animals, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the realm of hell.

The moment the illusory image of the Six Paths of Reincarnation appeared, the entire Soul-Sinking Array trembled violently. The wandering spirits seemed to sense something, and they all looked up at the void, a hint of clarity appearing in their eyes.

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes."

The Great Emperor of Fengdu spoke, his voice like the chime of the Great Dao, resounding throughout the entire Soul-Sapping Array: "What joy is there in life, what sorrow in death? Everyone, return."

With a loose grip in his left hand, a jet-black brush appeared—the Reincarnation Brush.

The Book of Life and Death moved without wind, its pages rustling as golden rays flew from its pages and entered the bodies of the wandering spirits. These were the karmic consequences of their past lives, being stripped away one by one by the Book of Life and Death.

The Reincarnation Brush swept through the air, and profound runes fell into the six-wheeled wheel, causing the wheel to spin at an accelerated speed.

Countless rays of soft light poured down from the Six Paths Wheel, enveloping the entire Soul-Snatching Array.

The ghosts were enveloped in light, and the ferocity and resentment on their faces gradually faded, replaced by a sense of liberation and peace. They bowed deeply to the incarnation of the Fengdu Emperor in the void, and then transformed into streams of light, entering the Six Paths Wheel.

One, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand...

Within the Soul-Losing Array, countless streams of light shot into the sky, streaking across the night like a meteor shower, a breathtaking sight.

After an unknown amount of time, the last streak of light disappeared into the Six Paths Wheel.

Within the Soul-Losing Formation, not a single ghost remained.

The black sand, having lost its spirit's anchor, turned into ordinary gravel and fell to the ground with a soft rustling sound. The malevolent energy within the formation also gradually dissipated, returning to the world.

The Emperor of Fengdu put away the Book of Life and Death and the Reincarnation Pen, and the illusory image of the Six Paths Wheel slowly dissipated. He looked down at the Soul-Sapping Array below and said softly, "A million souls have all entered the cycle of reincarnation."

Zhang Kui himself sat cross-legged on the altar, his eyes slightly closed, quietly sensing everything.

The peace and gratitude of those departed souls upon their release were clearly conveyed to his heart through his incarnation.

At this moment, Zhang Kui suddenly understood why Houtu Niangniang had to reincarnate back then.

Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are dogs.

However, the greatest virtue of Heaven and Earth is life, and those who cultivate themselves should also aspire to it.

At this moment, a faint glimmer of dawn was beginning to appear on the eastern horizon.

The long night is coming to an end, and dawn is about to break.