Mysterious World: I Have a Lost Heavenly Court

Huang Hu stood in the courtyard, hunched over, his hands clasped in front of his abdomen, his thumbs fidgeting back and forth.

Lu Changqing did not offer him a seat, so he dared not sit down. Instead, he stood by the stone table and recounted in detail the news reported by his subordinates.

"Third Young Master, it's like this." Huang Hu swallowed hard. "You instructed us before to keep an eye out for anything unusual near the main roads east of the prefectural city."

"I sent out all the brothers I trusted, about twenty men, to search along both sides of the main road."

"We searched for most of the day and found nothing. Forget about formations, there wasn't even a ghost. My brothers almost thought the information was wrong and were about to retreat."

"Later, a young man went a bit further and ventured into the wild forest north of the official road. Suddenly, he discovered a patch of trees that had all been recently cut down."

"It wasn't like a hunter cutting firewood, chopping it here and there, but rather neat and orderly, as if someone had deliberately cleared out a space."

"There were some crooked symbols carved on the tree stump that he didn't recognize. But the kid was smart; he didn't dare go any deeper and came back to tell me."

As Huang Hu finished speaking, he pulled out the charcoal sketch from his pocket.

The map shows the location of the prefectural city with thick lines. An official road extends eastward from the prefectural city and splits into two at a certain intersection.

He heavily circled the edge of the forest to the north with charcoal, and wrote three crooked words next to it: Lost Forest.

"I later sent people to search the entire perimeter of the forest," Huang Hu continued. "Besides the cleared area, we found several similar traces in other parts of the forest, all of which showed that trees had been cut down and there were talismans on the tree stumps."

"But as for where the formation is and how to get in, dozens of people searched it twice in a carpet search, but they still couldn't find the door. It's as if those talismans were just carved for fun and didn't have any spiritual power at all."

Lu Changqing placed the sketch on the stone table and lightly tapped the circled area of ​​woods with his fingertip.

The talismans on the tree stump were placed there by people, that's correct.

But dozens of people searched twice and couldn't find the entrance to the formation.

That would be more than just an ordinary trap.

The fact that the array gate could be hidden so well that ordinary people couldn't detect it means that the person who set up the array was at least a Daoist cultivator at the Condensation Realm or above.

It matches the Zheng family's purchase list that Zhao Dahu mentioned before, and it also matches the time when his parents were trapped.

He looked up and said to Huang Hu, "Have your men keep an eye on that forest, but don't let them go in."

"The formations inside are not something a Bone Refining Realm cultivator can touch."

"Yes, yes, Third Young Master, don't worry, I'll have someone keep watch from a distance!" Huang Hu nodded repeatedly. After waiting for a couple of breaths, seeing that Lu Changqing had no other instructions, he tactfully clasped his hands in a salute and quickly left the courtyard.

After Huang Hu left, Qingyun walked over from under the corridor.

She walked to the stone table, glanced down at the simple diagram on it, and then looked up at Lu Changqing.

"Young Master, Qingyun has also broken through to the Condensation Realm."

"I've reached the second realm of martial arts perfection, only lacking the Golden Skin and Jade Meridian." Her voice was steady. "Shall we go?"

Lu Changqing did not answer immediately.

He sat on the stone bench, his fingers tracing the edges of the simple diagram several times.

His current cultivation level is at the Core Formation stage of Daoist cultivation and the mid-stage of Blood Exchange stage of martial arts.

Either of these two things alone would be enough to make you invincible in Heishan County.

Even if Qin Yuan were standing in front of him now, with his Core Formation Realm cultivation and the restraint of the Pure Yang Fire on the Joyful Buddha Dharma, he would not feel the slightest fear.

But this trip out of the city isn't for fighting.

My parents have been trapped for nearly a month, and they know nothing about what's happening inside the formation.

What if the formation contains both a trapping array and a killing array? What if Qin Yuan's spies are lying in ambush near the formation...?

"Okay." Lu Changqing put down the diagram and looked at Qingyun. "How many talismans do you have now?"

Qingyun took off the talisman pouch from her waist and laid it out in a row on the stone table.

Twelve Pure Yang Exorcism Talismans, a dozen Second-Order Killing Talismans, five Third-Order Killing Talismans, and three Escape Talismans.

These specifications are more than enough to handle any unexpected situations.

Lu Changqing nodded. "Then let's go."

After quickly tidying up, Lu Changqing and Qingyun left the Lu family mansion and walked along the long street towards the city gate.

The streets remained bustling, with people displaying an unusual excitement and laughing loudly.

Occasionally, you can hear people discussing the benefits of talismans.

Lu Changqing didn't glance at it again, and went straight out of the city gate, heading east along the official road.

...

...

Qingfeng Temple, Danfang (Alchemy Room).

An undercover agent dressed in simple civilian clothes pushed open the door and entered.

The other person looked at the Taoist priest in his robes, kneeling on one knee, a barely perceptible hint of excitement in his voice.

"My lord, Lu Changqing has left the city. He's taken his maid with him."

"Should we wait until the master finishes refining the pills and then go and take them together?"

The Taoist priest did not speak immediately after hearing this.

He stood in the shadows of the corridor and glanced back at the tightly closed wooden door of the alchemy room.

Qin Yuan's consistent order was that everything had to be reported to him.

The advantage of this is that he never makes mistakes, and if he does, Qin Yuan takes the blame.

But there's a big problem: it will be difficult for the Taoist to achieve any merit!

He had followed Qin Yuan for five years. Among all the undercover agents in Huanxi Hall, he had the highest cultivation level and was the most capable, but he had never been promoted.

Lu Changqing is currently leaving the city alone, with only a maidservant with him.

This is a tremendous opportunity!

"Call the fourth and sixth brothers, and transfer two more Qi Refining Realm cultivators from the outer outposts. Bring their magical artifacts, and let's go," he whispered.

The man in gray hesitated for a moment, then said tentatively, "Sir, should we report to Lord Qin Yuan first?"

The undercover agent's eyes suddenly turned cold. He turned his head and looked down at the man in gray.

"Are you questioning my decision?"

The man in gray felt a chill on the back of his neck and immediately lowered his head.

"I wouldn't dare."

The undercover agent withdrew his gaze, his tone returning to its usual calm. "Lord Qin Yuan supports us, not so that we'll bother him with everything."

"Lu Changqing is nothing. I'll take him down first and then report to the lord for credit. That will make the lord even happier. Go and fetch some men."

The man in gray dared not say another word and quickly retreated.

A moment later, five figures emerged one after another from the abandoned woodshed behind Qingfeng Temple. All of them had their faces covered with black cloth and chased after the others eastward along the path outside the city.

...

The Lost Forest.

Lu Changqing stood on the open space Huang Hu had mentioned, looking down at a tree stump that had been cut off at the root.

The tree stump has a smooth cross-section, indicating it was cut off in one go with a sharp tool, not from being chopped with an axe.

Several curved runes were carved on the side of the tree stump. The runes were dark red and deeply embedded in the wood, as if they had been painted with some kind of blood-mixed paint.

He crouched down, his fingertips hovering about an inch above the rune, without touching it.

A faint fluctuation of spiritual energy seeped from the rune, so weak that it was almost drowned out by the sound of the wind in the forest, but under the perception of the Core Formation Realm's divine sense, this fluctuation was as clear as a candle flame in the dark.

He stood up and glanced at the surrounding trees.

There was more than just this one tree stump.

Centered on this open space, the surrounding trees were cut into a roughly circular gap, with a tree stump with a symbol carved on it every seven or eight steps.

The runes subtly resonated with each other, forming an invisible barrier.

The barrier covered a considerable area, extending at least a hundred paces into the depths of the forest.

When the divine sense probed in, it was as if it had hit a soft wall. It couldn't go in, but it couldn't bounce back either. It was just blocked outside by a gentle but stubborn force.

This is a battle formation.

Lu Changqing tried to mobilize his spiritual power to impact the runes on one of the tree stumps, but as soon as his spiritual power touched the surface of the runes, it was bounced back by an even stronger force.

The spiritual energy of the entire magic array is interconnected; attacking one point is equivalent to attacking the entire array.

Unless the power is great enough to destroy all the nodes of the entire formation at once, breaking through at a single point is meaningless.

He withdrew his spiritual power, his brows furrowing slightly.

Ordinary cultivators, unless there is an extremely large difference in strength, cannot break through the formation by force if they do not understand the formation.

Judging from the aging of the runes and the sluggish flow of spiritual energy, this formation itself is not particularly sophisticated.

But the difficulty lies in the fact that he has absolutely no knowledge of formations.

It's like there's someone standing in front of you who's full of weaknesses, but if you don't know how to use pressure points, then those weaknesses are as if they don't exist.

Just then, he suddenly detected several auras at the edge of his divine sense.

They are rapidly approaching from the outer edge of the Lost Forest.

Five paths.

One of the spiritual energy fluctuations was quite obvious, probably in the mid-to-late stage of the Liquid Condensation Realm.

The other four were slightly weaker, but still considered skilled among ordinary martial artists.

Lu Changqing withdrew his hand from the tree stump and turned around.

Qingyun had already noticed it. Her natal spirit sword had been spat out of her mouth, shrunk to the size of a palm, and hovered quietly above the fingertips of her right hand, its blade gleaming with a cold light.

A moment later, five figures emerged from the forest, spreading out in a semi-circle and blocking the outer edge of the open space.

The visitors all had their faces covered with black cloth, revealing only their eyes.

The leader was tall and thin with a cold gaze. The moment he saw Lu Changqing, a hint of undisguised excitement flashed in his eyes.

"Heh." The tall, thin man let out a very low, cold laugh, his voice muffled by the black cloth covering his face.

"Young Master Lu, instead of staying cooped up in your mansion, you've come to this desolate wilderness. Do you have a death wish?"

As he spoke, the other four had already silently moved to their new positions, subtly surrounding Lu Changqing and Qingyun in the center.

The tall, thin man didn't wait for Lu Changqing's response; he simply tilted his head and sized him up, as if admiring prey that was about to be caught.

Of course he knew that Lu Changqing had killed the leader of the Blood Zombie Hall.

But so what?

The Joyful Hall is different from the Blood Zombie Hall. The Blood Zombie Hall is just a group of brutes who rely on brute force and evil energy to fight each other, while the Joyful Hall's techniques are specifically designed to target the mind and spirit.

A martial artist of the same level would be unable to withstand the influence of the Joyful Dharma for more than three breaths before his mind was disturbed.

With his own hands and four helpers, he easily captured a martial artist at the Blood Exchange Realm and a maid at the Liquid Condensation Realm.

"Brothers, capture this brat and his maid, and take them back to the magistrate for the reward!"

The slender man gave a low shout, and the five of them simultaneously formed hand seals. Dark pink spiritual energy of joy emanated from their bodies, transforming into several invisible mental shocks that enveloped Lu Changqing and Qingyun.

This is Huanxitang's specialty.

First, use the Joyful Mantra to break the opponent's mind, then strike and kill them while they are in a daze.

The dark pink light fell on Lu Changqing, like water droplets falling on a red-hot iron plate, and disappeared with a hiss.

The same applies to Qingyun's side.

Although her cultivation level was a notch lower than Lu Changqing's, she carried a large number of pure yang talismans given to her by the young master. The Joyful Curse was blocked by the power of the talismans before it even got close.

The tall, thin man's expression froze for a moment.

wrong.

That's not how it should be.

Even if a martial artist of the same level in the Blood Exchange Realm could withstand the Joyful Curse, it shouldn't be this easy.

While he was still in shock, Lu Changqing raised his right hand.

There was no hand gesture or incantation; the fingers were simply slightly spread, with the palm facing outward.

Then, several invisible gusts of wind suddenly appeared around him, without warning or preparation, as if the air itself had transformed into sharp blades.

A strong wind cut through the air, carrying a sharp, piercing whistle.

The thin man's pupils suddenly contracted.

In that instant, he sensed a spiritual energy fluctuation far exceeding that of the Condensation Realm.

A powerful, intense heat, with a terrifying pressure like a volcanic eruption.

This oppressive aura burst forth from Lu Changqing's body. It wasn't deliberately released; it was just a trace of aura that naturally flowed out with those few gusts of wind, yet it was enough for him to judge the opponent's true realm.

"Transformation into Elixir—!"

His voice suddenly rose, becoming so sharp it changed tone, and the last word was abruptly stuck in his throat.

Four powerful gusts of wind pierced through the chests of his two accomplices behind him at the same time, and blood splattered in the night sky.

The lanky man turned to flee, but half of the five men he brought with him were gone the instant Lu Changqing made his move, and the remaining two were entangled by Qingyun's natal spirit sword and unable to move.

But Lu Changqing was faster than him.

The Hundred Ghosts Illuminate the Gods Step left an afterimage in place, and the real body appeared in front of the tall, thin man.

The spirit sword was drawn, and the pure yang fire on its blade drew a blazing white arc.

One sword.

The thin man looked down at the hole in his chest where the sword had pierced through, opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

The two survivors were killed by Qingyun with a single sword strike.

She stood up from beside the corpse and bent down to remove the black cloth covering one of the bodies.

Then her movements froze slightly.

"Young Master." Qingyun turned around, a hint of surprise on his face. "Some of these people... look familiar to me."

"It seems...it seems to be from Qingfeng Temple!?"

"Yes, some of them are from Qingfeng Temple." Lu Changqing sheathed his spirit sword.

He had seen Qin Yuan with the people from Qingfeng Temple at the mine before. Although he couldn't name some of their faces, he vaguely remembered them.

Qingyun's expression changed completely.

She had been following the young master, and when he said Qin Yuan had a problem, she believed him.

But he personally witnessed the Taoist priests from Qingfeng Temple, masked and using wicked and eccentric techniques, attempting to ambush and kill the young master.

That's another matter.

This means that Qin Yuan is not only an evil spirit, but it has also developed a group of loyal henchmen in Qingfeng Temple.

Some of the Taoist priests of Qingfeng Temple who wore gray robes, chanted Taoist incantations, and performed exorcisms and exorcisms in front of the people may have already changed masters.

The young master's words flashed through her mind instantly.

The talismans used by all the people in the county were issued by Qin Yuan.

"Should we tell the Second Miss and the Magistrate about this?" she asked softly.

Lu Changqing pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "Second Sister can say so, and tell her to keep a close eye on things in the temple."

"The others... will remain a secret for now."

He glanced down at the corpse on the ground.

Qin Yuan lay low at Qingfeng Temple for seven years, secretly developing countless henchmen, but no one knows how many.

Some of these henchmen may simply be controlled by the talisman, while others may have actively defected.

The fact that Huanxi Hall could cultivate a death warrior at the Condensation Realm shows that its roots in Heishan County are far deeper than they appear.

Qingfeng Temple now has helpers.

What about the county government office? Zhou Wu is definitely innocent, but what about the county magistrate? And what about the people under him?

Even the county magistrate?

That's why he didn't let Qingyun make a fuss.

Now that the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, his only advantage is that Qin Yuan is unaware that he has already figured out the details of Huanxitang.

He needs to wait.

When his martial arts also break through to the Condensation Realm.

At that time, with the Dao and Martial arts at the fourth level and the Pure Yang Fire, it didn't matter how many tricks Qin Yuan had up his sleeve in Black Mountain County.

Faced with absolute power, all conspiracies are nothing but paper.

"Dispose of the body properly, leave no trace." Lu Changqing sheathed his spirit sword, took one last look at the tree stump engraved with runes, and said, "Let's go back to the city first."

"We'll break our parents' formation once we find someone who understands formations."