Zi Xiang's Works Shu Shan Wu Tai Jiao Zhu Volume 1 Chapter 73 Two Monks: Yin Hun Array

  Yue Qing summoned Lei Qilong to his presence: "From today on, you are the successor of my Tiān Shān sect. You have nothing to do with Huashan anymore. If any woman comes to seduce you again, I'll drive her away! Including Jin Shenzi, if anything happens, just push it onto me. If you listen to me wholeheartedly, I will treat you well. Otherwise, my methods are a thousand times more ruthless than those of Lie Huo Zushi!"

  Lei Qi Long knelt there and replied obediently: "The junior will definitely listen carefully to the immortal maiden's words, and will not dare to disobey in the slightest."

  Yu Qing's tone turned gentle: "I've said it before, from now on you're my disciple, just call me Master. The skills that Jin Shenzi taught you in the past are not allowed to be practiced again, especially that Taoist scripture of absorbing and supplementing. I will personally teach you the skills of the Tianshan Sect. Also, before becoming a Xian, you are not allowed to lose your innocence, otherwise, I'll kill you with my own hands!"

  He passed on the Tian Shan swordsmanship created by Wei Fengniang to Lei Qilong. This set of sword techniques was derived from Guangming Shitai's Buddhist demon-slaying sword technique. Wei Fengniang was also a genius, spending over ten years incorporating the sword techniques from the Jade Pool Heavenly Book into it, creating a unique style outside of other schools. The sword moves were fierce and sharp, unless one encountered an opponent who was roughly on par with oneself, killing them usually didn't require more than ten moves.

  Jin Chenzi took Lei Qi to enter the door, just wanting to train him well, and then use him to please familiar female fairies. Therefore, except for the adoption of war, other Taoist methods and swordsmanship were not taught at all. Even the flying sword given was no different from broken copper and rusty iron. Yue Qing let him present it, took it in his hand, snapped his fingers, and suddenly shattered into a piece of iron on the ground.

  After passing on the sword technique, Yue Qing had Lei Qidong memorize the crucial "Yuanyang Chapter" from the second volume of the Guang Chengzi Tian Shu. The scripture was short and the refining method wasn't difficult, but Lei Qidong himself didn't have any foundation, like a blank sheet of paper, and being young, as long as he was willing to put in hard work and repeatedly cultivate, he would be able to refine Yuanyang true energy. In the future, it would become thicker and more substantial, and cultivating the Golden Elixir wouldn't be a problem. Although progress would be slower than cultivating other techniques, it had the advantage of being straightforward and gradual, without any deviations, and its power wasn't small either. When his true energy reached a certain level, he could cultivate the various techniques in the second volume, and that would make him a top expert.

  Lei Qilong was quite intelligent, and after Yue Qing explained the scripture word by word and sentence by sentence, he could recite it back without missing a single character. Yue Qing also picked out a Cold Dew Sword from Wei Fengniang's collection, which she had used in her earlier years, and gave it to Lei Qilong.

  Let Lei Qilong go and practice, the eight demons are already prepared, waiting outside the door. Yue Qing asked: "How is the Yīn Hún Zhèn (Shadow Soul Formation) that I taught you last year now?"

  Dà mó huáng kàn huí dào: "yī zhí qín jiǎn xiū chí, bù gǎn yǒu xī háo dài màn, shī fù ruò yào kǎo jiào, kě……"

  Translation:

  "Always diligent and self-disciplined, not daring to be the slightest bit lazy, Master if you want to test me, then..."

  "It's time to test your skills, you go to Qingyuan Temple now, set up the Dark Soul Formation to cover the entire temple, and capture those two bald donkeys for me, must be captured alive."

  "Master, those two monks from Qingyuan Temple..."

  "What? You dare disobey my orders?" Yue Qing said with a sinister tone.

  "The eight demons hastily said in unison: 'We dare not! We dare not! We will immediately go and capture the two monks, and return to present them to our master.' They did not know what evil deeds these two monks had committed, but since their master had given an order, they could not disobey. Together they retreated and rushed to Qingyuan Temple."

  The two lamas, Vajra and Kasha, had just robbed a wealthy traveler at the foot of the mountain, killing all the men and taking two young and beautiful women back to the temple. Each of them was in their own quarters, enjoying themselves with one of the women, when suddenly the wind started to howl, clouds gathered, and sand and rocks began to fly through the air. The two lamas saw that the weather had turned ominous and knew that someone was casting a spell. They quickly put on their monk's robes, grabbed their staffs and knives, and jumped into the courtyard.

  At this time, the sky above Qingyuan Temple was completely shrouded in dark clouds, as if a black pot had been turned upside down, with gloomy winds blowing and icy coldness piercing to the bone.

  Fan Na Ka realized that the eight people were the vanguard of the Eight Demons, and his heart was shocked. He didn't know how he had offended these ruthless people. If it were a fair fight, he and his fellow disciples would not be afraid of the two against eight, but their master, Wei Fengniang, was not someone to be trifled with. Moreover, they were now trapped in the enemy's formation, and Fan Na Ka couldn't help but feel some panic. He struck his staff on the ground and shouted loudly: "Eight Demon Lords, what instructions do you have? Please speak directly, we two brothers have always been law-abiding and don't know which of Wei Xiangong's rules we have broken again? Please enlighten us, and we will definitely comply."

  The dark clouds in the north parted, and the great demon Huang Jin appeared with a divine flag in hand: "My master has ordered us to capture you and take you back to the Qingluo Palace for a meeting."

  Fan Wugang said: "Since it's Wei Xiangong's order, just send a small servant to pass on the message and we'll naturally go to pay our respects. Why make such a big fuss?"

  Huang Qiao said: "It's all been said, we're going to capture you and take you back! We don't dare speculate about Master's intentions, so we can only follow the complete chapter. If you know what's good for you, surrender immediately and let us bind you with the dragon rope, which will spare you some suffering. Otherwise, if the Yin Soul Array is activated, one misstep and your soul will be damaged, or even scattered!"

  The two monks heard that Wei Fengniang had ordered their arrest, and their hearts sank immediately. Although they didn't know the reason, they guessed it wouldn't be good. Moreover, they were originally guilty, so they exchanged a glance and decided to flee for their lives.

  Fan Na Ka Er said: "Wei Xian Gu wants to take us, we don't dare disobey, the demon masters just come down and use that dragon rope."

  Huang Qian heard this and was about to press down on Yun's head, but the four demons, Yin Hongyu, said: "Big brother, wait! Since Master wants us to capture these two, there must be a deeper meaning. Our Qingluo Palace was snatched from their hands, it's hard to guarantee that they won't harbor resentment in their hearts. Although they appear obedient, after all, people's hearts are unpredictable, and we can't let our guard down. Since they're already trapped in the array, why not follow the plan and knock them out, then take them to see Master? That way, there will be no room for error!

  Huang Kan listened and thought it was reasonable, so he said: "You two, if you really want to follow us to see our master, then don't resist. Just faint for a while and you'll be fine. But if you try to break through the array with your internal energy, I'm afraid you won't be able to escape the calamity of your soul flying away!" After finishing speaking, he ordered his brothers to shake the divine banner together, and the array emitted wave after wave of eerie and mournful sounds, as dark clouds pressed down heavily. The two lamas were also decisive and resolute individuals, knowing that if they resisted, they would certainly die, but if they submitted, they might still have a chance to live after seeing Wei Fengniang again. So they didn't resist, allowing the evil winds to surround them, and amidst the rolling black clouds, the two of them fainted together on the ground. The two demons Xue Ping and Qiu Ling went over to tie them up tightly with the dragon rope, then withdrew the array and took them back to the Qingluo Palace, leaving behind only the small lamas who were trembling with fear in the temple.

  The Eight Demons brought the two monks back to the Qingluo Palace and pushed them in front of Yueqing. Yueqing ordered that they be awakened, and as soon as the two monks opened their eyes, they loudly cried out in grievance. Yueqing coldly laughed and said: "You two have been dissatisfied with my occupation of the Qingluo Palace, and have always wanted to find a talented young boy to cultivate the Tianmo Jieyi Great Technique, willing to risk everything to destroy us and this palace together. Am I right?"

  Vanaka and the two others also had to distinguish themselves. When Kasabu saw that things were exposed, he broke out in a loud voice: "That's right! You took away from us the foundation we built up with great effort over several decades, we hate you so much that we want to smash your bones into dust!"

  The eight demons on the side heard, angrily scolding one after another. The third demon Qian Qingxuan and the fourth demon Yin Hongying each clenched their fists and pounded them on the back of the two monks. The two monks were in extreme pain. Fanjia Er knew Wei Fengniang's methods, if they wanted to make themselves suffer a fate worse than death, it would be too easy. Therefore, they repeatedly cried out in pain and begged for mercy. Kaishasabu gritted his teeth and endured, loudly shouting: "You are also a sword immortal who has been practicing for many years, whether you kill or cut us, your brothers, there is no resentment at all. Torturing people bit by bit doesn't make you a good man!"

  Yue Qing laughed and said, "Do you think I'm a good man? Why would I need to kill you?" He stood up with his hands behind his back and walked in front of the two monks, bending down to say, "It just so happens that I want to refine two more Desire Demons. You two are also somewhat skilled in the Tao, let them absorb your yuan yang completely, it will certainly increase my magical powers greatly. Then I'll take your remaining souls to refine the Yin Soul Array, isn't this a great gain?"

  Fan Na Ka's two consecutive knocks on the head: "Immortal maiden, have mercy! We brothers were momentarily confused and had some regret... Considering we've been serving Qingyuan Temple for so many years, welcoming and sending off the Green Spiral Palace, and gathering information, we only ask the immortal maiden to give us a quick death."

  Yue Qing and others asked for a while, then threw a mirror in front of the two: "You take turns to fill it with fresh blood."

  Fan Na Ka Er picked up the mirror, saw that the treasure mirror was neither copper nor crystal, and couldn't tell what material it was made of. It was about the size of a palm, with carvings of four auspicious beasts - dragon, qilin, phoenix, and kylin - around its edges. Holding it in his hand, it felt heavy and icy cold, emitting a beam of cold light that dazzled the eyes, making him dare not look directly at it. No matter where he shone it, he felt his hair stand on end, and a chill ran down his spine.