Lian’s heart tightened.
The Lord was currently recovering death qi. Jian Huaishuang and Plague Rat were struggling under the pressure of Purity and Filth’s beetle corpse, while Jiao Mu Jiao and Wing-Fire Snake were tied down by Tianyou's Corpse and the Red Banded Snake Corpse, unable to break free.
It seemed she was the only one left.
She had lain in the Western Region's god's tomb for a thousand years and witnessed too much death. Those beings devoured by black spots, those faces dying in despair—scene after scene flashed before her eyes.
She didn't want to see the same tragedy play out again.
She had to do something now.
Lian took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and desperately channeled the little death qi remaining in her body, then commanded Jiao Mu Jiao to save the others.
But Jian Huaishuang suddenly appeared by her side and grabbed her arm.
“Wait.”
Lian looked at him anxiously. “But—”
“Listen to him.”
Plague Rat dodged an attack from the beetle corpse and shouted without looking back.
“We can't do anything right now. The green light outside the Lord's Ghost Domain suppresses everyone; we can't use our full strength. Going there is just suicide.”
Lian glanced at Chen Zhou.
He was still sitting there with his eyes closed. The grayish-white Ghost Domain surged from his body, covering a small area around him.
Outside the Ghost Domain, the green light blazed, making it hard for everyone to breathe.
Meanwhile, Tao Tuantuan stood before the giant colored stone, throwing groups of little demons into the ley line like dumplings into a pot. One cloud of blood mist after another exploded, staining the emerald-green ley line red.
Tens of thousands of little demons were all blown into blood mist.
A surge of blood color rose from the ley line, and the crimson mist flowed along it, being absorbed by the massive colored stone.
The giant stone shuddered violently.
The seven-colored light flared intensely for a moment before quickly dimming, turning into a sickly dark red.
The cracks on the stone's surface began to expand, and more and more viscous liquid flowed from them. Inside the giant stone, something was expanding and struggling as if trying to break out of its shell.
Wan Xiu said triumphantly, “Excellent. The sacrifices are sufficient. It is time to respectfully invite Lord Qing Lu’s divine sense to arrive.”
As soon as he finished speaking, green light condensed above the giant stone, and a middle-aged man slowly emerged.
The man wore a green robe and had an extraordinary air about him. He held a folding fan, which he shook gently. On the fan was a landscape painting; the mountains were green and the waters were clear, appearing lifelike.
Chen Zhou's Ghost Domain immediately locked onto him.
“You thing that hides its head and shows its tail, you finally dare to show yourself.”
Chen Zhou opened his eyes slightly. After the conversion by Su Xue, he had recovered about twenty to thirty percent of his death qi in this short time.
Wan Xiu looked down at Chen Zhou and smiled.
“Why must your excellency be so angry?”
“Lord Qing Lu’s auspicious event is near, so naturally, I must personally welcome him.”
“As for your excellency, you look like a spent lamp. How much longer can you last?”
Having said that, Wan Xiu turned around, looked at the giant colored stone, closed his fan, and began to recite the sacrificial oration.
“Heaven above, Earth below. Sky-Monitoring of Central Province, patrolling the four directions.”
“Azure Dragon of the East, following Heaven's mandate, governing the birth of all things, presiding over the life and death of vegetation.”
“Today, with the blood of ten thousand demons and the souls of a thousand people, I respectfully invite Lord Qing Lu to descend.”
“May the Lord protect all living beings and bless the people.”
After finishing the oration, Wan Xiu opened his arms and looked up at the sky.
Green light surged from inside the giant stone, flooding toward Wan Xiu like a tide and pouring into his body.
Wan Xiu's body began to glow. The green light radiated from within him, making his entire being look like a green statue.
The giant stone began to grow dim, its seven-colored light gradually disappearing until it became an ordinary grayish-white rock.
Qing Lu’s divine sense slowly descended.
A terrifying pressure erupted from Wan Xiu's body, weighing down on everyone so heavily they could barely breathe. Even Jian Huaishuang and Plague Rat’s expressions changed as they retreated several steps.
Only Chen Zhou maintained his original posture, his Ghost Domain protecting all his allies and barely withstanding the pressure.
Beneath the giant stone, while Wan Xiu was chanting the sacrificial oration, Tao Tuantuan unhurriedly took out a manuscript from her robe. Holding it in her palms, she began to chant along.
“Tianchi is vast, the people are in panic. Plague runs rampant, white bones litter the fields.”
“A thousand years of hatred, etched into the bone. Ten thousand years of enmity, irreconcilable under heaven.”
“Today with my blood, I sacrifice to my homeland. Today with my soul, I curse my enemies.”
“May the people of Tianchi never be humiliated. May the land of Tianchi never be invaded.”
“May the lackey Wan Xiu have no bones left, his soul scattered.”
“May the false god Qing Lu have his godhead shattered, falling forever into samsara.”
As Tao Tuantuan chanted, the phantom of a massive peach tree emerged behind her.
The peach tree was about a hundred zhang tall, with lush branches and leaves covered in pink peach blossoms.
The petals of the peach blossoms drifted down. Each petal was inscribed with characters that burned in the air, turning into ashes that drifted toward the ley line, the giant stone, and Wan Xiu.
The more Wan Xiu listened, the more he felt something was wrong.
He felt something inside him agitating, struggling, and resisting.
The sacrifices he had refined and the souls he had enslaved were all surging within him, as if they were about to burst out of his body.
He shouted sternly, “Tao Tuantuan! What are you doing?!”
Tao Tuantuan looked up at him, her gaze calm.
“I am doing what I should do.”
Wan Xiu was furious. “You have already been branded by Lord Qing Lu! Everything about you belongs to him! How dare you harbor rebellious intent?!”
Tao Tuantuan looked up at him, her gaze as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
“Rebellious intent? Lord Wan Xiu, this humble girl has never submitted, so how could there be rebellious intent?”
Feeling the abnormal movement within him, Wan Xiu was both shocked and enraged.
He couldn't understand. A Wenchang Noble who had clearly been refined should have been his most loyal lackey, shouldn't she?
How could she escape his control?
The Art of Carving Rotten Wood he personally performed was a supreme secret method taught by Qing Lu. It could refine any living being into his own lackey, preserving part of their intelligence while completely twisting their perception.
It had always been invincible.
Even monarchs like Red Tail and Mu Tianyou couldn't resist it. How could a mere sixth-stage third transformation Peach Clan demonling?
When exactly did his technique fail?
Wan Xiu didn't have time to think further, for he felt an even greater problem with his body.
The ley line power he had absorbed and the radiance of the giant colored stone were leaking out of his body like sand in an hourglass.
He was a creation Qing Lu had specifically made to travel to other provinces. Qing Lu’s ten-thousand-year plan was about to succeed.
How could it fail at the critical moment because of a minor character?
“There’s a problem with the sacrifices!” Wan Xiu's face turned ashen. “There’s a problem with those sacrifices!”
A ruthless glint flashed in Wan Xiu's eyes, and he immediately waved his folding fan.
The landscape painting on the fan suddenly lit up, and a foul wind surged from it, turning into countless black threads that lunged toward Tao Tuantuan.
Chen Zhou had seen those black threads before in Jiao Mu Jiao's sea of consciousness; they could control a person's thoughts and memories.
Chen Zhou immediately activated the Seed of Resentment in Tao Tuantuan's sea of consciousness.
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