Lin Word Incantation!

"Are you here?"

Sun Wang had been sleeping lightly. He woke at Wu Ming's first knock, immediately gripping the weapon beside his bed. Hearing Wu Ming's voice, he relaxed slightly, climbed out of bed, and walked out.

Wu Ming exchanged a few brief words with Sun Wang and discovered that Sun Wang truly could not sense the subtle changes in heaven and earth, nor could he feel the faint chill brought by the heavy Yin energy. As for those misty white wandering souls, he naturally could not see them either.

After bringing Sun Wang in to take over, Wu Ming said he would make a round outside, then went out carrying the Crimson Serpent Spear.

Sun Wang felt that Wu Ming seemed somewhat jumpy tonight, but merely shook his head inwardly and did not find it strange. The matter of the "Evil Bandit" had spread everywhere these past few days; being a little more vigilant deep into the night was only normal.

Pfft.

Beside an old water well, Wu Ming thrust his hand through a misty white wandering soul. The Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram deep within his mind rippled once more and swallowed the wandering soul.

In the short time since he had used patrolling outside as an excuse, he had already used the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram to devour seven wandering souls. Vaguely, Wu Ming felt that the surface of this ancient, wondrous diagram, so filled with divine charm, seemed to be gradually gaining a hazy texture.

"Still not enough?"

Wu Ming observed the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram in his mind. Seeing that it still had not undergone any substantive change, he pondered briefly, then sprang up with his spear. After several leaps, he reached a rooftop and cast his gaze into the distance.

Far away, he could faintly make out several misty white wandering souls drifting about.

Roaming all over the city in the dead of night was actually rather dangerous. Not to mention the vicious fiends and evil bandits—if he ran into Night Patrolmen from the Cautious Punishment Division, he might be mistaken for a rooftop thief and arrested on the spot. Explaining things afterward would be troublesome as well.

But after a brief consideration, Wu Ming decided to take a small risk. On one hand, those wandering souls were not too far from here and were still within the streets and alleys he knew well. On the other hand, a Yin year and Yin month, at the most Yin hour, was not something easily encountered. He had finally gotten a chance to study the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram; if he missed it, who knew how long he would have to wait for another opportunity.

At once,

Wu Ming leaped down with his spear, landing back in the streets and alleys, then hurried forward along them.

He moved swiftly without pause, passing through more than ten streets and alleys in succession. He covered everywhere within several miles of Chen's Apothecary, found roughly twenty-odd wandering souls, and used the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram to devour them one by one.

The hazy texture on the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram grew increasingly dense, yet aside from that, no further changes came. This left Wu Ming uncertain. Could his judgment have been wrong? Did devouring wandering souls bring no benefit to this diagram?

But,

After Wu Ming went a little farther and devoured another wandering soul, a sudden change occurred!

The misty haze on the surface of the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram abruptly began to draw inward, gathering into strands of white thread. They intertwined and traced themselves above the diagram, eventually forming a profound rune.

This rune outlined in white threads was extraordinarily mysterious. It belonged to none of the writing systems Wu Ming knew, yet the instant he saw it, he immediately understood its meaning and essence: it was a one-character true incantation.

Its name was,

Lin!

Lin meant stillness. Body and mind both settled, unmoving as suchness; ten thousand demons could not seize one's soul, and all evil could not cloud one's heart!

"Lin."

A faint gleam flickered in Wu Ming's eyes as his entire consciousness sank into immersion. Every thought of his focused upon that mysterious true-incantation character, committing every trace and detail of it to memory.

It was merely a single rune, a one-character true incantation, yet it seemed like a vast and magnificent scripture containing endless, indescribable mysteries. Wu Ming knew that once he mastered this one-character true incantation, with but a thought, body and mind would both become still, and all demons would flee!

Who knew how much time passed before the white threads outlining the Lin Word Incantation upon the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram gradually blurred and dispersed. The entire Demon Subduing Diagram returned to silence once more, with no further changes.

Wu Ming knew that he had gained enormous benefits this time.

This Lin Word Incantation was an unknown method. With a single thought, body and mind became still; no thoughts arose, no techniques could invade, and no evil spirits need be feared. Moreover, by gathering his mind and steadying his spirit, he could use it to stir the power of his soul and intimidate others!

"Hoo..."

Wu Ming let out a long breath.

Just as he was about to carefully experience the wonders of the Lin Word Incantation, faint movement suddenly reached his ears.

After obtaining the Lin Word Incantation, Wu Ming had also clearly discovered that when he invoked this one-character true incantation to steady his mind, his senses grew even sharper. The movement he detected now came from a very distant direction.

And that direction seemed to be—

Chen's Apothecary!

Wu Ming's expression changed slightly. Could something have happened at the apothecary?

He sprang away with his spear and rapidly headed back toward the apothecary.

Chen's Apothecary.

Back courtyard.

The fairly spacious courtyard was now in utter disarray.

Hu Yong, Sun Wang, and Ma Liu stood together, each with a grave expression as they stared ahead. What they faced was not some vicious fiend or evil bandit roaming the night, but an exceedingly strange ghostly figure!

Calling it a ghostly figure was not quite right—it still had a human body. Yet from top to bottom, this body barely resembled a person anymore. Its skin was shriveled and sunken, its eyeballs gone, and its entire body was like a horrifying desiccated corpse, nothing but corpse skin wrapped around a skeleton!

Even Hu Yong and Sun Wang, seasoned and well-traveled as they were, felt wave after wave of alarm.

The two sides had already exchanged blows for some time. Though this evil desiccated corpse looked shriveled and skeletal, it was incomparably tough, impervious to blades and swords.

"How dare a mere evil spirit run wild!"

Hu Yong gave a roar and hacked down fiercely with the ring-hilt saber in hand. He raised his Blood Qi and concentrated it upon the blade, then brought it down in a savage strike that hit the desiccated corpse squarely on the head. Yet despite his Second Blood Forging physique and the immense force of that blow, it only made the corpse's head sway slightly, producing a hum like metal striking ancient bronze.

The desiccated corpse swung its arm and, with a single blow, knocked Hu Yong's saber aside.

"No, this Corpse Fiend is too powerful. Blood Qi alone cannot destroy its evil essence..."

Sun Wang's gaze was grave. Having circled around behind it, he suddenly launched a sneak attack, thrusting out his sword. As the sword shot forward, he circulated his Blood Qi and gathered it at the tip of his tongue, then bit down hard, spitting out a drop of crimson essence blood onto the blade.

Pure Yang True Blood infused with Blood Qi naturally had extraordinary effects. This sword strike finally worked, piercing straight through the desiccated corpse's body from behind!

But after delivering that strike, Sun Wang's aura immediately weakened considerably.

Unlike circulating Blood Qi within his body, this time he had gathered his refined Blood Qi, mixed it into his blood, and spat it out. He had truly lost that portion of Blood Qi, though the effect was indeed obvious.