Half-Immortal

Yu Chen stepped onto the stone bridge and sensed the sinister poison below, as well as the Sword Qi stirring restlessly within it. He sneered inwardly. A bridge built with Human Pillar Sacrifices—how could it withstand a righteous, pure-yang Dragon-Slaying Sword? Forcing the two together would inevitably make them clash. Before long, this bridge would likely collapse. Only by altering the Dragon-Slaying Sword's forging method, turning yang into yin, could the two complement one another. I just wonder how many lives this Dragon-Slaying Sword has claimed.

Streams of mist gathered around Yu Chen's feet. Mist snakes churned within, weaving witch-script across the stone bridge's surface and forming an ancient witch curse. The Dragon-Slaying Sword buried beneath the bridge had already gained a spirit. Sensing something amiss, it immediately let out a crisp sword cry.

Chilling Sword Qi crisscrossed back and forth, flowing out through the cracks in the stone bridge. An intent of utter extermination aimed at dragons and serpents rose up, trying to break free of its restraints and sever the witch-script.

"If you were a pure-yang artifact refined through orthodox immortal Dao methods, I might fear you somewhat. But you, a mere thing created through blood sacrifice, dare contend with me? Stay put down there!" Yu Chen stamped his foot. The witch-script immediately bloomed with a faint glow, suppressing the intent of utter extermination aimed at dragons and serpents. Within that radiance, mist gathered again, transforming into an illusory giant python. It lashed its tail fiercely, scattering the Dragon Sword Qi that had flowed out.

The witch-script took advantage of the opening and surged in. The treasured sword let out a piercing wail, yet it could not stop the witch-script from creeping across its surface, forming snake patterns that sealed away its spirituality.

Yu Chen stamped again, gently twisting his body as an ancient cadence emerged from his lips.

"Return, souls! Return, souls! Neither east nor west! Neither south nor north..."

The ancient song was like a summons from the underworld, gradually calling forth the lingering souls bound within the stone bridge.

At the same time, Yu Chen opened his mouth and exhaled streams of mist, stirring the surrounding moisture and blocking out most of the sunlight. He drew the several departed souls drifting up from beneath the bridge into his sleeve, then turned and left.

When he returned home, he found Aunt Wan standing at the door, looking around anxiously. Upon seeing Yu Chen, she reproached him somewhat. "You're in poor health, so why do you keep running around outside? Don't go dying somewhere out there one day!"

Though her words were not particularly pleasant, Yu Chen could still feel Aunt Wan's concern.

Unfortunately, that concern is mostly born from pity and the fact that I'm about to die. If I kept on living, who knows what she'd think? Yu Chen saw the matter clearly and understood why Aunt Wan cared about him.

But he did not particularly mind. He merely smiled and replied, "The weather was nice, so I went for a walk! Oh, right, Aunt Wan, I heard they built a new bridge nearby today. What's that about? Why build a bridge when there was no need for one?"

This was also one of Yu Chen's discoveries from his outing. According to his observations, not far from the newly built stone bridge was a long stretch of shallow water. The current there was gentle, and even the deepest spot came only to an adult's knees. Logically speaking, there had been no need to specially build another stone bridge.

"You mean the new bridge? Master Huang paid for it. He said it was to make travel easier for everyone."

After saying that, Aunt Wan hesitated somewhat. A faint gleam appeared in Yu Chen's eyes, and Aunt Wan's mind went blank. Lowering her voice, she said, "You'd best stay away from that place. It's uncanny. I heard Master Huang built that bridge so his family could conveniently go offer sacrifices to their ancestors. A lot of things happened at first. In the end, with no other choice, Master Huang had Liu the Half-Immortal press two outsiders into it before it was completed."

"Liu the Half-Immortal?"

"Liu the Half-Immortal is a famous Daoist priest in the county, with quite a few supernatural abilities. I heard he once listened to teachings under Golden Light State Preceptor?"

Having gained another useful piece of information, Yu Chen asked curiously, "Golden Light State Preceptor?"

"That's right! Golden Light State Preceptor is a great figure of the Daoist sect. They say she is only one step away from attaining the Dao and becoming immortal. In all of Great Wu, only Compassionate Voyage State Preceptor can stand on equal footing with her. But if you ask me, Golden Light State Preceptor is still more formidable..."

At the mention of Golden Light State Preceptor, it was as though Aunt Wan had flipped some switch, and she began talking without pause. Only after listening for quite some time did Yu Chen realize that the Golden Light State Preceptor she spoke of was a female Daoist.

Having reached the pinnacle of power as a woman, coupled with her compassionate nature and her Daoist status that left her untouched by worldly conventions, she was naturally regarded as an idol by many women of Great Wu.

After listening to Aunt Wan heap praise upon her for quite some time, Yu Chen sent her away. Then, after the sun had set, he set off for the county town.

With the aid of his techniques, Yu Chen quickly found Liu the Half-Immortal's residence.

This warding restriction? Standing outside the residence, Yu Chen could sense the faint aura gathered around the courtyard before him. This aura was not powerful, far inferior to the sinister poisonous aura on the stone bridge and the profundity and power of the Dragon-Slaying Sword.

Yet it gave Yu Chen quite a headache. He had any number of solutions for things like sacrificial rites that were connected to the witchcraft path, but he had only begun studying immortal Dao methods a month ago. Even with his cheat helping him analyze them, he only understood the rough outlines of many things. How could he break the outer warding restriction without alerting the other party?

Since I can't sneak in, I'll just force my way through! Yu Chen glanced at the Land God Temple and sensed the thin divine power there. Then he looked around, scrutinizing the auras within the county. Once he confirmed that there was no power capable of threatening him, he reached out and traced streams of witch-script through the air. A thin mist rose, distorting the surrounding light and concealing Yu Chen's aura and figure.

Several mist snakes flew out, entwining into a giant python that transformed into an arched bridge for Yu Chen to walk into the courtyard.

Before he even landed, a gust of yin wind blew over. The next instant, a ghostly creature burst from the ground and pounced at Yu Chen.

The ghostly creature stood over ten feet tall. Its eyes were blood-red, its face resembled a melon rind, and its enormous mouth was like a basin. A faint blood aura permeated its entire body; clearly, it had enjoyed blood sacrifices.

"An evil ghost comes to greet me. The master of this house is truly hospitable!"

Yu Chen flicked a finger. Firelight erupted, transforming into a snake-shaped flame that swallowed the evil ghost whole.

"Arriving uninvited is hardly the conduct of a welcome guest!"

A middle-aged man in a Daoist robe emerged from the house, a peachwood sword in hand. Seeing Yu Chen, he frowned in displeasure. "May I ask where you cultivate, sir? Why have you come calling in the dead of night, and what business do you have here?"

"Where this humble Daoist cultivates is unimportant. I came tonight only to ask whether you were the one who drove the Living Human Stakes into the newly built stone bridge downstream of Clearwater River?"

"What, seeing yin baleful energy coiling around you, are you planning to imitate those famed righteous sects and slay demons and eliminate evil?" As he spoke, Liu the Half-Immortal curled his lips into a mocking smile. He had clearly taken Yu Chen for a cultivator of an unorthodox, perhaps even wicked, path.

"So you admit it? I wonder whether you know the origins of those people?"

At those words, Liu the Half-Immortal's face immediately turned exceedingly ugly. The people pressed beneath the bridge had all been found by Master Huang, and he had truly paid them little attention. If this fellow before him had come seeking him because of those people, then this would indeed be troublesome.

Seeing the change in his expression, Yu Chen chuckled. "I was also entrusted by someone. My apologies!"

With that, more than a dozen mist snakes crawled out from every direction and charged toward Liu the Half-Immortal.

"Do not be so presumptuous!" Liu the Half-Immortal was no ordinary man. He retreated into the house and pulled with his hand, causing a ritual altar that had already been prepared to appear before Yu Chen.

"Rise!" Liu the Half-Immortal swept out his hand, and two emerald-green flames rose. The next instant, yin winds howled and black qi filled the air. Ghostly faces appeared from nowhere, their ghastly white eyeballs fixed upon Yu Chen as they let out waves of eerie laughter.

Then he danced the peachwood sword in his hand, and several little clay figures fell down, transforming into ghostly creatures that pounced at Yu Chen. Every one of them seethed with killing intent and bore mutilated bodies. Some had bulging eyeballs, some were missing arms and legs, while others had only half a head left. Together with the gloomy surroundings, it was like the hell of legend.