Golden Light

"Alas!" Poison Fang had wanted to say something in response to Bald Crow and White Wolf's words and decision, but in the end, he merely let out a long sigh. During his brief hesitation, Bald Crow's body underwent obvious changes as well. Fine down sprouted across his aged face, the back of his clothes split open, and a pair of jet-black wings stretched out.

Seeing this, Poison Fang drew a deep breath and likewise invoked the power of the Snake Totem. Brilliant snake scales emerged from beneath his skin, his pupils turned into snake eyes, and wisps of multicolored smoke flowed from his mouth and nose, curling around him.

At the same time, the three shamans respectfully took an old snake scale, a vivid crow feather, and a wolf fang reeking of blood from wooden chests guarded by several warriors nearby.

The three took half a step back and kowtowed before the snake scale, crow feather, and wolf fang. Totem warriors surrounded them, dancing an ancient, unadorned dance.

In the unseen depths, a force descended. Phantoms of the Six-Eyed Python, Three-Eyed Crow, and White-Striped Black Wolf appeared behind the respective shamans. Specks of spiritual light scattered from the totems. One portion merged into the snake scale, crow feather, and wolf fang, forming pillars of light that disrupted the connection between the surrounding earth veins and the ritual ground, suppressing Yu Chen's link with the natural spiritual essence around him.

The other portion merged into the three shamans' bodies, continuously strengthening their power.

Watching the totem pillars of light rise in the distance, Yu Chen flicked a finger. The Snake Shadow Banner floating behind him trembled lightly, and shadowy snakes flew forth, landing upon sleeping or active serpents in the jungle and continuously gathering toward the locations of the three great tribes' totems.

"Careful!" Poison Fang, the Snake Tribe's shaman, was the first to notice that something was wrong. His slender forked tongue darted between his lips and teeth, producing a hissing sound. The Snake Tribe's totem pillar also sent down wisps of aura, attempting to help Poison Fang control the snakes gathering around them.

To Poison Fang's surprise, the snakes approaching them did not care in the slightest about the Snake Totem's aura, nor were they affected by his witchcraft. They simply gathered around them of their own accord. Most hid amid the jungle, while some slithered across the recently burned ground and appeared before the shamans of the three tribes.

The snakes crawled across the ground. After struggling twice, they turned into blood and melted into the soil, interfering with the operation of the totem pillars and thereby stabilizing the ritual ground's power.

"You stay here! Bald Crow, Poison Fang, since our opponent has already set up his formation, what are we waiting for?" Seeing this, White Wolf decisively ordered the totem warriors following her to remain behind and guard the crucial nodes where the totem's power descended. At the same time, she called for Poison Fang and Bald Crow to attack Yu Chen with her.

Having said that, the witch gave Bald Crow and Poison Fang no time to object. Her body dipped slightly, and the powerful spring of her legs launched her entire body more than five meters in a single leap. She vanished into the woods, with the White Wolf that had served as her mount close behind.

Bald Crow watched the witch depart, gestured to the warriors following him, then let out a strange laugh. He shook his wings, and crow feathers appeared all around him, turning into black mist that enveloped him as he followed.

After giving a few more instructions, Poison Fang also summoned two snake shadows, stepped onto them, and chased after White Wolf and Bald Crow.

He had not gone far when Poison Fang saw the Great Snake Shaman he had always revered standing atop a huge boulder. White Wolf, who had also spotted him, suddenly pounced forward.

The pounce carried tremendous force, but while the witch was in midair, she inevitably exposed an opening. Yu Chen raised his hand, and the Fire Snake Dart shot from his grasp as a scorching, serpentine streak of flame.

Faced with the sudden attack, White Wolf's rapidly charging body twisted with astonishing agility in midair, dodging the Fire Snake Dart coming straight at her. Yet she could not avoid the returning trail of fire.

"Dark!" A hoarse voice rang out. Crow feathers danced around Bald Crow, who had followed closely behind White Wolf, turning into a black curtain in midair that swallowed the fiery streak.

The witch's mount took the chance to attack. Compared to the witch herself, the White Wolf's assault carried the rank stench of a wild beast. Its gaping jaws rapidly closed in on Yu Chen's shoulder.

At this distance, Yu Chen had no time to cast witchcraft. Yet to everyone's surprise, he raised his hand. A talismanic script appeared upon his fingernail, and when he tapped the giant wolf, it formed a breeze. Then, before the breeze dispersed, he straightened his palm, pressed it against the giant wolf's chest, and violently exerted force, sending the giant wolf flying despite its being right before him.

Just then, White Wolf landed. Her feet struck the ground and snapped several thick roots. When she lifted her head, she saw Yu Chen send the giant wolf flying with a single palm strike.

"How is that possible?!"

Naturally, White Wolf was the one who understood the giant wolf's identity best. She knew very well that, as a descendant of a totem, the White Wolf possessed extraordinarily strong immunity to witchcraft. Without a totem's blessing, an ordinary shaman's witchcraft could not affect the giant wolf at all.

And yet the technique Yu Chen had just used was one even some talented novice shamans could perform. How could it possibly work on the giant wolf?

"What a frog at the bottom of a well!" Yu Chen sneered at the astonished White Wolf as he turned aside to evade Poison Fang's sneak attack. Then he pointed, and the Yin Snake Chain hidden nearby turned into a streak of white light aimed directly at Bald Crow's brow.

"Obscure!" Bald Crow spoke again. Layer upon layer of crow feathers transformed into layers of black mist, concealing his figure and distorting the Yin Snake Chain's aura lock.

With a flick of his hand, several crow feathers transformed into black crows, carrying a powerful stench and ominous aura as they swooped toward Yu Chen.

The crows had black feathers and red eyes. Wherever they passed, black qi churned and vegetation withered. Strands of life force were drawn out and transformed into crow feathers. After flying several meters with the main flock, they too changed into crows, baring sharp beaks and claws aimed at Yu Chen's vital points.

"The Mysterious Ancestor of Heaven and Earth, the root of all qi. Cultivated through countless kalpas, proving my divine powers. Within and beyond the Three Realms, the Dao alone is supreme..."

As soon as the Golden Light Mantra emerged, pale golden radiance spread outward from Yu Chen in every direction. Before the descending crows could even cry out, they reverted to crow feathers, which swiftly gave off plumes of white smoke before rotting away into nothing.

"Ah!" Bald Crow let out a shrill scream as his witchcraft was broken, clutching his head as he collapsed to the ground.

Yu Chen was not at all surprised by Bald Crow's reaction. In the game world of his previous life, the Golden Light Mantra had been a spell with many branches. Aside from the most common Golden Light Divine Mantra, there were also the Golden Light Secret Mantra, Golden Light Heart Mantra, Golden Light Righteous Qi, Great Golden Light Mantra, Lesser Golden Light Mantra, Grand Unity Golden Light Mantra, and other lineages.

Of these, the one most closely connected to the Golden Light Divine Mantra was Golden Light Righteous Qi. Its full name was actually Supreme Ten Directions Five Thunders Golden Light Fire Cloud Orthodox True Qi. Strictly speaking, the Golden Light Righteous Qi branch of the Golden Light Mantra was a form of thunder magic. The term "golden light" in the Golden Light Mantra itself also had certain origins in thunder magic; some even said it was originally a concept from thunder magic.

Simply put, Daoism had a saying: "The body faces the light, while one's nature is empty white." Thus, after cultivating the Golden Light Mantra, there came the idea of golden light protecting the body. Of course, the golden light in Daoism might very well refer to white light. Among the Five Elements, the west belonged to metal, and the color of metal was white, so golden light likely referred to a kind of white light rather than golden-yellow light.

But Yu Chen's Golden Light Mantra was somewhat different. Yu Chen himself only knew the Golden Light Mantra's incantation and did not know its various internal cultivation methods, so his Golden Light Mantra was actually nothing more than an accumulation of mental power.

At the beginning, the protective golden light was intangible and formless, capable only of blocking certain negative emotions. Slightly stronger negative emotions could shatter the golden light. Only after it had been recited ten thousand times did the protective golden light gradually stabilize.

Later, after he comprehended a trace of the Great Sun's principles and transformed it into pale golden radiance, it gained the power to restrain curses.

In the dungeon world, Yu Chen's Golden Light Mantra had also absorbed the power of wishes gathered during Black Snake's ascension to godhood. Tainted with beliefs of shelter, protection, and blessing, its gold became more translucent and gained even greater restraint over all kinds of negative forces.

The Golden Light Mantra Yu Chen now wielded could actually be called Yu Chen's Golden Light Fundamental Divine Mantra, or Yu Chen's Golden Light Fundamental Heart Mantra. It was a method of body protection, exorcism, and demon-breaking unique to Yu Chen himself. Bald Crow's witchcraft, meanwhile, leaned toward yin evil and carried a certain aura of death. With no great difference in their power levels, it was completely countered by Yu Chen's Golden Light Mantra.

Moreover, Yu Chen himself was a master of witchcraft and knew all too well how to beat a drowning dog when witchcraft backlash struck. Thus, Bald Crow only felt a piercing pain in his head, as though red-hot steel needles were stabbing into his forehead one after another.

P.S. All incantations appearing in this text, including the Golden Light Mantra, are not real. Some are original, while others were modified from real Daoist incantations. Please do not take them seriously.

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