Sorcery Duel

Yu Chen flicked his long sleeve, and snake shadows, some bright and some dim, flew from within it, blanketing Wang Daoist from all directions. The snake shadows piled atop one another, densely packed and chilling to behold.

Wang Daoist paid them no mind. Forming a hand seal, he caused white light to rise from the goddess statue beside him. Within layer upon layer of halos, illusory white lotuses bloomed. As the snake shadows fell, they were caught by the lotuses and melted into the white light.

"Just now, I thought you were someone from the righteous path. Turns out you're a heretic! Let me show you my lineage's great [defensive] art!"

Wang Daoist looked at Yu Chen and laughed heartily. Wave after wave of laughter struck Yu Chen's sea of consciousness like demonic music, conjuring layer upon layer of wondrous heavenly palaces.

Yet Yu Chen's sea of consciousness was stable, guarded by numerous incantations. To him, this soul-hooking, spirit-snaring demonic music was practically a joke.

With a raised finger, he sent out a flame that turned into a wandering serpent. It circled through the air several times before suddenly swooping down, slashing diagonally at Wang Daoist. A glint of cold light flashed at the snake's head, cutting down bloom after bloom of lotus and startling Wang Daoist into hurriedly dodging aside.

His hand seal changed, and black light rose behind the goddess statue. Within it sat a pitch-black dharma form amid dark clouds, with three heads and six arms—the guardian deity worshiped by White Hua Monastery.

The guardian deity had barely appeared when it swung its bone ritual sword and severed the fire serpent. Yu Chen recalled the Fire Snake Dart and looked up, but before he could make out its features, it swayed in midair and transformed into a gust of yin wind, vanishing without a trace.

Yu Chen furrowed his brow. While keeping watch on Wang Daoist, who continued chanting without pause, he also guarded against the possible reappearance of the guardian deity.

Suddenly, he sensed an immense threat. Tilting his head, he saw a bone-forged sword brush past his ear and punch a large hole through the pillar behind him.

The next instant, Yu Chen swung a hand behind him. Yin energy gathered, Sha Qi took shape, and the Snake Shadow Blade swept through the air, striking the guardian deity attempting a sneak attack from behind. With a thunderous boom, the guardian deity was blasted into the wall by Yu Chen.

The wall abruptly lit up—it had triggered the warding restriction Wang Daoist had carved in advance. It wrapped around the guardian deity, and by the time Yu Chen turned to look, the deity's figure had already disappeared.

Yu Chen's gaze sharpened, his pupils contracting slightly. Yet all he saw was a murky radiance, with no trace of the guardian deity. His broad sleeve rose, and the Snake Shadow Banner fell into his hand. With a light shake, wisps of smoke descended, transforming into clouds and mist that shrouded the surroundings.

At that very moment, the guardian deity abruptly emerged from the warding restriction and hurled a skull at Yu Chen, smashing him into a stagger.

His robe tore apart, and the magical power scales hidden beneath his skin cracked. Enduring the pain, Yu Chen twisted his wrist and shook the Snake Shadow Banner. A mist rose from the ground, forming a snake whip that sent the guardian deity flying with a single lash.

Crack!

Another sharp sound rang out as a snake whip descended from above, striking the guardian deity to the ground and leaving a snake pattern across its body. The pattern rapidly spread.

Wang Daoist's expression shifted slightly. He tried to summon the guardian deity back, but he was half a step too late. Rolling clouds swept the deity up, and snake whips rose from the surrounding mist, lashing it without cease.

Several snake whips also coiled around Wang Daoist, poised to strike.

Wang Daoist's expression changed drastically. He chanted spell after spell, trying to free the guardian deity from the cloud's restraints.

Suddenly, a Little White Snake shot out from the clouds, piercing through the white-light lotuses around Wang Daoist. As he dodged, it punched through his abdomen.

Once his blood and qi were ruptured, his magical power was immediately affected. Under the backlash of his spell, threads of blood trickled from the corners of Wang Daoist's mouth.

He glanced at the guardian deity covered in snake patterns, then changed his hand seal. His body rapidly began to rot. As it turned into dry bones, a lotus bloomed above his head, wrapping his soul and fleeing into the distance.

Yu Chen reached out to grasp him. Clouds surged upward as he attempted to intercept him with a curse, but he caught nothing but air. He only heard one sentence.

"Mother of No Birth, True Emptiness Homeland!"

He fled fast indeed! Yu Chen inwardly lamented. If Wang Daoist had been even one step slower, Yu Chen could have cursed him to death alive.

Turning around, Yu Chen looked toward the guardian deity that had lost control. In that brief instant, it had already undergone a new change.

Dark golden patterns appeared on the guardian deity's brow. The deity, which had never looked particularly solemn or majestic, immediately began to emanate an evil, filthy, fallen, blood-soaked aura that made one's mind spin.

Yet upon closer inspection, one could sense a faint Buddhist light within its body. It was like a piece of pure, solemn glazed glass submerged in filthy, fallen mud.

"A Buddhist golden-body dharma form? Buddhist oil?"

Watching the scene before him, Yu Chen sensed the guardian deity's true nature through the snake patterns that were continuously fading away, and could not help but smile bitterly.

As expected of the White Lotus Sect.

Not only had they refined the golden-body dharma forms condensed by Buddhist cultivators from Incense and Fire Prayer Power into their own guardian deities, they had even made something like Buddhist oil. Either one was among Buddhism's greatest taboos.

And in the instant Yu Chen was taken aback, the guardian deity's transformation came to an end.

The pure Buddhist light was ultimately too weak. After flickering a few times beneath the pitch-black aura of corruption, it vanished without a trace. The dark golden patterns on the guardian deity's body all turned black, and an intent of slaughter and bloodshed surged forth, stabbing Yu Chen's brow with pain.

"Die!"

The bone ritual sword descended. Yu Chen shifted his footing and slipped past it from the side beneath the cover of clouds and mist.

Then he slightly raised his hand before bringing it down fiercely. The light of the Snake Shadow Blade appeared again, slashing viciously toward the guardian deity's crown.

One arm rose, and a bone bowl tilted. Illusory blood poured forth, transforming into layers of blood-colored curtains and crimson clouds. Filthy, fallen auras continuously weakened the Snake Shadow Blade.

A clear breeze passed through. The windmill above Yu Chen's head turned gently, and blade after blade flew out, slipping through gaps in the curtain and landing on the guardian deity's brow.

The guardian deity shuddered all over. Threads of demonic qi seeped from the patterns on its brow and dispersed outward, revealing specks of gold little by little.

Yu Chen's eyes lit up, and he was just about to press his advantage when a bone mirror descended. Boundless distracting thoughts immediately rose within Yu Chen's sea of consciousness. Though his soul swiftly suppressed them, they still left him with a momentary opening.

The bone sword swept past, sending Yu Chen flying.

"Go!" The instant Yu Chen landed, the Fire Snake Dart flew from his sleeve once more. A flaming serpent coiled around the guardian deity, while the snake-shaped dart stabbed toward its brow.

All six arms danced as wisps of smoke rose. As the guardian deity knocked away the Fire Snake Dart and broke free from the Snake Shadow Banner, Yu Chen also released the Yin Snake Chain. His steps shifted without pause as he moved around the area.

"Heaven and earth are naturally so; foul qi scatters and disperses, the mysterious void within the cavern shines brightly through the Great Origin..."

Amid the clear chanting, talisman seeds rose from where Yu Chen had stepped moments ago. Within the radiance, they transformed into seal-script characters, opening up a temporary ritual ground around the guardian deity.

Pure, sacred radiance suppressed the fallen aura around the guardian deity. Then Yu Chen shouted, "The Mysterious Sect of Heaven and Earth, root of the ten thousand qi..."

Golden radiance appeared and merged into the ritual ground, suppressing the guardian deity's ferocity.

PS: Rest assured, this boss is not Mother of No Birth. But when writing about the White Lotus Sect, there really has to be Buddhist oil for it to fit better!