Master of a Dharma Lineage, Five-Element Barrier

"Sun Talisman. Not bad."

Huang Bai pinched the freshly drawn talisman between his fingers and examined it twice, looking quite satisfied.

Though he too was a Daoist, the path he walked differed from ordinary dharma lineages.

He cultivated the Heavenly Dao and had no desire to bind himself to any particular immortal or any single system of incense offerings.

Spirit possession, summoning deities, having patriarchs descend into one's body—he did not look down on such methods, but instinctively resisted them.

When all was said and done, it was like handing his vital weakness over to someone else.

Huang Bai was not putting on airs, nor was he determined to find fault with everything.

It was simply that, given a choice, who would not want to walk a broader road, one that stretched farther?

One path was working in a factory for a dead-end wage. It was stable, sure, but its ceiling was right there.

The other was starting a business of one's own, with a higher ceiling.

If it truly did not work out, he could always go "work at the factory" and borrow power later. There was no need to lock himself in from the very beginning.

"Huang Bai Immortal Lord will surely resound through all the heavens and myriad worlds."

With that thought, Huang Bai raised his hand and fired the Sun Talisman.

With a soft whoosh, the talisman paper ignited in midair, turning in the blink of an eye into a dazzling golden streak that shot straight into the stone wall ahead.

Bang!

A small scorched crater immediately appeared in the wall, wisps of heat still curling from its edges.

For now, all he could do was turn the spells he had already mastered into talismans.

Now that he could draw Sun Talismans, he would naturally be able to draw Moon Talismans, Wall-Piercing Talismans, and Consecration Talismans later.

As the number of spells he mastered grew, this talisman lineage would become ever more complete.

"First, I'll draw more Sun Talismans, then slowly add Moon Talismans. There has to be something for stopping bleeding and healing wounds."

"Wall-Piercing Talismans and Divine Sword Talismans can't be left behind either."

Huang Bai muttered to himself. He had barely set down his talisman brush before he could not resist picking it up again.

In a side hall of the Heavenly Dao Temple, A-You, wearing a pair of round glasses, stared intently at the horse race on the television.

"Come to think of it, why hasn't your Daoist come out yet?"

A-You glanced at Qian Hao, who was practicing forms with an iron rod beside him, and casually asked.

Qian Hao stopped his movements and wiped away his sweat.

"Daoist Huang is probably still preparing his spells."

"Hah." A-You waved a hand. "I really didn't expect him to take it this seriously."

Though he said that, A-You did not actually think it was a bad thing.

Huang Bai's journey had gone too smoothly. Suffering a few losses and running into a few walls might not be a bad thing. Otherwise, he could easily take a truly hard fall someday.

Just as he was thinking that, footsteps sounded from behind the side hall.

Huang Bai emerged, holding a newly made talisman.

"Perfect timing, A-You. Take a look at this."

As he spoke, he flicked his hand.

Whoosh!

The yellow talisman drifted lightly through the air to A-You.

A-You caught it and glanced down. His expression instantly changed.

"Huang Bai Immortal Lord?"

"A-Bai, you're serious?"

Written at the head of the talisman was, unmistakably, Huang Bai's own title.

Huang Bai took the talisman back and activated it right in front of A-You.

Whoosh!

The yellow talisman instantly became a streak of golden light, blasting another scorched crater into the wall.

The side hall fell silent for a moment.

A-You shot to his feet, his eyes widening as though he had seen something that should not have existed before him.

"You..."

He stared at Huang Bai, unable to continue for a long while.

As one of the last Mount Mao sorcerers, he knew all too well what this meant.

This was creating one's own method, establishing one's own lineage.

This was already the bearing of founding a school. The young man before him had begun walking toward the position of "master of a human realm dharma lineage."

Dharma lineages in this age had declined beyond recognition. Forget founding a school—even preserving the old ways was difficult. Yet now, he had witnessed such a person with his own eyes.

A-You stared at Huang Bai as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

This kid's origins were strange, his methods strange, and his dharma lineage stranger still. It was as if he had leaped out of a crack in a stone.

Could he truly be the reincarnation of some immortal deity?

"Hey."

Seeing him standing there in a daze, Huang Bai waved a hand before his eyes.

"The bet still counts, right? That family heirloom of yours should belong to me now."

A-You finally came back to himself and let out a soft breath.

"Take it."

"It's better in your hands than gathering dust in an old house with me."

There was not much reluctance in his voice.

In Huang Bai's hands, this disc might truly make something of itself again.

Over the next few days, A-You seemed to have been stirred by Huang Bai's drive as well, and the whole man became energized anew.

Drawing talismans, casting Incantations, setting up altars, preparing ritual implements... he refused to be careless with any of it.

That night, dark clouds pressed heavily over the sky, blotting out every last trace of moonlight.

Yin energy swirled above the entire public housing complex like a black cloud that refused to disperse.

Only Huang Bai, A-You, and Qian Hao remained in the Heavenly Dao Temple that night.

Yang Feng and her son had already been sent to a hotel in advance, lest they be caught up in the fighting if it truly began.

At the center of the main hall, A-You wore a yellow robe and sat cross-legged before the altar. A peachwood sword rested across his knees, and his expression was more solemn than ever.

Huang Bai had pinned up his hair, ritual sword in hand, and leaned calmly against a wooden pillar.

Behind the hall, Qian Hao carried the Five-Element Formation Disc on his back and held an iron rod in one hand, peering outside from time to time.

Above them, the Twin Yin Soldiers and the Yaksha floated silently on the beams like several motionless shadows.

Every wall in the temple was plastered with talismans of every kind.

Though everything appeared nearly ready, A-You still could not help asking:

"You really don't need to set up an altar?"

Huang Bai lowered his head as he wiped his ritual sword, not even looking up.

"I don't have any gods to summon. What altar would I set up?"

"I have talismans and a sword. That's enough."

Click... click-click...

Just then, the Five-Element Disc on Qian Hao's back suddenly began turning on its own, its mechanisms grinding with a faint, muffled sound.

A-You's expression changed instantly, and he immediately turned toward it.

"They're here."

Not far away, the yin energy that had been hovering over the public housing complex suddenly gathered into a vast, dark mass of clouds.

The neighborhood, which had still held some scattered noise, abruptly fell silent at that moment.

It was not the quiet of late night. It was as though something had forcibly cut the entire Heavenly Dao Temple off from the outside world.

Watching the darkness deepen beyond the temple gates, A-You felt an inexplicable sense of destiny rise within him.

"A-Bai. A-Hao."

"Get ready to move."

This time, no matter what, they had to settle this.

"Mm."

Huang Bai answered and thrust out his hand.

Whoosh!

The temple gates flew open with a thunderous crash.

Beyond them lay a darkness so deep it seemed bottomless.

A gust of yin wind poured in head-on, making every candle flame on the offering table flicker.

At the far end of the darkness, a row of figures stood silently in the street.

Once everyone saw them clearly, A-You's face darkened further.

They were people.

Their faces were stiff, their eyes hollow, as though their souls had been pulled from their living bodies, leaving only flesh standing there. Worse still, they were holding weapons.

"They have helpers?"

A-You's eyelid twitched. He was about to warn Huang Bai and Qian Hao to be careful when he turned and saw an utterly absurd sight.

At some point, Huang Bai and Qian Hao had each picked up a rifle. Even the Yaksha and the Twin Yin Soldiers on the beams had guns hanging from their hands.

A-You froze.

Before he could recover, they had already opened fire.

Bang bang bang bang!

Muzzle flashes burst forth as gunfire instantly exploded into a barrage.

The soul-bewitched gunmen opposite them reacted quickly as well, raising their guns and firing back.

Bang bang bang!

Bullets tore past the temple gates, wooden pillars, and floor tiles, sending fragments flying everywhere.

A-You ducked at once, clutching his peachwood sword as he rolled behind a pillar.

"Holy shit! Usually you lot make Daoist duels sound all mystical, but when the guns come out, every one of you is more practiced than the next!"

While changing magazines, Huang Bai casually tossed him a gun.

"A-You, catch."

A-You looked down. His hands moved faster than his mind, and he caught it automatically.

At this point, he no longer had the leisure to care about Daoist dignity. He raised the gun and joined the battle.

After several rounds of gunfire, the soul-bewitched gunmen finally fell one after another.

Their side did not fare much better.

Stray bullets severed the electrical wires outside the temple, plunging it into darkness. Only the candles on the altar still glimmered faintly.

Just then, the clouds suddenly parted along a narrow seam.

Moonlight spilled down, draping the square in a veil of silver.

Under its radiance, a tall figure slowly emerged from the depths of the darkness.

The thing stood over two meters tall. It wore tattered zombie robes, its grayish-brown skin stiff and hard, long claws growing from all ten fingers, with two particularly prominent fangs protruding from its mouth.

Looking closer, one could still vaguely make out Zhong Jiu's original features beneath that face.

"Zhong Jiu..."

A-You stiffened as he looked at that face.

"You really refined yourself into this ghostly state?"

Before his words could fade, the zombie turned into a black shadow and lunged at them.

"Activate the formation!"

A-You shouted.

Qian Hao immediately removed the Five-Element Formation Disc from his back and drove all five fingers viciously into its formation core. Blood rapidly spread along its patterns. The entire disc emitted a low hum before finally stopping at the "Water" position.

In an instant, the ground of the square turned muddy and slick.

The zombie Zhong Jiu had become slowed by a beat.

"Go!"

Huang Bai and A-You both rushed forward with swords in hand.

Guns and cannons were basically useless against a zombie. To take down Zhong Jiu, they could only rely on true spells and ritual implements.

With a sweep of his hand, Huang Bai sent a three-headed cobra shooting from his sleeve, skimming low across the ground.

At the same time, a handful of Sun Talismans became a skyful of golden streaks, striking the zombie's chest one after another.

The Yaksha and the Twin Yin Soldiers descended from above as well, specifically restraining Zhong Jiu's movements and preventing him from escaping the barrier.

Moonlight, yin wind, talisman fire, ghostly shadows, and sword light tangled together in an instant.

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