No Escape

Lord Yuanli is the current deputy leader of the Five Rampancies Dharma Lineage.

Although the Five Rampancies Dharma Sect is widely spread, many unorthodox sorcerers in the folk practice this method only superficially, seeking wealth and sex at the expense of others for their own benefit.

Even if they were to investigate further, they would find it difficult to locate the true lineage of the Five Rampancies Dharma Lineage' Dharma.

Performing operas can be a way to appease the gods.

Those who perform serious operas can worship the Five Manifestations Gods to sing and embody the spirit of wisdom and integrity, in exchange for blessings of fortune, prosperity, and longevity.

Those who perform evil plays can worship the Five Tong Gods, using their art to express cunning and ruthless ideas, and offering sacrifices to obtain the benefits of evil magic.

The Five Manifestations Five Tong, when mixed together, become the Five Rampancies.

In the past, unorthodox practitioners could only explore this much.

After the Dragon Vein returned, a few high-ranking members of the Five Rampancies Dharma Sect received even greater favor from the Five Chang Gods, and only then did they learn about the long-ago events.

The Five Rampancies were actually Ghost God that existed in the pre-Qin period, and they symbolized war and premature death.

The Zhou king was tyrannical, and the various states ruled independently, leading to frequent wars that brought profound and unavoidable fear.

What people feared was not merely the war god, the God of War, who represented great battles and the conquest of royal power.

They even felt awe towards all small-scale wars, even the killings between commoners and slaves.

The Five Rampancies were born out of this reason.

However, mere fear cannot form a lasting and stable force.

Thus, the original Five Rampancies began to try to expand their characteristics.

At that time, people generally believed in the existence of a deity known as "Nuo Gods" and hoped to invoke the power of Nuo Gods through Nuo opera to drive away evil and disasters.

Nuo Gods is not an actual Ghost God, but rather a synthesis of very primitive magical concepts.

Coincidentally, the Nuo Gods represent the belief of fighting violence with violence. They do not exorcise evil through prayer, kindness, majesty, or rituals, but through ferocity, terror, violence, and warfare.

The Five Chang Gods manipulated their followers to slightly modify the rituals used to worship them, thus confusing them with rituals used to worship the Nuo Gods.

It usurped the influence of the Nuo Gods.

From its original state, which was more akin to a "dead ghost," it became increasingly befitting the name of an evil god.

However, as its misdeeds expanded, it encountered more enemies and was eventually sealed away.

After the Dragon Vein departed, the Ghost God abandoned in reality had to adapt to the declining environment and endure the constraints of the seal.

The foundations of most Ghost God have become so weak as to be almost nonexistent.

The Five Rampancies are quite different.

When it gradually gained influence over the outside world, it once again resorted to methods of confusion and theft.

Since the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the development of opera genres has become increasingly prosperous and flourishing.

The Five Rampancies started from this point, gradually stealing the abilities of the Five Tong and Five Manifestations.

Singing opera is for people, and singing opera is also for gods.

In this world, there are far more people who genuinely watch and listen to plays, and even those who haven't heard much of the plays but still share the stories and spirit behind them, than those who devoutly worship gods.

The Five Rampancies lurk within, using this to maintain their foundation.

Of Ghost God in the world today, it is probably the one with the most remaining foundation.

Other Ghost God all regard the Dragon Vein Original Scripture as enemies.

Nowadays, the only ones who dare to covet the Dragon Vein Original Scripture and actually have a plan to do so are probably the God of the Five Rampancies.

Ever since learning so many secrets, Lord Yuanli has always felt superior.

Even when facing the Cao Family, he actually had the intention of merely using the Cao Family's power to aid his cultivation.

This trip to Guanlin Luoyang is clearly for something extremely important.

But he only took these few people with him when he set off, and everyone, whether from his own sect or the Cao Family, thought it was perfectly normal.

It is precisely because of his unfathomable and infallible demeanor that he leaves such a strong impression on people.

Now, Lord Yuanli began to realize that his actions were abnormal.

Stealing Guan Yu's Origin Canon is the first step in breaking through the influence of the Dragon Vein.

Why go through all this trouble with such a simple and unpretentious affair?

A large number of elite troops should be sent to escort them, preferably with grenade launchers, mortars, armored vehicles, and so on.

Although those things probably wouldn't be able to kill this powerful expert in front of them.

But at least it poses a certain threat, giving Lord Yuanli a chance to escape unscathed.

Buzz!!

Eight blue handprints surrounded and grabbed him.

Lord Yuanli felt that the air around him was sometimes tight and sometimes loose, as if many invisible ropes were pulling on his body parts.

Even the cardinal directions (east, west, south, north) have become somewhat indistinguishable.

The old, blond-haired Daoist priest turned deathly pale, and suddenly clasped his hands together.

The fingertips touch, but the palms are far apart, and the backs of the hands are like slopes.

Between the two palms, an approximately triangular space is formed.

Or rather, it resembles a lotus platform adorned with radiant flames, or a shrine.

In the space between his hands, a small, exquisite statue of a deity sitting cross-legged immediately appeared.

It resembles Huaguang image of the Great Emperor Wuxian, the patriarch of a theatrical troupe, rendered in colorful porcelain.

Lord Yuanli possessed the "Five Rampancies Soldiers and Horses Deputy Seal" bestowed by the Five Chang Gods. The seal was not a physical object, but a unique entity attached to the human body.

The effects of spells that a person has mastered can be stored in a seal. When needed, they can be activated with a single thought to bless their physical body.

If the spells you have are ineffective, you can directly draw upon the power of the seal itself.

The power of this seal manifests outwardly as the Huaguang image.

Thump!!

Lord Yuanli pushed the statue out with both hands, colliding it with the eight hand seals in mid-air.

They were at least a foot apart, yet their forces were locked in a fierce battle, neither willing to yield.

The Huaguang statue trembled instantly and turned into a phantom.

Chu Tianshu's eight azure handprints also shattered on the spot, leaving only one hand, which slashed out.

The illusory statue was shattered to pieces by this hand.

Lord Yuanli, however, had already taken the opportunity to retreat, stepping from the shoulder of the Lord Guan statue to the side of Cao Shaolin's corpse.

Cao Shaolin was still kneeling there, his face blank, blood gushing from his neck.

He must have died in great pain, but even in death he seemed unable to believe that he, the young marshal Cao, had really died so easily.

Seeing his expression, Lord Yuanli landed and casually slapped the corpse away, trying to hinder Chu Tianshu's pursuit.

However, as Chu Tianshu stood on Lord Guan's shoulder, his feet suddenly tensed and his arms spread out.

Its imposing presence was like that of a divine eagle, its claws gripping the statue's shoulders, its entire body leaning forward.

The base of the Lord Guan statue is shaking.

The heavy statue also leaned forward and collapsed as Chu Tianshu's figure moved forward.

Cao Shaolin's corpse flew away and encountered the statue that was leaning forward, but it just happened to hit the statue's chest.

The impact force carried by the corpse did not cause any resistance whatsoever.

Lord Yuanli, his hair disheveled, looked up in astonishment.

He felt that Chu Tianshu was one with the statue, so much so that the entire statue was radiating a deep blue color.

The surrounding dust seemed to be intimidated by this pressure and slowed down.

All of Lord Yuanli's senses told him... there was no time to escape!

"Let's give it our all!!"

The old Daoist priest with yellow hair once again assumed the posture of a flaming seat or a shrine.

The small, radiant statue of Huaguang reappeared, this time not with the texture of colored porcelain, but with a golden sheen all over.

Thump!!!

The statue of Lord Guan crashed down rapidly.

Lord Yuanli's two hands, adorned with Huaguang images, rested on the forehead of this enormous Lord Guan.

The figure of Chu Tianshu is visible in the side view of Lord Guan's head.

The moment the statue was blocked, Chu Tianshu fell to the ground like a raccoon dog.

While in mid-air, he had already adjusted his balance, his feet touching the ground first, and he unleashed a powerful palm strike.

Lord Yuanli was caught off guard and was struck in the left ribs, breaking all his left ribs and causing them to cave inwards. He was sent flying sideways.

With a bang, the blond-haired old Daoist priest crashed into the base of Zhou Cang's statue.

The stone brick base was also dented by the old Daoist priest.

Chu Tianshu raised his left hand, supported the forehead of the Lord Guan statue, bent his elbow slightly, and then pushed it.

The statue of Lord Guan suddenly stood up and was re-erected on its pedestal, swaying slightly.

Knock knock knock!!

The statue's eyes were originally lifeless; only the pupils were painted on by the craftsman.

But then, the statue began to sway and make a sound, and the light and shadow shifted, as if its pupils had also gained a new light.

For thousands of years, people have been looking up to Guan Yu, the Lord Guan who vanquishes evil, and he has been scrutinizing the old Daoist priest with yellow hair.

Chu Tianshu walked up to the dying old Daoist priest and sensed a familiar aura.

"You weren't killed even after all... so it was that evil spell, the Gold-Swallowing Beast Face."

Chu Tianshu recalled that when he fought with Old Eunuch Chen, he used many methods to kill him, but it still took him a lot of effort to break through the Gold-Swallowing Beast Face.

With this beast-face on its body, it is as if the whole body is covered in armor, and its movements are unimpeded. Its toughness is no less than that of refined iron.

This old, blond-haired Daoist Gold-Swallowing Beast Face is even stronger than the Old Eunuch Chen from before.

As Chu Tianshu recalled the events, he raised his right foot and stepped on Yuanli's chest, applying slight force.

Bang!!

The beast mask is broken.

(End of this chapter)