Pure Land

"They actually did it!"

A somber atmosphere pervaded Yangling, with not only powerful cultivators moving about, but also numerous cavalry guards conducting a thorough search.

The tunnels and traps previously dug by Kong Zhong and others are being discovered from time to time.

Each discovery drew a rush of powerful cultivators, while the Empress Dowager and Daoist Ran Deng also observed the event closely.

But each time, he disappointed everyone.

The traps set by Kong Zhong and his accomplices were ineffective against others, but they were ruthless when it came to tormenting their own people.

Zhang Xuezhou gazed at the mountain village, then looked down at the Yangling Mausoleum.

He wasn't sure where Shen Peigong had performed the ritual, but the other party's sword-drawing and life-slaying technique was clearly quite successful.

Incantation Technique are indeed strange and difficult to guard against; even Hongku was tormented by them for decades.

Compared to the difficulty of direct combat, the silent and unpredictable nature of Incantation Technique makes it hard to identify the opponent. Any Incantation Technique master who conceals their identity and hides behind the scenes is a figure feared by all.

The mages of the Yedie River Holy Land are feared by all, and the reason why order in the Xiong State is maintained by a small number of them is precisely because of this.

How did the Empress Dowager break Shen Peigong's trap?

Zhang Xuezhou came to observe the situation, partly to see the scene and know how things would unfold, and partly to see how the Empress Dowager, a master of Huang-Lao philosophy, would deal with the art of fate.

The Empress Dowager's advantage lies in the fact that the other side currently has a large number of people and has identified the scope of the spellcasters.

The Empress Dowager's disadvantage lies in the secrecy and difficulty in judging the Incantation Technique; for now, she can only endure the opponent's attacks and cannot retaliate.

Whether Shen Peigong cursed the Empress Dowager first, or the Empress Dowager found Shen Peigong first, both were racing against time.

"If no one is casting spells in the heavens or on the ground, then they must be hiding underground. Quickly search all suspicious passages; we must find the one who set up the altar and performed the spell. The noise they made while casting the spell couldn't have been small, and it must have contained fluctuations of Law Power!"

Zhang Xuezhou, caught between two low-level cavalrymen, ran back and forth. In the distance, he could hear the Empress Dowager's cries of pain mixed with her calls for quick solutions to problems. He couldn't help but search around for the secret passage connecting the village to Yangling.

The village is located between the East Sima Gate and the South Sima Gate, but the direction of the underground passage varies depending on the circumstances and cannot be guaranteed to be in the middle of the area where these two Sima Gates intersect.

"Your Majesty, in addition to the traps we've set up before, we've discovered two tomb-raiding passages leading to the late Emperor's bedchamber. The passages are quite new; they must have been dug within the last ten days or so!"

"Tomb raiding?"

After eliminating the traps and passages set by Kong Zhong and his men, two more hidden passages were discovered.

The traps were set in fixed locations. Although Zhi Bu Ning and the others were not good at protecting Yangling, at least they wouldn't let Kong Zhong and the others run amok. These two passages must also be tomb raiding passages.

"This is outrageous!"

Even though the Empress Dowager disliked Emperor Jing, she couldn't help but feel heartbroken at the repeated damage to Emperor Jing tomb, which had even been reduced to tomb raiding.

She disliked Emperor Jing when he was alive, but her resentment gradually faded after his death.

When Emperor Jing was reduced to the point of having his tomb robbed, the Empress Dowager felt that Emperor Jing was also a pitiful person, not only suffering in life but also unable to find peace in death.

"Thorough..."

She was about to fly into a rage and investigate thoroughly, but she forced herself to hold back.

Entering Yangling required digging a tomb-raiding passage, which took a considerable amount of time and could only be accomplished during specific time periods.

The time frame for this crucial ten-plus days is extremely short.

The passage to the other party was not properly excavated, perhaps because she had to stop the ritual she performed to welcome the Daoist Ran Deng a few days ago, or perhaps because she discovered that the mausoleum was filled with Sha Qi.

The list of suspects isn't large, and those skilled at uncovering such information are also few.

The snow may have covered many things, but it couldn't hide everything.

The Empress Dowager had a clear understanding of the situation, and her standards of judgment became increasingly clear.

"Master, could you please remove the Sha Qi from my body beforehand? I would accept it even if it leaves some future problems," the Empress Dowager said to the Daoist Ran Deng.

"Now we only need to wait until the third watch; there are less than two hours left," said Daoist Ran Deng. "If you can endure until the fifth watch, the Sha Qi within you may be released!"

"This pill will only last me an hour," the Empress Dowager said helplessly. "I originally had three Life-Creating Pills, but I took two some time ago."

The Empress Dowager was so overwhelmed by the Sha Qi that she had to take a Life-Creating Pill, and then used it up again during her battle with Zhu Jiuyin.

Her face was full of bitterness, feeling that she had been using up one rare pill after another, and now she was in dire need of them.

The cruel twist of fate left her with unspeakable suffering.

"The yin Sha Qi here has already spawned yin creatures. They have been drawn into my presence once, and they will certainly not be so obedient next time," the Daoist Ran Deng warned. "If you need to extract the yin Sha Qi now, I cannot guarantee the effectiveness of this ritual, and you will also find it difficult to transform this place into a pure land afterward."

"I know," the Empress Dowager said gravely, "But this person has been cursing me. I'm afraid I won't make it past dawn, and by then it will be too late to dispel the evil Sha Qi!"

You should make fewer enemies!

Since things had come to this point, the Daoist Ran Deng no longer tried to dissuade him.

He waved his hand repeatedly, and white lotuses kept disappearing into the red lanterns high in the sky.

This was a scene he had rehearsed for seven consecutive days, and it attracted many onlookers from Chang'an City to witness this extraordinary sight.

But this is actually just his constant enticement and manipulation, causing these evil spirits to adapt to the environment by drawing in Sha Qi.

"Namo Amitabha Night..."

The Sutra of Rebirth began to be recited by the monk Ran Deng.

The Empress Dowager could not bear the pain of the Incantation Technique attack, but while she was watching the possible Technique Method fluctuations around her, she also kept a close eye on the countless white lotuses and lanterns in the air.

As she approached old age, she became increasingly interested in things like prolonging life and reincarnation.

If she manages to glimpse even a slight opportunity tonight, then she won't be entirely at a loss.

"Amitabha!"

As the Daoist Ran Deng stood up and loudly chanted scriptures, the Empress Dowager also stood up, clutching her chest.

Countless white lotuses gradually merged into the red lanterns.

The white lotus seems to be playing with the red lantern, or perhaps using the red lantern as a temporary home, or some kind of playground.

The Empress Dowager even heard a faint cry of "I'm innocent!" or "I'm innocent!"

She frowned, then shook her head, trying to banish the jumbled noises.

"May you be reborn with this Sha Qi!"

The Empress Dowager murmured to herself.

She took a deep breath of the cold air, and then the Daoist Ran Deng reached out and pressed down, causing the flame of the coffin lamp used for guiding the spirits to blaze brightly.

Like a spark igniting oil, flames swept across the sky, and countless floating red lanterns rose into streaks of blue flame.

The jumbled, fragmented sounds instantly turned into faint screams, and white lotuses, transformed into lanterns, charged wildly, trying to break free, but with the flames rising, they had no chance to escape.

Blue flames filled the sky, scorching everything.

"So this is the Pure Land!"

The Empress Dowager stretched out her hands, and wisps of black ash drifted down from her palms.

Under the flames of the coffin lamp of the Daoist Ran Deng, the entangled and inseparable Yin Sha Qi was burned to ashes.

As for the idea of reincarnation, that doesn't exist. The previous batch of convicts had their physical bodies and remnants of souls completely destroyed.

The Empress Dowager knew about the Western Sect' grand pronouncements, but she never expected that those pronouncements would be so false.

The thought that the Daoist Ran Deng would use the Netherworld Fire from the Coffin Lamp to burn away the Yin Sha Qi within her body made the Empress Dowager feel a little uneasy.