Chapter 168: 167. A Quadruple Opportunity, Veiling Spirit Curtain

Chapter 168: 167. A Quadruple Opportunity, Veiling Spirit Curtain

In the distance, the five Blood River Sect disciples finally gathered and approached.

They had intended to lend their aid to Elders Bo Hong and Shui Ying.

Who would have thought that Bo Hong would be defeated so swiftly, in just a few breaths?

By the time they considered escaping with Shui Ying, it was already too late. They were all trapped together by Lei Jun's black Water Yin Thunder.

As the thunderous water touched their bodies, it immediately corroded and destroyed their physical forms, making these Blood River Sect disciples feel that this black thunderous water was even more sinister than their own vile blood.

Shui Ying's expression turned ugly as she glared at Lei Jun, who approached her with calm and unhurried steps.

The Blood River lineage had always relied on accumulating death qi and murderous intent as the foundation of their cultivation.

When cultivating in the Lower Three Heavens, the heirs of the Blood River would usually choose similar life-bestowing magic, mostly the Blood River that tainted one's spiritual power, the Blood Battle which increased combat strength when injured, and the Blood Devour which absorbed and consumed an opponent's vitality, physical strength, and blood to nurture oneself. They were more or less the same.

Upon reaching the Middle Three Heavens, their actual performance in battle would differ depending on their specific techniques, and they could be broadly categorized into three paths.

These paths built upon the foundation of Blood River, Blood Battle, and Blood Devour, each with its own focus.

For example, Bo Hong, in addition to his three life-bestowing techniques at the Fifth Heaven Realm, had two other life-bestowing techniques: Fleshly Impermanence and Eight Styles of Blood Battle.

He specialized in close-quarters combat and fleshly battles, with melee attack power comparable to a cultivator of the same realm who focused on tempering their body. Although his defense and speed were lacking, the ever-changing twists and turns of his flesh made him unpredictable. His moves incorporated both gentleness and rigidity, combining ferocity with sinister tricks, and he also possessed an extremely strong recovery ability.

As for Shui Ying, she took the path of upgrading the Blood River into a Blood Sea, cultivating the Blood Sea Tide and Rolling Blood Waves as her life-bestowing techniques.

The filth of the Blood Sea far surpassed that of the Blood River, and its coverage area and water volume were far superior as well.

However, her Blood Sea was no match for Lei Jun's Thunder Sea.

The Blood River Sect's lineage had its unique strengths, and the viciousness of the Blood Sea did not necessarily pale in comparison to Lei Jun's Thunder Sea.

But Lei Jun's spiritual power was more refined and ferocious than Shui Ying's.

Shui Ying, who hailed from the Blood River, could not say much else, but she had extremely rich combat experience. She clearly felt that the same technique, when used by Lei Jun, seemed to be more powerful than when used by others of the same realm from the Heavenly Master's Mansion. She wondered how he had trained to achieve such a feat.

What was even more appalling was that this high-level Daoist priest had just fought a close-quarters battle, directly knocking Bo Hong away.

And now, he was overwhelming her in a mid to long-range spell duel.

"...Longhu Mountain, Lei Jun, your reputation is well-deserved!"

Shui Ying snapped out of her daze, her expression growing even uglier.

She had already matched the portrait she had seen before with the person standing before her, recognizing this new generation's pride of the Heavenly Master's Mansion, who had risen to fame in recent years.

However, what she had heard in the past mostly pertained to Lei Jun's rapid progress in cultivation and his meteoric rise.

But now that she had met him in person, she realized that his actual combat abilities were ferociously formidable!

Was the Heavenly Master's Mansion truly about to produce another generation's genius?

"I never expected to meet you here. Today, we've fallen into your trap, and your master may not even have the time to come and deal with you."

Shui Ying glared at Lei Jun, "But don't get too happy too soon. You've already left your mark on our kill board, and many of our people are eyeing your essence blood. We will meet again soon. I'll be waiting for you down there!"

"Be a good girl and don't make a fuss." Lei Jun struck her head with his staff, sending it into her chest cavity, "Where do you get the nerve to dream of such a thing?"

He turned his head to look into the distance.

The intense battle between Li Song and the others showed no signs of ending; instead, it was becoming more and more intense and reaching a fever pitch.

Perhaps Li Song and Tian Linlong had no intention of fighting such a meaningless and vicious battle.

Even if Li Song was furious at the moment, there was little value in fighting these enemies to the death.

But the Blood River Sect elder and the giant demon might not share the same sentiment.

Under their threat, Li Song and Tian Linlong had no choice but to unleash their full power and fight to the bitter end.

Affected by the demonic aura and evil ambiance, the spiritual energy in this place had become chaotic and was spreading further to the surrounding areas.

Lei Jun tidied up the area where Bo Hong and Shui Ying had died.

This place was too close to Tang Xiaotang's seclusion cultivation site, and leaving traces behind might cause inconvenience, so Lei Jun needed to clean up.

After cleaning up, he arrived near the cave mansion where pure Yang qi was leaking out, sensing those strands of Yang qi.

After a moment, Lei Jun sat down with his legs crossed and quietly circulated his spiritual power.

Unlike the situation when he had misled Liang Chen, Li Zhusheng, and the others before, Lei Jun now used his Yin-Yang Holy Body to transform his spiritual power into an aura that leaned towards pure Yin.

The black and white qi flowed, further refined by the heavenly book in the True One Law Altar cave heaven, eventually transforming into pure black qi that flew out of Lei Jun's body.

This strand of black qi merged subtly with the pure Yang qi leaking from the cave mansion, the Yin and Yang intertwining.

After a period of experimentation and stabilization, Lei Jun gradually found the key to maintaining balance.

Thus, under the harmonization of Yin and Yang, the two energies circulated in a loop, returning to a closed and formless state, thereby preventing any further leakage of pure Yang qi.

The dim yellow spiritual light of the Soil of Vitality flag gave birth to a large amount of illusory soil and rocks, filling and concealing the surrounding mountains, eventually forming a whole, sealing and blocking the entrance to this cave mansion.

Lei Jun curled his fingers and flicked them lightly.

The Yin Wood Yin Thunder born from the Yin Five Thunder Talisman contained vitality and, under his guidance, nurtured the mountains and covered them with a thin layer of vegetation.

With Lei Jun's deliberate control, his disguise became even more seamless as the entire mountain range continued to tremble, making it difficult for outsiders to discern what was happening.

After finishing the aftermath, Lei Jun finally turned back to look at the cave mansion.

Given the current situation, Tang Xiaotang had already entered the final stage of her secluded cultivation, shutting herself off from the outside world and focusing solely on her own practice.

Otherwise, she would have come out to investigate the loud noises outside.

Lei Jun hoped that the earthquake before him would not disturb her cultivation.

He did not actively approach the cave mansion to avoid disturbing her in return.

For this reason, he also refrained from drawing upon the pure Yang qi within to aid his own cultivation and merely played the role of a temporary guardian for his junior disciple sister.

Lei Jun turned his attention to his new acquisition—the Veiling Spirit Curtain.

After dealing with Bo Hong and Shui Ying, this treasure of the Nan Huang Wu Sect had fallen into his hands.

After a brief examination, Lei Jun had a good understanding of its capabilities.

It was indeed a rare and valuable spiritual object.

The quadruple opportunity mentioned in the moderately good fortune slip was most likely referring to this item.

True to its name, the Veiling Spirit Curtain could conceal the spiritual presence emitted by a cultivator.

Its effect was so powerful that it could even temporarily block the perception of Upper Three Heavens cultivators.

Of course, it needed to be deployed in advance and could not be relied upon as a last-minute resort when opponents were already within close proximity.

Especially in open areas with clear lines of sight, the opponent might spot the user from a distance.

That was why Bo Hong had been focusing his attention on the north earlier.

He had made up his mind that if the situation turned unfavorable, and there were Upper Three Heavens experts from the Blood River Sect other than the elder, he would use the Veiling Spirit Curtain to temporarily shield himself, Shui Ying, and his fellow sect members as a safety precaution.

Unfortunately, Lei Jun had taken the initiative to conceal his aura and hide in the shadows, observing them from an extremely close distance, rendering the Veiling Spirit Curtain useless.

In the end, it fell into Lei Jun's hands.

"I'll observe the situation first. If necessary, I'll use it. If I deploy this treasure, we can get through today's challenge," Lei Jun thought to himself.

Although Lei Jun considered this possibility, given the moderately good fortune slip, the situation was unlikely to deteriorate to such an extent.

Nevertheless, Lei Jun prepared accordingly.

If the Soil of Vitality flag was sufficient to conceal the cave mansion behind him, then retaining the Veiling Spirit Curtain would be even better.

Being able to briefly block the close-range perception of Upper Three Heavens cultivators would undoubtedly have many other uses.

It wouldn't be suitable for sneak attacks, though.

Aside from his current realm and strength being somewhat lacking, the Veiling Spirit Curtain itself had limitations.

If one generated killing intent, killing thoughts, or killing qi after using it, one might end up alerting nearby Upper Three Heavens cultivators, thus defeating the purpose.

The Veiling Spirit Curtain was excellent, but it wasn't omnipotent.

However, Lei Jun believed that it might have other uses for him in the future, and his mind began to form new ideas.

Speaking of suppressing killing intent and killing qi, Lei Jun recalled his previous battle with the Blood River Sect disciples.

He often reflected on his combat experiences, learning about his opponents and introspecting on his performance.

Earlier, aside from Bo Hong's recovery ability surprising him, another thing that caught his attention was that when he had quietly approached Bo Hong from behind, just before he was about to strike, Bo Hong seemed to sense something amiss.

Although he was still a step too slow.

Lei Jun's first strike with the club was still solid and landed squarely on Bo Hong's head.

However, Bo Hong immediately activated a Blood River secret technique in response, releasing a cloud of blood mist to envelop himself.

This blood mist hindered Lei Jun's second strike.

Otherwise, if he had landed two consecutive blows on Bo Hong's head, even with his strong recovery ability, Bo Hong might not have been able to withstand it.

The reason Bo Hong could sense something amiss was due to his heightened sensitivity compared to many cultivators of the same realm.

This sensitivity did not originate from the agility of his soul or the power of his spiritual power, but rather, the Upper Three Heavens experts of the Blood River Sect were exceptionally perceptive to killing intent and killing qi.

As a result, Lei Jun began to contemplate ways to further enhance the effectiveness of his Wind and Thunder Talisman, "Night Wind."

As his cultivation improved, he would face opponents of higher realms and greater diversity.

His spells needed to become even more formidable... Lei Jun sigated.

With that in mind, he took out his Upper Clarity Golden Bamboo.

When this treasure was fully activated, it transformed into a long staff with formidable offensive power.

That was why Bo Hong and Shui Ying had been unable to withstand his attacks.

However, in its original form as a short staff, its offensive power seemed somewhat lacking, especially against opponents like Abbot Yong Xiang and Bo Hong.

When Lei Jun struck with his club, he usually kept the Upper Clarity Golden Bamboo in its short staff form for concealment, and he did not empower it with the Heaven-Shaking Thunder Talisman or the Five Ding Mountain-Splitting Talisman, which would have drawn attention with their loud noises.

This led him to consider how to further enhance the power of the Upper Clarity Golden Bamboo.

With the aid of the Nine Abyss Earthfire from the True One Law Altar's first layer in recent times, Lei Jun's artifact refinement skills had improved, and he began to contemplate sinister ideas involving his bamboo shoot... No, his Upper Clarity Golden Bamboo.

Hmm, after returning, I'll carefully consider and devise related plans... Wait, stop.

Why am I still thinking about how to strike people from behind? Being upright and aboveboard is the style I should embody... Lei Jun felt a bit conflicted.

Never mind, for now, he should focus on the present.

He reined in his wandering thoughts and concentrated on the situation at hand.

The fierce battle raged on, but the battlefield gradually began to shift.

Fortunately, they didn't move south but gradually headed east.

After waiting a little longer without any further disturbances, Lei Jun finally made his move.

With the help of the Soil of Vitality flag, he repaired and stabilized the mountain rocks near the cave mansion.

As the terrain stabilized and the spiritual energy gradually calmed down after the intense battle, the cave mansion no longer leaked pure Yang qi, even without Lei Jun's intervention with his Yin energy.

Everything seemed to have returned to its original state, and from the outside, there was nothing unusual to be found.

With this, even if the Blood River Sect Elder returned to search for Bo Hong, Shui Ying, and their other disciples, it would be difficult to discover the hidden cave mansion.

Li Song had limited Heaven-Net Formation, and after this battle, it would be challenging for him to recreate it. As for Tian Linlong, he had lost the trail completely.

However, although they didn't know the exact location of Tang Xiaotang's secluded cultivation, they were aware of the general area.

If they spread the news and attracted more people to search, this place would still be unsafe.

Lei Jun observed the cave mansion and found that Tang Xiaotang was currently in a crucial stage of her closed-door cultivation, and it was uncertain when she would emerge.

He shook his head slightly and contacted his master, Yuan Mobai.

"Mmhmm, I know. You can return to the mountain now, and I'll make arrangements for Xiaotang," Yuan Mobai replied calmly, his tone as peaceful and steady as always. "Third Junior Brother, return to the mountain. The old man has sustained some injuries and needs to recuperate."

Lei Jun agreed.

After inspecting the area around Tang Xiaotang's secluded cave mansion one last time, he left the mountain range.

The rest of the journey back was uneventful.

Lei Jun returned to Longhu Mountain as if nothing had happened. He acted as if he had no knowledge of either Liang Chen's group's misfortune or the intense battle between the Upper Three Heavens experts.

However, upon his return, he heard that Elder Li Song had gone into seclusion to recuperate.

At least Li Song had returned safely.

As for Liang Chen, Li Zhusheng, and the others, they would never come back.

The official explanation to the outside world was that they had accompanied Li Song on an inspection tour of various branch divisions when they were jointly attacked by the Blood River Sect, Yinshan Cave, and the demon beasts.

Elder Liang and the others had unfortunately perished.

Lei Jun maintained his ignorance about the incident, as if he weren't directly involved.

The Li family would never publicly disclose the true details of what had transpired.

The battle with the Jiangzhou Lin Clan had ended, but the loss of multiple true disciples, including Elder Liang, and the serious injury of the Grand Elder Li Song had naturally caused an uproar within the Heavenly Master's Mansion.

Only a few who were in the know kept a clear understanding of the situation, feigning ignorance on the surface.

After returning to the mountain, Lei Jun went to the Executive Hall to report and hand over his duties. As he walked through the mountain paths, he coincidentally ran into two people traveling together.

One of them wore mourning attire and had a solemn expression. He was Li Kong, a disciple of Liang Chen.

The other was Li Xuan, the son of the Purple Yang Elder, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Ever since Li Xuan left the mountain to join the Great Tang Demon Guard, he rarely returned.

"Senior Brother Zhongxuan, Senior Brother Zhongkong," Lei Jun greeted them and then turned to Li Kong. "I heard some news after returning to the mountain. Senior Brother Zhongkong, please accept my condolences."

He sighed. "Thinking back, I often felt grateful for Elder Liang's teachings and guidance. I was even thinking about seeking his advice again, but who would have thought..."

Li Kong replied, "Thank you, Junior Brother Lei, for your kind words."

Li Xuan, standing beside him, said, "The South Wilderness Shamanistic Sect has been acting more and more outrageously lately, increasing their activities. We must all remain vigilant. I hope that in the future, we will have the opportunity to avenge Elder Liang and the others."

He then turned to Lei Jun and asked, "I heard some rumors while in the Demon Guard. Is it true that Senior Sister Tang is following in Second Uncle's footsteps and has also entered seclusion to strive for a breakthrough to the Eighth Heaven Realm?"

Lei Jun looked perplexed. "As far as I know, Senior Sister Tang has always been diligently searching for the Heavenly Master's Sword, hasn't she?"

Li Xuan said, "There's a lot of fake news going around, and we can't be sure what's true and what isn't."

He looked intently at Lei Jun. "Lately, there have been many rumors circulating in the outside world, all claiming to know the location of Second Uncle's and Senior Sister Tang's secluded cultivation sites."

Lei Jun understood that this was most likely his master Yuan Mobai's doing, deliberately muddying the waters.

They didn't know where Li Hongyu was currently located.

By spreading multiple false messages, they aimed to dilute the credibility of the true message that the Li family might have spread regarding the general area of Tang Xiaotang's secluded cultivation site.

In addition, Yuan Mobai might have had other plans in motion.

"Whether it's Second Uncle or Senior Sister Tang who breaks through to the Eighth Heaven Realm, it would be a great blessing for our sect," Lei Jun said solemnly. "The sect should provide them with more support, and while discretion is important, we must also ensure secrecy."

Maintaining his facade as Lei the Daoist, he added, "Of course, there's also the Heavenly Master's Seal and the Heavenly Master's Sword! If our sect could have two more Eighth Heaven Realm experts and also recover the Heavenly Master's Seal and the Heavenly Master's Sword, that would be the best outcome!"

Li Xuan slowly nodded. "Junior Brother Lei's words are reasonable."

He looked at Lei Jun and said, "Later, I plan to meet with Master Yuan. Could you please inform him on my behalf?"

"Of course, Senior Brother Zhongxuan. Don't mention it," Lei Jun replied.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end