https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-75-Having-Your-Cake-and-Eating-It-Too/12586322/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-77-The-Heavenly-Master-s-Seal-Appears/12586335/
Chapter 76: A Heart of the Eight Trigrams
Chapter 76: A Heart of the Eight Trigrams
Upon hearing Wang Guiyuan's words, Lei Jun's suspicions were confirmed.
Earlier, when Tang Xiaotang stood up for him, she had caused trouble with a group of Gu masters during their travels in the Southern Wasteland.
Now, the wheel of fortune had turned, and they were seeking revenge.
Although the internal strife within the Witchcraft Sect of the Southern Wasteland was frequent, there was still some order to it; it was not a free-for-all where everyone was isolated.
The Gu masters killed by Tang Xiaotang had their own acquaintances and elders, but perhaps they were unable to seek revenge at that time.
Now that they had the opportunity, with the Heavenly Master's Mansion going through a rough patch, they naturally would not show any mercy.
However, given Tang Xiaotang's temperament, her reaction to this would only be...
"Bring it on!"
This proud young genius needed no further prompting. She fearlessly accepted the challenge and thwarted her opponents' sneak attack.
Unconcerned about possible ambushes, she continued to push forward, quickly killing her way down the mountain and pursuing her enemies outward.
"To be honest, if we trace this matter to its source, it falls on me," Lei Jun admitted candidly.
Wang Guiyuan waved his hand dismissively. "You don't have to take it too hard, Junior Brother. In recent years, our sect has had fewer conflicts with the Witchcraft Sect of the Southern Wasteland, but we were considered rivals in the past.
Not to mention our late Sect Leader, Master Uncle Song, and the others, but most of us junior disciples have also faced off against the Witchcraft Sect's cultivators.
The situation only seems unusual now because of the passing of our Sect Leader, but we've always been on guard against them. Otherwise, why would our Senior Brother and Master Uncle Song have been stationed at the mountain gate all this time?"
Lei Jun nodded in agreement.
On this point, Wang Guiyuan was not merely offering consolation.
When Lei Jun had first arrived, at the foot of those green mountains, there had been others present besides the eldest senior sister, Xu Yuanzhen.
Among them were Gu masters from the Southern Wasteland lineage, as well as ordained disciples from the Heavenly Master's Mansion who had come to hunt down these Gu masters and rid the people of their harmful influence.
Their relationship, as rivals, was evident.
Tang Xiaotang took full responsibility for her actions and could handle the consequences.
Thus, the turmoil caused by the Gu masters was quickly resolved.
However, after Tang Xiaotang left the mountain again, the second wave of Huang Tiandao's grand offensive arrived.
This time, they had indeed concentrated their forces and were determined to settle the score with the Heavenly Master's Mansion, rather than just making empty threats.
The Sect Leader, Taiping Daoist, was unable to break through the barrier set up by Elder Li Hongyu of the Heavenly Master's Mansion.
But Huang Tiandao had another leader heading their second wave of fierce attacks.
Yu Qingling.
The previous Sect Leader of Huang Tiandao.
Rumor had it that due to his advanced age, he had passed on the responsibilities of the sect to Taiping Daoist and had since been in seclusion, cultivating in isolation.
In terms of age and seniority, he was of the same generation as the second and third Li Heavenly Masters, as well as Elder Li Song, the grand elder of the Heavenly Master's Mansion.
As one of the few surviving elders who had personally experienced the Heavenly Master's Mansion's second large-scale internal strife and subsequently left the mansion, Yu Qingling was a founding veteran of Huang Tiandao.
Within Huang Tiandao, he was considered the second sect leader.
Due to his prolonged absence from the public eye, there had been rumors of his demise.
However, with the current situation being so critical, Yu Qingling finally reappeared, returning to the mortal realm once more.
Fortunately, the Heavenly Master's Mansion had been prepared.
And so, the battle between these two veteran forces commenced.
On the Longhu Mountain side, the elder with the highest seniority among the previous generation, Elder Li Song, was also an old acquaintance of Yu Qingling.
These two brothers-in-arms, who had fought countless battles in the past, now faced each other once again.
With Elder Li Song and Yu Qingling engaged in battle on the outskirts, the Young Heavenly Master, Li Zhengxian, remained seated in the ancestral hall of the mountain gate, wielding the Heavenly Master's Sword, ensuring that the mountain gate remained secure.
Lei Jun and the other disciples who stayed on the mountain followed their elder predecessors downhill, joining them in suppressing Huang Tiandao's second offensive and leaving them no opportunity to exploit.
For Lei Jun, with his fellow sect members around him, he saw no need to use his high-quality spirit talismans.
With the situation not posing an immediate danger, he could afford to coast a little.
Of course, he hadn't come here just to slack off.
On the contrary, Lei Jun took the current battlefield situation very seriously.
He used this opportunity to further hone his physical prowess and martial arts.
The authentic Taoist boxing and cudgel techniques of the Heavenly Master's Mansion were displayed by Lei Jun, one after another, with astonishing power that surpassed his peers.
This was not only because of the God-Strike Talisman among his life talismans but also because, after this period of internal and external cultivation, the spiritual power of the Bear King's Divine Gallbladder was gradually merging with his physical essence and blood.
After fully absorbing the spiritual power of the Bear King's Divine Gallbladder, Lei Jun's physical strength was now on par with body-refining martial artists of the same realm.
In the past, he had relied on his high-grade natal divine strike talisman to compete with martial artists of similar cultivation in physical confrontations.
And even then, it was only when his opponents didn't use their natal martial arts.
Take Dong Yang as an example. Earlier, if he had successfully executed the secondary explosion of his Fire Python Spitting Bead technique, his momentary burst of power would have overwhelmed Lei Jun once more.
However, because Dong Yang was unaware of the secrets of the Dark River Technique, he fell into Lei Jun's trap first, unable to unleash the full power of his natal martial art, Fire Python Spitting Bead, in time.
The difference between life and death sometimes hangs by a thread.
As a result, Dong Yang was punched to death by Lei Jun instead.
But now, the situation was different.
Lei Jun's cultivation had not only advanced from the first layer of the Law Altar to the second, but his physical essence and blood had been further enhanced by the Bear King's Divine Gallbladder.
If he were to encounter Dong Yang again, Lei Jun wouldn't need to rely on spiritual talismans and could confront him with his physical strength alone.
Even if Dong Yang unleashed the full power of his Fire Python Spitting Bead, Lei Jun wouldn't need to weaken him with the Dark River Technique. With his natal divine strike talisman activated, he could continue to face off against this Triple Heaven realm body-refining martial artist head-on.
However, the Dong family's legacy ultimately paled in comparison to the Taoist Talisman Sect's sacred site, the Celestial Master's Mansion.
If it were a more accomplished martial arts legacy, the battle and its outcome might have been different.
Lei Jun reminded himself to remain humble and vigilant as he continued to strive for improvement.
With his natal Wind-Riding Talisman, the Water-Avoiding Golden Eye, and the Soil-Producing Banner, Lei Jun had more than enough to handle the not-so-intense battlefield before him.
While focusing on his own cultivation, he remained vigilant, his senses alert to his surroundings, with enough spare capacity to observe others.
And it was during this observation that he noticed something out of the ordinary...
In the mountains, several young Taoists dressed similarly and practicing similar Taoist magic and talismans were engaged in a life-and-death battle.
Five of them were ganging up on one person.
The one being ganged up on was at a disadvantage, but he remained calm and collected.
Instead of focusing on his own safety, he paid more attention to his surroundings.
Once he was certain that there were no other people around, a flash of bloodlight appeared in the young Taoist's eyes.
In the next moment, while using a Golden Lock Talisman to block his opponents' attacks, he waved his hand, and a streak of blood energy appeared.
The blood energy crisscrossed like a sword, fast and fierce.
The Yellow Sky Dao disciples were cautious, but they never expected their opponent's counterattack to be something other than a Celestial Master's Mansion technique! Caught off guard, two of them were injured on the spot.
One suffered minor injuries while the other was severely wounded.
However, their wounds were strange, as blood gushed out uncontrollably, causing them to lose their combat effectiveness temporarily.
"The Blood River lineage of the South Wild Witch Gate?" The Yellow Sky Dao disciples were unsure.
With fewer enemies to deal with, the Celestial Master's Mansion disciple's blood-red sword energy became even stronger, and the tide of the battle turned in his favor.
The blood-red sword energy was just one of his tricks; in terms of Taoist talismans and magic, he was already superior to his opponents.
Just as the two injured Yellow Sky Dao disciples managed to suppress the vicious magic affecting their wounds with Exorcism Talismans and stop the bleeding, the other three Yellow Sky Dao disciples were injured by the Celestial Master's Mansion disciple's true transmissions.
He was decisive and ruthless in his attacks, not giving the Yellow Sky Dao disciples a chance to escape, and successfully killed all five of his enemies.
The young Celestial Master's Mansion disciple surveyed his surroundings once more to ensure that no one else was around before heaving a sigh of relief.
He collected the identity tokens of the Yellow Sky Dao disciples as proof of his victory and then used Blazing Flame Talismans to burn their bodies.
After doing all this, the young Taoist quietly left.
However...
The earth and rocks in the mountains surged and parted, revealing another person who had been hidden before.
Lei Jun put away his Soil-Producing Banner and watched the direction in which the other person had left.
Chen Yi.
An old acquaintance.
But the magic he practiced surprised Lei Jun.
Normally, one would cultivate the Unparalleled Body Movement Technique along with the corresponding Taoist magic and techniques.
But Chen Yi's blood-red sword energy was clearly not a Taoist Talisman Sect or Celestial Master's Mansion technique.
It had the Eight Trigrams... Lei Jun stroked his chin.
(End of Chapter)
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