Chapter 235

Chapter 229

Baihezi did not choose to passively defend under the altar, but raised his trident with both hands and actively stabbed upward.

Gatekeeper Zhenjun shifted his body slightly, bringing his left wing horizontally in front of him, intending to defend while also attempting a pass. He had no intention of getting further entangled; in his eyes, only his sealed artifact mattered.

He had already realized that although he still held an absolute advantage, the delay in breaking the situation, allowing it to continue, was giving him a vague sense of unease.

"Crack!"

The trident in Baihezi's left hand snapped.

One reason was the wing's extremely high defensive strength, and the other was the recent increase in power for both the boy and Lin Shuyou. These two factors combined led to the weapon that A You had brought with him when he first went to Jinling for college reaching the end of its life.

However, the Gatekeeper Zhenjun, who was about to pass by, paused at this moment.

He lowered his head and withdrew the wing shielding his front.

A trident was embedded in his chest.

The trident quickly dissipated into green smoke, but the wound on his left side was real. Thick, black blood continuously flowed from the wound.

He was injured.

Perhaps only beings of the same kind could truly understand each other and know how to inflict a genuine injury.

Anger blazed in the Zhenjun's eyes.

But he still did not counterattack the boy, continuing to fly towards the altar.

Baihezi's vertical pupils narrowed, and he leaned forward, preparing to block.

The young man's voice echoed in the boy's mind: "No need to block, gather momentum for the next strike."

The boy's speed slowed, and he grasped with both hands, two tridents condensing once again.

Li Zhuoyuan jumped down from the side of the altar.

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun completely ignored the young man, going directly to a stone pillar with a talisman paper attached and patting it with a single hand.

"Buzz!"

The expected scene of the stone pillar cracking open and the artifact appearing did not occur.

What first met his eyes was a dazzling white light.

Perhaps he had never expected that the young man would not only seal the stone pillar immediately but also set up an array underneath it in such a short time.

This time, the Gatekeeper Zhenjun didn't even have time to bring down his wings. His entire body was flipped off the altar by the white light.

While he was still in mid-air, Baihezi approached, and two tridents stabbed over again.

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun let out a low roar from his throat, twisted his body, and fiercely smashed a fist over.

The boy crossed the two tridents, stabbing them into the Zhenjun's incoming fist, and immediately slid his hands down, gripping the other's arm.

The force of the fist was fierce, but the boy unloaded most of its strength. Not only that, the boy moved even closer, his right hand condensing another trident, intending to stab it down towards the other's head.

"Retreat."

The young man's warning came from the bottom of his heart.

It was a good thing he warned; the boy was being stubborn.

The boy actively dispersed his offense, kicking off the Zhenjun's body with both feet, and using the momentum to fly backward.

The next moment, the Zhenjun's two pairs of wings behind him quickly closed, like a giant clam, almost trapping the boy inside.

"Go die!"

The Zhenjun's two wings spread open again, preparing to attack.

"Bang!"

Run Sheng's shovel, at this moment, descended, smashing heavily onto his wings behind him.

The Zhenjun's body swayed forward. He turned his head in shock, unable to understand why this guy's attack was getting stronger each time.

But before he could turn around to look for Run Sheng, the resentful infant's nursery rhyme voice rang out again, and the ghost wall reappeared.

"Roar!"

In the roar, his confused perception was restored, but Run Sheng also took this opportunity to retreat a certain distance and gather energy for the next strike.

And Baihezi advanced once more. The shadow of his trident technique could break through the Zhenjun's wing defense. Each time he advanced, he could add another wound to the Zhenjun's body.

Li Zhuoyuan let out a breath. The foundation for the strategy had been built.

The next mode of battle was to replicate the cycle above.

When Run Sheng attacked, the boy would prepare; when the boy attacked, Run Sheng would gather energy.

Tan Wenbin's confusing minor techniques were strategically interspersed only to regulate the rhythm.

Yin Meng's poison jar was not suitable for throwing again for a while, as it could easily pollute their advantageous battlefield.

However, her whip was not idle. It was continuously whipped out, only to provide the boy and Tan Wenbin with leverage to adjust their tactical positions.

She didn't dare to pass the whip to Run Sheng because Run Sheng was too heavy and his brute force was too strong. She couldn't pull him back, and furthermore, Run Sheng was still in the stage of accumulating momentum and stacking waves, so it wasn't possible to unload force at this time.

The most idle person, surprisingly, was Li Zhuoyuan.

He found that he really had nothing to do now. If he did, not only would it not improve things, it would disrupt the existing rhythm.

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun was not without thoughts of targeting the seemingly weaker targets. If he had done so at the beginning, there would indeed have been a very high chance of killing one or two first. But now, every time he had this intention, the young man would perceive it in advance, and the siege rhythm would accordingly speed up, pushing him back.

After the red line connection, the level of team cooperation had reached a remarkably smooth level, and this was also the effect Li Zhuoyuan had always pursued.

A team should look like a team. This feeling of ganging up on the few with the many should be fully displayed. It shouldn't be just one or two people working hard while the rest act as accessories or cheerleaders.

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun's suppressed angry roars continuously erupted. If he could do it again, he would definitely take out the artifact in the stone pillar at the first moment he woke up, and then at all costs, kill the seemingly idle young man!

Don't look at the young man standing outside the battlefield seemingly doing nothing, but every time his heart conceived other thoughts and wanted to change the current situation, the young man's eyes would immediately change, and then the arrangement of the people besieging him would also instantly change.

Run Sheng's momentum was stacking higher and higher. Now, every time he waved his shovel down, the Zhenjun no longer dared to purely rely on his wings for defense as before; he had to actively avoid it.

But even if a strike missed, Run Sheng would quickly close in. He had to find a point of leverage to solidly strike out with that burst of strength before he would retreat.

For this, Run Sheng didn't hesitate to exchange several punches and take several kicks with the Zhenjun. Even if his injuries worsened each time and more of his blood flowed out, the next time, Run Sheng's momentum could still rise by another layer.

Facing this kind of opponent was absolutely despair-inducing, because you couldn't judge where his limit was. He was like tireless waves, crashing against the beach rocks again and again.

In short, either you had the absolute strength to crush him with one strike, or you had a way to interrupt him. Otherwise, you were doomed to be worn down to death by him.

Perhaps this was the feeling Uncle Qin's true strength gave people.

Facing such an Uncle Qin under Bai Family Town on Chongming Island initially was probably the same despair.

One person was like a thousand armies and horses, capable of challenging a force single-handedly.

Perhaps, he really needed to thank this Gatekeeper Zhenjun. He provided an extremely suitable template, both strong and not exceeding the standard, simply Run Sheng's perfect whetstone.

At the same time, Li Zhuoyuan still noticed that the boy had fought for a very long time and then took the time to insert three Ask Path Incense sticks on his head. This meant that the time for each stage had been greatly extended.

This was because the boy had previously left a considerable amount of divine power in Lin Shuyou's body, plus Li Zhuoyuan had forcefully divided half a package to A You. This resulted in A You's body having a large surplus of divine power, which could supply the boy's descent and then be drawn upon. This was equivalent to having a spare fuel tank, and his endurance was strengthened.

Yin Meng was laughing, two whips in her left and right hands, dancing very happily.

Previously, she was just a battlefield poison spreader;

Now, she was a battlefield dispatcher.

She had already decided that when this wave was over and they returned, she would polish her whip technique again, and also lengthen the whip.

Indeed, Run Sheng was right. It was better to listen to Xiao Yuan, who had a good brain. In the past, she would never have expected herself to be able to do this kind of work one day.

It could be said that except for the Gatekeeper Zhenjun who was in a lot of pain, the entire team's integration and proficiency had significantly improved in this stage.

Although Li Zhuoyuan did not directly intervene in the battlefield, he was not doing nothing either. The young man's hands were always behind him, continuously pinching seals.

The total of eight stone statues on both sides would tremble slightly from time to time.

Just this amplitude of movement, in such a lively situation, was fundamentally not worth mentioning.

After a long period of attrition, it was about to enter the long period of decline.

And often at this time, it was easiest for changes to occur. Some bottom cards that were originally unwilling to be used would be forced out.

"Slow down the rhythm, don't press too hard, rein it in a bit!"

The young man's voice appeared in his companions' hearts, timely pouring a basin of cold water on them.

Indeed, the Gatekeeper Zhenjun suddenly knelt down, covering his entire body with his double wings. Immediately, an intense, ear-piercing sound of bones rubbing against each other came from inside.

When he unfolded his double wings and stood up again, his entire body had inflated by one size compared to before.

At the same time, the outer skin on his double wings completely shed. One by one, the wing bones "whoosh"ed and all stabbed into this huge body, supplementing the internal structure and re-supporting the entire body.

His build had changed. As his skin expanded, it became thin and transparent.

A cluster of red fireballs ignited in his abdomen. The firelight shone through his body, illuminating the entire temple.

In an instant, the oppressive and gloomy atmosphere inside the temple was swept away, replaced by a sacred majesty.

That cluster of fire was his divine power origin.

Strictly speaking, the current Baihezi and the Increase and Decrease Generals were all in this state, only having their origin divine power but no physical bodies.

Every time they sensed a spirit medium performing a possession, they would divide a portion of their divine power to descend, attach to the spirit medium's body, and slay demons and eliminate evil.

There was a price to pay and a return. Consuming part of the origin divine power in exchange for further enrichment through merit was, in essence, a kind of business, with capital and income.

And the Official General Head adults generally didn't view spirit mediums as people, arbitrarily using and consuming their bodies, also for the purpose of compressing costs.

However, the segment of inheritance represented by the Gatekeeper Zhenjun had already been submerged in the river of history, sunken on the seabed. There were no longer spirit mediums in the world to perform possessions for him.

This also meant that the bit of origin he had preserved could only be consumed, not replenished.

He had petrified and sealed himself, also to protect and preserve this bit of origin fire seed from being completely extinguished.

Now, he didn't care about anything else.

Li Zhuoyuan carefully observed that cluster of red flame. From the current perspective, the Gatekeeper Zhenjun was not a Yin God in the traditional sense. He had a physical body, but he was not a spirit medium.

Combining this with the fact that the other eight stone statues here were all surnamed Yao, it was not difficult to guess that originally, this adult Yin God's spirit medium inheritance was limited to one family. So, this Gatekeeper Zhenjun should also be surnamed Yao, and he was highly likely the most honored and oldest ancestor of this family.

This was completely different from the current inheritance of the Official General Head and the Eight Generals. Although a certain surname or family would inevitably have a relatively large proportion of members inheriting within a temple, the temples were relatively independent of each other, and any family could invite adult Yin Gods down.

The "adult Yin Gods" of the past were clan heads with physical bodies. The current adult Yin Gods were former ghost kings, not only without physical bodies but also having already cut off worldly ties.

In the past, it was family inheritance; now, it was temple inheritance.

The ceiling of the past was very obvious. The upper limit and strength of the current Yin Gods were clearly higher.

The changes were significant, but if one stood at the highest point of this ecological position and looked down, none of these changes were without the purpose of cutting off intermediary powers and strengthening vertical management capabilities.

Li Zhuoyuan couldn't help but suspect now, was the plaque on the "Dizang An" real?

If it was real here, it meant that the inheritance system of Yin Gods like the Eight Generals and the Official General Head was not simply because it appeared later and the time was not long enough, but because it had been re-interrupted and corrected in history.

Then who, shuffled the cards?

"You all... are deserving of death!"

A dull voice echoed in the temple. Just this alone made people's eardrums ache.

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun's eyes were blood red. He desperately wanted to kill and slaughter now, to stomp all these ants who had surrounded and suppressed him for so long to death!

Run Sheng and Baihezi were waiting for the young man's command. They also had bottom cards to use, and they were confident that after using them, they could regain the previous suppressive rhythm.

However, Li Zhuoyuan did not issue such a command.

Li Zhuoyuan was already very satisfied to have forced the Gatekeeper Zhenjun to this point. To replenish and add cost would result in a loss.

Li Zhuoyuan placed his hidden hands in front, crossed his ten fingers, and arched them upward.

"Crack... crack... crack..."

A series of stone peeling sounds came from the eight stone carvings of the Yao family spirit mediums. All of them peeled off, revealing the corpses sealed inside.

Li Zhuoyuan had already completed the preliminary preparation work.

With his current ability, controlling eight puppets to fight at once would indeed be a bit difficult. If he really did that, he would definitely have bleeding eyes and overdraw himself again, and the effect would also be very low.

However, if he just manipulated the eight of them to perform some simple basic actions, the problem was still not big.

Li Zhuoyuan now wanted to try using the "Dizang Bodhisattva Sutra" to guide and urge his puppets to perform possessions.

If the possessions were successful, it would prove that this segment of inheritance buried on the seabed had an inevitable connection with the current Official General Head!

All eight puppets of the Yao family people stirred their left hands open, clenched their right fists, lifted their feet, and kicked!

Everything happened very quickly. The Gatekeeper Zhenjun had just taken out his bottom card and stirred up his divine power origin, and on the other side, the stone statues had already peeled off and performed possessions collectively!

In an instant, eight streams of red flame floated out from within the Gatekeeper Zhenjun's body, falling into the bodies of those eight Yao family puppets respectively.

Li Zhuoyuan immediately showed a painful expression. Manipulating eight people to complete possessions together was indeed too much pressure.

But the young man's eyes also showed shock. Unexpectedly, the inheritance was truly... consistent!

"No!"

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun obviously did not expect such a strange situation to occur. The descendants and clan members buried with him after death actually came at this time to rob him, the ancestor, of the remaining porridge in his bowl.

This amount was not enough for him to eat himself. He had always hidden, hoarded, and sealed it. Suddenly dividing so much out, he couldn't even maintain this tall body.

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun's figure began to shrink. The wing bones that had previously stabbed into his body one by one now became blades that messed up his body.

In just a few breaths, the Gatekeeper Zhenjun had returned to his original build, and the wings that were originally regarded as strong defense now pierced his body, nailing him into a hedgehog.

Li Zhuoyuan immediately interrupted the manipulation of the eight puppets, and blood flowed from his nose.

His companions naturally did not miss this excellent opportunity. First was Run Sheng. Under layers of accumulated force, he waved out his strongest shovel at the moment, besides having his Qi Gate fully open.

"Pa!"

This shovel hit the Zhenjun's back. A large area of depression immediately appeared on his back, and his entire body was flattened, thoroughly messing up his already disheveled body.

Baihezi leaped forward. In mid-air, he spat a stock of true fire towards the trident condensed by his technique, and immediately, he fiercely inserted it into the top of the Zhenjun's head from top to bottom!

Without wing protection, Yin Meng's poison jar finally had room to play. A string of poison jars was thrown out. They broke open on his head when whipped, and poison fog descended, covering the Zhenjun's entire body.

"Ah..."

The Zhenjun raised his head, emitting a painful wail.

At this time, confusion appeared in his eyes, and then he sobered up again. The power that had originally manipulated and deceived him had retreated. It was completely a reenactment of the old events on that island.

His gaze swept around, stopping first on the young man: "You are not... Bodhisattva..."

He couldn't understand to his dying breath why the young man could use such unbelievable means, but he also confirmed that the young man was not Dizang Wang Bodhisattva.

Finally, his gaze fixed on Baihezi.

The boy closed his eyes. The trident he had stabbed in earlier was the most ruthless, but now, he didn't want to face the other's gaze directly.

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun laboriously lifted his half-melted hand, inserted it into his abdomen, and took out a divine power origin that was as weak as a candle flame from inside. He directed his hand towards Baihezi and shouted hoarsely:

"Evil demons and monsters... only killed, not ferried~"

The boy opened his eyes, looked at this scene, and then his vertical pupils disappeared. He had escaped.

Lin Shuyou looked at the scene in front of him, and then immediately looked at Brother Xiao Yuan.

Li Zhuoyuan: "Take it."

"Oh."

Lin Shuyou walked forward, reached out, and took the cluster of fire seedling from the Zhenjun's hand.

There was no burning sensation, but it was very hot. Lin Shuyou gritted his teeth tightly to keep from crying out. After the fire seedling entered his body, a red mark appeared on the back of his hand.

The Gatekeeper Zhenjun's head was already half-melted. The remaining part of his skull lost its support and hung down:

"Look... something happened... inside the An..."

Li Zhuoyuan: "Mm, otherwise I wouldn't have come here."

"It was me... who didn't... guard the gate well..."

"Plop!"

His head fell off his body. The remaining part of his body melted into a pool of corpse water.

Lin Shuyou looked at the red mark on the back of his hand, his expression somewhat complex and heavy.

Tan Wenbin walked over, bumped A You, and said:

"A You, you were smart this time, forcefully stimulating the boy to come down.

To be honest, this boy is really something, always likes to slip away at critical moments. This time he was actually scared like this by the aura of this true or false Dizang Wang Bodhisattva. Has he not heard the story of the true and false Leiyin Temple before?"

"Brother Binbin."

"Mm, Brother Xiao Yuan?"

"I feel that on the bridge earlier, the boy should have truly sensed the aura of Dizang Wang Bodhisattva."

Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou heard these words, and their eyes immediately widened.

And Li Zhuoyuan's next sentence made all four people in the field's hair stand on end.

"Dizang Wang Bodhisattva... is right inside here."

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