Chapter 358: Underground Demon Lair, Witch Soul Sword

Upon careful analysis, one might come up with many explanations, such as the Wu Clan's yuan shen power being inherently insufficient, lacking a complete concept of "yi," not being skilled in such array formations, and the underground earth veins in Bei Ju Lu Zhou being numerous and complex, and so forth.

Li Changshou wandered through the Wu Clan tribes for a while and discovered the true reason.

The Wu Clan had accepted their fate.

When they noticed the shortage of newborn Wu Clan members, they must have tried various methods, but after repeatedly hitting dead ends and failing to find the cause, they attributed it to heavenly punishment, to the heavens no longer accommodating the Wu Clan, and they silently endured it.

The Wu Clan were ultimately the losers of the ancient era.

During the battle between Xuan Yuan Huang Di and Chi You, the Wu Clan rashly sided with the Wu people tribe, exhausting their last bit of destiny, and their gradual decline in Bei Ju Lu Zhou had become an accepted fate.

This was the fundamental internal reason why the Wu Clan had never found the root of the problem.

When a race loses its place on the stage of the Great Desolation and forfeits the drive to strive, what awaits them is endless decline after encountering setbacks.

Objectively speaking, those demon clans still holding onto dreams of revival clearly had more fighting spirit and thus more vitality.

Of course, for the human race, the demon clan also posed a greater threat.

If the human race one day lost itself in the same way, forgetting why it exists or losing its forward destination, would it also be replaced as the protagonists of heaven and earth by other races?

Perhaps.

Various complex thoughts flashed through Li Changshou's mind, but he quickly suppressed these distractions and began pondering the most pressing matter at hand!

How to subtly satisfy the leader's curiosity for "Great Desolation exploration"!

Yu Di had already been thoroughly intrigued by this, and the two had just entered the earth vein array.

"Changgeng, look quickly! There's a strange dao rhyme within this earth vein!"

They had only traveled about twenty zhang through the earth vein when Yu Di excitedly called out.

"Look, the earth vein shows signs of being altered, and there are some restrictions here guiding spiritual energy!"

Following the earth vein northward for roughly an hour.

"Changgeng, why is there such abundant water spiritual energy ahead? Could it be that we've reached the key point of the earth vein?"

Li Changshou could only calmly reply:

"Your Majesty, we've reached the North Sea. We've gone in the wrong direction."

Zhao Dezhu chuckled awkwardly, and the two turned back from beneath the North Sea, following the earth vein southward.

Upon reflection, Li Changshou thought Yu Di's life was quite challenging too.

In ancient times, when Yu Di and Wang Mu first gained consciousness, they were taken in by Dao Zu.

After Yu Di transformed into form, he was confined in Zi Xiao Palace, cultivating while serving as an attendant, pouring tea and water, and interacting only with dull great powers—like the Six Sages and Yao Huang.

Then, one day, Yu Di was suddenly notified to officially take his post and assume control of the three realms of heaven and earth.

The pressure was indeed immense.

So, even though this was just an incarnation experiencing these novel events, for Yu Di, it was already a quite precious life experience!

Li Changshou mused to himself: Should I design a few scenarios and hire some actors to let His Majesty Yu Di experience more of life?

It was possible, but it would just take a bit more effort.

But...

It would cost extra.

Right now, he was drawing merit from his third-tier divine position, doing more work than Dong Gong of the second-tier divine positions, and bearing the risks of a first-tier divine position as a "force representative." It was already tough enough.

Better not to add more drama for himself!

The two quietly moved through the earth vein, with Li Changshou's current earth-escape technique providing concealment that, while not as secretive as Duobao Dao Ren's earth cave, was beyond the detection of ordinary golden immortals.

Returning to the starting point of their exploration and traveling southward for about ten thousand li, Li Changshou and Yu Di's incarnation, Zhao Dezhu, simultaneously noticed some anomalies.

"Changgeng, this section of the earth vein seems to have been extended."

"Your Majesty, please look—the spiritual streams within the earth vein have patterns, and the patterns before and after don't align."

The two exchanged glances.

Zhao Dezhu laughed and said: "We can now be certain that the problem lies with this earth vein!"

Li Changshou thought for a moment and said:

"Your Majesty, nothing in the world is absolute. To be safe, we should investigate thoroughly.

How about having Ao Yi send Long Ji Gongzhu back to Heaven Court first, then bring Niu Tou and Ma Mian and the others to follow from behind?

That way, if we run into trouble, there'll be support outside."

"Excellent!"

Zhao Dezhu agreed, and his immortal sense carefully probed along the earth vein.

His spirit was inexplicably excited.

Li Changshou quickly made the arrangements.

As the saying goes, the elders direct the seniors, and the seniors direct the juniors.

Li Changshou placed a series of responsibilities on Ao Yi's shoulders!

Under the arrangements of the sect leader brother, Ao Yi had to first send Long Ji Gongzhu back to Heaven Court, then mobilize the Tian He water army, and after that, return to Bei Ju Lu Zhou to pick up Niu Tou, Ma Mian, and the other eight Wu Clan experts, following Li Changshou and Yu Di's incarnation from the air.

Ao Yi didn't hesitate, transforming into his true azure dragon form, carrying Long Ji Gongzhu on his back, and hurrying toward the North Sea, heading for the North Heaven Gate.

Once Ao Yi returned in haste, he picked up the eight Wu Clan experts, who rarely got to experience the thrill of riding a dragon into the sky.

Ao Yi was also quite thoughtful.

To avoid detection by the demon clan, he led the eight Wu Clan experts around the North Sea into the high skies, using dragon clan divine abilities to wrap themselves in clouds, quietly traversing the sea of clouds.

Soon, Ao Yi heard the voice transmission from the paper daoist nearby and adjusted his flight direction and speed, slowly catching up.

But, to the surprise of Li Changshou, Zhao Dezhu, and Ao Yi.

They had assumed the endpoint of that problematic earth vein would be at the border between Bei Ju Lu Zhou and Zhong Shen Zhou.

—That was the stronghold of the demon clan's power, with many ancient old demons lingering there, truly a tough nut to crack.

And these old demons gathered at the border of Bei Ju Lu Zhou and Zhong Shen Zhou precisely to launch attacks on the Wu Clan at any time!

Yet, that earth vein kept being extended, winding deep underground, stretching all the way to the border of Xi Niu He Zhou and Zhong Shen Zhou, then making a sharp turn and continuing southward!

The sheer scale of relocating the earth vein alone proved that this matter was no trivial affair!

Zhao Dezhu sighed: "The demon clan must hate the Wu Clan deeply to use such a secretive and exterminating scheme."

Li Changshou said gravely: "Your Majesty, it's best if your incarnation doesn't go further.

Based on my calculations, ahead might be a dragon's lair or a tiger's den.

My incarnation method is makeshift; if it's destroyed, I can just use treasures to refine another. But if your incarnation is damaged, it could harm your own dao cultivation."

"It's fine, just a minor matter," Zhao Dezhu smiled slightly. "If this incarnation is lost, it's only a portion of merit that's lost.

My yuan shen is protected by Ling Xiao Treasure Hall, invulnerable to all laws and untouched by anything."

"In that case, I feel a bit more at ease."

And so, the Heaven Court special assault team of two incarnations set off again, hiding in the earth vein and traveling southward.

After traveling an unknown tens of thousands of li, reaching the border of Nan Zhan Bu Zhou, Zhong Shen Zhou, and Xi Niu He Zhou, layers of blood-red barriers appeared in the earth vein.

Li Changshou and Zhao Dezhu exchanged glances, emerged from the earth vein, bypassed these barriers, and tunneled underground for three to four hundred li, encountering a protective great array.

This array was located four thousand zhang underground, enclosing a spherical space with a diameter of a hundred li. Its sturdiness was several times that of Du Xian Men's mountain-protecting array!

Faintly, through the array, they could detect a vast underground world beyond.

A golden, shimmering treasure sword appeared in Zhao Dezhu's hand, and he transmitted: "Changgeng, shall we force our way in?"

Li Changshou glanced at the sword Zhao Dezhu was holding—somehow, it seemed to carry several times more heavenly dao power than the Tian Di Zhan Mo Sword he had once used.

Well, no need to dwell on these details.

"I should be able to break this array. Let's go in and take a look first," Li Changshou replied with a smile, then slowly pulled out a round disk from his sleeve.

The disk was engraved with yin-yang dual fish. As Li Changshou infused it with Tai Qing immortal power, the two fish seemed to come alive, gently rotating and forming a faint Tai Ji diagram.

This wasn't the full power of a supreme treasure; it was just a little gadget from Li Changshou's backup arsenal.

The Tai Ji diagram merged seamlessly into the array wall, leaving a round opening.

Li Changshou took out another paper daoist and placed it outside the opening, then handed two talismans to Zhao Dezhu, and the two entered the array together.

This time, they had "accidentally" stumbled into the lair of a great demon burdened with karma.

The talismans on them glowed faintly, rendering their figures invisible, while the Tai Ji diagram behind them slowly dissipated without causing any fluctuation in the array wall.

Zhao Dezhu silently gave a thumbs-up.

Ahead loomed a pitch-black mountain, floating in the center of the underground void enclosed by the array.

At the mountain's peak sat a碧绿 water pool, surrounded by sixteen massive piles of white bones emitting a strange fluctuation.

Looking down from the peak, the mountain was riddled with numerous carved caves.

What Zhao Dezhu saw on this demon mountain were powerful demonic beasts one after another.

What Li Changshou saw at a glance was merit overflowing the entire mountain!

"Qinggeng, your skill in entering arrays is truly exceptional!

What's our next move?"

"Your Majesty, now that we've found this place, we should first investigate the matter of the Wu Clan, then eliminate the great demons of karma here. That way, we can uphold the righteous path of heaven and earth and demonstrate Your Majesty's authority!"

Yu Di's incarnation nodded and asked: "There are hundreds of demon experts here. Can we handle them?"

After speaking, Zhao Dezhu felt it might not sound right and added:

"I'm not concerned about this incarnation, but I fear alarming them and letting these demons escape."

"Though there are many demon experts here, the fluctuations of Da Luo are rare, and they're all entangled with karma and bound by destiny."

Li Changshou smiled and said: "Your Majesty, rest assured. I have a small technique that can collapse this place in an instant, leaving no trace of them.

However, to be cautious, we should investigate first and find the source of the Wu Clan issue, so we can give them a proper account."

"Excellent!"

Zhao Dezhu's eyes crinkled with a smile. "Then today, I'll witness Qinggeng's skills."

Li Changshou bowed. "I accept the order."

Turning to face the mountain hidden underground, Li Changshou felt a surge of excitement.

Merit!

A huge amount of merit!

No need to risk life or shed blood!

Just quietly plant a set of spirit-exploding paper daoists, and he could easily claim this merit, while conveniently destroying the source here. The Wu Clan matter would naturally be resolved!

At that moment, Li Changshou focused his mind fully and began multitasking.

First, he notified Ao Yi and the others to stay farther away and hide in the high skies.

Then, he released a paper daoist to scout the surface terrain in detail.

As his immortal sense spread out, he discovered this was demon clan territory, with groups of demons and several formidable demon kings active on the surface.

—This was probably their cover.

Li Changshou quickly targeted a patrolling minor demon, steered his paper daoist quietly toward it, and while the demon was beating a gong and singing a mountain song, he knocked it out and carried it to a nearby forest.

It's worth noting that this was a male demon clan member. Li Changshou was only interrogating it about the local demon forces and wouldn't do anything strange.

Meanwhile, Li Changshou and Zhao Dezhu sneaked to the top of the underground mountain and began examining the altar there.

What even Yu Di's incarnation didn't notice was that the underground great array had another opening melted by the Tai Ji diagram.

A spirit-exploding specialized paper daoist, carrying a full set of Earthly Fiend paper daoists, quietly entered the mountain, fully concealing its presence and hiding in the lower part of the mountain.

Everything was ready, ready to activate at any time!

Progress was smooth on all fronts. Li Changshou and Zhao Dezhu quietly reached the water pool at the mountain's peak and carefully examined the setup there.

Based on Li Changshou's understanding of arrays, those sixteen piles of white bones were the array foundations, with the center of the water pool as the array eye. The great array formed a peculiar flow of spiritual energy, connecting to the earth vein they had tracked for so long.

Of course, the array here was extremely complex, with multiple layers overlapping just at the connection points between the ground and the pool bottom!

After briefly comprehending the spiritual energy paths of these arrays, Li Changshou concluded:

The overall setup here was like a "pump" extracting true spirits, using the earth vein to draw them from an extremely distant place and trap them in the water pool!

All those intricate restrictions they had seen along the earth vein echoed with the array setup here!

Clearly, this was the answer to the Wu Clan problem.

The demon clan's scheme to exterminate the Wu Clan lay right before Li Changshou's eyes!

Silently, Li Changshou took out several recording orbs to preserve the evidence.

What made Li Changshou feel that the demons here deserved to die was those piles of white bones refined into array foundations.

These had once been the flesh and blood of mortals, trapped here for thousands of years, with restrictions placed on each skeleton, refining their souls into evil spirits.

He didn't know exactly what evil array it was, but it was utterly heartless!

Although humans and the demon clan had long been at odds, with wars raging since ancient times, human cultivators typically dispatched demons swiftly and rarely tormented them.

But the demon clan, when dealing with defenseless mortals, often acted with such cruelty.

Li Changshou's mouth twitched slightly as he had the paper daoist outside the array set up a second spirit-exploding package, to be triggered simultaneously later.

Double spirit explosions for extra security, ensuring not even ashes of these demons remained!

Just then, Zhao Dezhu transmitted:

"Changgeng, as revealed by heavenly secrets, the Wu Clan children who couldn't be born are trapped here by the array."

Li Changshou, who was about to say "let's act," paused and immediately replied: "This water pool still has restrictions we haven't seen through."

"I'll handle it," Yu Di's incarnation closed his eyes, and strands of heavenly dao power quietly spread out, without alarming any creatures here.

Yu Di using the heavenly dao to probe was quite a courtesy to these demons.

Soon, Yu Di pointed at Li Changshou's paper daoist, infusing it with a wisp of heavenly dao power, allowing Li Changshou to see the hidden situation in the water pool.

At the bottom of the pool, three massive bronze toads squatted, each with its mouth open, spewing wisps of green flames.

These flames ignored the pool water, enveloping a cyan treasure sword, which carried an astonishing aura of life, making the scene utterly bizarre.

On the heads of the three bronze toads sat three demon experts.

Zhao Dezhu gazed at Li Changshou and asked: "Changgeng, what should we do?"

Li Changshou frowned slightly, feeling a bit conflicted.

By now, he had some insight.

That sword contained the true spirits of the Wu Clan children that should have been born over thousands of years. It was probably impossible to save them now, but there might be a chance to send the true spirits in the sword back to the cycle of reincarnation.

Moreover, this sword was likely a major treasure of the demon clan, and those three old demons clearly looked formidable.

Seizing the sword and then detonating everything would add variables, with an eighty percent chance of futile effort and a thirty percent risk of letting some demons escape.

Not seizing the sword and just leveling the place had a ninety-eight percent success rate, and those Wu Clan true spirits had already been refined by the demons, so it wouldn't add any karma to him.

Li Changshou narrowed his eyes and quickly decided, whispering:

"Your Majesty, I want to try seizing that treasure sword to see if I can release the true spirits inside.

The Wu Clan entrusted us, and I have to keep my word—I don't want to go back on it like I did in the East Sea."

Yu Di immediately smiled and nodded slowly: "My strategies can't compare to yours. You go ahead and arrange everything. Even if this incarnation falls here, it's no problem."

A warmth stirred in Li Changshou's heart, and suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck. He said firmly:

"Your Majesty, there's no time like the present—this opportunity is once in a millennium. Let's take advantage of this and promote Heaven Court's prestige, giving the demon clan a major blow!"