Chapter 10: The Chen Family's Magical Duel

After all preparations were made, Xu Changqing carefully checked everything, feeling confident that nothing could go wrong. He ignored the gazes of Xiao En and the others, scooping a bit of cinnabar from each of the ten jars and storing them in his sleeve realm one by one. Once all ten jars were stored, he took out six Thunder Talismans from the box and stored them along with the box in his sleeve realm. At this moment, he felt that the capacity of his sleeve realm had reached the limit that the peripheral heavenly cycle of true essence could support.

Seeing the large jars and the box disappear in front of Xu Changqing, Xiao En and the other three were astonished. Xiao En and Chen Yu wanted to ask what was happening, but Zhang Yuan immediately pulled them back, shook his head, and signaled them not to cause trouble, telling them to just watch.

Xu Changqing stood in front of the incense altar, his eyes slightly lowered, his mind merging with the Supreme Clarity Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Array. He quickly activated the Earth Sealing Spell, mobilizing the earth spirit network of the Chen family, which resembled a spider web. Soon, he found the Nine Lives True Lord hidden in the coffin at the eastern mortuary. At that moment, the Nine Lives True Lord was using the dense yin energy around the mortuary to heal the injury to one of his soul fragments caused by Xu Changqing a few days ago. The injury had not yet healed, and around his body, five soul fragments formed a simple Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array to accelerate the absorption of yin energy. The remaining two soul fragments were attached to the corpses in the mortuary, while the souls of Chen Tao and Xie Ling were imprisoned within these two soul fragments.

Xu Changqing withdrew his mind, a disdainful smile appearing on his face. He muttered to himself, "Foolish to the point of death! How dare he attach himself to a corpse while imprisoning souls within his soul fragments? He doesn't even understand such a basic taboo. I wonder how this old ghost managed to cultivate and still managed to gain such a reputation in Mount Mang. It seems that those who seem powerful aren't necessarily so powerful."

He then picked up the peach wood sword from the incense altar, casually selected two Spirit Stabilizing Talismans from the pile on the table, and stepped in the ritual steps while reciting the spell. The talismans spontaneously ignited. As the talismans were about to burn out, he formed a sword finger with his left hand, channeled the Supreme Clarity Golden Elixir true essence, and pressed it against the peach wood sword, pushing it forward from the base of the sword and said, "Go!"

The two talismans on the peach wood sword instantly burned out, turning into two rootless flames that shot toward Chen Tao and Xie Ling. When the flames touched their bodies, they immediately merged into them. Apart from the large holes burned into their clothes, the skin exposed through the holes showed no signs of burns. Xiao En and the others saw the Three Yang True Fire on Chen Tao and Xie Ling's bodies change, the originally dark red flames now turning into three bright red fireballs.

Seeing Xu Changqing begin his spell, Xiao En and the others tightly held their talismans and shouted the names of Chen Tao and Xie Ling. With their shouts, the souls of Chen Tao and Xie Ling, which were imprisoned in the soul fragments, began to struggle, showing signs of trying to break free. The soul fragments showed abnormalities, and the Nine Lives True Lord, who was connected to them, immediately woke up from his healing. His emaciated face showed a look of shock. When he tried to retrieve the two soul fragments from the corpses, he found that they could not immediately detach, as if something was pulling them back. This forced the Nine Lives True Lord to withdraw the other five soul fragments into his body to increase his power.

While the Nine Lives True Lord was trying to retrieve the soul fragments, Xu Changqing launched his second attack. He took out two Red Dust Ropes, each made of nine strands of red dust silk, from a wooden box on the incense altar. One end of each rope was tied to a silver nail, and the other end was a ring. Xu Changqing quickly put the ring on his middle finger, held the two silver nails, silently recited the spell, and channeled his true essence, throwing the nails at Chen Tao and Xie Ling's necks. The nails pierced their necks without drawing a drop of blood, and not only did the nails completely enter their necks, but the Red Dust Ropes also followed, entering a significant portion of their bodies.

Xu Changqing was using a high-level Daoist spell from the Dragon Tiger Mountain sect called the Supreme Clarity Primordial Transformation Silver Needle Soul Binding Great Spell. This spell was specifically used to counter evil practices that captured and controlled souls, connecting the victim's true spirit to the captured soul to achieve the goal of killing the enemy from a distance. This spell was very powerful and difficult to learn, and even cultivators who had not reached the peak of the Essence Refinement stage could not use it. According to Xu Changqing, apart from himself, only the Dragon Tiger Mountain's Lingxiao Tonghua True Lord, Zhao Wuyang, was proficient in this spell.

The silver nails with the Red Dust Ropes pierced through Chen Tao and Xie Ling's bodies and souls, emerging from the other side, where the souls were imprisoned. The Nine Lives True Lord felt that although he could still sense the condition of the soul fragments, he could no longer control them, as if there was a barrier between him and them. This was a situation he had never encountered since he had cultivated the soul fragments, and he began to feel anxious, realizing he had encountered a formidable opponent.

The Nine Lives True Lord felt that his luck had been steadily declining since he accidentally learned that the Zhong family in western Hunan had obtained a bronze-armored corpse. From losing track of the Zhong family's corpse handlers to being killed a soul fragment when trying to capture hostages, and then being mysteriously trapped in this small place, he found himself inexplicably returning to the mortuary every time he tried to leave. Now, even the two soul fragments he had painstakingly cultivated were out of his control, making him feel that the entire Chen family area was filled with an eerie atmosphere.

According to the Nine Lives True Lord's usual habits, he would immediately flee when encountering a strong enemy. However, if he fled now, the two soul fragments in the corpses would be lost. Losing one soul fragment had already caused him great pain, and losing two more would be a matter of life and death. Moreover, the materials needed to cultivate soul fragments were extremely rare, and he had spent years searching throughout Mount Mang, using all kinds of means to collect the few soul fragments he had. Now, before he could even fully utilize their power, they were being restrained by a spell, and he was unwilling to give them up. Additionally, the loss of soul fragments would reduce his cultivation, and if this news spread, he would be in grave danger given his many enemies in Mount Mang.

Determined to fight, the Nine Lives True Lord immediately rushed to the two corpses, bit his tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood. He then had the five soul fragments in his body spit out a mouthful of true essence into the blood. As the blood floated in the air, he took out two Three Yin Spirit Piercers, channeled his Yin Ghost Power, and absorbed the blood into the bone gaps of the Spirit Piercers, then fiercely stabbed them into the foreheads of the two corpses, hoping to use the Three Yin Spirit Piercers to stimulate the ferocity of the soul fragments and help them break free from the corpses.

However, just as the Nine Lives True Lord was about to complete his spell, Xu Changqing used his pure Golden Elixir true essence to control the Red Dust Ropes and the silver nails, tightly binding the two soul fragments and the souls. As the Three Yin Spirit Piercers pierced the foreheads of the corpses, he pulled the Red Dust Ropes, and the silver nails pulled the soul fragments and the souls out of the corpses, passing through Chen Tao and Xie Ling's bodies and souls, and bringing them to the Purple String Pavilion.

At the moment the soul fragments were taken away by Xu Changqing, the Nine Lives True Lord immediately felt his two soul fragments disappear from his sight and reappear somewhere in the city. Although the Three Yin Spirit Piercers missed their target, the evil energy they contained still flowed through the soul fragments, causing direct damage to the souls of Chen Tao and Xie Ling. The soul fragments, bound by the silver nails and Red Dust Ropes, could not move, and the evil energy's attack on Chen Tao and Xie Ling was transferred to the peach wood dolls Xu Changqing had prepared. The incense sticks in Chen Tao and Xie Ling's mouths and on the heads of the peach wood dolls instantly turned to ash, and the dolls shattered into dozens of small pieces.

At this moment, the souls of Chen Tao and Xie Ling were floating around their bodies, unable to return due to being out of their bodies for too long. Thanks to the shouts of Xiao En and the others, they managed to stay outside their bodies for a while. Xu Changqing understood this and immediately cast a spell, forming the Daoist Mixed Essence Seal with his hands and reciting the spell, "Heaven and Earth, the Eight Trigrams, connect in one line; the Mixed Essence Great Dao stabilizes the three souls, command!"

As Xu Changqing's hands pointed at the souls, they were immediately drawn back to their bodies by the spell's power. The Three Yang True Fire on Chen Tao and Xie Ling's shoulders suddenly burned brightly and then returned to normal. Chen Tao and Xie Ling, who had been unconscious, let out a long sigh and fell to the ground, falling into a deep sleep.

"Alright! Stop shouting!" Xu Changqing turned to the three who were still shouting the names of Chen Tao and Xie Ling, "They are fine now. Quickly carry them away and cook some ginseng soup to help them recover their essence, so they don't fall ill."

When Xiao En and the others were shouting the names of Chen Tao and Xie Ling, they watched Xu Changqing cast his spell. When they saw the Red Dust Ropes being pulled out of Chen Tao and Xie Ling's necks, they almost shouted in surprise. They saw the two souls of Chen Tao and Xie Ling as two light balls, and the two black shadows bound by the Red Dust Ropes with silver nails, which looked exactly like the black shadows they had seen on Peach Blossom Mountain. When the two light balls were absorbed back into their bodies by Xu Changqing's spell, they heard his instructions and quickly threw away their talismans, ran to Chen Tao and Xie Ling, and, when passing the struggling black shadows, they all instinctively avoided them.

Xu Changqing felt the Nine Lives True Lord approaching and, seeing Xiao En and the others still hesitating, frowned and urged, "Quickly take them away and leave. Don't come within thirty paces of this place after you leave!"

Xiao En and the others, sensing the urgency from Xu Changqing's serious expression, ignored any concerns about propriety. Xiao En carried Chen Tao, while Zhang Yuan and Chen Yu supported Xie Ling, and they quickly left the Purple String Pavilion. After seeing them leave, Xu Changqing felt a sense of relief, stretched his arms, and began to draw the Supreme Clarity Five Thunder God Talismans on the talismans with high-quality cinnabar, ignoring the two struggling soul fragments.

Not long after Xu Changqing finished the sixth talisman, a black mist emerged from the eastern wall and quickly condensed into a solid form outside the Supreme Clarity Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Array. A man dressed in a Qing dynasty official robe, looking like a minister, floated in the air, wearing a coral-topped official hat, with a face that resembled a skeleton.

Speaking of the Nine Lives True Lord, he was also a talented man. He passed the scholar examination at the age of fifteen, causing a sensation in the area, and was known as a prodigy. However, his official career seemed to end there. For nearly thirty years, he failed to pass any more exams, and the savings left by his parents were spent, leaving only the old house. Later, he found a book on ghost cultivation in the old house and embarked on a path of cultivation from which he could not turn back. Although he became a cultivator, he never forgot his initial aspirations. He found a complete set of burial official robes in the tombs of high-ranking officials, wore them, and had his subordinates pretend to be officials' attendants, making a loud announcement whenever he went out, just like a real official. This was a unique sight in the Mount Mang area.

"Daoist friend, we have no grudges or enmities. Why do you repeatedly harm me?" The Nine Lives True Lord, sensing the danger of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Array on the ground, immediately pulled out his long-cultivated Thousand Souls Banner to protect himself, took out the Three Yin Spirit Piercers, and coldly looked at Xu Changqing, accusing him, "You used the Five Thunder Spirit Sword technique to kill my soul fragment a few days ago, and now you have bound my two soul fragments. Do you really think the Nine Lives True Lord of Mount Mang is so easy to bully?"

The Nine Lives True Lord was actually extremely anxious when he saw his two soul fragments bound, but he pretended to be calm, distorting the facts and not mentioning the capture of Chen Tao and Xie Ling's souls. He then revealed his name, hoping to use his reputation to intimidate Xu Changqing.

Xu Changqing, however, was not swayed by the Nine Lives True Lord's tactics. Without even acknowledging him, he secretly channeled his true essence through the Red Dust Ropes to control the silver nails, piercing the hearts of the two soul fragments. The soul fragments, appearing as shadows, trembled violently like ripples in water. The faces hidden in the dark ghostly aura were revealed, twisted in pain, and they let out agonizing screams that spread out like ripples. The servants outside the Purple String Pavilion, who were within thirty paces, felt their minds waver when they heard the screams. The Three Yang True Fire on their bodies emitted an invisible light, which instantly connected to form a bowl-shaped invisible barrier. The screams of the soul fragments hit the barrier, creating ripples like water droplets.