Chapter 5: Thunder Method to Break Fate

Xu Changqing moved a table from the main room and placed it outside the mortuary, then covered it with a yellow cloth. He simply set up an incense burner, placed seven century-old peachwood swords and a green jade gourd on the left side of the incense burner, and sixty spirit dispersing talismans and sixty copper coins on the right side. Although Xu Changqing had repeatedly said he would deal with the Nine Lives True Lord, it was merely to reassure the old Taoist priest. The Nine Lives True Lord was highly skilled and adept at hiding; if his attack missed, he would flee a thousand miles away. Therefore, Xu Changqing would not act without a foolproof plan.

The most pressing matter at hand was to deal with the fifty-nine walking corpses and one copper-armored corpse. Since the old Taoist priest led the walking corpses to travel underground during the day, this not only accumulated the yang energy of the day but also stimulated the corpse qi within the walking corpses. If the corpse qi was not promptly guided out, the walking corpses would transform into zombies. Although Xu Changqing was not afraid of these mindless zombies, having a group of walking corpses jumping around was not a pleasant situation.

Xu Changqing's request to increase the price fivefold was not excessive. Apart from the dan medicines needed to expel the corpse qi and restore cultivation, the seven century-old peachwood swords alone accounted for half of the payment. It took him seven days to draw the sixty spirit dispersing talismans, using spirit-infused talisman paper and high-quality cinnabar. The sixty copper coins were all Kaiyuan Tongbao coins cast during the fifth month, day, and hour of the yang period in the fifth year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, and the coins carried the ascending yang energy of the Tang Dynasty, making them extremely precious. Over the years, Xu Changqing's sect had only found eighty-one such coins, forming a perfect nine-nine pure yang number. Each use required the coins to be warmed by heart fire for seven days to restore their efficacy. Since taking over the mortuary, Xu Changqing had only used these coins three times. This time, if it were not for the respect for the Zhong family's earth tunneling secret technique, he would not have used these coins.

After all preparations were made, Xu Changqing washed his hands, tidied his clothes, and stood facing the sixty corpses with his hands hanging down, silently reciting a calming mantra. After reciting, he took out three incense sticks, lit them, and offered them to the heavens and earth, then formed a sword finger and pointed at the talismans, saying, "Rise!"

Immediately, the sixty talismans flew up and neatly arranged themselves above the corpses. Xu Changqing then dipped the copper coins in cinnabar and flicked them one by one at the corpses, the coins flying straight to the throats of the corpses and firmly sticking there, as if they had grown there naturally. He then pointed at the three incense sticks in the incense burner, and the sparks on the incense sticks burst into three fireballs, which merged in the air and became one. He immediately pointed at the talismans and recited, "Heaven and Earth's righteous energy, the universe converges, divine soldiers act swiftly as the law commands!"

Following Xu Changqing's command, the fireball in the air split into sixty small fireballs, which ignited the talismans. Although the flames from the talismans were not intense, they enveloped the fireballs, turning the sixty fireballs into white light balls. Xu Changqing turned his sword finger, and the light balls spun and fell, merging with the copper coins on the throats of the corpses. The light balls seemed to use the copper coins as a channel, pouring into the bodies of the corpses. Green corpse qi began to rise from the heads of the corpses, and the corpse qi of the copper-armored corpse was dark green, seemingly reluctant to leave the body, struggling to fall down. However, whenever the corpse qi was about to return to the body of the copper-armored corpse, the copper coins would emit a stronger light, repelling the corpse qi.

This stalemate did not last long. Xu Changqing quickly picked up the green jade gourd from the table, opened the stopper, and aimed it at the corpse qi above the corpses, silently reciting a spell, saying, "Collect!"

The mouth of the gourd seemed to generate a powerful suction, drawing the corpse qi into the gourd. Although the corpse qi of the copper-armored corpse resisted, it was ultimately defeated and sucked into the gourd. After all the corpse qi was absorbed, Xu Changqing dabbed a bit of cinnabar on the mouth of the gourd, inserted the stopper, and finally attached a soul-sealing talisman, ending the ritual to expel the corpse qi.

The task was not yet complete. Xu Changqing still needed to use the seven peachwood swords to set up a small Seven-Star Spirit Sword Soul Locking Array on the copper-armored corpse to thoroughly subdue its true spirit, preventing it from causing trouble on the way back to Xiangxi. As Xu Changqing was about to apply cinnabar to the seven peachwood swords, he suddenly stopped, turned his head to look in the direction where Chen Tao and the others had left, frowned slightly, and sighed, muttering to himself, "Not listening to advice, they deserve this! But with my Six Yang Tea protecting their spirits, who could possibly take away their souls?" He lightly raised his eyebrows, pinched his fingers, and calculated for a moment. After a while, a cold smile appeared on his face, and he said, "Well, Nine Lives True Lord, I haven't come to trouble you, but you are already plotting against me! I'll take one of your lives and let you taste the power!"

As Xu Changqing spoke, he selected a peachwood sword, formed a sword finger, and quickly drew the Five Thunders God Symbol on it, then pointed it in the direction of the mountain city, saying, "Go!"

Driven by Xu Changqing's pure Upper Qing Dao power, the peachwood sword, imbued with the Five Thunders Symbol, flew out of his hand, transforming into a white light and disappearing into the darkness in an instant. A bolt of lightning suddenly struck in the direction where the peachwood sword had disappeared, accompanied by a piercing scream, as if someone had been struck by lightning.

"Trying to escape after being found?" Xu Changqing sneered, immediately crouched down, and placed his hand on the ground, reciting, "Four Earth Spirits, heed my command, divine soldiers act swiftly as the law commands, the spell shows its power, trap!"

As Xu Changqing recited the spell, he rapidly circulated the Upper Qing Ninefold True Essence within his body, transforming it into Dao power and infusing it into the ground. As the Dao power spread, red-glowing Earth Sealing Boundary Spells quickly spread across the ground, silently enveloping the entire Chen Family Village, sinking into the earth and disappearing, as if nothing had happened.

Xu Changqing's lineage had lived in Chen Family Village with the Chen family for over a hundred years, always in a semi-reclusive state. Although they were called "leisurely people," they were all restless individuals, each generation causing many enemies while searching for celestial and earthly spiritual objects. Those who knew the identity of the Nine Streams Leisurely People and pursued them to Chen Family Village were all highly skilled in Daoist magic and had deep backgrounds. To prevent the enmity from growing, the first mortuary owner began to set up Earth Sealing Boundary Spells in the area around Chen Family Village, trapping those targeted by the divine spells to prevent them from causing harm, making the enemies retreat.

Although Xu Changqing had already located the Nine Lives True Lord, he did not plan to deal with him immediately. The Nine Lives True Lord was a notorious old demon, and Xu Changqing had only caught him off guard, eliminating one of his life souls. If they were to face each other in a direct confrontation, Xu Changqing, who was not well-prepared, might suffer a mutual defeat. Therefore, Xu Changqing decided to put the matter aside for now, first to give himself time to prepare the necessary magical tools, second to make the Nine Lives True Lord panic, and third to punish Chen Tao and the others. In Xu Changqing's view, if not for Chen Tao's sudden intervention, he would not have had to resolve this matter so quickly. Although he could gain significant merit and enhance his true essence Dao power, acting passively was not to his liking.

Xu Changqing stood up, dusted off his clothes, and clapped his hands. At this moment, the old Taoist priest, wrapped in a towel, rushed out of the mortuary and asked urgently, "Changqing, what happened just now? That scream sounded like the Nine Lives True Lord's voice?"

"Nothing! I just eliminated one of the Nine Lives' life souls. Now he can only call himself the Eight Lives True Lord." Xu Changqing's expression was calm, as if he had done something trivial, leaving the old Taoist priest speechless. Xu Changqing ignored the old Taoist priest's reaction, picked up the remaining six peachwood swords, and said, "I used one to teach the Nine Lives a lesson, so now there are only six left, not enough to form the small Seven-Star Spirit Sword Soul Locking Array. I'll change it to the Six Yang Evil-Dispelling Array instead! Although it will slightly damage the copper-armored corpse, as long as I bury it in a Yin Earth site for forty-nine days, it will recover."

"You decide!" The old Taoist priest regained his composure, took a deep breath, and said, "You are better at corpse cultivation than this old man!" He then asked suspiciously, "Has your cultivation improved more this year?"

"No!" Xu Changqing said with a regretful look, "You should know that at our level, the Nine Streams Leisurely People can only break through by finding celestial and earthly spiritual objects or other external forces to reach the Golden Elixir stage of transforming qi into spirit. This year, I have only refined my Dao power and true essence to be more pure and improved my skill in using Daoist magic."

The old Taoist priest nodded slightly. Since the previous generation of mortuary owners, he had been acquainted with the Nine Streams Leisurely People. Over the years, he had learned that the descendants of this lineage were all unknown geniuses, but the conditions for becoming a successor were very strict, resulting in a small number of people. Additionally, the Upper Qing Ninefold Golden Elixir Great Method they practiced was not entirely the same as the Golden Elixir Method of the Maoshan Upper Qing Sect. This method, improved by the previous generation of the Nine Streams Leisurely People, was far more effective than the original method, allowing practitioners to quickly reach the peak of transforming essence into qi, just one step away from forming a Golden Elixir. However, to advance further, they needed external assistance to form the Elixir. This method not only had many restrictions on the practitioners but also a life-or-death deadline: if they could not form a Golden Elixir by the age of forty, their true essence would dissipate within a month, leading to their death.

Like the old Taoist priest, who had a close relationship with the mortuary owner, he had also tried to find celestial and earthly spiritual objects for the mortuary owner, but such objects were rare and unpredictable, even in ancient times when the earth's qi was abundant. How much more so in the current chaotic world.

The old Taoist priest patted Xu Changqing's shoulder comfortingly and said, "The blind man Wang from Laoshan once read your bones and predicted that you are the most resilient among the generations of the Nine Streams Leisurely People. I believe the turning point for the Nine Streams Leisurely People will be in your hands."

"Unfortunately, Wang couldn't even predict his own fate and was killed by a low-ranking prostitute!" Xu Changqing put away his unusual expression, returning to his usual cold and aloof demeanor, and said coldly, "Do you think the predictions of such a person can be trusted?"

The old Taoist priest awkwardly smiled, used the cold weather as an excuse, and returned to the mortuary room to continue soaking the glutinous rice, no longer disturbing Xu Changqing's ritual.

Xu Changqing took the remaining six peachwood swords and walked to the copper-armored corpse. The copper coins on the throat of the corpse still emitted a faint red glow, and most of the corpse qi inside the corpse had been absorbed, reducing the previously expanded Heavenly Net and Earth Web. After a careful inspection, Xu Changqing took out cinnabar and applied it to the Three Thousand Red Dust Threads, which had become dark due to the corpse qi. He then moved to the back of the copper-armored corpse and felt for the only yang meridian on its body.

The reason the copper-armored corpse could be possessed was because it had a yang meridian that other zombies did not have. After the corpse was possessed, the cultivator needed to control the copper-armored corpse through this yang meridian until the cultivator's true spirit fully merged with the corpse. Living beings face yang and back yin, while walking corpses are the opposite, facing yin and back yang. The Six Yang Evil-Dispelling Array would use the yang meridian on the back of the copper-armored corpse to lock the yin body, but this would cause excessive yang fire, damaging the yin body. To restore it, the copper-armored corpse would need to be buried in a Yin Earth site to be nurtured.

Although Xu Changqing had no experience in finding the yang meridian of a copper-armored corpse, he quickly found it based on the experience passed down from his sect. After confirming the location, Xu Changqing immediately performed the ritual, reciting the spell, circulating his true essence, and infusing Dao power into the six century-old peachwood swords. He then spat out a mouthful of true yang qi and quickly inserted the swords into the body of the corpse along the yang meridian.

As the peachwood swords were inserted, the yin body of the copper-armored corpse instinctively sensed danger and began to tremble, as if trying to break free. Xu Changqing did not let it act, turned around, bit his left middle finger, and dabbed a bit of yang blood on the copper coin at the throat, and recited, "Yang energy stabilizes the universe, red blood dispels all evil, seal!"

The copper coin, now dotted with yang blood, became even redder, and the red dust threads around the corpse emitted a faint red glow. Soon, the copper-armored corpse stopped struggling, and the corpse qi became very faint, making it difficult to distinguish from other walking corpses if not carefully observed.

Xu Changqing looked at the now stable copper-armored corpse and his injured middle finger, sighed, and said regretfully, "What a loss! This time, it's really a loss!"

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