Chapter 25

The ground was covered with blood beans, numbering in the hundreds, but only four or five could stand. From this, it was evident that Honglian's magical cultivation was quite inadequate. It was uncertain how many of the bean soldiers were real—now, the blood he flicked from his hand was significant!

The Eight Great Powers that penetrate heaven and earth, the bean soldiers move with ease; the yang blood rouses the troops, and the city is taken with ease!

Eighth Master, who had been around for many years and was no novice, could not wait for the blood to reach the bean soldiers in this critical moment. Seeing Honglian flick the blood, he suddenly changed his palm to a finger and thrust it into the air toward the pipe bowl—

"Decree!"

The pipe bowl leaped from the ground and began to spin in the air, forming an invisible soft wall with the surging wind—

The blood was deflected by the wall, and only a few drops splashed onto the bean soldiers!

"You..." The face of Heavenly Master Honglian changed several times, and he said in a fit of rage, "Good! Good! Good!" After uttering the three "goods," his face turned fierce: "Even without using yang blood to activate the bean soldiers, I can still take your life—kill him!"

He flipped his hand and took out a yellow cloth bag from his waist, drawing out a Heaven Measuring Ruler and lunging at Eighth Master!

Eighth Master laughed aloud and said, "Come on!" He waved his hand in front of him—

The pipe bowl flew back into his hand with a snap!

The sixteen bean soldiers, now all receiving orders from Heavenly Master Honglian, rushed over and surrounded Eighth Master in an instant!

What a man, Eighth Master!

Even a deity would retreat a few steps in such a situation, but Eighth Master calmly lit the pipe bowl, took a deep draw as if drinking from a long straw, and his belly swelled like a toad, his cheeks bulging, giving him the appearance of a man with a million troops in his chest! He clasped his hands together, his fingers moving like wheels, forming the Mount Sumeru Vajra Seal in an instant, and shouted:

"Yin rushes! Yang combines! Hold the power of life and death!—Soldiers!"

He blew out a breath!

A thick, heavy smoke shot out of his mouth like a sword, rushing and gushing, striking the surrounding bean soldiers, and creating countless holes in them!

With just a turn and a puff of smoke, the sixteen bean soldiers were riddled with holes and utterly destroyed, resembling scarecrows in a field!

Honglian's face turned deathly pale, and he knew it was bad—though he knew Eighth Master's powers were deep, he never expected them to reach this level...

He had broken the bean soldiers with just a mouthful of elixir energy!

He didn't see the countless black ashes falling in the white smoke, all of which had been spewed out with the smoke from the pipe bowl.

The bean soldiers then fell to the ground, their bodies withering and shrinking at a visible speed, soon turning into a pile of scorched grass stalks, which quickly mixed with the river mud.

Shocked, Honglian dared not advance, standing there unsure of what to do, neither advancing nor retreating... Eighth Master took a few steps forward, waved his hand to disperse the thick smoke, and said with a snort:

"Is that enough? This way, we've had our match. You've used your techniques, and it's come to this. Why must we fight to the death... Let's call it a day and settle old scores later?"

Honglian stared at Eighth Master's smiling, wrinkled face and spat out a few words through his teeth:

"Go!"

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Watching Heavenly Master Honglian and his men leave, Zunzunbao had a vague idea: the incantations used by Honglian and Grandma Yan seemed to have a common origin, suggesting that the person Honglian was looking for might be Yan and her granddaughter.

If Yan and her grandmother had saved him, and he had accidentally foiled their plans with his master, could this be considered a cycle of cause and effect?

These thoughts swirled in Zunzunbao's mind, and he was about to ask his master for an explanation when he noticed Eighth Master's grim expression. Fox Lady and Cheng San, who were using the yin coffin to nurture ghosts, also came over, concerned:

"Huh? Eighth Master, what's wrong with you?"

Eighth Master smiled and waved his hand, "It's nothing, just a bit of true essence was injured..."

"Bullshit!" Witch Mazarod interrupted, "Your technique to break the bean soldiers wasn't really using true essence, was it? Though your cultivation is higher, you haven't reached the level where you can generate power with a breath—be honest, did you use something else?"

"Ha, can't hide it from you," Eighth Master smiled bitterly, "There are only two ways to break the bean soldiers: either cut them down with a sword or kill them with a spell. I'm too old to fight, and I didn't have a spell ready, so I used a yin technique."

"You mean..." Everyone had a hunch about what he was going to say but waited for him to continue—Eighth Master nodded, "Yes, I put the chana water in the pipe bowl, inhaled the tobacco, and then exhaled it, which allowed me to break the bean soldiers."

Everyone was furious, especially Cheng San, "How could you do that? Eighth Master, chana water is a deadly poison when heated, and ordinary people dare not touch it. You actually dared to inhale it and exhale it? Isn't that suicide? If I had known, I would have killed him right away!"

"That's what you think! I had no choice... Forget it, we'll talk about it later," he waved Zunzunbao over, "Bao'er, come here." He winked, "Let's not mention it."

With that, everyone had to let it go, but the anger still lingered, and they glared at him.

Zunzunbao ran over, seeing his master's pale face, he felt uneasy, "Master, what's wrong? Don't scare me, okay? I'm scared!" Though he didn't understand the situation from the uncles in the ghost market, his master's pale face made him uneasy, not to mention the three fires on his body seemed dimmer...

"Scared of what!" Eighth Master put on his usual angry face, "I broke that guy with a single breath, as easy as a fart. What's there to worry about? Now, let me check if you're hurt."

Ignoring everyone's gazes, he examined Zunzunbao, who let him do as he pleased. After a few moments, Zunzunbao, remembering his master's words, asked casually:

"Master, you said you broke him with a single breath... Why did you say it was like a fart?"

This was amusing, and the group of angry ghost market people burst into laughter!

"I, I... You little brat, you're actually making fun of your master?" Eighth Master flicked Zunzunbao's head, glaring, "Do you want to go hungry today?"

"Ha ha ha..."

Laughter dispelled the gloom!

But the gloom left a mark in everyone's heart, foreshadowing that peaceful days wouldn't last long...

Zunzunbao felt the same. He had made his master and the uncles laugh, but a heavy weight pressed on his heart, knowing that his master had greatly shortened his lifespan for him and the ghosts... He also blamed himself for being powerless. If he had the skills and magic, he could have protected his master from this danger.

Skills! Magic! This was what he needed to learn!

At a young age, he had only this much, but once the idea took root in his mind, it grew uncontrollably... The goal was simple, but the path was incredibly difficult!

The sun rose, and the world came to life. When the group returned to the ghost market, the sky was gradually turning white, and the crows in the trees began to chirp, their hoarse calls echoing through the mist. The vast sky changed color, the stars disappeared, and the entire Que'er Mountain gradually came into view.

All living things came to life, but the night of the ghost market was about to begin.

Luo Dagu had already prepared a thick porridge, along with freshly baked coarse bread and pickles. The group gathered at Lu Fatso's tavern to eat, and Feng San was among them.

After eating two breads and half a bowl of porridge, he couldn't eat any more. He patted his belly and went to the courtyard to practice boxing, claiming he wanted to lose weight. His punches and kicks created a breeze, annoying everyone:

"Damn! You've kicked up all the leaves and stones, making the ground dusty—how are we supposed to eat?"

Eighth Master, who had been resting under a tree after eating, couldn't help but comment:

"Exactly! Feng San, if you don't sit down nicely, you'll be the one getting beaten up!"

Feng San laughed sheepishly and walked back, but after a few steps, he suddenly exclaimed, his face full of surprise:

"Look, the sun, what's happening to the sun?"

"What's happening?" The group stood up and ran to the courtyard, looking east through the roof...

They saw that the edge of the rising sun had a deep black line!

The black line grew larger, gradually covering half the sun, and as time passed, it continued to advance, like a giant beast slowly swallowing the sun!

Bit by bit, the entire sun turned into a black ball, with only a few edges still glowing, the center completely dark!

Eighth Master and Fox Lady exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes—

"...Coffin lid, lotus shadow, bird closing its eyes, swallowing the golden pill..."

If they hadn't guessed it, this was the "swallowing the golden pill" mentioned in the Jiazi scriptures!

PS: In ancient alchemy, mercury has numerous names: chana, xuan water, Lingyangzi Ming, the red emperor's pearl, the long-lived son, the red-blooded general, etc., over fifty hidden names; and sulfur has: stone pavilion fat, yellow sprout, yellow flower, general, yang marquis, sun powder, mountain unstop, legal yellow, yellow candle, etc., over thirty hidden names.

Mercury vapor is highly toxic when heated, but alchemists and Taoists, due to prolonged exposure to cinnabar, develop a slight resistance, making them slightly better off than ordinary people.