"That sleep Cultivation Technique of Taoist Miao Zhen’s sure seems like an Evil Technique!"
Taoist Zhi Qing and Taoist Zhi Xiu, two disciples from the Celestial Master’s Mansion, chatted as they walked together.
"Aren’t his fundamental techniques the *Innate Infinite Diagram* and the *Chen Ancestor’s Mystic Pointing Chapter*?" Taoist Zhi Xiu asked.
"They are. That sleep Cultivation Technique is a Dharma Gate he comprehended from the *Mystical Pointing Chapter*," Taoist Zhi Qing replied. "Don’t forget what Ancestor Chen was most famous for."
"Sleep cultivation?" Taoist Zhi Xiu knew, of course, which was why he was asking. "But Ancestor Chen’s sleep cultivation was only sleep in name. Wasn’t it actually a state of deep meditation?"
"As for the specific Refining Technique, I don’t know," Taoist Zhi Qing said, shaking his head. "But it’s very possible it involves entering a trance to let one’s Divine Soul roam as if in a dream, thereby tempering the Divine Soul."
Taoist Zhi Xiu nodded, then couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. "But that Dharma Gate is really convenient to use!"
Taoist Zhi Qing and Taoist Zhi Xiu had previously teamed up with Taoist Xi Ning and Taoist Miao Zhen to fight Demon Fiends, so they had witnessed their fighting styles.
Taoist Xi Ning was from the Quanzhen Huashan Sect, and his Dharma Gates were quite normal. But Taoist Miao Zhen, from the Chenzu Huashan sect, possessed a Profound Mysterious Skill that was truly stunning.
The Innate Diagram, the Infinite Diagram... Taoist Miao Zhen used these diagrams as his foundation and could single-handedly set up a formation.
His Shadow Puppets could plunge an opponent into a dreamscape of endless reincarnation, obliterating their Divine Soul.
Taoist Zhi Qing also laughed. "Brother Miao Zhen is unscrupulous. He cultivates a dream technique, so he can control dreams and wake up whenever he wants. When he pulls others into a dream cycle, however, he certainly won’t be waking them up himself."
Taoist Zhi Xiu roared with laughter, but he couldn’t help but sigh. "But the Magic is truly formidable. If you can’t wake up on your own, your Divine Soul will be annihilated in the endless dream cycle. You’d be utterly destroyed, body and soul."
"It’s certainly effective against Demons and Ghosts with low Mental Realms and unsteady Dao Hearts." Taoist Zhi Qing nodded, looking at a sinister mountain villa in the distance. "Unlike us. We can only face them head-on."
Taoist Zhi Xiu also looked at the sinister villa before them. "So the master of this villa is the one who, instigated by Lady of Illusion Flower, ambushed several Outer Disciples from our branch temple?"
Taoist Zhi Qing sneered, a grim look appearing on his usually cheerful, round face. "Killing people for Soul Refining, using humans for his Refining Technique... We hadn’t even gotten around to dealing with him, and he dares to provoke us first."
The two of them made no effort to conceal their auras, arriving openly at the villa’s entrance.
The next moment, the main gate swung open. A gust of Yin Qi surged out, brushing past them and lifting the corners of their robes.
"Hee hee hee..."
"Heh heh heh..."
"Keh keh keh..."
The sounds came one after another from behind the gate: a child’s giggle, an old man’s sinister chuckle, a woman’s crisp laugh, and a man’s cold sneer.
But when the two looked, all they could see was a sinister and silent courtyard. It had green bricks and black tiles, red pillars and white walls, carved beams and painted rafters, and a winding path leading into the depths.
The sunlight overhead seemed unable to penetrate the courtyard, leaving the scene dark and chilling.
"Daluo Palace?"
"Do you dare to enter?"
"Hurry up and leave. Send that Gao Yue over."
"You two small fry are no match for us, hee hee."
Taoist Zhi Qing and Taoist Zhi Xiu exchanged a glance. Seemingly unconcerned, they stepped into the small courtyard.
"SLAM!"
The next moment, the courtyard gate shut on its own.
The gentle atmosphere from outside vanished abruptly. The courtyard and the world outside became two separate realms; Taoist Zhi Qing and Taoist Zhi Xiu could no longer sense the slightest trace of the outside world.
"Hahaha! Didn’t I tell you these Mages from Daluo Palace are just gluttons for punishment?"
"Brother Sang is wise!"
"If we were outside, we might not have been able to stop them if they tried to run. But now that they’ve come inside, this is our home turf."
The air at the entrance of the main house suddenly rippled, and a figure gradually materialized. It was an old man in a white robe, with a gaunt and bony appearance.
The old man appeared human, but his eyes glowed with a green light. His gaze was like that of a vulture eyeing its prey, and the corners of his mouth curved into a mocking arc.
「Meanwhile...」
A burly man holding a giant axe pushed open the door to a side room. He slammed the butt of the axe handle on the ground, rubbed his stomach, and grinned at them.
A Child wearing a dudou leaped from a camphor tree onto the second-floor balcony. He sat on the railing, holding a rattle and playing with it by himself.
An old woman holding a cane emerged from the shadows of a wall. Hunched over, she coughed twice and gasped for breath, but never lifted her eyes.
There was also a cold and beautiful woman who looked as if she had just woken up. She leaned against the second-floor railing, lifted a silk handkerchief to cover a yawn, and then looked down at the two Taoists with indifference, as if they had just disturbed her rest.
Taoist Zhi Qing raised an eyebrow. ’These four—two Demon Fiends and two ghosts—all have impressive Cultivation. At the very least, they don’t seem like subordinates of that old man in white.’
Taoist Zhi Xiu glanced at the four of them, a smirk playing on his lips. "That’s a lot of Evil Qi. We’re in for a good haul."
Seeing their nonchalant attitude, the Child stopped playing with his rattle and asked curiously, "Aren’t you afraid?"
Taoist Zhi Qing smiled faintly. "Subduing Demon Fiends and killing ghosts is our stock-in-trade. Why should we be afraid?"
Taoist Zhi Xiu said flatly, "Enough nonsense. Let’s kill them quickly. We have to get to the next one."
Everyone: ???
They only saw Taoist Zhi Xiu open his mouth and form words, but no sound came out.
The next moment, the five of them felt something strange in their chests. It was as if a ball of fire had suddenly appeared, using their hearts as fuel, and begun to burn intensely, threatening to incinerate their hearts to ash.
"Ah!" The burly man was the first to break. He frantically circulated the Demon Power in his Body, sending it surging toward his heart to suppress the flame. Then, with a leap, he shot into the middle of the courtyard.
He raised his giant axe and swung it at Taoist Zhi Xiu.
But it was Taoist Zhi Qing who moved. He stretched out his right hand, and a bolt of violet-gold Thunderbolt covered his hand, extending outward to form a Thunder Axe.
Taoist Zhi Qing raised his hand and swung, and the Thunder Axe met the giant axe.
"BOOM!"
The two axes collided. An endless torrent of Thunderbolt traveled from the Thunder Axe to the giant axe and surged into the burly man’s Body.
With Heart Fire burning him from within and Thunderbolt invading his Body from without, the burly man could no longer hold on. His entire body was thrown backward.
His meridians shattered and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He crashed through the courtyard railing and collapsed onto the corridor, curled up and desperately circulating his Demon Power to suppress the Heart Fire and Thunderbolt. He was already out of the fight.
However, just as the burly man was sent flying, the attacks from the other three arrived.
The Child shook the rattle in his hand violently. The DRUM-DRUM-DRUM-DRUM... sound passed through their ears and directly into their minds.
The old crone tapped her cane, then suddenly vanished into the shadows. Taoist Zhi Qing and Taoist Zhi Xiu felt their own shadows begin to twist, and a tearing sensation washed over their bodies.
The woman vaulted over the railing, her body moving like a boneless snake. She flew toward Taoist Zhi Xiu, her five fingers spread wide, her nails extending a foot long as she clawed for his heart.
Only the old man in white had yet to move, but the Yin Qi throughout the villa suddenly thickened several times over, beginning to bind the movements of Taoist Zhi Qing and Taoist Zhi Xiu and slow their reactions.