The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 229 - 162 Gunshots in the Night

Chapter 229: Chapter 162 Gunshots in the Night

Since ancient times, it was passed down that rhinoceros horns possess the ability to communicate with spirits.

The "Jin Book" mentions a story:

The minister Wen Jiao returned to Wuchang, and when he reached Niuzhuji, he found the waters too deep to fathom. Local legends spoke of many monsters beneath, so Wen Jiao ordered someone to ignite a rhinoceros horn to inspect the area.

Soon, the water monsters appeared to snuff out the light, all in bizarre shapes, including some riding horse-drawn carriages and clad in red garments.

Wen Jiao found this quite curious, but that very night he dreamt of a person angrily saying to him, "You and I are separate in life and death, not disturbing each other. Why then, did you come to shine a light on us?"

Later, Wen Jiao suffered a stroke and passed away in less than ten days.

It’s like they say, curiosity killed the cat.

And in the "Yi Yuan" of the Southern Dynasties, it’s also said: One dares not to burn a living rhinoceros horn, for once ignited, it emits a peculiar fragrance that can stick to clothes, allowing humans to communicate with ghosts.

Since then, the ability of the rhinoceros horn to communicate with spirits has become widely known among the common folks.

Even detecting deceit was referred to as "igniting rhino" or "rhino inspection."

Later, many people, also curious, burnt rhinoceros horns but saw nothing, assuming it was all baseless talk and laughed it off.

Of course, they didn’t know that ordinary rhinoceros horns are useless.

The Hidden Treasure Man, Zhao Lvzi, once spoke of this affair to Li Yan.

Divine State has had rhinoceroses since ancient times, classified as Mountain Rhinoceros and Water Rhinoceros.

Water Rhinoceros live by the riverbanks, possessing spirituality. Once they attain Dao, they eat only poisonous plants. They are gentle by nature and help detoxify those poisoned.

Such a Spirit Beast is called a Tongtian Rhinoceros.

Only the horn of a Tongtian Rhinoceros can communicate with ghosts and gods.

However, possessing valuable treasures leads to crime, and such good-natured Spirit Beasts were thus extensively hunted.

To what extent were they hunted?

The "National Language" records, Gou Jian rebuked Fu Chai saying: today Fu Chai dons the armor made of Water Rhinoceros, numbering three thousand, not ashamed of their little ambition, but fearful of their insufficient numbers.

One is a rebuke of his lack of principles,

the other is a rebuke of his army.

This army was established using ancient secret techniques, clad in Water Rhinoceros armor, capable of commanding spirits and monsters along the way. As they marched, fierce winds blew and pebbles flew, making them appear and disappear like gods and ghosts.

And they weren’t the only ones playing this game.

To this day, Water Rhinoceroses have become extremely rare, only bred in the Cave Heaven Blessed Land of Wu and Yue, viewing it as a fortunate mascot.

On normal days, it detoxifies people using the power of the Tongtian Rhinoceros, and only when the Spirit Beast ages and dies does they harvest its horn and skin, which are used for making Magic Artifacts.

Such precious Tongtian Rhinoceros horns, naturally, make Soul Summoning Incense expensive as well.

Even so, it was after the opening of the sea that Tongtian Rhinoceroses were captured from other places, which drove down the prices.

Of course, Soul Summoning Incense also has grades.

High-quality goods not only contain more rhinoceros horn powder but also require decades of incense offering, imbued with exceptional spiritual charm.

When ignited, they can reveal ghosts and gods, substituting for Yin Yang Eyes.

The quality Li Yan had was the lowest, only capable of attracting nearby Yin entities.

Whew~

The tip of the Soul Summoning Incense flickered, and sudden cold winds arose around it.

Twelve Lotus Lamps also swayed uncertainly.

Li Yan sat cross-legged, feeling a chill surge to his heart, as if he were in the Netherworld, even the sound of the wind and snow outside the cave grew fainter.

Finally, utter silence.

Between heaven and earth, it seemed only these twelve lamps guarded the Divine Soul.

This is the "North Emperor’s Yin Mountain Technique"!

The Yin Mountain it refers to is not a mountain range in the mortal world, but the Yin Mountain of the Netherworld, rumored to be the dwelling of Yama, ruler of the ten directions.

Put simply, this technique artificially creates an environment resembling that of the Yin Bureau.

The practice of cultivation emphasizes the unity of heaven and man, therefore, the "Luo Feng Scripture" states that when constructing towers, one must enter the spiritual acupoint within the Cave Heaven Blessed Land. Only there, with the dense Innate Astral Qi, can the construction be successful.

Now, Li Yan is using this artificially created land imbued with Yin Evil Qi to force the Luo Feng Mountain within his Storing God to ascend, maintaining the balance of Yin Yang, and making the building swiftly grow stronger.

Whew~

The wind and snow outside the cave grew heavier.

On the snow-covered ground, countless faint footprints appeared and were quickly covered by the wind and snow, only for more to appear soon after.

The scent of the Soul Summoning Incense attracted a congregation of ghosts from the Chaotic Burial Mound.

Yet, all the Yin entities only stayed at the entrance of the cave.

Cultivating this method cannot do without the Guardian Treasure.

On the magic platform, the Three Talents Demon Suppression Coin, Hook Paper, and Divine Tiger Token were arranged in sequence, their auras constantly overflowing, preventing the crowd of ghosts from daring to cross even half a step.

However, the real threat was not from them.

The Yin Evil Qi from the Chaotic Burial Mound continually accumulated, causing abnormalities in the cave: cold surged around, and the lighting grew increasingly dim.

The darkness seemed to transform into a living entity, attempting to devour this piece of light.

The twelve Lotus Lamps served as both guardians and representations of Li Yan’s Divine Soul.

At this moment, the lamp flames were suppressed to the size of mung beans, as if they could be extinguished at any moment.

Li Yan walked alone in the boundless darkness, indistinct rustling sounds around his ears, an indescribable fear continually surging in his heart.

The North Emperor’s Scripture states: Those who practice this method must possess great fearlessness and grand Qi Fortune!

Setting aside Qi Fortune for now, Li Yan practiced this method purely with the mindset of "worst comes to worst, just extinguishing one soul fire," effectively disregarding life or death.

He tightly guarded his mind, constantly changing the hand gestures he formed.

Intricate and dazzling.

This was the Heavenly Stems Earthly Branches spell.

Hands covertly aligned with the Heavenly Mechanism of Yin Yang, such as the Zi character at the base of the ring finger, the Chou character at the base of the middle finger, the Yin character at the base of the index finger...

A cycle of gestures symbolizes the transformation of Heavenly destiny.

And the Jia character at the lower end of the index finger, the Yi character at the middle of the ring finger, the Bing character at the upper end of the index finger...

A cycle of gestures represents the Earthly Branches and Heavenly Stems, the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, all deployed within the palms.

This is what the "Yin Fu Scripture" states:

"The universe lies in the hands, myriad transformations are born from the body!"

A cycle of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches transpired, and the Luo Feng Mountain within the Storing God also subtly rose a notch, instantly elevating the Yin Qi, causing the divinities within the building to flicker uncertainly.

This was the most perilous moment!

Li Yan tightly guarded his mind, not daring to slacken in the slightest.

He placed the tip of his thumb at the base of the ring finger, the other four fingers curved, tightly gripping the thumb, with the five fingers forming a ring, aligning with the principle of the mutual generation within the Five Elements.