Xiaolin Town. Zhao Rucheng and Du Yehu had lost their combat abilities. Ling He was carrying Zhao Rucheng on his back, so on the way back to the central palace position, only Jiang Wang was able to take action. Fortunately, by this time, he had already gained considerable experience in dealing with the wandering souls, and the Purple Qi from the East Sword Technique had become increasingly proficient through this continuous combat.
There was no need to worry about stamina. Since returning from Tangshe Town and cultivating the Chong pulse, he had accumulated more than seventy Dao energy units. Although using one would mean having one less before the formation of the Dao vortex, each unit could provide him with sufficient feedback in critical moments, and sustaining this level of intense combat pressure was not a problem. In fact, these Dao energy units were the real reason he was determined to bring the four of them to break the Xun Palace position. He just didn't expect Zhao Rucheng to suddenly encounter danger, and Du Yehu to act so decisively.
"I say, don't all of you always look so gloomy," Zhao Rucheng couldn't help but speak up after a while. "It's just an excessive loss of blood and energy; there are ways to remedy it."
"What ways?" Before Du Yehu could respond, Ling He became excited first, shaking Zhao Rucheng's hand vigorously. "Tell us quickly."
While clearing the wandering souls, Jiang Wang couldn't help but glance at him, really wanting to give him a couple of sword strikes. This guy, if he had a solution, why didn't he speak up earlier? He had been holding back all along.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're making my handsome head dizzy," Zhao Rucheng finally managed to calm down his 'temporary mount' and continued, "I happen to know that someone recently bought a Gu Yuan Dan from Yun Country at a high price and is looking to resell it. This pill has a remarkable effect on nurturing blood and energy and stabilizing one's foundation. Some noble children even take a Gu Yuan Dan before opening their meridians, so that the Dao meridians and true spirits will be more agile after opening the meridians! Not to mention Du Tiger's mere excessive loss of blood and energy."
"I just don't know..." He even curled up the corners of his mouth, "whether certain people are willing to buy."
Du Yehu paused for a moment before grunting, "I don't have money."
"You can borrow from me. It's an industry rule, nine out and thirteen back," Zhao Rucheng said with a smile.
"Usury is fine, Brother Hu likes usury," Du Yehu seemingly naively laughed.
"Enough, enough," Jiang Wang had a headache, everyone in Fenglin City who was in the usury business knew that Du Yehu was notorious for not repaying his loans. In Du Tiger's words, since these usurers were not good people, it was fine to swindle some money for wine. If it weren't for his background in the Daoist Academy, he would have been thrown into the moat long ago.
"Little Five, who is that person? How much silver are they willing to sell for?"
Jiang Wang had already secretly decided that no matter how much the person asked for, he would find a way to gather the money.
"The person who got the Gu Yuan Dan, it turns out, has the surname Zhao. Isn't that a coincidence?" Zhao Rucheng dramatically sighed, "And even more coincidentally, he is actually someone from my household. This is just too coincidental!"
Jiang Wang took a deep breath, reminding himself that Old Five was severely injured and could easily be killed. Only then did he control his urge to hit someone.
This guy had been beating around the bush for so long, only to say that he had a Gu Yuan Dan at home that could compensate for Du Yehu's loss. Just this one sentence had kept his brothers on tenterhooks for half an incense stick's time.
Even someone as tolerant as Ling He felt a toothache.
However, with this assurance, everyone felt much more relieved. As they were talking, they had already returned to the central palace position.
Li Jianqiu and Zhao Lang had been waiting here, discussing something with Wang Changxiang. There were also some other fellow disciples present, and none of them were in good shape. Wei Yan had gone to support the position of the Palace of Dui, which was the only array point that had not yet been broken.
"Brother Jiang did a good job," Li Jianqiu casually greeted.
Wang Changxiang also nodded at him.
"Shame on me, it was all thanks to Brother Yehu and Rucheng's outburst," Jiang Wang said with a wry smile.
In front of the main forces, he modestly took a backseat. The most important thing at this stage was for them to successfully open their meridians. The reason he didn't mention Ling He was because Du Yehu and Zhao Rucheng's conditions were more convincing.
Ling He also didn't mind at all.
Li Jianqiu and the others were all battle-hardened and could tell at a glance what state Du Yehu was in, and they were secretly shocked by his powerful blood and energy.
"Once Wei Yan comes back, we will go straight into the central palace," Wang Changxiang said, "Everyone has shown great bravery in this battle against evil. Fenglin City will not forget your contributions, and the Daoist Academy will not forget your merits."
"Exactly!" As he spoke, Wei Yan emerged from the dense fog, followed by three Daoist Academy disciples. Two other disciples did not appear, and it seemed they had met an unfortunate end.
The fierce battle was not limited to the Xun Palace position. Apart from Wei Yan and Li Jianqiu, who almost effortlessly dealt with the resentful ghost at their positions, the other teams all had casualties. There were eleven deaths, with a nearly fifty percent fatality rate! The survivors were almost all injured. Even Zhao Lang had narrowly escaped being gutted, leaving a grotesque wound on his abdomen.
Had it not been for Wang Changxiang, who was stationed in front of the central palace and timely coordinated the situation, this team action might not have succeeded.
Wei Yan said solemnly, "If we can return from this battle, I will be the first to ask for rewards for everyone."
"The danger of this battle was beyond my expectation. But now that Fenglin City's combat forces are weakened, only you all are capable of fighting," he continued, and to everyone's surprise, he bent down and bowed, "I am speaking on behalf of the wrongfully deceased souls of Xiaolin Town and the people of Fenglin City. I thank you all for your bloody sacrifices!"
"Brother Wei, you are being too polite," Li Jianqiu said.
Everyone quickly stepped aside, unwilling to accept such a bow.
"What is General Wei saying? You are from Fenglin City; are we not also born and raised here?" Du Yehu was dissatisfied, "Stop with the empty courtesies. Time is of the essence!"
In such a weakened state, this guy still couldn't hide his boldness.
Wei Yan looked at him deeply, raised his knife, and turned around, "This fellow disciple is right. Everyone, follow me and charge! Let's see who the evil beings are that have been tormenting our fellow townspeople here!"
With the eight palaces broken, the fog wall at the central palace position also lost its foundation and silently collapsed, no longer blocking the way. However, the dense fog still lingered, always obscuring the vision.
Wei Yan took the lead, Li Jianqiu and Wang Changxiang protected the left and right sides, and although Zhao Lang was injured, his overall combat strength was intact, so he sat at the end of the team. The group moved forward cautiously, fully on guard, exploring the central palace position.
At this point, the danger of Xiaolin Town needed no further words. After experiencing the hardships of killing the resentful ghost at the other eight palace positions, everyone had some imagination of the evil at the central palace position.
Those evil beings who had been causing trouble in Xiaolin Town, if they had any intentions, must be at this central place.
This group could be said to represent the hope of the younger generation of Fenglin City. If they all died in battle here, it could be said that the entire Fenglin City Daoist Academy would be left with no successors.
But no one spoke of retreating. The road ahead was indeed dangerous and terrifying, but this was their hometown!
They were born here, grew up here, learned here, and were willing to die here.
In addition to Zhao Rucheng and Du Yehu, three other Daoist Academy disciples had also lost their combat abilities. Xiaolin Town was so perilous, of course, they could not be left behind. Therefore, Ling He continued to carry Zhao Rucheng and moved forward in the team, and Huang Azhan, as Du Yehu's old drinking buddy, also guarded him on the side.
Unlike the almost exhausted Du Yehu, Huang Azhan was full of energy. In the previous battle, he was also one of the few who were unscathed, showing that he did have some strength and was not just all show.
The team was moving forward when Huang Azhan suddenly stopped. He sniffed hard and said, "I smell something fragrant."
The team paused accordingly.
He continued, "It's the scent of a woman's rouge... no, it's body fragrance."
Everyone looked at him sideways.
He added, "A beautiful woman."
Du Yehu said irritably, "Do you have a dog's nose?"
"Ah! A beautiful female ghost!" Zhao Rucheng became excited all at once, "I told you there would be some, right? Du Tiger, you owe me a romantic encounter!"
No one paid attention to these two clowns because they had already reached the very center of Xiaolin Town and saw that huge, swirling vortex.
Apart from that, there was nothing else at the central palace position.
The woman in red, the old man with white hair, the black-robed cultivators, as if they had never appeared.
It was not just that they did not exist. No people, no livestock, not even a single brick or tile. Besides the endless dense fog, there was only this strange, lonely vortex.
"Where is the official yamen? What is this vortex?"
No one could answer this question. Only Wang Changxiang's eyes widened in shock!
"Do you recognize it, Brother Wang?" Wei Yan held his knife on guard and asked in a deep voice.
But his question was soon answered.
Because from the profound darkness at the center of the vortex, a pitch-black object slowly emerged.
Seeing something black from the darkness is, in itself, a very awkward description. But that was the case.
The pitch-black object, amidst the darkness, seemed like the center of the darkness, yet it allowed everyone to see its form. As it rose bit by bit in the vortex, its entire appearance gradually revealed itself to everyone.
It was a stone archway, not grand in style, just a three-bay, four-pillar, seven-story structure. If one ignored its pitch-black texture and the context of its appearance, it was no different from the archways people commonly saw.
But the plaque in the center of the archway already spoke of its extraordinariness.
It had three characters written on it. No one at the scene recognized the font, but everyone understood its meaning at first glance.
——Ghost! Gate! Pass!