At this moment, in the courtyard outside the main hall of the Daoist temple, the Daoist priests were brandishing their swords, performing the “Tiangang Grand Sword Array.”
The priests, their green robes fluttering in the wind, stepped into the positions of the Big Dipper constellation. Standing with swords in hand, they leapt into the air from time to time, their blades flashing repeatedly and dazzling the eyes of the guests.
“Wonderful!” Madame Ruan was the first to clap and cheer, praising them, “It is clear that the immortal masters are truly capable.”
Sitting just below the Imperial Concubine, Cui Kechang cupped his hands toward the guests and said, “Everyone, you flatter us. It is merely a small performance to entertain you all.”
“Doctor Cui is too modest,” a person nearby chimed in. “If a mere amusement is already this exquisite, wouldn’t their true, life and death signature skills be even more formidable if unleashed?”
Lu’e stared unblinkingly at the martial artists, curling her lip as she muttered, “If you ask me, all of their skills combined aren’t even half as good as Miss Yi’s.”
Madame Ruan shot her a glare. Lu’e stuck out her tongue with a playful grin and fell silent.
“Speaking of which, why hasn’t Miss Yi returned yet?” Madame Ruan turned to Feng Hanyu, who was sitting to the side watching the performance. “Even if she went to freshen up, it shouldn’t take this long. Could she have lost her way?”
Feng Hanyu smiled slightly. “Madame Ruan, there is no need to worry. My daughter is likely just captivated by the beautiful scenery here and wandering about at her leisure.”
“I just hope she doesn’t delay the auspicious hour.” Madame Ruan felt a bit anxious, deeply afraid of disrupting her plan to introduce a talented individual to the Imperial Concubine. She then quietly asked Feng Hanyu, “Tell me, how do Miss Yi’s skills compare to these people?”
Feng Hanyu offered another reassuring smile. “My daughter possesses extraordinary arts. If Madame requires it, we can have her give a demonstration in front of everyone later.”
“That would be absolutely perfect.” Madame Ruan maintained a calm expression, but her heart was practically dancing with joy. If the person she introduced was no weaker than the Daoists before them, then when the Imperial Concubine compared the two side by side, she might just upstage Cui Kechang entirely.
Yi Qinglan leapt onto a high vantage point inside the cavern, narrowly evading a violent strike from the vicious dragon.
Just moments ago, taking advantage of the monster dragon’s distraction, she had swiftly ridden her flying sword to escort the captives out of the cavern, staying behind alone to deal with it.
Seeing the prisoners escape, the monster dragon roared in a furious rage. It reared its head high into the air and let out a long howl, shaking loose a relentless downpour of arrows that erupted frantically toward Yi Qinglan like sharp thorns. Yi Qinglan held up a fiery barrier with both hands, the barrage of arrows lost its momentum, transforming into raindrops that splattered all over the cave.
Flicking the water droplets off her clothes, Yi Qinglan said amusedly, “What, is this the only trick you know?”
The last time she had been no match for this fellow, it was because her spiritual energy had spiraled out of control. This time, she would not be intimidated by empty bluster.
Seeing its attack fail, the monster dragon circled around once more, stretching and contracting its body as if gathering energy for a massive ultimate move. Yi Qinglan watched it at her leisure, only to see its form suddenly swell tremendously. Its body grew as thick as several pillars combined, packing the cavern completely full.
The monster dragon already had a hideous head, and its body was now incredibly bloated, making it look like a massive maggot coiled inside a hollow tree. The sight made Yi Qinglan want to retch, and she dared not look at it any longer. Spreading her arms wide as if drawing a bow, she condensed a dharma sword out of fire and thrust it fiercely right into the monster dragon’s face.
With a whip of its tail, the dragon forced the dharma sword back. With another whip, it kicked up a wave of water over ten feet high, easily extinguishing the sword.
But before it could react, hundreds of fiery swords rained down upon it from the air, scorching its flesh until it cried out in agony.
“This Zhurong Dharma Sword is endless and self-sustaining. Let me roast some more meat for you to eat!” The corners of Yi Qinglan’s mouth curled upward. Within moments, several more dharma swords ignited in her hands, layering over one another endlessly.
“You vile cultivator!” The monster dragon dared not advance any further. Seeing Yi Qinglan approach completely unfazed, it kept shrinking back. “I have no grievances or enmity with you, so why do you repeatedly ruin my grand plans!” At this point, fury welled up within it again, its whiskers twitching as it panted heavily. However, since Yi Qinglan’s aura was overwhelming and her methods were superb, it ultimately endured and dared not act rashly.
“Who told you to disregard human lives and use your foul sorcery to perform those wretched face changing transactions!” With a wave of Yi Qinglan’s hands, flames rushed forward, threatening to engulf the monster dragon entirely.
Oh no. Yi Qinglan suddenly felt her hands catch nothing. In an instant, the massive creature before her eyes vanished; the monster dragon had already fled out of the cavern.
The lake waters stretched out endlessly in a boundless shade of jade green. The monster dragon did its best to conceal its form, attempting to submerge into the depths. However, Yi Qinglan quickly pursued it by treading over the waves. Two lines of fire abruptly rose horizontally from beneath her hands, forming a circular containment zone on the water’s surface. The flames on the water burned fiercely, trapping the monster dragon inside the ring of fire.
“You!” The monster dragon bared its fangs and brandished its claws, tossing and turning up and down, but no matter what, it could not escape the ring of fire. The moment it touched it, it would suffer the agony of having its flesh scorched by the flames.
Left with no other options, the monster dragon could only summon the billowing waves beneath it, rolling itself across the lake’s surface like a ball to flee, hoping to buy whatever moments of escape it could.
Back in the courtyard, the “Tiangang Grand Sword Array” had not yet finished, and the guests were watching with rapt attention.
Suddenly, one of the Daoist priests seemed a bit off. His body trembled repeatedly, twisting and turning in a highly bizarre manner, as though a sudden itch had broken out all over him.
A sharp eyed guest was the first to notice the anomaly and began to whisper to the person beside him.
As more and more priests exhibited the same strange symptoms, an increasing number of guests noticed, and hushed murmurs gradually rippled through the hall.
Feng Hanyu took all of this in, yet remained unperturbed. She simply took a sip of her tea in silence, a faint trace of mockery surfacing in her eyes.
The Imperial Concubine was already seventy years old, with failing eyesight and poor hearing, so she asked Cui Kechang beside her, “What are they talking about?”
Cui Kechang had already seen it, a sharp, slender, winding object identical to a snake’s tail was peeking out from beneath a priest’s robes. His heart pounded like a drum, yet he maintained a perfectly calm smile to comfort the Imperial Concubine. “They are praising the Daoists for their wonderful performance.”
“Is that so?” Acknowledging her own poor eyesight and fearing she would miss this rare and wonderful spectacle, the Imperial Concubine stood up and slowly walked down the hall. Cui Kechang hurriedly said that the wind outside was too strong and it was unsuitable to go out, but the Imperial Concubine was highly intrigued and entirely set on going outside to get a clearer look.
The guests dared not disobey, so they rose and followed her outside. It just so happened that the “Tiangang Grand Sword Array” was drawing to a close, allowing Cui Kechang to relax his worries slightly.
“Mm, this array is indeed both majestic and profound.” The Imperial Concubine nodded, showing her approval, and the others quickly chimed in.
The Daoist temple was built adjacent to the water, with the courtyard situated on high ground. Looking out from here offered a perfect view of the scenery on the lake.
Just as the guests were raising their voices in unified praise, a ball of fire mixed with surging waves hissed and steamed white vapor in the distance. Rousing fits of crashing waves, it swept past right under everyone’s noses.
Including Madame Ruan, the guests were all struck dumb, staring at the lake surface with mouths agape.
At this moment, however, the Imperial Concubine happened to turn her head away while laughing and talking with Cui Kechang. Because of her poor hearing, she actually failed to notice the commotion.
Though a smile remained plastered on Cui Kechang’s face, he had already taken in the entire scene on the lake with his peripheral vision. He gnashed his teeth in secret, suffering bitterly.
Although he didn’t know exactly what had happened, that dragon had definitely run into massive trouble.
Fortunately, it hadn’t caused any substantial consequences yet. Just as he was trying to figure out a way to usher the Imperial Concubine away, a massive wave of water vapor suddenly slammed right into their faces out of nowhere. A gigantic tail materialized from thin air before everyone, whipping down fiercely and soaking the Imperial Concubine’s fur cloak completely through from head to toe. Immediately after, it rapidly crashed back into the lake, emitting a resounding boom upon impact with the water.
With her head raised and water dripping from her head to her feet, the Imperial Concubine stared at the scene before her in utter disbelief, clearly not having processed what just happened.
“What… what was that?!” The Imperial Concubine cried out in shock, clutching her chest as she recalled the scene just now.
“This, this, this…” Cui Kechang stammered incoherently, wanting nothing more than to support her and rush back into the main hall to pretend none of this had ever occurred.
Madame Ruan was also standing to the side, completely flabbergasted. Feng Hanyu stepped forward, patted her on the shoulder, and said with a light chuckle:
“In your opinion, Madame, how are my daughter’s arts? They shouldn’t be inferior to the Daoists in this temple, right?”
Madame Ruan pointed toward the sky where the giant tail had just appeared, stuttering, unable to utter a single word.
Following behind them, Lu’e rubbed her eyes. She had clearly seen just now that the figure closely pursuing that giant tail in the air seemed to be Miss Yi.
Following the direction in which the giant tail had vanished, she couldn’t help but walk further and further away, breaking into a light jog until she reached the edge of the courtyard. She climbed up a tree to peer at the commotion on the lake below. However, the lake surface had miraculously returned to a state of calm; both the giant tail and the human figure were gone.
Could Miss Yi be at the bottom of the water?
“Let me go, let me go,” the monster dragon thrashed up and down on the water’s surface, evading a blast of fire as it said spitefully, “Whatever you want, I can satisfy you!”
Hearing these words, Yi Qinglan came to a halt. “Truly?”
“Truly,” the monster dragon said, swallowing its resentment.
“Then come with me in front of everyone and confess to your crimes, along with that man surnamed Cui.” Yi Qinglan stood hovering in the air, her feet lightly treading upon her dharma sword. In her hands, she held a chain condensed from fire wrapped around the monster dragon’s neck, ready to tighten at any moment.
“This… fine.” The monster dragon slowly collapsed its form, adopting a submissive posture that allowed itself to be handled by others.
Yi Qinglan floated forward lightly, casually withdrawing her flames, and gestured for it to follow her to the Daoist temple.
Delighted in its heart, the monster dragon took advantage of the gap when Yi Qinglan let down her guard and abruptly dove into the water. Even though this female cultivator was skilled in controlling fire, making her its perfect counter, she should be completely powerless once they reached the bottom of the lake.
To its surprise, before it could even dive half a li into the water, the monster dragon suddenly felt its body constrict as if bound tightly. It was rendered completely immobile, unable to advance even half a step.
Suddenly, it was dragged by its tail and yanked right out of the water.
Yi Qinglan was looking up at the sky, clapping and laughing out loud. “You fool, how could you think so easily that I would spare you? Hahahahaha!” As she spoke, she tightened the net in her hands.
The monster dragon focused its gaze and saw that she was holding a shimmering golden net that had trapped it completely inside. It struggled violently, but the net only grew tighter.
“It’s no use, don’t waste your energy.” Yi Qinglan said triumphantly, “Once caught in my Vajra Binding Net, no matter how powerful of a demon you are, you won’t be able to escape!”
With that, she dragged the net, which held the long tailed dragon inside, and flew toward the direction of the Daoist temple.
Inside the temple, cold sweat drenched Cui Kechang’s back as he strained to explain everything that had just happened to the Imperial Concubine.
“Your Highness, did you say you saw a dragon just now?”
Water was still dripping from the Imperial Concubine’s body as she shot a cold, piercing side glance at Cui Kechang, remaining absolutely silent.
“Ah, hahahaha! I have heard that a dragon is an omen of immense auspiciousness. For an auspicious omen to appear just as the Daoist temple is completed, isn’t that a wonderfully grand sign!” Cui Kechang forced a smile onto his face, doing his utmost to maintain a dignified appearance.
“Is the auspicious omen Doctor Cui spoke of this very object?”
Before the person arrived, the net arrived first. A burst of intense fire held the Vajra Binding Net aloft in the air as it descended from the heavens. With a heavy thud, it was hurled violently onto the ground, the monster dragon inside the net smashing against the floor with a resounding crash.
For a moment, everyone was deeply shaken. A heavy silence filled the room for a long while before anyone dared to step forward to investigate.
“I don’t think this looks like an auspicious omen,” Feng Hanyu chimed in perfectly from the side. “On the contrary, it looks like a demon.”
“A demon?” The guests all lost their composure. It was only seeing that the creature was bound tightly within the net and completely motionless that allowed them to temporarily set their hearts at ease.
“Nonsense!” Cui Kechang’s face flushed red with anxiety as he repeatedly shouted in refutation, “This is clearly an auspicious omen, where did a demon come from!”
“Oh?” Feng Hanyu cast a glance toward him. “What, does Doctor Cui know the origin of this thing?”
“No,” Cui Kechang instantly panicked. The woman looked unfamiliar, yet the glance she directed at him was terrifyingly sharp. “How could I know its origin? It was merely a guess.”
“Then what about these people? Could they be auspicious omens as well?” Yi Qinglan pointed her finger at the Daoist priests who had been demonstrating the array.
“What about them?” The Imperial Concubine asked with a frown.
With a subtle movement of Feng Hanyu’s hand hidden inside her sleeve, the bodies of those Daoist priests slowly shrank uncontrollably in front of everyone’s eyes. They grew longer and thinner until they transformed into green snakes, slithering and winding continuously across the hall.
“Ah!” The Imperial Concubine feared snakes above all else. Suddenly seeing so many snakes, she was overcome with shock and froze entirely on her seat, unable to move.
Seeing this, Yi Qinglan instantly sent several streams of fire flying from her hands. The moment the snakes met the fire, they turned to ashes.
The entire Daoist temple had been constructed using demons. All that talk about cultivating the body, practicing the Dao, and prolonging life was merely a facade for the demons to cover up their underhanded dealings.
Only then did the Imperial Concubine regain her composure, her eyes blazing with torrential rage as she shot a direct glare at Cui Kechang nearby. Seeing that the matter had been exposed, the latter still remained stubborn, insisting that this affair had absolutely nothing to do with him.
“Liar!” Yi Qinglan pointed at him with cold eyes. With that, she recounted every single detail of the events that had transpired before to everyone present.