Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 363 - 10 Dragon and Tiger Calamity

Chapter 363: Chapter 10 Dragon and Tiger Calamity

Chapter 363: Chapter 10 Dragon and Tiger Calamity

For centuries, Divine Land had sunken in chaos, rampant with demons and malevolence.

The once-guarding Dragon Tiger Qi kept leaking away; the nation’s pillars were shaken, and evil spirits rose from all directions.

Yet where demons soared, tao would ascend even higher. To curb these malevolences, over the past century the Ming Dynasty court had sealed Dragon Tiger Mountain’s Heavenly Master Tao for the seventieth time, averaging more than once a year.

With the support of national divine artifacts, the Taoist school flourished greatly.

In the third year of Jiajing, Dragon Tiger Mountain suppressed the two capitals and the Thirteen Envoy Departments of Great Ming with one hundred and eight Dragon Tiger Banners, dispelling the fiends! Even the leaking speed of Dragon Tiger Qi showed signs of easing.

In the fifth year of Jiajing, the Jinyiwei, originally part of the Twenty-four Guards, was reformed into Dragon Tiger Cavaliers. In addition to their original duties of delivering intelligence to other countries and monitoring officials, they now also had the responsibility of exorcising evil spirits. The expanded force included a small portion of soldiers from various guards, but the majority were Taoists from Dragon Tiger Mountain.

In the eleventh year of Jiajing, the forty-ninth Heavenly Master, Zhang Yichu, was decreed the rank of National Grand Mage, with a status equal to the Three Excellencies and the right to hereditary succession without replacement.

In the sixteenth year of Jiajing, every government office and guard post set up the position of Dragon Tiger Supervisor. The rank was only ninth grade but was directly under the control of Dragon Tiger Mountain and the Divine Emperor. The Ministry of Justice, the Imperial Court, and the Censorate could not apprehend or interrogate without the emperor’s and the Heavenly Master’s express permission.

In the third year of Wanli, the Mongol Da Guduo Clan launched an invasion; for the first time, Taoists from Dragon Tiger Mountain took to the battlefield in the role of auditors and military supervisors. Thereafter, this became the norm.

In just a century, the power of the Heavenly Master Tao expanded rapidly, blooming with brilliance and fueling the flames.

Scholars, Dragon Tiger Taoists, and the emperor mutually restrained each other, forming a rather interesting power structure.

In the twentieth year of Wanli, the Renchen War unfolded, lasting for several years. The future of the Ming Country swayed, and the recently stabilized Toyotomi regime nearly collapsed, turning the nation into a realm of ghosts.

And the Great Ming, which had just stabilized with the heavy reliance on Heavenly Master Tao, also showed signs of collapsing under the violent turbulence of Dragon Tiger Qi during the war.

Today, Dragon Tiger Mountain faced the greatest test since its revival.

In the twenty-seventh year of Wanli, April. Heavenly Master Tao of Dragon Tiger Mountain, Heavenly Gate Peak.

Over the century, Dragon Tiger Mountain expanded fifteen times, occupying over 230,000 hectares of fertile fields in Yingtan alone, with more than 60,000 laborers. And nearly only a few miles away from Dragon Tiger Mountain, Heavenly Gate Mountain had long become the hinterland of Heavenly Master Tao.

Blessed with scenic landscapes and clear skies washing over the waters, sprouts of red buds emerged from the lake surface.

Today, on Heavenly Gate Mountain, there must be millions of fat, child-arm-sized butter candles burning day and night. The sounds of scripture and Dharma bells intertwined, scattering the golden scale-like clouds shrouding the summit.

Between the misty clouds stood a range of cyan mountains, crossed by a black flock of birds filling the view, which upon closer look, were countless one-horned paper cranes.

As if possessed of spirit, they “patted” against the cyan mountains, tightly enveloping them. The remaining gaps emitted a blinding golden light; viewed from afar, it appeared like a vast page of golden scripture boldly standing between heaven and earth.

At the top of the cyan mountain, on a bizarre brown stone platform, lay two women, one verdant and one sable, barefooted, with flickers of cyan flames burning beside them.

The features on both of their faces were strikingly ninety percent similar.

Without a doubt, they both bore the visage of Lady Dan.

The verdant-clad Lady Dan sat cross-legged with her legs spread, her thighs serving as a bed for the “sable-clad Lady Dan,” who was now coughing up black blood with a face as pale as golden paper.

“I’d rather die than accept your false pity!”

The woman in the black robe glared furiously, and though she was too weak to even move a finger, her mouth spared no one.

Lady Dan ignored her and just sighed, “With you looking like this, I really feel it’s beneath me to even glance at you once.”

Hearing this, the sable-clad Lady Dan flushed with anger and embarrassment, cursing, “Who needs your glance? I was only…”

“Listen up~”

The verdant-clad Lady Dan rudely interrupted her.

“It’s also my fault for being too reckless. Now that my true body is trapped by Dragon Tiger Talismans and I can’t escape, I’ll find a way to get you off the mountain. You must retrieve the three missing ‘Taiping Cave Ultimate Scriptures’ for me, without fail. If you run into Governor Li, feel free to tell him everything. There’s more to this than meets the eye, and he won’t blame you. Then you can follow his lead on what to do next. If you can’t find him, just bringing back the three ‘Taiping Cave Ultimate Scriptures’ would suffice to possibly quell the wrath of Dragon Tiger Mountain.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the golden clouds stirred in the sky, and a face emerged from the heavens, all white hair and beard, with sword-like eyebrows and a hulking nose. Although his face originally bore a detached countenance, it was now full of killing intent.

“Mountain Spirit! Are you truly intent on sheltering this traitor who has destroyed our sect’s heritage?”

Lady Dan shook her head slightly, “Mountain Spirit dares not. The ‘Taiping Cave Ultimate Scriptures’ and the Yangping Governor Merit Seal that Lady Sudu stole, I can return them all to your noble house. But I implore Lord Heavenly Master to open the gates and let us two leave.”

Before she even finished speaking, the Heavenly Master became even more furious, “That traitor tore off three pages when she stole the Taiping Cave Ultimate Scriptures. The Thirty-Five Merit Seal, tainted by demonic energy, has greatly decreased in power. What a wise move you’ve made.”

Lady Sudu, whose only mobile part was her mouth, couldn’t help but cry out in protest, “I fled before even opening those three pages of the scriptures, and I never touched the Thirty-Five Merit Seal. You old coot, you’re wronging me!”

“Nonsense!”

The Heavenly Master’s voice thundered like crashing jade.

At that moment, Lady Dan’s almond eyes widened, and a black crescent moon shot out from her pupils, distorting into a sky of fine dust everything it touched, whether it was golden talismans or paper crane bells.

“It truly is that Celestial Demon from the Nine States!”

Lady Dan formed hand seals, and a vast surge of azure light swept up Lady Sudu, whisking her toward the mountains beyond.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll escape and never return?”

Nine-Winged Sudu shouted.

“With how foolish you are, where would you find such a clever mind?”

Having shot out that black disc, Lady Dan herself had become weak, and now she barely managed a response.

Nine-Winged Sudu was at a loss for words, but knowing this wasn’t the time for an argument, her tone softened, “I will definitely bring the Governor back.”

Lady Dan’s eyes flickered, but she only murmured to herself after seeing that trace of azure light carrying Nine-Winged Sudu, floating unsteadily towards the heavens.

“He should indeed come.”

Beneath the mountain, countless yellow, black, and purple Daoist robes sat cross-legged, a pleasing sight to behold.

Heavenly Master Zhang Yichu of the ninety-fifth generation gazed at the azure light, his expression a mix of sorrow and anger.

“Master, is that Mountain Spirit really the Celestial Demon from the Japanese demon country?”

Yi Gaogong ventured to ask.

“Whether she is or isn’t, she must not descend from Dragon Tiger Mountain. Just wait for the court to deliver one hundred and eight Dragon Tiger Banners. Even if she were a Daluo Golden Immortal, I would still turn her back into a stubborn rock.”

Yi Gaogong blinked, speechless, not daring to utter another word.

“Chantanner!”

Zhang Yichu turned around.

Among the crowd, a giant being clad in a Daoist robe, its entire body aglow in golden-red, stood up.

“You must swiftly descend the mountain and capture that traitor back to our sect!”

“I shall strictly follow the decree of the Heavenly Master.”

Niutou Chantan bowed deeply to the ground.

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…

A hand emerged from the black column.

Li Yan stepped forward.

The water cleansed his wrists and fists, leaving no trace on his body that he had fought fiercely.

“Is it done?”

“It’s done. Let’s set out.”

The two stood still.

“Esteemed Walker, you are about to initiate an event in Yan Fu.”

“You have the right to re-enter Scale-Ding You Twenty-Four because you’ve chosen team combat. Since your comrade (Cha Xiaodao) has no record of entering that fruit, he will appear abruptly within the fruit.”

…

“You’re quite ruthless. By refraining from malicious intent, you’ve at least spared me some face.”

Mo’s face twitched, clucking his tongue. Lying in a pool of blood was Zhang Cai, blood spilling from his mouth and nose, suffering a severe concussion, with broken limbs and his spine fractured in three places. Even his soul had sustained damage.

With injuries like these, even spending points would require four or five days of recovery. There was no doubt Zhang Cai was now out of the running for this event.

“Despite having been an Eight Extremes Walker for over two years, there’s no reason for such a devastating defeat, even when caught off-guard. Could it be that he has been to the Four Realities?”

Mo stroked his chin, “But… the flaws are also glaringly obvious. It’s just a matter of when he realizes them himself.”