The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 102 Twenty-Four Hours
Zhou Yan's fingers were ruthless, piercing deep into the monster's eye. He pulled it away while simultaneously pressing his knee into the monster's abdomen, creating distance. At that moment, a roar like that of a ferocious beast rang out.

Big Black came charging at Zhou Yan and bit him right on the back of his collar.

With a sudden pull, Zhou Yan was dragged away from the monster, rolled on the ground to dissipate the force, grabbed the Earth Soul Blade, and shouted, "Well done, Big Black, I'll give you three extra bean cakes tonight!"

At the same time, Shen Cangming's heavy blade had already cleaved directly into the banshee's lower back.

The horizontal blade exploded into blood-red flames, a blood-red aura of malevolence. The beacon fire, a weapon of the human race's most valiant border troops, and Zhou Yan's golden humanistic energy fire were different branches.

As the Weaver Girl's figure dispersed, she was struck by Ao Xuantao's water flow.

Zhou Yan seized the opportunity and slashed horizontally.

Golden beacon fire covered the Earth Soul Blade and embedded itself directly into the Weaver Girl's body. The blood-red beacon fire and the golden beacon fire intersected directly, severing the Weaver Girl's flesh and slowly dissipating into golden dust.

Zhou Yan swept his waist, and the jade gourd flew out, a gust of wind emanating from its mouth.

This whirlwind absorbed all the gold dust.

The surface of the jade gourd rippled with light several times, but it remained stable.

The treasure given by Duke Mude was still useful; this thing could also be considered a malevolent aura. When the Weaver Girl's figure disappeared, she had a soft smile on her face and said, "My lord is really mischievous, but it's alright. After twelve hours, you will still belong to me."

Finally, it was cleaved in two by Zhou Yan's blade, the beacon fire exploded, and it disappeared completely.

The scholar Yin Zichuan floated out and asked, "Young master, what's going on?"

Zhou Yan sheathed his Earth Soul Blade and said, "Weaver Girl, the Wofo Temple has probably fallen into your hands. Daoist, you should report this to the authorities. Uncle Shen and I will go to the Wofo Temple to take a look. Uncle Shen's old friends are still there."

Shen Cangming said slowly, "You stay here."

Zhou Yan said, "But..."

While the uncle and nephew were arguing, Yuan Danqiu looked at the green lotus seed that had fallen to the ground with a grim expression. He could sense that one of Li Pingyang's three souls and seven spirits was becoming weaker, and there were faint golden patterns on the green lotus seed.

The situation is changing.

The monk Kongkong suddenly called out, "Wait a minute!"

Zhou Yan asked, "What's wrong?"

The old monk ran to Zhou Yan's side, grabbed Zhou Yan's wrist, and pulled him up to take a look. He saw a piece of gold powder on Zhou Yan's finger. The old monk's expression changed drastically. He immediately took off his Buddhist beads and put them on Zhou Yan's palm.

The grain of the wooden prayer beads glowed with a faint Buddhist light.

The Buddha's light shone brightly, then shattered all at once.

Those two fingers were the very same ones Zhou Yan had used to pierce the eyes of the Weaver Girl during their battle. As the golden dust gradually became clearer, the monk Kongkong cried out, "Oh no, oh no, my lord, you shouldn't have gotten her blood on you!"

But considering that Zhou Yan had just faced the Weaver Girl head-on, if he hadn't acted decisively, it probably wouldn't have been just a matter of two fingers. The old monk couldn't say anything was wrong. Yuan Danqiu said, "Monk, stop rambling and explain clearly what exactly happened!"

The old monk had a terrible headache and said:
"Do you still remember what I mentioned before about the illnesses of the people in the surrounding area?"

It was on the way back from Guhuai Village that the monk Kongkong mentioned that the local people had developed dust on their bodies. The old monk thought it was an illness and tried to cure them, but his white lotus flower was stolen.

The monk Kongkong smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, these people don't even realize they're sick..." As the monk Kongkong spoke, the affairs of the villagers and people in the surrounding villages and towns within a hundred miles were gradually revealed to Zhou Yan and the others.

At first, there was a blind old man who touched the Buddha statue and suddenly he was cured.

The ability to see and recognize people is quite rare, and the news spread quickly. The old man searched for a long time before realizing that the Buddha statue was the Great Buddha of the Reclining Buddha Temple. Some sick people went to the Reclining Buddha Temple to touch the Buddha statue, and they were all cured.

The lame can walk freely, the blind can see, and the deaf can hear.

The temple suddenly became very popular, attracting countless visitors. Those who received the Buddha's approval and blessings would have golden powder appear on their bodies. Once they had the golden powder, any illness, no matter how serious, would be cured in just one or two days.

Even those who used to have bad tempers and were ignorant and incompetent have become better after going to the temple to worship Buddha. People who used to indulge in drinking, gambling, and prostitution have become quiet and polite, and those who used to have explosive tempers have become courteous.

Therefore, more and more people are becoming believers.

The monk Kongkong said, "But that's an illness..."

Looking at the gold powder on his fingers, Zhou Yan thought of all the things related to the Reclining Buddha Temple, the Chen family tragedy, the human skin molted into insects, and the rhinoceros horn blood turning into demonic insects. He said, "Master, you might as well explain things more clearly."

"Those people with gold dust, have they long since turned into a human skin?"

"The reason their illnesses were cured was also due to the change in their temperament."

"It's all because beneath their skin, they've long since become monsters."

The monk Kongkong clasped his hands together, his face showing bitterness.

With his eyes closed, Zhou Yan gathered all the information he knew in his mind and asked, "Is there a large family with the surname Chen between the town where this disease broke out and the city?"

The monk Kongkong said, "Yes, yes."

“Back then, the great Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang was born with the surname Chen. He also had an older sister. When he met his sister in his old age, he wept bitterly. After his death, one of his sister’s children was adopted and changed his surname to Chen, so as to continue the family line of the monk’s parents.”

"Even if the monk Xuanzang was not interested in gold and silver, this branch of the Chen family was actually doing quite well, considered a wealthy household in the area. It was this Chen family that was the first to suffer disaster..."

"Alas, back then, the Venerable Xuanzang, wielding an 800-pound water-milled iron staff, traversed thousands of miles alone. What heroic ambition he had! Why didn't these demons dare to come out and personally ask him for things while the Venerable Xuanzang was still alive?"

Zhou Yan then understood what the Chen family in Zhu Zicheng's story was.

Chen family.

The lineage of the great Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang.

Therefore, considering the Reclining Buddha Temple, Zhou Yan couldn't help but guess that this monster was looking for something from the monk Xuanzang...

The god of agriculture, the An Lushan Rebellion, the collapse of Mount Tai, and the arrival of demons everywhere.

What a terrible world.

Weaver Girl...

Master of the Azure Netherworld.

These monsters...

Zhou Yan felt a surge of anger and killing intent, but he suppressed it. He raised his arm, looked at the golden lines spreading to his palm, and looked at the monk, saying:

"So, what that succubus means is that in twelve hours, I will turn into human skin?" Shen Cangming's eyes rippled with waves, but his voice was calm. Without hesitation, he drew his sword and said, "Zhou Yan, stretch out your arm."

The old monk quickly replied, "No need, no need, great hero."

"I just checked, and this young hero's martial arts are very solid, his physique is robust, and he possesses the aura of a mountain god. Even the great demon Weaver Girl's power couldn't have turned him into an insect in twelve hours, just like she devoured an ordinary person." Zhou Yan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "So, this thing is useless against me?"

The old monk shook his head and held up two fingers: "I mean..."

The monk Kongkong was honest and simple.
"Young hero, you can last at least twenty-four hours."

Zhou Yan was so angry he laughed.

Yuan Danqiu kicked the old monk away, pulled out Zhou Yan's arm, frowned, and said, "Young hero, take off your clothes!" Zhou Yan looked over there, at Uncle Shen, who was ready to chop off his own arm to save his life if he sensed anything was wrong.

Zhou Yan obediently took off his clothes.

A body full of muscles.

Yuan Danqiu took out golden needles and blocked the major acupoints on Zhou Yan's arm, transferring qi and magic. The golden powder that was about to spread into Zhou Yan's bones was suppressed and sealed on his arm, appearing on his skin and turning into patterns.

They set up an altar, performed rituals, and cast divinations.

Yuan Danqiu and the old monk both breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, thank goodness."

"If you can hold out for a while, this insect is still just an egg. Once you kill the true form of the cicada, the activity of the egg will naturally stop, and it will be easy to stop it then."

As for where the true form of this golden cicada is?

Whether it's the monk Kongkong, Yuan Danqiu, or Zhou Yan, Shen Cangming knows them all.

Only the Reclining Buddha Temple!
Zhou Yan let out a breath, and surprisingly, he could still smile at this moment:
"Uncle Shen."

"Now you can't stop me from going."

Shen Cangming pressed Zhou Yan's arm and said, "...Eighth rank."

"what?"

Shen Cangming said, "The advancement of beacon towers leads to the eighth-rank Xuan official position, which is called [Zhenshu]."

"It was created by General Wang Zhongsi. It requires taking the [Heart-Melting and Garrisoning Pill], which can temper the body with the fire of war and expel impurities. This batch of pills was refined by the general on the battlefield when the great calamity at Qinghai Lake deterred the Tubo from invading the border of the Tang Dynasty for ten years."

"There aren't many left in the world, and one of them is in the hands of my old friend."

"This elixir contains a trace of General Wang Zhongsi's murderous aura and fighting spirit."

"I don't believe that mere insect demons and evil spirits can stop it."

Zhou Yan nodded and said, "Okay."

Shen Cangming looked at the old monk and Yuan Danqiu. From the few words they had just exchanged, the old Taoist had already guessed the identity of the man in front of him. He was terrified, but he still said, "I will try to find a way to temporarily suppress these things."

Yuan Danqiu was already a sixth-rank Daoist official, and was not good at direct combat.

However, they are simply not good at direct combat.

Yuan Danqiu performed the ritual, took out the talisman, lit it and melted it in water. Then he took out a brush, dipped it in cinnabar, the talisman, and incense ash, and inscribed the Taoist "Purification Mantra" on Zhou Yan's right arm with a flourish of dragons and phoenixes.

The old monk scratched his head for a long time before saying, "Young master, give me your back."

He exhaled, and the monk Kongkong took out a bead, his lips twitched, but he put it back. He then took out a wooden Buddha, burned it, and drew a picture on Zhou Yan's back.

Shen Cangming saw that it was a painting of the "Prison-Suppressing King".

The combined power of Buddhism and Taoism pressed down on Zhou Yan, causing the surrounding miasma to seem to recede into the distance. Even Yin Zichuan and Hui Niang couldn't get too close to Zhou Yan. He clenched his fist, but didn't feel any significant improvement in his own strength.

However, he is now covered in various special attack and special defense buffs.

A punch to a ghost's face possesses the true power of physical salvation.

Demons and monsters, those burdened with heavy karma, could be directly obliterated by Zhou Yan, their souls scattered. A sixth-rank Taoist official personally wrote the "Purification Mantra," and a monk of unknown origin drew the "Ming King's Prison Suppression."

Yuan Danqiu's guardian deity was killed; he was not good at direct combat.

Monks are pretty much the same.

Yuan Danqiu felt extremely guilty because Zhou Yan's illness was somewhat related to him. Looking at the tattered clothes on Zhou Yan's body, he thought for a moment and said, "Young friend, take this." He took off his Taoist robe and threw it to Zhou Yan.

Yuan Danqiu said, "I am not good at fighting, but this Taoist robe is from the [Canxia Tower]. My master, True Man Hu Ziyang, pioneered the lineage of the Inner Alchemy School."

"I'll lend you this for now."

"Wearing it can conceal your aura and also ward off evil magic."

"As for this great hero..."

Yuan Danqiu looked at Shen Cangming.

I was almost blinded by the malevolent aura.

What a top-tier killer!
With such a menacing aura, the effectiveness of any evil magic will be reduced.

For example, Zhou Yan would be affected by the evil technique of "Golden Powder Cicada Shedding," but Shen Cangming could bathe in the golden powder without any problems.

The border troops served for twenty-six years, experiencing several major battles that went down in history.

Shen Cangming is a walking beacon tower.

Zhou Yan threw away his original outer robe, wrapped the Taoist robe around his body, tied the leather belt around his waist, and bound the wide sleeves of the robe. He looked like a knight-errant and a Taoist priest at the same time. Shen Cangming asked, "Where are the things?"

Zhou Yan gave Shen Cangming the things he had obtained from the Hedong Beach Association.

Shen Cangming said, "Give me the knife."

"First, refine the tools."

Zhou Yan was actually very curious: could a weapon like the Earth Soul Blade be forged using methods from later generations? And if so, what would be the effects?

The weapon forging proceeded step by step, and Zhou Yan inscribed the talisman.

He dripped his blood onto the center of the talisman, as was the proper way.

But as Zhou Yan's blood dripped down, a strange change suddenly occurred.

Zhou Yan's blood seeped directly into the blade.

(End of this chapter)