One person: I, Daoist Master, am a cultivator of immortality!

"Celestial Mother? I've never heard of her before."

"You're right that you haven't heard of him. He's not among the deities of Taoism at all, or rather, he's just an evil god created by a heretical sect in the north. This sect usually only fools some ignorant people, so why has it developed more than ten thousand followers in just one or two years? And, most importantly..."

Qi Tiezui wanted to continue speaking, but Sun Yao raised his hand to interrupt him.

"And most importantly, they have connections with the Japanese, and have even been secretly colluding with them. It's astonishing that a mere cult dares to call itself Tao. It seems that Quanzhen's control over the north has truly declined pitifully."

After Qi Tiezui's reminder, Sun Yao finally remembered the so-called Heavenly Venerable Mother. In the original story, Zhang Qishan and his group also encountered this Heavenly Venerable Mother when they entered the mine. However, they only saw a sculpture of her, indicating that she was more than just a sculpture in this world.

“Good, now that we know what it is, things will be easier. Miss Hong, tell the brothers of the Unloading Ridge to prepare to set off. We’re going to go down into the tomb next.”

Sun Yao was confident that his current strength was enough to sweep through the world. Now that he knew what this strange thing was, he could just sweep through it.

Led by Sun Yao, the group headed towards the mine where the Heavenly Venerable Mother had just appeared, but soon strange things began to happen.

Directly in front of Sun Yao, the second Heavenly Venerable Mother appeared. Sun Yao once again unleashed his Five Thunder Talismans in the same manner, but this time, the Heavenly Venerable Mother actually dodged them. It seems she learned from her previous death; however, how much could one Five Thunder Talisman dodge ten? Or even a hundred?

With a casual wave of his hand, Sun Yao conjured dozens of Five Thunder Talismans out of thin air. These talismans rained down, leaving the Heavenly Venerable Mother no room to dodge. Ten Five Thunder Talismans would have been enough to seal her off from all sides, let alone dozens; they completely enveloped her. With a burst of lightning, she vanished into black smoke.

Sun Yao looked at the situation before him without taking it seriously. He had already realized that he had not succeeded in killing the Heavenly Venerable Mother when he tried to annihilate her.

Now, his initial intuition has been validated. It turns out his initial feeling was correct; the Five Thunder Talisman dispersed her but did not kill her. Now, he dispersed her again, but still failed to kill her.

"She doesn't seem to want me to go any further, which means she wants to kill me. The real method is right here. Everyone, speed up! We're on the right track!"

After shouting, Sun Yao suddenly accelerated, and the disciples of the Unloading Ridge Sect behind him immediately started running. Sun Yao moved very fast, but he was careful to control his speed so that the disciples of the Unloading Ridge Sect would not fall too far behind him.

After all, besides himself, only Zhang Qishan and Qi Tiezui in the entire team possessed the abilities of superhumans. If he were to become separated from the team, it would be a huge loss if the Heavenly Venerable Mother were to launch a sneak attack on them.

Soon, Sun Yao encountered the third Heavenly Venerable Mother. This time, the Heavenly Venerable Mother seemed to have become even smarter; she moved past Sun Yao at an extremely fast speed, attempting to ambush the person behind him.

However, her extremely fast speed was like a tortoise strolling in front of Sun Yao. Sun Yao was quick and swift, pressing her against the stone wall of the mine with a single palm strike.

Immediately afterward, purple lightning erupted from Sun Yao's hand—the very Purple Heaven Thunder Technique he had developed. As the Purple Heaven Thunder Technique flashed, the Heavenly Venerable Mother transformed into a wisp of black smoke.

The Heavenly Mother's relentless attacks were already making Sun Yao somewhat impatient. Sun Yao channeled spiritual power into the Silver-Winged Arrow on his headdress, maximizing its detection capabilities.

With the cicadas chirping continuously echoing through the mine tunnels, Sun Yao quickly determined where the Celestial Mother had come from. He took a single step, and in the next instant, he vanished ahead of the group.

Seeing Sun Yao disappear, Hong Guniang didn't panic. Instead, she raised her right hand and made a fist. "Everyone, stay where you are and keep a close watch on your surroundings."

At this moment, Sun Yao appeared in front of an iron fence. Inside the fence was a statue of the Heavenly Mother. In front of the statue were several fruit plates, but judging from their appearance, it was impossible to tell how many years had passed.

The statue of the Heavenly Venerable Mother continuously emitted black energy, which then condensed in front of the fence in the next second, forming the Heavenly Venerable Mother that had just appeared in front of Sun Yao.

The moment the Celestial Mother took form, she saw Sun Yao before her, but she did not immediately attack. Instead, she turned and rushed towards the Celestial Mother statue, grabbing it and attempting to escape into the depths of the mine.

Sun Yao narrowed his eyes slightly, then took a step forward. He reappeared before the Heavenly Venerable Mother, "You think you can escape from me? Are you looking down on me?"

Sun Yao gently clenched his right fist and swung it downwards. Countless spikes suddenly appeared in the mine tunnel, blocking the Heavenly Venerable Mother in front of Sun Yao.

Upon seeing this, the Heavenly Venerable Mother immediately retreated, rushing towards the direction Sun Yao had come from. Sun Yao smiled and raised his hand again, sealing off the mine tunnel with an earthen wall.

“Those who are heretics deserve to die, but I’m quite curious about your ability to constantly create avatars. Since you’re a heretic, I happen to have a gathering place for heretics here. I’m sure they’ll welcome you as their new neighbor. So, move in here obediently, tenant, I won’t charge you rent.”

As Sun Yao spoke, he patted the treasure pouch at his waist, and the Soul Banner immediately rose from it. It expanded in the wind, instantly growing to a height of one and a half people. With a downward slap of Sun Yao's hand, the Soul Banner was planted firmly in the mine tunnel floor with a bang.

Immediately afterwards, a tremendous suction force emanated from the Yin Soul Banner, and countless black wisps of energy began to be drawn out of the statue of the Heavenly Venerable Mother by the Yin Soul Banner.

Seeing this situation, the Heavenly Venerable Mother immediately began to fiercely contend with the Yin Soul Banner for the black energy. Sun Yao realized that even though he wasn't charging rent, the tenant still wouldn't move in—what could he do?

Sun Yao flicked his wrist, and a fire dragon soldier appeared out of thin air, flying towards the Heavenly Venerable Mother. During its flight, the fire dragon soldier transformed into a dragon-pecking cone a full foot long, piercing directly through the Heavenly Venerable Mother's brow.

Without the Heavenly Venerable Mother competing with it for the black energy, the Yin Soul Banner instantly absorbed all the black energy from the statue of the Heavenly Venerable Mother.