Chapter 230
Chapter 230
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 230
Chapter Title: Show of Force: Nightmare Wood Hanging Corpses
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Chen Shi had planted a Nightmare Wood talisman on the fortune teller. If untouched, it would erupt after three hours.
If someone tried to dispel the talisman without knowing the proper method, it would trigger immediately.
That talisman master from the Moving Mountains Sect earlier was named Huo Shanting, a renowned figure in the sect for his skills. Whenever the Moving Mountains Sect raided tombs and encountered protective talisman arrays or zombie traps guarding the graves, they called on him to break them.
He had been a scholar in his youth, passing the provincial exam to become a juren, but after waiting five or six years, the court never assigned him any post, leaving him idle at home.
But a man had to eat, so he delved into talismans, becoming a talisman master who traveled far and wide, his skills in talisman arts growing ever more profound.
However, talisman masters didn't earn much. By chance, he came into contact with the Moving Mountains Sect, and after their gentleman hired him a few times, Huo Shanting saw how quickly it paid and joined the sect.
He had studied both northern and southern talisman schools, mastering the southern school's fourth-grade talismans and gaining some understanding of the third-grade ones.
Though he wasn't an expert in Nightmare Wood talismans, he figured all talismans in the world followed the same principles at their core. Moreover, the one who cast the curse was just a twelve- or thirteen-year-old child. Even if he'd been practicing talismans since the womb, how deep could his mastery be?
Unexpectedly, when he tried to dispel the Nightmare Wood talisman, his brush stroke was off, triggering its power.
This talisman was called Nightmare Wood—as the name implied, it was a tree that induced nightmares in people.
Chen Shi had planted the talisman on the fortune teller, using him as the seed. It took root and sprouted in an instant, absorbing the fortune teller's flesh and nascent soul entirely, turning him into the first human devoured by the Nightmare Wood!
Huo Shanting was the second.
He had no chance to flee before a branch pierced the back of his brain, plunging him into a coma and a nightmare.
That earlier howl was merely him forcing himself awake from the nightmare, only to discover the monstrous tree inserted into his brain, draining his brain matter—a cry of despair.
Then he fell into another nightmare.
The Nightmare Wood linked one human body after another. Anyone connected to it would involuntarily sink into nightmares, reliving their deepest fears.
The dreams it created were interconnected.
The more people it linked, the more terrifying the nightmares became.
Wounds suffered in the nightmares would affect both mind and body.
In the end, all those linked to the Nightmare Wood would die in nightmare after nightmare.
Even if they survived one, another would follow—until death.
The Nightmare Wood sustained itself on these linked victims, constantly absorbing their fear and nightmares, drawing power from their flesh and spirits to grow stronger.
It didn't root itself in the earth—human bodies were its soil.
Trees root in the ground because it holds nutrients and water; it rooted in human bodies for the same reason.
Unlike other trees, it actively sought out humans to capture and link, turning them into its sustenance.
It could walk, and at tremendous speed.
At this moment, it raced through the Moving Mountains Sect's Niandu Hall, bursting through the front hall's wall and charging into the White Tiger Hall.
Over a dozen Moving Mountains Sect experts were in the White Tiger Hall. Some unleashed their golden cores or nascent souls, others activated talisman treasures or talisman soldiers, and some leaped in terror.
The Nightmare Wood's roots moved like nimble tentacles, skittering across the floor.
They climbed the walls, moving just as swiftly along them, carrying the tube-pierced heads of its victims yet still dodging incoming spells, talisman treasures, and talisman soldiers with wind-like speed.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
Its branches stabbed unerringly into the cultivators' brains from behind!
The dozen or so cultivators pierced in the back of the brain instantly plummeted into dream realms, enduring all manner of horrific nightmares.
They dangled like rag dolls from its branches, swaying as it moved.
The monstrous tree burst out of the White Tiger Hall, smashing into the rear garden's corridor, shattering the roof to leap atop it, then racing across the rooftops, carrying over a hundred Moving Mountains Sect cultivators at breakneck speed.
Its branches grew wildly, chasing down other Moving Mountains Sect members.
Cultivators were pierced in the brain one after another, then whisked aloft by the branches, dancing in the air.
With each new connection, the Nightmare Wood absorbed more nutrients and grew rapidly, sprouting more root tendrils and branches from the victim's brain to capture even more prey.
In an instant, chaos reigned throughout the hall as Moving Mountains Sect members fled in all directions. But none got far before their bodies jerked, they stiffened in place, and fell into coma—only to be hoisted up by the tree.
The Nightmare Wood's form grew ever larger, the cultivators hanging from its branches multiplying.
Though not a true demon—just a spirit-grade creation—its strength surged rapidly. Ordinary nascent soul cultivators couldn't withstand a single blow before being captured.
Baili Mu, both shocked and furious, soared into the air above the Nightmare Wood. With a cold snort, he raised his hand and slammed down a spell resembling a mountain range!
At that moment, over a hundred golden core and nascent soul cultivators on my Nightmare Wood snapped their eyes open, staring at Baili Mu with eyes pure white, devoid of pupils.
They raised their hands in unison, mana erupting to meet Baili Mu's strike!
A muffled boom echoed in the sky as the cultivators dangling from the Nightmare Wood were shattered—bones breaking, limbs exploding—left mangled and broken.
But Baili Mu's Dragon-Shaking Scripture spell was still blocked!
Over half the cultivators on the Nightmare Wood were crippled, unable to block his next attack.
Yet for a talisman construct to withstand a single blow from a Spirit Descent Realm expert—this feat was astonishing!
Baili Mu was wreathed in mountains and coiling dragons. He thrust out a palm.
The Nightmare Wood shattered with crackling explosions, but the cultivators hanging from its branches stared fixedly at Baili Mu, smiling as they spoke in unison: "So you're the Moving Mountains Sect's sect master? Impressive skills indeed.
Newcomer Chen Shi has experienced them firsthand."
Boom!
Baili Mu's palm force crushed down, splintering the Nightmare Wood.
Corpses lay scattered across the ground every which way.
Baili Mu retracted his momentum and stepped forward, his face dark.
His Dragon-Shaking Scripture spells were immensely powerful, but incomplete. The version given to him by the Young Master was also partial, making his spells crude and hard to control precisely.
In shattering the Nightmare Wood, he couldn't avoid harming those under its control.
Even if his spells had been refined enough to save them, they wouldn't have lived.
For in the dream realm, the Nightmare Wood's death was the ultimate nightmare. Its collapse would kill everyone ensnared by the dreams.
Last time in the underworld, Chen Shi had seized the treasure without killing, merely injuring dozens.
But this time, Chen Shi's Nightmare Wood talisman had stormed their Niandu hall, killing over a hundred before and after—grievous losses!
This joint operation of Moving Mountains Sect and Hundred Refinements Hall had brought over thirteen hundred people, with more than three hundred from Hundred Refinements Hall.
The rest were Moving Mountains Sect elites.
And this one talisman had claimed a tenth of them!
He ordered searches for Chen Shi everywhere. Most weren't in the hall at the time. Had they all been gathered, and the Nightmare Wood talisman erupted suddenly, the death toll could have been in the hundreds!
Then the Nightmare Wood would have grown even stronger!
The one he'd just destroyed was freshly born, far from maturity.
A mature one—even he couldn't handle it.
What infuriated him most was that this Nightmare Wood had clearly been controlled by Chen Shi!
Chen Shi had seized control of those hundred-plus Moving Mountains Sect cultivators, using their mouths to taunt him!
Gazing at the corpses on the ground, Baili Mu burned with rage: "Stealing the treasured sword I offered the Young Master, slaughtering so many of my Moving Mountains Sect—even if the Jade Emperor himself came, I wouldn't spare you! Pass the order! Summon every Moving Mountains Sect member!"
Enraged, he barked the command. The surviving disciples hurriedly activated messenger talismans. One shot into the sky, transforming midair into a gleaming golden Luoyang shovel.
This was the Moving Mountains Sect's symbol. Any disciple seeing the golden Luoyang shovel had to drop everything and assemble.
Moving Mountains Sect members inside and outside Niandu, still hunting Chen Shi, all rushed toward the hall.
Soon, over three hundred elites gathered in the hall. Baili Mu ordered them to prepare talisman treasures and talisman soldiers, ready to move out of the city.
The rest would assemble and be led by incense masters.
At that moment, Governor Gao Chang of Niandu Prefecture arrived with his prefectural troops. With a single command, thousands of soldiers surrounded the Moving Mountains Sect hall, sealing it tight.
"Is the court trying to wipe out my Moving Mountains Sect?" Baili Mu's heart jolted. He hurriedly looked toward Xuan Saintess.
The Moving Mountains Sect wasn't righteous, after all—it dealt in capital crimes. If the authorities targeted them, it could mean extermination.
In his rage, he'd lost his head and openly summoned his people.
Clearly, the authorities had noticed!
Now, only Xuan Saintess could save the Moving Mountains Sect.
Xuan Saintess understood and said, "Sect Master, rest easy. You're the Young Master's man. Xuanxuan will do her utmost to keep you safe."
Baili Mu relaxed slightly: "My thanks, Saintess."
The Moving Mountains Sect was unorthodox, but the Bodhi Dojo was a righteous holy land.
After the Three Treasures Eunuch discovered West Ox New Continent, the Bodhi Dojo followed the fleet and first wave of settlers to this unfamiliar land, spreading the Buddha's teachings, subduing demons, and earning great merits.
Once most demons in West Ox New Continent were subdued, the Bodhi Dojo, Moonlit Paradise, and Great Nation-Reporting Temple were enshrined as the continent's three great Buddhist holy sites.
Xuan Saintess hailed from the Bodhi Dojo, a laywoman disciple of high status, revered as the Bodhi Saintess. Surely the authorities would give her face.
Governor Gao Chang approached alone, waving his attendants back.
"Uncle Gao, long time no see."
Xuan Saintess stepped forward with a smile.
Governor Gao Chang's stern face softened at the sight of her. He smiled: "Xuan Saintess is here too—quite the coincidence.
How fares the Young Master?"
Xuan Saintess smiled shyly: "Uncle Gao, Xuan'er serves the Bodhi Dojo, not as the Young Master's personal maid. Why ask after him first thing?"
Governor Gao Chang laughed heartily: "You and the Young Master are so close—how could I not suspect?
I'm still waiting to drink your wedding wine!"
He glanced at the approaching Baili Mu, his face instantly darkening.
Baili Mu's heart pounded wildly. He hurried forward, dropping to one knee: "Commoner Baili Mu pays respects to Lord Gao!"
His cultivation matched Governor Gao Chang's—both Spirit Descent Realm—but their statuses were worlds apart.
Gao Chang backed one of the Thirteen Great Clans, the Gao Clan, representing the court.
No sect could stand against even one great clan—not even the three great Buddhist holy sites!
Though Baili Mu's cultivation was high, against a behemoth like the Gao Clan, a mere flick of their finger could reduce the Moving Mountains Sect to ashes.
Xuan Saintess smiled: "Uncle Gao, Sect Master Baili is a key subordinate of the Young Master."
Gao Chang shook his head: "I know he's the Young Master's man. Otherwise, they'd have been seized and executed upon entering the city."
Baili Mu kept his head down, silent.
Gao Chang continued: "Your activities in Niandu are tolerated out of deference to the Young Master—one eye open, one closed.
But stirring trouble and killing in my Niandu—that I cannot abide.
Baili Mu, Niandu isn't a place for your rampage. Want to make trouble? Do it outside."
Baili Mu protested: "My lord, it wasn't our Moving Mountains Sect stirring trouble in Niandu—it was someone else killing our people!"
"I don't care."
Gao Chang said flatly: "Within a hundred li of Niandu, the Moving Mountains Sect is forbidden from seeking vengeance.
Settle your grudges after the other party leaves a hundred li from Niandu."
Baili Mu swallowed his frustration, thinking: "Governor Gao insists we leave a hundred li before acting—is he mocking my surname Baili?"
Xuan Saintess smiled: "Sect Master Baili, thank the lord!"
"Commoner thanks you, my lord!"
Baili Mu bowed deeply.
Gao Chang noted he'd knelt halfway earlier but now merely bowed, inwardly grumbling at his lack of propriety.
He didn't bother dwelling on it.
"My words end here. The Moving Mountains Sect, watch yourselves—stay beyond a hundred li of Niandu.
Otherwise, no mercy!"
Gao Chang dropped those words and turned to leave.
Xuan Saintess hurried after: "Uncle Gao, let me see you off."
Gao Chang smiled: "I wouldn't dare.
This way, Saintess..."
Walking side by side, Xuan Saintess whispered: "Uncle Gao's visit to reprimand Sect Master Baili must have another purpose."
Gao Chang sighed, not hiding it: "Someone from Shui kou Village reported a murder. The culprit: Xixiang's Qianyang Mountain Chen Shi, the two-province licentiate. Hearing this, I knew trouble brewed, so I rushed here to stop Baili Mu from hunting Chen Shi."
His face grave: "Does the Saintess know Chen Licentiate's origins?"
Xuan Saintess smiled faintly: "He seized the Young Master's treasure in the underworld, the Nether Spring游 Dragon Sword. Unsure of his background, I contacted my master, who told me some things about him."
Gao Chang said: "You should know of the Gongzhou Demon Calamity.
He caused that.
My life and fortune are tied to Niandu.
I don't want Niandu becoming another Gongzhou.
The Young Master—I can't afford to cross.
New Township's Chen Licentiate—I can't cross either.
So, I ask you to leave a hundred li from Niandu."
He smiled faintly: "Outside Niandu, do as you please."
He halted: "Xuan Saintess, you're a prodigy nurtured by the Bodhi Dojo. Your master must have warned you how dangerous New Duo Chen Shi is.
Best steer clear of the taboo strife, lest you get burned."
Xuan Saintess smiled lightly: "Uncle's good intentions are appreciated, Xuan'er understands.
I harbor no ill will toward Young Master Chen and won't strike at him."
Gao Chang: "That's for the best."
He ordered his troops to withdraw and departed first.
Xuan Saintess watched him go, murmuring: "Though Young Master Chen is a taboo too, he's but a commoner. The Young Master grasps the world's destiny. When he rises to claim the realm, our Bodhi Dojo will be founding ministers.
What can Chen Shi offer the Bodhi Dojo?"
Just then, a report came: "Sect Master! Sect Master! Chen Shi has entered the city—heading this way!"
Xuan Saintess's heart raced, blood rushing to her head: "This man—such nerve!
Outrageously bold!
Utterly audacious!"
Chapter End.