Chapter 202: Chapter 201: Yellow Heaven Altar

"Damn!" Gu Zhao clicked his tongue. "Took out four of the Yellow Heaven Altar’s Guardians?"

"But we also got some information," Taoist Jing Feng sent via voice transmission. "The Yellow Heaven Altar doesn’t just have the Yellow Heaven God as their top expert. There’s also his wife, whose Cultivation is even higher than his."

"Oh?" Gu Zhao’s eyes flashed. "Even higher than his?"

"Also, the Yellow Heaven Altar is indeed a nest of Weasels," Taoist Jing Feng added. "They also specialize in recruiting lesser demons to cultivate Divine Soul Power, so they have quite a few experts. At the very least, that Yellow Guardian’s Cultivation was higher than the first Guardian of the Golden Wind Divine Sect."

"Understood." Gu Zhao nodded and sent a voice transmission to Taoist Yan Song. "Martial Uncle, please go to Shanglin County and stay for a while. Don’t let the enemy tear down the temple we just finished building there."

Taoist Yan Song chuckled. "Don’t worry, Sect Leader. If they dare to show up, I’ll make sure they don’t leave. Once we eliminate the Yellow Heaven Altar, we can lie low for a bit longer before heading to White Bone Mountain."

After more than half a year of observation, everyone had become much more familiar with this world.

Although this place was rich in Spiritual Qi, filled with Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, and home to all sorts of Demons and Ghosts, most people’s innate talent was limited. Even if they could practice Cultivation, they were constrained by their lifespans, making it difficult for their Dao Practice to exceed three or four hundred years.

Even the major powers with well-established legacies were mostly propped up by a few top-tier experts, and there were never many of them. The rest were clearly stratified, with fewer people at each higher level of Dao Practice.

This was, in fact, the natural order.

But Daluo Palace had completely overturned this natural order.

By relying on the Five Thunders Order to bestow the Thunder Seed and activate their Innate Qi, every Daoist who came here gained a foundation of Dao Practice ranging from one hundred to three hundred years.

Coupled with the Thunder Seed gathering Evil Qi to nourish them, and the fact that they were already exceptionally talented prodigies to begin with, each of them cultivated as if there were no bottlenecks, advancing by leaps and bounds at an incredible speed.

To date, those with over five hundred years of Dao Practice included Sect Leader Gu Zhao, Taoist Yan Song, Taoist Yi Hong, and Taoist Ming Yu.

Following closely behind them were Taoist Yan Ling and Taoist Jing Feng.

Further back, Taoist Ming Chong, Taoist Qingyuan, and Yunyang weren’t far behind either, and they were also progressing rapidly.

At this rate, even if they only relied on roaming the land to uphold justice—letting their gains accumulate—combined with their personal Cultivation, in another six months to a year they would be able to achieve a Realm Breakthrough and fly through the air.

If word of this speed got out, it would likely scare people to death.

...

As Taoist Yan Song arrived in Shanglin County, keeping an eye on the Daluo Temple’s safety while traveling through the local villages to exorcise evil, news from Guangwu County reached the Yellow Heaven Altar.

In the rear hall of the Yellow Heaven Altar in Bai Shi Prefecture, a burly man built like a bear stood with one foot on the floor and the other propped on a dining chair. Before him, a table was laden with a lavish spread of meat and fish. He held a roasted chicken in his left hand and a leg of lamb in his right, devouring them with large bites, his mouth glistening with grease.

He tore off a chicken leg, chewed it up—bone and all—and swallowed. Then he picked up a wine jug and took a large swig. Finally, he let out a long breath and asked, "How did Old Fourth die?"

"Ancestor, he was killed by an old Mage in black robes."

A tall, thin man standing below in the hall spoke, trembling with fear. "Little Sixteen was ordered to go to Guangwu County to spread our teachings. He was also meant to be bait, out in the open, to attract Daluo Palace. But he got a little impatient and kidnapped a dozen or so children while he was there, which caused quite a stir among the common folk.

Then, that Mage in black appeared. He called himself a humble Daoist but didn’t reveal his origins. He just took a piece of personal clothing from one of the missing children and used a technique to find Little Sixteen’s location.

It’s said he can summon several ugly but immensely powerful Evil Ghosts. He killed Little Sixteen and the three men he brought with him in just a few moves, and he also pointed out where the children were being held.

After the mortals found the children, they discovered they couldn’t enter the building where the Mage in black was. A biting chill emanated from the room, and it was filled with a gloomy aura. There was yellow smoke mixed in, and anyone who got too close would feel dizzy and faint."

The Yellow Heaven Ancestor raised an eyebrow. "Was that the Yellow Heaven Divine Smoke I gave them?"

"It must have been." The tall, thin man nodded and continued, "Then, a short while later, the yellow smoke and the chill all disappeared. When the common folk went to look, Yellow Guardian and the other three had already been killed."

The Yellow Heaven Ancestor frowned. "How long is ’a short while’?"

The tall, thin man swallowed hard. "About fifteen minutes."

"Old Fourth had nearly three hundred years of Dao Practice, plus the Yellow Heaven Divine Smoke I refined for him, and he only lasted fifteen minutes?" The Yellow Heaven Ancestor took another vicious bite of the lamb leg. ’Who the hell is this guy?’

"Wasn’t it Daluo Palace?"

A voice, both bewitching and seductive, drifted in. Then, a woman in a colorful pleated skirt of gold, green, and silver walked out gracefully from the inner hall. Her figure and features were stunning and elegant, but she was less than four feet tall, like a young child.

The woman walked over to the Yellow Heaven Ancestor and said with a frown, "All you do is eat. Have you forgotten? Don’t those people from Daluo Palace call themselves Daoists?"

"I remember," the Yellow Heaven Ancestor said, putting down his roasted chicken and leg of lamb. He scratched his head with a greasy hand. "But even though Daluo Palace is a group of Mages, their Magical Power is said to be grand and righteous, without any sign of Ghost Gods. This Mage in black... he must be in Harmony with a Ghost, right?"

The woman sneered. "Grand and righteous? What a joke. Just like that Old Ghost Golden Wind, it’s nothing more than a Blinding Technique. How much power can a mere Mage possibly have? How much Dao Practice?

Since no Demons appeared during the battle with the Golden Wind Divine Sect, they must be in Harmony with Ghost Gods. That would also explain why they’re competing for Incense in Changping Prefecture.

This time, by coming to Guangwu County to test the waters, he didn’t use the Daluo Palace name, so naturally he didn’t have to hold back. That’s why the Ghost in Harmony with that old Mage showed itself so clearly."

Realization dawned on the Yellow Heaven Ancestor. "You’re right, Madam!"

At this, the Yellow Heaven Ancestor wiped his hands and frowned, a flicker of fear in his eyes. "Old Fourth’s Magical Power wasn’t weak, and he had the Divine Smoke I gave him, but he still couldn’t last fifteen minutes. Is Daluo Palace really that powerful?"

"If Daluo Palace weren’t strong, they wouldn’t have been able to destroy the Golden Wind Divine Sect," Madam Huang sneered. "But since they’ve already eliminated our people in Shanglin County and are now meddling in Guangwu County—all without paying a visit to our Yellow Heaven Altar to show respect—it means they have no intention of negotiating with us in good faith."

A vicious glint flashed in the Yellow Heaven Ancestor’s eyes. "I’ll go to Guangwu County, find that old Mage, and kill him!"

Madam Huang nodded. "Don’t go too deep into Changping Prefecture. Be careful of any traps Daluo Palace might have set. Wait for me to go have a chat with Lady White Bone and see if I can borrow the Bone Soul Lamp."

The Yellow Heaven Ancestor asked in surprise, "She’d be willing to lend it?"

Madam Huang said darkly, "I’ve sent three to five hundred children to the White Bone Cave to help her son cultivate the Bone Evil Child Skill. She owes me at least that much, right?"