Chapter 134: Chapter 120: When Evil Rises a Foot, the Dao Rises a Yard Higher

On Taiyin Mountain, within the Taiyin Emperor Temple.

Under the shroud of night, in front of the majestic statue of the Emperor, a middle-aged monk with a pale, beardless face sat cross-legged, facing the statue with eyes slightly closed.

In the dim candlelight, a brass magic sword lay across his knees, exuding a deadly aura.

Those young monks, who seemed so gentle during the day, now entered one after another, but at this moment, the faces of these young monks carrying magic swords had lost some of their warmth—they were still smiling, but this smile now carried a hint of disdain.

Of course, upon seeing the middle-aged monk in front of the statue, they all swiftly collected their expressions and bowed respectfully to the back of the middle-aged monk.

"Master!"

"No need for formalities."

The middle-aged monk slightly opened his eyes, though he didn’t even turn his head.

"How’s it going, have all the new scriptures been distributed?"

"They’re all distributed, Master."

The leading young monk cupped his fists in salute.

"Those refugees really love reading them, more earnestly than they did with the Emperor’s sacred texts before."

"Truly... lacking spiritual roots."

Hearing the report from his disciple in front of him, the middle-aged monk couldn’t stop shaking his head.

The so-called Emperor’s sacred texts were scriptures that praised the "Taiyin Demon-Subduing Mysterious Emperor," and in this Taiyin Mountain, they were of utmost sanctity—yet these refugees did not appreciate their profound significance, discarding these treasures like worn-out shoes, and instead, they focused intently on the scriptures recording the evil spirits of the mountain, not letting them out of their sight.

This is simply, simply...

"Sigh..."

Exhaling a murky breath, the middle-aged monk raised his head slightly, gazing up at the Taiyin Emperor statue before him.

The Emperor statue before him formed a seal with its left hand, held a sword with its right, stood upon a cloud, draped in a brocade robe, and exuded an indescribable majesty between its brows.

If given the chance, who wouldn’t want to be like this Taiyin Emperor, vanquishing demons and spirits, roaming freely between heaven and earth?

But the middle-aged monk knew that such feats were not something ordinary people could achieve.

The middle-aged monk’s family name was Zhang, with a given name Qi, his family had lived in this Taiyin Mountain for generations, maintaining the Mountain God Temple as their livelihood—though the Zhang family, when traced back, wasn’t actually native to Yiyang; they migrated from their great-grandfather’s generation.

At that time, Zhang Qi’s great-grandfather passed by Taiyin Mountain and accidentally discovered the then-dilapidated Mountain God Temple, fortunate enough to obtain a brass magic sword. With the sword in hand, Zhang Qi’s great-grandfather felt a sense of destiny and moved his entire family here, taking up seclusion within this Taiyin Mountain.

As for the purpose of this seclusion...

Of course, it was for cultivating immortality.

Outwardly, the Zhang family claimed they had acquired a magic sword to justify their cultivation at the Mountain God Temple, but internally, they all knew, more important than the magic sword, were the two volumes of sacred texts—one being the "Taiyin Demon-Subduing Mysterious Emperor’s Sacred Text," the other being the "Diagram Records of Taiyin Mountain’s Malevolent Spirits."

The latter spoke of ghostly entities in Taiyin Mountain, with brutal killings, which the Zhang ancestor disfavored, finding it not aligned with the righteous path, usually sealing it away as merely a collection of strange tales, occasionally brought out for insight and broadened horizons. The former, however, the Zhang ancestor recited day and night, diligently cultivating, following the records within the sacred texts, hoping that one day, cultivation would bear fruit, unlocking extraordinary power.

To outsiders, the Zhang family elder claimed to be serving the Mountain God, and chanting scriptures day and night was merely for the peace of the surrounding Taiyin.

But only the Zhang elder knew, he genuinely succeeded in his cultivation.

Although success was achieved, it was quite awkward; strictly speaking, it was only a partial success—the elder managed, through consistent cultivation, to condense a golden-armored deity to protect himself, remaining strong and healthy into his nineties, yet he was far from the worldly immortal he aspired to become.

"What exactly is lacking?"

On the day of his hundredth birthday, the Zhang elder passed away with resentment.

Afterwards, every generation of the Zhang family studied the Emperor’s sacred texts, attempting to discover the true path to immortality, but no matter how they combed through the words of the sacred texts, they could not discern the great truth within them.

Until it came to Zhang Qi’s generation.

Unlike his devout and faithful ancestors, Zhang Qi was more nimble-minded. Like his ancestors, after cultivating the Emperor’s sacred texts, he hit the same bottleneck his elder ancestor couldn’t surpass—yet this time, Zhang Qi did not persist in cultivation like his ancestors, but remembered the legends passed down by his great-grandfather.

"If immortal cultivation needed only one sacred text, then why were there two volumes of sacred texts obtained by the ancestor?"

With this thought, Zhang Qi took out the sealed sacred text and read it carefully.

Then he realized the significance of this second sacred text.

"Without earth, how can there be heavens? Without demons, how can there be gods?"

At that moment, Zhang Qi felt he understood it all.

If there were no ten thousand evil spirits, how could there be an immortal striking them down with a single sword?

"So, they have made their choice."

Before the statue, the middle-aged monk named Zhang Qi showed no expression.

"If they had the spiritual insight, they could join us in the pursuit of the immortal path, but now that they’ve chosen that second sacred text... they can’t blame us!"

Saying this, Zhang Qi suddenly stood, waving the brass magic sword in his hand, conjuring the ethereal apparition of the Emperor, identical to the statue behind him!

Moreover, the young monks, already unable to suppress their excitement, released the golden-armored deities from their backs.

Indeed, they had given these refugees a chance, but clearly, these refugees failed to recognize the mountain’s treasures, obsessing instead over the evil spirit scriptures—indicating a destiny with spirits, nearly equating them with the malevolent!

Furthermore, the mouths of ten thousand refugees were no different from hungry ghosts.

The old Taiyin Emperor could kill ten thousand malevolent spirits with one sword; they may not match the Emperor, but dealing with ten thousand hungry ghosts was more than manageable!

Besides, it’s not as if they haven’t done this before.

"Subdue the demons today!"

With magic sword raised to lead the way, Zhang Qi was the first to walk out of the Mountain God Temple.

"All disciples, follow me!"

In an instant, the young monks poured out, following Zhang Qi straight to the village at the foot of the mountain.

Even by night, the refugees in the village were still engrossed in reading the second sacred text, and as they envisioned themselves possessing the bravery depicted in the tales of demon killings, dark ghostly shadows emerged behind them.

Clearly, this time, the refugees indeed had cultivated something.

But it was all pointless.

Seeing the fierce sword-wielding monks, these refugees, including the ghostly shadows behind them, attempted to resist desperately—but these newly formed ghostly shadows, these refugees untested in real combat, how could they withstand the substantial golden-armored deities? How could they withstand the sharp magic swords tainted with evil qi?

Within a few swift moves, the refugees in this room were all killed so cleanly and quickly that they hadn’t even a chance to make a sound.

Clearly, these monks of the Mountain God Temple were quite practiced in such deeds.

"Move on! To the next one!"

Holding the bloodstained brass magic sword, Zhang Qi strode swiftly.

Within moments, Zhang Qi had led the slaughter of five rooms, nearly a hundred Yanzhou refugees dying beneath those magic swords.

These refugees, who fled all the way from Yanzhou, likely never dreamed that these previously amiable Immortals would suddenly turn lethal, and the lives they barely managed to keep safe would be lost in Taiyin Mountain due to their greed for a taste of immortal’s strange techniques.

By this time, Zhang Qi had already led his men to the door of the sixth room.

"Master, be careful, this room holds one of the leaders among these refugees, commanding over three hundred fierce veterans, and he appears quite formidable, so handling him might not be easy."

Just as Zhang Qi was about to enter, a young monk spoke to remind him.

But Zhang Qi, already having slain a multitude, was unconcerned.

"Just a mere warrior, today we’ll show him what it means for the right path to surpass the wrong one by a long shot!"

Saying this, the phantom Emperor behind Zhang Qi grew taller with the wind, already towering over one zhang!

Its majestic presence suspended in mid-air was truly like the descent of an immortal!

"Incredible!"

The disciples praised in unison, never having witnessed such a magnificent sight.

"Incredible!"

The towering dark ghostly shadow passing through the room’s roof, apparently amused, clapped soundlessly in admiration.