Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 263 - 260: Overturning the Chessboard, Finally Becoming the Chess Player

Chapter 263: Chapter 260: Overturning the Chessboard, Finally Becoming the Chess Player

In the midst of Mirror Lake, on a small island shaped like a green snail.

The youth in green sat cross-legged on a bluestone, surrounded by a faint morning mist. Above the surface of the lake, clouds and mist intertwined, making him seem like a banished immortal who could ride the wind away at any moment.

At this moment, Wang Yuan’s face was as undisturbed as an ancient well, yet inside him, a "Jade City Golden Que Divine Talisman" shone brightly.

Clang! Clang! Clang!...

As celestial music rang in his ears, bursts of spirit light flashed from Lady Peach Fairy, Nie Hongying, Ghost Baby, Xing’er, Zisu, and Hualing in quick succession.

With the "Five Senses Altar City Method" finally complete, not only did the six "Five Senses" greatly advance in their Taoist abilities, crossing the second barrier together,

but even Huang Wu, who was connected to Wang Yuan’s life plate, soared to the "True Qi" realm in one breath, as if she were riding a golden-winged great roc!

When the great river flows, the smaller rivers fill up.

Immediately after.

A spirit light ascended from Wang Yuan’s "Yin God", passing through five streams and five dragons of green, white, yellow, red, and black ether, penetrating and merging with the souls of the Five Senses, indistinguishable from each other.

Hum—!

Behind Wang Yuan’s head, a golden-green sun burst forth radiantly.

It was akin to the protective "Dharma Light" that was only supposed to be cultivated after advancing to the "Yellow Seal Mage" realm and possessing mana—unceasing Dharma Light, unharmed Dharma body!

With just one Dharma Light, he could effortlessly defend against a barrage of gunfire, significantly enhancing his survivability.

Moreover, wasn’t the "Dharma Light" now at least twice as strong as when he had slain the Inverted Taoist three days ago?

This "Earth Que Magic Light" that resembled a round of Green Sun was entirely composed of extremely fine rune characters.

Within it, the illusory talisman light was as dense as a forest, with Yu King Sword Formation, Supreme Golden Lock, Mountain Shifting, Ghost King Divine Weapon, Great Sin Blood Prison... Various runes circulating continuously, ready to activate upon a single thought.

Then, spears and great halberds, axes and hooked staves... changed as desired, piercing through gold and stone.

Talismanic magic is also qi magic; runes are born from the transformation of Dao, the runes being ubiquitous in all things yet unnoticed in daily use. Daoists create talismans as an imitation of heaven and earth, commanding divine spirits.

The Book of Changes says:

"The divine is the subtle agent of all things and speaks for them! By observing the yin and yang of heaven and earth, one can discern all things, hold the way of heaven, act on behalf of heaven, herd nature itself, and laws manifest upon utterance."

To say it is the divine spirit is less accurate than saying it is the functional manifestation of the great way of heaven and earth, which is also called the spirit of heaven and earth. The unpredictability of yin and yang is called the divine, appearing in response to the talismans.

When Wang Yuan summoned the Thunder God, yin and yang clashed, transforming into thunder. "Thunder Skill・Summoning Thunder Department" was just one of many applications of "Dharma Light".

With the coalescing of the "Dharma Light", Wang Yuan’s abilities had increased at least tenfold from his time in the Yin God realm!

Even if his "Dharma Body" was not yet complete, he was confident that he could overcome a newly advanced "Military Leader" like his big cousin.

Today’s cultivation ended, his new realm fully stabilized. Wang Yuan stood up and lightly stomped his foot.

His body, enveloped by the golden-green Dharma Light, shot up into the sky in an instant, turning into a stunning rainbow that reached for the heavens.

In barely a dozen breaths, he flew over ten miles, then halted his momentum and gently descended back to the ground.

His toes lightly tapped a treetop, and with another leap, he carried himself ten more miles.

There was still some distance from the "Yellow Seal Mage" realm, where one needs not rely on wind and clouds but can be upheld by pure mana without ever falling.

But in the eyes of the common folk, he already appeared as a land-bound immortal, formidable and strong.

At this stage, Wang Yuan finally had a bit of the flair described in legends—cultivators entering and exiting the azure darkness, carrying mountains and surging seas with an ease and grace.

Using the "Yin God" to control the "Dharma Light" might seem like a child wielding a heavy hammer.

But with the addition of the "Taoist Inheritance Artifact・Abyssal Ghost King Banner", serving as a temporary "Dharma Body" and greatly enhancing his own Taoist magic, Wang Yuan could stand toe-to-toe with other mages.

Even the tribulation energy above his head had faded by a third.

The "Calamity" was the same, but the threat it posed to him had changed dramatically.

"Big cousin, look, what are they doing over there?"

Hualing’s voice suddenly rang in his ears.

Wang Yuan looked down from high above, only to see that the area around Mirror Lake had turned into a bustling construction site.

Hualing need not worry; it’s the new County Magistrate of Yunhe County, Duan Xing’an, leading the idle farmers in constructing a Dharma Altar, building a new "Water Dragon Cultivation Formation".

It should be completed before winter, which could increase the power of the formation by another fifty percent.

The array map was planned by the grand master of formations, Xu Zhenzhi.

Once the transformation was complete, and with Wang Yuan, who had now developed the "Dharma Light", personally overseeing, even a mage in the Mage Realm would not be able to breach Mirror Lake.

As for Xu Zhenzhi, after drawing the array map and leaving behind an invitation for Wang Yuan to join the "Nine Soldiers", he once again drifted away.

"To face the azure sea at dawn and the gray Wutong trees at dusk!

Mountain and Sea Taoist from the moment they establish their Dao Foundation, must travel all their lives.

If they settle in a place for more than a month, their Taoist skills will start to regress.

Even more, the ’Divine Power Talisman’ will gradually merge with the local feng shui and Earth Qi, causing the physical body to slowly mutate into minerals or stone substances.

Following this, mutated Taoist skills can bring misfortune to those around!]

If Xu Zhenzhi stayed in one place for too long, he might become a dangerous "Deceit Object" akin to the "Old Almanac".

With three months left until the second day of the second lunar month, he naturally couldn’t stay here the entire time.

Before leaving, he did promise to hurry back to help before the second day of the second lunar month.

The grand event of the "Yunhe Bridge Falling Dragon" cannot be ignored by the "Nine Soldiers".

Moreover, the old man lent Wang Yuan his relic "Deceit Object・Old Almanac", asking only for it to be returned after the second day of the second lunar month next year.

"Deceit Object・Old Almanac"

Origin: Transformed from the "Yellow Seal Strange Immortal" the Yellow-robed Child after being extinguished, containing an invaluable "Supply Fruit" that greatly enhances this deceit object’s original capabilities.

Effects:

[1. As long as actions such as marriages, funerals, groundbreaking, war... etc. are conducted according to the Yellow Calendar, they will surely succeed, even impacting the realm of mages.

Note: Currently, one can actively add their own tasks to a page of the Yellow Calendar, no longer limited to the original "suitable" tasks, such as Transforming Dragon.]

[2. Old Almanac. It can resurrect the master from history, or return one’s state to a previous point in time, usable once a year.]

Taboo:

"When someone attempts to thwart ’Yi’ from being fulfilled, they will encounter mistakes due to various unexpected coincidences."

"Even Mages can be disturbed, while Sage Realm is completely immune."

"Conversely, those on our side who have consulted the Old Almanac will also face the fate-defying killing power of the opponent, struggling with strength and destiny until only one side survives."

While his thoughts were churning, Dharma Light carried Wang Yuan swiftly to Dongping Lake.

After cleaning up everything from start to finish, there remained the last unstable factor—the Marquis Guangyang, Lingxiao!

"My lord!"

Nie Renxiong, who was stationed here, hurried forward to greet him when he saw that long rainbow descend.

"Judge Nie, how is everything on the boat?"

Nie Renxiong had personally overseen the guarding of this official vessel with more than a dozen Thunder Sails Cannons during this time, to prevent the desperate measures of the fourth-realm Military Leader on board.

However, barring any major accidents, after today, they could be completely relieved of duty.

"Reporting to my lord, Zhou Xianchen, who carried the Evil God Order, has died in the dream realm, and the Deceit Monster has taken the Evil God Order.

The only one still alive, Marquis Guangyang, hasn’t closed his eyes for many days and couldn’t hold on any longer.

My subordinates only needed to release a hint of the secret Taiyin Xuanbing Dao’s intoxicating smoke, and he fell into a deep slumber."

"In the nightmare, he has been besieged by those Deceit Monsters for a day; he’s unlikely to ever wake up."

Hearing this, Wang Yuan feigned a sigh and said:

"Those monstrosities in the dream are truly vicious. They not only plotted against numerous civilians of Dengzhou Prefecture but even killed all the people on the Marquis Guangyang’s boat who came to take office.

Great Yan has lost another valiant general among its nobles; what sorrow!"

Nie Renxiong didn’t correct him—even if he wasn’t dead now, he soon would be—and simply agreed:

"What my lord said is true. I will return to the City God Temple shortly and ’truthfully report’ the events here. It’s truly regrettable that a heroic figure like Marquis Guangyang met his end at the hands of the bizarre.

In the future, we must certainly avenge him by defeating the Dream Moth!"

The master and servant, in turn, offered incense prematurely for the Marquis Guangyang who was not yet dead and sealed his fate.

Presumably, the Marquis Guangyang would be thankful to them if he knew what they did after his death.

The people from the Marquis Mansion who were locked on the boat did not receive any hints from Wang Yuan and dared not sleep.

After so many days, most of them had perished.

Only the last one, Marquis Guangyang, was still struggling to hold on but after enduring many days, he eventually drank Old Wang’s foot wash.

"Withdraw everyone."

With a wave of his hand, Wang Yuan walked alone into the eerily quiet cabin; soon after, Nie Renxiong heard a gruesome sound of flesh ripping and bones being chopped from inside.

The horrifying noise lingered for what seemed like an eternity.

Not until the middle of the night did Wang Yuan walk out nonchalantly, holding a head in his hand.

The head of Marquis Guangyang was withered, covered in black Ghost Talismans, but the Sky-Reaching Pattern in the center of his forehead was as red as blood.

Wang Yuan tossed it up into the air, made a mantra gesture with his hands, and uttered a low command:

"Transform!"

A putrid Yin wind suddenly arose.

The last of the flesh was swept away by the wind, leaving only a ghastly white skull that floated up and down in the air. With a glaring flash of blood light, it transformed into a nearly ten feet tall Ghost General.

He thudded down to his knees like a golden pillar, cupped his fists, and said respectfully:

"This subordinate, Lingxiao, greets my lord!"

The skull, still marked with the deep impression of the "Sky-Reaching Pattern," became Lingxiao’s Ghost Dao Dependency.

With the "Sky-Reaching Pattern," which Wang Yuan had long been covetous of, the Ghost General Lingxiao still retained the strength of a fourth-realm Military Leader he had in life!

["Innate Strange Phenomena·Sky-Reaching Pattern"]

The ability of "Eagle Vision, Wolf Glance" is "Treasonous", the ability of "Eyes Dark as Indigo Abnormality" is "Unsightly Observation," and the ability of the "Sky-Reaching Pattern" is "Connect Yin and Yang."

It allows communication with heaven above and earth below and with the spirits of the world.

This kind of Innate Strange Phenomena should be most suitable for Witches, Temple Priests, Shamans.

If not for the need to inherit the title at home and the absence of other male heirs besides him, Lingxiao would most likely have entered a Taoist Sect to cultivate Taoist Skills.

But it’s not a waste to use it here today either.

With the "Sky-Reaching Pattern" at its core, Wang Yuan, whose Taoist ability had greatly improved, forcefully trained a Ghost General who had almost completely lost his self.

And for him, the Living Yama was his heaven!

At this moment, Wang Yuan reviewed the power on his side.

He had Nie Renxiong and Mrs. Long Shao, two peak Yin God Realm beings;

Zhou Jinghuan and Ghost General Lingxiao, two fourth-realm Military Leaders capable of slaying a Dharma Body Realm with their gathered troops and Yellow Seal Mage.

He himself was a "Fake Mage."

Plus the support of a genuine Mage, Xu Zhenzhi.

All of a sudden, a chess piece that should have been adrift was not only capable of slaughtering the opponent’s dragon but also overturned the board opportunely, qualifying to become a chess player!

With his mood greatly lifted, Wang Yuan gestured to the Ghost General Lingxiao.

"Rise. Do your job well, and strive to reunite your family soon."

"This subordinate obeys the order!"

From this Ghost General’s memory, Wang Yuan had already learned that Lingxiao had long since sent a message to the capital, seeking to leverage the power of his foster father, Xue Jiexi, to break the game, but he hadn’t received support from his ’parents’ until his death.

It can only be said that the Great Dao Simplicity of the "Calling Parents Skill" is indeed useful, but external forces can ultimately not be relied upon.

Wang Yuan, however, was fully aware of the situation in the capital.

He knew that Lingxiao’s foster father was too busy staging a major drama in the capital to care about his fate—a bloodshed triggered by a memorial!

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