Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 420 - 417 Yin God Shrine, Underground Master

Chapter 420: Chapter 417 Yin God Shrine, Underground Master

A gust of grim wind swept by.

Nie Renxiong and his two companions had already concealed their forms, peering through the cracks of the broken temple toward the outside.

They saw in the dark of night.

A group of raggedly dressed refugees with pallid faces, bearing crude wooden spears, scythes, firewood knives... were frantically running ahead, they could also be called a panicked refugee rebellion army.

Behind them was a group of soldiers, who, although not fully armored or armed, were still much stronger than the refugees.

Moreover, even with their rundown military supplies, these soldiers had at least practiced some basic military skills and hand-to-hand combat commonplace in the army.

Their combat power was far superior to those refugees who couldn’t even get enough to eat.

The chase got closer and closer until they had the former completely surrounded right in front of the ruined temple.

The captain leading the soldiers just sneered disdainfully at the anguish and accusations from the refugee leader, then gave a large wave of his hand,

"Lord Prefect has ordered, every rebel shall be executed, kill them all!"

The demands of the ruling class from their subjects were to be obedient and compliant.

Even if wronged, they mustn’t show the slightest resistance; otherwise, it would be a monstrous crime against nature, utterly unforgivable.

In these days, the line between officials and bandits was very clear.

For the lofty officials, an official was an official, and a bandit was a bandit.

For mere commoners, not to endure in silence was to oppose and protest like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot, this was a heinous crime against the natural order of things, absolutely unforgivable.

Even if the banners on the city walls changed hands, it had nothing to do with them; that was a game exclusively played among the warlords.

Of course.

What had happened in Yunjing City in the past half-month had already spread all over the world.

Even if no one but the "Nine Soldiers" knew the details.

Everyone knew that the Imperial City had become ruins, the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Royal Family, the Martial Saint... had all vanished without a trace.

These local Marquises, these Local Emperors, now only clung to the flag of the old Court purely for the sake of an appearance of righteousness.

It cannot be excluded that there are still some loyal and righteous men, waiting for one of the Great Yan Royal Family Princes scattered across the lands to select a New Emperor.

But the majority of them, I’m afraid, have long been conspiring with some warlord or Taoist Sect.

Ready to sell off their governed land at a good price.

From the look of this group of garrison soldiers from Yizhou Prefecture, it’s obviously the case.

"Fire!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Bursts of orange-red muzzle flashes flickered in succession through the night.

After a series of gunfire like the popping of beans, those who dared assault the prefecture and county were easily felled in large numbers.

The jeering rear ranks of the official army charged forward with their blades and, after brief screams, the hundreds of fragments of the refugee army lay in pools of blood.

These local garrison soldiers were completely useless against demons and ghosts, but when it came to suppressing the internal refugees, they were adept at the task.

"Alas, such troubled times,"

the three invisible judges inside the temple sighed.

They were about to take action to gather the souls of the deceased and send a spark of "True Spirit" into the Underworld to prevent them from becoming fierce ghosts or even new dangerous entities.

As for the power struggles within the Mortal World during this period of strife, they were truly powerless.

But just as Nie Renxiong was about to raise his hand, the captain of the official army gave another order,

"Summon the ’Yin God Shrine’!"

A young Taoist dressed in gray robes, holding a black shrine laden with the dense incense of offerings, emerged from the crowd.

A dirty yellow cloth covered the door of the shrine, embroidered with all manner of fierce-looking ghosts, and even bearing suspicious blood stains.

It was impossible to see what was enshrined within it.

"This person is..."

All three judges furrowed their brows at once, realizing that this man’s attire was strikingly similar to those of the "Demon Master Dao" demon mages they had encountered before.

His eyes, too, were not human eyes, but the golden vertical pupils of a snake.

Before they could think further, they saw the demon mage raise the shrine high above his head.

A beam of Divine Light shot out suddenly, covering all the corpses on the ground.

Whistling winds arose

as a mournful ghastliness swept through, with the souls of all the refugees forcefully pulled from their bodies.

They were then dizzily swept into the shrine.

Another Taoist stepped forward with a jade bottle, situating its mouth over a small hole on the base of the shrine.

He collected a stream of golden liquid that emerged.

At the same time, an odd fragrance only detectable by souls filled the air.

Ghosts, from the desolate wilderness around, were involuntarily drawn here, much like the Hanging Ghost who somehow had wandered to Yizhou Prefecture before.

However, with another sweep of Divine Light, they too were all swept in, turning into another stream of golden liquid.

At this moment, the three judges, who had wanted to see what kind of mischief they were up to, finally had their faces turn completely pale.

In a mixture of shock and anger, Li Wenzhong couldn’t help but exclaim,

"True Spirit! These devil path followers have not released the ’True Spirit’ of these refugees and ghosts, they’ve refined everything including the ghost bodies! Madness,

they’ve truly gone mad!"

Even Old Master Wang and the Imperial Dragon Guard, who had killed countless, did not dare to make their enemies’ souls scatter, depriving them of the chance for reincarnation.

Instead, they would prefer to go through some extra effort to have the handlers of San Tu River help clean them.

It was because "Life and Death Reincarnation" fundamentally serves as a method for the local Heavenly Dao to strengthen itself.

A trace of the [True Spirit] stumbling and crawling through the mortal world, whether good or evil, goes to the Underworld after death.

There, it lays down the accumulation of a lifetime, enhancing the power of the Underworld, before re-entering the cycle of reincarnation.

This constant looping has made the Yin Department, the stronghold of this local Heavenly Dao, increasingly powerful.

Thus, destroying a [True Spirit] and causing the soul to scatter is akin to cutting flesh from the body of the Heavenly Dao, incurring the heaviest of [debts]!

Unless absolutely necessary, no cultivator dares to take this on.

Initially, only the ignorant and fearless villagers of Gao Manor were willing to use evil techniques to attempt to obliterate the [True Spirits] of the Gao family’s second disciple, Gao Jisheng, making them scatter completely.

Any Magician who still wanted to make their way in the mortal world wouldn’t dare to do such a thing, not even their Sects.

Unexpectedly, they’ve seen it happen here.

"Senior Brother, these mortals’ quality is really too poor. We’ve refined the True Spirits of thousands of people using this [Yin God Shrine], front and back.

The [Ghost Medicine] we’ve harvested doesn’t even compare to one city god refined by Uncle Yan."

"Ha, to obtain beauty, the Yizhou Prefecture only has eight county city gods in total. How many mortals are there? A little adds up to a lot.

The Mountain Temple has just passed down decrees and over a dozen [Yin God Shrines]; we only need to execute the orders, that’s all.

It’s said that this [Ghost Medicine] is key to allowing us Demon Mages’ souls to transform into demons and break through the limits of longevity (Chapter 412). The more we collect, the greater the reward.

If it weren’t for the chaotic times descending upon Red County Shenzhou that required us to give our lives, such a big secret might not even have reached common disciples like us."

Hearing the conversation between the two, the eyes of the three Judges suddenly widened.

"What? All those city gods and Yin Officials who were victims have also had their [True Spirits] refined and wiped from existence?!

To manufacture [Ghost Medicine], they’ve shaken the foundation of the Heavenly Dao’s operation.

Bold! It’s truly a sin against heaven, beyond redemption!

I want to see on what you all are relying on?"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, they didn’t rashly take action against the two Demon Mages.

Instead, they quietly stirred up a gust of Yin wind, which lifted the yellow cloth blocking the [Yin God Shrine], revealing the object enshrined within.

There was no deity statue inside the shrine, only a black divine box made of Yinchen wood.

Written on it were three blood-drenched characters:

Underground Master!

By merely glancing at those three characters, they felt as if a mountain had suddenly pressed upon their hearts, nearly freezing their thoughts in place.

The [Black Law Judges], who only had Soul Bodies as Yin Officials, faced this object as though it were their natural bane.

It was even more effective against them than their own control over Evil Ghosts.

It seemed they had no choice but to brace for slaughter.

At this moment, they could only be extremely grateful for their caution, not having acted recklessly.

Only after the others left did they follow from a great distance.

...

Overseas, Dushuo Mountain.

[Six Desires Mortal World Umbrella] cast a shady spot, with Wang Yuan leisurely lying on a pristine white sand beach covered in colorful blooms, occasionally sipping chilled coconut juice from his cup.

Not far away, Huang Wu, Zisu, Hualing, Lady Peach Fairy, Nie Hongying, and Xing’er were dressed in close-fitting mermaid garb that repelled water, playing in the sea.

"Check out my [Wind Body Cloud Body]! Hahaha..."

Hualing, who had ridden on the coattails of her cousin and rapidly ascended to [Yellow Seal], arrogantly laughed with hands on her hips amid a downpour she created.

The others hurried to strike back, their bodies flashing with magical light, and the ruckus they made seemed like a great disturbance in the Dragon Palace.

Laughter, like silver bells, carried on the wind.

Frolicking about, they looked like beautiful mermaids with legs flailing and arms swinging, a truly delightful view.

Slap!

Old Master Wang, in a great mood, shifted his gaze and snapped his fingers.

Murals of water emerged, reflecting scenes of bustling activity from all corners of "Taoyuan".

At that moment, he was essentially the Earth God of Dushuo Mountain, with immeasurable power always at hand.

Even a Magical Saint at the pinnacle of [Divine Transformation] wouldn’t stand a chance against him here, and he certainly wasn’t afraid that "Peach God Tao" would come to safeguard the workers’ rights.

And in that moment, within the fields and factories that were beginning to take shape, the Yellow Seal Demons and various Low Level Demons they had deceived were all sweating profusely.

Everywhere, motivational slogans could be seen, ready to excite anyone who glanced up.

"Value righteousness over gain, serve the society!"

"As long as you endure the hardest of hardships, tomorrow your boss will live in an Immortal Mansion!"

"As long as your overtime is fired up, your boss is Old Five Wang!"

"..."

Each workgroup also had its labor model of the day.

Anyone rated as a model got a sincere verbal commendation and the privilege to wear a little red flower on their chest, instantly becoming the brightest one among the demons.

After all, in Old Master Wang’s domain, spiritual encouragement was absolutely guaranteed.

"Very good, everyone is very enthusiastic!"

"And rest assured, everyone, I accompany you all day long in your labor, sharing our joys and sorrows.

We consider work and life as one, never taking a day off all year round. I, Wang Xiaoyuan, am truly a model boss who regards the factory as home.

Let us all work hard together and create a bright future for Dushuo Mountain!"

He finished his chilled coconut juice with relish, contentedly sighing.

However, Old Master Wang’s "hardworking" moments were not to last long, as they were suddenly interrupted by an urgent message from the [Small Book of Life and Death].

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