A Night of Desperation

Chapter 332: Plot Two

Inside the Quiet Room.

On the empty ground, behind Yu Hong, a massive and towering black mass of energy slowly began to condense.

The mass, restricted by the height of the room’s ceiling, unsuccessfully tried to form several times before shooting out the window at high speed.

Before long, the mass found a desolate beach and crashed down, rooting itself there.

Then a gigantic black shadow, over a hundred meters tall, slowly emerged and condensed on the seashore.

This was an odd sight that only Magicians could see.

The hundred-meter-tall shadow kept solidifying until, after more than ten seconds, its entire body was fully formed, standing on the beach like a small black mountain.

The Seventh Layer Horror Shadow, the Black Giant, appeared.

As soon as the Black Giant appeared, it rapidly became transparent, dissipating as if everything that had just happened on the beach was merely an illusion.

There were no idle Magicians looking this way, fortunately, so no one noticed.

Inside the Quiet Room.

Yu Hong opened his eyes, feeling the temporarily stabilized Seventh Layer Daoist Skills within him.

The spicy sensation from the Elixir continued to stimulate his body, creating Spiritual Power.

This Spiritual Power forcibly elevated his total amount of Dao Breath by a large margin.

Yu Hong also noticed that the medicinal power of the Heart Changing Pill could even purify and generate ordinary Spiritual Power.

’Next is to defeat the Fear Shadow to completely stabilize. So, where is the Seventh Layer Fear Shadow?’

Yu Hong looked around and found nothing inside the room.

He walked to the window, puzzled, and looked out.

He also found nothing unusual.

Returning to his cushion, he carefully investigated his own Spiritual Power.

Before the Sixth Layer, the continually generated Spiritual Power in his body was like a gentle and clear stream.

But after the Seventh Layer, the Spiritual Power he now generated was like sesame paste. Frightfully thick.

’No wonder this realm can achieve Sharpness, immune to attacks from lower-level Techniques while standing still. This intensity and concentration are truly extraordinary!’

He carefully experienced his current state.

’To completely replace the new Spiritual Power with the old will take time, and during this time, any problem could lead to regression to the Sixth Layer.’

He could feel that his current ability to produce Seventh Layer spiritual power was mainly due to the fusion of the elixir’s power and stimulation.

"The main purpose of this elixir’s power is to stimulate the body in advance, to condense a new Fear Shadow, and to gain the powerful and sharp Spiritual Power that the body will generate after defeating the Fear Shadow. But if the Fear Shadow is not defeated, the Daoist Skills will rapidly decline, and once the power of the elixir is exhausted, the Fear Shadow will also backlash."

Having figured out the principle of the Heart Changing Pill, Yu Hong began to study how to use the new sharp Spiritual Power to replace the operation of various previous Techniques.

This process was tedious, as each Technique needed to be readjusted when the nature of its foundational Spiritual Power changed significantly.

Otherwise, the Technique’s released power would be incorrect, or it might explode and backlash.

Meanwhile, to increase his chances of success, he took out the booklet given by Qing Huang, the Heavy Image Skill, planning to take a look at it during this retreat.

’When Guanwu Skill reaches the Seventh Layer, if I can stabilize it and break through the last layer, I will gain a new trait!’

Yu Hong was full of anticipation; the Dao Breath Circulation trait he originally acquired was from the constant enhancements he received from the Thunderbolt Leg Technique.

Now, the actual power of the Guanwu Skill was on par with the Thunderbolt Leg, focusing only on the spiritual aspect.

Once he reaches Perfection, the traits obtained will surely be extraordinary.

Just as Yu Hong entered the Quiet Room for his retreat.

Outside, the elderly Taoists of the Yu Generation got up one after another, each stretching their waist with groans and sighs.

"Truly unbearable, back in the day, I chased a resentful mark for seven days and nights without sleep, spanning over a thousand kilometers, until I finally caught it in a small mountain hollow. But now, just by moving a little bit and activating some Dao Breath, I am this exhausted..." Yu Fang sighed.

"Same here, I have severe back pain; the doctor said it’s a herniated disc, quite serious, and I need surgery."

"I have it too. What are the severe symptoms?"

"It hurts whether sitting or standing; I can only feel comfortable lying on my stomach with a pillow under my waist."

"My cervical spine is not good. My blood sugar is also a bit high..."

One by one, the old men began to exchange tips on self-care.

After a while, assuring that there was no problem with Yu Hong, they each left in their cars.

Only Yu Mo remained, waiting quietly outside the door.

Days went by.

Taoist Yu Mo sat cross-legged in meditation, and after guarding for three days, he was replaced by other members of the Yu Generation.

The Array that suppressed the decline of Daoist Skills was activated by their combined effort, so only these participants could sense if anything happened to Yu Hong at any time.

At this moment, Yu Hong was slowly substituting the previous Spiritual Power in his body, converting all Spiritual Power into Sharpness Spiritual Power with the characteristics of an Absolute Boundary.

Apart from eating and sleeping, he was wholly devoted to the adjustment of Techniques and cultivation.

*

*

*

Huangsong Island.

On the desolate and silent shores of the small island, a tiny fishing boat quietly approached and came to a stop.

Two figures leaped from the boat, landed, and surveyed the abandoned island.

"Why have we come here? This is a seal personally set by Ku Chan, with our current condition, it’s simply impossible to shake it even slightly," one of them said helplessly.

"What do you mean by ’current condition’? Even at our peak, we wouldn’t be able to open it," the other replied matter-of-factly.

"Then why are we still here?"

"That’s because, while we can’t open it, others have ways to!"

The other person laughed.

"Who? Could it be one of the Seven Evils??"

"No one like that. It’s…"

Boom!!

Just then, a huge mass of grey-black clouds surged up from the distant sea.

The clouds split the waves, rising like a phantom unto the heavens, continuously forming a colossal grey-black pillar.

Centred around this pillar, rings of spiritual fluctuations and Yin Energy only detectable by magicians spread in all directions.

"This... there’s actually another Yin Qi Sky Pillar!!?"

"Our actions were merely a distraction, the real target is not Huangsong Island, but over there…"

The person speaking took a deep breath, looked up, and revealed an excited middle-aged face.

"Sect Hierarch... Are you saying that from the very beginning, we were just pawns??" The other person, who also looked up, showed the pale face of Yuan Ruhai from the Mud Doll Sect.

At this moment, his face was twisted - because of this battle, he had lost even his son Yuan Ming!

Furthermore, his followers suffered numerous casualties and property losses.

Originally, he thought he could wait for support from the Seven Evil Alliance, but now the Sect Hierarch had told him that they were all expendable, just tools to divert attention, trash.

"The success of the Yin Qi Sky Pillar signifies that at least one gate of the Gate of Despair has been opened. The entirety of Taizhou will soon fall into a human hell! Ruhai, now that only the two of us are left in the Sect, you should come with me to the Seven Evil Alliance, you’ll certainly be heavily relied upon. As for your son, just have another one!" Sect Hierarch Ning Ruofei said unconcernedly.

"Sect Hierarch, why can’t we just live a good honest life in Taizhou? Why... why must we do this!?" Yuan Ruhai’s voice trembled.

"Live a good life? You think I don’t want that? But the reality is, peaceful days are numbered, and I have no choice but to make an earlier decision," Ning Ruofei’s voice turned cold.

".....Then, what’s next...?"

"Next, the intensity of the resentful mark will far exceed before, Qingchen Temple and the authorities will definitely be in over their heads. Before we leave, we can take the chance for revenge! The Feixia Sword from Zihe Palace is gone, and now there’s no one in Taizhou who can stop us joining forces!" Ning Ruofei sneered coldly.

"What about Zheng Rou? I’ve heard his name has been quite prominent lately."

"Luckily defeating that waste Lin Shan, he thinks he can overcome me?" Ning Ruofei wasn’t concerned, "Moreover, we don’t need to act ourselves; we just wait for the opportunity. As more powerful resentful marks from the Gate of Despair emerge, they will naturally become more stretched thin, and then... the chance for a sneak attack will arrive."

Yuan Ruhai fell silent.

Gazing at the Yin Qi Sky Pillar that soared into the sky in the distance, he suddenly didn’t want to speak a word.

*

*

*

Two weeks after Yu Hong’s retreat...

In the Yanxia Bay neighborhood of Taizhou.

Inside a semi-detached villa.

A businessman surnamed Li, dressed in a suit like a successful entrepreneur, urgently led a young Taoist into the hall.

"I won’t lie to you, Taoist, this house has been having flickering lights and foul smells, and sometimes at night, I could see the shadow of an unfamiliar person flash by," said the businessman with a heavy local accent.

"I originally thought it was my son’s imagination from watching too many horror films, who would have expected that last night he came to knock on my door, and when I got up, I couldn’t find him anywhere! We’ve searched everywhere in the house and still can’t find him, and there’s nothing on the surveillance showing anyone entering or leaving!"

"There’s very strong Yin Energy here," the Taoist said with a slight frown, his black hair simply tied into a Topknot, dressed in a clean and neat pale blue Daoist robe, his face cool - it was Zheng Ming, who had just recovered a few days ago.

"Do you see anything, Taoist?!" The businessman was startled and promptly questioned.

"Don’t rush, I need to check slowly, or else errors can happen," Zheng Ming said earnestly, having become more collected than before after consecutive defeats at the hands of Yu Hong.

"Please, Taoist, please!"

Zheng Ming didn’t hesitate; he raised his hand, signalling the others not to follow, and went upstairs alone.

Soon, at the end of the second-floor corridor, he saw a painting.

A painting depicting an ancient house and old street at dusk.

The quality of the painting was good, and the workmanship as well, appearing quite lifelike and vivid, almost like a photograph.

In the old street’s ancient house, the brown door was half-opened, inside which one could faintly see an old lady sitting and knitting a sweater with needle and thread in hand.

The sunset glow dyed the old lady’s white hair into a golden-red. The scene was serene and peaceful.

Zheng Ming stared at the painting, clearly sensing the dense Yin Energy attached to it.

Tap tap tap.

Suddenly, a series of crisp footsteps, like little leather shoes tapping on a wooden floorboard, reached his ears.

Zheng Ming swiftly turned his head and looked to the right.

On the right side of the corridor, a room that was originally closed now had its door wide open.

A glossy black leather shoe stood at the doorway, only revealing a bit of the heel.