A Night of Desperation

Chapter 351: Signs 1

"In truth, these secrets are not meant for the ordinary, they are considered confidential within our Taoist Sect," Qing Hongzi twirled his beard, "But you are different. With your talent, it might not be long before I see you at the Nine Sects Conference."

The Nine Sects Conference is not solely participated by the Nine Sects but also includes the leaders of the foremost branches of Taoist Sects.

These are the real pillars of the Taoist Sects, the essence of their strength, depth, and foundation.

And for someone like Yu Hen, with insignificant power, they simply don’t possess the qualifications to be privy to these secrets of the Taoist Sects.

"I appreciate your sharing, senior." Yu Hong understood the goodwill behind the other’s actions.

The two quickly returned to Taizhou.

Qing Hongzi had received the thirty million travel expenses from Yu Hong before he set off back home.

As for the next Heavenly Pillar he spoke of, he did not go there, seemingly because the price negotiations fell through.

His stationed faction, Mount Immaculate, is a much stronger medium-sized faction compared to Qingchen Temple and Jiufang Temple—its influence spans three major markets, with three masters at the level of the Temple Master, and even its leader is rumored to have mastered Passive Techniques, regarded as a significant figure in the southern circle of Magicians.

Perhaps believing in their own strength to suppress the cases brought by the Heavenly Pillar, they refused to pay the fee.

After all, thirty million may not be much in the eyes of someone like Yu Hong with a whole world behind him, but for a normal faction, that is a considerable operational expense.

However, having witnessed the entire process of the Sky Stabilizing Plate’s suppression, Yu Hong always felt... the Sky Stabilizing Plate’s suppression of the Heavenly Pillar was not as effortless as Qing Hongzi claimed...

Yunshu Mountain.

At the towering peak, a white platform paved with jade stones.

A small bamboo-woven cushion was placed here, and on it sat an old man with a strong build, horizontally striped face, and grizzled hair.

The old man held a horsetail whisk in one hand, while the other flipped through a document on the ground in front of him.

The light blue document cover, made of soft plastic, was constantly flickered by the mountain wind, making a crisp sound.

"Is this all the intelligence sent by Chong Zhenzi?" The old man asked somewhat dissatisfaction after reading the document.

"Yes, my lord, all the reports from the Late Qing Province are here." From behind amidst the mists, a blurred, ingot-shaped attendant quietly emerged, bowing in response.

"Is there anything else? How many Yin Qi Sky Pillars have been sealed?" The flat-faced elder continued his inquiry.

"Thirty-four have been sealed so far, with three remaining. They pose minimal threat and need not be attended to for now." The attendant answered.

"Bring me all the replies to go through." The elder insisted.

"Yes."

Soon, the attendant brought a new stack of documents, carefully placing them beside the old man.

On a closer look, one could see the attendant’s skin was snow-white, clad in a black undershirt, standing only one meter forty-five tall, with the eyeballs bizarrely rotating continuously.

Not moving side to side, but spinning evenly within the eyelids like two spheres.

After browsing for a while, the elder suddenly picked out four documents.

"These have issues. Highlight them for close observation. Long Qing is far too devious with his schemes. Warn everyone to stay vigilant."

"Yes..." The attendant stepped forward and took the four documents one by one.

On one of the revealed documents, it was clearly noted with handwriting: Sealed the eleventh Yin Qi Sky Pillar, encountered the new Temple Master of Qingchen Temple in Taizhou, Yu Hong. His origins are unclear, his attention to the Black Disaster Spirit Disaster is unusually keen, the Fear Shadow called forth in his cultivation technique diverges from the norm, and he was unaffected by the Spirit Disaster fluctuations near the Heavenly Pillar, suspiciously linked to the Spirit Disaster, attempting to draw external attention excessively to the Black Disaster Spirit Disaster in order to obscure other matters, please assign someone to closely monitor him.

"Master, recently several skilled members of our Taoist Sect have gone missing without a trace, losing all contact. Heavenly Master Zuo suggests that our Lower Yuan Sect should investigate."

"Ah..." The old man sighed, "The Taoist Sect appears united as iron, the Nine Sects commanding respect everywhere, yet within we have too much dross, with people holding positions without merit. Not just that, they always have their own ulterior motives."

"So what does master suggest...?"

"Send out invitations to the members of the last Qingyang action group, reassemble the group. There’s too much chaff in the Taoist Sect, I cannot discern who is trustworthy. Later, once reformed, hand this matter over to the action group," the elder commanded.

"Understood. I will notify them."

The attendant turned to leave, then seemed to remember something abruptly.

"Master, those who went to seal and suppress the Heavenly Pillar mentioned that during this suppression, there always seems to be some residue left, as if the Sky Stabilizing Plate wasn’t able to completely cleanse. Should we be concerned about this?"

"Don’t worry about it. When the Sky Stabilizing Plate itself presides over the situation, any significant activity would cause disturbances. As long as the Plate itself remains unstirred, these are all trivial issues. The Seven Evil Alliance is currently the bigger concern," the elder dismissed carelessly with a wave of his hand.

"Yes."

’The warning to the Taoist Sect didn’t seem to receive much attention.’

Yu Hong sat cross-legged in a slightly smaller temple behind the main hall.

As he watched over the core of the entire Taoist Temple’s array on the ground, his mind was pondering.

With the arrival of Qing Hongzi, who hastily dealt with the Yin Qi Sky Pillar, he promptly left.

The power of the Sky Stabilizing Plate was indeed potent, yet... the lingering traces always left Yu Hong with a knot in his throat—an indescribable discomfort.

For some reason, he had a bad premonition.

Especially after seeing the environmental spiritual fluctuation readings on the multimeter approaching 1, his concern grew even more severe.

Yu Hong flipped through the three types of talismans he had acquired after the enhancement process, his expression grave.

After a while, he set down the talismans and picked up the multimeter.

"This is a special detection tool I had custom-made overseas that can detect the spiritual fluctuation readings in the surrounding environment."

He briefly explained the functionality of the multimeter, then turned to face the Yu Generation elder Taoists sitting in meditation behind him.

"The data measured recently all show that the surrounding environment readings have been consistently stable around 0.6. Do you masters and senior brothers know what this means?"

"What does it mean?"

A group of elder Taoists looked perplexed.

"It means that if there’s even a slight problem with the spiritual fluctuations in this environment, it can easily affect the thought processes of a normal adult." Yu Hong spoke earnestly.

"Are you suggesting mass hypnosis? Or a Neurological Technique?" Yu Hen quickly caught on.

"Exactly." Yu Hong nodded. "Disciple suspects that the Spirit Disaster triggered by the Heavenly Pillar may not have been so simply suppressed, but our letters to the Taoist Sect have not been taken seriously."

"So, what do you plan to do?" Yu Mo asked. "Now that you’re the Temple Master, tell us, and we will cooperate accordingly."

"No matter what, whether the Spirit Disaster continues to erupt or becomes even more severe, I plan to make all preparations. I want to strengthen the emergency response forces of our Qingchen Temple; after all, better safe than sorry." Yu Hong spoke with resolve.

His words prompted a chorus of nods from the group of old men.

"That’s reasonable. Just tell us straight, what do you need us to do?" Yu Hen said straightforwardly.

"It’s quite simple. I have mastered a special secret technique that can harness the collective power of everyone for joint enhancement. After the enhancement, the benefits can be shared among all..." Yu Hong began to expound on the many strengths and advantages of his Spirit Light, which seemed flawless.

After hearing his pitch, the elder Taoists were left dizzy and overwhelmed, readily agreeing to him, opening the gates of Qingchen Temple for the wide-scale recruitment of external disciples.

It didn’t matter if the external disciples couldn’t master the Guanwu Skill; as long as they could practice the Spirit Light Secret Skill.

After discussing the Spirit Light Secret Skill, Yu Hong brought out the three types of talismans he had obtained after their enhancement.

"Moreover, disciple has also developed three special talismans specifically for dealing with the Spirit Disaster, which can be used for everyone’s cultivation."

He handed out the paper with the talismans transcribed on it.

Yu Hen and a few others huddled together to look.

They saw three types of bizarre runes they had never seen before.

’Spirit Detection Talisman: Can detect all abnormal spiritual traces within a hundred meters.’

’Catastrophe Spirit Talisman: When encountering a Spiritual Domain coverage, this talisman can protect the user for about ten seconds to break free from influence. The actual duration depends on the burning speed of the talisman.’

’Spirit Avoidance Talisman: Causes abnormal spiritual entities to completely ignore the user, with the duration depending on the burning of the talisman.’

The three talismans were all enhanced versions of their predecessors, with the difficulty of their inscription also being optimized and reduced.

The only problem is...

All these talismans require the addition of Spirit Light for their production.

"So that’s it, that’s the true reason you need everyone to practice the Spirit Light Secret Skill," Yu Hen realized suddenly.

"Indeed..." Yu Hong sighed and nodded. "Disciple also thought, if everyone can possess such talismans, it would be good if the Spirit Disaster doesn’t erupt, but if it does worsen and explode, we would not encounter any mishaps! Additionally, these three talismans have a very long shelf life and can serve as vital personal protection against spiritual entities on a daily basis."

"That makes sense!!"

The crowd voiced their agreement.

"Let’s do this, Zhengrou. How do we need to cooperate?" Elder Yu Mo gave a hearty slap on his thigh and smiled.

"Quite simple. I would just like to ask the senior instructors here to take turns serving as the Transmission Taoists teaching the Spirit Light Secret Skill," Yu Hong said solemnly.

"Transmission Taoists? That’s easy." Yu Mo laughed, as this was his specialty.

After arranging tasks for the elder Taoists, Yu Hong once again approached the vicinity of the Yin Qi Sky Pillar alone.

The grey breath there was denser, continuously spilling forth from the seabed unceasingly.

Although this grey mist had not formed a new Yin Qi Sky Pillar, the environmental spiritual fluctuation readings were becoming increasingly concentrated.

This reminded Yu Hong of the omens before the onset of the Black Disaster.

It was the same back then.

At the same time, each time he approached this place, he felt an indescribable immense psychic pressure.

There seemed to be nothing there, but his heart felt as if it was pressed down by a stone, making it difficult to breathe.

The sea was calm at this moment, and the weather overcast.

Yu Hong stood on the speedboat, took a breath, pulled his gaze back, and looked in another direction.

There, without knowing when, an extra figure in a black robe had appeared.

The figure stood silently on the water, motionless.

"When did you arrive?" Yu Hong asked. Across the span of dozens of meters, his voice, through spiritual fluctuations, reached the other person’s ears precisely.

"Just now," the figure replied. At the same time, the person lifted their head and removed the hood to reveal the familiar face of Qing Huang, who had left previously.

"What’s the situation with the Seven Evil Alliance? On your return this time, have you found out any information regarding the Black Disaster and the Spirit Disaster?" Yu Hong inquired again.