A Night of Desperation

Chapter 370: Wave Two

The immense grief, like waves, surged and battered against his mental defenses.

"Dad... just now, you cast a spell, told me to hide... I’m a bit worried... how are mom and dad?" Ying’er was still asking.

"They, they’re... alright..." Ku Chan’s face was covered with tears and snot, blown away by the strong wind behind him.

He choked on his response.

"You need to hold on, get well soon, then, we can all be together as a family.... all together..."

Suddenly, there was a bright spot before his eyes.

On the road ahead, a white five-seater sedan was coming towards him.

On the side of the sedan, there was the dark golden lettering of Yunshu Mountain Daoist Sect and Nine Sects.

He recognized this kind of car; it was the sort of exclusive luxury vehicle typically reserved for high-ranking members of the Daoist Sect.

Such high-ranking officials would definitely carry life-saving rapid remedy drugs and emergency talismans!

"Save me!!" Ku Chan suddenly screamed, slowed the motorbike, and swerved to block the other’s way.

The sedan hastily braked just in time to avoid a crash.

Click.

The car door opened, and a mysterious figure dressed in a black, fitted Daoist robe and wearing a golden eagle mask stepped out.

"Quickly save my wife!! She’s badly injured, by high-level beings from the Spirit Disaster..."

Hiss!

In an instant, a golden phantom rapidly approached Ku Chan, hitting him squarely in the chest.

Boom!!!

Like the ancient sound of a gong, a spiritual shockwave abruptly loosened his entire consciousness.

Immediately following that, his heart fiercely pained.

By the time he regained his senses.

Ku Chan saw himself being thrown backward into the air, arching his body and floating mid-air.

A large amount of blood gushed from his chest and fell downwards.

And his wife, Ying’er, had already rolled to the ground, helplessly falling in front of the man with the golden eagle mask.

Swoosh.

The masked man swiftly drew his sword from behind, and a cold light flashed.

The blade slashed across Ying’er’s neck, severing it in two.

Her head rolled away and blood sprayed out, everything seeming to freeze for a moment.

"No!!!! Ying’er....!!!"

Ku Chan’s eyes widened, the pain in his heart incomparable to the agony and despair of watching his fiancée and unborn child being killed right before his eyes.

"Chi Xiao Sword, it was a waste in your hands."

The man in the golden eagle mask coldly voiced, reaching out towards Ku Chan from afar.

Clang!

The red Chi Xiao Sword flew out through the air, landing steadily in his palm.

This world-renowned No. 1 Inheritance Dao Artifact of the occult sect now obediently fell into the hands of this mysterious golden-masked man.

This kind of sect-exclusive Inheritance Dao Artifact, in his hands, could be directed as if it was part of his arm!

This completely overturned the basic knowledge Ku Chan had learned since childhood.

Thump.

Ku Chan fell off the cliff, crashing directly into the river below, causing a large splash.

The golden-masked man also kicked Ying’er’s corpse off the cliff.

"No need to finish him off?" Another golden-masked person got out of the car and asked in a deep voice.

"His heart was pierced by me, he will surely die," the golden eagle masked man coldly replied. "Let us go, the Chi Xiao Sword is now ours."

The two quickly got into the car, drove past the motorbike, and sped into the distance.

Now at the bottom of the cliff, in the river,

Ku Chan’s heart had been pierced, but his profound Daoist Realm and technique cultivation, garnered from continuous self-discipline, prevented him from dying instantly.

He opened his eyes wide, slowly sinking towards the dark murky bottom.

His tattered Daoist robe bled out threads of dark red blood in the water.

Everything at this moment seemed quiet. Only he, staring quietly at the pale blue water surface churned above.

In the broken light there, seemingly replaying all the moments of his life from childhood.

He kept sinking, sinking...

Like a motionless statue.

Until.

Plop.

Another body slowly descended from above.

It was Ying’er’s headless corpse.

Her head, swept away by the fast current, was lost to sight.

Ku Chan slowly looked up at the once very familiar body of his wife.

Gradually, tremendous waves of desolation, despair, and dark spiritual fluctuations emanated from him.

At this dark depths of the water, the enduring quest of Ku Chan’s for a breakthrough beyond the limits of his sect’s Daoist Skills, to forge a unique path for himself, seemed to fully crystallize all at once...

Buzz.

At Ku Chan’s neck, a small purple luminescence suddenly appeared under his skin.

It was a purple metallic shard about the size of a fingernail, implanted by his parents when he was a child.

Back then, he didn’t know what it was, but now, Ku Chan understood...

This was a minuscule life-saving technique put into him by his father, who had expended massive resources.

Underwater, increasingly majestic spiritual fluctuations emanated from Ku Chan as a center, spreading outwards.

The injury on his heart, under the life-saving technique’s healing, rapidly closed, forcibly stopping the bleeding.

Silently, Ku Chan reached upward, catching Ying’er’s descending corpse.

The massive spiritual fluctuations began to fiercely contract, like a black hole, as if capable of swallowing and absorbing any nearby conscious thought.

This kind of extreme outward dispersal turning into inward contraction had a unified honorific in the occult world.

Its name was: Heavenly Master.

***

***

***

Roadside.

Yu Hong was continuously dialing numbers on his cellphone.

Buzz.

A white sedan sped past him, seemingly engraved with the mark of the Taoist Sect.

Yu Hong intended to take a closer look, but just then his phone connected, so he didn’t pay further attention.

"Hello, is this Master Zuo? This is Zheng Rou, the Temple Master of Qingchen Temple under the Taoist Sect."

"I’m Dao Boy Hong Ming. The Heavenly Master is currently unavailable. Tell me what you need, and I’ll relay it to him," a lazy young female voice came from the other end.

"I have an urgent matter. Can you get Master Zuo on the phone directly?" Yu Hong frowned.

Click.

The caller on the other end hung up.

Anger flared in Yu Hong’s heart, and he dialed the number again. But this time, the other party didn’t even connect and simply ignored him.

After more than ten tries, furious, he left a voice message and then simply changed to another number.

This time he was trying to reach Xu Chong from the Primordial Heavenly Master Mansion.

Luckily, after three tries this time, a mild telephone operator told him that Master Xu had gone out and never carries a cellphone. Messages could be left if needed.

After leaving a message.

He received a phone number from Qing Huang.

"This is the number Alliance Hierarch has been using these days. It will expire soon," Qing Huang sent another message.

Yu Hong immediately dialed the number.

Click.

The call was answered instantly.

"May I ask if this is Elder Long Qingzi from the Seven Evil Alliance?" Yu Hong inquired.

"Wrong number," the voice on the other end replied impatiently.

Click, it was hung up again.

Yu Hong held his phone, not even sure if he should continue calling.

After a moment of silence and calming his emotions, he sent a text to all three numbers, thoroughly explaining the severity of the Spirit Disaster he witnessed.

Having done that, he took a deep breath and got back into his car.

Suddenly, he seemed to notice something and looked towards the distant cliffs below.

There seemed to be something there, emitting a momentary intense fluctuation.

But then, it completely ceased.

"..." Yu Hong hesitated, but decided not to investigate further, turning his car around to head back towards Taizhou.

The situation was dangerous; he must hurry back to his headquarters.

***

***

***

The fall of Zihe Palace has been utterly confirmed.

One of the top three Taoist temples among the Nine Sects, having existed for centuries, vanished completely in such a short time.

Even the person heralded as the foremost Daoist genius, Ku Chan, is missing and presumed dead.

The news exploded like a bomb, shocking the entire Yasong Mage Realm.

But before everyone could recover, one explosive news after another followed.

All over Yasong, in a single night, at least thirty incidents occurred where massive infectious diseases spread among animals, attacking humans.

Some remote villages in forested mountains began to experience thick fog and lost all external communication, with mobile signals uncontactable.

The explosion of these consecutive cases sent the Yasong Government into a sudden panic, and they immediately summoned members from both the Taoist and Buddhist Sects to the capital for a meeting.

After consolidating all the information,

the enormous state machine began its operation, completely sealing off all areas affected by the disaster fog, forbidding any traffic in or out.

Simultaneously, the Taoist Sects and official forces from the Nine Sects collaborated on a nationwide manhunt.

Finally, nine hours later, the ringleader, the Alliance Hierarch of the Seven Evil Alliance, was found.

To prevent the Seven Evil Alliance from further escalating the disaster, masters from the Nine Sects and the two Heavenly Masters joined forces—forming a team to intercept Long Qingzi!

Chongyun Province·Fushou Mountain.

As the most renowned mountain in Yasong, always prominently featured in ancient sacrificial ceremonies of various dynasties, Fushou Mountain was chosen.

During the actions of the Seven Evil Alliance, over six Yin Qi Sky Pillars were set up in its vicinity.

At this moment, six gray Heavenly Pillars, connecting heaven and earth, had swirling gray clouds, encircling Fushou Mountain at its center, resembling a natural Array ritual.

Atop Fushou Mountain.

Gale winds howled, dark clouds thick, with gloomy daylight, a middle-aged Daoist in black, with a sinister expression, stood quietly by the cliff’s edge.

The Daoist, with his hands behind his back, gazed upward at the sky cloaked in Yin clouds.

"Standing here makes one feel as if just by reaching out, one could touch the sky."

The Daoist spoke with a smile.

"That’s why I chose this place for the ritual. The Sealing and Sacrifice Platform, historically a place where emperors performed rituals, is a convergence point for the spiritual essence of landscapes, and the most flourishing spot in Yasong. I quite like it."

"Long Qingzi. It’s been a while. I didn’t expect you to be so reckless, causing such trouble!"

From behind on the mountain ridge, a flash of red light zipped past, an old Daoist with a stern face and graying hair, holding a silver horsetail whisk, walked slowly to the mountain top, his eyes filled with contempt, staring intently at the middle-aged Daoist.

"Master Xu, I hope you are well. It seems you are still vigorous and in good health," Long Qingzi turned around and greeted the newcomer with a smile.

"I should never have guided you!" Xu Chong shouted angrily. "I was blind!"

"You’re too arrogant, Senior." Long Qingzi showed no concern. "You don’t think that without your guidance, I couldn’t have taken this last step?

"Do you think you can escape today?" Xu Chong said coldly. "Both of us gathered here, and the other Seven Evils are being handled by the various Sect Leaders. Today, you will die!"

As soon as the words fell,

another white-robed Daoist appeared behind him.

The Daoist had long snow-white hair, piercing eyes, and held a white horsetail whisk, his figure lean.

It was the current foremost figure in the Taoist realms, the strongest under the heavens, Zhu Yunfeng from the Primordial Heavenly Master Mansion.