Chapter 264 - 291: 9-Form Demon Subduing Seal! Fox Daoist! Granny Mu

The night was dark and moonless. Crows cawed in the darkness, and the wind howled as it blew through the grass and trees.

"Hmm? Someone’s here?"

A group of monks walked into Celestial Origin Temple and saw a flicker of light from the only monk’s quarters at the far end that still looked relatively intact.

Faintly, the sound of someone reading could also be heard.

Several young monks exchanged glances, their hearts filled with caution. They couldn’t sense any human presence at all, which meant that whatever was making that reading sound, it couldn’t be a person.

And if the young monks could sense it, Elder Hui De naturally could as well.

He furrowed his brows slightly and suddenly flicked his sleeve.

BOOM!

A wave of qi suddenly erupted amidst the ruins. Like a violent tornado, it stirred up the surrounding leaves and dust, shooting fiercely toward the sky.

The wave of qi, shaped like a silver, roaming dragon, kicked up a plume of dust and dirt dozens of zhang high as it ruthlessly slammed into the lit monk’s quarters!

"What kind of guest destroys their host’s house the moment they arrive?"

Just then, the reading sound abruptly stopped, and an aged voice slowly rang out from within the room.

At the same time, a furry, red claw materialized in the air and shattered the roaming dragon with a thunderous strike.

BANG!

For a moment, the qi wave roiled, and dirt and dust scattered in all directions. The stirred-up dust immediately enveloped the entire temple ruins.

CRACK!

As the aftershock spread, the building swayed, shaking off countless motes of dust. The door, which had been barely intact, suddenly cracked open.

The monks’ Cultivation levels were not low, and their eyesight was excellent. With a single glance, they saw a bonfire lit within the house.

And on either side of the bonfire were several small, red foxes, sitting cross-legged on the ground and holding books in their paws.

The moment the door broke, the group of small foxes shrieked, baring their teeth, and scattered in all directions.

Red foxes reading in a ruined temple late at night?

What was going on?

"COUGH, COUGH!"

An old man in a long gray robe walked out from the broken doorway, coughing. He swept his gaze over the monks present, then cupped his hands in salute and said:

"Master, what a fine technique. This old one is truly humbled."

The old man had a gaunt face that looked quite benevolent, and his pair of brown eyes were extremely profound.

This was a Great Demon that had taken human form!

The young monks’ hearts trembled. They immediately realized something was wrong—the old man hadn’t truly transformed into a human, but had used an extremely powerful Illusion Technique to create a human guise.

It was just that this Illusion Technique was so brilliant that even they had difficulty seeing through it.

However, there was a flaw. And that flaw was the phantom-like red tail behind him.

This Elder Demon’s Cultivation was indeed impressive.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!

At that moment, the small foxes in the room came scrambling and leaping out. Seeing the group of monks staring at them like hungry tigers, they yelped in fright and scurried to hide behind the gray-robed old man.

They only dared to peek out with their big eyes, watching the assembly of monks from the corners of their vision.

The Fox Daoist’s expression shifted slightly. He reached out a hand, and his sleeve opened wide as if it contained a vast space, sucking in all eight or nine of the little foxes.

Elder Hui De’s eyes glinted.

’Such a Divine Technique is not something a common old fox from the mountains is capable of.’

"Amitabha Buddha!"

Then, he glanced at the Buddhist Scriptures scattered haphazardly around the room and looked at the old fox with a chuckle.

"May I ask what this layman is called? And how many years have you been cultivating here?"

"I am but a common old fox from the mountains. You may simply call me the Fox Daoist, Master."

"As for how long I’ve been cultivating? After this Celestial Origin Temple fell into ruin, this old one has been borrowing this guest room to live in. All told, it has been two or three hundred years."

The Fox Daoist spoke slowly, then asked another question:

"Master, that move of yours looked simple, but it contained the Buddhist Sect’s Demon-Suppression Technique. I imagine you must be an enlightened master from the Wansheng Institute, which has become so famous of late."

"This humble monk is Hui De of the Wansheng Institute. I merely possess a few minor tricks for subduing demons. It is your Sleeve Universe technique, Layman, that is truly remarkable."

Elder Hui De placed his palms together, his smile widening.

"I wonder, Layman, from which great senior did you learn your arts?"

"A common old fox from the mountains, what powerful master could I possibly have?"

The Fox Daoist spoke in his usual slow, unhurried manner. "My hundreds of years of bitter cultivation cannot compare to a few decades of the Master’s. To even mention it would only make me a laughingstock."

These words, however, were sincere.

The cultivation of the Ten Thousand Spirits is never easy.

The only exception is the seemingly ordinary humans.

When ordinary humans are born, their bodies are incredibly frail. An animal born just a few days ago must already learn to adapt to a complex environment and will have surely learned to walk. Some animals are even born with high intelligence, able to move freely from birth.

Humans are carried for ten months in the womb, yet are born utterly frail. It takes them a year or two before they can even walk properly.

And yet, it is precisely these humans who are able to rule over the Ten Thousand Spirits as the rightful masters of Heaven and Earth.

Even with Great Demons like the Seven Heroes and Three Li, their existence can hardly overshadow the brilliance of the Human Race’s experts.

How could he not be envious?

If he weren’t envious, why would he bother collecting human classics and scriptures to study so meticulously?

"Since you have lived here for so long, Layman, might you know if there is a Fierce Demon in the nearby mountains and forests?"

Hui De’s expression shifted slightly as he continued his questioning.

"Is the Master asking about the Black Stone Demon that recently fled to this area?"

"This old one also witnessed that long-distance strike the other day."

The Fox Daoist felt a sense of dread in his heart.

That night, from here in Celestial Origin Temple, he had personally witnessed a strike from afar shatter a thousand-zhang mountain. Such a technique would belong to a true expert, even among the Human Race.

"Correct! That Fierce Demon is running rampant in the mountains, bringing disaster to all living things. If it is not eliminated, it will surely cause immense slaughter!"

"Therefore, it must be suppressed."

Elder Hui De said, his gaze profound:

"Do you know the whereabouts of this Demon, Layman?"

But the Fox Daoist did not answer, asking instead, "What is the relationship between the Wansheng Institute and the Gui Chen Sect?"

"We are all on the same path."

Elder Hui De’s expression remained unchanged.

The Fox Daoist asked again, "If one day, a member of the Gui Chen Sect was in peril, hunted by a Great Demon, and asked the Master for directions, would you tell him?"

The smile on Elder Hui De’s face gradually faded. "Of course I would not."

The Fox Daoist said lightly, "If the Master would not, then this old one naturally would not either."

BOOM!!

The Fox Daoist’s voice had barely faded when the entire dilapidated temple began to shake violently.

Vast clouds of dust rose from the ground, accompanied by a blinding golden light that shot toward the heavens!

"An Elder Demon! You think you can be human just because you’ve read a few books?"

The grand voice was like the resounding boom of a great bell.

Elder Hui De took a step forward, formed a Hand Seal in his palm, and uttered a vast Buddhist chant:

"Seal!"

Brilliant golden light burst forth, spreading majestically through the void. As it interwove, it coalesced into the form of a humming, vibrating Incense Burner.

HUM!

The moment the Incense Burner appeared, an immense suppressive force filled the entire ruined temple.

The void instantly became viscous, as if the invisible air had been compressed into a golden liquid. Surging Buddha Power rolled forth.

The Fox Daoist’s body swayed involuntarily. He felt as if the Incense Burner before him was growing larger and larger, enough to blot out the sky and sun.

But he knew it wasn’t the Incense Burner that was growing larger; it was he who was becoming smaller, about to be suppressed by it.

"You think you can capture me with this thing alone?"

Amidst the golden Buddha Power and rising Buddhist chants, the Fox Daoist’s cold laughter suddenly rang out:

"Master, we shall meet again!"

The Fox Daoist’s figure suddenly began to fade slowly, like red-hot iron gradually losing its heat, disappearing before one’s very eyes.

BOOM!

The golden light converged. The temple ruins within a several-hundred-zhang radius trembled and were reduced to dust. Then, countless particles of dust rose into the air, only to be pressed down again by the formless golden light.

"Search this mountain!"

Elder Hui De was not surprised that his attack had missed. With a low shout, he stepped forward to give chase.

"Trying to run?"

The night wind whistled. In an instant, he had already crossed several hundred zhang. At the same time, the fingers of his right hand formed a Demon Subduing Seal, which he swiftly blasted toward a certain point.

BOOM!

In a flash, a golden thunderbolt seemed to streak across the night sky, spanning nearly a thousand zhang and illuminating the entire canopy of night.

The Fox Daoist, who was racing through the forest, suddenly paled. He instantly changed his position, shot forward a thousand zhang, then stomped hard on the ground and leaped into the sky, streaking away like a bolt of lightning.

RUMBLE!

Almost at the exact moment he dodged, the patch of forest where he had been was slapped down by an invisible giant palm.

Mountainsides cracked, earth and rocks tumbled, and huge swathes of vegetation were smashed to pieces by the giant palm.

The Fox Daoist subconsciously glanced back, his heart filled with horror.

He saw that the patch of forest had been uniformly sunken several zhang into the ground. Everything within a radius of several thousand zhang had been flattened by a single palm strike, and the resulting dust cloud spread in all directions like a mushroom cloud.

’What a Demon Subduing Seal!’

The Fox Daoist’s heart leaped into his throat. He had no intention of taking that attack head-on.

The Wansheng Institute, as a major sect of the Righteous Dao, usually kept a low profile. However, in a distant age, it was the leader of the Buddhist Sect, possessing great and solemn authority.

The Nine Great Hand Seals were immensely powerful and renowned, their marvels unparalleled. An ordinary expert couldn’t possibly withstand them.

This Elder Hui De’s Cultivation was high, and he had mastered the Demon Subduing Seal. The Fox Daoist was no match for him at all.

The Fox Daoist darted and weaved through the mountains. His speed was extreme, and he also possessed a Secret Technique for concealing his aura. In the past, he had relied on this method to evade countless calamities.

But now, Buddhist chants once again echoed in his ears.

In the night sky, the sound of thunder cracked again, and a vast golden light surged downward.

It harnessed the power of heaven and earth, manifesting in the sky as a thousand-zhang-large Hand Seal that, with a mere clench, was about to snatch the Fox Daoist into its palm!

This Demon Subduing Seal possessed the power to seal the heavens, earth, and all eight directions, and it could also see through concealment techniques!

’I’m in trouble now!’

The Fox Daoist’s fur stood on end. He brandished his claws, unleashing a torrent of silver claw marks, but no matter how many streams of Buddha’s Light he tore apart, an endless torrent would surge forward in the next moment!

In the void, Elder Hui De strode forward, golden light rising with his every move.

"Hundreds of years of cultivation do not come easy. Is it worth it, all for a Fierce Demon?"

Elder Hui De didn’t take this old fox seriously in the slightest.

Only Great Demons on the level of the Seven Heroes and Three Li could make him retreat in fear.

"HUMPH!"

The Fox Daoist snorted coldly. His entire body erupted with Demon Qi, which clashed violently with the surging golden light.

He was sent flying backward. After stabilizing himself, he quickly turned to face a certain direction and bowed respectfully.

"Granny Mu, I beseech you to act!"

’What?’

Slightly stunned, the old monk paused his steps.

The next moment, he heard a deeply chilling laugh that, amidst the swaying of ten thousand trees, shot straight into the clouds, rolling out to fill the entire world.

And in a place extremely far away, above patch after patch of forest, innumerable plants and vines gathered together, forming a ferocious, three-thousand-zhang-tall ghostly god that seemed to possess a thousand, or even ten thousand, arms!

"You refused the path to the Western Heaven, yet you charge headfirst into the Netherworld where there is no gate!"

"Then you can stay here forever!"