Zhang Qijie and Qu Bamei turned everyone in Chen Village into zombies, practicing the Heavenly Corpse Great Technique, transforming the entire village into a massive array. The zombies, hacked to death by a young swordsman, nurtured by increasingly dense corpse warmth, were quickly able to recombine and resurrect, crawling up from the ground.

Shi Feiyang, witnessing such a tragedy unfold before his eyes, had already sealed the area inside and out with Immortal Law and controlled it remotely. The two in the village faintly sensed something was amiss, but no matter how thoroughly they investigated, they couldn't figure out the cause. As the Heavenly Corpse Great Technique progressed, their periods of lucidity became shorter, leaving them without the energy to explore the root cause. They awaited the complete mastery of the Heavenly Corpse Great Technique before leading the horde of zombies to Sunflower Valley to initiate a massacre for revenge.

In some time, they would enter their coffins, go deep underground, and transform completely into zombies before resurrecting. That moment would be the most dangerous, so they agreed to protect each other.

After Shi Feiyang stumbled into the state of "Harmonization," his Daoist Realm further improved. Sitting in the Liangyi Palace, he could oversee thousands of miles around as if observing patterns on his palm—falling flowers and withered trees, all clearly visible.

Regarding the four evils from the border regions, apart from the Ghost Mother Sect who knew to restrain themselves somewhat, the remaining three sects were utterly unscrupulous.

These four, however, were sects rather than houses, adherents of faith and organized forces, with countless zealous followers beneath them. Eliminating just the top villains was easy, but once a power vacuum appeared, new forces would arise to fill it or split off, reorganizing power and continuing to commit evil deeds.

Just as Shi Feiyang was observing the Xiao Xiang region and planning his next moves, he sensed another divine thought probing him.

Grandmaster Ha Ha!

Shi Feiyang immediately felt the presence of the other, and the other sensed him too; one in Xiangxi and the other in Yun Gui, their divine thoughts meeting through space.

He thought the other, cunning as he was, wouldn't clash with him directly but would instead touch and go. However, to his surprise, Grandmaster Ha Ha's divine thought did not retract but instead ignited an Evil Fire of yellow color, emanating from Wildman Mountain in Guizhou, generating forty-nine rays each tens of meters wide and thousands of meters long, as though blazing its way toward Sunflower Valley in Xiangxi!

With a thought from Shi Feiyang, these flames blasted apart, turning into tens of thousands of giant fireballs above the mountains of Xiangxi, wrapped in yellow smoke, crackling wildly before tumultuously scattering this way.

The old monster is testing my Realm!

A colorful light flashed in Shi Feiyang's eyes, and high in the sky there appeared a multi-colored light banner. Fine at the top and rapidly spreading out below, it resembled a huge inverted funnel or like a giant broom, forcibly sucking in those yellow fireballs, rolling them up into the void.

Then, the five-colored light banner contracted toward the center, then expanded again, turning into tens of thousands of multi-colored Five Elements Divine Thunder, furiously pelting towards Wildman Mountain in Guizhou like a hailstorm.

Above Wildman Mountain rose a giant face, full-faced and chubby with coiled hair and a white, prominent eyebrow, reminiscent of the Western Heaven Buddha, but with only a head. It opened its mouth to inhale all the Five Elements Divine Thunder from the sky and then fell back into Wildman Mountain.

This clash, conducted through space without using spells but through divine thoughts, produced flames, colorful lights, and divine thunders that were mere illusions.

This was different from a "Spell Battle"—it was a "Divine Battle," which involved a Dual Cultivation Method called "Divine Communication," focusing on magical interaction essential even across thousands of miles to complete the Yin Yang Replenishment. The Yin Yang Elder knew this technique, carrying a gourd of Immortal Demon with him for constant replenishment—even though it was close at hand, it was still a form of Divine Communication.

Shi Feiyang and Grandmaster Ha Ha's "Divine Battle," although illusory in the material world, was real in the spiritual world. If either side was defeated and couldn't promptly regain focus and stabilize their mind, their Primordial Spirit might be captured through space by the opponent; even if not captured, they could be trapped in the illusions created by the adversary and might never wake up, with Deviation being the least of potential problems.

Grandmaster Ha Ha, a millennium ago, was one of the Cosmic Six Strange and the Southwest Five Demon Masters, all high-level experts. Since taking Xiao Yue Zen Master as his disciple and obtaining the cultivation method from the Nine Heavens Mysterious Scripture, his Technique Divine Power had increased significantly through the integration of good and evil. Today's probing attack against Shi Feiyang indicated some new breakthrough.

Such an old monster was hard to kill completely. Shi Feiyang didn't expect that he could finish him off just from home. In this remote clashing, Grandmaster Ha Ha gained no advantage and eventually actively ceased hostilities.

Shi Feiyang chuckled lightly. If the battle continued, he would have to release the Nine Child Mother Sky Demon.

Speaking of which, he and Grandmaster Ha Ha had no deep grievances, unlike with Xuanyuan Dharma King, whose disciple died directly at his hands. If it had been someone else, the old Xuanyuan monster would have long attacked to avenge his disciple.

Thinking thus, Shi Feiyang, in the span of a thought, formed a Giant Golden Light Hand, thirty feet tall, from the clouds directly slapping down towards Wildman Mountain.

This strike was like a meteor from outer space smashing towards the earth, intent on flattening Wildman Mountain!

From the mountain, four huge Fire Pythons shot up, each over a hundred yards long and thicker than a wagon wheel, coiling around the Giant Golden Light Hand in the sky.

During the standoff, Grandmaster Ha Ha noticed three lines inscribed in the palm:

The first line read: "Your order has killed your grand-disciple."

The second line read: "Your favored disciple will soon follow."

The third line read: "Life and death hang by a thread."

Then the Golden Light Hand burst open, exploding the four Fire Pythons into fragments, the colorful light mixed with yellow flames blending into a chaotic mass.

Grandmaster Ha Ha opened his mouth and inhaled this mass of light and flames. Dressed as a monk and corpulent as if a legendary Buddha Maitreya with a large belly, he hesitated for a moment, closed his eyes, and focused his thoughts on searching for his disciples.

He had many disciples, besides the direct ones in the cave, including six who had established separate residences—three in the Fire Cloud Cave at Niuliu Ridge in Xinjiang, and three in Liuzhai in Miao Border of Guizhou. Now, he was searching for the latter three.

Huo Luqi, Huo Wuliang, and Huo Xiuluo were packing up to leave Liuzhai and head to Chenwei Village to avenge their disciple, Lv Xianming.

On the way, they suddenly heard Grandmaster Ha Ha's voice: "Where are you going?"

Startled, they quickly explained that they had recently taken a new disciple, Lv Xianming, who had been victimized and turned into a zombie by Shi Feiyang, and they were on their way to seek revenge.

Grandmaster Ha Ha spoke in a deep voice, "With the level of your cultivation, do you dare to seek revenge against him? Even I am not confident of defeating that Demon Dragon with his Technique Divine Power. Aren't you merely seeking death by going like this?"

The three disciples had not heard their master speak so of someone for many years and were stunned upon hearing this.

Huo Luqi was unconvinced, "Just because his disciple was killed by him, should we just let it go? As your disciples, if we endure this in silence, it's not only our face that we are losing."

"Hmph." Grandmaster Ha Ha was displeased but didn't say much, "I will handle this matter; you all go back to the mountain first. Without my permission, do not seek him!"

Having no other option, the three had to return the same way they came.

Grandmaster Ha Ha withdrew his Divine Skills, closed his eyes, and sat cross-legged, meticulously deducing and calculating for a moment before calling to a young attendant in front of him, "Go and find your tenth senior brother."

He had eighteen disciples in his cave, collectively known as the Eighteen Arhats. From his chamber outward, the spacious corridor was flanked by nine caves on each side, where the Eighteen Arhats each resided and cultivated.

Among them, the tenth was known as Huang Yun Arhat, deeply esteemed by Grandmaster Ha Ha, who always had him handle external affairs.

Draped in a yellow kasaya, Huang Yun Arhat approached and knelt in front of the stone slab, "Master!"

Grandmaster Ha Ha said, "You are to go to Star Constellations Sea for me, to the Black Wind Nest on the North shore of the ancient Gular Mountain to find Monk Xiao Yue."

Huang Yun, upon hearing the mention of Zen Master Xiao Yue, was filled with anger, "That traitor! He even secretly took Blood God as his master behind your back, and..."

"Rubbish!" Grandmaster Ha Ha rebuked sharply, "Do what I tell you to. He was originally a traitor to his teachings, joining my disciples from Emei Sect. What's so strange about him switching allegiance to Blood God now? Find him, and have him take you to Blood God. Then give this bow to him!"

After speaking, Grandmaster Ha Ha waved his hand, and a small bow that was hanging on the wall opposite flew into his grasp. He pinched the bowstring, snapping it in two, and then sent the broken bow across the air into his disciple's hands.

Huang Yun Arhat dared not ask further, accepting the bow and departing the cave with a nod.

Watching his disciple swiftly leave, Grandmaster Ha Ha laughed heartily, "Evil Dragon, oh Evil Dragon, you can't blame me this time. It's all the karma you've created yourself. Ha Ha! Ha Ha!"

Huang Yun Arhat left Wildman Mountain, flying atop a yellow cloud toward Star Constellations Sea, eventually reaching the North shore and finding Zen Master Xiao Yue.

The two had once been senior and junior brothers under Grandmaster Ha Ha; all of the Eighteen Arhats had followed their master in cultivation a thousand years ago. Zen Master Xiao Yue, who later betrayed Emei to join them, was taken much later. However, because Grandmaster Ha Ha appreciated his innate potential, stating that his initial following of Master Changmei into the path of Immortal Cultivation was earlier than the other Eighteen Arhats, he made Zen Master Xiao Yue the senior among the disciples, implicitly becoming the leader among them.

At that time, the Eighteen Arhats were somewhat resentful, only those six disciples outside acknowledged Zen Master Xiao Yue as the eldest brother. Later, after Xiao Yue took Deng Yin as his master, the Eighteen Arhats were even more incensed and had long wished to capture Zen Master Xiao Yue, convict him, and then bring him before Grandmaster Ha Ha for punishment.

But now that he was on a mission from his master, he could only suppress his anger and stated his purpose, "My master sent me to ask to meet Divine Monarch Blood God."

Strictly speaking, Deng Yin was also a junior of Grandmaster Ha Ha, so Huang Yun did not consider him a senior, referring to him only as Blood God.

Before Huang Yun arrived, Deng Yin had already sensed his coming and instructed Zen Master Xiao Yue.

Zen Master Xiao Yue led Huang Yun Arhat to the entrance of Black Wind Nest. Huang Yun peered through the prohibition into the cave, which was as deep as an abyss, too obscured to see clearly. Back when Deng Yin had roamed the world, he had long heard of the great name of Blood God and dared not act rashly. He declared his purpose, sending the small bow into the cave through a spell cast by Zen Master Xiao Yue.

Deng Yin, receiving the small bow, was also surprised, "Does Grandmaster Ha Ha have anything else to say?"

Huang Yun shook his head, "Father only asked me to deliver the bow; he said nothing more."

Unable to guess what it meant, Deng Yin let Huang Yun leave for the time being.

Holding the bow, he returned to Star Constellation Sea Floor. Thinking it over, he couldn't understand the purpose.

The bow was a decent Magical Treasure, but it was of no use to Deng Yin, especially since the bowstring was broken. Could it be that he wanted him to repair the bowstring and restore the Magical Treasure?

Deng Yin sent his disciples away and sat in quiet reflection with the bow, pondering over a Daoist metaphor which likened the waxing and waning of the lunar phases to the alchemy Dao's fire control. The waxing phase was referred to as Upper Lunar, and the waning as Lower Lunar. Joining two half circles represented a full moon, symbolizing great success in alchemy Dao. But what did a broken bowstring signify? Did it imply his failure to achieve the Immortal Law and a switch to the Demon Path? Was his distant disciple sending this just to mock him?

He considered countless possibilities and refuted each in turn.

Finally, using both immortal and demonic methods simultaneously—calculating with Immortal numerology and sensing with Heavenly Demon—after days and nights of reflection, an epiphany suddenly struck his mind, and he finally understood!

Grandmaster Ha Ha had no real past interaction with him, and there was even some animosity. After not contacting him for several hundred years, sending this must relate to his release from bondage.

The bow had a bowstring and a bow back; the bowstring was straight, and the bow back was curved. Now that the bowstring was broken, the direct path was blocked, so he had to take a detour.

Where was that detour? Deng Yin had been strategizing for many years. The key person for breaking his prophesied confinement was Shi Feiyang.

He had tried everything—directly asking Shi Feiyang helped him without success, as Shi Feiyang was resolute in not helping him escape. Hence, he needed to find a detour related to Shi Feiyang.

Deng Yin remembered when he had spied on Shi Feiyang's origins, opening a gap to another world and seeing Shi Feiyang's hometown...

If he had to go directly from here, he was trapped by the Liangyi Dust Formation and couldn't escape. Could he perhaps circumvent through Shi Feiyang's hometown?

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