"Tianbo City?" Qin Mu and the others' faces changed slightly, feeling as if they had just escaped the wolves' den only to enter the tiger's mouth.
General Xiaoyi smiled: "The Ghost-Summoning and God-Commanding Glyph of the Hongshan Sect is indeed formidable. Tianbo City is also attacking the opposite bank. If a demon god could assist, the soldiers of Tianbo City would suffer far fewer casualties. Lin Ding, you go with them."
The general hurriedly agreed.
General Xiaoyi waved his hand, allowing the army to continue its march. Qin Mu and the others bowed respectfully, waiting for the army to pass. The general, Lin Ding, smiled: "Brothers, let us head to Tianbo City."
Qin Mu, his expression unchanged, said: "Please, Commander Lin."
Lin Ding laughed: "Your Hongshan Sect has performed a great service. Though only a few remain, you can summon a demon god to aid in battle. In the future, you will surely re-establish your sect and shine brightly. Although you are young, your extraordinary abilities are truly admirable."
Qin Mu laughed heartily, his face beaming: "I appreciate your kind words, General. By the way, General, you seem young, yet your cultivation is profound. May I ask what realm you have reached?"
"Peak of the Seven Stars Realm, but I have yet to make progress toward the Celestial Being Realm."
Lin Ding sighed: "The Celestial Being Realm is difficult. Now that the world is in turmoil, we must act on behalf of heaven, rectify the court, and eliminate the traitorous State Preceptor. This may be an opportunity for me to break through. Though you are young, you too must seize this chance."
Seeing their confusion, he continued solemnly: "Since ancient times, chaos has bred heroes. The more the world is in turmoil, the easier it is to progress. Why? Because strong warriors clash, ideas collide, and various divine arts and techniques emerge endlessly. This broadens one's horizons and enhances one's knowledge. The pressure of the strong and the pressure of life and death will drive you to forge ahead and constantly improve. For example, your Hongshan Sect's Ghost-Summoning and God-Commanding Glyph—who would cast such a spell in times of peace? Only in times of war is there an opportunity to use it, and thus one progresses."
Shen Wanyun and the others felt his words were quite insightful.
Indeed, the Ghost-Summoning and God-Commanding Glyph—a rare and obscure art—had truly opened their eyes. After the Hongshan Sect was annihilated, the surviving disciples could still summon a demon god to aid in battle, and the combat power of that demon god was truly astonishing.
A seemingly insignificant art could unleash such shocking power, truly astonishing them.
The Soul-Summoning Art was also an insignificant art with little power. In the past, even when they encountered it in the Heavenly Record Tower, they would glance at it and set it aside, never studying it deeply.
In terms of magical power, the Heavenly Record Tower contained tens of thousands of spells and arts far more powerful than these two insignificant ones.
Yet it was precisely the Soul-Summoning Art—a seemingly low-level technique—that directly changed the course of battle, causing even a powerful official like Yu Yuan Chuyu to suffer a great defeat, threatening Lizhou's safety.
The Soul-Summoning Art and the Ghost-Summoning and God-Commanding Glyph had no power in themselves, but when used in the right place, the power these obscure arts could unleash surpassed that of a thousand armies!
Though Commander Lin Ding was of the opposing faction, his vision and knowledge exceeded theirs.
But this also put immense pressure on them. Commander Lin Ding's vision and knowledge were superior to theirs, and his strength was also greater. If he discovered any clues on the road, they would surely die without a proper burial!
Moreover, even if Commander Lin Ding found no flaws, they would still die if they failed to summon the demon god at Tianbo City.
Even if they summoned the demon god and slaughtered the Yankang army, they would still die upon returning to the capital.
No matter how one looked at it, death was inevitable.
"If we suddenly attacked and killed him, could we eliminate this powerful expert at the Seven Stars Realm?"
Qin Mu calculated secretly, feeling the odds were slim unless they could get the Dragon Qilin to act. However, the Dragon Qilin's submissive nature made it difficult to ask him to risk his life.
"We managed to ambush and eliminate thirteen sorcerers—can't we handle one expert at the Seven Stars Realm?"
Qin Mu's eyes flickered. After traveling more than ten li, they suddenly heard battle cries. A band of mountain bandits attacked. These bandits were not weak; their leader was a sorcerer, and the others were martial artists and warriors.
As everyone prepared to fight, Commander Lin Ding smiled: "No need. Just a handful of petty thieves. Let them come."
The bandits charged, and Commander Lin Ding raised his hand, striking a palm seal. Thunder erupted from his palm with a deafening roar. A flash of white light passed, and the dozen or so bandits exploded. Even the sorcerer burst apart in midair, dying a violent death.
"Palm Thunder from the Combat Arts school!"
Qin Mu's heart skipped a beat. He immediately realized the difficulty. Against strong practitioners of the Combat Arts school, ambushes were almost useless. The five of them were all warriors at the Five Stars Realm. Even if they launched a surprise attack, it would only tickle Commander Lin Ding—they could hardly harm him.
They could only follow Commander Lin Ding nervously toward Tianbo City.
Qin Mu asked: "Commander Lin, may I ask about General Xiaoyi's background?"
Commander Lin Ding revealed a look of respect: "General Xiaoyi is the Crown Prince of the Cunyi Kingdom. After the Cunyi Kingdom was annexed by Yankang, the emperor was enfeoffed as a prince of a different surname, while General Xiaoyi was enfeoffed as Prince Xiaoyi. Now that the State Preceptor is disrupting the world's laws—a demonic path—this may be General Xiaoyi's chance to perhaps restore his kingdom. Tianbo City is just ahead."
Ahead, the mountains along the Yong River were steep, forcing the river to flow around them. Tianbo City was built among the mountains that jutted into the river, with cliffs and precipices below. The Yong River grew turbulent here, with towering waves crashing against the cliffs, creating earth-shattering sounds.
The shattered waves soared high into the sky, sparkling like countless white jade pearls falling from the white clouds.
Waves striking the clouds, reaching the heavens—this was the origin of Tianbo City's name.
At this moment, Tianbo City was filled with rebel troops, facing the Yankang army across the river, armed and ready to strike at any moment.
Commander Lin Ding led them into Tianbo City, saying: "The one guarding this place is a Cult Master-level existence—the Dragon King of the Dragon Taming Sect! You've heard of him, I presume? Though the Dragon King's abilities are not extraordinary, he has raised a flood dragon—a formidable creature capable of battling experts at the Life and Death Realm. Ah, there ahead is the Dragon King's son, Long Jiaonan."
The guard at Tianbo City's gate was a flamboyant man in colorful robes and heavy makeup, quite the spectacle. He was none other than Long Jiaonan, the young sect master of the Dragon Taming Sect.
Commander Lin Ding brought Qin Mu and the others forward to inquire. Long Jiaonan greeted him, then suddenly saw Qin Mu and paused: "I seem to have seen this person somewhere before..."
Qin Mu's heart tightened, and he bowed his head in greeting.
When he first entered the capital, he and Wei Yong had taken a towered boat from Jiangling to the capital. Long Jiaonan had been riding a giant serpent in the sky, slaughtering everyone on board except for him and Wei Yong, who escaped with their lives.
In the chaos, Long Jiaonan might have glimpsed his face.
"These are disciples of the Hongshan Sect," Commander Lin Ding introduced. "They summoned a demon god in Lu County, so General Xiaoyi asked them to perform the ritual here in Tianbo City as well, to summon a demon god to aid the battle."
Long Jiaonan couldn't recall where he had seen Qin Mu. His eyes lit up, and he giggled: "Summon a demon god? That sounds fun. What ritual tools do you need? I'll prepare them for you."
Qin Mu quickly replied: "We only need a white bone altar, thirty-six feet long and thirty-six feet wide, constructed from skeletal frames, with the surface paved with skulls. The skulls must have their eye sockets facing upward—no negligence."
"What a hassle."
Long Jiaonan smiled charmingly: "In these chaotic times, there are plenty of corpses. Wait a moment, and I'll have someone prepare the altar. If there aren't enough bones, we can kill some people to make up the difference. The lives of Tianbo City's citizens are worthless."
Qin Mu said: "We are performing a secret ritual and cannot be disturbed, so General Long..."
Long Jiaonan blew him a flirtatious glance, making Qin Mu's skin crawl. Long Jiaonan laughed: "I understand. You can rest assured. I'll have soldiers guard the outside of the altar. But if you fail to summon the demon god and are just playing with me, I'll have to punish you severely."
Shen Wanyun, Yun Que, and Lang Nu were horrified, while Yue Qinghong and Si Yunxiang seemed relatively unfazed.
Before long, Long Jiaonan had his subordinates construct a white bone altar in Tianbo City. The altar was set up in the city lord's mansion. Long Jiaonan dismissed the surrounding soldiers, posting guards to ensure no one watched Qin Mu and the others perform the ritual.
Qin Mu looked around and saw over a hundred soldiers stationed outside. Escape seemed impossible.
"What do we do?"
On the altar, everyone turned to Qin Mu. Shen Wanyun whispered: "We've fallen into the dragon's lair. Qin... Uncle-Master Qin, you must decide!"
He finally changed his address, calling Qin Mu Uncle-Master. Although Yun Que and Yue Qinghong were surprised, they did not ask questions.
Qin Mu said solemnly: "Of course, we perform the ritual to summon the demon and invite the demon god."
Yun Que was startled and blurted: "We never learned the Hongshan Sect's arts—how can we summon a demon god?"
"I have learned them."
Qin Mu brought the demon god statue and placed it on the altar, inserting four white banners at the corners. "I will summon the demon and bring this demon god over. The Hongshan Sect uses thirteen people to cast this spell, but I believe one person can also do it—it's just slightly more troublesome."
Yun Que hesitated: "If we summon the demon god and slaughter the Yankang army, we will all be executed along with our nine generations..."
"Don't worry. Summoning a demon god must involve some technique—it's impossible to let the demon god attack indiscriminately, otherwise even the summoner would die."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered as he exhaled a turbid breath: "If we summon the demon god and have him attack Tianbo City, I think we can fight our way out during the chaos... You guard the perimeter and watch for any movement. I will perform the ritual."
The others quickly took positions around the altar. Qin Mu retrieved the glyph treasures, memorizing the runes on the 1,024 surfaces, then compared them with the runes on the demon god statue. After a moment's contemplation, he began the ritual.
His qi erupted, and qi threads lifted the thirteen glyph treasures into the air, circling the demon god statue. From his nostrils and mouth came the ancient, arcane language. His qi began to activate the glyphs, causing each rune to light up and illuminate the runes branded across the demon god statue's body.
Shen Wanyun and the others were astonished. The language Qin Mu spoke was not their usual tongue. It resembled the language the Hongshan Sect used when summoning demons, but seemed even more profound.
"It's the demon language," Si Yunxiang whispered.
Runes on the demon god statue lit up one by one. Manipulating thirteen glyph treasures simultaneously required memorizing over a thousand runes and their positions. Though Qin Mu had not yet fully mastered the Grand Mystery Calculation Classic, his memory had improved significantly. He handled the process with ease.
After about half a shichen (an hour), most of the runes on the demon god statue had been illuminated. Meanwhile, as he chanted the demon language, he felt himself gradually establishing contact with an existence in another dark world deep within spacetime through the statue.
At that moment, a group of Taoists arrived at Tianbo City with another demon god statue. Commander Lin Ding saw them and quickly went forward, smiling: "The Hongshan Sect disciples have arrived just in time. Your junior brothers and sisters have been summoning the demon in the city for quite some time."
————Second update! Third update at eight o'clock tonight!