72: Earth Veins Manifest Power
Li Muchen deployed his movement technique, traversing through the mountain forests under the cover of night. With his cultivation at the Peak Foundation Establishment, although he couldn't fly on the wind for long periods, his speed while leaping with gathered Qi far exceeded that of ordinary people. Furthermore, his movements were extremely quiet and difficult to detect.
Following the faint guidance of the tracking talisman, he moved like a shadow blending into the night, sweeping past fields, villages, and hills as he hurried toward the southeast. About two hours later, he stopped outside a town called Shiquan Town.
The tracking talisman's guidance became clear here, pointing directly to a desolate area on the west side of the town.
Li Muchen restrained his aura and entered the small town like an ordinary night traveler. The town wasn't large, and since it was nearly midnight, the streets were empty, with only a few dim yellow streetlights lit. Following his intuition, he quickly arrived at the western outskirts of the town.
Before him was an abandoned factory area. Judging by the remaining outlines of the buildings, it looked like an old brick and tile factory. The tracking talisman's sensation ultimately pointed to a half-collapsed brick kiln deep within the factory grounds.
Li Muchen's Spiritual Sense spread out like mercury seeping into the ground, instantly enveloping the brick kiln.
The situation inside the kiln was clearly reflected in his "mind's eye."
A withered, gaunt man with a flagging aura, his body wreathed in chaotic and sinister energy, was curled up in a corner. He seemed to be in a semi-conscious state, occasionally letting out groans of pain. It was Achan Pu.
However, something on the other side of the brick kiln made Li Muchen's gaze narrow.
Three people were actually tied up there! An elderly couple who looked like local farmers, and a seven or eight-year-old boy whose face was pale with fright and whose mouth was gagged with a rag. They were tied tightly with coarse hemp ropes and thrown onto the cold brick floor. Scattered nearby were several empty lunch boxes and water bottles.
The elderly couple had bruises on their faces, clearly having been beaten. Their eyes were filled with fear, yet they still tried their best to shield their grandson behind them.
On the ground in front of them, a crude yet sinister array pattern was drawn with some kind of dark red, pungent liquid. In the center of the array lay a few pieces of inexpensive jewelry and some small change taken from the elderly couple.
Achan Pu seemed to want to use this innocent family and these meager "sacrificial offerings" to forcibly perform some kind of demonic art. He might have wanted to plunder their vitality and essence to alleviate his own injuries, or perhaps he intended to use a demonic technique like Blood Escape to flee!
But his injuries were too severe; he had exhausted his strength and fallen unconscious halfway through drawing the array.
Seeing this scene, a cold light flashed in Li Muchen's eyes.
This Nanyang Sorcerer was truly insane. To save his own life, he would actually harm innocent civilians, not even sparing a child.
No longer hiding his presence, he took a step forward, his figure drifting into the brick kiln like light smoke.
His appearance was silent, yet the dim candlelight inside the brick kiln flickered inexplicably.
The tied-up elderly couple suddenly looked up. Seeing a young man in dark cloth clothes with a cold, detached temperament suddenly appear, they were first startled, but then a strong light of hope for survival erupted in their eyes, and they began to struggle and whimper.
Li Muchen raised his hand and pressed down slightly. A gentle wave of Qi brushed past, and the hemp ropes on the three people snapped. With a flick of his finger, the rag gagging the child's mouth also fell away.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here to save you," Li Muchen said in a calm voice that carried a reassuring power. "Stay where you are and don't move."
The elderly couple was still shaken, but seeing that the newcomer had easily untied the ropes and spoke gently, they nodded hurriedly. They hugged their grandson tightly and huddled into the corner.
Only then did Li Muchen turn his gaze to the unconscious Achan Pu in the corner. He stepped forward slowly, and a wisp of pure True Essence shot from his fingertip, entering Achan Pu's body.
"Ugh..." Achan Pu groaned as he was forcibly jolted awake. He opened his cloudy eyes, his blurred vision gradually focusing. When he saw Li Muchen standing before him, looking down at him, his pupils suddenly constricted. The color drained from his face instantly, as if he had seen the most terrifying demon!
"It's... it's you?!" His voice was hoarse and trembling, filled with boundless terror. "How... how could you possibly find this place?!"
"By following the evil karma and demonic Qi you left behind, it was natural to find you," Li Muchen said indifferently. "It seems your partner, Release Void, had no intention of caring whether you lived or died."
Achan Pu's body shook violently, and the last shred of hope in his eyes was extinguished. He knew he was completely finished.
"G-Great Master... spare me!" He struggled to kowtow but didn't even have the strength to sit up, only able to plead while slumped on the ground. "It was Release Void! Release Void ordered me to do it! He gave me money to deal with you... I was forced! Please spare my life, I won't dare do it again! I'll go back to Nanyang immediately and never set foot in Huaxia again!"
Li Muchen looked at his servile and spineless appearance, his eyes devoid of any pity. "You used demonic arts to harm people, performed curses, and even intended to murder innocent lives to heal your own injuries. Such actions are intolerable by heavenly principles."
He extended his palm, True Essence circulating within it. He intended to destroy Achan Pu's entire Foundation of demonic arts before handing him over to the police.
However, just as his True Essence was about to touch Achan Pu's body, a sudden change occurred!
A flash of madness and malice suddenly crossed Achan Pu's eyes. Using his last bit of strength, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood mixed with eerie black Qi onto a pitch-black bone pendant hanging from his chest!
The bone pendant suddenly erupted with a piercing black light, and a wave of demonic Qi far more violent and chaotic than the previous curse burst forth! Within the black light, several hideous, clawing ghostly shadows faintly emerged, letting out silent, shrill shrieks. They didn't attack Li Muchen but instead lunged toward... the family of three in the corner!
This was actually his final trump card—using his own life-bound Demonic Weapon as a medium to completely release all the trapped vengeful spirits within, creating chaos and attacking innocents in an attempt to escape amidst the confusion, or... to perish together!
"Stubborn to the end!" Li Muchen shouted coldly, reacting with extreme speed.
He didn't turn back to save the family of three—because it wasn't necessary!
At the very moment those malevolent ghostly shadows were about to pounce on the elderly couple and the child, the ground within several yards of Li Muchen suddenly glowed with a warm, dense, earthy yellow light!
The light wasn't blinding, but it carried the weight and stability of the earth, as if it had instantly constructed an invisible barrier within this space.
This was the power of the Yuntai Mountain earth vein, which he had just refined and reinforced during the day, connected to the earth vein suppression talisman! Although he was currently a hundred miles away, through the connection between the suppression talisman and his own True Essence, he could still briefly mobilize and borrow a trace of the Yuntai Mountain earth vein's aura—specifically its essence of "suppression," "stability," and "protection."
As soon as the malevolent ghostly shadows crashed into the range of the earthy yellow light, they were like creatures caught in a swamp. Their speed dropped sharply, and they let out pained screeches. The thick, sinister resentment on them was rapidly worn away and purified by the dense, pure earth vein Qi.
Taking advantage of the moment, Li Muchen raised his hand, and golden light flashed from his fingertips. Several strands of True Essence Qi, as thin as hair yet incredibly condensed, shot out, accurately piercing the core of every ghostly shadow.
"Puff, puff, puff..."
Amidst the soft sounds, those clawing ghostly shadows were like popped bubbles, instantly collapsing and turning into wisps of black smoke before being completely annihilated within the earthy yellow light, leaving no trace.
And the pitch-black bone pendant, which served as the core of the Demonic Weapon, also let out a "crack" at the moment the ghostly shadows collapsed. Covered in cracks and devoid of spiritual light, it turned into a piece of ordinary, decaying bone.
Achan Pu watched this scene blankly, the last thought of resistance completely extinguished. He slumped to the ground, his face ashen.
Li Muchen stopped looking at him and walked over to the terrified family of three. Golden light flickered slightly at his fingertips as he lightly tapped each of their foreheads. A gentle warm current seeped into their bodies, dispelling the remaining cold and fear and soothing their frightened Divine Souls.
"It's all right now; the evil has been purged," Li Muchen said gently. "I will handle this man. Go home as quickly as possible. Forget what happened tonight; it will be better for you."
The elderly couple snapped out of their daze and kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude. They picked up their grandson and stumbled away from the nightmarish brick kiln.
Only then did Li Muchen turn back to look at the now-desperate Achan Pu. He wasted no more words, pressing his palm onto Achan Pu's head. Pure True Essence flooded in, completely shattering and dissolving all the remaining sinister mana and Qi channels within his body.
"Ah—!" Achan Pu let out a short, shrill scream before falling completely unconscious. From then on, he was a crippled man with no demonic cultivation left and a damaged Foundation.
Li Muchen took out his phone and dialed the number Wu Yuanshan had left him.
"Director Wu, it's me, Li Muchen. I've captured a sorcerer here who uses Nanyang sorcery and intended to harm people. The location is an abandoned brick kiln on the western outskirts of Shiquan Town. This person's cultivation has been destroyed; it would be more appropriate for you to handle him."
On the other end of the phone, Wu Yuanshan's voice carried a hint of surprise but quickly regained its composure. "Alright, I'll arrange for people to take over immediately. Daoist Master Li, thank you for your hard work."
Hanging up the phone, Li Muchen took one last look at the unconscious Achan Pu. His figure flickered and disappeared into the night outside the brick kiln.
He believed that Wu Yuanshan's side would handle the aftermath well and extract more information from Achan Pu regarding Release Void and any other potential masterminds.
The night wind blew, carrying the chill of late autumn.
Li Muchen's figure was like lightning as he returned toward Yuntai Mountain. This proactive strike had not only removed a hidden danger, crippled an evil cultivator, and saved innocent people, but more importantly, it had preliminarily verified that the idea of regulating and borrowing earth vein power through the earth vein suppression talisman was feasible.
Although the power borrowed this time was still very weak and the range limited, it had already demonstrated its unique defensive and purifying effects.
The path is long and difficult, but every step forward solidifies the road beneath one's feet.
The mountain forest was silent, save for his figure, which flashed past under the moonlight and soon blended into the deep night of Yuntai Mountain.