CHAPTER 422: CHAPTER 177: ANOTHER ENEMY, IMPERIAL SEAL (5K)_2

As soon as he stepped inside, he felt the earth beneath his feet undulating as if in waves. He looked back, but the way he came was already gone; he had plunged deep into the mountains.

The Nether Souls had also disappeared. Wen Yan restrained his Yang Energy, keeping it within himself to conserve some strength, and just stood where he was, letting the tremors carry him forward.

After more than ten minutes, he suddenly came to a stop in front of a mountain.

Halfway up the mountain, there was a pavilion. A Taoist sat there, smiling at him.

"Young people really can’t help themselves. Since you dared to set foot here, you’re destined not to return. Why not come up for a chat?"

Wen Yan looked up, grinned, bared his teeth, raised the Incense Candle Ballista, lit the crossbow’s arm-candle, then infused the whole ballista with Yang Energy Blessing, pulled the trigger, and in an instant, a scarlet flash swept through the air.

The pavilion exploded with a thunderous BOOM into dust, a huge fireball crackling with lightning expanded rapidly to three or four meters across, then detonated with a roar, terrifying Yang Energy bursting forth, flames rolling out in waves and surging toward Zhou Wei.

Wen Yan raised a hand to shield his face, feeling the scorching wind. He thought, Good thing I didn’t dare use too much Yang Energy; the Scorching Sun Blessing, coupled with this ballista’s power, really is a bit excessive.

When the storm blew itself out, the pavilion and the Taoist were both gone.

The earth began to tremble. Soil from the slopes on either side kept sliding down, as if the two mountains were converging toward the center.

Wen Yan slung his ballista on his back and sprinted at full speed, racing up to the mountaintop on one side.

He channeled Scorching Sun Jade’s Yang Energy into himself, his body seemingly igniting with flame, fierce Yang Qi howling outward in all directions, driving back the yin evil energy. The strange force beneath his feet trying to tug him was forcibly scattered as well.

He charged forward, when suddenly the ground cracked beneath him. Twisting his waist, he fired a preloaded crossbow arrow deep into the fissure. The blast’s shockwave tossed him up and sent him tumbling to the ground.

On the other side, the moment he landed, the ground split open again. He fell in, both hands stabbing into the sides like steel needles, scrambling with all four limbs, and before the fissure could close he burst straight up and out of the nearly vertical crack.

"You think all my martial training was for nothing?"

Weaving through the chasms, Wen Yan finally understood, in the heat of real action, just what effect the daily Yang Qi-infused martial training, pill-popping, and enduring side-effects to practice the Subduing Tiger First Form had actually achieved.

His bones were harder and tougher, combined with Scorching Sun Fist’s second stage, the strength of his body and physical power soared rapidly, only in daily life he never needed it, so hadn’t really noticed.

But now, his body’s reaction speed, letting him instinctively respond before he even consciously noticed cracks in the ground. Even carrying dozens of pounds of gear, he could leap five or six meters in a single bound at full sprint.

Agile as a cat, he dashed up to the mountaintop before the two mountains closed in.

Standing atop the peak, looking far into the distance, he saw the mountain ahead—one side swollen, the other sunken in by a huge chunk.

At this moment, his long-dormant Natural Enemy Profession finally kicked in with a response.

Just as he guessed, he hadn’t once actually seen his opponent from start to finish. The Nether Souls under his foe’s control were too weak to even qualify as triggering a Natural Enemy reaction.

"Mountain’s Demon."

"This place was once an ancient battlefield. Countless slaughter, bathed in blood and souls, gave birth to the spirituality in this mountain.

His true form is a mountain, but his spirit comes from creature blood and Nether Souls.

Ultimately, he became something neither demon nor ghost nor monster—one of the Demon Ghosts.

Because of his origin, he’s innately obsessed with flesh and souls.

He’ll do anything for more blood and souls, all to fuel his own growth.

His main body is so massive and heavy, it can barely move. He can only devour people or Nether Souls to send out avatars in their stead.

But at the same time, because his true form is so enormous, he pretty much can’t actually be killed."

"Hint: Give up on the idea of scattering the ashes or whatever. There’s just no end to it. They’ll never be scattered."

"Temporary Ability.

1. Imperial Decree.

2. Jade Pivot Fire Mansion Authentic Talisman.

3. ’Supreme Spiritual Cave Treasure Extinction Five Corpse Refinements Scripture.’"

Wen Yan had a thought and instantly equipped the Jade Pivot Fire Mansion Authentic Talisman. With a name like this, it had to be from the Jade Pivot Fire Mansion Heavenly Generals.

The name itself might not be familiar to ordinary folks, but another name, most people would recognize.

King Ling Official.

On the back of Wen Yan’s left hand, flames appeared, seeming to burn within his flesh and blood, constructing an intricate talisman pattern.

Once equipped, he immediately understood the talisman’s purpose.

Generally, if a Taoist had this authentic talisman, they could employ some fire department secret techniques—or, if powerful enough, even summon Fire Department Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.

Unfortunately, Wen Yan totally lacked any cultivation talent. All he could use was the most basic abilities.

Set fire to things, plus a passive of immunity to fire.

After testing one out, Wen Yan switched to Imperial Decree. As expected, it’s a positive effect, an opposite to "Asking for Title" [讨封]—using his own power and fortune to bless someone else.

Trying the third option, "Supreme Spiritual Cave Treasure Extinction Five Corpse Refinements Scripture," it was utterly non-combative—pure transcendence scripture. But since it appeared as a temporary ability, it had to have some strange effect.