Chapter 105: The Serpent Spirit Transforms, The Severed Arm Regenerates

After the man in black gripped Yang Qin by the throat, the wind whipped off his veil, perhaps because of his sudden movement. His entire face was covered in snake scales, shimmering with a terrifying, bruised purple-black hue. Although his features were still distinguishable, it was clearly no longer a human face.

Yang Qin turned deathly pale with terror, and Yang Xiu, beside her, shuddered violently before immediately reaching into her cloth bag for a black jar. But just as she attempted to open it, the man flickered before her and seized her by the throat as well.

Yang Xiu was now at the seventh level of the Guanxu Realm—a breakthrough likely earned during the battle in Chizhou. Yet, held by the throat by the man in black, she was utterly powerless. Her very spiritual energy had been sealed deep within her dantian, beyond her ability to draw upon.

"The Mountain Ghost Secret Technique, Snake Spirit Transformation! You... are you from the Nine Poisons Sect?"

"Hmph, the little girl has some discernment. I am a descendant of the royal family of the Ba State; how can you two mere juniors from the Miao region behave so presumptuously? In fact, we the Ba people share a history with you Miao. In ancient times, we fought side by side. Now, the descendants of the Emperors Yan and Huang occupy the entire world. For thousands of years, the land of the Nine Provinces has been engulfed in endless flames. Do the Han people truly deserve to be the masters of this world?"

"The Ba State?"

Lu Xin’s expression shifted. Long before he had transmigrated, he had encountered the name in novels. Later, he had researched it and discovered that the Ba State had indeed existed in history, with records dating back to the Xia and Shang dynasties.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas: Classic of the Regions Beyond the Seas, South mentions the "Ba" serpent: "The Ba serpent swallows elephants; after three years, it excretes the bones. Gentlemen consume them to cure heart and abdominal ailments. The serpent comes in blue, yellow, red, and black. One account describes it as a black snake with a blue head, located west of the rhinoceros." Beyond the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Qu Yuan also referenced related legends in his "Heavenly Questions" from the Chu Ci.

Yet, the Ba State had been conquered by the Qin during the Warring States period. The Ba people had gradually been assimilated into Huaxia civilization over the past thousand years.

To have a descendant of the Ba royal family suddenly appear was, naturally, shocking to Lu Xin. Combining this with the silver-white giant snake he had seen earlier, it was clear that there was an intricate connection between the descendants of the Ba and the Nine Poisons Sect. If the man before him was truly of the Ba nobility, then the Nine Poisons Sect's assault on Chang'an was likely fundamentally motivated by a desire to restore their lost kingdom.

Thinking along these lines, it also explained why Zhou Dian had attempted to trigger a plague in Yuezhou two years prior to oppose the Tang court. Regardless of how many factions were currently attacking Chang'an, the Nine Poisons Sect had clearly been planning this for a long time.

"The Ba State perished a thousand years ago. The Tang court now holds the world, and all lands submit to it. Even if you include my Miao people, you alone cannot stir up such great waves."

"Hahaha... what do you little girls know? Enough. I spoke to you only out of respect for our ancestors, hoping you might see the error of your ways and turn back. It seems even you Miao are afraid of the Han people."

The man in black stared intently at Yang Xiu as he spoke, never once glancing at Lu Xin. In his eyes, a youth at the second level of the Guanxu Realm was of no consequence. In truth, this was the case.

While the Guanxu Realm was the first stage of an Onmyoji’s cultivation, every level broken through brought an exponential increase in spiritual power. The difference between the first and ninth levels was as vast as heaven and earth.

Seeing the man’s grip on Yang Xiu’s throat tighten, Lu Xin’s lips curled, and he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Heh heh heh heh. A 'descendant of the Ba royal family'? A half-man, half-snake monster wishing to be the master of the world—it’s nothing but a joke."

"What did you say?"

The man in black flew into a rage. He whipped his head around, tossed Yang Qin aside with his left hand, and struck a palm toward Lu Xin. A powerful, brownish-yellow spiritual energy, thick and heavy, blasted Lu Xin into the corner of the meditation room.

"A piece of trash at the second level of the Guanxu Realm dares to point fingers here? You are courting death."

Seeing Lu Xin fall to the ground, the man sneered before turning his attention back to the girl in his grip. Yang Xiu’s face was turning purple-blue; she seemed to be suffering from a potent poison. Her consciousness was fading, and she could barely speak.

"Boy, I gave you a chance, but you chose death. And you have dragged two Miao girls down with you. That such a fool could frighten the disciples of the Great Wilderness Divine Sect is truly laughable."

"Is that so? But I think it is you who are courting death."

Just as the man in black tightened his fingers, a golden light the size of a fist flew out from the corner with unmatched sharpness. The man reacted by instinctively raising his left hand to block. His transformed, snake-like arm was exceptionally hard, and reinforced with spiritual energy, it was ten times tougher than steel. In his mind, no spell or hidden weapon from a second-level junior could withstand a strike from his palm.

*Hummmmm...*

The golden light vibrated wildly upon touching his palm. An irresistible force surged from his fingertips through his entire body—it was indescribably horrific. Sensing the danger, the man tried to retract his arm, but his fingers dissolved into pus and blood. Immediately after, his wrist began to melt, vanishing entirely into the edge of the golden light.

The man in black gasped in shock, hurriedly releasing Yang Xiu and severing his entire left arm at the shoulder. Lu Xin lunged forward, and the golden light shifted in his hand, forming a long sword.

"What kind of magic treasure is this?"

Lu Xin did not answer. He swung his sword, filling the air with golden mist and forcing the man to retreat again and again. He then grabbed the Yang sisters, one in each arm, and sprinted out of the temple. The man in black intended to pursue, but the agony of his severed arm left him deathly pale. After a half-second of hesitation, he sat down where he stood.

With his eyes tightly shut, he took a talisman from his robes with his right hand, crushed it into a ball, and shoved it into the wound on his left shoulder. Purple light roiled, and as the man chanted, his left arm began to grow back at a visible speed. In less than two minutes, the severed arm had completely regrown.

Flesh regenerating, the limb restored!

If Lu Xin had been watching, his jaw would have hit the floor. The human body is fragile; while it possesses some self-healing ability, it cannot regrow limbs, certainly not within two minutes. The man’s supernatural power was simply inconceivable.

"For him to break my Snake Spirit Transformation with his cultivation... that sword must have a significant origin. Is this person perhaps a scion of some great family?"

Clenching his left fist, the man stood up. The purple scales on his face had faded entirely. He was now a handsome youth with a hint of gloom between his brows, looking to be in his early twenties.

Glancing toward the Buddha Hall, the man suddenly looked up at the sky. A beam of azure light, vast as a mountain, surged from the south into the clouds, its immense power scattering the black clouds hanging over Chang'an. At the pinnacle of that azure light, a massive yellow snake coiled and writhed.

"What terrifying power? Who is that? To force my master to manifest the Dragon-Snake Transformation and still hold his own?"

Following the man’s gaze, hundreds of feet above Chang'an, a figure clad in shimmering azure light was locked in battle with a massive, dark-yellow snake. The snake possessed limbs and formidable horns, resembling a soaring divine dragon. The two clashed repeatedly, evenly matched for the moment.

"Li Chunfeng, you have no ties to the Li father and son; why stand against me and my entire Nine Poisons Sect?"

"The Sect Master is mistaken. It is not I who stands against you, but you who stand against the world."

"Hmph, stubborn fool. Do you truly believe your cultivation can best me?"

The giant yellow snake lashed its tail, striking Li Chunfeng away once more. Then, the serpent's body exploded, and from the yellow dust, Ouyang Tianming stepped forth into the void. A nine-colored radiance emerged from his crown, shooting straight toward the moon. Immediately after, Ouyang Tianming was shrouded in a moon-white glow, his form becoming indistinct.

"Merging with the heavens, uniting with the earth. This is... the power of the He-Tian Realm!"

Seeing this, Li Chunfeng’s expression finally shifted. In the next second, countless human-shaped moonlight figures descended from all directions, infinite and dense. Each beam was like a razor-sharp flying sword, unstoppable.

Standing outside the Buddha Hall, Lu Xin looked up to see the entire world filled with human-shaped moonlight flitting about, lighting Chang'an as if it were day. Deep within that endless radiance, a single speck of azure light flickered, like a candle flame in a storm.

"Master?"

Lu Xin’s brow furrowed, but he had no time to gaze at the night sky. Having escaped the hall, he was still searching for Yue Buhei. Fortunately, the Yang sisters had regained their ability to move, though their faces remained pale and their breathing weak.

"With the fox’s methods, he should have dealt with those people long ago. Where did that brat go?"

Lu Xin checked several halls but found no sign of Yue Buhei. Finally, he returned to the base of the pagoda; it was empty, which made his expression turn grim. Fortunately, the scholar was hiding on the seventh floor of the pagoda, quiet and well-behaved. After bringing him down, Lu Xin decided to head for Wei Zheng’s residence.

The scripture given by the old monk concerned the whereabouts of the Demon Lord’s sarira. That the Great Wilderness Divine Sect would risk attacking Chang'an to retrieve it showed its importance. With Li Chunfeng absent, Lu Xin knew he could not protect the scripture. The best course of action was to deliver it to Wei Zheng, a close official of the Emperor.

But he did not know that at that very moment, Wei Zheng was still in the imperial palace, standing beside Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, the world of the Imperial Mirror has been breached. I fear countless assassins are infiltrating the city. I believe retreating to the underground palace is the safest course of action."

"Hmph, if I were to flee, would I not be looked down upon by the world? How then could my Tang court command this vast land? Xuan Cheng, say no more."

"But, Your Majesty..."

Wei Zheng frowned, just about to continue his counsel, when a black shadow appeared in his eyes, riding the wind and racing toward them.