Chapter 295 The Conspiracy of Yuxu Palace
The night wind was still lingering over the ember-like camp, and the smell of blood and rust floating in the scorched earth had not yet dissipated.

Li Qingyun was regulating his breathing alone in the corner of the tent, his brows tightly furrowed, and the deep wriggling sounds of the Outer Gods’ army before they retreated seemed to still echo in his ears.

The soldiers around were immersed in the brief joy of victory, but they could not ignore the purple light column still lingering at the other end of the night.

That was a sign that the commands from within the Outer Gods were gathering, and it was frightening all the time.

Everyone understands that although they have managed to stave off the fierce tide this time, a more terrifying storm may be brewing.

It was a cool autumn night, and he had just taken a short rest when he heard hurried footsteps approaching from afar, and the camp guards made way.

A ragged scout half-knelt outside the tent and spoke in a hurried voice, as if he was afraid of disturbing the tranquility around him:

“Sir, I have urgent military information to report.”

When he got closer, he found that the other person’s face was covered with dust and panic.

Li Qingyun stood up slowly, looking solemn:

“speak.”

The scout’s eyes still showed fear, and he said in a trembling voice:

“Fifty miles from the front line, several towns were found to be empty. There was no sign of being massacred by monsters, but more like… someone deliberately moved all the civilians away. Some houses still had strange runes on them, with a faint Taoist aura.”

Li Qingyun’s heart trembled, and the thought of “Yuxu Palace” flashed through his mind.

There had been bits and pieces of information hinting at some connection between them and the Outer Gods before, but now this massive disappearance, a town without blood or corpses, was clearly extremely unusual.

No wonder the scouts looked terrified: this meant that those people might have been artificially transferred or even sacrificed to some evil force.

Thinking of this, he felt angry and his voice became colder:
“Please tell me more.”

The scout swallowed his saliva and spoke with difficulty:
“I have found that there are many neat footprints outside the city, and judging by the patterns, they belong to the same group of people.

“Among these traces, there are a few rune engravings that can be seen. The center of the rune looks like a Tai Chi cloud pattern, but it is more crooked and strange, and it exudes an evil aura. We also found a body… a corpse. The person was dressed like a Taoist disciple. He died because his meridians were cut off. It seems that he fought with a foreign monster before he died.”

Li Qingyun’s eyes trembled slightly, and he realized that the situation had become more complicated.

He guessed that Yuxu Palace was planning a bigger conspiracy, but it seemed that there was internal discord, which led to the killing of a few Taoists.

He said to the scout:

“Go down and rest first, and don’t spread this matter to anyone else. I’ll deal with it immediately.”

After the scout left, the atmosphere in the tent became tense.

The night wind blew through the curtains, and the flickering candlelight reflected on half of Li Qingyun’s cheek, making his outline look even more severe.

After thinking for a long time, he called Wang Xuanfu, He Xiangu and other experienced old immortals to gather together, and briefly reported what the scouts had reported, with a stern look on his face:

“It seems that Yuxu Palace’s actions are not only causing trouble in the rear, but they also dare to use the people of the human race as sacrifices to cover up the encroachment of the outer gods.”

He Xiangu’s face turned pale with anger after hearing this, and she clenched her fists:

“These bastards, do they really want to go along with the foreign gods? If those millions of people were sacrificed, the consequences would be disastrous.”

Wang Xuanfu recalled the old hatred of the betrayal by the gods of Yuxu Palace, and could not help but grit his teeth and growl:
“Does Yuxu Palace still count as human beings? Even if they are dissatisfied with Your Majesty and the court, they should not sacrifice innocent people. How cruel!”

Li Qingyun nodded solemnly:
“When the foreign gods attacked the human world, Yuxu Palace pretended to rescue them, but they were perfunctory in every way, which led to the loss of many places. Now there are such acts of sacrificing towns again. In all likelihood, their leaders have reached a contract with the foreign gods.

“I have figured out that they want to gain the faith of all living beings and rise to prominence in the chaos of the end times.”

He Xiangu was filled with anger, but also with sorrow:

“Is this the righteousness of Taoism? Is it worthy of the inheritance of ‘Dao Zun’… But now the power of the foreign gods is so great, and we can only defend ourselves with all our might. If we rashly divert our forces to eliminate Yuxu Palace, won’t we be defeated by the foreign gods again?”

Li Qingyun was silent for a moment, with a cold light in his eyes:

“I will first send someone to search and find the Yuxu Palace’s secret sacrifice base. Then, no matter what, I will go there in person. We cannot let them continue to do evil.

“And my master will stay here to guard the place. If the outer gods attack again, we will fight them. With me here, we can fight this battle.”

These words were filled with a resolute murderous intent, which made everyone in the tent excited and worried.

He Xiangu bit her lips lightly and whispered:
“Qingyun, if you need to deal with Yuxu Palace, and the outer gods take advantage of your absence to attack, how should we respond?”

Li Qingyun said calmly:
“If necessary, we can abandon Yanmen Pass and retreat. I will first find out the movements of Yuxu Palace and then make a decision.”

He knew this choice might be risky, but there was no other choice.

If the Yuxu Palace is allowed to collude with the foreign gods, more towns and human souls will be secretly sacrificed, and the Three Realms will be in danger even faster.

At dawn the next day, an elite force led by Wang Xuanfu guarded the original defense line, while Mu Guiying and He Xiangu were responsible for mobile defense.

Li Qingyun created several clones and brought dozens of experienced scouts with him, forming a powerful force that secretly left the camp from the other side.

He would have to travel quickly for several days to the legendary lost town and the suspected Taoist stronghold to find out the truth and wait for an opportunity to destroy their evil formation.

On the desolate land, the cavalry stirred up the yellow sand, the team marched fast and steadily, and everyone had a solemn expression.

In their hearts, they originally thought that the foreign gods were the most terrifying enemies, but how could they have expected that Yuxu Palace would take the initiative to sacrifice the people and cooperate with the foreign gods?
The shock turned into boiling anger that could explode at any time.

Everyone’s admiration for Li Qingyun deepened: only he could subdue the shameless rebellion that emerged in this catastrophe.

Along the way, bits and pieces of information continued to come in.

There were rumors that “Taoist priests took away hundreds of civilians” in front or behind, or that a city in a certain place was empty, with strange dark purple marks left on the city walls.

There are even rumors that there are night-walking Taoist priests who block the town in the middle of the night, drive the people into the altar, and then use evil forces to devour their lives.

Each of these cases is outrageous but has not yet been confirmed. The Yuxu Palace seems to be using extremely strict blockade measures to cover it up.

The more Li Qingyun listened, the more anxious he became.

Every time he thought of the innocent souls crying in secret, his anger grew stronger.

But the pain from the seal also became more intense.

The gray fog moved within his body, as if Silence excitedly smelled more chaotic auras and tried to induce deeper flaws in his rage.

But he forced himself to remain calm, keeping his sword intent firm while ordering his men to speed up their march, without paying attention to his own pain.

Soon, the team arrived at a once prosperous small town near Daming Prefecture, Hebei Province, but found the city gates wide open but no one was there.

The wind blew through the streets, rolling up rags and making them dance wildly in the wilderness, like ghosts haunting.

The clatter of horse hooves on the bluestone slabs also brought with it a deadly echo.

But as soon as I stepped into the inner city, I smelled a faint smell of blood.

Following the scent, I saw that the roofs of large buildings were covered with distorted runes with hideous lines, as if they were carved deeply with a knife.

On the paving stones of the central street, there were gray and black stains, depicting the original shape of some Taoist talisman array, but with distorted lines on the edges, forming a strange and evil pattern.

The pattern looks like a big eye, or a claw mark with bared fangs and claws, which makes people feel cold at the sight of it.

Some of the accompanying cavalrymen vomited uncontrollably because in the center of the pattern, there were countless bloodstained clothes and shoes, but no human bodies or bones. It was as if the people had disappeared out of thin air, leaving only the dead silence in the city and this horrifying sacrificial formation.

Li Qingyun dismounted, raised his scabbard slightly, squatted down and knocked on the stone surface. There were traces of coagulated blood in the cracks of the bricks, and a faint remnant of Taoist spirit could be seen.

“This is… a high-level Taoist formation base!”

Li Qingyun had practiced formations in Mount Longhu and had a good understanding of Taoist formations. Moreover, with his current strength as a “Hunyuan Taiyi Immortal”, all kinds of techniques in the cultivation world no longer had any secrets in front of him.

“In order to cooperate with the power of the outer god, you actually made such a vicious change to the formation?”

Li Qingyun glanced around coldly, feeling both angry and heartbroken.

If he happened to arrive when this formation was completed, he might be able to save a lot of people.

However, the timing chosen by Yuxu Palace was too good. Once the sacrifice was completed, they withdrew completely, leaving only disgusting runes all over the street as a record.

Looking at the intact houses and the absence of any living beings, it means that most of the people in the city were taken to the outer gods’ nests or had their souls extracted on the spot.

He closed his eyes for a moment and then stood up resolutely:

“Separate your teams and search for any clues that can be traced. The Taoist leader should be here to arrange the battle array, so nothing will be missed.”

The clones received the order and dispersed to search. Soon someone found a body in Taoist robes in an abandoned Taoist temple, which was exactly the same as reported by the scouts.

The Taoist priest’s death looked hideous, with his chest split open, as if he had been pierced by some alien monster, or perhaps he had been silenced by his accomplices.

Li Qingyun took a closer look and found that the other party was holding half of a talisman in his hand, with the last strokes remaining on it: “…Blood Oath of Ten Thousand Souls…” His expression suddenly froze.

The “Blood Oath of Ten Thousand Souls” is an ancient taboo. It is said that it can hand over the souls of a large number of living beings to a higher being in exchange for enormous power.

Could it be that the leader of Yuxu Palace intends to borrow the power of foreign gods to hold such an incredible large-scale sacrifice?
Thinking of this, he was furious and gritted his teeth and said:
“He is really crazy!”

Just as he was about to get up and check elsewhere, he heard a commotion outside and a scout shouted:
“Sir, sir! A strange aura was detected in the back hall of this Taoist temple!”

Li Qingyun dodged over and saw a layer of light purple light and shadow at the entrance of the back hall, like the remnants of a barrier.

He touched the light and shadow with the hilt of the knife, and the blood-colored lines immediately flashed, making a sharp and piercing sound.

Then the light and shadow shattered, and the scene inside came into view: a pitch-black sculpture of an alien god was still half-standing on the altar, looking hideous and ferocious, with fragments of twisted Taoist patterns behind it, echoing the previous pattern in the center of the street.

It’s just that the arrangement here is more obvious, perhaps it is the temporary eye of the large formation left by Yuxu Palace.

“Destroy it!”

Li Qingyun swung his sword expressionlessly, and a ray of sword energy split the altar in half. The black statue suddenly began to hiss and vibrate, spewing out a thick, evil fog, as if it wanted to retaliate.

But after the impact of the sword energy, everything turned into residue and dust.

The scouts present breathed a sigh of relief, but they also became more and more afraid of the horror of this evil magic.

However, they did not feel relieved after destroying the core of the formation.

The city is empty and there is no way of knowing where the people are; Yuxu Palace may have deployed similar formations over a wider area.

If they don’t stop it in time, the final completion of the “Blood Oath of Ten Thousand Souls” will bring unimaginable power to the Outer Gods.

Li Qingyun knew this very well, and his mood became more and more anxious:

“The only thing we can do now is to follow the Taoist’s footsteps and look for their base again. If we can catch the leader, we can dismantle this conspiracy.”

Over the next few days, the scouts continued to travel to several abandoned cities in the area and discovered that similar scenes appeared repeatedly.

The city was deserted, with only the remnants of the Taoist secret formation, with external god talismans blending with Taoist patterns, and even occasionally half a piece of sacrificial clothing or a drop of blood left behind, which was frightening.

But it seemed that there was a powerful god manipulating cause and effect, causing Li Qingyun to always be one step slower and fail to capture leaders such as Huanglong Zhenren on the spot.

More rumors point to the fact that Yuxu Palace is deliberately gathering a large number of human souls and driving them to a secret “main altar” to make the final desperate sacrifice.

……

Outside Yanmen Pass.

It was late at night, and Li Qingyun temporarily set up camp in the wild. A deep sorrow enveloped the soldiers’ hearts.

Sometimes they could hear faint cries in the distance, like the howling of wronged souls trapped in another dimension, piercing their minds with thoughts of despair.

The soldiers were so frightened that they could not sleep. They could only sit around the campfire, holding their swords and guns tightly, trying to absorb each other’s body warmth.

Mu Guiying was also extremely angry, “Why is it so? Why has Yuxu Palace become so crazy?”

Li Qingyun was silent for a while before he said coldly:

“They are high and mighty gods who want power beyond the mundane world, and even covet control of faith between the human world and the outer gods. From the perspective of the law of the jungle, perhaps for that ambition, they treat the people like livestock, so why should they show mercy?”

After hearing this, Mu Guiying was speechless for a long time. She felt extremely angry, but there was nothing she could do.

She suggested: “Why not send out more cavalry to search everywhere and definitely destroy the Yuxu Palace’s power.”

Li Qingyun shook his head slowly:

“Outer Gods are everywhere here, and monsters are rampant. If we spread our forces too thin, we will be defeated one by one. We have limited manpower, so we must find more specific clues and point directly to the main nest of the Taoist sect.”

While he was thinking hard, a guard came to report:
“Sir, there are traces of fierce fighting among Taoists ten miles to the south. It seems to be caused by internal strife in the Taoist sect. Our people found several bodies of Taoists. One of them wrote something like ‘Don’t help Huanglong Zhenren anymore’ on the ground before dying.”

Li Qingyun’s eyes lit up, and he thought: Yuxu Palace is indeed divided, and some people who still have conscience are struggling and resisting. This may be a breakthrough.

He immediately led his troops to the place, and indeed saw the bodies of several Taoist disciples lying on the barren slope. The blood was still warm, indicating that the war had just ended not long ago.

There were knife marks and traces of Outer God’s slime on the tree trunks nearby, obviously a melee.

Li Qingyun carefully looked through one of the bodies and found a fragment of a jade slip inside its collar. There were a few hastily engraved lines of symbols on it, which roughly said:

“Master Huang Long secretly signed a blood pact with the outer gods, absorbing the souls of the people to refine divine power. We cannot bear to see our country destroyed and the people suffering, so we swear to fight to the death…”

There was no further news, which showed that they had failed and were eliminated.

“It turns out that there are still some Taoist disciples who still have a conscience.”

Mu Guiying sighed. They were thinking about how to start the search when they suddenly noticed a seriously injured Taoist priest who was still alive and moving slightly.

Li Qingyun hurried forward, used his divine power to keep him alive, and asked in a low voice:
“Do you know where Master Huanglong is? What are they going to do?”

The Taoist priest’s face was covered in blood, he was barely breathing, and coughed up blood.
“He… He captured the lives of dozens of townspeople, intending to complete the sacrifice on the ‘Nineth Moon Dark Night’… The Outer Gods are coming… He wants to…”

Before he could finish his words, his body twitched violently, his eyes became dull and dead, but his fingertips were still shaking slightly towards the northwest, as if indicating the direction of the main altar.

Li Qingyun’s eyes were cold and gleaming:
“It is indeed the ultimate sacrifice! The September Dark Night… is coming soon. If they are allowed to complete it, the power of the Outer Gods will be even more terrifying, and the human world will inevitably fall into a catastrophic disaster.”

The soldiers gathered around, gritting their teeth.

If they were not afraid of disturbing the night, they would have shouted loudly, “Destroy the Yuxu Palace.”

Li Qingyun no longer hesitated:

“Order, quickly assemble the troops and search the northwest for suspicious Taoist temples or palace gates. Set off fireworks if necessary to contact the army in the rear.”

He knew full well that the outer gods could intervene at any time, so he advised them to proceed with caution and not to let their guard down.

The night deepens and the wind blows.

Someone vaguely heard strange insect chirping in the air, as if countless winding passages extended from the cracks, leading to an unknown underworld.

Li Qingyun held the knife and looked around coldly, the rage in his chest growing more and more intense, but he forced himself to remain calm and dispatched troops to advance in a circle in groups, trying to find the trace of Master Huanglong in the vast darkness.

After all, if they were allowed to sacrifice people to foreign gods, the consequences would be unimaginable.

After walking for most of the night, a scout suddenly discovered lights in the barren hills ahead, and many figures in Taoist robes flashing by.

Upon hearing the news, Li Qingyun immediately led his men to rush over. From afar, they saw that there were bright lights behind the ridge, like a large temporary altar.

The purple shadow on the clouds lingered, as if echoing this place. He felt relieved:

“It is most likely the main base of Yuxu Palace.”

Sure enough, when he quietly went forward to check, he saw that the valley was filled with hundreds of Taoists guarding the place, and a powerful barrier was set up around it.

What’s even more terrifying is that there is a huge pool of blood in the center of the valley, and there are actually several struggling figures tumbling inside. Perhaps there are still some souls that have not been completely sucked out.

Runes crisscrossed the surroundings, and the Taoist energy and dark evil energy were entangled into a terrifying scene.

Waves of strange fragrance accompanied by corrosive black mist were crawling on the ground, like a place of hell.

Li Qingyun looked murderous, and the monks behind him could not hide their anger and pleaded in a low voice:

“Sir, let us charge in and save them!”

Li Qingyun stared at the area around the pool of blood and felt something was amiss.

It is obvious that there are a large number of foreign gods and monsters lingering around, or half hidden in the fog, as if they are guarding the altar together with the Taoists.

In order to avoid harming the imprisoned civilians, a large-scale charge should not be launched.

He thought about it, and then ordered his men to surround the enemy separately, while he went alone with a knife in hand. As long as he could cut through the outer guards in one fell swoop and cause the inner formation to collapse, the soldiers would be able to take the opportunity to rescue the people.

At this moment, a dark shadow suddenly looked up in the center of the blood pool. It turned out to be a high-level Taoist priest who turned his head and saw Li Qingyun and his party.

The man’s face was distorted, as if he had been corroded by the aura of an alien god, and his eyes were extremely cold:
“Is it Li Qingyun? You are quite courageous to come here to spy. But you are too late.”

Li Qingyun had a bad feeling and was about to charge in with his sword drawn, but in an instant several “sub-god” Taoists had formed seals outside the formation to build a strong barrier.

He didn’t want to waste time, so he roared:
“Step aside!”

The sword flashed out, killing the fallen Taoist priests in the front row who were blocking the way first, and blood splattered ten steps away…

……

(End of this chapter)