Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Blindingly Eccentric Master Wong

Li Yunfei retracted his Purple-Gold Hammer and smiled at Honghong. “This illusion is quite well constructed! Very realistic.”

Honghong curled her lips disdainfully. “Is that all? Just the surface.”

Li Yunfei laughed heartily. “Of course, our Honghong is the true master of illusions. These yellow-skinned creatures are just showing off in front of an expert.”

Honghong beamed with pride.

To counter the weasel spirit’s infamous flatulence attack, Li Yunfei maintained the operation of the Xun trigram.

The fierce wind never ceased, and the dust soon cleared, revealing the scene inside the Huang mansion.

There was a spacious front courtyard, surrounded by houses bearing scorch marks.

In the courtyard stood hundreds of people armed with various weapons, poised for battle. Men, women, young and old alike, wielded an assortment of blades, spears, swords, clubs, axes, hooks—everything imaginable.

A burly middle-aged man gripped a meteor hammer and stood on the stone steps before the second gate of the manor, glaring fixedly at Li Yunfei’s group.

He raised his hand and pointed at Li Yunfei, shouting angrily, “The foolish ruler’s tyranny has plunged the realm into chaos, leaving the people destitute. Now is the time for us heroes to rise up.”

“We will eliminate these imperial lackeys and storm the palace to take the dog emperor’s head!”

“Pfft…”

Li Yunfei couldn’t hold back a burst of laughter. He chuckled and said to Honghong, “These yellow-skinned creatures are really getting into character. I just gave them a script, and they followed it to the letter.”

Honghong laughed joyfully. “Looks like our rebellion drama is going to be quite a show.”

“Kill…”

At that moment, thunderous battle cries erupted from behind.

Li Yunfei and Honghong turned in surprise. Within fifty yards of the Huang manor, the land was open and unobstructed.

Beyond fifty yards lay dense forests from which countless sword and saber-wielding figures in battle gear charged forth in a wild frenzy.

Li Yunfei shook his head in disbelief. “This acting is terrible. Which rebel force fights with men, women, and even the elderly all on the front lines? Even old ladies are charging with knives!”

Within moments, thousands had poured out from the woods. With no more emerging, Li Yunfei grew somewhat serious.

He clasped his hands in a mudra and chanted, “Heaven and Earth, Mountain of Gen, lost and confused paths, by the urgent command... Eight Trigram Formation, activate.”

A massive Taiji diagram appeared, suspended in midair, with the Gen trigram glowing brightly in the southeast.

The earth trembled, and around the Huang mansion’s fifty-yard radius, an earthen wall rose from the ground, reaching the height of the Taiji diagram, enclosing the entire instance within.

Inside the earthen wall, towering mountains soared skyward, impassable even to birds.

These peaks transformed the area into a labyrinth, separating the thousands of rebel yellow-skinned creatures into corridors, preventing them from gathering in force.

At the moment the Gen trigram activated, the Huang manor vanished, replaced by these towering mountains.

The weasel spirits were trapped in the maze, while Li Yunfei, connected to the Taiji diagram through his divine sense, had a god’s-eye view of the entire Eight Trigram Demon-Subduing Formation.

He could instantaneously transport his group to any point within the formation.

Through this connection, he clearly saw to the true north — where the Huang mansion’s rear quarters had been — an elderly man leaning on a dragon-headed cane, his hair white as snow, emanating an aura of otherworldly transcendence.

Surrounding him were hundreds of vigilant young and middle-aged men and women, each carrying swords or knives.

This old man was undoubtedly the instance’s boss, the Great Yellow Immortal. But now was not the time to confront him.

First, they needed to clear the lesser monsters and level up, so they could face the boss with greater ease.

Li Yunfei smiled at Honghong. “Since all the instance monsters have gathered and the illusion has been mostly dispelled by the formation, there’s no need to keep playing along.”

“Let’s shatter the illusion completely! Let the master see just how hideous these yellow-skinned creatures really are.”

“Agreed.” Honghong responded eagerly, her pupils suddenly igniting with flames.

She closed her eyes, then snapped them open after a few breaths, releasing an invisible radiating wave.

The entire space seemed wiped clean—flat, open ground vanished, replaced by overgrown, disordered grave mounds that had previously disappeared.

The trees outside the earthen wall darkened into rolling black clouds, marking the boundary of this supernatural instance’s alternate dimension.

The men, women, and elderly warriors in battle gear all transformed into upright-walking weasels.

Only the white-haired elder to the north retained his humanoid form, but no longer with the serene, immortal aura. Instead, his face was sunken and pockmarked, with crooked teeth, slanted eyes, wild hair, and a bent, hunchbacked posture—truly an eyesore.

He was hideously ugly, essentially a hairless weasel’s face forcibly reshaped into a human visage.

The young and middle-aged figures nearby had human bodies topped with weasel heads, which somehow looked less disturbing.

This appearance better matched Li Yunfei’s understanding of demons.

A human body with an animal’s head—wasn’t that the classic depiction of monsters in Journey to the West? It was far more palatable than a weasel-faced human.

Li Yunfei barely glanced further; just seeing that face made him want to raise his Purple-Gold Hammer and strike the creature down immediately.

They stood in a place completely enclosed by the mountains, safe from any weasel spirit’s attack.

Li Yunfei took the opportunity to examine the items dropped by the weasel spirits.

Previously, nearly a hundred weasel spirits had masqueraded as guests outside the gate. As level 4+ monsters, their drop rates were relatively high, but unfortunately, none dropped anything valuable.

Using his divine sense, Li Yunfei gathered all the items into his system inventory and examined them one by one.

The drops included: advanced blue talisman banners; triangular yin-yang formation flags with silver-black and gold-purple borders; purple talisman papers; and a magical artifact called the “Wolf Hair Spirit Brush.”

Wolf Hair Spirit Brush: crafted from the bristles of weasel spirits, this brush is highly spiritual. When used to paint talismans or inscriptions, it greatly enhances their power. By infusing it with spiritual energy, it can draw talismans midair without the need for paper or banners, producing even stronger effects.

Honestly, the midair talisman drawing was somewhat superfluous for Li Yunfei—mostly for show. Though more potent than paper talismans, it consumed a great deal of spiritual energy.

Moreover, midair-drawn talismans were single-use; each stroke could only be used once. It was nowhere near as convenient as simply scattering stacks of talismans.

A single paper talisman’s power was less than a midair one, but what about hundreds or thousands?

Still, this brush would be very useful to other practitioners who weren’t like Li Yunfei, a pay-to-win player with unlimited talismans.

When he joined the Purple Cloud Sect, he would definitely interact with other Taoists, for whom such a brush would be a precious gift.

Besides these, there was also a pill.

Yellow Immortal Pill: neutralizes weasel spirit poison and relieves dizziness. After consumption, it grants temporary immunity to weasel spirit venom.

This was very practical and exactly what he needed now.

He and Honghong each took one pill, then fed fifteen to the skeleton warriors.

They activated the formation again and transported themselves into one of the labyrinth corridors.

Here, about a hundred weasel spirits awaited.

It was time to harvest these lesser monsters and gain some experience.