Chapter 38: The Nine Heavens Mysterious Star Primordial Earthfiend Formation

Mount Taibai is covered in snow year-round, presenting a magnificent and unique spectacle that has been praised by scholars through the ages. From spring to autumn, the mid-to-lower mountain slopes are ablaze with blooming wild flowers, brilliant foliage as red as fire, and fruits hanging heavy on the branches, while the summit remains capped in blinding white snow visible from a hundred miles away, creating an extraordinary grandeur that gave rise to the legendary tale of June snow on Mount Taibai.

I stood at the foot of this mountain of infinite scenery, yet all its colors paled in comparison to the vibrancy upon me—a completely flowing ribbon of multicolored hues that thoroughly submerged me within its kaleidoscopic radiance.

Tangled together in a dense, writhing mass were countless creeping snakes, rolling forward in an overwhelming wave like a surging tempest. I stood in front of the others as the serpents began to slither up one person's legs and coil all over their body, yet not a single snake came near me. It seemed as though every last one of them was deliberately avoiding my space.

I stood motionless in my tracks, my full concentration fixed on Yue Qianling and the others opposite me, my gaze resolute. The churning sea of snakes gradually encroached upon them. Compared to the spectral troops making way last night, I suspected they would gladly choose to endure that again if given the chance—at least then their eyes were closed and they could see nothing at all.

Yet now, facing such a dense and writhing horde of serpents, even the bravest of souls would be chilled to the bone, let alone women, who seemed inherently terrified of legless, crawling creatures.

Yue Qianling’s entire body trembled uncontrollably, her legs refusing to obey her commands until her footing gave way and she collapsed limply to the ground.

The moment Yue Qianling moved, the snakes, which had been advancing in an orderly fashion, instantly halted, raising their heads in unison and flicking their blood-red forked tongues—the posture assumed right before an attack. Seeing Yue Qianling fall, Xiao Lianshan rushed forward to support her. Sensing the movement, the serpents reacted even more violently, slowly and systematically beginning to encircle Yue Qianling and the others.

I gritted my teeth and dashed over. Wherever I walked, the snakes strangely parted, automatically clearing a path. I shielded the others and shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Retreat into the forest!"

Although the serpents could not touch me, they quickly followed us into the woods, forming a complete circle in no time and trapping everyone in the center. A sweeping glance revealed them all.

Copperheads, five-pace snakes, bamboo vipers, silver kraith...

Every single one was a venomous snake whose poison could cause death by sealing the throat at the mere sight of blood. A single bite from any of them meant imminent peril, let alone the countless venomous serpents gathered here now. If they were to strike all at once... I imagined Yue Qianling would rather bash her brains out against a tree than be torn apart by ten thousand snakes.

"It's already winter, why are there still so many venomous snakes?" Gu Anqi asked, trembling with fright.

I took a deep breath, my voice icy.

"Su Lengyue is here!"

"How do you know Su Lengyue is here?" Xiao Lianshan asked in astonishment.

"What you are seeing is the Myriad Snake Gu, one of the most vicious and poisonous sorceries in gu craft," I said, keeping my full attention on our surroundings. "Aside from Su Lengyue, I can't think of a second person capable of driving such a gu. The Myriad Snake Gu is also known as the Phantom Snake Enchantress; you can tell how wicked it is just by the name. It's usually used for scouting and tracking. Su Lengyue must have followed us to Mount Taibai and lost our trail afterward, so she used the gu to drive these snakes to hunt down our whereabouts."

"Why are these snakes surrounding us?" Qiunuo asked with a trembling voice.

"The Myriad Snake Gu attacks any living person or animal that moves. Not a blade of grass grows and not a single soldier survives wherever these snakes pass. Su Lengyue must have a lock of hair or a piece of clothing worn by one of us in her possession; the snakes will track our scent like hounds. If Qianling hadn't moved just now, the snakes wouldn't have discovered us, but it's too late now. Su Lengyue already knows we're here," I sighed.

Xiao Lianshan looked at the path the snakes had taken, and true to my words, the grass was scorched black, and even the freshly sprouted twigs had withered completely to dust.

"Brother, how come these snakes don't dare to get close to you?"

"I don't know why either, but it's been like this since I was a child. All venomous creatures keep a wide berth away from me."

"Then... then what do we do now?" Yue Qianling asked anxiously.

I thought for a moment and said loudly to Gu Anqi.

"Anqi, there are exactly five of us. Now I will set up the Nine Heavens Profound Star Primordial Earthly Fiend Formation. You form the Monarch Finger to guard the tail of the formation, and I'll guard the head. The other three of you take me and Anqi as the benchmarks and stand according to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams positions. Qianling, you stand at the Metal position; Lianshan, you stand at the Fire position; Qiunuo, you stand at the Water position."

Once the others took their places, I picked up a branch, cut my forehead to draw blood, smeared it onto the branch, and began to chant.

Heaven and earth are the mysterious ancestors, the root of all pneuma. My body possesses golden light, enveloping and reflecting my form. Encompassing heaven and earth, nurturing all living beings. Within and without the three realms, I alone am honored.

Upon finishing the chant, I used the branch to draw a circle around the others. The snakes that had been slowly creeping forward instantly fell into chaos, retreating and tearing at each other. In an instant, numerous headless and tailless snake carcasses thrashed on the ground, a deeply revolting sight.

Seeing we were temporarily safe, I let out a long sigh of relief, but the moment I looked up, I saw Su Lengyue, wearing a cold and bewitching smile.

The tray in Su Lengyue's hand held countless writhing maggots—the source of her Myriad Snake Gu. It was by means of these maggots that Su Lengyue drove the swarm of serpents, and many of the maggots within were now torn to pieces.

"Did you really think a mere Nine Heavens Profound Star Primordial Earthly Fiend Formation could keep you all safe?" Su Lengyue's smile was as chilling as her person.

"Su Lengyue, what on earth are you trying to do?" Xiao Lianshan demanded indignantly, his voice ringing out.

"As long as you tell me where the Fourteen Ming Tombs are, I will spare you," Su Lengyue said indifferently.

"Your snakes are almost all dead. With your pathetic little skills, you still have the nerve to come out and make a fool of yourself," Xiao Lianshan spat on the ground and said with utter contempt.

"There was a clear agreement during our competition that whoever won would find the Fourteen Ming Tombs. Now you are going back on your word—do you have any honor or faith left?" Yue Qianling gave her a cold look and said.

"Little girl, to think you're Yue Leiting's daughter, yet you don't even know the meaning of the phrase 'history is written by the victors'? Honor and faith, heh. If such things truly existed, there wouldn't be so many corpses beneath your feet," Su Lengyue smiled genially. "However, you'll all be joining them soon enough."

I stared at Su Lengyue, my gaze resolute and steady.

"We will not tell you where the Fourteen Ming Tombs are. Even if you are proficient in gu sorcery, you know very well in your heart that you are no match for me. Don't force me to act, otherwise, someone will definitely end up lying here today, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that person won't be us!"

In terms of Taoist cultivation and mastery, Su Lengyue was indeed no match for me, yet the smile on her face only grew brighter, devoid of any fear.

"I know I'm no match for you, but now you and the others have formed the Nine Heavens Profound Star Primordial Earthly Fiend Formation, and you are the heart of the formation. The moment you move, the formation breaks. Without the protection of the formation, these snakes of mine won't be nearly as obedient. You can take my life, I believe that, but I wonder if you can save theirs."

A barely perceptible twitch crossed the corner of my eye. Su Lengyue had hit upon the exact thing I feared most: while I could retreat unscathed, Yue Qianling and the others would be left at the mercy of others.

Su Lengyue slowly withdrew her frost-cold smile and said grimly.

"I'd like to see just how capable you really are."

With that, Su Lengyue produced two writhing centipedes from her hand. Without a second thought, she popped both centipedes into her mouth, chewed them up, and spat out a bloody, sticky, and blurred viscous mass into the tray she held. She muttered a few words under her breath, a sight that turned Yue Qianling's and the other two girls' stomachs upside down, making them want to retch in disgust.

Suddenly, a squeaking sound echoed through the forest, resembling something heavy pressing down on vegetation. When Xiao Lianshan scanned his surroundings, he finally stared in stunned disbelief as two pythons, each thicker than his own thigh, slithered toward them.

Never had I seen snakes of such massive proportions; even I involuntarily swallowed hard, my throat bobbing.

The pythons did not crawl all the way over, but instead each coiled around a separate tree, their bodies tightening continuously as my expression grew increasingly pale.

"What are those two pythons doing?" Gu Anqi asked in a panic.

"The Nine Heavens Profound Star Primordial Earthly Fiend Formation can only help us block the snake swarm. Gu sorcery is an external art, which is why the formation works against it; however, as these two pythons keep tightening, both trees will snap. Trees are natural objects, so the formation is useless against them! When the trees fall, we'll all be crushed to death!"

What was even more fatal was that I could not move right now. The moment the formation broke, we might dodge the trees, but we would never escape the snake swarm.

Burning with anxiety, I looked at the branch in my hand and, gritting my teeth, violently drove it deep into the earth. The second I moved, the chaotic snake swarm before me instantly regained its order, once again closing in and watching for an opportunity, coming within a mere half-step of Yue Qianling and the others.

"Close your eyes!"

I roared at the top of my lungs, dropped to one knee, and pressed my left palm flat atop the branch.

Spirit of the Heavenly Prison, Lord of the Five Pneumas, lead a million soldiers and aid my awesome spirit. Patrol the eight extremities, escort them to the nether prisons, doomed to eternal damnation. Haste, haste, as the law and statutes command!

As soon as the chant ended, I struck the branch with a single palm, driving the entire thing deep into the ground. Instantly, an eerie wind rose, accompanied by wails echoing across the heavens and the sounds of slaughter clashing throughout the forest. Although Yue Qianling and the others had their eyes closed and could see nothing, they could hear the shouts of what sounded like a million brave soldiers ringing in their ears.

The spectral soldiers who had guided us last night were summoned by me once more. The difference was that I had cast the Soul-Consuming Military Calamity Curse, summoning the nether soldiers of the Five Directions. Having harbored extreme resentment before death, once summoned, their murderous aura soared to the heavens and their slaughter knew no bounds.

Numbered in the hundreds of thousands, the nether soldiers of the Five Directions materialized endlessly from the depths of the earth, tearing and biting at the snake swarm. Because the nether soldiers were formless, bodiless, and ethereal, the serpents had no chance to even counterattack. In the blink of an eye, the snake swarm was utterly slaughtered, leaving the entire forest littered with serpent carcasses and reeking of a nauseating fishy stench.

The greatest taboo in practicing gu venom is having one's sorcery broken. Once the gu poison is shattered, the caster suffers the backlash. Seeing that the general trend was lost, Su Lengyue hastily recalled her gu arts, and the bewitched serpents instantly scattered in all directions, vanishing without a trace in a flash.