Chapter 171 — The Plantain Treasure Fan

This nine-toothed rake was truly formidable. The moment it struck, Buddhist chants rose in a great clamor and five-colored radiance burst forth on every side. Upon it the four great incantations of earth, fire, water, and wind met and intertwined, and divine talismans in ancient seal script were carved across its surface, flickering in and out of sight. Faintly visible, too, were tiny armored divinities in golden mail encircling the rake's shaft. Lanshen saw them clearly for what they were: avatars of celestial gods, the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Yellow-Turbaned Strongmen.

The nine teeth at the rake's head ran deep, like so many fangs, every point exposed and keen. It resembled a Daoist treasure, yet also a Buddhist ritual implement, and yet it bore as well the savage killing intent of the battlefield charge. Buddhist and Daoist both, and yet neither Buddhist nor Daoist.

Lanshen did not know its provenance, but that this Qi-gate weapon could hold its own against the Blood-Transforming Blade, even for a short while, plainly meant it was no artifact mortal cultivators could have forged.

Lanshen now wielded the Blood-Transforming Blade far more powerfully than Zhou Xuan ever had. He was a Yin Spirit Essence, a Heavenly Ghost by body, and neither was any immortal's art. The Yin Spirit Essence was one thing—merely tinged with an evil qi, not the true path—but the Heavenly Ghost body was genuine, unadulterated demonic craft, and it made his use of the Blood-Transforming Blade all the more effortless.

There in the void Lanshen's ghost-body loomed and faded, tall and huge, hideous and terrifying, drifting and sinking without fixed place. Now and again it thrust out a sharp ghost-claw, and there was not the slightest sound of air being split; his direction could not be grasped at all. Had the green-robed woman not had the Water-Fire Flower Basket to shield her, and had her cultivation not exceeded Lanshen's, her garments would long since have been torn to shreds and she left stripped naked.

Yet the green-robed woman was not flustered. She raised the Water-Fire Flower Basket and aimed it at the direction of Lanshen's comings and goings, silently reciting incantations. The colored light swallowed and released, absorbed and discharged; the instant Lanshen's ghost-body appeared and was fixed by the radiance, it would be drawn into the basket. Fortunately, Lanshen's Heavenly Ghost body could pass freely through manifold layers of space. Several times the basket's colored light locked onto him, and only by sheer depth of true essence, the power of his essence-sprouting, and the toughness of his flesh did he pierce through dozens of spaces in an instant and escape. Both sides had their misgivings and dared not stake everything; and as they fought, each grew more alarmed at the other's treasures and arts—neither knowing that one was a visitor from beyond the heavens and the other a Yin divinity of the underworld, and that neither was any mortal cultivator.

"This little wench has cultivation deep as the sea—I fear she's no less than the ordinary Yin divinities of the underworld. If I, your ancestor, did not have this Heavenly Ghost body and had not obtained this primeval demonic blade, then even restored to my former strength, I'd likely have to swallow my pride and die where I stand."

Lanshen had been a Yin divinity of the underworld from the first, rich in battle experience. After several exchanges, his handling of the Blood-Transforming Blade grew ever more practiced, blood-light swirling about it, swift as flying lightning.

The nine-toothed rake, by contrast, was on the losing side, merely blocking back and forth, using clumsiness to master cleverness. The divine talismans and incantations carved over its whole body peeled off and wrestled with the blood-clouds. But the green-robed woman's true essence was long and enduring, utterly without sign of fatigue; though Lanshen held the upper hand, for a time he could do nothing with her.

You Cen, this green-robed woman, was calm and composed, as though she had not used her full strength, and now and then she even laughed sweetly—which filled Lanshen's heart with grave doubt. And there was, besides, the other one, who had not yet moved. Fortunately Lanshen could come and go at ease; even if the two attacked together, he could still withdraw.

"The sect master truly is a man of divine foresight. He said something would happen, and sure enough it has. This woman is fierce indeed, and her treasures marvelous. I had best retreat into the restrictions and activate the Heavenly Fire Formation—then I can advance or withdraw at will. I'll use the restrictions to delay them a while, and when the sect master has finished refining the immortal elixir, he can deal with these two wenches!" Lanshen recalled what Zhou Xuan had said before, and his heart turned cold; the more he thought on Zhou Xuan's divine powers, the more awe he felt, and he even changed his opinion of him considerably.

Once the thought took hold, Lanshen no longer revealed his form, but hid in the void and single-mindedly drove the Blood-Transforming Blade. With this full exertion, the blood-cloud and blade-light surged violently, releasing ten thousand rays of blood-light that dyed the whole seafloor a dark red. The nine-toothed rake's radiance dimmed, and it seemed about to fail altogether.

These two weapons—one a Purple Mansion celestial soldier, the other a primeval demonic blade—should by rights have been a match for each other. But since ancient times there has been a saying: the Dao rises one foot, the demon rises ten! Was that ever an empty word?

"Sister, look out!" The red-robed woman surnamed Mu had until then only watched the two fight, secretly sealing off Lanshen's retreat, and had not joined the melee. In part it was her proud nature, disdaining to do such a thing; in part she feared that if Lanshen saw the tide turn he would flee in an instant—a Heavenly Ghost body comes and goes at will, and she was not sure she could stop him.

Seeing Lanshen suddenly turn vicious, the Blood-Transforming Blade's power immense and now surpassing even the nine-toothed rake, the red-robed woman feared some mishap to her sister, and so raised the jade pipa and struck.

The jade pipa, the Water-Fire Flower Basket, the nine-toothed rake—these three ritual treasures were all of mortal grade, yet the two women's cultivation was profound and their true essence deep and vast. Though Lanshen's strike had been a feint, when the treasures clashed he was still shaken until his qi and blood churned, and his form was forced into the open.

The Blood-Transforming Blade withdrew the moment it touched, not pressing the fight. His form flashed backward, and he cast the blade again, severing the restrictions the red-robed woman had laid, and hid himself within the immortal estate.

"Sister, that fellow is cunning beyond measure, and he has the Blood-Transforming Demonic Blade to shield him. His cultivation is no weak thing either—I fought him a good while and could gain not the slightest advantage. Had it not been for this treasure the Lady bestowed on us, we'd have suffered a great loss. To think there are still such figures among mortal cultivators—no wonder they could seize an immortal estate. Even gods and immortals would find the Blood-Transforming Demonic Blade hard to withstand. Sister, why did you use that treasure just now? Otherwise we'd surely have reduced the wretch to ashes."