PD -Chapter 18 The Nine-Star Divine Incantation

At the critical moment, a flash of inspiration struck my mind. The Spirit-Subduing Ruler shrank back at my command and instantly wrapped itself around my body like a tightly bound rice dumpling.

The ruler was engraved with countless sacred incantations, and after undergoing my special modifications, it had become an object of pure yang and overwhelming righteous energy. The Azure Dragon seemed to sense its threat and immediately recoiled before dissolving into a phantom streak of light and vanishing into the air.

I was blasted backward several meters, but at least I had escaped disaster.

However, before I could get back on my feet, a chilling sensation ran down my spine. Turning around, I saw the burly figure with the leopard head and round eyes—the one called “Third Brother”—thrusting his eighteen-foot serpent spear straight toward my head.

Panic seized me.

The spear came too fast. I no longer had time to cast a spell, and the Spirit-Subduing Ruler slipped from my grasp. In desperation, I could only raise the toolbox beside me as a shield.

My toolbox was nothing more than an ordinary plastic case. Against that serpent spear, it was like tofu under a knife and was instantly split in two.

Yet something inside the toolbox suddenly knocked the spear aside.

With a loud bang, the object hit the floor. Only then did I realize it was the box containing the Extremely Yin Ancient Jade.

Although the box had blocked the spear, the moment it struck the ground, the Spirit-Imprisoning Talisman engraved on its surface flashed briefly. The entire box split apart, and the pitch-black circular jade inside rolled away toward the doorway.

By now, the commotion inside the display room had alerted everyone.

Not only Liu Xiaopeng, but Tang Shanshan, Zhu Zhu, and Uncle Tian were all standing outside anxiously watching.

Freed from the suppression of the talisman, the ancient jade radiated a chilling aura as it rolled to a stop at Tang Shanshan’s feet.

“Don’t touch it!”

The words had barely left my mouth when Tang Shanshan bent down and picked up the sinister jade.

My mind went blank.

We’re finished.

That jade was an object of extreme yin. Ordinary people could suffer terrible consequences merely from touching it.

I immediately rushed toward the doorway, intending to snatch the jade from her hand, completely forgetting about what was behind me.

The instant I charged toward the exit, the three legendary figures suddenly flashed forward. Mounted on horseback, they blocked my path and simultaneously lunged at me with their weapons.

My heart sank.

This time, I was probably dead.

Yet just as their weapons came within ten centimeters of my head, three deafening metallic clashes rang out.

A massive fangtian huaji halberd appeared above me, blocking all three attacks.

Standing before me was a towering military general clad in magnificent armor.

I was astonished, but there was no time to think.

This imposing warrior had clearly not intervened to save me. It was obvious that he and those three shared a blood feud of their own.

For all I knew, the next second, that world-dominating general might turn his halberd and drive it straight through my skull.

I didn’t hesitate.

Taking advantage of the opening, I crouched low, snatched up the Spirit-Subduing Ruler, darted out the door, grabbed the shattered box from the floor, and seized the Extremely Yin Ancient Jade from Tang Shanshan’s hand before stuffing it back inside.

“Are you alright?”

Ignoring my own lingering fear, I immediately asked Tang Shanshan.

Her eyes were filled with terror and confusion, but she quickly shook her head.

She seemed completely unharmed.

Only then did I finally relax.

Behind us, the display room echoed continuously with the sounds of clashing weapons and neighing warhorses, as though a battlefield of thousands of soldiers raged just beyond the door.

“Could it be… all the masks in there have come to life?”

Liu Xiaopeng’s voice trembled.

Before he could finish speaking, violent impacts began striking the wooden door of the display room.

I immediately called everyone over to brace the door. Then I bit my finger and, using blood as a medium, rapidly drew countless Spirit-Imprisoning Talismans across the surface.

“Go upstairs and bring down the lights I brought!”

Pressing my shoulder against the door while clutching my bleeding finger, I shouted instructions to Liu Xiaopeng.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he rushed upstairs and quickly carried down a set of high-powered photography lights.

The others were utterly baffled.

They couldn’t understand why I wanted lighting equipment at a moment like this.

I didn’t have time to explain.

I ordered everyone to stand back, switched on the photography light, and took out a specially crafted lampshade.

The shade was yellow, inscribed with a talisman in the pattern of Nine Stars in a Row.

I immediately fitted it over the lamp.

Then I infused a strand of spiritual energy into the light’s battery.

At once, the photography light blazed brilliantly, as though a second sun had suddenly risen.

“The Nine Luminaries proceed in order, Primordial Origin wandering in majesty; glorious essence shines bright, primordial spirits scatter and disperse!”

I loudly recited the Daoist Nine-Star Divine Incantation before roaring at Liu Xiaopeng:

“Open the door!”

Gritting his teeth, Liu Xiaopeng and Uncle Tian removed the chain securing the display room and pulled the door open.

Golden light poured into the room like a tidal wave.

Everything inside was instantly engulfed beneath the golden radiance activated through spiritual energy and talismanic power.

Chaos already reigned beyond the doorway.

Not only were the four figures I had previously encountered present, but countless vividly distinct characters from ancient legends and folklore crowded the room as well.

Some were locked in fierce combat.

Others desperately struggled to escape.

But the moment the golden light touched them, their forms immediately became translucent and indistinct.

Agonized screams filled the room.

Then they vanished completely into thin air.

Seeing the technique work, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

I ordered Liu Xiaopeng to shut the door again and reactivate the Spirit-Imprisoning Talismans.

The instant the door closed, the golden light dissipated.

The photography lamp could no longer sustain itself.

This particular lamp had been modified using a spiritual-energy battery capable of storing spiritual power.

The so-called spiritual battery was actually a device that combined Daoist magical tools with modern engineering principles. It had taken me a very long time to create.

Like a normal battery, it could store spiritual energy that I infused into it during ordinary times and release that energy whenever needed.

Combined with this lighting apparatus enhanced by the Nine-Star Divine Incantation, the stored spiritual power erupted in an instant, producing an overwhelming surge of righteous energy that drove away evil entities.

But the matter of the Zhu family’s resurrected masks was proving far more complicated than I had imagined.

The spiritual entities had merely been intimidated temporarily.

No one knew when they would emerge again to cause trouble.

“So… every mask in there contains some kind of evil spirit?”

Liu Xiaopeng asked once more.

I sighed.

“It’s not that simple.”

Then I turned to him and asked:

“Earlier, I already destroyed Mu Guiying’s opera mask. But when we opened the door just now… was she among those spirits again?”

Liu Xiaopeng froze.

After thinking for a moment, his face turned even paler.

“How is that possible? If the mask was destroyed, how could she still appear?”

I sighed again.

“Originally, I thought only one mask had become possessed by a yin spirit, and that its resentment was causing all this disturbance.”

“But judging from what we’ve seen now…”

“This matter is far more complicated than that.”