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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 4: [Shuangsheng Dao Sect (Twin Rice Sect)]
Chapter 77 (332): [The Tai Shi Clan]
(77th of Volume 4)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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The five top experts of the Twin Rice Sect boarded the ship, each radiating an aura of overwhelming power, like demons emerging from the underworld.
Everyone on board trembled in fear.
Li Weiyi didn't deliberately release his Psychic Power. Relying solely on his senses of hearing and smell, he could pinpoint each person's location and condition with precision, forming a mental image in his mind.
The two with the strongest Qi soared to the third-floor cabin, Yi Zhouxue among them.
The only Spiritual Master among the five, his brow radiating green Spiritual Light, conjured a protective light shield around himself as he slowly walked down the second-floor corridor.
The sounds of shattered cabin doors, screams, cries, and objects crashing to the floor echoed from above.
Finally, there were the two black-robed Martial-Mystic Cultivators in the dining hall, wearing masks adorned with the Blood Valley pattern. They moved from table to table, scrutinizing each person.
Many of those they stared at collapsed to the floor in terror, their hearts consumed by fear.
Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao's cabin was on the second floor, and the Spiritual Master would soon find them.
A fierce battle was inevitable!
Li Weiyi focused his hearing entirely on the Spiritual Master on the second floor.
He knew that Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao would strike the instant the door opened.
That moment would also be Li Weiyi's chance to deal with the two Martial-Mystic Cultivators in the dining hall.
With the force of thunder, he first struck down three, leaving Yi Zhouxue and the other to be dealt with later.
The dining hall fell eerily silent, so quiet that the sound of a needle dropping could be heard.
"Thud, thud!"
One of the black-robed Martial-Mystic Cultivators approached Li Weiyi with slow, deliberate footsteps.
Beside him, He Qian and Guo Zhensheng were drenched in cold sweat, their bodies frozen like stone, their earlier air of superiority completely gone.
Li Weiyi remained calm and composed, but within his Spirit Realm between his eyebrows, his four Psychic Power (Nianli) Stars began to spin rapidly.
On the second floor, Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao, their auras concealed, had channeled their Spiritual Qi to its peak, ready to burst through the door and deliver a fatal blow to the Spiritual Master.
"Clatter, clatter!"
A dense chorus of chains echoed through the night, converging from all directions as if a thousand armies were encircling the post ship.
Li Weiyi looked around.
Outside the open doors and windows of the dining hall, a torrent of Spiritual Qi poured in.
This Qi twisted into white chains of varying thicknesses, crisscrossing and forming a dense net that ensnared everyone.
Li Weiyi glanced down and saw white chains crisscrossed his legs, arms, neck, and waist.
The thinnest were like spider silk.
The two black-robed Twin Rice Sect experts wielding sickles were most tightly bound, with dozens of chains wrapped around them.
The entire post ship was enveloped.
"Dao Heart Manifestation, a hundred chains, a thousand locks! It's Tai Shi Bai, the Second of Jiazi from the Tai Shi Clan! He's actually on the ship!" In the dining hall, a young Martial-Mystic Cultivator exclaimed excitedly, no longer fearing the Heretical Sect demons.
The top-ranked individual within a Sixty-Year Cycle are known as the First Commander (First Chief or Jia Shou).
The second-ranked are the Second Commander (Second Chief or Jia Ci).
"Aaaah!"
A shrill scream pierced the air from the third-floor cabin.
The Twin Rice Sect master who had been traveling with Yi Zhouxue, a venerable elder nearing a century in age, was slain in a single exchange by two Flying Swords that shot out from the cabin.
Each sword was only a foot long, one azure and one white.
One pierced his throat, the other his heart.
The corpse tumbled from the third-floor cabin with a splash, plunging into the icy river.
Everyone on the ship rejoiced, delighted that the Heretical Sect demons had finally met their match.
A cold, youthful voice echoed from above: "Your Heretical Sect is growing increasingly arrogant. I've long wanted to meet you. Since you've come, none of you will leave alive!"
With a resounding "clatter," the white Spiritual Qi chains that had blanketed the dining hall on the first floor were pulled upward as if by an invisible force.
They wrapped around the two black-robed Twin Rice Sect masters, ensnaring them and dragging them toward the ship's exterior.
It was as if two people had been caught in a fishing net, with the fisherman nowhere to be seen.
Li Weiyi could tell that the two Rice Sect experts were at least at the Fourth Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm - figures who could stand alone in any faction.
Yet Tai Shi Bai had pulled them away from a distance, leaving them utterly helpless. It was a feat of divine skill, a terrifying display of power.
"Boom!"
The sound of Yi Zhouxue and Tai Shi Bai clashing on the third floor shook the post ship's metal frame, causing it to creak ominously.
Yi Zhouxue vomited blood and was sent flying backward, his body crashing through the railing and plummeting toward the river.
"To withstand my full-power palm strike... Your strength is worthy of the Jiazi Register. You must hold a high position within the Heretical Sect, wouldn't you say?" Tai Shi Bai's Body Technique was as graceful and swift as a flying Immortal's, as he pursued Yi Zhouxue toward the river.
On the second-floor corridor, the Spiritual Master let out a long howl.
In his Spirit Realm, green light surged, shattering the spiritual artifact chains binding him.
Then, countless green light threads erupted from his forehead, shooting out in all directions.
Everyone below the Dao Seed Realm on the ship trembled, their eyes flashing with green light. Their mental consciousness shattered, revealing bloodthirsty, savage expressions.
Warriors drew their weapons and, like madmen, attacked anyone they saw.
Those without weapons clawed, bit, and punched - using any part of their bodies to attack any living thing they could see.
The entire post ship seemed possessed.
Laughter, fighting, hacking, and screams filled the air, creating utter chaos.
Anyone boarding the ship at that moment would have been horrified and fled immediately.
The two Rice Sect black-robed experts, trapped earlier, seized the opportunity. Using their spiritual artifact scythes, they severed their chains and broke free. They leaped toward the river, intending to escape.
"Pfft!"
"Pshhh!"
Two Flying Swords, one azure and one white, pierced their chests. Their Spiritual Artifact Battle Armor shattered instantly, offering no protection.
Two Dao Seed Realm Fourth Heaven experts met their demise on the spot, their corpses sinking into the river.
Inside the dining hall, Li Weiyi casually slapped He Qian and Guo Zhensheng, who had attacked him, to the ground, knocking them unconscious.
Witnessing the chaotic, eerie, and bloody scene before him, he donned the golden mask Yao Qingxuan had given him without hesitation.
He formed a Finger Seal, and Spirit Light erupted from the Spirit Realm between his eyebrows.
He uttered a single word: "Zhe!"
Zhe is one of the nine words from the Daoist Sect's Six Jia Secret Incantation. Combined with his Psychic Power, it transformed into a wave of sonic Spirit Light that spread outward from Li Weiyi.
"Whoosh!"
All the green light threads were instantly swept away.
On the ship, the crazed, bloodthirsty figures had their soul spirits instantly cleansed.
Their eyes cleared, and they stared in horror at their hands, bewildered by what had just happened.
The golden mask was extraordinary. It could conceal Li Weiyi's Spiritual Qi and Psychic Power, altering their signature.
The Spiritual Master on the second floor, who had never expected a Psychic Power expert skilled in the art of mental clarity to be aboard, immediately summoned a pair of luminous wings on his back, preparing to flee.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The main door of the cabin on the third floor burst open, and four figures charged out, each a top-tier expert.
One drew a bow and nocked an arrow, another hurled a spiritual artifact in the form of a golden wheel, a third spread his wings to pursue, and the fourth unleashed a Dao Technique.
These four were retainers of the Tai Shi Clan.
Meanwhile, Tai Shi Bai, who was pursuing the fleeing Spiritual Master across the river, heard a melodious flute melody.
He glanced toward the shore.
A figure in black robes stood motionless beneath a tree on the riverbank, dozens of yards away, playing the flute. Their form flickered between solid and ethereal.
Within dozens of yards of the river's surface, the falling snow transformed into layer upon layer of snow waves, crashing toward Tai Shi Bai.
Each snowflake was imbued with Spiritual Qi, sharper than a blade.
Tai Shi Bai unleashed a palm strike with immense power.
The radiant light that erupted illuminated both banks of the vast river, causing the water's surface to cave in and turning all the snow within thirty meters into dust.
Li Weiyi had already removed his golden mask and stepped outside the dining hall.
He first glanced at Yi Zhouxue, who had vanished into the night.
Then, he turned his gaze to the dark figure on the shore playing the flute.
"He must be Yi Zhouxue's older brother, Canye Xue," he mused, "They're clearly well-prepared. If they manage to corner me, it'll be a real headache."
How could Li Weiyi not have researched his enemies?
Legend had it that Canye Xue possessed even greater talent than Yi Zhouxue. He wielded a flute as his weapon, wasn't an Inheritor, yet dared to challenge the cultivation of Great Techniques. His cultivation speed was no slower than that of an Inheritor.
As the flute's melody filled the air, the river's surging waves transformed into a ten-meter-tall white frost giant. It swung a fist at Tai Shi Bai, its icy aura threatening to freeze the entire river.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Tai Shi Bai summoned two flying swords, one green and one white, which shattered the frost giant into pieces.
He looked back toward the shore.
The black-clad figure playing the flute had vanished.
The Spiritual Master had failed to escape.
He was captured by four retainers of the Tai Shi Clan and taken to the third-floor pavilion.
Li Weiyi had already returned to his second-floor cabin to rejoin Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao.
Qi Xiao transmitted telepathically, "The Tai Shi Clan is one of the four great families of the Imperial Court. Their Founding Ancestor, Duke Tai Shi, holds immense power and is a pillar of the empire, a Holy Spiritual King. It's said he once received guidance from the Mist Celestial Emperor and controls half of the defensive formations for the Cloud Heaven (Yuntian) Immortal Plain, Lingxiao City, and the four great passes. The other half is controlled by the Third Palace Master of Qilin Terrace."
Holy Spiritual King are Transcendents in the path of psychic power cultivation, with only a handful in the entire Lingxiao Realm.
Tuoba Butuo said, "That doesn't make sense! I've heard of Tai Shi Bai's fame even in the Northern Territory. He's the direct grandson of Duke Tai Shi and the most talented son of Grand Historian Qingcang. As a top young noble of the Imperial Court, he should have his own official ship or treasure vessel. Why would he be crammed onto this boat with so many people?"
Qi Xiao chuckled: "We're on this boat too, aren't we? Yes, Tai Shi Bai is indeed renowned, the second most powerful member of the Tai Shi Clan under sixty years old. But we're no longer the young juniors we were two or three years ago."
Li Weiyi remained silent for a long time, lost in thought.
After considering the situation, he said, "I just made a move. The Tai Shi Clan must have noticed. Now, we have two options."
"The first option is to leave the ship immediately, but we'll likely encounter Yi Zhouxue and Canye Xue."
"The second option is to stay on the ship and leverage the Tai Shi Clan's influence for smooth passage. Canye Xue and Yi Zhouxue are currently unaware we're on board."
"But if the fluctuations from my earlier attack were detected by the Jiazi Register, and the Phoenix Terrace sends investigators, that could be a major headache."
Qi Xiao chuckled: "The Imperial Court's surveillance isn't as strict these days unless you cause a major uproar. I think the bigger problem is how we, as Pure Immortal Physiques, can explain our origins. If we simply state our names, we'll be thoroughly investigated."
"Shouldn't we just leave? Canye Xue and Yi Zhouxue would be perfect for honing our combat skills," Tuoba Butuo suggested.
Li Weiyi gestured for silence and glanced at the door and windows.
A knock sounded.
A young woman's voice called from outside: "Esteemed Spiritual Master within, my mistress is deeply grateful for your righteous intervention earlier. She has sent me to invite you to the third floor for a conversation."
"Please do not decline and honor us with your presence."
Qi Xiao and Tuoba Butuo exchanged amused glances, finding the term "esteemed master" particularly amusing.
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END OF CHAPTER
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