Chapter 150: Killing the Stone Fish! Monster Core! Monster Core!

The grand array had sealed the stone fish for more than a hundred years.

In truth, it had slowly worn away the creature's primordial power to the point where, compared to its peak condition, its current strength was not even half of what it originally was.

Coupled with the fact that beforehand, in its desperate attempts to break free from the chains, it had repeatedly thrashed, exerted its strength, and continuously controlled the demonic fire atop the demonic core within its body to scorch the chains, resulting in constant consumption...

And outside, there was the hanging ghost continually striking it.

Under the enhancement of Chen Yushu's ritual altar, its power could be said to have reached the extreme of its own imagination. Every single strike was able to inflict damage upon the stone fish, tearing its skin and flesh apart, sending gore flying everywhere, and continuously worsening the stone fish's injuries.

The formation of the array deployed by Liu Qiaoer was simply the straw that broke the camel's back.

As the grand array rose and continuously revived, even though only a single chain remained on the stone fish's body, under the oppressive force of the array drawing upon the power of heaven and earth, the height of every leap the stone fish attempted became lower and lower, and its strength correspondingly grew smaller and smaller.

It was utterly exhausted.

And its realm aura rapidly plummeted as well, soon dropping below the baleful level.

Without the protection of the baleful level's power, the damage inflicted upon it by every strike of the hanging ghost grew increasingly severe.

"Awooo..."

The stone fish let out a great roar, filled with intense unwillingness, and even deeper fear and despair in its heart.

It had waited for this day for far too long.

Just as it was on the verge of breaking free, it had encountered such a great tribulation. The anger and grievance in its heart were like the rolling waters of a mighty river, continuous and endless.

Yet, the grand array was still reviving, and its own aura continued to plummet under the array's suppression.

The crucial point was that the hanging ghost was still continuously attacking it at this moment, strike following strike, sending large swathes of its flesh flying and revealing bare, pale, and chilling fish bones.

If this continued, even a creature like it could not endure.

Instantly, hatred surged to the heavens in its heart.

It knew that this time was its absolute last chance. Now that its hope was about to be shattered, it finally opened its mouth in a roar. The demonic core, which had been flickering with demonic fire and continuously scorching the chains, was finally forced out under its control. With a flash, it charged straight toward the hanging ghost's head, fiercely crashing directly into it.

Puff!

In an instant, it pierced entirely through the hanging ghost's head, and its entire soul body shattered along with it.

At this moment, even though the hanging ghost was a ghostly entity without a physical body, it was still severely wounded in one fell swoop.

After all, apart from that terrifying impact force, this demonic core also carried an incessant demonic fire. This demonic fire possessed extremely high destructiveness toward the hanging ghost's soul body, clinging to it like marrow within bones and continuously burning its fundamental soul.

It took a full three breaths of time for the ghost's baleful qi to extinguish it.

Yet by then, it had also grown incomparably weak, and the power infused into its body rapidly dissipated due to the violent shock to its soul.

On the other side, after using the demonic core to heavily injure the hanging ghost, the stone fish immediately locked onto its second target:

Liu Qiaoer.

Although its hatred toward Chen Yushu was even greater, Liu Qiaoer was positioned closer to it, and besides, Chen Yushu was still in the middle of opening the altar, with the flames in the gathering brazier leaping so high that it could not clearly discern his precise location.

Therefore, it directly set its sights on Liu Qiaoer.

With a flash of the demonic core, moving at the ultimate speed, it rushed straight toward Liu Qiaoer.

Faced with the demonic core hurtling directly toward her, Liu Qiaoer's face revealed a calm expression. First, she executed the Subduing Yin Technique.

Under the terrifying oppressive force, even the speed of the demonic core slowed accordingly. Then, with a flick of her finger, a clear streak of spiritual light landed precisely upon the demonic core, freezing the already sluggish demonic core completely within the void.

Finally, she pulled out a vessel resembling a pottery jar, tossed it upward, and brought it down to cover the core from above.

Instantly, the demonic core was enclosed entirely within it.

Hum hum hum...

Only then did the stone fish sense that something was amiss, and it immediately began to struggle violently, controlling the demonic core.

Yet at this point, how could it possibly be in time?

A brilliant divine light surged within Liu Qiaoer's eyes as she exerted her full strength to control the pottery jar, sealing the demonic core within, and swiftly picked up a lid to cover it completely.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

After a full ten breaths of time, the vibrations within the pottery jar finally ceased entirely.

And at this very moment, the stone fish completely lost connection with its demonic core. Its aura instantly withered away, its life force scattered, and its belly flipped upward like a dead fish, leaving it without a shred of strength to move even slightly.

Seeing this, without the slightest need for a reminder, Chen Yushu immediately stepped forward, unleashing talisman after talisman like a rainstorm.

Boom boom boom!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

...

Ghost-Slaying Talismans, Lightning-Summoning Talismans, Ice-Arrow Talismans!

Countless talismans rained down upon it.

Because it lacked the protection of the demonic power from its demonic core, the defensive scales upon the stone fish's body experienced a drastic decline as well.

In just a short moment, there was not a single patch of intact flesh left on its entire body, and its entire head was blackened and shattered into a mushy pulp.

It was dead!

In truth, for fierce beasts and demonic creatures, the demonic core was their foundation and the source of their power. Once the demonic core was lost, not only would their strength be severely impaired, but they would also suffer catastrophic injuries, leaving them on the brink of death.

Having undergone such a fierce assault of talismans from Chen Yushu, it naturally could no longer sustain itself and finally perished completely, dying within the grand array.

"It's dead!

It's finally over!"

Sensing that the stone fish had truly transformed into a dead fish, Chen Yushu could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

This battle had truly been exceptionally arduous.

He had practically exhausted all his strength, pushing the art of opening the altar to its absolute limit, successively summoning the well ghost and the hanging ghost subordinate to River Granny Fengshen. Even with the empowerment of the ritual altar, it had still been difficult to pose a genuine threat to the creature.

If Liu Qiaoer had not perfected the sealing array, the stone fish's final demonic core attack alone could very well have turned the tables.

After all, the attack of that demonic core was truly too powerful.

To this day, he was still pondering whether he would have been able to withstand it if that demonic core had targeted him instead of Liu Qiaoer.

The answer was negative!

He felt that he could at most dodge his vital spots, but it would have been exceedingly difficult to truly block it.

"Fortunately, it's finally resolved."

Chen Yushu let out a long breath, and only then did he begin the final aftermath procedures.

The spirits he had summoned must be sent back.

After all, they were soldiers who had fought for him; he could not bring himself to slaughter the donkey the moment it left the millstone.

First was the well ghost. With a slight beckoning gesture from Chen Yushu, the incomparably weak well ghost flew over respectfully.

It could be considered relatively fortunate, having not suffered overly severe injuries during the battle with the stone fish.

However, the power washing over it under the altar's empowerment had also left it very weak, requiring at least a period of recuperation to recover.

"I'll send you back first. After the new year, I will surely find a new dwelling place for you."

Chen Yushu still remembered the entity's request—to seek revenge.

Yet within a dry well, without anyone approaching, revenge was fundamentally impossible.

Therefore, its request was simply to move, to be relocated to a place where it might encounter that ungrateful man.

Chen Yushu naturally would not go out of his way to find the so-called ungrateful man for it, but placing its bones along the path the man was bound to take was something he could accomplish.

Following that, Chen Yushu waved his hand, once again summoning a pair of soldiers, and with the infusion of the ritual altar's power, he sent the well ghost back to its place.

As for the hanging ghost—

At this moment, the hanging ghost's injuries could be described as extremely severe.

This was not only due to being struck by the stone fish's demonic core, but even more so because it had directly endured Chen Yushu's consecutive empowerments from the ritual altar twice.

A single time would already cause it trauma, requiring ten days to half a month of recuperation to recover.

Doing it twice in succession, coupled with its injuries, caused its soul body to become somewhat unstable.

If it wished to repair itself, the time required would be far greater than that of the well ghost.

Without any wasted words, using the exact same method, Chen Yushu utilized the ritual altar's ghostly soldiers to send it directly back as well.

Fortunately, because it was already injured and its soul body was weak without the slightest capacity for resistance, the amount of Dao cultivation consumed to send it back was quite minimal.

With that, Chen Yushu withdrew his mental focus, truly bringing the altar-opening ritual to an end.

Altar Opening +132

His altar-opening experience soared upward immediately.

"Still, this is normal.

After all, opening the altar is unlike other spell arts.

Every single time the altar is opened, it is a tangible, real combat encounter, requiring one to battle various demons, ghosts, and monsters.

Especially this battle—the demonic baleful creature, the stone fish, reached the mid-stage of the baleful level in peak combat strength. That was only because the final chain on its body failed to unseal; otherwise, its strength could have soared even further, reaching the late stage of the baleful level.

Facing such an existence, there were simply too many aspects that required caution.

No wonder my altar-opening experience could increase by such a large margin."

Chen Yushu could not help but sigh with emotion before glancing at his attribute panel.

Altar Opening: Minor Accomplishment (192/400)

"Based on this situation, I only need to experience one or two more battles like this, and my altar-opening experience can directly advance to the realm of major accomplishment."

Chen Yushu muttered to himself, though naturally, he had no wish to undergo such perilous combat ever again.

He would rather his rate of improvement be slightly slower.

After all, if he wished to practice and improve, he only needed to summon and judge relatively weaker ghostly phantoms, malevolent ghosts, evil spirits, and malicious corpses to gain experience points, which was far more secure and safe.

There was simply no need to subject himself to such risks.

"Are you all right?"

It was only at this moment that Liu Qiaoer walked over, a trace of concern written on her face.

"I'm fine. How about you, Sister Qiaoer?"

Chen Yushu first shook his head, then hurriedly asked in return.

"I'm fine too.

However, I honestly didn't expect that your altar-opening art had already reached this stage."

Liu Qiaoer first shook her head, then looked at him with slightly glowing eyes and said, "The art of opening the altar is a spell technique that every walking-yin practitioner learns.

Yet this spell art actually has no single, completely correct solution.

The altar opened by every person, and the array deployed, are entirely different.

When facing evil spirits, the spells cast and the Dao utilized are completely disparate as well.

The magnitude of its power depends entirely on your own comprehension of this ritual altar.

From the very first time you opened the altar, I discovered that the altar you opened differed from mine and varied immensely from other walking-yin practitioners.

This time, witnessing it again, I realized that you are actually already capable of executing the altar-opening art without the need to suppress spirits—and instead of inviting or summoning spirits, you are forcibly detaining spirits..."

Saying this, genuine admiration stirred within Liu Qiaoer's heart.

"Is there any difference between these methods?"

A look of bewilderment appeared on Chen Yushu's face.

He was well aware that the reason his altar-opening art had evolved along this path was, aside from his own comprehension, largely due to the attribute panel.

The attribute panel reaching minor accomplishment naturally and effortlessly filled in many of his understandings regarding the altar-opening art, molding his technique into its current form.

"When ordinary people open the altar, they invite spirits—they invite spirits to fight for them.

Therefore, they grant favors to ghostly spirits, promising numerous benefits to make them exert effort and fight on their behalf.

In truth, ghostly spirits are very often treacherous and wicked, putting in perfunctory effort while slackening off, and the contracts and agreements signed with the walking-yin practitioners are relatively loose.

Consequently, many instances of ghostly spirits turning on their masters and rebelling occur.

The most typical example is the Li family clan of Li Village.

Although the entity he invited was an evil spirit, it was not an evil spirit subdued entirely by relying on his own strength; thus, the ghostly pact they signed was relatively loose.

That is why when the evil spirit turned on them, the Li family was annihilated, and their bloodline severed.

Because Li Chao possessed no means to keep that evil spirit in check.

A slightly stronger method is summoning spirits.

This summoning of spirits involves weak spirits yielding to the strong, resulting in relatively fewer instances of rebellion.

For instance, that mountain-ghoul evil spirit was originally an evil spirit summoned by my grandmother, which is why it could be passed down to my father.

It is only a pity that my grandmother met with an accidental death and failed to intercept and sever its destiny soul-rope in time, thereby brewing the tragedy of ten years ago.

Yet you—you employed a method of detaining spirits.

Forcibly detaining them and making them labor for you... Although the risk is relatively higher, requiring you to first subdue and conquer them through brute force, ghostly and evil spirits detained in this manner possess almost no possibility of rebellion. Once driven by you, they will obey your control and fight desperately..."

As she spoke, a faint glow emanated from Liu Qiaoer's eyes.

She suddenly felt that Chen Yushu's method of opening the altar was indeed exceptionally brilliant, and it was an aspect she needed to learn from.

"So that's how it is."

Chen Yushu immediately understood.

Inviting spirits, summoning spirits, detaining spirits.

In accordance with his own comprehension, these actually corresponded respectively to the three realms of the altar-opening art: entry-level, proficiency, and minor accomplishment.

When he was at the entry-level previously, what he contemplated was indeed the method of inviting spirits.

However, because of Little Yin, and because he quickly surpassed that stage of the realm, he had never truly invited spirits to fight.

The same applied to the summoning of spirits at the proficiency level.

It was not until he cultivated the altar-opening art to the stage of minor accomplishment that he truly comprehended the art of detaining spirits and began detaining them for combat.

This time was simply an attempt on his part.

From the looks of it now, this method was indeed feasible, and the effects were exceptionally outstanding.

That is, his incense Dao cultivation was not high, and his personal cultivation was insufficient to guarantee that the targets would be 'frightened' or 'subdued' by him; otherwise, he would even have considered inviting River Granny Fengshen, who was at the baleful specter level, to fight on his behalf.

Following that, he began to elaborate based on his own understanding.

Although Liu Qiaoer's realm was higher than his, in terms of opening the altar, she was truly inferior to him and did not disdain asking for guidance.

Chen Yushu naturally spoke without reservation.

After quite a while, once Liu Qiaoer felt she had gained immensely, she revealed a satisfied smile.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chen Yushu hurriedly spoke up to inquire: "Sister Qiaoer, I noticed your move just a moment ago—that final spell you used, what was it called?

It actually managed to completely freeze the demonic core."

Chen Yushu had witnessed Liu Qiaoer's swift and composed action in capturing the demonic core earlier, which had filled him with admiration and naturally aroused a degree of curiosity in his heart.

"A soul-attack spell, Shock-Soul Sting!

This technique can only be executed by cultivators at the Dao-Entering Realm utilizing soul power.

The reason it was able to freeze that demonic core is primarily due to the inherent nature of the demonic core itself.

Although the demonic core is the power foundation and root of most fierce beasts and demonic creatures, it is also the lodging place for their minds and thoughts—the dwelling place of their 'soul'.

Therefore, when my Shock-Soul Sting landed upon the demonic core, it was actually striking their mind and soul directly.

Once the soul is attacked, it naturally causes their thought processes to stall and their consciousness to plunge into a blank void.

With this stall and blankness, wouldn't it become frozen in place, not knowing where to go?

Seizing that opportunity, I was able to capture its demonic core in one fell swoop and seal it away."

Liu Qiaoer smiled faintly and explained.

Hearing this, Chen Yushu nodded, finally coming to an understanding.

Naturally, he felt immense envy and yearning for this technique in his heart.

However, the Shock-Soul Sting required the Dao-Entering Realm and someone possessing a tangible soul to practice; even if he wished to learn it, he could not, so he did not dwell on it further.

"If you want to learn it, I will teach you when the time comes."

Liu Qiaoer seemed to have perceived Chen Yushu's thoughts and spoke up accordingly.

"Thank you, Sister Qiaoer!"

Hearing this, Chen Yushu promptly expressed his gratitude.

"No matter. Helping you is helping myself.

This time, if not for your intervention, I could not have so easily slain the evil spirit within the ancestral temple, nor could I have resolved the greatest hidden danger in the village by subduing and executing this stone fish."

Liu Qiaoer waved her hand and said briskly.

"I am a person of this village as well.

Within my capacity, stepping forward to act is a duty I cannot shirk."

Chen Yushu said earnestly.

"Very well, the hour is no longer early; within an hour, people in the village will begin to rise.

Let us tidy up and head back first."

Liu Qiaoer did not argue with Chen Yushu over these matters. Glancing at the sky, she continued, "It is a pity that only this demonic core holds any value from this stone fish..."

"You can keep this demonic core, Sister Qiaoer.

Earlier, I certainly didn't stand on ceremony regarding the evil spirit essence and incense wish-power."

Chen Yushu waved his hand and said.

"That won't do.

The value of a demonic core is exceptionally high, especially one condensed by a demonic baleful entity of the stone fish's formidable strength. Not only can it be used to refine elixirs, but it can also be used to forge magical artifacts, making it an optimal cultivation material—far incomparable to evil spirit essence.

Even counting the incense wish-power, its value is still far inferior."

Liu Qiaoer shook her head and said, "In this battle, you contributed immensely and consumed a great deal. No matter the harvest, you deserve your share.

How about this: I am going to sell this demonic core anyway. When the time comes, regardless of how much is fetched, I will split half with you, how does that sound?"

"Sister Qiaoer, how about this instead?

I am exceedingly interested in the array set that trapped the stone fish entirely.

I won't take a share of the demonic core, but I hope Sister Qiaoer can copy a duplicate of the corresponding array diagrams and notes for me, how about that?"

Chen Yushu hesitated slightly before offering a compromise.

"This is the array record left behind by my grandmother when she repaired the grand array. Since I no longer have use for it, I will give it to you."

Liu Qiaoer directly produced a black-bound book and handed it over.

A gleam lit up in Chen Yushu's eyes, and he immediately treated it like a precious treasure.

He was indeed intensely interested in the grand array capable of sealing the stone fish—not only because the array was brilliant, but also because his reading experience required corresponding array-path books to advance...

The previous "Detailed Exposition on Array Paths" had already been thoroughly comprehended by him, offering limited elevation to his reading experience, and he was precisely in need of new texts.

This book could be said to have resolved his urgent need.

Following that, the two of them briefly tidied up.

Chen Yushu also withdrew the sound-isolation array he had set up around the perimeter.

Finally, he cast one more glance beneath the wooden bridge.

Beneath the wooden bridge, the stone fish that had originally appeared poised to leap out was indeed still there, but the stone form itself was now riddled with countless cracks spreading densely across its entire body.

Around it, that special spiritual aura had vanished entirely as well.

At this point, no matter who glanced beneath the wooden bridge, they would perceive not the slightest anomaly, nor could they discern that this location had previously constantly sealed a peak-strength demonic entity that reached the late baleful level.

...

When they returned home, the sky was still pitch black.

In winter, dawn broke relatively late, yet some diligent folks in the village had already risen in the dark, commencing a day of bustling labor.

Chen Yushu returned directly to his room, though he did not lie down to rest.

For him at present, entering meditative concentration and cultivating served as the optimal sleep. He simply sat on the edge of the bed, pondering silently.

"This battle—

Although overall it went fairly smoothly, it also exposed numerous problems.

First, my strength, while decent, still possesses a considerable gap compared to true baleful-level powerhouses.

Even in the state of opening the altar, I should still not be an opponent for a baleful-level existence."

Chen Yushu understood his situation exceptionally well.

Do not be fooled by his display of great divine might while opening the altar, summoning evil spirits to fight, and utilizing the altar's empowerment to elevate their strength to rival baleful entities, even managing to inflict damage upon the baleful-level stone fish.

The premise to all of this was that the target remained perpetually trapped within the seal, burdened by several chains throughout.

If not for that, how could the hanging ghost evil spirit—possessing merely a baleful-level shell devoid of corresponding profound techniques—possibly be a match for the stone fish?

Other evil spirits would not allow themselves to be trapped in a tiny riverbed like the stone fish, left to be slaughtered at will.

"Therefore, although this battle was smooth, it exposed many problems.

One is my strength realm, and another is that my methods are somewhat singular.

Apart from the ritual altar, I possess no other means capable of keeping baleful-level evil entities in check."

Chen Yushu mused quietly.

Regarding the strength realm aspect, it was something that could not be rushed.

He simply needed to follow the proper steps in visualization and cultivation, bringing his three sticks of incense of Dao cultivation to perfection. Naturally and inevitably, he would touch the boundary of the realm and begin preparing for the Dao-Entering practice.

This required time.

Even though he had evil spirit essence on hand to accelerate the growth rate of his Dao cultivation, the corresponding cultivation process was still indispensable.

"As for means..."

Chen Yushu thought of the Yellow Mountain Heritage Cliff mentioned by the divine messenger.

That place harbored the cultivation heritage of a top-tier grand walking-yin, amongst which there were bound to be techniques capable of rivaling or even surpassing the altar-opening art.

Perhaps among them lay methods that would enable his three sticks of incense of Dao cultivation to slay evil spirits against the current of realms.