Chapter Ninety-Six: I Must Return

The four men quickly closed in around Bai Chuan, their greatswords flashing as they hacked at him. Their speed and strength had both surged dramatically.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Bai Chuan stood his ground, parrying their attacks one after another with the short sword in his hand.

He was like an iron barrel, sealed tight and impenetrable. Though the four men’s blades came at him with ferocious momentum, they could not injure him in the slightest, nor even touch the hem of his clothes.

While his right hand used the short sword to block the assaults, his left hand swiftly formed seals.

“Secret Art of the Strange Script: Mourning!”

As the words left his lips, his left palm struck the ground, and a mysterious, intricate seal array appeared beneath him.

The circular formation rapidly expanded, drawing the four men into its bounds. Within the array, countless pitch-black arms stretched out and seized their ankles in a death grip.

More arms soon emerged, binding them even more tightly.

At that moment, Li Changqing also reached the rooftop and saw the scene before him: the four men had been trapped by Bai Chuan.

“It’s over?”

Bai Chuan sheathed the short sword and turned back toward him. “These four are yours. I’m going to save Kelly. Their abilities aren’t that great, so they’re good practice for you.”

With that, Bai Chuan entered the stairwell and hurried toward the basement.

“Hey, hey.”

Watching Bai Chuan’s retreating figure, Li Changqing then looked back at the four trapped men and drew a deep breath. He understood Bai Chuan’s intention.

At that moment, the black arms entangling the four men loosened.

The four glared at Li Changqing with intense murderous intent and shouted as they charged at him.

In Li Changqing’s hands were four talisman seals.

“Lightning and fire, fierce and scorching; Southward Fire Lord. Thousand zhang of venomous flight, shaking in all directions. True talisman taking form, swiftly reveal the true spirit. By decree, hasten, hasten!”

He hurled the talismans. In midair, they instantly transformed into four enormous fireballs, blazing toward the four men.

And because he had been continuously cultivating his spiritual energy during this period, the four fireballs were nearly twice as large as the ones he had first used against Huang Chao.

Four fireballs came side by side, impossible to evade.

“Return to the Abyss Blade!”

The four men bellowed in unison. Their greatswords erupted with dark, eerie radiance as they hacked toward the fireballs.

Boom!

A violent collision of magical force shook the rooftop.

The fireballs were shattered by the four men, and all four panted heavily. The power of those fireballs was truly no small matter.

To block them at all had already been difficult, but thankfully they had managed it.

How much spiritual energy could this fellow possibly have left after unleashing four fireballs of such immense power in one breath?

The four men charged at Li Changqing again.

Another four fireballs flew toward them.

Once more, the four of them desperately blocked them.

“This guy’s power must already be exhausted! Forward!”

Then came another four fireballs...

Li Changqing stood where he was, continuously using the talisman seals to hurl fireballs.

This kind of training... was rather dull.

...

Beep, beep, beep...

The corridor leading to the basement was lined on both sides with many pipes used for transporting water.

The aging pipes had already begun to leak.

Moss grew thick on the floor at both sides, and a great deal of water had pooled along the lower side of the passage.

Along the corridor, five corpses lay sprawled out.

The five guards of the Fallen Gate had already died by Bai Chuan’s hand.

Carrying a short sword stained with blood, Bai Chuan came to an iron door.

The door was five feet high and rusted through. He kicked it hard.

Bang. The door crashed down, sending up a cloud of dust.

The basement was not small: a circular chamber about twenty meters across.

In the center of the room, Kelly Losetti was tied to a chair, blindfolded.

His body was already covered with many intricate runes.

Nearby, Qin Shan watched Bai Chuan enter with calm eyes. His gaze flickered, his expression complex.

“Bai Chuan, I never thought you would truly become a hound of the Thirty-Six Bureau. You were a legend in the demonic path. What a pity.”

“Still, I hear you’ve crippled your own evil arts.” Qin Shan’s expression held a trace of confidence as he said, “Today, you will die at the hands of Juegulas!”

As he spoke, Qin Shan picked up a small glass vial, no larger than a palm, and poured the green liquid over Kelly Losetti’s head.

“The great Juegulas! Your faithful servant has, according to your guidance, finished preparations. Please descend!”

According to the original plan, the ceremony should have been officially begun backstage, but there was no time left.

Though Bai Chuan had abolished his own cultivation, Qin Shan still did not believe he had any chance of victory, so the ceremony had to be advanced.

Of course, what consequences such haste might bring, Qin Shan did not know.

From beneath the ground, a mass of black malign energy slowly rose to the surface, then followed Kelly Losetti’s nose, mouth, eyes, and ears, burrowing into his body.

The overwhelming evil energy made Kelly tremble uncontrollably.

“Stop!”

Bai Chuan instantly rushed forward, intending to halt the malign force before it could fully enter Kelly’s body.

Qin Shan took a deep breath and stepped forward to block Bai Chuan’s path. “Your opponent is me, not someone else! Show some respect for your enemy!”

With a soft sound, Bai Chuan seized his hair and beheaded him with a single stroke of the sword.

Clean and crisp.

As though splitting a piece of tofu.

Tossing aside the severed head, Bai Chuan did not even bother to deal with the blood splashed across him. He rushed to Kelly’s side.

Frowning deeply, he pressed two fingers to the center of his brow. Dark light blossomed at his fingertips, and with a swift thrust, he stabbed toward the evil energy.

The malign force was driven apart by his strike, but in an instant it coalesced again and continued drilling into Kelly’s body.

Bai Chuan’s gaze fell on the green liquid atop Kelly’s head.

He sniffed it.

“Juice from the Blue Screen Flower?”

The Blue Screen Flower was a blossom steeped in baleful yin energy, growing only in places of extreme darkness and cold. Its juice was also the best medium for drawing out evil spirits.

Bai Chuan seized Kelly’s wrist and dragged him out of the basement into the corridor outside, where he smashed a water pipe.

Though the system had long since been shut down, a good deal of standing water remained inside.

Under the cleansing flow, the Blue Screen Flower juice was soon washed away.

As expected, the evil energy that had been drilling into Kelly’s body gradually weakened.

From beneath the ground came an unwilling voice.

“I want to return. I want to come back to this world!”

The voice was hoarse and saturated with malice.

“Demonic god Juegulas?” Bai Chuan glanced down at the ground and said coldly, “You’d best remain obedient and stay forever in the dark depths below.”

“I will return! I remember you. I will devour your soul, eat your flesh. I will return...”

The voice slowly faded away.

Countless wisps of evil energy also began to seep out from Kelly’s body and return to the earth below.

“Another maggot trying to crawl out of the gutter.”

Bai Chuan snorted coldly.

There were many such evil gods. Though powerful, they were sealed by some mysterious force.

They spared no effort in trying to return to this world, gathering followers and tempting others by every means imaginable.

Yet the restrictions upon them were great as well. Only through special methods could they descend again. For instance, this Juegulas required the bloodline of the Losetti family in order to manifest once more.