"Human World, Small Hillocks."

    Upon Chen Yun and Qin Liangyi's return, they immediately grabbed Zhang Jiwun to help them establish a Daoist altar rapidly in this location.

    Why is it necessary to establish a spiritual altar for ritual practice?

    According to their own strength, even a hundred Chen Yun might not be able to defeat the band of ruffians led by Ji Xin.

    After all, the three hundred bandits, after thousands of years of accumulation, each is comparable to an inferior mage. The outstanding ones are even equivalent to a mid-level mage. How can Chen Yun withstand them?

    This is because those bandits do not wish to harm others; they have purely grown stronger by nourishing themselves with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If they had purposefully practiced or absorbed the souls of other beings, perhaps they would be even more terrifying by now.

    Opening an altar for ritual practice often divides into various types such as Yáng Shì Dào Zhàn, Fǎ Huì Dào Zhàn, Yīn Shì Dào Zhàn, and Jiàn Wáng Dào Zhàn.

    Yáng Shì Dào Zhàn, it refers to the altar for living people, which aims to remove calamities and difficulties, pray for blessings and extend life.

    For example, the Luotian Grand Ritual is the highest level in the Yáng Shì Dào Zhàn.

    In general, Yáng Fǎ Shì is called a "Jiào."

    The Yīn Shì Dào Zhàn is the counterpart of the Yáng Shì Dào Zhàn. It refers to the altar designed for releasing souls that have been stuck in the underworld for a long time through secret spells practiced by high-power monks, thereby transforming them into human beings or celestial beings and elevating them to a higher realm of existence.

    Yīn Fǎ Shì is generally referred to as a "Zhai."

    The reason why establishing an altar can make up for Chen Yun's gap with those bandits is because after establishing the altar, he doesn't need to use his own power, but rather relies on the power of the immortals.

    The higher one's cultivation is, the stronger the powers of the deities and generals summoned during the establishment of an altar.

    Because establishing an altar and performing rituals is too complex and cannot be used as a routine method, for example, if Chen Yun were to face someone in battle, would the opponent really grant him ample time to set up the altar?

    Therefore, having strong personal power is the true path to being a king.

    Two men and one god general were setting up the altar.

    Zhang Jiwen blinked and said, "Master, I remember that the lineage of Yingyang Cave transmission hall has not invited any deity generals. If you're going to establish an altar for this purpose, you would need to invite deities from other factions, otherwise, can I be invited as the Zhengyi God General?"

    Chen Yun naturally understands this principle, but he hasn't prepared to do so. "No need. Your dispatching of the Zhengyi God General is too formidable, for fear of inviting someone that will not demonstrate my abilities. I'll soon pay tribute to the land spirits and mountain gods, and borrow some Yin Bings from them. There's no need to humbly invite celestial generals from above."

    There are many types of divine soldiers. Some sects will raise their own divine soldiers, such as Lübi soldiers, the five camps of the Lushan School, Master's soldiers, five directions soldiers, and Wutong soldiers, etc.

    Of course, the most powerful would naturally be to humbly invite true celestial generals from above.

    The deity generals that Chen Yun will humble to invite next are the She Ling Bing Ma.

    What are She Ling Bing Ma?

    She Ling Bing Ma refers to the local soldiers that are under the control of the city wall god or the land god, mountain god.

    These soldiers are partly categorized into the "Nine Tribes of the East" by some schools, and they are considered regular local military officers.

    She Ling Bing Ma can only be borrowed, and it can be borrowed through some military ritual techniques. As they are considered regular local military officers, the authority they have within their jurisdiction is relatively large.

    Moreover, since they also belong to the underworld, there are also some affairs related to the underworld that require them. For example, some of the five camps of troops dispatched by the Lushan Shizhi have some She Ling Bing Ma.

    At present, there is no City God, so one can usually only borrow troops from the Land God and Mountain God.

    While they were talking, Chen Yun took out the array flag from his storage ring, "Zhang Jiwen friend, could you kindly help me insert these array flags around the altar so that I can arrange a pure qi-based Ba Men Jin Suo array?"

    Zhang Jiwen said with an expression of disbelief, "You're being really impolite in asking me to help you."

    Chen Yun smiled and said with good words, "We are brothers, and I really don't have the ability to build a pure qi-based Ba Men Jin Suo array myself. I can only trouble you, my brother."

    Zhang Jiwen took the array flag and hummed, "Since you consider me your brother, take me down the mountain to get some good food later. The old ancestors don't let me go to the market alone."

    "All right, no problem. After we handle the matter here today, I'll take you down the mountain to play tomorrow."

    Chen Yun agreed to it without hesitation.

    If he were in a different location, he could still use the controlled copper bells to summon the Bandits and form a Ba Men Jin Suo array.

    There are almost no wandering spirits and ghosts around Qingcheng Mountain, so it's impossible to summon any.

    The pure qi-based Ba Men Jin Suo array requires too much powerful energy, and Chen Yun's current cultivation is not sufficient. He can only ask Zhang Jiwen for help.

    Zhang Jiwen quickly inserted a face of array flag around the altar and then quickly sealed the symbols with his hands, causing each array flag to emit a faint white light.

    Finally, he handed over the main flag that controls the entire array to Chen Yun, "Done."

    Chen Yun took the main flag and thanked him, "Thank you, Zhang Jiwen."

    Zhang Jiwen, being just a child, tensely said, "You promised to take me down the mountain tomorrow. You can't break your promise."

    Chen Yun said with a mix of laughter and frustration, "A gentleman's word is as good as a horse's hoofprints."

    Busy for half a day.

    The two men and one God General had completed setting up the altar and the Ba Men Jin Suo array.

    Chen Yun then went back to the mountain for a bath and changed his clothes, and only then did he return to the altar.

    He held the Red Jade Slaying Demon Sword in one hand, stepped on the seven-star sinister steps with his feet, and shouted loudly, "The sun shines in the middle of the sky, and auspicious Qi is thick..."

    "Sunrise rises from the land of sunrise and mirrors the sea in red. The jade altar was inaugurated to proclaim the school's spirit."

    "The true immortal teaches and discusses the mysterious, with the Great Way clearly within."

    As soon as he finished speaking, a ripple appeared in the air around the altar.

    Common people usually can't tell anything out of the ordinary, but if someone with open eyes were to look, they would certainly notice that the "environment" around the small hill was rapidly changing.

    In the void, there shone a great light.

    Golden light shone everywhere, and the purple spiritual energy rose and surged.

    The small hill seemed to have turned into a fairyland.

    This is the "Transformation of the Altar."

    Chen Yun continued to burn incense and recite spells, "The throne sits on the Golden Hall, the radiant light shines on the Jade Pavilion..."

    The process is proceeding in segments.

    Only when it came to the invocation stage did Chen Yun recite spells and say, "Thunder commands, urgent as lightning, in ten directions and three realms, I can hear your call at once. Please lend me 300 yin and yang soldiers and generals from the underworld to follow me to Qingcheng Mountain. Help me to promote the prosperity of the altar's incense and offerings, reveal your power. Quickly! As decreed by the laws!"

    Just as he finished speaking, a gust of cold wind swept over.

    In a flash, 300 neatly dressed yin soldiers appeared in the midst of the cold wind.

    The leader was a short-bearded ghost general. He came forward and announced, "Geng Li, a ghost general under the command of the Land God of Qinglong Village, leads his troops here to obey the orders of Master Chen."

    Chen Yun quickly made a bow in return, "Thank you, General Jiang, for helping out. Chen Ren is grateful beyond words."

    After a brief chat between the two, Chen Yun asked Zhang Jiwen to guard his physical body while he used his yin spirit to leave his body and lead the general Qin Liang and the general Jiang Li to return to the Underworld.

    ……

    In the underworld, within the city of the dead.

    In the underworld, within the city of the dead, the sacred Deity Erlang Shen, his attendant Zhou Jiang Da Wang, and the seven sacred mountain generals had been waiting for nearly half a day for Chen Yun to return from his departure and return. For a time, they almost lost patience and were prepared to leave temporarily.

    Suddenly, a ripple appeared in the space.

    Ghostly cries and howling sounds began to ring out.

    In a blink, the sky above the city wall suddenly shone with auspicious light.

    A golden light as thick as a thumb shot down, and then it swiftly expanded and diffused outwards.

    Within an instant, a colossal beam of gold light formed the "Eight Trigrams" and descended from the sky. Chen Yun's yin spirit sat at the center of the formation, with General Qin Liang guarding the life gate and another 300 yin soldiers and generals, led by General Jiang Li, all enclosed within the gold lock array.

    The golden light surged and enveloped the surroundings.

    The sacred beings of Guangjiang Temple, including Erlang Shen, Zhou Jiang Da Wang, and the seven sacred mountain generals, were all rather surprised. They never expected Chen Yun to set up an altar and practice spells without summoning powerful deities or borrowing heavily from the gods. What they even more didn't expect was that Chen Yun had brought the Ba Men Jin Suo array back to the underworld to subdue the bandits.

    Chen Yun stood up from the position of the big general in charge of the taiji pattern in the middle, bowed respectfully and loudly addressed the direction of the city of death, "General Ji Xin, I have laid down a Ba Men Jin Suo array. Please lead your brothers to break through it!"

    General Ji Xin saw Chen Yun return with a large group of yin soldiers forming an array and immediately laughed, "Good! I'll come break the array right now!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, a loud roar of "Iron horses charging into the sky, swallowing ten thousand miles" suddenly echoed from the small city.

    The sound wave was so loud that the city wall trembled.

    Thump!

    Thump! Thump!

    The ground shook violently.

    It seemed as if there were tens of thousands of warhorses charging at full speed.

    In the next moment, a heavily armored heavy cavalryman, clad in black armor from head to toe, leaped straight up from the rear of the city wall, like a meteor racing against the moon.

    The heavy cavalryman was incredibly fierce, leaping into the air and then savagely stomping the ground.

    Boom!

    Dust and dirt flew.

    The heavy cavalryman, holding a lance with a chilling light emanating from it, stared right back with blood-red eyes, his pupils filled with bloodlust and murder!

    If an ordinary person saw this, they would surely be terrified and trembling with fear.

    This heavy cavalryman was none other than Ji Xin, who had already donned armor and helm.

    "Good! What a formidable ghost general!"

    Chen Yun couldn't help but secretly praise him in his heart.

    Whoosh.

    Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

    Another series of sonic booms echoed.

    One after another, heavily armored heavy cavalrymen leaped out of the city wall, clad in black armor from head to toe.

    The sky was filled with a whirlwind of dark shadows!

    Black horses with iron hooves, thunderously striking the ground.

    Three riders!

    Ten riders!

    Hundreds of riders!

    In a blink of an eye, the gate of the city ahead was completely filled with heavy cavalrymen.

    The iron armor like scales, swords and spears like a forest, black horses like dragons, grandly and mightily!

    Looking ahead, it's a sea of moving black shadows.

    Chen Yun looked at the fierce and imposing bandits and felt even more satisfied in his heart.

    "Iron horses charging into the sky, swallowing ten thousand miles!"

    "Iron horses charging into the sky, swallowing ten thousand miles!"

    Three hundred heavy cavalrymen roared in unison.

    They surged towards the Ba Men Jin Suo array like a flood, riding their horses.

    The sharp spears of the horses dragged on the ground, making piercing noises and sparking stars.

    Hundreds of heavy cavalrymen roared in unison, shaking the sky and the earth.

    The space in the underworld seemed to be shattered by these enormous sound waves!

    Chen Yun felt a fierce and robust energy gathering, as if it could shatter people's yin spirits.

    Interesting!

    It's the first time he's witnessed such a large number of yin soldiers in battle.

    Thoughts raced through his mind.

    The black dragons have rushed to the front of the array.

    Even the ghost general at the forefront, Ji Xin, has raised his lance high.

    It seems as if he will break through the Ba Men Jin Suo array at any moment.

    Suddenly!

    "A deafening boom" A thunderous sound suddenly erupted.

    Chen Yun waved the array flag, and the Ba Men Jin Suo array shone with golden light, instantly engulfing the three hundred bandits within it.

    Suddenly, a series of clanging and roaring sounds of fighting and struggle rose up within the eight-gate lock array.

    The golden light and the black ghost Qi generated by the bandits kept gathering and rising, hovering above the gold lock array.

    The aura was so alarming that it felt like you were really in the midst of a battlefield!

    The golden light radiated, and the ghost Qi shot up into the sky.

    Ordinary people can't see what's really happening at all.

    However, the sacred beings on the sidelines, such as Erlang Shen, Zhou Jiang Da Wang, and the seven sacred mountain generals of Guangjiang Temple, were all highly skilled in their abilities and could clearly see what was happening. Ji Xin led the 300 heavy cavalrymen rampaged in left and right within the Ba Men Jin Suo array.

    Within the Ba Men Jin Suo array, General Qin Liang, the God General, was waving a short spear to fight back.

    Additionally, General Jiang Li, with the support of three hundred yin soldiers, encircled the bandits.

    Drums beat, horns blew, shouts resounded, and the battle cries shook the sky.

    Ji Xin and the 300 bandits were stronger than the three hundred yin soldiers Chen Yun borrowed from the land god, so they didn't take long to drive these yin soldiers back. They broke through the encirclement and tried to break through the gold lock array.

    Although Ji Xin and the bandits broke through, they still suffered some losses. Dozens of bandits were surrounded by the yin soldiers and fell from their horses, then they were overrun and tied up.

    This Ba Men Jin Suo array is purely made of spiritual energy, and as soon as Chen Yun saw Ji Xin leading the bandits trying to break through to the Stream of Life Gate, he quickly waved his hand in the air.

    In the next second, the eight doors switched.

    As soon as Ji Xin and the three hundred bandits broke through to the "Stream of Life" gate, they were shocked to find that they had been brought back to the "Life Gate" again, and General Qin Liang and General Jiang Li, wielding their weapons, surged forward with their troops.

    Ji Xin and the bandits had no choice but to face the challenge.

    Suddenly, golden light and ghost Qi rose once again from the gold lock array.

    The sky and the ground were filled with golden light and black gas.

    Just as Ji Xin and the bandits had lived for thousands of years and their strength far exceeded that of ordinary yin soldiers, they couldn't be suppressed by the gods and ghosts except for General Qin Liang and General Jiang Li. Otherwise, the other yin soldiers were once again driven back in a series of defeats.

    Once the bandits retreated and came to help Ji Xin, General Qin Liang and General Jiang Li had no choice but to "let them go".

    Of course, with the help of the Ba Men Jin Suo array, the yin soldiers captured another dozen bandits.

    Then...

    Ah, Ji Xin and the remaining two hundred or so bandits fell into a "death loop".

    They had clearly repelled the god generals, ghost generals, and yin soldiers within the Ba Men Jin Suo array each time, but every time they tried to charge towards another gate, Chen Yun's waving of the array flag would bring them back to face the waiting yin soldiers once more.

    This happened more than a dozen times.

    The yin soldiers would retreat at the slightest disadvantage, never giving the bandits a chance to harm them.

    And each time the bandits tried to break through, they would be captured by the yin soldiers dozens of times.

    With each pass, it became increasingly difficult for the bandits to break through, and the number of bandits captured each time also grew.

    After about a half hour, Ji Xin was left with only about five or six iron-riding soldiers by his side.

    Surrounding Ji Xin and the five or six iron-riding soldiers were General Qin Liang, General Jiang Li, and the three hundred yin soldiers.

    At that moment, Ji Xin and the five or six iron-riding soldiers felt like a lone hand unable to clap.

    Chen Yun saw that it was about time and stood up from his position as the commander, shouting fiercely, "General Ji, if not now, when should you surrender?"

    Just as Ji Xin was about to speak,

    Suddenly, Chen Yun's yin spirit disappeared from the array.

    Following that, a resounding thunderclap echoed from the sky above the yin city, and a lightning bolt as thick as a bowl descended fiercely!

    This lightning bolt was bright and shining, like the explosion of the sun, and frightened all the yin souls upon its appearance!

    Thunder, in itself, is the most rigorous and Yang energy. Now Chen Yun's yin soul has returned to his flesh and used his palm lightning, naturally restraining the bandits.

    Boom!

    Thunderous boom! The lightning struck the ground around the yin city.

    A divine aura spread everywhere, causing the bandits' spirits to tremble!

    Such power, if it struck the bandits, would likely annihilate everyone except Ji Xin and a few who possessed strength comparable to a medium-level magician.

    Even if Ji Xin or the bandits with comparable strength to medium-level magicians were hit, they would still be severely injured!

    After all, lightning is designed to suppress yin and evil spirits. Even though Chen Yun had only the strength of a lower-level magician, if he aimed his thunder magic at Ji Xin or any bandit, they could be blasted or severely injured!

    Erlang Shen, the attendant Chujiang Da Wang, the seven sacred mountains, and other holy beings of Guanjiang Temple were all taken aback by Chen Yun's shallow cultivation and that he had mastered the thunder law, the head of all laws. Each one was astonished.

    Erlang Shen, in particular, secretly sighed in his heart: "With the thunder technique revealed, the situation is now clear."

    As expected, Ji Xin and the remaining five or six bandits, upon seeing the thunder technique, all turned pale with fear.

    Then, Ji Xin let out a wry smile, bowed his hands to the sky, and shouted loudly, "Master Chen's abilities are extremely formidable and rare. I, Ji Xin, am truly impressed. I am willing to submit with my brothers!"

    I am very sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. It is important to take care of your health and rest when you are not feeling well. Please take it easy and try to get better soon. As for the chapters, I understand that the quality may be affected today, but I will still try my best to update two chapters as usual. Thank you for your support.

    (The end of this chapter)