Boom—
On the eastern coast of Joseon, the sky was covered with dense dark clouds. The heavy rain of the early winter season had just scoured the mountains and rivers. As the weather grew colder, the next precipitation would not be rain but snow.
Who knew how many corpses and how much blood lay hidden in this deep and vast wilderness.
With a blue silk ribbon tied around his head and wearing a sky-blue crane cloak adorned with lotus cloud patterns, his clothes were already tattered.
A handsome youth, a young Taoist priest, leaned weakly against a tree. There were signs of a struggle around him, but no bodies or blood.
Zhang Jiuqing, the young Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain, gasped for breath weakly.
It had been two and a half months since the surprise attack by Tachibana Munemitsu, which had annihilated all the masters of Longhu Mountain. He didn't even know how he had survived, and those demons were still searching everywhere in the mountains and wilds.
Fortunately, although Tachibana Munemitsu possessed the ability to suppress lightning techniques, his greatest strength was the Golden Light Charm. With the powerful defense of the Golden Light Charm, he had managed to conceal his presence and survive precariously.
But...
Now Yuan Mountain City had fallen into enemy hands, and the entire eastern coast, which had been recaptured, had fallen again. The front lines were in disarray, and a large number of demons and ghosts, formed from wishes, surged into the wilderness. If he used lightning techniques, he would be discovered by the Onmyoji in the nearby strongholds.
"To protect Yuan Mountain City, the Onmyōdō was dispatched! Toyotomi Hideyoshi doesn't seem to dislike Onmyoji that much!"
"You bastards, you used to come to Longhu Mountain every year to ask for talismans and blessings. In the end, how can a master have no borders? If I can strike the mainland of Japan, if I can ascend to immortality in broad daylight in the future, I will kill all of you clean."
The young Heavenly Master carefully considered ways to escape, but in fact, this thought process had almost exhausted his mental capacity.
These wish-demons were troublesome. They had no physical form and were destroyed like vengeful spirits after being killed. This meant that some weaker demons, like rabbits, could not be used as food.
Eating qi and drinking mist was just a cultivation method; it didn't mean one didn't eat at all. He hadn't eaten meat for two and a half months. Fortunately, this heavy rain had caused many mushrooms to sprout in the mountains, which improved the young Heavenly Master's condition a little.
"Thank you, Lord Wu Sangong."
The young Heavenly Master sighed with emotion. This Wu Sangong was the god who, according to folk legends, governed the growth of mushrooms.
Rustle, rustle...
A strange sound came again. It was the demons searching in the area. The searches had become stricter recently. The young Heavenly Master, who was about to escape, was once again trapped in a encirclement.
He couldn't help but think dejectedly that if he had known this would happen, he should have learned some soul-searching techniques back then. Although they were unorthodox, they were indeed useful at times.
Soul-searching was generally a unique skill of folk magic sects and was not easily obtained. However, for Longhu Mountain, besides the Three Mountain Secret Records, were there any techniques they couldn't obtain?
However, he had heard some news a few times.
It seemed that the imperial court had sent immortals to provide support. But the young Heavenly Master was very confused. Where would the Ming Dynasty get immortals from?
In fact, the appearance of false immortals on the Japanese side before was enough to shock him, after all, the highest divine general of the Ming imperial court, Empress Bixia Yuanjun, was only a quasi-immortal at the Pure Yang realm.
Therefore, when he heard that immortals were coming to the rescue, he couldn't help but wonder if his grandfather, the Heavenly Master Zhang, had broken through.
His grandfather guarded the Forbidden City, his father stayed at Longhu Mountain, and he was on the Korean battlefield. If the Heavenly Master Zhang had broken through to the immortal realm, wouldn't his twelve thousand avatars directly crush them?
But thinking about it, those false immortals also had many Nascent Souls. However, they seemed to have some reservations and dared not reveal too many avatars.
"I've read descriptions of false immortals in books before. Generally, they lack the form and spirit of immortals, but their power has already entered the immortal realm. Mortal forms and spirits cannot bear the power of immortals, and the Nascent Soul itself is a transformation of form and spirit. Perhaps it is precisely because they fear their forms and spirits will continuously decay that they dare not deploy large armies of Nascent Souls."
"But... Japan's false immortals are not just one. However... if our country's immortal is preparing to act, it doesn't seem to be attacking Yuan Mountain. It should be attacking Kaesong or Wangjing. At this time, the troops will inevitably concentrate to the west. It may not be possible to escape during a gap, because the troops are all gathered on the periphery. Breaking through towards our army would be like a wolf entering a tiger's den. But conversely, if I can blend into Yuan Mountain City, I might even be able to kill a few great Japanese barbarians."
"Shimazu Yoshihiro and the others should be in the city. The guards are the next head of the Onmyōdō, the current Assistant Onmyōji, Yukii Tokuyoshi... Damn it, I met this guy before. He was so servile back then, and now at twenty-something, he's almost the head of the Onmyōdō."
"Back then, this guy still had the nerve to claim to be my senior brother."
The Onmyōdō was a professional mage institution within the Japanese government, divided into Onmyōdō, Tenmondō, Rekidō, and Rōkoku-dō. The leader was the Onmyō-head, assisted by the "Assistant" and "Provisional Assistant."
And the Onmyōdō would regularly enter China and request talismans from Longhu Mountain. However, this ritualistic activity was directly terminated after the Korean War broke out.
The young Heavenly Master was not confident that he could kill them, so he planned to rest for two days and prepare more lightning talismans, focusing on a surprise attack. Otherwise, if they attacked head-on, there were still several extremely powerful existences among the Japanese pirates who attacked the Ming army in Yuan Mountain City. Even without Tachibana Munemitsu's help, they would still be in a tough fight.
As he thought about it, he suddenly seemed to remember something, and his expression became extremely grim.
That's right, Yukii Tokuyoshi was also the nephew of the "Sword Saint" of that lineage.
He looked up at the sky. Dusk was approaching, and the halo of the setting sun appeared in the mountains for only a quarter of an hour.
And at this moment, a huge swirling dark cloud suddenly appeared in the sky!
The young Heavenly Master stared blankly: "What... what is that!"
...
The scabbard, entwined with prayer beads, vibrated continuously. A young man, tall among the Japanese pirates, reaching over 1.8 meters, stood up.
"The sword in the scabbard is creaking, a strong enemy is coming. Juzumaru Tsunetsugu was the sword of Nichiren Shonin during the Kamakura period. It is extremely sensitive to those with killing intent."
The wielder was named Yagyū Munenori, a famous great swordsman in Japan, known as the Sword Saint. He also had another alias, Yagyū Tajima-no-Kami.
Although only twenty-six years old, he already possessed the strength to look down upon the world. This time, while guarding Yuan Mountain City, he had also received the blessing of a divine artifact, the legendary divine sword "Daisan Ken," which could cleave mountains with a single strike.
Yagyū Munenori opened his eyes, which blazed like torches. He seemed to sense someone approaching Yuan Mountain City!
Not to the left, not to the right, not in front, not inside Yuan Mountain City, not underground or in the water.
In the sky!
He suddenly looked up and saw the huge dark cloud rapidly descending!
The image of Take-mikazuchi-no-Kami suddenly appeared within it!
Take-mikazuchi-no-Kami was originally a divine position held by Tachibana Munemitsu, but now it suddenly appeared above Yuan Mountain City and swung a giant lightning sword!
A single strike fell! Boom!
This was Tachibana Munemitsu's Keiyun Issen!
"Sword Saint-sama!"
Lightning and dust stirred up a great storm, and the flashing sword light deflected the giant sword of Take-mikazuchi-no-Kami towards the sky! Yagyū Munenori stood his ground, his long sword rotating a full circle. This was the top-tier force-dispelling sword technique of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū.
However, the immense power of Take-mikazuchi-no-Kami still caused the city to shake violently and destroyed a considerable area!
Yagyū Munenori found it quite unbelievable. The unbelievable part was that Tachibana Munemitsu's divine position was attacking his own people!
And such a huge commotion instantly attracted all the combat-capable individuals in the city! Assistant Onmyōji Yukii Tokuyoshi, wearing a white haori, instantly distorted and twisted in the air, appearing beside Yagyū Munenori. Seeing Take-mikazuchi-no-Kami in the sky, his pupils also contracted sharply!
But the terrifying events were not over yet!
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! It's... it's the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals! They've rebelled and defected to the Ming army to attack us!"
"Nonsense, Kato Kiyomasa and the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals all died in Haizhou City. That was the battle report received many days ago. How could it be..."
"Tsumi! It's the Tsumi Mountain Gods!"
Rumble!
Shimazu Yoshihiro and other legion commanders looked down from the heights of the city and heard the panicked shouts below. Before their eyes was a scene that made them incredulous!
Led by Take-mikazuchi-no-Kami, and supplemented by the mountain gods of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals, a giant divine army suddenly appeared outside Yuan Mountain City and launched a fierce attack!