Xu Qing appeared alone on the embankment of the Qingzhou Canal, riding the Fire Cloud Horse beneath him, which exhaled streams of scorching air. Amidst its low whinnies, a dragon's roar occasionally emerged.

This magnificent steed was already showing signs of transforming into an Immortal Mount, entering the "Transcendence" stage.

When one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to the heavens.

This was reflected on the Fire Cloud Horse.

Due to the drought, the canal's water level had dropped, and now small boats with shallow drafts were used to transport the grain.

Xu Qing saw clearly that at the waterline of these grain-carrying boats, there were rotten-smelling white bone vines entwined, with a dim and eerie smoke wafting over the surface of the canal, blending with the rippling light to create an extremely terrifying atmosphere.

"That is the Soul Devouring Smoke of the Liao Dong Jurchen shamans." In Xu Qing's mind, the voice of Fu Xuan, the Demon King Protector who had merged with his Heavenly Demon Body, emerged.

His current Martial Saint level aura came from the Vajra Demon King Fu Xuan who had undergone the Heavenly Demon Transformation.

In reality, it was also the combination of the Heavenly Demon Body and the Demon King Protector.

Because of the existence of the Demon King Protector, it could only manifest relying on the Tai Chu Demon Qi of the Heavenly Demon Body.

Before the words were finished, one of the grain ships suddenly shattered. Dozens of skeletons clad in official uniforms emerged from the waves, with ghostly green phosphorescence flickering in their eye sockets. In their hands, the rusty waist swords now glinted with the unique water wave patterns of Ministry of Industry's refined steel.

The official army was responsible for transporting the grain.

Needless to say, the White Bone Lotus Cult was indeed a product concocted by the joint efforts of the Seven Kills Demon Palace and the Snowfield Living Buddha.

Because the Liao Dong Jurchen shamans worshipped the Black Mountain Old Demon as a deity, the Seven Kills Demon Palace was also built by the Jurchen at the shamans' behest, holding a status akin to the Potala Palace of the Tubo Snow Domain.

The White Bone Lotus Temple was precisely a product derived from the Secret Techniques of the Esoteric Sect.

The Fire Cloud Horse let out a dragon's roar, its hooves shaking the embankment.

Boom!

Xu Qing rode the Fire Cloud Horse across the river surface of the canal, sending a tall column of water into the air.

Man and horse collided with the skeletal official army, as decaying flesh and splintered bones flew together.

The mere corpses forged by the White Bone Lotus Temple couldn't stop the lone charging Xu Qing at all.

But soon, the heavy body of the Fire Cloud Horse began to tremble violently as chanting voices rose from the riverbed of the canal.

The remaining grain ships suddenly shattered, transforming into a sky full of bloody rain.

A whirlpool emerged in the center of the canal, sucking up the bloody rain, and a gigantic Blood Lotus rose.

At the instant the Blood Lotus bloomed, the reeds on both banks of the canal suddenly crystalized with ice. Those ghostly green phosphorescence under the blood-red glow transformed into patterns of the Esoteric Mandala.

Xu Qing, merging with the Vajra Demon King Fu Xuan, naturally possessed the knowledge of Martial Saint Fu Xuan, and immediately recognized it as the Evil Technique from the Esoteric Sect's "Time Wheel Scripture"—the Great Sun Lotus Seal.

Moreover, from it, he could sense the strong personal style of the Black Mountain Old Demon.

Evidently, this Great Sun Lotus Seal had received guidance from the Black Mountain Old Demon, becoming even more sinister and bizarre.

The chaotic world was arising, and evil techniques driven by flesh and blood would become increasingly prevalent.

This type of evil technique, just like a steam mechanism driven by coal or a soul stone mechanism of the Fang Immortal Dao, could unleash terrifying power in a short time without relying on a powerful cultivator.

Together with the appearance of the Blood Lotus were countless transport ship chains, appearing like a heaven-and-earth network, intending to entangle Xu Qing and the Fire Cloud Horse.

"Presumptuous!" Xu Qing pushed his Heavenly Demon Technique to the extreme, and a Demon King's phantom flew out from him.

It was precisely the Vajra Demon King Fu Xuan undergoing the Heavenly Demon Transformation.

As soon as the Demon King's phantom appeared, the Martial Saint's Qi-Blood erupted, suppressing the massive Blood Lotus aura in an instant.

This was also Xu Qing's huge advantage compared to the two saints of Great Yu and Fu Xuan—only with sufficient Tai Chu Demon Qi could he unrestrainedly undergo the Heavenly Demon Transformation, employing this Martial Saint level Demon King Protector.

Other Martial Saints entering their twilight years would have their vitality drained every time they exerted themselves forcefully.

At the same time, Xu Qing allowed the chains to bind him, and when the Tai Shi Demon Qi activated, these creations couldn't damage his Heavenly Demon Body at all.

Meanwhile, as Xu Qing's Heavenly Repairing Tribulation Hand gently flicked, the chains squeezed against each other, emitting sounds akin to the turning of gears, sparking violently and shattering instantaneously, bizarre to the extreme.

On another side, the Vajra Demon King Protector reached atop the Blood Lotus.

From within, a skeletal Buddha's hand extended, bearing the unique Primordial Spirit Seal of the Black Mountain Old Demon from the Seven Kills Demon Palace.

Xu Qing was very clear that this was the Black Mountain Old Demon beginning to fear him, trying to suppress Xu Qing and weaken the power of the Great Yu Dynasty, even while closed off to restore the creator's peak strength.

Hence, this world's number one expert broke his past habit of solitary action, choosing to cooperate with the Snowfield Living Buddha.

Moreover, based on the collected data, the Black Mountain Old Demon indeed had the ability to foresee the Heavenly Secret.

Evidently, the old demon had sensed something.

The Vajra Demon King faced the attack from the Black Mountain Old Demon, borrowing the Snowfield Living Buddha's method to strike across space, seemingly arousing Fu Xuan's inner hatred towards the Black Mountain Old Demon.

If it hadn't been for the old demon's vile actions, how could his most respected Grandmaster Yuwen and the young Great Khan he raised have betrayed Fu Xuan?

Xu Qing in his transformed state as Fu Xuan naturally inherited even this portion of emotion.

The canal grew increasingly turbulent.

The enormous Buddha hand rising from within the Blood Lotus, with each Buddha's finger resembling layers upon layers of a Bone Tower, and each layer hung with Esoteric Skin Drums.

The drum surface was painted with the star map of the Liao Dong shamans in gold powder, and the drumsticks were shockingly the leg bones of demonized refugees and official army!

"Dong—"

The moment the drum sound resonated with the chanting, blood seeped from the Fire Cloud Horse's ears and nose as it let out a sorrowful cry.

"Do not fear!"

Xu Qing's Heavenly Demon Body remained unharmed as he uttered Mystical Sound, smoothing the turbulent Qi-Blood within the Fire Cloud Horse.

The Vajra Demon King laughed wildly, "Demon Lord, I shall let these demons witness my lifelong Absolute Skill, the Fierce Sun Great Method."

The Vajra Demon King tore open his clothes, revealing on his chest a Heavenly Wolf tattoo identical to Martial Saint Fu Xuan, holding a fierce sun.

In an instant, under the stimulus of Martial Saint Qi-Blood, the entire tattoo began to awaken, transforming into the phantom of a Heavenly Wolf swallowing the sun, breaking through his body.

Simultaneously, the Vajra Demon King transformed into a terrifying Qi-Blood vortex, enveloping the phantom of the Heavenly Wolf swallowing the sun, condensing into a terrifying blazing sun above layers upon layers of Bone Towers.

Countless white bone vines from the canal surged towards the Qi-Blood searing sun, only to resemble moths to a flame.

"Shatter for me!" The Vajra Demon King laughed wildly.

With his explosive shout, the Qi-Blood searing sun plummeted into the Bone Tower. There was no explosion, no flame, only a silent collapse of space.

When all the dust settled, for a moment, the canal ceased to flow, revealing a giant glassy pit—a spectacle formed by the instantaneous vaporization of sand and stone at extreme temperatures.

Amidst the remains of the Blood Lotus, half a sheet of gold-leaf scripture drifted down. Xu Qing pulled it through the air, his pupils contracting swiftly.

The scripture bore a cinnabar-painted White Bone Lotus Platform!

On it, a Buddha bore a seemingly mocking yet benevolent smile, filled with "compassionate" pity.

"Pity the people of the world, for their woes are many..."

A deep Buddha's voice echoed from afar.

From the northwest direction, a neighing sound akin to that of the Fire Cloud Horse suddenly sounded.

Xu Qing abruptly turned his head, seeing eighteen Fire Cloud Horses resembling flaming dragons flashing through as if in a mirage, with their backs... completely empty.

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