Chapter 49: An Unexpected Yellow Needle

"Awoo... Awoo..."

The little white snake grew larger once more, its bloody maw gaping wide.

The bead, the bead just tossed out, turned crimson and plunged downward, straight into the serpent's mouth.

"Crack, crack" echoed continuously, as if something was being shattered.

The little white snake whipped its head, spitting out shards of ice like a flurry of sharp arrows dancing across the sky, shooting toward the closing demonic souls.

The Qi-Observing Technique was instantly activated.

With the scene of the spirit snake entwining the moon, the single vertical pupil reflected the shape of the ice shards—octagonal and resembling interlocking chains.

Ling Xuan's expression changed drastically. "The Dark Ice Evil Curse!"

Indeed, the ice shards spat out by the little white snake were almost identical to the one afflicting Ye Ziyan, though differing in size and form.

The one binding the shikigami Zihuang consisted of wispy threads, while the shards spat out by the little white snake were the size of a fist.

Previously, when the little white snake was small, the Dark Ice Evil Curse had been hidden within its body, making it completely imperceptible to Ling Xuan.

However, spitting them out immediately revealed the difference to Ling Xuan.

"Heh-heh..."

The little white snake lowered its head, opening its wide mouth, and a yellow halo flashed in its throat.

With a jolt in his heart, Ling Xuan doubted his own eyes. Why did that look so much like the Yellow Needle?

Within the yellow halo, a silvery light shimmered, entwined by the phantom of a small yellow snake.

Smacking his forehead hard, Ling Xuan could not help but inwardly curse himself for being so negligent.

The back mountain was the place his grandfather had specifically instructed Ye Ziyan to have him go.

The large white snake had also been arranged beforehand by his grandfather; otherwise, it would not have ignored Qiu Rui's invitation and faced the Prince of Kao Shan directly.

The Bearded Hero, passing by and happening to see the large white snake, took a liking to its scales and thus lent a helping hand.

In truth, this was very likely arranged by his grandfather as well; otherwise, there was no explaining why the Bearded Hero would help him absorb the dual qi of Yin and Yang simply upon hearing about the Taiji Needle Technique.

As it turned out, the Yellow Needle—one of the Nine Benevolent Needles that he had been bitterly searching for without a single clue—was actually right by his side.

No wonder, no matter how he stimulated the black, white, red, and orange needles, the bronze astrolabe on the Benevolent Needle Case showed no reaction whatsoever.

Yet the little white snake had still been able to use that move, Boundless Flames.

Waving his hand, he pulled out the Yellow Needle and thrust it into the yellow starlight within the single vertical pupil.

In a split second, the red and orange dual qi shifted, transforming into an orange-yellow aura.

Within his mind, a multicolored orb of light burst open, and the phantom of a red serpent slithered out as the third phase of the Boundless Taiji appeared.

The red, orange, and yellow needles fused together, and three small serpent phantoms darted through his body, stirring the dual qi of Yin and Yang.

The Taiji pattern in his palm rotated, and the Yin and Yang fish eyes condensed into swirling vortices of qi.

The red scales on his body and face retracted, surging back into his body.

A wave of intense pain instantly wracked his physique, the scales feeling like razor-sharp blades cleaving through his flesh.

They converged at his Dantian, darting back and forth within it.

His entire body's aura was chaotic, useless even when he tried to drive the Boundless Taiji.

Yet Ling Xuan could clearly feel the Taiji diagram rotating inside him.

Nearby, demonic souls—those of red, orange, and yellow radiances—swarmed forward continuously, seemingly attracted by the scent of fresh blood.

Down the mountain, across the three thousand ridges of Changbai, ten five-star cyan-radiance demonic souls rampaged.

The various military garrison cultivation squads fled in panic, utterly incapable of handling them with their strength.

Auras of blood and slaughter continuously drifted away, floating in all directions.

Ye Ziyan arrived, entangling a cyan-hornet-wolf demonic soul.

The cyan-hornet-wolf demonic soul was three zhang long, its cyan pupils emitting bone-chilling cold light.

Its fangs were sharp, resembling cyan blade-arcs.

Yet Ye Ziyan showed not a shred of fear; she thrust her Prairie Fire Phoenix Spear, and the tip spun out sparks.

Her shikigami Zihuang was stimulated, the soul of a fire phoenix flashed within the spear, and a fire phoenix phantom rapidly darted out.

The Ten Great Tyrannical Arts truly lived up to being created by the founding divine emperor of the former Chen dynasty; with a single strike, the cyan-hornet-wolf was actually forced back.

Howls filled the air as the cyan-hornet-wolf leaped forward.

What a magnificent Ye Ziyan, growing braver with every battle.

While several military garrison cultivation squads could not even block a single cyan-radiance demonic soul, she held one off entirely by herself, and in their clash, the cyan-hornet-wolf was even pushed onto the defensive.

At the Demon-Subduing Camp, after conferring with King Yang Xuangan of Yue, Prince Pei Luo Yi of Beiping prepared to dispatch a large army into the Three Thousand Ridges to annihilate the ten five-star cyan-radiance demonic souls.

The moment this idea was raised, Yuwen Chengdu pulled out the Divine Emperor's edict and refused it with a shake of his head.

The Three Thousand Ridges were a training ground for the soldiers of the various military garrisons, serving as the standard for selecting those to enter the eastern and western Demon-Hunting Camps; this could not be changed simply because of the sudden appearance of cyan-radiance demonic souls.

The soldiers the Divine Emperor needed—those entering the eastern and western Demon-Hunting Camps—had to be battle-hardened and incapable of being cowed by any adversity.

If they retreated in the face of ten cyan-radiance demonic souls, the assembled garrison soldiers were simply not what the eastern and western Demon-Hunting Camps required.

Much less could such men be used to campaign against Goguryeo.

After all, not even the Grand Historian's Bureau had been able to discover the true identity of the demonic souls controlled by Goguryeo.

When that time came, what would garrison soldiers who had not undergone the baptism of the five-star cyan-radiance demonic souls do when they encountered even more terrifying six-star or even seven-star demonic souls?

Were they supposed to watch helplessly as their lines shattered at the first touch?

In military campaigns, nothing was more disastrous than unstable morale.

Holding the Divine Emperor's edict, Yuwen Chengdu said, "The Prince of Beiping has led armies for many years; surely he does not fail to understand this logic?"

"Yuwen Chengdu, every soldier has a family, and every family is the foundation of our Great Sui!" King Yang Xuangan of Yue roared angrily.

Yuwen Chengdu remained unmoved. "Soldiers require the baptism of blood to forge an iron will, which is the only way to save the lives of more soldiers."

"I hold the same view. Benevolence does not govern an army," agreed Luo Cheng, heir to the Prince of Beiping, wholeheartedly. "Let us just hope the training squads don't all act like the heir to the Prince of Changping, coming to the main camp just to pad their merits."

"Ah... choo!"

At the summit of Mount Changbai, Ling Xuan sneezed loudly. "Damn it, who is thinking of me again?"

As the demonic souls struck, the Yin and Yang dual qi within his body were obstructed, making the Serpent-Form Evasion Technique completely impossible to execute.

At that critical juncture, the little white snake opened its jaws wide, its scarlet forked tongue coiling around him, swallowing him straight into its belly as it bolted toward the summit.

The summit of Mount Changbai was covered in perennial snow, with very few people ever venturing there.

To Ling Xuan's utter astonishment, amidst the pristine snow of the peak lay a Pool of Heaven, resembling a piece of jadeite that seemed to have no connection to the surrounding snow at all.

The pool water was not only warm rather than cold, but it also emitted wisps of gentle heat.

The little white snake leaped into the pool and submerged to the bottom.

It spat him out in one motion and coiled nearby.

Even Ling Xuan could not have imagined that under such circumstances, he suffered no problems with oxygen deprivation.

Instead, every pore on his body opened wide, looking much like tiny mouths drinking in the air within the pool water.

A dull roaring echoed inside his body, accompanied by periodic surges of intense pain.

The two serpent markings on his arms stirred; unlike before when they coiled around his bones, this time they burrowed straight into his Dantian.

Seeing this, the little white snake spat out the bead from its mouth, causing it to hover directly above Ling Xuan's head.

The blood seeping from his body was absorbed entirely by that bead, leaving Ling Xuan utterly baffled as to what the little white snake was trying to accomplish.

Yet at this moment, he had no time to ponder such matters.

With the serpent markings entering his body, the red, orange, and yellow needles raced frantically, all of them drilling toward his Dantian together.

"Crack..."

It sounded as though something had been punctured.

Ling Xuan hurriedly looked inward and saw a tiny vortex of qi emerge.

The serpent markings drifted into it, instantly transforming into a red serpent.

The chaotic dual qi of Yin and Yang instantly began to recover, drifting toward the red serpent.

Sensing closely, Ling Xuan fell into a daze. "Could this little qi vortex be my Qi Sea?"