Suppressing Black Mountain

Liu Jin grabbed the spear shaft with his backhand, using his body to smash Black Mountain's head while simultaneously diverting a sliver of his mind to spread the Samadhi True Fire along his arm to the spear tip, beginning to refine the Red Lotus Karmic Fire. The Karmic Fire was repeatedly pulled and tugged between the two flames, the dark red flames struggling wildly within the blue flames, gradually being stripped away to its most primal form.

Karmic fire burns away sins and karma, possessing no temperature of its own, only an absolute judgment of "sin." This characteristic perfectly complements the gentle and clear nature of the Yin fire: one is supremely Yin and gentle, the other supremely Yin and strong. Liu Jin's heart stirred slightly, and he guided the seed of karmic fire into his inner vision, slowly approaching the silvery-white flames of the Yin fire.

The two clusters of yin fire with different attributes did not repel each other. Instead, they resonated with each other upon contact, merging into a faint, moon-white flame that was almost transparent under the moonlight, yet emitted a bewitching power that could dazzle the mind. This moon-illusory light, with the yin as its foundation and karmic fire as its catalyst, was yin upon yin, capable of striking directly at the most vulnerable part of the soul.

Liu Jin punched Black Mountain in the chest, forcing him back several feet. A ball of moonlight shone from his fingertip, and he flicked it lightly. The ball of light flew silently toward Black Mountain, tracing an almost invisible transparent trajectory in the air before striking him between the eyebrows.

Black Mountain shuddered violently. In that instant, Liu Jin vanished before him, replaced by countless blurry figures: his former colleagues, ghostly messengers he had framed; the mortals he had murdered; the tree demon's last divine consciousness before its death; and even himself—the version of himself who had just escaped the underworld, standing atop Black Mountain, swearing to the heavens to dominate the demon realm. All the phantoms looked at him simultaneously, their voices ringing out in unison: "You think you've escaped?"

Black Mountain let out a piercing scream, clutching its head and staggering backward.

At that very moment, a deafening battle cry suddenly erupted from the foot of the mountain. Countless blue lanterns lit up from the end of the official road, rapidly approaching the foot of Black Mountain like a long dragon. The golden light of the City God's merits shone brightly in the twilight. He was clad in a scarlet robe, holding a magic weapon of merit, and followed by hundreds of ghost soldiers. The ghost soldiers were in neat formation, and their iron chains rattled in the twilight.

Two ghost messengers, one tall and thin, the other short and stout, rushed up the mountain path, their chains sweeping across and locking up several rat demons trying to escape. The City God's voice came from below, steady and authoritative: "City God of Jinhua, ordered to assist in suppressing the Black Mountain demon scourge!"

The Black Mountain Demon suddenly turned his head to look at the sea of ​​green lanterns below the mountain, then at Liu Jin, his face full of disbelief: "You, you planned to drag this out until sunset from the very beginning? You were so confident that you could hold me off?" Liu Jin did not answer, but instead punched him in the face with his right fist wrapped in Samadhi True Fire, as his answer.

......

"This coordination is too smooth. The City God arrived with his troops right at sunset, and Liu Jin just finished crippling Black Mountain. It was a seamless transition."

"Am I the only one who thinks the City God is just here to pick up the heads of others?"

"Black Mountain: Why didn't you come with the City God this morning? Liu Jin: No need. I give this a perfect score for showing off."

"Zhao Fengnian is the biggest winner, okay? He devoured a whole mountain of monsters, his scales have even evolved, did you see the wing-like outline on the back of his shoulders? If he swallows a few more flying monsters, he might actually be able to fly."

"Black Mountain's words, 'Do you two even have any humanity left?' really stung. The Tree Demon said the same thing, but did Liu Jin pay any attention to him? He didn't say a word, he just answered with his fists."

Tree Spirit: All spirits and monsters under heaven are one family. Black Mountain: All spirits and monsters under heaven are one family. Liu Jin: Did you plan this all along?

"The City God's backup plan is solid. The Golden Bell of Merit directly suppressed Black Mountain, finally settling the mess that had plagued the Underworld for five hundred years. When he goes back, he'll at least get a promotion and a raise. Most importantly, he didn't even have to do much work; he got the credit for nothing."

"Liu Jin is too good to the locals. They're practically stuffed next door."

......

The City God's merit-making magic treasures flew up from the foot of the mountain, transforming into a giant golden bell shield that descended upon the Black Mountain Demon's head. Black Mountain Demon struggled desperately to escape, but Liu Jin's fireworks ribbons entangled his legs, the lights of countless homes were imprinted on his chest, and the Samadhi True Fire blocked his escape route from behind.

The Golden Bell of Merit crashed down, completely enveloping the Black Mountain Demon. The City God formed hand seals, and countless golden runes appeared on the surface of the bell, layer upon layer, firmly suppressing the Black Mountain. The Black Mountain frantically pounded against the bell's walls inside, producing dull, deafening roars, but with each impact, the golden light of merit shone brighter, and his power weakened.

Zhao Fengnian charged up from the mountainside, his scales stained beyond recognition by demon blood, but his eyes shone with an astonishing light. Behind him, the last few demon generals were chained and dragged down the mountain by the ghost soldiers. The entire Black Mountain, except for the Black Mountain Demon imprisoned beneath the golden bell, had been completely eradicated.

Zhao Fengnian stood on a boulder atop the mountain, panting heavily, his hands supporting him on his knees. The fiery red on his scales slowly faded in the twilight. He looked up at Liu Jin, then at the City God, and suddenly burst into laughter.

The City God's Golden Bell of Merit rested steadily on the mountaintop, the sound of the Black Mountain Demon's impact within fading until silence finally settled. Hundreds of ghost soldiers cleared the battlefield on the mountainside, the sounds of dragging chains, the muffled thuds of stone doors being pried open in demon caves, and the shouts of ghost messengers counting their spoils rising and falling. A short, stout ghost messenger carried an account book, moving between the various demon caves, marking each one after it was counted, while a tall, thin ghost messenger led a team of ghost soldiers carrying bundles of captured demon materials down the mountain.

Liu Jin wandered around the post-war ruins for a while, taking only the Crimson Lotus Spear. The spear, forged from Netherworld Cold Iron, was extremely heavy, its entire body pitch black. The shaft was covered with densely packed Yin runes, and the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire at the tip had been completely refined and absorbed by him, leaving only a faint, dark red residual warmth deep within the iron's texture.

He lightly flicked the gun barrel with his fingertip, and the gun emitted a clear, low hum, shaking off the last wisps of Black Mountain Demonic Qi clinging to it. The gun itself was made of good material; even though the karmic fire had been extinguished, it could still be used after some modifications.

Zhao Fengnian was much busier. Carrying his prepared large sack, he went from one demon cave to another, emerging with the sack bulging like a ball. Half the sack was filled with demon cores, the best ones carefully wrapped and tucked into his robes; the other half was filled with medicinal herbs, including several high-quality Ganoderma lucidum and Polygonum multiflorum he had rummaged through a stone cabinet in the Black Mountain Demon's cave. There was also a pile of unknown ores in a corner of the cave, which he swept into the sack without a second thought, intending to test which pieces could be used to polish scales.

A short dagger he found on the wolf demon general's weapon rack caught his attention. The dagger was made from the canine teeth of some kind of demon beast, and the handle was wrapped with dried animal sinew. There was still a very faint trace of dragon-like aura on the blade. Although it was so faint that it was almost imperceptible, Zhao Fengnian's sensitivity to dragon-like materials was now extraordinary. He brought the short dagger to his nose and smelled it, rolled his eyes, and put it in his pocket, intending to go back and try to refine it with Qi Fire to see if he could extract anything.

The tall, thin ghost guard watched from the side, his lips twitching. He leaned close to the short, fat ghost guard's ear and whispered, "Is this Taoist priest Zhao here to fight or to go to the market?" The short, fat ghost guard didn't even look up and continued drawing circles: "To go to the market. Fighting is just a side job."