Red Snake's spell was called "Eight Gate Inverted Heaven Stealing Formation," originating from the "Heavenly Book Supplement." The Daoist techniques described in this book mostly pursued immense power, and this array was no exception.
Eight Gate Inverted referred to the foundation of this array being based on Qimen Dunjia: resting, living, wounding, obstructing, viewing, dying, startling, and opening—these eight gates were in disarray, not arranged in the common order, making it impossible to find the correct path.
Stealing Heaven came from the "Scripture of the Hidden Talisman": heaven has its five thieves, and those who see them prosper.
This scripture added a line: humans have their five thieves, and those who obtain them thrive.
The text then continued, "The five thieves reside in the heart, their actions extend to the heavens; the universe rests in the hands, all transformations are born from the body."
This array was originally extremely sinister; not only was it vicious during practice, but once mastered, it became terrifying. The so-called "stealing heaven" meant the theft of the opponent's spirit, qi, and essence, capable of draining all of a person's spiritual energy from a distance, leaving them a desiccated corpse.
Originally, this array had many flaws on the basis of Qimen, and the original author knew this. The book clearly stated where it was applicable, under what circumstances it could be used, and when it could not, urging the usage of the right spell at the right time.
Shi Feiyang was also an expert in Qimen numerology. When he came across this array, he took particular interest in the inverted eight gates and began to research it. He attempted to rectify its various flaws and removed the vicious practices involved in its cultivation. In doing so, the overall power of the array was diminished, becoming balanced and serene. It no longer exclusively sought perilous and veering tactics.
The version of this array that Red Snake learned, although it shared the same name, had been completely transformed.
Lei Que was of orthodox Mysterious Sect origin and very familiar with Qimen Dunjia. Although the eight gates were inverted, they could not trap him; however, the array was both righteous and evil, clearly riddled with flaws that flashed by elusively, unable to be grasped, causing him intense frustration. He gestured repeatedly but couldn't figure out where to begin.
Amidst the drifting red mist, the space quickly began to contract, shrinking from the size of an acre to that of a single room in the blink of an eye.
Yao Suxiu thought that with a Sword Immortal, slaying the demon would be easy. Excited and maliciously, she said, "Immortal, quickly slay the demon! Slay this Poisonous Snake first, and then I will take you to kill that vile dragon. Release the Flying Sword! Quickly, release the Flying Sword!"
Lei Que, in a frenzy, calculated the changes of the eight gates. He was so bothered by her nagging that he got a headache. Seeing the red mist right in front of him and with no time to calculate further, he had no choice but to release a Protective Dharma Treasure, which turned into a circle of yellow light, slightly pushing back the red mist. He told Yao Suxiu, "Stay right here and don't move. Make sure not to step outside the range of the yellow circle and definitely do not touch the red mist."
As he spoke, he prepared to forcefully break through using Body and Sword Combined. Yao Suxiu grabbed his sleeve and asked, "Immortal, where are you going?"
With a sense of guilt, Lei Que replied, "The Demon Snake's array is quite peculiar; I cannot break it. The only option is to try to burst out. Stay here, and I will go to find my master to come and rescue you."
Yao Suxiu couldn't believe what she heard, "Senior Lei, you can't break his array? But you are a Sword Immortal."
"Shameful!" Lei Que replied, "I truly cannot break it. Now, I can only try to escape by combining body and sword; whether I can get free is still uncertain, so I cannot take you with me."
Upon hearing him belittle himself, Yao Suxiu was instantly not willing to accept it, her words tinged with a trace of reproach, "Weren't you claiming to be a Sword Immortal of the Emei Sect? Speaking of your master, your sect leader, and yet you can't even handle a mere Demon Snake?"
Hearing her speak ill of his sect made Lei Que upset, but he still tried to remain patient and explained, "The Immortal Law of my sect is vast and profound; any one of my uncles or seniors who started training earlier would be able to easily slay this Snake Demon. I've just joined not long ago, and with my subpar spiritual roots and comprehension, I've only scratched the surface of Emei Swordsmanship..."
Yao Suxiu said, "You've only learned the superficial parts, and you were still able to run back to find your master. But if I stay here, wouldn't I just be waiting for death?"
While the two were bickering, the red fog drew closer and clung to the yellow light outside of Lei Que, revealing eight gateways, each with a giant red snake in it, simultaneously opening their mouths and spraying out a stream of red poison fog.
Lei Que used his Sword Control to slay them. His sword light was extremely powerful; after sweeping them, all eight giant red snakes were severed, turning into even more poison fog. Poisonous creatures surged forth, enveloping everything around them; one could not see even a yard away. Within the poison fog, many new poisonous snakes appeared, the small ones only as thick as chopsticks, the large ones as big as wheels. In an instant, the area outside the yellow light was teeming with densely entangled poisonous snakes.
Lei Que's Flying Sword slashed at the snakes, cutting through many each time, but in the blink of an eye, new snakes would appear.
He kept explaining to Yao Suxiu, "I definitely won't leave you here to be killed by the snakes, you can rest assured. This Protective Dharma Treasure was bestowed upon me by my gracious teacher. It will stay here to protect you, and you won't be harmed by the snakes as long as you don't step out. I certainly won't abandon this Magical Treasure and will come back for it. My master's dwelling is in the Western Heaven Mountains; with my Sword Control speed, I can quickly summon him here. When that time comes, slaying both this Demon Snake and the evil dragon in the peak will be no difficult task."
Yao Suxiu judged others by herself and couldn't bring herself to believe him. She clutched Lei Que's sleeve tightly and refused to let go.
Lei Que was about to say more when he suddenly cried out, "Not good!"
The Red Snake was an extremely rare variant; its Essence Blood from mating with the Xuan Turtle could cause ghosts to lose their selves. Its own blood and poison were also very special, specifically able to affect people's True Essence Qi.
Lei Que used his Flying Sword to slash at those poisonous snakes formed from the poison fog, appearing to have the upper hand, but his sword had already been tainted by the poison.
The Red Snake had been cunningly struggling against humans for over three hundred years, becoming much more shrewd. It had also spent years beside the Queen Mother Grass, learning much, including the art of true and false transformation.
The red poison fog that was released surged like waves and could transform into poisonous snakes, scattering wildly in the sky, striking terror into the hearts of those who saw it. Mere contact with a little of it would make ordinary people's flesh rot and ooze pus. In severe cases, one's whole body would turn into bloody water. However, this poison wasn't the most potent.
It had another kind of virulent poison, born from its inner core and repeatedly refined with various poisonous grasses. This poison was not only stronger but also colorless and odorless when released, difficult for ordinary people to detect, specifically causing hallucinations.
When the Red Snake faced an enemy, it mixed the two poisons before releasing them. The enemy would focus all their attention on dealing with the red poison fog, allowing the second type of poison to contaminate the opponent's Flying Sword Magical Treasure.
Cultivators would merge their Divine Energy with the Flying Sword Treasure, and with the exchange of True Qi, this poison could silently enter the enemy's body.
If it were someone else, this poison would induce hallucinations. The deeper the poisoning, the more severe the delusions, often leaving the afflicted unaware until death. However, Lei Que practiced the authentic Mysterious Sect teachings, which were extraordinary. After being poisoned, he quickly became alert and immediately concentrated to inspect within. He was horrified to discover the poison had traveled through the True Essence Qi he used to control his Flying Sword, directly entering his Dantian...
He felt his scalp tingle and broke out in a cold sweat that chilled him to the core. Without wasting another word with Yao Suxiu, he flicked his left hand, causing Yao Suxiu to fall seated on the ground. With his right hand forming a seal, he achieved Human Sword Unity and turned into a beam of white light, shooting up from the ground and piercing into the roiling red fog.
Emei Swordsmanship was truly exceptional. The Red Snake's cultivation was not yet complete, and the array it had set up failed to trap him. He penetrated the red fog. The Red Snake opened its mouth and sprayed out a stream of potent Dan Qi to envelop the sword light, pulling it backward. Lei Que shouted loudly, and the light on his sword surged, breaking free from the Dan Qi and shooting toward the north.
"Do you still think you can escape?" The Red Snake uttered a very awkward human speech. It used the Dantian within its belly to control all the released poison gas around, including the few strands in Lei Que's Dantian.
Lei Que flew a little over two miles when suddenly his head became dizzy. He could no longer control his sword light and fell straight down.