Chapter 1184: Breaking Through Three Realms in Succession
Who was Qi Tingji?
That was truly a fatal question.
The isolation of Tongye Continent's news was evident. In the past, each continent of the Haoran Realm was like a person—each continent had its own customs and character. For example, the rugged Fuyao Continent was like a burly brute, distant cousins with the North Juzhou Continent. Tongye Continent's arrogance was like an old scholar shaking his head, only needing to close its doors and declare its learning to be number one under heaven.
Of course, this was also closely related to the fact that the Confucian Temple did not allow Nascent Soul cultivators or Golden Body martial artists to enter the Five Colors World back in the day.
The Taizong Emperor of the Jinzan Dynasty, Zhang Fuzhi, with the Daoist name Shan Zhi, was a young Golden Core and a registered cultivator of Tongye Continent.
He had just ascended the dragon throne, yet he wore neither the imperial crown nor the dragon robe.
He wore a high bun and wide sleeves, dressed in Daoist attire, with a robust build. He had blue-green eyes, eyebrows of unusual splendor, hands that hung past his knees, literary refinement, and a handsome appearance.
The Emperor immediately rose from the dragon throne and hurried down the steps, fearing that if he walked too slowly, his head would be lopped off with a single sword stroke, or he would be cut in two. In that case, wouldn't the young Sword Immortal, who claimed not to like speaking to people while looking up, be able to lower his head and speak to him?
The Emperor walked forward over a dozen steps, bowed, lowered his head and bent his waist, saying, "Zhang Fuzhi of the Hundred Cities Sect pays respects to Sword Immortal Qi."
Unlike many immortal mansion sects that had changed their names to start with the word "Zong," the Hundred Cities Sect still used its old name, with all mountain rules remaining the same, and the ritual system in the Ancestral Hall having no infractions whatsoever.
Xie Gou said via heart-to-heart voice, grinning, "Mountain Master, this Zhang Fuzhi has good fortune. Blunderingly, he became the emperor, and right now he's still like he hasn't sobered up from drinking, feeling that that chair burns his backside. His whole mind is set on stabilizing the situation quickly, then immediately abdicating."
Chen Ping'an did not follow Qi Tingji into the main hall. He merely sat on the threshold, the ground covered in newly fired crude golden bricks from a new kiln, not even fitting tightly together. If this were placed in Tongye Continent, the craftsmen would have lost their heads?
Chen Ping'an said, "It's not so easy to be the Taizong Emperor."
Xiao Mo added a few more words, "Young Master, this person neither participated in the small faction that conspired to overthrow the previous emperor, nor was he among those indiscriminately killed. Previously, he was just a titular Minister of Rites, with no heinous deeds. When I and Doggy discussed it, we decided to leave him alone for now."
Chen Ping'an nodded, "This man still resembles a proper Daoist; his thoughts are more on the mountain."
The azure-robed man with a jade hairpin sat on the edge of the threshold. The handsome youth in a yellow hat, green shoes, and a green bamboo staff stood outside the door. The girl in a sable cap with a joyous expression stood inside the door.
This image, which should have given a peaceful and serene feeling, quietly and calmly entered everyone's sight. But with the "faces staring at each other" inside the hall and the winding bloodstains traced on the ground, no matter how you looked at it, it was shocking.
Zhang Fuzhi did not even ask whether the tragedy of the Jinzan Dynasty was the doing of Sword Immortal Qi in front of him.
Since the Emperor didn't ask, those high-ranking ministers at court certainly remained even more silent, like cicadas in cold weather. These Sword Immortals from Flying Rise City—did they want to wash the place in blood again, deliberately waiting for them to gather? Then should they stretch out their necks to be slaughtered and die obediently, or put up a desperate resistance and be beheaded again, which would be more dignified?
Even if they didn't know who Qi Tingji was, they always knew Flying Rise City.
Today's urgent court assembly, besides discussing Zhang Fuzhi's enthronement, had only one real agenda: who was the murderer?
Earlier, across the entire national map, in an instant, a streak of sword light wildly darted, instantly killing over two hundred cultivators who held great power in the Jinzan Dynasty. Among them were two Jade Purity cultivators, one overt and one covert, and twenty-six earthly immortals.
Just like that, they were all dead.
It was truly the blink of an eye.
Moreover, it was the method of a Sword Immortal sending a flying sword ten thousand miles to take a head.
So almost everyone suspected that Ning Yao had wielded her sword.
Otherwise, they couldn't think of anyone else in the Five Colors World today who had such killing power.
Furthermore, there was an unconfirmed rumor in the Jinzan Dynasty that Ning Yao had once traveled to the south and killed people.
Back then, twelve renowned cultivators of Tongye Continent—three Golden Cores and nine Dragon Gates—had surrounded and killed a beautiful woman mistakenly believed to be at most a Nascent Soul.
One of them was a Golden Core wearing a divine-armor gall armor of the military strategist school.
As a result, he just took one sword strike from that woman, and his body, along with the armor, was as fragile as a thin sheet of paper.
Flying Rise City, Ning Yao.
Both territorial power and personal cultivation were indisputably in a league of her own.
As for the second person under heaven, approximately it was the young Daoist official with the Dao name Shan Qing from the White Jade Capital, rumored to be the Grand Dao Ancestor's youngest disciple. But he had suffered a loss at Ning Yao's hands. It was said that because of the monument erection, sword cultivators from Flying Rise City clashed with Daoist officials from the White Jade Capital. Ning Yao quickly traveled far to the east, a sword challenge to call someone to account. That Daoist official was beaten into seclusion...
The sky was high and the region distant; even for an earthly immortal cultivator, it was no easy task to fly all the way to the firmament to reason with the Confucian sages of the Confucian Temple.
Moreover, even if they found that lofty Confucian Temple attendant sage, would it mean anything?
Ning Yao was already the recognized number one person under heaven. Now, in the entire south, some swore she must be at the Immortal realm, while others claimed with certainty that she was very likely already a Flying Rise Sword Immortal.
They suspected that even if a Confucian Temple sage was willing to help reason with her, would Ning Yao listen?
As the number one person under heaven in the Five Colors World, what reasoning? Was the emperor rebelling?
Besides, the relationship between Sword Qi Great Wall and the Central Confucian Temple wasn't bad; otherwise, why would they let Flying Rise City sit at the center of heaven and earth?
At that point, if the Confucian Temple sage told the Jinzan Dynasty to go directly to Flying Rise City and discuss it? Then Ning Yao and those Sword Immortals who had killed countless demons would stare straight at them: who is suing the official?
Moreover, there were rumors—just rumors—that a certain last Hidden Officer by the surname of Chen was not actually a native of Sword Qi Great Wall. But he was both Ning Yao's Dao partner and the closed-door disciple of the Literary Sage.
Who knew what his status was in the Confucian Temple now?
Was it possible that he was already waiting at the firmament, having prepared an ambush? "I accept your complaint. Oh, you want to sue my Dao partner, Ning Yao?"
Qi Tingji glanced at Zhang Fuzhi and said, "Don't wrong me. The one who struck with the sword earlier was not me. I have an ordinary temper, and in all my life, I cannot bear the slightest grievance."
Without using any mountain techniques, as soon as Qi Tingji said this, Chen Ping'an could feel the immense relief of those immortal officials.
Qi Tingji smiled. "And don't mistakenly think Ning Yao struck. She doesn't have that kind of leisure right now to bother with you rotten pustules."
Since Qi Tingji wasn't the real sword-wielding murderer, and it wasn't Ning Yao either? Then this group of visitors were just picking up leftovers? Regardless of how those heads fell into their hands, did it mean that negotiations were possible? At least there wouldn't be immediate armed conflict? The Jinzan Dynasty couldn't withstand any more turmoil; it was truly about to fall apart.
Qi Tingji reached behind him to point at Xie Gou and said, "The one who struck with the sword was her. If it had been me, you wouldn't be holding a court meeting today."
Xie Gou placed her hands on her hips, her cheeks flushed red, her expression extremely proud. Yet she still tried to feign modesty, "Paltry skills, ha!"
Zhang Fuzhi smiled bitterly. What else could he say?
That he became the second emperor of the Jinzan Dynasty was due to Zhang Fuzhi's gentle nature, but more importantly, his sect's head elder, Qu Shengtong, was one of the few remaining Nascent Soul cultivators in the Jinzan Dynasty. He excelled in astrology, was skilled in divination, and practiced the Spirit Officer technique. Soon after entering the Five Colors World, he obtained a great immortal opportunity, luckily breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm, and established a private Daoist sanctuary. He had been in seclusion for nearly a decade, detached from the mundane world. Looking back, he had actually avoided a calamity of war without cause?
The court, which should have dominated the south, had just lost a vast number, even the emperor's head had vanished. Who still dared to sit on that guillotine-like dragon throne?
Zhang Fuzhi certainly didn't dare either. If he had a choice, he definitely wouldn't be the one sticking his neck out. But a nation cannot be without a lord for a day. The surviving immortal masters in the Jinzan Dynasty's court simply couldn't bear to see such a vast kingdom suddenly collapse. After much deliberation, they chose Zhang Fuzhi. Upon hearing this, Zhang Fuzhi felt absurd. Unexpectedly, the head elder who was in seclusion actually sent down a dharma decree, instructing Zhang Fuzhi to follow heaven's will and the people's wishes, to ascend the throne and inherit the great legacy.
Zhang Fuzhi had to comply.
Within the country, no one competed with him. Zhang Fuzhi himself was sufficiently persuasive to the masses. And so, inexplicably, he became a sovereign of nine and five. How many days he could last, Zhang Fuzhi wasn't sure. Would he end up lying in a coffin like the previous emperor, becoming neighbors? That remained to be seen.
Xie Gou shifted her step, stepping onto the face of a head that had died with eyes unclosed. She lowered her head and stared, truly having traveled the martial world at the foot of North Juzhou Continent, and asked the head, "What are you looking at?" She stomped her foot, crushing its face into a dent, and a eyeball shot out like a hidden weapon, hurtling toward a newly appointed Minister at a distance, scaring the latter into quickly dodging sideways.
The girl in the sable cap raised her head and said, "Heh, I just kill a bit faster. Far less than the variety of killing methods these immortal masters have. This trip to the Jinzan Dynasty has been an eye-opener for me. For example, this certain General Jiang Miao, who had a special appreciation for his beloved generals' 'mincing meat' and 'oil cauldron,' and had a particular fetish for building pyramids of children's skulls. Every time they attacked a city, he euphemistically called it 'cleansing the city'?"
Xie Gou extended her thumb, pointed at herself, her expression gloomy: "My mountain master said that my modus operandi is simply the ancestral master of future mountain marsh wild cultivators. Listen, do you think I'm a kind person? But I ended up having to bow in defeat to you all."
Xie Gou smacked her lips, "Sword Immortal Qi, old one, you continue your chat. I won't steal your thunder."
Qi Tingji smiled, "Not much to chat about, just giving them a reminder. In the future, when the Jinzan Dynasty does things, don't be so reckless and careless anymore."
His playful phrase "reckless and careless" made the civil and military officials, looking at the heads on the ground, feel even more creeped out.
Qi Tingji walked slowly forward, stopping beside Zhang Fuzhi. They stood shoulder to shoulder, looking at the dragon throne. Zhang Fuzhi didn't dare blink, his heartstrings taut.
Qi Tingji continued, "Overwhelming with force is fine. We sword cultivators use sword techniques to reason, and we reasoned with the barbaric beasts for ten thousand years. You cultivators of Tongye Continent placing yourselves above the mundane—I can understand that too. In a brand new world where the Confucian school and the Confucian Temple no longer oversee you, in a new place where the rules are shattered, where neither heaven nor earth governs, you become wild, act without scruples, and have difficulty restraining your desires—still understandable. But there's one small problem."
"Your strength is too small."
Qi Tingji reached out and patted Zhang Fuzhi's shoulder, laughing, "Really too small. But the things you do, the grand-sounding reasoning you preach, are things that I, Qi Tingji, would repeatedly weigh and still not necessarily dare to do or be able to do."
A military official, harboring thoughts, was deeply resentful of these sword cultivators with their overbearing demeanor and strange origins. Who knew if they had been secretly plotting for years, falsely claiming the name of Flying Rise City, with insidious schemes to usurp the Jinzan Dynasty? Don't give us that nonsense. Let's just sit down and divide the spoils. Even sword cultivators were still cultivators. Didn't they need to seize heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and didn't they need mountains of immortal money? In an instant, a sword light from Qi Tingji pierced his body, and with sword qi, Qi Tingji extracted his entire gall.
Qi Tingji didn't even glance at the corpse, sneering, "Not much courage either."
Qi Tingji said, "Today, some of you will definitely die. Remember to pass a message down below: walk faster, catch up with the group on the Yellow Springs Road, so they don't die without knowing why. Tell them Qi Tingji said: You are too weak. Not even a single Flying Rise cultivator, yet you dare to do lawless and outlandish things."
Qi Tingji was silent for a moment. "No taboos? You really aren't afraid. How is that different from the barbaric beasts?"
Xiao Mo, who had been standing outside the door, said calmly, "In many matters, they even surpass them."
Inside the hall, there were about sixty civil and military officials. Nine out of ten were cultivators from Tongye Continent. The remaining dozen or so were used for decoration, either relatives of some Nascent Soul old immortal master or officials bought with heavy gold by the top aristocratic families of some former Tongye Continent country. This was a hastily assembled court meeting. Many immortal masters attending for the first time had, to varying degrees, the mindset of seeking fortune amid danger.
The azure-robed sword immortal who had been sitting on the threshold of the great hall suddenly asked, "Is there any immortal master who knows Zhao Tieyan or Shang Zuo?"
An old Golden Core, holding a jade tablet and wearing official robes, tremblingly took two steps, facing the gate, bowed to the azure-robed man, and said in a quivering voice, "Reporting to the Sword Immortal, I know them."
The man laughed and asked, "What relation are they to you?"
The old Golden Core respectfully replied, "I dare not hide it from the Sword Immortal. I am the current sect leader of the Danjing Sect, Song Zhou. I won't mention my own Dao name, lest it defile the ears of the Sword Immortals. Zhao Tieyan and Shang Zuo are both disciples of the sect. Back then, they acted on their own and chose to stay in Tongye Continent."
What a disaster!
Could it be that those worthless disciples, by staying in Tongye Continent without permission, had become a blight? Had they gotten into some conflict with the azure-robed Sword Immortal in front of him? Then neither he nor the Danjing Sect could escape the charge of lax discipline. The old Golden Core felt sorrowful in his heart. Those children had average aptitude, but they weren't evil people. Could it be that they had bad luck and, with a flash of sword light, had perished?
Bang! A head in the front row of the hall exploded.
The corpse fell to the ground, immediately disappearing in both body and spirit.
The gap in realms was too vast. They didn't even know which Sword Immortal had struck, and they were too lazy to ponder why this man had died.
The old Golden Core's Dao heart became unstable in an instant, his eyelids twitching, yet he still had to pretend to be calm, standing upright and unafraid of a shadow.
Chen Ping'an said, " 'The upper beam is crooked, but the lower beam is straight' — that counts as a strange event. As for you, you haven't strayed onto deviant paths either. That's passable. May I ask the sect leader, what official rank do you hold now?"
Song Zhou said softly, "Serving in the Office of the Imperial Banquets, an associate third rank, not the chief officer."
Chen Ping'an nodded, then suddenly asked, "Is there an expert from the Immortal Immortal Sect here? For example, that young Step Cloud Sword Immortal?"
Zhang Fuzhi immediately spoke up, "Reporting to the Sword Immortal, the Immortal Immortal Sect's sanctuary is not within the borders of the Jinzan Dynasty. That Step Cloud has been in seclusion for many years. Not long ago, he came down the mountain to serve as the national teacher of a neighboring country. He is already a Nascent Soul."
Xie Gou grinned, "Mountain Master, a colleague, eh."
Chen Ping'an asked doubtfully, "His Golden Core was mostly shattered. In just a few years, how can he not regress but advance, breaking into the Nascent Soul?"
Zhang Fuzhi was of course all he knew, saying all he could, explaining, "This person has a very high-grade sword called 'Corpse Solution.' The Immortal Immortal Sect also placed great hopes on him, giving him all the treasures and opportunities. That Step Cloud could break through, though quite surprising, is marginally explainable."
The dynasty where Step Cloud resided was a powerful southern state second only to the Jinzan Dynasty. After this upheaval, with one side rising and the other falling, it was hard to say who would swallow whom. Although Zhang Fuzhi had no interest in power, he knew that many people in the hall, if not for this group of Sword Immortals' "grand arrival," would have sent secret messages to the Immortal Immortal Sect after the court meeting ended, and the recipient might have been Step Cloud himself.
Xie Gou turned her head, put her hand beside her mouth, and whispered, "Mountain Master, how coincidental, another young Sword Immortal, huh."
Mountain Master, since this fellow dared to call the Sword Qi Great Wall sword cultivators murderous barbarians back then, why don't I go and stab him?
Chen Ping'an shook his head, only reminding Qi Tingji to pay more attention to this man. He was a very shrewd sword cultivator, good at reading the situation.
Qi Tingji knew full well that Chen Ping'an's last-minute change of heart to come personally was still because of the little girl in Flying Rise City.
Feng Yuanxiao was born from the manifestation of the great way of heaven and earth in the Five Colors World. Simply put, she and Ning Yao mutually suppressed each other, being each other's nemesis.
If the Jinzan Dynasty's situation became the norm for the entire south, it would have a significant and far-reaching impact on that little girl's Dao heart.
Regarding the situation and structure of the Five Colors World, outsiders had all sorts of guesses, but the answers were more or less the same: it was mostly somewhere between the Qingming World and the Barren Wasteland World. Qi refiners occupied the absolute high ground, while mortals became outright vassals, eventually reaching a delicate balance.
But no one thought it would be like the Haoran World, where a clear "watershed" appeared between the mountains and the foot of the mountains. It was impossible to even be an "approximation."
The only place where people at the foot of the mountain could govern all matters on the mountain was the Great Li Dynasty in Vase Bottle Continent.
Qi Tingji had never been to Vase Bottle Continent. When he heard that the Great Li had annexed an entire continent, he became curious about the National Preceptor Cui Chan and began deliberately collecting information on the current state of Vase Bottle Continent. Later, after leaving Sword Qi Great Wall, and by the time the war ended, Qi Tingji had learned more about the Great Li Dynasty, always regretting that he had missed the chance to meet that Embroidered Tiger.
Before returning to the Haoran World and going to the Barren Wasteland World, Qi Tingji did intend to make a trip to Vase Bottle Continent, especially to the territory of the Great Li Dynasty.
Chen Ping'an then reported over a dozen Dao names and sect names of old immortals from Tongye Continent, as well as names of martial arts grandmasters, asking if anyone in the hall had any connections to them.
The two Confucian Temple sages stationed in the Five Colors World were the first Grand Sacrificial Officer of the Rites and Music Academy and the founder of the Riverside Academy. They were responsible for recording the changes in mountains and rivers of a world within sixty years, and also had to endure disgust to find out certain smugglers from Tongye Continent.
It turned out that the group who had tried to sneak into the Five Colors World by using various means and secret techniques—three Nascent Soul cultivators, seven Golden Body martial artists, and two Wandering Travel cultivators, totaling twelve—had all been caught by the Confucian Temple one by one, thrown out from Elder Jiang's sleeve. At that time, Chen Ping'an was asked to conveniently toss them to Tongye Continent.
Sure enough, some survived, but the vast majority died under Xie Gou's sword. As for those currently alive who could stand in the hall, only two remained.
This really frightened them solidly. This topmost secret was only known to a few people in their own sect's Ancestral Hall. How did this middle-aged Sword Immortal from Flying Rise City know of it?
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Your respective ancestral masters are those sect leaders, the Zhenhu True Persons, right? I'll go and settle accounts with them later."
Chen Ping'an extended his hand from his sleeve, pointing at the Danjing Sect's sect leader. "Song Zhou, start with you. Among your colleagues in the hall, name someone and give a reason why he must die. If you can't give a name, consider yourself admitting you are the most heinous one. Bear the consequences."
The old Golden Core's expression changed, alternating between overcast and sunny. He looked around, gritted his teeth, and finally named someone. The reason he gave was that this man's arrogant soldiers and fierce generals had no military discipline whatsoever. They took pleasure in skewering babies with lances, and this man was proficient in a venomous and abnormal art of bedroom cultivation. Over the years of leading troops in battle, he had secretly turned dozens of female cultivators from neighboring countries into lewd ghosts. Women of secondary beauty and aptitude from noble families were all refined as cauldrons for supplementary cultivation. Such women were reduced to this state, their primordial spirits exhausted, making reincarnation difficult. But this man was meticulous and extremely covert in his actions. He had only been discovered by a colleague skilled in observing qi, and it was then that Song Zhou learned the truth.
That man was about to fight Song Zhou to the death, but was instantly beheaded by a sword light. Not only that, but his soul was also pinched into a lamp wick by the sable-capped girl with two fingers. She blew a breath, lit the oil lamp, and a light shone. The soul suffered this torment, howling in agony.
Xie Gou then reached out and grabbed, gouging a bloody hole in the corpse, taking a small bronze furnace from one of its vital acupoints. She released the women imprisoned inside. Some had already turned into vengeful spirits, their sleeves fluttering, circling the pillars. Others, with remnant true spirits, huddled in a corner sobbing. The hall instantly became thick with ghostly qi.
Xie Gou held that sizzling oil lamp—the subtle sounds of cultivators' souls being refined by true fire. She lowered her head and squinted at the scene, then drew some indescribable fortune from the corpse. The sable-capped girl chuckled, "The art of lighting lamps in later generations is really sloppy and crude. Too much oil. This lamp of mine can burn for at least three to five years, and the soul's senses won't diminish in the slightest. The most exquisite part is that I can use your fortune to continuously add oil! Wow, you're making a profit; you can live another hundred years."
The people in the hall felt their scalps go numb. They didn't even dare look at the sable-capped girl, afraid that if their eyes met, she would say, "What are you looking at?"
Emperor Zhang Fuzhi also named a great traitor and evil person, who was split in two by Xie Gou's sword and also lit as a lamp. In the end, there were still thirty-four living people left. Some were drenched in sweat, others looked as if they had lost a parent. After all, the later one spoke a name, the more dangerous the situation. Those who had already passed the first gate of hell were afraid that the later ones would look at them. During the process, some, seeing the roaming gaze, felt their gall bladders about to burst. As long as the gaze lingered slightly on them, a chill ran down their spines. Unable to contain themselves, they began cursing in Tongye Continent's refined language... Qi Tingji sat on the steps where the dragon throne was placed, quietly watching this not-so-interesting infighting.
Later, someone really couldn't find any dirty deeds of a certain person in the hall. Unable to find a scapegoat, and not daring to admit they themselves deserved death, they bravely asked the azure-robed man at the door if they could name immortal masters of the Jinzan Dynasty who didn't have the qualifications to attend the court meeting but had done plenty of bad things. Fortunately, that man smiled and agreed, saying of course they could, but they had to give at least three names. If he found that any one of them didn't deserve to die, then that person would have to take the fall.
After that, Xiao Mo manifested a ethereal dharma form, overlooking the entire dynasty. Xie Gou received the exact locations.
When the last one—a scion of a powerful family who wasn't an immortal master—finished saying three names, sword lights lit up in succession. He leaned against the hall's golden lacquered pillar, his face pale and colorless, drenched in sweat. He made up his mind: never to become an official in this life. Once back at the family, he would just raise caged birds and live a peaceful, leisurely life.
Without any warning, the dozen or so who thought they had survived a calamity suddenly dropped dead.
This group of Flying Rise City Sword Immortals—one couldn't say they were capricious, nor could one say they were strictly law-abiding—offered no explanation.
Chen Ping'an stood up, looked at Qi Tingji. "Don't blame me for stealing the show, will you?"
Qi Tingji laughed. "You strike me as a crafty strategist in charge of devising plans and patching up omissions."
Xie Gou nodded to herself. "These tyrants and bullies deserve a bad death, but we pull out our swords to help when we see injustice on the road. Good, our names must be remembered in the martial world. Very good: 'Sword to kill, knife to save the living'!"
Xiao Mo felt helpless.
Xie Gou beckoned to those female ghosts. "Don't be afraid. I have my methods. I'll send you a mountain immortal opportunity. After you learn immortal arts, it won't be too late to seek revenge."
Qi Tingji walked toward the hall's threshold. "I'll come again in three years."
"Rest assured, I will definitely kill people then. The more times I come, the clearer you'll understand where my bottom line lies."
"Of course, provided the Jinzan Dynasty still exists. No matter; even if the court or the official residences change, you're still in this world."
How could that reassure anyone?
The emperor didn't forget to escort this young Sword Immortal to the hall's threshold. When Qi Tingji said "stop here," Zhang Fuzhi halted.
They didn't immediately leave the capital. Using a concealment technique, they sat on a roof piled with emerald green glazed tiles.
Xie Gou laughed. "Mountain Master, were you worried that there might be someone like Huang Zhen hidden in here? Small grudges and big hatreds are already so hard to deal with, let alone the young boys and girls in the distance, whose masters were killed, or whose family elders were butchered. With such blood feuds, wouldn't they cling even more tightly?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "I'm not afraid of that. It's just tit for tat, everyone has their say. The nameless kill the famous, everyone argues their own reasoning. That's nothing serious."
He took out the Sword Nurturing Gourd, took a sip of wine, and said with a headache, "I'm just worried about the new disciple Lu Zhi took on, Cheng Sancai from Flood Dragon Ditch. I finally managed to sever ties, even gave away that Gold Nectar Dharma Robe. Now I've taken over the Dragon Elephant Sword Sect. How messy is that?"
Qi Tingji laughed. "You're about to become the new sect leader anyway. At that time, you could issue a dharma decree and take back that Gold Nectar Dharma Robe?"
Chen Ping'an said helplessly, "Old Sword Immortal Qi, spare me the cynical remarks. 'Sword Immortal' and 'Gold Nectar' have special significance. As for giving it away helplessly, it's fine if I don't see it. I can pretend nothing happened. But now, going into your Ancestral Hall, I feel uncomfortable looking at it."
Qi Tingji said, "Don't complain to me. I'm just handing over a sect."
Chen Ping'an asked, "Then shall we set off for Flying Rise City?"
Qi Tingji shook his head, however. "Anyway, it's that matter. Once you mention it in Flying Rise City's Ancestral Hall, it's settled. Since you brought it up, Ning Yao didn't object, and Chen Ji also agreed. What other objections could there be? I won't go to Flying Rise City. I'll wait for you at the firmament. When I next return here, I'm planning to learn from Chen Ji and use an alias. I'll change my identity and travel around for sixty years."
Chen Ping'an nodded. "That works too."
Qi Tingji smiled. "Does my first step into this place count as a 'good start'?"
Xiao Mo nodded. "Kill a few more bastards, and the ordinary folk will have a much better time next year."
Xie Gou rubbed her sable cap. "Yeah, it can't be the Qingming Festival all year round."
Qi Tingji smiled. "Actually, the most frustrating thing here is Mountain Master Chen, who's gone to the trouble of patching up the geographical features of Tongye Continent."
Xiao Mo asked, "Young Master, should we find a way to tell them the current situation in Tongye Continent?"
Xie Gou was a bit unwilling, rarely contradicting Xiao Mo. "Why should we?"
Chen Ping'an hummed. "Next year's Lantern Festival will be livelier, and the Mid-Autumn Festival will surely be more worthy of its name."
Xie Gou thought for a moment. "Right."
Xiao Mo spoke via heart-to-heart voice. "Young Master, Brother Bixiao said that when the time comes, I should pass a message to Lu Zhi, asking her to bring a certain disciple to the Bright Moon and Brilliant Radiance after sixty years for a discussion. I asked what he meant by 'when the time comes,' but Brother Bixiao was evasive, saying that heavenly secrets cannot be leaked and the time will be clear when it comes. Does now count as the right time?"
Xie Gou let out a "wow," praising endlessly. "Brother Bixiao is truly dependable. How impressive!"
Chen Ping'an thought it over, but couldn't guess the old temple master's intentions for the moment. "Let's pass the message first."
Qi Tingji looked up into the distance.
Someone was flying a sword there, heading south.
Was this probably the momentum of the number one person under heaven's great way?
Like heaven, like an emperor, patrolling the mortal world—all mountains must bow their heads, and the seas of clouds part by themselves.
Seeing this aura, Qi Tingji was certainly envious, but as for jealousy, he had none at all.
Ning Yao appeared on the eaves, asking with confusion, "What's happening here?"
"Feng Yuanxiao suddenly broke through three realms in succession. She herself couldn't explain why."
Qi Tingji paused, then smiled knowingly. Chen Ping'an beamed. "Hey." Xiao Mo understood. Xie Gou slapped her cheek. "Oh ho!"
Free reading.