Chapter 1210: Roadblock

Chapter 1210: Roadblock

Outer Limits, dark as ink, like an endless void, with starlight flickering in the central region. There, the two sides hovered in a standoff, killing intent thick, ready to erupt at any moment.

Above the heads of both sides stretched a vast celadon-colored canopy, flowing slowly like an immensely deep flood. This strange spectacle was practically a verb form of "azure sky."

Beneath their feet lay a yellow "earthen wall" spanning the heavens and earth, as high as the Sword Qi Great Wall, stretching for who knows how many millions of miles, like a solidified river of time.

Extremely far from the two confronting sides, twelve points of light formed a pure golden circle, arrayed at the outermost edge.

They were the twelve Earth Branch cultivators, including Song Xu, the sword cultivator stationed in the Great Li capital. After receiving that decree to slay ghosts in broad daylight, they had all used the Three Mountains Talismans bestowed by Mr. Chen. They were positioned at various mountain-water Daoist sites in the northern regions of the Great River in Bottle Gourd Continent, their standing points forming a circle, like the rim of a porcelain vase.

The female ghost, alias Gan Qinglü, had earlier swept her large sleeves, using a secret technique to wrap up the souls of Emperor Yin Ji and others, along with the physical body of the prince Yin Miao. Slipping right under the nose of that brutal new national master of Great Li, she did not take the "broad daylight road" but chose a hidden Yellow Spring path, trying to flee Bottle Gourd Continent as fast as possible and cross the sea back to Middle Earth Divine Continent.

But they were still blocked by that figure in a blue robe.

This bastard, such a persistent spirit, so hard to shake off?!

Cai Yushan, a scholar of the Great Shou dynasty, had a soul flickering unsteadily, his face dark. Having his physical body smashed to pieces, he was naturally in a foul mood, and now he felt as if plunged into an ice cavern. Cai Yushan spoke with a somewhat reproachful tone to the tall woman with pale face and sleeves reaching past her knees, "Xian, why did he find this Yin Nether path that was already laid out?!"

Xian was also clearly somewhat surprised. The tall ghost, with hollow eyes, looked at the young sword immortal, so young in Dao age. A Flying Ascension realm at such an age—rare in the last three thousand years.

High above, there were seven visible and two hidden, a total of nine cloud-sea vortexes, nine streaks of sword light hanging beyond the sky of Bottle Gourd Continent. Their "sword tips" shifted slightly, always keeping watch on her.

This made the ghost, with her keen spiritual sense, feel a bit creeped out. How could Lu Zhi's natal flying sword "Big Dipper" be wielded so skillfully by him? Could the flying sword Big Dipper be used this way?

Cai Yushan was somewhat frantic, "Xian! Don't delay, break the formation quickly and return to Middle Earth. Don't give this bastard more time to set up formations. The foundation of the Great Li dynasty might have already been fully taken over by that Chen guy. The national master ceremony was just going through the motions..."

Xian was unmoved, turning a deaf ear. A miscellaneous school cultivator who followed the path of assisting the dragon couldn't command her.

Since birds have bird paths and snakes have snake trails, she, accustomed to walking the ghost road, had her own unique "woodcutter's path" to take, able to evade the surveillance of mountain-water true gods and local city gods.

Yin Miao, whose soul had been stuffed back into his skin, came out from behind her, followed by a new ghost like a stray dog, the emperor of the Great Shou dynasty, Yin Ji.

Chen Pingan smiled and asked, "Yin Ji, you, as the emperor, have even worse treatment than a prince who isn't yet the crown prince?"

Yin Ji, now a ghost, said darkly, "As a Confucian disciple of the Wen Sheng lineage, daring to slaughter a human monarch, let's see how long you can run rampant."

Chen Pingan said with a smile, "During the Middle Earth Confucian Temple deliberations, I glanced at you a few times. You left a deep impression."

Yin Ji asked doubtfully, "How so?"

Chen Pingan said, "Among the emperors and monarchs I've seen, you are the one most obsessed with immortality. No exception."

Yin Ji seemed to have his thoughts exposed and fell silent for a moment. Then, "A supreme sovereign, greedy for power and position, desiring eternal life—what's so strange about that to the young Hidden Official?"

Yes, in the eyes of these sword immortals and alchemists who sought to live as long as heaven and earth, the rulers of human dynasties were merely mortals whose bodies rotted and lifespans diminished day by day.

Chen Pingan said, "Fear of death is human nature, but to be as obsessed as you are, turning desire into obsession—that is rare. Among the rare few, having the audacity to ignore the rules set by the Confucian Temple, secretly crossing the thunder pool, and illegally practicing immortal arts—you are the second. What, trying to imitate the Great Li Song clan in everything?"

Yin Ji laughed heartily, "Well, at least you didn't say I'm the first. Indeed, your Great Li predecessor was the first. Chen Pingan, you're an honest man. If we had met earlier, maybe..."

Chen Pingan said, "Maybe you wouldn't have had the chance to come to the Great Li capital. Did you pay the bill for that meal at Old Oriole Lake? Did you pay in advance, or did Cao Xun help you settle it?"

Yin Ji looked around and said, "It's just as Cai Yushan said—you're stalling for time, looking for a way to break this ghost-wall path between us?"

Chen Pingan said, "The dead take precedence. You call the shots. All of you call the shots."

Yin Ji suppressed his anger and said, "Chen Pingan, there are no outsiders here. I'll be straightforward with you. If you let us return to Great Shou, the alliance is still valid. Moreover, the Great Li Song clan and the Great Shou Yin clan can have a primary and secondary relationship. You can be the leader. Besides Great Shou, I can also help you win over a few powerful states in Middle Earth to join the grand cause. Consider it a gift from me. How about it? Your path to Flying Ascension is extremely novel. Once this news spreads, not only will the entire Haoran world look at you with new respect, but the people of Great Li will surely support you. You urgently need to stabilize your realm, and this will help. It won't cost you a bit of effort, and you can instantly gain over a hundred years of cultivation merit..."

Cai Yushan looked anxious and whispered, "Your Majesty, no..."

Chen Pingan sneered, "The three of you are still putting on an act for me here? Is there a reward for that?"

Yin Ji frowned, "What do you mean?"

Chen Pingan put his hands in his sleeves and raised his chin. "Yin Ji, let the real one come out and bark a few times."

Cai Yushan's expression changed slightly. He quickly glanced sideways at Xian. With your ancient secret technique to conceal human Dao aura, how could it have been exposed?

Chen Pingan said calmly, "Since you crave life so much, you must fear death even more. Xian, a fourteenth-realm ghost, dining in the courtyard with a monarch of a country, only accompanied by the crown prince of the Great Duan dynasty, Cao Xun. Meanwhile, the prince Yin Miao outside the courtyard has Xian sticking to him like a shadow. So what's the truth? Hard to guess? Back then, who was I looking at when I asked my question? Right, Yin Ji?"

The yellow-robed youth Yin Miao—or more precisely, the emperor of Great Shou, Yin Ji—wiped some bloodstains from his dharma robe, raised his head, and without hiding his appreciation, said with sincere admiration, "As expected of the Embroidery Tiger's junior brother. Your mind is indeed deep."

Yin Ji persuaded, "Aren't you curious how Xian achieved this? Aren't you the best at learning from others? If you learn this, you'll have another great divine ability to rely on. Cui Chan's pragmatic learning hasn't reached its peak. No matter how much authority this former national master had, he always regarded himself as a minister. Chen Pingan, you can surpass the master. Why not take full control of the Great Li Song clan's throne? If the emperor is obedient, you assist the dragon; if not, you change the dragon as you please."

Chen Pingan waved his hand, showing his right palm with five thunders gathered, lightning interweaving like golden snakes hissing, the light casting his face half bright, half dark. "A layman who can only learn some superficial knowledge should not talk about pragmatic learning. You can't disgust my senior brother, but you can disgust me. If you disgust me, I'll let you swim in an oil pot before you are utterly destroyed, body and soul. Wei Jia was in Old Oriole Lake; you, Yin Ji, with your body and soul, will be soaking in an oil pot like a hot pot. A chopstick down will pick up a few pieces of boiled offal. So speak carefully and openly from now on."

The "young emperor," who had transferred most of his soul to "Yin Miao," ground his teeth. "Fourteenth realm, do you know what the fourteenth realm is? Others don't understand, but you, the young Hidden Official, have seen big worlds and grand scenes. You know best the power of a fourteenth-realm cultivator. Why are you still so impulsive?!"

Chen Pingan said, "I know too well. So I know that the new fourteenth realm 'after the rain' has quite a bit of water in it. That's why I dare to gauge how much water there is, to have a reference for my second visit to the White Jade Capital in the future. To borrow the words of Daoist Tuanni, it's... a triple blessing."

Yin Ji grinned ferociously, "Madman, a true madman."

The old man Yin Miao sighed faintly, his eyes pleading. "Hidden Official, release me. I beg for release."

Yin Ji backhanded a slap across Yin Miao's face. "How did I give birth to such a useless waste?!"

Cai Yushan bowed and advised, "Your Majesty, we can't delay any longer. The Five Sacred Mountain Lords of Bottle Gourd Continent have also completed their formation."

Yin Ji nodded. "Xian, finish it quickly. If you can take him out, do it. If you can't eliminate him root and branch, then retreat from Bottle Gourd Continent first."

The tall ghost nodded. It seemed she only obeyed the "young prince Yin Miao."

The next moment, the position where Chen Pingan stood was as if Xian had used supreme divine ability to refine a section of the river of time, cutting it into a glass cone. Chen Pingan, sealed inside, didn't even have the chance to draw his sword—or perhaps the thought? This large piece of colored glass vanished into thin air, sinking into an eddy of the river of time. How long could it trap him? A quarter of an hour? Half an hour? Xian wasn't entirely sure.

After all, this technique had only been tested on a young Flying Ascension cultivator from another continent named Wanyan. He wasn't a strong Flying Ascension nor a sword cultivator. As I recall, it bound him for a few months?

The twelve Earth Branch members immediately lost their connection with the young national master.

Seeing that the young national master had fallen into the trap, Cai Yushan was about to sneer a few words when he suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath him. Xian made no attempt to save him. In a daze, Cai Yushan found himself in a bizarre realm. Like a revolving lantern, every instant seemed to have tens of thousands of images forced into his mind. He drifted in a twisted corridor of heaven and earth, for what seemed like ten years or a hundred? Countless colors flashed before his eyes. His head ached as if a hand were stirring his brain.

Finally staggering, Cai Yushan stopped wandering in that illusion. He shook his head vigorously, then bent over and retched. As a soul, he had nothing to vomit. Looking around, he found himself standing on a ridge in a field. Everywhere was fresh green seedlings. The sun blazed overhead. He looked down and saw he was holding a bunch of seedlings. His back felt scorched by the sun, almost cracked. The mud in the rice paddy was scalding hot. On his white calves, with trouser legs rolled up, several leeches were biting. Besides a face full of sweat, his eyes were oozing pus.

Cai Yushan roared in rage, shouting Chen Pingan's name, cursing him over and over. Soon he was panting, his throat burning painfully. He tried to use magic to break the illusion over the surrounding fields, but he fell into the paddy. He scrambled to the ridge, feeling miserable and bitter. The world must be fake, but the chaotic pain was all too real. In great distress, he carefully tried to pull a leech off his calf. It broke in half. Cai Yushan immediately writhed on the ground in agony.

A scholar knows not the farmer's toil; a bookworm is a hundred times useless.

Just as Cai Yushan recovered a little, a blade slashed across his arm. First he froze, then shuddered, then screamed.

As the Great Li border soldiers say, to know if a scholar has backbone, give him a knife. Cai Yushan apparently had little backbone.

Now the twelve Earth Branch members of the Great Li dynasty. Except for the last to join, the martial artist Zhou Haijing, the rest were selected by Cui Chan.

Song Xu, Mao. A Golden Core bottleneck sword cultivator, the second prince of the Great Li Song clan, younger brother of Song Geng, and second brother of Princess Song Lian.

Yuan Huajing, Zi. A Nascent Soul bottleneck sword cultivator, from the Yuan family of Pillar States.

The Daoist sites, towns, and peaks beneath their feet each manifested a character of the Earthly Branches.

Earlier, when Mr. Chen was "chatting and laughing" with them, both sides were too lazy to use telepathy, so they heard everything clearly.

When Yin Ji mentioned that secret technique, Han Zhoujin, Lu Hui, and the others looked at Song Xu, the Great Li prince, with odd expressions.

Song Xu said exasperatedly, "Even if Mr. Chen really wanted to do that and take control of the Great Li throne, could I say no?"

Yu Yu asked via telepathy with a smile, "Quickly, as usual, cast a divination. See roughly how dangerous it is."

The answer she got was concise, "He's not bluffing. It is indeed a fourteenth-realm ghost."

The little monk pressed his palms together and chanted a Buddhist verse, "May the Buddha bless me. I'll go to the temple tomorrow and donate oil money."

Since Bottle Gourd Continent first proposed the concept of "Martial Review Grandmasters," it became a craze throughout the Haoran world. Each continent had its own rankings.

Once one became a Martial Review Grandmaster, they bore the martial luck of that continent—this was an unquestionable consensus in Haoran.

But for Qi Practitioners to claim they bore the luck of a country, or especially a continent, was more delicate.

There were very few examples. For instance, Liu Tui, the continent master who helped Fuyao Continent break its barrenness, or Song Pin, the sword immortal of Golden Armor Continent with the sword "Fuyao," were well-deserved.

In Bottle Gourd Continent, which was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, there were at most two on the surface. Over the past thousand years, the first pure sword cultivator of Bottle Gourd Continent to reach the Upper Five Realms, Wei Jin from Wind and Thunder Garden, and the wild cultivator from Book and Bamboo Lake, Liu Laocheng. Others, whether the head of the Yunlin Jiang clan, the Heavenly Lord Qi Zhen of Divine Proclamation Sect, or even Cao Rong who had already achieved Flying Ascension—none dared to claim they had luck.

Even if others said so, they themselves wouldn't admit it.

Because once they admitted it, the Dao of heaven's will and fate would hold them accountable.

Since their fortune was already good, why gamble on the balance of a vague ledger?

But the cultivators of the Great Li dynasty's Earth Branch, if they said they each bore a certain amount of Bottle Gourd Continent's luck, it was genuine. Moreover, they had been to the battlefield at the auxiliary capital and verified it. With solid military merits, they weren't afraid of being "held accountable." Of course, the Embroidery Tiger who created "Bottle Gourd Continent's Earth Branches" wouldn't let them shrink back. They had taken a huge advantage, so they couldn't just go through the motions.

In the past, the strength of the entire country—the continent's foundation—had tilted incalculable Dao resources toward them. The Embroidery Tiger wasn't afraid they'd be stuffed; he was afraid they wouldn't be full.

Yu Yu, who wore a waist token inscribed with "Xu," said, "The national master's big exam for us has begun."

Gai Yan smiled seductively and said, "Unexpected to meet a fellow traveler. If we succeed in killing it, it'll be a great supplement."

Their boxing instructors included Song Changjing, who topped the Four Great Martial Review Grandmasters; the Mohist wanderer Xu Ruo, who taught them swordsmanship; the former mountain lord of Great Li, who secretly taught them aura observation techniques; and Aunt Feng, who often taught them various strange heterodox methods. As for the mountain of spiritual books and secret manuals piled up in the Great Li treasury, they were allowed to read and practice freely.

When the Great Li iron cavalry swept south in the past, they collected and organized countless mountain Daoist texts, whether original manuscripts secretly hidden in the ancestral halls of various immortal mansions or copied versions sent willingly. It was no exaggeration to call it a mountain of books.

Killing Earth Immortals and Jade Purity cultivators—they were very skilled, having done it often.

But they had no experience in slaying immortals or challenging Flying Ascension cultivators.

However, during the assassination of demons on the auxiliary capital battlefield, the Great Li Earth Branch was just established. The youngest ones like Yu Yu hadn't even joined yet, so it was even less worthy of the name.

Thus, the Earth Branch lineage, no matter which peak they belonged to, was very proud. They thought they could run rampant not just in the Great Li capital, but anywhere in Bottle Gourd Continent.

So the eleven cultivators (only missing a pure martial artist as the array eye) had three very short "experiences" in the Great Li capital, and each time they encountered that "Mr. Chen."

In the center of heaven and earth, Yin Ji warned via telepathy, "Xian, he definitely can't be delayed for a quarter of an hour. That Chen guy is known for having many tricks up his sleeve. He's sly as a fox. Focus on breaking the array quickly, don't be overconfident."

The tall ghost nodded.

This canopy of heaven and earth, formed by her countless black threads stretching out, was the most ghostly and oppressive, suppressing all living things.

It was like an inverted hat-cover over a table, covering Chen Pingan and the Great Li Earth Branch.

Xian manifested a towering dharma form ten thousand zhang tall, sweeping the usurper emperor Yin Ji and the scapegoat prince Yin Miao into her sleeves.

Twelve characters shimmered at the boundaries of the Daoist site, like round moons rising into the sky. Clear radiance and ink color interlocked like dog's teeth, tearing at each other.

Without any visible movement from the ghost, a series of firecracker-like explosions rang out in order around the great circle. Had Xian instantly killed all twelve Earth Branch members?

Yin Ji watched from within the sleeve. The prince Yin Miao, with the emperor's appearance, saw this and was very surprised. Finished that easily?

He saw with his own eyes that the physical bodies of the twelve Earth Branch members had all turned to powder. It was no illusion.

But the next moment, right there, the twelve reappeared in their original forms, all looking normal. They communicated via telepathy and started operating the second great formation.

It seemed Xian had already guessed this result. This time, she struck with even more momentum. Near the twelve private Daoist sites, black clouds billowed like ink dragons tumbling, each tasked with killing one person and overturning one site.

Within her own Daoist site, the fourteenth-realm ghost used her natal divine ability to slaughter the opponent with no suspense—after all, they didn't even have a single Upper Five Realm cultivator.

But compared to the first cleaving, this time it took a bit longer to kill all twelve.

One cultivator calmly reached into his sleeve, pulled out a handful of golden body fragments ground into pearl shapes, and put them in his mouth, chewing them like salted soybeans, crunching.

Yu Yu asked, "Still okay?"

He replied calmly, "Very okay."

His name was Sui Lin, Yin.

Sui Lin was a cultivator proficient in yin-yang and five elements, geomancy and feng shui. He was extraordinarily talented, able to reverse a section of the river of time within a small world without using any external objects. This was an innate ability like divine bestowal. But this act was indeed too rebellious, easily incurring heaven's aversion. Heaven's punishment was obvious; heaven's aversion was hidden. The former manifested when a cultivator tried to break through a major bottleneck, while the latter was everywhere, striking at any time. The most terrifying thing was that a large amount of heaven's aversion would lead to the legendary "Heavenly Death."

So for Sui Lin to use this divine ability, there were many taboos and a great cost. If he hadn't been brought into the Earth Branch by National Master Cui, Sui Lin, an Earth Immortal realm, could at most use it once at full power before his Longevity Bridge shattered, leaving him a cripple.

Sui Lin had only seen this horrifying statement in ancient texts. He couldn't quite understand it, and he didn't want to. Hopefully, he would never understand the true meaning of that word in his lifetime.

As the old saying goes, Heaven never seals off all the exits. Cui Chan helped him find a way to avoid disaster: eating those golden body fragments, pretending to be a god who maintained a physical form.

Additionally, one of Song Xu's two natal flying swords, "Post Road," allowed the other eleven to share the burden of the Dao backlash with Sui Lin.

Thus, the twelve of the Earth Branch were literally "fellow travelers."

Now that the twelve of them had formed a formation, they were not only connected in heart but also in Dao. Lu Hui clearly felt this person's anger and joked, "When cursing, you should learn from Mr. Chen, the shining example. Your curses have no flavor."

The cultivators of the Earth Branch were naturally "born with silver spoons," used to spending lavishly. But not long ago, Sui Lin was led by Rong Yu, one of the maids from the National Master's Mansion, to a secret treasury room. When she opened the door, Sui Lin's eyes widened, seeing gold everywhere. "So much?! All mine?!"

Rong Yu said calmly, "In cultivation, please each work hard. The national master said he would let you see what true heaven and earth are like. You can no longer be frogs at the bottom of a well, playing small games."

Sui Lin reminded, "The Dao tide is surging again. Mr. Chen is watching. Don't just take the beating without fighting back. I don't mind, but a few 'enforcers' among you, figure it out yourselves."

According to Yu Yu's plan, they would first endure three attacks. The general direction was to delay as much as possible, because outside there were the Five Sacred Mountain Lords and the Duke of the Great River guarding the second line. Of course, don't drag it into night. Mr. Chen said we must slay the ghost in broad daylight!

A thick rope as wide as a mountain peak slammed heavily into the Daoist site of the female formation master of the Earth Branch.

The "Wu" formation master, Han Zhoujin, stepped forward. Around her, a strange phenomenon of heaven and earth occurred. Without needing to form seals or chant spells, without stepping on the Big Dipper, an immortal palace with red soil and dense purple clouds appeared out of nowhere. Ancient halls were built along the mountain, row upon row, as if countless Daoist masters were lecturing, with continuous chants of "Lingbao" resonating with heaven and earth.

This Daoist site was a great fortune for Han Zhoujin. When she climbed the mountain as a youth, she accidentally entered this ancient immortal palace ruin, part of the ancient Tongbai Blessed Land, one of the ancient Haoran world's true masters' residences.

That rope slammed heavily into the celestial-sound formation created by the true masters' chants and blue-word invocations. In an instant, the earth shook and mountains swayed. The barrier, like white glass, showed cracks.

Han Zhoujin looked up at the barrier that almost shattered from one hit, feeling somewhat alarmed. This blue-word barrier had just been formed by successfully refining a Daoist book. She wasn't an arrogant person, but she had been quite proud of it. Unexpectedly, it was so fragile.

Xian seemed to remember something. Her originally lifeless eyes grew colder. First attacking this mountain was subconscious. But now, this ghost showed a hateful expression, waving her sleeves to command her divine ability. A towering dharma form, like a god holding a whip, attacked the mountain and broke the temple, determined to smash that glaring Daoist site to dust. Whip after whip shattered the barrier formed by the blue-word invocations. Still not satisfied, she ground those halls to pieces, silencing the Lingbao chants entirely. In the blink of an eye, the ancient mountain was crisscrossed with ravines, filled with slime and ink, like streams flowing all over the mountain in a terrifying scene.

The female formation master had no power to resist. A whip directly struck her crown, killing her again. On the mountain, a new riverbed appeared.

Xian didn't look at the ruined immortal mountain. She turned to attack the second pass, where a handsome Daoist stood on a small hill. The entire hill was upheaved like a giant fish turning its back. The young Daoist leaped up, skimming like a dragonfly over the broken rocks. Xian just moved her mind, and the shattered hill instantly closed, smothering him.

At the third location, a whip missed, cracking in the empty sky, tearing open a chasm thousands of zhang long. Inside were countless howls and sobs, piles of white bones surging and rolling, trying to escape that waterless chasm of endless suffering.

Xian was slightly surprised. She looked more closely. It was a Golden Core female ghost with Dao power so weak it was negligible.

A mere Golden Core, and she could perform such an illusion? Ah, Xian realized instantly. It was that mountain cosmetician. Low realm, average aptitude.

The bewitching woman quickly glanced at the piles of bones in the chasm. Instead of feeling creeped out, she was greedy.

She was overjoyed. As she had said, if they could kill it together, it would be a great supplement for her! Perhaps she would never need to worry about finding Dao resources for the rest of her life.

The so-called opportunity for Dao that Cui Chan spoke of in the past—the chance to enter the Upper Five Realms through heterodox methods—was this very fourteenth-realm ghost, right now!

Gai Yan, Hai branch of the Earthly Branches.

She was a ghost cultivator, currently at Golden Core. She was a cosmetician at a mountain painter's studio and the secret owner of that "famous" immortal inn in the capital. She dressed flamboyantly every day until she met the equally flamboyant Zhou Haijing, her equal rival. No wonder they disliked each other from the start.

That Mr. Xiaomo gave her a dharma robe inside a green bamboo tube. If she had politely declined, that would have been a ghost indeed.

Last time when she "pestered" Mr. Chen when he graced the inn, she was only at Golden Core, yet she could already make Chen Pingan, both a martial grandmaster and sword immortal, misjudge his line of sight. If she ever reached the Upper Five Realms, she could even make people "believe their eyes." How long the "truth" could last depended on her Dao power.

Both a chicken rib and invincible. Chicken rib, because one-on-one against an opponent of the same or one higher realm, it was not very useful, especially against a sword cultivator who could break all techniques with one sword. Invincible, because against anyone one or two realms lower, she could effortlessly sit on the fishing platform, without activating formations or moving a finger. She would instantly create an illusion, making the cultivator or martial artist inside obediently "die of old age" in the illusion.

So if not for this impromptu big exam, Gai Yan would soon have gone to work at the National Master's Mansion.

Moreover, Gai Yan was a voluptuous corpse skilled in color refinement art, using a fragrant tent as her Daoist site. Under a female ghost's pomegranate skirt, piles of bones would become her slaves.

Xian considered. The next moment, a pure white hand as huge as a mountain, carrying a Dao pressure like a descending heavenly tribulation, "slowly" pressed down.

It flattened the voluptuous corpse guarding the fragrant tent Daoist site into a pool of meat paste. The bewitching ghost beauty died instantly, vanishing like smoke. Fragrant powder scattered.

But just before "dying," Gai Yan looked up at the fourteenth-realm ghost with a contemptuous smile, mouthing a silent phrase: "Old thing, just wait. I'll chew you up sooner or later."

The fourteenth-realm ghost, who should have broken through another pass, instead raised her sleeve and made a hand-chop motion, striking downward from afar like a god slashing a river with a blade.

But contrary to stopping the flow, the river of time merely bent downward with her hand-chop, like a resilient immortal silk cloth that never broke.

Xian said "Eh?" Why was this river of time so strong?

Except for the few cultivators who hadn't yet re-formed their bodies and returned to the world, the other Earth Branch members were all "pulled" by this, causing their souls to tremble violently, suffering greatly.

Yu Yu yelled, "Not good! The villain is going to run..."

The entire Daoist site shook. A large hole tore open in the sky, revealing a shaky arched bridge. The big-sleeved ghost had already swaggered onto one end, about to cross.

In an instant, she reached the middle of the bridge, and the next moment she was near the other end.

Yu Yu raised both hands and clapped them together. Ancient cloud-pattern seals spread rapidly across her palms and the back of her hands, glowing like a slowly rising pocket-sized bright moon. The moon rose, revealing within a sword immortal the height of a hand, wearing a hibiscus Dao crown, dressed in red with an ancient sword, white pearls strung along the seams of his clothes. Handsome and elegant, extremely ethereal.

Yu Yu said softly, "Go!"

This yin spirit, which had long maintained a bit of true spirit unchanged, living in this sword immortal's skin, received the owner's command. Its form turned into a rainbow, and a slender sword light shot out even faster.

Regarding this group of Earth Branch cultivators, Xie Dog had once summarized them. They were like seamstresses, always overstepping boundaries. For instance, the little military girl commanded the yin souls of ancient sword immortal spirits at will. Han Zhoujin dared to refine the ancient true master's residence without turning it over to the Middle Earth Confucian Temple. And that little bald head, opening and closing his eyes, could create yin and yang and connect light and dark. Especially, you, a little novice learning Buddhism, even learned the stinky Daoist's Five Thunder True Method. Doesn't your master discipline you?

The Earth Branch cooperated seamlessly, fully exploiting the advantages of heaven, earth, and people.

Since they were invincible, the second key was the level of killing power.

Otherwise, it would be a battle of attrition, each comparing their Dao power, who would outlast whom. That wouldn't be much fun.

On the arched bridge, the Earth Branch cultivators used mountain-moving techniques to send five sacred mountains to block the path. Strangely, as soon as they reached the bridge, they shrank to the size of small mounds, easily crushed under the tall woman's feet.

Above the bridge, a waterfall-like sword light, blazing with fire, chopped down at the female ghost. But Xian just waved her sleeve and swept it all away, the grand sword ending hastily.

Below the bridge, two chains made of over ten thousand ghost-expelling talismans coiled around Xian's ankles. But she walked forward unhindered, casually tearing them apart.

Su Lin, who was controlling the direction of a section of the river of time, couldn't bother with careful accounting. Han Zhoujin and the others instantly returned to the living world. Han Zhoujin's face was frosty. Gritting her teeth, she directly sacrificed her Tongbai Daoist site, the very foundation of her Dao, hurling it at the fourteenth-realm ghost's back.

Arriving at the bridge, the Daoist site, now as small as a square seal, pierced straight through the female ghost's body. Then Xian reached out, grabbed it, and casually tossed it into her sleeve.

The white sleeve instantly fluttered loudly, trembling violently.

A bloody smell of roasting flesh wafted out. The female ghost's expression remained unchanged. She was just one step away from reaching the ferry.

Almost simultaneously, a sound of glass shattering came. At the other end of the bridge, a green-robed traveler was already waiting there.

Heaven and earth were vast, and the arched bridge was also large. But at this moment, like a single-log bridge that only one person could cross, they met on a narrow path.

Xian showed anger for the first time. But after weighing the pros and cons, she finally stopped. Even though she was only one step away, she chose to halt.

Earlier, after receiving a blade slash, the scholar Cai couldn't bear the pain. He rolled down the ridge, gritted his teeth, and found some wild herbs in the wilderness to roughly bandage himself. After enduring hunger for several days, he finally let the wound scab over. He didn't know when this miserable life would end. Suddenly, he saw the sky shatter, the sun fall, the fields vanish. He seemed to have instantly returned to his senses, a ghost that had fallen from Upper Five Realms to Earth Immortal. Seeing Xian's figure on the arched bridge, Cai Yushan froze for a moment, then quickly opened his mouth to shout, "Daoist friend, save me..."

The next moment, he found himself curled up beside a clothing stall by the roadside. It was the depth of winter, with heavy snowflakes falling. Then he took a kick to the face. The stall owner, burly and strong, cursed and told him to get lost. If he interfered with business, he'd be chopped alive. Go die somewhere else... Cai Yushan was miserable, shivering. The Great Shou court scholar, best at writing snow poems, was about to curse a few times when he saw a group of thugs wandering over. Among them, a burly man with burning eyes muttered, "Wash his ass, he'll do..."

But that was just an insignificant interlude.

Yu Yu and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, Mr. Chen had blocked the ghost's path.

Their intuition told them that once this ghost crossed the bridge, the continent-wide formation created by the Five Sacred Mountain Lords and others would likely become useless.

The problem was that the Earth Branch hadn't even used their trump cards yet.

Having lost the Immortal Palace Crimson Tower, Han Zhoujin felt disheartened.

This female formation master was from the Qingtan Blessed Land of Divine Proclamation Sect. Her real "backer" was the Pillar State Zizhao Yan family, who had poured considerable heavenly treasures and fairy money into her alone. It was like a three-way deal between Qingtan Blessed Land, Zizhao Yan, and National Master Cui Chan. The biggest beneficiary was still Han Zhoujin.

To release Han Zhoujin from her Dao rank and make her one of the Great Li Earth Branch cultivators, as compensation, the Great Li court promised that Bottle Gourd Continent would have a new sect-level Daoist temple. It turned out Cui Chan hadn't deceived Heavenly Lord Qi Zhen. Later, the Lingfei Temple in the former Baishuang Kingdom became Lingfei Palace.

At that time, Yan Jiaoran, one of Cui Chan's absolute confidants, thought that adding a Daoist temple—not a subordinate sect of Divine Proclamation Sect—would make Qi Zhen unwilling to work for others. It might even cause Divine Proclamation to lose part of Bottle Gourd Continent's Daoist luck. Would he agree? National Master, perhaps I should change the wording?

Cui Chan didn't explain. He just told Yan Jiaoran to negotiate first.

The result was... extremely smooth. Qi Zhen agreed without hesitation, as if he didn't care at all about Divine Proclamation Sect giving away a cultivation seedling with excellent aptitude and fortune, nor about whether the sect-level Dao lineage was Divine Proclamation's incense. Yan Jiaoran later understood: true practical work couldn't be judged by superficial gains and losses. It was all about working on people's hearts.

Earlier, Chen Pingan had advised Han Zhoujin that the immortal mansion ruins were of great origin. She could consult Aunt Feng.

Even Mr. Chen, who had seen much, said it would be a "great fortune." Though there was a prefix "for her," its rarity was obvious.

When Aunt Feng met the young girl visiting the Fire Temple, she revealed the heavenly secret. Han Zhoujin finally found the true array center and became the master of that Daoist mountain.

It was like an inn that turned into a true Daoist site in an instant. Before that, Han Zhoujin was like someone who owned a mountain of treasure but had seen the temple without burning incense.

Not long after, the young sect leader of Taihui Sword Sect, sword immortal Liu Jinglong, on his southern tour, was entrusted by a friend to make a special trip to the capital to find Han Zhoujin and instruct her in formations.

The reward was that Han Zhoujin, who had been secretly instructed by Chen Pingan, was indeed grateful for Liu Jinglong's generous teachings, like a Dao transmitter. So she treated Liu Jinglong, who "never stops drinking with friends but won't touch a drop with strangers," to a hearty drinking party.

Ge Ling sensed Han Zhoujin's state of mind and reminded her via telepathy, "Immediately gather your mind. Don't lose your composure."

Han Zhoujin said with a bitter laugh, "Easier said than done!"

The young Daoist consoled, "Since Mr. Chen is holding the line, it won't end in vain."

Han Zhoujin nodded, finally relieved.

Since meeting this Mr. Chen, their cultivation paths had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Ge Ling, Wei.

He was from Jurong in southeastern Bottle Gourd Continent.

Unlike the free-spirited Earth Branch members, most of whom were wild cultivators, the young Daoist was an exception. He also had a public official position as the Capital Dao Registrar, in charge of the Genealogy Department under the Capital Dao Administration.

If anyone was most likely to be the first to reach the Upper Five Realms, it was Yuan Huajing. But Han Zhoujin and Ge Ling had the most promising Dao futures in Chen Pingan's eyes.

He favored Han Zhoujin because her private Daoist site was too precious. As for the Daoist Ge Ling, besides his firm Dao heart, he had an extra opportunity. Among the Earth Branch, on the surface, Yuan Huajing seemed to benefit the most from battle merits. But in truth, Ge Ling gained the most Dao benefits. It just wasn't obvious now because they were still at low realms and rarely fought against peak cultivators. It would become apparent when they gradually reached the Upper Five Realms, with Ge Ling's huge dividends.

Since it was the Earthly Branches, they matched with the Five Elements. Wei was yin earth. In the human body, Hai was the head, Wei the spine. In organs, Chou and Wei corresponded to the spleen.

Thus, Ge Ling's existence was extremely critical.

Lu Hui tested via telepathy, "Which 'he'?"

The young boy Gou Cun shook his head. "Can't tell."

Yuan Huajing had already put away his natal flying sword "Firefall," which had returned fruitlessly. He felt somewhat emotional. A sword strike to behead someone—the effect was so wildly different.

The little novice quickly lowered his head, pressed his palms together, and silently chanted "Amitabha."

On the arched bridge, Xian stared fixedly at the green-robed swordsman with two swords at his waist.

The man said with a smile, "A fourteenth-realm ghost, can your eyes kill?"

Xian seemed to lose patience.

As the Dao heart of a fourteenth-realm cultivator stirred, the world grew darker, as if the entire river of time was dyed a heavy deathly ink color.

Chen Pingan glanced at her sleeve. "Just as Song Jixin's crow mouth predicted. Yin Ji, you indeed secretly connected with White Jade Capital."

It seemed that during the fall of the Pearl Cluster Cave Heaven, when the heavenly mechanism was in chaos, some expert from White Jade Capital had secretly infiltrated Bottle Gourd Continent.

Lingbao City's Pang Ding? Or that unnamed Dao official who blocked Xie Dog's sword light? Or both?

The green-robed swordsman pressed both palms lightly against the handles of his two swords. "This road is blocked. Back off, old man."

Xian no longer had the leisurely demeanor she had shown when dealing with the ants. In an instant, her snow-white face seemed to be pieced together from countless eyeballs, crowded and churning, sickening.

If you insist on blocking the path with a sword, let's clash head-on in a Dao struggle. Let's see whose Dao power is more resilient—the new fourteenth realm or the new Flying Ascension foundation?

Xian, as if dissolving her Dao, surged her entire fourteenth-realm Dao technique like a tidal wave toward the bridge head.

Vaguely, a towering mountain stood. A martial artist, like a god, did not confront the enemy with swordsmanship. He walked down from the martial path.

With a casual stomp, the bridge surface shattered. The martial artist used pure fist force to split the dark night canopy filled with Dao tides, punching the ghost's Dao body in the abdomen, causing heaven and earth to shake and the long bridge to break. Then he grabbed the ghost by the neck with one hand and the wrist with the other, tearing it apart.

The fourteenth-realm ghost, temporarily acting against her own Dao dissolution, still couldn't cross that one-step chasm. Instead, she retreated further and further on the invisible road.

In Xian's eyes, a shock touched her Dao heart. Have you truly usurped the throne?! You mortal, have you truly become the master of the human martial path?!

With a bang, the ghost's Dao body shattered, fragments flying everywhere. A lingering sound echoed through heaven and earth for a long time, unending.

Chen Pingan tossed aside the broken limb gradually turning to calamity ashes. He wiped the sleeve, rolling out the Daoist mountain from within. With a palm strike, he sent it back to Han Zhoujin.

He did not chase the ghost that had reappeared in a corner of the Daoist site, restored to its original form.

Xian looked down from on high, her sleeves fluttering in the air. With pity in her eyes, she sneered at the green-robed figure, "That lustful ghost wanted to eat me. Who wants to eat you?"

He only said calmly to the Earth Branch, "Continue."