Chapter 356: A Hair's Breadth in the Way, Wavering Left and Right
The heavy rain was as urgent as war drums on a battlefield, and the fighting on the mountain was fierce and brutal.
Especially when that sword-wielding woman, after dying, suddenly reappeared, walking unharmed out of the ruined temple.
The gentleman Wang Qi atop the mountain and the river demon from Mai River exchanged bewildered glances. What kind of immortal technique was this? Was that stunningly beautiful woman with her peerless swordsmanship a talisman puppet from a Daoist side sect? Or an unknown Mohist mechanism? But since when had talismans and mechanisms become so advanced?
On the patch of forest land that had been repeatedly leveled by sword qi, the military general Xu Qingzhou glanced at Xu Tong, the immortal master from the Cao Mu Nunnery. If it hadn't been for Xu Tong warning him to be careful, he would have almost reached out to grab that Heartseeker Sword, which was certainly of a Dharma artifact quality. But Xu Tong had urged him to step back quickly. Xu Qingzhou's heart shook violently; he decisively abandoned the treasure within easy reach, thereby dodging the sword-riding technique of the resurrected woman. Otherwise, at least one of his arms would have been left behind here.
Xu Tong's mood was heavy. "This woman is definitely not an ordinary pure martial artist."
Xu Qingzhou stared intently. Aside from the long sword on the ground being ridden away, followed by sword qi slashing down in an instant, the woman whose head had been separated from her body had already vanished into thin air.
On a distant tree, perfectly unharmed, Sui Youbian stood on a branch, holding the Heartseeker Sword.
Sui Youbian gazed into the distance at Xu Qingzhou, clad in the Golden Crow Armor of the military strategist tradition, and the immortal master Xu Tong, who was pinching a golden-yellow talisman. Her fighting spirit blazed. She had a premonition that if she could engage in another life-or-death battle that exhausted her pure true qi, she would break through to the next realm immediately!
Xu Qingzhou's mind wavered for a moment. After "dying once," this woman's cultivation and aura had grown so obviously. She had clearly grasped an opportunity to break through amidst the great battle, determined to use both him and Xu Tong as whetstones for honing her martial path. Once she stepped into the seventh realm, the Golden Body Realm, his own famous blade, "Daqiao," would likely lose its meaning.
Xu Qingzhou was a pure martial artist with firm will and vast combat experience. If even he felt this way, how much more so Xu Tong? As a Qi practitioner from the Cao Mu Nunnery, the largest immortal sect in the Daquan Dynasty, which passed down from father to son for generations, Xu Tong had sailed smoothly on his cultivation path. Facing an ordinary sixth-realm peak martial artist, Xu Tong was not afraid at all. But facing an enemy who might break through on the battlefield, and one who seemed unkillable, such that with a single sword strike she could slice off his head—how could Xu Tong not be terrified?
The vast world was full of wonders; there were countless Dharma artifacts and spiritual tools. But a Qi practitioner only had one life.
Xu Qingzhou had already sensed Xu Tong's reluctance to fight. He neither flew into a rage nor cursed that immortal who had been enjoying himself for a hundred years in Xuanying City, nor did he panic along with Xu Tong. This man, born into a top military family of the Daquan Dynasty, said calmly, "Kill her again. If she comes back to life, we'll avoid her sharp edge."
Xu Tong gritted his teeth. That golden-yellow talisman between his fingers overflowed with treasure light. "Then we'll kill her once more, without regard for the cost!"
Sui Youbian curled her lip.
To her, Xu Qingzhou and Xu Tong were merely two white bones beneath her feet on her path to ascending to heaven.
On another battlefield, Lu Baixiang also needed to catch his breath. But because Sui Youbian had drawn away Xu Qingzhou and Xu Tong, the martial arts grandmasters and Qi practitioners lurking in ambush, waiting only for this moment to strike, were far less lethal than if the two had gone all out. So only a gash was cut in his ribs. He covered the wound with one hand, while an official crossbow bolt, specially made by the court and covered with talisman patterns, was stuck through his shoulder. Lu Baixiang casually flicked the blood droplets from his blade tip, not even glancing at the arrow, let alone taking the time to pull it out.
Including himself, of the four successive "Number One Under Heaven" figures from Lotus Root Blessed Land, each had received a sentence before stepping out of the scroll, though none knew of the others'. Chen Ping'an, as the common master of the four, was kept completely in the dark.
Wei Xian had stepped out of the scroll the earliest, but he had delivered his sentence at the ruined temple door rather late.
At the time, Lu Baixiang had believed that Wei Xian wouldn't lie about such a matter, and even more so that Chen Ping'an had not secretly instructed Wei Xian to lure the four into fighting to the death.
But Lu Baixiang wasn't ready to die just yet.
Zhu Lian hadn't died yet. The aura of vitality from that hunched old man in front of the ruined temple was the most vigorous. Indeed, he was a martial maniac who grew stronger the more severely he was wounded.
Although Lu Baixiang had never heard of any "Gold Essence Copper Coins" and only knew that the immortal money in this world came in three types—Snowflake, Minor Heat, and Guyu—he felt that his life was worth at least one Gold Essence Copper Coin.
Anyway, he was about to break through a thousand armored soldiers soon. Since fulfilling the agreement was imminent, there was no need to rush. Besides, the enemy's encirclement and hunt, aiming to net him like a big fish, was still far from closing.
Regarding breaking through realms, Lu Baixiang was probably the most indifferent among the four.
Sui Youbian was undoubtedly the most fervent, because her ambition was the greatest. She wanted to fulfill the uncompleted dream of Lotus Root Blessed Land: to ascend to heaven with her sword.
A second breath of fresh pure true qi surged like a great river inside Lu Baixiang. Although inferior to his previous peak state, it was enough to handle another incense-stick's worth of fighting.
At the foot of the mountain where the ruined temple stood, Daquan border troops were climbing to slaughter the rumored demonic overlords.
Gao Shizhen's face was pale from the heavy rain. He finally yielded to the old steward from the Duke's mansion beside him, who held up a large umbrella over him.
Gao Shizhen had just experienced great joy followed by great shock. First, intelligence from the mountain reached the foot: the sword-carrying woman had been killed jointly by General Xu and Immortal Master Xu. Her head had been sliced off by Xu Qingzhou, and her soul had been scattered by the master of Cao Mu Nunnery. She was dead beyond doubt. But moments later, scouts descended the mountain to report that the sword-carrying woman had come back to life and was now engaged in a new battle with Xu Qingzhou and Xu Tong. This time, she was targeting the two of them for pursuit, no longer focusing on the border troops.
This Duke of Shen Guo, who had staked everything, suddenly turned his head to look at the armored soldiers silently climbing the mountain in the rain. Vaguely, he could see some young faces, about the same age as his son Gao Shuyi, and some veteran soldiers who were no longer young, like himself.
About two quarters of an hour later, a heavy-hearted Gao Shizhen received another piece of bad news.
The sword-carrying woman had withstood a slash from Xu Qingzhou on her back and a punch to the head from a golden-armored talisman puppet, then pierced Xu Tong's heart with her sword. Immortal Master Xu, who should not have died instantly, had used every means at his disposal, swallowed countless miraculous pills, and performed numerous life-saving and life-prolonging immortal arts, but still died. His entire heart had withered to ash. After the woman died, her corpse vanished again, and she walked out of the ruined temple for the second time. Moreover, she had already stepped into the seventh realm of martial arts, the Golden Body Realm. General Xu had retreated first, leaving the mountain without permission. The Crown Prince was furious and threatened to severely punish the Xu clan in Xuanying City.
Gao Shizhen remained silent.
Only the bone-chilling downpour of the winter night, like the unceasing mutterings of the heavens in their dreams.
The old steward, who had served the Duke's mansion for generations, said softly by way of consolation, "Duke, as long as Mr. Wang hasn't made a personal move, it means the final blow hasn't been struck yet. There's no need to be too pessimistic."
Gao Shizhen's face was expressionless.
On the mountain, although Lu Baixiang had suffered many wounds, except for the gash on his waist and the official arrow through his shoulder, his combat strength was not greatly affected. He continued to hold off wave after wave of attacks.
As for the few that slipped through, Wei Xian had no trouble dealing with them at the ruined temple door, where he stood like a one-man gate.
That Western March Sweet Dew Armor was indeed a military strategist's armor pill that had made Xu Qingzhou extremely envious. After all, Xu Qingzhou's own armor was the second-rank Golden Crow Armor among the three grades of military strategist armor pills, a whole tier higher than the Sweet Dew Armor.
Moreover, Wei Xian was a military man by origin. This founding emperor of the Nanyuan Kingdom, who had risen from the lowest depths of the market, had spent most of his life in warfare. In the history of the four kingdoms of Lotus Root Blessed Land, he had earned the reputation of being "the equal of ten thousand foes." After that, so-called "unsurpassed in breaking formations" battlefield generals, no matter how glorious in their lifetimes, were at best "second to Wei Xian." Thus, Wei Xian was even more suited than Lu Baixiang to fighting amidst chaos. Unconsciously, on a battlefield with armies deployed in formation, Wei Xian possessed an advantage similar to a Confucian sage sitting in a Confucian academy.
This was not a talent that any ordinary sixth-realm peak martial artist could possess; even eighth-realm Far Travelers and ninth-realm Summit realm grandmasters might not be able to obtain it.
Zhu Lian held nothing back when he attacked, so he was very heavily wounded.
When Wei Xian intended to switch positions with Zhu Lian, Zhu Lian refused his kindness. Once a martial maniac was cornered, his ferocity was terrifying.
Wei Xian still insisted on relieving Zhu Lian, more because he wanted to pull off a grand feat of "taking the enemy commander's head from amidst ten thousand troops." That was his specialty. Although it would likely cost him his life to kill that Crown Prince Liu Cong of Daquan, Sui Youbian had already died twice. Wei Xian felt that dying once and coming back would be worth it for a thorough, unrestrained charge. Not a bad deal. Besides, at the border inn, he had guarded the door, and now on the mountain, he was still guarding the temple door. Was he just a watchdog?
But Zhu Lian punched back a Qi practitioner's spiritual artifact and, using the momentum to retreat, slid backward along the ground. The bones of his fists were already visible.
Before charging forward again, Zhu Lian grinned and said softly to Wei Xian behind him, "Let me give you a friendly warning: coming back to life after death costs Chen Ping'an's silver. Whether you care or not depends on each of us. But I advise you not to die lightly. I can't give you a reason for now, just a gut feeling. Believe it or not. If you don't care, you can bypass these annoying flies with their minor spells and go kill that Prince Liu Cong. I won't stop you."
Wei Xian seemed unwilling to accept the favor. "Can you hold off the soldiers from entering the temple for a moment?"
Zhu Lian had already stomped heavily, his body shooting like thunder. He changed direction several times and re-engaged with the accompanying cultivators and the soldiers supporting them.
It was obvious that Zhu Lian was not going to help with that.
Wei Xian punched a Daquan border soldier who was swinging his blade at his faceplate, smashing the man's chest armor inward. The body flew backward, knocking over a comrade behind him, who was crushed to death with blood streaming from his seven orifices.
Wei Xian took a moment to turn his head and look at Chen Ping'an. "To catch the bandits, catch the ringleader first. Should I give it a try?"
Chen Ping'an nodded in agreement.
Wei Xian took a deep breath and surged forward rapidly, slightly detouring around Zhu Lian's battlefield.
Zhu Lian snickered. "Good advice falls on deaf ears. First time in a while I've played the compassionate bodhisattva, and it's treated like wind past the ear. Such a world."
Chen Ping'an looked up again, staring straight at that peak.
Inside the ruined temple, Pei Qian was showing off her belongings to the little lotus flower man, having taken out her Multi-Treasure Box.
She had no guard against this silly, clumsy little lotus man. Apart from Chen Ping'an, it was the one being in this world she trusted the most.
But the little lotus man was distracted, often standing on tiptoe to look out the door at Chen Ping'an.
Pei Qian scowled and scolded, "What, you don't have faith in my dad? Did you lose an arm and go blind? Who's my dad? Would he lose? Let me tell you! Even if I, Pei Qian, somehow turn into a fool who doesn't like silver, my dad would never lose a fight to anyone!"
The little lotus man looked bewildered. What was the connection between those two things? He could never figure out what this dark-skinned, ill-tempered girl was thinking.
Chen Ping'an's voice came into the temple: "Use a twig to copy books and practice writing."
Pei Qian, who was squatting on the ground, felt as if struck by lightning. She surreptitiously slapped the little lotus man on the head, but didn't dare hit too hard, afraid that five hundred characters might become a thousand. She stood up, took the Walking Mountain Staff, and began writing passages from the sages on the ground. Every time she wrote a character, the little guy would bounce up, sink into the ground, then pop his head out beside the character, giggling. Pei Qian rolled her eyes many times, thinking, how can such an annoying little thing exist in the world? Is it an idiot? Ah, she'd better talk it over with Chen Ping'an later—sell it and buy a new book with the money, even that would do.
On the mountaintop, the river demon from Mai River was rubbing his hands, eager to try. "How about I go down and get some practice?"
Wang Qi pondered, undecided.
The burly man looked through the rain curtain. "In about a quarter of an hour, the rain will let up. By then, even if you beg me, I won't bother to move. Don't forget, I'm here this time not necessarily to help you kill anyone. I'm just here on my master's orders to monitor the situation. All I need to do is take the Sword-nurturing Gourd from Chen Ping'an's corpse and then I can wash my hands of it."
Of course, he also needed to help his master find that treasure that could obscure the heavenly mechanism.
As for how to find it—there was great subtlety.
This secret matter was something Wang Qi, a mere renegade Confucian academy gentleman, had no right to know.
The man secretly shifted his gaze, looking at Lu Baixiang holding his narrow-bladed knife in the distance.
After careful deliberation, Wang Qi nodded. "You may act, but don't reveal your true form. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain to the Dafu Academy afterward. That academy master is not easy to fool."
The man sneered. "Simple. Just say that I, the Mai River demon, was converted by you, abandoned evil for good, and want to request a water god's shrine from you and the Daquan court. So I'm willing to contribute and earn an orthodox status through merit. Why would that be hard to explain?"
Wang Qi smiled bitterly. "That seemingly reasonable story might fool Emperor Liu Zhen, but the academy master will never believe it. Enough. Do as I say: absolutely do not fight Chen Ping'an in your true demon form. Just force him to reveal a single opening..."
Wang Qi paused, murderous intent thick. "I want him to perish here, body and soul!"
The man shrugged. "Fine. I hope you follow through and kill this Chen Ping'an who's waiting for us to deliver ourselves. Don't just be all talk..."
At this, the burly man laughed heartily. "Almost forgot—you scholars' talk is the most formidable in this world. My apologies, my apologies."
Wang Qi didn't bother with this barbaric demon.
The Mai River demon didn't care whether he was noticed by those at the temple. He strode out, each step shaking the mountaintop, then shot out from the cliff edge, arcing through the air, and finally crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar.
Wang Qi sighed softly, a worried look on his face.
"Those who achieve the Golden Core are my true peers."
But people age like yellowing pearls; grass and trees flourish and wither. A Golden Core attained through immense hardship can also dim.
He, Wang Qi, had all his learning and had yet to realize his ambitions—how could he die? Especially for a Golden Core Qi practitioner, the limit of life and death was far more clear than for those ignorant commoners.
Counting the days until death—how agonizing.
It's coming.
Below that towering peak, the burly river demon had made such a loud crash. Chen Ping'an was not deaf; he was fully aware.
In his left hand, he held a randomly picked dead branch. His right hand patted the Sword-nurturing Gourd. First and Fifteen shot out from the gourd and vanished.
His right hand withdrew into his sleeve and pulled out a talisman: the Pagoda Subduing Demon Talisman, written by Zhong Kui on a golden-yellow talisman paper using the Small Snow Cone awl.
This rare talisman paper—the Wind Thunder Paper with dragon-claw seal patterns, one of three golden-yellow papers Zhong Kui had given Chen Ping'an—had originally been granted only to Biyou Prefecture by the Daquan court when it was established.
Chen Ping'an didn't yet know who the newcomer was.
But such was the coincidence of the world: a demon-subduing talisman written at Biyou Prefecture was just about to be used to subdue a demon from Mai River. Truly, the cycles of heaven are just.
As for First and Fifteen, they were deployed to block the rescue attempt of the gentleman Wang Qi from the mountaintop after Chen Ping'an had unleashed the Pagoda Subduing Demon Talisman and before he handed his sword thrust to the newcomer.
Standing on the mountaintop, the gentleman Wang Qi sighed in his heart. Truly, a single thought in the mind can give rise to both gods and demons.
He hoped this ambush would go smoothly. After this, he would obtain the immortal's oral formula pointing directly to the Great Way. Then he would no longer involve himself in worldly grudges. He would cultivate with all his heart, and one day become a vice academy master. Then he could compensate the Daquan Dynasty's mountain and river qi fortune a little.
---
A young Daoist priest wearing a hibiscus crown did not fly on the wind, but repeatedly used the technique of shrinking the earth. He soon left the Daquan Dynasty's border and arrived at the south of Beijin. Then he continued southward, choosing quiet, remote mountain forests and lakes. Without a sound, he finally stopped on a certain mountaintop and disappeared.
Underground, there was a hidden realm, seemingly an ancient buried road. The young Daoist walked another thousand li through it. This winding underground road had many forks, but he never hesitated in his direction.
Along the way, various eerie or magnificent underground phenomena failed to make him stop for even a moment.
He finally arrived before a dilapidated "mountain gate." The horizontal plaque was askew and half broken, leaving only the characters "Du Bie Gong" visible.
When he stepped inside, a faint sword aura rose and then abruptly vanished.
Broken walls and ruined pillars everywhere. The young Daoist walked slowly.
Eagle Fort, Biyou Prefecture, Fox Village.
Apart from the inn where Ninth Maiden was, the other two locations weren't particularly important. To be precise, Eagle Fort had once been extremely important, but now it was all smoke and mirrors from the past, something he didn't want to recall.
Later, during his travels in Tongye Continent, he had planted seeds everywhere without intention. Whether they would eventually bear fruit, this young Daoist didn't really care.
This scheme he was orchestrating in Tongye Continent—the great demons of the Fuzong Sect and Taiping Mountain were the key.
But when he discovered that someone with unknown origins kept appearing on the "Great Path" he had walked—
Once was coincidence. Twice was still coincidence. But three times?
He needed to be cautious. He mustn't be careless and end up losing so much of his soul energy that his true body—which used mountains as pillows back in his homeland—couldn't wake up for centuries. That would mean missing the unprecedented opportunity for territorial expansion and hegemony in ten thousand years. How could he secure unimaginably fertile territories for his family and descendants?
He kept warning himself like this in his heart.
At the end of the road in this abandoned palace was a site resembling an ancient Dragon-Sealing Platform. On it sat a white ape in tattered clothes, covered in blood and grime. An unstoppable fierce aura poured from it in torrents, but every time those solid, sword-bane qi wisps tried to drift off the huge stone platform, they were struck away by inexplicably appearing snow-white lightning bolts.
This was the sword-carrying white ape from Taiping Mountain, having fled here. But now, there was no longer any "sword-carrying."
The old ape asked hoarsely, "Why come looking for me here? Aren't you afraid we'll both die here?"
The young Daoist walked to the edge of the Dragon-Sealing Platform but did not step up. He smiled. "Don't worry. There's an old thing back in our homeland who once divined that you have good fortune. You won't die."
The old ape asked, "What exactly do you want to do?"
The old ape glanced at this fellow wearing a Daoist robe and a hibiscus crown. The more he looked, the more oppressive it felt.
Back then on Taiping Mountain, this man had somehow disguised himself and entered as a amnesiac youth. Spotted by a Taiping Mountain Golden Core cultivator, he was taken up the mountain, and by hiding his true nature, actually infiltrated the Patriarch Hall. He even obtained a direct disciple jade token. Before Huang Ting, the female Daoist, he had been the most promising cultivation genius on Taiping Mountain to reach the Jade Purity Realm and break the embarrassing hiatus. He was heavily favored.
The speed at which he achieved the Golden Core and then broke through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul had even shocked the Taiping Mountain Patriarch Hall. They specially found a heavy artifact to obscure the heavenly mechanism for him, to prevent the Tongye Sect and Yugui Sect from harboring ill intentions.
After successfully entering the Nascent Soul stage at a young age, he had always been tireless in slaying demons and monsters, earning a good reputation. One day, perhaps feeling the time was ripe or having suddenly seen the light, he found the white ape in the Well Prison, revealed his horrifying true identity, and ordered the sacred mountain's guardian white ape to deliberately release a great demon from the lower depths of the Well Prison. In the ensuing battle, both sides were severely wounded, and his primordial spirit was damaged. This young earth immortal, not yet a hundred years old, was reduced to a state of decline, decaying and decrepit, worse than an old Nascent Soul a thousand years old. After that, on the pretext of "Heaven never closes all doors," he descended the mountain to travel. Eventually, he engaged in a fierce battle with that Golden Core cultivator of the Fuzong Sect. The latter, at the cost of losing his reincarnation chance, summoned an ancient demon lord's avatar. In the end, the young Nascent Soul cultivator was reduced to ashes.
The Taiping Mountain Patriarch Hall jade token was gone. The heavy artifact that obscured the heavenly mechanism was destroyed.
This former most talented young Daoist of Taiping Mountain sat on the steps, his back to the white ape, smiling. "Zhong Kui and Huang Ting must die. Especially Zhong Kui. If he doesn't die, it's not just a matter of the Confucian school gaining another grand libationer of the academy. After the great war, when life is devastated, it will naturally be the turn of ghostly and demonic beings to roam the world. There's an old fellow back in our homeland who specializes in that. If the Confucian school has a Zhong Kui, then perhaps among our camp, there will be this many fewer of you."
He raised his arm high, extending three fingers, and emphasized, "At least!"
Then the young Daoist extended the remaining two fingers that were curled. "Actually, it's this many. I was afraid of scaring you earlier."
The white ape snorted dismissively, naturally not believing.
Five of himself? That would be five twelfth-realm sword cultivators!
Did that Zhong Kui, whom he had killed in three moves, have such ability?
The young Daoist lightly patted his knees with both hands. "Now, you're hiding like a rat, but at least there's hope. That Fuzong Sect fellow ruined my scheme and deserved to be chased to the sea. His fortune is far inferior to yours. Even if he enters the sea, he won't escape death. Now it depends on which of those two who are slowly catching up gets to pick up this easy prey. But a twelfth-realm cultivator's deathblow might still take someone with him. When I return to my homeland, I won't bother too much with his descendants."
The white ape frowned. "That Confucian sage guarding the sky dome of Tongye Continent can't even find me. How much harder would it be for him to find you? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
That sage, one of the seventy-two divine statues in the Confucian temple, whose duty was to supervise the movements of Tongye Continent, saw in his eyes nothing but scattered sparks of human fire—dense images of mid-five-realm Qi practitioners, martial grandmasters, and earthly kings and generals. But during the Taiping Mountain incident, the sage could only see two slightly larger fireflies exploding, and only then did he focus his divine ability on Taiping Mountain.
The divine watching over mountains and rivers was extremely difficult.
Especially between nations and continents, there were invisible natural barriers.
Atop the Head of Grain Mountain, the old scholar who doted so much on his closed-door disciple had only performed divination and deduction.
Unless the person being watched carried a refined item that could be tracked, then it would be much easier.
But if that person had an artifact to obscure the heavenly mechanism, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
The young Daoist clasped his hands behind his head and lay back on the steps. "To prevent Taiping Mountain from searching for my hibiscus crown in the Patriarch Hall, I deliberately damaged its quality. Originally, it could have lasted another fifty to sixty years. But now that the Confucian sage, who spent year after year in a heavenly confinement, has come to the mortal world early, it's hard to say. That sage, a companion deity in the Confucian temple, will definitely find me. The three great demons of Tongye Continent: Fox Village, Fuzong Sect, and you, the sword-carrying white ape on Taiping Mountain. There must be a mastermind behind it all. Before he finds me, I need to do a few more things. Since my schemes have failed and deviated greatly from my original expectations, I might as well annoy them a little more. For example, kill a Chen Ping'an, then a Huang Ting. No rush. We'll see."
The white ape was silent.
Conspiracies like these were not his forte.
The young Daoist smiled. "Being found out allows me to retain a sliver of a chance. But of course, I can't let them find me too easily, or the Confucian school will be suspicious. I have to make that Confucian sage work hard to find me, so it's seamless. Make them unravel the clues one by one. That young man named Chen Ping'an, or Huang Ting's death afterward, will be the threads. If I scurry back to my homeland with my tail between my legs, I'll have truly lost everything. When I return, I'll be in for a hard time. I might even be exiled to those mountains to fend for myself, or be made a slave for that blind one. Just thinking about it makes me a little worried."
The white ape, recalling the ancient legends of the Wildlands World, also felt a chill.
The young Daoist clicked his tongue. "I do miss the taste of home. Here, I'm too constrained. I have to guard against the Confucian sage watching from above, and also fear that mysterious Guandao Temple's temple master. It's very hard. If it weren't for the latter, my layout in Tongye Continent would have been much easier; I wouldn't have needed to deliberately avoid him. Huang Ting was lucky, with me as a precedent. She was thrown into the Daoist temple by our hot-tempered patriarch. If I could, I'd really like to meet that stinking Daoist..."
His words stopped abruptly.
Over by the ruined temple, Pei Qian suddenly covered her eyes and rolled on the ground. Between her fingers, it seemed as if sunlight and moonlight were bursting forth.
Moments later, near the Dragon-Sealing Platform in this underground separate palace, a tall old Daoist appeared, sneering, "Oh?"
---
On the western sea of Tongye Continent.
A great demon, having revealed its thousand-zhang true body, stirred up towering waves as it fled madly.
Behind it, several figures followed on the wind.
At sea, there was a sword cultivator in a foul mood.
He was unwilling to be anyone's damned guardian, yet deep down, he was somewhat worried that the chaos in Tongye Continent would engulf that young man on whom Xiao Qi had placed all his hopes.
Unwilling to show himself in the mortal world, he was wandering the sea on his sword to clear his mind.
Wavering left and right, unable to decide.
Coincidentally, the sword cultivator's name was Zuo You.
He spotted the injured great demon that had wisely changed its escape route.
But his mood was so bad that he sent out a single sword strike.
He killed it with one blow.