Chapter 1004: Give It a Try
With one hand pressing against the Barbaric Wild World, Li Saint’s dharma image pulled one foot back, stepping down onto a talisman mountain as a support point.
Countless millions of golden talismans within the mountain surged up like wildly growing vines, wrapping around Li Saint’s ankle. In an instant, the nearly shattered and majestic dharma image recovered its original form, returning to its peak state.
Li Saint raised his other hand, fingers spread open, and a golden circular mirror appeared. Rings of inscribed characters were the lifeblood words of the sages worshipped in successive generations of the Literary Temple.
Each golden character, spinning like a vortex, tugged at the stars that later celestial charts had classified as constellations, drawing countless rays of light from afar, all converging into the vortex.
At the same time, from the Haoran World’s side, golden threads rose into the sky, tracing arcs—each arc formed by a complete text of a sage’s book.
With just this single “contact,” the celestial winds beyond the heavens shuddered violently, like massive waves piling up, layer upon layer. Inside the grand formation, Zheng Juzhong and his group felt the fierce shaking of a world-stacking array. If Chen Ping’an hadn’t had the physique of a Martial Artist at the Ultimate Realm, just this collision alone—caught in the surging flow of energy as the formation’s overseer—would have caused him to drop in realm.
From the side, the group of ancient Barbarian demons watching from the sidelines, lacking the protection of the formation, could barely maintain their footing.
If any earthly immortal Qi refiner were to set foot on that great path beyond the heavens, facing that tidal wave, they would likely have no means of resistance; their life would be extinguished in an instant, body and soul annihilated completely.
Hu Tu’s style was rather pragmatic; unwilling to waste spiritual energy or wear down his own treasures, he simply went to stand behind the Nameless One and Li Gou, who stood shoulder to shoulder.
The other ancient demons followed suit, instantly forming a line like flying geese.
The bamboo-hatted old Daoist with the style name Shanjun no longer rode his white deer but stood atop its back, looking into the distance. He continuously waved his whisk, deflecting the unceasing torrent of celestial wind that rushed toward them.
Li Gou, having the highest defensive power among the demons, remained unmoving even at the front of the line. Only the sleeves of his dharma robe flapped noisily. Unlike the other demons, Li Gou—whose style name was “Feiqian”—had a deep connection in ancient times with the “Scholar,” with the most interactions. Hence, ten thousand years later, seeing that Little Master again, Li Gou’s feelings were the most complex.
The Nameless One shook his wine flask and sighed with genuine admiration, “Truly worthy of the Little Master.”
In this resistance against the Barbaric Wild World, though Li Saint had borrowed power, it was only after the collision that his dharma image nearly shattered, without him having to use his true body yet. This showed the toughness of Li Saint’s physical form.
This short, robust man—whose offensive power exceeded even that of the sword immortal Bai Jing—admitted that if he were to face Li Saint, he couldn’t fight him; he simply wouldn’t stand a chance.
Though they were from opposing camps, this didn’t hinder his respect for Li Saint in the least.
Li Gou asked through telepathy, “How hard was that collision? Can we estimate it?”
The Nameless One thought for a moment. “If we imagine being rammed head-on by an entire world and treat it as a clash between two pure martial artists, it’s hard to say what the upper limit is. As for the lower limit, I have some idea—it’s at least the full-force slap of a Dao Ancestor? Or the combined, all-out attacks of that Military Sage?”
And this was just the lower limit the Nameless One estimated; the gap from the lower limit to the upper limit could be vast.
After ten thousand years, witnessing Li Saint’s blocking methods firsthand, Guan Yi said wryly, “If not for Lord Bai Ze being there, who could have stopped the Little Master from going on a killing spree in the Barbaric Wild World?”
Li Gou said expressionlessly, “The Barbaric Wild World isn’t just Bai Ze.”
Guan Yi shook his head. “Fei Ran? Shou Chen, Zhou Qinggao, and the others? Still too young.”
The Nameless One lifted his chin. “Look over there. The main players are showing up.”
Guan Yi strained her eyes and used an ancient secret technique to peer through the chaotic celestial disturbances. She finally spotted, in a remote wilderness area in the heart of the Barbaric Wild World, two cultivators on an unremarkable mountain ridge—one standing, one sitting.
Besides Bai Ze, there was a strange face: a withered-looking, emaciated young girl. She sat on the ground, staring blankly up at Li Saint.
For some reason, this “girl” looked like a criminal who had suffered the punishment of branding. On one cheek, someone had used an awl to tattoo a character: the ancient golden script for “Burn.”
When Bai Ze found the girl, she called herself Gui Ke.
To be precise, she hadn’t deliberately hidden her traces; it was as if she had actively revealed herself, making it easy for Bai Ze to find her.
Otherwise, with her kind of existence, if she consciously avoided the probing of great cultivators, even if the Three Teachings’ Ancestors sought her in their own worlds, it would be like a mortal trying to find a silent mosquito in a room full of clutter.
She and Bai Ze communicated in ancient language. “With such a good opportunity, you’re not going to act?”
If Bai Ze were willing to use this chance to target Li Saint, he might even force the latter to scatter his Dao before the Three Teachings’ Ancestors.
Bai Ze shook his head. “As long as Li Saint doesn’t borrow power to strike back at the Barbaric Wild World, I have no reason to act.”
If Li Saint directed part of that collision force into the mountains and rivers of the Barbaric Wild World, countless fractures would inevitably appear.
Gui Ke frowned slightly, clearly not understanding Bai Ze’s choice. She shook her head. “As long as one is a Qi refiner, no matter what their personality, who doesn’t want a higher realm? Why do you willingly become the exception?”
In her view, Bai Ze and Li Saint were both candidates for the Ten Greats of antiquity. Once the Three Teachings’ Ancestors scattered their Daos, since Chen Qing of the Sword Qi Great Wall was already dead, and Sanshan Jiuhou had never seemed interested in reaching the pinnacle of realms, only Bai Ze and Li Saint remained to contend for the throne of the number one under the heavens.
“Don’t misunderstand. My not acting has nothing to do with friendship with Li Saint,” Bai Ze explained with a smile. “You were born at the dawn of the Barbaric World, so you don’t know this Little Master’s temper. If he’s truly provoked, as you’ve thought, even if we managed to force Li Saint to scatter his Dao directly—never mind that before that, the Barbaric World’s territory would inevitably be shattered, riddled with irreparable holes, and the demons on the land would suffer heavy losses—Li Saint would surely choose to scatter half his Dao in Haoran and half in the Barbaric Wild. I might be fine; it wouldn’t affect me much. But you, and the entire Barbaric Wild World, would face a long, bleak period of discontinuity. After that, all Qi refiners who ascend the mountains to cultivate would be suppressed by the newly formed ‘Way of Heaven’ left by Li Saint’s dispersed Dao, forced to bear an invisible restraint. Another outcome: if Li Saint were a bit more ruthless and scattered his Dao entirely in the Barbaric Wild, then people like Li Gou and Guan Yi—the Flying Ascension realm cultivators—would find it vastly more difficult to harmonize with the Dao at the fourteenth realm; the threshold would become much higher.”
Gui Ke tilted her head, even more puzzled. If that was the case, if Li Saint were truly as selfless as legend said, why not just scatter his Dao entirely in the Barbaric Wild?
Sacrifice oneself for the benefit of all worlds—isn’t that what scholars love most?
Bai Ze, like a school tutor patiently explaining to an ignorant child, said again to Gui Ke, “First of all, Li Saint, who has harmonized his Dao with the entire time and geography of Haoran, would affect Haoran’s world greatly if he scattered his Dao. Qi refiners and mortals, on the mountains and below—no one can escape. For hundreds or thousands of years afterward, the entire Haoran world would experience immeasurable turmoil. Once ritual and music collapse, and people’s hearts scatter, rebuilding ritual order would be incredibly difficult—ten or even a hundred times harder than a secular dynasty simply reunifying its territory on a map. Secondly, on the surface, Li Saint scattering his Dao would certainly hurt the Barbaric Wild in the short term—the war’s early and middle stages would become utterly unwinnable, with retreat after retreat, and perhaps more than half of its territory would fall into Haoran’s hands. However, during this time, whether on the mountains or below, if the Barbaric Wild continues to resist, causing casualties on both sides—especially among great cultivators like Guan Yi—every time one dies, since I’ve left Xiongzhen Tower in the Central Lands of Haoran, I can no longer refuse the arrival of those true names. So my cultivation realm would steadily rise. In the end, regardless of my own wishes, I would be forced into… the fifteenth realm.”
The biggest beneficiary—perhaps the only one—would be Zhou Mi, who only needed to stand by and watch from the heavens.
It’s like an exchange of pieces on a chessboard.
Trading Bai Ze of the Barbaric Wild for Li Saint of Haoran.
As for the chaos caused in both worlds during this exchange, Zhou Mi would surely only be happy to see it happen. Even if all pieces on the board were captured, as long as the board remained, the future “world’s” Zhou Mi could simply replace them with two new sets of pieces. The countless billions of lives—human or demon—meant nothing to Zhou Mi.
Gui Ke asked the biggest question in her heart: “Bai Ze, ten thousand years ago, at that riverside council, why were you unwilling to take over the Barbaric Wild?”
If Bai Ze had been willing to become the master of a world, in principle, no one could have stopped him.
Bai Ze’s innate divine ability—being able to grant and confiscate true names voluntarily—meant he could have reaped the benefits without lifting a finger. He even had more qualification to enter the fifteenth realm than the current sword immortal Fei Ran or the former Grand Ancestor of Tuoyue Mountain, becoming the sovereign of the Barbaric Wild.
Bai Ze was silent for a moment, his expression bitter. “Dao heart doesn’t match.”
“Once I harmonize with the Barbaric Wild, due to the inherent nature of the Barbaric demon race, I would eventually have my Dao heart backlashed by this world.”
“The secret scheme of Chu Sheng would emerge, and no one could stop that tendency from bearing fruit. Within at most three thousand years, the entire Barbaric Wild World would become increasingly barren, with the world’s spiritual energy gathered in the hands of a small clique of peak Qi refiners. At that point, whether willingly or not, that other Bai Ze might truly lead a dozen fourteenth-realm cultivators and over a hundred Flying Ascension cultivators to frequently raid other worlds, forcibly seizing more soil and living beings from the other three worlds.”
In fact, before that riverside council, Bai Ze had asked the Dao Ancestor to help run a divination.
The rough result was that a group of fourteenth-realm cultivators, including the Three Teachings’ Ancestors, would have to join hands to annihilate the Barbaric Wild.
And this annihilation was literal: the Barbaric Wild World would cease to exist.
All worlds would be severely wounded. The remnants of ancient gods hiding beyond the heavens and reincarnating in the mortal world would rise again from the ashes. Ghosts could not be suppressed, and the growing extraterrestrial demons could not be contained…
Gui Ke sighed. “It seems things always turn out contrary to our wishes.”
Bai Ze smiled. “That’s why we must cherish the goodness we each hold in our hearts.”
She smiled. “That sounds like something the ‘Scholar’ would say.”
No matter what, being with Bai Ze was still much easier than being by Zhou Mi’s side.
Bai Ze crouched down, casually grabbed a handful of soil, and lightly shook his palm. Numerous tiny particles floated in his hand—extremely fine soil grains, all perfectly still.
Then Bai Ze reached out, picked up a small pebble, and gently placed it among the soil particles. In that process, it already squeezed out a considerable number of debris particles.
Gui Ke turned her head, not understanding Bai Ze’s meaning.
Bai Ze said, “For cultivators seeking freedom, there are only two paths. One is to be immersed within it: with high realm, you’re like a pebble, seemingly able to do as you please—gathering or scattering the soil particles around you.”
As that pebble slowly moved, it gradually absorbed the soil debris based on itself, like accumulating earth into a mountain, growing larger and larger.
At the same time, the surrounding soil particles began to move forcibly in disorderly trajectories—some drawn closer by the pebble’s rotation, others pushed outward. Those moving particles in turn caused the movement of even smaller particles around them, like ripples expanding outward. Finally, the originally still particles above Bai Ze’s palm, even the outermost soil debris at the so-called boundary of the world, all began to move.
“They say the mind is like a wild ape or galloping horse, most unstable. But in truth, the only thing in this world that can truly remain absolutely still is the Dao heart.”
Bai Ze again picked up that pebble, clenched it in his fist, raised his arm, bent his fingers, and gently twisted, crushing all the soil wrapped around the stone, letting it fall back above the other palm. Then he tossed the pebble far away. “The second kind of pure freedom is like this: the existence of the pebble itself no longer has any relationship with this world.”
Bai Ze suddenly asked, “How did Zhou Mi find you back then?”
Gui Ke’s expression darkened. It was clear she still felt some lingering fear. She hesitated, then only gave a vague answer. “Zhou Mi waited by the tree sixteen times, all successful. I couldn’t escape.”
The Hall of Heroes, which only those who ascended to the throne could sit in, and Tuoyue Mountain—both had been successive cages that imprisoned her incarnations, or rather, her “divine master.”
After all, their true bodies were the entire world.
This kind of imprisonment was somewhat like detaining a portion of a Qi refiner’s soul; it could only cause her Dao to be incomplete, but could not completely suppress her, much less kill her.
The only way for beings like them to perish was the complete disappearance of a world—such as the total collapse of a world, with all living beings dead and no vitality left.
The first time she escaped, it was when the Dao Ancestor rode his ox into the pass and visited the Hall of Heroes built by the great demon Chu Sheng. She managed to flee from the bottom.
In return, she only needed to refrain from allying with the Grand Ancestor of Tuoyue Mountain.
After that, she voluntarily underwent body dissolution, reincarnated many times, hid for years, but ultimately still had her trail found by that Zhou Mi. He caught her and threw her back to Tuoyue Mountain.
As the Barbaric Wild World grew more stable, her cultivation had actually improved greatly compared to the first time she was caught—it was worlds apart. Yet she was still blocked and caught by Zhou Mi sixteen times, handed over to the Grand Ancestor of Tuoyue Mountain, who had never managed to reach the fifteenth realm.
So the second time she escaped was when that last hidden official of the Sword Qi Great Wall cleaved Tuoyue Mountain with his sword.
Fei Ran, the new sovereign of the world, received secret instructions from Zhou Mi to demand that she fulfill the contract made in earlier times.
She needed to create a time vortex in a certain part of the Barbaric Wild, ensuring that two branches of the river appeared.
For beings like her, every stable mountain immortal abode that gathered spiritual energy, and every bustling mortal city, was an invisible “branding punishment.”
Hence, the more deeply rooted the mountain Dao fields, and the more prosperous the dynasties, the more they were like festering sores on her body, full of pus.
Even though the Sword Qi Great Wall had stood for ten thousand years, and that fourteenth-realm old blind man had taken away the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains from the Barbaric Wild’s territory—thereby cutting off two parts of her Dao—as long as Zhou Mi hadn’t interfered, in the early days of the four worlds, Gui Ke’s previous incarnation could have become the most powerful existence, even having the chance to step into the fifteenth realm ahead of others and reclaim the authority of heaven and earth.
But because their fundamental meaning, from birth to coexistence with heaven and earth, was a “necessity to maintain self’s purity,” they naturally rejected intercourse between worlds.
So, back then, even when that all-knowing old fox, Zhou Mi, assured her that if they cooperated, he could guarantee she would devour that “colleague” from the Haoran World, thereby strengthening and widening her own Dao, she remained skeptical.
She still feared falling into an awkward position where she could neither advance nor retreat—just as Qi refiners feared contamination by the mortal world, she feared the stalemate between two worlds more. Perhaps it was precisely her indecision and lack of decisiveness that led to her current fate: first thrown into Tuoyue Mountain by Zhou Mi, and without her help, Zhou Mi failed to annex the Haoran World. He chose to ascend into the sky and take over the ancient heavenly court, leaving her to fall to such a state.
Thinking back to that time when they traveled together to Tuoyue Mountain, the man in Confucian robes who had carved that character on her cheek had smiled and said, “Cooperation benefits both; division harms both. The logic is simple, but your heart doesn’t believe it, so there’s nothing to be done. But trust me, you’ll regret it later. Unfortunately, between people, differences in nature have always been no less than the gulf between heaven and earth; it’s the hardest thing to reason about. That is the biggest difference between us and the gods and extraterrestrial demons.”
Zhou Mi’s departure had drained the Barbaric Wild World of a great deal of its foundation, especially the loss of top combat power, which had far-reaching effects. For instance, of the original fourteen old throne seats, very few remained now.
Moreover, Liu Cha and Yang Zhi were still imprisoned by the Literary Temple. The only great demons who actually returned alive to the Barbaric Wild were the Mountain-Moving Grand Ancestor Zhu Yan and the new master of Yeluolake, Fei Fei. The rest were either killed in battle, eaten by Zhou Mi, or vanished without a trace.
One man bled a world thin to fatten himself alone.
This was the upper, middle, and lower strategies that Zhou Mi and the Grand Ancestor of Tuoyue Mountain had openly discussed earlier. The current situation was the Barbaric Wild’s lower strategy but Zhou Mi’s upper.
If not for Bai Ze’s return to the Barbaric Wild, immediately waking this group of ancient demons like Bai Jing to fill some gaps, then with the Haoran World’s ferry strongholds, their advance would likely have been described as unstoppable.
Li Saint stood on that talisman mountain, repeatedly extending his hand to block the Barbaric Wild World, as if he were repeatedly turning a ship’s prow.
Because Li Saint blocked the way, the Barbaric Wild World’s momentum along its predetermined trajectory gradually slowed.
Li Saint’s single dharma image, colossal as it was, compared to an entire world, was truly like the size ratio of a person to a multi-story ship.
Looking at the disparity in scale alone—it wasn’t so insignificant as an ant shaking a tree or a mantis blocking a chariot—but still made onlookers’ hearts tremble.
No matter their camp, everyone shared the same question: Could he really block it?
Yu Xuan watched with bated breath. Building a house with fixed quantities of wood and bricks—setting aside practicality—can be either large or small.
But before them, Li Saint’s dharma image was like a precisely calculated and assembled precision instrument. If the volume was too large, it wouldn’t be stable; it might fall apart after a few collisions. Even if the image could disassemble and reassemble repeatedly, every retreat by Li Saint brought this ferry closer to the orderly Haoran World. If the image was too small, it wouldn’t have enough contact area with the Barbaric Wild World. While it could possibly puncture the ferry’s hull and shatter countless parts of the Barbaric Wild, that would cause the Dao rules of both worlds to mix, leading to Bai Ze’s intervention and turning this into a Dao confrontation between Li Saint and Bai Ze. Eventually, no matter whether the two worlds “border” each other, it would be a case of the snipe and the clam grappling, with the fisherman profiting. One move affecting the whole: Li Saint scattering his Dao first would create variables in the Ultimate Saint Teacher’s scattering of Dao, which would in turn affect the other two of the Three Teachings’ Ancestors. Ultimately, the plan to seal the new ancient heavenly court as the Three Teachings’ Ancestors expected would be riddled with even more variables.
Lu Yan sighed. The reason such a constrained situation arose was still Zhou Mi’s scheming. Li Saint’s true enemy was only half the Barbaric Wild; the other half was the very rules Li Saint himself had created.
Otherwise, Lu Yan had once, beyond the heavens, personally witnessed Li Saint in his true peak state. Back then, a group of ancient gods hiding beyond the heavens, led by the Armored One, tried to enter the Haoran World. Li Saint’s dharma image was so enormous that the entire Haoran World was as small as a pearl, protected by Li Saint’s single hand. The reason for such a difference in scale was that Li Saint had to both block the Barbaric Wild World and not involve Haoran’s ritual order. He had to essentially remove himself from Haoran—an act second only to scattering his Dao.
Li Xisheng had already seen the signs and breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as Bai Ze didn’t enter the game, it wasn’t the worst outcome.
To some extent, Bai Ze and that existence symbolizing the manifestation of the Barbaric Wild’s Dao were working together with Li Saint, trying to achieve a result where well water and river water don’t mix.
He pointed at the Barbaric Wild World and explained to Chen Ping’an, “Except for the first impact when Li Saint blocked the Barbaric World, which was like a mild earthquake, all sentient beings in the Barbaric Wild would feel something wrong and slight dizziness. But afterward, Bai Ze and that existence joined forces to set up a formation, adding a layer of protection to the Barbaric World. When Li Saint struck later, he never actually touched the Barbaric land; a buffer zone more than a hundred miles long appeared. For the Barbaric World, aside from those sharp-sensed peak cultivators, this celestial phenomenon was no longer detectable.”
Chen Ping’an finally understood why Zhou Mi had chosen to act exactly at this time.
Just like when Chen Ping’an had encountered Yuan Pang and two others on the night boat. At that time, their duty was to assist the Literary Temple in verifying and redefining standards of time, weight, length, etc. It must have been that the Literary Temple had finally created the initial objects of measurement. And Li Saint must have accepted several concretized fundamental rules into his own Dao, causing the Barbaric World ferry to enter that celestial “Green Path.”
Zheng Juzhong stood at the highest point of the Glazed Pavilion, making silent calculations. In his heart lake, there were originally two orbs connected by nearly a hundred rays of light—one a straight, shortest trajectory, one a huge arc with the farthest route. The “Green Path” chosen by the great demon Chu Sheng was an unremarkable route: neither near nor far, neither short nor long, generating neither too much nor too little inertia… Zheng Juzhong glanced at Chen Ping’an, who sensed it and nodded.
In Chen Ping’an’s heart lake, a complete Green Path trajectory supplemented by Zheng Juzhong appeared, along with a map of the Barbaric World’s situation. Several glaring points of light on the map, based on their distribution, clearly indicated the Haoran World’s strongholds in the Barbaric Wild.
At the same time, Zheng Juzhong helped solve a mystery in Chen Ping’an’s mind. Although after returning to Haoran, Chen Ping’an had deliberately avoided learning about the war in the Barbaric Wild, he always felt something was odd. The Literary Temple, favoring stability, had several Return-to-Void ferry strongholds. In terms of expanding territory and advancing speed, it seemed too slow—almost like an old man hobbling along, not a young man in full armor wielding weapons. So far, there hadn’t been a single large-scale battlefield confrontation between the two armies.
Clearly, the Literary Temple had been secretly setting up formations.
It was likely that all the “accompanying army cultivators” at the peaks, including Dragon-Tiger Mountain’s Grand Heavenly Master Zhao Tianlai, Fire Dragon True Man, and all other Flying Ascension cultivators, had been serving as… laborers all these years.
No wonder the Ultimate Saint Teacher, back in the Demon-Suppressing Tower, had asked Chen Ping’an a strange question: if you were Zhou Mi, how would you target Li Saint?
After receiving Chen Ping’an’s answer, the Ultimate Saint Teacher didn’t seem too surprised.
The talisman mountain under Li Saint’s foot, with its countless golden talismans, had all gone completely dim.
Repeatedly extending his hand to withstand the Barbaric World’s collisions, and slowly turning the boat’s prow, the price Li Saint paid was the condensation of his dharma image. Even with the continuous gain from a talisman mountain’s millions of talismans, it inevitably grew thinner and more diluted—like a painting where the brushstrokes went from thickly inked to light ink, eventually dry ink.
The ferry, charging along the Green Path toward the Haoran World, had visibly deviated from its trajectory.
Every time Li Saint struck, a sound like a great bell or cauldron rang out beyond the heavens, deafening. Ripples of Dao energy spread through the endless void.
Because the intervals between ripples were too short, even great demons like Guan Yi had to mobilize their lifebound objects to stabilize their Dao hearts.
Hu Tu was a bit gleeful, clicking his tongue. “Pity the Little Master; he can only stand there and take it? Looks like a blacksmith hammering iron; it’s too exhausting.”
Thinking back, among those scholars in ancient times, the Little Master had been so dashing and vigorous. He remembered once, a senior ancient demon who was also a sword immortal somehow angered the Little Master, who then single-handedly found the former’s lair and beat him to death. At that time, there was another demon cultivator, no slouch in realm or skill, but he didn’t dare to help. He actively retreated far away and watched the Little Master walk away carrying a bloody head. Before leaving, the Little Master threw three words at the onlookers: “Don’t collect the corpse.”
Among those onlookers were Hu Tu and Zhu Yan, who later luckily earned the title of Mountain-Moving Grand Ancestor.
Truly, no one dared to “collect the corpse.” Otherwise, it would have been less like helping with the burial and more like scavenging. The incomplete corpse of a peak Flying Ascension demon cultivator was undoubtedly a treasure mountain, usable for refining. Besides the corpse, there was also the Dao intent stored within. If refined in time, it would be like having an extra or even several ancient Dao lineage techniques.
That demon body, which eventually became a majestic “mountain range,” only became claimed property after the riverside council when the worlds were divided and the location was assigned to the Barbaric World.
In the end, it was still taken by Zhu Yan, and the Mountain-Moving Grand Ancestor refined the entire mountain range, containing a sword path, into a long sword.
Hu Tu’s grin grew richer. “Really never thought that in the ten thousand years we were gone, the Barbaric World could produce a Zhou Mi.”
Making this once arrogant Little Master so aggrieved—what a pleasure. Just watching was satisfying.
Still, to be safe, Hu Tu cast a technique to isolate heaven and earth when he made his sarcastic remarks.
Hu Tu was inexplicably hit with an elbow and sent flying backward for thousands of miles, his nose collapsing entirely. Without any hesitation, Hu Tu didn’t even have time to thank the Nameless One. His body instantly scattered into countless streams of black smoke, spreading out like a huge net cast over the earth. Those black smoke streams madly surged toward the Barbaric World.
A “talisman” hovered at the spot Hu Tu had originally stood—at about the height of his neck.
This talisman had no paper; it was just a single golden character: “Slash.”
A few nearby great demons knew the power of this talisman. If it had struck Hu Tu, it would have taken root in his true body, particularly entangling his demon true name.
The Nameless One put away his wine flask, smiled, and cupped his hands in apology, addressing Sanshan Jiuhou from afar: “Couldn’t resist. Forgive me, forgive me. For the sake of sharing a drink once, don’t take it to heart.”
A single “Slash” word instantly transformed into eight straight golden lines, which twisted together into a rope, flying back into the sleeve of the young cultivator.
The Nameless One showed a momentary daze. In very early times, though there were life-and-death internal struggles between great cultivators of various races on the mortal land, generally speaking, the most outstanding group of cultivators—regardless of their Dao roots or vastly different origins—didn’t have tense relationships. There was even an atmosphere of ease unimaginable in later ages. Li Gou, for example, had a cordial relationship with that group of scholars; their friendship was quite good. If measured by later mountain standards, Li Gou could be considered half of the Ultimate Saint Teacher’s unregistered disciple.
And this Nameless One who threw the punch to save Hu Tu from disaster was also familiar with Sanshan Jiuhou, who had released the Slash character talisman, and with Bixiao Cave Lord of the Fallen Treasure Beach. In ancient times, they had fought side by side multiple times against the gods who patrolled the land and slaughtered earthly immortals at will.
On the Barbaric land, on the mountain peak, the young girl-like Gui Ke raised a withered hand and lightly pounded her chest.
The great formations that the Haoran World had set up in several places in the Barbaric Wild had been activated, causing her heart-stabbing pain.
Bai Ze reached out and patted her arm, and Gui Ke’s brow relaxed slightly.
As Hu Tu was about to land on the Barbaric ground, secretly rejoicing, Bai Ze shook his head helplessly. Of all people to provoke, you had to provoke Sanshan Jiuhou.
And Hu Tu’s most foolish mistake was returning to the earth so soon. Was the soil of the Barbaric World not still the soil of the mortal world?
Just as tens of thousands of strands of black smoke were about to coalesce, and Hu Tu’s foot was nearly touching the ground, this great demon keenly sensed something was terribly wrong—only a hair’s breadth away. He immediately lifted his foot, but unexpectedly, the Barbaric land for a thousand li around suddenly undulated like water ripples, instantly trapping Hu Tu’s ankle. Hu Tu wailed inwardly, trying another innate escape technique, but it was futile, as if he were being pulled in by a huge whirlpool—or rather, dragged up the mountain. The next moment, Hu Tu found himself, horrified, beside that young cultivator. He swallowed his saliva, not knowing how to begin.
Sanshan Jiuhou said calmly, “Not going to apologize to Li Saint?”
Hu Tu’s face turned green in an instant, then quickly changed expression, forcing a smile, and made a proper bow to Li Saint ahead. “I spoke recklessly. Here I am, obediently apologizing to the Little Master.”
Being targeted by two fourteenth-realm cultivators simultaneously—the feeling was easy to imagine.
Bai Ze looked up at the sky beyond, hesitated, then decided not to say anything. Hu Tu deserved to suffer a bit.
Earlier, the Yeluolake demons gathered, discussed matters, and dispersed. Among them, the bamboo-hatted old Daoist, Hu Tu, and the old crone secretly acted on their own. At the start of this spring, they made a trip to the border of the Sunken Sun Return-to-Void ferry. Believing that with their strength alone, even if they couldn’t sweep the ferry, they could come and go freely? On the way, they planned to kill a few hundred thousand Haoran mortal soldiers to show the younger generation like Fei Ran. But halfway there, the bamboo-hatted old Daoist cast a divination. Looking at the hexagram, he already had doubts. After two more divinations, his mood grew heavier. Still, out of face, he accompanied Hu Tu and the crone onward. The bamboo-hatted old Daoist was cautious, so he first caught two demon cultivators on the way—a Jade Pure realm and an Immortal realm. He threw the Jade Pure realm one out as bait to charge the formation. At a garrison of some great dynasty in the Central Lands of the Haoran World, before they could act, they were detected and intercepted on the spot.
Later, Hu Tu and the others had the remaining Immortal realm demon specialize in intercepting Haoran scouts and small cavalry units. It had some effect; they killed several waves of so-called accompanying army cultivators, who were as insignificant as ants. Under the bamboo-hatted old Daoist’s deductions, this Immortal realm demon, like a puppet on strings, deliberately hid its cultivation and realm, moving around to assassinate the troops of remote dynasty garrisons, specifically killing mortal generals and their accompanying cultivators. After about a month, just as that Immortal realm demon sneakily showed its face, an old true person in an embroidered dragon Daoist robe cooked it alive with two fire dragons from a thousand li away, leaving not even a trace of ash. Worse, the three bamboo-hatted cultivators nearly fell into an encirclement—truly just a hair away.
Relying on the warning from a semi-refined ancient divine weapon, the bamboo-hatted old Daoist decisively and quickly retreated. Sure enough, no sooner had they left than several great Haoran cultivators appeared at their original hiding spot: besides the Fire Dragon True Man, said to be from Beiju Continent, there was a sword-bearing Daoist in yellow-purple robe, two sword immortals, and a formidable female martial artist.
Apart from that group of revealed Haoran top experts, the old crone also keenly detected several hidden auras still on the way, thanks to the subtle ripples in worldly spiritual energy. Probably because they had missed the target, each withdrew.
Gui Ke asked, “Why is Sanshan Jiuhou so firmly on Li Saint’s side?”
Bai Ze smiled. “Actually, in earlier times, they didn’t have a good relationship—not at all. I even mediated between them.”
Some friendships are like meeting old friends at first sight, drinking strong liquor—like Bai Ze and the Little Master.
Some relationships require a pot of wine simmered over a slow fire—that would be Li Saint and Sanshan Jiuhou.
After the Heaven Ascension campaign, in the ancient era when the world was initially settled and gradually became peaceful—about seven or eight thousand years ago—Li Saint once made an attempt. He specially invited Sanshan Jiuhou to come out of seclusion and help create a “New Ritual” for the Haoran World.
In the end, worldly affairs can be divided into matters of the living and matters of the dead. Obviously, Li Saint and Sanshan Jiuhou were responsible for each respectively.
Thus, the latter set up a stele to proclaim to the underworld, inscribed with seven large characters: “In Peaceful Universe, Slay the Stubborn.”
And Lu Chen also compared those ghost immortals hiding on the underworld road—like the great demon Wu Ti of Xianzan City—to “stubborn” beings.
This was clearly meant to target ghosts causing trouble in the world, especially the enlightened ghost immortals. Vast and myriad phenomena; heaven’s net is vast, sparse but never missing.
But in fact, during that long ancient era, Sanshan Jiuhou had an excellent relationship with the world’s first ghost cultivator, one of the Ten Greats.
One could even say that, to some extent, Sanshan Jiuhou was the true protector of all ghosts and spirits in later ages.
Zheng Juzhong spoke telepathically to Li Xisheng and the talisman master Yu Xuan at the same time.
A moment later, each did their own mental calculations, producing three results—rough locations at different latitudes and longitudes on the Barbaric World, with some deviations between them.
Based on this, Zheng Juzhong did an independent calculation.
Soon, at Jincui City on the Barbaric World, a seemingly obscure advisor who was in truth the city’s real master disappeared.
Bai Ze narrowed his eyes. Most of his attention today had been on the Lord of Baidi City.
Bai Ze suddenly said telepathically, “Gui Ke, immediately locate Hu Tu’s true body’s exact position.”
Gui Ke hesitated. Considering Bai Ze had helped her earlier, she nodded.
Beyond the heavens, without turning his head, Li Saint smiled while still holding back the Barbaric World, “The true body isn’t here? That’s not enough sincerity, is it?”
After all, he was an ancient great demon who had lived over ten millennia. His survival skills wouldn’t be poor. If offensive power was lacking, escape made up for it.
Hu Tu braced himself and said, “Truly I dare not face Li Saint with my true body.”
Li Saint nodded. “At least you spoke honestly.”
Hu Tu’s voice trembled slightly, but he said something thick-skinned: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave. I don’t dare delay Li Saint’s actions.”
Li Saint smiled and proposed, “How about you give it a try?”
It saves you from standing there and making glib comments.
Before Hu Tu could “politely decline” the invitation, his Dao heart shook.
It was Bai Ze who had first called out Hu Tu’s true name, saying gravely, “Abandon this incarnation immediately! Hurry!”
But before Hu Tu could make any move, Li Saint beckoned with a hand, and his entire body shot forward like lightning.
Li Saint caught Hu Tu’s incarnation’s head, applied a little force, forced this Barbaric great demon to reveal his “true body,” then casually pressed it onto the Barbaric World ferry.
With the collision, Hu Tu’s incarnation and the Barbaric World made contact in an instant, like a small flower splashing blood blooming on a rocky cliff.
From afar, Zheng Juzhong watched the scattered blood spray. He curled his finger, lightly hooked, and the blood condensed into a fine thread, falling into Zheng Juzhong’s palm. With a slight shake of his hand, that blood thread turned into a bead, spinning without cease in his palm.
On the Barbaric land, the other Lord of Baidi City slightly altered his route and arrived at the entrance of a deeply hidden cave dwelling.
This Zheng Juzhong brought his two fingers together in a sword gesture and cut through the layers of restrictions like a knife through tofu, advancing straight ahead without needing to detour.
Hu Tu saw the smiling figure. The great demon’s face turned deathly pale. Zheng Juzhong, strolling in as if on a leisurely walk, punched straight through Hu Tu’s chest. But instantly another phenomenon occurred: Bai Ze appeared beside the two, one hand pressing Hu Tu’s head, the other pushing toward Zheng Juzhong, forcibly pulling them apart. Then, with a sweep of his sleeve, Bai Ze took Hu Tu into his sleeve and left the cave dwelling together.
Zheng Juzhong lightly shook his wrist. The blood flicked off once again condensed into a bead in the air, likewise taken into his own sleeve.
If he had come even a moment later, Hu Tu would have dropped at least one realm. If Bai Ze hadn’t come, then the Barbaric World would have no more Hu Tu.
Zheng Juzhong muttered a few calculations to himself, then smiled. “Mantis stalks the cicada, but it’s a pity you orioles are too inept. Flying too slow.”
As the words settled, Zheng Juzhong dispersed from sight. In the cave dwelling, the great demon Chu Sheng’s figure appeared. He looked around and snorted coldly.
The bamboo-hatted old Daoist, one hand hidden in his sleeve, made constant hand seals. His expression instantly stiffened. He gave a dry laugh. “This humble Daoist won’t stay to watch the show. Returning first, returning first.”
Guan Yi gave a faint sigh and nodded helplessly. “Let’s go together.”
But as the sword-carrying, whisk-bearing old Daoist bent down to pat his mount, the corner of his eye caught the white-robed man standing at the highest level of the Glazed Pavilion, smiling at him.
The old Daoist was instantly horrified. What the hell are you looking at me for? No grievances, and you’ve marked me?
Did I provoke you? I only used the alias Wang Youwu; I’m not actually a beautiful thing. You should look at Guan Yi beside me!
That man, said to be the great demonic overlord of the Haoran World, seemed to guess the old Daoist’s absurd thought. He telepathically said to the bamboo-hatted old man with a smile, “Guan Yi is beautiful and easy to kill; you are ugly and hard to kill. You decide—if not you, who should I look at?”
Surnamed Zheng, your brain is cracked! Who thinks like that?
Yu Xuan looked at Zheng Juzhong in the Glazed Pavilion, then turned to look at the bamboo-hatted old Daoist, and for some reason couldn’t help but also glance at the young hidden official.