Xia Yunzhao was speechless. “That joke wasn’t funny either.”
Qiu Cang made two low gugu sounds in his throat. “It was funny.”
Xia Yunzhao: .
He was anxious to get home, so he quickly asked, “Do you know why the mountains collapse? Will there be another collapse?”
Qiu Cang stiffly shook his head. “I don’t know why. That’s simply what the book says. It only collapses once.”
Xia Yunzhao relaxed slightly. “That’s good… I’m leaving. I’ll come play when I have time!”
Qiu Cang and the wooden figure beside him both raised their hands and waved at Xia Yunzhao. The corner of his mouth twitched. What a bizarre sight.
The servant escorting them out even smiled apologetically. “Please come visit again sometime, Revered Ones. It’s been ages since our master smiled this happily!”
With Qiu Cang’s sense of humor, he must be having a wonderful time every day, Xia Yunzhao thought.
The two hurried toward the mountains. They encountered other cultivators on the road, all of them curious about what had happened.
When they reached the foot of Liancui Mountain, they found that several nearby peaks had collapsed. Huge boulders had rolled down the slopes, and the dust they had raised still had not completely settled. Once-towering mountains now lay in ruins.
Such power was beyond a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivators could not accomplish something like this. It certainly had not been caused by human strength.
Xia Yunzhao checked their position. One of the collapsed areas was surprisingly close to the valley. “Come on, let’s hurry home and check.”
He was worried about the spirit fields in the valley, as well as the little civet and her kittens, so he ran at full speed.
Shang Shuangze protected him from behind. Any slaughter beast foolish enough to pounce at them was stabbed dead.
They had just reached the area near the valley when voices came from ahead.
Xia Yunzhao stopped instinctively and heard someone shout, “Quick! Search over there!”
“Don’t let him escape!”
“There are traces here!”
“Careful! He has a Golden Core magical treasure…”
The voices sounded somewhat familiar. Xia Yunzhao exchanged a glance with Shang Shuangze. Before either could speak, the leaves ahead were pushed aside and two cultivators emerged. Sure enough, they were members of the Si family who had previously been pursuing that one-eyed cultivator.
The man leading them was the Si family cultivator Si Kongzhuo.
Si Kongzhuo spotted them too. His gaze swept over the pair, then he walked straight to Shang Shuangze. “Would this Fellow Daoist be willing to help capture someone?”
Another Si family member behind him hurriedly explained, “What our young master means is that the one-eyed cultivator practices an evil method and has harmed many fellow cultivators. He’s hiding in these mountains now, and who knows how many more people he’ll kill if he remains free? We finally discovered his traces nearby today, so we absolutely cannot let him escape. But he possesses a Golden Core magical treasure and we don’t have enough people. Since this Senior is at Foundation Establishment, would you be willing to help us?”
Si Kongzhuo gave a slight nod and added, “I can pay spirit pearls.”
The Si family member behind him frantically wiped away sweat. “What our young master means is that the one-eyed cultivator is already a criminal wanted by the Si family. The bounty is eighty thousand spirit pearls. If Fellow Daoist is willing to help, you can receive a portion according to your contribution.”
Xia Yunzhao felt exhausted on the man’s behalf, but since they were asking Shang Shuangze, he turned to look at him.
Naturally, Shang Shuangze would not refuse. They were far too close to the valley. Since the one-eyed cultivator had appeared here, Shang Shuangze would deal with him even if nobody asked. Otherwise, Xia Yunzhao would not even be able to go out and gather spirit herbs safely.
He nodded to Si Kongzhuo. “Fine.” Then he turned to Xia Yunzhao. “I’ll take you home first.”
Xia Yunzhao hurriedly waved his hands. “No need. It’s only a few steps away. I can go back myself. You should catch him first. That one-eyed cultivator is extremely cunning. Don’t let him escape again.”
Shang Shuangze hesitated, but Xia Yunzhao was right, so he went after the man first.
Xia Yunzhao did not wander around either. He headed straight back to their valley. However, the moment he reached the entrance, something felt wrong… Suddenly, the trunk of a large tree beside him moved. Its color faded, revealing a person.
The man had a smooth bald head, a row of ordination scars, and wicked eyes. It was the evil monk Hu Sha!
Hu Sha looked Xia Yunzhao up and down, naked greed in his gaze. “I knew it. Pill fragrance has been drifting out of this valley, so a pill cultivator had to be living here. Good thing I waited all this time and tossed that one-eyed dog out to draw their attention away.”
Xia Yunzhao froze, then immediately understood. “You deliberately lured the Si family into chasing the one-eyed cultivator?”
Those two really were something. Earlier, the one-eyed cultivator had deliberately lured him into dealing with the Si family. Now Hu Sha had lured the Si family into dealing with the one-eyed cultivator. Truly a mutual pursuit.
Hu Sha bared his teeth in a grin. “Little pill cultivator, hand over your spirit stones and pills, and I’ll give you a quick death!”
Xia Yunzhao glanced around without changing expression. “I don’t have any pills on me. I haven’t had time to refine them yet. How about I refine some for you now?”
Hu Sha sneered. “Stalling won’t work. I kill plenty of people like you every year. When have you pill cultivators ever gone around without pills…” Before he even finished speaking, he thrust out his huge hand and grabbed.
Xia Yunzhao felt a powerful burst of spiritual power drag his entire body forward. In that split second, he slapped a hand against himself. His protective magical treasure immediately emitted white light and resisted the pull!
Hu Sha raised an eyebrow. “Thousand-Mechanism Bamboo Armor? Looks like my luck today really is damn good! Hahahaha!” His palm curled into a fist, and he punched!
Xia Yunzhao gritted his teeth. He fired a sleeve dart and dodged the incoming fist, then lifted one hand. The Li-Fire Banner rapidly expanded in his grasp until it became a huge flag as tall as a person. Gripping the pole, he swung hard. Whoosh!
Scarlet earthfire erupted violently! A whole swath of ground turned red from the heat as roaring flames swallowed Hu Sha’s entire figure.
The attack instantly consumed half of Xia Yunzhao’s spiritual energy. He drew a deep breath and did not dare relax for a moment. His eyes remained fixed on the center of the flames as he rapidly retreated.
At that instant, powerful spiritual power suddenly exploded outward. An elephant’s cry rang out, golden light flashed, and the phantom of a fist burst from the flames.
Xia Yunzhao narrowly dodged it. The fist struck the mountainside behind him with a muffled thunderous boom, causing another section of the already partially collapsed cliff to cave in.
Hu Sha emerged from the flames with fire still burning across his body, his eyes icy as he stared at Xia Yunzhao. “A Qi Refining cultivator’s fire can’t do shit to me.” Spiritual power crackled violently around him as he locked onto Xia Yunzhao, preparing to kill him in a single move.
This was Xia Yunzhao’s first time fighting a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Sure enough, it was nowhere near as simple as he had imagined. Even that terrifying pressure alone was difficult to withstand.
Facing the gap of an entire major realm, however, Xia Yunzhao did not give up. One hand quietly moved toward the Hundred-Compartment Pouch…
Hu Sha narrowed his eyes, apparently sensing something, and suddenly threw another punch. At the most dangerous instant, wind burst from the pile of collapsed rocks, wrapped around Xia Yunzhao, and pulled his entire body into the rubble.
The wind opened the stones and then dropped them back into place, perfectly sealing the cave entrance underneath.
Hu Sha froze. He had just been about to curse and smash his way in when he remembered something. With obvious apprehension, he retreated several steps, turned, and left.
The wind swept Xia Yunzhao into a cave. The passage was narrow and winding, apparently reaching deep beneath the ground. He fell downward with the wind for an unknown length of time before finally landing on something thick and soft. He reached out and felt around. It seemed to be moss.
“Cough, cough…” Dust made him cough twice, but he immediately held his breath. There was someone else inside the cave!
An elderly voice spoke gently. “Child, how did you provoke such a wicked man? I, cough, cough cough… Fortunately, I still had a little spiritual power left, or I wouldn’t have been able to save you! By the way, the mist inside this cave is unusual. Lighting a fire will produce poisonous gas. You absolutely must not light one.”
Xia Yunzhao slowly sat up. The cave was completely black, without even a thread of light. “Senior, why did you save me? And why are you hiding in this cave?”
The old man coughed as he answered. “Why am I hiding here? Hehehe… Naturally, because my lifespan is almost exhausted. Foundation Establishment cultivators have only two hundred years of life. I am already one hundred and ninety-nine, with no hope of breaking through. I might as well find somewhere underground to wait for death. If I can save your life before I die, then it was worth it.”
Xia Yunzhao fell silent. He had already worked out his position. The cave was inside one of the mountains beside the valley, only buried extremely deep. Had the mountain not collapsed and exposed its entrance, perhaps even Shang Shuangze would never have discovered that someone was hidden here.
He immediately said, “Thank you for saving me. Is there anything I can do for you?”
The old man laughed freely. “What could someone like me still need? A man about to die has no desires left. If you wish to repay me, simply talk with me. I haven’t gone outside for a year. Has something happened? Why does it feel as though more and more people have been coming here?”
Xia Yunzhao was quiet for a moment. “Nothing. Nothing has happened outside. Probably just more cultivators entering the mountains to hunt for treasure.”
The old cultivator made a puzzled sound but did not pursue the matter. “Little friend, is there any moss near you? The moss underneath me has dried up, and the ground is uncomfortable. Bring some over and help lay it beneath me…”
“All right.” Xia Yunzhao felt around, gathered a handful of moss, and followed the voice toward the old cultivator. He reached out and touched a cold, withered hand. It felt like a skeleton wrapped in a thin layer of human skin, without the slightest trace of life.
The hand suddenly flipped over and clamped tightly around him. The old cultivator’s strange laughter sounded beside his ear. “Heh heh… Good child, don’t rush away. Let me take a little from you…”
A strange force entered his meridians through his wrist, throwing his cultivation method into chaos in an instant!
Xia Yunzhao’s gaze darkened. The hand he had never removed from the Hundred-Compartment Pouch suddenly whipped outward. A spiritual-power orb flew free and shattered. Then sword light blazed through the cave!
It was the most magnificent sword light he had ever seen. Thousands upon thousands of sword shadows illuminated the entire cavern. Countless silver-white blades surrounded Xia Yunzhao protectively, while countless more rushed directly at the old cultivator, piercing him from every direction.
“Ah! Impossible! That’s a Golden Core sword art! You’re only Qi Refining… No!!! My cultivation method! My cultivation method!!!”
Blood and black qi surged out together as the sword light slowly faded.
Fsssh. Xia Yunzhao lifted a hand and ignited the Earthfire Art, illuminating a floor covered in white skeletons. In the middle lay the old cultivator dressed like a Daoist, who now looked only one breath more alive than the skeletons around him, and even that breath was fading fast.
Xia Yunzhao snorted coldly. “I smelled rotting corpses the moment I came in.”
The old cultivator was barely drawing breath, glaring viciously at him. “How… how could you have… Golden Core… a Golden Core sword art…”
Xia Yunzhao crouched down and tilted his head. Under the other man’s expectant gaze, he said four words. “None of your damn business.”
“…” The old cultivator’s eyes bulged with fury. Never in his life had he imagined that he would die so easily at the hands of a Qi Refining cultivator! Qi Refining, and so young… He had killed who knew how many geniuses like this during his lifetime! Even that Du fellow had died by his hand! Yet this time, this time… Furious at having been brought down by someone he had completely underestimated, he died with his eyes wide open.
Xia Yunzhao curled his lip and began searching the man’s belongings. “Is Liancui Mountain wholesaling Foundation Establishment cultivators lately? Why are there so many of them? At least this old man was easier to deal with than that monk… I need to patrol the surrounding area with Shang Shuangze sometime. Someone was actually hiding this close to home…”
He suddenly froze. “Is this a Fang family jade token?”
The jade token bore the Fang family emblem. Xia Yunzhao had so many Fang family storage pouches that there was no possibility he would mistake it.
This old man was from the Fang family? Moreover, none of the Fang cultivators Xia Yunzhao had killed previously possessed jade tokens, which meant these were not something just anyone had. Who exactly was this old man?
He frowned and continued searching, eventually finding several sheets of paper, a human-skin mask, and a stone with an extremely strange aura.
By the firelight, he glanced at the papers and suddenly stared in shock. “This is…”
A tremendous crash abruptly sounded outside, and bright light poured down. Another earthshaking bang followed as the stone wall collapsed. The light outlined a figure walking slowly inside.
Xia Yunzhao narrowed his eyes. “Huh? Shang Shuangze? You found me that quickly? Did you catch the one-eyed cultivator?”
Shang Shuangze’s hair was slightly disheveled, and Mingyun trembled continuously in his hand. Under Xia Yunzhao’s puzzled gaze, he nodded and said softly, “Yes. He’s been caught.”
“What a coincidence.” Xia Yunzhao pointed at the dead old man on the ground. “This thing was hiding right beside our house. We need to check the area quickly and make sure there aren’t any others.”
Shang Shuangze looked coldly at the corpse and said in an unchanged tone, “All right. We’ll begin searching tomorrow.”
“Come on, let’s get out first.” Xia Yunzhao instinctively grabbed Shang Shuangze. Feeling that his robes were trembling along with Mingyun, Xia Yunzhao moved his hand upward and caught his wrist. “Why is Mingyun so worked up? Was the fight really intense?”
Shang Shuangze glanced at Mingyun. The sword trembled, then slowly settled. “The one-eyed cultivator possessed a Golden Core magical artifact. Mingyun was somewhat frightened.”
Mingyun: …
Aggrieved, it thought, Who was frightened?! As if I’m not a Golden Core magical artifact too!
“So Mingyun can get scared too…” Xia Yunzhao lowered his head and looked at it. “Poor child, you worked hard. I’ll prepare something tasty for you tonight… Although I have no idea what you like to eat…”
As he spoke, Shang Shuangze wrapped an arm around him and leaped out of the cave.
Someone had blasted apart the rocks that had originally collapsed outside. They lay scattered everywhere, and the cave entrance was now more than twice as large. It no longer looked mysterious at all, more like an ordinary slaughter-beast den.
The Si family members were surprisingly there as well. Aside from that blockhead Si Kongzhuo, the others looked somewhat awkward and even restrained. Si Kongzhuo’s usual interpreter hurriedly asked, “Is this Fellow Daoist unharmed?”
The Si family people are actually pretty decent, Xia Yunzhao thought. They had already caught the one-eyed cultivator and still came looking for him. “I’m fine. Sorry to worry you.”
Several Si family cultivators laughed awkwardly. “It’s nothing, nothing. Haha.” None dared look toward Shang Shuangze. Several female cultivators seemed particularly sensitive and did not even dare look at Xia Yunzhao.
Shang Shuangze ignored them and walked directly to one side. Xia Yunzhao followed his movement with his gaze and only then discovered Hu Sha tied beneath a tree…
Yes. Tied. A Spirit-Binding Rope bound his thick wrists, and he had been tethered to the tree trunk like a dog.
When Hu Sha saw Shang Shuangze approach, sweat beaded across his bald head. “S-Senior… n-no, R-Revered One, look, that Fellow Daoist really was inside the cave. I-I didn’t lie. Could you spare, spare me…”
With his back to Xia Yunzhao, Shang Shuangze nodded slightly. His expression was as cold as ancient ice, though his tone was perfectly calm. “Mm. Thank you.”
Before relief could even appear on Hu Sha’s face, sword light flashed before his eyes and coldness touched his throat. His whole body convulsed and fell, blood spraying as choking sounds escaped his mouth.
Every Si family cultivator simultaneously drew in their necks.
Xia Yunzhao sighed inwardly. Shang Shuangze was far too polite. Clearly he had not interacted with people enough. Why bother thanking a villain like this? Just kill him.
Only Si Kongzhuo remained unaffected by the strange atmosphere. Under his companions’ nervous gazes, he walked over. “The man has been killed and the reward has been paid. Until we meet again. If you two ever visit Baishuangnan Prefecture, you may come find me. If I’m not busy, I can entertain you.”
Xia Yunzhao instinctively asked, “What if you are busy?”
Si Kongzhuo answered flatly, “Then I won’t entertain you.”
The Si family members behind him covered their faces. The interpreter hurriedly said, “Please don’t worry. Our young master enjoys joking. What he means is that regardless of whether he is busy, he will entertain the two of you. If you visit Baishuangnan Prefecture, please be sure to come to the Si family as our guests.”
Xia Yunzhao waved wearily. Go away. I no longer want to hear anyone from the cultivation world make jokes… Not one of you knows how to tell a normal joke!
After finally returning to their valley, they found everything safe thanks to the defensive formation. The puppets continued patrolling and cleaning at regular intervals, even sweeping away every fallen leaf.
Xia Yunzhao glanced over the spirit plants, then immediately ran toward the cat nest. He did not dare approach too closely for fear of disturbing the mother and kittens, so he merely watched from a distance.
Something moved inside the nest. The mother civet stood, stretched, and walked over. She sniffed at Xia Yunzhao’s robe hem, then gave a reserved little meow. Meaning: Human, you came back alive.
Then she returned to the nest with equal dignity.
Xia Yunzhao practically melted. “Did you see that? She was worried about me! She’s such a good cat!”
Shang Shuangze: …
Mingyun trembled three times in his hand.
“Right!” Xia Yunzhao grabbed Shang Shuangze again. “You just fought a major battle. How much spiritual power did you use? Are you injured? Did you take the pills I gave you? Come on, come on, go sit inside the Spirit-Gathering Formation for a while…”
Shang Shuangze let himself be pulled into the cave dwelling and only managed to leave behind one word. “Fine…”
Whatever Xia Yunzhao said, Shang Shuangze always said fine.
Xia Yunzhao pushed him down to sit, then crossed his own legs opposite him and settled his mind. He circulated his cultivation method once and immediately sensed the power of the Spirit-Gathering Formation.
This was supposedly only a low-level Spirit-Gathering Formation, yet it had increased the density of spiritual energy by more than threefold. He wondered what mid-level and high-level Spirit-Gathering Formations were like.
He estimated that cultivating for one night ordinarily consumed around eight to nine thousand spirit pearls. With the Spirit-Gathering Formation, that expenditure dropped considerably. Around five thousand spirit pearls per night was enough.
That could save a lot of money!
Then he thought about it again. He was not cultivating every moment of every day, so when he was not using the formation, why not move it into the spirit fields?
Moving it back and forth would be a little troublesome, but that was fine. They had puppets.
There was nothing for it. Their household was poor. Every little bit had to be budgeted carefully…
The more he thought, the less he could cultivate. He opened his eyes and began calculating what time he and Shang Shuangze should cultivate each day, when the Spirit-Gathering Formation should be moved into the fields, and whether they could establish a fixed schedule so the puppets could handle everything automatically…
As he thought, his attention gradually drifted to Shang Shuangze sitting opposite him. How could someone in this world be so good-looking, so highly cultivated, so good-tempered, and so polite… and somehow I’m the one who got to meet him!
When he looked again, Shang Shuangze had already opened his eyes and was watching him helplessly.
Xia Yunzhao grinned. “Finished regulating your breathing?”
Shang Shuangze said helplessly, “There was nothing wrong with me to begin with.”
Xia Yunzhao ignored the words “to begin with.” “If nothing’s wrong, then good. I was just thinking we could use the Spirit-Gathering Formation for two purposes! From now on, we’ll cultivate for only twelve hours every day, and the rest of the time it can go to the spirit fields… Wait, that plan has a flaw. Okay, for now we’ll use the Spirit-Gathering Formation normally. Once we have a time formation, then we’ll split its use between us and the fields. Otherwise it would be too wasteful…”
While Xia Yunzhao chattered away, Shang Shuangze formed a barrier of spiritual energy over his palm, then took out the reward they had just received, eighty thousand spirit pearls in total, and handed it to Xia Yunzhao.
Xia Yunzhao naturally and expertly put the money into his own storage pouch, then continued the previous topic. “…So what do you think of that plan?”
Shang Shuangze nodded. “Good.”
Satisfied, Xia Yunzhao remembered what had happened inside the cave. “I still think that old cultivator wasn’t simple. When he grabbed my wrist, I felt my spiritual energy fall into chaos. Good thing I had your sword art. Otherwise I might not have been able to kill him in one move. If the fight dragged on, who knows what other tricks he had.”
As he spoke, he took out the things he had looted from the old cultivator. “Look at this.”
There were two cultivation methods. One was titled Blood Refining Scripture, while the other was Disguise and Bone-Shrinking Art.
The Blood Refining Scripture was what Xia Yunzhao had glanced at earlier. He had not dared study it closely, but he had skimmed the contents. “This cultivation method can absorb another person’s cultivation. The victim turns into a dried corpse. I suspect all those skeletons in his cave came from this. As for the Disguise and Bone-Shrinking Art, that was probably how he tricked so many people into entering the cave. There’s also this human-skin mask. I examined it earlier. It’s a Level-Two magical artifact that can change someone’s face.”
There were countless cultivators on Liancui Mountain. Inevitably, a few would be easy to deceive, and they had paid for it with their lives.
Xia Yunzhao suspected that the old cultivator knew nothing about him or Shang Shuangze. The mountain had collapsed, allowing the old man to suddenly hear what was happening outside. He happened to hear Hu Sha fighting Xia Yunzhao, greed arose in his heart, and he pulled Xia Yunzhao into the cave. He had never expected it would cost him his life.
“What I understand even less is this.” Xia Yunzhao took out the jade token. “This man seems to have belonged to the Fang family, and his position there wasn’t low. Isn’t the Fang family supposed to pass down medical cultivation? Why was he cultivating something this evil?”
Shang Shuangze carefully examined the Blood Refining Scripture. Xia Yunzhao had not dared look closely, but Shang Shuangze had no such problem. After reading it, he said thoughtfully, “Perhaps he is not the only member of the Fang family cultivating this evil method… Look here.”
He covered the surrounding text and showed Xia Yunzhao only one line. After reading it, Xia Yunzhao stared in shock. “For the first two layers of this evil method, you can only absorb the cultivation of blood relatives? You have to reach the third layer or higher before you can absorb outsiders?”
Xia Yunzhao murmured, “So everyone in the Fang family cultivates this evil method? No…” He corrected himself. “Only the core members of the Fang family cultivate it… Everyone else is just their blood supply!”