When Xing Wenyu left, Xia Yunzhao was still only at the Qi Refining stage. In fact, he had barely begun cultivating.
Now, when they met again, the kid was already at Foundation Establishment.
His cultivation had advanced so quickly that Xing Wenyu had not yet managed to update the image of him in his mind. To Xing Wenyu, Xia Yunzhao was still that young, inexperienced little brother who knew so little about the cultivation world.
But Xia Yunzhao was already here, and Xing Wenyu could hardly send him away. He beckoned to Xia Yunzhao and said gently, “Xiao Xia, come here.”
Xia Yunzhao happily trotted over. “Brother Xing! I knew you’d be fine!”
Xing Wenyu smiled kindly and raised a hand. Clang! A huge, translucent golden bell dropped from the sky and trapped Xia Yunzhao inside!
Xia Yunzhao had not even reacted before he slapped the bell and shouted, “Brother Xing, what are you doing?! How am I supposed to fight like this?”
Xing Wenyu had lost all his cultivation and retained only a little spiritual energy by refining himself into a puppet. This bell had once been his most frequently used magical treasure, but when he was ambushed, he had fled too hastily to take it with him. He had only recovered it after returning to Puppet Gate this time. The treasure was high-level, and using it in his present state took considerable effort; even his face had gone pale. Hearing Xia Yunzhao, he snorted. “Fight what? There are two Golden Core cultivators here. It’s not your turn to interfere.”
On the other side, Shang Shuangze was already fighting Yan Sikong. Hearing Xia Yunzhao shout, he glanced over. Once he confirmed Xia Yunzhao was safe, his hand remained steady as he slashed out with his sword.
The moment the two clashed, Yan Sikong’s expression changed. This sword cultivator would not be easy to deal with… He smiled faintly. “Fellow Daoist, are you Xing Wenyu’s friend?”
Shang Shuangze did not answer.
Yan Sikong kept babbling. “Looks like you aren’t. If you can cooperate with him, why not cooperate with me? A Spirit-Pivot Body appears only once in a thousand years. Once I refine him into a puppet, how about I give you half?”
His answer was a vicious streak of sword light. Shang Shuangze had one particularly admirable trait: he did not waste words.
Elsewhere, Zhong Yundu and Du Yan were dealing with the puppets. These had once been Puppet Gate disciples. After Yan Sikong ambushed Xing Wenyu, some disciples left Puppet Gate, while another group remained, apparently “loyal and devoted” to Yan Sikong. Who would have expected this to be their final fate?
They were already dead anyway, so the two men no longer held back. Every move went straight for the heart, and before long, more than half the puppets had fallen.
Xia Yunzhao stood inside the bell with his arms folded, feeling like the safest person on the entire battlefield. He had no idea what material the bell was made of. The puppets trying to attack him blasted spells against it without causing so much as a ripple. He could not even feel the wind inside. If the fighting outside went on much longer, he could probably set up a hotpot in there…
Amid the chaos of the battlefield, someone finally emerged from hiding and stealthily skirted the people fighting each other. Xia Yunzhao, who watched the whole thing happen, was puzzled. What is she doing?
Jing Ruyun, in a movement utterly at odds with her usual bearing, covered her head and face and dashed over to the golden bell. In a small voice, she asked, “Fellow Daoist Xia, is there anything I can do to help?”
Xia Yunzhao hurriedly said, “Can you help get me out?”
Jing Ruyun looked up at the size of the bell, lifted her skirt, gathered her strength, and kicked it as hard as she could.
The golden bell did not budge.
Jing Ruyun said, “No. This Gilded Everlasting Bell was Senior Brother’s most frequently used magical treasure. Without his control, no one can break it.”
Xia Yunzhao: “……I can see that.”
Jing Ruyun was a little embarrassed too. “Is there anything else I can help with?”
Xia Yunzhao beckoned her closer. The two leaned toward each other with the golden bell between them. “Look over there. Can you tell what Brother Xing is doing?”
Xing Wenyu was afraid Xia Yunzhao would get hurt, but in reality, he himself was the person most likely to be injured on the entire battlefield.
He did not go anywhere near the center of the fight. Instead, he went to the iron cages holding the mortals and began drawing around them.
Jing Ruyun narrowed her eyes and watched for a while. “It looks like he’s drawing a formation. Senior Brother is very accomplished in formations.” She looked more carefully. “It seems to be some kind of teleportation formation?”
Xia Yunzhao’s heart stirred. Could it be…
Over there, Xing Wenyu finished the last stroke and called out, “Zhong Yundu, come here.”
Zhong Yundu, who was busy fighting puppets, complained, “Don’t call me like I’m a dog.” Then, with a whoosh, he appeared beside Xing Wenyu. Du Yan, suddenly left to face the swarm of puppets alone, continued sighing long and hard.
Xing Wenyu ignored him and pointed at the formation on the ground. “Pour in spiritual energy.”
Zhong Yundu curled his lip. He planted the black saber in his hand into the ground with a careless thrust, rested both hands on the hilt, and released spiritual power. One line after another in the formation lit up.
The ordinary people at the center of the formation had no idea what was about to happen and waited uneasily. Once the entire formation lit, the iron cages vanished in an instant.
Yan Sikong, still locked in combat with Shang Shuangze, changed expression. Distracted for a moment, he nearly got split in two.
Xing Wenyu chuckled. “Ignore the puppets. Once Yan Sikong is dead, these puppets will fall apart on their own.”
Zhong Yundu clicked his tongue and muttered, “What a nasty smile.” Complaining was one thing. He still swung the black saber onto his shoulder and charged toward Yan Sikong and Shang Shuangze in midair.
Du Yan backed away to catch his breath. There were three Golden Core cultivators over there. As a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was not going to join in.
For a time, everyone present focused on the three people fighting.
Yan Sikong was absolutely no match for Shang Shuangze, much less Shang Shuangze plus Zhong Yundu.
By all logic, the outcome of this fight should have been a foregone conclusion.
Yet for some reason, Shang Shuangze keenly sensed something unusual. Yan Sikong seemed to be hiding something. Especially after Xing Wenyu sent the mortals away, he had clearly become much more agitated.
Shang Shuangze shot Zhong Yundu a look.
Zhong Yundu: “?”
Before he could react, Shang Shuangze had already charged!
Zhong Yundu cursed as he followed. “Are all you sword cultivators mute? Would it kill you to say something? Who knows what one glance is supposed to mean?!”
Seeing Shang Shuangze attack Yan Sikong’s left side, Zhong Yundu instinctively chose the right. Caught between them, Yan Sikong, who was already distracted, was severely injured in an instant.
Shang Shuangze slowly withdrew his sword. “I attack the left. You attack the right. Mind the timing.”
Zhong Yundu: “……What use is explaining it afterward?!”
Suddenly, Xia Yunzhao shouted from below, “Something’s wrong with him! Be careful!”
The two men turned at the same time. Yan Sikong, who now had two holes punched through him, was trembling like a dead leaf in a cold wind. Every bone in his body crackled, his eyes rolled back, and his eyeballs looked ready to pop from their sockets…
Worse still, streams of black qi began pouring from his seven orifices.
Xia Yunzhao sucked in a sharp breath. He had seen this before. Tantai Ning had looked exactly like this! Yan Sikong had been invaded by demonic qi too?! He had once been a Nascent Soul cultivator! Whatever one might say about his character, his willpower should have been extraordinarily strong. Yet even he had been tempted? Just how powerful was this demonic qi?
Remembering the rumors that demonic qi ran rampant throughout Puppet Gate territory, Xia Yunzhao was suddenly seized by a very bad feeling.
Beside him, Jing Ruyun abruptly shouted, “Look at the Scripture Pavilion!”
Her shout came so suddenly that, apart from Xing Wenyu, no one actually knew where the Scripture Pavilion was. But when they looked up, they still saw something horrifying. A small building not far away collapsed with a rumble and sank into the ground, as though a vast abyssal mouth had opened in the earth and swallowed it whole.
The moment it finished collapsing, thick black qi erupted from the hole, instantly blanketing all of Puppet Gate!
And that was not all. Across Puppet Gate, even across the whole of Puppet City, buildings began collapsing one after another. Every place that caved in revealed another black hole in the earth, and endless demonic qi poured from them!
What Puppet City? This was practically a city of demonic qi! The entire city had been built right on top of it!
The demonic qi here was so dense that it affected Xing Wenyu and Du Yan alike. Even Zhong Yundu was affected, and for an instant, the black saber in his hand nearly struck Shang Shuangze.
Shang Shuangze frowned and disarmed him. Zhong Yundu did not resist. He only gave a bitter smile. “Sorry. I hallucinated just now.”
Xing Wenyu and Du Yan both began meditating to steady their minds. Jing Ruyun did the same. Xia Yunzhao clung to the inner wall of the golden bell and stared anxiously outside. “Shang Shuangze! Brother Xing, Brother Du! Are you all right?”
Seeing that Zhong Yundu had calmed down, Shang Shuangze returned the black saber to him, then landed beside Xia Yunzhao.
The surroundings were already pitch black. The dense black qi made it impossible to see one’s own hand. Fortunately, the Gilded Everlasting Bell emitted a faint golden glow that served as a beacon.
Shang Shuangze pushed through the black qi. The strange demonic qi could only circle him and tempt him; it could not break through his divine sense. He bent down and tapped the bell. “I’m fine. You?”
Xia Yunzhao let out a breath of relief and tapped back with his fingers. “Good! I’m fine too. This bell seems to block demonic qi!”
The word fortunately had barely risen in Shang Shuangze’s mind when a harsh, grating laugh came from the darkness. “Knew that useless trash wouldn’t amount to anything. Looks like I still have to do it myself…”
The demonic qi around them began surging toward one direction and was sucked away. The night-dark fog thinned into a light haze, revealing a human figure within.
It was Yan Sikong.
No. More accurately, the body was Yan Sikong’s, but something far more evil now occupied it.
His eyes were so red they had nearly turned black. He looked greedily at the people revealed on the ground, then fixed his gaze on Shang Shuangze and Xia Yunzhao. “You ruined my plans and let so much demonic-seed material escape, but I’ll forgive you.” He swallowed, naked greed filling his eyes. “After all, one of you has a Myriad-Spirit Body, the other a Spirit-Severed Body. Once I eat you both, I’ll immediately recover all my strength! Hahahaha!”
Jing Ruyun’s lips went pale. “A-a demonic cultivator!”
The rumors that demonic cultivators could possess other bodies were actually true!
“Yan Sikong” narrowed his eyes. “I like tender little girls too, but you can wait. I’ll eat these two first…” He moved as though he could shrink the earth beneath his feet. There was not even time to blink before he appeared in front of the golden bell!
A black claw wrapped in dense black mist rose and slashed down viciously!
The golden bell erupted with light and shoved him back. Shang Shuangze drew his sword and pursued him.
Only then did he realize that Mingyun was trembling faintly in his hand. He looked down. Black mist had wrapped around the blade and was seeping into it thread by thread. Of course. Mingyun possessed intelligence. Naturally, it could be corroded by demonic qi too!
Worry flashed across Xia Yunzhao’s face. “This is bad…” Xing Wenyu and Du Yan happened to arrive just then, and Xia Yunzhao immediately said, “Brother Xing, this bell can resist demonic qi! Hurry, get inside!”
Xing Wenyu’s face was somewhat pale. Hearing him, he shook his head. “The Gilded Everlasting Bell has strong defensive power, but it has no… cough, cough… no ability to resist demonic qi.”
Xia Yunzhao froze and looked down. Sure enough, demonic qi had already entered the bell! Yet every wisp stayed far away from him, as though terrified of something. It did not dare approach him, much less tempt him.
…That made even less sense.
The last time, when they encountered Tantai Ning, there had been nowhere near this much demonic qi, yet a few wisps had still clung to Xia Yunzhao.
He looked up at Shang Shuangze, whose sword movements were growing slower and slower, and forced down his anxiety as he thought rapidly. What was different about him this time? Higher cultivation? No. Shang Shuangze and Zhong Yundu were both stronger than he was, yet demonic qi still wrapped around them. More pill formulas? He knew every formula he had, and none could repel demonic qi!
Suddenly, an idea struck him. “Brother Xing! Let me out! I found a way to clear the demonic qi!”
The moment Xing Wenyu heard him, he raised a hand without hesitation. The Gilded Everlasting Bell flew up and dropped aside. He did not even have the strength to retrieve it, only saying, “Be careful.”
Warmth stirred in Xia Yunzhao’s heart. Back at the lakeside camp, Brother Xing had never stopped him from going into the mountains to hunt for treasure. He had only explained again and again what dangers he might encounter there and how he should respond.
Brother Xing was not normally someone who worried over every possibility. He was especially tense this time because Yan Sikong, the man who had adopted him, taught him, and then betrayed him, was no ordinary enemy to him. It had left something like a psychological scar. He feared Xia Yunzhao might also suffer at Yan Sikong’s hands.
But now was not the time for that. Xia Yunzhao steadied himself and looked up.
Shang Shuangze had already put Mingyun away and was fighting the demonic cultivator barehanded. Zhong Yundu stayed nearby to support him but likewise did not dare attack; his hallucinations were growing worse. He had the highest cultivation here apart from Shang Shuangze, but for some reason, Zhong Yundu’s resistance to demonic qi was extremely poor.
The demonic cultivator let out a shrill laugh that stabbed at everyone’s skulls. A claw thick with demonic qi tore through the air, aiming to rip off the sword cultivator’s arm for a taste…
At that moment, Xia Yunzhao shouted, “Shang Shuangze!”
No one knew how those three syllables somehow contained such an enormous amount of information, but Shang Shuangze did not hesitate for even a second. He dodged instantly and even grabbed Zhong Yundu on the way!
Zhong Yundu stumbled from being yanked aside. “……What exactly did you hear in that?!”
The next instant, Xia Yunzhao raised his hand and summoned a small yellow seal. “Magical-treasure spirit!”
The little white blob appeared, its round eyes sharpening into cleaver shapes as it strained upward and cheered itself on. “I’m pushing… hah!”
Xia Yunzhao pointed to the sky and opened his meridians wide, pouring in all his spiritual power without restraint. Even when his meridians hurt from the pressure, he did not stop. Instead, he threw out heaps of spirit pearls, circulated the Spirit-Transmutation Art with one hand, and fed the newly converted spiritual power into the little seal with the other. “Grow, grow, GROW!”
The yellow seal in the sky expanded as though being inflated. In moments, it covered all of Puppet Gate and kept growing.
The demonic cultivator chasing Shang Shuangze stopped and looked up, fear appearing in his eyes. “What is that thing?!”
Never mind him. Even Xing Wenyu and the others stared at the seal in shock. Of course they recognized it. Wasn’t that the Kunyuan Xutu Seal?!
So during the battle in Qingxi City, this Level-Four magical treasure had fallen into Xia Yunzhao’s hands? Good! This was excellent!
The enormous jade seal hung in the sky. With its magical-treasure spirit awakened, it seemed almost alive, far more powerful than when Yunjiangguan had wielded it. Earthen-yellow light radiated from it. The four characters carved into its base, “Kunyuan Xutu,” lit one after another, and a vast, ancient pressure descended from the engraving.
Throughout Puppet City, the demonic qi sensed that aura and scattered in every direction like rabbits spotting a wolf.
The yellow light grew brighter and the seal pressed lower. Everywhere the light reached, demonic qi vanished like snow under sunlight.
The only thing disappearing faster than the demonic qi was Xia Yunzhao’s supply of spirit pearls, but he no longer had the spare attention to feel the pain in his wallet.
The demonic cultivator was currently drawing strength from an endless supply of demonic qi. When he sensed half of it disappear, fear finally seized him. “Wh-what is that thing?!” Before the words had even left his mouth, he turned to flee.
How could Xia Yunzhao let him escape?
His meridians were in excruciating pain, and he had lost count of how many cycles of spiritual power had already surged through his body. Fortunately, the secret-realm core had tempered his meridians day and night, making them extraordinarily resilient. Circulating spiritual power at this speed brought only benefits rather than damage. In this brief span alone, his cultivation leaped into Great Completion of Foundation Establishment!
Gritting his teeth, Xia Yunzhao dumped the last heap of spirit pearls from his storage pouch and winced painfully. “Shang Shuangze!”
Zhong Yundu hurried to steady himself. “And what does that mean this time?”
Shang Shuangze ignored him completely. With a resonant ring, his spirit sword left its sheath, and he shot straight after the fleeing demonic cultivator.
Blocked by Shang Shuangze, the demonic cultivator’s escape came to an abrupt halt. He immediately roared, “I may not be able to deal with that freakish magical treasure, but you think I can’t deal with you?!”
He lashed out with one claw, aiming straight for Shang Shuangze’s heart.
Shang Shuangze did not even look. Mingyun flashed, and the black claw dropped away. Without demonic qi to replenish him, the demonic cultivator could not even grow another one.
He was horrified. “How did you suddenly get so strong?”
Mingyun trembled indignantly. I was always this strong! You were the one using demonic qi to interfere with me so I couldn’t use my full strength!
That brief delay was enough. Xia Yunzhao had already maneuvered the Kunyuan Xutu Seal into position. He gritted his teeth, veins standing out on the back of his hand. “DROP!”
The little white blob strained together with him until it looked even rounder. “Drop, drop, drop!”
BOOM!
Accompanied by the demonic cultivator’s scream, the enormous jade seal crashed from the sky. Every building in Puppet Gate was reduced to ruins. Brilliant yellow light erupted and swept away every trace of demonic qi. In an instant, the entire territory of Puppet City became clear.
The light lasted only a moment. The next second, without enough spiritual power to sustain it, the seal shrank back into a tiny object and rolled into Xia Yunzhao’s arms.
Now both his wallet and his meridians hurt. Xia Yunzhao exhaled and sat down on the ground, unsure which tragedy to mourn first. “Ow, my spirit pearls… ow, my meridians… ow, my Dao companion… He even dared hit you in the face? Once we dig him out, let’s chop him up again!” As he spoke, he tried to stuff a pill into Shang Shuangze’s mouth.
Shang Shuangze, who had come over to help him, did not know whether to laugh or sigh. He took the pill from Xia Yunzhao and put it into Xia Yunzhao’s mouth instead. Then he took Xia Yunzhao’s wrist and fed spiritual energy into him. He even carefully extended his divine sense into Xia Yunzhao’s sea of consciousness, soothing his emotions and smoothing out the tremors in his divine sense bit by bit. Xia Yunzhao immediately felt comfortable from head to toe. Hiding behind his sleeve, he pecked Shang Shuangze on the chin. “Thanks for the hard work!”
Everyone else looked away and pretended they had seen nothing.
As for Shang Shuangze, there was only a tiny wound on his left cheek. If Xia Yunzhao had not had such sharp eyes, it would probably have gone unnoticed. Zhong Yundu, who had fought beside him all night, certainly had not seen it…
Zhong Yundu: After tonight, I’ve discovered that I’m both deaf and blind.
With the crisis over and the demonic qi dispersed, everyone’s hearts settled back into place. They gathered together and even began chatting and joking.
Jing Ruyun finally came face-to-face with Xing Wenyu. She looked unusually timid. “S-Senior Brother…”
Xing Wenyu glanced at her and said nothing.
Jing Ruyun deflated.
Xia Yunzhao looked from her to Xing Wenyu, scooted closer, and whispered, “Did you two have a fight?”
They were all cultivators. At this distance, whispering made no difference. Jing Ruyun sneaked a glance at Xing Wenyu. Seeing that he did not stop her, she hung her head and said miserably, “I did something wrong before.”
Xia Yunzhao scooted a little closer. The meaning was obvious: I want to hear.
Jing Ruyun looked at him speechlessly, but she also wanted to take the opportunity to apologize, so she lowered her voice. “After Senior Brother was ambushed by Yan Sikong and escaped Puppet Gate, he once hid at the residence from before. When we got the news and came back, we saw how badly he had been hurt. We lost our heads and wanted to… wanted to…”
Xia Yunzhao edged even closer, practically ready to climb down her throat to hear the answer. His whole face screamed: Wanted to what? Hurry up and say it!
Jing Ruyun sighed. “We wanted to dig out our own meridians and give them to Senior Brother. He refused, so we even drugged him… but it didn’t work. After that, Senior Brother became angry, stopped speaking to us, and wouldn’t let us find him anymore…”
Xia Yunzhao: “……Serves you right.”
Jing Ruyun looked at the much thinner figure in front of her and said softly, “I’m sorry. He raised us. Seeing someone who was like both father and elder brother to us reduced to that state affected our judgment, and we did something wrong. He forgave us so many times before. I don’t know whether he’ll forgive us again this time…”
Xia Yunzhao gave her a meaningful look and cleared his throat. “Let’s not talk about the past. Let’s talk about right now. Your junior sisters don’t have very high cultivation. Are they safe hiding in that house? I saw quite a bit of demonic qi in the city just now. Can they resist it?”
The figure in the blue cotton robe stopped short.
Xia Yunzhao pressed on. “You have some way to contact each other, right? Puppet City isn’t dangerous anymore, so why not tell them to come over? The only question is whether someone here doesn’t want to see them…”
Jing Ruyun understood the hint. She hesitated, looked at him, then looked at Xing Wenyu’s back.
Xing Wenyu turned around with a cold expression. “Why haven’t you contacted them yet?!”
Jing Ruyun froze, then beamed. “Yes, Senior Brother!”
Xia Yunzhao grinned and scooted over to Xing Wenyu. “As expected, Brother Xing is broad-minded!”
Xing Wenyu could do nothing with him. He wanted to stay angry but could not, so he could only maintain a stern expression. “You talk too much.”
Xia Yunzhao ignored that and edged even closer. “Hearing Fellow Daoist Jing talk about the past reminded me of something. Brother Xing, didn’t you want to recover your meridians? Yan Sikong’s body got flattened just now. Can they still be used?”
Xing Wenyu shook his head. “Yan Sikong had already been possessed by that demonic cultivator. His meridians were invaded by demonic qi, so they were unusable anyway.”
The corners of Xia Yunzhao’s eyes drooped, his happy puppy eyes turning into dejected puppy eyes. “I see…”
Xing Wenyu’s fingers twitched. He glanced at Shang Shuangze, then, right in front of him, rubbed Xia Yunzhao’s head. “Don’t worry. The world is vast. There will always be another way.”
Xia Yunzhao looked up at him. There were more wrinkles at the corners of Brother Xing’s eyes now, and white had appeared in his hanging hair. Xia Yunzhao smiled. “Mm. There will be a way.”
In fact, after learning that Brother Xing’s meridians had been dug out, Xia Yunzhao had looked through a great deal of material searching for possible solutions.
He had found three. The first was what Brother Xing had already tried: recover his original meridians. Alternatively, take someone else’s meridians and replace his with them. It had to be said, that method was downright inhuman, but purely in terms of difficulty, it was actually the easiest. The other two methods were far more difficult.
The second was to take a Level-Eight Heaven-Restoring Pill. A Heaven-Restoring Pill could reconstruct a person’s Dao body, spiritual roots, aptitude… It was practically equivalent to being reborn. With one, reconstructing his meridians would naturally be no problem. But the price of a Level-Eight pill… Even trading away all of Qingxi City might not be enough.
The third was to nourish the body with innate origin spiritual energy and regrow an entire set of meridians. As for where one was supposed to find innate origin spiritual energy… put it this way: after gathering all the information he could, Xia Yunzhao concluded that the odds were lower than the odds of his transmigrating in the first place.
Xia Yunzhao turned the three methods over and over in his mind, then sighed softly and leaned against his Dao companion’s chest. Shang Shuangze patted him comfortingly. Every difficult pass had to be crossed somehow, and this would be their next one.
Seeing him still gloomy, Xing Wenyu shook his head. “Didn’t you say you spent all your money? Come on. I’ll take you to raid Puppet Gate’s treasury.”
Xia Yunzhao straightened instantly. “Really?” Then he caught sight of the ruins all around them and hesitated. “But Puppet Gate is rubble now. Wouldn’t the treasury be gone too?”
Jing Ruyun, who had just finished contacting her junior sisters, walked over with a smile. “Fellow Daoist Xia, you may not know this, but Puppet Gate has three treasuries, all underground. Yan Sikong’s private treasury in particular is itself a Level-Four magical treasure. An impact like this is nothing to it.”
Xia Yunzhao’s interest immediately returned. He grabbed Shang Shuangze. “Then let’s go see!”
The others were about to follow and enjoy the excitement, but just as they stood, something cool touched their faces. “Hm? Is it raining?”
They looked up. The sky, which had been clear moments ago, was suddenly filling with black clouds. It certainly looked like rain.
Du Yan frowned instead. He tossed his Heaven-Measuring Ruler into the sky, and the blue-white jade ruler hovered there, spinning rapidly.
Du Yan said, “That’s not rain. Those are tribulation clouds. Someone is about to undergo a tribulation!”
Xia Yunzhao was shocked. “There are only a few of us left in Puppet City, right? Which one of you is breaking through?! Hurry, hurry! Are you prepared?”
The Heaven-Measuring Ruler spun once more, slowly stopped, and pointed directly at him.
Du Yan: “……” He jumped to his feet. “What do you mean, which one of us?! It’s YOU! Your Golden Core tribulation! You broke through and you didn’t even notice?!”
Xia Yunzhao: “?”
He immediately looked inward. Sure enough, a gleaming golden core was sitting in his qi sea!
Xia Yunzhao: “……”
Dude, when did you get here?! Even one of my burps makes more noise than you did!