Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie knew nothing of how the man whose pride they had wounded planned his revenge. Even if they had known, neither would have taken him seriously.
A petty, narrow-minded man who picked quarrels for no reason hardly possessed admirable character. Had he not been born in the resource-rich Qianyuan Great World and blessed with decent talent, he might never have formed a Nascent Soul. Why should they pay him any attention?
The two rode their fifth-rank flying demonic beast slowly around all eight Heaven Pillars.
They had been in the Wuling Mountain Domain for quite some time, but because they were so often required to defend pillars themselves, they rarely had the chance to watch their many senior brothers fight. This was a good opportunity to see what they could do.
On the eight pillars, Honored Master Xing and the other seven Wuling disciples were all locked in fierce battle.
Honored Master Xing commanded tremendous power with his every movement. As for the senior brothers, fierce killing auras enveloped them like so many malevolent deities. Every spell was ruthless, aimed straight for an opponent’s vital points. A solid hit would leave the other party no choice but to concede.
Xu Ziqing watched in amazement. His senior brothers had become much stronger and more experienced in just the few months since he had last seen them!
It was not surprising. During Heaven-Pillar Contests, people from other mountain domains generally fought several against several, or several against one, gaining an advantage that spared them much of the hardship Wuling disciples endured. Defending pillars was difficult for Wuling, but those who succeeded could grow several times stronger than cultivators of the same realm. The rewards of such experience were beyond words. Who knew how many battles his senior brothers had fought over the past three months? Their progress was entirely understandable.
Had he and his senior brother not also advanced rapidly during the contests before their departure?
Xu Ziqing watched while working through possible responses in his mind.
How would he counter the techniques of his senior brothers’ opponents? He was only at Golden Core, and his own arsenal was not particularly broad. He possessed just one divine ability. Rong Jin was more formidable, but its vicious nature was too strong for him to use daily without risking an inner demon.
He practiced the Great Art of Myriad Woods Heart-Planting, whose derivative arts alone would take a lifetime to master. If he could use each of his subordinate woods, combining them flexibly, he could drive away powerful enemies. But how to control and apply them required endless practice before he could grasp it fully in actual combat.
Xu Ziqing watched without blinking, studying every movement of his senior brothers and every technique used against them. Images shifted constantly through his mind. Anything he could not yet comprehend, he carefully memorized to absorb at his own pace once he returned to his cave residence.
After two hours, his head began to throb. Knowing he had reached his limit, he drew a deep breath and stopped analyzing, though he kept everything in his memory.
Gradually, the Wuling disciples overcame their opponents one by one. Though they suffered wounds from the successive fights, their ferocity only increased, pushing back the challengers until they began to lose. In the end, Honored Master Xing defeated his final opponent first. The other senior brothers finished their battles afterward. Apart from two who unfortunately lost, the other five won all their matches. Wuling Mountain Domain had defended its Heaven Pillars yet again.
The defeated challengers departed in anger. Looking up, the Wuling disciples saw a huge demonic beast spread its wings beyond the pillars. Delight appeared on their faces, and they called out, “Junior Brother Xu! Junior Brother Yun! You’ve finally come back safely!”
Xu Ziqing smiled and saluted his senior brothers and seniors. “Thank you for worrying about us. Senior Brother Yun and I traveled without mishap.”
The Wuling disciples laughed heartily. The murderous aura that had surrounded them during battle gradually faded as they spoke with their fellow disciples.
They gathered around the two men and urged them to return to the mountains.
The Qianyuan Great World was full of dangers. Outside the sect, cultivators of both immortal and demonic paths included no shortage of selfish, cruel people. Murder for treasure and killing over personal grudges were commonplace. However gifted their two junior brothers were, they had not cultivated for very long and could not yet roam the world without fear.
Thus the senior brothers had worried considerably while Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie were away.
They had finally welcomed two such outstanding disciples into their domain. What a terrible loss it would be if either perished outside through some mishap! If only the sect had possessed the divine water they needed, it would never have been necessary to send them out before their cultivation was more mature.
But they were safely home, and that was what mattered.
The group went to pay their respects to Domain Lord Hang, and they chatted together for a while.
Domain Lord Hang was naturally concerned about the two. He asked what they had encountered during their travels.
Xu Ziqing considered his answer and described their experiences on the Desolate Snow Icefield. He deliberately avoided the private affairs of Zhuang Wei and Yuezheng Hezhi. He mentioned only that a favored subordinate of the Second Young Palace Master was an old friend whom he had happened to meet again after many years. He said nothing about Zhuang Wei’s dwindling lifespan, the sacrifices Yuezheng Hezhi had made, or his own gift of Flesh Upon Bones. It was not that he distrusted his fellow disciples. Those matters belonged to Zhuang Wei and Yuezheng Hezhi, and he had no right to reveal every detail.
Everyone sighed with feeling when the story was finished.
The two newcomers seemed remarkably fortunate. They had been away for almost three months, and though they encountered a few obstacles, they had avoided anything that could truly be called a deadly crisis.
Their journey had been remarkably smooth.
Whatever the case, everyone was overjoyed to see them return safely.
After the conversation, Ke Hong asked, “Junior Brother, have you really posted a task?”
Xu Ziqing nodded. “I have.”
Ke Hong thumped his chest. “If someone answers your task with divine water and asks for something you don’t have, come to me! If I don’t possess it, there are plenty of others here. Don’t hesitate to ask!”
The other senior brothers exchanged smiles. “Exactly! If Junior Brother can overcome his bottleneck and form his Nascent Soul soon, it’ll be a tremendous blessing for our Wuling Mountain Domain!”
Honored Master Xing added heartily, “The same goes for me!”
Moved, Xu Ziqing hurriedly bowed to them all. “Thank you, Senior Brothers! Thank you, Honored Master Xing!”
Watching his disciples get along so harmoniously, Domain Lord Hang’s eyes showed deep satisfaction.
They did not gather for long. Cultivation remained their first priority, and once they had talked enough, everyone returned to his own peak. Yun Lie and Xu Ziqing went back to their cave-heaven residence.
The moment he entered, Xu Ziqing felt a sudden attachment to the place. He could not help smiling. Although he had lived here only a short time, his senior brother had personally refined it as their home after their marriage. No wonder he felt such affection for it.
With that thought, he turned toward Yun Lie, who sensed his gaze and looked back.
As their eyes met, Xu Ziqing smiled softly and felt a surge of warmth.
But affection was one thing, and this was not the time to lose themselves in romance.
Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie entered adjacent stone chambers and sat cross-legged to cultivate separately.
In the past, as dual-cultivation partners, they could allow their auras to flow together without interfering with each other. Now the circumstances were different.
During this journey, Yun Lie had fought Yuezheng Hezhi many times. Yuezheng Hezhi was an exceptional Soul Transformation expert who needed only one more breakthrough to reach the Out-of-Body stage. Even when he suppressed his cultivation to Nascent Soul to spar with Yun Lie, he exerted tremendous pressure on him. Yun Lie had benefited greatly from that experience. The time for another breakthrough had come.
Xu Ziqing could sense the movements of Yun Lie’s qi. There was no need for discussion; they understood each other and went their separate ways.
Inside his chamber, Xu Ziqing raised a hand and laid down a restriction.
His senior brother was about to break through, but Xu Ziqing himself had not returned empty-handed.
While his senior brother fought Yuezheng Hezhi, and while the Wuling seniors and Honored Master Xing fought their challengers, Xu Ziqing had accumulated a wealth of battle experience. Now he needed to digest everything he had learned.
With that in mind, he slowly closed his eyes and settled into meditation.
In his sea of consciousness, an image of two people battling suddenly appeared.
It was one of Yun Lie’s many sparring matches with Yuezheng Hezhi.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Xu Ziqing opened his eyes. Dense green light filled them, almost taking on a solid form.
The two masses of green light abruptly burst outward and gathered between his brows.
They flickered, straining as though desperately trying to burrow into his forehead.
After a long while, the light slowly faded, unable to sustain itself.
Xu Ziqing sighed and gave a rueful smile.
He still had such a long way to go.
His cultivation had already reached the peak of late Golden Core. Wanting to keep pace with his senior brother, he planned to open the preliminary form of his Purple Palace Minor Cosmos before seeking the opportunity to form his Nascent Soul.
He had decided long ago to achieve this by directly evolving the Sumeru Mustard Seed. But it still lacked one kind of divine water to restore its vitality, so for now he could only nourish it with wood qi.
Meanwhile, he gathered the wood qi within his body and combined it with his Qingyun Needle divine ability, repeatedly tempering the entrance to his Purple Palace between his brows.
His senior brother had once split that entrance open directly with sword intent. Xu Ziqing, however, could only work at it gradually.
And gradually, it turned out, was painfully slow.
After dozens of days, he had accomplished very little.
At least he had studied and absorbed the combat experience from the earlier battles, gaining many new insights into fighting. This seclusion had not been wasted.
Now, however, he had to emerge.
Heaven-Pillar Contests were limited to once per month, but the Wuling Mountain Domain was challenged almost every month without fail.
Every faction wanted to take advantage of a mountain domain with a reputation for weakness.
Now that Xu Ziqing and his senior brother had returned, Honored Master Xing could no longer stand in for them. They would have to prepare to defend their own pillar.
Xu Ziqing removed the restriction and walked out. The door of the neighboring chamber was also open, and a white-clad figure was slowly emerging.
Naturally, Yun Lie had sensed the same thing and ended his seclusion at precisely the same time.
But as Yun Lie stepped out, Xu Ziqing felt a razor-sharp aura strike his face. It was as if countless steel needles were rushing at him, enveloping his entire body in bone-chilling sharpness.
The pain was so intense that he hurriedly retreated several steps before looking up.
Yun Lie stood motionless, his expression unchanged. Yet his presence seemed subtly different.
Xu Ziqing caught his breath. His aura was closely connected to his senior brother’s, and Yun Lie would never willingly harm him. Yet that moment had been difficult to endure, and the pain seemed almost to have come from his primordial spirit. He soon understood that it was a sign of how greatly Yun Lie’s strength had advanced.
And that change seemed to have something to do with his senior brother’s sword intent…