Chapter 50#
In an instant.
The moment his divine sense was released unscrupulously, the long-suppressed inner demon finally found another opportunity to spread rapidly in his sea of consciousness.
Noises rose and fell within his consciousness, tearing at his soul.
With a tense face, his eyes remained tightly closed.
He had clearly left a “Tianya Haijiao” (End of the World) talisman for Su Xue.
But whether in Zhaoshui or Beiming, no matter the crisis, Su Xue had never sought him out.
Amidst the pain, his divine sense swept through the surroundings, but there was no trace of Su Xue’s aura.
Since that great demon could silently take the person away after they left, it could only be a late-stage Tribulation Transcendence cultivator.
If Su Xue was truly his Senior Brother, and if his Senior Brother’s strength had indeed greatly diminished…
Xie Zhefeng did not hesitate to further expand the scope of his divine sense.
Pei Qian and the others only then approached again against the wind, shouting, “Fellow Daoist Xie? What are you doing? Searching with your divine sense?”
Tribulation Transcendence cultivators were not like Eternal Immortals; they couldn’t even sense what Xie Zhefeng was doing.
Qiao Yin hurriedly said, “The twenty-seventh city is vast. Our divine senses are not enough to investigate it. We have dealt with Zhao Duan for a long time and still don’t know where he is. We should plan this carefully…”
Xie Zhefeng seemed not to hear.
“Wuwu…”
Kun Kun poked him with the Chunhua Sword from the side.
The spirit of the miasma beast covered his soul in a gentle manner. Kun Kun flew in front of him with Chunhua and bit loose the spiritual pouch hanging at his waist.
A faint golden light emerged from the pouch.
The power of the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit, along with the spirit of the miasma beast, instantly brought back some of his reason.
No.
It shouldn’t be like this.
The more urgent the situation, the more composed one should be.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Xie Zhefeng tightened the spiritual pouch and looked at Pei Qian.
Pei Qian shivered under this gaze filled with killing intent. “Fellow… Fellow Daoist Xie, I haven’t turned to demonic cultivation, have I? Don’t worry too much. Su Xue is at least at the late-stage Great Completion. If he fights someone, there would be some commotion. He might have a way to protect himself. We can first ask the cultivators of the City Lord’s Mansion to search the whole city. We shouldn’t panic!”
“He’s not in the city.”
“Huh?” Pei Qian was stunned. “Our divine sense can’t cover such a wide area. How can you be sure—”
“Since the immortal cultivators of the twenty-seventh city have been able to hold out until now, there can’t be two great demons.”
Xie Zhefeng interrupted Pei Qian.
His voice was hoarse, tinged with a faint scent of blood.
“Since the only great demon took him away, it can only be the one who tampered with the sword array of the twenty-seventh city. This person is hiding in one of the array cores, and their location must be where the lost array core is.”
“Are you saying…”
“Find the array core.”
“But I might need a few days.”
“Find it today,” Xie Zhefeng said in a deep voice. “Did you really think I wouldn’t see through your act of hiding your late-stage Tribulation Transcendence cultivation and your array techniques?”
Pei Qian’s expression faltered, and he said with effort, “You’re joking, right?”
“Finding the array core within a day is within your capabilities. If you can’t find it, I can only assume you harbor ill intentions.”
“Oh, then—”
“Then I will kill you.”
Pei Qian: “???”
He hurriedly held his sword and bowed, saying very seriously, “I’ll go right now!”
Outside the city, at Zhao Duan’s cave dwelling.
The mortals Zhao Duan had captured for his amusement had long since scattered and fled, with no one paying them any mind.
The several cauldrons, being cultivators themselves, huddled in a corner together, watching the constantly vibrating barrier and whispering.
“Which immortal master is this? Zhao-lang won’t be in trouble, will he…”
“Where in the twenty-seventh city could an immortal cultivator match Zhao-lang? It must be some overconfident trash!”
“…Didn’t you hear what Zhao-lang said to that trash just now? It’s that Young Master Qiao from the City Lord’s Mansion…”
Only the demonic cultivator left by Zhao Duan was trembling, not daring to blink for a second as he watched An Wuxue, for fear that anything would go wrong.
The demonic cultivator originally thought that since the little beauty in front of him was bound by Zhao Duan’s spiritual energy, he didn’t need to worry about him escaping and only needed to keep an eye on him.
But as he watched, he saw this seemingly harmless little beauty fold his hands and form a seal, instantly gathering the little spiritual energy nearby.
In an instant, the chains Zhao Duan had left on the little beauty were actually shattered!
“You… you—!!”
Behind him, the several cauldrons were all stunned, and even their whispering stopped.
An Wuxue let out a soft grunt, thinking that being in the late-stage of Great Completion indeed had its limitations; even shattering the spiritual energy chains of a late-stage Tribulation Transcendence cultivator almost caused a backlash.
The moment he turned his eyes, the demonic cultivator took out a dharma treasure and blasted it toward him.
Spiritual energy surged in his palm, blocking the opponent’s attack. His divine sense condensed into fine needles, penetrating the colliding spiritual energy and piercing into the demonic cultivator’s brow!
“Ah—!!!!”
Before the demonic cultivator’s scream could fade, An Wuxue used his spiritual energy to seize the spirit sword from the demonic cultivator’s hand.
The sword was stained with turbid qi, so he simply used it as a cold blade. Turning the sword, he slashed at the opponent!
Another scream followed as blood splattered, soaking An Wuxue’s plain clothes.
The demonic cultivator’s right arm was cut off, and he completely lost his ability to resist. With a squeeze of his palm, An Wuxue pulled the man in front of him.
He asked flatly, “Which room does Zhao Duan usually stay in?”
He wanted to see if Zhao Duan had that book from Beiming, the same as the one Yun Zhou had.
The demonic cultivator’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “I… I… I don’t know…”
As he spoke, he seemed to want to take advantage of An Wuxue’s lack of attention to send a message to Zhao Duan, with his only remaining hand forming a seal behind his back.
An Wuxue chuckled.
“Snap—”
He let go, and the demonic cultivator, whose neck he had just snapped, completely lost his vitality and fell to the ground.
He immediately leaned down, his blood-stained fingers, like bamboo joints carved from blood jade, pressing against the demonic cultivator’s brow.
The soul was extracted. An Wuxue did a brief soul search and frowned—this little demon truly didn’t know.
He turned his head again to look at the cauldrons huddling in the corner.
When he acted just now, his spiritual energy had vibrated and lay before those people. With nowhere to retreat behind them, they could only huddle there, as stiff as wooden blocks.
People who served him in bed… surely they would know?
An Wuxue approached.
The several cauldrons began to shake.
These people had just followed Zhao Duan to watch the forced singing and dancing of mortals for amusement. They were all people who had entered the demonic path by cultivating turbid qi, and some might even be transformed demons. None were innocent.
Not wanting to waste words with these demons, he used his spiritual energy to pull out the one on the very outside and asked, “Which room does Zhao Duan usually stay in?”
The person hesitated for a moment, looking fearfully at the vibrating barrier and then at the spot outside where Zhao Duan was fighting the unknown Tribulation Transcendence immortal cultivator. They were clearly hoping for Zhao Duan’s immediate return.
An Wuxue didn’t want to waste time and moved his fingers.
“Snap—”
The person fell over, their eyes wide and staring, dead without peace.
This time, before An Wuxue could perform a soul search, the other two cauldrons hurriedly knelt and crawled to him, saying in panic, “We know! We can lead the way for you… but, but can you keep it a secret for us? We have cauldron marks on us, and Young Master Zhao holds our lives in his hands…”
An Wuxue sighed.
His spirit sword flew out, instantly piercing the chest of the one pleading for mercy.
The face of the last person shook, and they finally didn’t dare to say more, shouting, “I’ll take you there!! I’ll take you there!!”
Without needing An Wuxue to urge them, the person stood up tremblingly and ran ahead to lead the way.
He followed close behind, killing any demonic cultivators he encountered.
Before long, he saw that the barrier made of turbid qi above was already shattered like a spiderweb.
In the sky, the sounds of fighting seemed to have vanished.
…Who had the upper hand?
“Young Master, here, this is it…”
the cauldron pointed to a bedroom.
An Wuxue didn’t dare to delay. He went to the door, did a quick investigation, found the weak point in the barrier of Zhao Duan’s bedroom, raised his hand to break it, and pushed the door open.
The room was incredibly luxurious, and he even saw some unsightly, extravagant items on the bed.
He hurriedly looked away, condensed his divine sense within this single bedroom, and found several restricted spiritual pouches in a cabinet.
Fortunately, although his cultivation was only at the Great Completion stage, his divine sense was still at the level of a half-step Immortal. He remembered all the array paths, spiritual seals, and techniques he had known in his previous life. Even though Zhao Duan was in the late-stage of Tribulation Transcendence, breaking his restrictions was a piece of cake.
A cultivator’s spiritual pouch contained many items, and An Wuxue didn’t have the time to look through them one by one, so he simply stuffed all these pouches into his robes.
Just then—
his movements paused.
The sound of a blade entering flesh came from outside the room.
He instantly gripped his long sword and turned to leave. He saw that the huge barrier covering the villa had been broken. A tall young man was holding a sword, which had pierced the chest of the demonic cultivator who had just led him there.
Was this… the other Tribulation Transcendence immortal cultivator who had lured Zhao Duan out?
He was stunned. The young man pulled back his sword and looked back, seeing him covered in blood. He was also taken aback, but then his face brightened with joy. “You must be the immortal cultivator that dog Zhao Duan captured… named something like Su Xue, right? I’m here to save you.”
An Wuxue: “…?”
He didn’t seem to, perhaps, really need saving.
“Sir…”
“I am Qiao Ting. Earlier in the city, I ran into some City Lord’s Mansion cultivators seeking help. After asking, they told me Zhao Duan had captured an exceptionally good-looking immortal cultivator. I know what he’s like, and I was afraid I’d be too late…”
An Wuxue raised an eyebrow—a Tribulation Transcendence immortal cultivator who had contact with the City Lord’s Mansion and could even fight Zhao Duan, yet Qiao Yin hadn’t mentioned him?
Qiao Ting was sizing him up, confirming that although he seemed covered in blood, there was no trace of turbid qi on him, nor any sign that he had become Zhao Duan’s cauldron. He then breathed a sigh of relief.
“It seems I’m not too late…”
“This… Immortal Master Qiao?” An Wuxue asked in confusion. “How did you know I was here?”
“I just fought Zhao Duan the day before yesterday and knew he was hiding in this villa. Isn’t this Zhao Duan’s bedroom? A person like him, selfish and lustful—I guessed he would most likely bring you to his bedroom or a place of amusement. I just had to check a few places.”
“Where is Zhao Duan?”
The young man smiled. “I used an avatar to lure him away. Fellow Daoist, I know you probably have a lot of questions, but we have to leave first. That dog’s cultivation has surged because he entered the demonic path through turbid qi. I can’t beat him right now, so I can only lure him away for a while.”
“An avatar was enough to lure him away? That simple?”
“It doesn’t work well against others, but Zhao Duan is stupid,” Qiao Ting said. “I’ve used this method to trick him three times before.”
He stepped forward to pull An Wuxue. “Let’s go, we’ll talk once we’re back in the city.”
But An Wuxue shook his head.
“Then it seems he’s learned to be a bit smarter this time.”
“Wha—”
Before Qiao Ting could finish, he stopped mid-sentence, his expression turning solemn.
Tribulation Transcendence spiritual energy came from afar, heading straight for the place where An Wuxue and Qiao Ting were.
Qiao Ting turned around abruptly, and his spirit sword flew out, clashing with the incoming attack!
Ripples of spiritual energy spread out, leaving the surroundings in a mess and causing the houses to collapse.
Zhao Duan landed with his hands behind his back, his expression gloomy. “You actually killed so many of my servants and cauldrons!”
Qiao Ting: “?”
This time, he showed an innocent look.
“How could I take such credit?” He had only killed one, hadn’t he? The body was lying right at his feet.
An Wuxue: “…”
But Zhao Duan didn’t believe it. His face twisted, clearly furious. “If you didn’t kill them, could it be that the little beauty behind you, who’s only at the Great Completion stage, killed them single-handedly!”
An Wuxue: “.”
Qiao Ting withdrew his sword and stood upright, saying fearlessly, “Forget it. Anyway, you and your servants are all no better than dogs; it’s fine if they’re dead. I won’t waste any more time with you. See you!”
Zhao Duan sneered. “You think you can leave after coming here?”
Qiao Ting spread his hands. “I can’t beat you right now, but isn’t it a bit of a dream for you to try and kill me?”
Zhao Duan didn’t respond this time.
Around him, turbid qi boiled and circled like a spring. A wild wind suddenly whipped up in all directions, making the sky grow dark as dark clouds gathered.
The entire mountain peak began to shake!
Qiao Ting muttered, “A sacrificial array? Using the lives of your servants to temporarily boost your cultivation? Then I’ll just run… isn’t it even better if those demonic cultivators lose their lives?”
But An Wuxue’s gaze narrowed, and he hurriedly grabbed Qiao Ting, who was about to take him away on his sword.
“It’s not just the demonic cultivators!”
Qiao Ting was slightly stunned.
“There are mortals too! He captured many mortals for his amusement!”
Qiao Ting’s eyes widened.
—If Zhao Duan successfully completed the array, those mortals would have their souls scattered and their bodies destroyed!
In the next moment, Qiao Ting immediately turned back, sword in hand. His spiritual energy broke through the air and rushed into the vast turbid qi, interrupting Zhao Duan’s action of activating the array.
The two clashed again!
An Wuxue stood outside the battle, his heart in his throat. His divine sense spread out, planning to take advantage of Qiao Ting’s intervention to find the innocent mortals and send them away with spiritual energy.
But Zhao Duan’s villa occupied most of the mountain peak, and there were countless captured mortals scattered throughout. There was no time to get them all out.
Qiao Ting’s cultivation seemed to be only in the early stage, and he wouldn’t be able to stop Zhao Duan for long. An Wuxue’s ability to fight against a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator now relied entirely on his experience from his previous life and his intact divine sense. Su Xue’s body only had spiritual energy at the Great Completion stage, which was not enough to fully protect all these mortals…
No.
He needed another Tribulation Transcendence cultivator.
Xie Zhefeng and Pei Qian?
Those two were investigating the sword array. He didn’t know if they had discovered he was missing.
Even if they had, Zhao Duan’s cave dwelling was very far from the city. It wouldn’t be easy to find, and by the time they found it on their own, it might be too late…
He reached for his spiritual pouch, wanting to take out the “Tianya Haijiao” talisman Xie Zhefeng had left for him, but his movement paused.
He could use this talisman to send a voice transmission to Xie Zhefeng over a thousand miles, but the transmission would inevitably carry the aura of his divine sense.
His junior brother couldn’t possibly be unfamiliar with his soul’s aura. Sending the transmission would be equivalent to admitting his identity.
But… if he didn’t seek his junior brother’s help, was he going to watch these mortals die?
Qiao Ting was using his spiritual energy to cut off the surroundings, doing his best to hold back Zhao Duan.
In a flash.
An Wuxue’s mind moved, and he suddenly thought of something else.
The soul bell he had stolen in front of the Frost Sea Gate!
The ringing of the soul bell could produce a sound in Xie Zhefeng’s sea of consciousness, but it wouldn’t carry the aura of the person who rang it!
And when Xie Zhefeng heard the soul bell, he would naturally follow his own item and find his way here.
As for why he had the soul bell, there would be plenty of ways to explain it later.
He hurriedly took the old soul bell and sent out his divine sense, striking it once.
In the city.
Outside the sword array.
Pei Qian turned and ran into the sword array to search for the missing array core, but then he looked back. “Fellow Daoist Xie, since you’re in a hurry to find Su Xue, give me a hand. You know something about arrays and have strong spiritual energy. With your help, it will be faster.”
Xie Zhefeng naturally wouldn’t refuse.
Within his sea of consciousness, the inner demon was shaking his reason and tearing at his soul more and more rampantly.
Having fought it for eight hundred years, he was already used to such pain and seemed not to notice it.
He stepped forward quickly, about to enter the array, but then he suddenly stopped, his whole body stiffening.
“Ding-ling—”
A crisp sound pierced through the thousands of distractions in his sea of consciousness, like sunlight cutting through a mist, breaking through the barrier.
It was exceptionally familiar, yet exceptionally strange.
It was a sound often heard a thousand years ago, and a sound that had remained silent every day for the past thousand years.
His eyes suddenly turned red.
After a full thousand years.
He finally heard this crisp sound again.