"Dean!"
Shen Yi cried out as he woke from unconsciousness. Seeing his surroundings, then seeing Little Black still asleep in his arms, he finally let out a long breath.
Thinking of the Space Turbulence, Shen Yi still felt lingering fear. Fortunately, Qiongqi's strand of spiritual power had formed a barrier, allowing him and Little Black to emerge unscathed.
"So the Dean had already made a plan."
He finally understood Feng Yang's scheme. It had been a risky gamble, and fortunately Feng Yang had won—Qiongqi truly had stepped in to help. Yet when Shen Yi recalled Feng Yang's condition at the very end, worry rose in his heart.
"Duan Chengtian! Wang Shangren! Azure Cloud Sect! I, Shen Yi, will never let this matter rest!"
Shen Yi swore upon his Dao heart that he would wipe the Azure Cloud Sect from the face of the earth to avenge today's enmity.
"I wonder where I was teleported to?"
Shen Yi wandered alone for three days before he finally found a household.
"Madam, may I ask where this is?"
The woman studied Shen Yi for a long while. Seeing that his features were refined and his gaze kind, and that he did not seem like a bad person, she finally let him inside and handed him a bowl of coarse tea.
"This is just some obscure little place, under Huafeng Prefecture of the Later Zhou Dynasty."
"Huafeng Prefecture!"
Shen Yi was greatly startled. After drifting through the black hole turbulence for days, he was somehow still within Huafeng Prefecture's borders. Whether that was a blessing or a curse, he could not tell.
After asking for directions, Shen Yi left behind a few Spirit Stones, bid the woman farewell, and headed for Changfeng Town, the nearest settlement.
Outside Changfeng Town, Shen Yi had only just descended from the sky when he saw a figure jogging toward him, his face filled with respect.
"I am Feng Liquan, mayor of Changfeng Town. Greetings, Immortal Master."
Shen Yi looked puzzled. Only after asking did he learn that Changfeng Town was a mortal city with scarce cultivation resources. There were no immortal sects here, and even the imperial dynasty had no desire to station troops in the area. It was a place of poor mountains and vile waters, notorious throughout Huafeng Prefecture. Even passing cultivators were unwilling to stop here and rest.
"With no cultivators stirring up trouble, the people can live and work in peace. That is not necessarily a bad thing."
As he walked through the town, Shen Yi indeed saw that all those coming and going were ordinary mortals, while the town itself was peaceful and harmonious.
At that, Feng Liquan suddenly sighed. "It was fine in the past, but now it has become a source of trouble."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Shen Yi heard the helplessness in Feng Liquan's words and wished to get to the bottom of it.
"Alas, it began a year ago. A cultivator came that day, his cultivation profound. He broke through the town's defenses and abducted many women, saying he would take them as cultivation furnaces. We thought that would be the end of it, but who would have expected that he would return every so often to seize several more women? Some hot-blooded men in town could not bear to watch and tried to stop him, but he slaughtered them with ease and hung their corpses from the town gate."
"Surely some passing cultivators were willing to intervene?"
Shen Yi clenched his fists, suppressing his fury as he continued questioning him.
"We waited bitterly every day. Some cultivators did come to slay the demon, but in the end, they were either defeated and killed, or became that man's lackeys." As he spoke, Feng Liquan dropped to his knees before Shen Yi with a thud, his voice choked with tears. "Counting the days, that devil will return within the next few days. I beg you, Immortal Master, please help us! Save us!"
"I beg you, Immortal Master, please help us! Save us!"
"I beg you, Immortal Master, please help us! Save us!"
Seeing Feng Liquan kneel before Shen Yi and plead for help, the surrounding townsfolk all fell to their knees as well, begging him to act.
"I beg you, Immortal Master, please help us! Save... save us!"
A child of three or four also copied the adults, speaking in a soft, childish voice. When Shen Yi saw her pure, spotless eyes, he finally agreed. He decided to strike first and rescue those innocent women as soon as possible.
Two Dragon Mountain was where that evil cultivator had taken up residence.
It had now been turned into something like a mountain stronghold. Several skeletons hung before the mountain gate, while countless torches burned on both sides of the mountain path. The lamp oil gave off waves of putrid stench, and mortal lackeys stood guard and patrolled all along the way.
Shen Yi ignored them, spread his Spirit Wings, and flew straight toward the cave mansion atop Two Dragon Mountain.
Boom!
The Coiled Dragon Halberd smashed into the cave mansion's stone doors. The doors shattered at once, and a foul stench rushed at his face. The sight within made Shen Yi frown.
Naked corpses hung from either side, their bodies covered in wounds. Clearly, they had suffered inhuman torment before death. The cave mansion was dim, with faint sobbing drifting through the darkness, accompanied from time to time by gasps for breath. Shen Yi released a cold killing intent, and a disheveled cultivator suddenly appeared.
"Who is this petty rat, daring to break into my cave mansion and ruin my pleasure!"
The man exuded a lecherous, sinister aura capable of clouding the mind. Shen Yi snorted coldly and, without another word, fiercely swung the Coiled Dragon Halberd in his hand.
The man grinned. "A mere Qi Refinement cultivator dares contend against my Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivation? You are courting death!" As he spoke, he neither dodged nor evaded, intending to catch Shen Yi's halberd barehanded.
Shen Yi inwardly called him an idiot, and the force behind his strike increased severalfold. The moment they exchanged blows, the man realized he had underestimated his opponent, but it was already too late to dodge. Shen Yi's halberd cut across his neck, severing head from body. His eyes bulged wide, and until death, he could not believe that he would die so easily at the hands of the person before him.
After slaying a Foundation Establishment cultivator in one strike, Shen Yi's rage still would not subside. He simply exterminated all the remaining underlings, set the stronghold ablaze, and only then led the surviving women back.
Upon returning to Changfeng Town, Feng Liquan saw that Shen Yi had returned safely and led the townspeople in tearful gratitude. They swore to establish a longevity memorial tablet for him and worship it for generations. Shen Yi could not refuse their insistence, so he could only agree.
"This cultivation method of gathering yin to replenish yang is actually so vicious. It uses women as cultivation furnaces, and after being harvested, the furnaces die. It is truly vicious beyond measure!"
Shen Yi flushed crimson as he read it and hurriedly burned that illustrated cultivation manual. Only after a long while did he regain his calm.
"There is also a book on formations here. I wonder whether it can repair the town's defenses."
Shen Yi searched through the evil cultivator's storage ring. After looking for a long time and finding nothing else of value, he picked up the book on formations and began studying it carefully.
Meanwhile, Ninghai Town underwent earth-shaking changes.
Qiongqi and Duan Chengtian fought for another three days and three nights without a victor. Left with no choice, the Demon Race army retreated.
Wang Shangren led some disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect and Qingxuan Sect into Ninghai City with overwhelming force. They established the Yunxuan Sect, with the Azure Cloud Sect as its Upper Sect and Duan Chengtian as its Supreme Sect Master.
Feng Yang lay heavily injured and unconscious. He was saved by Lin Hong, while more than half of Ninghai Immortal Academy's disciples left and joined the Yunxuan Sect.
The Yunxuan Sect leapt to become Ninghai City's strongest force, suppressing other cultivators at every turn. Even the Later Zhou Dynasty army commanded by Lin Hong was pushed aside.
"The Azure Cloud Sect has grown too powerful lately. We cannot afford to lower our guard!"
The spirit messenger bird flew into the distance, and Lin Hong sighed.
"The Later Zhou Dynasty is likely about to descend into turmoil."
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