We Are All the Same

The situation is already quite clear.

Qingxu wanted to train Humble Origins, Humble Origins wanted to kill Qingxu. Their strengths were probably similar, with Humble Origins being slightly stronger. Qingxu couldn't defeat Humble Origins once he left the mountain, but Humble Origins was helpless against him when he was on the mountain, taking advantage of his home ground.

Therefore, they all hoped to get help from outsiders to assist the top leader.

Qingxu preached longevity, attracting others to seek the Dao. The Humble Origins severed the Wang Family's water vein, drawing cultivators to investigate.

Their thought processes are almost identical, no wonder they've been locked in a stalemate.

In fact, Qin Yi missed this very much, because he himself had the exact same thought process—back in Immortal Trace Mountain, he deliberately lured others to seek immortality and eliminate the tiger...

This is a common trait among people when they lack strength; their first choice is always to try to rely on external forces. But Qin Yi has changed a lot now. If he were to choose again, he might have used different methods to deal with the problem of Immortal Trace Mountain.

It's painful to place your hopes on someone else. When he Cheng Cheng refine the pills, he faced near-death experiences and was constantly worried she might change her mind. Even if she did, there was nothing he could do. This feeling of everything depending on someone else's whim was something Qin Yi really didn't want to experience again.

It doesn't matter that the elixir wasn't used in the end; it might be useful in the future. What's more important is what you gained from these experiences.

Therefore, he didn't want to gamble on what Mount Mang Venerable was thinking; in any case, improving himself was the most important guarantee.

What's even more interesting is that neither Humble Origins nor Qingxu were entirely telling the truth.

The biggest incongruity lies in the fact that he's just a newbie at the fourth level of the Phoenix Realm, and shouldn't be valued so highly by both sides. The Humble Origins claims he's too weak and insufficient, but as the drought intensifies, he can't wait any longer and only then thinks having another helper would be beneficial. At least this is logically consistent.

And what about Qingxu? What's he in such a hurry for? He's almost at the breakthrough stage of Refining Corpses, yet he still needs to ask a newbie at the fourth level of Phoenix Realm to help him exorcise demons? That doesn't make sense.

Those two scoundrels would have easily killed any hot-blooded, righteous young man.

After these thoughts had passed through his mind, in Qingxu's eyes, Qin Yi had been pondering for a long time before finally speaking, "I am just a minor cultivator at the fourth level of the Phoenix Realm. Facing a transformed great demon, I would probably not even be able to withstand a single exchange, so I am of no help to you, Daoist."

"No, fellow Daoist, I can help you." Daoist Qingxu laughed. "The most troublesome thing about this demon is that he is slippery and difficult to control, but his weakness is that he insists on disguising himself as a human and acting as the manager of the tavern every day. As long as someone takes advantage of him being in the tavern and secretly sets up a formation outside, he will only be fighting like a trapped beast, and my Qingxu Palace will naturally be able to subdue him."

Qin Yi asked curiously, "Why not have your family handle this matter?"

"That monster is incredibly cunning. It has already made arrangements in the town. It will know when anyone who cultivates my path enters the town, so we need outside cultivators to handle this matter."

Qin Yi nodded. "Then, Daoist, can you give me the formation? I'll give it a try."

Qingxu's face lit up with joy, and he took out a small Squad Commander: "This is the Trapping Dragon Array Chess. It can be divided into seven pieces. Just set it up outside his house in the shape of the Big Dipper, and he will have no way to escape."

Qin Yi looked at the flag, smiled slightly, and slowly reached out to take it.

The joy on Qingxu Daoist's face grew stronger.

When the flag came into Qin Yi's hands, he looked at it over and over for a while. Suddenly, his hand trembled, and the flag split into seven pieces, which instantly dispersed and accurately transformed into the shape of the Big Dipper, which was then planted around Qingxu Daoist.

Qingxu's expression changed drastically, and he subconsciously retreated to avoid the range of the formation.

At the same time, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, hitting Qingxu precisely where he was retreating. Qingxu immediately turned back and charged towards Qin Yi, his dignified face now filled with ferocity.

"Bang!" A Wolf Tooth Club appeared in Qin Yi's hand without him noticing, and he swung it at him.

Qingxu looked horrified. An earthen shield materialized in front of him. He slammed his Wolf Tooth Club against the shield but failed to shatter it. Instead, he successfully forced Qingxu back and into the center of the formation.

As the lightning dissipated, a Gungun, Humble Origins appeared. Its plump face was filled with surprise, and its small eyes stared at Qin Yi as if it wanted to ask something, but the timing was inappropriate.

Qingxu, however, flew into a rage. "Could this layman be colluding with demons to deceive this humble Daoist?"

Qin Yi smiled slightly, "This set of Array Flags contains Blood Stealing Technique. If I am not prepared, I will be invaded by the Yin Qi within the flags, and my flesh and blood will be taken by you. Daoist, why don't you explain this first?"

Qingxu was slightly taken aback, and carefully examined Qin Yi: "You... are alright? You already saw through the problem with my flag? How did you know?"

Humble Origins looked at Qin Yi with equal surprise, waiting for an answer. He didn't know anything about the flag.

Qin Yi laughed and said, "It sounds like they're using demon-slaying and refining to replace the villagers' flesh and blood. But if a righteous young hero, hot-blooded and eager to slay demons and save the townspeople, gets carried away, he might actually be fooled."

Qingxu angrily retorted, "Could it be that you are not a human cultivator?!"

Qin Yi curled his lip. "I'm human, my sister is a demon. Don't try to fool me with this demon-slaying trick."

Qingxu Humble Origins was also a strange fellow, and he almost forgot about his current predicament.

The reason Qingxu used the demon-slaying story to deceive Qin Yi was because, regardless of whether human cultivators followed the righteous or evil path, demon-slaying was politically correct. Generally, as long as it was about demon-slaying, everything else could be set aside. Heaven knows this young man... "My sister is a demon"? Where did this idea come from?

"So, to me, there's no distinction between humans and demons. I'm just judging who's more credible and who's lying to me based on what you two say." Qin Yi sighed. "Although this fat man's words aren't entirely truthful either, Daoist Master, you should at least explain how you plan to deal with the potential drought consequences of your Refining Corpses technique before you speak. Also, I saw your Taoist Qinghe poison the Wang Family, yet all you do is deceive people into exorcising demons—what kind of job is that?"

Qingxu coldly replied, "Even if I only wanted to use you to get rid of this Rat Demon, how could you judge that there's something wrong with my flag?"

Qin Yi said, "Because I was thinking, the rumors about this immortal mountain have been around for more than just a day or two. It's impossible that I'm the first seeker of the Dao to come here, right? Where are all the previous visitors? Is there no one who can help the Daoist exorcise the demon? I'm afraid they didn't manage to exorcise the demon, but instead became nourishment for the Daoist's white hair and youthful appearance. After all, the townspeople are thin and have no cultivation, so they're really not enough for the Daoist's needs."

Qingxu finally put on a gloomy face and said nothing more.

"These Array Flags do indeed have the effect of binding the earth's veins, which is quite unexpected," Qin Yi said with a smile. "It seems that the Daoist Master also intends to take this opportunity to get rid of this fatso, killing two birds with one stone?"

The Humble Origins said discontentedly, "Fat guy is fat guy, can you please not add the word 'dead'? By the way, how did you guess that I was following behind and would cooperate with you? You just attacked directly."

"You've brought up the small kingdoms of the Southern Border time and time again, so of course you recognize my background," Qin Yi said calmly. "You have some expectations of me, and you won't give up on me like you did with others before. You'll probably try harder."

The man from the Humble Origins exclaimed in admiration, "No wonder he's qualified to be the Imperial Preceptor; his mind is truly brilliant."

Liusu nodded to herself. It hadn't said a word since Qing Xu chased after them. All of this was indeed Qin Yi's own judgment, including his judgment on the Array Flag.

He has indeed grown.

"So..." Qin Yi raised his Wolf Tooth Club, his tone turning cold, "Daoist Master, shouldn't you tell me how to resolve the potential drought caused by your Refining Yin Corpse Technique?"

Qingxu chuckled, and then his laughter grew louder and louder. Suddenly, the light rain on the immortal mountain took on a hint of the stench of corpses, and a thick Death Qi permeated the mountain.

"Wang Yuanwai preys on the villagers, bullies men and women, seizes fertile land, and has countless innocent lives on his hands, yet you all turn a blind eye. I merely wish to die at the end of my life; how is my behavior any different from Master Wang 'Wang Yuanwai? You are the Nanli Kingdom Teacher, aren't you? Doesn't Southern Li also exploit the common people to serve the royal family? We are all the same; why do you take it for granted while I am the most heinous criminal? You hypocritical creatures, die!"