At that moment, inside the valley Little Cat had led them into, Li Feng was crawling forward through a narrow crack in the rocks with his backside raised, utterly bedraggled. His clothes had long since been scraped to tatters, several bluish lumps had risen on his head from banging it, and his face was smeared with dust and dirt, making him look like a burrowing rat. He could not help cursing, "Master, are you joking? Little Cat found this place? He could crawl in here? If he can crawl in here, I'll carry Little Cat around Mount Hua on my back for a whole circuit."
The moment he finished speaking, Zhao Yue'er burst out laughing. Li Feng felt a furry bundle suddenly dart from beneath his arm and rush from behind him to the front. Looking closely, he saw a miniature Little Cat, barely a foot long. Yet he could still make out the ill-intentioned grin on Little Cat's face. Li Feng screamed, "Heavens! He, he, he—how did he become smaller?"
Zhao Yue'er sighed. "You foolish disciple, you'll have to carry Little Cat around Mount Hua now. He is a tiger spirit, after all. He knows a little transformation magic. But you lost for no reason at all. If I told you I'm walking upright right now, would you believe me?"
Li Feng turned his head around with difficulty, and his jaw once again opened beyond its limits. Fortunately, he had been mentally prepared this time. Before his jaw could actually dislocate, he held it in place with his hand and spared himself the fate of being mocked by Zhao Yue'er again. Three feet behind him, Zhao Yue'er stood perfectly straight in her white Daoist robes, smiling at him. Li Feng froze for a moment, then abruptly tried to stand as well. With a bang, his head warmly greeted the rock above him. He let out a pained shriek and went blank for a while.
This crack in the rock was barely a foot high. Zhao Yue'er was somewhat shorter than Li Feng, but there was absolutely no way she should have been able to stand up in here. Li Feng rubbed his eyes. Zhao Yue'er was still that tall, and the crack truly was still only a foot high, yet she was standing safely behind him just like that. This bizarre sight shocked him even more than Little Cat shrinking before his eyes.
Zhao Yue'er very ungracefully kicked Li Feng in the backside. "What are you looking at? Crawl already, hurry up. This is an escape technique, a very simple method. It is just right for a place like this, and you won't have to get all your clothes dirty like you did. Hurry inside. Your current magical power isn't enough to use it, so crawl. Quickly."
With a bitter face, Li Feng crawled forward inch by inch. Little Cat's tail, whether deliberately or not, stubbornly kept brushing against his face, making his nose itch so badly that he wanted to bite it off. Zhao Yue'er, meanwhile, walked behind him with a grin, occasionally kicking him in the rear, looking utterly relaxed. Li Feng howled inwardly, If I'd known it would be like this, I would have cultivated ten times harder. Immortal magic really is wondrous... Tsk, tsk. When I failed to rob that Songjiang silk shop at age nine and nearly got caught, wasn't it because I dug the hole in the wall too large? Damn it, if I'd known this kind of magic back then, I could have squeezed through even a rat hole.
A blaze of golden light suddenly flashed before Li Feng's eyes, and he roared inwardly, I have to learn this technique! Heavens, once I know this escape art, even the imperial palace will be mine to enter and leave as I please. Maybe I could even steal that old emperor's crown! I heard the emperor's crown has over a hundred egg-sized gemstones, thousands of pearls, and dozens of pounds of purple gold... Eh? Which bastard dared lie to me? A crown that heavy would snap the emperor's neck! I'll screw his mother—he dared trick me?
Muttering as he crawled forward with all his strength, Li Feng heard Little Cat give a joyful roar up ahead. Little Cat had already returned to his original size. Li Feng lunged forward several more feet, poked his head out of the rock crack, and was instantly stunned by the beautiful sight before him. He muttered softly, "Damn it, there must be treasure here. I swear there must be treasure, or why would it be so bright?... Heavens, so many gemstones... What kind of place is this? It's practically a treasure vault. Damn it, I have to pry them all out, pry them all out. Leaving them here would be such a waste."
At Qingyun Flat, Old Daoist Wu Shen gritted his teeth and said resentfully, "My youngest disciple received my orders three years ago to descend the mountain and gather all kinds of spiritual herbs, so that I could refine a furnace of spirit pills... Ahem, to aid the people of the world... Who would have known that the day before yesterday, I suddenly received the emergency signal fire from his body, saying he had encountered a powerful foe. When this Daoist arrived at the scene with others, I saw Ling Guangzi's sword light grind my disciple into powder. He even struck with a Palm Thunder in the end, shattering his Primordial Spirit."
Old Daoist Wu Shen said angrily, "Daoist Brother Ling Guangzi, we are both of the Daoist lineage. Why were your hands so ruthless? You destroyed his physical body; for the sake of the relationship between our two sects, this Daoist would not pursue it. But you actually did not even spare my disciple's Primordial Spirit. Was that not far too vicious?"
Several junior Emei disciples began shouting, "Yes, yes! We also received our junior martial uncle's signal fire and rushed here. We were closer, so although our speed could not match Martial Grandfather's sword light, we still saw this old Daoist kill junior martial uncle. Hmph, over a hundred of us can testify. You have nothing to say now, do you?"
Two beams of brilliant light burst from Liu Xingzi's eyes. An immensely powerful aura enveloped all of Qingyun Flat, suppressing the Emei disciples until not one of them could speak. No—not merely unable to speak. They even found it difficult to breathe. At that moment, Liu Xingzi seemed linked with Heaven and Earth itself, his aura vast and majestic, like a colossal divine giant that could not be profaned. Those with weaker cultivation saw their vision blur, and they even saw clumps of white airwaves emanating from Liu Xingzi's body, nearly crushing their own bodies to pieces.
Old Daoist Wu Shen's expression changed. Countless Sword Qi suddenly burst from his body, precisely blocking Liu Xingzi's aura as he shouted, "Daoist Brother Liu, what are you doing? Are you suddenly attacking the disciples of my sect?... Ya... Hah... Break!" His hands formed a sword seal, and he viciously pointed toward the sky. Countless pale Sword Qi condensed into a gigantic sword shadow and stabbed skyward as swiftly as thunder and fire. With a ripping sound, the sword shadow formed from Old Daoist Wu Shen's Sword Qi tore through the aura Liu Xingzi had spread across Qingyun Flat, and the air immediately loosened.
Liu Xingzi smiled calmly. "Daoist Friend Wu Shen, impressive cultivation... Liu Xingzi had no intention of striking viciously. I merely asked a few little friends to be quiet." He suddenly snorted heavily. "Hmph! When elders are speaking, what right do you have to interrupt? Has the Emei Sect not taught you even such basic manners?" That soft snort was like rolling thunder, shaking the entire mountain. With a thud, all the junior Emei disciples collapsed to the ground. Even those with somewhat deeper cultivation became dizzy and swayed involuntarily.
Old Daoist Wu Shen's face turned purple with fury. He nodded repeatedly. "Fine, fine, fine. This time, this old Daoist was at fault. Disciples, discipline your own followers properly. Do not disgrace yourselves. When elders are speaking, why are you interrupting? Once we return, memorize a thousand scrolls of Daoist scriptures and all of you face the wall for three months."
Liu Xingzi put on a smiling face again. "Daoist Friend Wu Shen truly rewards and punishes clearly. Your sect rules are strict and your precepts complete. Hehehehe. Under Daoist Friend Wu Shen's leadership, the disciples of Emei's Heart Sect will surely be able to carry forward the Heart Sect's peerless Heart Sword technique and advance toward the supreme Heavenly Dao... Hahahaha." For no apparent reason, he laughed several times.
Old Daoist Wu Shen's expression improved slightly. "Naturally. The Heart Sect of our Emei may not match the Qi Refining methods of you Daoist brothers from the Yiyuan Sect, but when it comes to rules and precepts, I, Old Daoist Wu Shen, have never been lax. How can one who cultivates the Dao become worthy material without rules?" The instant those words left his mouth, Old Daoist Wu Shen's eyes flew wide open. He understood that he had fallen into a trap.
Sure enough, Liu Xingzi clapped his hands and laughed heartily. "Junior brothers, did you see? Only strict discipline can properly teach one's disciples. When we take disciples in the future, we must be careful... Good, good, good. Eldest Senior Brother, please tell us—how did your conflict with Daoist Friend Wu Shen's young disciple begin?... Senior Brother, you are not good with words, so you need not say too much. Simply recount the facts of that day, and we can all judge what is right."
Ling Guangzi blankly stepped forward a few paces, swallowed several times, opened his mouth, then suddenly asked, "Ah, where should I begin?"
Liu Xingzi and the others showed bitter smiles and shook their heads repeatedly. Xie Yuezi said helplessly, "Eldest Senior Brother, just tell us how you encountered that Daoist friend that day."
Ling Guangzi blinked, grabbed his eyebrows and tugged them several times, then said, "Oh, that day. That day, I was spending the night in a mountain ravine when I saw several wild rabbits fighting. I found it entertaining, so I followed behind them to watch the excitement. We ran for more than ten miles, and in the end, I joined in the fight too... Hey, don't laugh. Those rabbits were really quite strong. One of them kicked this old Daoist in the face and nearly kicked off a chunk of flesh... Hey, look, look. Right here, by the corner of my mouth." He turned his face and pointed at his cheek.
Old Daoist Wu Shen's expression was extremely ugly, and he was seething inside.
Liu Xingzi hurriedly said, "Senior Brother, do not talk about the rabbits fighting. Tell us how you fought that Daoist friend."
Ling Guangzi froze, frowned, and said blankly, "Ah, that little Daoist. I was having a fine fight with the rabbits. Six rabbits against me alone—they truly had no shame." Old Daoist Wu Shen's expression shifted. He thought Ling Guangzi was mocking him for bringing so many people to hunt him down. Ling Guangzi continued, "Then a seven-colored elk came running over and rammed its head into my stomach... Hey, this old Daoist was knocked over by it, and those rabbits jumped on top of me and stomped on me viciously several times. This old Daoist thought the elk had come to help the rabbits fight, so I was about to strike back when a streak of sword light came down and killed all the rabbits."
"I saw a little Daoist. Ah, Junior Brother Xie Yuezi, he was even prettier than you—a little Daoist who looked much like a young girl, with a flower tucked into his hair. He used his sword to kill all those rabbits. This old Daoist had been playing with them, and killing living beings is not a good thing either, so I advised that little Daoist, 'Daoist friend, killing brings harm to Heaven's harmony. Heaven's heart is most compassionate, and the Heavenly Dao does not kill. That saying, "Heaven and Earth are unkind, treating the myriad things as straw dogs," does not mean we are to slaughter at will.'"
"But before I could finish, that little Daoist kicked this old Daoist aside and wildly slashed at the elk with his flying sword. Fortunately, this old Daoist's body was rather sturdy, so that kick did not do much to me. Had it been an ordinary person, he would certainly have died. That kick was aimed straight at this old Daoist's external kidney."
Liu Xingzi and the others looked displeased. A Daoist cultivator, without saying a word, kicking the external kidney of a complete stranger—if that kick had landed on an ordinary person, would he not have died for certain? Old Daoist Wu Shen merely waved his hand in irritation, though no one knew what he was thinking.
"This old Daoist was unharmed, but I was somewhat angry as well. That kick simply did not resemble the act of a Daoist cultivator. This old Daoist is ashamed to say that after traveling below the mountain for several years, I had fought a few times too. But when kicking people, I only kicked the place behind them with the most flesh. At most, I made them fall facedown; I never dared kick someone to death. That little Daoist's methods were quite venomous... What puzzled this old Daoist even more was that the elk actually spoke human words and sent out an inner core to contend with the little Daoist's flying sword."
Ling Guangzi wore a contemplative, recollecting expression. After thinking for a long while, he finally nodded and said, "That elk was a demon, but demons are born of demon mothers too. And it was not easy for it to cultivate to that level. Although the demon's words were rather unpleasant, saying things like, 'Little Daoist, may every child born to your ancestors have no asshole; may your entire sect sooner or later be violated to death; your master is definitely a congenital eunuch...'"
Old Daoist Wu Shen was so furious that the Three Corpses Gods danced in his heart. He leaped up abruptly. "Shut up, Ling Guangzi! Are you deliberately insulting this Daoist?"
Ling Guangzi froze and repeatedly performed a Daoist salute. "Boundless Longevity Buddha, Boundless Longevity Buddha. This old Daoist had no intention of insulting you. Those were all curses from that elk demon; they have nothing to do with me... Oh, so Daoist friend does not like hearing such things? Then this old Daoist will not say them. Ah, that elk really did curse terribly, especially with some rather profound words. It said that little Daoist was a rabbit and that his master was surely a devotee of male love, or something like that. This old Daoist did not know what that meant."
Liu Xingzi inwardly cried that things were bad. He swiftly struck out with his palm, precisely blocking the sword light Old Daoist Wu Shen had sent flying. Liu Xingzi shouted, "Daoist friend, why not listen until my senior brother has finished? Everyone in the Daoist world knows what kind of man my eldest senior brother is. He has never been good with words and knows little of worldly affairs. Could these words possibly have been intentional?"
Old Daoist Wu Shen felt a tremendous force surge through his sword light, shaking his entire body slightly. Startled by Liu Xingzi's strength, he nodded and said, "Fine, let him finish. This Daoist—this Daoist is not such a petty man."
Xie Yuezi and Xiao Longzi exchanged glances and inwardly cried in relief. Fortunately, that brat Fengzi had gone off somewhere to play with junior sister. Otherwise, if that brat had been here—Heavens, the consequences would have been unimaginable. If he and Eldest Senior Brother got together, Old Daoist Wu Shen would immediately turn hostile, and the two sects would settle matters of life and death at once. Xiao Longzi secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and softly let out a breath.
Ignoring the conflict between Old Daoist Wu Shen and Liu Xingzi, Ling Guangzi went on speaking to himself. "This old Daoist thought that although the elk was a demon, the radiance of its inner core was pure and free of impurities. Clearly, it had never harmed living creatures. If a demon has killed many people, then naturally we should slay demons and eliminate evil, acting on Heaven's behalf. But this demon had not killed anyone, and that little Daoist wanted to kill it. Was that not going a little too far?"
"This old Daoist also had some anger in his heart, so I sent out a sword to block that little Daoist's sword light. The little Daoist shouted, 'I am Qing He of Emei, acting under the orders of my honored master, True Lord Wu Shen, to kill this elk and take its inner core to refine medicine. May I ask who you are, Daoist friend?' This old Daoist thought that we knew Daoist Wu Shen, but killing demons and taking their inner cores for medicine was somewhat excessive."
Old Daoist Wu Shen trembled all over in fury and roared, "Nonsense! I told Qing He to gather spiritual herbs from Heaven and Earth. When did I ever order him to—"
One tactless junior Emei disciple said, "Martial Grandfather, that day I heard junior martial uncle discussing with Third Martial Uncle that using Nascent Souls and inner cores to refine pills was especially effective, and could even produce some first-grade Heaven-class pill..."
A burly man with blood-red light across his face behind Old Daoist Wu Shen raised his brows and struck out with his palm, sending that disciple flying more than thirty zhang. He angrily berated him, "Nonsense! When did I ever say such things to junior martial brother?" The junior Emei disciple vomited blood wildly and lay motionless on the ground.
Liu Xingzi and the others frowned. Old Daoist Wu Shen also came to a certain realization. He shot the burly man a vicious glare and roared, "All of you, shut up! Listen to Daoist Brother Ling Guangzi."
Ling Guangzi looked at the blood-vomiting Emei disciple and frowned. "Eh, why were your hands so heavy? Such a small little fellow, how can you be so unreasonable as to hit him with such force? Sure enough, when it is not one's own disciple, one does not feel the pain... Junior Brother, I have one Nine Revolutions Returning Pill here. Go and give it to that little fellow." After speaking, Ling Guangzi fumbled around on his body for a long time before finally pulling out a pitch-black pill and handing it to Lei Zhenzi.
Lei Zhenzi laughed heartily, took the pill, and flew to the little Daoist's side. He casually tossed the pill into his mouth. Old Daoist Wu Shen's expression changed drastically as he inwardly cried, A miscalculation, a miscalculation! Damned Third, I'll settle this matter with you after we return. You, you, you—you have made the Emei Sect lose all face... Damn it, why did you strike Fourth's disciple for no reason? What will Fourth think now? And now we have accepted a favor from the Yiyuan Sect as well. How can you people be so incapable of handling matters?
Especially when Old Daoist Wu Shen saw his fourth disciple glaring furiously at the third, his heart sank further. The roots of strife within his own sect had been planted just like that.
Ling Guangzi sighed. "Then this old Daoist will continue. In truth, harmony is the most important thing within a sect. Fellow disciples and brothers of the same school—why strike another person's disciple? Sigh, this old Daoist has wandered off topic again. As for that little Daoist, he insisted on killing the elk, while this old Daoist refused to let him. Especially since, although the elk had a mouth full of foul words, it at least knew gratitude. Seeing this old Daoist block the flying sword for it, it knelt behind me and did not move. The ancient sages said: 'When a beast knows gratitude, it has already comprehended the Heavenly Dao.' Naturally, it could not be killed recklessly, so this old Daoist had to save it."
"But that little Daoist would not let it go. His flying sword could not defeat me, so he brought out all manner of magical treasures." Ling Guangzi shook his left sleeve. Amid a clatter, a great pile of little knives, little swords, little flags, little command tablets, little pearls, little covers, and other magical treasures fell to the ground. "Shameful, shameful. This old Daoist's cultivation is not deep, but that little Daoist's cultivation seemed even lower. He had all these fine magical treasures, yet could not bring out their power. This old Daoist let him strike me several times, and it hurt quite badly, so I collected them all, intending to return them to him later."
As he spoke, Ling Guangzi's expression changed slightly. "But this old Daoist had not expected that, after fighting for a while and seeing his magical treasures fail, that little Daoist actually... Daoist Friend Wu Shen, when did your Emei Sect learn the art of refining Daoist cultivators' Primordial Spirits into magical treasures?... This is a demonic sect art. You—"
Wu Shen shuddered and cried out, "Impossible! Disciple Qing He cultivated peacefully on the mountain for a hundred years. How could he have learned such things?"
Ling Guangzi looked somewhat hesitant. "But the thing he finally brought out was indeed the Hundred Ghosts Exterminating Spirit Pearl. Although it contained only a mere dozen or so Daoist cultivators' Primordial Spirits, its refinement was insufficient, and it had not been tempered with spiritual blood, it was still the Hundred Ghosts Exterminating Spirit Pearl. This old Daoist carefully circled that pearl more than ten times, inspecting it clearly from every angle. It was the Hundred Ghosts Exterminating Spirit Pearl. Ah, our sect's secret classic, the Demon Subduing Scroll, says that after being struck by this pearl, one's Primordial Spirit will feel as though it is drifting away, while blue-purple marks will appear on the skin. This old Daoist did not dare trust his own judgment, so I stood still and took more than ten strikes. Sure enough, it was exactly as described in the book."
As he spoke, Old Daoist Ling Guangzi simply shook his True Essence and blasted all his clothes into powder. Pointing at over a dozen blue-purple patches on his chest, lower abdomen, thighs, and buttocks, he said, "Ghostly Qi is still wrapped around this old Daoist's body. I have not yet had time to force it out; you chased me too quickly... This counts as evidence, does it not? We old Daoists of the Yiyuan Sect cannot produce such sinister, Yin-laden things."
The female Emei disciples let out earth-shaking shrieks. One after another, they hurriedly turned around, shut their eyes, and blushed bright red. Old Daoist Wu Shen and the others stood dumbfounded like wooden geese, while Liu Xingzi and the others, despite their level of cultivation, still felt as though they were about to faint dead away. Lei Zhenzi, the largest of them all, pounced over, stripped off his own Daoist robe, and draped it over Ling Guangzi. He said quietly, "Senior Brother, we know you were struck by the Hundred Ghosts Exterminating Spirit Pearl. We know. But... you, you should not so openly show your wounds to others."
Ling Guangzi looked at his body, with its rippling muscles and fine, taut skin, then asked in surprise, "Is Senior Brother's body very ugly?"
Liu Xingzi pursed his lips, secretly glanced at the female Emei disciples, gave a bitter inward laugh, and shook his head. "Senior Brother, continue. Why did you later kill Qing He? Junior Brother Xiao Longzi, go find several sets of clothes for Eldest Senior Brother. Quickly... quickly."
Ling Guangzi blinked several times, then looked again at the many exposed parts of his body before continuing, "Oh, where had I gotten to? Mm, I was saying that little Daoist brought out that evil magical treasure. This old Daoist endured many strikes. Although I did not retaliate, my True Essence still protected my heart channels. In the end, my True Essence rebounded, and that boy suffered a backlash from the Primordial Spirits he had refined. His own Primordial Spirit was about to be devoured."
The Emei disciples erupted into uproar, while Ling Guangzi said each word carefully and distinctly, "This old Daoist saw that things were bad and originally wanted to save him. Who would have expected that little friend would actually, actually activate the Heart Demon Blood Oath to fight for his life? Junior Brother, you know what the Heart Demon Blood Oath is. If I had not killed him, and had let him kill this old Daoist, then once he could no longer control his heart demon, he would certainly transform into a demon. Thus, Senior Brother had no choice but to strike heavily. First I killed him with one sword, then destroyed his Primordial Spirit, which had already entered the demonic path... Mm, that was it. Just as my Palm Thunder was released, Daoist Friend Wu Shen arrived. His speed was rather quick... Mm, mm. In truth, his descent into demonic corruption was not deep, so this old Daoist might not necessarily have needed to destroy his Primordial Spirit. But that little Daoist actually carried two inner cores from python demons with a thousand years of cultivation. Drawn by the Blood Oath, the vital energy of those inner cores had already begun invading his Primordial Spirit. If this old Daoist had not acted, he would have become a demon monster, so..."
The Emei disciples all wore blank expressions, while Ling Guangzi continued praising to himself, "It truly is remarkable. The Emei Sect's life-saving signal fire is extremely convenient. So long as the wearer's internal organs are jolted, it immediately calls for help from every disciple of the sect. It is indeed a fine life-saving treasure. Sigh, presumably when this old Daoist's True Essence rebounded, the signal fire went out at once. If Daoist Friend Wu Shen had been a little faster and arrived before the little Daoist activated the Heart Demon Blood Oath, there would not have been so many problems today."
Before you continue