"Phew..."
"What a Killing Sword Dao."
"If I could fully comprehend it, I might follow the Sword Dao straight to a body forged from the Law of Swordsmanship. I could even attain Hunyuan. I fear not even those six could devise such a method, yet Master..."
In the square, Yun Zhongzi stood deeply shaken.
His master was a Mystic Immortal?
Such swordsmanship had likely been rare even among the first Innate God-Demons.
To have become this man's disciple was a blessing indeed!
"I must thank Master..."
Yun Zhongzi hurried to Qingyuan's pavilion and bowed deeply. "Thank you for granting me this art, Master!"
"You are my disciple. Of course I'll teach you with care."
Qingyuan was drinking tea inside. He invited Yun Zhongzi to join him and asked with a warm smile, "Have you grown accustomed to living in the Kunlun Mountains?"
"Master, life in the Kunlun Mountains has been wonderful. Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are as plentiful as hairs on an ox, and grotto-heavens and blessed lands are too numerous to count. The Kunlun Mountains truly deserve to be called the foremost holy land in the Primordial Wilderness!"
Yun Zhongzi spoke from the heart.
After that, the two began to chat.
They talked of amusing moments in cultivation and things they had seen across the Primordial Wilderness, then moved on to the Nine Revolutions Primordial Art and their insights into cultivation.
When they discussed the Nine Revolutions Primordial Art, Qingyuan could still offer Yun Zhongzi guidance.
But when the conversation turned to experience with cultivation realms, Yun Zhongzi did all the talking and Qingyuan listened.
Yun Zhongzi went on at length.
Only then did he realize he had overstepped and hastily apologize. Qingyuan smiled and helped him up. "Some hear the Dao before others, and every craft has its own master. Of three people walking together, one must be my teacher. In other matters, you are my teacher too. Why be so modest?"
"Some hear the Dao before others, and every craft has its own master?"
"Of three people walking together, one must be my teacher?"
Yun Zhongzi was struck with awe.
Though Qingyuan was only a Mystic Immortal, he possessed the outlook and insight of a Saint. Great things surely lay ahead for him!
He was destined to become an overlord of the Primordial Wilderness!
"Speaking of which, I'm curious about the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures nearby. Could you tell me about them?"
Qingyuan wanted to know more about the treasures Yun Zhongzi had said were as plentiful as yaks.
He had become Sect Master Tongtian's disciple and had traveled a little around the area, but he had rarely seen any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, immortal mountains, or blessed lands. Why did Yun Zhongzi make finding treasures sound as easy as picking them up off the ground?
By the time Yun Zhongzi finished explaining, Qingyuan was stunned. Yun Zhongzi's title of True Immortal of Fortune and Virtue was no empty boast.
Once, while exploring the Kunlun Mountains, Yun Zhongzi had happened to land beside an ancient Spirit Herb just as it ripened after millions of years. Its guardian Fierce Beast was nowhere to be found, so he had picked it without trouble.
Another time, he had chosen a river at random for a drink and discovered that its clear water flowed from a blessed land. When he went to look, the place turned out to have no owner.
And there were countless other stories like these...
Yun Zhongzi had never even gone looking for such things. Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and Immortal Gold Divine Materials had practically come knocking at his door, insisting he take them...
Seeing Qingyuan's interest, Yun Zhongzi told him more about his travels over the years.
Then he said in amazement, "Master, while I was traveling nearby, I encountered a rather ferocious creature. It was only a Mid-stage Profound Immortal, yet it could overturn rivers and seas and command water as naturally as breathing. Its Divine Abilities in the water were formidable. It was terribly hard to deal with."
"I wanted the Creamy Lotus Root in Moon River Bay, but I never expected a Water Demon to drive me off."
"I tried several times, but I couldn't get the lotus root."
Qingyuan's interest was piqued. "Oh? A Mystic Immortal dared run rampant in front of you? What did it look like?"
"That's the strange part. The Water Demon resembles an ape, but it looks imposing. It has a white head, a blue-green body, and Fiery Golden Eyes. It stands a hundred zhang tall, with an unusually long neck and strength greater than a dragon or elephant. In the water, it can merge with the Great River itself. Fighting it is like fighting the entire river!"
Yun Zhongzi exclaimed, "Even if I were in the Mystic Immortal Realm, I doubt I could subdue it without using magical treasures or Divine Abilities."
But Qingyuan grew suspicious as he listened.
Didn't that description match Wuzhiqi, the emperor of ten thousand demons who would appear in the Human Race's lands during the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors?
In later ages, during Emperor Yu's reign after the Three Sovereigns, a demon in the Huai River had called himself the Huai River Calamity Water God.
He had established a Dragon Palace and gathered more than a hundred thousand mountain spirits and water monsters around the Huai River. Relying on his great strength, he had occupied waterways large and small throughout the Nine Provinces, built Dragon Palaces, and fought over resources. Later, he had battled Emperor Yu with boundless savagery.
But he had lost.
He had been sealed beneath Turtle Mountain.
What happened after that, no one knew.
So how had Wuzhiqi come to the Kunlun Mountains?
"I'll go to Moon River Bay with you. I'm curious to see what this Water Demon can do to earn such praise from you."
Qingyuan put away the tea set and set off with Yun Zhongzi.
They rode clouds for seventy or eighty million li before reaching the edge of a boundless river.
Yun Zhongzi called it Moon River Bay because it curved like a crescent moon.
Yet its shores seemed endless. It was nearly as vast as a Minor World, teeming with life. Fish and snakes swam through the water while birds and beasts hunted, forming a dazzling scene of nature.
The sight did not surprise Qingyuan.
The Primordial Wilderness was immense in this era; even a single blade of grass or tree held a Minor World within it.
It was said that a Golden Immortal could spend an entire lifetime traveling and still fail to cross the Primordial Wilderness.
Even a Daluo Golden Immortal would need untold ages to traverse it, and might not reach the end.
And in this era, what place had no Daluo Golden Immortals?
Fierce Beasts roamed everywhere too.
Even a Daluo Golden Immortal stood a considerable chance of dying.
If this Water Demon could draw on Moon River Bay, with its vastness rivaling a Minor World, Yun Zhongzi would indeed have trouble defeating him at the True Immortal Realm Early Stage.
"Master, you have no idea. Eating the Creamy Lotus Root in this river nourishes both Primordial Spirit and body. Its uses are endless. That's why I came several times to ask for some, but the Water Demon kept stopping me."
Yun Zhongzi sighed.
"You really are blessed, my disciple."
Qingyuan could only marvel.
Yun Zhongzi had stumbled across a Spirit Herb like this just by wandering around?
After all his years in the Kunlun Mountains, Qingyuan felt he had lived them for nothing...
Then Yun Zhongzi went forward and called out a challenge.
Rumble!
Moon River Bay erupted. The river churned, towering waves battered the shore, and white water rose hundreds of zhang high, bearing an ape toward them.
The ape stood a hundred zhang tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted. Its eyes gleamed gold as though lit by rainbows, while its white head, blue-green body, sharp fangs, and vicious mouth cut a fearsome figure. The moment it appeared, lightning flashed, thunder cracked, and wild winds roared!
"You thief! You dare come back to steal the lotus root?"
Wuzhiqi flew into a rage at the sight of Yun Zhongzi. "So what if you brought a Mystic Immortal to help you? I'm a Mystic Immortal too!"
"Bring ten or a hundred more Mystic Immortals, and I still won't be afraid!"
Wuzhiqi was boasting, but as long as he stayed in the water, even an ordinary Golden Immortal might not be able to catch him.
"What if I capture you in that water of yours?"
Qingyuan smiled.
Before, even a hundred or a thousand versions of himself might have failed to catch Wuzhiqi once he fled into the water. But now, not even a hundred or a thousand Wuzhiqis could escape him!
"What did you say?"
Wuzhiqi froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! What a joke!"
"If you can capture me in the water, kill me or carve me up as you please. But if you can't, do you dare agree to one condition?"
"What condition?" Qingyuan asked.
Atop the crest of a wave, Wuzhiqi stood upon layer after layer of surging water and declared defiantly, "Help me find the Interception Sect. I want to become a Saint's disciple."
Before you continue