Not Lonely on the Road to the Yellow Springs

After the brothers finished speaking, they continued to search with focus.

They were so fast that they searched the entire first floor in one night. The Scripture Repository Pavilion had five floors. Tonight, they were on the second floor. Although they had finished searching, they still found nothing.

The brothers weren't in a hurry. They remained hidden during the day. They both had treasure artifacts for storage, carrying various items. They could drink water when thirsty and eat something when hungry, or they could go without food. Grandmaster experts could go a month without eating or drinking, easily.

Li Jiusheng observed them using his Domain, but the brothers didn't notice him at all. Thus, when they opened their storage bags, they were careless. This allowed Li Jiusheng to see many books inside, filling the storage bags.

"These must be secret manuals the brothers stole from other sects. Judging by their thickness, they've visited quite a few sects and stolen many secret manuals and cultivation methods from the Old Land. If they get away with these and spread them to other regions, the cultivators of the Old Land will be in dire straits," Li Jiusheng thought, his heart chilling as if he saw a future where Outer Domain cultivators would thoroughly study the Old Land's techniques and then counter them. The culprits would be these two brothers.

He absolutely could not let these two brothers leave!

On the third day, the brothers were very quiet during the day, so quiet that they seemed to be nonexistent.

Li Jiusheng also pretended they weren't there, focusing his attention on meditating in the Scripture Repository Pavilion, seeking within himself to excavate the "Aura" and "Essence" of various cultivation methods.

This excavation lasted the entire day.

No Shangqing Palace disciples came to the Scripture Repository Pavilion today, so Li Jiusheng was very idle. As night fell, he got up and left.

After he left, the brothers immediately appeared. The second brother rubbed his neck and said, "Big brother, this old guy sat there for a whole day without absorbing any Spiritual Energy. What kind of Dao is he cultivating, and what kind of method is he practicing?"

"He's just putting on an act. Maybe he was sleeping while meditating. Who knows?" The elder brother said dismissively, thinking Li Jiusheng was pretentious. He was clearly an old failure who had cultivated for a hundred years but was still in the Houtian Realm, yet he acted with such grace. With his bone structure and wearing a Daoist robe, he looked like an immortal, even more so than them like a Grandmaster expert.

Looking at Li Jiusheng's face, which was still handsome even in old age, the elder brother, who had never experienced what it was like to be handsome his entire life, was very jealous.

"Big brother, when we find the Anomaly Diagram and leave, should we... give this old guy..." A trace of ruthlessness flashed across the second brother's face as he lightly drew a line across his neck.

The elder brother was tempted but shook his head, "We can't be careless. What if we get discovered?"

"Big brother, after we finish this job, we'll be far away. Who would stay in this closed-off Old Land? At that time, the emperor is far away. Even if they trace it back to us, what can Shangqing Palace do?" The second brother said disdainfully, trying to persuade his elder brother.

The elder brother was moved and said, "Let's talk about it after we find the Anomaly Diagram."

"Okay!" The second brother nodded excitedly. He knew that when his elder brother said this, he had agreed 100%.

He hadn't killed anyone in a long time and was practically bursting.

The brothers continued to search for the Anomaly Diagram, unaware that in the tea room next to the first floor of the Scripture Repository Pavilion, Li Jiusheng was expressionlessly holding his tea, drinking it sip by sip.

This night passed very simply.

The brothers searched the entire third floor, looking for the Anomaly Diagram, but found nothing.

It wasn't until dawn broke and sunlight pierced the gauze windows of the Scripture Repository Pavilion, shining in, that the brothers realized a night had passed.

At this moment, they had searched the third floor with no success and were about to step onto the stairs to the fourth floor when the sunlight bathed them.

The second brother instinctively closed his eyes. He hadn't seen the sun in days. He instinctively said, "Big brother, let's hide. We'll come back tonight. There are still two floors left, and we'll find it soon."

He heard his elder brother's excited, trembling voice, "No need to hurry. I found it."

The second brother quickly entered the shadows and followed his elder brother's surprised gaze. He saw a painting hanging on the wall between the third and fourth floors.

The painting depicted a vast blue sea. Above the blue sea, a large white carp leaped high, its tail splashing countless drops of water.

This seemingly ordinary painting was right there on the stairs. Neither of them had noticed it before. Unexpectedly, now, the morning sun shone through the mottled windows, illuminating the painting. The fish and the water in the painting miraculously came to life.

In the brothers' eyes, the sea instantly churned violently, and the wind howled like a natural disaster. But in the next second, a large white carp leaped high, its tail coiling and suppressing dozens of waves. The world became clear and serene, as if time had stood still.

"Fish... Fish Leaping in the Sea of Time!" The second brother covered his mouth excitedly, overjoyed. He grabbed his elder brother and they jumped up and down with excitement.

They had been searching for the Anomaly Diagram for days, and it turned out to be hanging in an inconspicuous corner. If not for the sunlight, even if they had turned the Scripture Repository Pavilion upside down, they would never have found it.

"Damn it, who would hang the Anomaly Diagram in a place like this? Who could find it?" The elder brother was also excited but cursed the Grandmaster of Shangqing Palace. Wasn't this deliberately making it hard to find?

"Take this painting back, and let's go," the elder brother said decisively after his excitement, remembering something. The item was obtained, so they should retreat immediately.

The second brother nodded but his gaze fell on the tea room next to the first floor of the Scripture Repository Pavilion, his eyes cold. "Big brother, I haven't killed anyone in a long time."

The elder brother frowned, knowing his younger brother had a penchant for killing and felt uncomfortable if he didn't kill for a while. He said sternly, "Go quickly and come back quickly. I'll take the painting first."

"Alright!" The second brother roared excitedly, his eyes instantly turning blood red. He had been holding back for a long time, and now he could release himself. He instantly leaped out of the third-floor staircase window and directly to the first-floor tea room.

"Old man, pretending all day. I hate people like you who consider themselves righteous. You talk about benevolence and morality, but behind your back, you're full of debauchery." The second brother said excitedly, energy surging in his palm. His Grandmaster Domain expanded, seeping into the tea room. He saw Li Jiusheng sitting calmly in his chair, holding a cup, and flicking his finger. The water in the cup was flicked out.

Clang!

This drop of tea transformed into a miniature short sword, flew across the tea room, and as the second brother opened the tea room door, with a thwip, it pierced through his forehead and then flew out of the back of his head. Finally, the sword cut a stone before turning back into tea and dripping onto the grass.

In front of the tea room, the man in black, the second brother, who had been ferocious and wanted to kill Li Jiusheng to vent his anger, now stared at Li Jiusheng with a stunned and disbelieving expression.

This sword had shattered his consciousness, his Domain, and the energy within him.

"You... you... you're not in the Houtian Realm?" the second brother in black stammered with difficulty. He could clearly feel his life force draining away frantically. He was about to die, but he didn't want to die.

"When did I ever say I was in the Houtian Realm?" Li Jiusheng looked at the second brother in black calmly, his eyes very cold. He had heard their conversation clearly all night. Since they dared to harbor murderous intent towards him, they had to be prepared for the prey to turn and kill them.

Li Jiusheng ignored the second brother in black, stepped over his trembling and lifeless corpse, and looked towards the third floor.

First, I'll kill the younger brother, then the elder brother. They won't be lonely on the road to the underworld!