Improper Taoist Haishenbao

He had just been discussing at home with someone else how "this world is no good" and "there must be something wrong with the cultivation methods," only to be refuted so thoroughly by someone else's solid evidence—oh, no, by the solid evidence that had delivered itself to his door—that he could barely take care of himself. What was this called?

This was called getting slapped in the face, damn it!

Wasn't the greatest pleasure of a protagonist supposed to be slapping other people in the face? Why was he the one getting slapped?

Could it be that he wasn't the protagonist?

Wang Qi immediately fell into doubt about life.

Seeing that Wang Qi did not answer, the girl frowned slightly, and the aura around her suddenly burst forth. Wang Qi felt as though the girl before him had abruptly turned into a vicious weapon blazing with cold light. It was as if a thousand tons weighed upon him, leaving him unable to move!

"Wake up!" Zhen Chanzi's voice rang out in Wang Qi's mind. Wang Qi suddenly snapped awake and circulated his pitifully scant mana with all his strength, resisting the pressure of a Foundation Establishment Realm expert.

Yet this had no meaning whatsoever. No matter how Wang Qi struggled, he could not possibly escape her attack. Judging by the speed of her flying sword, Wang Qi reckoned that turning him into shredded meat would take only minutes.

"Old man, can you... possess me and fight her now?"

"Wishful thinking."

Fine. Wang Qi's thoughts raced, but he bared eight teeth again and put on a standard smile. "May I ask what business this Fairy has with me?"

"If I tell you to come, you come! If I wanted to kill you, I'd have pierced you through with a sword long ago." Without another word, the girl extended a hand and pulled. Wang Qi felt the world spin, and when he came to, his collar was already clutched in her hand.

Wang Qi wore a fawning expression. "Wouldn't I feel more at ease if you told me why?"

The girl tilted her head and looked at him with interest. "Would it make a difference?"

Zhen Chanzi shouted in Wang Qi's mind, "This little miss is probably some sect disciple who has never seen much of the world. Boy, keep drawing her out. The more information we get, the greater our hope of escaping!"

Wang Qi snorted coldly at Zhen Chanzi in his mind, though he kept smiling on his face. "Fairy, as the saying goes, fear of the unknown is common to all people. You snatched me away without saying a thing—what am I supposed to think? That you're taking me to test medicine? Test poison? Or castrate me and send me into the palace?"

The girl burst out laughing. "Haha, you're quite interesting. But... 'fear of the unknown is common to humanity'—wasn't that something several Grandmasters of Yangshen Pavilion researched and summarized? How did you know that?"

Wang Qi opened his mouth. "Yangshen Pavilion?"

"Could you be the type who accidentally picked up an Ancient Method Cultivator inheritance, then shut yourself at home and built a cart behind closed doors?"

Wang Qi scratched his head awkwardly. "Miss, your insight reaches ten thousand miles. I truly know nothing of the immortal path of today."

The girl looked at the sky and said, "It's getting late, and I still need to hurry back. You only need to remember one thing: the immortal path of today will absolutely not permit Ancient Method cultivation like yours!"

Having said that, the girl grabbed Wang Qi and shot back in the direction from which she had come.

However, the instant the girl flew a thousand zhang away from the Wang Family estate, an abrupt change erupted! Four golden pillars of light surged upward against the sky. Countless electric serpents flew between the four pillars, forming a massive square prison one li across!

The electric serpents had nearly brushed past the girl's clothes. Looking back at the immense spell that had almost locked both him and the girl within it, Wang Qi broke out in a cold sweat.

Yet Zhen Chanzi was even more shocked than Wang Qi. "Four Mahayana cultivators! How is that possible?!"

Ten thousand years ago, in his era, there had not even been more than ten great Mahayana cultivators. Even he was seeing such a grand spectacle of four Mahayana cultivators joining forces for the first time!

Zhen Chanzi had once scanned the entire Dabai Village with his spiritual sense. This place was neither a geomantic treasure land rich in spiritual energy nor a Yin Sha wasteland that led straight to the Yellow Springs. What could possibly be worth four Mahayana cultivators joining hands over?

Zhen Chanzi's confusion did not last long before a slightly hoarse voice suddenly appeared between heaven and earth.

"Real Man Hai, come out. There is no need to hide any longer!"

Then, an aged sigh drifted into everyone's hearts. "Why?"

"Old Man Hai?!" Wang Qi froze. That voice sounded exceptionally familiar. It was clearly Old Man Hai, that idle villager from the village!

"Real Man Hai, we respect you as a master of Piaomiao Palace and do not wish to contend with you. Please also consider the position of your martial uncle, Quantum Master Bohr!"

"Why?!" Old Man Hai's voice abruptly became somewhat hysterical. "It is true that I helped Emperor De forge that World-destroying Devilish Artifact, but before I attained the Dao, I too was a subject of the Great De Dynasty! Quite a few Piaomiao disciples were De people as well. What crime had we committed? And what, pray tell, are the things you hold in your hands?"

"The arts of the Sky Sword and the instruments of the Sky Sword exist to protect the world. They absolutely do not belong to one man or one nation!"

"Preposterous! I would rather die than suffer accusations from petty people like you!"

A gentle female voice replaced the Mahayana cultivator who had spoken earlier. "Real Man Hai, please do not say such things. The Immortal Alliance seeks you out not to bring you to justice..."

Old Man Hai cut her off. "Madam Ma, you are a heroine among women, yet even you can utter such foolish words? You probably understand better than I what sort of nature the cultivation method you practice has. No matter how many people you save with spells and divine abilities, you cannot undo Mr. Ma's qi deviation!"

"You... sigh..."

The female cultivator said no more. Another male cultivator stepped forward. "Real Man Hai, this is merely your prejudice..."

"To have Real Man Qian, the Vice Palace Master of Sky Sword Palace, personally come here—I am truly overwhelmed by the honor." Old Man Hai's tone brimmed with mockery. "But here, you are the least qualified to capture me. Hehe, 'Five Masters' Extinction.' When Real Man Qian hears that nickname, can he hear the resentful souls of the Five Armies, slaughtered beneath his sword, wailing?"

By now, the villagers had been awakened by the strange sight in the sky, but Wang Qi had no time to spare them any attention. That string of conversation had left him drenched in cold sweat.

The setting was starting to get weird, damn it! This was clearly a xianxia world, so how had a word like "quantum" suddenly popped out? Bohr? Niels Bohr?! Had he crossed over together with him too? Er, all right, judging from the timeline, it should be that he had followed him... And then Five Masters' Extinction? Senior, what exactly was your relationship with Old Qian, the one who could defeat five masters?

Seeing that no one else asked any questions, Old Man Hai threw back his head and howled. "Look! Look! You petty people! Come, come, come! Today, let me, Improper Taoist Haishenbao, experience the legendary Sky Sword!"

With that, a black shadow shot into the air from the west side of Dabai Village. If Wang Qi's eyesight had been sharp enough, he would have seen that it was Old Man Hai, who had lived in the same village as him for more than ten years.

Only, the aged look had vanished from Old Man Hai. His formerly wrinkled old face began to recover its youth, and his once timid, submissive bearing faded away completely, replaced by an awe-inspiring presence even in angerlessness!

Heisenberg...

Even having lived two lives, Wang Qi could not find a word to describe how he felt at that moment.

After Improper Taoist flew into the air, the pillars of light suddenly stretched into arcs. The barrier became a spherical cage, locking the four Mahayana cultivators and Improper Taoist together.

Within the lightning that filled that stretch of heaven and earth, Improper Taoist Heisenberg finally saw his four opponents clearly.

At their head stood a young man, refined and gentle, as though he had been born never to exist upon a field of slaughter. Yet his nickname was exceptionally bloody. This man was Qian Xueshen, Vice Palace Master of Sky Sword Palace, "Five Masters' Extinction." This nickname dated back to the founding of Sky Sword Palace. When a mortal emperor had dispatched great armies to seize the World-destroying Heavy Weapon, Palace Master Qian had only just mastered the Sky Sword precepts. Yet with a single sword stroke, he annihilated five armies.

The female cultivator beside him was Ma Juli, Laser Lady, one half of the Laser Couple from Burning Gold Valley. The Ma Couple had both come from the True Disciple lineage of Burning Gold Valley. Together, they had used a method unprecedented among metal cultivators, hoping to solve certain difficult illnesses and injuries that plagued the entire immortal path. But this practice was extremely damaging to the body. Moreover, the Ma Couple had created their own precepts. Before Mr. Ma attained the Dao, he had already sacrificed himself to it. After Mr. Ma's death, Madam Ma completed the cultivation method alone and earned the respect of all under heaven.

As for the one who had spoken first, he was Gu Ci of Piaomiao Palace, one of the Electric Whirl Swords. The moment Improper Taoist saw the last, towering man, his momentum inexplicably weakened by three parts.

"Eldest... Eldest Martial Brother..."

At last, Haishenbao called out.

This man was in fact the Supreme Elder of Piaomiao Palace, the Breaking Reason True Person known as Bu Rong Dao Ren!

Both Improper Taoist and Bu Rong Dao Ren were junior martial brothers of Quantum Grandmaster and disciples of True Person Suo Mofei. True Person Suo had spent his life wandering between Burning Gold Valley and Piaomiao Palace, only to die young in the end. Before his death, True Person Suo entrusted his two disciples to Quantum Master Bo Er. Although True Person Bo Er's cultivation was heaven-reaching, he was ultimately not skilled at teaching disciples. Of Improper Taoist's cultivation arts, thirty percent had been passed down by Bu Rong Dao Ren in place of their master.

Bu Rong Dao Ren lived up to his name. His eyes could not tolerate even the tiniest grain of sand, and at the slightest disagreement, he would roar at people. Back when they had studied the arts in their youth, Taoist Hai had received no shortage of scoldings from his martial brother. Later, because Haishenbao led half of Piaomiao Palace in helping Great De forge the World-destroying Heavy Weapon, while Breaking Reason True Person joined Sky Sword Palace, the two martial brothers became strangers. Yet in Improper Taoist's heart, Eldest Martial Brother would forever be that Eldest Martial Brother who took him out to fight, smashed up the sect's pill chamber with him, and cursed at him whenever he failed to make progress!

Breaking Reason gazed deeply at his junior martial brother. Though always hot-tempered, he did not utter a word. Instead, he slowly reached toward his back. The other three Mahayana cultivators made the same motion.

Haishenbao also fell silent.

There was no longer any need for empty words.

Wang Qi, held aloft by the girl, kicked his limbs wildly and repeatedly asked what was going on. Yet the girl no longer spoke as much as before. She had turned icy and said nothing.

How could Wang Qi not understand that the girl was actually in league with those four Mahayana cultivators? But he truly could not understand why he had been dragged into the schemes of such Mahayana cultivators.

"Hey, hey, Fairy sister, say something! You're on the same side as those four Mahayana cultivators, right? What exactly do those great figures want to do?..."

Wang Qi kept asking all the way, never tiring of it. The girl treated herself as deaf.

"It should be a system of this era." Zhen Chanzi's voice rang in Wang Qi's mind. "That organization called the Immortal Alliance probably wishes to keep every cultivator under its control. They specifically have Foundation Establishment cultivators search for lone Qi Refining cultivators and bring them back for easier control. That way, this little girl's appearance would not arouse suspicion. This little girl came here to draw the attention of that Hai fellow. The instant Taoist Hai focused his attention on her, those four great cultivators could seize the opportunity to move in and lay down a net that covered heaven and earth."