God-Striking Whip

Seeing that even her master did not know Zhou Qing's background, Ling Ruoshui felt discouraged. But then she reconsidered. My brother is the leader of the Dragon Group. I can have him investigate. I refuse to believe that if the Dragon Group gets involved, they still won't be able to uncover one man's identity. Hmph! Once she had settled on this idea, Ling Ruoshui once again turned her thoughts toward extorting a treasure from her master.

"Master, do you have any protective magic treasures? Without a magic treasure to protect one's body, no matter how profound one's Dao arts are, they're useless! You wouldn't want anything to happen to me again in the future, would you? It wouldn't be good if I disgraced Kunlun's name. I hear Shu Mountain's reputation has been growing greater and greater lately, and it seems poised to overshadow our Kunlun. Especially their sect's supreme treasure, the Purple and Azure Twin Swords—they're peerless immortal artifacts in heaven and earth. Every one of their disciples has formidable Flying Swords and magic treasures. I'm afraid that in a few years, people will only know Shu Mountain and not our Kunlun."

As the saying went, provoking a general worked better than begging one. Ling Ruoshui's cultivation had greatly advanced, and she had learned the secret arts of the immortal estate, but whenever she thought of Zhou Qing, she still felt that going to cause him trouble without insurance was unsafe. Only by bringing along a powerful magic treasure would she be confident. Yet Old Daoist Ganji had always indulged her in everything else—why did he start hemming and hawing the moment magic treasures were mentioned? Could it be that Kunlun's sect leader, the world-renowned grandmaster, was actually a miser? Seeing Old Daoist Ganji sitting there in silent contemplation, Ling Ruoshui had not the slightest thought of respecting her master, and let her imagination run wild.

"What you say does make sense. It isn't that I refuse to give you a magic treasure, but Kunlun's magic treasures are too powerful, and one needs profound cultivation to wield them freely. Given your current cultivation, your master is considering which magic treasure would suit you." Old Daoist Ganji's attainments had reached the level of creation itself. In his early years, he had traveled far and wide—across the Central Plains, through overseas nations, to the South Pole and North Pole. He had practically circled the entire globe and encountered countless people; how could he not understand Ling Ruoshui's thoughts? Still, he truly liked this girl and had always doted on her. How could he possibly blame her? Thus, he explained in a grave voice.

Hearing Old Daoist Ganji's explanation, Ling Ruoshui was overjoyed. She grabbed his hand and swayed it back and forth as she said sweetly, "All right, Master! I'm sorry, I wronged you. Master is the best! I heard that Kunlun has a fairly powerful magic treasure called the God-Striking Whip. That's the one I want. Surely Master won't be stingy!"

At first, Old Daoist Ganji listened with a beaming smile and nodded repeatedly. But the instant the words "God-Striking Whip" left Ling Ruoshui's mouth, his expression changed so fast it was like turning the pages of a book.

"Ah!" Old Daoist Ganji let out a shriek and sprang three zhang into the air. Fortunately, Jade Void Palace was incomparably spacious—even its secret chambers were ten zhang high. Otherwise, even with his profound cultivation, he would have smashed his head bloody.

Dropping rapidly back to the ground, Old Daoist Ganji sprayed saliva everywhere as he pointed at Ling Ruoshui and babbled, "You... how do you know about the God-Striking Whip? Who told you? You haven't told anyone else, have you?!"

Seeing Old Daoist Ganji in such an unbecoming state, Ling Ruoshui was also greatly startled. She hurriedly asked, "Master, what's wrong with you? Isn't it just a magic treasure? Why are you acting like this? Martial Uncle told me. That time, I brought Martial Uncle several jars of century-old Maotai. He drank himself dizzy right away and told me about it. It's not as though it's anything strange, so why would I tell anyone?" Seeing her normally dignified and Daoist-looking master now acting like a shrew screaming in the street, Ling Ruoshui found it utterly incomprehensible.

At that moment, within a cave on one of the towering peaks beneath Jade Void Palace, which floated amidst white clouds, a Daoist with snow-white hair and beard and a huge crimson drinker's nose suddenly opened his eyes. He gave a bitter smile. "This is bad. That little girl has sold me out again. Who knows what Senior Brother will do to me this time? Hurry and enter seclusion, hurry and enter seclusion." With a gesture of his incantation, thirty-six apricot-yellow command flags appeared out of thin air. Mysterious light flickered, and dense clear radiance sealed the cave entrance tightly shut. Only after patting his chest did the red-nosed Daoist sigh. "Who told me to get greedy for two mouthfuls of that girl's liquor and let it slip? I can't blame anyone else! Still, if I don't go out now and wait until Senior Brother's anger subsides, surely Senior Brother won't be able to break my Thirty-Six Great Evolution Divine Formation, right? Senior Brother's cultivation is profound, but he isn't as skilled in formations as I am. This is the skill I keep at the bottom of my chest!" After muttering to himself, the red-nosed Daoist made a grasping motion, and a jar of Maotai flew into his hand. He removed the seal and took a fierce gulp, a faint flush flashing across his face.

Hearing that Ling Ruoshui had not told anyone, Old Daoist Ganji finally breathed a sigh of relief, only to begin scolding again. "It was that old ox-nosed Qian Yuan who told you, wasn't it? Just watch how I deal with him!" Cursing a bald donkey right in front of a monk, Ling Ruoshui laughed. "Master! How can you curse Martial Uncle like that? What exactly is this God-Striking Whip? Why did you lose your composure like this? If anyone saw the dignified Kunlun sect leader, the number one expert under heaven, acting this way, wouldn't Kunlun lose all its face?" Ling Ruoshui was indeed utterly irreverent, speaking without the slightest restraint.

But Old Daoist Ganji did not take offense. In a grave voice, he said, "This God-Striking Whip is Kunlun's mountain-guarding treasure. Its power is boundless. Used to strike someone, even an immortal would find it difficult to escape a single blow. It was left behind by Jiang Ziya after he conferred the gods in ancient times, and it is said to conceal a great secret of heaven and earth. The world believes that after the great battle of the Investiture of the Gods, the God-Striking Whip followed Jiang Ziya to the Heavenly Realm. They would never have imagined that it remained here in Kunlun. If others learned of it, I fear..."

Hearing this, Ling Ruoshui asked in surprise, "Master, does that mean immortals really exist in this world?"

Old Daoist Ganji shook his head. "Your master does not know either. Legend says that once one cultivates to the realm of Refining Void United Dao, one attains the Dao and ascends to the Heavenly Realm. Yet for several hundred years, no one has ever broken through to the realm of Refining Spirit Returning to Void, much less Refining Void United Dao. Therefore, tales of immortals are vague and illusory, and your master cannot say for certain. But the very existence of Kunlun and Jade Void Palace is itself a miracle."

Ling Ruoshui had never been stupid; calling her clever and quick-witted would not have been wrong. So she asked Old Daoist Ganji again, "Master! Since Kunlun has such a powerful magic treasure, why can't we make it known? Doesn't Shu Mountain have the Purple and Azure Twin Swords? Their reputation soared because of them. Tianshi Dao has the Dragon Tiger Treasure Seal! Mao Mountain has the Jade Talisman Purple Record. Yet Kunlun alone, aside from its exquisite cultivation methods, is not known to possess any treasure that guards the mountain. These days, quite a few sects are beginning to resent Kunlun's position as leader of the Daoist Sect."

"Girl, the tallest tree catches the wind! The God-Striking Whip is not comparable to those magic treasures. As long as someone has lived long enough, they basically know of this treasure. How could they not come to seize it? Especially since the battle of the Investiture of the Gods back then, according to the records I found in Kunlun, was fundamentally a decisive battle between humans and monsters. I fear the God-Striking Whip contains some secret from within it. When the time comes, every ox demon, snake spirit, demon, and monster will come running up Kunlun Mountain. What then?" Old Daoist Ganji was heavy with worry.

"Monsters! What's there to fear about monsters? It seems the strongest one now is the Tianxuan Blood Demon of the Monster Alliance. It is only around the early Spirit Transformation stage. Though it is an expert, even if a thousand of them came, they probably couldn't threaten Kunlun, could they?" Ling Ruoshui asked curiously.