Heading to the River of Forgetfulness

Wang Ding stepped out from behind Young Master Xihua and came before his corpse, stripping him clean of every valuable thing on him. Among them, he found a storage pouch, as well as the most important item—the Wongchuan Token. Looking at Young Master Xihua's body, Wang Ding thought to himself, This place isn't safe to stay in for long. Leaving quickly is the best plan. Heaven knows whether the sect master of the Earth Fiend Sect knows Young Master Xihua is dead. I've seen this sort of thing far too many times in novels before. And with this Wongchuan Token, I can join the Wongchuan Sect.

After putting away the storage pouch, Wang Ding suddenly saw Jiang Yiheng's corpse. He turned and glanced again at Young Master Xihua's body, and a plan immediately came to him. He walked over, stuffed Jiang Yiheng's corpse into the storage pouch, then rushed toward Sand City at top speed. However, to avoid leaving traces behind, he used several Earth Escape Talismans in succession, spending a full five talismans before returning to the inn. Wang Ding did not dare waste time. He immediately packed up his things, put all kinds of items into the storage pouch, settled the bill, and quickly left Sand City, heading toward the West Sea.

Only an hour later, two old men had already arrived at the place where Young Master Xihua's corpse lay. They were shaped like withered bones, their faces sallow as earth, both in their seventies. Expressionlessly, they looked at Young Master Xihua's body, which had already begun to stink under the sun, cold and vicious light flickering in their eyes. One of the old men put Young Master Xihua's corpse into a storage pouch, then said to the old man beside him, "Left Protector, the young sect master has already died. The sect master will surely fly into a thunderous rage. I will go track down that Jiang Yiheng. How about you take the young sect master's corpse back?"

The two of them were the Left and Right Protectors of the Earth Fiend Sect, cultivators at the Pill Gestation stage of the Qi Training Realm. In the desert lands of West Province, they were also figures of infamous ferocity and profound cultivation.

When Wang Ding left, he had taken Jiang Yiheng's corpse away precisely to mislead the people of the Earth Fiend Sect, making them think that Jiang Yiheng had killed Young Master Xihua, thereby buying time for himself. However, once they could not find Jiang Yiheng for a long period, the Earth Fiend Sect would inevitably realize something was wrong.

Wang Ding naturally knew that this little scheme could not deceive them for too long, but it was enough to buy him the time he needed to reach the Wongchuan Sect in the West Sea. By the time they realized it, he would already have joined the Wongchuan Sect. Even if they knew, they would not be able to do anything to him.

"Old friend, we should still go together. Since that Jiang Yiheng was able to kill the young master and two guards, he must be carrying a heavy treasure. You wouldn't be thinking of swallowing it all for yourself, would you?" the Left Protector said with a sinister laugh.

The Right Protector gave a dry laugh. "How could that be? My heart is entirely devoted to the Earth Fiend Sect. I have absolutely no selfish motives. Left Protector, you are overthinking it."

"Whether you're loyal or not, heaven knows, earth knows, and you know. But as for capturing Jiang Yiheng, I think it is better for us to go together, lest something happen and we both look bad before the sect master. Wouldn't you agree, Right Protector?"

"Since Left Protector is so uneasy, then let us act together. But first, we must send word to the sect master." Expressionless, the Right Protector activated a Message Jade Slip, and the jade slip turned into a streak of azure light that flew toward the horizon.

The two stopped speaking and together rode their Magic Tools, flying toward the West Sea. They knew Jiang Yiheng intended to join the Wongchuan Sect and would definitely head for the West Sea, so they planned to go there and wait for the rabbit by the stump.

The West Sea was not far from Sand City, lying three thousand li to the west. Wang Ding traveled day and night toward the West Sea, and it took him a full ten days before he reached a port. This port was called West Sea Port, a gathering place where countless West Sea cultivators and inland cultivators interacted and exchanged all kinds of resources. It was also where cultivators heading out to sea gathered. There were specialized teleportation arrays here that led to the islands of the various overseas sects. Because the terrain here was far too important, in order to prevent the great sects of the Central Lands from invading, no large-scale teleportation arrays leading inland were allowed here. Moreover, two Spirit Refining cultivators were stationed here year-round; no one could possibly sneak in silently and cause destruction.

The West Sea was rich in resources, with countless heavenly treasures, earthly rarities, and demonic beast Inner Cores. Its abundant resources meant that many experts gathered here. Even the mighty Ten Great Sects would not dare launch a forceful attack, because among the Ten Great Rogue Cultivators under heaven, seven cultivated here, and each of them was a heaven-shaking combatant on the verge of undergoing tribulation and ascending.

When Wang Ding arrived at the city gate, he began lining up to wait to enter. Suddenly, he felt two gazes fall on him. His heart tightened, but he did not dare make any extra movement. With a blank expression, he looked toward the source of the gazes and saw two black-robed old men staring at him. The moment Wang Ding saw their clothing, he immediately knew they were people of the Earth Fiend Sect. Not daring to be careless, he pondered inwardly, This is West Sea Port. Those two absolutely wouldn't dare make a move at will. But I have things from the Earth Fiend Sect on me. If I stay too long, there's no guarantee they won't see through me. I can't let them grow suspicious. I have to shake them off immediately. Right now, I haven't joined the Wongchuan Sect yet. Once they suspect me, I'll die without a doubt. These sects have far too many methods to put someone to death.

Wang Ding's thoughts spun rapidly. He called out to the two old men, "What are you staring at? Never seen a handsome guy as handsome as me before? I'm not interested in you two old rabbits. If you want to get gay, go do it somewhere else."

As soon as he said this, everyone around them immediately looked toward the two old men with strange gazes.

"No way. Are these two old men really gay? They look like they're already several dozen years old."

"You don't understand, do you? This is called the older they get, the more passion they've got."

"Mm-hmm, truly passion shooting in all directions. I just wonder which one is on top and which one is on bottom."

"Indeed, the old man grows only firmer with age. Impressive, impressive."

Waves of discussion instantly spread throughout the entire city gate. The faces of the two old men from the Earth Fiend Sect immediately turned like chameleons, from white to green, then from green to black.

"Boy, you're courting death!" Ashamed into fury, the Right Protector raised his fist and was about to strike Wang Ding.

"Don't. This is West Sea Port. We cannot use force. Don't forget our purpose in coming here," the Left Protector said quietly as he held the Right Protector back.

"Tsk, tsk, you're even whispering sweet nothings." With Wang Ding adding oil to the fire, he immediately provoked another wave of gossip.

The Left and Right Protectors could not stay there any longer and had no choice but to leave the city gate in sorry retreat. As the instigator, Wang Ding did not dare delay. He paid the city-entry tax and hurried toward the teleportation array. After asking clearly about the island where the Wongchuan Sect was located, he paid a full two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones and was immediately teleported to the Nine Nether Archipelago, the number-one island group of the West Sea, where the Wongchuan Sect was located.

Light flashed over the teleportation array, and Wang Ding vanished from within it. A short while later, he appeared on Welcoming Island at the outer edge of the Nine Nether Archipelago.

Only then did Wang Ding come back to his senses. He saw that Welcoming Island was currently packed shoulder to shoulder, a sea of people. Countless cultivators appeared one after another from the teleportation arrays, and there were all sorts among them. Wang Ding looked around. Some were secular royal nobles dressed with great refinement; some were Rogue Cultivators wearing clothes of every bizarre kind imaginable; there were even people of other races, some with twin horns growing from their heads, others with strange colors showing on their faces. Wang Ding found it very odd.

Wang Ding saw a round, plump fatty who seemed rather easy to talk to, so he walked up with a smile, cupped his fists with both hands, and said, "Greetings, brother. I am Wang Ding. Might I ask what has happened here? Why are there so many people coming and going?" Now that he was about to join a sect, Wang Ding naturally would no longer conceal his name.

The fatty's face was full of puzzlement. "You don't know?"

"I truly do not. Please enlighten me, brother."

"Don't call me brother. My name is Huang Tutian. There are so many people here because today is the disciple-recruitment day of the Wongchuan Sect, the greatest sect in the West Sea. Countless great clans, Rogue Cultivators, and secular royal nobles have all come here to seek a master."

Then the fatty added, "You didn't know today was the Wongchuan Sect's disciple-recruitment day, so what did you come here for?"