[After tonight, you would not need to make an appearance at the fasting ceremony three days from now. After that, you could begin cultivating in earnest.] [Your resolve was firm. The path of cultivation was not accomplished in a single day; it required perseverance.] [Just as you were preparing to return to your cultivation grounds, you made a decision...] [1. Return to the Tomb of the Living Dead.] [2. Remain where you are.] [3. Go up the mountain.]
As the light screen above the cauldron flowed out, it displayed three choices.
Yu Ke was momentarily stunned. Returning to cultivate had actually triggered an option.
Every option concerned something important. Looking back, each had appeared at a crucial juncture.
This time, merely returning to cultivate had triggered an option.
Could there be danger?
Yu Ke recalled Tuoba Hongyan's warning at the time: "Walk down Mount Zhongnan alive!"
Could a Grandmaster really be hiding on Mount Zhongnan?
In this world, Grandmasters were Transcendent Realm existences!
"Damn it, they've come right to my doorstep to kill me."
Yu Ke looked at the three options and silently pondered.
1. Return to the Tomb of the Living Dead.
If it truly had something to do with him, then the Tomb of the Living Dead, where he often stayed, would very likely become the "crime scene."
Nope!
The first option was eliminated.
2. Remain where you are.
It seemed like a good option, but it carried hidden risks as well.
After all, he was alone right now.
3. Go up the mountain.
The summit of Mount Zhongnan was currently the safest place. Heavy troops guarded it, several Master Realm experts protected it, and his master, Liu Jinchan, was among them.
Yet it was also rather dangerous.
"The safest place is also the most dangerous place."
If a Grandmaster had come up the mountain not for Lu Chen, then it was likely for the emperor of Great Qing.
The risks were evenly split.
The second and third options left him somewhat conflicted.
Yu Ke ultimately chose option 3: go up the mountain.
The risks involved in the two choices were about the same, but the third at least left him a way out.
If he remained where he was, then with Lu Chen's current abilities, facing an unknown "Grandmaster"—
There was only a dead end.
With your choice made.
[You began climbing the mountain, taking in the rare moonlight along the way.]
Inside the Taoist temple at the mountaintop.
Huang Dao struggled to rise. His scholar's robe had been soaked through with mottled bloodstains, a ghastly sight.
He looked toward Xie Mu!
A faint smile was forcibly squeezed onto his lips, but the bright-red blood spilling from his mouth made the sight especially horrifying.
"You saved me again!"
Upon hearing that, Xie Mu felt his entire body go numb.
He lamented inwardly, Why won't this lingering ghost leave me alone?!
Ma Bao's face was filled with resentment and unwillingness.
He had clearly been just one step away from eliminating Huang Dao, this thorn in his heart.
Now, all his efforts had gone down the drain.
Huang Dao's gaze sharpened as he stared directly at Ma Bao. He raised one finger, wisps of spiritual energy winding around its tip like tiny silver snakes dancing in the air.
He slowly spoke. Though his voice was weak, it carried an unquestionable force. "Where is the emperor?"
"I will only ask once."
The spiritual energy in Huang Dao's hand gathered ever more densely.
Ma Bao did not answer. He gave a cold laugh and simply closed his eyes.
Seeing this, Xie Mu hurriedly said, "Spare him once. He... can be considered a man of loyalty and affection."
Huang Dao turned his gaze toward Xie Mu.
Xie Mu's heart tightened, and he was so frightened that he did not dare look back.
"Fine. I'll spare his life. Help me over there, and I'll find him myself."
Ma Bao's eyes widened in alarm. Without Lu Yu, he feared no one on all of Mount Zhongnan could restrain Huang Dao.
Xie Mu sighed and helplessly supported Huang Dao, who had already become terribly weak.
Yet inwardly, he was curious.
Why was this devil so obsessed with killing the emperor?
But Xie Mu had no time to worry about anything else now!
He had already been swept into a monstrous tidal wave and could not extricate himself.
Damn it!
That night at the tavern, he should have found a few sweet-smelling young ladies and chatted about romance beneath the flowers and moon, ideals of home and country, and the eighteen martial arts, then fought it out beneath the covers to determine who was stronger.
Then this young master would never have run into Huang Dao.
A white-robed monk with sinister brows and eyes.
Stepping beneath the moonlight, he slowly arrived at the Tomb of the Living Dead on Mount Zhongnan.
After making inquiries in many places, Withered Wood had long learned that Lu Chen often lived in seclusion here.
"Hmph. Not a bad place to live."
His gaze was murky, concealing endless rage and hatred.
Treasure Tree was his only disciple, his only living blood relative.
Treasure Tree had represented Great Snow Mountain in supporting North Wind, only to die for no clear reason.
Back then!
Had he not sensed the Spiritual Energy Revival and been anxious to break through his realm, he would have gone down the mountain to avenge his disciple.
Instead, he had allowed Lu Chen to roam freely through the world for ten more years.
He had gotten off far too easily.
What a pity!
Great Qing and North Wind were separated by a vast distance, and Lu Chen's reputation was considerable.
Otherwise, Withered Wood would have taken him back to Great Snow Mountain and raised him in captivity, allowing disciples who favored men to ravage and humiliate him at will, making him beg for life yet unable to live, beg for death yet unable to die, like a pig or a dog.
Withered Wood only found one thing strange!
His disciple back then had also been in the Master Realm, yet he had died for no apparent reason.
However!
Though Martial Grandmasters were powerful, they could not withstand an army of thousands upon thousands.
A Master Realm expert was worth no more than three hundred armored soldiers.
On a battlefield where two nations clashed, even a Grandmaster could hardly alter the course of war.
Once the two armies spread out their formations, even a Grandmaster would be worn down alive until death.
Unless one went beyond the Grandmaster Realm and pushed open the Innate Gate.
Withered Wood could not help thinking of Huang Dao, the Demon Master of uncertain realm whom he had just encountered.
This Demon Master was unfathomably mysterious and acted in bizarre ways, making him impossible to read.
He always felt that Huang Dao's arrival to slay the dragon must conceal an unspeakable purpose.
It seemed he needed to deal with Lu Chen quickly, then head to the mountaintop and take a look.
Just then!
A shrieking gust that tore through the air came from behind him, interrupting his thoughts.
Withered Wood turned around.
He saw!
A figure in the distance charging toward him at a speed beyond ordinary description.
At the sight, Withered Wood's eyes narrowed.
The newcomer wore a Taoist robe and was clearly a Taoist priest of the Three Truths Sect.
And that aura!
"The Great Grandmaster Realm."
Since when had Great Grandmasters become so commonplace? He had encountered two on Mount Zhongnan tonight alone.
Clearly, this person had come with hostile intentions.
"No, how is that possible?!"
Withered Wood cried out in surprise. How could he be so fast?!
The figure seemed to have noticed him, and its speed suddenly increased once more.
It had already drawn out a straight streak of white light.
Within three or four breaths, the figure was already right before him.
Withered Wood felt a violent gale strike him head-on. The Taoist robe billowed in the wind, and the priest's beard and hair flew wildly.
A pair of fists rapidly expanded in his vision.
A furious roar rang beside his ears: "Give me death!"
[You were heading toward the mountaintop when you encountered your master, Liu Jinchan.] [Joy filled his face. Clearly, it was because the Son of Heaven had personally come to Zhongnan this time, and he had served as the full escort.] [The Son of Heaven had praised him highly and even promised to build a Three Truths Sect Taoist temple in Kyoto, with all necessary funds provided by the imperial treasury.] [Promoting the Three-in-One Sect had been his lifelong wish.] [The emperor needed rest at this moment, with beauties from the imperial harem keeping him company, so Liu Jinchan came down from the mountaintop.] [Over the past few years, as the Three Truths Sect developed, he often wondered whether the patriarch had manifested his blessing. Every day, he smiled so broadly that his mouth would not close.] [When Liu Jinchan looked at you, a trace of doubt flashed through his eyes. Given your temperament, you should already have returned to the Tomb of the Living Dead to continue cultivating.] [You told Liu Jinchan your earlier speculation: there might be a Grandmaster on Mount Zhongnan, and tonight would not be peaceful.] [If the emperor died at Zhongnan, I fear something terrible would happen!] [Considering that only Lu Yu, a Great Grandmaster, was currently on Mount Zhongnan, master and disciple decided to immediately seek out Lu Yu.] [You surmised that Lu Yu might be inside the Tomb of the Living Dead.] [Whenever the mountain became lively, Lu Yu would hide in the tomb to seek a little peace and quiet.] [Mount Zhongnan was indeed extraordinarily lively today.]
Before you continue