Schemes

Countless brilliant auroras swayed, soared, and flashed, as though they had drawn this stretch of sky into boundless deep space in an instant, where east and west were indistinguishable, and there was neither up nor down.

The blue-black escape light kept shifting and twisting, but still could not break free. A great hand formed from magical power, twenty zhang across, suddenly grabbed at it, moving countless times faster than lightning. There was simply no dodging it.

Escape was clearly impossible now.

Helpless, the blue-black escape light forcibly gathered its radiance and slammed hard into the descending hand!

A thunderous crash rang out, as though several mountain ranges had collapsed at once. The blue-black escape light shuddered, on the verge of disintegrating, yet the hand of magical power remained unharmed. Its five fingers spread again as it seized downward.

Bang!

Bang!!

Bang!!!

Broken rocks flew everywhere, the ground was pounded into deep craters, and dust billowed on all sides.

The blue-black escape light no longer dared withstand the blows head-on as it had before. Instead, it darted and leaped about, narrowly evading the hand's grasp each time by a hair's breadth.

"Hmph! Let's see how you escape now!"

Yin Gonghao abandoned his teasing mood.

With a slight surge of his magical power, the hand swelled to several hundred zhang across in an instant. Dark and oppressive, it descended like the palm and fingers of a primordial giant god reaching down from the clouds.

Clouds and thunder rose together, unleashing countless howls and furious roars!

The blue-black escape light was like a tiny, solitary boat amid towering waves. Just as it seemed about to capsize, a speck of golden light suddenly leaped out of it to meet the hand of magical power.

That bean-sized speck of golden light merely hung in midair, yet possessed a majestic presence that could anchor all creation and the four seasons. How lofty it was, how towering.

"What is this?"

Yin Gonghao seemed to recall something and frowned, but the hand, several hundred zhang across, did not stop. Instead, it fell even faster.

With a soundless collision, both the golden light and the hand of magical power collapsed and vanished without a trace.

"...I wondered who had the courage of a tiger or wolf to dare spy on me. So you have that sort of background. No wonder. No wonder."

Seeing that his strike had failed, Yin Gonghao could not be bothered to attack again. He raised his sleeve and gathered up the auroras glittering across the sky, no longer barring the blue-black escape light from leaving.

"Speak, Jade Pivot's son. What have you come to see me for?"

Below him, a slender figure emerged from within the blue-black escape light.

He wore a plain white robe, his hair secured with a green hairpin, and an ink-jade mask covered the left side of his face. He cut a dashing, elegant figure.

This was none other than Chen Ying, who had met Chen Heng at Little Sweet Mountain.

"Your killing intent is far too strong, Elder. I only came to watch the excitement, yet you nearly killed me. How cruel, how cruel."

Chen Ying sighed softly. "But how did you know I was Jade Pivot's son?"

He began to smile. "Couldn't I be a disciple of a great sect? The Jade Dawn School, the Vermilion Luminescence Sect, or perhaps... the Huzhao Sect?"

"Don't trade barbs with me. You've learned the Xiantian Demon Sect's Nether Emperor Nine Splendors Great Escape, and you have Jade Pivot's Dipper Talisman protecting you. If you're not his son, could you possibly be his father?"

Chen Ying could not help laughing.

"If you have something to say, say it. For the past few days, I've had the faint sense that someone has been following me. I formed hand seals to divine their identity, but the workings of heaven were obscured, and I could not determine who they were."

Yin Gonghao said coldly,

"I presume you were the one following me? It seems Jade Pivot dotes on you. Not only did he give you a protective Dipper Talisman, he also gave you a secret treasure to conceal the workings of heaven... With wealth like that, even I'm tempted to kill you and take your treasures!"

"Your divine abilities are vast, Elder. With my meager cultivation, I spent days struggling to find you and still couldn't catch up. I've made a fool of myself."

"Oh? Then how did you know I would stop here today?"

"Today? Today really was an accident."

Chen Ying seemed amused. "I was going to visit a brother of mine today, but unexpectedly encountered you along the way. Would you call that a coincidence?"

"Your brother? Another son of Jade Pivot?"

Yin Gonghao's eyes lit up.

"Indeed. I meant to offer him a few words of warning, to tell him to be wary of Jade Pivot and not end up like our other brothers. They enjoyed their moment of glory, only to spend the rest of their lives as mortals in the end. Nothing but a moon in water, flowers in a mirror-all emptiness."

Chen Ying looked toward Blazing Mountain, then calmly withdrew his gaze.

"But since I've run into you, Elder, I have serious business to attend to and cannot spare him any attention. I can only hope he finds his own way through."

"What serious business could a True Disciple of the Xiantian Demon Sect have with an elder of the Huzhao Sect?"

"The Earth Abyss."

Chen Ying smiled easily and said,

"An immortal of corpse deliverance!"

Yin Gonghao's expression changed dramatically. He turned to leave, only for Chen Ying to catch his sleeve.

"Relax. I'm not that mad yet. That immortal of corpse deliverance is beyond anything I could covet. But..."

Chen Ying lowered his voice and transmitted a message with his divine sense.

Yin Gonghao's face alternated between red and white in an instant.

At last, under Chen Ying's half-smiling gaze, he steeled himself and agreed through gritted teeth.

"Very well, very well. Then I'll return to the Huzhao Sect first and make some arrangements. True Person Chen, come with me. We both belong to the Six Demon Sects; we must keep in touch, lest we grow estranged."

Yin Gonghao's words had suddenly become much more courteous.

"I'd like nothing better!"

Chen Ying laughed heartily.

Yin Gonghao raised his hand and summoned the Eight-Cornered Exquisite White Jade Tower, entering it together with Chen Ying. But as the white jade tower broke through the void, he remembered Xiao Yu, and a strand of pure qi emerged from the crown of his head and descended.

"After you!"

The white jade tower abruptly vanished from the spot, traversing untold miles of mountains and rivers in an instant.

Before the strand of pure qi from Yin Gonghao's crown reached the ground, it transformed into his likeness, exuding the same chilling demonic presence.

"What useless trash!"

His long eyebrows rose as he spoke in displeasure.

The scene below was already too gruesome to behold.

Half of Xiao Yu's body had been chewed to ruin, her belly torn open and her intestines exposed, yet she still struggled, refusing to die.

The woman spread her mangled arms, their stark white broken bones exposed, and clung tightly to a walking corpse.

Ignoring its stench, even more overpowering than a privy, she opened her mouth and bit down hard on the walking corpse's neck, refusing to let go.

"But your disposition is passable."

Yin Gonghao waved a hand. His immense magical power surged, and all the walking corpses below burst apart, their flesh reduced to pulp.

He pointed at Xiao Yu next, injecting a stream of primal essence into the dying woman. Her organs and skin immediately regrew. Within a few breaths, her face glowed with health. Not only had her wounds healed completely, she was even healthier than before.

"Please have mercy, Master! Teach me the immortal Dao!"

Without the slightest hesitation,

Xiao Yu abruptly prostrated herself.

She had witnessed the tremendous upheaval of Yin Gonghao and Chen Ying's clash, which had almost overturned the mountains and rivers, and now this power to restore life.

However mad she might be, she knew the old man before her possessed divine abilities.

"Do not call me Master. You failed to kill all these walking corpses and did not pass the trial. You cannot become a disciple of mine yet."

Yin Gonghao shook his head. "However, I can give you another chance."

"Thank you, True Person! Thank you, True Person!"

Xiao Yu kowtowed heavily, bruising her forehead black and blue.

Seeing this, Yin Gonghao smiled in satisfaction and asked, "Is there anyone you feel especially grateful to and care about?"

"..."

Chen Heng's face surfaced in Xiao Yu's mind.

She wanted to shake her head, but Yin Gonghao's gaze robbed her of any thought of concealment.

"Yes. His name is Chen Heng."

Xiao Yu lowered her head.

"Mm. Then go and kill him. Are you willing?"

"...I am!"

Xiao Yu's nails dug deep into her palms. After a long while, she suddenly gave a coy laugh. "As long as I can follow you and learn the Dao, True Person, I'd willingly cut him to pieces with a thousand blades!"

"Good."

Yin Gonghao nodded. "I will teach you the Dao for only one month. If you can kill him, you may enter my tutelage. If you cannot, I will break your limbs and give you the body of a beast, making you wish you were dead. What do you say?"

"I understand. I will obey everything you command, True Person."

"Excellent! Excellent!"

Hearing this, a trace of genuine delight finally appeared on Yin Gonghao's face. "Good child, tell me your true name."

"Zhou Chuyu."

Xiao Yu obediently shuffled forward on her knees to Yin Gonghao and raised her face fawningly.

"True Person, my worldly name is Zhou Chuyu."

Yin Gonghao frowned at first, then burst into laughter. He laughed with immense pleasure, his voice shaking the mountain forests and scattering the drifting clouds high above until they broke apart.

Meanwhile, at Blazing Mountain.

Chen Heng, who was currently within the One True Dharma Realm, naturally knew nothing of what had happened outside.

Seated cross-legged, he suddenly stirred and formed a hand seal. Layers of air currents arose around him.

"It worked!"

Chen Heng opened his eyes, delight appearing on his face.