Food Immortal Master

The presence of a Mindscape Realm meant his consciousness still remained. Once it had been cleared out and repaired, Zhu Gaoyang might still wake up!

She looked at that still-twisting, hideous body, unable to find any trace of the man's original appearance.

"Then... what do we do?" Xing Zhi was familiar with that question. But as the team's usual pillar of strength, she was accustomed to hearing it, not asking it.

Right now, though, her mind truly was a tangled mess.

"Give me a sword. Any sword will do," Ming Qitian said. "I can pin him here for now."

Someone immediately brought a sword. Ming Qitian held it horizontally, slowly feeding True Qi into the blade. Then she lowered its point and drove it through Zhu Gaoyang's body, burying it in the ground up to the hilt.

The True Qi within instantly seized control of that savage body. He shuddered, then went still, save for a faint trembling.

"There. Don't pull out this sword."

Xing Zhi hurriedly nodded.

She struggled to rein in her exploding emotions and put her tangled thoughts in order.

According to Black Chi, Zhu Gaoyang had also come looking for that thing, and he, too, had headed straight for the County Office-or rather, straight for Ming Qitian.

Her earlier question was tipping toward a "yes." Could Ming Qitian really be what the Immortal Lord sought?

Just then, Chang Zhiyuan entered the rear courtyard with two people. Xing Zhi looked up, about to explain the situation, but he gently waved a hand and entered the room Ming Qitian had just left.

"Brother Yue." Chang Zhiyuan entered the room, approached the old man, and bent down to speak softly. "I've prepared a carriage at the entrance. It's a little dangerous here. Please take shelter elsewhere for a while."

"Isn't this already the safest place in Fenghuai?" the old man rasped.

"Yes... but nowhere in Fenghuai is very safe right now." Chang Zhiyuan gave a bitter smile before continuing, "Ye is Fenghuai's hero, and you're his elder. I want to do everything I can to keep you safe."

He continued, "Ye went to the north bridgehead. You can pick him up along the way. There's no use in him staying here anyway."

This was perhaps one of the few selfish impulses Chang Zhiyuan had indulged in over his dozen-plus years in office. He truly liked that bright, resilient youth. Seeing him felt like spring sunshine falling upon his own aging body.

But the old man in the wheelchair shook his head. "Thank you, but there's no need. Wait until Ye comes back and let him decide."

Chapter 75: Beholding a god

Chang Zhiyuan sighed. "All right."

He stepped outside and looked at the monster pinned beneath the pear tree by the sword.

This was Chang Zhiyuan's first glimpse of the creature, but the events of the past few days had tempered his nerves considerably. Though his expression still showed disbelief, he was no longer stunned speechless.

"Magistrate Chang, we need people stationed here to keep watch. No one must be allowed to pull out the sword," Xing Zhi said.

Chang Zhiyuan nodded. "Master Xing, have you solved that riddle you mentioned?"

Xing Zhi fell silent for a moment. She had not solved the riddle, but she could only offer her conjecture as an answer.

A Brief Discussion of Profound Martial Arts mentioned the Extraordinary Arts Canon, and Ming Qitian possessed the Sword Treatise.

And two "scouts" had already sought her out.

Only the bead remained unexplained, but this was not a puzzle game designed by a person. Not every clue had to be used.

Three of the four pointed to Ming Qitian. For now, Xing Zhi could only commit to that conjecture.

Of course, another conjecture held some merit: Endowed Fortune, which everyone was searching for. It, too, was an Extraordinary Arts Canon, and Ming Qitian had come seeking it.

But that could not explain Zhu Gaoyang's actions, and she could not work out how the bead was connected to this extraordinary art.

So it was still Ming Qitian.

She voiced her conjecture. Ming Qitian nodded and said, "I'll leave the city now."

She would meet the enemy outside, lest the county town be caught in the battle.

Meanwhile, over by Pei Ye, Black Chi-who had received no news of Zhu Gaoyang's arrival-was wrestling with an even harder puzzle.

The wooden bead, the martial arts booklet, Ming Qitian, the storybook.

Black Chi likewise singled out Ming Qitian first, for the same reason: too many factors involved her.

Yet the three remaining objects could not form a coherent lead at all.

The wooden bead had the fewest elements to consider: it was simply a solid wooden bead. As for the martial arts booklet the Zhao family's old servant had produced after a lengthy search, only the "Extraordinary Books Canon" seemed lofty enough to qualify. And this handwritten copy before them offered no clear focal point at all.

First, the key ought not to be the paper or the handwriting. The journey from the farmland outside the city to here passed Master Huang's house, where there were many handwritten books. It had ignored those and come specifically for this copy of Broken Chivalrous Bones. Clearly, it had something to do with the contents.

But Broken Chivalrous Bones contained far too much.

The black cat pondered intently, then turned to glance at Pei Ye and swatted him with a tail. "You think about it too."

"Don't rush me." Pei Ye studied the text with his head lowered and turned a page. "There are still two pages left."

The black cat gave a soft sigh and was about to resume pondering when, suddenly, the cat straightened and turned toward the horizon beyond the city.

Outside Fenghuai, beside Xin Cang Mountain.

Xu Weizhou was still shaken, inwardly rejoicing that he had escaped disaster.

As expected of something that could trade blows with the Bright Sword Master. It really was... so strong.

He had been told to hold the enemy outside the city, or lure it outside, but Xu Weizhou was no fool. How could he possibly treat his own life as child's play?

His strategy was simple, exactly the same as it had been in the prefectural city: drag things out and muddle through.

Leave the city? Fine.

Fight off the enemy? Also fine.

But if the enemy moved too fast for him to intercept it, or he never encountered it at all, surely that wasn't his fault.

With that attitude, Xu Weizhou huddled atop the city wall, warily watching for movement in Xin Cang Mountain.

His hand still rested on his sword. He had not entirely given up on attempting a strike.

He feared death, not combat. Though he had never truly faced a life-or-death struggle, he had fought plenty of hard, genuine battles in his sect's martial competitions.

If that thing was not outrageously strong, he still wanted to strike once.

Even if he was no match for it-of course, he was definitely no match for it-hadn't they said it was in a hurry to find something? After his strike, he could head straight for the County Office. Surely it would have no time to bother with him.

That way, not only would he have fulfilled his duty, he would even be the brave warrior who had "first faced its cutting edge."

Once he returned to the prefectural city and casually mentioned it at a poetry gathering, who wouldn't know that Xu Weizhou was a brilliant talent who had fought alongside the Bright Sword Master, even wounding the enemy before she did?

Then Zhou Xiaosi would praise him in the most extravagant terms, and he would have to rebuke him sternly, saying with embarrassment that he had merely exchanged a couple of blows with the enemy before the Bright Sword Master arrived, thanks to a difference in timing.

Then he would lavish praise on the Bright Sword Master's heroic bearing and paint a vivid picture of the tremendous might displayed in their battle-the stronger they were, the more weight his single strike would carry.

His friends' excited expressions and the gentle gazes of several young ladies seemed to fall upon him already. A faint smile curled Xu Weizhou's lips.

Of course, he knew this was only the best possible outcome. He therefore remained cautious, keeping every part of himself concealed, lest the enemy notice him the moment it arrived.

And then he had reason to be grateful for that caution.

When that vicious, bizarre thing resembling an upright lizard charged out of the woods, his first glimpse of it truly made him think he had an opening.

It looked rather dim as it stood outside the city trying to determine its direction, and its running movements were somewhat stiff.

Fortunately, the thought How could the Bright Sword Master be evenly matched with something like this? made him hesitate for a moment.

Sure enough, in the next second it displayed unbelievable speed. The distance between them seemed to be wiped away by something, and in a single leap it was already atop the gate tower!

The speed and strength revealed by that leap, along with the chill emanating from its scales and bones, left Xu Weizhou afraid to move a muscle. Heart pounding, he watched helplessly as it entered the city.

Was this the gulf between me and a supreme grandmaster?

Fortunately, the Bright Sword Master was in the city.

Xu Weizhou watched the figure vanish from sight and stirred, intending to follow and help. But the memory of those cold golden eyes flashing past sent another chill through his heart, stopping him in his tracks.

He trusted Ming Qitian's strength, but what if?

Anything could happen in a real battle. What if it decided to pounce on him first, and the Bright Sword Master couldn't save him in time... or simply didn't want to?

I'd better wait a little longer. Once it's wounded and tired, I'll go over and say I never saw it at all, and only came after hearing the commotion.

That's what I'll do.

Xu Weizhou wore a grave expression. He leaped onto the roof of the gate tower and stood alone, cradling his sword. Combined with his handsome appearance, he really did look rather steady and dependable to an outsider.

In any case, the enemy had already entered the city. He was free to adopt a conspicuous stance of readiness.

He waited like this for roughly a quarter of an hour, yet no disturbance arose in the county town.

No collapsing buildings, no figures leaping through the air, no Sword Qi soaring into the sky.

Xu Weizhou began to feel a little uneasy. Looking back over the quiet town, he wondered whether he really had let something inside just now.

Had that thing hidden itself?

Or had one side won easily? But weren't they evenly matched?

While Xu Weizhou was still bewildered, he suddenly saw a white-robed figure rise into the air. Relieved, he was about to go over and ask.

Just then.

The mountain forest outside the city seemed to be shaken by furious thunder.

Something was approaching at tremendous speed. An immense roar bore down upon the entire city. Trees toppled, and compressed air burst apart. Just as that thing broke out of the forest, Xu Weizhou happened to turn his bewildered gaze toward it.

For a moment, the involuntary shudder that seized his body made him feel as though he had beheld a god.

Chapter 76: Sky Tower

A void was torn through the air.

Before Xu Weizhou could even think about what it was, that mountainlike, majestic figure had crashed into view right before him. Frost, fire, and lightning touched his skin at once. Three different agonies made him want to spring away, but his body did not move an inch.

An enormous scaled claw enclosed his head. A ghostly blue seeped down from his crown, like molten wax flowing downward.

Xu Weizhou's body instantly stiffened. Then, from head to toe, he turned into that viscous, pure liquid and was sucked into the scaled claw.

Only his blue-green robes and sword remained, falling to the ground with a clatter.

The last thought lingering in his mind was: Hadn't that Immortal Lord already gone past?