Descending the Mountain

Just saw that we're already sixteenth! We're steadily moving forward, and the gap with fifteenth is only a few dozen. Thank you all so much, and please continue to support us.

The white-faced, long-bearded Daoist was somewhat saddened: "If it weren't for the seventh generation founder disappearing with the sect's Fundamental Great Law, the Great Method of Ghost Control, and the sect-protecting magic item, the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner, how could my Soul-Driving Sect have fallen to such a state!"

"Indeed, I grew up in the sect since I was a child. Back then, there were many Elders and disciples in the sect, each with high cultivation. Whenever the elders lectured, the Dao platform was always full of people. If you didn't go early, you couldn't even enter the Dao arena. The White Bone Sect and the Ghost Refining Gate flattered us like grandsons, only able to accept the trash that our sect didn't want as disciples." The black-faced Daoist stared at the oil lamp in front of him, his face showing longing for the beautiful memories.

"Sect Master Senior Brother, I still remember when I first entered the mountain gate, people who admired us and wanted to learn the Dao were always kneeling all over the open space outside. When a junior disciple like me walked by, all I received were envious and jealous eyes. I still remember that feeling," the white-faced Daoist also fell into reminiscence of the past.

"Why, why did I have to watch the sect decline with my own eyes? Since the seventh generation founder disappeared, how many people have died within the sect for the position of Sect Master, how many senior Elders, how many talented disciples, all died. What's the use of them fighting for these things? Even if they become Sect Master, they don't have the Fundamental Great Law and the sect-protecting magic item." The black-faced Daoist became emotional.

The white-faced Daoist seemed to be used to this: "Sect Master Senior Brother, that's why I say, let's go down the mountain. This sect is long gone. We can only cultivate those crude techniques. If we didn't know how to draw some talismans, we wouldn't even be able to compare with the average experts in the Jianghu. Strengthening the sect, restoring its glory, don't even think about it. It's better to enjoy wealth and prosperity."

The black-faced Daoist looked at the oil lamp and didn't speak for a long time. Just as the white-faced Daoist couldn't sit still and wanted to say something, he slowly opened his mouth: "Junior Brother, how long have you been advising me like this, a year or three years? My three disciples must have been persuaded by you, right?"

Seeing that the white-faced Daoist was about to reply, the black-faced Daoist waved his hand: "Actually, I've already figured it out, but I just can't let go, can't let go. In the past month, I've walked through every corner of the sect. It seems that every corner has those beautiful memories of my youth. But what's the use of not letting go? Junior Brother, you're right. While my body is still okay, I should go down the mountain and take a walk, and not spend my whole life on this cold mountain, slowly withering away like the locust tree behind us."

Seeing that the Sect Master's tone had softened, the white-faced Daoist was secretly delighted and eagerly said: "Sect Master Senior Brother, it's great that you can figure it out. You've been running the sect for half your life, don't leave the second half of your life here too."

The black-faced Sect Master stood up abruptly as if he had made up his mind, and said to the white-faced Daoist: "Junior Brother, go wake up my three disciples, pack your things, we'll go down the mountain now!"

The white-faced Daoist was startled and muttered in reply: "Sect Master Senior Brother, it's the middle of the night, it's not too late to go down the mountain tomorrow morning."

"Let's go, let's go now, I'm afraid I'll regret it when I wake up tomorrow!" The black-faced Daoist insisted with a wry smile.

"Okay, okay, okay, I'll go wake up the disciples, Senior Brother, you should pack up too." The white-faced Daoist had finally persuaded the Sect Master Senior Brother, so naturally he wouldn't let go of this opportunity.

After the white-faced Daoist left, the black-faced Daoist stood still for a long time, and finally sighed a long sigh, and packed up in his room. Before long, he packed a bag.

Shi Xuan had been watching outside the window with Chu Wan'er for so long, and he could already judge that this Ghost Control Sect was indeed defeated, and there was no news that Shi Xuan needed. Seeing that others were about to leave, he naturally took the lead and left the Ghost Control Sect.

Chu Wan'er was young, so it didn't matter much, but Shi Xuan felt the faint sadness in the room at that time. But he couldn't return the Great Method of Ghost Control to them, right? Such a vicious cultivation method, Shi Xuan had already destroyed it.

Tonight's task was not yet completed, Shi Xuan pulled Chu Wan'er, who was extremely excited after seeing the magic of the spells, and continued to walk into the mountains. Not far up the mountain, the Ghost Control Sect lit up with a soaring fire.

Standing on a high place, Shi Xuan looked into the distance and saw that the large building complex of the Ghost Control Sect was burning with raging fire. In the fire, several figures went down the mountain, and someone was crying out sadly: "The Ghost Control Sect is gone! Gone! Gone!..." Looking at their clothes, it was the black-faced Sect Master.

"Master, look, there's a fire over there!" Chu Wan'er pointed at the Ghost Control Sect and shouted.

"It's nothing, just someone burning their own past." Shi Xuan sighed. Chu Wan'er didn't speak as if she understood.

In the following time, Shi Xuan and Chu Wan'er walked all over the places with the strongest Yin energy in Mang Mountain, but unfortunately, they still didn't gain anything. They visited the underworld dwelling one by one, adding several bags of fruit to Chu Wan'er's arms, only tiring her to complain non-stop.

Standing on the peak of Mang Mountain, looking at the Divine Capital, although it was dark at this time, it was close to the time when many families were busy getting up early. The lights in several places in the city gradually lit up, and the starlight looked extremely beautiful, contrasting with the soaring fire on the mountainside of Mang Mountain.

"It's so beautiful." Chu Wan'er leaned on Shi Xuan's waist, looking at the vibrant lights of thousands of homes at the foot of the mountain, and sighed.

Back in the Divine Capital, Shi Xuan stayed idle for a few days, mainly because Chu Wan'er had just started body tempering and needed to concentrate on consolidating it, so it was inconvenient to travel. In addition, his own cultivation had encountered a bottleneck and needed to be carefully pondered.

Since Shi Xuan broke through to the Soul Departure Realm, his cultivation has been increasing day by day. Now he can travel more than thirty feet away with his soul. After Visualization of the True Form Diagram of the Five Directional Thunder Gods, with the enhancement of soul cultivation, the soul's perception of heaven and earth has increased day by day, so the physical body's perception of heaven and earth has also increased a lot.

However, recently Shi Xuan basically couldn't feel the growth of his cultivation. He always felt that there was a barrier that he couldn't understand. Thinking about it, Old Daoist Xu was in this situation back then, so he resolutely gave up his family business and searched for the immortal path everywhere, but unfortunately, he still gained nothing. If he can't understand the barrier, slowly tempering and cultivating, I'm afraid that by the time he reaches Old Daoist Xu's age, his cultivation will not be much stronger than him.

When Chu Wan'er consolidated her foundation, Shi Xuan still hadn't figured out the key, but he had to set off. Only by finding the Daoist Sect as soon as possible can he solve his confusion as soon as possible.

First, he had to send Chu Wan'er home, and also inquire about some news from the Demon Empress, then go to Luojing Huilong Temple to take a look. If there was no trace of the Daoist Sect, he could only set sail and go to sea.

Chu Wan'er was young and couldn't tell exactly where she lived. She only knew that after taking a carriage, the first stop was a small city near Luojing. Therefore, Shi Xuan took Chu Wan'er day and night to rush to this place.

Although Luojing and the Divine Capital were not far away, two consecutive days of travel made the little girl Chu Wan'er exhausted. The two rested in the small city for one night, and only the next day did they grope towards the small village where she lived according to Chu Wan'er's vague memory.

Chu Wan'er had a talent for being a road idiot. She pointed to this road for a while: "Master, Master, this is the road my mother took Wan'er to the city to play." She pointed to another road for a while: "Master, that one seems to be the one Wan'er passed under the carriage, Wan'er still remembers that crooked-neck tree."

Finally, standing in the middle of the fork in the road, she frowned for a long time, and finally said to Shi Xuan: "Master, people think both are right. What to do?"

Shi Xuan said helplessly: "Then let's take this one first, and if it doesn't work, we'll take the other one. I hope we don't encounter any more forks in the road in the middle, otherwise, wouldn't we have to try each one."

Chu Wan'er stood next to Shi Xuan, looked at the road in front of her, and sighed in a clear and childish voice, imitating Shi Xuan's helpless appearance: "Hey, Wan'er never remembers the way when she goes out."

Shi Xuan took Chu Wan'er and walked on the road on the left. All along the way, people on horseback came and went, all full of murderous aura, and several top experts passed by.

Is there something big happening in the Jianghu? Shi Xuan just turned his thoughts around and didn't continue to pay attention. The affairs of the Jianghu had nothing to do with him.

However, Shi Xuan, a young Daoist, holding a strange black banner in one hand and pulling a delicate little girl in the other, was particularly eye-catching on the road. Those Jianghu people who passed by on horseback couldn't help but glance at him, which made Chu Wan'er glare back angrily.

At this time, an expert who rode past Shi Xuan and the others on a fast horse from the opposite side heard a soft "Huh?" when he saw Chu Wan'er, and even slowed down his pace and turned his head to look over intently. Seeing this strange situation, Shi Xuan thought, could this guy have seen the Demon Empress?

This expert pulled the reins and turned back, dismounted in front of Shi Xuan and the others, and bowed respectfully: "I wonder which expert from the Sacred Sect has come to help?"

Shi Xuan understood slightly in his heart, and instead of answering his question, he asked: "Where is the Saint Empress?"

This northwestern man respectfully replied: "The Saint Empress and our gang leader are on Little Absolute Ridge, surrounding those young heroes and heroines in the mountain temple. It's just that they actually encountered the Mysterious Robe Hermit there. The two sides are in a stalemate. Our gang leader ordered me to go down the mountain to recruit more people, and it would be best if we could take this opportunity to kill the Mysterious Robe Hermit."

"Oh, I'm just sending Wan'er to the Saint Empress's place. I didn't expect to encounter this. I wonder why you have to kill those young heroes and heroines?" Shi Xuan asked along the topic.

"That's right, I've seen the Saintess once before, so I dared to come up and pay my respects." This expert replied respectfully, while Chu Wan'er bit her index finger and thought for a while before saying: "Why doesn't Wan'er remember seeing you?"

This expert smiled flatteringly and continued: "This matter started when the White-Clad Young Master Liu Suiyun learned about a secret major event of our gang and the Sacred Sect, and stole a certain token, so we chased him all the way. Unexpectedly, he actually encountered the Iron Sword Young Master Du Yuhan, Jade Flower Fairy Meng Yuqiong, and several other experts on the way, and it seems that there are people from the Xu Family, a second-rate family. They broke through the encirclement and escaped to this Little Absolute Ridge, but our gang leader then rushed over and surrounded them in the mountain temple again."

When Shi Xuan heard Meng Yuqiong and the Xu Family, he understood that most likely Xu Jinyi was also in that mountain temple. This had to be saved, so he had to continue to inquire for more information: "Your gang leader is besieging but not attacking, is it because the Mysterious Robe Hermit is also in the mountain temple?"