First in slaughter?

"Call..."

Zhou Wuji emerged from the icy underground river and couldn't help but exhale a breath of stale air.

With his True Qi cultivation, although it was not yet sufficient for internal breathing, he could hold his breath for an hour or two without any problem.

The problem was that the underground river water was icy cold and contained a heavy, Yin Qi, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Having been tempered anew by the Army-Breaking Sword, his body was exceptionally strong and resilient. These challenges were no obstacle for him, but rather something that disgusted him.

It's like rolling around in a mud pit; not only are you covered in filth, but you also accidentally eat a couple of mouthfuls of mud...

The Heavenly Puppet is useful, but it consumes too much True Qi and Divine Sense. He doesn't know what he might encounter in the underground cave, so it's not worth wasting his energy in the underground river.

Fortunately, we arrived safely at the hollow underground cave. Judging from its location, this place should be directly below Huamei Mountain.

To enter this underground cave, one must either travel through the underground river tunnel or dig a hole through the middle of Huamei Mountain.

The cave had no light source and the air was extremely polluted. An ordinary person would quickly suffocate here.

Zhou Wuji, however, could adjust his breathing by exhaling spiritual energy, so he could stay here for a day or two without any problem.

Having confirmed that he was in good condition, Zhou Wuji once again activated the Six Yang Dharma Eye and the Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Divine Incantation, and strode forward with the White Rainbow Sword in hand.

The cave was extremely spacious, yet completely empty, with rock pillars hanging from the high dome, faintly glowing with a bluish light.

The spiritual energy here is even denser than in the Dream Marsh Secret Realm, but due to pollution from the turbid earth energy, most of the spiritual energy has turned into turbid energy.

Zhou Wuji had walked for a short while when he saw a deep hole in the ground with smooth edges, looking just like a well.

Endless turbid and spiritual energy gushed forth from this "well".

This is the Qi Eye he saw during the resonance of spiritual Qi...

He had seen a similar Qi Eye on Old Dragon Island, but it was filled with Qi of Earth Sha and was much smaller than this Qi Eye.

Even the Big Dipper Star Eye can only see the Qi Eye, not only because the turbid spiritual energy within it is vast and surging, but also because below the Qi Eye lies a secret realm...

Standing here, Zhou Wuji could see very clearly through his own eyes that below his Qi Eye was a deep passage leading directly into the depths of the secret realm.

The invisible spatial barrier of the secret realm blocked the Big Dipper Star Eye. Only when he came close to the Qi Eye could he sense the existence of the spatial barrier.

Zhou Wuji had a vague intuition that the Qi Eye Secret Realm should be connected to the Fu Tianji cave abode.

In other words, Fu Tianji's cave abode is itself a huge underground secret realm, so True Person Zhihua finds it difficult to penetrate deep into the cave abode.

The Qi Eye may very well be a shortcut to entering the Fu Tianji cave abode!

Zhou Wuji was somewhat tempted, but only briefly. Fu Tianji was a powerful figure capable of killing True Lord Mingjing, who Fu Tianji the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment. Zhou Wuji, being small, shouldn't be too arrogant.

He was also somewhat puzzled. His master could come through the underground river passage, but the Qi Eye was so deep; had his master really gone down there?

Zhou Wuji was skeptical. His master was cautious by nature. While the risks of venturing deep into the underground river were manageable, entering the Qi Eye, which was a self-contained realm, was a completely different matter.

The entire underground cave is centered around the Qi Eye, and its shape, from the dome to the four walls, presents a distinct arc, making it a clearly spherical space.

This underground cave is like a giant bubble blown out of the Qi Eye.

Zhou Wuji walked halfway around the four stone walls and found a large amount of writing on one of them.

The characters, only the size of a child's fist, are carved several inches into the stone wall, appearing exceptionally sharp and piercing.

The opening line reads, "My name is Lu Mingjing, leader of the Northern Pole Sect. I carried the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment to exterminate the secrets of Fu Tianji in the underground realm, but unfortunately, I was injured by this treacherous Divine Artifact, the Heavenly Secret Mirror..."

Zhou Wuji only read two lines before his heart skipped a beat; these were clearly the last words left by True Lord Mingjing before his death.

So, this is where Master obtained the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment?

Zhou Wuji carefully read the message on the stone wall, which was quite long and contained tens of thousands of words.

At first, the characters were carved deep into the stone wall, stroke by stroke. But in the middle section, the characters became sloppy, and the strength of the carving weakened. In the end, the characters were almost blurred into a blur.

Under the erosion of Spiritual Qi and turbid energy, many characters have been reduced to nothing more than a jumble of messy scratches.

Fortunately, most of the text was still legible, which allowed Zhou Wuji to understand the general course of events.

True Lord Mingjing said that Fu Tianji was an overseas cultivator who carried the Divine Artifact Heavenly Secret Mirror had the ability to reflect and copy all Secret Method Divine Ability. Therefore, Fu Tianji went around challenging people to fight and learn seven or eight tenths of the orthodox methods of the Nine Provinces.

During this process, he used the Heavenly Secret Mirror survey the feng shui and dragon veins of the Nine Provinces and made many arrangements, with grand ambitions.

For the safety of all people and for the sake of the inheritance of the seven sects of Daoism, the other six sects of Daoism asked True Lord Mingjing to kill Fu Tianji. True Lord Mingjing then took the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment to find Fu Tianji.

Two powerful individuals met in a hidden underground realm within the Siming Mountains.

True Lord Mingjing killed Fu Tianji with the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, but was also Heavenly Secret Mirror. He was exhausted when he came out of the secret realm.

Knowing he could not return to his sect and fearing the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment would fall into the hands of outsiders, True Lord Mingjing left his last words in this underground cave, hoping that a cultivator from the Northern Pole Sect would see them...

To obtain the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, one must prepare the relevant rituals, which only cultivators of the Northern Pole Sect can perform.

It must True Lord Mingjing's arrangement was not bad, but the place was too well hidden and was not discovered until three hundred years later.

Zhou Wuji had read the will and roughly figured out the whole story.

Just as he had guessed, the Qi Eye, the Lingming Peak cave abode, the pit in Wu Household Village, and the Qi of Earth Sha of Old Dragon Island were all anomalies caused by the outward extension of the underground secret realm.

Fu Tianji's cave abode is actually the entire underground secret realm.

The underground secret realm is connected to the so-called Yunyang earth vein, which may also involve some feng shui and fate-altering supernatural Divine Ability.

The fact that Fu Tianji was able to kill True Lord Mingjing, who was carrying the Northern Emperor's Fu Tianji Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, means he must be Above First Rank.

Such Divine Ability are understandable. But what exactly does this "Fu Tianji" intend to achieve?

His master somehow discovered the underground river passage and somehow ended up in this underground cave, where he found the last words of True Lord Mingjing and collected the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment.

After that, things became quite simple. The master accidentally violated the precepts, triggering Yin Thunder, and before his death, he passed on the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment to him.

Daoist Yiyuan was too badly injured and left without having time to say anything.

As for the remains of True Lord Mingjing, after so many years, they should have long since been eroded by turbid qi and spiritual energy and turned into ashes...

Zhou Wuji figured out the cause and effect of the matter, although many details were still unclear, but they were not important.

What puzzles him most now is the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, which is hailed as the number one killing Divine Artifact of the Daoist sect, yet he has not found any killing power in it...

The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment's transformation of Profound Spirit, Profound Essence, and Profound Qi is indeed wondrous, but it has little direct relation to being the most effective weapon for killing.

The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment can also be used as a ritual altar, but this is not particularly special, much less so as to be considered the most effective method of killing.

Judging from the dying words of True Lord Mingjing, the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment is more suited to direct combat...

Zhou Wuji read True Lord Mingjing's last words twice more, making sure he remembered them all, before activating the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword to scrape off the writing on the stone wall.

A brilliant azure sword light flashed, and debris flew everywhere on the stone wall. In no time, the azure sword light shattered completely.

The inscriptions on the stone wall have only been worn away by one or two percent.

Zhou Wuji couldn't help but sigh. True Lord Mingjing was still so powerful even on his deathbed. Compared to him, he was far inferior.

After that, Zhou Wuji tried various methods, including fist, palm, Swordsmanship, and various Law Technique.

The most effective method is still to use a sword directly. The White Rainbow Sword is exceptionally sharp, and a single strike can wipe out a large area.

Zhou Wuji couldn't bear to use such a fine sword for such rough work.

Fists and palms are useful, but they hurt your hands. Heavenly Puppet can also be used, but they consume too much True Qi.

After trying them all, the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword was ultimately the most convenient.

After struggling for more than two hours, I finally managed to scrape off all the writing.

Zhou Wuji breathed a sigh of relief. Even if someone came here in the future, they wouldn't know what had happened and wouldn't be able to connect him with the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment.

He can tell the sect about this old story when he becomes invincible.

Returning to the secret chamber, Zhou Wuji changed into clean clothes and wiped away all traces of his entry into the underground river.

When dawn broke, Zhou Wuji declined Wuzheng to stay and spent most of the day in Siming County.

The main purpose was to "receive" various figures, such as the county magistrate, Li Cheng'an, the head of the Li Household family, Yang Shuling, and so on.

Calling it a reception wouldn't be considered arrogant. He was the esteemed Master Hongde, whose rank was far higher than that of the county magistrate, and far beyond the reach of the few Lineage in the county town.

Zhou Wuji was secretly pleased, but on the surface he became even more humble, chatting and laughing with everyone.

After the banquet, the powerful and influential people of Siming County held Zhou Wuji in even greater respect.

So young yet possessing such cultivation, with formidable methods and extraordinary wisdom, he has achieved tremendous success. Even more remarkable is Zhou Wuji's boundless future!

Everyone knew in their hearts that they could dislike Zhou Wuji, but they absolutely could not offend him.

Just look at Zhang Xinhu and Wu Di; offending this guy will never end well...

Zhou Wuji also prepared gifts for the county magistrate, Li Cheng'an, and Yang Shuling. His status was different now, but that's how he cultivated relationships.

Respect should be shown to superiors and subordinates in all interactions. Only in this way can good relationships be maintained in the long run.

The next day, Zhou Wuji took Yang Tie Ying back to Cloud Dragon Lower Court.

He took some time to meet Jin Ying, chatted about their recent lives, and gave the beautiful woman a small gift.

The Jin Household is a large merchant family with businesses all over Chu Province. This is one of his few connections, so he needs to maintain good relations with them.

Jin Ying was very happy. Now Zhou Wuji was Master Hongde, whose rank was only First Rank lower than that of the prefect, but whose status was much more noble.

The key point is that Zhou Wuji is only twenty-four years old, and he may even have the opportunity to become a Celestial Master in the future.

Such a person, of course she would do everything in her power to maintain a good relationship, even going so far as to offer herself to him in bed, but unfortunately, Zhou Wuji had no such intention...

On March 15th, Zhou Wuji, Wuleng, Yang Tie Ying set off for Jingyang, the county town.

Jingyang is also quite far from Yunyang, roughly the same distance as Yunyang to Yunze.

On their first night at the hotel, Wuleng was resting in his room when Zhou Wuji knocked on the door and came in, closing the door behind him.

Wuleng, wore a dark blue Daoist robe, and sat on the bed. She had just washed her feet, and her pair of fair and beautiful feet were exposed.

Seeing Zhou Wuji walk in, Wuleng instinctively pulled his feet together, but unfortunately, his Daoist robe couldn't cover everything.

Zhou Wuji glanced at it; the foot was well-proportioned, and the pink toes were quite cute. But he wasn't that kind of person, so he didn't look at it much or think about it further.

Seeing the somewhat flustered Wuleng, Zhou Wuji smiled and said, "Junior Sister, I am very grateful for your help last time, traveling thousands of miles for me."

Wuleng felt embarrassed to look Zhou Wuji in the eye, so she lowered her eyes slightly and said, "It's a small matter, not worth mentioning."

"You can't say that, this is a big deal for me."

Zhou Wuji took out the Jade Liquid and placed it in Wuleng's hand. "This is a spiritual item I obtained by chance. It can improve cultivation, so I'm giving it to my junior sister as a token of my gratitude."

He spoke so casually that Wuleng didn't think much of it and said softly, "Senior Brother, you're too kind."

After exchanging a few polite words, Zhou Wuji showed no intention of leaving. Instead, he urged Wuleng, "This item is quite special. Junior Sister, please take it first. I'll protect you while you practice..."

Wuleng glanced at the spiritual object in her hand. Zhou Wuji's anxious appearance gave her some bad thoughts, but she immediately thought it was impossible. What kind of person was her senior brother? How could he do such a despicable thing?

To show his trust, Wuleng Wuleng it whole, and the pure, rich spiritual energy instantly spread throughout his body, completely immersing him in it.

Zhou Wuji looked at Wuleng, who was standing there motionless. Compared to Mingli Wuming, Wuleng had a more imposing appearance, but she was just as beautiful and had a better figure.

Even just sitting there motionless is quite alluring.

He secretly lamented, "I'm not that kind of person..."