Troubled Times

Before Qixia Mountain, in the Great Void, Su Yao and Yang Xiu had just arrived and were about to enter the mortal world to return to Golden Ao Mountain when Su Yao suddenly stopped and whispered:

"Brother, please wait."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiu glanced to the side and saw Su Yao with a slight frown, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

"Brother Dao, what's wrong?" Yang Xiu asked, puzzled.

Upon hearing this, Su Yao remained expressionless and simply said:

"I wonder which fellow Daoist is ahead of us? Please show yourself."

As soon as the words were spoken, the Subterranean Water vapor in front of them surged gently, and a slender figure slowly emerged from the shimmering water.

The two looked over and saw that the newcomer was dressed in the clothing of the Bai People of Nanzhao, with delicate features, but a lingering melancholy lingered between his brows.

The visitor was none other than Meng Shixi, the priest of Nanzhao.

Su Yao was slightly taken aback when he saw the person who had arrived, then cupped his hands and said:

"So it's the priest who has arrived. What brings him here?"

Meng Shixi pondered for a moment before asking in a low voice:

"May I ask, Abbot and Daoist, have you ever seen any trace of the Mountain God?"

After saying this, Meng Shixi's face remained expressionless, but the fingers hidden in her sleeve tightened slightly.

She instinctively grasped the soul tablet she kept close to her body, and her fingertips touched a dim surface, causing her heart to sink.

Two days ago, Xue Min went to stop the reincarnation of the True Lord, and the spirit tablet still had a flowing spiritual energy; but a day ago, the light suddenly went out.

The soul tablet was without light; if the person had not perished, then they had entered a deadly place that blocked the soul tablet's ability to sense things... She dared not think further.

However, they received a strict order not to set foot in Longchuan territory.

She gazed into the distance; the scene of Proclaiming Earth's power filling the Great Void above Longchuan was no longer there, but her heart remained uneasy.

That's why she came to ask. Now, she pins her last hope on what Su Yao and the other person will say next.

Upon hearing this, Su Yao and Yang Xiu exchanged a glance and remained silent for a moment.

Two days ago, the two joined forces with Xue Min, the Mountain God of Cang Mountain, to fight against Chen Hai, the reincarnation of the True Lord. Afterwards, they chased after the Jia Wood Luan bird and only returned to Golden Ao Mountain at this moment.

But Xue Min was clearly taken away by the king back then, and today the priest has come to inquire again, this...

After a moment of silence, Su Yao shook his head and said truthfully:

"We two did indeed fight alongside the mountain god. However, after the battle, a Subterranean Water came from the Great Void, swept the mountain god away, and headed towards the Nanzhao Royal City."

Upon hearing this, Meng Shixi's worried expression eased slightly. After a moment of silence, she gave Su Yao a slight bow.

"Thank you for informing me, Abbot."

Having said that, without waiting for Su Yao's response, she blurred into a Subterranean Water and vanished into the depths of the Great Void.

Looking in the direction Meng Shixi had left, Yang Xiu frowned slightly and whispered:

"The priestess is the bridge between the mortals and the king of Nanzhao. She should be the first to know about all matters, big Nanzhao small. But now that the mountain god has been taken away by the king, she is asking you and me... This is really strange."

Su Yao shook his head, his tone calm:

"These are turbulent times. Although Meng Shixi is at the Purple Mansion Middle Stage, there are some things that the King and others may not tell her completely. Even the Mountain God will not reveal everything to her."

Yang Xiu nodded silently, saying nothing more.

Just then, the aura of the Fu Water suddenly rippled out from the Great Void.

The two of them simultaneously became alert and looked over.

From where the water vapor was thick, a figure shrouded in a gray robe slowly appeared.

The man held a gray-white spear, surrounded by Greater Yin, concealing his aura beneath his gray robe, as unfathomable as abyss and mist.

Upon seeing this, Yang Xiu's expression tightened, and his right hand reached for the golden bell at his waist.

Su Yao reached out first and grabbed his wrist.

"Brother, please wait," Su Yao said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiu looked at Su Yao, his face full of confusion.

But Su Yao looked at the gray-robed figure and bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, Envoy of Nuoli. May I ask what your orders are, True Lord?"

The visitor was none other than True Lord Xicheng's messenger, Nuoli, who had been secretly protecting Su Yao ever since he descended from Qixia Mountain and before he achieved the Purple Mansion realm.

Yang Xiu had heard Su Yao mention this person before, so his expression softened slightly, but he still didn't remove his hand from the golden bell.

At this moment, Nuoli spoke, her voice hoarse:

"The True Lord summoned me to Zhongnan earlier and gave me some instructions, specifically ordering me to come and discuss them with the Abbot."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiu immediately said:

"Brother, please go ahead. I'll excuse myself."

Su Yao nodded. Although he and Yang Xiu were close friends, the matter of the True Lord was of utmost importance, and it was indeed inconvenient to keep others around.

He turned to the side and said:

"Please come with me into the mountains for a discussion, envoy."

Nuoli nodded.

Su Yao looked at Yang Xiu again, about to speak, when he heard a middle-aged male voice coming from afar:

"Abbot, please go ahead. I came from Golden Court, on the Supreme True Person Being, to deliver some things to my Daoist disciple."

As soon as he finished speaking, a wisp of Profound Qi pierced through the air and its radiance dissipated, revealing a middle-aged man dressed in gray.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Yang Xiu's expression relaxed slightly, and he quickly said:

"Senior Brother Xu Mo."

Xu Mo first nodded to Yang Xiu, and then cupped his hands in greeting to Su Yao.

Su Yao returned the greeting first, then looked at Yang Xiu and said:

"Brother Dao, are you going to the Water Palace of the Lower Lake God, or Green Nuo?"

Yang Xiu said upon hearing this:

"I will go to the Water Palace Secret Realm in the lake. I will trouble you to have Lu Daoyuan and the other two come to the water palace to meet me. I will come to find you again after you have finished your business."

Upon hearing this, Su Yao nodded and said no more. He and Nuoli headed one after the other towards Golden Ao Mountain.

Golden Ao Mountain, Embracing Rosy Clouds Hall.

Only Su Yao and Nuoli remained in the hall.

A mountain breeze swept through the hall, causing the Nine Heavens Auspicious Cloud Banner outside the palace to flutter loudly.

Su Yao invited Nuoli to sit down, then took the seat of honor himself, his expression calm, waiting for the other party to speak first.

After a moment, seeing that Nuoli remained silent, Su Yao finally spoke:

"The envoy has come from afar; we do not know from where he came from."

After speaking, Nuoli placed the gray-white spear across her lap, paused for a moment, and then slowly said:

"After the Abbot broke through to the Purple Mansion in seclusion, I hadn't even had a chance to congratulate him when the True Lord summoned me to Zhongnan Mountain. I waited there for two years until I received the True Lord's decree, intending to go directly to Nanzhao. However, the Qi in the Great Void was chaotic in Jiangnan, Guanzhong, and the Central Plains. The powerful figures fought without restraint, and the Great Void was blocked. My cultivation was too shallow to dare to step into those three places, fearing I would be caught in the crossfire. I had no choice but to detour through the Western Regions, passing through the territory of Tubo to go south, and only then was I able to enter Nanzhao."

He paused, raised his head, and fixed his gaze on Su Yao's face, asking:

"When passing through Longchuan, I saw that in that Great Void, various energies such as Gang Qi, Proclaiming Earth, Sacrificial Earth, Rainbow Clouds, and Profound Qi were intertwined and had not yet dispersed, like a tangled mess of hemp. It seems that the Abbot has already fought with that reincarnation of the True Lord?"

After speaking, he looked at Su Yao, a faint sense of emotion rising in his heart. Su Yao was aloof and rarely showed himself, spending most of his time in the secret realm beneath Lake Encompassing Emptiness in Qixia Mountain.

Although Su Yao had never formally met him, he had secretly kept an eye on this junior. More than ninety years had passed in the blink of an eye. The baby who was carried up the mountain when he was still an infant was now Purple Mansion True Person who had taken over the position of Abbot of Qixia Temple.

As for He Nuoli, he was brought back to Qixia Mountain from Yunmeng by the previous abbot, and since then, several abbots have come and gone.