The Gathering Ends
"This is..." Meng Shixi's body went limp, she murmured to herself. If she hadn't been frozen in place, she would have collapsed long ago.
A sense of fear surged within me uncontrollably.
A dignified peak of the Five Laws, possessing the Purple Mansion Peak Lesser Yang Law Treasure, was captured as easily as a fledgling bird.
The next moment, everyone, including Great Void, regained their color, but no one dared to move. Meng Shixi swayed precariously, and Xue Min stepped forward to support her, whispering words of comfort:
"Don't be afraid. As long as we are still within the territory of Nanzhao, and the king and the old priest are still alive, everyone will give you two some face. You and I should be safe."
As they finished speaking, the two looked up at the completely different scene above them. Suddenly, a Lesser Yang light burst forth from the colossal, sky-covering hand.
The next moment, the scattered light of the Lesser Yang transformed into a calamity, pouring down upon them. The surrounding Purple Mansion retreated in horror.
Gui Hong burst through the giant palm, transforming into human form and landing. The Lesser Yang light around him still surged endlessly, his face turning pale and ashen. He roared angrily, "Mianning! You've gone too far!"
Before the words were finished, a hearty laugh came from above.
A white lotus bloomed out of thin air. Mianning stood with his hands behind his back on the lotus platform, looking down at everyone. Like an elder commenting on a junior, he said to Gui Hong in a light tone, "You've made some progress."
Before Gui Hong could react, his gaze shifted to Meng Shixi and Xue Min, and his voice suddenly turned three degrees colder:
"For the sake of the Orthodox God of Soil and Grain, get out."
Before the words were finished, a hearty laugh came from above.
A white lotus bloomed out of thin air. Mianning stood with his hands behind his back on the lotus platform, looking down at everyone. He spoke to Gui Hong in a calm tone, like an elder commenting on a junior:
"Gui Hong has made some progress over the past century."
Before Gui Hong could react, his gaze shifted to Meng Shixi and Xue Min, and his voice suddenly turned three degrees colder:
"For the sake of the Orthodox God of Soil and Grain, get out."
Meng Shixi felt as if she had been granted a pardon and was about to leave when Xue Min grabbed her arm. She turned back in surprise to see Xue Min looking straight up at her, asking in a deep voice:
"May I ask, sir, do you know the whereabouts of Fellow Daoist Chu?"
He paused briefly, his tone becoming increasingly steady:
"Your Excellency has unleashed a secret Mysterious Gate Law Technique, ' Heaven and Earth Lose Color.' For the Purple Mansion to possess such power, it must be the personal instruction of a master from one of the Eight Sceneries, Biyou Jade Void, or Azure Wanderer sects. Even if the Crown Prince of Qingshi were here in person, he wouldn't wantonly slaughter us Purple Mansion members. Regardless of your sect or faction, you should at least show us Purple Mansion members some dignity."
Mianning did not argue with him, but simply took out a spirit pearl and poured her Law Power into it.
A scene unfolded in the sky, and everyone looked up at it. What they saw was:
In the Great Void, a middle-aged man stared intently at Golden Ao Mountain, his face contorted with greed. He moved swiftly, descending towards Golden Ao Mountain. The next moment, the man seemed to be enveloped in mud, transforming into a clay statue.
Then Mianning appeared, and with a mere wave of his hand, the body vanished into ashes, inch by inch, without even a scream.
After the scene ended, Mianning put away the spirit pearl and then turned her gaze back to Xue Min:
"If the Mountain God of Cang Mountain can even recognize ' the Heaven and Earth Lose Color,' then he should also be able to recognize the origin of this technique, right?"
Xue Min stared at the image transmitted by the recording bead, her pupils suddenly contracting, and she was struck dumb, unable to speak for a long time.
Meng Shixi had never seen Xue Min like this before, and she was both surprised and suspicious, looking to her side in confusion.
Just then, Gui Hong's sneer rang out:
"Oh! I see. Countless highly accomplished cultivators of the Earth Virtue spend their entire lives seeking to witness the wonders of the Proclaiming Earth, yet they never succeed. This fool who cultivates the Subterranean Water, however, struck it lucky and saw it, only to lose his life in the process."
He paused, then looked at Xue Min with interest, his eyes full of mischief:
"If I remember correctly, before the Mountain God of Cang Mountain transitioned from the Immortal Dao to the Divine Dao, he cultivated the Earthly Branch of Gen Earth)? Furthermore, the Mountain God's foundation lies within the Earthly Sacrificial Earth transmitted by the Orthodox God of Soil and Grain the Land and Grain, which is also the Earth Virtue. And the mysteries of Sacrificial Earth and Proclaiming Earth are similar. When it comes to the mysteries of Proclaiming Earth, I doubt anyone here understands it better than the Mountain God. I suppose..."
"Gui Hong," Mianning suddenly interrupted, her tone devoid of any of her previous casualness, "If you continue to be so sarcastic and disrespectful to the Orthodox God, don't blame me for summoning the Taiji Talisman Seal and imprisoning you under Qixia Mountain for a thousand years."
Gui Hong pursed his lips and finally shut up, looking annoyed.
Mianning then looked down at Chaoxue again:
"Has the mountain god noticed?"
Xue Min then came to her senses, shook her head, and remained silent, only looking at Meng Shixi to indicate that she didn't need to persist.
He then transformed into a streak of light, leaving only one sentence in the distance:
"It is Fellow Daoist Chu who has been too greedy. Nanzhao knows it is in the wrong and will offer an apology later."
Seeing this Meng Shixi and Remaining Rank Purple Mansion cultivators also transformed into streaks of light and followed closely behind. In an instant, only Mianning, Gui Hong, Nuoli, and the giant snake remained in the arena.
Mianning's gaze swept over the three of them, and he snorted coldly:
"The three of you are becoming increasingly unruly and difficult to tame. You resort to violence without a word. It seems you've wasted all these years listening to the teachings of the Supreme True Person at Qixia Mountain. After this incident, go to the Heavenly Court and receive a few bolts of Heavenly Thunder to sober up."
Gui Hong looked unconvinced and was about to retort when Nuoli appeared beside him and grabbed him. Gui Hong turned around, met Nuoli's shake of the head, and then held back, reluctantly nodding in agreement.
Mianning glanced meaningfully at Gui Hong, then ignored the three of them, turned around, and headed towards Golden Ao Mountain.
Only after Mianning's figure disappeared from the array barrier did Nuoli release her grip and look at Gui Hong:
"You'd better complain less in front of the young master, lest things from the past repeat themselves."
Gui Hong snorted coldly, took out a Storage Bag, and tossed it to Nuoli:
"I'm going back to Qixia to heal my wounds. I'll leave this place to you."
Before he finished speaking, his figure transformed into a streak of light and shot off towards Qixia Mountain.
Nuoli gazed at the receding sunset, then looked down at the Storage Bag in her hand, shaking her head involuntarily, thinking to herself:
Once this matter is settled, Daozheng must make amends. After all, not to mention the various troubles that have befallen him since he came down the mountain, both Dao Zi and Gui Hong's personalities have shortened his lifespan by many years.
Then, he turned to look at the giant snake.
The giant snake then spoke:
"Nuoli, Qingzhu said I would escort the Zhang and Zhu families to Daozi and then return to the mountain immediately. The people have been delivered, but Daozi is still not here. I'd like to trouble you with this task; I'll head back now."
Before he could even finish speaking, and without waiting for a reply from Nuoli, he transformed into a streak of light and vanished in an instant.
In the vast Great Void, only Nuoli remained, standing there all alone, stunned.
After a long while, he cursed loudly in the direction where the two streaks of light disappeared.
Only when the call of Mianning came from afar did he reluctantly stop cursing and descend towards Golden Ao Mountain with a face full of resentment.