The Three Poisons of Greed, Wrath, and Delusion Came Knocking; Love, Hatred, Desire, and Malice Were Hard to Dispel (Part 1)

"How many Soul Formation cultivation methods do you know besides those of the Mystic Subtle Realm, Senior?"

"This old man has lived nearly nine hundred years. I have collected fifty-five Soul Formation methods beyond my own sect's teachings. It depends entirely on how many you can learn. Aside from cultivation methods, I can also teach you Daoist arts and secret incantations."

Zhou Xiao had already resolved to die, with little desire left to cling to life.

He simply could not rest easy about that Demonic Beast, nor about his grandnephew's safety.

Yet as he looked at this supremely confident youth before him, he was reminded of himself eight hundred years ago.

A Dharma Performer, widely read and skilled in deducing cultivation methods.

A Dharma Performer newly initiated into the Dao believed he had learned everything from books and knew all there was to know.

Proud and unruly, confident, high-spirited...

But reality could never be solved by book knowledge alone.

Thus, he developed a desire to nurture talent and intended to teach him as much as possible.

"A little child like this simply lacks the hammering of reality. He needs to be tempered and polished before he understands that the knowledge in books is merely paper talk on military strategy. Since only the last few days remain, I might as well make him see this truth. If possible..."

Back then, Fu Henghua had been unwilling to join the Mysterious Subtle Sect. Taking his older brother into the sect would not have been much different.

But why was the Fu Family raising two Dharma Performers in this generation? Were these two boys merely tinkering around for fun? Or was this boy more inclined toward divination and deduction, perhaps even a disciple Heavenly Yi Sect had already set its sights on?

After Heng Hua and Zhou Xiao settled their initial terms, he added, "Senior is a Golden Core Cultivator. If you harbor ill intentions toward us, even if all four of us joined forces, we would not be able to defeat you."

Four?

Zhou Xiao's gaze turned subtle as he instinctively glanced toward the neighboring cabin.

Heng Hua's heart gave a jolt, but his expression remained unchanged as he assumed an air of having everything under control.

"I will help Senior treat your injuries. To prevent Senior from harboring ill intentions, I can only ask you to swear an oath first: no matter what happens, you must not harm anyone in our party."

Zhou Xiao shook his head with a bitter smile. "In my current state, what means do I have left to target you?"

Of course he did!

Putting himself in Zhou Xiao's shoes, if Heng Hua were in this situation, he would have at least three wicked arts and two demonic techniques to escape his predicament.

Heng Hua did not believe that a sect's elder in charge of transmitting teachings, after reading so many books in the Scripture Repository, would lack even one way to break free.

To say nothing else, he could certainly survive by possessing Fu Xuanxing, his fellow sect member.

Zhou Xiao noticed Fu Henghua's furtive glance at Fu Xuanxing and immediately understood.

With difficulty, he raised a hand and swore a Dao oath.

"I, Zhou Xiao, swear here that if I harbor malicious intent toward anyone aboard this ship, may heavenly lightning strike me at once and scatter my soul to the winds."

The moment his words fell, a Golden Ranking faintly appeared in the sky and absorbed the Dao oath.

The Donglai Golden Ranking!

Heng Hua's expression turned solemn as he gazed upon Donglai's foremost divine artifact.

The Golden Ranking's divine power covered the waters of the Ten Thousand Isles, gathering all spiritual currents. Not even Great Golden Core Adepts, nor beings such as Soul Formation cultivators and Tribulation Immortals, could escape the Golden Ranking's lock. Once an oath was sensed by it, anyone who sought to break that oath would immediately face the Golden Ranking descending and heavenly retribution arriving.

The various rankings of strength throughout Donglai now also relied on this Golden Ranking's special effects.

Seeing the old man speak so, Heng Hua believed him somewhat.

His oath had included Fu Xuanxing as well.

"While Little Friend Fu treats my wounds, this old man will teach him Daoist arts and cultivation methods each day. Should I violate this..."

"There is no need for that. The first oath is enough. As for the rest, I trust Senior's character."

Afterward, Heng Hua also intended to swear an oath, but Zhou Xiao stopped him.

"You need not. If you truly encounter an enemy you cannot defeat, take my grandnephew and flee. Do not concern yourself with this old man."

"..."

Heng Hua sighed with feeling. "Senior truly is an upright gentleman. If my brother and I possessed sufficient strength, we would certainly aid you with all our might. Unfortunately..."

They truly could not win. The trouble surrounding this senior was indeed more than they could bear.

"Your paltry Mirage Illusion Art, break for me—"

Behind the spirit ship came a series of thunderous explosions. Towering waves surged across the water, smashing Heng Hua's illusion art into froth on the spot.

The massive waves struck the spirit ship, and Heng Hua hurriedly cast the Body-Fixing Art to steady himself.

"Water waves mixed with the aura of primordial copper? Is that—an artifact?"

Heng Hua looked back and saw a black-robed cultivator standing proudly in the air, holding up a bronze pot.

The pot continuously sprayed primordial copper essence, bombarding the water's surface.

The sound boomed beside Heng Hua's ears, blasting his mind until it buzzed.

Trouble!

He was not a True Flame Realm cultivator, but one at the Mystic Womb level. No, that was not right—this man was—

Heng Hua stared fixedly at the black-robed cultivator with a goat beard.

After that cultivator appeared, another six or seven cultivators caught up from behind. Among them was the cultivator who had used lightning arts not long ago.

Li Nanxing held the bronze pot in one hand. "Zhou Xiao, today is the day you die!"

When Zhou Xiao saw the newcomer, he sighed. "Nanxing, can you truly not let go of what happened back then?"

"Hmph, let go? Back then, you seized the first-place position and took that opportunity for yourself, successfully forming your Golden Core. And me? Because I lost that opportunity, I have been wasting away at Foundation Establishment ever since."

Foundation Establishment Perfection, on the verge of forming a Golden Core, yet stuck in that realm for at least three hundred years.

Heng Hua silently made his assessment. Looking again at the fury covering Li Nanxing's face, he understood why the man could not form his Golden Core.

His obsession was hard to dispel, and his Dao enemy barred the way. Though his magical power might reach the heavens, he had no chance of attaining the Dao.

The only solution was—

Heng Hua silently looked at Zhou Xiao.

Only by killing Zhou Xiao and resolving the obsession in his heart could Li Nanxing successfully form his Golden Core.

Among the seven groups, this one was likely the hardest to deal with.

As for the cultivators beside Li Nanxing, Heng Hua did not take them too seriously. Their clothes were disheveled and their true essence was chaotic; they clearly were not disciples of any great sect.

Fu Xiangfeng had already stepped forward. "I am Fu Xiangfeng. May I ask why Senior is pursuing and killing Senior Zhou Xiao?"

"Nothing more than a Dao enemy."

Li Nanxing looked coldly at Fu Xiangfeng, then at Fu Henghua standing beside Zhou Xiao.

"You are not his disciples. If you merely happened to pass by, leave at once. Otherwise, once the fighting begins, your lives will be difficult to preserve."

"Thank you for your concern, Senior."

Heng Hua strolled forward, waving his feather fan. "My brother and I are cultivators from the Dragonreach Waters. While traveling for pleasure, we happened to save Senior Zhou Xiao. He is an elder of the Mysterious Subtle Sect and holds an honored position. Senior is entangled with him, and these fellow cultivators are pursuing him without relent. Are you not afraid of retaliation from the Mysterious Subtle Sect?"

"Haha..." A trace of a smile surfaced on Li Nanxing's stern face as he shouted, "Zhou Xiao, did you not even tell these two little friends about what you did?"

Behind Li Nanxing, the cultivator who had used lightning arts called out, "Friends from the Dragonreach Waters, this man is an expelled disciple of the Mysterious Subtle Sect. Do not be deceived by him."

An expelled disciple?

Fu Xiangfeng's expression changed.

The reason he had allowed Heng Hua to make a deal with Zhou Xiao was that he knew the Mysterious Subtle Sect stood behind Zhou Xiao. Even if they encountered enemies, those enemies would have to show some restraint before the Mysterious Subtle Sect's golden signboard.

But if he was an expelled disciple, then...

"Martial Uncle is not an expelled disciple!"

Fu Xuanxing stepped forward. "If you dare treat Martial Uncle this way today, my master will surely come to your doors one day and settle accounts with you!"

"Fu Xuanxing, have you forgotten? Your Mysterious Subtle Sect personally issued the pursuit order. Your grandmaster, Hengyuan True Person, personally declared, 'Life or death, it matters not.' Even if your master stepped forward, what could he do? Would he dare oppose all fellow cultivators under heaven?"

Heng Hua waved his feather fan and looked toward Zhou Xiao.

Zhou Xiao's face was filled with anguish.

That was right. His master had personally given the order. Clearly, because of what he had done, his master had been enraged beyond measure and cast eight hundred years of master-disciple affection behind him.

Heng Hua pondered inwardly: The Mysterious Subtle Sect is an orthodox Daoist sect, a major sect of the Golden Direction Water Region. Even if disgrace had occurred within its own ranks, it should not make such a loud and public display. There must be a deeper meaning behind its pursuit of one of its own elders. Could it be connected to that Demonic Beast?

"Two little friends, this man is an expelled disciple of the Mysterious Subtle Sect. The Mysterious Subtle Sect will absolutely not protect him. You should leave early, lest you bring trouble upon the Fu Family."

Seeing the Fu Family insignia on the Colorful-Luan Spirit Ship, Li Nanxing guessed Fu Xiangfeng and his brother's origins.

In the eastern part of Yanlong, he was still unwilling to casually offend disciples of the Fu Family, the local stronghold.

"Little Six, I will step forward and buy us time. Have Little Brother Fu and Senior Zhou Xiao leave on a skiff."

Fu Xiangfeng sensed Li Nanxing's cultivation and understood that the two of them could not match him by force. Yet he did not believe Zhou Xiao harbored malicious intentions, and could not bear to see him suffer. He could only help as much as possible and send them away.

But when Heng Hua heard they would use a skiff, how could he dare agree?

Fu Heyi was sleeping up there.

Thus, Heng Hua calmly stepped forward. "Senior, are you a cultivator from the Golden Direction Water Region?"

Li Nanxing replied, "Indeed. I do not wish to make trouble with you local cultivation lineages. Withdraw at once."

"Senior is experienced and should understand the rules of the Dragonreach Waters. Do you intend to fight upon the water?"

"..."

"If Senior Zhou Xiao dies alone, that is one thing. But he is a Golden Core Cultivator. Should his flesh and blood scatter into the water, it will nourish the aquatic demons and monsters. In the end, it will still be our Dragonreach Waters that suffer the headache. I ask Senior to think thrice and seek another place for your duel."

At that moment, Zhou Xiao slowly spoke. "Li Nanxing, if you wish to settle our old grievances, then find an island and let us have a proper contest. But do not make things difficult for the Dragonreach Waters. Otherwise, the thing beneath the water..."

Li Nanxing instinctively looked at the rippling surface.

He knew that the Dragonreach Waters had such strange rules not merely to guard against water demons, but because a "monster" was locked beneath the water.

Any Golden Core Cultivator's corpse sinking into the water could restore its vitality.

Therefore, when cultivators fought in the Dragonreach and Yellow Dragon waters, corpses were strictly forbidden from sinking beneath the surface.

"I naturally know Yanlong's rules."

Li Nanxing shook the bronze pot, and primordial copper essence transformed into a massive hand of vital energy that seized the Colorful-Luan Spirit Ship.

Hengshou hurriedly activated the defensive formation. Golden light rose from the spirit ship's surface, forming a cocoon-shaped protective barrier.

The copper hand seized the Colorful-Luan Spirit Ship and viciously hurled it toward the Immovable Reef fifty miles away.

"Right there. Zhou Xiao, I will fight you openly and honorably. Life or death, it matters not."

The spirit ship tore through the wind. Watching Li Nanxing's magical power, Heng Hua's face darkened. This was not the magical power of Nine-Layer Foundation Establishment at all. This was completely Golden Core Realm, was it not?

Fine then, with this chapter, my stockpile of drafts had finally run out.