Chapter 286: Beautiful Jade Covered in Dust The hunchbacked old man was wearing a black cloak, and the walking stick in his hand was carved into two twisted snakes, with rubies inlaid in their eyes, sharp white fangs, and sparkling scales. It looked lifelike and had a chilling chill. He raised his head slightly, revealing a pair of gray eyes covered by shadows, and he seemed to be blind. But no one present dared to treat him as a blind man. Because not only Palace Master Cangming stood up after seeing the old man, all the people from other sects also had solemn expressions. Even if they could not judge how strong the old man was due to their low cultivation, they could tell from the reactions of the people around them that he was definitely not an ordinary envoy of Zhanhai Tower. "Is that... a twin-snake staff?!" A small exclamation came from the crowd, followed by an uproar and a lot of discussion. "A black cape, white eyes, a twin snake staff, and scales on his hands... Could it be that the one who came was Xuxu Tianjie from the twenty-eight constellations of Zhanhai Tower?!" "Xu Su from Xuanwu? Really? That is the great demon that was enlightened by Zhanhai Tower Master himself - Yinghuan Chenmang. It is said that his eyes are connected to the heaven and earth veins, and his magical power is exactly the same as Bai Xiaosheng's, one is to see the world, and the other is to read the human nature. If you get both of them, you will be able to know everything that happened in the past five hundred years." "That widely circulated and priceless Tianshu Dimai divination map, could it be..." "Yes, he was the one who contributed the most to the creation of this picture. This is a great merit."
The Messenger of Zhanhai Tower, Xusu Tianjie, Yinghuan Chenmang...all these names have been pieced together in the mouths of the people to create an old man Yinghuan who only exists in legends. However, those who do not know these secrets only have the most intuitive impression of him. The tribulation period! Looking at the Upper Central Realm, there are only a handful of supreme realms! Palace Master Cangming struggled to suppress his injuries and murmured, "Old Man Yinghuan...hasn't he been stuck at the peak of fusion for thousands of years? How could he suddenly break through?" There are very few people in the Tribulation Crossing Stage in this world, but there are a lot of people in the Fusion Stage. There are at least hundreds of them in total, and a large part of them are crowded in the sixth stage of the Fusion Stage and before. If we make a statistics of the cultivators in the Fusion Stage, the data will definitely look like a long-necked bottle. These cultivators before the sixth stage of fusion are still constantly changing. Some die due to reaching the limit of their lifespan, and some are promoted from the Void Refinement Stage. However, the players after the sixth stage of fusion are basically fixed. The three elders who had previously hunted down Ling Yao, or the guardians of the Demon Sect such as Wu Tianzong, were all veterans who had been in their own sects for a long time. They were the group stuck in the middle. The progress at this stage is as slow as a snail. Sometimes, after hundreds of years of seclusion, one is still the same when coming out. The further you go, the harder it is to reach the next level. Therefore, it is generally recognized that for someone like Elder Yinghuan, who has been at the peak of the fusion stage for thousands of years, there is no hope of a breakthrough. A "young hero" like Palace Master Cangming, who is only over 2,000 years old and has already reached the eighth level of the fusion stage, is a genius. Even though Ling Yao is already at the sixth stage of the fusion period at the age of 300, she is a genius among geniuses, rare in a thousand years. Palace Master Cangming was about to break through the fusion period when he was 300 years old, but it took him 1,700 to 1,800 years to go from the first stage to the eighth stage. This shows how difficult it is to practice in the later stages. People like Liu Yuan who cheat are a different matter. If he told others that he had only been practicing for a few months, he would definitely be caught and sliced into pieces. After a brief thought, Palace Master Cangming understood that either the Taoist master of Zhanhai Tower was giving him some advice, or old man Yinghuan had some fortuitous encounter. In comparison, the latter is more likely. But this question is not important now. What is important is that Zhan Hailou actually sent people to Yuxu Taoist Sect, and the timing was so perfect. Could it be that Zhan Hailou finally couldn't stand the rampant Demon Sect anymore and decided to help Zhongzhou solve this major problem? Palace Master Cangming was delighted. Zhanhai Tower and Yuxu Taoist Sect were on the same side, but they had different tasks. Zhanhai Tower was on the front line to suppress the abyss, while Yuxu Taoist Sect maintained stability in Zhongzhou and killed some fish that slipped through the net like the Eight-Armed Sky Demon and He Qingmeng. Yuxu is now caught in a situation of internal and external difficulties, so Zhanhailou sent an envoy. It is normal for Palace Master Cangming to come to help. The Lord of Cangming Palace glanced at the headmaster Sheng'e who was healing the wound of his closed disciple, then stepped forward despite his injuries and bowed, saying: "Greetings, Senior Xusu, I didn't know you were coming, and I'm sorry for not welcoming you. It's not convenient for me to be the headmaster of my humble sect right now, so I'm the Lord of Cangming Palace Zhi Chunqiu, so I'll take over to welcome you for now, and I hope you'll understand." Elder Yinghuan raised his head and "looked" at him. A faint, old voice came from under his cloak: "It's okay. I came too hastily and didn't inform you." Seeing that he spoke calmly and slowly, the Lord of Cangming Palace became more reassured and asked, "I wonder if you, the Taoist Master, have any instructions for me since you came here, Senior?"
Elder Yinghuan said, "Indeed, it is because of the Lingyao matter." After these words were spoken, the people from other sects looked at each other in bewilderment. Palace Master Cangming's heart skipped a beat, and he had a vague feeling that something was wrong. If it was because of the Demon Cult, or the reappearance of the demons, why would Ling Yao be named specifically? It is obvious that Ling Yao as a person was the target. Elder Yinghuan walked forward slowly with his cane and said, "This is official business. There is also a private matter that I need to discuss with your clan leader." Sheng'e opened his eyes and looked over here, then he closed his palm and frowned, looking worried. He turned around and looked at Lingyu who had just woken up, and sighed, "Girl, why do you have to do this..." If it was Palace Master Cangming who was injured by the poisonous gas at that time, he could force out the poison himself, but the process would be extremely painful and would damage his foundation, but would not endanger his life. But Sheng'e knew his brother well, and he would never make such a choice. Instead, he would rather seal off the entire second floor in the name of "righteousness". Lingyu also understood, so she rushed forward without hesitation. Even if it was a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage or even the Spirit Transformation stage at that time, the disaster would not be beyond redemption. But it was Lingyu, who was only in the Core Formation stage. The gap between her and Xu Xinhong was not just a huge gap, it was like an ant compared to a mountain. But it was also Lingyu that was able to absorb all the poisonous fog with the cultivation level of the Jindan stage, thus avoiding the destruction of all lives. It is not possible for a human being to absorb such a large amount of the deadly poison transformed by a cultivator in the fusion stage and not die, so Lingyu is not a human being. If she were a human, she might have hesitated at that time. But she is the Nine Heavens Jade Calyx, bathed in the essence of the sun and the moon, and has opened up the seven orifices and seven emotions. When she turned into a human form, she wandered around ignorantly. She was rescued from the mouth of a monster by Sheng'e, and she became a disciple of the Yuxu Taoist sect and became the fifth sister of the Danqing Palace. Jade cannot be killed by poison. Lingyu woke up, but her eyes were blank. The bloody poisonous mist condensed between her eyebrows, like a cinnabar mole, but it obscured her mind. What was wasting away was not her cultivation, but her Taoism. When she saw Sheng'e, she smiled innocently, looked around curiously and said, "Master, there are so many people here, what are they doing?" Sheng'e felt a pain in his heart, and he knew that the spiritual power he had passed on could only delay the situation for a while. When the spiritual power was consumed, Lingyu would turn back into the unconscious Nine Heavens Jade Calyx, quiet and speechless. The kind-hearted Lingyu girl, the Lingyu girl who likes fluffy and cute things, the Lingyu girl who just won the first place on the Mingjian Ranking and made her first friend, she will cultivate into a human form again, but she will no longer be Lingyu. Chapter 287 Worthy of being the Fairy Lingyao When Elder Yinghuan came to Sheng'e, he saw the cinnabar mole between Lingyu's eyebrows. He exclaimed softly, thought for a moment, and said, "Interesting, interesting. It turns out that after the Nine Heavens Jade Calyx transformed, it actually entered the Jade Void." The eyes of the Yinghuan Dust Python are connected to the Tianshu Earth Vein. The Jiutian Jade Calyx is neither a plant nor a jade, but it is also a plant and a jade. However, it is also a part of the treasures of heaven and earth. During tens of millions of years, he had noticed it twice, when it was born and when it transformed. However, such birth and death are very common things for him, so he only had that one impression. Although there is only one god, Yousuo, in the Upper Central Realm, it is not an exaggeration to call old man Yinghuan a god given his magical powers. He has the vision of a god and naturally has the mentality of a god. To him, the heaven, earth and nature are like children. Now seeing Jiu Tian Yu E again, whose birth and growth I had witnessed, I feel both joy and regret. The joy and regret are self-evident. The Nine Heavens Jade Calyx is extremely pure and clean. After it transforms into a human form, it is naturally extremely kind and bright. What it fears the least is filth, and what it fears the most is also filth. Under normal circumstances, it is immune to all poisons and evils, and it also has a purifying effect. However, once the filth absorbed by the body exceeds the limit, it will become a burden and consume the cultivation level. Xu Xinhong's [Ten Thousand Maple Leaves Dyeing the River] is the result of his life-long cultivation. It is a poison that combines the body and the Tao. It can almost turn Ling Yu back to its original form in an instant. Originally, she had officially entered the ranks of cultivators. With the qualifications of Jiu Tian Yu Calyx, she might be able to become the second Ling Yao in time. But now her seven orifices are slowly closing, and she is about to turn back into a piece of stone. It will take hundreds or thousands of years before she can cultivate back to human form. It is no wonder that the misfortune of life is so sad. This scene is no less than the separation of life and death.
Lingyu keenly sensed the "gaze" of Elder Yinghuan, tugged at Sheng'e's sleeve, and whispered, "Master, Master, why is he looking at me?" Sheng'e helped Lingyu up and stroked her forehead, just like treating a child. He bowed to Elder Yinghuan and said in a deep voice, "Greetings, envoy. May I ask what personal matters you may have?" In terms of seniority, Elder Yinghuan is probably more experienced than all the people present here combined. However, although Zhanhai Tower is aloof from the world, it is not one level higher than the various sects in Zhongzhou. There is no reason for them to be inferior to each other. Sheng'e addresses him as an envoy and treats him as an equal, neither humble nor arrogant, just right. Lingyu hid behind her master and looked at old man Yinghuan with the look of a timid yet lively and cunning little girl. However, she looked like a girl in her twenties, so she looked innocent and naive for no reason. Elder Yinghuan also pulled his attention back from Lingyu, nodded, and said, "Originally, when I just came out of retreat, the Taoist master wanted to let Jiaoxiu come, but I calculated that the descendant of Xuanwu is now under Yuxu's tutelage, so I took the initiative to volunteer to be the envoy to visit." Sheng'e was stunned. The descendant of Xuanwu? He didn't react at first. Lingyu behind him had been pulling his sleeve, and suddenly it tightened, and Sheng'e immediately remembered. Isn't the little girl Gu Chang that Lingyu brought back the descendant of Xuanwu? ! As we all know, after the great war between humans and demons, the saints retired and the Four Symbols disappeared. The Qinglong lineage only has one Taoist master, Yousu, who is trapped in the Zhanhai Tower to suppress the demons; The Phoenix lineage born from the Vermillion Bird is still waiting for rebirth in the secret realm of Nirvana, and there is no trace of it. The white tiger was abducted by the saint and used as a guard; The only remaining Xuanwu actually hid in the city, mated with mortals, his bloodline was diluted, and the last piece of news was lost. The twenty-eight constellations of Zhanhai Tower are divided into four parts. They are all the followers of the Four Symbols back then. They follow the Taoist master to continue suppressing the demons in Yonghui Sea, but they still want to welcome back their old master. Xu Su belonged to the Xuanwu tribe. When he asked about the Xuanwu bloodline, he naturally had only one purpose, which was to take it away and train it. Sheng'e understood what Elder Yinghuan meant, and also understood that if Xu Su took her to Zhanhai Tower to be trained by the Xuanwu tribe, she might have a better future. However, Gu Chang was brought back by Lingyu, and Lingyu said that she must stay in Yuxu, so she could not go anywhere else. So he shook his head and said, "To be honest with the envoy, the child with the Xuanwu bloodline has already paid homage to the founder of Yuxu Taoism the day before yesterday. I'm afraid we can't let her leave with the envoy." Elder Yinghuan was not easily convinced, and said, "My four branches of Zhanhai Tower have been loyal to the old master of the Four Symbols for ten thousand years. If we talk about the time, it is longer than your Yuxu Patriarch. Moreover, Zhanhai Tower is not considered a sect, so you are still considered a disciple of Yuxu." Sheng'e smiled bitterly and bowed, saying, "I hope the envoy will forgive me..." Elder Yinghuan raised his double snake staff and touched the ground, saying without question: "You know how important the reunion of the Four Symbols is to suppressing the demons, but I am not an unreasonable person. At least, you need to let me meet the Xuanwu Legacy, explain the situation clearly, and let her make her own choice." Having said that, Sheng'e had no choice but to agree, but he didn't hold much hope in his heart. After all, Zhan Hailou's name is well-known, and all cultivators would yearn to be him. I can only hope that the child can consider their friendship for Lingyu's sake, otherwise Lingyu would be so sad. After talking about personal matters, it’s time to talk about business. Elder Yinghuan said, "I heard that demons had appeared in the heart of Zhongzhou, and that Lingyao was bewitched by the demons to betray the sect and was questioned by many parties. The Taoist master had been particularly optimistic about this girl and could not bear to see her fall into disgrace, so he took special care of her and asked me to come here to help investigate and provide appropriate assistance." People from all sects looked at each other with surprise and amazement on their faces. Although they had just guessed the purpose of the envoy from Zhan Hai Lou, but... she was indeed worthy of being the Fairy Ling Yao. She even paid special attention to the elusive Taoist master! The representative of the Heart Sword Sect was the most straightforward. He was the first to bow and say, "Master, you are wise. We will also fully cooperate with you." Other sects followed suit, and for a moment the crowd was loud and full of momentum. Palace Master Cangming's expression changed slightly, then he immediately concealed it, cursing in his heart. Although Zhanhailou and Yuxu Taoist Sect were allies on the same front and should help each other, when facing the demons, Zhanhailou would definitely prioritize eliminating the demons first. Their mistake was that they shouldn't have used the excuse of the demon clan, but this was the only charge that could significantly damage Ling Yao's reputation. Otherwise, with her support rate in the Yuxu Taoist sect, even if she made some minor mistakes, there would definitely be a large group of people helping to cover up for her.
The most crucial thing is that, normally, Zhan Hailou would not interfere in the affairs of Zhongzhou. But this time, no one knows what kind of evil wind blew, and not only did they send an envoy, but he was also at the Tribulation Crossing level to investigate. It is simply unreasonable! After Elder Yinghuan finished speaking, the people from all the sects prepared to disperse. The Yuxu disciples began to disperse to clean up the scene. The Lord of Cangming Palace was about to go back to heal his wounds with a gloomy face, but Sheng'e suddenly said, "Wait." Cangming Palace Master turned around, and for the first time, his kind face, which had been a good guy for so many years, showed a hard and cold expression. He said in front of everyone: "Now that the messenger has finished speaking, I also have something to say - Cangming Palace Master was not on duty properly, which caused the protective formation to fail, the first and second floors were lost, and countless disciples died. This was a serious mistake, and he should be whipped a thousand times, face the wall for a thousand days, and be stripped of his position as Palace Master and demoted to an elder." He faced the Lord of Cangming Palace, whose eyes flashed with a frightening coldness, and protected his disciples behind him, and said word by word: "Do you have any objections?" He has been a fool all his life, from being the weakest among his fellow disciples to being the powerless head master who watched the four halls fight for power. He really can't, he can't even protect his own disciples. Chapter 288 Liu Yuan's Note Sheng'e publicly announced the order to demote the Lord of Cangming Palace. His decisiveness and determination surprised many people. Before this, the current Yuxu Sect Master had a dull impression in everyone's eyes. After all, before him, there was Ding Huan, the man in the boat who imprisoned the devil with his own body, and after him, there was Ling Yao, who was extremely talented. Everyone knew that he became the headmaster because of Ding Huan's last wish. Otherwise, among the disciples of Yuxu of the Sheng generation at that time, Sheng'e would have been mediocre and would have had no chance of becoming the headmaster. Therefore, even the Lord of Cangming Palace, Zhi Chunqiu, was more famous than him - the one who originally had the greatest hope of becoming the headmaster was the Lord of Cangming Palace. Most of Sheng'e's cultivation in the Tribulation Period was due to the teachings from Ding Huan before he left, a small part was due to the Xuanshu Sword, the treasured sword handed down from the ancestors of the Yuxu Taoist sect, and the remaining little bit was his own. It was for this reason that he gave in again and again to the masters of the other three halls, feeling a little guilty and remorseful that he was unworthy of his position, and was too weak to make things a mess. But now, he had experienced the persecution of two of his beloved disciples one after another. Although Palace Master Cangming and the other two Palace Masters were all cunning and swift in their actions, and there had been basically no flaws in the matter before, Sheng'e himself was not a stupid person, and naturally he could see that it was Palace Master Cangming who was responsible. Originally, Sheng'e was completely unable to fight back when faced with the "abdication" by Palace Master Cangming. However, things took a huge turn when the Demon Cult suddenly attacked for unknown reasons. A series of events that followed directly disrupted Palace Master Cangming's plan, and one wrong step led to another. Now that Elder Yinghuan has gotten involved on behalf of Zhan Hailou, it has basically declared that Palace Master Cangming's plan has failed. Although I don't know if he has a backup plan, but... Sheng'e no longer wanted to be an old fool. He had been mediocre all his life, and the only people he valued and was most proud of were his few disciples. Now two of them were almost gone in one go. The anger that he had been holding back for his entire life instantly filled up, and he immediately attacked Palace Master Cangming. The Cangming Palace Master's eyes were cold, but they disappeared in an instant. In front of everyone, he bowed to Sheng'e and said in a deep voice: "The headmaster has given an order, and of course no one dares to disobey. The protective formation failed for no reason, and the demon sect attacked, causing heavy casualties among the disciples. It is indeed the fault of my Cangming Palace. As the Cangming Palace Master, I am willing to accept the punishment." Sheng'e didn't expect that he had no intention of resisting at all, and accepted his decision so calmly and even indifferently. But Sheng'e had made up his mind. He hesitated for only a moment before nodding and asking, "Where are the others?" The expression of the Lord of the Red Fire Palace changed slightly, and he was quite dissatisfied. He opened his mouth to argue for the Lord of the Cangming Palace, but the Lord of the Cangming Palace looked back at him, and he immediately fell silent. Palace Master Cangming glanced at Palace Master Fusong, his subordinates and disciples. Although they were unwilling, they all said in unison: "The headmaster has given an order, and we must obey it." In the end, it fell implicitly on the people from other sects and Old Man Yinghuan. Doesn’t Palace Master Cangming have any intention of resisting? Yes! He was even furious and even had murderous intent, but he could see clearly and his mind was clear. In the current situation, Sheng'e is standing on the general trend. There are envoys from the seven major sects and Zhan Hailou present. As the head of Yuxu Sect, if the orders he issued are refuted by the people below, it will inevitably lead to the damage of the dignity of Yuxu Sect. And now their plan is facing a huge crisis, and it will be even worse if they get entangled with Sheng'e. It would be better to let him go first and buy time for yourself to make the next plan, and also give him some sweetness to let him relax his vigilance, so that he won't become more and more courageous after more setbacks. I didn't expect that this weak and innocent junior brother back then would actually resort to tricks.
The Lord of Cangming Palace watched the crowd disperse and go to Fusong Palace to receive punishment, but he sneered in his heart. But what did it matter? Even he did not dare to be careless about Xu Xinhong's poison. Lingyu was considered useless today. The remaining disciples were either in seclusion or out. Danqing Hall completely lost its support. Those elders were all soft-tempered and went with the flow. No one even spoke, which was considered one less trouble. The Biluo Mansion is indeed professional, and their work of framing Ling Yao was foolproof. These sects failed to find even the slightest suspicion when they went to investigate, and now they can only say "this matter is doubtful." Palace Master Cangming looked sinister as he stared at the green snake fire mark in his hand and clenched his fist tightly. It's time to contact the people in Biluo Mansion again...