“Shishu!” Dao Lord Zisu hastily formed a spell, and the sword qi storm gradually subsided.
As the light and shadow shifted to Celestial Void Daoist's exhaustion and demise, and Ao Pan Dragon Emperor burning his essence blood to seal the Rift, Feng Dingshi's eyes reddened: “I regret not being born ten thousand years earlier! Even if I were to die and my dao disappear, I would fight alongside such heroes.”
“What the predecessors could do, the descendants can do as well.” Dao Lord Zisu lightly tapped the hilt of her sword with her fingertips, and the profound iron scabbard hummed. Looking at the lingering celestial phenomena in the distance, her aura was like a sheathed sharp blade.
Feng Dingshi composed himself and turned to the green-robed Disciple: “What is the solution to the core of this Grotto-Heaven? Have you found a secret path leading to the Extremity of Heaven and Earth?” His usually steady voice rarely fluctuated, and even his dao heart, cultivated for hundreds of years, rippled.
The Sword Pavilion Disciples silently bowed their heads. Only Qing Feng stepped forward slightly: “Reporting to Ancestor, Celestial Void Daoist's lingering thoughts left a warning: the Extremity of Heaven and Earth is formed from the primordial essence when chaos first separated. Even a Venerable of the Tribulation Realm who rashly enters will turn into tribulation ash.”
He paused slightly, and a jade slip in his sleeve flashed with a faint light, “But the Venerable and the Dragon Emperor's remnant souls once said, if a crack appears in the seal.”
“A thousand-year term?” The two Dao Lords spoke in unison. Dao Lord Zisu's sword at her waist suddenly hummed, particularly piercing in the silent hall.
Qing Feng nodded: “The seal has endured for ten thousand years. The Immortal Alliance should work together with one heart.” He suddenly felt a sharp gaze sweep over him and looked up to meet Dao Lord Zisu's scrutinizing eyes.
“In your opinion, how should Yun Qingrao be dealt with?” The Chief of Sword Pavilion's fingertips brushed over the astrolabe on the table, the Big Dipper constellation flickering erratically.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the hall was shocked. Ripples appeared in the teacup in Feng Dingshi's hand: “While decisive killing is our duty, Yixian Palace is ultimately…”
“She must be killed!” Qing Feng's words were firm. Facing the astonished gazes of the elders, he explained: “Immortal Yun did us a favor by using the dragon scales to open the Mystic Realm, that's true. However, this Dragon Emperor's tomb is ultimately the legacy of her mother's race…”
He unrolled a yellowed silk book, and ancient dragon patterns appeared under the activation of true essence, “According to the ancient laws of the East Sea Dragon race, she is the rightful owner of the Grotto-Heaven within the five degrees of kinship.”
A sudden thunderclap outside the hall illuminated Qing Feng's stern features: “The Immortal Alliance's covenant is still in effect. If our Sect forcibly seizes another's legacy, wouldn't we become a laughingstock? It would be better to…”
He pointed his fingers like a sword and slashed through the void, the sword qi carving deep grooves into the bluestone ground.
At the peak of Qingyu Peak,
Feng Dingshi's wide robes flapped, and the furrows between his brows deepened: “Nonsense!”
The two words, accompanied by the hum of a sword, pierced directly into Qing Feng's ears, “Do you think scheming against an ally only harms your reputation? When you do despicable things, can your spine still stand straight?”
Qing Feng's Adam's apple bobbed, and the hem of his dark-colored tight-fitting clothes was stained with sweat: “Disciple knows his mistake.”
“The Beast Taming Sect can exist without the Lingxu Grotto-Heaven, but it cannot lose its backbone.” Feng Dingshi's knuckles turned white from clenching, and the ancient pine behind him snapped in half, “This Ancestor would rather personally destroy the opportunity than allow petty means to tarnish the Sect's reputation.”
“Ancestor's lesson is correct.” Qing Feng knelt on one knee, and his jade hair crown hit the bluestone, cracking.
Feng Dingshi's gaze swept over the distant sea of clouds: “Zisu says your talent is extraordinary, but if your heart is not upright.” The setting sun gilded the old man's beard and hair crimson, “This Ancestor doesn't mind acting on behalf of the celestial dao.”
After the sword light vanished into the clouds, Qing Feng brushed off the dust from his knees, a faint curve appearing at the corner of his lips.
Xia Wuji didn't lie to him; this provocation tactic indeed worked.
“Was the performance enjoyable?”
Dao Lord Zisu stepped out from the bamboo shadows, her plain white sword robe shimmering with moonlight. Qing Feng turned and bowed, the cunning in his eyes not yet faded: “Disciple was merely settling a clear account for the Sect.”
“That Yun girl saved your life, given your temperament.” A purple bamboo leaf brushed past Qing Feng's ear, “You'd probably give up Lingxu with pleasure. This abnormal suggestion is merely to force Grand Shishu to state his position.”
Qing Feng's pupils constricted slightly, and the dark jade bracelet on his wrist glowed: “Shibo is discerning.”
“There are only six years left now, what will you do?” Zisu asked.
“Four years in a cage, I have to get something out of it.” Qing Feng crushed the blood scab in his palm, the wailing of the vine demons in the tomb still echoing in his ears, “The demon cores of those demonic vines, their taste is exquisite.”
Dao Lord Zisu lightly tapped the jade pendant on her sword hilt, the sword tassel swaying with a clear glow under the moonlight: “It seems the celestial dao favors you. But about what happened in that Mystic Realm.” She suddenly turned and looked directly at Qing Feng, “Are you truly not holding anything back?”
“How would Disciple dare to deceive a senior?” Qing Feng's eyelashes cast butterfly-wing-like shadows on his face as he lowered his gaze, “It's just that the Mystic Realm is complex; if I were to count every grain of sand, I'm afraid I'd be talking until next year's Awakening of Insects.”
“Then pick out the important things to ask.” Dao Lord Zisu's fingertip condensed a wisp of sword qi, carving a star array diagram onto the bluestone slab, “What did that Yun girl get? And what did you obtain?”
A wisp of dragon-shaped spiritual mist rose from Qing Feng's palm: “Seven Earth Fiend Spirit Artifacts, plus the true blood of the Yinglong.”
The purple bamboo scabbard suddenly hummed. Dao Lord Zisu's pupils constricted slightly, and his knuckles unconsciously tapped the coiled dragon pattern on the scabbard. His Solitary Swan Sword, refined for six hundred years, was merely a mid-grade Earth-tier artifact, yet Yun Qingrao casually obtained seven peerless treasures of the same tier.
Not to mention the Yinglong essence blood, which had been extinct in the Three Realms since Ao Pan's demise, was now swallowing the essence of the sun and moon within the spiritual mist.
“Therefore, Disciple believes…” Qing Feng dispersed the spiritual mist, letting the starlight fall onto his dark-colored robes, “Instead of forcibly seizing the spirit artifacts and damaging the sword bone, it's better to let her take them. Although the Yinglong blood is precious, it's only useful for body cultivators and the Demon Dao, and is nothing but a chicken rib for our Beast Taming Sect.”
Dao Lord Zisu looked at the bronze bell hanging from the eaves and pondered silently.
The star array diagram condensed by sword qi flickered, then transformed into fireflies and dissipated: “What about yourself? You didn't come back empty-handed, did you?”
“I did pick up two interesting trinkets.” Qing Feng lightly waved his wide sleeve, and a three-foot green blade shot out of the void, hovering before him. The sword body was unedged but flowed with the dao charm of primordial chaos. When the gilded scroll floating beside it unfurled, illusions of mountains and rivers constantly emerged and vanished within it.
“Clang!”
The Solitary Swan Sword, which Dao Lord Zisu had been nurturing in his sleeve, suddenly fell to the ground. His usually calm face cracked with shock: “Celestial Human Dao Sword, Eight Desolations Scroll, are these the Celestial Void Ancestor's Natal Artifacts?”
“Precisely obtained from the Chonglong Emperor's tomb.” Qing Feng traced the sword's spine with his fingers, the spreading sword qi startling the perching birds in the courtyard, “Miss Yun said these items should be returned to their rightful owner. Please Shibo, hand them over to the Dao Sect.”
When Dao Lord Zisu retrieved his sword, he found that its hilt had been cracked from clenching. He looked at the hovering supreme treasures and gave a bitter smile: “With the appearance of these two sacred artifacts, I'm afraid a bloody storm will be stirred up in the cultivation world.”
Dao Lord Zisu frowned slightly as he took the bamboo slip: “Our Sect's sword art classics, passed down for thousands of years, are vast as a sea of smoke. Why do we need to add more cultivation methods?”
Despite saying so, he still unrolled the bamboo slip.
When his gaze swept over the opening diagram of the Yin-Yang Zhou Tian circulation, this Tribulation Realm mighty figure's breathing suddenly quickened, like a green Disciple seeing a secret manual for the first time.
Qing Feng stood by with his hands lowered, a faint smile on his lips.
The Quanzhen Pure Yang Art he presented was derived from deductions in his dreams. This method secretly conformed to the ultimate principles of heaven and earth's yin and yang: outwardly cultivating sword qi like a scorching sun, and inwardly containing pure yang true essence like a golden crow embracing an egg.
Even more marvelous was the core secret of “offense as defense.”