Unknowingly, three days had passed. During these three days, the atmosphere in the city was quite somber. After all, so many people had died at once, and that low pressure was very oppressive.
Early this morning, as the city gate opened, a figure stepped out of Qingyun City.
Dressed in a green robe, riding a Black Donkey with a bell around its neck, tinkling crisply with every step, Zhuang Buzhou looked back at the city gate from the Black Donkey's back, at the three ancient Seal characters carved on the city wall—Qingyun City.
A complex and unreadable emotion flashed in his eyes.
"Three years, Qingyun City, farewell!"
After a long moment of reflection, he only lightly uttered these words.
In three years, he had taken root and survived here, made friends and neighbors, gained a family, his own home, a beautiful wife, and also became a Cultivator, awakened his Spiritual Root, and obtained a World Spirit Master Legacy. All of this felt like a dream.
Too many of his memories were left here.
"Let's go."
Zhuang Buzhou withdrew his gaze, patted the Black Donkey, and headed into the distance.
In these three days, he had already said goodbye to everyone he needed to. He had seen Hong Gu, visited Hu Bo, walked every street and alley in Qingyun City. He had a drink with his former comrades from the yamen, wishing them well and hoping to meet again in the future to say, "Brother, how are you?"
Now that he was leaving, whether he would return in the future or not, at least for now, he left without regrets.
He didn't deliberately control where he was going.
He let the Black Donkey beneath him carry him forward.
When he was hungry or tired, he would enter the Other Shore Space to eat and chat with Li Yueru, and incidentally receive guests who came to trade. In just a few days, he had gained no less than a thousand years of time. Many of them were Spirit Masters.
These Spirit Masters, naturally, undoubtedly wanted to buy time to extend their lifespan.
After each of them got what they wished for, rumors about the Other Shore Space had begun to spread widely among Spirit Masters.
However, strangely, the appearance and name of the Lord of Beyond became blurred in their memories, unable to be recalled, forgotten from their minds. Even Spirit Masters could not resist the influence of the Other Shore Space. This was the great power of the Other Shore, and also the great power of time.
That day, he arrived by a stream, and seeing the sky, it was almost noon.
He let the Black Donkey drink water and then gave it some beans and straw.
Seeing many fish in the stream, he caught two large ones.
He gathered firewood, lit it, set up two tripods on either side, and slowly roasted the fish over the fire, turning them and sprinkling various seasonings, of course, mostly just salt and some chili powder. Before long, a tempting aroma of roasted fish wafted into his nostrils.
"Tsk tsk."
"What fragrant roasted fish! This Old Beggar's stomach is about to revolt."
Just as the fish was almost done, a strange cry sounded from the side.
He looked up and saw a disheveled Old Beggar with patched clothes and a dirty face walking out of the forest. His eyes were fixed on the roasted fish, and he could barely stop his drool from flowing out.
"Senior, there are two fish here, too much for one person to eat. Why don't you come over and help, so it doesn't go to waste?"
Zhuang Buzhou was startled, then smiled and invited him.
"Hehe, how can this Old Beggar refuse such a kind invitation from a young brother?"
The Old Beggar's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said with a chuckle, already impatiently hopping over to sit across from Zhuang Buzhou, his eyes still fixed on the fish.
"Why haven't I seen Senior in the Red Chamber?"
Zhuang Buzhou handed over the roasted fish and asked, seemingly casually.
The Old Beggar in front of him was none other than Tianming Gai, whom he had seen and spoken to in the city before.
"What's so good about the Red Chamber? It's either romance or eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. It's not time for the hongchen immortal wine to be brewed yet, so what's the point of going in? That place is easy to get into but hard to get out of, and besides, it's full of women. It's not suitable for this Old Beggar to go in, not suitable."
Tianming Gai was slightly startled when he heard this, and quickly waved his hand, saying.
"Where is Senior headed?"
Zhuang Buzhou smiled and didn't press further.
"Why call me Senior? I'm the third oldest, and my surname is Xia. Just call me Xia Sangong. You, young brother, are to my liking. So many people in the city, and only you dared to stand up. Weren't you afraid of this dog-beating stick in this Old Beggar's hand at the time?"
Xia Sangong looked at Zhuang Buzhou with interest and asked in return.
At that time, there were quite a few Spirit Masters in the city, but no one came out to stop him or even say a word when they saw his actions. They didn't even dare to discuss it privately. Although Zhuang Buzhou didn't stop him at first, he dared to speak his mind and express his feelings, which made him different.
"Words in the mouth, they must come out. It comes from the heart, regardless of courage or fear. I just seek inner peace; I didn't think that much at the time." Zhuang Buzhou shook his head and said. Of course, these were just superficial words. The real reason he dared to speak was naturally because of the Other Shore Space. If anything went wrong, he could immediately escape into the Other Shore, and there was also the Divine Ability granted by the space-time gourd, even if the space-time gourd was only Yellow Rank now.
It still possessed Heaven-Defying abilities.
It could pause time in the surroundings. The duration of this pause was based on the opponent's strength. If the opponent was too strong, it would be weakened to the extreme, only pausing for one second. If the opponent's strength was not strong, it could pause the surroundings for ten seconds. The power and duration of this Divine Ability were actually greatly related to one's own cultivation Realm. The higher the cultivation Realm, the stronger the True Qi, the higher the magic power, and ultimately, the longer the duration.
Ultimately, it was still due to Zhuang Buzhou's insufficient cultivation Realm.
Theoretically, as long as one has enough True Qi and magic power to support it, the Divine Ability nurtured by the Spiritual Root is a Natal Divine Ability, an Innate Divine Ability, and can be used at will.
The only limitation is that one's own cultivation is not strong enough, and the contained magic power is not deep enough.
Almost everyone's magic power is insufficient, and the opened Qi Sea often has limits. Once it is full, it is difficult to Breakthroug, and one can only slowly impact the barriers in the Qi Sea, expanding it little by little through a gradual process.
With such a Divine Ability in hand, he had the courage to face anything.
"What a 'just seek inner peace'!"
Xia Sangong heard this, let out a strange cry, and clapped his hands, saying, "This Old Beggar, I just seek freedom and ease in this world. I go wherever I want, play wherever I want, see this vast Mortal World, and appreciate its boundless wonders. I say what I want to say and do what I want to do. My own inner peace is the most important thing. This world is already bitter enough; if I can't live as I please, then it's better to die."
Immediately, the two ate and chatted. Their temperaments matched, and with Zhuang Buzhou's deliberate words and unique way of dealing with people, their conversation flowed without any barriers. It was truly a case of regretting not meeting sooner.
"Where is Xia Sangong heading?"
After finishing the roasted fish, Zhuang Buzhou asked again.
"There's a town not far from here called Leaving Immortal Town. It's said that something Mysterious has appeared in the town, and it's not peaceful, so I want to go and see." Xia Sangong said with a chuckle, taking out the wine gourd from his waist and taking a satisfying sip.
"Something Mysterious has appeared in Leaving Immortal Town? I wonder what kind of Mysterious it is."
Zhuang Buzhou asked with interest.
Mysterious things are not simple; they are the most troublesome and headache-inducing kind.
You kill them, but they don't die.
You slash them, but they are not destroyed.
If the source cannot be found, even if the Mysterious is annihilated, it will still revive in the years to come.
They are not afraid of demons, monsters, or ghosts; they can ultimately be killed. But if it's a Mysterious, that's very troublesome. Even top powerhouses can only Seal them. And a series of problems will follow.
"I heard it's a female ghost."
The Old Beggar grinned and winked, saying, "Young brother, do you want to come along? Maybe you'll have some good fortune."
Zhuang Buzhou felt a chill down his spine.
What kind of good fortune? Can you touch that Mysterious thing?
However, he was still very interested in the Mysterious. Why were they born? Why did they exist? What abilities did they have? What rules did they follow? These were all unknowns and Mysterious, making people unable to resist wanting to explore them.
"The unknown is what is most attractive and arouses curiosity."
Zhuang Buzhou secretly had a thought in his mind, then agreed, "It just so happens that I also go with the flow, without a specific destination. Wherever I go, that's where I'll be. Since I met Xia Sangong this time, I'll go along with Xia Sangong to see what's special about this Mysterious."
"Alright, but you are only in the Innate Realm, just taking your first step on the path of cultivation. But the Mysterious are everywhere, and the sooner you see them, the sooner you can understand them. It's just a pity that demons are easy to kill, but the Mysterious are hard to destroy. In this world, the ones best able to deal with the Mysterious are still World Spirit Masters."
Xia Sangong took a sip of wine and sighed.
"World Spirit Masters can deal with the Mysterious?"
Zhuang Buzhou was startled when he heard this and immediately asked.
Although he had obtained the Legacy of a World Spirit Master, many things still felt elusive and too Mysterious.
"World Spirit Masters are one of the most top-tier professions in the world. Their special characteristic lies in the fact that they possess their own Inner World, and within that world, they can condense a World Spirit Pool to nurture World Spirits. World Spirit Pools are formed by nurturing various cursed relics. The Mysterious, in essence, are of the same origin as cursed relics, both born from the Guixu Sea. The Dao Soldiers nurtured from them have the ability to directly slay the Mysterious."
Xia Sangong took a deep breath and slowly said.
In the cultivation world, there is a saying: "Only the Mysterious can kill the Mysterious."
Of course, this saying is not absolute, but relative.
The world is vast and full of wonders; anything is possible.
Spirit Masters are also full of talented individuals, and with their continuous efforts, there are different advancements every now and then.
It is not impossible for cursed relics, or even Spiritual Roots, to develop special Divine Ability that can suppress and destroy the Mysterious. There are precedents for this. However, such situations are too rare. Only World Spirit Masters are the only ones who know the professional Legacy that can eradicate the Mysterious.
But becoming a World Spirit Master is too demanding; after all, they are only a minority.
