Lin Xuanzhi said, “So that’s why you’ve been so nervous today. It turned out that you were scared by that evil Qi cultivator.”
Yan Tianhen nodded, leaning the side of his face against Lin Xuanzhi’s chest.
Lin Xuanzhi assured him, “Although evil Qi cultivators are scary, they are not invincible. In ancient times, my Shidi was a demonic Qi and evil Qi dual cultivator. In the end, his cultivation was much higher than mine, and it was as close as Dao Zu’s. No one in the world seemed to be able to stop him. Unfortunately, Dao Zu died at Youshan Lingyu’s hands long ago, but in the end, didn’t our forces still kill that Shidi? This evil Qi cultivator today will be the same.”
No, it’s not the same.
Back then, Youshan Lingyu had reconciled himself to loss and wanted to die, so he voluntarily met his own death. Yet that evil Qi cultivator had been betrayed by Youshan Lingyu at a critical moment and thrown into the dark prison. How can this be the same?
Moreover… Youshan Lingyu’s heart was empty back then; he knew that there was no one in the world who loved him anymore and he no longer had any place to call home. If it wasn’t for the fact that he knew he had to die, Chang Sheng’s strike could never have killed him, even if Chang Sheng did pour his entire cultivation into that blow. After all, it was extremely hard for evil Qi cultivators to die completely.
Unfortunately, Chang Sheng never understood these matters, even until his death, so the current Lin Xuanzhi also wouldn’t know. And just as the former Youshan Lingyu chose to hide everything to the end, the current Yan Tianhen naturally wouldn’t let Lin Xuanzhi know about this either.
Lin Xuanzhi continued, “If the evil Qi cultivator wants to recruit troops, the most likely place is the demon realm. If you’re really worried, why don’t we visit the demon realm and take a look after we’re done with Myriad Dao Academy?”
Yan Tianhen, however, smiled and slowly crawled out of Lin Xuanzhi’s arms. He patted the bird’s neck and motioned for it to fly faster. “If I was that evil Qi cultivator, I definitely wouldn’t go to the demon realm first.”
Yan Tianhen calmly explained, “Most demons are simple-minded and heartless, and it doesn’t make much difference to them what kind of Qi they cultivate. The human heart, on the other hand, is complex and difficult to fathom, and it’s also the easiest to control. As long as that evil Qi cultivator isn’t stupid, nine times out of ten, it will definitely look for allies and puppets in the human realm. However, the human world is vast and boundless, and there are still many regions that human beings have never set foot on. It’ll be extremely difficult to find where that evil Qi cultivator will hide and restore strength.”
They could only wait.
Wait for the evil Qi cultivator to produce rain and clouds first, thus revealing himself.
Lin Xuanzhi paused slightly.
In the end, he still didn’t know enough about evil Qi cultivators, but it seemed that Yan Tianhen knew them well.
Yan Tianhen sighed in his heart when he saw Hai Kuanglang.
“Shixiong.” Yan Tianhen went forward and grinned at Hai Kuanglang, showing pearly white teeth.
Hai Kuanglang first glanced at Yan Tianhen, then stared at Lin Xuanzhi for a long time. Only then did he carelessly fiddle with a wisp of dark golden hair in front of his chest. “You sure run fast. If Master hadn’t divined that you’d be able to turn disaster into a blessing and wouldn’t be hurt by a scoundrel, I’d definitely have gone to Reincarnation Palace to ask for justice.”
Hai Kuanglang’s pair of pale blue eyes were extremely cold. No matter the reason, even if it was out of kindness, Lin Xuanzhi still acted alone and took Yan Tianhen to the Tomb of Youshan, a forbidden region where few people ever left after entering. This was extremely irresponsible in the eyes of Yan Tianhen’s senior martial brother.
Although Lin Xuanzhi could’ve smoothly joined Myriad Dao Academy with his own strength and risen to his current status even if Fuyao Sect’s Sect Master didn’t vouch for him, in the end, Fuyao Sect still did intervene. Esteemed Lan Yue personally sent Lin Xuanzhi an opportunity and allowed him to soar, so they were still connected.
At the same time, Fuyao Sect had always maintained a good relationship with King Ye’s palace because You Ming was the Sect Master’s junior martial brother and an elder, and the sect also accepted Yan Tianhen as a disciple.
But ever since Lin Xuanzhi took Yan Tianhen with him and fell into the Tomb of Youshan, there was no news of them for two years. As a result, Fuyao Sect was put in an awkward position. The people from the orthodox Dao complained that the Fuyao Sect couldn’t manage its own disciples, which caused their Light of Daoism to be imprisoned. And supporters of King Ye’s palace were resentful that Fuyao Sect was actually partial to helping Huarong Sword Immortal, which made their little prince suffer disaster.
In the past two years, Fuyao Sect had been cursed as a villain by all sides. Although Esteemed Lan Yue didn’t care much, the disciples under him were dissatisfied. However, it wasn’t really because they lost face. Instead, Yan Tianhen’s senior martial brothers were actually angry that Yan Tianhen had foolishly run away with a wild man without telling them a single word.
Yan Tianhen also knew that his actions weren’t very kind, so he thickened his skin and leaned over, rubbing his nose as he said, “Shixiong, don’t be angry. We left in a hurry back then and pulled a few powerful people along, so I didn’t tell my senior martial brothers. Moreover, Master also said that blessings and misfortunes come in pairs. Without the experience inside the Tomb of Youshan, my present cultivation wouldn’t be so high.”
Speaking of cultivation, Hai Kuanglang gripped Yan Tianhen’s wrist and inserted a wisp of spiritual Qi. Soon, his beautiful face showed surprise.
Like a pebble sinking into the sea and a star in the boundless sky, he couldn’t find the slightest trace of his own spiritual Qi anymore.
“This…” Hai Kuanglang froze.
“My current cultivation is at the minor attainment phase of Earth Realm’s Small Perfection Stage.” Yan Tianhen took back his hand rather proudly and even patted Hai Kuanglang on the shoulder. “Second Shixiong, you must cultivate well, or else your junior martial brother will surpass you.”
Hai Kuanglang had a complicated expression.
Before he left, Yan Tianhen’s cultivation was merely at the Profound Realm. Based on his cultivation progress, it would take at least 300 years for him to rise to the introductory phase of Earth Realm’s Small Perfection Stage, but only two short years later, he had actually reached the Small Perfection Stage… What good luck ah!
“Did you eat some kind of rare treasure, or did you meet the remnant soul of a great power?” In the end, Hai Kuanglang was still a cultivator. When cultivation was mentioned, other matters were immediately thrown to the back of his mind.
Yan Tianhen thought for a moment. “It’s a long story, but one thing is certain — one hundred years in the Tomb of Youshan is only one year outside. I’ve been cultivating in that place for over two hundred years, so naturally my cultivation is much higher.”
Actually, Yan Tianhen’s current cultivation had already reached Earth Realm’s Major Perfection Stage, but he didn’t dare say it and also couldn’t say it.
If a matter was unusual, then it implies that something must be wrong. Normally, once you reach the Earth Realm, advancing a small stage would attract tribulations. This was true for both spiritual Qi and demonic Qi cultivators.
Those lightning tribulations were not only a test from the Dao of Heaven, but they were also the recognition of heaven. If you survived the tribulation, you’d be able to obtain the true great Dao. However, from beginning to end, Yan Tianhen never encountered a tribulation.
It was probably because the evil Qi he cultivated wasn’t recognized by the Dao of Heaven.
Just like Youshan Lingyu back then, who also didn’t encounter any tribulations.
“Two hundred years.” Hai Kuanglang’s mood was extremely complicated. “Truly fortunate.”
An independent space that could make time fold or stretch was extremely rare, and ordinary people wouldn’t be able to encounter this in their lifetime, because the existence of this kind of mysterious land was contrary to the Dao of Heaven.
Yet Yan Tianhen actually cultivated for 200 years in such a place.
Since Yan Tianhen had obtained such great benefits, Hai Kuanglang was too lazy to pay attention to the matter of Lin Xuanzhi running off with Yan Tianhen.
“Master divined that you would return today and had me wait here for you.” Hai Kuanglang got to the point, and a pair of long eyebrows wrinkled slightly. “Master and several elders of the prophet family came to Myriad Dao Academy three days ago, and they have very important matters to discuss with each other.”
Yan Tianhen’s heart skipped a beat. “Is it because of the Royal Heavenly Capital’s evil spirit?”
Hai Kuanglang paused, then asked, “Evil spirits also appeared in the Royal Heavenly Capital?”
His information was still lacking.
Hai Kuanglang frowned. “Master divined that chaos will befall the Nine Lands due to the great changes in the Tomb of Youshan, so it’s necessary to activate Myriad Dao Academy’s astrological platform, but this matter is of great importance. I’m afraid that just Master alone won’t be enough, so he joined forces with the prophet family to exert pressure on Myriad Dao Academy.”
Every activation of the astrological platform cost tens of thousands of pounds of spirit stones, and 300 people needed to protect the array. Of course Myriad Dao Academy wouldn’t casually activate such a thing. However, something that Esteemed Lan Yue had to pay so much attention to and pay a personal visit definitely wouldn’t be a small matter.
Yan Tianhen said, “Let’s go quickly and take a look.”
After crossing the sea by boat, they reached Ethereal City. The three flew quickly towards Myriad Dao Academy. It was spring at this time, so Ethereal City was full of flowers, buzzing with bees and dancing with butterflies, painting a vibrant image. Everything was growing.
As soon as they entered the sect, Hai Kuanglang said, “Youngest Martial Brother, you should go back to hand in the mission first and exchange for star points. Huarong Sword Immortal and I will go to the meeting hall.”
Yan Tianhen asked seriously, “What are you going to discuss? Is it something that I can’t listen to?”
“It’s not that you can’t listen. After all, no matter what we discuss with Huarong Sword Immortal, he will tell you anyway. But, Master’s temper hasn’t been very good over the past two years. He also said that if you came out safely, he would never indulge you again. He would be a strict teacher and send someone to watch over you every day.”
“Moreover, Master’s conversation with Myriad Dao Academy isn’t going very smoothly. He’s bound to be in a bad mood right now.” Hai Kuanglang smiled as he said, “Of course, if Shidi insists, I naturally won’t stop him. Esteemed Lan Yue won’t get angry easily, but once he gets angry, not even Bei Shitian, the most stubborn one out of all of us, dares to offend him.”
Yan Tianhen swallowed with difficulty. For the sake of his little life, he felt that it was more appropriate to slip away first. “Second Martial Brother, everything depends on you.” Yan Tianhen tearfully held Hai Kuanglang’s hand and looked at him affectionately, then ran away like a wisp of smoke.
Hai Kuanglang looked at Yan Tianhen’s back, and his lips curled into a malicious smile. He turned to Lin Xuanzhi and said, “Huarong Sword Immortal, let’s head towards the meeting hall.”
Lin Xuanzhi felt like he was walking into an execution ground.
He was the chief culprit in the abduction of Esteemed Lan Yue’s beloved little apprentice. Esteemed Lan Yue probably wouldn’t be kind.
But, so what?
If he could redo everything, he would still abduct Yan Tianhen.
Nobody can stop him.
The meeting hall had already descended into noisy arguments.
Although the statements to the public were very consistent — that they would “discuss matters while sitting” and separate the two sides — in reality, no one knew what it looked like once the doors closed.