Chapter 613: Mount Xushan Swamp

If the Heavenly Gods confirmed that the Great Fang Hu was in Panlongcheng, then the intensity of their probing wouldn't be like this. He Lingchuan also secretly exhaled. So, with the divine bone's protection, was he safe? It didn't seem right either. Panlongcheng ultimately couldn't escape destruction, and its fate was almost the same as the Yuan Nation's.

In other words, the Heavenly Gods likely found the whereabouts of the Great Fang Hu again.

Lady Mitian said a keyword:

Aura.

The aura of the Great Fang Hu.

Under what circumstances would the aura of the Great Fang Hu leak out and be sensed by the pot lid? He Lingchuan remembered the great terror he felt when he was on the white jade steps in front of the Star-Plucking Tower.

Because the pot lid was in the Star-Plucking Tower, the divine bone necklace conveyed the Great Fang Hu's impatience? These two divine objects were originally one, and it naturally instinctively longed to be complete again.

No wonder, no wonder when the spider Zhu Erniang in the Demon Nest Swamp asked him to go to Mount Xu, the reaction of the divine bone necklace was so intense. To it, even if it ate all the treasures in the world, which one could compare to its original pot lid? "Is the key to the mutual echo of these two treasures distance? The closer the distance, the stronger the attraction, the stronger the induction?" Zhong Shengguang also speculated, then shook his head and denied himself. "Clearly not right, it wouldn't be that simple."

Right, it wouldn't be that simple. Because the Twilight Plain and Ling Xu City were thousands of miles apart, when the second scene of the illusion occurred in the ruins of Thousand Star City, the Heavenly Gods sent Bai Ziqi to investigate immediately; the northern part of Chi Yan and Ling Xu City were hundreds of miles apart, and not long after the red giant shadow in the Great Fang Hu devoured the Hundred-Faced Nightmare, Bai Ziqi rushed to White Sand Qu.

It can be seen that the Heavenly Gods' detection of the Great Fang Hu's location doesn't just rely on distance changes.

"Thinking conversely—" Zhong Shengguang pondered, "when can the divine bone necklace not cover the aura of the Great Fang Hu?"

"When the Great Fang Hu releases a lot of energy, or interacts strongly with the outside world."

A fourth voice suddenly sounded in the scene.

General Red arrived gracefully, wearing thin leather armor, without a mask.

She jumped over the wall directly, not even needing the guards to open the door for her.

"At that time, the Heavenly Net Star will light up."

He Lingchuan felt a stir in his heart.

Shao Jian immediately stood up to face her, Zhong Shengguang frowned and looked at Lady Mitian: "You knew it long ago, but didn't tell me?"

"Other Heavenly Gods can sense the Great Fang Hu, and I can also sense the lid in Ling Xu City through the Great Fang Hu. Divine artifacts are one, naturally echoing each other." Lady Mitian said lightly, "And you can't use the Great Fang Hu, so what's the benefit of knowing more?"

She believed Zhong Shengguang didn't need to know.

"Your last defeat was because of arrogance." Zhong Shengguang raised his cup to her. "Do you want to repeat the same mistake?"

Lady Mitian was displeased, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became solemn.

Zhong Shengguang drank wine slowly, not panicking.

Lady Mitian looked at him and Shao Jian respectively: "Spread the Punishment Dragon Pillar as soon as possible, so we can act afterward."

Facing this Heavenly God, Shao Jian didn't dare to be as arrogant as Zhong Shengguang, immediately bowing and responding.

Lady Mitian turned and strode away.

The room fell into silence for a while, no one made a sound.

Zhong Shengguang drank two more cups of wine.

Shao Jian estimated that General Red had already gone far and couldn't hear the two talking, so he leaned into his ear and whispered: "Is that child Wu Han still there?"

Zhong Shengguang didn't answer, but put down his wine glass: "You drank too much, you have to set off on the road early tomorrow morning."

He beckoned He Lingchuan to come forward: "Help him back to the courtyard to rest, and pour more sobering soup."

"Yes." He Lingchuan wanted to support Shao Jian, but this person waved his hand. "No need, I'm not drunk to that extent."

He stood up and swayed as he walked out.

Early the next morning, post station in the southern suburbs of Panlongcheng.

Shao Jian left the city, traveling with other merchant caravans, without special treatment.

Many people were seeing him off at the long pavilion here.

Zhong Shengguang was in casual clothes, wearing a veil hat, and also came to see his old friend off.

The two patted each other's shoulders, looking at each other without words.

The road ahead is long and obstructed, the mountains are high and the waters are long, not knowing when they will meet again.

Each has their own ideals, each has their own heavy responsibilities.

Each has their own persistence, each has their own dangers.

A thousand words, finally turned into a sentence of take care.

"Go back!" Shao Jian walked ten feet on his horse and looked back, seeing Zhong Shengguang still standing motionless, couldn't help waving and laughing, "In a few years, I will definitely come back to drink with you!"

His figure went further and further away. Zhong Shengguang watched his friend leave, as if he had become a statue.

A flute sound rang out from somewhere, melodious and far-reaching.

Shao Jian probably heard it too, looking back at the low mountain beside the post station, as if waving goodbye to someone; He Lingchuan saw the crow's feet he laughed out at the corners of his eyes.

Who was there?

On the way back to the city, Zhong Shengguang was silent all the way.

Entering the government office, he turned to He Lingchuan and said: "Your mission is successfully completed, go back, the Pengcheng Office has its own records."

For these days, He Lingchuan's mission was to protect Shao Jian's safety.

Now that the guest had left Panlongcheng, his mission ended here.

"Yes."

Zhong Shengguang left on his own, quickly mixing into the crowd and disappearing.

His back was a bit desolate.

Protecting Shao Jian for several days, he hadn't been home, He Lingchuan originally wanted to go out and call a donkey cart, but he didn't expect someone to come to the government office's notice wall to post.

He Lingchuan took a look, it turned out to be the Questioning Hall updating lecture courses.

Public lectures need to be notified to everyone seven days in advance.

He browsed hurriedly and found that the second lecture was "Selected Flute Selections, Fingering and Scores".

Ah this, didn't see it, didn't see it.

His gaze continued downward, skipping several lectures automatically, none of which he was interested in.

However, the guy who changed the course was careless, only tearing off most of last week's announcement, and a small piece of paper remained stuck to the wall.

He Lingchuan found a lecture on this broken piece of paper: "Independent of the World—Where are the Ancient Demon Beasts Now?", speaker Xu Shichu.

Hiss, this must be about Zhu Erniang, right? Besides, the speaker's name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere.

He Lingchuan looked at the lecture time again—

What a coincidence, it's currently in progress. Rushing there now, maybe he could make it.

He immediately went out and called a donkey cart: "Go to the Questioning Hall, fast!"

The sinkhole where the Questioning Hall was located was crowded with people today, and the audience was twice as many as usual.

He Lingchuan came late and wanted to squeeze in, but there wasn't even a place to stand, which showed the popularity of this lecture.

He had to lean against a stone pillar.

Only here was there a little space; in winter, no one wanted to lean against the stone pillar, it was chilling to the heart.

He Lingchuan also shivered.

He remembered who Xu Shichu was on the way: Sun Fuling's mentor, the mountain chief, or dean, of the Shumin Academy.

The white-bearded dean he imagined only looked about forty years old, with handsome eyebrows and eyes, a scholarly demeanor.

He Lingchuan often went to the Questioning Hall to listen to lectures, but this was the first time he saw Xu Shichu.

The dean didn't come often, but he was very popular; just look at the crowd in the sinkhole.

This lecture had been going on for an hour and was about to end; the theoretical part had been finished, and now it was the public question time. Someone probably asked about Zhu Erniang earlier; after all, this was a living example of an ancient demon immortal, and also a neighbor + trading partner of Panlongcheng, cough, although there had been unpleasant little episodes before.

Xu Shichu's view was much the same as what Helian Chen said back then; He Lingchuan suspected that these two often communicated privately. Anyway, Helian Chen often went to Shumin Academy to give lectures, didn't he?

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth declined, and the once powerful demon immortals were like stranded whales, unable to wait for the next tide and could only die with hatred. There were very few ancient demon immortals surviving to this day. Even if there were, they were probably like Zhu Erniang, adopting a method like possession to extend their lifespan, but their cultivation couldn't be taken care of.

If spiritual energy could never recover, time was their greatest enemy.

Possession had risks, and many immortals disappeared because of it.

Seeing others eager to try, He Lingchuan interrupted before Xu Shichu finished his last few words: "Then are there no ancient ones that have survived to this day, can live without molting or possession, and can maintain their self?"

His behavior was a bit rude, but Xu Shichu didn't care: "To survive to the present world, such a great demon must possess unique advantages, able to continuously obtain more spiritual energy in the current environment to maintain its needs."

Speaking of this, Xu Shichu fell into deep thought.

In the current environment, it wasn't easy to find an example.

He thought for a bit long, so He Lingchuan simply stated his intention: "Dean Xu, can the mountain swamp of Mount Xu count as one?"

"Mount Xu" two words came out, Xu Shichu looked up suddenly, pointing at him and saying:

"Count, of course count! Yes, yes, yes, the Mount Xu mountain swamp is a great demon still alive! You gave a good example, a good example!"

Everyone became interested. How awesome must such a big shot be to live to this day? Xu Shichu said solemnly: "The name of this mountain swamp is Zu Ju."

He wrote the two big characters "Zu Ju" on the board beside him.

Not to mention the military and civilians in Panlongcheng, even He Lingchuan, who had traveled north and south, had... wait, he seemed to have heard this name somewhere before?

Zu Ju, the literal meaning is the fire seed in the stone mountain.

"This is a demon that is powerful but exceptionally low-key. Very few people in the world have seen its true face, because in a hundred years, it sleeps for at least ninety-nine years and ten months." Xu Shichu continued to explain, "Its identity is also very special; since ancient times, it has been the guardian spirit beast of the Great Return Sect!"

As soon as the words fell, a buzzing discussion exploded in the audience.

He Lingchuan also subconsciously stood up straight.

Everyone knew that the location of Beijia Ling Xu City was the territory of the original Great Return Sect. Was Dean Xu telling everyone that the guardian spirit beast of the Great Return Sect was still alive? If it was alive, who was it guarding the mountain for now?

"Yes, that's right, just like you think." Xu Shichu said, "The current Zu Ju is the guardian god of Mount Xu!"

Mount Xu...? He Lingchuan's heart tightened.

"The predecessor of Mount Xu was called Shou'an Mountain. Whether in the Great Return Sect period or modern times, it has been the mountain swamp of Shou'an Mountain." Xu Shichu said, "It was born in lava, and in ancient times it was a rock-fire monster with a height of a hundred zhang (over three hundred meters)!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 614 =====