Chapter 445: Just a Slightly Soiled Hem

After muttering a couple of complaints in his heart, Dan Zu continued to look into the distance.

He had never really cared about such things; in the group chat day to day he mostly just joked around — wasn't alchemy far more interesting than this?

Still, although he himself didn't value these matters, he wouldn't interfere with how his juniors chose to handle them.

So long as it didn't delay their own cultivation…

Forget it, let everything take its natural course — how they chose was their own business.

He only withdrew his gaze once Chi Jiuyu and Ye Zhiwei reached the edge of the safe zone.

"Daoist brother, then I'll go look around elsewhere."

He was planning to go see that brute Ba Zun first, then find Daoist friend Hong Zun for a chat…

"Safe travels, Daoist friend."

Immediately after, Dan Zu was seen giving a slight nod, stepping into the void, his figure vanishing from sight.

Xu Xing looked ahead once more, his gaze passing over Chi Jiuyu, who was digging a pit, and Ye Zhiwei, who was preheating her alchemy furnace, and reaching toward deeper ground.

Within that earlier Soul-Force Fruit domain, a newly-advanced Jin Dan elder had already arrived leading a batch of Sprout-tier disciples.

By rights, for a mission this dangerous, any Tian Ling Sect member with any autonomy would never have accepted it.

But who could blame him — he'd taken out a loan during his breakthrough, and couldn't repay it, so he had no choice but to obey the orders the sect had issued.

Sprout-tier disciples were ultimately unfit for serious use, so Tian Ling Sect could only call on other sects and resort to this lesser stratagem.

One could say that the overworked ox-and-horse cultivators still carrying large debts, or whose repayment deadlines were nearly upon them with no means to pay, had drawn the short straw.

But in the Xuan Realm, apart from a small number of people, who among them didn't carry some debt on their shoulders?

The moment the Jin Dan elder arrived, he set about erasing the Tian Ling Sect inheritance Chi Jiuyu had dropped over the city, and combed the city for any copied duplicates.

Then he destroyed them all in one go.

There was no way anyone dared to learn it — advancing to Jin Dan had already left him drowning in debt.

Of course, it wasn't that he hadn't thought about rescuing those Sprout-tier disciples still bound to the vines.

After all, according to sect rules, every Tian Ling Sect member abroad had to safeguard Tian Ling Sect's assets.

But…

Who knew whether doing so might alert those two Soul Transformation cultivators?

Out of safety considerations, it was better not to act rashly.

So if they were strung up, then strung up they were — the sect's assets were right there, no loss incurred.

In a certain sense, this could be called "the higher-ups have a policy, the lower-downs have a counter."

Situations like these weren't limited to that one Soul-Force Fruit domain.

They applied to the entire Cultivation Realm — one main timeline and two branch timelines alike.

Return-to-Void cultivators didn't dare act rashly, Sprout-tier disciples were unfit for serious use, so only those in the middle could be pushed to the front.

The clashes were growing ever more intense, already showing signs of escalating into large-scale conflict.

In the end, those Return-to-Void cultivators would surely not be able to sit still, and would personally enter the fray…

"Heaven's trajectory…"

Xu Xing's gaze lifted upward — the nine six-tiered Armillary Spheres still turned slowly at the world's highest point, linked to the world's most primordial depths.

"Xu Dage."

A familiar figure sounded from behind; Xu Xing's eyes shifted, and he turned to look at the two people who had appeared behind him.

Xiang Yuanjun glanced at Ning Ruo, then said, "Daoist brother."

Come to think of it, a long time ago she had always addressed him by his given name.

It was only later, when Daoist brother was the first to ascend to immortality, that — to avoid him falling into the same state as her elder brother, where those close to him were completely controlled by 'Heaven' and instead exploited —

she had concealed everything about herself.

Apart from Master Jianzun One, everyone deliberately kept a much greater distance from him outwardly; she had changed her form of address at that time too.

Until now — when Xuan previously borrowed the Grand Mystic Realm to cast them out of it, didn't he also not know about Ling Zu?

It was also in the course of all this that the address gradually became habit… if she were to change it back now, she herself would probably feel unaccustomed to it.

"Mm." Xu Xing gave a slight nod. "How did it go?"

"Everything went smoothly." Ning Ruo stepped forward. "The feedback data has been gathered nearly enough; the Immortal Net's threads have already penetrated everywhere, and once the Grand Competition ends we can begin clearing the Xuan Realm's anomalies."

The Xuan Realm's anomalies.

Ever since Xuan's avatar left in this world became the 'Heaven's trajectory,' the 'Spirit-Pastoral' lineage he had left behind took root in the Xuan Realm.

If the local cultivation system had still held a sliver of hope before, after this it no longer did.

No matter what method one cultivated, the moment one inhaled the realm's spiritual energy, one would be locked onto by that Xuan-phase Heaven's trajectory, which would siphon off a portion of one's cultivation daily.

Much like the 'Divine-Dao Imprint' in that previous Tongxuan Greater Realm, where the Divine-Dao Honored One had fused himself into the world's primordial qi.

In terms of effect, it was even more overbearing by far.

Those who neared the Dao's Source could not be spoken of in the same breath as Tongxuan — even if it was only an avatar.

Only the participants of the Xian Sect's Grand Competition, who carried the Grand Mystic Immortal Net auxiliary module as a filter, could avoid it.

"Speaking of which, I really must thank Xiang Yuanjun," Ning Ruo added with a smile.

"You could have managed on your own; my help wasn't much," Xiang Yuanjun said coolly.

Even having been influenced by Xuan, it was ultimately only a Return-to-Void-tier world after all.

"With your help, things are always a bit more convenient."

When it came to plugging the gaps in the fine details, no one was more suited than Xiang Yuanjun.

If only she were willing to help him run experiments…

Xiang Yuanjun said nothing more; there was no point in continuing a topic like this.

Then she raised her hand and plucked from the void a thin thread emitting a faint glow, glanced at it twice, then released it.

The Xuan Phase Celestial Track—the Mu Ling sect's doctrine—has twisted this world, even altering its grand tide; fundamentally, it is an abnormal state.

Under these circumstances, the Immortal Network eliminates the influence left by Xuan by redefining the world's rules… just as the Divine Dao represents order.

It is a very clever method.

If there are no hidden dangers after execution, then other affected worlds can also be "corrected" this way.

"By the way, where are the Master Jianzun and Master Mei Zu?"

…

…

At this moment, less than two hundred meters from the safe zone.

A vast underground shelter had been dug into the ground, with only a single entrance, just wide enough for one person to pass through, visible on the surface.

As a flash of spiritual light descended, the interior structure instantly stabilized and hardened.

Earth-to-Steel·Chi Jiuyu Special Edition!

This was a cultivation technique she herself modified during past missions in the Starry Sky.

After all, the missions involved high-risk tasks like cleansing alien races from the Starry Sky—being hunted was inevitable.

This Earth-to-Steel Special Edition is merely one of many techniques in the "Jiuyu Survival Manual" series; she has many more specialized modified techniques!

Not far away, Ye Zhiwei sat beside a furnace blazing fiercely, surrounded by a pile of spiritual materials.

Watching Chi Jiuyu arranging a concealment array near the dug-out underground space, she couldn't help but feel speechless.

You're just refining some healing pills—why go to such extremes?

And you're not even staying outside the safe zone for long—is all this showmanship really necessary?!

After finishing the array, Chi Jiuyu ran over.

"Hey! I've finished setting up my side—how much longer until your potion's done?"

"Almost."

"Wait, you're talking to me while refining your pill—won't you get distracted and fail?" Chi Jiuyu asked curiously.

On the Spiritual Network, she often saw alchemists complaining that they'd failed their pills because they were interrupted.

Some of them got blown apart—missing limbs and all—so terrifying!

"Isn't refining pills supposed to require intense focus?"

"…"

Then why are you asking all these questions?

"I'm different."

She was a prodigy alchemist of Jishi Valley—mere healing pills? She could refine them blindfolded…

No!

She'd actually been infected by Chi Jiuyu's nonsense!

Hold your breath, calm your spirit, avoid arrogance and impatience…

"Heh! I know you're strong—you're the only one who made it into the same big competition as me!"

"By the way, how old are you?"

"You don't look like some old thing in their fifties or sixties."

"I reached Soul Transformation at twenty-two—how old were you when you reached it?"

Hearing the first two sentences, Ye Zhiwei had been about to answer—but the next two made her instantly drop the idea.

Being early at Soul Transformation is impressive, huh?

So what if you were twenty-two?!

Twenty-two…

"Hey? Why aren't you answering?"

"By the way, let's go find Xiao Zhao after this—she's Gou Xiong's sister, and she's pretty strong too!"

"Last time we fought, I only broke one of her legs!"

Given the rules of this Xian Sect Grand Competition, wouldn't anyone think of cooperating?

Those old things in their fifties and sixties probably already teamed up to clear the field.

Then I need to find some allies too!

Xiao Ye? She's a decent partner—and she's even slower at running away than me…

Cough!

As for Xiao Zhao, she's straightforward-minded—also a viable partner.

While pondering this…

"Then your age must be younger than mine, so you should call me sister," Ye Zhiwei suddenly said.

Chi Jiuyu froze, then her face twisted in disbelief.

No way!

Xiao Ye, you're trying to take advantage of Old Ancestor Chi Jiuyu?!

This is pure heresy!

"I'm the Master Jianzun's personal first disciple!"

Xiao Ye may be decent, but she's only a fourth-generation disciple of Jishi Valley.

Regarding this, she'd specifically looked into it after Gou Xiong's "selling tea girl online romance" incident.

"That's a separate matter."

Why should this be treated differently?!

Just as Chi Jiuyu was about to say more, he suddenly sensed something and whipped his head toward the safety zone.

Ye Zhiwei lightly pressed down, extinguishing the blazing true flame in the furnace, and summoned forth seven pills that gleamed like frozen moonlight and radiant stars.

Translucent and crystalline, as if carved from crystal.

Inside, tiny specks of light flowed like fine sand; outside, a ring of pill patterns curled like a stellar halo, extraordinarily magnificent.

Each one was top-grade, not a trace of pill fragrance leaking out.

Originally, Ye Zhiwei had estimated this batch would yield nine pills, but now an unexpected change had occurred, forcing her to end the refining early.

"Someone's here—probably another participant in this grand contest," Ye Zhiwei transmitted mentally.

And she casually tossed four of the seven pills to Chi Jiuyu.

"Look! I told you we should've hidden!" Chi Jiuyu transmitted back, pointing to the side.

"..."

You're still thinking about that hole you dug!

"He's stopped—probably realized something's off," Chi Jiuyu added.

Both of them are injured, and the concealment array they hastily set up may not fully mask their qi.

"Let's see if he comes in. If he dares enter, let him get ambushed—we can just pick up the leftovers."

Ye Zhiwei packed away the furnace and rose from the ground.

"What if he just attacks outright..." Chi Jiuyu muttered.

This distance isn't far at all.

Zzzm~!

"Damn!"

Just as I thought of it, it happens!

With a clear, ringing sword cry, a torrent of swordlight shattered everything, sweeping toward them like starlight flooding the heavens!

A sword cultivator, the kind who draws his blade at the slightest provocation!

Ye Zhiwei silently cursed, but beside her, Chi Jiuyu had already drawn his sword and slashed forward!

"Don't move—I'll handle it!"

The moment the voice reached their ears, a swordlight no less formidable than the star-illuminating blade erupted!

Boom!

Boom—rumble!

The two swords collided without flourish; terrifying shockwaves exploded continuously, countless razor-thin blades of intent spilled like liquid mercury in every direction, tearing apart everything in their path!

Even Ye Zhiwei, untouched by the blast, felt sharp stings across her skin and a chill at her third eye.

Sword cultivators: supreme in killing power!

These brutes' combat prowess is truly outrageous.

Though sword cultivators who nurture their primordial swords are as poor as body cultivators...

But they can fight—absolutely!

Seconds later, the blinding swordlight dimmed; the air grew hazy, filled with countless fine particles of pulverized dirt, sand, stone, and wood shavings.

"May I ask which fellow sect member you are?"

A clear voice rang out, and a piercing sword intent, resonating with the stars, instantly swept clean all floating particles and impurities.

Instantly, the heavens cleared.

The ground, however, lay in ruins—as if scoured by flood and then plowed over countless times.

The view, at least, had opened up!

In Chi Jiuyu's hand, a golden-green longsword hovered midair, gazing across toward the safety zone.

At the edge of the safety zone, a young man holding a sword also stared at Chi Jiuyu; his blade resembled a curved arc of light, gradated purple, translucent, revealing swirling stardust within, with a rainbow-like aura flickering unpredictably.

"Little Master Xiao Shu Zu?"

His tone carried a hint of surprise.

On the way here, he'd casually killed a few beasts from the Blood Golden Temple, and was just about to leave the safety zone to check out these so-called "pursuers."

Yet the direction he randomly chose led him straight to Little Master Xiao Shu Zu?

"What are you..."

"Of course I'm here to see who dares chase me at the same realm!"

Indeed, this is indeed Little Master Xiao Shu Zu.

If she didn't do this, it'd be strange!

"May I ask how it turned out?"

"..."

How did it turn out?

I got knocked unconscious with one blow and passed out all day!

Of course... I can't say that!

Otherwise it'd ruin my noble, towering image.

Cough, cough!

"I advise you not to try—it's dangerous."

After all, I'm the future Sect Master; even though this guy just slashed me, I should still warn him.

As Sect Master, one must be magnanimous!

"Did the junior uncle also suffer a setback?"

The young man holding the sword was genuinely surprised this time.

"How could that be!" Chi Jiuyu blurted out, "Even though the pursuers were powerful, to me they were easy to handle—my clothes just got a little dusty!"

Ye Zhiwei: "…"

Slightly dirty hem?

It's you who was easily handled!

This guy really clings to his pride! (End of chapter)