Chapter 402

A letter flew in from outside the Demon Palace,

landing amidst the sea of molten-gold vines covering the mountains.

"Zhou Zhou Sanyan, Senior Brother Zhou, it has been quite some time."

Seeing the aura and script on the envelope, Jiang Ding wore a nostalgic expression, recalling the scene of his entry into Xiang Qiyu Sect over fifty years ago.

Back then, between the two, there was nothing but calculation and profit, maintaining a basic yet fragile senior-junior brother relationship.

Fortunately, no matter how fragile, it never broke.

Over so many years, they got along reasonably well; after all, there was some bond between them.

Open it.

"Junior Brother, seeing this letter is like seeing me. How have you been these years? Has your cultivation improved..."

After a long paragraph of polite greetings and words reminiscing about the past years, a sentence with a subtle hint was appended at the end: "Cultivation matters should not be pursued with single-minded hardship; combining stillness and movement is best. If Junior Brother has some free time recently, why not travel abroad for a while?"

"A warning?"

"My Second Senior Brother must be warning me."

Jiang Ding pondered: "Because of the Spirit Treasure Auction, he should be in Tushan Xiancheng right now, yet he is unwilling to appear and meet, but instead sent a letter. Has he encountered something?"

"Matters of Jin Dan level, the intelligence agency of Tushan Xiancheng is powerless against."

"I am truly grateful to Senior Brother Zhou."

He replied to express gratitude, but did not say what he would do.

"Danger?"

Jiang Ding carefully pondered the events he had experienced over these years: "The Dari Sect is impossible; the news of the Dari Sword Disciple and the Immortal Gate is enough to drive them mad. A large group of Nascent Soul cultivators mobilizing is the baseline; the appearance of a Soul Transformation cultivator is not impossible either."

"The rest, there is only the Liu Dao Sect."

"It should not be a Nascent Soul cultivator. A Nascent Soul cultivator would not show such timidity, planning to let a Jin Dan Zhong Qi cultivator like Zhou Zhou Sanyan know."

"Then there is no problem; at least I can still run away."

Jiang Ding's face returned to calm.

As long as it is not a Nascent Soul cultivator, he will not give up the Demon Kingdom of Tushan that he has painstakingly built.

The endless supply of Spirit Stones and heavenly treasures provided here are the crucial funding for building his super warships and Dai Sen Mirror Blade Drones; without encountering major danger, he will not give up.

Vajra Monk and Peach Blossom Young Master concealed their cultivation, transforming into two utterly ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. They registered at the Xiancheng guards' post and slowly walked into the city wall.

The many cultivators coming and going, whether Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment, all involuntarily paused as they passed the city wall, looking upward.

On the city wall,

a golden sword broken into three pieces and barely pieced together, and a torn treasure robe fluttered in the wind, like two hanging corpses.

Two Jin Dan cultivators, buried bones here!

Everyone showed expressions of awe, queuing up obediently, daring not to overstep in any way.

Vajra Monk looked especially long, only quickly leaving when someone behind urged him.

The two wandered through the city, finally arriving at an utterly ordinary small house with no markings.

"Brother Peach Blossom, once we enter and meet the fellow Daoists, do not show off. We only need one or two quiet cultivation grounds."

Vajra Monk whispered via sound transmission.

"I understand."

Peach Blossom Young Master smiled freely: "Over so many years, has Daoist Brother seen me..."

Suddenly, his words stopped, his pupils contracting.

Nearby, the space became hazy; the passersby on the street and the surrounding shops all vanished, leaving only a rugged palace with a strong Demon style.

On the palace walls and the surrounding slopes, molten-gold vines with a dark glaze color covered everything; some were not yet ripe, their fruits tightly closed, while others were ripe, cracked open, revealing flesh like magma.

A young man picked a ripe fruit and turned around.

"Tushan City Lord!"

"A Spatial Teleportation Array!"

Peach Blossom Young Master's expression changed, his face turning ugly as he said: "Why did you teleport us here? I consider myself to have been well-behaved since entering the city, never violating the laws of Tushan Xiancheng."

Vajra Monk's face turned equally green with anger.

They entered the Xiancheng with confidence, naturally having investigated beforehand. They knew the City Lord here was very rule-abiding and encouraged trade; even Huang Bao and others had acted only after being attacked and provoked beforehand.

"Nothing, just some curiosity."

Jiang Ding put the ripe molten-gold fruit into his storage jade pendant and smiled: "Where are the two of you going, and what important matter do you need to attend to?"

Knowing full well that danger was approaching, he would only be stupid and lose his intelligence to let these strange Jin Dan cultivators in the city come and go conspiring secretly.

So, randomly selecting one or two lucky ones to ask.

"What does this have to do with you?!"

Peach Blossom Young Master swept his sleeve, displeased: "Does this Xiancheng of yours restrict the freedom of us fellow Daoists? Release the array immediately, or do not blame us for being ungracious."

"Oh?"

Jiang Ding's smile vanished.

A sense of destruction slowly spread out, sealing off all four directions and eight points.

The two felt a jolt in their hearts.

"You are called Peach Blossom Young Master?"

Jiang Ding said indifferently.

"So what if I am?"

Peach Blossom Young Master spoke coldly: "If you delay any longer, do not blame us for transmitting sound to all our fellow Daoists. This Xiancheng of yours is a demon cave, attacking us indiscriminately. From now on, do not think you can keep it open."

Clang!

A sword's hum rang out,

followed by a deep-blue flying sword appearing, like a river of the Milky Way descending from the horizon, striking down in an instant while locked within the terrifying, destructive sword intent.

"How dare you!"

The Peach Blossom Young Master, enraged, unfurled his folding fan; a phantom forest of peach blossoms materialized, turning illusion into reality, as layers of pink miasma spread and obscured the air, blocking his path.

"The Lord of Master Tushan Xiancheng has killed someone!"

At the same time, he roared in all directions, projecting his divine sense randomly to transmit his voice everywhere.

The deep-blue flying sword slashed through the miasma-filled peach blossom forest; beneath the sword light, layers of peach blossom miasma shattered, bamboo groves snapped, spiritual light collapsed, and finally, the folding fan, a low-grade magical treasure, cracked and broke, revealing smooth, broken fan ribs.

Boom!

The Peach Blossom Young Master was slashed back hundreds of meters, spat a huge mouthful of blood mid-air, his protective shields shattered layer by layer, and his chest caved in.

With a single sword strike, heavily injured and dead upon close approach!

"My lord, spare my life..."

The Peach Blossom Young Master was utterly terrified, his handsome face filled with fear, no longer showing the arrogance of before.

"Peach Blossom Young Master, a Jin Dan Chu Qi cultivator."

Jiang Ding spoke softly: "A wanted criminal of the Liu Dao Sect in the Northern Plains, famous for his escape techniques and plucking flowers; he once caused the death of a Jin Dan female cultivator from the Yin family of the Liu Dao Sect through cultivation absorption, thus appearing on the Zhengmo Alliance's wanted list."

"What made you think I was so easy to bully?"

Yes, he had some doubts in his heart, but they were merely doubts.

Wrong? Perfect, I can eliminate evil and uphold the Dao along the way.

"It is this humble one's fault!"

"This humble one was bewitched by evil spirits; please forgive me!"

The Peach Blossom Young Master bowed his head like a pestle pounding garlic, kowtowing repeatedly; nowhere on his person could one see any dignity or bearing of a Jin Dan cultivator.

"Tell me?"

"What did you do wrong?"

Jiang Ding repeated Ding Zai Ci Zhong.

"It was him!"

The Peach Blossom Young Master sold out the Vajra Ascetic without hesitation, pointing at him and saying: "This person told me that several late-stage Jin Dan cultivators were planning to join forces to hunt down your head in exchange for the favor of Blood Flowing Cloud, a great hero of the Northern Plains."

"Late-stage Jin Dan cultivators do not usually station themselves in remote places like the Tu State; the remaining cultivation grounds are left for us to divide."

"Interesting."

Jiang Ding showed a sincere smile: "So they really guessed correctly; my luck must be quite good."

He looked at the Vajra Ascetic, who wore tattered monk robes and held a bath.

"Fellow Daoist, you came to Master Tushan Xiancheng some time after Huang Bao died, didn't you?" Jiang Ding sighed: "Why treat me this way? Did I offend you before?"

"Amitabha."

"Benefactor, how can you believe the words of such a flower-plucking thief?"

The Vajra Ascetic clasped his hands, speaking calmly as before.

"That makes sense."

Jiang Ding nodded in agreement.

He casually pointed.

The Taiping Flying Sword pierced the sky and flew away.

"Damn it!"

"This has nothing to do with me!"

The Peach Blossom Young Master cursed angrily, spat a mouthful of refined blood, and instantly created multiple shadowy figures; each radiated the aura of a Jin Dan Chu Qi cultivator, impossible for even a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator to distinguish in such a short time; using extremely fast escape techniques, they flew in all directions, about to vanish into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh!

A deep-blue flying sword pierced through the forehead of one of the figures, splattering brains everywhere.

"How did you discover..."

The Peach Blossom Young Master widened his eyes in disbelief, his body falling lifelessly to the ground, with no sign of life remaining.

The deep-blue flying sword reversed course, bringing back a Jin Dan and a weak soul.

A dark-blue talisman was pasted onto the soul.

The Vajra Ascetic's eyelid twitched.

Before this, he had judged that this Lord was a righteous person who would surely abide by the rules he set; even Huang Bao, though loyal to his own brother, knew that he had struck first and intended to seize the other's foundation.

Now it seems there were many deviations.

"He actually didn't lie."

"Our flower-plucking lecher, the Peach Blossom Young Master, turns out to be an honest person; he only plucked flowers from Jin Dan cultivators of the Liu Dao Sect, which is an act of chivalry, with no fault at all."

After reading the memories, Jiang Ding said regretfully: "However, I saw that he often attacked innocent women as well, so it cannot be considered accidental killing."

"Don't you agree?"

"Master Vajra Ascetic, who hid his late-stage Jin Dan cultivation."

The Vajra Ascetic's face truly changed.

Tomorrow... a bit late.

(End of this chapter)