Chapter 225: Meeting an Online Friend

"You mean, the Heartless Demon King is waiting for the Qingyun Dasheng Qingyun to come?"

The square-faced youth recovered quickly.

Or rather, caution itself is a form of fear of death.

"After all, the immortal sects are powerful, and we actually don't want to stick our necks out. Right now the Zizaimo Sect barely has any people left, it's all relying on our demon race." He said honestly: "The Mo Sect has been pushing for a while, but Laozu has been putting it off."

Zheng Fa exchanged a glance with Uncle Pang and the others, and they all nodded.

This alliance between the demon race and the Mo Sect sounded like each side had its own calculations.

"Then why wait for the Qingyun Dasheng Qingyun?"

"The Nascent Soul Demon Kings were unwilling, but the cooperation with the Mo Sect was the Qingyun Dasheng's order." The square-faced youth said: "On the other hand, after hitting your Jiushan Sect, we're also afraid of the Baixian Alliance retaliating… so the Qingyun Dasheng decided to come in person."

Zheng Fa summarized: "To supervise the battle, and to hold the line?"

"Yes."

Uncle Pang sighed: "They really think highly of our Jiushan Sect."

His tone could not help but carry a trace of despair.

Zheng Fa's heart also felt somewhat heavy.

Earlier, they had still been thinking that since Soul Transformation cultivators no longer appeared, what Jiushan Sect had to face was just a few Nascent Soul Demon Kings.

They hadn't expected that the Qingyun Dasheng Qingyun would actually come in person…

Qingyun Dasheng was how the demon race referred to those above Soul Transformation.

In other words, the Qingyun Dasheng Qingyun's strength was at the very least Soul Transformation…

No wonder even Uncle Pang could barely hide the despair in his voice.

Senior Sister Yuan beside them gently gripped Zhang Shijie's hand, her expression also full of panic.

"Then… when have you decided to attack Jiushan Sect?"

The square-faced youth shook his head.

"Hmm?" Uncle Pang beside them was very anxious at this moment, the Nascent Soul pressure on his body rushing straight at the square-faced youth.

"I don't know." The square-faced youth's face was drenched in cold sweat as he hurriedly added, "We're all waiting for Qingyun Dasheng Qingyun to arrive, but he hasn't shown up yet. I heard from Laozu that every time the Qingyun Dasheng takes action, he needs time to prepare."

Zheng Fa was stunned, glanced at Zhang Shijie, and saw the same guess in her eyes — the state of Soul Transformation cultivators in the Xuanwei Realm was probably a bit problematic.

"Don't you know anything at all?"

The square-faced youth hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Before Laozu came, he had instructed me to, within a hundred days, keep an eye on your Lei Chi market and gather more intelligence on Jiushan Sect."

"A hundred days…"

The meaning was very clear — great upheaval was likely after a hundred days.

Zheng Fa glanced at the Jin Wu; according to the Jin Wu's account, they had only been here for half a month.

……

Apart from these few sentences, this square-faced youth probably really didn't know anything else.

Zheng Fa did not make things difficult for him, only ordering someone to take him away and keep him under proper watch.

"Three months." Uncle Pang suddenly sighed: "and a Soul Transformation cultivator will be attacking my Jiushan Sect."

"Uncle, can we ask the Baixian Alliance for aid?"

Zheng Fa asked directly.

Even though the many Nascent Soul cultivators of the Baixian Alliance last time were unreliable, Jiushan Sect was still a member of the Baixian Alliance after all.

"I will personally send a letter to Tongming Shangren — no, I must personally go find Tongming Shangren!" Uncle Pang nodded solemnly: "Some sects in the Baixian Alliance cannot be trusted, I must go invite him in person to keep it confidential."

Only now did Zheng Fa learn the title of that legendary Soul Transformation cultivator of the Baixian Alliance.

He could not help but ask: "Tongming Shangren… can he be trusted?"

Right now he had no goodwill toward the Baixian Alliance.

On the other hand, there were traitors within the Baixian Alliance.

Tongming Shangren's stance, in Zheng Fa's view, was also very ambiguous.

"Tongming Shangren's prestige in the Baixian Alliance is extremely high, the possibility of him colluding with the Mo Sect is small." Uncle Pang frowned and said: "Moreover, if he sat by and watched my Jiushan Sect be destroyed, then the hearts of everyone in the Baixian Alliance would be completely scattered."

Everyone listened and nodded lightly.

The Baixian Alliance had originally gathered together only to huddle for warmth.

If Tongming Shangren hadn't saved the Jiushan Sect, it would be better to destroy the Baixian Alliance's reputation as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Zheng Fa saw that even Zhang Shijie had a sense of relief and reassurance.

"Once Zhao Shimei Huang brings the other disciples, I'll set off for Tongming Mountain." Uncle Pang said, "No matter what Tongming Shangren says, I won't return to Lei Chi, but go straight back to Jiushan Sect."

……

Aunt Huang arrived quickly.

Her expression was also grave; the moment she arrived she went straight into the Five Dragon Tiangong, and said to Zheng Fa and the others: "I've brought all the elite disciples from the sect. As for the families and ordinary disciples, I really couldn't bring them, and I was also afraid of alerting the enemy."

Uncle Pang nodded and said: "Does Senior Brother Yuan have any arrangements?"

"Senior Brother Yuan said that he will arrange for them to evacuate nearby at that time. If something really happens to Jiushan Sect, it can be considered leaving a few more seeds for my Jiushan Sect."

The atmosphere in the Five Dragon Tiangong was very heavy.

Although no one said it outright, everyone understood that the Sect Master was making preparations for the worst.

"The spiritual energy at Lei Chi market is insufficient, it really can't support so many disciples. It's better that they didn't come." Uncle Pang sighed and said: "Zhao Shimei, I'll leave this market to you."

"Senior Brother Pang…" Aunt Huang pressed her lips together: "Senior Brother Yuan told you not to go back."

"…I've never been convinced by that surnamed Yuan being the Sect Master!" Uncle Pang snorted: "Why should I listen to his words."

Everyone fell silent, knowing Uncle Pang had already made up his mind, and no amount of persuasion could change it.

He only heard Uncle Pang say again to Zhang Shijie: "I had originally thought the great chaos in the Xuanwei Realm would still need a few hundred to a thousand years, and I was planning to rest and recuperate. I never expected my Jiushan Sect to face a great tribulation so soon…"

"Martial Uncle?"

"In the future, I won't stop you." Uncle Pang suddenly said.

Zhang Shijie nodded lightly.

Zheng Fa understood — this was Uncle Pang deliberately showing that he was yielding to Zhang Shijie, so that Jiushan Sect could unify its thinking.

"There is only one thing you must remember."

"Martial Uncle, please speak."

"You must keep his life safe." Uncle Pang pointed at Zheng Fa and said: "With him around, even if Jiushan Sect is reduced to its very last person, there will still be hope for revival."

"This martial nephew will keep it firmly in mind."

Zheng Fa was about to speak when he saw Uncle Pang look at him, wave his hand, and say: "Dying is certainly hard, but sometimes living is even harder."

"…." "Live well. I am waiting for the day Jiushan Sect becomes a Tianhe Sect."

"…."

Uncle Pang seemed to have only a few words; once he finished speaking, he asked them to leave the Five Dragon Tiangong, saying he had a few more instructions to give his own direct disciples.

He shut the hall doors tightly; no one knew what they discussed.

Only when Zhou Qianyuan and the others walked out of the hall, their eyes were somewhat reddened.

Uncle Pang saw no one else. The Five Dragon Tiangong rose from the ground and flew straight into the sky, gradually fading from view under the silent gaze of the crowd.

Uncle Huang led the others in building new lodgings, but Zhou Qianyuan quietly sought out Zheng Fa.

"Senior Brother Zheng."

"Uncle Pang left words for me?" Zheng Fa understood at a glance from his expression.

"Yes. Before Master left, he told us to obey you." Zhou Qianyuan said honestly.

Zheng Fa suddenly realized — Uncle Pang had left the entire personnel of this branch to him.

"He also instructed me to tell you — stop worrying about the conflict between the two branches." Zhou Qianyuan said softly: "He said that if he died for Jiushan Sect, then the disciples of Zhang Shijie's branch should have let go of whatever resentment they still held."

"…Martial Uncle really did think of everything."

To tell the truth, in this situation, neither Zheng Fa nor Zhang Shijie would allow the two branches to quarrel and drain each other again.

Uncle Pang's arrangements…

One could only say he cared too much about these disciples.

Thinking of how, before Uncle Pang left, every word and every action was either for Jiushan Sect's sake, or for the sake of his own disciples' plans.

Zheng Fa could not help but feel a sour ache in his heart.

Zhou Qianyuan spoke again: "Master had one more line, told to me secretly — that I should tell only you."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa immediately grew solemn.

"What did he say?"

"He said, if you can go save him, still save him."

"Huh?"

"It's just… if it's like last time, it's best to give him a heads-up first…"

…No wonder it had to be said in private.

……

Modern day. In the nursing home.

Tang Lingwu and the other two were cultivating with closed eyes.

By now, Zheng Fa's cultivation was already at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and even close to the middle stage.

The spiritual energy in the nursing home was also growing more abundant day by day.

Tang Lingwu and the others' cultivation speed had all picked up.

Among them, Tang Lingwu was close to the third layer of Qi Refining.

And Old Bai was probably not far from the second layer of Qi Refining either.

Tian Laoshi, who had started cultivating the latest, was also slowly accumulating at the first layer of Qi Refining.

Zheng Fa looked the three of them over, nodded lightly, and then walked toward the field's edge.

By now the season had already entered winter.

Yet the various vegetables in Tian Zhong's field were growing luxuriantly.

Crouching at the field's edge, Zheng Fa looked at the vegetables in the field.

Red tomatoes, purple eggplants, glossy green leafy greens, plump gourds and melons.

They paid no heed at all to the increasingly cold temperatures, growing freely — enough to make anyone who saw them feel a surge of fondness — which left the buyer sent by the restaurant clicking his tongue in wonder for a long while.

Before his eyes was a stretch of vitality, yet his heart held a touch of melancholy.

Of the three thunder techniques now listed in the Investiture of the Gods scroll, he had largely mastered the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder completely.

The principles of Cloud Rain Thunder he had also more or less figured out — it was simply that his spiritual power was insufficient and his control limited, so he still could not employ it at a hundred percent.

Only the Spirit Wood Thunder…

He had a feeling that, for him now, mastering Spirit Wood Thunder was not realistic.

His control over thunder techniques was already somewhat strained even against Cloud Rain Thunder…

"What's wrong?"

Tang Lingwu's voice came from behind. She walked to Zheng Fa's side and also bent down to squat.

Her profile was exceptionally clean in the morning sunlight.

"I was just thinking… it's too slow."

Zheng Fa found it hard to explain; he could only shake his head and sigh.

His cultivation progress is too slow, and that has left his grasp of the Heavenly Stele Realm insufficient as well.

If he could master the Heavenly Stele Realm, the Jiushan Sect's current problems would almost be solved effortlessly.

Tang Lingwu glanced at him and asked, her gaze filled with some confusion: "What is slow?"

"Mastering the Spirit Wood Thunder is too slow."

Tang Lingwu seemed not to understand why he was in such a hurry.

Seeing his tightly furrowed brows, Tang Lingwu pressed her lips together, feeling a bit disheartened—sometimes she always felt that Zheng Fa kept certain things from her.

Zheng Fa was still lost in thought, pondering how to master the Heavenly Stele Realm as quickly as possible.

Tang Lingwu stood up dejectedly, glanced backward, and discovered that only Tian Laoshi remained in the courtyard.

Bai Lao had suddenly vanished.

What made her even more curious was that the expression on Tian Laoshi's face was even more hesitant than her own.

"Where is Teacher Bai?" she walked over and asked softly, "Tian Laoshi, what's wrong with you?"

"He went to meet an online friend."

"An online friend? Where did an online friend come from?" Tang Lingwu asked, stunned.

"From a same-sex dating site..." Tian Laoshi glanced at her and said dryly.

"..." Tang Lingwu was dumbfounded.

Even though she knew she shouldn't, at this moment she truly suddenly felt that Zheng Fa's concealment wasn't such a big deal after all...

As long as Zheng Fa didn't imitate Bai Lao, this matter really wasn't a big deal!

(End of this chapter)