Chapter 374: The Sudden Rift

Listening to the discussion among the Yuan Ling brothers and disciples, Yu Sheng stroked his chin with a thoughtful expression. After Yuan Hao finished speaking, he nodded lightly: "I think regardless, we must at least go to that planet called 'Shu Ji'. I want to see it with my own eyes."

"Indeed, we must at least investigate the roots of those evil path cultivators," Yuan Ling Zhenren nodded with a serious expression. "Moreover, there are many of them, acting in an orderly manner, with an Immortal Ancestor backing them. They have clearly grown into a force. If we do not deal with them soon, a great disaster will likely occur in the future."

Xuan Che, who had been quietly listening to the elders' discussion and had hardly spoken throughout, stepped forward: "Master, this disciple wishes to go with Mr. Yu."

"Hmm, I trust you to handle matters," Yuan Ling Zhenren nodded. "But since figures like Yun Qingzi are behind this, we should take a few capable hands along, otherwise it will be extremely dangerous..."

Before he finished speaking, Yuan Hao Zhenren beside him waved his hand: "Ah, no problem, I will accompany Xuan Che. I am actually quite familiar with that place, so you can rest assured."

Hearing this, Yuan Ling Zhenren's face showed no sign of relaxation; instead, he looked at his eldest senior brother with even more unease, and after a long pause, blurted out: "If you go, I am even less assured."

The old cool guy's expression stiffened upon hearing this, his tone somewhat angry: "What do you mean by that?"

Yuan Ling immediately spoke up: "Seventy years ago, you took Xuan Che down the mountain to go clubbing. Sixty years ago, you taught Xuan Che to race flying swords with others. Fifty years ago, you took Xuan Che to collide with an Immortal Ark at the top of the atmosphere. You came out unscathed, while Xuan Che lay in bed for over a month. Basically, every ten years you take him to cause trouble. It was only twelve years ago, when you yourself suffered a setback due to a beauty, that this child finally calmed down..."

Before the old man finished speaking, Yuan Hao on the opposite side could no longer hold his composure. The old cool guy looked embarrassed and waved his hands repeatedly: "You can't say it like that. When children grow up, they must see the world. Xuan Che is naturally an honest person. Following you around making pills every day is making him nearly stupid. How could I, his senior uncle, harm him? —Besides, you really misunderstood me fifty years ago. At that time, I protected Xuan Che in front of me immediately..."

"Yes, you protected him in front of you, and then pushed him behind you with a single palm strike. You are at the Supreme Harmony with the Dao realm; even if an Immortal Ark hit your head, nothing would happen. But Xuan Che was slapped by your palm all the way to Yaolan Sect. By the way, the money to repair Yaolan Sect's mountain gate was paid by your junior brother Yuan He on your behalf, and you still haven't paid it back..."

"No, no, no, the guest is here, the guest is here..."

"You know the guest is here!"

The two old men started bickering like this. Yu Sheng and Erin, listening from the side, suddenly didn't know how to react, so they awkwardly stepped back half a pace to avoid being caught in the crossfire. At the same time, they looked up and saw Xuan Che on the opposite side also stepping back half a pace...

Then Yu Sheng and Xuan Che silently moved to the side. Erin looked at the latter with a somewhat sympathetic gaze: "It hasn't been easy for you growing up."

"I, I actually quite like my eldest senior uncle," Xuan Che seemed afraid others might misunderstand, so he quickly spoke in a low voice. "He taught me many things."

What else could Yu Sheng say? Seeing Xuan Che's reaction, he knew Yuan Ling Zhenren's anger was in vain. The disciple he had cultivated for years had already been led onto the path of no return by that versatile eldest senior uncle. The current honest appearance was likely just a dormant phase.

But then, thinking again, Yu Sheng recalled Yuan Ling Zhenren's online nickname. He suddenly felt that someone who could be called 'Four Thousand Evil Disciples' probably had already accepted such things...

And just then, he suddenly felt a vibration coming from his pocket, and his train of thought was immediately interrupted.

Yu Sheng took out his phone and saw that the caller ID displayed the name Zheng Zhi.

No need for anything else; just seeing the two characters 'Zheng Zhi' made Yu Sheng's heart skip a beat, and he instantly answered the call: "Hello, this is Yu Sheng—"

The next second, he heard the voice of his great-nephew coming through the receiver, somewhat panicked yet trying to stay calm: "Brother Yu, the situation I'm seeing here is a bit off! You need to come over immediately, and it's best if you bring the Old Immortal too..."

Yu Sheng spoke quickly: "What's the situation? Where are you?"

"I am on the Cloud-Watching Platform," Zheng Zhi unconsciously lowered his voice, as if something extremely dangerous was moving within his field of vision at that very moment. "There is a crack in the sky above, a fissure that goes straight into the mountain, but everyone else says they can't see it!"

"... Holy crap!" Yu Sheng immediately exclaimed, then quickly instructed, "I understand, I'm coming right now. You go into 66 Wutong Road immediately, or into your small house, whichever is closer—then close the door and don't run around. Under no circumstances come out before I arrive!"

"Okay, okay! Brother Yu, come quickly!" Zheng Zhi responded in panic, then hung up the phone.

The commotion on Yu Sheng's side naturally reached the ears of the Yuan Ling brothers. The two old men, who had been bickering (although Yuan Hao Zhenren looked quite young), instantly stopped bickering. Yuan Ling Zhenren immediately noticed the seriousness in Yu Sheng's expression and came over at once: "What has happened?"

"Zheng Zhi saw a large-scale 'abnormality' on the Cloud-Watching Platform. I fear the Otherworld is about to open a door again," Yu Sheng said quickly. "Let's not worry about old trivial matters for now; let's hurry over there!"

While speaking, he raised his hand and grabbed at the air beside him. A virtual large door instantly formed in his hand, and the scenery of the Cloud-Watching Platform was reflected on the other side of the door.

Xuan Che entered the door without a second word. Yuan Ling Zhenren also stepped towards the entrance, but he suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at his senior and junior brothers who hadn't moved: "What are you two waiting for? Come quickly."

Yuan He Zhenren finally reacted. He quickly forced down his doubts and, following his senior brother's orders, hurriedly walked through the door. Yuan Hao Zhenren, however, looked up in front of the door, his white eyebrows slightly furrowed, with a confused expression—

"What is the principle behind this?"

Hearing this, Yu Sheng almost spat out: "Why does everyone have to ask this question!"

Fortunately, he didn't need to actually answer anything, because Yuan Ling Zhenren pushed Yuan Hao into that door the next second, giving his senior brother no chance to continue his research.

Yu Sheng also carried Erin and hurriedly walked through the door.

In the courtyard filled with heavy prohibitions, silence fell in the blink of an eye. Soon, only Linlang, a woman in a black dress wearing a veil, remained in the open space. This woman responsible for guarding the Wenxin Pavilion watched as her master, senior uncles, junior uncles, and senior brothers one by one simply crossed a door and left. Finally, even that strange "guest" ran off like that. After a long while, she blinked her eyes and muttered to herself: "... You must register when leaving the Wenxin Pavilion."

But by this time, Yu Sheng had already arrived at the Cloud-Watching Platform.

This high platform located at the back mountain of Queyun Palace appeared completely normal. Beyond the carved railings and jade masonry, the sea of clouds rose and fell slowly under the sunlight. The distant sky and beautiful scenery remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened.

But as soon as Yu Sheng arrived, he saw Rapunzel and Cinderella standing at the entrance of 66 Wutong Road. The tense expressions on their faces told him that something was indeed happening here.

"Where is Zheng Zhi?" Yu Sheng asked immediately.

"He went inside," Rapunzel pointed towards 66 Wutong Road, then looked at Yu Sheng with a tense face. "Brother, we saw it just now too!"

Yu Sheng was instantly shocked: "... What!? You saw it too?"

"Yeah, just for a blink, very blurry, when Zheng Zhi was entering the door," Rapunzel nodded vigorously, pointing to a spot in the sky near the main peak of Qianfeng Ling Mountain. "Right up there, suddenly a crack opened, like a nearly transparent black lightning bolt, directly 'striking' the forest below. It was so scary!"

Yu Sheng instinctively turned his head to look in the direction Rapunzel was pointing, but he only saw very normal mountain forests and clouds, nothing else.

And just then, the door of 66 Wutong Road was also pushed open cautiously. Zheng Zhi poked half his head out from inside. Seeing Yu Sheng, he hesitantly spoke: "Brother Yu, can I come out now that you've arrived?"

Yu Sheng couldn't help but laugh bitterly: "Come out, come out."

Only then did Zheng Zhi dare to walk out.

Then, a while later, Hu Li and Luna also pushed the door open and walked out—and both were already in combat mode. Luna had gleaming finger blades equipped on both hands, and eight Fox-Drifting Cannons followed behind Hu Li...

The moment Zheng Zhi pushed the door open, Yuan Hao and Yuan He both widened their eyes. The two pairs of eyes stared unblinkingly at the direction of 66 Wutong Road. For a moment, they didn't even know which scene to marvel at first—Yuan Hao Zhenren had applied seven or eight talismanic seals on himself but still couldn't figure out how that door appeared out of thin air, while Yuan He Zhenren's eyeballs almost popped out after seeing a pile of tails floating in mid-air behind Hu Li.

After holding back for a long time, Yuan He Zhenren suddenly clapped his hands: "Hey! Isn't this a hundred times better than my group of evil disciples who can only cultivate three-terrain cockroaches and battle-hardened mosquitoes?!"

"A hundred times? Ten thousand times! The strange things they raise are not limited to the two you mentioned," Yuan Ling Zhenren let out a long sigh upon hearing this, his tone even somewhat heartbroken. "If you don't manage those unruly apprentices of your Beast Taming Peak, my medicinal garden will be ruined by those evil beasts they have tamed!"

Yuan He Zhenren lowered his head sheepishly: "I, I will manage them, I will manage them."

At this time, Yu Sheng had already started to learn from his great-nephew about the "illusion" he had just seen. He quickly confirmed the location, shape, duration of that "fissure," and other suspicious shadows that appeared around the fissure at the time. After simply judging the landing point of that "fissure," a thought suddenly struck him.

Then he suddenly reacted with a jolt, pointing towards the mountain while turning his head to look at Yuan Ling Zhenren: "Look at this direction... isn't this the location of the Demon-Suppressing Tower?!"

The moment this sentence came out, the entire Cloud-Watching Platform instantly fell silent.

Yuan Ling Zhenren's expression also instantly stiffened. He looked in the direction Yu Sheng was pointing, and two seconds later, he clapped his hands: "... Not good!"

(End of Chapter)