Chapter 1408

Qi Wuyan's sleep quality was far from ideal.

Dreams, even if they exist, turn to void — void and real, true and false intertwined. She could not recall when this situation had begun, only that it had troubled her for a good several months.

With her strength as a Sixth Realm great power, she should not have had dreams at all.

Entering dreams is a manifestation that occurs only when sleep is too shallow or the mind unsettled; now it actually recurs every time — Hui Hui reappearance — what worries could she have? The sect thrives, the Great Li immortals are about to awaken; even more astonishing, each time it is the same dream or a continuation.

In the dream, she was not the elder whom disciples of the Shuyu Pavilion revered, but with a shake she transformed into a legitimate disciple of a great sect, the revered senior sister; the sky in the dream was blue, rice and grain grew in the fields.

Even with only a few key scenes, it was still enough to piece together a complete life.

From childhood, brought out of her clan by her master, talent astonishing, regarded as the sect's future; in her thirties she became intimate with her bold junior brother, contrary to propriety; constrained by her own talent and stubbornness, her master could only pinch his nose and accept it.

Status rose from disciple to elder to sect master to Supreme Elder; feelings went from the junior brother liking to sleep pillowed on her, loving her, to the junior brother and junior sister caught in bed together, the two parting ways, each seeking new fate; though with twists, steady and upward, everything vivid and lifelike.

Incense, meditation, cultivation methods — Qi Wuyan exhausted every means, yet could not shake off this dream; she suspected someone was plotting against her, but after months of secret observation, she never found a clue.

Qi Wuyan was unwilling to speak of it to others, so she could only suspect whether it was the ripple effect of the Great Li immortals' awakening.

Although the onset of the dreams did not align with the immortals' awakening or the time the Tianhuo Sect informed the Geda Sects to prepare — merely a few months' gap — it was not impossible.

"This punch, not fast enough, even less ruthless enough — how can it kill a man? Wrist down three fen, force must penetrate bone and flesh, pulp the person." Qi Wuyan drew near through void, seized Lao Mengyao's wrist and pressed it down; Lao Mengyao tilted her head slightly, to avoid brushing against her godmother's chest.

A disciple barged into the peach garden: "Elder."

"Speak."

"The River God Sect sent disciples here to deliver the twelfth month's cultivation supplies to Senior Sister Mengyao and Junior Brother Ziyu."

"Let them in."

"As ordered."

Peach leaves churned in the autumn wind.

An ordinary-looking disciple was led into the courtyard, set down a yellow-cloth bag, bowed respectfully, yet did not leave; instead he raised his head, without the slightest avoidance, staring fixedly at Qi Wuyan.

Qi Wuyan's eyes lowered, the corners of her mouth curved upward.

Xi Ziyu, meditating to the side, tensed sharply, sensing killing intent.

Lao Mengyao secretly thought: bad.

This person wants to die!

Godmother's figure is illegal — she most hates being scrutinized by others' gazes; how dare this guy? And it's Master's sect — ah, how did Sect Master Shen handle this? Usually so clever, today he sends a blockhead, deliberately making things hard for her!

"Elder Qi, have you been sleeping well lately?"

"Bah! You stupid donkey, how dare you be so rude — hmm?"

Lao Mengyao had wanted to strike first, cripple him, then order others to drag him away — that way at least his life would be spared — but her wrist was clamped tight by Qi Wuyan; she leapt back only to be yanked return, twisted until it ached raw.

Pain pain pain. Pain kills me!

What situation?

Lao Mengyao's eyes brimmed with tears, face blank with bewilderment.

She had never seen her godmother show a shocked expression; today counted as the first — the other party spoke a single sentence, and her godmother seemed struck by a bolt from the blue, forcibly restrained.

"Who are you?" Qi Wuyan demanded.

"Me? If Elder Qi is curious — please allow me to reintroduce myself."

The River God Sect "disciple" smiled, straightened his collar, straightened his back — Qian Tingzhi — shoulders broadening outward; his ordinary frame gradually grew tall, features sharpening anew, a sharp edge swiftly revealing itself; even as he transformed, he spoke to himself: "My name is Liang Qu; because my name all contains water, my childhood name is Ah Shui — Liang Ashui; home in Yixing County, Pingyang Prefecture, Southern Zhili; parents died early.

At fourteen I fished in the Great Marsh; at fifteen I began cultivation; at eighteen I entered the Fourth Realm, breaking the current dynasty's record; at twenty-two I entered the Fifth Realm, breaking the world record; at twenty-eight I entered the Sixth Realm, breaking every record ancient and modern!

Now also thirty, the age of standing firm, nearing Seventh Stage, invincible within the Sixth Realm; the Sage Emperor personally bestowed bridge-building and canal-digging. Not single, already married. Oh, everyone used to call me Elder Fish — that wasn't me."

Shadows grew and spread, until they pressed against the soles of the deeply shaken Qi Wuyan's feet.

A tall, robust young man of extraordinary bearing appeared in the peach garden; his forearms half-rolled, revealing muscles with sharp lines; he grinned, showing teeth.

"How about it, Elder Qi, let's get reacquainted?"

"Hiss, Master! You came out of seclusion?"

Xi Ziyu scrambled to his feet; he hadn't understood a thing, only shocked that the disciple delivering blood treasures had turned into a living person, suddenly becoming his own master.

"Master?"

Lao Mengyao understood a little, but not all; wasn't Master Elder Fish? How did he become this whatever "fishing" Liang Qu?

What eighteen Fourth Realm, twenty-two Fifth Realm, twenty-eight Sixth Realm.

These numbers and realms — surely they're not just made-up nonsense?

She didn't believe it; it had to be fake.

Yet Lao Mengyao also wavered; she had long suspected "Elder Fish" had secrets, worried her elder brother was being deceived; now —

Qi Wuyan committed every word to memory, then recombined each phrase, cross-referenced against her own experience, sleep suggestion; in a split second, countless thoughts seemed to collide, assaulting her spirit; towering waves drowned her mind; pupils dilated to the extreme; breathing halted.

"Yo, Mengyao, Ziyu, long time no see." Liang Qu raised a hand in greeting. "How's cultivation? Any slacking? Elder Qi is a Sixth Realm great power, after all."

"Not bad." Xi Ziyu wasn't too bright; he scratched the back of his head curiously. "Master came out of seclusion; why pretend to be a River God Sect disciple to tease us?"

"No." Liang Qu's expression turned serious. "It's not that I came out of seclusion; it's that I've returned again."

Again, returned?

Lao Mengyao's head was a paste; a feeling of excessive impact accidentally clogging her up.

Qi Wuyan seized the key word even more, eyes locked dead on Liang Qu.

Liang Qu did not dodge in the slightest, likewise gazing straight at Qi Wuyan — then his peripheral vision couldn't help but slide down, stealing a glance.

Truly outrageous.

Another sigh of amazement.

Look once, startled once.

If one says E Ying is a freshly steamed bun — one big bite down, all soft fluffy skin, great clouds of steam squeezing from the gaps of the soft skin, filling the whole mouth, then spraying from the nostrils; if one could shove and stuff a big bite in, lips and teeth would cross the skin, bite into the filling, letting oily juices plug the mouth's last gaps.

Then Qi Wuyan is like a plain steamed bun — one bite down, no matter how you push it in, stuff it in, swallow till you choke, get stuck, it's all steam, endlessly, wave after wave surging from the fluffy bun pores steamed in the bamboo steamer.

It wasn't lust, merely a shred of respect.

Silence.

Dead silence.

The wind was a bit cold, brushing over the peach orchard; tens of thousands of peach leaves surged and flipped, revealing their undersides, glossy green turning to downy white-green; when the wind stopped, they flipped back again.

Liang Qu and Qi Wuyan gazed at each other, leaves drifting down between them.

Lao Mengyao looked left and right, eyes brimming with tears: "Godmother———"

Qi Wuyan started, then realized the situation and hurriedly let go.

Lao Mengyao hastily covered her wrist, crouching on the ground; she felt the bones of her wrist had been crushed by her godmother's grip.

Pain, too much pain.

Qi Wuyan felt rather embarrassed; although taking Lao Mengyao as a goddaughter was to win over "Liang Qu", after over a year of interaction, even if the other's talent was mediocre, there was affection; she comforted her, offered a small apology, then looked at Liang Qu again, opened her mouth, and asked solemnly: "Elder Yu, no, my lord, where exactly do you come from?"

Liang Qu stroked his chin: "This question, I can't answer well either; there isn't a fixed name for it — the mortal world? The yang realm? The real world? The place of the living?"

Qi Wuyan fell silent, a long silence.

Lao Mengyao ignored her wrist pain, pricked up her ears to eavesdrop; besides bewilderment, there was a boundless fear; she had a premonition that if she kept listening, everything she currently had would shatter.

Liang Qu, caring nothing for appearances, sat cross-legged on the ground: "I know you have a lot you want to ask, want to know; all of you sit down and we'll talk. The weather's nice today, I'll start from the beginning."

Qi Wuyan's expression shifted, then she handed her own cushion to Liang Qu, gathered her skirts, and sat on the bluestone.

"Hey, Elder Qi, that's too polite."

Liang Qu laughed, and didn't stand on ceremony either.

Sincerity is a killer move.

Building unity, you shouldn't be sneaky about it, leaving people baffled and trembling with fear.

That way doesn't work well.

Give benefits boldly, express feelings boldly.

If something unexpected happens, with half-step sixth realm, 1,200-fold root sea, two authority fruits controlled, and a body that commands rivers, Liang Qu is confident he can suppress the other party.

"Please enlighten us, my lord."

"The Da Li Immortal you speak of is actually from the mortal world, the Old Ancestor of the Da Li Heavenly Fire Sect, the Grand Ancestor of Da Li, the first Postcelestial Immortal."

"Postcelestial Immortal? Then is there a Precelestial one? Which is stronger, Postcelestial or Precelestial?" Xi Ziyu raised his hand.

"How come your focus is so weird? Reading storybooks? Everything Precelestial is better?" Liang Qu was speechless. "Strength has no high or low; Postcelestial and Precelestial are no different. It's not the kind of thing where older is better, more natural is better. A breakthrough is a breakthrough. There's no such thing as a heavenly Foundation Establishment. The Dao is the Dao, arts are arts."

"Oh~"

"Lifespans in the mortal world are not as long as in the Blood River Realm———" Liang Qu told the truth leisurely.

Qi Wuyan asked no questions the whole time; it was Xi Ziyu who asked quite a few, but later even Xi Ziyu stopped asking, falling silent; instead it was Lao Mengyao.

"Then, Master——— my brother?" Lao Mengyao hesitated.

"Your brother returned to the mortal world."

Qi Wuyan abruptly looked up.

Liang Qu shook his head: "Not resurrection, it's magpie's nest occupied by the dove; I used a supreme-grade blood treasure to help him complete the insertion and settlement, got the gold card. There was danger, but the benefits are huge. Your brother is now at the Fifth Realm peak."

Lao Mengyao: "?"

Qi Wuyan: "?"

"Currently attacking the Sixth Realm; on our side it's called 'Yao Long'. Success probability isn't high, but there is indeed hope. If luck is good, by the time you go out, you might see your brother at the Sixth Realm."

Lao Mengyao: "???"

Qi Wuyan: "???"

Qi Wuyan's brain crashed for a moment.

She knew Lao Mengyao had a brother with decent talent, but———

What did her thousand years of cultivation amount to?

Thinking of this, she recalled Liang Qu's introduction again.

This guy, appearance, personality, behavior, wording, all exuded a kind of unusual youth and vigor, a liveliness that made it impossible to doubt his age.

But at such an age, he already stands at the very top of the mortal world?

What kind of wife would a man like this have?

Qi Wuyan felt she was thinking wildly, and reined in her thoughts.

Lao Mengyao was a bit happy, asking expectantly: "Can I, can I go out too? Return from the dead?"

"You can't not go out anymore." Liang Qu held his forehead. "Once the Fifth Immortal awakens and the Second Immortal's will sweeps through, my identity will be exposed. You are my disciples, you must leave, or trouble may arise. I came sneaking in this time."

Lao Mengyao was instantly delighted, just reluctant to part with her few good sisters at Shuyu Pavilion.

Xi Ziyu cared even less; his talent wasn't great, he had no good friends in Shuyu Pavilion. He originally made two, but both badmouthed him behind his back because he was Liang Qu's disciple. If not for his martial sister taking him to eavesdrop, he'd still be in the dark. Only one thing worried him: "Master, my grandpa———"

"Bring them all together, relatives and friends, a family should be whole. Just don't explain things; it's easy to get exposed." Liang Qu waved his hand.

"Thank you, Master!"

"Right, Eldest Senior Brother?" Lao Mengyao thought of the youth from before.

"Wen Wen Shi Yun?" Liang Qu smiled. "Same as me."

"As expected." Lao Mengyao complained; she just felt that little brat was different.

"My lord is originally a living person, so naturally you can go out. What about us? Could it be like Mengyao's brother, magpie's nest occupied by the dove?" Qi Wuyan asked; she didn't want that, she was very satisfied with her own body.

"Did you get something wrong?"

"Hm?"

"Going to the yang realm doesn't require a flesh body. Besides, I can't resurrect you right now either." Liang Qu was embarrassed.

The yin realm is originally dead people's souls. If the yang realm could create flesh bodies, wouldn't that be resurrection? Where would he have that ability? Even reviving withered wood requires an intact corpse.

Unless it's like Labor Welcoming Heaven, using someone else's, then relying on super-grade blood treasure to bind soul and flesh, using the flesh's own soul as a catalyst, the cost would be very great—there are only so many first-grade sects in total, and even adding super-grade blood treasures, there would probably only be a few dozen, enough only to resurrect a few dozen people.

"That—"

"Or still act as a soul body; the mortal realm seems to have a restraint on souls." Liang Qu replied, "You can stay in my domain; fortunately, my domain is quite large."

Su Hebaolu's soul is still in Hongguo to this day.

"Your domain?"

"Yes."

Qi Quyan fell silent for a moment, then looked at Liang Qu: "Lord Liang now informs me of the truth," and wondered what else he wanted to obtain?

"

"In the near future, yin and yang will penetrate; I want Elder Qi to join the Great Shun!"

"Foster mother—"

"Why should I join?" Qi Quyan stopped Labor Mengyao and asked, "I am now an elder of the Shuoyu Pavilion; even if dreams are real and past lives were good, they are already past. How can I find acquaintances in the mortal realm?"

"That makes sense, then forget it."

Qi Quyan: "?"

"I have nothing to give Elder Qi." Liang Qu spread his hands, "I cannot help Elder Qi resurrect, possess the cultivation speed of the mortal realm, and can only rely on some illusory and elusive things. The Great Zhou Taizu treated you as blood treasure, deceived you, and used this to make you oppose the Tianhuo Sect. Elder Qi remains unmoved, so there's nothing that can be done."

"

"

Liang Qu observed Qi Quyan's expression and gave a hehe laugh.

The other party could ask, clearly indicating they were moved, only wanting benefits and interests.

Huizhen is an individual case; as a monk, he is obsessed with seeking knowledge and truth. An ordinary sixth-realm great ability, in his past life already like passing clouds, by speaking the truth, he bows his head in worship—unrealistic. Earlier, hearing Labor Mengyao say Qi Quyan came to visit, explaining his conduct and behavior, he felt Qi Quyan was a seasoned person, thus allowing Mengyao to agree to recognize him as foster father.

Raising the banner, one must first eat one's fill.

Overthrowing the rich is not the key; distributing land is what matters.

Qi Quyan's expression changed several times: "If we overthrow the Great Zhou Tianhuo Sect, what will the underworld be like?"

"It will continue to exist; who controls it is not certain."

"If there is still a Tianhuo Sect—"

"Elder Qi will be a core elder, without fate-bound" obligation, if you wish to resurrect, assault the human immortal, I and the Great Shun will give full assistance."

"What must I do?

, Liang Qu clapped his hands: "Elder Qi's conduct and Elder Qi's breadth of mind are equally open and bright!"

Qi Quyan smiled faintly: "I'll just take Lord Liang as praising me."

Half an hour later.

"Mengyao, go call the disciple disguising as your brother, are you all ready? Let's go first, Elder Qi, farewell!"

Liang Qu escorted the three, flashed and disappeared, letting the old toad divine one or two, confirm good or bad omen, and rushed straight to the next first-grade sect, Longhuge Pavilion.

Thereafter ten days.

Under the demonstration of the old toad's hexagram, Liang Qu and Monk Huizhen constantly shuttled among the Geda Sects, infiltrated them, met, made promises—

Tianhuo Sect.

The Fifth Immortal sat cross-legged before the copper furnace, his heart stirred, flicked his whisk, and threw out three copper coins.

The copper coins spun on the bricks and stones, long without stopping, finally—

Clatter.

The Fifth Immortal suddenly rose.

Soon after.

Blood River Realm, a strong will swept across the world!

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