Chapter 23

Su Chen stretched out his hand, an inconspicuous axe appeared in his hand, and he slashed into the air toward the huge body rushing toward him.

"Puff!"

A muffled sound.

The strange beast's huge body stopped suddenly at a distance of ten zhang from Su Chen.

It lowered its head and looked at its proud, tough skin, which even Daoist Qinghe's flying sword could only leave a white mark on.

There, it seemed there was no wound at all.

But it felt an indescribable sharp Qi that had penetrated its skin and flesh, injuring its internal organs.

"Awoo—"

A scream of extreme misery came from the strange beast's mouth.

In this sound, there was no longer the previous violence and ferocity, leaving only endless pain and fear.

Its huge body trembled violently, and that huge single eye stared fixedly at Su Chen, full of disbelief.

It was afraid.

The strange beast didn't dare to stay for a moment, it suddenly turned its body, its single foot frantically digging the ground, and fled toward the depths of the valley without looking back.

Along the way, it knocked down countless ancient trees, making heaven-shaking sounds, and soon disappeared from everyone's sight.

The entire valley fell silent instantly.

The seven people of the Qingxi Sword Sect stared at the back of the arrogant strange beast fleeing in a panic, and then looked at the young Daoist priest.

Daoist Qinghe was, after all, an old cultivator who had lived for hundreds of years. He was the first to react.

He took a deep breath, walked to Su Chen, tidied up his messy Daoist robe, and then respectfully performed a salute.

"Qingxi Sword Sect Qinghe, thank you, Senior, for your help! May I ask your name, Senior, and where is your Immortal home? Your great kindness, my Qingxi Sword Sect will never forget!"

His voice was full of awe.

This was absolutely a peerless expert playing in the mortal world!

With a wave of his hand, he scared away the strange beast; this cultivation was probably already beyond his own.

Facing Daoist Qinghe's solemn salute, Su Chen avoided half a step to the side and did not accept it fully.

"Daoist, you are too serious," he said peacefully, "This poor Daoist is Disciple Wu Chen, a loose cultivator, traveling here, just happening to meet. Seeing that evil beast hurting people, I took action to punish it slightly, which is not a great kindness."

He did not report Su Chen's real name, but used the Daoist name "Disciple Wu Chen" from the Three Stars Cave.

Daoist Qinghe heard him call himself "Poor Daoist," and seeing his detached temperament, he became more certain of his judgment.

He stood up straight, his face full of gratitude and awe: "Senior is humble. If it weren't for Senior's action, we would have been unable to escape this disaster today, and the hope of the sect's inheritance would have been cut off. This kindness is no different from a rebirth!"

He looked back at the soon-to-mature Nine-Leaf Returning Spirit Grass, a trace of determination flashed in his eyes, and he turned to Su Chen: "Senior, this spiritual grass is something we guard. Since Senior saved us from danger, this object should belong to Senior to repay your great kindness!"

The disciples behind him heard this, and although there was reluctance on their faces, no one spoke out against it.

They all understood that if it weren't for Su Chen, they would have lost their lives, let alone the spiritual grass.

Su Chen shook his head upon hearing this.

He glanced at the spiritual grass; it was indeed a rare healing medicine, and it also had miraculous effects for cultivators at the Transformation of the Spirit Realm to break through bottlenecks.

But for him, it was of little use.

"Daoist's kindness, this poor Daoist accepts," Su Chen said indifferently, "A gentleman does not take what others love. This object is of great use to your sect, how can this poor Daoist take it? You should take good care of it and wait for it to mature."

Seeing that Su Chen didn't even look at such heaven-defying treasures, Daoist Qinghe was even more shocked, and his evaluation of Su Chen rose a few more points.

This kind of temperament and cultivation is the true style of an expert.

He didn't dare to mention giving the grass again, just invited him respectfully: "Senior's character makes this junior ashamed. My Qingxi Sword Sect's mountain gate is at Qingxi Pool, thirty miles away. I hope Senior can move there, let us fulfill our duties as hosts, and thank you in person."

Su Chen thought for a moment and agreed.

He also wanted to see this sect that still adhered to the right path in such a chaotic world.

"Very well, then I will disturb you."

Seeing Su Chen agree, everyone in the Qingxi Sword Sect was overjoyed.

Daoist Qinghe hurriedly ordered two disciples to stay behind to carefully look after the spiritual grass, while he personally led the way, taking Su Chen to fly to the mountain gate.

The Qingxi Sword Sect's mountain gate was located behind a huge waterfall, quite like the artistic conception of the Water Curtain Cave.

Behind the waterfall, there was another world, with pavilions and towers built along the mountain, although not large, everywhere revealing a clear and refined charm.

Su Chen was treated as a guest of honor and arranged to stay in the quietest guest courtyard.

At night, Daoist Qinghe came to visit again, dismissed the people around him, and solemnly asked Su Chen for advice.

"Senior, this junior has something I don't understand, please enlighten me," he bowed, "Nowadays, demons are becoming more rampant in the Three Realms. In my Western Niuhe Continent, there are even more demon kings occupying various places. How can a small sect like my Qingxi Sword Sect find a glimmer of survival in this Great Tribulation?"

This was the fundamental purpose of his desperate invitation to Su Chen.

He wanted to find a way to survive for the sect.

Su Chen looked at his expectant eyes, was silent for a moment, and then spoke slowly: "Does the Daoist know why the Great Tribulation arises?"

Daoist Qinghe was stunned and shook his head.

"The Great Tribulation arises from the human heart, from greed," Su Chen's voice was distant, "Demons are certainly a disaster, but the true tribulation lies in the human heart. As long as you adhere to your Dao heart, you can avoid the tribulation."

"Thank you, Senior, for your guidance!" Daoist Qinghe bowed deeply again.

He had already made a decision in his heart: seal the mountain!

Before the Great Tribulation completely erupts, lead the entire sect to completely avoid the world and no longer have any involvement with the outside world.

Seeing that he had realized something, Su Chen didn't say much more.

Daoist Qinghe talked to Su Chen about many things he had seen and heard in the Western Niuhe Continent.

From his mouth, Su Chen learned that Mount Wanshou Wuzhuang Temple was the most unprovokable holy land in the Western Niuhe Continent, but very few people knew its specific location because Wuzhuang Temple rarely appeared in the world.

This also made Su Chen somewhat helpless; he had inquired in many places along the way, and they all said the same thing.

Wuzhuang Temple only exists in legends, and very few people have seen it.

The next day, Su Chen said goodbye to Daoist Qinghe.

Daoist Qinghe knew that such an expert would not stay for long and didn't dare to force him to stay.

He thought hard all night but couldn't think of anything to repay Su Chen's kindness.

Spiritual stones and magic treasures, the Senior probably wouldn't look at; spiritual elixirs, the Senior probably wouldn't care about.

Just as Su Chen was about to leave the mountain gate, Daoist Qinghe seemed to remember something and hurriedly brought over an ancient wooden box.

"Senior, please stay!"

He handed the wooden box to Su Chen, his expression solemn: "Senior, this object was accidentally obtained by our sect's founder in an ancient cave. It is said that it contains a supreme divine ability, but none of our sect's past founders have been able to penetrate its true meaning. Keeping it in our sect is just letting a pearl be covered in dust. Today, I give it to Senior; perhaps it may be of some use to you."

Su Chen's heart stirred, and he took the wooden box.

Opening it, inside lay a picture scroll made of an unknown material, neither gold nor jade, warm to the touch, yet unusually heavy.

On the picture scroll were extremely complex pictures.

In the painting, there was a god standing tall between heaven and earth, holding a giant axe, either splitting or chopping, every posture seeming to contain the principles of heaven and earth.

And on the right side of this painting, there were two ancient symbols that looked like words but not words, like pictures but not pictures, emitting a charm that was eternal and indestructible.

As soon as Su Chen's spiritual sense touched those two symbols, his mind roared, as if he heard a supreme, grand, and revered Dao sound.

This really seemed to be a top-tier divine ability, but now was not the time to comprehend it.

Su Chen put away the wooden box.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart, bowed solemnly to Daoist Qinghe: "Daoist, this object is indeed useful to me. This favor, this poor Daoist will remember. If I have any insights in the future, I will return to leave a legacy for your sect."

After saying this, he didn't stay any longer, turned and rode the wind, disappearing into the horizon.