Chapter 217: The Banana Leaf Fan Rises Toward Nanzhan

"Since you came to this Rakshasa Sea Market, my lord, why did you not come to see me before leaving?"

"Wouldn't that make me seem too ignorant of etiquette?"

Fang Longye hurried and rushed, yet he was still a step too late.

Three days after fleeing the Rakshasa Sea Market, he was still tracked by his scent and caught up to.

Wisps of clouds drifted, the sky was clear for ten thousand miles.

Fang Longye looked toward the source of the familiar, delicate laughter. He saw that above the void, a tall building had risen from the ground ahead, blocking his path.

This building was towering, more than a thousand zhang high; it would be no exaggeration to say it could pluck the stars from above.

The topmost section was hidden within the clouds. Myriads of profound black Aura hung down, crisscrossing to condense into runes of a thousand different forms.

Growing large and shrinking small, they all took the shape of wind, emitting a wailing sound.

Above the high building, the Aura unfolded like a curtain, revealing two people: an old man and a young woman.

The old man's beard and hair were all white, and he looked kind-hearted. There were horizontal lines on his forehead.

The young woman was tall and slender, draped in a blood-colored dress, with a murderous look between her brows. It was none other than Tie Shan, whom Fang Longye recalled.

"I never imagined that the Rakshasa Sea Market was actually the Princess's territory. Fang has been intrusive!"

Fang Longye's eyes flickered; on the surface, he wore the joyful expression of a long-lost friend reuniting, while secretly observing the two in detail.

There was nothing much to say about Tie Shan. Not much time had passed since their first meeting. Her cultivation had not changed significantly.

The key was the old man standing respectfully beside her; at a single glance, Fang Longye sensed he was no simple character.

He wore a fish-tail crown, was draped in a mountain-and-river immortal robe, held a Whisk in his hand, and behind him, a scroll unfolded, extending into an indescribable space-time, a expanse of Chaos.

He looked like an old Divine Immortal with the bearing of a sage, but the respect he showed Tie Shan in his movements ruined that aura.

Yet regardless, it could not hide the fact that he was a formidable character.

A person of the Taiyi realm!

Fang Longye murmured in his heart.

"Heh—"

Tie Shan let out a light laugh, though her eyes were full of coldness; her lips curled as she said in a delicate voice: "What a stroke of fortune! I merely came to inspect the fief my Royal Father granted me. I never thought I would encounter an old friend!"

"What a coincidence!"

The treasure tower hung in the air, its windows open and airy, its flying eaves and brackets arranged neatly, dripping with cold light, deep as an eye.

A chilling murderous intent settled and surged back and forth.

"Indeed a coincidence—" Fang Longye laughed it off and, without another word, immediately launched an attack—having already foreseen a glimpse of the future, he knew this little vixen harbored ill intentions toward him.

Naturally, he struck first to gain the advantage—the auspicious clouds atop his head flickered, and the Two Forms Gourd rose like a stream of light, swaying and dancing.

Following that—

The mouth of the gourd opened wide, and an overwhelming murderous intent instantly permeated the air.

It filled the universe and permeated space-time.

A streak of divine radiance poured out, shooting in all directions.

Fierce, destructive, and dazzling.

The immensely fierce and malevolent Aura locked firmly onto Tie Shan, vowing to stop only at death.

Wisps of sharpness emerged from the void, resembling blade Qi, resembling sword Qi... swimming about like fish, with nothing to rely on in the void.

They headed toward Tie Shan.

Each one carried the power to annihilate everything.

"Heh—"

Seeing this, Tie Shan had light in her beautiful eyes, which shot out like the rising sun, illuminating the surroundings as if gilded, and she said: "Not seen for a few days, and you've made quite some progress."

"However—" She waved her cloud sleeves and sneered: "Competing with our Asura clan in murderous intent?"

"Showing off before an expert!"

Having said that, she was about to draw her own precious sword to fight.

Yet she did not expect that after Fang Longye activated the Two Instruments Divine Gourd, he twisted his body, gripped the Panlong Spear, and crashed through the spatial barrier beside him.

The void collapsed, the Aura shattered, and large swathes of space-time scattered, falling in disarray.

Then, he leaped into it.

Leaving behind a piercing, loud laugh: "I forgot to bring in my laundry when I left—I must rush back to collect it now, so the Princess need not see me off!"

It was just that he had never intended to go head-to-head with Tie Shan. After all, that old man acting as a servant beside her was no pushover—with his Divine Dao avatar as a coordinate, he could return to his dojo far away in Beiju Luzhou in a single thought.

Why bother entangling with her instead of slipping away? Tie Shan was stunned for a moment, only then realizing she had been feinted, and then she laughed in extreme anger: "Good, good, good! You want to go home, is that it?"

"As a host, how could I not see you off for a leg of the journey?"

With a thought, two green sword blades, thin as cicada wings, appeared around her.

Upon the dark green blades were fine, dense blood-colored patterns, glowing with blood-light and spawning deep murderous intent.

She gripped a sword in each hand and activated them with all her might.

The sword light, filling the sky and earth, slashed toward Fang Longye, whose figure was already fading from sight, a crimson, chilling cold.

Under the sword light, the aura of death flourished.

Within the torrent of space.

Fang Longye had been communicating with his Divine Dao avatar in the dojo, intending to teleport back to Beiju Luzhou.

Who would have thought—

From the moment he broke through space to slip away until now, in the blink of an eye, Tie Shan's sword light had already slashed before him.

Unimaginably fast, it had exceeded all reason.

There was no time to dodge; caught off guard, his left shoulder was sliced clean off.

"Is this... the path of speed extended from the path of wind?"

Fang Longye thought to himself while gathering his left arm and dispelling the encroaching laws.

Unlike ordinary people who comprehend the path of wind, the direction Tie Shan had comprehended was actually the speed at which the wind blows.

As long as it is fast enough, even the torrent of space-time beside him changes in the face of such speed.

To say nothing else, it is truly difficult to defend against when used for attacks.

Because such speed is vaguely fast enough to interfere with time.

"It seems I underestimated her! This little wench hasn't been without progress after all!" Fang Longye sighed in his heart.

Afterwards, he continued to communicate with his Divine Dao clone far away in his dojo.

But unexpectedly, a sense of alarm arose in his heart, and he immediately looked back.

The scene before his eyes made him curse in his heart.

He saw Tie Shan, with auspicious clouds appearing above her head, summoning the Plantain Fan.

The precious fan was lush and dripping with green, full of vitality. It was wreathed in rosy clouds and clear Qi, with beads of dew on it, as if it had just been plucked from a Banana Tree.

She extended her pale, delicate wrist, enlarged the fan—which was the size of a Banana Leaf—to a length of twelve feet, held it in her hand, and waved it toward him.

"Damn it! Sooner or later, I will catch you and put you on the couch to deal with you properly!"

As the Banana Fan waved, an irresistible light erupted all around, crisscrossing like a chessboard, up, down, left, and right.

At every spatial node, there was wind howling.

East wind, south wind, west wind, north wind, Nine Heavens Gale, Youming Ghost Wind, Scorching Sun Fierce Wind, Star River Blast Wind,... and so on and so forth.

There was nothing one couldn't imagine, and nothing one couldn't see; they all appeared in the surroundings.

After the wind came, it blew incessantly.

Yes, it was just blowing.

Any offensive was blown away by her.

Blown until it disappeared into the void.

No matter what Spirit Treasure he summoned, he could not stabilize his figure and was blown directly by the Banana Fan into the turbulent torrent of space.

He drifted away with the current.

On the airborne treasure tower, Tie Shan looked at the empty torrent of space before her and suddenly smiled.

It was as if a hundred flowers were in full bloom, dispelling her inherent coldness; she laughed until she swayed back and forth, saying: "Look, why decline? Facing a good friend, how could I, your auntie, not send you off for a stretch?" Then, she waved her cloud sleeves, her skirt fluttering, rising with the wind, and instructed the old man beside her: "Let's go~ We are returning to Rakshasa Sea Market!"

The flying tower submerged into the void.

Only a sound of coquettish scolding remained, echoing in the surroundings: "Useless thing!"

"It was agreed that you would help catch this little thief. In the end, you didn't even make a move."

"What use are you?"

Nanzhan Buzhou.

Above the void, a spatial rift suddenly appeared, and Fang Longye staggered out, revealing his figure.

His hair was disheveled, and his face was pale.

He was dizzy for a long time before he regained his clarity.

His eyes gleaming, he looked around and sensed the Heavenly Secrets, only for Fang Longye to realize in astonishment that he was actually above Luoyang of the Han Dynasty.

He couldn't help but complain: "Good heavens, this little wench is quite ruthless. She blew me straight to Nanzhan Buzhou!"

"Speaking of which, wasn't my next destination Nanzhan Buzhou? Does this count as taking a free express ride?"

Of course, being blown from Dongsheng Shenzhou to Nanzhan Buzhou all at once,

this also involved the effects of the torrent of space; the Banana Fan alone was not that formidable.

At least in the hands of Tie Shan, it did not have the power to blow someone to another continent in one breath.

He sensed his own condition and found it was alright. Apart from sustaining some injuries and losing a significant amount of vitality, everything else was fine.

In any case, it was much better than the future scene he had foreseen when drinking with Yang Chan earlier.

In the future scene Fang Longye had seen earlier, he had been caught in Rakshasa Sea Market by someone who put a sack over his head, without any power to resist.

Without causing the slightest stir, he had been silently kidnapped to the Nether Blood Sea.

And had been humiliated for a long time by that woman, Tie Shan.

Then, the great powers of the Asura clan arrived late, their words filled with hidden needles as they demanded he marry into the family to be a matrilocal husband for Tie Shan.

In any case, the future scene he had glimpsed had already progressed to the stage of bowing to heaven and earth~ truly, if an aunt can bear it, an uncle cannot!

If not for this, he wouldn't have thought of slipping away the moment he saw Tie Shan chasing after him, without even fighting.

He was unwilling to repeat the mistakes of the future scene and be forced to be a matrilocal husband.

Not to mention the issue of humiliation, he would have suffered a huge loss just from that alone~

He, Fang Longye, is no longer some small fry. The position of a legal wife is very precious.

It is enough to sell for a good price~ In any case, in his view, you, Minghe Laozu, are simply inferior to Yuanshi Tianzun and Nuwa.

As of now, his preferred candidate for a legal wife is still Yang Chan, a wealthy woman with a complex network of relationships.

Moreover, even if Minghe Laozu were more powerful than Yuanshi Tianzun and Nuwa,

based solely on the path of the Great Dao that Minghe Laozu cultivates, he would not consider using the position of a legal wife to get involved with this person.

It is too dangerous!

A grandmaster like Minghe Laozu, who practices the Demon path of slaughter, would absolutely turn hostile at the drop of a hat.

If one really wants to climb the social ladder, big shots like Yuanshi Tianzun and Nuwa are much more appealing.

Speaking of Yang Chan, Fang Longye flipped his palm, took out a wine cup, stroked it in his hand, and wore an inexplicable smile on his face.

The tall-footed cup stood elegantly, its pale white surface revealing faint, lingering shades of green; with blue-white halos intermingling, it held an inner treasure light, swaying gently.

It was precisely the wine cup he had swiped when he previously bid farewell to Yang Chan.

How should one put it?

He didn't do it unintentionally; he did it on purpose.

It was an excuse he deliberately manufactured so that he could have a legitimate reason to visit Yang Chan next time.

Including asking her to help sell those World Remains, it was the same. It was all to further deepen the relationship between the two.

It is the same principle as in the Legend of the White Snake, where on the banks of West Lake, the White Snake deliberately used her Dharma to create a heavy rain, using it as a pretext to borrow an umbrella from Xu Xian.

Putting away the wine cup, Fang Longye sat cross-legged in the void, having recovered much of his vitality, and then rose to look down below.

"What a Nine-Bend Yellow River! It is truly worthy of being the territory that allowed Yunxiao of the Calamity Sect to comprehend the Nine-Bend Yellow River Array~"

Snowy waves beat against the vast sky, autumn clouds roll at the horizon. Bamboo ropes cable the floating bridge, the azure dragon on the water lies dormant.

It connects Qi and Liang, divides Qin and Jin, guards You and Yan, spreading across the Nine Provinces from east to west, stringing together a hundred rivers from north to south.

The muddy waves surge, the momentum is magnificent, flowing straight into the Eastern Ocean. One does not know how much local water, soil, and culture it has nourished.

This is merely a concrete microcosm revealed on the outside.

As for the true Yellow River, due to layers of obstruction, even with Fang Longye's ability as a Golden Immortal, he could not see it clearly.

Just an occasional fleeting glimpse of its vastness and grandeur was enough to make his heart tremble.

Raising his eyes to gaze into the distance, he saw the Human Dao Aura below rolling like boiling oil on a fire, a scene of flourishing prosperity.

Looking closer, the city walls were like a forest, and the commoners were like a weave.

The aura of the mortal world permeated everything around.

The Great Han Heavenly Dynasty could be glimpsed from this.

"Hmm, no rush to go to Chang'an to see that ancestor of crosstalk."

Fang Longye made a calculation; it was still the mid-reign of Han Wudi, and there was plenty of time.

"Find a place to deal with the Heavenly Star Vine first."

Pujin Ferry.

A place of wild mountains and desolate ridges.

Mountains and waters were like a tapestry, with tangled woods growing everywhere.

Withered vines emerged from the marshes between the mountains, half showing new green, blooming with small flowers, clustered together, buds yet to open, squeezed together, trembling, not falling even in the wind.

Clearly, not far away was the bustling Pujin Ferry, yet there were rarely any human traces here.

On the desolate mountain, a thick layer of moss had accumulated, not the bright green kind found in ordinary family courtyards, but a mottled black-green deposited by time, giving one a feeling of eerie, ghastly green.

"Wild mountains and desolate ridges, rarely visited by people—excellent! It saves me from being disturbed during my cultivation~"

Fang Longye paced through the mountains, looking at this desolate mountain and smiling.

Traveling all the way here, he had discovered that within this Great Han Dynasty, although the place did not seem large, it was truly occupied by quite a few immortals and deities.

Not to mention those famous mountains and great rivers that formed their own worlds, even those mountains with only a little spiritual grace had immortals and deities hiding within them.

It was just that because of the suppression by the dynasty's Aura, most of them remained in seclusion and did not come out.

If he had chosen those places of great spiritual beauty, the sheer number of immortals and deities coming and going would have been enough to annoy him endlessly.

In any case, it was only a short-term seclusion; it was the same everywhere.

Fang Longye paced into the depths of the desolate mountain, first casting a spell to conceal the area.

Then, he pointed a finger, and the barren ground full of withered leaves sprouted layers of cloud mist, a hundred feet high.

Further up, lotus flowers bloomed, and a Treasure Pavilion slowly emerged, its six corners hanging with rays of light, colors swaying. All around, there was Divine Light like a startling rainbow, dragging behind it like a swimming dragon.

This Treasure Pavilion was a treasure Fang Longye had obtained from those World Remains.

It could not be called a major treasure; it was just an ordinary low-grade Spirit Treasure. But it was enough for resting during his travels.

In the center, clear as if washed, suspended above the cinnabar platform, was a pool of green water, clear and limpid.

An ancient wooden structure stood elegantly, with a canopy hanging down, providing a patch of cool shade.

A Cloud Couch, wooden tables, and an incense burner on the desk—everything one could need was there.

Fang Longye paced inside and sat upright on the Cloud Couch, first calming his mind, then taking out that section of Heavenly Star Vine.

It was less than a zhang long, the vine body like metal, the leaves small and shimmering with starlight. The whole body was dotted with starlight, with an inexplicable Aura surging within.

Just one look, and he felt that the vine before him was not a vine at all, but a cluster of miniature Star Sea.

Without hesitation, he rolled out his celebratory clouds, and the Heavenly Star Vine fell into the clouds, sinking and floating.

After refining it slightly, he sank it into his body, operated his secret Dharma, and began to smelt it.

(End of this chapter)