Chapter 535: Mutual Salvation, Return to the Mountain-Moving Sect Once More (Daily Life)

West Hong, Soaring Cloud Market.

This place was originally a small bazaar where loose cultivators exchanged goods.

But recently the foot traffic had suddenly grown much denser, and among them were no shortage of direct-line disciples from the great powers.

The upheaval that had erupted a few days earlier had clearly plunged the nearby powers into deep wariness.

That familiar tiger's roar most likely came from one of the three Dao Merging great demons within the Haoyue Shuanghu clan — the only question was which titan they were fighting, and over what matter the dispute had arisen.

Two Dao Merging realm experts would not clash lightly, but once they did, it meant the situation in West Hong was very likely about to undergo a tremendous change.

Those who could flee far away naturally made themselves scarce, but those who, for one reason or another, could not leave had no choice but to huddle together for warmth like this.

Inside a room at an inn.

The door was tightly shut.

A woman in white, cool and aloof, sat beside the table, her gaze resting quietly on the teacup before her.

Behind her stood two young cultivators of striking bearing, shoulder to shoulder; from their strength as well as their dress, one could tell they were direct-line disciples of a great sect.

"Aunt Ji, according to the news we've gathered, those two Dao Merging realm experts only exchanged a few blows and didn't disturb West Hong much — it won't affect our mission to seek aid."

The Lingyue Sect's Dao Child looked the more composed of the two.

The Wushuang Sect's Dao Child wore a troubled look and sighed: "But the fact that the powers of West Hong politely turned us away is real. I just can't figure it out — we're all cultivators, with the Long Gong as this great enemy before us, yet instead of joining forces to resist them, they keep attacking one another. No wonder the West Long Gong has it so easy, and even has the leisure to meddle in the affairs of Yu Nanhong."

"Honestly… if we keep seeking aid like this, I'm worried that once they learn of Yu Nanhong's predicament, they won't just help us deal with the Long Gong — they might even want to step into Yu Nanhong themselves and grab a share of the spoils."

The Wushuang Sect Dao Child's concerns were not without reason.

After all, the reason they were here was that the sect they had gone to for aid had taken a fancy to a new power on the verge of forming a covenant with heaven and earth.

That clan had spent countless years of blood and sweat, and finally had a chance to rise above the mortal dust and join the ranks of Xian Sects backed by Dao Merging realm experts — but now, it seemed, that hope was most likely to come to nothing.

Becoming a branch sect of that sect was perhaps already the best outcome left to them.

The cultivators of that Qunxian Sect had shown the faces of robbers who lived by the law of the jungle to perfection.

The two Dao Children couldn't stand the sight of it, nor did they trust that sect, so they went to seek out other powers — but no sooner had they hinted at their purpose than they were politely refused and sent away from the blessed ground.

"The Yunhe Sect side is actually not bad, but from what Lin Shimei says, it's not that the Yunhe Sect itself has any grudge against the Long Gong — it's just that their Dao Child is quite taken with Lin Shimei…"

Even the Wushuang Sect Dao Child felt a twinge of shame as he said this.

The once-proud Yu Nanhong Qizi had now fallen so low as to have to seek allies through such means.

In truth, the situation was not yet too dire.

The six sect masters were all Dao Merging realm titans of considerable strength, and with the addition of the three great powers such as Baohua Sect, nine Dao Merging realm experts — even in West Hong, they would be a colossal force no smaller than the West Long Gong itself.

By contrast, the South Long Gong had only four Dao Merging realm Dragon Sons in total, plus one Long Wang — and even if that South Long Wang was profoundly cultivated and could hold off two opponents at once, at best he was only just barely on par with the Yu Nanhong Qizi themselves.

If it really came to a fight, they had not the slightest chance of victory.

The problem lay with the West Palace.

The eldest of the Qi family leading his troops into Yu Nanhong would not, by itself, affect the overall situation—the fear was that this was merely a probe. If the Qizi's response was not forceful enough, the West Palace alone possessed at least eight great demons on par with the Dao Merging realm!

These hundred thousand years had truly let the West Long Gong grow fat and complacent — its strength was far beyond what it had once been.

Coupled with its revered status in West Hong, where its word was law, if it truly meant to move against the Yu Nanhong Qizi, the consequences would be too dreadful to contemplate.

"Understood."

Shen Zongzhu Ji rose slowly and walked toward the door: "Carry on. I'm going to have a word with Zi Xian."

At this, the two Dao Children fell silent at once.

After these days in West Hong, they had gained a preliminary understanding of the place. In the past, Senior Zi Xian might have been on good terms with Aunt Ji, but now… the other party was none other than the famed Lady Yushan, Dragon Consort.

The one she had married was precisely that eldest of the Qi family who had led his troops into Yu Nanhong.

"It's just a matter of catching up on old times."

The Qingyue Shen Zongzhu shook her head; she truly wanted to know what attitude the West Long Gong held.

If it truly came to a fight to the death, the Yu Nanhong Qizi were no pushovers either.

When it came to clashes between Dao Merging realm experts, how could one simply compare numbers? Take the Dragon Sons of the South Long Gong, for instance — their so-called parity with the Dao Merging realm was not measured against the level of the Qizi sect masters.

Before these newly broken-through Dao Merging cultivators and demons, the six of them could already be counted as cultivators of the older generation.

Ji Jingxi pushed the door open and stepped out, leaning on the railing to look outside.

She was just about to cast a spell and leave the place.

Just then, her gaze sharpened and fell on a young man below, walking outward with his attendants.

Even though the young man had altered his appearance, his features cold and stern, Ji Jingxi identified him at a single glance.

Before the vast gulf of realm, even a perfected illusion technique could hardly serve any purpose.

"How did he end up here?"

Ji Jingxi looked toward the few people beside Shen Yi — still three of them, but clearly not Dao Children like Su Hongxiu and the others.

A beautiful woman, a python demon — and both seemed rather odd — and also…

The Qingyue Shen Zongzhu frowned slightly, her gaze settling on the last figure, a little girl with rosy lips and fair teeth. The girl wore an exquisite horse-face skirt, yet it was ink-black as night, lending a certain chill to her fair face.

Of course, what truly puzzled Ji Jingxi was that this well-behaved Miss carried not the slightest trace of cultivation, yet the two capable young cultivators beside her instinctively adopted a wary posture.

After a moment, Ji Jingxi smiled and sighed, quipping: "Still as inscrutable as ever."

Shen Zongzhu had gone out on this trip — fine that he hadn't looked after a few Dao Children, but wandering about alone, where on earth had he picked up such a strange bunch of characters?

Still, she had never expected him to be of much help anyway. Let him wander as he would — as long as he didn't stir up trouble and stayed safe and sound, that was enough.

With such innate talent to his name, even if Shen Zongzhu left the Yu Nanhong Qizi, he would surely become a titan whose name would shake all of Hongze.

She only hoped the Qizi could weather this calamity, so that the few of them sect masters might also have the chance to see just how far he would ultimately go.

"…"

An Yi followed quietly behind Shen Yi; after leaving the inn, she turned her head slightly to glance at the second floor.

Then she looked away and said nothing.

"What is it?" Shen Yi stopped, sighed, and asked softly.

"Someone is watching you. There is no ill intent." An Yi lowered her head, staring at her shoe tips, looking utterly lifeless.

Her form of address had shifted from "you," to "Mr.," and finally to "you" (honorific).

It appeared respectful, yet it differed from the awe shown by other Town Stones or Hall Masters; instead, it carried an extremely obvious sense of distance.

Just like her work: as long as Shen Yi asked, she would never disobey, but as long as no one noticed, she would absolutely not say another word.

In short, she was slacking off.

For Shen Yi, such a thing was absolutely intolerable.

There were only two solutions.

After all, since the Death Tribulation had already been passed, he could simply crush her soul and replace her with a Haoyue Shuanghu to take the position of the West Hall Master; at most, it would consume a million years of demon lifespan to empower the demon soul.

It was expensive, yes, but at least it would be comfortable to use.

As for the second solution, that was to consume a vast amount of demon origin again, letting this young girl experience firsthand what the Lord's grace truly was.

Amidst that purgatorial torment, even the most stubborn personality would eventually show some improvement.

Perhaps...

Thinking of this girl's calmness during the Death Tribulation, Shen Yi also became somewhat uncertain.

"Still too poor."

A trace of barely perceptible anger flashed across Shen Yi's face.

Even with such extreme frugality during the Fourth Tribulation, the remaining demon lifespan was only a little over six hundred thousand years; for now, he could only make do with that.

Watching from the side, Yu Lan found it quite novel; since the moment she was beheaded, she had never seen such rich emotions on her master's face... as if he had suddenly transformed from a killing machine back into a living human.

Rather than anger, it was more like anger born of shame.

The other party was actually finding all sorts of excuses in his heart to convince himself to temporarily abandon the thought of dealing with this stubborn little tiger demon.

The root cause was simply that he was in the wrong but refused to admit it with his mouth.

It looked rather amusing.

"Hee." Yu Lan couldn't help but cover her mouth and let out a light laugh.

"..."

Shen Yi's indifferent glance back made the beautiful woman's slender body tremble; she felt a bit aggrieved, almost forgetting that the fierce god before her had never been in the wrong, and such treatment was not something everyone could enjoy.

"Act normal." Shen Yi squatted down, staring at that lifeless little face, and transmitted his voice with his mind: "Crushing your soul is truly just a matter of a single thought for me."

"You don't keep your word." An Yi didn't even lift her eyelids.

"Hah." Shen Yi took a deep breath, coldness rising in his eyes: "Even if I don't keep my word, what can you do about it?"

"..." An Yi raised her eyes, staring with that calm gaze at the young man's seemingly cold face; after pondering for a moment, she said softly, "You don't keep your word."

Under her clean and pure gaze, the feigned coldness in Shen Yi's eyes gradually faded; his gaze flickered, then he suddenly stood up, turned around, and walked toward the street.

Fine, he couldn't explain it, and his usual intimidation tactics had failed.

Now, the Nanyang treasure land was in grave danger, containing Senior Brothers Jiang Qiulan, Wu Daoan, and Master Zhu Jue, as well as Old Master Chen Qiankun, and Lin Baiwei, all of whom had helped him walk out of Outside Qingzhou.

Even he himself was being targeted by the Haoyue Shuanghu clan, barely able to protect himself, and had to hide his name and avoid their sharp edge.

Where would he have time to make a gentleman's pact with a Town Stone?

Although Shen Yi, throughout this journey, rarely spoke too fully, and even when making promises mostly used words like "try my best," and even when deceiving, the targets were always villains and demons.

But this was the first time that, due to his own subjective reasons, he had broken his word to someone else.

Moreover, no matter how hard he tried, he could find no flaw in the other party to allow himself to stand on the moral high ground.

"..."

An Yi buried her head down again.

She had never experienced such a lively place; listening to the loud laughter and feeling the crowds beside her, she suddenly felt her whole body stiffen to the extreme.

So she tightly stared at the heels of Shen Yi's long boots, daring not to fall behind even a step.

Shen Yi glanced back with his peripheral vision.

Suddenly, he remembered after he had slain the dragon at Qingfeng Mountain, when he was promoted to Adjutant General, riding a high-stepping horse, traveling through Outside Qingzhou City; the numb stiffness of his face, and the feeling in his palm, sweaty from gripping the reins.

He did not stop, only slightly slowed his pace, so that this little thing would not have to follow so hurriedly.

"Hiss..."

An Yi bumped straight into the young man's waist, instinctively rubbing her forehead: "Mr., I apologize."

Shen Yi pressed his thin lips tightly; feeling the vertebrae nearly crushed by the impact, the five fingers hidden in his sleeves suddenly clenched, the veins on the back of his hand bursting forth as he forcibly suppressed the pain.

His expression remained normal; he said slightly coldly, "It's nothing."

Yu Lan and You Chang followed behind, daring not to make a sound; one was a Great Cultivator of Sicheng, the other a tiger demon comparable to the Dao-Integration Realm, yet here on this long street, they were truly like two ordinary mortals.

An Yi nodded repeatedly in apology, but her peripheral vision caught two cultivators arguing inside a shop by the street; immediately, her pace unconsciously slowed a bit.

They were holding a golden bracelet with intricate patterns.

"For such a treasure, you offer this amount? You might as well just rob me!"

"Raising the price on the back of the Dao-Integration Realm giant's matter..."

The two voices suddenly stopped; they saw the golden bracelet was directly snatched away by an aura. They hurriedly looked to the side, only to see the ink-robed young man, eyes straight ahead, casually toss over a storage bag.

He then left the place without saying a word.

The two looked at the dark red bloodstains on the storage bag, then recalled the killing intent on that person's body, and instantly shivered all over.

The shop owner didn't even have the courage to open the storage bag and look; he hurriedly retreated into the shop with frantic steps.

"I still have use for that thing; keep it as a memento for now."

Shen Yi tossed the golden bracelet to this little thing; this object could certainly not compare to the Dao-Integration Realm treasure the other party had worn before, but at least the appearance was still quite pretty.

Since acting cold and aloof was useless on this West Hall Master, he was too lazy to pretend anymore; his voice was no longer so stiff: "You shouldn't want to die as much now."

It's rather absurd, really.

An Yi had sought death because of that Haoyue Shuanghu clan chief, and now, because of that same chief, a thought other than death had finally stirred within her.

At the very least, her desire to kill him was utterly genuine.

"Right now, you're still useful to me. What I promised you, I'll repay later. Whatever compensation you want, we can discuss it then."

Shen Yi rarely spoke such a long stretch of words all at once.

Under such immense pressure, he truly had few choices left.

"As for now, come with me—you have no other option."

Shen Yi exhaled deeply. He had hidden in this marketplace for many days; even if that Haoyue Shuanghu clan chief still waited outside, he could no longer stay.

Of course, venturing out now to scavenge demonic lifespans would be no different from seeking death.

An Yi, as the Western Hall Master, would not falter when it came to matters of life and death—but even though she was exceedingly strong and brimming with murderous intent toward that clan chief, she was still no match for him.

Even if demonic lifespans were insufficient, they could only return to Banshan Sect for now, then investigate that nameless mountain.

"..."

An Yi silently stared at the bracelet in her palm; her gaze suddenly grew complex, as if recalling many things.

To her, even though she hated that man intensely, the golden bracelet was the only object that had accompanied her in the past hundred thousand years.

For some reason, An Yi truly felt that Shen Yi understood her completely—whether it was the exhaustion from endless torment, her attitude toward the Haoyue Shuanghu clan chief, or even that barely perceptible glance at the golden bracelet—Shen Yi knew it all... he simply refused to show it.

"I—"

She lifted her head to say something, but saw that Shen Yi had already vanished into a streak of light across the horizon.

An Yi exhaled softly, slipped the low-quality golden bracelet onto her rounded wrist, then likewise turned into a streak of light and followed after him.

There are simply too many people around here!

Xi Hong, Banshan Sect.

Behind Dashan, outside the Inner Sect's main hall.

The thin old man still sat cross-legged by the spring, appearing exactly as before, yet no longer radiating the aura of a motionless, petrified rock.

For a He Dao giant, the only reason for such a change was inner turmoil.

Originally, he had firmly pledged a three-day deadline, then changed it to ten days, then to thirty days.

Every time he saw Yan Chongzhang's anxious face, tiptoeing over to inquire, the Banshan Shen Zongzhu felt like slapping him.

Get lost!

How could he possibly know where that young man named Shen had gone? How could he possibly understand why the nameless mountain, which they all cherished so dearly, had been abandoned by him and now lay so desolately within Banshan Sect?

People don't go to the mountain—the mountain comes to them... yet this man is still missing.

He's a heartless, faithless scoundrel.

The Banshan Shen Zongzhu closed his eyes, preparing to calm his thoughts, when he heard that familiar footstep again.

He slowly clenched his fist.

"Huh... Master..."

Hearing the sound of cracking joints, Yan Chongzhang instinctively halted, sheepishly saying: "Master, I didn't mean to ask about Xiao Shen's intentions."

A month had passed—he could no longer pretend. His master had no plan left; he was merely holding on. Yan Chongzhang no longer cared much about his master's earlier orders.

As a Dao Heir, being too close to a He Dao giant made him realize they weren't the divine embodiments others imagined—just cultivators, albeit far stronger, stripped of much mystery.

"Then why are you here?" the Banshan Shen Zongzhu snapped, turning back.

At this, Yan Chongzhang's expression turned solemn. He sighed: "I now hope Xiao Shen forgets Banshan Sect... Pan Boyang of the Liangdaohuang Sect has arrived outside our sect."

"Pan Boyang?" The Banshan Shen Zongzhu pondered a moment, then said: "That brat ranked thirty-ninth on the Dao Bing Lu?"

For a Bai Yujing cultivator, having a He Dao giant remember his name was itself proof of strength.

Of course, this didn't mean the Banshan Shen Zongzhu was bored.

These prodigies from great sects could attain He Dao treasures at any moment; once they broke through, their accumulated foundation might instantly surpass even these old relics.

"That's him. He was the one Xiao Shen offended before... though he doesn't know Xiao Shen's true identity."

Yan Chongzhang frowned, feeling a headache coming: "I've ordered all our disciples and elders not to mention Xiao Shen at all. The three Yu Nanhong Dao Heirs are intelligent—they won't slip up. But I fear..."

"Fear what? He hasn't shown up in thirty days—do you think he'll come now? Let him come or not!"

The Banshan Shen Zongzhu clearly contradicted himself, but as a He Dao treasure, he quickly suppressed his emotions and said coolly: "The Liangdaohuang Sect has been growing too powerful lately. Too many factions want to cling to them. Rushing toward them won't benefit us. Handle his visit yourself—just dismiss him casually."

"I'm afraid he's here to demand justice," Yan Chongzhang murmured.

"Did you offend him?" the Banshan Shen Zongzhu glanced sideways.

"Not at all—" Yan Chongzhang hadn't finished when his master cut him off with a cold laugh.

"Even if you did, what of it? He's just a brat—does he dare demand justice from Banshan Sect? Son, straighten your spine. I'm genuinely ashamed right now."

"I... I understand, Master."

Yan Chongzhang paused, a hint of helplessness crossing his face. The world praised his composure—so much so that even glancing at Xiao Shen once made Elder Yang gasp in shock.

But in being composed, he had gradually lost much of his edge.

Look at Su Hongxiu of the Tianjian Sect—her strength may not surpass his by much, yet her sharpness pierced Yan Chongzhang's eyes.

He rubbed his face hard, then turned and walked toward the sect's outer gates.

Outside Banshan Sect.

At the peak of the colossal pillar stretching from earth to sky, the magnificent Jiangshan scroll slowly unfurled.

In the Liangdaohuang Palace, a similar cushion lay placed.

But unlike before, the figure seated atop it was now incredibly solid, his features clearly visible.

This direct disciple of a top-tier power from Immortal Hongze had finally descended in his true form to this remote corner of Xi Hong.

The same Dao Emperor Palace, the same Jiangshan map.

Yet the mighty momentum radiating from it was no less than ten times greater than before!

That person's gaze was cold and fierce as he looked down; the aura around him was clearly unsteady, as if he had suffered some injury.

But his voice remained as deep and resonant as ever, echoing across the sky like a great bell: "Liangdaohuang Sect, Dijiufen Sect, direct disciple Pan Boyang, comes to visit the sect!"

"Yan Chongzhang, come out quickly to welcome me!"

This act of naming him directly clearly carried an unfriendly tone.

Yet whether it was his name or the Liangdaohuang Sect behind him, both were enough to allow him to roam Xi Hong without restraint.

For these Northern Hong cultivators, hiding one's name and identity was the most foolish behavior; if one were ambushed and killed, no one would even know.

Only by boldly displaying their Dao Emperor Palace could they pass unimpeded!

Absolutely no one else would dare covet even a fraction!

(End of this chapter)