Chapter 643: Long Time No See

"That was close."

Lady Qinghua quietly let out a breath. It had been so long since she'd seen her master that she'd nearly lost her composure.

She had almost forgotten when last she'd been able to be of use.

The pressure of working under her master was simply too great… at any moment she could be replaced by a newly joined "colleague."

Thinking of this, Qinghua slightly clenched her fist and gave herself a little encouragement.

The instant she stepped out of the formation, this Golden Body Dharma Aspect, over ten zhang tall, swiftly regained its indifferent expression.

The immortal official's reappearance once again caused a stir among the surrounding living beings.

Generally speaking, once an upper immortal agreed to stay, they would linger for some time no matter what. Could it be that this Bai Yun Grotto had offended some taboo?

Or perhaps this immortal official had no intention of befriending these juniors, and had only given that Bai Yun Patriarch a bit of face.

Everyone's thoughts differed. They watched the Golden Body Dharma Aspect sweep back behind the curtain of clouds, and immediately began to chatter.

Countless gazes turned toward the Bai Yun Grotto's formation. After a long wait, it remained as silent as a dead realm, and they couldn't help feeling somewhat puzzled.

But when it came to matters involving a proper god of the Immortal Court, who would dare ask more, and who would dare get involved in the slightest.

"My lord, shall we return now?"

The accompanying immortal officials were equally curious, yet none dared ask more. It was said this newly appointed Bimawen had once been an ascetic cultivator, a Merit Immortal by origin, with a notably cold and rigid temperament—he wouldn't even give General Qingluan the face of her authority.

To be honest, the fact that the other party had even been willing to sit for a while in Bai Yun Grotto had already been somewhat surprising.

"Mm."

Qinghua gave a slight nod of her chin, and led the group of immortal officials riding clouds back toward the Immortal Court.

Using the Bai Xi Seal to temporarily seal off this treasure land should be enough for her master to deal with the trouble here.

Compared to the outsiders' tangled thoughts—

The members of Zhan Yao Si who had actually witnessed this slaughter with their own eyes weren't thinking much more clearly.

The demon-slayers of the other two offices were seasoned veterans, having handled countless matters great and small, including troubles involving the Three Teachings.

But today's scene—truly, they had never seen anything like it.

A "demon-slaying officer" who had been utterly without presence from start to finish—even when Mei Jiyao looked down on him and deliberately cold-shouldered him, he hadn't shown the slightest displeasure.

Precisely because of this, the others had genuinely taken him for a figurehead General General Yan Lan had put forward to go through the motions.

After all, when a new official takes office, the greatest taboo is the previous holder vying for power and refusing to submit to control. How could he possibly tolerate the other two offices continuing to treat Meng Xiuwen as the demon-slaying officer?

But the instant he actually began to handle matters—

This young man had, quite literally, become a different person. To call him autocratic would not be an exaggeration—he consulted no one at all.

In the past, the others would surely have lodged a complaint against him with their superiors, and couldn't have been more eager to stay as far from him as possible, to avoid being dragged into the disaster.

Acting with no scruples right in front of the Immortal Court—more imposing than an immortal official himself.

But now…

When that genuine immortal official had turned a blind eye, and even stepped in to help settle the disturbance, the whole affair took on a different flavor.

"Hah."

Mei Jiyao had been a demon-slaying officer for so many years and was still alive today—she naturally couldn't be any fool.

She stared in silence at the young man in dark robes suspended in the distant sky.

The other party possessed a Puti Sect practitioner's methods, an orthodox immortal's treasure mountain, and the indulgence of a proper god of the Immortal Court… no, "indulgence" didn't even cover it. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but she thought she'd glimpsed a trace of deliberately concealed deference in that immortal official?

Against such a complicated backdrop, the man was still a demon-slaying officer!

Zhan Yao Si nominally subdued demons, but its actual duty was to help the Divine Dynasty keep the disciples of the Three Teachings somewhat in check.

Well! The man before them had all Three Teachings covered!

"Who on earth is this person? How did you ever recruit him?" The degree of Mei Jiyao's present heart-pounding actually exceeded the moment when she'd faced the immortal official head-on.

What on earth was Jianyang Office thinking—didn't they check his background at all?

Taking in a cultivator who clearly had countless ties to a proper god of the Immortal Court, so brazenly, into Zhan Yao Si—how was that any different from inviting an official into a den of thieves?!

"It was the Earth God who recommended him." Meng Xiuwen's expression was somewhat ugly. Because he'd trusted Min Zhiyan too much, he had indeed been careless.

The situation now was very clear: this person was absolutely not some loose cultivator as the Earth God had claimed.

A practitioner's Dao, an immortal's treasure—those could be explained away as chance encounters. But what about that proper god of the Immortal Court's bizarre attitude? Was that picked up off the street too?

From some small, out-of-the-way place? When they said "small place," did they mean the residence of some great figure of the Immortal Court?

To have a seventh-rank immortal official help tidy up the scene, Shen Yi's background must at least be on par with an immortal official of the fifth rank or above.

What manner of being was that—even when meeting the Human Sovereign, one need not bow!

"If anything really goes wrong, you—you just wait to have your head chopped off. A hundred executions wouldn't be enough to atone for your crime." Mei Jiyao's breathing had grown rapid. She clearly knew some of the true reasons Zhan Yao Si could not be discovered by the Immortal Court.

"…"

Meng Xiuwen's eyelid twitched violently. As the strongest in cultivation among the demon-slaying officers, the reason he'd dared agree to Min Zhiyan and take charge of watching over Shen Yi was his absolute confidence in his own strength.

But now he was beginning to feel that the situation was slipping from his control.

Thinking of this, he drew a deep breath. His five fingers, trembling slightly, emerged from his sleeve, and a wisp of qi, pure beyond astonishment, gathered between them.

In that single instant, one could see that back at the Jade Dragon Sect, that disciple of Master Qingmei who had reached the sixth-rank realm had not died unjustly.

The black-bearded man furrowed his brow, hesitated as if he wanted to say something, but in the end still looked away.

This matter involved too much—too much for them to bear the responsibility.

In any case, getting him under control first could never be wrong.

But just then, a slender, fair hand suddenly seized Meng Xiuwen's arm. Though it couldn't actually stop anything, its meaning was clear enough.

"Mm?"

Meng Xiuwen glanced sideways. The one who'd acted was Ye Jing—the little girl he'd always thought a bit too dull-witted.

"Think about it—why would Lord Shen do this?" Ye Jing didn't quite grasp these seniors' concerns, but precisely because she didn't, she could see through the matter to its essence.

Her expression didn't ripple much, but a serious light flickered in those pretty eyes; her voice was soft, yet it froze the others in place.

"Sigh."

The black-bearded man let out a quiet breath and looked back.

His earlier hesitation had been precisely because he hadn't thought this question through.

What young man treated with such an attitude by a seventh-rank immortal official could Bai Yun Grotto dare to provoke? If there was no grudge between the two, then what was the reason Shen Yi had acted?

Coveting that Jin Yu ancient tree?

A cultivator who carried so many profound methods, who had finally mixed his way into Zhan Yao Si and gotten his chance to rise — would he really expose himself before them all just for a broken tree?

The reason was laughable on its face.

In truth, the black-bearded man already had an answer lurking in his heart; he just didn't dare believe it, and that instinctive disbelief bred a sliver of shame within him.

The reason was probably really as simple as it could get.

Zhan Yao Si existed to restrain the Three Sects and prevent chaos in Shenzhou. As the newly appointed Demon-Slaying Officer, the other party had none of the flowery motives they had imagined — he was simply carrying out his duty.

What that young man had done was—

Thinking this far, the black-bearded man lowered his gaze toward the Jin Yu ancient tree that spanned the collapsed cliff. Within the shattered, resplendent gate, the mummified corpses in the tree palace swayed gently, like wind chimes.

"Eat of the morning's stipend, and see the matter through to its end?"

Mei Jiyao followed the black-bearded man's gaze, the corner of her mouth twitching twice.

Even if the authority Zhan Yao Si granted wasn't enough, would the other party still have called in his own connections to see this matter done?

"He hasn't even drawn a single coin of salary from the Divine Court yet."

Meng Xiuwen rolled his eyes. The pure spiritual light that had gathered in his raised palm dispersed, and he smoothly slapped himself across the face: "Pah! Damn it — I'll settle the score with that old thing when we get back!"

"..."

Ye Jing withdrew her hand and looked back down.

That slender figure came into view, and a few unusual colors entered her eyes.

Of course, apart from her, the remaining Demon-Slayers all looked at Shen Yi with noticeably changed expressions.

Capable, yet not lacking in boldness or a sense of responsibility. One had to remember — earlier, the man had specifically waited for his fellow officers to withdraw before acting; it was only that they had chosen to stay. The gesture of distancing himself from any entanglement couldn't have been more obvious.

His strength might still be a step short of a true Demon-Slaying Officer, but given how young he was, catching up was merely a matter of receiving a few more strands of Imperial Qi.

Judging by all this, given time, he would surely have his chance to receive a title of his own.

The only flaw was his questionable identity — tsk, that would have to be left for Jianyang Prefecture and that General General Yan Lan to worry over.

Under the gaze of everyone present.

Shen Yi landed at the base of the cliff, walking forward with a clear purpose until he stood at the foot of that towering Jin Yu ancient tree.

Golden light flared across his body once more. His palms touched the trunk, and in an instant, the entire ancient tree was forcibly shaken — ripped bodily from the cliff face!

Such a brutish move left the several Demon-Slayers staring in dumbfounded astonishment.

Probably only a Puti Sect practitioner could "subdue" a celestial treasure in this manner.

"Hiss."

The black-bearded man wished he could slap himself too. Shen Yi's current move had overturned every thought he'd had before.

No — you really do want it?

Forget those who'd plucked its Dao Fruit — even for a sixth-rank cultivator, the Jin Yu ancient tree was merely a decent item.

Was the colossus behind him in the habit of raising his children on scraps? Starving the boy into this.

"Huff."

Shen Yi forcibly shrank the Jin Yu ancient tree and stuffed it into his thumb-ring, then headed with clear purpose straight for the sect's Scripture Depository.

"Lord Shen, I — we... can't just handle things this way..."

Ye Jing froze for a beat, then hurried forward to intercept him, weakly spreading her arms.

The Jin Yu ancient tree could still barely be called loot, like the immortal net last time — but if he charged straight into Bai Yun Grotto and started stripping it clean, the flavor would be all wrong.

Zhan Yao Si, not bandits.

Eating the Emperor's grain.

"It's not that we can't handle things this way." Mei Jiyao, quicker to react, descended with a wry smile. Shen Yi's two consecutive moves had actually made some of the wariness in her heart fade. Lowering her voice, she explained: "There's no need. Someone will come to handle it later. Whatever you need, just say the word — no one will say anything..."

"Besides, a force like Bai Yun Grotto really doesn't have anything that could be of use to a cultivator of your realm."

Forget Demon-Slaying Officers — even an ordinary Demon-Slayer sounds like nothing special, but a whole prefecture only picks two. Their rarity far surpasses even the Sect Masters of those great sects.

Such carefully chosen elites — how could the Divine Court possibly shortchange them.

"What do we do next?"

Shen Yi caught himself too. It was mainly out of habit — he'd almost forgotten he'd already broken through to the Taiyi Zhenxian realm, a cultivation comparable to a perfected seventh rank.

"Still sounds a bit unfamiliar." A few more odd notes crept into Mei Jiyao's smile. A man who'd been so fierce and decisive moments ago suddenly asking for her opinion — it really was rather flattering.

She cupped her hands crisply and offered an apology for what had happened earlier: "Don't worry, someone's coming to handle it. You definitely know them."

She felt a strange pang of sympathy for that General General Yan Lan.

"..."

Outside Bai Yun Grotto, though quite a few cultivators had already dispersed, the place was still a sea of people.

Amid such a lively scene, an utterly unremarkable carriage naturally drew little attention from those nearby, and quietly rolled away from the spot.

Jianyang Prefecture, Earth God Temple.

The sound of a palm slamming onto a table.

Meng Xiuwen braced both palms on the tabletop, glaring through gritted teeth at the old man before him: "I'll ask you one more time — what is he?"

Min Zhiyan paused. Though he knew the brat's outrageous temperament, the other party being this furious was still rather rare: "A loose immortal from some backwater place. What of it?"

"Damn your uncle, you've ruined me!"

Meng Xiuwen paced anxiously around the Earth Deity Temple several times, scratching at his hair hard, the whole person even verging on hysterics.

He had never been so torn in his entire life.

To be honest, judging purely by temperament, he truly admired Shen Yi. Just based on the other's reaction after witnessing that group of innocent people dying tragic deaths in Bai Yun Cave, if they had met under ordinary circumstances, even separated by an entire realm, he would have been very willing to befriend such a person.

But the problem lay in the special nature of Zhan Yao Si.

Regarding the identity Shen Yi claimed for himself, unless his brain were full of shit, Meng Xiuwen absolutely could not believe a word of it.

A person of unknown identity, no matter how good in other respects—how could they be admitted into Zhan Yao Si!

"..."

Min Zhiyan watched silently, a storm already raging in his heart. It was very obvious that this trip to Bai Yun Cave had definitely caused trouble again.

And most likely it was connected to that young man he had sent over.

He was about to explain something, but suddenly raised his head and looked toward the outside.

After a moment, this Earth Deity stood up: "Exactly how things stand, we'll know at a glance."

"See what?"

Meng Xiuwen froze for a beat, then followed Min Zhiyan out of the Earth Deity Temple.

He saw outside the woods, led by a dragon demon, a group of people marching over in full force.

"Brother, does this really work?"

Zi Xian was already feeling a bit ashamed; that Earth Deity clearly still hadn't figured out how to assign their group's status, yet her brother insisted on bringing people over every day to bother him.

"Tch! When you're out and about, don't take face so seriously."

Prince Prince Ziyang forced out a smile, softly offering a couple of words of comfort, yet in his heart he sighed deeply.

If it weren't for rescuing Father King, who would be willing to give up being the dignified Crown Prince of Eastern Flood and come out here to fawn over others and play the role of a grandson?

He firmly believed that most of the people behind him were extraordinary individuals—they simply lacked an opportunity.

Thinking of this, Prince Prince Ziyang worked hard to adjust his expression. Just as he turned his head back, he discovered that the footsteps of everyone around him had slowed for a moment.

On each and every face, a brief daze surfaced, then that daze transformed into many complex emotions—joy, longing, reverence, and more.

Everyone stared fixedly at the temple gate.

There stood a square table, a black-robed youth lazily holding a teacup, with two old immortal children standing beside him in charge of serving tea and pouring water.

Those two immortal children, they had seen before—not exactly unapproachable, but hardly could be called amiable either.

But at this moment, both their faces were covered in smiles.

The black-robed youth turned his gaze to look over, his eyes slowly sweeping across the crowd, carefully taking in each of those familiar faces.

After looking at the last person.

He set down the teacup in his hand, stood up, the corner of his lips lifting into a warm curve:

"Long time no see."

(End of this chapter)