Chapter 172: The little girl in the mother formation (6k)

The two walked quietly like this. After a while, Gao Xuan suddenly spoke.

"Du Kui returned a while ago and killed many people from the Cangyan Dao Palace and the Tianji Sect. After this incident, he has completely grown up, and his strength is much stronger than before."

Zhou Qing, hearing this, showed a gratified smile and said, "That's great. If Yuan Shijie Luo Xue has a spirit in heaven, she would be happy for him too."

"There is no breaking without establishing. I have to thank you for this matter. By the way, you shouldn't be a Human Dao Foundation Establishment, right?"

Gao Xuan suddenly changed the subject, looked at Zhou Qing, and asked seemingly casually.

Zhou Qing's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly regained his composure. He squeezed a smile onto his face and said, "No, Master secretly got me a wisp of Heavenly Dao Qi, but he has always claimed to the outside world that it is a Human Dao Foundation Establishment."

Sure enough, some people were starting to notice something was wrong. Since that was the case, he might as well just go all the way; otherwise, there would be no way to explain his combat power, which was far beyond that of ordinary people.

Gao Xuan just nodded upon hearing this, not overly surprised, and then said with a smile, "It seems your master still loves you quite a bit; it's just that he owes your Third Senior Brother!"

Zhou Qing just smiled and had to explain that he was luckier than his Third Senior Brother. It just so happened that during that time, his master, Mo Xingjian, had managed to obtain a wisp of Heavenly Dao Qi by chance, which gave him his current fortune.

Fortunately, Gao Xuan did not pursue or inquire too much about this matter, but changed the subject and asked, "Have you read that book?"

Zhou Qing looked up at the back of Senior Uncle Gao, who was walking slightly in front, pondered for a short moment, and then nodded lightly, responding, "I have!"

Gao Xuan, hearing this answer, continued to ask, "Du Kui must have told you at the time that there was a test I left for you in it. Do you know which one it is?"

Zhou Qing answered after a short hesitation, "The Blood Demon Palace and the Chi Ling Pill."

Gao Xuan, hearing this answer, couldn't help but stop in his tracks. A look of surprise appeared on his face. He turned to look at Zhou Qing, and then, as if he had suddenly understood something, he laughed suddenly.

"At that time, your Jin Dan was still in a shattered state, yet you returned the book in just a few days. I thought you had only browsed through it briefly; I didn't expect you to have read it so carefully," Gao Xuan said with a touch of emotion.

Zhou Qing looked at Gao Xuan, his doubts growing stronger, and couldn't help but ask, "Senior Uncle, why choose me?"

Gao Xuan didn't answer immediately, just continued to lift his feet and walk forward. Zhou Qing, seeing this, hurriedly followed closely.

After walking a few steps, Gao Xuan asked, "Then, what did you see from that little story?"

Zhou Qing pondered for a moment and said slowly, "The Palace Master of the Blood Demon Palace used the Chi Ling Pill as bait, gambling on the goodness of human nature and the evil of human nature. He dared to enter the game himself and finally won half a move against heaven!"

Gao Xuan, hearing this, stopped again, turned around, and stared fixedly at Zhou Qing. There was a faint light flickering in his eyes, as if he had discovered some rare treasure.

Immediately after, he burst into laughter. The laughter echoed in the mountains, revealing a sense of comfort and gratification.

"What a 'winning half a move against heaven by entering the game oneself'! I really didn't misjudge you. You asked just now why I chose you, so I can tell you now: because I saw my younger self in you!"

Gao Xuan said seriously.

Zhou Qing was silent.

"Greetings, Peak Master!"

"Greetings, Senior Brother!"

Just then, several disciples from other peaks walked over, leading several fierce-looking black dogs.

Seeing Gao Xuan and Zhou Qing from afar, they hurriedly stopped, bowed respectfully, and then led the black dogs toward Divine Peak.

Gao Xuan looked at the backs of the disciples leaving and said at this moment, "Zhou Qing, do you know? When dogs meet, they either sniff or lick, but when people meet, they either pretend or act. I don't hate dogs; I hate those people who are worse than dogs—saying one thing to your face and doing another behind your back."

Zhou Qing's heart stirred slightly. Looking at Gao Xuan's somewhat desolate back, an inexplicable emotion surged in his heart, and he couldn't help but say, "So, Taiqingmen is quite good. At the very least, everyone treats each other with sincerity. I really like this big family."

Gao Xuan stopped for the third time, turned to look at Zhou Qing, his eyes full of approval. He reached out and patted Zhou Qing's shoulder lightly, saying, "Me too!"

Afterward, the two didn't say anything else, just walked silently along the mountain road. For a time, only the sound of their footsteps echoed in the mountains.

After walking a distance, Gao Xuan stopped, looked at Zhou Qing, then leaped into the air and left, leaving only one sentence floating in the air.

"Zhou Qing, work hard. The weak cannot protect this home!"

Watching Gao Xuan's departing back, Zhou Qing bowed respectfully.

After returning to Little Spirit Peak, Zhou Qing dared not be the slightest bit lax and seized the time to start refining the "Eighteen-Level Earthquake" formation flags.

That seemingly vague conversation with Senior Uncle Gao today, for some reason, inexplicably brought a sense of urgency to his heart.

It was as if something was urging him to improve his strength as soon as possible and make full preparations.

Until half a month later, Yan Xiaohu arrived excitedly.

"Fourth, I have inside information. Sima Yaoji's lover, Yu Ziqi, according to his route, will appear in Qingmu City in a few days!"

Yan Xiaohu said hurriedly, his face full of excitement.

Zhou Qing's eyes narrowed upon hearing this, cold light flickering in them, and he snorted coldly, "Qingmu City? It seems he is also curious about that token."

Yan Xiaohu said, "It should be. After all, the young master of the Haomiao Mansion, Ke Shu, only asked our two families about the token before. The situation was chaotic during that time, and no one dared to go rashly, fearing an ambush by the other side."

"Now that so much time has passed, I guess they all want to see what kind of rare thing that token is."

Zhou Qing looked down at the newly refined earthy-yellow formation flags, a trace of determination flashing in his eyes, "If so, what are we waiting for?"

Afterward, he sent a message to Lu Yaoyao, and not long after, the girl rushed over excitedly.

"Originally, there was Lei Luo, but this guy has been forced into seclusion by his elder brother Lei Lie recently, seemingly practicing a thunder-type divine ability. He can't go with us. Should we call someone else?"

Yan Xiaohu looked at Zhou Qing, suddenly feeling a bit unsure, especially since they were bringing Lu Shimei along.

It just so happened that Yuan Shijie Shi Zhen and Yuan Shijie Pei Yan had just returned to the sect. If they joined forces, the success rate would be higher.

Lu Yaoyao, hearing this, immediately put her hands on her hips and said indignantly, "Yan Shixiong, I'm also very powerful, okay!"

Yan Xiaohu laughed, of course you are powerful.

When I was in the early Nascent Soul realm, you were in the mid Jin Dan realm.

In the blink of an eye, you are now in the early Nascent Soul realm, and I am still standing still.

And Fourth is even in the late Nascent Soul stage. From this point, one can see how much influence that initial wisp of Heavenly Dao Qi has on a person's later development.

"By the way, are you a Heaven-level Nascent Soul or an Earth-level Nascent Soul? What is your Nascent Soul amplification?" Yan Xiaohu asked curiously, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

After all, there were only ten Heaven-level Nascent Souls, including the top-ranked Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.

And what Lu Yaoyao used should be the Star Spirit, ranked twenty-sixth among the Heavenly Dao Qi. It was highly likely an Earth-level Nascent Soul, but definitely near the top.

"I won't tell you!" Lu Yaoyao turned her head and said haughtily.

Yan Xiaohu, seeing this, gave a disdainful "Tch" and said stubbornly, "Don't tell me then, I didn't want to hear it anyway, hmph!"

Seeing the two acting like children, Zhou Qing smiled slightly and comforted them, "The three of us are enough. The more people there are, the easier it is to make mistakes."

The reason he decided to bring Lu Yaoyao along was, on one hand, besides the Four Flowers Gathering at the Crown, she had a rough understanding of his situation, and the two had cooperated many times before, so they were quite tacit in their coordination.

On the other hand, it could be considered a feeling of luck; bringing this girl along might bring good fortune.

Since the personnel had been decided, the three did not delay and immediately went out, heading straight toward Qingmu City.

Cangyan Dao Palace!

In the dim main hall, Palace Master Sikong Yan was dressed in a crimson robe, his posture upright but revealing a bone-chilling coldness.

He stood quietly in the hall, as if merging with the darkness. Only those eyes, flickering with eerie red light, stared fixedly at the magic array before him.

This was a magic array radiating five-colored light, outlined on the ground in strange trajectories, flowing eerily, with many mysterious patterns appearing and disappearing from time to time.

And in the center of the magic array lay the corpse of a little girl.

She looked to be only five or six years old, as if she were just sleeping, with fair skin and long, pitch-black hair scattered on both sides.

She was dressed in a plain white dress, the hem slightly spread out, dotted with tiny flowers. Her hands were crossed over her abdomen, but her chest, which had no rise or fall, ruthlessly declared the passing of life.

As the light of the magic array extended like silk threads, it wound toward the dark corners of the main hall.

In the pitch-black shadows, many black-robed figures wearing bronze masks could be seen. They stood like ghosts, revealing hollow eye sockets, motionless, revealing an indescribable sense of eerie terror.

"Palace Master, that person has come again!" A voice suddenly sounded. Immediately after, Wu Sha walked in slowly and bowed respectfully to Sikong Yan.

Sikong Yan's brows furrowed slightly, and he said coldly, "Let him wait for a while."

"But he is a prince after all..."

"Hmm?" Sikong Yan turned his head suddenly. A chilling cold light flashed in his eerie eyes, making the temperature of the entire hall seem to drop by a few degrees.

Wu Sha, seeing this, turned pale instantly. He immediately knelt down with a "thump," his body trembling uncontrollably, and hurriedly said in panic, "This subordinate knows his mistake!"

"I don't like others teaching me how to do things, no matter who it is!" Sikong Yan said coldly.

Wu Sha was so scared that he didn't even dare to breathe, just lowered his head, his body still trembling, his heart filled with regret.

Time passed bit by bit. After a long time, he flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.

Wu Sha wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hurriedly climbed up to follow.

Five days later, the three finally arrived at a remote town called Yunlan Town.

Revisiting an old place, the three white-haired outer disciples were still responsible for receiving them.

Although they were only at the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Condensation, they were able to survive in the turbulent environment of the Five Sect War. It had to be said that sometimes staying in a remote place, far from those disputes, could be considered a kind of luck.

"Greetings, Senior Brother and Yuan Shijie!"

The three were excited and hurriedly tidied up.

Lu Yaoyao looked nostalgic, "Zhou Shixiong, I remember last time when we went to Qingmu City, I was in this room, dressed as a maid delivering food. It was you who recognized me first."

Zhou Qing smiled slightly.

Of course, the golden entry on your head was too dazzling; otherwise, I wouldn't have noticed you.

But I have to admit, time passes really fast. At that time, there were others accompanying us, including Master, who was disguised as Niu Guangmo.

"Stop being nostalgic, let's eat. You've been babbling all the way here—" Yan Xiaohu said as he passed by.

Lu Yaoyao, hearing this, muttered dissatisfiedly, "What a killjoy!"

After the group rested for a night, Yan Xiaohu threw them a few spirit stones as usual, and then they set off again.

To avoid the people from Cangyan Dao Palace and Tianji Sect, they chose to travel through places with few human footprints. Finally, ten days later, they arrived at Qingmu City.

"Go straight to the Ghost City!" Zhou Qing looked at Qingmu City in front of him and didn't choose to enter.

Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao also agreed. In this situation, it was a mixed bag; you never know who the people you know are serving.

But what the group didn't expect was that after arriving at the Ghost City, they actually saw Deacon Feng Cheng from Taiqingmen leading people to search inside.

Besides that, there were other messy people.

Feng Cheng was at the Jin Dan realm. When the group came for the first time, this guy was controlled by the Blood Tai Sui, and it was only after a lot of effort that they saved him.

"Should we go over?" Yan Xiaohu asked.

Zhou Qing shook his head. He suddenly realized one thing: Feng Cheng's behavior here was clearly looking for that red token.

After all, the only son of a mansion lord and a mysterious Soul Severance realm expert had both appeared here to search, which showed the unusual nature of that token.

Perhaps ever since Ke Shu went to the two sects, various forces had already secretly sent people here to search.

Now that Yu Ziqi of the Five Great Prodigies had appeared here, if they were to have a life-and-death battle here, with Cangyan Dao Palace's style of doing things, what if they were to blame it on others?

Say Yu Ziqi found the token, then was killed by them, and now the token was obtained by them?

Making up lies didn't matter; what was scary was that he really had the token.

It was mainly a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse!

"We can't act here!" Zhou Qing quickly made a decision.

Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao looked over in confusion.

Then why did we run all the way here?

Zhou Qing said, "Now we have to find a way to determine his whereabouts and wait until he returns."

Yan Xiaohu seemed to see Zhou Qing's concerns. That's right, this place was crowded with people. The Ghost City, which used to be deserted, now had many other forces searching for treasure here.

If Fourth's Four Flowers Gathering at the Crown were exposed, it would be trouble.

"Alright, leave the rest to me!" Yan Xiaohu said and left.

Zhou Qing hurriedly instructed him to be careful.

That night, he saw Yan Xiaohu return, cursing.

"I was careless, the information was wrong. I didn't expect that besides Yu Ziqi, Li Hanshan also came. Fortunately, we didn't act today!" Yan Xiaohu felt a sense of relief.

Lu Yaoyao, hearing this, was worried.

Zhou Qing's brows furrowed, and after pondering for a moment, he asked, "Are there only the two of them?"

"At the very least, for now. I just took a glance from afar, fearing I would be discovered, so I retreated. What should we do now?" Yan Xiaohu said helplessly.

Zhou Qing pondered for a while, then looked at the three sets of formation flags in his storage bag, a flash of madness in his eyes.

Some threats are better to be eradicated sooner!

In the next few days, the three of them carefully observed every move of Li Hanshan and Yu Ziqi in the dark.

Sometimes Yan Xiaohu felt that Fourth was absolutely crazy. Wanting to deal with them at the same time was simply playing with his life.

Looking at Lu Yaoyao, she was full of excitement; she seemed to trust Fourth immensely.

But it had to be admitted that once these two guys died at Zhou Qing's hands, the deterrent power brought to Cangyan Dao Palace and Tianji Sect would reach an unprecedented height.

And for the Three Sect Alliance, this was undoubtedly an unprecedented encouragement, which could greatly boost the morale of their side.

Just like this, after observing in the dark for half a month, the two gained nothing. After coming out of the Ghost City, they headed toward Qingmu City.

"It's over, they are going to act against our spirit fields!" Yan Xiaohu worried.

In the current struggle between the five sects, except for the Soul Formation realm experts who hadn't directly entered the field, almost all other means that could be used had been used. Places like mines, affiliated forces, spirit fields, etc., had all become targets of mutual attack.

This Qingmu City was located in a relatively remote area. Since they had come, and gained nothing in the Ghost City, how could they let this place go so easily? They must be planning to do something to recover some "losses."

You must know, the spirit fields in Qingmu City were crucial to Taiqingmen, not to mention that there were sect disciples stationed here silently.

"Plans really can't keep up with changes!" Zhou Qing was also somewhat conflicted at this moment.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "Follow them first and see!"

After the three put on their masks, they hurriedly followed quietly.

Bang!

Just after arriving at Qingmu City, they heard a dull sound. They saw Feng Cheng, who only had the cultivation of the late Jin Dan realm, being thrown out of the city by someone like a dead dog, falling heavily to the ground and raising a cloud of dust.

At the same time, several other Foundation Establishment Taiqingmen disciples were also tragically killed, and the scene was bloody.

Yu Ziqi, carrying a sword box on his back, sat leisurely on the city wall and clapped his hands, "It's truly boring. There are more than 13,000 mu of spirit fields in this city, right? It looks like the growth is quite good."

Feng Cheng struggled to climb up from the ground, shaking his body to barely stand firm, then spat a mouthful of blood at Yu Ziqi's direction, his eyes full of hatred.

Last time, during the Blood Tai Sui incident, if the sect hadn't sent people to rescue him in time, he would have died long ago. Now, as someone who had already died once, what else did he have to fear?

"Yu Ziqi, right? You are stronger than this old man, and you are already at the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul realm at a young age, but so what? Among those so-called prodigies of yours, weren't three of them killed by Zhou Qing Shixiong of my sect? You won't be able to jump around for long; sooner or later, you'll be finished!"

Feng Cheng said mockingly.

Yu Ziqi, hearing this, changed his expression instantly, killing intent permeating. He stared coldly at Feng Cheng and said, "I originally wanted to give you a quick death. Since you are so ignorant of life and death, then enjoy the wonderful process that follows!"

After Yu Ziqi finished speaking, he lifted his hand slightly. He saw the sword box on his back tremble violently, followed by a buzzing sound.

The next moment, one side of the sword box was slowly opened.

A green snake-shaped long sword radiating a cold aura rushed out, continuously spitting out cold air, aiming directly at Feng Cheng.

At this time, Qingmu City Lord Hu Xuantang, seeing this, hurriedly ran out of the city, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

But Feng Cheng had been here for many years, and the two had long become close friends. He really couldn't bear to watch the other party be killed just like that.

"Young Master Yu, look, you are at the Nascent Soul realm, and stepping into the Soul Formation realm is just around the corner. There's no need to be so serious with a small Jin Dan realm..." Hu Xuantang bit the bullet and persuaded.

"Get lost!" Before Hu Xuantang could finish his words, Yu Ziqi interrupted him rudely, his eyes full of impatience and disdain.

Feng Cheng, seeing this, hurriedly shouted toward Hu Xuantang, "Old Hu, you are the City Lord sent by the Shengwu Dynasty to station here. Don't meddle in this matter. Go back and practice well. Let's drink together in the next life."

Hu Xuantang's eye sockets turned slightly red. This was probably the last farewell between the two.

At this time, Feng Cheng looked at Yu Ziqi again, laughed, and mocked loudly, "Grandson, you are just a guy who bullies the weak and fears the strong. This life is just like that. Don't think you are so great; sooner or later, you will get your retribution!"

"Looking for death!" Yu Ziqi was completely enraged, the killing intent on his body becoming more intense. The snake-shaped long sword behind him instantly turned into a green light, rushing toward Feng Cheng like lightning.

Feng Cheng, however, looked calm. He slowly turned around, knelt toward the direction of Taiqingmen, and slowly closed his eyes.

"In the next life, I'll be a Taiqingmen member again!"

Ding!

However, Feng Cheng didn't feel the pain he imagined; instead, he heard a crisp sound of metal collision.

There was also Yu Ziqi's furious roar.

Feng Cheng slowly turned his head, staring blankly at the familiar figure standing behind him. For a time, his eyes were full of disbelief.

His lips trembled slightly, but he couldn't say a word for a long time.

"Where are you looking? There's still your Tiger Master here!" Yan Xiaohu's boisterous voice sounded from the front, and then he helped him up.

"Are you okay?" Lu Yaoyao asked with concern.

Looking at these people who were once so familiar, Feng Cheng felt as if he were dreaming, his mind in a mess.

Is this a flashback or a fantasy before I die?

"It's you, Zhou Qing!" Yu Ziqi roared, his voice filled with endless hatred. He immediately got up from the city wall, anger burning in his eyes, staring fixedly at Zhou Qing.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 173 =====