Chapter 248: The Old Fox Breaches Defenses Again; The Monkey Suffers Reputation Damage

Although Yuan Gong possessed the demeanor of a worthy mentor, Xu Qing still felt quite displeased in his heart.

Only a monkey would incite a novice cat to play with fire!

He should have anticipated the monkey's true nature long ago; even having attained the Immortal Dao, a monkey remains a monkey.

How could anyone else so easily take advantage of a monkey?

The sword techniques and divine abilities Xuan Yu learned were, in the end, clearly marked with a price.

Unwilling to be led by the nose by Yuan Gong, Xu Qing once again expanded the Divine Wandering Heavenly Book, locking onto the location of Bai Yun Cave.

Although the Water Zombie's magic power was drained completely in one go, Xu Qing was not worried.

The forest qi of Cloud-Dream Mountain was abundant; he still had the Fur Zombie transformation available. Since Fur Zombies belong to the mountains and forests, even if he encountered the old fox's divided spirit, he would still possess the strength to fight.

Wood and Fire generate each other; if the power of the mountains and forests proved insufficient against the old fox, he could still command the Fire Zombie transformation.

Encompassing the Five Elements to complete the cycle, Xu Qing layered his defenses like nested dolls; with just his own magic power, he had formed a closed loop of reincarnation.

Here, relying on his massive size and inexhaustible strength, Xu Qing went all out to travel; once the Heavenly Book expanded and fixed the location, the next instant his figure appeared before Bai Yun Cave.

It was still the massive Taishi Peak blocking the cave entrance, still covered in ancient vines and green moss, the old cliff face brimming with traces of time.

The only difference was that an additional young girl now stood before the entrance of Bai Yun Cave, eyes closed and silent, resembling a stone carving.

As if sensing Xu Qing's presence, the girl's brows knitted slightly, her eyelashes trembling beneath her lids as though she were suffering a nightmare.

Xu Qing dared not act rashly; at this moment, Xuan Yu was clearly immersed in a dream, and any distraction caused by external interference could very well lead to failure in the dream battle.

However, although he could not disturb Xuan Yu, could he not disturb the old fox inside Bai Yun Cave!

Xu Qing arrived at the entrance of Bai Yun Cave and released his aura toward the opening.

Meanwhile, within the grotto-heaven illusion constructed by the Holy Maiden, a cat and a fox, a young girl and an old crone, were engaged in a tense battle.

Seeing Xuan Yu remain silent and immediately turn her weapons against her upon entering the dream, the Holy Maiden was already somewhat infuriated.

The old fox had cultivated for many years and seen much; furthermore, possessing the Eye-Knowledge Divine Ability, it could perceive the qi of yin and yang, orthodoxy and heresy, allowing it to recognize Xuan Yu as a Nine-Life Mysterious Cat.

Yet this cat's avatar possessed only eight lives, prompting the Holy Maiden to instantly connect it with the Mysterious Cat used by Daoist Bai Yun years ago to refine the Nine-Turn Mysterious Pill.

Moreover, the Mysterious Cat before her seemed to share intricate connections with Xu Qing, who had recently destroyed one of its divided spirits.

The opponent had slain its divided spirit precisely to force it to repay the old debt of hunting Mysterious Cats for alchemy at Ruyi Temple.

But what was this cat's purpose in coming to find it now?

Secretly invoking the Ghost-Head Divine Blade, the Holy Maiden said with a gloomy expression, "You possess nine lives; what does losing one matter? Speaking of old grudges, your lover already sought trouble for you a few days ago; the divided spirit I lost exactly offsets one of your lives, so why do you insist on hounding me?"

Xuan Yu's small face brimmed with killing intent as she scolded, "Stinky fox, you transmitted evil methods and caused me to lose my life; I have never forgotten this grudge for seven years. Immortal Xu avenged me by slaying one of your divided spirits; how could you possibly let the matter rest?"

"Demons hold grudges more than humans; Old Fox, you may deceive others, but you cannot deceive me!"

Hmph, cats are clever indeed!

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The Holy Maiden's old face darkened; just as she was about to reply, she suddenly detected a familiar scent.

That scent was extremely yin and heretical, yet mixed with the purest, cleanest aura of merit and incense; aside from that two-faced youth wielding a giant axe, who else could it be?

Within the illusion, the Holy Maiden flared her nostrils, sniffing carefully; upon detecting Xu Qing's scent, the old fox's expression clearly changed.

But it was precisely that momentary lapse of concentration that allowed Xuan Yu to seize the opening.

Accompanied by black demonic mist, eight avatars surged toward the old crone standing before Bai Yun Cave.

The Holy Maiden instinctively invoked the ghost hounds trained within the divine blade to resist, yet she failed to notice one of Xuan Yu's avatars closing in on her.

That avatar held no condensed blades or swords, but merely two male-and-female sword pills clasped upside-down in its palm.

When enemies meet, their eyes turn red with fury.

Smelling Xu Qing's aura, the old crone felt considerable resentment in her heart; though she called herself Auntie Holy Maiden, she had never obtained human merit to support her, whereas Xu Qing not only possessed inexhaustible merit and incense but had even condensed a Vow-Power Dharma Aspect.

If that were all, the old fox would at most feel jealousy, not hatred; but the problem was that someone who practically had the labels of Saintly Virtue, Great Compassion, Great Benevolence, and Great Kindness plastered on their forehead had seen through her, a fraud pretending to be a Bodhisattva sage, and decisively declared a hostile stance.

This sense of disparity caused Auntie Holy Maiden, who had pretended for a lifetime and was widely adored by mortals, to instantly reveal her true form; it seemed she had returned to those destitute days when she leaned on a cane and was despised wherever she went.

The Ghost-Head Divine Blade slashed toward the nearest few avatars; the old crone had assumed this divine blade she had refined would easily destroy several avatars, yet she did not expect that just before the blade light reached the young girl, tens of thousands of strands of golden incense suddenly smashed out from the girl's hands.

All the young girls before her, dressed in black robes and skirts with elegant, light postures, were suddenly covered in a layer of holy radiance.

The Holy Maiden's eyelids twitched, and her hand gripping the bamboo staff involuntarily tightened.

A mere cat actually possessed so much incense and vow-power!

Although this incense was not as skillfully wielded as what Xu Qing used, it made up for it in sheer quantity!

The Holy Maiden saw at a glance that this cat did not often use incense in combat, whereas Xu Qing's proficient manipulation of incense earlier was clearly the result of frequent use and accumulation!

How many good deeds must one perform to accumulate such incense?

Jealousy distorts one's features beyond recognition.

The old crone's expression turned terrifyingly gloomy; faintly, the face of an old, thin-cheeked, sharp-snouted white vixen seemed to emerge!

"Little house-cat, today I shall swallow your fate destiny; once I break free in the future, I will occupy your temple, and henceforth, the name sung throughout the world will still be my own, Auntie Holy Maiden!"

The old vixen lost control of her emotions; the Dao she had cultivated over several thousand years through falsehoods to seek truth had its foundations thoroughly shaken by Xu Qing and Xuan Yu.

Falsehoods can never become the Immortal Dao; only truth can achieve immortality and become an ancestor!

Since that was the case, she would substitute the fake for the real, steal the foundations of Xu Qing and Xuan Yu, and then slowly transform the Cat Immortal Hall into a Fox Temple and the Life-Preserving Temple into the Auntie Holy Maiden Temple.

The old fox's abacus clicked loudly, but were the Cat Immortal Hall and the Life-Preserving Temple renowned today merely because of their halls and temple gates?

The Holy Maiden, dressing a monkey in human robes and boasting of her own holiness, had never realized she had already fallen into a quagmire of views; following this trend, she would not only fail to approach the Immortal Dao in her heart but would drift further from her goal until she was entangled by evil karma and unable to extricate herself.

In contrast, Xuan Yu had always maintained a pure nature without any impurities; in other words, she had not experienced much of society's brutal beating, and even having experienced it, she still harbored goodness in her heart, simply naively innocent.

It was only by encountering someone like Xu Qing, whose conduct was completely inhuman, that she learned advanced knowledge for dealing with current versions.

Facing the Five Turbidities and Evil World, one must be flexible and adaptable!

The construction of the Life-Preserving Temple and the Cat Immortal Hall, to some extent, protected Xuan Yu's correct physical and mental development; what did an old vixen with no one to raise her and no one to care for her have to compare with Xuan Yu?

The Holy Maiden felt jealous in her heart; while she battled within the illusion, the 'humans' in the outside world were continuously hurling obscenities and threats to protect the cat demon before her.

"We are all demons; why is it that only you have someone who cares and someone who watches over you?" Holy Auntie's heart suffered a massive breach.

Thinking back, in order to cultivate, it roamed everywhere deceiving people; only with great difficulty did it trick its way into obtaining the Heavenly Book for cultivation, yet it still ended up being chased and beaten by Yuan Gong. How can the gap between demon and demon be so vast?

Imprisoned for a thousand years within the Bai Yun Cave, Holy Auntie's mind had already become thoroughly twisted.

Sensing that Holy Auntie's attacks were growing increasingly vicious, Xu Qing felt not fear but joy.

It controlled seven avatar clones to withstand all the pressure, reserving just one clone to wait for an opportunity.

The moment Holy Auntie's emotions fluctuated violently and she became completely swept up by hatred, the sword pellet that had been lying in wait suddenly leaped out from one of Xu Qing's clones!

The instant the two sword pellets leaped up, they transformed into white swords resembling snow and frost, their cold light pressing in on all sides!