Chapter 306: Old Acquaintance

Ling Yuzhen's pair of beautiful eyes landed on the two of them with great curiosity.

Although she had followed the two of them all the way here, she had actually only been in contact with them for about an hour, and she could not understand the completely inverted relationship between them at all.

Of course, she did not intend to ask; she was just a little curious.

Furthermore, she had long since noticed that Xu Chen's cultivation was very strange; he appeared to only have the cultivation of the Zhenyuan Realm, yet the aura he emitted was no weaker than that of the Danyuan Realm, and what was most strange was that his soul was stable and powerful, possessing the strength of a Spirit Transformation cultivator.

From realm to cultivation to strength, he spanned two stages that could be called chasms.

Such a strange phenomenon appearing in a young Daoist only sixteen or seventeen years old naturally made her feel even more curious.

Therefore, her willingness to stay and accompany Xu Chen to the Immortal Alliance Assembly was not entirely for the sake of this Spirit Fox, Xiaobai.

Of course, she would not take action to help Xu Chen; at most, as a bystander, she would offer some dispensable guidance and reminders at certain times.

After all, her status did not allow her to interfere in any matters of the mortal world or the Immortal Sects.

Xu Chen hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Since the Great Elder is currently in no major trouble and in no danger of losing his life, waiting two days is not impossible. I can take advantage of this time to secretly inquire about the news of my two senior sisters, and once everything is under control, I will settle the score with those old fogies."

Ling Yuzhen giggled and said, "Although your cultivation is poor, your courage is not bad."

Xu Chen immediately blushed in embarrassment and said, "Senior, you are joking. I just don't want to blow this matter out of proportion. When the time comes and several True Monarchs are present, once this matter is thoroughly settled, there will be no more worries. After all, the biggest threats right now are the leakage of Underworld Qi and the disaster of the Nether Beasts; tearing off the mask prematurely is not conducive to the overall situation."

Ling Yuzhen was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "It is truly excellent that you can think this way. If the heart can contain all things, then the world is naturally vast. When you reach a certain realm, looking back at some things will make you feel very childish and ridiculous, just like that group of white-bearded old Daoists on the mountaintop. Their cultivation is nothing special, yet each of them is very calculating. None of these fellows will be able to achieve Void Breaking and become an immortal. Alright, since it has been decided, let's not waste any more time. Let's go find food for Xiaobai first."

Inside the main hall of the Xianyun Palace on the mountaintop.

At this time, Qiyunzi and a group of Great Cultivators had already been discussing for half an hour.

Although things had become a bit unpleasant regarding the Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill, they were, after all, a group of long-renowned Great Cultivators who knew what was important, so they had arranged for the reception of the three True Monarchs and the Immortal Alliance Assembly one after another.

Just as the group was preparing to disperse, several Elders suddenly felt a hair-raising terror for no reason, as if they had been casually glanced at by a pair of eyes from the nether, and even their souls had been seen through completely.

But this inexplicable terror came and went quickly, as if it were a momentary illusion that vanished in an instant.

Yet in that instant, the backs of several silver-haired and silver-bearded old Daoists were drenched in cold sweat. But when they released their Divine Sense to scan a radius of ten thousand miles, they found that it was truly like an illusion, and they could not find any source at all.

"Fellow Daoists, did you have any bad feelings just now?" Xuanhong Zhenjun asked via voice transmission, his expression fearful.

Several Elders all nodded with equally fearful expressions, but no one spoke. After a full dozen breaths of silence, Qiyunzi suppressed his pounding heart and whispered via voice transmission, "It is possible that a certain True Monarch came to investigate just now. Fellow Daoists, you should all return, order your respective sects and affiliated Immortal Alliance forces, and prepare for the reception."

"Understood!"

A group of True Spirit Realm Elders all stood up to take their leave, while the dozens of Spirit Transformation True Monarchs sitting below, who had felt nothing, hurriedly stood up as well, bowed, and teleported away from the hall.

For a time, on the peak of Langya Mountain, waves of powerful Spirit Qi fluctuated violently. One by one, Great Cultivators flashed away from the Xianyun Palace, then each stepped on the void toward the various Daoist temples around the mountaintop.

The commotion on the mountain naturally made the tens of thousands of low- and mid-tier cultivators at the foot of the mountain extremely excited; they exclaimed one after another, looking up at the sky with faces full of envy and jealousy.

Xu Chen was currently drinking tea in an antique-looking teahouse with Ghost Spirit True Monarch and Ling Yuzhen, holding Xiaobai. Sitting by the window, he naturally saw the situation on the mountain clearly.

Seeing the groups of Great Cultivators coming out of the Xianyun Palace, Xu Chen could not help but click his tongue and say, "I didn't expect there to be so many Great Cultivators in the Divine Continent. It seems they usually hide very deeply."

Ghost Spirit True Monarch stroked his beard and said, "This isn't even half of them. Before I left the Yuqing Hall, there were about two hundred Spirit Realm Great Cultivators in the entire Divine Continent. There might be fewer now, but there should still be over a hundred. I just inquired; of the ten great Immortal Sects coming to participate in the alliance, only four have arrived. Except for the Thunder God Hall, their strength is relatively low. It's just unexpected that my Yuqing Hall has actually dropped to tenth place."

Ling Yuzhen seemed completely uninterested in these things. She fed Xiaobai a piece of third-tier Demon Beast jerky and curled her lips, saying, "They are just a bunch of soft-bodied fellows. Nether Beasts are not that easy to deal with. If they are not well-prepared, they will likely stumble this time due to carelessness."

Xu Chen naturally knew the power of the Nether Beasts; after all, in the Divine Continent, he might be the only human who had been to the Minghuang and seen a sixth-tier Nether Beast.

He had even seen terrifying Great Demon Lords surpassing the True Immortal level, such as the Heitian Demon Lord, Youtong Demon Lord, White Bone Demon Emperor, and the Three-Headed Demon Dog.

If one such powerhouse from the Underworld were to mix into the Mortal World, I fear that with a single sneeze, the tens of thousands of cultivators here would all be dead.

Although the possibility of this was very small, it was not non-existent.

It is better to be safe than sorry.

Therefore, Xu Chen asked cautiously, "Senior, do you think there might be True Immortal-level beings from the Underworld mixing into the Mortal World to cause trouble?"

Ling Yuzhen glanced at him, took out a handkerchief that looked like brocade clouds from somewhere, and wiped her fingers, which were like white scallions, saying, "Otherwise? Do you think I came down here just for fun?"

The expressions of Xu Chen and Ghost Spirit True Monarch changed instantly.

"Senior Ling, could it be that the Immortal World has received some clues or news?" Xu Chen asked hurriedly.

Ling Yuzhen shook her head and said, "These are not things I can know. However, you can rest assured that even if there are powerhouses from the Underworld entering the Mortal World, they would not dare to rashly attack ordinary cultivators and mortals. Although the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths seem chaotic, they actually have various rules. The end for those who do not follow the rules is only death."

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Especially Ghost Spirit True Monarch, who kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

Having finally had the good luck to reach the Great Perfection of Spirit Transformation and finally be able to look down on the Mortal World as the sole master, if a group of Nether Beasts comparable to True Immortals suddenly appeared, how could he continue to survive?

Xu Chen thought the same. He had also experienced hardships and setbacks, living through life and death all the way to the present. His cultivation realm was also a muddle, but he finally had some strength to protect himself. He was preparing to work hard and fight the Nether Beasts after rescuing the Great Elder and his two senior sisters, continuing to temper himself through numerous battles to improve his realm as quickly as possible.

But if Nether Beasts whose strength exceeded the power system of the Mortal World suddenly appeared, then there would be no point in playing; he might as well just bash his head against a wall and die.

But fortunately, it was clear that the Immortal World had always been guarding against this situation.

From the appearance of Wu Yazi when that Ancient Fierce Beast escaped, it seemed that the stance of the Immortal World had already been indicated.

It was just that they did not seem to interfere in the battles between Nether Beasts and cultivators of the same realm.

This might also be a tacit understanding or rule between the Immortal World and the Underworld.

"Wu ya~ wu ya~"

Xiaobai suddenly called out toward the window, as if it had seen something. Xu Chen turned to look out and saw a young woman wearing a yellow long dress walking by in a hurry.

Xu Chen was stunned and immediately recognized who this woman was; it was actually Lin Qiu Ya of the Ziyang Sect of the Ming Kingdom.

Although the time he had known and spent with Lin Qiu Ya was not long, she had left a deep impression on him.

The first time he went down the mountain to Jingshi, it was from her that he learned the secret of the Soul Bead.

Later, the three of them—senior brother, senior sister, and younger brother—had three consecutive great battles with Qin Feng of the Yuqing Hall, Guo Ming of the Longmen Mountain, and the senior brother and sister Lin Qiu Ya of the Ziyang Sect. Although Xu Chen and the others won by luck, they had exhausted their vital energy and had no combat power left. At the last moment, Lin Qiu Ya actually let the three of them go.

To this day, Xu Chen still did not know the name of the white-clothed cultivator he had burned to death with a Third-tier Spirit Talisman.

But Lin Qiu Ya letting them leave did indeed still fill him with strange emotions and gratitude.

By logic, Lin Qiu Ya had approached the three of them to obtain the Blood God Grass, yet she gave up at the last moment when it was within her reach.

Of course, it was possible that her cultivation was too low at the time and she was very afraid.

But as a large Immortal Sect with a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator in charge, it was impossible for her not to have a few Protective Spirit Talismans on her. In reality, a simple probe could have taken Xu Chen's life, yet she had no intention of taking action from beginning to end.

Time passed in the blink of an eye for more than a year.

By now, that bone-deep, unforgettable battle seemed insignificant after all the various life-threatening dangers Xu Chen had experienced, and it seemed to have become a very distant memory.

Originally, he had almost completely forgotten this woman.

But he did not expect to run into her again today.

More than a year had passed, and Lin Qiu Ya's cultivation progress was not significant, only at the middle to late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm; her Qi fluctuations were weak, and mixed among the coming and going cultivators, she was almost at the very bottom.

Xu Chen was hesitating whether to call out to her to say hello, when he saw a group of cultivators wearing uniform Daoist robes charging over, quickly surrounding Lin Qiu Ya in the middle.

Although many of the people who were bumped aside started cursing, their expressions quickly changed and they scattered in all directions.

Among this group of cultivators, there were actually two experts of the Danyuan Realm, and the rest were all masters of the Zhenyuan Realm.

Although such strength was not much to look at among the tens of thousands of people at the Immortal Alliance Assembly, the magic robes rippling with Qi on their bodies showed everyone their extraordinary status.

Even True Monarch Guiling, who looked out upon hearing the noise, could not help but let out an "eh" and said, "It is actually people from the Junwang Hall."

(End of this chapter)