Chapter 561: Split Up and Act Separately

Little sister’s five-colored auspicious cloud flies a bit slower, but it’s much steadier.

Yet her swordplay and body techniques surpass Lin Jue’s; her cultivation of the Five Elements Spirit Method grants her a stronger physique than Lin Jue’s, so she has no need for the spirit cloud in battle—it’s merely a means of transport. Besides, women favor beautiful things, and this five-colored auspicious cloud suits her perfectly.

Even if slow, it’s still a spirit cloud, carrying an immortal—two thousand li per day is no problem.

Unaware, the two had already ridden the cloud to the open sea.

After leaving land, the horizon stretched boundlessly. The sky was vast, the sea was vast, neither had an edge; sea and sky merged into one, a boundless expanse.

Far from land, even the sea seemed to vanish.

“I remember Third Brother saying he found the Dragon Lord’s place between the Eastern and Southern Seas, eight thousand li above the ground,” Little Sister stood on the cloud, gazing blankly at the surroundings below, “how can we possibly find Third Brother and the Dragon Lord Kingdom in such a vast expanse?”

Too much time had passed; the fox’s paw prints on Third Brother’s jade horse and the Princess Hua’s palace box had long been worn away by wind and frost.

“Don’t rush.”

Lin Jue thought for a moment and called out:

“Chen Niu, Chen Niu.”

Without a sound, the brown-clad imp appeared out of thin air.

But as soon as it appeared, it twisted its head in all directions, looked up and down, staring at the perfectly round sky above, faintly veiled in cloud gauze, and the half-circle sea below, barely rippling—and its face visibly showed bewilderment as it turned to Lin Jue.

Where had they brought it this time?

“I can’t find the way…”

Chen Niu said, dazed and confused.

“Do you know the Dragon Lord Kingdom?”

“I can’t find the way…”

“Can’t find it either?” Lin Jue said. “Then go ask for directions.”

“Going to ask for directions…”

Without a sound, the imp vanished again.

Lin Jue reached out and summoned, upon the boundless blue sea and sky, a massive thundercloud:

“Let’s split up. Whoever finds them first burns Chen Niu’s talisman; if the fox finds them first, come find me; if I find them first, I’ll wait right here, or call Chen Niu to bring me to you.”

The fox’s expression turned serious; it thought for a moment, then suddenly shook its head—and out popped several fox heads, all staring at Lin Jue.

“Split like this?”

“Peng…”

Lin Jue instantly transformed into four Lin Jues, all flying onto the thundercloud.

The thundercloud then split into three more.

The original body stood atop the largest cloud; the three clones each stood on one of the others.

Seeing this, the fox stopped fooling around; its multiple heads stepped away from its body—not falling off, but emerging with entirely new, complete bodies, stepping out from the original form.

Before Little Flower’s astonished gaze, six more foxes quickly appeared atop the five-colored cloud, bringing the total to seven.

One fox, just emerged, noticed its fur was messy and immediately bent to lick it; another, lazy, took a few steps then stretched and yawned; two foxes began wrestling immediately, like dancing lions; one fox turned to look at Lin Jue; one walked to the cloud’s edge and peered curiously downward; another turned to look at Little Flower.

Little Flower stared, dumbfounded.

“Time to go.”

The central fox called out.

The fox knew urgency; instantly, the licking fox, the stretching fox, the wrestling foxes, the gawking foxes—all froze, then, following the central fox, lightly leapt from the five-colored cloud onto the nearby thundercloud.

“Peng…”

The thundercloud naturally split into seven, each bearing one fox.

“The fox’s paw prints remain faint—shouldn’t be far from here. The foxes go first,” said the central fox. “I’m off.”

Then came the chorus of fox voices:

“We’re off too.”

Little Flower’s mouth hung open, eyes wide, her head shaking slightly as she gazed in different directions, watching the seven thunderclouds carrying seven foxes swiftly vanish.

“We’re going too,” said one Lin Jue.

“Focus on the north,” said another Lin Jue.

“The other three directions are ours,” said yet another Lin Jue.

“…”

Cai Li couldn’t help but look up at Little Sister.

Little Sister reached up and scratched her head.

“Brother…”

“What?”

The last Lin Jue asked.

Little Sister scratched her head, bluntly: “You might be going a bit mad from being dragged around by the fox.”

“Farewell!”

All Lin Jues spoke in unison, then rode their clouds away.

He and the fox had perfect Moqi ; seeing the fox head mostly east and south, he went west; the fox knew he’d make this choice, so it searched only east and south.

Little Sister continued gazing at Cai Li.

“Let’s split up too.”

“? Like that?”

“I don’t have that ability.”

“Neither do I!”

Without a sound, the colorful cloud split in two.

“If you meet rough seas, detour; if you encounter sea demons, don’t fight—fly back to me.”

“You too!”

The two colorful clouds drifted left and right, both heading north.

…

Beyond the sea, the land remains uncivilized, teeming with strange creatures reminiscent of ancient times on the mainland, and countless wondrous kingdoms.

Many demons also dwell here.

Demons who cultivate here suffer from no civilization or culture, no cultivation system, no social channels; most merely follow instinct to absorb celestial qi and solar-lunar essence, and live in solitude. But the benefit is almost no interference, and no immortals or Daoists come to trouble them.

Thus, those with talent and long cultivation can still achieve great power.

At this moment, a great demon, while asleep, encountered something strange.

A dragon sprawled on the seabed, a black tortoise floating in the water, a giant crab occupying a small island, a shark king ruling over a thousand giant sharks…

They shouldn’t dream—but they dreamed anyway.

The dreams were strange—

A tiny figure in brown robes, wearing a small brown spherical hat, suddenly appeared, asking them:

“Where is this?”

Some demons understood his words.

Others didn’t understand the words—but still understood his meaning.

But when asked “Where is the Dragon Lord Kingdom?”, some demons woke up startled, others answered drowsily, then upon waking, had no idea what they’d said.

After all, such dreams were utterly absurd.

Who dreams of a tiny figure asking for directions?

They dismissed it as nonsense.

…

Lin Jue also knew the method of asking for directions.

Though the several Lin Jues were in different directions, separated by at least dozens of li, all rode their clouds close to the sea surface.

A massive black-and-white orca surfaced to lock eyes with him; an ancient tortoise drifted with seaweed, squinting upward at him; octopuses and dolphins also broke the surface.

Some Lin Jues asked directly:

“Do you know the Dragon Lord Kingdom? The island inhabited by giant men?”

Others waved their sleeves, conjuring illusions of Dragon Lord giants in the air, asking where the path lay.

Though the method of commanding beasts and birds might not work on these aquatic creatures, Lin Jue had already attained true Dao, and naturally possessed affinity with all things under heaven and earth; with patience, he could always make them understand.

The orca pointed him in one direction.

The old tortoise said nothing and sank beneath the waves.

The octopus remained silent for a long while, then suddenly released ink—but didn’t flee, as if warning him that danger lay that way.

The dolphins, equally timid, fled swiftly.

…

Meanwhile, on an island, a Daoist who looked thirty or forty held a small sword, smaller than an ordinary dagger, walking through a crude “palace” built of stone and wood.

The palace was rough but towering; the passageways alone stood over ten zhang high.

Sea demons frequently passed through.

To prevent his belongings from jangling, Third Brother tied his wine gourd tightly and stuffed the jade horse and the soul-nourishing pearl of Princess Hua into his chest.

“Boom… boom…”

A faint but violent footstep echoed ahead.

Third Senior Brother quickly sidestepped and squeezed into the crack between the rocks.

A line of giant crabs, nearly ten feet tall, marched forward in unison.

Suddenly, one of the giant crabs halted its steps; though its body didn’t move, its protruding eyes turned slightly to the side, gazing into the rock crevice—as if sensing something unusual.

Yet upon closer inspection, it saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Amid the thunderous footsteps, the other giant crabs gradually moved farther away, and only then did it retract its gaze and hurry after them.

Third Senior Brother’s figure emerged from the stone, returning to the rock crevice.

Younger Brother’s Earth Burial technique still works well.

A faint female voice sounded from his chest:

“This place is too dangerous. These sea soldiers can likely stand against heavenly soldiers—meaning their master is probably an oceanic demon king who has achieved true enlightenment. Without the Nine Heavens suppressing and purging him, he may have cultivated for countless years. You’d be wiser to return only after you’ve achieved true enlightenment yourself.”

“I’ve come this far…”

Third Senior Brother replied softly.

This wasn’t saying that since he’d come, he couldn’t afford to turn back without wasting the trip.

It was that since he’d come, he’d already met Long Wang, even found Long Wang’s lingering soul-attachment, learned how this demon king had slaughtered them, and now had Long Wang’s lingering soul-attachment willing to follow him—if he left now, he’d betray not only himself but also those lingering souls.

Can anyone simply follow you because you speak sweet words?

If someone follows you, and you don’t avenge them, how can your heart be at peace?

This was the principle he’d taught Younger Brother when he first taught him to carve beans into soldiers—how could he forget it himself?

This was precisely why Third Senior Brother was suited to carving beans into soldiers, and why lingering soul-attachments everywhere were willing to follow him.

Of course, a demon king who has achieved true enlightenment—even if he’s poor at magic, even if he has a way to escape, even if he finds the right timing and countermeasures—is not someone he can easily kill.

But at the very least, he must burn this place to the ground!

“Are you suffocating in your chest?”

“Not suffocating. It’s quite warm.”

“Hmm…”

As Third Senior Brother spoke, the passage suddenly trembled.

Countless giant crabs, giant shrimp, sea beasts, fish demons, and Long Wang poured out of the passage, then lined up along every part of the corridor, inspecting and standing guard—as if they’d detected him or been provoked.

A hideous fish demon, over ten feet tall, wielding a steel trident, strode forward; atop its head grew a curved, fishing-pole-like tentacle, its tip glowing with bioluminescence like a hanging lantern. Had the surroundings been safe, he would have summoned Princess Hua to come see this marvel.

Yet just as the hideous fish demon passed before the rock crevice where Third Senior Brother hid, the lantern on its head suddenly blazed bright.