Chapter 324: Dark Night, High Winds, and Urgent Thunderstorms

Huh?

The little tiger cub darted back to the small courtyard, glanced around briefly, saw only a fat field mouse sleeping drowsily in the corner, and spotted no trace of Li Yuan.

Was that shadow the kid?

Going out on a rainy night, what do you intend to do?

Frowning slightly, the little tiger cub moved his body and vanished into the rain curtain as well.

Almost at the moment she departed, a wisp of cloud mist mixed with rain fell onto the roof above the courtyard; Long Long Yingchan nodded slightly:

"This will do."

With such a giant infiltrating the sect, he naturally would not ignore it; the Life-Nurturing Furnace covered the inner court, with six or seven tenths of its focus falling on this matter.

"I wonder how much strength remains in this Master Qin?"

Pinching his long eyebrows, Long Long Yingchan's figure disappeared into the wind and rain.

Crack!

High winds, urgent rain, and hurried thunder.

Li Yuan, holding a hammer, shuttled through the rain curtain at a moderate speed; his peripheral vision occasionally swept the surroundings, trying to find the figure of that Dao Master.

Yet he discovered not the slightest anomaly.

"Could it be he isn't following?"

Li Yuan muttered inwardly, but it was merely private grumbling; regarding his own Dao Master, he still trusted him.

Long Hu Dao Master Long Long Yingchan, though his reputation in the Jianghu was not as great as Yuan Qing True Person's, was also famous for his steadiness and experience.

'It is said that since the Dao Master first appeared, he has never suffered a loss...'

Li Yuan touched the long whip at his waist, quickened his pace, soon bypassed the patrol teams, exited the inner court, and left the mountain gate.

In the night rain, Hengshan City was silent, with only the residences of great families and the brothels of the pleasure quarters still lit.

"That old ghost Mo Tian is the 'Master Mo Tian'; if so, he should be at Mount Mo Tian Temple..."

Long Long Yingchan only told him to descend the mountain but provided no other intelligence; Li Yuan somewhat felt this Dao Master had an intention to test him,

but for him, this truly counted as no difficult problem.

"As long as he is still in Hengshan City."

The information about the 'Nine Statues of Mount Mo Tian' flashed through his mind; Li Yuan tapped his foot lightly and headed toward the direction of Mount Mo Tian Temple.

For a year, he rarely descended the mountain to enter the city, but he was quite familiar with the layout of each city district and the locations of each temple; this was naturally thanks to Wang Wang Peiyao.

Young Lady Wang had drawn a rough sketch for him half a year ago; now, that map was in his mind, very clear.

Changing clothes, stealth, excellent lightness skill, skilled movements, very familiar with patrols inside and outside the court...

Outside the mountain gate, in a shadowed area, watching Li Yuan maneuvering and shifting his form in the night rain, rising and falling without sound, resembling a ghost, Nie Xianshan pinched his beard:

"This kid is remarkably experienced."

Under the shadow, Long Xi Xiang held a demon-subduing mace without speaking; Cang Cang Xianzhi, who had accompanied them, frowned slightly:

"Very experienced."

"Perhaps he has learned similar things? With his talent, learning it would be too easy."

Long Xi Xiang glanced at Nie Xianshan; the latter smiled and said nothing.

"Normal."

Cang Cang Xianzhi echoed the remark.

"Senior Brother, if you do not come out soon, I will leave first!"

Nie Xianshan was unhurried, but Long Xi Xiang grew somewhat impatient; he lowered his voice, and behind him, clouds and mist flashed as Long Long Yingchan arrived with the wind.

He shuttled through the rain curtain yet did not block out the wind and rain; rather, he seemed to merge into the wind and rain; even as strong as Long Xi Xiang and the other two, they could not detect his traces.

"No rush."

"No rush?!"

Long Xi Xiang was very anxious; so it isn't your disciple, you aren't afraid, are you?

"That old ghost, though not his true body descending, possesses the power of a Grandmaster; why drag a junior into this?"

Long Xi Xiang was in a very bad mood.

"Grass does not grow under a great tree; if he does not come out to face the wind and rain, he will only waste his peerless endowment."

Long Long Yingchan explained: "That old ghost came attached to a divine weapon; although he has some methods, he is merely at the Zhun Sect level."

"Li Yuan has not yet refined his organs!"

Long Xi Xiang was quite displeased; training disciples is not done this way.

Long Long Yingchan naturally knew his thoughts and did not wish to argue: "... Then you follow first."

Hiss~

Before his words had even finished drifting, Long Xi Xiang had already vanished from the spot.

"This stupid elephant has always been bold; in his old age, he has become somewhat restrained."

Nie Xianshan snorted lightly.

Long Xi Xiang's reputation in those days came from where? It was carved out by stepping on the corpses of countless people; he was notorious for his ferocity and recklessness.

Otherwise, he would not have gotten involved in such a major event as assassinating a king and killing an emperor.

"Concern leads to chaos."

Cang Cang Xianzhi shook his head slightly.

"Hmph!"

Nie Xianshan seemed to think of something, and shot a glare at Long Long Yingchan along the way, but the latter pretended not to notice.

"Finish it fast."

Long Long Yingchan didn't dawdle either. He sent a few words via sound transmission, ordering the two to sweep the Xieshen Sect's hidden scouts and experts in each city district, then vanished on the spot.

"Not even a little fish — is it worth our taking action?"

"The Grand Martial Exhibition of All Dao is imminent. There cannot be the slightest disturbance."

Cang Cang Xianzhi turned and left, vanishing into the curtain of rain.

"Hope that old ghost can hold out a while longer."

Nie Xianshan sighed and left swiftly.

He had come down the mountain for that old ghost — no time to delay.

……

Whoosh whoosh~

Weaving through wind and rain, Li Yuan didn't go too fast. Though he knew a Grand Grandmaster's methods were beyond his ability to predict, he still didn't dare rush.

"That old ghost has to be at least Master-level, right? Using a fierce brute like that to test disciples — which disciple could withstand such a test?"

As he drew near Mount Mo Tian Temple, Li Yuan's nerves tightened. Though he wore the Canglong Kasaya inside and had the Dragon-belt of the Mirage in hand, he was still very tense.

The Master Pass is called the Dragon Gate — fish and serpents before, dragons after. This certainly refers to how difficult the pass is, but it also speaks to the vast gap between one side of this realm and the other.

Over the past few years, among the ancient books and records he'd flipped through, the rumors and intelligence he'd gathered, there were quite a few experts who'd escaped a Master's hands by various means,

but those who, the weak defeating the strong, fought and won — those could be counted on one hand.

Looking across the present age, there is only one person with such a record — the number one of today, the Town Martial King Wan Wan Zhuliu.

"Could he suspect I'm Li Li Yuanba, and use this chance to force me to bring out the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer?"

Scattered raindrops streamed down from his bamboo hat. Li Yuan was a little nervous, his thoughts drifting.

"If I can win, fight; if I can't, run!"

After a good while, Li Yuan had a plan. He steadied his mind, swallowed a handful of pills, then took out a Qi-Boosting Pill and held it in his mouth,

only then holding his breath and focusing his spirit as he walked toward Mount Mo Tian Temple at the end of the long street.

With the Dragon-belt of the Mirage in hand, plus the boost from his lightness skill and the Soldier-Summoning Register, he figured that fighting he might not win, but escaping should be about right.

"Mm… let's first see if I can launch a sneak attack."

……

Mount Mo Tian Temple didn't have much incense, and didn't take up much ground — but this "not much" was compared to great temples like the Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple and the Hundred-Arm Daoist Temple.

Compared to the mansions of ordinary mid- and small-sized clans, it was still considerably larger.

In the old temple's rear courtyard, an oil lamp was lit.

Inside the room, behind a hastily erected altar, Mo Tian sat cross-legged. Yin-black true qi circulated ceaselessly around his body, interacting with the altar.

Hum~

After a long while, he suddenly opened his eyes. The yin-black qi swirling around him instantly sank into the altar, and with a soft chime, his most rudimentary ritual was complete.

"Brother Mo?"

After the yin-black qi dispersed, a wisp of faint white light rose from the altar, and a voice, faint as if from very far away, came through:

"To think you'd actually contact me through a ritual — that's a rarity."

"Yan Yan Tianxiong, your man has defied this god!"

Mo Tian raised his hand, and yin-black qi enveloped the entire room. His face was dark and cold:

"This god has taken a fancy to a dwelling. This time, whether or not we find the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer, that dwelling — this god must first get it in hand!"

"A dwelling? What dwelling could make Brother Mo so unable to forget it?"

The other end of the altar sounded slightly surprised: "If Yan remembers correctly, Brother Mo's 'Dwelling-Transfer Art' can only be used two more times?"

The Dwelling-Transfer Art is an untransmitted supreme secret of the Baishen Sect, containing the wonder of longevity, but its restrictions are equally severe — not only dangerous, but extremely limited in number of uses.

"A top-tier dwelling."

Mo Tian's face was grave: "Yan Yan Tianxiong, lend this god a hand, and afterward, this god can grant you one strike — my true body's descent!"

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Ji Ji Tian at the other end grew even more surprised: "Yan is all the more curious now."

"Deal or no deal?"

"No deal!"

"Mm?!"

Mo Tian's eyes turned cold.

"Once we have the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer, Yan personally taking action would not be unwelcome. Before that — absolutely not."

The voice from the altar was very calm, yet brooked no refusal:

"The Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing concerns the Eight Directions Temple. Whoever dares ruin my great undertaking — don't blame Yan for ruthless measures: shattering the divine shrine, destroying the divine soul!"

Crack!

In the night, a lightning serpent streaked across, and the room fell deathly silent.

"Eight Directions Temple?"

Mo Tian, on the contrary, calmed down.

"The Eight Directions Temple is about to open, and the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing is the key. Dwellings are numerous under heaven, but ownerless Heaven-Sent Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing — there are only so many."

At the other end of the altar, Yan Yan Tianxiong's voice softened slightly:

"What does Brother Mo think?"

"The Eight Directions Temple — ethereal and elusive. Whether it even exists is still unknown."

Mo Tian's face was expressionless:

"Where is the Rift Sea Dark Whale Hammer?"

"The Dark Whale Hammer is at Dragon Tiger Temple."

"Who is its master?"

"Li Li Yuanba — or perhaps a false name."

Separated by the altar, the two exchanged question and answer. After a moment, Mo Tian's brow furrowed:

"If you cannot find the Dark Whale Hammer in a single day, does that mean this god cannot take that dwelling for a single day?"

"Half a year will be enough."

Hearing the reply, Mo Tian raised a hand, and the dark, black Qi already reversed its flow from the altar:

"Bafang Temple…"

Pushing open the door, Mo Tian gazed out at the night sky. Between the rolling black clouds, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled; neither stars nor moon could be seen:

"Yan Yan Tianxiong!"

He muttered the name in a low voice, his eyes cold and indifferent, yet tinged with a hint of irritation.

"Half a year — far too long."

Mo Tian knit his brow. He was well aware of the various sects' martial exhibition; as the date drew near, the masters of the other great Daoist sects would likely arrive one after another.

Once that moment truly arrived, even if he descended in his true form, it would already be too late.

"I must find a way to lure Long Long Yingchan away, or draw that dwelling down the mountain… or perhaps… draw my true form down?"

Muttering to himself, Mo Tian pushed the door open and walked toward the great hall where his own divine statue was enshrined.

"He's come out?"

From a corner of the eaves of Zhengdian, Li Yuan had been lying in wait for over a shichen. Now, seeing that Mount Mo Tian had emerged, he did not stir — he merely tightened his grip on the six-ridged dragon hammer in his palm.