Chapter 473: Jianghu Affairs

Ghostly and elusive!

Holding the letter, Li Yuan frowned slightly; this was indeed the style of the Star-Picking Pavilion Master, but he felt somewhat dissatisfied in his heart: if you're sending a letter, just send the letter—what did you do to my cat for?

Li Yuan tore open the letter; on it was written only a single

"And" character, written as if by a ghostly hand; the writer could be said to be extremely cautious!

"Within half a month, at Dinglong Mountain?"

Li Yuan pondered briefly and took out a map!

Dinglong Mountain, located in Ziyun Prefecture, is a mountain range stretching ten thousand li, bordering the Western Sea; the mountains are full of spiritual beasts, and martial artists from the Jianghu have long gone there to hunt them!

It is only thirteen hundred li from here!

"Is the main headquarters of the Star-Picking Pavilion within Dinglong Mountain?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly; he knew his little tiger cub well.

For over two years, though it seemed to have made little progress, its speed and ferocity had grown day by day; a martial artist who had merely reached the Blood Transformation realm would have no chance of approaching!

Let alone carrying a letter back from it!

The one who left this letter, even if not the Star-Picking Pavilion Master himself, was likely an elder of the Star-Picking Pavilion.

"So mysterious!"

Li Yuan put the letter away, thought for a moment, pushed open the door, and prepared to find a free moment to invite Wan Chuan and the others to a meal!

Having ridden a tailwind for over two months, a gesture of gratitude was certainly in order!

Meow!

The little tiger cub lay by the bedside, paying little attention to Li Yuan's reaction, still recalling and digesting its conversation with that Red Whip!

Regarding the Realm Beyond Heaven, she had some understanding, mostly from records left by the Ancestral Master Dragon Demon Daoist, pursuing the Realm Beyond Heaven and the Eight Directions Temples!

According to Dragon Demon Daoist, at an altitude of three thousand zhang lies the Gales of the Void, one layer a thousand zhang, totaling nine layers; the Eight Directions Temples very likely exist within them!

And the Realm Beyond Heaven might lie above the nine layers of Gales of the Void, or perhaps in an even more distant place; from ancient times to the present, treasures and beast corpses have fallen from the sky,

many of them, yet no one has truly found the existence of the Realm Beyond Heaven!

"The Realm Beyond Heaven, Tian Shi Yuan, where the Daoists gather; the Poison Dragon Academy, worshipping the Poison Dragon God, ranked among the five Great Cavern Heavens of Tian Shi Yuan!"

Qin Li Shixian stood dazed, lost in thought!

She had to admit her ears were a bit soft, or perhaps the allure of the Realm Beyond Heaven was too great, so that facing that invitation from the Red Whip, she felt somewhat moved!

"Poison Dragon Academy, the path beyond He Yi Jing..."

Qin Li Shixian was slightly dazed; in an instant, she seemed to sense something, looked up, and saw a small hawk silently arrive from the night!

A wisp of purple light surged from the hawk and landed upon her head!

Buzz!

Qin Li Shixian's heart stirred slightly; in the next instant, she had entered Ru Le Shen Jing

within!

Beneath the Bronze Tower, the figure of Qin Yun slowly appeared!

"Is the matter settled?"

Qin Li Shixian asked aloud!

"Something is strange!"

Qin Yun's expression shifted slightly!

"How so?"

Qin Li Shixian was somewhat surprised!

"Long Long Yingchan's remaining hand was quite decisive; he joined forces with Fang Fang Sanyun and others, activated the Heavenly Fortune Divine Weapon, and in a single night, the Xieshen Sect's main headquarters was uprooted! Yuan Qing, that young fellow, hid within and actually managed to find those shrines of the Mao Gods; he used his Three Yuan One Qi Stake to pin down those Mao Gods and killed quite a large number!"

Qin Yun spoke aloud!

"A large number?"

Qin Li Shixian's heart trembled slightly, and she couldn't help but feel regret; for such a major event, if not for the old man refusing, she would certainly have gone to join the fun!

"Yes, quite a lot!"

"Then where is the strangeness?" Qin Li Shixian asked, somewhat puzzled!

"Those old ghosts have gone silent, as if they truly swallowed this great loss; according to a letter from the Longhu Temple's spies, the imperial court has shown no reaction!"

Qin Yun frowned slightly: "That Thousand-Eyed Old Ghost, it is said, has sent his true form to Ducheng!"

"For the Great Sacrifice?"

Qin Li Shixian frowned as well!

Long Long Yingchan's willingness to let them take Li Yuan away was not unrelated to the need to deal with the Xieshen Sect's

counterattack!

In fact, based on their understanding of the Xieshen Sect, those Mao God old ghosts may fear death, but they are not the type to endure humiliation without retaliation!

Unless something greater has attracted their attention!

"On what grounds did the imperial court persuade that old ghost?"

Qin Yun paced back and forth; his doubts in his heart lay mostly here!

In years past, he had nearly uprooted the Xieshen Sect entirely, yet he never forced out that old ghost's true form...

"Perhaps it is related to someone from the Realm Beyond Heaven..."

Qin Li Shixian hesitated briefly, then spoke of her clash and conversation with that Red Whip!

"Tian Shi Yuan Poison Dragon Academy?"

Qin Yun's gaze sharpened slightly, quite surprised!

"Worshipping gods, Poison Dragon, Great Cavern Heavens, Blessed Lands, the path beyond He Yi Jing?"

His heart stirred slightly, and he asked, "What else?"

When it came to her own grandfather, Qin Li Shixian naturally held nothing back: "That—"

"Chi He Lian should have only recently achieved Fang Cheng Unity, but his Wu Gong is bizarrely strange, and what he cultivates is no inferior to the Dragon Demon Heart Scripture—hard to capture!"

"Scarlet Dragon Loose Hand…"

Qin Yun clasped his hands behind his back and paced, listening to Qin Li Shixian's detailed recounting. After a moment, he slowly spoke: "That outsider truly said that to open the Eight Directions Temple, one needs at the very least a Zhao Zhao Tianxing-level talent?"

"Whether what she said is true or false, I don't know, but she did indeed say so!"

Qin Li Shixian nodded: "She said a sixth-rank talent prodigy is quite rare even in the star-gathered Tian Shi Yuan. According to her account, Tian Shi Yuan once had a heaven's pride with god-demon-level talent who truly touched upon the Eight Directions Temple…"

"God-demon level?"

Hoo!

Before the bronze pagoda, it seemed a hurricane suddenly rose!

Qin Li Shixian started in shock, just about to ask, when Qin Yun had already retracted his qi and calmly said, "Continue!"

"That Chi He Lian claimed she was searching for a 'fated opportunity,' but in truth, she herself—"

"—didn't actually believe she could find a god-demon-level talent prodigy. Such an existence, even in that star-gathered Tian Shi Yuan, is exceedingly few!"

Qin Li Shixian was somewhat startled and doubtful at his reaction, but did not inquire, merely recounting the whole thing from beginning to end in full!

Silence!

After she finished speaking, Qin Yun was silent for a long time. After a while, he said: "The three tremors of the Observatory Instrument should correspond to that old turtle, this woman Chi He Lian, and that person in the great fortune Ducheng!"

"It should be so!"

Qin Li Shixian nodded!

"Superior root bone is first rank, peerless is third, eternal is fourth, world-shattering is fifth… Eternal-level talent is already rare through the ages, world-shattering level is nowhere to be found, let alone Zhao Zhao Tianxing?"

Qin Yun sighed, said nothing more, waved his hand and gave a few instructions, then vanished into the bronze pagoda. Whatever he was thinking, he seemed rather listless!

"What about Li Yuan…"

Qin Li Shixian pressed!

A reply came from within the pagoda: "Return to the tower for now…"

That very night, Li Yuan hosted a banquet for a group of great Monks of the Xinyi Sect, as well as Master Wan Chuan and his disciple. The next day, he took his leave of everyone!

Leaving the caravan, Li Yuan's traveling speed surged. In less than two days, he had already reached a small city outside the Dinglong Mountain Range!

"This city…"

From afar, Li Yuan sensed something amiss!

Such small cities nestled among mountains and rivers were commonplace throughout the Thunder Sound Great Province, utterly ordinary—but this small city's defenses were excessively strict!

From a great distance, Li Yuan spotted many armored soldiers bearing sharp weapons. Though not on par with the great fortune Imperial Guards he had seen at Ling Yin, they were still first-rate elites!

Moreover, among the passing carriages and horses, there was no shortage of experts wielding famous weapons—even Zhi Shang Pin famous weapons!

"The imperial court is still hunting down Star-Plucking Tower…"

Mingling among the crowd, alone outside, Master Li had naturally disguised himself. The moment he entered the city, he spotted a conspicuous bounty notice!

A bounty issued by the imperial court, targeting Star-Plucking Tower!

Similar bounties, he had actually seen plenty along the way… but only here had—"

"—gathered a considerable number of jianghu experts!"

"These people…"

Li Yuan strolled slowly through the crowd, his peripheral vision sweeping over those jianghu folk carrying blades and swords at their hips!

His eyesight was excellent. With his current spiritual perception, a single glance could see everything: whether a person's bones and skin had changed, the circulation of qi and blood within their body, the gathering and transport of strength, the surging and flowing of true qi—all laid out clearly before him!

Unless it were a divine art like the Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon, ordinary disguises could not fool him at all.

The traces of disguise on these people were very heavy!

Somewhat surprised in his heart, Li Yuan didn't pay it much mind… jianghu was never short of fighting and killing. He found a wine house, but this time, he couldn't get a window-side seat!

In this six-story wine house, every window-side seat was taken, and the occupants glanced, whether intentionally or not, at the long street outside!

But soon, Li Yuan understood the purpose of this group!

From a distance of a hundred and eighty meters, he saw a familiar glint of a weapon—twin blades. The owner of these blades, he recognized!

"Brother Brother Sikong's blades?"

Li Yuan left the wine house without a trace, and soon saw an iron-cage prisoner cart slowly making its way down the long street.

Inside the cart was Brother Brother Sikong, hair disheveled. He had clearly suffered greatly, his whole person gaunt and haggard, his spirit withered!

Among the four escorting him were several marrow-refining experts. One of them wore blue clothing, carried a long spear on his back, and had Brother Brother Sikong's blades hanging at his waist!

"Jin Jin Zhu Feng?"

Seeing this scene, Li Yuan's heart suddenly felt enlightened!

Over this past year, he had heard no shortage of Ling Yin about Brother Brother Sikong!

"Jin Jin Zhu Feng captured Brother Brother Sikong, and these jianghu folk are the greenwood experts invited by another divine thief, Yun Zheyue, to rescue him?"

"Well, well, they've actually crossed paths with Ling Yin!"

Li Yuan cast an amused glance at Brother Brother Sikong in the prisoner cart, then quietly melted into the crowd!

It was true that Dinglong Mountain had a small path leading to Henglong Road, but the famous constables of the Pacification Office had no need to take small paths. Coming here, they most likely had another purpose!

Within the crowd, Li Yuan's thoughts wandered. Recalling the various related Ling Yin—there weren't many related to the Pacification Office. After a little pondering, Li Yuan had a guess in his heart!

"The mountain the Pacification Office is searching for, mentioned in Ling Yin, is Dinglong Mountain? The Pacification Office Chief is very likely at Dinglong Mountain?"

Glancing at the greenwood experts in the crowd eager to make a move, Li Yuan felt a sudden pang of pity in his heart—these people's disguises were not at all clever!

He could see it—could the famous constables of the Pacification Office not see it?

Autumn days bring much rain!

On the very day Li Yuan arrived at this small city, a heavy downpour fell that night!

"Rainy nights sure are lively!"

Inside the inn room, Li Yuan pushed open the window and faintly heard the sounds of killing coming from the city, but they lasted only a short while before dying down!

Most wanderers of the jianghu have the habit of going out on rainy days, but it's also plain that those who die in the rain have never been in short supply!

"Most of those on the greenwood path are thieves and bandits who rob the rich; there are some experts too, but not many. To rescue someone from the hands of the Jingping Bureau!!"

Li Yuan had no mind to join the excitement. He shut the window, sat still on the bed, regulated his breath and practiced his art, while also waiting for the people from the Star-Plucking Tower to come knocking!

Inside the room, Little Mouse wandered around and found a hole in the wall, then happily squeezed in. The little tiger cub lay by the window, pushed it open, as if listening to the rain!

Every now and then, it would also turn its head to glance at Li Yuan!

"Hoo."

Li Yuan sat still and gathered his spirit!

Hum!

In the Niwan Palace, in the place of spiritual light, the thunder dragon chased the Wan Wan Leishi, its earlier cheerfulness restored!

Li Yuan split his attention, cultivating his pure essence Yang true Qi!

His Dragon-Tiger Pure Yang sword form came from Nie Xianshan and required pure Pure Yang true Qi to resonate, so he had not merged the Pure Yang true Qi into his Mysterious Whale true Qi!

Every time he cultivated, he had to gather the Mysterious Whale true Qi into the various acupoints, then... circulate the Pure Yang Health-Preservation Art to nourish his newly born, weak soldier-nurturing ground!

This patch of soldier-nurturing ground was innately deficient; without the nourishment of his spirit and true Qi, it would be hard to grow strong!

Li Yuan pondered this in his heart!

His true Qi and spirit had not been poured into this patch of soldier-nurturing ground, after all, he still had to condense his own divine realm!

"But it's about enough!"

Wisps of Pure Yang Qi seeped into his brow. Li Yuan sensed the rhythm of this patch of health-preserving ground and felt quite satisfied!

He estimated that it wouldn't be long before he could condense a Dragon-Tiger Pure Yang sword spirit form identical to Nie Xianshan's!

Of course, the essence would be the same, but the intensity couldn't catch up with what others had tempered and refined for decades…

"Once this sword form is complete, does this Daoist count as a Banbu Sect master?"

Turning the thought over in his mind, Li Yuan sensed outward from the Niwan Palace!

Even now he still found it hard to describe what these acupoints were — they seemed to exist within his body, yet also seemed to exist in the void, elusive and hard to seek out!

Before finding the Niwan Palace, he had tried many times to use Yi Bai Shen Fa to search for acupoints, but each attempt ended in failure!

But after finding the Niwan Palace, there were some changes!

Hum!

Li Yuan's mind dispersed, and outside the Niwan Palace, in the deep darkness

— within it, he could faintly sense a number of acupoints resembling the Niwan yet somewhat different, unlit!

"Counting the Niwan, nine in total… a bit like the Nine True Ones of the Niwan Palace mentioned in the Yellow Court Scripture?"

"Mm?" Just as Li Yuan was mulling it over, he suddenly sensed something amiss. The familiar ripple of a divine realm came through once more, and this time, he noticed something different!

That faint, elusive qi spread from the darkness outside the Niwan Palace, as if an invisible passage were extending!

"So this is how one enters and exits a divine realm!"

Li Yuan felt a sudden clarity in his heart, but he did not refuse. With a turn of his mind, he had once again arrived within the Bronze Pagoda divine realm!

Before the pagoda stood not Qin Yun, but the

Master of the Star-Plucking Tower, wearing a faceless mask!

"Senior?"

Li Yuan cupped his fist in greeting. Re-entering this divine realm, the feelings in his heart were far greater than before!

Compared to his own pitifully small patch of soldier-nurturing ground, this Bronze Pagoda divine realm was many tens of thousands of times larger!

"You…"

Beneath the mask, Qin Li Shixian was also sizing up Li Yuan. She vaguely felt this kid seemed somehow different, but couldn't say how!

Steadying herself, she didn't waste words and said: "Tomorrow, someone will come to take you into the Tower…"