North County, Buzhou Peak.
The bluestone was stained with blood.
The Daoist priest, wearing an azure robe, held onto his wooden sword, blood still dripping from its tip, as he stood in front of the cave. He was standing very straight, like a sharp sword with a firm belief.
The North County soldiers had fallen at his feet one by one.
With a swing of his Spirit Qi-infused sword, Li Sansi swept the whole area clean.
With this wooden sword, he felt he wielded the sharpest sword, and he could cut anything with it.
Despite his thin figure, Li Sansi seemed like he was the most powerful and mightiest man blocking the passage. With him, the 10,000 soldiers would not be able to get past him.
In the dark cavern, a white-colored spirit pressure eggshell was emerging.
A pair of black and white eyes watched, unmoving, at the figure that stood firmly against the 10,000 soldiers.
It seemed as though an unforgettable scene was reflected in the black and white eyes…
The moonlight shone like a translucent veil in the long night.
The Daoist priest, wearing an azure robe, sat on the bluestone to play his flute. A young girl held her legs together with a wine flask in her arms. Her eyes still closed, she listened to the tunes of the flute quietly and swayed her head from time to time.
Li Sansi was not the Overlord after all.
When the Spirit Qi in his Qi Core was depleted…
Li Sansi could feel a great sense of fatigue wash over him like a tidal wave.
He began to use martial arts to strike the enemies down the mountain with his sword, one swing after another.
He was starting to pant and perspire, the sweat soaking through his clothes, making him look somewhat tired and weak.
Clad in full-body armor, Tantai Xuan’s gaze was fixed on the Daoist priest.
So cultivators got tired too. As he had expected, not every cultivator was a monster like the Overlord.
Somehow, it seemed that he had found a way to deal with cultivators.
“Kill!”
Tantai Xuan’s eyes looked past Li Sansi and landed on the dark cave behind him, seeing the familiar eggshell.
It was exactly the same as the one he had seen at the Hidden Dragon Ridge.
Beneath the eggshell was where the Immortal encounter was!
Li Sansi had forgotten how many times he had swung his sword or how many soldiers he had killed.
His body staggered as he leaned against his sword.
In everything that he did, Li Sansi only wished for a clear conscience.
Since he said that he would protect Zhu Long, then he was going to do his utmost to protect her. He did not want to leave any regrets again…
Something like regret was the most difficult to compensate for.
Suddenly an armored soldier charged toward Li Sansi, knocking into him and sending his whole body flying like a thin piece of leaf. Li Sansi could no longer feel the strength even to lift his hands.
With his last swing of the sword, he struck the armored soldier and crashed onto the ground, his blood sputtering three feet away.
“He’s a goner. Kill him.”
“Secure the Dragon Raising Site! Secure the Immortal encounter!”
“It’s the mayor’s order, kill him!”
The soldiers yelled, their voices tearing through the silence of Buzhou Peak.
Suddenly.
From the dark cave, a childlike roar sounded.
At first, it was like a young girl’s cry, but at the next moment, it transformed into a ferocious dragon’s roar. Many soldiers’ eardrums erupted, and they bled out of their ears, their faces scrunched up in pain.
Boundless Spirit Qi and spirit pressure permeated the air from within the cave.
Tantai Xuan and the North County soldiers looked over at once.
However, what they saw from within the dark cave was a young girl with closed eyes, walking out slowly.
Behind the young girl was a cracked white eggshell and a Dragon Gate—both of which had finally appeared. That was where the Spirit Qi was pouring out from!
Li Sansi was panting with excruciating pain in his chest. When he turned his head back, he saw that Zhu Long was standing right in front of the black cave, the Dragon Gate above her head and her hair flying as a roar erupted from her mouth.
Her long eyelashes fluttered lightly.
Moments later…
Before Li Sansi’s perplexed eyes, Zhu Long, who had never opened her eyes since he met her, had now opened them.
Her eyelashes fluttered as her eyes opened…
A pair of black and white.
In that moment, Li Sansi felt like he had seen the alternation of the sun and the moon.
An invisible wave started to spread.
“Mayor, watch out!” Tantai Xuan’s personal guard bellowed, tumbling and pouncing onto Tantai Xuan as they fell down the mountain path together.
Black and white light brilliantly shone at the top of the mountain…
Then, the light gradually dimmed.
Face smothered with mud and dirt, Tantai Xuan got up from the ground, his heart pounding. Just earlier, the moment the girl’s eyes opened…
Tantai Xuan felt a sense of looming death.
It turned out that death was so close to him.
His personal guard climbed with him up toward Buzhou Peak again, just to take a glance…
Tantai Xuan and his personal guard felt as though their hearts had been tightly clenched by something.
On Buzhou Peak, corpses were strewn everywhere.
Every dead body was kneeling on the ground…
They were wearing full-body armor, but their blood and flesh had been dissolved, leaving behind only eerie white bones.
Tantai Xuan burst out in cold sweat.
Did the Immortal’s Secret Realms…
Really have a grudge against him?
The first time at the Secret Realm of the Hidden Dragon Ridge, his large army of 50,000 perished at the hands of an Immortal. They were annihilated in the blink of an eye, while blood splattered all over his face.
Now, it was his second time at a Secret Realm.
Wherever the young girl looked, with just her gaze, only dry bones were left behind.
While Tantai Xuan’s whole body was trembling, he saw that the girl had brought Li Sansi, whose azure robe was stained with blood, into the Dragon Gate.
The girl turned back and looked in Tantai Xuan’s direction.
Scared out of his wits, Tantai Xuan hurriedly scurried off Buzhou Peak.
Immortal encounter…
Perhaps, he was not fated with Immortal encounters in this lifetime.
******
South County.
In Nanjiang City, with a package and a butcher knife on his back, Nie Changqing rode on his horse and entered the city.
Tiandang Mountain was not a far distance away from Nanjiang City. They were probably only about fifty to sixty miles apart.
On the wide unobstructed road, Nie Changqing walked unhurriedly, dressed in a white robe and carrying the package and the butcher knife.
Although the distance to Tiandang Mountain was a mere fifty to sixty miles away, and the day to fetch his wife back was nearing, Nie Changqing was feeling calmer than ever.
All these years, his mental state had improved, and he had matured, so he was no longer the impetuous youth from back then.
Composure and seriousness had been carved into his features, together with the vicissitudes of time.
All the news he heard were about the Secret Realm of the Dragon Raising Site that appeared at South County’s Big Marsh.
Even if Tang Xiansheng had given orders to forbid spreading the news of the Secret Realm, it was hard to control the mouths of martial arts practitioners, and the news circulated rapidly.
“Secret Realm of the Dragon Raising Site…”
The sides of Nie Changqing’s mouth twitched as he brought the butcher knife into an inn and got a room on the second floor.
With a fixed look at the waiter tidying up the room, Nie Changqing tossed a piece of silver over and said, “Waiter, buy me some paper, brushes, and envelopes.”
The waiter accepted the silver piece with a smile that almost reached his ears. “Yes, sir. Please wait for me.”
The waiter did not leave for long and was back in the room in a jiffy.
Nie Changqing took the brush, ink, inkstone, and paper from him.
After giving his thanks, he proceeded to sit in front of the window.
Rolling up his sleeves and holding up the brush, Nie Changqing dipped it into the ink and thought for a moment before he started writing.
The first letter he was writing was for his wife. This was going to be the first letter he wrote to her in five years. In the past, he was unworthy of writing it, and he did not have the courage to as well since he dared not expose his whereabouts.
Now, the Young Master and White Jade City had given him the confidence to do it.
The second letter was for the Daoist School.
He did not rush into the Daoist School rashly. The Young Master had told him to be a refined disciple of White Jade City.
That was why even if he had wanted to barge into the Daoist School, he would write to inform them first.
He was once a disciple of the Daoists, but he escaped from them like a dead dog on a rainy night, with a crying infant Nie Shuang in his arms.
That was a night that he would never forget no matter what.
Finally, he stopped writing and signed off.
“White Jade City disciple, Nie Changqing.”
Nie Changqing folded the letters well and stuffed them into the envelopes.
Leaning against the chair, he stared into a daze.
He found a servant to deliver the letters to the Daoist School.
At first, the servant was unwilling to do it, and only when Nie Changqing took out a small ingot of silver did he agree to it. Like carrying a letter from home, the servant personally headed for Tiandang Mountain.
After sending the letter, Nie Changqing returned to his room and lied down on the bed. On this night, he did not cultivate.
He pulled the covers over him, closed his eyes, and slept peacefully for the night.
******
Dongyan River.
The Overlord carried his axe and shield as he led a group of elite soldiers into the Dragon Gate.
The Western Liang armored horsemen were in front of Dongyan River and had met with many martial arts experts. Thus, their path had been blocked more than ten miles away, preventing them from moving forward.
Because of that, the Secret Realm of the Dragon Raising Site at Dongyan River had been taken over by the Overlord. Although the martial arts experts were angry about it, they dared not speak up.
The heavy gate of the Dragon Gate was opened.
Taking a step through the gate was like crossing into a whole new world.
What came into view were dozens of standing terracotta warriors, the sculptures vivid. They looked like real people, and every terracotta warrior had their eyes closed.
The Overlord ordered someone to count how many warriors were there.
There were a total of 99 terracotta warriors.
Past these warriors was an iron chain bridge that was connected to a floating sky island behind it. On the island was a palace, and beyond the palace was a white jade bridge. Behind the white jade bridge was a path to a massive, grand palace that looked like it was built right in the clouds.
The grand palace was glowing, resplendent with seven colors.
The Overlord looked at the grand palace, and his eyes narrowed. Somewhere, he could feel the Demonic Qi stirring inside his body involuntarily.
It was as though a huge terror was waiting for them inside.
The grand palace seemed to be the center, with eight white jade bridges scattered around it. Behind every bridge was yet another floating sky island, and behind every island was once again the connection to an iron chain bridge…
“The Dragon Gates of the eight Dragon Raising Sites… Could they possibly all lead to that grand palace?” The Overlord mumbled.
Moments later, he waved his hands and led his elite soldiers past the terracotta soldiers, heading for the iron chain bridge.
******
On Beiluo Lake Island.
After opening the Dragon Gates, Lu Fan started paying attention to the situations at all of the Secret Realms.
The soft wind blew by, ruffling his hair.
Once the many powers had stepped into the Dragon Gate…
Lu Fan leaned against the red-carved wooden railing, supporting his chin with one hand as the other moved to a chess piece on the chessboard. Applying some force on it, he gave it a light push.
The crunching sound of the chess piece rubbing on the chessboard sounded throughout the whole of White Jade City pavilion.
******
Beyond the Dragon Gate.
With a team of elite soldiers, the Overlord who had wanted to get past the terracotta warriors to cross the iron chain bridge suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The Western Liang elite soldiers who were following behind him closely tensed up as well.
The skies were gradually turning dark. It was accompanied by a murderous atmosphere, and there were the vague battle cries of a thousand troops. It was as if a gust of cold wind had just blown, rustling the dust on the ground.
Everyone turned their necks to look to the side.
However, they discovered that…
Unbeknownst to them, the terracotta warriors around them…
Had opened their eyes and were now staring at all of them.