The forbidden area in South County.
Sitting on the ground with legs crossed, Tang Yimo and the others waited outside. They were prepared to help Nie Changqing, who had entered the forbidden area, in case anything happened to him.
However, it had been almost an hour since Nie Changqing stepped in, and they hadn’t heard anything yet.
They supposed that he wouldn’t come out any time soon.
Suddenly…
Tang Yimo opened his eyes and looked into the distance. A man was walking toward them in long strides.
He was a Confucian disciple, holding the banner for fortune-telling in one hand and three copper coins in the other.
He swaggered along the road.
“It was Mo Tianyu…the principal disciple of Confucianism.”
Astounded, some people recognized Mo Tianyu.
Confucianism had been on the decline ever since the Imperial Advisor died. Kong Nanfei initially set up the Haoran Sect with the intention of reviving the Confucianism. Unfortunately, Kong Nanfei failed the Heavenly Lock Calamity and never recovered after the setback.
“What is he doing here?”
Xie Yunling was puzzled. Li Sansui followed behind Xie Yunling and glanced at Mo Tianyu without paying much attention.
On the other hand, the Sword Saint Hua Dongliu was intrigued. After all, the Imperial Advisor once brought Mo Tianyu to the Sword Sect when he was traveling around the world.
Ximen Xianzhi sat quietly behind the Sword Saint Hua Dongliu. His face remained composed.
“Mo Tianyu… How dare he show up in front of me again!”
Ximen Xianzhi stood up and pulled the sword out of the box decisively.
“Xianzhi, what are you doing?”
The Sword Saint Hua Dongliu was surprised. He hurried to press on Ximen Xianzhi’s sword.
Ximen Xianzhi’s clothes were flapping in the wind. He looked determined.
“I’m going to kill him.”
Hua Dongliu was at a loss for words.
In the distance…
Mo Tianyu was prancing toward them when he sensed the menacing energy. He halted.
He lifted his eyes and saw Ximen Xianzhi, who was being held back by Hua Dongliu.
“Hah, brother Ximen…”
“Long time no see.”
Mo Tianyu saw Ximen Xianzhi and cracked a smile.
His shirt was untied, and the banner in his hand was blowing in the wind.
Ximen Xianzhi simply snorted and put back his sword after being stopped by the Sword Saint Hua Dongliu.
He then sat on the ground, paying no heed to Mo Tianyu at all.
Mo Tianyu wasn’t embarrassed.
He gestured and greeted the cultivators around him.
Tang Yimo looked at Mo Tianyu with a bewildered look.
“May I ask what brings you here?” Tang Yimo asked.
He guessed Mo Tianyu might want to enter the forbidden area.
Nevertheless, Mo Tianyu had been immersing himself in fortune-telling and didn’t cultivate hard enough to be in the Internal Organs Realm.
Going into the forbidden area was suicide for him.
Mo Tianyu smiled and raised his hand, pointing at the forbidden area.
“I left Beiluo City and calculated the fortune for myself. The trigram showed that my chance lies in this forbidden area,” Mo Tianyu said.
Everyone was perplexed.
While sitting on the ground, Ximen Xianzhi’s lips twitched after hearing what Mo Tianyu had said.
“The forbidden area is extremely dangerous. You’re not even in the Internal Organs Realm yet. With your cultivation level, you would certainly die if you stepped in,” Ximen Xianzhi warned.
Mo Tianyu wasn’t bothered. He shook his hand and laughed. “That’s why I also used trigram to forecast this trip before I came here.”
Tang Yimo was curious, so he asked, “What did the trigram say?”
Mo Tianyu walked to the forbidden area step by step.
“The first one said it’s auspicious. So I didn’t come. It was not a good time to go to the forbidden area.”
“The second one said it’s unpropitious. That’s why…I’m here.”
Mo Tianyu smiled.
Everybody around him was confused by his words.
Ximen Xianzhi was especially angry. Mo Tianyu only came when the sign was bad?
With a clanking sound…
Ximen Xianzhi pulled the sword out of the box again.
Nevertheless, Mo Tianyu laughed and walked into the forbidden area before Ximen Xianzhi could attack him.
Xie Yunling shook his head.
“It’s too bad for Confucianism… The principal disciple of Confucianism is obsessed with fortune-telling. It looks like Kong Nanfei is the only one who can shoulder the responsibility to revitalize the Confucianism,” the Sword Saint Hua Dongliu the exclaimed as well.
“He still went into the forbidden area even when the trigram said it’s ill-fated… Is he making a last desperate effort?” Li Sansui spoke sternly.
“Perhaps, he wants to look for an opportunity of a breakthrough in a hopeless situation…” Tang Yimo chimed in.
Ximen Xianzhi watched the other people’s reactions.
Suffocated, he felt a tightness in his chest.
Why did these people all believe Mo Tianyu?
His trigram…was bullsh*t!
******
Mo Tianyu went through the wall of air.
He appeared in the shabby bodhisattva temple.
He smelled the stench of blood the moment of his arrival and saw the bodhisattva temple was littered with dead bodies. Mo Tianyu was scared to death.
In addition to the terrifying energy outside of the bodhisattva temple…
Mo Tianyu went back through the wall of air without a shred of hesitation.
In front of the forbidden area…
Just when people were commending Mo Tianyu’s boldness and spirit, they saw the wall of air vibrate and Mo Tianyu crawling back with an ashen face.
Everyone was tongue-tied.
“Scary…”
“It’s so scary…”
With a grave expression, Mo Tianyu swept the crowd slowly with his eyes and said in a serious voice, “It’s a bloodbath on the other side. There were bodies everywhere… The deadly energy was so frightening. I need to come out to take a breath and get myself together.”
Then, he went through the wall of air again and didn’t return this time.
Mo Tianyu passed through the wall of air and arrived at the bodhisattva temple. He held the fortune-telling banner and walked out of the temple.
He saw the deep pits on the snowfield and the corpses that were strewn around…
Mo Tianyu strode forward with his shirt untied.
He could sense two dangerous forces were confronting each other.
Mo Tianyu raised his head and felt a sense of oppression that made it difficult for him to breathe.
He saw Nie Changqing coughing up blood in the distance, as well as the white shadow floating in the void.
Mo Tianyu was dumstrucken.
“Young Master Lu?”
Without a doubt, Nie Changqing cleared a safe path for Mo Tianyu by stepping in the forbidden area first and fighting with the guards.
Otherwise, any disciple of Wudi City would probably have killed Mo Tianyu effortlessly.
******
Nie Changqing was astonished to see Lu Fan manifesting himself.
His eyes brimmed with gratitude.
Young Master certainly cared about him and knew he would be in danger in the forbidden area.
Lu Fan’s shadow sat in the Thousand Blades Chair, as elegant as a fallen Immortal.
The old man roared with anger and smacked on him.
“A mere shadow dares to fool me!”
The old man was furious. His hand swept the snow along and blotted out the sun, attacking Lu Fan with terrifying power.
The force made Nie Changqing shake like a leaf.
The purple-robed inner-order disciples of Wudi City were frantic and exhilarated.
“He is the inner-order elder in the Nascent Soul Realm from our Wudi City!”
“The Nascent Soul Realm is truly terrifying!”
“The Nascent Soul Realm is above the Golden Elixir Realm! This clown can’t escape!”
The purple-robed disciples were feverish.
Nie Changqing’s face was ghastly pale. The old man was above the Golden Elixir Realm just as he speculated!
Nie Changqing ruminated on the disciples’ shouts.
The Nascent Soul Realm…
Was it the Nascent Soul Realm that was above the Golden Elixir Realm?
Bang!
Lu Fan’s shadow came in sight. The tiny Lu Fan was formed by Spirit Fluid.
Dressed in white, he sat up straight in the Thousand Blades Chair and casually looked at the old man’s incoming hand.
Lu Fan put his hand on the Thousand Blades Chair and plucked forward forcefully.
With a piercing whistle…
The flaming Phoenix Feather Sword shot out and dashed toward the approaching snowy hand.
The snowy hand melted instantly.
Eight Trigram labels emerged and surrounded the Phoenix Feather Sword as it thrust downward with full strength.
The old man immediately felt his hair rise on end.
He never expected the shadow would have such frightening power!
With a bellow of rage, the old man exerted his utmost Spirit Qi and launched a series of attacks.
However…
The Phoenix Feather Sword still came down on him.
The tremendous energy exploded and silenced everything around them.
The old man’s body was destroyed…
A tiny man jumped out of the old man’s remains and fled hastily.
Just now, a thundering roar came from the direction of Wudi City.
Du Longyang held the black spear with one hand and stood at the peak of Wudi City, fierce and forbidding.
“Thief! Give me back my Heavenly Calamity!”
Du Longyang was enraged.
He was one step away from coming through the calamity back then. However, he didn’t achieve the breakthrough because Lu Fan stole the most critical Thunder Calamity.
Du Longyang couldn’t hate him more.
Of course, he was eager to kill Lu Fan now that he showed up here.
The tiny Nascent Soul of the old man was stunned by Du Longyang’s roar.
The shadow behind him stole Du Longyang’s Thunder Calamity?
How powerful this person must be!
Nie Changqing was also shocked.
He never thought the Young Master was this kind of a person… Did he actually steal the Heavenly Calamity?
Lu Fan’s shadow cracked a smile.
He looked at the direction of Wudi City.
“You don’t need to dispatch a Nascent Soul cultivator for some trivial fights between the youngsters. My disciple here could kill a Golden Elixir fighter, but not a Nascent Soul one… I will wipe out all of the Nascent Soul cultivators in your Wudi City if I ever heard something like that,” Lu Fan said with a smile as he leaned on the back of the wheelchair.
At the peak of Wudi City.
Du Longyang held the spear with one hand. His eyes were ice-cold.
“Are you threatening me?”
“Even your projection dares to threaten me?” Du Longyang shouted in a fury.
He thrust the spear at Lu Fan’s shadow.
What an awe-inspiring spear attack!
The dense Spirit Qi formed a giant spear that blotted out the sun.
With enough force to slit the sky, it darted toward the bodhisattva temple. The snow swirling in the air was shattered into pieces!
Nie Changqing didn’t even dare to pull out his knife under such pressure.
Spirit!
Spear spirit!
The attack was packed with spear spirit, just like knife spirit or sword spirit.
Nie Changqing had comprehended the knife spirit. Therefore, he was particularly perceptive about detecting the “spirit.”
This man’s spear spirit was so much stronger than Nie Changqing’s knife spirit.
Nie Changqing’s knife spirit was just off to a start, while this man’s spear spirit had made great achievement.
In the void…
Lu Fan’s shadow smiled faintly.
“Don’t doubt me…”
“I could steal your Thunder Calamity without you knowing. I certainly can take the Nascent Soul cultivators’ lives quietly and undetectably. If you really want to fight… Let’s try it out,” Lu Fan said.
The spear charged toward him.
A chessboard took shape in front of Lu Fan’s shadow.
Facing the unstoppable spear…
Lu Fan rolled up his sleeves unhurriedly.
Clack.
He placed a piece on the center point on the board.
The spear was blown to bits, inch by inch.
At the peak of Wudi City.
Du Longyang was astounded. This man…became even more powerful!
Who on earth was this person?!
Lu Fan sat in the wheelchair and looked at Du Longyang with a smile. He slowly disappeared under Du Longyang’s intense watch.
Only the sound of the blustering snowstorm was left.
The three purple-robed disciples of Wudi City were already stupefied.
Nie Changqing recovered from the shock and took to his heels without a moment of hesitation.
He exerted his strength and sprang away as the snow underneath his feet burst apart.
Nie Changqing heard the exchange between Lu Fan and Du Longyang.
The Young Master gave him a chance to be spared by the Nascent Soul cultivators. Nevertheless… He could still be doomed if he was surrounded by Golden Elixir cultivators again.
He couldn’t waste the opportunity the Young Master fought for him.
In the snow…
Mo Tianyu, hiding quietly behind the bodhisattva temple, also took in a deep breath.
The Young Master Lu of Beiluo indeed had unfathomable power.
He could even threaten the lord of the forbidden area.
Mo Tianyu took out three copper coins and threw them in the air. He wanted to calculate which direction was safe for him to go.
He threw the coins several times, yet the results were all good. Mo Tianyu was scared witless.
In the end, he performed divination for the direction Nie Changqing fled to.
The trigram said, “Great curse.”
Mo Tianyu picked up the fortune-telling banner decisively and trudged through the snow in that direction.
At the peak of Wudi City.
Du Longyang held the spear in his hand, emitting domineering energy.
“This guy…is truly a scoundrel!”
“He is using my Wudi City as a practice field for his disciples!”
Du Longyang took in a deep breath.
Then, he calmed himself down.
Lu Fan’s power was immeasurable. He also shocked Du Longyang by stealing the Thunder Calamity. Besides… Lu Fan was occupying the Young Master Tianxu’s body at that time. Although Young Master Tianxu might be less capable than Du Longyang, he was still one of the best fighters in the world.
That was why Du Longyang couldn’t estimate Lu Fan’s strength with certainty.
He didn’t dare to bet with the foundation of Wudi City.
It would not be a good deal if he lost several Nascent Soul cultivators because of one person in the Golden Elixir Realm.
It was fine that the Nascent Soul cultivators couldn’t join the fight now. Nie Changqing only recently entered the Golden Elixir Realm. There were many Golden Elixir cultivators in Wudi City and even some geniuses who were named in the honor roll of the Golden Elixir Realm. It would be an easy task for them to take out a cultivator who freshly passed into the Golden Elixir Realm.
Du Longyang thought it through.
He suddenly bawled with his Spiritual Sense.
“Disciples of Wudi City in both orders, search and kill the cultivator who slipped in through the Void Gate. Anyone who beheads him will win a chance to enter the Scriptures Depository of Wudi City.”
Du Longyang’s voice reverberated throughout the entire Wudi City.
The Golden Elixir disciples in Wudi City, in either seclusion or cultivation, were all electrified by the news.
They could gain a chance to enter the Scriptures Depository if they killed the cultivator who slipped in through the Void Gate?
Countless precious documents about cultivation method and secret technique were stored in the Scriptures Depository of Wudi City…
So it was an exceptional opportunity to visit the Scriptures Depository by killing a single Golden Elixir cultivator.
At the peak of Wudi City.
Du Longyang watched the disciples of Wudi City springing into action.
His eyes sparkled brilliantly.
“Practice field…”
“Who in the world dares to use my Wudi City as a practice field?”
After the tumult subsided.
In front of the broken-down bodhisattva temple…
Innumerable wisps of Spirit Qi converged and transformed into a drop of Spirit Fluid.
The Spirit Fluid contorted into the shape of a human.
The tiny Lu Fan appeared again and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was powered by a wisp of Lu Fan’s Spiritual Sense.
“Old Nie… Didn’t you say you want pressure?”
“This should be enough motivation.”
Tiny Lu Fan chuckled.
All of a sudden, tiny Lu Fan raised his head. His eyes brightened up.
“What would a mature Mid-Level Martial World be like? I’m really curious…”
“It looks like I need to study this more.”
“Let me…start from the Scriptures Depository of Wudi City.”
******
The forbidden area of the Great Xuan.
Li Sansi held the wooden sword and barged through the wall of air.
He was besieged by great danger the moment he surfaced. Several cultivators in the Foundation Building Realm attacked Li Sansi while laughing scornfully.
Enemies had surrounded Li Sansi from the moment he entered the forbidden area.
Showered in blood and a broken wooden sword, he finally opened up a path.
He took flight frantically. Even though he knew it was risky to enter the forbidden area, the situation still was beyond his wildest imagination.
So many people were chasing him.
Li Sansi’s life was in danger.
He ran to a cliff and dived into the waterfall without hesitation.
However, an experienced fighter wielded his knife and cut off the waterfall with massive force.
At the critical moment, Li Sansi developed elemental Spirit Qi and controlled the water to protect his body.
Nonetheless, the fierce fighter launched another attack, aiming to decapitate Li Sansi.
At that moment…
A shadow emerged…
And transformed into Lu Fan in snow-white clothing.
He pulled out the Phoenix Feather Sword and forced the knife fighter to retreat while vomiting blood.
“Who dared to harm the disciples of my Supreme Knife School!”
A furious roar.
A man with only one arm held a knife and glared at Lu Fan’s shadow.
“It’s you?!”
The one-armed man recognized Lu Fan, the mysterious man who occupied Young Master Tianxu’s body and stole Du Longyang’s Heavenly Calamity.
Lu Fan chuckled.
“You don’t need to dispatch a Nascent Soul cultivator for some trivial fights between the youngsters. My disciple here could kill a Golden Elixir fighter, but not a Nascent Soul one… I will wipe out all of the Nascent Soul cultivators in your Supreme Knife School if I ever heard something like that.”
“How dare you threaten me?!”
Enraged, the one-armed man raised the black knife in his hand.
Instantaneously, the force of the knife dramatically enlarged as though it was about to pierce the sky.
Lu Fan smiled softly and glanced at the waterfall where Li Sansi jumped off and disappeared. His shadow vanished.
In the Supreme Knife School.
The one-armed man’s expression was erratic.
The trespasser was only a cultivator in the Foundation Building Realm. Did he really want to bet with the lives of all the Nascent Soul fighters of the Supreme Knife School?
He still felt unresigned.
As a result, he ordered the Golden Elixir fighters of the Supreme Knife School to search and kill Li Sansi.
******
The forbidden area of Western Liang.
Ding Jiudeng was drenched in blood.
Gasping for breath, he hid in a cold, narrow alley.
However, a woman with a regal bearing in the Nascent Soul Realm tried to use her Spiritual Sense to locate Ding Jiudeng.
Just when her Spiritual Sense started to spread out…
Lu Fan’s shadow took shape and crushed her Spiritual Sense.
Inside the palace of the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire…
Wearing satin clothes and veiled by fumes of incense, the Empress narrowed her eyes.
She pursed her red lips and said, “I thought it was some lecherous monk from the Kufo Temple who sneaked into the Great Qian. It’s quite a surprise that he is your disciple…”
Lu Fan’s shadow sat straight in the Thousand Blades Chair. He chuckled.
“Your Majesty, let the youngsters fight their own fights. The Nascent Soul cultivators in the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire shouldn’t intervene. Otherwise… I will kill off all the Nascent Soul cultivators in the Great Qian.”
The Empress dashed out of the palace. Her body was wrapped in scarlet satin. Drops of water, glittering and translucent, glided across her smooth skin and her tattoo of a beautiful flower.
Watching Lu Fan’s shadow disappearing in the air, she covered her mouth and laughed quietly.
“He dares to use the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire as a practice field…”
“What a mysterious man.”
…