“Why are you hiding so far away?” Zhi You looked at them both in confusion.
“Immortal Zhi You, lower your voice.” Tao Er turned his head and looked around furtively. “You can’t call the Immortal Venerable by his name, let alone mention that.”
“Which one?” Zhi You frowned. “The incident where Immortal Venerable Bu Ting and Immortal Venerable Qiu Hua became sworn enemies over a female yao?”
Jiu Hui reached out and covered his mouth. “Don’t say it, don’t say it. If you say it again, you’ll get into trouble.”
Zhi You blinked and pointed at his covered mouth.
“Can we wait until we leave the Jiutian Sect to talk about this?” Jiu Hui lowered her voice and said, “We’re weak and powerless. Once we get out of here, I’ll accompany you and tell you everything slowly.”
Zhi You nodded.carpreads.pages.dev
Although he didn’t quite understand what was so terrifying about it.
The banquet for Daoist Master Jin Yi’s Body Integration Ceremony was held in the Guanxing Hall of the Jiutian Sect. When Jiu Hui and the others arrived, the hall was already packed with guests from countless sects.
The seating arrangements for the guests were also very particular. The Sect Masters and the City Lords were seated in the front, and the sect disciples were seated behind them. Three disciples sat at each table, and Jiu Hui and her two companions found an empty table to sit at. It just so happened that the Shenji School’s head disciple was sitting at the table next to them.
How did I run into them again? What a drag!
Jiu Hui returned a brilliant smile to him.
The head disciple of the Shenji Sect turned his face away and silently squeezed to the other side, trying to get farther and farther away from her.
Tsk.
Jiu Hui retracted her gaze. Was she really that frightening?
As noon approached, auspicious clouds rolled in the sky, phoenixes sang, and sparrows danced. Four heavenly horses pulled an ornate carriage down from the sky, and the chattering crowd fell silent.
The curtain of the carriage opened, and a man with long, snow-white hair and a face as beautiful as jade stepped out of the carriage and entered the gate of Guanxing Hall.
“Greetings, Daoist Master Jin Yi.”
“Daoist Master Jin Yi has gotten even more graceful.”
Jiu Hui put down her teacup and thought with interest, no wonder he could have a love story with a woman from the Demon Cult that shocked the world of immortal cultivation. This Daoist Master Jin Yi was indeed quite handsome. Moreover, he was only three hundred years old and was already at the Body Integration stage of cultivation. He could still be called a favored son of heaven.
Jin Yi was not casual and did not smile, even when he returned the greetings to everyone, he was serious. On the high platform, Jiutian Sect Master Bu Ting and the ten Elders held incense in their hands and bowed to the air with solemn expressions.
A dazzling brilliance flashed, and two enormous scrolls fell from the sky. The woman in the left scroll was heroic and valiant, holding a sharp sword. The right scroll depicted a tree, a somewhat strange-looking tree.
Jiu Hui knew that the founding ancestor of the Jiutian Sect was a female sword cultivator who had ascended to immortality eight thousand years ago. On the right scroll…
“What’s on the painting on the right?” Tao Er, who was sitting on the far right, asked Zhi You, who was sitting in the middle. Zhi You slowly shook his head.
“That painting is of the Gan tree.” Jiu Hui took a sip of tea. “It’s the tree of eternal life recorded in ancient books. Rumor has it that eating the fruit of this tree can make the living immortal and eternally youthful. It can also bring the dead back to life and cure illnesses and disasters.”
“Is there really such a magical tree in the world?” Tao Er was very excited.
“If such a miraculous tree truly exists, why would people bother seeking immortality through cultivation?” Jiu Hui scoffed, “Many things in life are predestined, and there is no such thing as eternal life. Even the Immortal Lords in the celestial realm must descend to the mortal world to undergo trials before they can return to their divine status. How much more so for mortals who dare to defy the heavens?”
“Then why are they worshipping it?” Tao Er was puzzled.
“How ignorant.” The head disciple of the Shenji School couldn’t help but interject, “Don’t you know that over five hundred years ago, Immortal Venerable Bu Ting sought the fruit of the Immortal Tree and refined it into a miraculous medicine that prevented a worldwide plague? Unfortunately, the Immortal Tree withered and died as a result. In order to commemorate the tree’s merit in saving the world, the Jiutian Sect worships the tree every year when they pay homage to their founding ancestor.”
“We were young and had never heard of the events that happened five hundred years ago. Fortunately, a fellow Daoist told us about it. Thank you very much.” Jiu Hui bowed to the head disciple of the Shenji School.
The sect’s disciple was so scared that he dodged backward. Seeing that she didn’t react, the sect’s disciple snorted arrogantly, “You cultivators from remote places, it’s understandable that you don’t know. But you can recognize the Immortal Tree from a painting, which shows that you have some knowledge.”
Jiu Hui smiled when she heard this. “I’ve had the good fortune to read about it in ancient texts, but my understanding is limited.”
At this moment, Daoist Master Jin Yi had already lit three incense sticks and walked step by step to the center of the altar. All the guests present fell silent.
One bow, two bows.
But when he bowed for the third time, something unexpected happened.
The painting of the Immortal Tree suddenly burst into flames without any fire. Separated by layers of barriers, no magic technique could harm the painting, so no one knew how the painting had caught fire.
After taking her seat, Qiu Hua, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly stood up, knocking over her teacup, which fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. She stared fixedly at the slowly burning Gan tree scroll, her eyes red-rimmed.
Bu Ting watched with a pale face as the painting burned to ashes, and with trembling hands, he inserted the incense into the incense burner.
A strong wind suddenly rose on the altar, and even the ashes on the ground were swept away, leaving no trace.
The other sect masters of the Ten Great Sects also lost their smiles. They looked up at the ashes dancing with the breeze, trying their best to hide the fear in their eyes. Only the young master of the Yuzhen Sect, Jin Qingqiu, shook his jade fan, his expression leisurely and somewhat out of place.
No one dared to say anything more. The ashes fell on the heads of some guests and on the banquet tables of some people, but none fell on the altar.
A piece of ash fell into Qiu Hua’s palm. She gently closed her trembling fingertips, not daring to let the tears fall from the corners of her eyes until she had tightly grasped the tiny piece of ash in her palm.
“I knew you wouldn’t be willing to stay here. I knew it.” She held the hand of the ashes and placed it on her chest. She turned around and walked out in front of everyone, not giving the slightest bit of face to the Jiutian Sect.
Upon seeing this, the disciples of the Qinglan School stood up without hesitation and followed her, not even looking back.
“Sect Master Qiu Hua.” The Sect Master of Lingyun Sect, one of the Ten Great Sects, called out to Qiu Hua: “A great calamity is upon us. Sect Master, please stay.”
“Protecting the world’s creatures is the duty of all of us in the Qinglan School, but today I do not wish to stay here. If anyone tries to stop me, they will be making an enemy of the Qinglan School.” Qiu Hua’s gaze swept over the crowd. “Is there anyone who will stop me?”
Everyone averted their gazes, none daring to speak.
Qiu Hua lifted her foot and left without any hesitation or nostalgia.
Many people present were burning with curiosity, but no one dared to whisper in front of the Ten Great Sects. They were also afraid that their secret voice transmission would be discovered by someone with a higher cultivation level, so they could only hold back.
“Nan Feng, go investigate who tampered with the painting.” Bu Ting quickly regained his composure. When he turned to face the crowd, his face was devoid of any unusual expression. “In recent days, demonic cultivators have infiltrated our sect and have resorted to all sorts of underhanded tactics. Everyone, do not fall for their tricks.”
The sect masters of several major sects also regained their composure and began to recount the evil deeds committed by the Demon Realm, which made everyone present furious. They wished they could immediately destroy the Demon Realm to protect the peace of the world.
“How arrogant!” someone in the crowd scoffed. “If you immortal cultivators really had such abilities, why would you be so wary of us?”
They were so scared that they even thought a painting catching fire was their doing, and their faces turned as pale as a ghost?
“A demonic cultivator?”
“There’s actually a demon cultivator mixed in?!”
Everyone was on high alert and took out their magic weapons. Jiu Hui and Tao Er deftly crawled under the table. Seeing that Zhi You was still sitting upright, they quickly dragged him under the table, one on each side. Jiu Hui also grabbed the fruit on the table as they went.
“Immortal Jiu Hui, is it a little unsafe to just use this table as a shield?” Tao Er lifted the tablecloth slightly and peeked outside. The fighting had already begun.
“Let me see if I have any defensive magic weapons.” Jiu Hui stuffed the fruit plate into Zhi You’s arms and rummaged through her storage ring. Finally, she found a dilapidated turtle shell.
Tao Er glanced at the tattered turtle shell. What use could this thing possibly have?
Jiu Hui knocked on the turtle shell three times and held it in her palms. “Prime Minister Wu is invincible in the sea, no fish can rival him.”
As soon as the words were spoken, the turtle shell shook and opened up a protective barrier about seven feet wide, completely covering the three of them.
“I didn’t expect it to be such a good thing.” Tao Er touched the edge of the barrier with envy: “Is this also a magic weapon that Immortal Venerable Yu gave you?”
“Before I left, Prime Minister Wu lent me this magic weapon for self-defense.” Jiu Hui took out the dagger that Senior Sister Xi Yuan had given her and picked a fruit to peel. “Prime Minister Wu’s great-grandfather lived for more than five thousand years, and his turtle shell was incredibly hard, so Prime Minister Wu used it to make a defensive magic weapon.”
Tao Er fell silent.
Using his great-grandfather’s turtle shell as a magic weapon, this was truly a filial grandson who moved the heavens.
“That…” A guilty voice came from behind the three of them. The three of them turned their heads in unison and saw the embarrassed and flattering face of the head disciple of the Shenji School.
“Can you let me squeeze in?” The sect’s head disciple dodged a flying copper axe. “I was blind before, and I apologize to you.”
“Fellow Daoist is a disciple of a major sect, so why would you be afraid of the Demon Cult?” Tao Er was too lazy to peel the fruit, so he just took a bite and said smugly, “Why bother learning from us country bumpkins hiding in our shells?”
The sect’s head disciple smiled awkwardly and said, “Logically, I should have gone to fight the enemy, but for some reason, I felt powerless just now. The spiritual energy in my body seemed to have been drained, and I couldn’t use any of my magic techniques.”
“No need to guess. Poisoning, of course.” Jiu Hui lifted the table curtain and glanced out, meeting the gaze of Yu Jing, who was also hiding under a table diagonally in front of her. The master and disciple exchanged a knowing glance, and Yu Jing gave her a gesture indicating that everything was safe. Jiu Hui nodded in understanding.
Within a few breaths, most of the people present lost their spiritual power. On the contrary, the Changshou Palace disciples who were the least adept at fighting and several Elders who were not poisoned stood in front, fighting back and forth with the Demon Cult members.
No wonder the demon soul that possessed Zhu Yan yesterday wanted to kill Luo Kui. If it had succeeded in killing Luo Kui and then possessed Luo Kui to poison Changshou Palace, that would have been interesting.
She glanced at Bu Ting, who was sitting at the head of the table with a pale face. All the members of the Demon Cult who had infiltrated the Jiutian Sect should be here now. Jiu Hui smiled silently and put down the tablecloth.
When all the fish from the Demon Cult had fallen into the net, the fisherman sitting high on the platform was about to reel it in.
The moment Jiu Hui dropped the table curtain, Bu Ting lifted his eyelids and glanced at the chaotic hall.
“Why are there so many people from the Demon Cult?” Tao Er continued to munch on his fruit. “Does the Jiutian Sect have a traitor? Otherwise, how could so many people from the Demon Cult sneak in?”
“All the tea, fruits, and pastries have been laced with Spirit-Dispersing Powder. This poison is colorless and odorless, and it can prevent immortals from using their spiritual energy for half an hour.” Zhi You picked up a fruit from the plate and looked at it. Then he said to Jiu Hui, who was still peeling a fruit, “Don’t eat it.”
Tao Er, who had already eaten half of the fruit, was speechless.
“It’s fine if you eat it,” Zhi You consoled him. “You’re only at the first level of Qi Refining, so it doesn’t matter if you have spiritual energy or not.”
Tao Er: “…”
Hearing such comforting words was enough to drive him mad.
“Boom!” Someone fell beside the head disciple of the Shenji School.
Nan Feng struggled to his feet from the ground, coughing up blood, and looked up to meet several pairs of burning eyes.
“Fellow Daoist Nan Feng,” Jiu Hui gave the entire plate of fruits to Tao Er and looked at Nan Feng with a smile. “Do you want to come in and hide?”
Nan Feng’s entire body froze.
He recalled what he had said to Jiu Hui: “There are disciples of our sect guarding the sect everywhere, so it’s very safe.”
Author’s Note:
Zhi You: Today, I am no longer the same as before. I have learned to comfort others.
Nan Feng: Don’t let me hear the word “safe”.
Little Garlic Chive: Classmate Nan Feng, why don’t you talk? Are you just not talkative by nature?
Prime Minister Wu: We turtles, when we use our great-grandfather’s turtle shell to refine magic weapons, that’s called being frugal and thrifty. You humans don’t understand~