Ning Buwei placed the two green gu worms together. Soon, the intact one completely devoured the corpse of the other.
The gu worm in that young girl’s body must have been put there recently and had not yet dispersed into her sea of consciousness. He looked at the bustling crowd in the Changsheng Dao Field. If someone had already scattered these gu worms in the field, he feared—
“Woof! Woof woof!” A huge yellow dog flew past his eyes.
Immediately after, Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng followed closely on their flying swords. Feng Zizhang was still shouting heartrendingly, “Big Yellow, be good! Come back!”
Ning Buwei was currently disguised as Wang Zizhuo, so they naturally didn’t recognize him. They rushed wildly towards the mountainside.
With Chu Jun protecting them, Ning Xiu and Cui Yuanbai wouldn’t run into any trouble. But these two older ones and the dog were unpredictable. Compared to the safety and lives of others, Ning Buwei decisively chose to chase after his son and daughter.
The two little fools chased the foolish dog for over ten miles before finally subduing Big Yellow, who had returned to his original form. Big Yellow was biting a chicken leg and shook his fur vigorously.
Feng Zizhang, clutching the dog’s tail, sat on the ground panting heavily, utterly confused. “Where… where did this chicken leg come from?”
Jiang Yizheng, supporting herself on her knees, shook her head. She looked up, her gaze pausing, “Zizhang, look, what a beautiful pavilion.”
Feng Zizhang followed her gaze and saw a towering pavilion in the distance. Rosy clouds filled the sky all around, with floating clouds drifting by, emitting an incredibly noble aura.
“Wow, could this be the Flowing Cloud Pavilion of the Canghai Tower?” Feng Zizhang stood up and said, “I’ve heard my master mention before that the Canghai Tower’s treasure, the Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud, is kept in the Flowing Cloud Pavilion— Huh?”
Feng Zizhang suddenly rubbed his eyes vigorously.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Yizheng asked.
“Look, doesn’t that silhouette look like Chu Xin?” Feng Zizhang pointed at the bushes near the Flowing Cloud Pavilion.
Jiang Yizheng’s eyesight was better than his. She looked carefully and immediately changed expression, “It really is him.”
Feng Zizhang said, “What is he doing here?”
Jiang Yizheng suddenly felt uneasy, “Let’s quickly take Big Yellow and leave. I have a bad feeling about this.”
Feng Zizhang hesitated, “But—”
Jiang Yizheng wasn’t as sentimental as him. She pulled him to leave, but just as they turned around, a black shadow flashed in front of them, blocking their path.
Chu Xin stared at them with an unfriendly expression, “How is it you two again?”
Feng Zizhang frowned at the evil aura on his body, “Chu Xin, what’s going on with you? Why is the evil aura on your body so strong?”
Chu Xin said irritably, “Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t. Otherwise, I’ll kill you!”
Jiang Yizheng instinctively took half a step back, “We’ll leave right away.”
Feng Zizhang looked at Chu Xin with concern, “If you need our help—”
Jiang Yizheng’s heart sank, immediately feeling that something was wrong. Sure enough, she then heard Chu Xin laugh, “Help? Where were you when I needed your help the most!? Don’t pretend to want to help me now. You’re just two cowardly fools who fear death and side with the enemy!”
Feng Zizhang gritted his teeth and said, “Yes, we are cowards who fear death! But Ning Buwei saved me and Xiao Jiang many times! He could have easily not saved us! At first, we were afraid he might kill us, but we sincerely respected him when we accepted him as our father! Since we’ve known him, we’ve never seen him do anything morally reprehensible. Compared to hearsay rumors, we believe more in what we see with our own eyes! He is the best father in the world!”
Ning Buwei, hidden in the shadows: … That’s a bit of an exaggeration.
Feng Zizhang rarely argued with others, so when he got excited, he couldn’t help but tremble all over. His voice shook, and it looked like he was about to cry.
Jiang Yizheng gripped his hand tightly and looked at Chu Xin with his blood-red eyes. She mustered her courage and said, “Zizhang is right. Moreover, we sent you many messages, but you never replied. We… we still don’t know what happened to you… You won’t tell us.”
Chu Xin laughed softly, “Tell you? What use would that be? What help could two useless people with poor aptitude like you provide?”
Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang were both stunned.
What Chu Xin said… was indeed the truth. But if someone else had said it, it wouldn’t have mattered much. However, coming from the mouth of a once close friend who had shared life and death experiences, it was incredibly hurtful.
Even Ning Buwei, hidden in the shadows, frowned.
“But now—” Chu Xin suddenly changed his tone, “you can be of use!”
Before he finished speaking, Chu Xin suddenly attacked. Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng felt as if an invisible force was choking them. Their spiritual energy was rapidly draining, leaving them powerless to resist.
Ning Buwei quickly drew a talisman and threw it towards Chu Xin. Big Yellow bared his fangs and pounced at the same time, biting Chu Xin’s wrist.
Chu Xin cried out in pain and let go. Immediately after, he was struck by Ning Buwei’s talisman.
Feng Zizhang pulled Jiang Yizheng up from the ground, “Big Yellow, run!”
Big Yellow nimbly dodged Chu Xin’s palm strike and ran alongside Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng.
However, after running just a few steps, the two people stopped, staring at the unfamiliar rocks and flowers gradually appearing before them. They dared not rush forward rashly.
Seeing this, Chu Xin also seemed to panic. He stared blankly at the suddenly unfamiliar surroundings, unconsciously taking a step back before forcing himself to stop. He looked at Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng, his eyes rolling with a blood-red hue, “You’re lucky!”
With that, he turned and leaped towards the Flowing Cloud Pavilion.
Ning Buwei flew into the air on his Suzaku knife, looking down. He saw countless unfamiliar mountains and rivers slowly emerging and revealing their outlines around the Flowing Cloud Pavilion. They were merging with the original landscape of the Dao Discussion Mountain, yet trembling slightly due to the incompatible spiritual energy.
It was as if two mountain ranges were slowly merging together. While eerie, it also had a dazzling beauty. For a moment, it felt like entering some strange illusion.
The spiritual energy fluctuated, and the mountains and rivers transformed.
Ning Buwei looked at the waterfall slowly taking shape in the distance and suddenly felt it was familiar. This was — the waterfall where he and Chu Jun had previously obtained the Purple Flame Knife. The mountain merging with the Dao Discussion Mountain was the Yumian Mountain formed from Cui Chenghong’s Purple Mansion Secret Realm!
“Luckily, we were fortunate,” Jiang Yizheng said, looking nervously in the direction Chu Xin had left.
Feng Zizhang said puzzledly, “It’s not entirely luck. Chu Xin seemed to be in a hurry to go to the Flowing Cloud Pavilion.”
“Could he be after the Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud?” Jiang Yizheng speculated.
The vaguely familiar dialogue made Ning Buwei, hidden in the shadows, suddenly pause.
[Chengfeng, your luck is too bad. Out of more than twenty people, Hao Zheng always picks you.]
[It’s not entirely bad luck. Maybe Hao Zheng particularly likes him, haha!]
[Oh, I heard my little uncle say that the Canghai Tower got a treasure called Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud from somewhere. They say it can change one’s fortune. Why don’t we borrow it to change Chengfeng’s luck?]
[Get out of here. Just from the name, you can tell this treasure is for calming souls, how could it change fortune? Moreover, changing fate goes against the will of heaven. Are you afraid I’m not dying fast enough…]
[What’s the big deal? I know a powerful fortune-changing formation…]
The conversation had happened too long ago, so Ning Buwei only remembered fragments of it. The three of them had once enthusiastically engaged in idle chatter, talking about all sorts of nonsense.
He liked to study various strange formations and talismans, and knew a little about fortune-changing formations. However, because these formations were quite useless and troublesome, with little effect and easy to backfire if not careful, he hadn’t studied them in detail.
But it was nothing more than formation eyes and corners, plus a medium for changing fortune. Xie Jiu and the others couldn’t possibly think their luck wasn’t good enough and suddenly decide to steal the Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud to set up a fortune-changing formation—
Ning Buwei’s gaze swept over the waterfall of Yumian Mountain and paused slightly.
What if he wasn’t trying to change his fortune?
The words of those people in the teahouse echoed in his ears.
–’Now that half of the Cui family is gone, they’ve fallen out of the top ten families. There’s nothing worth seeing anymore…’
–’The Cui clan has suffered heavy losses…’
–’The young master of the Cui family is really unlucky, and the Cui family is unlucky along with him…’
–’Cui Chenghong betrayed the main family and established his own branch… The main family was wiped out, but Cui Chenghong’s branch of descendants continued for ten thousand years!’
Cui Ci’s words from years ago followed, [What’s the big deal? I know a powerful fortune-exchange formation… As long as the medium in the formation is strong enough, it’s no problem to exchange the fortune of an entire clan!]
The medium for a fortune-exchange formation, naturally, had to be something closely connected to the person whose fortune was being exchanged—what could be more closely encompassing of an entire clan’s fortune than the secret realm where the Cui clan’s ancestor Cui Hongcheng’s Purple Mansion was located?
There was nothing else.
The Yumian Mountain secret realm was the most suitable medium to use in a fortune-exchange formation.
But the premise was that someone really wanted to use the entire Canghai Tower Sang family’s fortune to exchange for the Cui clan’s fortune.
Ning Buwei’s expression became solemn as he looked towards the Flowing Cloud Pavilion where the Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud was located.
Feng Zizhang was about to pass through this eerie place, taking Jiang Yizheng and Big Yellow back to the Changsheng Dao Field, when he was startled by the sudden appearance of a stranger.
“This… fellow cultivator, do you need something?” Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng were now like startled birds, wary of everyone.
However, Ning Buwei was pleased to see this. After all, if they foolishly thought everyone was good and had no sense of caution, they would be eaten alive with nothing left, not even bones.
Wearing Wang Zizhuo’s appearance, he used his own voice and said, “I’m your father.”
Whether it was because the wind was too strong or Feng Zizhang was too nervous, he didn’t recognize the voice. His face immediately turned red with anger, “I… you… I’m your father!”
Ning Buwei: “……”
Jiang Yizheng tugged at Feng Zizhang’s sleeve, “It sounds like it really is our father’s voice.”
Feng Zizhang stared at him suspiciously, but when Ning Buwei glared at him, he stumbled back a step in fright.
Indeed, there was no mistaking that glare.
A moment later, Feng Zizhang, with a fresh bump on his head, followed behind Ning Buwei with a dejected face. “Father, I really didn’t recognize your voice…”
After all, anyone who encounters a stranger saying ‘I’m your father’ would think they were being provoked!
As they walked, Ning Buwei asked, “You two came out chasing Big Yellow?”
“Yeah,” Feng Zizhang nodded. “He’s been running off a lot lately. Even the two of us can’t hold him back.”
Big Yellow, now back in puppy form, was hanging in a pouch at Feng Zizhang’s waist, his head poking out, panting.
Feng Zizhang pushed him back in with his hand.
“Father, where are we going?” Jiang Yizheng looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, feeling a bit scared.
“Taking you to find a treasure,” Ning Buwei said, cutting open the bushes in front of them with his knife.
The sharp blade energy made the branches crackle. Feng Zizhang asked, “What treasure?”
Ning Buwei took out the Heavenly Wave Ruler from his sleeve. After silently reciting a mental incantation, the ruler instantly grew to the size of a canoe. “Don’t know. Get on.”
Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng hurriedly climbed onto the ruler. The jade ruler was smooth and warm to the touch, very comfortable to sit on. Ning Buwei stuck a talisman at each of the four corners. Instantly, both people and ruler became invisible, without even a trace of spiritual energy fluctuation.
Looking outward from inside, everything became blurry. Apart from large patches of blank white, only black and gray colors remained, silently merging.
“This is…” Jiang Yizheng looked at the surrounding colors in shock.
“The Ning family’s lost Formation Identification Talisman!” Feng Zizhang said excitedly. “I’ve read about it in books. Talismans placed in four directions, infused with spiritual energy. When one is inside, they can observe the world’s spiritual energy and identify all formations, naturally finding ways to break them! So this is what it looks like from the inside looking out!”
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, various formations began to gradually appear between the black and gray. They displayed different colors according to the spiritual power of those who set them up. Some were layered big and small, quite a sight to see.
“I recognize this one, it’s a Spirit Binding Formation. That light purple one looks like a Teleportation Formation…” Jiang Yizheng leaned over the edge to look down, realizing she could actually recognize quite a few. She was very excited. “But why are the same colors different shades?”
“The stronger the spiritual power of the formation setter and the more skillful their technique, the lighter the color,” Ning Buwei explained. “Some formation specialists set up formations that are formless and traceless. Cultivators entering wouldn’t even notice, but they can kill enemies invisibly.”
“Like that Soul Calming Formation over there. Although the person who set it up has strong cultivation, they’re clearly not an expert in this area. The formation eye is stable but the formation feet are crude, so the color is very obvious.” Ning Buwei pointed it out to them.
This was the first time Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang had such a direct experience of formations. They looked at Ning Buwei with eyes full of admiration.
Ning Buwei felt somewhat uncomfortable being watched. He cleared his throat and continued to manipulate the Heavenly Wave Ruler upwards. The originally very clear and varied arrays gradually became smaller, eventually turning into small colorful points of light.
Feng Zizhang couldn’t help but ask, “Then what are these gray and black things?”
“They are mountain ranges,” Ning Buwei narrowed his eyes. “Mountain ranges generally appear black. These gray mountain ranges clearly don’t belong to the Dao Discussion Mountain.”
Jiang Yizheng said, “But they are merging.”
“That’s why there’s a problem,” Ning Buwei estimated the height was about right and had the Heavenly Wave Ruler stop in mid-air.
“The fortune-exchange formation, one array core and one array eye, with sixteen to sixty-four array points, usually anchored by a heavenly-grade treasure, shaped like the Big Dipper. The array eye is located at the ladle’s heart, the array core at the ladle’s handle…” Ning Buwei said without pause, “I’ll give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to find the array eye and core.”
Feng Zizhang instinctively began to feel nervous. “Father, what if… what if we can’t find them?”
Ning Buwei smiled kindly, “Then you’ll jump down from here.”
Feng Zizhang: “!!!”
Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng opened their eyes wide and began searching. They had been told about the ladle’s heart and handle, but couldn’t even see where the ladle was. They lay on the ruler, searching until their eyes nearly popped out.
Ning Buwei stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of the jade ruler, slightly lowering his head to survey the entire Dao Discussion Mountain. His light blue hair tie was buried in his hair, and the strong wind made his wide sleeves and hems flap loudly, yet he remained motionless.
Amidst the tension, Feng Zizhang couldn’t help but take a quick glance at his father, experiencing a moment of bewilderment. It was as if his father already knew where the entire array was, yet was reluctant to reveal it.
****
At the Chansheng Dao Field.
On the stage, Hao Zheng and Wang Bin were engaged in a back-and-forth Dao discussion. Although Chu Jun, like Hao Zheng, didn’t particularly like Wang Bin as a person, he had to admit that the other party must have some substance to have achieved his current level of cultivation.
Below the high platform, several thousand young disciples were listening intently, eagerly hoping to gain some insight. From time to time, disciples would directly sit cross-legged and enter a state of enlightenment, attracting envious glances from those around them.
Cui Yuanbai tugged at Chu Jun’s sleeve.
“Hmm?” Chu Jun looked down at him.
Cui Yuanbai beckoned to him, indicating he should bend down to listen. Chu Jun obligingly bent down, also setting up a sound barrier.
“Father, my first father’s Purple Mansion has come to this mountain. It’s very fierce,” Cui Yuanbai whispered. “I’m a bit scared.”
“Don’t be afraid,” Chu Jun reached out and patted his head, saying to Cui Yuanbai, “Do you remember what I told you earlier?”
“I remember,” Cui Yuanbai nodded with determination in his eyes. “Hold my little brother tightly.”
“Mm,” Chu Jun said, “What else?”
“Take out the Purple Flame Knife?” Cui Yuanbai asked blankly.
“Mm,” Chu Jun said, “Remember, that Purple Mansion Secret Realm is yours.”
Cui Yuanbai felt as if the pressure that had been weighing on his heart had dissipated even more. He smiled at Chu Jun with curved eyes, “Mm!”
Chu Jun straightened up and continued to listen impassively to Hao Zheng and Wang Bin’s debate.
Cui Chenghong had refined Cui Yuanbai into a blade spirit and sealed him within the blade for ten thousand years. After his demise, this Purple Mansion Secret Realm under his command – whether it was the Canghai Tower’s Sang family, Wang family, or the current Cui family – none were more qualified to claim it than Cui Yuanbai.
He had thought it would take some effort, but unexpectedly someone was rushing to deliver the Yuimian Mountain secret realm.
Chu Jun reinforced the calming array on Ning Xiu several more times.
Ning Xiu, who had been smiling at him, suddenly frowned and became agitated. “Ah! Ah!”
Mother leave! Let’s go!
Cui Yuanbai looked at the increasingly dense black energy on Chu Jun’s shoulder, his little face tense.
“What is this thing!” someone suddenly cried out in alarm.
“Where did these bugs come from!”
“Ahhh—My eyes! Bugs are crawling out from inside! Help me! Save me!”
“Someone has gone berserk!”
“Stop it quickly!”
Most of the disciples at the Changsheng Dao Field were young and inexperienced. When faced with trouble, they couldn’t remain calm. In an instant, swords were flying chaotically, spiritual energy was in disarray, and there were even accidental injuries.
The elder leaders tried to maintain order while rescuing people, but they found these bugs to be extremely strange. Once they entered the sea of consciousness, they fused with the dantian and couldn’t be eliminated. Even worse, some people directly went berserk, bleeding from seven orifices and dying violently, instantly raising the panic at the arena to a new level.
Sang Tian transmitted his voice loudly. “Everyone, don’t panic! Please stay where you are and don’t move around! Everyone, don’t panic—”
Unfortunately, both in prestige and cultivation, he was far inferior to Sang Xuanqing. The crowd at the scene didn’t take his words to heart at all.
Although the young disciples of the Wanxuan Academy were protected by the elders’ barriers, some still went berserk and had their divine and spiritual consciousnesses forcibly sealed, barely escaping the fate of exploding to death.
However, not all sect and family elders were as formidable as those of the Wanxuan Academy. Some elders couldn’t escape this calamity, and blood and energy were spilling everywhere.
Hao Zheng withdrew his divine consciousness that had been probing the surroundings, preparing to step in and save people, when Wang Bin sitting opposite him suddenly made a move.
Hao Zheng’s gaze turned cold. “Wang Bin, your Wang family disciples are down there too.”
But Wang Bin didn’t budge an inch, smiling as he said, “It’s rare for Dean Hao to be so concerned. If they don’t have the ability to protect themselves, it’s their own lack of skill. As for us, it’s been many years since we’ve sparred. I’d really like to experience your abilities!”
Hao Zheng looked down at Chu Jun, who was already entangled by black energy and had fallen into heart demons, his eyes sinking. “I was just thinking the same thing!”
****
“Father, why is there such a large patch of blood mist over there?” Jiang Yizheng pointed at the large patch of blood mist at the boundary between black and gray.
“The fortune-exchange grand formation goes against the heavens, naturally it requires human lives as blood sacrifice,” Ning Buwei said coldly.
Feng Zizhang’s face changed. “There are still so many people at the Changsheng Dao Field, doesn’t that mean— Father, what can we do to save them?”
Ning Buwei raised his head and looked at him expressionlessly, letting out a light sneer. “Why should we save them?”
