Chapter 39 Part 1

Jiang Yiguang, having begun to take the initiative in her studies, already knew what the “Eight Trigrams Steps” signified.

Trusting in Fu Juan’s identity as the “female lead,” the moment she heard her voice, she subconsciously followed her guidance to shift her stance and position. The Dark Lady Sword Art combined with the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Steps; that latent, tenacious power grew increasingly formidable. Within a few exchanges, the ritual sword in the evil Daoist’s doppelganger’s hand let out a sharp clang and was sheared in two by the Dark Lady Sword.

The evil Daoist’s face darkened. He simply tossed aside the broken ritual sword. Swordsmanship had never been his specialty anyway. He took out his magical artifact, the Nine-Section Cane, and slammed it forcefully into the ground. Immediately, fissures like spiderwebs spread out from under his feet. He had studied a very mixed bag of divine powers and could also manipulate the Five Qis to use the Five Thunders Orthodox Method. But the primordial qi of heaven and earth was being monopolized by the Thunder Command Token in Zhao Zhi’s hand and the Ancient Thunder Talisman, so the thunderbolts he summoned were affected to some degree. His sinister gaze fell upon Jiang Yiguang, who was drenched in sweat. With a beckoning hand, he cast a “wind spell.” The gentle April breeze instantly turned violent; the splashing raindrops hit the ground with loud clangs, like bolts striking iron.

When the Sword Dao reached its apex, all arts could be cut through. However, Jiang Yiguang had only just begun practicing the sword; she hadn’t even touched the concept of “Dao,” let alone “reaching the pinnacle.” When her ritual sword was blocked by the Nine-Section Cane, Jiang Yiguang spun on her heel and immediately changed tactics, throwing out her very last talisman beans. The Yellow-Scarf Divine Soldiers, as immovable as deep pools and towering mountains, appeared. Their entire beings radiated a heavy, steady, yet fierce aura. Without waiting for Jiang Yiguang’s command, they attacked the evil Daoist from left and right simultaneously. Jiang Yiguang stepped back a pace. She rarely experienced such scenarios and couldn’t help panting. But without even waiting for her breath to steady, she raised her sword again to charge at the evil Daoist.

If this old bastard didn’t die, her “freedom” would just be the moon in the water, flowers in the mirror—unreachable.

Zhao Zhi and Wang Xuanming were still over there with “Great Thunder Lord of the Capital Heaven, Thunderbolts Roar Across the Void,” using Thunder Arts and swordsmanship to pin down another one of the evil Daoist’s doppelgangers. Jiang Yiguang, for her part, was trying every means to break the protective gale-force swirl around the Daoist. The spiritual power on that Nine-Section Cane was simply too strong! If not for her increased Physical Strength Points, the very first clash would likely have sent her ritual sword flying from her grip.

Fu Juan sat in her wheelchair. Her left hand rested on her leg, while her right hand shifted spell seals. She calmly directed Jiang Yiguang while simultaneously using Jiang Yiguang’s footsteps to lay down a formation. Although she’d had a full night’s rest, her power had been too severely depleted; there was no possible way she’d recovered by now. Strands of sweat-dampened hair clung to her forehead. Her complexion was as pale as paper, yet her dark, deep eyes resembled an unfathomably dark abyss that filled one with dread.

“Messengers of thunder and fire, a million azure dragons. Sky-shattering thunderbolts, swiftly enter this talisman! Swiftly, swiftly, by command!”

It was still the Dragon-Summoning Incantation, but this time there was a ready-made “dragon” present. The small Dragon Lair here had been cleaved apart; Yin energy and baleful energy poured into the dragon vein, which was overflowing with resentment and unwillingness toward the evil Daoist. As the Dragon-Summoning Incantation fell, a fierce, potent baleful energy surged skyward. The dragon, which ought to have been wreathed in divine light, was now dark as ink, its baleful miasma like blood. It dragged immense might as it dove directly at the evil Daoist!

“Mere malevolent dragon!” The evil Daoist sneered. He hadn’t taken the black dragon seriously at first; the Dragon-Slaying Art he cultivated feared dragon souls the least. But when that wave of baleful energy crashed into him, his true qi suddenly went berserk! His magical power diverged; even his Thunder technique only produced a muffled rumble. “Heavenly Punishment backlash?!” The evil Daoist’s expression changed drastically. Enlightenment struck him abruptly. Grinding his teeth, he snarled, “That damned fox!” He had been beguiled by that Nine-Tailed Fox without even realizing it! Forcing the two Yellow-Scarf Divine Soldiers back, the evil Daoist wielded his Nine-Section Cane and activated a Yellow Turban Protective Talisman. But who could have guessed—this protective talisman only blocked for an instant before being blasted apart by the dragon soul! The evil Daoist violently spat out a mouthful of blood. All his forcibly suppressed old injuries erupted simultaneously at this moment.

“Wait, the matter of my mother—” Before Jiang Yiguang could finish, countless thunderbolts smashed down from the sky, blasting the evil Daoist into a charred corpse.

It was not Fu Juan who had made the move. She had her own sense of restraint.

Jiang Yiguang abruptly whipped her head toward Zhao Zhi, whose expression was flippant and smug. Flames of fury churned in her eyes.

Zhao Zhi unhurriedly tucked away his Thunder Command Token, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and offered a roguish smile. “No need to thank me.”

Jiang Yiguang’s expression was dark. The only possible lead in Jiang City that might have connected to her mother had just been severed, just like that.

Wang Xuanming let out a long breath. “If this Daoist hadn’t already been severely injured, I’m afraid even with our magical artifacts, the four of us wouldn’t have been able to handle him.”

The strange, unnatural rain that had fallen because the small Dragon Lair was severed finally stopped as the evil Daoist died. It cleared up quickly. Had it not been for the soaking wet ground everywhere, one would never have guessed it had just rained.

Fu Juan looked up. “Jiang Yiguang?”

Jiang Yiguang didn’t speak. She suppressed the fury in her heart, lifted her sword, and strode briskly toward the cave not far away.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was still inside that cave. She had spent some time with the evil Daoist and might know something.

“The evil Daoist was dealt with by our combined efforts. That Dragon Vein Quintessence—surely everyone who was present gets a share, right?” Zhao Zhi asked Fu Juan with a grin. Wang Xuanming might not want any, but he was different from Wang Xuanming.

Fu Juan covered her mouth, coughed lightly, and forced back the blood that had surged to her throat. She gave Zhao Zhi an icy glance. “You’re welcome to come and take it.” Her cold words concealed a piercing killing intent, as if the moment Zhao Zhi truly dared make a move, her ritual sword would sweep toward him without the slightest mercy.

Wang Xuanming grabbed Zhao Zhi and lowered his voice. “What could your family possibly lack?” While he was still trying to dissuade Zhao Zhi, Fu Juan had already stopped paying them any attention and wheeled herself toward the cave. This matter held some differences from Southern Mountain, but at its root, it was still a continuation of the South Mountain incident.

Inside the cave was a terrifying, hair-raising stillness. When her clear footsteps echoed into her ears, Jiang Yiguang felt a pang of regret for her own recklessness. But in the next instant, she suppressed the panic seeping from deep within her. Her heart felt heavy. Once she broke free of Fate, would she just plunge into another deep, dark whirlpool? Where was her mother? Was the person she could rely on… still even in this world?

“Jiang Yiguang.” That familiar, steady, composed voice reached her ears, carried along the long winds of the dark cavern.

Jiang Yiguang didn’t turn to look at Fu Juan. She kept moving forward until her eyes beheld a bizarre and magnificent scene within the cave.

A peerless beauty in palace attire sat inside a cage. Her features were no different from what Jiang Yiguang had seen in Head Hill Cave and the illusions. But behind her grew a tall, snow-white tree. A Nine-Tailed Fox sat elegantly upon the treetop; its fox-eyes shimmered with golden Divinity, as if it were gazing into the mortal world across boundless time and space. The snow-white leaves rustled with a sound like silver bells. Amidst that soft, crisp sound, a succession of little foxes—fiery red, snowy white, three tails, four tails, even nine tails—leaped out from the void and simultaneously looked toward the mortal world.

Fu Juan drew a sharp breath and said in a grave tone, “This… is Azure Hill in the Mountains and Seas.”

King Yu had used the dragon veins to suppress the Mountains and Seas. Now that a dragon vein was damaged, the Mountains and Seas were reviving. It was hardly difficult, then, for Azure Hill to manifest in the world. This hazy, dreamlike scene lasted only a dozen or so minutes before dissipating. Tushan Yi stood up. Her fingers pressed against the cage and exerted sudden force. With a cracking sound, the Mystic Iron cage, etched with runes, instantly exploded into black iron filings, scattering in all directions. She smiled faintly at Fu Juan and Jiang Yiguang. “Greetings to you both. Allow me to introduce myself: Azure Hill Envoy, Tushan Yi. Oh, I should clarify—that obsession in Head Hill Cave had nothing to do with me.”

That was the obsession and resentment left behind by a thousand-year-old regret. Once they dispersed, she was no longer bound by love and hate. She was simply herself again.

Fu Juan furrowed her brow slightly, mentally estimating their odds of victory if a fight broke out.

Jiang Yiguang asked, “Were you in league with the evil Daoist?”

Tushan Yi raised an eyebrow and smiled innocently. “When you arrived, didn’t you see? I was in a cage—also a victim.”

Jiang Yiguang: “…” Seeing how she had just pulverized the cage barehanded, she certainly didn’t look like some helpless prisoner. More like she’d deliberately allowed the evil Daoist to control her, using him to achieve certain goals—such as… bringing Azure Hill into the world!

Seeing that Fu Juan and Jiang Yiguang clearly didn’t believe her, Tushan Yi began to recount her own ordeal in detail.

Fu Juan listened quietly, piecing together the earlier information. She had originally identified the one who’d left the evil spell in Head Hill Cave as the evil Daoist. But after listening to Tushan Yi’s account, it seemed there was more to the story? Her brows furrowed suddenly. Only when Tushan Yi finished speaking did she ask, “Someone else left the evil spell in Head Hill Cave? And that same person incited the evil Daoist to sever the dragon vein?”

Tushan Yi completely avoided any mention of her own incitement of the evil Daoist. When Fu Juan’s gaze swept over her, she simply nodded with a beaming smile. “Yes.” That person had left the evil spell, and had indeed pushed the evil Daoist to act. She wasn’t lying; she had merely concealed some tiny, insignificant details in between.

Jiang Yiguang asked curiously, “Then who is he?”

Tushan Yi gave Jiang Yiguang a bewitching smile. “Little sister, I didn’t see his face with my own eyes. How would I know?”

Jiang Yiguang: “…”

Fu Juan neither agreed nor disagreed with Tushan Yi’s words. Her calm face revealed no trace of her true feelings. She stated flatly, “You, milady, are a non-human. You will need to accompany us to the Xuanzhen Dao Court.”

“Why must it be the Xuanzhen Dao Court? Going to the Zhao family is also acceptable.” Zhao Zhi’s voice abruptly rang out. He and Wang Xuanming had also arrived at the cave and overheard a portion of the tale. Noticing Tushan Yi’s gaze settle on him, Zhao Zhi straightened his collar and revealed a smile he considered warm and genteel. “My Zhao family is one of Shenzhou’s Four Great Mystic Clans. We can also assist you, milady, with registration and are fully qualified to process a temporary residence permit.” The Azure Hill of the Mountains and Seas—for now, at least, she showed no signs of hostility. The old ancestors had said that among all the factions within the Mountains and Seas Realm, the ones most likely to side with the human race were only Azure Hill and Kunlun.

A glint flashed in Jiang Yiguang’s eyes. She said coolly, “The Zhao family certainly has the ability. Otherwise, how could they excavate the tomb atop the dragon vein and remove Xie Chaoyun’s corpse along with her true spirit?”