Wu Weibai stared at Wei Mingyi, dumbstruck; she had never considered this approach.
When the light from the Reception Talismans enveloped the Sky-Severing Physique and carried him entirely off Bald Mountain, Wu Weibai looked at Wei Mingyi with admiration. “Daoist, you are indeed extraordinary.”
Wei Mingyi wasn’t modest in the slightest. “Daoist, no need to envy me.”
Within Bald Mountain.
In terms of strength, the Prosperous Clans were still superior.
The cultivators of the Master-Disciple Lineage and the Rogue Cultivators were all strangers to one another, not as united as the Prosperous Clan scions.
By now, the Daoists who had entered the mountain had realized they’d fallen into a trap, but breaking through the encirclement of the Sun and Lei Clan Daoists was no easy task.
They had become the prey of the Aristocratic Family clans. No one knew when a deadly arrow might find them.
Some Daoists tried to activate their Reception Talismans, but those who did ultimately died.
Yet at this moment, everyone in the mountain sensed a change in the spiritual energy. The Lei Clan Daoists remained calm, but the Sun Clan Daoists’ expressions suddenly changed. They abruptly turned towards the direction of the Sky-Severing Physique.
The slightly shrewder “prey” seized this moment for a final attempt, using their spiritual power to activate the Reception Talismans. This time, the duration before the talismans activated wasn’t infinitely prolonged. As the enemies’ attacks fell, the talisman’s light wrapped the Daoists and carried them away.
In a few breaths, nearly half the people in the field vanished, and the rest naturally followed suit. The Sun and Lei Clans still wanted to act, but the sky rippled with spiritual energy, and several figures descended onto the mountain in the blink of an eye—the Three Sect Daoists, arriving late.
“Fellow Daoists, what is the meaning of this?” The Jade Emperor Sect Daoist demanded with a dark face.
The Sun Clan Daoist’s face showed a trace of regret. Although they had hunted down a portion of the cultivators, it was far from comparable to the numbers in the previous Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate. Unafraid of the Three Sect Daoists, he looked back at them arrogantly and said carelessly, “In the Eternal Cosmos Heavenly Realm, what else could we be doing?” He ignored the Three Sect cultivators, cast a final glance at the Daoists swept away by the light, shouted “Move!” and led his clansmen away.
The Three Sect cultivators glared at the backs of the Prosperous Clan Daoists, their expressions icy, but still, none of them moved to intercept.
“Many thanks, Fellow Daoists.” A few cultivators of the Master-Disciple Lineage hadn’t yet managed to escape. But with the Three Sect cultivators here, they didn’t need to leave the Eternal Cosmos Heavenly Realm and could hold on a little longer.
“How did you end up on this Bald Mountain as prisoners of the Prosperous Clans? If word gets out, my Master-Disciple Lineage loses all face!” a Pure Clean Sect cultivator scolded.
Those Daoists’ faces turned pale. They bit their lips and said nothing.
Had it not been for these arrivals, they would have lost their lives. Being lectured a bit wasn’t a big deal.
But at that moment, a light scoff rang out.
“Fellow Daoists, aren’t you thanking the wrong people? This group didn’t come early, didn’t come late, but arrived just now. Do they really deserve thanks?” The speaker was none other than Wei Mingyi. After resolving the Sky-Severing Physique, she and Wu Weibai had rushed over here. The moment she arrived, she heard the Pure Clean Sect Daoist’s barking.
The rescued Daoists turned to Wei Mingyi, their gazes bewildered.
The expressions of the Three Sect Daoists on the other side varied, the Pure Clean Sect cultivator’s face the sourest of all.
Two of them quickly ran over and called out “Senior Sister” to Wu Weibai; they were both from Heavenly Origin Sect.
Wu Weibai also didn’t want someone else taking undue credit. She said, “I contacted you all earlier, but you refused to come, didn’t you? So why, the moment Fellow Daoist Wei and I dealt with the Sky-Severing Physique, are you eagerly showing up now?”
The two Junior Sisters from Heavenly Origin Sect chimed in, “We were the ones who wanted them to come.”
With things spelled out this far, the rescued Daoists began to understand. Among them were those whom Wu Weibai had tried to persuade but hadn’t listened to earlier. Now, they all bowed deeply toward Wu Weibai and Wei Mingyi, their gratitude overflowing.
“The grace of saving our lives, we have no way to repay it. We—”
Wei Mingyi smiled. “You can write an IOU.”
The Daoists froze, momentarily speechless.
The Pure Clean Sect Daoist, who had always disliked Wei Mingyi, seized upon this sentence and sneered, “It seems the Daoist’s rescue wasn’t very sincere. We are all of the Master-Disciple Lineage. Instead of supporting each other, you seek personal gain? Where is the righteousness in that?”
“I don’t see the Pure Clean Sect helping the Master-Disciple Lineage become superior beings either,” Wei Mingyi wouldn’t indulge that deranged Daoist named Yan Luo. After that sarcastic remark, she turned to the grateful Daoists and drawled, “Could it be that your gratitude is false? Taking someone’s rescue for granted?”
“It’s not.” With things at this point, those Daoists, regardless of their true thoughts, could no longer deny it. “May I ask how the Daoist is called? And that IOU… how should it be written?”
Wei Mingyi casually said, “Wei Wuwang.” As for the “IOU,” “Write as you see fit, but you must include your sect affiliation at the bottom.”
Although this method was a bit harsh, it could roughly be considered a way to gather followers. Chongyuan Sect needed to expand. It was simply unrealistic to rely on just a few of them to contend against the Aristocratic Families.
Those Daoists hesitated for a moment, then obediently wrote their IOUs.
Wu Weibai didn’t care much for such things, but if she didn’t accept, it wouldn’t reflect well on Fellow Daoist Wei. So when someone wrote an IOU and handed it to her, she didn’t refuse. She carefully put the IOUs away. Gazing at Wei Mingyi, she asked again, “What are your plans next, Daoist? Will you travel with us?”
Wei Mingyi cast a disdainful glance at the Three Sect cultivators and quickly refused. “No.” If she acted together with the Three Sects, wouldn’t she end up as just an appendage to them? Who would claim the Penglai Purple Qi they seized? With a flick of her sleeve, she departed quite breezily.
“Senior Sister?” The Heavenly Origin Sect Daoist looked at Wu Weibai, somewhat bewildered.
Wu Weibai laughed. “Fellow Daoist Wei is a person of true character.” Someone capable of cultivating superior techniques surely wasn’t simple.
“A person of true character? Just a madwoman who can’t see the situation and doesn’t know her limits. People like that, I don’t know how many are buried in the Eternal Cosmos Heavenly Realm,” Yan Luo of the Pure Clean Sect scoffed. She had never seen this Daoist called Wei Wuwang before the Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate, but the moment they met, the other had made the Pure Clean Sect lose face, which left her very unhappy. The more she thought about it, the more stifled she felt.
Wu Weibai didn’t engage. She didn’t even look at the Pure Clean Sect Daoist. If it weren’t for the Aristocratic Families holding an absolute advantage in the Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate, forcing the Three Sects to move together, she wouldn’t want to be in the same group as those Pure Clean Sect people. Pure Clean Sect Daoists were too vicious and hypocritical, proclaiming they had obtained the Great Dao’s true words and sprinkled the Ink of World Purification. But that phrase, “Unity of knowledge and action,” they couldn’t achieve even if given another thousand years.
The battle at Bald Mountain led many Daoists to withdraw and return to Supreme Peak.
This was originally an ordinary occurrence. But on the Blood Sun Sun Clan’s side, several talismans had only brought back the Sky-Severing Physique, making them realize something was amiss.
The Sky-Severing Physique was originally a trump card prepared by the Blood Sun Sun Clan to secure greater benefits in this contest. If their clan’s Daoists performed brilliantly and were favored by the Four Great Clans, being accepted into their fold would be a tremendous boon. But the premature exit of the Sky-Severing Physique meant their clan’s prodigies hadn’t followed the clan’s instructions and hadn’t taken the Sky-Severing Physique seriously enough.
Initially, they were only chilled to see the Sky-Severing Physique back on Supreme Peak. But just as the Sun Clan Daoists prepared to take it away, a somber, killing zither note suddenly rang out. The zither blade came far too fast; before the Sun Clan’s Nascent Soul could react, the Sky-Severing Physique was decapitated. When assembled as a whole, he could still be considered “one,” but once the head rolled away, the Sky-Severing Physique could no longer hold together. With a bang, he exploded, spraying filth everywhere.
On Supreme Peak, the Guardian Perfected Ones were all waiting for the result of the Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate. Such a commotion on the Sun Clan’s side drew the gaze of many bored Daoists.
The Sun Clan Nascent Soul, seeing the Sky-Severing Physique the clan had spent so much to create now dead, flew into a rage and sought the source of the zither note. His hawk-like eyes scanned the area and finally landed on Wu Chongyun, who was playing the zither nearby.
The Sun Clan Guardian Daoist, at the Nascent Soul Stage 2, took one look at Wu Chongyun and sneered coldly, as if mocking her overestimation of herself. Once confirming she had no connection to the Aristocratic Families, the Sun Daoist took a deep breath and let out a thunderous roar, his entire body shining with light. This was a “Sound Technique.” Wherever it reached, thunder rolled, capable of shattering a person’s internal organs.
After the thunder roar, the Sun Daoist formed a hand seal. A blood-red, scorching sun appeared behind him. The light from the crimson sun stretched several dozen meters, surging forward with an overbearing, fierce power. This crimson sun was extremely violent, intolerant of anything filthy. Any power not of the same origin as his was filth to be erased. As long as the enemy’s Dao Cultivation was inferior to his, the crimson sun would devour their power, making it his nourishment.
Using his Nascent Soul Stage 2 cultivation to crush a wild rogue Daoist at the First Stage, the Sun Daoist was supremely confident. If the opponent had been from a Major Clan or a great sect, he’d have had to consider, as gaps in realm could be compensated by techniques and innate talent. But a nameless minor sect… how could it possibly produce such a person? The Merciful Sword back then was just an accident, and even she had unclear ties to Cloud Realm.
The astral wind blew Wu Chongyun’s white hair.
She didn’t look up at the Sun Daoist.
The zither notes swept across all directions like ocean tides.
The Sun Clan Daoist felt as if his chest had been violently struck by a heavy hammer, struggling to breathe.
Blood surged to his throat, his mouth full of a salty, metallic taste.
His expression changed dramatically. Realizing he couldn’t hold on, he retreated hastily, casting a hateful, icy glare at Wu Chongyun.
At the high point of Supreme Peak.
The Daoists of the Four Great Clans who controlled the Eternal Cosmos Heavenly Realm sat idly. Some were playing chess, others meditated with eyes closed.
Wu Jianhuan was holding a chess piece. When she heard the zither notes, her expression abruptly changed.
The Yun Clan Daoist from Cloud Realm sitting opposite asked, “What’s wrong?”
The originally gentle smile on Wu Jianhuan’s face vanished. She pursed her lips. “Zither notes.”
“Just some Zither Cultivator playing. There are plenty in the Nine Provinces. Are you thinking of that person?” The Heavenly Evolution Mountain Daoist turned to look at Wu Jianhuan.
Spirit Mountain publicly claimed the Zither Paragon had gone missing by accident, but everyone knew it wasn’t that simple. It likely involved internal clan strife or some other unspeakable matters.
Wu Jianhuan and the Zither Paragon had been extremely close. It was a pity—
Wu Jianhuan furrowed her brows tightly, as if recalling something.
After a long while, she said, “A sound of killing. Someone is having an unsanctioned duel.”
“An unsanctioned duel, truly not giving us face,” the Chen Clan Daoist said. She flipped her wrist, and a small bird appeared in her palm. “Little bird, go!”
