Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The crack in the sky was about the size of a basketball. One could faintly hear an ethereal poem reciting sound resonating from it. Not only that, but there would also be an intermittent transmission of milky white light.
When the white light entered the paradise island, it immediately bloomed and wafted to attach itself onto the snake monster that was constantly struggling in the clouds. As if it had added endless vitality to the snake monster, its gradually tiring movements became filled with strength once again.
“What is that? It can actually break through the formation left by the ancient immortals… C-Could it be that the ancient witchcraft’s successor has mastered the secret site Tiantai Mountain!?” Watching the sudden change of the situation where the enemy seemed to be about to turn his desperate situation around, a Taoist exclaimed in shock.
The ambushing Taoists this time had dispatched several dozens of elites who had at least made a breakthrough to the Heavenly Gate Stage, but in the end, the battle situation that should have been easily won without twists and turns had now reached such a thrilling point that had many ups and downs. It was absolutely inconceivable.
“Tiantai Mountain? Legend has it that this is the place where the Ancient Goddess Nuwa was buried, the secret site Tiantai Mountain…” After such a long time of the battle, a cruel expression finally appeared on Lu Tiandao’s face for the first time. Looking up at the sky, she said with hatred, “Even if he had really mastered the ‘secret site,’ he has finally fallen into our hands in Yingzhou because of his carelessness, so he must die no matter what! Duan Lianbao, Xu Qingyu, leave Yingzhou now and activate the Three Relation Talisman to summon for backup! All Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters, it’s time for us to sacrifice ourselves for our Masters and Gate today! Don’t let that scoundrel escape even if we die!”
Upon hearing Lu Tiandao’s order, be it those Taoists who were not afraid of death, or those who were forced by the circumstances, all of them nodded and replied, “Yes!”. Only Duan Lianbao alone hesitated before responding with a twisted expression, “Auntie, I… I…”
When he was humming, and hawing and only managed to make only a few words, he was already interrupted by the Taoist priest who predicted that Zhang Lisheng would be trapped in the ancient immortal formation, “Junior Nephew Duan, it’s not time to behave in such a compassionate way to create an effect. You’re the future hope of our Gate, and this kind of self-righteous bravery is a failure in seeing the larger picture. How disappointing! Senior Sister Lu, the strength of this witchcraft’s scoundrel amplified after he managed to connect with the secret site. It’s okay for the formation left behind by the saints to be destroyed, but I’m afraid it would implicate the entire geographical structure of the Yingzhou. If we accidentally destroy a part of the paradise, we’ll be condemned as a sinner through the age in the Gate of Dao.”
“Junior Brother Liu, you read a lot of books and have high wisdom. What do you think we should do?” Looking at the giant snake that seemed to tug the stars till they trembled when it was struggling in the clouds, Lu Tiandao asked in a deep voice.
“Yingzhou has already transformed into a relic for your disciple, Senior Sister. If she can maintain a calm mind, then that scoundrel will never be able to turn himself over, no matter how capable he is now that he’s in such a situation. However, if she can’t maintain a calm mind…” The old Taoist glanced to take a peek at Lu Tiandao’s expression, “I know that girl has an outstanding innate talent and is extremely blessed, with the great operation of Qi in her, but no matter what, she has only cultivated Dao method for only two to three years…”
“Junior Brother Liu, you just told Duan Lianbao that this is not the time to behave in such a compassionate way to create an effect, but why are you acting affectedly now? Don’t beat around the bush!”
“Yes, yes!” The old Taoist smoothed out his half-black-half-white hair at the back of his head and said, “I feel that instead of fighting to the death in Yingzhou, you should stay with your disciple to help keep her state of mental calmness, Senior Sister. Only then…”
“Alright, Junior Brother, I understand your intention,” Lu Tiandao threw a side glance at the old Taoist and fell into a moment of silence before speaking, “Junior Brother Liu, I’ll not leave Yingzhou no matter what in such a situation but your concerns make sense too. Because of this, I’ve come up with a win-win method. You’re also a professor at the front at Beijing Normal University and have even taught my disciple before. Why don’t you replace me and keep her state of mind calm to weather this hard time?”
“W-What? Senior Sister, I was the one telling you to leave Yingzhou, but why has the responsibility of protecting your disciple fallen onto me? T-This is not right…” The old Taoist was actually willing in his heart, but he still muttered in pretense.
“Stop arguing, Junior Brother. This is the best method that is satisfactory to both sides. You only need to do as I say,” Lu Tiandao replied with a blank expression.
“In that case, I’ll do as you say,” The old Taoist worried that a long delay might lead to trouble, so he no longer rejected, and with a nod, he made a few gestures with his hand and took a few steps forward. Without warning, he disappeared from paradise island and appeared in the pavilions on Huxin Island in the Fishing Mountain Village in a blink of an eye.
He looked around and saw nobody around. Knowing that Duan Lianbao and Xu Qingyu who had left Yingzhou before him had gone to activate the Three Relation Talisman without stopping to rest, he breathed a long sigh of relief and whispered weakly, “Fortunately, I’m clever enough or otherwise, I’m afraid I’d have died today!”
Then, he hurried down the corridor.
With several turns, the old Taoist came to stand in front of a narrow door that was at the deepest end of the corridor before knocking on the door twice gently, “Junior Niece Tao, I’m Liu Changyong, and I’m here on your Master’s order to look after you and help keep your state of mind calm.”
“Professor Liu, I mean, Junior Uncle Liu, please come in,” A haste voice replied from the room, “Is my master okay? I thought it would only take more than ten minutes to kill that ancient witchcraft’s successor, but why hasn’t there been any news yet after so long? The fluctuations in Yingzhou paradise is getting stronger; it makes me feel uneasy. What happened? ”
When the old Taoist heard this, he quickly pushed the door to enter the room. The wooden cabin that was only a little more than ten square-metered wide was completely empty except for a futon and an oil lamp on the floor.
On top of the futon sat a pretty young girl with slightly tanned skin. She was casting a spell while gesturing with her fingers; there was a frown on her forehead. Her body did not move at all.
Upon seeing that the girl did not move, the Taoist immediately felt relieved and said, “Junior Niece, it’s the most critical time now, so you must not panic!”
When the girl heard the Taoist’s ambiguous reply, she asked a series of questions, “Junior Uncle, the most critical time? What is happening now? Has there been an unexpected situation? How is that possible? Master’s power is so strong, so how could there possibly be an unexpected situation?
“Sigh, to allow you to focus your entire attention in cultivation, Senior Sister Lu doesn’t let you know anything that is going on in the Gate, but sometimes, as the saying goes, there are mountains beyond mountains and heavens beyond heavens. However perfect things may be, there would always be a better one. The ancient witchcraft’s successor that we’re scheming and dealing with this time is just the right example…” The old Taoist shook his head continuously. “Ah, forget it. What’s most important now is to let you keep your state of mental calmness. This half Soul Calming Incense that I have is much more precious than the Heart Stilling Lamp. It’s an unrivaled treasure, and I was thinking of using it to get rid of my ill thoughts when I’m making a breakthrough, but here you go, just use it.”
As the Taoist was speaking, he took out an incense as thick as thumb less than 15 centimeters from his sleeve that would turn towards the light and sighed as he placed it at the brightly lit oil lamp wick on the ground.
“Junior Uncle Liu, the reason my state of mind is not calm is not because of the increasing fluctuations in Yingzhou, but it’s mostly because I’m worried about my master’s safety. You only need to let me check whether she’s safe or not, there’s no need to waste your precious item at all!” The girl roared.
“Can you calm down after checking her safety?” The old Taoist was stunned. However, after he recalled the power of the ancient witchcraft’s successor, he shook his head and said, “Forget it, just lit his half Soul Calming Incense .”
When his words left his mouth, the girl asked again in worries, “Junior Uncle Liu, what happened to my Master?”
“She’s doing good. She’s only a step away from becoming a human immortal, so how can there possibly be any unexpected situation? Don’t overthink…” Knowing that his words were contradicting each other, the old Taoist answered with an uneasy feeling.
It was not that he was not clever, but the ambush that was supposed to only last for more than ten minutes had now been delayed several times longer and had forced the disciple to operate her relic at an overload. This itself was already a sign of unexpected situation and was impossible to be covered up with a lie.
“Junior Uncle Liu, from your reluctant look, I can tell that this Soul Calming Incense is something very extraordinary, but you’re more willing to use it than using the Water Mirror Technique to let me check on my master. Stop lying to me; something must have happened to master…” The girl could see the flaws and began to plead in a tearful voice.
The old Taoist was used to helping this new Gate of Dao’s disciple who mastered the Yingzhou paradise to keep calm as an excuse to escape the dangerous situation, but after he came to find his Junior Niece, her state of mind became even more uneasy. In fear that an unexpected situation would happen and that he would not be able to bear the responsibility, the old Taoist quickly replied, “Keep calm, Junior Niece Tao. You better keep calm now! I’ll let you take a look at your master if you can relax.”
“Please cast the spell now,” The girl calmed herself down and pleaded.
“What a bad year this is. if I had known earlier, I’d have asked for a year of sick leave from the university and shut myself in a closed-door cultivation,” The Taoist helplessly shook his head and spoke with a wry smile before beginning to mutter a spell, “The water of no dispute, there’s none that knows…”
After he finished chanting, he suddenly opened his mouth and pulled a water line as thick as a baby’s fist from the throat with his fingers before smearing it in the air to become a water curtain. Then, he drew a talisman on the air and slapped on it. At once, a flash of glimmer appeared on the surface of the water curtain before showing a clear image.
Two to three figures were flying swiftly in the blue sky and white clouds around a human-headed snake monster, shackled by light chains, continuously. The entire scene was filled with spells and the brilliance glare emitted by relics.
“Look, isn’t that Senior Sister Lu?” The old Taoist stared at the water curtain for a while and finally pointed at a figure that was moving so fast that a stack of virtual shadows could be seen behind her as he thundered with pleasant surprise, “See, I told you your master is safe. Junior Niece Tao, you can feel at ease now.”
After saying so, he peeked at the girl but found that somehow, her face had already gone pale.
A panic jolted in his heart. Much baffled, the old Taoist immediately comforted her, “Junior Niece, don’t worry, the one your Master is dealing with is not an ancient demon, but it’s some monster that the ancient witchcraft’s successor transformed using some unknown ancient bug, so he’s actually still a human.”
“Junior Uncle, w-what is the origin of that ancient witchcraft’s successor?” The girl became silent for a long time and suddenly asked in a trembling voice.
“It’s said that he’s a Chinese born and raised in China but immigrated to the US when he was a teenager and somehow, he managed to get the inheritance from the ancient witchcraft. Oh, other than this, he’s also quite a legendary person in the US and has a very high net worth…” The Taoist thought that the girl was gripped by horror by the ferocious appearance of the ancient witchcraft’s successor, so he replied in a relaxed tone.
As he was speaking, he did not deliberately describe the ferocity and the powerfulness of that ancient witchcraft’s successor.
