A vast fog shrouded a mountain forest outside Dragon Vein City, apparently a ritual array encasing the surroundings.
Countless bats flitted about inside this ritual array.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Zither music rang out.
If Gu Hai were here, he would recognize this piece as “Miserable World.”
The one sitting in this ritual array was Fairy Waner
As Fairy Waner played her piece, she looked at the countless bats and two thousand-odd vampires charging towards her.
“Miserable World” isolated Fairy Waner’s surroundings. When the bats got close, they lost their five senses and started flying around messily.
Two figures stood at the summit of a mountain in the ritual array. One of them was Qin Zibai, the former Southern Suppression Supreme Commander. The other wore red clothes and showed a dignified expression with a pair of crimson canines, looking exceptionally ferocious.
These two functioned as the leaders, commanding a group of vampires to attack Fairy Waner, who was trapped in the middle.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Fairy Waner continued plucking the zither strings. While playing “Miserable World,” she even played another piece simultaneously, forming many music Dao soldiers to fight the vampires.
“Xi Yan? Qin Zibai? Ha! How bold of you!” Fairy Waner said coldly from behind the veil she wore.
Qin Zibai looked down coldly. “Fairy Waner, we do not want to make things difficult for you. However, you know about this Grave Valley of Death. Hanba’s fire is very poisonous. We have thought of many methods but failed to deal with it. Yet, you can absorb Hanba’s fire and even refine it. We only want to know the method to refine Hanba’s poison.”
Refine Hanba’s fire poison? That was because of Fairy Waner’s fire cauldron physique, which allowed her to refine most flames in the world. However, she could not possibly reveal this secret. When Hu Dongtian came to know of her physique previously, he had gone to great lengths to obtain her. How could she let this secret leak again?
“How can I tell you the secrets of my sect? Xi Yan? Ha! The previous master of the Huang Royal Dynasty was actually willing to become a slave of the Yuan Nation. All your loyal officials have already reached the Nascent Soul Realm, right? To think you could bear to send them to the Yuan Nation to be spirit-assimilated! All of them were spirit-assimilated into vampires? Hahahahaha! You became a complete dog!” Fairy Waner said coldly.
The red-clad man beside Qin Zibai, Xi Yan, revealed a cold smile and said, “Just take care of yourself. Fairy Waner? Ha! I only address you as Fairy out of respect for the sect behind you. Without your sect, you are just an ignorant lass. Humph! Your music Dao’s effect is weakened now, right? My ritual array specializes in targeting the music Dao!”
A hint of ice flashed in Fairy Waner’s eyes.
“Your master is very carefree, letting you wander around alone. Ha! Fairy Waner, tell us how to refine Hanba’s fire poison, and I’ll let you go. Otherwise…,” Qin Zibai said coldly.
“Take me down if you can. If you can’t, then cut the crap! Humph!” Fairy Waner retorted coldly.
The surrounding vampires kept charging towards the center. However, the zither music stopped them every time.
Qin Zibai and Xi Yan frowned as they looked at each other.
“Lord Qin, why don’t you make a move? Fairy Waner should only be at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. With her zither, her strength barely reaches the level of a Lower Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator. I cannot deal with her. However, with your strength…” Xi Yan looked at Qin Zibai.
However, Qin Zibai frowned slightly and said, “Let’s wait a little longer.”
“Wait a little longer? Ha! Lord Qin, did you have my people attack so that you could detach yourself from this? This is not that easy to deal with. The sect behind Fairy Waner is indeed incredible. However, you don’t have to be this cautious. If she dies here, who would know?” Xi Yan said.
Qin Zibai still feared the sect behind Fairy Waner and did not want to take personal action.
“Wait some more. Wear her down.” Qin Zibai shook his head.
——
While Xi Yan and Qin Zibai dealt with Fairy Waner in the ritual array, three figures stood in an extremely hidden spot in a mountain forest outside the ritual array. The leader was the Divine Strategy Battalion Commander, Li Shenji. The other two seemed to be his subordinates.
“Milord, Qin Zibai still does not dare to attack?” one of the subordinates said with a frown.
Li Shenji revealed a cold smile and said, “Attack? Ha! Qin Zibai is quite smart. Kill Fairy Waner? Does Xi Yan think that no one knows about this? How could he understand the significance of the sect behind Fairy Waner? If anything happens to Fairy Waner, the scenes of her surroundings will be sent back to her sect. Hence, Qin Zibai does not dare force Fairy Waner to her death.”
“This Fairy Waner is very stubborn.”
Li Shenji said with narrowed eyes, “Indeed. This woman is very stubborn. Her sect has a secret technique that allows her to send out a rescue signal, summoning all the nearby sect disciples to her aid. I happened to see a few of her sect’s people near Dragon Vein City a few days ago. As long as Fairy Waner calls for help, they will immediately come and rescue her.”
“But why doesn’t she?”
“I don’t know. However, that does not matter. Our target is someone else,” Li Shenji said coldly.
“Yes!”
“How goes the spread of the information?” Li Shenji asked.
“According to Milord’s predictions, Gu Hai should be arriving in Dragon Vein City soon,” one of the subordinates replied with a frown.
“What I’m asking about are the ten foundation rock golems in the area. Have they obtained the information yet?” Li Shenji asked, his voice sinking.
“Oh. Milord, rest assured. We have been leading them around by the nose. They already know that Xi Yan is here. They might be hiding underground nearby,” that subordinate said respectfully.
“Alright. Since those ten foundation rock golems know about this place, they will let Gu Hai know about it, drawing Gu Hai here. Ha!” A vicious look flashed in Li Shenji’s eyes.
“Milord, this subordinate does not understand. Shouldn’t it be easy for Milord to kill Gu Hai, given your means? Why trick others into doing it? Why not do it personally?”
Li Shenji remained silent for a while before saying, “Because His Holy Eminence currently favors him.”
“Ah? How can that be? His Holy Eminence has never met him, right?”
“Indeed. His Holy Eminence has never met him, but His Holy Eminence still handed Long Wanyu to him. This demonstrates His Holy Eminence’s trust in him. I cannot make a move. Otherwise, His Holy Eminence will know. However, if someone else destroys Gu Hai, I will not be implicated. It would appear to be Gu Hai’s incompetence. Ha! While I cannot kill him for killing my nephew, I have ways to push him to his death!” Li Shenji sneered.
“If we lure Gu Hai here, can he deal with Xi Yan and Qin Zibai?”
“It would be best if they destroy Gu Hai. If they cannot, it does not matter. At the very least, it will give me a notion of Gu Hai’s situation. Ha! No wonder His Holy Eminence cares so much about Gu Hai. His growth is too strange. He makes big breakthroughs periodically. I need to move quickly,” Li Shenji said coldly.
“Xi Yan has already established his heavenly palace. Without the crimson saber, Gu Hai is definitely not his match. Furthermore, there is Qin Zibai. Milord, Gu Hai is dead for sure.”
——
On another mountain’s summit outside the ritual array:
Two figures stood at this place, apparently a master and a servant.
One was a delicate-looking youth dressed in white with a bronze sword on his back. This youth had a young and tender appearance with an azure lotus mark on his forehead. However, his eyes held a mature sharpness as though he could see through all things. This youth was the master.
The azure-clad servant behind him carried a broadsword on his back. He had a broad face and a wooden expression, but his eyes also held incredible sharpness as he looked at the distant ritual array.
“Qing Feng, is Waner in there?” the youth asked indifferently.
“Yes, Young Master!” the azure-clad servant, Qing Feng, replied respectfully.
“Ha! This lass is quite stubborn. Despite being trapped, she refuses to ask for help? She is just like her master!” the youth said indifferently.
Qing Feng did not dare comment on this.
After some silence, Qing Feng said, “Young Master, although Fairy Waner is of a different line of inheritance from us, we are still of the same sect. Should we help her?”
The youth shook his head and said, “There’s no need. If she doesn’t ask for help, we don’t need to interfere.”
“Yes!”
“Have any swordsman cultivators arrived in Dragon Vein City recently?” the youth asked indifferently.
“There are a few swordsman cultivators. However, none of them is your match. Young Master’s sword Dao is matchless.” Qing Feng shook his head.
“You have been protecting me since I began traveling the Divine Continent to seek powerful swordsman cultivators to challenge to prove the sword technique that I created. Along the way, I have become surer that my sword Dao is right. Are there really no more powerful swordsman cultivators in this area?” the youth asked.
“There was previously a rumor of one. However, that swordsman cultivator is somewhat special.” Qing Feng frowned.
“Oh?”
“He is not a real person. Oh! Perhaps he did once exist? He is a swordsman cultivator manifested by a ritual array.”
“A swordsman cultivator manifested by a ritual array?” the youth parroted.
“The Sword Devil, Dugu Qiubai,” Qing Feng said after recalling.
“What is his track record?”
“Oh! That’s right. When he previously manifested, he said something extremely arrogant. It goes something like this, ‘Having roamed the world for more than thirty years, I have killed all my foes and defeated all champions. No one in the world is my equal. Without any other choice, I could only retreat and live in seclusion in this deep valley, with only a condor as my companion. Alas, all my life, I have sought a peer but in vain. Unbearable loneliness is my destiny,’” Qing Feng recalled.
“‘All my life, I have sought a peer but in vain’? What bold words! The Sword Devil, Dugu Qiubai?” A sharp glint suddenly flashed in the youth’s eyes, looking like a sword conception flashing.
——
By a large river outside Dragon Vein City:
Gu Hai’s flying ship stopped there. This was the prearranged meeting point with the foundation rock golems.
Rumble…!
The ground shook near the flying ship. Then, a huge foundation rock golem came out of the soil.
“Is Xi Yan still there?” Ju Lu asked anxiously.
“Xi Yan is still around. Furthermore, he brought a large number of vampires and laid a ritual array in the valley. He seemed to be dealing with someone. We feared startling him and alerting him unnecessarily, so we did not dare to make a move,” the foundation rock golem replied respectfully.
“It’s good that he’s still there.” Ju Lu let out its bated breath.
“A valley?” Gu Hai appeared suspicious.
“Yes. They seemed to have trapped someone. We listened from underground and heard something like ‘Miserable World,’ so we did not dare to listen for too long and quickly left,” that foundation rock golem said respectfully.
“‘Miserable World’?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.
“We don’t know who it is.”
“Let’s go over!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!”
