Knowing how severe the issue was, Li Nianfan and the others increased their speed, heading straight for the Xia Kingdom.
They did not allow for any delays, and would quickly eliminate any Resentful Spirits they met on the way, helping the commoners.
Not long later, they arrived inside the Xia Kingdom’s imperial city.
Compared to how prosperous it was the last time they came, there was a visible atmosphere of panic in the city, everyone had worried looks on their faces.
There were Resentful Spirits everywhere, and all the important figures in Xia Kingdom had fallen into a deep sleep, so they commoners were naturally uneasy.
Li Nianfan looked up, looking at the flashes of light that flew by in the sky, saying, “There are quite a few cultivators.”
“That’s naturally, the Xia Kingdom is still a prosperous land for humans in the end. It’s not only for the commoners, they work with a lot of Cultivating Sects as well.”
Minghui waved his arms around, an anxious look appearing on his face, “If the Xia Kingdom falls, the situation will turn very dire. I’m afraid the situation will turn chaotic, and various evil cultivators will run rampant.”
Li Nianfan nodded, “Let’s hurry up then”
He had watched as Xia Kingdom rose, so it had some form of relationship with him. Furthermore, it involved the human race, so there was no way he could ignore the matter.
He wondered if Daji would be able to help.
Walking past the city streets, with how severe things were, there were not many people who dared to venture out, and there were only a few empty stalls.
When they walked past a wooden three-storey building, the dark atmosphere suddenly changed.
On each balcony of the building, they saw many young women with their skirts fluttering in the wind, their slender figures a picture of beauty as they casually ate fruits and snacks.
Pleasant laughter could be heard from time to time, and they would raise their heads, waving at the limited number of pedestrians, enhancing the scenery.
Ladies of the night really had a way of beautifying themselves, enchanting any men.
It was a pity, the scene might have looked good, but they had no time to properly indulge in it.
“Despicable, this is too much!”
Qin Yun had a look full of sympathy as he angrily said, “The Resentful Spirits are really despicable, they caused so many sisters to have nothing to do, idling their days away. It really causes my heart to ache.”
Qin Chuyue looked at him scornfully, “What could you possibly do for them?”
Qin Yun said seriously, “I might have any cultivation, but as long as they want to, I won’t even bat an eye if they want me to turn my yin and yang upside down.”
Mingli could not stand the boasting, and said, “Benefactor, you can’t even cultivate, how could you turn your yin and yang upside down? It’s best if you don’t speak any nonsense.”
Mingli said, “You might not know this, but you just need to give me a crowbar, and I can flip over the whole world.”
Qin Chuyue said, “My brother has cultivated his mind to mush, and regularly speaks nonsense, I hope all of you can forgive him.”
As they spoke, the Xia Kingdom’s palace appeared in front of them, and a woman in a white dress sat on the steps of the palace.
She tilted her head, her hand scratching her head and her eyebrows were furrowed slightly, she seemed to be in a predicament.
A gust of wind caused her hair to flutter, and blew up her skirt at the same time, revealing rarely seen flesh that was white as snow, a true sight to behold.
Li Nianfan paused for a moment, “Lady Manyun?”
Qin Manyun turned around, her eyes brightening when she saw Li Nianfan. She stood up and quickly walked over, politely saying, “Manyun greets M. Li and Lady Daji.”
She was in a bit of disbelief. Her little heart was beating rapidly, unprepared for the fact that the expert had appeared.
She had worked hard in her training, and was already at the Mahayala stage. She was just waiting to reach the immortal stage, all so she could do even more for the expert, and get closer to the expert. It would be fine if she could occasionally listen to some of the expert’s words.
They had not visited the expert in a long time, not because they did not want to, but because they did not have the right to.
The expert was like a star in the sky, while she was just a grain of sand in the deep sea. Just being able to meet him once was already an unbelievable privilege, so she did not even dare to wish for it.
She could not treat the expert’s friendliness casually.
She never expected to meet the expert so suddenly again, it was an incredibly happy occasion.
It was just like a crazed fangirl suddenly meeting her idol, her head was dizzy, and she was so emotional she could not compose herself.
Since the expert was here, this matter would definitely be handled.
Qin Yun was dumbfounded as he looked on.
He looked at Li Nianfan, a gigantic question mark appearing over Qin Yun’s head.
Yet another beautiful fangirl? Was he even normal?
Qin Yun could not help but ask himself, ‘Where do I lose out to him?’
Li Nianfan asked, “Lady Manyun, what’s the current situation like?”
Qin Manyun said, “My master and I wanted to use the power of our zithers to wake up the masses, but it was absolutely useless. Currently, the members of the White Cloud Sect are in the palace, but I’m not sure if they’ll be able to do anything.”
“The White Cloud Sect?”
Li Nianfan had heard of them from the Jade Emperor before, they were a large sect, and were daoist as well, so he had a deep impression of them.
Boom!
At that moment, the closed door suddenly exploded, and a few figures flew out from inside. There was a trail of blood in the sky, which splattered on the ground.
Li Nianfan and the others did not hesitate, and entered the palace immediately.
They saw a grey robed old taoist who sported a goatee standing in the middle of the palace, a Taiji diagram printed behind him, his expression was not great.
Not far away, a group of unconscious people lay there while the others shrank in a corner, silently looking at the old taoist with a challenging expression.
The old man fell in an awkward silence for a long time, before coldly and arrogantly saying, “What paltry tricks, they only dare to hide in the dreamscape! If I could find their body, I would be able to exterminate them in less than three breaths!”
“It’s a pity, the Resentful Spirits are sly, I will still need a bit of time.”
“However, you don’t need to worry, the White Cloud Sect is very capable.”
Qin Manyun said, “Master, Mr Li is here.”
Yao Menji had been agitated, but when he saw Li Nianfan, his old eyes brightened as he quickly approached with trembling lips.
He respectfully said, “Mr. Li, Lady Daji, it’s been a long time.”
Li Nianfan laughed as he waved his hand, “You’re still the same as always, bring me to King Zhou.”
“Mr Li, follow me.”
Li Nianfan quickly saw Zhou Yunwu. On the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but when he checked Zhou Yunwu’s pulse, he raised his eyebrow, expressing a look of shock.
Daji curiously asked, “Did you find anything?”
Li Niangfan nodded his head with a heavy expression, “Yes, King Zhou’s pulse might seem like it’s normal, but in truth, it’s the pulse of an eighty year old person.”
Everyone was shocked, “Eight… Eighty?”
Zhou Yunwu was less than thirty years old.
“To be able to find that out without using any mana, your medical skills must be very impressive.”
The old man from the White Cloud Sect looked at Li Nianfan in shock before continuing, “If I’m not mistaken, they’ve been trapped by a Nightmare. It might have only been a month in the outside world, but it’s been decades there. If this group dies of old age in that world, they would really die!”
Yao Mengji’s face fell, “What an impressive dreamscape!”
“It’s already something that has been calculated.”
The old man curled his moustache, continuing, “The Nightmares are scary in that they are impossible to find. There’s no way to defend against it, for a normal person, they might die in an instant if they were pulled into the dream world!
“However, King Zhou has the protection of the Luck of the human race, so the Nightmare would not dare to kill him directly. So it’s trying to use growing old to kill King Zhou in his own dreams!”
The important part was how fast time moved in the dream world. King Zhou was eighty at that moment, so it might not be long until he died of old age.
“Remarkable, it really is remarkable! If they’re using a tactic like this, then we should just give up on locating the actual body of the Nightmare, they’ve definitely kept it well hidden!”
“Then what can we do?!” Some of the officers cried out in sorrow.
Qin Yun said, “Don’t worry, we came to wake them up.”
“You?”
The White Cloud Sect’s old taoist paused for a moment, shaking his head, “This Nightmare’s cultivation is no lower than mine. If you lot want to interfere, you really should evaluate yourselves first, and don’t get too cocky.”
“Senior, it’s true that we can’t deal with the Nightmare, but no matter how high one’s cultivation is, it’s completely different when you’re in the dream world. However, I walk the Dao of Emotion of the Empath Sect, and I can enter their dreamscape based on their emotions!”
Qin Chuyue smiled slightly, continuing, “As long as we can enter their dreams, waking them up will become much easier.”
“The Empath Sect? I can’t believe there are actually people who cultivate in the Dao of Emotion.”
The old man was shocked, but could not help but warn them, “Resentful Spirits are formed due to hatred, so it’s tied to emotions. The Dao of Emotion harms yourself as much as others, so you need to make sure to take care of yourself and not to make any mistakes.”
Qin Chuyue nodded, “Don’t worry, we will be careful.”
The old taoist nodded, “That’s good, I am Cultivator Yunqiu, if you can really get me into their dreams, then the White Cloud Sect will owe you a favor, let’s hurry up and try.”
Qin Chuyue did not bother to hold back, and loudly declared, “Let’s put aside any favors first, Cultivator Yunqiu, your cultivation is deep, if you want me to bring you into the dream… you’ll need to give me money!”
