However, the nine major sects soon found out that the strategy of blocking the enemies’ retreat might have gone wrong at some point, for Li Muzi returned to the camp of Sky-reaching Sword Sect with heavy injuries less than an hour after the other people left the place so as to cure his injuries.
It was said that the mysterious young expert from the extraterrestrial Devil Cult came back from the stone forest and fought with him. After exchanging three blows, he cut Li Muzi open with his broadsword and severely injured him.
“Hahaha, compared with Tan Rushuang, the quality of this whetstone is better.”
That was the pompous remark he left behind after winning a landslide victory. Then, he re-entered the stone forest before the other Void-breaking Realm experts rushed over there.
The young man was sharpening his broadsword with the experts in the Void-breaking Realm.
For the nine sects, that was simply a great insult.
For the experts in the Void-breaking Realm of the nine sects, it was also a slap in the face.
After a short discussion, the heads of the Zhu family best at tactical deployments and the Gongsun family best at mechanics jointly set up a Supreme Killing Deployment near the stone forest. After that, they invited an expert in the Void-breaking Realm to operate the deployment, preparing to lure this mysterious young man of the Devil Cult out and kill him.
Nonetheless, the hunting still ended in a farce.
The mysterious young expert of the Devil Cult undid the tactical deployment in a second. As to the operator of the deployment, Duan Feng, Lord of Central Heaven City, he was also defeated and forced into a flee after taking three blows. After that, he was too scared to fight the mysterious young expert again. Some of the materials that formed the tactical deployment were taken away, and the elite experts of Central Heaven City who helped guard the deployment were all killed.
The situation suddenly turned rather embarrassing for the nine major sects.
With the fighting ring battle around the corner, the nine major sects’ three experts in the Void-breaking Realm—Tan Rushuang, Li Muzi, and Duan Feng—were mauled heavily. This had tremendously weakened the strength of the nine major sects.
And what to do now?
Should the stone forest siege go on or not?
If the siege continued, in order to capture the mysterious young cultivator, all the experts in the Void-breaking Realm of the nine sects must station there. Otherwise, they would simply be sending “whetstones” to him. However, if all the experts in the Void-breaking Realm were all stationed at the stone forest, what should they do once the Devil Cult in White Emperor City launched a surprise attack?
But if the siege ceased…
Well, honestly, it would not be a big deal if they gave up upon the siege.
Yet, the thing was that they could not bring themselves to swallow the insult.
It was like they managed to ride a tiger but then found it hard to get off.
In the end, the nine major sects chose to withdraw their forces.
There was no other way. The extraterrestrial immortals had yet shown up to fight. So, they were really helpless in the face of an existence who could defeat those in the Void-breaking Realm head-on.
Li Mu, on the other hand, was quite disconsolate.
In those days when he was on the Divine Land, his Broadsword Intent could already instantly vanquish those in the Void-breaking Realm. But the experts in the Void-breaking Realm on the Divine Land were all green hands that had not yet fully consolidated their cultivation in that realm. They could be regarded as newborns in the Void-breaking Realm. In contrast, the Seven Supreme Beings of the Decent Alliance on the Bitter Star were all real experienced experts in the Void-breaking Realm. They were burly adults in that realm, so their strength was quite different from the experts on the Divine Land.
Thrilled at the sight of fat preys, Li Mu just wished that the nine major sects would continue staying there and encircling him.
In this way, he would get to sharpen his broadsword nicely.
When Li Mu was on Earth, he had also studied some moves and Cultivation Methods of the martial arts sects in Jianghu.
Although there was no Spiritual Qi on Earth and the cultivation effect was minimal, it was also for this reason that the martial arts sects and cultivators on Earth pursued the flexibility of moves and exquisiteness of performance much more enthusiastically than people on other planets. But since they only focused on the two aspects, the power of the Cultivation Methods they developed was much less satisfying.
Li Mu also learned a lot by studying these moves and Cultivation Methods.
As a result of his careful preparation, today’s battle with those proficient experts in the Void-breaking Realm was really inspiring for Li Mu, especially in the aspect of Dao-using methods. It brought him a sign of breaking the cocoon and being reborn.
All methods came down to one way.
His Dao-using method also went from pursuing high flexibility back to the model of the Wind-Cloud Six Moves.
Li Mu’s ultimate goal was to combine the six moves into one.
And he had vaguely reached this threshold.
But now, the nine major sects’ experts in the Void-breaking Realm no longer upheld the spirit of being a whetstone. Instead, they yielded to the harsh fact.
So, what should Li Mu do now?
He couldn’t really chase to their place and pick up a fight, could he?
That would be too suicidal.
Li Mu absolutely didn’t believe that such big sects didn’t have any extraterrestrial cultivators taking charge in secret.
Once it came to the extraterrestrial cultivators, it was better to be cautious.
“Let’s go to White Emperor City,” proposed Ding Yi, whose injuries had recovered quite a lot. After pondering for a while, he suggested, “If we were to be stuck in the stone forest because of those bastards from outer space, the two of us would have to grow old and die here together.”
That was true, but why did it sound so gay?
Li Mu deliberated for a moment, then, he nodded and said, “Well, anyway, I’ve done what I should do.”
Ding Yi laughed happily and said, “I happen to have done all that I should do as well.”
Therefore, the pair of them stealthily sneaked out of the stone forest. After carefully checking around, they realized that there was indeed no ambush. So, they hit the road right away but did not directly fly to White Emperor City. Instead, they took a large detour to make sure that no one was on their way to waylay them. After that, they turned around and flew towards White Emperor City.
On the way, Li Mu suddenly came up with a question. “How can we enter the city?”
The White Emperor City was certainly heavily guarded, wasn’t it?
As they came there in an emergency, they might not be allowed to enter. They couldn’t possibly stand outside the gate and shout to the people inside, and nor did they carry any authenticating object with them.
Ding Yi said gloatingly, “Don’t forget, I’m the future leader of the Fate-defying Sect.”
Half an hour later, the two arrived at White Emperor City.
White Emperor City was located at the center of Mount Shu. It was built on the White Emperor Peak solely with white rocks on Mount Shu. Surrounded by white clouds, the city looked like a fairy palace floating in the clouds. Looking from a distance, it appeared to be extremely magnificent.
Mount Shu Sect had seven main branches, so White Emperor City had seven gates.
Ding Yi took Li Mu to one of the gates. He examined it carefully and then turned around to leave.
“What’s the matter?” Li Mu inquired.
Ding Yi said with a serious expression, “Let’s wait for a moment. This hour is not suitable for entry.”
Li Mu was confused at these words.
“There are people particular about that?”
After Ding Yi took Li Mu to six city gates and finally came to the last gate in the southwest of the city, Li Mu suddenly realized that it was not about timing at all. It was obvious that this guy hadn’t found the gate exclusively belonging to the Fate-defying Sect. That was why Ding Yi led him to wander around the city. And he was indeed out of luck—he didn’t find the gate of Fate-defying Sect until they visited all the seven gates.
“You are the future leader of Fate-defying Sect, but you don’t know which one of the seven gates of White Emperor City belongs to your sect?” Li Mu asked, feeling rather speechless.
“You got me,” Ding Yi chuckled and admitted, “I have no alternative. This is also the first time I’ve come to White Emperor City.”
“Ah?” Li Mu was speechless.
Ding Yi said matter-of-factly, “It’s not weird at all. I became the future leader of the Fate-defying Sect just a few years ago. A century ago, in the battle between the decent and the devil, the Fate-defying Sect was extinguished. The legacy of Fate-defying Sect floated in the world alone and finally chose me to be the next future leader. Before now, I had been practicing the martial arts I inherited from the legacy. That’s why I haven’t visited this place.”
Li Mu was even more speechless.
Why did he sound very unreliable?
However, when Ding Yi took out the token of Fate-defying Sect and slowly opened its gate, Li Mu eventually threw away his doubts and derision.
“Alright, he finally became reliable once.”
The opening of the Fate-defying Sect gate still alerted the various parties of the Divine Sect within the city.
After a lengthy identity check, Li Mu and Ding Yi’s identities were finally recognized.
The experts of the Moon Dao Sect, the Dragon King Ridge, the Sky-overlooking Pavilion, and the Water and Moon Sect came out to meet them. Luo Xuanxin, Lu Xun, and the others, who had been in White Emperor City for some time, introduced the experts to them one by one.
Li Mu felt a sense of endearing familiarity.
The hierarchies in White Emperor City were not as clear-cut as the nine major sects outside, which had a clear distinction between the different classes. Unlike them, the White Emperor City was run in a free and all-embracing style. Even the sect leaders of all the branches didn’t put on airs.
“Teacher, you finally come back safely. That’s great.” After the introduction, Xiao Dong and the others came over in excitement and said, “Where’s Sister Wuhen? You didn’t come back together?”
“Virgin Goddess Ye?” Li Mu said, a little taken aback. “Well, she is not in White Emperor City?”
Xiao Dong and the others were surprised at his words.
Next to them was a brawny, bearded, old man with overbearing aura in a purple-and-golden battle robe remarked, “Previously, the nine sects released the news that you were besieged at the Desktop Peak. And it was hard to tell whether the news was true or not, so the people in the city hesitated to rescue you. Adding that the battle is approaching, and for the sake of the big picture, it’s true that we have no force to spare. Therefore, we eventually decided not to send reinforcements to you and let things take its natural course. However, Ye Wuhen, the Virgin Goddess of the Moon Dao Sect, firmly opposed our decision and insisted on going out to check whether you were really trapped or not. Regardless of our protests, she sneaked out of White Emperor City to rescue you.”
This man was the head of the Dragon King Ridge, one of the seven main branches of the Divine Sect on Mount Shu.
As one of the leading figures of Mount Shu, the old man had a very imposing manner.
“Eh? There is such a thing?” Li Mu looked at Ding Yi and asked.
Both of them shook their heads in consternation.
Li Mu’s heart missed a beat.
“Crap!”
This was definitely a plot of the nine major Sects. They had deliberately spread the news because they were hoping that the “fish” would snap at the bait.
Ye Wuhen was under the impression that the future leader of the Fate-defying Sect was Li Mu.
Thus, that incredibly beautiful girl with long, light green hair had taken the risk of leaving White Emperor City for his sake.
“Ye Wuhen is in danger.”
That was the first thought flashing across Li Mu’s mind.
“What should we do?”
Li Mu turned to look at Ding Yi.
Ding Yi, who no longer looked playful and frivolous as usual, knitted his eyebrows.
“I’ll go out to find Virgin Goddess Wuhen,” Li Mu said.
He was aware that the Divine Sect could not send people to help the future leader of Fate-defying Sect, and now it was also impossible for them to send people to save Ye Wuhen.
It sounded a little cruel, but it was the most rational choice.
However, Li Mu couldn’t just sit by and do nothing about it.
The head of the Moon Dao Sect was a white-haired old lady. At Li Mu’s words, she nodded approvingly.
“For that remark alone, Wuhen didn’t think wrongly of him.”
“Good, you are indeed a faithful man. Given your feelings for Wuhen, I say you go and find her. As long as you come back alive, I will host the wedding for you personally and let you be a couple,” the old lady of the Moon Dao Sect said in dead earnest.
“What?”
Li Mu gawked at the old lady with a puzzled look.
“Wedding?
“Be a couple?
“What the hell is that?
“What do you mean by my feelings for Wuhen? Grandma, don’t talk nonsense. What feelings do I have for her?”
Ding Yi, however, was amused.
He lowered his voice so that only Li Mu could hear him and said gloatingly, “Oh, I forgot to tell you that according to the tradition of the Divine Sect, there is a natural engagement between the Virgin Goddesses of the Moon Dao Sect and the future leaders of the Fate-defying Sect. If the two people do not reject each other, they will eventually become Taoist couple, for the power of the Cultivation Methods of the two branches can be brought to the extreme only if a couple practices them at the same time.”
Li Mu was immediately dumbstruck.
