Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“You’re still so indecisive in this life,” said Lian Sanyue while shooting a glance at Jing Xin. “It would be trouble-free if he were killed back then.”
Being indecisive was the Green Mountain Sect’s evaluation of the Center Sect; but it was the evaluation she had for the whole of the Cultivation circle. And it was difficult for Jing Jiu to refute her on the point.
Though Lian Sanyue didn’t say it so loudly, the people in the grand hall could hear her clearly since they were paying close attention to her.
Jing Xin remained reticent with a pale face.
“It’s useless to simply kill him,” said Jing Jiu. “Do you remember Jing Shu? There are many descendants like her in the world. The Center Sect can select one at random and bring that royal member to the One-Cottage House for further education. I don’t think Bu Qiuxiao would have any objection to it.”
Lian Sanyue said, “I remember that little girl. Your Jing family is pretty good at bearing babies.”
“She is dead; I don’t want you to be,” said Jing Jiu.
Lian Sanyue asked, “If I didn’t wake up, what would you do then?”
Nobody had come from the Green Mountain Sect up to that point, nor had Yuan Qijing. She knew the true relationship between Jing Jiu and Yuan Qijing, meaning it must have been Jing Jiu’s idea for Yuan Qijing to stay put.
“I thought that I could deal with the matter,” said Jing Jiu.
Lian Sanyue threw a glance of contempt at him and pressed, “You’re so weak at the moment; how can you deal with it?”
Jing Jiu said calmly, “It’s been several hundred years; this is the first time you’re qualified to claim I’m weaker.”
“You’re weaker than me anyhow,” Lian Sanyue said contentedly while raising her brows slightly.
“I can deal with it no matter how weak I am right now,” said Jing Jiu, smiling.
The expression on Lian Sanyue’s face changed a little. “Which method are you going to use?” she asked. “Many people would have died if you had done that.”
“When did you start caring about how many people would die?” Jing Jiu returned with a slightly changed countenance.
Lian Sanyue replied, “Maybe I’ve been influenced by you.”
“I think I’ve been influenced by you,” said Jing Jiu.
“It’s pointless to say those words to please me.”
Lian Sanyue laughed while tilting her head upwards with her hands propped on the stone steps behind her; she looked at the blue sky cheerfully. It seemed that she was enjoying the moment very much.
After a moment of pause, Jing Jiu said, “Thank you.”
Lian Sanyue said while looking at the sky, “I’m not a regular girl, but I’m aware that you don’t know how to speak sweet words. So don’t try and say them to me; it’s too awkward.”
As Jing Jiu tried to say something more, the two of them suddenly heard the noise of teacups clanking behind them, which sounded like teeth chattering when one felt tremendously frightened. The two of them spun their heads around and found Ping Yongjia standing on the landing of the stone steps with a plate in his hands.
There were two teacups on the plate. The teacups were ceramic white, though not nearly as white as his face at the moment.
Ping Yongjia was very scared at the moment; it was because he thought that he had heard something he was not supposed to hear, wondering if he would be killed as a way to silence him. Even if his Master tried to protect him, he would still be in big trouble since this woman was so formidable and she had just said that his Master was weaker than she…
It occurred to him that the relationship between his Master and this woman was indeed suspicious; they didn’t notice him until he was so close. Did they focus their attention only on each other? He felt regretful and wondered why he came here in the first place. He thought it was a bad deal to lose his life while attempting to please his Master.
Thinking of all this, Ping Yongjia’s face grew paler, and his body began to tremble more wildly; the noises of the teacups clanking and teeth chattering sounded as if someone played zither in a chaotic manner.
Lian Sanyue asked curiously, “Who is this idiot?”
“My disciple, a personal one,” replied Jing Jiu.
Lian Sanyue glanced at Ping Yongjia and didn’t find anything special about him. She took a teacup from the plate and had a sip of it, saying, “It happens I’m a bit thirsty. Thank you.”
Hearing this, Ping Yongjia felt ecstatic, thinking he would not die after all. It was then that Lian Sanyue shot him another look. Ping Yongjia felt frightened again, his elated feeling completely gone. His body was as cold as in an ice cellar as he wondered if she would suddenly strike to kill him since important figures like her were usually very unstable.
A moment later, Lian Sanyue shot another glance Ping Yongjia’s way, making him feel even more ill at ease.
“Have you found anything?” asked Jing Jiu.
Lian Sanyue answered, “No.”
“Me neither,” said Jing Jiu. “That’s why I feel it a bit strange.”
…
…
There was a large hole in the city wall on the southeastern side of the city, the rubbles piled up like a hill. Lying on the rubble, Kou Qingtong looked at the sky absently, his body covered in blood.
The forbidding formation underneath the city wall was exposed. Gu Pan and the officials of the Pure Heaven Bureau looked at the outside cautiously. Dozens of air waves were approaching swiftly; in front were three valley masters of the Center Sect, all of whom were in the Lianxu State, indicating that the Center Sect didn’t want Kou Qingtong to die so easily.
The graceful sound from a flute suddenly rang out. The three valley masters stopped short at the foot of the rubbles, looking around in alarm, but they didn’t find anything.
The sound of a flute that entered the ears of all the listeners was pleasing, but also very formidable. Gu Pan, pale-faced, raised his hand to signal for this subordinates to prepare for battle. The big divine crossbow that had been hidden in the stone walls on the platform was pushed out, aiming at the outside.
The flute sound was drifting in the gentle wind and could be heard everywhere, even though they had no idea where it came from. Likewise, the sound could be heard in the rubble and came near Kou Qingtong’s ears.
All of a sudden, a shapeless small sword emerged from the sound of the flute, entered Kou Qingtong’s left ear as fast as a flash of lightning, and came out of his right ear with a whooshing sound.
A few drops of chick blood oozed out from Kou Qingtong’s ears; they were on fire as soon as they landed on the rubble, and turned into green smoke and vanished without a trace.
The expression in Kou Qingtong’s eyes grew dimmer, and then his whole body wilted visibly. In the end, he became countless dried leaves, rising up with the wind and disappearing into oblivion.
This powerful swordsman had cultivated over a thousand years at the back of Cloud-Dream Mountain; he came out of the mountains for the possibility of obtaining a fairy book, but obtained death instead.
He was the last swordsman of the Bloody Demon Church and the last swordsman of that era.
His death signaled the end of the Bloody Demon Church; did it also truly mean the end of that era?
The shapeless small sword vanished abruptly in the wind along with the disappearing sound of the flute after Kou Qingtong was killed.
Seeing the scene, the people were all stunned speechless.
Kou Qingtong was one of the most powerful swordsmen in Chaotian; even if he was badly wounded by Lian Sanyue and on the brink of dying, how could he be killed so easily by that small sword?
And moreover, why didn’t the three swordsmen in the Lianxu State notice the arrival of the small sword?
Who was the owner of this small sword and the flute?
The three valley masters of the Center Sect went in the direction of the flute sound; they didn’t bother taking a look at the forbidding formation at the foot of the city wall.
Gu Pan’s face was still pale, but he felt relieved now. He swung his hands in front of him, energy coming out from his body; he employed the magic of the Center Sect to transport the bricks and rocks and block the hole in the city wall while commanding his subordinates to strengthen the formation.
…
…
The flute sound kept ringing out in Zhaoge City; it was sometimes graceful, sometimes hilarious, sometimes smooth, and sometimes content. And the locations of the flute varied from time to time; it was at Taichang Temple at one time and at the White Horse Lake a moment later; at the Plum Garden now and appearing by a well several miles away in the next moment. It seemed that the flute moved around like a ghost.
The three valley masters who had been chasing the flute met Yue Qianmen midway. They were sure that they were all pursuing the same demonic person, the expressions in their eyes growing grave. The Demon Taiping had totally transformed himself and was still in a very low Cultivation state; but to say nothing of killing him, why couldn’t the four of them, men who were the elders in the Lianxu State, catch up to him?
When Yue Qianmen and the other three swordsmen of the Center Sect met midway, Yin San had already fetched a pot of water from that well and came to a restaurant. The restaurant was not far from the royal palace and only one mile away from the Yintian Gate. It should be a place where the nobles and high level officials gathered since the decorations and fixtures inside were very expensive and elegant and the scenery outside the railing was even more appealing.
Yin San found the most famous and valuable Zhunhao Green Tea in the storeroom, put some in the teacup and came before the railing with the pot of water and the teacup in his hands, looking out from the restaurant.
He had fetched the pot of water from the well not long ago, but it became very hot, white mist rising up as he poured it into the teacup.
The Zhunhao Tea unfolded in the hot water only a few moments later, giving off a faint aromatic scent of tea.
Yin San raised the teacup to his lips and blew on it; the temperature of the boiling hot tea dropped instantly, fit for drinking.
The newly boiled tea entered his throat as comfortably as the sound of flute entering his ears; Yin San let out a satisfied sigh as he looked at the Yintian Gate one mile away, but his handsome brows were raised at the moment.
The Yintian Gate had been leveled to ruins, but the patch of cloud and fog was still there. It was still hard to see the figure in the cloud and fog clearly.
The Green Bird flew over from afar with fluttering sound and landed on the railing. She followed Yin San’s line of sight and looked in that direction as well, her pupils wavering, showing a hint of uneasiness.
“What are you doing?” the Green Bird demanded in human voice.
She had lived for tens of thousands of years at the Center Sect and had been controlled by the Immortal Bai for several hundred years; so she knew how fearsome the Immortal Bai was more than anybody else.
Holding the teacup in his hand, Yin San looked at the patch of cloud and fog quietly, saying nothing, nor did he have the intention of pulling back his gaze.
The Green Girl asked him nervously after changing back to human form, “Are you trying to provoke her?”
“I’m trying to test her,” replied Yin San.
The Immortal Bai, in her Cultivation state, should be able to perceive his gaze immediately, but she didn’t pay attention to him.
What matter could make her ignore the Immortal Taiping for the time being?
It must be a very important matter, or a matter that was more important than anything in Chaotian.
“What’s the matter?” asked the Green Girl.
Yin San said after some thought, “Somebody might die today.”
“But it’s not going to be you anyway,” the Green Girl retorted.
However, Yin San didn’t reply by saying “of course” this time. After a long moment of silence, he turned his head toward the royal palace in the north, a regretful expression showing in his eyes.
He had thought that Lian Sanyue was someone who was like himself back then. Though they had contrary ideas, the essence of their ideas was basically the same; in other words, the two of them were the same kind of person.
Unfortunately, such an outstanding woman had been influenced negatively by his dull Young Brother and became an undesirable person.
He raised the teacup and took a sip, and said sentimentally, “Well, women…”
“What’s wrong with women?” the Green Girl demanded confrontationally, her eyebrows arched.
…
…
The officials in the grand hall and the Cultivation practitioners in the sky had gradually recovered their senses and accepted the fact.
The fact was that Lian Sanyue of the Water-Moon Nunnery had suddenly appeared and represented Green Mountain to fight against the Center Sect; and she had won two fights in a row, defeating two powerful swordsmen of the Center Sect.
Seeing the young couple drinking tea on the stone steps before the grand hall, the people had a strange thought: If Jing Jiu were Jing Yang and these two people had become the Cultivation partners…nobody could compete with them.
Two out of the five fights between the Green Mountain Sect and the Center Sect were over; if the Center Sect lost another fight, they would, according to the agreement, have to leave Zhaoge City and stay out of the inheritance of the throne from now on.
The Center Sect seemed to have a dire situation and was on the edge of a cliff, so to speak; but nobody thought that the Center Sect had no chance of turning the situation around. Regardless of how powerful Lian Sanyue was, she had defeated two of the strongest swordsmen in the world and must have used up a great deal of her energy, and everyone could tell that she had been severely wounded herself. The wounds included the external one caused by Kou Qingtong and the internal one caused when she tried to improve her Cultivation state in an effort to break through the illusory space; the worst wound was caused by the Immortal Tan knocking the Scenic Cloud Bell.
The waning arrow fired by a divine crossbow couldn’t even break through the robe worn by the nuns at the Dongyi Daoist Temple.
If the Center Sect sent out the Immortal Bai or the Unicorn next, she would have a hard time fighting against either of them.
…
…
The patch of cloud and fog left the ruins of the Yintian Gate and arrived in the royal palace. The cloud and fog had gradually dispersed after landing in the square.
Seeing the scene, the people felt a bit nervous, but they also felt it understandable.
They hadn’t heard the long howl of the Unicorn in the distance; so the fighter for the most important third round for the Center Sect should be the Immortal Bai.
As the cloud and fog were dispersing, a figure became more and more visible.
She had a figure as tall as a snowy mountain, the fog still enshrouding her face.
A surprised uproar suddenly occurred around the royal palace.
A woman walked out from behind the Immortal Bai.
The people realized by now that there had been two people in the cloud and fog all along.
The woman was walking to the middle of the square quietly, her white skirt tousling.
The woman was Bai Zao.
