He Huan was completely blindsided. Not once did he imagine He Ku would wake up at this crucial moment. In a second, all sorts of feelings welled up in his heart, thousands of words only amounting to a single sigh. “He Ku, why have you come out?”
Even at this point, He Ku still didn’t know what He Huan was planning. He Huan was used to burying his thoughts within his heart, sometimes even He Huan himself wouldn’t be able to be clear on how he actually felt. However, just then, he sensed a life-threatening danger.
The divine sword intent existed in parallel to fate, so once you were able to forge it, you would be exceedingly sensitive to danger. The current He Ku was no exception. Although he didn’t know what He Huan’s trump card was, he could sense that it would definitely come at a tremendous cost.
He casually wiped away the blood trail from his mouth and advised, “I know you have your own plans, but I also know that it is extremely dangerous. We should just lose some face and flee.”
The divine sword intent contained within that strike could not be concealed from Qing Xuzi, who was familiar with his sect’s technique. He quickly retracted his sword. He looked at the young man kneeling on the ground and was about to step forward, but when he took his first step numerous sharp glints of light flew from the dark towards him.
The angle of this trap was very well chosen, however, it wasn’t enough to break through a Calamity Crossing stage cultivator’s spiritual awareness. The old cultivator made a sweeping motion with his sleeve and formless sword energy struck the projectiles out of the air.
He looked at them and found they were all daggers. When the daggers hit the ground they corroded a large hole in the stone flooring. Clearly, they were laced with an extremely potent poison. When talking about a poison user within the Palace of Bliss, the first person everyone would think of was the Head Enforcer, QianRen.
Previously, He Huan had used his demonic energy to cover the entire barren mountain; even if one were a Nascent Soul stage cultivator they would still need to use all their strength to resist it. There was no way they could stand beside the two people. Fortunately, Bai Chen seemed to know that something like this would happen and had used an item to form a barrier. QianRen could only helplessly worry and wait.
When He Ku appeared and switched techniques, the well of demonic energy lost its origin and couldn’t maintain itself anymore. Seeing that Qing XuZi wanted to get even closer and knowing He Ku’s Golden Core cultivation level couldn’t even dream of matching up to him, QianRen couldn’t wait any longer.
With the assistance of his hidden weapons, he immediately blended into the darkness and ran forward to steady He Ku, held him on his feet, and retreated. Even in the moment of retreating he was worried that He Huan was unwilling and quietly pleaded, “Palace Master, as long as you are still alive, there will always be another chance, so let’s leave.”
He Huan knew QianRen extremely well; he knew that QianRen would disregard everything to save him. That was why he ordered Bai Chen to keep an eye on him, but he didn’t expect that the white fox would be so unreliable and half-hearted. His eyebrows quickly creased, but just when he wanted to wrestle back control of his body to stop QianRen, he abruptly noticed Bai Chen’s countenance had changed.
Bai Chen naturally didn’t place such importance on QianRen; the reason why his face changed was that after QianRen had attacked, a giant white bear had dropped in front of Qing XuZi. The Snowy Mountain’s giant bears only listened to the Fox Immortal’s bloodline, and was the green-robed youth on the bear’s head not the eight-tailed young fox he had appointed as his successor, Bai Yun Ce?
With the white bear’s size, it was impossible for He Ku to ignore it when it plopped right in front of him. He carefully looked upwards, only to see that silly child, Yun Ce. As if he didn’t know that the person he was facing was a Calamity Crossing stage cultivator, he pointed at Qing XuZi and angrily said, “Old cultivator, I don’t care if you hit the Palace Master, but the Little Palace Master and I are seed-eating friends, so when you hit him, you are hitting me. Don’t even think about touching him!”
Never would he have thought that at such a dangerous moment, the one to stand in front of him would be this silly child. It was impossible to say that He Ku’s heart was unmoved. On one hand, he sighed that the dozens of catties of seeds he’d eaten were not in vain; on the other, he felt that, considering the occasion, mentioning their seed-eating didn’t make them seem very formidable.
At once, he spat out the mouthful of blood he suppressed in his throat, and using a hoarse voice he told that stupid fox, “Later, I’ll get you a pair of pants, so just don’t talk about our seed-eating friendship and lose our face.”
Hearing this, Yun Ce immediately got his meaning and accepted, “Ok, then from tomorrow onwards we will be friends who share the same pair of pants!”
How come this also didn’t sound quite right?
Helplessly discovering that whenever he and Yun Ce were put together there was no way to be serious, He Ku sighed just as a white robe suddenly appeared in his vision, scaring the shit out of him. He wanted to pull out his sword, but his wrist was immediately caught by the person who came.
What happened next was outside of his expectation. He thought he would be stabbed through the chest immediately, but the old cultivator just stared at his sleeves in a daze before switching his focus to his face, his lips trembling slightly. “You are… QingYun?”
Suddenly being approached by a seventy or eighty-year-old looking man, He Ku’s heart jumped up to his throat. He quickly looked towards his own sleeves; they were entirely red, no different from the usual.
Perhaps it was because of his rage at Xiu Niang’s betrayal yesterday when he crushed the jujube pastry, but right now there was still some jujube paste stuck to his sleeves.
Put in the current major conflict between good and evil, it really wasn’t that proper. However, it didn’t really matter if your opponent dressed a little more casually, right? Did he really have to be so emotional? Could it be that this old cultivator had mysophobia?
He was cursing in his heart but didn’t know that his eyes, which contained confusion but also without a hint of baggage, were nearly identical to Bu QingYun’s. When his expression fell into Qing XuZi’s eyes, it made him even more emotional.
Bu QingYun had been taken in by Qing XuZi when he was six. When he was a child he was particularly naughty, even just a random flower or stick on the ground could grab his attention. Back then, in order to coax the child to practice, Qing XuZi would personally make jujube pastries for his disciple whenever he broke through.
In actuality, he didn’t know anything apart from cultivating, so how delicious could the jujube pastries he made be? What the boy really wanted was the tenderness his shizun showed by personally making pastries for him.
Right now, suddenly seeing the stains and crumbs on the sleeves, Qing XuZi couldn’t help but remember what the young Bu QingYun was like.
Just like the look he shot towards that little fox, the young Bu QingYun had also used such an expression to complain to his shizun, “Shizun, other than jujube paste pastries, do you know how to make any other sweets? My junior brother is about to puke from eating so much.”
“Senior brother, but it was you who ate them all.”
This person ate all the pastries by himself and still wanted more; even the characteristically quiet Bu YaoLian couldn’t resist exposing him. Yet there was no trace of embarrassment to be found on the boy’s face, his smile wide as can be. “Is that so? That’s all because I, as your elder, can’t bear to see you in pain. I’m sacrificing myself to block this calamity for you.”
Even though Bu QingYun later grew up to be as dignified and composed as one would expect from Xuanmen’s succeeding disciple, in Qing XuZi’s eyes he was still his boisterous eldest disciple.
He thirsted for the admiration of the world because he was lonely; as long as he got the smallest bit of kindness, he would do everything to protect the person who had warmed him.
He was a person that seemed cold and aloof, but was actually an extremely sentimental young man, just like the person in front of him.
It was out of everyone’s expectation for Qing XuZi to bypass the two spirit cultivators undetected and arrive in front of He Ku so easily. Just as QianRen prepared to move, he was slapped away with a single palm. Yun Ce also immediately turned around and lunged, shouting, “Old man, let go of the Little Palace Master!”
And yet, even though his state of mind was unstable, it was as simple as raising a hand for Qing XuZi, who could handle anyone below the Calamity Crossing stage. His finger moved and a slash of sword energy shot Yun Ce down as he solemnly asked, “Little fox, who is this ‘Little Palace Master’ you speak of?”
Everything that came with advantages also came with disadvantages. At this time, the harm of Yun Ce’s frank character was shown. After a brief pause, he subconsciously answered honestly, “The Little Palace Master is the Palace Master when he was still eighteen. Although he is a bit dumb compared to the Palace Master and doesn’t have much experience with the world, I like to eat seeds with the Little Palace Master the most!”
What kind of person was Qing XuZi? He immediately knew Yun Ce was telling the truth the moment those words left his mouth. He opened up his omniscient eye to check and as expected, the young man’s body was surrounded by surging natural energy. One could also faintly detect hints of a strict sword energy. He clearly cultivated Xuanmen’s unique sword technique, even his cultivation level was the same as that of the Bu QingYun of back then, as if having been paused at the golden core stage.
Even if He Huan had the ability to break through the clouds, it would have still been impossible for him to instantly switch from demonic cultivation to divine sword intent. Thinking back to when he’d fought with the Demon Lord, Qing XuZi came to a conclusion. His disciple had clearly been possessed by the Demon Lord, only when he broke through the demon’s technique was his soul finally freed.
In the past, he had actually never thought about this possibility. His heart was suddenly filled with anguish for making his disciple suffer in this demon’s hands for eighty years. He firmly grasped He Ku’s wrist and demanded, “QingYun, tell your master, who took over your body?”
No one could have predicted Qing XuZi’s words; everyone in the know blanked. Even the Xuanmen disciples controlling the array were stupefied. They let their eyes drift over to the two and sure enough, the energy around the young man’s body couldn’t be faked. They couldn’t help but believe in their Sect Leader’s judgement. Could it be that all the evils Bu QingYun committed was because he was possessed?
Between He Ku and He Huan, the difference between the two’s personalities and auras was too large. Even QianRen and Yun Ce, who knew the truth a long time ago, couldn’t help but momentarily doubt themselves when they heard this, let alone the righteous cultivators who weren’t familiar with He Huan. However, no matter the results of this battle, all the crimes attributed to Bu QingYun’s name were bound to be washed clean today.
No one noticed that while everyone else was shocked speechless, not far from there, two people idly stood in the middle of the pavilion. They didn’t show even the slightest bit of surprise as if they had long known that this would happen. These two were Bai Chen and the Sword Saint’s disciple.
They watched the two deadlocked people from afar. The young man in black stroked his chin and hypothesized, “If He Huan came out at this time to stab Qing XuZi, I bet even if he is the Xuanmen Sect Leader he would still suffer severe injuries.”
Don’t blame them for thinking this; anyone could see that Qing XuZi currently had no defenses put up against Bu QingYun, proving Bai Chen’s earlier prediction. Yet, at this moment the bewitching fox could only sigh. “Although I would like to think this, I know He Huan won’t do it.”
In the black-clothed cultivator’s understanding, demonic cultivators had never possessed any form of compassion, so he couldn’t help being surprised now. “I never thought that the fabled most powerful demonic cultivator would be so upright.”
“It has nothing to do with his moral character. If I were standing in He Huan’s place and the one across from me was the great ancestor, I also wouldn’t be able to go through with it.”
Bai Chen was the only one who knew of He Huan’s plan. He was also the one who best understood that He Huan and He Ku were originally the same person, so he could understand what He Huan was feeling best. His heart was a little sour as he sighed. He glanced toward the black-clothed young man beside him and asked, “What about you? If it were your eldest brother, would you take this opportunity or not?”
“This is where I am different from you two. I completely respect my eldest brother’s orders; no matter if they are right or wrong, I will not have my own opinions. Therefore, there will never be a day where my eldest brother and I will have to stand against each other.”
The young man’s answer was exactly as he had predicted and it was precisely because of this that he felt bitter. However, when the emotion made it up to his face it had already transformed into a familiar ridicule. “That’s why you will amount to nothing but a nameless Li Second Dog for your entire life.”
The young man would never argue with him; this time was no different. All he did was point to the two on the field to refocus on the proper topic and ask, “When do we act?”
“This situation is much better than the ones He Huan and I came up with. The substitute he created is extraordinary, even Qing XuZi has been fooled. Since that is the case, I will give him another push.”
The reason why Bai Chen came all this way was naturally not just to watch. In reality, the moment Yun Ce stood out he could no longer remain impartial. He nodded to the youth before walking forward, wrapped in brocade clothing. From a distance he bowed to Qing XuZi and said, “Xuanmen Sect Leader, I, Bai Chen, swear on the fox spirit’s Spirit Eyes that the person standing in front of you is indeed Bu QingYun.”