Chapter 572: To Advance By Taking a Step Back

Whack!

In the eyes of Zhang Yu Quan and many other sailors, the swordsman with an imposing manner and poised bearing had been the best pick. Yet he was beaten, his brain smashed and his body beaten to a pulp. The shallop was in smithereens, floating on the surface of the sea.

At that moment, they saw a Taoist priest cloaked in a mysterious robe suspended in midair.

He wore the mask of “Heavenly Primogenitor”, looking awe-inspiring and dignified as he stood almost seven meters tall. As if interwoven by the Dharma and Logos, his entire body appeared to be bracing the heaven and touching the sea.

The Celestial dictated All since the Beginning as if filled with emptiness. This left an indelible impression on Zhang Yuquan and the sailors. Furthermore, the sea was tranquil and the wind calm, lightning flickered with the rumbling thunder amidst the hazy fog. In their hearts, they thought him to be a Buddha-like Deity – a true Immortal.

“Oh…” Meng Qi was taken aback inwardly but there was no time to think. He displayed his Law Phenomenon with a leap into the air and clenched his right hand into a fist, his joints clearly defined, looking pristine in white and very powerful.

That person hiding in the fog saw a gigantic jade Ruyi Sceptre advancing. A golden light encircled it, emitting a sacred and dignified aura. The morals of Evil and Good were interwoven into the colorful light. Yet nothing was astir. All was the same as before. The waves were as before. The hazy mist was as before. The lightning and thunder were all as before.

The only strange thing was how the thunder, lightning, and mist were gradually receding. It opened up a broad and open path for the Ruyi Sceptre-like gigantic fist.

The expert of the Exterior was invisible and eerie in his ways. However, he had seen the swordsman’s pathetic demise and was afraid to meet the same end – his brain fluids spurting out and his body turned into mush. Though all his fingers had imprints of Holy Inscriptions, he pushed himself back slowly, not daring to take a hit.

With a push, he was entirely at one with the mist, instantly disappearing into the distance.

Feeling proud of himself for his escape technique mastery, an immense awareness of danger suddenly arose in his heart. He then felt the Jade Ruyi Sceptre still on his trail, heading directly for him.

“How could this be?”

He realized at that moment how the emptiness, Evil and Good were flowing in a circle. The morals were intertwined, forming a never-ending circle of Tai Chi. He thought he had gone far away when he was actually only going in circles around the same spot!

The golden aura merged with the mist and the surroundings became sacred and unyielding. It would take time to break it down!

What type of movement is this? What kind of Divine Skill?

He was about to burst into action when he felt weak all over his body. It was as if he had encountered his natural enemy – his nemesis. Unable to defend himself, his movement became sluggish, slowing down by half a beat.

Fists like Ruyi Sceptre Jade fell upon him. He immediately blocked with his secret treasure light shield, but the fists burst through, hitting him on the forehead.

Whack!

His forehead cracked open and his brain fluids flowed out. However, he was not like the Swordsman who was pummelled to a pulp. His body was still whole. The dreadful fist had only managed to destroy his head.

In that instant, the Swordsman’s blood abruptly condensed, forming a vortex in the center. It vanished without a trace within moments. An outlandish thing was left behind. It had a long and slender body like a tree trunk. Covered in long whiskers, its thin limbs grew on both sides. It dove into the sea and moved with the current. Meng Qi missed it by a heartbeat.

As Meng Qi was focusing on the monster, the controller of strange Nether Spirit – the expert of the Exterior – went through a similar thing. The difference was his body. What was left was only a fist-sized red ball. It somewhat resembled a stone and a fruit. There were multicolor patterns on it as if it had eyes and a mouth.

Plonk. The red ball fell into the sea. Meng Qi caught nothing but seawater.

“Strange! What were those things?” This was Meng Qi’s first encounter with such things. He was totally unprepared, and so it was inevitable that they were able to escape.

What puzzled him was not only this matter. The Swordsman with the imposing manner and the controller of Nether Spirit in his shapeless and invisible ways – their strength were definitely beyond Zhang Yuquan, a mere novice of the Exterior. Even if they were close to the first rung of the Celestial Ladder, they were of a higher realm with good battle tactics.

In fact, Meng Qi did not expect to win with his first blow. Though he used his Law Phenomenon together with his Skythrowing Palm and Turning Heaven and Earth to make himself look formidable. The swordsman could still have blocked the blows despite his injuries. The fatal blows would have come later with the Dharmakaya grade Tri-gem Wish Fist.

Unexpectedly, the swordsman was crushed directly by the force. The Shapeless and Invisible One was defeated using the ‘Tri-gem Wish Fist’ with only a little resistance. Both of them were not able to wield their potential power and their true strength.

“Could they have been completely suppressed by my imposing manner, thus losing their composure? Or perhaps the status of ‘Heavenly Primogenitor’ scared them out of their wits?” As he turned, Meng Qi was still speculating. Heading toward the boats, his figure shrunk steadily till he returned to his normal human state.

In the eyes of the sailors and Zhang Yuquan, he had completely changed. He was not just the so-called immortal of the Azure Palace. He was the True Immortal who dominated the blue dome of Heaven. No matter how ordinary his stature, he was seen as towering and majestic!

It’s no wonder that he is called One of the Three Clarities, he is indeed a strong one!

Meng Qi’s emotions were concealed by his mask. He casually walked to the hold of the boat, leaving behind a message:

“Bring me the swordsman’s sword. I want to examine it for clues.”

The items from the Swordsman in white and the Shapeless and Invisible One were taken by the two strange things. All that was left was the treasure sword. He was present “Heavenly Primogenitor”, an awe-inspiring and aloof immortal. How could he retrieve it personally?

“Yes, Primogenitor.” Zhang Yuquan replied with reverence and respect. He had seen the bizarre state of the two experts of the Exterior after their deaths. His doubts grew about what had actually happened at Qiao Province. What kind of weird creatures appeared moments ago?

Meng Qi thought it over and added this sentence:

“Don’t lose it.”

He then walked to the hold in a calm and dignified manner.

…

Within the secret chamber, there were two more bluish white lamps placed with the candles. The flames were burning with scarlet red flames. They were full of vitality and skipping about continuously.

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This was a simple soul lamp that can only last for a short period of time.

“It should be time. They should be making a move. If there are no changes to the soul lamp that means everything went smoothly.” A sharp voice blared.

A deep and low voice answered. “We know that. There’s no need to explain.”

“The previous times are somewhat similar, it’s just that there’s an immortal from the Azure Palace this time around,” a voice that sounded like a broken gong said.

A sudden ominous wind rose as he finished speaking.

Both soul lamps were extinguished at the same time, leaving the room in pitch-black darkness!

“This…”

“How could this be!”

“They’re both dead? At almost the same time?”

A cacophony of voices filled the secret chamber as everyone blurted out in disbelief, unable to accept the truth.

They became calm again after some time.

After a while, an old voice said slowly, “Their momentary exhibition of the strength of the Four-fold Heaven was enough to handle most experts from the imperial court. With their deaths, it only proves one thing: the immortal from the Azure Palace far exceeds our expectations. Perhaps he’s comparable to Progenitor Doumu or Immortal Taiyi of yesteryears.”

With the truth before their eyes, nobody objected. Blind refusal and unwillingness to believe would only do more harm.

“It’s better that we not face this immortal head-on. Taking a step back may mean advancement,” a man in a husky voice said.

“How do we advance by moving backward?” the raspy, broken gong-like voice asked.

The man with the old voice said, “We’ll let Zhang Yuquan assume control of Qiao Province. He’ll send us back to the Capital. Once there, we could use the excuse of gathering our family members to delay as long as possible. If this doesn’t work, we’ll seize control of the boat and return quietly.”

“We’ll secretly manage our influence and, with your insider information, we can hide this from Zhang Yuquan until the channel is closed. Once the year is over, we’ll have achieved success. What else is there to be afraid of?”

Since they already knew who the imperial envoy was, it was apparent that the other side had no shortage of supporters!

The low voice said, “What happens if that immortal from the Azure Palace ‘escorts’ us back to the other side?”

The secret chamber sank into silence. After quite a while, someone said whilst gnashing his teeth,

“We’ll lure him here as our last resort. I refuse to believe that we can’t kill him!”

“Let’s do it!” The others hesitated for a few moments before agreeing.

One’s death is but a dream. To not die would mean living on for many tens of thousands of years!

…

Xinhai City, in Qiaoxia Province.

The brilliant sunlight scattered upon the azure sea, resembling golden scales jumping about. The boats on the horizon were slowly getting bigger. The masts were so high that it seemed to be able to poke through the clouds.

So many fishermen on merchant boats gazed with their eyes wide-open. They had not seen Junk Ships of such proportions in all these years. The fleet looked so majestic. They had probably only seen one once before – when they moved over in order to establish the Qiao Province!

Before the Junk Ship docked at the harbor, Fang Butong, the provincial governor of Qiao Province, approached in his official boat. He stepped onto the deck of Zhang Yuquan’s boat.

He had once set the record for being the oldest serving expert in this dynasty. He was old and frail and had not broken through the Second N-fold Heaven. He had enough natural Vital Qi but lacked exotic minerals and produce. Once the Hidden Latch is out-of-sync, it is hard to replace.

Fang Butong had pale white hair, a slightly hunched body, and a wrinkled face. He looked nothing like a provincial governor, with barely an imposing air. When he and Zhang Yuquan met, he was reverent, respectfully exchanging bows and greetings. Taking note of the Taoist Priest with a solemn mask standing behind. He had the title of the “Heavenly Primogenitor” – a really scary character!

Meng Qi also took a good look at him. This skinny, frail old man and the other experts had ruined two experts of the Exterior and sunk two fleets into the deep waters.

The nark who had been hiding in Xinhai City had just reported about this matter.

Fang Butong was calm and unperturbed when Zhang Yuquan read out the imperial edict. Emperor Yan empathized with his old age and urged him to return to his roots. Zhang Yuquan would take over as the provincial governor of Qiaoxia Province.

Upon hearing the news, Fang Butong exclaimed his gratitude to the Emperor and was moved to tears. He showed no signs of defiance.

When they were settled at Xinhai City, Zhang Yuquan took time to visit Meng Qi to seek his advice. “Primogenitor, I feel uneasy about how cooperative Fang Butong has been. Something is not right. When things happen out of the ordinary, something evil is sure to be lurking.”

Meng Qi was seated cross-legged on the bed with the mask of Heavenly Primogenitor over his face. “Someone who could bury two imperial envoys in quick succession would give in on his own accord?” he asked indifferently.

Someone who had taken the risks would not easily turn back!

Zhang Yuquan understood this point. He replied softly. “Primogenitor, I’ll be careful with Fang Butong and try to find out the ins-and-outs of the matter.”

“Why should you resort to their underhanded ways? Perhaps they are only just delaying. When the voyage was disrupted you gained every right to take action. With support from our Azure Palace, we’ll take the upper hand and take control,” Meng Qi said calmly.