Chapter 149: Killing Little Six

Stepping out of the karst cave, they beheld once again the corpse of the ancient horned flood dragon. Its tendons, claws, and inner core were all priceless treasures. Unfortunately, the dragon's hundred-zhang-long carcass happened to block the subterranean water eye. If these items were removed, the downstream regions would inevitably suffer from catastrophic floods. To commit such a self-serving act at the expense of others would violate one's inner principles and be no different from demonic ways—something Zhou Qian disdained to do.

With a series of splashes, the water's surface broke as the six figures emerged one after another from the formation's eye, standing amidst the jagged mountain rocks as the ripples swayed.

"If we seal this water eye, the Xiang River will likely run dry, harming the fishermen who live along its banks. What if we instead deploy a formation to conceal it so that no wicked or evil person may ever discover it again?" Yu Xiao said in a resonant voice, every word striking like a clap of thunder, clearly showing that his cultivation had greatly advanced.

"Senior Brother Yu's suggestion is excellent, and I wholeheartedly agree."

Seeing that the others had no objections, Yu Xiao turned to He Xiaoshu and said, "Junior Sister, your mastery of formations is the highest, so you shall take the lead, and Senior Brother will assist you. How does that sound?"

"Very well!" He Xiaoshu nodded, closing her eyes as her fingers pinched incantations. She practiced the *Six Imperial Formation Charts* of the Heavenly One Sect, the core principle of which was to use one's physical body as the formation base and all things in heaven and earth as the formation eyes. At the highest levels, one could control a domain of heaven and earth, with reality bending to one's spoken words. Although Junior Sister Xiaoshu had not yet reached such a terrifying realm, she possessed immense talent in this dao. Boulders rose from the ground one by one, and the surrounding primordial Qi surged incessantly. As for Yu Xiao, he tossed out talisman seals one after another, embedding them into the rocks so that they interconnected, gradually forming the shape of the Nine Palaces: two and four serving as shoulders, six and eight as feet, three on the left and seven on the right, nine overhead and one below, with five resting at the center.

Suddenly, the primordial Qi within a radius of several li contracted sharply, and a dense fog rolled out. Even Zhou Qian, standing within the valley, could no longer make out the scene inside, prompting him to sigh in admiration: "This technique is truly marvelous. Even with my Dharma Eye, I can no longer locate where the spring is."

After working busily for a long time with beads of sweat dotting her forehead, He Xiaoshu pridefully remarked, "This Four-Gate Sealing Fog Formation is my family's signature skill. Even practitioners at the Nascent Soul realm would fail to notice anything amiss if they weren't paying attention. In these desolate, wild mountains, where would any Nascent Soul masters possibly come from?"

"Since this matter is settled, Yurong and Junior Sister must return to our mountain sect, so let us part ways here," Senior Sister Lu said with a slight bow and a gentle tone. Xiang Xiaoyue also bid farewell to the two from the Heavenly Gate, cast a cold glance at Zhou Qian, and turned her head away.

"Two elder sisters, Junior Brother Zhou, we are leaving as well! Alas, we caught a mottled great tiger a few days ago, but unfortunately it escaped—what terrible luck!" He Xiaoshu muttered before she and Yu Xiao transformed into two streaks of escaping light and flew southward. Lu Yurong cast one deep, lingering look at Zhou Qian before she and Xiang Xiaoyue rode their flying swords northward. As the curtain fell and the gathering dispersed, Zhou Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The greatest harvest from this ordeal was not acquiring various treasures, nor was it the liquefaction and consolidation of the Taiqing Immortal Qi within his body—which showed signs of returning from the acquired state to the innate—but rather learning that Xiang Xiaoyue, the daughter of Xiang Feihe, was safe and sound and had even been accepted into the Emei Immortal Sect. Undoubtedly, a great weight had been lifted from his heart.

"Little Liu, shall we head to Xiangyang City first?" Zhou Qian asked as he looked back. Seeing no objection from his companion, he slowly walked amidst the mountain ranges in high spirits.

"This journey has truly brought many fortuitous encounters!"

***

"I am afraid the real benefits are about to be reaped by Emei!" Little Liu suddenly remarked.

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"Beneath that spring's manor lies a manifestation of the Earth Water True Essence, known as the Ten-Thousand-Year Hollow Azure. It is a supreme treasure nurtured by the water veins for tens of thousands of years before finally taking form. One only needs to sever it to extract its millennium-old spiritual marrow. A single drop of it is equivalent to a hundred years of arduous cultivation. Judging by the expression of Emei's Lu Yurong, she definitely knew of this, yet she kept it from you all, intending to monopolize the treasure." Little Liu's face revealed a look of indignation.

"Oh? What are you suggesting, Little Liu?" Zhou Qian asked calmly.

"Why don't we take the lead, acquire that millennium-old marrow before them, and split it equally between you and me, Elder Brother Zhou?"

"The underground water veins of Mount Nanbian were long ago shattered by the ancient flood dragon. Once the Ten-Thousand-Year Hollow Azure is severed, without this treasure to suppress it, the entire foothills will likely be flooded, not to mention a hundred li of the Xiang River. How do you propose we handle that?" Zhou Qian stepped backward, summoned his flying sword for self-defense, and asked with an icy glare: "You are not Little Liu! Who on earth are you?!"

"Hehe, I didn't expect you to see through it after all!" 'Little Liu' let out a cackling, eerie laugh. "This lord is the Ancestor of Profound Mystery! We have met before!"

"You are the Fiend Ancestor of Profound Mystery!" Zhou Qian cried out in shock. When was Little Liu possessed? Wasn't this old monster destroyed by heavenly thunder?! Is Little Liu dead or alive?!

"This ancestor sees that you possess good bone structure and intends to take you as a disciple. Are you willing or not?" Little Liu—no, the Ancestor of Profound Mystery—suddenly burst into laughter.

"Bow to you as my master? So you can seize my body?" Zhou Qian scoffed mockingly. "Besides, even if you have possessed Little Liu's shell, you may not necessarily be a match for me!"

With those words, he brought his fingers together and flicked his wrist. The white radiance transformed by the Willow Wood Immortal Sword shot forward. The Ancestor of Profound Mystery waved both claws, sending out several black lines formed by the Five-Pole True Fire along with the Cleaving-Slot Hooks to meet it head-on. They began a fierce battle mid-air, with black, white, and golden lights flashing erratically amidst incessant clashing sounds. Since consuming the Earth Water True Essence, Zhou Qian's cultivation had advanced further, and his flying sword now moved as though it were an extension of his own arms, as light and weightless as can be. This was the exact benefit of purifying his spiritual energy with the Taiqing Immortal Qi; this substance was inherently innate, floating above the nine heavens, and thus entirely weightless. Controlling the immortal sword in this manner allowed its speed to multiply to the point where the naked eye could no longer track it. Guided solely by his mind, Zhou Qian brought out the intricate and versatile characteristics of the Ape Lord Sword Technique to the absolute fullest, single-handedly holding off the Ancestor of Profound Mystery's ten streaks of fire and flying hooks in a continuous stream that resembled a horizontal curtain of white light or a long rainbow piercing the sun.

Yet the Ancestor of Profound Mystery was deeply scheming and broadly experienced. Though not particularly skilled in swordsmanship, his past self was, after all, a Nascent Soul master with a profound perspective who had fought countless renowned sword immortals. Relying on his vast experience, how could he fail to break the flying sword of a mere junior like Zhou Qian? The black lines formed by the Five-Pole True Fire suddenly merged into one, producing a monstrous claw the size of a washbowl, its sharp nails thrusting toward Zhou Qian's skull. Simultaneously, the five golden hooks transformed into a long rainbow attacking from behind. This move struck precisely at the moment when Zhou Qian's old strength was spent and his new strength had yet to arise. The timing was grasped with exquisite precision—something the real Little Liu could never hope to match.

Realizing the danger, Zhou Qian made a decisive split-second judgment and leaped off the cliff. In the blink of an eye, the spot he had previously occupied exploded with a deafening roar, earth and stone flying everywhere. The cliff wall split straight down the middle as howling mountain winds rushed in. The Fiend Ancestor of Profound Mystery was stunned; according to the memories he had plundered from Little Liu's mind, this brat had not yet mastered the art of sword flight. Falling from a height of several hundred zhang, he would surely be dashed to pieces!

***

Unexpectedly, the Willow Wood Sword caught up from behind. Zhou Qian grabbed its hilt, used the momentum to swing across the open air, kicked off his feet, and executed the Cloud-Stepping Step, leaping over a dozen zhang through the air to land upon the opposite cliff wall. This was something the old fiend had never anticipated; only a junior sword immortal who had roamed and survived the treacherous pugilistic world could possibly conceive of such a countermeasure.

Seeing him flee among the mountains, the Fiend Ancestor of Profound Mystery hurriedly took to the air in pursuit. Even after acquiring the millennium-old marrow, he would need time to refine the treasure. If he were to attract the old ghosts of the Qingcheng Sect, given his current fragile physical vessel, he would certainly be no match for them. This boy must not be left alive!

Just as he rounded a mountain bend without sighting his target, a faint, razor-thin sound of breaking air reached his ears. His vigilance spiked instantly, and dodging backward without a moment's hesitation, he swung his Cleaving-Slot Hooks toward the source of the noise. A thunderous metallic crash rang out as a three-zhang-long white beam grazed his face by a hair's breadth, drawing a string of blood pearls. It turned out that Zhou Qian had already driven the Willow Wood Sword deep into the stone wall, concealed his form using an Invisibility Banner, and seized the opportunity to unleash a surge of sword light, attempting a catch him off guard.

"Tricks of a minor craft!" the Ancestor of Profound Mystery growled angrily. To be toyed with by this brat twice in a row—had the cultivation of the vessel he seized not been so lamentably weak, preventing him from utilizing many formidable spells, he would have long since ripped out this boy's soul and captured his spirit! With such thoughts raging in his mind, he made several crunching sounds and ruthlessly bit off the three fingers of his right hand, filling his mouth with blood. Spitting it outward, he unleashed a potent evil art, and a bloody mist instantly spread rapidly across the area.

Spotting an anomaly within a ten-zhang radius ahead, he sneered viciously and unleashed the Five-Pole True Fire to burn the spot. What manner of experience did the old fiend possess? He had long since guessed that Zhou Qian was hiding using an invisibility treasure, and thus used an evil technique to pinpoint his location and launch a surprise attack.

Seven or eight departing-fire divine thunderbolts also erupted from the void, colliding with the Five-Pole True Fire and dissipating. Zhou Qian once again drove his flying sword to reverse and surge upward, while the Fiend Ancestor of Profound Mystery channeled the blood mist to transform it into countless blood-converting needles, holding them ready to strike.

In terms of pure cultivation alone, the shell of Little Liu occupied by Profound Mystery was perhaps slightly superior; however, the Taiqing Immortal Qi within Zhou Qian's body possessed demon-subduing properties, and his swordsmanship was remarkable, making it difficult for the old fiend to subdue him immediately. Their duel of magic was akin to dragons and tigers contending, or serpents and eagles fighting—a truly magnificent spectacle.

Suddenly, Zhou Qian felt an all-encompassing, numbing itch throughout his body as his internal magical power began to dissipate in wisps. Sensing dire peril, he realized that the blood mist adhering to his skin had somehow seeped into his Qi sea, sealing his blood and draining his essence—a most venomous curse. Looking ahead, 'Little Liu' sneered repeatedly and said, "It seems that while virtue stands a foot tall, the devil stands ten. This Heavenly Demon Blood-Polluting Art of mine can not only track your location but also kill invisibly. In another incense stick's time, even without me lifting a finger, you will surely perish!"

Knowing that even the Taiqing Qi could not suppress this foul blood, he realized the warning was no idle threat. A look of perilous, unyielding resolve gradually surfaced in Zhou Qian's eyes. The Fiend Ancestor of Profound Mystery added, "Do not even think about dragging me down with you in mutual destruction either. This remnant soul of mine has only temporarily superseded and suppressed Little Liu's three souls and seven physical souls without actually killing him. If you launch a desperate attack, do you truly wish to take the life of your sworn brother? In this Little Liu's memories, you are his most trusted big brother after all!"

The Fiend Ancestor of Profound Mystery excelled at manipulating human hearts. The moment those words were spoken, Zhou Qian hesitated. If Little Liu could still be saved, how could he possibly bring himself to strike?

Just as he stood in bleak despair, preparing to close his eyes and await death, a female voice echoed from the Invisibility Banner: "Do not lose heart; I have a way to save both of you."