“Eldest Senior Sister should remember this person, Tao Zhang, right?”

Qu Zhengfeng was led by several feet, with Jian Chou following beside him. The red streak of light flying ahead was little fatty Jianghe, looking exactly like a bird just released from its cage, flying in complete chaos.

Jian Chou glanced over, withdrew her gaze, and said: “I remember.”

The impression was quite deep.

Tao Zhang—that person who supposedly had his eye gouged out by Xu Lan’er in one move but refused to replace it. He kept one eye covered, leaving only one eye to look at people. His appearance was somewhat feminine, giving off an androgynous feeling.

In Jian Chou’s view, though this person was somewhat innocent, his methods were ruthless.

Judging from their encounter at the time, this person’s status within his sect should be quite high, considering so many people followed his commands.

Speaking of which, Jian Chou suddenly realized she knew nothing about this person.

So she asked: “I only know this person has a grudge against Xu Lan’er, once intercepted us at sea, acts quite domineeringly, and is a disciple of the Wuyi Sect. But I don’t know what his background is?”

Qu Zhengfeng said, “His background is quite simple. I heard he was an orphaned beggar on the street who got lucky and encountered a future Wuyi Sect disciple fighting someone.”

“Future disciple? Did he help this person and thus get taken as a disciple?”

Thinking of her own experience, Jian Chou naturally assumed this.

The wind and rain were still heavy. Qu Zhengfeng stood on his sword, long hair flowing, dark robes fluttering in the wind.

Hearing this, he turned his head to look at Jian Chou, his eyes carrying a hint of amusement, though not necessarily genuine laughter.

“Not everyone is as fortunate as Senior Sister.”

“…”

These words were somewhat uncomfortable to hear, but…

Jian Chou had to admit: “Indeed.”

Hearing her so frankly acknowledge her good luck, Qu Zhengfeng smiled.

“My words just now were unpleasant—please forgive me, Senior Sister.”

“Truth is always unpleasant.”

Jian Chou was somewhat surprised. The usually steady and proper Qu Zhengfeng shouldn’t have said such things, but she also had something to say.

“But so what if luck is good or bad? Who doesn’t have fortunate times in their life? I just got lucky a bit late, and others haven’t seen what I’ve experienced.”

She was someone who had died once.

To be precise, Jian Chou’s luck wasn’t good.

Resurrection from death might be luck, but certain death upon passing Spirit Separation was like a sword hanging over her head.

Qu Zhengfeng said nothing.

But Jian Chou smiled: “On my way to the Nineteen Continents, at the Thirteen Immortal Road Islands, I met someone who… knew he would die soon. I didn’t understand his feelings then. But now, I quite empathize.”

Rustle…

The sound of rain.

Very much like that day’s rain in Da Xia.

Jian Chou looked up at the sky, which was pitch black as if dyed with ink.

In this whole world of thunder and lightning, the rain curtain seemed endless.

Beneath their feet, they had quickly flown beyond Yashan’s territory.

They had departed from Lingzhao Peak on their instruments and soon saw the tributary of Nine-Head River flowing outside, so they followed the river downstream.

Jianghe seemed to have tired of playing and finally slowed down, waiting for them ahead.

“Eldest Senior Sister, Second Senior Brother, hurry up!”

Jian Chou glanced over and said, “Let’s continue talking about Tao Zhang. He wasn’t taken as a disciple by that fighting Wuyi Sect disciple?”

Qu Zhengfeng nodded: “No. That was just someone who had gained qualification for the Wuyi Sect but hadn’t yet entered. He was fighting someone and got severely injured. Tao Zhang was nearby at the time. After seeing the person leave, young as he was, he actually approached. I heard he killed that defenseless would-be disciple, took his qualification token, and entered the Wuyi Sect in his place.”

So shocking?

So young?

Jian Chou had known Tao Zhang was ruthless, but hadn’t expected it from such an early age.

But…

“Wouldn’t he be discovered?”

“Of course he was discovered—otherwise why would he be called Tao Zhang now?”

Tao Zhang was his real name.

Qu Zhengfeng folded his hands behind his back, letting the Seashore Light Sword slowly descend to skim the river surface as they traveled.

“But when he was discovered, he was already a Foundation Establishment disciple. The Wuyi Sect had no reason to abandon such a genius, so they didn’t pursue past matters and instead gave him extremely high inner disciple treatment.”

So that’s how it was.

If Tao Zhang hadn’t been talented, he would likely have met a dead end after being discovered.

Jian Chou seemed to gain a deeper understanding of the Nineteen Continents’ rules.

“As for this incident, Kunwu has requested Yashan, where the enforcement elder resides, to mediate and investigate some matters.” Qu Zhengfeng continued: “The enforcement elder is the enforcement elder for all three thousand sects in the Central Domain’s Left Assembly. Because it requires cultivators who are desireless, highly positioned, and relatively fair, three hundred years ago, this position passed from Kunwu’s Hengxu Zhenren to Master.”

“Master ran away for three hundred years…”

Jian Chou finished the sentence helplessly.

Qu Zhengfeng laughed: “So now that he’s finally returned, there are no peaceful days.”

“So this matter was caused by Tao Zhang?” Jian Chou asked again.

Qu Zhengfeng shook his head: “Three Wangjiang Tower disciples went to sea, having heard of strange treasures beneath a certain reef. They went to investigate and unexpectedly encountered Tao Zhang inside. So the four traveled together, but then something happened. Two didn’t return, one escaped, and shortly after, saw Tao Zhang emerge covered in blood. So they suspect those two were killed, with Tao Zhang as the perpetrator. Now Wangjiang Tower has trapped Tao Zhang and won’t release him, while the Wuyi Sect can’t possibly abandon such an elite disciple, so conflict arose.”

Jian Chou frowned: “If I remember correctly, sects generally have ‘life tablets’ for their disciples—when people die, the tablets break. Whether people are dead should be clear to Wangjiang Tower. Since it’s a suspicion, the tablets must not have broken. In that case, shouldn’t they be rescuing people?”

“Eldest Senior Sister speaks reasonably, but it’s not so simple to implement.”

Qu Zhengfeng understood Tao Zhang somewhat: “I met this Tao Zhang several years ago. His temperament is extremely perverse and difficult to deal with. If Wangjiang Tower truly trapped him but treated him well, there might be room for discussion. But if their attitude is domineering… trouble is likely.”

At this point, Jian Chou finally understood.

“So we’re needed?”

They needed the seemingly detached Yashan, with sufficient prestige, to send people to mediate this matter, incidentally serve as laborers, and help search for people?

No wonder Fudao Shanren looked utterly despondent.

This was manual labor.

After roughly understanding the situation, Jian Chou had only one thought: “If I were Master, I definitely wouldn’t want to be an enforcement elder. Probably no one in the cultivation world would be willing, right?”

A thankless job.

But unexpectedly, Qu Zhengfeng smiled and shook his head: “Though Eldest Senior Sister thinks so, others may not. The Eldest Senior Sister has been in seclusion for a long time and probably hasn’t heard the rumors. Recently, Eldest Senior Sister’s thirteen-day Foundation Establishment has been widely spread—probably by the Jianzhu Sect. Now the Jianzhu Sect has proposed to Kunwu that when the five-cycle period arrives, the Master should be replaced with a different enforcement elder, while the Jianzhu Sect has ideas about competing for the enforcement elder position.”

Why would the Jianzhu Sect compete for a thankless job?

Jian Chou was extremely puzzled: “What do they want to do?”

“Unclear.” Qu Zhengfeng looked ahead to see that little fatty Jianghe was now close, saying: “The teleportation array isn’t far ahead—let’s go directly through there.”

There was a teleportation array here?

Jian Chou was quite surprised.

This place was already quite far from Yashan. There was a stone cliff by the riverbank where they landed.

Nine-Head River made a big turn here, changing direction before flowing onward.

She’d heard that Kunwu was also by Nine-Head River, but on the main stream.

The teleportation array was carved on the stone cliff beneath their feet. Though weathered by wind and rain, it was maintained—some lines were refilled with special materials.

Qu Zhengfeng inserted several spirit stones and directly activated the teleportation array.

When they left the Central Domain Yashan territory, the surroundings were still stormy, but when the scenery became clear again, Jian Chou discovered it was exactly morning.

They appeared in a place quite familiar to Jian Chou.

In that vast seaside plaza, the Wendao Tablet stood quietly on the distant sea, exactly as when Jian Chou first saw it.

In that direction of the plaza naturally still stood the Nine Heavens Tablet.

At morning time, this place wasn’t as lively as when she came with Fudao Shanren. Only scattered people were around, and the usually bustling area beneath the Nine Heavens Tablet was empty.

“Wangjiang Tower is not far north. We can go directly along the coast.”

Qu Zhengfeng led the way out of the teleportation array, pointed out the direction, and walked ahead.

Because this transmission brought them to a different location than last time from the sea island, Jian Chou naturally passed by the Nine Heavens Tablet. When passing the fourth Heavenly Tablet, her steps suddenly paused.

The fourth level—Nascent Soul.

She saw a familiar name on it.

Little fatty Jianghe yawned: “Really traveling day and night. Don’t know if there’ll be fighting this time. I heard… eh, what’s wrong, Eldest Senior Sister?”

Suddenly noticing Jian Chou beside him hadn’t followed, Jianghe stopped rubbing his eyes and looked back.

He saw Jian Chou standing beneath the fourth Heavenly Tablet, looking up at a certain name.

Jianghe came over to look and immediately laughed: “I thought you were looking at someone else—turns out you’re looking at Second Senior Brother! Haha, our Second Senior Brother is amazing. He’s been on this tablet for a long time. Whether it’s Kunwu or other sects, no one can defeat him!”

Jian Chou knew Xie Buchen’s name was on the second Heavenly Tablet, but hadn’t expected Qu Zhengfeng to also be a named person on the tablets.

So, Qu Zhengfeng should be the “number one in the Nascent Soul stage.”

She recalled how he easily defeated Shen Jiu on the Sword-Drawing Platform and couldn’t help turning to look at Qu Zhengfeng.

But unexpectedly, Qu Zhengfeng was currently looking up at the second Heavenly Tablet before him.

“So Junior Brother Qu is also named on the tablets.”

“Master’s name was once carved on every tablet.” Qu Zhengfeng was unconcerned, only looking at the name on the second Heavenly Tablet, slowly saying: “I just suddenly saw this person and feel that Senior Sister should replace him someday.”

Jian Chou looked up and saw “Xie Buchen’s” name.

Her heart jolted: “Why?”

“I simply dislike Kunwu.”

When saying this, Qu Zhengfeng’s expression seemed particularly cold.

He didn’t linger further, only saying: “It’s getting late. Let’s go.”

Little fatty Jianghe keenly sensed that Second Senior Brother was not to be trifled with now and quickly shrank over, grabbing Jian Chou’s sleeve corner to follow her.

“What’s wrong?”

Jian Chou was puzzled.

Jianghe pointed his chubby finger at Qu Zhengfeng walking ahead and lowered his voice: “Second Senior Brother must be in a bad mood now. I can tell whenever he shows this expression. Last time, Sixth Senior Brother provoked him at this moment—he got beaten terribly!”

“…”

Jian Chou was stunned, looking at the seemingly normal Qu Zhengfeng ahead, really not knowing what to say.

The three traveled north, leaving the plaza to ride their swords.

Soon, standing high in the air, they could see a great river ahead—the mighty Nine-Head River. At the river’s estuary stood a massive, tall building facing the river.

Behind the tall building, on a vast plain, countless exquisite and magnificent buildings were constructed, and outside this building complex, a large-scale town had formed.

Before the three had even landed, they could feel the rich human presence.

Jian Chou still remembered Fudao Shanren’s words—the territory under Wangjiang Tower’s jurisdiction was as large as the entire Central Domain. If they hadn’t split off Wanghai Tower, it would probably be even larger.

Such a Wangjiang Tower would probably be a nation in the mortal world.

“We’ll enter directly—their people are already waiting.”

Qu Zhengfeng had read the thunder message and understood the situation well. He led the way directly into one of those exquisite and magnificent buildings.

Outside was a small lake, with many lotus pools built around it.

In the lotus pools were blooming and falling lotus flowers. The golden lotus pods were emitting light outward—probably some rare spiritual plants.

At this morning hour, there were many crystal-clear dewdrops on the lotus pods.

Jian Chou rode the Liwai Mirror, and after reaching the lake’s edge, she slowed down following Qu Zhengfeng. She glanced over but suddenly glimpsed those pale white, nearly transparent things resting on petals, lotus pods, and lotus leaves.

Small insects with nearly invisible transparent wings.

Mayflies.

In that instant, Jian Chou couldn’t help but smile.

For mayflies, this was probably a beautiful morning.

But…

The next moment, her smile froze.

A breeze came, and those mayflies resting on petals and lotus leaves, light as if weightless, were blown like dust into the water and carried away by the current.

Wasn’t this morning?

“Haha, honored predecessors from Yashan, grace us with your presence—we were remiss in welcoming you! Long have I admired Senior Qu’s great name. Mo Yuanxing pays respects to the senior!”

Hearty laughter accompanied by greetings suddenly interrupted Jian Chou’s thoughts.

She continued forward on her instrument and saw three streams of radiance fly out from the water pavilion ahead.

The leading radiance stopped first—a gray-haired elder who quickly bowed to Qu Zhengfeng.

When someone paid respects, Jian Chou thought they should stop to return the courtesy.

But unexpectedly, neither Qu Zhengfeng nor Jianghe beside her showed any sign of slowing down. They maintained their speed and swept toward the water pavilion like a gust of wind.

Qu Zhengfeng said coolly, “Yashan has understood the cause of this matter. Where is Tao Zhang?”

Elder Mo Yuanxing of Wangjiang Tower was stunned. Not only did he not show anger, but he became somewhat panicked and quickly caught up, waving: “Right here.”

As they spoke, the group landed outside the water pavilion.

The exquisitely carved wooden door wasn’t closed, and all four windows were open, clearly showing the interior floor was in complete disarray.

The originally laid carpet seemed to have been removed by someone, exposing the wooden floor beneath.

Those wooden boards weren’t smooth, covered with marks from falling blades and swords. There had been intense fighting here, and blood could even be seen on the ground.

The person sitting with his back to them had his legs spread apart. His azure Daoist robe was covered in blood stains, old and new—some had turned brown while others remained vivid.

Elder Mo Yuanxing respectfully stepped forward, pointing at the person inside: “This madman injured my disciple. When we questioned him, he refused to answer. Fearing this fierce criminal might escape, after a fierce battle, we used the ‘Drawing Ground as Prison’ technique to trap him.”

Qu Zhengfeng listened and walked into the water pavilion.

The person inside naturally heard this commotion.

“Has the old dog brought reinforcements again?”

That was indeed Tao Zhang’s voice. Even mixed with fatigue, it carried an inherent demonic quality.

He slowly stood up from the ground, turned around, and saw Qu Zhengfeng, who had just entered. He was suddenly stunned: “Yashan?”

Then his gaze shifted, and he saw Jianghe and… Jian Chou standing behind Qu Zhengfeng.

In that instant, a strange light suddenly flashed in Tao Zhang’s visible eye.

He ignored Qu Zhengfeng completely, slowly taking a step forward, squinting: “It’s you?”

Jian Chou held the Liwai Mirror and lightly bowed, offering courtesy: “After parting in the Western Sea, it’s been two months. How have you been, fellow Daoist?”

“How have I been?” Hearing this, Tao Zhang burst into laughter: “How have I been! I never expected that two months ago, when I met you, you were merely at Qi Refining, but now, upon observation, you’ve already reached mid Foundation Establishment. It seems my speculation was correct—the female cultivator recently causing such a stir throughout the Central Domain for the thirteen-day Foundation Establishment with a Heavenly Disc from Yashan is you! Good, good, good!”

“Don’t be presumptuous!”

Seeing Tao Zhang so arrogant, Mo Yuanxing flew into a rage and pointed at him to scold.

Unexpectedly, Tao Zhang suddenly stopped laughing, fierce light flashing in his eyes: “When I, Tao, speak, do you have the right to interrupt?!”

In that instant, azure light shot skyward. Though Tao Zhang had no sword in hand, he moved as if holding one, slashing through the air!

Before him, something seemed to shatter in this instant, making a sound like an eggshell breaking!

That sword light didn’t stop but came straight toward the three Yashan disciples at the entrance!

Mo Yuanxing was greatly alarmed: “Audacious!”

Though he said this, he didn’t move to help.

That sword light came with tremendous force. Jian Chou’s Liwai Mirror was already glowing with glassy golden light. She estimated that today Tao Zhang’s sword was at least five times stronger than Xu Lan’er’s Lanyuan strike back then!

Surging sword light rolled toward them like the sky falling, seeming about to strike all three immediately!

“Whoosh.”

A sound of wind.

Standing in front, Qu Zhengfeng swept his large sleeve, and his dark robe caught the wind, instantly concealing his entire form.

Strong winds suddenly rose. In the void, warm seawater seemed to surge forth. Though the Seashore Light Sword didn’t appear, a brilliant blue light scattered. In the blink of an eye, it swept away Tao Zhang’s sword light.

Qu Zhengfeng stood in place without moving a step, as if he had merely lightly waved his sleeve to brush away dust.

All the terrifying attacks vanished into smoke.

He walked leisurely inside, seemingly ignoring Tao Zhang’s constricting pupils and increasingly dangerous expression.

“You’ve also broken the Drawing Ground as Prison. Now let’s talk.”

His voice was calm. Though Qu Zhengfeng showed no smile, he gave a very gentle feeling, except this gentleness now carried an irrefutable quality.

“Yashan’s disciples are busy and don’t have much time to waste. If this can’t be resolved within three days, I’ll kill you and return to report.”

In this moment, complete silence filled the room.

Tao Zhang looked at Qu Zhengfeng with an icy expression.

Jian Chou at the entrance felt stunned, while Jianghe beside her wore an expression of “as expected.”

Breaking the silence was still Qu Zhengfeng himself. He glanced at the two people standing at the entrance: “Eldest Senior Sister, Eighth Junior Brother, come in.”

Jianghe quickly entered, and Jian Chou said nothing, also following.

Tao Zhang’s gaze swept across Elder Mo’s face, which showed changing expressions at the entrance, then fell on the Liwai Mirror in Jian Chou’s hands, seeming surprised it wasn’t a sword. He glanced at the little fatty, but finally looked at Qu Zhengfeng.

“Yashan disciple, first on the fourth Heavenly Tablet, invincible below Spirit Separation—Qu Zhengfeng?”