Just a few days, just a few days!
How could it be so fast!
Everyone’s hearts were collapsing.
When Grand Senior Sister Jian Chou disappeared, she had just reached mid-stage Foundation Establishment not long ago. After not seeing her for about ten days, how could she already be at a late stage?!
When did the cultivation speed in Shijiu Zhou become like taking drugs and advancing so rapidly?
Did ordinary people not deserve to live anymore?
Everyone’s expressions completely explained the problem.
Jian Chou knew that saying this would have this effect. She seriously coughed once, swept her gaze around, and didn’t see Qu Zhengfeng, so she said: “There’s nothing worth celebrating. If it were someone who feared death, they’d probably be crying by now. By the way, where’s Junior Brother Qu?”
“He seems to have gone into seclusion for a while.”
Shen Jiu was quite knowledgeable, struggling to ignore the shock brought by Jian Chou’s skyrocketing cultivation.
“Speaking of which, Second Senior Brother seems to be preparing to attempt the Soul Separation stage, right?”
Fudao Shanren rolled his eyes: “Enough, everyone, sit down. Look at all your expressions—Kunwu produced one freak, so our Yashan needs to produce an even bigger freak. What’s this now? It’ll be even faster in the future!”
As he spoke, he also sat down, wearing an expression of “Jian Chou’s cultivation is all my achievement.”
Everyone felt another wave of disdain in their hearts.
Jian Chou merely curved her lips slightly and didn’t say much.
The faster her cultivation progressed, the better and worse it was for her.
Jian Chou was still very clear about the fact that reaching Heart Questioning meant death. She only hoped that regardless of whether she could find a solution, if she could have a decisive battle with Xie Buchen before Heart Questioning, then what happened afterward wouldn’t matter.
Her little finger suddenly moved. Jian Chou looked down.
Dijiang Guyu seemed to sense that quite a few people had sat around the long table and trembled fearfully.
Jian Chou was both amused and exasperated. Looking up, she saw the small marten crouched nearby, eyeing it menacingly, as if ready to pounce and lick Dijiang Guyu at any moment.
These two little creatures…
Jian Chou helplessly pried Dijiang Guyu off and pressed it onto the long table, saying: “Stand properly and don’t move!”
Dijiang Guyu didn’t understand. Its two small feet moved, but it finally stood in place, turning its white body left and right as if “looking” to see how many people had come and what the situation was.
Seeing Dijiang Guyu being put down, the small marten immediately rushed forward, opening its long-awaited “bloody maw.”
Unexpectedly, Jian Chou pointed her finger similarly and coldly commanded: “You’re not allowed to move either. Go sit over there!”
“…Wu!”
The small marten cried out aggrievedly.
How could you treat me like this? Am I your marten, or is it your marten? It’s just a smelly bone!
“Wu wu wu wu!”
Jian Chou looked at it expressionlessly.
The small marten’s claws finally retracted, sitting properly on the table.
This back-and-forth commotion immediately attracted everyone’s attention.
Fudao Shanren’s gaze fell on the small marten, rubbing his slightly warm palms: “Where did you pick up this marten? Look at that glossy fur, perfect size—just right for one pot!”
The small marten shuddered violently.
Little fatty Jianghe’s gaze moved from the small marten to Dijiang Guyu, unconsciously biting his finger: “Grand Senior Sister’s bone looks so strange…”
“Right, it has legs.”
Shen Jiu couldn’t help but reach out to poke the two legs dangling below Dijiang Guyu.
At that instant, Dijiang Guyu directly lifted its small foot and kicked without courtesy!
“Ouch! What a temper!”
Looking at his hand, which wasn’t seriously injured but had turned red, Shen Jiu widened his eyes.
Jian Chou rubbed her forehead with a headache. Seeing everyone’s gazes focused on these two little creatures on the table, she couldn’t help but sigh.
Fudao Shanren continued rubbing his hands, looking like he was about to drool, staring at the small marten with glowing eyes. Without turning his head, he said to Jian Chou: “My disciple, you just told Master about robbing money and… other things. Does this small marten count too? How about offering this little guy to Master as filial piety?”
“Ao wu wu wu!”
No!
No!
Absolutely not!
The small marten immediately darted to Jian Chou’s side to hide, glaring with one eye at the speaking Fudao Shanren.
“Alright, Master, stop fooling around. The small marten understands our words. You’d better not scare it…”
Jian Chou patted the small marten’s head to comfort it.
To prevent these black-hearted people, especially Master, from harming the small marten or Dijiang Guyu, she simply placed both little creatures in front of herself, then said: “My disappearance was all thanks to the small marten. As for this bone, it’s the biggest gain…”
She should at least explain her recent whereabouts.
Jian Chou slowly recounted how, after that day, she left Lingzhao Peak, came to the Yashan cable bridge, and encountered this strange small marten in the Thousand Cultivators’ Tomb. When she mentioned the killing disc, Fudao Shanren’s expression changed.
He wanted to interrupt several times, but seeing Jian Chou still speaking slowly, he forcibly restrained himself and continued listening.
“So, under the small marten’s guidance, I entered that place. They all called it the Bloodred Small Realm.”
Jian Chou glanced at Fudao Shanren and indeed saw his eyes already glowing, wishing he could pounce over.
She quickly said, “However, six other people entered with me. I don’t know who they were; only a few revealed their identities. One of them was Kunwu’s Gu Qingmei…”
“She went too?”
Shen Jiu widened his eyes, looking at Jian Chou like she was a monster.
Why, after hearing that Gu Qingmei went and seeing Grand Senior Sister Jian Chou covered in blood, did he feel a chill?
“G-Grand Senior Sister, this blood all over you, how exactly did it come about…”
They had expected Jian Chou to have experienced a bloody battle, but never imagined it would involve someone like Gu Qingmei!
Was this the rhythm of going to war with Kunwu?
Everyone was already confused, letting their imaginations run wild.
Fudao Shanren almost forgot about the Bloodred Small Realm and Luye Laozu, directly leaning over to ask: “Did you hack her to death or hack her to pieces?”
“…”
She couldn’t continue.
Really couldn’t continue.
Jian Chou stood up and turned to leave.
Fudao Shanren quickly reached out to pull her back: “Tell us, tell us. Even if you killed her to silence her, it doesn’t matter. It’s just us, master and disciples here. Absolutely no one will sell you out. Of course, if Kunwu’s bounty is too high, Master can’t guarantee…”
You should just shut up.
Jian Chou felt her heartbeat and blood flow accelerating.
Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale.
After a long time, she finally calmed down and turned to Fudao Shanren: “I didn’t kill to silence anyone, didn’t destroy evidence, didn’t hack anyone to death or pieces…”
Under everyone’s gaze, Jian Chou sat back down.
Along this journey, there were quite a few matters related to Gu Qingmei.
She recounted them one by one, leaving Fudao Shanren dumbfounded.
When she mentioned obtaining Azure Lotus Spirit Fire for direct body refinement, Shen Jiu slapped the table: “Worthy of Grand Senior Sister, that’s so satisfying!”
When she mentioned obtaining two lamps of Ice Vine Jade Essence for another round of body refinement, Shen Jiu habitually slapped the table, but suddenly froze, his mouth twitching: “Grand Senior Sister, you… You are simply sick!”
The others were also speechless.
The “Human Vessel” body refinement method—first cauldron cooking meat, second requiring fierce fire to burn bones, third needing jade essence to nourish organs…
This was indeed an insanely vicious cultivation method that treated people as “vessels”!
How many people in all of Yashan were as sick as Grand Senior Sister?
Thinking about it, everyone couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat.
Jian Chou didn’t mind much, at most feeling a bit happy.
After all, she had now reached the third layer.
Moreover, at the end, she had been tempered by lightning throughout her body. She wondered if this would affect her cultivation of the “Human Vessel” method.
As Jian Chou recounted everything, everyone’s expressions became heavy or strange.
When discussing Gu Qingmei’s final fate, she couldn’t help but reach out and poke Dijiang Guyu, saying: “Throughout this journey, I opposed this person, but it was all incidental, never to the point of life-and-death combat. Her strikes were vicious and decisive, quite different from the Wu Duan I had seen before. In the end, she failed, and I took this Dijiang Guyu instead. Perhaps this is karmic retribution?”
“Karmic retribution…” Fudao Shanren stroked his chin, curling his lip with some disdain, only saying: “Kunwu has great wealth and power, and their sect is large. Occasionally, producing a few scoundrels is common. They’re arrogant too often—you get used to it. In this old man’s opinion, they were all originally good seedlings, but entering Kunwu turned them into crooked melons and cracked dates. Who knows if Kunwu needs a good cleaning?”
This statement was…
Somewhat strange.
Jian Chou couldn’t help but look up at him.
Fudao Shanren quickly laughed it off, waving his hand: “Since this Gu Qingmei got her just deserts, you’ve vented half your anger, my disciple. Hehe, as for the remaining half…”
“What about the remaining half?”
Jian Chou was curious.
Fudao Shanren smugly winked: “Isn’t this simple? You already know about the Left Three Thousand Minor Assembly, right? Among the young talents of the three thousand sects in the Central Domain, almost all will participate in this minor competition to select the best among peers. Now that you’re at late-stage Foundation Establishment, going to the Left Three Thousand Minor Assembly to make your mark—wouldn’t that vent your anger? Speaking of which, that little girl still doesn’t know her opponent is you. Hahahaha…”
Thinking about it this way, Fudao Shanren was secretly delighted.
Gu Pingsheng’s only daughter from Kunwu cheated so miserably! A trip to the Bloodred Small Realm, not only gaining nothing, but getting injured too. That feeling was like dying without knowing who did it!
Miserable, miserable!
Utterly miserable!
Fudao Shanren was greatly comforted, laughing without dignity while pounding the table: “I can’t take it, I can’t take it. This old man wants these two years to pass quickly, to let Gu Qingmei know it was you. Hahahaha…”
Jian Chou’s mouth twitched: “Master… don’t you think that if news of my disciple’s disappearance spreads, the other party would guess it was me?”
“Ah, yes.” Fudao Shanren immediately sobered up, quickly slapping his forehead. He still wanted little Jian Chou to hide for a while, using these two years to cultivate properly before slapping those Kunwu people. “Now, what should we do?”
Shen Jiu, who had been listening for a long time, helplessly pulled at his mouth: “We all said Grand Senior Sister went out for cultivation training. Except for a few people, who knows Grand Senior Sister left? If we all keep quiet, isn’t that fine?”
Jian Chou’s sudden disappearance was indeed strange and puzzling. Since her life token hadn’t broken, proving there was no great danger, and no other disciples had subsequently disappeared, Sect Leader Zheng Yao chose to conceal this news, only saying Jian Chou had gone out for cultivation training. Not many people knew the truth.
At least, the news that spread was that Yashan’s Grand Senior Sister had gone out for cultivation training.
In Shijiu Zhou, “going out for cultivation training” was as simple as eating and drinking. Few people would pay attention to such news, which shouldn’t attract anyone’s notice.
Therefore, Jian Chou and Fudao Shanren’s worries weren’t really necessary.
With Shen Jiu’s explanation, Jian Chou understood.
She laughed inexplicably: “So calculated, it’ll be a long time before she finds out…”
Or perhaps, even standing before her, the other party wouldn’t recognize her?
This feeling of secretly being the bad guy…
Had an inexplicably refreshing sensation.
“Let’s not talk about Gu Qingmei for now. It’s still early anyway, we’ll all pretend not to know.” Fudao Shanren directly dismissed this matter with one sentence, then immediately asked: “I say, after talking so much, aren’t you forgetting something important?”
“Is there more?”
Except for Zhang Tang’s matter and what she saw in the illusion that wasn’t convenient to mention now, everything else had basically been explained clearly.
Jian Chou looked at Fudao Shanren with some confusion.
Fudao Shanren rolled his eyes: “The Bloodred Small Realm you went to was my Luye Laozu’s Bloodred Small Realm! Didn’t you see anything else?!”
“…”
The old witch’s Bloodred Small Realm…
Jian Chou really couldn’t remember, tentatively opening her mouth: “Master, could you be more specific?”
“…”
This stupid disciple was going to anger him to death!
Fudao Shanren bit into his chicken leg, angrily saying: “Don’t you know about Luye Laozu? She’s an old witch, but a very gourmand old witch! Since that pot cooked Dijiang, didn’t you bring back two sips of soup for Master?!!”
“…”
Could he be any more reliable?
When she went, there was no soup left!
Jian Chou didn’t know what to say anymore, simply pointing at Dijiang Guyu: “No meat, no soup left, just this bone.”
Dijiang Guyu immediately shrank, as if frightened.
Fudao Shanren looked over, seeing this white bone with not a trace of meat…
If his old teeth tried to gnaw this bone…
Fudao Shanren couldn’t help but touch his cheek, quickly shaking his head. He was about to speak disdainfully about Jian Chou’s bone when the next moment, his eyes immediately widened!
“There’s a remnant soul?!”
“Really?”
Jian Chou had roughly mentioned the relevant situation before but wasn’t certain if there was a remnant soul inside. So when she heard Fudao Shanren’s words, she was secretly shocked.
Everyone exchanged glances—
Dijiang’s remnant soul?
What did this mean?
A voice came from outside: “Master Uncle, Elder Pang from Longmen Sect has come to visit Yashan with his disciple Zhou Chenjiang, saying he wants to see you. The Sect Leader asks you to go to Lanyue Hall…”
Before the voice outside finished, Fudao Shanren inside had already reached forward and grabbed Dijiang Guyu.
At the same time, he impatiently interrupted the voice outside: “Stop that chattering nonsense! What does Longmen amount to? Let them wait! This old man will see them when he’s free!”
“…”
Silence outside, as if not daring to speak again.
Hearing this, Jian Chou glanced at Fudao Shanren’s actions and asked: “Zhou Chenjiang?”
Fudao Shanren seemed not to hear, concentrating on the small Dijiang Guyu in his hand. His eyes narrowed, and ghostly blue light emerged from his pupils, as if trying to see through what was hidden inside this bone.
A white body, short and squat—indeed just a small piece of bone from Dijiang’s body, transformed into bone jade over the years.
Fudao Shanren’s gaze became increasingly strange.
Shen Jiu glanced over, knowing Master had begun researching something, so he actively answered Jian Chou’s earlier question: “Longmen is also a famous sect in our Central Domain. Zhou Chenjiang is a disciple of Elder Pang from Longmen. He was previously the first among Foundation Establishment cultivators on the Nine Heavens Tablet, until defeated by that surnamed Xie from Kunwu. Have you heard of him, Grand Senior Sister?”
“I’ve heard of him.”
Just that once.
Jian Chou’s expression changed slightly.
When she first saw the Nine Heavens Tablet, she had heard this name.
Originally, the first name on the second tablet of the Nine Heavens Tablet was Zhou Chenjiang, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Later, he was defeated by Xie Buchen, who had only been in Foundation Establishment for thirteen days, and his name disappeared from the Nine Heavens Tablet. From then on, only “Xie Buchen” remained on the tablet, no more “Zhou Chenjiang.”
Longmen, Zhou Chenjiang.
Someone who had been defeated by Xie Buchen and left his name on the Nine Heavens Tablet.
Jian Chou thought about this, suppressing her inexplicable thoughts, and looked at Fudao Shanren: “Master, did you discover anything?”
“Hehe…”
Fudao Shanren’s eyes were as bright as they could possibly be.
He shook the Dijiang Guyu in his hand: “This Dijiang Guyu itself, after staying in that Bloodred Small Realm for so many years, actually developed spiritual intelligence and became a bone spirit. There’s still a drop of Dijiang bone marrow in this bone—that’s good stuff. Jian Chou girl, you really struck it rich this time!”
Bone marrow?
A bone that had been sitting for so many years still had that?
Jian Chou couldn’t help but be surprised: “Can it be extracted?”
“Of course, though it’s a bit troublesome.”
Fudao Shanren smiled proudly. Thinking about Jian Chou’s adventures from beginning to end, he felt an indescribable satisfaction, even happier than if he had obtained the treasure himself.
As he spoke, he reached into his sleeve, feeling around left and right, muttering: “Let this old man see where I put it, where did I put it… Found it!”
His eyes lit up as Fudao Shanren shouted, then withdrew his hand and opened his palm!
Everyone looked closely and immediately exclaimed “Eh!”
Lying in Fudao Shanren’s thin, dry palm was actually a fine black brush. Each hair was disheveled, and the entire brush handle was worn and mottled, looking no different from junk.
You fumbled around for so long just to pull out this thing?
Everyone was speechless.
Jian Chou also looked for a long time, then at Dijiang Guyu, which was being held by Fudao Shanren and writhing uneasily.
“Master, what is this?”
“I know you all look down on this brush, hmph.” Fudao Shanren directly licked the brush tip with his tongue, instantly earning a bunch of eye-rolls. He didn’t mind at all, and seeing the brush tip had smoothed out, he immediately smiled with great pride: “Young people are always easily deceived by what they see. This thing was robbed by your old man from Hengxu back in the day. You won’t find a second one in all of Shijiu Zhou.”
“…”
Everyone reserved their comments.
Shen Jiu silently stepped back, and little fatty Jianghe directly covered his forehead.
Kou Qianzhi wordlessly looked at Grand Senior Sister Jian Chou, who stood closest to Master, feeling sympathetic.
Chen Weishan interjected: “What’s Master taking this out for? Can it extract the bone marrow from Dijiang Guyu?”
“Of course not.”
Fudao Shanren answered his question without hesitation, simply handing the brush to Jian Chou: “Come, draw eyes, nose, and mouth on it.”
“Draw?”
Jian Chou looked at the brush forcibly stuffed into her hands. The brush tip was sticky, truly speechless.
Fudao Shanren was impatient, already somewhat eager, placing Dijiang Guyu on the table: “Don’t worry, don’t worry. I won’t harm this little bone. It’s just to extract the bone marrow. It’s only a bone spirit—having this drop of Dijiang bone marrow is good for it. Just draw on it first, then I’ll explain.”
“Alright…”
Jian Chou looked at Fudao Shanren’s excited expression, hesitated, then stepped forward.
This brush had no patterns whatsoever, looking utterly ordinary, disgusting in its shabbiness…
All because of Fudao Shanren’s saliva.
Using this saliva to draw on Dijiang Guyu?
Jian Chou looked, and Dijiang Guyu seemed to sense danger, pulling up its two legs to run.
However…
It ultimately couldn’t escape.
Jian Chou moved quickly, reaching out to hold down Dijiang Guyu. Silently apologizing, she directly touched the brush to it and began drawing on its body.
“Wu wah wah wah…”
Loud crying immediately emanated from within its body.
Jian Chou drew one eyebrow, two eyebrows, one eye, two eyes, a small nose, a small mouth…
“Finished.”
She put down the brush, seeing wet traces on Dijiang Guyu’s body.
Dijiang Guyu continued crying nonstop, as if knowing what treatment it was receiving.
However, at the very moment Jian Chou put down the brush—
Flash!
Golden light suddenly emerged from where Jian Chou had drawn!
Dijiang Guyu seemed to sense some change too, immediately stopping its crying.
Everyone widened their eyes, watching this strange scene.
Fudao Shanren stroked his chin, chuckling proudly.
“How’s that? Impressive, right?”
“…”
No one answered. Everyone was shocked by this scene.
Where Jian Chou had drawn each stroke actually emitted golden light, line by line, stroke by stroke!
The front of Dijiang Guyu’s body was immediately covered in brilliance.
Flash!
After the golden light, an eyebrow appeared!
Flash!
The second eyebrow appeared.
Then came two big eyes, a small nose, and a round mouth.
Jian Chou held the brush, staring blankly.
What kind of technique was this…
It actually made Dijiang Guyu grow eyes, mouth, and nose directly!
Dijiang Guyu itself seemed to find it quite novel too, moving its eyebrows, blinking its eyes, wrinkling its nose, then opening and closing its mouth, making a peculiar expression.
Shen Jiu stared intensely at the brush in Jian Chou’s hand: “Could this be the legendary Eye-Dotting Brush?!”
“Swish!”
Fudao Shanren snatched away the brush that had become everyone’s focus, quickly putting it back in his sleeve, snorting: “Now you’ve learned something, haven’t you? How dare you look down on it! You can’t even look at it one more time!”
“…”
Shen Jiu, who was about to trick this Eye-Dotting Brush to play with, was immediately speechless.
Jian Chou was still looking at Dijiang Guyu.
Dijiang Guyu opened its mouth, making “yi yi ya ya” sounds, then said “Eye-Dotting Brush, Eye-Dotting Brush.”
Miraculous skill…
The others hadn’t recovered yet.
But…
Everyone stared at Dijiang Guyu’s features, feeling something was wrong…
Dummy Chen Weishan tilted his head: “Are its left and right eyes one big and one small?”
“Seems a bit…”
More than a bit—clearly very much so!
Jianghe couldn’t bear to say it.
Dijiang Guyu, still learning to speak, suddenly stopped and turned to look at everyone.
Those grape-like black eyes drawn on its white body blinked, then its mouth drooped. As if understanding what they meant, it closed its eyes, threw back its head, and burst into tears!
“Wah wu wu wu wu…”
Fudao Shanren immediately pointed at Jian Chou with heartbreak: “Look what you’ve done! Look what you’ve done! A perfectly good face ruined by your drawing! Too ugly, too ugly!”
“…”
Jian Chou stared at Dijiang Guyu’s misshapen face for a long time, stammering: “Can… can I draw another one?”
“Wah wu wu wu wu…”
Dijiang Guyu was still crying.
Fudao Shanren shook his head: “You can only draw once.”
“Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Jian Chou really felt like fainting, tormented by this crybaby Dijiang Guyu until her head was splitting!
“I forgot…” Fudao Shanren felt guilty for a moment, then immediately added: “You didn’t ask either. Besides, it looks quite nice like this…”
“Wah wu wu wu wu…”
Dijiang Guyu cried even harder.
“Ji ji ji ji…”
The small marten laughed so hard it rolled around, extremely exaggerated.
Simply a comedy show.
Jian Chou knew her drawing skills were poor. Looking at Dijiang Guyu’s crude features, especially the one big and one small eye, she felt a surge of guilt and didn’t know what to do.
She wanted to speak and comfort it, but feared that Dijiang Guyu, now having a mouth, would spit at her.
Really…
Such a dilemma.
The great hall was in complete chaos.
On Lingzhao Peak.
Rumble rumble…
As if some enormous stone was rolling down from the top of Yashan!
Then, a burst of exclamations suddenly rang out!
“Good heavens!”
“Look at that!”
“So impressive!”
“Who is that?!”
…
A great commotion.
In the great hall, Jian Chou, still troubled, was immediately drawn to this, and even Dijiang Guyu stopped crying mid-sob, blinking and looking outside.
“What’s happening?”
Shen Jiu glanced outside, only seeing countless figures.
Fudao Shanren, standing in the outermost position, could see most clearly. He immediately frowned and walked outside.
The disciple who had come to deliver the message earlier hadn’t dared leave yet. Seeing Fudao Shanren emerge, he looked like he’d seen a savior: “Master Uncle!”
“What’s all this commotion outside?”
Fudao Shanren saw many people on Lingzhao Peak had stopped and were looking toward somewhere below the cliff wall. About a hundred zhang to the left of the great hall entrance stood a man in dark martial attire, both hands raised high, actually supporting a boulder as big as a small house! At least ten thousand catties! Many people around were watching with shocked expressions.
That disciple wiped cold sweat from his forehead: “Just now, a stone somehow fell from the mountaintop. Just as it was about to crash onto Lingzhao Peak, this person from Longmen caught it.”
Longmen?
“Zhou Chenjiang?”
Fudao Shanren slowly narrowed his eyes, looking up toward the high peak of Yashan, immediately seeing something and sighing.
Jian Chou walked out and stood beside Fudao Shanren, just hearing this name.
She paused momentarily, then looked up.
Speaking of which…
She was also at late-stage Foundation Establishment now.