At the same time, countless cultivators of Mingri Xinghai also opened the Zhilin Sou Daily as usual. Thus, those voices of uncertainty and alarm immediately echoed in every corner of Xinghai:

“Zuoliu?”

“Is this person very important?”

“Heaven, it couldn’t be that Zuoliu, could it?”

“Is this real or fake?”

“Haha, White Silver Tower is probably going to have some excitement to watch again.”

“Zhilin Sou’s information is indeed the most well-informed. Sigh, are you going to White Silver Tower in a few days?”

…

Things had finally developed in the worst possible direction.

Jian Chou looked at the folded paper in her hands, her eyes filled with gravity and coldness, as if a layer of dark clouds had covered over and pressed down on her heart.

It really was Zuoliu…

Zhilin Sou’s information was famously renowned throughout Shijiu Zhou, and now it had appeared in this form on the jade tablet, so it must be confirmed.

“White Silver Tower…”

She had already learned some about the situation with the Night Sailing Ship from the many-treasured Daoist Zhou Jun, but regarding the White Silver Tower mentioned in the tablet, Jian Chou still only had a vague understanding.

Her brows tightened as she continued to flip through the jade tablet, trying to obtain more useful information from it.

But…

“The young master Jin Zun of the southwestern aristocratic Xin family has mysteriously disappeared, whereabouts unknown…”

“The master of the Hero’s Tomb in the southeastern wilderness, Yong Zhou, suffered a regrettable defeat in battle against the new Grand Marshal of Tongguan Station, Shen Yao!”

“Yesterday, mysterious tribulation clouds suddenly appeared over the Eastern Sea of Mingri Xinghai, suspected to be a mysterious Nascent Soul stage cultivator undergoing tribulation. The identity is currently unknown.”

“The romantic noble Young Master Dantai Xiu candidly faces female cultivators’ confessions: embarrassed yet enjoying it…”

…

In a word: complete chaos.

After that line “Thunder news, Xinghai in shock,” there wasn’t even half a word of additional news, making Jian Chou almost doubt whether she had misread earlier.

But when she flipped back, the news about Zuoliu was still written there clearly.

“How could this be?”

Since this piece of news was marked in the most prominent position, following Zhilin Sou’s habit of wishing the whole world would pay attention to him, how could there be no related news afterward?

Jian Chou immediately felt that this matter might not be so simple.

She stood in the room, contemplating for a moment, then simply put away the tablet, tucked it into her sleeve, and was about to return it to her Qiankun Bag.

But just as the Qiankun Bag opened, a gray-white stone actually flew out from the bag!

Neither square nor round, very irregular in shape.

It seemed like just the most ordinary stone that could be picked up anywhere on the road, among the mountains.

But at this moment, Jian Chou was extremely surprised: “What is this?”

Her Qiankun Bag was naturally the one given by Fudao Shanren back then.

From Yashan to the Western Sea, to the Red Slaughter Small Realm, to Black Wind Cave, to the Zuo Three Thousand Small Meeting, then to the Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm, then to the Extreme Domain…

The things in the bag were varied and countless; Jian Chou was very clear about them all.

Only…

How could she not remember having such a stone?

“Stone…”

Ever since experiencing that ordeal in the Extreme Domain, her feelings toward stones had become rather unusual. At this moment, suddenly seeing this thing that appeared out of nowhere naturally triggered some deep memories in her heart.

Jian Chou reached out, wanting to grasp this stone floating in mid-air.

But just as her fingertips touched the stone, the entire small stone seemed to sense her touch and emitted a layer of pale, lustrous white light.

A line of neat seal characters glowing with the same light subsequently appeared before Jian Chou.

“One meeting in the Extreme Domain, heaven’s mercy and compassion.”

“Since Friend Jian Chou has returned to Shijiu Zhou, please fulfill the old promise: beneath Qingfeng Monastery, please investigate the Hidden Realm, repair the array to restore it, break its restrictions, connect heaven and earth, and release all living beings.”

“In the City of Wrongful Deaths, Immortal Wuzhong gives thanks.”

“…Immortal Wuzhong…”

Jian Chou immediately froze, as scenes from the broken alleys in the City of Wrongful Deaths flashed through her mind.

She still remembered that when Immortal Wuzhong accepted her request and separated her body and soul, he had proposed a condition but hadn’t specified it clearly.

He had only said, “When your body and soul merge, you will naturally know.”

But when Jian Chou’s body and soul merged, she happened to be in the midst of bitter battle, and afterward was quickly swept into the chaotic flow, drifting in unknown places for sixty years…

Not until today did she reopen her Qiankun Bag and see this extra stone.

This must be what Immortal Wuzhong had asked her to do.

“Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm?”

The light on the lines of text before her eyes had already begun to dim gradually in this brief moment, about to disappear, but Jian Chou’s gaze fell on those characters, finding them completely puzzling.

“What relationship could Immortal Wuzhong have with Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm?”

One was a mysterious great cultivator from the City of Wrongful Deaths in the Extreme Domain, the other was the Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm left behind by Buyu Shangren at the junction of ancient and modern times…

Wait, Buyu Shangren?!

In this instant, Jian Chou’s heart suddenly jumped, and a terrible yet extremely reasonable thought slowly emerged…

Shijiu Zhou legend said that Buyu Shangren had achieved the Dao and ascended. But she had seen a preserved corpse at the end of that row of statues in Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm, and had also seen the writing left beside the statue.

That heart demon that appeared earlier and earlier as Buyu Shangren’s cultivation advanced.

At that time, she had harbored a very bold speculation in her heart, though she had never spoken it aloud: if the corpse in that statue was really Buyu Shangren himself, then who was it that ascended?

Connecting this to the table full of stones and stone carvings in the old alley of the City of Wrongful Deaths, and now this request about “Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm.”

Everything was connected!

Buyu Shangren was a cultivator from the junction of ancient and modern times, and when he ascended, the “Yin-Yang Realm War” between Shijiu Zhou and the Extreme Domain had not yet occurred.

So even if he had some accident, his soul should have entered the Extreme Domain!

With this thought, the answer seemed ready to emerge!

Jian Chou was tremendously shocked, feeling as if she had taken a sharp intake of cold air. Even after the flickering text before her eyes disappeared, she still felt somewhat dazed.

“Click.”

The stone, its light faded, fell to the ground and turned into a pile of gray-white powder.

Only then did Jian Chou blink and come back to her senses: “Speculation is just speculation after all; how things really are is still hard to say…”

Fortunately, Immortal Wuzhong’s request had finally appeared.

Although…

She didn’t know if she would be in time.

The array of Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm was already crumbling. The last time she went to the Hidden Realm was sixty years ago. Immortal Wuzhong probably hadn’t expected her to drift in the chaotic flow for so long.

She wondered…

What state the array was in now, and what circumstances the many spiritual beasts in the realm faced.

With this thought, Jian Chou immediately sighed, feeling that there were really quite a few things she needed to do. She very much wanted to immediately go to the Hidden Realm to check the situation, but at present, there was still the matter of Zuoliu…

She’d better take things one at a time.

Jian Chou thought for a moment and quickly gathered all her thoughts together.

Regarding this matter of Immortal Wuzhong, for her current situation, it could only be considered a small interlude for now. The urgent priority was still to go out and gather information about the Night Sailing Ship.

“Whoosh.”

She raised her sleeve, bringing up a gentle breeze. In the blink of an eye, she had swept away all traces of the gray-white powder on the ground, while her figure had already disappeared from the room.

When leaving, as when arriving, she took a boat, but this time Jian Chou didn’t encounter anyone on the way. However, when the small boat docked at the pier, the child who received visitors had changed.

Jian Chou didn’t pay attention and went directly out of the inn.

Mingri Xinghai was vast, with many town settlements.

But the most prosperous ones were all along the banks of the Lan River that ran through Xinghai. The one where Jian Chou currently was located was the largest of these, called “Shattered Immortal City.”

The place with the most complex information in the city was the “Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower.”

Every day there were storytelling masters here who discussed various news both old and new, scandals and interesting stories.

Xinghai itself gathered quite a few desperate outlaws who could live today without knowing when they might die, so they both needed some entertainment and well-informed news, making the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower the best place.

Over time, this place had also developed some information trading.

Having already read the jade tablet, Jian Chou naturally wouldn’t miss such a place.

After leaving the inn, her goal was very clear—the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower.

After leaving the Tiandi Reverse Journey Inn, she headed east.

Soon, the surrounding quietude was replaced by bustling liveliness. Before long, a tall building painted in black and white appeared in Jian Chou’s field of vision.

It was indeed the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower.

The five-story building had wind chimes decorated with the “metal, wood, water, fire, earth” Five Elements patterns hanging from the upturned eaves, while the surrounding ground was laid out with the famous Eight Trigrams array diagrams of the Yin-Yang schools.

From time to time, light would flash across the array diagrams, creating quite an impressive appearance.

At the main entrance crouched two stone carvings of pixiu with open mouths, black on the left and white on the right.

Most cultivators would throw two spirit stones into the mouth of the right white pixiu before entering, while only very few cultivators would throw five spirit stones into the mouth of the left black pixiu.

This was a kind of “choice.”

The white pixiu represented the main hall.

That is, cultivators who came here to listen to ordinary news and wouldn’t go upstairs for further information trading.

The black pixiu represented upstairs.

Those who chose this could both listen to news downstairs and choose to go upstairs for deeper information trading, buying or selling.

Jian Chou’s spirit stones were naturally quite abundant compared to most cultivators.

So she directly threw five spirit stones into the mouth of the left black pixiu. A point of spiritual light immediately lit up, and a small black pixiu mark appeared in the center of Jian Chou’s palm: this was the credential for going upstairs later.

Jian Chou was very clear about this.

She wasn’t surprised and, glancing at it, followed the few cultivators walking in front of her into the building. But she hadn’t expected that just stepping over the threshold would feel like entering another world.

“Boom!”

The deafening clamor seemed like it would burst people’s eardrums and overturn this five-story building!

“Night Sailing Ship, Night Sailing Ship, how shameless!”

“Haha, without sect or faction, aren’t they just there to be bullied?”

“Hey, storyteller, can you do it or not!”

“That stinking fool Zhilin Sou just released a piece of news and won’t even let out a fart afterward. Is he afraid of the Night Sailing Ship?”

“Bah, nonsense!”

“What random garbage, just a cultivator without sect or faction, and it’s supposed to shock Xinghai? There’s something wrong!”

…

The main hall on the first floor of the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower was already completely packed without a single seat available. Many cultivators had found places to stand, talking with people around them, whether they knew them or not.

At the front was a platform raised three feet above the ground, with a Golden Core middle-stage old man standing on it.

White hair, white beard, dressed in a long robe according to the style of storytellers from mortal islands.

But at this moment, there wasn’t a trace of the carefree spirit of storytellers who could “tell all under heaven with one mouth.” Instead, his face was full of anxiety, frequently raising his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

Seeing the audience below cursing and swearing, he didn’t dare interrupt even half a sentence.

Jian Chou had naturally never seen such a scene before. After entering and seeing this, she was naturally startled.

She listened for quite a while before understanding that the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower was probably only this lively today. The reason was naturally today’s Zhilin Sou Daily.

According to everyone’s words:

Zhilin Sou, that old bastard, put something out there, told you it was explosive news, then just walked away. Simply shameless to the extreme, utterly disgraceful!

But everyone also knew that Zhilin Sou was generally not someone who spoke without basis.

Moreover, this matter was connected to the Night Sailing Ship, which was currently in the limelight in Xinghai, so naturally quite a few people had their curiosity piqued and came to the Eight Trigrams Tower to see if there was any deeper information.

Who would have thought that today the storyteller at the Eight Trigrams Tower would actually go talk about Dantai Xiu’s romantic history!

The cultivators really rolled their eyes countless times, almost ready to conjure rotten cabbages to throw at him: who the hell wants to hear about the romantic history of a piece of trash like Dantai Xiu who’s been ridden by thousands and mounted by ten thousand!

“Hurry up and talk about something else!”

“Isn’t your Eight Trigrams Tower’s information also very well-informed? Just talk about today’s biggest news!”

“Right, am I ignorant? That Zuoliu, how come I’ve never heard of him?”

“What’s so remarkable about the Night Sailing Ship catching this person?”

…

Countless cultivators were jeering below.

The storyteller felt he had grievances but couldn’t voice them. Being pressed by everyone, he had no choice but to awkwardly speak: “Fellow immortals, fellow seniors, regarding this news, I indeed don’t know much more. At most I know this Zuoliu’s identity and the importance of this matter, but as for more…”

“Then just talk about that!”

“Right, talk about it. How could this matter shake Xinghai?”

Suggestions immediately arose from below.

But right after, some puzzled voices arose: “Is this Zuoliu the legendary Zuoliu who disappeared from Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm?”

“You’ve got it right!”

The storyteller had sharp ears and heard it immediately, quickly raising his voice to pick up the thread.

“The Zuoliu that the Night Sailing Ship caught yesterday is indeed the Zuoliu who mysteriously disappeared in Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm sixty years ago. This person was without sect or faction, his cultivation was also mediocre, and he wasn’t a standout figure in the Zuo Three Thousand Small Meeting, so it’s normal that you don’t remember or overlooked him.”

The hall below immediately quieted down somewhat.

Jian Chou crossed her arms and stood listening in the corner by a snow-white pillar in the main hall. At this moment, she slightly raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything, just continued listening.

“Everyone should know about the incident at Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm.”

“Three people were involved in that incident: first, the Kunwu genius Xie Buchen; second, the Yashan eldest senior sister Jian Chou; and third, the faction-less Zuoliu. Among them, both Yashan eldest senior sister Jian Chou and this Zuoliu disappeared.”

“But because Kunwu and Yashan are powerful, when we mention this incident we generally only mention the first two, rarely bringing up the third, Zuoliu.”

This was human nature.

The storyteller obviously understood the situation of the recent sixty years very well. Seeing that everyone was starting to listen, he became more eloquent. After introducing Zuoliu’s situation to everyone and even praising him a few times, he began analyzing the implications.

“The fact that the Night Sailing Ship has now caught Zuoliu is actually not a small matter.”

“Think about it, everyone. We don’t pay attention to Zuoliu, but can Yashan, which lost its eldest senior sister, not pay attention? After all, they were both in the Hidden Realm; there’s no guarantee this Zuoliu doesn’t know something!”

“What is this?”

“This could be about the whereabouts of Yashan’s eldest senior sister, this could involve the truth about the Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm incident!”

The relationship between Kunwu and Yashan had been quite delicate these past years.

Add to that the fact that the genius disciple Xie Buchen hadn’t even had half a bit of news—saying he was dead or alive was both wrong—and what exactly happened in the Hidden Realm was even more a matter of various conflicting accounts.

Everyone had indeed almost never paid attention to Zuoliu before.

But now, with the storyteller’s reminder, the stakes involved became immediately clear in everyone’s minds.

Excellent!

For a moment, quite a few busybodies felt their hearts shake, almost wanting to slap their thighs and shout: “What a great drama!”

“I understand now!”

“Oh my goodness, this is going to be big trouble! That Zuoliu, if he doesn’t know anything, that’s one thing, but if he really knows something… hehe!”

“The Night Sailing Ship really dares to do this! Haha, this involves Kunwu and Yashan!”

“Our Mingri Xinghai is finally going to have some excitement!”

Heaven knows what Zuoliu actually knows!

If he spits out some “secrets,” with the already somewhat delicate relationship between Kunwu and Yashan, might they start fighting because of this?

“Three days later at the White Silver Tower auction, haha, I must go watch!”

“Yes, it’s definitely going to be a good show!”

“Wonder what kind of auction rules the White Silver Tower will use this time…”

…

Below was another seething crowd.

Jian Chou looked around at the unfamiliar but excited faces in the crowd, all seeming to be anticipating along with them. But her heart held only gravity.

Mingri Xinghai itself wasn’t Yashan or Kunwu’s territory.

Because there had first been the mighty Luye Laozu who dominated Shijiu Zhou, followed by the murderous Buyu Shangren, various forces throughout Shijiu Zhou had tacitly accepted its existence and status, so few forces established themselves here.

Even now, only Southern Domain forces were relatively active in this area.

A place where dragons and snakes mixed, who knew how many people harbored ulterior motives.

Moreover…

In an instant, she had already thought of Wang Que: why was this true disciple of Kunwu’s Hengxu Zhenren lingering here?

The more she thought about it, the more complex the situation became.

Jian Chou stood and listened for a while longer. Everyone had already begun speculating about what would happen if Kunwu and Yashan turned against each other, but there wasn’t much more useful information about Zuoliu being captured.

After brief consideration, she walked toward the small teleportation arrays decorated with black lines in the corner, directly teleporting to the second floor.

All the noisy sounds from downstairs immediately vanished.

What appeared before Jian Chou was actually a row of wooden counters very similar to those in pawn shops, with a cultivator seated inside each. Outside were several cultivators, some talking with the people inside but making no sound, others waiting quietly.

As soon as Jian Chou walked over, a female cultivator with a slender waist gracefully approached.

She was a female cultivator responsible for receiving guests at the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower, naturally blessed with good looks and considerable insight. Before reaching Jian Chou, she had already sized her up.

Very good appearance.

But her dress and manner seemed somewhat “carefree” for a female cultivator; her eyes were peaceful and calm, faintly giving people a strange sense of wisdom, and when the dim light flowed in them, it would make people feel she was not to be trifled with.

And this cultivation level…

The female cultivator responsible for reception glanced and immediately felt her eyelids jump: a Golden Core late-stage cultivator like herself couldn’t see through her cultivation, which naturally meant Nascent Soul stage or above.

In Mingri Xinghai, this level was already quite formidable.

“Senior, what kind of information do you need?”

The female cultivator’s thoughts turned, and she had already reached Jian Chou’s side, wearing a full smile and asking softly.

Jian Chou’s gaze swept over those counters and fell back on the female cultivator. She casually asked: “Is there anything related to the Night Sailing Ship capturing Zuoliu?”

“This is naturally available. Today, out of ten guests who come, seven will ask about this matter. Please come this way.”

The female cultivator smiled upon hearing this and gestured to guide Jian Chou toward the leftmost counter.

“Because quite a few people have come to ask about this information, there are still several guests ahead of you. Please wait a moment.”

Jian Chou stopped and nodded.

There were indeed many people waiting in front of this counter decorated with Eight Trigrams patterns, and it could even be said to be the most crowded at the moment.

Not counting herself, there were still four others.

But as she glanced over, she discovered that among these four people, three were in the middle to late Golden Core stage and looked quite ordinary. Only the fourth one in line had a cultivation level that Jian Chou couldn’t quite see through!

He wore snow-white robes painted with light ink landscapes, immortal cranes, and ancient pines.

The person was only standing sideways to Jian Chou, but from his silhouette, one could tell he had very handsome features. Standing there, he gave off an impression of scholarly elegance.

Jian Chou couldn’t see through this person’s cultivation, but she vaguely felt the gap wasn’t particularly vast. So, middle Nascent Soul stage?

She formed a guess in her mind.

At the same time she noticed him, he also seemed to sense something and turned his head slightly, also glancing at her once, obviously also attracted by her cultivation level.

But this was, after all, an information hub, so encountering any kind of person was quite normal.

So aside from this, he had no further reaction.

Soon, the three people ahead had obtained the information they wanted and hurriedly left. Thus, this white-robed cultivator also stepped forward, exchanged a few words with the cultivator inside the counter, and received a jade slip.

When returning, he happened to brush past Jian Chou as she stepped forward.

Only at this moment did Jian Chou catch sight from the corner of her eye and suddenly notice: this cultivator’s left hand actually had only four fingers, with the little finger missing!

“Senior, all the information about the Night Sailing Ship and Zuoliu is here.”

The cultivator sitting inside the counter was also only at the late Golden Core stage. Seeing that Jian Chou had entered the soundproof array’s range, he proactively began introducing.

“According to different levels of detail, there are three price ranges: twenty spirit stones, fifty spirit stones, and one hundred spirit stones. Which type do you need?”

Three rows of jade slips were all hanging above the counter, emanating lustrous clear light.

Jian Chou came back to her senses, looked once, and was somewhat puzzled: “Different levels of detail?”

The cultivator selling information inside immediately smiled and explained: “The twenty-stone one only records the entire course of events; the fifty-stone one includes the specific rules and circumstances of the White Silver Tower auction in a few days; the hundred-stone one is interesting…”

At this point, he paused.

Jian Chou looked at him and slightly raised an eyebrow, indicating her interest.

So the cultivator didn’t keep her in suspense.

“The hundred-stone jade slip contains Zuoliu’s current detention location, plus seventy percent of the protective array diagrams for that location and the roster of cultivators taking turns on watch. This is essential for murder and robbery!”

By the end, his smile carried a hint of mischievous merchant flavor as he stared at Jian Chou, his face clearly written with the words: you look like someone about to do something big, are you buying or not?

Jian Chou immediately found this Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower quite interesting.

Essential for murder and robbery…

She had no choice but to buy it.

She also smiled and directly extended her hand, gently placing a middle-grade spirit stone in front of him without saying a word.

The cultivator’s eyes immediately brightened, squinting with laughter as he directly took one jade slip from the top row and handed it to Jian Chou with both hands: “Here, the information you wanted. I wish you success.”

However, unexpectedly, Jian Chou didn’t take it.

She extended her hand a second time and actually placed another middle-grade spirit stone on the counter: “I want to know, how many people bought the hundred spirit stone information?”

“…”

The cultivator’s eyelids immediately jumped, his gaze falling on this middle-grade spirit stone, looking somewhat troubled.

“Regarding the customers’ situations, this really is…”

“Clack.”

Another soft sound.

A third middle-grade spirit stone was placed down. Jian Chou still only asked: “How many people?”

“Seven!”

This time, all the difficulty was bullshit, thrown to Java long ago!

The cultivator answered directly without blushing, even collected the spirit stones Jian Chou gave him. He threw one into the mouth of the pixiu behind him—that was for the house—while the remaining two went into his own sleeve as private property.

After completing all this, he even smiled and added a few more sentences.

“Those concerned about this matter all came early. I expect there shouldn’t be too many more coming later.”

“Among the previous six, I know one—Senior Xue Wujiu, the Purple-Robed Sword Marquis beside His Majesty the Sword Emperor. The remaining five are like you, people I don’t recognize.”

“Three were late Golden Core stage, probably buying for people behind them; one early Nascent Soul stage was a bald monk; the last one was the one who just left, probably late Nascent Soul stage.”

Xue Wujiu?

A monk?

And that four-fingered male cultivator from just now?

After hearing this, Jian Chou felt this lineup was somewhat chaotic, but she had already judged in her heart that this matter would probably be quite complex.

She immediately thanked him, took the jade slip, didn’t ask more questions or linger, and directly left through the original teleportation array, exited the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower, returned to the inn, and carefully read the jade slip.

Worthy of being Mingri Xinghai’s most long-renowned information hub, the intelligence within the jade slip was detailed to an outrageous degree. Even the battle process of how the Night Sailing Ship captured Zuoliu was clear and detailed.

Only after reading did Jian Chou finally understand the whole story.

Originally, sixty years ago, strange phenomena suddenly appeared in the easternmost mountains of Mingri Xinghai.

Strange phenomena generally accompanied strange treasures.

The cultivators of Xinghai naturally went to investigate, only to discover that what appeared was the “Karmic Fire Red Lotus,” a once-in-a-millennium occurrence. But at that time it was still in bud form, not yet bloomed.

Everyone fought endlessly over this, killing each other.

But no one expected that half a month later, the red lotus bloomed for less than a moment before the entire lotus disappeared without a trace, apparently stolen by some small unknown Golden Core stage cultivator!

Thus this cultivator was pursued by everyone and had no choice but to hide in more dangerous jungles, never showing his face again.

Most cultivators were naturally at a loss.

Some sects and forces with insufficient strength gave up helplessly after waiting fruitlessly for two or three years. Only the newly emerged force, Night Sailing Ship, showed extreme patience, deploying cultivators to take turns guarding the surroundings.

This watch lasted nearly sixty years!

Perhaps in some sense it was “persistence pays off”—sixty years later, that unknown cultivator seemed to have finally finished his closed-door cultivation, even achieving Nascent Soul stage cultivation.

How could the Night Sailing Ship cultivators expect him to break through so quickly?

After he killed six late Golden Core cultivators in succession, several Nascent Soul stage cultivators finally came to pursue and intercept him, capturing him.

Only at this point did Night Sailing Ship seem to learn that this person was actually Zuoliu, who had originally disappeared in Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm!

Thus came the current situation.

“Karmic Fire Red Lotus…”

After reading this section, Jian Chou particularly noted this strange treasure’s existence, couldn’t help muttering once.

If she remembered correctly, back in Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm, before Lijun perished, he had divided the Karmic Fire Red Lotus from the pool into several parts and given them to several people.

Among them, what Zuoliu received was the lotus pod with lotus seeds.

Could this be related to the Karmic Fire Red Lotus that appeared in the far east of Xinghai?

Zuoliu had been in closed-door cultivation for sixty years and came out at Nascent Soul stage.

This advancement speed, plus the battle record of slaying six late Golden Core cultivators, was truly shocking for a cultivator of wild origins.

Even with various fortuitous encounters, though this might be related to the “Karmic Fire Red Lotus,” he was definitely a heaven-blessed genius.

“I hope he’ll be alright…”

This was already a quasi-Yashan disciple, absolutely good material. If he fell here, it would definitely be a great regret for both her and Yashan.

Jian Chou slowly furrowed her brows and looked further back.

Indeed, as the cultivator said when buying information, there were the White Silver Tower auction rules afterward:

First, the featured item would be auctioned with suspended pricing, highest bidder wins;

Second, the highest bidder must defeat three arena defenders arranged by Night Sailing Ship on the platform to finally obtain the goods. Helpers are allowed, but no more than three people can enter the arena.

Third, if unable to defeat them, the second-highest bidder enters the arena to challenge. After three attempts, regardless of result, the auction ends.

Special reminder: The three arena defenders arranged by Night Sailing Ship this time are all late Nascent Soul stage!

Where did this look like a suspended-price auction?

Seeing this, Jian Chou felt a chill run down her spine!

The current Zuoliu didn’t just hide secrets about the Qingfeng Monastery Hidden Realm incident as outsiders guessed. More importantly and directly, it was probably the location of that Karmic Fire Red Lotus…

Under the White Silver Tower’s rules, the suspended “price” would probably be terrifyingly high.

Moreover, if any force with intent to compete had prepared early and brought people to fight in the arena, their strength would also be incredibly formidable.

White Silver Tower auction in three days…

If she really waited until then to try rescuing Zuoliu through conventional means, heaven knows what accidents might happen!

Jian Chou’s wealth wasn’t thin, but compared to powerful forces, it was still a grade lower.

The lightning message to Yashan still hadn’t received a reply for some reason. Logically it shouldn’t be this way; there was probably some special matter that delayed them, or some other special reason.

This meant she couldn’t even find a helper right now.

Bidding?

Arena fighting?

These were all thorny matters. Without thinking, Jian Chou knew that “winning” here to rescue Zuoliu had minimal possibility.

So…

A subtle cold light flashed in her eyes. Looking at the jade slip lying in her palm, she immediately formed a judgment that was both rational and crazy—

She couldn’t wait!

The best method was to rescue Zuoliu before the White Silver Tower auction in three days. As long as they could escape to a teleportation array, there was an eighty percent chance of leaving Xinghai.

The question was how to rescue him.

“Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower is quite thoughtful…”

Wasn’t this jade slip worth a hundred spirit stones prepared exactly for her and others with the same idea?

With her mind made up, Jian Chou refocused her consciousness into the jade slip, reading about Zuoliu’s detention location and the various protective and guard arrays provided by Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower.

Undoubtedly, Zuoliu was currently imprisoned at Crow’s Crossing at the westernmost part of Shattered Immortal City—Night Sailing Ship’s lair.

As for these arrays…

They were indeed profound, but before Jian Chou, who had already studied the array insights of the old mansion owner in the City of Wrongful Deaths, they became much more comprehensible.

The surrounding sky quickly darkened. By nightfall, Jian Chou had finally finished reading.

She could be certain that if this series of array diagrams was genuine, she absolutely had complete confidence in passing through safely without alerting a single person from Night Sailing Ship!

Moreover, she also had “Riding the Wind” which could ignore most arrays…

Tonight happened to be moonless with pitch-black surroundings—wasn’t this a good opportunity to investigate Crow’s Crossing?

Jian Chou immediately had no more hesitation. Glancing out the window, she put away the jade slip, flew directly out, left the inn, and headed toward the location recorded in the jade slip.

Mingri Xinghai was a huge basin.

Above it, due to topographical reasons, there were perennial clouds and mist that never dispersed. During the day one might occasionally see blue sky, but wanting to see brilliant stars and moon at night was almost a pipe dream.

This night was the most ordinary night in Mingri Xinghai.

Jian Chou flew through the air all the way, her figure hidden in the thick clouds and mist, completely blurred.

After about two quarters of an hour, she heard the sound of rushing water from below and had already reached the vicinity of Lan River. So she focused her mind and immediately activated her Riding the Wind Dao Seal.

“Whoosh…”

A gentle breeze passed by, and Jian Chou’s figure in the clouds suddenly scattered and disappeared without a trace.

If anyone witnessed this scene, they would immediately be dumbfounded, suspecting Jian Chou had used teleportation or suddenly vanished into ash.

But Jian Chou herself was very clear that this was just “Riding the Wind.”

After entering Nascent Soul stage, she used this Dao Seal comprehended in Black Wind Cave with increasing proficiency. Her control over details had improved another level, allowing her to maintain the state of merging with wind for long periods, achieving the purpose of “stealth.”

At this moment, she hid herself in the gentle breezes by Lan River, passed through the thick cloud layers in the sky, and approached Crow’s Crossing below.

Several sizable docks were built in the river bay that receded into the east bank of Lan River.

On the nearby river surface, dozens of boats were crowded together, appearing as a dark mass at first glance.

Three li away on shore was a patch of deep black buildings, like a huge manor. The steps were built high, and above the main gate hung a ship-shaped blood-red plaque:

Night Sailing Ship!

This plaque alone already emanated a fierce aura.

Not to mention there were eight cultivators in black cloaks standing solemnly on both sides of the gate, their entire bodies shrouded in cloaks so their faces couldn’t be seen clearly.

Jian Chou glanced over and discovered they were all late Golden Core stage.

This realm definitely couldn’t stop masters, but as “gatekeepers,” it was absolutely a luxurious configuration.

Night Sailing Ship, which reportedly had the courage to challenge Qu Zhengfeng, probably really had some foundation.

Jian Chou secretly became more cautious. After observing from outside for a while, she discovered some traces of arrays that indeed matched what was shown in the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower jade slip, so the intelligence seemed fairly accurate.

After confirming once that there was no danger, she boldly entered through the main gate.

The eight late Golden Core cultivators guarding both sides naturally couldn’t see anything or detect any abnormality. After all, Jian Chou’s speed wasn’t fast; to ordinary perception, it was just normal breeze and airflow.

According to Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower’s information, Zuoliu was currently imprisoned in Night Sailing Ship’s dungeon. To reach that place, she would pass through twenty-one arrays.

Fourteen before the dungeon entrance, one at the dungeon entrance, and six inside the dungeon.

Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower’s “seventy percent” array diagrams ended at the dungeon entrance; the six inside were completely unknown.

But Jian Chou felt that given time, she should be able to break them one by one. Today she should at least reach the dungeon entrance to see the situation.

After entering the main gate, she observed all the way.

Using Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower’s related intelligence as reference, combined with her insights and understanding of arrays gained in the Extreme Domain, relying on having the Riding the Wind Dao Seal, she almost brazenly passed through the first fourteen arrays.

If any Night Sailing Ship cultivators knew, they’d probably die of anger!

Treating arrays as nothing!

Just half an hour later, Jian Chou had already safely stood behind a pillar in the deepest hall of Night Sailing Ship, carefully examining the surroundings.

This hall was the entrance to the dungeon.

A five-zhang-tall black stone statue stood in the hall, its form extremely terrifying. The elongated body was like a standing centipede, with countless densely packed legs on both sides, two antennae extending diagonally. In this darkness, it added several degrees of ghostly atmosphere.

There was an indescribable eeriness.

Not because it looked particularly frightening, but…

Jian Chou’s gaze wandered around this statue and finally discovered the source of her unease: this extremely centipede-like stone carving actually had no eyes.

Looking at the arrangement of its organs, it wasn’t that they forgot to carve them, but that there were none originally.

Whether in Shijiu Zhou or the Extreme Domain, she had never seen any book record such a strange thing, nor did she know what Night Sailing Ship meant by enshrining this statue in such a crucial location.

Her brows locked deeply. Jian Chou held a shadow of doubt in her heart and looked behind the statue.

Behind the stone statue was a deep red wall with some star-like indentations arranged on it, embedded with spirit stones. This was the entrance array to the dungeon.

This place was already Night Sailing Ship’s crucial forbidden area; without an array-opening token, entry was impossible.

So there were no guards around. The only patrol team had just passed by, and there was currently no one—showing Night Sailing Ship’s great confidence in this array.

Jian Chou didn’t take this array seriously.

When she had read Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower’s jade slip, she had already worked out three methods to open the array without a token. Entering would naturally be no problem.

It was just that the situation inside after entering would require taking a gamble.

Steadying her mind, Jian Chou carefully sensed the surroundings. After confirming no one was there, she was about to come out from behind the large pillar and step forward to break the array.

But unexpectedly, at that very instant, a hand suddenly shot out from behind the stone carving, pointing toward the wall!

Someone was there?!

Jian Chou, who had almost stepped forward, immediately broke out in cold sweat and nearly lost mental stability, almost falling out of her wind-riding state. Fortunately, she controlled herself in time, quickly stopped, and continued hiding behind the pillar, settling her mind to observe.

The owner of that hand seemed not to have noticed anything behind him.

His fingers flew as he began rapidly tapping the wall, so fast only afterimages remained. But Jian Chou clearly distinguished that this was someone’s left hand, and it had only four fingers!

Was it the cultivator she encountered at Five Elements Eight Trigrams Tower during the day?

She immediately formed a judgment.

This person’s cultivation was higher than hers. At this moment he was hiding behind the statue, so Jian Chou hadn’t detected his presence. But he also couldn’t discover Jian Chou, because she was hidden within the wind, almost merged with wind, becoming part of nature.

To precisely discover Jian Chou’s traces would probably require being a full major realm above her.

Jian Chou inevitably felt some relief, but her gaze never left the other party’s hand. She quickly recognized that the array-breaking technique the other party used coincided with one of the methods she had devised.

An instant later, that finger had tapped the first spirit stone on the left.

With a “hum” so faint it was almost inaudible.

Deep red light began flowing through the array on the back wall, quickly transforming into a blood-red void door that appeared on the wall surface, slowly opening.

Then, a somewhat blurred shadow behind the statue flashed and disappeared inside the door.

The cultivator had already entered.

The opened double doors immediately began slowly closing.

Jian Chou watched with furrowed brows. In moments, countless thoughts flashed through her mind, ultimately condensing into the phrase “mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.”

She still didn’t know the situation inside the dungeon.

With this cultivator going ahead, he might save considerable trouble. Moreover, when the other party entered, he showed no hesitation, seeming quite confident.

She would follow this gamble!

With a thought, the breeze arose.

Jian Chou directly came out from behind the pillar and actually squeezed through the narrow gap just as the void door was about to completely close!

“Hum.”

The next instant, the void door completely closed, and the array’s red light that had lit up on the wall also dimmed again, as if it had never appeared.

“Strange…”

In the empty hall, a low murmur suddenly arose.

Above the pillar where Jian Chou had previously hidden, on a thick crossbeam, a gray-robed cultivator crouched in concealment, one hand holding a sword planted on the beam, the other extended before his eyes, looking confused.

In such deep night, having a breeze seemed quite normal.

But just now, when the airflow passed through his fingers, he had a particularly strange feeling, as if the wind hid something. Especially that recent breeze, which faintly blew toward the array…

Was it fluctuation caused by the array closing?

Wang Que’s two diagonally flying long eyebrows slowly furrowed, but soon relaxed again.

“Since Bai Yin has also come, Yashan has already intervened. If someone really followed behind him with such concealed movement, it probably isn’t a Yashan disciple, much less one of our Kunwu cultivators…”

“Mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. I’ll also follow along.”

After thinking, Wang Que lightly flew down, his fingers tapping in succession, also opening the array.

Author’s Note:

*

Chapter 203 has been revised.

Long stories occasionally have timeline oversights. I didn’t pay attention to details about Buddhist northern migration before. Now it’s been corrected.

The northern migration time has been changed to after the Yin-Yang Realm War. The split began before the realm war, and events in the realm war intensified conflicts between the Chan and Esoteric factions, so they separated.

Buyu Shangren’s killing of the holy son Jiye occurred before the realm war.