Really, Jian Chou wanted to say she couldn’t stay composed.

But what could she do if she couldn’t stay composed?

Could she somehow drag Fu Chaosheng back after things had already happened and pretend nothing had occurred? What needed to be faced still had to be faced.

At this moment, her mind held no other thoughts except recalling the convoluted “Dao” and “technique” she had spoken of to Fu Chaosheng at dawn.

If she had known this was his “technique” earlier…

She might not have wanted to mention that word at all!

Though Fu Chaosheng had human form, he wasn’t human after all. He had stayed on that isolated island in the human world, but not for long, and most of the time he was a national advisor whose words the emperor had to obey. He neither had the inclination nor the necessity to think about what human “technique” really was.

He only knew: debts must be repaid, lives must be paid for with lives.

If he tore off someone’s arm, he should return an arm—it wasn’t complicated at all.

So he thought this way and acted this way.

Then, the situation’s development seemed different from what he had imagined.

Lu Song, who should have calmed down and stopped pursuing the matter, had his originally red face turn an even more frightening liver color and rushed forward to fight him. Most of the people around looked extremely dazed, as if they had witnessed something incredible. Even those from the demonic path were stunned. Only Qu Zhengfeng, after being stunned for a moment, suddenly burst into laughter.

The scene became quite chaotic.

Lu Song had never seen such a shameless person. Furious, he wanted to compete with Fu Chaosheng again, but others couldn’t really let them fight, so they all rushed forward to restrain him. For a moment, everyone was talking at once.

“Pavilion Master Lu, calm down!”

“This Fellow Daoist Fu also shows remorse for his mistake.”

“We’re still in council in Lanyue Hall—no fighting allowed!”

“Brother Lu, please reconsider!”

…

Even if Lu Song had ten arms, he couldn’t withstand twenty people pressing him down. He didn’t know what to curse and couldn’t move to fight, nearly suffocating himself with frustration. He wanted to flip the table and fight these bastards!

But after all, he knew them all!

No matter what, he couldn’t bring himself to flip the table, so he had to endure it and was forcibly pressed back into his seat.

At this point, no matter how much Jian Chou wanted to play dead on the sidelines, she had to steel herself and step forward. Glancing at the bloody arm on the table, she forced herself to appear calm, composed, and collected—as if she wasn’t shocked speechless by Fu Chaosheng’s recent actions—and stepped forward to bow to Lu Song.

“Pavilion Master Lu…”

“What do you want to say? Ah, you’re stepping forward—what else do you want to say!”

Lu Song got angry just seeing her and was about to stand up again, but several hands pressed him back down.

Even so, it startled everyone.

Fu Chaosheng had initially shown no reaction, but seeing him stand up, he involuntarily took a step toward Jian Chou.

Jian Chou showed no other reaction, as if she had expected this. She didn’t even move, keeping her smile in place, and said peacefully to Lu Song: “Pavilion Master Lu misunderstands. Jian Chou has no other intentions, only to apologize for the night before last. You can surely see that this friend of mine thinks differently from others. Though his earlier actions were rash and frightened you, he already knows his behavior that night was inappropriate. I hope you can overlook it, considering he is not of our race…”

“Frightened, what frightened? Who are you saying was frightened? You—”

Lu Song had been listening and felt the words were acceptable, but when the word “frightened” came out, he felt something was wrong. After hearing half the sentence, he realized what was happening. His suppressed anger flared up again, burning so intensely that he immediately wanted to jump up.

Fudao Shanren watching from the side was about to laugh his chicken leg off, shaking like a sieve, shoulders heaving up and down. He pointed at the arm on the table, gasping: “Right, frightened—really gave this mountain person quite a shock! After cultivating for so many years, I’ve never seen anyone this dense! Even compensating with an arm—it’s killing me with laughter…”

Everyone turned to look at him. Jian Chou, who had been racking her brains trying to think of how to appease Lu Song, felt an even stronger urge to bang her head against the ground seeing this situation.

She stopped and looked over: “Master…”

“Hahahaha…”

Fudao Shanren kept laughing, wiping tears while laughing, then pointed at Fu Chaosheng, ready to drop another bombshell.

“Hey, this mountain person just remembered—when you came here, didn’t you say you wanted to borrow something from that Qu fellow? Oh right, borrow the ‘Nine Bends River Chart’!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The entire hall fell silent. If their gazes at Fu Chaosheng earlier had carried some fear at being unable to gauge his temperament, now they had all changed to a kind of “is this person here to be funny” despair.

“That Qu fellow” was undoubtedly Sword Emperor Qu Zhengfeng.

What the “Nine Bends River Chart” was didn’t need explanation.

With these words, Jian Chou wanted to kneel before her troublemaking master. The Yashan side collapsed in laughter, and Lu Song, who had been full of anger, was stunned, looking at Fu Chaosheng with very strange eyes.

How to put it—like looking at an idiot.

Opposing him, this Tongling Pavilion Master, was still understandable—you could say he was picking on a soft target. But wanting to borrow the “Nine Bends River Chart” from Qu Zhengfeng? Ha, did he think the River Chart was cabbage!

Somehow, his anger suddenly disappeared. Lu Song even felt some pity in his heart. He withdrew his gaze and said to Jian Chou: “I believe what you said is true now and don’t want to pursue it further. After all, he’s on your Yashan’s side—if something happens in the future, your Yashan should naturally bear responsibility. But this arm, Fellow Daoist Jian Chou, please take it back. This pavilion master finds these bloody things quite disturbing.”

Jian Chou was speechless for a long time, never expecting this development.

She could naturally see Lu Song’s changed expression and could even guess what he was thinking. For a moment, she wanted to defend Fu Chaosheng, but thinking about it, what could she defend? Weren’t these all things this ephemeral great demon had done?

She could only smile bitterly, thank him, pick up the arm, and hand it to Fu Chaosheng behind her.

Fu Chaosheng was still puzzled: “He doesn’t want it?”

Jian Chou closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, thinking for a moment before replying: “Right, it’s fine now. Just keep it yourself.”

“…”

Looking at these people’s reactions, it seemed he had done something incredible again.

Fu Chaosheng frowned slightly, glanced at Jian Chou’s expression, and ultimately said nothing. He simply reached out to take back his arm, casually reattached it to his shoulder, and in the blink of an eye, no trace of it having been severed could be seen.

The people who had been laughing earlier couldn’t help but feel startled seeing this display. Through cultivation, cultivators gained the power to destroy heaven and earth. After the Out-of-Body realm, as long as the Nascent Soul didn’t die, even losing one’s body allowed for reshaping flesh. But they were still human after all—if they lost an arm or leg, regrowing it would require suffering. But he showed no expression when tearing off his arm, and no expression when reattaching it now. This was truly…

Unfathomable, utterly unfathomable!

Qu Zhengfeng could also see that whether directly tearing off his own arm or casually reattaching it just now, Fu Chaosheng hadn’t been pretending at all, and truly didn’t feel much pain.

After all, was he a demon?

Remembering Fudao Shanren’s earlier words, he laughed: “Fellow Daoist Fu, you want to borrow the River Chart?”

Everyone said the “Nine Bends River Chart” was in his hands, that he had seized it after slaughtering Jianzhu Sect years ago, but no one had actually seen it.

Hearing him ask this suddenly, everyone pricked up their ears.

Hearing this, Fu Chaosheng didn’t sense any problem with the question and was about to answer when Jian Chou beside him already pulled him down and answered first: “His Majesty the Sword Emperor jests. Fellow Daoist Fu was only speaking in jest. We don’t even know who has the ‘Nine Bends River Chart,’ so how dare we casually speak of borrowing it? Please don’t misunderstand.”

Another “His Majesty the Sword Emperor.”

Qu Zhengfeng heard this and laughed coldly.

Others couldn’t see the nuance, thinking he was displeased at being asked about the “Nine Bends River Chart” matter in public. They all secretly thought Jian Chou was clever to cut off the conversation in time, otherwise today’s council would be ruined. Even for the “Nine Bends River Chart,” many people would develop other thoughts and cause trouble.

Only Fu Chaosheng didn’t know why Jian Chou said this, but Jian Chou’s palm pressed firmly on his arm, clearly hinting for him to restrain himself and not speak. So though he was still puzzled, he ultimately held back, only glancing at Qu Zhengfeng before saying nothing more.

The atmosphere finally stabilized again.

Everyone inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

True Person Hengxu’s gaze swept around the several people involved in the recent dispute, especially looking at Jian Chou twice more, before smiling: “Since Pavilion Master Lu no longer pursues the matter, then good—let’s return to discussing current affairs. We’ve heard about Fellow Daoist Fu’s situation before, but we don’t know how much this friend knows about Extreme Domain matters?”

Once True Person Hengxu spoke, naturally no one else would act up.

Everyone knew the earlier incident was just a small interlude. The important matters still needed discussion. No matter what great demon or River Chart, before the soon-to-erupt Yin-Yang Realm battle, they were all negligible trivialities.

Everyone’s gazes returned to Fu Chaosheng, but they had become serious.

In a power struggle in the Extreme Domain eighty years ago, Fu Chaosheng had disguised himself as Lihan of the Ghost King clan and entered the Eighteen Layers of Hell. After Jian Chou’s battle with Lord Qin Guang, she had left the Ghost Axe in the Extreme Domain, but he hadn’t left. Instead, he continued his disguise and stayed, even working under Lord Qin Guang as a judge alongside Zhang Tang, who had somehow seen through his identity.

But strangely, Zhang Tang hadn’t exposed his identity.

Fu Chaosheng later thought that in the Eighteen Layers of Hell, Zhang Tang seemed to know Jian Chou. His not exposing his identity to Lord Qin Guang was possibly because he sensed Fu Chaosheng wasn’t simple, or possibly because of their relationship with Jian Chou.

Jian Chou had already mentioned to him about detailing his Extreme Domain experiences before everyone at today’s council, so Fu Chaosheng didn’t think it was problematic. He revealed everything he knew about the Extreme Domain, especially about the Eight Directions Yama Halls and Ten Great Ghost Clans.

From each Yama King’s strength to their subordinate judges…

After all, he was a great demon. Though he didn’t understand human complexities, he mixed well in the world of evil demons and possessed cultivation that ordinary people couldn’t hope to match. His understanding was quite thorough.

Everyone initially thought Fu Chaosheng was like those Chanzong monks who went to reincarnation training, knowing only a little about the Extreme Domain. Who could imagine he had actually infiltrated and served as a chief judge under a Yama King?

Hearing this, they all gasped.

Only Fu Chaosheng himself felt nothing special. Speaking to the end, he frowned: “When I left the Extreme Domain, Lord Qin Guang was already contacting the Snow Region Esoteric School, but I don’t know what exactly he wanted to do.”

Snow Region Esoteric School!

With these four words, everyone’s expressions became grave. The Extreme Domain’s strength had caught up to much of Nineteen Continents over the years through the Six Paths of Reincarnation’s power, with one side declining as the other grew.

Adding the Snow Region Esoteric School was undoubtedly adding frost to snow.

“If the situation is truly as Fellow Daoist Fu describes, this time the Extreme Domain must be planning a pincer attack, wanting to coordinate from inside and outside, making our Nineteen Continents face enemies front and back!” True Person Hengxu sighed deeply, saying, “The Snow Region has been completely sealed off for twenty years—no one knows the current situation. If they truly achieve their plan, the consequences would be unthinkable! This time, our Nineteen Continents should prepare early and strike first—that’s the best strategy!”

They couldn’t reach the Extreme Domain, but the Snow Region Esoteric School was located in the Northern Domain of Nineteen Continents, with the Yin-Yang Two Sects to the west and Mingri Xinghai to the south. Anyone could see that once war broke out, Mingri Xinghai, closest to the Extreme Domain entrance, would inevitably become the main gathering place for Nineteen Continents cultivators. If they were fighting the Extreme Domain in front while the Snow Region Esoteric School attacked from behind, they would suffer fatal damage.

Then, forget about reclaiming the Six Paths of Reincarnation—even survival would be questionable!

Before the war, if this Snow Region Esoteric School menace couldn’t be eliminated, no one could feel secure!

Everyone present understood the stakes and fell into thought upon hearing this. Only Fudao Shanren looked up at True Person Hengxu and said bluntly: “Strike first—you mean this time our Nineteen Continents attack first again?”

True Person Hengxu didn’t deny it: “Not only must we strike first, but before the war begins, we must eliminate the Esoteric School first!”

Before the war begins, eliminate the Esoteric School first!

These eight words were spoken with absolute certainty, decisive and firm, even revealing rare killing intent.

After hearing this, Monk Yichen thought for a moment and continued: “But the Snow Region Esoteric School has close ties with the Extreme Domain. Any disturbance will be transmitted. If we eliminate the new Esoteric School first, should anything go wrong and the Extreme Domain learns of it, they’ll attack from the Eastern Extreme Ghost Gate entrance. We’ll still face enemies front and back and be caught off guard.”

“We can divide our forces into two routes.” True Person Hengxu’s eyes showed some penetrating smile, calm and unhurried. “One route goes to the Snow Region first, cutting off its connection with the Extreme Domain. The other stays in the star sea, launching an immediate attack after the Snow Region matter succeeds. Even if unsuccessful and our tracks are exposed, there’s no need to panic. Step back—having both the Eastern Extreme Ghost Gate and Snow Region attack together is equally a good strategy.”

“Brilliant!”

“This method is feasible.”

“We should strike first. Even if we fight in the Extreme Domain, we can’t fight on Nineteen Continents soil—the damage and entanglement would be too great…”

Everyone agreed with this method, but soon another problem arose: “But dividing forces into two routes—who should be sent to raid the Snow Region?”

Grand Marshal Shen Yao of Tongguan Station smiled, fearing the world wouldn’t be chaotic enough: “This is easy. Didn’t Fellow Daoist Xie from Kunwu and Fellow Daoist Jian Chou from Yashan explore the Snow Region in earlier years? They should be quite familiar with that place. I heard the Snow Region’s Three Treasure Dharma Kings have already abolished one Mirror Treasure Dharma King, leaving only a Vase Treasure Dharma King and a Seal Treasure Dharma King. Also, we have someone here very familiar with the Esoteric School—have the seniors forgotten?”

Her graceful gaze turned and fell on the opposite side.

Snow Region Old Esoteric, Dakini Yang Jin!

Born with seductive bones, her body like a dew-covered rose, her flowing gaze was brilliant and captivating. She wore gorgeous dharma robes, yet her expression held no frivolity—instead seeming somewhat cold.

Hearing this, Yang Jin naturally knew she was being referenced.

She raised her head, glanced at the graceful and rich Shen Yao, but didn’t respond to her words. Instead, she turned to True Person Hengxu: “Regarding the new Esoteric School, Yang Jin naturally understands better. No matter who is sent to the Snow Region, Yang Jin should accompany them.”

“Fellow Daoist Yang Jin’s understanding of the greater good is truly admirable.”

Everyone knew Yang Jin was originally Mirror Treasure Dharma King’s Buddha Mother. Later, intelligent and unwilling to be manipulated by fate, she cultivated hard to become a Dakini with Void Refining strength. They also knew about her leading the old Esoteric School’s exodus to join Chanzong, truly admiring her from their hearts.

But while her selection was unquestionable, other candidates required more consideration.

They all said these two prodigies from Yashan and Kunwu had already been to the Snow Region, so logically they should be sent again this time. With enough personnel, the problem shouldn’t be too great.

But unfortunately, these two were too special.

Decades ago during Qingfeng Nunnery’s hidden realm incident, it was said Jian Chou and Xie Buchen had fought to the death, one severely injured, the other falling into the Extreme Domain. Two years ago during the Snow Region expedition, they had openly fought, turning heaven and earth upside down.

If they were sent together, who dared guarantee nothing would go wrong?

Taking a step back, Jian Chou was now a Void Refining great cultivator, and though Xie Buchen had passed his Heart-Questioning Dao tribulation two days ago and had mid-stage Worldly Entry cultivation, he was still far behind Jian Chou!

If they fought again this time, he might not return alive.

Even though everyone felt Xie Buchen should be a suitable candidate, they had to see if Kunwu was willing. After all, he was a rarely seen genius who might take charge of Kunwu in the future. True Person Hengxu might not be willing to let him risk danger, especially when his companion might be Jian Chou.

The situation in the hall became somewhat delicate.

How could someone as perceptive as Jian Chou not understand where this delicacy came from?

But she remained composed, even deliberately looking up at Xie Buchen standing quietly behind True Person Hengxu across from her, smiling kindly: “Jian Chou once explored the Snow Region with Fellow Daoist Xie. Today’s matter concerns the survival of our Nineteen Continents, so I naturally cannot shirk responsibility. I’m willing to reconcile with Fellow Daoist Xie and raid the Snow Region again!”

Reconcile?

Bullshit!

You dare say it, but we don’t dare believe it!

Hearing her high-sounding words and seeing her kind smile, everyone felt their hearts go cold. They didn’t believe she would truly “reconcile” with Xie Buchen as she claimed—the probability of taking the opportunity to kill him seemed much higher.

Xie Buchen didn’t respond.

True Person Hengxu’s brow had already furrowed.

Monk Yichen saw things more clearly and didn’t want any more disputes at this juncture. He squinted and came out smiling: “But for raiding the Snow Region, why trouble both great pillars of Kunwu and Yashan to act together? Mingri Xinghai also needs someone to hold the fort. Our Western Sea Chanzong is also in the Northern Domain and has some connection with the Snow Region’s new Esoteric School. We naturally cannot shirk responsibility and should participate in this matter. So, let’s dispatch some monks from our Chanzong to join Fellow Daoist Yang Jin and Fellow Daoist Jian Chou in going to the Snow Region—that should be secure.”

This was also thinking that Xie Buchen and Jian Chou going together wasn’t suitable.

But hearing these words, everyone felt uneasy: Western Sea Chanzong and Dakini Yang Jin were certainly familiar with the Snow Region’s new Esoteric School, but Buddhism’s actions eleven cycles ago weren’t very honorable. Though Chanzong, the old Esoteric School, and new Esoteric School now had clear boundaries, what if something went wrong?

So for the moment, no one took a position.

Only Qu Zhengfeng, sitting at the head position and having barely spoken two sentences from beginning to end, looked at the various expressions of everyone in the hall, laughed, and said lightly: “It’s been a long time since I’ve dealt with Buddhism. How about adding me to this trip? You all shouldn’t have any objections, right?”

The moment his words landed, everyone was horrified!

Even more frightening than when Fu Chaosheng had torn off his own arm!

A Mingri Xinghai Sword Emperor who had already betrayed Yashan, actively proposing to accompany Yashan’s eldest senior sister Jian Chou and a group of Buddhist people—what the hell was he planning, and what exactly did he want to do?!