Chapter 289 The Twenty-Four Sages of Taiyi Separate the Couple

Thunderstorms flashed in the distance, illuminating the entire sky so bright it was impossible to look directly at them. After a brief flash, a deafening clap of thunder followed.

The figures appeared at the abandoned dock as the thunder roared. The saints who had arrived there, half on the abandoned ships and half hovering in the air above the sea using wind manipulation techniques, all looked toward the two people sitting on the dock.

Mei Liangyu stood up and stood in front of Yu Sui, blocking everyone's view.

The first to land was an old man in white robes. The raging sea wind whipped his long white beard, and lightning struck again, as bright as day. In the instant of the flash, the old man's kind face was illuminated.

Sun Heng, one of the Twenty-Four Sages of Taiyi, one of the leading sages of the Water Boat School, and a sage of the School of Names.

This wasn't the first time Yu Sui had seen this saint. On the underwater mechanical island, it was Sun Heng and Wei Xizhen who arrived and resolved the sea fire that had spread throughout Beikun City.

At that time, Sun Heng said that Shui Zhou was studying the sea eye and also engraving strange fire in the sea eye.

The sea eye that appeared on the island last time was probably an accident caused by the Shui Zhou's research going out of control, which led to the accidental injury to Bei Kun City.

After the lightning flashed, the surrounding area was illuminated by the Zhou Tian Fire.

The firelight illuminated familiar yet unfamiliar faces.

Standing on the abandoned ship were the academy's saints. Zou Qian and Wu Huaiwei each looked up at the saints on the opposite water boat.

Sun Heng and the other Taiyi Saints all arrived.

The man and woman closest to Sun Heng were also sages of the School of Names.

The woman with chubby cheeks wore a kind and friendly smile. She was dressed in coarse cloth and had a light blue floral headscarf around her head. At first glance, she would be mistaken for a rustic countrywoman. However, like Nangong Ming, she was actually Lu Lan, one of the three Yama masters of the famous family, who possessed the Asura Eye.

Standing to Sun Heng's left was a bald man with a spherical, fat body. The character "静" (jing, meaning quiet) was written in black on his head, extending all the way to the back of his head, with the last stroke landing on the back of his neck where it connects to his spine.

Masters and sages, profound and tranquil.

On his chubby face, just like Lu Lan's, hung a cryptic smile, his eyes narrowed into slits, revealing only a glimmer of light in his pupils.

Mei Liangyu introduced the two to Yu Sui, saying amidst the rumble of thunder, "Two famous fat men."

Yu Sui: "..."

If the occasion and timing weren't so inappropriate, she definitely wouldn't have been able to hold it in.

Yu Sui grabbed Mei Liangyu's sleeve and slowly stood up.

Despite the loud thunder, the other saints still heard what Mei Liangyu said.

"You brat, you're still so disrespectful, showing no respect whatsoever to any saint other than Elder Chang."

A cheerful female voice came from behind, and Yu Sui saw a tall figure sweep across the sky at the very front.

The woman was dressed in a golden gown with auspicious cloud patterns embroidered on the hem. She wore a sword at her waist, with a red tassel of a double heart knot hanging from it. The tassel was tattered and worn, indicating that it was an old item that was out of place with the woman's fine clothes.

“We won’t spoil you like Elder Chang did.” The woman looked down at Mei Liangyu.

Zhuge Liang, a sage of military strategy.

Zhuge was one of the six surnames of the Zhou state, a noble family, and the Zhuge Ling before us can also be called a sage of the Zhou state.

Mei Liangyu ignored Zhuge Ling's reprimand and introduced him to Yu Sui: "This is Dean Zhuge, who is known as the Ghost Blade of Military Strategists."

When Zhuge Ling makes a move, his aura is invisible; you can only see the afterimage of his blade after he has already died.

Swordsmanship as elusive as a ghost is known as the Ghost Blade of the Military School.

Yu Sui shrank behind Mei Liangyu, reverting to his usual timid demeanor.

Zou Qian scratched her neck, subtly glancing at the two people below. Pretending to be scared wasn't a bad idea at this point; the people on Shui Zhou's side looked normal on the surface, but they were all lunatics.

Mei Liangyu will definitely be taken away by the water boat this time, even if Saint Changgen is there, it will be useless.

Even if that little girl knows something, it's best not to say anything, lest she be noticed by the people from Shuizhou and taken away with them.

"Oh, oh! Dean Zou, Dean Wu, it's been a long time!" The disheveled man in the green robe, his hands tucked into his sleeves, used a wind-riding technique to walk towards the ship. His handsome young face beamed with an innocent smile, and he seemed to grow more excited as he approached. He pulled his hand out and waved to Zou Qian.

“Especially Dean Zou, it’s really rare to see you leave the academy. I’ve invited you to Shuizhou eight hundred times a year, and you’ve always refused. How come you’re free today? You’re already here. Shuizhou is just a few more steps away. Why don’t you come back with me and take Dean Wu with you?”

Zou Qian felt mosquitoes buzzing in her ear, saying, "I'm coming, I'm coming!" and "I'm about to bite you, eat your flesh, and drink your blood!"

Wu Huaiwei didn't even look at Chen Daozhi, but coldly said to Zou Qian, "Find a way to get rid of him."

Zou Qian looked at Chen Daozhi, who was almost in front of him. There were only seven or eight steps between them. He scratched his neck with one hand, tilted his head slightly, and looked at the other side with a faint golden light flashing in his eyes: "Dean Chen, someone will die if you get any closer."

Yin-Yang incantations encompass all things in water.

White smoke rose from the sea, and the sizzling sound of the water vapor evaporating reached Chen Daozhi's ears. He stopped, touched his dry, chapped cheeks, raised his hands in a submissive gesture, and backed away: "Okay, okay, I won't come over, but you'd better give me an answer to my suggestion soon."

The man seemed completely oblivious to Zou Qian and Wu Huaiwei's hostility, still smiling at them.

This time, without Mei Liangyu's introduction, Zou Qian spoke up: "Dean Chen, I suggest you give this invitation to Dean Liang, who is also a Taoist. You two are like brothers, you should remember your old friendship."

Liang Zhen stood on the ship's railing without saying a word.

Kuang Chu, on the other hand, looked on with schadenfreude, enjoying the show.

Chen Daozhi laughed and waved his hand: "I'm just a clown who was expelled from the sect. My junior brother wishes he could kill me. How could I dare to invite him to Shuizhou?"

Liang Zhen then spoke up, "Since you're already a clown who's been expelled from the sect, why bother trying to establish a connection?"

Chen Daozhi bowed and said to Liang Zhen, "Yes, yes, I should no longer call you junior brother, but the esteemed Dean Liang of the Taoist School."

Just as Kuang Chu was about to stir things up by saying, "You two are both abbots of the Taiyi Daoist sect, so why distinguish between kinship and social status?", before he could even utter a sound, Liang Zhen raised his hand and pointed, a golden lightning spell leaping from his fingertip, instantly transforming into a dazzling bolt of lightning that shot out.

The golden lightning spell flew past Kuang Chu's eyes, and the stimulation from the flash and the friction of the lightning made Kuang Chu curse loudly and immediately turn his back to rub his eyes.

Chen Daozhi exclaimed "Ah!" and with both hands moving gently yet forcefully, he pushed forward, using a move called "Parting Clouds Hand" to catch the Golden Thunder Spell, causing the still fiercely flashing and leaping lightning lines to dissolve into the clouds in his palm.

"Phew, that was close! I was worried that Dean Liang had made some progress, but it seems you're still the same as before, so I'm very relieved!" Chen Daozhi gave Liang Zhen a thumbs up after dispelling the Golden Thunder Curse.

Wu Huaiwei seemed to have reached her limit and sneered, "You only received a Golden Thunder Spell, why are you still putting on airs?"

Chen Daozhi laughed again. Almost simultaneously, the two Taoist saints present were surrounded by lightning, and purple lightning whipped around them, unleashing a violent lightning domain. The purple lightning that darted around the sky looked like light, fluttering feathers to the naked eye.

But no one wanted to be electrocuted by these seemingly beautiful and harmless feathers, so Zou Qian and the others were forced to dodge away from the lightning field.

"Senior brother." Yu Sui gently tugged at Mei Liangyu's sleeve, but Mei Liangyu didn't even turn his head and said, "Dean Chen of the Taoist sect isn't quite right in the head."

Mei Liangyu's gaze swept past the others and landed on the man in the black cloak with a full head of silver-white hair: "The one standing at the very back is the Legalist Saint, Dean Shan."

The man's face was aged, marked with many wrinkles, as if he had experienced much, and there seemed to be an unyielding melancholy between his brows. He ignored the two Taoist saints fighting, his melancholy eyes sweeping over the distant sea eye, revealing a deep worry.

Of the twenty-four sages of Taiyi, Yu Sui has only one Taoist sage, Zhang Guanyi, whom he has yet to meet.

At this moment, the Legalist sage Shan Chen looked at Mei Liangyu, frowned, and asked him, "Did you awaken all these sea eyes?"

Mei Liangyu met the other person's melancholy gaze and replied, "Yes."

Those who had been watching the two Taoist sages fight now also turned to look and listen. Sage Chang Gen was the first to arrive, but he remained silent.

After receiving Mei Liangyu's unwavering and affirmative answer, Shan Chen noticed that the man showed no regret or apology on his face. Instead, his eyes were filled with even more gloom, and his expression momentarily turned ferocious.

He didn't speak, but turned to look at Sun Heng, as if waiting for Sun Heng's instructions.

Zhuge Ling withdrew her gaze from the spectacle and turned it to Mei Liangyu, saying loudly, "Is the introduction finished? Now you can answer our questions, right?"

She rested one hand on the hilt of her sword, poised to draw it at any moment: "Mei Liangyu, what was your purpose in summoning the Sea Eye? And how did you manage to do all of this? How did you summon the Sea Fire? Have you fully recovered your memories?"

Zhuge Ling's gaze remained fixed solely on Mei Liangyu. With each question she posed, her tone grew increasingly assertive, imbuing her words with the power of the Five Elements. Her aggressive manner and the resulting pressure exerted on the soul of the person she was speaking to.

The only person she could intimidate was Mei Liangyu.

The saints of the Water Boat had absolutely no interest in Yu Sui.

The saints of the Water Boat all knew who Mei Liangyu's father was, and what his father had done.

Because the twenty-four sages of Taiyi knew too much about Mei Liangyu's background, they naturally ignored others, and assumed that everything happening now was caused by Mei Liangyu, and could only have been caused by him.

They didn't care whether Ou Rushuang lived or died, nor did they care what Ou Rushuang wanted to do; right now, they only cared about the existence of the Sea Eye and the Sea Fire.

Mei Liangyu knew this too, so he told Yu Sui not to worry, no one would suspect you.

"Don't you deans wonder if these sea fires can burn down the entire Taiyi?" Mei Liangyu raised her eyebrows, looking back at Zhuge Ling with a half-smile, completely unfazed by her intimidation.

A hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes as he arrogantly addressed all the saints before him: "Are you afraid that I might do something terrible if I remember the past? Or do you think I should do something right now?"

Mei Liangyu's cold and calm gaze swept over everyone, observing their expressions.

Dan Chen's wrinkles deepened, and his tone was unfriendly: "Are you really planning to burn Taiyi with sea fire?"

Mei Liangyu: "Judging from your frightened appearance, it seems that it's not impossible."

Dan Chen took a deep breath, seemingly trying his best to endure something. Wu Huaiwei glanced disapprovingly at Mei Liangyu: "He's a madman to begin with, why do you have to provoke him?"

"Old Master Sun!" Shan Chen called out in a low voice, urging the other party to make a decision.

Zou Qian said, "What he released was a sea eye, not Ou Rushuang. Besides, this isn't the first time he's done something like this. What's so strange about it? Your water boats aren't incapable of dealing with those sea eyes and fire."

"That's enough. You're not going to kill him on the spot, are you?"

Wu Huaiwei started speaking sarcastically: "Even if Dean Shan wants to kill Elder Chang's precious disciple, he still has to see if Elder Chang agrees, right, Elder Chang?"

The Sage Changgen finally responded, saying to Mei Liangyu, "Come back with me."

Just as a dark beam of light enveloped Mei Liangyu, Sun Heng raised his hand and shattered it. As the sound of the beam breaking rang out, Lu Lan and Xuan Jing, who were standing behind him, attacked Mei Liangyu at the same time.

The two formed hand seals, and golden spirit words flew out from the void, sealing off the space where Mei Liangyu was located. The shockwave sent Yu Sui, who was standing behind Mei Liangyu, flying away.

However, they only repelled the attackers and did not injure anyone.

Yu Sui steadied himself and looked up in surprise: "Senior Brother!"

Mei Liangyu did not turn back, nor could he. Golden chains bound his limbs and wrapped around his neck, firmly binding him to the spot, forming a thorny cage that sealed his five elements.

Ink-colored mist dissipated from above Mei Liangyu, and a gigantic ghostly hand tore through space, reaching for the thorny cage.

Lu Lan and Xuan Jing simultaneously activated their protective aura, further reinforcing the thorn cage.

Wu Huaiwei was delighted to see Sun Heng and the others fighting with Saint Chang Gen, and had no intention of intervening. Zou Qian shouted to Kuang Chu, who was still rubbing his eyes, "Liang Zhen is on your left."

Kuang Chu cursed loudly and drew his sword at the same time as Zhuge Ling.

The two sword energies aimed at the ghost hand canceled each other out, and Zhuge Ling looked displeasedly at Kuang Chu, who had not yet opened his eyes.

Kuang Chu shouted, "Why did you hit the Ghost Blade Sword Qi? Zhuge Ling! What are you doing here!"

Zhuge Ling: "..."

What an idiot!

Leng Rouyin's hand was already on the hilt of her sword, but she frowned as she looked at the trapped Mei Liangyu, seemingly still hesitant.

The ghostly hand gripped the thorny cage tightly, and the sound of the thorns snapping echoed.

Dan Chen shouted to Chen Daozhi in the distance, "Hurry up and come help!"

Chen Daozhi responded loudly, "Coming! Coming!"

Chen Daozhi, who had fought Liang Zhen to a distance, spun around and a Bagua formation appeared that enveloped his entire body.

The black and white eight trigrams rotated, turning to the Kan trigram, and then dissipated into a puddle of water.

Liang Zhen did not chase after him, but a Bagua formation appeared beneath his feet. After briefly closing and opening his eyes, the Bagua formation expanded to over a hundred times its original size, leaving Chen Daozhi, who had transformed into water and was rushing back, exposed.

After being trapped by the Bagua Formation, Chen Daozhi looked at Liang Zhen in surprise, and then a serious look appeared in his eyes.

“Alright!” Black curse marks appeared in Chen Daozhi’s eyes. When he spoke again, he had a copper coin on his tongue and his words were full of evil. “Let’s have a serious exchange today.”

Seeing that Chen Daozhi couldn't get away anytime soon, Shan Chen flew forward. His black cloak fluttered in the sea breeze, and his silver hair flew wildly, making his ferocious face appear and disappear amidst the lightning flashes, which only made him more terrifying.

He came to the thorn cage and made a hand seal.

Legalist adjudication techniques determine the outcome.

Dan Chen was already within three steps of the ghost hand, but he still couldn't undo Chang Gen Saint's Nine Streams Technique. However, the dark ghost hand had visibly faded considerably.

Apart from the two sages from the Yin-Yang School and the Military School who did not make a move, the medical sage Jiang Shulan, with her hands behind her back, is also currently observing the battle.

Sun Heng slowly raised his head and looked up at the sky: "Elder Chang, do you really want to see him regain all his memories?"

The ghost hand's attack came to an abrupt halt.

Sun Heng added, "All we need to get from him is information related to the Sea Eye."

Mei Liangyu also shouted at Saint Changgen, "Master! What are you afraid of again?!"

He offended both sides as soon as he opened his mouth.

Whether it was her master or the saints of the Water Boat, Mei Liangyu successfully focused everyone's attention on her own memories and the two events of Hai Huo, downplaying Ou Rushuang's existence and eliminating the need to explain Hai Huo's appearance in front of everyone.

As long as no one notices Yu Sui, then he and Yu Sui have won.

Yu Sui was pushed back to the back of the dock, standing in the shadow of the abandoned ships around him, gazing at the people trapped in the thorn cage, his five fingers on his sleeves slowly tightening.

As Mei Liangyu questioned him, the dark, ghostly hand completely vanished.

Saint Changgen tacitly approved Sun Heng taking Mei Liangyu away.

As the battle subsided, Mei Liangyu still tilted his head slightly, his dark and cold gaze fixed on the silent, dark-colored Qi hovering in the sky above.

Zhuge Ling drew his sword again, but this time his target was Liang Zhen, who was trapping Chen Daozhi behind him.

Liang Zhen stood in the huge Bagua formation. No sword energy was visible, but the Qimen numerology under his feet changed rapidly. He slightly tilted his head and dodged the sword, but gave Chen Daozhi an opportunity.

The phantom image left behind by Chen Daozhi was burned in the Bagua Formation by the Li Fire, while his real body has arrived at the dock.

He stuck out his tongue, and everyone heard the crisp sound of the coins clinking together.

The countless copper coins bound by the red thread transformed into the shape of the Kan trigram beneath Shui Zhou and the others' feet. Chen Daozhi smiled, his eyes crinkling, and then, adopting an innocent and naive demeanor, waved to Liang Zhen in the distance and called out, "Let's go! If Junior Brother Liang is not convinced, then come along!"

The red thread dissipated, and the sound of copper coins scattering filled the air, instantly engulfing the figures of the people on the water boat and Mei Liangyu, teleporting them away.