In the midst of the wind and snow, the sound of military horns could still be heard from the other side. These horns were covered by the snow again and again, and again and again they broke through the sky and earth and reached people's ears. It sounded somewhat desolate and indescribable.
Before He Zhilin could react, he saw Ji Rongxue's expression suddenly tense. His mind raced and he understood what was going on in an instant.
At that time, when the war was raging on all four sides, even the Body Strengthening Sect, which had always been aware of the Sword Sect's movements, could only vaguely guess what they might do - but, Liu Shi's actions could even be concealed from the Sword Sect, so how could the Xing Yan Sect know?
Unless, Xing Yanzong is originally from the "other side".
"Master Ji is so clever, he naturally understands what I mean." Zhong Changyao said, "If the Sword Sect hadn't been willing to cooperate with them on the altar issue, how could they have let the Body Tempering Sect take over so easily?"
Ji Rongxue's eyes were fixed on his face, scanning it inch by inch.
When she looked at people, her pupils shrank slightly, adding a bit of biting coldness to her usual indifference. Zhong Changyao swallowed subconsciously when she stared at him, and looked away for a moment.
Ji Rongxue said, "You are being a bit arrogant when you say this."
Zhong Changyao's expression changed: "You...!"
Regardless of Ji Rongxue's current status, his memory remained fixed on the Four-Way War, perhaps the most glorious moment of his life to date. However, things had changed. Now, he was merely a retainer of the Sword Sect, while Ji Rongxue was the current head of the Body Tempering Sect. Forget about conversing with him; even condescending to see him would require the Sect Leader's permission.
Ji Rongxue's words now pierced his shallow self-esteem at once, but as he was in the Body Tempering Sect, what could Zhong Changyao do?
"...I am guilty of slander." Zhong Changyao lowered his head slightly under the indifferent gaze, his teeth clenched, and continued, "However, from my brief meeting with Xing Yanzong, none of the elders seemed to have such a conspiracy. And if Yao Xing was truly involved in the plan, why would he have warned Yun Xian? Whether he participated or was forced into it is a matter for discussion."
As the first successor of Xingyan Sect, Yao Xing may be a breakthrough.
"Yao Xing's warning may not have been well-intentioned. With Yun Xian's personality, even if you told her it was dangerous, she'd still insist on going there." Ji Rongxue said, "Besides, whether she participated voluntarily or was forced to, what difference does it make at this moment?"
Her meaning was clear. If it was true, then whether it was voluntary or forced, the end result would be death if one tried to suppress it.
Decisive and ruthless.
"..." Zhong Changyao said in a complicated tone, "Do you really think so?"
Ji Rongxue glanced at him and didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "How many elders of the Sword Sect are missing?"
Zhong Changyao hesitated for a moment, and Ji Rongxue said, "If so many people hadn't disappeared, Liu Chang wouldn't have been so impatient to come and ally with me. He doesn't dare to come in person. Is he afraid of being targeted, or does he want to stay at the sect to guard it?"
"...Three. They all disappeared suddenly." Zhong Changyao asked, "Where's the Body Refining Sect?"
"Not even a single one," Ji Rongxue said. "I've already killed most of them. The rest are staying in the sect, so they don't have much chance to leave."
Zhong Changyao suddenly felt a chill of fear.
"This formation can't be moved. Doing so will only alert the enemy." Ji Rongxue waved his sleeves and said, "You came here specifically and said so much. It's not just for this purpose. Now, among the seven sects, only the Sword Pavilion is still safe. I'm also good friends with Yun Xian. So, does the Sword Sect want to let bygones be bygones and fight the enemy together, or do they want to find a scapegoat who can lead the charge and preserve their own strength?"
Zhong Changyao asked anxiously, "What time is it now? Why are you still obsessed with this?"
"No matter who says this, it shouldn't come from the mouth of the Sword Sect." Ji Rongxue looked at him, his expression colder than the snow. "A treacherous sect is now trying to gain trust. Isn't that funny? Not a single word you say can be trusted."
"see a visitor out!"
“…”
The black iron gate was slowly closed, and Zhong Changyao's back disappeared from sight.
Ji Rongxue was still standing there when a snowflake flew over the eaves and melted on the end of her fiery red hair.
Tiedan listened for a long while without saying a word, but now he could no longer hold back and spoke cautiously, "Master, although this fellow is a villain rather than a gentleman, not everything he said is..."
Ji Rongxue said: "What he said is true."
Tiedan was surprised when his prepared speech was unexpectedly interrupted: "What? Then why..."
"I've contacted the leaders of all the major sects over the past three months, but the Xingyan Sect's leader has never responded." Ji Rongxue said, "It's true that I can't tell who in the sect is collaborating with the Demon Cult, but now that things have come to this, I'm afraid even that person can't break this formation."
Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Moreover, even if that person wants to regret, Chi You will never give him this opportunity.
Tiedan shuddered and looked at the distant border. The formation set up by Xingyan Sect covered half of the Body Strengthening Sect. Although he didn't know the exact effect of this formation, he could imagine that since it could make the Dao Sect so afraid to join forces, once this formation was activated, there would be a great loss of lives.
This battle is a matter of life and death.
He shifted his gaze back from afar, only to see that Ji Rongxue had no worries on her face. Instead, there was a faint smile on the corner of her lips. He couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Master, why do you look so happy?"
What's about to explode over there is the entire Four Realms! Including the Body Refining Sect! Including the Sword Pavilion! The entire Four Realms!!
Ji Rongxue's gaze drifted thousands of miles away as he said, "Walking alone on a smooth road, or going through mountains of swords and seas of fire with others, if it were you, which one would you choose?"
Without waiting for his reply, Ji Rongxue smiled and said, "Actually, three years is still too short. If it were another twenty years, I'd probably be so worried I couldn't sleep at night, constantly thinking about how to save everyone from danger. Sorry, shouldn't I be smiling?"
Ha, but she wasn't unconcerned about the current state of the Four Realms, she was just not that worried. At worst, death was the only thing she feared. She had only ever feared loneliness, never death. Life and death were indifferent. If it came, it came!
Tiedan: “…”
He didn't know what to say. He just looked at Ji Rongxue's profile and thought silently, "The young lady is laughing again..." Okay! Stop thinking about it! This pun is not funny at all!
Yun Xian was completely unaware that Zhong Changyao had been humiliated. He simply sneezed loudly and said weakly, "So, that's what I said."
Xiao Wu and Yun Lang digested the thought for a moment, not knowing what to say. They could only say miserably, "I didn't expect being poor could have this benefit. Xing Yanzong's previous offer was 500,000 spirit stones, which scared me so much I turned around and left."
Are you kidding me? How much can you buy with 500,000 spirit stones? Why bother with a spirit gathering formation? Just be self-reliant!
The unfortunate second elder of Xingyan Sect was left lying in the hall, with only Qiao Lingshan giving him a pair of straw sandals as a pillow to prevent his head from being frozen by the floor.
Yun Lang saw Yun Xian sneeze and then yawn loudly, and asked with concern: "Xian'er, are you hurt?"
"No." Yun Xian said, "I'm just sleepy."
She had been running around non-stop for the past few months. She used to sleep five hours a day, but now she hadn't slept in a bed for almost seven days. Although a monk wouldn't die without sleep, she was so sleepy that she wanted to throw herself to the ground.
Xiao Wu turned the unlucky Second Elder over and saw that he had his eyes open and looked dead, still not saying a word. "That's really not right. This isn't his character. The last time I kidnapped him and forced him to be a puppet, even though he was very unhappy, he only grumbled a few words. Oh, and he's also a vegetarian, not animal meat. Although you can only judge a person by his appearance, you can't know his heart, but this contrast is too big, isn't it?"
Yun Xian also felt that there was something wrong with this person.
Moreover, the fact that an elder from the Xingyan Sect led the killing was quite bizarre. Even if they were collaborating, he could have just set up the formation and left. Why was he standing there like an idiot? What was he doing, overseeing? This wasn't a matter of pretending or not; it went against one's subconscious—much like Feng Ye's instinct to stand at the back when a battle began. Given the Xingyan Sect's weak fighting ability, no disciple had ever stood at the front, unless they were seeking death or had a sudden brain disease.
Especially this Second Elder. Xiao Wu could easily kidnap him and the carriage together. Doesn't he have any idea of his own abilities?
The Sixth Elder stood there, taunting him, "How disrespectful of your age! Bringing people to kill a nineteen-year-old child!"
Qiao Lingshan: “…”
Her father's view on age has always been very flexible. To her father, he would say, "You are so old and you don't even understand this!" To others, he would say, "She is only a 19-year-old child, what does she know!" He responded flexibly and always had something to say.
Feng Ye said weakly, "Didn't the Miaoshou Sect have such people before? Let's test whether they are parasitized by the demon species?"
Everyone was shocked: "When did you get here?!"
Feng Ye was anxious: "I have been here the whole time!!"
I don't know why a Qinfang disciple like him could treat the Jiange formation as nothing. Perhaps he completely believed that he was a member of the Jiange, so the formation also assumed that he was a Jiange disciple and did not stop him.
"I think it's probably." Yun Xian pulled out the Demon Appraisal Gift Bag left by Xue Lingxiu from her storage ring. She poked the unlucky Second Elder's finger, and blood dripped onto the stone wall. She shook it and said, "Two bars. There's no hope. Let's drag him away and bury him."
Everyone: “…”
"Just kidding, just kidding." Yun Xian looked at the bright red blood on the stone wall and wondered, "What is Chi You trying to do?"
Qiao Lingshan said briefly: "I want to be a bitch."
Yun Xian gave a thumbs up in appreciation: "Lingshan, you are absolutely right!"
"Ahem." Yun Lang interrupted, "No matter what, let's lock him up in the stone chamber first. Maybe there's a way to deal with him later. We can't let him continue to hurt people."
Although it won't hurt anyone.
"Recently, many elders from various sects have disappeared." Xiao Wu handed the man to his subordinates and said thoughtfully, "Right now, Jian Ge is considered the safest place. But it's only temporary. Once the formation is activated, the same will happen everywhere in the Four Realms."
"I've always been curious about how that folding device folds." Yun Xian looked at Jiang Xingyao, whose face was not visible, and asked, "Does it fold left and right, or up and down?"
Jiang Xing shook his head and said, "Neither. This requires some knowledge of astrology. It's like this..."
He said a lot, but no one in Jiange could understand him. The only thing they could understand was that if the formation was activated, it was inevitable, and the only place to delay it would be the cities in the center of the four realms.
However, the cities were only so big. Could they accommodate a sect, an entire world? If everyone crowded into the cities, the gates would collapse before the formation could even be activated.
"Now that Chi You hasn't shown up, the only place we can start is Xing Yan Zong. I've said before that if Chi You doesn't come to the East Realm, then he must have gone to find Zhong Chang Yao. No matter what happens, we must not let him go. And Zhong Chang Yao is still in the North Realm's Body Refining Sect..." Yun Xian thought about it and felt a pain in his head and his whole body. "No way, he has to go to the North Realm again!"
In the past few months, she had first run from the south boundary to the east boundary, and now she had to run from the east boundary to the north boundary. She was really like a headless fly, running around everywhere without relaxing for a moment, and she could hardly tell the directions.
Qiao Lingshan said, "I'll go with you."
Feng Ye: "Me too."
"No need." Yun Xian glanced at the Sixth Elder and said, "You can just stay in the Eastern Realm."
Qiao Lingshan wanted to go, but Xiao Wu said, "Lingshan, you stay."
In this situation, whether one stayed or left was no longer decisive. Staying in Jiange or going to the Northern Realm made no difference, but now that things had come to this, if the decline was irreversible, at least he should stay with his family to avoid regrets.
Apparently, Yun Lang thought the same thing, but he finally looked at Yun Xian, who had already started packing up his few tattered belongings, and sighed. He then said to Su Chi, who had been silent beside him the entire time, "Disciple, the outside world is dangerous when I'm not around. You must take good care of Junior Sister... Ugh!! Why are you covering my mouth?!"
New and old grudges surfaced, and Xiao Wu gritted his teeth and said, "Shut up! You're the only one who talks too much!"
Yun Lang yelled in injustice: "What's wrong with me?!"
Su Chi: "I understand."
…
Yun Xian rode non-stop, boarding the carriage once again for the northern border. Two months had already passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was late summer again. However, now there were fewer and fewer people around him, only Su Chi and Jiang Xingyao, a non-staff member of the Xingyan Sect, remained.
The wheels turned, and the carriage moved forward with them. Jiangshan dozed off in his beast ring. The array was incredibly powerful. If Yun Xian hadn't been riding a bear, he would have been seriously injured if he had stepped on it. Fortunately, Jiangshan had thick skin, so his core wasn't damaged.
But despite this, I have to take it to Fang Fei for treatment when I go to the Northern Territory.
Yun Xian held his sword in his arms, watching the familiar green leaves outside the car window stretch out in the bright sunshine. He seemed completely unaware of the dark clouds approaching and the impending disaster. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed with emotion and said, "Taiping, this seems to be the road we took to get to Zhongcheng."
"Isn't that nonsense?" Taiping floated up and said, "To get from the East Border to the North Border, you have to pass through many cities, and you can go this way."
Yun Xian: "At that time, you were still an ugly big-eyed person."
Taiping: "..." It's not that ugly, it has long eyelashes, and they're white. Didn't Yun Xian say that people in the Central Plains like white hair?
Yun Xian: "I am also a rookie, not the famous hero known throughout the four realms as I am now."
Taiping: "Okay. You can shut up now."
"...My intuition tells me," Yun Xian continued, smiling and saying, "This is the final destination."
Whether good or bad, it is the final outcome.
"That makes me really scared." Taiping muttered, "Aren't you going to call Xue Shanzi and the dead monk?"
"I'm being hunted, how could the two of them remain unscathed? They're probably busy right now. As for the eldest lady, I don't know what's happened to her. Zhong Changyao went to look for her, but she didn't curse her to death, did she? And..."
The magic stone on Yun Xian's chest was still glowing, but it hadn't been hot for who knows how long.
Even though she knew it was useless, she couldn't bear to throw it away.
She only said "and", but Taiping knew it well, "That witch... what a pity. I still like her very much."
There was another sound of fighting outside the carriage. Yun Xian was sitting in the middle and lifted the curtain. He just saw Su Chi slashing at the back of the man's neck with the hilt of the sword. The black scarf fell, revealing a familiar face.
The five elders of Jiange had dull eyes.
This was already the third wave of people he'd encountered along the way. Yun Xian's initial shock had shrunk to a blank expression. He thought, Lingshan's words were so accurate. This action had no other explanation except servility. What were you trying to tell her? All the elders of your sect are in my hands?
"Actually, I've always found it strange. Since they chose me, why didn't they give me the same luck as Zhong Changyao? Instead, they asked me to obstruct him at every turn." Yun Xian said, "With my current level of cultivation, it's difficult for me to help it."
"Do you think it's a good thing to suddenly increase your cultivation?" Taiping said disdainfully, "Chiyou ate the heart of a pure evil being back then, and now he's become a human demon like this. Do you want to become like that? The laws of nature follow their principles; what is taken from one place must be returned to another. Not forcibly increasing your cultivation now is for your future. Besides, didn't I give you something?"
Yun Xian: "What is it?"
Taiping hesitated for a long time, then said with a grumble, "I've left both swords to you. What else do you want?"
Su Chi outside the carriage quickly dealt with everyone and threw the Fifth Elder to the person behind him. His shirt was stained with blood. He wiped the blood off his face with his fingertips, noticed Yun Xian's gaze, and looked up.
Their eyes met and then separated.
Yun Xian said: "...That's right."
The wheels were still squeaking.
Jiang Xingyao sat on the bicycle frame, looking at the star disk in his palm, while listening to the movement behind him.
In fact, this age seems to be just right for him.
At this age, you have just shed your childish fearlessness, but you haven't had time to put too many things on your shoulders. You can try hard to pick things up, or you can throw them away at will. It's hard to regain your loyalty.
There was a noise beside him, and the smell of blood wafted in. Jiang Xing shook his brows and frowned, saying, "Why don't you sit inside the carriage? Why are you squeezing in outside?"
Su Chi said briefly, "Smelly."
"You can't stink your junior sister, but you can stink me, right?!" It turned out to be the smell of stinking. Jiang Xingyao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The two of them were silent for a while. He still couldn't help but be curious and nudged Su Chi with his elbow, saying, "Hey, what's going on?"
Su Chi was puzzled: "What's going on?"
"Don't pretend." Jiang Xingyao coughed lightly and said, "When did you have this idea?"
Su Chi: "I don't understand what you are talking about."
"Don't pretend." Jiang Xing shook his head. "How could you not understand? I think you understand it very well."
Su Chi frowned slightly.
...These past few days, he'd been pondering this question. Ever since he regained consciousness, he'd never transformed back into a sword—it wasn't that he didn't know what he was, it was just that he didn't feel the need to.
"Why aren't you talking?" Jiang Xing shook his head. "What were you doing during the time you were down the mountain? Rumors spread that you were a chivalrous hero, slaying demons and monsters. Is that true?"
He nearly blew up when he heard that. With Su Chi's icy temper, could he really be a hero? He'd be lucky if he didn't make people mad.
"I didn't." Su Chi was also puzzled by this matter. "I didn't do anything. I just wandered around. I don't know why there are such rumors."
He was just imitating, trying to be more like a person: facial expressions, gestures, words, but the more he tried, the more boring it became, so boring that he didn't even know why he was doing it.
Until Yun Xian appeared.
Jiang Xing shook his head and said, "Are you daydreaming? You actually daydream? No, you haven't answered my question yet."
Su Chi said, "I don't know."
"...I don't know what it means to calculate? I calculated for you a long time ago that you would have a love calamity, but I couldn't predict it no matter how hard I tried. It's far away and yet it's right in front of you..." Jiang Xing shook his head and said, "Forget it, it's normal not to know. But there must be a cause and effect, right?"
He said a lot, and then he saw Su Chi was in a daze again. However, his daze was quite subtle, and it was impossible to tell if you didn't pay attention.
Jiang Xingyao was about to continue speaking when Su Chi suddenly said, "...I might have been born for her."
His voice was deep and resounding.
Jiang Xingyao almost fell off the bicycle frame.
He climbed up tremblingly, but Su Chi didn't even pretend to help him up. He just looked at him coldly, "...I've been waiting for you for a long time, and you suddenly say this? It's very scary, you know?! Don't think that adding a 'maybe' to this sentence will make it less scary, okay?!"
Su Chi remained silent.
"Su Chi, Brother Su, can you please consider the rationality of what you said? I never thought you were so...that!" Jiang Xingyao said earnestly, "If you were younger than Xiao Yunxian, born a few years or ten years later, there would be nothing wrong with what you said. If you were born for her, then you were born for her. You are five years older than her, so what kind of person were you born for? This should be based on first come first served!"
"Don't call her that." Su Chi said indifferently, "...that's all. You don't understand."
"??? You're saying I don't understand now?! How much do you know?" Jiang Xingyao was almost furious. "If you know so much, why don't you even dare to enter the carriage? Be careful or I'll tell Junior Sister Xiaoyun everything you just said... Hey, why are you blushing!!!"
“…”
"What's that arguing up front?" Yun Xian, sword in hand, asked with a confused look on his face, "Why isn't Senior Brother getting into the carriage?"
Taiping stretched his eyes out to eavesdrop for a while, then decided it would be better not to listen: "Su Chi is so annoying, don't let him in."
Yun Xian: "Why are you saying bad things about your colleague behind his back?"
Taiping was so angry that she screamed, "Who is his colleague?! Who is his colleague?! How long has it been since you had him and haven't used me?!!"
"You're on duty in shifts, and you're not satisfied with the day off?" Yun Xian rolled up his blanket and said, "I'm going to sleep."
In ten days, we will reach Qiankun City.
The last stop, the last battle.
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