Chapter 45 Witnessing an acquaintance being beaten, he then stepped in to help...
Chang Yubai continued to listen attentively.
Elder Quan Quan's tone wasn't very aggressive, and there was no sign of him getting angry. However, his tone was too calm, as if he wanted to resolve the issue through reasoning, but he was only demanding an explanation.
It turns out that Muqiong County has recently suffered many attacks. The cultivators who attacked were arrogant and domineering, and the traces they left behind all pointed to Shuque County.
Muqiong County was the weakest of the three counties, so it was best to avoid war if possible. At first, Elder Quanquan simply sent the cultivators back to Shuque County as a warning to express his anger.
However, the number of miscellaneous cultivators who launched sneak attacks increased, and their acts of violence became more and more excessive, resulting in the deaths of many members of the Muqiong County clan.
This is beyond what can be tolerated.
Even so, Quan Quan had no intention of starting a war.
The purpose of this visit is to demand that Shuque County hand over the true culprit. If all goes well, Quanquan will take the miscellaneous cultivator back to Muqiong County for execution.
If things don't go smoothly, Quan Quan wouldn't mind finding the murderer and executing him on the spot in front of the Shuque County.
"Elder Quanquan, you must provide evidence to support your claims. What makes you think that Shuque County is protecting the real culprit?"
"That's right, even if you are an elder of a prefecture, you have no right to search for people in Shuque Prefecture!"
"Reason?" Seeing their stubbornness, why bother reasoning with them? He released his spiritual power, condensing a powerful aura that slammed down on their heads. "Today, I will capture the thieving cultivator who harmed people."
It doesn't sound like a big problem, Chang Yubai thought to himself.
Quan Quan is at least a Xuanwu Realm cultivator. Although he is a bit older now and probably not even at the peak of the Xuanwu Realm, there is no doubt that he can crush a group of juniors.
Just as Chang Yubai was about to withdraw his detection, he noticed that the veins of the leaves around Quanquan were vibrating wildly.
A whooshing sound cut through the air, and several people fell to the ground. Judging from the sound, it seemed that someone had rescued the cultivators from Shuque County from Quanquan.
“Quanquan, this is the Tree Pavilion, not the Wooden Dome where you tyrannize yourself.”
"Without an invitation, how dare you step into the Tree Palace of Fireflies?"
"Xu He!" Elder Quan Quan exclaimed in shock, "Are you also going to cover this up?!"
Xu He? The elder in charge of Shuque County? Chang Yubai continued eavesdropping, which he had originally planned to withdraw.
Li Qingyun had been kneading the ginseng for a long time, but Chang Yubai didn't make any further moves. He didn't seem to be preparing to go to the next place.
"Master, what happened?" he asked as he walked over.
Chang Yubai nodded: "I found someone I know."
"You know her?" Li Qingyun reacted quickly. "Quan Quan?"
Chang Yubai has only been to the Forest of Ten Thousand Spirits once. The only person he can talk to and is familiar with is Elder Quanquan.
No matter how fiercely the three counties of Wanling Forest quarreled in private, they always kept to themselves on the surface. How could Quanquan have come from Muqiong County to Shuque County?
Chang Yubai briefly explained what he had heard.
"Shuque County actually resorted to violence and injury..." This was beyond Li Qingyun's expectations. "Isn't the clan leader going to intervene?"
Such heinous behavior should enrage not only the clan leader, but even the Tree God.
How did it develop into this?
The standoff on Quanquan's side has reached a fever pitch, and Xu He's appearance has only emboldened Shuque County's arrogance.
"Elder Quanquan, it's not that Shuque County is unwilling to hand over people, but we can't bear this unfounded accusation."
The same cultivators were still mocking him: "You say the attack was carried out by the Tree Pavilion County, but you have neither evidence nor can you find anyone. Perhaps those murderers are just rogue cultivators staying here? Your Tree Pavilion County has committed many evils, so it's not surprising that you're getting some retribution."
Clearly, Shuque County's response was to deny the charges.
Xu He added fuel to the fire: "Quan Quan, you heard it too, there's no one you're looking for in Shu Que County. If you really want to avenge your clan, hurry up and go find someone outside the Shu Domain."
"Xu He, move aside."
"you!"
Xu He didn't expect Quan Quan to resort to force: "You dare to lay a hand on me in my Shuque County?!"
"Aren't you afraid of the tree god's wrath?!"
"You think you can fool me when I think I have no one to rely on? You'd better use your brain and think about the Tree God." Quan Quan was too lazy to reason with them anymore and directly used his cultivation technique to attack them.
In their back-and-forth exchanges, Quan Quan remained undefeated.
Chang Yubai and Li Qingyun had already moved to the vicinity. With runes concealing their auras, it was difficult for others to notice these two spectators.
“Xu He can’t beat Quan Quan,” Li Qingyun said definitively.
"Mm." Chang Yubai nodded as well.
Xu He and his group spent a lot of time talking, but when it came to actually fighting, they were far inferior to Quan Quan's Xuanwu eighth level cultivation.
“But I still feel like it’s not over yet,” Chang Yubai pondered for a moment.
He noticed that the surrounding leaf veins showed no signs of calming down.
Li Qingyun also noticed this: "Strange, the plants in the Forest of Ten Thousand Spirits have never been so violent before."
He's only been gone for a little over ten years, so why does the Forest of Ten Thousand Spirits look like it's about to change?
Suddenly, several figures flew out from among the hidden plants. They were all dressed in black and masked, and their cultivation was not shallow. The weapons in their hands were aimed at Elder Quanquan.
"It really was you who did it!" Elder Quanquan's anger intensified.
These black-clad, masked cultivators were the bandits who had caused trouble in Muqiong County. Now that they saw their own people about to be defeated, they quickly came out to help.
With such obvious evidence, how could Shuque County still refuse to plead guilty?!
How absurd!
“Quan Quan is no good.” Chang Yubai could tell at a glance the cultivation levels of the black-clad cultivators opposite him. They were all at the Xuanwu realm, with the highest being equal to Quan Quan, both at the eighth level.
Li Qingyun: "Human cultivators?"
"pretty close."
“It must be Saying County!” Li Qingyun said with certainty.
Aside from the Shadow County, the Forest of Ten Thousand Spirits rarely accepts experts with such high cultivation levels. Only the Shadow County, always eager for a good spectacle, wishes all the talented people in the world would flock to them.
"Who cares which prefecture it is?" Chang Yubai twirled his finger.
Regardless of which county they're from, if they don't help, Quan Quan is doomed.
"They actually dared to attack a county elder... This is insane." Li Qingyun felt that these guys had been kicked in the head by a donkey. "Even that good-for-nothing clan leader wouldn't let them hurt people."
But why, even at this point, is the clan leader still not here?
...
Quan Quan realized that the battle had suddenly become dangerous. These black-clad rogue cultivators were all quite powerful, and he had already suffered several wounds after being surrounded.
Oh no! It's actually the Shadow County helping them! These people want to kill me!
Elder Quanquan gasped for breath, unable to believe that today was his death day.
Even though the counterattacks in his hands had not stopped, despair had begun to spread in his heart.
Unless the clan chief arrives in time, he is doomed today.
But the clan leader could only manifest a clone, and even that clone had no cultivation whatsoever. How could he possibly have the time or opportunity to come and save him?
Quan Quan shook his head helplessly. He had wanted to seek justice for his deceased clansmen, but he never expected that he would have to join their ranks.
Sigh...Eh?
Wait, your body!
Quan Quan was shocked. His body suddenly went out of control, and the move he was about to make changed.
Quan Quan: "!!!" Could there be a new enemy?!
But in the next attack, he was somehow manipulated to dodge the series of attacks, and he didn't even notice that someone behind him was carrying a knife and preparing to launch a sneak attack.
A thin sword flew in from the sky out of nowhere. Its blade was as white as silver, but its thinness made one uneasy about its usability. It seemed as if a single, careless slash could break it in two.
"Haha, what a piece of junk this sword is, Quan Quan, you've really fallen on hard times!" Xu He had already left the battlefield. Seeing the Anning Sword hovering beside Quan Quan, he couldn't help but sneer, "A Yellow-rank weapon? How dare you take it out? Even my nephew's kid wouldn't use such a low-grade weapon!"
Quan Quan: "..." Putting aside whether the sword was good or bad, he actually felt a terrifying spiritual pressure emanating from a yellow-rank longsword.
Sure enough, there was a master helping them.
Judging from this posture, it seems they've come to help Quan Quan?
But why only use a yellow-tier sword? Is it to mock them as a bunch of weaklings, only worthy of being defeated by a yellow-tier sword?
As the saying goes, "the first bird to stick its head out gets shot," and Xu He kept nagging beside him. Chang Yubai, annoyed, directly slapped Xu He with his flying sword, sending him flying more than three zhang away.
Quan Quan: "..." Okay, that must be it.
To be able to use a Yellow-rank skill with the feel of a Heaven-rank skill, this expert must be at the Venerable Martial Realm.
But isn't the only Venerable Martial Realm expert in the Forest of Ten Thousand Spirits the Tree God?
As Quan Quan watched the series of enemies being beaten to their knees, he suddenly felt a surge of emotion, no longer caring about being manipulated in the past.
Tree God!
It must be the tree spirit helping him!
That's wonderful! The Tree God still loves him! Fate rests entirely in the Wood Dome... oh, not the Tree God.
Quan Quan's gaze wandered excitedly, and he spotted An Ning returning to Chang Yu's white sheath.
So it was the White Emperor.
Bai was so happy he danced with joy.
No, the point isn't that he was happy for nothing, it's that he was dancing around with joy!
Quan Quan's excitement vanished, leaving only an embarrassing mess.
"...Long time no see." Quan Quan coughed twice, trying to salvage his image.
The cultivators from Shuque County and the black-clad cultivators from Saying County were all knocked unconscious. Quan Quan took the opportunity to bind them with Soul-Locking Shackles and bring them before the clan leader for interrogation.
Why would the White Emperor appear in the Forest of Ten Thousand Spirits?
"The Forest of All Spirits is in very bad condition as I've traveled here. Do you know why?"
Chang Yubai nodded in response to his greeting and got straight to the point.
The Forest of Ten Thousand Spirits looks far more dangerous than I imagined; it doesn't resemble the so-called land of abundance at all.
From Quan Quan's words, Chang Yu Bai learned that this situation was caused by the Tree God.
"The Tree God is in a panic lately, and the Shadow County has somehow found out about this through some treacherous means."
Only the Great Clan Chief can serve the Tree God among all the spirits. The news of the Tree God's poor condition was also obtained by the Great Clan Chief from being caught off guard and tricked into revealing it.
Because the mountain that was pressing down on them is no longer there, the Shaying County has been stirring up trouble fiercely, and there are now many disputes between the Shuque County and the Muqiong County.
"If the tree god hadn't been ill, how could they have been so presumptuous!"
"If the Tree God were to unleash his fury, there would be no distinction between you, me, and others; the entire Wood Spirit Clan would have to bow down!"
Quan Quan was furious that he would even reveal such a secret.
"Rely on the Tree God?" Li Qingyun scoffed. "Relying on that old good-for-nothing to do things is less desirable than hoping that one day an enemy from beyond the realm will suddenly set this place ablaze."
Quan Quan didn't want to hear this, but the person who spoke looked familiar. Quan Quan stared at him intently for a while, and finally remembered where the face looked familiar: "You are... Li Qingyun?!"
Li Qingyun was speechless: "I've been standing in front of you for so long, and you only just recognized me?"
Even if you can't recognize him, you should at least recognize his master, right?
But Quan Quan's gaze kept shifting between Li Qingyun and Chang Yubai, as if silently questioning Li Qingyun why she hadn't graduated yet, and why she was still following her master around at such an old age.
Li Qingyun: "..."
You old geezer!
...
Li Hongyi pushed aside the vines and leaves blocking his path and walked slowly forward.
The talismans that Chang Yubai had stuck to his body had long been peeled off and were being tossed around like a windmill.
Throughout his journey, he made no attempt to conceal his spiritual power.
After walking a few more steps, he suddenly stopped, looking straight ahead where someone was already standing waiting for him to pass.
“Ah,” Li Hongyi scratched his head, “It really is you.”
Li Hongyi chuckled twice: "What, you've come looking for revenge?"
The person on the other end shook their head.
"Having sensed your presence, I no longer wish to wait."
It was a man's voice.
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The author's note: Some people run all over the place digging for ginseng, while others are chased everywhere by emotional debts. What a dynamic life! (sigh.jpg)
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