Chapter 156 The furnace cauldron exclaimed in astonishment, "Ice Mirror?!"...
Bitao was absent-minded all night.
She smiled and even joked with Zhan Kui, but her thoughts kept churning around Ji Chunjun's words, "But I have been trapped in this world for more than four thousand years."
Bitao kept calculating the credibility of this statement.
If this is a lie, then it is an easily refuted lie.
If a banished immortal over a thousand years old were to say that the inhabitants of this star realm did not have short lifespans in the past, then Lord Jichun's lie would be exposed.
The problem is that among all of Bitao's subordinates, not a single one mentioned that she had been banished to the mortal realm for over seven hundred years. Furthermore, no one showed any familiarity with Jichun-jun.
Then the "four thousand years ago" mentioned by Ji Chunjun became an unbreakable "unknown".
Bitao silently observed Jichunjun, recalling everything that had happened since they met, her reactions to everything, and even her mutated water spirit nature.
Bitao thought that Jichunjun had only recently reconnected her immortal veins, and her spiritual energy was not yet flowing smoothly, yet she could freeze people into ice blocks. Thinking of how she had served as the "shield" of the main ship all the way, guarding the water spirit position of the main ship's formation, she never showed signs of exhaustion due to the depletion of spiritual energy, unlike other cultivators who also guarded the formation.
Bitao had long suspected that she was holding back some of her strength.
Otherwise, when she officially joined Bitao's team, she wouldn't have so calmly uttered the confident statement, "I have the Ice Shield; as long as the spiritual energy continues, the Ice Shield will not break."
So just how powerful is she really?
Who is she, an ancient immortal who Bitao doesn't know? More than four thousand years ago, why was she sentenced to this realm?
And assuming what Ji Chunjun said is true, even if someone in the ancient immortal race could foresee that a wild immortal spirit like Bi Tao would appear four thousand years later, causing chaos in the heavens, they only needed to kill her before she could condense her spirit.
At that time, she was even considered a vile creature deserving of death by everyone.
Why go to such lengths to set up a "competition arena" four thousand years in advance?
Bitao believed that she absolutely did not have such a great reputation among the ancient immortals.
Furthermore, if the Ancient Immortal Clan truly valued Bitao, they might have recruited her two hundred years ago, and she might have agreed simply to get closer to Mingguang. They wouldn't have repeatedly misjudged her, allowing her to climb to the position of a Xuanxian before subjecting her to such a grand and forceful punishment.
So, who started this conspiracy that has lasted for over four thousand years, and who will it end with?
Who exactly are they trying to kill?
"Is that bone really that delicious?" Mingguang asked, leaning close to Bitao's ear.
Bitao suddenly turned her head to look at him, her neck making a cracking sound as it twisted rapidly.
The moment the image of Mingguang came into view, Bitao's pupils uncontrollably dilated to their maximum size.
"Eating so intently?" Mingguang couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Bitao's startled expression.
Mingguang took a handkerchief and wiped Bitao's oily mouth.
Looking at the piece of pig's trotter bone in her hand that had been gnawed clean, he raised an eyebrow slightly, his eyes full of smiles.
Bitao glanced down at it, then took another bite of the meat tendon on top.
Ziru chimed in, "This pig must know some kung fu; its meat is incredibly chewy!"
Mingguang said to Bitao, "There are so many more, why bother with that one? Nobody's going to take it from you."
Bitao laughed and threw away the pig's trotter in her hand, then picked up a new one and continued to gnaw on it.
Just as she was about to let her thoughts wander again and make even bolder assumptions, a large number of spirit ships swept overhead.
Then, the spirit boat team, whose size was not much smaller than theirs, also hovered in the mountains and forests and slowly descended—not far from their encampment.
Bitao was the first to stand up, and the others followed suit, cooperating seamlessly with each other as they had been trained beforehand, quickly entering a state of readiness.
The journey had been eerily calm, and Bitao guessed that her hastily assembled large team could serve as a deterrent, scaring away some unimportant, greedy groups.
But before even reaching this town, he already felt something was wrong because the journey had been too smooth.
Is the Ancient Immortal Clan finally going to confront us head-on?
Once the spirit boats landed, Bitao and the others boarded them, activated the protective formation, and silently lined up, holding their magical artifacts and ready for battle.
However, as the people on these spirit boats "joyfully" disembarked, the group on Bitao's side, who had been on high alert, began to look at each other in bewilderment.
The other side did indeed have a large number of people, and they all rushed out at once.
But... they were all mortals.
After the mortals disembarked from the spirit boat, they seemed quite used to the spectacle of Bitao and her group.
Like the townspeople at the daytime market, they were not afraid of the banished immortal; they clearly knew that the banished immortal would not dare to harm them, mortals.
Some people started setting up tents for the night and even borrowed tools from Bitao's group for digging holes and hammering in wooden stakes.
They helped each other; some set up a fire, while others formed teams to fetch water from the stream.
Like a group of ordinary friends going on a picnic together.
As all the mortals disembarked from the spirit boat, in the blink of an eye, this desolate mountain forest was transformed into a bustling "market town" filled with trees amidst their noise and laughter.
At this moment, after learning about the situation, the Dharma Protector Master Han Shang and others walked to Bi Tao's side and reported to her.
"These are all spirit boats of the resident elders of the Nine Heavens Palace. Fairy, look, those flags are the totem of the Nine Heavens Palace."
Bitao followed Han Shang's hand and saw a flag that was quietly fluttering and stretching in the night breeze, its golden surface gleaming with the image of a crescent moon and a sun embracing each other.
Bitao's eyebrows twitched, and she turned her head to look at Mingguang, who nodded slightly at her.
Bitao was certain that she hadn't made a mistake.
The totem painted on this banner is the image of the sun and moon ruling together under the same sky—the embroidered pattern on the robe of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Azure Flower.
Could it be that Xu Xingshen of the Nine Heavens Palace is a follower of the Eastern Azure Emperor?
“Fairy Bitao, those mortals are the ones who went to Elder Qingwen’s palace to build the lotus pond.”
"The team leader has arrived. Would you like to meet him?"
Bitao nodded.
Soon a handsome, ethereal figure arrived, followed by several companions who remained beneath Bitao's spirit boat.
Although the immortal leading the group did not know who Bitao was, he bowed and clasped his hands in greeting to her from a distance.
Standing a distance from Bitao, he explained in a serious tone: "We are people from Elder Qingwen's palace, who is stationed in the Nine Heavens Palace. This time, we are going to the mortal realm to pick up some mortals to build palaces and pools, and also to pick up the furnace cauldrons that were sent to the Nine Heavens Palace."
"We are sharing this place with the immortals. We hope that you immortals will not hold our noise against us."
Their meaning was clear: they did not want to clash with Bitao and the others.
Although he bowed slightly, his attitude showed little humility, clearly indicating that Elder Qingwen of the Nine Heavens Palace was not someone to be trifled with.
If the other side were truly afraid of the scale of Bitao and her group's formation, they would never have chosen to rest and recuperate in the same mountain forest as them.
"A furnace or cauldron?" Bitao thought of how, after she descended to the mortal realm, the first time she was captured, she was sent to Xu Xingshen's palace to be used as a furnace or cauldron.
She doesn't care about these mortals who build palaces, but if these people force women to enter the Nine Heavens Palace as furnaces for that Xu Xingshen, Bitao will not be able to ignore it.
Moreover, she desperately needed a high-profile opportunity to make a powerful appearance at the ascension ceremony.
"Bring those furnaces over here, let me see them," Bitao ordered the immortal leader without any politeness.
This person thought that coming here to meet was just a formality, and obviously did not expect that Bitao would actually dare to provoke Elder Qingwen's spirit boat team.
Upon hearing this, he immediately refused: "I'm afraid that won't work. The furnace is to be sent to the Nine Heavens Palace for Xu Xingshen to choose from. We..."
Bitao slightly raised her head, and several people suddenly rushed out from the silent ranks on both sides of the spirit boat and subdued the banished immortal.
Then Tai Chi quickly stepped forward, without uttering a sound, and plunged his knife into the back of this handsome immortal, instantly severing the immortal meridians within his body.
A knife as thin as a willow leaf and as long as a finger; the white blade goes in and comes out white.
Not a single drop of blood was on the blade.
His speed and skill were breathtaking; even the immortal who had been standing next to him subconsciously moved away from him.
Once everyone released the immortal, his gaze towards Bitao, which had been lukewarm, had completely changed.
Even though his immortal pearl wasn't extracted, he was unable to use his spiritual energy!
He was quite clever; he realized he couldn't resist these people, and that relying on the reputation of the Nine Heavens Palace to show off was useless, so he stopped mentioning his master or Xu Xingshen to intimidate them.
Moreover, if he messed up this mission, his life would be in danger, so he quickly suppressed his fear.
Gritting his teeth and pretending nothing had happened, he turned around and gave instructions to the people under the spirit boat, saying, "Bring all the immortal lords and fairies down here for some fresh air."
Bitao really didn't want to have a conflict, after all, there were so many mortals here.
Seeing that this immortal was sensible, she stepped forward, placed her hand on his back, and activated the wood spirit to reconnect his severed immortal meridians.
As the spiritual energy returned, the astonishment in the eyes of this banished immortal deepened.
Bitao looked at him and casually made up a lie, saying, "I have a younger sister who has been missing for a long time. She greatly admires Xu Xingshen. I have been searching for her in vain. I am now preparing to go to Jiuxiao Palace to ask Xu Xingshen for help and to inquire whether he knows her whereabouts."
Bitao smiled at the immortal and said, "If she happens to be fooling around and mixing in with the furnace cauldrons, then I will personally go to pay my respects to God Xu Xing."
"Don't worry, I will go to the ascension ceremony at the Nine Heavens Palace no matter what, and I won't make things difficult for you."
The immortal leader of the group visibly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
But he had to tell the elders and Xu Xingshen about the sneaky tricks this team knew as soon as possible!
The way to control the banished immortals has always been to extract their immortal pearls.
This group of people were able to plunder and restore the immortal's spiritual veins in the blink of an eye! This is outrageous!
At this time, those "breathable" furnaces were also brought over.
However, contrary to Bitao's expectations, most of them were men with graceful figures.
And there was no fear or resistance on their faces as if they were being coerced; one of them walked over "gracefully" with a swaying waist.
While looking around, she met Bitao's gaze. Seeing so many people surrounding Bitao, she was clearly the master of this group of immortals.
He suddenly changed his "ambition" and didn't plan to go to the Nine Heavens Palace to serve that "old man" Xu Xingshen. He probably wanted to be a furnace for Bitao. Oblivious to others, he winked at Bitao twice and unleashed a wave of lust.
Bitao: "..."
Mingguang, who was standing next to Bitao, was looking in the same direction as Bitao and caught the man's alluring gaze.
His breathing suddenly turned somber, and he stepped forward, blocking half of Bitao's body.
Despite it being night, the moment he stood next to Bitao, a sense of oppressive darkness, as if dark clouds were pressing down on the city and threatening to crush it, emanated from him.
The man whose eyes were darting around shrank back when he met Mingguang's sharp golden gaze.
Zhan Kui leaned against Guang Han, his cheek pressed against her arm clad in a red gauze robe, and whispered to her, "See? I told you that just that face of mine could repel the enemy."
At this moment, Bitao, who was the center of everyone's attention, inappropriately lost her focus, staring intently at the beauty at the very end of the group of furnace cauldrons.
The beautiful woman's face was partially veiled by a light veil, and her long hair flowed freely, billowing in the night breeze.
The woman's beautiful eyes and brows were captivating, and when she looked over, her hair was styled in a misty, dreamlike manner.
Bitao quickly stepped forward and grabbed the woman's arm.
He exclaimed in astonishment, "Ice Mirror?!"
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