With one hand, he braced against the untamed vastness of the Barbarian World. The Venerable Master of Rituals retreated a step with his Dharma Image, planting his foot upon a mountain of talismans, using it as a fulcrum.

Millions of golden talismans within the mountain, like rampant vines, ensnared the Venerable Master of Rituals’ ankle. In an instant, the towering Dharma Image, which had been on the verge of shattering, was instantly restored to its original state, returning to its peak.

The Venerable Master of Rituals raised his other hand, his five fingers spread wide, revealing a golden circular mirror. Inscribed upon it in circles were the original names of the sages and worthies who had accompanied the Temple of Literature throughout the ages.

Each golden character, spinning like a vortex, drew upon the stars in the celestial charts of later generations, attracting countless beams of light from afar, which converged into the vortex.

At the same time, from the Magnificent World (浩然天下), golden threads ascended into the sky, tracing arcs in the air. Each arc, composed of written characters, represented an entire classic text of the sages.

With just this one “impact,” the celestial gale outside the heavens churned violently, like waves crashing upon each other in successive layers. Zheng Juzhong and his companions within the grand formation felt the intense shaking of the layered world formation. Had Chen Ping’an not possessed the physique of a Peak Martial Artist, he would have been swept away by the surging aura and, as the master of the formation, would have suffered a setback in his cultivation.

Even the great demons of the Barbarian World observing from the sidelines, lacking the protection of a formation, nearly lost their footing.

Present-day Earth Immortal Qi Practitioners, if placed on this great path outside the heavens, would be utterly defenseless against that tide and would instantly perish, their bodies and spirits completely extinguished.

Hu Tu (胡涂) acted pragmatically, unwilling to waste spiritual energy or deplete his own magical treasures. He directly moved behind the nameless one and Li Gou, standing shoulder to shoulder.

The other ancient great demons followed suit, instantly arranging themselves in a wedge formation.

The old Daoist with the bamboo crown, known as Mountain Lord (山君), no longer rode his white deer but stood on its back, looking into the distance. He continuously waved his horsetail whisk, slightly deflecting the continuous onslaught of the celestial gale.

Li Gou, known as the one with the highest defense among the great demons, remained steadfast even at the front of the wedge formation. Only the sleeves of his Daoist robe fluttered wildly. Unlike the other great demons, Li Gou, whose Daoist name was “Flying Coin” (飛錢), had a deep relationship with “Scholar” (書生) in ancient times, with the most interactions. Therefore, after ten thousand years, seeing that young scholar again, Li Gou’s emotions were the most complex.

The nameless one shook his wine gourd and sincerely exclaimed, “Worthy of being the Little Scholar (小夫子).”

Although the Venerable Master of Rituals had borrowed power to resist the Barbarian World’s impact, his Dharma Image only showed signs of collapsing and had not yet used his true body. This demonstrated the Venerable Master of Rituals’ Daoist body’s resilience.

This diminutive man, whose combat strength even surpassed that of Sword Cultivator Bai Jing, admitted that he was no match for the Venerable Master of Rituals. He simply couldn’t compare.

Although the two were on opposing sides, it did not diminish his respect for the Venerable Master of Rituals.

Li Gou inquired telepathically, “How strong is this impact? Can it be estimated?”

The nameless one pondered, “Being head-on collided with by an entire world, if we were to assume it was two purely martial artists fighting, the upper limit is hard to say. As for the lower limit, I have some idea. At least it would be the Dao Ancestor’s (道祖) full-strength slap? Or the Military Strategist’s (兵家) combined, all-out strikes?”

This was just the nameless one’s estimated lower limit, and the gap between the lower and upper limits could be vast.

After ten thousand years, witnessing the Venerable Master of Rituals’ obstruction method firsthand, Guan Yi (官乙) bitterly smiled, “If it weren’t for Lord Bai Ze (白澤), who could stop the Little Scholar from wreaking havoc in the Barbarian World?”

Li Gou said with a calm expression, “The Barbarian World is not only Bai Ze.”

Guan Yi shook her head, “Fei Ran (斐然)? Shou Chen (綬臣), Zhou Qinggao (周清高), and the others? They are still too young.”

The nameless one raised his chin, “Look over there, the main character has appeared.”

Guan Yi strained her eyes and used an ancient secret art to see through the chaotic celestial disturbances. She finally discovered two cultivators in a remote wilderness in the hinterlands of the Barbarian World, one standing and one sitting on an unremarkable mountain range.

Besides Bai Ze, there was also an unfamiliar face, a gaunt and emaciated young woman. She sat on the ground, staring blankly up at the Venerable Master of Rituals.

For some reason, the “young woman” resembled a banished criminal marked with a tattoo. On one side of her face, someone had used an awl to pierce a character, an ancient golden script for “Burn” (焚).

When Bai Ze found the young woman, she called herself Gui Ke (晷刻).

To be precise, she did not deliberately hide her tracks. She essentially revealed herself, allowing Bai Ze to easily find her.

Otherwise, such an existence, as long as she consciously avoided the investigation of Great Cultivators, even the Founders of the Three Teachings (三教祖師) would be like a mortal teacher searching for a silent mosquito in a room full of clutter.

She and Bai Ze communicated in ancient languages, “Such a good opportunity, are you not going to strike?”

If Bai Ze was willing to take the opportunity to target the Venerable Master of Rituals, he might even force the latter to scatter his Dao before the Founders of the Three Teachings.

Bai Ze shook his head and said, “As long as the Venerable Master of Rituals does not borrow power to return to the Barbarian World, I have no need to strike.”

Once the Venerable Master of Rituals used that collision force to send a portion of it to the land and rivers of the Barbarian World, countless places would inevitably be destroyed.

Gui Ke frowned slightly, obviously not understanding Bai Ze’s choice. She shook her head, “As long as they are Qi Practitioners, regardless of their personality, who doesn’t want to reach a higher realm? Why do you actively become the exception?”

In her view, Bai Ze and the Venerable Master of Rituals were both candidates for the Ancient Ten Heroes. Once the Founders of the Three Teachings scattered their Dao, since Chen Qingdu (陳清都) of the Great Wall of Sword Qi (劍氣長城) was already dead, and Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquis (三山九侯先生) seemed to have never aspired to reach the pinnacle of cultivation, then only Bai Ze and the Venerable Master of Rituals remained, both with the chance to compete for the throne of the number one person in several worlds.

“Don’t misunderstand, my inaction is not because of my friendship with the Venerable Master of Rituals.”
Bai Ze chuckled, explaining, “You were born in the primordial chaos when heaven and earth were first created, so you’re not familiar with that little Confucian’s temper. If you truly push him to the edge, he might just do as you wish, even forcing the Sage of Rites to directly dissipate his Dao. But before that happens, the lands of the desolate wilderness will inevitably be a chaotic mess, riddled with irreparable holes. The demon clans on the land will suffer heavy casualties. Moreover, the Sage of Rites would definitely choose to dissipate half his Dao in the Radiant Land and half in the desolate wilderness. I might be okay, the impact on me wouldn’t be too great, but you, and the entire desolate wilderness, would face a long and bleak period of stagnation. Afterwards, all cultivators who ascend the mountains to cultivate would be suppressed by the new ‘heavenly law’ after the Sage of Rites’ Dao dissipation, and they would have to endure an invisible form of restraint. There’s also another consequence: if the Sage of Rites is even more ruthless and dissipates all his Dao in the desolate wilderness, then Li Gou, Guan Yi, and the rest of those Ascendants will find it incredibly difficult to reach the Fourteenth Realm of Dao Integration in the future, the threshold will become much higher.”

Gui Ke tilted her head, even more puzzled. If the Sage of Rites was truly as selfless as legend had it, wouldn’t it be better to simply dissipate his Dao in the desolate wilderness?

Sacrificing one person to benefit the world – wasn’t that what scholars liked to do most?

Bai Ze, like a teacher in a village school, was patiently explaining to an ignorant child, “Firstly, the Sage of Rites, who has integrated his Dao with the opportune moment, geographical advantage, and popular will of the Radiant Land, would also have a great impact on the Radiant Land if he dissipates his Dao. Whether cultivators or mortal teachers, on the mountains or below, no one can escape. For hundreds or thousands of years afterwards, the entire Radiant Land would experience an immeasurable upheaval. Once rites and music collapse, and people’s hearts are scattered, the difficulty of reshaping the system of rites is as difficult as ascending to heaven, more than ten times harder than reorganizing the old mountains and rivers in terms of worldly dynasties. Secondly, on the surface, it seems that the desolate wilderness would suffer a great loss in the short term if the Sage of Rites dissipates his Dao. The early and middle stages of this war would be completely unplayable, only leading to step-by-step defeats, and perhaps the majority of the territory would fall into the hands of the Radiant Land. But as long as we continue to resist during this period, whether on the mountains or below, causing casualties and losses on both sides, especially if a great cultivator like Guan Yi dies in battle, since I left the Majestic Suppressing Tower in the Radiant Land, I would no longer be able to reject the arrival of these True Names. Therefore, my cultivation realm will continue to steadily improve. The final result, regardless of whether I am willing or not, is that I will be forced to enter… the Fifteenth Realm.”

The biggest beneficiary, perhaps the only one, would be Zhou Mi, who only needs to watch from the heavens with his hands in his sleeves.

It’s like exchanging pieces on a chessboard.

Using the desolate wilderness’ Bai Ze to exchange for the Radiant Land’s Sage of Rites.

As for the great chaos caused by this exchange to the two lands, Zhou Mi would probably be happy to see it happen. Even if all the pieces on the chessboard are captured in a game, as long as the chessboard is still there, the future Zhou Mi of the “world” can simply replace them with two new jars of pieces. The lives of countless sentient beings, whether human or demon, are insignificant to Zhou Mi.

Gui Ke asked the biggest question in her heart: “Bai Ze, ten thousand years ago, during that riverbank conference, why were you unwilling to take over the desolate wilderness?”

If Bai Ze himself was willing to become the master of a land, logically speaking, no one could stop him.

Bai Ze’s innate ability to bestow and passively collect True Names means that he could completely enjoy the fruits of his labor, even more qualified than the sword cultivator Fei Ran and the former Great Ancestor of Tuoyue Mountain to enter the Fifteenth Realm and become the co-lord of the desolate wilderness.

Bai Ze was silent for a moment, a bitter look on his face. “My Dao Heart doesn’t align.”

“Once I integrate my Dao with the desolate wilderness, due to the inherent nature of the desolate wilderness’ demon clans, I would eventually be countered by this land and my Dao Heart would suffer.”

“That secret plan from the beginning would appear, and no one could stop this trend from blossoming and bearing fruit. The entire desolate wilderness, at most three thousand years, would become increasingly barren. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth would be gathered in the hands of a small group of cultivators on the mountaintops. At that time, the other Bai Ze, whether involuntarily or following his own heart, might actually lead more than a dozen Fourteenth Realm cultivators and hundreds of Ascendant Realm cultivators from the desolate wilderness to frequently harass other lands, and must seize more land and living beings from the other three lands.”

In fact, before that riverbank conference, Bai Ze had asked Daozu to help him make a deduction.

The general result was that a group of Fourteenth Realm cultivators, including the three ancestral teachers of the three religions, would have to join forces to destroy the desolate wilderness.

And this destruction is simply the literal meaning of the word; the world would no longer have a desolate wilderness.

All the lands would be greatly damaged, and the remnants of ancient gods hiding outside the sky and reincarnating in the human world would revive from the ashes. They would be unable to suppress the ghosts and restrain the gradually growing extra-territorial demons…

Gui Ke sighed. “It always seems to be contrary to one’s wishes.”

Bai Ze smiled. “That’s why we must cherish the beauty in each other’s hearts.”

She smiled. “That sounds like something a ‘scholar’ would say.”

In any case, being with Bai Ze was much easier than being by Zhou Mi’s side.

Bai Ze squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and with a gentle shake of his palm, countless particles floated in his palm, extremely fine particles of soil, all still and motionless.

Bai Ze then picked up a small stone and gently placed it among the soil particles. In the process, it had already squeezed out a considerable number of debris particles.

Gui Ke turned her head, wondering what Bai Ze meant.

Bai Ze said, “There are only two paths for cultivators to pursue freedom: one is to be in it, with a high realm, like a stone, seemingly able to do as one pleases, either gathering or scattering the soil particles around it.”

As the stone slowly moved, with the stone as the foundation, it gradually absorbed soil debris, like accumulating soil into a mountain, becoming larger and larger.

At the same time, the surrounding soil particles began to move under duress, their trajectories disordered. Some were attracted and approached by the rotation of the stone, while others were constantly squeezed outwards. And the particles moving backwards each brought about the movement of even smaller particles around them, like ripples in water expanding outwards. In the end, the originally static particles above Bai Ze’s palm, along with the soil debris on the outermost perimeter, seemingly located at the edge of heaven and earth, all began to move.

“It is said that the mind is like a restless monkey and the will is like a straying horse. The mind is the most uncertain thing. In fact, the only thing in heaven and earth that has the opportunity to achieve absolute stillness is the Dao Heart.”
Bai Ze picked up the stone again, clutching it in his palm. He raised his arm, bent his fingers, and gently twisted, crushing all the soil encasing the stone, letting it fall back into the open space above his other palm. Then, he simply tossed the stone into the distance. “The second kind of pure freedom is like this. The stone’s very existence has nothing to do with this world anymore.”

Bai Ze suddenly asked, “How did Zhou Mi find you back then?”

Gui Ke’s expression dimmed, clearly with some lingering fear. After a moment of hesitation, she only gave a vague answer, “Zhou Mi waited by the tree stump sixteen times, and each time he succeeded. There was no escape.”

The Hall of Valor, where only those worthy of a throne could find a seat, and Mount Tuoyue, had both been cages that confined her avatar, or more accurately, her “Godhood.”

After all, their true forms were the entire world.

This kind of imprisonment was somewhat akin to detaining a portion of a cultivator’s soul. It could only lead to an incompleteness of her Great Dao, but could not completely suppress her, let alone kill her.

The only demise for beings like them was the complete annihilation of a world, such as a world utterly collapsing, all life extinguished, with no vitality remaining.

Her first escape was when the Dao Ancestor rode his ox into the pass, visiting the Hall of Valor, initially created by the rising Great Demons. He was able to escape from the bottom.

In return, he only needed to refrain from forming an alliance with the Great Ancestor of Mount Tuoyue.

Afterwards, he chose to disintegrate himself, reincarnating multiple times, hiding for many years, but was ultimately found by that Zhou Mi. The latter captured her and brought her back to Mount Tuoyue.

As the Desolate Wilderness became increasingly stable, her cultivation had actually improved greatly compared to her first capture, incomparable to what it once was. Yet, she was still ambushed and captured sixteen times by Zhou Mi, who tossed her to the Great Ancestor of Mount Tuoyue, who had never managed to reach the fifteenth realm.

So her second escape was when the Sword Qi Great Wall’s last Hidden Official cleaved open Mount Tuoyue with his sword.

The sword cultivator Fei Ran, as the newly appointed Lord of the World, received Zhou Mi’s secret instructions, demanding that she fulfill the contract established long ago.

She needed to create a vortex of time in a certain location within the Desolate Wilderness, and she had to ensure the emergence of two branches of the long river of time.

Every stable Immortal Mansion on a mountain with spiritual energy, and every bustling city below the mountain, was a kind of invisible “ink punishment” for beings like her.

Therefore, the more deeply rooted the mountain dojos, and the more prosperous the dynasties, the more they were like festering sores filled with pus on her body.

Even with the Sword Qi Great Wall, a land that had stood for ten thousand years, and the old blind man of the fourteenth realm who had carved away the Hundred Thousand Mountains from the Desolate Wilderness’s map, even if this was tantamount to being cut off from two pieces of her Great Dao, as long as that Zhou Mi had not interfered, in the early days, Gui Ke’s previous life, from the four worlds, should have been able to become the strongest of all existences, and might even have had the chance to reach the fifteenth realm first, completely reclaiming the authority of Heaven and Earth.

However, because their fundamental meaning of existence from the very beginning, and their co-existence with the world, was a kind of “must maintain self-purity,” they were naturally repulsed by the exchanges between the two worlds.

So even when Zhou Mi, the one hailed as the sly old fox, promised her that as long as they cooperated, he could guarantee that she could devour the “comrade” from the Vast Expanse world, she could strengthen and broaden her own Great Dao.

She was skeptical of this. She was still worried about falling into an awkward situation of being neither high nor low, just like cultivators were afraid of being tainted by the mortal world, she was even more afraid of the stalemate between the two worlds. Perhaps it was precisely because of her hesitation, her lack of decisiveness, that she ultimately ended up being locked up on Mount Tuoyue by Zhou Mi. Without her help, Zhou Mi also failed to successfully annex the Vast Expanse world, choosing to ascend to the ancient Heavenly Court, while she had fallen to this state.

Thinking back to that year, on the way to Mount Tuoyue, the man in Confucian robes who carved words on her cheek smiled and said, “Union brings mutual benefit, separation brings mutual harm. The principle is simple, but your heart doesn’t believe it, so there’s no way. But believe me, you’ll definitely regret it in the future. Unfortunately, people’s minds are different, and since ancient times, the distance between them is no less than the separation of heaven and earth. It’s most difficult to communicate reason. This is the biggest difference between us and gods and extraterrestrial demons.”

Zhou Mi’s departure drained much of the Desolate Wilderness’s foundation, especially the loss of top-tier combat power, with far-reaching effects. For example, of the original fourteen old thrones, few now remained.

Moreover, Liu Cha and Yang Zhi were also detained by the Confucian Temple. The only Great Demons who truly survived and returned to the Desolate Wilderness were the Old Ancestor Moving Mountains, Zhu Yan, and the new master of the River of Shifting Falls, Fei Fei. The rest either died in battle, were devoured by Zhou Mi, or disappeared without a trace.

One person exploits and thins the world, enriching himself alone.

This was Zhou Mi’s open and honest strategy, the top, middle, and bottom tactics, with the current situation belonging to the Desolate Wilderness’s bottom tactic, but Zhou Mi’s top tactic.

If it hadn’t been for Bai Ze’s return to the Desolate Wilderness, immediately awakening Bai Jing and the batch of ancient Great Demons, filling in some of the gaps, then the Vast Expanse world, relying on those few ferry outposts, could have advanced at a pace that could only be described as unstoppable.

The Sage of Rites stood on the mountain of talismans, repeatedly reaching out to block the Desolate Wilderness, as if turning the helm of a ship time and time again.

Because of the Sage of Rites’ obstruction, the Desolate Wilderness’s momentum on that predetermined trajectory gradually slowed down.

The Sage of Rites, a colossal embodiment, was truly like the size ratio between a person and a large ship when compared to a world.

Only speaking of the disparity between their figures, it was not so insignificant as an ant trying to shake a tree, or a mantis trying to stop a chariot, but it still made onlookers shudder with fear.

Regardless of the camp, a common question arose: can it really be stopped?

Yu Xuan watched with trepidation. Building a house, the amount of wood and bricks was fixed. In fact, without talking about practicality, it could be very large, or it could be very small.
However, the Sage of Rites’ Dharma Image ahead was like a meticulously calculated and constructed precision instrument. If its spatial volume was too large, it would be unstable and easily fall apart after a few collisions. Even if the Dharma Image could dissipate and reassemble time and again, each retreat of the Sage of Rites would only bring the ferry closer to the orderly Vast Expanse. If the Dharma Image was too small, the area of contact with the Wildlands would not be sufficient. Although it was highly likely to pierce the walls of the ferry, causing countless mountains and rivers to shatter in the Wildlands, it would also lead to the mixing of the Grand Daos of the two realms. This would then provoke Bai Ze’s intervention and evolve into a contest of the Grand Daos between the Sage of Rites and Bai Ze. In the end, regardless of whether the two realms “touched,” it would naturally result in a situation where the clam and the heron fought, benefiting the fisherman. One move would affect the whole game. The Sage of Rites’ premature dissipation of his Dao would cause variables in the dissipation of Dao of the Most Sage Master. The Most Sage Master’s change would, in turn, affect the dissipation of the other two Ancestors of the Three Teachings. Ultimately, the planned sealing of the New Primordial Heavenly Court by the Three Ancestors would become even more uncertain.

Lu Yan sighed. The reason for this constrained situation was that the meticulous planning meant that the Sage of Rites’ real enemy was only half the Wildlands, and the other half was the set of rules that the Sage of Rites had created himself.

Otherwise, Lu Yan had once witnessed the true peak state of the Sage of Rites outside the heavens. Previously, a group of ancient deities hidden outside the heavens, led by the Armored One, attempted to enter the Vast Expanse. At that time, how immense was the Sage of Rites’ Dharma Image? The entire Vast Expanse was as small as a precious pearl, protected by the Sage of Rites with one hand. The reason for this stark difference was that the Sage of Rites had to block the Wildlands while not involving the propriety of the Vast Expanse. The Sage of Rites had to essentially remove himself from the Vast Expanse, an act second only to dissipating his Dao.

Li Xisheng had already seen the signs and breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as Bai Ze did not enter the game, it would not be the worst possible outcome.

In a sense, Bai Ze and the being that symbolized the manifestation of the Grand Dao of the Wildlands were joining forces with the Sage of Rites to strive for a result where the two sides did not interfere with each other.

He pointed to the Wildlands and explained to Chen Ping’an, “Apart from the initial impact of the Sage of Rites blocking the Wildlands, which is like a minor earthquake, the sentient beings of the Wildlands can sense something is wrong and feel a slight dizziness. However, after that, Bai Ze and that being jointly set up a formation, as if adding a layer of grand array to the Wildlands. The Sage of Rites’ subsequent actions did not actually touch the Wildlands’ land, creating a buffer zone hundreds of miles long. For the Wildlands, apart from those sharp-sensed mountain-peak Grand Cultivators, they can no longer detect this celestial phenomenon.”

Chen Ping’an finally understood why Zhou Mi had chosen to act at this time, neither too early nor too late.

Just like when Chen Ping’an had encountered Yuan Pang and his companions on the night-sailing boat, their duty was to cooperate with the Wen Temple in surveying and re-establishing standards for time, the weight of all things, and length. It must have been that the Wen Temple had finally created the initial objects for measurement, and the Sage of Rites had accepted several concrete fundamental rules and integrated them into his own Grand Dao, before the ferry of the Wildlands began to enter that “Green Path” outside the heavens.

Zheng Juzhong stood at the highest point of the Glazed Tile Pavilion, calculating silently. Within his mind-sea, there were originally two light spheres connected by nearly a hundred light rays, with both the shortest trajectory of a straight line and the farthest route of a large arc. The “Green Path” chosen by the Great Demon Chu Sheng outside the heavens belonged to a very inconspicuous route, neither too far nor too near, neither too long nor too short, producing neither too much nor too little inertia… Zheng Juzhong glanced at Chen Ping’an, who sensed it and nodded.

Within Chen Ping’an’s mind-sea, a complete Green Path trajectory supplemented by Zheng Juzhong appeared. At the same time, there was also a map of the Wildlands, with several conspicuous bright spots. Judging from their distribution, they were the gathering places of the Vast Expanse in the Wildlands.

At the same time, Zheng Juzhong also helped Chen Ping’an solve a mystery in his heart. Although Chen Ping’an had deliberately avoided learning about the battles in the Wildlands after returning to the Vast Expanse, he had always found it strange that the Wen Temple, no matter how conservative, seemed to be expanding its territory and advancing too slowly, despite having several Returning Ruins ferry crossings as bases. It could even be said that it was as slow as a faltering old man, rather than an armored and armed young man. As a result, there had not yet been a large-scale battlefield fight between the two armies in the Wildlands.

Clearly, the Wen Temple was secretly setting up a formation.

Perhaps all the mountain-peak “accompanying cultivators,” including the Great Celestial Master Zhao Tianlai of Dragon Tiger Mountain, the Fire Dragon Real Person, and all Ascension Realm cultivators, had been acting as… laborers all these years.

No wonder the Most Sage Master had strangely asked Chen Ping’an in the Demon Suppressing Tower, “If you were Zhou Mi, how would you target the Sage of Rites?”

After receiving Chen Ping’an’s answer, the Most Sage Master did not seem too surprised.

The talisman mountain beneath the Sage of Rites’ feet, with countless golden talismans within, had completely dimmed.

Repeatedly reaching out to resist the impact of the Wildlands and gradually turning the bow of the ship, the price paid by the Sage of Rites was the degree of condensation of his Dharma Image. Even with the continuous enhancement of millions of talismans from a talisman mountain, it was still inevitable that it would gradually become sparse, like a painting transitioning from heavy brushstrokes dipped in ink to light ink, and finally dry ink.

The trajectory of the ferry colliding towards the Vast Expanse along that Green Path had already visibly deviated.

Every time the Sage of Rites acted, a thunderous sound like a great bell would echo outside the heavens, deafening and reverberating in circles of Dao energy in the boundless void.

Only because the intervals between the ripples were too short did even the Great Demons like Guan Yi need to mobilize their natal objects to stabilize their Dao hearts.

Hu Tu gloated a little, chuckling, “Poor Little Master, can he only stand there and take a beating? How come it’s like a blacksmith hammering iron? It’s too strenuous.”
Recalling the past, the Little Master among those scholars was a figure of great spirit. It is said that a venerable old demon of great seniority, a sword cultivator no less, somehow offended the Little Master. The Little Master, single-handedly, sought out the demon’s lair and beat him to death. At the time, there was another demon cultivator present, whose cultivation and abilities were considerable, yet not one dared to lend assistance. Instead, they retreated far away, watching the Little Master leave with a head dripping with blood. Before departing, the Little Master left three words for the onlookers: “Do not collect.”

Among those onlookers were Hutu and Zhuyan, who was lucky enough to later earn the title of Mountain-Moving Ancestor.

Indeed, no one dared to “collect” the corpse. To do so would be akin to scavenging, for the incomplete remains of a demon cultivator at the peak of the Ascension Realm were a treasure trove. They could be refined to obtain, in addition to the body itself, the contained Dao Intent. If refined in time, it would be equivalent to gaining one or even several ancient Dao veins of magical arts.

That demonic body, which ultimately transformed into a majestic “mountain range,” only became a possession after the Riverbank Conference, when several continents were divided, and the location was assigned to the Savage Lands.

In the end, Zhuyan successfully obtained it, and the Mountain-Moving Ancestor refined the entire mountain range, which contained a sword Dao, into a long sword.

Hutu’s smile deepened. “I truly didn’t expect the Savage Lands to produce a Zhou Mi during our absence of ten thousand years.”

To see the once arrogant Little Master so frustrated was immensely satisfying, even from a distance.

However, taking precautions, Hutu cast a spell to isolate the heavens and earth while speaking mockingly.

Without warning, Hutu was struck by an elbow, sending him flying backward for thousands of miles, his nose collapsing. Without hesitation, and without even thanking the nameless figure, Hutu’s form erupted into countless wisps of black smoke, scattering like a giant net cast across the land, surging towards the Savage Lands.

A “talisman” hovered where Hutu had stood, positioned perfectly near where his neck would have been.

This talisman had no paper; it only bore a golden, glittering character: “斩” (Zhǎn – Sever).

Several nearby great demons knew the power of this talisman. Once it struck Hutu, it would take root in his true form, especially entangling his demonic true name.

The nameless figure put away his wine gourd, cupping his fist in a smiling apology towards the Three Mountains Nine Lords Gentleman, saying, “A moment of itchy hands, please forgive me. For the sake of the drinks we shared, let us not dwell on it.”

The single character “斩” instantly transformed into eight straight golden lines, which twisted and converged into a rope, flying back into the sleeve of the young cultivator.

The nameless figure showed a trace of wistfulness. Long ago, on the mortal realm, even though there were internecine battles to the death among the great cultivators of various races, the most exceptional figures, regardless of their Dao foundation or their different origins, were not at odds with each other. There was even a relaxed atmosphere unimaginable to later generations. For instance, Ligou, had a harmonious relationship with that group of scholars, and their friendship was quite deep. By later standards, Ligou could even be considered a half-unnamed disciple of the Sage Master.

The nameless figure who had blocked the attack for Hutu was also familiar with the Three Mountains Nine Lords Gentleman who had unleashed the Severing Talisman, as well as the Cave Master of Bixiao from Falling Treasure Beach. In the ancient years, he had fought alongside them, the sword cultivators, against the gods who patrolled the earth and casually slaughtered terrestrial immortals.

On a mountain peak in the Savage Lands, the girl Guikei, with a sigh, lifted a thin hand to gently pat her chest.

The great formations that the Great Vastness had established in several places within the Savage Lands had been activated, causing her a piercing pain.

Baize extended a hand and patted the girl’s arm, and Guikei’s brow finally eased.

Just as Hutu, gleefully anticipating his arrival in the Savage Lands, Baize shook his head helplessly. “Who did you have to provoke? You just had to provoke the Three Mountains Nine Lords Gentleman.”

Hutu’s greatest folly was returning to the earth so quickly. Was the soil of the Savage Lands not also the soil of the mortal realm?

Just as Hutu gathered tens of thousands of wisps of black smoke, as his toes were about to touch the ground, the great demon sensed impending doom. By a hair’s breadth, he immediately raised his foot, but the surrounding thousands of miles of the Savage Lands abruptly undulated like waves, engulfing Hutu’s ankle. Hutu cried out in anguish, again employing another of his innate escape techniques, but all was in vain. He felt as though he was being dragged into a massive vortex, or pulled up a mountain. The next moment, Hutu was horrified to find himself beside the young cultivator. He swallowed hard, unsure of how to speak.

The Three Mountains Nine Lords Gentleman said calmly, “Will you not apologize to the Rite Sage?”

Hutu’s face turned ashen, but he quickly changed his expression, forcing a smile, and awkwardly bowed to the Rite Sage in front of him, saying, “I spoke out of turn. I am here to obediently apologize to the Little Master.”

To be targeted by two fourteenth realm great cultivators was a taste he would remember.

Baize looked up at the heavens beyond, hesitated, but said nothing. Hutu deserved to suffer this once.

Previously, at Yiluo River, after the conference, they dispersed. The old Daoist in a bamboo crown, Hutu, and the old crone had secretly acted without permission. At the start of this year, they had traveled to the boundary of the Sunken Sunset Return to Emptiness Ferry. They believed that with their combined strength, even if they could not sweep through the ferry, they could at least come and go as they pleased. On the way, they had discussed killing several hundred thousand soldiers of the Great Vastness to show the younger generation, like Fei Ran, their power. However, midway, the old Daoist in a bamboo crown performed a divination. Looking at the trigram, he already began to have doubts. After two more divinations, he grew increasingly solemn. However, for the sake of face, he still accompanied Hutu and the old crone onward. The old Daoist in a bamboo crown was cautious, so he first captured two demon cultivators, one in the Jade Purity Realm and the other in the Immortal Realm. He used the Jade Purity Realm demon as bait to lead the charge at the garrison of a major dynasty of the Great Vastness’ Central Earth Divine Continent. Before he could even act, his presence was discovered and he was killed on the spot.
After several missteps, the remaining Immortal Realm demon was tasked with ambushing the Great Hao scouts and small-scale cavalry units. This proved somewhat effective, and he even eliminated several groups of so-called accompanying cultivators, who were as insignificant as ants. Under the Bamboo Crown Taoist’s deductions, this Immortal Realm demon, like a puppet on strings, acted as an assassin, deliberately concealing his cultivation and realm. He roamed around, ambushing the dynasty’s military forces stationed in remote areas, specifically targeting the martial generals and their accompanying cultivators.

About a month later, as this Immortal Realm demon was sneakily showing his face, an old Perfected Person in an embroidered dragon robe, hundreds of miles away, used two fire dragons to incinerate him, leaving not even ashes behind. Furthermore, the Bamboo Crown Taoist and his two companions nearly fell into an encirclement. It was only by a hair’s breadth.

The Bamboo Crown Taoist, relying on a premonition from a partially refined ancient divine weapon, decisively and swiftly retreated. Sure enough, just after they left their hiding place, several Great Hao Grand Cultivators appeared. Besides the Fire Dragon Perfected Person, rumored to be from Beiju Luzhou, there was also a sword-carrying Taoist in yellow and purple robes, two other sword cultivators, and a female martial artist with an astonishing aura.

Aside from this group of top-tier Great Hao experts, the old woman, with her keen senses, detected several hidden auras approaching. It was likely that they retreated after finding nothing.

Guikei asked, “Why is Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquis so firmly on the side of the Sage of Rites?”

Bai Ze smiled, “Actually, their relationship was just so-so in the early days. I even mediated their arguments.”

Some friends are like a blazing fire, as soon as you meet them, like taking a shot of strong wine, like Bai Ze and Little Master.

Some friendships, however, are like a pot of wine that needs to be simmered slowly over a low flame, like the Sage of Rites and Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquis.

After the Ascension Battle ended, in the ancient years when the world was first stabilized and gradually moving towards peace, about seven or eight thousand years ago, the Sage of Rites made an attempt to invite Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquis out of seclusion to jointly formulate “new rites” for the Great Hao world.

In the end, all matters under Heaven can be divided into affairs of the Yang realm and affairs of the Yin realm. Clearly, the Sage of Rites and Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquis were each responsible for these two areas.

Thus, the latter erected a monument to announce to the Netherworld, with seven large characters engraved on it: “Peaceful Universe Slay Foolish Stubbornness.”

Lu Chen also compared the ghost immortals hiding on the road to the Netherworld, such as the great demon Wuti of Immortal Hairpin City, to “foolish stubborn ones.”

Obviously, it was intended to target the evil spirits and demons under Heaven, especially those who had attained the Dao as ghost immortals. The myriad phenomena of the universe, the net of Heaven is vast, with meshes that are wide, yet nothing escapes.

However, in that long, ancient era, Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquis had an excellent relationship with the first ghost cultivator in the human world, one of the Ten Heroes of that time.

It could even be said that, to some extent, Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquis was the true protector of all ghosts and spirits in later generations.

Zheng Juzhong, Li Xisheng, and Fulu Yuxuan simultaneously voiced a thought in their hearts.

After a moment, the three each performed mental calculations, arriving at three results: the approximate locations of the intersections of different lines of latitude and longitude in the Wildlands, with slight deviations from each other.

Zheng Juzhong, based on this, performed a separate calculation.

Soon, a seemingly unremarkable strategist, who was actually the true master of Gold Emerald City, disappeared from that city in the Wildlands.

Bai Ze narrowed his eyes. Today, most of his attention was actually focused on the City Lord of White Emperor City.

Bai Ze suddenly said telepathically, “Guikei, immediately find the exact location where Hutu is concealing his true form.”

Guikei hesitated, but considering that Bai Ze had helped him earlier, he nodded.

In the Outer Heavens, the Sage of Rites didn’t even turn his head, but with one hand held against the Wildlands, he smiled and said, “His true form is not here; the sincerity is insufficient.”

After all, he was an ancient demon who had lived for more than ten thousand years, so his skills in preserving his life would not be lacking. If killing power was not enough, he could make up for it with the ability to escape.

Hutu said, forcing himself to remain calm, “I really dare not meet the Sage of Rites in my true form.”

The Sage of Rites nodded and said, “That’s an honest statement.”

Hutu’s voice trembled slightly as he said with a thick-skinned tone, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave now. I wouldn’t dare delay the Sage of Rites’ actions.”

The Sage of Rites smiled and suggested, “Why don’t you try and see?”

So that people standing on the sidelines would not give irresponsible advice.

Before Hutu could “politely decline” this invitation, his Dao Heart was shaken.

It turned out that Bai Ze had first called out Hutu’s true name, saying in a deep voice, “Immediately abandon this avatar; be quick!”

But before Hutu could make any movements, the Sage of Rites beckoned, and his entire body flew forward like lightning.

The Sage of Rites reached out and grabbed the head of Hutu’s avatar, using a little force to force this Wildlands great demon to reveal its “true form,” and then casually pressed it against the Wildlands ferry.

Upon impact, the moment Hutu’s avatar came into contact with the Wildlands world, it was like a small flower of splattered blood blooming on a cliff face in the mountains.

Zheng Juzhong, from afar, watched the scattered blood, curved his fingers, and gently hooked. The blood condensed into a thin, long line and fell into Zheng Juzhong’s palm. He shook his palm slightly, and the blood turned into a bead, spinning endlessly in Zheng Juzhong’s palm.

The other City Lord of White Emperor City on the Wildlands continent slightly changed his route and came to the entrance of a hidden and deeply concealed grotto-heaven secret realm.

This Zheng Juzhong joined his two fingers together in a sword gesture, and like a knife cutting through tofu, he broke through layers of restrictions, without even needing to detour, heading straight forward.

When Hutu saw the smiling fellow, the great demon immediately turned pale. He was struck through the chest by Zheng Juzhong, who seemed to be strolling casually. But in that instant, there was another strange phenomenon. Bai Ze arrived beside the two of them, one hand pressing on Hutu’s head, and the other pushing towards Zheng Juzhong, forcibly pulling them apart. With a flick of his sleeve, Bai Ze took Hutu into his sleeve and left the grotto-heaven secret realm together.

Zheng Juzhong lightly shook his wrist, and the blood that had been flung off re-condensed into a bead in the air, which was also taken into his sleeve.

If he had arrived any later, Hutu would have at least fallen in realm. If Bai Ze had not come, then there would be no more Hutu in the Wildlands world.

Zheng Juzhong repeated the words in his heart a few times and smiled, “The mantis stalks the cicada, but alas, you few orioles are not very effective. You fly too slowly.”

As the words faded, Zheng Juzhong disappeared. The figure of the great demon Chusheng appeared inside the secret realm, looked around, and snorted coldly.
The old Taoist priest with a bamboo crown kept forming hand seals within his sleeve with one hand, his expression suddenly stiffening. He forced a few dry laughs, “This poor Taoist will not stay here to watch the excitement. I’ll return, I’ll return.”

Guan Yi sighed softly and nodded, resigned, “Let’s go together.”

As the old Taoist, carrying a sword and holding a whisk, was about to bend down and gently pat his mount, the corner of his eye caught the white-robed man standing on the highest level of the Glazed Pavilion, smiling and looking at him.

The old Taoist immediately felt his hackles rise. What the hell are you looking at me for? We have no grudges, yet you’re staring at me like that?

Have I offended you somehow? I’m just using the pseudonym Wang Youwu (Wang Alluring Object), I’m not actually alluring. Why don’t you look at Guan Yi next to me!

That fellow who’s rumored to be a demonic grandee of the Vast World, seemed to have guessed the old Taoist’s rather absurd thoughts, and spoke to the bamboo-crowned elder telepathically with a smile, “Guan Yi is beautiful and easy to kill, you are ugly but difficult to kill. Tell me, who else should I look at if not you?”

Zheng, you must have a hole in your head. Is that how you think?

Yu Xuan glanced at Zheng Juzhong inside the Glazed Pavilion, then turned to look at the bamboo-crowned old Taoist, and for some unknown reason, couldn’t help but look at the young Hidden Official again.

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