In a small courtyard within the thirty-three layers of heaven:
A group of white-clad men and women stood in the center of a room, chanting something, apparently scriptures, to protect someone.
A Taiji diagram hovered in the air above the house, revolving slowly.
There were many large halls around the house, with white-clad cultivators living in them. However, these cultivators have a Taiji diagram embroidered on the chest of their tunics. These people seemed to have higher statuses than those wearing pure-white clothes.
Xuan En, who had rescued Feng Tonglao from Silver Moon City back then, sat in one of the halls. He was one of the elders from the Supreme Ascendant’s line of inheritance in the Myriad Age Daoist Sect.
Xuan En looked at the house in the center as he sipped tea.
“Keep a close eye on the surroundings. There is still half a month till the Ten Thousand Sages Convention. The Grand Mohist gained some comprehensions today and cannot be disturbed,” Xuan En said.
“Yes, Master!” a white-clad man said respectfully.
“Where’s Feng Tonglao?” Xuan En asked with a frown.
“Junior Brother Feng…Junior Brother Feng…he…,” the white-clad man responded with an unsightly expression.
“What’s wrong?” Xuan En raised his eyebrows.
“He went to Heavenly Chen City,” that white-clad man whispered.
“That bastard! I told him before, he is not to target that beggar anymore. Why did he still go?!” Xuan En glared.
“This disciple tried to advise him, but…”
“Gu Hai is a dangerous and crafty person. He must have discovered something already and is waiting. Going now would just be seeking death.” Xuan En’s expression turned cold.
“I…”
“How worrisome! All he had to do was wait for First Senior Brother to come out of closed-door cultivation and beg him; First Senior Brother would betroth Waner to him. Why do such stupid things? Humph! If not for First Senior Brother’s instructions, I would have… That fool!” Xuan En’s expression changed as he sprang to his feet. Then, his figure flashed, leaving.
In a small, fog-covered forest next to Elite Hall’s headquarters, Heavenly Chen City:
Feng Tonglao set up a sound isolation barrier with his subordinates and watched Zhengfa Ming walk over from a distance.
“Master, he is here! Look, he is here! I saw them coming here yesterday. The beggar’s parents are buried here, so I knew he would return. Look, there are a few Elite Hall disciples too,” the birthmarked man said excitedly at the side.
“Is the Ice Fire Spirit Stone set up?” Excitement flashed in Feng Tonglao’s eyes.
“Yes, the Ice Fire Spirit Stone is ready. Once Master and the beggar sit on it together, we will play the ‘Soul Shaking Song’ to destroy the beggar’s spiritual and physical souls. Then, we will infuse Master’s flesh, spiritual souls, and physical souls into his body,” the birthmarked man said respectfully.
A circle of zitherists sat in the small forest. They placed their hands on their guqins, waiting for the command to play the “Soul Shaking Song.” An altar with talisman scripts carved on it stood in the middle of the zitherists, with a large stone sporting a Taiji diagram in the center of the altar. This stone seemed to have two energies—one red and one blue—revolving slowly above it.
“Good.” Feng Tonglao nodded with satisfaction.
“Two hours, we just need two hours. Master, this Ice Fire Spirit Stone is a supreme treasure of my Supreme Ascendant’s line of inheritance. Why do you have it?”
“It’s my uncle’s. I sneaked it out this time. Alright, cut the crap. Go and lure them over,” Feng Tonglao said coldly.
“Yes!”
The birthmarked man immediately walked out of the small forest wrapped in a sound barrier.
The moment he walked out, he stumbled and pretended to fall, appearing severely injured.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!” the beggar cried out, wanting to run over.
“Zhengfa Ming, don’t go out of Elite Hall’s territory! Don’t go over!”
“This person appeared out of nowhere in the wilderness. Don’t go over!”
The Elite Hall disciples immediately held back the beggar.
The beggar shook his head, continuously signing something.
“You know that person?” an Elite Hall disciple asked, feeling dubious.
The beggar immediately nodded as worry flashed in his eyes.
“Someone that Zhengfa Ming knows? We should go over and take a look, then,” the Elite Hall disciple said.
This place was at the edge of Elite Hall’s territory. As everyone was inside its ritual array previously, Feng Tonglao and the others did not dare to act rashly.
Whoosh!
The moment they tricked the beggar and the others out of Elite Hall’s ritual array, a strong wind appeared out of nowhere and pushed the beggar and Elite Hall disciples into the forest.
“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!” the beggar cried out in shock and horror.
“Who are you?”
“How bold of you! This is Elite Hall’s territory!”
The Elite Hall disciples cried out in shock.
“Hahahaha! Elite Hall’s territory? Well, I captured you!” Feng Tonglao guffawed.
Whoosh!
A group of white-clad men immediately flew over and grabbed the beggar. The Elite Hall disciples could not resist and got caught.
“Quickly, place the beggar on the Ice Fire Spirit Stone. Master, let’s begin! We need two hours, so we had better begin quickly before Gu Hai suspects anything!” the birthmarked man yelled as he rushed into the ritual array.
“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”
The beggar pointed at the birthmarked man, showing disbelief on his face.
“Little mute, don’t blame me. It’s your fault for being so stupid. Hahahaha!” the birthmarked man guffawed.
“Quickly, bring the beggar to the Ice Fire Spirit Stone!” Feng Tonglao said excitedly.
“Hahahahaha! Hurry! Hurry! Activate the ritual array! Prepare to play the piece!” he added excitedly.
Feng Tonglao and his group moved quickly.
However, they did not know that Gu Hai, Ensnaring Performance, Mu Chenfeng, and others were monitoring the foggy area from a nearby mountain.
“It’s about time!” Gu Hai snorted coldly.
Gu Hai extended his hand, holding a Go stone between his fingers, then pressed the Go stone against the air.
Clack!
With a snap, a boundless, vast fog suddenly appeared outside Feng Tonglao’s ritual array. Then, a powerful general coalesced in the fog.
“I have the strength to pick up mountains, and my might conquers the world!” the powerful general shouted.
Boom!
The general swung his halberd down and instantly blasted Feng Tonglao’s ritual array apart.
Boom!
A loud report rang out as Feng Tonglao’s ritual array exploded. The surrounding trees shattered, and everything in his ritual array lay exposed to everyone.
A strong wind blew the wood shards everywhere.
“What?” Feng Tonglao’s expression changed as he looked around.
Then, he saw Gu Hai’s group looking at him coldly from a nearby mountain.
“Oh no! We fell for Gu Hai’s trap! Gu Hai intentionally placed the beggar’s parents’ graves here and got the beggar to make offerings to them every day. He did that to lure us here. He laid a ritual array long ago to set a trap?” The birthmarked man’s expression immediately changed.
“‘Murderous Ballad of the Ferocious Birds’! Hurry!” Feng Tonglao cried out as his expression changed.
I fell for a trap? I fell for a trap?
“I have the strength to pick up mountains, and my might conquers the world!”
“I have the strength to pick up mountains, and my might conquers the world!”
Ten-odd powerful generals appeared out of nowhere and charged at the zitherists. To think that they wanted to attack Gu Hai when they were in his ritual array?
Play the zither? There was simply no time at all. The cloud beast generals immediately overwhelmed them.
“Hold the beggar hostage! Hurry!” Feng Tonglao’s expression changed. He issued orders for someone to use the beggar to threaten Gu Hai.
“Roar!”
“Roar!”
The previously captured Elite Hall disciples suddenly let out dragon roars as they sent their captors flying. Then, they turned into enormous dragons and carried the beggar into the sky.
Whoosh!
The dragons rescued the beggar in an instant and flew to Gu Hai.
Buzz!
The beggar landed beside Ensnaring Performance as the enormous dragons transformed back into their human forms. It turned out that these Elite Hall disciples were actually dragons.
“Gu Hai, since you already guessed that it was them, why did you have to go to all this trouble? You could have just directly captured them,” the leader, Lin Shizi, asked with a frown.
“I did guess it, but I needed to verify whether this was something they just thought of or something they had been planning for a long time. I needed to know whether they were Zhengfa Ming’s true enemy.” Gu Hai shook his head.
As Gu Hai spoke, he coldly eyed the bottom of the mountain.
By now, fifty Xiang Yu cloud beasts had manifested in Gu Hai’s ritual array. They held up halberds and looked at the surrounded Feng Tonglao coldly.
Feng Tonglao’s men had already been overwhelmed in the short clash earlier. His expression changed dramatically as he looked up at Gu Hai on the mountain summit.
“Gu Hai! It’s you again?!” Feng Tonglao said with a glare.
“Feng Tonglao, you are truly stupid.” Gu Hai revealed a cold smile.
“Humph! I admit defeat today. Open your ritual array and let me leave. I can pretend that nothing happened,” Feng Tonglao said coldly.
“Hah! Hahahahaha!” Gu Hai suddenly guffawed.
“What are you laughing at?” Feng Tonglao glared.
“What am I laughing at? You still do not realize your situation despite already having one foot in your grave? Do you think you can leave today? Humph! Kill them, my Xiang Yus!” Gu Hai said coldly.
“Hah!”
The cloud beasts immediately raised their halberds and swung down.
“No! Don’t! Don’t kill me!” the birthmarked man yelled, his expression changing.
The fifty Xiang Yus swung their halberds, and most of the zitherists died.
“Gu Hai, how dare you?!” Feng Tonglao’s expression changed. He held up a sword, about to charge at Gu Hai.
Mu Chenfeng waved, and the Heaven Blasting Cannon aimed at Feng Tonglao.
Feng Tonglao’s expression stiffened as he froze in place. He knew how powerful the Heaven Blasting Cannon was. It was not something he could cope with.
“You! You! I am a Myriad Age Daoist Sect disciple! My master is Xuan En, and my uncle is Xuan Du. Just try touching me!” Feng Tonglao glared.
“Xuan En? Xuan Du? Hah! What does that have to do with me? If I kill you, who would know?” Gu Hai said coldly.
Feng Tonglao’s expression changed.
Nearby, the birthmarked man’s expression changed dramatically as he said, “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! I was just following his orders. It has nothing to do with me!”
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes as he looked at the birthmarked man. “If I guessed right, you have something to do with the death of Zhengfa Ming’s family?”
“No, no! It’s not me! It’s not me!” the birthmarked man cried out anxiously.
