“Now this is good.” Ye Chenyan kicked away a Fire Cauldron Sect cultivator who had no sense of timing, then crooked a finger at the leading figures opposite him, smiling with wild arrogance. “Eldest Senior Brother formed his Nascent Soul perfectly. With a Nascent Soul cultivator holding the line for the Guiyi Sect, we can walk sideways through this Golden Core Competition.”
Huang Tiandao’s face darkened like water. Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, he did not linger in the fight. In a flash, he inserted himself into the battlefield between Jin Yangzi, Scholar Xiao, and Chi Yantian, separating them from Jin Yangzi.
Scholar Xiao had not been putting in much effort to begin with. He took the opportunity to step aside, helplessly waving his fan. “Ai, why bother, why bother?”
Chi Yantian, on the other hand, had been provoked into a temper, but he had just opened the furnace to refine the artifact and had expended a great deal. At the moment, he was not at his peak. As for Jin Yangzi, who was fighting him, no one knew what was going on with him either. He only used his golden wheel to fight from a distance and did not seriously exchange blows with them, as if he had other plans.
The three of them had been fighting in an extremely halfhearted way.
But here, Wen Rubing had successfully formed his Nascent Soul without showing the slightest weakness. Behind him, the illusory form of a Nascent Soul stood holding a sword, and there was faintly a natural phenomenon—Nascent Soul phenomena were like core markings on a Golden Core. They allowed cultivators to far surpass others of the same level and were opportunities that could only be encountered, not sought.
Jin Yangzi looked toward Wen Rubing, his expression carrying a trace of incomprehension and wariness.
Wen Rubing had first trapped his own cultivation for years and severed his own future, then advanced three levels in a row with an unstable foundation. During his breakthrough, he had even been disturbed by outside attacks and fallen into disorder...
On what basis had he cultivated a Nascent Soul phenomenon?
It couldn’t possibly be because of that qin cultivator, could it?
Yu Qingtang had already lain flat by now. In fact, to avoid being caught in the crossfire, he had directly flipped the spirit boat over and buckled it over his head like a turtle shell—anyway, Ye Chenyan had said the spirit boat also had defensive effects. At the very least, it ought to be better at taking a beating than he was.
Carrying the turtle shell, he only lifted it a little and secretly observed the surrounding scene.
Jin Yangzi slowly turned his head.
No matter how one looked at this, he did not look like an impressive character!
Chi Yantian was still laughing loudly and taunting him. “What a fine Mountain-Moving Seal! You moved a mountain just to smash your own foot!”
Jin Yangzi’s fingers cracked. Killing intent suddenly surged, and the red dot between his brows turned even more vivid, as red as blood.
Huang Tiandao hastily advised him, “Do not lose sight of the greater matter over a small slight!”
He lowered his voice and said something. Yu Qingtang craned his head around, relying on the exceptional hearing of a music cultivator to catch half a sentence about “something something is imminent, cannot kill,” and his expression turned a little strange.
The Golden Light Sect was a rather complicated sect, both Buddhist and Daoist. It was said that their founding master had once witnessed a true immortal and a living Buddha debating the Dao. With a single thought, he achieved sudden enlightenment and created the Golden Light Sect.
But that was only a rumor among the people. It could not be trusted completely.
“Hmph.” Jin Yangzi forcefully restrained his anger and suppressed the impulse to act. “All of you are useless.”
With a flick of his sleeve, he was about to turn and leave, but Wen Rubing’s pressure had already enveloped the area.
Wen Rubing’s gaze was bright as a torch. “Please—stay.”
His longsword left his hand and chased straight after him through the air. Jin Yangzi gave a cold snort, and an ancient bronze treasure mirror patterned with a sun flew out from the sea of consciousness between his brows. The moment it appeared, its radiance blazed brilliantly, as if even the sun in the sky had dimmed by several degrees.
Yu Qingtang carried the spirit boat and slowly absorbed the Spirit Recovery Pills to restore his spiritual energy. He guessed that this mirror was probably the first-rank spiritual artifact Golden Light Mirror that Li Ling’er had gossiped about before, the kind with human-like intelligence.
Yu Qingtang thought of his own qin and suddenly developed a subtle feeling of “other people’s spiritual artifacts.” He helplessly shook his head.
The mirror opposite them looked extremely awe-inspiring. As soon as it appeared, it had the air of a great master, allowing the mid Golden Core Jin Yangzi to forcefully withstand the attack of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
They were both first-rank spiritual artifacts, so how was the difference so large?
Yu Qingtang propped up his chin and pondered. Could it be that this qin in his hands had used all its spirituality to appreciate beauty?
After all, in the original novel, even after Miaoyin Xian obtained this qin, she had not used it many times. The countable ones included only later, when she played the Heart-Questioning Melody for Ye Chenyan and helped him form his Nascent Soul.
After that, Miaoyin Xian herself went offline, let alone the qin that followed her.
Activating a first-rank spiritual artifact consumed an enormous amount. Jin Yangzi’s already fair face turned even more sickly pale, carrying a hint of ruthlessness.
But he was set on fleeing. It was also very difficult for Wen Rubing to keep him there.
“They’re running already?” Cangzhu struggled to climb up. When he saw the Guiyi Sect disciples charging at him, his face changed. “We’re leaving too!”
“You want to leave now?” The Guiyi Sect disciples, who had been holding back a breath of malicious anger, rose on their swords one after another. For a time, sword light flashed chaotically. Ignoring the difference in numbers, they pressed the other side down and beat them.
On the remnants of Nine Peaks, where the mountain peak had been flattened, Yu Qingtang had the honor of watching a cultivation-world group brawl.
Carrying his turtle shell, he felt that he had already worked hard earlier, so now he watched the show with perfect confidence.
But when his gaze shifted, he saw that Cangzhu did not dare rise into the air. Instead, he had sneakily dropped into the valley and was hiding behind a giant boulder, pretending to be dead.
He was rather clever, knowing to do the opposite of what was expected.
Yu Qingtang narrowed his eyes, dragged the spirit boat, and carefully shuffled a few steps toward him, pretending he was merely a little spirit boat that could secretly move on its own.
Once he was close enough, Yu Qingtang lifted the spirit boat in one burst of courage, pulled out the Dragon-Crane Zither, and swung it out in one go.
With a twang, light flashed over the Dragon-Crane Zither as if it had let out a cry of grief. Cangzhu was caught completely off guard and was forcibly smashed into the wall.
“Hm?” Yu Qingtang froze. In disbelief, he lowered his head and looked at his own hands. Was he this strong? Could it be that he had chosen the wrong path all along, and he should actually have taken the path of a body cultivator?
Li Ling’er noticed the movement over here and was also dumbfounded. “You, you...”
She originally had many things to say, but then remembered that he had just helped Eldest Senior Brother. In the end, she could only flush red and force out, “Who, who taught you to use a qin like that?”
Only then did Yu Qingtang react—the qin!
Last time, when Ye Chenyan touched this qin, it had also let out a similar cry of grief and even gnawed on his spiritual power. This time...
He looked at Cangzhu, who had been smashed into the mountain wall so hard he could not be pried out, and suddenly understood. The Dragon-Crane Zither did not want to touch men, so it had exerted strength on its own too!
In that case, could it be that this qin of his was actually a divine weapon against male cultivators?
He was still dazed when Li Ling’er cried out and raised her sword to block an attack for him, flustered. “How can you zone out while fighting?”
Yu Qingtang hastily placed the spirit boat back over his head. “I’m very weak. I’ll crouch here for a while.”
He pointed at Cangzhu. “Also, don’t beat that one to death yet. Capture him first.”
He still had plot later.
Li Ling’er’s mouth fell open as she looked at the spirit boat on his back. “And who taught you to use a spirit boat like that?”
“Your Senior Brother Ye,” Yu Qingtang lied with no burden whatsoever. “He said the spirit boat could defend.”
Someone raised a hand and knocked tap-tap against his spirit-boat shell, then bent down to look at him with a smile. “Hey, why is there a little turtle spirit here?”
“Why are you insulting people?” Yu Qingtang glared at him. Ye Chenyan smiled and crouched down, pressing his hands together in apology. “Yes, yes, yes. I was the one who didn’t know what was good for me.”
“Miss Yu is the kindest fairy under heaven, definitely not a little turtle.”
Li Ling’er was the first to be unable to stand it. She stood up. “Eugh. Did you catch up to Jin Yangzi or not?”
“No.” Ye Chenyan curled his lip. “Relying on that first-rank spiritual artifact in his hands, he only wanted to run and didn’t want to exchange blows. Who could keep him there?”
Li Ling’er was frantic with anger. “So you just let him run?”
“What’s the rush?” Ye Chenyan propped up his chin. “As long as he’s still inside this Ancient Academy Realm, he’ll have to show up when the Academy’s great exam begins.”
Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes. “Sooner or later, I’ll make him pay the price. This year, when the golden list is posted for the Academy’s great exam, I’ll make sure not a single Golden Light Sect name can be seen on it.”
Li Ling’er seemed to feel that was still not enough to vent her anger. She crouched down and huffed. “That’s letting them off easy!”
She could not help muttering, “But our Guiyi Sect and the Golden Light Sect have been at odds for more than a day or two. Over the past several hundred years, either we suppressed them or they suppressed us. Each side has had victories and losses. We could be considered evenly matched opponents.”
“Ever since Jin Yangzi appeared, they’ve acted more and more excessively. This time, they actually used such an underhanded method...”
She lowered her voice and carefully looked at Ye Chenyan. “Senior Brother, do you think those rumors might be true?”
Ye Chenyan raised a brow. “What rumors?”
“That the world is about to fall into chaos, and heroes are emerging everywhere,” Li Ling’er said quietly. “Didn’t Martial Uncle Tianji Zi also say you were born supreme? It seems Jin Yangzi’s fate also has a phenomenon. Some people say he has Buddhist bone, and back then, Dharma Academy even wanted to go to the Golden Light Sect and snatch him away...”
“They know he was born with Buddhist bone and assume he’ll definitely step on us in the future, so they dare to act so arrogantly.”
Ye Chenyan sneered. “Which part of him looks like someone who cultivates Buddhism?”
“If you believe he can become a Buddha, you might as well believe your senior brother can unify the immortal sects.”
Yu Qingtang: “Cough cough cough!”
Ye Chenyan raised a brow and looked at him.
Li Ling’er did not take his nonsense seriously. Counting on her fingers, she said, “But think about it. In just these few years, a supreme, Buddhist bone, and the holy maiden of the Esoteric Sect’s innate Dao fetus—all these geniuses that appear once every several hundred or thousand years have emerged at this time.”
Her brow furrowed with worry. “Everyone says heroes appear in troubled times. Could it be that a great disaster really is about to arise...?”
Ye Chenyan looked at her deeply, then secretly reached out and beckoned Yu Qingtang over. “Look at her. Her head is smoking.”
“Hm?” Li Ling’er subconsciously touched her head.
Yu Qingtang mercilessly betrayed Ye Chenyan. “It isn’t. He’s tricking you.”
Li Ling’er flew into a rage. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, you should learn from him.” Ye Chenyan kindly rubbed Yu Qingtang’s head, as if rubbing the head of some fluffy little creature. “Worry less about things you can’t think of answers for.”
“If the sky really is about to fall...” He raised his head and laughed. “Then there’s nothing we can do. Each of us can only show our own abilities and do our best to hold it up.”
Yu Qingtang nodded along and patted Ye Chenyan’s shoulder too, giving him a thumbs-up. “It’s fine. If the sky falls, your senior brother will hold it up.”
Ye Chenyan’s eyes widened slightly, and he burst into laughter. “All right. It’s a deal. I’ll hold it up.”
He turned his head to look at Cangzhu, who did not dare move. “Right, why did you want to keep him?”
“It’s nothing much. I’m just curious why the Fire Cauldron Sect got mixed up with the Golden Light Sect.” Yu Qingtang lowered his voice and leaned close to his ear. “Maybe it has something to do with the internal upheaval in the Fire Cauldron Sect that Du Heng mentioned.”
Ye Chenyan looked thoughtful and deliberately dragged out his tone. “Oh—so it’s for your Senior Brother Du.”
Yu Qingtang: “?”
Why was he being so passive-aggressive?
“You.” Ye Chenyan stood. His longspear brushed past Cangzhu’s face and stabbed into the mountain wall. Raising a brow, he asked him, “What benefits did the Golden Light Sect give you to make you willing to be their dog?”
Cangzhu’s expression changed several times before he forced a smile. “Brother Ye, my Fire Cauldron Sect’s path of pills stands unmatched beneath heaven...”
“Don’t feed me that nonsense.” Ye Chenyan’s smile did not fade. “My Guiyi Sect’s torture methods stand unmatched beneath heaven. Would you like to try them?”
“Hey!” Li Ling’er looked up at the Flying Immortals Ranking and hastily waved her hands. “Don’t talk nonsense! Our Guiyi Sect doesn’t specialize in anything like that!”
“We’ve always been straightforward. We beat people until they’re willing to talk. Since when do we know any torture methods?”
“Oh.” Ye Chenyan casually pointed at Yu Qingtang. “Then their Biehe Sect’s torture methods stand unmatched beneath heaven.”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened. “Hm?”
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