ILDV Chapter 58

“Jiuyou Court? What nonsense. Yan Guihe’s whereabouts are completely unknown, Jiuyou Court is leaderless—where would they get the courage to cause trouble near Li Capital? Just because someone has a poison spiritual root, they assume it’s Jiuyou Court. Do they really think the Heavenly Dao contract signed between the Li Dynasty’s imperial family and the major sects is a joke?”

Casually crushing the transmission jade slip into powder, Qin Xun couldn’t help rolling his eyes as he reached for the next one.

Behind him, the peak of Tianji Peak, protected by layers of formations, suddenly experienced massive spatial fluctuations. Qin Xun pressed the jade slip to his forehead and asked without turning back, “Master, why did you bring Junior Brother back so early? Have matters in Li Capital been resolved?”

No one answered.

Maintaining his posture, he turned back in confusion. Heavenly Sword Sect Master Xie Tingxuan landed gracefully, carrying Xie Lan and Ji Chang’an, one in each hand. Behind the three of them, a black elongated spatial rift was slowly closing.

Qin Xun stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.

“Martial Nephew.” Xie Tingxuan nodded calmly, as if he hadn’t noticed the faint demonic qi emanating from the finger pressed against Qin Xun’s brow at all.

“……Martial Nephew Feng.” Ji Chang’an’s gaze was steady and direct, greeting him in a seemingly normal manner.

Only Xie Lan’s pupils dilated slightly. He stuttered and started to turn around, then froze slightly upon meeting Xie Tingxuan’s calm black eyes. He quietly turned back and nodded in acknowledgment, “Senior Brother Feng.”

Their strange reactions actually confused Qin Xun. His left hand behind his back formed a distress signal as he nodded cautiously and slowly, “Senior Xie, Senior Brother Xie, Junior Sister Ji. Why have the three of you suddenly intruded upon my Tianji Peak?”

Xie Tingxuan waved his sleeve and set the two down, saying to Qin Xun, “‘Right Envoy’ sends word to you: ‘Four-nine is complete, two-three chaos has begun, the Supreme One retreats, only awaiting the future.'”

Right Envoy referred to Li Sun. Chao Liang had agreed to join forces with Wu Mantuo against their enemies, the Second Venerable had fallen, Yan Guihe had disappeared—the forces of the two great Demon Venerables were in chaos with no one in control. Yan Yan no longer held absolute authority and control over the Northern Demon Territory. On the eve of the Tianxuan Secret Treasury’s opening, he had no choice but to temporarily abandon his campaign against the demon territories, conceding and choosing negotiation.

In other words, the once-a-century ranking battle of the Ten Demon Venerables would very likely be convened early.

The hand signal behind Qin Xun’s back relaxed, and his expression eased. “My master is traveling afar and unable to host guests. I beg the Sect Master’s forgiveness for this junior’s discourtesy.”

“No matter. This trip was originally only to escort these two back.” Xie Tingxuan gently pushed Xie Lan’s back, his gaze calm. “Xie still has many pressing matters and won’t interfere with your sect’s internal martial demonstration. I’ll trouble martial nephew to escort these two back to the care of Friend Gu.”

Even the Northern Demon Territory was temporarily abandoning internal conflicts for the Tianxuan Secret Treasury—naturally, Heavenly Sword Sect had no reason not to participate.

Sect Master Xie acted swiftly and decisively. After a few brief words to handle matters, he raised his hand to cleave open space and prepared to leave.

“By the way,” Xie Tingxuan said, “regarding the ‘story book author’ your master had ‘Right Envoy’ investigate—there are leads now.”

After Xie Tingxuan left, the two people left on Tianji Peak immediately found themselves in an awkward situation. Xie Lan seemed quite restless and uneasy. Compared to Ji Chang’an’s calm composure, it was like a mirror image reversal from before they left—the two had completely switched states.

Hearing that Gu Fuxuan had not yet returned from discussing sect martial demonstration matters with the Sect Leader, she naturally asked Qin Xun for some novel story books to pass the time. Under Qin Xun’s probing gaze, she casually found a cool spot to sit down. Before long, she was absorbed in reading, and however one observed her, that air of indifference didn’t seem feigned.

Xie Lan sat on pins and needles. Before long, he found an excuse to leave Qin Xun’s line of sight.

Qin Xun asked, “Is the story book that interesting?”

Ji Chang’an said, “It’s alright. Good enough to pass the time when bored.”

Qin Xun leaned over to glance at it, pointing to a villain who had committed numerous evil deeds and slaughtered the protagonist’s entire family. “What do you think of this person?”

Ji Chang’an said, “I haven’t finished reading it yet, so I can’t make a conclusion.”

Oh?

His mocking expression finally changed. He casually pulled over a handful of leaves and transformed them into a cushion, sitting down beside Ji Chang’an with great interest. “What do you mean? This book clearly states that this villain coveted the protagonist’s family heirloom treasure and massacred his entire family. Such a conscienceless villain—shouldn’t he suffer death by a thousand cuts?”

Ji Chang’an nodded. “Indeed, he should.”

Qin Xun laughed. “Junior Sister Ji, you clearly just said you ‘can’t make a conclusion.’ Changing your stance so quickly—is that acceptable?”

But Ji Chang’an said, “Senior Brother’s meaning was clearly for me to agree with what you said. Now that I’ve done so, why is Senior Brother unhappy instead?”

Qin Xun slowly withdrew his false smile, his gaze gradually turning cold. “Junior Sister is beautiful and kind-hearted. How is it that so many innocent lives lost unjustly don’t seem to matter in your eyes?”

Ji Chang’an said, “It’s just a story book. Why must Senior Brother take it so seriously?”

Qin Xun pressed relentlessly, “But how does Junior Sister know that story books are merely story books, and not worlds that have become as real as the Lantian Realm in places we don’t know about? And how can you determine whether these lives casually eliminated with a stroke of the pen were truly pierced through the heart by a sword, waiting in agony for death to arrive as their blood drained?”

Ji Chang’an seemed oblivious to the gradually increasing pressure on her shoulders and said oddly, “Clearly Senior Brother asked me about a story book, yet why do you accuse me using ‘real versus false arguments’ as a premise? Isn’t this self-contradictory? Could it be that when Senior Brother reads these leisure materials, he’s as serious as when practicing the sword? If so, this junior sister truly feels ashamed of her inferiority.”

Qin Xun stared at her relaxed and natural posture, listening to her sarcastic mockery, and suddenly began to smile slowly. His forward-leaning body straightened again. “That’s my mistake. Then please tell me, Junior Sister, if what occurs in this story book were all real, how would Junior Sister view this person?”

Ji Chang’an repeated, “I haven’t finished reading it yet, so I can’t make a conclusion.”

Qin Xun pointed to a large section of text on the page and said oddly, “Hasn’t this story book analyzed this person’s past extremely clearly?”

Ji Chang’an said, “Senior Brother is wrong again. Since you’re asking me about reality, why use falsehood as a premise?”

Before Qin Xun could correct his phrasing again, she simply closed the book with her other hand and gave a straightforward answer. “I am not a fish, so how can I know a fish’s joys, sorrows, and emotions? To mock a fish for eating mud with a non-fish body—wouldn’t that be laughable?”

This time, Qin Xun’s laughter was genuine. He raised his eyebrows and asked again, “Then suppose one day you also became a fish?”

Ji Chang’an stuffed the story book back into his hands, bringing this topic to a close. “I prefer eating algae, but that doesn’t mean I must forbid other fish from eating mud. Unless one day this fish changes its nature and starts eating the flesh of its own kind, why should I interfere with others’ preferences?”

Qin Xun clapped his hands together, turning the story book to dust that fell like snowflakes. His figure flashed and he stood in the sunlight, turning to issue a challenge. “The sect martial demonstration will be held soon. I hear Junior Sister’s swordsmanship has greatly improved these days. Why not spar with Senior Brother?”

That Yin bastard, wanting to use the excuse of sparring to teach her a lesson again!

Ji Chang’an smiled grimly. So what if he was the Young Venerable of the Eighteenth Hell—she hadn’t suffered through these months of hellish torment for nothing! Bring it on! Who was afraid of whom!

****

Qi Zheng struggled through the dense forest and dark swamp. The long-distance spatial traversal technique that Black and White Impermanence were famous for completely lost its effectiveness in this special environment. The spatial barriers were nearly ten times more solid than in normal environments—with Mahayana stage power, he simply couldn’t break through these constraints.

Ah Sun had painstakingly traced the clues of the story book author, and fearing the person might flee, immediately sent him to make the arrest. If the Eighteenth Hell didn’t absolutely require someone to maintain overall control, he looked like he wished they could both come together.

Upon arriving here, he realized that the Venerable’s and Ah Sun’s worries were not excessive. What proper story book scholar would drill into such deep mountain forests full of traps to write? They must have a guilty conscience!

The two assassins he’d personally trained were blocked by the treacherous environment outside. Only Qi Zheng, with his exceptional skills, ventured in to investigate.

He stared at the identical-looking dense forest before him and fell into contemplation.

Although the Qi-Li duo’s specialties were somewhat different, after Li Sun’s force-feeding education, he could at least tell that before him was a large-scale maze formation. But that was all—he couldn’t even find the entry point, let alone the formation’s core.

……At times like this, if only Ah Sun were here.

Actually no, if it were the Venerable… forget it, the Young Venerable would be better.

Qi Zheng weighed internally whether to continue forward when a white shadow seemed to flash in his peripheral vision. His twin daggers reflexively positioned themselves front and back to protect him as he slowly raised his head to observe his surroundings warily.

Once the enemy in the shadows was discovered, they simply stopped concealing themselves. The tall trees in the dense forest began moving openly, branches colliding with rustling sounds. In just two or three breaths, they had transformed into an entirely new configuration.

Qi Zheng turned back toward the path he came from. Sure enough, it had disappeared, replaced by a tree thick enough for three people to embrace.

Qi Zheng tentatively took a step forward. The scenery before his eyes suddenly changed—the original three branching paths disappeared, and six entirely new roads emerged.

Qi Zheng drew in a sharp breath.

This was… the Nine-Curve Myriad-Ravine Maze Formation?! Impossible. The only cultivator in the world who could deploy this formation had already fallen under the Venerable’s God-Slaying Spear. How could there still be someone alive who could set up a complete Nine-Curve Myriad-Ravine Maze Formation!

In another moment of distraction, six halos appeared on the six newly formed roads. Six paper figures with extremely similar appearances yet subtle differences manifested, their lifeless eyeballs rolling before they all lunged at Qi Zheng together!

The moment they engaged, Qi Zheng knew trouble had arrived.

These six paper figures had also formed a mysterious formation among themselves, working in concert with the Nine-Curve Myriad-Ravine Maze Formation beneath their feet. Dodging a step sideways, the scenery changing was secondary—even the paper figure lunging at him disappeared, unknown from which direction it would emerge next.

With Qi Zheng’s skills, as time dragged on, he gradually fell into a disadvantage. As the number of wounds increased and blood loss accelerated, the paper figures before his eyes split from one to two, two to four, until finally the entire world seemed filled with flickering paper figures.

Qi Zheng collapsed softly. Just before losing consciousness, a blurry white figure slowly walked toward him from the distance, robes and hair flowing gracefully, posture elegant, yet with heavy steps unlike a cultivator’s.

After only two steps, the figure suddenly stumbled on level ground—his long hair had actually tripped him. He scrambled up in a flustered rage, his hair clasp falling off, hair tangled in a mess, robes covered in dust. That deliberately cultivated immortal bearing instantly vanished without a trace.

The person cursed something in a low voice. Qi Zheng’s five senses were blurred and he could no longer hear clearly. Vague words drifted on the wind. “Damn… can’t cultivate… transmigrated into a book… useless… biological son…”

Before he could contemplate the meaning of these words, Qi Zheng completely fell into unconsciousness.