Chapter 185

They are in the palace hall, surrounded by rubble and wreckage. A group of men and women were dressed in icy gray cultivator uniforms surrounding them. Countless longbows have been strung in half-moon shapes, and the arrow tips were aimed at them in unison.

This feeling is like waking up from a sleep and finding yourself in a mountain of knives and a sea of swords. Xie Bi An's heart was pounding, and his hand clutching the hilt of his sword was oozing with sweat.

Lan Chui Han and him were back to back: "You finally woke up." The tone was somewhat helpless.

"I ... am sorry." Xie Bi An was very vexed that he had fallen back into the illusion at such a moment of crisis. His eyes quickly caught sight of the tall man in the crowd that covered his face, and his eyes instantly burst with killing intent.

Lan Chui Han said: "Brother Yun, you let Qing Wu Zi lure us into the city and set up an ambush, what for? Is it because you want to kidnap us and turn us into hostages?" Of course, he had already guessed that both the Golden Trunk Jade Policy and Qing Wu Zi were due to Yun Zhong Jun playing tricks behind their backs, and the purpose was just to get Xie Bi An's core, but Yun Zhong Jun didn't dare to let the Cangyu Sect people, especially Qi Meng Sheng, know yet, and they naturally didn't want Xie Bi An's identity to be exposed. This fact might help them hold back Yun Zhong Jun.

Xie Bi An could feel Lan Chui Han’s muscles behind him tensed up. His shoulder blades were rising and falling slightly with his breathing. He was obviously not as calm as he sounded.

Yun Zhong Jun's voice was still cold: "Qing Wu Zi is still missing now. I also would like to know what deal he has with you guys. You guys have trespassed into Chidi City and come to the palace and plotted against my master, so it can be considered that you guys have walked right into our trap. What ambush do I still need to set up?"

"How much longer does Brother Yun still want to pretend?" Lan Chui Han smiled coldly, "If Qing Wu Zi really had any deal with us, would he not tell us that Immortal Lord Qi is not in the Palace at all?"

"Qi Meng Sheng is not in the Palace?" Xie Bi An whispered, "Could it be that she went to Shen Nong Ding?"

Yun Zhong Jun said, "That’s right. Master went to Shen Nong Ding three days ago to make the final layout for the opening of the furnace. I expected you guys to have no guts to assassinate Master, so this trip is for the Qingfeng Sword?"

Xie Bi An stared at Yun Zhong Jun. His eyes full of coldness: "Does Yun Zhong Jun really not know why we came? Unluckily, we know why Yun Zhong Jun came."

It was difficult to see the expression on Yun Zhong Jun's face behind the mask, but the hollow of his eyes had a faint flicker in those shadowy pupils: "I don't know what you are talking about. Could it be after you were struck by the ‘Realm of Nothingness’ that you can no longer distinguish between reality and illusion?" His pale pink lips curled slightly, "Do you guys think you are really awake now?"

The two were shocked.

Lan Chui Han said in a deep voice: "Bi An, don't fall under his spell. We are awake now."

Xie Bi An settled his mind: "Don't worry." He lowered his voice again and said, "Wu She is definitely trying to think of a way to save us."

"Don't try to stall for time. Allow yourself to get captured with hands tied!" An elder bellowed, "When Sect Leader Immortal Lord has succeeded, for the sake of Heaven Master Zhong and Immortal Alliance Li, perhaps she can spare you from death."

"Qi Meng Sheng will not be able to refine the core, and she will never get her way with her schemes."

"You’re overestimating your capabilities." Yun Zhong Jun said, "Brother Lan, White Immortal, I advise you to recognize the situation. Heaven Master Zhong has lost his Qingfeng Sword, Li Bu Yu is dying, and Xu Zhi Nan has passed away. Looking at Jiuzhou, no one can confront my master. My master will definitely refine the Absolute Human Emperor, forge an immortal body, and unify the immortal cultivation world. A gentleman won't stand beside a collapsing wall*. One of you is from the Underworld, and one of you is a new talent who’s not fully accepted by the Immortal Alliance, so why do you have to fight for Li Bu Yu?"

Xie Bi An shouted, "The heroes of the world are gathered here, neither for Li Bu Yu, nor for the Immortal Alliance, but only for the sake of not having a second Supreme Demon in this world."

"In my opinion, this is just the arrogance of your Central Plains’ people." Yun Zhong Jun snorted coldly, "You guys claim to be righteous, but treat people outside the Pass as barbarians and our sect’s cultivation as a crooked path, so how can you tolerate being countered by us?"

Lan Chui Han said sternly, "In whichever dynasties, generations and sects, people who consume human cores are demonic cultivators that have to be punished by everyone!"

"Yun Zhong Jun, there is no need to be long-winded towards them." The elder said, "Immortal Lord is busy refining the core at Shen Nong Ding, and the boundary of Chidi City cannot go awry at this time."

"These two people are still of great use. Capture them alive."

Yun Zhong Jun waved his hand and countless arrows came flying.

The two men's swords in their hands flashed dazzling silver light at the same time. The sword Qi was like a storm rising from the ground, instantly sweeping their surroundings, sweeping all the arrows into their orbit like stubs and dead leaves, cutting all of them down.

Xie Bi An and Lan Chui Han simultaneously turned their heads and looked at each other with a smile. The only time the two of them had sparred was at Huayueye a few years ago. Back then, he was not an adult yet. It was called a sparring session, but it would be more fitting to say that Lan Chui Han was playing with him, but he was inexplicably familiar with the Lan family's Junlan Sword Technique, just like he was towards the Zongxuan Sword Technique. He thought it was his genius master who created the Qingfeng Sword Technique after taking the strengths of various schools and merging them, but now he realized that it was because both sets of sword techniques were in his memory from his previous life. So just now when Lan Chui Han displayed his style, it was as if he innately knew how to work together and played such a tacit and powerful move.

The momentary tensing of Yun Zhong Jun’s jaw revealed his astonishment.

But the two men would not give them time to redraw their bows, and with a sway of their bodies, they disappeared on the spot, attacking with swift thunderbolts with heavy black shadows.

Yun Zhong Jun also attacked Lan Chui Han with astonishing speed, producing countless ice cones across the air.

Xie Bi An swept a sword arc, forcing several cultivators back one after another. He rushed into the enemy line, with Pei Xue in his hands like a dragon, killing in all directions.

A murderous aura mixed with coldness came. Xie Bi An felt his hair stand up. He could not turn back in time, and he vigilantly rolled on the ground after falling down. Behind him came several sounds of breaking air and the cracking sound of chiseling ground. His arm was first hot and painful, and then it was like reaching into a cave of ice, almost losing its senses.

Xie Bi An bounced up from the ground and quickly retreated back with a few steps. His back was against a stone pillar. His left arm has been pierced through by an ice arrow, and the flesh around the wound was covered with a layer of white frost.

Hua Xiang Rong was like a fairy descending from the sky. The ice crystal longbow in her hand emitted a burst of white gas. She looked sorrowfully at Xie Bi An. Her eyes were full of provocation, obviously remembering the shame of the battle at the bottom of Fengming Lake.

Xie Bi An grabbed the ice arrow, pulled it out, and gestured a blood coagulation enchantment, but found that it was useless. The blood was frozen. He looked at Hua Xiang Rong expressionlessly: "Cangyu Sect’s people love to sneak attack the most. It makes people despise it."

"I use a bow, so naturally, we need to do it by surprise." Hua Xiang Rong walked towards Xie Bi An, "You were lucky to win at the bottom of Fengming Lake. Today you dare to offer yourself up. Great Aunt* will make you unable to return!"

"My victory was not a fluke. It was because you were not as skilled as others." Xie Bi An retorted seriously, "You know that yourself, so you only dare to hide behind the crowd and shoot ice arrows."

Hua Xiang Rong was so angry that her face turned blue: "Go and die!"

Deep in the enemy's nest, a messy battle was fought.

The two of them tried to escape several times, but failed to do so.

On one side, Xie Bi An was fighting with his enemy, and on the other side, he was worried whether Fan Wu She was also besieged. Otherwise why did he not come and help them in such a big commotion?

Just when they were behind bars, suddenly, there was a loud sound in the distance, and the whole palace trembled and shook. The crowd was caught off guard and some even fell to the ground.

This is not an earthquake, but an explosion!

Yun Zhong Jun shouted, "Go and see what's happening!"

Lan Chui Han took the opportunity to slash Yun Zhong Jun with his sword, and he roared, "Bi An, retreat quickly!"

Xie Bi An struck a powerful sword arc, rushed out the surrounding circle, turned around and ran.

With the collaboration of the two men, they fought their way out of the palace.

However in the darkness of the First Fortress Qian there were two fires raging towards the sky. One was the clock tower which was about to be extinguished, and one was the city wall, and the air was filled with an acidic stench of sulfur.

Xie Bi An said in alarm, "This smell, it's Thunderfire Stone." Not knowing who used the Thunderfire Stone to blow up the walls of Chidi City, but it was a really brilliant move. The walls of Chidi City are the basic formation of the giant eight trigrams formation. The inner and outer walls of Tianqian are made of three yang lines. First Fortress Qian is sandwiched between the inner and outer walls. When one wall is damaged, the eight trigrams formation will be damaged, and the boundary will also be damaged.

"Let's leave first." Lan Chui Han pulled up Xie Bi An and ran.

There were Kunlun people running out of their homes constantly, and many Cangyu Sect cultivators rushed to repair the walls. The boundary of Chidi City guards this city and Shen Nong Ding. Going the wrong way at this time was obviously directed at Qi Meng Sheng.

Under the cover of the darkness and the crowd, Xie Bi An and Lan Chui Han finally got rid of their pursuers after several twists and turns, expecting that the Cangyu Sect's people had no time to catch them with the city walls blown up.

The two of them hid in a dark alley and suppressed their breathing in the darkness, slowly adjusting and healing their wounds. They had lost a lot of spiritual energy, and if they did it again, they probably wouldn't have a chance to escape.

"Brother Lan, are you badly injured?" The blood-stained parts of his clothes were blackened in the dim moonlight, and Xie Bi An checked his injuries with concern.

"There should be no major injuries, how about you?" Lan Chui Han's face was miserably pale, obviously not relaxed. He was facing Yun Zhong Jun and several elders by himself, how could he possibly escape with a perfectly fine body?

"I only have bruises." Xie Bi An carefully used his dagger to cut open Lan Chui Han's trouser leg ---- where the blood flowed out the most. A shockingly opened bloody wound tore through Lan Chui Han's flesh, and the bone was already faintly visible. Xie Bi An was shocked, "Your leg is already like this. How did you run out?"

"The Chunyang Technique has a move that can temporarily close the meridians and lets you not feel pain." Lan Chui Han gritted his teeth and smiled a little, "Although I left Chunyang Sect at the age of 11, I did not learn the art well, but these basic techniques can be used for life."

Xie Bi An shook his head and sighed. He took out a hemostatic drug from his qiankun bag, and poured a whole bottle of powder on the wound: "Then can you also heal faster like the Chunyang Sect’s cultivators?"

"Well, faster than those who've never practiced." Lan Chui Han blinked and said with an innocent look, "But my Technique has been broken long ago*."

Xie Bi An teased, "If I had known today, Brother Lan would need to protect your body like jade*."

"Hahahaha, wouldn't that be losing many of the pleasures of this great world? Not proper, not proper, I'm just a commoner." Lan Chui Han suddenly changed to an ambiguous expression, "Bi An, what about you?"

Xie Bi An hurriedly lowered his head to bandage Lan Chui Han and played dumb, "I what?"

"You've also traveled to a lot of places and have seen millions of local conditions and customs. What, haven't you experienced it before?"

Xie Bi An tightened the bandage.

Lan Chui Han stifled a cry of pain.

"Oh my." Xie Bi An laughed, "I thought you were still sealed."

Lan Chui Han hummed a laughter: "You’re embarrassed to say ah? You are 21 years old now, even if you have no interest in enjoying the beautiful spring scenery*, then according to standards, it is also time for Heaven Master to arrange a marriage for you."

"My master is an old bachelor himself. I wouldn’t count on him." After Xie Bi An bandaged Lan Chui Han, he put a healing charm on him, "Let's not talk about this. I'm worried about Wu She. I don't know where he ran off to."

"He must be safe, don't worry." Lan Chui Han said meaningfully, "You are always nervous about your little junior brother, being caring and indulgent to him. You are not like his senior brother, almost like his father."

Xie Bi An laughed bitterly, "Brother Lan, don't mock me, I only have one junior brother." He changed the subject, "The walls of First Fortress Qian are damaged, will master take advantage of this opportunity to attack Chidi City?"

"They will." Lan Chui Han said, "The city wall should be repaired soon. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, even if they take advantage of a loophole in the boundary to mix in first."

"No matter what master and his men have planned, the purpose of us coming to Chidi City has not been achieved." Xie Bi An was a bit frustrated, "Yet we exposed our identities first."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing." Lan Chui Han said, "You said you sensed the Qingfeng Sword. It is indeed in the Palace, and we still have a chance to get it."

"But the Palace must be heavily guarded now, and you are still wounded."

"Do you think that Yun Zhong Jun would want us to be locked up?"

"What you mean is ..."

Lan Chui Han slightly narrowed a pair of phoenix eyes: "Last time, when I was friends with Yun Zhong Jun, I could hear from his words that he and Yun Xiang Yi were fighting for the position of Sect Leader. Although he didn’t take the initiative to say it,  when I asked, he would also answer cryptically. If we were caught by the Cangyu Sect’s people, we would not necessarily fall into his hands. The sisters, Yun Xiang Yi and Hua Xiang Rong, were defeated at your hands, so they would certainly want to take revenge. Just now he purposely let us off, otherwise we could not escape easily."

"This man is two-faced. I totally don't know what he wants to do." Xie Bi An told Lan Chui Han about his conversation with Yun Zhong Jun in the Realm of Nothingness, "He wanted my core, but he didn't dare to let Qi Meng Sheng know that he had ill intentions, otherwise Qi Meng Sheng would have killed him as a traitor."

"So he bribed Qing Wu Zi to tamper with the Golden Trunk Jade Policy, and then used Qing Wu Zi to lure us into Chidi City, trying to make you lose the power to resist in the illusion and take your core. But none of us were trapped by the Realm of Nothingness, instead we alerted the people from Cangyu Sect."

Xie Bi An clenched his fist: "This person is really sinister and malicious. For the sake of the Sect Leader position, and for the sake of my golden core, he even betrayed his master who raised him since he was young."

Lan Chui Han sighed, "I also made an error of judgment, and thought he was a friend that was worth making."

"Brother Lan, do you think that we can use him to retrieve the Qingfeng Sword?"

"If he is only aiming for the Sect Leader position, as long as he helps the Immortal Alliance to defeat Qi Meng Sheng, the Sect Leader position of the Cangyu Sect is his to take. After all, this bitter, cold land outside the Pass, there is no sect that wants to take it."

"But what if the thing he wants is the Absolute Human Emperor?"

Lan Chui Han became silent.

Xie Bi An felt a familiar spirit breath. He turned around and a sound transmission flower flew over. He said joyfully, "It's Wu She!"

The distance of the sound transmission flower can travel is limited. It can’t even fly out of the mansion of a large family. Only when two people are close to each other can the sound transmission flower find the other party.

The sound transmission flower flew beside Xie Bi An's ear, and at the moment of dissipation, the familiar childish but calm voice of Fan Wu She came in: "Senior brother, where are you?"

Xie Bi An also sent back a petal, and quickly, Fan Wu She sought it.

Fan Wu She ran to Xie Bi An's side. Looking at the blood on his sleeve, his face sank: "You're injured?" He reached out his hand to check.

"No worries, just a small injury. It's already taken care of." Xie Bi An said urgently, "Where have you been? We were caught in Yun Zhong Jun's scheme. If someone hadn't blown up the walls, we ..." He suddenly wrinkled his nose, "Wu She, you smell like sulfur. Could it be, could it be you?!”

"It's not me." Fan Wu She said, "I just went to look around nearby. The air is full of the smell of Thunderfire Stone."

Xie Bi An was inexplicably relieved, "That's true, how could you have so many Thunderfire Stones? But where the hell have you been?"

"Yeah, where have you been?" Lan Chui Han stared at Fan Wu She with a special meaning, "We were besieged by Cangyu Sect's people. Such a big commotion, and you didn't even come to save us?"

Fan Wu She said, "I went to find the Qingfeng Sword and the Golden Trunk Jade Policy."

Xie Bi An was speechless for a moment. It was true that they had agreed to let Fan Wu She take the opportunity to go find the Golden Trunk Jade Policy, but they had also agreed that the moment their actions were discovered, they had to escape with all their might.

"What?" Lan Chui Han was displeased and said, "We discussed before that we must first find the Qingfeng Sword, and then depend on the situation. Now even the Qingfeng Sword has not been found, and you went to find the Golden Trunk Jade Policy?"

Fan Wu She squinted at Lan Chui Han: "Just because you guys did not find it, does not mean I cannot find it. I already know where the Qingfeng Sword is."

"Wu She, you found the Qingfeng Sword!" Xie Bi An grabbed Fan Wu She, "Where is it?"

"It's in the palace. I left a mark." Fan Wu She said before Xie Bi An could speak, "Right, we should go back and get it now. Most of the people from Cangyu Sect have gone to repair the city walls. They probably wouldn't think that we would dare to go back again after just escaping."

Xie Bi An looked hesitantly at Lan Chui Han: "Then big brother Lan ..."

"Don't worry about me. It's almost dawn, you guys go quickly."

The two changed into plain black night clothes and sneaked back to the palace.

The palace has indeed strengthened its defense, but the fires on the walls have not yet gone out. Most of the cultivators are not in at this time. They still snuck inside the palace without any problems.

Fan Wu She followed the mark and found the Qingfeng Sword. The two of them quietly took care of a few guards, but they were blocked outside a boundary.

The area guarded by that boundary was very small. There’s only one room, but the energy was very strong and it cannot be broken easily.

"Hold on tight. I've observed before. There will be people patrolling here every 5 minutes." Fan Wu She touched his hand on the boundary and silently injected his spiritual energy.

Xie Bi An also injected his spiritual energy into the boundary, impacting thousands of runes.

As they were concentrating on the boundary, a spiritual pressure suddenly appeared behind them. The two of them turned around suddenly. A white mask was approaching rapidly, mixed with the impact of cold air blasted into the chest of the two men. They flew backwards, and the closed door suddenly opened. The two men fell into the room, and the door closed again with a sound.

Xie Bi An covered his heart which was in severe pain and looked at Yun Zhong Jun who was standing in front of him. They were lying on the ground, which only made the man look even taller and more powerful.

"You guys don't really think that by blowing up the walls, I will relax my guard on the Qingfeng Sword, did you?"

The two men stood up, and Xie Bi An silently looked at the Qingfeng Sword on the sword stand. This time, he could be sure that it was real.

"Looks like blowing up the walls was a big deal, otherwise how would you be here alone?" Fan Wu She said, "With you, you can't guard the Qingfeng Sword."

Yun Zhong Jun sneered, "If I didn't want you to take it, none of you would have gotten away with it today, but ..." he looked at Xie Bi An, "As I said in the Realm of Nothingness, I still want to make a deal with you."

Xie Bi An's white jaded face showed sullenness: "Are you crazy? How can I trade my golden core for the Qingfeng Sword?"

"I don't want your golden core now. I want the Sect Leader position of Cangyu Sect."

 

----

A gentleman won't stand beside a collapsing wall*[君子不立围墙]---the correct term should be 君子不立于危墙之下, A gentleman should stay away from dangerous places. This includes two aspects: First, prevention is better than cure, be aware in advance of potential dangers and take precautions; second, once you find yourself in a dangerous situation, you should leave in time.

Great aunt [姑奶奶]---there’s a lot of definition on this, YXR may be addressing herself as ‘I’, or literally, a lady who is older then XBA, etc. I’ll leave it up to your imagination. You can refer to:

https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2265903129146442348.html

But my Technique has been broken long ago* ---Just for everyone to recall Chunyang Sect’s technique. These men are required to abstain from marriage and sexual relations. By breaking the technique means… ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

protect your body like jade*[守身如玉]---keep oneself pure

enjoying the beautiful spring scenery*[寻花问柳]---to frequent brothels

 

Edited on 16 May 21 (Emzie)

 

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