Chapter 41: The East Has Nothing To Do With You

  Another voice rang out, "Fellow Daoist, please stay your step." Zhuang Xiong's body stiffened instantly, and with great difficulty, he turned his head to see that Zhunti was approaching on a cloud. Zhunti had lost a lot of weight now, his complexion was also sallow, and he had combed his hair into a Daoist bun, surprisingly still adorned with two flowers! In his hand was still the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, emitting an aura of Daluo Golden Immortal, truly having some elegance of a superior being. However, Zhuang Xiong couldn't help but roll his eyes and thought to himself: "This Zhunti won't be wanting to tell me that I have fate with the Western Pure Land, will he?"

  He saw Zhuang Xiong stop in his tracks, hastily put on a gentle smile, and first bowed to him. Zhuang Xiong reluctantly returned the courtesy with one hand, but wanted to see what Zhunti was going to do. Zhunti saw that Zhuang Xiong was being rude, but didn't get angry, still smiling, and said: "Today, I calculated with my fingers that there should be a living being born in this place, and it has fate with the Western Paradise. Unexpectedly, when I came here, I saw Fellow Daoist picking up that living being. It seems that Fellow Daoist's fate with the Western Paradise is even deeper. Why don't we go to the Western Paradise together as guests and participate in the Great Way?"

  Zhuang Xiong was stunned, how dare he provoke himself again? Had he made great progress in his cultivation after hearing the Tao and no longer took himself seriously? Or had he been lying in wait nearby, planning to ambush him? Zhuang Xiong instinctively activated his three eyes and six ears divine sense to its limits, and also released his primordial spirit. In an instant, he thoroughly checked the surroundings within a hundred million miles, but found nothing. Zhuang Xiong was perplexed, then suddenly enlightened - why fear him if he wasn't afraid? If not, what's the point of keeping him around?

  Zhuang Xiong's anger rose from his heart, and he felt a surge of malice. "Since you dare to provoke me," he thought, "you should be prepared to bear the brunt of my wrath." With that, he swung his staff at Zhun Ti, shouting furiously: "You scoundrel, Zhun Ti! You dared to ambush me in the Purple Mist Palace back then, and now you say I have a connection with your Western Paradise? Do you really think I'm easy to bully? What great Tao does your Western Paradise possess? Your cultivation is not necessarily superior to mine, yet you dare to treat me with such contempt. Today, I will not let you off!"

  Zhun Ti was not surprised, and hurriedly took out a seven-treasured wonderful tree brush to barely defend against Zhuang Xiong's attack. When he heard Zhuang Xiong's angry roar, he finally understood that this cold-faced young man was the big bear he had ambushed in the past. Although he understood now, he couldn't help but feel a bit bitter in his heart. This guy possessed great merit, and it was forbidden to kill him. It seemed that today they would again form a deep karmic connection. For now, he should quickly think of how to escape, since killing was not an option, did he still want to suffer a beating here?

  "Ah, Bear Brother, don't be in a hurry! Today is indeed a misunderstanding. The other day when I saw you, it was your true form, but today is the first time I've seen your Taoist body. It's not that I intentionally provoked you. Even if you don't believe me, shouldn't you think about it? You possess great virtues and your magical powers are unmatched. How could I possibly dare to deceive you on purpose? Today, I owe you one, and another day, I will surely make amends with full courtesy."

  Zhuang Xiong's heart was suddenly enlightened, and he couldn't help but secretly scold the heavens for being unfair. Just because someone had given him some benefits, they had also brought a huge trouble along with it. However, now that things were clear, Zhuang Xiong didn't want to let Zhou Ti off so easily. This guy wasn't a good thing, having ambushed him in the past and who knows how many other good things he had stolen from Dongfang. Although Zhuang Xiong hadn't considered the entire Dongfang as his own, his family's competition was still acceptable, but with this additional troublemaker coming to stir up trouble, what was the point? His hands didn't stop moving as he shouted: "I don't care about your reasons! As long as I know you've provoked me, that's enough. Back then at Zixiao Palace, I gave face to the Dao Ancestor, but today let's see who can protect you!"

  At this time, Zhuang Xiong's magical powers, Taoist skills and martial arts had all reached a high level. The single rod of Qian Kun was swung in a perfect circle, dancing like flowers. But with the accuracy of Zhuang Xiong's Taoist practice, it was impossible to resist, and soon he was beaten until his skin burst open and his flesh flew everywhere. The seven-treasured wondrous tree was also destroyed by the seven treasures. Zhuang Xiong saw that Accurate Ti had already started killing him, no matter what he said, he would not let him leave this place. His heart was greatly alarmed, his thoughts turned rapidly, desperately thinking of a way to survive, and a layer of fine sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

  Zhuang Xiong's feet stomped the ground, either bursting forth from the earth or shattering the mountains. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed as he swung his rod, stirring up winds and clouds like a mountain-splitting axe. Moreover, he occasionally used his spatial divine sense to tear open rifts in space, creating hidden pitfalls all around Zhuang Xiong's body. Accurate Ti was beaten until he cried out in anguish, wanting to escape but unable to move faster than Zhuang Xiong's extraordinary footwork, which had been transformed from the Road of Walking technique. As for the sky, ever since that day when Accurate Ti saw the pair of purple electric wings on Zhuang Xiong's back at the Purple Cloud Palace, he had not dared to think about the sky again. Accurate Ti struggled to hold on for only three to five hours, but his bones were broken, his tendons snapped, and his flesh exploded. Even the relic beads were shattered, one of them destroyed. It was known that Zhuang Xiong's martial skills were extraordinary, capable of directly injuring the primordial spirit and true soul. Although it couldn't be seen from the outside, Accurate Ti himself knew that his primordial spirit was riddled with wounds, his true soul flickering in and out of existence. Holding onto the remaining two relic beads and the Seven Treasure Wondrous Tree, which now only had two treasures left, Accurate Ti was almost completely hopeless.

  Zhuang Xiong saw that Zhuanti had already lost the will to fight, and a murderous intent spread in his heart. His eyes flashed with cold light, and two spatial blades suddenly appeared out of thin air, slashing across Zhuanti's body and leaving two large gashes. Zhuanti's body flew out like a broken sack, his tattered Taoist robes barely covering his body.

  Zhuanti was sent flying, and when he landed, he spat out several mouthfuls of blood, but did not struggle to get up again. Zhuang Xiong coldly snorted in his heart, feeling no sympathy at all. With a single step, a deep pit three feet square appeared beneath Zhuanti's body, trapping him inside.

  Zhuang Xiong walked forward, aimed at Zhun Ti and snorted, saying: "Others die and have three feet of land to rest in, I'll give you three zhang, which is also a fair deal for you." After speaking, he transformed the Qian Kun stick into a three-zhang square shape and was about to fiercely strike Zhun Ti. Just as the stick was about to hit Zhun Ti's body, a sigh suddenly sounded, and an old voice seemed to echo in his ear, saying: "Young friend, your anger has been vented enough, can you spare him this once? Let me mediate between the two of you?"

  Zhuang Xiong's eyes flashed with a cold light, and the momentum of his falling Dry Sky Stick did not stop, but instead accelerated. It seemed that he wanted to kill Zhuanti before the other person could rescue him. The other person let out another sigh, seeing that the Dry Sky Stick was about to touch Zhuanti's body, when suddenly it came to a halt in mid-air, as if it were being pulled back by an invisible force. Even with his great strength, Zhuang Xiong stumbled backward three large steps from the recoil of the sudden stop.

  Zhuang Xiong's eyebrows furrowed even tighter, his eyes flashing with a cold light. His three-eyed and six-eared divine senses and primordial spirit rapidly spread out around him, and in an instant, he saw an old man with white hair, green eyebrows, and green whiskers standing about ten zhang away to his left. The old man was dressed in a green robe and held a willow branch in his hand. Zhuang Xiong's voice turned cold as he asked, "Do you want to save him?" But in his heart, he already had a guess.

  The old man couldn't help but sigh, saying: "I just happened to be passing by and saw him in such a state. I couldn't bear it in my heart, after all, we are both among the top ten spiritual roots. I couldn't help but speak up to save him. I hope you can give me some face." After finishing speaking, he again couldn't help but sigh, seemingly muttering to himself: "Why is it that on this vast and desolate earth there's always so much conflict?"

  Zhuang Xiong had already made a guess in his heart, and when he heard him admit that they were both among the top ten spiritual roots of the pre-heavenly era, he confirmed that this person was indeed Yang Mei Daxian, also known as Green Willow, who had once tricked Hong Jun Daozu. In his mind, thoughts of unwillingness and being no match for him surged forth, and he couldn't help but wonder whether to let him go or not. Letting him go would probably be the best option, but what conditions to set was still something to think about carefully. However, upon hearing Yang Mei's additional words, Zhuang Xiong felt a sudden jolt, and his heart also softened slightly - after all, he too was someone who yearned for peace and harmony. So, he decided to give him some face.

  Zhuang Xiong thought to himself, then raised his head and smiled: "Since it's what you said, Da Zhang, I can give you some face, but I have a condition that has nothing to do with you, and this fellow Daoist must agree before it's possible."

  Yang Mei smiled and said, "I still understand this principle. My young friend is willing to let a great enemy go for nothing, which has already given me a huge favor. I wouldn't dare refuse your condition, however, if it's related to this Daoist friend, he would still need to agree to it." After finishing speaking, she waved her hand and a green light enveloped Zhuanti's body. In just an instant, the injuries on Zhuanti's body were mostly healed. Of course, only his external wounds were healed; no one has ever heard of anyone being able to instantly heal internal injuries that damage the yuan Shen (primordial spirit). External injuries can be treated by almost anyone, and ordinary people can also heal themselves, but Zhuanti's internal injuries were too severe, so he couldn't recover on his own.

  That Zhun Ti was able to get help from others was already a great fortune, how could he dare to delay? As soon as his external injuries were healed, he struggled to get up, bowed his head and thanked Yang Mei first, then turned to Zhuang Xiong and said: "The conditions you mentioned earlier, I also heard clearly, I don't know what conditions you have, just say it, I can make a vow to heaven to try my best to compensate for the anger in your heart." However, after this narrow escape from death, Zhun Ti had already gained some insight. No matter what, he would first escape from the clutches of this evil star and worry about the consequences later, even if they were severe.

  Zhuang Xiong coldly snorted and said, "My request is also very simple. First, you must prepare a gift. At the second lecture in Zi Xuang Palace, personally give it to me as an apology for ambushing me last time at Zi Xuang Palace. I don't care what the gift is, just as long as you think it's something you can present with confidence."

  Zhun Ti let out a sigh of relief, fortunately it wasn't too difficult. Although he said the gift was casual, since he had already made such a humiliating apology, the gift must be somewhat better. He also showed some sincere attitude, perhaps in order to gain a good reputation in the midst of chaos, for example, knowing one's mistakes and being magnanimous. So he readily agreed.

  Zhuang Xiong continued with a cold face: "The second condition is even simpler, as long as you swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao, this trip will depart immediately and return to the Western Continent. From now on, you will never set foot in the Eastern Continent of Hongyuan again. I will spare your life today."

  As soon as Zhuang Xiong finished speaking, Zhun Ti's heart sank. In the distant past, during the Dragon and Phoenix's first calamity, Hong Huang's Western Realm was devastated by a great war between the three tribes led by Hong Jun and the demonic tribe of Luo Ye. The spiritual veins of the Western Realm were destroyed, causing all its sacred mountains, beautiful scenery, rare flowers, and exotic fruits to wither away. Even the spiritual ore veins were partially plundered by Luo Ye's followers and partially destroyed in the war. Now, the Western Realm was a desolate land. After being reborn in the Western Realm, Zhun Ti had experienced great hardships and vowed to find a way out for its inhabitants. However, after careful consideration, he discovered that the solution lay in the Eastern Realm. As the messenger, Zhun Ti was tasked with traveling to the East to seek aid. Although he possessed great perseverance and did not shy away from hardship, he found himself at an impasse. If he refused Zhuang Xiong's request, he would surely perish today, and his efforts to help the Western Realm would be for naught. But if he agreed, he would still be unable to enter the Eastern Realm and continue his quest to aid the Western Realm. What was he to do?

  Zhuang Xiong just coldly smiled and remained silent, quietly waiting for Zhun Ti to make a decision. Yang Mei, however, was quite perplexed and couldn't help but ask Zhun Ti: "Fellow Daoist, why are you finding it so difficult? It's not like we can't enter the Eastern region; the Western region is also vast and expansive, and it's still your hometown, so why are you having such a hard time? If you like something from the East, just ask some good friends to help bring it over. For now, preserving one's life is the best strategy."

  Zhun Ti heard these words, and suddenly his heart was enlightened. He thought to himself: "Yes, even if I don't set foot in the East again in this life, I can still teach others to come here, or find some people from the East to help me travel. Although it's not as good as coming myself to find high-level masters, if I help many people search, it will be faster than searching myself. And once someone goes to the West, they won't be able to say anything about me! The West also has many things that need to be taken care of, and I can do a lot here too. At this moment, the most important thing is to preserve my useful life."

  Zhun Ti suddenly understood all the problems in an instant, stood up solemnly and raised his hand to swear to heaven: "I, Zhun Ti of the Western Heaven, hereby make a vow to the Heavenly Way. If Xiong Daoyou lets me go this time, I will return to the Western Heaven immediately and never set foot in the Eastern Heaven again for the rest of my life. If I violate this oath, I am willing to accept heavenly punishment, my cultivation will not advance even an inch, I will fall into the sea of demonic suffering, be burned by the fires of karma every day, and never attain liberation. May the Heavenly Way bear witness, may the Ancestral Masters above guarantee that I do not violate this oath." After finishing his vow, he turned to Zhuang Xiong and said: "Is this satisfactory, fellow Daoist?"

  Zhuang Xiong slightly nodded his head, and coldly snorted: "The last request is the simplest. You know my few good friends - San Qing, Nüwa, Fuxi, and Zhenyuanzi. I only need you to promise that no matter how you scheme, even if it's against me, but you absolutely cannot involve them. Whether it's themselves or their disciples, it's not allowed. Otherwise, even if I may not necessarily be able to find you and kill you, I will definitely do my best to slaughter your Western disciples."