Chapter Fifty-One: Immortals and Thieves

  Looking around, I have no idea where I am now. Fortunately, Shui Sheng has been living in the mountain village since childhood and can identify the directions of east, south, west, and north in the mountains. After careful consideration, Tie Xin Tang is still under Yu Ding Mountain, and with my shallow skills, it's impossible to rescue Tie Xin Tang from Mei Ji's hands. Da Niu, Wang Long, and Xiao Juan are also unknown whereabouts. The current situation has already deviated greatly from General Tie Yi's original plan. It seems that I can only return to Longyang City to discuss countermeasures with Wu Mu Dao Ren and General Tie Yi.

  At this point, he lifted his leg without hesitation and headed north. Unexpectedly, after the internal power increased greatly, even walking became much lighter, and even on rugged mountain paths, he was able to run quickly. Suddenly, he felt a burst of energy and started running in large strides. Before he knew it, his feet were generating wind, and after a short while, his speed had surpassed that of a fast horse by several degrees. All he could hear was the sound of the wind rushing past his ears.

  In the depths of "Cannibal Mountain", a heavily restricted cave, a tall, blue-robed man sat cross-legged, his hands forming a strange hand seal. Thin wisps of white mist swirled around him, filling the entire cave with an icy chill. The mist crackled and popped as it enveloped the blue-robed man's seven-foot frame, his face contorting in agony. Only when the mist dissipated did he cease his incantation, slowly opening his eyes to reveal a gleaming light within their dark depths - a far cry from the aura of a Golden Elixir cultivator.

  On the flat mountain cliff outside the valley, two Ice Valley monks who were guarding the big array were whispering to each other. One of them said: "The four elders have called away the two masters for two days and two nights, I don't know what they are being told!" The other replied: "It's best not to ask about things between seniors, let's focus on our own affairs first!" As soon as the words fell, a cold voice came from afar, He Lian Qingchen said: "Alright, you few come to old man's residence for a visit, old man has something important to entrust."

  Before long, outside the heavily restricted mountain cave, several miserable cries rang out. On the ground, more than a dozen cultivators were lying horizontally and vertically. Judging from their appearance, they were indeed the Ice Seal Valley's Qi Refining stage cultivators who had been guarding the formation on the cliff. Not one of them had survived; all of them had died in this place.

  Outside the cave, a ban on spiritual light flickered, and a tall, blue-robed man walked out of the cave with slow steps. He glanced at the corpses on the ground and said coldly, "Only the dead can keep secrets forever." With that, he swung his large sleeve, and a ball of white light flew out from his sleeve, landing on top of the corpses on the ground. Amidst the crackling sounds, more than a dozen corpses all turned into snow-white ice sculptures.

  The man in the green robe finally turned around and stepped into the cave, and upon hearing his muttering voice, it was surprisingly identical to that of He Lian Qingchen.

  After a meal's time had passed, the dozen or so ice sculptures on the ground all turned into tiny fragments of ice, and then transformed into droplets of water that seeped into the earth and disappeared. The man in the green robe inside the room sat cross-legged once again, circulated his spiritual energy for a cycle, and muttered to himself in a low voice: "Without three months' time, it seems I won't be able to recover my original appearance." Having said this, he slowly closed his eyes and continued to cultivate.

  Unbeknownst to him, Shuǐ Shēng had already run from the continuous deep mountains to a small village at the foot of the mountain, and on the way, he even killed a large wild boar that was half as tall as a person with his golden sword. In the middle of the village, there were more than a dozen villagers gathered under a big tree, chatting and resting in the shade, when they saw Shuǐ Shēng effortlessly carrying a large wild boar weighing over 200-300 catties on his shoulders, walking into the village with large strides. Seeing Shuǐ Shēng's bare upper body, like a savage, all the villagers were shocked, thinking he was some kind of mountain spirit or demon.

  Shuisheng tossed the wild boar in front of the stone mill, chuckled and revealed a set of white teeth. He said to the dozen or so villagers: "I want to exchange this wild boar for a set of clothes, I wonder if anyone is willing?" Seeing Shuisheng speak human language, the crowd slowly lost their fear. A wild boar as big as this one could be exchanged for not just one set of clothes, but ten sets.

  For such a good thing, someone naturally hurried to agree. The son of a hunter happened to be as tall and short as Shuisheng, not only helped Shuisheng find a clean and fitting set of green clothes, but also wanted to keep Shuisheng at home for a full meal and overnight stay.

  Shuǐ Shēng stayed behind without being polite. At dinner time, under the astonished gaze of the Hunter family, Shuǐ Shēng not only ate a large piece of wild boar meat and over ten flatbreads but also drank three big bowls of vegetable soup before lying down on the bed and sleeping soundly. Since being "hit" down from the sky by Mèi Jī outside Yù Dǐng Gate, Shuǐ Shēng had never slept as soundly as he did tonight.

  Shui Sheng was so capable of "eating" that Lie Hu, who slept next door, couldn't close his eyes and tossed and turned for half the night before finally falling asleep. Even in his dreams, he wondered if Shui Sheng was a mountain spirit or tree monster in disguise, otherwise, how could someone so young have more strength and appetite than an adult?

  On the second day, when Shuisheng bid farewell and left, the Hunter family finally breathed a sigh of relief. The kind-hearted wife of the hunter even gave Shuisheng four or five catties of cooked wild boar meat to fill his belly on the road.

  Shuǐ Shēng slung the mountain boar meat over his shoulder and hastened towards the town more than ten miles away. Just as he arrived at the town entrance, a commotion broke out in the town, with someone shouting: "Quickly look! There's an immortal flying in the sky!" Shuǐ Shēng looked up to see a black-robed Taoist priest, his clothes tattered and worn, standing on a five-foot-long black sword, soaring through the air dozens of feet above. Judging by his appearance, it couldn't be Wū Mù Dào Rényet... who else could it be? However, at this moment, Wū Mù Dào Rény was in a rather disheveled state!

  In the clear sky, a loud rumbling thunder suddenly came, and with the thunder, a dark cloud of several hundred feet high appeared in the air. A hoarse voice came from the cloud: "Little Taoist, you can't escape, just return the treasure to me obediently!"

  Shuǐ Shēng's face changed suddenly, and the old man's voice was all too familiar - it was indeed Qín Zhèng, a Yuányīng cultivator from Tiān Xīn Zōng. Just as he was about to hide in the crowd, Qín Zhèng, who was in the dark cloud, discovered Shuǐ Shēng on the street through his divine sense. "Hmph!" he exclaimed, and with a flash of gray light, he appeared above the black cloud mass. His tall figure stood against the wind, his gray long gown fluttering in the wind, his snow-white hair and beard, and his ruddy face - truly a crane's hair and a child's complexion, an immortal's demeanor and bones, exactly like an old god!

  Shuisheng dropped the wild boar meat in his hands and turned to run away. Unexpectedly, the villagers coming and going on the street suddenly knelt down in a large area, standing upright in the clouds above, Qin Zheng knocked his head and bowed, calling him a god. Although Shuisheng was small in stature, he stood out among the kneeling crowd like a crane standing among chickens.

  Shui ran while shouting loudly: "Don't believe this old man, he's a ruthless villain who kills good people, he wants to kill all the immortals of Yuding Gate!" But who would believe his words? Many villagers saw Shui dare to be disrespectful to the gods and showed disgusted expressions.

  Qin Zheng stood on the cloud, stroking his snow-white long beard that was as long as a ruler, and burst out laughing with great satisfaction. Then he waved his hand at the villagers and said: "Everyone get up! Just now, that black-robed Taoist stole the treasure of my old family's house and wanted to abduct this ignorant little apprentice of mine. I'm going to catch them right now and lock them up on Yuding Mountain to reflect on their mistakes! Don't be deceived by them, don't help them do evil!"

  A benevolent face, a gentle tone of voice, was exactly like a living Bodhisattva who saves people from water and fire. While the ugly and disheveled figure of Wumu Daoist was very much in line with what Qin Zheng said "a thief who steals things".

  Seeing countless villagers kowtowing on the ground, with a look of reverence, and then hearing Qin Zheng's words that distorted black and white, Shui En's anger surged up, and she didn't care about being afraid, loudly scolding: "You old dead man, you're the real thief!"

  "How can he be so stubborn at such a young age? What will happen when he grows up?" Qin Zheng spoke while stretching out his right hand, pointing at Shui Sheng with his index finger. A cyan light flashed on the tip of his finger, and a loud thunderclap sounded as a cyan electric arc descended from the sky, striking towards Shui Sheng's head. Shui Sheng heard the sound, looked up to see the lightning, and was startled. He frantically ran while instinctively swinging the golden sword in his sleeve at the air. The golden sword instantly grew over three feet long, with a golden light flashing on its body, looking quite powerful.

  Lightning flashed, sword wind howled, the two collided in mid-air, and the lightning was shattered by a single strike of the golden sword. Qin Zheng's eyes lit up, and he let out a soft "hmm" as his right hand beckoned to the golden sword. The golden sword instantly lost its spiritual connection with Shui Sheng, drawing a golden arc in the air before falling into Qin Zheng's hand.

  Qin Zheng was secretly shocked by the power of Shui Sheng's sword, which seemed to be beyond what a fourth-layer cultivator could achieve. His divine sense swept over Shui Sheng and discovered that his magical powers had suddenly soared to the peak of the seventh layer in just a few days. His heart skipped a beat, his face changed color, but he calmly said: "Little guy, dare to fight with me? Don't you surrender yet?" Before he finished speaking, his right index finger pointed at Shui Sheng again, and this time, the blue electric light was as thick as a finger!

  Shui Sheng heard the thunderous sound, saw the golden sword being seized, let out a loud roar, and his magical powers surged upwards. A layer of dazzling golden light enveloped his entire body, forming an egg-shaped aura that completely encased him within it.

  The second bolt of lightning arrived at Shuǐshēng's head in an instant, and with a loud crackling sound, the golden shield that Shuǐshēng had conjured up was shattered by the lightning. Along with a wisp of cyan smoke, a smell of scorching wafted from Shuǐshēng's body. The back of his newly donned blue cloth shirt now had a fist-sized hole, and through the hole, one could see that a patch of skin on Shuǐshēng's back was charred black. Shuǐshēng gritted his teeth against the waves of searing pain and dashed forward with his head bowed.

  Qin Zheng unintentionally killed Shui Sheng with a lightning bolt, which was only half of his one-tenth law power. However, he saw that Shui Sheng, a small child in the Qi Refining stage, could withstand it and continued to run at full speed, shocking Qin Zheng once again. With another movement of his finger, another lightning bolt flew out, this time using up all of his one-tenth law power.

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