Chapter 68: Ambush and Soul Search

  In the eyes of ordinary people in Yinma Town, the immortals in Yuding Mountain are symbols of immortality. The Yuding Gate is even more high and sacred, but now it's said that even the immortals at Yuding Gate can be killed by other immortals, how can this be accepted?

  If it were the Qin brothers and that old beggar, they would also have seen the scene of immortals and monsters fighting to the death, and they would know that even the high-and-mighty immortals are not really invincible!

  Shui Sheng saw the four people remaining silent, and suddenly spoke to Qin Hu: "Actually, I won't be able to stay here for a few more days either. The reason I wanted to punish you four is just to let you taste the feeling of being bullied by others! I didn't need you guys to serve me in the first place, so you four should leave this place as soon as possible and do what you need to do!"

  As the saying goes, Buddha wants gold and people want clothes. After changing into a brand new black silk shirt, Shuisheng's temperament was completely different from his previous disheveled appearance. Although his skin looked darker, he appeared more robust and spirited than boys of the same age. His broad forehead, jet-black eyebrows, straight nose bridge, shiny black eyes, and the unintentional hint of stubbornness and confidence between his eyebrows and eyes all made him stand out from his peers.

  The Qin brothers saw that although Shui was young, he had an extraordinary air about him. His words and actions were completely different from those of ordinary children! They naturally attributed this "difference" to his cultivation of immortality, and they admired him even more in their hearts.

  Qin Biao, who had never spoken before, suddenly said: "Immortal Master, I'm not afraid of being implicated, as long as you're willing to teach me immortal techniques, even if it means losing my life, I won't be afraid?" As soon as the words fell, Qin Xiong, the youngest, also spoke out loudly: "I'm not afraid of being implicated either. Those immortals want to kill whoever they want, will they care whether you have any magical powers or not?"

  Qin Hu and Qin Bao looked at each other, and Qin Hu said: "Immortal Master, what is a spiritual root? Please, Immortal Master, help my four brothers and me take a look, do we have a spiritual root?"

  The four brothers, not knowing which nerve was wrong, actually insisted on following him as their master! After careful consideration, living in the Qin family's hall seemed to be more convenient than staying at an inn. If there were four people outside gathering information, it would also save himself from frequently showing his face in town. Suddenly having a good idea, he said to the four: "Whether or not you have spiritual roots can't be determined in just one or two days, and I don't have time to help you see. Since you insist on following me and serving me, I'll teach you a set of magic spells. If you can learn it, then that will prove you have some potential for cultivating immortality! Maybe you really do have spiritual roots!" The four brothers were overjoyed again and kowtowed once more.

  "Alright, alright, get up! You can follow me if you want to. But let's be clear, if other immortals find out that you're with me, your lives will be in danger. So, you must not reveal our relationship or my identity as an immortal. If you can't keep your mouths shut and it leads to disaster, I'll just leave you behind and won't care about your survival!"

  Qin Bao patted his chest and said: "Master, rest assured, the four of us have tight lips. We don't even know your honorable surname yet?"

  "Listen, I'll tell you this much: my surname is Zhou and my name is Zhou Shuisheng. This name is only for the four of you to know, don't go spreading it around! It's getting late today, so just head back for now. Starting tomorrow, I'll begin teaching you all. However, one of you must take turns staying in town at all times and keep an eye out for any other immortals that might appear. If you see anyone, come tell me right away. And of course, none of you are allowed to go around provoking others without reason."

  The four of them hastily agreed. Before they had even left the hall, Qin Bao ran back and said that he wanted to serve Shui Sheng's daily life. Shui Sheng saw that among the four brothers, Qin Bao was the most clever, and suddenly thought of Tie Ying Jiang Jun's iron leopard, and then thought of Tie Ying Jiang Jun, his heart darkened, and he didn't drive Qin Bao away again, saying: "If you don't snore at night, you can sleep in the guest room. If you do snore, I'll cast a spell to throw you out into the wilderness!"

  Qin Bao smiled and said: "Master, rest assured, I've never learned how to blow bubbles!"

  On the second day, Qin Bao volunteered to go to the town to gather information. Shui Sheng ordered Qin Hu and the other two to set up the Eight Trigrams stake in the hall courtyard and taught them the method of the Eight Trigrams Dragon Technique. The three saw Shui Sheng flashing and leaping on the Eight Trigrams stake, his figure like a ghost or a demon, and they were overjoyed. The three were not stupid either, and they learned the technique quickly and accurately.

  Shuǐ Shēng taught the three men for more than a time, and then returned to his room to practice "Yù Shòu Jué". The Ice Seal Valley cultivator who created Yù Shòu Jué was best at controlling demons using the two magical instruments, the qin and the flute. Shuǐ Shēng had the Xuan Ying Flute in hand but didn't know how to play it. He remembered that when he randomly blew a few notes in the mountain cave, he could infuriate the two green-scaled pythons. Shuǐ Shēng's heart moved, and he called over the three Qin brothers to ask them about it. Unexpectedly, Qín Xióng not only knew how to play the flute but also played it quite well!

  Before long, the empty courtyard began to echo with the sound of flutes. Shui Sheng naturally didn't dare take out the Biying flute and instead ordered Qin Xiong to bring over a few bamboo flutes. It wasn't until the sixth day that the flute sounds became smooth and rhythmic, and the Qin brothers let out a sigh of relief, finally no longer having to suffer the "little god's" noisy punishment!

  Half a month had passed, but Wu Mu Dao Ren still hadn't returned. Shui Sheng couldn't help but start to get anxious, losing interest in his cultivation, pacing back and forth in the courtyard. Seeing Qin Shi San Xiong's movements were slightly off while practicing Ba Gua You Long Gong, he scolded them harshly. The three brothers saw that Shui Sheng had a heavy look on his face, so they each kept their distance, not daring to provoke him.

  Shuǐ shēng's divine consciousness was unleashed, sweeping over the entire town from time to time. With the rapid surge of his magical powers, Shuǐ shēng's divine consciousness also made tremendous progress. Now, not only could he completely cover the entire town, but he could even clearly detect movements within tens of miles!

  Wu Mu Dao Ren carefully made his way to the west peak of Yu Ding Mountain, but found that the situation at the foot of Yu Ding Mountain was no longer what it used to be. If it were like before, with three sects' cultivators stationed on each of the four peaks of Yu Ding Mountain, capturing a few Golden Elixir initial-stage cultivators wouldn't have been too difficult. However, now all three sects' cultivators were garrisoned at the north peak, with Mei Ji and Qin Zheng, two Nascent Soul stage cultivators, guarding the north peak. Where would Wu Mu Dao Ren dare to go to seek death?

  Fortunately, Wumudao was originally from Yudingmen and was very familiar with the terrain around Yuding Mountain. Taking advantage of this, he hid in a secret place 200 miles north of Yuding Mountain's North Peak, waiting for his prey!

  This is the place where one must pass through to reach the north peak of Yuding Mountain. After guarding for seven days, they finally captured a cultivator from the Ice Seal Valley who had reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining and was passing by this place. Only after searching his soul did they learn that during their seclusion, Xuan Guang Dao Ren led a surprise attack on the Ice Seal Valley's base, killing five Golden Elixir cultivators, which led to the current situation. In anger, they secretly cursed Xuan Guang Dao Ren with a severe abdominal pain.

  Unfortunately, this Ice Valley disciple was only a low-ranking cultivator and couldn't gather more detailed information. Wu Mu Dao Ren had no choice but to continue waiting here. Three days passed again, and another Fire Spirit Sect Qi Refining stage disciple happened to pass by this place. After a soul search, Wu Mu Dao Ren was stunned. Although this Fire Spirit Sect Qi Refining stage disciple had weak magical powers, he was actually the disciple of Mo Lian's personal disciple Luo Lie. From his divine soul, it was discovered that more than twenty days ago, Tie Xin Tang had been sent back to the Fire Spirit Sect's sect entrance in distant Yan State's Jiu Yan Shan by Mo Lian's men. Accompanying him was the Fire Spirit Sect's Golden Dan stage cultivator Ci Wei. It was said that because Ci Wei's injuries were not yet healed, they had no choice but to return to the sect to recover.

  Wumudao Ren would never believe such a reason, although last time Xiangwei was indeed restrained by his own "Confusion Spirit Seal", but he didn't kill or injure her, where did the hard-to-heal injury come from? Moreover, Tie Xin Tang is not a dual-spirit root attribute cultivator like Shuisheng, why would Mei Ji suddenly treat Tie Xin Tang as a treasure? It's really unbelievable!

  He didn't know that it was precisely his reckless rescue, wasting over twenty precious talismans and disregarding his own life, that had sparked Mei Ji's suspicion. She secretly speculated whether Tie Xin Tang was also a cultivation prodigy like Shui Sheng. The more Mei Ji couldn't understand the "extraordinary" aspect of Tie Xin Tang, the more suspicious she became. Thinking again about why Tie Xin Tang and Shui Sheng were both transmitted to Yu Ding Gate by the extremely precious "Qian Kun Shen Dun Symbol", she concluded that they must be equally important to Yu Ding Gate! Fearing that Tie Xin Tang would be snatched away like Shui Sheng, Mei Ji decided to have Qiang Wei take Tie Xin Tang back to their sect.

  Wu Mu Dao thought back and forth, but couldn't understand the reason behind it. The only thing that was clear was that Qiang Wei and Tie Xin Tang had been gone for over twenty days, and even if he rushed to catch up with them, it would be impossible to reach them in time. If Tie Xin Tang had already arrived at the Huo Ling Sect's sect entrance, then not to mention that Wu Mu Dao had just advanced to the late stage of the Golden Elixir, even if he had advanced to the Yuan Ying stage, it would still be difficult for him to rescue her!

  Wu Mu Dao Ren was not pleased and stayed here for five more days, capturing another Tian Xin Zong Jindan initial stage cultivator. Under forced soul search, he discovered an unexpected message: Tian Xin Zong and Bing Feng Gu had sent cultivators to reinforce and would arrive soon. This Tian Xin Zong cultivator had gone out to meet his fellow sect members.

  Wu Mu Dao's mind was clear: if another Yuan Ying period cultivator from the three sects arrived at Yuding Mountain, Yuding Gate would be in imminent danger of being attacked and broken through! If Yuding Gate were to fall, all the major and minor sects in Zhongzhou would eventually fall into Bingfeng Valley's hands, and they would inevitably suffer a massacre and reorganization. By then, he himself would no longer have a foothold in Zhongzhou.

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