Forty-Nine, Asking for Directions at Yao Guang Mountain

  Xun Daozi, surrounded by the enthusiastic Wu tribe in their residence, finally escaped from that place with only five or six hundred Wu people. The pressure he felt from the enthusiasm of those Wu people was comparable to facing Tongtian's intimidation in Daluo Territory. Without even asking about the path to Zhou Mountain, he had to make a hasty retreat.

  Xun Daozi continued to live a life of searching and inquiring about the way. Of course, every day he still set aside a fixed time to practice the method of refining his internal energy as taught by Yuan Shi, hoping to use his own strength to eliminate the three corpses. However, refining this innate energy was not something that could be accomplished overnight, and it could only be done during the specific hour when yin and yang alternated. It required long-term cultivation and hard work like grinding grain with a millstone. Even Xun Daozi himself did not know how many days it would take to eliminate the three corpses and attain freedom from them.

  All the way, I met several big and small monsters on my way to find the path. I also entered the residence of the witch tribe several times, but still couldn't get any news about the route to Mount Buzhou. So I had no choice but to wander aimlessly without a clear purpose, thinking that one day I would meet a cultivator who knew the way. Maybe I didn't need to ask for directions, and with my careless wandering, I might accidentally stumble upon Mount Buzhou.

  That day, Xun Daozi rode on the cloud in the air, drifting slowly and not hurrying along the way. Drifting slowly like this from the air, taking a casual look at the vast wilderness, was also quite delightful.

  Xun Daozi lay on the cloud, letting it drift, and this drifting cloud drifted to a mountain top, Xun Daozi leaned over to look down, suddenly feeling that this was a good mountain, with lush forests, competing peaks, steep cliffs, and cascading waterfalls, covering an area of over a thousand miles.

  Xun Daozi descended from the clouds, wanting to enter this mountain for a visit. Such a good mountain, if there is no high-ranking person living here, it should also have treasures. Xun Daozi decided to explore this mountain thoroughly.

  Xun Daozi entered the mountain and searched all the way, but didn't find any treasure.

  As he gradually walked into the center of the mountain, he found that there were some signs of frequent human passage between the mountains. Xun Daozi's heart suddenly rose with a thread of expectation. Such a good mountain, living in it must be an extraordinary person, maybe they can communicate and broaden their horizons, and may even hear about the path to Bu Zhou Mountain. Unconsciously, his footsteps quickened. After discovering the traces of the cultivator's activities, Xun Daozi did not use his divine sense to investigate, fearing that he would provoke the high-ranking person living in this place and cause unnecessary trouble.

  Xun Daozi walked along the mountain path, turning several bends and passing through several forests. When he reached the foot of a cliff, he suddenly heard a shout from above: "You Taoist, where are you from?"

  As he looked up, he saw a dozen or so little demons standing on the cliff, with the leader having the cultivation of the Heavenly Immortal Realm, pointing at Xun Daozi with one hand holding a knife and shouting. Seeing Xun Daozi look up at the mountain cliff again, he shouted: "You, this Taoist, where did you come from, why did you come to my Yao Guang Mountain? Quickly tell the truth, if there is half a sentence of falsehood, I will definitely take you away and steam you for my master to eat."

  Xun Daozi couldn't help but smile when he heard the little demon's shout. He had thought it was a high-ranking immortal's residence, but instead, it was a group of demons occupying it. Looking at the leading little demon, who already had the cultivation base of the Tianxian realm, this mountain demon king might also have the Dao lineage of the Taiyi scattered immortals. Perhaps finding this demon king could get some information out of him.

  Xun Daozi opened his mouth and replied, "I am Xun Daozi, a monk from Xun Dao Mountain. I want to go to Bu Zhou Shan for a trip, passing through this place, but I don't know the way. Would you please inform your king at home and ask him to guide me on the path to Bu Zhou Shan?"

  That little demon looked at Xun Daozi, turned around and ordered the other little demons: "Take care of that Taoist, I will go and report to the Great King." Then he turned back to Xun Daozi and shouted: "You wait here, I'll go and report to my Great King, and await his instructions." After finishing speaking, he turned around and jumped down from the other side of the cliff.

  Soon, a burly man appeared from the edge of the cliff, surrounded by hundreds of small monsters. The man was extremely robust, with a huge mouth and fangs, his upper body bare, but on his back, from the nape of his neck to his waist, grew a thick, dense, steel-needle-like mane.

  That big fellow stopped more than ten feet away from Xun Daozi, with a group of small demons standing behind him, holding knives, guns, swords, halberds, shields, and long spears; each one was strange and sinister in appearance.

  After the big man stood still, he kept sizing up Xun Daozi, who was also quietly sizing him up. From the aura that the big man inadvertently revealed, it seemed that he had already reached the realm of Taiyi True Immortal. This made Xun Daozi extremely surprised, as he hadn't expected to encounter such a powerful demon in this place. In fact, this was the most powerful cultivator that Xun Daozi had met on his journey so far.

  Xun Daozi was sizing him up, but the big man's eyes lit up when he saw the purple gold gourd on Xun Daozi's back. He spun around and opened his mouth to shout: "You, the Taoist! I am Yao Guangshan Da Wang Hou Yi Shi. Who are you? What brings you to my Yao Guang Mountain? Speak quickly!"

  Xun Daozi listened and bowed, saying: "I am Xun Daozi, a monk from Xun Dao Mountain. I want to go to Bu Zhou Shan, but on the way, I passed by Bao Shan and couldn't tell which road to take. I hope the master of the mountain can inform me."

  The demon king's eyes rolled around and he said in a low voice, "You asked the way, hand over the gourd on your back to me, and I'll tell you the way."

  Xun Daozi's face turned cold as he listened to the cunning words of the demon king, knowing that the latter had set his sights on his own Purple Gold Gourd. He feared that things might not end well. However, he did not panic and calmly said, "Since the mountain master is unwilling to tell me, I will go myself. Farewell!" He turned around, intending to leave.

  That sly and cunning Daoist saw that the Daoist was about to escape, so he loudly shouted: "You little ones, surround that Daoist, don't let him get away!"

  A group of little monsters wailed and surrounded the Seeker's party from all sides, waving their big knives, long spears, short clubs, shields, and waist knives, shouting loudly.

  Xun Daozi turned around and faced the sly-looking man, his expression calm and serene. In a low voice, he asked: "What do you plan to do?"

  The sly and cunning man burst into loud laughter, and in a stern voice shouted: "You, the Taoist priest, quickly hand over that gourd. I'll let you go if you do, but if you utter even half a word of refusal, I'll take you along with it, steam it, and give it to the kids as a toothpick."

  Xun Daozi was now somewhat annoyed and said in a low voice: "If you want my gourd, come and take it yourself."

  The demon king growled and shouted loudly: "Men, seize that Daoist!"

  The small monsters surrounding Xun Daozi immediately waved their weapons and charged at him with a loud shout.

  Xun Daozi looked at the small monsters rushing from all sides, calm and composed, his face as still as water, with a faint flash of electric light in the palm of his hand.

  A group of little monsters rushed towards Xun Daozi, waving the knives, guns, swords and halberds in their hands, with a fierce and evil look on their faces. Before they could reach Xun Daozi, he raised his hands and clapped them together in mid-air, striking the leading little monsters like lightning, causing them to fly backward, spewing black smoke, and knocking over the other little monsters behind them, who tumbled to the ground like rolling gourds. The little monsters that had been struck by lightning lay on the ground, their bodies pitch-black, emitting electric sparks, convulsing continuously, but still not dead.

  This was also why Xun Daozi did not want to create more karma, so he simply used his Palm Thunder to blast the small demons that were pouncing on him in front, if he were to activate the Thunder Seal, a wave of heavenly thunder would come down, and these small demons would probably not be left with a few.

  The demon king standing there was also slightly startled, but not afraid. He just shouted: "That Taoist priest still has some skills, go and get my weapon, let me meet that Taoist priest."

  Several little demons beside him quickly went to fetch a giant axe, and with a cunning smile, he grasped the axe in his hand and shouted: "You Taoist, do not be arrogant, watch me teach you."

  The little monsters that were rushing forward and backward to surround Xun Daozi immediately retreated to the side, pulling their fallen companion with them, still surrounding Xun Daozi in a circle. Seeing Hua Pian enter the scene with his giant axe, they suddenly started clanging their weapons and shouting loudly, making a ruckus.

  The sly and cunning man walked to a place four or five zhang away from Xun Daozi, stopped, and held a giant axe that emitted a faint cold glow in his hand. He shouted in a low voice: "You, the Taoist, quickly put down the gourd. I will let you go myself. If not, don't blame my axe for being ruthless."

  Xun Daozi's face turned ashen, he didn't say a word, stretched out his hand and summoned the Heart Guard Sword, grasping it tightly. The sword tip pointed slantingly at the ground, his eyes staring fixedly at Huo Yao: "If you want to fight, then let's fight!"

  That sly-looking man suddenly saw a long, ancient sword appear in Xun Daozi's hand. He was slightly taken aback, and immediately shouted: "You don't know what's good for you, look at the axe!" The giant axe in his hand swung down, bringing with it a cold glow that rolled towards Xun Daozi.

  Xun Daozi's body moved slightly, and in an instant, he dodged the giant axe that was rolling in. The sword light flashed, and a sword aura rushed towards Huo Bi's face. Huo Bi's heart tightened, and in the brief moment, he tilted his head violently to avoid it, using the momentum to flash to one side. However, the fierce sword aura still left a bloody mark on the back of Huo Bi's ear.

  Sweat broke out on one side of the sly and cunning man, who didn't expect this seeker to be so formidable. He wiped his hand across his neck, only to find it covered in blood. Instantly, the sly and cunning man's heart was filled with viciousness, and he swung the giant axe in his hand like a windmill, charging at the seeker once again.

  Axe shadows overlapped, rolling up a storm, that violent pressure forced the small monsters around to retreat.

  Xun Daozi wore a white Taoist robe, like a small boat in the midst of raging winds and huge waves, rising and falling with the waves. Those raging winds and huge waves couldn't harm that nimble little boat at all.

  In the midst of a stormy axe shadow, sword lights flashed, the sound of clashing echoed incessantly, the small demons surrounding them had forgotten to shout, their mouths agape, eyes wide with wonder, staring at the two figures tumbling and rolling in the center, the icy axe light and sharp sword shadows had already frightened the small demons into a stupor.

  That demon king was also extremely skilled in his axe techniques, and his martial arts were not ordinary. This time, he fought against Xun Daozi and actually managed to hold his own, which shocked Xun Daozi. Although he only used his sword techniques to fight him without using any divine powers or going all out, his sword techniques were passed down from Tongtian and were also one of the most powerful sword techniques in the vast expanse of the universe. Yet this demon was not at a disadvantage, which truly made him no ordinary character.

  After a fierce battle, Xun Daozi also felt impatient in his heart. His hand tightened, and the sword moves became even more ruthless, emitting waves of sword energy that pierced the cunning axe shadow with thousands of holes, and its body was also scratched by the sword energy, making it bloody and blurred. If Xun Daozi didn't want to kill without reason, this cunning axe might have had many more holes in its body.

  The stumbling and staggering exit of the cunning raccoon, with two eyes glowing red, a body full of ominous energy, threw the giant axe in his hand and shouted: "You Taoist, look at my divine power!"

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