Fifty-fourth: Inadequate worship and sacrifice

  The two tribes of witches and demons decided to have a final battle to determine the ownership of Feather Mountain, which ultimately fell on the shoulders of the elder of the Yu Department of the Witch Tribe, Yu Rong, and the leader of the Demon Tribe, Cong Long. Cong Long had the Taoist cultivation of Taiyi True Immortal Realm, and Yu Rong also had a realm equivalent to that of Taiyi True Immortal Realm. The outcome of this battle was truly unpredictable.

  Jian Rong and Cong Long were standing in the middle of the field, at this moment they had forgotten everything around them, their eyes only saw each other.

  He wore a garment made of hemp, with two ornaments made from animal bones hanging from his waist. He leaned on a green bamboo stick, and his long hair was casually tied back behind his head. At this moment, he stood out in the midst of the crowd, exuding an air of elegance and refinement. His figure seemed to be surrounded by an inexplicable aura. Although he had not made a move, he already emanated an extremely strong and mysterious pressure that caused the surrounding witches and demons from both tribes to involuntarily retreat.

  Scallion-deaf monster wrapped in leather armor, holding a long spear with a hook, the red tassel behind the spearhead was like fire, and the long mane on his neck danced in the wind like a raging flame. Wherever he went, it was like a cluster of fierce flames, a kind of intense and violent aura spread through the air, as if even the air itself would burn up, at this moment he was facing Sentence Wart without showing any weakness.

  The air between the two was stirred by their massive auras, like a calm lake surface being thrown into turmoil by a giant boulder, churning up enormous waves. Even before they clashed, the overwhelming and violent aura had already made onlookers feel suffocated.

  Xun Daozi stood by, witnessing the intense confrontation between the two, and felt a slight shock in his heart. He didn't expect that these two witches would be beyond comparison to ordinary cultivators of the same realm. Xun Daozi actually began to look forward to this battle.

  Finally, as the two sides' breaths entwined and fiercely collided, seemingly on the verge of causing the air to explode, the onion-deaf demon's long spear shook, shaking out a myriad of spear flowers, with clusters of red tassels resembling a myriad of burning flames that rushed forward in a frenzy.

  Standing upright, Jian Rong's eyes condensed, and with a single finger of the green vine in his hand, several thick green vines suddenly sprang out from the ground in front of him, like giant pythons rushing straight at the flames that were coming towards him. The sturdy green vines twisted and turned, striking up and down, swinging left and right, blocking all the gun flowers shot out by the Qiong Yao. The python-like green vines also scattered in the air under the piercing gun flowers.

  Xun Daozi had never seen Jun Wuji use such a powerful technique before and quietly concentrated his spirit to observe carefully.

  The giant python-like Qingteng disappeared, and Juren's left hand pinched a gesture to move, his right hand swung the Qingteng, and suddenly a large net woven from Qingteng appeared in mid-air, heading towards the Conglong Yao.

  Scallion Deaf Evil saw the green wisteria giant net covering the sky, with a long spear in hand, stroke after stroke, the spear shadow went straight to the green wisteria giant net, as the spear shadow passed through the green wisteria giant net, the net burst and fell to the ground, disappearing.

  The green vine giant net was torn apart, and the onion deaf demon's long spear shook again. The spear flowers bloomed one after another, emitting a fierce and violent aura that rushed straight at Juren's face.

  The green vines in his hand danced again, and the layered vine shadows rushed towards the incoming onion deaf evil spirit. At the moment when they touched the gun flower that the onion deaf evil spirit had shaken out, the heavy and overlapping vine shadows suddenly burst open one after another, and a violent and brutal impact wave swept out, knocking down many witches and demons who were standing far away like rolling pumpkins; The onion deaf evil spirit that was hit first also fell to the ground after flipping over twice in mid-air and retreated several steps before stabilizing its footing, but it did not suffer any injuries.

  When that violent shockwave rushed in front of Xun Daozi, he lightly swept it aside with one hand and it surged to both sides without affecting him at all.

  Jian Rong and Cong Long had a brief exchange, although their powers were not ordinary, it was clear that neither of them had used their full strength, merely probing each other. The upcoming battle might have even more astonishing displays.

  The onion deaf monster, who was blown back by the green vine shadow, did not launch an immediate attack after stabilizing itself. Instead, it inserted its long spear to the side and began to chant with its hands forming a seal, as if drawing in some unknown power from all directions.

  The moment the green onion appeared, he inserted the green bamboo into the ground with one hand, and with both hands, he drew mysterious tracks that emerged from his hands, and a wave of eerie aura began to spread.

  Both of them were exerting their utmost strength, their hands moving swiftly and leaving behind a trail of mysterious and unpredictable paths in the air. The pressure between them was intense and violent, causing the surrounding onlookers to retreat step by step. Only a few people remained nearby, watching with bated breath.

  Xun Daozi's feet remained still, but he secretly worked to defend himself, blocking the pressure brought by Jue Rong and Cong Long Yao from getting close to his body. A faint, pale green light slowly flowed over the surface of Xun Daozi's body.

  As the two men in the arena exchanged blows at an increasingly rapid pace, their hands became a blur and their bodies gradually left the ground, rising into mid-air.

  Suddenly, two people shouted in anger, their hands gesturing forward, and the green vines and long guns on the ground rose into the air.

  Scallion Deaf Evil's eyes were round and wide with anger, his mouth continuously shouting in rage. The long mane behind his neck was like a flame burning fiercely, a red glow enveloped Scallion Deaf Evil entirely, making him look like a ball of fire exploding in fierce flames. The red tassel spear floating in front of him transformed into thousands of spears burning with fierce flames, emitting boundless might, and continuously charging towards Juren.

  The old shaman, Juren, now stood in mid-air with his hair and beard bristling like a raging lion. His mouth let out a series of shrill roars as a green light enveloped his body, like rolling waves. The green vines in front of him transformed into massive trees, their enormous shadows swaying like ancient giants, releasing an aura that shot straight towards the deaf and dumb barbarian, who was sent crashing to the ground.

  Gigantic swaying tree shadows and blazing long spears collided in mid-air, exploding, and the resulting gusts of wind wreaked havoc in all directions.

  The sky is no longer visible when looking up, the air is filled with violently colliding long spear-like tree shadows, raging storms everywhere, the sky is dark and gloomy, as if doomsday has arrived.

  The people of the two tribes, Wuyao and Er, who had long since retreated to a distance, were beyond description in their hearts. Even the giant Wuyao tribe retreated several miles away, looking at the half-deaf demon and Juren in shock with a pale face. Only Xun Daozi remained in his original position, supporting a faint cyan light shield that protected himself and the three-eyed little lion cub inside, watching the two fight with relish.

  Half a column of time later, a tree shadow rushed through the forest and slammed into the Qingxian demon, slamming it to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

  That onion deaf monster fiercely stared at the sentence Rong still in mid-air, reached out to summon back the long gun, turned around and stumbled away. Afterwards, a group of demon clansmen followed suit, leaving Yu Shan.

  Jian Rong fell from the air and landed unsteadily, sitting on the ground with a thud. Although he was not injured, he was exhausted, and it was a narrow victory.

  Xun Daozi walked to Ju Rong's side, took out a dan medicine and handed it to Ju Rong. Ju Rong didn't decline, took the dan medicine and swallowed it in one gulp, then sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed to cultivate.

  The Wu tribe people all came back soon and gathered quietly beside Jie's body, waiting.

  They soon set off again, after thanking the Wuzu people and instructing them. Before leaving Yushan, Xun Daozi used his divine sense to investigate Yushan thoroughly, but couldn't find out what made Yushan so strange. He didn't want to stay with the Wuzu to explore together, so he put down his curiosity and headed towards Nizhou Mountain with Jue Rong.

  Months later, Xun Daozi and Ju Rong arrived at a vast plain. Along the way, the relationship between Xun Daozi and Ju Rong had become more harmonious after the Yu Shan event. Xun Daozi asked about how the Wu tribe divided their cultivation boundaries. Ju Rong told him without reservation: Generally, as long as a Wu tribesman is an adult, they have a boundary equivalent to that of a Xian at the Xuan Xian stage, and are called "Wu Min". After a period of refinement and cultivation, they enter a realm equivalent to that of a Di Xian, at which point they are classified according to the type of power they wield. Those who specialize in long-range techniques are called "Shu Wu", while those who specialize in close combat are called "Li Wu". Both Shu Wu and Li Wu are divided into lower and higher ranks; the lower rank is equivalent to that of a Di Xian, while the higher rank is equivalent to that of a Tian Xian. After further refinement and cultivation, they can break through the boundaries of Shu Wu and Li Wu and become known as "Da Wu". Those who break through from Shu Wu are called "Shu Zhi Da Wu", while those who break through from Li Wu are called "Li Zhi Da Wu"; however, in everyday speech, they are simply referred to as "Da Wu". These Da Wu are further divided into three ranks: initial, middle, and high, corresponding to the Tai Yi San Xian, Tai Yi Zhen Xian, and Tai Yi Jin Xian stages of a Xian. Ju Rong was a mid-rank Shu Zhi Da Wu, while the giant Wu tribesman they met at Yu Shan was an initial-rank Li Zhi Da Wu. Above the Da Wu is the "Zu Wu", but even Ju Rong only knew that there were supposedly three boundaries for the Zu Wu, and did not know any further details.

  As soon as Ju Rong and Xun Daozi set foot on the plain, Ju Rong stopped in his tracks, turned around to face Xun Daozi, pointed ahead and said: "Dao Chang please look, that distant mountain peak is Mount Bu Zhou."

  Xun Daozi heard the words, raised his eyes to gaze into the distance, and saw only a massive mountain peak in the farthest reaches, its shadow piercing the sky and connecting the heavens and earth together. A vast and majestic aura permeated the entire void. Seeing the Not-Weekly Mountain, Xun Daozi's expression was also quite agitated.

  The old man of the Wu tribe, standing aside, saw that Xun Daozi was somewhat excited and also felt a sense of emotion. The two had been traveling together for some time and had developed a deep affection for each other. Then, Ju Rong spoke up: "Daozhang, now that Mount Zhou is in sight and the road ahead is clear, I will take my leave here. When you have the chance, please come to our tribe, and I will welcome you with open arms." After finishing speaking, he bowed to Xun Daozi and prepared to depart.

  Xun Daozi listened and hastily bowed his head, saying: "I've troubled you for many days, feeling uneasy in my heart. Now that Master Zhou is not around, I dare not trouble you again. I thank you here for your kindness. Another day when I have leisure, I will come to visit and thank you properly. Farewell for now, may you be safe on your journey." He finished speaking and bowed deeply once more.

  Jian Rong let out a sigh and bowed deeply to Xun Daozi, then turned around and left.

  Xun Daozi watched as Ju Rong walked away, not turning back for a long time. His heart was also not feeling well. After several months of being together, Xun Daozi had developed some good feelings towards Ju Rong. Now that they were parting ways, he didn't know if they would ever meet again. Even if they did meet again, he didn't know how to interact with him. Thinking about the impending disaster of the witch and demon, Xun Daozi couldn't make any promises, nor could he have any expectations. He could only silently endure the emotions that had developed between them.

  After a long time, Xun Daozi finally withdrew his gaze and turned around to display his divine power of shrinking the earth to inches, rushing straight towards Mount Bu Zhou.

  Although the Mountain of No Return was already visible from afar, it was still extremely far away, at least over a hundred thousand miles distant. However, under the spatial compression of Seeking Daozi's divine ability, this distance was negligible and could be traversed in an instant. Yet, Seeking Daozi did not use his divine ability to rush to the Mountain of No Return immediately; instead, he retracted his divine ability when still ten thousand miles away from the mountain's foot and walked towards it step by step with a devout heart.

  As he stepped closer to Mount Buzhou, Xun Daozi's heart seemed to be purifying and sublimating step by step. Looking up at Mount Buzhou, there was a sense of reverence that arose from the bottom of his heart. The vastness and grandeur of Mount Buzhou, its solitary independence, its watchful protection, all imprinted on Xun Daozi's spirit, as if this was the will left behind by Pangu in the desolate heavens and earth.

  As Xun Daozi approached step by step, his body seemed to have also been imbued with the aura of Buzhou Mountain. In a daze, he seemed to have transformed into another Buzhou Mountain, and at this moment, Xun Daozi and Buzhou Mountain seemed to have shared a common pulse.

  Three hundred miles from the foot of Mount Zhou, Xun Daozi stopped his footsteps. A huge stone was made into a stone case, a stone incense burner, and three clear scents were held in Xun Daozi's hands, piously raised to his chest. Xun Daozi's eyes were clear, his face respectful, his moon-white Taoist robe fluttering gently in the wind, and beside him, a snow-white three-eyed little lion was also solemnly expressionless.

  Xunzi pays homage at Mount Zhou...

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