Chapter 18: Same Boat, Shared Fate

  Nanjiang, by Heishuitan.

  The mighty power of Mahavairocana and the divine sword of God's Thunder exploded in countless huge pits with the sound waves of the nine-headed serpent in the Black Water Pool, both sides were fighting with all their might, the sky was dark and the sand was flying.

  "This beast is incredibly fierce!" Lin Jingyu bellowed, with a hint of blood at the corner of his mouth, apparently due to the backlash from using all his might.

  The Dharma form cultivation seems to be a bit higher, and for the time being, there is no major problem, but the complexion is slightly pale, and the wheel of rebirth is urged to continue circling with the nine-headed serpent.

  Neither of them was willing to leave, and the sandstorm caused by their spiritual power spread ten miles away. The fierce battle can be imagined, although they were evenly matched, but in the end, it could only end with both sides suffering heavy losses or even mutual destruction.

  In the distance, in the direction of the Poisonous Snake Valley, four brilliant lights rose into the air. At the forefront were Xiao Yicai and Fa Shang, followed by Yan Hong and Li Xun. After a day of recuperation, their vital energy had recovered to 70% and they could already wield their swords and fly through the skies. Meanwhile, Fa Xiang and the others who were tracking down Jin Ping'er also had no news for an entire day.

  The perilous land of the Great Mountains, Xiao Yicai is extremely deep and different from ordinary people, but he is still very concerned about his fellow disciples. He is good at winning people's hearts, and even many seniors say that he and Daoxuan, the leader of the Qingyun Gate, are quite similar, with a general's demeanor. It seems that in the future, the heavy responsibility of the Qingyun Gate will likely fall on him.

  "Xiao Shixiong, Lu Shimai, fellow disciples won't run into any trouble, will they?" said Li Xun.

  Lu Xueqi's safety had always been on his mind, and it was true that this kid was a sentimental fool, especially when he encountered "Gui Li" he became even more worried. He insisted on patrolling the Ten Thousand Great Mountains once before returning, Yan Hong devoted herself to him, although she felt uncomfortable in her heart, but since it concerned the harmony of the two families, she did not object. In front of them, a Dharma appearance walked out from the Buddhist gate of Fa Shang, and the four people raised their magic treasures, rushing through the Ten Thousand Great Mountains like lightning.

  The sky is clear and the white clouds are like cotton, originally a very dangerous place but now it's so peaceful, compared to the rich Central Plains which is being ravaged by monsters.

  In the distance, a grayish-brown dust storm gradually emerged and spread out, looking particularly glaring against the clear blue sky.

  "Xiao Shixiong, it seems like something has happened up ahead!" Li Xun suddenly said.

  Xiao Yizai and Fashan nodded at the same time, feeling that there seemed to be a familiar spiritual power in that sand cloud. They quickly took out their magic treasures and rushed towards the sand cloud, with Yan Hong and Li Xun closely following behind.

  A distance of dozens of miles was nothing but a brief moment for these cultivators, passing through the sandy clouds, only to see on the edge of a black water below, a nine-headed strange beast standing next to it, with Fa Xiang and Lin Jingyu standing beside it, exerting their strength in a fierce battle with the strange beast. The cultivation of the two was so high, yet the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Dragon-Slaying Sword seemed to be struggling, showing just how formidable that nine-headed strange beast was.

  Xiao Yicai fell beside Fa Xiang, while Lin Jingyu was supported by Fa Shan.

  The two were overjoyed, but the nine-headed serpent became even more ferocious and furious when it saw someone coming to their aid. It went mad, its body surrounded by a halo of toxic gas, as all nine heads attacked the four people simultaneously.

  "Watch out for its poisonous neck!" Fa Xiang shouted. Everyone simultaneously retreated backward, and in mid-air, they simultaneously activated the Divine Thunder Sword Decree and the Great Brahma Wisdom.

  All four of them were not ordinary people, the current Taoist masters, with divine thunder and swordsmanship occupying the south and north, the thunderous sound shaking the heavens, the great Brahma-like Buddha shining on the eastern land, the nine heavenly songs shocking the nine heavens, the mighty heavenly power making all Buddhas surrender, the combined force of the four was not to be underestimated. Even Li Xun and Yan Hong, who had just arrived, were shaken by this powerful force and did not dare to approach.

  "Break!" The four of them shouted in unison, as the sounds of wind, thunder, Buddhist chants, and Sanskrit hymns intertwined and erupted simultaneously. All spiritual energy was instantly withdrawn, with the power of thunder pressing down from above and the Nine Heavens' Whirlwind rising from below. It was a massive sonic wave, but Lin Xiang knew that his opponent's strength was on par with theirs, having exchanged blows before. Now, with Xiao Yicai and Fa Shan as powerful reinforcements, they could easily subdue this monster without any hesitation or holding back.

  Two forces clashed, and the nine-headed beast let out a loud roar. With one strike, all nine heads were severed by the powerful force, releasing toxic gas everywhere. The crowd retreated in a hurry, and it took a long time for the gas to dissipate.

  Six people fell simultaneously at the edge of the black water, but still kept a distance from that nine-headed monster, in case there was any remaining venom.

  Fashang and Lin Jingyu stared blankly at the black water, while Li Xun and Xiao Yicai beside them were getting impatient.

  "Master Fa Xiang, where's Master Lu?" Li asked.

  Fashang's eyebrows were tightly locked and he didn't say a word, still staring at this black water.

  Xiao Yizai was also anxious in his heart and asked Lin Jingyu, "Lin Shidi, what's going on?"

  Lin Jing's eyebrows furrowed, his face filled with grief and indignation as he said: "Lu Shixiong and Xiao Fan fell into this dark water abyss at the same time, and never came up again. Fasheng Shixiong's wheel of reincarnation searched for them in the pool for a whole day and night but found no trace of them. And today, I don't know why this nine-headed monster emerged from the black water... We fought it for a while, but couldn't defeat it, I suppose..." His face turned pale as paper, and he lost the courage to continue speaking.

  Xiao Yicai also furrowed his brow, his fingers supporting his chin, and after a while, he said: "You're saying that this monster just appeared today!"

  Lin Jingyu nodded and replied: "Yes!" His face couldn't hide his sorrow.

  Xiao Yicai said again: "You suspect that both of them fell into this beast's poisonous hands?"

  Fashang and Lin Jingyu's faces turned gloomy, unable to bear thinking about it further.

  "It can't be, Lu Shimei absolutely cannot die in this beast's belly!" Li Xun let out a loud whistle, his voice almost manic, and even Yan Hong behind him felt a bit frightened.

  Yan Hong gently pulled his sleeve and said, "Senior brother, please calm down!"

  "How is this possible... how can this be..." Li Xun kept repeating the words he had just spoken, unable to believe the cruel reality.

  Xiao Yicai's gaze swept over their bodies one by one, madness, chanting Buddha, sorrow, fear. Facing emotions, it turned out that everyone was so fragile, only he remained calm and composed. He faintly felt the subtlety of the situation, but it was just a guess, and he couldn't say it out loud. After everyone's emotions had calmed down for a while, he asked Fasheng: "Fasheng Shixiong, what do you think we should do now?"

  Fa Xiang was stunned for a moment, and it took him a while to come back to his senses. He thought to himself that Xiao Yi's cunning was indeed not shallow, and yet he had asked Fa Xiang, an outsider, to make the decision on this matter of their fellow disciples. If Qing Yun were to investigate later, Xiao Yi could easily push all the blame onto Fa Xiang, leaving him to take the fall. However, considering the current situation, with monsters wreaking havoc and the cultivators gathering at Qing Yun, would they wait for these few arrogant disciples to return and report back before taking action? Every day they delayed here meant countless lives were in danger. It seemed that sometimes one had to become a bad person to get things done.

  He let out a long sigh and said somewhat helplessly: "Today, the righteous knights of the world have gathered at Qingyun to form an alliance against the demonic beasts. We came out to investigate whether the Demon Sect has been destroyed. Yesterday, we saw that the Wan Du Men was destroyed, and even the three Miao ladies were killed in battle at the Toxic King's Hall. The Ghost King's disciples died in large numbers. It is likely that some of the demon sect's evil creatures also died in the belly of the demonic beasts. The Demon Sect can be said to have been destroyed. The lives of all living beings are more important than anything else, so we must put aside our personal feelings for now and return to Qingyun!" These last three words were spoken very lightly, but they sounded extremely heavy in everyone's ears, like a muffled thunderclap.

  "Really going back to Qingyun...?" Li Xun asked slowly, staring at the black water as if it had lost its soul.

  "Senior brother!" Yan Hong pulled him again, obviously not wanting other fellow Taoists to continue seeing his embarrassing appearance.

  Xiao Yizai naturally agreed with Fa Xiang's words, two of the three major sects had already agreed, but Fengxiang Valley was not to be underestimated and also asked a question. He looked at Li Xun and said: "What do you think, Junior Brother Li?"

  Li Xunruo slowly regained consciousness as if he had been clicked, only then did he remember his mistake earlier and felt a few regrets. However, the three words "Lu Xueqi" still deeply cut into his heart. After a while, he said: "The two masters are right, everything should prioritize the lives of all living beings!" His mouth spoke these words, but his eyes didn't leave the black water for a moment, as if Lu Xueqi would suddenly emerge from beneath the surface at any time.

  "Let's go!" Xiao Yicai slowly said, and the crowd responded one after another, raising their magic treasures to rush into the sky, leaving behind the body of the nine-headed snake lying alone.

  A strong gust of wind blew over the ground, quickly covering everyone's footprints with yellow sand. Suddenly, a woman in a pale yellow dress appeared in the distance, her slender figure and beautiful face standing out from the dust - it was Jin Bao'er.

  "Was it me who killed that person?!" Her originally radiant face had a faint gloom added to it due to the death of San Miao's wife, she stared blankly at the black water, yet walked for a long time despite the short distance.

  San Miao left, the people from He Huan's side also left, and that person she had just met also left because of her own mistake. For the first time, she felt so lonely, for the first time, she wondered what the point of cultivating was, what was the use of obtaining the world if one would still be alone, guarding in vain in this desolate mountain and treacherous waters, watching the corpse of this strange creature slowly rot, being pecked at by a hundred birds, and then slowly turning into white bones and yellow sand.

  "Are you really dead?" She had asked herself countless times in her heart, and finally she couldn't help but shout it out loud. The melodious voice like a skylark echoed in front of the precipice ahead, and then returned to her ears, only to find that she too had such a painful moment.

  The pure Yang true energy still remained in her body, suppressing the cold poison flowing slowly within him, such warmth and comfort, but he was gone. Her heart suddenly turned cold, a chill flashed in her eyes, and the purple awn shot out of her hand, forcibly splitting the nine-headed monster into two. The foul-smelling internal organs slowly flowed into the black water.

  Jin Ping'er, who had a clean freak personality, walked past the foul-smelling internal organs of the strange beast without hesitation. She stood there motionless, searching around, refusing to believe that person was dead. After a moment, she got her answer and muttered to herself: "Even if you're already dead, it wouldn't end like this! This beast doesn't have the ability to swallow you!" With that, Jin Ping'er returned to her usual self, smiling happily with a hidden knife, and charged into the sky with her purple-mane blade.