Chapter 26: The Secret Plot of Mahavairocana Buddha's Magical Spirit Pearl (Part 1)
A thin misty rain shrouds Yicheng, like fog and gauze.
The drizzle has lasted for three whole days, making the entire small town permeated with a damp and musty smell, as well as a stifling stench.
Covering her nose, Ning Huaiyu walked through the streets and alleys of Yicheng with an unpleasant expression.
As the thirty-second ranked young strongman on the Profound Sky Continent's rankings, he who had just celebrated his twentieth birthday yesterday was already a seventh-layer Qi Refining stage martial artist. At such a young age, he had already become an object of admiration for the vast majority of martial artists.
But he was not satisfied with this.
The Dark Depths Reserve List was not his goal, his goal was the Dark Depths List. He was only twenty years old and had ten more years to go.
In fact, on the substitute list of the Abyssal Pool, there are not a few people as ambitious as him.
Of course, deep down in his heart, there was a small thought that once he entered the true Profound Abyss Rankings, he would have enough qualifications to pursue the contemporary number one beauty of the world, Qing Lian.
As one of the most promising young heroes in the martial arts world, he has always had a natural admiration for the sacred place of the martial arts world. Although he only saw Qingling once, her unparalleled elegance has left an indelible impression deep in his heart.
But before he could make a move on Qingling, devastating news came from the southwest. The heavenly wanderer of Jingling Lake, the goddess in the hearts of countless young warriors, Qingling, was actually going to be engaged. And the object of her engagement was none other than Wang Guanlan, the 15-year-old illegitimate son of the Ning King's Manor in the southwest.
What they can't accept is that Wang Guanlan actually used despicable means to force Qingling into agreeing to marry him.
As soon as this news came out, it instantly exploded in the martial arts world and even more so enraged hot-blooded young men like Ning Huaiyu.
However, the only thing that comforted them was that Wang Guanlan and Qingling's marriage had not been completely settled, but instead chose to get engaged on March 8th. Before that, several young masters had already gone to the southwest to challenge this scoundrel Wang Guanlan, although they failed, it also gave them hope.
Wang Guanlan decided to get engaged on the eighth day of March and, as a Zhenfa master, face off against all the young martial artists in the world who were dissatisfied with this marriage. Any young martial artist who was unhappy about this engagement could issue a challenge to him; if they could defeat him, then the engagement would be called off.
In a sense, this news is more shocking than his engagement with Qingling.
This kid is too arrogant, the meaning of this message is that Wang Guanlan is not afraid of any young strong man in the world and has the confidence to accept the challenge of any young strong man, including the young strong men on the Profound Abyss Ranking. This is equivalent to him issuing a challenge to all the young strong men in the world.
If it were someone else, or if it were a different time, with the identity of Ning Wangfu's illegitimate son issuing such a challenge to young and strong people all over the world, it would only become a joke. Apart from being laughed at for being arrogant, there wouldn't be many people responding either.
Although the Ning Wangfu dominates the southwest, it is at best a local snake, a younger son of the Ning Wu Fu. What qualifications does he have to challenge young and strong people all over the world?
But because of Qingling's sake, Wang Guanlan suddenly had this qualification. This fifteen-year-old boy who didn't have any battle achievements at all jumped to become the most famous young man in the world, his reputation chasing after the young strong ones on the Profound Abyss Ranking, and was even more famous than most of the young strong ones on the Profound Abyss Substitute Ranking.
To Ning Hua Yu, this was just a joke.
Since it's a joke, then there's nothing more delightful than him personally coming to put an end to this joke.
So he arrived in Yicheng a few days before March 8th, just like other young and powerful figures in the martial arts world.
Yicheng is just a small border town in the southwest of the three states, although it has been famous for its phoenix tail grass in recent years, but after all, it is only a small city with limited capacity.
When he arrived, the city was already full.
It's not a big city, but a small border town with only tens of thousands of people. However, within a month, over 100,000 people flooded in, and these hundreds of thousands of people are still here, refusing to leave until after March 8th.
So, Yicheng has already been ruined.
What's most depressing is that in this continuous rainy and overcast weather, the fine rain is like a completely water-based cover that keeps all the foul air trapped in Yicheng, making it impossible to dissipate. As a result, the city is completely immersed in foul air.
That's all well and good, but the troubles are clearly not limited to this one matter. The problem of food and lodging has almost become a source of distress for every martial artist who comes to Yicheng.
Fortunately, most of the people who came to Yicheng were from the martial arts world, so they didn't mind sleeping under the stars and eating in the wind. Otherwise, I'm afraid that by the third day of the third month, Yicheng would have been plagued by famine.
Ning Huaiyu was one of the early arrivals, and at the last moment he was allowed to stay in the inn. However, up until today, he has regretted why he stayed there.
From three days ago, the inn has stopped selling food because there is not enough grain. The whole city of Yicheng no longer has any place to sell grain. Yesterday, a batch of grain arrived in Yicheng, but it had nothing to do with these outsiders. Instead, County Magistrate Yao Yifei led the Flower Fox Guard to deliver grain door-to-door to local families in Yicheng, ensuring their livelihoods.
As for whether these outsiders live or die, no one really cares.
Nowadays, the yamen runners in Yicheng would patrol the streets three times a day with a team of Huā Líng Guards to maintain order. They didn't have a good impression of these outsiders, especially young and powerful ones like him. This morning, he even got into an argument with one of the yamen runners over some trivial matter. The runner, who was only at the second layer of Qi refinement, was actually rude to him, making him feel humiliated. Just as he was about to teach that guy a lesson, he was stopped by the Huā Líng Guard beside him.
He could still feel the six Flower Fox Guards, who had only cultivated to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, staring at him with a cold gaze. The auras of the six connected as one, and the murderous aura made his heart still feel a chill.
So, he still didn't take action, but instead suppressed this resentment deeply, waiting for the eighth day of March to return all his anger to that ignorant little brat.
"Brother Hua Yu, you've finally arrived! It's been a long time since we last met!" A man turned the corner of an alley and came up with a smile, "I've been waiting for you for so long!"
"Brother Han, it's been a long time!" Seeing the smiling face of Han Fu, Ning Huaiyu also squeezed out a smile, "I didn't expect Brother Han to still be stuck in this godforsaken place!"
"What to do if we can't stay here? Even outside the city, all the good locations have been taken by others. It's just that this city is a bit quieter!" Han Fu also sighed, he didn't expect Yicheng to become like this now.
"Hmph, this Wang Guanlan is really too arrogant, that's why he's courting such big trouble!" Ning Huaiyu sneered, "The eighth of March will be his day of death!"
"Yes, on the eighth of March, no matter what happens to him, it will be a sorry sight!" Han Fu also burst out laughing. He had no good feelings towards Wang Guanlan, "Wang Guanlan is just a small role, but this small role is quite troublesome. I invited Brother Huaiyu here precisely to discuss this matter!"
"Oh?!" Ning Huaiyu raised an eyebrow, "What's there to fear about Wang Guanlan? Even if he is a Formation Master, his formations can't be that powerful. With Brother Han's abilities, why do you still need to discuss with me?"
"Come in and let's talk, come in and let's talk!!" Han Fu said with a smile. Yicheng is now filled with a stinky atmosphere, and everywhere is filled with Huā Lí Wèi. The matter he wants to discuss with Ning Hua Yu today is very important, and he doesn't want others to overhear it.
Han Fu arrived at Yicheng much earlier than Ning Huaiyu, so he was able to rent a small courtyard in Yicheng. As Han Fu entered the small courtyard, Ning Huaiyu finally held back and took a deep breath.
"Here...!"
"Fortunately I brought three or two Buddhist sandalwood incense this time, otherwise, this ghost place really can't be stayed!!" Han Fu said with a smile before he could ask.
The sandalwood of Buddhism, clear mind and bright eyes, also has the effect of expelling evil spirits. Now it is used in Yicheng, which is a perfect match. However, sandalwood is not easy to get, three or two pieces of sandalwood are worth at least 100 taels of gold, and most of the time it is priceless.
"It seems like Brother Han has gone all out this time!!"
"It's not that I'm being stingy, this incense was originally meant for my respected master, what a pity! As he spoke of the agarwood incense, Han Fu's face also showed a hint of regret. "However, this debt can only be attributed to Wang Guanlan, if it weren't for him causing so much trouble, how would I have lost these three taels of agarwood incense?!"
"So you want to teach Wang Guanlan a lesson too, Brother Han?!"
"What's wrong, Brother Yu doesn't want to?!"
"Of course, I'd love to, but it seems like there are too many people who want to teach him a lesson. I'm afraid it's not our turn yet!!" Ning Huaiyu chuckled to himself, having already made up his mind to be the first to challenge Wang Guanlan, lest he get beaten to death by someone else.
After all, there were too many people challenging him, and one person's saliva could drown him.
"Brother Wai Yu, don't underestimate that little guy. Although his formation isn't as formidable as the legendary ones, if we really get trapped in it, even with our abilities, it'll be a troublesome affair!"
"Oh? So Han brother has seen his formation before?!"
"Not bad, his Five-Line Formation indeed has some unique subtleties, I'm afraid even the strong ones outside the top 50 of the Hidden List won't be able to break through the formation!"
"It's no wonder he's so confident, with such incredible abilities! He's got the guts to take on challenges from anyone in the world!"
"This is just a demonstration of his strength from a few days ago. I've seen the formation he used that day, and it's clear he didn't go all out!"
"According to Brother Han's meaning, if we go in, our chances of winning are slim?!"
"Huaiyu brother, you're joking, with your skills, entering the formation will surely break it, but have you thought about it? Even if you break his formation and defeat him, what then? Force him to cancel the engagement?! Even if he cancels the engagement, is that really good for Qingling?"
