Chapter 20

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Chapter 20

Due to the external support, the valley was more bustling than usual.

It was said that a grand feast was held at noon, featuring top-quality bamboo wine and mountain chicken for the guests, and they even slaughtered two wild boars, which were quite succulent.

The people from Zhi Bai Guan often wore dark robes, while those from Ba Jing Tower favored shades of sea blue and sapphire.

Today, standing high in the valley, one could see a myriad of colors scattered about, resembling a splendid tapestry.

The senior brother and sister hurried to the kitchen to eat some leftover food and immediately headed to Liu Jia Palace to report back.

Ji Yang had broken through and risen to Opening Sun; according to the rules, he needed to inform them and be recorded.

Gong Wu wanted to go to Jin Yan Tuo, so she had to document her rise to Glorious Light in the secret realm first to make it justifiable.

When the news reached the Master Ancestor and the other Masters, everyone was pleasantly surprised and praised Tu Chao Sheng for choosing such talented disciples.

“To rise to Opening Sun at just twenty years old is an unprecedented miracle that could shake many sects in the Central Plains!”

“The little girl from the palace is also impressive! Your brother entered Glorious Light at fifteen, and you at sixteen, only one year apart!”

“It seems that Xuxin’s elixirs really have the miraculous effect of clearing obstacles in the roots and bones. As a Master Uncle, I want to get my hands on one to try!”

The elders continuously congratulated, while Gong Wu stood behind Ji Yang, quietly digging her nails into her palm.

She couldn’t understand.

Could the spiritual cauldron and Rebirth Temple be working together to deceive them?

Or was the Master really a bad person?

She kept her thoughts to herself, as Ji Yang handled all the polite exchanges.

The Master Ancestor smiled at the disciples shining so brightly and drank a few more cups of Eight Treasures Tea, agreeing, “Your Master and Master Hua Tingxiao were trapped in Jin Yan Tuo, so it’s only right for you from Tianhua Palace to send someone to rescue them.”

“Cheng Ji was worried you were too young, but seeing you now, it’s indeed a good time for training.”

“Rest for a bit, and when the auspicious time arrives, we will set out!”

Both of them bowed together.

“Thank you, Master Ancestor and Master Uncle!”

With an hour left before departure, Ji Yang accompanied Gong Wu to settle the little Leopard in the courtyard of Tianhua Palace, then turned to head to the teaching hall with his bundle.

Earlier, they had promised Du Ren, the senior sister, to bring the six-eyed Leopard over for the disciples to observe before it was buried, ensuring no harm would come to it.

Hua Tingxiao was detained by another faction, so the responsibility of teaching the disciples was taken over by the chief disciple, Du Ren.

She helped them place the enormous Leopard on the white stone platform, and the lower-ranking disciples from various palaces stared wide-eyed.

“It’s so big!!”

“You two managed to kill it by yourselves?!”

“Seeing this is way more interesting than looking at diagrams!”

“What’s so interesting,” Du Ren tapped the stone platform, instructing all the observing disciples to use their spiritual vision: “Come on, look for the positions of the spiritual orifices that were shattered in this Leopard.”

Although the enormous fierce beast had passed away, since the Golden Core had not yet been taken, lingering spiritual energy surrounded it, allowing these lower-ranking disciples to observe and learn.

“Little Ba, you go first,” Du Ren imitated her Master’s teaching style and pointed to a little girl from Yuncang Palace: “When encountering fierce beasts, where do we start to observe?”

The seven-year-old girl was so nervous she stuttered a bit.

“There are three wonders in the world, three layers.”

“One is spiritual orifices, from three to seven.”

“Two, two extends the tail, from one to nine.”

“Three, three…” She couldn’t remember anymore, first looking at the Leopard, then turning to her senior sister: “Three…”

“I didn’t write the formula on my face,” Du Ren retorted sharply, “Three recognitions of forehead light, just like the Daoist robe!”

The fierce beasts that have just acquired spiritual energy merely have their Spiritual Orifices expanded within their bodies.

As they absorb the essence of the sun and the radiance of the moon, or devour other fierce beasts to seize their cultivation, they gradually grow multiple tails, such as a three-tailed cat demon or a nine-tailed fox spirit.

Further along their path, they develop spiritual lights on their foreheads, each varying in hue.

Gong Wu, listening to the lecture, couldn’t help but chuckle. She gently tugged on Ji Yang’s sleeve and whispered, “Was I like that when I was young?”

“Have you forgotten how Master used to smack your palm?” Ji Yang glanced at her: “Whenever you couldn’t recite the texts, you’d keep looking at me, and Master would always shoo me away, telling me not to be your accomplice.”

Whenever they reminisced about this, a warm nostalgia would wash over them, but it was always accompanied by the haunting words from Rebirth Temple.

“—If you wish for peace in this world, it would be best to slay your Master with a sword to avert future calamities.”

Their gazes met briefly before they both looked away, sinking into a heavy silence.

After the class ended, Du Ren, as promised, accompanied them to the back mountain to bury the mother Leopard and her cub.

The little Leopard was finally brought out to witness the entire process.

Along the way, some younger disciples attempted to pet it, but Gong Wu was quick to intervene.

“It even bit me; be careful or you might lose half your arm!”

Juju, playing along, bared its fangs, startling a child so much that he fell to the ground, getting covered in mud.

There were also lower-ranking disciples in their thirties who watched regretfully as the mother Leopard was laid to rest in the deep pit.

“Why didn’t you extract its Golden Core? That’s a valuable treasure.”

“Wen Zhixing, aren’t you afraid you’ll be overwhelmed and poisoned by this inner dan?” Du Ren shot back: “Thanks for the reminder; I’ll set up a formation and controls here, so if anyone disturbs this grave in the future, I’ll know immediately!”

The older disciple who was called out sheepishly withdrew, not daring to speak further.

Soon, both Leopards were buried, along with the human bones that had been the cub’s playthings for years.

Juju whimpered softly, nuzzling the dirt with its face, reluctant to leave.

Gong Wu knelt beside it, offering gentle words of comfort.

“Juju, from now on, you’ll be the big cat of Tianhua Palace. You can come back to visit whenever you miss them, but you must stop eating people.”

The Leopard cub snapped at her arm, but the girl deftly avoided it, smoothing the ruffled fur around its neck.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Juju, irritated, fluffed up its tail and turned its head away.

Du Ren watched in amazement: “Such quick reflexes! How do you do that?”

“It’s the spiritual bond, you see,” Gong Wu chuckled.

At a quarter past the hour, all the selected mid- to higher-ranking disciples gathered by the Lan Fang River, where the Palace Lord of Liu Jia, Yan Fangji, counted heads and prepared for departure.

The Daoist from Ba Jing Tower struck a bronze gong, its sharp clang resonating as a black whale surfaced from the river, half-submerged on the stones, opening its bloodthirsty jaws.

A disciple in the crowd murmured, “Isn’t this whale supposed to live only in the sea?”

“What do you know! This whale has attained cultivation!”

“If it weren’t for our Master Ancestor saving their Master’s life, we’d probably be riding a giant catfish today!”

“Silence,” Yan Fangji commanded with a stern frown. “Once seated, do not fidget or touch anything, lest we become a laughingstock!”

The disciples obediently complied, filing into the black whale’s mouth like a school of fish willingly offering themselves as food. Gong Wu trailed behind Ji Yang, gazing up at the vast, dark maw of the creature, which resembled a low mountain yawning wide. The opening was wide enough for three or four people to lie side by side, a sight both astonishing and awe-inspiring.

Ji Yang deliberately slowed his pace and whispered, “Look at its forehead—there’s a faint red glow.”

“…!”

Could this ancient whale, hundreds of years old, truly possess such a high level of cultivation?

They stepped onto the black whale’s tongue, which felt as soft as a plush carpet. Further in, they would enter its belly. Three or four Uncles ignited spiritual fire to illuminate the interior for everyone. To their surprise, the belly contained dozens of fixed chairs, allowing them to sit comfortably in the dark chamber.

Once everyone was seated, Daoist Cui Wei, who controlled the whale, took his place atop its head and called out from above. The world seemed to twist and turn as the giant whale smoothly dove back into the river, swimming upstream with remarkable agility. It was fortunate that Jin Yan Tuo lay at the confluence of three rivers, and due to the founder’s preferences, the waterways inside were wide, though the currents were swift and treacherous, making passage impossible for ordinary travelers.

For the massive black whale, however, this was no challenge at all. It twisted and swam effortlessly toward its destination, its movements fluid and graceful, occasionally leaping or flipping. Daoist Cui Wei, seated atop its head, appeared as calm as if he were asleep, remaining perfectly steady even when the whale turned upside down, his head pointing toward the riverbed.

The same could not be said for the disciples from other sects who struggled with their sea legs inside the whale’s belly. A group of young disciples clung desperately to their chair armrests, several on the verge of vomiting, hastily swallowing motion sickness pills they had brought along.

Traveling to Jin Yan Tuo by sword flight would take at least an hour, but by water, the journey took only half that time, with an additional fifteen minutes allotted for the disciples to compose themselves. Once everything was confirmed, the giant whale raised its head and expelled a stream of water, sending dozens of disciples soaring out on their swords, bursting forth from the depths of Jin Yan Tuo’s countless waterfalls!

Yan Fangji barked an order: “Release the confusion incense!”

Hundreds of heavy slumbering incense were hurled into the various layers of Jin Yan Tuo, bursting open upon impact. Crimson smoke billowed out, causing the startled guards to collapse and leaving the weaker lower-ranking disciples in a daze.

“Release the lesser incense!”

The second wave of incense exploded, this time releasing bright yellow smoke. Due to its high cost, only a few dozen were thrown toward the mid- to high-ranking layers, but a strong wind swept down from above, carrying the smoke to the lower layers and leaving them drowsy as well.

A discordant blare of horns echoed from above and below, and immediately, elite soldiers rushed in, seemingly unaffected by the smoke.

“Who dares to invade this mountain?!”

“He Zhao Li,” Yan Fangji declared sharply, “Hand over my disciples from Moonfire Valley, or I will show no mercy!”

At that moment, Master He Zhao Li, strolled forward with an air of calm indifference.

“Oh, isn’t that Master Yan?”

“To be honest,” the man smiled, “those three individuals have already been turned into sacrificial vessels by me.”

Before he finished speaking, a roar enhanced by spiritual energy echoed from a chamber on the fourth floor.

“He’s lying!!!” Tu Xuixin shouted as he clung to the iron bars of the prison window, “Senior Brother—save me!! We’re all here!!!”

He Zhao Li’s face darkened as he scolded his subordinates, “Fools! Did you not silence them while you were kidnapping?!”

His subordinates looked miserable and replied, “We did silence them! But how could he have chewed through it himself??”