Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 39

Volume 6 Chapter 39: The Return of Shura, Southern Wasteland Exploration

Xu Qingfan started to admire the masters in the Righteous Alliance. Faced with the possibility of Shura’s remnants returning with such serious implications, they had managed to hide the truth for so long while coming up with ways to remedy the situation. The pressure they faced was beyond what most could imagine.

Xu Qingfan had forgotten that, before he truly grasped the consequences and dangers of Shura’s return, he had remained calm and unconcerned about the situation.

After comforting Mr. Liu and himself, Xu Qingfan couldn’t remember what he had talked about with Mr. Liu. He also forgot why he went to see Mr. Liu; his mind was only focused on how to stop the return of Shura’s remnants, or what to do after their return. He only remembered that before he left, Mr. Liu had given him some advice about being careful during his trip to the Southern Wasteland and told him phrases like, "I cannot look after you anymore, be careful."

Xu Qingfan admitted that he was a bit scared.

Xu Qingfan had faced countless enemies before, many of whom were much stronger than him. But he had never been afraid, at least not like he was now. This was because, firstly, Xu Qingfan knew that with his unique cultivation method and exquisite artifacts, even if he wasn’t the strongest, he still had a chance to survive. Secondly, and most importantly, he understood that even if he failed, it would only mean his own death.

But this situation was different. If Shura’s remnants were truly as strong as Mr. Liu said, he had no chance of defeating them, not even the weakest among them. More importantly, if he lost, and the Righteous Alliance was defeated, everything he had fought to protect over the years—his three disciples’ safety, the lives of his dear friends like Jin Qinghan, and the legacy of Jiuhua—would be destroyed in an instant.

So, Xu Qingfan was indeed scared, and he could even feel a slight tremble inside him.

"At least, it’s not the final moment of despair yet. The Righteous Alliance can still stop the ‘Maelstrom’ from releasing the Shura remnants. Even if they are released, there might be a mistake in the records, and the Shura remnants may not be that terrifying. There is still a chance to fight."

Xu Qingfan thought quietly, comforting himself, and his mood finally returned to calm, but he began to think of more.

"Wait, something still doesn’t add up. If the Shura remnants are so powerful and frightening, why would the ‘Maelstrom’ organization go to such lengths to release them? Could it be that the leader of the ‘Maelstrom’ was a Shura Clan member who wasn’t sealed away? That’s the only explanation, otherwise, an organization couldn’t last for thousands of years just to release the Shura Clan. No belief can stand the test of time like that. It must be that the founder of the ‘Maelstrom’ has always been hiding in the shadows, controlling the organization, and if someone has lived for thousands of years, they would have to be a Shura Clan member. Besides, if they were human, this would bring them no benefit."

"Still not right. What role does Zhang Xusheng play here? He revealed the ‘Maelstrom’s’ goals and secrets to those on the righteous path, seemingly to stop the Shura remnants from being born, but at the most critical moment, he stole the Righteous Alliance’s hope—the ‘Four Spirit Sky Map.’ It seems like he leaked the secret just to use the Righteous Alliance to help him forge the ‘Four Spirit Sky Map.’ If that’s the case, what is Zhang Xusheng’s goal? Doesn’t he realize that by doing this, he’s helping the Shura Clan return? As a human, why isn’t he afraid of the Shura remnants coming back? What benefits could he gain?"

As he thought more, Xu Qingfan began to feel a bit of a headache. He always believed his analytical skills were good, but now he found that the situation was far beyond his understanding.

When Xu Qingfan returned to his courtyard, he finally gave up analyzing the reasons and consequences of the Shura remnants’ return. He shook his head and bitterly said to himself, "What’s the use of thinking about this now? The developments have gone far beyond what I can handle. Whether the Shura Clan returns or is stopped by the Righteous Alliance, I can only wait to either fight hard in the end or cheer with others. Right now, I can’t participate at all. Besides, I still have more important things to do. I haven’t found Jin Qinghan and Dongfang Qingling yet. I can only go to the Southern Wasteland first. I can’t even look for the ‘Maelstrom’ organization and Zhang Xusheng with other Righteous Alliance cultivators. Sigh."

Yet for some reason, after admitting his helplessness, Xu Qingfan felt a bit more at peace.

"Everything hasn’t reached the worst point yet, and I still have my own matters to handle, so there’s no need to rush into despair."

While talking to himself, Xu Qingfan returned to his room, sat cross-legged on the bed, and closed his eyes to rest.

…

The next day, just as the sun rose above the horizon and spilled its light over "Ronghua Mountain," the entire "Ronghua Mountain" became busy and noisy. You could often hear the urgent voice messages from the sect leaders, as the cultivators quickly gathered.

To avoid causing panic, the news about the Shura Clan’s return was only shared among the leaders of the Righteous Alliance; the ordinary disciples had no idea, wondering why the higher-ups seemed more serious and busy instead of joyful after their victory.

They too were serious and busy because the leaders of the Righteous Alliance kept directing them to spread out across the Shenzhou Continent to carefully search for the whereabouts of the "Ming" organization and Zhang Xusheng.

"We must search every inch of the Shenzhou Continent without being careless; we must find the traces of the ‘Ming’ organization and Zhang Xusheng."

Before taking action, the sect leaders instructed this way, their words and expressions filled with tension; usually composed, they now showed signs of panic and desperation.

These sect leaders, experienced and knowledgeable, understood far better than Xu Qingfan the consequences of the Shura Clan’s return.

It would mean the end of all humanity.

Under the urging of the leaders from various sects, in less than ten days, the once bustling "Ronghua Mountain" became quiet, as thousands of cultivators inside and outside the mountain quickly scattered. They were all sent out by the sect leaders, who even took the lead themselves, to search for the whereabouts of the "Ming" organization and Zhang Xusheng, leaving no cultivator, even those at the Qi Refining Stage and Inedia Stage, unaccounted for.

Moreover, the fourteen masters of the Righteous Alliance had already left "Ronghua Mountain" the night before.

Xu Qingfan had originally planned to leave "Ronghua Mountain" that day to search for Jin Qinghan and Dongfang Qingling in the Southern Wasteland. However, it was a critical moment for him as he battled the evil energy inside him, making it impossible for him to manage Jiuhua. Li Yuhan, unaware that the Shura Clan was about to return, assigned cultivators to look for the "Ming" organization and Zhang Xusheng without a clear focus. Only Xu Qingfan could take charge, and most importantly, in this moment of life and death for humanity, Xu Qingfan had to set aside his personal feelings and contribute to the greater good.

"Junior Brother Jin, Junior Martial Sister Dongfang, if nothing unexpected happens, you must hold on for ten more days. After ten days, I will come to find you."

Whenever Xu Qingfan thought about Jin Qinghan and Dongfang Qingling in the Southern Wasteland, unaware of their fate, while he was busy coordinating and arranging matters for Jiuhua and some cultivators from the Righteous Alliance, he felt as if Dongfang Qingling and Jin Qinghan were right before him, able to hear the words in his heart.

After ten days, the work Xu Qingfan was responsible for finally came to an end.

During these ten days, in addition to continuously dividing regions and sending out different teams to investigate, four other significant events occurred in Xu Qingfan’s busy life.

First, after six or seven days of effort, the three disciples, Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei, and Bai Yu, finally hatched demon beast eggs and tamed the young beasts. Each of them officially received an ancient wild beast as their spirit pet.

Among them, Zhang Ningmei’s spirit pet turned out to be exactly what Xu Qingfan had predicted. The large, pale yellow demon beast egg hatched into the largest ancient wild beast, the yellow bird. However, the yellow bird was not as large as it would be in adulthood when it first hatched, being only the size of a human head. After being hatched and tamed, it flew around Zhang Ningmei’s head, flapping its small wings and chirping cutely.

"If the yellow bird grows as big as the legends say, then when it becomes big, we can build several houses on it. We can ride it in a parade, and when it is awake, it can take us to the Southern Wasteland, then when we wake up, we’ll be at the North Iceland. That wouldn’t be bad at all."

This is Bai Yu’s plan for the yellow bird’s future.

Bai Yu’s spirit pet, the egg of a gray and white demon beast, hatched into another legendary demon beast, the Six-eared Macaque! The newly hatched Six-eared Macaque is only as big as a human palm and hops around at Bai Yu’s feet, being very playful. Bai Yu was initially a bit unhappy that the small size of the Six-eared Macaque didn’t match his grand image, but the macaque’s playful nature made them quickly bond, as if they were brothers. Both were pleased after a moment of interaction.

The Six-eared Macaque, one of the ancient wild beasts, is said to change in many ways as it grows, possessing immense strength, sight that reaches miles away, and the ability to hear sounds from around the world. It is considered one of the strongest among ancient wild beasts.

Compared to Bai Yu and Zhang Ningmei, the spirit pet that Ting’er received was something Xu Qingfan had never seen or heard of before.

It was a demon beast that looked like a squirrel, or it seemed to be just a squirrel, except for its snow-white fur, which had no special features, much like Little Black—though this does not mean it was ordinary like Little Black before. This squirrel enjoyed resting on Ting’er’s shoulder, its long, fluffy tail covering its body, looking very content.

Or perhaps the squirrel does have something special, as both Zhang Ningmei’s yellow bird and Bai Yu’s Six-eared Macaque seem to have a subtle fear of it.

Later, Xu Qingfan casually explored some ancient texts and finally learned about the origins of this squirrel.

Compared to the Six-eared Macaque and the yellow bird, this demon beast was closer to legend, known as Pixiu, also called Tianlu and Bixie. According to legend, it roamed the heavens, preventing demons and plagues from disturbing the human world. It is said to be an assistant to the Kylin and is the only demon beast, besides the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and Kylin, to be called a "Mythical Beast" by people. Normally, it appears like a squirrel, but in battle, it transforms into a golden lion with wings, said to possess immense strength, though no one knows its specific abilities.

When the three spirit pets appeared, Xu Qingfan was the happiest because he realized that these three demon beasts truly belonged to the ancient wild beasts. As soon as they were born, their strength was equal to that of a human’s early-stage Fake Golden Core cultivator. Ting’er and the others gained a lot of protection, which made Xu Qingfan very happy.

After Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei, and Bai Yu got their spirit pets, it led to two other events.

One was that the cute appearance of the Pixiu made everyone love it, especially Ting’er, who spent all her time with the Pixiu. This made Little Green very jealous, wanting to regain its place in Ting’er’s heart. However, it found that its large size made it impossible to snuggle with Ting’er like the Pixiu could, and also, its strength and background were far inferior to the Pixiu. It didn’t dare to challenge the Pixiu, so it became very dejected and listless all day long.

Seeing Little Green like this, Ting’er remembered Xu Qingfan’s words and fed Little Green the eleven inner dan from the Gluttonous Beast. Little Green was overjoyed, full of energy, and swallowed all eleven inner dan in one go. Then it fainted. Gradually, dark blue threads appeared around its body, forming a large dark blue cocoon that surrounded it. The cocoon emitted a mysterious and powerful energy wave, seeming to break through the limits of the Blue-eyed Cloud-hoofed Beast again. However, until Xu Qingfan left, Little Green’s evolution was still far from complete, and no one knew what it would look like after finishing.

But Xu Qingfan didn’t mind at all; he was only excited and not worried. First, Little Green’s Soul Bead was still in Xu Qingfan’s hands, so he was not afraid of what would happen after Little Green evolved. Even if Little Green became a high-level heavenly demon beast, Xu Qingfan would still have complete control over it. Second, with Ting’er being there, even if Little Green hated him, it wouldn’t take any action.

The other event was involving Little Black. Seeing that Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei, and Bai Yu’s spirit pets all came from noble ancient wild beasts, and that Little Green was evolving again, Little Black felt a sense of crisis. Although there used to be only it and Little Green in the yard, it was constantly chattering loudly to Xu Qingfan, which sounded very unpleasant. Xu Qingfan helplessly fed it more than twenty inner dan from ancient wild beast cubs, only to painfully discover that despite eating so many inner dan, Little Black showed no changes at all.

The fourth matter was about magical tools. The day before Xu Qingfan left "Ronghua Mountain," Old Beggar took more than ten days working with others and finally managed to refine the feathers of the yellow birds into a flying magical tool, a long yellow silk.

Xu Qingfan tried it and was very satisfied. It was fast and stable. With this magical tool, Xu Qingfan’s flying speed could increase by about double. It wasn’t too useful in battle, but it greatly increased the chances of escaping successfully, so Xu Qingfan named this tool "Flying Yellow Satin."

As mentioned before, when all of these events ended, it had already been ten days.

…

Ten days later, Xu Qingfan secretly left "Ronghua Mountain." Although he had promised Ting’er that he would take her along next time, the dangers of this journey to Southern Wasteland made him reluctantly act like a man who breaks his word. He left a note in the house to let Ting’er and the others know not to worry, but he did not reveal where he was going to prevent them from coming after him.

After leaving "Ronghua Mountain," Xu Qingfan did not hesitate and quickly flew toward Southern Wasteland. With the help of "Flying Yellow Satin," Xu Qingfan traveled at great speed, arriving in Southern Wasteland in just ten days, saving him about ten days, which was the same amount of time he had wasted at "Ronghua Mountain."

Although he had anticipated that Southern Wasteland would be very chaotic, he never expected it to be so chaotic.

On the first day of Xu Qingfan’s arrival in Southern Wasteland, he witnessed seven fierce battles between demon beasts, fighting each other with great intensity. Despite being from the same Southern Wasteland lineage, they were in a situation where they fought to the death.

It seemed that the demon beasts on both sides were likely divided into the "Ominous," "Auspicious," and the nine-tailed demon fox factions. Seeing how intense the battles were among the demon beasts, it was clear that the "Ominous" and "Auspicious" factions had not managed to do anything to the nine-tailed demon fox, which must have hidden away, leaving its little brothers to face the danger.

After suffering heavy losses in the battle with the Righteous Alliance, they were now engaged in an endless civil war. The demon beasts of Southern Wasteland were destined to be severely weakened, and it was uncertain how long it would take for them to recover.

Although the ground was filled with battlefields of demon beasts, Xu Qingfan had no desire to stop and watch. He even had no intention of collecting materials from the fallen demon beasts. He continued on his way without pause, flying quickly towards the place where he had previously fought with the mysterious master in black.

Two days later, Xu Qingfan arrived at the spot where he first met the mysterious master in black. After landing, he carefully examined the area, sensing the fluctuations of Spirit Qi around him. After a while, he sighed slowly.

Here, after Zhuyin defeated the Black-Clothed Master, there had indeed been battles among cultivators. One side used water-based techniques, likely Dongfang Qingling, while the other side used a form of death energy, but it was not the Black-Clothed Master. From the lingering death energy here, Xu Qingfan could tell that the power used by the newcomer was much weaker than that of the Black-Clothed Master, yet it felt purer, making it hard for Xu Qingfan to determine the true strength of the person.

Could it be a companion of the Black-Clothed Master?

What about the Black-Clothed Master? Has he already been killed by Zhuyin?

Also, there is only the aura of Dongfang Qingling here. So, where is Jin Qinghan?

While checking, Xu Qingfan thought quietly to himself.

After Xu Qingfan carefully examined this spot again, he centered his search around this location, looking in all directions and expanding his examination area. Strangely, aside from the initial spot, there was no other evidence to be found.

After checking for two whole days and inspecting the area within three thousand miles three times, Xu Qingfan finally gave up.

"It seems like there’s nothing more to discover here. I should find ‘Xiong Sha’ and ‘Ji Xiang’ first and ask if they have any news of Jin Qinghan and Dongfang Qingling and if they can help. Besides, they still owe me a favor. The Shura clan is about to return, and humans alone cannot fight against them. But with the help of two kylin, the situation would be very different. Although they said they would never interfere in human conflicts, the battle between humans and the Shura Clan is another matter altogether. It’s better to ask if they are willing to help."

Xu Qingfan floated in the air, standing on "Flying Yellow Satin," looking down at the ground that had witnessed his fierce battle with the Black-Clothed Master, thinking to himself.

After making his decision, Xu Qingfan no longer hesitated and quickly flew towards the direction of the black giant mountain.

However, not long after Xu Qingfan left, the peaceful desolate land beneath his feet suddenly shook violently. The ground cracked open, and a huge, deep gap slowly formed. Then, a strange person, nearly ten feet tall, with tattered clothes and dark blue skin, suddenly appeared from the gap, gazing at the direction Xu Qingfan had gone with deep hatred in his eyes.

"Waa waa waa…"

Behind this strange person, a faint whimpering sound arose, as if a woman had her mouth covered but was still struggling to cry for help. But as Xu Qingfan flew further away, the cries gradually became softer and more hopeless.

Through the body of this strange person, one could see that behind him was indeed a secret chamber over ten feet wide. Inside the chamber was a simple altar, and on the altar was a woman who, for some unknown reason, could not move at all. Wasn’t she one of Xu Qingfan’s targets, Dongfang Qingling?

This land had been checked by Xu Qingfan more than three times, yet he had not discovered that there was another world beneath the earth. Clearly, this strange person possessed some kind of hidden secret.

Coldly watching Xu Qingfan leave, his figure gradually became smaller at the edge of the sky until it disappeared. The strange man smiled coldly and then turned back into the secret room. As his figure vanished into the darkness of the room, the cracked earth shook once more. During the tremor, the land healed, and everything looked just like when Xu Qingfan first arrived, with no differences at all.