Chapter 246: Chapter 245: Taoist Jing Feng’s Great Harvest
The next day, Gu Zhao rose early for his morning exercises.
There, in the backyard of Daluo Palace, he saw Yunyang and Changyi chatting happily.
"Well, well. Look who decided to come back," Gu Zhao teased.
Yunyang chuckled. "I wandered a bit far, but that’s because I have faith in you, isn’t it?"
A few days ago, when Gu Zhao and the others learned Yunyang’s father was in trouble, they had notified him immediately. But at the time, he and Hu Yufei had wandered a bit too far—all the way to Shide Prefecture—so he hadn’t come back at all.
Now that the matter was resolved, he was finally back.
Yunyang also breathed a sigh of relief. "You finally brought a young man over."
"Changyi is a special case. He needs to be able to protect himself," Gu Zhao said, then asked Yunyang, "Do you want to make a trip home?"
Yunyang nodded. "Yeah, I should. I’ll explain things a bit so they don’t worry."
"I don’t think they’re too worried. The Taoist Office already returned the bracelet to your dad," Gu Zhao said with a smile. "They even praised you quite a bit."
Yunyang said with a resigned sigh, "We were bound to be exposed eventually, but since my dad was the one discovered, of course that ’office’ of theirs has to thank me. If they didn’t even praise me, believe me, I’d go and make trouble for them!"
Gu Zhao roared with laughter. "What, have you sworn off beef now?"
Yunyang laughed as well. "We’re from Quanzhen Dao. We never eat beef!"
Gu Zhao just shook his head. "I’ll take you back."
"No rush. Let me tell you what’s going on in Shide Prefecture first."
"What is it?"
"Some days ago, a huge battle broke out in Shide Prefecture. The Netherfire Sect Leader fought against several masters from three major sects and won. The three sects were annihilated, and five people escaped."
"And?"
"I didn’t see the battle myself, but I ran into a Ghost God in Shide Prefecture who was trying to pick a fight with me. He was from the Forgotten Soul Hall in Shide Prefecture. He saw the five masters all flee southwest after their defeat, so he also came west, preparing to cross the Yongning River and head to Changping Prefecture."
"So, you’re saying things are about to get lively in Changping Prefecture?"
"Not necessarily just Changping Prefecture, it could also include Bai Shi Prefecture," Yunyang said. "To the west of Shide Prefecture is Changping Prefecture, and to the southwest is Bai Shi Prefecture."
Gu Zhao frowned. "Do you know what level of Cultivation those five masters have?"
Yunyang shook his head. "I only heard they have a thousand years of Dao Practice. But whether that’s actually just several hundred years posing as a thousand, or over a thousand, maybe even two thousand years... that guy didn’t know either."
"But that Netherfire Sect Leader must be incredibly strong to beat five of them at once," Yunyang added.
"And for those five masters to escape from the Netherfire Sect Leader, they must have a few tricks up their sleeves as well," Gu Zhao said nonchalantly.
He had heard of the Nether Fire Sect before. The day he accompanied Zhuo Qingyan to pay respects to her father, he’d met someone from Yongzhou’s Silent God Mountain. The fool had tried to kill him for Soul Extraction, but Gu Zhao killed him instead and obtained some intelligence about Yongzhou, which included information on this Netherfire Sect Leader.
"But no matter how strong they are, they can’t be stronger than the White Bone God Monarch, right?"
"Hard to say. But I’m not worried about these five defeated generals. I’m worried about the Nether Fire Sect," Gu Zhao said thoughtfully. "I wonder if the Nether Fire Sect will push their way into Changping Prefecture."
Yunyang grew a little worried too. "What’s Martial Uncle Yan Song and Martial Uncle Yi Hong’s Cultivation level? Can they defeat the Netherfire Sect Leader?"
Gu Zhao shot Yunyang a dangerous sideways glance.
Yunyang didn’t understand why, and just stared back at Gu Zhao, completely baffled.
"Alright, I understand the situation in Shide Prefecture. We don’t go looking for trouble, but we’re not afraid of it either. If that Netherfire Sect Leader dares to come to Daluo Palace, we’ll dare to make sure he never leaves," Gu Zhao said.
Yunyang rubbed his chin. "Are you sure *we* don’t go looking for trouble?"
Gu Zhao grabbed him and pulled him through the modern-day Taoist Research Institute. "Why don’t you head home first!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Let me say goodbye to Changyi!"
Half of Yunyang’s voice was spoken aloud, and the other half was transmitted via his Thunder Seed.
When Gu Zhao returned, Changyi’s lips were merely curled into a slight upward curve, but the smile on his face was clear. "Senior Brother Yunyang has a very frank personality."
Gu Zhao shook his head and sighed. "Frank indeed."
Changyi stood up and cupped his hands, his eyes shining. "Sect Leader, I’d like to go down the mountain as well."
Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Feeling envious, are we?"
They were both young men. At Gu Zhao’s raised eyebrow, Changyi knew exactly what he meant. He couldn’t help but touch his nose to ease the awkwardness, neither confirming nor denying it.
"Go on, go on!" Gu Zhao waved his hand dismissively. "But you heard what Yunyang said. Many of the defeated from Shide Prefecture have entered Changping Prefecture or Bai Shi Prefecture. Be careful when you leave the mountain."
Changyi nodded. "Don’t worry, Sect Leader. The Grand Martial Uncle gave me a top-quality Golden Gang Bracelet that can protect my life. If I encounter a master, I’ll naturally call for help through my Thunder Seed."
...
After seeing Changyi off the mountain, Gu Zhao returned to the main hall to find the few old Daoists who had been idle earlier all gathered together, chatting and laughing.
"What are you all talking about?"
"We’re talking about Jing Feng’s great haul."
"Although only Junior Brother Jing Feng can use these things, we still need to report it to you, Sect Leader."
"We hadn’t finished cataloging our gains from the White Bone Cave when the modern world side of things was discovered, so we never handled the follow-up," Taoist Yan Song said to Gu Zhao. "Now that things over there have settled down, it’s a good time to take care of it."
Gu Zhao looked at Taoist Jing Feng. "How much did you gain, Martial Uncle?"
Taoist Jing Feng reached out and swiped a hand over the gourd at his waist. In addition to the Bone Soul-Lighting Lamp from before, a Small Banner with a shaft of white bone and a Bone Arrow wreathed in Jade Fire appeared.
"These are the two that survived. Two others were shattered, which is a bit of a shame," Taoist Jing Feng said with some regret.
But then he smiled. "It’s quite a coincidence. Besides the Mingling Prison, I’ve now also condensed the Fire Shadow Prison and the Copper Pillar Prison. It’s perfect—one Magical Artifact for each Hell."
Hearing this, the other old Daoists all laughed. "Isn’t this the will of heaven?"
Taoist Jing Feng laughed as well. "It is indeed."
Gu Zhao nodded too. "And it seems heaven knows you’ve just condensed new Divine Prisons, so it’s sending you some Divine Generals to go with them."
Then, Gu Zhao told them about the situation in Shide Prefecture, including how the leaders of its three major powers had apparently all come to the West.
"The Forgotten Soul Hall, the Nianxiang Sect, and the Three Lives Divine Sect!" Taoist Yi Hong’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Driven out of Shide Prefecture by the Nether Fire Sect, they will never be content to lie low."
"The question is whether they’ll strike Daluo Palace directly or start with the smaller places first," Taoist Shen Hao said in a grave voice.
"They just fought a major battle with the Netherfire Sect Leader. Even if they weren’t injured, they definitely won’t be in peak condition. I think we should strike first," Taoist Yan Song said with a wicked grin.
The old Daoists exchanged a look and all nodded in agreement.
"In that case, let’s all disperse and seek out the enemy," Taoist Yi Hong said as he stood up. "These people’s Dao Practice is not weak. If you are outmatched, send a message for help immediately."
"Alright!" The old Daoists all rose to their feet in unison.
Gu Zhao nodded and reminded them, "Be careful, Martial Uncles. If—"
Before he could finish, a dense wave of Evil Qi suddenly surged from the Five Thunders Order in his mind. It filled the remaining progress needed for the next Thunder Seed, causing it to condense instantly.
He had given one to Changyi, leaving him with only a single Thunder Seed. Now, he had two again.
The next moment, a message from Taoist Yu Zhang echoed in his Sea of Consciousness. "I just ran into an old ghost who wanted to kill me and refine my soul. He could fly, so his Dao Practice must have been quite high, but he seemed to be seriously injured. I killed him."
Taoist Yu Zhang clicked his tongue. "He actually dared to take my Celestial Pig Great Curse head-on. The guy had some nerve."
Gu Zhao: "..."
Everyone: "..."
