Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

The garden was quiet and empty, the moon hung high in the sky.

Yanxu appeared out of thin air in an area with a small bridge and flowing water. He stood alone at the end of the bridge. His sleeves fluttered in the wind. Not far away, Fairy Tianmeng was holding a sword and staring at him with mixed emotions – her gaze was vicious and loving at the same time.

This was inside of Tai Su Chamber, the base of Fairy Tianmeng. The Three Elders of Taisu were at the mountain right behind the chamber. Though, Yanxu was not worried about being discovered by the Three Elders of Taisu at all.

He stared at the flowing water and the reflection of the moon. The shape of the moon was constantly shifting as the water flowed, as though there were tens of thousands of mirrors, and within each, a different sight could be seen.

Especially in his eyes, each moon contained the face of a person – someone who was either directly or indirectly killed by him. These illusions could be said to be real, as they were the resentful thoughts left behind by the ones he killed. They trailed after him and hated him immensely.

However, he was not bothered by it at all. In fact, he found them interesting. After all, these people wanted to get revenge on him but were unable to – how amusing indeed!

Suddenly, he heard a sound besides that of the flowing water. It was ‘Huanzhen’, and young brat Shen. Lately, his Sky Demon method had reached an unimaginable state. In the human realm, he was the true Master of Sky Demon. When someone talked about him, he could feel it, what more Huanzhen, someone whom he had planted the demonic seed on.

Young brat Shen too had peeped on him once tonight. This young brat was probably the most interesting person that he had ever met, even Yanxu was tempted to befriend him.

At the same time, the likeliest person to destroy him was young brat Shen. Indeed, he was the most disturbing genius that Yanxu had ever come across in his entire life. He was also equipped with immeasurable wisdom and strong resolve.

Yanxu was unable to listen to their conversation clearly. He was deterred by the starlight emitted by Shen Lian. Moreover, Huanzhen carried an Imperial Seal with him, which suppressed his Sky Demon method.

Although it was clear that these two meant him harm. Yanxu was surprised by how Huanzhen carried his demonic seed, and yet he was able to maintain an independent mind. Even though he knew that it was because of the Imperial Seal, he was still slightly surprised.

However, he was not angered. If anything, he found it intriguing – how boring would life be without some good challenges! If life was that boring, he might even consider killing himself.

As he was peeping on them, Shen Lian was just telling Huanzhen about how “It is hard to deal with him, which is why I am here to see you now. I need to find out something about him through you.”

Even with the distance between them, Shen Lian seemed to have seen Yanxu. He smiled and waved at him.

Yanxu smiled in return. This was the second time that they were greeting each other.

The next moment, his expression changed. Thunders could be heard within his bier.

Everything seemed normal in Tai Su Chamber. Even the moon looked clear and brilliant. However, Fairy Tianmeng felt an unusual aura which irritated her.

He saw the blue light emitting from Yanxu. That was the light of lightning.

When you hear the sound of thunder, the lightning would have already struck. Lightning traveled as fast as light, and no one who was in the material realm could travel faster than light.

However, the Thunder Technique Yanxu faced with came from within.

Yanxu finally realized how skilled Shen Lian was. Shen Lian made use of the demonic seed that he had planted and delivered the power of the Thunder Technique through it.

Moreover, the Thunder Technique was the most powerful technique of them all, and it was a natural inhibitor of the Sky Demon.

The thunder traveled over after leaping through countless space. It had even dissociated into the Five Elements and went on endlessly. It had turned the spirit sea in his heart into ferocious waves of thunder.

Under the thunder, Yanxu perished again and again. If he perceived himself as being dead even once, he would be doomed.

Fortunately, he was determined. So long as his thoughts remained, he would be alive.

To the Sky Demon, physical body and spirit were not the most important of all. So long as a hint of thought was retained, it would be possible to regenerate, just as how the wild grass covered the grounds after a wave of spring breeze.

Life was but a dream, filled with countless cold autumns.

Yanxu was not about to sit around idly and wait for his death. He struck back.

He turned the thunder in his heart into an illusionary dream which dispersed like smoke and clouds. The thunder too had disappeared. As though the autumn rain had passed, his heart was clear without clouds and was even slightly chilly. The chilliness reached his bier, clearing it up.

Fairy Tianmeng spoke, “You are still alive.”

Yanxu disappeared and reappeared again, but this time with his arms around Fairy Tianmeng’s waist. He gripped her waist gently and spoke, “Since deep down, you wish that I’m alive, why are you not being honest with yourself?”

Tianmeng replied grudgingly, “One day, you shall die by my hands.”

Yanxu smiled and spoke, “It seems like the ‘one day’ you speak of will not be coming anytime soon.” He continued, “Let’s go. The commotion earlier definitely had alerted the three old hags. I am not in the mood to deal with them tonight. We shall go and kill another person.”

On the light raft above Ruo Shui, Huanzhen was relieved. He felt as though the dark haze shrouding his heart was eliminated. As he looked at the reflection of the moon in Ruo Shui, he could not help but to feel that everything finally fell into place.

He bowed respectfully to Shen Lian and spoke, “Thank you Zhenren Shen for giving me a new life.”

“Yanxu would not let you go so easily. You should return to Mount Taicang immediately,” Shen Lian spoke casually.

He knew that Yanxu would not let him go so easily. After all, he was the only one who escaped Yanxu’s Sky Demon method. Even though he did so with Shen Lian’s help, but his knowledge of the Sky Demon method was deeper than anyone in this world. However, he did not understand why Shen Lian had not asked him about the secrets about the Sky Demon method. After all, his personal experience would be of immense help to Shen Lian.

The reason why Shen Lian did not ask him was simple. Because he knew that if he were to formulate all sorts of tactics to take Yanxu down, he would end up hindering his own prospects. Moreover, he learned about the Dream Heart Sutra from Ruoxi, which would be sufficient.

Huanzhen knew that time was not on his side and he bade his farewell. The light raft soared into the sky, the speed of light travel was comparable to that of sword travel.

Shen Lian stood on the river and pointed at it. The river split into half and revealed the river bed. A giant flood dragon rested on the surface of the river, and half of its partially formed horns were shaved off. Its giant eyes were big like lanterns.

Shen Lian made his way to the dragon head and smiled, “Are you willing to be my mount? If you are unwilling, reply me now.”

Of course, the flood dragon understood Shen Lian. It opened its mouth and tried to utter his reply. However, it was unable to produce even a single syllable, as though an invisible force was restraining it.

Shen Lian laughed, “Since you did not reply, I shall assume that you agree to the arrangement. I have always wanted to try riding on a dragon and soar in the sky. I did not expect for my dream and reality to be that different. I guess I will have to settle for a flood dragon. Even though it is not the best, but I shall make do.”

If the flood dragon could move now, he would flatten Shen Lian with a smash. Not only that Shen Lian made such a noble breed of dragon into his mount, but he even complained about it not being a real dragon! Not only was the flood dragon unable to utter any syllable, it was not even able to communicate through its divine thoughts, and was completely restrained by Shen Lian.