Nightfall

The middle-aged Taoist frowned slightly.

He knew very well why his Senior Brother had sent Long Qing back to the Zhishou Abbey. Long Qing was right, but he knew that even his Senior Brother would never have imagined that Long Qing would be this vicious and commit so many heinous acts.

“If this is a path that my Senior Brother had drawn for you, then you are already at the end of this path. You have come to this cliff. If this is the life that Senior Brother had planned for you, then you have already deviated from his plans and you have surpassed the limits that everyone can tolerate.”

The middle-aged Taoist said gently.

The verdant meadow behind him reflected the skylight. There was a steep cliff behind the meadow. No one knew how deep the cliff was or how deep the abyss beneath the mist ran.

“I was intoxicated when I was in the process of drawing the Halfman Taoist’s consciousness in the cave. However, I was also afraid because as I said just then, I am no longer bounded by limits or rules. The abbey dean’s arrangements might not be right, because where there are plans, there are rules.

Long Qing looked at the light green Taoist robe that the middle-aged Taoist was wearing. He thought of the green Taoist robe that the abbey dean had worn on the boat at the Southern sea. A trace of fear crossed his face. However, a moment later, the fear turned into a relaxed expression that came after one was freed.

“The abbey dean probably had not imagined that so many things would happen to me. If we can’t even know our own thoughts, then how can we understand Haotian’s will?”

The middle-aged Taoist sighed, “Not even Elder Brother and the Great Divine Priest of Revelation would dare to speculate about Haotian’s will. Is there anyone in the world who can truly understand what Firmament is thinking about? So who are you to say that you are acting on Haotian’s orders? Who are you to blame all your sins on Haotian?”

Long Qing said, “What mortals think are sins do not exist in Haotian’s psyche.”

“Perhaps you are right.”

The middle-aged Taoist looked at him and said, “However, I am standing before you right now. I want to know what you believe in that gives you the courage not to kneel and plead for your life in fear now. In fact, you can speak to me so calmly. Could it be that you truly believe that I will allow you to take the Tomes of Arcane and the sacred medicine just because of what you have said?”

Long Qing said serenely, “If my will is Haotian’s will, then Haotian’s orders will be accomplished through me. How would he let me die then? If I die by uncle’s hands, it proves that my will is not Haotian’s. Then, if so, I will lose the last of my hopes and there is no point in me living on. That is why I am unafraid of death. Or at least, I am not afraid of facing death for the moment.”

The middle-aged Taoist said, “What you have said makes sense, but words are to me as living is to you. They are both meaningless. Hand over the Tomes of Arcane and the sacred medicine and I will not kill you now.”

“You will not kill me because the abbey dean had once pinned hopes on me.”

Long Qing looked at his own Taoist robe and felt the Tomes of Arcane and the little medicine bottle at his chest. He said, “There are no rules or limits so there will be no transaction. I have lost much once, that is why I am like a greedy child now. I have got candy in my hands, how could I bear to hand it over?”

Then, he raised his head and looked at the Taoist. He said, “Uncle, have you seen those poor children fighting over candy? I never had the opportunity to see something like that back when I was in the palace or in the West-Hill Divine Palace, but I did see that when I became a beggar. Children fighting over candy was way noisier than beggars fighting over leftovers, and it was also more heart-wrenching. It didn’t matter whether the children were full or how cheap the candy was. It didn’t matter that those candies were not beneficial to them in any way. They would still fight for it because if they didn’t eat it, it would be eaten by other children.”

The middle-aged Taoist said urgently, “No!”

With that, he flung his sleeves back to reveal a powerful, pure aura. Qi of Heaven and Earth rolled, forming invisible ropes that wrapped around Long Qing.

However, Long Qing had long planned for this. He had already broken the little medicine bottle silently while they spoke. He stuffed the medicine together with the shards of the bottle into his mouth just before the middle-aged Taoist’s aura attacked him. He chewed forcefully with a wicked smile.

He looked like a poor child who was busy stuffing his mouth with candy.

The shards of the small medicine bottle were very sharp; They cut at Long Qing’s mouth and throat. Blood flowed from his lips and mixed with the Heavenly Power Pill and shards as they entered his stomach.

The middle-aged Taoist flew towards Long Qing in mere seconds.

However, Long Qing had already eaten the medicine. The Heavenly Power Pill would never become whole again even if they cut open his stomach.

The middle-aged Taoist sharply looked at him in an unusually cold manner. Anger spewed forth from his eyes like fire, as if he wanted to incinerate Long Qing.

The Heavenly Power Pill was one of the most precious sacred medicine in the world. Even the Zhishou Abbey only had a few of them. That was the last pill left after Chen Pipi left the Zhishou Abbey.

Long Qing lifted his pale face and smiled at the middle-aged Taoist. He said, “Uncle, I have eaten the only Heavenly Power Pill. If you kill me, it’d be akin to dropping this pill into the toilet. If you let me live, you can still hold on to hopes that this Heavenly Power Pill might change me. I think that this would the right choice for Haotian Taoism.”

The middle-aged man squinted at Long Qing. One could not guess what he was thinking.

Stealing the sacred pills of Haotian Taoism was an unforgivable sin that was punishable by death. However, looking at it from a different perspective, the potent medicinal powers would have already been transferred to the person who had taken it once it was consumed. What was left, was the person who had consumed the sacred pill. It could be said that even though the person who held the jade was guilty, the jade had become part of the person. The person was not only free of guilt, he had also become precious.

Long Qing had not expected to flee the Zhishou Abbey on his own strength since he saw the middle-aged man. Furthermore, he was severely injured. Even if he had absorbed the Halfman Taoist’s cultivation power, he would not be able to beat his powerful uncle.

He had settled on this ploy from that moment on. Those aggravating and cruel words and his talk about Haotian’s will were all part of his cover. What he wanted to do from the beginning was to consume the Heavenly Power Pill while the middle-aged Taoist was distracted.

Long Qing had succeeded. He looked at the middle-aged Taoist who was immersed in his own thoughts and smiled. He did not look very pleased with himself but was satisfied with how his calculations of benefits and ploy worked out.

The Heavenly Power Pill dissolved in his stomach, turning into a clear power that flowed through his body slowly. It repaired his injured organs and even began to nourish his Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi that had dried out after he had rebuilt it at the Southern Sea.

Long Qing could clearly sense all of this. He even guessed that once the Heavenly Power Pill had dissolved into his body, his Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi would be completely healed and would return to its previous state. Then, together with the Halman Taoist’s power that he had absorbed, his cultivation state would return to its peak. He might even be able to cross that threshold and enter the Knowing destiny State!

He had once lost everything, so he knew how hard it was to get it back. He had once been brilliant, and only found out how hard it was to climb back to the peak. He thought about that arrow on the snow cliff of the Wilderness and the bloody hole in his chest. He thought about his hopeless trek towards the darkness and the bun in the rundown temple in the capital of Yan Kingdom. Long Qing’s eyes moistened, and then, he felt as if his body had suddenly lightened as if he was about to float up.

Following that, he realized that he wasn’t hallucinating. The medicinal power flowing through his body was cleansing all the filth in it. It washed away all the dust of the mortal world thoroughly to his bones. He became lighter, so light he was about to float up into the distance.

It was a surreal feeling. It was the power of the Heavenly Power Pill and the effects that it exuded when it was about to transform into a cultivator’s aura. The scent of the medicine seemed to have become a gas that poured out from his pores and enveloped his body.

While intoxicated by the floating sensation, Long Qing did not forget all those regrets. It seemed simple, but it was certain that while he was in no danger of dying, he would probably be imprisoned in the Zhishou Abbey, awaiting judgment from the abbey’s dean upon his return. He would not be able to keep the Tomes of Arcane that were in his arms.

However, what happened next was unexpected. The middle-aged Taoist looked at him and said dispassionately, “I admire your reaction speed and your way of dealing with the situation. However, you seemed to have forgotten that while you may disregard rules, Haotian Taoism and this Taoist temple have their rules.”

Long Qing frowned, he wanted to speak up.

However, the middle-aged Taoist did not speak again. Instead, he slapped down on Long Qing’s head in a casual manner. It seemed simple and did not have the posturing or power that belonged to a powerhouse in the Peak state of Martial Arts should have. However, there was a mysterious aura in it. It seemed to gather a certain power in the heavens and earth and was completely unavoidable!

Long Qing could not avoid this slap.

No matter what kind of amazing encounters he had had, he could not avoid this slap by a powerhouse at the peak of the Knowing destiny State. Their differences in States was like the will of Haotian. It was completely unavoidable.

Long Qing looked at the approaching palm with a bitter expression.

The middle-aged Taoist’s palm landed heavily on Long Qing’s forehead.

Unexpectedly, Long Qing’s skull did not fall like a ripe fruit or split like an overripe watermelon. It remained perfectly fine.

The middle-aged Taoist raised his brows, feeling that the situation was very incredulous.

The power in his palms held the energies of the heaven and earth. As it touched Long Qing’s head, it encountered the aura that started to exude from the Heavenly Power Pill in his body.

A dull hum rang in the meadow.