The Immortal’s Poison

Liu Zheng was astonished. He looked at the jade knife with a stunned expression, “My master had told me before his passing that the thousand swords of the sword grave and my uncle’s primordial soul complement each other. He could increase the power of the sword formation tremendously. When the sword formation is successfully cultivated, even he could not stop it during his prime.”

The power of the sword formation just now was already out of Wen Leyang’s speculations. He could not tell how much power was contained in it. The only thing he was sure of was that even with his steel tendons and iron bones, he could only run in front of the Kunlun Sword Dragon.

“Also, among the three master seniors, although uncle’s cultivation base was the most profound, it was only slightly better than the other two. The sword formation, which his master could not stop, he might not be able to stop it either. Besides, there’s me and the seventy-two esteemed sword seniors, even if he risked our lives, we must…” Liu Zheng continued to explain. Black and White Island was hit with a sudden disaster, Liu Zheng had momentarily lost his sanity, his mind was engrossed in revenge. He had chased all the way to Tanggula Mountains even before the sword formation was cultivated, he had not given the problem of prowess any thoughts. After he had calmed himself down and the sword formation was cultivated, it was his best reliance to face the true soul and destroy his uncle’s dharmakaya.

He knew that Guo Huan was an outstanding great demon. Although he was now in shackles, his outlook on things would not be mistaken. However, he still explained with dissatisfaction.

Guo Huan’s rigid voice mercilessly crushed Liu Zheng’s hopes into pieces, “I do not need you to tell me about the magical powers of Black and White Island’s three enlightened persons! You have said it yourself, that bugger pretended to be badly wounded two thousand years ago and conned Tian Shu and Tian Hua of their life vitality forces! Now, Tian Yin’s body is destroyed and his soul scattered, every bit of his life vitality force is inside that leather bag! Not only that, the bugger’s and Tian Yin’s primordial spirits had been rolling and fighting each other for two thousand years. This is also cultivation for their bodies! Hehe, with your sword formation, forget it.”

Although Guo Huan’s voice was cold, he spoke the truth, “If you want to destroy Tian Yin’s dharmakaya by force, you can only ask the help of another elite. You might just win if Chang Li or Hanba was willing to come and join forces with your sword formation.”

Everyone was fretful. They had gone a full circle and returned to their initial topic. If Chang Lu or Hanba attacked, they would be possessed by the true soul; if they did not attack, nobody could fight against the true soul.

Liu Zheng’s expression was indefinite. He lowered his head and kept quiet. Gu Xiaojun chuckled from the side, “It doesn’t mean that we can’t kill it even though we can’t beat it. Let’s just think of a way to cheat it!” Gu Xiaojun was an ordinary person but all these years he had dealt with cultivators who came to wreak havoc in the mortal world. At the end of the day, the cultivators, who were captured by him, were all cheated by him. No one could beat him on this kind of experience.

The group of people had talked for half a day but the Hua family elite elder had not arrived. White-robed Hua Xiaoyao felt anxious from the wait. He dispatched some people to fetch him while he could not help but interrupt Old Gu, “How do we trick it?”

Gu Xiaojun cursed rudely, “You’ll have to take some time to think about what good stuff to have for dinner, you’re delusional if you think that I could come up with a plan for such a huge matter instantly!” As he said this, he turned towards Liu Zheng and shifted into an earnest tone, “We cannot rush these things, nor can we be rash. Only by preserving our lives can we have the opportunity to cheat that… that bugger!”

At the end of the day, Old Gu was worried that Liu Zheng would fling caution to the wind and risk his life to fight the true soul.

Xiao Sha also consoled from the side, “Even a primordial undying monster such as Xiang Liu was pinned on Black and White Island in the end, let alone one escaped soul.”

Po Tu did not have great ambitions like the others. Since it understood that True Soul would be a handful, it had sounded his retreat. If it did not rely on Wen Leyang to save the dwarf Taoist priest, it would have wagged its tail and left long ago, “It was the ancient gods who pinned nine-headed Xiang Liu on Black and White Island. It wasn’t cheated by humans, don’t lump these two things together…”

Xiao Sha pouted. He glared at Po Tu, unwilling to show weakness, “Did you see the situation with your own eyes? How can you believe such baseless rumors? If there really is a heavenly god, then we don’t have to trouble ourselves. If Xiang Liu escapes, we can just ask him to pin it down again!”

Most cultivators believed in a heavenly god. After Xiao Sha spoke, even Guo Huan shook his head inside the jade knife. Although Wen Leyang was an atheist, he said to Xiao Sha with a bitter smile, “Cone Nail is one of the nine demon-subduing Heaven’s cone nails. She personally said that it was the ancient god who subdued Xiang Liu and refined the Heaven’s cone nails. Only, now, nobody knows where he went to…”

Fei Fei did not support Wen Leyang this time but picked the same side as Xiao Sha. She shook her head at Wen Leyang, “If you were born with godly magic powers and don’t know the whereabouts of your parents, you would also think that your parents are gods.”

Old Gu nodded strongly, “There are countless of alien species under the heavens, there are even more monsters, but has anyone seen a god?”

White-robed Hua Xiaoyao was young and robust, he could not help but chimed in the debate, “How many wise men in the past have crossed god’s punishment and became immortals? If they did not become immortals or gods, where have they gone?”

If it was a fist fight, then Old Gu would be in the last place, but if it was an argument, as long as Guo Huan stayed silent, he would be the champion, “Maybe they shattered the void, maybe their bodies were destroyed! If they really became immortals, how come not even one of them had returned? There are too many things that we do not understand in the world. You can attribute all those onto a god, but who among you have seen gods?”

The head lama Rangjung did not join in the debate. He saw that they were getting off topic. He suddenly took a step forward and clapped his hands softly. A soft clap was heard. As if all sounds were gathered in his palms, the bottom of the ice fissure instantly quieted down. The lama saw that everyone did not open their mouths anymore. He nodded with a smile, “You guys are getting off topic. Whether the ones who refined the Heaven’s cone nails were humans or gods, it has nothing much to do with our current predicament. However, Mr. Gu made a very nice point. No matter powerful that… that bugger is, we still have to face it. If we can’t beat it, we’ll trick it, if that fails, we’ll fight it!”

The first part of the lama’s words was like an erudite person, the second part was like an old gambler who was frustrated with loss.

When they mentioned about the matter of demon-subduing on Black and White Island, Wen Leyang suddenly recalled something. He turned and looked at Liu Zheng, “You had just said that the three enlightened persons were ordered to guard Black and White Island? Is there another mystic sword immortal above the three enlightened persons?” He had wanted to ask this question previously but was stopped by Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng shrugged, “Of course there is. The three masters did not pop out of a crack in the rock. They naturally inherited their skills from their master. However, they have never told me about these things and I reckon that the grand masters of the previous generations had already passed away. If they were still around, they should’ve shown themselves when a serious matter such as the destruction of the Heaven’s cone nails formation!”

Old Gu chuckled from the side. “The way I see it, the elites who subdued the nine-headed snake back then were the masters of Black and White Island’s three Sword Immortals!” As he said this, he waved his hand, “We can’t prove this either, so it’s pointless to talk about this! After all, it’s Xiang Liu and that bugger we’re dealing with now. At the end of the day, we must go against anything that bugger wants to do. If he wants to sleep, we’ll strike gongs; if he wants to take a wife, we’ll take the woman by force; if he wants to answer nature’s call, we’ll block the toilet…”

Old Gu felt that his metaphors were vivid, he was amused at himself. He looked at Liu Zheng and continued, “What scheme did that bugger have on the highlands? How did you chase him to this place?”

Liu Zheng first shook his head, “Uncle had been in one body with that bugger for two thousand years. Although he was suppressed and could not free himself, he knew what that bugger had done.” As he said this, Liu Zheng extended three fingers, “Uncle had told my master that the bugger had done three things in the outside world all these years!”

Xiang Liu’s true soul had been desperately suppressing and hunting Tian Yin’s primordial spirit. In the recent few hundred years, the enlightened person Tian Yin’s force of retaliation diminished. Xiang Liu had mustered up its courage, sneaked out of Black and White Island and did three things.

One of the things was that the true soul had come to Tuer town a dozen years ago. It used treacherous methods and invoked the Foulness within the guardians. It subdued these living dead people. However, he did not leave the highlands but went to take a stroll around Tanggula Mountains; then it was as the monkey Qian Ren said, the true soul had returned to the small town once again. He ordered the townspeople to summon all the evil cult followers through telepathy but Tian Yin could not tell what scheme he had in mind.

Tian Shu returned to the Kunlun Sect before his death and told Liu Zheng everything. Liu Zheng followed the trails and chased onto the highlands. When he did not find the true soul in the town, he came to Tanggula Mountains immediately. He had met Wen Leyang twice throughout the whole process.

“You don’t even know if that bugger is in the mountains? He could still be on Black and White Island?” After Wen Leyang heard this, he frowned and asked Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng shook his head, “I don’t even know where Black and White Island is. Even if I did, I can’t pass through Black and White Island’s Prohibition Spell. I can only follow this lead and kill all of his subordinates, foil his plans and force him to show himself.”

Just as Old Gu had said, no matter what the true soul did, they just had to go against him. Maybe they were slightly under-equipped to fight Tian Yin’s dharmakaya but it should not be difficult for them to annihilate the living dead of the Tuer town. Wen Leyang nodded, “What about the other two things that bugger did?”

Liu Zheng suddenly wore a strange expression, “The first thing was about five or six hundred years ago, this thing… is very mysterious! That bugger was already in control of my uncle’s dharmakaya. When everything settled down, he left Black and White Island in a hurry. He searched for something for a very long time. Finally, he sneaked onto the Eyang Mountain of the Five Blessings. However, he was found out by a Taoist priest with a profound cultivation base, he was chased after for hundreds of kilometers…”

Wen Leyang pondered for a while and broke into a laugh. He told Liu Zheng everything about Xiang Liu’s Wicked Soul and Eyang Sect’s San Wei. After he finished, Liu Zheng also broke into laughter, “I get it! This bugger wanted to find the escaped Wicked Soul, but he ran into Eyang Sect. He did not know that Wicked Soul was already contained by Hanba and the Taoist priest San Wei then was already possessed by another primordial spirit!”

Things were not hard to guess. The true soul went to find Wicked Soul, but the Wicked Soul’s body had switched ownership. The Taoist priest San Wei only knew that an elite had come to scout the mountain and immediately jumped out to fight. In terms of abilities, of course the true soul was not afraid of Taoist priest San Wei, but he had to suppress Tian Yin’s primordial spirit. He was almost counterattacked by Tian Yin’s primordial spirit, he could only escape in shame.

“The final one was no stranger to me!” Liu Zheng spoke more normally now. He had continued, “That bugger wanted to find three objects, big flat cake, broken gong, and the dog!”

Wen Leyang initially listened with a smile but when he heard Liu Zheng’s final sentence, he felt that his head was heavily knocked by a castle-assaulting ram for ten minutes. His heart beat quickened, even his colors drained.

Fei Fei’s eyesight was sharp. She glanced at Wen Leyang with astonishment. Then, she stretched out a cold finger and rubbed gently in between his brows but she did not ask him anything.

The unorthodox doctrine sects of the World Sect had been searching in a frenzy for the ‘big flat cake, broken gong and dog’ these few years. The right cultivation path’s Five Blessings’ leaders such as Liu Zheng had known this for a long time, it was no secret to them.

However, the outsiders did not know that the person who knew about the locations of these three treasures was the ‘important personage who is significant to the destiny of the right and evil path of the cultivation world’. It was almost confirmed that it was the uncle of Heaven-telling Sect’s Wei Mo, who was currently hiding in Wen Bucao’s Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death.

Before Wen Leyang went to the highlands, the Wen family had set out to find this man. Their area of the target was confirmed in the dozen old men in the Place. Whether it was Wen Leyang or the old demon rabbit Bu Le, or the few Wen elders, they only treated this as a crucial point in the battle between good and evil. Nobody could have guessed that this matter was related to nine-headed Xiang Liu. The objects that Xiang Liu searched for mattered more than good or evil!

Wen Leyang took a deep breath. He tried hard to calm the fright that welled up within him. He dared not tell the matters of his family to Liu Zheng. He was worried that Liu Zheng would immediately make the sword-controlling gesture and send the thousand swords of Kunlun to the Nine Peaks Mountain after he finished. Even if he wanted to say it, he would have to wait until Liu Zheng had completely calmed down.

Although Fei Fei did not understand what had happened, she seemed to have seen through Wen Leyang’s thoughts. She questioned Liu Zheng, “Why did that bugger look for these three objects?”

Liu Zheng unexpectedly shook his head, “This matter was also mentioned at my uncle’s deathbed. He couldn’t go into details about any complications. He only said that bugger was looking for these three objects.”

Xiang Liu’s true soul had only gone active in recent years. He left Black and White Island a few times. Even Tian Yin was not very sure of his intentions. In addition to that, they were running out of time, the clues he said were also blurry.

Although Gu Xiaojun was a mere mortal, he had wonderful sources. He knew that the World Sect also searched for these three objects recently. He frowned, “Those unorthodox doctrine sects aided that bugger in his search for the objects… they’re also controlled by Xiang Liu?” After he finished he shook his head, “Logically speaking, that shouldn’t happen. Although the World Sect is treacherous, they clearly knew Xiang Liu’s harm. They shouldn’t be so foolish to help him. The way I see it, that bugger must have kept his identity a secret or offered some generous rewards. When the people of the World Sect witnessed that bugger’s magical powers, they wanted to seize this opportunity to bring about their own upswing. That’s why they searched for them like a swarm of bees.”

Wen Leyang had already calmed himself. Only the true soul knew the whereabouts of Grand Master Tuo Xie. Even if Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen knew, the true soul could not possibly have told them the whereabouts of Grand Master Tuo Xie forthrightly. Nevertheless, it would be another story if this ‘big flat cake, broken gong and dog’ was really helpful to Xiang Liu’s Wicked Soul.

Perhaps, not only Grand Master’s whereabouts, even the way to defeat Xiang Liu’s true soul was related to these three objects.

Wen Bucao was a big household, they had plenty of big flat cakes… but whether these three objects were treasures, people or some metaphor, no one knew. Luckily, the Wen Bucao had already found the location of Wei Mo’s uncle and got a head start. After he was finished with the issues in the highlands, finding Wei Mo’s uncle and searching for the three objects would be his priorities.

Wen Leyang sighed without reason. The matters had grown more and more complicated. Many clues that seemed unrelated had all strung up with each other, but they made matters worse and more difficult to handle. He shook his head and decided not to think about it. He returned the conversation back to the topic, “If Cone Nail, the water element of the nine Heaven’s cone nails returned to Black and White Island and restored the demon-subduing formation, what will happen to that bugger?”

Liu Zheng had not spoken when Guo Huan opened his mouth rigidly, “Since the true soul had already escaped, he was unrelated to the great demon-subduing formation. Even if the great formation was reactivated, he would not be affected. At the end of the day, we still have to settle that bugger. We can either destroy him completely or let him return to nine-head’s body, then reactivate the formation. If we left him outside… Heh, shattering eight cone nails and nine cone nails would be of no difference to that bugger!”

Little supreme leader Liu Zheng finally told them everything about Xiang Liu’s true soul. Everyone was not in a good mood. Not only because the three Sword Immortals of indomitable spirits had passed away, it was also because there was a constant change of events in the cultivation world, changes happened abruptly and were too severe.

Amongst the Five Blessings who have stood for thousands of years, it was Jilong Sect’s supreme leader, the enlightened person Zi Que who first lost the treasured weapon of his sect and committed suicide on Nine Peaks Mountain. The second elite, the enlightened person Qing Niao broke his own arms and led his entire sect back to the mountains and retired from the world; then, Eyang Sect’s enlightened person San Wei’s two split bodies and the original body died and most of his elite disciples also died in action, only a split body who had most of his powers sealed was left behind, Eyang Sect existed in name only; almost a thousand Kunlun Sect disciples were trapped by the ‘firecrackers’, only little supreme leader Liu Zheng and the seventy-two esteemed sword seniors were left.

The first family of the rogue cultivators, Painting Town’s Leyang Shoujin and Leyang Tian died, leaving the sole elite Leyang Wen supported his entire household.

These sects had all stood tall and proud despite a thousand years of challenges. They were the symbols of utmost power in the cultivation world. However, with the appearance of the peerless Sword Immortals and demon immortals, they crumbled loudly like tattered straw houses. They were flattened by others like a joke.

Compared to them, the true elite forces had shuffled their decks and started over.

Chang Li laid dormant for two thousand years and saw daylight again, Cone Nail appeared out of nowhere, Hanba mounted the stage in full regalia, San Wei had switched souls twice, Black and White Island’s Sword Immortals returned to the mortal world… The happenings that followed were either the clearance of misunderstandings and formations of alliances or the brutal killings and plots out of revenge. Up until now, Cone Nail and Hanba were badly wounded and escaped from the world, they secluded themselves in some unknown place; nothing was left of San Wei’s true body, only a dying spirit was left in the jade knife as it lingered on with its final breath; Chang Li prepared herself to look for enlightened person Tian Yin to find out Tuo Xie’s whereabouts; the three Sword Immortals of Black and White Islands were martyred; at the same time, nine-headed Xiang Liu had another walker in the mortal world whose controlling abilities were not inferior to Chang Li’s or that of the True Soul of Tian Yin’s dharmakaya.

Everyone sighed with emotion. This storm was too cold and cruel. What made everybody’s skins crawl was that all of this was but a beginning for nine-headed Xiang Liu!

They sighed. A white-robed youth poked out half a body from the upper parts of the ice wall. His expression was slightly anxious, “I don’t see the shadows of my uncles, and there had been no word from my brothers who went out to fetch them.”

Hua Xiaoyao had worry written all over his face. He moaned for a while and lifted his head to give the command, “Bring me Hua Xiaoba!”

His voice barely faded, Wen Leyang saw a white flash before his eyes. Another white-robed youth jumped out of the ice wall. He looked to be about eighteen years of age. He was slightly younger than most of Hua family youths. He had a cleanly shaven shiny head, long and fleshy ears. He simpered as he rubbed his palms and asked, “What’s up?”

Hua Xiaoyao hesitated towards the densely packed outsiders in front of him. Finally, he picked Wen Leyang, “Hua Xiaoba is the one among us who’s the most familiar with the bugs’ temperament. I’ll now lead some men to fetch the elders. I’ll leave him here to keep you company. That bunch of firecrackers shouldn’t break the spell, but in case anything happens, you only need to listen to his instructions and you won’t be overwhelmed by the bugs.” After he said this, he instructed the little fat boy Hua Xiaoba, “Look after Uncle Quan, look after the bugs!”

Hua Xiaoba glanced timidly at the malicious-looking seventy-two esteemed sword seniors, the giant pangolin the size of a small house, the fierce-looking head lama and he nodded with a bitter expression. His eyes lit up when he saw Tutatunte. He chuckled in a silly manner. He seemed to have felt that the African brother was pleasing to the eye.

Hua Xiaoyao whistled to his other disciples. He leaped and burrowed into the ice.

Wen Leyang grabbed his arm, “I’ll go with you!” Then, he said to little supreme leader Liu Zheng, “You guys stay here and guard the Kunlun disciples and the bug tide. The Tibetans are after these bugs. We might still have a fierce battle here!”

Liu Zheng nodded, “Don’t force yourself when you meet the enemy, just escape. Even if that bugger himself came, the Kunlun sword formation can still hold up for a while!”

The giant pangolin naturally did not want to leave Wen Leyang’s side. Rangjung also took a step forward and wanted to follow them. Their situations were similar to Wen Leyang’s after they clashed with the Tibetans of ‘Great Xia’s Nine Tripod Cauldrons’, their joints were almost shaken loose but they were not badly injured. They recovered after half a day’s rest.

White-robed Hua Xiaoyao was overjoyed. He instructed the three cultivators to not move their life vitalities rashly and to put away all their magic. Then, he grabbed Wen Leyang’s wrist and leaped towards the ice wall.

Wen Leyang only felt a chill down his body as if he was amidst icy cold river water. Then, with Hua Xiaoyao’s force, he plunged into the thick ice wall without restriction. He flew swiftly forward.

The five elements Art of Escape could bring people along. The giant pangolin had also brought the dwarf Taoist priest along as he shuttled back and forth. However, the ‘passenger’ cannot cast any magic during the process of Escaping, or else he would break his companion’s Art of Escape. It was relatively fine if it was Water Escape or Earth Escape, at most they would only have to dig themselves out or swim out, but it would be more troublesome if it were Fire Escape or Metal Escape…

As the giant pangolin could not cast any magic, it could only use it demonic body. It was pushed and pulled by a bunch of white-robed disciples. They followed close behind with great effort.

Hua XIaoyao had already sent a few batched of disciples to fetch the elders of their family but he had not heard from any one of them until now. However, even if the family elders did not come, the living dead would be on their doorsteps by now. Guo Huan had killed a dozen last night, this morning a bunch of elites joined forces and destroyed eight of them, there were no more movements ever since.

Every white-robed disciple used their full force to cast the Art of Escape. They were like robust silverfish, they flew swiftly within the ice layers. Wen Leyang dared not exert even an ounce of force with his body. He merely followed Hua Xiaoyao as they speeded past. After an unknown period of time, Hua Xiaoyao turned sideways and gave Wen Leyang a hand sign. He signaled that they have reached the Hua family’s campsite. Then, he waved behind him. Other than the Hua family disciples who towed Wen Leyang, Rangjung and the pangolin, the other white-robed youths scattered suddenly. They put a great distance between them. Everyone’s expression was full of alertness.

Everyone hid among the ice cap. They silently probed the snow-covered peak above them with their telegnosis abilities. After they confirmed that there were no signs of the enemy, Hua Xiaoyao glanced incredulously at Wen Leyang. He spread his hands and made a hand sign that said there was nothing.

Wen Leyang felt incredulous. There was nobody nearby?