Zhang Yan looked at the clone a few more times before grabbing a handful of ashes.
As the mana circulated, a Daoist robe and various scattered items were immediately refined. All of them had their own uses, especially this Daoist robe. Although it could not block supernatural powers and mana, it was not difficult to defend against normal weapons, water, and fire.
However, this clone was formed from his blood essence. If it woke up and saw him, it might trigger a bit of the original consciousness in his body.
To prevent the restriction from noticing, he left it at the same spot after doing all that. He waved his sleeves and controlled the pagoda to fly into the clouds.
Not long after this avatar left Zhang Yan, it naturally attracted the attention of the Forbidden Formation. However, its heart was as clear as a mirror, and it passed through the Forbidden Formation in an instant. At that moment, its figure flashed, and it was pulled by an unknown force, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared from its original spot.
Zhang Yan saw everything clearly from the sky. When he saw this, he squinted his eyes.
Normally, the person who passed the restriction would enter the continent. However, this clone was sent in by the restriction as if it noticed that he was different from normal people.
He immediately sensed that this formation was different from the usual dead formations that followed the rules. Perhaps it was a living formation that had developed consciousness.
If that was the case, there might be more changes. However, once the clone was defeated, he would know immediately. Moreover, he had the Demon Subduing Scroll, so he didn't have to worry. He sat down and closed his eyes to cultivate, waiting for his consciousness to be enlightened.
After an unknown amount of time, the clone woke up from his muddle-headedness.
He blinked and saw that he was sleeping on a big rock. He tried to stretch his arms and legs. He looked around carefully and thought that he was deep in the mountains. He muttered to himself, "I wonder where Master is?"
In his memory, his name was Zhang Ming. Since he was young, he had followed a person named Daoren to learn Dao in the mountains. This time, he followed him out to sea to search for a celestial mountain.
Although he successfully found the mountain, he was disturbed by the restriction outside. He was swept into this foreign land by a strong wind, and the two of them were separated. Therefore, the first thought he had was to find his Master. It was to find his Master.
He raised his head and looked. The sky was covered in haze, as if there was a thick layer of clouds covering it. The surrounding trees were tall and it looked eerie. However, it did not look like the celestial mountain that his Master mentioned.
He seemed to have thought of something. His heart skipped a beat. He reached into his robes and took out a talisman. It was the Light Body Talisman. He remembered that his Master made it personally and it could help him travel a thousand miles in a day. However, when he chanted the incantation, he realized that there was no movement.
He secretly raised his Qi again and realized that the inner Qi that he cultivated was also gone. It was as if he had never cultivated before. He could not help but touch his head and mumbled, "There's no spiritual vigor here at all. I can only give up on this talisman."
He stood up and looked around. Not long after, he found a spacious place. He took out a flint knife and knocked it a few times. Not too long afterwards, he made a fire, and carefully lit the imperial edict. When it was completely burned, a cool breeze brushed his face, and his body seemed to be a bit lighter.
He stretched his limbs and walked down the mountain.
Although he did not know the way, he had an inspiration. He decided on a direction and walked. In less than an hour, he was out of the forest.
The terrain in front of him gradually opened up and became flat. What made him even happier was that he saw a few broken stone tablets at the foot of the mountain. In front of him was a wide flat land without any weeds. He could tell that it was a road made of rammed earth. This meant that there were people here. He immediately got excited and walked in the direction of the road.
As he walked, a day passed.
However, the strange thing was that along the way, he did not see a single person.
In the evening, he saw a village appear in front of him. He immediately became happy and quickened his pace.
However, when he entered the village, he realized that there was not a single villager. It looked like the village was abandoned.
He walked one round in the village. From the various traces, the people here should have left not long ago. It was at most ten days. Moreover, they left in a hurry.
He thought for a while and fetched some water from the well in front of the village to drink. Then, he continued on his way.
Although his body could not use mana, it was after all built by Zhang Yan's blood. His body was strong and healthy, far better than a normal body. Along the way, although he did not eat a grain of rice and did not rest, he was still full of spirit and did not feel tired at all.
After another night, he went over a hill and looked ahead. His eyes could not help but brighten up.
Under the morning sun, he saw a long line of people heading north. He could not see the head or the tail, but it was sparse. There were men, women, old and young. Many people were leading cows and goats, urging geese and ducks. However, all of them looked worried. Some of them were walking in a daze, crying and cursing from time to time. They looked especially panicked and miserable.
He quickly went down the hill and wanted to find someone to ask about the situation. However, everyone was rushing on with their journey, and not many paid attention to him.
At this time, an old man suddenly walked over. Although his complexion was also not good, his beard and hair were very neat, not the slightest bit messy. Beside him was a rather good-looking young woman carrying a baby, and there was also a seven or eight-year-old girl standing to the side.
He walked forward and bowed. "May I ask, sir, where are you going?"
The old man stopped and looked at him. He asked curiously, "Little Daoist, where did you come from?"
Zhang Ming could not explain clearly. He pointed behind him and said vaguely, "From there."
The old man looked and said thoughtfully, "Lan Qiao Mountain. You live in the mountain. Could you be the disciple of Daoist Wang who lives on the mountain?"
As soon as he said this, a skinny man suddenly came over and asked anxiously, "Daoist, are you one of those Daoists who know some celestial spells?"
The old man said indifferently, "When I came here, I did say something about celestial spells. However, it was just a rumor spread by fools. I have seen that Daoist Wang before. He is just a sloppy Daoist who likes to drink. He is very ordinary."
When the skinny man heard this, he immediately lost interest and walked away angrily.
Zhang Ming waited for him to leave and asked again, "Sir, you are in a hurry. This is …"
The old man sighed and said, "Sigh, the world is not peaceful. Demons and ghosts are everywhere. Little Daoist, you might not know this since you live in the mountain. The Xing Rong City in the west was destroyed by King Gu Yang. I heard that a hundred thousand people were devoured. I had no choice but to seek refuge with my fellow villagers."
Zhang Ming asked a few questions and found out that since a hundred years ago, the world was in chaos. Demons and devils appeared everywhere and devoured humans. There was no longer any law in the imperial court. The generals of each province and county ruled over their own territories. It was a chaotic world.
In the recent ten years, the demon disaster became more and more severe. They would attack the prefectural cities at the slightest provocation. The world lost its population.
As for the Lone Yang Great King, he was a greater demon that could flap his wings and soar into the sky, and he brought along a few hundreds and over a thousand lesser demons. Everywhere he passed, neither man nor beast was spared. So when the commoners in the surroundings found out about this, how could they not be terrified? All of them abandoned their homes and fled.
Zhang Ming listened and mumbled, "Master, is this the celestial mountain you were talking about …"
The old man reminded him, "The demons and devils are here. It is not appropriate for little Daoist to hide in the mountains. You should go back and inform your master and leave this place."
Zhang Ming said softly, "Little Daoist, my master is not by my side."
The old man misunderstood his words and sighed, "The world is difficult. Deep in the mountains is not necessarily a paradise. My surname is Yu. If little Daoist doesn't mind, why don't you come with us? My son is working for Marquis Rong. He has some strength. With him around, there is no need to worry about evil people."
Zhang Ming felt that he had nowhere to go. If he went with the crowd, he might be able to find his master. He thanked him and agreed.
After walking with the crowd for a few hours, the sky gradually darkened. The crowd stopped beside a river. In twos and threes, they went to fetch water or a fire. However, no one dared to stray too far from the crowd.
Zhang Ming's eyesight was good. He found a tree stump and invited Elder Yu to sit on it. He sat cross-legged on a thick piece of dead leaves and meditated according to the Qi technique taught by his master.
Although he could not feel any spiritual vigor and his inner Qi became weak, he did not give up.
Elder Yu saw that after walking for so long, there was not a speck of dust on him. He was very surprised and nodded his head. His eyes showed a look of anticipation.
After a long time, he suddenly felt something was wrong. He opened his eyes and saw the little girl next to the old man holding a big bowl in front of him. She said, "Little brother, Auntie asked me to give this to you. Only after eating will you have the strength to continue on our journey."
Zhang Ming saw that although his face was covered with mud, his eyes were big and lively. He looked innocent and gave people a good impression of him. He smiled and said, "Thank you."
The little girl said, "My name is Jin 'er. Where is my Auntie?"
She pointed and Zhang Ming looked over. When the beautiful woman saw him looking at her, she seemed to be shy and quickly lowered her head.
He lowered his head to look at the bowl and saw that it was filled with something black. However, on the way to escape, it was already good enough to have something to eat. Therefore, not only did he not despise it, he even felt grateful. He covered his mouth with his sleeve and brought it to his mouth. He drank a few mouthfuls and found that it was a little astringent and bitter. He could not taste what it was, but it was warm and very warm.
Jin 'er waited for him to finish and took the bowl. She went to the river to wash.
The weather was cold and the river was cold. Zhang Ming saw that his little hands were struggling to wash in the water. After a while, his hands turned red from the cold. He could not bear it and wanted to help.
But Elder Yu stopped him and said seriously, "This is not what a young Taoist should do."
Zhang Ming could only sit down. After meditating, he became more energetic. Just as he was thinking about where his Master was, he suddenly heard someone playing a leaf flute. The melody was sad and melancholic. There was also someone crying, causing many people to wipe their tears. The two sides of the river were filled with a sorrowful atmosphere.
Elder Yu listened for a while and sighed, "That's Fourth Brother Deng. I heard that he left the city early this morning to fetch his wife and son. When he passed by the city gates, he met with the fleeing crowd. Although he was fine, when he found his wife and son, they were no longer in shape. Ai!"
Zhang Ming felt sad when he heard this. Suddenly, there was a scream from afar, "Demon, the demon has caught up!"
In a split second, everyone's face was filled with fear and panic.
…
… (To be continued …)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
