Jing Jiu didn't ride the sword, not because he was used to it, but because he was concerned about his own safety.
As a conservative person, he encountered three disciples of the Mysterious Dark Church as soon as he came out from the underground, so he had to find out what had happened on the Cold Mountain first.
There was an isolated mountain up ahead. Jing Jiu walked up it.
The higher the mountain, the lighter the color of the wild grass on the ground was, from yellow to white, looking like the snow.
As he came to the highest point of the isolated mountain, he sat down. In front of him was the broken cliff, and below the cliff was the barren plain.
The Sword of the Universe left his hand and cut the frosty grass, piling them on Jing Jiu's body and the ground, and then drilled into the grass noiselessly.
Jing Jiu restrained his energy, becoming an inconspicuous rock. Even if someone walked past him, they wouldn't be able to discover his existence.
He looked at the barren plain in front of the cliff. The green grass that was hard to find nearby turned into scattered green when it was far away.
Now he remembered that it was already the beginning of spring.
The beginning of spring was a good time for all living things to grow, and it was also the day when the Inherited Sword Competition of Aoyama would take place.
That youth could climb so high on the Sword Peak, show a natural expression of panic when he saw Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue, and roll down the mountain while holding his head in his hands skillfully; he was indeed a promising talent. Jing Jiu wondered if Gu Qing had taken care of this matter.
Jing Jiu was learning from his Big Brother, so that he wouldn't suffer the same fate as he did in his previous life.
It was always good to have more disciples and helpers, like Fang Jingtian, the Rooster and the Dead Dog, the Monk Duhai, the Young Mysterious Dark Master, and the Underworld Master whom he had just met.
That was why he recruited Liu Shisui in that small village, followed by Zhao Layue, Gu Qing, Yuan Qu, and that youth whose name was still unknown.
Of course, it would cause more trouble if the disciples he recruited were like Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing.
Jing Jiu didn't reach an agreement with the Underworld Master this time, and it seemed that he had no chance of persuading the Underworld Master, but he had confirmed something, so he was in a good mood.
His Big Brother had been deceived by him.
The Underworld Master knew that he was Jing Jiu, but he didn't know or didn't think he was Jingyang.
Otherwise, the Underworld Master would have laughed when he said that.
"I'm good at convincing his disciples to betray him."
It took him a long time to come up with this sentence. It should be very interesting.
The Underworld Master was his third disciple; but why didn't he respond?
Based on his understanding, his Senior Brother was a very interesting person who pursued interesting things. Naturally, the disciple taught by his Senior Brother should also be like that. The fact that the Underworld Master didn't give any response indicated that he didn't believe that Jing Jiu was Jingyang. Since this statement wasn't made by the person involved, it was of course not interesting, and it would be preposterous and make one speechless.
Alright, Yuan Qijing might be an exception.
Jing Jiu realized that his judgment was not entirely reliable. There were loopholes in his logic, and he could not help but feel a little regretful. He thought that he should find time to go to Shanghai Peak after he returned to Aoyama and tell this to Yuan Qijing to see his reaction.
While thinking about these things, he had already looked around the Wilderness at the bottom of the cliff.
The wild grasses that occasionally straightened their bodies and the frozen streams that still showed no signs of thawing could not escape his sword eyes.
Of course, he could see those disciples of the Mysterious Dark Sect clearly.
There were three hundred and twenty-two of them.
He couldn't judge the Cultivation state of those disciples from a distance, but he could judge from their clothes that there were at least a dozen elders among them.
Those disciples of the Mysterious Dark Sect formed groups of three, and each group was separated by a fixed distance, looking like the chess pieces on a chessboard. They had sealed off the entire Wilderness, making sure that nobody could escape. Even if that person could kill three disciples of the Mysterious Dark Sect in a split second like Jing Jiu had done, it would still be difficult for him to break through this large net.
Jing Jiu's line of sight moved toward the northwest along with the distribution of the disciples of the Mysterious Dark Sect, and then fixed on a place one thousand miles away.
There was a red valley there, full of the dry energy of the fire source. Even though Jing Jiu was so far away, he could still sense the danger. It was the headquarters of the Mysterious Dark Church.
A few years ago, Jing Jiu had passed by this place when he led Gu Qing to the West Ocean.
That night, he witnessed the power of the Sun Banner with his own eyes, and at the same time sensed a gaze full of lethal intent.
He knew from whom the gaze came.
Because of his adopted father, Shi Fengchen, the little cripple harbored a strong desire to kill Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue.
At that time, Jing Jiu told Gu Qing that he would kill this person if he had the chance.
Jing Jiu glanced at his right hand.
His body had been soaked in the scorching lava for such a long time, which had some benefits. For example, it had become much softer, which made it easier to shape it.
Judging from the shape, his right hand was no different from his left hand.
But it also had some disadvantages, which were related to the softness.
Softness could overcome hardness, but it couldn't replace some of the functions of hardness.
His right hand had recovered a lot, and it was sharp enough, but it was still a little bit away from the Absolute Realm.
That little bit was invisible to the naked eye, and it couldn't even be sensed. To put it more mysteriously, it might not even be a real thing.
Even the Demon Bone couldn't erase it.
Jing Jiu looked at the red valley one thousand miles away again.
That Fire Carp must have been hurt by the Sun Banner.
The Sun Banner was indeed a devil of the evil path, and its power was indeed formidable.
Even if his right hand had recovered, would he be able to kill Wang Xiaoming, who was holding the banner?
He found another weakness of the Aoyama Sect.
The Aoyama people were obsessed with swordsmanship, so they disdained or were not used to using magic weapons.
This habit had lasted for tens of thousands of years, which resulted in a strange situation. The Aoyama Sect actually didn't have any magic weapons.
Of course, if the swordsmanship of the Nine Peaks of Aoyama was cultivated to the extreme, it could even evolve into a Taoist method or a magic weapon.
But it wasn't a real magic weapon.
An ordinary disciple of the Zhongzhou School with the Ten-Thousand Miles Seal was equivalent to having an extra life, like Lo Huainan.
An ordinary disciple of the Mysterious Dark Sect with the Sun Banner would have the power of the Reaching Heaven State, like Wang Xiaoming.
But what could an ordinary disciple of the Aoyama do with the Three-Foot Sword?
Could Yuan Qu go to the West Ocean and cut the Flying Whale into three thousand pieces?
The sword rose with the person.
Jing Jiu shook his head, but then he felt puzzled. Since the Church Master Xiaoming already had the Sun Banner, what kind of magic weapon did he have in mind to make such a grand arrangement?
…
…
The red valley didn't sense Jing Jiu's gaze. It was still as quiet and hot as usual.
The Mysterious Dark Sect was a major deviant sect with a history of several thousand years. Even though they had been wiped out by the Aoyama Sect, they still had some resources. Back then, the Sect Master of Kunlun, the Immortal He, only dared watch from a distance. During the Battle of the Cloud Platform, the Immortal Tan didn't come down from the cloud when he came to intimidate the deviants on the Cold Mountain. It was evident that he was wary of the Mysterious Dark Sect.
There were a few cliff caves in the deep end of the valley. After the hot air passed through the caves, it would be much cooler.
Lying on the bed and looking at Gao Ya standing by the edge of the cliff cave, the former sect master Su Qige let out a mocking smile, saying, "In the past, the Sun Banner was merely the foundation of this Great Formation and couldn't leave it. Unexpectedly, it can unleash such a formidable power. Do you feel regretful now?"
As an elder of the seventh generation, Gao Ya had lived in this valley for a great many years, so he was very familiar with the Sun Banner. Hearing this, he couldn't help but show a terrible expression, saying sharply, "The Church Master can kill all the gods in the world with the Sun Banner in his hand. It's a good thing for our church. Why should I regret it?"
Su Qige said with a faint smile, "As I said back then, you used him to drive Su Ziye away, which is like asking a tiger for its skin. Though the Church Master isn't good at scheming and scheming, and his other methods are ordinary, he will never become your puppet; it's because he is a true demon by nature. "
Gao Ya sneered twice, saying, "You have said this many times. What do you intend to do?"
Su Ziye said, "I've also said that … if we keep going on like this, the shadow will come again someday."
Gao Ya knew he was referring to the tragic event back then.
At the time, the Mysterious Dark Sect was running amuck in the north land. It could be said that it was the most powerful deviant sect after the Bloody Demon Church.
The sect master at the time had an extraordinary talent in demonic magic. He called himself the Young Mysterious Dark Master and named himself after his sect. He was extremely arrogant.
Yet, he was too arrogant and offended someone he shouldn't have offended.
The two immortals of Aoyama led the swordsmen of the nine peaks to the north and slaughtered the Mysterious Dark Sect like a river. Even the headquarters of the ancestral court was destroyed.
The Young Mysterious Dark Master was forced to hide in the underground, never to see the sun again, and became a pitiful hidden swordsman.
Su Qige said expressionlessly, "I'm not sure which is more arrogant, using the name of a sect or changing the name of a sect. All I know is that the Sun Banner is getting stronger and stronger, and our young church master is the only one who knows the secret method to control it. As such, he will become even more arrogant."
Gao Ya sneered, "He even dares provoke the King of Fire in a deep sleep; how can he be arrogant?"
Su Qige said in a mocking tone, "He even dares rob the magic treasure of the Zhongzhou School; why would he care about the spiritual animals raised by the Zhongzhou School?"
After a moment of silence, Gao Ya said, "The Zhongzhou School expelled Tong Yan because Tong Yan stole the Green Sky Mirror … Do you think it's true?"
Su Qige said, "Though I don't know where the Church Master got the information, I believe it's true."
Looking at the disciples of the church heading to the outside of the valley as reinforcements, Gao Ya asked sternly, "Are you worried that the Green Sky Mirror will fall into the hands of the Church Master and cause the same thing to happen again?"
Su Qige said, "We can't defeat the Aoyama Sect, but do you think the Zhongzhou School can?"
"If the Church Master had tempered the Green Sky Mirror, our church would have one more swordsman in the Heavenly Arrival State. No matter whether it was the Aoyama Sect or the Center Sect, they have to think about what they would have to pay to face two swordsmen in the Heavenly Arrival State at the same time …" Gao Ya said after a moment of silence, "And what can we old guys do?"
Su Qige said, "It was said that someone had seen the Great Grandmaster when the Guocheng Temple was wrecked a few years ago."
Gao Ya sneered, "How could you believe such an absurd rumor?"
Su Qige said, "Yes, I didn't believe it in the beginning, but I had to believe it later."
Gao Ya turned around and saw the expression on Su Qige's face. He arched his eyebrows slightly, and then saw Su Qige take out a command board, his expression changing abruptly.
As mentioned earlier, he had lived at the Mysterious Dark Sect for many years, and his generation was even older than Su Qige's, so he knew many things that others didn't.
"Has the Great Grandmaster really gotten out of the trap?"
Gao Ya was astonished, but he didn't panic. Staring into Su Qige's eyes, he asked sharply, "You've been paralyzed for so many years, and you've been taught a terrible lesson by your own son. No disciple of your sect has followed you for a long time. How did you get this thing?"
Su Qige said calmly, "It's true that nobody is loyal to me anymore, but many people are still loyal to that evil son. Every time I think of this, I feel like I'm a failure, but at the same time … I feel lucky."
…
…
Jing Jiu sat in front of the cliff of the Lonely Mountain.
Covered in grass, he looked like a real rock. However, as the sky moved, it showed a different appearance.
As the night fell, those regular followers of the Mysterious Dark Church wouldn't be able to discover his whereabouts; but he didn't stand up yet. He looked at the barren plain in Silence, calculating the location of that magic treasure based on the formation and the distribution of the members of the Mysterious Dark Church.
It was impossible for him to calculate the location based on the formation alone; otherwise, the Mysterious Dark Church would have discovered the magic treasure a long time ago.
The rock in front of the cliff of the Lonely Mountain suddenly disappeared.
Jing Jiu reappeared on a meadow a few miles away.
If the Underworld Fairy Sword could be used to perform magic tricks, it would be very popular in the human world.
He didn't find any trace on this patch of meadow, but he smelled a faint scent.
The scent was very faint, like the cup of wine he poured into the lake in the Zhao Garden outside Zhaoge City.
Normally, no matter how sensitive his five senses were, it would be hard for him to smell this scent; it was because he was not the Dead Dog.
Yet, he smelled this scent. It was probably because he was very familiar with this scent.
He had sensed a similar familiarity when he talked to the King of Fire Carps in the underground river of lava.
He understood whom the Mysterious Dark Church was looking for, feeling surprised.
As the Underworld Fairy Sword rose up, Jing Jiu disappeared from the original spot. He followed the faint scent to another valley and another icy stream.
He searched for a long time, but he didn't trigger the formation set up by the Mysterious Dark Church, nor was he discovered by the people of the Mysterious Dark Church.
As the morning sunlight rose, Jing Jiu came to a patch of ordinary and withered forest, and he finally found the other party.
It was a common weed, with only two leaves, swaying in the cold wind, as if they would fall off at any moment. Yet, the color of the leaves was very green.
Jing Jiu reached out his hand to push away the soil under the weed, and touched a hard object.
It was a bronze mirror, and the surface of the mirror was engraved with extremely fine and complicated patterns.
In fact, those patterns were made up of countless statues of buildings, stone bridges, barren mountains and people.
Yet, those statues were very small, less than one ten-thousandth the size of a rice grain. Besides Jing Jiu, nobody could see their true appearances.
Jing Jiu's finger moved slowly on the bronze mirror, feeling sentimental or not.
Had he lived there for seventy years or eighty years?
In the beginning, he lived in the Royal Palace of the Chu Kingdom, and later on Buzhou Mountain. He hadn't been to any other place.
He was certain that he had never seen those buildings, stone bridges and barren mountains.
Yet, he might have seen those people.
Jing Jiu knocked on the bronze mirror.
"Open the door."
(End of this chapter)
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