Chapter 257: Chaos Across The Realm
Zuo Qiu Ting gently pushed him away, straightened her long hair and collar, and used the folding fan to draw a boundary: “It’s true that we are brothers who live and die together, but we can’t be this intimate. If people see us, they might think we have some special fetish. If it spreads out, it won’t sound good for our reputation!”
“You’re such a person… Sigh, you just like to act all proper.”
Li Weiyi had been terribly deceived, kept in the dark from Zangxian Town all the way to Qiu Zhou Prefecture City. Who would have thought that “Brother Zuo Qiu” was actually “Sister Zuo Qiu”? Who could stand that?
Now that he knew the truth, how could he let her off so easily?
He began pondering darkly in his heart.
Since she still wanted to deceive and pretend, don’t blame this brother for not treating you like a woman. Let’s see how long you can keep it up?
Now, it was Li Weiyi’s turn to act!
Zuo Qiu Ting kept her distance from Li Weiyi, arms crossed in front of her chest in a defensive posture, and said solemnly: “My sister is a pure Dao cultivator whose lifelong aspiration has been to pursue the ultimate realm of the Martial Way, single-minded, with clear intellect and pure spirit, unentangled by romantic emotions. You, give up that thought!”
Li Weiyi smiled, looking full of confidence: “You’re not her, how do you know she won’t develop feelings for me? Pursuing the ultimate realm of the Martial Way is great; it’s completely in line with my own aspirations—perfectly harmonious.”
“That night of the Lantern Festival, though we had just met, we were extremely in sync, as if we had a telepathic connection. On Bing Zu Marsh, she even risked exposing her supreme treasure to save me. I feel that in her heart, I’m definitely different from other men.”
The two proceeded along the cliffside stone path.
Peach blossoms fluttered profusely on the mountain, their fragrance assaulting the nose.
Zuo Qiu Ting was secretly exasperated, trying to maintain a calm tone: “You two aren’t familiar at all; everything is just your illusion. You don’t understand her at all. She’s the type who’s warm on the outside but cold inside—it’s hard to get into her heart. You’re not just lusting after her beauty, are you?”
Li Weiyi stopped, blocking her path, pretending to be earnestly serious: “In your heart, am I, Li Weiyi, such a person? I have to admit, your sister does have a stunning allure that captivated me at first sight. Just that one meeting, and these past few days, I can’t forget her at all, as if she’s branded in my heart, making my spirit dazed and distracting me from everything I do.”
“During my seven days of secluded cultivation, I tried to shake off this feeling of being bound by emotions, but unfortunately, I failed at the last step.”
“Gazing at the sky at dawn, at clouds at dusk; walking, I think of her; sitting, I think of her.”
Zuo Qiu Ting fell into deep thought, and after a long while: “Don’t blame your brother for not warning you—my sister is very difficult to get along with. You’d best restrain your emotions, lest you get hurt even deeper in the future.”
Li Weiyi was holding back so hard it was uncomfortable; if they kept talking, he felt like he’d burst out laughing first, so he said: “Alright, you’re right. She’s the direct noblewoman of ten million gateways—what am I? It really is some wishful thinking… Has the crisis in Qiu Zhou Prefecture City been resolved? What’s the current situation?”
Zuo Qiu Ting secretly breathed a sigh of relief, resuming her poised and elegant demeanor: “The crisis is temporarily resolved! But the top strong practitioners are still engaged in magic battles—who knows what earth-shattering events will happen next.”
“The Transcendental Duel has enormous influence; one misstep, and it concerns the survival of an entire race.”
“The various righteous armies and the Imperial Court’s nearly eleven years of warfare combined have seen fewer Transcendent losses than in these seven days. It’s truly a heaven-shattering, earth-cracking event, with an impact more terrifying than many sages predicted for a Transcendental Duel.”
Li Weiyi said in surprise: “In the past eleven years of warfare, with the Imperial Court full of masters, they actually let the rebels rise everywhere?”
Zuo Qiu Ting shook her head: “The Imperial Court has been suppressing the rebellions all along. But just as they pinned down one force here, several more would pop up elsewhere. Later, it turned into chaos under heaven, with every prefecture in revolt, everyone in revolt—they simply couldn’t suppress it all and could only keep contracting their core control zones.”
“No matter how strong the Imperial Court is, it’s not stronger than the people under heaven.”
“Additionally, both the Imperial Court and the righteous armies have always avoided direct clashes between Transcendents, deliberately controlling the intensity of the war. They feared a situation like the current one. Even more, they feared the top combat powers suffering heavy losses on both sides, only to be taken advantage of by the Far West Ash Region and the Nether Realm of the Dead.”
“Of course, the most fundamental reason is this: The Imperial Court still has Yu Yaozi as their trump card, believing that as long as she acts, all these rebels and crises will be resolved effortlessly.”
“The large-scale Transcendental Duels that erupted these past few days haven’t appeared in the past millennium.”
“It’s truly a case of one move affecting the whole body; almost all the top figures in the entire Lingxiao Life Realm have been stirred into action.”
“From the news that’s reached Qiu Zhou Prefecture City so far, several Transcendents have already fallen, with even more severely injured. One can imagine that for the forces of these fallen Transcendents, the next few years will be miserable.”
“Even worse off are the common people in the various prefectures. After seven days of great battle, the casualties likely exceed ten million, even tens of millions—how many families? How much blood and tears?”
Li Weiyi followed Zuo Qiu Ting’s gaze toward the city gate direction and saw large groups of refugee caravans, his mood as heavy as hers. He secretly rejoiced that he had stayed on Taoli Mountain; otherwise, he might have become one of those annihilated.
He said: “Have the Transcendents’ magic battles affected other prefectures?”
Zuo Qiu Ting nodded: “Over here in the Southern Territory, it went from Qiu Prefecture to Fu Zhou, then from Fu Zhou to the Eastern Territory, with Lei Xiao Sect and Dragon Gate both serving as battlefields. Today’s news says the fighting has moved westward again, seemingly determined not to stop until Zhu Men is destroyed.”
Li Weiyi’s brows furrowed: “Why would it be like this?”
“What’s wrong?” Zuo Qiu Ting said.
Li Weiyi said: “Qiu Prefecture and Fu Zhou in the Southern Territory are both prosperous prefectures that haven’t been touched by warfare in the past eleven years. The core prefectures of Lei Xiao Sect and Dragon Gate in the Eastern Territory are surely the same. Zhu Men’s core prefectures in the Western Territory go without saying.”
Zuo Qiu Ting understood what Li Weiyi meant and nodded: “Fighting in densely populated prefectures untouched by war—clearly, the initiative has always been firmly in the hands of the Demon Race. Human Race Transcendents can only be led around. After this battle, the Lingxiao Life Realm’s population will surely plummet sharply. The Human Race will be exhausted dealing with relief, reconstruction, famines, plagues, and so on for a long time. Is Qilin Zhuang preparing for a protracted war?”
“The thoughts of living beings at that level—how could we guess them?”
Li Weiyi thought of something and asked: “What about the Northern Territory?”
Zuo Qiu Ting said: “The Northern Territory hasn’t been affected yet.”
“That’s a bit strange!”
Li Weiyi said: “Qilin Zhuang can’t possibly not know that Snow Sword Tang Court is the mighty force second only to the Imperial Court. How could they not draw the flames of war to the Northern Territory to weaken them?”
Zuo Qiu Ting said: “Snow Sword Tang Court probably hasn’t cooperated with the Demon Race. In this battle, almost all the Transcendents from the Northern Territory rushed over and contributed greatly.”
“Forget it—with our cultivation levels, why bother thinking about these things?”
Li Weiyi asked with considerable concern: “With the Demon Race stirring things up like this, will Du’e Temple still redeem the tickets we collected at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival?”
Zuo Qiu Ting said: “Hard to say! Dragon Seeds and Dragon Bones are limited in number; once lost, they’re gone forever. As for Longevity Pills… sigh, now almost everyone’s invitations and tickets have been lost—it’s impossible to tally them up. Wait—for now, we can only wait for the Transcendental Duels to end and see how Du’e Temple makes amends.”
Li Weiyi and Zuo Qiu Ting arrived at the Jiu Li clan’s martial cultivators’ healing area.
Cang Li and Yin Nine had already awakened and gone to separate secluded cultivation spots for recovery.
No sign of Hidden Lord or the diligent and lazy elders.
A young martial cultivator hurried over, using magic energy to transmit a message reporting something to Zuo Qiu Ting.
Zuo Qiu Ting looked at Li Weiyi: “Brother Weiyi, want to go down the mountain for a stroll? Silver Feather Demon King’s corpse has been brought back—it’s right at the city gate, and some Transcendent flesh and blood will be put up for sale. This is great stuff for body forging!”
“With more monks than porridge, we have to rush. I reckon even if they send some to Taoli Mountain, there won’t be many pounds to share among us juniors.”
Li Weiyi was just about to go down the mountain to purchase pills for cultivating mind power, aiming to break through as soon as possible and go quench Qi under the Fusang Divine Tree, so he gladly agreed.
The two went down the mountain.
An old man had already driven a carriage to stop at the sect gate.
“Young Master Zuo Qiu, Brother Li, where are you headed?”
Qi Xiao arrived in a luxurious carriage, stopping in front of the two, then extricated himself from between two beautiful rice person maidens who looked like twins.
After jumping down, he spiritedly tossed his hair and laughed: “I thought you two were still bedridden from heavy injuries and was just about to go up the mountain to visit. As expected of Hundred Veins All Silver and Hundred Veins All Gold—your healing speed leaves others in the dust.”
“But old Qi here won’t be modest! I’m worlds apart from my former self now—you two might not even be my match. Haha!”
Li Weiyi had noticed as soon as Qi Xiao got out of the carriage!
His gaze was sharp and bright, his spirit, energy, and vitality abundant, the magic energy spilling from his pores far purer than Sixth Tier Qi, reaching a whole new height.
Even more impressive was the intangible Dao aura on Qi Xiao, as if he had merged with heaven and earth.
At the same time, he had his own independent domain, where any Five Seas Realm martial cultivator would probably be slain with one palm by him. And they’d be locked down tight, unable to escape.
Li Weiyi said: “Why do I feel like you’re even more terrifying now than Ge Xian Tong and Luan Sheng Lin You at the Five Seas Realm?”
“Mortal World Overlord, Dao Seed Realm.” Zuo Qiu Ting said.
“Exactly—now I, humble one, am one of the Mortal World Overlords, qualified to found a sect. Completely transcended above mortals, with my life essence fundamentally changed. If I wish, I can even split off some magic energy for eternal youth— even at a hundred years old, I can maintain a relatively youthful state.”
Qi Xiao was naturally high-spirited; reaching Dao Seed Realm meant he could stand on his own and roam under heaven, formally entering the ranks of masters.
Many of the old guys in the clan whom he once had to look up to were merely at Dao Seed Realm.
Qi Xiao continued: “Brother Weiyi, isn’t it normal for Dao Seed Realm to be stronger than Five Seas Realm martial cultivators?”
“I opened Nine Springs at Spring Gushing Realm, Five Seas Realm cultivates the seven seas, even more so a Pure Immortal Body, Dragon Seed Dao Cultivation. How could someone like me be comparable to those Eight Springs Six Seas inferior root Dao Seed Realm martial cultivators?”
Zuo Qiu Ting said coldly: “Speak properly.”
Qi Xiao naturally didn’t dare act out in front of Zuo Qiu Ting, even as a Dao Seed Realm strong practitioner.
He quickly restrained his arrogance: “Just broke through, a bit carried away! We’re all at Dao Seed Realm—no distinctions of high or low.”
