Don't let Yu Ding take on any more disciples.

Chapter 574 Confusing the real with the fake
Inside the business camp.

"Uncle-Master, it's all my fault, Wen Zhong's fault!"

Wen Zhong collapsed onto the desk, pounding his fist and weeping, “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have suffered this calamity. How am I supposed to explain this to my master and grandmaster?”

His apprentice, Zhao Gongming's apprentice, and four generals quickly tried to persuade him.

"Grand Tutor, I know that the Immortal has encountered misfortune and you are deeply grieved, but now is not the time to grieve. The Yellow River has been breached and all the disciples of Jade Void have been rescued."

Xin Huan clasped his hands and said, "It seems that Xiqi will soon come to fight us. Please advise us on how to make our next move so that we can prepare."

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhong suppressed his grief, pondered for a moment, and immediately sent someone to Chaoge to seek help.

Then he looked at the map, and a moment later sent a messenger to Sanshan Pass to summon General Deng Jiugong to his command.

Wen Zhong's emotions only stabilized after he finished doing all this, though he still felt somewhat lost.

The generals exchanged glances and breathed a sigh of relief. Wen Zhong was their backbone; if he acted like he did just now, there would be no need to fight this battle anymore.

Just then, a cry of surprise came from the soldiers in the camp. The black Qilin entered the tent with the head of the swollen-headed immortal in its mouth, threw the head on the ground, and looked at Wen Zhong triumphantly, showing the pride of "I picked up your uncle's head again".

"Not good..." The generals' expressions changed drastically.

Wen Zhong looked at the head of the dragon-headed immortal, then at his smug mount, and paused for a moment. Just as the generals were about to speak up to comfort him, he waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I've been on the battlefield all my life and have seen all kinds of storms. I'm not that fragile. Give my uncle a proper burial!"

He continued, "Furthermore, now that the Jade Void Sect has been rescued, they will surely come to challenge us. We have been on a western expedition for nearly three years, and our troops are exhausted and we should not fight for a long time. Everyone should pack up and prepare to retreat to the Five Passes to rest and wait for reinforcements to come and fight again."

Everyone hurried off to do it.

A misty, ethereal landscape unfolds, with clouds churning and rolling, creating yet another wondrous sight in the vast sky.

“Brother Qiu Shou…”

Han Zhixian looked down, her eyes blazing with fury, and despite the three Xiao sisters' attempts to dissuade her, she was about to go down.

After Yu Ding broke through the Nine Curves, the Three Immortals did not return to the Shang camp but waited here for Yu Ding to send something over.

They were worried that if they went back and saw Wen Zhong, things would get difficult.

"Senior sisters, I have only one question for you: are you really not going to take responsibility for this matter?" Han Zhixian stared at the three of them.

Qiongxiao and Bixiao couldn't help but look at Yunxiao.

"There is only one reason why we came down the mountain, and that is my elder brother."

Yunxiao shook his head and said, "Besides, this is a matter of cause and effect between Qiushou Xian and Yuding and his disciple, and we will not interfere."

Based on their relationship with Yu Ding and the favor Yu Ding showed Zhao Gongming, she wouldn't interfere in this matter.

Han Zhixian's eyes reddened: "You three sisters are so heartless. Have you forgotten the friendship we shared when we were studying together as fellow disciples?"

Qiongxiao smiled and said, "Hanzhi, you're being a bit harsh. Back then, Master only asked us to take care of the Biyou female disciple outside Jin'ao Island. Qiushou Xian's matter is for Senior Brother Duobao to handle. Besides, it's a personal feud between him and Yuding and his disciple, and it's not up to us to interfere."

Bixiao said, "This is definitely not a safe place. Listen to me, you'd better come with us!"

Han Zhixian said blankly, "Alright, alright, alright, I've remembered what you three sisters said. If you don't care, I will. Farewell!"

After saying that, she headed down towards the merchant camp. Bixiao wanted to say something more, but Qiongxiao raised her hand to stop her.

Qiongxiao stared at Han Zhixian's back and said, "Since she won't listen to reason and insists on courting death, then let her go."

Bixiao sighed, "After all, we've known each other for so many years..."

"Hmph, Third Sister, haven't you noticed that she's very good at using morality and sentiment to coerce us into doing things we don't want to do?" Qiongxiao said.

Bixiao paused for a moment and recalled, "That is indeed true."

Qiongxiao pondered and said, "I don't care about her now. This time we reduced Guangchengzi and the others' Dao Fruits, but Brother Yuding let the matter go lightly and let us off the hook. I was thinking that he might have a hard time explaining to his master this time."

Bixiao said, "Putting everything else aside, Yu Ding is indeed a very decent guy."

Just then, Yunxiao suddenly raised his hand, caught a glimpse of light, glanced down at it, and said, "The item is in hand, let's go!"

The three then headed towards Mount Emei.

When Han Zhixian arrived at the merchant camp and saw that Wen Zhong had already made arrangements, she also told Wen Zhong some exciting news.

"what?"

Wen Zhong exclaimed with delight, "The Nine-Bend Yellow River of the three senior uncles has reduced the Dao Fruits of Guang Chengzi and the others? Good, good, good! Where are those three senior uncles now? I must offer them a proper toast to express my gratitude."

Han Zhixian sneered, "No need for thanks. I didn't come down the mountain for you, but only for Senior Brother Zhao."

The joy on Wen Zhong's face faded considerably.

As for Xiqi, Yu Ding had already taught everyone the method of leaping across the ground with golden light.

Speaking of which, his attainments in this field are extremely high. After all, he started his cultivation by using this method to travel, and Guang Chengzi and the others are now just following the path he has walked.

This method has a low minimum requirement and consumes little energy. Once you understand it, you can use it. Of course, it is not very friendly to newcomers who have just started cultivating, and it is somewhat profound and difficult to understand. But it is perfect for experienced old immortals like the Twelve Immortals.

In the original Investiture of the Gods, when his master passed on the technique of the Twelve Immortals' Golden Light Leap Across the Earth, he said that this technique could allow one to travel thousands of miles a day.

However, in this vast wilderness, this speed is at least as slow as a snail, if not slower, and certainly on par with a tortoise.

From this, Yu Ding also came to the conclusion that the original Investiture of the Gods world was a bit small. Not to mention compared with the Primordial World, any one of the three thousand great worlds outside the Primordial World was larger than the Investiture of the Gods world.

"What? Only traveling ten thousand miles a day?"

Everyone was surprised to hear this, and they looked at each other with bitter smiles. This was really too painful.

They no longer needed to ride horses or sail boats; they could roam freely across the world, arriving in the vast universe in an instant, experiencing the decay of rocks and the withering of pines in a single autumn—how carefree and content they were!

After that, you can only travel 10,000 miles a day... The difference isn't huge, but it's like falling from the clouds to the dust, and everyone feels really disheartened.

"To be honest with my fellow disciples, I have been doing the same thing all these years. This Golden Light Technique was passed down by our master back then."

Yu Ding sighed, "So I understand how everyone feels, but there's nothing we can do about it. We can only ask you all to bear with it. Also, I have some teleportation talismans here that I can give to you."

Overcoming... The group exchanged glances and bowed in unison to the jade cauldron.

If others told them to overcome it, they might complain, but they were somewhat convinced by what Yu Ding said.

After all... Yu Ding really went through this ordeal, so he must understand this feeling perfectly.

Even at their speed of traveling ten thousand miles a day, it would take them ten days to half a month to travel one way from their cave to Xiqi. They would be exhausted just to go out, not to mention having to help others... They would have to leave earlier from now on.

After the magic was transmitted, everyone comprehended it on their own while on the reed hut.

However, they were disciples of a sage and powerful beings with profound magical abilities; in the past, their comprehension and other qualities were all excellent.

Of course, even so, there are still differences among them. Among them, Guang Chengzi, Chi Jingzi, and Dao Xing Tianzun opened their eyes the fastest. They understood it as soon as they comprehended it and mastered it as soon as they understood it. In no time, they had already grasped the essence of the Vertical Earth Golden Light Technique.

After the three, everyone else also grasped and mastered it, except for Huanglong Laotie.

"Everyone, farewell!"

Everyone was eager to return home. Having mastered the Golden Light Technique, they no longer intended to wait for Huanglong. Since they were all going home anyway, they bid farewell.

Just as the Taoist priests were about to leave from the thatched hut, Yun Zhongzi suddenly descended on a cloud and bowed, saying, "Greetings, fellow disciples. Where are you headed?"

Cha... The group exchanged silent glances. In their entire lives, they had never been so eager to return to their cave dwellings.

Ran Deng praised, "Yun Zhongzi is truly a man of great fortune to have escaped the calamity of the Yellow River Formation."

Everyone nodded in agreement: "Truly a celestial being blessed with good fortune!"

Yun Zhongzi's luck is truly extraordinary. Finding treasures or spiritual roots is practically a daily occurrence for him when he goes out, something they can only envy.

Yun Zhongzi glanced at everyone and said, "I was only waiting for Grand Tutor Wen at Jue Long Ridge by imperial decree to refine the Heavenly Divine Fire Pillar. That's why I'm late. I'm not worthy of being called a blessed immortal. Please don't make fun of me, fellow disciples."

Taiyi laughed and said, "So you didn't pick up any treasures or spiritual roots this time you went out?"

Yun Zhongzi shook his head: "No!"

Everyone looked at him with disbelief: "Really not?"

Yun Zhongzi shook his head: "This time there really isn't one."

Everyone was quite surprised, but seeing that it wasn't to stop them from going home, they hurriedly left.

Guang Chengzi also went to block Wen Zhong's retreat as instructed by Randeng.

Yun Zhongzi asked with a strange expression, "Why are you all in such a hurry, fellow disciples?"

"Yun Zhongzi, I will accompany you to Jue Long Ridge to lend you a hand in your efforts to eliminate the rumors..." Ran Deng suddenly frowned, his expression changing slightly. Yun Zhongzi asked in surprise, "Master, what's wrong?"

"The merchants have sent reinforcements again," Yu Ding said, glancing outside.

Yun Zhongzi looked at Randeng: "Then what is our plan..."

Ran Deng shook his head: "It's alright, you go to Jue Long Ridge first, you'll be there soon."

"Teacher, please wait a moment. I have something to say to Senior Brother Yu Ding."

Yun Zhongzi took out a leopard skin pouch and said, "Senior brother, someone asked me to bring you something."

Ran Deng looked at it curiously, but Yu Ding took it with a smile, weighed it in his hand, nodded in satisfaction, and put it directly into his sleeve.

After receiving it, Yu Ding also rode a golden light and soared into the sky.

At this moment, a golden light appeared outside the gate of the merchant camp, landing and transforming into a short, stout Taoist in a golden robe and a tall, thin Taoist with a mustache.

The golden-robed Taoist priest said with great pride, "Quickly call your Grand Tutor Wen out to greet us."

The soldiers dared not delay and hurriedly came in to report.

"Uncle Jin Guang? Uncle Ding Guang?"

Upon seeing the two, Wen Zhong was both surprised and delighted, asking, "What brings you two here?"

The newcomers were none other than Jin Guangxian and Chang'er Dingguangxian.

Jin Guangxian laughed and said, "It's all because that brat Shen Gongbao kept nagging us in our ears, asking us to come and help you. I told him that Brother Qiu Shou and Brother Lingya were enough, but he insisted that it was safer for us to come. If we didn't come, he would pester us. He was so noisy that we couldn't stand it and had no choice but to come, risking being discovered by our master."

"What about others?"

Chang Er Ding Guang Xian said, "You've gone to the Three Mountains and Five Peaks again to find fellow Daoists to help you."

Brother Shen Dao… Wen Zhong was deeply moved and invited the two into the central military tent to meet Han Zhixian.

"Why are there only the two of you?"

Ding Guangxian frowned: "Where are Senior Brother Qiushou and Senior Brother Lingya?"

Upon hearing this, Han Zhixian immediately broke down, her eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her face as she told the two what had happened in the past few days.

"What? So many of my fellow Daoists in Biyou have lost their lives at the hands of the despicable Jade Void Sect members these past few days?"

"How could a mere Jiang Ziya ruin Senior Brother Lingya's cultivation? And Yu Ding's disciple killed Senior Brother Qiu Shou?"

"Hmph, how can the loss of cultivation by Guang Chengzi and his ilk be exchanged for the lives of us fellow Daoists?"

Upon hearing this news, Jin Guangxian was furious and indignant, and began to rebuke the people of the Chan Sect.

Jin Guangxian snorted, "And the Three Immortal Sisters are too heartless, showing no regard for the bond between fellow disciples. They are unreliable."

Wen Zhong said, "Please don't be angry, my two senior uncles. The Yellow River has been breached, so it's not our fault. They've already done us a great favor by weakening Guang Chengzi and the others' cultivation. I imagine Xiqi will be coming to fight us soon. At that time, please avenge our fellow Daoist uncles!"

Long-eared Immortal Dingguang said, "Wait a minute, you said... Jade Cauldron has already reached the Great Luo stage?"

Han Zhixian and Wen Zhong nodded slightly.

Jin Guangxian's voice abruptly stopped, his expression instantly becoming calm and incredulous: "A Great Luo Golden Immortal? No, how did he become a Great Luo? Didn't we cripple him back then?"

Wen Zhong dared not utter a sound.

Chang Er Ding Guang Xian gave him a wink, and the two of them, using the excuse of being tired from their journey, asked for a large tent to rest in.

"broken!"

As soon as he saw the others off, Dingguang Xian's expression immediately darkened: "Yu Ding has achieved the Great Luo Dao, which is a bit troublesome. Back then, it took all of us plus the Primordial Spiritual Treasure Hunyuan Hammer to suppress him. Now, only the two of us have come, and the other side still has Ran Deng. How are we supposed to fight? Shen Gongbao is just setting us up!"

"What a small world!"

Jin Guangxian sighed, "Then...should we retreat?"

Chang Er Ding Guangxian shook his head: "Since we've already come all this way, it wouldn't sound good if we left now. How would we have the face to face the people of Biyou Sect in the future?"

His eyes flickered: "The only solution now is..."

Just then, they heard a cry of surprise from outside. The two went out to see what was happening and saw a golden light paving the way and rushing into the distance.

"Yu Ding is gone?" Jin Guangxian and Ding Guangxian raised their eyebrows.

On the reeds of Xiqi.

"Hmm, a mere vertical golden light isn't that difficult..."

It wasn't until Yu Ding had been gone for a while that Huang Long slowly woke up. When he looked around and saw that everyone was gone except for Ao Bing, he asked in surprise, "Where is your master?"

Ao Bing said, "Let's go!"

Huang Long asked in surprise, "Where did they go?"

Ao Bing said, "Everyone go back to your own homes and find your own way... My master has gone back to Yuxu Palace to report the imperial decree."

"These disloyal bastards, they didn't even say they'd wait for me."

Huang Long complained, glancing at Ao Bing as he spoke: "By the way, didn't your master say anything else?"

Ao Bing was taken aback: "What did you say?"

"Of course, what happened after he broke the Nine Turns Yellow River Formation, like what happened to the Three Immortals, how your master dealt with them, and whether he killed them or not?"

Huang Long said irritably, "Your master mentioned it before, but he was vague. Who knows what happened? These crazy women are too ruthless. Let me tell you, cutting off our Dao Fruits is worse than killing us."

Ao Bing scratched his cheek and recalled, "Uh... I don't think they said that."

Just then, a bugle call sounded in the distance. Ao Bing glanced over and hurriedly said, "Ninth Master, my uncle is gathering the generals. I have to go. Do as you please."

"This brat..."

Huang Long cursed under his breath, pinched his chin and looked on suspiciously for a moment, then shook his head, got up, and, controlling the somewhat clumsy golden light, shot off into the distance like a rocket.

When Ao Bing arrived, Jiang Ziya had already transferred all his generals and disciples of the Jade Void Sect to the Prime Minister's residence.

Jiang Ziya glanced at the crowd and said, "Everyone, get ready. Tomorrow we will have a decisive battle with Grand Tutor Wen!"

The generals received their orders and went to prepare themselves.

High above, Yu Ding took out the leopard skin pouch brought by Yun Zhongzi, opened it, and poured out a string of precious pearls. Upon careful counting, there were exactly twenty-four pearls, each radiating five-colored light.

This treasure looks exactly like the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, the only difference being that it exudes acquired energy.

"Not bad! Really good!"

Yu Ding joked, even though his clone had already handled it when it was first refined.

Indeed, this is the high-quality replica of the Dinghai Pearl that he and Yun Zhongzi jointly crafted. He provided the video, Yun Zhongzi selected the materials, and the two of them worked together to create it with great care.

It wasn't easy to make it; the first eight skewers had some flaws, and only the ninth skewers were perfect.

If Zhao Gongming hadn't brought this treasure out to the world this time, they wouldn't have had a physical object to imitate it even if they wanted to. This 'gift' was naturally prepared for the old lamp.

However, there is still one last step: to roll it around inside his Qiankun Cauldron one more time, and then it will be indistinguishable from the real thing.

If he weren't worried about the rampant counterfeit goods being easily detected, he would have liked to get a string of beads to wear.

This old lamp... well, he doesn't like him, but he hasn't offended his lineage. He can't afford to offend the master behind him, who is also the nominal vice leader of the Chan Sect. With these advantages, he really can't make a move.

As for this conflict between the Shang and Zhou dynasties, he could easily use a trick to protect a few people while scheming to kill a few others.

These are all minor, harmless changes, but frankly, he has no control over the final outcome.

He is powerless to do anything with his current strength, so he always has a clone traveling around the world while his main body stays at home to cultivate diligently. He always keeps his priorities clear.

Now, through his continuous expansion, the number of members in the Zhutian Jade Cauldron Group has reached more than 300. The more members there are, the stronger his power will naturally become.

This time, when dealing with Lao Liu and breaking through the Nine Bends, his true form had to be deployed once, and after returning, he still had to do the same thing.

As for this epic battle to come, he could only place his hopes on the two disciples of Guigu and let them find their own answers.

With this thought in mind, Yu Ding's figure moved and soared up ninety thousand miles. He felt an unprecedented sense of ease. The sky was high and he could fly freely. The vastness of the primordial world meant he didn't have to worry about hitting the boundary. Crystalline fragments of spacetime danced around him as he sped towards the Jade Void Palace.

This time, his protection of Zhao Gongming and his four siblings was a small change to the original script of Investiture of the Gods, but it was also a genuine attempt to distort the natural order of things. So, it's normal that he felt uneasy and lacked confidence.

Yuxu Palace!
Only returning to Jade Void Palace can give him a true sense of security!