I began to understand the myriad things by chopping wood

By the river.

The setting sun cast three long and narrow shadows on the river bank.

Xie Yuan held up the Jiao Soul and looked at the young woman opposite him who looked unfamiliar but had an extremely familiar expression. He said calmly:
"Wu Daoji, I wonder what your old friends would think if they knew your current appearance and that you even had to disguise yourself as a woman to escape for your life?"

"Young people have limited knowledge. How can they know that the truth of the great way does not matter to men, women, young or old, or even whether they are human or not?"

There was a big hole in the woman's heart, but the wound was frozen by ice and no blood was seen flowing out.

However, despite the injuries that no one else could recover from, the woman looked calm and uttered a shrill voice:
"Besides, they are all dead, and I am still alive."

Xie Yuan said in a deep voice:
"You are not far from death."

"Haha, Xie Yuan, can you really kill me?"

The woman smiled, even though her eyes were full of resentment and anger, she still smiled and said:

"How many times has this happened? This is the thirteenth time, and you still don't seem to have faced reality. No matter how many times you find me, you can never kill me. You don't understand my methods at all! You don't understand how powerful I am!"

Just as Wu Daoji said, Xie Yuan had found him thirteen times and killed him thirteen times.

However, no matter how many times he tried, Wu Daoji could never seem to be truly killed.

No matter whether they used the Burning Heaven and Exterminating Dao Spear, the Floating Light and Shadow Sword, or the Force Splitting Huashan, or the Five Elements Formation, Eight Diagrams Formation, Water Flooding and Fire Burning Formation, they were unable to truly kill him. Xie Yuan and Mu Chaoyun always sensed him appearing somewhere else just after they had killed one of his clones.

His true spirit seemed to be divided into thousands of parts and was everywhere.

Such means were unbelievable, not to mention Xie Yuan, even Mu Chaoyun found it unbelievable, and they had never seen, heard of or seen such a thing.

Perhaps only by killing all the people Wu Dao Ji has come into contact with can we stop him from hiding his split soul.

However, this is of course a fantasy. Wu Daoji has been resurrected thirteen times, and the number of people he has come into contact with is more than tens of millions. Perhaps he saw through the mystery only the first time and killed all the people involved in Tianxiang Villa, Luojiabao, and the rest... But this is just nonsense.

Xie Yuan did not look discouraged, but said coldly:

"You have become weaker and weaker. It will be effortless for me to kill you now. And you can't escape the range of the candlestick's pursuit, and you can't escape the weapon in my hand. At worst, I will keep killing you until you completely lose all your strength. What's the problem?"

This time it was Wu Daoji's turn to remain silent.

Although he said harsh words, he was actually furious.

This method of escaping was not only extremely embarrassing, but also made him, a top grandmaster who dominated the world, lose face, and suffered huge losses. His true spiritual power was consumed again and again, and he was found by Xie Yuan before he could replenish it, so he became weaker and weaker.

Being chased like a rabbit by such a junior was the greatest shame Wu Daoji had experienced in a thousand years.

But he became easier to find each time, and his deaths became quicker and quicker each time, and it wasn't just because of his weakening strength.

As one of the top people in the world and a grandmaster who has been dormant for a thousand years, he is far from exhausted. Even if he keeps wasting time like this, he can last for a long time.

It's just that the opponent is improving too fast.

Wu Daoji's face was solemn and he was quite shocked in his heart.

Every time he was found by Xie Yuan, he could feel that his previous fighting skills, experience, and routines would no longer work.

This young man has an amazing learning ability and speed. He will never make the same mistake twice, and it seems that he can apply the techniques he uses to his own use after only watching them once!
Wu Daoji was filled with indescribable surprise. Even though he had lived in that great world for a hundred years and had met many geniuses who shone through history, such learning ability was unique to him!
And his Burning Heaven and Destroying Dao Spear had made further progress every time they met, his progress was so rapid that his spear skills had even gradually exuded a more vast and terrifying aura of burning everything, which made him very nervous.

He had a vague feeling that if the shot hidden in that aura exploded, his true spirit would be completely destroyed.

However, Xie Yuan did not use that shot. It was unknown whether it was because he had not yet truly mastered it or for some other reason.

If Xie Yuan were given more time to truly become a grandmaster, he would probably stand at the top and no one would be able to rival him.

But whether he still has so much time is another matter.

Wu Daoji looked up at the sky and smiled faintly:

"If you want, you can just stay with me like this."

Seeing that his heart was already empty and his death was particularly uneasy this time, Xie Yuan let him continue:

"I will never let a rat like you who has been hiding for a thousand years go to bring disaster to the world."

"Do you really have that much time?"

Wu Daoji smiled:

"The catastrophe has come. You may not know what the sky looks like, but you should know what the world looks like."

Xie Yuan frowned slightly.

He and Mu Chaoyun have been chasing Wu Dao Ji for so long. Although they have not left the Central Plains, they have fought thousands of miles and seen the current appearance of Dali from east to west, south to north.

The disaster and chaos have begun.

The first is the hole in the sky. No matter whether it is day or night, whether the sky is covered with dark clouds or the blue sky, the dark and deep hole is always there, like an upside-down abyss.

No matter where you are in the world, the sun rises and the moon moves, and the hole is always in the middle of the sky, so that billions of people can see it when they look up, and feel inexplicably heavy and confused in their hearts.

If it was just a dark hole, it would be fine, but people regarded the sky as a black spot.

But the weather gradually changed.

In the north, exposed to the sun, the thousand-year-old glaciers melted and submerged an entire county; in the South China Sea, snow fell in one day, and the ice covered hundreds of miles, turning many fishing villages into ice sculptures.

In some places, heavy rain poured down all day long, while in the next village the sun was shining brightly for more than ten days, until the river broke its banks and flooded both sides.

Natural disasters and strange phenomena appeared one after another in various places. At first, they were just sporadic, but Xie Yuan watched helplessly as various places gradually became chaotic.

This only affects the common people in some places, and most places are still safe, at least for the time being.

However, the impact of the disappearance of all the grand masters has begun to manifest itself and has affected the situation in the world.

Ever since Xie Yi disappeared after the battle with Lu Xuefeng, there has indeed been no trace of a grandmaster in the world.

Such news was difficult to conceal and soon became known to the world.

Even though most people didn't know the whole story and were even very frightened, they still took action.

As Xie Yuan guessed, many sects formed an alliance and began to tentatively discuss the transfer of secret places and division of spiritual treasures with the major sects.

Except for the top three, the rest of the eight great families, as well as those clan inheritances that were not among the eight great families but were extremely powerful and had a long history, all began to flirt with each other, exchange what they had, and distanced themselves from the top three, secretly planning something.

And the ones who benefited the most from this change in situation seemed to be the Dali court, or the Xue royal family.

They have controlled the world for a thousand years, and all the talented people are within their grasp. There are countless masters below the rank of Grand Master.

Even if we only count the royal family, the masters are no less capable than any of the top three families.

The royal family is only short of a grandmaster. If the old emperor's generation had not been unable to produce a master in the state of unity, the situation might have changed drastically long ago.

But now, this gap has been eliminated, and the Royal's advantage below the Grand Master level is fully highlighted.

As soon as the emperor learned of the change, he issued a series of decrees, all of which were aimed at the aristocratic families.

There was chaos in the court. After all, there were many officials from aristocratic families, and there was a lot of opposition to the emperor's policies.

However, they suddenly discovered that the emperor had already integrated the grassroots and even some aristocratic families, and had firmly grasped the court, and was only now showing his claws.

The situation faced by the top three families suddenly became urgent. In addition to the increasing pressure from the court, there were frequent competitions, negotiations, and consultations, all aimed at weakening them. The emperor's methods were fast and cruel, and even appeared urgent, but no one was surprised - this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Xue royal family.

But if you want to truly eliminate the aristocratic family, there must be a bloody collision. Even if the intensity of the collision now is not as fierce as the first-level grandmaster, the sinking of the big aristocratic family will definitely shake the world.

Can the increasingly chaotic world withstand such a serious blow? If the court is truly wise, it will not make any major moves at this time.

But for the old emperor and the new emperor he chose, such an opportunity must not be missed. As long as they act quickly enough, they can cut the Gordian knot.

This may be the reason for his eagerness, but whether he can achieve his wish, no one knows; and the world is gradually becoming like a pot of boiling water, and signs of this are beginning to emerge.

In such a situation, it is difficult to protect yourself, let alone the people around you?

The only way is to strengthen oneself as soon as possible. Whether it is to improve strength or to find the remaining black heavenly books to participate in the heavenly way and directly point to the great catastrophe, it may be much better than dealing with a weak old ghost.

Xie Yuan heard clearly Wu Daoji's instigation.

If you really want to shoulder the world and the sky, seek truth and break the catastrophe, you should seize every moment.

Time is running out and waits for no one.

There are also great opportunities in great disasters. Many chaotic celestial phenomena are actually spiritual lights leaking down from the sky.

A secret realm of exotic treasures suddenly appeared, and within a short period of time, many stories of people soaring to fame have been reported.

Even without these, if Xie Yuan just practiced with peace of mind, he could still make rapid progress. After all, he only took a break from the busy schedule of hunting down Wu Daoji to comprehend a lot of the Burning Heaven and Destroying Dao Spear demonstrated by Xie Yi, and his spear skills improved by leaps and bounds.

As for how many people Wu Daoji would harm during and after his recovery, and how much harm he would cause—

To be honest, what does it have to do with Xie Yuan?
It is unwise to delay your own practice for the sake of some irrelevant people, especially at such a critical moment.

In times of chaos, you should put yourself first and not lose the big picture for the sake of small things.

Xie Yuan seemed to hear many voices. After a moment of trance, he turned around and looked at Wu Daoji:
"What kind of magic skill is this?"

Wu Daoji said calmly:

"This is not a magical skill, it's just your own voice. Oh, it seems that you also feel that you have wasted some time?"

"Yes. You are indeed difficult to deal with and you cost me a lot of energy."

Xie Yuan nodded in acknowledgment, then shook his head:
"But I will continue to hunt you down until you are completely annihilated. If I really let you go, I don't know how many people will die."

Wu Daoji's eyes suddenly condensed, revealing a cold expression:

"Xie Yuan, you are so stupid! Why do you have to fight with me just for those insignificant people? Those people are just summer cicadas and ants, and they won't live long anyway. Is it worth it for you to do this?"

"That's not an ant, that's a human life."

Xie Yuan looked calm:

"Since it's a human life, there's no such thing as worth it or not."

Wu Daoji sneered:
"Fool! You've wasted all your talent! Humph, since you want to waste your time on me so much, I will fight you to the death! As long as you are careless, I can recover quickly! Just wait and see, when the final catastrophe comes, I will live forever in this world, and whether you will regret it!"

As he finished cursing, his eyes suddenly became lifeless, he looked up and fell, falling into the surging river.

Xie Yuan did not react much. He casually swung his sword, and the sword energy crushed the corpse in the river and fed it to the fish in the river, just to be on the safe side.

He flipped his palm and took out the candlestick, sensing it silently and frowning slightly.

“Is it getting harder to sense?”

Mu Chaoyun asked from the side.

Xie Yuan sighed:

"This time it's so obscure, I'm not even sure where to go."

Mu Chaoyun said:

"It seems that he has realized your determination. This time he has completely learned his lesson. He will lie dormant and not increase his strength, so it will be difficult for you to find him. This will take longer. He wants to compete with you in patience."

Xie Yuan smiled:
"It doesn't matter. As long as his aura becomes stronger, the True Shadow Candlestick will be able to sense it. Even if I can't completely destroy him, I can always prevent him from recovering."

"This is really a waste of your time."

Mu Chaoyun sighed slightly.

Xie Yuan just smiled:

“It’s also a form of cultivation.”

Mu Chaoyun nodded silently and suddenly said:

"In fact, there is another way, maybe we can kill him completely."

"Oh?"

Xie Yuan raised his eyebrows, revealing a probing look.

Mu Chaoyun said softly:

"Wu Daoji's true spirit is strong and his secret techniques are magical. Even the Burning Heaven and Destroying Dao Spear and your Force to Split Huashan cannot completely destroy him. But if there is a stronger means of attack, or in other words, a magical weapon, perhaps he can be killed in one blow."

"A stronger magical weapon..."

Xie Yuan's brows twitched slightly.

Mu Chaoyun didn't keep anyone in suspense and said directly:

"The page of the Black Heaven Book on Yunshan Mountain should be pure swordsmanship. Swordsmanship has always been the most respected military art, the purest and unique. This page of the Black Heaven Book may also be the purest of all the Black Heaven Books, with only swordsmanship.

"If we can get it, we can swing the sword with it and move forward without hesitation. With the special properties of the Black Book, and the fact that Wu Daoji himself has survived for a thousand years thanks to the Black Book, we can probably kill him completely."

"Yunshan? The black book on the sword peak..."

Xie Yuan hesitated slightly.

The Black Heavenly Book is the foundation of the Yunshan Sword Sect. Without the Black Heavenly Book, there would be no Sword Peak, and no inheritance of the Sword Sect's supreme swordsmanship.

If he took away the Black Heaven Book, what difference would it make to cut off the foundation of the Yunshan Sword Sect? That's why he never mentioned this.

Mu Chaoyun said quietly:

"In fact, you will go to get it sooner or later, right? Originally, I collected the Black Book only for traveling and practicing, but... in the current situation, if I collect all the Black Books, I may be able to get a glimpse of the secrets of the Heavenly Dao.

"If you want to try to repair the crack in the sky, the Black Book is crucial. You must search for it as soon as possible. The more the better."

Xie Yuan was silent for a moment, then sighed:
"You are right. In that case, I will go to Yunshan and ask the sect master for it."

After he said this, he gazed at the muddy river water rolling forward, turned around and walked west.

Mu Chaoyun looked at Xie Yuan's back as he turned and walked forward, and reluctance gradually appeared in his eyes.

Only in this way can I save you...

But I can't go with you to get this page. (End of this chapter)