Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 239 Changes in Enemy and Ally
The old man now looks at Lu Xingzhou almost like he's looking at a deity.

Lu Xingzhou only arrived at the glacier yesterday, and until early this morning he had only been diligently conducting the medicine-finding trial. He had only been truly involved in this event for a maximum of three hours.

While many of the parties involved only knew a fraction of the story, he seemed to have witnessed the entire secret discussion from the beginning, making accurate judgments and even devising two sets of filings.

The final determination that he had means of communication was also correct...

Therefore, his other judgments were highly convincing, such as the statement that Gu Zhanting would be the one to silence him.

Whether Gu Zhanting would silence him or not, no one knew. Even if Gu Zhanting stood there now, no one could be sure what he would do in the future. So Lu Xingzhou's words were actually just malicious speculation about Gu Zhanting and a way to intimidate the old man.

Of course, the likelihood of it actually happening is indeed extremely high, making it very convincing.

“But…” the old man said dejectedly in a low voice, “It’s no use for me to contact him now. He’s definitely lurking nearby, observing for the right moment, and he won’t wait for me to call him before he makes his move.”

“You are the key person in charge of this matter. You have a better grasp of the pulse of all parties than those remote bystanders, and you have a lot of advice to give. You just need to tell him that if he doesn’t take action, Si Han will not take the initiative to attack your sect leader. If he drags on any longer, Long Qinghuang will be the first to give up. If he retreats, everything will be lost. Tell him to take action first.”

The old man took out his communication device and entered the information in front of him.

At this moment, Long Qinghuang's battle situation was indeed somewhat difficult.

She's slightly inferior to Ye Tinglan, but not by much. If they were to truly determine a winner, it would probably take a whole day and night to fight. However, with Si Han leading the Bone Dragon in a pincer attack, Long Qinghuang clearly couldn't hold on, and her battle line kept retreating, looking like she was just putting up a desperate stand.

In reality, she could have had a top-tier demon expert assist her, but she didn't, precisely to lure the enemy step by step.

If Si Han suddenly betrays Ye Tinglan when she feels victory is assured, Ye Tinglan will never expect that coming to Si Han's rescue will result in her being ambushed, and she will likely be defeated.

Such a powerful person is very difficult to kill... but as long as we can injure Ye Tinglan and make her recuperate for a few years like Gu Zhanting, then this battle will be a great success.

Ideally, when Ye Tinglan is lured into using a certain type of attack that requires soul entanglement, he will be unable to attend to other things. At this moment, the bone dragon standing beside Ye Tinglan will suddenly turn around, and Ye Tinglan will inevitably be in a very bad state. If the old zombie of the Great Qian royal family who was lying in ambush suddenly attacks, even if Ye Tinglan has three heads and six arms, it will be difficult for him to escape unscathed.

However, Ye Tinglan remained cautious and never gave him a suitable opportunity.

Just as Long Qinghuang was about to launch a soul attack to lure Ye Tinglan into a counterattack, a sword light streaked across the evening glow like a rainbow, heading straight for Ye Tinglan's back!
Ye Tinglan remained unmoved, but Long Qinghuang was stunned.

This is by no means the best time to strike. What are the ambushers doing now? Ye Tinglan has plenty of room to maneuver at this moment!
But since she was already out there, she naturally had to cooperate, otherwise all her previous efforts would have been in vain. Her retreating figure suddenly stopped, and an incomparably violent dragon's might suddenly erupted, slamming head-on into Ye Tinglan's chest.

At the same time, Si Han, who had been fighting alongside Ye Tinglan, suddenly charged towards Ye Tinglan while riding a bone dragon.

Ye Tinglan's expression remained expressionless, but the anxious telepathic message from Lu Xingzhou flashed through her mind: "Foolish woman, don't easily get entangled in soul battles with others. Be careful of sneak attacks, and watch out for Si Han."

At that moment, she understood everything and felt extremely disappointed in Gu Zhanting.

In the instant that the three attacks were about to strike at the same time, Ye Tinglan's body transformed into specks of starlight and scattered into the void. All three attacks missed their mark and instead collided with each other, creating a deafening explosion.

Long Qinghuang also heard Lu Xingzhou's voice transmission: "Let's go."

Ye Tinglan's figure had already appeared behind her, and his calm voice came: "Your Majesty the Demon Emperor has been fooled. Did you really think they would conspire with the demon race to kill me? At this very moment, aren't you the one being besieged by three humans?"

The elders of the Great Qian royal family and Si Han felt a jolt in their hearts, secretly marveling at the power of the move. Long Qinghuang had never fully trusted the Great Qian royal family to cooperate seamlessly with her, so she remained wary. Ye Tinglan's seemingly prescient escape from the encirclement seemed to prove everything.

A single sentence can shatter a partnership, making it impossible to reconcile the two sides.

At this moment, it seems that besieging the Demon Emperor is actually better. If we can really seriously injure the Demon Emperor, that would be another kind of victory.

But before they could even finish their thoughts, as Ye Tinglan spoke, Long Qinghuang let out a long roar, transforming into a hundred-foot-long golden dragon that broke through the encirclement and soared into the sky. The dragon's roar echoed through the heavens: "Humans are indeed the most faithless! Our feud will be settled another day!"

The two slowed their pace and didn't have time to stop him. Ye Tinglan seemed to be about to stop him, but in reality, she turned her slender hand and slapped the old man of the Great Qian royal family hard: "Who are you? Why do you need to wear a mask and hide your true identity?"

The old man was still in a state of confusion. The situation had changed rapidly, and most people couldn't keep up with it. He could only silently and passively block the attack.

Long Qinghuang led her people away without any pressure. Looking down, she saw Lu Xingzhou watching the battle from the sky.

Those eyes were incredibly complex; it was impossible to tell if it was hatred or something else.

A gust of wind swept over Lu Xingzhou and his disciples, seemingly trying to take them away in the chaos.

Ye Tinglan abandoned all pretense of fighting with the elders of the Great Qian royal family and swiftly intercepted Lu Xingzhou, cutting off the gale.

Long Qinghuang asked, "Chen Yu... are you coming with me?"

Lu Xingzhou silently moved closer to Ye Tinglan, answering with his actions.

"Very well, very well, Chen Yu, I will remember you." Long Qinghuang's voice, filled with gritted teeth, faded into the distance, and the demonic aura returned eastward.

Combining Chen Yu's final hint to "go," Long Qinghuang finally understood that Ye Tinglan's seemingly premonition-like evasion was not due to the elder of the Great Qian Dynasty, but rather, like her, it was due to Chen Yu's reminder.

This man rendered all his hard-fought battle futile. He failed to obtain the dragon bone he desired, and he also failed to outmaneuver Ye Tinglan... He had always stood on the side of the Tianyao Holy Land!
But he eventually reminded himself of this... which left him with very mixed feelings.

"Once you return, investigate immediately! Find out where Chen Yu came from, and mobilize all our forces that have infiltrated the Great Qian Dynasty. Whoever captures Chen Yu alive and brings him back to the Demon Realm will be richly rewarded!" Compared to the demon race, who worked themselves to the bone but gained nothing, the more tragic figure was Si Han, the ruler of the Heavenly Frost Kingdom.

Leaving aside his involvement in the plot to murder the Heavenly Yao Holy Lord, the bone dragon he commanded was something that the elders of the Great Qian royal family wanted to seize.

Originally, the plan was to turn against the dragon after the battle, but now the situation was very troublesome. Ye Tinglan was unharmed, a group of high-ranking officials from the Tianyao Holy Land were eyeing them covetously, and the elder of the Great Qian royal family found that there was nothing he could do. Looking around, he stamped his foot in frustration and disappeared.

Superb is Superb after all; if he wants to run away, no one can stop him.

Ye Tinglan's gaze finally fell on Si Han: "King Si, is there anything you wish to say?"

Si Han was only at the peak of the first rank, and he was already exhausted from participating in this super-rank battle with the Bone Dragon. His reply was weak and listless: "This matter was planned by Emperor Qian, and I was just cooperating. You and I belong to two countries. Regardless of whether the demon race or the Tianyao Holy Land is weakened, I am happy to see it happen. What's the problem? It wasn't my plan. The grievances should be attributed to the culprits. Don't blame me for your internal strife in the Great Qian."

Ye Tinglan remained noncommittal, only asking, "What did he rely on to get your cooperation? To help subdue this bone dragon?"

Si Han remained silent.

It's about helping him obtain this bone dragon... With the help of this bone dragon, he can easily subdue the various sects of the Frost Kingdom and turn the alliance-like country into a unified one.

In other words, Gu Zhanting even betrayed his own elders. The royal elders were actually after the Bone Dragon, unaware that Gu Zhanting had already sold the Bone Dragon to the Tian Shuang Kingdom.

"Whether you were the mastermind or an accomplice, the fact remains that you attacked me earlier. If we don't retaliate, wouldn't the world think that my Tianyao Holy Land is easy to bully?" Ye Tinglan stepped forward coldly, her slender hand forming a hand seal.

The bone dragon, which could withstand a direct confrontation with Long Qinghuang for a long time, suddenly howled in pain under the influence of this mere spell. The phosphorescent flames in its eye sockets flickered and were about to dissipate.

Long Qinghuang's battle was merely a clash of strength, while Ye Tinglan was a Daoist cultivator, who possessed a multitude of methods specifically designed to counter such "undying creatures."

Si Han was both angry and anxious, and shouted in alarm, "No! Spare her!"

The sun was setting at that moment, and the slanting moon shone on the cold river.

The bone dragon was roaring and struggling when another rumbling sound came from the ground, very similar to the earthquake that had struck when the bone dragon emerged from the river, as if something was surging beneath the ice.

With a "crash," the already deeply collapsed ice layer collapsed again, and many people were caught off guard and fell down, along with the bone dragon that was screaming in pain.

Neither Lu Xingzhou nor A Nuo could fly, so they were caught off guard and could only fall.

Si Han's angry expression suddenly turned to horror: "This isn't some subterranean creature emerging from the ice! It's the aftershocks of the battle just now that caused the spatial rifts buried beneath the glacier to surge chaotically! No matter who it is, everyone leave here. If anyone enters a spatial rift, no one knows if they'll be able to get out!"

As he shouted, Ye Tinglan had already abandoned the Bone Dragon and headed straight for Lu Xingzhou and A Nuo, who had fallen.

As Lu Xingzhou fell, he grabbed A Nuo and threw her upwards: "Save A Nuo first!"

Ye Tinglan caught Anuo and, using some unknown technique, instantly transported her over a hundred miles away.

Then, continuing downhill, he grabbed Lu Xingzhou's hand.

Just as he was about to do the same to send him out as well, a rift flashed beside him.

Ye Tinglan knew something was wrong and instinctively shielded Lu Xingzhou with her body.

Spatial turbulence can shred a person, and Lu Xingzhou at his current level simply cannot withstand it!
The two disappeared beneath the ice in the next instant, and in the ensuing chaos, no one even noticed that the sect leader was missing.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Si Han found the Bone Dragon again and was about to leave with him when a dark shadow silently flashed past him and stabbed him in the back with a sword.

Exhausted, Si Han had no chance to dodge. He barely managed to avoid vital organs, and blood spurted from his back.

Turning around, the dark figure wearing the classic mask of the Underworld was none other than Ji Wenchuan, the Eastern Ghost Emperor.

Ji Wenchuan placed a hand on the bone dragon's forehead, and phosphorescent light flickered in the dragon's eyes, as if he had smoothed it out. He then shattered the surrounding ice and, carrying the bone dragon, soared into the sky: "Fortunately, I learned the Yin Corpse Sect's methods beforehand. Thank you for your generosity, Lord Si. I, Ji, gladly accept this bone dragon, hahahaha..."

Si Han coughed up a mouthful of blood and almost fainted.

Ji Wenchuan flew south on his bone dragon: "Old Lu is still smart. He knew that if he hid until the end, he might still be able to find something he didn't like... I didn't expect that with so many top-grade items competing for it, the bone dragon would actually be a bargain for me, Old Ji."

Before he could finish speaking, a tiny child was seen running and crying on the glacier below: "Master, Master..."

Ji Wenchuan was dumbfounded: "Anuo, what are you doing here? Isn't your master with you?"

Ah Nu cried out, "Master just fell under the ice, and the old woman is saving him."

Ji Wenchuan breathed a sigh of relief: "With the Heavenly Yao Saint Lord rescuing you, what are you afraid of?"

“What do you know… I’ve lost all connection with my master…” Ah Nuo wiped away her tears: “From the day I was born until now, I’ve never been this far away from my master for even a moment…”

Ji Wenchuan helped her sit on the bone dragon: "Your master will eventually need to find a mistress. You can't be clinging to her all the time, can you? Although this mistress is a bit... outrageous. Tell me, should I report this to King Yama?"

(End of this chapter)