This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

That's what she was thinking, but as Mo Ling took a step back, she became angrier and angrier, her face turning completely red.

She couldn't take it anymore!
"Zhong Bai!"

The moment the words fell, the spirit sword in Mo Ling's hand flew out with a bang, and in an instant, terrifying sword energy rushed straight towards Zhong Bai.

Zhong Bai did not sense Mo Ling's killing intent, but Mo Ling did have a lot of resentment about her.

He immediately understood, and without actually using a killing move against Mo Ling, as streams of qi and blood surged from his body, Zhong Bai began to chant a spell.

"Xuanzong of Heaven and Earth, Wan Qi's roots..."

As soon as the Golden Light Divine Incantation was unleashed, beams of golden light enveloped Zhong Bai's body. The sword energies that fell were unable to advance an inch within the range of the golden light, even surprising Mo Ling.

She understood that Zhong Bai's strength was terrifying, but she only realized how terrifying it was when they actually fought!
With a surge of interest, Mo Ling no longer unleashed sword energy with her spirit sword, but instead thrust the blade fiercely towards Zhong Bai.

With a loud bang, the moment the golden light touched the sword, a shockwave spread outwards. Upon seeing this, Zuo Qianhu and Zhi Qiu Yiye quickly retreated a hundred meters away.

After the sword pierced through the golden light, its speed noticeably slowed down. Zhong Bai chuckled, lightly ran his fingertips across the sword before suddenly gripping it tightly in his hand.

Before Mo Ling could react, the Demon-Slaying Sword was the first to object. It was a Nascent Soul Spiritual Treasure, how could it allow its master and anyone other than Mo Ling to hold it in their hands?
Terrifying sword energies flew everywhere. Seeing this, Mo Ling quickly came to Zhong Bai, took the Demon-Slaying Sword from Zhong Bai's fingertips, and sheathed it.

"Thank goodness, we didn't disturb Big Brother..."

Mo Ling was somewhat relieved. When Zhong Bai grasped the Demon-Slaying Sword, Mo Ling was terrified. If Zhong Bai hadn't released those terrifying sword energies, her elder brother's soul might have awakened. That would have been troublesome. She couldn't very well let her elder brother attack Zhong Bai, a disciple of Maoshan.

Moreover, her identity would be exposed. Mo Ling actually enjoyed the feeling of Zhong Bai not indulging her. Unlike her time in the underworld, where the demon emperors, ghost emperors, and even the Nascent Soul demon emperors all treated her with utmost respect, it was meaningless and boring.

After giving Zhong Bai a disdainful look, Mo Ling walked straight past him.

Shaking his head, Zhong Bai ignored Mo Ling's departure. Just now, when he grasped the Demon-Slaying Sword, a terrifying aura almost awakened. Even if Mo Ling hadn't come to take the sword away, Zhong Bai wouldn't have been able to continue holding it tightly.

Mo Ling walked away, and behind Zhong Bai, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye bowed to Zhong Bai with a grateful expression.

"I, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye, express my deepest gratitude to my senior!"

Zhong Bai turned around and looked at Zhi Qiu Yi Ye with a faint smile.

"Knowing Autumn Leaf, what a fine name. At such a young age, you've already reached the early stage of the Golden Core realm. Who knows, the Kunlun Sect might need you to bring prosperity in the future."

A glint of light flashed in Zhong Bai's eyes. Zhi Qiu Yi Ye's talent was quite good. She was already at the early stage of Golden Core at around thirty years old. Given the richness of the spiritual energy in this world, she would most likely be able to enter the Nascent Soul Dao Lord realm within a hundred years.

There may even be an opportunity to explore the mysteries of the Divine Transformation realm in the future.

Of course, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye is still very immature at this stage, and Zhong Bai's words were mostly encouraging.

However, this was the first time that a senior had appreciated her so much, and she was so excited that her face was full of smiles.

"Senior, please rest assured, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye will definitely not let you down!"

Zhong Bai shook his head and ignored Zhi Qiu Yi Ye, though he still patted her on the shoulder as a sign of praise.

After Zhong Bai left, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye turned her gaze to Zuo Qianhu. Both of them had a complicated look in their eyes. Yes, they were in the same boat.

Faced with Zhong Bai's ink spirit, they had no say at all, and soon Zhi Qiu Yi Ye and Zuo Qian Hu were chatting enthusiastically.

Not only did they learn about Zhong Bai and Mo Ling's feat of killing a dragon in Songjiang, but they also learned that Zhong Bai and Mo Ling's next plan was to go to the imperial city to exterminate the centipede demon.

With a restless heart, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye wanted to go to the imperial city to see what it was like. Zuo Qianhu naturally had no objection to this request. More cultivators meant more chances of success. Although Zhi Qiu Yi Ye's cultivation level was not high, he was still no ordinary person.

......................................................

Early the next morning.

The four set off again.

Besides Zhong Bai, Mo Ling, and Zuo Qianhu, there was also Zhi Qiu Yi Ye. Zhong Bai had no objection to Zhi Qiu Yi Ye going to the capital with him. Everyone has their own ambitions, and wealth and honor are determined by fate. Anyway, if he dies, he dies.

Mo Ling, on the other hand, was too lazy to pay any attention to her.

A few days later, when they were no more than a hundred miles from the imperial city, Zhong Bai's divine sense detected a terrifying demonic aura spreading from afar.

"Tsk, Pudu Cihang is really not simple. He is probably more difficult to deal with than the Black Mountain Demon."

Zhong Bai took a deep breath, while Mo Ling beside him smiled disdainfully.

"What, is Zhong Daojun of Maoshan afraid of Pudu Cihang?"
Hearing that Pudu Cihang is backed by the Ten Thousand Demon Palace, it's understandable that Zhong Daojun might be afraid, after all... the Ten Thousand Demon Palace is no weaker than Maoshan.

Zhong Bai didn't speak, but he deeply remembered the power of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace.

“Let’s go. Although this demonic energy hasn’t reached the level of a Nascent Soul Demon Emperor, it’s only one step away. If we’re too slow, we can only watch helplessly as Pudu Cihang breaks through to the Nascent Soul Demon Emperor realm. At that time, the Great Qian Dynasty will only face destruction.” After Zhong Bai finished speaking, Mo Ling didn’t refute him. She also had the ability to make this judgment.

They exchanged a glance, and without choosing to take Zuo Qianhu and Zhi Qiu Yiye with them, the two of them transformed into streaks of light and headed straight for the imperial city.

Behind them, Zuo Qianhu and Zhi Qiu Yiye couldn't help but sigh at the sight.

“Brother Zhi Qiu, it seems we’ve been left behind, but this place is only a hundred miles from the capital. If we ride at full speed, it will only take a few hours.”

Listening to Zuo Qianhu's comforting words, Zhi Qiu Yiye shook his head and said, "Brother Zuo, we can smell the heavy demonic aura from a hundred miles away from the imperial city. I think the two seniors didn't want us to be in danger, which is why they didn't choose to bring us along."

As for riding at full speed... let Brother Zuo catch up later.

After saying that, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye suddenly stomped her foot on the ground beneath her, and her body instantly disappeared into the earth. She then used her earth-遁神通 (earth-遁神通, a magical ability to escape into the ground) to leave in the direction that Zhong Bai and the others were heading.

Seeing how quickly a single autumn leaf fell, Commander Zuo felt a pang of embarrassment and quickly raised his whip, galloping off at full speed.

Imperial City.

As the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty, it should have been a peaceful place, but the Great Qian Imperial City was now sparsely populated and littered with corpses. When Zhong Bai and Mo Ling arrived, they happened to see a golden figure entangled with several centipede demons at the Golden Core stage.

"That's a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, and there are several centipede demon kings. It seems this Golden Core cultivator doesn't know that this is the lair of Pudu Cihang. He's just barging in like this, he's really not afraid of death!"

Mo Ling stood beside Zhong Bai, and her indifferent comments were completely ignored by Zhong Bai.

At this moment, Zhong Bai looked at the golden figure and felt a surge of emotions.

"Zhang Zhiwei, we meet again!"

After uttering these words, Zhong Bai's figure flashed past, quickly arriving in the void above Zhang Zhiwei and several demon kings. The power of the Dao Lord suddenly erupted, and in an instant, the bodies of several demon king centipede demons were pressed to the ground, unable to move.

Just as Zhang Zhiwei was wondering what was going on, she looked up and saw Zhong Bai's familiar face.

"Fellow Daoist Qianhe!"

Zhang Zhiwei was very surprised. Half a year ago, after Zhang Zhiwei and Zhong Bai parted ways at Lanruo Temple, Zhang Zhiwei returned to Lanruo Temple to look for him, but there was no trace of Zhong Bai. Apart from the bare ground and broken stones, there was nothing else in the entire Lanruo Temple.

Therefore, Zhang Zhiwei deduced that Zhong Bai had left Lanruo Temple. However, the world was so vast that the chances of the two meeting were extremely slim. Unexpectedly, they met again after only half a year.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, it's been half a year since we last met, and your cultivation has progressed remarkably fast!"

Zhong Bai's sincere praise made Zhang Zhiwei's expression slightly unnatural. Indeed, reaching the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm in just half a year was already a very fast cultivation speed.

"Haha, fellow Daoist, you flatter me. By the way, let's kill these demon kings first!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Bai nodded. With a thought, a stream of light instantly shattered the heads of several centipede demon kings. Then, several bursts of Samadhi True Fire were unleashed, leaving not even ashes behind.

Upon landing, Zhong Bai and Zhang Zhiwei began to talk.

"So... Fellow Daoist Qianhe, there's actually a half-step Demon Emperor in this imperial city?"

Zhang Zhiwei broke out in a cold sweat. He had come to the imperial city by chance and stopped to kill some powerful demons when he saw the demonic aura filling the air. If Zhong Bai hadn't arrived in time, Zhang Zhiwei would probably have already stormed into the heart of the imperial city.

Of course, doing so would only result in losing one's life in vain.

"Indeed, this great demon is named Pudu Cihang, the national advisor of the Great Qian Dynasty. It is a centipede that has become a spirit, and its purpose is to devour the dragon energy of the country and transform into a true demon emperor!"

Zhong Bai patiently explained, which made Zhang Zhiwei's scalp tingle. He really had no confidence in leaving alive if he were alone with such a terrifying being.

Fortunately, they met Zhong Bai, which means that even a great demon who is half a step into the Demon Emperor has a chance to survive or even fight back!

Just as Zhang Zhiwei was about to speak, a beautiful figure descended from the void and stood directly beside Zhong Bai.

Zhang Zhiwei looked somewhat puzzled, since Zhong Bai should only have one female ghost by his side, and the sudden appearance of this stunningly beautiful woman was truly unexpected.

"Ahem, Fellow Daoist Qianhe, could this be your new Daoist partner?"

Zhang Zhiwei was clearly a bit awkward when it came to men and women, while Zhong Bai turned to look at Mo Ling, who was both shy and angry, after hearing this.

"Tsk, Fairy Mo Ling, don't be angry. My friend doesn't understand our relationship, but don't you know that?"

As he spoke, Zhong Bai shook his head at Zhang Zhiwei and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhang is joking. Fairy Mo is a person from the Feathered Immortal Mansion. How could I possibly be worthy of becoming her Daoist partner?"

Alright, now's not the time for this. With these demon kings dead, Pudu Cihang will likely arrive soon!

(End of this chapter)