Starting at the Nascent Soul stage, a rogue cultivator is incredibly poor.

The surrounding scenery suddenly rushed backward, distorted, and stretched out like the receding tide.

Where Qingyouzi stood, the flow of light, space, and even time seemed to sink into a viscous swamp, becoming slow and stagnant, and eventually tending to freeze.

The warning signs in his heart had not subsided, but he did not act rashly. Instead, he secretly gathered his magical power around his body and sharply scanned the strange spatial changes.

Finally, his gaze settled on the center of the swirling vortex where the scene was fading, his eyes shifting complexly several times.

A few breaths of silence.

He suddenly straightened his robes and solemnly bowed deeply towards the depths of the vortex, towards the direction where nothingness lay.

"I will remember your guidance. I will never forget your kindness in passing on the Dharma to me."

"Furthermore, I swear an oath to my inner demons that I will never reveal a single detail of what happened today."

The voice was not loud, but clear and firm.

On the other side of the screen, deep in the shadows of a towering palace.

Xuan Yizi stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze piercing through the void, firmly locked on the coordinate point where Qing Youzi's figure finally disappeared.

The casual, playful, and even instructive gentleness on his face had vanished, replaced by a deep and unfathomable coldness.

"This move... I hope it wasn't a mistake."

He muttered to himself, his voice devoid of emotion, only revealing a cold, calculating tone.

"Qingyou, Qingyou, you must not disappoint me."

He looked up, his gaze seemingly passing over the palace dome and projecting into the unfathomable distance, where the silhouette of a giant mountain seemed to be visible.

"The mountain that reaches the heavens...heh."

A faint, yet utterly unsmiling, curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Without a mountain reaching to the heavens as a reference, how can we find a path to the outer world? The mountain must be rebuilt, and the road must be reopened."

He paused, a hint of understanding and slight mockery flashing in his eyes.

"It won't be long... before those old fogies hiding behind the scenes catch wind of this kid and find him, right?"

The eerie, stagnant feeling in the surrounding space suddenly vanished.

Qingyouzi felt her feet become solid, and the light in front of her suddenly brightened, and the hustle and bustle of the city instantly flooded her ears.

He looked closely and found himself standing perfectly fine at the entrance of the inn! It was as if the palace, the old pine tree, Xuan Yizi, and even the drastic changes in the evil energy within his body were all just an incredibly realistic illusion.

A waiter was carrying a steaming plate of food out of the door when he almost bumped into Qingyouzi, who suddenly appeared. He was so startled that his hand trembled and some soup spilled out.

"An immortal... an immortal?!"

The waiter's voice trembled as he looked at the figure that had appeared out of nowhere, wearing a strange bamboo hat.

Qingyouzi didn't even glance at him.

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the direction where the "environment" had receded, where only ordinary street scenes remained, with crowds of people.

"What an amazing formation..."

He muttered to himself, his tone carrying a lingering tremor and deep apprehension.

The ability to manipulate spatial displacement, environmental changes, and even the perception of time is a skill that is close to the "Tao".

Without lingering, he vanished silently from his spot, like ripples on water, leaving behind only the shaken waiter and a few passersby who happened to catch a glimpse and were filled with astonishment.

High in the sky, a streak of blue light sped by.

Qingyouzi's expression remained calm, but his heart was in turmoil. He repeatedly pondered every word and detail of his encounter with Xuanyizi.

"If I hadn't survived the backlash of the malevolent energy today and successfully incorporated it into my own power..."

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"I'm afraid that by now, I'm just a corpse that's been squeezed dry and then discarded."

He knew perfectly well that Xuan Yizi's act of helping him was not out of a sudden act of kindness.

I am merely a somewhat special piece on the opponent's chessboard; I keep it if it's useful, and discard it if it's not.

This "favor of transmitting the Dharma" today must be accompanied by schemes and dangers far beyond his current level of understanding.

strength!

Ultimately, it all comes down to a lack of strength!

Once he made up his mind, he changed direction.

Now that the ancient demons of the Northern Plains have resurfaced, the situation is unpredictable, and even mysterious figures like Xuan Yizi have emerged, clearly indicating that something big is about to happen. This place is no longer a safe haven.

"Let's return to Xuanxian City for now and observe the situation. Improving our cultivation and refining our demonic power are the most important things."

He was making plans in his mind.

"In comparison, although it is dangerous overseas, it may actually be 'safer'."

Just as he made up his mind and accelerated his escape.

At the edge of his consciousness, without any warning, came an extremely subtle fluctuation that instantly made him tense up!

An aura of ancient demons!

And... there seem to be two other dishes... that look somewhat familiar?

His escape light suddenly changed direction, and without hesitation, he silently stealthily moved towards the direction from which the fluctuations came.

After a short while, in a remote valley.

Inside the valley, flashes of spiritual light and booming sounds filled the air.

A hemispherical defensive light shield barely protected a small area of ​​the valley.

Inside the light barrier, seven figures were struggling to maintain it.

The leader was a Taoist priest with a gaunt face and jet-black hair and beard, but blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth. He was a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and was none other than Xu Changxing.

Beside him stood Yun Yun, pale-faced and breathing unsteadily, and five other Golden Core cultivators, their expressions terrified and their magical power nearly exhausted.

The seven of them worked together, continuously pouring their magical power into the array plate to support the crumbling defensive barrier. Ripples surged across the surface of the barrier, and cracks spread, repaired, and then spread again like a spider web.

Outside the light shield, the scene was horrifying.

A mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator with jet-black eyes and demonic markings covering his face was hovering in mid-air, expressionlessly manipulating a giant crimson blade, repeatedly slashing fiercely at the light barrier!

Each strike caused the light shield to vibrate violently, and cracks appeared.

Around them, there were more than a dozen Golden Core stage puppets with equally black eyes and stiff movements, yet fearless in the face of death, who were using various spells and magical treasures to bombard the defensive array like a tidal wave.

"Master! I can't hold on any longer!"

Yun Yun shouted hoarsely, stuffing another pill into his mouth; his face was already bloodless.

"The reinforcements from Immortal City are probably too late! You...you go first! Take this message back with you!"

Xu Changxing's face turned ashen, and his eyes flickered rapidly.

He had only been ordered to guard this stronghold for a short time when he unexpectedly encountered such a strange and powerful enemy.

This mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, possessed by an ancient demon, is far stronger than others of the same level. I myself have only been at the mid-stage for a little over a decade, so I have absolutely no chance of winning in a direct confrontation.

To leave or to stay?

"Hold on, all of you!"

He roared, suppressing his urge to retreat, and poured his magical power even more fiercely into the array plate. How could he live with himself if he abandoned his disciples to escape alone until the very last moment? What good would it do for his reputation?

However, reality is cruel.

"Snap—!"

A clear cracking sound rang out, and a huge crack suddenly exploded at the top of the defensive light shield, almost piercing through the entire hemisphere!

The empty eyes of the Nascent Soul cultivator possessed by the demon seemed to look over, and his hands suddenly rose upwards.

A surge of immense demonic energy and magical power erupted, condensing in the air into a crimson giant hand hundreds of feet in size! The giant hand clenched its five fingers, revealing a ferocious giant blade also formed from magical power!

The giant hand was raised high, the giant blade was raised, and the destructive aura locked onto the collapsing light shield below and the seven pale-faced people inside the light shield.

Xu Changxing's pupils shrank to pinpoints, his jaw clenched, and his hand quietly began to form an escape technique within his sleeve.

Despair filled the eyes of Yun Yun and the other Golden Core cultivators.

A giant hand swung down! A giant blade cleaved down! Carrying a demonic power capable of crushing everything!

At that critical moment, when the light shield was about to completely collapse.

"Buzz!"

The sky above the valley darkened for a moment without warning.

A cold, dark blue "sun," no more than ten feet in diameter, yet radiating an aura that could freeze one's soul, suddenly appeared high in the sky!

The blue light was faint and not intense, yet it caused everyone in the valley below to pause for a moment.

Whether they were demonized cultivators or desperate people in the defensive formation, they all involuntarily looked up at the strange blue "sun".

Before the "sun," a blurry, humanoid black dot standing with its hands behind its back is clearly visible.

next moment.

A cold, indifferent, yet undeniably authoritative voice, like a thunderclap from the heavens, boomed across the entire valley, each word clear and resonant, shaking the very soul:

"furious."