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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 4: [Shuangsheng Dao Sect (Twin Rice Sect)]
Chapter 96 (351): [The News Qi Xiao Brought Back]
(96th of Volume 4)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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"Boom!"
Three figures - two men and a woman - mounted on three majestic Exotic Beasts, appeared atop a low hill in the Northern Qiu Plains.
Under the starry night sky, the three-foot-thick snow-covered plains shimmered with an eerie glow.
Countless tombstones, like chopsticks stuck in the ground, barely peeked above the snow. The once terrifying burial mounds were now draped in thick white cloaks.
Zuoqiu Hongting stood in the center, clad in a wide Daoist robe of azure silk, her hair bound by a wooden hairpin. Her skin was as white and flawless as jade, her eyes as bright as stars and sharp as lightning. She held a Spiritual Artifact folding fan, her beauty unparalleled, her aura both free-spirited and heroic.
"Whoosh!"
"Zuoqiu Qingting" flew from her sleeve to scout the night.
Beside her, Cang Li gazed into the distance: "That's Fu Prefecture ahead! Since the great earthquake, the Heretical Sect's demons have become increasingly active. It seems our Ancestor of the Zuoqiu Clan was right - there must be another entrance to the Underground Immortal Mansion, and the Headquarters of the Evil Cult is likely hidden beneath it."
Zuoqiu Hongting said, "There's another theory! The entrance to the Underground Immortal Mansion was blasted open by Qilin Zhuang. Many older cultivators believe the claim of a Heretical Sect headquarters is a deliberate deception. The true purpose is to lure waves of Human Clan cultivators into the abode and slaughter them, just like Tang Wanzhou and that other person!"
In the biting wind, she sighed softly: "It's been a full year! After the great earthquake, everyone retreated, but we haven't heard a word from him since."
Yin Jiu stood nearby, his severed arm regrown. The new limb was covered in golden dragon scales, grafted onto him by the Abbot of the Calamity Crossing Temple using the arm of an Immortal Realm giant from the Aberrant Humanoid race. It possessed terrifying power.
Cang Li sighed, "With his innate talent, how could he be content with his Martial-Mystic Path stopping at the Dao Seed Realm? He must have sought a heaven-defying opportunity within the Underground Immortal Mansion. If I were in his shoes, I would have risked my life to seize it, even if it meant perishing underground. At least I would have no regrets."
Hidden Two descended from the sky on a seven- or eight-meter-long black exotic bird.
With ten meters remaining before impact, he activated his movement technique to land first.
He hurried toward Yin Jiu, his expression urgent.
Hidden Two hadn't used the Hidden Sect's exclusive channels to contact him. Instead, he had rushed here overnight, indicating a matter of earth-shattering importance.
Hidden Nine immediately dismounted his Exotic Beast and hurried forward to greet him.
"The Divine Hidden Sect Token has appeared!"
Hidden Two pulled out a letter he had just received and handed it over. Seeing Zuoqiu Hongting and Cang Li nearby, he used Spiritual Qi to transmit his voice.
Hidden Nine froze for a moment before quickly unfolding the letter.
"The secret mark is correct, and the token's seal is genuine."
"The talismanic runes sealing the letter are a secret scriptures of the Hidden Sect. It was sent by urgent courier from South Yan Pass, a thousand miles away, indicating the situation has become unimaginably dire," Hidden Two said.
Hidden Nine frowned deeply: "Have you contacted the Hidden Lord?"
"The Hidden Lord's whereabouts are secret. We must first send a message back to Jiu Li Insect Valley and go through the Hidden Elder to find him. The round trip would take too long," Hidden Two replied.
Zuoqiu Hongting and Cang Li both realized that the newcomer must be a key figure in the Jiu Li Hidden Sect.
Cang Li asked, "Jiu Fu, what's happened?"
Yin Jiu hesitated for a moment, deciding there was no need to hide the truth from them.
He had no choice but to consult them now.
He handed them the letter.
"He has appeared!"
After reading the letter, Zuoqiu Hongting's eyes flickered with doubt: "Could this be a forgery?"
"Everything checks out. Regardless, I must set off for Lingxiao City immediately to confirm this," Yin Jiu said.
Zuoqiu Hongting replied, "Don't rush. We still have ten days until the first day of the twelfth lunar month. We should first consider why he's gathering so many experts in Lingxiao City. Qingting has returned; she seems to have made a discovery."
Forty miles away, Qi Xiao crawled out of a river, utterly exhausted. He collapsed on the icy bank, gasping for breath. Dozens of wounds on his body continued to bleed.
Shortly after leaving South Yan Pass, he had been pursued by Twin Rice Sect experts. No matter how he tried to evade them, they always found him with uncanny accuracy. He suspected the problem lay with the Death Spirit Fire planted within him when he left the Twin Rice Sect's Cultivation Headquarters. It was one of the sect's methods to prevent betrayal.
This also strongly suggested that Li Weiyi had met with disaster. Otherwise, why would the Twin Rice Sect experts be hunting him?
South Yan Pass must be a trap, and Li Weiyi was likely... already dead inside.
"Tuoba probably won't escape either... Now all hope rests on me? Can I do this... Will I even make it back alive?"
Qi Xiao lay on the ground, chuckling bitterly.
Then, he stared blankly at the starry sky above, a wave of unbearable anguish rising within him, urging him to scream. In his ears, the nightmarish barking of the hellhounds echoed once more.
The enemy was closing in!
"They're truly relentless."
Clenching his jaw, he struggled to his feet and charged into the snowy forest.
From the Ancestral Field, he summoned his Spiritual Artifact battle saber and the last remaining Divine Swiftness Talisman. It was thanks to the Divine Swiftness Talisman Li Weiyi had given him that he had managed to cross the entire Fu Prefecture, covering thousands of miles as he fled all the way to the Northern Qiu Plains.
Each Divine Swiftness Talisman was a life.
Now, he had only one life left!
Behind him, across the wide expanse of water, a dense black cloud of Dead Spirits surged forward, filled with grotesque human figures and monstrous beast shadows.
Leading the charge was a Dead Spirit Hellhound wreathed in blue Ghost Fire.
Astride its back sat a figure in a black robe with white hair, four eyes on its face, and a staff in hand, resembling a specter from the depths of hell.
The Dead Spirit Battle Soul of the Scaled Lion Giant Beast within Qi Xiao's shield Spiritual Artifact had been swallowed whole by the hellhound.
Along the shore, countless figures raced through the snowy forest, each moving with incredible speed, their footsteps rustling through the snow.
Before long, Qi Xiao was overtaken by the dense swarm of figures in the forest.
These humans were clad in tattered clothes, their skin like bronze. Each had a crimson curse mark branded on their chest, their eyes burned red, and their bodies radiated murderous intent. They charged at Qi Xiao relentlessly, each wave crashing against him like a tidal wave.
They were Blood Curse Cultists of the Twin Rice Sect!
Through the curse marks on their bodies, they could unleash several times their normal strength and speed for a short period.
The only drawback was that once the curse mark was activated, it inevitably led to their exhaustion and death.
The forest erupted in a cacophony of killing cries as Blood Curse Cultists fell one after another.
Qi Xiao's arms grew numb and weak from hacking, yet he couldn't kill them all.
Four God-Slayer Servant Knights, riding Dead Spirit mounts, charged at him from four different directions.
One of the God-Slayer Servants said in a deep voice, "We've received a new mission from above: No need to capture any survivors. Eliminate the traitor immediately."
"Who the hell is the traitor? Are you trying to force me to betray the Divine Sect... Aaaah..."
An arrow pierced Qi Xiao's back, its fiery tip tearing through his body and spewing blood.
The pain nearly knocked him unconscious.
He slapped a Divine Swiftness Talisman onto his body, his eyes bloodshot as he continued to sprint.
Behind him, the dense sound of footsteps and the bestial roars of the Blood Curse Cultists echoed through the forest.
Ahead, the dense forest finally gave way to the snow-covered Northern Qiu Plains, marking his return to Qiu Prefecture...
The moment Qi Xiao burst from the snow-covered woods.
"Whoosh!"
From the forest behind him, the Four-Eyed Elder astride the Dead Spirit Hellhound shot four strands of light from his pupils. These strands pierced through the trees, crossed a hundred yards, and wrapped around Qi Xiao's neck, waist, and arms, pulling him back.
Qi Xiao watched the Northern Qiu Plains recede, ignoring the searing pain in his neck as he let out a furious roar.
The roar startled the snow-laden trees, causing snow to cascade down in a flurry.
Falling with the snow was a massive axe shrouded in scriptures.
The axe, appearing from nowhere, spun rapidly, its dazzling light blinding. It sliced through the four strands of Spiritual Light (Lingguang) that bound Qi Xiao, severing them completely.
"Boom!"
The axe slammed into the ground, shaking the earth.
Trees toppled in swathes, and the shockwave of Spiritual Qi sent dozens of Blood Curse Cultists closest to the impact flying.
The Dead Spirit Hellhound, its body wreathed in Ghost Fire, sensed something amiss and began to bark anxiously.
The Four-Eyed Elder on the Dead Spirit Hellhound's back and the four God-Slayer Servants grew wary, each activating their Spiritual Artifacts and unleashing their Dao Heart Manifestations and spiritual power.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Cang Li and Yin Jiu, who had been concealed, suddenly revealed themselves.
Their Dao Heart Manifestations erupted, and they charged forward from left and right, crushing the four God-Slayer Servants.
The six great experts clashed in a chaotic battle, Spiritual Artifacts colliding, Dao Technique brilliance exploding, and figures blurring.
After only three breaths, the four God-Slayer Servants were sent tumbling backward, severely wounded and fleeing in panic.
The Four-Eyed Elder on the Dead Spirit Hellhound's back watched intently. A figure in a green Daoist robe emerged from beneath the starry sky, her skin glowing white like a banished immortal descending to the mortal realm.
"Primordial Lamp!"
Zuoqiu Hongting formed a hand seal, and the Third Eye Spirit Realm in her brow opened, revealing a mysterious and vast world where fragments of an ancient lamp floated.
"Boom!"
Radiant light, like divine radiance, surged from her brow.
Night turned to day, and the terrifying energy flattened the entire snow forest. Everything, including the four God-Slayer Servants and the Blood Curse Cultists, was reduced to ashes.
The Four-Eyed Elder and the Dead Spirit Hellhound held out a little longer, but they too were shattered into dust by the impact.
Cang Li and Yin Jiu had already flown ahead with Qi Xiao, returning to the snowfields to treat his wounds and staunch the bleeding.
Zuoqiu Hongting hurried forward: "Qi Xiao, where have you been for the past two years?"
Qi Xiao lay on the ground, his eyes lighting up with joy at the sight of Zuoqiu Hongting approaching.
He wanted to speak, but blood kept gushing from his mouth.
"Don't talk. Let me heal you first."
Zuoqiu Hongting produced a Medicinal Pill and fed it to him.
After swallowing the healing pill, Qi Xiao's injuries gradually stabilized. He urgently said, "Something terrible has happened... The Demon Clan and the Twin Rice Sect... The Nether Realm of the Dead is about to attack Lingxiao City..."
The three present - Cang Li, Yin Jiu, and Zuoqiu Hongting - were stunned, instantly recalling Li Weiyi's Divine Hidden Sect Token.
Cang Li asked, "Why were Heretical Sect experts pursuing you? This matter must be top secret. How did you learn about it?"
"Li Weiyi tasked me with bringing back the news... For the past year, we've been at the Twin Rice Sect's Cultivation Headquarters... We were tricked. He may already be dead at South Yan Pass..." Qi Xiao's chest heaved violently, his face pale.
Cang Li asked, "Is the Twin Rice Sect's Cultivation Headquarters located in the Underground Immortal Mansion?"
Qi Xiao nodded and turned to Cang Li: "A battle between Immortal Realm Giants erupted at South Yan Pass. The attacker was Yang Shenjing, the Sect Leader of the Sui Sect. Tuoba said the person under attack might have been your father... He sensed your father's Spiritual Power fluctuations at the engagement banquet two years ago..."
" Thump, thump, thump."
Cang Li was struck by a bolt of lightning. He stumbled back three steps, his face even paler than Qi Xiao's.
After regaining his balance, he turned and charged toward the Zouwu Beast without looking back.
He was convinced that since Li Weiyi had appeared at South Yan Pass, the person Yang Shenjing had killed must have been his father.
Even if the old man was strong, he was only in his sixties. Yang Shenjing, on the other hand, had lived for centuries. There was no way he could have escaped.
"Where are you going?" Zuoqiu Hongting barked.
Cang Li, mounted on the Zouwu's back, turned around. Tears streamed down his face as he said, "Back to Li Prefecture! I'll gather all the troops... to avenge him!"
"Come back! You mustn't spread this news," Zuoqiu Hongting urged.
Cang Li's tiger-like eyes blazed with fury.
"Are you Zuoqiu Clan going to sit back and watch the tiger fight? Once Lingxiao City falls and the Imperial Court collapses, the Demon Clan, the Heretical Sect, and the Nether Realm of the Dead will sweep across the land in triumph. Can you Zuoqiu Clan stop them? Zuoqiu Hongting, if you won't fight this battle for Lingxiao City, the Jiu Li Tribe will!"
Zuoqiu Hongting said, "Can't you be rational for once? Why did Li Weiyi only gather the Jiu Li Hidden Sect's experts instead of spreading the news publicly? We haven't fully understood many things yet. Acting rashly now will only lead to heavy losses."
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END OF CHAPTER
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