Chapter 616
The Protector
Chapter 616 The Protector
The incense burner was filled with wisps of fragrant smoke, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.
Qin Ming leaned against the couch, perusing ancient books, occasionally rising to write down his thoughts at the table. Qingyue, with her flowing black hair, gentle features, and slender hands, played the zither by the window.
The fragrance of ink and the melodious sound of the zither intertwine to create a serene moment. Turning their heads, the two exchange a smile, their hearts in perfect harmony, peaceful and content, forming a heartwarming scene that surpasses all worldly splendor.
Qin Ming took the Moon Goddess Flower, reaping all the blessings of creation. He could say he was expressing his true feelings and dispelling his pent-up emotions. After returning, he enjoyed a relaxed and carefree life, wishing he could stay in this moment forever.
He was carefree and relaxed, but outside, chaos reigned, and the sky seemed to be falling.
In less than half a month, two new secret realms were opened, but Wang Pan, Lu Xunzhen, Zuo Qing and other saints gained nothing, which really shocked everyone.
The Xuandu Sect, Daocheng, and the Da Chitian Dojo were in an uproar, with many disciples discussing the matter.
"Last time, the saint's followers couldn't even catch up with that person's back; they lost him completely and left with blank expressions."
"This is outrageous too!"
"Yes, a group of people did catch up with him, saw his back, and saw the last moon goddess flower he left behind, but that was all."
Initially, only the top sects involved in the competition discussed this matter; they were all stakeholders and those involved in the process.
Subsequently, the news spread widely, causing a huge uproar.
The main thing is that this time it was too bizarre. A group of people surrounded him, but they didn't even see the mysterious man's face. He just turned his back to them and defeated them.
"This... is so embarrassing."
"I suspect everyone is getting restless and can't swallow this insult. When the next secret realm or ruin opens, most of the saints will likely be there in person. It's been a long time since we've had such a grand event; we're really looking forward to it!"
The mysterious figure managed to leave the core disciples of the Xuandu Sect, Daocheng, and Dachitian with nothing on two separate occasions, a fact that shocked the entire world.
Everyone is speculating about who did this.
"Lu Xunzhen had already mentioned that he wanted to pick two Moon Goddess Flowers and had negotiated with all parties. However, someone refused to cooperate. It was truly like a dragon crossing the river, ignoring the tacit understanding between everyone and trying to break the balance."
"Last time, Fairy Yun Wangshu needed the Golden Flame Flower as a medicinal ingredient to refine the Fiery Golden Body Elixir, but this time the Moon Goddess Flower is even more important to her, and she failed both times."
The incident escalated, the controversy grew, and it sparked heated discussions from all sides.
As various pieces of information came together, people began to piece together a partial outline of the mysterious figure.
He was powerful and domineering, beating anyone he encountered without showing any respect. Those closest to the top saints, in particular, suffered the most.
“Zhou Shan, a follower of Saint Qi Lin, was a Grandmaster. He was crippled. Is this against the rules? Something big is about to happen.”
"Let's not discuss this matter anymore; Zhou Shan is over the age limit."
As more details emerged, the story became increasingly bizarre.
According to eyewitnesses, the mysterious man's words and actions were like those of a major villain, acting arrogantly and arbitrarily in the secret realm.
"He humiliated Lu Xunzhen and Qi Lin's confidants, and slapped Yun Wangshu and Zuo Qing's most trusted female grandmasters. He not only showed them no respect, but also targeted them specifically."
"real or fake?"
"Of course it's true. This monster has his back to us, and he's arrogant and domineering. He bullies all his fellow practitioners. If you stand and talk incorrectly, or take the wrong step, you'll get beaten!"
Many outsiders find it unbelievable; what kind of madman is this?
“Let me tell you, even if your name doesn’t suit his taste, you’ll get slapped by him.”
"This is outrageous!"
Many people found it outrageous, and the image of a reckless madman became increasingly clear in their eyes.
How could Wang Pan, Lu Xunzhen, Qi Lin, and the others sit still after such an event? Everyone was anticipating the "famous scene" that would surely unfold when the secret realm opened next time.
"The news has been distorted. Actually, I think that person is a good person. He is fearless and hopes to break the monopoly of the saints, wanting to change the status quo by his own strength. Do you know that in the past year or two, all the creation has been decided by a few core saints?"
"I've heard that among the fifteen-person group, there are a few 'rogue cultivators' who are actually quite strong, but they were suppressed by Wang Pan, Lu Xunzhen, and others, and were severely injured multiple times. I guess this is a counterattack by the 'rogue cultivators'!"
Later on, people inevitably began to speculate about the identity of the mysterious person.
Among the group of fifteen, the strongest of the rogue cultivators naturally became the target of suspicion.
In fact, Wang Pan, Qi Lin and others personally ordered a thorough investigation. The repeated violations of the rules and the interception of their good fortune had made them prepared to take drastic measures.
In Dao City, Grandmaster Ye Lingchuan was covered in wounds. Although he had been treated with precious medicine, he was still listless and carried a faint smell of blood.
He was personally reporting: "Brother Lu, this man is spouting nonsense, saying that the allocation plan for the secret realm was not discussed with him and therefore invalid, and he even... mentioned your name."
Lu Xunzhen, dressed in white, was quite refined. He put down the scripture in his hand, his eyes deep and his expression calm, and said, "He wants me to go there in person?"
He smiled faintly. Who gave this person the audacity? No matter who the other party is, when he comes in person, even a dragon has to coil up and a tiger has to lie down.
He picked up the scripture again and said, "Don't worry, once I enter the arena, I'll crush him and avenge you, washing away your shame."
Ye Lingchuan was delighted and said, "Brother Lu, you have the ambition of a Dao Venerable. If you were to personally go to the secret realm, you would definitely be able to suppress this madman!"
Lu Xunzhen waved his hand, signaling the follower to step back.
He indeed had lofty ambitions; the ambition of the so-called Daoist Venerable was comparable to that of the Great Sage, and perhaps even higher.
"It's difficult!" he sighed. If only he were only in his early twenties, everything would still be possible, allowing him to reach the pinnacle of glory and become a Dao Venerable.
At the Great Crimson Heaven Dojo, a female grandmaster was complaining, saying, "Wang Shu, you must stand up for me! I just mentioned you and I was hit with a golden palm print by that person. It's really too much."
Once you reach the Grandmaster level, your status is already very high. Even when facing saints, you are no longer just a simple follower. The way you address each other and your relationship will be very harmonious.
Yun Wangshu was shrouded in a thin mist, surrounded by clear rosy light, making her appear somewhat hazy. She said, "I know about this matter. You should go and recuperate first. I will personally visit the secret realm next time."
On that day, news spread that most of the saints would appear when the secret realm opened next time.
"Is it true? This mysterious figure has actually caught the attention of Zuo Qing, Qi Lin, and the others? Just who is he?"
"When will the new secret realm open? It's been a long time since there's been a battle between saints. This time it's bound to be very exciting. I can't wait."
Therefore, many people want to sneak into the secret realm to witness what will happen firsthand.
Some people, in order to get a chance to watch the game, went so far as to temporarily pledge allegiance to some saints, just so they could get in at the last minute.
Meanwhile, all parties are trying to unravel the mystery and determine who the mysterious figure is.
Among the group of fifteen, Zhuo Tai, who could rival the saints, was naturally the most suspicious.
However, he himself was completely bewildered and had no idea what was going on.
Zhuo Tai has demon blood and uses the power of Taiyin to refine his true form, making him incredibly powerful. However, he is incompatible with most of the cultivation methods under the rule of the Doushuai Palace.
Therefore, he remained a "freelance cultivator." If he ultimately failed to enter the highest Daoist temple, he would travel far away and seek another path.
"Who am I taking the blame for?" Zhuo Tai frowned.
Clearly, Li Qingyue, one of the fifteen members, has not yet been noticed by anyone.
The main reason is that she is the youngest and lacks sufficient cultivation. Logically speaking, no saint-level expert would serve someone in the fourth realm.
Even Yun Wangshu, a fifth-realm saint, paid a heavy price when recruiting that top young expert from afar, and they have only just reached an agreement.
Besides the sacred scriptures and precious medicines, she also agreed to give him the opportunity to pursue her.
She was determined to pursue the Dao and did not want to accept a Daoist partner, lest it cause trouble in the future.
But at this moment she couldn't care less about that; to enter the inverted Tushita Palace, she needed all sorts of help.
"Zhuo Tai, he really dared to make a move! He probably invited a saint from the demon race!"
"It's very likely. It's said that he greatly admires Zhou Tian, the future Great Sage of the Demon Court, and that he has some connections with them."
However, people are certain that it is impossible for a great sage to personally come to this place to help him; Zhuo Tai doesn't have that much influence.
"I didn't! It wasn't me!" Zhuo Tai cried out, trying to clear his name. Who the hell was stirring up trouble? He didn't want to become the target of everyone's ire.
……
At the furnace, Qin Ming put down the scriptures and went to the table to write. A woman in white, graceful and radiant, seemed to leap off the paper, lifelike and full of charm.
He asked with a smile, "Is the painting acceptable?"
Li Qingyue stood up, the lingering sound of the zither still lingering. She peeled a spirit orange with her delicate hands and handed it over.
Qin Ming opened his mouth directly, indicating that she should feed him.
“What happened? I was just taking a nap,” Old Furnace said.
"This is too much!" It realized that it had become an incense burner, with calming incense burning inside.
Qin Ming smiled and said, "Senior Lu, how about I paint one for you too?"
Old Furnace said, "Forget it, I don't have any spirit oranges to feed you."
Then, it became serious again and said, "Next time, after the new secret realm opens, all the saints may enter. You must be careful."
Qin Ming nodded. Although confident, he would not be careless. The Tushita Palace was famous throughout the Night Mist World, and the territory it ruled was naturally extraordinary.
"Some people harbor ambitions of becoming Dao Venerables," Li Qingyue began, her eyes gentle and her demeanor refined and clear. She introduced the situation of each of the saints. Qin Ming listened attentively, respecting all opponents as well as his own safety.
At night, the moonlight flowed like a gentle stream, filling the room, and a shower of light fell, making every inch of the void pure white and sacred.
Two large wooden tubs were placed in the room, one for Qin Ming and one for Li Qingyue, who were each leaning back in the middle, enjoying a medicinal bath of moon goddess flowers.
This is a quiet room deep within the hearth, exuding a delicate fragrance and surrounded by rich moonlight.
Li Qingyue said, "The opening of this new secret realm won't be long. Once those people have gained nothing again, they will definitely push this matter forward with all their might."
Qin Ming laughed and said, "Isn't this great? Speeding up the process means that every now and then, new rare treasures will come in, quickly making up for the losses you've incurred over the past two years."
He believes that, in a sense, this can be considered paying back a debt.
Li Qingyue smiled faintly and said, "It can't go on like this forever. Next time they'll know who you are."
Her wet hair was tinged with moonlight, and her whole being was enveloped in a layer of serene glow. The Moon Goddess Flower was working remarkably well, helping her purify the fire poison that had accumulated over the years.
After all, she was born with a fire body, and the cultivation techniques she mainly practiced were all compatible with her own body. She had absorbed and refined a lot of otherworldly fire and other techniques, so it was normal for a little bit of toxins to remain.
At this moment, the fire poison subsided, and her body became increasingly clear and translucent. The mysterious fire runes deep within her flesh and blood shone brightly, gradually becoming dazzling.
The Moon Goddess Flower, also known as the Taiyin Flower, is an excellent tonic for those with a naturally fiery constitution.
Whether it is the ultimate Yang or the ultimate Yin, when practiced to its fullest extent, it will result in the combination of dragon and tiger, and the harmony of Yin and Yang. For her, the Moon Goddess Flower is of extraordinary significance.
Li Qingyue truly felt that she was being cleansed and transformed, her talents were being enhanced, and her potential was being accumulated.
On the other side, Qin Ming was also praising the rare flower buds, which were indeed a wonder of heaven and earth. Even he could feel the cool sensation nourishing his body and spirit.
"This is good stuff!"
The effect was not very noticeable to him, but he knew that even a slight improvement in his own abilities would be remarkable, making it a rare and precious medicine.
Although it is not a breakthrough elixir, its influence is far-reaching and its value is even greater, possibly determining the upper limit of his ultimate achievement.
Qin Ming said, "These gradual improvements may allow me to go further in unknown areas in the future."
Throughout history, the strongest individuals have all ventured into uncharted territories, pioneering new frontiers.
The two chatted while soaking in the herbal bath.
The air is filled with the fragrance of flowers, the room is bathed in moonlight, and the atmosphere is peaceful and serene.
Of the nine Moon Goddess Flowers, Li Qingyue used three, Qin Ming consumed one, and the rest were sealed in a jade box.
This time, the two maids in the hearth were not fortunate enough to have this flower.
A generous gift, given once or twice, is enough.
If they were given such a rare and precious medicine, it would easily give them the illusion that this was a matter of course.
……
As expected, the opening time of the new secret realm was significantly brought forward, scheduled for half a month later.
During this period, Li Qingyue did not go out again, not because she gave up her arduous cultivation in places like the Sun True Fire Cave after receiving the nourishment of the miraculous medicine.
The main reason is that Qin Ming has mastered the Four True Flames and uses it to aid her cultivation every day.
Within Li Qingyue's body, the fire runes became increasingly active, radiating brilliant immortal light, making her appear even more otherworldly.
In fact, it was far from that. When Qin Ming practiced, his inner lamp contained not only the Four True Flames, but also various other techniques such as the Primordial Myriad Thunder Seal and the Black and White Scripture.
This caused the heart lamp in front of Qin Ming to seem to be filled with the flames of myriad laws.
He drew out this firelight, carefully covered Li Qingyue, and infused it into her fire runes, causing them to undergo a mysterious transformation.
In this way, Qin Ming's daily practice would naturally cause his myriad light to overflow, nourishing the innate fire runes within the women around him.
During this process, Li Qingyue's innate fire runes will resonate with the light of all laws, their runes intertwining and flowing in the opposite direction.
In a sense, this can be considered a two-way practice.
"Dual cultivation, huh? Not bad," Old Furnace summarized succinctly.
The presence of an unfamiliar man in the furnace palace was something that couldn't be kept secret, since Qin Ming and Li Qingyue would occasionally go for walks together.
At first, many people didn't think much of it. After all, Li Qingyue was at the fourth realm, and no matter how powerful the people around her were, they couldn't possibly be saints.
"Do you think that mysterious person might be the exceptionally skilled young expert beside Yun Wangshu? It's already confirmed that he's a saint from afar."
"Didn't they say he just made some agreements with Fairy Yun Wangshu before joining?"
"That's hard to say. Maybe the two of them had already signed a contract, and he was the one who ended up in the first place."
Recently, the top saints have recruited some experts.
"Huh, in the furnace palace, that Fairy Li also has someone by her side? Their relationship seems to be quite unusual."
Ultimately, Qin Ming's arrival attracted even more attention.
Within the group of fifteen, the others frequently recruited followers, but Li Qingyue remained relatively quiet. The fact that she now had an extra person by her side naturally made her seem unusual.
"Aside from being handsome, there doesn't seem to be anything special about this person."
When Li Qingyue heard these comments, her beautiful lips curled up slightly, and she smiled happily and brightly.
Some people commented that apart from his striking face, the young man in the furnace was quite ordinary in every other aspect, with little to no cultivation or skill.
Upon hearing this, Qin Ming laughed and said, "If you can make a living with your looks, why would you need to use your fists?"
He wasn't angry at all, because he was confident in his abilities.
"Hmm?" Upon hearing the news, Lu Xunzhen frowned slightly in Daocheng. He put down the scripture in his hand and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
He once sent a message asking Li Qingyue to follow him, but she refused sternly.
Even someone as powerful as him, a top-tier saint with a bright future and limitless potential, couldn't make that woman with stunning beauty bow her head.
Who is this person? How could he possibly live in the furnace palace?
Lu Xunzhen was very perceptive; he was no ordinary bystander and realized that this person was probably no ordinary individual.
"Could it be the mysterious person...? It could be him?" He asked, his gaze unfathomable.
Upon hearing this, the saint Zuo Qing, who was also a woman, laughed and said, "Oh, there's a new man in the furnace palace. I've heard that apart from his handsome face, he's not particularly outstanding in any other way. Is this Fairy Li so shallow? Is she a looks-obsessed person?"
She quickly suppressed her smile, summoned her followers, and said, "You say that the mysterious man beat someone up that day because the name didn't suit his taste? Qingyue, Wangshu... was it because of that?"
The master beside her quickly clarified, "Ah, that's a rumor!"
All eyes turned to him, and they learned that a man had appeared in the furnace palace, who was otherwise unremarkable except for his stunning appearance.
Some people delved deeper and actually uncovered some "situations".
Old Lu had traveled far away, and at the time, he informed some old guys about this matter; it wasn't considered a top secret.
"This guy really does make a living off his looks. I heard that Li Qingyue once sent the Eight Trigrams Furnace to explore her homeland. Could it be that she brought this person over?"
Some even discovered that the precious medicine that the old furnace took away was actually "rations" that Li Qingyue had saved up on her daily life, which she then packed up and took with her.
"Alas, what a pity for Fairy Li. She met the wrong person when she was young, yet she insisted on marrying him. She was so loyal and devoted, yet it was all so tragic."
"How can a guy who makes a living by his looks compare to Senior Brother Lu Xunzhen? He's not even worth a hair on the latter's head."
Outside, there was a great commotion, and people involved were discussing it extensively.
Zuo Qing and Yun Wangshu didn't think much of it at first, but then they realized that there had been rumors circulating that their childhood sweetheart had come to live with them.
Now, the two women's faces have darkened; are they taking the blame for Li Qingyue?
The two women were very puzzled. How charming must that man be to be able to make a living just by his looks, and to make Li Qingyue, one of the fifteen, unable to forget him?
While many people were making fun of it, the older generation had already realized it.
"Haha... Mingzi, you freeloader!" At this moment, the old furnace laughed unrestrainedly, the furnace lid jumping up and down from time to time, crashing into the furnace body.
"Is this a compliment to my divine appearance?" Qin Ming said with a smile. As a Great Sage, he regarded these criticisms as praise and commendation.
"It's him?!" An old man who had just broken through to become a Grandmaster noticed this as soon as he came out of seclusion.
It was the same old man who had spoken so frankly to Qin Ming when he first arrived in this area.
"Everyone may have seriously underestimated him!" This time, the old man did not send a message to anyone else and restrained his impulse.
Because, based on recent events, he had a certain guess: could this be... a Great Sage?
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the day for the opening of the new secret realm arrived.
"Qingyue, let's go, let's go together." Qin Ming stood up and took her slender hand.
Old Furnace knew that Mingzi was taking her to seek justice from the saints this time, which was practically... a protector of the Way.
(End of this chapter)