Chapter 1435
Outsider
Chapter 1435 Outsider
Zhentao Prefecture.
On the bluish-gray stone wall, the blue-gold lamps shone faintly. The white-robed man sat on the stone platform with his clothes open, legs spread apart, chin raised high.
Beside him sat a woman in pink, one slender hand resting on his waist. Her face was as beautiful as a peach blossom, and she smiled with a hint of languor. Her head was pressed against his chest, while her other hand disappeared below.
Before the man in white knelt a petite woman with a face like a silver basin, her head bowed as she held back tears, two rosy clouds rising on her cheeks, as she softly called out:
"Young Master..."
The man didn't look at her; he sat with his arms wrapped around the wide back of the chair, legs spread, humming a little tune. The woman in pink just giggled:
"Master truly has no mercy on people. Sister Jianqing is also a demon general in the sea, always aloof and cold, yet you insist on making her kneel..."
The man waited three breaths, then let out a long sigh of relief before wrapping his robe around himself and saying:
"kindness."
The woman in pink simply picked up the jade bowl beside her and fed him herself, smiling as she said:
"But... what I said is also true, how could any human being understand romance as well as my sisters?"
"That's true..."
The man in white chuckled, his excessively refined face displaying a playful expression. He reached out to remove the woman's clothes, and just as her robes were partially undone, he suddenly heard a thumping sound outside the cave:
"Master! Master!"
The man in white frowned and snapped:
"What do you want to bother me about again!"
Unexpectedly, the person outside said urgently:
"Young master! The real person has arrived and is seeing the master on the island!"
The man finally turned pale, hurriedly put his clothes away, and exclaimed in horror:
"The real person...it's my real person!"
The woman in pink also composed herself and hurriedly tied her clothes. The petite woman kneeling on the ground coughed twice and got up as well. The three of them tidied up, and the man in white, disregarding everything else, hurriedly left the mansion and quickly arrived at the main hall through the narrow passageway.
Upon first glance, one could see the Demon King of the Flowing Water, a burly man, guarding this place. He sat upright at one end, while at the other sat a True Man in white and gold robes, his face showing a thoughtful expression. He said:
"Who's in charge of things on the island now?"
The man standing to the side was Ying Hebai, who smiled and said:
"It's Shui Zhao... my old housekeeper from back then, he's always done a good job."
The man nodded and said:
“I know him. Now that you are watching over him personally, I feel more at ease.”
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, the man's heart began to pound. He first bowed to the demon king, then hurriedly knelt down, facing the immortal. Waiting for a moment between words, he respectfully said:
"This junior greets the esteemed one!"
The immortal slowly turned his head, his brow gleaming with vibrant color, a glimmer of heavenly light shimmering in his eyes. He set down the cup and said:
“Jiang Nian…”
Li Ximing frowned and said calmly:
"So many years have passed, how come I'm still only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage?"
The man broke out in a cold sweat, his carefree spirit vanished, and his lips trembled as he hesitated to answer. The immortal raised an eyebrow, glanced at his refined face, and continued:
"This transformation technique is quite sophisticated."
Li Jiangnian felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly said:
"Reporting to the Master! Yes...yes...this junior has been honing my skills in the art of transformation over the years, and by chance, I've also taken in several demons, two of which have remarkable bloodlines and are currently contributing their efforts on the island..."
Li Ximing blinked, glancing at Kan Xushui, but the demon king sat as still as a stone. He then glanced at Ying Hebai behind him, seeing his bowing and scraping demeanor and beaming smile, and realized he probably knew quite a bit. He turned and smiled, saying:
"You really don't know your place... What are your skills? What kind of demon can you possibly subdue? You should thank the Demon King!"
Xu Shui forced a smile, but her eyes betrayed her weariness. She said:
"You're too kind, sir."
He paused, naturally wanting to clarify the details, and looked at Ying Hebai, casually saying:
"He Bai has a younger sister named Jian Qing, who also travels around the seabed. It's a good thing that we've become acquainted. There's also Bai Peng, the daughter of the king of the Clam Kingdom. She was sent to the island to work, so it's good to have someone to look after her."
Upon hearing this, Li Ximing felt a surge of displeasure. It was natural for Ying Hebai to want to seek refuge in the sea, having no one to rely on. However, he was annoyed that Li Jiangnian had acted on his own initiative. He said:
"He Bai, you think highly of this kid."
Ying Hebei could only manage a dry laugh. He hurriedly pulled the woman beside him forward and they both bowed before the honored guest. Li Ximing looked down at her; she had a face like a silver basin, with a clear and bright aura. Not only was she talented, but she must have also been carefully nurtured by Ying Hebei. He sighed inwardly.
'What a waste.'
He came to this island for two reasons: first, to retrieve the spiritual treasure; and second, to check on how things were going with the dragon faction. Building a grand tomb was, after all, a grueling task, and he didn't want to mistreat the Cui family...
The series of changes along the way stirred his thoughts, and he turned his head slightly to ask:
"This Chuyi Heaven...Does the Demon King know anything about it?"
Lu Xu didn't seem surprised, nodded, and casually said:
"Most of these things appear in my sea, but the Dao lineage has nothing to do with us, so we don't usually pay attention to them and therefore don't have any means of getting in and out... If you, True Man, are interested... this little demon can ask Madam Xiangchun, she sent people in there back then."
"Thank you for your trouble, Demon King."
The suddenness of this grotto-heaven's opening was beyond Ye Hui's expectations, to the point that Bai Ziyu is still in seclusion. When Li Ximing made a talisman and the other party didn't react, he knew that this guy was probably at a critical moment.
'Bai Ziyu is useless, and we don't necessarily need to use him...'
Li Ximing flipped his hand and took out the token that Ye Hui had possessed years ago. He generously allowed the demon king to take it to Lady Beihai for her to see, secretly thinking to himself:
"He mentioned back then that there was also Guan Lingdie, who was originally supposed to enter together. Although he was in seclusion, there was still Guan Gongxiao, who held the Xuan-level cultivation, in the Immortal Path. Send someone to inquire if there are any clues, and if so, take her along."
With the sun shining brightly, Li Ximing had connections everywhere he went, so he didn't care much about Bai Ziyu's likely absence. He was even in the mood to help him out, which he found somewhat amusing.
'Now this guy hasn't even successfully broken through to the Great True Person realm, and he's going to owe me a huge favor again.'
Now that the matter was settled, he simply smiled and said:
"In that case, I will remove the immortal array here."
Xu Shui didn't care at all and said:
“Please do your thing, Master. With my Dragon Clan here, even if the earth veins and water veins here are blown apart, they will not escape.”
Li Jiangnian listened kneeling on the ground the entire time. He was on the island and was well-informed. As he listened to Chu Yitian and what was going on and off, he thought to himself:
'Given your true character, no one else should have this opportunity; it must be mine.'
But in the blink of an eye, the earth shook violently, the island beneath their feet trembled, as if some enormous thing was moving. The caves buried deep within the island collapsed one after another, and cracks slowly appeared all around.
But the demon king above merely flipped his hand, and a seal appeared in his palm. He gently tossed it to the ground, and the entire island instantly became as solid as iron, without the slightest tremor.
In a short while, the real person emerged from the ground, holding a gleaming jade bead in his hand. He seemed lost in thought, but had no intention of saying much. He bowed to Xu Shui before turning his gaze back to Li Jiangnian and said:
"Let's go!"
Li Jiangnian was startled and somewhat bewildered. He subconsciously stood up, but Li Ximing paused, turned around thoughtfully, and suddenly remembered something.
he asked:
"I had a letter delivered to me a few days ago..."
After Li Ximing left overseas, he followed the clues and ventured into the abyss, proceeding with extreme caution. He also wasted a lot of time in that immortal array. Logically, the news of his mission to protect the Xiao family in the North Sea should have arrived long ago.
Sure enough, the demon king slowly nodded and said:
“My people have been there. The real person is called Yinmiao. She cultivated in the East Sea in her early years. The other two groups you sent went there even earlier than me. It is said that when she was in seclusion, the junior cultivators below listened to others and acted on their own.”
“Now Qigu Temple is awash in blood. Those disciples who colluded with outsiders have been turned into a mound of corpses by her and sent to the Xiao family. She even wrote back to me saying that she wanted to meet with you and apologize in person.”
Li Ximing, of course, didn't believe she had acted without authorization; she was simply the first to jump out and test the waters. He also didn't believe she was merely apologizing. With a cold laugh, he said:
"What do you want with me?"
Lu Xudao:
"Dual cultivation".
Li Ximing was taken aback, his expression somewhat strange, and asked:
"What does it mean?"
Lu Xu said softly:
"She has been stuck in the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm for many years and has been in seclusion for a long time, which is why outsiders were able to take advantage of her. There are not many Bright Yang cultivators in the world now, so she certainly dares not touch the Qilin, for fear of being devoured. As for the True Person... he is the elder of the Qilin."
Li Ximing clicked his tongue, and for some reason, suddenly thought of Kuang Yu, and simply waved his hand and said:
"Nonsense."
Lu Xu rarely smiled, but his laughter was pale, even dispelling the weariness on his face. Li Ximing chuckled dryly twice, only to see the demon king raise his eyebrows to look at him and say with a smile:
"Fellow Daoist Zhaojing...this may be the last time we meet."
Li Ximing was taken aback and frowned. He had already noticed the obvious fatigue on the other person's face, but he hadn't dared to ask. So, he could only say:
"This is…"
Lu Xu shook his head and said:
"I made a mistake a few years ago... and now things on this island are difficult to handle. The Master didn't see Dingjiao Longzi this time, because he was the one who went to the palace to plead for me..."
Li Ximing stared at him blankly for a moment, and for some reason, felt that he and Ying Hebai behind him looked remarkably similar back then. He sighed inwardly.
'I'm afraid this is how things are under the Dragon Clan. No matter how powerful they are, it's not for these demon kings to use. Even a mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivator is trampled upon like this… Without the Bright Sun Formation, how could someone like me stand before them?'
Lu Xu dared not say anything more. He turned around as if fleeing from something and hurriedly went outside. Li Ximing looked at him, sighed, and also left without saying anything more, riding away in the light.
Li Jiangnian followed the real person onto the sea, until the island grew smaller and smaller in his view. Slowly realizing what had happened, he knelt down and said:
"A real person!"
Li Ximing did not turn around, but only smiled and said:
"What, you don't want to go back?"
Li Jiangnian knelt down in the daylight and whispered:
“Father…Father’s reputation is so great, while I have accomplished nothing. I fear that if I return…I will be ridiculed and I will not know how to face myself. It would be better for me to stay on the island and still be able to do my best for you…”
Li Ximing slowed down, turned his head to the side, and smiled:
"You're having a really good time on the island, but your father... let you go out and cause trouble?"
Li Jiangnian was covered in cold sweat and said:
"Your son is useless... but the True Man knows about Mingyang's affairs... He merely enjoys himself with a few demons, and even when he goes out, he only does some chivalrous deeds, never disturbing mortals..."
Li Ximing fell silent for a moment.
The Li family is known for its strict rules. Although things are a bit more relaxed overseas, even on the lake, the rules are still only for the relationship between immortals and mortals. They don't care what the disciples or their own demons do. To be honest, Li Jiangnian didn't do anything wrong.
More importantly, he vaguely understood what Li Zhouwei meant:
'But... since he's incompetent and doesn't want to go back, taking him back would not only look bad to everyone, but also put Zhou Wei in a difficult position, and there's a possibility he could be lured away. On this overseas island, with dragons guarding him, he's actually the safest... it's nothing more than him having an affair with a demon...'
He felt helpless, his face as cold as ice. He stopped and said indifferently:
“Since you don’t disturb mortals, I’m too lazy to say anything more. But Ying Hebai saved Wei Zeng and made a contribution. Now that you’ve gained their tribe, don’t make things too ugly.”
Li Jiangnian dared not go back to see Li Zhouwei. The longer he was separated from his father, the more carefree he felt, but the more afraid he became of seeing that face that terrified him. Now that he saw that the real person had agreed, he was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly, only able to agree.
Li Ximing looked down, his heart filled with indescribable emotions:
'Even if you just pretend, you're hopeless...'
The man sighed and said:
"Get lost."
Li Jiangnian bowed, then rode the wind eastward. Li Ximing watched his retreating figure fly faster and faster, his mood clearly sour. He reached into his sleeve, his heart sinking deeper into despair.
'Thinking back... among the children on the lake, only Sui Huan, Sui Ning, and Sui Kuan of the Sui Yu generation are compatible. The Qing Yuan generation is even worse; many are not necessarily gifted, but rather mediocre. Only Qing Gong and Qing Duo were originally chosen because of their high talent, but even they seem far from being comparable to Jiang Qian and Que Wan…'
As he strode through the void, he drifted into a daze, his mind sinking into thought:
“Since my great-grandfather started his rise to power, four generations later Li Ximing emerged, and six generations later he became the King of Wei. Now there have been nine generations... nine generations... The Wei Dynasty was glorious, but it only lasted for ten generations before it perished.”
He walked along the light, head down, hurrying back. On the way, he heard two more tremors in the distance before finally seeing the shimmering lake. His weary heart finally relaxed.
He rode the light into the lake and indeed sensed that the entire lake's void was churning slightly, with the surrounding spiritual energy floating at a light and swift pace.
'It must be because Xuantao favored him!'
So he hurriedly stepped onto the mountain, only to find Li Minggong already waiting there. Upon seeing the return of this immortal, he presented him with a golden talisman. Li Ximing casually took it, closed his eyes slightly, pinched them, and immediately opened his eyes.
'Ginseng and fragrant…'
A chilling, hateful light emanated from his eyes as Li Ximing coldly laughed:
"Alright! I'll go and contact all sides right away."