Chapter 13: Journey to Canglang

Three days later, Zhou Pi arrived in Huaiyuan City accompanied by nine apprentice disciples. This trip was not only to visit the Dan Valley but also to return to his clan to escort disciples from his own family branch. Although the Zhou family was a minor noble house, they possessed several caves rich in spiritual energy within Huaiyuan City.

After settling the group in the quietest courtyard, Zhou Pi spoke gently to them: “Rest well here tonight. I will return to the Zhou residence to fetch another disciple, then come back to take you along.” He then pointed toward two ordinary-looking Zhou family stewards standing nearby and added, “If you need anything, just tell them. This courtyard has a spiritual plant garden with dozens of rare flowers and herbs. If you’re not too tired, you can have the stewards lead you for a visit. Tomorrow, I will take you to the most famous Xiangyuan Pavilion in Huaiyuan City for a feast. After the meal, we will set out for Yajian Mountain. That way, your trip to Huaiyuan won’t be in vain.”

The disciples from the Ying family eagerly nodded when they heard they could see the spiritual plants and enjoy a feast at the tavern. Huai Sheng, however, showed little interest in the plants and decided to separate from them, heading first to the lodging courtyard.

Night had fallen, and the chill of early spring was biting. In front of the small courtyard grew a beautiful bamboo grove; the leaves rustled softly in the night breeze, shadows wavering among the stalks. The Zhou family steward dressed in gray led Huai Sheng toward the courtyard, the journey calm and uneventful.

Just as the two were about to pass through the bamboo grove, the steward suddenly shattered a formation talisman and spun sharply, striking out with a sword. The sword light was fierce, like a long rainbow piercing the sun, aimed straight at Huai Sheng’s vital point.

Huai Sheng summoned the Azure Frost sword; with a resonant clang, she blocked the blade, the force driving her backward nearly twenty feet. Soon after, a rush of sound filled the air as dozens of bamboo leaves transformed into thin flying blades, shooting toward her.

The Seven Killings Formation!

The gray-clad steward had activated a Seven Killings Formation with the broken talisman.

Within the Seven Killings Formation, anything could become a deadly weapon!

The steward stared coldly at Huai Sheng and said, “Surrender now if you don’t want to die!”

Taking advantage of the moment he spoke, Huai Sheng leapt up, summoning seven formation swords beneath her feet. The sharp sword qi intertwined into a net, shredding all the flying bamboo leaves to pieces.

The steward held a sub-talisman in hand, chanting with fingers in tandem. Suddenly, a wild wind howled, and slender bamboo branches, soft as vines, struck toward Huai Sheng from all directions with sharp cracks.

At the same time, the steward drew his sword close again. Several fierce sword intents slashed toward her chest. Huai Sheng’s spiritual light flared, quickly releasing a heart-protection lock that clanged as it caught the steward’s blade.

The steward’s ambush failed, his killing intent intensifying. Spiritual power surged into his sword, and with a slight twist, he shattered the heart-protection lock. He swung his sword horizontally again, eyes glinting with venomous malice.

Each of his sword strikes bore the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Huai Sheng endured several blows, her hand numb from the vibrations.

Yet she remained calm. The seven formation swords encircled the steward, and while he was trapped, the Azure Frost sword, swift as lightning, struck a purple bamboo at the edge of the grove, splitting it fiercely.

Boom!

The bamboo grove erupted with a loud crash as branches and leaves scattered down. The Seven Killings Formation was broken!

The steward was shocked that she had so quickly found and destroyed the formation’s core. His eyes flashed with murderous intent as a long blade materialized out of thin air.

He wielded the blade with one hand, his technique flowing smoothly like clouds and water. The blade’s edge glowed faintly red, flickering like a flame with every swing.

Huai Sheng’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the blade, then at the steward.

“Who is Zhu Yun to you?”

Thirteen years ago, in a peachwood forest, Zhu Yun, an elder from the Xiao family, had helped Xiao Chinan block a cloaked figure for her father. Zhu Yun had wielded a blade just like this.

Upon hearing the name “Zhu Yun,” the steward’s expression darkened further. Heat waves radiated from his blade as the two clashed dozens of times in rapid succession.

The steward’s killing intent climbed steadily.

He had expected to defeat her easily, but despite the prolonged fight, he hadn’t even harmed a single hair on her head. The battle was dragging on too long; if it continued, escape would be difficult.

His gaze darkened. He bit his tongue forcefully, spitting blood onto the blade. Instantly, the blade was engulfed in cold flames that spread into the sword formation.

The seven formation swords dimmed, emitting mournful cries as they flew back into Huai Sheng’s hand.

The steward pressed forward relentlessly, the cold flame blade advancing.

Huai Sheng pushed her body’s agility to the limit, throwing five formation stones at once. In an instant, the five directions—Qian, Li, Kun, Kan, and Xun—all lit up with white light.

She brought her fingers together and called out, “Earth Collapse!”

The steward’s heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to leap into the air, four earthen whips burst from the ground, firmly binding his limbs and dragging him underground.

“Azure Frost, go!”

The Azure Frost sword emitted a clear, melodious ring as it swiftly flew toward the steward’s vanished location. Mid-flight, sudden thunder and wind roared, stirring sand and stones into a storm.

Huai Sheng’s hairs stood on end. The seven formation swords formed rapidly in front of her, but no sooner had the formation been set than a devastating force struck from the front, forcibly scattering the swords.

Huai Sheng spat a mouthful of fresh blood; the Azure Frost sword fell from the sky.

She focused and saw that the ambusher was actually a peach-pink scented cloth talisman.

Its owner clearly sought to rescue, not to kill. With a gentle spin, the talisman absorbed the steward bound underground and swiftly fled.

Before anyone could react, a faint reddish flame, half bright and half dim, drifted from the horizon, striking the talisman. A cry of pain came from within.

As the cry faded, two figures landed in the bamboo grove—none other than Chu Su and Song Mu, disciples of Yajian Mountain.

“How is she? Any injuries?” Chu Su hurriedly produced a pill, feeding it to Huai Sheng.

She swallowed and replied, “I’m fine,” then walked over to a piece of green bamboo, picking up a shattered Memory Stone from the ground.

“It was indeed shattered. Ten spirit stones gone just like that.”

When the gray-clad steward attacked, Huai Sheng had secretly dropped this Memory Stone, but the talisman’s owner had destroyed it. Not only that, the broken talisman fragments the steward had used vanished, and much of the battle evidence in the bamboo grove was erased.

Song Mu carefully surveyed the wreckage, his expression grave. “That man was a steward of the Zhou family?”

Before they could speak further, a white light descended in the bamboo grove.

Zhou Pi, his face pale, retracted the flying sword. Seeing Huai Sheng unharmed, he exhaled deeply in relief.

He had just received a message from the steward warning that someone had set a formation ambush in the courtyard targeting the Ying family disciples, causing him to rush over in panic. If these children had died under the Zhou family’s roof, disaster would surely befall them.

“Junior sister—”

“Senior sister Huai Sheng—”

Several figures hurried from the other side of the grove, their expressions anxious. They were Ying Ru and the others, followed by another gray-clad steward who looked equally disheveled.

The steward knelt immediately upon seeing Zhou Pi, trembling with fear. “Please forgive me, Master. I was unaware that this courtyard had been set with a killing formation by Steward Lin.”

Zhou Pi’s face darkened. He took out a transmission talisman and issued several orders. Soon, a few stewards arrived carrying a corpse hastily.

“Master, when we went to Steward Lin’s residence, we found he had been dead for three days.”

Huai Sheng stared at the body laid on the ground.

This corpse was identical in appearance to the gray-clad steward who had attacked her, but his spirit stage was unopened, and his realm was only the Opening Realm.

In contrast, the steward who fought Huai Sheng had an opened spirit stage, with a yellow spot the size of a soybean in his ancestral aperture, containing a hint of red light—an authentic Foundation Establishment cultivator.

It seemed this unlucky steward had been impersonated days ago.

Looking at the steward dead for several days, Zhou Pi’s baby-faced features became very serious.

“I will report this to the sect and request the Ruling Hall to investigate.” He looked at Huai Sheng and said, “That person disguised as Steward Lin to infiltrate the Zhou family was to capture you. When you fought him, did you notice any distinguishing features?”

Huai Sheng considered and replied, “Two people attacked me. One was the gray-clad steward. He should be a newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator. Although he fought with a sword, he seemed more skilled with a blade.”

She paused slightly, not mentioning Zhu Yun’s signature blade.

“The other never showed himself. After using a scented cloth talisman to rescue the gray-clad steward, he quickly fled. That person should be a Dan Realm cultivator.”

Zhou Pi’s expression turned strange.

Huai Sheng only had one spirit aperture open, her cultivation at the peak Opening Realm. Yet she had escaped unharmed from a Foundation Establishment sword cultivator and a Dan Realm master?

—

“You’re quite something—an esteemed Foundation Establishment cultivator unable to defeat an Opening Realm with only one spirit aperture.”

In a shabby hut on the outskirts of Huaiyuan City, a beautiful woman in an indigo Daoist robe folded away the scented cloth talisman and sneered coldly at the pale, sullen young cultivator on the floor.

The young cultivator’s lips were stained with blood, silent.

The woman looked at him icily. “Zhu Cong, have you forgotten you are the lady’s companion blade? Ten years ago, the lady arranged for you to enter Yajian Mountain. If I hadn’t arrived in time today, you would have been captured and taken back to Yajian Mountain. Then all of Canglang would know that our Xiao family breaks all codes of honor by targeting Nan Huaisheng.”

Zhu Cong’s eyes were bloodshot as he replied, “Elder Zhang, I made full preparations. I won’t implicate the lady! Nan Huaisheng entered Yajian Mountain, so she is a disciple there. Whether to kill or capture her in the future, the Ruling Hall will be responsible. We have to act today!”

Zhou Pi always personally returned to Huaiyuan City to escort their own family disciples when the sect opened its gates. This time, the Zhou family sent in his niece. He would surely stay in Huaiyuan City.

Since learning that Zhou Pi was going to Dan Valley to meet the Ying family disciples, Zhu Cong had been disguising himself, infiltrating the Zhou family, aiming to capture the enemy’s daughter in person and lure out the long-missing Nan Xinjio.

Unfortunately, he missed a golden opportunity.

Filled with hatred, Zhu Cong suddenly paled and coughed up blood.

The beautiful woman tossed a jade bottle containing pills into his lap.

“Take the medicine! The lady never ordered you to harm her. You must stay calm!”

After Zhu Cong swallowed the pill, the woman clenched her right palm tightly, instantly turning the peach-pink scented cloth talisman into powder.

“To clean up your mess, I had to destroy this protective treasure and waste a top-grade jade soul pill from the lady. She kept you as a companion blade out of gratitude for your father’s loyalty to the Xiao family. If you continue to act stubbornly and rashly, you will soon squander that gratitude!”

Her words brought a pang of pain to the woman.

The red lotus karmic fire from Mu Jin, the young disciple of True Lord, was terrifyingly fierce. It had burned through her Xiangxue talisman and injured Zhu Cong’s spirit platform.

The karmic fire was difficult to dispel. To avoid leaving traces, she destroyed the talisman and used a precious jade soul pill to heal Zhu Cong.

The resentment in Zhu Cong’s eyes dissipated like dust in the wind along with the talisman fragments. He closed his eyes to recover. When the burning pain in his spirit platform eased, he opened them and asked, “Is Nan Huaisheng’s cultivation truly only the peak Opening Realm?”

The woman looked down at him, a mocking smile curling her lips.

“Indeed, she is only at the peak Opening Realm. You had the advantage of surprise, set an ambush, and are one realm higher than her. You thought a Seven Killings Formation and a sword would be enough to take her down, yet you were defeated so disgracefully. Do you think she’s really that formidable?”

Zhu Cong was silent for a long moment before saying, “Elder Zhang, rest assured, I was too complacent today. I will not repeat this mistake. No matter how strong she is, she’s just an Opening Realm.”

Hearing this, the woman’s cold expression softened slightly. She nodded and said, “Ying Shan is Canglang’s top alchemist. Nan Huaisheng was raised by her and has access to many miraculous pills to refine her body and muscles. Even so, she can only open one spirit aperture. Her talent is obviously poor. Without opening her ancestral aperture, she will never reach Foundation Establishment. How strong can an Opening Realm really be? You have just entered Foundation Establishment and lack a stable foundation. First, strengthen your base. In time, you will have your chance to avenge past humiliations.”