Chapter Ninety-One: Leaving Luzhou City (Late-Night Update)

The burly soldier hurried down from the city tower, and Xu Cheng, with the captive city commander bound in tow, followed close behind.

He held up his token and said to the soldiers guarding the gate, “The commander has issued orders. Open the city gates.”

“Open the gates? Are you joking?”

The guard looked at him in disbelief.

“He is not joking. If he says open them, then open them. Do not make me do it myself!”

Xu Cheng, who had caught up, said with absolute certainty. One hand restrained the city commander, while dark light began to gather in the other.

The soldier at the gate was instantly terrified and shouted to the others, “Hurry, hurry, open the gates!”

With a creak, the gates swung wide. Not far ahead stood Master Xuanchun.

The old Daoist laughed heartily and said to those beside him, “Enter the city!”

“Enter the city!”

The army bearing the banner of the Han Kingdom surged into the city in a mighty tide.

“You. Will you surrender, or lose your head?”

Xu Cheng released his control over the city commander.

“I surrender. I choose to surrender!”

The man answered at once.

“I said before that this campaign would be effortless, and it seems I was not wrong.”

Master Xuanchun did not follow the Han army into the city. Instead, he stood beside Xu Cheng and spoke.

“Master Xuanchun sees all things with divine clarity,” Xu Cheng replied casually.

“Not at all, not at all. The Netherworld Envoy’s arts are truly formidable. In the end, this is still your merit,” Master Xuanchun said immediately. “The world remains restless. Might the Netherworld Envoy be willing to lend us a hand and help us strike directly at the imperial palace of the Great Xia Dynasty?”

“Master Xuanchun has everything under control. With me here, it is merely the icing on the cake. But right now, I only wish to cultivate in peace.”

Xu Cheng truly did not want to join this excitement. He only wanted to gather more merit. The battle that followed against Xia Hao was certainly not something he could take part in.

Only some old monster nearing ascension could probably contend with Xia Hao.

“Very well, then I shall speak plainly. I spent a great deal of time and effort, and in the end I divined that if one wishes to utterly destroy the Great Xia Dynasty and kill Xia Hao, then the key to that method lies with you.”

Master Xuanchun’s expression grew anxious. In his calculations, Xu Cheng was indeed an indispensable figure.

“With me?”

Xu Cheng pointed to himself. He still remembered someone saying something similar before; that person had been the Old Ancestor of Polar Star.

“Exactly. The final, unexpected stroke that wins the day.”

Master Xuanchun added another sentence.

After some thought, Xu Cheng told Master Xuanchun the method of merging dharma forms.

Upon hearing it, Master Xuanchun’s eyes lit up at once, bright as twin lamps.

“Good! Good! Good!”

After praising him three times, Master Xuanchun took Xu Cheng by the arm and led him into the city.

By then, the Han army entering the city was calming the people’s fears, rolling out one measure after another, and there was not much resistance to be seen.

Master Xuanchun brought Xu Cheng in a streak of light to a building, where they found a gathering of experts at the level of primordial spirit and lightning tribulation. Then he said, “Fellow masters of the immortal and demonic paths, this humble Daoist has now found a secret art that can directly counter the Great Xia Dynasty’s flesh-body fusion technique and deliver the decisive killing blow!”

“Oh? What kind of secret art could make the master so excited?”

The speaker was the leader of the Supreme Way. He stood there as if naturally fused with heaven and earth, his cultivation clearly extraordinary.

Master Xuanchun did not answer. Instead, a wash of clear light emerged from between his brows and covered the entire floor.

After a moment, everyone nodded. It seemed the old Daoist had shared Xu Cheng’s secret technique with them.

“Xuanchun, was this method derived by you?”

The Supreme Way’s leader asked at once.

“Not at all. It is this young fellow beside me’s unique secret art. So…”

Master Xuanchun did not continue. His meaning was simple enough: since you now know someone else’s unique secret art, shouldn’t you show some appreciation?

“You old fox! Very well! Young brother, this jade pendant is something I carry with me. It contains three hundred runic patterns!”

A red-haired man took out a jade pendant and handed it to Xu Cheng.

With him as an example, the various sect leaders and elders all produced treasures, spiritual elixirs, and even manuals of immortal arts from their robes and offered them to Xu Cheng.

Delighted, Xu Cheng could not help but feel that these people were truly generous.

Before long, his small pocket world was stuffed full.

He thanked them profusely.

When the credit was again attributed to Xu Cheng for the taking of Luzhou City, the king of the Han Kingdom immediately declared that Xu Cheng would be promoted and ennobled, granted a hundred mu of land, and rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver.

Xu Cheng, having little interest in such things, declined politely, though he did accept the ten thousand taels of silver. After all, the four essentials of cultivation were wealth, companionship, methods, and a place to practice; not one could be lacking.

At last, Xu Cheng excused himself and left the grand stage. He found Yan Mengdie and Chrysanthemum, and the three of them departed Luzhou City together.

In stark contrast to the jubilant scene inside the city, the three of them walked through the mountains as the setting sun sank westward, stretching their shadows longer and longer.

Among the three shadows, one was a mass of white bones, one was that of a giant toad, and the last was scarcely different from that of an ordinary human.

“Xu Cheng, with such a good opportunity, why not become an official?” Yan Mengdie asked from behind him.

“Being an official is no fun. How could it compare with the carefree life of drifting with the clouds and wandering like a crane?”

Xu Cheng answered carelessly.

“That is true,” Yan Mengdie said with a nod, standing still as if struck by sudden insight.

“Don’t just stand there. Keep moving!”

Noticing that the huge figure behind him had not followed, Xu Cheng hurriedly called out.

Yan Mengdie and Chrysanthemum quickly caught up.

This time in Luzhou City, Xu Cheng had only seen Zhen, Lingyu, and Lingxu; he had not seen Yi.

The reason he cared so much about that fellow was simple enough: Yi had seen through his identity.

He had no idea why that man had not followed Lingxu, Lingyu, and Zhen.

Though somewhat odd, he did not dwell on it.

They walked along the mountain path until the sun had completely set. Their feet crushed the fallen leaves with a faint crackling sound. Unlike summer, deep autumn nights held no chorus of frogs or insects, and the silence seemed especially profound.

A long howl broke the stillness of the night. Wolves had come out to hunt.

Xu Cheng thought to himself: so long as they are not trying to eat me, I will spare them.

But the truth seemed less accommodating.

They had not gone far when they ran into a wolf pack.

“Truly, you refuse the road to heaven and insist on forcing your way into hell.”

Looking at the wolves not far off, baring their teeth and glaring at him, Xu Cheng let his aura burst forth. The timider wolves could only whimper softly; the others, driven back by instinct, took a few steps away yet still bared their fangs, hoping to provoke fear in him.

Just as he was about to strike, the pack parted to make a path, and a wolf far larger than the rest slowly walked forward.

Its body length was nearly three meters, and by the look of it, it was probably close to becoming a spirit.

It stared at Xu Cheng, and Xu Cheng stared back.

In that creature’s eyes flickered a look almost human, as though it were thinking over something.

After a long stare, the giant wolf let out a low growl toward the pack behind it, and they immediately scattered and ran off into the distance.