"This is the East Sea Dragon King."
"If you encounter an enemy and someone is trying to kill you, you can come to the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace and ask the Dragon Lord for help. He still owes me a favor."
Kou Chun did not avoid Old Taoist Dujiao and directly spoke to Xu Xing in this way.
As his words fell, he turned his head to look at Old Taoist Dujiao, a profound meaning in his eyes.
"Kou Chun, I will consider this favor granted to this boy."
"The Azure Dragon’s Blood and now a favor..."
"Hehe, it is rare for you to be so generous. Well, he is your legacy disciple, after all. It is also normal for you to make such arrangements for him before your battle with Shooting Sun Marquis Wuyi. One month ago, Wuyi returned from a campaign in the Western Regions of Wuzi Country."
"He built a Corpse Display with the heads of those bald monks, intimidating the Buddhist sect."
Old Taoist Dujiao first accepted Kou Chun’s words. Then, he chuckled and spoke of Wuyi’s recent significant actions.
"To become a Saint of the Confucian sect, he naturally needs the praise of Scholars. Among the Three Teachings, the Buddhists had a notable history. Twenty years ago, they attempted to support King Jing in his bid for the throne. However, Emperor Hongcheng emerged victorious. Wukong Temple, which had aided King Jing, was destroyed after Emperor Hongcheng’s ascension, and its remaining followers scattered throughout the Western Regions..."
Kou Chun nodded slightly, echoing his sentiment.
The two then ceased their discussion.
Old Taoist Dujiao took out a dragon scale-shaped token from his sleeve and tossed it into Xu Xing’s arms, saying, "If something happens, just crush this token, and this king will come to save you. Within two thousand li of the East Sea, it will take about three breaths’ time; within five thousand li, it will take about ten breaths’ time."
Xu Xing stood up to express his gratitude.
After leaving the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, Kou Chun escorted Xu Xing to Liuzhou County of Mishan. Outside the county town, he bid farewell to Xu Xing, "Two months later, on the twenty-seventh of the twelfth month, go to the Dragon King Temple. If you see the head of the Dragon King mud statue falling, run out of Liu Zhou towards the East Sea without looking back. However, if the Dragon King’s head doesn’t fall, but there is an extra pearl on the top of its crown..."
"Then, it means I, your Master, have won."
A wisp of his Divine Soul was stored in the temple’s Dragon King statue. If he died, the statue would collapse. If he lived and successfully advanced to an Eight Tribulations Ghost Immortal, his Yin God would transform into a Yang God, and his Divine Soul would materialize as a physical object. A wisp of his Divine Soul would then become a pearl.
Xu Xing clasped his hands and bowed deeply in the direction where Kou Chun had been.
The mountain breeze swept past, and two lines of hot tears rolled down his cheeks, dripping onto the soil.
Kou Chun shook his head and smiled. He flicked his wide sleeve and vanished in an instant.
After a quarter of an hour, Xu Xing slowly raised his head, his face still etched with grief.
Two months... There’s still time. I’ll break through the Totem Realm first.
Kou Chun played his part well, and so did the East Sea Dragon King. But I wasn’t just a ten-year-old child; I was the mighty King Xing Tian. I’ve seen and played my share of ghostly tricks and schemes. Before entering the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, I hadn’t figured out Kou Chun’s intentions. Only after entering did I understand that Kou Chun saw me as the next backup Physical Body. If Kou Chun succeeded and broke through to become an Eight Tribulations Ghost Immortal... then our relationship as master and disciple would not be torn apart, and we could still be harmonious. But if Kou Chun failed, I would be the most suitable vessel for Kou Chun’s next divine soul possession. Cultivating the same body Cultivation Method, refining the Azure Dragon’s Blood...
However—no matter how carefully Kou Chun calculated, he could never have imagined that I had already advanced in my cultivation. All I need is sufficient Magic Power, and I can break through the Totem and Blood Change Realms in an instant. Moreover, in the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, my training in array techniques has already reached the late stage, not the early stage.
Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, one and a half months had passed.
In eight more days, it would be the day of the arranged battle between Kou Chun, one of the top ten Demon Immortals in the world, and Shooting Sun Marquis Wuyi. Ten years ago, Kou Chun had arrived under the moonlight, killed the Shooting Sun Marquis’s favorite concubine, Miss Shi, and taken away one of his sons.
A decade later, the clash between these two supreme powerhouses stirred great excitement.
Even before the day of the duel, Yujing was already under complete lockdown. Three hundred thousand Forbidden Army soldiers surrounded the Shooting Sun Marquis Mansion, and the streets within a two-hundred-zhang radius of the mansion were heavily guarded. Every inn, tavern, and post station had a strong contingent of soldiers deployed.
"The Forbidden Army is a national instrument. Even with His Majesty’s decree, isn’t the Shooting Sun Marquis being excessively cautious and timid?"
"The Shooting Sun Marquis’s actions, should he win this way, would be an unworthy victory and detrimental to our dynasty’s prestige."
"Why would the Shooting Sun Marquis, a master of Martial Dao, be so careful?"
Voices of censure against Shooting Sun Marquis Wuyi arose one after another in the Court.
But Shooting Sun Marquis Wuyi merely scoffed, stating that he was a veteran general, not some reckless Jianghu brawler who reveled in fights. To deploy 300,000 Forbidden Army soldiers to overwhelm a smaller force was a legitimate application of the Art of War, not an unworthy victory.
Once these words were spoken, although he was still reviled by some in the Jianghu, Shooting Sun Marquis Wuyi’s reputation within the Court and the wider establishment rose significantly.
And on this very day, Xu Xing, who had broken through the Totem Realm and reached the Blood Change Realm, concealed his aura and, using a face-altering technique to change his appearance, stealthily arrived at the inn closest to the Shooting Sun Marquis Mansion to await the battle between the two great experts.
Before the battle, he also set up a basic Concealing Breath Array in his room. This array technique was one of three basic arrays detailed in the book "Illusionary Sacred Monarch’s Array Methods." The Bloodline World’s legacy of array techniques was incomplete. Although some were passed down, they couldn’t compare to those of the Flying Feather Immortal Palace. Furthermore, as long as this array was used correctly, it could at least shield him from the detection of Returning Core Realm cultivators. Thus, Xu Xing waited in his guest room with confidence, unafraid of being discovered by Kou Chun, Wuyi, or others.
As the crowd outside the Shooting Sun Marquis Mansion anxiously awaited, Demon Immortal Kou Chun finally arrived.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
At the command of the Forbidden Army Generals, 300,000 Forbidden Army soldiers revealed their hidden Blood Demon Crossbows. Each of these crossbows was only about an arm’s length and width, but the bowstrings attached to the bolts were woven from the tendons of Purple Lang Cattle, paired with arrowheads forged from Blood Demon Steel. A single shot could deliver a blow with the force of at least a thousand catties.
Tens of thousands of crossbow bolts rained down towards Kou Chun’s position.
However, Kou Chun merely glanced at the volley of arrows. Instantly, they froze in mid-air, then clattered powerlessly to the ground. For a Seven Tribulations Ghost Immortal, telekinetically controlling objects was a long-mastered skill.
"Shooting Sun Marquis, surely you have more tricks than this to slay this Demon Immortal?" Kou Chun smiled, his demeanor refined and scholarly.
"Of course, there’s more."
"These 300,000 Forbidden Army soldiers are merely my, Wu Yi’s, declaration to the world that this Marquis not only has not achieved merits that overshadow my sovereign but, on the contrary, is deeply trusted by His Majesty. This serves to undermine some of my political enemies in the Court."
Inside Shooting Sun Marquis Mansion, Wuyi stood on the upturned eaves and dougong brackets, his gaze as sharp as a sword.
"Today, the name Demon Immortal Kou Chun shall be erased from this world!"
Wuyi drew his Long Sword from his waist. Unlike some military commanders who favored spears or guan daos, he, having a scholar background, was fondest of wearing a Long Sword. With a Long Sword alone, he could pacify all directions. A gentleman should always be armed with a sword.