With that, Zhong Qing pulled two small wooden carvings from his storage ring and handed one to each of the two young women.
Initially, he had no ulterior motives in inviting the two girls; he simply saw that they had genuinely worked hard over the past few days and wanted to treat them as a reward. Since they wouldn't accept a treat, he would give them two wooden carvings for self-defense instead. After all, he had plenty of these things—he had obtained over a hundred more during today's sign-in.
Zhong Qing's wooden carvings came in two types. One could be anthropomorphized upon receiving the owner's command, but it only lasted for half a day; after half a day, it would lose its effect, and the carving would shatter accordingly—making it essentially a one-time-use item. The other type of wooden carving did not anthropomorphize; as long as it was carried on one's person, it possessed the automatic function of protecting its master. Furthermore, it was not a one-time-use item and would only shatter when the energy inside the carving was completely exhausted.
In truth, the latter was more akin to some sort of self-defense magic treasure. However, what made it superior to ordinary self-defense treasures was that ordinary treasures could only provide passive defense, whereas his wooden carvings could actively attack.
The ones Zhong Qing gave to the two women were precisely this kind of self-defense treasure, and moreover, he gave them two relatively high-grade wooden carvings.
The two women took the carvings, finding them cute. They didn't see anything extraordinary in them, simply taking them to be ordinary wooden carvings and little trinkets given to them by Zhong Qing as a memento. Yet they didn't show any look of disdain; on the contrary, they were quite delighted. After all, being able to receive a gift from such an existence, regardless of what it was, made them feel immensely satisfied.
"Remember to carry them with you at all times. Don't lose them," Zhong Qing reminded them gently.
"How could we? Since Senior gave them to us, we will definitely wear them on us every day," said Qingniao, the more lively of the two, revealing her little tiger teeth.
With that, the two women cupped their fists in farewell.
"Then Senior, we shall take our leave."
Only then did they soar into the air and depart.
For them, this trip had been abundantly rewarding. Not only did they acquire six Moon Profound Realm demonic beast eyeballs, but more importantly, they had established a good relationship with an existence like Zhong Qing.
The two of them hurried all the way back toward Wandao Mountain.
Mid-air, Qingniao couldn't help asking, "Elder Sister, what on earth happened to the sect? Why are they in such a rush for us to return?"
Hearing this, Leng Ning's expression involuntarily sank, and she said gravely, "Junior Sister, have you ever heard the legend of Tiannan?"
"Tiannan?"
"Could the one you're talking about be that favored son of heaven from Wandao Mountain three hundred years ago?"
"Indeed, it is him."
Leng Ning nodded and said, "He was the most talented disciple in the history of Wandao Mountain. His attainments in arrays, feng shui, and various unorthodox minor arts were extremely high. However, in the end, he did not walk the righteous path; he researched the method of blood array sacrificial refining and gradually stepped onto the demonic path. Not only did he pay no heed to the sect's attempts to stop him, but he also grew increasingly unhinged."
"In the end, he even blood-sacrificed the population of an entire village to conduct his experiments. With no other choice, the sect finally dispatched experts to purge the sect of this scourge."
"That battle resulted in heavy losses for our Wandao Mountain, while Tiannan was cast into the Sea of Depravity."
"As you know, the Sea of Depravity is fraught with danger. Those who enter are certain to die."
"Yet just when we thought Tiannan was dead, who could have expected that three hundred years later today, he has reappeared?"
"During the period when we were out on a mission, the life plaques of over a hundred disciples in our Wandao Mountain shattered, all perishing at the hands of Tiannan. That is why the sect ordered us to hurry back and not linger outside."
Leng Ning explained gravely to Qingniao.
Upon hearing this, Qingniao wore a look of utter disbelief.
"Tiannan—Tiannan actually didn't die!"
"Then what should we do if we run into him?"
Qingniao glanced around, an unsettling feeling lingering in her heart.
"There's no need to worry unduly about that."
Leng Ning comforted her, saying, "The place where we are located is remote; Tiannan will not come to this region. Once we approach the vicinity of the sect, the sect will send people to meet and escort us."
"That's good, that's good."
Qingniao patted her chest, then continued, "But Elder Sister, if that's the case, why didn't we stay in Fengtian City a few more days? How safe it was to stay in front of Senior! Besides, from the look of you, it seemed like you wanted to stay in Fengtian City a few more days as well, didn't you?"
Saying this, Qingniao leaned her head forward, wanting to catch a glimpse of Leng Ning's expression.
As she looked.
Sure enough, a flush of red suffused Leng Ning's face.
Seeing Qingniao still leaning in to look, Leng Ning immediately glared at her with a coquettish, indignant reprimand: "You actually dare to tease your senior sister! I'll beat you to death, you stinky girl."
"Aiya, how is this teasing at all!" Qingniao retorted unhappily. "Just now your face was clearly blushing. If you like him, you like him—what is there not to admit? Besides, Senior Zhong Qing is so outstanding."
"That's right, Senior Zhong Qing is so outstanding..." Leng Ning suddenly sighed with emotion.
"So even if we like him, what use is it? Although our status in Wandao Mountain is quite good, and we are even considered geniuses in the eyes of others throughout the Eastern Region, in Senior's eyes, Wandao Mountain doesn't amount to much at all."
"In the end, we simply aren't people of the same world!"
With that, Leng Ning shook her head in despondent sorrow.
Qingniao pouted, and for once she didn't talk back, evidently deeply moved by what Leng Ning had said.
At that moment, Leng Ning glanced at the mountain ranges ahead and said to Qingniao, "Junior Sister, there are likely quite a few demonic beasts roaming these mountains. Just to be safe, let's find a place to rest for a moment, recover our strength, and then set off again."
"Alright."
Qingniao nodded.
Shortly after, the two women descended upon the peak of a mountain and sat down cross-legged on the ground.
Gazing at the rolling mountains in the distance, the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.
The two women first swallowed a Qi-Restoration Pill. After a brief period of regulating their breath and recovering, Qingniao couldn't help taking out the wooden carving in her hand, turning it over to examine and play with it.
"You have to admit, Elder Sister, the craftsmanship of the wooden carving Senior Zhong gave us is quite good. It looks so lifelike."
"Indeed, the facial features are distinct and the proportions are perfect."
Leng Ning also couldn't help taking out her own wooden carving, examining it carefully. She even tied a red string around the leg of the carving so that it could be hung from her waist.
Yet, just as the two women were examining the wooden carvings and taking a brief rest, a pair of blood-red eyes in the mid-air not far away stared mockingly at them.
"Wandao Mountain attire."
"I truly never expected that in such a barren and remote place, I, Tiannan, would still manage to run into people from Wandao Mountain."
"It seems the heavens are helping me, asking me to exact revenge on this damned Wandao Mountain. This venerable self clearly researched the blood sacrifice array capable of bringing supremacy over the world for you all of Wandao Mountain, yet not only were you ungrateful, you actually dared to encircle and suppress me, making my life worse than death in that damned Sea of Depravity."
"Originally, seven days from now, this venerable self intended to march straight upon Wandao Mountain and slaughter it completely clean. But since I've run into two of them first, I might as well casually eliminate them on the side."
"And judging by the cultivation of these two women, their status probably isn't low either—they're likely the precious darlings of some elders. That will give this group of damned stubborn old fools a bit more pain to endure."
With that, that pale and somewhat demonic-looking face revealed a sinister expression, licked its lips, and plunged directly from the sky, clawing toward the two women.
Faced with a sudden attack of this caliber, the two women hadn't sensed the slightest movement at all and were still playing with the wooden carvings in their hands.
However, right at that moment, the wooden carving in Qingniao's hand suddenly erupted with dazzling light, shining atop the mountain peak like a brilliant little sun.
"Ah, what is going on?"
Qingniao was suddenly startled by the wooden carving in her hand.
Leng Ning beside her was likewise filled with disbelief, because the wooden carving in her own hand had also flashed for an instant just then, though it seemed that upon seeing Qingniao's carving light up, that trace of budding radiance had dimmed away.
Could this wooden carving be more than just an ordinary wooden carving?
While the two women were wondering, the brilliantly glowing wooden carving in Qingniao's hand suddenly burst forth from its body with a dazzling wave of light, shooting fiercely toward the mid-air not far away.
In mid-air, Tiannan, who was in the midst of attacking, naturally also spotted the dazzling radiance bursting forth beside the two women—a glare so bright he couldn't even keep his eyes open.
"What kind of treasure is this?"
"And have I been discovered?"
"No matter. In the face of absolute strength, all other methods are merely fancy tricks."
Tiannan wore a look of utter disdain.
It wasn't until that wave of light crashed toward him that his expression changed drastically.
For the speed of that light wave was simply too fast—too fast for him to evade in time.
When he looked down, he discovered that his chest had been pierced right through, leaving an empty hole the size of a rice bowl.
Excruciating pain spread throughout his entire body, and Tiannan reflexively screamed in agony.
"Ah!"
The miserable scream pierced through the mountain forest. With his eyes wide open in dying grievance, Tiannan plummeted straight down into the mountain forest like a bird with a broken wing.
The two women were still staring in a daze at the mutated wooden carvings in their hands when they heard a scream echoing from the sky not far away.
"Yaya, I accidentally killed someone."
Qingniao instantly panicked, holding the wooden carving and not knowing what to do for a moment.
At this time, the wooden carving had returned to its original state after releasing that shockwave, though upon closer inspection, the texture of the carving was inferior to before.
"Let's go, let's go take a look."
Leng Ning likewise knitted her brows, and leading Qingniao, she flew toward the spot where the person had fallen.
Very quickly, the two of them found the victim.
At this moment, three or five low-grade demonic wolves had gathered beside the victim, twitching their noses as if preparing to enjoy this meal that had fallen from the skies.
"Scram."
Leng Ning let out a sharp cry, driving those demonic wolves away. She then stepped to the side of the person and checked his breath.
"There's no breath left," Leng Ning said, frowning.
"Ah, what should we do then, Elder Sister?"
Qingniao stood completely at a loss on the spot, saying with a remorseful expression, "Elder Sister, I really didn't do it on purpose. I don't even know what I touched, but the wooden carving started glowing and even launched an attack into mid-air."
"I know you didn't do it on purpose." Leng Ning took a deep breath.
Naturally, she had also realized that what Zhong Qing had given them was by no means any ordinary wooden carving, but a super-treasure capable of unleashing ultra-powerful attacks.
It was just that they still didn't quite know how to use them.
And they had mistakenly killed a passerby to boot.
"I was wrong, I was wrong! Big Brother, I really didn't mean it! Big Brother, please don't die with your eyes glaring in grievance—I really didn't do it on purpose!"
Seeing that the corpse still had its eyes wide open, Qingniao stood by with her hands pressed together, continuously repenting and jumping around in anxiety.
"Elder Sister, what do we do?" Qingniao looked at Leng Ning beside her, asking anxiously.
Leng Ning massaged her temples.
In truth, she was speechless as well.
In her view, this fellow's luck was truly wretched to the extreme. This kind of ill-fated way of dying was even more absurd than an ordinary person walking down the street and getting smashed to death by a meteorite falling from the sky.
Actually, regarding this matter, the two women could completely destroy the corpse, erase the traces, and turn away. After all, there was no one else around in this mountain forest.
However, the two women had not yet been tempered much by the world, and their consciences simply wouldn't let them rest.
Moreover, according to the path of cultivation in Wandao Mountain, this sort of thing accumulated karma.
After pondering for a long time, Leng Ning finally spoke: "The person is already dead; there's no way he can be brought back to life. But perhaps we can figure out his identity, find his family afterward, visit them to apologize and make amends, and in that way atone for this crime."
"But how are we supposed to figure out his identity?" Qingniao couldn't help asking. "The attire he's wearing isn't some sect uniform either; there's no identification mark at all."
Hearing this, Leng Ning hesitated slightly before saying, "Then we have no choice but to take his corpse back to Wandao Mountain first, and use Wandao Mountain's resources afterward to investigate his identity."
"Alright, I suppose that's the only way."
Qingniao said.
Subsequently, the two women found a mortal small town a hundred miles away, and there they located a coffin shop.
After purchasing a top-quality coffin, the two women returned once more to the mountain forest.
They then moved Tiannan's corpse into the coffin, and finally placed the coffin inside the storage ring.
Having done all this, not daring to linger any longer, the two women continued on their journey toward Wandao Mountain.
Upon reaching the territory of Wandao Mountain, elders indeed came out to meet and escort them.
However, the elder who came to meet them wore a grave expression. Upon seeing them, he didn't utter a word and directly urged them to hurry back toward Wandao Mountain at top speed.
The two women didn't dare to say much either, clearly sensing the gravity of the atmosphere.
At last, the two women rushed back to Wandao Mountain.
Wandao Mountain was built amidst a cluster of mountains.
Yet these mountain ranges surrounded Wandao Mountain as their center in an enclosing formation, with a large river flowing past more than ten miles outside the gates—clearly a blessed land that concealed the wind and gathered qi.
The scenery of Wandao Mountain was also exceptionally beautiful; whether it was the architectural complexes or the arranged sculptures, each seemed to contain some profound meaning.
Stepping within its bounds, the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth was several times more abundant than in other places.
It was evident that Wandao Mountain possessed extremely high attainments in this regard.
Yet Wandao Mountain's current atmosphere was oppressive; the mountain gates were tightly shut, many arrays had been activated into a state of readiness, and passing disciples were all filled with anxiety.
"Greetings, Master."
Upon returning, the two women first paid their respects to their own master.
"You two have finally returned. It's good that you're unharmed—hurry and follow me. The Sect Master has summoned an emergency meeting."
A white-bearded elder draped in Daoist robes, exuding a rather ethereal immortal aura, heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing the two girls return safely. But with no time for pleasantries, he hastened to lead the two of them to the sect meeting.
"Yes, Master."
Not daring to delay, the two women couldn't even afford to rest.
Originally, they had wanted to share with their master how they had exceptionally completed their mission, brought back six Moon Profound Realm mid-stage demonic beast eyeballs, and even encountered a mysterious, lofty expert like Zhong Qing.
Yet with the situation this heavy, in the face of major sect matters, they could only set these things aside.
Following their master, they walked into the main sect hall.
At this moment, inside the grand hall, all the elders, protectors, and personal disciples of Wandao Mountain were gathered.
The atmosphere was choked with gravity.
Up at the head of the hall, Wandao Mountain's Sect Master, Zhuge Qing, sat with solemn majesty. Sweeping his gaze across those below, he slowly began to speak.
"Everyone, since everyone has arrived, I will get straight to the point."
"Ever since Tiannan reappeared, our Wandao Mountain disciples and sect members traveling and on missions outside have been brutally murdered by Tiannan to the count of over a hundred."
"And this is not even the most critical part; at worst, all members of my Wandao Mountain could temporarily remain within the gates, and we would regain our freedom once Tiannan is eliminated. But what I never expected is that yesterday Tiannan already released harsh words declaring he will attack our Wandao Mountain to avenge the encirclement and suppression of three hundred years ago."
"Everyone, if anyone else had uttered such words, I would simply laugh them off. Even if a Holy Land were to attack us, I wouldn't be this grave, because what Wandao Mountain excels at most is arrays."
"Facing the countless arrays set up in my Wandao Mountain, I am confident in making a Holy Land suffer a thousand losses while sustaining eight hundred of their own should they come to attack."
"But do not forget, Tiannan originated from our very Wandao Mountain, and his attainments in arrays are the highest in the history of Wandao Mountain. In other words, his comprehension of arrays likely surpasses everyone sitting here right now."
"That being the case, the arrays we take the most pride in at Wandao Mountain might be completely useless in his eyes."
As Zhuge Qing's words fell, the entire assembly furrowed their brows.
A heavy silence descended.
And Qingniao and her companion, who had just rushed back, finally understood why the sect wore this look of facing an imminent, formidable enemy.
Next, Zhuge Qing released yet another bombshell.
"Moreover, according to the latest intelligence, Tiannan's cultivation has already reached the Sun Profound Realm!"
"With his cultivation, given that arrays cannot produce any effect on him, his entry into Wandao Mountain will be unstoppable. Even if the Patriarch steps out of seclusion, at most he will only be able to fight him to a draw and play a role of containment. But if Tiannan chooses not to fight the Patriarch and instead attacks others, no one will be able to block his assaults."
"In other words, he can kill everyone in the Sun Profound Realm and still retreat unscathed in the end!"
As these words dropped, the brows of everyone present nearly pinched together against the bridge of their noses.
The gap between each major realm was like a natural chasm—an impassable gulf.
No matter how many Moon Profound Realm cultivators you had, it was impossible to be a match for a Sun Profound Realm expert.
Therefore, even if Tiannan were to casually toss out a few palm strikes anywhere inside Wandao Mountain, the losses would be utterly unbearable.
And although Wandao Mountain also possessed Sun Profound Realm experts holding down the fort, their Wandao Mountain disciples had never been skilled in combat. Under conditions of equal realms, the probability was high that they wouldn't be a match for Tiannan, who had already become a demonic cultivator.
"What should we do? Everyone, give us your thoughts," Zhuge Qing said in a deep voice.
"I feel we still must rely on arrays," one of the elders spoke up first. "After all, Tiannan has been away from Wandao Mountain for three hundred years. In these three hundred years, our Wandao Mountain has researched many new arrays; Tiannan cannot possibly break them all."
"Well said, I think so too," another elder chimed in. "What we excel at most are arrays. Could the fruits of our collective research among so many people possibly fall short of Tiannan alone?"
"While utilizing arrays, I suggest dispersing a portion of the disciples outward beforehand, breaking them up into small units—this is to guard against any eventuality," yet another elder said.
"Very well."
Hearing everyone putting forward their plans in unison, the tight frown on Zhuge Qing's face relaxed slightly.
"Pass down my orders: secretly disperse a portion of the disciples first, and bring them back once the crisis has passed."
"Secondly, while activating all arrays throughout Wandao Mountain, take advantage of the final few days to deploy some additional new arrays. Therefore, all elders, in the face of the sect's crisis, hold nothing back—use out all your trump card methods."
"Elder Yidao, can the Five-Slaughter Array you recently researched be deployed?"
Saying this, Zhuge Qing cast his gaze toward an elder with an ethereal immortal aura. That elder was precisely the master of Qingniao and Leng Ning.
Hearing this, Elder Yidao stood up and sighed, "This array still lacks some materials."
"Oh? What materials are those?" Zhuge Qing asked hurriedly.
"It still lacks demonic beast eyeballs to awaken the spirit," Elder Yidao said. "And if we want it to have an effect on a realm like Tiannan's, ordinary-grade demonic beast eyeballs won't do; they must be at least of the Moon Profound Realm."
"Moon Profound Realm demonic beast eyeballs..."
Zhogue Qing furrowed his brows.
If they were ordinary demonic beasts, given Wandao Mountain's foundation and resources, they could naturally acquire them.
But if they had to be of the Moon Profound Realm, that was truly difficult.