Volume 4, Chapter 187 – Appearing in Person

At the same time, Bai Shengju was busy coordinating with the several sects that had resolved to merge their Dao-line with his, arranging how they would return to Zhennan in the near future.

Everyone present had already sworn heart-oaths, so he did not waste words. After asking the Kong father and son of Jingzhu Dao whether they would also be returning to Zhennan, and receiving a positive answer, Bai Shengju finally turned his gaze toward the gentle female cultivator seated in the hall.

“Xiao… Dao Lord Chen.” He struggled to keep his emotions in check as he said in a low voice, “You understand the current situation as well. My daughter has never been one to exaggerate. If she says there is danger, then the danger can only be greater than what anyone has seen.”

“You want me to leave with you, don’t you?” Chen Yuchan merely looked at him, a faintly teasing smile on her face.

Bai Shengju’s face flushed slightly. “From a theoretical standpoint, that would be the optimal choice…”

“Liangzhou is too far away. Master Kong and I cannot travel together.”

Chen Yuchan cut him off.

Then she changed tack. “But because I’m close to Jingzhou, I already informed Elder Han in advance and had her gather the disciples. They’re standing by at any time.”

Elsewhere, Bai Zhuqing was also notifying the inner sect disciples.

“Elder Sister has already arranged everything.” The girl gathered everyone into an empty room and laid out the evacuation plan.

Xu Shu looked worried. “Is Little Senior Sister leaving too? Then what about the tournament? What about the matches after this?”

Bai Zhuqing thought to herself that, judging by her sister’s sense for impending danger and the present situation, whether the matches after the round of sixteen would even be fought, let alone fought according to the tournament rules, was already uncertain. Who had the spare attention to care about that?

But she also knew she could not say that to people her own age. Saying it would only heighten their anxiety and create new complications for the withdrawal.

So she used the explanation she had prepared beforehand. “I checked the rules. After the round of sixteen, each match only requires one representative. It’ll be enough for Elder Sister to stay behind alone.”

Bai Maoxu raised a hand.

The girl pointed at him. “Then spit it out.”

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“What about the people watching us?” Bai Maoxu lowered his hand, his phone still in the other. “What I mean is… even if most eyes are definitely on Big Sis, people like us won’t be let go that easily, right?”

He had thought further than the others. He still remembered that when Bai Xiang fought Chu Weiping, the aftermath alone had killed quite a few disciples from the demon-and-void factions.

Those people were not all Venerables. There had been piles of disciples below the Venerable level, and if they died, they were dead for real.

Right now, so many demon-and-void sects did not dare say a peep because they feared Bai Xiang’s strength. But if they learned that these people had ditched Bai Xiang and run off on their own, would they not come after them to settle the score?

“Senior Beggar will escort us on the road,” Bai Zhuqing said.

Bai Maoxu frowned. “That may not be enough.”

“There’s also the Silver Sea Merchant Guild…” Bai Zhuqing paused, then chose to reveal a little more to the group.

“We’ve already sounded out the Silver Sea Merchant Guild’s attitude. At the very least, Meng Qiaosheng personally has no intention of severing ties. So I followed that lead and asked him to provide a cargo airship… We won’t be using the flying vessel we arrived on.”

Bai Maoxu nodded. “Then I have no objections.”

Before long, Bai Zhuqing had arranged and explained everything clearly. Although the others still did not know why they were retreating, they understood that if people like them remained in the tournament grounds, they would only become a burden on Bai Xiang.

At the very least, it had not been a wasted trip…

After all, many of the matches in between had been aimed at sects of the main world, and quite a few inner sect disciples had gotten the chance to step onto the stage and temper themselves.

With their horizons broadened as well, if they could go back and digest what they had gained through cultivation, they would make another burst of progress in the short term.

Undercurrents surged through the night, and that eerie calm lasted until dawn.

Affected by the approaching Void Tribulation, what should have been daybreak instead looked dim and overcast.

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Zhu Qingluo streaked alone beneath that canopy of heaven, Qingping Sword in one hand, while the other gripped Senior Sister Qin, who had already lost consciousness. Even now, she was still grumbling about Bai Xiang.

“That rude little brat… dangling treasure in front of me, using me like hired labor. If not for the treasure, how could someone of my stature ever let herself be ordered around by you like this!”

“And you!”

She glared again at the unconscious Senior Sister Qin.

Stubborn as a mule, insisting on guarding that precious sword.

Did she have any idea how many things were coveting it?

If Zhu Qingluo had not seen that the situation was turning bad, knocked her out, and brought her back, that patch of ruins would have been destroyed seven or eight more times, at the very least.

Why were youngsters these days so hard to talk to…?

Feeling a stabbing pain in her temples, Zhu Qingluo could not help recalling how she had spent this period puzzling over Qi-method cultivation with the old beggar. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that “looking after juniors” was worse than talking to a fool.

At least when the old beggar was in a cultivation state, he was not that foolish. Whatever she asked, he answered. Compared with juniors like Bai Xiang, he was downright honest.

Suddenly, the stabbing pain in her head worsened. Ahead of her, black clouds rolled across the sky. In the next instant, the cloud layer split to either side, revealing a black cavity-like fissure within.

A hazy trail of black smoke extended downward out of the clouds and re-formed in front of her into a middle-aged man. He stared at Zhu Qingluo with a faintly appraising look, his gaze brazen to the point of insolence.

“Who are you?” Zhu Qingluo’s expression turned extremely grave.

She could not sense any qi presence from this man at all. That meant there was a strong possibility his cultivation was far above hers.

“Childish.” The middle-aged man stroked his beard lightly, looking at her with a trace of disappointment in his eyes.

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“So you truly did make up your mind… You actually cast out every single ‘stupid’ part of yourself.”

Huh?

Zhu Qingluo’s expression darkened even further.

She had always had a violent temper. Bai Xiang just happened to be someone who restrained and suppressed her completely. Why should she let this bastard stand there and pass judgment on her?

“I’m not here to fight you. A confrontation like that is meaningless.” Seeing the shift in her qi, the middle-aged man continued calmly, “We are not enemies. After all, even your original self chose to join my plan. What does your resistance amount to?”

“My original self?”

Zhu Qingluo paused, her face gradually turning pale.

“You’ve realized it too, haven’t you?” The middle-aged man curved his lips. “That your original self does not trust you… and has concealed certain things from you.”

Zhu Qingluo said nothing, but she really did think of the little white fox.

“The White-Ginseng Spirit Fox is a sapient spirit native to the Douyun Sea. I trust you recognized it long ago,” the man said. “You should already have understood how cruel the truth is.”

He went on, “Everything you are insisting on now is meaningless. That notion of ‘reincarnation’ is outdated. It already failed long ago, and it was abandoned. Its only value to you is that it keeps your attention occupied. Your original self does not want that foolish younger self of hers interfering with her.”

“…You’re lying!”

Zhu Qingluo glared at him, unable to accept such a truth.

“Whether I’m lying or not, you know very well yourself.” The middle-aged man raised his head. “The flaw in your personality… for a sapient spirit with such a long lifespan and such extensive experience, is that flaw not obvious enough?”

“Other than the possibility I mentioned, what other reason do you think there could be for you to appear this foolish?”

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“…Why are you telling me all this?” Zhu Qingluo frowned and stared fixedly at him. “And who exactly are you?”

Her thoughts really were in disarray now. She needed to keep asking questions to maintain the appearance of strength.

“The reason I’m telling you this is naturally because I hope you can still be of some use,” the man said with remarkable frankness.

“I did not come to find you before because the strength she had displayed was not yet enough for me to invest my effort.”

“But things are different now.”

“Even if a single Venerable Saint cannot affect much, I am the sort of person who dislikes variables very much… I prefer to strangle every variable in the cradle.”

“You want me to scheme against her?” Zhu Qingluo quickly grasped his intention and pulled a cold smile across her face. “You think far too lowly of me!”

“Lowly? I had thought this was proof of how seriously I take her.”

The man remained unconcerned in the face of her mockery.

“No matter.”

“Your refusal changes nothing.”

“As for who I am…”

He suddenly bared his teeth and flashed Zhu Qingluo a brilliant smile.

“My name is Pang Tiandao.”

“The world also knows me by another name: the Transmission Venerable Saint.”