Both young women wore palace attire and looked like belles stepping out of a painting. Their garments were exquisite beyond measure, made of brocade and fine silk, while their pendant ornaments chimed softly. The woman standing at the bridgehead wore a headdress adorned with cloud-patterned gems and a golden phoenix, accented by tiny pearls and agates of various colors; in her hair ornaments alone, there were one to two hundred miniature dharma treasures.
The young woman on the boat wore an equally magnificent headdress, complemented by delicate earrings where two or three emerald beads dangled from threaded gold wire—also tempered through thousands of refinements.
Their robes were dyed using crushed gemstones. The maiden on the boat wore red and black as her base colors, with a long skirt, flowing sleeves, and a willowy waist.
The palace gown on the woman at the bridgehead featured red, yellow, and purple, dyed with motifs of luan birds, flying phoenixes, and auspicious clouds, with a cyan sash draped over her shoulders.
On both of them, sashes flowed like wisps of rosy mist, winding around their waists and shoulders and drifting behind them.
Xu Ying had seen many girls, but never had he seen any dressed so lavishly.
Yet such opulent raiment did not overshadow their beauty in the slightest; the woman on the bridge was dignified, while the maiden at the bow was radiant, each breathtaking in her own way. Xu Ying made a rough count: the assorted dharma treasures on the woman at the bridgehead totaled over three hundred, while the maiden on the bow had slightly fewer, only about two hundred.
The woman on the bridge turned her gaze toward the maiden at the bow, a wary expression flashing across her face, and smiled. "My name is Hua Cuoying. I have come on my master's orders. Master says your runes are written exceptionally well and would like to invite Young Master Xu as a guest."
The maiden on the boat was also looking at the woman on the bridge, her heart turning solemn as she smiled. "My name is Chu Xiangxiang. I have come on my father's orders to invite Young Master Xu as a guest."
Granny Meng picked up her tea bowl and looked at them with a beaming smile, thinking to herself, *Two women fighting over one man—won't they tear heaven and earth apart and paint the ground in blood?* She was dying of anticipation, and was just about to take a sip of tea to calm her nerves when she suddenly came to her senses. Hastily setting the bowl down, she broke into a cold sweat. *If this old woman gulps down this tea, the order of the Netherworld will be thrown into chaos.*
Xu Ying grew vigilant. *Many anglers now know the Nuo Ancestor cave-heaven has fallen into my hands, and all of them are trying to hunt me down. There is no guarantee these two aren't anglers.* He scrutinized the two young women and thought, *The talisman in Hua Cuoying's hand is the one I gave Foolish Ah Fu, yet it ended up in her possession. Could something have happened to Foolish Ah Fu?*
He politely declined, saying, "I have urgent matters to attend to and cannot go as a guest. Ladies, let us part ways here."
Chu Xiangxiang smiled. "Young Master Xu, attend to your business. Elder Sister Hua and I still have things to discuss."
Hua Cuoying smiled. "That is my thought as well."
The two women exchanged glances, then looked away, murder quietly rising in their hearts.
Granny Meng picked up another bowl of tea, watching them with a squinting smile, thinking, *Once this bloodbath begins, it will be a storm of slaughter.*
Then wonder struck her: *To think that tanned little face of Young Master Xu could have a fair, delicate day too!*
Xu Ying was somewhat puzzled as well. Walking along the Nai River, he thought, *Those two women clearly didn't know each other, yet the moment they met, they claimed to have business to discuss. How bizarre.*
Seeing him walk into the distance, Chu Xiangxiang stood at the bow and looked up with a smile. "Elder Sister Hua comes from Weixu, doesn't she? I hear there are many wicked people in there. For you to have survived until now, your skills must be quite formidable, Elder Sister Hua?"
At the mention of Weixu, Granny Meng's hands trembled, nearly spilling her Meng Po soup. *This Hua Cuoying is actually a visitor from Weixu!*
Hua Cuoying floated down lightly onto Chu Xiangxiang's boat and smiled. "And could Elder Sister Chu be from the Cangwu Abyss? There are plenty of wicked people in your Cangwu Abyss as well!"
Chu Xiangxiang smiled. "That is true."
Granny Meng was stunned and uncertain. *The Cangwu Abyss? This Chu Xiangxiang is that old freak's daughter! One is from Weixu and the other from Cangwu—natural nemeses against each other. Now things are getting lively!*
The small boat passed beneath the Nai River Bridge.
Aboard the boat, the two maidens chatted and laughed merrily, their figures graceful and their appearances charming, pleasing to the eye. It was as though the Netherworld had turned bright with spring blooms and gentle sunshine because of them.
Suddenly, Hua Cuoying spun halfway around, swaying her slender frame as the power of over a hundred dharma treasures in her hair accessories erupted. In the next instant, the sun and moon shared the sky and a multitude of stars blazed, dragging Chu Xiangxiang into a sea of stars!
The phoenix headdress atop Hua Cuoying's head soared up, transforming into a golden phoenix that swooped down with trailing plumes of blaze! Facing the sun, moon, stars, and golden phoenix from the bow, Chu Xiangxiang smiled faintly as an extraordinarily majestic Primordial Spirit rose behind her, its palms shifting the sun and moon, its hands plucking the stars!
The jade pendants on her body flew out, transforming into jade dragons to clash with the golden phoenix.
With just a brief clash, both women immediately realized their strengths were nearly equal. Without another word, Hua Cuoying summoned a set of Twelve-Storyed Mansions and pressed it straight down, sneering, "Sister Chu, forgive me!"
The Twelve-Storyed Mansions hung in midair, blazing with divine light. Inside the mansions were twelve imprints of youths, each opening their eyes. Chu Xiangxiang instantly sensed danger and, throwing caution to the wind, shook her body. Over two hundred dharma treasures whizzed out from her person to meet the Twelve-Storyed Mansions!
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
One after another, treasures shattered in the sky; whatever came in contact with the Twelve-Storyed Mansions was pulverized on the spot!
Some treasures were not even close when the Dao images imprinted upon them shattered outright!
Chu Xiangxiang took fright. *Those were treasures I forged with immense hardship from divine metal and divine jade gathered in the Cangwu Abyss!*
The divine pavilion contained astonishingly vast Great Dao power and the terror of the Immortal Dao. Before it even drew near, Chu Xiangxiang could already feel the yuan qi inside her falling out of control, and the Dao images within her Realm of Xiyi showed signs of fracturing!
*This dharma treasure is simply invincible! Unless I borrow my father's natal dharma treasure, there is no way to rival it!*
Chu Xiangxiang gritted her teeth, stripped off her palace gown, and tossed it into the air with a flick of her hand. It turned into clouds and mist filling the sky—red, black, and white—blotting out the sun and sky as it surged toward the Twelve-Storyed Mansions.
In the next instant, the clouds and mist shattered completely, and the Dao images collapsed.
Hua Cuoying burst out from the shattered mist, her gaze sharp as a sword as she swept the surroundings. Chu Xiangxiang was nowhere to be seen, leaving behind only the small boat. That boat had also been a rare treasure, yet under the crushing weight of the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, it had decayed and turned brittle.
Hua Cuoying snorted, lightly sweeping her sleeve, and reduced the small boat to powder! She flew down and landed upon the Nai River Bridge, looking at Granny Meng and asking softly, "Does Senior know where that Chu maiden fled?"
Granny Meng shook her head. "I did not see."
Hua Cuoying stared at her, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions surfacing behind her as she said, "Senior's divine powers are vast; you must know her whereabouts, don't you?"
Granny Meng sneered and said coolly, "Little girl of the Hua family, that divine pavilion may be formidable, but you are not. Don't go asking for trouble!"
The moment the words "asking for trouble" were uttered, countless voices overlapped at once. The Netherworld vanished, replaced by a boundless starry sky! Granny Meng's body was immeasurably vast as she presided over the void, with the Nai River connecting the myriad heavens and worlds, where billions of living beings seemed like mere ants!
As the final word fell, the ancient deity's immense divine power erupted! Hua Cuoying stood there, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions radiating brilliance behind her, while heavy impacts struck before and behind her; she watched as the starry sky was blasted backward at alarming speed!
Hua Cuoying was shaken with terror and doubt. By the time everything settled, Granny Meng's true form and the terrifying sight of the Nai River linking the myriad worlds had finally dispersed.
Looking around, she found that she had been hurled to who knew where. Fortunately, thanks to the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, she was uninjured.
*The strength of this primordial heavenly god is truly terrifying. In the depth of her magic power, she is likely not a whit inferior to Master!*
Collecting her wits, she made a slicing motion with her hand. A rift cleaved open in the sky like an abyss, revealing a gigantic eye rolling about.
Using this giant eye of the abyss to survey the land, Hua Cuoying floated upward and drifted away atop an auspicious cloud.
Back on the Nai River Bridge, Granny Meng was also inwardly shaken. She murmured, "That divine pavilion is remarkably powerful. I originally intended to teach that girl a small lesson, but I didn't expect the pavilion would block it. That old monster in Weixu has forged this divine pavilion into something scarcely resembling a mortal treasure! And it has that kid Xu Ying's imprint inside—could it be..."
She hurriedly shook her head and whispered, "None of my business. Don't poke your nose into other people's affairs!"
Xu Ying was walking along the Nai River when suddenly a girl fell from the sky, hitting the surface of the river with a loud smack.
Xu Ying hastily took several steps back, signaling that this had nothing to do with him.
The girl's hair was disheveled. On her upper body, she wore only an underbodice covering her chest, fastened by a red cord around her neck, leaving her back bare; fortunately, she still had a pair of white culottes on her legs. Taking this in, Xu Ying wondered suspiciously, *Isn't this maiden Chu Xiangxiang? Why has her palace dress disappeared?*
With her hair over her shoulders and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, Chu Xiangxiang covered her chest with one hand while grabbing his wrist with the other, her face filled with panic. "My father is the God of Cangwu! Hua Cuoying is hunting me down! Her dharma treasure is terrifying—hurry, find a place to hide, or neither of us will survive!"
Hearing this, Xu Ying glanced around and immediately took her hand, saying briskly, "Follow me!"
Chu Xiangxiang stumbled along after him. A moment later, she saw Xu Ying arrive before a mountain stream along the riverbank, where he produced a battered wooden door and knocked gently upon it.
A woman's voice came from beyond the door: "Who is it? Xiaoke, go open the door."
A moment later, Li Xiaoke opened the door from inside. Seeing Xu Ying and Chu Xiangxiang, he showed a look of surprise.
Xu Ying said, "We need to borrow your precious place to hide from an enemy."
Li Xiaoke opened his Realm of Xiyi and invited them inside. Stowing the wooden door, Xu Ying led Chu Xiangxiang into this Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground.
Chu Xiangxiang's injuries were quite severe, with the Dao images within her in complete disarray. However, she was a Nuo Master as well, and soon stabilized her condition.
Xu Ying offered an apology to Li Xiaoke and his wife: "Please forgive us for disturbing you both."
The woman smiled. "Hardly anyone ever comes here, except for my master who drops by from time to time to visit us. Your arrival brings us great joy; how could it be a disturbance?"
Li Xiaoke nodded with a smile.
The woman was very warm toward Chu Xiangxiang, examining her injuries, fetching some of her own clothes for her to wear, and chatting casually with her.
Xu Ying moved closer to the water well to check on the scene outside.
Having recovered somewhat, Chu Xiangxiang also came over and peered down into the well. Her eyes flickering, she whispered, "Young Master Xu, this couple seems rather strange. Just now, I saw the back of their heads..."
Xu Ying said softly, "Don't tell them. Both of them know they are dead, and both know the other is dead, but neither has voiced it."
He looked back toward Li Xiaoke and his wife, who were busy tilling and weaving. With deep, somber eyes, he said, "If it is spoken aloud, their obsession will dissipate, and this realm will collapse as well."
Chu Xiangxiang was now clad in the woman's clothes, yet retaining the radiance of youth, she appeared quite enchanting. She whispered, "Still, this Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground was not cultivated through orthodox methods. Sooner or later, it will wither and perish."
Xu Ying withdrew his gaze. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it."
Before Chu Xiangxiang could speak further, Hua Cuoying's figure suddenly appeared on the water's surface within the well.
Her robes fluttering, the woman flew across the sky above this Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground, then abruptly halted and looked around.
"Sister Chu, you are injured; you cannot have fled far. You must have chased after Young Master Xu, right?"
Hua Cuoying's voice drifted down as she laughed. "Young Master Xu, where are you hiding? I harbor no malice; I merely wish to invite you to Weixu as an honored guest. As long as you hand over Sister Chu, you will still be a guest of honor in our Weixu."
Her divine sense swept forth, piercing through the void, causing this entire Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground to tremble as though on the verge of collapsing at any moment!
Suddenly, a set of Twelve-Storyed Mansions appeared behind Hua Cuoying, floating in midair and anchoring the space.
The moment the mansions appeared, the Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground showed signs of unraveling!
Xu Ying was startled, and when he saw an imprint shaped like himself on every single story of that divine pavilion, he was even more astounded: *This divine pavilion is...*
As if having discovered something, Hua Cuoying abruptly vanished together with the divine pavilion, and the unraveling of the Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground finally came to a halt.
Li Xiaoke and his wife also breathed a sigh of relief.
During the unnatural upheaval just now, husband and wife had clung to each other in silence.
"Did you see that divine pavilion as well?" Chu Xiangxiang asked.
Xu Ying, shaken with doubt and astonishment, nodded. "That divine pavilion..."
"That divine pavilion is the Twelve-Storyed Mansions of an entity who achieved the Twelve Signs of the Primordial Spirit—severed and forged into a dharma treasure."
Chapter 280