The Pei clan's carriage traveled along the roadway formed of incense smoke qi, speeding toward the Guo manor. Suddenly, Xu Ying saw a tall figure descend from the heavens, landing ahead of the carriage.
It was an elderly Confucian scholar possessing an awe-inspiring, righteous aura.
*I saw him in the Pei clan's forbidden grounds!* Xu Ying thought, stirred.
In the Pei clan's cave-heavens lay buried Pei clan Nuo immortals reduced to mere skins. Among them was precisely this elderly scholar—he had not been entirely devoured, only hollowed of his internal organs.
However, the Jade Pool secret depository lay roughly one cun and three fen beneath the navel. A Pei clan expert's entire cultivation resided in the Jade Pool secret depository; once their organs were hollowed out, that cultivation vanished into smoke.
What was more, this Pei clan Nuo immortal's spirit had also been devoured; what now guided his flesh was nothing more than a wisp of lingering remnant thought.
Suddenly, more powerful figures descended one after another from the heavens, landing upon the carriage road and keeping pace with the rushing vehicle.
"Nuo immortals have appeared!" someone cried out in shock from afar. "It's the Pei clan's ancestral Nuo immortals, returning to the mortal realm!"
Those figures descending from above were indeed the successive generations of the Pei clan's Nuo immortals. According to the claims made to the outside world, the Pei clan's Nuo immortals had naturally undergone Hidden Scenery latent transformation to coexist with the world, living as carefree, wandering old immortals in their respective Hidden Sceneries.
In reality, however, their twilight years had been wretched. One after another had died in their places of latent transformation, their flesh, blood, and bones devoured until only skins remained.
Now, these skins had flown out from the Pei clan's forbidden grounds and appeared on the official post road.
Though they were reduced to empty skins, they still possessed the bearing and poise of Nuo immortals. In particular, their imposing momentum of establishing a heart for heaven and earth shook the very atmosphere of Shendu!
This momentum instantly caught the attention of the Jinwu Guard and others, who looked over in succession.
Pei clan Nuo immortals flew over one after another to guard the left and right of the carriage. Gradually, the Nuo immortals surrounding the vehicle numbered more than a hundred.
"Though the journey to the Guo manor is not far, I fear there may be dangers and obstacles," Pei Du said with an impassive expression. "I alone cannot withstand a siege by the other aristocratic clans, so I will give them no opportunity whatsoever. As clan master, I possess the authority to mobilize the remnant spirits of our ancestors."
Xu Ying looked at those towering figures outside, deeply shaken. This was an ancient clan with over two thousand years of history; when its heritage was laid bare, the entire world trembled!
Over a hundred Nuo immortals. Though dead, their Hidden Sceneries drifted in the air, suppressing any would-be scoundrels.
Though the body dies and the soul perishes, the qi of the Dao endures!
Xu Ying withdrew his gaze from outside the window and said to Pei Du, "Thank you."
Pei Du smiled faintly and replied, "No need to thank me. This disaster was caused by my clan's lax discipline. When one does wrong, one must take responsibility. I can only escort you on this journey; whether your life can be saved depends on the Guo clan. This time, I fear the Guo clan will be dragged into it."
Over a hundred Nuo immortals acting as an escort shook the entirety of Shendu; not even an imperial progress by the Emperor displayed such an overwhelming spectacle!
People speculated wildly over which eminent dignitary sat inside the carriage, but who could have imagined that the passenger was merely a snake catcher from the countryside of Lingling?
Still, some guessed who was inside. It was just that the Pei clan's display of power was so tremendous, even mobilizing the Nuo immortals rumored to live in seclusion away from the mortal world, that naturally no one dared make a move.
At last, escorted by over a hundred Nuo immortals, the carriage reached the Guo manor. Having received word in advance, the Guo manor had thrown open its gates. Pei Du did not alight; he drove the carriage straight inside, rolling all the way into the rear courtyard before coming to a halt.
Old Ancestor Guo, his hair completely white, dismissed everyone. Even Guo Xiaodie and the one-armed Guo Yue, who had come to see the commotion, were chased away.
The carriage door opened, and Pei Du stepped out, walking to Old Ancestor Guo's side.
Old Ancestor Guo sighed and complained, "I just got word and was planning to head over to the Yuan manor tonight to eat someone, and here you are delivering the person right to me. Couldn't you wait a single night until after I've eaten?"
Inside the carriage, Xu Ying and Yuan Qi heard this and exchanged looks.
Yuan Qi comforted him, "Don't worry, Ah Ying. The person Old Master Guo plans to eat definitely isn't you. Someone else in the Yuan clan must be very delicious too!"
His confidence, however, was rather shaky.
Old Ancestor Guo's voice came from outside: "Did you eat him?"
Pei Du replied, "I almost did, but fortunately I held back."
Old Ancestor Guo muttered, "How could you hold back? If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to resist—I'd certainly have had a taste. By the way, sending him to me... could it be you want me to gain immortality? Tonight is just right to steam him. My pot is huge; the steamer basket can fit two or three people. Don't leave tonight—let's eat together."
Pei Du said, "Brother, you joke. He treated me with absolute sincerity; how could I repay him with the petty, grasping anxiety of a vile man? Prince Li Zhaolou died in my manor. I must make a personal trip to the imperial palace to give an account. Once I enter the palace, I fear I may not come out again. I can only rely on you to hold the line here, Brother."
Old Ancestor Guo sighed. "Then I'll just have to enjoy him all by myself. You know I'm even older than you, and I'm often petty and anxious, so your old brother won't wait for you—I'll taste him first."
Pei Du took out the Primordial Spirit Calamity Deliverance Scripture and handed it to Old Ancestor Guo, saying, "This scroll of scripture gives me hope of survival. Perhaps Nuo immortals really can attain immortality in the mortal world without having to fear twilight tragedy. Don't be so anxious—read it first before you fret."
Old Ancestor Guo examined it for a moment and said, "Make me a copy."
Pei Du laughed. "Just keep it here. Besides, the person is staying with you as well. If you, Colonel Guo, have any thoughts, you can ask him directly. Brother, I entrust him to you—alive."
Old Ancestor Guo sighed. "It will be hard for him to survive tonight."
Pei Du fell silent for a moment, then said, "If you can't hold out, send him out. Don't throw away your own life and family."
Old Ancestor Guo said, "Right now, his value in deciphering demon arts is far less than the value of his flesh. There are more eyes fixed on that body of meat than there are monsters in the moat. Sending him away safely will be difficult."
Pei Du took his leave, smiling. "You've received his favor and taken on my request. Whether you remain petty and anxious or walk upright and open-hearted is up to you, Brother."
Old Ancestor Guo blew out his beard and glared, staring at the carriage with long sighs.
"Steamed, or braised in brown sauce?" he muttered under his breath.
Xu Ying cleared his throat. "I heard that."
Old Ancestor Guo snapped angrily, "Just because you heard it means I can't eat you? What nonsense! Rather than having you caught and carved up tonight, why shouldn't I taste you first? Brat, how do you want to die?"
Xu Ying stepped out of the carriage. Old Ancestor Guo hurriedly raised his sleeve to cover his face and fled as if running for his life, shouting, "Don't come out! Seeing you makes my mouth water, you've stirred up my craving!"
Xu Ying felt a faint twinge of worry and murmured, "Leaving me with the Guo clan—is Chancellor Pei really reliable?"
Old Ancestor Guo had vanished without a trace, and for a long time no one entered the garden. Though Pei Du had also departed, he had left those hundred-plus Pei clan ancestors here. Over a hundred Nuo immortals stood in every corner of the garden, dutifully guarding Xu Ying.
Though they were merely skins, they were Nuo immortals after all, and every single one was more powerful than the ghost Nuo immortal Chen Mianzhu!
Xu Ying simply strolled about, taking in the scenery. As he sat leisurely in a pavilion, voices drifted over. It was Guo Xiaodie: "Kowtow once and grow back an arm—Fourth Uncle, you're making a massive profit!"
Guo Yue's furious voice replied, "I'd rather be missing an arm than kowtow and apologize to him!"
"Who did you learn this stubborn donkey temper from?" Guo Xiaodie said. "In a moment, I'll kowtow in your place, and you just stand by and say the apology."
"No!"
"Our bodies, hair, and skin are gifts from our parents! If your body isn't whole, you're unfilial! Fourth Uncle, I'll have Second Aunt beat you!"
Bickering back and forth, the two walked over. Seeing Xu Ying in the pavilion from afar, Guo Xiaodie ran over briskly, bending her body to kneel and kowtow.
Before she could drop to her knees, Guo Yue rushed forward, dropped to the ground with a thud, and kowtowed to Xu Ying, crying out, "As a real man living under heaven, how could I let my niece kowtow on my behalf? Word would get out and I'd be laughed at! I'll do it myself! Monster King Xu, I tried to strangle you. I was wrong! In your great magnanimity, please don't hold it against me!"
Xu Ying hurriedly helped him up and smiled. "You are Xiaodie's fourth uncle, which makes you my fourth uncle as well. How could you bow to me? Besides, on the battlefield there is no right or wrong—everyone was merely fighting for their lives."
Guo Yue rose with the momentum. Guo Xiaodie hurried to ask, "And my fourth uncle's arm?"
It was also Xu Ying's first time regenerating a limb for someone else, and he wasn't sure if it would work. He immediately tried channeling the longevity qi from his Mud Pill secret depository, slowly infusing it into Guo Yue's body.
Things went more smoothly than he had imagined. Without needing to do anything further, flesh and blood burgeoned at Guo Yue's severed stump, bone sprouted, and clusters of nerves continuously extended forward.
Before long, a completely fresh arm grew out.
Guo Yue was awestruck. "The Mud Pill secret depository truly yields an immortal body. Thank you, Monster King Xu, for not holding past grudges."
Xu Ying smiled. "It was just a small effort."
Guo Xiaodie chimed in, "It might be a small effort for you, but it saved his life! He needed someone to support him just to use the privy, and it was terribly inconvenient when having fun with Second Aunt—a concubine had to give him a push! I heard it loud and clear when I passed by!"
A cold wind blew past, leaving dead silence.
Guo Yue panicked and blurted out, "I just remembered I have business—I'll take my leave first! Brother Xu, we share a life-and-death bond, so no need for words. If you need anything, just say the word!"
He fled in a hurry, not daring to stay another second lest Guo Xiaodie blab about something else.
Xu Ying watched him leave in the distance and sighed with sympathy, "It must have been hard on him these days."
Guo Xiaodie looked him up and down, asking curiously, "Everyone outside is saying eating your flesh grants immortality. Is it true or false?"
At her mention of this, Yuan Qi perked up as well, slithering out from Xu Ying's collar and transforming into a giant snake upon hitting the ground. "I was just thinking of verifying that myself!"
Guo Xiaodie and he exchanged a glance, in perfect sync, before turning their eyes to Xu Ying in unison.
Xu Ying said warily, "If eating my flesh could grant immortality, who knows how many people would have eaten it already? And if they became immortal, wouldn't eating their flesh grant immortality as well? If everyone kept eating like that, wouldn't the world be crawling with immortals?"
"Mmh, that makes a lot of sense." Yet their eyes remained bright as they stared at Xu Ying.
Xu Ying felt uneasy, constantly worried they might devour him in the next instant.
*I'm in the Guo manor, and with so many Nuo immortals protecting me, nothing major should happen.*
Xu Ying calmed his mind and carefully examined his Jade Pool secret depository.
Back then in the Pei clan's forbidden grounds, he had already located the Jade Pool secret depository. It lay roughly one cun and three fen beneath the navel, situated within the Realm of Xiyi. Without someone's guidance or mysterious energy to stimulate one's yuan qi, pinpointing the exact location of this secret depository would be exceedingly difficult.
His yuan qi floated in midair; to the yuan qi, the air was a sea of qi, and the jade pool beneath that sea was the secret depository harboring endless, boundless yuan qi!
Xu Ying was already intimately familiar with his own Realm of Xiyi, yet this was the first time he noticed this jade pool situated upon the continent. The jade pool was bottomless; peering into it was just like the scenery he had witnessed in the Pei clan's forbidden grounds.
Within the pool seemed to lie an other shore world, lustrous as jade, captivating the spirit.
Xu Ying sat cross-legged, concentrating his mind. With palms facing upward and resting on his knees, he unconsciously mobilized the divine ability Calamity Descends from the Heavens, blasting from within the Realm of Xiyi straight into the Jade Pool!
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as tribulation light poured down. His divine ability pierced through the jade pool, forming his first Jade Pool cave-heaven!
The moment this cave-heaven was breached, Xu Ying felt an endless stream of yuan qi surge from another space-time, causing his cultivation to steadily rise.
His divine sense stirred, returning before the Jade Pool secret depository. Looking through the cave-heaven into the depths of the pool, he suddenly had an epiphany: *Could an other shore world truly exist there? Otherwise, how could the human body harbor such abundant yuan qi?*
Back when he first opened the Mud Pill secret depository, he had vaguely felt that the vitality of the Mud Pill secret depository might not originate from the human body, but rather that the body's Mud Pill connected to a vast, profound realm of chaos; opening the Mud Pill allowed one to fish for power from that deep chaotic domain!
Later, when he opened the Crimson Palace secret depository of his heart chamber, this feeling grew stronger.
Now that he had opened the Jade Pool secret depository, the sensation became even more intense!
*Did the Pei clan's Nuo immortals ever visit the other shore?*
He opened his eyes and saw that night had fallen without him realizing. Guo Xiaodie had also slipped away at some point. Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and thunder rumbled, growing steadily lower and heavier.
Xu Ying looked around. The Pei clan's Nuo immortals still stood tall in their positions, unmoving.
*Crash!*
Torrential rain poured down, fierce and swift. Even sheltering in the pavilion, one would be soaked through by the driving wind and rain.
Suddenly, the Pei clan Nuo immortals leaped into the air. High above, they clashed against unknown demonic monsters. The wind and rain intensified, carrying hair-raising sounds that were impossible to tell apart from the howling gale or monstrous roars.
With a sharp crack, a bolt of lightning struck the garden, illuminating an iron-tower-like figure. White eyebrows, white hair, white beard—he stood erect in the wind and rain, leaning on a thick, massive Green Dragon Halberd.
A slick, azure serpentine form suddenly slithered over the Green Dragon Halberd, swelling thicker and larger until it was revealed to be an azure dragon coiling around the crescent-bladed halberd!
"Tonight, heavy rain falls over Shendu," the towering white-haired elder said, standing firm as iron. He suddenly shook the Green Dragon Halberd and soared into the sky, his voice rolling through the air like thunder: "And now, we add a touch of blood!"
*Crack!*
Xu Ying looked up and saw lightning slash across the vast sky as though tearing the heavens apart!
The torn expanse suddenly blazed with light. The rhythmic clatter of hooves rang out as a horse carriage dragging a blazing sun came riding through the rift, as if intent on banishing the night!
"Back!"
The towering white-haired elder swung his Green Dragon Halberd, cleaving into the torn sky to clash against an axe and a club flying out from the carriage. The rift snapped shut, and the clattering hooves receded into the distance!
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi stared upward, eyes wide, muttering, "The old man is terrifyingly fierce..."
Just then, Guo Xiaodie rushed over, crying out, "Ancestor said he's old and can only hold out for three rounds and repel three enemies! He's already driven off two, but if another comes, he told me to take you and run!"
The sky darkened once more. The third enemy had arrived. With a single glance, Xu Ying recognized who it was.
"The Nine Heavens Yang Spirit Mysterious Altar Technique! The Emperor has made his move!"
Chapter 99