Dispute

The Wilderness. Torrential rain poured from the heavens. Clouds from Jiangbei hung in dense, layered sheets, drifting southward on the wind and churning up vast, cascading torrents across the barren hill country like roaring waterfalls. The low-slung structures on the ground swiftly vanished in the deluge. A scattering of tiny, ant-like silhouettes struggled a few times against the swirling flood before disappearing even faster. Streaking rays of light flared across the sky, hurtling forward in haste. The leader wore black robes and carried an exceptionally ferocious aura. Evil Qi swirled chillingly in his eyes. Riding wisps of dark vapor, he halted along the bank with a ghastly scowl. Behind him, a flock of black-robed cultivators closely trailed in pursuit. At his waist hung the Guiming Dark Plaque, shimmering with a hazy, dazzling brilliance. He first cast a somber gaze around, raised the Guiming Dark Plaque, and chanted several incantations, causing his eyes to light up. A cultivator behind him cried out, "Hall Master! We've already reached the Wilderness. If we pursue any further south, we'll reach Qingchi!" At the words of the cultivators at his sides, the demonic cultivator's expression darkened even further. He shook the plaque continuously in his hand and answered grimly, "No escaping light can be seen to the south. That person could never fly so swiftly! According to the Guiming Dark Plaque, he must have landed in the Wilderness. Search! The Guiming Dark Plaque tracks his position every quarter of an hour; we cannot allow him to escape!" The crowd of cultivators dispersed at once. The cultivator addressed as Hall Master gripped the plaque and swept an eagle-eyed glare across the earth below. Clamorous voices soon rose into a dispute. A woman rode the wind upward, arriving right before him. She held a grey ring and possessed considerable beauty, catching the man's eye. She spoke in a gentle, melodic voice: "So it is Hall Master Bai. I am Miaoshui. May I ask what business has troubled Your Venerable Self to come to our Wilderness?" Daoist Bai glanced at her. Seeing that his subordinates below were blocked by a mere two cultivators at the early Foundation Establishment stage, he knew their background was no small matter. Suppressing his irritation, he raised a brow and demanded, "The Wilderness is ownerless land. Who is your master?" Had Daoist Bai not stumbled into his lucky chance, an East Sea rogue cultivator like him would have been even inferior to Miaoshui, having to treat her with utmost deference. Yet now, he could put on airs as if he owned the place. Miaoshui could only grit her teeth and reply in a low voice, "Though the Wilderness has no master, all the clans large and small bordering Lake Wangyue are branch lines of our Lake Wangyue. By reason and right, they are under our family's protection." "Lake Wangyue?" Daoist Bai felt a flicker of hesitation. He remarked, "A few days ago, an elder of your noble clan was also attacked. Now that a major incident has occurred on the Bai River, it is likely the work of the same group. Let us search together." Without waiting for Miaoshui's agreement, he gave a light wave of his hand. The cultivators at his flanks quickly fanned out toward the surrounding area. Miaoshui's complexion shifted drastically, and she snapped, "What is the meaning of this, Hall Master Bai?" Daoist Bai commanded a horde of demonic cultivators; one could hardly find a single normal person among ten of them. How could she let such people run rampant in the Wilderness? But Miaoshui and her companions were outnumbered. Crushing a jade talisman, she warned coldly, "Hall Master Bai, think carefully. Many cultivators of my family are right on the river. It would not take a quarter of an hour for them to arrive. If this sparks a great war between our two sides, it will bring no good!" 'Cui Jueyin and Ding Weizeng are both locked in battle against Duxian Dao. Can they really rush back? We sped all the way here, so the cultivators on both riverbanks must know. If they leave, will Duxian Dao just sit idly by?' Coming up with an excuse, he made a couple of perfunctory retorts. Yet suddenly, the western sky lit up with Lihuo. Several dazzling lights arrived one after another, resolving into figures within the clouds. The leading man possessed golden eyes and an utterly expressionless face, speaking in a frigid tone: "Hall Master Bai… what are you doing?" Behind him stood Chen Yang with a stern countenance, while Li Minggong and Qu Bushi, who had arrived slightly later, stood quietly in the clouds. Seeing Li Jiangqian, Daoist Bai grew all the more displeased, but he put on a smile and said, "Patriarch Li, someone killed a protector of my Huaihun Palace and fled into the Wilderness. We are here to conduct a search…" Li Jiangqian swept a glance over the ragtag bunch below him and replied offhandedly, "Then you're too late. How fast Foundation Establishment cultivators fly! By now, anyone who ought to have left has already gone. What is there left to search for? Unless, Hall Master, you are using the hunt as a pretext while harboring crooked intentions?" At these blunt words, Daoist Bai's expression turned chillingly cold. The old demonic cultivator had never thought much of Li Jiangqian to begin with. He cursed inwardly with deep resentment: 'I am the successor to a Violet Palace lineage, destined to achieve Violet Palace myself! In all of Lake Wangyue, only Li Zhouwei has any assurance of reaching Violet Palace—he is the only one on my level. A mere junior like you, Li Jiangqian, dares give me a cold shoulder? What insolence!' After years of behaving with arrogant impunity, he had concocted his own logic, practically regarding his status on par with a Violet Palace cultivator. As his face darkened, he had no idea that Chen Yang, resting a hand on the sword at his waist with sinister eyes, held an uncannily similar thought: 'A dog-like creature who coasted on a sliver of luck, shoved out as a sacrificial scapegoat, yet he dares oppose our family…' Li Jiangqian would never let Daoist Bai meddle with the Wilderness as he pleased. He did not yield a single step, watching him calmly. The air grew taut, smelling of drawn swords and bent bows. Just then, a group of cultivators in golden robes flew over from the east. Their leader beamed with smiles, calling out warmly: "Hall Master Bai, what brings your honored presence to the Wilderness!" Daoist Bai was surprisingly familiar with this man and smiled. "So it is Daoist Tian of Xuanmu. We are searching for someone… That person killed one of mine and was severely injured. He cannot have fled far and has definitely landed here. Please make way for us… He stole something of mine and was struck by an art when he killed my man. As long as my subordinates draw close, they will find him!" "Very well, very well." The cultivator of the Xuanmu lineage agreed immediately and let them pass down. Huaihun Palace lacked many things, but it had an endless, teeming horde of demonic cultivators. Led by one or two, they swarmed downward. The Xuanmu lineage had once been part of the demonic path, and its internal affairs were chaotic. Matters concerning True Lords would certainly not be shared with the cultivators below. Li Jiangqian took a glance, and seeing no direct scions of the Dai family among them, he realized these were minor figures. With Zhu Gong traveling north, there was no telling how anxious things had become inside Muquan Gate. Yet no sooner had Daoist Tian agreed than a burly man wearing a golden mask spoke up in a deep voice from the side: "Daoist, Huaihun Palace possesses numerous demonic cultivators. If they are left unchecked, I fear they will harm the common people of the Wilderness." This single sentence put Daoist Tian in an awkward position. A glint of frost flashed in his eyes, but he smiled. "Since Fellow Daoist Fu Yuezi has such a compassionate heart, why not go along with them?" Fu Yuezi's life under Muquan Gate was clearly not going well, but being straightforward and simple-minded, he actually flew down upon hearing this. Qu Bushi recognized him and showed a look of indignation, while Li Jiangqian frowned as he watched the two playing off each other to the north, a premonition growing within him. Having received their assent and seeing Li Jiangqian unmoved, Daoist Bai held up the plaque in his hand and performed a brief divination. A trace of urgency showed on his face. Turning to Li Jiangqian, he said in a low voice, "Patriarch Li! I won't beat around the bush with you any longer. The thing that person stole is of vital importance to my Mifan lineage. Please grant Lake Wangyue's face to me. If any casualties occur afterward and a few lives are lost, my family will simply compensate you with as many people!" To these overseas demonic cultivators, human lives were merely countable resources. Understanding grew in Li Jiangqian's heart. Standing in the air, he smiled and said, "Hall Master, go back to where you came from! I cannot allow you through." No matter how Huaihun Palace stirred up trouble, it was definitely not a good character in the eyes of the True Lord. Moreover, whoever had managed to escape their clutches was someone of immense utility. Even if that person was no good, backing away from the eastern shore just to avoid offending Huaihun Palace would have a disastrous impact on the Li family's reputation and the broader situation. 'They've pressed right up to our doorstep. We cannot sit out.' Yet as Li Jiangqian spoke, Daoist Bai seemed to have anticipated it, his eyes sinking heavily. In Daoist Bai's eyes, the Li family was internally depleted, with all their capable subordinates having gone north. As long as he held back the three or five people before him and rushed into the Wilderness, the Li family would be powerless to stop them. Furthermore, the Wilderness held only subordinate clans of the Li family, not Lake Wangyue itself. Was there any need for Li Jiangqian to make an enemy of a future Violet Palace cultivator like him over a handful of mortals? Acting like Muquan Gate was the natural choice! The black-robed old man feigned politeness as he pressured him: "Patriarch, you had better reconsider! I fear we must ask your noble clan for guidance and exchange some pointers with my hall." At his command, a burly man with bulging eyes stepped forward aggressively. Yet despite his fierce demeanor, he reeked of bloody filth, looking far from intimidating. Daoist Bai was brimming with confidence, but the golden-eyed youth burst out laughing and replied, "Since the Hall Master says so, please wait a moment!" He stepped forward, searched through his storage bag, pulled out a golden hammer, and showed it to the two of them. "This…" Daoist Bai stared in bewilderment. He never imagined that Li Jiangqian would suddenly erupt, reversing the golden hammer and swinging it forward! A surging wave of apricot-yellow Lihuo trailed closely behind, crashing toward the burly man's face like lightning. Li Jiangqian laughed: "What sort of rubbish are you!" Rumble! The burly man had no time to react before the hammer struck his jaw. Visible spurts of blood were instantly incinerated into black smoke by the Lihuo. A boundless torrent of apricot-yellow flames spilled downward in a flash, lighting up the torrential rain. "Arooo—!" A shrill, agonizing roar pierced the night sky. Covered in flowing Lihuo, the burly man was knocked flying high into the air. Only midair did he manage to steady himself, flailing frantically to extinguish the flames. "Li Jiangqian! Have you gone mad!" Daoist Bai had never expected Li Jiangqian to be smiling one moment and swinging a hammer the next, without giving anyone even a second to notice a change in expression! What was more, as the head of an immortal clan with noble blood and only an early Foundation Establishment cultivation, he should have retreated early and ordered his subordinates to protect him if a fight broke out. Yet he dared to strike first! Fury surged in his heart. Just as he raised his hand, another hammer had already come crashing down. Apricot-yellow Lihuo plummeted, searing his body so violently that his Yin Qi boiled, while his Dharma sword still hung at his waist, not yet drawn. Right behind came true fire that drifted like feathers. Li Minggong was watching most closely, reacting even faster than Chen Yang. The cultivators below burst into an uproar, and the several figures from Muquan Gate watched in stunned silence: 'They… they're fighting just like that? Li Zhouwei isn't even here. It was hard enough for Lake Wangyue to contend against Duxian Dao, and now they're adding Huaihun Palace to the mix?!' Before they could dwell on it, Li Jiangqian swung his second hammer and transformed into flames to retreat. Daoist Bai was consumed by rage, yet suppressed until he could barely breathe under the relentless barrage of true fire. He invoked in his heart: "Huaiyin Secret Art!" A sheet of dark green light surged from his body. Li Minggong simply knitted her brows, held the Hexagonal Red Flame Lamp before herself, and pursed her crimson lips, unleashing a wave of true fire through the artifact's might. She had mastered Tujun Gate's Miaodai Art Transformation. This breath of flame, expelled with the aid of Pure Feather Lihuo and the Dharma artifact, possessed terrifying power. Meanwhile, Daoist Bai's Huaiyin ghost was neither particularly formidable nor of high grade, and it happened to be completely countered by her true fire. The dark green light was instantly blasted to cinders, and he was suppressed until his face flushed bright red. The battle had hardly begun when the surrounding demonic cultivators gathered, only to choke in shock once again. 'Ah?' 'We never heard that this Li Minggong was this formidable…' As the Hall Master of Huaihun Palace, hailed as the orthodox heir to the Mifan lineage, Daoist Bai had carried earth-shattering momentum in recent days, thoroughly arrogant and unstoppable. Yet being pinned down and suffocated by a sheet of flame from Li Minggong was an absolute, humiliating disgrace… Even Daoist Bai himself was flushed red, feeling dazed. When he conquered Tangjin Gate, Situ Biao had been near the end of his lifespan without any remarkable Dharma artifacts; there had been no need for him to intervene, as a swarming mob of demonic cultivators had simply beaten Situ Biao to death… Now, suddenly facing a true direct scion of an immortal clan, his Huaiyin Art scorched by the true fire, his shoddy amateur skills were instantly laid bare. He found the woman's flames ruthlessly fierce and exhausting to counter. Watching this display, not only were the onlookers stunned, but even Li Minggong felt a touch of hesitation: 'Can this fellow really be this fragile? I'd better not injure or kill him… If the north ends up lacking a key player, it will ruin someone else's grand scheme.' Furious to the point of desperation, Daoist Bai hastily held up the Guiming Dark Plaque and unleashed its radiance. Supported by the artifact, an armor-clad man with an iron-grey face and hideous countenance manifested, lunging toward the flames. This man carried a ferocious presence, his sparse hair grizzled white, radiating a blend of Gengjin Qi and chilling Yin Qi that looked quite intimidating. Li Minggong had just reined in her power, allowing him to breach the flames and charge forward. She swept her sleeve to block him with surging true fire, and upon studying his face, her expression turned complicated: 'Situ Biao…' This old man was Situ Biao, the late Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Situ family who had covered everyone's retreat. He was also the current master of Tangjin Gate. After Real Person Tianhuo confiscated his spirit artifacts and talismans, he had fled in miserable defeat, only to reappear today as someone else's Dharma artifact… 'With his status and Tangjin Gate's awkward predicament, he must have been unable to leave even if he wanted to, leaving him no choice but to sacrifice himself obediently…' Daoist Bai, however, had not come to fight. Forcing down his surging fury, he rode the wind to seize the opening and dive downward. But he had only surged a short distance when bright light flared before him, and a figure materialized. The man possessed swallow jowls and tiger whiskers, a robust and agile build, red armor, and a body gleaming with fiery scarlet light. He held a staff in hand, and his eyes seemed empowered by some wondrous art, piercing forward like awls that made onlookers shrink back. A sharp sense of danger gripped Daoist Bai's heart, bringing him to an immediate halt. Yet unexpectedly, on the other side emerged a gentle and elegant scholar holding a book scroll. His cultivation was equally profound. Raising his brows, he asked politely: "I hear Hall Master Bai… wishes to exchange pointers?" Ding Weizeng was far less polite. Glaring at him coldly, he pointed his long staff directly at Daoist Bai's brow, as if ready to bring it down at any moment, his voice as chilling as ice: "Son of a bitch!"