Zhiyuan departed by boat, accompanied by Daoist Yiping.
Yizhen and Zhou Wuji both remained on the island to continue dealing with the remaining zombies.
The zombies were numerous, scattered across every corner of the island.
Completely exterminating them all would take at least ten days to half a month.
During the day, traces of zombies were hard to come by, so the personnel from the Pacification Office, the branch abbey, and the Golden Leaf Temple all rested.
Having spent his entire fortune on the precious sword, Zhou Wuji felt little heartache over it; instead, he was thoroughly delighted.
Mainly, the money had come easily, so he did not care much about it.
Keeping silver in hand was of little practical use, but trading it for a precious sword was a different matter entirely.
With the sword in hand, Zhou Wuji could not resist wanting to test it.
The sun was rather fierce, so he donned a bamboo conical hat and headed out with the sword in hand.
Relying on the Six Yang Dharma Eyes' ability to detect evil qi, he could capture the scent of a zombie from a li away.
In this regard, the Heart Mirror could only reflect a radius of a dozen zhang, falling far short of the Six Yang Dharma Eyes.
He tracked down a few zombies to test the blade; the White Rainbow Sword sliced through whatever it struck as easily as cutting bean curd.
Zhou Wuji barely had to exert any force before the edge smoothly sheared through all resistance.
He also tested it against plates of pure steel armor, and with just a bit of effort, the sword sliced cleanly through them.
This extreme keenness was vastly superior to the Seven Stars Sword he had carried.
Just as Zhiyuan had said, only a weapon such as this truly deserved to be called a precious sword.
With the White Rainbow Sword proving so sharp, Zhou Wuji grew fonder of it the more he wielded it, hacking away until sunset before finally heading back to camp with his sword in hand.
Over the course of the day, he had slain nearly two hundred zombies.
The primordial profound qi he gathered was channeled entirely into his Five Yin Pouch. Although it did not elevate the tier of the five yin spirits, noticeable progress had been made.
Along the way, he also searched the area around the stone cave where Chen Dalu had been slain, but found no trace of Chen Dalu's hiding place.
Back in his own tent, Zhou Wuji had barely sat down and taken a sip of water when Wuming arrived.
"Senior Brother, why haven't I seen you all day?" Wuming asked curiously.
She had come looking for Zhou Wuji several times during the day, but the tent had always been empty, leaving her somewhat worried.
"I had nothing to do during the day, so I went out for a stroll and killed some zombies."
Pointing to a soft stool beside him, Zhou Wuji said, "Sit."
Wuming sat down gently and asked with concern, "Have you eaten, Senior Brother?"
"I don't have much appetite here, so I took an inedia pill."
Zhou Wuji asked Wuming, "By the way, the fiend qi on the island is thick; eating regular food isn't good for your body. Do you have inedia pills?"
"I do."
Hearing her senior brother show concern for her, a smile blossomed on Wuming's bright, lovely face.
At a glance, she noticed the black-scabbarded longsword beside Zhou Wuji's hand and asked with some surprise, "Senior Brother, did you change your sword?"
This sword bore a similar exterior to the Seven Stars Sword, but it was noticeably longer, the lotus-shaped handguard was simple and elegant, and there were subtle differences in the hilt.
It was only because Wuming cared so deeply about Zhou Wuji that she noticed such minute details.
Pleasantly surprised, Zhou Wuji naturally took Wuming's delicate hand. "My junior sister truly cares for me after all. This is a precious sword I bought from the Abbot."
Having acquired a new precious sword, he was genuinely thrilled despite parting with a hefty sum of silver.
Yet he had found no one to show off to, so seeing Wuming recognize that he had changed swords without him even mentioning it made him immensely happy.
She held him in her heart; that was why she paid such close attention to the subtlest changes about him...
Wuming glanced out the tent with a slight flutter of guilt, terrified that someone might see her being intimate with her senior brother.
At the same time, she loved this closeness, feeling that holding hands like this was wonderfully comforting without being so overly familiar as to make her nervous.
Zhou Wuji proudly drew the sword, showing off his prized blade to Wuming...
Though Wuming knew little about swords, she could still tell it was a fine weapon.
Seeing how excited her senior brother was, she played along with enthusiastic praise.
"Don't mention buying the sword from the Abbot to outsiders. Keep it secret."
Zhou Wuji added this final reminder. It was not really a big deal, but it was better not to let rumors spread carelessly.
"Don't worry, Senior Brother, I wouldn't even tell my father!" Wuming nodded vigorously in assurance, all but swearing a solemn oath.
Seeing the lovely girl looking so endearingly serious, Zhou Wuji could not resist reaching out to caress her pretty face.
Wuming's cheeks instantly flushed crimson, and her bright eyes cast downward. Zhou Wuji lightly brushed beside her ear. "A stray strand of hair was loose..."
"Oh..." Wuming murmured softly. Inwardly, she found her senior brother amusing and charming, always resorting to such clumsy excuses, and she could not help giggling softly.
Watching the young woman try to suppress her laughter—her eyes smiling, the corners of her lips smiling, her even, jade-white teeth smiling, and her shoulders gently trembling with amusement—he could not help smiling as well.
*Junior Sister truly is beautiful, sweet, and fun...*
Zhou Wuji gently draped an arm around Wuming's shoulders, his heart filled with joy.
He did not know whether this was what people called love or something else, but he was certain beyond doubt that he liked all of this...
Once darkness fell completely, the Pacification Office, the branch abbey, and the Golden Leaf Temple joined forces again, laying traps just as they had the day before to lure and slaughter the zombies in the area.
Without mutated zombies, ordinary zombies posed virtually no threat to soldiers clad in armor.
Zhou Wuji stayed by Wuming's side, watching her cast spells to dispel evil qi and even unleash techniques directly against the zombies.
Two days of practice had proved effective; Wuming was now able to look zombies directly in the face, forming hand seals and chanting incantations right before them.
While this sounded simple enough, in truth zombies were hideous in appearance and reeked of earthly fiend qi, which also disrupted spells.
For an eighth-rank Daoist like Wuming, who had almost no practical combat experience, remaining calm enough to cast spells before zombies was by no means easy.
From this, one could see that Wuming had a solid foundation. At present, she was only two apertures away from the seventh rank. Given her aptitude and the resources available to her, she would certainly advance to the seventh rank within three or four years.
Eighth-rank Qi Ingestion was nothing special, but once someone truly reached the seventh rank, they could preside over an altar and become a true Daoist priest. Their standing and prestige would be completely different.
Zhou Wuji calculated that in three or four years, even without using the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, his current rate of progress would carry him to at least the fifth rank.
For some reason, the thought left him feeling a touch melancholy...
On the Great Dao of cultivation, no matter how close his friendship with someone might be, he could only walk the path alone.
Such was the heartlessness of the Great Dao.
Seeing that Wuming could handle things proficiently, Zhou Wuji gave her word and quietly slipped off into the depths of the mountain forest alone to search for Chen Dalu's hiding spot.
In the days that followed, Zhou Wuji spent his daytime hunting zombies to test his sword and his nights working alongside Wuming, searching along the way for any treasure Chen Dalu might have left behind.
Unfortunately, Chen Dalu had hidden things too well; after several days, Zhou Wuji came up empty-handed.
Having free time on his hands, Zhou Wuji also attempted to cultivate the Tianji Sword on his own, but his progress was exceedingly slow.
Cultivating at this pace, it might take twenty or thirty years to achieve anything of note.
Unwilling to spend the primordial profound spirit of five liang six qian, he used two spirits of over two liang each to push the Tianji Sword to the proficient realm.
From this, it was evident that even though this routine of the Tianji Sword was capped at the fifth rank, it was on the same tier as the Big Dipper Heavenly Astral Divine Incantation, showing just how profound the sword art was.
The Tianji Sword converted the astral force of Tianji into variations of water and fire, allowing it to transform into the Tianji Profound Yang Sword or the Tianji Profound Yin Sword.
The Tianji Profound Yang Sword turned sword qi into astral fire capable of burning all things.
The Profound Yin Sword turned it into cold, dense sword qi.
One yin and one yang symbolized the transformations of water and fire.
Zhou Wuji believed that at higher stages, the Tianji Sword surely possessed a method to fuse yin and yang sword qi.
His Xiaoxiang Sword had reached the transcendent realm, sharing many commonalities in sword forms with the Tianji Sword, differing drastically only on the levels of sword intent and sword qi.
Fortunately, the Night Rain Sword was dense, gloomy, agile, and elusive, sharing common ground with the Tianji Profound Yin Sword in its variations of sword intent.
Corroborating the two sword techniques against one another brought Zhou Wuji tremendous progress in the Night Rain Sword. He even felt that by continuing this practice and cross-referencing it with the Tianji Sword, he could elevate the Night Rain Sword to the perfection realm.
The Tianji Profound Yang Sword also shared commonalities with the Sunset Sword. While their sword intents differed vastly, their variations of intensely masculine, blazing sword qi were connected.
If he could truly integrate the Tianji Sword fully into these two forms, he would be able to unleash the Tianji Sword in battle without worrying about leaking secrets and inviting trouble.
After all, his master Yiyuan's rank could not have been that high; even if he had concealed his cultivation, he would at most be at the sixth rank.
As marvelous as the Xiaoxiang Sword was, its tier was ultimately not very high.
Zhou Wuji felt this was well within his reach, and having tested it continuously over the past few days, he found the results quite promising...
By the seventh day, the zombies on the island were virtually wiped clean. Only a few scattered stragglers remained hidden away in secret nooks.
The trap strategy was no longer of much use.
After a whole night, they had slain only a few dozen zombies.
Company Commander Li Fei, who was directing the operation, also felt the zombies had been largely cleared out.
Come noon the next day, Li Fei summoned Daoist Yizhen, Zhou Wuji, and Monk Xinjue to hold a meeting and discuss what to do next.
Li Fei said, "By rough estimate, ninety-nine percent of the zombies have been eliminated over these past few days.
"The few remaining zombies pose no great threat. The garrison guards from the Pacification Office are utterly exhausted and afflicted by the earthly fiend qi; they are no longer fit to fight.
"We leave the remaining few zombies to the esteemed masters of the branch abbey and the Golden Leaf Temple."
Li Fei continued, "All of your deeds will be recorded and reported truthfully to our superiors. The imperial court will surely bestow rewards in the future."
Considering the low morale and that so many people would no longer be needed going forward, Li Fei intended to pull out the garrison soldiers first.
The rest would be left to the branch abbey and the Golden Leaf Temple, as vanquishing demons and subduing monsters was the duty of both sects anyway.
However, being merely a hundred-man commander, he had no authority to give orders to the branch abbey and the Golden Leaf Temple, so he could only negotiate with them courteously.
Daoist Yizhen nodded. "This is our duty."
Monk Xinjue frowned slightly, yet nodded in agreement as well.
With Zhiyuan away these past few days, it was beneath him to bicker with a junior like Yizhen.
Moreover, this incident had blown up to such proportions that neither Zhang Shiheng nor the Prefect would escape accountability, and neither would he or Zhiyuan.
Zhiyuan had had no dealings with the Five Dragons Gang, but Xinjue had conducted several transactions with Chen Dalu.
If the court actually captured Chen Dalu and uncovered those matters, he would suffer serious consequences.
The reason Xinjue had stayed on Old Dragon Island without leaving was also in the hope that, if he happened to run into Chen Dalu, he could conveniently eliminate the threat!
Having waited for days without catching so much as a glimpse of Chen Dalu or seeing another mutated zombie, coupled with Zhiyuan having fled early, Xinjue felt something was amiss.
Daoist Yizhen said to Monk Xinjue, "Without the garrison troops, there is no need for us to stay grouped together. Let us take that peak as the boundary: we will handle the south, and your temple will take care of the north. What do you think?"
Xinjue glanced at the peak Yizhen pointed toward. It lay roughly along the midline of Old Dragon Island, making such a division reasonable enough.
Yet he had no desire to take orders from Daoist Yizhen; the man was a junior, after all.
He said, "Dividing the area and clearing it separately is a good idea. However, such a division is not quite ideal."
Daoist Yizhen raised his long eyebrows and asked, "What brilliant alternative does Master Xinjue have in mind?"
"How about this: we will clear the eastern side of the island, and leave the peaks to you."
Monk Xinjue continued, "Dividing the territory like this gives clear boundaries and avoids unnecessary entanglements."
Daoist Yizhen was somewhat displeased. Old Dragon Island was a continuous range of mountains; though far smaller than the mainland, the terrain was treacherous and complicated.
Furthermore, over so many days of searching all across the island, the zombies on the flat ground had long since been wiped out.
The only zombies left were hiding in the mountain forests. Dividing things this way meant dumping all the dirty work onto the branch abbey.
Just as Daoist Yizhen was about to argue the point, Zhou Wuji, seated beside him, spoke up.
"Master Xinjue, why make it so complicated?"
Zhou Wuji pointed at Monk Yuan'an behind Xinjue and said, "Wasn't this monk looking to fight me? Why not have a spar?
"Whichever side loses stays on the island to deal with the remaining zombies. How about it?"
The tall, muscular Yuan'an sneered silently upon hearing this. Pressing his palms together before Monk Xinjue, he said in a deep voice, "Abbot, this disciple is willing to test his skills against Daoist Wuji."
Monk Xinjue glanced at Zhou Wuji. With his sharp eyes, he had already noticed the altered shape of the longsword at Zhou Wuji's waist; clearly, he had swapped swords.
Just from the sag of the woven belt around Zhou Wuji's waist, one could tell the sword carried considerable weight.
With Zhou Wuji taking the initiative to challenge them, he was very likely well-prepared.
Monk Xinjue pondered for a moment and said, "Blades have no eyes. You shall spar empty-handed so as not to damage the harmony between our two houses."
Zhou Wuji knew full well what the old monk was planning. Laughing aloud, he stood, unbuckled the White Rainbow Sword, and handed it to Daoist Yizhen.
He said to Monk Xinjue, "Very well, we shall do as the master says."
Before Xinjue could reply, Zhou Wuji asked, "Does the master acknowledge this wager?"
Xinjue nodded. A minor wager was of little consequence anyway. He wanted to see just how capable this junior who had risen to fame really was.
Seeing both sides about to clash, Company Commander Li Fei felt it awkward to intervene.
Hearing the commotion, the surrounding officers naturally gathered around.
Yuan'an was immensely confident and in no hurry to strike.
A monk took a monk's staff and drew a large circle over a dozen zhang across in the sand.
Monk Xinjue said to Zhou Wuji, "Whoever steps out of the circle loses. Or whoever yields voluntarily. How about it?"
Daoist Yizhen was somewhat speechless; the old monk was calculating down to the last abacus bead.
Monks cultivated methods unifying magic and martial arts, and the Golden Leaf Temple specialized in the Vajra Incantation, granting them formidable physiques and ferocious strength.
Engaging in bare-handed combat within such a small circle gave them every possible advantage.
Daoist Yizhen looked toward Zhou Wuji; the moment Zhou Wuji gave any signal, he would object immediately.
Zhou Wuji merely nodded at Daoist Yizhen. This time, he intended to beat these monks into complete submission so they would never dare flaunt themselves before him again.
Word spread rapidly, soon drawing everyone in the camp over.
Hundreds of garrison soldiers, members of the branch abbey, and the crowd from Golden Leaf Temple formed dense, layered rings in a wide semicircle.
The match was set on the riverside sandbar, with a drop in elevation from the surrounding ground, allowing everyone standing on the higher ground to see clearly.
Most faces were lit with excitement; spectators were always thrilled to watch a good show.
Yet most people from the branch abbey looked somewhat tense. Wuming in particular stood beside Daoist Yizhen, her hands clenched tightly into fists inside her long sleeves, her palms slick with sweat.
Daoist Yizhen noticed his daughter's nervousness and whispered, "Do not worry. Since Wuji took the initiative to challenge him, he must be confident!"
The monks of the Golden Leaf Temple, on the other hand, were all flush with eager anticipation, brimming with confidence in Yuan'an.
This manner of combat favored them far too heavily; they felt victory was already assured...
Only Monk Xinjue gripped his prayer beads, watching Zhou Wuji in his fluttering azure robes, feeling an unsettling suspicion that they had been outplayed by this kid all along...
Chapter 116