Rules

"What happened?" Meng Jingzhou cried in shock as the flying car plummeted rapidly. Cold sweat beaded on Lu Yang's forehead. He pushed his flying sword technique with all his might, but the car kept falling. He had lost control of the Green Blade Sword and couldn't even sense its presence. Daoist Buyu said in a deep voice, "Spiritual energy cannot be circulated here. All spells and techniques have failed!" "What?!" Knowledgeable and experienced, Daoist Buyu had a rough idea of what had happened. If that truly were the case, the three of them were down on their luck. However, now was not the time to discuss it. The top priority was saving Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. He got up and tore off the roof of the car. Hooking one arm around Lu Yang and the other around Meng Jingzhou, he tucked them under his waist and leaped down. Although spiritual energy could not be used here, there were no restrictions on the physical body. As a Body Integration realm expert, jumping directly from such a height wouldn't harm Daoist Buyu in the slightest. Lu Yang tried several times to open his eyes to check their situation, but the violent wind from their fall kept both him and Meng Jingzhou from opening their eyes. Just as they were about to hit the ground, Daoist Buyu released his grip, lightly supporting the two before landing first. He slammed into the earth, blasting open a massive crater. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou descended an instant later, caught safely by Daoist Buyu—the difference between their landings was less than a second. If Daoist Buyu had held onto them all the way down, he would have been fine, but Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou wouldn't have survived the impact—they would have been killed or severely crippled! "Hoo... hoo... hoo!" Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou panted, their hearts still pounding in terror. This long journey was truly something special—crashing right after stepping out the door. "Where are we?" Lu Yang frowned. Looking around, he found they were in an ordinary small town, and he couldn't fathom why spiritual energy couldn't circulate here. "Why hasn't anyone come out?" Lu Yang noticed another problem. It had just turned into the Hai hour, and the crash of the flying car had made an immense racket. Why hadn't a single person come out to see what happened? Could the town have no living people and be a ghost town? No, that wasn't right. Candles were lit in the thatched cottages and the inn, and silhouettes flickered behind the paper windows. There were definitely people. What was going on? Lu Yang felt an unsettling eeriness permeating the place. He glanced at Meng Jingzhou, who shook his head, equally clueless. Daoist Buyu walked over to the wreckage of the flying car and pulled out the Green Blade Sword from underneath. Given to Lu Yang by Yun Zhi, it was of exceptional quality; an impact of this scale couldn't harm it in the slightest. "Take this for self-defense." Daoist Buyu handed the sword to Lu Yang, his earlier laughing and joking demeanor completely gone, replaced by solemn gravity. Daoist Buyu realized that the suppression of spiritual energy here was extraordinarily potent—even he could not mobilize his spiritual energy at all. Suddenly, a sheet of paper appeared in each of their hands, packed with dense writing on both sides. [Rules of Buyi Town] [Rule 1: Spiritual energy does not exist within the boundaries of the town; spiritual power cannot be mobilized.] [Rule 2: From the Hai hour to the Chen hour, closed-door thatched cottages and closed-door inn rooms are absolutely safe. Anywhere else is dangerous.] [Rule 3: You must leave the thatched cottages and inns during the Si hour, and you cannot return to them before the Xu hour.] [Rule 4: Be sure to fall asleep before the Zi hour.] [Rule 5: Do not enter Heaven-grade rooms.] [Rule 6: If you hear knocking on the door or windows while inside a thatched cottage or inn, do not open the door or window no matter what the other party says.] [Rule 7: There are only spotted dogs and white dogs in the town; there are no black dogs. If you see a black dog, run immediately.] [Rule 8: The village school has been abandoned for many years. There is no private tutor in town. Only barking will come from the school, never the sound of reading.] [Rule 9: The person wearing grey clothes is the tutor. If you encounter the tutor, pretend not to hear whatever they say.] [Rule 10: Do not make eye contact with the tutor. If you meet the tutor's gaze, you will turn into a black dog.] [Rule 11: All food in the town is provided free of charge and may be taken at will, but do not eat meat buns.] [Rule 12: Beware of government officials. Those dressed in black are government officials. If you encounter government officials, run immediately, and do not look back no matter what they call out.] [Rule 13: If you feel someone is following you, firmly believe it is an illusion. Above all, do not show anxiety or agitation.] [Rule 14: A dead human body is called a corpse. It is normal for corpses to be active.] [Rule 15: If you have questions inside the inn, ask the innkeeper; if you have questions outside the inn, ask the medicine shop owner. However, you must not speak to them.] [Rule 16: After entering a black door, do not speak, and do not eat anything inside.] [Rule 17: Do not easily trust the words of strangers, but people dressed in white always tell the truth.] [Rule 18: There is a man-eating monster in the ancestral hall.] [Rule 19: The ancestral hall is safe.] [Rule 20: The townsfolk must not disclose matters concerning this town to outsiders.] [Rule 21: If you leave the town or kill the mayor, you no longer need to abide by the rules of Buyi Town.] The white paper was filled with rules on both sides. Once Lu Yang finished reading, the paper vanished into thin air. "What is this?" Lu Yang felt a sense of absurdity; the rules reeked of ominous dread. "A trick conjured by Body Integration stage cultivators!" Daoist Buyu said darkly. Seeing these twenty-one rules, he finally confirmed his suspicions. There was a Body Integration powerhouse here—and judging by the suppression imposed upon him, there was more than one! "Disciple, Little Meng, have the two of you ever heard of the saying 'the Golden Age is approaching'?" The two nodded, though they still didn't quite understand. The concept of an approaching Golden Age was too broad, and they had no idea what it specifically entailed. "The arrival of a Golden Age manifests in many ways, one of which is that mighty experts from past eras awaken from their slumber!" "Nowadays, spiritual clarity is sharp and the Dao rhythms are active, making cultivation and enlightenment far easier—some even say one can attain immortality!" "During the Daqian Era and the Dayu Era, numerous mighty figures emerged, but constrained by their own comprehension, they couldn't break through further. Therefore, they devised a method of slumber, using spirit stone marrow as a vessel to seal themselves and enter a state of suspended animation, waiting until the Dao rhythms became active to awaken." "When their consciousness awakens, their bodies have not yet fully revived and require some time. To that end, they exhaust all means to protect themselves and keep their whereabouts hidden." "Demarcating an area, establishing rules, and imprisoning newcomers is one such method." "Do you know the difference between the Void Refining stage and the Body Integration stage?" The two shook their heads; such things were still too distant for them. "The difference between Void Refining and Body Integration lies in whether one has mastered 'Rules.'" "Rules?" Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou instinctively repeated. "A Body Integration cultivator can alter the rules of reality within a certain range based on their own will. However, the modified rules cannot excessively defy common sense. For example, one cannot set a rule like 'I am invincible and immortal within this area.'" "The trial of the river spirit and the trial of Heart-Questioning Mountain that you encountered when joining the sect were both manifestations of rules." "A Body Integration cultivator's mastery over rules is relatively rudimentary, requiring multiple rules to constrain the actions of people within the domain." "Tribulation Transcendence cultivators and Immortals possess different degrees of command over rules. Immortals are the most exaggerated: upon attaining immortality, they condense a Dao fruit, which is the very symbol of a rule, its might blanketing the entire world." Lu Yang recalled the Immortal Fairy's Dao fruit—as long as someone chanted her honorable title and immortal name, she could be resurrected. From the outcome, the individual known as the Immortal Fairy was undying and imperishable. Yet viewed on a worldwide scale, this meant the Immortal Fairy could bypass all limitations of time, space, soul, and flesh to revive directly—an utter defiance of universal logic, terrifying to behold! Lu Yang relayed his hypothesis to the Immortal Fairy. She nodded, affirming his reasoning. "Not very old, but your mind turns quite quickly." Lu Yang had no patience to entertain the Immortal Fairy's teasing at the moment. He listened as Daoist Buyu continued, "Judging from the rules, only this small town is under their control. The domain of rules commanded by a Body Integration cultivator isn't normally this small. They restricted it because they're terrified of being discovered by the Immortals of the Great Xia Dynasty!" "For the rules to suppress even me, it means there is more than one Body Integration expert on their side." Daoist Buyu's gaze turned fierce and sharp as a sword. "The Five Great Immortal Sects and the Great Xia Dynasty have already joined forces to eliminate many awakening Body Integration cultivators. It seems today I shall have to rid the world of a few more!" He flicked his horsetail whisk. Its hairs, fine as ox wool, lashed out with tens of millions of sword qi strands. The Dao of the Sword was Daoist Buyu's foundation. Having spent his whole life comprehending it, he could still drive sword qi without needing to mobilize spiritual energy! The sword qi slammed into the town's barrier. Unable to withstand the assault, the barrier blasted open with a gap. At the breach, four figures stood waiting for Daoist Buyu. Truly, there was more than one Body Integration expert! They had to abide by the rules they had set themselves; unable to use spiritual energy inside the town, they intended to eliminate Daoist Buyu outside it. "Kill him!" Daoist Buyu laughed heartily. Striding forward, he walked out of the town, unleashing his peak Body Integration pressure as he took on the four Body Integration experts! "A pack of useless trash like you thinks you can kill me?!" Before departing, he left Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou with one final sentence: "This battle may last several days. You two stay alive in this town!" The gap sealed shut, and Daoist Buyu vanished beyond the town.