Chapter 462
The head of Mingde sat there, staring blankly at the pristine Qingjing Bamboo, his expression somewhat dazed.
"Where did you find this Qingjing Bamboo?"
After a long pause, Chengkong spoke up.
"It was a gift from you, Master..."
Mingde turned abruptly, glaring at Chengkong, clearly feeling as if he had encountered yet another rebellious disciple.
"I..."
Chengkong widened his eyes, feeling wronged. "I don’t even have a complete Qingjing Bamboo in Taishang Dao! How could I have sent it to you?"
"It’s the one you lent me. I borrowed it in Jiushan Realm, and since it seemed like it could be nurtured, I took care of one plant."
Zheng Fa said this with an honest expression, seemingly unaware that his words were particularly outrageous.
"…"
Chengkong glanced at Sister Zhang's retreating figure, then at the sun and moon bell overhead, and finally at the amiable Blood River Ancestor and Jiao Wuji beside him.
He offered Zheng Fa a sympathetic smile, his face clearly conveying one message—whatever you say goes!
…
Meanwhile, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor outside the realm seemed to hesitate.
He looked at the Qingping Sword, then at the Qingjing Bamboo, caught in a dilemma.
The Yuming Immortal was still trying to gauge the mindset of this Demon Ancestor—he had just been resurrected and seemed not to have fully recovered.
Most importantly, it appeared he had just suffered a hidden loss under the Qingjing Bamboo, his strength now two points weaker than before the death of the Qinyun Great Sage.
Faced with the Qingjing Bamboo and the Qingping Sword, it was only natural for him to feel some trepidation—otherwise, if the Demon Ancestor were to die again, neither of them would have a way out, and they would lose their connection to the future!
But… retreating like this would be embarrassing, not to mention that the Demon Ancestor seemed to covet both the Qingjing Bamboo and the Qingping Sword, as if he wanted to seize these two treasures while the celestial beings were still absent.
The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor looked at the Qingping Sword, clearly perceiving it as the greatest threat to him, the celestial sword left behind by the Tianhe Venerable.
Xie Qingxue clenched her teeth slowly. Her cultivation was no stronger than before, and her understanding of the Qingping Sword had not undergone a qualitative change. To deal with the Demon Ancestor, she still… had to rely on risking her life!
She glanced at Jiushan Realm, seemingly looking at Yan Wushuang, her eyes showing a hint of reassurance. Only then did she cast aside her distracting thoughts, her face devoid of hesitation. Pointing at the Qingping Sword in front of her, she slowly rose into the air, her whole being floating like an immortal, her aura tightly intertwined with the Qingping Sword.
In Jiushan Realm, Yan Wushuang understood his senior sister's gaze. He lowered his head and took out a communication talisman.
Zheng Fa felt the Creation Jade Tablet within him tremble. He was startled; this was not an ordinary message but a coded communication from an important figure within the sect. Only urgent messages would cause the Creation Jade Tablet to react.
But when he immersed himself in his soul to check, the message was sent by Yan Wushuang, and the content was quite strange:
"Try operating the Jiushan Golden Pill technique..."
What does this mean?
Though Zheng Fa was puzzled, he trusted Yan Wushuang and let the Golden Pill flow through his nine apertures.
Outside Jiushan Realm, the Qingping Sword suddenly trembled violently, pointing skyward.
A murderous intent filled the air, and the stars shifted!
In the sky, the Milky Way reappeared, with the Big Dipper pointing at the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor, sending a chill down even the spine of the Yuming Immortal.
The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor moved swiftly.
The black moon swallowed him whole, and he vanished from Tongming Mountain—he ran away!
…
This scene changed so quickly that even Mingde and the others didn’t fully grasp it, thinking that Xie Qingxue was preparing for a desperate fight, which scared off the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor.
But…
Xie Qingxue frowned, unable to explain what had just happened.
She wanted to say… it seemed someone had used her Qingping Sword, drawing on her spiritual power to invoke the celestial phenomena that frightened off the Demon Ancestor.
This wasn’t a matter of whether others would believe it.
Rather… in the world, who else could do such a thing besides the Ancestor?
(End of this chapter)
---
**Chapter 367: A Glimpse of the Future, the Demon Ancestor's Ambition**
The Demon Ancestor came quickly and left just as fast.
Only the bewildered celestial beings remained.
Each person was lost in their own confusion.
Chengkong was still staring at the Qingjing Bamboo, while Tongming, the unfortunate one, gazed at his collapsed mountain.
Mingde looked toward the sea, seemingly pondering why the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor had fled so quickly, feeling as if he had been frightened.
The great contributor, Xie Qingxue, seemed genuinely startled. She first gazed at the Qingping Sword, her eyes deep, then looked up at the stars still lingering in the sky, blinking in rare bewilderment.
Zheng Fa was also… well, especially bewildered.
He turned to look at Yan Wushuang behind him, who was holding his head high, acting nonchalant, with a poor performance.
Zheng Fa shifted his gaze from Yan Wushuang to Xie Qingxue, who was looking around in the light screen. No wonder she was the senior sister of Tianhe Sect—her acting was far superior to that of this foolish junior brother.
You know what I mean, right? The rebellious disciple of Tianhe… Xie Qingxue?
In that brief moment when Xie Qingxue summoned all her spiritual power to awaken the Qingping Sword, Zheng Fa felt a fleeting connection with the sword.
In that moment, he glimpsed a story filled with endurance and silence that had spanned an entire era.
He felt a surge of emotions with nowhere to vent, so he asked Yan Wushuang a question through the Creation Jade Tablet:
"Does your Tianhe Sect have five branches?"
"Why do you ask that?" Yan Wushuang feigned ignorance but replied quickly. "What you’ve heard is a bit outdated; there were five branches long ago, but now there are only four, and one has already perished."
Perished?
"Was the one that perished founded by the third disciple of the Tianhe Venerable?"
"How do you know that?"
Yan Wushuang's response was filled with confusion, clearly indicating that not many people in Tianhe Sect knew this history, let alone that it had spread in the Xuanwei Realm.
The Qingping Sword told me.
In the Qingping Sword, he had seen a face he recognized from a shadow cast on the rocks, a face that had pointed its sword at its own master during the final years of the Tianhe Venerable.
In its last moments, it often gazed at the darkening night, gently caressing the Qingping Sword, remaining silent year after year.
Zheng Fa stopped responding, his gaze shifting back and forth between Xie Qingxue and the Qingping Sword.
He began to understand why this sister was so talkative.
Such a past would weigh heavily on one’s heart, growing heavier until it drove a person mad.
Watching Xie Qingxue walk into Jiushan Realm, Zheng Fa sighed softly. Some things, Xie Qingxue didn’t dare to say, and he wasn’t suited to speak of either.
At this moment, however, Xie Qingxue showed no signs of abnormality. She sheathed the Qingping Sword and curiously looked at the Qingjing Bamboo, her expression mirroring Chengkong's confusion.
Mingde, puzzled, looked at Xie Qingxue and asked, "Fairy Xie, why did the Demon Ancestor flee so quickly?"
Xie Qingxue shook her head, seemingly perplexed, but said, "I think he was probably wary of the Qingping Sword."
"The Qingping Sword..." Mingde glanced at the sword in her hand, recalling the dramatic celestial changes earlier, and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. "Fairy Xie, the power of your sect's celestial sword is truly astonishing."
Xie Qingxue lowered her gaze, appearing somewhat unhappy. Mingde found this strange—what kind of temperament did Fairy Xie have that she didn’t like compliments?
But he changed the subject: "It seems the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor has not fully regained his former strength. With the Qingping Sword and the Qingjing Bamboo, he must be afraid of unexpected events."
This speculation drew nods from everyone, but Zheng Fa felt somewhat puzzled—did Mingde think the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor was not that strong now?
Mingde seemed to notice his confusion and kindly explained, "Though the Dao Fruit is powerful, there are levels to it. The might of the Dao Fruit involves many factors, but one key point is..."
Zheng Fa listened carefully as Mingde continued, "How many people have cultivated this fundamental great method?"
This statement made Zheng Fa realize—so you’re saying the Great Freedom Demon Sect has no one to compete with!
Yet, he was still puzzled. What exactly was the Dao Fruit? He was truly confused.
But this topic seemed to involve many secrets, and Mingde was unwilling to elaborate further. Instead, Xie Qingxue pointed at the Qingjing Bamboo and curiously asked:
"Did you grow this?"
"Yes."
"…"
Xie Qingxue wore an expression that suggested she wanted to believe it but was hesitant.
At that moment, Chengkong suddenly jolted, exclaiming, "That… is it Haori Sang? No, Fusa Wood?"
"We didn’t grow it."
Zheng Fa replied earnestly, looking quite sincere.
Chengkong nodded, unsure whether to feel disappointed or relieved. He looked at the Qingjing Bamboo and clicked his tongue. "Now, the Thunder Sound Temple is going to go crazy."
Zheng Fa’s expression also darkened slightly. They had no choice but to act, but the stronger the Qingjing Bamboo, the more the Thunder Sound Temple would care.
"Hmph!" Mingde snorted, "As for his betrayal of the Five Sects Alliance, our Taishang Dao hasn’t even gotten an explanation yet. How dare he covet the Qingjing Bamboo?"
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