Li Xun felt there were details in her words worth thinking over, but he had too many things on his plate and couldn’t calm his mind for the moment. He could only set it aside for now. After a bit of thought, he decided it was better to just stick to his plan and take things step by step.

“Let’s find a quiet spot. I’ll reach out and ask what really happened over there.”

He was sounding more and more natural when giving instructions like this.

Yin Wanderer glanced at him but made no objections. It seemed she too was getting used to this shift in roles, even if the process wasn’t easy.

The two of them found a secluded valley and stopped.

Li Xun looked over the lay of the land, gave a small nod, and began setting up a restrictive formation.

What he called “asking over there” was in fact sending a message by flying sword to Madam Yan, hoping to verify what the Thunder-Beaked Eagle had said.

At this point, it was probably the only thing he could confirm.

It sounded simple enough when said out loud, but if you think about sending a flying sword across a million, even close to ten million li, and having it reach a specific person’s hands, the scale of the undertaking was enormous.

Normally, flying sword messages only work when powered by special formations made by the sect. They draw on the qi of the mountains, rivers, and the world around them to make the transmissions possible.

Only someone like Yin Wanderer, a grandmaster at True One stage, could break free from all those limits and send one out with just a thought.

Other than that, it required someone like Li Xun, an expert in forbidden arts, capable of perfectly reproducing those vast and intricate formations, to achieve the same effect.

Besides that, only someone like Li Xun, an expert of forbidden (restrictive) techniques, could perfectly replicate those complex, intricate formations and achieve the same effect.

Even so, Li Xun spent four hours setting up a simplified version of the formation here in this remote wilderness.

By then, dusk was giving way to night. Judging the shift in yin and yang within the primordial qi, Li Xun began carefully testing how well the formation gathered the surrounding qi.

As time passed, faint glimmers of light began to flicker across the valley.

Yin Wanderer stood off to the side, quietly watching Li Xun’s forbidden technique unfold with almost supernatural skill.

Though unwilling, she had to admit that this boy before her, who hadn’t even cultivated for a hundred years, had already left her far behind in the art of forbidden techniques. What kind of talent and fortune could possibly create such a miracle?

Without realizing it, she let out a sigh.

Just then, Li Xun finished the final step. Under the push of the mountain mists, electric sparks danced at the center of the formation. The surrounding dense qi triggered a chain of energy reactions until at last a dim rift opened and closed in the void. In that instant, a streak of gray light shot into it.

“A round trip will take at least four or five days. During that time, the farther we stay from the pole, the better. But we also can’t afford to lose time. Hmm, where should we stop?”

After a moment’s thought, Li Xun decided. “Yes, we’ll travel a little farther. I remember there’s a beautiful lake tens of thousands of li to the north. We’ll wait there. Once the reply arrives, we can head for the pole without delay.”

Yin Wanderer gave no opinion. In truth, she didn’t have the standing to object anymore. Yet as his words fell, her expression shifted. She turned her head sharply toward the distant sky.

Li Xun’s cultivation was still beneath hers, so he sensed it a beat later. “Why are there so many people coming this way?”

He wondered aloud, but in his heart, he already knew. They had probably been drawn here by the sudden spike of primordial qi.

From the scale of its disturbance, he figured the they hadn’t been more than a hundred li away before.

As he was thinking it over, the first figure appeared on the horizon. Moments later, more than a dozen sword lights of different colors and varying intensity followed one after another.

Sensing them from afar, he could clearly feel the waves of sword qi rolling through the shrill cries that split the sky. Majestic, fierce, and overwhelming in their force.

In a flash, Li Xun ran through every sword sect he knew of in the Tongxuan Realm.

“Towering over the Five Peaks, blotting out Chicheng. This is... the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect!”

Yin Wanderer frowned, thought for a moment, then took a single step and vanished directly into the void.

Almost in the same breath, the figures and sword lights descended from the sky.

With each figure he recognized, Li Xun’s smile grew more bitter. By the end, his mouth was filled with nothing but bitterness. Old enemies were one thing, but running into so many of them at once was truly the kind of misfortune he could do without.

Azure Skies Guest, Dragon Madman, Dongyang Hermit... nearly every expert he had offended back on Longhuan Mountain was here.

But what caught Li Xun’s eye most was the woman standing at the center of the group, dressed in finery, beautiful and poised. The dangling silk earrings made her instantly recognizable. Who else could it be but Luo Yuj?

The young lady’s reputation for being headstrong and spoiled was known throughout the entire Tongxuan Realm, and it had not changed in over sixty years.

Strangely, over all those years, Li Xun, going by the name “Spirit Bamboo,” had dealt with plenty of cultivators from the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect, yet he had never once crossed paths with this young lady. Yet whenever he appeared in the guise of Hundred Ghosts, she had shown up more than once, and always with vicious clashes.

The enmity between them had only grown deeper and deeper. If they met now, a deadly battle was inevitable.

Li Xun narrowed his eyes, puzzled.

Since when did this headstrong young lady learn to show respect for her elders?

Down in the valley, Luo Yuji was speaking with someone at her side. The topic was the formation at the valley floor, but what struck him was how she kept addressing the man as “Uncle.” She even leaned forward slightly without realizing it, her expression unusually intent.

It didn’t look like an act.

Li Xun’s gaze shifted to the man. His first impression was summed up in one word: ordinary.

Medium height, gray robe, hair touched with white, a clean face, a string of wooden prayer beads rolling constantly through his fingers. Everything about him was plain. No different from any other cultivator. Standing beside the radiant Luo Yuji, he seemed almost invisible.

So much so that Li Xun only noticed him at all because of her.

Li Xun prided himself on knowing just about every top cultivator in the Tongxuan Realm, but this person wasn’t in any of his knowledge.

And somehow, it was someone like this who could make the proud and headstrong Luo Yuji act so respectful. The contradiction of it all left Li Xun completely baffled.

The two of them were close enough that Li Xun could clearly hear their conversation. Luo Yuji was asking whose work this formation might be, and the man answered:

“The restriction lines are crisp and precise. What’s rarer is the complexity of the layout, yet it was completed in one continuous stroke. The flows of qi are seamlessly connected, without the slightest obstruction. Look here, the channels for drawing in qi, triggering it, and guiding it back. Each is clearly defined, yet they’re all merged into a single whole. This could only be the work of a true master.”

The man’s voice was strong and full, surprisingly loud for his appearance. But there was a slow, drawn-out rhythm to the way he spoke. Just like his looks, full of contradictions.

He went on: “As for the leftover qi in this formation, there’s no need to wonder. It's the Nether Qi, the work of Shadow-Devouring Soul and Ghoul-Devouring. I have been away from the world for a long time, so the newer talents of this realm are no longer clear to me. Yuji, child, do you know if either of those two sects has anyone skilled in forbidden techniques?”

“It must be that scoundrel Hundred Ghosts!” Luo Yuji blurted out without hesitation.

Scoundrel, my foot... Li Xun muttered a curse under his breath. Still, he grew even warier of this mysterious cultivator, and even more curious about who he really was.

Just as his thoughts were racing, a sudden chill ran across his back. Snapping back to his senses, he caught the man’s gaze sweeping past his hiding place. The gaze was so clear and cold, like looking into a still, deep pool, it sent a shiver straight through Li Xun.

Li Xun’s pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints. Only one thought remained in his mind: This man’s cultivation… it’s terrifying!

The stranger smiled. “Hundred Ghosts? Oh, I remember now. Over the years those little monks have often buzzed in my ear about him. They say this Hundred Ghosts is the most promising young talent among the demonic sects, truly remarkable. Could that be him?”

At the mention of the name, Luo Yuji’s anger flared. She forgot all about her elders standing before her and snapped through clenched teeth, “Remarkable? He’s nothing but a despicable coward who knows a few tricks of ambush and deceit!”

The cultivator burst out laughing, his voice booming like thunder. It was a powerful, natural kind of confidence that instantly outshone his simple demeanor. Yet even then, his expression was as kind as a father watching the playful squabbles of his children.

A ringing filled Li Xun's ears, but his mind lit up with sudden clarity: Little monks? This man’s been staying in a monastery recently, and he seems to have close ties with the Luo family. He must be…

The answer came with a thunderous shout.

“Hundred Ghosts, come out!”

In an instant, Li Xun’s mind went completely blank from the blast of that piercing sound. Everything he had just recalled scattered into pieces. Such overwhelming force... even someone like Li Xun, who had faced grandmasters like the Demon Phoenix or the Yin Wanderer, couldn’t take it lightly.

Pressing down on his pounding heart, he hadn’t yet figured out how to respond when a cold, icy voice rang out by his ear.

“So they say: lay down the butcher’s knife and become a Buddha on the spot. In the end, it's as simple as this.”

It was Yin Wanderer speaking. Though it was the puppet’s will acting on its own, Li Xun couldn’t help but feel grateful.

If not for this, his moment of distraction just now might have turned into a humiliating disaster. And truth be told, in such a moment, only Yin Wanderer stepping forward was truly fitting.

Sure enough, a surprised voice echoed through the valley: “What’s this? The beauty Yin herself?”

It was the same cultivator speaking. But barely had the words left his mouth before he added, “Buddha!” He chuckled wryly. “So it’s Daoist Yin in the flesh. Not seeing you for hundreds of years would’ve been fine, but now we meet. And you actually make me break my vow of truthful speech? How’s that for an explanation?”

From his tone, Li Xun became even more certain of this “man’s” identity.