116 Standing Up for Antuo, Past Memories Like a Song

The young man holding the fox gently caught the swirling white bead in his hand. He toyed with it thoughtfully, ignoring the demands of Jia Youke, and sighed, "Can even powder ground from beast bones be used for deception now? So, you are the remnant of the 'Elegant Immortal Sect' that Jueli spoke of!"

The youth walked toward Wuyun, the fox with plum-blossom eyes draped over his shoulders like a stole. Around them, whispers rippled through the crowd: "That’s Pan Fei, the Fourth Young Master of the Zhang family. Didn't he just kick an Immortal-bodied cultivator to death last time? Now he's looking to throw money around again? If his father finds out, he'll be in for a beating!"

"I am Wuyun. I wouldn't dare claim the title of 'Exalted'; just 'Senior' will do. What’s this? Your fox injured my horse, and you, the master, are taking the punishment for it?" Wuyun spoke with a brazen, arrogant tone that sent a stir through the onlookers.

"Snap!"

Pan Fei crushed the white bead in his palm. As he summoned a gust of wind to disperse the remains, he froze. The white dust drifted into the fox stole draped over him. Suddenly, the stole transformed back into the plum-blossom-eyed fox, and to the shock of the onlookers, the beast—an intermediate-stage Great Immortal—shattered like glass, falling to the ground in pieces.

"I forgot to tell you," Wuyun said earnestly to Jia Youke, "this 'Soul-Melting Hundred-Flavor Bead' can only be swallowed, never crushed. If crushed, it is equivalent to the self-detonation of an eighth-grade immortal artifact."

Pan Fei was stunned. If that were true, why was he himself unharmed?

"Ever heard of the technique 'Striking the Dog Through the Mountain'? You’re too lucky; you hit the fox. If you had hit your brother standing next to you..."

Wuyun teased, while Bing Heng crouched by the shattered fox, scooped up a handful of reflective fragments, and tossed them into the air. The dead fox appeared, leaping and bounding once more. It was merely the physical body that had perished; the demon soul had manifested.

Bing Heng kept a stony face, just about to seize the demon soul to reshape its body, when the soul he held also began to crack, eventually dissipating into nothingness.

"Forgot to mention, this 'Striking the Dog' technique has a chain effect. My cultivation is still shallow; if I practiced it to its peak, after hitting the dog, I could strike cats, pigs, ducks, and so on."

Suddenly, a pitch-black, gleaming spear thrust forward, piercing Wuyun’s chest.

Pan Fei had struck—a lethal blow.

Exclamations erupted from the surrounding crowd. Killing a minor demon or a mount was considered a petty dispute between immortals, but killing an Immortal-bodied cultivator was a violation of the Hundred Flowers Valley’s laws.

"Senior!" Jia Youke roared in grief and rage, only to see the seventh-grade immortal spear embedded in Wuyun's chest snap piece by piece, turning into charred ash.

"See? I wasn't lying. This 'Striking the Dog' divine technique is continuous; everything you are wearing could potentially be shattered!"

Wuyun cleared the debris from his chest. Those nearby who couldn't resist the spectacle opened sound-isolating formations, warning Bing Heng and the others: "Young Master Zhang, such strange techniques that combine curses with immense power do exist in the Immortal Realm. I suggest you all go home and stop fighting us for spots!"

Some spoke in a mocking tone, while others looked grave. Although a Great Immortal is inferior to a Profound Immortal, the gap is one of cultivation state, not necessarily an insurmountable disparity in overall strength. Those who looked grave were all late-stage Great Immortals, as the scene they had just witnessed was inconceivable.

Who could shatter a seventh-grade immortal artifact in one strike? A Profound Immortal? Only one in the middle or late stages putting their full strength behind a blow could do it! Yet, had anyone even seen Wuyun make a move?

Pan Fei was stunned. That immortal artifact was one of his most reliable weapons, his companion for a long time, yet it had shattered for no reason.

Seeing this, Bing Heng gestured with his hand, sending forth countless flying fabric fragments to encircle Wuyun.

***

A cave dwelling opened, and it happened to be the turn of Bing Heng and Pan Fei. They invited Jueli, who nodded and flashed into the formation, teleporting inside.

Jia Youke was incoherent with rage, while the small black horse, having seen its vengeance served, danced joyfully around the dissipating fox soul. Only Wuyun remained, staring blankly at the formations encircling him.

He dreaded exactly what was happening: being attacked and harmed. He possessed the Nine-Essence True Fire, the bones of an Emperor, and... even the Heaven-Enveloping Immortal Jar he had obtained could only protect him from harm.

After a short while, as Wuyun struggled to break through the formation, Jia Youke wailed in misery, and the onlookers, disappointed by Wuyun's earlier performance, withdrew their spiritual senses. Only a few who considered themselves clever cast hidden tracking marks on Wuyun before vanishing.

Two male immortals taking one female immortal into a closed cultivation space seemed natural enough in the Immortal Realm, but was it safe for an Immortal-body practitioner to face two brothers—one an early-stage and one an intermediate-stage Great Immortal?

Watching Jia Youke fume for a long time, Wuyun asked quietly, "Have you set your heart on her? She could be the primary wife, and this one could be the concubine or a maid!"

Jia Youke felt aggrieved and retorted, "Senior, don't you have someone you love?"

"Me?" Wuyun quietly closed his eyes. The question was too sensitive. In the past, all romance had been like smoke, all love affairs vanishing into thin air.

Wuyun began to sing softly, the lyrics ancient and desolate: "Roaming free, living carefree in the sky. Once I laughed at the rulers of the world, through the ups and downs. The girl I once loved is now buried deep in the yellow soil. Even if she is reincarnated and lives a brilliant next life, this cloud remains. Don't ask me to stay; I am but a cloud, wandering the ends of the earth, yet never finding a home. Don't ask me to stay; I am but a wisp, drifting until the end—where is home?"

The song was so mournful that even the camel-beast covered its face, its eyes turning red. Once one reached the level of an Immortal Emperor, it was hard to find love again.

"Senior, do you really have a secret crush on a girl?" Jia Youke probed cautiously.

Wuyun replied with sorrow and indignation, "Not one, but many. Only the ones you can't have are the best. Once, I too was loved by maidens like a god. But later, when they all became like gods, I, I..."

Wuyun snapped out of his trance and, seeing Jia Youke staring at the closed cave dwelling where Pan Fei and Bing Heng had entered, sighed: "I gave you the best advice, yet you cannot steady your heart. Regarding love, you must control your state of mind. They say that at the end of cultivating immortality, one must discard all desires to cross the tribulation and become a god. In truth, that is real!"

Wuyun's words were shocking. Finally, a peak-stage Great Immortal could no longer hold back. Controlling a large flying carpet, he drifted over and said from a condescending position: "These are just fantasies written by bored immortals. Do you know that the entire Immortal Realm is but a corner of the three thousand immortal worlds? We call this the Third Immortal Realm only to mark its location and coordinates for the convenience of dividing small worlds. You..."

Wuyun waved his hand, and the Great Immortal was instantly sucked into the Heaven-Enveloping Treasure Jar. Wuyun shook it and asked, "What else do you know? Keep talking..."

"Senior, spare me! Senior, spare me! I was just spouting nonsense!"

After Wuyun shook the jar for a while, the Great Immortal collapsed onto the carpet, gasping for air: "Fighting is strictly prohibited here. If detected, one will be attacked by the entire grand formation."

"Also, those two Zhang brothers have entered; that woman they targeted will surely be doomed. They will plant a 'love seed' in her, and she will secretly rendezvous with them while her cultivation will be permanently halted at the early stage of a Great Immortal. I suggest you find a way to stop their spiritual-sense cultivation quickly!"

After letting the Great Immortal go, the surroundings fell quiet, and an aura of awe toward Wuyun emerged. As he walked forward, the crowd automatically parted to make way.

"Who can stop me!" After locating the cave where Jueli was, Wuyun cast an immortal art, but it was blocked by the layered defensive formations upon entering.

This place could only be exited from the inside; to force it open was to invite the merciless wrath of the formation. The entire array was used for honing spiritual senses; its attacks were soul-based, and when facing an enemy, it could borrow the spiritual power of everyone inside to strike. Even a peak-stage Profound Immortal could not withstand such a spiritual-sense gang-beating!

"No one can break the rules of the Spiritual Sense Refining Hall. This is the territory of the Hundred Flowers Valley, and this 'Outward-Roaming Spiritual Sense Formation' belongs to my family!"

Following the ethereal voice, a figure appeared out of thin air. Having taken control of the formation, the figure was manipulating the external attacks from within the formation's eye.

The figure, initially a thousand feet tall, slowly compressed until it formed a solid body about three meters high. It was a fair-skinned youth holding a Soul-Nailing Awl. He pointed at Wuyun, and a wave of soul energy erupted, forming the head of a giant beast. As it reached Wuyun, the beast solidified, opened its bloody maw, and sprayed a corrosive blast of energy.

Subsequently, a head resembling that of an elephant, covered in long hair, glared with three glowing orange eyes. The light waves emitted moved with such speed that, had they struck the ground from space, they would have triggered an explosive wave of rock.

Yet, whether it was the endless stream of energy or the high-speed rotating light waves, they were all swallowed by the jar. No matter how fierce the storm outside, the jar remained like a home forged of steel!

Holding the treasure jar, which radiated an endless, simmering fury, Wuyun shook his head and said, "What's this? Seeing injustice, do you want to test your own depth?"

The blunt insult infuriated the fair-skinned youth. He pointed three times, then circled his hands, forming a gesture as if holding a spear at his chest before moving it slowly above his head.

This time, Wuyun did not dare to be careless. He saw an irregularly shaped house fly through the void. It possessed no overwhelming aura, yet it pierced through the layered halos of the Heaven-Enveloping Treasure Jar and descended.

Wuyun smiled, channeled his magic power, and enlarged the treasure jar, pitting it against the house, both of which were fifth-grade immortal artifacts.

"Boom!"

The surroundings were reduced to a mess; those watching and those who weren't were all caught in the blast. In particular, the teleportation arrays leading to the cultivation dwellings were completely destroyed. In a single confrontation, the place suffered heavy losses.

"You brat, you're dead. The Law Enforcement Hall of Hundred Flowers Valley won't let you off..." The fair-skinned youth saw that his attacks were ineffective and, knowing that continuing this would only result in greater losses for himself, he calmed down.

He was also an early-stage Profound Immortal. He saw through Wuyun's defensive tactics; the Heaven-Enveloping Treasure Jar was primarily for defense, and without a counter-artifact, it would be difficult to subdue his opponent quickly.

He was waiting—waiting for powerful reinforcements.

The onlookers whispered among themselves, ignoring the embarrassment and complaints caused by being blown away.

"Big news is coming. Elder Taifeng, son of the Immortal King Jianshi, is clashing with the youth who caused trouble at the Spiritual Sense Refining Hall, and he hasn't subdued him after several exchanges!"

"What is the other guy's identity? Doesn't he know that Elder Wufeng is in closed-door cultivation and this is just a formation controlled by spiritual sense?"

"Too many people aren't afraid of death. The key is that soul-roasting is even more painful than dying!"

"He's out. According to rumors, is he the servant of the Immortal-bodied Jia Youke?"

"Is Jia Youke a descendant of the Elegant Immortal Sect?"

"Are there still remnants of the Elegant Immortal Sect?"

In an instant, this became the biggest event in Hundred Flowers Valley, even more sensational than the barbecue tragedy at the Beast-Taming Mountain.

Seeing his opponent hold back, Wuyun was just about to speak when Jia Youke understood his intent and said, "Senior, the escape route is behind and below!"

Wuyun rolled his eyes and said, "Now that the entrance is destroyed, the only way to stop them is to fight the entire spiritual-sense array. Do you really want Jueli to be a dowry maid?"