You Dao Zhen Xian’s attitude was very good, and his demands were not excessive, but Wen Wen simply found him disagreeable.
His intuition told him that beneath this benevolent exterior hid a face like that of a vicious ghost.
However, if he refused the man's request, the two parties would immediately fall out.
You Dao Zhen Xian was, after all, a Cataclysm-level expert, and he had arrived in this world even earlier than Wen Wen and the others. Not to mention the question of who would win if they truly fought.
If this fellow found a way to interfere with Wen Wen and the others, they might never be able to leave this place.
Therefore, Wen Wen nodded at him and said, "If we find a way to leave here, we will certainly inform you. However, I find this Northern Yin Imperial City rather gloomy and... seems..."
When asked about the Northern Yin Dynasty, You Dao Zhen Xian’s eyes twitched. "The Northern Yin Dynasty has been engaged in continuous warfare, repeatedly slaughtering cities and destroying lands, incurring the wrath of heaven and the resentment of people. The Northern Yin Emperor himself is filled with astonishing ghost energy."
"Once this ghost energy erupts, it will inevitably lead to widespread devastation. Therefore, I am refining pills to see if I can neutralize the ghost energy within him..."
Wen Wen raised an eyebrow. You Dao Zhen Xian spoke with righteous indignation. If he hadn't read the tomb keeper's notes, he might have actually managed to deceive him.
However, the tomb keeper's notes might not be entirely truthful, and Wen Wen was far from seeing You Dao Zhen Xian's true colors.
"Can I take her away now? There are people waiting upstairs, and I can't afford to linger here for too long," Wen Wen said, pointing at the large sparrow circling above.
You Dao Zhen Xian smiled hypocritically once more. "Of course, you can. But I hope you won't forget our agreement."
Wen Wen breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the side of the Left and Right Guardians who had just climbed onto the rooftop, and grabbed their collars, flying onto the back of the large sparrow with them.
Qiao Feiya cupped her hands in a gesture of respect towards You Dao Zhen Xian and followed Wen Wen, flying away from the Star Gazing Tower.
You Dao Zhen Xian watched the large sparrow gradually recede into the distance, a sinister look flashing in his eyes.
If not for the aura of another Cataclysm-level expert emanating from that bird, he would not have let Wen Wen leave so easily.
Then he looked at the cuff of his sleeve, where the death qi from dozens or even hundreds of wars had gathered. He intended to use this death qi to refine something interesting, and the King of Northern Yin was the best test subject.
On the back of the large sparrow, Wen Wen let out a long breath. The brief exchange with You Dao Zhen Xian had put him under immense pressure.
If it weren't for the fact that the Knight of the Night was seated at the head of the large sparrow, You Dao Zhen Xian might not have been so agreeable.
"Qiao Feiya, tell me everything you've discussed with him these past few days. I think this person might have some serious issues."
Qiao Feiya nodded and began recounting the information he had obtained from You Dao Zhen Xian.
The Knight of the Night, who was listening nearby, found it interesting at first, but upon learning that You Dao Zhen Xian had been here for a thousand years, he could no longer remain calm.
This world was incomplete, and the Knight of the Night felt a sense of restraint simply by existing within it.
If such a sense of restraint persisted for a thousand years, the Knight of the Night might have gone mad, yet You Dao Zhen Xian seemed unfazed.
Either his mental cultivation was extremely high, or his calm exterior concealed a profound distortion.
"Let's hurry to Shi Family Village and find the Crooked Dragon as soon as possible. I'm worried that if we stay here too long, we might truly end up trapped here forever."
Wen Wen nodded and urged the large sparrow towards the Xiangnan region where Shi Family Village was located.
Resolving Qiao Feiya's situation had gone much smoother than anticipated, allowing them to reach Shi Family Village earlier.
...
In the Xiangnan region of Great Song, martial arts had always flourished.
The five sects, six schools, three villages, and four strongholds in this area were all well-known names in the martial world.
Among them, Shi Family Village was one of the five great evil sects of the Great Song martial arts world. In Xiangnan, only one sect could rival them.
North of the Xiangnan Illusory Dream Marsh was a place called Chicken Island Mountain.
The terrain of this mountain was treacherous, and only by crossing a suspension bridge could one reach a large clearing on the mountaintop. This clearing housed the largest righteous sect in Xiangnan.
The Fang Dao Sect!
This sect specialized in the art of defense. The weapons of the disciples within the sect were mostly various shields, or broadswords, iron umbrellas, iron fans, and the like.
Martial artists who used unusual weapons were either insignificant figures or formidable experts. The Fang Dao Sect belonged to the latter category.
Every disciple of the Fang Dao Sect had cultivated defensive martial arts such as the Golden Bell Shield or Iron Cloth Shirt. Coupled with these unusual weapons to protect their vital points, their defense reached an impregnable state.
Disciples of the Fang Dao Sect rarely had victories to their name, but it was also rare for enemies to defeat disciples of the Fang Dao Sect. All disciples of the Fang Dao Sect were like unyielding, impenetrable shells, and most people were unwilling to provoke them.
Yet, the Fang Dao Sect, a veritable overlord in the Xiangnan region, was now shrouded in an atmosphere of despair.
For three days, they had been surrounded by people from Shi Family Village.
Although Shi Family Village was one of the renowned evil sects in the martial world, the Fang Dao Sect had never feared them, and had even engaged in four or five skirmishes with Shi Family Village.
They could not overcome Shi Family Village, and Shi Family Village could not do anything to the Fang Dao Sect.
However, just over ten days ago, Shi Family Village suddenly seemed to have been injected with chicken blood, their strength expanding dramatically. In the blink of an eye, they had annihilated two fairly large sects.
Today, they had sent about a hundred disciples to surround the Fang Dao Sect.
The number of combat-ready experts in the Fang Dao Sect on Chicken Island Mountain was at least five times that of the Shi Family Village disciples below. Under normal circumstances, they should not have been threatened by these Shi Family Village disciples. Therefore, the sect leader of the Fang Dao Sect had not taken it too seriously at first.
The leading elder of Shi Family Village was named Shi Bu Niao. He was a defeated opponent of their sect leader's eldest disciple. The sect leader could defeat ten such experts.
But yesterday, the sect leader, unable to tolerate the constant blockade, went out to face Shi Bu Niao. As a result, he was injured within ten moves and retreated.
It was then that he realized that the strength of these Shi Family Village disciples had increased more than tenfold.
Furthermore, among these people, many were not disciples of Shi Family Village but disciples from other nearby sects, both righteous and evil. Why had they abandoned the righteous path and joined Shi Family Village?
These Shi Family Village disciples were merely surrounding the Fang Dao Sect; they had not launched an attack.
However, they frequently shouted or projected surrender letters using their internal energy.
The content of the surrender letters was divided into two categories. One was that any Fang Dao Sect disciple with internal energy who was willing to surrender and practice Shi Family Village's martial arts would be spared.
The other category was illustrations depicting the tragic and gruesome fate of those who defied Shi Family Village.
These surrender letters, coupled with the sect leader's defeat, had spread an aura of fear throughout the Fang Dao Sect.