After the God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet was released from Bitter Cultivation Cliff and they fled, Qin Xi deliberately led it towards Lady Miaoying and Daoist Guo; Lady Miaoying and Daoist Guo then encountered Venerable Xuxiang on their way and schemed to leave him behind to attract the corpse puppet's attention; Furious, Venerable Xuxiang also fled at breakneck speed, only to coincidentally run into Demon Lord Yeshuang...
In such a vicious cycle, the Immortal Palace of the ancient great sect, the Cold Ice Palace, was thrown into utter chaos for a time, with almost everyone dragged into the fray.
The most unfortunate were three early to mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. Although their strength was not lacking, they had entered the Immortal Palace largely by luck. Having sustained serious injuries while passing through the corridor, they were wandering the palace searching for spiritual treasures when they unfortunately encountered the equally aimless God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet. Whether in divine sense, experience, or escape techniques, they were no match for those Great Late-Nascent Soul Cultivators. Caught off guard, they were annihilated by the corpse puppet in a single encounter.
Next were the two injured mid-Nascent Soul cultivators from the Jiuyan Sect. Their reaction was quite swift, and they detected the threat in time. However, during their frantic escape, one was caught up with due to their severe injuries, while the other perished after encountering a powerful shifting restriction in the air.
And then...
In less than half a day, the entire Immortal Palace had become a slaughterhouse. Cultivators whose strength was even slightly lacking were all exterminated, with only those Great Late-Nascent Soul Cultivators and a few lucky individuals as exceptions.
But even these Great Late-Nascent Soul Cultivators did not all escape unscathed. Demon Lord Yueying was unlucky enough to lose one of his corpse puppets, equivalent to having an arm severed. As for the others, even if uninjured, they were chased until their Spiritual Qi was severely depleted, forced to use some of their secret techniques and spiritual treasures to neutralize the restrictions they encountered while fleeing.
In the Immortal Palace, which had become a complete mess, every cultivator who had encountered the God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet was cursing inwardly. They had been in the palace for over a day and hadn't seen any sign of a God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet. They truly didn't know which bastard had released this thing, causing them such terrible misfortune!
At this moment, the prime culprits, Mo Tiange and Qin Xi, had already recovered their Spiritual Qi. Cautiously on guard, they were making their way towards the storeroom.
Of course, they were aware of the huge commotion the corpse puppet had caused, but this was precisely the situation they had hoped for.
Now that the corpse puppet was out, it was best to drag everyone into this muddy water so they could slip away more easily. Otherwise, if they were the only ones being chased by the corpse puppet, wouldn't they just be letting others pick up the spoils for free?
Mo Tiange, in particular, was secretly gloating. During this trip to the Guixu Sea, before Qin Xi arrived, she had been bullied enough by these Nascent Soul cultivators. Now that they were in trouble, she felt no guilt whatsoever.
Another streak of Escape Light shot past them at extreme speed. Qin Xi cautiously pulled Mo Tiange aside, avoiding it in another direction.
In this half day, they had witnessed this scene many times. Cultivators frequently disregarded the aerial restrictions, fleeing for their lives through the Immortal Palace. It couldn't be helped. While the restrictions were dangerous, the chance of encountering one wasn't very high. But if that corpse puppet caught up, it would be the end.
"Mid-Nascent Soul," Qin Xi said, watching the streak of light. "This person's strength isn't bad, but it seems they're injured. They're in danger."
Mo Tiange watched as the streak of light sped away, with that Demonic Qi closely following behind. Sure enough, the light wavered in the air, paused for a moment, and was caught up by the Demonic Qi.
The Demonic Qi surged, enveloping the streak of light. They seemed to hear a scream from within, then the Demonic Qi slowly swallowed the light completely.
This scene unfolded in mid-air, witnessed by many cultivators in the Immortal Palace, causing a collective shudder of fear.
God Transformation Stage—an insurmountable chasm for them. If it were them being chased, they too would be wiped out with a wave of a hand, utterly unable to resist.
After the light completely vanished, the Demonic Qi lingered in the air for a moment before chasing off in another direction.
This time, what streaked across the sky was a dazzling sword light, swiftly fleeing in their direction.
Qin Xi's expression changed slightly. Without bothering to hide, he grabbed Mo Tiange, summoned his flying cloud, and fled in a random direction.
Who knew that the owner of the sword light seemed to have spotted them and also turned to chase in their direction.
Realizing this, Qin Xi frowned deeply. "This person is doing it on purpose!"
If you encountered the corpse puppet, find another unlucky soul to take the fall—this had become the unspoken rule among the cultivators in the Immortal Palace over the past half day. Some had succeeded, while others had become sacrifices.
The person behind them was in hot pursuit, and behind that person, the corpse puppet still followed closely. After flying for a while, Qin Xi said with a grim expression, "This person's cultivation is ordinary, but their escape speed is fast. I'm afraid we won't be able to shake them off immediately."
Mo Tiange looked back and said coldly, "This person has clearly latched onto us. Even if they can't catch up, once the corpse puppet kills them, it will come after us. What a case of harming others without benefiting oneself!"
"Hmph!" A fierce glint flashed in Qin Xi's eyes as he whispered, "If that's the case, I don't mind killing this person before the corpse puppet gets to them!"
Although this wouldn't solve the problem, being so blatantly schemed against would anger anyone.
Mo Tiange fell silent. If he weren't carrying her, Qin Xi's escape speed should be faster, but...
"This person's Spiritual Qi is running out!" Mo Tiange turned to look again, noticed this, and said happily.
"Mm." During the escape, Qin Xi had also been constantly monitoring their pursuer. As time passed, the person's escape speed had slowed slightly, clearly indicating insufficient Spiritual Qi.
Just as they were about to speed up and get away, they suddenly heard a clear cry from behind. The flying sword under that person's feet erupted with ten thousand zhang of sword light, suddenly accelerating.
"Huh?" Qin Xi paused mid-flight, stopped for a moment, then suddenly turned and flew straight towards the person.
"Senior Brother!" Mo Tiange was shocked, not understanding what he was doing. Since this person's Spiritual Qi was running out, even if they used a secret technique, it was a last desperate effort. They could just accelerate to shake them off. Why fly towards them instead?
Qin Xi didn't answer. He quickly came face-to-face with the owner of the sword light. With a flick of his hand, he threw out a spirit talisman.
The talisman ignited upon meeting the wind, suddenly releasing powerful Spiritual Qi that slowly condensed into a human form in the air, lingering behind that person.
After doing this, Qin Xi turned his flying cloud and fled at high speed once more. The sword light paused for a moment, then continued closely behind.
The corpse puppet soon caught up. Sensing the Spiritual Qi transformed from the talisman, it seemed somewhat puzzled. After hesitating for a good while, it finally reached out and grabbed at it.
The corpse puppet's pause bought the three of them some time, allowing them to quickly put distance between them.
By the time the corpse puppet had completely devoured the Spiritual Qi from the talisman, it happened to detect another group of cultivators nearby and turned to chase after them.
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. After fleeing another distance, they finally found a safe spot to land.
"It's you!" Landing in a desolate garden, Mo Tiange saw this person and was startled.
This person wore a blue robe, carried a sword, had a lean face, and an expressionless demeanor. It was precisely the blue-robed swordsman Jian Xin whom she had encountered in Starfall City decades ago. At that time, they had both fallen into City Lord Mei's trap and had cooperated. However, later, when she was being hunted by City Lord Mei, she hadn't known Jian Xin's whereabouts.
Mo Tiange's feelings towards Jian Xin were complex. This person was quick-witted, meticulous, and could make rapid decisions in dangerous situations, truly a first-rate companion. But he was also selfish and profit-driven, utterly disregarding others' lives to achieve his goals, not someone to befriend. Yet, it was this very person who, when she was about to be killed by City Lord Mei, intervened to block the attack, allowing her to escape with her life.
She couldn't quite tell if she despised him or was grateful to him.
But what surprised her more was that when they first met, Jian Xin was clearly at the mid-Core Formation stage, but now he was at the early Nascent Soul stage! In just over fifty years, advancing from mid-Core Formation to early Nascent Soul—this speed was undeniably fast, especially for a sword cultivator!
Before she could say anything more, this Jian Xin smiled at her. The smile held some helplessness, some emotion, and an indescribable sense of familiarity, leaving Mo Tiange somewhat dazed.
This person...
Hearing her words, Qin Xi frowned and gave her a puzzled look before turning back to address the person. "Why are you here?"
"Why can't I be here?" Jian Xin's tone was even more helpless, his gaze towards them exceedingly complex. "How did you recognize me?"
Qin Xi replied coolly, "We've known each other for over two hundred years, after all. That secret technique of yours—others might not recognize it, but I do."
"..." Jian Xin lowered his head, seeming somewhat frustrated, and didn't answer.
Qin Xi snorted coldly again and said, "Harming others without benefiting yourself, finding someone to take the fall even in death—this personality of yours truly won't change even if you die!"
Hearing this, Jian Xin replied gloomily, "If I had known it was you two, I would never have chased."
"Hmph!" Qin Xi snorted again and said no more.
Their riddle-like conversation left Mo Tiange utterly confused. She looked at Qin Xi, then at Jian Xin, and suddenly a ridiculous thought popped into her mind. The more she looked at that Jian Xin, the more real the thought became.
"You're Jing Xingzhi!" she blurted out.
Jian Xin looked up at her, sighed with utmost frustration, reached up to his face, and wiped it. What was revealed was indeed Jing Xingzhi's face, with its peach-blossom charm.
"Only recognizing me now, you're really slow," he said with a laugh.
"..." So he was Jing Xingzhi. Mo Tiange's heart was a raging sea of shock, but her expression remained calm.
When she first met Jian Xin, she had only felt his temperament was somewhat familiar but hadn't thought deeply about it. After all, selfish and self-interested people like him were not uncommon in the cultivation world. Besides, this was Yunzhong; how could she have imagined that besides Nie Wushang, she would encounter another old acquaintance here?
However, thinking about it now, it wasn't that surprising. She had long known about Jing Xingzhi's situation—his falling out with the faction of Sword Venerable Fuling. He probably couldn't stay in the Ancient Sword Sect anymore, so running off to Yunzhong wasn't strange. Although Yunzhong was far from Tianji, she had discovered an undersea passage, and Nie Wushang had safely crossed the South Sea. Jing Xingzhi could naturally have found a way too.
Seeing Qin Xi's questioning gaze, Mo Tiange explained simply, "When I was trapped by Mei Feng's scheme back then, he was also involved."
Qin Xi nodded, indicating he understood. He had asked about her experiences over the years. Hearing just this sentence now, he understood the situation.
Mo Tiange asked again, "Weren't you already at late Core Formation long ago? Why were you at mid-Core Formation back then? And now you've formed your Nascent Soul..."
Jing Xingzhi spread his hands and answered, "Is it not possible that my cultivation regressed due to injury? As for forming my Nascent Soul... I'm of the same generation as Qin Shoujing. He's already at mid-Nascent Soul; why can't I form my Nascent Soul?"
"..."
After his answer, Mo Tiange didn't know what else to say, and Qin Xi remained silent. For a moment, the three of them fell into an awkward silence.