Chapter 90: Daoist Tian Luo
“Shifu, are you really going to Mini Frostcloud Sect?”
On the lake island, a small boy asked.
“Yes.” The old man who answered him looked serious. “I heard that Tiangang Sect, one of the five immortal gates, has decided to take action against them. If I go too late, I’m afraid that Mini Frostcloud Sect will no longer exist.”
The boy’s dark eyes darted around. “But didn’t you say that there’s nothing great about Mini Frostcloud Sect’s talismans? Why are they worth your rescue personally?”
The old man coughed and sternly said, “I’m not at all convinced with those petty little charms in the past, but the Fetal Sculpting Talisman you bought last time was a bit interesting. It can be seen that Mini Frostcloud Sect’s level of refining talisman is enough for me to provide some comments.”
Seeing the child's skeptical expression, he said angrily, “Why are you asking so many questions? Stay here and watch the house for me!”
Boy, “The outside is full of formations. How can an ordinary thief break in? People who really have this ability won’t come and steal from such a poor family like us. Shifu, let this disciple tag along!”
The old man refused resolutely, “No way!”
The boy pouted and muttered, “Aren’t you just afraid that I’ll see you lose all modesty for the sake of learning the talisman, and resort to all sorts of shameful begging?”
A crack appeared in the old man’s expression and he couldn’t speak for a long while. Finally, he flicked his sleeves and left in anger.
Seeing him walking away, the boy wasn’t frustrated at all. Instead, he took out a small knapsack from the inner room that he had prepared earlier and secretly followed him.
The reinforcements were on their way to Flying Blossoms Mountain, but they didn't know that the ones who really needed rescuing were the other party who had fallen into dire straits.
Pockmarks swam for his life because under the water, he could only breathe by holding up his spiritual shield. Over time, his spiritual energy gradually ran out, and he was almost out of breath.
It seemed that there was no escape. Pockmarks hardened his resolve and shouted to the dozen or so disciples who followed him, “Let’s go! Come with me and fight to the end!”
So they fought. The disciples went up against the school of manefish fiercely, throwing all kinds of spells, magic weapons, and talismans at them.
When a manefish got blown away in half, the school of fish finally fought seriously. Seven or eight manefish gathered in one area, frantically flicking their tails, stirring up a series of whirlpools, and torturing the Tiangang disciples into misery. Several people were sucked into the whirlpool, their bodies shredded into pieces.
Seeing his fellow disciples dying one after another, Pockmarks was also at his limit. He gritted his teeth and took out another talisman.
This was his prized possession, the first prize that he had won during the inner gates competition back then. Thinking about the prestige at that time, Pockmarks once again shed tears on the spot.
The saddest thing was that this was also a d*mned talisman from Mini Frostcloud Sect! Pockmarks once again questioned the meaning of his existence!
He tore the talisman and saw a burst of blue light. It lit up the clear water, as blue as the sea, and the water in front of him was instantly frozen. All the manefish still maintained their ferocious appearance but turned into frozen fish in a flash.
“Let’s go! Split up and look for the living gate!”
After resolving the problem by spending a big fortune, Pockmarks didn’t give up on his ideals and dived under the water.
This time, luck finally stood on his side, and he quickly found a faintly glowing stone. Pockmarks wept with joy. It seemed that he had finally succeeded this time! So he drew his spear and slammed it on the stone. The surface of the stone was immediately covered with cobweb-like cracks before it burst apart.
Before everyone could cheer, the sky was spinning again. When everyone finally opened their eyes, there was a field of green in their vision.
“This is…?”
They were surrounded by birds and flowers. It looked familiar. Could it be… Flying Blossoms Mountain?
The remaining disciples glanced at each other. They could no longer suppress the excitement in their chests and embraced each other tightly with tears running down their faces. “We finally escaped! Argh!”
Along with the screams that suddenly started, Pockmarks was lifted upside-down by a huge force. Then, another vein emerged and took off his pants in a peculiar fashion, and started whipping his naked butt. The pained pleasure at that moment was the vicissitudes of chrysanthemum…
“What the heck!!!”
Pockmarks let out the most primitive cry in human nature. He was ashamed of his innocence and felt desperate for his current situation. First came fire, then came water, and now it was wood. Since when did they escape the illusory array? Obviously, they came out of the wolf's den and entered the tiger's lair!
“This hateful Mini Frostcloud Sect!”
Outside of the formation, a dozen disciples of Mini Frostcloud Sect were lurking behind the trees and rocks in the forest, looking at a group of people in the open space. They were screaming and running around, the expressions sometimes frantic, sometimes frightened, sometimes resentful, and sometimes joyful. These dramatic performers were at times flailing around, twitching, flying to the sky, and hiding in the ground. Some even took off their pants and lashed at the light. It was simply... unsightly!
Even though it was the second batch, they still watched with gusto, and their awe toward the sect leader deepened further.
Standing in the treetops, blue phoenix felt that it was in heaven, and laughed until it snorted like a pig several times.
Seeing some people fainted from exhaustion, the disciples were not in a hurry to drag them away. If the formation was still active and they stepped into it, they would be trapped inside too.
Anyway, the sect leader had said that these people wouldn’t die, and would only suffer some injury to the divine consciousness at most.
Suddenly, a disciple came forward to report, “Gui-shixiong, another person had arrived at the foot of the mountain.”
Gui Sheng, who was already 17 or 18 years old, raised his eyes questioningly. “Could it be reinforcements from Tiangang Sect?”
Disciple, “I don't know, but he is an old man anyway.”
Gui Sheng, “Stay here. I’ll take a look.”
Of course, the visitor was the golden core old man who came to Mini Frostcloud Sect’s rescue. He rushed up the mountain excitedly but was stopped by the maze in the mountain. After several laps, he still found no way to enter. The old man was worried when he saw a young man suddenly appeared and asked, “Who is there?”
After a brief pause, the old man immediately assumed a high and mighty posture, stroked his short beard, and said, “I’m Daoist Tian Luo of Lishan Lake Island.”
“Daoist Snail?”
(TN: The name Tian Luo天罗 can sound like 田螺 = river snail)
“Exactly.”
The old man had achieved the golden core stage for a long while and his cultivation was already at the high-level. He could be regarded as a prominent figure in Haotian Realm and simply assumed he would be respectfully welcomed into the mountain once he announced his name.
Who knew that the disciples of Mini Frostcloud Sect never bothered about secular affairs and knew very little about the experts in the cultivation world. Gui Sheng even inwardly scorned—what kind of name was that? Snail? He would rather have clams.
Gui Sheng, “Oh, why are you here?”
The old man widened his eyes in surprise and finally realized that the progress of things didn’t seem right. He couldn't help but remind again, “I’m Daoist Tian Luo!”
Gui Sheng, “I know. Didn’t you say that already?”
Seeing that he was so calm, an inconceivable thought flashed in the old man’s mind, “Could it be that you haven't heard of me?”
“Never heard of it.” Gui Sheng was unperturbed.
The old man staggered with anger. At this time, the boy who had been following him jumped out angrily and said, “A little Daoist like you is so ignorant! My Shifu is a golden core zhenren!”
Gui Sheng was startled but quickly calmed down again. So what if he was a golden core zhenren? He still couldn’t even enter the mountain gates, right? How could he compare with the sect leader? Thus, he glanced at the two indifferently, “So, what exactly are you here for?”
Seeing that this was getting nowhere, the boy was also helpless, so he could only appease his shifu, “Maybe he’s a newcomer who doesn't understand the rules. Why don’t we meet the sect leader directly? If he knows that you’re here, he’d definitely welcome you with open arms.”
Daoist Tian Luo nodded in a huff and suddenly said, “Why did you follow me? Didn’t I ask you to stay and watch the house?”
The boy rolled his eyes. “Shifu, stop pretending. Didn’t you know the entire time? By walking so slowly, aren’t you just waiting for me?”
Daoist Tian Luo was speechless for a while, determined to ignore him, and said to Gui Sheng, “I want to see your sect leader.”
Gui Sheng was more impolite than him. “Wait here as I pass the message. Let’s see if the sect leader decides to see you.”
The old man was so furious he stomped his foot.
At this moment, Jing Yue was in the dungeon, preparing to interrogate the disciples of Tiangang Sect he had captured. Qin Yanzhi stood behind him with a sword in his arms and looked indifferently at more than a thousand people who were forced to kneel on the ground. Ah no, there were still dozens of people lying unconscious.
Jing Yue noticed that 30 or so of these disciples were at Foundation Establishment stage while the rest were at level-7 Qi Refining and above. He speculated that they must be the backbone of Tiangang Sect. After all, the Laozu of Tiangang Sect with the highest level was only a golden core.
Suddenly, a disciple came forward to whisper a few words to him. He frowned and said, “A golden core zhenren? Let him in.”
He didn’t lower his voice deliberately. When the nearby disciples of Tiangang Sect heard it, their eyes suddenly lit up and thought it was reinforcements from the sect. However, why didn’t they just force their way through?
Oh, right. The formation outside the gates of Mini Frostcloud Sect was very strange. Perhaps the reinforcements had been halted. However, since it was a golden core cultivator, it was probably the Laozu or the sect leader. Once they arrived, hehe…
At a glance, Jing Yue guessed their wishful expectations, and said with a smile, “What? Are you so happy at the thought of having someone here to save you?”
Everyone immediately concealed their glee and dared not answer. After all, they were still in Mini Frostcloud Sect and had to bow their heads, but in their hearts, they were thinking of how to humiliate this vicious sect leader this way and that way later!
Jing Yue dusted his outer robe and smiled. “I haven't told you yet. The formation that trapped you just now is called the Five Elements Transformation Array, specially designed to deal with golden core cultivators. Haha…”
Although the formation he revised was not as powerful as the original formation, it didn't prevent him from bluffing a little. The people here didn’t understand it anyway.
Sure enough, the faces of the disciples of Tiangang Sect flushed red before turning pale instantly. If their Laozu or sect leader was captured, Tiangang would lose all face and become a permanent disgrace of the five great immortal sects.
Jing Yue was satisfied with the effect he had created and walked out of the dungeon with a flourish. Qin Yanzhi naturally followed.
When they arrived at the Hall of Purity, they saw an old man and a small child with unfriendly expressions sitting on a chair.
Daoist Tian Luo gave Jing Yue a sideways glance. Seeing that he was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he felt a wild surge of superiority and spoke as if he was giving grace, “Are you the sect leader of Mini Frostcloud Sect?”
Jing Yue, “That’s right.”
Daoist Tian Luo, “I’m sure you must have heard of me. I’m here this time…”
Jing Yue, “Haven’t heard of it.”
As if to confirm what he just said, Jing Yue turned around and asked Qin Yanzhi, “Have you heard of it?”
Qin Yanzhi was a man of few words. “No.”
Daoist Tian Luo really felt like hitting someone, but when he noticed Qin Yanzhi, he was suddenly shocked. The hair on this kid hadn’t even grown properly and he was already a level-8 Qi Refining stage?
Impossible! There was no way anyone in this world could do that! There must be something wrong!
While Daoist Tian Luo was in deep thought, his disciple, who could not see the cultivation level of the two, jumped out and said, “I didn't expect a sect leader to be so ignorant. My shifu is the number one rogue cultivator in the Haotian Realm and entered the golden core stage 500 years ago. If not for the fact that you have shown some standards in Talisman Dao and he couldn’t bear the sight of you being persecuted by Tiangang Sect, Shifu wouldn’t have come!”
Jing Yue, “In that case, you are not people from Tiangang Sect?”
Little boy, “Pooh! How dare those little minions of Tiangang Sect try to boss my shifu around? Their Laozu just entered the mid-level of golden core stage while the sect leader is at a low level. They have to be respectful when they see my shifu!”
Jing Yue filtered out the unnecessary ramblings of the child. Seeing that they were not enemies, his attitude became friendlier. “Thank you, but Tiangang Sect is nothing to be afraid of. We have already taken care of it.”
Little boy, “…”
Daoist Tian Luo, “… Are you bluffing me?”
Jing Yue smiled meaningfully. “More than a thousand disciples who came up the mountain are still squatting in the dungeon. Would you like to take a look?”
Daoist Tian Luo suddenly felt a cool breeze on the back of his neck and the continuous impact had reduced his arrogance to nothing. His grand plan of showing favor to Mini Frostcloud Sect and let the other party offer the talisman refining method had fallen short, and he was suddenly at a loss.
Jing Yue, “If there’s nothing else…”
Daoist Tian Luo thought he was going to send him off the mountain and said anxiously, “There is!”
Jing Yue, “What is it?”
Daoist Tian Luo had always been a person who wanted face. For him to be begging for someone’s help this time, he hesitated to speak.
Seeing his shifu like this, the boy also deflated and muttered, “We are actually here to give guidance, uh, ask for advice on the fetal sculpting talisman…”
Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi suddenly realized, “Oh…”
Author’s Notes:
Daoist Tian Luo: The hair on this kid hasn’t even grown properly and he’s already a level-8 Qi Refining stage?
Ji-ji was shocked: You… actually know that too? How do you know?
Rouge:… And how do you know?
Jing-jing: I didn’t say anything.
Rouge: That’s good… No, it’s all grown!
Big Rouge: So, how did you know?
Original Jing-jing: Oh, it’s dawn. Ji-ji, let’s go and practice!