Ke’s expression remained cold, ignoring him. She was not afraid of the Toad King, for if the Toad King were to attack, he would deplete his strength, reducing the Toad Clan’s time to escape.
Even if he used the Toad Clan’s forbidden technique, he was still not a Da Luo, merely close to one!
Furthermore, once this technique was used, the Toad King would have no retreat, destined to perish.
The Ninth Cave Master beside him sneered, “A dying man, what words can he utter?”
Black rain fell incessantly, slaughter continued without pause, blood flowed endlessly, and the chase was relentless.
To the southwest of the Eastern Desolation, under a giant green vine, Qing Ling looked towards the east, where malevolent energy surged into the heavens, and blood qi climbed skyward.
He paid no mind, nor did he intervene. The Primordial World operated by the law of the jungle, the sole truth.
Beneath the green vine, an old man with a white beard approached, staff in hand. With each step, dust billowed, sweeping across the northern lands.
The old man said leisurely, “Greetings, fellow Daoist. I apologize for the intrusion.”
Qing Ling looked at the old man and smiled faintly, “You are too kind.”
“May I ask if the green vine behind you could be relocated?”
“No,” Qing Ling shook his head. “May I ask why?”
“This vine contains Dao principles and has already influenced the cultivation of all Dao in the Du Guang Wilds. Therefore, the various Mountain Lords have invited me to persuade you.” The old man stroked his beard and spoke softly, “Fellow Daoist, you should reconsider.
Seeing you today, though your realm is profound, you are still not in the Da Luo realm. There are over ten Tai Yi Grand Cultivators in the Du Guang Wilds; can you withstand them?”
Qing Ling shook his head and chuckled, “No.
But if they do not appear before my eyes, they will not be able to discern my true strength.”
The old man laughed, “But I already know.
Do you truly believe you can keep me here?
What abilities do you possess, Fellow Daoist?” His words took on a hint of coldness, laced with killing intent.
Qing Ling did not answer the old man, but merely glanced at a flower on the ground before him.
The flower bloomed brilliantly, a crimson hue as if steeped in blood, a fusion of death and life.
“I possess no great abilities. I am merely a gardener. Here, I kill no one and engage in no conflict. I only plant flowers.”
The old man listened and let out a laugh, “Then I shall see how you plant your flowers?”
“The flower has already been planted. But you will not see it bloom. For the flowers I plant, I plant only in the hearts of men.”
As Qing Ling spoke, the old man’s face trembled. He realized that a vibrant flower bud had somehow grown on his heart, a blood-red bud on the verge of blooming.
The old man’s expression drastically changed. He thrust out a finger, accompanied by the laws of wind and cloud. The wind’s might shattered, the cloud’s might imprisoned, and the world’s wind and cloud surged forth with his finger.
Above Qing Ling, the Spring Wind and Rain Banner appeared. Wind and rain were forbidden from the heavenly palaces, and the divine essence in the Niwan Palace manifested the divine path.
The old man’s single finger commanded wind and cloud. As they rose, the heavenly net split, the firmament locked, and the soul could not resist.
With a thought from Qing Ling, wind and rain emerged, entwining in the air, ceaseless rain, the Spring God’s dominion.
Shock flashed in the old man’s eyes. This person was the Spring God, a subordinate deity of the rumored Lord of Spring.
He did not wish to remain. He took a step, and dust billowed from the ground once more, attempting to depart.
But with a distant gesture from Qing Ling, the towering green vine behind him unleashed a force that isolated heaven and earth, manifesting as an invisible pressure that descended upon the old man’s back.
It was as if the old man was carrying a mountain on his back, an immensely heavy and towering ‘mountain,’ causing his steps to become stiff and slow, even resulting in a stumble.
The immense power was terrifying. Even as a peak expert among Tai Yi Grand Cultivators, he was still suppressed, finding it difficult to move.
With each step the old man took, not only did dust rise, but for every step he took, the land for a thousand li beneath him sank three feet.
Even with the greatest dust, it could not bear the weight of the ‘great mountain’ on his back.
From the green vine, Bai Fu descended, transforming into human form before Qing Ling.
“Go, follow him and bring back the Luo Sheng Flower.”
Bai Fu’s heart trembled, and he immediately nodded in agreement.
A white bat soared into the sky, catching up to the old man who had already traveled a thousand li, and landed on his shoulder.
The old man was utterly exhausted, his mind unable to focus. He could only look at the bat on his shoulder with its strange, peculiar eyes.
He did not know that the bat carried misfortune, calamity, and the aura of death.
The old man walked for a day, and the ‘mountain’ on his back grew by a zhang. Ten days, ten zhang; a hundred days, a hundred zhang. The increasing weight each day filled him with dread, consuming vast amounts of his mental and physical strength.
Within his heart, a flower bud that could not be killed and would not die constantly drained his life force, essence, spirit, and even his primordial spirit and Dao principles.
He walked slower and slower, growing weaker and weaker. His essence, spirit, and energy gradually fatigued, and his luck was stealthily devoured by the bat. Deathly energy had seeped into his fortune, and death entering fortune was known as calamity.
Finally, as the sun rose on another day, the old man could no longer lift his feet. He collapsed onto the ground, crushed by the immense mountain on his back.
The flower bud in his heart had absorbed all his essence, spirit, energy, his magic power, and even nearly half of his primordial spirit.
He panted, gasping for breath, and struggled to turn his head, looking at the bat still standing on his shoulder. It turned out to be a monstrous insect that accompanied him in his death.
But at this moment, the bat suddenly flapped its wings and took flight, circling around him.
As the old man watched in confusion, the flower in his heart instantly burst forth from his body, absorbing his entire form, transforming into a Luo Sheng Flower with nine blood-red petals in full bloom, vibrant and crimson.
The bat grasped the Luo Sheng Flower and flew back to the green vine. It placed the spiritual flower before Qing Ling, and then flew back to the green vine.
Qing Ling smiled and shook his head. Beside the first Luo Sheng Flower, he planted a second Luo Sheng Flower.
One zhang of space, one flower; one zhang of space, one Tai Yi.
In the distance, on a high mountain.
Dozens of Venerables waited anxiously.
After a long while, a woman said uneasily, “Elder Chen has been gone for so long, why hasn’t he returned yet?”
“Could Elder Chen also be…”
“How is that possible! Elder Chen is a peak Tai Yi expert. Unless that person is truly a Da Luo, nothing could have happened to him,” a burly man argued gruffly.
At this moment, a thin man with a sharp mouth and monkey-like cheeks chuckled, “Could it be that Elder Chen has subdued that green-robed wandering soul, and is now hoarding the treasure for himself and has left?”
“What? How is that possible?” everyone exclaimed in disbelief.
“What’s impossible about that?” the woman who spoke first said, “Elder Chen was not a kind person back then. He’s probably lost count of how many times he’s killed people for treasures.”
But a young man snorted, “Yet the green vine in the distance still stands at the center of Du Guang, clearly indicating that Elder Chen did not succeed.”
As the crowd continued to argue, two weeping sounds suddenly came from the mountain.
Two Daoist boy sprites ran over, sobbing uncontrollably, “It’s bad! Master, Master’s soul lamp has been extinguished!”
The hearts of all the Mountain Lords sank. A mission that could leave a Tai Yi expert like Elder Chen dead, only a Da Luo Golden Immortal could possibly accomplish it!
The Mountain Lords speculated amongst themselves, but none of them left.
For with Elder Chen gone, his cave dwelling, managed for countless years, still remained. Even if Elder Chen died because of them, they would not care in the slightest.