Copper Mirror Lake.
After a light snowfall, the peach blossoms remained.
Copper Mirror Lake was guarded by a Peach Blossom Demon, hence ten miles of peach blossoms bloomed throughout the year. As night fell, Han Yurou, accompanied by Linhua, carried a jar and once again swept the snow from the petals into the jar amidst the peach grove. A faint smile played on her lips as she said, "Linhua, the wild fruits in the nearby mountains must be ripe too. Let's go pick some this afternoon and brew another jar of peach blossom wine this month."
"Yes, Miss."
Linhua narrowed her eyes and chuckled, "Miss is truly concerned about Young Master Lin Zhao!"
Han Yurou pursed her lips and smiled gently, "Young Master is our benefactor, both mine and Zhang Xicheng's. He was in our past life, and he is in this life. In our past life, Young Master was a young martial artist who traveled the world. In this life, he is a pure sword cultivator, he had a sword on his back when he came last time. Don't the martial artists who camp by Copper Mirror Lake often say, 'How can a sword immortal in this world go without wine?' Young Master is also fond of wine, and even more so of Copper Mirror Lake's peach blossom wine. Yurou has no ability to do much for Young Master, but brewing some peach blossom wine is possible."
Linhua smiled with pursed lips, "Mm!"
Just then, a figure suddenly flashed past one side of Copper Mirror Lake and stopped abruptly. It was an old Daoist priest in a fiery red robe, holding a whisk in one hand and covering his left waist with the other, from which fiery red blood continuously seeped between his fingers. He turned to look at the Peach Blossom Demon collecting petals and snow by the lake, and his entire being froze. Saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth again.
What is meant by "losing at the east but gaining at the west"?
This is it!
True Lord Bei Xuan laughed heartily and transformed into a fiery red gust of wind, sweeping away. It turned out to be a Peach Blossom Demon! He had roamed the martial world for thousands of years and had seen hundreds, if not thousands, of Peach Blossom Demons, but their quality was generally mediocre. Only the Peach Blossom Demon before him, with her peerless face and figure, and her immense spiritual energy, was almost on the verge of reaching the Golden Core stage of the eighth realm!
"Little beauty, where do you think you're going?!"
True Lord Bei Xuan roared with laughter.
"Ah?!"
Han Yurou was startled and hastily hugged the wine jar. The hand holding Linhua's palm instantly plunged beneath a peach tree. The next moment, along the roots of the peach tree, it transformed into a wisp of spiritual energy and flew into Copper Mirror Lake. Immediately, there was not a ripple on the surface of Copper Mirror Lake; it had sealed itself.
"Hmm?"
True Lord Bei Xuan stomped a foot on the cold lake surface, his gaze chilling. He chuckled, "Refining the Copper Mirror into your natal artifact? Tsk, tsk, what a chaste Peach Blossom Demon, truly an exceptional choice for a Dao companion! Although slightly inferior to that Apricot Maiden, she is still quite good."
Saying that, he stomped his feet fiercely. Instantly, the entire lakebed sank several meters. The land around Copper Mirror Lake cracked, and countless peach trees were tilted and fallen. In the midst of the violent qi, they turned to dust.
"Pfft..."
At the bottom of Copper Mirror Lake, Han Yurou directly spat out a mouthful of blood. She, who had reached the peak of the seventh realm and was about to break through to the Golden Core, had directly returned to the seventh realm. Her face turned deathly pale, and she gritted her teeth, "Why is the Immortal Master being so presumptuous?"
"Presumptuous?"
True Lord Bei Xuan stood on the Copper Mirror and said with a smile, "Peach Blossom Demon, I shall give you an opportunity now. Step out of the Copper Mirror and become my Dao companion. Within half a year, I will help you reach the Star River Realm. Afterwards, we will cultivate together, and when I ascend to the Ascension Realm, you will at least reach the Return to Truth Realm. What do you say?"
Han Yurou gritted her silver teeth, "I already have someone in my heart and do not wish to be another's Dao companion. I beg the Immortal Master to spare me!"
"So resolute?"
True Lord Bei Xuan's gaze turned cold. "If I were to shatter this Copper Mirror with one foot, you would truly cease to exist. Do you truly prefer death to the opportunity of reaching the Upper Five Realms that I offer you?"
Blood continuously flowed from the corners of Han Yurou's mouth. Her body trembled, and she held the wine jar, whispering, "I would rather die than comply!"
"Good!"
True Lord Bei Xuan stood on the Copper Mirror and said with a smile, "I shall give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to consider. After the incense stick is gone, there will be no karma or affinity between us. I will send you to your grave."
...
In the narrow cave dwelling, Han Yurou trembled all over. Linhua wept, "Miss, this person... this person is a twelfth-realm Immortal Master. Are we truly doomed this time? Or... should we go find Young Master Lin Zhao?"
"No..."
Han Yurou bit her red lips. "Although Young Master has a chivalrous spirit, but... but his realm is not high. This is a twelfth-realm cultivator. How can we let Young Master come to his death?"
"But the Snow Region Heavenly Pool..." Linhua gritted her teeth.
Han Yurou just shook her head, despair filling her eyes.
Linhua, tears streaming down her face, turned away sadly.
When she returned, she placed one hand behind her back and said with pursed lips, "Miss, perhaps this is our final destiny. You might only have one chance to write to Young Master Zhang Xicheng. I will block for you. Go and write a letter, telling Young Master Zhang Xicheng not to wait, and we shall meet in the next life?"
"Mm..."
Han Yurou wept, handing the guardian artifact of Copper Mirror Lake to Linhua. However, as Han Yurou turned away, Linhua directly opened a crack in the sealed Copper Mirror and released the flying fish. Instantly, the flying fish turned into an electric light in the water and disappeared without a trace as it flew out of the water. Even True Lord Bei Xuan, standing on the lake surface, could only frown, sensing a fluctuation of spiritual energy, but was unable to track it further.
For a flying fish in flight, it was almost impossible to capture.
"Linhua, you?"
Han Yurou was so angry that her body trembled. "You wrote to Young Master Lin Zhao?"
"Mm."
Linhua directly knelt on the ground, "Miss, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... only Young Master Lin Zhao can save us..."
"But Young Master himself..."
Han Yurou clenched her fist, wishing she could immediately step out of Copper Mirror Lake and go to her death.
...
Late at night.
A flying fish message landed on Lin Zhao's windowsill. He, who was drawing talismans, immediately got up and took a note from the flying fish. The note contained a single line: "A twelfth-realm elemental spirit intends to destroy Copper Mirror Lake. Young Master, come quickly."
Something had happened!
Lin Zhao frowned and said in a deep voice, "Fu Zhi?!"
Fu Zhi floated down, "My lord?"
"A twelfth-realm elemental spirit..."
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "Can you defeat it?"
"Half a pound, eight taels."
Fu Zhi said in a deep voice, "Although I may not win with certainty, I will basically not be defeated. If the opponent wants to exchange lives, I might lose my life."
"Understood."
Lin Zhao said in a deep voice, "Copper Mirror Lake is in trouble. The opponent is a twelfth-realm elemental spirit. Immediately ride your sword to Copper Mirror Lake and pick up Chen Ben at the foot of the mountain!"
"Alright!"
A sword light rose, and after a brief stop at a residence at the foot of the mountain in the Mountain Peak Villa, Chen Ben was roused from his room. The young martial artist had eaten well and slept early. He rubbed his eyes and got up from the hard bed, "Sister Fu Zhi, is something wrong?"
As he spoke, he saw Lin Zhao standing outside on the flying sword and couldn't help but be stunned, "Brother Lin Zhao?"
"Mm."
Lin Zhao nodded, "Come with us. A friend of mine is in distress, and I need you to help me punch someone!"
"Okay!"
This was something he was good at!
The young martial artist leaped up and stood shoulder to shoulder with Lin Zhao on the sword light, while Fu Zhi controlled her flying sword and transformed into a trailing radiance, streaking across the Snow Region Heavenly Pool. In just a few breaths, they had already arrived at Copper Mirror Lake.
The three of them leaped from the sword light. Fu Zhi retracted her flying sword and calmly looked at the calm, mirror-like surface of Copper Mirror Lake, where a twelfth-realm cultivator in a fiery red Daoist robe stood – it was True Lord Bei Xuan.
"Fellow Daoist."
Lin Zhao stepped forward, cupped his fists, and said, "Is there anything that cannot be discussed properly? Must you be so overbearing and bully the weak?"
True Lord Bei Xuan narrowed his eyes. He naturally recognized Lin Zhao, and also Fu Zhi and Chen Ben behind him. But these two... frankly, True Lord Bei Xuan did not take them seriously. After all, he was a stable twelfth-realm cultivator. Even if you, Fu Zhi, were the strongest eleventh-realm sword cultivator in the human world, so what? There was a difference in realm, and he could still kill her! As for the Sea-Crossing realm young martial artist, he didn't take him seriously at all. There was a difference of two realms; he could crush him with one finger.
"Lin Zhao!"
True Lord Bei Xuan raised an eyebrow and said, "I am a cultivator who has achieved the Dao in the mountains, True Lord Bei Xuan. I have always minded my own business with your Snow Region Heavenly Pool. Now, I have coincidentally formed a connection with the Peach Blossom Demon in Copper Mirror Lake. Why must you interfere?"
"Senior, you are unaware."
Lin Zhao smiled and said, "Han Yurou, the Peach Blossom Demon, and I have been friends for a hundred years. The peach blossom wine brewed by Han Yurou is the most mellow wine I have ever tasted in my life. If she is gone, this peach blossom wine will also be gone, and Lin Zhao will be very sad."
"Oh?"
True Lord Bei Xuan narrowed his eyes and chuckled, "So, are you in the Snow Region Heavenly Pool determined to interfere and fight me?"
"Precisely."
"I fear it will not be so easy..."
True Lord Bei Xuan waved his sleeve and chuckled, "Do you think that because I am a mountain spirit, I have no disciples at all?"
Instantly, figures began to fly in from the depths of the mountains and wilderness, transforming into human forms. There was a nine-realm formed Snow Pine, a ten-realm Osmanthus Tree Spirit, and even an eleven-realm Water Willow Tree Spirit. Although these monsters were scattered throughout the mountains, they all looked to True Lord Bei Xuan, a twelfth-realm cultivator, as their leader. The clan of elemental spirits were all rogue cultivators, but even among rogue cultivators, there was the martial world and territorial divisions.
In an instant, at least a hundred elemental spirits appeared together, including one eleventh-realm cultivator and a group of mid-level fifth-realm cultivators, all descending upon the airspace above Copper Mirror Lake, their presence imposing.
...
"I miscalculated..."
Lin Zhao's sword eyebrows furrowed, and he inwardly cursed his bad luck. He should have called Mu Zha, Chu Yu, Xiang Ji, and the others. Then they might have had a chance to fight. But with this current situation, even if Fu Zhi and Chen Ben were strong, they probably wouldn't be able to resist!
"How is it, are you going to call for reinforcements?"
True Lord Bei Xuan stomped his foot fiercely, instantly creating a small world within a radius of dozens of miles. He laughed heartily, "It's too late! You can only die here! That Peach Blossom Demon is merely an appetizer. You, Lin Zhao, Fu Zhi, and Chen Ben, are the main course! With your heads, I can exchange for at least ten thousand Jinzi coins in the Ancestral Mountain of the Demon Race!"
Just then, a sneer came from the nearby woods.
Everyone immediately looked over. They saw a military cultivator in white robes and silver armor sitting on a piece of deadwood, wiping the blade of a bright silver spear with a piece of silk. No one knew when he had arrived, perhaps he had been there from the very beginning.