Where Immortals Once Walked

He Lingchuan remembered that when Mitian had revealed the black thread on Shao Jian’s shoulder, she had used a vessel shaped like an alms bowl. But when he saw the golden thread on Zhu Daniang, he had not borrowed or made use of any tool at all.

Is it because Baizhantian’s divine technique is different, or because I’m different?

He had never had this ability before.

A thought stirred in He Lingchuan’s heart. He suddenly drew Fleeting Life.

A cold gleam flashed in his hand. Zhu Daniang tightened all eight claws and said warily, “What are you doing?”

“Don’t move. Let me try something.” He Lingchuan exerted a little force, and a layer of red light swept over Fleeting Life.

The origin energy of the Gale Army—this was its first trial use in the mortal realm.

He raised the saber and brought it close to the golden thread, very gently and very slowly, so Zhu Daniang would not misunderstand.

When Fleeting Life touched the golden thread, it actually felt as though the thread were something solid. The golden thread even swayed when the blade nudged it. He Lingchuan’s heart settled. It’s possible!

But cutting the golden thread was not as simple as he had imagined. It was not a single clean stroke. Instead, it was like sawing steel wire with a small knife; the thread was tough, hard, and resilient all at once.

Even with Fleeting Life’s sharpness, he had to slice more than a dozen times before completely cutting it through!

After breaking the golden thread, it became no different from an ordinary silk thread and quickly dissolved into the bright light.

The karmic thread secretly planted by the god had been eliminated!

He Lingchuan could not help but laugh aloud, his heart now filled with relief. “Done!” So Fleeting Life’s Void-Breaker ability can be used like this too?

Dong Rui and Zhu Daniang could not see the golden thread. At this moment, both were astonished. “You can cut it with a saber?”

“Looks like it.” He Lingchuan patted Zhu Daniang, then winced—ugh, sharp. “It’s settled. I think the god’s tracking deific technique should have been severed.”

In the past, Fleeting Life might not have had the ability to sever threads of fate. However, it had to be noted that he had just retrieved the Generous Pot’s lid from Mount Xu!

Now that the pot and lid had come together, it was only natural for the divine artifact to have gained some marvelous new functions, right?

He truly wanted to see with his own eyes the expressions of the gods and the Monster Emperor when they discovered the thread had been cut.

This time, he had once again struck them at the root. The other side must hate him to the bone.

Oh, right, they probably don’t even know who I am.

He Lingchuan smiled even more comfortably.

Next, the two men mounted their rides and switched to traveling overland.

A human-skin mask covered Dong Rui’s rotten face, so outsiders could not see anything abnormal. But Zhu Daniang’s size could not be concealed. He believed the wanted notice Lingxu City issued for her would soon spread across Beijia. Therefore, He Lingchuan deliberately avoided official roads and specifically traveled through lofty mountains and steep ridges to keep their whereabouts from being exposed.

The cliff ram could stroll leisurely across rugged mountain paths, and the bo beast that He Lingchuan had spent a great deal of money to buy Dong Rui was not slow either. With his new face, Dong Rui was willing to show off outside. Occasionally, he ran near post stations, villages, and towns to circle around, replenishing food and water while also making inquiries.

When he returned, he said that because they had stirred up a hornet’s nest, the number of officers and soldiers coming and going along the official roads was as dense as wasps. Checkpoints were extremely strict, and bird monsters were always circling in the air, searching for suspicious figures like them.

The upheaval on Mount Xu and in Lingxu City was like a bomb detonating in the empire’s heart. The aftershocks of the explosion and Beijia’s anger were only just beginning to spread outward.

The imperial capital had been stable for six hundred years. It was time for it to experience the suffering of turmoil.

Mount Xu was also the sacred mountain in the hearts of the people of Lingxu City, and even of the people of Beijia. Now that such a sudden calamity had befallen it, who knew how much suspicion and doubt it would trigger?

With public sentiment surging, how much effort would the Heavenly Palace and the imperial court have to spend before they could suppress it?

Everyone said the gods were omnipotent. Then why had the gods’ own earthly residence been burned clean by someone?

This incident was far deeper, broader, and more thought-provoking in its impact than any elixir of youth case or State Preceptor Qing Yang’s downfall.

Of course, for a habitual fugitive like Dong Rui, evading the eyes of officers and soldiers was nothing difficult.

Zhu Daniang dispelled his smugness with a single sentence, “Has my wanted notice been posted? What rank am I now?”

Dong Rui’s smile immediately vanished. Reluctantly, he said, “It’s posted. You are now second on the Ranking of Heaven.”

The spider monster had destroyed the Grand Spirit-Gathering Array and caused Tianshu Peak’s volcanic eruption. Her crimes were unforgivable. Thus, she had jumped directly from the Ranking of Earth into the Ranking of Heaven.

As for him, he had only handled logistics in this operation and had never shown his true face. Because Nian Zanli had taken the blame for him, he was no longer wanted.

Damn it. Zhu Daniang completely stole the limelight from me.

“The third name on the Ranking of Heaven was updated too. It’s been taken by someone called Dufeng. Probably that immortal bird that released the tornadoes.”[1]

He Lingchuan thought the name sounded somewhat familiar. Do all these bird monsters like using “wind[2]” in their names?

“Yes, that’s the one.” Zhu Daniang shook her sharp claw.

“What about first place?”

“Don’t know.” Dong Rui thought for a moment. “It wasn’t posted.”

He Lingchuan smiled and raised his hand. “First place is right here.”

Dong Rui was unconvinced. “Hah, as if! How do you know the seat of chief villain must be yours?”

“They don’t know who I am, and they don’t know what I look like. How can they issue a wanted notice?” Are they supposed to paste a question mark on the portrait? “If they can’t issue the wanted notice, that means it’s me.”

Dong Rui clicked his tongue.

“Not convinced?” He Lingchuan counted on his fingers for him. “Who obtained the intelligence on the array eye?”

The information and details concerning the array eye’s construction had all been inside retired official Zaifu Kua’s head. If conventional interrogation methods had been used, even if he had been silenced afterward, it might still have alerted the authorities. Once the Heavenly Palace grew vigilant, the difficulty of the operation would have at least doubled.

But He Lingchuan had used a nightmare to draw out the information without anyone realizing it, and even Zaifu Kua himself had no memory of it.

“Second, who obtained the Giant Thunderclap Beast hide and turned it into a lightning-warding plaque?”

Dong Rui curled his lip.

Lightning-warding magical artifacts were already rare. The “lightning pool” in the array eye of the Grand Spirit-Gathering Array could not be withstood by ordinary goods at all. Fang Canran had held Dun Garden sales for many years and had seen every sort of rare treasure, yet even he had found only one barely qualified lightning-warding magical artifact, and he was not certain it could be used to infiltrate Mount Xu.

If the Fu Realm had not happened to open, if the Giant Thunderclap Beast had not happened to fight the nothing beast leader to the death, where would He Lingchuan have gone to pick up the Giant Thunderclap Beast’s hide and make a lightning-warding plaque?

His luck was simply too good.

“Third—” He Lingchuan raised a third finger. “Who calculated the position of the Tianluo Star?”

Dong Rui was left speechless.

This point was indeed remarkable. Even now, he did not understand how He Lingchuan had done it.

The Generous Pot was He Lingchuan’s deepest secret. He would not tell anyone that he had used external assistance.

“And there were plenty of other investigations and details I won’t even bother mentioning.” He Lingchuan curled his fingers into a fist, leaving only his thumb pointing at himself. “Actually, all these coincidences and opportunities aside, the key is the person. If someone else did it, they’d die one by one. If I do it, it’s guaranteed to succeed.”

Zhu Daniang suddenly said, “Fang Canran is very capable as well, but without you, he could wait another hundred years and still not be able to carry out something like this.”

He Lingchuan gave her a thumbs-up. “Lady One has excellent judgment!” And she’s very honest too!

Dong Rui wanted to roll his eyes, but he had no way to refute it. He could only silently watch He Lingchuan bask in his own smugness.

1. Note that this conclusion is likely from the name containing the character for wind (风), which is feng in Dufeng. ☜

2. Once again, this is 风. Chaofeng, Chifeng, and the Wind Demon all had it, though the Wind Demon was obviously not a bird. ☜