Chapter 363: If You Have The Guts, Storm Into Silver Sword Peak.

The latest issue of the Chronicles of the Nine Provinces didn't feature any major events, but it still had some rather exciting news that drew a decent amount of interest.

One of the articles was on the theft of the Baxia Dual Rings from the Ultimate Martial Mountain Manor and how its retrieval had been used as a test for the Great Astral Sect's trial. However, the article was quite short, and it had mainly mentioned the four Great Astral Sect disciples.

Chu Liang and the others who weren't from the Great Astral Sect had contributed significantly to the retrieval of the Baxia Dual Rings. Nevertheless, as the helpers, they had been destined to be supporting characters in the article right from the start.

Then Chu Liang eagerly flipped to the "Uncommon Tales of the Martial World" section. He was not disappointed.

As soon as he got to the right page, the first line on the page was the recruitment announcement for Red Cotton Peak. It seemed that Zhang Xiaohan was someone who kept her word.

Chu Liang believed that stores in the immortal sects all over the nine provinces and in the world of immortality cultivators in general would now be aware of the recruitment. It didn't matter if they weren't interested; it was enough that they knew about it.

Compared to the serious news in the "Chronicles of the Nine Provinces," the news in "The Uncommon Tales of the Martial World" was much more relaxed. The second piece of news in "The Uncommon Tales of the Martial World" made Chu Liang chuckle.

The Thunderbolt Stronghold had commissioned the Celestial Pivot Pavilion to put out a missing person notice. The notice stated that Huang Ling'er, the daughter of the Thunderbolt Stronghold's lord, had run away from home. Anyone who could provide information that could lead them to finding her and bringing her home would be generously rewarded.

Huang Ling'er was a pretty decent young lady, but it was unfortunate that the lord of the Thunderbolt Stronghold was her father. He was often mentioned in the gazette due to his involvement in some strange matters.

It was quite depressing just thinking about it. How would Huang Ling'er fare in the world of immortality cultivators in the future?

The next piece of news was a widely circulated rumor that Chancellor Su Qian had petitioned the emperor to make Shen Qingyan, a disciple of the South Melody Conservatory, the crown prince's imperial consort.

News like this was normally undisclosed to the public until the imperial court had finalized the decision, so the gazette only referred to it as a rumor. However, the rumor had already spread wide across the dynasty, and many of the cabinet ministers did not refute it.

The emperor had yet to give his approval, but considering Su Qian's position and the historical precedents, it was likely that this petition had been made at the emperor's behest. After all, as the chancellor of the imperial court, Su Qian had no reason to associate himself with a musician from the South Melody Conservatory; there was simply no reason for him to be her matchmaker.

It seemed that this information had been leaked so that they could see how it would be received by the imperial court and the common people. There had been precedents of the imperial family marrying disciples from the South Melody Conservatory, but it was an unprecedented matter for a crown prince to take a core disciple from the South Melody Conservatory as his consort.

It was important to note that whoever became the crown princess would very likely become the empress in the future!

The musicians from the South Melody Conservatory were public figures. The conservatory's core disciples toured all over the nine provinces and were always in the spotlight. Having someone like that as the crown princess might cause some negative reactions, so the imperial court and the public were now being observed to see if that was indeed the case. If public opinion was favorable, the petition might be put on the agenda for the imperial court soon.

While thinking about this matter, Chu Liang realized he had already met three of the South Melody Conservatory's four core disciples. The remaining core disciple he had yet to meet was the young lady mentioned in the article—Miss Shen.

After the section on "The Uncommon Tales of the Martial World," it was Zhang Xiaohan's bi-monthly release.

Following the successful tales of Madam Bai and Meng Jiangnu, Zhang Xiaohan's original stories weren't well received. Nevertheless, she wouldn't give up just because of one failure.

The story that was released this time was the tale of Berry Boy and Weaver Girl. Chu Liang just changed Cowherd to Berry Boy to fit his berry stuff as usual.. The public embraced it with great passion.

Chu Liang had told Zhang Xiaohan a very detailed tale, and she had recounted it for the readers of the gazette.

It started with Berry Boy stealing Weaver Girl's clothes, which she'd left on the riverbank while she bathed in the river. That led to Weaver Girl having no choice but to marry[2] Berry Boy, a man of a lower social status[3]. Weaver Girl helped Berry Boy overcome many difficulties, and they went on to have a happy life together.

However, there was a plot twist. The Queen Mother[4] descended and dispatched celestial soldiers to forcefully take Weaver Girl back to the Heavenly Palace. She then used a silver hairpin to rip through the sky, creating the Milky Way to separate Berry Boy and Weaver Girl forever.

The first half of the story ended abruptly at this point.

The readers shook their fists angrily and scolded the author, calling the author a swindler for stopping at such a cliffhanger! They would have to wait at least half a month to read the rest of the tale.

How despicable!

...

A few days later, the tale of Berry Boy and Weaver Girl had already gained significant traction. As Chu Liang walked the streets of Taotie City, he heard passersby discussing the tale, and he couldn't help but smile.

Chu Liang was in Taotie City to finalize the first batch of merchants who would open shops on Red Cotton Peak, including several pill shops from Precious Pill Pavilion. These merchants had good relations with Chu Liang and the Mount Shu Sect, so the process went smoothly. They finished discussing the rough details of the arrangement in just half a day.

Nevertheless, Chu Liang had spent quite a long time in Taotie City, so it was already evening. He led Big Head through the main street of Taotie City and took off for Mount Shu. The Golden-Furred Hou transformed into a golden whirlwind and flew speedily through the sky.

Suddenly, a ball of fire descended from the sky!

Whoosh.

"Watch out!" Chu Liang shouted.

The Golden-Furred Hou was now a sixth-level beast, so its reaction was, of course, not slower than Chu Liang's. It immediately flipped over in midair to dodge the attack.

Boom!

The projectile turned out to be an extremely powerful blazing feather-fletched arrow. It struck the ground, blasting half of a mountain peak to pieces.

A chill ran down Chu Liang's spine. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he had gotten hit by that.

Looking around, he realized that a group of people were surrounding him in midair.

The leader of the group was a middle-aged man in black silk robes and a black tall hat[5]. He was staring at Chu Liang with a dark expression. It appeared that he harbored a deep hatred for Chu Liang.

The other four members of the group were dressed in full-body armor and covered in flames, leaving their faces indistinguishable.

Sensing the middle-aged man's unique blazing aura, Chu Liang quickly recognized it as the Inferno Abyss Flames! These people were from the Inferno Devil Valley.

"

Haaa...

" Chu Liang sighed softly. "I knew you would come sooner or later."

"It seems you've figured out who I am." The middle-aged man snorted coldly. "I'm Yang Heng, the lord of the Inferno Devil Valley. Dying at my hands won't disgrace your status as a prodigy."

Chu Liang said helplessly, "It was your son who came after me first without any rhyme or reason, not the other way around. You can't blame me for that, right?"

"If you had just let him kill you peacefully, we obviously wouldn't blame you."[6]

With his eyes locked on Chu Liang, Yang Heng flipped his hand over and gathered another ball of Inferno Abyss Flames.

Yang Heng was at the pinnacle of the sixth realm, so the flames he controlled were a hundred times stronger than Yang Hong's[7] had been!

Despite facing a much stronger enemy, Chu Liang didn't panic. Instead, he gave a slight shrug. "What does intercepting me here prove? If you have the guts, storm into Silver Sword Peak instead."

If it were on Mount Shu, Chu Liang wouldn't fear the middle-aged man even if they were to fight one-on-one. After all, Chu Liang would have the assistance of the Violet and Azure Twin Swords.

Nonetheless, Yang Heng didn't bother continuing this pointless conversation.

He yelled, "Prepare to die!"

The fireball in his right hand transformed into a long spear, and he hurled it toward Chu Liang with the speed and momentum of a collapsing mountain!

Boom!

However, the blazing spear exploded right in front of Chu Liang!

Yang Heng now looked alarmed.

The smoke soon cleared, revealing that there was another person present. It was a woman. Her tall figure was highlighted by her bosom, which resembled a pair of full moons, and the pair of blazing crimson-gold wings that stretched out behind her.

Yang Heng had never seen her before, but he recognized the Samadhi True Fire and knew that this woman was the one who had wiped out all of the Inferno Devil Valley's outer halls!

She was one of the Three Problems of Mount Shu, runner-up of the Wine-God Contest, and the peak master of Silver Sword Peak—Di Nufeng!

All official members of the Mount Shu Sect's Silver Sword Peak were now present![7]

"So, you're the small fry who keeps targeting my disciple..." Di Nufeng said as she stared languidly at Yang Heng, looking rather uninterested.

Famous and powerful diabolical cultivators were merely small fry in her eyes.

Yang Heng didn't dare retort. Trembling, he asked, "How did you get here so quickly? This place is so far from Mount Shu... A seventh-realm Eminent One couldn't have possibly followed this person all day long just to protect him..."

Yang Heng had been prepared for Chu Liang to have some life-saving enchanted tool that he could use to escape. However, Yang Heng hadn't expected that Chu Liang wouldn't even need a way to save himself; it was Yang Heng who needed to do that!

Di Nufeng nodded. "That's exactly the case."

Yang Heng was stunned. "

Huh?

"

Chu Liang couldn't help but grin.

He had been well prepared for his trip to Taotie City. It was all thanks to Yang Hong having previously planted spies in Taotie City, waiting to tail and ambush Chu Liang as soon as he appeared.

This time, knowing he would be arriving in the city with great fanfare, Chu Liang predicted what the Inferno Devil Valley would do. If they wanted to kill him, they would likely use the same trick! So, when Chu Liang set off for Taotie City, he asked his teacher to follow him covertly!

If Chu Liang's teacher were a normal seventh-realm Eminent One, it would indeed be unlikely for them to do such a thing. Most cultivators at the Dao Attainment Realm were racing against time, preferring to spend every day in closed-door cultivation to pursue the Great Dao. Moreover, they typically held high positions in their sects and had many important affairs to manage.

The more common approach that most Eminent Ones would take when they had a disciple that might get attacked on a trip outside the sect was to give them a life-saving enchanted tool. They wouldn't be so considerate as to accompany their disciple to protect them in person.

Nevertheless, that only applied to seventh-realm Eminent Ones who had proper responsibilities in their sect. There were some Eminent Ones who didn't focus much at all on cultivation or the matters of their sect. In fact, their daily tasks might just be drinking wine, reading picture books, and patrolling their fruit gardens...

Chu Liang thought,

You should've known... my teacher is Di Nufeng!

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The divine light in Yang Heng's eyes went out. The Samadhi True Fire was something that made cultivators of the Inferno Abyss Flames feel a mighty and overwhelming pressure—an instinctual fear that ran down to the bone.

Furthermore, Di Nufeng's divine fire didn't just surpass Yang Heng's in quality but in quantity as well. Di Nufeng would undoubtedly overpower him.

Yang Heng froze for a moment. Then he swiftly turned around and fled as a beam of fire!

He fled without hesitation!

What about his deep hatred for Chu LIang over his son's death?

There was none!

"Trying to run?" Di Nufeng finally revealed a sinister grin. "Go ahead. Run. The longer you run, the longer you live in fear. The more afraid you become, the more excited I get! Let's see where you can run to in the nine provinces and four seas!"

Di Nufeng turned into a beam of fire as well and chased after Yang Heng!

The dark beam of fire that was Yang Heng seemed to have escaped beyond the horizon, but once the crimson-gold fire that was Di Nufeng went after it, it was swiftly brought back within Chu Liang's sights!

The poor lord of the Inferno Devil Valley was totally unable to escape Di Nufeng's clutches!

Chu Liang smiled wryly at the sight.

It would be hard for anyone watching this scene to say for certain who the diabolical cultivator was.

1. In ancient times, people were a lot more conservative. If a woman were seen naked by a man, that meant her purity’s gone, so no other man would want to marry her. So, Weaver Girl was forced to marry Cowherd/Berry Boy. ☜

2. Weaver Girl is a celestial maiden from the heavenly realm, while Berry Boy/the Cowherd is from the mortal realm. ☜

3. She's in charge of all the female celestials in the heavenly realm. ☜

4. Reminder that this isn't referring to the Western tall hat but the ancient Chinese one that has no English equivalent... ☜

5. Lol??? Diabolical logic at its finest. ☜

6. Yang Heng's son. The guy that died from being stomped on by the Mammothdagon. ☜

7. Reminder that there are only two lol—Di Nufeng and Chu Liang. ☜