Chapter 60

The effeminate man lay unconscious, temporarily set aside. Wei Shizheng first went to check on the square-faced man. He had taken a solid hit from a "Fire Snake Talisman" on his chest and had his vital points crushed; he was already dead. Wei Shizheng searched his body but found nothing, clearly indicating he had already been searched.

He then pulled open the effeminate man's shirt and found some scattered items: silver coins, a flint, talismans, a copper plaque inscribed with "Lingxiao Hall Hu An," several hard stones with white, circular patterns slightly raised like fish eyes, and a piece of black animal skin.

Wei Shizheng was overjoyed. He took the animal skin, glanced at it hurriedly, and found it to be another fragment of the same kind, depicting strange human figures, which was another part of the Xiaoyue Gong.

He didn't have time to examine it in detail and stuffed the animal skin fragment into his chest. He then kicked the effeminate man's side several times. The man, unable to bear the pain, groaned and woke up, glaring at him with venom and his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something.

Wei Shizheng stepped on his crotch and said, "I ask, you answer, or I'll crush your little brother."

"Little brother?" The effeminate man didn't understand at first, but he was quick-witted and immediately reacted. His body shuddered, and he hurriedly nodded. He was a spineless person, far inferior to the dead square-faced man. Before Wei Shizheng even stepped down, he spilled everything like beans falling out of a bamboo tube.

It turned out that the effeminate man was Hu An, a disciple of Lingxiao Hall of the Taiyi Sect, and the square-faced man was indeed a remnant of the Yunya Sect, named Tian Changshou.

The Taiyi Sect was located in the Liantao Mountains, occupying a strategic position in the Huai and Yangtze regions, and was one of the top cultivation sects in Central China, on par with the Kunlun Sect, known as "East Taiyi, West Kunlun."

The Taiyi Sect prided itself on being the orthodox of the mystic arts, divided into two branches: talisman cultivation and artifact cultivation. The sect had over a dozen yuan ying cultivators, and the sect leader, Pan Chengnian, was a great cultivator at the transcendence stage, possessing the ability to move heaven and earth. However, he was often in seclusion on Heli Peak, not involving himself in worldly affairs. The sect was run by his senior brother, Chu Tianyou, and Pan Chengnian only emerged when the sect faced major issues.

The Daoist teachings of the Taiyi Sect emphasized "seizing the essence of heaven and earth for one's own use, and not plucking a single hair to benefit the world." The disciples were often in conflict, practicing the law of the jungle, and gaining profound insights in life-and-death situations, striving through hardships to achieve immortality. As a result, the strong became stronger, and the weak became weaker, with a clear distinction between them.

The Kunlun Sect and the Taiyi Sect had long-standing enmity, the details of which were unclear, but they had attacked each other multiple times, with six large-scale battles. The Kunlun Sect had attacked the Liantao Mountains four times but was blocked by the mountain protection array, the Thunderfire Tribulation Cloud, and failed. The Taiyi Sect had also attacked the Liushi Peak twice but stopped at the Demon Suppressing Tower. In terms of strength, the Kunlun sword cultivators were slightly superior, but the Thunderfire Tribulation Cloud, which destroyed metal and flying swords, was their greatest enemy. If not for the difficulty in moving the Thunderfire Tribulation Cloud, the Taiyi Sect would not have been at a disadvantage.

Ten years ago, the sect leader of the Kunlun Sect, Ziyang Daoist, and the sect leader of the Taiyi Sect, Pan Chengnian, made a pact to use the Manbone Forest as a buffer zone, not to cross the boundary, and to kill any disciple who violated it.

As for the enmity between the Taiyi Sect and the Yunya Sect, it involved a missing magical treasure.

Lingxiao Hall of the Taiyi Sect had a low-ranking disciple named Yan Yuzhan, a junior disciple of Hall Master Xu Lingguan. He handled miscellaneous tasks in the hall, feeling that he was mediocre and not favored by his master, and thus harbored evil intentions. He stole a magical treasure cherished by Xu Lingguan and quietly fled the mountain, planning to change his name and wait for the storm to pass before seeking a new path.

The magical treasure was a bronze mirror called the Moonlight Wheel Mirror, which could transport a person thousands of miles away instantly by absorbing the moon's light. It was said to be crafted by an ancient master of artifact cultivation, but it was only a plaything, usable only once a month during the full moon, with too many restrictions to be of great use. Xu Lingguan had obtained the Moonlight Wheel Mirror from Chu Tianyou as a symbol of the Lingxiao Hall lineage, usually kept in the inner chamber and only worn on major sect meetings to signify the hall master's status.

When the Moonlight Wheel Mirror was stolen, Xu Lingguan was furious and dispatched all his disciples to search for Yan Yuzhan. Despite his average cultivation, Yan Yuzhan was very alert. He hid his identity and mixed in with the crowd, evading capture for over half a year. Xu Lingguan, unable to find him, reported the matter to Chu Tianyou and took responsibility for his poor judgment in choosing and disciplining his disciple. Chu Tianyou did not blame him but ordered Xu Lingguan to retrieve the Moonlight Wheel Mirror as soon as possible, as it could not be allowed to remain outside the sect.

Xu Lingguan immediately led his disciples down the mountain, searching aimlessly. By chance, Yan Yuzhan, thinking the coast was clear, set off for the East Sea to join the Biluo Sect and seek a new beginning. However, he was discovered and intercepted by Hu An and other Lingxiao Hall disciples. In the ensuing battle, Yan Yuzhan was injured and fled, his whereabouts unknown.

Among the Lingxiao Hall disciples, Yan Yuzhan's cultivation had always been the lowest. However, in this encounter, he managed to defeat three senior disciples and break through the encirclement, leading Hu An to suspect that he had gained some benefit from the Moonlight Wheel Mirror, making a significant breakthrough in a short time.

Yan Yuzhan, severely injured by a "Wind Blade Talisman," could not have escaped more than a hundred miles. Upon receiving the news, Xu Lingguan personally took charge, deploying hundreds of spirit souls to form a tight net, searching inch by inch. However, before he could find the rogue disciple, the weather on Qizhen Mountain suddenly changed, and the elemental energies went wild. Xu Lingguan recognized the signs of the Moonlight Wheel Mirror absorbing the moon's light and rushed to Qizhen Mountain. There, he discovered that Yan Yuzhan was dead, and the Moonlight Wheel Mirror had fallen into the hands of Yu Yao, the young daughter of the Yunya Sect leader, Yu Sanqin. She had somehow activated the treasure, transporting herself and the mirror thousands of miles away, disappearing without a trace.

Enraged, Xu Lingguan used the "Three Corpses Soul Binding Talisman" to summon corpse-eating vines, surrounding Qizhen Mountain tightly. Over three hundred members of the Yunya Sect were killed by the corpse-eating vines, with only a few escaping. Qizhen Mountain became a desolate, lifeless wasteland.

Afterward, Xu Lingguan, bare-chested and carrying a bundle of thorns, knelt in front of the Wind and Thunder Hall for seven days and seven nights, confessing to Chu Tianyou. For unknown reasons, Chu Tianyou did not punish him for the indiscriminate killing but ordered him to reflect in seclusion in the Lingxiao Hall.

Yu Yao and the Moonlight Wheel Mirror remained a thorn in his side. Xu Lingguan sent his disciples to secretly investigate and finally found several remnants of the Yunya Sect, led by Tian Changshou, who were plotting revenge against the Taiyi Sect. Hu An, to alleviate his master's worries, captured and interrogated them, but found nothing. Tian Changshou managed to escape, and Hu An pursued him relentlessly. They crossed the Manbone Forest and delved deep into the vast Kunlun Mountains.

Exhausted from the long journey, Tian Changshou finally collapsed. Hu An seized the opportunity, severely injuring him with a "Fire Snake Talisman" and demanding the whereabouts of Yu Yao. Tian Changshou was very resolute, remaining silent. Apart from a fragment of animal skin, nothing was found on him.