Chapter 85

Shen Lian pondered and said, "When should I set off?"

Zhang Ruoxu extended his index finger, and a grayish aura flowed formlessly, reaching Shen Lian. Then, ripples appeared, separating into clear and turbid parts. The clear part undulated like seawater, while a clump of filth remained unmoved, resembling a flying immortal sword.

This was naturally Zhang Ruoxu's Daoist technique, demonstrating the terrain of the Immortal Flight Island more intuitively than any verbal description or map.

Zhang Ruoxu then described the location of Immortal Flight Island, which Shen Lian memorized instantly.

From the tone, it was clear that the sooner he set off, the better. Despite not having been active for a long time, Shen Lian was willing to depart immediately.

As the evening mist billowed, Shen Lian had already left the Qingxuan Mountain Gate and reached the coast. At this moment, a sound of wind came from behind, and someone called out, "Senior Brother, wait a moment, the Sect Leader has more instructions."

The speaker was Jing Qing, the child attendant. Shen Lian already knew that for a monster to take human form, it must at least have the cultivation level of a human cultivator who had achieved the Return to the Elixir stage. This child, who looked harmless, would be a powerful demon king if he were outside.

When the other party called him Senior Brother, Shen Lian found it amusing.

He turned around, and Jing Qing had already landed from the air, transformed into human form, and said, "The Sect Leader said that the journey is too far, and because the matter is special, you can choose a flying magical tool for transportation. You can return it when you come back."

Shen Lian smiled inwardly. The Sect Leader, being such a person, would not overlook such a detail. He was still testing Shen Lian to see how much he had improved after his seclusion.

Jing Qing looked at Shen Lian and felt that he was very different from when he first entered the mountain. Standing quietly here, he gave Jing Qing a sense of being hard to fathom. It wasn't that Shen Lian had reached an unfathomable level of cultivation, but rather that the evening mist and the primordial energy permeating the universe seemed to be inseparable from Shen Lian.

In fact, Shen Lian had not yet reached the level of unity with heaven and earth, but he was just beginning to form and moving in that direction.

Shen Lian's brows relaxed, and his face was calm. He said, "Thank the Sect Leader for his kindness. A mere sea distance is not a problem for me."

Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew, and Shen Lian drew his sword, tracing symbols that instantly condensed a patch of primordial energy. His body, like a kite, rose with the wind, and the primordial energy, like the evening mist, slowly condensed. Shen Lian was within it, landing on the crest of a wave, his figure appearing and disappearing.

These were symbols from the Cloud Script and Thunder Text. Shen Lian combined them casually, and although their power was not great, they were enough to support his body, allowing him to ride the waves and follow the wind without expending much magical power.

This technique could be called both a talisman technique and a Daoist technique, drawing on the wind and primordial energy of heaven and earth to ride the wind and cross the sea.

Shen Lian had never tried this before, but he succeeded on his first attempt.

He was not surprised, as he had a clear understanding of his own abilities.

Jing Qing watched as Shen Lian's solitary figure disappeared into the depths of the sunset, the waves continuously crashing against the shore, the sound of the waves soothing to the ears.

He sighed inwardly, "To think I would encounter two such monsters in my lifetime."

Jing Qing was about to return to the mountain to report when he saw a woman standing on a rock, elegant and ethereal like a fairy. The sunset touched her purple gauze robe, creating a dreamlike scene. Occasionally, the sea breeze would blow, stirring the bells at her waist, producing a distant and clear sound.

Jing Qing was startled. Snakes are cold-blooded and not easily moved by external things, but at this moment, he felt a cold sweat all over his body and did not dare to transform and ride the mist, quietly retreating.

"Little snake, what are you afraid of? I won't hold it against you today," her voice was more melodious than the bells, drifting like misty water, carrying a hint of sorrow that could break one's heart.

Jing Qing stopped and the purple-robed girl who had been watching the sea on the rock was already in front of him.

Jing Qing smiled ingratiatingly, "I didn't dare to disturb you, Elder, as you were enjoying the scenery."

The purple-robed girl said, "You don't need to be afraid of me. After I entered delusion, I did indeed act abnormally, but I haven't completely lost my nature. Otherwise, you would have become snake soup that day."

Jing Qing carefully examined the purple-robed girl and indeed found no trace of malevolence. He knew that the purple-robed girl, due to practicing a certain Daoist technique, would split her personality into two after entering delusion.

Sometimes she was cold and indifferent, treating everything as insignificant, like the fairy of Mount Gusha, as she was now.

Sometimes she was unpredictable, with a tendency to kill at the slightest provocation. However, due to the residual aura of the Daoist master in Qingxuan and a treasure she possessed that restrained her evil nature, no disastrous consequences had occurred.

Even so, he had been embarrassed the last time.

In fact, both personalities were the purple-robed girl, and she was fully aware of it, but she could not control it, which was one of the characteristics of entering delusion.

The purple-robed girl continued, "Staying in the sect, I have no chance of breaking through delusion again. I need to experience the world. I originally planned to leave directly without saying goodbye. Since you happened to be here, I don't know if it was because the Sect Leader's nephew calculated that I would leave and thus sent you to see off Shen Lian, or if it was a coincidence.

"Go back and tell him that when I return to the mountain, I hope he is still alive. When I come back, I will definitely have reached the Earth Immortal stage and will bring back the corpse of that person."

Her tone was cold and filled with killing intent.

Jing Qing felt as if a layer of frost had covered the world.

A purple rainbow streaked across the sky, and just before it disappeared, it turned into a green light, so cold that even the sunset was frozen.

******

The ancestor of Immortal Flight Island was a cultivator surnamed Xiao. Initially, he felt that immortality was unattainable in Qingxuan, so he traveled the world and encountered this island, which resembled a flying immortal sword. He settled here and started a lineage.

Although the ancestor of the Xiao family had a few disciples, the Xiao family remained the main family on Immortal Flight Island. Later, a branch family, the Guiyun Manor, split off from the main family.

One was on land, the other at sea, they supported each other and gained countless wealth and rare resources.

Immortal Flight Island knew that with so many benefits, if they encountered vicious monsters or evil cultivators, they might not be able to protect their territory, so they often paid tribute to Qingxuan.

Although Qingxuan did not care about these things, they did not refuse out of respect for the long-standing relationship.

Occasionally, someone from Immortal Flight Island would enter Qingxuan, but the relationship had not been completely severed. However, this time, no one entered Qingxuan when the mountain gate opened, and the last time the mountain gate opened, no one had entered Qingxuan for a hundred years. If this continued, the last bit of the relationship would be severed.

After all, to enter Qingxuan from the upper academy, one must at least be an elder who had achieved the Return to the Elixir stage. Initially, a descendant of the Xiao family had fortuitously obtained an external elixir and reached the Return to the Elixir stage. Unfortunately, over a hundred years ago, a great calamity struck Qingxuan, severely weakening the once powerful sect and causing the deaths of many cultivators, including the Xiao family descendant.

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