Chapter 161: Si Miss

The space of Liantian Town was like countless intertwined corridors. Each flat painting contained three-dimensional time and space, intersecting along the logical trajectories of spatial operation. At the end of these spaces, Zhang Qiyu's ghostly figure appeared.

In this densely interwoven space-time, he stood at the ends of two opposite sides.

One was an elderly painter, simply dressed, with calloused fingertips. The other was the fearsome beast Yayu, with a human face, a dragon body, and a pair of fins behind its ears spread wide like fans.

They moved away from each other along completely opposite spatial passages, like a person and their shadow rapidly separating to become independent entities.

Zhang Qiyu had two true bodies, capable of long-distance spatial displacement similar to a small flight formation, and he didn't even require any incantation.

However, True Immortal Hanchi had only one sword for killing.

Zhang Qiyu had prepared for this day for too long. This Liantian Town was like his domain, containing countless spaces, large and small, more numerous than the lotus leaves in the pond. Each space, in turn, contained almost an equal number of smaller spaces. This was akin to the divine realm of the Vermilion Bird God in the far west: boundless three thousand small worlds, each containing three thousand sand-like worlds, and each sand-grain world further containing three thousand smaller worlds, endlessly looping.

In stories throughout history, traitors often emerged victorious, usually because they were supported by years of preparation.

True Immortal Hanchi's sword was indeed exceptionally powerful; in the path of swordsmanship alone, no one in the region south of Nanzhou could surpass him. However, it was still nearly impossible to cleave through the countless interlocking worlds, large and small, that Zhang Qiyu had established using his laws.

Beneath True Immortal Hanchi, who hovered in the air, the lotus pond had, at some unknown point, turned into a sea of fire.

Meanwhile, the head of Jiuying was still entangled with Xiushi. Although Jiuying, with its more agile movements, had torn countless wounds on Xiushi's body, none of these wounds were fatal. Jiuying's violent ferocity, however, consumed a vast amount of its energy. It was believed that it wouldn't be long before it exhausted its strength, was crushed to death by its opponent, and became a part of Xiushi, thereby completing Jiuying's last authority.

True Immortal Hanchi thrust a sword at the creature churning in the sea of fire.

However, the sword veered off course just as it was about to strike Xiushi.

It turned out that even what seemed like a single painting had been torn apart; the seemingly unified space was actually two entirely disparate parts.

At this moment, True Immortal Hanchi was almost completely at a disadvantage, yet his expression showed no significant change.

The True Immortal extended two fingers, piercing the void beside his left shoulder, and a dazzling array of magical artifacts flew out from it.

After reaching the Purple Court realm, everyone could open up a personal space to store their close-fitting magical treasures and artifacts.

These artifacts were either brought from the bottom of Tianku Peak or were secret treasures stored for many years in the Sovereign Hall of Huanpu Mountain.

Initially, Zhang Qiyu's expression was indifferent, but then he suddenly realized something: True Immortal Hanchi had also long been prepared for his betrayal.

A colossal lotus flower rose from beneath the True Immortal's feet. This lotus was not made of gemstones like jade or amber, but rather resembled a massive dark cloud. On each cloud-like petal, swirling grayish-black mist looked like countless continuously writhing small snakes.

“What are you doing?!” Zhang Qiyu’s calm expression instantly shattered, and he cried out with a hint of fear.

His cries echoed incessantly through countless spaces, like the unending toll of a great bell. This sound, which should have been awe-inspiring, only amplified his fear.

In his original plan, True Immortal Hanchi was supposed to try and break through the spatial barrier between him and the Jiuying Xiushi, then cleave open Xiushi’s belly. This would trap True Immortal Hanchi in the spatial cage Zhang Qiyu had already constructed, allowing him to simultaneously detonate thousands of paintings, creating irresistible spatial turbulence that would blast True Immortal Hanchi into oblivion.

But True Immortal Hanchi did not do that.

A black lotus rose from beneath his feet.

The black lotus carried his body continuously upward, leaving an extremely long trail of smoke in its wake. This smoke trail stretched between heaven and earth, appearing like a colossal black dragon rising from the sea of fire.

True Immortal Hanchi's face was no longer his own.

Scythe-like horns sprouted from his head, and his features began to contort, gradually becoming grotesque and terrifying. He still carried the unique ethereal demeanor of a sect master, but his face had transformed into the likeness of Jiuying’s head.

He opened his mouth wide towards the heavens and earth.

Zhang Qiyu understood what he was about to do, but it was too late to stop him.

Before him, painting after painting was being destroyed.

As each painting was destroyed, its counterpart in the other paintings also vanished.

True Immortal Hanchi was indeed only one step away from reaching the Five Dao. When he was at the bottom of Tianku Peak, he had used the errant youth to kill his original body, allowing his soul-body, constructed by spirits, to fully merge with the head of Jiuying.

What he needed to do to enter the Five Dao was to complete the laws of space.

Now, these prison-like painted worlds were nothing short of delicious food to him. He was like a gluttonous beast, poised to devour all space and, in one fell swoop, enter the Demonic Dao among the Five Dao.

Accompanying him was the Sect Master's sword, 'Heaven's Mandate'.

The situation reversed in a very short time. These painted worlds suddenly became fish to be slaughtered. Heaven's Mandate sword shattered their scales and carved their bones, while he feasted voraciously!

Zhang Qiyu's figure disappeared again.

This time, he reappeared in his study.

This was the true Liantian Town.

Qiusheng and Xiaolian were still sitting outside the wooden building. The little black cat also lay beside them, basking in the sun, its eyes fixed on the gray sparrow in the wooden building's nest.

Zhang Qiyu glanced outside the wooden building and sighed.

“Qiusheng,” he called out.

Qiusheng was startled and quickly rose, looking at the wooden building behind him, having not noticed when his grandfather had returned.

“Come inside for a moment, I have something to tell you,” the old man continued.

“Grandfather, I’m coming right away,” Qiusheng quickly pushed open the wooden door and entered.

The wooden building was especially dark today, and the portraits on the surrounding walls had lost their color. He saw his grandfather lying in the heavy, ancient chair, looking even more aged.

“Grandfather…” Qiusheng whispered.

Zhang Qiyu called him closer, took his most frequently used ink stick from the desk, and handed it to him, saying, “When Xiaolian comes of age, break this ink stick in half, grind it into a liquid, and give one half to Xiaolian to consume, and the other half to the black cat. Do you understand?”

“Ah… Grandfather, what is this for?” Qiusheng asked nervously.

Zhang Qiyu offered no further explanation. He waved his hand, weakly saying, “Just do as I say. Grandfather needs to rest for a bit.”

Qiusheng took the ink stick and clutched it in his palm. He pursed his lips and cautiously asked, “Grandfather… is something going to happen?”

Zhang Qiyu shook his head and said, “It's nothing.”

Qiusheng said, “The town hasn't felt right lately… Just now, someone found many corpses of purple-robed people by the lotus pond. Who… who are they, and who killed them? Big Black in the pond also seems to be gone; no matter how I call, he doesn't come out. Grandfather, I feel something is wrong. Ever since that Ghost Festival day, I’ve felt very uneasy.”

Zhang Qiyu listened patiently to his words, then said, “Grandfather is just a bit tired.”

Qiusheng hesitated for a moment, then finally backed out.

After Qiusheng left, the old man rose and unrolled the painting before him. Half of the painting had already turned into a sea of fire, and True Immortal Hanchi's body was growing larger and larger. At this moment, it seemed he was the true Xiushi, devouring heaven and earth.

Zhang Qiyu took a deep breath.

In one of the worlds, Xiushi, still entangled in battle with Jiuying, suddenly opened its mouth wide and roared.

It opened its mouth wide and slowly spat out the bones of Jiuying from its belly.

Jiuying's bones now resembled a curled-up eggshell; its originally jagged edges had been worn smooth and soft by the other party's corrosion.

As Xiushi spat out Jiuying's bones, its expression was extremely pained and unwilling.

“We'll eat it again later,” the old man sighed, as if offering comfort. He made it spit out Jiuying's bones, but certainly not to seek peace.

Zhang Qiyu stepped into the painting and approached Xiushi. Xiushi’s pupils fixed on him, and then it opened its cavernous mouth. The sharp teeth in its snake maw resembled rows of disciples, and its huge, red-carpet-like tongue seemed like a staircase leading to the gates of hell.

He no longer had time to digest Jiuying's remains; he also planned to forcefully merge with Xiushi and enter the Demonic Dao among the Five Dao.

Jiuying's body was covered in something like gastric fluid, which clung to it, not only corroding its bones but also gradually eroding its authority, stripping away its divinity, and dragging it into the mortal realm.

After Xiushi spat out Jiuying, its body became infinitely more agile. The head of Jiuying, which had originally been fighting it, now saw its complete body, and its serpent eyes showed a zealous eagerness, wishing to immediately return to its own body. However, with Xiushi as a formidable enemy, it dared not act rashly.

After all, the head of Jiuying was merely incomplete divine bone; what room for resistance did it have before the complete Xiushi?

The offense and defense reversed once more.

Fortunately, before it could be killed, True Immortal Hanchi arrived, having devoured countless realms.

The true decisive battle came faster than they imagined.

Zhang Qiyu and True Immortal Hanchi were both false gods lingering at the threshold of the Five Dao, merely one step away from being crowned.

However, at this moment, they were not fellow travelers on the Great Dao.

Before them lay a single plank bridge, wide enough for only one person.

More than half of the painted worlds were now burning fiercely.

Their figures collided before the heavens and earth collapsed.

It was not a battle of blades and swords, nor a duel of spells and dao arts, but rather a visceral, bare-handed melee, like those in barbarian tribes a thousand years ago.

The spatial barriers, once impregnable, became as fragile as easily torn paper in their struggle.

Sounds like shattering mirrors suddenly erupted every few seconds.

The residents and monsters of Liantian Town finally witnessed a scene like the end of the world arriving today.

The sky was like a fragile eggshell, revealing countless cracks filled with lava-like earthfire. These cracks, initially just one, continuously split and quickly spread across the entire sky.

Then, it was as if a finger poked the eggshell.

The eggshell slowly concaved inward.

This speed was initially slow, but soon, it became earth-shattering.

Zhang Qiyu and True Immortal Hanchi, locked in combat, plunged into the lotus pond like a colossal fireball.

Waves surged hundreds of feet high, and then a monstrous flood crashed down towards Liantian Town.

Half the town was instantly submerged by the lake water.

When the lake water struck the paintings in the town, it surged directly outside the town.

In the lotus pond, large amounts of lake water evaporated into white steam.

As Zhang Qiyu and True Immortal Hanchi surfaced from the water, both were half-charred black and utterly disheveled. For a moment, it was impossible to tell who was more severely injured.

Falling with them were Xiushi Jiuying and one of its heads.

Xiushi's abdomen had gained another extremely deep wound.

Zhang Qiyu knew he would surely die today.

From the moment True Immortal Hanchi cleaved open the serpent's belly with his sword and forcibly dragged him out, his defeat was sealed.

Meanwhile, in the water, when Jiuying was spat out, it had, contrary to expectations, swallowed the Sky Soul Lamp from Xiushi's belly.

With the help of the Sky Soul Lamp, it gradually gained consciousness, an independent consciousness, so much so that when its central, first head tried to approach and merge with it, this eight-headed monster unleashed furious hisses, making it impossible for the head to draw near for a time. However, they shared an innate connection, and after several standoffs and probes, the head still wrapped around it, attempting to re-enter its body.

However, no one cared about this historic scene.

True Immortal Hanchi looked at Zhang Qiyu.

He was like an emperor about to ascend the throne, gazing mournfully at this last stubborn rock before his seat of power. In his heart, there arose both the satisfaction of meeting a worthy opponent and the pride of being about to decisively settle everything.

Heaven's Mandate sword was already by his side.

All of Zhang Qiyu's paintings were destroyed; he had no chance to retaliate.

“When you killed your father, did you ever think this day would come?” True Immortal Hanchi asked.

“Yes,” Zhang Qiyu said, his charred lips moving. “I always knew this day would come; I just didn't expect it to be so late.”

“I will continue to live on with your authority,” True Immortal Hanchi said, as if offering comfort.

Zhang Qiyu raised his head, staring at him, and uttered a curse-like prophecy: “He who betrays others will one day also die by betrayal. It is true for me, and after my death, it will be true for you.”

True Immortal Hanchi paid no heed to his words. A sudden realization dawned on him: he knew that with this one sword thrust, he could open the gate to the Five Dao and become the second true master to enter the Five Dao since the founding of the Heaven's Mandate Sword Sect.

Zhang Qiyu, utterly disheartened, no longer resisted.

“Are you done talking?”

Just then, an untimely voice rang out.

Both Zhang Qiyu and True Immortal Hanchi were startled.

They followed the sound and saw a short-haired girl with disheveled hair on the shore. Her slender, petite figure seemed incongruous with the huge, heavy weapon box on her back.

Zhang Qiyu's eyes widened, his memory instantly traveling back eight years.

Eight years ago, he had seen her; she seemed unchanged, still wearing a slender, well-fitting Taoist robe and a short pleated skirt. Her legs beneath the skirt were equally slender and straight, as if carved from white jade, with seamless lines.

When she arrived in Liantian Town eight years ago, Zhang Qiyu tried every possible method to hide, but the girl seemed to have other important matters and merely looked around before leaving.

Now that she had returned, she had become the spark of hope in Zhang Qiyu’s eyes.

True Immortal Hanchi didn't know her origin, but anyone who could break through heaven and earth to enter this lotus pond was surely extraordinary, so he didn't show the slightest contempt.

He only wanted to quickly enter the Five Dao; after that, all living beings would be mere ants. What was there to fear from a little girl?

He turned his sword tip, pointing it at the girl.

The girl looked at the Daoist, half-charred but still spirited, and raised an eyebrow.

“You want to fight me?” the girl’s voice was like clear stream water, without anything particularly special, only making one feel fresh and pleasant.

True Immortal Hanchi asked, “Is that not what you mean?”

The girl truly resembled a human weapon, devoid of emotion: “My master only told me to find someone named Zhang Qiyu. I don't care about the rest.”

True Immortal Hanchi asked, “You want to take him away?”

“Yes,” the girl replied simply.

True Immortal Hanchi asked, “May I ask where you hail from, young lady?”

The girl’s delicate brows subtly arched again, as if she found the old man to be talking too much.

True Immortal Hanchi smiled, then stated directly, “I am going to kill him.”

The girl nodded. She wasn't good at communicating with people. When she left, her master had advised her to avoid trouble and killing whenever possible. The concept of 'unknowable' wasn't truly imperceptible to heaven and earth; the deeper their ties to the human world became, the more likely this hidden Taoist temple would be exposed to the gaze of the divine realm.

That would be a huge problem.

She had originally intended to persuade the old man to just go home, but seeing his high spirits, she didn't know how to begin. Should she just tell him directly that she was very powerful and he should run quickly?

He probably wouldn't believe it if she did.

The girl thought with a hint of annoyance, then reached behind her back and casually drew a long spear from the blooming weapon box.

True Immortal Hanchi felt the other party's faint, elusive killing intent, so subtle it was like an illusion.

Zhang Qiyu's spirits rekindled. He knew that no matter how powerful True Immortal Hanchi was at this moment, he was likely no match for this young girl… because on her, he truly sensed a trace of aura related to an ancient great deity.

Indeed, the battle began and ended in an incredibly short amount of time.

True Immortal Hanchi thrust out a sword, a single strike forged from all the techniques in the upper volume of the Heaven's Mandate Sword Sect’s scripture. It was a stroke of profound skill disguised as clumsiness. As the sword was delivered, his cultivation, stagnant for sixty years, surged like a great flood breaking through a dam after reaching its peak, traversing vast distances to shatter the Heavenly Gate!

The girl weighed the spear in her hand, then her expression turned serious. Her slender legs began to sprint, visible only as a blur of white.

As their figures drew close, the girl leaped high. Light converged towards the spear tip, and soon, the tip glowed like a small sun. With a tightening of her forearm and a swing of her waist and arm, the long spear shot forth instantly.

The spear, carrying immense force, collided with the sword, and the two weapons locked tip-to-tip in the air, momentarily still.

True Immortal Hanchi's expression showed surprise, while the girl pounced forward like a nimble leopard.

With a flick of her wrist, the blade on her knuckle-duster sprang out, stabbing towards the enemy as she punched. Her left hand held an open palm, and behind her, a long, serrated sword appeared in her grasp. Simultaneously, the weapons in her weapon box seemed to come alive, drawing out one after another. Heavy weapons like thousand-pound hammers and axes led the charge, followed closely by hooks, tridents, swords, and halberds.

They were like soldiers arraying themselves in formation, orderly and disciplined.

What followed was devoid of any finesse. The girl, her hand gripping the knuckle-duster, along with all the weapons on her, unleashed a chaotic barrage, like a master's wild flurry of blows, haphazardly striking True Immortal Hanchi all at once.

Despite the crude, street-brawl-like movements, True Immortal Hanchi had nowhere to hide. He seemed like a massive magnet, drawing all the cold weapons onto himself.

The girl's first punch directly severed his path to the Five Dao. True Immortal Hanchi had no time for heart-wrenching grief as the girl's subsequent punches struck him; each blow shattered a minor cultivation realm. After seven or eight punches, True Immortal Hanchi's Purple Court realm was barely salvageable, and the weapons left countless irreversible wounds on his body.

His initial high spirits transformed into boundless terror. His figure instantly lunged onto Jiuying's body, his consciousness linking with one of Jiuying’s central heads, becoming anchors for each other, and then he fled frantically.

The girl glanced at him indifferently but did not pursue. She merely snapped her fingers, and the scattered weapons swiftly reinserted themselves into her weapon box.

“Se-Senior… why… why didn’t you kill him?” Zhang Qiyu stared wide-eyed, utterly shocked, as True Immortal Hanchi rode away on the fierce beast.

The girl watched his retreating figure and huffed, “Wouldn’t it have been better if he’d run earlier? What a waste of time…”

Then she turned to Zhang Qiyu. The girl was clearly in a bad mood, her somewhat round face showing confusion: “In your condition, can you still paint?”

Zhang Qiyu looked at his charred black arm and immediately said, “Yes, I can!”

“If you can, that's fine,” the girl nodded and said. “My master told me to take you. As for others, I don't care about them, nor do I need to.”

Zhang Qiyu cautiously asked, “May I ask where Senior plans to take me?”

The girl frowned, annoyed: “What’s with 'Senior, Senior'? What kind of talk is that, an old man like you calling me Senior?”

“Then…”

“My surname is Si.”

“Miss Si…”

“Yes, I'm taking you to a place called Dahe Town,” the girl said. “Don't ask too many questions about anything else. Even if you ask, I don't know; it's all my master's will.”

Zhang Qiyu glanced in the direction True Immortal Hanchi had fled, his expression full of worry.

“Miss Si, you probably don't want anyone to know of your existence, but that person escaped alive… and took a fierce beast with him, this…” Zhang Qiyu ran a hand across his neck, hinting to the girl that she should kill him to silence him.

The girl said calmly, “Once the wound heals, the pain is forgotten. You don't need to worry about it.”

Zhang Qiyu looked at his battered body. What had happened today felt like a dream. He had envisioned many outcomes: how he would hide and accumulate power after seizing authority, avoiding the divine realm’s scrutiny; and how he would salvage the situation after failing. He had, however, never imagined that someone would interrupt this battle.

“Then… it…” Zhang Qiyu turned around. The heavily wounded Xiushi lay on the lake's surface, its head bowed, seemingly having an innate fear of the girl.

The girl drew the knife from her waist.

Zhang Qiyu shouted, “Miss Si! Could you please spare its life?”

“My master didn't tell me to kill it before she came,” the girl simply said. She seemed to be utterly obedient to her master.

The girl placed the knife against the giant python's vulnerable spot and said earnestly, “From now on, be a good snake. You are not allowed to harm anyone. Do you hear me?”

The giant python made the girl's already slender frame appear even more diminutive, and her threatening words sounded as absurd as a child playing house.

But the giant python truly understood. It carefully nodded its serpent head, terrified of creating even a ripple on the water's surface.

“Alright, sink down now,” the girl issued her next command.

The giant python obediently sank to the bottom of the lotus pond.

“Uh… I have a grandson and a granddaughter…” Zhang Qiyu began, then trailed off.

The girl frowned, her spirited expression now bearing a hint of killing intent: “My master only told me to take you.”

True Immortal Hanchi's cultivation was half-destroyed.

On the desolate plain, he rode the Jiuying body, which was severely corroded by Xiushi, heading towards the Heaven's Mandate Sword Sect.

When he left the Heaven Sect today, he had never intended to return.

But now, it was his safest refuge.

As he walked, he suddenly froze, unable to recall what had caused his current miserable state.

Then, scene after 'real' scene appeared in his mind: his final battle with Zhang Qiyu, where Zhang Qiyu summoned the dharma manifestation of an ancient true dragon, severely injuring him, and he, riding Jiuying, fled in panic…

That dharma manifestation must have been his father’s, which seemed quite reasonable…

He just hoped Zhang Qiyu wouldn't pursue him… Once he returned to the Heaven Sect, everything could start anew…

True Immortal Hanchi lay prone on Jiuying’s body, thinking weakly.

Within the Heaven's Mandate Sword Sect, Ning Changjiu once again arrived at Lu Jiajia’s Peak Master Hall. Lu Jiajia had been instructed by him to find some ancient dragon clan information and would not be returning to the hall for now.

He opened the stone casket sealing the sword scripture and asked, “Have you decided?”