Chapter 256: The World in Chaos

Zuoqiu Ting gently pushed him away, tidied her long hair and collar, and drew an imaginary line between them with her folding fan. "It's true we're brothers who've faced life and death together," she said, "but we can't be so intimate. If anyone sees us, they'll think we have some strange preferences, and it wouldn't sound good if rumors spread!"

"You really... ugh, you just like to put on airs."

Li Weiyi had been thoroughly deceived. From Burial Immortal Town all the way to Qiu Province's capital city, he had been kept completely in the dark. Who would have thought that "Brother Zuoqiu" was actually "Sister Zuoqiu"? Who could bear that?

Now that he knew the truth, how could he let her off so easily?

He began to ponder secretly.

If she still wanted to deceive and pretend, then she shouldn't blame him for not treating her like a woman. He wondered how long she could keep it up.

Now, it was Li Weiyi's turn to act!

Zuoqiu Ting maintained her distance from Li Weiyi, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. She stated solemnly, "My sister is a pure Dao cultivator. From a young age, her ambition has been to pursue the highest martial realm. Her mind is focused, her intellect clear and perceptive, and she won't be constrained by romantic attachments. You, give up that idea!"

Li Weiyi smiled, looking full of confidence. "You're not her, how do you know she won't develop feelings for me? Pursuing the highest martial realm is great! We're perfectly aligned in our aspirations; it's wonderful."

"That Lantern Festival night, though we had just met, we had an extraordinary understanding, as if our hearts were connected. On the Battlefield of Ancestral Soldiers, she even risked exposing her greatest treasure just to save me. I believe I'm definitely different from other men in her heart."

The two walked along the stone path by the cliff.

Peach blossoms drifted from the mountain, filling the air with their fragrance.

Zuoqiu Ting seethed internally but tried to maintain a calm tone. "You two barely know each other; everything is just your delusion. You don't understand her at all," she said. "She's someone who seems warm on the outside but is cold inside; it's very difficult to get close to her heart. You're not just infatuated because she's beautiful, are you?"

Li Weiyi stopped and blocked her path. He adopted a serious and earnest expression. "In your mind, is that the kind of person I, Li Weiyi, am?" he asked. "I must admit, your sister truly has an astonishing allure that captivated me at first sight. After just one meeting, I haven't been able to forget her these past few days. It's as if she's branded into my heart, making me absent-minded and constantly distracted from everything I do."

"My seven days in secluded cultivation," he continued, "were spent trying to break free from this feeling of emotional entanglement, but unfortunately, it was all in vain."

"From dawn till dusk, walking or sitting, my thoughts are always of her."

Zuoqiu Ting fell into deep thought, and after a long silence, she said, "Don't say your brother didn't warn you. My sister is very difficult to get along with. You'd best control your feelings, lest you get hurt even more deeply later."

Li Weiyi was finding it very difficult to hold back his laughter. If they talked any further, he felt he would burst out laughing first. So he said, "Alright, you're right. She's a noble daughter from a family with immense influence; what am I? Indeed, I was being a bit delusional. Has the crisis in Qiu Province's capital city been resolved? What's the current situation?"

Zuoqiu Ting secretly let out a sigh of relief, returning to her composed and unhurried demeanor. "The crisis has been temporarily resolved, I suppose!" she said. "However, the top-tier powerhouses are still fighting, and no one knows what earth-shattering events will happen next."

"Clashes between transcendent beings have immense repercussions," she continued. "Even a slight misstep can determine the survival of an entire race."

"The total number of transcendent beings who perished in the battles between various rebel armies and the imperial court over the past nearly eleven years doesn't compare to the last seven days," she explained. "It truly was a cataclysm, and the impact was more terrifying than even the transcendent clashes many strategists had predicted."

Li Weiyi asked in surprise, "During the past eleven years of chaos, with the imperial court having so many experts, did they just let rebel armies spring up everywhere?"

Zuoqiu Ting shook her head. "The imperial court has always been suppressing rebellions," she explained, "but as soon as they put down one faction here, several more would emerge there. Eventually, the entire land descended into chaos; every province and every person rebelled, and they simply couldn't suppress it all. They could only continuously shrink the territory of their core controlled regions."

"No matter how powerful the imperial court, it cannot overpower the collective will of the people."

"Furthermore, both the imperial court and the rebel armies have consistently avoided direct confrontations between transcendent beings, intentionally controlling the intensity of the war," she continued. "They were afraid of precisely this situation occurring. Even more so, they feared their top combat forces would suffer mutually destructive losses, allowing the Ash Territory of the Far West and the Nether Realm of the Dead to take advantage."

"Of course, the most fundamental reason is that the imperial court still has Jade Yaozi as a trump card, believing that as long as she acts, all current rebel armies and crises will be easily resolved."

"The large-scale transcendent clashes that erupted these past few days haven't occurred in the past millennium."

"It truly was a situation where one move affected the whole; nearly all top figures in the entire Lingxiao Life Realm were stirred into action."

"According to the news currently reaching Qiu Province's capital city," she continued, "several transcendent beings have already perished, and many more are severely wounded. It's easy to imagine that the factions of these fallen transcendent beings will face dire consequences in the coming years."

"Even worse off are the common people in various provinces. After seven days of fierce fighting, it's feared that casualties exceed ten million, perhaps even tens of millions. How many families does that represent? How much blood and tears?"

Li Weiyi followed Zuoqiu Ting's gaze, looking towards the city gates in the distance. He saw large groups of refugees, and his heart grew as heavy as hers. He secretly felt fortunate to have stayed on Peach and Plum Mountain; otherwise, he might also have been annihilated.

He asked, "Did the transcendent beings' battles spread to other prefectures?"

Zuoqiu Ting nodded. "In the Southern Territory, the fighting went from Qiu Province to Fu Province, then from Fu Province to the Eastern Territory. Both Leixiao Sect and Dragon Gate served as battlegrounds. According to today's reports, the battle has now moved westward, as if they won't stop until the Vermilion Gate is destroyed."

Li Weiyi's brows furrowed. "Why is that?"

"What's wrong?" Zuoqiu Ting asked.

Li Weiyi said, "Qiu Province and Fu Province in the Southern Territory have both been prosperous prefectures untouched by war for the past eleven years. The core prefectures of Leixiao Sect and Dragon Gate in the Eastern Territory must be the same. And it goes without saying for the core prefectures of the Vermilion Gate in the Western Territory."

Zuoqiu Ting understood Li Weiyi's implication and nodded. "All the fighting is happening in densely populated prefectures that haven't experienced war," she observed. "It's clear that the initiative has always been firmly in the hands of the demon race, and human transcendent beings are merely being led along. After this battle, the Lingxiao Life Realm's population will surely plummet. For a long time, humanity will be exhausted dealing with rescue efforts, reconstruction, famines, plagues, and other issues. Is Qilin Zang preparing for a protracted war?"

"How can beings of our level possibly guess the thoughts of creatures at that level?"

Li Weiyi thought of something and asked, "What about the Northern Territory?"

Zuoqiu Ting replied, "The Northern Territory hasn't been affected so far."

"That's a bit strange!"

Li Weiyi said, "Qilin Zang couldn't possibly be unaware that Snow Sword Tang Court is a powerful force second only to the imperial court. How could he not direct the flames of war towards the Northern Territory to weaken them?"

Zuoqiu Ting said, "Snow Sword Tang Court probably isn't cooperating with the demon race. Almost all the transcendent beings from the Northern Territory came to participate in this battle and contributed significantly."

"Never mind," she added, "with our cultivation levels, what's the point of thinking about all this?"

Li Weiyi asked with concern, "With all this commotion caused by the demon race, do you think Virtue Crossing Monastery will still redeem the tokens we collected at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival?"

Zuoqiu Ting said, "It's hard to say! Dragon seeds and dragon bones are limited; once lost, they're gone forever. As for the Longevity Pills... sigh, almost all the invitations and tokens in people's hands have been lost, making it impossible to tally. Let's wait. For now, we can only wait for the transcendent beings' battles to end and see how Virtue Crossing Monastery plans to compensate."

Li Weiyi and Zuoqiu Ting arrived at the place where the Jiuli tribal cultivators were recuperating.

Cang Li and Yin Jiu had already awakened and moved to separate secluded healing chambers.

They did not see the two elders, Yin Jun and Qin Zhuo.

A young cultivator hurried over, transmitting a message to Zuoqiu Ting using spiritual energy.

Zuoqiu Ting looked at Li Weiyi. "Brother Weiyi, do you want to go down the mountain for a look? The corpse of the Silver Feather Demon King has been brought back; it's right by the city gate. Some of its transcendent flesh and blood will be put up for sale. This is excellent for body refinement!"

"There's not enough to go around, so we'll have to scramble for it," she continued. "I reckon that even if some is sent to Peach and Plum Mountain, there won't be more than a few catties for us younger cultivators."

Li Weiyi was just about to go down the mountain to buy pills for cultivating spiritual power, hoping to break through quickly and temper his Qi beneath the Fusang Divine Tree. So he readily agreed.

The two descended the mountain.

An elder had already driven a carriage and stopped at the mountain gate.

"Young Master Zuoqiu, Brother Li, where are you two off to?"

Qi Xiao arrived in a magnificent carriage, stopping in front of them. He then emerged from between two beautiful figures resembling twins.

After alighting, he ran his hand through his hair with a spirited flourish and smiled, "I thought you two were still severely injured and confined to bed; I was just about to come up the mountain to visit you. As expected of Hundred Meridians Pure Silver and Hundred Meridians Pure Gold, your healing speed is astonishingly fast."

"However, Old Qi here won't be modest!" he declared. "I am now vastly different from before. The two of you might not be my match. Haha!"

Li Weiyi had noticed it the moment Qi Xiao stepped out of the carriage!

His eyes were sharp and clear, his essence, energy, and spirit vibrant. The spiritual energy emanating from his pores was far purer than sixth-grade Qi, reaching a new level entirely.

What was even more remarkable was the invisible Dao aura surrounding Qi Xiao, as if he had merged with the natural world.

At the same time, he possessed his own independent domain. Within this domain, any Five Seas Realm cultivator would likely be killed by a single palm strike from him and would be firmly locked down, unable to escape.

Li Weiyi said, "Why do I feel like you're even more terrifying now than Ge Xiantong and Luan Sheng Lin You from the Five Seas Realm?"

"A Human Overlord, Dao Seed Realm," Zuoqiu Ting explained.

"That's right, I am now one of the Human Overlords," Qi Xiao affirmed, "and I possess the qualifications to establish my own sect. I have completely transcended mortals; my life essence has changed. If I wish, I can even dedicate some spiritual energy to maintain my appearance, staying relatively youthful even at a hundred years old."

Qi Xiao was naturally in high spirits. Reaching the Dao Seed Realm meant he now possessed the ability to handle matters independently and travel the world, formally entering the ranks of masters.

Many of the old powerful figures in his clan, whom he once looked up to, were only at the Dao Seed Realm themselves.

Qi Xiao then said, "Brother Weiyi, isn't it normal for someone in the Dao Seed Realm to be stronger than a Five Seas Realm cultivator?"

"I, in the Flowing Spring Realm, opened nine springs," he boasted. "In the Five Seas Realm, I cultivated seven seas. Moreover, I possess a pure immortal body and cultivated the Dao with dragon seeds. How could someone like me be compared to those inferior Dao Seed Realm cultivators with eight springs and six seas?"

Zuoqiu Ting said coldly, "Watch your words."

Qi Xiao naturally dared not be impudent in front of Zuoqiu Ting, even though he was now a Dao Seed Realm expert.

He quickly reined in his arrogance. "I just broke through, so I got a bit carried away! We're all in the Dao Seed Realm; there's no distinction of rank or status among us."