Master of Strange Dao

"You be careful, that Ninth Tier opponent might be too strong for you. Bringing Xi Yang along, you're bound to have some difficulty. If you're not careful, Xi Yang could die."

"If he dies, he dies. If I'm not capable of taking him away alive, then it must be his time, no one can change that." Xia Shuang was unconcerned; if it was meant to be, no one could stop a natural death.

"Then what will you tell your Little Uncle Master when you see him next?"

"That's a problem..."

Xia Shuang furrowed her brows, feeling a bit of a headache. She couldn't very well say that she went to rescue Xi Yang but accidentally failed, and he died.

Given their family's style, whether it was an intentional failure or a genuine one was questionable.

If her Little Uncle Master thought she did it on purpose, how would she ever persuade anyone to come back in the future?

They already resisted quite a bit, and it would only get worse in the future.

It was said that her Little Uncle Master's family also had a Ninth Tier body cultivator, and persuading his family seemed unlikely. It would only work if her Little Uncle Master himself was willing.

"Forget it, let's quietly observe first. If there's a chance, take action, grab Xi Yang and leave immediately. But if that Tomb Ghost has already begun pursuing him, then there's nothing anyone can do."

...

Two days later, Yu Ziqing and Feng Buju arrived at their destination.

Yin Busan sent a message that he couldn't come for the time being. An unexpected incident had involved him in another's conflict, and someone had died, so he needed to handle it first.

Someone was trying to stall him, causing some trouble. It might not last long, but he definitely wouldn't make it on time, advising Feng Buju to handle things as he knew how.

Hearing this, even Yin Busan realized it was an intentional delay, which led Yu Ziqing to understand that this could be troublesome.

Tomb Ghosts, Xi Family members, Old Emperor Zhen's remnants, Heavenly Demons, plus after arriving there, he found everyone outside was at the Seventh Tier—it meant the people inside were certainly stronger, and they all converged there.

Just thinking about it gave Yu Ziqing a headache.

"We wait."

"Not going in?"

"Not going!" Yu Ziqing was resolute.

If it were just Old Emperor Zhen's remnants, he wouldn't be scared; tricking Freedom Heaven once more was no big deal.

But with a whole mess of other people, Yu Ziqing decided against going.

Without strong allies of the Ninth Tier present, he wouldn't enter.

After night fell, moonlight cascaded down, and Yu Ziqing saw that within the moonlight lay a mysterious force, making the area appear dreamlike and unreal.

Looking more closely, those fellows were all frozen there, as if entranced by something, almost non-reactive to the outside world.

Yu Ziqing immediately knew that someone had already infiltrated inside.

The first entry could very well have been Xi Family's Xia Shuang. Not that it had to be her, but Yu Ziqing always felt Xia Shuang couldn't wait for Xi Yang to pass, ready just to collect the body.

Yu Ziqing and Feng Buju waited diligently for three days before only Old Yang finally arrived.

"Just you?" Yu Ziqing asked, somewhat disappointed.

"You seem disappointed. Am I not enough?"

"What about You Zhen and King Xiang? After all, this is their family's affair; I'm only here for the Heavenly Demon, just by the way."

"King Xiang couldn't come for now; his calamity is nearing soon. As for You Zhen, I didn't let him come; his appearance would ruin things later on. Moreover, he is needed there to guard, otherwise, I'd feel unsafe."

"You noticed too?"

Since the last incident in the Abyss, Yu Ziqing occasionally sensed someone spying when he went out. It seemed distant from Jinlan Mountain's Forbidden Land, as if just passing by.

But Yu Ziqing knew someone must be watching Jinlan Mountain.

At their home, it was too easy to keep an eye on things. In a radius of thousands of miles, aside from Jinlan Mountain, there wasn't a living soul. There was no need to stake out at the doorstep to keep watch.

A thousand miles away was more than enough.

"At home, there is the village chief, in the north is You Zhen, and that Han Dong in the south seems reliable. His strength definitely isn't a problem; if someone comes, he'd surely act. His aura of death is so strong it hasn't dissipated after all this time—no telling what he killed in the deep sea before.

Apart from me, I don't dare arbitrarily bring people out, it's not safe.

You Zhen has already informed me; a few months back, someone eyed from the north once, but from a very far distance.

Seems it noticed a strong presence like You Zhen was guarding there, so the observer quietly retreated.

Now with me personally coming, it's enough, don't worry."

"The more you say this, the more I worry."

Despite his words, Yu Ziqing with Old Yang and Feng Buju took advantage of the night, sneaking into the Grotto Heaven while those people were mentally absent.

As soon as they entered, they heard deafening roars explode in the distant sky.

Xia Shuang stood on the ground, her figure expanding to over a thousand feet tall, her body emanating streams of yin qi, corpse qi, death qi, and cold qi intertwined, transforming into a towering column of smoke, soaring upward.

With every move, vast sheets of frost fell, and every gesture caused the Grotto Heaven to continuously tremble.

The booming sounds were relentless, not lightning, but each strike she made released terrifying explosive sounds.

And battling against Xia Shuang was a formidable figure cloaked entirely in Divine Light, just feeling the aura and the turbulent waves of power indicated it was a Ninth Tier Qi Refinement master.