Chapter 1 Feeling

Feeling the striped kitten stiffen in his grip on the scruff of its neck, An Qisheng smiled noncommittally.

This striped kitten's methods of concealing its form and aura were quite ingenious. Even Tu Ba and Gongyang Yan had failed to notice anything amiss, but how could it escape his notice?

An Qisheng watched indifferently, his gaze naturally peeling away the external appearances to reveal the inner essence.

Its tendons, bones, skin, and even the soul's light, invisible to the naked eye, flashed before his eyes.

This little cat was clearly the one-eyed tiger, Lord Hu, that he had seen when he first arrived in this world.

In the past few days, among the auras probing Mu City's mountains, there had been this tiger.

But he hadn't expected that this tiger would actually have the courage to approach after he had defeated Qing Wuju, a Yuan Shen incarnation.

Or perhaps, this tiger had a misunderstanding about what the tree demon had obtained?

An Qisheng felt a bit strange.

He naturally knew the feud between this tiger and the tree demon who had perished together with Hong Xuan Daoist.

Several years ago, the tree demon had inadvertently touched the earth's crust and discovered that underground palace. At the same time, a wisp of demonic energy leaking from the underground palace was also discovered by this tiger.

The latter thought the former had obtained a treasure, leading to a battle that left them both severely injured. The tiger was badly wounded for several years, and the tree demon fared even worse, falling to the point of perishing together with Hong Xuan Daoist.

'He discovered something? No, it can't be. I'm using the Great Demon Concealment Technique…'

Lord Hu felt a little flustered.

Facing a Yuan Shen Great Cultivator whose cultivation was far above his own, who wouldn't be flustered?

But amidst the panic, the greed in his heart grew even stronger.

He clearly remembered that the aura of the Daoist in front of him was almost identical to the aura that appeared when the tree demon disappeared. It was very likely that they were the same person!

He clearly remembered that half a year ago, that person was not as strong as the tree demon!

But now, he was so incredibly powerful!

This had to make him even more eager for that 'treasure.'

Therefore, facing the Daoist's 'fierce and terrifying' gaze, Lord Hu forcibly suppressed the panic in his heart and squeezed out a smiling face:

"Meow?"

.......

The Northwest Dao was located on the border of the Great Zhou Dynasty, adjacent to the Northern Sea, and had an extremely large territory.

Anning Prefecture alone had hundreds of billions of people, and yet it was only considered a mid-sized prefecture among the hundred and twenty prefectures of You Province.

The Northwest Dao had nine provinces, of which You Province was only one.

As the hub of thousands of prefectures and nine provinces, and a place that hundreds of billions of people yearned for, the capital city of the Northwest Dao was naturally endlessly magnificent.

It was located on a plain, stretching for tens of thousands of miles from east to west. Its city walls were so towering that they made the distant mountains appear like small hills.

Calling it a city was more like calling it a country built of giant stones, majestic beyond compare.

Outside the city, artificial canals, like jade belts, surrounded it, nourishing hundreds of millions of acres of spiritual farmland.

Outside the capital, spiritual plants stretched endlessly, and every time the wind blew, a rich spiritual fragrance would fill the entire city.

Not to mention eating them, just breathing in this spiritual energy could prolong life and prevent all kinds of diseases.

For no other reason than to breathe in the spiritual energy of these spiritual plants at close range, countless people went to the spiritual fields to help with the work every day.

Even the hard work of guarding at night was sought after by countless people.

And the Dao City was also the place with the most cultivators from all the prefectures and provinces.

Not only the Brahma Martial Dao, the Jingye Division, and the Qintian Observatory, but also the prefecture-level sects such as the Tiangang Gate and the Pingbo Tower had strongholds here.

All the cultivators who could not endure the hard life in the mountains gathered in the Dao City.

The Northwest Dao City had been built for over fifty thousand years, dating back to the beginning of the Great Xia Dynasty. With tens of thousands of years of heritage, it was mostly inhabited by descendants of cultivators.

The name Dao City was not only due to its being the city of a Dao, but also because of the large number of cultivators in it.

And unlike other state cities, prefecture cities, and county towns, outside the Northwest Dao City, beyond the endless spiritual fields, there were also a large number of gathering places.

The population gathered in these numerous gathering places was no less than that of the entire Northwest Dao City, but they could not live in the Dao City.

Whoosh~

The wind swept through the clouds.

The temperature above the towering Dao City wall was extremely low, almost to the point of turning breath into ice.

Above a Dao platform standing on the city wall amidst the cold wind, the void seemed to have ripples, which subsided in an instant.

Wang Xuangan stepped out of the void, staggering, almost falling to the ground. Red liquid flowed from his seven orifices.

"Finally, I'm back..."

Wang Xuangan barely straightened up and let out a long breath. Before the turbid air had gone far, it had already turned into ice crystals and fallen to the ground.

This platform was only thirty miles in circumference and was the Dao City's teleportation platform, used by cultivators above the Golden Core stage to travel between cities.

However, the feeling of traversing the void was extremely painful. Each traversal would even consume cultivation and lifespan, and there was no difference based on the level of cultivation.

Therefore, unless necessary, no one would choose to travel through it.

It was mostly used to transmit messages, decrees, and the like.

"Town Overseer Wang?"

The few cultivators guarding the teleportation platform were all a little surprised to see Wang Xuangan. They didn't expect that the one being teleported back would be Wang Xuangan.

After a moment of surprise, the faces of the few cultivators tightened: "Didn't you go to Anning Prefecture? How could you be teleported back? Did something happen?"

"Fellow Daoists, today's matter is urgent. If there is free time in the future, I will explain it again."

Wang Xuangan waved his hand, said nothing more, and turned to leave the city wall.

The few cultivators were even more surprised to see this. They exchanged glances but didn't say anything more.

Coming down from the city wall, what first came into view were tall buildings rising from the ground, stretching endlessly along the huge, wide roads, as far as the eye could see.

There were many people coming and going, and the traffic was heavy. There were many cultivators riding spiritual beasts, and the shops on both sides mostly sold things for cultivation.

Wang Xuangan didn't delay and passed through several streets before arriving at the Jingye Division's base in the Northwest Dao.

He traveled all the way and entered the inner courtyard of the Jingye Division.

Only after arriving at the inner courtyard, in front of a quiet small courtyard, did he finally breathe a long sigh of relief. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead:

"Xuangan requests an audience with the Division Master!"

Since leaving the Dragon Ridge Mountain, Wang Xuangan had always had a sense of urgency in his heart. With the power of a Yuan Shen Great Cultivator, even across hundreds of thousands of miles, he would not be able to escape if he wanted to attack.

Only at this time did he breathe a sigh of relief.

The Northwest Dao City had a heritage of fifty thousand years, which was not something that ordinary Yuan Shen could shake. Even if the Dao Lord and many experts had gone east to the capital, it was still the same.

"Come in."

Just as Wang Xuangan was feeling uneasy, a nonchalant voice came from the courtyard: "Brother Lin's move is not bad."

"This is?"

Wang Xuangan suppressed the doubts in his heart and pushed the door open.

This courtyard looked small from the outside, but inside, it was a different world. Spiritual springs, whose sources were unknown, poured into the small lake in the courtyard.

In the center of the small lake, there was also a small island. On the island were flowers and spiritual plants, and in the lake were also spiritual fish.

The spiritual energy was abundant.

At this time, in a pavilion by the lake, two people were sitting opposite each other playing chess.

One was wearing a green shirt, his hair was gray, and he was an old Confucian scholar.

The other was wearing a black robe with star patterns, a purple-gold crown, jade-like skin, white and beardless, and a pair of eyes as deep as the sea of stars.

Seeing those eyes turn towards him, Wang Xuangan held his breath, lowered his head, and respectfully saluted: "Division Master!"

This black-robed man was none other than the Northwest Dao Jingye Division Master, Qi Xuan Zhenyi.

The Great Zhou Dynasty divided the world into Daos and enfeoffed them, but it was not entirely laissez-faire. The Jingye Divisions in each Dao also had the duty of surveillance.

In the system of each Dao and even the entire Great Zhou, their status was extremely high.

The person in front of him was not just a Dao Division Master, but also the junior brother of the current Jingye Division Master 'Zhang Fengfu'.

Although he had not transformed into a Yuan Shen, even the Brahma Martial Dao Lord had to be in awe of him.

"Mm."

Qi Xuan Zhenyi nodded slightly, glancing casually at Wang Xuangan, while placing a chess piece: "Brother Lin's chess skills are becoming more and more exquisite."

"Where?"

Lin Yan smiled and placed a piece, but shook his head upon hearing this: "Daoist Qi Xuan excels at the overall situation and does not get entangled in the gains and losses of a corner or a piece. This game of chess still has a way to go!"

"Unfortunately, being in the mundane world, it is not so easy to play a complete game of chess. Let's seal this game for now!"

Qi Xuan Zhenyi waved his sleeve and put away the chessboard, then looked at Wang Xuangan, his tone light: "I already know about Lin Qianlong's matter. If you have nothing else, then leave!"

"Division Master..."

Wang Xuangan hesitated slightly, but still braced himself to speak: "Junior Brother Lin's cultivation is completely lost. Even if he has a thousand faults, he should have paid for them, right? That person is detaining him and refusing to release him. Are we just going to ignore it?"

He was not surprised that Qi Xuan Zhenyi would know.

A Yuan Shen-level collision had occurred in the Northwest Dao. If the Jingye Division had not noticed, then there would be no need for it to exist at all.

"Hm? What do you take a Yuan Shen to be?"

Qi Xuan Zhenyi seemed displeased, and waves seemed to rise in his eyes:

"The two words Yuan Shen are obtained from Heaven! A Yuan Shen, in ancient times, was qualified to ascend to immortality and become a god. Lin Qianlong took the first action, offending that person. Merely abolishing his cultivation is already a minor punishment and warning. What else do you want?"

His voice was not high or low, but when Wang Xuangan heard it, his mind and spirit trembled. Before he could finish speaking, he was already sweating profusely.

Lowering his head, he couldn't say a word.

"However, Lin Qianlong is still my Jingye Division's Town Overseer after all."

Before he could finish speaking, Qi Xuan Zhenyi's attitude changed again, becoming a little gentler: "If he encounters misfortune this time, I will personally go to Fengdu Netherworld in the future to find his soul, lead him back to life, and re-enter the Dao path!"

"Division Master..."

Wang Xuangan lowered his head, smiled bitterly, and respectfully bowed: "This humble subordinate thanks the Division Master on behalf of Junior Brother Lin."

"Go!"

Qi Xuan Zhenyi said nothing more. With a wave of his hand, Wang Xuangan felt his world spin. When he opened his eyes again, he was already outside the Jingye Division's base.

"I've embarrassed Brother Lin."

After casually dismissing Wang Xuangan, Qi Xuan Zhenyi shook his head: "I came to this desolate land in the Northwest to avoid being disturbed, but I still can't get any peace..."

Lin Yan heard this, and then his eyes flashed, and he smiled: "The capable are overworked. Daoist Qi Xuan has hope of Yuan Shen, and should be grasping yin and yang and controlling the laws."

"Cultivation is for oneself, not for others. I'm also tired of staying in this Great Zhou..."

Qi Xuan Zhenyi sighed long:

"The murderer who destroyed the sect and killed people has not been found, and the Wuchang Palace has reappeared. At this moment, there is another Hong Xuan Daoist! Truly, what is to be done..."

"Hm?"

Lin Yan's brow suddenly furrowed, interrupting Qi Xuan Zhenyi's words, and he was a little surprised and uncertain: "You, you said Hong Xuan Daoist?"