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After Shang Yangjun regained consciousness, Qi Lin had already carried her through most of Kui Mountain on his back. The girl was stuck in a daze for a long while before she finally was lucid.
“Yangjun, do you still remember my name?” Qi Lin asked.
“Qi Lin?” Shang Yangjun had quite the impression of this name.
Seeing she apparently did not suffer any damage to her nervous system as a result of the Taowu’s evil qi, Qi Lin was at ease.
When night fell, Qi Lin found a spot with favorable fengshui to rest, and he skillfully stoked a bonfire. “Yangjun, use the Pixiu Banner to cultivate for now.” Qi Lin moved his Divine Intent, expanding the Pixiu Banner.
“No, you’re the banner guardian, I can’t break the rules.”
“Your injuries from the Taowu’s evil qi are too deep. Use the Pixiu Banner to recover your vitality. I’m doing this because I’m afraid you’ll slow our pace to Zhaoge.”
Shang Yangjun knew he was being kind. She hesitated but still agreed.
The Pixiu Banner was erected behind her. Black and white spirit-lights flew out of the black and white banner; these two spirit0lights were like fireflies. Shang Yangjun sat cross-legged, shut her eyes, formed hand seals, and activated the Black And White Mixed Origin Chant. These spirit-lights responded to her and quickly circled around the girl. The black and white air also gradually covered the pores on the girl’s body, making her enter a peaceful state of mind.
Qi Lin had used the Pixiu Banner to cultivate for many days and was aware of the mysterious vitality it contained, and he made use of the Black And White Mixed Origin Chant to cultivate even faster. Because the Pixiu Banner’s vitality had limits, only the strongest cultivator of each generation could make use of the Pixiu Banner to train. In the past, because the Pixiu Tribe’s chief was afraid of others surpassing him, he created this rule to not allow a second person to cultivate with it. In addition, with Qi Lin’s current cultivation, he did not mind at all if Shang Yangjun used this to become a flying tiger. The stronger the girl was, the happier he would actually be.
After their encounter with the Taowu Tomb, the experience with one fo the Four Perils already made Qi Lin’s cultivation advance even faster. The cultivator’s first level of Realms was “Qi Refinement Nine Devas.” He was already at Qi Refinement Seventh Deva, on the verge of attaining his Heavenly Spirit meridians, about the same as Shang Yangjun. If he added the Yin Yang Fortune Body, his Primordial True Qi was already able to break through to Nine Devas. He could even fight against a Golden Core First Trigram cultivator.
After cultivating the black and white vitality for a time, Shang Yangjun’s complexion gradually grew redder and redder, and her breathing became a bit warmer and deeper, gradually calming.
“Thank you, I’ve wasted the Pixiu Banner’s energy.” Shang Yangjun lowered her gaze. To be able to make the tribe’s proud genius girl adopt so humble a posture was already unprecedented.
“We should help each other. Before, I received many a favor from you.” Qi Lin disagreed.
Shang Yangjun grunted.
A moment later, the girl then recalled the mausoleum, Wang Jian, the Mandrill Tribe and Shang Meng.
Qi Lin had already concocted an excuse for the Taowu Tomb encounter because he did not want to let her know about Qi Qi. The story more or less was that Vermilion Bird Divine General Wang Jian fought the Taowu, and he took the chance to escape. As for things after that, he was not sure. After escaping the tomb, there was no need to worry about Shang Meng. Qi Lin learned from Qi Qi that the Great Sage Equal Of Heaven had already dispatched the Xiao Tribe’s pursuing cultivators. Shang Meng seemed to have already moved to Kui Mountain’s other side.
“I never expected that the vast Barbarian Wildlands would surprisingly have the tomb of one of the Four Perils…” Shang Yangjun could not help but shudder when she recalled it.
“Primordial World has a saying that every time we cross the bridge of life and death, a cultivator’s power increases. This can be considered our silver lining.” Qi Lin smiled. There was a mysterious bridge between life and death. Primordial World’s cultivators called this the Dark Bridge of Life and Death. Reportedly, countless cultivators and Divine Names would see the “beginning” after death when they crossed this Dark Bridge. That was Primordial World’s original primordial chaos. If one was even capable of returning to the world of the living from this beginning, the cultivator’s magical energy, mind, soul, and other Realms would grow significantly.
Sometimes, when a cultivator encountered a bottleneck that they were unable to break through, they would even boldly walk the Dark Bridge of Life and Death. Of course, most geniuses hardly returned after crossing the bridge of death.
This time, Shang Yangjun was quiet lucky. She had faced the Taowu peril head-on. This kind of despair from having their Realm suppressed was something countless cultivators would be unable surmount, but fortunately, with Qi Lin’s help, the girl escaped from death. She also felt that she was already within reach of drawing power from the Heavenly Spirits of Qi Refinement Eighth Deva. If she used the Pixiu Banner, she could cultivate Eighth Deva Primordial True Qi in a few days.
However, doing so would interfere with Qi Lin’s cultivation. Shang Yangjun was deeply sorry to thicken her cheeks and make this request.
“Take the Pixiu Banner and cultivate for the next few days until you break through into Heavenly Spirit meridians.” Qi Lin empathetically smiled.
“But you need to cultivate, too. On this journey to Zhaoge, King Zhou wants to collect the Pixiu Banner. You may not have that much time to cultivate.” Shang Yangjun shook her head.
“”Little Sister Yangjun must have seen my talents. I don’t need the Pixiu Banner to break through.” Qi Lin chuckled. He suddenly circulated his True Qi. The air surrounding him flowed, forming a seven-layered current that surged like a storm. Each wisp of True Qi was like a heavenly screen.
Qi Refinement Seventh Deva!
Shang Yangjun’s jaw dropped, becoming a bitter smile of unreconciliation.
Was this man a monster? Why was he able to surpass her decade of training with little more than a month of effort.
After searching around the Ten Thousand Beasts Barbarian Wildlands for a few days, Qi Lin retrieved two of the Bronze Warhorses. Then, he and Shang Yangjun passed through Kui Mountain without incident. However, they did not see Shang Meng at all. Because of the death order to go to Zhaoge, and because they had already wasted too much time, Qi Lin and Shang Yangjun had not time to worry about him.
After leaving Kui Mountain, they already arrived at Mount Taiqi, and past that, they reached the Yin Shang’s Jize. Starting from Jize there was a government road to Zhaoge. Due to the fact that they had already wasted too much time, Qi Lin and Shang Yangjun did not stop to rest. Most of their time was spent on rushing ahead like their lives depended on it.
On this day, Qi Lin and Shang Yangjun were nearly at Jize City.
Yet the gate in front of them was shut tight, an austere appearance.
Qi Lin walked up below the wall and shouted a few times. At the top of the rampart, a government soldier holding a bow answered him with several dozen Vajra Arrows. “The Lord Governor has ordered seven days of seclusion, no one is permitted to disturb.”
“I bear a summons from King Zhou. We have orders to bring the Ten Thousand Beasts Unbounded Pixiu Banner to Zhaoge with all haste, please understand.” Qi Lin respectfully said.
“Enough nonsense, who cares if you serve King Zhou or the king of Zhou.1 Our lord has issued orders that Jize is to be secluded for seven days. Go somewhere else.” That soldier saw Qi Lin and Shang Yangjun were dressed in barbarian clothes, and he acted high and mighty.
“Yangjun, how much more time do we have to get to Zhaoge?” Qi Lin furrowed his brow. He did not expect such a variable.
“We still have less than five days’ time.” Shang Yangjun’s expression was a bit unsightly, “Even if we depart from Jize’s government road right now, we’d be too late.” The Jize government path to Zhaoge needed at least six days’ time to cross with Bronze Warhorses.
King ZHou’s decree absolutely did not allow for any mishaps. Let alone a single day, even being a second late could bring irreparable disaster.
Qi Lin looked at the surrounding mountain range, “If we go through that mountain, would we be a bit faster?” Far away from Jize, there was a giant-shaped mountain ridge, obscured by mist and drizzle.
“Alright.” Shang Yangjun nodded. This was the only way.
With no time to waste, Qi Lin and Shang Yangjun set off for that mountain ridge. The Bronze Warhorses galloped off with metallic hoofbeats, clang, clang.
When the soldier at the top of the wall saw this, he guffawed. “They actually dared to go to Yin Ridge they really are tired of living.”
“Who is going to Yin Ridge at this time?”
A voice slowly spoke, as gentle as water.
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- 紂王, 周王, homophones. ↩