Ch. 347 - Brother Is Relying On A Higher Power

On the fifth day of July in the year 2112 of the Immortal Calendar, Nangong Cheng's obituary was posted all over the Heavenly Gate City streets.

This incident caused a great deal of uproar in the city. Most cultivators hurriedly packed their bags and fled as if fearing for their lives the next day after hearing the news.

The once prosperous capital of the Imperial Sect was now sparsely populated. All kinds of wooden signs for fruits and vegetables were scattered on the streets, but no one was tending to them. There were also no more Imperial Sect disciples who previously patrolled the city.

...

Autumn had arrived, the air in the city was gradually getting cooler, and a cold wind was blowing.

Ye Anping walked alone on Long Jade Street, the most prosperous street in the city once, but what he saw now was a deserted street.

Most of the shops on both sides of the street had their doors open, but no one was inside.

He suddenly remembered what Ye Ao said when he came back from Moon Shadow Sword Sect -- "Wherever you go, trouble follows."

Indeed, wherever he went, problems arose.

Upon his return to the Hundred Lotus Sect, Ye Ao would probably look strangely at his good and sensible son again.

After walking along the street for a while, he suddenly smelled a waft of soy sauce not far away.

Following the scent, he reached a shop specializing in roasted chicken.

After the various shops in the city closed one after another, Feng Yu Die had been looking for roasted chicken all over the place these days. Yesterday, she even set up a grill in the backyard of the inn and roasted it herself.

Ye Anping hesitated for a while, but he had to buy some and take it back to her to save her from fussing all day about eating roasted chicken.

The owner of the roasted chicken shop was an old cultivator at the seventh level of the Qi Refining stage. However, his temples were gray and his face was full of wrinkles. He looked like he was around sixty years old. At this moment, he was facing away from him, pickling an old hen that had just been plucked.

Ye Anping took out a few spirit stones from his storage bag and knocked on the wooden table. "Boss, roast two chickens."

The old cultivator turned around and looked at Ye Anping a little surprised, but seeing that he was in the late stage of the Foundation Building, he smiled and bowed. "Please wait a moment, Senior. It will take a while to roast. How about you tell me a place and I will send it to you later?"

"It's okay, I'll wait."

The old man quickly put two marinated roasted chickens into the oven and wiped his hands on his waistband. Then, he came over, put the spirit stones into his purse, and kindly reminded him. "Senior, you should leave the city as soon as possible. I heard yesterday that the Demon Clan is less than ten miles away. They will probably enter the city in a few days. A handsome young man like you will definitely be captured by them to serve as a soldier."

"Why haven't you left then?"

"Eh? I'm so old now, where can I go if I leave? Sigh--" With a melancholic look on his face, the old cultivator shook his head. "Here are my roots. I've been selling roasted chicken in this city for most of my life. How can I just leave?"

"Aren't you afraid that the Demon Clan will kill all the human cultivators when they enter the city?"

"Let them kill. Ten years more or less, what's the difference?"

The old cultivator seemed to be indifferent to life and death. He waved his hand nonchalantly and continued, "But the Demon King actually entered Heavenly Gate City on his own and even killed the Emperor of the Central Region. Who could have expected that? One of the Five Sages of the Immortal Family suddenly died. In my opinion, the four regions will be in chaos in the future."

Ye Anping listened in silence, then replied, "This is a bit too pessimistic. I don't think this is a bad thing."

"Oh?" The old cultivator raised his eyebrows. "Why do you say that, Senior?"

"Throughout history, it's not unusual for a new king to replace the old king within a generation. It's just that the longevity of cultivators makes this cycle of change quite a bit longer."

"You mean to say that... the Demon King won't kill the human cultivators in the city?"

"Although the demons are beasts in form and most of them are brutal, they are not much different from humans. They still have six desires, seven emotions, eight sufferings, and nine difficulties. I think that in the future, Heavenly Gate City will probably become an Immortal city where beasts and humans live together."

"Humans and demons have a deep blood feud. How can this thousand-year grudge be over just like this?"

Ye Anping looked toward the west of the city and saw that many of the Justice Division officers had already rushed over there on their flying swords. He smiled. "Of course, it's not just like that, but it will happen gradually. Boss, you might as well prepare more roast chickens and sell them to the demons after they enter the city. Roasted chicken is the hard currency among the demons, second only to spirit stones."

The old cultivator was a little confused after listening to this. He turned around, took the roasted chickens out of the oven with an iron hook, wrapped them in oilcloth, then handed them to Ye Anping. "May I ask what your name is, Senior?"

"Liang Xiaoliu."

"Then, I will remember what Senior Liang said. If that really happens, if you come to my shop to eat roasted chicken in the future, it will be all on me."

Ye Anping smiled, took the two chickens, and turned to leave.

He hadn't gone far down the street when the sound of war drums rang out at the western gate of the Heavenly Gate City.

Dum-Dum-Dum---

The sound of drums shook the sky and the earth, making the whole city tremble.

Ye Anping stopped to take a look and saw countless beast-headed demon soldiers stepping into the city with "fox" flags. He didn't linger much and hurried back to the Flowing Moon Inn.

Yue Xuanming had come to him before to inquire what he meant to do, and Ye Anping told him what the Justice Division was going to do according to Si Xuanji's script:

---After the Demon King and the Demon Clan entered the city, Yue Xuanming leading the Justice Division would come forward to greet them and ask the Demon King to help unify the remaining disciples of the Imperial Sect.

The original eighteen military branches of the Imperial Sect, such as the Red Division, were transferred to the Justice Division, and a human cultivators sect was to be established within the Demon Clan to help the Demon King govern the Central Region.

Since the script was very short, there was a problem with the details.

However, this had nothing to do with Ye Anping.

After all, the Central Region would become the territory of the Demon Clan, and Demon King Hu Mu would become the nominal master.

As for why he was the "nominal" master of the Central Region?

That's because the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal ended up in his hands.

Only those who possessed the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal could mobilize the spiritual energy of the mountains and earth in the Central Region at will. Originally in the game, the Heavenly Seal was in Feng Yu Die's possession, which was another great opportunity for her.

Ye Anping originally wanted to give the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal to Si Xuanji a few days ago, but Si Xuanji said that he should keep it with him temporarily and that she would borrow it when she needed it in the future.

After that, Ye Anping decided to give it to Feng Yu Die.

But Feng Yu Die turned tail and ran away after hearing that she needed to let herself be bitten by nine dragons to change the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal ownership.

He had no choice but to put the Heavenly Seal in his storage bag and prepare to find a place to bury it after returning to the Hundred Lotus Sect. After all, the spiritual power of this thing was too great. He put several storage bags inside the storage bag, but he couldn't completely hide the spiritual energy naturally released by it.

After all, it was known that Nangong City used a special recipient to contain the spiritual power of the Heavenly Seal.

Having the Nine Dragons Seal would be like holding a torch in the next room at night. A cultivator with a good sense of observation could directly notice its presence from a hundred miles away.

While lost in these thoughts, Ye Anping, carrying the two roasted chickens, reached the street where Flowing Moon Inn was located.

The innkeeper of Flowing Moon Inn also ran away with the waiter a few days ago, and now the whole street was deserted. At noon, only a few scattered cultivators could be seen wandering on the street.

Ye Anping pushed the door of the inn, walked into the hall, and saw that no one was there, so he shouted, "Sister Feng, I've bought roasted chicken. Come down and eat it while it's hot."

Shortly after Ye Anping spoke, there was the sound of a door opening and a flurry of footsteps on the second floor.

Creak---

Stomp, stomp, stomp...

Feng Yu Die jumped down from the railing on the second floor. Her hair was messy, and it seemed that she had just woken from a nap.

Seeing the chicken in Ye Anping's hand, she grabbed it casually. "Roasted chicken! Where did you buy it? I walked around all day yesterday and didn't see any for sale in the city."

"There's an old cultivator down on Long Jade Street who's been selling roasted chicken for decades."

"Oh! Thank you, Master Ye!"

Feng Yu Die grinned at Ye Anping and, holding the two roasted chickens, she jumped upstairs again, going back to her room to eat.

Ye Anping sighed tiredly and went to the side to pour a cup of tea, ready to pack up and leave Heavenly Gate City with his sister and the others.

Just as he sat down, the door of a room in the corner of the second floor was pushed open again.

Liang Zhu and Tong Zilan walked down from the side room.

Liang Zhu was still wearing the golden robe of the Justice Division, but Tong Zilan had changed into a water-blue silk dress.

Although the silk dress was in the style of a rogue cultivator, and the material was not that good, she still had an unconcealable "nobility", perhaps because of a hundred years of being the Empress.

Tong Zilan smiled and nodded to Ye Anping. "Young Master Ye, good afternoon."

"Good afternoon." Ye Anping took out two new teacups and poured tea for them. "The Demon Clan just entered the city. I plan to leave in a few days. What have you decided?"

"We will follow your arrangements."

"Then, let's go when my sister and the others come back. Flying with the swords, we should be able to reach the town by nightfall."

Ye Anping lifted his teacup to take a sip when he suddenly noticed that his big brother Liang was looking at him with resentful eyes.

Ye Anping was taken aback and asked, "Brother Liang, what's the matter?"

"..."

Liang Zhu silently took out a jar of red wine and three porcelain bowls from his storage bag, poured the wine into them, and then moved a table and lit red candles on it.

?

Ye Anping looked at this familiar scene, feeling a little puzzled.

When he, Liang Zhu, and the other four brothers became sworn brothers, Liang Zhu also took out this set of things from the storage bag.

After Liang Zhu prepared everything, he turned around with a frown. "Come here, let's become sworn brothers and sisters."

Ye Anping froze and glanced at the three porcelain bowls filled with wine on the table.

Three...

He immediately turned to look at Tong Zilan.

Tong Zilan covered her mouth and chuckled, then stood up and cupped her hands in an official manner, saying, "Young Master Ye, I will be your sworn sister from now on. I hope Sixth Brother will take good care of me."

"..."

Ye Anping turned to look at Liang Zhu with twitching eyes, but what he got was a disdainful smile.

"That's how it is, come over here..."

"So... Brother Liang, you and Sister Tong have discussed this?"

Tong Zilan nodded and replied, "Well, Ating's identity as the Second Princess will be buried in Heavenly Gate City with the demise of the Imperial Sect. She has never seen me since she was born. If I suddenly tell her that I am her biological mother, she would find it strange. So... I thought that, although we are related by blood, having the chance of raising her is good enough. Besides, it's not good to let her know that her biological father abandoned her in order to advance on the Path."

Ye Anping shrugged slightly, walked to the altar made by Liang Zhu, and picked up a bowl of wine. "Since you have discussed it with Brother Liang, I won't say more."

The three of them lined up from tallest to shortest, swore the traditional oath, then drank the wine, slammed the bowls down, and bowed three times to the candlesticks.

Crunch---

When Ye Anping was about to sit back down, Liang Zhu touched his shoulder, squeezing it hard. "Sixth Brother."

"...?"

Liang Zhu closed his eyes and composed for a while, then glared at him. "You are Ating's sixth uncle, you understand?!"

"..."

Ye Anping blinked and nodded in confusion. "Yeah."

"You can only be her uncle, got it?"

Ye Anping rolled his eyes at him speechlessly, but suddenly he had a thought. Could it be that Tong Zilan said something to him?

Something like marrying Ating to him?

He pursed his lips in silence, then looked at Tong Zilan beside him. "Sister Tong, Ating is like an adopted daughter to me. I will definitely take good care of her in the future."

"Adopted daughter..." Tong Zilan pouted as if she was a little disappointed after hearing this. "Well... Then, please take care of her more, Sixth Brother."

"Well, my sister likes her a lot too."

Only then did Liang Zhu change his sour face and take his hand off Ye Anping's shoulder. Returning to the table, he sat down and said, "Sixth Brother, Miss Ye and I calculated before. The things we took from the secret vault of the Imperial Sect are about two million spirit stones, and there are some high-level natural treasures for forming pills. Do you want me to give you an account?"

"No need, I trust you. You can give Miss Ye fifteen percent and take fifteen for yourself. Leave the rest to me, I will give it to Sister Feng later."

"Got it."

Ye Anping went back to the table, sat down, and thought to himself.

In the game, after the Imperial Sect incident, because Feng Yu Die was seriously injured by the Demon King, there was a long window of time in the main line.

And during this window time, a lot of exclamation marks would suddenly appear on the map of the Central Region, which were basically side quests related to the conflict between the Demon Clan and human cultivators.

To sum it up in one sentence, in the next few years, the people in the Central Region would form small gangs similar to the Dragon Slayer Society and take back some scattered Immortal cities in the border area from the Demon Clan.

Although these side quests also had many rewards, he didn't really need to do them now that he had robbed the secret vault of the Imperial Sect.

Such being the case, they should start preparing for the Core Formation stage now.

Unfortunately, it was different from the game, where players could form a Golden Core by clicking the left mouse button.

In this world, to form a Golden Core, one must withstand the thunder tribulation.

Pei Lianxue needed to form a Heavenly Golden Core, which meant forty-eight thunder tribulations. With the Snow Jade Spirit Sword and her extreme water spiritual root, the forty-eight heavenly thunder tribulations should be no problem.

But no problems for Pei Lianxue didn't mean that he didn't have any problems either.

Although he had a golden finger, his qualifications were only that of an ordinary cannon fodder with a water and wood double spiritual root. Therefore, he had to make a few more preparations so as not to be killed by the heavenly thunder when the time came.

"Brother Liang, have you sold that pair of golden pills?"

"..."

Liang Zhu choked on his tea. He glanced at Tong Zilan next to him and frowned slightly, replying, "No. There are a few buyers, but they're not too reliable."

"Then, there's no rush."

Ye Anping nodded, and then he raised his sword finger and took out a piece of something black in a glass bottle from the storage bag. "Brother, please help me sell this thing. It should be able to sell for a good price..."

Liang Zhu stared at the bottle in Ye Anping's hand. "Fox fur?"

"Yes, the tail fur of the Demon King. It is waterproof and fireproof. I tried to burn it with a fire talisman before."

"..."

Liang Zhu seemed to be used to such scenes, his mouth opened, but didn't say anything. Tong Zilan, on the other hand, was terrified, as if she had seen a ghost.

"Sixth brother... well, out of curiosity, I want to ask if the second-rate golden pill you just mentioned is... I heard something about Yun Tianchong, the leader of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect, a few years ago... could it be?"

Ye Anping cupped his hands and smiled. "Seventh Sister, although you lived in the inner palace, you are really well-informed."

"...Sixth brother, you are too kind, gulp--"

Tong Zilan pursed her lips, swallowed her saliva, and looked away as if she finally realized that her young and promising sixth brother seemed to have too strong a personality...

Liang Zhu pinched his nose bridge. "Can't sell it."

"Can't sell it? You can sell the second-rate golden pills, but not this?"

"Well, the biggest black market in the four regions is in the Central Region, which has just become the Demon King's territory, and no pawn shop will dare to take it."

Ye Anping pursed his lips, then turned to look at Tong Zilan. "What a pity... Seventh Sister, do you want it? I'll give it to you as a gift for our sworn brotherhood."

Tong Zilan shrank her neck and shook her head. "I will politely decline."

"...Forget it, I'll make a felt and give it to my sister later."

Ye Anping sighed and was about to put the bottle of fox fur back into the storage bag when suddenly, a small hand stretched out from the side and grabbed the bottle.

"I'll buy it! I'll buy it! How much?"

Ye Anping turned his head and saw Xue Tianqiao sitting on the chair with a smile, blinking her sparkling eyes at him.

"Name a price, I'll buy it!"

If Xue Tianqiao was here, then of course...

Ye Anping froze, then turned his head and looked behind him. He saw a fox demon in a green robe with a large tail, looking at him with an 'I'll skin you' look.

"..."

In all honesty, Ye Anping panicked for a moment. He didn't expect Hu Mu to come to him alone.

But almost at the same time, a "jingle-ling-" sound rang in his mind, which made him feel a little relieved.

Ye Anping hesitated for a while, loosened his fingers that were pinching the bottle's mouth, and let Xue Tianqiao have it.

After Xue Tianqiao got the bottle, she ran back to Hu Mu, wagging her tail and looking at him expectantly. "Master, give me the spirit stones quickly, I want to buy this..."

"..."

Hu Mu's cheeks bulged from gritting his teeth, and he took a deep breath through his nose.

Ye Anping smiled, cupped his hands, and added, "Hello, Your Excellency. I will only charge you five hundred thousand spirit stones. Isn't that a bargain?"

The two black ears on Hu Mu's head stood up straight, and his eyes suddenly released murderous intent, causing the temperature in the inn to drop by ten degrees.

Liang Zhu and Tong Zilan, who were standing by, looked at him in horror, as if asking: Are you crazy?!

Only Xue Tianqiao cast an admiring look at Ye Anping as if to say: Wow! You are so powerful; you even dare to provoke my master!

She smiled and quickly added, "Master, five hundred thousand spirit stones, it's worth it."

"..."

Hu Mu was about to speak when he suddenly felt a small hand gripping the tip of his tail. He turned around and saw Si Xuanji who had appeared behind him at some point. With her left hand, she twisted the new hair on the tip of his tail that had grown a few days ago. She looked surprised, as if saying: Wow! Your fur grows so fast?

"..."

Hu Mu gritted his teeth slightly, admitting defeat in his heart, but still pretended to be majestic. He took back his tail from her little hand, turned his head, and looked at Ye Anping.

When he saw Ye Anping's spiritual roots, he looked back at Si Xuanji: Why are you protecting this person?

Si Xuanji narrowed her eyes and smiled, rubbed Xue Tianqiao's head, then walked around her to Ye Anping's side and sat directly on his thigh. Grabbing his cheek, she scolded him. "Mr. Ye, you are really fearless. If I hadn't come here and used my mother to shake this fox, you would be dead."

Ye Anping smiled bitterly and had to play along with her. He stood up and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency the Demon King. Just treat it as a joke just now. I hope Your Excellency will not take it as an offense."

Hu Mu looked at the two people interacting, feeling somewhat puzzled. Could it be that this old woman wanted some 'fresh meat'?

But he simply said nothing, walked forward, and sat down at the table. Tong Zilan and Liang Zhu, who were sitting opposite, stood up and stepped aside in a hurry.

Si Xuanji looked at Hu Mu. "So, let's settle the five hundred thousand spirit stones first."

"..."

Hu Mu silently glanced at Si Xuanji and, upholding the excellent virtue of respecting the old and cherishing the young, waved his hand, taking out a small spirit bead from the storage bag and putting it on the table, with an attitude of "I reward you".

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

Ye Anping took the spiritual bead with a smile and thanked him. Seeing that Si Xuanji was now acting as a shield for him, he didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "I wonder if Your Excellency has come here for Hu Yulan's matter?"

"..."

Hu Mu's fierce eyebrows trembled slightly, and he slowly turned his eyes to look at Ye Anping, a trace of suspicion flashed in his eyes, and then his gaze moved to Si Xuanji as if he suspected that she was the one who told him.

Si Xuanji was also somewhat puzzled. She leaned in Ye Anping's arms, raised her head, and looked at his chin. "Mr. Ye, where did you hear this name from?"

"Sister Feng told me a few days ago, doesn't she have the Heavenly Dao Scroll? Checking the Demon King, I found out about Hu Yulan's death, so I was wondering if it was because of this."

 Hu Mu raised his eyebrows slightly. "So, who was it?"

"The Heavenly Demonic Sect Patriarch."

"..."

"To buy time for Bai Yurou to escape, she faced the leader of the Heavenly Demonic Sect alone and sacrificed herself."

A trace of anger flashed in Hu Mu's eyes. "What?"

"As for Bai Yurou, she didn't escape from the Eastern Region either. She died from the poison."

"...Let the girl come and talk to me in person."

"Sir, you hurt her so badly before, she is still bedridden now."

"..."

Hu Mu glared at Ye Anping, but found that he seemed to be not afraid of him at all, and suddenly, became a little curious about this guy.

A cultivator with dual spiritual roots, yet he was able to get the favor of the old woman Red Moon, and he was not afraid of him in the slightest...

He looked at Ye Anping for a while, then stood up and swung his tail. He lifted Xue Tianqiao, who was playing with the fox fur, by the collar, and his figure turned into a black mist and dissipated into the inn.

Ye Anping finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Si Xuanji who was sitting on his lap. "Thank you, Miss Xuanji."

"You have some guts; you didn't even change expression when talking to the Demon King. If you'd have made a mistake in what you said, I couldn't have protected you, and Mother is not here now."

Are you still pretending? Ye Anping didn't know what to say, so he just imitated Feng Yu Die and laughed foolishly. "Ahaha..."

Si Xuanji shook her head indulgently, then grabbed his cheek. "You're still laughing, did you suddenly become silly? Oh, never mind... Go pack up quickly, aren't we going back to the Western Region soon?"

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