Chapter Twenty-Two: The Daoist Gate of Huaguo (Part Two)

Wei Wujie also stepped forward, looking at his counterpart as he spoke, “The Primordial Illusionary Killing Array, Starlight Tracing Technique?”

Both men saw each other at the same time, and were equally shaken. Wei Wujie frowned, “So it’s you, Fei Liguo, junior brother? How did you get here as well, and why lay down the Primordial Illusionary Killing Array to hinder me?”

The man opposite sighed, “I didn’t expect it would be you, Senior Brother Wei. I used the Xuantian Seven Luminaries Disc to cast the Starlight Tracing Technique. Within five miles, any living creature is revealed—except you, who sustains yourself with the Golden Core, leaking nothing. So although I knew a master was helping the Hegel couple escape, I never thought it would be you.”

“So you’re here for them as well?” Wei Wujie said in surprise. He was unaware of Hegel’s significance; his willingness to protect the couple was merely for Cecily’s sake, and Cecily, naturally, had promised Amango.

Fei Liguo nodded, “That’s right. I won’t hide it from you, Senior Brother. I have a favor to ask of someone, so I agreed to help with a few matters. Recently, he was urgently informed that an important figure had escaped from Valencia City, and he wanted this person captured alive. Thus, he asked me to intervene.”

“So all those wild spirits and bear goblin bandits along the way were secretly sent by someone?” Wei Wujie glanced back at the bear goblins behind him. At once, the band of notorious thieves turned pale with fear. Rukovsky, having witnessed this man’s ruthless methods, dared not provoke him and hurriedly waved his hands, “No one sent us. We are always free and democratic bandits; this time, it was purely greed, nothing more.”

“The wild spirits were commissioned by someone. On this continent, certain people or factions want this gentleman,” Fei Liguo indirectly cleared the bear goblins of suspicion. In truth, their actions were simply banditry. As a group oppressed by invading wild spirit bandits, facing fierce market competition, they had nearly made hunting their main profession lately. That’s why, upon seeing the damaged carriage, they thought they’d found an easy prey. The wild spirits, however, were like Fei Liguo and his kind—once news spread that Hegel had been kidnapped and was fleeing to Gaul, those in the know immediately realized that this chief engineer must be the new weapons innovator reported in their intelligence. But with time too tight, the continent’s various factions and nations could not dispatch their own agents in time, so they sought proxies to intervene.

Some turned to the wild spirits—fallen spirits themselves. Many had escaped from slave camps or slipped away from the hands of nobility, thus already connected to certain powers on the continent. Especially after becoming bandits, they too needed to survive and sell their loot. They were no longer the pure spirits of old, no longer bound by ancient, tedious doctrines. Some, due to human influence, had developed complicated feelings toward their trainers, like Helen—love and hate intertwined, even after regaining their freedom. In short, they were changed; to survive, they learned to put interests first, to betray companions for profit, even to abandon old hatreds and work with their former human captors.

“Never mind others; I need not concern myself with them,” Wei Wujie thought. Along the way, he had already fought wild spirits. Though formidable killers in the forest—especially against bear goblins—and troublesome for Commineson’s two special agents, they were not a real threat to him. His previous evasions were simply to avoid overwhelming numbers of wild spirits and the risk that the Hegel couple might be harmed.

“I intend to take the Hegel couple to Gaul City. Will you, junior brother, allow me to pass?” Wei Wujie asked gravely.

“I climbed the mountain at nine, spent two years as a young novice, and at eleven was accepted as a disciple. Unlike the others, I have no family, no uncles, no elders—I relied on my own effort and the guidance of kind people. Anyone who helped me, I remember, and I swore to repay them someday,” Fei Liguo did not answer directly, but instead shook out his cross-collared Daoist robe and sat cross-legged.

Wei Wujie listened quietly. Suddenly, Fei Liguo lifted his head and laughed, “But I also swore, I will form the Infant from the Pill, advance to Creation, and surpass the Ancestor!”

The others did not understand, but Wei Wujie was moved. Fei Liguo’s ‘forming the Infant from the Pill, advancing to Creation’ referred to the three great realms of the Daoist sect in Huaguo: forming the Pill means achieving the Golden Core, forming the Infant means producing the Nascent Soul, and the Creation realm has only ever been attempted by the sect’s ancestor, the Daoist Sage Hongjun, who recorded its mysteries in the Book of Infinite Laws and Source Wisdom at West Kunlun. Whether the ancestor succeeded remains a mystery—only that Hongjun disappeared, leaving behind a celestial book capable of opening worlds, the Book of Infinite Laws and Source Wisdom.

Yet, it is easy to say, difficult to accomplish. The Daoist sect rules over Far Eastern Huaguo, more powerful than the imperial court. Daoist practitioners not only helped the royal family unify the land but also served as officials, considering this worldly engagement a form of cultivation. Those who complete this ‘red dust’ trial are regarded as having tempered their Dao hearts, and their paths diverge thereafter. Those whose Dao hearts are lost sink into the mundane, enjoying wealth or even leaving a mark in history, but their cultivation ceases, and their lifespan is only slightly longer than ordinary people. Those whose Dao hearts are weak often remain in the secular world, becoming luminaries in their fields through what they learned and their interests—such as the wondrous array on the Celeste, which extracts energy from magic crystals to power ships. This energy conversion array is precisely what Warrenheit desperately seeks, though it currently only converts magic crystal energy to wind power; even if he obtains it, it will be useless unless he has someone versed in Daoist arts, for the methods of the Daoist sect and the continent’s magic are fundamentally different, though they reach similar ends. Only those who, after experiencing the ‘red dust’, still yearn for cultivation, can forge the Golden Core, form the Nascent Soul, and greatly extend their lifespan.

“I recall that year when I was sent to Yin Mountain to gather herbs, encountered danger, and nearly lost my life—thanks to you, Senior Brother Wei, I survived,” Fei Liguo reminisced. “So, I owe you a great debt. Yet, I have promised another that I must stop the Hegel couple.”

“Someone’s coming from behind,” Gamio, listening to the brothers recall the past, suddenly noticed something amiss. Among them, apart from Wei Wujie and Fei Liguo, Gamio’s senses were the sharpest, so he was first to notice.

Indeed, people were approaching. No sooner had Gamio spoken than a group of wild spirits appeared from behind. There were four bands of wild spirit bandits involved in this interception, each commissioned by different sources. In the end, the largest group, after losing a quarter of their members, wiped out their three rivals.

Fei Liguo noticed them as well. The longsword strapped to his back shot up by itself, a blade white as jade appearing in his hand. He stroked it gently, affection in his eyes, “This sword is three feet six inches long. Originally rated sixth-tier by the Daoist sect, but it has accompanied me for so long I couldn’t bear to abandon it. So I spent several times the usual spiritual stones and treasures, plus rare materials, to raise it to eighth-tier. Its name is Eternal Life. According to Baixiaosheng’s divine weapon appraisal method, it rates 1,500 in attack, 1,600 in lethality, a flying speed of 680 steps per finger-snap, a range of 1,400 steps, and is permanently imbued with two Daoist arts. With this sword, I will test you, Senior Brother. One strike—win or lose—I will depart, fulfilling our bond.”

Wei Wujie drew a deep breath, solemnly, “Very well. However, when I came here, I had first joined Huaguo’s army in the campaign against the Peacock Dynasty, fought duels at sea, and endured a thunder tribulation. All my usual flying swords and magical artifacts were reduced to ashes. I will receive your strike empty-handed, Junior Brother Fei.”

Fei Liguo’s eyes shone. He shook his robe, but did not stand—instead, he rose into the air, levitating five feet high, still cross-legged. He turned his gaze to the approaching wild spirits and sneered, “But first, let me deal with these fellows for you, Senior Brother, lest they disrupt our pleasure later!”

PS: One step is a meter. At this time, the Far East and Western Continent have not standardized their units; as trade increases, units will gradually be unified.