Shi Feiyang once again woke from slumber, opening his eyes to gaze upon the halls around him, looking at each person concerned for his well-being. He let out a long breath.

"I've survived again, that's wonderful."

In truth, each time he fell into unconsciousness was a gamble, although he had arranged everything through predictions beforehand, plans never changed as quickly as they were made. After all, he was not a sage who understood the mysteries of the cosmos, and human calculations could not match those of heaven. There was always some unpredictable element that would emerge. Fortunately, he only fell into unconsciousness for three tochens during the night, and when he awoke at other times, he could always revise his calculations immediately.

His body was increasingly weak, hardly able to maintain human form. There was an itching beneath his skin, muscle pain, and his bones crackled with every move. His temperature fluctuated between hot and cold.

The second night, the attack from the enemy was weaker than before. Although Ye Bin, a new force, had been added, most of the powerful creatures from the Demon Clan had been captured in the ding the day before. The remainder had lost their nerve, hesitating to commit themselves fully during the attack.

The rogues from the Forty-Seven Islands made a commotion for a while, but after the monk with the keenest vision, Giant Eye, watched from afar and noticed that Qian Kang, Ye Bin, and others flew to Tianxin Palace, they immediately turned tail to raid the Eternal City. This was also why Lin Han and the others were able to come to support so quickly.

The disciples were all very happy, thinking that after two nights of surprises without danger, the third night should be even easier to get through.

But Shi Feiyang knew that the truly powerful figures had yet to arrive. He again tried to calm the hot blood in his chest, stabilizing his mind to deduce Heaven's Secret. This time, the behind-the-scenes mastermind, who he had consistently failed to predict, finally revealed a hint. According to the Gua Xiang, this person was a man from the mountains in the east, his name and style related to Eastern Jia Yi Wood. He had several avatars scattered among the Nine Palaces, representing various places in the world. This man's age suggested he was an Earth Immortal, holding a long, stick-shaped object in his hands...

Following these clues and cross-referencing them with the known masters of Shu Mountain, he ruled out those who didn't fit the description until only one remained—Elder Kuzhu!

Next, he factored the details of Elder Kuzhu into the Gua Xiang and recalculated. Everything fit tightly without discrepancy, confirming it was indeed him.

Elder Kuzhu, a peerless master among the loose cultivators, had nearly reached the pinnacle of combat strength. Not even the son of the Green Emperor could best him. Together with his fellow disciple, Lu Yu from Nanheng Peak, he was referred to as one of the Two Elders of the Great Wilderness, both among the Cosmic Six Strange. His cultivation was of a side path, unable to refine his Nascent Soul purely and having difficulty in reaching Pure Yang, therefore unable to ascend. He had gathered some Buddhist cultivation techniques and left his true body and Lifebound Embryo in Wuzhong Ridge of the Great Wilderness Mountain to practice ascetic Zen, splitting his Primordial Spirit to reincarnate in Central Earth. He came once every sixty years, and after cultivating the Dao for twenty or thirty years, he would shed his physical shell, leaving behind a body.

The bodies he left behind all had excellent potential. When it came time to leave, he would look for ways to preserve the physical body, leaving it in fate's hands for someone destined.

Originally in the novel, Lin Han's body was ruined by Bai Guyi, leading to a deadly feud. When members of his same path wished to compensate, they sought out Elder Kuzhu, who left behind his current incarnation as a beggar, abandoning it by the roadside. Lin Han's Primordial Spirit, failing to return to its resting place and in a state of panic and rage, found this body and possessed it, only to later become known by the nicknames "The Bizarre Screamer" and "The Poor God."

When Shi Feiyang went to Central Earth to seek treasures, he helped Lin Han maintain his physical body, preventing the later events from taking place. Thus, Elder Kuzhu was still walking the path in Central Earth in that body.

He had originally calculated the time for his return to the Great Wilderness Mountain. Just as he prepared to abandon his shell, he suddenly remembered something.

He had been roaming the world since the Eastern Jin dynasty. Now, with the looming existential risk of the Earth Immortal catastrophe in thirteen hundred years, he had calculated repeatedly. The savior should be found in the future leader of the Emei Sect. He also had a deep connection to the Emei Sect, having had many interactions with Master Changmei early in his Dao practice, as well as Jile Perfected, Li Jingxu, who had once helped him through a tribulation.

As an elder, it was beneath him to easily beg for help from the younger generation. He predicted that Qi Jincan would eventually obtain the Heavenly Heart Ring from the Shaqing Immortal Mansion. That treasure, a Heavenly Treasure of rare distinction, was divided into Yin and Yang pairs. The Yang Ring was brought to the Lower Realm by a Fallen Immortal in ancient times and acquired by Ai Zhenzi during the Qin dynasty. The other, the Yin Ring, was brought down by the son of the Green Emperor.

He then traded a Treasure Bead with the son of the Green Emperor for the Yin Ring, planning to first bestow it to Qi Jincan. When Qi Jincan obtained the Yang Ring and the two rings were united, he would naturally be grateful and it would be less awkward to ask for help in overcoming tribulation.

This had happened a long time ago. While the side-path Immortal Law he cultivated was extremely powerful, it also had some hidden flaws. He had made numerous enemies in the past, most of whom he had killed, leaving nearly none remaining. However, there were still a few formidable ones alive. In the event that they took advantage of his reincarnation to launch a sneak attack, there was still some danger. Therefore, in each reincarnation, he carried the Heavenly Heart Ring with him.

This time, when he was about to shed his shell, he used the Heavenly Heart Ring to protect his heart and mind. During this process, he noticed a slight change in the Yin Ring. Although the change was subtle, his deep Dao practice and perception allowed him to detect it. It was the state of the Yang Ring being in the world and being used by someone. The Heavenly Heart Double Rings had a miraculous synergy, allowing them to sense each other even from the opposite poles of the world.

In haste, he followed the cause-and-effect line of the Double Rings and calculated that the four treasures Ai Zhenzi had sealed in the Shaqing Immortal Mansion had been taken, with only the idiot Wei Tu still unaware of the situation.

Elder Kuzhu quickly calculated that the treasure had been taken by a Demon Dragon, and thereafter he rushed to the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain at Little Antarctica.

Having attained the Dao for a thousand years and regarding himself highly, he rarely took action personally and did not want to get involved in the conflict between the Eternal Night City, the Emei Sect, and the Black Dragon. He only wanted to retrieve the Heavenly Heart Ring and, by the way, do the Emei Sect a favor. Therefore, in the early stages, while on the road, he only pointed out some information about the situation within the Bright Realm to Ruan Zheng, mainly how to break through the several layers of protective Immortal Arrays. He gave Ruan Zheng a Taiyin Green Spirit Talisman, which allowed him to summon the Aurora Fire to break the protective Immortal Arrays. Ruan Zheng used it, and indeed easily broke the Array.

But the people that followed were too disappointing! They had been beaten back without even laying eyes on the Black Dragon!

The second night, he originally intended to show himself, but then Ye Bin arrived. Not wanting too many people to be aware of his existence, he remained invisible and did not come forward, and as a result, Ye Bin also proved to be incapable, even losing the Ice Soul Divine Light Sword. When the Demon Clan of the Forty-Seven Islands attacked Eternal Night City again, he had to show himself, using his bamboo stick to poke and kill the advancing demons one by one in the air, as if poking bugs to death; he even exploded their Flying Sword Magical Treasures. Those remaining finally realized that this unassuming beggar was so terrifying and began to flee for their lives, calling out for their mothers and fathers. He did not pursue them, just waited at the city gate for Ye Bin and the others to return.

"That Demon Dragon is skilled in magic and divination. If I show myself here now, he will be able to deduce my origins and will surely make other preparations," Elder Kuzhu said to Qian Kang and the others. "In one more night, he will have completed the Dragon Ball and refined his Primordial Embryo, his Technique Divine Power becoming even more formidable; and gathering a group of demons to seek revenge, not only will your Eternal Night City not be safe, but your Golden Bell Island is also finished!"

Ye Bin and Qian Kang, the couple, exchanged glances, wondering who this old beggar was that spoke so grandiosely and seemed to possess some Mana, but they had never heard of any elder with such an appearance.

So she paid a slight homage and asked, "May I ask where the esteemed Daoist cultivates on which immortal mountain or sacred retreat? How should we address you?"

Elder Kuzhu replied very coldly, "You do not need to know who I am. Just attend to the matter at hand, and once it's settled, return to your mountains without further concern."

Ruan Zheng hastily introduced him, "This is the senior who gave me the Divine Talisman on the road and taught us how to use the Aurora Fire to break the Immortal Array protecting the opposite shore."

As the host, Qian Kang hurriedly mediated, inviting everyone to enter the city for a detailed discussion.

Elder Kuzhu had little respect for Qian Kang and did not think much of Ye Bin either. He was only slightly warmer in his tone towards Ruan Zheng. Hearing Qian Kang's invitation, he originally did not want to enter the city, but the matter at hand could not be resolved without doing so, so he reluctantly agreed to enter the city.

Once inside the palace in the city, Qian Kang commanded his people to prepare tea and Immortal Fruits to treat the honored guests.

Elder Kuzhu could hardly be bothered to give these offerings even a glance, directly asking them what they planned to do that evening.

According to his calculations, the Yang Ring of the Heavenly Heart was in Shi Sheng's possession, and since Shi Sheng was both a disciple of Li Jingxu and an elite disciple of the Emei Sect, even though Li Jingxu did not formally accept Lu Min as his disciple, there was still a bond akin to that between master and disciple; he could not bully someone else's grand-disciple.

The ideal scenario would be for Ruan Zheng and the others to slay the Black Dragon, then lead Shi Sheng back to the Emei Sect. Ruan Jiu and Shen Tuhong were renounced disciples, so Zhuge Jingwo could take them in, and then he could use a Treasure to exchange for the Heavenly Heart Ring, pairing it with the Yang Ring he had to form a matched set, which he could later give to the Golden Cicada, or simply pass the Yin Ring directly to Shi Sheng, allowing him to transfer it to the Golden Cicada in the future.

But Ruan Zheng and the others were truly unworthy...

Upon learning that Elder Kuzhu was involved, Shi Feiyang also quickly rallied his spirits to try to make calculations and arrangements. That old man was indeed formidable; everything about him had the Yin Yang disrupted, altering the variables. The Gua Xiang would show him to be female at one moment, in Chengdu at another, and then dead the next, changing with each two-hour period. At this point, Shi Feiyang was so weak he was being rapidly drained of strength. Despite it still being noon, he felt like he could faint at any moment.

His disciples, seeing his struggle, all urged him to rest, with Mo Zhui even offering to bleed for him to drink.

Shi Feiyang lay on the ground, his mind a mush of confusion, doing his utmost to concentrate on the Gua Xiang formations he had deduced, constantly thinking of strategies, considering for a long while, then asking for paper talismans to make arrangements for each of his disciples.

By the time the last note for Deng Bagu was written, he could no longer hold on and completely passed out.

Deng Bagu took the blank note and said to her fellow disciples, "I thought the first night would be the most dangerous, and now two nights have passed. I hoped that after this, our master would safely overcome his ordeal. But seeing master in his current state, I fear this last night will be even more perilous. Over the past half-day, I too have been secretly making calculations, but the results are confused and tangled, yielding nothing. At present, our only option is to risk our lives to protect our master during these three crucial hours!"

"Exactly!" Mo Ying clenched her small fists and said fiercely, "Whoever wants to harm daddy will have to step over my dead body first!"

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