Chen Zhixing was really curious about how Divine Liu managed to capture a sea demon from thousands of miles away into Stone Village.

Unfortunately, the large willow tree wouldn't tell him, just saying that he could come back in half a year for the second transaction.

"If it's really as I think, that the several existences discovered by Divine Liu, which it couldn't defeat, are the two Taoist Monarchs of Longevity trapped in the depths of the North Sea, does that mean within half a year, those two monarchs might be able to free themselves?"

Realizing this, Chen Zhixing couldn't help but squint. This large willow tree could skin and draw the tendons of a Flood Dragon at the Peak Realm; if it couldn't defeat those existences, aren't they likely the Longevity True Monarchs?

If things were indeed as he thought, then the value of this large willow tree was astonishingly high. To be able to spy on the privacy of a Longevity True Monarch from thousands of miles away without being discovered—such a capability was truly invaluable.

"Knowing that the Longevity True Monarchs would break free in half a year, we can bet beforehand. In the upcoming six months, should my Chen Family play the part of those who repay kindness and support the Celestial Saint Palace to the end?"

Reflecting on the relatively harmonious current relationship between his family and the Celestial Saint Palace, and everything that had happened before, Chen Zhixing realized that there was really no problem with the Chen Family staunchly supporting the Celestial Saint Palace.

"The current issue is that, on the surface, the Celestial Saint Palace still has a True Monarch Tihu overseeing it, making those dissatisfied noble families and factions dare not entertain any subtle notions. In such a case, even if my Chen Family wants to fully support them, the Celestial Saint Palace might not need it."

This was indeed a dilemma.

Could it be that just because I want to warm a cold stove, I should make the Celestial Saint Palace into a cold stove first?

"If that could actually be done, there would be no need to warm this cold stove."

Chen Zhixing pondered for a while, deciding that whether opportunities arose or not, he would let everything go with the flow.

At this time, he was unaware that the Great Clan Elders at home were preparing a big trap for him.....

...

Three days later.

Bitter Water Ridge.

Mo Qingyue, who had been mentally exhausted during these days, felt slightly relieved to see Chen Zhixing and his tribesman return alive after disappearing for over half a month.

"It's good that you're back." She didn't ask where Chen Zhixing had been or what he had done, she simply re-assigned him to the defense line of Bitter Water Ridge and reminded him to stay safe.

It was evident that Mo Qingyue hadn't been having an easy time for over half a month.

As the Northern Ocean Demon Race continued to land, the cultivators stationed at Bitter Water Ridge these days could no longer hunt as freely as before. More accurately, as the strength balance shifted, the sea demon race that came ashore began setting some traps to hunt the stronger cultivators of the Human Race in return!

The traps set by the sea demons were extremely simple.

Wherever Human Race cultivators slaughtered the Demon Race, stronger demons would come to chase them down. The sea demons were numerous, and losing some didn't matter; however, each Nirvana Realm of the Human Race killed was a substantial psychological blow to the cultivators still defending at Bitter Water Ridge.

The endless enemies crawling up from the sea made it uncertain how long they would have to endure these days, and when they might also die at the hands of these sea demons without even a chance for their bodies to be collected.

Under such circumstances, it was easy to imagine the cultivators' low morale.

Chen Zhixing and Lii Shuang were assigned to defend at a cliff in the left mountain stream. Below the cliff was the bitter water that gave this mountain its name.

For cultivators, living in the wind and eating under the open sky was not a reality.

Upon reaching the cliff, Lii Shuang immediately released a two-story building in a box, and as he threw the building into the air, it landed as a magical artifact residence connected to the ground.

Perhaps the light emitted by the magical artifact was too conspicuous, as soon two cultivators stationed nearby came to visit.

"Two fellow Daoists, hahaha, are you the new cultivators stationed at the mountain stream?"

Sitting on the second floor reading a book, Chen Zhixing looked out the window and saw two Nirvana cultivators wearing Eastern Wilderness attire fly below the tower, greeting him through the window.

Chen Zhixing raised an eyebrow at this.

"Lii Shuang, invite them in."

"Hahahaha, greetings fellow Daoists from the Southern Domain; my wife and I are the Scorpion Dragon couple from the Eastern Wilderness, responsible for guarding a location twenty miles west of the Bitter Water Pool. We saw the Spiritual Qi fluctuations here and came to greet our new neighbors."

This was a couple that seemed quite interesting. The man had a large bald head, with a string of fist-sized skulls around his neck, made from the skulls of some spirit beast as a magical artifact.

The woman was even more striking, with a giant scorpion tail growing above her head, its bright blue tip shimmering with a glow that clearly indicated it was highly poisonous.

However, contrary to their fierce appearance, they were quite straightforward and easy to talk to, seemingly not hiding any cunning plans in their minds.

Chen Zhixing chatted with them about the precautions needed while stationed in the mountain stream and agreed on mutual watch and assistance, then bade farewell to the couple with a smile.

After seeing the couple off.

Chen Zhixing smiled as he looked at Lii Shuang, "That scorpion-tailed woman was stealing glances at you just now and even winked at you. She's clearly interested in you."

Lii Shuang responded with silence.

They probably wanted to lure you out with charms, set up a trap, and then the three of them would deal with me together. After killing me, they'd get rid of you too.

Lii Shuang's eyelid twitched. He didn't believe that couple could pose any threat to Chen Zhixing, but he still asked, "Should we deal with them?"

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