Daoist Competition

The old Daoist’s eyes grew more fervent, clasping his hands together, he introduced himself, "This humble Daoist is Quan Yangxin, cultivating under Yuan Shen, we are of one family."

The Yuan Shen Sect has always maintained good relations with the Nether Spring Sect, especially when the disciples’ cultivation techniques of the two sects have not yet reached great success, they frequently complement each other and often join forces.

He was hiding here, planning to ambush a great enemy, originally thinking the outcome was uncertain, never expecting to unwittingly lure Zhao Yang into the array. He thought to himself that if he could seek his help, the chances of success would greatly increase.

As for why Zhao Yang was here, he had no intention to inquire further. Currently in the East Splendor Continent, many Demon Sect disciples are outside slaughtering cultivators, collecting divine souls to cultivate divine passage skills, and those coming to the East Sea are not uncommon.

To form a connection, he mentioned a few familiar names from the Nether Spring Sect and indirectly probed which elder Zhao Yang cultivated under.

Zhao Yang, afraid of inadvertently revealing a flaw with his words, after a few perfunctory statements, took the initiative to ask, "Fellow Daoist, why did you set up the formation here?"

Quan Yangxin was eager for him to ask this question, promptly explaining the reason, and finally sighed, "This formation consumed much of my treasure materials, usable only once. Unexpectedly, it was you who entered. It seems I’ll need to set it up again later."

Zhao Yang feigned a regretful demeanor, clasping his hands, "Pardon me, it was an unintentional mistake. However, I have never owed anyone a favor; how should I compensate?"

Quan Yangxin, revitalized, happily said, "If you, fellow Daoist, are willing to join forces with me to ambush and kill this person later, it won’t matter if the forbidden array isn’t there."

Zhao Yang appeared hesitant, "Who might this person be?"

Quan Yangxin quickly replied, "Rest assured, fellow Daoist. This person’s cultivation is at most comparable to yours and mine. The other day while refining, I unintentionally intercepted a flying book from the Peng Yuan Sect, learning that today someone would deliver a spiritual grass to their sect. This item has the function of nourishing the primordial spirit and greatly aids our Spirit Sect disciples’ cultivation. After killing him, we split it in half; how does that sound, fellow Daoist?"

Zhao Yang was intrigued, "How swift was that flying book, and how did fellow Daoist intercept it?"

Quan Yangxin laughed heartily, "You may not know, fellow Daoist, but on this East Sea, it’s presided over by Elder Yang Shouzhen from our sect and Elder Gongyang Zhong of the Blood Essence Sect. They’ve already decimated twelve sea sects; now only a few like Peng Yuan remain. Their disciples do not dare appear lightly and only during specific hours every month, using secret techniques to conceal themselves, can they leave their mountain gate to link with flying books from outer sects. Little do they know, their movements have long been uncovered by the two elders, deliberately unexposed to lure bigger prey. I just happened to be on duty here these days, hence... hehe."

Seeing his mysterious smile, Zhao Yang suddenly realized that it was because Quan Yangxin had caught wind of the spirit medicine in the incoming person’s hands and could not resist to secretly swallow it first.

"Unexpectedly, the strength of the Demon Sect on the sea has grown so vast, this information must quickly be reported to True Master Zhang."

He just noticed, although Quan Yangxin appeared to talk with him freely, he remained constantly on guard, making it hard to strike. As he contemplated finding an excuse to leave, he heard Quan Yangxin excitedly say, "There he comes."

Looking up, Zhao Yang saw a middle-aged Daoist with jet-black hair and beard approaching on the distant sea, cautiously eyeing the surroundings.

Quan Yangxin excitedly said, "I will cast a spell to confuse his divine soul. Fellow Daoist, should you see an opening, please move forward and finish him."

Zhao Yang agreed, his body flickered, and a ferocious devil emerged behind him.

Quan Yangxin looked on enviously. The devils from the Nether Spring Sect could devour flesh and blood, corrupt dharma treasures, and were fearless of being slain, making them even more formidable than ordinary dharma treasures. He secretly thought, "It’d be fortunate if I could ask for one from this fellow Daoist."

As he pondered, Zhao Yang swiftly cast a spell, making the devil open its large mouth and astonishingly roar towards him. Startled, a burst of black light surged from his body, repelling the devil, "Fellow Daoist, what are you doing? Quickly retract it."

Zhao Yang initially believed that an attack from behind was a sure thing, but the opponent’s swift response caught him off guard and gritting his teeth, he said nothing, desperately urging the spell to kill as quickly as possible.

Quan Yangxin initially thought it was Zhao Yang’s lack of cultivation, failing to control it properly upon release. But seeing no words spoken and still attacking fiercely, he sensed something was wrong, chuckled once, turned his body, and vanished, leaving only a tattered Daoist robe.

Zhao Yang, taken aback, quickly expelled his energy, sweeping around with Elixir Evil, inadvertently destroying many trees and rocks, but still couldn’t find a trace of him, evident he had escaped elsewhere.

Anxious and fearful, he lamented that his covert assault not only failed but allowed the target to flee. Could it be that cultivators of the East Splendor Continent are all so formidable and troublesome?

Suddenly recalling that Daoist, he hurried to the sky, only to find that within this brief moment, the person had disappeared, seemingly detecting an anomaly here and avoiding it.

After pondering for a while, determining the information he could gather was about enough, he activated an escape skill and headed back to the Dragon Country’s Ship.

An hour later, returning to the ship, he went straight to Zhang Yan in the cabin, relaying all he saw and heard, finally confessing with shame, "Disciple underestimated this person, thinking it would be easy, but unexpectedly he escaped."

Zhang Yan smiled, "If that person is under the Yuan Shen Sect, when conversing with you, they likely had already applied a tracking capture spell. I suspect they will track you here soon."

As he spoke, his expression slightly shifted, closed his eyes in contemplation for a moment, then sneered, "They come quickly!" Reaching out, he grasped a figure out of thin air and threw it to the ground.

...

...(To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)