When Simon transformed into a sword hilt, Taiwu Xixi, in order to prevent the few little otherworldly people from discovering her origins, would always call them over, block their view, and attract their attention.
The first two times were successful, but this time she failed.
Little Yi Xiang completely ignored her, only focused on Simon's actions.
Xiao Huang Er ran to Simon's shoulder and couldn't be called down.
So Taiwu Xixi simply blocked only little Mo Nü.
However, although little Mo Nü didn't peek, she had already guessed what was happening.
Taiwu Xixi's efforts were futile, but she persevered, afraid that the little darlings would overthink and believe she wasn't a normal person.
Now, four Sword Tombs had fallen, all four Xiang Shu Avatars had dissipated, and the demonic barrier enveloping heaven and earth grew even higher.
Among the four little otherworldly people, little Shu Fang was especially mischievous.
She wasn't as innocently charming as Xiao Huang Er; her tender face, when she looked around, was full of an agile pride.
"Taiyin is behind, Gou Chen is in front... a vital chance arises in a place of extreme danger, the gate of life must be here..." Little Shu Fang calculated for a moment, then burst into laughter, jumping onto Simon's head, "This is the most wondrous place in the world!"
Xiao Huang Er on his shoulder flushed with anger, "This is mine!"
"Pfft!" Little Shu Fang made another face, "You say it's yours, I say it's mine!"
"First come, first served!"
The two children started arguing, and Simon genuinely felt his head become much heavier.
"Mischievous," he mumbled, gently opening his right hand. An epiphyllum appeared, and the two little otherworldly people were involuntarily sucked onto its petals, their figures shrinking to the size of ants, falling into the flowers and disappearing.
Taiwu Xixi exclaimed, "Wow!" and clapped enthusiastically, "So amazing!"
Wang Ping'an secretly let out a sigh of relief beside them. He had been hesitating whether to kneel and kowtow to Ancestor Shu Fang, wondering if it should be nine kowtows or eighteen.
Everyone gathered closer to the Buddha's palm, seeing the epiphyllum gently rotating, its layers of petals concealing a labyrinth.
Suddenly, a clear phoenix cry sounded, and a tiny phoenix flew out from among the flowers, circling and dancing around the epiphyllum, but unable to fly out of the palm.
And little Shu Fang instantly appeared on the stamen, looking up.
Everyone observed closely, Shu Fang's expression on her face was clear in every detail, and the phoenix's circling dance was also lively and vivid.
Taiwu Xixi asked, "Can they see us?"
Bai Zimo praised, "It is said that one flower is one world, one leaf is one Bodhi. The Buddha's great power is truly to contain Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed. If I'm not mistaken, this epiphyllum is actually a small Pure Land, an entire universe of ten thousand li within a palm."
Simon nodded, showing his approval.
The Taoist rubbed his face, gently cheering for his ancestor, "Go, little ancestor! You can do it! Escape! Uphold the prestige of our Xuanmen!"
Taiwu Xixi cheered for Xiao Huang Er from her side, "Little Huang'er, fly out quickly! I'll make you delicious food! I'll buy you good wine!"
She pricked up her ears and heard the Taoist's murmuring, then gave her husband a look of disdain, "Embarrassing."
Wang Ping'an's eyes widened, "This is our Taoist business, how is it embarrassing? This is called respecting teachers and valuing the Tao!"
The couple started arguing, Simon sighed, and threw the Taoist into the epiphyllum as well.
Taiwu Xixi laughed, "Sure enough, the Buddha is on my side!"
Bai Zimo reminded her, "The Buddha just wants to go to the next Sword Tomb quickly, don't be so self-indulgent anymore."
Little Mo Nü covered her mouth and snickered.
Hearing this, the disheartened younger sister obediently apologized, stood beside Simon, looking crestfallen.
Simon was surrounded by a circle of people. As he took another step forward, everyone felt the world before their eyes invert and change, and in a blink, they arrived at the entrance of the next Sword Tomb.
Jie Long Po.
This place was a desolate plain of white bones, with gusts of cold wind, bone fragments blowing everywhere, and dust floating like a thin mist, making people feel pity.
Stepping into the Sword Tomb, there was a forest, with various long snakes slithering among the high branches. From time to time, several Xiang Shu minions would rush out, their martial arts so high that they could dominate a region. Taiwu Xixi stepped forward to engage them, but still did not use killing moves, only wanting to subdue them to dispel the demonic barrier.
Bai Zimo softly said, "What a compassionate heart." He turned his head and asked Simon with some worry, "Buddha, do you know that the Evil Taoist and his evil followers are acting wildly and have already begun to harm the common people?"
Duanye Evil Buddha, the leader of the Evil Taoist, combined various evil martial arts from the jianghu to form a set of "Heavenly Buddha Scripture." It sounded good, but in reality, it was an out-and-out demonic cultivation method, with all sorts of evil techniques such as poisoning, blood sacrifice, disguise, and soul transfer. And this demon's cultivation method was by no means a minor path; it was about achieving sainthood through killing, seizing the opportunity of heaven and earth's upheaval to forge a cold and cruel demonic heart, perpetrating evil endlessly, grand and unrestrained, wantonly making a ruckus.
All the Evil Taoist followers were taught this method, and now they had disappeared into various parts of the jianghu, hunting humans and stirring up bloody storms.
News from the Pure Land spread extremely quickly, and for a time, everyone in the world felt insecure.
Bai Zimo worried that all of this was a trick used by the Buddha to maintain his own sublimity, so he questioned Simon directly, fearless of death.
Simon countered him, "I've already put the food into your mouths, do I even need to teach you how to chew?"
The swordsman was stunned, then seemed to understand.
The Buddha's actions, as expected, had profound meaning.
Simon sighed softly at this, he had doted on the people of the world too much, and Duanye Evil Buddha had arrived at just the right time.
On the other side, Taiwu Xixi was in a precarious situation. Suddenly, due to a moment of carelessness, she was stabbed in the chest by Zhong Xiang Sheng's sword. She barely managed to dodge, but blood flowed unceasingly from the wound. This was the first time she had been injured after so many battles.
She didn't panic, while simultaneously circulating her energy to stabilize her injury, she desperately activated Carp Dragon Dash, twisting and turning, her posture revolving as if she were about to fly into the air.
Bai Zimo saw that the Xiang Shu minions were numerous and no longer stood by, drawing his sword to engage the enemy.
They struggled all the way to the depths of the Sword Tomb.
A bone tomb.
Countless winding long bones intertwined and accumulated, forming this perilous place.
Unseal.
The tomb gate opened.
In the pitch-black shadows, a hoarse whisper sounded.
"Master always taught me: 'To achieve the Great Tao, sacrifice life for righteousness'! I've even sacrificed my life, where is the Great Tao!? Is sacrificing life not as good as 'sacrificing the body'?! Why is this? You tell me, why is this?"
A tall, thin, ragged man with disheveled long hair and overgrown beard staggered out, dragging a long sword in his hand, its tip touching the ground, leaving chaotic scratches.
The man raised his head, staring intently at Taiwu Xixi, his eyes fierce. The long sword transformed into an iron spear, and he raised his hand to stab!
Taiwu Xixi had already retreated three zhang away. The long spear was only one zhang, but the man's thrust carried an irresistible sense of danger!
Bai Zimo shouted, "Be careful!" Sword energy surged, and a clang echoed in the void, as an invisible sword energy collided with another suddenly appearing spear flower.
Simon wasn't worried at all. Bai Zimo's current skill was also top-tier in the jianghu; he wouldn't even be unable to block one move from the opponent.
However, if a fight were to truly break out, even with the addition of Wang Ping'an, the two of them would absolutely be no match for this otherworldly person.
The origin of this otherworldly person was also very significant, truly a protagonist from a mythological story.
Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a Wúqǐ Kingdom overseas, and to its east was Zhongshan. The mountain god was Zhuyin, with a human face and a snake body, a thousand li long, red-bodied. Opening his eyes was day, closing them was night, exhaling was winter, inhaling was summer, he neither drank nor ate.
At the foot of Zhongshan lived a strange man named Fuchang Juhe, born with six arms and three heads. In three years, he grew to three thousand zhang tall, truly formed from Pangu's internal organs. He could eat metal and iron, and enjoyed eating snakes. When he saw a dragon, he thought it was a long snake, and so he successively ate a hundred divine dragons from within and outside the Nine Heavens.
When Zhuyin saw Fuchang Juhe, he knew he was coming to eat him, so he turned and fled. Unexpectedly, the strange man bit off his tail, and Zhuyin fainted from the pain. Fuchang Juhe gleefully dragged Zhuyin into his embrace, but he didn't expect that although Zhuyin was a thousand li long, he was more than a thousand li long. Fuchang Juhe dragged him for ten years without finding Zhuyin's head, and so he starved to death at the foot of Zhongshan.
Seventy years later, thunder descended from the sky, splitting open Fuchang Juhe's belly. Wei Qi was actually not dead, and he found Zhuyin's tail, which had been swallowed by the strange man, inside his belly. This tail had already turned into iron and stone, gathering the divine souls of a hundred dragons, condensing into an peerless weapon.
This Divine Sword contained divine power, called Dragon Fetus Transformation, and the wielder's attacks knew no bounds, even a distance of ten thousand li was but a mere inch.
This time, Simon was slightly more serious, he unleashed the Da Zhuo Hand. A force capable of pulling mountains and overturning seas condensed into a tiny palm print, which flew lightly before Wei Qi.
Wei Qi blocked, and the long spear transformed from Jie Long Po was tough and unbroken, but it was pushed directly into his chest, instantly killing him.
The disheveled long-haired man fell into the mud and bone fragments on the ground, his lifeless eyes revealing a smile, "That's it... Master said to sacrifice life for righteousness... I think I understand..."
He slowly dissolved, softly murmuring, "Sacrificing life for righteousness is not true righteousness, only by entering the mud can one achieve the Tao..."
Wei Qi completely melted into the mire, but a sword hilt emerged like a lotus, unstained by the mud.
Simon likewise transformed it.
The sword hilt turned into a large red python, soaring through the air like a dragon. Its body gradually turned jade-white, then condensed into light, revealing a human form.
A tiger-head hat, a wealthy official's robe, a chubby little boy with a bun face.
This was the young Wei Qi.
"Master, this disciple is dull. This disciple gave all the family treasures to that orphan, but it doesn't count as benevolence and righteousness?" He muttered, "Master... Master, where are you... without you, your disciple doesn't know what to do..." Wei Qi rubbed his rumbling stomach, his face full of confusion.
Although Taiwu Xixi was in terrible pain from her injury, seeing this simple-minded young man, she couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! This kid, he's completely different from that old uncle just now!"
Wei Qi glared at Taiwu Xixi, "Although I don't know what you're saying, it's definitely not good! I'm ignoring you!"
Taiwu Xixi smiled, "Little fatty, big sister will make you delicious food, will you eat it?"
"Eat!" The unyielding Young Hero Wei said with a determined face, "I'm a simple person. If you give me food, I'll acknowledge you as my big brother!"
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