Chapter 26 The Situation

Pushing open the courtyard gate, one saw a large yard, in which grew grapevines, peach trees, apple trees, and so on. But because it was already winter, they naturally appeared somewhat desolate.

As soon as Ji Ning entered, he felt it was like an ordinary residence.

Soon, Ji Ning fixed his gaze on a gray-robed youth in the distance. The gray-robed youth stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at a peach tree: "It's been a long time since I returned to Great Xia. This courtyard is still laid out the same, almost unchanged from when I left. Tuoshan, thank you."

"This is the only place my elder brother likes to stay, so of course it had to be prepared." Tuoshan the Celestial Immortal quickly said.

The gray-robed youth turned to look over.

Ji Ning and Diancai the Immortal were both startled. The gray-robed youth's gaze was deep like a cold pool, his aura profound. Although they knew little about him, both Ji Ning and Diancai the Immortal felt that if they were to fight, they would likely be no match for this being.

"It seems this is a top figure among Celestial Immortals," Ji Ning thought to himself. The gap in strength among Celestial Immortals was also vast. Just as among Return to Void Earth Immortals, Ji Ning could sweep away a host of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. Among Celestial Immortals, the disparity in power could also be astonishing.

"Greetings, Senior Tonghe," Ji Ning said.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Tonghe," Diancai the Immortal said.

After all, Ji Ning was still at the Return to Void level. Since he did not want to reveal his identity as a disciple of a Dao Ancestor, he naturally had to address a Celestial Immortal as 'Senior' like any normal Return to Void Earth Immortal.

"Diancai? Ji Ning?" The gray-robed youth looked at the two, a slight smile on his face, then pointed to the wooden table and chairs nearby. "Sit." With a wave of his hand, the dust on the table and chairs vanished.

The gray-robed youth sat down first, even took out a teacup and teapot, and poured tea for Ji Ning and the others: "This is tea leaves. Just brew them and drink. It's a common beverage in many major worlds, but rather rare in our Great Xia World. Try it. These are tea leaves I planted and picked myself."

Ji Ning and Diancai the Immortal were both surprised and immediately tasted it.

Ji Ning felt a rich fragrance spread from his mouth through his entire body, leaving an endless aftertaste: "Excellent tea."

"Ji Ning, you also like tea?" The gray-robed youth asked curiously.

Ji Ning was taken aback and quickly said, "I've had it occasionally."

In fact, Ji Ning had just recalled his experience of drinking tea in his previous life on Earth.

"Tea has a lot of flavor. I specially apprenticed myself to many masters—how to plant tea, what soil to choose, what water to use for irrigation, different varieties of tea plants..." The gray-robed youth then laughed, "Haha, enough, enough. I'm enjoying talking, but I'm afraid you two might find it boring."

Diancai the Immortal asked curiously, "Fellow Daoist Tonghe apprenticed himself to many masters?"

"All mortals," the gray-robed youth said with a smile.

"Mortals?"

Diancai the Immortal and Ji Ning both found it surprising. A Celestial Immortal taking mortals as teachers? That was not something just anyone could do.

"Today I invited you two here because I wanted to chat," the gray-robed youth said with a smile. "Now the entire Three Realms is fraught with impending storm, and the Great Xia World naturally cannot avoid it. Some hidden forces are also stirring up trouble. To tell the truth, since the Battle of the Heavenly River, I've been living a mortal's life, carefree and leisurely, but now I can't hold out any longer."

"A mortal's life?" Diancai the Immortal frowned.

"To live long, one must minimize karmic entanglements," the gray-robed youth said with a smile. "What is karma? If you befriend someone and that friend is in danger, you naturally have to help. That is karma! If, like me, you hide in a small mortal world, never contact any Celestial Immortal, and even the outside world thinks you're dead—my friends and enemies all believe I'm dead—then naturally they won't bother me. This is called 'cutting off karma.'"

"I am free and at ease, so naturally I can live long," the gray-robed youth said, looking at Diancai the Immortal with a smile. "After this catastrophe is over, Fellow Daoist Diancai, you could 'fake your death' and then hide in a small mortal world. You might live for tens of millions of years without dying. Unless you encounter another great catastrophe like this one that no one can escape."

Ji Ning and Diancai the Immortal both chuckled.

They understood...

This was indeed a good way to 'live long,' but not everyone had the great perseverance to live a mortal's life as a Celestial Immortal.

"Senior Tonghe, you said this catastrophe is coming and no one can escape?" Ji Ning quickly asked.

"Perhaps the lofty Dao Ancestors will remain safe," the gray-robed youth said. "But for Celestial Immortals like us, and even True Immortals and Heavenly Gods, I suspect... it will be hard to avoid. This catastrophe, from what I know, has already swept through the Three Realms. Even in this small place of Anchan Commandery, there is chaos, like the Blood God Cult."

"Senior should be able to destroy the Blood God Cult, right?" Ji Ning said.

"Destroying the Blood God Cult would be easy. I could go there and wipe it out. But then the Anchan Northmont clan would become a 'thorn in the side' of that hidden force," the gray-robed youth said. "So let's just keep tangling with them, playing slowly with the Blood God Cult. The advantage of going with the flow is that when the catastrophe truly comes, everyone can face it together."

Diancai the Immortal asked, "The hidden force—which force?"

"I don't know that either. You probably know, Diancai, that chaos is everywhere in the Great Xia Dynasty now. Clearly, those crazy sects, schools, and tribes all have secret support," the gray-robed youth said. "I even suspect that some feudal lords have already defected to that hidden force."

"Feudal lords defecting?" Ji Ning and Diancai were both startled.

"The waters are too muddy now. No one knows what's really out there. Even the Xia Emperor doesn't dare to make a move. Everyone is gathering strength and preparing silently," the gray-robed youth said. "Dealing with that hidden force is the Xia Emperor's business. What we need to do is survive, let our clans and sects survive. So I also hope that Fellow Daoist Diancai and Ji Ning will stand together with me and Tuoshan, joining forces... to protect the Black-White College, protect Mount Yan, and protect my Anchan Northmont clan."

Ji Ning and Diancai the Immortal exchanged glances.

"Alright."

"Naturally."

Ji Ning and the others nodded in agreement to this alliance.

Chopsticks gathered together are hard to break!

...

Because the Black-White College and the Anchan Northmont clan had long had a relationship, Ji Ning naturally had to stand with his master, and thus naturally allied with the Anchan Northmont clan.

"Do either of you seniors know of any force in the Great Xia World that is skilled in the 'Basnake Formation Art'?" Ji Ning asked.

"Basnake Formation?"

The gray-robed youth and Tuoshan the Celestial Immortal both looked puzzled.

"There are those in the Three Realms skilled in the Basnake Formation, but as for the Great Xia World, I really haven't heard of any," the gray-robed youth said, shaking his head. "Tuoshan, do you know? You often travel in Great Xia; you should know more than I do."

"I haven't heard of it either. The Basnake Formation is no ordinary formation," Tuoshan the Celestial Immortal said, shaking his head.

...

The next morning.

Ji Ning arrived at the Treasure Hill of Anchan City. He was received by a fox-spirit female Celestial Immortal, who was also the highest-ranking member of this Treasure Hill branch.

"Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, what business brings you to our Treasure Hill?" The fox-spirit woman had astonishing allure; her voluptuous figure was faintly visible through the thin gauze.

Ji Ning said, "I want to look up information on the 'Basnake Formation Art.'"

"Basnake Formation?" The fox-spirit woman was taken aback. "Alright, Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, wait a moment. I'll check."

"Alright," Ji Ning nodded.

He waited for nearly half an hour.

Ji Ning was surprised to see a silver-haired man appear before him—it was the 'Skyfox' he had encountered when selling that arrow at the Great Xia Dynasty capital. Many branches of Treasure Hill across Great Xia were managed by Skyfoxes, because Treasure Hill was founded by 'Ancestor Skyfox,' who was this silver-haired man.

"Fellow Daoist Ji Ning wants information on the Basnake Formation?" The silver-haired man looked at Ji Ning.

"Senior Skyfox, how did you come to Anchan?" Ji Ning asked in surprise.

The silver-haired man smiled. Ever since the Xia Emperor determined that Ji Ning had a significant background, Treasure Hill had elevated Ji Ning's status to a very high level—higher than many Celestial Immortal patriarchs could claim. When he inquired about information, the Treasure Hill branch immediately relayed it to headquarters, and upon learning of it, Ancestor Skyfox himself came personally.

"I knew you wanted to look up the Basnake Formation, so I came," the silver-haired man said.

"Does this matter involve something big?" Ji Ning was surprised.

"En," the silver-haired man nodded. "This matter is very significant, and the intelligence is very precious. Even if a Celestial Immortal came, our Treasure Hill would not give such information to him. But the Xia Emperor thinks highly of you, so this information can be given to you."

Hearing that the Xia Emperor thought highly of him, Ji Ning said helplessly, "The Xia Emperor wasn't angry that I didn't take Master Evergreen Sword Immortal as my teacher?"

"Whom you take as your teacher is mainly your choice. Regardless, you are still a person of the Great Xia World, one of our own. How could the Xia Emperor be so petty?" The silver-haired man laughed.

Ji Ning immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He understood...

The Xia Emperor clearly intended to befriend him.

"The Basnake Formation?" Ji Ning looked at him.

"The Basnake Formation—in the entire Great Xia World, only one force knows how to perform it: the Blood Cloud Tower," the silver-haired man said.

"Blood Cloud Tower?" Ji Ning was puzzled; he had never heard of it.

"It is a very mysterious assassin organization, the number one assassin organization in the Great Xia World." The silver-haired man flipped his hand and handed a thick book to Ji Ning. "This contains a series of intelligence on the Blood Cloud Tower, as well as its connections with some secret forces. These many forces, including the Blood Cloud Tower, all belong to the same behind-the-scenes hand. They are also the greatest enemy of our Great Xia."

Ji Ning was startled.

It recorded almost all the behind-the-scenes forces of the Great Xia World. Such intelligence was indeed precious. The Xia Emperor was willing to let him see it?

"Don't want to see? This is detailed intelligence obtained at the cost of countless lives. Although it cannot fully reveal the face of the behind-the-scenes hand, it can give a vague picture," the silver-haired man said, holding the thick book.

Ji Ning smiled and reached out to take the book.

...