Chapter 1 A Sudden Turn of Events at Maoshan

At Maoshan, in a place called Qiming Palace, Feng Menglong and the little fox had been imprisoned since the Maoshan Daoist disciple fell unconscious. The order had shockingly come from the Maoshan Mountain Lord himself.

Although Feng Menglong possessed righteous qi, it was only effective against yin spirits and ghosts. Maoshan practiced the Shangqing Orthodox Method, which limited the power of righteous qi. Moreover, he was just a scholar. Despite his strength in carrying around two bags of magical treasures, he was still just a mortal in the eyes of these Shangqing cultivators. How strong could a mortal's strength be?

As for Hu Xiaoshi, the little fox spirit was simply ignored.

After all, her Golden Light Charm was weak and powerless, causing everyone to shake their heads. Of course, the vast difference in power was also a factor.

Imprisoning them was an unfamiliar sect leader. To Feng Menglong, Maoshan had so many factions and sect leaders that he couldn't recognize them all. Apart from Old Eight, Old Ten, and Old Fifteen, who had been beaten up by Ji Xiang at the beginning, the rest were complete strangers.

"I thought the Maoshan Mountain Lord was a good person before, but I didn't expect him to turn his back on us after only a few days. Daoist Ji has disappeared. That old man said Daoist Ji was comprehending in the Grand Yuanyuan Hall, but what kind of place is the Grand Yuanyuan Hall? How would I know?"

"Isn't this just blatantly fooling us?"

A surge of anger rose in Feng Menglong's chest. The other side had forcefully imprisoned them here, providing them with regular meals but refusing to let them leave. It was clear they were up to no good. And most importantly, they had taken Lady Hou away!

"Daring to touch my wife! Let me out!"

Feng Menglong yelled while clinging to the palace gate, but the door remained tightly shut, and no one responded. The door was sealed with magic, making it impossible for a mere mortal and a fox spirit to escape. This was a seal placed by a Xiantian expert!

"Stop yelling. You yell every day, but yelling won't get you out."

The little fox simply lay flat on the ground.

After punching and kicking the gate for a while to vent his anger, Feng Menglong turned to the little fox and said, "Isn't it because you're not trying hard enough? If you had boundless magic power, would we be in this situation?"

The little fox immediately jumped up: "That's not right! That's Xiantian, Xiantian, do you understand? Stronger than Huangting! That sect leader's strength is even higher than the three sect leaders who were instantly killed by Shizu!"

"Xiantian experts are among the most powerful people in the world. Do you think the power of the Thirteenth Realm is just talk? If a Jindan Earth Immortal can summon wind and thunder, a Yuanshen can connect to the Dharma Realm, and a Huangting can destroy thousands of demons, then a Xiantian expert can split clouds and sever rivers with a single breath!"

"Cultivating to Xiantian is the beginning of immortality; that is the realm of the immortals!"

"No matter how powerful my talismans are, it's impossible to defy the immortal realm with mortal magic!"

"Of course, I admit my talismans are trash. If you have the ability, don't use them in the future! Just wait. When my talisman skills are perfected and I become the number one fox immortal in the world, I'll make you hold my talismans and kowtow to me!"

Feng Menglong pounded on the door: "Now Daoist Ji is missing, and my wife has been kidnapped by those treacherous cultivators. The two from Quanzhen Sect haven't made a move either, probably locked up as well. What should we do?"

As he spoke, the door suddenly opened. He lost his balance and fell out, but he didn't see the Maoshan Mountain Lord. Opening the door was a young man wearing a cyan Daoist robe.

The man sized up Feng Menglong and revealed a smile:

"You want to see your wife?"

Feng Menglong immediately stood up: "You're finally willing to open the door? Good! Go and call your sect leader. I want to reason with him! I don't believe there's no place for reason in this world. I'm telling you, when Daoist Ji comes, you'll all be flattened!"

"Don't think I'm easy to bully... don't think I'm easy to bully now! The future me is someone you can't afford to offend!"

Don't underestimate a young man's potential! Don't underestimate a middle-aged man's potential! Don't underestimate an old man's potential!

Don't underestimate a grave's potential!

Feng Menglong's face turned red, and he clenched his fists, knowing he couldn't beat the other man. This punch would only be a scratch.

The young man laughed: "Interesting. Someone like you actually possesses the righteous qi of heaven and earth!"

"The principles of Confucianism are actually the most unreasonable. Those old men in the imperial court, after ten years of hard study, when their names are inscribed on the golden list, they still have to be diligent and conscientious, floating in the officialdom for decades, becoming Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet. Although they hold power over the world, they don't have a trace of righteous qi. All they have in their eyes is the heavy twilight and the exquisite heart of worldly wisdom."

"Perhaps the righteous qi of Confucianism only favors those who are fearless newborns, or those who are not afraid of anything. Does the real Confucianism... only exist in you, with the realization of Kong's saying of becoming benevolent and Meng's saying of taking righteousness from ancient times in Spring and Autumn?"

Feng Menglong was provoked and glared: "What does it matter to you that the righteous qi of heaven and earth favors me! Quickly release my wife! What did you do after taking her away!"

The young man said lightly: "We didn't do anything. We just let her prepare to inherit Maoshan's Dao lineage."

Feng Menglong was shocked: "The Maoshan Mountain Lord promised he wouldn't force my wife to inherit the Dao lineage. That old man doesn't keep his word!"

The young man raised a finger and shook it.

"You're wrong. The Maoshan Mountain Lord naturally keeps his word. After all, he is a great sect of the Three Mountains, the leader of the Daoist sect. How could he not keep his word?"

"However, as long as the previous Mountain Lord no longer serves as Mountain Lord, then nothing matters. He says his words, and I say mine. The current magistrate is more powerful than the previous one, don't you think?"

Feng Menglong was shocked: "What, what do you mean he's not serving as Mountain Lord?"

The young man smiled slightly: "What I mean is, I am now the Maoshan Mountain Lord. I am the new Maoshan Mountain Lord, and I also want you to become the Maoshan Mountain Lord."

"Don't you want to be with your wife?"

"As long as you become the Maoshan Mountain Lord, leading Shangqing, wouldn't that be enough?"

His words echoed, with a hint of enticement, but it had no effect on Feng Menglong. He asked strangely, "Why is there a sudden echo in your voice? Is there something wrong with my ears?"

Feng Menglong patted his ears, and the young man's eyes narrowed.

The righteous qi of heaven and earth can even exempt him from the influence of a powerful expert like himself?

The Dao of Confucianism is truly unreasonable. After all, righteous qi is an extremely rare thing. It's normal for it to be so difficult to deal with...

"Forget it, I'll just ask you, do you want this great inheritance that's in front of you or not?"

"As long as you accept this inheritance, you can both become immortals with your wife, and it would be a beautiful story to be together in Shangqing, traveling to the Northern Sea in the morning and resting in Cangwu at dusk, becoming a true immortal couple, laughing at all the beings in the world. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The young man was very confident. The temptation of the Maoshan Mountain Lord and the future of becoming immortals together, shouldn't these be the things that scholars yearn for the most?

Countless folk novels depict situations that scholars dream of: a poor scholar being favored by a fairy, then living a happy life. Some novels, although they don't have a fairy, have fox wives, ghost concubines, sea snail girls, crane-sent daughters, and other stories that are also endless. Although they lack ethereal beauty, they have a unique flavor.

Feng Menglong was stunned, and then he imagined his future in this situation in his mind. After a little mental elaboration, he revealed an expression of envy and anticipation, which was exactly what the young man wanted to see.

So he smiled, feeling that he had achieved the purpose of this trip.

But in the next moment, those expressions on Feng Menglong's face gradually disappeared, and then he looked at the young man with a cold expression:

"Although it's wonderful, I refuse!"

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. If something is given suddenly, and it's not obtained through strength or righteousness, then it must be dangerous. I don't know you at all, and you want me to be the Maoshan Mountain Lord right away. I wouldn't dare accept such a great gift!"

"I'm just a small scholar, without any magic power. How can I be worthy of being the Lord of Shangqing! You should just tell me where you've imprisoned my wife! Don't wait until Daoist Ji comes back, then all of you will be beaten and embedded in the mountains, unable to be dug out!"

The young man was stunned for a moment, then snorted heavily!

The sound of his snort directly caused Feng Menglong to vomit blood. The righteous qi of heaven and earth on his body did not disappear, but the initial level of righteous qi could not bring much protection to Feng Menglong, especially since the other party's snort used "Dao Shout"!

The little fox was behind Feng Menglong, unable to interrupt, but she was also shaken by the snort, and blood flowed from her nostrils, hanging down long streaks.

"Dao Sound Technique!"

Although the little fox was a poor student, she recognized some common spells.

At this time, the sound uttered by the young man in the cyan Daoist robe was a basic magic in Daoist cultivation, called "Dao Sound Technique", also known as "Dao Shout".

In Dao Shout, the sound of arrogance is strong and can cause people to become confused and vomit blood; the sound of majesty is firm and can cause the body's qi to be uneven; the sound of anger is overbearing and can cause the internal organs to rupture.

When the Dao Sound Technique is practiced to a high level, it can reach the stage of immortal fox cries, and even tiger roars and dragon roars, causing mountains and rivers to rumble.

The little fox had learned the Immortal Fox Sound at Longhu Mountain. Although she was a fox herself, she still had to learn the sound of an immortal fox, because the sound of an immortal fox is different from ordinary foxes and fox demons.

The little fox had also thought about this question before, and she had many strange ideas in her mind before learning.

If Ji Xiang were here, he would definitely tell the little fox.

There is a difference in the sound of foxes.

Ordinary foxes whimper, fox demons say 'come on, play with me', and fox immortals shout "Great Chu rises, Chen Sheng is king!"

In short, the little fox had a higher immunity to Dao Shout, which made the young man in the cyan clothes take another look at her.

"You little fox spirit, your magic power is low. Unlike this scholar, you don't have righteous qi, and you only get a nosebleed after hearing my Dao Shout? Not bad. Do you want to join Shangqing?"

The little fox immediately wiped away the blood from her nose: "No! I am a cultivator from Longhu Mountain under the Celestial Master Sect!"

"The Celestial Master Sect? You? Hahahaha!"

The young man in the cyan Daoist robe seemed to have heard the biggest joke in history and couldn't help but laugh.

"A fox immortal taught by Longhu Mountain, like you?"

"It seems that Longhu Mountain has declined! But Shangqing Sect is even more useless to be suppressed by such a Longhu Mountain! As for those two Quanzhen Sect cultivators, there is simply nothing to say. They have lost all the faces of their five Emperor Ancestors!"

The young man in the cyan Daoist robe restrained the two with magic power:

"I originally wanted you to accept the inheritance voluntarily, but since you are unwilling, I can only use force. Remember, I am now the Maoshan Mountain Lord. As for the previous Mountain Lord, he felt guilty and resigned from his position!"

"So now, Shangqing Sect listens to me. If you don't want to join Shangqing, then you have no choice!"

The young man in the cyan Daoist robe abducted the two of them and went to another great palace.

At this time, the two Quanzhen Sect cultivators, who were originally under house arrest in a palace, Luoposhen was very concerned about the confinement of Feng and Hu and the abduction of Lady Hou, believing that there must be something wrong with this matter.

But Nanyangzi told him that even if there was a problem, you had no way to get out. Focus on cultivation and restore your strength first. There was no need to rush to restore the physical body. After restoring some strength, find a way to communicate with them, and then use Dunshu (遁术) to take him out.

"No place can escape from the Human Evasion Technique! This place can't trap me."

Nanyangzi was very confident about this, but he didn't expect that after he cultivated for a few days and restored some of his strength, it was far from his peak. However, it was enough to use the Human Evasion Technique continuously, or even more advanced spells.

But unexpectedly, as soon as he operated the Evasion Technique, his heart followed his mind, and he saw a vast land he had come from, which was the outer mountain of Maoshan. So he flew out, turned into white smoke and disappeared. The next moment, when he reappeared, he was in a formation!

Nanyangzi was shocked!

"I've been tricked. This formation has affected my state of mind and showed me an illusion!"

The outer mountain of Maoshan that he had seen before was fake!

"This is a receiving illusion formation. There is a hidden formation in the palace where we stayed before! As long as we use the Evasion Technique, we will be received here!"

At this time, the two were trapped in a large formation. Nanyangzi and Luoposhen looked panicked. This was truly going out of the wolf's den and entering the tiger's den!

Moreover, this formation was constantly surging with countless killing intents. At the same time, fire rose in the formation, surrounding the two of them!

"A formation within a formation, a killing formation within a trapping formation!"

Nanyangzi was shocked: "What's going on? This formation is trying to refine us!"

"How could the great Shangqing Sect engage in such a ferocious formation!"

Quanzhen Sect was not good at formations, so they naturally didn't recognize this kind of formation. Nanyangzi used the Evasion Technique, but if the trapping formation was not broken, the Human Evasion Technique could only see illusions forever and had no way to truly get out, constantly circling in the great formation!

Nanyangzi's face was pale at this time. He really didn't expect that the dignified Shangqing Sect would actually do such a thing!

Why would fellow Daoist sect members kill each other!

Luoposhen was anxious: "I knew it long ago, there is something wrong with this Shangqing Sect! Maoshan's mountain sealing must be because they told us about Biyou Palace, fearing that we would tell it, so they want to silence us!"

"Or it's what Old Eight, Old Ten, and Old Fifteen did. They hold a grudge against us and retaliated!"

Luoposhen was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks. Of course, he also admitted that even if he recovered his strength, with his skills, he still couldn't get out of this great formation, and it was still a formation within a formation.

"Human Evasion is ineffective. I can't use my heart to escape, then I'll use the Supreme Three Caves Evasion God Mantra!"

"God generals, listen to my orders, take us out!"

Nanyangzi wrote the Supreme Three Caves Evasion God Mantra and summoned several invisible evasion gods. The evasion gods had no thoughts and would only execute orders, taking the two of them around in the formation, finding a breakthrough. However, just as they were about to escape out of the formation, another great formation was set down!

Three formations rotate, the Heaven-Locking Great Formation!

"My life is over!"

Nanyangzi was exhausted. The three formations combined, sealing off all channels for escape!

.......

In the Nine Heavens Palace, many sect leaders came here. This time, their expressions were complicated, looking at Lady Hou kneeling in the hall below. Her two legs were broken, and blood was dripping. At the top, there was a Pure Yang Realm figure, but in the Shangqing Sect, apart from the Mountain Lord, there was no second Pure Yang figure!

"So many days, and you still refuse to accept the inheritance? I want to tell you that if you still don't accept the inheritance, your husband and that little fox spirit, as well as the two fellow Quanzhen Daoists, will all die because of your choice."

This Pure Yang expert threatened Lady Hou, and Lady Hou was shocked when she heard this news, but she still suppressed her anger:

"How could the great Shangqing Sect do such vile things.... What is going on.... When Daoist Ji comes back, he will definitely reason with you!"

The Pure Yang expert narrowed his eyes: "Daoist Ji?"

"The one in the Grand Yuanyuan Hall? Don't worry, he won't be back. We have heard of this expert, so we have already set up a formation in advance to trap him inside. As for whether he lives or dies, it's hard to say."