Stranger Danger

The Cloud Mother of Nothingness was extremely sensitive toward all flesh-and-blood beings. However, the same could not be said for inanimate, lifeless objects.

He had disguised himself as a Nine Nethers Demon prior to entering Kunlun City. That was probably why the Cloud Mother of Nothingness hadn’t attacked him at first.

Later, he was discovered probably because he was too close to the Cloud Mother of Nothingness, or because he had accidentally made contact with its tentacles.

The instant he withdrew his energies and hid himself, he saw countless tentacles rushing past him and piercing mountains and rivers.

The tentacles were composed of nothingness, so they did not touch anything even though they were penetrating everything.

Ye Qing’s senses were screaming of danger and terrible power, however.

It was to the point where he had to force himself to stay still and not react to the flood of tentacles right next to him.

His ploy worked though. The Cloud Mother of Nothingness failed to find him. The tentacles flailed wildly as the Cloud Mother of Nothingness searched for Ye Qing, but it ultimately failed to locate him and rip him out of his hiding spot.

He was safe.

Maybe it was because the Cloud Mother of Nothingness failed to find him, but its movements grew more violent and angry than normal. Whipping the surrounding terrain like a storm, the tentacles split open the sky, threw the ambient origin qi into chaos, and kicked up waves upon waves of spatial storms. It was quite terrifying.

Phew… Thank goodness I got out of the way in time!

Ye Qing could not help but feel a wave of relief as he watched the havoc the Cloud Mother of Nothingness was wreaking.

A frown quickly crept onto his face though. Looking at the Cloud Mother of Nothingness, it was going to be a while before it stopped rampaging. It was impossible to say how much worse its rampage was going to get either. If it got too close, then…

Hmm? What’s happening?

Suddenly, Ye Qing noticed the tentacles changing directions in perfect unison and streaking toward a certain direction.

That’s… the direction of the Kunlun Heavenly Gate. Did someone enter the Kunlun Ruins? Is it West Kunlun?

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

A few breaths later, a series of horrifying shockwaves washed over from that direction.

At the same time, four terrifying energies shot up to the firmament.

One energy was vast, brilliant, and bright like the sun.

One energy was cold, desolate, and quiet like the moon.

One energy was ethereal and non-existent, mysterious and unpredictable.

One energy was cold and sharp, bleak and ruthless.

Sages? Four Sages?!

Ye Qing was seriously shocked when he detected the four presences.

Just how crazy was West Kunlun to dispatch not one, not two, but four Sages to capture him?

As if that wasn’t enough, he could tell that each and every Sage was beyond terrifying.

He wasn’t surprised that West Kunlun was able to find him, but four Sages? If this wasn’t overkill, then what was?

No, no, they’re not here for me, at least not completely. They came for the Kunlun Ruins.

Ye Qing immediately figured out the truth a second later. He wasn’t underestimating himself, but he was just a Great Grandmaster. There was no way they would dispatch four Sages to capture when one would have sufficed, not to mention each Sage was powerful beyond measure. ṜãƝＯ𝐛ÊṤ

It wasn’t like Sages were so commonplace that they were comparable to cabbages, so their main objective must be the Kunlun Ruins.

Ye Qing let out a small sigh of relief after putting two and two together. Frankly, if he really was their main objective, he would have considered surrendering outright.

After all, it was four Sages. He could be the biggest narcissist the universe had ever seen, and he still didn’t think he could handle this many Sages at once.

Their timing is perfect though. Just perfect.

He was just wondering how much longer he had to hide from the Cloud Mother of Nothingness, and how he might escape should worse come to worst. Then, the four Sages appeared and drew it away. How perfect was that?

Speaking of which, the four energies were currently clashing fiercely against the Cloud Mother of Nothingness and shaking heaven and earth. Space was shaking, invisible storms were clashing and mixing with each other, and dozens of kilometers of land were shattered in an instant.

The Cloud Mother of Nothingness fell into a disadvantage immediately. As powerful as it was, it was fighting against four Sages on the same level as it. Naturally, it could do nothing but be beaten back again and again.

That said, the Cloud Mother of Nothingness was extraordinarily resistant to most attacks, undying and immortal. No matter how badly it was cornered, it was nigh impossible to kill.

As a result, the four Sages and the Cloud Mother of Nothingness were temporarily locked in a stalemate.

“Hehe, good, good. Keep up the good fight. Bury that blade deep in each other’s ribs.”

Ye Qing let out a devilish chuckle before taking off toward the distance.

Although he wasn’t the four Sages’ main objective, they absolutely wouldn’t mind crushing him like an ant if they found him.

Ideally, he wanted the four Sages and the Cloud Mother of Nothingness to kill each other off. However, he knew full well that that would never happen, so he prayed that they would deal each other a serious blow instead.

Yes, I’m not a greedy person. All I ask is a hard fought victory for either side!

……

“Hmm? Someone’s fighting against the Cloud Mother of Nothingness!”

Dim candle light flickered inside a small, delicate cottage. A monk holding Buddhist beads was meditating when suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked in a certain direction even though there was nothing there.

The monk was wearing a moon white monk robe. He was handsome and spirited like an enlightened senior monk.

The cottage he was residing at looked elegant and comfortable, but a closer inspection would reveal that only darkness resided beyond the boundary of the building.

From time to time, floating lanterns made from paper with the black word 囍—meaning double happiness—would flicker in the darkness. This was wrong though. Normally used during a celebration such as the New Year, a lantern with the word 囍 should be red as fire because it signified good luck and happiness.

These lanterns looked the complete opposite. The candlelight flickering within the lanterns looked cold and eerie as well, casting a dark and twisted shadow on the ground. A smile seemed to be curling where the head of the shadow was.

“Is that the savior you’re talking about, old Taoist?”

Expression unchanging, the monk asked almost as if he couldn’t see the anomaly.

“I doubt it. Judging from the strength of these presences, the people fighting against the Cloud Mother of Nothingness are all Sages.”

An old man stepped out of the cottage. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties. His hair was tied up in a Taoist bun, and his white beard was long and straight. He looked like the stereotypical image of a Taoist. He was none other than Yi Pin.

Yi Pin wasn’t wearing his usual shabby Taoist robe, however. He was wearing a red wedding groom robe that did not fit his image at all.

Not only that, the word 囍 was sewn to the robe, and it was black and eerie just like the one on the lanterns.

“Wait, what do you mean by that? I thought the savior you requested to save us is a Sage?” The monk asked.

“Since when have I said that he is a Sage?”

Yi Pin sat down at the stone table outside the cottage and looked at the monk. “My brother is at most a Great Grandmaster right now. He still has a long way to go before he can become a Sage.”

“A Great Grandmaster?” The monk’s unchanging expression cracked a little as he exclaimed in astonishment, “The person you swear up and down will be able to save us from this sea of bitterness… is just a Great Grandmaster?”

“Yeah? Is there a problem?” Yi Pin countered, “What, are Great Grandmasters beneath your notice or something?”

“Please do not put words in this poor monk’s mouth. I’m just saying that this is the Kunlun Ruins. If even you and I are trapped here, then how can a Great Grandmaster possibly defy fate?” The monk said worriedly.