Moonlight fell over Yuanling Marsh. A figure in blue robes tore through the trees, staggering, while the eerie rustle of leaves followed close behind like a living shadow. Several dead branches slithered after the figure like poisonous snakes.
Qingyi moved his hand, an immortal technique rippling across his palm, and vanished from sight beneath an old tree.
The dead wood that had been chasing him lost its bearing and hung motionless in the air. Qingyi let out a breath, his familiar face finally visible. He was the chief disciple of Dazeshan, and never before had he looked so wretched. He turned to study the black mass of forest behind him, frowning.
What exactly was hiding in there?
Then the leaves stirred again, a sound sharp enough to hurt. A stray leaf, coming from nowhere, tore a gap in the spirit barrier shielding him, and the tree at his back suddenly sprouted countless vines that bound him fast without warning.
Not good. Qingyi's pupils narrowed. The dead wood hovering in the air spotted him at once, wheeling around and sharpening into barbs that drove straight for the point between his brows.
A loud crash!
Something dropped out of the sky and slammed into the ground by the tree, crushing the branch that had been an inch from piercing Qingyi's skull.
Qingyi, who had thought himself certainly dead, and the dead wood still hanging in the air both froze, then stared down at the black shape writhing on the ground.
"Ow, damn it, what is this thing! That hurt!" The shape scrambled up in a panic, flailing and brushing thorns off itself with loud complaints.
In the forest, the eerie rustling stopped dead. Silence.
Bai Shuo lifted her head, dazed, and found herself looking into a pair of startled eyes.
"Fellow cultivator, where in the world am I?"
What a handsome young Daoist!
Bai Shuo looked utterly innocent. "Huh? Why are you tied up like that?"
"Watch out!"
Qingyi had no time to answer. His expression changed, and Bai Shuo turned to see a wall of dead wood driving toward her from behind.
This scene was disturbingly, infuriatingly familiar. Were every last tree in the three realms out of its mind?
"Mother of mercy!" Bai Shuo hastily summoned her immortal sword and slashed backward. The dead wood snapped it in half in a single bite and wrapped itself around her arm. Just as it seemed to decide she posed no threat, blood welled up from the wound on her arm and spilled onto the wood, which shuddered and recoiled in what looked unmistakably like fear.
Bai Shuo blinked, but she reacted fast. Her left hand dug a fistful of heavenly thunder talismans out of her qiankun pouch and flung them at Qingyi, while her right tore the jade flute from around her neck and hurled it at the dead wood behind her.
Two thunderous booms, and the vines shattered apart. Bai Shuo hauled Qingyi up, equally stunned from the thunder talismans, slapped two flight talismans onto them, and shot skyward.
Midair, she even had the presence of mind to snatch back the jade flute, now broken in two, after the dead wood had torn it apart.
Below, the dead wood reared up furiously toward the sky as though it were alive. Bai Shuo's skin crawled with gooseflesh. She slapped on two more talismans and fled as fast as she could.
Deep in the forest, a figure walked out barefoot. Wherever she stepped, the creatures of Yuanling Marsh pressed themselves flat to the ground, not daring to lift their heads. She watched with mild curiosity as Bai Shuo fled into the distance, and the leaf caught between her fingers crumbled to ash.
"Fellow cultivator..." Bai Shuo, still frantic and utterly unaware of what had just happened a hundred feet below, turned to speak, only to find that the man she had just saved had passed out.
She rolled her eyes and slumped onto the cloud beneath her, wiping frantically at her cold sweat.
What kind of karma was this? She was only a half immortal, and yet somehow she worked harder than the immortals of the Ninth Heaven Palace.
Ever since word spread that Zhong Zhao would enter the Heavenly Palace to receive instruction, the immortal lords who called themselves his sworn brothers had multiplied overnight. Songhe Court, once quiet and empty, was suddenly crowded with visitors, though most were disciples from minor sects. If Eryun had not used Zhong Zhao's seclusion for recovery as an excuse to turn them away, the threshold of Songhe Court would have been worn through by now.
Not far off, on a stone pavilion, a cluster of immortal lords from noble houses stood around Nan Wan when the scene at Songhe Court caught their eye. Nan Wan cast a cool glance in that direction and frowned.
Beikunlun, Nanyunxiao, these were the two great houses that, together with Dazeshan's Qingyi, had always produced the finest young disciples of the three realms. Among them, it had always been Nan Wan and Beichen who stood at the very top, uncontested. That an obscure disciple from a minor sect no one had ever heard of should win the Wutong Martial Banquet was, frankly, humiliating.
Shou'an noticed Nan Wan's expression and hurried to speak. "They're all blind fools. So what if a fallen little sect produced a Shangjun? If Nan Wan, my elder brother, hadn't been framed by evil spirits, that kid never would have gotten the chance to show off in the foreign city."
Nan Wan's face eased a little, but another immortal lord standing nearby spoke up. "Shou'an, elder brother, you'd best choose your words carefully. Zhong Zhao may be a small sect disciple for now, only just risen to the rank of Shangjun, but the Jinyao Immortal Seat has already chosen him to enter the Heavenly Palace for instruction. Whichever immortal seat he ends up serving under, he'll outrank the rest of us before long."
It was, unfortunately, the truth. Shou'an remembered the old business of tormenting Zhong Zhao back in the foreign city, and his face went pale.
Nan Wan's expression darkened, his mood souring further. He flicked his sleeve and rose to leave. The other disciples exchanged glances. Shou'an looked toward the entrance of Songhe Court, gritted his teeth, and hurried after him.
"Nan Wan, elder brother! Nan Wan!" Shou'an caught up, out of breath.
Nan Wan's face showed his displeasure. "This lord is going to focus on his cultivation. Shou'an, junior brother, do as you please."
"Elder brother, Shou'an has something important to report."
"What is it?"
Shou'an leaned in close to Nan Wan's ear and murmured a few words. Nan Wan's expression shifted. "Is that true?"
"Absolutely true. That day, in the stone hall of the foreign race, I saw it with my own eyes."
"This is no small matter. Let this lord report it to Master first and confirm whether it's true." Nan Wan said nothing more and hurried away.
A flicker of satisfaction crossed Shou'an's eyes.
Not far away, Fuling watched the whole exchange and raised an eyebrow. Her palm shifted, and a demon flower letter appeared in it.
"Take this to Yunfeng Hall in the Heavenly Palace, for this lord."
"Yes." A purple-robed demon general reached out to take it and departed to carry out the order.
Fuling glanced once more toward Songhe Court, a smile full of meaning spreading across her face.
The sun blazed overhead when Qingyi finally opened his eyes. He raised a hand to shield them, and a bright, energetic voice reached his ear.
"Fellow cultivator, you're awake?!"
Only then did Qingyi realize he was lying on a wooden plank, worn and cracked, being dragged along by a rope. He looked up to find Bai Shuo already crouched beside him, holding out a wooden gourd with great eagerness.
"Good, you're awake. You must be thirsty. Here, drink some spring water."
Qingyi looked down at the bandages wound around his body, not sure whether to laugh or cry. "Miss, you..."
"I'm Bai Shuo, a healer from Nanhai City. I'm the one who saved you."
"This one is called A Yi. Thank you, miss, for saving my life." Qingyi could tell at a glance that the girl in front of him was only a half immortal, and he smiled gently.
A Yi. Bai Shuo wondered whose disciple he might be at Dazeshan. She was secretly delighted. The instant she had landed in that ghastly place, she had recognized his Daoist robes as belonging to Dazefu, the oldest sect in the immortal realm. This was a stroke of luck. Now she had a way onto Phoenix Island.
"Brother A Yi, what kind of monster attacked you in that forest?"
Qingyi frowned. "It looked like a tree demon, though an ordinary one shouldn't have had that much power."
Bai Shuo thought of the malevolent bodhi tree on Huobing Island, and her stomach tightened.
"That demon wood grows in Yuanling Marsh. It would make sense for it to be out of the ordinary."
"Wait, that ghastly place last night was Yuanling Marsh?!" Bai Shuo's eyes went wide.
Yuanling Marsh had, since ancient times, been a refuge for those who had turned their backs on both the immortal and demon races. No one knew what manner of strange beasts and demons might be hiding within it. It was said to be the most dangerous place in all three realms.
Bai Shuo wiped at a fresh cold sweat, belated fear settling in.
"You didn't know it was Yuanling Marsh, miss. How did you end up there?"
Bai Shuo scratched her head and pointed up at the sky. "My flying technique isn't very good. Right when I was in the air, a bolt of lightning struck, and I ended up landing there..."
Seeing her sheepish expression, Qingyi laughed. "Then it seems I wasn't fated to die. May I ask, miss, whose work is that jade flute you used to save me last night?"
The aura of that flute came from the same source as the immortal who had once assassinated the mortal emperor in the imperial city. Could this half immortal called Bai Shuo have some connection to that person?
"Jade flute?" Bai Shuo blinked, then dug the shattered pieces of the flute out of her qiankun pouch. "You mean this?"
Qingyi nodded.
"I healed an old woman while I was practicing medicine in Nanhai City, and this was her payment. She said it was a low grade immortal weapon, the kind that could save your life in a pinch. Do you like it, fellow cultivator?"
Seeing how genuinely innocent she looked, Qingyi relaxed and shook his head quickly. "That flute carries a very powerful aura within it, forged from the strength of a soul. This lord assumed it was a gift from your master or your family."
"Really? What a shame, that was my only life-saving treasure." Bai Shuo turned the broken pieces of the flute over in her hand, her face twisting with the ache of loss, though her mind was busy with something else entirely.
Why would this young Daoist be asking about the jade flute? Could he know A Zhao?
"If miss doesn't mind, take this. It's a talisman of my sect, and it can also protect your life when the time comes." Qingyi's palm shifted, and a stone appeared in his hand, carved in the shape of a plump, foolish looking rabbit, though it carried a heavy weight of spiritual energy.
Good grief, a treasure! This little Daoist from Dazeshan was far too easy to fool.
Bai Shuo's eyes lit up. She took it at once and tucked it into her qiankun pouch, then suddenly paused. "You have a spirit item this powerful, and you didn't use it last night?"
"It was a birthday gift from my young uncle-master. My young uncle-master..." Qingyi's voice caught. "He passed away many years ago. This is the only thing he left me."
A spirit item used to fend off enemies would surely end up broken to pieces, just like the jade flute had.
Bai Shuo glanced at him, then suddenly pushed the stone rabbit back into his hand.
"Miss?"
"It was no trouble at all, really. Call it fate that brought us together. There are countless paths through this world, so let's just say I've made a friend. Since you're awake now, fellow cultivator, I should be on my way."
She began gathering up her small cloth bundle as she spoke.
"Where is miss headed?"
"Phoenix Island." Bai Shuo straightened her straw hat.
"Wutong Phoenix Island?"
"That's the one."
"Phoenix Island is a sacred place of the three realms. What business could miss have there?"
"Finding a master! I heard the Wutong Martial Banquet is being held there, and every immortal of the three realms will be gathered. I've been cultivating for years and I'm still only a half immortal. A fortune teller once told me I wouldn't live long, so I'm off to find a master, in hopes of living a few hundred years more."
"Wait!" Seeing Bai Shuo pick up her walking stick and turn to leave, Qingyi spoke quickly. "I also need to travel to Phoenix Island. Why not come with me, miss?"
A troubled look crossed Bai Shuo's face. "That's..."
Qingyi stepped closer. "Phoenix Island is thousands of miles from here, and the martial banquet will end in a matter of days. By the time you arrived on your own, every sect would likely have already left. My sect still carries some weight in the immortal realm. Whichever house you wish to be accepted into, miss, I would gladly do my best to recommend you."
"Really?" Delight spread across Bai Shuo's face, and she gave Qingyi a beaming bow. "Then I'll be in your debt, fellow cultivator."
Qingyi nodded and gave a light wave of his hand. A cloud descended from the sky. The two of them stepped onto it and set off toward the east.