It is said that on that night, the deep pool dragon that was kept at the gate of Xixing Palace died and its white belly floated up.

The main hall of the Locking Immortal Platform was reduced to rubble. Once the Dragon-Trapping Lock was removed, only an empty platform was left in its place. It was washed by the pouring rain, and the flowing water smelled of blood.

The demons and monsters at the foot of Shizhou Mountain made a fuss all night long, fighting each other and clashing with the monks in the mountains several times. The fight was so fierce that the wild beasts in the mountains fled and countless villages at the foot of the mountain were affected. However, this was not a rebellion by bandits and robbers, so the officers and soldiers could not do anything about it and had to flee with the common people.

The imperial court reacted quickly, and the Tianyan Office sent people the next day. Unfortunately, the effect was only better than nothing. The cultivators from famous families thought highly of themselves, so who would listen to the imperial court? The group of demon cultivators in southern Xinjiang acted even more perversely. There were so many of them that they would move to another place after making a fuss. It was hard to see what they wanted, and they were just indulging themselves in causing trouble.

The once magnificent Shizhou Mountain suffered a great disaster. There were thousands of dead bodies and bones everywhere. The water sources contaminated by corpse poison and epidemic diseases spread far and wide, and countless ordinary people were displaced.

The monks of various sects fought each other without any regard for others, stirring up the pure energy of heaven and earth, causing chaos in the local five elements. Sometimes there was flooding, sometimes there was fire. In the blink of an eye, snow fell from a sunny day, and summer flowers grew out of the snow, looking sickly and confused at the cold crickets in the soil.

The yin and yang were reversed for three or four days, which finally aroused the wrath of heaven and earth. One of the divine thunders split the Locking Immortal Platform into two.

This seems to foreshadow the beginning of a war between gods and demons and the collapse of order.

Bian Xu did not stop at all. He turned around and went back to Xuanwu Hall after coming down from the Locking Immortal Platform. He immediately announced that he would go into seclusion and refused to show up again no matter who looked for him.

The owner of White Tiger Villa has never shown up from the beginning. Whether he was making a secret visit to Southern Xinjiang or dealing with accidents on the Locking Immortal Platform, he only sent a group of disciples and an elder who would call people "son of a bitch" when he got angry. At one point, there were even rumors that the owner of White Tiger Villa did not show up because he had died long ago.

At this point, the four saints who once guarded the four directions like four pillars of heaven have fallen, or fallen into silence. With their sad departure, a long and peaceful era seems to have passed.

The world is in turmoil, and both mortals and monks are in danger.

The thousand-foot-high buildings and the bustling city with music and singing all night long are like a gorgeous but fragile relief on the ice. When a pot of boiling water is poured on it, it immediately melts into a blur.

However, Cheng Qian didn't care about these things.

That day, he and Tang Zhen left the Locking Immortal Platform and settled down in a simple inn on the hillside of Shizhou Mountain. For the first time, he experienced what it felt like to be attacked by his own true energy.

When the backlash occurred, several blue veins popped out on Yan Zhengming's forehead, as if they were about to break through the skin at any time. His palm accidentally gripped the edge of the stone bed, and an uncontrollable groan of pain escaped from his throat. The half-palmthick stone bed was crushed into a pile of gravel powder by him.

Tang Zhen shouted, "Get out, you little brats. This is not a joke. Those of you without a soul should stay away... Ugh!"

Before he finished speaking, a huge sword intent suddenly erupted from Yan Zhengming, an icy and chilling force coming from the Sword God Realm that no one could withstand.

Tang Zhen couldn't catch his breath. He took a few steps back with a grim look on his face and put his hand on his heaving chest.

The entire inn was shaking, and there were a few "puff" sounds on the beams. The overflowing sword intent was silent and only slightly touched the edge, and immediately left a gash several inches deep on the wood and stone.

Tang Zhen stretched out his arm and grabbed Cheng Qian's shoulder. His skinny fingers pinched hard into a wound on his shoulder, and Cheng Qian shuddered.

"Don't just stand there. I can't withstand his sword energy. I'm relying on you. Don't let all of his true energy drain out. Otherwise, not only will his body not be able to withstand the damage from the Dragon Binding Lock, but the people within a few miles will also be affected. No one will be able to escape!"

Cheng Qian came back to his senses immediately, and all the true energy in his body was dispersed without any reservation, wrapping the entire inn in it, forming an invisible net, trapping Yan Zhengming's counterattacking sword energy in it.

But he himself only knew how to fight and kill. He had never done anything like healing others or providing assistance. The inner palace was constantly under the unconscious attacks from the sword cultivators, and he had to be careful not to cause further injuries to the other party. The two sides were immediately deadlocked there, and in just half an incense stick of time, Cheng Qian already had sweat on his forehead.

Yan Zhengming felt as if he was being cut into pieces. He lay exhausted on the stone bed, unable to make a sound.

He seemed to be awake, but his eyes were dazed. His consciousness struggled for a moment and he had no idea where he was. Yan Zhengming tried in vain to grab something in the air with his cramped fingers. He felt that he had tried his best, but only his fingertips trembled slightly. His bloodless lips opened and closed, as if he called out "Xiao Qian".

Tang Zhen made a complicated hand gesture with both hands, and the next moment, Cheng Qian felt a breeze like warm water flowing past him. The wounds and bruises on his waist were wiped away by "that thing" and immediately healed as before.

The breeze completely penetrated into Yan Zhengming's body. Yan Zhengming moved slightly, and his back rose and fell violently, as if he had regained some consciousness. Tang Zhen's face suddenly turned gray, as if he had died once.

While he was still conscious, Tang Zhen hurriedly said, "Master Yan, please retract your sword energy!"

Yan Zhengming actually heard it, but he was powerless. He felt as if every inch of his flesh and bones was being plucked by the razor. He thought blankly in his heart: "Master, practicing sword is so painful, I don't want to practice anymore."

Tang Zhen turned to Cheng Qian with cold sweat on his forehead: "No time to waste!"

Cheng Qian gritted his teeth, and suddenly forced himself to tighten his true energy, pushing back the scattered sword energy. The sword energy collided back and forth in the invisible net. He only felt the sharp sound of swords and weapons between his internal organs and qi sea, and for a moment he had the illusion that he was pierced by thousands of arrows.

Li Yun, who was waiting at the door, only felt a sudden burst of strong light from inside, the window frames shook violently, and then in the blink of an eye, a layer of ice flowers covered them, freezing solid.

Li Yun pushed back the puddle that was sticking out of his head, and pushed open the frozen door of the inn.

Cheng Qian knelt on one knee, hugging Yan Zhengming tightly. His tattered clothes were half soaked in blood and stuck to his body. Li Yun took a step forward with a trembling heart and called softly, "Xiao Qian?"

Cheng Qian seemed to want to stand up, but he stumbled. Li Yun rushed into the room and helped him up: "You are too desperate!"

Cheng Qian was speechless for a moment.

"It's okay for now." Tang Zhen stood up awkwardly and took a deep look at Yan Zhengming who had fainted. "The rest depends on luck."

They did not stay in Shizhou Mountain for long. Cheng Qian just took a short breath and returned to Fuyao Villa early the next morning using Tang Zhen's Pegasus carriage.

The Pegasus were light and timid, and they were so frightened that they refused to run. Shuikeng had to drive the car himself, roasting the horses' butts with two balls of Red Crane Real Fire, which made the two Pegasus jump up and down in anger, and fly around in a panic like blind sparrows.

Tang Zhen was already exhausted and fell asleep in a corner. When he was awake, his features were gentle and his demeanor was elegant, but when he was asleep, his breath was very low and he exuded a stale ghostly aura.

Nian Dada was pecking at rice like a chicken, Liu Lang said nothing, and Li Yun sat silently leaning against the car door, shrouded in an unspeakable layer of worries.

Cheng Qian held the unconscious Yan Zhengming against the wall of the carriage. He could not see any pain on Yan Zhengming's face. It seemed that he was just impatient to listen to the sermon and took a nap in the misty preaching hall.

Cheng Qian recalled that when he was a child, his master asked him to live in Qing'anju so that he could have peace of mind and stop thinking too much. So why did he let his eldest brother live in the "land of gentleness"?

Did you foresee that his life would only be free from worries for a few moments during his youth?

Outside the carriage, there was a heavy storm, and Tong He's true fire was like a shaky wind lantern, faintly streaking across the wet night sky.

At this time, Liu Lang, who had been looking out the window, suddenly broke the silence and said, "When I found myself in this state of being neither human nor ghost, I once wanted to stop living."

He seldom spoke in front of others. As time went by, everyone suspected that he had been possessed by an evil cultivator and his voice had been damaged, leaving him half-mute.

"There's nothing wrong with being a mortal," Nian Dada yawned, and then he became a little more awake. He continued, "Birth, aging, sickness and death are all part of life. When you are old, you can enjoy the company of your grandchildren, and finally be buried in the ancestral tomb with your ancestors. In the next life, you will be a little baby who is loved by your father and mother."

Liu Lang's masked face showed no expression. He just glanced at Nian Dada solemnly and whispered, "You don't understand what it's like to be a mortal. You casually make a hand gesture to bring about a storm and a flood. You don't care where the flood goes. The mortals down the mountain are fine when they go to sleep, but when they wake up in the morning, they find that their homes and farmland have been destroyed overnight. They have worked hard all their lives to build up this little property, and it's gone."

Nian Dada paused: "This..."

"These are the lucky ones, at least they managed to leave their homes," Liu Lang said, "The rest might be crushed by collapsed houses while they were sleeping, or be killed by flying swords, or block the way of some demon cultivators and die without a burial place... In the future, everyone will only talk about who won and who lost the battle, and which hero killed how many demon cultivators, and no one will mention anything else."

Liu Lang laughed softly and said, "It's like when a person walks down the street and steps on a few ants to death. Most people won't step on them on purpose, but no one will notice if they do."

"It's nothing," Li Yun said gloomily, "All living things are ants, and some people treat others as ants so that they can temporarily forget that they are also ants. The joys and sorrows of the world are not controlled by people, so just live one day at a time... Look at our head brother, a sword cultivator who has entered the Sword God Realm. Others avoid him when they see him, but doesn't he still live a miserable life every day?"

The word "pain" seemed to touch a nerve in Cheng Qian. He lowered his head, took Yan Zhengming's hand and pressed it on the weak pulse. He had felt the hard work of his senior brother before, but he had never felt that this man was so fragile. Cheng Qian just watched from the side and felt uneasy and sad in his heart.

Cheng Qian probed for a long time but could not find out anything. He himself had a cold inner energy and did not dare to casually probe into other people's inner palaces, so he did not care whether Tang Zhen was asleep or not, and asked, "When will he wake up?"

Tang Zhen closed his eyes and replied, "I don't know. He is being attacked by his own internal organs and possessed by his inner demons. He may wake up by vomiting blood soon, or he may never wake up and die."

As soon as these words were spoken, the carriage became quiet again, and even the noisy old man dared not speak anymore.

Tang Zhen's bad words once again worked for good but not for bad. Nearly a month after the group returned to Fuyao Villa, Yan Zhengming still looked like a living dead.

Although Tang Zhen did not promise anything, he probably felt that he was the one who gave the forbidden technique and should take some responsibility, so he took Nian Dada and Liu Lang to live in Fuyao Villa. He occasionally instructed Li Yun on how to construct a formation to reinforce the perimeter of the villa, and checked on Yan Zhengming's situation every few days.

Tang Zhen walked into the bamboo forest with ease, picked up the cold water on the table and drank it all, then said to Cheng Qian who had been waiting for a long time, "You have passed the seven heavenly tribulations and have a physical body, why do you still make yourself so pure and abstinent?"

"I'm used to it." Cheng Qian sat quietly aside. After a while, for some unknown reason, he added, "I used to think that people with cold blood had no fun in life. Now it seems that having too many emotions is not necessarily a good thing."

"I just saw someone coming to your villa again," Tang Zhen said, "Your place has been very crowded recently - but it's also true that the great powers from all sides have almost all withered away, and the commotion you brothers and sisters have caused at the Immortal Locking Terrace is now well-known throughout the world. In these troubled times, it's natural that you are flocking to your place."

Without even raising his eyelids, Cheng Qian said tartly: "When there is no tiger in the mountain, the monkey will be king."

He didn't seem to care at all that he was being insulted as well.

Tang Zhen glanced at him and said, "The person who came seems to be from White Tiger Villa. Don't you want to go and meet him?"

Cheng Qian said indifferently: "Their owner is pretending to be dead, why is he looking for me?"

Tang Zhen: "It seems there is also a visiting card from Tian Yan."

Cheng Qian's face suddenly darkened: "Anyone coming from Tianyan will be kicked out. If there are any who don't know what's best for them, they will never come back. What does it have to do with me whether it's another day or another day?"

what is the relationship?

It won't be long before everyone knows that Han Yuan is from the Fuyao sect. Will they still want to stay out of it by then?

However, Yan Zhengming remained unconscious, and Cheng Qian became increasingly anxious. Tang Zhen did not want to offend him, and did not bring up the topic again. He stepped forward and sent a ray of spiritual consciousness into Yan Zhengming's inner palace.

Cheng Daxian, who had just been talking about "purity of mind and few desires", immediately leaned forward slightly and asked, "How is it?"

Tang Zhen remained silent for a long time. Cheng Qian could no longer sit still. He walked back and forth in the room several times. He wanted to ask questions several times, but he swallowed them back for fear of disturbing him.

After a long while, Tang Zhen withdrew his consciousness and carefully put Yan Zhengming's hand back into the quilt. His face was solemn and he hesitated slightly.

Cheng Qian: "Brother Tang?"

Tang Zhen: "I think... it would be better for you to call your senior brothers and sisters together."

Cheng Qian stayed where he was for a while.

He had never felt his heart so cold before, as if someone had hollowed out his chest and stuffed it with a handful of ice chips that had not melted for years, making it so cold that it was bleeding.

It was probably just like being struck by lightning.

Tang Zhen looked at him awkwardly and said, "My friend, there will always be disappointments and joys in this world. You have been pure and abstinent for a long time, can't you see through it?"

"No……"

Cheng Qian had just uttered one word when his voice broke off. He stood there for a moment at a loss, as if he wanted to take a step forward, but he staggered as if he had not stood firmly. His eyes slowly fell on Yan Zhengming, and for a moment, Tang Zhen felt that his eyes were red - but... can a piece of jade cry?

Would a gaze that had never been shaken by the heavenly calamity also become panicked?

But his collapse lasted only a moment. Before Tang Zhen could say anything, Cheng Qian's eyes suddenly became firm, and he said firmly: "No, don't tell them yet, Brother Tang, you are knowledgeable and you must have a way. No matter what, even if you want me to exchange my life for yours, it's no problem..."

Tang Zhen interrupted him and said, "Listen to what you are saying. If your senior brother heard this, he would kill you with his sword first, and then kill me."

Cheng Qian stared at Tang Zhen with an almost intimidating calmness and said, "I can train the Soul Gathering Jade into a physical body. As long as you show me a way, there is nothing I can't do."

Tang Zhen looked back at him straight, and Cheng Qian's eyes did not show any hesitation.

"From the azure sky to the underworld." Tang Zhen suddenly repeated these words in a low voice, and then he laughed softly, "My friend, the deep friendship between teachers and students is a good thing in this world, but it is rare to see such a deep friendship as yours."

Cheng Qian said calmly: "This place is called 'Fuyao Villa', not 'The World'."

"There are so many thrilling moments in the Sword God Realm that outsiders like you and me cannot experience," Tang Zhen stopped dwelling on the previous topic and said, "He just went out and his realm is not stable yet, and he has already encountered his inner demon, which is already very dangerous. He is also good at using forbidden techniques - in the battle on the Immortal Locking Platform, can you see how much he has forcibly raised his cultivation?"

Cheng Qian said: "I am not better than him, I can't see clearly, I can only roughly estimate... at least it is a realm."

Tang Zhen said: "Yes, this is like borrowing high-interest loans. He borrows without paying back. In the Sword God Realm, one step can travel a thousand miles, so the backlash is naturally dangerous."

Cheng Qian immediately understood what Tang Zhen meant: "So as long as his real cultivation catches up with the borrowed part in a short period of time, the pain of backlash can be alleviated? I can give him all my true energy. At worst, I can practice for another hundred years. Anyway, the heavenly tribulation is something that only gets better with practice."

Tang Zhen was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then couldn't help but laugh: "Do you think your true essence is a bowl of rice, and you can give it to anyone you want? Not to mention that you are not a sword cultivator, even the true essence of two sword cultivators may not be able to merge together."

Tang Zhen said this and sighed, "If he wants to pass this level, he must be able to enter the 'sheathed' state before his physical body collapses. But you should understand that in cultivation, one must accumulate a lot before one can achieve a little. Even the magic path that is good at taking shortcuts cannot achieve success in a hundred days. What's more, he is a sword cultivator who must go through a lot of trials and tribulations for every step forward. There is absolutely no external object that can help him cultivate. You and I, as external forces, can only do so much. Even if you have the will, you don't have the strength."

Cheng Qian's eyes dimmed in an instant.