Chapter 180 Coming out soon
Trinity Gate.

The twenty-fifth day of the fourth lunar month.

During the more than one year that Jiang Mo was in seclusion, Cheng Zhen rarely appeared in the sect, and many matters were handled by a group of elders such as Si Chong.

Young disciples like Lu Jin and Zhuge Yu practiced in the sect day after day, and whenever they had some insights, they would go into the Five Prefectures to temper themselves.

From time to time, they received requests for help from surrounding villagers, who might have encountered evil spirits or bandits, so they would go down the mountain with a few fellow disciples to eliminate the demons and accumulate merits.

A year passed, which was neither long nor short. All the disciples in the sect entered the second level of Ni Sheng, and the old senior who had failed in the breakthrough also gradually completed the first level. His body became stronger and stronger, and he had a youthful face but white hair.

That evening, it rained heavily, the sky was gray and depressing, and there were lightning and thunder.

Standing at the north window on the fourth floor of the Sutra Repository, he seemed to be holding the railing and gazing at the mountains and grottoes in the distance. A hint of anticipation could not help but rise in his old eyes.

"Uncle, my brother has been in there for almost two months. Do you think he can succeed?"

Zhuge Yu on the side held a single-aperture telescope against his left eye, looking past the dense forest and staring at the cave. The Qi gathered there was increasing, even affecting the weather above and intensifying the rainstorm.

Hearing his nephew's confusion, Si Chong stroked his silver-white beard and smiled faintly:

"Triple?"

"If it was so easy to achieve, your sect leader uncle wouldn't have been trapped in the ice field for so many years."

"And my senior brother, after his entire life, worked hard and only took half a step forward, barely entering the third level."

Recalling the past, Si Chong sighed: "Cheng Zhen's words, I really put in a lot of effort this year."

"However, no matter how talented he is, he still needs some time to settle down. This is the case with cultivating the second level of reverse rebirth. Every step must be taken firmly and there is no room for impetuousness."

"So, your sect leader and uncle's expectation for him is that he can reach the second level of perfection, which is already very good."

"As for the third level? Half of it depends on hard work, and half of it depends on fate. As elders, we naturally hope that the younger disciples can surpass us. However, Cheng Zhen can reach the end of the second level, which is also extremely outstanding."

Looking at the appreciation and recognition on his uncle's face, Zhuge Yu suddenly became enlightened and couldn't help but envy:

"Brother, you are really amazing. I wonder if I will have this opportunity in the future."

"The last time I went in with my senior brother, he was the one who watched me practice;"

"I asked him where he was refining. My senior brother said that he had almost finished all five treasured places, except for the last level, which he couldn't cross for the time being."

"Now, three months have passed, Brother, should it be possible?"

"Just wait a few days and you'll know."

Noticing that the rainstorm was gradually weakening, Si Chong murmured:

"Besides, there is no need to rush. With Cheng Zhen's progress in cultivation, reaching the third level is a foregone conclusion. It's just a matter of time."

"That's right." Zhuge Yu hoped from the bottom of his heart that his senior brother would succeed.

He and the old man stayed here for several days, and one evening, they saw a familiar figure walking out of the cave.

The man's frosty hair fluttered in the wind, his figure was as gentle as the breeze, and his aura had undergone a drastic transformation. He was completely different from the previous senior brother.

"It's done? Uncle Master?!"

Zhuge Yu exclaimed excitedly. He had a vague feeling that his senior brother's aura was even not inferior to that of his master back then. However, his cultivation level in the Reincarnation Realm was too low, so he could not confirm the true situation, so he asked Shi Chong for confirmation.

"Oh? Let me take a look."

Si Chong looked at the young man in white shirt walking down the mountain steps. The calm and relaxed manner in his every move made him smile knowingly.

"Whether he crossed over or not, I don't know, old man."

"But your senior brother's cultivation should have surpassed mine, and he has at least reached the end of the second level."

About a quarter of an hour later, Cheng Zhen returned to the sect and had dinner with his fellow disciples and a group of elders.

In response to the curiosity of his disciples, he personally revealed the answer. As Si Chong had guessed, he had reached the end of the second level and became the person with the second highest cultivation level in the sect after Jiang Mo. He was even only a step away from entering the third level.

However, he encountered a bottleneck and his efforts were fruitless, so he ended his long retreat and returned to the sect to relax his body and mind.

The entire sect was excited and delighted by his achievement.

From then on, he accompanied and guided his disciples in their practice like a teacher.

Spring goes to summer solstice.

On a sunny afternoon, with cicadas buzzing, Lu Jin hurried to the fourth floor of the Sutra Library with two letters in his hands and handed them to Si Chong and Cheng Zhen who were playing chess on the board.

"Uncle, Brother, there are two letters. One is from Wanxiang Hall, and the other is unsigned. It also arrived not long ago."

"Oh?"

"The Vientiane Hall?"

"Jin'er, please sit down."

"Snapped."

Cheng Zhen made a move on the chessboard, and he and his uncle took one of the letters each and opened them to read.

The content written by the Master of Wanxiang Hall, in addition to basic greetings, mainly explained that the 'Wanxiang Pool' would be clear on the 13th day of the seventh lunar month, and at that time the agreement between the two sects would be fulfilled to calculate the location of Wu Gensheng.

"Uncle Master, what's that over there?"

Cheng Zhen slowly put down the letter. He still remembered Jiang Mo's arrangement. There were still several months until the 23rd day of the seventh lunar month, but he stopped at the peak of the second level of rebirth, and thought it would be enough to deal with the devil.

"Some information about the two successive heads of the Quanxing Sect."

Si Chong frowned slightly and spoke slowly:
"Wu Gensheng appeared in Sanqin Province. Someone saw him fighting with the current Quanxing disciples. He escaped and even claimed to quit Quanxing."

"Gu Qi'an, a disciple of the Quanxing elder Gu Hengyi."

"After his master was killed by his junior fellow apprentice, this guy disappeared for a while. Now he has reappeared, controlling Quan Xing and developing it secretly."

"According to the letter, he had a lot of dealings with the Japanese devils. Maybe there was some unknown conspiracy behind him. His whereabouts are currently unknown."

Hearing this, Cheng Zhen gently pushed the letter he was reading towards the tea table, thinking:

"The Quanxing are really wild weeds. Two years ago, our sect leader and uncle killed them all and destroyed all their strongholds. I didn't expect that they would revive again in just one year."

"As for their new headmaster, he has actually contacted the Japanese devils at this point. I'm afraid he will be a difficult character to deal with."

Si Chong sipped his tea while scanning the contents of the letter, muttering, "In this chaotic world, all kinds of monsters and demons have emerged."

"According to the time agreed with Wanxiang Hall, if your senior uncle has not come out of retreat by then, I, an old man, will accompany you on the trip."

"After we wipe out Wu Gensheng, if we find any news about the remnants of Quan Xing, we will just eliminate them all at once."

Cheng Zhen had no objection to the old man's arrangement and responded with a chuckle: "Okay, I'll follow your instructions."

Back mountain.

Beside the pond, there is a figure sitting quietly, having experienced the cold frost and the scorching heat without moving. The red-gold vertical line between the eyebrows, although not shining, is natural and symbolizes the highest achievement of the ancient Du Zheling Curse.

In addition, the marks of the Mountain-Shaking Gu and the Tianheng Gu were imprinted on the heart and left wrist respectively, as if they were living things coexisting with this tall and straight body and were completely refined.

Some of the vitality of the ancestors has not yet been fully digested.

But there was a deep hole on the upper right side of Jiang Mo's abdomen, and the flesh and blood inside was madly devouring the astonishing black substance. The two were constantly blending and reconstructing, trying to break through some kind of transformation.

The passage of time has lost its meaning in this secret forest. As the day and night change, and the sun and moon rotate, Jiang Mo remains motionless. No one knows how far he has walked, and no one knows whether he is dead or alive.

The ball of light suspended in front of him was only the size of a fist. It slowly dissipated and turned into white spots that seeped into his limbs and bones.

The wound on the abdomen gradually healed, and the flesh, blood and black substance seemed to have reached a special balance point.

Jiang Mo kept a clear mind at all times, he was like climbing a cliff, not daring to relax.

The closer it gets to the final moment, the more cautious you should be.

He knew that he would soon be out of the customs.

The tenth day of the fourth month in the leap lunar calendar.

In the Tang Family Tomb, in front of a rock wall painting engraved with the Dan Shi Xing Qi route, Yang Lie, dressed in white, sat quietly with his eyes closed.

Not far away, two elders, Mr. Hong and Tang Bingwen, stood watching with serious expressions, expecting a result.

Every second of waiting seemed so long. Under their gaze, Yang Lie did not have disordered breathing, no cold sweat on his face, and no uncontrolled wailing. It was clearly like he was walking on a tightrope, but he handled it calmly.

An unknown amount of time passed until Yang Lie calmly opened his eyes. His right hand already held several invisible, colorless, and tasteless pills that were still twisting slightly to create ripples.

Seeing this, Tang Bingwen and Mr. Hong’s worries disappeared, and were replaced by relief and joy.

At the same time, thousands of miles away in the Sanqin Province, in a remote valley, the night was silent. Two caves with dim bonfires burning were separated by more than ten feet, and a tired figure slowly walked out of each cave.

In an instant, Xu Xin and Dong Chang gathered together. They collected dead branches, lit a bonfire, and sat on the ground with sad faces.

"You didn't succeed either, Mr. Dong."

"No, I've imagined it dozens of times in my mind, but the chances of getting through are too low. I don't dare to take the risk. The more time passes, the more anxious I become. The chances are slim."

Dong Chang fiddled with the flame, with a lot on his mind.

He is still wondering what went wrong.

Whenever he reached a critical moment, he would always suffer from inexplicable palpitations, which had almost become a pathological habit. If it was affected in the slightest, the planned training steps would suffer fatal errors.

He remembered what his master had said, that when practicing Dan Shi, one must not be distracted and must complete it in one go.

In this confused state, trying to practice Dan Shi would only mean death for him, so he was unable to take the last step.

"What about you? Xiao Xu."

Xu Xin stretched lazily and said leisurely:

"I feel it's almost there, I'm 30% sure."

"But don't worry. I have gained a lot from this retreat. I will go back and ask Master for advice. Maybe I can improve my confidence by a few percentage points. Then I will be able to pass the test smoothly."

"Is that so? That's good."

Dong Chang still had a heavy topic on his mind, but he didn't know how to start.

"Boss, how about we go back inside?"

Seeing that his senior brother was depressed, Xu Xin comforted him:

"Talk to Master again? We didn't succeed, but he may not blame us. After all, we are lucky to be alive."

"You can go back now. Before I left, Master specifically told me to settle Wu Gensheng's bill."

Dong Chang had a headache. Having said that, he really couldn't bring himself to kill that devil.

Both times they met, they were friends of life and death. The Golden Hook and Huang Fang did not die together that time, and they even helped their fellow disciples, so it cannot be considered as evil.

Later, in the Battle of Mianshan, the other side also went to fight the Japanese, at least it was human work.

It so happened that such a guy, who was both good and evil, became the leader of Quan Xing.

The employer had a deep grudge against Quan Xing and in anger, he named and wanted to kill Quan Xing's head disciple Wu Gensheng, and accused him of being unable to control the evil deeds of his disciples.

Xu Xin saw his embarrassment and sighed with his chin propped up:

"But, you haven't mastered the Danxi technique yet. If you go alone, you have no chance of winning, not to mention that the bastard might have helpers."

"Then what's my reason for not going?" Dong Chang asked, "How can Master explain this to his employer?"

He really hoped that he could make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise, if they really met, he would not know what to do.

When he thought about how they had been eating at the same table, chatting and laughing, but now they had to face life and death when they met again, he felt powerless and in a dilemma.

The bonfire was burning, reflecting the faces of the two people. Xu Xin narrowed his eyes and made a decision:
"Okay. Let's go together, in case something happens to you and I can't help you, I might regret it for the rest of my life."

"There weren't any accidents. The worst-case scenario is that we both die together."

Dong Chang acquiesced to his junior's request. His condition was indeed not right and the assassination would be difficult to succeed, so it would be helpful to have more helpers.

"It's you, kid. Be smart and run when you need to. Do you understand?"

As for his senior brother's advice, Xu Xin naturally ignored it in one ear and out the other.

The two of them had carried out missions together so many times that his ears were already callused from hearing the old man's mumbling.

"it is good."

The next day.

The two left the valley where they were in seclusion and headed northwest according to the agreed time and place.

For five consecutive days, we trekked through mountains and rivers and finally arrived at a forest near the Qinling Mountains, where we stopped in front of an abandoned wooden house.

The scorching sun at noon was hanging high in the sky, and it was very scorching. Xu Xin was annoyed by the heat, so he walked into the wooden house and looked around. It was an empty ruin, without even a ghost in sight.

Dong Chang frowned, wondering what tricks that devil was playing.

"Could it be that the bastard broke his promise?"

"The date and place match. We must have arrived too early."

The two stood outside the wooden house, wondering if there was any mystery behind this, but they were quickly disappointed.

Several hours passed and it was approaching dusk.

Xu Xin didn't want to wait any longer. After a day, he felt dry-mouthed and angry. He complained:

"That devil actually stood me up. Next time I see him, I will kill him."

Seeing that it was getting late, Dong Chang got up and prepared to leave.

At this moment, a sudden voice came from the woods on the side, and it was a burly figure walking out slowly.

"You two, are you all here? Long time no see."

"It's you?"

When they saw the visitor's face clearly, Xu Xin and Dong Chang were a little surprised. It turned out to be Gao Gen, with whom they had had dinner a few years ago.

But at this moment, he looked very weak, with bandages all over his body and a pale face. It was obvious that he had just suffered a fierce battle not long ago.

(End of this chapter)