The Nine Cauldrons

Sensing that Little Blue’s mother, Little Blue, and even Mu Tao had arrived, Teng Qingshan’s heart was now totally at ease. However, hearing what the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal just said, Teng Qingshan could not help but pout while thinking, "This Elder Brother Mu Tao is really something. He has probably just arrived in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, and so he doesn’t actually know about my issue."

Mu Tao’s yell foreordained Teng Qingshan’s inability to continue using his identity as an idle Emptiness Realm Expert.

"However, I don’t need to hide my identity anymore anyway. Since Little Blue and Elder Brother Mu Tao have both arrived, the power on my side has now increased greatly. In the Land of the Nine Prefectures, we definitely have the qualifications to make a stand. It’s much greater than I had expected it to be!" Suppressing his excitement, Teng Qingshan sat on the Six Legged Bladelike Chi and flew out to welcome the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal.

"Haha, Elder Brother Mu Tao!"

"Haha, Qingshan, my boy!"

"It’s been quite a while. Elder Brother Mu Tao, congratulations on achieving a breakthrough."

"Qingshan, my boy, you’ve improved even more than I have!"

The two great Emptiness Realm Experts met up in midair, and the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal, Mu Tao, directly landed on the Six Legged Bladelike Chi’s back. Simultaneously, Mu Tao was inwardly exclaiming in astonishment, "As expected of the Nine Prefectures, this is truly a great place. In the entirety of the Duanmu Continent, even with the addition of Qingshan, there are only three experts at the level of a Martial Immortal. Yet today, at the bottom of Heavenly Cloud Mountain, there are actually as many as four great Emptiness Realm Experts chasing Qingshan!"

At the same time as when he noticed Teng Qingshan, Mu Tao had undoubtedly noticed the party of men and horses from Emperor Yu’s Hall who were not far from Teng Qingshan.

In Emperor Yu’s Hall’s party, the Six-Eared Earth-Drilling Mouse was being left far behind. Even so, the party still had the four great Emptiness Realm existences, which included the Wind Splitting Dragon Falcon.

If Teng Qingshan, the Six Legged Bladelike Chi, the Undying Phoenix mother and daughter pair, as well as Mu Tao were added on too, then there were actually nine Emptiness Realm Experts gathered here today on Heavenly Cloud Mountain!

"Nine Emptiness Realm Experts living in the same era? This would definitely be impossible on the Duanmu Continent. It is only possible in the boundless Nine Prefectures... Haha, this is the sort of world an Emptiness Realm Expert should stay in, one where there are many powerful existences." Waves of fervor bubbled up in Mu Tao’s heart. While hot blood surged through his veins, he no longer felt the loneliness of an expert.

That was because this place was the Land of the Nine Prefectures!

...

Mu Tao was very shocked. However, the three-man party of Liu Xia, Yu Tonghai, and Shengong Tu, as well as the Wind Splitting Dragon Falcon, that were chasing to kill Teng Qingshan, were the ones who were truly shocked. Previously, they had already gotten a big shock when they discovered three great Emptiness Realm existences charging down toward Jing Yi from above Heavenly Cloud Mountain.

However...

When the three Emptiness Realm Culmination Experts riding on the back of the Wind Splitting Dragon Falcon’s back heard this line: "Haha, Qingshan, my boy, it’s been quite a while," they froze. No matter how much struggle they had been through and no matter how strong-willed they were, they all were stunned by what they had just heard.

"Qingshan?"

"This Jing Yi is called Qingshan? Could it be... Don’t tell me... it’s T-Teng Qingshan?"

"T-This..."

The tiny eyes under the broom-like eyebrows of Yu Tonghai widened fully. His eyes were full of shock. It was even more shocking than the shock he would have felt if he had witnessed the extermination of Emperor Yu’s Hall. In this world, there was no sect that could stay forever undefeated. Even if Emperor Yu’s Hall got destroyed, Yu Tonghai would just think it was a natural state of decline from the peak or that the opponent was too formidable.

However...

"Teng Qingshan? T-This year, h-he should only be 22! Last year... That’s right, he was already an Emptiness Realm Expert last year. At 21 years of age, he had already reached the Emptiness Realm!" Yu Tonghai was completely stunned. In that instant, he felt that the principles of common sense he had always believed in was refuted and he simply had no way of explaining how a 21-year-old had attained the Emptiness Realm!

"Oh, heavens, this... How is this even possible?" Beads of sweat were seeping out from Shengong Tu’s forehead.

There were many famous people in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, and there were many of those who were called "Qingshan" as well...

However, among the Innate Experts, there was only one named Qingshan, and that person was Teng Qingshan.

They couldn’t think of anyone else except Teng Qingshan!

"Qingshan... Qingshan... Aside from Teng Qingshan, who else is there? When he fled that year, he had managed to receive a strike from the Golden Dan Innate Expert, Zhao Danchen, and survived. He had even managed to escape. Monster... What a monster... At the time, he must have already been a Golden Dan Innate Expert." Liu Xia could feel his heart tremble.

Teng Qingshan was an inconceivable monster!

The demonic monk from back then shouldn’t even be mentioned. When compared to Teng Qingshan, the demonic monk was considered ordinary! Even if Teng Qingshan was compared to the four greatest Omnipotent Experts in history, he would still be a monster-level existence!

"A 21-year-old Emptiness Realm Expert... He is only 21 years old, but he can... actually fight at close-quarters with us Emptiness Realm Culmination Experts. H-He can’t be the Buddha Sect’s living reincarnation of Buddha, right...?" Liu Xia was in confusion. "No, it can’t be. The living reincarnation of Buddha would cultivate a branch of martial arts from the Buddhist Sect. Even if he is the living reincarnation of Buddha, his cultivation speed wouldn’t be this fast if he didn’t cultivate the Buddha Sect’s martial arts."

Occasionally, a living reincarnation of Buddha would be born in the Mani Temple, but the reincarnation would have the experience from the previous incarnations. So, they wouldn’t take a roundabout route. Moreover, they would have already had comprehended this in the past, so naturally, they would progress fast.

The living reincarnation of Buddha would have the same slow cultivation speed if he took an unfamiliar way of cultivation.

"L-Look! Those two beside him..." Shengong Tu gasped as he stared fixedly at Teng Qingshan who was nearby in midair. Beside him, there were two creatures floating in midair, immersed in flames. Their whole bodies were covered in fire-red plumage. These enormous divine birds had crown-like crests. These were essentially legendary mythological animals that had not appeared in the world for a very long time...

The Undying Phoenix!

"You~Youyou~~" Between these two Undying Phoenixes, the one whose body size was slightly smaller was currently by Teng Qingshan’s side, chirping very excitedly. Moreover, when Teng Qingshan reached out his hand to stroke its feathers, the Undying Phoenix’s eyes even narrowed with joy.

"Those two... Are they Undying Phoenixes?" Shengong Tu turned around to look at the other two creatures.

"Should be. They should be." Yu Tonghai mind was in total chaos.

"Ever since that time with Poetic Sword God Li Taibai, the Undying Phoenix hasn’t been seen.

"It appeared after not being seen for several millennia. Moreover, two appeared at once?" Liu Xia was a very cool-headed person. However, after experiencing the several psychological shocks he had experienced, he had completely used up his brain power. It was just a mess, a mess, a mess!

A 21-year-old Emptiness Realm Expert... He was able to wage war with them at the age of 22! He was an even more monstrous existence than the four great Omnipotent Experts!

That legendary mythological animal, that people had doubts about whether it still existed, could practically be said to be the strongest Emptiness Realm Demonic Beast in existence, the Undying Phoenix. Unexpectedly, two of them had appeared!

...

"Little Blue." At this moment, Teng Qingshan’s heart was full of joy.

"Qingshan, my boy. Those three people and that Emptiness Realm Demonic Beast over there in midair, are they your enemies?" the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal asked Teng Qingshan by using the Sound Transmission Technique.

Teng Qingshan had already jumped onto the back of the Undying Phoenix, Little Blue. When he turned back to look at that party from Emperor Yu’s Hall, who were shaken almost to the point of freezing up, Teng Qingshan laughed grimly. "Undoubtedly. If it hadn’t been for the Grass of Immortality, both I and the Bladelike Chi would have been killed by them long ago."

"Oh?" The Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal looked at the injuries on the Six Legged Bladelike Chi’s body and then turned to gaze at the Emperor Yu’s Hall party with a blazing hot expression. Then his voice grew loud and clear as he said, "Qingshan, my boy, your enemies are my enemies. Haha, I just had a breakthrough, and it’s been hard without an adversary."

The Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal had suffered the loneliness of being an expert for a very long time. Now, he was just filled with a passion to fight!

The Undying Phoenix, Little Blue, also stared at the several people in the distance. It was extremely intelligent and naturally figured out that the situation between the opposing party and Teng Qingshan was like that of fire and water. They were enemies, so there was only one thing for Little Blue to do—kill!

"Yu Tonghai, Liu Xia, Shengong Tu. Don’t the three of you want to kill me?" Teng Qingshan was on the back of the Undying Phoenix, Little Blue, watching the three members of Emperor Yu’s Hall from afar.

"Teng Qingshan. You’re Teng Qingshan, not Jing Yi?" Yu Tonghai yelled out hoarsely.

"Teng Qingshan?"

Teng Qingshan took in a deep breath and his expression became complicated for a moment. When a person’s progression was astonishingly fast, they were a genius. However, if they were countless times stronger than a genius, then they were an evildoer, a monster feared by the other sects. As such, Teng Qingshan had not dared to publicly declare his name.

When he saw his parents, he had not dared to acknowledge their relationship.

He had a name, yet he did not dare to admit it.

"That’s right!" Confronted with Yu Tonghai, Liu Xia, and the others, who were staring fixedly at him, Teng Qingshan laughed loudly with a clear sound. His laughter was so loud that it shook the heavens. "You didn’t guess wrongly. It’s me. I’m Teng Qingshan, and Teng Qingshan is me! Jing Yi? Qin Lang? Huhe? All of them are just my fake names."

"My name is... Teng... Qing... Shan!" Teng Qingshan’s voice rumbled, resonating throughout heaven and earth.

It was like he was completely releasing all the sullen emotions he had repressed inside the depths of his heart. He was Teng Qingshan!

From today onward, he would no longer need to conceal his identity.

"Y-Your face..." The thoughts of the three people, Yu Tonghai, Liu Xia, Shengong Tu, were in a big mess.

"My face? That’s right. You guys don’t have the ability to change your appearance, but I do!" While Teng Qingshan was in midair, his facial muscles and bones began to change slightly. Every part of his face was changed, and when pieced together, it was simply a totally different face. This was Teng Qingshan’s real face.

"Teng Qingshan."

Yu Tonghai and the others exchanged glances.

Then suddenly...

"You~~" A discontented hoot reached Teng Qingshan’s ears. Turning around, Teng Qingshan saw it was Little Blue’s mother. She had brought her child over, but she hadn’t expected that there would actually be people pursuing to kill Teng Qingshan. With her intelligence, she instantly understood the situation...

Her daughter’s human friend, Teng Qingshan, had clearly made enemies of many people in the Land of the Nine Prefectures. If her daughter were to follow him, her daughter would most likely also have to experience dangerous things.

She would truly feel uneasy just letting her daughter go like that.

Beneath the surface, she was simply Undying Phoenix’s mother, who thought like the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. So she naturally came to a decision... She had to kill the chicken to warn the monkey! This ’chicken’ was, of course, the people before them from Emperor Yu’s Hall.

"Yuuu~~" Opposite them, the Wind Splitting Dragon Falcon, which had always been silent, emitted a hoot toward Little Blue’s mother.

Little Blue’s mother, however, didn’t respond and merely shot the Wind Splitting Dragon Falcon an ice-cold glance.

"Yu~~"Little Blue, who hovered beside her mother, chirped.

"This is not good. We need to leave quickly. This Undying Phoenix wants to kill us!" The complexion of Liu Xia, who could understand the language of beasts, changed greatly. As he could understand the language of beasts, Liu Xia’s complexion paled greatly.

Letting out a resounding and excited chirp, Little Blue—the Undying Phoenix that had been learning for almost a year—just instantly transformed into a ray of light, charging out immediately. By Little Blue’s side, there was another Undying Phoenix, her mother, that had transformed into a fire-red beam of light. Her mother’s speed was even somewhat faster than Little Blue’s.

"Quickly!"

"Go!"

Liu Xia and Yu Tonghai both knew a lot about the Undying Phoenix. So when they were confronted with Little Blue’s mother, who had accompanied Li Taibai back in the day, Liu Xia and Yu Tonghai didn’t dare attempt to resist at all. Instead, they separated from each other and fled. However, while Shengong Tu, who didn’t know much, was fleeing, he immediately drew his godly bow, placing his last Void Piercing Arrow on the bowstring.

"Hmph!" Shengong Tu snorted angrily and prepared to shoot an arrow.

"Don’t try to fight. Just separate and flee. If one of us manages to escape, that’s one survivor," Liu Xia urged through the Sound Transmission Technique.

Like a beam of fiery red light, Little Blue’s mother threw herself speedily toward Shengong Tu. She then swiftly made a subtle turn and purple-gold flames spurted out from her mouth. The flames moved like a streak of lightning and instantly trapped Shengong Tu. At this moment, Shengong Tu tried to protect himself by enveloping his entire body with all the Power of the Heavens and Earth he possessed...

"Chichi~~"

Instantly, the purple-gold flames broke through the Power of the Heavens and Earth that enveloped Shengong Tu’s body.

"Ahhh!" Shengong Tu let out a mournful shriek.