Chapter 105 Part 1

Compared to Zhou Yin and the others, Yun Zong and Qiu Xianyun were currently in a dire situation - being hunted down.

A late Core Formation stage cultivator and an early Nascent Soul cultivator, actually reduced to such a state, it was truly laughable.

After parting ways with Zhou Yin, they headed north. Both were injured, and operating flying magic treasures required expending spiritual power, so naturally they couldn't travel fast.

Shangxuan Sect's reaction was unexpectedly swift. Before long, they announced to the world that Qiu Xianyun, Yun Zong, and Zhou Yin had murdered the sect leader, betrayed the sect, and put out hefty bounties for their capture.

Anyone could kill them, and rewards were offered - a choice of three high-grade magic treasures and a thousand high-quality spirit stones per person killed. It was truly a generous offer.

The news spread quickly. In an instant, there was no one north or south of the Yangtze who didn't know these three names. If Zhou Yin and the others' previous actions in Tianyan Sect were not widely known before, now they were truly "known by all under heaven".

With heavy rewards, brave men were sure to come. The high-grade magic treasures of the number one sect in the world were coveted by all.

Zhou Yin was fine, having gone to the Northern Sea Ruins with Xiao Yao, others wanted to find them but couldn't.

Yun Zong and Qiu Xianyun suffered, unable to find peace even after fleeing to Beichang. Every so often, cultivators wanting to kill the two would appear, most overestimating their abilities. Even if they couldn't take their lives, it was truly annoying enough.

The two were currently injured and alone, so they couldn't possibly kill gods when encountering gods, and kill ghosts when encountering ghosts. Directly confronting Shangxuan Sect was not an option.

They could only continue to repel those coming to kill them while heading north, moving and stopping along the way, concealing their tracks. Only when they reached the snowy mountains at the northernmost edge of Beichang did they finally temporarily shake off their pursuers.

Yun Zong and the others had been focused on avoiding cultivators and hadn't paid attention to the environment along the way. Now that they stopped, they discovered that as they went from south to north, the climate had gone from warm to cold. Although it was the height of summer in June, this place was still frozen for a thousand miles, never thawing.

It was said that further north from Beichang was the edge of the continent. This place was frozen for a thousand miles, desolate and uninhabited. It was the site of an ancient battlefield, with spiritual energy, demonic energy, and demon beast energy intertwined, lingering for tens of thousands of years. There were even vicious beasts and demon beasts appearing. It was very dangerous. No wonder after they arrived here, no one else was found pursuing them.

The snow had a hint of scarlet. At this moment, light snow was falling. Yun Zong reached out to catch some. Lowering his head to look, it was pure white. However, as soon as it piled on the ground, it immediately changed color.

Although he often wandered the world, he had never seen such a scene. At this time, gazing around, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

"No need to look. Haven't you heard? This place was once the battlefield of an ancient great war. Those mountains are all stained with the blood of ancient deities, never fading away. Snow falling on it naturally changes color too. If you don't believe me, brush away the snow and look at the mountain rocks!"

Qiu Xianyun looked up at the sky. Without the heavy makeup of usual days, he had a delicate baby face, looking no older than twenty. No wonder he was unwilling to reveal his true appearance before. As one of the seven peak masters of Shangxuan Sect, having such a face indeed made it hard for others to revere him.

Yun Zong bent down and used his hand to brush away the snow on a rock. Sure enough, he saw the rock had a color different from usual, nearly the deep brown of dried blood.

Looking up at the horizon again, the sky was gloomy, with wisps of black and red clouds intertwined, flowing by. Contrasted with these snow-covered blood mountains, it appeared even more sinister and unpredictable.

This place was known as a barren land where even gods and ghosts were unwilling to set foot.

"Are you sure this direction is correct?" Qiu Xianyun also raised his head, seeing those endlessly rolling clouds. He couldn't help but silently curse, damn, what a ghostly weather.

In such an extremely cold place, and also because of its past history, who knew what was buried or existed here. Even with Qiu Xianyun and Yun Zong's level of cultivation, they had no choice but to wrap themselves in a thick layer of cotton clothing to resist the cold.

They had originally just wanted to reach Beichang, then find any small town to settle down in, concealing themselves in the city. With the Rejuvenation Pill given by Zhou Yin, they wouldn't be discovered.

But now, they had to trek a long distance, braving chilling winds and heavy snow, while experiencing the wonderful life of recovering from injuries while dealing with the occasional pursuit and spiritual battle. All because they received Ge Yu's transmission talisman.

Yes, Ge Yu.

As one of the only two Shangxuan Sect peak masters who preferred using their real name rather than a Daoist title, back when demon beasts were rampant, Qinghe Zhenren had sent him to lead disciples out to eliminate the demon beasts. But later, the demon beasts had long been exterminated, yet he had still not returned for a long time. Nearly everyone in Shangxuan Sect thought he had gone missing, and that the chances of his survival were slim.

Whenever he thought of this matter, Qiu Xianyun felt a trace of desolation in his heart. Once upon a time, the seven peaks of Shangxuan Sect had been the symbol of Shangxuan Sect's glory. Under the leadership of Sect Leader Qinghe Zhenren, almost no sect dared to outshine them.

Who could have predicted that in one night, the sect master would die, with the rest either dying, going missing, getting injured, or usurping power. The scenery remained the same, but the people had completely changed.

Actually, among the seven, although he often bickered with Ge Yu, neither letting the other have the upper hand, in terms of feelings, the two of them were the closest. Back when Ge Yu went missing, he thought it over and felt there was something fishy. Only then did he secretly prepare, allowing him to survive the later upheaval.

However, it was on the way as they fled that they received a talisman from Ge Yu, not knowing from where it was sent. There were only four words on it - the far north.

Qiu Xianyun had no doubt about the authenticity of the talisman, because the symbols on it were ones he and Ge Yu had randomly created out of boredom when they were young in Shangxuan Sect. Besides the two of them, no one else could recognize them.

So later, the two had no choice but to temporarily change their route and come to this place that didn't even have a single bird feather.

Yun Zong did not answer his question, and didn't even turn his head, just walking ahead by himself.

In this kind of weather, operating flying magic treasures would undoubtedly consume even more spiritual power. The two of them needed to conserve their meager remaining strength in order to escape from unforeseeable dangers.

So Yun Zong was too lazy to even speak.

Just what was Ge Yu up to, why did he want them to rush to this place from a thousand miles away! Qiu Xianyun silently cursed Ge Yu's ancestors to the eighteenth generation in his heart, while raising his head to look at the sky again.

"Looking at this, could it be about to snow? If there's an avalanche, then..."

Before he could finish, Yun Zong suddenly turned his head back with lightning speed and fiercely glared at him!

Qiu Xianyun quickly shut his mouth.

He shut up not because he was afraid of Yun Zong, but because he also realized there was a problem with that sentence.

On this journey, everything Qiu Xianyun said came true if it was bad, but not if it was good. Last time when the two of them found an inn to stay, he muttered that the inn was so run-down and might collapse. As a result, the inn really did collapse in the middle of the night, forcing them to set off early.

Unfortunately, when he cursed Qinghe to not die well, or said this and that about the upper realm, such curses did not come to pass. Clearly, Qiu Xianyun's ill-omened words only came true for himself.

At this moment, Qiu Xianyun obviously also realized he misspoke.

The two of them stood frozen for a while. Qiu Xianyun said sheepishly: "Look, it didn't come true this time..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the ground shaking violently underfoot. In an instant, the world spun as if even the earth was trembling. Amidst the earth-shattering rumbles, huge chunks of snow started rolling down from the mountain.

They both had extremely fast reactions. At this point, they couldn't care about wasting spiritual power. Summoning their flying magic weapons, they charged forward. The snowballs smashed down from the peak, dotting them.

Damn it, what rotten luck is this!

Qiu Xianyun felt like crying but had no tears.

A hand was placed on top of the begonia-colored silver-threaded silk quilt. On the wrist was a dark, inconspicuous ancient bracelet, making the hand appear even more coldly white like fine mutton-fat jade. Under the illumination of the night pearl, it seemed to emit a faint glow.

Zhou Chen gently lifted a corner of the quilt and placed his hand inside, then covered him with the quilt again. Zhou Yin seemed to be utterly exhausted and did not wake up, still sleeping deeply. Only the redness at the corners of his eyes and the slight dark circles underneath revealed the traces of their passionate night.

Zhou Chen sat by the bed, quietly watching him. Unlike their usual interactions where he would certainly be chattering nonstop, he did not feel bored at all. Even if he just kept gazing like this, it was fine.

He revealed a hint of a smile and moved some of the trailing long hair under that person's neck to the side to avoid pulling it when he turned, his movements very gentle and not disturbing the other party in the slightest.

Sigh, my Ah Yin is so beautiful no matter how you look at him. It's a good thing I made my move early.

This feeling, a bit smug, showing off, yet also seeming to hide a treasure unwilling to share with others, was not something to be voiced to outsiders. He spaced out propping his chin for quite a while, then slowly got up to let down the gauze curtains, softly instructing the maids not to casually enter and disturb them. Only then did he walk out.

Li Ying had long been waiting outside.

Seeing Zhou Chen come out, he hurriedly bowed: "Your Majesty."

"You are all very surprised and dissatisfied?"

"Ah, no, of course not!..." The attempt to play dumb and muddle through failed quickly under Zhou Chen's gaze. Li Ying said with a wry smile: "To reply to Your Majesty, there is indeed surprise, after all you didn't say who you were bringing back. We even guessed it might be the Heavenly Emperor."

Zhou Chen said leisurely: "I believe with your intelligence, you would definitely guess the correct answer in the end."

Li Ying choked and quickly said: "We have absolutely no dissatisfaction towards Sir Zhou."

Zhou Chen raised his eyebrows: "You are quite open-minded then, and don't feel that 'if not of my race, their heart must be different'?"

Li Ying hurriedly pledged loyalty: "Even among the same race, hearts are not necessarily united. As long as Your Majesty likes him, we naturally have no objections."

Zhou Chen let out an "oh": "In that case, you also won't look down on him because his cultivation is still shallow?"

Li Ying was a bit flustered being pressed step by step by his words and could only surrender, "Your Majesty is wise!"

You already made a heart-binding blood pact, sharing half your lifespan with him. What else can we say? Even if someone previously had reservations about Zhou Yin being human, after hearing Li Ying mention the heart-binding blood pact, they suddenly fell silent.

Sharing the same lifespan as the Vermilion Bird, never separating in life or death, meant being as noble as the Vermilion Bird. Did the status of this human cultivator in His Majesty's heart still need to be spelled out?