Mysterious mirror hanging high

After killing the young man in fancy clothes and his servant, Guan Lingxiao wrapped the wooden sword again with rags and hurriedly left the place with the sword in his hand.

Jing Yu followed him secretly, and as he turned around and around, he came to another hidden alley in the city.

Guan Lingxiao twitched his ears and looked around vigilantly before slipping into a shabby shop.

Behind the counter of the shop sat a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion and a linen hood. He was smoking a pipe and when he saw Guan Lingxiao, he chuckled:

"I was wondering who this guy was, but it turns out to be the Blind Sword Boy. What's going on? Which bounty is he here to claim today?"

A heavy bag of silver was thrown onto the counter, and Guan Lingxiao said impatiently:

"Old smoker, stop talking nonsense... I've already gathered enough money, why don't you quickly send me the exact location of [Yuankong Temple]?"

The middle-aged man nicknamed the Old Smoker raised his lips slightly, picked up the purse on the counter, weighed it, and confirmed that it was sufficient, then said leisurely:

"[Taoist Yuankong] is the only immortal with a confirmed identity within a thousand-mile radius, yet he's always been elusive... Although the [Yuankong Temple] where he resides in seclusion is located in Lingtai Mountain, it's usually shielded by a formation. Without a way to break it, mortals would have no chance of finding him."

"Recently, several disciples of Yuankong Temple passed away. Taoist Yuankong reopened the temple after over twenty years and held the [Ascension Conference], granting immortality... You were lucky to have gathered enough silver a month before the Ascension Conference. Otherwise, if you had missed this opportunity, you would have had to wait another twenty or thirty years."

After saying this, the old smoker threw out a roll of parchment and said, "This is a map of Fangcun Mountain. This mountain is hundreds of miles away from Liangdu. If you hurry there, you can still catch up with the Ascension Conference!"

Guan Lingxiao grabbed the parchment scroll and asked doubtfully, "Not many people know the location of Yuankong Temple in Lingtai Mountain, right?"

The old smoker smiled and said, "Do you think anyone can afford to pay hundreds of taels of silver just to know a location?"

"Those ordinary warriors may be extremely poor, but not all of them are like you, the Blind Sword Boy, who have no internal energy at all. Yet, you can become a top assassin solely by relying on your superb swordsmanship."

Guan Lingxiao sneered slightly, put the sheepskin roll carefully into his arms, and then limped out of the store.

Jing Yu's mind swept over and took in the map on the parchment scroll, thinking to himself:

"Master Yuankong... How could there be a cultivator practicing in seclusion in a place like Zhao State, where spiritual energy is so scarce and where no one lives?"

Then he shook his body, and a blood-colored figure flew out and turned into Jing Yu in a blood-colored robe, which was the [Blood Puppet Body]. Jing Yu continued to follow Guan Lingxiao with this [Blood Puppet Body], but his real body turned into a ray of light and went towards [Lingtai Mountain].

----

Lingtai Mountain

A gray light descended, revealing a young man in a gray robe.

Jing Yu spread his spiritual thoughts and swept across the entire mountain range, and he really found a Taoist temple hidden in a maze.

"This maze is only at the Qi training level... It seems the owner of this place has a low level of cultivation."

Jing Yu passed through the maze silently without disturbing anyone. He swept his mind over and saw that there were very few people in the Taoist temple, only about ten people, most of them dressed as Taoist priests with tall crowns and feathered robes. Among these ten people, only three were cultivators, but they were only at the first or second level of Qi training.

"Big Brother!"

At this time, a man walked out of the kitchen in the temple. He was a tall, dark-skinned, middle-aged Taoist priest. He was holding a wooden tray in his hand, which contained some fruits and vegetables. When the people in the temple saw this man, they all bowed and saluted. It was obvious that this Taoist priest had a very high status.

Jing Yu looked closely and saw that the Taoist priest known as "Big Brother" had the highest cultivation level among all the cultivators, having actually reached the third level of Qi training.

"Big Brother, are you going to pay a visit to the Master?" a young Taoist priest asked with a smile.

The middle-aged Taoist nodded and said, "I just picked some fresh spiritual fruits from the back mountain. I'll be taking them to honor my master... The [Ascension Conference] will be held in a month. By then, we'll have a few more junior brothers and sisters in the temple. You must not be careless and take care of every aspect. Don't let the reputation of our [Yuankong Temple] be tarnished!"

"Master is just practicing in seclusion. Who will recognize us outside this Taoist temple? What's the point of being famous?" The young Taoist muttered.

"If you can't speak, just keep your mouth shut." The middle-aged Taoist priest cursed a few times, then walked into the depths of the Taoist temple with the fruits in his hands.

Jing Yu followed all the way and soon saw a side hall. This place was also guarded by many formations, and it seemed that the level was even higher than the maze that protected the mountain.

"Why does this formation look so familiar?" Jing Yu wondered secretly, always feeling that the formation in front of him seemed familiar.

"Master, disciple [Zhao Ran] greets you."

"Come in."

A hole opened in the formation outside the door, and the middle-aged Taoist priest walked in with his head down, holding a fruit plate, but he didn't know that there was a tail following him, and he entered the hall without noticing anything.

The side hall was filled with curling green smoke, and the incense burner in the hall was burning with fine sandalwood. In the quiet room deep in the side hall, there was a yellow cushion, and on the cushion was a Taoist priest sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and regulating his breathing.

Jing Yu looked at the Taoist priest who was meditating and his expression suddenly became extremely strange.

It was nothing special. This Taoist priest had a hairy face and a thunder god's mouth, and his body was covered with golden fur that was slightly oily. He was not a human, but an ape monster!

The spiritual pressure on this ape demon is about the level of the ninth level of Qi training. To the middle-aged Taoist priest, it is naturally like an abyss or an ocean, but to Jing Yu, it is nothing.

The middle-aged Taoist priest seemed accustomed to this. He moved closer with a flattering look on his face and brought the plate of fruits to the ape demon. He said, "Master, these are freshly picked spiritual fruits from the back mountain. I have already washed them. Please enjoy them."

The ape demon raised his eyelids, glanced at the fruits on the plate, and said lightly: "Hmm..."

"Leave it there."

"Yes."

"Ran'er, how are the preparations for the Ascension Conference in a month going?"

The middle-aged Taoist bowed and said, "I have urged my fellow apprentices to prepare for it."

"Well, we at Yuankong Temple have been away from the world for a long time. I'm afraid the world has completely forgotten us. We might not be able to harvest many good seedlings... Well, you keep an eye on them."

The middle-aged Taoist priest was casually sent away. There was no one in the hall except the ape monster. The ape monster wiped the saliva from his mouth, suddenly picked up a peach from the plate, and started eating it without caring about his image.

"Tsk...why do the spiritual fruits this year seem sweeter than in previous years?"

The ape demon quickly ate up the entire plate of fruits and vegetables, burped, and suddenly saw a young man in a gray robe staring at him with a smile. His hair stood on end, and his demonic aura surged. He pulled out a long iron stick from the storage bag at his waist and shouted:

"Who is this monster, daring to break into my Yuankong Temple? And yet you don't even know my name, Yuankong Taoist?"