Mysterious mirror hanging high

The Songfeng Pavilion disciples gathered countless "ink arrows" and instantly killed several Heavenly Court monks standing in the front row. Wen Rennuo was horrified when he saw this. Just as he was about to use his Golden Core Talisman, he saw the scarred young man stop him and said in a voice transmission:

"Wait a minute, sir... Jindan-level methods would cause too much spiritual energy fluctuation. Using them here would attract enemy immortals... It's not advisable to use them. The best strategy is to flee!"

The next moment, the scarred young man pulled Wen Rennuo and three other monks, and the five of them separated from the other frightened monks of Heaven and fled in another direction.

The screams of the Heavenly Court monks who stayed behind to resist the disciples of Songfeng Pavilion were endless. Wen Rennuo pursed his lips tightly and said nothing, just flew away.

The shouts and curses from the Songfeng Pavilion disciples gradually faded away. They turned many corners, flew low, and soon arrived at a valley. They rested again. Wen Rennuo sent a celestial monk out of the valley to explore the way, but the monk soon returned with a grim expression.

"Your Excellency... There are many enemy troops patrolling and searching the mountain ahead... We seem to be surrounded here."

Wen Rennuo's heart sank to the bottom of the valley. Except for the young man with the scar, the other two monks were all confused when they heard about this, and there were ambiguous expressions on their faces.

Just when Wen Rennuo didn't know what to do, the scarred young man's voice sounded in his ears again:

"Sir, the scout we just sent out is a trusted confidant of mine, so I'm sure he can be trusted... The other two, having heard they're surrounded, might be planning a rebellion. If we attack suddenly, I'll kill the one on the left, and you the one on the right."

"I think your Excellency has extraordinary magical powers and will not fail..."

Wenren Nuo's pupils shrank, and he asked in a voice transmission, "You...what did you say?"

The scarred young man continued in a low voice transmission, "Sir, you are a person of great wealth and a close attendant of the Heavenly Emperor... your status is extremely high. Even if you are captured by the Penglai righteous path, you will not be beheaded. At most, they will imprison you and extract information from you."

"They are just two ordinary disciples of the Battle Hall, and their hands are stained with the blood of the righteous Penglai sect. If they don't perform great deeds, they will most likely be executed. The best outcome is to be sent to a prisoner-of-war camp to fill the gap."

"You are of noble status. If you offer it to the enemy, it will be a great achievement. For them, this is their only chance to survive this desperate situation."

"Do it!"

The young man with the scar actually made a quick decision and attacked the monk on the left first.

His sneak attack was fast and accurate, and without any warning, it actually succeeded in one blow. The monk let out a wail and died instantly.

The cultivator on the right was about to react when he saw a finger force that could break through the air coming at him in an instant and pierce through the back of his head. It was Wen Rennuo's [Sky-Splitting Finger].

Originally, the scout seemed to ignore this, nodded at the young man with the scar, and continued to be on guard around.

Looking at the two corpses of his colleagues from the Heavenly Court lying before him, Wen Rennuo's eyes were slightly dazed. He said, "Why are you helping me so much? Wouldn't it be a great achievement if you could unite with these people to subdue me and hand me over to the righteous path of Penglai?"

The scarred young man grinned and said, "I have been in the Battle Hall for over twenty years. I have killed no fewer than ten outer disciples from the Three Pavilions and Six Paths alone. My feud with the Penglai Righteous Path is too deep. I have no choice but to go down this path until the end."

"Besides, Your Excellency has a bright future ahead of him. I wish to follow you... If I can be trusted by Your Excellency, my future prospects will be limitless."

Wen Rennuo subconsciously asked, "What are your qualifications?"

The scarred young man said respectfully, "I have low-grade spiritual roots... Without your help, I would have stopped at the foundation-building stage in this life."

Wen Rennuo frowned, "The Heavenly Court only judges by aptitude. You have average talent. Even if you help me like this, it's hard to get any decent training. At most, you can get a one-time reward."

The scarred youth was not discouraged upon hearing this, but instead said:

"Your Excellency is merely a Xuan-level disciple of the fourth rank of the Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth Rank. In terms of talent, you're not considered the top among the Heavenly Court's prodigies. Yet, you started as a seventh-rank attendant of the Heavenly Emperor, the Qian Gang Guard. You were even in charge of the Emperor's ceremonial guards, serving by his side... This is an honor not even many Heaven-level disciples can achieve."

"Your presence only proves that Your Majesty...has selfish motives."

"Since even Your Majesty has selfish motives, how can the ministers under the Emperor of Heaven not have selfish motives?"

"As long as there is selfishness, there will be room for subordinates to maneuver."

The scarred youth gritted his teeth and said, "Although my talents are mediocre, I also have the ambition to pursue the Great Dao... I have wasted decades in this battle hall, and only got the position of a district captain. How can I hope to achieve the Great Dao? I have waited for an opportunity like this for decades! I will seize it even if it means death!"

Wen Rennuo was stunned for a moment, thinking, "Does Xiao Guanying have selfish motives? Not necessarily... He appreciates me, but he wants me to go to the front lines to gain experience, starting from the bottom of the ranks... It's not just a gilded rank as others have rumored."

"Yes, it was Xiao Shihua who had selfish motives. Before I left, Brother Shihua stuffed me with a bunch of golden elixirs and Nascent Soul talismans for self-defense, and warned me to be careful on the battlefield and to save my life..."

"But Brother Shihua is also the Heavenly Emperor. If he has selfish motives, doesn't that mean the Heavenly Emperor has selfish motives?"

"If the Emperor of Heaven, who holds the reins of power, has selfish motives, isn't that the very same as the way of Heaven being selfish? Damn it, we've come full circle again! This mess is too confusing to be the truth!"

He looked at the scarred youth again, his heart trembling with fear. "This man's scheming and tactics are both top-notch, but unfortunately his talent is rather lacking, so he has been buried until now... Your Majesty's theory of talent is simply untenable. God knows how many such people there are among the lower-level cultivators in Heaven!"

But Wen Rennuo still needed to rely on this person, so he just nodded:

"You're doing fine... If you escape this time, you'll return to heaven with me!"

"Thank you for your support, sir!"

The scarred young man was overjoyed and waved to the scout, "Sir, let me introduce you to this man. He is my brother who has lived and died with me..."

puff--

A magical flying knife flew out from the scarred young man's sleeve without any warning, passing like a silver streak and cutting off the scout's head.

Wen Rennuo was horrified: "What are you doing!"

The scarred young man still maintained a humble smile: "This person's talent is superior to mine, and he also has the merit of protecting the emperor. I am afraid that he has snatched away your special favor..."

"You are so cruel!"

The scarred young man didn't take it seriously and said respectfully, "When your Excellency needs a ruthless villain like me... In many cases, I am much more useful than those upright and kind-hearted gentlemen."

"Well, what a wonderful person..." Wen Rennuo gritted his teeth and said, "What's your name?"

The scarred young man smiled slightly and said, "My name is..."

bang——

A golden light flashed, and the scarred young man's head instantly shattered. Under Wenren Nuo's numb gaze, the golden light paused, turned into a small golden hammer, and was taken back into the hands of an old man in a black robe who suddenly appeared.

The old man in the black robe was delighted when he saw Wenren Nuo, and he said quickly, "I finally found you, Master Wenren!"

"I am Tianlan, the Immortal of the Heavenly Court's [Patrol of the Heavens]. That villain just now, dressed in Heavenly Court attire, yet he killed my Heavenly Court disciples. He must be a spy from the righteous Penglai sect. I killed him with a single blow of my hammer, and fortunately, Master Wenren was spared..."