At noon, the sun is rising.
The light on the four peaks is reflected by the clouds, making it as bright as a fairyland. The monks come and go with their swords, repairing the messy peaks. I believe that soon, the place will be full of colorful flowers and cranes coming and going.
Nan Cheng sat on a peak rock, closed his eyes and rested, breathing in the spiritual energy of the mountain to recuperate from his injuries.
"Senior Brother Nan Cheng."
After he completed a week of practice, a voice sounded softly next to him. Nan Cheng opened his eyes and saw a petite girl next to him. It was obviously the fourth sword meeting today, but she was wearing a white skirt from beginning to end. Obviously I never thought about competing.
The girl said softly: "Hello, senior brother, my name is Lerou."
Nan Cheng has been in seclusion in the peak for too long, and he has long forgotten the names of his junior brothers and sisters. Now that he has just come out of seclusion, he is not used to communicating with others, and he seems a little reserved: "Junior sister Lerou, hello, May I ask who you are..."
Lerou bowed respectfully, and then asked: "Senior brother drew his sword earlier, and I admired him very much for his outstanding demeanor. I just passed by here and happened to see senior brother practicing, so I took a closer look."
Although Nan Cheng vaguely felt that the other party was a bit unkind, she looked cute and cute, so he had no grudges and said, "I lost in the end, which made everyone laugh."
Lerou shook her head and said: "Senior brother is already very powerful, um... By the way, I do have something to ask senior brother."
"Huh? What's the matter?" Nan Cheng asked.
Le Rou said hesitantly: "Hmm... Well, I heard you right before. My senior brother is called Senior Ning Jiujiu?"
Nan Cheng nodded and said, "Well, senior has been very kind to me."
Lerou asked doubtfully: "When did you know him?"
Nan Cheng said: "Why do you ask this?"
Lerou said: "Ning Changjiu and Ning Xiaoling joined the peak at the end of last year. They should be the youngest couple in terms of seniority. How can senior brother call him senior?"
Nan Cheng didn't know his identity at first, thinking that he was a rejuvenated elder in the peak. But now he gradually learned some of Ning Jiujiu's deeds. At first, he was surprised that he was also a disciple, but later I also thought that seniors are truly masters, and of course there are some things that I cannot see through.
Nan Cheng said: "Senior is a good man. He has done so much for our peak today alone. Senior takes such great credit, and junior sister does not need to mind too much about his origins."
Lerou grabbed her skirt and said with some annoyance: "But... what if what he did is just pretending, what will Master do?"
Nan Cheng recalled for a while and said: "The relationship between senior and master is indeed extraordinary."
Le Rou said worriedly: "Master is so simple, will he be deceived?"
Nan Cheng couldn't help laughing, thinking that no matter how simple the master is, he is much more exquisite than a little girl like you. He said: "Don't worry, the master has always been cold and reserved. Even if he has some secret friendship with his seniors, it is just a matter of etiquette." , don’t worry too much about Master.”
"Oh..." Lerou nodded absently, thinking that the master was so noble and noble, and it would be nothing to have a long relationship with Ning... Well, fairies don't eat fireworks, and she suddenly felt that some of her dirty worries before were a bit unnecessary, she He asked casually: "By the way, does senior brother know where master has gone?"
Nan Cheng said: "Master should be discussing some matters with the peak masters of other peaks at the moment."
…
…
Lu Marian grabbed the brocade quilt to cover her naked upper body, but her fragrant shoulders were still exposed, and her jade-like shoulders had a faint pink color. At this moment, it seemed that she was deliberately blocking it, and the light in the room was not It was not bright, and there was a layer of smoke-like gauze around her. This green gauze was a shallow space membrane that isolated her slight breathing.
Ning Jiujiu had already stepped aside and sat down at the table tiredly.
"How do you feel?" Ning looked at the half-crouched woman and asked.
Lu Marian stayed quiet for a while, regained her composure, straightened her cool and weak body, and said, "Turn around."
The sound of Ning Changjiu moving his chair came from behind.
Lu Marry looked back and saw the man in white with his back turned to her, and her heart relaxed a little.
She released her fingers from holding the brocade quilt, reached down, and pinched the fallen sword clothes. She pinched both sides, and the clothes slid up her body and was put back on her body. Then, she stretched her hands to the back of her neck, took her black hair out of her clothes, and draped it on her beautiful back. She silently put her clothes back together, tied her waist, and slowly turned around.
"Feeling..." Lu Yuemou put on the moon-white socks and deerskin boots as thin as cicada wings, and felt the changes happening inside her body. Her sword fetus kept chirping, as if it was about to turn into a real sword, breaking the purple Out of the house.
She said firmly: "It feels like we are only one sword away from Ziting."
It's just that she doesn't know yet what the opportunity is for this last sword strike.
Ning Jiujiu nodded, he grabbed the Golden Crow on his shoulder, slowly stroked its dark golden feathers, and thought about something.
Lu Marian said: "Turn around."
When Ning Jiujiu turned around, Lu Marry had already put on her clothes, looking dignified and feminine, and the quilt beside her had been folded squarely and placed at the end of the bed.
She looked at Ning Changjiu's depressed expression and asked doubtfully, "What's wrong?"
Ning Jiujiu suddenly asked: "What kind of person is your master...?"
"Huh?" Lu Marion asked doubtfully, "Master has been dead for many years. Why do you ask?"
Ning Jiujiu smiled and said: "I'm just a little curious, what kind of master can hand over outstanding disciples like you and Lu Yuanbai."
Lu Yuanbai thought of Lu Yuanbai, frowned slightly unconsciously, and said: "I didn't expect that he was actually the descendant of the sect master. When the master accepted him, he had great expectations, but for several years, Lu Yuan Bai's cultivation has stagnated, and the master rarely bothered him after that. Now that I think about it, the sect leader's intention should be behind all this."
Ning Jiujiu continued to ask: "How did your master die before?"
Lu Marian recalled: "Master became ill due to overwork, and when he went crazy, several peaks worked together to suppress it, so he suffered serious injuries. Even if he was cured later, he would go crazy and wake up... In the end, he returned with the sword, It’s also a fortune teller and it’s determined in a few days.”
Ning Jiujiu nodded and did not ask further questions. He stretched out his hand to grab the air in front of him and suddenly said: "The spiritual energy of Yujian Tianzong has become much thinner."
Lu Marian said: "Today the peach curtain was broken, and a lot of spiritual energy leaked out. In addition, the sect master has half of the sect's luck and left the peak. Naturally, a lot of spiritual energy will be difficult to retain."
Ning Jiujiu stood up, walked to the window, lifted the bamboo curtain, pushed open the window, and stretched his hand out of the window. The wind passed through his fingers, bringing with it a cold and astringent feeling.
"The sect master left with half of the sect's luck..." Ning Jiujiu shook his head: "I think it's more than that."
Lu Marian frowned and said, "What do you want to say?"
Ning Changjiu said: "As I expected, he should have taken away all the artifacts at the bottom of the peak, including the best swords and magic weapons in Huanpu Mountain."
Lu Marry said: "To kill such a ferocious god as Jiu Ying, even Master Hanchi will need some magic weapons to protect himself."
Ning Jiujiu said: "Then what if... what if he doesn't come back?"
"What did you say?!" Lu Marian suddenly stood up. After thinking of this possibility, she felt a terrible feeling in her heart. She quickly asked: "Not coming back? If not coming back, where can I go?"
"This is also what I want to know now." Ning Jiujiu said.
Lu Marry's expression also became serious.
Ning Jiujiu asked again: "Where is the scripture spirit of the Sword Scripture locked now?"
Lu Jiejiu said: "In my peak master's palace, this was supposed to be given to the sect master, but you were..."
Ning Jiujiu concealed the matter of the Sword Scripture at that time and blamed the blood oath for Yan Zhou's death. The other peak masters also understood what he meant. They also found it difficult to fully trust this sect leader who appeared strangely, so when Ning Jiujiu said this at that time , they also followed the trend, did not reject it, and kept a hand.
Ning Jiujiu nodded and said: "I'm just going to ask, this sword sutra should be carefully guarded in the future. It is too evil. In the same realm, almost no one can catch its killing sword."
Lu Marry nodded slightly and then asked, "What's next?"
Ning Changjiu said: "Next, go to the Book Pavilion to check the history of Jiu Ying, Xiu Snake, and... Yuqi. They have been passed down from ancient times to the present, so they must have left many legends."
Lu Marian asked: "What about you?"
Ning Jiujiu said: "I'll go to Hidden Peak to see if there are any clues left."
"Yeah, okay." Lu Marian nodded.
When she was about to leave with her sword, her eyes were suddenly attracted by a painting on the wall. She asked: "Why is there no eyes in this painting?"
On the wall, there is a hanging painting of a blue bird. The painted brush strokes are flowing like clouds and flowing water, almost in one go. The brush and ink are feathery and lifelike, but the eyes are still blank.
Ning Changjiu smiled and said: "It's just a random painting that I do on weekdays. I painted it when I was in Liantian Town before, but I haven't had time to finish it yet."
"Liantian Town..." Lu Marian muttered the name of the place. She didn't have a good impression of this place: "If I had come to see you earlier, I wouldn't have kept you trapped there for half a month."
Ning Changjiu smiled and said: "Don't worry about these little things. In one month, the lotus flowers in Liantian Town will bloom. Then we can go and see them together."
The disciple invited him privately, and as the master, she should have sternly refused, but Lu Jianjian thought about all the recent events, and in her body and mind, which was occupied by tiredness, she thought of the fragrant jade lotus in the pond, and her mood couldn't help but brighten. A lot.
She smiled, nodded, and said hello.
Lu Marry left quietly, returned to the peak with her sword, and then went to the book pavilion to check the information on the ancient evil gods.
Ning sat quietly in the room alone for a long time.
He counted the time.
Finally, about a quarter of an hour later, he stood up.
A little spiritual light appeared around him.
Ning Jiujiu drew the flying formation in reverse.
Then, he appeared in the peak master's palace.
That was the flying formation he left behind in the Peak Lord Hall after Bingrong's assassination.
The main hall of the peak is empty, and there are many restrictions outside the hall door to prevent outsiders from intruding.
Ning Jiujiu was extremely familiar with the structure of the Peak Master Palace. He found the stone box that sealed the spirit of the Sword Sutra in a short period of time. He moved it out and opened it after hesitating for a long time.
The spirit of the Sword Scripture that had been sleeping among them suddenly woke up. It lifted its hair and stared at the person with a pair of glowing sword eyes. After confirming his identity, it immediately changed to a fierce expression.
"How dare you come to see me? What are you going to do? Aren't you afraid that I will kill you with one sword?" The spirit of the Sword Sutra looked at him fiercely. If it hadn't been weak at the moment, it would have struck him with one sword.
Ning Jiujiu said: "I have an enemy that I can't defeat and I need your help."
The spirit of the Sword Scripture was stunned for a long time.
When it was born, it had an evil nature and longed for freedom but was trapped in a small place for a long time. This caused countless resentments to be squeezed deep in its heart. But at this moment, in front of the sinner who betrayed him, he was speechless. Speechless, not a single curse was uttered.
After a while, it said in a daze: "How can there be such a shameless person like you in this world?"
An hour ago, he went against his promise and locked himself in this broken urn, and an hour later, he pretended that nothing happened and asked for help
He no longer knew how to scold him.
The Spirit of the Sword Scripture looked at the young man in front of him, and had a deeper understanding of the darkness and ugliness of human beings. He also understood the saying that people should not be judged by their appearance - the more delicate and beautiful the person, the darker the heart.
Ning Jiujiu said: "This is your chance to regain your freedom. Can you help me?"
The Spirit of the Sword Scripture grinded his teeth for a long time, and said sadly: "Okay, help!"
Ning Jiujiu said: "You can think about it again, I will come to you later."
The Spirit of the Sword Scripture said quickly: "Don't think about it! Take me away quickly, I can forgive you for betraying me today!"
Ning Jiujiu said: "This is a big deal, I need to think about it again."
Then, amidst the curses from the spirit of the Sword Scripture, Ning Jiujiu closed the urn again, drew the formation and left.
…
Lu Marian found the books about those ancient evil gods in a very short period of time. She scanned them with her sword eyes and quickly browsed through the related contents.
When Ning Jiujiu came to the bookstore, dozens of books were piled in front of her.
"Where are the other disciples?" Ning looked around for a long time and found that there were only two of them in the huge library.
"I drove them all away." Lu Marian said: "This matter is of great importance, it is best not to be disturbed by the others."
Ning Jiujiu nodded and said, "Any clues?"
Lu Marian said: "The records in each book are different, and there are different opinions, but from the current point of view, there are many things that are reliable."
"Tell me about it," Ning Jiujiu said.
Lu Married said: "At the beginning of chaos, the creatures in the world were fighting for the power scattered by the creation gods in the chaotic world. These powers created countless gods. According to legend, Jiuying, Xiu She, and Yuqi are all the descendants of an ancient true dragon. , that ancient true dragon was born in the Ruin Sea, and holds the supreme authority of space, and as the descendants of the ancient dragon of space, each of them is born to control a part of the laws of space."
Ning Jiujiu nodded and agreed with this statement. Jiuying has already demonstrated its ability to move space, and Yuqi has used paintings as a medium to create one after another interlocking and incredible spaces. As for Xiu Snake... it The belly of the snake is a space far higher than what the naked eye can perceive. It is like the sleeve of the universe. It is said that it can swallow an entire mountain as high as the sky.
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Is there any record of their death?"
Lu Jiaojiu said: "There are many theories, but generally speaking, Jiuying was beheaded nine times by a golden-armored god in the fierce waters of the Southern Wilderness and nailed to death in the depths of the swamp, while Yuqi was killed by a Another great god was trapped in the frozen time, cut open the bones and dug out the heart, and beat its body into particles as small as dust. As for the snake cultivator... it is said that it died by swallowing an elephant. In folk proverbs, it is said that a snake swallows an elephant. Compare it to someone who dies because of greed.”
Almost everyone knows the story of the Ba snake swallowing an elephant, but they know that this story cannot be true. How could the Ba snake be so powerful that it cannot swallow an elephant
"Unless that elephant is as big as a mountain." Ning Changjiu said with a smile.
Lu Marry looked at him solemnly: "There is a similar statement in a wild history whose source is difficult to find out. It is said that when the elephant is sleeping, it is like a creeping mountain range, and when it wakes up, it is like a mountain-like elephant god."
There are too many things in ancient times that seem unbelievable now, and their authenticity cannot be verified.
Ning Jiujiu continued to ask: "What is written in this unofficial history, how did Xiu Snake die?"
Lu Marian took the book, read it quickly again, and said: "The method of death is no different from the records in other books. Either he died of rupture of the abdomen after swallowing the elephant, or it was difficult to move after swallowing the elephant. , he was chased by the people of the Desolate tribe, his body was beheaded, and he was killed in the wild."
"Death by splitting the abdomen?" Ning Jiujiu didn't know what he thought of, and looked shocked.
Lu Marian asked: "What's wrong?"
Ning Jiujiu said: "If you have a collection of planned paintings, show them to me."
Lu Marian turned out a few copies and handed them to him.
Ning opened it for a long time, his expression becoming more and more gloomy.
"What happened?" Lu Married asked.
Ning Changjiu asked: "Isn't the snake-repairing bone at the bottom of the peak too intact except for the broken tail?"
"Huh?" Lu Marian was puzzled and said, "Maybe there is an error in the book."
Ning Jiujiu leaned on the chair and folded his hands. He closed his eyes and thought hard for a while before saying: "So... we have all been deceived."
"What?" Lu Marian was a little confused.
"I only thought of such a simple thing at this time." Ning lamented for a long time and laughed at himself. He closed the book in his hand on the table and said: "The one at the bottom of the peak is not a snake at all! The real snake cultivator is in Liantian Town, and it is the big green-headed snake in Liantian Town. And the one at the bottom of the peak...if I guessed correctly, it should be the last missing baby of the Nine Infants."
Lu Marry was surprised. She had never seen the snake in Liantian Town. If she had seen it, she would find that it was almost the same as what was recorded in the unofficial history book in her hand: green head, black body, slit belly...
"They... what on earth are they going to do?" Lu Marion was a little panicked.
Ning Jiujiu expressed his complete thoughts: "It's not just Zitian Daomen who want to resurrect Jiuying. The real person behind the scenes is actually Hanchi Zhenren. He masters Jiuying's last song, so no matter how hard Zitian Daomen works, None of them can piece together the truly complete Nine Infants. And Zhang Chengyu... his purpose should be to resurrect the legendary cultivating snake, so they formed an alliance and plotted against the Zitian Dao Sect together."
Lu Marion felt chills coming upon her, and her back could not help but straighten.
Ning Jiujiu continued: "On this day, Zitian Dao Sect lost three Taoist masters, and decades of planning were reduced to other people's wedding clothes. In the next few hundred years, I am afraid there will be no chance to turn around."
"Are these...are these all the plans of Master Hanchi?" Lu Jiaomei thought about what happened today, found a loophole, and asked: "Is the matter of Master Yan Zhou's uncle also part of his plan? It stands to reason He shouldn’t know about the Sword Scripture.”
Ning Jiujiu chuckled and shook his head, saying: "It is precisely because Master Yan Zhou's uncle was fearless in life and death that none of us, the peak masters of the four peaks, survived."
Lu Marian's eyes widened, and the last chance of luck in her heart was crushed, "If it weren't for Yan Zhou... we would be the ones fighting desperately with them? But if we die, Yujian Tianzong will also... "
Ning Jiujiu interrupted her: "Do you think he cares?"
…
…
Liantian Town once again fell into the Ghost Festival.
The whole town is connected end to end.
Shi Wu stared at the huge monster that was suspected to be Jiu Ying, with uncontrollable fear in his eyes. He moved back and drew his Tao sword out to stop it in front of him.
Thirteen Yuchen was also extremely nervous.
When human beings face the ancient ferocious beasts, the fear of surrendering under pressure is almost based on instinct.
The young man in black covered his head and screamed in pain. He raised his head and stared at the extremely huge python. He seemed to be undergoing the torture of Ling Chi, and the executioner placed a clear mirror in front of him. , he was in the mirror, watching helplessly as the other party cut off his flesh piece by piece.
"No... no! It's not..." The boy in black opened his mouth, and the words came out like cold air: "No... it's not Jiuying!"
"It's Xiu!!" The boy in black roared out its name, and then his chest seemed to have been chiseled off with a hammer, the bones cracked, and he spit out a large mouthful of blood. He knelt down, He grabbed his own hair, as if he wanted to tear himself apart with his bare hands, his expression in extreme pain.
When the word "Xiu" exploded like a firecracker, a storm also set off on the surface of the lotus pond.
Shiwu Yi Dao sword cut through the water and withdrew to the side with everyone.
When the water curtain fell, Shi Wucai was shocked to see that there was a huge gap in the bulging belly of the black python. The gap was held up high by the white bones inside. One of the Nine Infants' thick sharp claws, It even extended directly from the lower abdomen.
This is not Jiu Ying at all... but Xiu Snake swallowed the Jiu Ying's skeleton that they had worked hard to put together for sixty years!
"You lied to me... It turns out you have been lying to me!" Shiwu understood everything and roared like crazy.
At the beginning, he and Zhang Chengyu agreed that they would piece together the complete Nine Infants. The Nine Infants would belong to the Zitian Taoist Sect, and the Taoist sect would help Zhang Chengyu attack the Yujian Tianzong and regain the bones of the snake. From then on, the Taoist sect leader Jiuying, he is in charge of cultivating snakes, and they share the authority of the space and do not interfere with each other.
It's a pity that Zhang Chengyu's ambitions go far beyond this.
Zhang Chengyu stood on the head of the big snake, looking at Shi Wu expressionlessly. Under him, Xiu Snake had completely swallowed the remains of Jiuying into its belly, and the arched fins on both sides were also covered by its The body was pressed down bit by bit, and the steel-hard bones were slowly being digested in its belly!
"You made two of the simplest mistakes." Zhang Chengyu sighed: "The first one is that you should not believe what a person who has lived for thousands of years said, and the second one is... you found out that you had been deceived. I was still lucky and didn’t know how to run away immediately.”
Halfway through Zhang Chengyu's words, Shiwu reacted. He looked at each other and headed towards the opposite direction of the street with his sword.
Zhang Chengyu did not chase them. He looked at the young man in black and grabbed him from the air.
The boy in black had no power to resist at this moment.
Xiu She opened his bloody mouth and swallowed it whole, ending his pain.
And Shi Wu's head soon came to Zhang Qiyu.
The one who killed him was none other than Master Hanchi, who was also riding on the back of a big snake.
He crushed the head in his hand, stared at Zhang Chengyu who was level with him, and asked: "Where are the bones of the Nine Infants you promised?"
Zhang Chengyu had a smile on his face.
Promises are nothing but the bones of a man who keeps his word, and betrayal is the secret to his survival for three thousand years.
He patted his belly, like a glutton after a full meal: "Here it is."