On the other side, Master Yangming was holding a long sword in his hand with an inexplicable emotion on his face. Even though so many years had passed, most of the recent generations of disciples were not familiar with Master Ziyu or had never heard of him. Even Yangming's junior fellow apprentice Qiu Feng did not have much impression of Master Ziyu. But for Yangming, he still had a deep impression of Uncle Ziyu, although it was not necessarily a good impression.
"Master, is this the sword of Master Ziyu?"
Guan He and Shang Yiyi both looked at the long sword in their master's hand in amazement, especially the cracked and bloody jade pendant wrapped around the hilt. They knew that the owner of the sword must have encountered something bad.
"Yes, it's correct, but now is not the time to discuss this. Uncle Ziyu must be in danger. Yiyi, go to Tianji Pavilion to find fellow Daoist Xuanjizi and take this flying sword. He'er, you quickly rush to the nearest southwest hill of Hengshan Mountain and ask fellow Daoist Xiangyuanzong for help. If you can't ask them, go to Tianji Pavilion again."
"Master, what about you?"
Shang Yiyi took the purple jade flying sword handed to her by her master and asked with concern. Sure enough, she heard the answer she had guessed from Master Yangming.
"I will naturally go to the direction where the flying sword came from to investigate. Don't worry, I won't act rashly. I also have the Taixu Jade Talisman with me, so nothing will happen. You two go quickly!"
Guanghe and Shang Yiyi looked at each other and could only agree to the order and fly away quickly on the wind. Yangming Zhenren put the jade pendant into his sleeve and flew away again.
Although he was anxious, Yang Ming was still very cautious. He flew fast, but he also observed the surroundings very carefully. He flew forward for half an hour, but there was no special smell. If it were not for the blood-stained jade pendant in his hand, any ordinary person would have suspected that what he had just seen was an illusion.
However, in the eyes of an immortal cultivator of Yangming's level, there are no illusions like ordinary people. If there are any, they are illusions. Moreover, with Zi Yu's flying sword and jade pendant in hand, he must find out the truth.
Yangming no longer followed the methods of calculation and observing qi, but instead flew according to the faint sensation of the spiritual platform in his heart, flying continuously towards the west. Occasionally, he would stop to adjust the direction or return to a previous point and choose a new direction to fly again.
"How strange! Why is there no sign of fighting? Even the surrounding spiritual energy is very peaceful."
Just when Master Yangming was in doubt, a ray of fairy light suddenly flashed in the sky, causing him to look up subconsciously. Soon, a cultivator who looked old came riding on the wind.
"Don't be alarmed, my fellow Taoist. I saw you wandering around for a long time. I thought something must have happened to you, so I showed up to ask you."
The person was still far away, but his voice had already reached his ears. By the time he finished speaking, he was already close to Yangming, and he bowed to Yangming with the wind under his feet.
Yangming did not dare to be negligent and quickly bowed in return.
"My fellow Daoist, I saw someone casting spells and fighting in this area before, so I came here to take a look. However, when I got here, I couldn't sense any spellcasting aura at all. It was really strange."
Yang Ming did not directly state his identity as a monk from Yu Huaishan or the story of True Man Zi Yu, nor did he show the jade pendant or other items. After hearing this, the old man stroked his beard and looked around, frowning slightly, and kept calculating with his hands, as if he was also exploring something.
Yangming waited quietly on the side. The cultivator in front of him seemed to be more powerful than him, so it would be great if he could lend a helping hand.
After a long time, the old monk shook his head.
"There is indeed nothing suspicious, but with your cultivation level, it is impossible for this to be an illusion. I am afraid that someone with profound Taoism has smoothed out all the fluctuations of spiritual energy and cleared away all the remaining aura before you arrived."
Yangming actually thought so in his heart, but he was not as sure as the old monk in front of him.
"What do you mean, fellow Daoist?"
"In my opinion, if there is nothing fishy about the fight you saw, there is no need to deliberately calm the aura. There must be something shady going on!"
“That makes sense!”
Taoist Yangming nodded, and without waiting for him to say anything, the old monk spoke directly.
"Now is a time of trouble. Since I have come across this matter, I will investigate it to the best of my ability!"
"You are right, Daoist friend. I think so too. If we encounter any unexpected situation, we two can have a response. What do you think?"
The old monk nodded.
"That's great. Even if there are experts who can calm the breath, there may be some that have been missed. You and I will go together. Where do you think we should go?"
"west."
"Okay, then head west!"
After a brief discussion, the two flew to the west together on the clouds, while each of them paid attention to the movements and auras in the sky and on the ground.
Sure enough, just as the old monk said, as they continued to explore, some residual aura was gradually grasped by the two of them. However, the further they went, the more doubts Yangming had. Looking at the old monk on the side, the other party also had doubts on his face.
"Daoyou, are you also deeply doubtful?"
Hearing the old man's question, Yangming thought for a moment and answered truthfully.
"Yes, it seems that the traces covered up are all traces of the immortals' righteous way, without any evil spirits of demons or monsters. Could it be that those who fought before were all immortals?"
The old man's tone was more affirmative than Yangming's.
"In my opinion, it should be as Daoist friend said. Even if there is a conflict between immortals and righteous ones, they will not hide their heads and show their tails in the fight. It is really strange. I am afraid that the evil demons are pretending to be righteous!"
"Hiss... The aura is so natural, so the other party's level of cultivation is hard to estimate, right?"
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of. If we rashly go any deeper, we might never come back..."
Hearing this, Yangming understood that the old monk was somewhat hesitant, but he had already sensed the aura of True Man Zi Yu, so how could he give up? He also very much hoped that the monk in front of him could help, so he finally spoke straight to the point.
"To be honest, fellow Taoist, my Taoist name is Yangming, and I am a cultivator from Yuhuai Mountain in Yunzhou. The aura I sensed earlier was exactly the method used by the seniors in the sect to ask for help..."
As he spoke, Yangming took out the cracked and bloody jade pendant from his sleeve.
"The token is here, and I have traced the aura. How can I give up? I will continue the investigation no matter what. I hope you can help me. Don't worry, my Yu Huaishan Taixu method is unique in the world. Yangming is also a cultivator of the Yu Huaishan Zhenren level. He carries the Taixu Jade Talisman. When you and I are investigating, if you find that things are impossible, you can use this jade talisman to hide!"
The old monk opened his eyes slightly wide and looked at Yangming, then nodded slowly.
"I didn't expect that you are actually from the world-famous Yuhuai Mountain. I am so sorry. Since you are so sure, I will risk my life to accompany you. By the way, there is a Yuling Gate to the west. Although it is not well-known, it has a profound foundation. We can go there to pay a visit. Maybe there are experts there who have noticed this matter."
"That's great, let's go!"
Yangming put away Ziyu's token and flew westward on a cloud...
…
On the other side, Guan He was flying to the southwest hill of Hengshan Mountain, but he didn't know exactly where Xiangyuan Sect was. He was very anxious. He was worried about his master and was also afraid that he would not be able to find Xiangyuan Sect. After all, those immortal cultivation families would conceal their aura, and it was impossible for a well-known immortal sect to show its mountain gate.
However, Shang Yiyi, who was flying to Tianji Pavilion, stopped halfway with a look of surprise on her face, because she met an unexpected acquaintance in the clouds, who was Ji Yuan.
"Mr. Ji! Is it really you?"
Ji Yuan nodded, flew closer to Shang Yiyi, and looked at her in confusion.
"Shang Yiyi, why are you traveling alone? Without a senior from the sect accompanying you?"
Thinking back to the past, Ji Yuan owed Shang Yiyi a favor. Just now, he felt some disturbance in his spiritual realm and followed his feeling to find his way here. Unexpectedly, he met Shang Yiyi. Given the other party's level of cultivation, it was unlikely that she would come to Nanhuangzhou alone.
"Mr. Ji, I'm glad to see you! I came here with Master and Senior Brother. Something terrible happened. We saw the message from Master Ziyu for help. Master went ahead to track it down, and Senior Brother and I went to ask for help separately. Oh, this is Master Ziyu's sword!"
When Shang Yiyi saw Ji Yuan, she felt like she had found her backbone. She took out Master Zi Yu's flying sword and handed it to Ji Yuan.
Ji Yuan took the flying sword and took a closer look. The sword was light purple in color and had a crystal-like luster. At first glance, it looked like a piece of gold and iron, but it was actually made of a piece of purple jade. The entire sword was integrated from the blade to the handle.
"It's him?"
Ji Yuan had never seen the Purple Jade Master of Yuhuaishan before, but the impression left on him was very deep in his mind. In his understanding, this Purple Jade Master was a person who was very capable of causing trouble.
"Mr. Ji, can you come with me to find Master? I'm worried that something might happen to him!"
In Shang Yiyi's heart, she cared far less about Master Zi Yu, whom she had heard had a bad impression of, than she did about her own master, and Ji Yuan certainly could not sit idly by.
"Okay, let's chase after them."
"Mr. Ji, I'm here to show you the way. When I came here before, I was..."
Ji Yuan waved his hand.
"No need to go to so much trouble."
As he spoke, Ji Yuan took out a scroll from his sleeve, but did not open it. He just spoke softly.
"Please help me, fellow Taoist."
After saying that, Ji Yuan pointed the scroll at the purple jade flying sword and at the same time transferred his own magic power into it.
The next moment, the purple jade flying sword lit up, and there seemed to be circles of rippling water floating in the air, and Ji Yuan lightly touched the hilt of the flying sword with his right hand.
Whoosh—
The flying sword flashed and headed straight to the southwest. This was the method of returning to the past that Ji Yuan performed with the help of the power of the Xiezhi. It could also be considered Zhu Yan's magical power. Although it was definitely not as good as Zhu Yan's, it was not like grabbing the breath out of thin air. With the flying sword here, it would be much simpler.
"Let's keep up."
Ji Yuan said this and without waiting for Shang Yiyi to respond, he took her and flew away, chasing after the purple jade flying sword.