Over there, Bu Shuihan was held back by Duan Qingming, while here, Gu Pinglin and Wu Xiang were chasing each other, and it didn't take long before the two of them had fought ten miles away. Wu Xiang relied on his realm to suppress Gu Pinglin, and Gu Pinglin just kept running away, covered in dust and in a miserable state.
Finally, the two men fought their way into the valley.
"Where else are you going to run to?" Wu Xiang sneered.
Gu Pinglin was not afraid at all: "You are nothing special. If you return the Huasheng Grass as soon as possible, I will not bother with you!"
"Care about it?" Wu Xiang seemed to have heard a huge joke. He tapped his palm with the handle of his fan and nodded deliberately. "Yes, I am just that. The Huasheng Grass is in my hand. If you want it, come and get it yourself."
Gu Pinglin said sternly: "As a powerful sect, you are bullying others by taking advantage of your power. Aren't you afraid of being criticized?"
Wu Xiang said "Oh" slowly, "I just picked two plants. Who dares to criticize me?"
Gu Pinglin was furious: "Qianyang Mountain belongs to more than just the Xuanming Sect, it's not yours!"
The angrier he got, the more excited Wu Xiang became. He laughed arrogantly, "How dare a second- or third-rate sect compete with the Xuanming Sect? We can take whatever we want from Qianyang Mountain, not to mention a plant of Huasheng Grass!"
Gu Pinglin sneered: "Well said."
"Boy, I don't have time to play with you!" Wu Xiang also felt that the time was about right and he would lose face if he didn't win, so he put away his folding fan, reached out and took out a long sword, and chopped it down in the air.
The sword light fell like rain, covering Gu Pinglin.
This was an absolute suppression of realm. Even though Gu Pinglin had divine skills, he still couldn't avoid this rain of swords.
However, at this moment――
"What a big tone," a cold voice sounded, "I want to see how the Xuanming Sect can monopolize Qianyang Mountain!"
A blood-red sword light flew out from the forest!
The sword energy was extremely cold and the moves were extremely fierce, stirring up a thick murderous aura that was suffocating, and the murderous aura seemed to be accompanied by a hint of blood.
The sword light dispersed the sword rain, and the remaining force rushed straight into the air. With a loud scream, Wu Xiang fell from mid-air!
At the same time, a gray shadow floated out from the woods and stopped at the treetops.
He was a middle-aged man, wearing a gray robe and holding a heavy sword. He looked good, with sword-like eyebrows, a straight nose, and thin lips. However, his face showed a bit of weirdness no matter how you looked at it, and his expression was as cold as a rock.
This person is missing his right ear.
Physical defects usually arouse people's avoidance, but the man in gray obviously didn't care about it. He tied up his hair openly, allowing his defects to be exposed to others.
"The agreement of breaking the stone is still there, and Zhan Renjie is so arrogant. There is still a share of our Tiancan Sect in Qianyang Mountain!"
Wu Xiang struggled to get up and was about to say something harsh when he suddenly heard the three words "Tiancanmen" and immediately swallowed a mouthful of blood.
The Tiancan Sect is not a big sect, but when it comes to them, the eight major sects have to be cautious. The Tiancan Sword is notorious and extremely powerful, but the Tiancan Sect's skills are special and require people with special physiques to practice, so there are very few disciples. Moreover, they are born with defects and most of them have strange temperaments. They usually don't interact with outsiders. Once they are annoyed, they don't listen to anyone. In the past, the Zhenyi Sect had a conflict with them because of a trivial matter. The Tiancan Sect did not hesitate to fight to the point of both sides being injured. In the end, the Zhenyi Sect had to give in. After this battle, the Zhenyi Sect's strength was greatly damaged and it was squeezed out of the eight major sects. Therefore, in the world of cultivation, no one wants to mess with the Tiancan Sect.
The Tiancan Sect happened to be in Qianyang Mountain, so how could the disciples bear Wu Xiang's words? The one-eared man who taught Wu Xiang a lesson was Zhou Yi, the fifth disciple of the sect leader Lao Bing Zhenren and the third of the "Four Swords of Tiancan".
Zhou Yi was an external alchemy cultivator who had reached the Qi Transformation Stage. Wu Xiang didn't dare to attack him at all and his face turned red. In just a moment, Bu Shuihan and two other disciples of the Xuanming Sect arrived in a hurry.
"Brother Wu!"
"Who hurt you!"
…
The two Xuanming disciples shouted loudly, but were stopped by Wu Xiang.
Bu Shuihan rushed to Gu Pinglin's side and asked in a low voice: "How is it?"
Gu Pinglin had already put away his anger and brushed off the dust on his body: "It's okay."
Bu Shuihan heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. When he recognized the man on the treetop, he couldn't help but whisper, "Zhou Yi!"
I heard that Zhou Yi from Tiancan Sect came to Mortal Valley, which is really good. Gu Pinglin knew Zhou Yi's temper, so he just bowed to the other side: "Thank you for saving me."
Four or five people walked out of the forest, all with bad faces. They were all important figures from nearby small sects. They just learned the reason for the fight from the quarrel between the two men. It turned out that the Xuanming Sect was taking advantage of its power to bully others and snatch resources.
The first person was the head of Hansha Island. He waved his hand at Gu Pinglin and sneered at Wu Xiang: "Qianyang Mountain belongs to Xuanming Sect, but I only found out about it today."
Another person said, "We should also go to visit Master Zhan and ask him if the agreement to break the stone still stands."
…
In order to win over the small sects in the past, the founder of Xuanming Sect made the Broken Stone Covenant, allowing them to take root in Qianyang Mountain and not invade each other. If the Xuanming Sect can rob the Lingxin Sect today, it can rob others tomorrow. Who knows if their side will end up like the Lingxin Sect in the future
Things were almost over here, and Gu Pinglin no longer paid attention to the follow-up and signaled Bu Shuihan to leave.
Bu Shuihan was in a good mood. He walked a few miles and couldn't help laughing: "This is causing trouble for me! Xiao Gu, you already knew that Zhou Yi was here, right?"
Gu Pinglin smiled and did not deny it.
Bu Shuihan was arrogant by nature, but he was especially nice to people he liked. He patted Gu Pinglin on the shoulder and said, "How are you preparing for the entrance exam? My master and I talked about you the other day."
Gu Pinglin was surprised: "What did the master say about me?"
Bu Shuihan said randomly: "You said you worked hard... Anyway, you have to work hard, and I also hope that you can become the master's last disciple."
Seeing his vague words, Gu Pinglin understood. It was fine in the previous life, but in this life, with Duan Qingming around, how could Yue Songting pay attention to him? It was probably because Bu Shuihan said good things about him in front of him. Gu Pinglin felt warm in his heart: "Brother, don't worry, I will do my best."
Bu Shuihan also knew who his biggest threat was, and his face darkened: "Don't worry, Duan Qingming is cunning and treacherous, I will report to Master and he will be disqualified from the competition."
"Hmm?" Gu Pinglin frowned.
Bu Shuihan suppressed his anger and said, "How dare he delay and put you in danger? His character is so bad. The Lingxin Sect's rules are there. Master will not forgive him if he finds out."
Gu Pinglin immediately guessed the reason and shook his head.
Apart from the cold blood flowing under his skin, Duan Qingming is simply a gentle and humble gentleman. He is good at rhetoric and eloquent. Outsiders can't see any problem. Bu Shuihan can't argue with him at all. What's more, in the previous life, Bu Shuihan offended him for his own reasons, and in the end... They must not be allowed to become enemies again.
However, Duan Qingming's decision this time was exactly what he wanted. Gu Pinglin said, "This was actually my idea."
"You?" Bu Shuihan was stunned.
Gu Pinglin explained casually: "If Senior Brother Chen and the others come out, we won't have the chance to deal with Wu Xiang, so I asked Duan Qingming to delay for a while."
Thinking of Chen Qian's personality, Bu Shuihan nodded and frowned, "You shouldn't hide it from me. Wu Xiang is a Qi Refining cultivator. It's too dangerous for you to fight him. You should let me lead him away."
In fact, it was precisely because Gu Pinglin was too weak and acted impulsively that Wu Xiang underestimated the enemy, leading to carelessness and gaffes. If he had really given in to Shui Han, he might not have been fooled.
Gu Pinglin did not refute and nodded in agreement.
Bu Shuihan didn't care about it anymore, but was a little unhappy: "Forget it, you must tell me next time."
Duan Qingming and others were still waiting outside the mountain gate. Chen Qian and Chang Jinxin also came out. Seeing the two return safely, everyone was relieved. Bu Shuihan briefly explained what happened. Hearing that Wu Xiang suffered a loss, the disciples of Lingxin were extremely happy and felt that they had let out a grudge.
Only Chen Qian was furious. He pointed at Gu Pinglin and cursed: "Nonsense! Nonsense! Who told you to act on your own?"
Young people are full of blood. Bu Shuihan has always been belligerent, but he didn't think it was a big deal: "The Xuanming Sect has gone too far, and Junior Brother Gu just wanted to teach him a lesson. It's okay now..."
"Nothing?" Chen Qian was even more angry. "With your limited cultivation level, you dare to fight with a Qi-refining cultivator. Why bother practicing Taoism if you think you have a long life? You might as well get out of here as soon as possible!"
"Okay," Chang Jinxin saw that he was scolding too much, and hurriedly tried to stop him, and comforted Gu Pinglin, "You are young and don't know how serious it is. This is too dangerous. Don't be so reckless next time."
Gu Pinglin bowed: "It's my fault. I made Senior Brother Chen worried."
Chen Qian opened his mouth to curse again, but suddenly heard him admit his mistake. He opened his mouth for a moment, but didn't want to continue. After a while, he said sullenly, "It's good that you admit your mistake. Remember it." After that, he turned around and left.
Chang Jinxin smiled and patted Gu Pinglin on the head, then quickly followed Chen Qian and whispered advice.
Bu Shuihan took two steps and looked back at Duan Qingming.
Duan Qingming understood: "It is my fault for the delay. Please punish me, Senior Brother Bu."
Bu Shuihan didn't like him and said coldly, "Forget it this time, but if you hide it from me again next time, I will not forgive you."
Duan Qingming immediately said, "Yes, thank you, Senior Brother."
Bu Shuihan snorted, ignored him, and followed Chang Jinxin closely. After being scolded by Chen Qian, everyone dared not show any joy and slowly dispersed. Only Gu Pinglin remained where he was.
After everyone left, Duan Qingming really spoke up: "I don't remember you asking me to delay time."
"Of course."
"To excuse me, are you afraid that he will confront me?"
Gu Pinglin said calmly: "You ask difficult questions, and I take them on myself. Your opponent is me, I just remind you to concentrate."
"Oh?" Duan Qingming smiled and walked to his side. "I heard that you ran out in anger and confronted a Qi-refining cultivator. I was very worried."
"So you just delay time and see how I escape."
"Gu Xiaojiu doesn't do anything he's not sure of. I just went along with it. It's just a small favor, so you don't have to thank me."
"Thank you for standing by and watching the fun."
"You doubt my good intentions again."
Good intentions? Gu Pinglin hummed.
"Getting angry is actually a way to trick people into underestimating their enemies," Duan Qingming leaned close to his ear with a smile, "You get angry so easily, when are you really angry and when are you not?"
Gu Pinglin glanced at him from the side: "What do you think?"
"I'm stupid, how can I guess what you're thinking?" Duan Qingming sighed. "I heard that the apprentice sister Zhang Lian who looks like you will come again tomorrow."
"Duan Qingming!"
“This is real.”
He clenched his hands in his sleeves and then loosened them. Gu Pinglin calmed down: "It's just a shell, so what if it's real or fake? The entrance exam is just around the corner, and I'm looking forward to your performance as a genius."
Duan Qingming laughed and said, "Why insist on it when you know you are no match for him?"
Gu Pinglin asked back: "Is angering me also your method?"
"Whatever you think is what it is," Duan Qingming flicked the dust off his hair, "How many wonderful performances can this blind self-confidence bring you?"
"Excessive arrogance will only lead to failure." Gu Pinglin laughed and leaped towards the mountain.