When Gu Baiqing arrived, he saw that Li Xiuran had already begun controlling the array. Clearly, because the Divine Tree’s blessing had begun and affected the Spirit-Gathering Array, they had no choice but to deal with it first.
Li Xiuran sat at the center of the formation, absorbing the spiritual power leaking from the array. Beside him, Dingtian Sword, carrying the power of the God-Slaying Sword fragment, protected him, and behind him Ji Chuling was using the secret technique of the Hidden Gods Clan to reinforce him. Even so, it was still extremely forced. Just as Li Xiuran was about to be unable to hold on, and Ji Chuling too was about to collapse from excessive consumption—
Gu Baiqing decisively made his move, pulling Ji Chuling aside and directly pushing spiritual power onto Li Xiuran. Instantly, a massive spiritual pressure pressed down on the Spirit-Gathering Array, as if forming a counterbalance. As Gu Baiqing continued to increase his spiritual power, the suppressive force gradually spread outward. Gu Baiqing thus assisted Li Xiuran in absorbing the Spirit-Gathering Array’s spiritual power with one hand, while using his own spiritual power to restrain the array with the other.
And at this moment, Gu Baiqing also discovered that, because of absorbing the spiritual power, Li Xiuran was about to break through.
Gu Baiqing frowned slightly. Ji Chuling beside him came back to her senses and hurried forward. “Big Brother Gu…”
“He’s about to break through. I’ll help him guide it, protect us,” Gu Baiqing said.
Ji Chuling immediately nodded nervously.
Li Xiuran also barely opened his eyes and said, “Thank you, senior.”
“Keep your mind calm.” Gu Baiqing then carefully examined the surrounding situation again. Because they had suppressed the most troublesome Spirit-Gathering Array, it created opportunities for the others. The demon race had already been mostly eliminated, and the surviving witnesses were being treated by the people of Immortal Medicine Valley.
There weren’t many latent dangers. Suddenly, Gu Baiqing’s gaze paused, he seemed to spot among the crowd a… familiar person. But that figure flashed by in an instant.
Gu Baiqing felt extremely suspicious and thought he might have seen wrong, but the matter at hand was more urgent, so he gave Ji Chuling a few instructions.
He didn’t know when Mo Xuanli would arrive. Gu Baiqing now didn’t dare to use points and could only rely directly on spiritual power, so he didn’t know when he might faint. He could only tell Ji Chuling that he had internal injuries and might pass out, asking her to pay attention later.
Ji Chuling immediately looked at Gu Baiqing with concern and nodded, swearing she would definitely protect them well.
After explaining everything, Gu Baiqing raised his head and looked at the Divine Tree right before his eyes. Without the addition of fragments, there was only the last bit of mixed-blood soul power left below. Once the Divine Tree finished absorbing it, it would probably still take several decades before it completely withered.
At this time, red flowers were slowly drifting down. Although the people here needed treatment and the Spirit-Gathering Array was still threatening them, fortune is sought amid danger, and none were willing to leave. Even the disciples of Immortal Medicine Valley didn’t want to leave, and there were even warm-hearted people telling them to absorb more flowers, saying it might be helpful.
But when he saw a flower drifting toward him, Gu Baiqing still sidestepped to avoid it.
Ji Chuling saw him dodge and thought it was something bad. Not only did she dodge herself, she also helped Li Xiuran block it.
In the end, only the three of them present did not receive the Divine Tree’s blessing.
The rain of flowers ended very quickly. It was unclear whether the Divine Tree sensed that its power was nearly exhausted, but after the blessing ended, it actually began drawing back the Spirit-Gathering Array’s spiritual power. Invisibly, this gave them a helping hand. Gu Baiqing directly increased his spiritual power to control the array. For a time, the Spirit-Gathering Array was effectively under attack from multiple sides and began to shake, no matter how powerful it was, it ultimately dissipated into nothingness.
Seeing that Li Xiuran could stabilize himself, Gu Baiqing withdrew his spiritual power. His luck was fairly good, he didn’t actually faint.
At this moment, the people in the plaza finally became noisy, all eager to leave as soon as possible, afraid the demon race might stage a comeback.
Immortal Medicine Valley also had its own matters to deal with and thus opened the barrier. Now those who could fly on swords didn’t even take boats anymore and directly flew away.
Just then, Gu Baiqing suddenly felt a fluctuation in the barrier he had set up. It had originally been established to capture Yuxin. Now that Immortal Medicine Valley’s barrier was open, for Yuxin there was only one layer of barrier left blocking her, so naturally she would try to break through.
Gu Baiqing’s expression shifted slightly. He directly said a word to Ji Chuling and flew out.
And just after Gu Baiqing left, Mo Xuanli rushed over. Seeing Gu Baiqing fly away, without a word he handed Lou Zixiao, who had been wrapped securely in a cloak, to Ji Chuling and chased after him.
When he reached the place where the barrier’s disturbance was sensed, Gu Baiqing not only saw Yuxin, but also saw demon race members outside being transmitted from the demon realm’s formation to help Yuxin break his barrier. Moreover, the aura of those who came was extremely familiar, it seemed to be the demon race’s strongest battle power, Kill Demon, whom he had once encountered in the Void Spirit Secret Realm.
Gu Baiqing directly went on the offensive, his sharp sword carrying thunder as it slashed toward Yuxin.
Yuxin hadn’t expected Gu Baiqing to arrive so quickly, and her expression changed drastically as she dodged.
And at that moment, the barrier was broken by Kill Demon leading his subordinates, and instantly a swarm of demonic creatures surged in to surround them.
A single thunderous strike instantly annihilated all the demonic creatures that rushed in. Kill Demon and Yuxin naturally knew that they could not stop Gu Baiqing; they were merely meant to create an opening. But this opening, for Yuxin, was for escaping, while for Kill Demon it was an opportunity to fight Gu Baiqing head-on.
Kill Demon lifted his broken blade and chopped toward Gu Baiqing, wanting to see just how strong this Immortal Lord Luofeng was now.
Sensing the killing intent, Gu Baiqing instantly went on the defensive. A thunder-slaying strike met it head-on, and in an instant blinding light filled the sky, accompanied by the collision of spiritual power, causing the entire small island to tremble.
Yuxin was already about to slip away, but seeing that he still wouldn’t leave, she immediately cursed, “You madman, why aren’t you running? Do you think you can win fighting alone?” No sooner had she finished speaking than several more figures flashed out from the formation outside that was there to receive them—it was Kill Demon’s trusted subordinates. Yuxin rolled her eyes speechlessly, leapt into the formation herself, and vanished.
Just as Gu Baiqing was about to press the advantage, suddenly seven or eight light vines extended from the glare, binding Gu Baiqing’s body.
Turning his eyes, he saw that several demons had joined forces to set up a formation, attempting to trap him. At this moment, Kill Demon let out a ferocious grin and, disregarding the injuries to his body from the thunder strike just now, launched a full-force attack at Gu Baiqing once again.
Unable to break free in a short time, Gu Baiqing could only raise his sword to block and take it head-on. But at this moment, only a strange cry was heard, and a beam of light flashed from afar, blocking the blow.
Gu Baiqing turned his head to look, and his expression changed at once, his eyes full of shock.
But the one who saved him quickly disappeared. Kill Demon did not see it and could only continue attacking Gu Baiqing.
Gu Baiqing had already broken free of three vines and killed one demon, but dealing with Kill Demon’s attacks was still rather awkward. Just then, Mo Xuanli finally arrived.
“Master!” Seeing the scene before him, Mo Xuanli’s eyes flared with rage as he shouted, carrying God Nine Transformations and flying forward to block in front of Gu Baiqing, forcibly taking Kill Demon’s strike. He was slammed straight into Gu Baiqing’s arms.
The power of that blow was no small matter; Mo Xuanli was directly struck into a state of chaotic spiritual energy.
Gu Baiqing’s eyes sharpened. Powerful lightning erupted from his entire body. With one arm holding Mo Xuanli, who could no longer even maintain the spiritual power to fly, he broke free of all the light vines in an instant and, swift as lightning, arrived in front of Kill Demon. Catch the thief by first catching the king, a single sword strike came down.
Affected by the electric arcs brought by Gu Baiqing, Kill Demon froze for an instant, his reaction a beat too slow. When he tried to dodge, it was already too late. Fortunately, a loyal subordinate rushed over at the cost of his life to save him.
As Gu Baiqing’s strike fell, lightning nearly filled half the sky. The people below, seeing this scene, thought heavenly thunder had descended. The subordinate turned to ashes, and one of Kill Demon’s arms was directly severed and sent flying through the air.
Kill Demon roared in agony and fury, but not far away the teleportation array extended a hand that grabbed Kill Demon from afar and pulled him back. The speed was extremely fast, giving Gu Baiqing no chance to pursue and finish him off.
In an instant, the teleportation array disappeared without a trace.
Only then did Gu Baiqing’s raging fury ease slightly, and he hurried to check the person in his arms.
“Xuanli…”
Mo Xuanli slowly opened his eyes and finally saw Gu Baiqing clearly. “Master…” He couldn’t help wanting to hold Gu Baiqing tightly. Gu Baiqing didn’t think much of it and quickly checked him, discovering that Mo Xuanli was fine, only his spiritual energy was in chaos. After resting for a while, he would recover.
At this time, Li Xiuran had already successfully broken through. Unlike Mo Xuanli, whose breakthroughs were always disturbed by demonic nature, as the male lead his breakthroughs had almost no bottlenecks and were extremely fast.
Seeing the aftermath of the battle, he quickly flew up with Ji Chuling, carrying the unconscious Lou Zixiao. Upon seeing the two of them, he hurriedly asked, “Are you all right?”
Gu Baiqing replied that he was fine, then suddenly thought of something. Seeing that Li Xiuran and the others could move, he directly pushed the Mo Xuanli he was holding into Li Xiuran’s arms.
Li Xiuran was startled and caught him in a flurry.
“Master?” Mo Xuanli was originally in a half-conscious state, and this jolt directly woke him. Why did Master push him away? Wasn’t everything fine?
“Xuanli, you all leave here first. Go rest at the inn we encountered before. I’ll come and meet up with you shortly.” After saying this, Gu Baiqing turned and was about to fly away, but someone grabbed his sleeve.
“Master, don’t go… don’t abandon me!” Mo Xuanli, almost panicking, struggled to break free from Li Xiuran’s arms to grab Gu Baiqing.
Gu Baiqing turned back to look at Mo Xuanli, somewhat baffled. “I’m not leaving. I’m just going to handle one matter. Don’t make a fuss, rest properly.”
After saying this, regardless of what Mo Xuanli said next, he directly used magic to put Mo Xuanli to sleep, which would help him recover faster. He didn’t have time to see the panic and fear in Mo Xuanli’s eyes.
“Sorry to trouble you.” After giving instructions to Li Xiuran and Ji Chuling, Gu Baiqing flew away without looking back.
“Hasn’t the demon race retreated? What is Big Brother Gu going to do?” Ji Chuling asked in confusion.
“No idea. Let’s just do as senior instructed first.”
Thus, Li Xiuran and Ji Chuling each carried one person on their backs and directly left Immortal Medicine Valley, returning to Xiayang City.
At this time, Gu Baiqing had actually already chased all the way to Xiayang City and finally saw a familiar figure at a noodle shop.
Gu Baiqing grabbed the other person’s shoulder with one hand.
The other person hunched his neck, turned to look, and said with a dry laugh, “This fellow Daoist, do you have—”
“Stop pretending. Have you forgotten that I’ve seen your true appearance? And your Ascending-Cloud Stork is standing on the roof of this noodle shop spacing out. Very easy to recognize.”
The one in front of Gu Baiqing was precisely Half-Step Mad, and the fleeting figure seen earlier in Immortal Medicine Valley, as well as the person who had just saved him, were all this guy.
“Hehehe, just joking with you, right?” As he spoke, the handsome man turned into an old man.
But Gu Baiqing wore a very displeased expression. “What are you skulking around for? It’s not like you have an identity that needs hiding. Or are you doing something shady?”
Actually, because everything had happened ahead of schedule, Gu Baiqing originally thought that the events at Immortal Medicine Valley would not unfold according to the original situation, though he no longer knew what that original situation was. But he remembered that Lou Zixiao would be taken into Li Xiuran’s harem, and by then she would have forgotten everything and already be a pure, untainted medical cultivator, not a mixed-blood. This was actually very close to the current situation. So this part of the plot must have been brought forward; otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence?
As expected, once Gu Baiqing said that, Half-Step Mad wore a guilty expression and said, “Why say it like that? We’re a community of shared destiny. Everything I do is for our sake and for the future of this world.”
“You… should know what happened on the island, right? Was there really no better way?” Gu Baiqing thought of all the frustrating things experienced on the island and looked somewhat gloomily at this guy who clearly could have spoiled things.
“That, um… there was no way, it was the system’s mission, you know? It could only be discovered like this. I already did my best to save things. Li Xiuran had to become stronger, and little sister Xiaoxiao will be a very formidable medical cultivator in the future. Even if she doesn’t become part of a harem, she’s still an auxiliary presence. She can’t not be taken in.” Half-Step Mad said innocently.
Gu Baiqing felt a wave of stifling frustration. Although everything had been their own life choices, it still felt uncomfortable. Gu Baiqing didn’t ask what exactly he had done, after all, Half-Step Mad couldn’t answer related questions anyway. He could only ask the most crucial one, saying, “About the method for Lou Zixiao’s mixed-blood becoming a normal person, would it be useful for Xuanli?”
“How could that be possible, he is…” Half-Step Mad said up to here, then stiffened, clearly afraid of being struck by lightning. “Lou Zixiao’s situation is special. Her physique was altered by a genius medical cultivator since childhood, and then the two had their spiritual roots swapped so there wouldn’t be rejection. It was a once-only opportunity, impossible to replicate.”
Gu Baiqing’s gaze darkened slightly; he had already guessed what he wanted to say. Sure enough, in Half-Step Mad’s original setting, Mo Xuanli was the Primordial Demon. A Primordial Demon could not be the same as ordinary mixed-bloods.
“It seems we still have to rely on the God-Slaying Sword.” Gu Baiqing murmured.
“Isn’t that coming soon? You should already have several pieces in your hands. Once you collect the remaining ones, you can give it a try. I also want to know whether it’ll succeed. If it does, with no big boss in this world, it’ll be an easy clear.” Half-Step Mad nodded and said, “I just received the next mission. Don’t blame me for not reminding you, everything is speeding up. Prepare yourself mentally for the future plot to advance by leaps and bounds.”
Gu Baiqing frowned slightly. “You’re leaving again?”
“Mm.” As Half-Step Mad spoke, a bowl of noodles was brought over. Half-Step Mad began to relax and eat the noodles. Sure enough, for people like them who transmigrated here, no matter how strong their cultivation was, they couldn’t change the habit of eating.
The two casually exchanged some of the finer details of this segment of the plot. In fact, there were many things even Half-Step Mad didn’t know, because this world would automatically fill in the gaps.
Speaking of Lou Zixiao, Half-Step Mad said, “Actually, at this point, she should be following Li Xiuran and joining his team.”
“Looks like that probably won’t be possible…” Gu Baiqing was also thinking about how Lou Zixiao should be arranged.
Then he heard Half-Step Mad joke, “How about this, just let your disciple take her in directly. They’re both mixed-bloods, similar in age, a perfect match.”
Gu Baiqing’s mouth corner stiffened, and he looked at Half-Step Mad somewhat awkwardly.
“What’s wrong?” Half-Step Mad asked in confusion.
Gu Baiqing thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke. “Well… it’s still necessary to tell you.”
Half-Step Mad was full of question marks.
“Mo Xuanli… my disciple… confessed to me not long ago.”
“Pff!”
Gu Baiqing dodged the noodles that were sprayed out, looking at Half-Step Mad with an uncomfortable expression.
Half-Step Mad’s eyes widened. He reacted for a long while with an expression like he was about to choke to death, then said, “You… you… what did you say? The big villain, your disciple and you… he turned gay?!”
Gu Baiqing scratched his cheek, feeling it burn a little. “Anyway, it’s just that he likes me…”
Half-Step Mad already looked constipated. “My good big son, he was clearly so cool and flashy and domineering, how did it turn into… wait, then what about you? What did you say? Don’t tell me you bent too! Weren’t you strongly resistant before…”
Gu Baiqing was immediately provoked by Half-Step Mad’s tone and reflexively said, “I didn’t bend, I… I just…”
“You don’t like him?” Half-Step Mad immediately asked.
Gu Baiqing’s breathing stalled. “I… I just can’t really tell clearly.”
“What’s there to be unclear about?” Half-Step Mad asked, puzzled.
Facing one of his own kind, Gu Baiqing couldn’t help opening up and pouring out his troubles. “I really was a straight man in the past. And the system tied us together so tightly. I also have a lot of sympathy and affection for him, and I’ve almost always treated him like my own younger brother, doting on and pampering him. It’s very easy to get confused.”
Although Half-Step Mad was wailing internally over his son being stolen and was greatly shocked, when faced with the troubles of a fellow compatriot, he couldn’t help but sympathize. “This, I can’t really help you with. I’ve never been in a relationship. But you really can’t casually brush off your disciple. If you’re not careful, that’s a big boss. How about you just don’t worry about whether you like him or not, and for the sake of the great cause, sell your looks a bit?”
Gu Baiqing narrowed his eyes in warning.
Half-Step Mad dryly laughed twice, stirring the noodles in his bowl, and muttered, “But speaking of which, what even counts as liking someone? Is there any standard for judging that?”
Hearing this, Gu Baiqing was reminded of something. After all, having voiced many novels, he could talk about it.
“Of course there is. For example, when you see him you can’t help but smile, when something happens, good or bad, he’s the first one you think of, you want to see him all the time, when you can’t see him you miss him and worry about him, you can’t sleep well night after night, impatiently wanting to go find him…”
“…In a crowd you can recognize him at first glance, any contact makes your heart race, makes you shy and flustered, and seeing him get close to someone of the opposite sex makes you feel uncomfortable…”
“…You want everyone to know how good he is, you’ll hate people who hurt him without needing a reason, and you’ll unapologetically be biased and favor him…”
As Gu Baiqing spoke, his voice slowed more and more, and his gaze became increasingly distant…
“You can’t help but think about what it would be like to be with this person in the future for many, many years, where you would live, what you would do, what kind of way you would get along…”
Gu Baiqing’s heartbeat began to speed up… many scenes he had unconsciously thought of flashed through his mind…
“…In more serious cases, your whole mind is filled with him. You worry for him, grieve for him, feel happy for him, and for him… break your own principles, do things you would never possibly do…”
And when that person confesses to you, your first reaction is not rejection, not weighing pros and cons to consider whether to accept, but in the very moment you think about the question, you think of the face he would make because you didn’t accept right away, the sad look on his face. You can’t help wanting to run to him right now, to hug him, to kiss him… your heart in such a panic that you’re afraid that if you’re even a step too late, you’ll miss it.
Gu Baiqing suddenly stood up, startling Half-Step Mad across from him.
“Wh—what… what’s wrong?” Half-Step Mad said in astonishment.
Gu Baiqing’s expression was solemn, his breathing involuntarily quickening, yet before his eyes it was as if everything suddenly became clear. Even his vision grew sharper, the air fresher, and the moment he thought of someone, it was as if a flower bloomed in his chest.
“I get it.”
“Huh? Get what?” Half-Step Mad was dumbfounded, only to see Gu Baiqing let out a long breath, smile in relief, his pale-colored eyes sparkling, as if all the confusion from just now had completely vanished, leaving only a beautiful smile.
“Right, first come with me to take care of something. After that… I have to hurry back to his side. I should give him an answer. I can’t make him wait any longer.” Although it hadn’t been long, less than a day, Gu Baiqing felt he had wasted far too much time.
“What? What! Take care of what? What answer!” Half-Step Mad’s head was practically full of question marks when he was dragged away impatiently by Gu Baiqing.
And at this moment, Mo Xuanli inside the inn was struggling to wake from a deep sleep.
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