Chapter 264: 56: Wei and I are Fellow Townsmen

The group quickly took to their swords and began their journey from the Southern Border towards the southern foothills of Mount Taihang.

Along the way, Wei Dongliu carefully recalculated once again.

The current intelligence network of this persona mainly consists of two tiers.

The lower tier consisted of the disciples Guo Jin and Wang Cong; as they gradually grew, he would have them travel far and wide in search of intelligence on the Hell Path.

The advantage of this line was that the disciples were handy to use, but the drawback was that the disciples needed time to be nurtured.

An ordinary cultivator would usually reach the Refining Mansion stage about fifty years into cultivation, but Wei Dongliu felt that it might take even longer for these two disciples given their aptitude.

Perhaps seventy to eighty years; there was no rush for now.

The upper tier was Wei Dongliu himself, who would gather intelligence through Jiang Liyan, Wen Yang, Gu Lie, and Long Xiaoqi from the Heavenly Demon Path, Nether Ghost Path, Asura Path, and Eastern Emperor Path respectively.

The advantage lay in the shorter cycle, as Wei Dongliu himself started as a cultivator of the Refining Mansion stage; the disadvantage was that he needed to maintain his persona and couldn’t just ask around freely.

Of course, as a qualified spy and traitor, he wouldn’t be so narrow-minded as to stick to just one line of action.

I want it all!

Beyond Wei Dongliu’s situation, what was more worrying was the situation on Luo Yan’s side.

At the current timeline, Wei Dongliu was a few days ahead of Luo Yan’s progress.

This meant that as long as he reloaded to Luo Yan’s situation, he would soon encounter the “Hundred Thousand Heavenly Demons Attacking Penglai” incident.

According to what Jiang Liyan and others said, the Yuqing View in Penglai had been breached, even the Mountain Protection Array was gone; it was a complete and utter defeat.

However, the specifics of Heavenly Craft Workshop were not mentioned in detail.

According to Ah Jing, he still couldn’t ask proactively, otherwise what if someone remarked, “The whole Heavenly Craft Workshop was wiped out,” or “Some guy named Luo Yan died a miserable death”? What then?

Therefore, although his mind was spinning with thoughts, he refrained from directly asking.

Jiang Liyan and the others were not part of the expedition team after all, merely overhearing and getting some second-hand news. Thus, the conversation didn’t linger on this topic for long and quickly shifted to other matters.

“It’s said that on the northern battlefield this time, as no high-rank cultivators stepped forward, Shushan has gone into a frenzied killing spree,” said Wen Yang casually in conversation. “The most frantic killer is that Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal.”

“Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal An Zhisu?” Jiang Liyan curiously said. “I’ve heard that she’s a star of slaughter within Shushan as well, afraid that more fellow sect members have died by her hand than enemy cultivators from rival sects.”

“After all, Shushan is skirt-tied to the Three Pure Ones; their rules are different from ours,” Wen Yang scoffed with disdain. “No matter how strong you are, without sufficient networks of relationships, you are useless. So in the past Southern Expeditions, the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal never got the chance to participate. Still, I don’t know why they let her come this time.”

(The term ‘skirt-tied Three Pure Ones’ is a derisive term for the Three Pure Orthodox Sect, mocking the elite disciples of Kunlun, Shushan, and Penglai, who are often dominated by cultivator families, suggesting that they’ve essentially started to become clan-based.)

“An Zhisu’s father is Qi Sha True Person Su Jian, the Peak Master of Qingluo Peak,” Gu Lie also added. “The man is also a big star of slaughter and is said to be a direct disciple of the Supreme Elder Long Eyebrow Immortal of Shushan.”

“Later, Su Jian was ambushed and seriously injured by several elders of our sect. Once he returned to his sect, he began to seclude himself for life and death meditation, leading to Qingluo Peak’s downfall thereafter.”

“That’s quite unusual,” Jiang Liyan said with a smile, narrowing his eyes. “If the direct disciple’s lineage is declining, why doesn’t the Supreme Elder intervene?”

“Who knows,” Wen Yang shrugged dismissively. “It’s probably just all those messy schemes and power struggles.”

Jiang Liyan raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced.

No matter the scheming involved, it shouldn’t have influenced the Supreme Elder.

At his position, to put it bluntly, even a sneeze from him would cause ripples through the Various Peaks of Shushan… The fact that the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal wantonly kills fellow sect members and isn’t valued in the sect, clearly indicates the indifference of the patriarch ancestor.

“What do you think, Brother Wei?” she asked, tilting her head with a winsome smile, and turning to Wei Dongliu.

“Perhaps it’s a dispute over the path.” Wei Dongliu said offhand.

“A dispute over the path?” Jiang the Witch blinked.

“Hey, I’m clear on this.” Gu Lie suddenly interjected, “Take our Asura Path, for example. Within our sect, there are those dedicated to magical competition, and there are also those who delve deeply into Buddhism. The two sides don’t see eye to eye.”

“So, Brother Gu, are you affiliated with the magical competition branch, or the Buddhist branch?” Jiang the Witch asked with a smile.

“I’m naturally of the magical competition branch.” Gu Lie said without hesitation.

The atmosphere suddenly grew silent.

Everyone suddenly remembered that inside the Mirror Lake Divine Palace, Gu Lie’s reflection in the mirror was furious in appearance, but harbored a compassionate heart… Did that mean that, on the surface, he was bloodthirsty for combat, but in reality, he yearned for Buddhism?

“Ahem!” Gu Lie also realized something was amiss and explained, “My father was an accomplished monk in a temple, proficient in the theories of Esoteric Buddhism, and he even obtained the title of ‘Aran Bagshi.’

“Aran Bagshi?” Jiang Liyan asked curiously.

“It’s a title among monks, one that requires prolonged and arduous study of Buddhism in an Esoteric Buddhism academy,” sighed Gu Lie. “Ever since I was little, he imparted to me many classics, and I was supposed to inherit his mantle.”

“But when I was fourteen, he fell in a magical competition with his enemy and perished, his soul shattered to the point that there was no chance for reincarnation.

“From that day on, I understood, what’s the use of studying Buddhism so deeply?” The old monk sighed, raised one palm, and solemnly chanted, “Amitābha,” “If you can’t defeat your enemy in magical competition, will the Buddha really send a fierce deity to save you just because your knowledge of Buddhism is profound?”

“Brother Gu’s words have the nature of Buddha!” Wen Yang applauded with a laugh, “As long as one’s skills in magical competition are formidable, what does it matter if they’re not versed in Buddhism?”

Gu Lie gesture dismissively with a lack of interest, indicating he didn’t wish to elaborate further.

“Brother Gu actually comes from a family of high monks,” Jiang the Witch also said with a smile. “Little Seven also knows that before entering the path, he was herding in the Southern Border. What about Brother Wen?”

“Just from an ordinary, well-off family,” Wen Yang passed over the subject succinctly.

A well-off family usually meant being a landlord… As Wei Dongliu was watching coldly on the side, he saw Jiang the Witch turn the topic towards him:

“Brother Wei was a loose cultivator before joining the Mortal Life Path. It seems you’re not from a Cultivator Family, but based on your speech and demeanor, you’re not from a minor household either, right?”

“I’m from overseas,” Wei Dongliu said mysteriously.

“Overseas?” Everyone became curious, “The Southern Sea or the East Sea?”

Sea of time, I’m a time traveler, believe it or not?

Wei Dongliu answered perfunctorily:

“The Southern Sea and the East Sea are connected. As for the specific location, I’m not sure; I came to the Divine Land by accident.”

“I see,” the others, seeing he didn’t want to elaborate, tactfully stopped inquiring and just heard Wen Yang laugh again:

“We’ve asked everyone else, but what about you, Sister Jiang?”

“Me?” Jiang Liyan smiled with curved eyes, “My secular parents were fishermen overseas, living on the west isle of Penghu Island. However, shortly after I was born, my master took me in to start my cultivation journey.”

She suddenly thought of something, clapped her hands with a laugh, “In that case, like Brother Wei, I too am of overseas origin. Does that make us fellow countrymen then?”

At this, everyone was left speechless, figuring out that just being from overseas made you fellow countrymen, right?