Chapter 866: Leaving Yan, Entering Jin

Chen Changsheng suddenly realized something.

No, that wasn't right.

This line of thinking was completely wrong.

His dao heart was unsteady.

"Hmm..."

Chen Changsheng mused, but on second thought, it actually seemed quite feasible.

What a pity.

Seeing Mister shake his head and then nod, Yunxiang couldn't understand what he was thinking, but he was certainly acting differently than usual.

Chen Changsheng sat by the shore and pondered for a moment.

It would be best not to leave this Formation here.

Then again, leaving such a Formation in the Mortal World actually wasn't a bad thing.

At the very least, allowing the Southern Domain of Sheng River to maintain this appearance of peace was a good thing.

Even if it was somewhat illusory.

But that was far better than exposing it to the world and breeding chaos.

"Let's go."

Yunxiang looked at him and asked, "Has Mister resolved it?"

Chen Changsheng shook his head. "Thinking it over, I feel it's best not to touch it. It's rare to find such a peaceful land; taking the Formation now would be no different from destroying this place."

Yunxiang strongly agreed with Mister's reasoning.

She pointed out, "But under these circumstances, there might be a greater conspiracy at play..."

Chen Changsheng smiled. "At least for now, it is a good thing."

Yunxiang nodded and said no more.

Mister was right.

This place was still better than the outside, much like a paradise secluded from the world.

The horse carriage rolled onto the suspension bridge.

The bridge seemed rather unstable, swaying heavily from side to side.

Even the wooden stakes anchored into the riverbanks showed signs of loosening.

Chen Changsheng used Arts and Techniques to envelop them.

This ensured they would not be affected by the Formation while crossing the river.

He had to admit, that Formation really had some substance to it; it had nearly breached Chen Changsheng's Arts and Techniques.

The main reason for that was likely the Sarira Bead.

When Chen Changsheng leaned in for a closer look earlier, he had naturally noticed the extraordinary nature of that Sarira Bead; it definitely hadn't been formed by an ordinary cultivator of the Buddhist Schools.

Sarira Beads were revered as ultimate treasures by the Buddhist Schools. For one to be placed in this river to power a Formation meant that whoever set it up harbored grand ambitions.

After crossing the river safely, Chen Changsheng glanced back. He then dropped a trace of Magical Power into the river water, concealing it within the Formation.

This way, he would be instantly aware of any changes to the Formation.

And as for that crumbling, precarious bridge...

Chen Changsheng pondered for a long moment before using Arts and Techniques again, making the structure a bit more sturdy.

Meanwhile, on the opposite riverbank they had just left behind, two figures in the shadows saw this and quietly withdrew.

...

Within Liuyun Temple in Qiuyue Fang.

Layman Mu heard the cry of a cuckoo. He promptly bid farewell to the Priest before him and hurried down the mountain.

"Your Highness, that Mister went down into the river, then crossed the bridge and left."

Hearing this, Zhao Wuji asked, "Did that Mister resolve the matter with the Sheng River?"

The man in front of him hesitated, wanting to speak yet holding back, and ultimately shook his head.

"He did not resolve it."

Zhao Wuji gave a helpless smile, still finding this somewhat surprising.

"So he made that choice after all."

Some of the things he had said were deliberately meant for Chen Changsheng to hear.

The words he had spoken in the inn that day had been full of holes, which was entirely intentional.

How could he, Zhao Wuji, be a fool?

He had only told Chen Changsheng those things because he wanted him to carefully consider the matter.

To muddy the waters!

He had long heard that this Mister cared deeply for the common people, so he certainly wouldn't touch the Sheng River.

But if things became murky and sparked curiosity, it would be a different story. When an Immortal sought nothing and knew nothing, they would naturally keep the commoners in mind. But if they sought something and learned of a secret, the life and death of those commoners would become secondary.

But in the end, it was he, Zhao Wuji, who had miscalculated.

This Mister's magnanimity went far beyond what he had imagined.

He genuinely cared for the ordinary people of the marketplace.

For a moment, Zhao Wuji even began to doubt the views that Immortals and Buddhas held toward the Mortal World. Perhaps among them, not all were cultivators who viewed human lives as worthless grass.

Zhao Wuji sighed. It seemed he would have to find another way to handle the Sheng River situation.

As for why he wanted to break the Formation in the Sheng River...

The reason was actually quite simple.

It was just like growing vegetables; when the leeks were mature, it was naturally time to harvest them.

If the world was at peace and the commoners lived in comfort, how could he possibly conscript soldiers under such circumstances?

There was still a lack of a sense of crisis.

.

.

After crossing the Sheng River, the scenery ahead was vastly different.

There were dilapidated, deserted villages and barren, abandoned fields.

Yunxiang said, "In the early years, this place was still very lively. Now, it has become so desolate."

Here in Yan Land, the people had either died in the ravages of war or had been forced up the mountains to become bandits.

Such was the state of the world. If one wanted to survive, they had to risk their lives.

The further they went, the denser the mountain forests became.

This was the nature of Yan Land. This endless, rolling mountain range was its greatest defense.

The Wanli Great Mountains blocked Prince Jin's army from the outside, acting as an endless fortress wall that stopped the spread of war. Otherwise, when Prince Jin annihilated Xiao back then, Yan Land would have also found it hard to escape a calamity.

After entering the mountains, many watchful gazes naturally appeared within the dense woods.

Both Lihua and Yu Hongjin noticed those prying eyes.

However, unlike last time, these people did not make a move. As the carriage rolled along, their path remained completely unobstructed; no one came to block them.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng wasn't surprised.

These robbers, or mountain bandits, were only bandits on the surface.

These people were likely the Prince of Yan's men. No, that wasn't right. He shouldn't say the Prince of Yan, but rather, Zhao Wuji's men.

The Prince of Yan was a fake.

The true master of this Yan Land was Zhao Wuji.

This was nothing short of a strategy of concealment. Yan Land suffered from a bandit plague, but who on the outside could have known that these bandits actually held a formal status?

"Hiding within the mountains..."

Chen Changsheng murmured, remarking, "This world is truly becoming more and more interesting."

Now, it only remained to be seen who would lose their patience first.

Judging by the temperaments of those princes, Prince Jin would definitely be the first to strike. The brief peace right now was nothing more than the calm before the storm.

The horse carriage traveled for about a day's journey before finally exiting the mountains.

They had endured a bumpy ride the entire way without stopping.

The view ahead opened up considerably, no longer as claustrophobic and impenetrable as before.

At the same time, a mountain pass appeared in the near distance.

From this location, one could enter Jindi.

By comparison, the border controls in Jindi were much stricter.

The majority of people trying to enter were turned back. The only groups that didn't face much obstruction were merchant caravans, and even then, only a select few.

Yunxiang explained, "Prince Jin allows trading firms to conduct commerce, with the Tang Family Trading Firm leading the way. The other trading firms are basically subordinates operating under the Tang Family Trading Firm."

Chen Changsheng nodded. "If that's the case, we can just head straight through."

"Mhm."

However, this journey into Jindi...

...would not go as smoothly as Chen Changsheng had imagined.