"Brother Hou Yi, just stay in the Effulgent Great World and wait for my signal," said Qin Yun. "If things go according to plan, we will take action today."
"Alright." Hou Yi nodded. "You have to be careful, though. That old loach is extremely crafty. A single failure will make it difficult for any future success."
Qin Yun nodded. "That's why we need to destroy him this time."
Following that, Qin Yun left the Effulgent Great World and headed to the Heavenly realm.
…
In a general's residence of a human city located in the Heavenly realm.
"Mahamayuri is in seclusion. Sword Immortal Qin, please wait a moment," a bald monk said rather politely.
"There's no rush." Qin Yun smiled as he sat in the garden, drinking tea while taking in the beautiful scenery and listening to the twittering of birds.
Moments later.
A white-dressed Kong Xuan walked out. He smiled and said, "Brother Qin Yun, I heard that you have been in seclusion the past few years. I feel really flattered that you would visit me the moment you exit seclusion."
"I'm here to borrow a treasure," Qin Yun said directly.
"Borrow a treasure?" Kong Xuan smiled. "I have many treasures now. Which one are you borrowing?"
He had a few Connate Cardinal treasures in his possession.
"Wasn't there a silver thread specifically meant for capturing enemies among Bohan Island Lord's treasures?" Qin Yun said. "I'd like to borrow it."
"I've given it a name, calling it the Heaven and Earth Myriad Objects Noose." Kong Xuan looked rather smug as he said, "It can capture the myriad objects in the heaven and earth. Previously, I was in seclusion and studied these Connate Cardinal treasures. Each one of them has a perfected Great Dao at the very least… The more I studied them, the more I realize how lacking my accumulated insights are. On our past visit to the spatial tide, Goumang and I really hit it lucky by being with you and Hou Yi. If it were just the two of us, just being able to survive in the spatial tide would have been impressive. There was no way we would have obtained so many treasures."
"If you are so grateful to me, there won't be any problems lending me your treasures, right?" Qin Yun asked. "I only need it for a day."
"Of course." Kong Xuan nodded and waved his hand.
A silver thread flew out.
The moment it appeared, it seemed to become a portion of the world as though it could capture and bind everything.
Qin Yun reached out to receive it. "Thanks."
At their level… there was no worry about borrowing treasures without returning.
To not return borrowed treasures resulted in huge karma! It would end up being a huge obstacle to one's cultivation, so the more someone cared about their cultivation, the more they cared about their karma.
On the contrary, those who would lose decorum with their masters and betray good friends because of a powerful Connate Numinous treasure were usually the ordinary mighty figures who could hardly improve themselves, to the point of not reaching the pinnacle mighty figure level forever… Such acts were all quite conceivable.
At Qin Yun's and Kong Xuan's level, it was quite impossible.
"Who do you plan on using it against?" Kong Xuan asked. "If the matter is of urgency, there's no need to tell me."
"It has to be kept confidential. Kong Xuan, please keep this to yourself," said Qin Yun. "I'm dealing with that old loach from the Yellowbeard Great World."
"Him?" Kong Xuan frowned. "He hides in the river of time and flies at extremely fast speeds. No one beneath the Heavenly Dao realm can catch up to him. Besides, he has nine avatars… Dealing with him won't be easy."
"He came to threaten me, saying he would exterminate my entire family… He wanted me to hand over a Connate Cardinal treasure to ensure peace. How can I spare him?" Qin Yun sneered.
Kong Xuan's expression could not help but change when he heard that. "He actually acted so presumptuously? He does deserve death. But this is really something that old loach is capable of. He's well known for his greed. Back when the Daoist and Buddhists were fighting the fiends, he would straddle the line and gain benefits from both sides. He's extremely shameless. If he's not satisfied, he will seek ruthless revenge. The Daoists and Buddhists wish to be rid of him, but they have not been able to do it all this while. Are you confident you can finish him?"
"Yes." Qin Yun nodded.
"If you can really kill him, the Daoists and Buddhists would be celebrating." Kong Xuan said wistfully. "Those Chaos Godfiends have cultivated for so long, but there are still who can't change their baneful character. The Dao Ancestors and Buddhist Ancestor are still around, enough to make them behave, but once they leave the Three Realms… those old fellows will probably stir up a bigger storm."
Kong Xuan was originally well known to be unbridled and baneful.
After he became a Buddhist, he naturally worked on cultivating his heart and mind. Now, he lived among the humans and showered blessings around him.
He even felt a little contempt towards those who had cultivated for years but had failed to change their baneful characters. For instance, although his younger brother had also become a Buddhist, he was far inferior at cultivating his mind. He also often berated him for that.
"Kong Xuan, in terms of inference, you are superior to me. Help me infer… where the numerous avatars of that old loach are. My inference gives me extremely vague results. I only know roughly which Great Worlds they are in, but not their exact locations."
"His hiding skills are indeed impressive. Let me give it a try." Kong Xuan nodded and immediately did the inference carefully. Five-colored Divine Light began swirling around him.
"I infer that he has five avatars. One is in Yellowbeard Great World, one in Changyu Great Chang world, and two in the fiendish dominion's Great Worlds and the final one is in the Tenebrous Fiend Abyss," said Kong Xuan. "You won't be able to enter the fiendish dominion or the Tenebrous Fiend Abyss, so it's truly not easy to kill that old loach."
Qin Yun nodded and continued asking, "I can roughly infer that the avatar in the Yellowbeard Great World is the strongest, but I'm unable to pinpoint its location. How about you?"
"I infer that he's hiding within half a million kilometers of the Qian Ning River in the Yellowbeard Great World," said Kong Xuan. "I'm unable to get any more detailed than that."
"That's sufficient." Qin Yun smiled. "Alright. I'll be taking my leave first."
"I'll be here waiting for your good news," Kong Xuan said with a laugh.
******
Qin Yun stepped through space and arrived above the Qian Ning River in the Yellowbeard Great World.
"Rumble!"
It was a mountain outlet where the river waters surged out turbulently.
Qin Yun appeared above the river out of thin air, but in an instant, a wisp of misty rain flew out of his fingertip before splitting into three. "Array setup."
With a thought, the array was set up.
The setting up of the Misty Rain Array was now undetectable and did not cause a single stir. It was also testament to Qin Yun's present realm.
"Found it." Qin Yun set up the array formation and immediately sealed the space within its confines. Due to the enhancement of the Misty Rain Sword and his increase in realm, the Misty Rain Array's might had increased exponentially as well. Its range had increased to five million kilometers! Time was needed even for the fastest flyer to escape this staggering range.
…
In a manor beside the Qian Ning River.
Elder Yellowbeard reclused himself here. He was very crafty; after threatening Qin Yun, he did not return to his old residence and casually chose this spot for his seclusion.
"I'm good at hiding from the heavenly secrets. Qin Yun is only able to vaguely determine that my avatar is in the Yellowbeard Great World." Yellowbeard sat cross-legged as he chortled secretly. "If he heads straight for my original cave abode, he will find nothing."
"Against my threat, he will either try to kill me or bow obediently. He will definitely not ignore his family's safety." Yellowbeard was very confident.
In order to threaten Qin Yun, he had long gathered large amounts of information regarding him.
"For his homeworld, he was willing to risk becoming an Itinerant Immortal. How can a Connate Cardinal treasure matter compare to his family and loved ones?" Yellowbeard thought to himself.
"Connate Cardinal treasure. I've helped the Fiend Ancestor numerous times and although I've obtained some benefits, I've not been able to get a Connate Cardinal treasure."
In the Three Realms, there were just too few Connate Cardinal treasures.
Many perfected Great Dao experts did not even have one.
"Almost there. Almost.
"Qin Yun will bow."
Yellowbeard felt expectant. "Just one threat will not take much effort and there's a high possibility of me obtaining a Connate Cardinal treasure. There's no danger for me either… What a great deal."
He looked forward to the day Qin Yun sent him a Connate Cardinal treasure.
"Oh?"
Yellowbeard vaguely sensed that Qin Yun had crossed through space and arrived in the Yellowbeard Great World through karma. "Qin Yun is here? The heavenly secrets around him are very blurred. I can't determine his location. Has he chosen to bow?"
The moment this thought came to him, Yellowbeard felt the surrounding space seal under a suppression. Even with his strength, he was unable to tear through space to leave.
"Space has been sealed?" Yellowbeard's face sank. "He plans on attacking? What a joke."
Hua!
He instantly split into three.
The three Elder Yellowbeards plunged into the river of time simultaneously, turning into three yellow loaches as their whiskers flailed. With a flick of their tails, the three yellow loaches escaped in different directions at amazing speeds.
The three yellow loaches varied in strength.
Just after the weakest loach fled tens of thousand of kilometers, it felt countless sword beams gather around it, completely trapping it. Knowing that it could no escape successfully, it immediately took up human form. When the countless sword beams bound him, Dharmic powers surged into his body, and this extremely weak avatar which was only at the ordinary mighty figure level was fully sealed.
"Qin Yun." Yellowbeard showed no fear as he roared, "Do you really want the Qin family to be exterminated?"
He thought nothing of having a single avatar captured.
Even if it was destroyed… he could easily cultivate them again.
"Swoosh!"
Another loach was rapidly flying and similarly, countless sword beams gathered in a bid to imprison it. It was the strongest avatar, barely reaching the perfected Great Dao realm.
"You won't be able to capture me if I don't permit it." The loach spoke in human language as its voice resounded. It then annihilated itself silently, its strength returning to the world. It had chosen to commit suicide.
As he possessed at most nine avatars, he could cultivate them back after one was dead. But if they were captured and sealed… there would be no way of committing suicide.
If the weak avatars were caught, the influence on his strength would be trivial. However, he did not wish for his powerful avatars to be caught alive.
"Qin Yun, I can easily cultivate back the dead avatars." Yellowbeard scoffed. "That weak avatar is nothing to me. I advise you to think it through. Bow your head now and there's still a chance to turn back."
At that moment, the third loach was also flying at rapid speeds, having flown more than half a million kilometers out. Its strength was considered average, with the strength of a pinnacle mighty figure.
Suddenly, a thread flashed out of the void.
Before Yellowbeard could react, he felt his body tighten and found himself bound by a silver thread. All his Dharmic powers were sealed as well.
Qin Yun had used the Connate Cardinal treasure, Heaven and Earth Myriad Objects Noose, to sneak an attack amid the Misty Rain Array's concealment. He did it in one fell swoop, preventing Yellowbeard's avatar from taking human form in time. It was captured in the form of a loach.
"I've caught two avatars alive." Qin Yun nodded slightly. He had borrowed the Heaven and Earth Myriad Objects Noose to ensure that he captured at least one. Capturing two was better than he expected.
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