Seeking Immortality

On the majestic and steep Jiuhua Mountain, there are fairy clouds and misty clouds. From time to time, there are cranes flying by, making a series of crane calls. It is still a peaceful and peaceful fairyland scene.

And the many low-level disciples who stayed on Jiuhua Mountain were still busy with cultivation and immortality at this time, and they had no idea of ​​the changes that occurred during the newcomers' competition these days. And they also had no idea that in these days, Jiuhua Mountain had also undergone earth-shaking changes! !

At the foot of Jiuhua Mountain, a side hall was built on it. Above the door of the hall, a plaque was hung horizontally, with three golden characters "Jiuji Hall" engraved on it.

Compared with the "Hualing Hall", which represents the face and symbol of Jiuhuamen, this "Jiuji Hall" is very inconspicuous. There is no grand and strange place at all. There are no magnificent carvings, no exquisite decorations, and it looks very simple and plain.

But for the top leaders of Jiuhuamen, the significance and importance of this "Jiuji Hall" to Jiuhuamen is no less than that of "Hualing Hall", and even more so.

Because this "Jiuji Hall" is the hub of the "Jiuji Formation", the mountain protection formation that Jiuhua Mountain is proud of. The mountain protection elders of Jiuhua Mountain and some elders who are proficient in the art of formations are stationed here all year round, so that they can control and understand everything about the mountain protection formation at any time.

But at this time, the "Jiuji Hall" which should have been bright seemed very dim, and there was even a faint smell of blood.

A beam of light shone in from the open door of the hall, slightly driving away some of the darkness in the hall, and reflecting a light path in the hall. Under the reflection of the light path, the places where the light did not reach were even darker.

And Elder Hou, the mountain protection elder whose status in Jiuhuamen was second only to the head and the supreme protector. At this time, he was standing quietly at the end of the light path, his clothes were wrinkled, his face was stained with a little blood, his eyes were dull, and there was no brilliance at all.

If Lu Qingshang were still here, he would never believe that his master, who always paid attention to his image, had turned into such a state.

Especially the wooden eyes. It was as if he had lost all his sanity at this moment.

At the feet of Elder Hou, several corpses were lying. The blood on these corpses had dried up, and it was obvious that they had been dead for at least several days.

Judging from the appearance of these corpses, they were all very old when they were alive. Although they were dead now, it was also possible to see their masterly power when they were alive. They were the Jiuhua elders who were proficient in formations and had been stationed in Jiuji Palace with Elder Hou before.

But at this time, Elder Hou didn't care about the corpses under his feet. Although his eyes were numb, his hands did not stop at all. His ten fingers changed continuously at a speed that could not be seen by the eyes. Under the changes of his finger gestures, the ancient and mysterious copper pillar in the center of the "Jiuji Palace" also changed endlessly with the five-color light. Lin Lei

This copper pillar is the "Jiuji Pillar", a rare treasure used by Jiuhua Sect to control the "Jiuji Formation"! !

If someone is floating in the sky outside Mount Jiuhua at this time, using the "Sky Eye Technique" will reveal that the clouds and mists of the mountain protection array outside Mount Jiuhua are also fluctuating violently at the same time, as if some drastic changes are taking place.

After a long time. As Elder Hou's finger gestures stopped changing, the light on the copper pillar also stopped changing, and the thick clouds and mist outside Mount Jiuhua also stopped fluctuating at the same time.

After Elder Hou finished all this, he stood still with his hands down. Like a puppet without anyone controlling him.

Inside the hall. Next to the hall door, three figures quietly hid in the darkness beside the door.

One of them was an old man in black clothes with a majestic face. One was an old man in hemp clothes, and the other was a monster covered with scales and a pair of snake eyes.

The old man in black looked at Elder Hou's eyes without any spirit, sighed slightly, and once again doubted his behavior this time.

For the sake of a position as the head of the sect and to become famous in the world of immortal cultivation, I cooperated with those people, not only destroying the reputation of Jiuhua Sect for thousands of years, but also killing many fellow disciples who had been with me for many years, causing Jiuhua Sect's vitality, which had finally recovered, to be greatly damaged again. Although I have countermeasures for these things, is it worth it or not?

I sighed slightly in my heart and said to myself secretly that some things, once you take the first step, you can't stop, not everything can be started over again.

"What's more, the position of the head of the sect should have been mine more than three hundred years ago!! All I did was to take back everything I deserved."

Thinking of this, the old man in black regained his former firmness and said to the old man and the monster beside him: "You stay here to control Junior Brother Hou, and once Zhang Hualing and his men return, trap them in the Nine Extreme Formation."

"Yes, as you command." The old man in hemp clothes said respectfully

"Hiss, you say it, I naturally understand this. Hiss, the monster also said at the same time.

When the monster spoke, a thin snake tongue spit out of its mouth, which made people feel horrified when they saw it.

The old man looked at the monster in front of him, and a trace of disgust flashed across his eyes, but he didn't say much, just nodded slightly, and then turned and walked out of the hall.

The moment he walked out of the hall, he was in the dark just now, and the dazzling sunlight outside the hall made his eyes hurt slightly.

At this time, he suddenly remembered that since cooperating with those people, he had become more and more accustomed to being in the dark!

Was it because of the change of mood?

The old man in black laughed at himself, but didn't think much about it, or didn't dare to think much about it, but a cloud of auspicious clouds rose under his feet, carrying him to the "Hualing Hall" on the mountainside.

Wherever Bai Yun carried him to, the low-level disciples of Jiuhua Mountain bowed and saluted him. It was obvious that this old man had a very high status in Jiuhua Mountain.

But this old man did not stop, nor did he look at the disciples under his feet. He just flew quickly to the front of the "Hualing Hall" and walked in.

In the hall, several old men had been waiting for a long time.

The black-clothed old man nodded slightly to the old men, and then walked to the end of the Hualing Hall. He sat in the original position of Zhang Hualing.

That was a position that only the head of Jiuhua could sit.

Seeing that the old men did not express any objection to his behavior, the black-clothed old man nodded with satisfaction, and then asked slowly: "Junior Brother Liu, how far are Zhang Hualing and others from Jiuhua Mountain now?"

An old man stood up and bowed and said: "Report to the head brother, there is still half a day's journey."

The black-clothed old man nodded slightly. Slowly closed his eyes, but did not say anything else.

Seeing that the black-clothed old man fell silent. The old man surnamed Liu asked cautiously: "Master, Zhang Hualing and the others are coming back soon, so what should we do now?"

The old man in black still did not open his eyes after hearing the question from the old man surnamed Liu, but just uttered a word softly.

"Wait."

Half a day later. Zhang Hualing took Xu Qingfan and others on the road for two days. Finally returned to the foot of Jiuhua Mountain.

Since that day when Xu Qingfan handed the note from Wang Qingjun to Zhang Hualing, he and Zhang Hualing never said a word again. As for what the last sentence of the poem "A Buddha's revenge has been a thousand years" meant, Zhang Hualing was unwilling to say more, just let Xu Qingfan think about it himself.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar Jiuhua Mountain in front of him, Xu Qingfan was filled with emotion.

It was only more than ten days since he left, but Xu Qingfan felt as if he had been away for many years. Because of this newcomer competition, he experienced too many things. Returning to Jiuhua Mountain, it is inevitable that people feel as if they were in another world.

After Zhang Hualing arrived at the foot of the mountain, he made several finger gestures in the direction of Jiuhua Mountain. As his finger gestures changed, the illusion array outside Jiuhua Mountain fluctuated, and then a voice came from Jiuhua Mountain.

"Is it the head brother? You came back so soon? So few people came back? Where are Brother Zhou and the other disciples?"

It was the voice of Elder Hou, the mountain guardian of Jiuhua Mountain.

After hearing Elder Hou's voice, Zhang Hualing seemed to be slightly relieved. Then he also said loudly: "Some changes have occurred in this newcomer competition. Let's go back to the mountain and talk about it."

As he said, Zhang Hualing did not pause. After arriving at Jiuhua Mountain, he raised his right hand, and a fire talisman flew out of his hand and quickly connected with the mountain protection array outside Jiuhua Mountain, and then a light hole appeared from the illusion outside Jiuhua Mountain.

After seeing the light hole formed, Zhang Hualing did not hesitate and flew towards the light hole with the elders and disciples.

But at the moment when the cultivators flew into the light hole, something strange happened.

In the past, once the monks from Jiuhua Mountain flew into the light cave, the real scene of Jiuhua Mountain would appear before their eyes. But now, when the monks flew into the light cave, they found that they were in a state of chaos. Countless black clouds covered the sky and earth. When the black clouds collided, tiny golden lightning flashed continuously, but the original scenery of Jiuhua Mountain was not seen at all.

Seeing this mirror image, the faces of the monks all changed greatly. When they turned around and looked again, they found that the original light cave had disappeared.

Zhang Hualing looked at the scenery in front of him with a serious face and shouted: "Junior Brother Hou, why did you do this? Come out and explain it to me clearly!!"

Zhang Hualing's voice was very powerful, even more powerful than Li Tianying's shout to Xu Qingfan on Huandao Island.

Under the power of Zhang Hualing's voice, countless black clouds around the monks surged.

"Senior Brother Zhang, don't blame Junior Brother Hou, all this is my idea."

After a long time, a voice sounded.

As the voice fell, the dark clouds in front of everyone slowly parted, and an old man in black clothes and a serious face appeared in front of everyone.

Seeing the appearance of this old man, the monks present couldn't help but exclaimed one after another.

Because this old man in black was none other than the Supreme Protector of Jiuhua Mountain who was supposed to stay on Zhantai - Zhou Huahai! !