C23 Her Voice Was Able to Send Messages and She Was Able to Save the Country

"Immortal Master, perhaps we should return and come back tomorrow," suggested the attendant, taking refuge behind Le Yang, his fear palpable. The creatures that seemed merely unsightly in the daylight now struck terror into his heart at night, especially the fierce birds with their glowing red eyes that made his legs shake uncontrollably.

Le Yang, observing the attendant's distress, handed him a talisman to bolster his courage.

"Thank you, Immortal Master."

Le Yang, without a glance at the now somewhat steadied attendant, made his way to the highest point of the Ten Thousand Bird Garden, with the twenty Emerald Feather Guards arrayed in a line behind him.

"The Order of Duality is on the brink of tears. Pill Sunzi, take your seat. Cowardly spirits, come forth and meet your end."

His voice boomed out thrice, failing to summon the demon but instead inciting the ire of the myriad birds above. They dove at Le Yang and his companions in a frenzied assault, their talons and beaks seeming poised to shred the humans below to pieces.

"I've been careless!"

Le Yang hadn't anticipated the demon's power to command the birds, effectively trapping him on enemy ground.

"With the Dance of the Water Dragon, the world stands in awe." Despite his irritation, Le Yang remained upright, unlike the eunuch who had collapsed in fear.

With a swift draw and sheath of his saber, Le Yang created a circle of reprieve from the diving birds, the rest glaring at him with venomous eyes.

"Immortal Master, impressive swordsmanship."

Chu Xiong, the commander of the Emerald Feather Guards tasked with Le Yang's protection, offered rare praise, having not fully grasped how Le Yang had wielded his weapon. He wondered to himself if Immortal Masters were now expected to master martial arts as well.

Le Yang's expression, however, betrayed no pleasure. His effortless swordplay had met no real challenge, indicating that the demon was not among the birds.

Le Yang felt an odd sensation, as though he was being manipulated. Each step he considered seemed preordained by another, leading him into trap after trap.

Just then, he noticed a distant firework ascending into the sky.

"What's that?"

Le Yang pointed toward the ascending fire, which appeared to form a specific symbol.

“That’s the distress signal of our Green Feather Guards. Our brothers over there must be facing a life-threatening danger,” Chu Xiong explained.

“Aren’t you going to rescue them?” Le Yang asked, looking at Chu Xiong with confusion. The general was clearly aware of the danger, yet he wasn’t mobilizing his troops for a rescue mission.

“My responsibility is to protect the immortal masters. The Green Feather Guards stationed in the city will handle the rescue,” Chu Xiong responded.

“What place is that?” Le Yang inquired, pulling out a map. Upon realizing the location, he exclaimed, “This is bad!” and dashed out. As he went, birds obstructed his path, but with swift strokes, he left a trail of birds with severed wings.

The source of the rising smoke was, shockingly, the snow mountain currently under Feng Buping’s watch.

Racing through the streets on horseback, Le Yang was filled with regret. Had he known this would happen, he would have stayed to guard the snow mountain with Feng Buping. He had assumed that after today’s commotion, the demon wouldn't dare approach the snow mountain, which is why he had left Feng Buping there, hoping to afford him a fortunate opportunity. Little did he know, his good intentions had inadvertently caused harm.

By the time Le Yang arrived, the young Ranger had been reduced to a bloodied figure, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of the Green Feather Guards, all missing their hearts.

“Your swordsmanship may be impressive, but you're just a mere human. How could you possibly kill me, who possesses boundless magical power?” taunted the white-clothed man, as Feng Buping desperately defended himself with his sword, preventing the assailant from advancing towards the snow mountain.

“Brother Feng, hold on, I’m on my way!” Le Yang called out, leaping from his horse and dashing towards the fray from a distance.

“Stay back!” Feng Buping cried out in distress.

The white-clothed man, however, was thrilled. “Hahaha, it seems I’m being delivered a treat!”

Le Yang caught only a glimpse of the white-clothed man speeding past him. Upon landing and looking back, he saw the man crouched over a Green Feather Guard, greedily stuffing the guard’s heart into his mouth.

“You monstrous fiend! Return my brother’s life to me!” General Chu Xiong drew his sword, his strikes fierce and formidable in Le Yang’s eyes.

But the white-clothed man showed no fear. Even as Feng Buping yelled a warning, Chu Xiong managed to sever one of the man’s arms. Yet, in the next instant, the man’s other hand pierced through Chu Xiong’s chest armor and into his chest. With a thrust and a pull, he held in his hand a still-beating heart.

"This heart is so strong; it must taste wonderful."

After the man in white swallowed General Xiong's heart, he pushed aside the general's body, retrieved his own severed arm, and reattached it. With a few twists, it was as if nothing had happened.

"Immortal Master, save me!"

The aide, who had been disguised as a stone, leapt up and dashed towards Yueyang, knowing that if he didn't escape now, his life would be forfeit.

"Hehe, such speed you have. I bet your heart is quite resilient."

The man in white glided effortlessly and positioned himself in front of the aide, reaching out to tear open the aide's chest.

Just as the aide braced for the end, a burst of milky-white light erupted between his chest and the man's claw, repelling the man's hand.

"A Guardian Talisman? Are you a cultivator?"

The man in white lifted his head, revealing an ancient and decaying face beneath his disheveled hair. His gaze was fixed on Yueyang, who might be the only cultivator left.

"Evil spirit, I am Yueyang Zi, a disciple under the fast-withering Taoist ancestor of the Order of Duality. Surrender now, and I might consider leaving you with an intact corpse."

Yueyang drew his golden blade, positioning himself to shield the aide and Feng Buping.

"Haha, a mere Qi Refining youngster dares to speak of surrender to me? Didn't your master teach you to show respect to your elders?"

The man in white's robes billowed as he gestured with his hands and chanted incessantly, causing Yueyang's heart to race.

"This is bad!"

"Mountains crumble and the earth splits!"

Yueyang's sense of alarm peaked just as the man in white unleashed his Daoist magic. Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook violently, throwing them off balance.

Simultaneously, the snow from the mountain began to cascade down. Although it wasn't as vast as the snow from mountains with millennia of accumulation, it still bore down on Ye Fan and the others with formidable force.

"Heh, you think a few Daoist techniques mean you're ready to face the world? You still have much to learn."

The man in white chuckled, lamenting the loss of three exquisite hearts. Nonetheless, he wasn't overly concerned. He simply froze them, planning to savor them later with a different flavor after a couple of days.

"Really? You've been too careless, though."

The man in white suddenly felt a cold sensation on his chest as a white sword blade pierced through it.

"Ah, an illusion technique, not too shabby. But what a shame, I don't have a heart!"

The man in white let out a skyward howl, his hair standing on end, exposing his hideous and spiteful face to the open air.

"Ha ha ha ha, your hearts, I'll take them!"

"He's at the Foundation Building stage. Retreat quickly!"

Le Yang sensed an overwhelming magical pressure and immediately realized that this was a Foundation Building level he couldn't contend with at the moment.

"Do you really think you can escape?"

The man's hair grew wildly like vines, rapidly extending towards the trio.

"A human with Wood Dao Arts?"

Le Yang pulled out the Demon Mirror to check, and to his surprise, the man in white wasn't the Syndicate Elf he had expected, but a human cultivator.

"The Demon Mirror, huh? Looks like your master has given you quite the collection of treasures. But after today, they will all be mine."

The man in white cackled with arrogance. The vines sprouting from his head could be cut and still regenerate, and the severed branches that fell to the ground could quickly grow into a large tree, sprouting an expanse of new vines.

"Le Yang, are we done for?"

Feng Buping shouted, having been entangled in battle with the man in white for so long that his strength was nearly depleted. Now, seeing the man transform into such a monstrous form, a sense of overwhelming helplessness grew within him.

"Don't let him deceive you. Only the vines attacking us are real. If he could maintain his current level of power, even a Golden Core elder would steer clear of him by a wide margin. It's impossible."

Le Yang bolstered Feng Buping's spirits. Meanwhile, the other attendant had already cried out "Monster!" upon seeing the hair turn into vine-like tendrils and had fainted. Luckily, thanks to the talisman Le Yang had given him, he was protected and wouldn't be devoured by the vines for the time being.

"Boy, my cultivation is more than enough to handle you two."

The man in white hadn't expected Le Yang to see through his bluster. Dropping the illusion, he now wielded two bowl-thick vines that whipped and lashed at the young men relentlessly. As soon as they were cut, they would regrow, making it difficult for the youths to defend themselves. Caught off guard, they were left with bloody wounds.

"You practice the art of the wood-elemental Dao, but do you know who my master is?"

The man in white was caught off guard by Le Yang's question, then burst into laughter. "Who cares about your master? Your heart and liver are mine for the taking today."

"If you think you can feast on my heart and liver, I fear you're not fated to do so. An An, behead him from above!"

Le Yang bellowed with such conviction that not only the man in white but also Feng Buping looked skyward, anticipating Le Yang's unexpected ally.

"Ah! You're deceiving me!"

Realizing the sky was empty, the man in white understood he had been duped. But then, a chilling presence emerged behind him, and he was impaled once more.

"However, you can't kill me. The wood-elemental Dao is unending. You won't find my weakness. You're not of a higher realm than I am; you can't destroy my body or take my life."

As he spoke, the man in white attempted to harness the wood's power to heal himself, but his expression turned to one of shock the next second.

"Ah! What is this thing?"

Le Yang had plunged a golden blade inscribed with a curse into the man, sealing his powers. His visage began to contort, and without his magical support, he transformed into a decrepit old man.

At that moment, the attendant slowly came to his senses.

"My goodness, Immortal Master, you're truly remarkable. You've managed to find the Imperial Advisor. But why did you impale him with that blade?"

The attendant exclaimed in amazement.

"Are you certain he's the Imperial Advisor?"

Le Yang inquired, sensing that a sliver of the conspiracy had been unveiled.

"Absolutely, Immortal Master. If you don't recognize the Imperial Advisor, then how did you locate him?"

The attendant was puzzled but, recalling the earlier monster, he didn't dare to question further and instead hastened Le Yang to return to the Imperial Palace with the good news.

"Very well. Arrange for someone to give these soldiers a proper burial."

Le Yang, with the speechless Imperial Advisor in tow, and the others hurried back to the Imperial Palace.

But no sooner had Le Yang arrived at the palace gates than the Jade Feather Guards delivered an urgent message: "Immortal Master, there's trouble. The fiend has escaped!"

Lady Snow, impaled by a white bone sword, couldn't possibly have fled. She would have been too weak to even stand unless someone had removed the sword from her body.

"Did the Third Princess take pity and release Lady Snow?"

That was Le Yang's initial suspicion upon learning of Lady Snow's escape. But before he could ponder further, he received a summons from the Emperor to discuss the matter in detail, and to bring along the recently captured demon.

Le Yang turned to his attendant, who was brimming with excitement. "Immortal Master, when did you capture this demon? Where is it now? Did you confine it within the fabled Cosmos Ring?"

Le Yang's sense of unease grew, while Feng Buping could barely contain his enthusiasm. "Little Daoist, it's my first time meeting the Emperor. Do you think he'll reward us with a chest full of gold or perhaps gold notes? And don't forget, you agreed to let me take the credit..."