Chapter 133: Ancestor Zhitan

The 133rd Ancestor of the Branch Altar
The 13th Chapter: Cold Ripples on the Sea of Passion and a Slender Shadow, Rare Ancient Treasures Obtained in a Fairy Abyss Cave (Part 18)

Ye Hua was flying at full speed, feeling clusters of cloud mists swiftly receding beneath his feet. As he soared with unbridled freedom, he suddenly heard a faint whistling sound from afar. Ye Hua listened attentively, only to find the whistling growing increasingly loud and fierce. Within mere moments, it sounded as if the distance had closed by thousands of feet!

Ye Hua could not help changing his expression slightly, thinking to himself, "Such astonishing traveling speed! I wonder who is coming?!" With a brief spin of his thoughts, his figure folded, and he descended rapidly toward the ground below!

No sooner had he landed in a dense forest among the mountain rocks than he saw a gigantic white warship flying swiftly through the high sky in the distance. Painted upon it seemed to be a massive and archaic pattern, resembling several swimming fish coiling and moving outward. Yet, the pattern was exceedingly neat and gentle. The warship traveled at a miraculous speed, stirring the airflow into a strange, roaring sound. Within a few breaths, it swept straight across the sky above the dense forest and vanished into the distant horizon.

Ye Hua rubbed his chin, his gaze flickering. "Why does this pattern look somewhat familiar?!" After pondering for a moment, he remembered he had once seen it in the Grand Scripture Pavilion of the Capital Martial Academy—it was the exclusive insignia of the Six Ministries of BeiXi!

He could not help muttering, "The Six Ministries of BeiXi! No wonder it carries such overwhelming might! I wonder what kind of people are inside!"

After a long while, when the sky remained completely free of other anomalies, his figure flickered, transforming into a streak of white light heading southeast. But no sooner had he set off than he spotted several cultivators flying toward him from the opposite direction.

Looking at them from afar, they seemed somewhat familiar. Just as he was about to identify them carefully, he heard someone from the other side shout loudly, "It's him! Ancestor! It's him!"

A shock ran through Ye Hua's heart. At this point, attempting to turn around and flee at high speed was already too late. He saw five or six people from the opposite party rapidly flying close and surrounding him. Only then did he recognize that one of them was none other than Old Du the Black from the Harmony Sect whom he had encountered by the lake two days ago!

Ye Hua could not help crying out inwardly, "Wretched luck! To think I still bumped into them! Although the Harmony Sect has influence spreading all over Jiujin City, my luck is truly dreadful today!"

With a smile, he said, "Old Du the Black, why have you returned? Didn't I let you go the other day?! Have you forgotten how you answered that day?"

The newcomer was indeed Old Du the Black. When he returned to the branch hall of the Harmony Sect that day, although the bearded man surnamed Lin had returned helplessly, he was astonished for quite a while upon seeing Old Du the Black return completely unscathed. He immediately reported the whole sequence of events to the Ancestor of the Branch Altar, who naturally could not avoid inflicting a few punishments upon him!

Afterward, the sect had sent out over a hundred men to search within a radius of a hundred miles, but they found no trace at all and had no choice but to give up. Today, this Old Du the Black was originally accompanying the Ancestor of the Branch Altar to the Sage's Way Branch Hall of the Harmony Sect. Never had he expected such a coincidence that he would run into his adversary from two days prior!

Old Du the Black's face turned flushed red as he snapped furiously, "Stop talking nonsense! What did I promise you? You little bald thief! You won't escape today now that you've run into our Ancestor!"

Ye Hua had already noticed a middle-aged man standing beside Old Du the Black. Dressed in a Taoist robe of coarse dark fabric, he looked to be around forty or fifty years old, and his aura did not leak out in the slightest, making his cultivation depth entirely unfathomable! Standing behind this middle-aged man were four young men, all of whom wore arrogant expressions as they looked at Ye Hua!

Thoughts raced rapidly through Ye Hua's mind, and he smiled. "Didn't you swear to leave the Harmony Sect that day and pledge your loyalty to the Enlightenment Hall? That was why Elder Brother Zhou let you go back! How is it that you've instead brought the Ancestor of the Branch Altar here to capture me?! Oh! I understand now!"

Old Du the Black shouted angrily, "Rubbish! When... when did I ever say such a thing?! You..." A flash of colored light flickered in his hand, revealing a long sword, and he was about to deploy it!

However, the middle-aged man beside him gently waved his hand, stopping Old Du the Black. With a slight smile, he said, "I heard that this young fellow Daoist is a disciple of the Mount Wutai lineage with extraordinary cultivation arts. I would certainly like to witness them!"

Ye Hua bowed his head and said, "This must be the Ancestor of the Branch Altar! Greetings, Senior! Hehe, the Six Ministries of BeiXi have already laid down restrictions here! Could it be that you fellow Daoists haven't noticed?"

The group from the Harmony Sect all changed their expressions slightly, gazing around their surroundings for a moment as if they hadn't detected any abnormalities. The middle-aged man's expression sank as he said, "Restrictions?! What restrictions?! Zhitao, Zhiyuan, go and test this high disciple of Mount Wutai!"

"Yes, Ancestor!" Two youths immediately flashed out from behind the middle-aged man. With two crisp clangs, long swords appeared in both of their hands. They spoke to Ye Hua with towering arrogance, "The two of us attacking together is not out of a desire to take advantage of you! Whether you are one person, two, three, or four, our brothers always advance and retreat together. You must understand this!"

Ye Hua smiled and said, "Very well! This dual-sword formation is quite common! Yet, to be so shamelessly brazen while pretending to be upright—hehe, that is truly a rare sight indeed! Make your moves quickly! If the Six Ministries of BeiXi arrive shortly, won't we miss our chance to fight?"

The two youths maintained expressionless faces and let out a simultaneous shout. One held a sword in his left hand while the other held one in his right, transforming into two streams of light that swept around Ye Hua from the left and right respectively, slashing down with their swords!

Ye Hua gave a light chuckle, his figure spinning abruptly as he struck out four times with both palms! A gust of whirlwind burst forth! The long swords in the hands of the two youths were deflected slightly by the wind's force, stabbing through empty air! Yet, the two youths shifted their postures instantly, their long swords slashing fiercely backward to strike each other's lower abdomen and back respectively!

To their surprise, however, their opponent merely smiled faintly, sweeping his palms horizontally and grabbing straight toward the two swords! Seeing this, Zhitao and Zhiyuan felt a brief surge of shock. "Could it be that the enemy intends to block the swords with his bare palms?! How arrogant! Since that is the case, we shall simply chop off his hands!" Consumed by this thought, the might behind their swords grew even heavier, looking as though they were about to cleave straight into the opponent's palms!

Yet, they saw golden light suddenly burst from the opponent's hands, revealing a hazy golden mist. As he tilted his hands downward, the two long swords were actually drawn and guided by an invisible grab, forced helplessly to strike downward! Seeing this, Zhitao sneered inwardly, gave a slight shout, and flicked his right hand. A streak of red light shot forth from his fingertips, striking straight toward Ye Hua in an attempt to force the opponent back!

Ye Hua shifted his body slightly and glided upward into the high sky. A flash in his hand revealed a long sword radiating a rippling silver light. With a sudden point toward the heavens, a deafening explosion echoed through midair. Immediately afterward, rolling dark clouds surged from all directions, and amidst howling gales, countless bolts of lightning flashed wildly across the sky!

Standing on the ground, the middle-aged man had seen the three clash for only a few rounds before realizing that this Mount Wutai disciple indeed possessed remarkable cultivation and arts!

He knew the cultivation arts of the two brothers Zhitao and Zhiyuan very well. Both were already at the Seven Treasures and Seven Realms stage, not to mention their combined sword formation—under the Seven Treasures realm, it was practically impossible to find an adversary! Never had he expected this Mount Wutai disciple to handle them with such ease! When he saw him display such astonishing thunder and lightning power as well, his expression inevitably turned gloomy!

Old Du the Black chuckled dryly from the side, "Ancestor! This... this kind of commotion! We mustn't... mustn't alert unrelated people!"

With a sullen expression, the middle-aged man replied, "Do you think I don't know?! Without a fierce battle between the two sides, it will likely be difficult to determine a victor!" Before he finished speaking, he saw Ye Hua in the high sky point his lightning sword downward! A brilliant silver-white lightning bolt, roughly several feet thick like an electric serpent, slowly swam down from the thundercloud!

Down on the ground, the two youths saw this and seemed to recognize that the power of this lightning was immense, not daring to be careless. Their figures crossed, their swords merged, and they gathered toward the sky. The bodies of their swords also blazed with a fierce crimson light, and with a low hum, a pillar of crimson light shot upward into the high sky as well!

It collided directly with the swimming electric serpent! Amidst a deafening, rumbling explosion, everyone saw countless tiny lightning arcs mixed with a thousand rays of red light diffusing in all directions. The surrounding rocks and trees, once touched, instantly turned into fine dust and vanished into nothingness. Witnessing such mighty momentum, the onlookers could not help stepping back a few paces.

After a long while, when the thunder and crimson radiance dissipated, the crowd saw that the three of them were once again locked in fierce combat in midair, sword lights weaving and might blazing. The middle-aged man seemed to grow increasingly impatient, shouting loudly, "Quickly resolve this! Don't fall for their stalling tactics!"

Hearing the middle-aged man's shout, the two youths exchanged glances, let out a sharp cry, and with white light flashing, simultaneously moved, stepped forward, surrounded the enemy, and executed their moves with astonishing speed. Two long swords—one shining with white light and the other swirling with black Qi—suddenly spun to the left and right simultaneously, quickly generating and releasing a black-and-white Tai Chi diagram.

Ye Hua dodged backward, his long sword thrusting straight out to spear the exact center of the black-and-white Tai Chi. But the moment the black-and-white light of the Tai Chi flashed, Ye Hua felt a tremendous force surge toward him, causing his long sword to vibrate and almost fly out of his grip!

A shock could not help rising in Ye Hua's heart. "This Tai Chi diagram is exceedingly bizarre and formidable!" Having no time to ponder further, he waved his left hand, flashing a purple-red brilliance that struck directly toward the Tai Chi diagram. Meanwhile, the sword qi on his right-hand sword swirled, and the illusory shadow of a swimming dragon slithered out. Circling slightly, it let out a roar and spat a plume of hazy white cold mist straight at the two youths.

The two youths seemed somewhat wary of this white mist and did not dare to take it head-on. Manifesting another Tai Chi diagram to block it, they rapidly retreated their figures.

The crowd watched as the three of them entangled in combat once more. Just as they were observing carefully, they suddenly heard a faint, piercing whistling sound echoing from afar. The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly; before he could warn the others, a white warship appeared on the distant horizon, flying rapidly toward them! Behind the warship seemed to follow a sky full of grey-black Qi!

Within just a few breaths, the warship arrived a hundred-odd feet away and came to a slow halt. The grey-black Qi behind it converged, transforming into a pitch-black ink boat. When the middle-aged man caught sight of the archaic pattern on the white warship, his expression turned gloomy as he sneered, "The Six Ministries of BeiXi, hehe... truly colluding with the Western Region demon cultivators!"

Radiance flashed atop the white warship, revealing over a dozen people. At the fore stood a man clad in chainmail of purple clouds and wearing a purple-gold crown. His build was extremely tall and imposing, looking exceptionally robust and mighty. Black light also burst from the pitch-black ink boat, revealing five or six individuals with high noses, deep eyes, and fair skin.

The middle-aged man looked at the leading figure, and after a long moment, sneered, "Xu Tieshan! It turns out to be you! Where is that old fellow Duan Zhiquan?!" With that, he swept a slight glance toward the Western Region figures behind him, speaking with faint anger, "These Western Region demon dogs mingling together with you—your Six Ministries of BeiXi truly harbor unfathomable motives!"

The man clad in the purple cloud armor stepped forward and shouted, "Zhao Sanduo, what are you doing here at Shaliu Ridge? We of the Six Ministries of BeiXi are under the decree of the Holy Merciful and Peaceful Empress to befriend the cultivators of the Great Gelan Realm. Your Harmony Sect is meddling far too much!"

With that, he glanced at the three figures fighting fiercely in the high sky and barked, "Zhao Sanduo, to think you are revered as the Ancestor of the Branch Altar of the Harmony Sect, yet you resort to bullying the few with the many and the strong with the weak! What a joke! This matter, I must intervene!"