Chapter 137.2: The Sword Saint Martial Uncle—Hunted by All! Liu Jinyuan’s Drastic Change in Style!

Xu Changqing comforted him gently. "None of us thought of it. Don't blame yourself."

A few days later.

Tang Yu's fingers suddenly trembled violently. He looked ecstatic. "She's nearby!"

Without a second thought, Li Xiaoyao leaped into the air on his sword, anxiously scanning his surroundings.

Chu Yang activated his Observation Haki. Since he couldn't sense Zhao Ling'er directly, he focused on detecting those around her. Within seconds, he received feedback.

"Follow me!"

Chu Yang chose a direction and strode forward.

Shi Gonghu looked at Tang Yu, who nodded silently.

Though they didn't know what Chu Yang relied on, they still obediently followed him.

Li Xiaoyao, on the other hand, shot forward like an arrow.

As the scenery changed rapidly, Li Xiaoyao's vision was suddenly filled with several figures. One in particular, dressed in a pale green dress, had haunted his dreams for countless nights.

Though the swaying snake tail seemed unfamiliar, his longing was undiminished!

"Ling'er!"

Zhao Ling'er's body tensed, and she slowly turned around.

"Brother Xiaoyao!"

The two locked eyes and rushed toward each other.

Everyone watched the emotional reunion, deeply moved.

Until…

A figure suddenly descended from the sky, landing abruptly between them.

Li Xiaoyao crashed straight into the person's back, his vision spinning as if he had slammed into a solid iron plate.

Zhao Ling'er screeched to a halt, leaving a deep mark on the ground.

"Daoist Chu…?"

Zhao Ling'er looked at Chu Yang nervously.

"Miss Zhao, I need to talk to you. It's urgent!"

Chu Yang said seriously, "Can we speak in private?"

Zhao Ling'er nodded.

As the two walked away, Tang Yu muttered to Xu Changqing, "Daoist Chu's personality is really… hard to describe."

Xu Changqing sighed awkwardly. "My junior brother didn't used to be this… hard to describe. Things have just been getting more complicated lately."

Even Shi Gonghu couldn't help but comment, "That guy is sick. He needs treatment!"

Chu Yang led Zhao Ling'er to a secluded spot and took out the Devourer Gu that had absorbed a serpent demon and a fox demon.

"Miss Zhao, how do I use this Devourer Gu?"

Zhao Ling'er, who had been anxious, breathed a sigh of relief and patiently explained how to tame and raise the Devourer Gu.

After she finished, she smiled and asked, "Daoist Chu, where did you get this Devourer Gu?"

Chu Yang replied, "I happened to come across it while slaying demons. I hope you can keep this a secret—this isn't exactly considered orthodox by my sect."

Zhao Ling'er immediately agreed, speaking sincerely, "Don't worry, I won't say a word."

"I also have to thank you, Daoist Chu, for clarifying my identity. If not for you, Brother Xiaoyao and I would have had a terrible misunderstanding."

Chu Yang shook his head. "No need to be so formal…"

Zhao Ling'er smiled, just about to say something polite, when Chu Yang suddenly changed the subject.

"Why not just repay me with something of equal value? That way, we'll both be happy."

Zhao Ling'er: "…"

A while later, the two emerged from the forest.

Everyone began looking at Chu Yang strangely.

Unbothered, Chu Yang only felt a slight regret.

Zhao Ling'er didn't know how to raise the Golden Silkworm Gu.

Apparently, in Miaojiang, the Golden Silkworm Gu was an extremely high-grade Gu worm, known only to a select few. Even the descendants of Nuwa weren't among them.

However, Zhao Ling'er promised that once she returned to Nanzhao, she would do her best to find information on it for him.

All in all, it wasn't a total loss.

With Chu Yang's interference over, Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling'er finally had their long-awaited reunion, and the atmosphere returned to normal.

Chu Yang had no interest in watching their lovey-dovey interactions. After informing Xu Changqing, he found a quiet place and entered his Soul Palace.

When he emerged, the Devourer Gu was gone—it had been absorbed into his cultivation.

The results weren't as great as he had hoped. The serpent and fox demons had about two to three hundred years of cultivation combined, but he only gained a little over a hundred years' worth.

A loss of two-thirds.

"The clone method has flaws—I need to find a way to fix it. Otherwise, I'll have to rely on quantity over quality."

Chu Yang had originally wanted to take down the Red Ghost King alone, but now it seemed like a waste to squander the opponent's thousand years of cultivation.

In fact, he could also exchange Blood Bodhi with Zhao Ling'er for the Devourer Gu. If one wasn't enough, he could get more. After all, Blood Bodhi wasn't as valuable to him as before.

With his physique, even if he got injured, Blood Bodhi wouldn't be of much use—he might as well eat them like candy.

Shi Gonghu had already instructed his subordinates to light a bonfire in the wilderness.

Zhao Ling'er, Li Xiaoyao, A'nu, and the others sat around the fire, chatting and laughing.

They had to spend the night outdoors and would only set off for Baihe Village tomorrow.

Since Shu Mountain and Nanzhao were in the same direction, at least for now, there was no need to change their route.

Tang Yu, upon learning that Li Xiaoyao planned to take Zhao Ling'er to Shu Mountain, asked in confusion, "Young Master Li, why do you wish to go to Shu Mountain?"

Having reunited with Ling'er, Li Xiaoyao had been all smiles all day. "I want to join Shu Mountain. That way, they can help us deal with the Lunar Sect Cult."

Hearing that Shu Mountain might assist them, Shi Gonghu's eyes lit up, and he turned to Xu Changqing. "Daoist Xu, is this true?"

Xu Changqing was already having a headache. He couldn't help but recall Chu Yang's words: "A monk by day, a commoner by night." The way things had unfolded was utterly bizarre, and he didn't even know how to respond.

So, all he could do was clutch his head in frustration.

Seeing this, Li Xiaoyao quickly stopped Shi Gonghu from questioning further and whispered an explanation to him.

A moment later, Shi Gonghu looked at Xu Changqing with a mix of pity and affection.

Why does everyone keep looking at me like that?

Xu Changqing felt increasingly unsettled.

It wasn't until Chu Yang returned to the group and explained everything to Shi Gonghu again that he finally felt relieved and became visibly more excited.

"As for Lunar Sect's current strength, even I dare not speculate. If Shu Mountain's experts can deal with him, that would be for the best."

"To be honest, Chu Daozhang, I had already resolved to fight the Lunar Sect Cult to the death before coming here. Unfortunately, the Miao King couldn't make up his mind…"

Shi Gonghu let out a long sigh, clearly holding back deep frustration.

Hearing them talk about Lunar Sect, A'nu frowned and unhappily interjected, "Why are you all bullying Uncle Lunar Sect? Uncle Lunar Sect is a good person!"

Shi Gonghu's face darkened, and he raised his hand, ready to slap the foolish girl.

"Ah!"

A'nu shrank back in fear and quickly hid behind Zhao Ling'er, even making a funny face at Shi Gonghu when she felt safe.

Chu Yang found the scene amusing. To be this carefree was truly rare.

"A'nu, how many times do I have to tell you? The Lunar Sect Cult is not good! If Chu Daozhang and the others hadn't arrived in time, Grandmother and the sisters on Immortal Spirit Island would have died!"

Zhao Ling'er was clearly upset, her expression stern as she scolded A'nu.

In A'nu's mind, Lunar Sect had never done anything bad to her and had always treated her well. She couldn't find a reason to dislike him. But with everyone speaking against him, she felt extremely wronged.

"But those were the Lunar Sect Cult followers. Why blame Uncle Lunar Sect?"

"Lunar Sect ordered it! How could it have nothing to do with him?"

"You don't have any proof!"

"Everyone knows it! What more proof do you need?"

Li Xiaoyao and Tang Yu also joined in. One had nearly been deceived by the Lunar Sect Cult into making a terrible mistake, while the other had considered Lunar Sect an enemy since childhood.

Both harbored strong hostility toward Lunar Sect.

Unable to outargue the two, A'nu pouted in frustration, her face turning red. She raised her hand, ready to cast a spell and teach them a lesson.

Seeing the situation escalating, Chu Yang suddenly appeared beside A'nu, grabbed her hand, and stopped her from casting.

"Stupid Daoist, let go!" A'nu struggled fiercely, swinging her tiny fists at Chu Yang's face.

A faint burst of Conqueror's Haki flickered.

A'nu's eyes rolled back, and she passed out.

Chu Yang handed her over to Tang Yu and frowned. "She's too naive and easily manipulated by Lunar Sect. We should prepare in advance."

Shi Gonghu said coldly, "Hesitation only leads to disaster. It's better to deal with her right now…"

Tang Yu quickly spoke up, pleading, "Foster Father, you mustn't! A'nu is the Holy Maiden's disciple!"

"You're useless!" Shi Gonghu glared at Tang Yu before turning away with a disappointed sigh.

"Senior Shi, A'nu has been my companion since childhood. Please, let her go," Zhao Ling'er also pleaded.

Shi Gonghu simply walked away, unwilling to deal with it any further.

Zhao Ling'er then looked at Chu Yang pitifully. "Chu Daozhang…"

Chu Yang chuckled and shook his head. "When I said we should prepare, I didn't mean harming A'nu. I meant guarding against any tricks Lunar Sect may have left on her."

Xu Changqing nodded. "Junior Brother is right. Lunar Sect is Miao and understands Gu techniques. Combined with his profound magic, he could have cast all sorts of sinister spells on her without us knowing."

Tang Yu hesitated before asking, "Chu Daozhang, what do you propose?"

Chu Yang replied, "For now, we should split up. A'nu and Zhao Ling'er shouldn't stay together. We'll take separate routes to Shu Mountain."

Zhao Ling'er hesitated. Wasn't this a bit too harsh on A'nu?

"Before we reach Shu Mountain, we must minimize any chance of encountering Lunar Sect."

Chu Yang voiced his biggest concern.

With Lunar Sect's personality, if things spiraled out of his control, he was more likely to act personally.

This was a xianxia world, where a boss's strength couldn't simply be measured in numbers—it was the complete opposite of One Punch Man's Saitama.

Sorcery, Gu techniques, and spells—all these abilities represented endless possibilities.

To put it simply—

Saitama could theoretically one-punch any xianxia boss, but if they truly fought, Saitama would likely die.

Characters like Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni or Yhwach might fare slightly better since their abilities defied conventional logic as well.

But this was only when discussing human-realm bosses like Lunar Sect.

If the opponent were someone on the level of the Demon Lord Chong Lou, even several people combined wouldn't stand a chance.

The group deliberated around the campfire all night and eventually decided—Tang Yu would take A'nu on a separate route, while the rest would travel to Shu Mountain together.

However, two people found themselves in an awkward position—Lin Yueru and Liu Jinyuan.

They had originally come to help find Zhao Ling'er, meaning they should be returning to Suzhou.

But given Lin Yueru's personality, after hearing Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling'er's story, she had no intention of leaving and was determined to get involved.

Her hero complex was no weaker than Li Xiaoyao's.

And even more surprising was Liu Jinyuan.

"Chu Daozhang, Xu Daozhang, I wish to join Shu Mountain alongside Brother Li. May I?"

Liu Jinyuan looked at the two with determination.

Even Xu Changqing was taken aback, let alone Chu Yang.

"Aren't you a top scholar? You're supposed to govern a region in the future!"

Xu Changqing was incredulous.

Liu Jinyuan's gaze was resolute. "The turmoil in Nanzhao has shown that whether one pursues literature or martial arts, neither can stop people like Lunar Sect from corrupting the court and ruining the nation!"

"Only cultivation is the true path!"

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