One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

The afterglow of the setting sun was like a thin, blood-red veil, lazily draped over the undulating ridges of the Qinling Mountains.

As the mysterious valley was left far behind, the timeless silence around us finally began to fade, replaced by the occasional chirping of birds and the rustling of the wind through the treetops.

"Beep beep beep—!!!"

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"

"Buzz—Buzz—"

Almost the instant they stepped out of the signal-blocked area deep in the mountains, the cell phones on their bodies seemed to have conspired to simultaneously erupt with a heart-wrenching sound.

The dense notification sounds combined together, sounding particularly jarring in this open space at the foot of the mountain.

"Holy crap..."

Wang Ye frantically pulled his phone out of his pocket; the pop-up windows on the screen were so fast he could barely read the words, and the vibrations made his hand go numb.

"What the hell is going on? I missed you guys so much!"

"Old Wang, it seems your popularity hasn't waned at all."

Zhuge Qing squinted, swiped his phone screen, a smile still playing on his lips, but his eyes instantly turned cold:

"But this time, it doesn't seem to be a fan meeting."

"It's all news push notifications from within the circle...tsk tsk, it seems like things have turned upside down outside while we've been in the mountains these past few days."

Zhang Chulan, who was walking in front, did not speak.

He stared intently at the phone in his hand, which was vibrating wildly, with the words "Xu San" flashing on the screen.

For some reason, his right eyelid started twitching uncontrollably as he looked at those two words.

"Hey, Third Brother."

Zhang Chulan pressed the answer button and turned on speakerphone.

"Zhang Chulan!! You guys are finally out!!"

On the other end of the phone, Xu San's usually calm voice sounded unusually agitated, and the sound of Xu Si smashing a glass could be heard in the background.

"If you don't come out soon, Naotong is going to send helicopters in to search the mountains!!"

"Something happened?"

Zhang Chulan's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously glanced at Zhang Taichu beside him:

"We've only been out of contact for a few days? The company's gone bankrupt?"

"It's worse than bankruptcy!!"

Xu San took a deep breath and roared at lightning speed:

"Just three hours ago, Yaoxing Society suddenly released an exclusive scoop, and now the entire forum for the supernatural world has crashed!"

"The report claims that Zhang Taichu found the source of the Jia Shen Rebellion in Tongtian Valley of the Qinling Mountains, and..."

"And they obtained the original text of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques! The very source from which all the Eight Extraordinary Techniques were created!!"

"ha?"

Zhang Chulan stared wide-eyed at Zhang Taichu, completely bewildered.

"The original? What's that? Did you take it, Uncle-Master?"

Zhang Taichu, with his hands in his pockets and a freshly lit cigarette dangling from his mouth, merely raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, his face expressionless, as if he had heard a lame joke.

"It's not over yet!!"

Xu San's voice continued to boom from the phone:

"That exposé also betrayed you!!"

"It details your background, saying you are the grandson of Zhang Huaiyi, one of the Thirty-Six Thieves, and that your trip into the mountains is to renew your old sworn brotherhood and unite with the Quanxing demons to overthrow the entire world of supernatural beings!!"

"Everyone outside has gone mad!!"

"Those who covet the original texts of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques, those who want to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path, and those who have a blood feud with the Thirty-Six Thieves... they're all surging towards the Qinling Mountains!!"

Zhang Chulan's face turned deathly pale instantly.

His knuckles were white as he gripped the phone, and his teeth were grinding together.

"This is... like putting us on a hot plate..."

"Qu Tong".

Wang Ye, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up.

He shoved his phone back into his pocket, his usually sleepy eyes now filled with coldness.

"Apart from that crazy woman, no one has such power to stir up public opinion like this in such a short period of time."

"That's a brilliant move of using someone else to do the dirty work."

"She wants to make enemies of the whole world and exhaust us to death here."

Zhuge Qing adjusted his glasses and added:

"And this knife was borrowed very skillfully."

"People die for wealth, birds die for food."

"The prototype of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques... This temptation is too great, enough to turn those righteous and respectable sects into bloodthirsty wolves in an instant."

Xu San, on the other end of the phone, seemed to have overheard their conversation and said urgently:

"That's not even the worst part!"

"The Tang Clan is the most troublesome!!"

"Just now, the old campus of Tang Sect made a statement."

"They said that since Zhang Huaiyi's remnants have reappeared, the score from back then is not yet settled."

"Although the Tang Clan has lived in seclusion for many years, it will never allow the descendants of the murderer who killed the former sect leader to go unpunished."

"They...are going to clean house!!"

boom!

Upon hearing those two words, the expressions of everyone present changed.

They had just learned in the valley that Zhang Huaiyi had died from Dan Shi.

Now the Tang Clan is jumping out to clean house?

The timing was so perfect, it was as if a pair of eyes were watching them intently from the sky.

"Tang Sect..."

Zhang Chulan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down:

"Third Brother, I understand."

What's the company's attitude?

Xu San paused for two seconds, his tone somewhat helpless:

"You know the company's position: to maintain a balance."

"Public opinion is overwhelmingly against you right now, and the board of directors is under a lot of pressure. President Zhao is trying to mediate, but I'm afraid... he can't help you much."

"You'd better find somewhere to hide right now and wait until things calm down..."

Snapped.

Zhang Taichu, who had been silent, suddenly reached out and hung up the phone.

"hide?"

Zhang Taichu fiddled with the phone that had been hung up on, then casually tossed it behind him.

The phone traced a parabola through the air and landed precisely in the grass.

"I am skilled in everything in this life."

"They just won't dodge."

He turned around, looking at the solemn-faced crowd, the playful smile on his lips growing wider and wider until it finally turned into an extremely arrogant sneer:

"interesting."

"That's really interesting."

"That woman is really going all out to deal with the few of us."

"All the extraordinary individuals in the world? The Tang Clan?"

Zhang Taichu took a step forward, and the ground beneath his feet trembled slightly.

"This borrowed knife looks pretty intimidating."

"I just don't know..."

Is it hard enough?

Wang sighed, took out a few copper coins from his pocket, and casually scattered them on the ground.

Ding ding ding.

The copper coin landed, rolled a few times, and then stopped.

Wang Ye glanced down at the divination result, shook his head with a wry smile:

"Very bad luck."

"The Gate of Death is in the southwest."

"Old Zhang, this trip to Sichuan might be a real trap."

"and……"

Wang Ye looked up at the distant mountains, his eyes becoming profound:

"Since Qu Tong dared to set up this scheme, it means she was absolutely certain that we would never return."

"That so-called body-cultivation furnace is probably waiting for us over there."

"Then let her wait."

Zhang Taichu flicked the cigarette butt from his hand, the sparks tracing a bright path in the twilight:

"Now that the table is set up, wouldn't it be very impolite of us not to flip it over?"

Done.

He suddenly flicked his sleeve.

Buzz—! ! ! ! !

A vast and boundless golden light burst forth from his body without warning.

The golden light was not scattered and disordered, but rather it rapidly intertwined, solidified, and shaped in the air.

In the blink of an eye.

A huge golden cloud boat, tens of meters long, floated above everyone's heads.

Radiant with light and color, auspicious clouds abound.

The massive ship blocked out the last rays of the setting sun, casting large shadows that bathed the surrounding woods in a golden glow.

A strong gust of air swept outwards, causing everyone's clothes to flutter loudly.

"this……"

Barron stared in disbelief at the divine creation above him. As a foreigner, his worldview was once again subjected to a massive blow.

"It... just appeared like that?"

"My God... is this magic?"

Feng Baobao looked up at the glittering ship, her eyes reflecting the golden light, still clutching the rattle drum in her hand, and uttered blankly:

"It's so bright!"

"It looks like a big gold ingot."

Zhang Taichu lightly touched the ground with his toes, and appeared at the bow of the cloud boat as if he had teleported.

He looked down at the crowd below, his robes billowing in the wind, like a god surveying all living beings.

"What are you still standing there for?"

"Come up."

"Since they say we have the original of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques and that we are going to overthrow the world of supernatural beings."

"Then let's be high-profile."

"Whether it's the Tang Clan or whatever other demons and monsters they are."

Zhang Taichu's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and his voice, like rolling thunder, echoed at the foot of the mountain:

"Who dares to reach out their hand?"

"I will do this in front of the whole world."

"Cut off his hand!!"

Looking at the imposing figure at the bow of the ship, Zhang Chulan's fear and anxiety vanished in an instant.

Instead, there was an unprecedented surge of excitement.

Since there's no way to avoid it.

Let's do it!

"Sister Bao'er! Old Wang! Old Qing! Balun!"

Zhang Chulan roared, golden light shone from his body, and he leaped up:

"Get on board!!"

"Let's go to Sichuan!!"

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!

Several figures took off one after another and landed steadily on the deck of the cloud boat.

"Hold on tight."

Zhang Taichu made a hand seal with one hand.

Rumbling--

The golden cloud boat emitted a deep rumble, and the surrounding air was instantly compressed to its limit.

next second.

A dazzling golden light pierced the dim twilight, like a shooting star chasing the moon, carrying an arrogant and domineering air, heading straight towards the southwest...

It crashed into them with a deafening roar!

Its speed was so great that it left a long, golden trail in the sky that lingered for a long time.

Using someone else to do the dirty work?

Humph.

Let's see whose teeth this knife will break in the end!