Even if Shen Lian had no intentions to oppose the Xia Kingdom, with the way things were going, it was also inevitable for Shen Lian to fight Emperor Xia.

　　In actual fact, to people like Shen Lian and Emperor Xia, they could have let their families and countries go just like the cumulus clouds. However, with life in this world, there were some things that could be let go but there was no need to let go. This was exactly just like how previously, Shen Lian did not give up on Qing Xuan, Emperor Xia would also not give up on the Xia Kingdom.

　　Shen Lian finally opened his eyes. It was already a cold night at this hour and there was no light within the carriage. There was only the bright light from his eyes. Xiao Hei was also startled and it carefully looked at his master. It had followed Shen Lian for many years now and it was good at reading Shen Lian’s body language. He knew that the confrontation between Emperor Xia and that person would definitely have an influence on his master.

　　In the dark, Shen Lian suddenly quietly asked, “Ol’ Hei, is there anything that you want to do in your entire life?”

　　Xiao Hei did not expect his master to suddenly ask this question. He thought and thought, then answered, “Follow you I guess, I’m fine with doing anything.”

　　Shen Lian could not help but chuckle as he knocked the tiger on the head. It was really good for nothing. Finally, Shen Lian answered, “Then you just follow me.”

　　Xiao Hei felt a warmth within him. His master was still concern about it and for a moment, it felt that its buttering up just now was not for nothing. Afterward, it suddenly felt a chill in its entire body. It looked around suddenly. The stars and moon in the sky were distinct. They had already reached a wilderness area. It lifted its head and asked, “Master, where are we now?”

　　Shen Lian simply answered, “We are not following the Xia Kingdom’s troops. The Eastern Barbarian is such a big place, I want to have a look.”

　　Xiao Hei gave an ‘oh’ as a reply. Perhaps under these skies, only his master dared to ignore Emperor Xia’s decree. He had already agreed to follow the troops but then he just suddenly left.

　　In actuality, it was unclear about the fact that even though Emperor’s Xia blade was against Yunyang, it was actually meant for Shen Lian to see. There was a slight hint of killing the chicken to warn the monkey ¹ . Shen Lian was neither the monkey nor the chicken, which was why he was annoyed by it and naturally, he would not linger around the Xia troops. The world was big and Shen Lian would go wherever he wanted to.

　　Faraway, within the Xia troops, a Qi of essence rose up and transformed into the shape of a dragon. It entrenched the starry skies as the dragon head swept its eyes in all corners. Finally, it fixed its gaze in Shen Lian’s direction.

　　Shen Lian stood with his arms clasped behind his back as he watched the dragon shape Qi of the essence. After staring at it for a long time, the dragon shape Qi of essence let out a low rumble and finally dispersed.

　　Shen Lian then rode on black tiger and simply said, “Let’s go.”

　　Emperor Xia communicated with Shen Lian through telepathy, and finally gave up the intention to engage Shen Lian in a combat. From this, Shen Lian could speculate that Emperor Xia’s Dao of the Demonic Blade was incomplete, which was still why he did not want to combat Shen Lian at this time.

　　While Shen Lian left the Xia troops, it was also to give Emperor Xia some space. However, for the rest of the clan in the Eastern Barbarian, they were in for trouble.

　　But all of these had nothing to do with Shen Lian. He was solely a free man in this world. To be able to take care of the matter that mattered to him, he had nothing to be ashamed of.

　　The Eastern Barbarians had high mountains and lofty hills. There were flourishing woods and tall bamboo bushes. There were even countless tribes, both big and small.

　　Excluding the Youshi Tribe, there were other big, strong tribes such as Gaoyao [2] and Boyi.

　　Shen Lian rode on Xiao Hei. Along the way, he discreetly observed the sceneries of these tribes. Some of it was primal and there were some that were new and strange. For example, for the tribes here, almost everyone knew either witchcraft, Dao techniques, or some other bizarre abilities. There was quite an atmosphere where all the people cultivated. Yinshang departed from the Eastern Barbarians and completely took on the path of the Qi cultivator. Perhaps it was because of the origins here.

　　Compared to the earth where Qing Xuan was, the general level of cultivation level of the Eastern Barbarians and the Xia Kingdom was relatively high. Nonetheless, no matter where the world was, it was not easy to attain longevity and not to mention the state of heavenly immortals.

　　As for the Taiyi state, that was already not a state that could be reached by a chance or natural gift. It involved many other factors. Looking to the long river of time, there was a limited number of figures like such.

　　Without realizing it, Shen Lian had already entered deeply into the Eastern Barbarians. With his supernatural powers, he would naturally not startle the powerhouses of the Eastern Barbarian easily. On this day, he reached a nearby small tribe.

　　It was not that he came to this place on a whim. Rather, he saw that there was dense demonic Qi on the peak of the opposite mountain. Even during daytime, this black air could be seen circulating the mountain head and lingered there for a long time. There was definitely a formidable demon being entrenched in this area.

　　In fact, that black air was extremely vicious and it definitely had harmed many living beings.

　　Shen Lian was definitely not the one to enforce justice on behalf of heaven but he could not overlook it after all. That was why he decided to take some measures to exorcise that demon.

　　The mountains there were white and the water was black. The land was fertile. Over the years, the small tribes were self-sufficient and would even have a surplus. When Shen Lian observed the wind direction and clouds there, he only saw that the vital energy of the human body of the tribe declining, their fates scattered.

　　Shen Lian patted Xiao Hei and said, “Your current appearance is too fierce, change into something else.”

　　Tiger replied disgruntledly, “Master, I have never eaten a human before. What malice is there? What more, everyone in the Eastern Barbarians is formidable that even I cannot fight against them.”

　　Shen Lian said, “Stop talking nonsense. Didn’t you just learn the illusion technique? You just become a black horse then.”

　　Xiao Hei anxiously looked at Shen Lian as it answered, “Master, can I not become a horse?” The horse was the most hated animal by Xiao Hei. After all, Pegasus had bullied it so many times that Xiao Hei hated all the horses in the world.

　　Shen Lian chuckled as he scolded, “Then you become a donkey then. If you’re not going to do it, I’ll help you.”

　　Looking at his master’s mirthful expression, a chill ran down the black tiger’s spine. It then rolled onto the floor and became a donkey. Its fur coat was black and shiny. It even snorted loudly.

　　Shen Lian rode on the donkey that was transformed by the black tiger and they waltzed their way down the mountains.

　　Within a five-mile area, they heard a crying sound. In front, there was a woman holding her child as she wept by the steam side.

　　Shen Lian used the common tongue that was used in the Xia Kingdom as he asked, “What are you crying about?”

　　The woman only tilted her head while she stared at him, her tears not dried yet. Nonetheless, she did not understand what Shen Lian was saying.

　　Shen Lian then used various kinds of Eastern Barbarians’ dialects that he had recently learned. The woman still shook her head and finally, Shen Lian had no choice but to use his divine thoughts to telepath the question.

　　The woman then understood and with some respect, she looked at Shen Lian as she answered, “Celestial master must have come from afar. This lady, myself, is of the Wuzhong’s.”

　　Shen Lian knew why she called him celestial master. It turned out that since the beginning of time, the Eastern Barbarians had the tradition of worshiping celestials. For those cultivator of Qi that cultivated his spirit and was able to transfer thoughts, they were thought that they had achieved the celestial method and they were called celestial masters.

　　Even though it was a small tribe, they still had some common sense. After all, the Eastern Barbarians was wide and plentiful with resources. There would still be many cultivators of Qi who crossed the mountains and rivers to come to these places. They would give out holy water, heal sicknesses and save people to exchange for the spiritual materials and treasure items they needed.

　　The tribe that the woman was in was called the Wuzhong tribe. Their legacy was approximately a thousand years old all of them were people who banded together from big tribes who could not continue living in those big tribes. Finally, they converged to this land of white mountains and black water.

　　As for the child in her embrace, it was her daughter. That day, she was selected to be sent to the mountain peak in the west side as an offering to the demonic god, in exchange for a half a month peace in Wuzhong.

　　The woman could not bear to part with her child. That was why she embraced her and wept uncontrollably by the stream.

　　After listening to her description, Shen Lian then learned the Wuzhong language. With a smile, he answered, “Do not cry anymore. I am exactly here to help you all get rid of that demonic evil.”