Ye Liuyun spoke of the Peacock King with admiration, and he seemed to look up to the Peacock King.

　　“Was the Peacock King the Almighty who transcended beyond the mortal world about half a year ago?” Shen Lian asked.

　　“That would be him. He was the strongest of the Demon Clan for the past three thousand years, and when he left this world, he managed to attain the status of Great Saint. Even tracing back to time immemorial, there were not a lot of individuals as strong as he was,” Ye Liuyun seemed to be in great mood and explained to Shen Lian in great detail.

　　“I’m more curious as to who stole the rubbings of the Chart of Celestial Extermination, and the person who collapsed the mountain with his supreme brute force,” Shen Lian stared hard at Ye Liuyun, as though he was trying to ascertain something from his gaze.

　　“The person who used the supreme brute force is an impressive character. To be honest, it is better that you cease being curious about him. Previously, he had swallowed one hundred thousand demonic soldiers of mine. I couldn’t do anything but to take it all in. As for the person who wielded the sword, he is one of the top Cultivator of the Sword in this world. After being defeated by Sword Saint Ziwei, he started searching for the rubbings of the Chart of Celestial Extermination to perfect his swordcraft in order to challenge her again,” Ye Liuyun patiently explained to Shen Lian.

　　Shen Lian was shocked. He knew who Sword Saint Ziwei was; she was the most reputable Cultivator of the Sword two thousand years ago. There was not any news about her, and Shen Lian thought that she would have either transcended beyond the mortal world or had fallen during the Trial of Dao. However, from the way Ye Liuyun put it, it would seem that Sword Saint Ziwei was still around somewhere in this world.

　　Shen Lian was shaken by what Ye Liuyun said next.

　　Ye Liuyun paused and smiled at Shen Lian. “The sword technique used by Sword Saint Ziwei back in her younger days was known as the Being and Non-Being of Sword Aura. When she eventually attained success in swordcraft, she had polished the sword technique to its pinnacle and derived another sword technique named as ‘Dazizai Shapeless Sword Aura’. With that sword technique, she was unrivaled and had to travel around the world to look out for stronger opponents. Eventually, she sealed her sword and lived in seclusion. Lu Jiuyun only attained Dao after she had sealed her sword, otherwise, he would have faced defeat at her hands,” Ye Liuyun spoke. Even he had to acknowledge Lu Jiuyuan strength.

　　Shen Lian learned the Being and Non-Being of Sword Aura from Mister Su back then. The sword aura was mysterious, and till today he had not managed to uncover all of its mysterious workings. He did not expect for it to have such an impressive origin. Mister Su must be connected to Sword Saint Ziwei somehow. At the same time, Ye Liuyun had seen him using the Being and Non-Being of Sword Aura before. Memories started coming back, and Shen Lian was reminded how Xiaozhu was killed by his sword aura despite that it was not his intention to do so.

　　Shen Lian looked apologetic.

　　Ye Liuyun however, did not react at all. “I do not blame you for her death. Otherwise, I would not have introduced you to Qing Xuan back then. You, of all people, would know that your sword aura has an impressive background. Shen Lian, oh, Shen Lian, do you really think that you are where you are now out of sheer luck?” Ye Liuyun spoke.

　　“I know, but there is no point in thinking about it when I don’t have the capabilities yet,” Shen Lian replied.

　　A hint of admiration flashed over Ye Liuyun’s face, and he spoke, “Actually, we are very similar. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered explaining all these to you. If you still see me as the Ye Liuyun that I used to be, I will treat you as the gentlemanly Shen Lian that I used to know too.”

　　“Of course,” Shen Lian smiled.

　　Both of them trusted each other more now.

　　Shen Lian understood what Ye Liuyun was trying to imply – he wished that Shen Lian could trust him, and just like Shen Lian, he had gone through unexplainable strange encounters that he had no control over.

　　Just as how Shen Lian got his hands on the Mastery of Senses, it was a strange occurrence as well.

　　Moreover, Ye Liuyun was around his age and his level of attainment was similar to him too. On top of that, it was curious how he was privy to plenty of secrets.

　　“Can you tell me about the reason why you are here at Da Ming Wang Temple now?” Ye Liuyun questioned.

　　“I’m here to look for Dharma that could restrain Sky Demons, but I did not expect to see this,” Shen Lian replied.

　　“Indeed, Dharma could restrain Sky Demons, but if you were to see the rubbings of the Chart of Celestial Extermination, you would definitely benefit from it. Sky demons would be nothing in comparison. Too bad, we are too late. Though I can definitely help you out with your problem, I just need you to go somewhere and to look for something for me,” Ye Liuyun replied.

　　“Where is that?”

　　“You will need to enter a door to get there. When the time is right, I will inform you. Though, to show my sincerity, I can solve your problem for you now,” Ye Liuyun smiled mysteriously.

　　After pondering on it momentarily, Shen Lian replied, “Alright then.”

　　“Let’s go now,” Ye Liuyun smiled.

　　“Now?” Shen Lian was taken aback.

　　“It can’t be that you are trying to figure out where did the monks in Da Ming Wang Temple go? I’m only here to confirm my suspicion about the rubbings of the Chart of Celestial Extermination. There’s one more thing though, did you kill a troop of Yin soldiers before you entered here?” Ye Liuyun queried.

　　Shen Lian nodded.

　　“Those soldiers belonged to the Path Master of the Path of Hungry Ghost. They were attacking every living creature of blood and flesh that they have encountered because of an order was given by the Path Master of the Path of Hungry Ghost. He has always been a petty person. If you don’t leave before your presence is detected by him, even if you are spared from death, you would be skinned alive,” Ye Liuyun sighed.

　　__________________________

　　The county hall of Yuguan Town was the most lavish building around town. Seeing how remote Yuguan Town was, there was no need to put on a show by acting poor, just to prove that they were honest with their earnings, and no corruptions. Though, the current Magistrate, Magistrate Chen was indeed an honest official. He was a second-ranked Jinshi. If not for his candor and sense of justice, he would not have offended some of the influential officials and ended up here.

　　Of course, he was held in high regard by some influential individuals too. They promised in private that they would order his transfer when talents were needed after the succession of the new Emperor. Right now, he was just staying put and waiting for his time to come.

　　Magistrate Chen initially thought that the people of Yuguan Town lived in poverty. However, during his two years term, everything had been going fine. There was a temple of the Goddess of Grains right outside the town and was alleged to be extremely efficacious. The people’s voices were heard and there was not much injustice in Yuguan Town. Magistrate Chen found himself extremely free and had been resting most of the time.

　　The bailiffs who stood guard were tardy as there had not been much going on at the county hall.

　　When the sky started drizzling, the two bailiffs left the door ajar and started snacking on peanuts and liquor to pass time.

　　Suddenly, the door was kicked open and the two bailiffs almost choked on their peanuts.

　　They were enraged as they wondered who had the guts to barge into the county hall.

　　A young man in white stood at the door, and he held a folding fan in his hands. He looked so charming that not even the male descendants of the noble families in this town could rival his charms.

　　Despite that he barged in rudely, the bailiffs knew better than to offend him. “May I know what are you here for? Do you have a business card with you?” One of the bailiffs asked.

　　The young man in white would be Yanxu. He looked around at the courtyard of the county hall and smiled, “Indeed, this is the pivotal point of the town. This will do.”

　　He walked in without so much as looking at the two bailiffs.

　　The two of them were not about to stand by and to do nothing. They walked towards Yanxu.

　　However, the peanuts in their hands started popping up and attacked their companion. The peanuts landed right on their respective skulls and formed a huge bloody hole in it.

　　After sprinkling the liquor, Yanxu created a spark and set those two on fire. Within moments, they had turned into ashes.

　　Yanxu did not even pause as he did all of those. He proceeded forward and headed into the hall.

　　Magistrate Chen was reading in the hall when Yanxu barged in. “Who are you? How did you get in?” He asked.

　　“Head down now,” Yanxu smiled.

　　He pointed at Magistrate Chen and brought a breeze in front of him. Just as the breeze was about to fetch him away from his seat in the hall, Magistrate Chen roared. A string of words started flowing out from the top of his head and they shone brightly with a white ray. The breeze could not move him, not even an inch.

　　Yanxu smiled coldly. He did not expect to run into a true scholar here.

　　Yanxu immediately turned into a virtual shadow and appeared right in front of Magistrate Chen. With a press of his hand, all of the righteousness and glaring white ray disappeared without a trace.

　　Magistrate Chen could feel malicious Qi rushing in from the top of his head. He shivered. He felt as though he was falling through layers of clouds and ended up on the main street.

　　A lot of the people recognized Magistrate Chen and started getting closer to watch. Some even helped him up.

　　Good thing that Yanxu did not plan to take his life, which was the only reason why Magistrate Chen survived his fall.

　　However, black air started rushing out around town and monsters started to manifest. The monster with the body of a snake and the head of a human came first, and it was followed by the monster with the body of a human and the head of a bird. There were even snakes with four feet and birds with two heads amongst many other weirdly-shaped monsters. All of them charged towards the main street.

　　Some of the stronger men were brave and they started battling against the monsters. However, it did not take long for them to be defeated. In the end, they all shivered and fell into a slumber.

　　The monsters infested the streets and all of the residents were suffering.

　　A lot of vendors did not dare to continue their businesses.

　　Coupled with Magistrate Chen’s experience, everyone knew that a demonic god had come to Yuguan Town.

　　If it was mere thieves and burglars, the soldiers would still be able to handle them. However, when it came to a demonic god who was skilled in supernatural powers and techniques, only a Dao Master could handle the situation.

　　Magistrate Chen had never been one to subscribe to these sorts of tales and fables. However, when faced with a situation as such, there was nothing he can do but to coordinate the efforts to invite any Dao Masters nearby. However, batches of monks and Daoist were thrown out within ten minutes after they entered into the town hall. It was as though they had all gone crazy and were incapable of normal speech.

　　Luckily, the monsters did nothing more than disturbing the residents. No one was killed. Most people had since moved out of town. Even then, the monsters still made their way out of town and caused disturbance to the residences.

　　It was until the third day that everyone realized that the monsters would go anywhere and everywhere, save for one place – the temple of the Goddess of Grains. Initially, everyone wanted to deal with these rogue monsters by seeking help from Dao Masters. When they noticed this phenomenon, they finally realized that the Goddess of Grains could do more than saving the people from the hardships of life – she could protect them as well.

　　Someone suggested for Magistrate Chen to lead everyone to invite the Goddess of Grains, so that she could help remove the demons in town and return peace to Yuguan Town once again.

　　Little did they know that their course of action was exactly what Yanxu had wanted!

　　In the temple, Qi Sanguang was frowning as he spoke to the statue, “They want to invite your help to deal with the demon, what are we going to do now?”