Shen Lian could feel clearly that the mana within him was fraught with traces of evil Qi. The evil Qi intertwined with his mana.

　　The traces of evil Qi were constantly consuming his mana and were even invading his spirit. He was starting to see doubles.

　　Shen Lian raised his mana and crossed through the forest like a wisp of smoke. It was only until the sun was about to rise and he felt the clear distance between him and Yanxu that he stopped on top a giant tree branch. Yanxu would not be able to catch up to him in a short period of time. He raised his hand and saw that there were demonic marks all over his fair arm; the marks were pure black and seemed strange.

　　The evil Qi had merged with his mana and it was not something that Shen Lian could undo within minutes. In fact, he might not be able to undo it even if he was given a long period of time.

　　Daoism was not particularly remarkable when it came to tackling Sky Demons. Buddhism was the best in this. Back when Manjushri had attained Dao, he had killed one hundred thousand Sky Demons. On the other hand, millions of Sky Demons too had appeared when Buddha attained Dao. However, they were all purified by Buddha in the end. Of course, there was an endless stream of Sky Demons and not even Buddha could exterminate them completely. However, it was obvious that Dharma had a restraining effect over Sky Demons. Yanxu’s tactics were unimaginable and were connected to the Sky Demons. If Shen Lian intended to go against this person, he might have to pay the sacred site of Buddhism a visit.

　　Shen Lian’s thoughts flashed past, and he immediately dispelled any long-term plans; his priority was on the current emergency.

　　An ancient passage of words came to mind. That was a secret technique found in the records of Taiwei Pavilion, “Tianguan Disuo Formula”. He did not expect that it would come in handy one day.

　　Taixu mana started to swirl around according to the initial path; the evil Qi and mana that had combined together were moving along with the Taixu mana too.

　　Thin strands of evil Qi intertwined with the mana. However, due to the unique path that the Taixu mana was traveling, the evil Qi was rolled up into a ball. It was encapsulated within Shen Lian’s Taixu mana and was unable to escape.

　　The “Tiansuo Diguan” was a temporary measure that dealt with the invasion of foreign Qi that could not be immediately expelled. The foreign Qi was then locked up in the body with a special means. The foreign Qi would be in a limbo. On the other hand, the user’s mana would be restrained too. The amount of mana being restrained depended on the quality of the foreign Qi.

　　Shen Lian did not expect Yanxu’s evil Qi to be so powerful that it had taken up a great portion of his mana. Though, this showed that Yanxu was probably at his weakest now.

　　The evil Qi was so pure that Shen Lian would not believe if one were to claim that Yanxu still had his full force.

　　However, from their overall performance, Shen Lian could tell that Yanxu was a lot better than him.

　　Little did Shen Lian know that the evil Qi was a manifestation of the Supreme Heart Demon Chant performed by Yanxu, and it was something that could only be performed by him alone! However, if he were to lose this Supreme Heart Demon Chant, he would be faced with a great loss.

　　Tianguan Disuo, the inside and outside were being isolated from each other, the shadow that loomed over Shen Lian’s heart faded slightly. However, Shen Lian could still sense danger hanging over his head.

　　It would be impossible for him to return to Qing Xuan now. There was nowhere to hide amidst the vast sea, and it was difficult to battle against Yanxu now too.

　　If he were to head towards the mountain gate, he would risk being ambushed by Yanxu and might not even be able to escape.

　　Shen Lian made up his mind and continued to travel in the north-west direction. It was exactly opposite from the mountain gate of Qing Xuan. Though, he would not be able to meddle in the battle between the Empress and Huang Longzi anymore.

　　He hoped that the Empress attained success with her Bestowment Technique. When that happened, no one in this thirty-thousand-miles river basin could do anything to her.

　　The Empress should be able to walk on a wider path; however, not everyone was destined to fulfill their goals.

　　On the other side of the forest, Yanxu seemed slightly disheveled. There were dust on his white clothes. With a gentle wave, his clothes became clean again. His body was like wind and smoke. He traveled across the giant trees and reached the sky. He stood on top of the clouds; there was no end to the endless forest, and he did not know where Shen Lian was.

　　He activated the Supreme Heart Demon Chant, but to no avail. There was no response at all. If it was not for the tiniest of bond he still had with Shen Lian, he would have thought that Shen Lian had broken free from the Supreme Heart Demon Chant.

　　He contemplated for a short while and smiled. He looked at the north-west direction and whispered, “So what if you have used the Tianguan Disuo? Back then, the Uncle-Master used to hunt me down; today, I shall return the favor and hunt her disciple’s disciple down. Perhaps, this is what they called, “an eye for an eye”.”

　　He felt that “an eye for an eye” was a bad sign, as he had committed plenty of bad deeds.

　　He stood on top of the clouds handsomely. If a Yaotai Fairy were to see him now, her heart might flutter at the sight of him.

　　With a tap of his toe, a portion of the sea of clouds was segregated from it. The cloud fetched him towards the north-west direction, and he disappeared amidst the mountains. It was not known where he had gone.

　　______________________

　　Most of the river water flowed from west to east and they would end up in a big river or the sea. This was the case for Yushui as well. The stretch at Yuguan was the calmest of Yushui. All these while, no one planted crops at the river shore. They were afraid that when the flood came, it would destroy all of the crops. However, ever since the Goddess of Grains Temple was built, the weather had been great and the people had been living in peace and harmony.

　　The Goddess of Grains was efficacious. Despite that, she might not answer to every prayer, but she had done plenty of good deeds for the people within a one hundred mile radius.

　　Temple Attendant Qi who worked in the temple used to be addicted to gambling. Ever since he had answered to the calling of the Goddess, he had turned over a new leaf. He was almost fifty years old, and yet there was not even a strand of white hair on him. He looked as though he was thirty years old and was full of life.

　　Qi Sanguang sat on the doorstep and watched the fisherman doing their job. He felt contented.

　　Ever since the temple was built, it had not been expanded.

　　However, as a temple attendant, he did not remain idle all the time. He had been going around and tuning in to the sufferings of the people. He would report the injustice that he had encountered to the Goddess of Grains, and she would lend help whenever she could.

　　The satisfaction he derived from doing these were a lot more fulfilling than winning in a gamble.

　　As for the offerings provided by the believers, he had used the money to purchase land. The land was then passed on to the kind people for them to plant on. He charged them some rent as a formality. If anyone were to be dishonest and tried to trick him, they would not be able to sleep in peace knowing that the Goddess of Grains was watching over them.

　　The temple was not crowded on normal days unless it was the first or the fifteenth of the month. Even the fortune tellers were not here as the timing was not great.

　　A young man dressed in white walked over. He held a folding fan in his hands, and a piece of jade dangled at the end of the folding fan. As the temple attendant, Qi Sanguang had seen his fair share of impressive individuals. The jade dangling off the folding fan seemed to worth a few popular shops in Yuguan, and not even Master Shuo from the town was as lavish.

　　However, there was something strange about the young man in white. The hand that was holding the handle of the fan was as fair as the white jade. Not even a young lady would have hands as beautiful as his.

　　He walked over with a smile and started fanning himself at the door of the temple.

　　There were only two or three female believers at the temple, and they all blushed the moment they set eyes on him. They found themselves unable to look away.