Chapter 39 Intercepting

At this moment, on the main road just over ten miles away from Qibu Mountain, two Daoists, one old and one young, were traveling.

However, unlike Jiang Chen, they were not traveling on foot; instead, they sat inside a luxurious canopy carriage, with chilled sour plum juice to enjoy on the side to beat the heat.

The young Daoist was not actually that young, looking about the same age as Jiang Chen, in his early twenties.

The old Daoist appeared to be in his fifties, sporting a long beard. With his Daoist robes and the horsetail whisk in his hand, he truly possessed a certain air of an Immortal.

"Revered Master, surely the congratulatory gift that our Jingming Sect is presenting to Your Majesty this time will outshine the other Schools?" the young Daoist asked.

The old Daoist chuckled, "One shouldn't speak too soon. After all, our Jingming Sect is a newcomer to the Daoist world; in terms of heritage, we cannot yet compare to the Three Mountains Schools like the Maoshan Sect or the Way of the Celestial Masters."

The young Daoist looked unconvinced. "But our Jingming Sect is the most respectful towards the imperial family, and Your Majesty values us the most. Based on this alone, we are incomparable to those other Schools!"

The old Daoist agreed with this point, but pretended to be angry and chided, "Taoist Gu Ming, you must understand that the heritage of the Three Mountains Schools is something even the imperial family fears. When you are outside, you must know what should be said and what should not."

Although they did not deliberately lower their voices, the strongmen carrying the canopy outside seemed not to have heard them at all.

This was because the old Daoist had used a Spell to isolate the sound.

"Yes, Revered Master, I will remember that," Taoist Gu Ming replied perfunctorily.

He then added with some excitement, "Revered Master, is the Mirage Pearl from that Mirage Beast truly so miraculous that wearing it for a long time can keep one forever young?"

"That goes without saying. We spent a great price to cultivate this Mirage Beast. It is expected to reach the Life Wheel realm within these next two days. By then, its Mirage Pearl will be even more precious," the old Daoist said with a hint of pride.

Taoist Gu Ming was all smiles. "That beast actually thinks we are cultivating it to serve as the guardian Divine Beast of our Jingming Sect. Little does it know, we would never let such a wicked, ugly monster defile our Holy Land. If other Schools saw it, they would think our Jingming Sect is some filthy place."

"Cultivating it is merely to obtain its Mirage Pearl."

The old Daoist did not forget to remind Taoist Gu Ming, "Alright, this matter is quite sensitive. You must not let it slip. If other Schools were to find out that our Jingming Sect is cultivating a Mirage Beast, I fear we would become the target of public criticism."

"Rest assured, Revered Master, my lips are sealed. We will just say that we encountered a great Mirage Beast while passing by a mountain range, and obtained this Mirage Pearl after subduing the demon!" Taoist Gu Ming said glibly.

The old Daoist nodded with satisfaction, then spoke with righteous indignation, "Indeed. Such demons and evils wreak havoc upon the world. As the orthodox Daoist sect, we must never allow such wickedness to harm the common people!"

Both of them wore expressions of righteous indignation, as if they had truly immersed themselves in the role of righteous heroes subduing demons.

As they traveled along the road, they happened to encounter a group of merchants taking a break.

Seeing this carriage and canopy heading towards Qibu Mountain, one of the merchants remarked casually, "Well, another group heading to Qibu Mountain to throw their lives away. Is the King of Hell rushing to meet his performance quota today or something?"

The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listeners took it to heart. Both the old Daoist and Taoist Gu Ming sitting inside the canopy heard the merchants' words.

"Stop!" At the old Daoist's command, the canopy carriage stopped immediately.

The merchants who had been chatting stopped talking immediately upon seeing the canopy carriage halt, and watched with some nervousness.

They saw the thin curtain of the canopy being lifted, and out stepped a young Daoist wearing Daoist robes and a Daoist hat.

Then, this Daoist helped an old Daoist step down from the carriage.

Seeing that two Daoists had stepped out, the traveling merchants all stood up, feeling a bit uneasy.

In this day and age, Daoists and monks were incredibly esteemed. Those who traveled with such grand displays were even more likely to possess real skills. Having traveled far and wide, these merchants had encountered countless strange occurrences, so they were especially cautious when dealing with Buddhist and Daoist figures, who were inherently linked to the supernatural and ghosts.

"Two Daoist Revered Masters, is there something we can help you with?" one of the merchants asked cautiously.

The old Daoist raised his eyes to glance at these people, then looked away. "I am a practitioner of the Jingming Sect from Wanshou Palace, Daoist Zizai, and this is my disciple, Taoist Gu Ming."

Upon hearing this, all the merchants became solemn and respectful, even showing a hint of trepidation. The Jingming Sect had been flourishing more and more in recent years, and its reputation was thunderous in their ears.

"So it is the two Immortals from a famous mountain. Please forgive our rudeness."

Some even knelt directly on the ground.

Seeing the reaction of these Mortals, Taoist Gu Ming felt an unconcealable sense of pride and disdain rising in his eyes.

Daoist Zizai was also very satisfied with the fearful reaction of these people upon hearing his background, but he still spoke in a gentle and pleasant manner:

"You need not be alarmed. It is just that I overheard your conversation earlier, mentioning that someone went up Qibu Mountain. Is this true?"

So it was about this. Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, yet felt a strange sense of disappointment.

If they could be noticed by an Immortal from the Jingming Sect, that would be a great opportunity to rise to the top. Unfortunately, they were just here to ask a question.

They did not hesitate any longer and immediately told everything about what had happened earlier.

"That's right, two Immortals. An hour ago, a young Daoist holding a strange sword did indeed go up the mountain. We tried to persuade him, saying there was a man-eating monster on the mountain, but unfortunately, he insisted on going."

At this point, someone added flatteringly, "That Daoist probably had some decent cultivation, but he looked too young and did not know the immensity of heaven and earth. How could he possibly be compared to you two Immortals?"

Just then, someone suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"This, why has the fog on Qibu Mountain dispersed? Didn't it usually take several days to clear in the past?"

Others looked over as well, all feeling greatly astonished.

At this moment, they did not notice that Daoist Zizai's expression had uncontrollably darkened.

Taoist Gu Ming also looked at Daoist Zizai with some worry. "Revered Master..."

Only then did the traveling merchants realize, belatedly, that something was wrong with the expressions of the two Daoists, and they all shut their mouths, not daring to say anything more.

"Let's go. I want to see which wild Daoist dares to covet the things of my Jingming Sect!"

After saying this, he didn't even bother with the carriage and rushed directly towards Qibu Mountain.

Taoist Gu Ming followed closely behind. Both were Daoist practitioners with cultivation, and now moving at full speed, they dashed over a hundred yards in the blink of an eye, leaving the group of merchants dumbfounded.

"They are indeed Immortals with real skills!"

"It's the Immortal Revered Masters!"

The group of merchants hurriedly knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly in the direction where the two had left.