Wandering Gods of Day and Night

Chapter 1396 - 520: Returning Ruins Space 3

"Midnight, you say?"Zhou Xuan patted the shoulder of the Eternal Life Sect Leader with a confident smile, "Little Changsheng, you’re mistaken this time. My Star Sky Scroll will expedite the elixir’s completion. By my estimation, the elixir will be ready by ten o’clock... at the latest, ten o’clock."

"That early?"

"Do you doubt my words?" Zhou Xuan looked at the Eternal Life Sect Leader with a half-smile.

"Well... it should be correct. When have Master Zhou’s divine calculations ever been wrong?"

The Eternal Life Sect Leader dared not argue. Whatever time Zhou Xuan said the elixir would be ready, that’s when it would be ready.

"At ten tonight, I’ll be waiting for you at Jingyi Shop to deliver the elixir."

"Wouldn’t Mr. Yan be worried that by allowing such a high-grade elixir to pass through my hands, I might be tempted to steal it?" the Eternal Life Sect Leader asked.

Zhou Xuan chuckled, pointing to the sky, gradually darkening outside, "Little Changsheng, you can run from the monk, but not the temple—you’re a Heavenly Vault God Level. If you take the elixir, neither heaven nor earth will spare you."

"Indeed, indeed."

The Eternal Life Sect Leader replied humbly, "Master Zhou, I’ll head back to the Ancient Hall and wait for the elixir to be ready. Once the cauldron opens, I’ll bring the elixir to the shop."

"Go ahead, once the elixir arrives, my current concerns will be resolved, and I will set out overnight to visit family in Ping Shui Prefecture."

"Little Changsheng understands."

The Eternal Life Sect Leader got up to leave, and Zhou Xuan, stood, stamping his foot. His perception could no longer penetrate half a foot underground—Mr. Yan’s Heaven and Earth Net was closing in tighter.

...

Mr. Yan sat in the "Returning Ruins" donning a Daoist robe.

Returning Ruins was one of Jing Country’s mystic spaces.

Ruins signifies both a desolate place and the void. Within the Returning Ruins space, cities and forests rapidly deteriorate, turning into ruins, and then are ground into dust.

Each time, a fierce sun hangs in the sky, emitting bursts of Heavenly Fire.

The Heavenly Fire melts the dust, transforming the world into "void."

Yet, after the void, comes rebirth, as all the cities and forests return to their original state.

In this rapid cycle of destruction and rebirth, Mr. Yan relied on the lantern in his hand to find a corner to avoid being dissolved by the "Returning Ruins."

Mere mortals cannot reach the Returning Ruins, and those Heavenly Fire Clan members who rely on "Ghost-faced Butterflies" to arrive find only a few dozen feet of livable space.

Therefore, despite the many Heavenly Fire Clan members present, they cannot find Mr. Yan in the vast Returning Ruins space.

Here, he considers it the safest place.

Inside his lantern, apart from the candle flame, there flutters a Ghost-faced Butterfly.

Every time the butterfly flaps its wings, it scatters dust, which drifts out from the lantern’s vent, sprinkling around Mr. Yan.

Only in places where the dust falls can the effects of the Returning Ruins space be evaded.

Amidst these dust-sprinkled areas, Mr. Yan controlled an eye and an ear.

The eye and ear were drawn on talisman paper, then cut out. These were the magic artifacts Mr. Yan used in recent days to monitor Zhou Xuan—Heavenly Vision and Ear Root.

After hearing Zhou Xuan’s conversation with the Eternal Life Sect Leader through these magic artifacts, Mr. Yan fell into contemplation.

"Has this Zhou Xuan detected my presence?"

Mr. Yan couldn’t determine.

A few days ago, he saw Zhou Xuan discovering the Fengshui Array on East Market Street, and he saw Zhou Xuan dispatch Yun Ziliang and Li Changxun to search the streets for the hidden Dragon Seeking Heavenly Master.

But as they searched, Zhou Xuan stopped investigating.

During this time, Mr. Yan also heard Zhou Xuan inquire the Eternal Life Sect Leader about "Mr. Yan," but Zhou Xuan only mentioned it briefly and did not pursue the topic further.

Mr. Yan really couldn’t gauge whether Zhou Xuan had discovered him.

He could only be certain of one thing,

"Tonight at ten o’clock, Zhou Xuan’s high-grade elixir will be ready. Once it’s ready, Zhou Xuan will return to Ping Shui Prefecture."

Gazing at the lantern’s flame, Mr. Yan silently mused, "If Zhou Xuan returns to Ping Shui Prefecture, I’ll completely lose my dream of monopolizing the Dan Demon."

"To act... or not to act?"

Mr. Yan murmured to himself, but the human skin he wore suddenly spoke with a strange yin yang tone, "What? After managing to strategize against Zhou Xuan, coming all this way, you’re afraid to make a move now?

Spineless as ever, just like three hundred years ago..."

"Shut up."

Suddenly clenching his fist, Mr. Yan said to his human skin, "I’ve already made up my mind. Before ten o’clock, I must act. This is my last opportunity."

"Ahaha, suddenly grown bold, have you?"

The human skin sneered, "Don’t say I didn’t warn you; if you fail to steal the elixir, with Zhou Xuan’s temperament, he’ll cut you down."

"He wouldn’t dare."

Mr. Yan’s hand passed through the human skin, patting his maggot-like body forcefully, "I am now of the Heavenly Fire Clan, the supreme Divine Clan of Jing Country."

"Even if he is a Divine Pill Master of Jade Capital, to the Heavenly Dome, he is merely an outsider, whereas I am a clansman of the Heavenly Dome."

"If I fail, at most I’ll extort him, with no danger whatsoever."

Reflecting on his current identity, Mr. Yan inexplicably gained confidence, his internal struggle now resolved.

"Whether he has detected me or not is not important. The crucial thing is... he possesses the Dan Demon."