Chapter 180: Dharma King

So Zuo Zhicheng led Lin Yuexi and Han Saier towards Xinlu.

Because Han Saier and Lin Yuexi were not in good condition, their travel speed was not very fast. Zuo Zhicheng used the journey time to train the Underworld King Snake a little.

From what he could see so far, it did have a certain level of intelligence. But whether its intelligence was equivalent to a 4 or 5-year-old child, or a 7 or 8-year-old child, and what level its intellect was at, he could not fully determine yet.

But at least the Underworld King Snake had roughly understood that the changes in heat energy from Zuo Zhicheng’s body, the signals transmitted, were commands for it.

If it did not obey the commands, it would be attacked by him. After being attacked, its body would become very cold, as if its blood was about to freeze.

The journey took about seven hours, during which time the Underworld King Snake also learned a few of the simplest commands like eat, stop, and move forward. As for riding it, Zuo Zhicheng had no problem, but for the two women, riding the Underworld King Snake was too bumpy.

So, after about seven hours, the group had reached the outskirts of Xinlu.

Zuo Zhicheng looked at Lin Yuexi, who was somewhat pale, and said to Han Saier, “You go into the city first and call Qingyue Qiu over. We’ll wait for you here.”

Han Saier nodded. In his presence, she always felt very suppressed and scared. Being able to leave his side early was something she somewhat longed for.

But after looking at Lin Yuexi’s pale face, she couldn’t help but ask, “Is my senior sister okay?”

“Your senior sister just lost a bit too much blood, plus we’ve been travelling non-stop, so she’s a bit weak now,” Zuo Zhicheng said plainly. “Hurry and go. We’ll wait for you here.”

Han Saier nodded, then left Zuo Zhicheng and the others, looking back every few steps as she ran towards Qingyue Qiu’s location. As a member of the Shadow Corps, she naturally knew where the offices in Xinlu City were.

Zuo Zhicheng and the others hid in a small grove. The Underworld King Snake was curled up, and Lin Yuexi was now lying on its back. Zuo Zhicheng sat cross-legged on the ground, seizing the time to practice his Dao Arts.

Currently, in terms of his Martial Arts, both his Power of Mind and Spirit and his physical strength had reached a bottleneck. But in Dao Arts, he felt he was getting closer and closer to the ‘Leakless’ realm, so he basically used every possible moment to practice.

Lin Yuexi looked at the cross-legged Zuo Zhicheng and suddenly said, “Mr. Zuo, thank you so much this time. If it weren’t for you, our fate would be unthinkable.”

Not hearing a response from Zuo Zhicheng, Lin Yuexi paused, then continued, “Saier is young. Our master and his wife spoiled her since she was little, so she isn’t very sensible. If she did anything wrong, please don’t take it to heart.”

Zuo Zhicheng knew what she meant. Because of the severity of his methods, his initial failure to rescue Han Saier, plus having the Underworld King Snake swallow the corpses, Han Saier’s impression of him was one of fear and awe, and she unavoidably held some dissatisfaction and resentment in her heart.

Han Saier thought she hadn’t shown it, not knowing that her small emotions were as clear as day in the eyes of seasoned people like Zuo Zhicheng and Lin Yuexi.

So Lin Yuexi was worried that Zuo Zhicheng was displeased, hence her words.

But how could Zuo Zhicheng possibly take it to heart? He just frowned, disliking the interruption to his practice.

“Be quiet,” he said coldly.

At that, a flash of fear appeared in Lin Yuexi’s eyes, and she completely dared not speak again. She didn’t know what Zuo Zhicheng’s attitude really was, and could only hope to find another time to thank him properly later; it couldn’t hurt.

Time passed minute by minute. Zuo Zhicheng’s left eye continuously absorbed Light Energy from the air. This Light Energy came from the Sun in the sky. As he absorbed it, a darkness spread out from him towards the surroundings.

However, this darkness was very faint, looking just like a thin layer of Shadow. An ordinary person basically wouldn’t notice it; even Lin Yuexi didn’t sense anything unusual.

In less than an hour, Qingyue Qiu arrived at Zuo Zhicheng’s location with several dozen people and horses.

Although Qingyue Qiu had previously gone with Zuo Zhicheng to the Dog Head Mountain Ruins, this was the first time she truly saw the Underworld King Snake face to face.

When she saw the monster, curled up but still over ten meters tall, even her eyes couldn’t help but show astonishment.

Not to mention the team members who came with her. Almost everyone felt a pure, oppressive feeling coming from its sheer size.

“What is that thing!”

“Is it a dragon?”

“Such a huge snake!”

Not only did the people exclaim in surprise, but the horses they rode also whinnied and backed away, clearly terrified of the Underworld King Snake before them.

The Underworld King Snake, on the other hand, occasionally flicked its tongue, looking at the crowd and horses with curiosity.

Although Qingyue Qiu’s face remained as cold as ever, her words held unconcealed amazement.

“Is this the Underworld King Snake? You tamed it?”

“Not yet,” Zuo Zhicheng shook his head. “In the coming days, I’ll probably have to be with it constantly.” Zuo Zhicheng planned to stay near Xinlu Port, practicing Dao Arts while fully taming the Underworld King Snake.

The main reason for choosing this location was the Underworld King Snake’s size; feeding it clearly required a large amount of food. Zuo Zhicheng couldn’t just let it hunt freely yet, nor could he spend a lot of time preparing food for it himself, so he needed to leave the task of gathering food to his subordinates.

“I managed to extract some information from the people of Dìyù Gate.”

Qingyue Qiu nodded, signaling her subordinates to wait here for now, and walked towards a nearby clump of trees. Zuo Zhicheng also patted the Underworld King Snake’s body and followed her in.

Zuo Zhicheng spoke directly: “Dharma King Zhuan Lun passed through here. But his target isn’t Xinlu; it’s Haijing.”

“Haijing?” Qingyue Qiu said. “We had already received word that the Dharma King of Destruction and the Dharma King of Daoyu are both heading to Haijing. It seems they want to cut the Gordian knot.”

The conflict between the Shadow Corps and Dìyù Gate had recently escalated to an unprecedented level. The previously hidden background of Dìyù Gate was finally forced into the open.

Behind them was none other than that Patrol Superintendent of the Northern Wasteland, Xiao Tianyou. The earlier internal strife within Dìyù Gate was naturally due to some people remaining loyal to the Yama Holy Son, while others fully sided with Xiao Tianyou. It was a conflict between the Yama Holy Son and Xiao Tianyou.

For the Yama Holy Son, it was about Dìyù Gate advancing further. For Xiao Tianyou, it was that Dìyù Gate had become too powerful to control.

“It looks like Dìyù Gate wants to cut the Gordian knot, resolving the Southern Bay trouble in one stroke.” This clearly indicated that the Yama Holy Son and Xiao Tianyou had temporarily reached an agreement, wanting to quickly settle the Southern Bay issue before deciding the final victor between themselves.

This was also the scenario the higher-ups of the Shadow Corps least wanted to see.

Haijing was the capital of the Southern Bay region, and also the headquarters of the Shadow Corps. The thought that three Dharma Kings were targeting Haijing made Qingyue Qiu’s expression somewhat grim. Because the destructive power of any one of them was almost greater than that of the Crimson Sun Monk.

Seeing Qingyue Qiu hesitate to speak, Zuo Zhicheng said plainly, “In about ten days at most, I will go to Haijing. After all, Dìyù Gate is our common enemy.”

Hearing Zuo Zhicheng agree to provide support, Qingyue Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. Facing the potential assault of three Dharma Kings, no amount of help was too much.