Chapter 810: Reunion

In short, the others had already begun seizing Spirit Seeds by force and had reaped enormous gains. Anyone who still hoped to compete in the rankings by laboriously searching for Spirit Seeds would now look like a fool.

If one wanted first place, there was no longer any path except taking from others.

And whoever wanted first place most badly was also the one in greatest danger.

For safety's sake, Han and Song took advantage of the fact that several forces had already gathered and drew Zhao over to their side.

Zhao, which had been dragged along by Jin, was frightened as well. Although it no longer had an Elder presiding over it, its people were surprisingly unanimous. Han and Song's proposal suited them perfectly. With Han and Song there to support them, Zhao decisively broke away from Jin and formed an alliance with the two states.

Taishu Shanyue was so furious he practically howled. Yet facing the combined strength of three states, he did not dare act rashly for the moment. He bitterly regretted not seizing Zhao's Spirit Seeds when he had the chance.

Thus, among the seven states, Yan, Wei, and Qi formed one alliance; Han, Song, and Zhao formed another. Jin, having lost the Way and therefore found little aid, was left completely isolated.

The situation had not developed according to Niu Youdao's expectations.

...

In the middle of a vast lake stretching beyond sight, overseas cultivators surfaced one after another and shot toward the shore.

The group stood at the water's edge and gazed across the glittering lake. They finally stopped running.

"We should have shaken them off," Duan Wuchang said.

Although they had fled for a long time and had gone ages without seeing pursuers, no one had dared relax until they crossed this broad body of water underwater.

The lake was enormous. The pursuing forces should no longer be able to determine the direction in which they had escaped. Only now did everyone finally breathe easier.

A count of their numbers showed that just over seven hundred remained. Under pursuit by the seven states, some had been faster and some slower.

"Those who fell behind probably aren't coming back," Hong Gaitian sighed.

Everyone understood what he meant. With so many people hunting them at the time, there had been no way to care for those who could not keep up, much less turn back to rescue them. If they had, no one would have escaped.

During the long pursuit by the seven states, they had lost more than three hundred people one after another.

With targets still ahead to chase, anyone who had been caught was unlikely to have been left alive.

"Being able to escape at all probably means Niu Youdao succeeded in drawing them away. I wonder how that fellow is doing now." Lang Jingkong sighed as well.

Fuhua fell silent.

Truthfully, at first they had not believed Niu Youdao would sacrifice himself to divert the enemy for them. They had assumed the opposite was more likely: that Niu Youdao intended to use them to draw the pursuers while he escaped alone.

But at the time they had had no choice. Keeping Niu Youdao with them would only have meant everyone dying together. They could do nothing but treat a dead horse as though it might still be saved and try whatever chance remained.

They had never expected Niu Youdao to truly do exactly what he said—to disregard his own life and draw the pursuers away so that they could escape disaster.

More than three hundred of them had still died, but that was better than total annihilation. And no one could blame Niu Youdao for those deaths. To accomplish even this much, Niu Youdao had genuinely done everything he could. No one had any grounds to criticize him. Instead, many were moved.

Hong Gaitian sighed with emotion. "Whether he did it to preserve these Spirit Seeds so we could take first place or for some other reason, at least one thing has been proven. He wasn't playing tricks on us. We judged the heart of a gentleman by the measure of petty men. We misunderstood him. He truly did intend to cooperate sincerely."

Lang Jingkong and Duan Wuchang both nodded silently.

Fuhua let out a long breath. "We shouldn't stay here. Let's go to the place we agreed on and see whether he can make it back alive."

As for luring out more enemies and robbing them again, no one entertained such hopes anymore. They had already pushed the game too far. The group vanished into the distant world.

...

Niu Youdao was wandering too.

Alone in this ancient wilderness, he watched sunrises and sunsets and used the stars to judge his position. He distinguished east from west, north from south, searched for distinctive terrain he had seen before, and used it to determine where he needed to go.

Toward evening, hidden among the mountains, he planted his sword in the ground and removed both outer layers of clothing. He stripped off the inner one and draped it over the sword hilt, put on the black outer garment, then took the robe from the sword and pulled it over the black layer.

Once dressed, he covered his face with both hands and peeled away the disguise mask. He rolled it up and slipped it into his sleeve. At last he had returned to his original appearance, and he breathed out slowly. After traveling this long under the identity of a Misty Pavilion man, he should no longer have anyone following him. He should be safe.

He turned and crouched beside a stream, scooped up water, and splashed his face. After washing briefly and drinking some water, he rose, then for no obvious reason looked back toward the afterglow of sunset framed between two mountains.

Slowly, he turned to face it. Then, little by little, he opened both arms and closed his eyes, as though embracing that single band of light.

The fading sunlight seemed to look after him in return, drawing his solitary shadow long and slant across the ground and setting the water droplets on his face aglow.

Then he opened his eyes.

He no longer lingered over the light. Resolutely taking up his sword, he flew to the mountain peak and landed atop a great tree.

After surveying the surroundings, he rearranged the branches in the crown, weaving them into something like a netted bed. He lay down with one arm beneath his head and felt the light slowly fade from Heaven and earth, watching darkness claim the world little by little.

Now and then the wind came. The treetop swayed, and Niu Youdao lying within it swayed with the wind.

Beneath the night sky, he gazed at the stars, felt the wind move, listened to the insects, and occasionally heard the distant cry of some fierce beast. He himself remained utterly alone and still.

His heart, however, could not become still. His thoughts kept turning.

At first light, once he had determined his direction, he set out again.

For more than ten days he traveled alone across desolate mountains, wilderness, and open country, through wind and rain. At last, at the agreed rendezvous point, he encountered a group of people.

Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion.

The moment they saw him, the Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion cultivators became excited.

There had been no fixed time for the meeting. They had simply been told to wait here. Not knowing how long they might have to remain left them deeply unsettled.

Niu Youdao had had no choice. Anything might go wrong, so he could not give them an exact time for the rendezvous.

Now that they had finally seen him, the people of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion at last felt they had something solid to rely on.

"Are you all right?" Situ Yao asked the moment they met.

Niu Youdao shook his head, swept his gaze over their numbers, and smiled. "Looks like all of you are doing well too."

"We're fine here," Situ Yao said. "Waiting without knowing when someone will come is the hard part."

Niu Youdao nodded and smiled at Li Wuhua without saying much. "Let's go."

"Where?" Situ Yao asked.

"To meet the Four Seas group." Niu Youdao pointed in one direction. "Keep going that way. We should meet them within three days."

Situ Yao found that strange. "How did you get separated?"

"It's a long story." With so many ears around, Niu Youdao did not want to say much and dismissed the matter in a sentence.

...

They did not even need three days. Two days later, a mountain range wreathed in clouds and mist appeared ahead.

The people of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion did not know where they were, but this was Niu Youdao's second time here.

This was where the Four Seas cultivators had gathered after entering the Tiandu Secret Realm. It was also where Niu Youdao and the overseas group had agreed to meet again when they parted.

They entered the mountains and found the cave residence Niu Youdao had visited before, only to discover it deserted.

His heart immediately grew heavy. Had the overseas group failed to escape in time?

But that did not seem right. From a distance, he had watched all seven states turn back and gather where he escaped, searching for him. Had something happened afterward?

The truth was not what he imagined.

Before long, Su Gongye, one of Hong Gaitian's men, appeared and invited Niu Youdao and the others to follow him.

The party circled deeper into the mountain range before finally seeing the Four Seas group.

When they met again, Hong Gaitian was exceptionally enthusiastic. He called out "Good!" again and again, strode up, punched Niu Youdao in the chest, and then pulled him into a bear hug. "Little brother, well done!"

After releasing him, Niu Youdao asked, "Why are you hiding over here?"

Fuhua smiled. "When the seven states were hunting us, some of our brothers fell behind. They knew the old location. We were afraid that if they fell into the hands of the seven states and couldn't keep their mouths shut, we'd be exposed, so we moved."

It was only a pretext.

During that kind of pursuit, the overseas group itself had been the target. Keeping up the chase was what mattered. No one had the leisure to capture useless prisoners. Those who fell behind and were caught would simply have been killed.

The people they were truly guarding against were Niu Youdao. They were afraid that if he fell into the hands of the seven states and failed to keep his mouth shut, waiting at the original location would be dangerous.

Only after Niu Youdao and the others arrived, and after they confirmed there was nothing unusual behind them, did they allow someone to show himself and bring the group over.

Niu Youdao understood after a moment's thought, but he did not expose them. Proving he was clever would accomplish nothing and might only make things unpleasant. So he merely smiled and nodded.

Seeing that Niu Youdao had returned unharmed and had even brought the Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion group with him, Fuhua was genuinely astonished. "Little brother, with so many people from the seven states hunting you, how did you escape?"

"I was chased until I had nowhere left to go, so I jumped into a river," Niu Youdao replied. "The terrain underwater was complicated, and by sheer luck I managed to hide and survive. You didn't see how dangerous it was. I can only say Heaven wasn't ready to let me die!"

The Four Seas cultivators all sighed. They could imagine how terrifying it must have been to be encircled and hunted by so many people.

Hong Gaitian patted Niu Youdao on the shoulder, both in comfort and to settle his nerves.

Duan Wuchang spread his hands toward the group. "Now that we're together again, what do we do next?"

Niu Youdao answered directly. "That last crisis was dangerous, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Because of us, the forces of all seven states gathered in one place. Every one of them has their own calculations. Jin is poor, aggressive, and desperate for first place. There's no way they can coexist peacefully with the others. Trouble is inevitable. Once fighting starts, none of them will have the attention to keep scattering their strength in search of Spirit Seeds. What we need to do now is keep them from finding us. Let them kill each other while we wait here in peace. We only need to head back before the Secret Realm exit opens."

Situ Yao's eyes took on a peculiar look. He silently studied the earnest expressions of the demons and monsters as they considered Niu Youdao's words.

Fuhua pondered for a moment. "Once the fighting continues and the Spirit Seeds become concentrated in the hands of a smaller number of forces, what we hold may no longer be enough for first place."

"As long as the total number stops increasing, fluctuations between one side and another don't matter so long as the gap doesn't grow too large," Niu Youdao said. "We still hold the advantage. We can respond according to circumstances when the time comes. We also have insiders on Yan's side. There is still plenty of room for us to maneuver."

...

An enraged Taishu Shanyue latched onto Han, Song, and Zhao like a starving wolf and refused to let them out of his sight.

Once he calmed down, however, he had to face reality. Yan, Wei, and Qi had formed an alliance. Han, Song, and Zhao had formed another. If Jin alone attacked either group, it would suffer badly. Even if Jin somehow won, the losses would inevitably be severe, leaving the other alliance to reap the benefits.

Faced with this situation, Taishu Shanyue came up with a compromise.

He secretly contacted Han and Song and proposed that the three of them seize first, second, and third place together. Once the three parties had monopolized the prize money for the top three rankings, they would pool the total and divide it evenly.

[End of Chapter 810]