At dawn, sunlight colored the sky in the extreme east with a golden hue.
Ji Yuenian stopped to look at the faint towering outer walls of the ancient of Tai Chu in the far distance with a serene gaze.
After walking for more than two days, he was about to leave the territory of Qingluan Mountain range, and was not far from stepping into the area under the jurisdiction of the ancient city of Tai Chu.
He slightly shook his head looking down at his worn-out satin robe. He raised his head and looked at the small village several miles ahead-a swirling smoke was rising from some fireplace, probably a place inhabited by many mortals.
Although he could temporarily manifest his clothes with his Xuan energy; however, since he hadn't refined his Xuan Sea, using this method was a waste of his Xuan energy. So he might as well head to the village and find a robe for the time being.
"Why does fellow-Daoist look so sloppy?"
He heard a somewhat surprised voice.
Ji Yuenian turned his head to find the origin of the voice. A handsome-looking young man in a Daoist robe walked out of the dense forest on the right, and was looking at him in astonishment.
The upper stage of Xuan Realm cultivation base!
The young man seemed to be very familiar with him. Seeing that Ji Yuenian was silent, he took a few steps closer and said with a smile. "Could it be that fellow-Daoist also encountered some tyrannical ghosts and monsters, and fled in a panic after you were unable to defeat them? Is that why you ended up in such a mess?"
Ji Yuenian shook his head slightly and asked, "Why did you come here, fellow Daoist?"
Seeing Ji Yuenian's disinclination towards the conversation, the young man did not press him but merely sighed. "My master helped me refine a "Hundred Ghosts Spirit Banner", but it was empty, so my master let me collect ghosts by myself. Within the radius of several thousand miles, only the outskirts of the Qingluan Mountain possess numerous demons, so I have come here alone to capture the evil spirits. According to my master's words, this is also a way to temper oneself."
Dressed in a mysterious green Daoist robe, a faint auspicious light of a treasure emanated from all over his body. The Xuan energy around him was extremely stable, and it was obvious that he had already cultivated his Xuan Sea.
Ji Yuenian nodded and said: "Indeed there are many ghosts here and most of them are at the level of the Nascent Dao Realm. As long as fellow Daoist head deeper, there'll only be little danger with your powerful magic treasure."
"How do you know that I'm in possession of a powerful magic treasure?" The young man seemed ignorant to the ways of the world. "My name is Baiyu Lou, from the Tai Yu Dao Sect. I didn't seem to have asked for fellow-Daoist's name yet."
Tai Yu Dao Sect, it was only a word away from the powerful clan Tai Yu Sheng Sect which was the most powerful clan in the Yuan Dynasty, but in reality, the disparity between them was like heaven and earth.
There were six mountains and three realms in the Tai Yu Sheng Sect. And each of which covered a territory of tens of thousands of miles. Countless small and large mountain peaks flourished here; creatures like Jian Zhiqing were aplenty.
The sects might–and all encompassing reach–shocked the entire world, but only few mortal races were present here. Although most of them are dominated by humans; demons, spirits, monsters, etc. were also present. Once you entered the Tai Yu Sheng Sect, you'd have to abide by the strict regulations of the sect, which couldn't be violated at any cost.
Monsters and ghosts were excluded from the orthodoxy, and were regarded as foul and ugly creatures. They could only survive in the dark corners, no matter the height of cultivation, they would never be openly respected.
"My name is Ji Yuenian." Ji Yuenian heard the words Tai Yu Dao Sect, and once again made a careful scrutiny of this Baiyu Lou. "I only know of Tai Yu Sheng Sect. I have never heard of this Tai Yu Dao Sect. "
Baiyu Lou looked a little embarrassed, waved his hand and said, "Fellow Daoist doesn't know. My Tai Yu Dao Sect was a branch of Tai Yu Sheng Sect many years ago, but later it declined, and gradually, the main sect refused to recognize us [as their part]."
Having said this, he seemed not to want to bring up this topic again. He took out a set of clothes from between his sleeves, and said with a smile.
"Brother Ji, you being so handsome, wearing such worn-out clothes is too big of a disparity. You put on this Daoist robe for the time being."
What Baiyu Lou used was an extremely precious storage treasure.
Ji Yuenian didn't pretend to be gracious, it was just a piece of cloth, so he took it without hesitation. He said softly: "Fellow Daoist has entered this mountain range alone, but didn't have the slightest bit of vigilance, which is most surprising."
Baiyu Lou became a bit smug when he heard that. He waved the ring-shaped storage treasure on his wrist and said, "I grew sheltered in the Daoist sect since I was a child, and this is my first time out of the sect; but because of that my senior sister has given me a spiritual magic sword to protect myself. Plus, this banner has spirits at the Xuan realm, why do I need to be vigilant?"
"In this Tai Yu Dao Sect–" Ji Yuenian hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the Hundred Ghost Spirit Banner behind Baiyu Lou, "–are there only a few Daoists?"
"Just call me Brother Bai. It's a bit strange to hear fellow Daoist talk like that," Baiyu Lou said with a smile. "Brother Ji guessed it right, there are only five people in the Tai Yu Dao Sect, except for master, the rest are my apprentice brothers and sisters."
Ji Yuenian shook his head slightly, no wonder Baiyu Lou had such a pure heart. It turned out that except for a few people in the Tai Yu Dao Sect, Baiyu Lou hardly ever had contact with other people.
If he were to switch positions with any upper stage Xuan realm cultivator and was looking for profit, and by chance stumbled upon Ji Yuenian, who was only at the Initial stage of the Xuan realm. He'd directly attack instead of talking all this nonsense.
"Brother Ji, you'd better put on your clothes first." As he seemed to know what Ji Yuenian was thinking, he winked at him. "To be honest, it's not that I'm not vigilant, it's just that brother Ji's cultivation is too low. So there is no threat to me, so, naturally there is no need for me to be cautious."
Hearing this, Ji Yuenian's thought churned, and instead of speaking, he donned the new, clean Daoist robe in his hand. He then flicked out a burst of Xuan energy, and the worn-out silk robe was immediately reduced to countless powdered fragments.
"People rely on clothes, so if you look at it again, brother Ji is really handsome and unpretentious." Baiyu Lou looked at the young man in Daoist robe with picturesque brows in front of him, and he was a dazed for a while.
Although Ji Yuenian was wearing a very simple Daoist robe, he looked better clean and properly dressed. His long dark hair rolled down, which made him seem even more fetching.
"Brother Bai is too polite," Ji Yuenian slightly raised his head, once again looked at his Hundred Ghost Spirit Banner.
"Brother Bai, this spirit banner, you better not carry this behind your back."
Baiyu Lou was stunned for a moment, then took off this spirit banner from behind, held it in his hand to sense it, and looked up and said. "Why did brother Ji say that? There are only four ghosts inside this spirit banner, and they are completely under the control of the forbidden array inside the banner, so there is no danger.
The young man in the robe smiled and said, "Brother Bai should know the reason better than me."
For the first time, Baiyu Lou's gaze became somewhat serious, and he lifted his hand to put the Hundred Ghost Spirit Banner behind his back again and smiled. "Although Brother Ji is only at the initial stage of the Xuan Realm, you have a keen sight."