Taiyi Dao Fruit-Chapter 1221 - 17: The Drought Demon Ba Descends on Dinghu

December 23.

Dinghu Sect had another heavy snowfall, and the entire Qiao Mountain Island was covered in a frost-white blanket.

On the steps leading to Tianshu Palace, the snow had been swept once, only to fall again. Elder Yuheng saw this, gently waved his sleeve, clearing away the snow, then couldn’t help but frown slightly.

The sect disciple responsible for this part of the stone stairs was somewhat remiss.

Now, Dinghu Sect had a new Sect Leader, none other than the former Elder Tianxuan, Gongsun Yuanxi. However, she herself was unwilling to change her name from Tianxuan, nor did she want to move out of the Tianxuan Hall, as it bore all her memories with her two unfilial disciples.

Thus, Tianshu Palace was left empty, serving as the place for daily discussions.

This back-and-forth left the already remote mountain top location of Tianshu Palace even more deserted, resulting in the Inner Sect disciples responsible for cleaning here to slack off.

Thinking of this, Elder Yuheng resolved to have someone properly set things straight.

Just as he was about to enter the hall, he heard the sound of a pulley behind him, and then saw a fleeting shadow rushing up from below.

Elder Yuheng’s brow furrowed even deeper as he fixed his gaze on the shadow, clearly seeing its true form.

—It was none other than Elder Kaixiang in a wheelchair.

Only to see Elder Kaixiang swiftly pushing the wheels with his hands, one wheel rolling directly onto the slope beside the stone stairs, that is, the ramp, while the other wheel hung in the air, thus swiftly ascending the stone steps, in the blink of an eye arriving at the front of Tianshu Palace.

"Screech—"

The wheelchair turned, drifting a bit and then came to a perfect stop in front of Elder Yuheng.

"Good! All my effort in mastering technique during these days wasn’t in vain,"

Elder Kaixiang said with satisfaction, patting the armrest.

Elder Yuheng’s brows furrowed into the character "川" as he reprimanded: "For an elder to be playing with tricks like this, what decorum is there?"

"I have no choice," Elder Kaixiang protested, "Isn’t it because my body hasn’t entirely recovered? I was directly cut in half back then, with even the upper and lower body mostly destroyed."

So more than half a year has passed, and not yet recovered, it’s quite reasonable, isn’t it?

It was precisely for this reason that Gongsun Yuanxi, the new Sect Leader, hadn’t sent Elder Kaixiang to dig copper at Shoushan.

He didn’t know that it was Tianxuan considering Jiang Li’s influence, not contending with this man who used to often call "women" for trivial matters. Otherwise, with Tianxuan’s petty nature, let alone sitting in a wheelchair, even if paralyzed, he’d have to crawl with his fingers to obediently mine.

Upon hearing this reason, Elder Yuheng couldn’t muster up any temper either, only flared his sleeves, and was about to enter the hall, but suddenly recalled something, saying: "Lately, there’s been some gossip circulating among the Outer Disciples that undermines the Sect Leader’s dignity. Your Kaiyang Hall is in the outer sect, later have someone investigate who exactly is spreading these rumors."

These were rumors about the new Sect Leader and his second disciple, circulating realistically enough to make Elder Yuheng’s sword-shaped eyebrows bristle with anger.

He has sent people to capture quite a few disciples, but the source was never completely eradicated, and before long new rumors would emerge, reverting the outer sect to chaos.

"Ha, rumors, the more you deal with them, the more troublesome they become, better to leave them be, they will dissipate before long."

Elder Kaixiang, feigning indifference, chuckled: "No choice, it’s because Emperor Jiang doesn’t have a good reputation in this regard. You don’t know, but over at the Divine Capital, the tales of Emperor Jiang and the Princess’s romantic affairs still circulate."

Simply put, Kaiyang doesn’t want to manage.

He certainly knew where these rumors were coming from, wasn’t it just Old Man Wan behind the Daoist Law Pavilion behind Kaiyang Hall?

Old Man Wan is acknowledged even by Emperor Jiang as a senior, whatever he says, nine times out of ten it’s the intentions of Emperor Jiang.

Elder Kaixiang privately believed this was laying the groundwork for future matters.

Hence, this rumor, I’ll cover it with Kaiyang Martial Arts.

Speaking of which, Elder Kaixiang glanced with some pity at Elder Yuheng, rubbed his hands on the two wheels, and the wheelchair sprang into the air, leaping over the threshold of Tianshu Palace, entering inside.

At this time, Elder Tianji was already one step ahead, engaging in conversation with a middle-aged man in yellow splendid attire.

Upon entering, Elder Kaixiang immediately cupped his hands towards this man, performing a gesture reminiscent of Jianghu style, "Greetings, Grandmaster."

The middle-aged man, seeing this, also broke into a smile, saying: "Kaiyang, and Yuheng, it’s been a while." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

A subtle Divine Light circled him, evidently also a cultivator of the Divine Path, but compared to Kaiyang, Tianji, and Yuheng, the Divine Light on this person was even purer, almost difficult to conceal, radiating outward, and faintly resonating with the surrounding area.

Cultivators exhibiting such manifestations are generally Earth Deities.

Indeed, this person was named Gongsun Ce, the Earth Deity of the Eight Hundred Miles Ding Lake and Heavenly Origin Cave Heaven.

The Divine Domain of Si Fan Valley was covered by Gongsun Ce, and after Baqi and Thunder God invaded Dinghu, it was Gongsun Ce who manifested the Divine Domain, protecting Dinghu.

When Jiang Li returned to the Dinghu Sect that time, cleansing the Heavenly Monarch’s followers, Gongsun Ce had exchanged glances with Jiang Li via Divine Light.

He was advanced in age, even while being in the Divine Domain, it was inadvisable to act in corporeal form, lest he expend his already scant life span, thus he usually acted via Divine Light as thought, driving the Divine Domain to respond to allies.

Instances like this time’s appearance, Kaiyang and Yuheng had not seen for many years.

Noting the two’s expressions of surprise, Gongsun Ce smiled: "The Sect Leader and Primordial Lord Rain Master have moved back to the Upper Pure Cave Heaven, from which Heavenly Origin Cave Heaven has also benefitted, allowing old me to experience a growth in strength, making it possible to travel outside for a while."