Chapter 85 : Can This Be Skipped?

Chapter 85: Can This Be Skipped?

It was not as though nobody had noticed this shabby little hut.

Before Fang Chang approached, five cultivators were already standing before the hut discussing something.

Among them were both men and women, dressed in luxurious robes and carrying finely crafted weapons. It was obvious at a glance that they were not random wandering cultivators.

Fang Chang recognized them as disciples of Taiyi Talisman Palace and the Grand White Sword Sect.

The two sects were not particularly far apart geographically, and they frequently cooperated in the field of talismans. Presumably, their relationship was fairly good, and they often traveled together.

Leading them was a Grand White Sword Sect disciple wearing a jade crown.

He glanced at Fang Chang and gave a polite nod.

The others were stirred by the movement and followed his gaze.

One of the female disciples from Taiyi Talisman Palace froze for a moment and blurted out:

“Fang Chang?”

Then she seemed to realize she had let something slip.

She quickly frowned and shut her mouth, panic appearing in her eyes.

Fang Chang was unsurprised and smiled while cupping his hands.

“Indeed it is me. Fellow Daoist is a disciple of Taiyi Talisman Palace, I presume?”

The female disciple’s entire body stiffened. Forcing herself to respond, she awkwardly returned the greeting.

The others traveling with her did not understand the situation and simply assumed Fang Chang was an acquaintance of hers. Quite courteously, they all cupped their hands and greeted him.

They each introduced themselves.

The female disciple stammered hesitantly before finally forcing out her name—

Lü Shu.

Fang Chang felt the coffin inside the Black Tortoise Square Cauldron tremble slightly.

Oh...

Someone surnamed Lü.

No wonder she recognized me.

Fang Chang raised a brow and smiled while sizing her up.

Lü Shu felt goosebumps spread all over her body, her legs trembling faintly.

“Junior Sister Lü, who is this Fellow Daoist Fang?” another female disciple from Taiyi Talisman Palace asked in confusion, clearly unfamiliar with him.

“H-He... he... he is...”

He was the cultivator who killed the Fifth Realm Jade Planting Path cultivator within the Nine Heavens Secret Realm.

He was the Corpse Refinement Path cultivator who took away Zhang Su’s corpse.

He was the person her cousin Lü Muxue constantly wished to kill.

He was the mysterious cultivator who possessed a secret technique for dispelling Imperial Dragon Fortune that even Taiyi Talisman Palace did not know.

He was also the secret target that Sect Master Lü and his nine sons had unanimously agreed to investigate.

None of that could be said aloud!

Seeing her unable to squeeze out a sentence,

Fang Chang voluntarily stepped in.

“I have crossed paths several times with your sect’s Junior Sister Lü Muxue.”

The group did not immediately believe him and turned toward Lü Shu.

Seeing her tremblingly nod with a “serious and solemn” expression, their eyes immediately brightened, gaining several degrees of enthusiasm.

Even Junior Sister Lü Muxue’s cousin looked this grave and serious. Clearly, this was some extraordinary figure!

“So you are an old acquaintance of Junior Sister Lü! I’ve long admired your name!”

“My respects, my respects indeed, Senior Brother Fang!”

“Senior Brother Fang’s bearing is truly extraordinary. You really possess the appearance of a heavenly being!”

Fang Chang smiled and responded to each one in turn.

Warm, approachable, gentle, and amiable.

After the greetings concluded, he returned to the main topic.

“And you all are doing what here exactly?”

The jade-crowned sword sect disciple, Senior Brother Chen You, cupped his hands.

“We intend to head to Twin Su Manor, but this Rift Abyss River blocks our way. Earlier, the elders in our sect anticipated this and instructed us to seek help from the old man living in the riverside hut.”

“Oh? Going to Twin Su Manor? And for what purpose?”

Chen You did not answer immediately. Curling his lips upward, he countered with a question instead.

“A few months ago, Canglan Mountain suffered an assault by the Five Turbid Path. Has Fellow Daoist heard of it?”

“I’ve heard a little.”

He looked toward the white crack in the distant sky.

After many days of stabilization, it now appeared from afar as only a thin white line hanging in the heavens, while the clouds around it remained calm.

“And have you heard how this Heavenly Dao Rift came to be?”

“That I’m not too clear about.”

Fang Chang shook his head with a curious expression.

A mocking laugh came from Zhao Yuntong within the Black Tortoise Square Cauldron.

Naturally, no one else heard it.

Chen You curled his lips mysteriously.

“This Heavenly Dao Rift was created by the Five Turbid Path using the Five Elements Treasure Seals!”

Aside from Lü Shu, everyone gasped in shock.

...This is why your information is so outdated.

Someone sighed emotionally.

“A sect as mighty as Canglan Mountain actually had its mountain sect treasure controlled by outsiders. Truly unbelievable.”

“You don’t know this, but the Five Turbid Path was once a branch lineage of the Grand Void Path. Presumably because of that, Canglan Mountain’s Five Elements Treasure Seals could be manipulated by those villains to bombard the heavens.”

“I suspect the Five Turbid Path attacked the sky to trigger heavenly tribulation lightning in order to wipe out Canglan Mountain’s disciples all at once! Fortunately, Canglan Mountain stopped their evil scheme!”

Fang Chang nodded.

This was the version circulating outside.

Even many disciples of Canglan Mountain themselves remained kept in the dark.

Senior Brother Chen nodded heavily and looked toward Fang Chang.

“But because of this, a crack appeared in the heavens, allowing Heavenly Dao Tribulation Qi to leak into the mortal world. It may cause harm to ordinary mortals.”

“And the Twin Su Manor we’re heading toward appears to be one of the places affected by that Heavenly Dao Tribulation Qi. Naturally, we volunteered to investigate.”

Fang Chang exclaimed in admiration.

“So that’s how it is. As expected of disciples from the Grand White Sword Sect and Taiyi Talisman Palace. Such courage to take initiative is truly admirable.”

Chen You rubbed the tip of his nose.

A bit proud, yet somewhat embarrassed.

“We righteous cultivators ought to be doing precisely such meaningful things.”

As he spoke, he shook his head again.

“Unfortunately, the riverside elder mentioned by our sect elders doesn’t appear to exist. Judging by how dilapidated this hut is, that senior expert likely passed away long ago...”

Lü Shu was sweating coldly.

She timidly glanced at Fang Chang.

“In that case, we shouldn’t stay here any longer. Senior brothers and sisters, let us leave first. Fang... Senior Brother Fang, f-fare... fare...”

“No rush.”

Fang Chang smiled as he interrupted her, startling Lü Shu badly.

“You all are so warm-hearted and righteous. Naturally, I must help you out a little.”

With that, he walked to the hut entrance, leaped onto the roof, and effortlessly located the chimney.

Chen You kindly reminded him:

“Brother Fang, there’s nobody inside. Only a remnant soul and a powerful house-protecting formation remain. It’s likely the riverside elder my senior mentioned. One day, I plan to invite a friend from the Heavenly Mechanism Path to break the formation and properly pacify and deliver that—”

Before he finished speaking,

he saw Fang Chang crouching and peering downward before transforming into a cloud of mist that slammed directly into the chimney crack.

“Cloud Step Cloud Step Cloud Step Cloud Step Cloud Step Cloud Step——”

“!”

Witnessing such exquisite movement technique, Chen You inwardly thought it truly worthy of an acquaintance of Junior Sister Lü Muxue.

But the formation was powerful. It could not be bypassed with mere movement skills alone.

Just as he was about to warn him,

he saw the mist-like figure drift and collide repeatedly before suddenly slipping through the crack and entering inside!

Chen You instantly stood there dumbfounded.

Everyone cried out in shock.

“What the hell, that actually works...”

“As expected of Junior Sister Lü Muxue’s acquaintance!”

“......”

Seeing such bizarre methods, Lü Shu immediately recalled her cousin’s warning, causing every hair on her body to stand upright.

While no one paid attention,

she pulled something from her Spirit Pouch and formed a hand seal—then suddenly stopped.

‘Should I send a message to Cousin Brother... or to Sister Muxue?’

Lü Shu furrowed her fair brows in hesitation for a while.

In the end, she felt Sister Muxue treated her a bit better.

Not long afterward, a paper crane transmission shot into the sky.

Meanwhile inside the hut—

Fang Chang staggered a few steps after landing and saw an aged, bald old man seated atop a rotten wooden bed.

His form was illusory and unstable—

a soul body lacking physical flesh!

Fang Chang declared proudly:

“My Cloud Step Technique is still ahead of the current version.”

The river-crossing quest at Rift Abyss River was an important milestone leading from version 1.0 into version 2.0.

The key to the quest required finding the innkeeper of Flying Dragon Inn in some town within Jinzhou and helping him recover goods stolen by bandits.

Among the rewards afterward would be a family heirloom flower known as the Abyss Bloom.

Using this flower, one could awaken the riverside elder’s soul body and have him assist with crossing the river.

However, just as expected—

players had once again discovered a bug.

Namely—

using the Cloud Step Technique to forcibly enter the hut!

At that point, the riverside elder’s soul body would automatically assume you had already completed the Abyss Bloom quest.

And he would still help ferry you across the river.

At this moment,

the soul body hazily opened its eyes and looked at Fang Chang’s completely empty hands with tears of emotion.

“Ah, so this is the Abyss Bloom... so beautiful... it’s even more poetic than my first love...”

“I remember running beneath the sunset that day. That was my lost youth...”

Fang Chang: “......”

This ten-minute-long monologue—

could it be skipped like in the game?