Chapter 297: Chapter 170: The One Who Climbs High to Pluck the Stars, First Encounter with Xi Mengquan (Double Chapter)

The enormous rift in the sky spanned the entire Pinggu Battlefield in the Fuli Immortal State, visible to anyone who looked up from within it.

Whether it was Jiang Yunqing and Shen Meinan beneath, who intended to stop Chen Kuang but were forced back by the "Time" Great Dao,

or Ming Yan, Tang Qiusheng, Xiuzhu, and others who had retreated to the edge of the entire battlefield beforehand.

Not long ago, unsettled by Wen Yao summoning the Ancestor Canliao, Tang Qiusheng and others decided to retreat further and traveled to a mortal town at the border of the Immortal State.

But once they arrived here, they couldn’t retreat any further and encountered a "ghost wall"—

even when they walked out of the town, the road seemed to extend endlessly. Though they felt they were moving, in reality, they were just marching in place.

The rule of this Pinggu Battlefield was that each battlefield was its own space, and unless affected by the battlefield, the place was not recorded.

This mortal town was one of the gathering places for the millions of people supporting the forty thousand disciples of the Mystic God Daoist Sect in Fuli.

Currently, because of the battlefield’s impact, most residents had already fled, and many of the houses were damaged or on fire.

The streets presented a desolate scene.

Tang Qiusheng and the others intended to find a place to set up a barrier array for hiding.

But not long after stepping onto this street, they saw a solitary old Daoist in a tattered robe, sitting backwards on a blue deer, lingering unsure of what he was doing on the empty street.

Tang Qiusheng was first taken aback, then immediately became vigilant, gripping his jade flute.

In such times, any mysteriously appearing person couldn’t be easily deemed friend or foe.

Especially this old Daoist, from whom he couldn’t sense any cultivation at all!

However, Ming Yan blinked and said, "This... seems like the Celestial Saint Daoist Monarch?"

Xiuzhu widened his eyes, "Really?! Why would he be here?"

Tang Qiusheng was also surprised, "Fellow Daoist Ming Yan, are you sure?"

Ming Yan nodded, "I had the fortune of meeting the Celestial Saint Daoist Monarch once; it’s hard to forget."

She pointed to the old Daoist and said, "That blue deer is the Daoist Monarch’s steed, named ’Unneeded’."

Tang Qiusheng and Xiuzhu were speechless.

Who would name their steed "Unneeded"?

But indeed, it seemed like something that mysterious "Fangling Daoist" would do...

While Tang Qiusheng hesitated, the old Daoist looked up at them and cheerfully waved:

"Hey, young friends, come here and help this old Daoist with something!"

Ming Yan stepped forward first, and after some hesitation, Tang Qiusheng and Xiuzhu followed.

Upon getting closer, they discovered the blue deer wasn’t being stopped by the old Daoist, but rather because a tanghulu—the candied fruit skewer from a vendor in the town, hurriedly left behind—was leaning at an angle by the roadside.

The blue deer was stretching its neck, using its tongue to catch a skewer of tanghulu, crunching it with the bamboo stick for flavor and refusing to move.

The old Daoist patted the blue deer’s neck, sighed, and said:

"Could I trouble you young friends to hold up this tanghulu, so this beast can take a few steps forward?"

He patted the blue deer’s rump, scolding, "Such a trivial earthly snack, yet you cannot move past it. No wonder you’ve accomplished nothing after staying with me all these years."

Tang Qiusheng clasped his hands respectfully, stepped forward, and lifted the tanghulu skewer.

"Uh... like this?"

The old Daoist hurriedly said, "Yes, yes."

He smiled at Tang Qiusheng, saying, "Could I trouble the young friend to take a few more steps, guiding this beast a little to the side, so I can proceed with my task?"

Tang Qiusheng looked at the pointed location, just ten paces ahead...

He fell silent and couldn’t help but ask, "Senior, why don’t you come down and walk there holding this tanghulu stick yourself?"

The old Daoist laughed, "Oh, that would be troublesome! This old Daoist is here specifically waiting for someone to pass by, see? And here you young friends are!"

Tang Qiusheng: "..."

So, he was too lazy to dismount for the tanghulu, choosing to wait until the blue deer finished or someone came to "assist."

It was a simple task he could have done in two steps, yet he waited unknowingly long. It’s uncertain if it saved trouble or added to it. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

However, such an eccentric style indeed matched the Celestial Saint Daoist Monarch who pursued "inaction."

On this chaotic battlefield, with the Mystic God Daoist Sect in peril, as the Sect Leader, he had wandered to a place like this.

It’s simply baffling...

Tang Qiusheng, holding the tanghulu, led the blue deer to the edge of the town and stopped.

He said, "Senior, ahead is the end, we can’t proceed any further..."

The old Daoist laughed, "We can, we can."

Tang Qiusheng was taken aback and then furrowed his brow.

The other person here was a Saint... Though this was within the memory of the battlefield, Tang Qiusheng didn’t think the other wouldn’t perceive the anomaly or be ignorant of the fact they were at the battlefield’s end.

As he pondered this, he felt the world suddenly tremble violently.

The three of them turned around sharply and saw the enormous rift across the sky.

Xiuzhu gaped, "What... what is that?!"

"Hiss—"

Tang Qiusheng took a sharp breath as the colossal hand belonging to the Canliao Realm shattered in an instant!

They were too far to discern the details.

Tang Qiusheng’s skin twitched, subconsciously wondering, who possessed such power to break the Canliao Realm like that?!