Shi Feiyang had a brief moment of deduction within his mind and learned that the young man in green hailed from the Southeast, yet his origins were in the Southwest, belonging to the Mysterious Sect, but he was not a disciple of the Emei. The Taoist also came from the Southwest and was an adversary to the young man.

The young man gestured to him, insisting on snatching the opportunity to perform divination. Shi Feiyang could not fathom the intricacies at the moment, so he said to the young man, "You want me, the 'firstcomer,' to let you, the 'newcomer,' go ahead? That's fine, but you'll need to compensate me."

"No problem!" the youth replied briskly, pulling another piece of gold from his bosom.

Shi Feiyang did not accept it. "Do you think this... young master is lacking this piece of gold?"

The young man grew anxious. "Stop making a fuss! I am determined to cast the divination today. If you don't leave, I'll have to hit you!"

Shi Feiyang laughed. "I truly didn't expect someone would dare to hit me. Come on then, let's see how you plan to hit me..."

No sooner had he spoken than he suddenly felt the space around him solidify, as if encased within walls of iron and copper, realizing that the opponent was secretly employing magic to restrict him. He ceased to move or speak, observing what the other would do.

Seeing Shi Feiyang motionless, the youth believed his spell had taken effect. He turned to the Taoist and said, "Come, come, ignore him, cast a divination for me, young master!"

The Taoist noticed that the youth had used a spell to confine others, and his gaze briefly lingered on the hand hidden in the youth's sleeve, smiling as he cast the divination. "Ah, your fortune is too noble to speak of! You were a celestail child sitting before the gods in the Upper Realm in your last life, ah, born under a child's fate, destined to endure trials in the human world and not live long before being summoned back to the heavens by the gods."

The youth scoffed. "Then what should I do?"

The Taoist tapped his right thumb on his other fingers several times as if calculating and then suggested, "There is a way to break this. I'll create a substitute for you, burning it with fire to take your place in returning to heaven, which should buy you twelve more years. Right now, that's the only way, or else you won't survive this year."

The youth nodded. "Then how should we proceed?"

The Taoist asked for his hair, and the youth removed his hairpin, picked up a knife from the table, and cut a lock to hand over to the Taoist.

The Taoist added, "With this hair, it's good. I'll go back and make the substitute. But during the process, I'll need a few drops of essence blood from your fingertip, and you'll have to come with us. I'll perform the magic in front of you so you know I'm not deceiving you, and your silver coins won't be wasted."

As if the youth had anticipated this, he quickly agreed, "Alright! I'll go with you."

The Taoist packed up his divination stall, preparing to take the youth out of the city. As they were leaving, both glanced toward Shi Feiyang, only to find he had vanished, having been just two or three steps behind the youth moments before. When and where he disappeared, no one knew.

The Taoist even asked the onlookers, "Which way did that well-dressed young master go just now?"

Reminded by him, the crowd suddenly remembered there had indeed been such a person there, all shaking their heads, "We were only watching the two of you squabble and didn't notice anyone else!"

The youth in green said, "Don't worry about him, just go ahead with my fortune-telling!"

The two hastened out of the city as curious citizens followed, eager to see what would happen next. However, the pair quickened their pace and soon disappeared.

Arriving at a desolate wilderness, the Taoist led the youth to a bend in the river surrounded by pagoda trees and pointed at two particular trees, saying, "Young master, look, there's something profound here."

As the youth concentrated, the Taoist took a hemp cloth bag painted with bright red talismans from his sleeve, tossed it into the air, and the bag opened on its own, enveloping the youth from head to toe.

After the bag had swallowed the person, it shrank back to the size of a vegetable basket, bulging as if it contained a human head. The Taoist laughed, "You're pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, trying to deceive your elder? You just wanted to enter my Shuanghuai Temple, right? I'll grant your wish and take you in, but don't regret it later!"

He then picked up the bag and walked between the two pagoda trees, disappearing in a flash after passing through.

Stepping through the gateway of pagoda trees, the scenery inside changed abruptly, revealing a Daoist temple. Several young Taoists came to greet him, "Master! Master! The elder is waiting in the backyard."

"Hmm," the Taoist hastened across the courtyard filled with banners to the backyard and entered the main house, where a tall, red-faced, long-bearded Taoist sat cross-legged on a cloud bed.

As he entered, the Taoist on the bed opened his eyes. "Did you gather everything Master tasked you with?"

The Taoist shook the bag in his hand. "The seventy-two girls have been ready, and by yesterday, we found thirty-five of the thirty-six boys. Today, I went out to perform fortune-telling, and luckily found this lad. Not only does his Eight Characters match, but he's also a cultivator, making him ideal for the role of Main God."

"Cultivator?" the red-faced Taoist seemed dissatisfied. "Which young cultivator of flying swords doesn't rely on magic to satisfy hunger?"

"It's a maiden boy! This lad's Primordial Spirit is refined, his spirit contained; he's a sequent cultivator of the Mysterious Sect."

"Oh?" the red-faced Taoist regained his spirits, "Could it be the Emei Sect?"

"I don't know."

The red-faced Taoist asked him to release the person to take a look. The fortune-telling Taoist said worriedly, "I saw he too has cultivated the Flying Sword. Releasing him just like that is probably..."

"With me here, can he turn the world upside down?" the red-faced Taoist laughed, "Is it possible that you even caught the reincarnated soul of Qi Shuming, the leader of Emei Sect?"

The fortune-telling Taoist laughed, "How could that be? Last month I heard that Qi Shuming and his wife were dueling someone in the Southeast, their swordsmanship and mana even more formidable than in their past lives. How could I have captured him? It's probably one of his juniors."

He said this and opened the bag, casually shaking it to pour out the young man in blue.

The young man rolled on the ground to the wall, and without a word, released a horizontal sweep of green sword light, intending to cut the two in half at the waist.

The red-faced Taoist spit out a beam of red light, turning it into a blood-colored lotus that caught the sword, then asked his companion, "So he is from Qingcheng Sect. Are you a disciple or a grandson of Tian Dou Ming He?"

The young man was taken aback, "Your lord here is cultivating on Jiufeng Mountain and doesn't know any Tian Dou Ming He!" Saying this, he cast a spell to activate the Immortal Sword, the light on the sword suddenly surged and split into eight strands of green Sword Light, intending to completely ensnare and kill both Taoists.

The fortune-telling master saw the fierce Sword Qi, brushed his hand to draw out a long banner and started shaking it, emitting beams of red light from the banner. Each red light transformed into a demon, with a bloody human face at the front, opening its mouth to cry and block the young man's Flying Sword.

The red-faced Taoist on the couch again spat out red light from his mouth, turning into six blood-colored lotuses to protect himself and formed a Dharma Seal with his right hand, striking the young man in the air.

The young man's mind was momentarily dazed, he quickly stepped on the Gang Step, pinched a Talisman, and concentrated, a layer of blue light emerging all over his body to nullify the magic. With a casual, light chant, he pointed with his left hand, releasing a cracking thunderbolt.

A golden lightning bolt harshly struck the fortune-telling master's long banner, exploding the red light into chaotic ghostly cries and howls, the hemp cloth banner becoming riddled with hundreds of holes.

"Taiyin Divine Thunder!" both Taoists exclaimed together, "And you say you're not from the Qingcheng Sect? What's your name? Who's your master?"

The young man snorted, "Listen well, you two demon followers! My family name is Jiang, full name Jiang Shu, and I have no master..."

"Demon Suppression True Master Jiang Shu!" the two Taoists exclaimed in unison again, "And you say you don't know Tian Dou Ming He?"

It turned out, years ago, Jile Perfected, Li Jingxu, had established a sect at Qingcheng Mountain. In an agreement with Master Changmei, one would create the Emei Sect, the other the Qingcheng Sect. Master Changmei had predecessors in Emei Sect, but Li Jingxu was the pioneer of Qingcheng Sect, both aiming to expand their sects widely.

Yet, Emei Sect had gone through three generations from True Master Taiyuan, Chu Sanzi, and Great Master Lianshan up to Master Changmei and to Qi Shuming, spanning over a thousand years from the Eastern Jin to the Ming Dynasty. The accumulation of Magical Treasures, incessant reincarnations, and refining of disciples, and the good karma and connections established with various sects and clans, had all contributed extensively to their flourishing.

Li Jingxu had only himself, barely managing his own wife and a childhood friend as a cousin, the disciples being relatively disappointing. After several reincarnations, many had deviated from the Immortal Path, indulging deeply in the mortal world, even encumbering him, leaving only Qin Yu who was no better, and the foundation of the sect came to nothing.

After retiring with his wife, Sun Xun, to Wuyou Cave in the Lions Ridge of Chang Chun Rock, Yunnan, two other venerable beings, Tian Dou and Ming He, also strong in mana and earlier than Li Jingxu in entering the Dao, their disciples were the Little Dwarf Zhu Mei and Demon Suppression True Master Jiang Shu.

There were three immortals, two seniors, and seven true ones among the sword immortals—Zhu Mei being one of the two seniors of Song Mountain, and Jiang Shu listed among the seven true ones.

Before their ascension, Tian Dou and Ming He lamented their regret of not founding a religious sect, prompting Jiang Shu to bravely offer to establish Daoist lineage on Qingcheng Mountain and continue the Immortal Path for his masters, which Tian Dou and Ming He praised before ascending together.

Jiang Shu initially thought of appointing Zhu Mei as sect leader while he would assist. With the brothers working together to establish the Qingcheng Sect and fulfilling their master's legacy.

However, Zhu Mei felt Jiang Shu's shallow Dao and insufficient strength, his youthful vigor inadequate for founding a sect, thoroughly ridiculing him.

Enraged, Jiang Shu left home, running far away to Fujian's Jiufeng Mountain to open a cave and cultivate alone.

Later realizing his deficiencies, he performed Soldier Disintegration in the cave, reincarnating in a wealthy Jiang family in his subsequent life. Having sealed his memories, he forgot his past and inherently enjoyed seeking the Immortal PathUGINS from a young age. At thirteen, he found his past life's Divine Sound Cave by himself while treasure hunting on the mountain, acquiring the Daoist Book and Flying Sword and began his cultivation.

Unaware of his past identity, he thought he had fortuitously gained an Immortal fate. In a few years, he had cultivated the Flying Sword Dao Technique, upholding justice with great pleasure.

Recently, children started disappearing frequently from nearby counties, from seven or eight-year-old boys and girls to those in their early twenties. Suspecting the work of Demon Humans, he had already slain four demon followers with his Flying Sword and even traced them to Shuanghuai Temple. Unable to find an entrance due to the mysteriously powerful arrays there, he had pretended to seek a fortune-telling, voluntarily entering their trap, allowing the fortune-telling Taoist to bring him in.

The fortune-telling Taoist was aware of his intentions and did not take him seriously, leading him into their trap.

Unaware of his powerful past life, the two Taoists knew better; his title "Demon Suppression True Master" was not just a boast, but earnestly fought for!

The two Taoists did not dare to neglect him, each releasing a Flying Sword, dual flying knives, the Demon Banner, and Demon Bowl, casting spells to jointly attack Jiang Shu!

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