Chapter 610: Chapter 298: The Brutal Seventh Breaking Mountains and Attacking Temples! Beyond the Heavens_2

"Wait a moment."

Zhang Fan came to the foot of the mountain, found the seventh tree up the slope, took three coins from his pocket and buried them beneath the tree, then placed a piece of green stone on top, its surface carved with a rabbit symbol.

Lin Jianyue said she entrusted her physical body to a close female friend.

That friend was her provincial general agent for her micro-business in Guixi Province.

You had to know, Lin Jianyue had made her fortune in real life by selling all kinds of elixirs; style-wise, it was a lot like micro-business, and nearly all her agents were women, a good number of them stay-at-home moms.

Back then, she made an agreement with that friend to hide her physical body, send someone every three days to check out Little Elephant Mountain, and if they spotted the mark, that meant everything was safe—they could bring her body.

"All done," Zhang Fan clapped his hands and said.

"That’s it?"

"That’s it. We’ll come back at night," Zhang Fan nodded.

"Then what do we do now?" Li Miaoyin asked.

"We’re already here, might as well take a stroll. After all, it’s a 5A-rated scenic area. Come on, let’s go burn some incense first," Zhang Fan called out.

This was actually the first time since graduation that he’d gone out to play with a girl, just the two of them.

"Young man..."

At that moment, an elderly voice sounded from behind.

Zhang Fan turned around and saw a big-bellied old man hurrying up to them. The old man’s head was shiny bald, earlobes large, a bag in his hand, grinning from ear to ear as he approached Zhang Fan.

"Sir, what’s up?"

"Lad, I can see you have extraordinary bones..." The bald old man lowered his voice, putting on a mysterious air.

"Huh?"

"I have three scrolls of the True Scripture..."

"Huh!?"

"One scroll of mathematics—reaches the heavens; one scroll of physics—pierces the earth; one scroll of chemistry—explores the depths. Today, I’ll pass them all to you. Want to learn?"

The bald old man, inscrutable, fished a leaflet out of the bag and shoved it into Zhang Fan’s hand.

"College entrance exam cram courses?!" Zhang Fan’s expression was odd.

"Sir, do I look like a high schooler to you?"

"No, but your kid can come," said the bald old man in a low voice.

"..."

"Sir, do I look like someone who has a high schooler for a kid?" Zhang Fan couldn’t help but say.

The bald old man froze, then actually started giving Zhang Fan a good once-over, as if reconsidering.

"Hey old man! How many times have I told you, don’t hand out flyers here."

Just then a shout came from afar. A uniformed staff member with a red armband walked over.

"Lad, see you if fate allows."

The bald old man grabbed his bag and turned to pipeline out of there.

"You meet all sorts these days." Zhang Fan was left speechless for a moment.

Trying to recruit students at a scenic spot—who’s going to enroll? Makes you wonder if the old guy’s got water in his brain.

"Let’s go," called Li Miaoyin.

"I wonder if the incense here is expensive. Last year at Zhenwu Mountain..."

"I can buy it for you."

"You have to pay for incense yourself, you didn’t know?"

The two of them walked side by side, chatting and laughing as they climbed up to Elephant God Temple.

...

Night fell.

At the foot of Xiangshan Temple, it was empty and deserted, no sign of the daytime bustle.

In these kinds of scenic areas, at night you couldn’t even find a ghost’s shadow.

The soft moonlight shone on the surface of the Li River. The wind stirred up waves, making the silver ridges on the current look like fish scales moving.

Just then, a bamboo raft drifted along from afar and came to rest by the shore.

A woman stood at the front of the raft, with short, efficient hair and a sleek business suit—she really looked like someone in micro-business.

Lying behind her was a figure, breathing shallowly, face pale as death—Lin Jianyue’s physical body, obvious at a glance.

"Why aren’t they here yet?" Gao Xiaoniang glanced at her watch, saw it was growing late, and couldn’t help but look anxious.

She had started out in the Hundred Thousand Mountains as a mother rat demon, and only after gaining human body acupoints did she become a demon officially.

Early on, she drifted through mortal society, got with a bunch of men, but every time things just sputtered out.

She’d had enough of so-called human romance, until she met Lin Jianyue and started doing micro-business.

At that moment, it was as if she’d found the true goal of her life—a woman should rely on herself.

Trusting men boasting was less reliable than growing your own business. If a woman wants a good life, she can’t go wrong with micro-business.

Since then, Gao Xiaoniang threw herself wholeheartedly into ’unemployment’ and in just three years had become Lin Jianyue’s general agent for Guixi Province.

But after Lin Jianyue had her accident, the stock of elixirs she had piled up kept shrinking, and now she was almost out, while a bunch of people still depended on her for a living.

Because of this, she had people check Little Elephant Mountain every day, and today finally some good news came through.

That’s why she’d brought Lin Jianyue’s physical body here.

Whoosh...

Just then, in the darkness, two figures appeared in her line of sight, walking over from the distance.

"Who’s there?" Gao Xiaoniang instantly became alert.

Buzz...

Before she could finish her sentence, a stream of light shot through the air—a bright, shimmering rope, covered in runes, darting toward Gao Xiaoniang in a flash.

"Demon-Binding Rope!" Gao Xiaoniang’s face changed dramatically.

This was a Yellow Feather Level magical treasure, famous among demonic ghosts—it could imprison primordial spirits and restrain demonic power. Once you’re caught by it, not even the most powerful can escape being butchered.

Buzz...

Gao Xiaoniang leapt backward, but the rope clung to her like maggots on the bone, wrapping tightly around her the moment it touched her.

Her body went limp as jelly; she staggered and crashed to the ground, unable to move another inch.

"Little Demon, I’ve had my eye on you for a long time."

In the moonlight, Xu Banshan strode over, with Xu Zhixia following behind.

"Who the hell are you?" Gao Xiaoniang forced out between clenched teeth.

Pa...

Just as she spoke, Xu Banshan raised his hand and gave a slap from dozens of meters away—the force of it still landed on Gao Xiaoniang’s cheek, making her let out a muffled grunt as blood and a few silver teeth spilled from her mouth.

"Do you really deserve to know?" Xu Banshan said indifferently.

He was born into the illustrious Pure Yang Family, noble by birth—how could a mere wild mountain demon hope to find out about him?

"So, that must be the legendary Rabbit? Of the Thirteen Zodiacs, she looks so young?"

At that moment, Xu Zhixia’s eyes inadvertently fell on Lin Jianyue’s human body, curiosity gleaming in her gaze.

"This one’s a fluke. The folks at White Crane Temple have had their eye on her for a while," Xu Banshan replied coolly.

That day, Li Changgeng besieged Zhao Jie Xuan, but Lin Jianyue got away.

In fact, it wasn’t long before a master of White Crane Temple started tailing Gao Xiaoniang, soon learned where Lin Jianyue’s body was, but since her primordial spirit hadn’t returned, they held off.

Today, White Crane Temple’s informant saw Gao Xiaoniang transporting Lin Jianyue’s physical body and reported it immediately.

Xu Banshan had just arrived in Jingjiang, so this job landed on his plate.

"Let’s go. The Rabbit’s primordial spirit must be close by. Now that we have her body acupoints, she’ll have to show up."

Xu Banshan’s gaze turned cold. He vaulted onto the bamboo raft, heading straight for Lin Jianyue’s body.

"Take one more step, and you might not keep your life."

Just then, a quiet and emotionless voice called out from afar.

Xu Banshan paused, instinctively turning to see a shadow emerging through the dim night.

When she saw that face, Xu Zhixia at his side couldn’t help showing a look of astonishment.

"Zhang Fan!?"

"Hmm!?"

Hearing the name, Xu Banshan’s eyes narrowed like a razor’s edge. Of course he knew the ’pretty boy’ Xu Zhixia had dated in university—he’d even seen him in the hotel lobby yesterday.

"Zhang Fan, what are you doing here?" Xu Zhixia’s pretty brows pinched together.

"Zhixia, what’s there to ask? This pretty boy of yours clearly has a dirty background. No wonder you climbed onto the cultivation path so quickly—turns out you joined the Wuwei Sect as a lackey." Xu Banshan sneered.

He already looked down on Zhang Fan, who was some hack learning halfway through. Now that he realized Zhang Fan had so little self-respect as to become a Wuwei Sect lackey, he felt even more disdainful.

"Zhang Fan..." Xu Zhixia’s face filled with worry.

"Zhixia, for your sake, I can spare his life—but only this once." Zhang Fan said coldly.

"Still a frog in a well. Today, I’ll show you what it means that there’s always a higher sky—" Xu Banshan almost burst out laughing.

Rumble...

But before he finished, a terrifying aura exploded from Zhang Fan’s body—a primordial spirit, resplendent as the blackest night, stars extinguished, the cold moon shuddering, all things plunging into the abyss, even the most fearsome cowering in dread.

"This... this..."

Xu Banshan’s face transformed. His spirit platform trembled uncontrollably, his primordial spirit feeling as if it might collapse, legs turning to jelly as he fell to his knees on the spot.