Pei Laoliu understood his intent, but now he himself had many things unclear, so he couldn’t promise anything for the ti being, and could only wave his hand, saying:
"Village Chief Li, don’t be impatient. Since the snake demon has adopted this thod, it won’t act easily. First, urge the villagers to prepare, then find a quiet room so I can ditate and decide later."
After speaking, he added:
"Also, we cannot be without precautions. Arrange so people to be on duty day and night, especially at night. Do not slack off even for a mont."
"Li Qiang, you too, go find so courageous young n like yourself, prepare weapons and armor, and be ready to deal with that guy at any mont!"
Pei Laoliu privately instructed them on so matters, then followed Li Yuan to a vacant hut in the middle of the village.
It was nearing evening now, much like the scene at Dragon Sleep Mountain on Water Blue Star.
Pei Laoliu sat alone in the room, Dahei lay quietly beside him, ears erect, constantly alert to the unfamiliar surroundings.
Master Liu patted its head, then took out the Starry Stone from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of him.
He stared silently at the black stone, eyes distant, lost in thought.
He recalled the scene he saw by the stream that afternoon.
The frozen corpse on the ground and the old woman’s staggering back heading towards the woods.
Scenes flashed in his mind like slides, and no matter how he tried not to think about it, he couldn’t escape the interference of those thoughts.
Finally, when the old woman raised her cane with difficulty and cried out in the forest for the monster that had taken her son’s life, Pei Laoliu’s hands clenched tightly.
"Damned cursed thing!"
He cursed under his breath, face dark as storm clouds.
Master Liu questioned his own goodness, but after witnessing such a scene today, he couldn’t suppress his anger, feeling the urge to dismber the murderer.
This familial shock ca from the heart and could not be ignored with a decisive action.
Such a scene, without personal experience, is difficult for one to empathize with.
But having seen it all firsthand, even a seasoned martial world veteran like Master Liu found it hard to stay calm.
Thus, he was extrely conflicted now.
Logically, with his previous character, upon encountering such danger, he would have fled as far as possible without taking any risks.
But now, witnessing the old woman facing the snake demon alone and dozens of people constantly kneeling before him, made it truly difficult to simply abandon them.
He rembered his youthful self, when first introduced to cultivation under his master, feeling exuberant and eager to wield a sword to slay demons and cleanse the world of injustice.
But later, he gradually realized that there were no real cultivators in the world, and the so-called Mystical Sect were just a bunch of con artists.
Ti and reality wore down Master Liu’s aspirations, turning him from a promising young man into a greasy middle-aged man, eventually becoming a wrinkled old Taoist.
The original pursuit in his heart had already been lost sowhere unknown, reduced to just the pursuit of wealth.
However, now, in the latter part of his life, he sohow truly encountered the path of cultivation and finally condensed the long-dread-of mana.
But, despite having the power, does he still possess the sincerity he once had?
Master Liu remained silent, looking at the stone in front of him, resisting the urge to touch it and forcibly shoved it back into his pocket.
"Sigh..."
He let out a long breath.
"Fine, fine, since I ca across it, I might as well see what that monster is. I’ve road the martial world for half a lifeti and haven’t yet subdued such things. This will be my first grand opening..."
After murmuring to himself, he finally found a sowhat weak reason for himself not to leave.
He touched the few scrolls in his pocket, protective items left by Zhang Xiaoman, with spells sealed inside to enhance his own strength.
Pei Laoliu usually kept these things in his pocket, initially planning to use them to go to Rebirth Island; now he brought them along.
"With these, even if I can’t handle that demon, I should be able to protect myself..."
He comforted himself again and then began organizing his items.
...
The night passed quietly, and soon it was the next day.
After a night’s rest, Master Liu’s Dark Energy was fully restored, and with a good night’s sleep, he was in high spirits.
But his expression appeared sowhat troubled, caught off guard by an unexpected event.
Last night, Master Liu initially intended to test whether the Starry Stone was still usable, not planning to escape, just purely wanting to test it.
But the result shocked him greatly.
His Starry Stone was unusable!
Normally, to use the Starry Stone, one only needed to inject Dark Energy into it, carving the corresponding Eye of the Starry Sky symbol on the surface.
This would activate the stone, allowing him to teleport away instantly.
But, no matter how much Dark Energy he infused, the Starry Stone gave no feedback, remaining motionless.
The patterns showed no glow, losing their function, as if it was just an ordinary black stone.
As such, Pei Laoliu panicked slightly.
He didn’t know what was happening or why the Starry Stone given by Zhang Xiaoman was unusable.
He only knew his last retreat was sealed, unable to use the stone to leave, effectively trapping him in this world.
Master Liu wasn’t familiar with the Starry Stone’s capabilities and thought it might be due to changing worlds that rendered it unusable.
But if Zhang Xiaoman were here, he would surely conduct a detailed investigation into this matter.
Because he knew the Starry Stone doesn’t have many limitations during use.
It’s unrelated to distance; as long as the proper steps are followed, it can return to the Mother Stone from anywhere instantly.
He had tested this both on Guleng Star and in the Original Realm with no effects.
Thus, the only possible explanation for the current situation was that Master Liu’s area was sealed!
This was unlike the snake’s locking down the village; it was a true seal, an imprisonnt.
It felt as if this space was imprisoned, allowing only entry and no exit.
Without Zhang Xiaoman’s Unlimited Teleportation ability, ignoring all constraints, one would need to find the source of the imprisonnt and break it to leave.
But for now, Liu had no knowledge of this.
He planned to solve the village issues first, then try a different place, hoping it might work.
If not, he could only rely on his mory of the Dark Energy Formula to attempt Teleportation Technique.
He was truly regretting it now.
Why didn’t he use the Starry Stone directly when intending to visit Rebirth Island? Instead, he fiddled with Teleportation Technique, causing such trouble.
"Sigh..."
He sighed, looking up at the sky, at a sun not much different from his hotown’s, but couldn’t find happiness in his heart.
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