680 Qin Yun and Hou Yi

Effulgent Great World.

Qin Yun traversed the void and exited in midair. He followed his senses and saw a wooden hut in the mountains. In front of the hut was a pond where a linen-clothed man was fishing.

"Hou Yi." Qin Yun sensed through his karmic connection and naturally knew that the linen-clothed man was Hou Yi.

"Oh? He appears to be fishing, but his rod emits inclinations of Samsara?" Qin Yun was alarmed. He too was a perfected Great Dao expert and could sense that the power in the rod was seeping towards the Six Realms of Samsara. However, the Six Realms of Samsara was extremely mysterious, something that Qin Yun found difficult to probe.

Hou Yi continued to hold his rod and looked over. Qin Yun landed in front of the wooden hut and smiled. "Dao Brother Hou Yi truly is impressive. You are actually figuring out Samsara?"

"Daoist Qin, you flatter me. I'm only making an attempt." Hou Yi shook his head. "The Six Realms of Samsara is core to the operations of the Three Realms. Countless beings rely on it for reincarnation. Even the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Unity and Goddess Houtu only aid in the operations of the Six Realms of Samsara, and are unable to interfere in it. I have attempted to study it, but I've failed to make any progress."

"Dao Brother Hou Yi, you are incapable of discerning anything?" Qin Yun was astonished.

Hou Yi was different from him.

His realm was still lacking due to his limited accumulated experience, but Hou Yi was probably only a short distance away from the Heavenly Dao realm.

"How is one to probe it if the Heavenly Dao prevents it? Even the Dao Ancestors and Fiend Ancestor are only barely able to deliver a sliver of strength deep into Samsara at the Heavenly Dao realm and destroy some souls. Their power cannot influence the Six Realms of Samsara at its core," said Hou Yi.

Qin Yun nodded.

Deep in the Six Realms of Samsara, the Dao Ancestors and Fiend Ancestor were limited in what they could do. The most they could do was deliver a sliver of strength to destroy souls, but not protect a soul. Destruction and protection had very different difficulties.

"Ever since the Fiend Ancestor began shamelessly attacking juniors, the mighty figures of the Three Realms no longer dare reincarnate," said Qin Yun.

"In the early days, many mighty figures chose to reincarnate." Hou Yi nodded. "For instance, your sword immortal lineage can cultivate an Intrinsic Flying Sword. You have even cultivated it into an Intrinsic Connate Cardinal treasure. There must be many mighty figures in the Three Realms who are tempted to do the same. If we were still in the early days of the Three Realms, perhaps many mighty figures would have chosen to reincarnate and switch to being a sword immortal."

Qin Yun nodded.

Many Dharmic formulations did not allow for change once the path was chosen.

To switch paths? The only way was to reincarnate.

In the early days of the Three Realms…

The dangers of reincarnation were one, how weak the person was prior to their awakening; and two, being unable to recover their peak strength in a short period of time even after an awakening. They would then be in danger if an enemy discovered them.

However, many mighty figures still chose to reincarnate because there were many benefits.

"If not for the Fiend Ancestor, even if you succumb to the tribulations, you could reincarnate and cultivate again like Bai Ze," said Hou Yi. "Unfortunately, you do not have such a chance."

"That's why I was born to be at odds with the fiends," said Qin Yun with a laugh.

Hou Yi smiled faintly. "For the mighty Sword Immortal Qin to come here, I doubt it's just to have a casual conversation with me?"

"Dao Brother Hou Yi, I'm here to invite you on a trip to the Chaos spatial rift," said Qin Yun.

"Chaos spatial rift?" Hou Yi frowned before chortling. "You should know that my defensive means are quite weak. I'm able to kill experts from other universes in the spatial tide, but their means are usually unpredictable. They can just as easily kill me. And to me… the Three Realms is perfect. Why should I risk my life in the Chaos spatial rift?"

"I'm best at defense, and I believe I can ensure your safety," said Qin Yun.

"I don't like to leave my life in the hands of others." Hou Yi shook his head.

Qin Yun hesitated.

According to the intelligence he had gathered, Hou Yi was someone who engaged in combat in the early days of the Three Realms. He once slew many fiends, but ever since the events revolving around Chang'e, he maintained a much lower profile and stopped intervening in the matters of the Three Realms. Despite being acknowledged as the master of the Effulgent Great World by the Three Realms, he could not be bothered to manage it. It was as though nothing stirred his interest.

Chang'e was taboo when it came to Hou Yi. It could not be mentioned, for it might lead to a loss of decorum.

The only thing Hou Yi cared about was God King Zhurong who had killed his father. However, Zhurong was in hiding, leaving Qin Yun without solution.

What else did Hou Yi care about?

Cultivation was the only thing left. Even his fishing was a form of cultivation.

"Dao Brother Hou Yi, exposing yourself to the means available to the experts in the spatial tide will be beneficial to your cultivation as well," said Qin Yun. "Furthermore, my motive is to obtain corpses of experts from other universes. I wouldn't take any of their treasures, and they will be left to you and other fellow Daoists."

"You still plan on inviting others?" Hou Yi looked at Qin Yun.

"Yes."

Qin Yun nodded. "I still plan on inviting Kong Xuan who is best at domains. The stronger the companions who head into the spatial tide, the greater our chances. Back when Daoism's Three Pure Ones had yet to attain the Heavenly Dao realm, they adventured into the spatial tide together and engaged in life-and-death battles. Later, all three of them attained the Heavenly Dao realm. I believe that our combined forces wouldn't be inferior to the Three Pure Ones of yesteryear."

Hou Yi nodded slightly.

The Three Pure Ones were very powerful even before they attained the Heavenly Dao realm.

Qin Yun's defense, Hou Yi's offense, and Kong Xuan's domain might not be as powerful as the Three Pure Ones of yesteryear when it came to a one-on-one, but their combined forces… would create synergy.

"Apart from you, me, and Kong Xuan, I plan to invite Wood God Goumang. If we encounter difficult enemies, Goumang will be able to fend them off," said Qin Yun.

"Yes, that does seem pretty good." Hou Yi smiled.

His interest was indeed piqued.

The combination of the four was indeed extremely powerful.

"I do not have doubts about Kong Xuan's and Goumang's abilities. However, you mean for your sword array to ensure our safety. It is therefore of utmost importance," said Hou Yi as he nodded. "I need to see how powerful your sword array is. I will shoot nine arrows in a row. If you are able to withstand all nine, I'll agree to head out with you. If you fail to withstand my arrows, we can forget about it!"

Qin Yun's fighting spirit soared as he nodded with a smile. "Alright, I have long wished to try the might of your arrows."

…

Qin Yun flew into midair. His Misty Rain Sword had already split into three and set up an array formation.

Instantly, the Misty Rain Array enveloped the surroundings.

Qin Yun looked into the distance.

Standing far away in midair was Hou Yi. He said, "I'll shoot nine arrows, each stronger than the last. The ninth arrow will have the might of the Heavenly Dao realm, so be careful."

Without casting a forbidden art, Hou Yi needed to accumulate strength by shooting nine consecutive arrows before delivering strength at the Heavenly Dao realm. If he cast his forbidden art, just like when he attacked Zhurong previously… the price would be immense. But for a mere sparring, nine consecutive blows was already ruthless enough.

"Come on." Qin Yun was filled with anticipation.

Qin Yun was best at defense beneath the Heavenly Dao realm while Hou Yi was best at offense.

Now, he was defending while Hou Yi was attacking?

What would happen?

Standing afar, Hou Yi took on the rare mood of a soaring fighting spirit. He held an ancient but unadorned longbow in one hand and took out a golden arrow with his other.

"I'll begin!" After saying that, Hou Yi suddenly pulled his bow to a full draw, his arrow strung onto the bow string.

"Whoosh."

The arrow shot out as a flashing beam.

Qin Yun was extremely serious. The last time he saw Hou Yi deliver an attack was when he was attacking Zhurong. This time, Hou Yi's arrow did not cause much of a stir, but it was still very fast.

It was extremely fast!

There was no way of dodging, only facing it straight on!

"Bam." The beam struck the Misty Rain Array as the ripples produced were deep. The beam of light did not cause much of a stir.

But in fact, this strike was already enough to match the full strength of the silver-haired woman from another universe. Back then, Qin Yun could easily withstand it, and now, having studied the bloodline powers of the Heavenly Dao realm expert of another universe for two thousand years, his Misty Rain Realm was even stronger. As such, the arrow did not cause much trouble to him.

"It didn't perturb it one bit? Interesting." Hou Yi smiled as he did not hesitate to draw his bow again.

He shot very quickly.

One arrow after another, they accumulated in strength, causing each arrow to be stronger than the previous one.

The fifth, sixth, seventh!

"Boom!" At the seventh arrow, there was a rumbling loud boom when the arrow struck the Misty Rain Array. The Misty Rain Array also began producing gigantic waves like a deep sea. However, the entire array remained stable. Clearly, it had yet to reach its limits.

"The might of this seventh arrow matches that of Fate's combined forces of thirty-two envoys. As expected of Hou Yi!" Qin Yun turned even more serious. Far away, Hou Yi had already pulled his bow again. The eighth arrow came blazing at him.