Chapter 142: The Imperial Preceptor of Five Camphor Mountain?

"Don't worry, I should be capable of protecting myself." Fox Three reassured Puppet One, indicating that he did not need to be protected during the battle.

"As long as you can keep yourself alive." Seeing Fox Three's confidence, Puppet One said no more.

Puppet One took the lead and entered the village, with Fox Three following closely behind.

"The Diverse Deities Temple?"

Fox Three wore a puzzled expression. This was definitely not the work of Wudang Mountain. It seemed this place had also caught the eye of other beings.

"Step back for a moment."

Puppet One stepped in front of the Diverse Deities Temple and shouted loudly:

"Get out here at once!"

The soundwave, imbued with the might of a Taiyi Loose Immortal, blasted everything around the Diverse Deities Temple into the air, leaving only the temple itself standing safely right in the middle.

"We are all cultivators, why push each other to such extremes?"

A voice came from within the temple, solemn and powerful.

Indeed, it was a cultivator at the realm of a Taiyi Loose Immortal.

"Mount Hao has always been the territory of the Fiery Cloud Cave. How dare you build a temple here and let the villagers offer you incense? Do you really think we would just sit by and do nothing?" It was Fox Three who spoke.

"The Fiery Cloud Cave? So you weren't completely wiped out by Wudang Mountain after all, and now you're trying to make a comeback? I sensed a massive demonic aura earlier; that must have been you fleeing from outside. Now that you see Wudang Mountain has left Mount Hao, you've returned, haven't you?"

The previous demonic aura had emanated from the demon soldiers under the Bull Demon King. The sheer scale was so massive that even the Diverse Deities Temple could sense it. Now that Puppet One and Fox Three had arrived at the temple, he assumed they were here to retake Mount Hao.

"Since you know, why haven't you gotten out of Mount Hao yet?"

Fox Three didn't bother to explain further. The Fiery Cloud Cave had indeed been thoroughly eradicated by Wudang Mountain back then, and they were indeed back to reclaim dominion over Mount Hao. However, what the entity inside the Diverse Deities Temple didn't know was that the Fiery Cloud Cave didn't have many demon soldiers left at all—all of them combined amounted to a mere three individuals!

"What if this poor Taoist refuses to leave?"

"Then it depends on your abilities."

Seeing that the being inside the Diverse Deities Temple had no intention of leaving, Puppet One didn't waste any more breath and directly launched an attack.

Forming his fingers into a palm strike, he cleaved open the temple gates. An elderly cultivator flew out from within, his aura far from weak.

If Yuan Wuji had been here, he would surely have recognized that this old cultivator was none other than the Grand Preceptor of the human cultivation nation that had been destroyed by Yuan Wuji at Mount Wuzhang. He was the sole survivor of the entire nation, and no one expected him to appear here.

"Take this palm of mine!"

As soon as the old cultivator emerged from the Diverse Deities Temple, Puppet One launched an offensive without holding back in the slightest.

Facing Puppet One, who went all out from the very start, the old cultivator retaliated without courtesy.

Puppet One's physical body had been tempered by Yuan Wuji, making it several times stronger than that of the old Daoist. Moreover, as a Taiyi Loose Immortal specializing in metal attributes, Puppet One held the upper hand in offensive power. The only drawback was that Puppet One lacked powerful divine arts to deploy. Conversely, while the old cultivator fell short of Puppet One in physical strength, his divine arts were far more profound, resulting in a stalemate between the two.

Puppet One had no counter to the old cultivator's advanced divine arts, while the old cultivator could gain no advantage against Puppet One's formidable physical body.

The battle between the two generated a massive commotion, drawing all the villagers out of their homes.

"Isn't that the divine Daoist master?"

"It looks like he's fighting someone."

"..."

The villagers all watched the clash between Puppet One and the old cultivator. Meanwhile, Fox Three noticed the appearance of the villagers and instantly formed a new plan in his mind.

Moving away from the battlefield of Puppet One and the old cultivator, Fox Three approached the group of villagers.

"Oh no, monsters are coming!"

Fox Three had not altered his form and remained in his original appearance, naturally terrifying the villagers.

However, this was not within Fox Three's considerations. He channeled his magic power to bind all the villagers who attempted to flee.

"You pack of promise-breaking mortals, today I shall mete out the punishment you deserve." Fox Three made a motion as if to strike them down.

Naturally, some among the villagers had doubts about Fox Three's words and scrambled to ask:

"Great King Fox, when did we ever break our promise? At least make it clear to us so we can die knowing the truth."

"Very well, then I will tell you. I come from the Fiery Cloud Cave. Do you not remember promising our Great King to build a temple for him and offer him daily incense? In return, we would bless you with a peaceful life. Yet now, you have torn down my Great King's temple and built some sort of Diverse Deities Temple instead. Is this true?"

Hearing Fox Three's words, the villagers suddenly grew much quieter. They naturally knew about this matter, but they hadn't expected to be tracked down over it. The Daoists from Wudang Mountain hadn't instructed them this way before.

"Silence means consent? In that case, I will send you off to the netherworld!" Fox Three amplified his aura, filling the villagers with terror.

"Divine Daoist master, save us!"

Seeing that Fox Three truly intended to kill them, the villagers began one after another to cry out for help to the distant old cultivator. However, the old cultivator was trapped in a deadlock with Puppet One and could not spare the attention to save the villagers.

"He can't even protect himself, yet you expect him to rescue you?"

"Immortal Fox, we were forced by circumstances! Otherwise, how would we ever dare to tear down the Great King's temple?"

Seeing that calling upon the old cultivator was useless, the villagers began to plead with Fox Three, hoping to salvage a glimmer of hope.

"Forced by circumstances? Who forced you?"

"Immortal, a few years ago, a group of Daoists came to sweep through our lands. It was they who tore down the Great King's temple and warned us not to stray onto the crooked path. Those Daoists could fly in the sky and burrow through the earth with boundless divine powers; how could we dare to disobey their orders? After they left, we didn't dare to rebuild the Great King's temple."

"After that, the divine Daoist master came to our village. At the time, we were suffering from a severe drought. The divine Daoist master prayed for rain for our village, allowing us to survive the drought safely. He then built a Diverse Deities Temple on the site where the Great King's temple had been destroyed, and he has lived there ever since. Since he helped us through the drought, we could hardly say otherwise. Afterwards, whenever droughts occurred, the divine Daoist master always prayed for rain so we could survive, and he never asked us for any reward."

"Therefore, many neighboring villages have also built temples for the divine Daoist master to worship him and thank him for his help."

The villagers poured out everything that had changed over the years, hoping Fox Three would spare them and also hoping that Fox Three and his companion would not make things difficult for the old cultivator.

"Immortal Fox, the divine Daoist master has done nothing to offend the Great King. Could you perhaps spare him?"

"That depends entirely on our Great King's mood," Fox Three said with a wicked smile.

Judging from the villagers' words, this old cultivator could be considered a genuinely good person. That made things much simpler.

Fox Three did not release the villagers, continuing to bind them with his magic power, but this time he dragged them directly toward the battlefield.

"Old man, if you don't surrender immediately, I will slaughter this entire group of villagers below."

Fox Three's words caused the fighting old cultivator to hesitate for a fraction of a second. Seizing that momentary lapse, Puppet One unleashed a powerful strike upon the old cultivator.

"Pfft!"

Hit by the palm strike, the old cultivator spat a mouthful of blood. Landing on the ground, he glared angrily at Fox Three and said:

"Harming the innocent will invite heavenly retribution! I see your cultivation was not easily attained; you had better not engage in such self-destructive deeds."

"You don't need to worry about that. It all depends on whether you cooperate or not."

"If... if I leave Mount Hao, will you let them go?"

"Naturally..."

"Wait, I've changed my mind."

Puppet One had originally intended to agree, but Fox Three stopped him. Although Puppet One didn't understand Fox Three's intent, he still deferred to Fox Three in such matters. Before leaving, Yuan Wuji had instructed Puppet One to follow Fox Three's commands, so when Fox Three spoke up, Puppet One didn't continue, instead handing the initiative over to Fox Three.