Daoist Master, I'm really not an evil cultivator.

Chapter 80 [The Path of the Spirit Immortals], The God of Whispers

The little willow man twisted his body and climbed out of the tree trunk with some difficulty. He then rubbed his hands together in front of Xu Changqing, looking quite vulgar.

Xu Changqing was taken aback, but then, with great social grace, he took out a piece of spirit jade and stuffed it into the tree man's hand.

"Not bad, you're pretty quick on the uptake."

The little willow-like creature hugged the jade, which was almost as large as its body, and took a deep breath. Wisps of pure spiritual energy emanated from the jade and entered its withered willow-like body. It squinted its two green-eyed eyes with satisfaction, and then slowly said in an old-fashioned tone:

"The Book of Heavenly Essence says, 'A mountain shaped like a bird's beak pecking at the crimson clouds is a land of fire.' If you look closely, does Luoxia'ao have this shape?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Changqing gazed eastward into the distance. The night was deep, but the cultivator's eyesight was exceptional. In addition, the surging power of water and fire in the distance caused spiritual energy to manifest, and the outline of the mountains could be vaguely seen.

Upon closer inspection, the Luoxia Pass is surrounded by peaks, with a central depression and a sharp ridge protruding out on one side, resembling the beak of a bird pointing towards the remaining dark red clouds on the horizon. At this moment, due to the activation of the formation, there are even more crimson phantoms flying around, with flames flowing, perfectly matching the imagery of "a fiery terrain, where the Vermilion Bird is perched."

The little willow man seemed to be high on drugs, his body swaying, the withered willow branches rustling, and his tone carrying a hint of erraticness.

"The Rong River makes a sharp bend at Minghai, resembling a jade belt around the waist. Originally, it was a gentle stream that embraced the fire, nourishing it so that it would neither rage nor die out, but would continue to burn for a long time. But look at it now,"

It raised a willow branch, pointing towards the Rong River. Even through the layers of buildings, one could still feel the powerful steam and faint roar emanating from there.

"The Mantian Camp used the art of prayer to communicate with Ji Meng and borrow a trace of divine power to drive the Rong River. Originally, the water was gently nourishing the fire, but now the water is as fast as an arrow, rushing straight towards the fire's mouth, thus turning into a force that overwhelms it."

Following its description, Xu Changqing saw the blood-red, human-headed, dragon-bodied phantom, carrying a vast amount of water essence, violently crashing into the terrain of Luoxia'ao.

"When water ignites fire, the fire will manifest." Little Willow Man said, "The Vermilion Bird Formation, under this impact, will inevitably be activated and manifest in the world. When two tigers fight, there will inevitably be a weakness, and we can take advantage of this to enter the ruins of the Purple Sun Temple."

"A messenger god?" Xu Changqing's gaze lingered on the palm-sized willow figure for a moment, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes. Then, a slight smile appeared on his lips as he said, "Fellow Daoist, you are erudite and knowledgeable, with a thorough understanding of mountains, rivers, terrain, and ancient secrets. May I ask which great sect you belong to?"

The little willow-shaped creature hugged the spirit jade and took another deep breath, making its withered willow branches seem a little plumper. Upon hearing this, it chuckled, its two green eyes blinking mischievously, and then rubbed its hands together towards Xu Changqing, a gesture so practiced it was almost comical.

"Want to know?" Its voice was still childish, but its tone carried a hint of snobbery and pride. "This information isn't cheap; it'll cost extra."

Seeing this, Xu Changqing had already guessed what was going on, but he remained expressionless. He simply took out another piece of spirit jade of even better quality and handed it over.

"Since you're so sincere..." it lowered its voice, with a hint of mystery, "I'll tell you, I come from the [Spirit Immortal Path]."

"The [Spirit Immortal Path], a major sect of unorthodox doctrines? I've observed your movements, fellow Daoist, communicating with plants and trees, sending messages through spirits, and demanding 'spiritual funds' as payment..." Xu Changqing said slowly, his tone carrying a hint of probing and certainty, "Could it be the 'Ear-Reporting God' of the Zhangliu Path?"

The little willow-man took the second piece of spirit jade, holding it close to its chest. Upon hearing this, it paused, its green eyes darting around as it sized up Xu Changqing, seemingly surprised that the other party could so readily discern its origins. A hint of anthropomorphic joy appeared on its small face, made of willow branches.

"Hehe, you do have some insight." Little Willow Man stopped keeping her in suspense and frankly admitted, "That's right, I am indeed a spirit of the camphor willow, and I've followed the path of the Spirit Immortal Path's messenger god. The spiritual roots of heaven and earth each have their own destiny."

As it spoke, it pulled out a small wooden figure, about an inch tall, with rough carvings but exuding an ancient charm, from behind its back.

The wooden figure has indistinct eyebrows and eyes, complete limbs, and its surface has the natural texture of wood.

"Here," the little willow figure handed the wooden doll to Xu Changqing, his tone becoming more formal, with a hint of soliciting business, "keep this wooden plaque. If you ever want to know any secret information, or if there's anything important that needs to be relayed to a specific place, simply infuse it with a wisp of magic, silently recite your request, and I will know. Of course, you know the rules: information has a price, and relaying it has a fee. The price... depends on the difficulty, and I'll be fair to everyone!"

Xu Changqing reached out and took the cool little wooden figure. It felt solid in his hand, like wood but not quite. He could faintly feel a very weak spiritual energy wrapped around it, which was of the same origin as the little willow figure in front of him.

He put the wooden figure into his sleeve and nodded slightly to the little willow figure: "In that case, I'll trouble you if I need anything in the future."

The little willow man waved its willow-twig arm, looking like it was "easy to talk to." Then, as if sensing something, it tilted its ear to listen.

"Alright, deal done. I'll take you as my customer." The little willow man, clutching the two pieces of spirit jade, swayed and vanished like flowing water back into the trunk of the withered old willow tree, leaving behind only a whispered instruction, "Remember, if you need business, come find me..."

Meanwhile, the struggle between Ji Meng's water and Zhu Que's fire intensified.

"Its depths are both clear and dark, its caves are both vast and deep, constantly flowing through the Zhang River, obscuring the turbulent currents, until it opens!"

The nun performed a short Nuo dance, then suddenly let out a crazy shout.

The phantom of a human head and a dragon body twisted and spun, forming a vortex like the eye of the deep sea, and then a feeling of the earth shaking violently came over us.

The entire city of Minghai seemed to be sucked into it.

After a period of darkness, distorted light and shadow, and confusion of the five senses.

"Damn it, this whole camp is huge! They've practically brought the entire Minghai City into it! They should have given me a heads-up! Now I'm completely scrambling to my head. Do you know how much my head is worth?"

Before Xu Changqing could even open his eyes, he heard a burst of cursing.

When Xu Changqing opened his eyes, he saw that little Liu Ren standing with his hands on his hips, pouring water out of his head, and giving a series of friendly greetings to Mantianying.

The surrounding light and shadows were hazy, no longer the dilapidated street scene of Minghai City.

It seemed as if we were in a strange space that was extremely vast and whose boundaries were hard to see.

Above them was a chaotic, swirling, and colorful light curtain, resembling both water and fire. Ji Meng's deep blue water light and Zhu Que's crimson flames intertwined, collided, and annihilated within it, projecting ever-changing and eerie colors, forming a mysterious water and fire pattern.

As far as the eye could see, there were many figures that had suddenly appeared here as well.

Xiao Liu's cursing sounded particularly abrupt in the empty and strange environment, and successfully attracted the attention of many people.

As if seeing that Xiao Liuren knew what had happened, the surrounding demons spoke up.

"Hey, you little wooden figure, what are you babbling about? What's going on? Tell me!"