Profound Moon Sect, within the Sect’s secret realm,
Guz Bufan stepped out of the Vortex Light Gate of the Sect’s secret realm, satisfied. He stretched leisurely and had a look of happiness on his face.
After half a year in reclusion, his cultivation not only advanced from the late First Stage of Vein Forging Realm to the peak of the First Stage, he also smoothly developed a vein of Divine Power Martial Skill, breaking through to the Second Stage of Vein Forging Realm.
"This time, I should be a step ahead of Lul Xiao, right? The first to reach the Second Stage of Vein Forging Realm?"
"Your reclusion has ended; how were your gains?" the Guardian Elder, who was stationed outside the secret realm, casually inquired of Guz Bufan.
"Successfully developed a vein, and my cultivation has broken through to Second Stage of Vein Forging Realm!" Guz Bufan replied, quite proudly.
"Not bad, a Second Stage of Vein Forging Realm martial artist at the age of thirty. You can indeed be considered exceptionally talented. Take one more step, and you could join Elder Peak early, your future is much greater than this old man’s," the Guardian Elder joked and handed over six Jade Talismans, "These are the messages you’ve received in this half year; due to the secret realm’s formation interference, they’ve all been gathered here by me, safe and sound. Take a look for yourself!"
"Thank you!"
Guz Bufan took the Jade Talismans and quickly departed, flipping through the messages as he walked.
Most were from friends within the Sect, and Guz Bufan responded to them one by one. Suddenly, two messages with identical content from Lul Xiao made Guz Bufan’s expression change.
"Ye Zhen?"
"Lul Xiao has actually found traces of Ye Zhen?"
The moment he finished reading the messages, Guz Bufan knew he had missed a great opportunity. The secret of Ye Zhen possessing the Demon Cloud Fruit was something he and Lul Xiao had concealed together. Unexpectedly, during his reclusion, Ye Zhen had appeared.
"I wonder if Lul Xiao succeeded, whether he was able to capture Ye Zhen. If he did, that would truly be a pity..."
With a flick of his wrist, Guz Bufan sent a Talisman Communication to Lul Xiao, then anxiously awaited a response.
But no matter how long he waited, after more than an hour and three messages, there was still no response.
"Why isn’t he replying to the message? Has that fellow also gone into reclusion?"
Amid his confusion, Guz Bufan returned to inquire at the Sect’s secret realm, yet he heard no news of Lul Xiao entering reclusion. His doubts growing, Guz Bufan sent a communication to Lul Xiao’s master Yub Daqian, asking for Lul Xiao’s whereabouts.
At the same time, Guz Bufan headed to the residence where Lul Xiao lived alone within the Sect, where a maid arranged by the Sect took care of daily chores.
Over an hour later, Guz Bufan’s expression had become extremely grave.
He felt that something significant had gone wrong.
Half an hour earlier, when he had arrived at Lul Xiao’s residence, the maid mentioned that Lul Xiao had left a month and a half ago and had not returned since.
What was even more surprising to Guz Bufan was that Lul Xiao’s master, Yub Daqian, had also not responded to his messages. He had urged a response twice, but no one had replied.
It must be known that he used the Purple Jade Communication, which could reach as far as a million miles. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t be out of range.
More importantly, upon visiting Yub Daqian’s Refined House in the Profound Moon Sect, he found no trace of Yub Daqian. The maid serving Yub Daqian said he had also been out for more than a month. According to the dates, he left the same day as Lul Xiao.
For martial artists to be away from home for a matter of one or two months, or even half a year to a year, is very normal. However, Guz Bufan felt that there was something not quite right—both their messages were unanswered, could there have been some sort of accident?
Anxious, Guz Bufan reported the matter to his master, Sheng Han, and through him, to the Elders of the Elder Peak of the Sect.
At first, the master of Elder Peak in the Profound Moon Sect didn’t take it seriously, as it’s common for a martial artist to be out of contact for a month and a half, but upon further request from Guz Bufan and seeing that neither Yub Daqian nor Lul Xiao had responded to messages sent in the name of Elder Peak, the situation became extremely serious.
The Profound Moon Sect’s Elder Peak was lax in its constraints on the Sect Elders, but once a communication was issued by Elder Peak, regardless of how critical or dangerous the situation, it had to be replied to immediately.
Because the Profound Moon Sect’s Elder Peak had a rule, if one did not respond to its communication, they would be immediately expelled from Elder Peak.
Under normal circumstances, the many Sect Elders of Profound Moon Sect only failed to reply to Elder Peak’s messages in two scenarios.
One scenario was defection from the Sect, which was basically impossible. In the nearly three hundred years of the Profound Moon Sect, not a single Sect Elder had defected. The second possibility was death!
The death of a First Stage Vein Forging Realm martial artist like Lul Xiao wouldn’t be too serious; in the Profound Moon Sect, there are at least two to three hundred martial artists at the First and Second Stages of Vein Forging Realm altogether!
But the death of a half-step Establishing Fiefdom, Seventh Stage Peak Elder in the Vein Forging Realm was a very serious matter.
Within the entire Profound Moon Sect, there were less than twenty martial artists like Yub Daqian with an Innate Heavenly Vein at the peak of the Vein Forging Realm.
Each of these martial artists, possessing an Innate Heavenly Vein at the peak of the Vein Forging Realm, were considered half-step to Establishing a Fiefdom, and seen as the reserve candidates for the future Kings in the Establishment Realm of the Profound Moon Sect.
Basically, Kings in the Establishment Realm often emerged from those with an Innate Heavenly Vein at the Peak of Vein Forging Realm, and each of them was considered a precious talent of the Sect.
The Sect Leader of Elder Peak immediately issued a search order, stating that if any disciple discovered the whereabouts of Lul Xiao and Yub Daqian, they were to report immediately.
After several days of searching without any news, Elder Peak even sent out multiple talisman communications without response. The disturbance grew more and more significant, to the point that it even alerted Zuo Muyang, the Sect Leader of the Profound Moon Sect.
This was because in such a situation, there was an eight or nine out of ten chance that something had happened to Yub Daqian.
At this time, Guz Bufan, amidst his uneasiness, also disclosed the fact that he had received talisman communication from Lul Xiao.
And just at that moment, among the thousands of disciples dispatched to search, there finally came a discovery.
They found the intensely fought battlefield at the base of Black Beard Mountain, and they also discovered two bodies that were beyond recognition.
Upon this, Zuo Muyang, the Sect Leader of the Profound Moon Sect, immediately rushed to Black Beard Mountain and after a personal examination, confirmed that the two corpses were indeed the missing Yub Daqian and Lul Xiao!
"Investigate! I order a thorough investigation! I must find Ye Zhen, and on the Moon Punishment Platform of the sect, I will have Ye Zhen dismembered into thousands of pieces, to avenge Elder Yub’s deep hatred!"
Zuo Muyang, the Sect Leader of the Profound Moon Sect, immediately exploded in rage. Being an Establishment King of the Profound Moon Sect, on the site of Yub Daqian’s corpse at Black Beard Mountain, he issued an unequivocal command!
The entire Profound Moon Sect started to bustle for this cause.
In fact, ever since the loss of soldiers and generals in the previous Secret Realm of Demon Souls, Ye Zhen had been listed by the Profound Moon Sect as a person that must be killed. The sect had even issued a bounty, but since there had been no news of Ye Zhen, the matter had gradually been forgotten.
Who would have thought that Ye Zhen would cause such a huge uproar this time.
The power of the collective is vast, especially when a sect operates at full capacity for a single goal, even sometimes at no cost spared, the power it unleashes is truly terrifying.
In less than five days, Ye Zhen’s background was unearthed!
"Report to the Sect Leader, according to information from various sources, within the True Spirit Domain, a total of seventy-eight martial artists named ’Ye Zhen’ have been identified!" Gan Rusong, the Sect Leader of Elder Peak, was the one in charge of executing the Sect Leader’s directives regarding this matter.
Simultaneously, he was also the only Establishment King within the Profound Moon Sect still dealing with mundane affairs.
The position of the Sect Leader of Elder Peak must be held by an Establishment King, and Gan Rusong was also the newest Establishment King in the Profound Moon Sect.
"Among them, those with cultivation above the Spirit Transformation Realm Fifth Stage and under the age of twenty-five, there is only one person."
"Where?" asked Zuo Muyang, Sect Leader of the Profound Moon Sect, his expression as grave as still water.
"A member of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, one of the Five Great Forces of Qinglan Martial City, who is said to have just broken through to the First Stage of Vein Forging Realm. He had recently won the championship of the Spirit Returning Assembly in Qinglan Martial City!"
"First Stage of Vein Forging Realm, it can’t be him, two years ago, that Ye Zhen was only at the Spirit Transformation Realm Fifth Stage," Guz Bufan immediately interjected.
"If that’s the case, then it must be him! This Ye Zhen, the speed of his cultivation improvement is astonishing; indeed, two years ago, he was only at the Spirit Transformation Realm Fifth Stage! This is intelligence bought at a high price from Stars Tower, with detailed information on this Ye Zhen from the past two years!" Peak Master Gan, the Sect Leader of Elder Peak, passed over a few jade talismans!
"Peak Master Gan, what do you plan to do about this matter?" Sect Leader Zuo Muyang said after reading the talisman communication.
"Sect Leader, just a martial artist of the First Stage of Vein Forging Realm. To kill Elder Yub, there must be accomplices! I plan to send someone to Qinglan Martial City, capture Ye Zhen alive, and then force out his associates to avenge Elder Yub," stated Gan Rusong.
Upon hearing this, Zuo Muyang nodded and said, "Then carry out the task as Peak Master Gan has said. However, Peak Master Gan, instruct the elder you dispatch to Qinglan Martial City to act freely. This Sun and Moon Divine Sect need not be regarded with concern!
If successful, even if it sparks conflict with the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, it doesn’t matter! Our Profound Moon Sect hasn’t shown its strength to the world for a long time; it’s time we display our killing intent!" commanded Sect Leader Zuo Muyang in a chilling voice.
After finishing, Zuo Muyang gave another reminder, "Elder Yub’s Longxuan Palm Technique was quite skillful, and his combat power was extremely strong; among martial artists of the Vein Forging Realm, the number who could kill Elder Yub is very few.
It’s possible that it was an attack by several people. Ordinary people, even if they capture Ye Zhen, may not be able to capture all the other criminals!"
Peak Master Gan Rufeng was startled, "Does the Sect Leader mean... I should personally make the trip?"
"I’m afraid I can’t rest easy with anyone else! And since Qinglan Martial City is a million miles away, the Sect cannot provide effective support. Although we don’t take the Sun and Moon Divine Sect seriously, we will be on their turf. If there’s another mishap..." Zuo Muyang paused here, his meaning clearly conveyed.
"Very well, since the Sect Leader is not at ease, let me personally lead some men there!" declared Gan Rusong.
"Good, in that case, it would be best for Peak Master Gan to bring a few more people,"
"Hahaha, isn’t the Sect Leader giving that guy too much credit? If I personally take action, is there a need to bring too many martial artists? Rest assured, Sect Leader, four people will suffice for me!"
As the laughter echoed, Gan Rusong’s figure suddenly vanished, along with the ever-present Guz Bufan.
While the Profound Moon Sect was in an uproar over the death of Yub Daqian, Ye Zhen had already appeared in the clouds high above Qingshui River, six thousand miles away from Qinglan Martial City, surveying a vast dock built along the water in Qinghe Martial City.
In his eyes shone a cold and unforgiving light.
"Since you, Zhu Ling, planned against me, then don’t blame me for paying back in kind!"(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please go to qidian.com to cast your recommendation and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Comments

Loading...