Chapter 311: New Disciples Join the Sect
"You think it's related to that person, too?" Lonemoon's eyes brightened. The demons apparently had a purpose. Besides, when they were in that little village, the only one who seemed abnormal was the one that Shen Ying saw, the one that the Godfiend said karma was tilted towards. The karma of this world moves irregularly, and seldom concentrates on one person, yet the total remains constant. This meant that once the karma on one person increases, others have less.
The person that Shen Ying mentioned karma was tilted towards had already left, and in the same night the demons attacked the village. Right afterwards, Green Robes Sect just next to it got destroyed. The vicinity made it hard for one to not make connections between them.
"What does Supremacy mean? Have you known the reason behind it?" Lou Hong was confused, listening to them.
"It's nothing." Lonemoon looked at him and said, "The demons probably attacked Green Robes Sect because they were after someone or something." Lou Hong nodded. Indeed, a small sect like Green Robes Sect couldn't mean much to a tenth level-Demon Monarch. Unless they were looking for something.
"Oh yeah, my Junior Brother and I have also found a few new disciples of Green Robes Sect in a secret chamber."
"Disciples?" Lonemoon's look grew cold, "So…"
Lou Hong somehow shivered slightly, "So… We brought them back."
"You are going to let them join the sect?" Lonemoon sneered, and his face expressed: "You are already so poor that you can't even provide for yourselves, how dare you still take in new disciples!"
"Uh…" Cold sweat suddenly emerged on Lou Hong's face. "Am- among them, some have quite good talents."
"Hmph!" Lou Hong didn't dare to speak. Poverty reduces one's self- esteem.
Since Supremacy Lonemoon came to Honesty Sect, within a short span of months, the whole sect had changed. The Spirit Qi had become much thicker. Moreover, the ways of managing the sect that he taught them was actually useful, and the sect became much more well-to-do financially.
Especially since they had obtained spirit stones, every time he met people from top-tier sects, he didn't feel afraid anymore. In the past, it was an immense reward to give a disciple a single piece of Dharma clothing, yet now almost everyone had it.
The Dharma treasures which they kept with extreme care and didn't dare using under normal circumstances, could be thrown aside casually after every usage after they obtained the spirit stones. These were things that he had never imagined over his hundreds of years of practicing. Yet all of them came true now.
It was all thanks to Supremacy Lonemoon. If he had not opposed fervently, and had that sense of disdain towards them, he had wanted to even throw… uh no, pass the position of sect master to him. With him here, they could expect to become a top-tier sect in the near future!
The only trouble was that Supremacy Lonemoon had a slightly bad temper. Though his expression didn't change much, every time his face darkened, Lou Hong felt as if cold wind was piercing through his bones, and his legs couldn't help but started shaking… Perhaps this was the majesty of upper level cultivators, he thought.
Perhaps in this whole world, only that friend of Supremacy could remain calm and casual in front of him!
By the way… What was that Supremacy's name?
He subconsciously looked towards the side, at the woman who had already leisurely finished a plate of fruit. Shen… Shen… Shen Yi? Shen Yang? Aunt? [the word for "aunt" is "shen shen" in Chinese]
(╯_╰) Okay, this was not important.
"Supremacy, those are all half-grown children, and they have nowhere to go." Lou Hong continued, laughing, "Besides, it is almost time that our sect takes in new disciples. The Elders of the sect are all waiting outside. Perhaps Supremacy can take a look together before deciding?"
Lonemoon frowned and then nodded.
Lou Hong made a few commands, and soon, some Dao Lords of the sect who had achieved Core Formation, and the second Nascent Soul cultivator Lou Rui, came inside. Perhaps because they had been caught by Lonemoon regarding financial matters recently, after greeting they looked towards the door and waited for the disciples to come inside, as if afraid that Lonemoon would start chatting with them.
Lou Hong had ordered to bring the disciples from Disciples' Hall. Within a quarter of an hour, they could see a group of children, around ten years of age, approaching from the distance. There were a few dozens in total, some in green robes, others in blue and white disciples' clothing. After they entered, they lined up in the audience hall and saluted together, before they started looking at the people inside the hall with curiosity and excitement.
This was the exact same group of children who had a conflict at Disciples' Hall just now.
Jing Qi was taller than his peers, so he stood in the back. He felt a little nervous. Only after coming to Honesty Sect did he realize Green Robes Sect, which used to be like a fairyland in his eyes, was only a lower-tier immortal sect.
After Green Robes Sect was destroyed, and they had been brought here by the sect master of Honesty Sect, he guessed that he meant to keep them here. Besides, with his quality, he probably wouldn't have a problem entering any sect. He had no dislike towards Honesty Sect at first. Yet after what happened with Yi Qing and the fatty, he was hesitant.
A wise man does not stay in a dangerous environment. He only knew afterwards that the fatty was the son of the sect master. He had already offended him and didn't regret it, yet if he stayed on, inevitably he would seek revenge. Unless… He couldn't help but look towards the front. He heard that two Soul Formation Supremacies had just joined Honesty Sect a couple months ago. If he could become a disciple of theirs, he wouldn't need to worry any more.
He wouldn't help but glanced at the two at the top, but he suddenly looked into a pair of narrowed eyes. He was shocked and was stunned immediately.
The person at the top actually inclined her head slightly. "Wow," It was indeed her.
"What is it?" Lonemoon turned to look at Shen Ying, who suddenly spoke. Subconsciously, he followed her gaze.
Jing Qi buried his head immediately, and inside his head, thoughts emerging like huge waves. That woman… was apparently the one who ate at wild kid's house that day. She… She was actually a Soul Formation Supremacy!
His mind was suddenly a mess, and before he got his thoughts straight, Yi Qing who came together with him suddenly walked out of the crowd to the front, and in the surprising looks of him and others he approached that woman, and called very naturally, "Master."
Jing Qi drew back his stare, and resentment was almost overflowing in his eyes. That was his master! What a wild kid… no, Yi Qing! No wonder he deliberately angered him and made him leave that day. So he had always known that it was a Soul Formation Supremacy inside the house, and just didn't want him to get Supremacy's favor too. What a scheming heart!
"Hmm," Shen Ying nodded, remembering he was still a child, handed over a fruit, "There!"
Yi Qing stopped short, looked at the fruit in her hand, took it, and his little brows wrinkled subconsciously. He eventually replied, "… Thank you, Master." They already said that the fruit was not ripe yet.
Chapter 312: The Intrusion
"You have gotten your disciple name card?" Lonemoon whose sight had already dropped on Chef asked casually.
"Yup." Yi Qing nodded and turned to stand beside Shen Ying obediently. He must return soon to cook for Master, he thought. He couldn't let Master eat such unripened fruit any more.
Lou Hong looked at Lonemoon in the upper seat and suggested with a smile, "Supremacy, among the disciples we brought back this time, there were indeed some of good quality. One of them was actually a celestial spirit root of fire element, apparently well suited to sword cultivation, it seems?" He started his recommendation right away, implicitly urging Lonemoon to take on a disciple too.
"Aren't we a sword cultivation sect?" Lonemoon wasn't moved. He took up the teacup. "The sword cultivator cultivates the Heart of the Sword. It has little relation to the Spirit Root. Besides, the differences in Spirit Root was merely due to the different amount of Spirit Qi absorbed. We do not lack Spirit Qi here!" "Yes, yes!" Lou Hong's mouth twitched. You are rich, so whatever you say is true! But he thought about it, and still added, "This disciple is good at understanding matters and smart too. According to these surviving young disciples of Green Robes Sect, he was the one who told everybody to hide in that secret chamber, therefore allowing them to escape the massacre."
"Oh?" Lonemoon raised his brows slightly.
Seeing his interest, Lou Hong continued, "Supremacy has no disciple at the moment. Since even Shen… Shen… Supremacy Shen has a disciple now, Supremacy may as well take one too. It will also allow you to pass on your knowledge."
Lonemoon's mouth twitched. How could he lack disciples? There were still more than two hundred disciples in the Invincible Heavenly Palace of Celestial World. Didn't he teach them all? If not for Shen Ying's crazy idolized method, how could they not achieve proper cultivation? How could they?
Even for Yi Qing who was supposedly the disciple of Shen Ying, wasn't he the one who ended up doing the teaching? Hmph! Seeing that he did not reply after a long time, Lou Hong thought that he silently agreed, and hurried to scan the group of children in front of him, before waving at Jing Qi, who had met him once previously.
"Come, child. Come to the front for Supremacy to see!"
The children were amazed, and all of them looked back in curiosity.
Jing Qi felt a joy in his heart, and the hands on his side tightened. Okay! There were two Supremacies in Honesty Sect, and should he become a disciple of the other, he wouldn't be in a lower position than Yi Qing.
He suppressed the excitement, side-stepped and walked forward through the crowd.
Only now did Lonemoon look up.
And then… Pew!
He was so shocked by the scene he saw that he spit out the tea, and stood up from his chair instantly.
"Holy shit!"
What the hell is this? The "wow" sound that Shen Ying made just now immediately came to his mind. He turned to the person beside him and stared at her angrily, "You had known it all along!"
"Not really," Shen Ying inclined her head. "Only since two minutes ago."
"F*ck! Would it hurt you to give me a little reminder?"
"Nope." "I beg your pardon?!" He said slowly.
"I just reminded you." Only that you were looking at Chef and didn't notice it.
"…" Motherf*cker!
Lonemoon had an impulse of tearing her apart.
"Su-Supremacy?" Lou Hong's face was full of confusion. How did they suddenly start fighting? Was he supposed to try and make peace? "What… What is the matter? Is there something wrong with this child?"
Lonemoon's mouth twitched , as he looked at Jing Qi down there once more, before sitting back into the chair. "… No."
Nothing would appear wrong in the eyes of others. It was just a boy of around ten years old. Only that in his eyes, this child whose height didn't even reach his waist was shrouded by a vague shadow. The two body shapes were stacked, as if the boy was wearing a transparent human-shaped costume.
What's more, the shadow was a fat man, almost shaped like a ball. He could even clearly see the layers of his belly hanging low, just blocking a certain unspeakable body part.
That's right. It was a naked fat man, whose fat face wore the exact same expression as the child within his body. More importantly, within the flesh of that shadow, there were certain familiar aura. That was exactly the karma which according to the Godfiend, had suddenly tilted and disappeared.
But all these paled in the more important realization that suddenly came to his mind the moment that he saw him: intruder!
Holy shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!
He felt an irresistible urge to curse.
—————— Apparently, the person in front of them was the product of the last plane alarm. This was an intruder who transmigrated from another plane. As a newbie, Lonemoon was in fact unsure how to deal with the so-called plane emergency. Besides, the shadow didn't seem to recognize the both of them. This was different from any of those plane intrusions that Shen Ying casually mentioned. He turned to look at Shen Ying, and seeing that she didn't show the intent to deal with the matter immediately, he had to bear with it first.
"What does Supremacy think of this child?" Lou Hong was ready to continue with his praise.
Lou Tao suddenly rushed inside, an anxious look written all over his face. "Dad, dad, it's no good!"
"Tao!" Lou Hong scolded him, "What are you doing, panicking like this?"
"Dad…" Lou Tao remembered his purpose and said in a hurry, "It's no good. Little Junior Brother suddenly started to cough blood. Uncle-Master at Hall of Medicine said he needed Qi Preserving Pills to recover." "Ji Shu?" Lou Hong frowned. "Talk slower and tell me, how did he get hurt? And how did it hurt the meridians?" Qi Preserving Pills was actually necessary.
Lou Tao was stunned, and turned to point at Jing Qi. "He was hurting fighting with him. I thought at first that he only fainted. I didn't expect it to be so serious." With that said, he explained all that happened in front of Disciples' Hall just now.
Jing Qi's expression turned cold, and a chilling look appeared in his eyes. This fatty was indeed despicable. He must have deliberately chosen this moment to complain about me.
"Nonsense!" Lou Hong's face darkened, as he stared at him. "Regardless of the reason, disciples are not supposed to fight each other. Whatever that happens, there are the Uncle-Masters to deal with it." He turned to look at Jing Qi. "It's the same for you. Although you are not a disciple of our sect, you are not supposed to casually hurt people."
He had scolded both sides, and treated it as mere playing between children. Yet in his heart some appreciation towards Jing Qi arose. After all, being able to defeat someone at fifth level of Qi Refinement while himself was only at third level was sufficient proof that he had extraordinary quality indeed.
Yet apparently, he himself did not think so. Jing Qi's face turned even darker, and a gloominess spread all over him. Like father, like son. One had come to complain after agreeing to drop the case, and the other was partial.
He subconsciously looked towards the sage-like Supremacy, and started expecting that he would be different from the others, and that he would be able to see the truth and give him justice.
Yet the man remained silent for a long while, like he was thinking about something. Lou Hong had already taken out a bottle of Qi Preserving Pills and handed it over to Lou Tao.
Chapter 313: Idiot Intruder
"Go and let your Junior Brother take this. Ask him to go and receive his punishment himself after his injuries had healed!" With that said, he looked at Jing Qi and added, "The same for you. Go and receive punishment later!"
"Thanks, dad!" Lou Tao was happy, and probably thinking about his Junior Brother, he rushed out without looking at Jing Qi at the side.
Yet Jing Qi's hands tightened, and the grievances in his heart grew even stronger. Both of them had received punishment but not Lou Tao. He was biased indeed.
"Supremacy." After dealing with this little accident, Lou Hong looked at Lonemoon and couldn't help but still want to make him accept the disciple. "Look at this child…"
After what happened just now, Jing Qi felt both nervous and expectant. The Soul Formation Supremacy ought to be different, perhaps. Yet in the next instant he heard him say…
"I'm not accepting disciples!"
Jing Qi's heart felt cold, and the expecting expression disappeared immediately. A rush of angered came to him. Hmph, what Soul Formation Supremacy, he was just the same as all these people. And he actually held extra hopes for him.
"This…" Lou Hong was stunned for a moment. "Would Supremacy like to consider it a bit more? In any case, the celestial spirit root is rare."
"There'll be no need. I didn't have the intention to accept disciples today, anyway. Besides, sword cultivation does not place emphasis on the spirit root. However extraordinary the spirit root, in my eyes it is the same as the Five Spirit Roots." Lonemoon continued, "Sword cultivation places a greater emphasis on character. If the character is good, any spiritual root would do. Moreover, one disciple, Yi Qing, is enough for my peak. The rest will just be trouble." And they would also have to take care of his meals. Besides, no one could surpass Yi Qing in quality. Seeing this, Lou Hong felt that he shouldn't continue persuading, and said, "Oh, okay then…"
"Don't you look down on me!" Before he finished, Jing Qi down there looked as if he couldn't hold back his words any more. His face was full of anger, like he was humiliated. He stared up at them. "If you don't like me, say it directly. What character! You don't need to do implicit mocking. Didn't you refuse to accept me because you are biased towards that little fatty?"
After this was said, not only Lonemoon, but the whole audience was shocked by this boy who suddenly burst out in anger. What is he talking about?
"Don't you think that I can't see it!" He continued to wear an expression as if he had found out the truth. He pointed at the crowd and continued to talk nonsense. "You people of Honesty Sect are all birds of a feather. You don't recognize the truth but only protect your own people. Yes, our Green Robes Sect was decimated, but we still have our pride, and we are not to be casually humiliated. Don't you look down on us!"
"Presumptuous!" Lou Hong had finally understood. He actually bred resentment just because of a rejection?
If this was the case now, one can't imagine what he would be after he completed cultivation! In an instant, his impression of Jing Qi fell to the bottom. At first, he was thinking that if Supremacy didn't want him, with such a good spirit root, it would be nice for himself or Junior Brother to take him on as well. But now, it seemed that Supremacy was right: Character was the most critical, and spirit root less so.
"What, you are angry because I told the truth? Old man!" Jing Qi's expression was fearless. He even glanced at Shen Ying and Lonemoon at the top and snorted, "Hmph! You are Supremacies, so what? I do not care about it! Even without you, I will be somewhere above all of you some day!"
He was getting even more nonsensical. Lou Hong was so angry that he blew up his mustache. He felt embarrassed. He was the one who most appreciated this boy previously, and what he was doing was simply slapping his face in front of everyone.
"You are so young yet talk so carelessly." But considering that he was still a child, he couldn't give him too harsh a punishment. He immediately called in two disciples, "Take him to the locked chamber in the back of the mountain and let him reflect on his faults in silence."
"Yes!" The two disciples immediately came forward to drag him.
Yet Jing Qi pushed them away and even pulled out his sword. "Do you want to kill me to silence my talking?"
"…"
Lou Hong's mouth twitched. How on earth did such dark thoughts come to such a young child? He sighed, and not wanting to speak further to him, he directly produced a hand seal to fix him in position, before waving for the disciples to bring him down. Right now, not to mention taking him as disciple, he needed to reconsider even whether or not to accept him into the sect. Because his mind didn't seem to work well!
Jing Qi was merely at Qi Refinement level, and naturally couldn't resist Nascent Soul cultivators. Seeing that he was going to be dragged away, he could only stare hard at everyone in the room, and shouted out a famous saying word by word, "Fortune was in the east bank thirty years ago, but turns to west when thirty years has passed. Don't you bully the young."
Lonemoon, "…"
Everyone: "…"
Immediately the whole audience looked at the person walking out with the type of sympathy you give an idiot.
Lonemoon's mouth twitched. This must be an idiot? What's up with this strange line?
Besides, he didn't say anything much just now at all, but simply didn't want to accept a disciple, yet he looked as if the whole world owed him. Did he transmigrate from the plane of idiots?
Lou Hong's expression was full of regret. He looked at Lonemoon meekly and hurried to change the subject, "The matter of disciples can be discussed later. Let's look into the matter of Green Robes Sect first!" He coughed and looked at the rest of Green Robes Sect disciples in the hall.
"Is there any among you who knows why those demons attacked Green Robes Sect?"
Those children looked at one another, and a hint of fear and hesitation showed in their eyes.
Lou Hong immediately comforted them, with a smile on his face, "Don't be afraid. Since you've come to Honesty Sect, you are the disciples of our sect from now on. Whatever that happens, we will protect all of you. Just tell me what you've heard and seen before coming here."
Only now did the expression of those few kids become milder.
They looked at the person in front and started talking.
"We saw a lot of man-eating monsters. They ate a lot of Senior Brother…" "And Senior Sisters. They said Senior Sisters' meat tasted better."
"They lost a lot of blood, that's when the sect master told us to hide, otherwise we would be eaten too."
"And sect master told us not to make a sound… if they can't find Green Feathers… Green Feathers Orchid?" Feathers
"Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid! Those monsters are looking for that?" Lou Hong gasped, as his widened eyes saw the group of children nodding. He hurriedly turned to Lonemoon and said, "Supremacy, it seems that these demons were going after Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid." He said very seriously, "The Orchid is not only a great healing herb, it also has the effect of cleansing the soul and the meridians. I heard that eating it can improve the chances of the neonate formation pill by 30%."
"But this Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid has always been rare, and it takes a million years for one to grow." Lou Hong's expression was emotional, "Green Robes Sect actually had such a treasure." Lonemoon frowned. The Demon Monarch was already at the tenth level, and neonate formation pills are of no use to him at all. What did want this thing for? And he wanted it so much as to destroy a whole sect… Unless… it was his in the first place.
Chapter 314: The Truth About Intrusion
He somehow felt that this might have something to do with that idiot… uh no, intruder.
But he didn't imagine that the Three Azure Realms had become so poor right now? Even the Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid could be a treasure worth fighting for. He remembered that in the radishes that Rabbit used to send Shen Ying every day, more than half were those orchids. One or two of those still grew in the back side of the mountain of Invincible Sect every now and then.
He thought about the matter of the intruder. After he understood the purpose of the demons, he wasn't too interested in what was happening next. He told Lou Hong goodbye and went back to Invincible Peak with Shen Ying and Yi Qing.
————
"How do you intend to deal with that crazy boy?" After returning to the peak, Lonemoon asked straight away. "You gonna open a plane gate and chase him back?" "I can't chase him back." Shen Ying spread her hands.
"What do you mean?" I didn't know that there's someone you can't chase in this world. His expression was suspicious.
Shen Ying picked up a fruit, habitually, and was just going to eat it, before it was suddenly grabbed by Yi Qing, who put a piece of pastry into her hand at once. She was stunned for an instant before stuffing it directly into her mouth.
"He is mixed."
Lonemoon stopped short, suddenly remembering the fat shadow that shrouded the boy. "You mean, those karma on him?" Those karma belonged to this world. If they threw the person back to his original plane now, there would be an impact indeed.
"Nah!" Shen Ying inclined her head. "Karma is just some data. It can simply be added from the amount dropped!" That wouldn't make a difference. "…" Lonemoon's mouth twitched. He felt that she insulted all the concepts of karma in novels.
"The point is the person that he mixed with."
"Person?" Lonemoon suddenly widened his eyes in shock. "You mean, the body that he is in now?"
Indeed in their eyes Jing Qi was a fat man who intruded into this world, yet to others, he was merely a ten-year-old kid. Apparently, the fat man was the real body of the intruder. This meant that it was the soul that transmigrated!
"Are you going to say that the poor soul that he possessed was still inside his body?"
"Yes." Shen Ying nodded.
"Holy shit!" Lonemoon cursed. In that case, they couldn't simply send him back indeed, because that way they would be sending two, and it would become their intrusion into another plane.
"But it doesn't make sense!" He suddenly remembered something, "By right, one body can only accommodate one soul. If his soul possessed the body, the original soul should be squeezed out."
"The system was incompatible. He was stuck." Shen Ying said.
"You mean that the original soul was trapped inside the body of the intruder like those karma?" Lonemoon suddenly thought about the karma inside that kid's body. "How could this be?" Could this intruder's spirit be stronger than all the others?
"Hmm…" Shen Ying bowed down her head and thought for a while, before replying, "maybe he was… wider."
Wider?
Lonemoon's mouth twitched as he thought about the thick layers of flesh on that shadow. "You mean because he was too fat originally, the original soul and those karma were trapped and unable to come out?"
"That's right!"
"What right!" Since when had being fat become a superpower? "Then what are we gonna do now? Are we going to leave him to stay here?" With all his karma, he might indeed become a master. "What happens to the original soul? He can't be left trapped, right?" This was his first plane mission, yet this start was so difficult.
"We wait for his consumption."
"Consumption! You mean, we let those karma be consumed first?" Lonemoon thought about it carefully. Indeed, the intruder could trap the original soul more or less due to those karma. As he had too much karma, he naturally suppressed others, and of course the original soul was unable to resist him.
The two had already mixed, so they couldn't casually separate them. As he belonged to a different plane, the soul system was different, and trouble could easily be caused from such a separation. But should those karma disappear, the original soul would naturally resist, and then the mixing of the two would become problematic, making it easier for intervention.
"But…" He realized one more problem. "Karma does not get consumed easily. He had amazing karma in the first place, and nobody else could consume his karma. Unless he had someone with a similar level of karma, or an opponent recognized by himself, rousing his heart for fighting, then it would work. We can't make another genius for him!"
"We have one already!" Shen Ying suddenly turned to look towards the direction of the kitchen.
"Chef!"
Lonemoon looked at the small figure who was cooking with a simple seriousness.
This was indeed… a wise choice! "Chef, come, let's discuss revenge!"
——————
If you want to consume one's karma, you've got to beat him when he was most self-satisfied, making him unable to satiate his desires. As such, he would want more and keep consuming his own karma. This opponent must be someone who inspired his urge to fight, and Chef was doubtless the best choice. Firstly, they came from the same village, so they appeared to have the same starting point.
Secondly, Chef was born a member of the dragon clan. He was meant to become a god. Even if the other party had extraordinary amounts of karma, Chef lacked only Spirit Qi, and he could improve his cultivation even if he simply closed his eyes. In terms of speed, nobody could surpass him.
Thirdly, it was about the impact of the karma. Theoretically, when Jing Qi became lucky, someone else had to be unlucky due to the influence of the karma. Yet Chef was a plane assistant. Although due to the conditions of his body he couldn't accept the assistant seal, there was that marking inside his body. With that marking, all worldly rules couldn't limit him, including the rules of karma, which meant that they needn't worry about him being negatively affected by the intruder's karma.
Lastly, for some unknown reason, Jing Qi indeed seemed to have a hostility towards Chef. He felt it earlier when they were in the audience hall. Chef already possessed complete hatred from the other party without doing anything himself.
Lonemoon was just contemplating whether to let Chef do a secluded cultivation, or a Foundation Establishment first, when something happened at Honesty Sect again.
The Protective Mountain Array was activated instantly, and the whole sect trembled as if someone was attacking it.
In the next moment, waves of demonic roars came from the distance, and demonic aura suddenly increased outside the mountain gates. Waves of black aura came right at the sect.
"Supremacy!" A disciple arrived hurriedly, horror written all over his face. "Many demons suddenly arrived outside the mountain gate. They surrounded the gate. Sect master told me to bring Supremacy over."
They had come indeed…
Chapter 315: Demons' Attack of the Mountain
"I see." Lonemoon nodded. They had come fast indeed. He turned to tell Shen Ying, "Don't go running around!" After that his body shape flashed and he disappeared right where he was.
At that moment, the area outside the mountain gate had been filled with all kinds of demons from many different clans. Moreover, most were big demons at the seventh and eighth levels. There were even a few at the ninth.
If not for the Protective Mountain Array, they may have already rushed onto the mountain.
Lou Hong tried hard to maintain the Protective Mountain Array, while he looked at the demons. Although he knew that demons were of a cruel and revengeful nature, he didn't expect them to chase a couple kids till here.
"Old man, if you know the situation, open up the array, and we might spare a few disciples of yours. Otherwise…" A jackal demon walked out and showed his bloody teeth to the crowd, "When we enter, we will eat all of you to the bones."
"How dare you demons!" Lou Hong snorted coldly, "You aren't supposed to eat people in the first place. You had even destroyed Green Robes Sect, and now you still dare to come to our Honesty Sect. Aren't you afraid of being filled by bad karma and ruining your thousands of years of cultivation?"
"Psst!" The jackal demon looked utterly disdainful. "Stop talking about these things to me. Only your human race believes in karma. We are demons to begin with, if we don't eat humans, are we supposed to eat porridge and rice?"
With that said, the demons started laughing, as they looked at the crowd like they were all dishes.
"Besides, you were the ones who robbed our spirit herbs first, and we only came for justice." The jackal demon continued. "Eating a couple humans was already us being merciful to you. If you still refuse to give up the Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid that you stole, we will eat all the mortals around this area too!" "Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid?" Lou Hong was stunned, "We had never seen it. Don't you make wild blames."
"You human race is the best at lying. Dare to do, yet you dare not admit doing." The jackal demon snorted. "Do you dare say that you were not the ones who saved those little whelps? We turned Green Robes Sect all over but couldn't find that Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid, so you must have taken it."
"We did save those children, and that was because we couldn't bear to see them die under the fangs of demons." Lou Hong replied with a deep voice, "But we had never seen a Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid, believe it or not."
"And you still dare to continue denying, I will see how long you can manage that!" The jackal demon seemed too lazy to continue talking with him. He waved, and the demons beside him went forward and attacked the Protective Mountain Array.
In a second, they heard a few loud bangs, and the whole sect shook. Yet the array formation remained intact, and a few weaker demons actually flew out under the impact. "Move away!" Suddenly, a wolf's roar came from the crowd of demons, making all the demons stunned, as they made a way. Soon a man came forward. As compared to the rest of the demons who more or less still remained in animal shape, he was in a complete human shape. He wore a long black robe, and an immense amount of demonic aura came from his body, far surpassing the level of the others.
Lou Hong's heart sank. This was… the tenth-level Demon Monarch!
"A group of useless things! Can't even break an array." The Demon Monarch glanced at the crowd of demons, and all the demons around him shivered. Only then did he fixed his blood- red eyes on the cultivators opposite him. A red light flashed in his hands. He smiled darkly, as he said, "Since you don't intend to return the treasure, after we finished eating everyone, we can look for it ourselves. It's the same."
With that said, his body shape flashed, as he leaped up dozens of feet, and his palm attacked the Protective Mountain Array. With a flash of lightning, the array which remained resistant to attack just now suddenly shook a few times, and with a clanging sound, it broke like glass, and disappeared into the air. Lou Hong who was maintaining the array felt a rush of blood around his heart. He couldn't stand stably any more and directly stepped back a few steps.
The Demon Monarch actually widened his eyes towards Lou Hong and said, "I will start by eating you!" With that said, he made a loud roar and leaped up right towards Lou Hong.
As its sharp claws were almost going to pierce through the man, a rush of sword qi suddenly came down from the sky, and it hit the Demon Monarch in the air. A white body shape appeared at the same instant, and the flute in his hand knocked the Demon Monarch down immediately.
With a bang, the Demon Monarch was crushed onto the ground before he could make a sound. The demonic aura around him had mostly disappeared, and he returned to his original shape in an instant.
Lonemoon stepped on the gigantic wolf on the ground with one foot, and wrinkled in a disbelieving manner, before he asked, "This is the Demon Monarch?" This generation of little animals was quite weak. Much worse than Rabbit used to be. Perhaps because the disdain on his face was too obvious, everyone at the scene, both humans and demons, fell silent with a confused look on their faces. They felt that before anything started, it had already ended.
"So- Soul Formation!" Some demon screamed.
Immediately, the whole group of demons turned back and started deserting, without any trace of intention to save their Demon Monarch. They had absolutely no love for their own kind!
"Don't you disbelieve in karma? I will show you what it means!" Lonemoon snorted. It was a rare occasion of showing off, and he should continue with it.
His hands moved, and a Dharma spell was immediately formed, and a rain of swords appeared in the sky, which fell directly onto the deserting demons below.
They had not even run for many steps before they were caught by the spirit swords and changed into a flash of blood. Instantly, the whole Honesty Sect echoed with the cry of all kinds of demons. Not the threatening cries they made just now, but the painful cries of dying.
In less than ten minutes, all were silent. Demons of the seventh and eighth levels died in huge numbers. There were a few small demons left who had not been blooded, but most of them were only at the fourth or fifth level.
The disciples of Honesty Sect who had readied themselves to fight to death were speechless.
What did they come here for?
(⊙_⊙)
Lonemoon made a passing-away seal, sending these demons who were all bloody and apparently had eaten many people to oblivion. Only then did he turn around.
"Where are you running to?" The wolf Demon Monarch who had just crawled two steps of distance stiffened instantly, as the hair all over his body stood up. He leaned on the ground shivering, as he replied, "Supremacy, please spare my life! I didn't know that there was a Soul Formation Supremacy here!" Didn't they say that the highest cultivation level here was Nascent Soul? Rumors were not reliable after all!
"Oh, you meant that if there were none, you would dare to come and eat humans?" Lonemoon's eyes chilled.
The wolf monarch's eyes shrunk, as he shivered even more severely. "No… no, no. Supremacy, I had no other way. The Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid that I had spent thousands of years caring for was stolen by them. Only due to anger did I… I…"
"Who said they stole your Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid?" Who wants your carrot! A green carrot besides!
"It's, it's true!" The wolf monarch's ears drooped in grievance. "I knew that boy, he was the one who stole it." With that said, he took out a Shadow Preserving Stone out of nowhere, and a vague shape came out of it. That was a ten-year-old kid, thin and tall, with a green carrot overflowing with Spirit Qi in his arms.
Chapter 316: The Culprit
"This is… that Jing Qi!" Lou Hong recognized the person.
"He was the one who stole it." The wolf monarch continued. "We couldn't find him at Green Robes Sect, and we only knew afterwards that this kid was saved by Honesty Sect. That's why we…" Had they known that there was a Soul Formation cultivator, and a sword cultivator besides, he would absolutely never have come.
Lonemoon frowned. He had actually more or less guessed that this matter may be related to that intruder, but he didn't imagine that it was actually him. No wonder so many demons appeared first at that village, and then at Green Robes Sect, and now at Honesty Sect. Jing Qi was the one they were after.
Yet even though Jing Qi knew that he was the one who attracted those demons, why had he never mentioned it? And he didn't look guilty at all during the whole discussion, but remained in an utterly justified manner. This wouldn't seem right if it was any other child, and he was no ordinary child.
Lou Hong's face darkened too. He turned and commanded, "Go to the back mountain and bring the one named Jing Qi."
"Yes!" A disciple turned and flew off immediately.
The wolf monarch's eyes brightened with hope.
But Lonemoon didn't intend to let him go so easily. "Even though you have a reason, just because you killed off the whole Green Robes Sect and ate so many people, I cannot let you go!"
The wolf withered down again and shook even more severely.
A Dharma spell was just going to be formed.
"Supremacy, wait!" Lou Hong seemed to have thought of something, and he said, "This wolf monarch had sinned greatly, and our Honesty Sect just happened to lack a mountain- protecting beast. How about we make it stay at the mountain gate for life, as redemption for his sins?"
The wolf monarch nodded violently, "I'm willing! I'm willing! Supremacy, please spare my life. I like protecting gates best, I like it very much. Woof woof!
Lonemoon, "…"
Lou Hong, "…"
Why are you woofing, did you think of yourself as a dog?
"Since the sect master says so, so be it." Lonemoon made a hand seal, and his finger pointed towards the center of the wolf's brows, directly dragging out a piece of his Divine Perception and heart blood. He turned to look at Lou Hong. "Give me your hand!"
Lou Hong reached out a hand subconsciously. Lonemoon directly turned his hands towards the hand. Instantly, a blood- colored wolf head symbol appeared on Lou Hong's wrist.
"This is… a blood contract?!" "Hmm!" Lonemoon nodded. "Should he disobey, or still dare to eat humans in the future, you can directly activate this seal to kill him. Demons, unlike demon beasts, cannot be contracted, so this is the safest method."
The wolf monarch's head bowed down even lower, as he hurried to promise, "I don't dare, don't dare!" With that said, he immediately clawed onto the stone platform at the mountain gate and sat down with his back claws on the ground. The huge tail behind him shook in a eager manner, as if he had completely forgotten that he was originally a Demon Monarch.
Lonemoon, "…"
Lou Hong, "…"
Everyone: "…"
Hmm, he was fairly… sensible.
"Only those few small demons are left. They have no blood in their body, they probably have never hurt humans. Deal with them as you wish!" Lonemoon said. He suddenly thought of something, "Oh yeah! Those dead bodies, after taking the demon cores out of them, clean them up and send them to Invincible Peak to Shen Ying. Although they are a bit chopped up, they should still be edible!"
"Eat… eat?" Did they hear it wrong?
"Hmm." Lonemoon glanced at the small demons left and the wolf monarch, as he said word by word, "Don't they like to eat humans? I will let them know the fear of those on top of the food chain."
The people, "…"
The demons, "…"
And the demons trembled together.
So… So horrible… They are actually going to eat the demon corpses!
Σ(°△°|||)
***
Before everyone had been able to react, the disciple who left just now suddenly ran back, an anxious look on his face, "Sect master, it's no good! That disciple called Jing Qi had disappeared."
"What?" Lou Hong's face darkened. "Wasn't he locked up? How can he disappear? Have you checked the disciples' entrance and exit record?"
"I have. Nobody had seen him leave. I only realized he was not there when I went to the locked room."
"This child…" A flash of anxiety crossed Lou Hong's face. Couldn't something have happened to him? He suddenly remembered something. Everybody turned to look at the dog monarch… uh no, the wolf monarch!
The wolf monarch's hair all stood up. "No no no… It wasn't me!" Don't wrong a good wolf! "We didn't even get to enter the mountain gate, how could we get him? Besides, I didn't even find the Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid…"
"Supremacy, in your opinion…" Lou Hong looked towards Lonemoon awkwardly.
Lonemoon frowned. Maybe that stupid kid just ran away by himself.
"Let's return to the sect first."
Lou Hong nodded. Only then did everyone fly back to the main peak, bringing the captured small demons. Lou Hong walked in the front and just as he was about to enter the audience hall when a coercive force of a Soul Formation cultivator suddenly emerged from inside, and without paying attention he directly stepped back. The suppression actually intensified, and it swept over the crowd recklessly with a murderous aura.
Lonemoon's expression turned cold. Did they think that he was dead? In an instant, he used the suppression unique to sword cultivators to counter-attack. The suppression rushed into the hall mercilessly and hit the cultivator sitting in a high position.
Sounds of tumultuous movement of tables and chairs immediately came from the hall, as if the person had lost his balance. Only then did Lonemoon lead the crowd inside. They looked at the middle-aged cultivator who came uninvited and sat in a high-ranking position.
"Honesty Sect actually produced a Soul Formation cultivator! I underestimated you." The cultivator on top stood up and looked towards Lonemoon with vigilance.
"You are… Supremacy Wu Xiang of Divine Heaven Sect." Lou Hong was shocked as he immediately recognized the person. Divine Heaven Sect was the top sect of Upper Azure World, with millions of disciples, and Honesty Sect could by no means compare with them. They also had more than a dozen Soul Formation Supremacies in their sect, and this Supremacy Wu Xiang was among the best of them. Rumors had it that he was already halfway immortal.
"It seems that this old man is still recognized!" The man smiled, but his look remained rather proud.
Lou Hong frowned. "May I know what business Supremacy has here at Honesty Sect?" And he even started fighting indiscriminately. If not for Supremacy Lonemoon, he himself may even be hurt.
"I came for nothing else but this old man's new disciple." Wu Xiang looked at him, and probably due to Lonemoon's presence, he said with a serious tone, "I have recently received a new disciple called Jing Qi, who had been troubling you here recently. I have already brought him away just now, before I realized that I have not given you a notice, that's why I came back."
"Jing Qi…" Lou Hong's face darkened. No wonder he suddenly disappeared. He was brought away by him. He would never expect a little kid like that to actually know Supremacy Wu Xiang. "That's right. He will be my only personal disciple from now onwards." His look was cold, and with a hint of blame in his voice he continued, "This is the disciple I have had over so many years of cultivation, and inevitably I am rather protective of him. Besides coming to notice your sect, there's also another matter that I'd like to ask Honesty Sect!"
Chapter 317: Plucking Feathers off the Goose that Passes By
Lou Hong's heart sank with a foreboding feeling. "May I know what is the matter?"
"My disciple had always been straightforward in character, while he is a bit too lively, he had a pure kindness. May I ask sect master, what mistake did he make, that you are putting him into that dark and secluded chamber, and going to put him to death!" His voice deepened, and the suppression on his body began to sweep towards Lou Hong.
Lou Hong's face whitened, and the suppression was almost reaching.
Lonemoon suddenly stepped forward and pulled the man behind him, while at the same time used his own suppression which was also of Soul Formation level but more chilling to press it back. Wu Xiang was stunned. He stepped back once more and almost fell on the chair behind him. Instantly, his face was full of shock. He at first thought that he was only pressed back by this person because he was caught unawares, but now he realized that this person's ability was not second to him. He cultivation looked only like that of a mid-stage Soul Formation cultivator, but why was the suppression so strong? Can this be the sword cultivator's ability?
"Supremacy is speaking rather amusingly!" Lonemoon gave him a commercial-style smile. "That child called Jing Qi was a surviving disciple of Green Robes Sect. He was punished for his wrongs of injuring his peers and disrespecting his superior, that's why he was punished with confinement. Besides, the confinement was less than a day in total, where does the talk of putting him to death come from?"
"You are suggesting that my disciple lied?"
"I don't know whether he lied or not," Lonemoon continued, "But if the sect master really wanted him dead, why bother saving him out of Green Robes Sect? We are not that free!"
"This…" His expression changed, but he continued to argue, "Even if he made mistakes, you wouldn't need to punish him so harshly? Besides, he is my disciple, and it's not for you to punish him?"
"This talking is funny indeed." Lonemoon gave him a mocking smile without hesitation. "May I ask Supremacy, what is a soft punishment then? Only one day of confinement, and it's harsh for a cultivator? Then let me ask, how does the respected sect of yours… Divine Heaven Sect, is it? How do they punish their disciples? Allow us to learn from you."
He was speechless, because confinement wasn't any harsh punishment indeed.
"Besides, we couldn't know the future, and we had no way to know that he would become your disciple, right?" Lonemoon continued. "If Supremacy indeed care for your disciple so much, I would advise you to write on his forehead the words "Wu Xiang's Disciple", so that it is easier for others to recognize!"
"You!" Recognizing the irony in his words, Wu Xiang was angry, but couldn't find words to rebuke. He had to forcefully suppress the anger inside him. He bit his teeth and snorted, "Okay, we will let go of this matter then. This Supremacy will not ask further about it. From now on, Jing Qi has nothing more to do with your Honesty Sect!" With that said, he stared at him shortly, and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Lonemoon said suddenly, "Supremacy's matter had been settled, but we haven't yet discussed our matter?"
Wu Xiang's footsteps stopped. He turned. "What else do you want?"
Lonemoon's smile was soft as spring snow. "I think Supremacy's words are right too. One's disciple should be disciplined by one himself. I believe that Supremacy is a just man, right?"
He frowned and looked at him in confusion.
"Quite unfortunately, our sect had recently taken in a little animal… Oh, a mountain-protecting beast. And this mountain- protecting beast had lost a Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid that it had spent thousands of years caring for. It was mistakenly taken away by your precious disciple. Since the master is here, I'm sure you can answer for him. May you please return this item to us now." With that said, he stretched out his hand directly.
Wu Xiang's eyes suddenly widened, as he blurted out, "The Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid was yours?"
"So Supremacy has seen it!" Lonemoon smiled even deeper.
The man stiffened, and a flash of anger came across his face, but he bit his teeth, and said anyway, "A couple days ago, I suffered a small injury. My disciple had already used that Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid to treat my injuries.
"Oh…" Lonemoon's face was full of understanding, and he dragged the word ironically.
The man's face darkened even further. "I do not have this item on me right now. After I return to Divine Heaven Sect and retrieve a new one, I will return it to you!" He added, "I've always honored my words. I will definitely return it."
"Of course we believe the words of Supremacy." Lonemoon nodded. "This way, we will not ask further about this matter. Lets… ask about other matters first, shall we?"
"What… other matters do you have?" Wu Xiang looked like he would like to kill him, but due to him being in the wrong, he couldn't lose his temper.
"Though the Green Feathers Spiritual Orchid belonged to our mountain-protecting beast, he was a Demon Monarch before this. Due to the spiritual herb being stolen, he had attacked Green Robes Sect in his anger and killed off more than one hundred cultivators, with only around a dozen kids left. Does Supremacy think… that I should ask about this on behalf of this?"
"Demons are cruel by nature. What's that to do with me?" His face was full of anger.
Lonemoon continued, "The dozen children left just now was originally practicing well in Green Robes Sect, and probably hopeful to achieve great Dao. Yet just because of a spirit herb they suffered great tragedies, and this spirit herb just happens to be taken by you. To put it not so nicely, the lives of the whole Green Robes Sect paid for the life of Supremacy." With the whole Green Robes Sect disappearing just like this, saying that demons are cruel in nature would be far from enough.
His face whitened. "What do you want to do?"
"I'm not doing anything." Lonemoon spread his hands. "Just that these children are at Honesty Sect right now, and for them to practice and seek Dao in the future, they inevitably need some spirit stones, Dharma artifacts, etc."
Wu Xiang said, gnashing his teeth, "I will give!" With that said, he directly untied the storage bag around his waist, took out a bag of spirit stones and handed them over.
Lonemoon weighted the bag in his hand, "there are more than a dozen children!"
His mouth twitched and produced more than a dozen more bags.
"Hmm. We still lack some Dharma artifacts." "…" He continued digging.
"Some elixirs should also be prepared."
"…" He continued digging.
"They would also need some protective Dharma clothings.
Children grow fast, after all."
"…" He dug rapidly.
"Oh yeah, and arrays and talismans too!"
"There you go!" Wu Xiang directly handed over the whole storage bag. "This would be enough, yes?"
"Of course, of course." Lonemoon took it, smiling. "Hmph!" Only now did Wu Xiang turn to leave. Just as he reached the doorsteps, Lonemoon added,
"Oh yeah, if the children are in need of anything in the future, I will send the bill to Divine Heaven Sect!"
Wu Xiang's foot tilted, and he almost fell over. Immediately, he flew away on his sword in a flash.
Only now did Lonemoon look at the storage bag in his hand. Hmph, what was he doing trying to be proud in front of him? If he didn't make him suffer great losses, his surname was not Niu!
"Take it!" He handed the storage bag to Lou Hong casually. "Remember to send him a bill every month." With that said, he clapped his hands, turned and flew back to Invincible Peak.
Lou Hong, "…"
Everyone: "…" They all stood speechless
They didn't get a Soul Formation Supremacy, but a God of Wealth!
Chapter 318: Practicing in Sword Array
"Master, I want to learn sword techniques." Chef who just finished cooking suddenly started talking.
"Ah?" The chopsticks in Shen Ying's hands stopped. How did Chef suddenly have such a dangerous thought.
"Lou Tao and others are also at Qi Refinement, but they have all started learning sword techniques." His little face was stiff and serious.
Who is Lou Tao?
"I'm the disciple of Master. I don't want to lose to them.
Master, can you teach me sword techniques?"
Shen Ying thought for a moment. The disciple is hardworking and it's a good thing, she should encourage it. So she nodded, "Okay." Isn't it just sword dharma, she had experience with that. Chef's eyes brightened, as he jumped down from the chair immediately.
"As the saying goes, all martial arts in the world…"
"Shut up!" Before she finished, Lonemoon beside her suddenly stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth. "You don't know it, don't teach it any way you like!"
"In the past I…" Shen Ying opened her mouth to explain.
"The past is past!" Lonemoon stared at her. Chef lacked wisdom, not cultivation. With her talks of epiphany, wouldn't she be a negative influence? Each of them made life harder for him.
He rubbed the center of his brows, and turned to look at Yi Qing, who wasn't much taller than the chair, and felt a bit awkward for a moment. Chef's sword dharma was self-invented, and it complemented his sword dharma. Not only could Shen Ying not teach him, he himself could not. If they taught him regardless, it might be counterproductive. "Che- Yi Qing, the Sword Dao depends on one's own understanding, sword techniques… would have to be figured out by yourself. We can't really teach you."
His small brows wrinkled. Being a child after all, he made no effort to hide the disappointment in his eyes, and only after a long while did he look up and say, "Then what do I have to do to understand it?"
"Through battle, of course…" He stopped short, as if he had suddenly thought of something. "How yeah, maybe I will set several sword arrays. If you can break out of them, you might be able to gain some understanding."
"Okay," Yi Qing nodded hard. Excitement shone in his eyes.
"I will set an easy one first and increase the difficulty level gradually after you have succeeded." He took out a spirit sword, handed it over to him and explained, "However, you do not have any foundation in sword techniques, and your cultivation is only Qi Refinement. It is rather dangerous for you to enter the sword array rashly, and there may even be the danger of suffering serious injuries. Are you sure?" Yi Qing turned to look at Shen Ying, and his eyes were full of determination, "Yes! I'm not afraid."
"Then from tomorrow onwards, you will go to the practice field at the main peak. I will set up a sword array there. You enter the array at six in the morning, and the array will only be pacified at 9pm."
"Okay." He nodded. After a while he thought of something, and asked with some anxiety, "Then can I come out for a while at noon?"
"For what?" Lonemoon glanced at him. Giving up so easily?
This is not like Chef.
"Noon is the time that Master has lunch, I…"
"I get it!" Lonemoon's mouth twitched. Even with his memories gone, he had not forgotten about his job. "I will fetch you out of the array at that time." He felt relieved, cupped his fists and said respectfully, "Thank you, Supremacy."
Lonemoon stiffened. A hint of awkwardness went across his face. Having gotten used to Chef's looks of contempt or disregard and discrimination, he felt rather strange being thanked so seriously.
"Master, master!" Yi Qing turned his head, and looked straight towards Shen Ying with a star-like brightness in his eyes. He said excitedly, "I will work hard to understand sword techniques and become better than anyone. I'll also be able to protect Master in the future."
Shen Ying paused.
A while later…
"I know."
————— Lonemoon seemed to have indeed started devil training with Chef. Every day, before the sun was up, Chef disappeared, leaving behind only a table full of dishes. At noon and in the evening he would return, before disappearing again. His small body which previously only had SpiritQi started to show some Sword Qi as well. It seemed that Lonemoon's method worked indeed.
The figure which used to follow her around every day calling "Master" suddenly disappeared, and Shen Ying was actually a bit unused to it.
This continued for a couple months. Chef traveled between the practice field and the kitchen every day. The Sword Qi on his body thickened, and even his character matured. He became ever more like the Chef in the past.
Until one day, he said, "Master, I broke out of the sword array today." His little body had grown taller. He gave Shen Ying a big smile.
She was stunned for a moment, looked him up up and down, before nodding, "Hmm." "Master, I suddenly understood three sword techniques."
"Hmm."
"Master, I realized that sword array was really hard to break out indeed."
"Hmm."
"Master, I will understand more in the future."
"Hmm."
"Master, I've returned late today, are you hungry?"
"… No."
"That's… that's… good!" With that said, he seemed finally unable to bear it, swayed a few times, and fell straight down.
Seeing that he was dropping to the ground, Shen Ying grabbed him and held him up in her arms directly. Perhaps because of the sword in his hand, he was much heavier than usual.
Shen Ying sighed, turned into the house and put him on the bed. Within an instant, the bed sheet turned red. Blood stains were all over Yi Qing. His Dharma clothing was torn in many places, and lots of sword marks could be vaguely seen.
She subconsciously turned to look at the person who followed behind.
"Why are you looking at me? I didn't hurt him!" Lonemoon stared at her, "And he didn't let me treat him before coming back. I was still wondering why was he learning in such a haste that he broke out of my array within less than eight months. It was as if he couldn't wait to improve himself. I don't know what he's trying so hard for?" Apparently even if he didn't learn anything, once the time comes and his memory is restored, his cultivation would all come back. Shen Ying frowned and looked at the bloody little person on the bed. Her directly pointed a finger in the air, and a light screen appeared on top of Chef. Her fingertips pointed and adjusted the data on there. Instantly, the injuries on Chef all disappeared. Not only the blood stains were gone, even the tears on the Dharma clothing returned to its original state, as if it had never been torn.
The pathetic child on the bed from a moment ago turned back to the clean, jade-like child.
"Holy shit! You used the manager authority to directly adjust his data." Lonemoon's eyes opened wide. "Your treatment is a bit too high level, eh?"
Shen Ying turned and looked at him. "Can't I use it?"
Lonemoon's mouth twitched. "You can, of course you can. Besides, he's your man. How's that my business!" Hmph! He had actually chased after him back all the way, worrying. Lonemoon put back the treatment elixirs in his hand and turned to leave. "I'm returning now. You keep an eye on him and let him rest a bit longer today. He'll be entering a new array tomorrow." Shit! He still had to return to make an array in the night. He didn't know what he owed to this pair of master and disciple.
"Oh." Shen Ying nodded. Suddenly she seemed to have remembered something. "Father Niu."
"What?"
"I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten dinner yet. Do you have food?"
"Go away!" Lonemoon stared at her. "There's limited feed today!"
With that said, he waved and left a few plates of pastries on the table, before turning out of the house.
"…"
Sigh, Father Niu just had to be tsundere all the time.
Chapter 319: Gossips in the Sect
Lonemoon set up ten arrays at the practice field at once. They were of different difficulty levels, from easy to hard, including all levels from Qi Refinement to Nascent Soul. It could be said that it was the best place for practicing sword techniques and understanding sword intent.
At first he only set it up for Chef. His sword dharma was self- invented, and he had told Lonemoon before that his sword dharma was figured out gradually through many fights. Chef could remember neither his past nor his sword dharma, but the instinct in his body was still there. Thus, making him remember his sword dharma by fighting inside sword arrays was effective.
And it was proved in practice. After spending more than half a year to break out of the first array, it was as if a switch for sword dharma was switched on, he started to figure out many sword techniques. Seeing that they were exactly the same as the ones he used before, Lonemoon was relieved.
But Lou Tao approached him, and asked if other disciples could be allowed to practice inside, too. Most of Honesty Sect practiced sword cultivation, and to figure out a sword array would be very beneficial to their cultivation indeed. Lonemoon naturally wouldn't refuse, and disciples flocked over.
For a while, the sword arrays at the practice field became a compulsory part of cultivation in the sect. Chef, unlike others, was born with an Innate Sword Embodiment, so he had to raise the prerequisite for entering the first array to the seventh level of Qi Refinement.
Five years later…
Unknowingly, the little boy had started growing very fast. Although he he still had the youthful look, he had reached the same height of Lonemoon. While he had not yet remembered his past, he was becoming ever more like the quiet, serious personality that he once was.
Only Shen Ying felt that he seemed to go a little awry, especially the talkativeness as a child which had not lessened at all.
"Master, there will be snow today. You'll need to wear more even with the protection of Dharma clothings." "Master, don't sleep on the table. I've made a lounge chair. If you really don't want to go back inside, go and sit there."
"Master, it's better if you don't drink tea at night, it's not good for the sleep. What about some Fengyu juice?"
"Master, it is already so late, you can leave the pastry for tomorrow morning. Otherwise you won't be able to sleep again."
"Master, you've eaten this kind of meat for three days in a row. Isn't it better to change it?"
He mentioned all matters big and small, that Shen Ying felt like she had a Mother Niu now. But after he kept talking… she got used to it!
╮(╯▽╰)╭
Yet somehow his cultivation didn't increase significantly in the recent years. He had only perfected Foundation Establishment. It was totally not on the same level as his extremely rapid improvement in the past.
"He probably suppressed his own cultivation, that's why he never formed a core this whole time." Lonemoon explained casually. "But this is just as well. Everything before Core Formation was the foundation. It would be better if he proceeds to Core Formation after he's understood sword intent.
"Oh." She didn't understand it.
"Let's go, the sect master seemed to have looked for us." Lonemoon pointed at the main peak.
"Ah?" Shen Ying was stunned. "Me?"
"Yes! You've stayed here for years, it's time for you to go out for a walk." Lonemoon couldn't stand her idleness and directly dragged her to her feet. "Not only you, Chef too. Since we are going to the main peak, let's go down to the practice field to look for Chef." "That's so troublesome…"
"What troublesome! Let's go!" Lonemoon dragged her past the transportation array and they arrived at the practice field.
From far away, they noticed many disciples coming out of the arrays, with excitement, disappointment or doubt on their faces. Some also gathered discussing something.
Lonemoon didn't pay it much attention at first. In any case, this had become the most frequented place among disciples since the sword arrays were opened. He purposefully restrained his aura to allow them to discuss with peace of mind and got a wave of silent praise for it.
"These sword arrays set up by Supremacy are too powerful. I have been trying for a month but couldn't enter even the first array."
"Exactly! They are arrays built by a Soul Formation Supremacy indeed. I heard that even Senior Brother Lou Tao could only reach the fifth one." "Wow, Senior Brother Lou Tao is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he can only reach the fifth level. I don't know when would anyone be able to break through all ten."
"That's needless to ask, of course it would be young Uncle- Master Yi Qing. He's already reached the eighth level."
"What? My god, isn't that the level where only Golden Core masters can enter?"
"What's this to him? I heard that when he was at Qi Refinement, he had already broken through the first level. He was only ten then!"
"Young Uncle-Master is so good, he's worthy of being Supremacy Lonemoon's disciple indeed."
"Young Uncle-Master is not the disciple of Supremacy Lonemoon! He's the disciple of the other Soul Formation Supremacy in the sect." "Eh? There's a second Soul Formation Supremacy in the sect." The disciple was shocked.
"Of course. I heard that she joined the sect together with Supremacy Lonemoon. I think the surname is Shen…" The disciple suddenly remembered something. He lowered his voice and said, "But she never goes out of Invincible Peak. I have joined the sect for so many years but have never seen her."
Lonemoon gave a disdainful look to the person eating fruit beside him. Not only did she not have a sense of existence, she was also lazy!
"Young Uncle-Master is so powerful, isn't his master more powerful then?"
Hmm, with this Lonemoon would have to agree. He didn't intend to continue listening and was about to walk past them.
"You don't know that." The disciple suddenly shook his head, and said, in a gossipy way, "Even the sect master had never seen her fight, and nobody knew what her cultivation was like. But young uncle-master had been around her since young. He didn't start practicing until he was ten. The relation of the two was extremely close, and only two of them lived in the small building on Invincible Peak."
"Oh!" Something came to the other disciples' mind, and their faces were filled with surprise, "You mean young uncle-master is actually a… human cauldron?"
Shen Ying, "…"
Pui…
Lonemoon's expression twisted. He set up an isolating array instantly and burst into laughter, pressing his stomach. "Hahahaha… You can continue to live in isolation! In gossips you are almost becoming a pervert who keeps a boy human cauldron! Hahahaha… This is too funny for me."
"If that's so, young uncle-master is too pitiful." The disciple was indignant. "That Supremacy Shen has gone too far." "But who can resist Soul Formation Supremacies? Young uncle-master is practicing so hard, it might be due to his grievances too."
""That's not what I heard." A disciple suddenly argued, and everyone looked towards him. "Nobody has seen that Supremacy Shen, who knows what's her true level? But the ability of Supremacy Lonemoon was seen by everyone. I heard that these ten sword arrays were made by him for young uncle- master too. Who can surpass Supremacy Lonemoon in being nice to him?"
"So in my opinion… That Supremacy Shen was just an excuse. The person who is truly interested in young uncle-master should be Supremacy Lonemoon!"
"Oh…" Everyone looked enlightened.
Stiffened Lonemoon, "…"
Shen Ying, "…" After a while, she silently turned towards the person beside her, "Oh~~~~~" So you are as such, Father Niu!
"What 'oh'!"
"I didn't say anything!"
"Take back that look!" He said word by word. "I am straight."
"Er…"
"If not to take care of you two troublesome things, I would have gotten a girlfriend long ago!"
"Oh~~"
"Shut up!" "…"
Chapter 320: Hong Yu Mystic Realm
Lonemoon didn't expect to be attacked in a random gossip that he listened to. For a moment, a cold aura came out all over his body, which went directly towards that group of disciples.
The disciples were shocked, seeing the two who came over, they all started shivering severely, and their expression was completely nervous. They managed a salute, "Greetings, Supremacy."
"Since you have time to talk nonsense here, you must be very confident in breaking the arrays!"
Everyone: "…"
Lonemoon waved a hand, and a wind spell blew the disciples back into the arrays. The second one besides.
For a moment, the array was filled with cries of pain. Until they had reached the audience hall, Lonemoon's expression remained intense, as he had an urge to increase the difficulty of all the sect's arrays. And he would see if they would still have time for making up nonsense then.
"Supremacy… Lonemoon?" Lou Hong was all confused by Lonemoon's stare. He thought about the matters in the sect. They had not suffered any financial losses? Income from spirit herbs and Dharma artifacts etc. had doubled, and there were no new disciples to increase the burden. Why is the expression of Supremacy so horrible?
"Why did you call us here?" Lonemoon sat upon a chair directly, and his icy glance fell on Lou Hong.
Lou Hong subconsciously shivered once. So… so horrible! He couldn't help but looked towards Shen Ying to seek help. Unfortunately, she was focusing on eating fruits, and didn't receive his signal at all. He couldn't help but sent a voice transmission, "Supremacy… Shen. What's the matter with Supremacy Lonemoon?"
Shen Ying spread her hands and looked uncaring. "Men, there are always a few uncomfortable days each month!" Lou Hong, "…" Doesn't this sound a bit wrong?
Yi Qing, "…" Master's words are so deep, I can't understand them at all.
Lonemoon, "…" Hey, I can hear you!
"Hurry up and tell us, what is the matter?" Lonemoon's mouth twitched and he asked again.
Lou Hong coughed, gave Yi Qing behind Shen Ying a brief look, before starting, "It's like this, it's almost time for Hong Yu Mystic Realm to be opened, and I would like to use this opportunity to send disciples of the sect to go and gain some experience. They might be able to get a chance of ascension."
"Hong Yu Mystic Realm?" Lonemoon was stunned. How has he never heard of this mystic realm?
"Hong Yu Mystic Realm is a small mystic realm opened up by a cultivator thousands of years ago before he went for Heavenly Ascension. It is only opened once every hundred years." Lou Hong explained. "It's open for two months each time. Though there aren't anything great inside, there are many demon beasts. It is most suitable for the cultivation of cultivators below the level Golden Core.
"So you want to let Foundation Establishment disciples participate?" Lonemoon asked.
"Yes." He nodded. "Though the disciples often practice in the sword arrays, opportunities to fight with demon beasts are rare. Besides, most of them had never left Honesty Sect. It would be good to take this opportunity to let them go out to gain experience."
"Hmm." Lonemoon nodded. It's good to let them get some practice together too.
"Among disciples of Foundation Establishment level, Junior Brother Yi Qing's cultivation is the highest. And with his steady personality, the disciples look up to him too." Lou Hong looked at Yi Qing and said. Achieving complete Foundation Establishment within five years, that makes him a first in the whole Azure World. "Therefore, I was hoping he would bring the disciples into the mystic realm himself. In any case, he was taken care of and trained by Supremacy Lonemoon yourself, and he'd be much better than those bald little boys at least."
Lonemoon's face darkened. "Take out that 'taken care of' part!" I can beat you, you know?
Lou Hong, "…" Eh? Did he say anything wrong?
"I've told you, for the matters of the sect, you can make the decisions yourself. "Lonemoon gave him a stare. "Besides, he's not my disciple, why are you asking me? Just ask her!" With that said, he pointed to the person beside him.
Only then did Lou Hong look towards Shen Ying. "Then what does Supremacy… Shen think?"
Shen Ying stopped short. She turned to look at Chef behind her. "Wanna go?"
The cold expression of Yi Qing warmed, and the look he gave her focused. "If it is indeed helpful to practicing, I would like to try."
"Oh, go then."
"Yes, Master."
"Prepare the meals before you go."
A hint of a smile showed in Yi Qing's eyes. "Yes, Master. No problem!"
Lou Hong, "…" Why did he find the way they teach disciples a bit weird?
"That's settled then." A glimmer of joy appeared in Lou Hong's eyes. With Yi Qing there, there would be extra protection for the disciples. "Then they will leave three days later, after I've gathered the disciples." With that said, he thought of something, took out a storage bag and handed it over to Yi Qing. "I've prepared the spirit stones, too." "Spirit stones?" Lonemoon suddenly started paying attention. "What spirit stones?"
"The spirit stones for entering the mystic realm." Lou Hong explained, a natural look on his face. "This mystic realm is near Divine Heavens Sect, and it has always been managed by them. For disciples of other sects to enter, they would have to pay with some spirit stones."
"How many is that?"
"Ten top-tier spirit stones, or 300 mid-tier ones per person."
"So expensive!" Lonemoon was shocked.
"And fortunately Supremacy is here. Otherwise, in the past, our sect is really unable to provide this number of spirit stones."
Lonemoon frowned. So mystic realms can actually bring so much money? "Lou Hong, are you close with the sect master of Divine Heavens Sect?"
"Ah?" Lou Hong was stunned, unsure why he was suddenly asking about this. "We do have some interactions in recent years." Mainly because the sect had become richer.
"That's good then!" Lonemoon stood up, and a confident and proud light shone in his eyes. "Come, come, let me discuss something with you…"
Shen Ying, "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
They suddenly had a presentiment that they would be having night snacks in the future.
———————— Nobody knew what Lonemoon and Lou Hong discussed on that day, but the former disappeared on the same day. Three days later, coming with the group leaving for Divine Heavens Sect, was not only Lonemoon but also Shen Ying, whom he forcefully dragged along.
It took everyone two days flying on Dharma artifacts to arrive at this top-tier sect: Divine Heavens Sect. As compared to Honesty Sect, which was a mid-tier sect, Divine Heavens Sect which was called "the first sect" was much larger. However, their Spirit Qi was not so thick as Honesty Sect with its half of the immortal vein.
Therefore, as compared to other sects which came and looked around in surprise and admiration, their calm disciples looked outstanding. Such thin Spirit Qi was not even as good as the Qi from the kitchen of their own sect. A sense of pride unrelated to money sprung from the disciples' heart.
When they reached the square in front of the mystic realm's entrance, it was already filled with disciples from many sects. Before the guest-receiving disciple made an announcement of their arrival, a Soul Formation cultivator flew over towards them. "Is this Fellow Daoist Lonemoon from Honesty Sect?"
"Sect master Dong!" Lonemoon smiled and made a salute to the person coming. He was indeed the sect master of Divine Heavens Sect, Dong Wu.