To a Sect, was losing a Nascent Soul Daoist Master really not impactful at all?
Only thinking it slightly was enough to know that this wasn’t possible. Even if Chu Lian often traveled outside all year round, even if he never got involved with any of the Water Cloud Sect’s internal affairs, the worth of a Nascent Soul Daoist Master didn’t exist in these aspects. Instead, it depended on his existence.
Many people in the Water Cloud Sect weren’t actually aware of this fact. Perhaps it’s because they were lucky.
But there’s always people who were aware of this. For example, certain disciples who were currently worrying over this; for example, certain Elders who were currently searching for an escape route for themselves; for example, Jian Yi who was currently cultivating as if his life depended on it.
He was only a step away from his goal, but this step wasn’t easy at all.
Every breakthrough level up was a difficult threshold to pass, requiring the right time, place, and circumstances; not a single factor was dispensable. Back then when Jian Yi advanced from qi refining into foundation building, it was because of the pressure from the urgent situation present at that time. However, now that he was trying to advance from foundation building into yuan gathering, he wasn’t in the right condition to find that kind of pressure.
The only choice Jian Yi had in the end was… binge.
He obtained many spiritual stones and put them inside his abode, absorbing energy from them nonstop. Even if his meridian had long since stuffed full, even if his ability to tolerate spiritual energy had reached its limit. All the way until if he didn’t reach yuan gathering soon, he’d explode from all of this spiritual energy he gathered.
In a blink of an eye, many days passed again. The season was already midsummer. The weather gradually grew worse.
No one was aware when dark clouds started to envelop the skies over the Water Cloud Sect. Torrential rain poured down, stopped, then continued to pour. The moonlight has not shown in the night sky over the Water Cloud Sect for many years.
On a certain moonless night, a black shadow quietly approached the Water Cloud Sect.
Ever since the demon returned to the world, no cultivators dared to remain by themselves. Solidary cultivators looked for support from small Sects. Small Sects merged with large sects. Outside of the seven large sects, it was very hard for the demon to find prey.
Therefore, sooner or later, it was going to come and bump against these large sects head to head. Right now the Water Cloud Sect was a very wonderful target.
So it approached slowly, stopping at the bottom of the mountain. It looked at the big intimidating protection array for a second. The protection array was like a round dome enveloping the entire Water Cloud Sect inside. Everyone inside the array believed that this was an absolutely reliable safeguard. However, in reality, this magic array only made the demon feel intimidated. It couldn’t actually completely obstruct its path.
It wandered around the edges slowly, looking for an area of weakness.
In order for a huge protection array to ward off a demon of this ranking, it needed an extremely vast energy source to maintain it. Although the Water Cloud Sect was large and numerous, the cultivators’ strength was not enough. Therefore, the huge protection array before him couldn’t possibly cover every square and inch. There must be an area of weakness.
It very quickly made a discovery. Stopping before a verdant mountain peak, it felt the flow of the spiritual energy in the surroundings, mouth splitting open into a faint smile.
Just as it started to march forth a step, suddenly it stopped again. There was a gap in the Water Cloud Sect’s big protection array right before its eyes, no doubt. However, inside this hole, someone actually deployed another magic array.
The aura of this magic array was concealed by the huge protection array, dispersed in the air faintly. But if it got closer, it’d discover.
This was a dragon trapping array. A small and delicate but extremely refined and complex magic array. In order to set up this kind of array, the technical and deployment skill must be extremely high. However, it didn’t require a very high cultivation level. With a close examination, the demon easily determined that the person who set up this array should be only a yuan gathering cultivator.
Nevertheless, it was unwilling to step in rashly. This dragon trapping array was interwoven with the huge protection array. Even if it can only trap the demon for a short moment, it’d bring plenty of end results that the demon didn’t want to see.
“Not very high in cultivation, yet quite the nerve to play this trick before me.” It chuckled in amusement: “That’s fine by itself, yet you even dare to remain here!”
Just after saying this, a black energy flew out of the demon’s sleeve and attacked a corner in the forest of trees.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The leaves in that corner swayed as a figure fell out of the tree. They very quickly retreated backwards. With a flash of the accessories on their waist, they instantly drew back into the big protection array. The black energy instantly stopped its pursuit. Through the protection array, this person and the demon examined each other.
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Then it casted its gaze towards the person that set up the array. Looking for a moment, it narrowed its eyes in rumination: “Spiritual energy leaking everywhere…… kid, you’re not only bold, but got quite the appetite too. Aren’t you afraid you’ll burst?”
Hearing these words, the person inside the array couldn’t refrain from laughing bitterly.
This person naturally was Jian Yi.
In order to advance into yuan gathering before, he poured who knows how much spiritual energy into his body. So much that even now, it still leaked out uncontrollably. However, in the end, he finally reached yuan gathering. As for this outpouring state, it was only troublesome for a few days, but wouldn’t be an issue in the future.
“Worthy of Lao Zu, your insight is sharp as expected.” Jian Yi took the chance to give it some flattery.
When the demon across him heard these words, its gaze instantly congealed: “Don’t call me that so casually. Unless you know who I am?”
“If I didn’t know who Lao Zu is, why would I risk this danger?” Jian Yi said with a smile: “I desperately achieved yuan gathering just to set up this array to hinder your path here.”
The demon huffed coldly: “This little trick, did you think it’d really stop me?”
“Of course not, of course not.” Jian Yi said hastily: “Only to halt you temporarily, to give you a chance to think highly of me.”
These were rather truthful words. The reason this demon was willing to stop here and speak nonsense with him, wasn’t because this little trick was anything impressive. Rather, it was more because it felt this little cultivator was somewhat interesting.
In any case, Jian Yi came alone. The difference in strength of the two sides was huge. The demon also wasn’t afraid he’d have some method to call for assistance.
“Lao Zu, you’re someone who loves people with talent.” Jian Yi smiled charmingly: “I know this.”
“Even if I can think highly of you, so what?” The demon asked him lazily: “Do you plan to abandon the way of Dao and join demon cultivation, under my sect?”
Truthfully, Jian Yi personally didn’t really reject the idea of joining demon cultivation. However, he knew that Wen Xuan definitely wouldn’t accept this thing. Therefore, he also definitely wouldn’t agree.
“I only wanted to find an opportunity to speak with Lao Zu, that’s all.” Jian Yi said: “Honestly speaking, I admire you very much. Recalling back then, when you and Immortal Master Tuo Yue……”
Before he completed these words, the aura surrounding the demon abruptly sank, pressing down so heavily that even behind the big protection array, Jian Yi found it hard to breathe.
“You actually know about Immortal Master Tuo Yue?” The demon asked slowly, pausing after every word, each word like the edge of a knife.
“Since I know you, Lao Zu. Naturally I would also know Immortal Master Tuo Yue.” Pressing a hand against his chest, Jian Yi answered with extreme difficulty under the weight of this mountain-like strength: “Recalling back then, what a good relationship you had with Immortal Master Tuo Yue. But Immortal Master Tuo Yue was a scum and actually conspired to harm you behind your back……”
Another unfinished sentence, the demon abruptly withdrew the heavy pressure that made Jian Yi have trouble breathing. Body suddenly released, Jian Yi couldn’t stop himself from staggering.
“Enough.” When the demon spoke again, his tone was clearly more downcast: “What happened back then isn’t something a youngest like you can evaluate and comment on.”
Jian Yi only laughed dryly.
However, the things that happened back then, really have passed far too long ago. Abruptly hearing Jian Yi bringing it up again, the demon couldn’t help but recall and reminisce about it.
“How did you learn these things?” The demon asked him.
“Because of my family inheritance, I learn many old things that people do not know about.”
“What else do you know?”
“What does Lao Zu want to hear me say?” Jian Yi’s eyes instantly lit up as he said hastily: “As long as you can agree to a request of mine, I can talk about them continuously to you for three days and three nights.”
The demon huffed coldly: “And here I thought you purely enjoyed looking for trouble. So you actually had a goal.”
“Just something trivial. A trivial matter, that’s all.” Jian Yi said: “I know what you’re here to do, Lao Zu. But this mountain has quite a number of people. To eat them all would definitely be too much, right? As long as you’re willing to let a few go, I’d be perfectly satisfied.”
The demon narrowed his eyes again, not agreeing but not disagreeing either.
Jian Yi already took down the dragon trapping array that he set up and retreated back a few steps, completely revealing the gap in the big protection array. He raised his hand and made a ‘welcome’ gesture.
“Beside the people you want to save, the others should also be your fellow sect members, right?” The demon looked at him with amusement: “Are you really willing to watch them die?”
“They were meant to die anyway.” Jian Yi said smiling: “For me to not kill them myself is treating them fairly enough.”
“You got good potential.” The demon said: “Demon cultivation has more prospects than immortal cultivating.”
Jian Yi only smiled. He didn’t reply.
The demon gave him another look and shook the black fog behind him. Carrying the black fog, he slowly walked through the gap.
As Jian Yi watched it pass in front of him, he remained smiling. However, there was still a huge stone pressing down on his heart.
Would he really believe the demon before him? No. He knew. Once this demon started going crazy, it wouldn’t even recognize its relatives. Not to mention, at this moment, the demon didn’t actually promise him anything.
Although Jian Yi didn’t really care about the other people’s lives in the Water Cloud Sect, he didn’t dare to bet on this chance.
“Oh right.” Just as the demon’s body was about to step into the mountain peak before his eyes, Jian Yi suddenly spoke again, pretending to ask naturally: “Lao Zu, are you aware of where the Immortal Master Tuo Yue’s magic gourd disappeared to nowadays?”
The demon’s footstep instantly halted, gaze shooting over like daggers.
“It’s in the hands of the Violet Feathers Sect.” Jian Yi turned a blind eye to that sharp look, and continued to say with a smile: “I also heard, in order to deal with you, they already moved this divine weapon into their establishment in North Ning, inside that Cerulean Feathers Sect right now.”
He just finished speaking when it felt like a hurricane blew past in front of him.
Jian Yi reflexively narrowed his eyes. When he opened them again, where could he find a hint of that demon’s figure again? Even the black energy was completely out of sight.
Jian Yi took a deep breath, then walked around inside the big protection array and finally confirmed that the demon really left.
In a flash, it felt like all of the energy was pulled from his body; he immediately fell exhausted to the floor.
When he reached out a hand and touched his back, it was full of cold sweats.
The original novel had described this demon. However, the content wasn’t very much. Regarding its specific character and temperament, Jian Yi can only carefully extrapolate from the fragments that appeared here and there in the novel. Because this, naturally, Jian Yi couldn’t reach a 100% definite conclusion. The specific plans still had to wait to be adjusted after seeing the demon face to face. Therefore, while Jian Yi looked rather casual and relaxed during the conversation they had, he was actually extremely cautious, as if walking on thin ice.
If he took the wrong step, don’t even mention he’d die immediately, he wouldn’t even be able to save Wen Xuan either.
Good thing, in the end, he was successful.
Carrying a smile on the corner of his mouth, Jian Yi looked towards the verdant mountain peak behind him. After looking for a moment, the smile on his face slowly drooped down as he started squeezing his fists tightly.
This mountain peak that was currently facing the biggest gap in the protection array was exactly where Wen Xuan lived, Daiyun Peak.
The reason why there’d be a gap here was because originally Chu Lian lived here. When Chu Lian was present, his strength completely filled the gap here. However, now that Chu Lian disappeared off to who knows where, it was impossible that no one realized how dangerous this place had become.
At this moment in time, Wen Xuan was currently cultivating in seclusion in this mountain peak. If that demon barged in, Wen Xuan would have been the first to bear the brunt of its force.
Jian Yi smashed his tightly clenched fists on the ground, then let out a cold laugh as he slowly got up.
He didn’t know how those people in the Water Cloud Sect planned to stop that demon from killing off everyone if Wen Xuan really was hurt by this demon here. Jian Yi can only do what he could to stop all of this from happening.
Jian Yi went back to the place where he confronted the demon again. In the forest and grass, he searched for a long time. Sure enough, he found a small mirror hidden in layers of tree leaves.
The water cloud sect had this kind of mirror everywhere. It’s for surveillance.
Jian Yi took down the mirror and threw it on the ground, stepping on it viciously a few times. He had instilled spiritual energy to the bottom of his foot, but it still took several tries before he managed to shatter the mirror into pieces.
After that, he wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead, relaxed completely and slowly walked towards his residence in the Alchemy school.
This matter looked like it finally came to an end. A disaster quietly averted by him just like this. No, it’s more accurate to say, it was diverted away by him.
Jian Yi laid exhausted in his bed, falling into a deep sleep not long after.
He thought he could rest for a good while. However, not even three days later, one morning, he didn’t even have time to open his eyes yet, he was dragged out of his bed and onto the floor.
In a daze and bewildered briefly, Jian Yi finally saw the uninvited guests clearly. It was subordinates of the Elder in charge of enforcing Sect regulations.
“Jian shidi,” Someone from the Enforcement school said to him: “Come take a walk with us.”
Jian Yi scoffed. For some unknown reason, he actually didn’t feel too surprised.
He was led by these people to the big hall that the Sect Leader presided over. As soon as he entered the hall, he saw Jizi Ang, who had pretty much recovered from his heavy injuries, sitting at the head seat. The two sides of the big hall were filled with people, densely seated together as if everyone in the Water Cloud Sect were present. Oh, other than Wen Xuan who was still in seclusion.
Meanwhile, below the head seat, several shattered mirror fragments were placed next to Jizi Ang’s foot. Currently, these fragments were pieced together, back to its original appearance.
Thank You for the chapter ♡ (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
Oh great
This useless sect leader only stirs up trouble
well that’s the only thing he’s good at
Can’t wait for all these extras to be eradicated.