Why can’t he finish his sentence? What’s wrong with him?!

Hengtian Sect's leader closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then extended his hand and pointed in the direction of Master Lin Jie, saying, "Hongxian, you take some people to look around the Peach Blossom Garden area. If you find someone suitable, bring them back, and be discreet about it." He paused for a moment before adding, "Choose some clever disciples; don’t let it be like last time."

Elder Hongxian showed a hint of embarrassment and nodded, saying, "Of course."

The plump elder next to him asked Hongxian, "By the way, have you found those two disciples of yours yet?"

Hongxian frowned. "Hmm— the spirit beasts we sent out haven’t found any trace of those two yet. One of them has been wandering around the southwestern part of the city; I suspect..."

As soon as the leader heard this, he opened his eyes: "Is there any residual trace of a battle in that area?"

"The problem is, there isn't." Hongxian looked troubled. "I sent my spiritual awareness to probe twice, but I didn't detect any signs of a battle."

The leader contemplated for a while: "Then it's troublesome."

"Yeah!" The plump elder said, "I’ve seen your two disciples; they’re not the kind to go out and fool around for days without returning or leaving any news. Moreover, if even the soul-searching beasts can’t find them, it either means they went to a place with high-level restrictions, or... the situation is critical. If they were taken or killed, they wouldn't just be slaughtered without putting up a fight; they should leave some traces of a struggle. But now, not a trace can be found, which means there’s only one possibility: the opponent is too powerful, and they had no ability to resist at all, not even enough time to fight back."

Hongxian also thought of this issue, but hearing it pointed out so directly, his face turned pale: "No ability to resist... what level must that be? Although my two disciples aren't particularly strong compared to the leader’s direct disciples, among their peers in the sect, they are still quite competent. When compared to disciples from other sects, they rank among the better ones. Not to mention, even if I personally engaged, they would be able to resist for a while... To say they had no ability to fight back at all, that means the opponent's cultivation level is likely not much lower than yours, leader."

The leader’s expression was not very pleasant.

The faces of the surrounding elders were even more revealing, as they all lowered their heads and ceased to speak.

"Not much lower than the leader?" Bai Ke, standing by the ink wash pond, muttered to himself, silently turning his face away, thinking: Truly confident.

Lin Jie looked up at the sky. Once upon a time, in his eyes, the leader was nearly at the pinnacle of cultivation, an insurmountable peak. But now, after encountering Junxiao and Yu Xian, he realized that there were always people stronger, and there were greater heights beyond his reach. Powerful beings could actually gather in groups.

Bai Ke and Lin Jie continued to stare at the ink wash pond. After a moment of silence, the leader continued from where Hongxian left off: "They might not be lower than me; they could even be above me."

"Above you?" An elder with a long beard down to his abdomen said: "Leader, that joke can't be taken lightly!"

"Yes, yes! It cannot be taken lightly!" The plump elder waved his hand. "It’s not that we’re exaggerating; nowadays, most sects have their leaders as the highest cultivation level. Except for the fragmented group of Changling. Bu Yuancheng of Qingyun Sect is a step lower than you, leader, and has yet to emerge from his closed-door retreat, so it seems he hasn’t made any breakthroughs. As for other sects, there’s nothing more to say; if we must discuss, only Xie Jian of the Shaoyang Sect can barely compare with you, leader. Excluding these two, there's not a third one to be found in the Dao."

"Then tell me, which of the two is likely to be the one who acted?" The sect leader shot him a glance.

"This..."

The plump elder struggled to come up with a response.

"Both could be possible, yet neither is likely," Hongxian interjected. "Although the matter of refining the Seven Star Pills is highly confidential, we’ve gathered many rare materials over the past century, so it’s not surprising if they’ve heard some rumors. It’s well-known that our Hengtian Sect excels in pill refining. Bu Yuancheng is currently in closed-door retreat, and if he doesn’t break through soon, even though Qingyun Sect has an acting leader, it’s not a good situation to be without a proper head. It’s possible they want to rely on our sect’s pills. As for Shaoyang Sect, while the leader Xie Jian is considered the second strongest in the world, even overshadowing Bu Yuancheng, the entire Shaoyang Sect still falls short compared to us and Qingyun Sect. Perhaps they also want to explore the formulas for pills to enhance their sect’s overall strength. Given this, it’s plausible they might have some intentions. But -"

However, before Hongxian could finish, the plump elder waved his hand and said, "But that’s too obvious. With a bit of analysis, it leads right to them. This kind of blatant behavior isn’t their style."

"The strongest in the world..." The sect leader murmured a few words, then turned with his hands behind his back, raising his gaze to the statue draped in a hood that concealed its features. "You’ve been at ease for too long, to become this arrogant?"

"What do you mean?" The elders were all taken aback.

"Have you forgotten, besides the Three Sects and Six Factions… there are also the twelve secret realms?" the leader said softly.

"Twelve secret realms?" Hongxian blinked and said, "Forgive my ignorance... how many of those secret realms still have masters now?"

"Considering what happened back then... many of the powerful beings in those twelve secret realms must have perished," the plump elder counted on his fingers. "I may not have experienced it firsthand, but I've heard plenty about it; they either died or were injured. Are there any left? It’s been nearly four thousand years with no activity."

"But what if—" The leader’s voice grew even softer, to the point that the elders felt a chill run down their spines. "What if one of them emerges again?"

The elders simultaneously inhaled sharply: "Then, that would—" After stammering for a long time, they couldn't finish their thought.

The leader seemed to find their reaction amusing, chuckling lightly, then turned back: "But I actually think that possibility is too small."

The elders : "..."

Bai Ke twitched his lips: "Is the leader playing with the elders like this?"

Lin Jie forced a smile: "I just saw my master’s hands shaking. But they are indeed overthinking; those who remain in the twelve secret realms are nearly immortal beings, regarded as gods by us. Even if they were injured and went into closed-door cultivation for a thousand years without coming out, they would still be gods! If they were to emerge..."

Bai Ke turned to him and saw him looking dreamily: "I wonder if I could get an autograph."

Bai Ke: "......" *What a crazy fan!

Looking back inside the Hengtian Hall, the sect leader seemed to have frightened the elders enough and shifted the topic back to the main issue: "Enough about that. Even if those great beings were to emerge, we are not without means to resist. We must first handle the immediate matters. Hongxian, you go right away. As for Hong Jun and Hong Tai..."

The sect leader looked at the plump elder and the elder with the long beard: "You two go into the valley tonight and set up another restriction; we cannot afford any mishaps at this critical juncture."

"Hong De," the sect leader continued, turning to the last elder, "you go and seal off the road to the back mountain to prevent any undisciplined disciples from wandering in."

The four elders nodded in acknowledgment, then simultaneously raised their heads to look at the sect leader: "Sect leader, are you really going to...?"

Before they could finish, the sect leader nodded: "Mm."

Bai Ke and Lin Jie nearly choked in surprise: Why can’t he finish his sentence? What’s wrong with him?!

Moments later, the sect leader gently continued, completing his earlier statement: "I’ll go to Wangtian cliff again."

After saying that, he waved his hand to dismiss the elders.

Upon hearing the leader’s words, Lin Jie frowned: "Wangtian cliff ?"

Bai Ke asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Isn’t Wangtian cliff already gone?" Lin Jie said, looking puzzled. "When I was copying books, I read in the records that it was originally our sect's highest peak, and even those with slightly lesser cultivation couldn't easily reach the summit. At the top of that cliff, there was a powerful demon of the era, and after the demon was killed, Wangtian cliff was also destroyed. So, the current Hengtian Sect doesn’t have Wangtian cliff at all!"

"Are you sure?" Bai Ke listened to him and felt the situation was becoming increasingly complicated.

"I was sure at first," Lin Jie said. "Because I once asked my master, and he told me the same thing. Other senior brothers in the sect also thought so. But now... it seems that’s not the case."

"Then the top of that cliff imprisoned a demon?" Bai Ke frowned. "If Wangtian cliff hasn’t been destroyed as mentioned in the records, could the demon still be..."

"Surely not?!" Lin Jie found that possibility a bit frightening. Even though he didn’t know who that demon was, he could imagine it wouldn’t be easy to deal with.

"Then why would the sect leader go to Wangtian cliff?"

"..." Lin Jie frowned for a long time but couldn’t figure it out.

Just then, they saw the sect leader summon someone else into the ink-washing pool.

The newcomer had a fair complexion and a tall, slender build, possessing a decent appearance. However, his expression always radiated a sense of arrogance that was quite annoying.

The person was none other than Qin He, the sect leader’s direct disciple, whom Bai Ke and Lin Jie regarded as quite lacking in intelligence.

Qin He entered the hall but restrained his pride and respectfully bowed to the sect leader: "Master!"

"Mm." The sect leader nodded. "I called you here for no other reason than to tell you to notify the new disciple in the West Garden that from tonight, he no longer needs to go to the Sanqing Pool."

"Oh?" Qin He seemed a bit confused. "Why suddenly...?"

"Don’t ask so many questions," the sect leader waved his hand. "And you, inform a few senior brothers not to go to the back mountain in the near future. The spiritual energy in the Sanqing Pool has been unstable lately. If something changes, it’s not something you can handle, and carelessness might even cost you your life."

"This disciple understands, Master." Qin He bowed again and then spoke a few words to the sect leader before exiting.

Bai Ke’s mind started to race: "It seems what they mentioned before... could very well be that ice soul in the Sanqing Pool?"

"Very likely," a voice suddenly interjected, startling Bai Ke and the others.

They turned around to see Huo Junxiao and Yu Xian approaching, apparently not having missed the commotion in the ink-washing pool while they were sparring.

 

Translator : DarNan