Chapter 522 - 45: All Sides
"Damn that Yu Changge! The moment I make a breakthrough in my Cultivation, I swear I’ll make him pay!"
"That’s right! If we don’t settle this score, I’m not fit to be called a man!"
In the Yuqing Immortal Sect.
On a certain Floating Island.
Inside a great hall.
A group of people was gathered.
The auras of the men in the lead were weak and chaotic, and the faint smell of blood lingered on them.
They were the followers of the Daoist who had recently challenged Yu Changge, only to return in utter defeat.
"So, should we report this to the Daoist?"
After venting their frustrations for a moment, the group returned to the matter at hand.
Though they wouldn’t admit defeat out loud,
They all knew in their hearts that the gap between them and him was as wide as a chasm.
Without some great, fortunate encounter,
They feared they would never be able to catch up to that Saint Son candidate, Yu Changge, in this lifetime.
"The last time we reported to the Daoist, he warned us not to disturb him."
"We don’t know how the Daoist’s cultivation is progressing. If we interrupt him at a critical moment, I fear..."
"Are we just going to let that Yu Changge swagger around out there, showing off his might?"
"If that happens, what will become of the Yuqing Immortal Sect’s reputation!"
After a round of debate,
The great hall fell silent once more.
"If all else fails, we could ask those two to make a move. Though they’ve lost to the Daoist before, their strength is still far beyond ours. Perhaps they could hold their own against Yu Changge."
Finally,
The pale-faced figure on the head seat broke the silence, making a suggestion.
"Those two? But Yu Changge specifically challenged the Daoist by name. Would they really intervene?"
Someone asked with hesitation.
"That’s right. They were once the Daoist’s rivals. They’d probably love to see the Daoist be humiliated..."
Everyone present knew exactly who "those two" were.
Just as Yu Changge was a Saint Son candidate,
The Yuqing Immortal Sect had also once had Daoist Disciple Candidates.
And those two,
were the ones who had competed against the current Daoist for his title.
Although their talent wasn’t as dazzling as the Daoist’s and they were ultimately defeated in the competition,
They were still considered the top figures of the Yuqing Immortal Sect’s new generation, second only to the Daoist himself. They were beings whom many disciples could only hope to admire from afar.
If they made a move, they might truly be able to withstand Yu Changge’s spearhead.
"Regardless, this matter concerns the Immortal Sect’s reputation. Those two shouldn’t just stand by and watch... It can’t hurt to go and sound them out."
The figure on the head seat mulled it over for a moment before making a decision.
"If they’re unwilling to make a move, it won’t be too late to inform the Daoist."
"For now, that’s settled."
"Oh, right. Didn’t you say that outsider kid who injured Lu Haoxuan came to the Immortal Sect? That we were going to send someone to teach him a lesson? How is that progressing?"
At these words,
Everyone’s gaze turned toward a young man to the side.
"Cen Essencetong, didn’t you volunteer to handle this? What’s the situation?"
"Senior Brother."
Cen Essencetong rose and bowed to the figure on the head seat, clasping his hands.
"I was planning to go settle the score with that kid, but then Yu Changge’s challenge came up unexpectedly. I had to go with everyone else to watch the fight, so I haven’t had a chance to deal with him yet."
"But rest assured, Senior Brother. I’ll head out immediately and make sure that kid gets what’s coming to him!"
"Do it quickly! Give that little punk a harsh lesson! Otherwise, every stray cat and dog will think they can walk all over us!"
"He dared to disrespect the Daoist! This is our failure!"
"Since when does some stinking outsider get to injure one of our own?"
"And that thing the Daoist specifically requested—take it back, too!"
A ferocious look appeared in the eyes of the pale-faced figure on the head seat.
’We can’t deal with Yu Changge,’
’but we can’t deal with *you*?’
’A country bumpkin from the sticks,’
’latches onto someone powerful and suddenly thinks he’s a big shot?!’
’If we don’t teach him a harsh lesson,’
’people will think the followers of the Daoist are just a bunch of sick kittens!’
The others around him,
all understood instantly,
nodding in agreement.
’This is how it should be!’
’It would be a good way to boost morale, too.’
’As for that Shen Changchuan,’
’he can only blame his own bad luck!’
Cen Essencetong said nothing,
but a cold light glinted in his eyes.
...
「Meanwhile」
In a dark and Nameless Valley,
corpses were strewn across the ground,
and rivers of fresh blood flowed.
The air was thick with the stench of blood.
Upon closer inspection,
one would discover
that the clothes of the corpses, their faces frozen in terror and shock, were faintly embroidered with the character "Zhou."
At this moment,
In the midst of the corpses, a young woman in a long black dress stood quietly under the snow-white moonlight. The tranquil darkness of the night cloaked her in an aura of mystery.
"Saintess, there’s urgent news!"
Just then,
an old crone, also dressed in black, suddenly appeared behind the young woman in a WHOOSH. Her hoarse voice sounded from behind.
"We have news. A month ago, Yu Changge, a Saint Son candidate from the Dongji Sacred Land, entered the Southern Great Domain and issued a challenge by name to the Daoist of the Yuqing Immortal Sect."
"However, according to the reports from our people, although this Yu Changge said he would challenge the Daoist of the Yuqing Immortal Sect, he has only dealt with the Daoist’s followers who came looking for him. He hasn’t actually gone to the Yuqing Immortal Sect Mountain Gate, but has instead been traveling around the Southern Great Domain."
"Saintess, should we continue to monitor this matter?"
"’Yu Changge? That sanctimonious phony is here too?’"
The young woman in the black dress narrowed her eyes.
For some reason,
a faint sense of foreboding rose in her heart.
The feeling came from nowhere,
but the young woman had always trusted her intuition.
"Send me that man’s travel itinerary."
"And we need to speed things up. We can’t drag this out any longer!"
After a moment of thought,
the young woman in black spoke.
"Are you saying you suspect Yu Changge is after the same thing?"
The old crone was taken aback.
"It’s highly likely!"
"The Yuqing Immortal Sect’s grand tournament is still seven or eight years away. The Southern Great Domain and the Donghuang Domain are incredibly far apart. If Yu Changge truly only wanted to challenge the Daoist of the Yuqing Immortal Sect, he could simply wait. They would naturally meet at the tournament. Why the rush now?"
"The Southern Great Domain’s Thirty-Six Small Domains may be vast, but the only thing here worth his making the journey for is this very opportunity!"
The young woman in black said with conviction.
Combined with her intuition, she was practically certain of it!
"If Yu Changge’s target is also this place, then the Daoist of the Yuqing Immortal Sect..."
The old crone’s expression shifted as she considered an even more troublesome possibility.
"That’s why we have to act quickly! We can’t delay any longer!"
"I understand!"
"But to speed things up, we’ll have to deal with those people from the Central Zhou Family. Saintess, what approach should we take with them?"
"If they don’t comply, kill them."
"The mountains are high, and the emperor is far away. This isn’t the Central State, and no one will know it was us."
"Doesn’t the matriarch of the Shen Family have a grudge against two of the family’s disciples? When the time comes, we’ll just fake the scene and point all the evidence toward those two brats."
The young woman in black said coolly.
Hearing this, the old crone behind her nodded, bowed, and retreated.