Chapter 160: CH. 160 | Mythical Sect, Yuanmo
Cao Ying was a little surprised by Li Qingxue’s request. She glanced to the side, her gaze settling on Lin Tian.
She couldn’t decide whether Li Qingxue should be allowed to go or not. Only Lin Tian could make that decision, since this journey was part of his plan.
Lin Tian remained silent, his eyes locked with Qingxue’s. From the look in her eyes and the expression on her face, he could tell she wasn’t joking.
She was completely serious.
"The journey to the Saintess Spring Valley is dangerous. You don’t need to come with me, Li Qingxue," Lin Tian said.
"I’ve got enough strength to protect myself."
"Besides, I’ve obtained valuable information about the Saintess Spring Valley. I think it’ll help you once we get there," Li Qingxue added.
Valuable information? Could she know about the two palace ruins?
There was no reason for Li Qingxue to lie about something like this. Maybe she genuinely wanted to help.
"What information?"
Li Qingxue smiled faintly. Crossing her arms over her chest, she slowly walked toward Lin Tian.
"I’ll tell you once we’re both in the valley."
She’s probably telling the truth about that information.
There’s no downside to bringing her along. Besides, her cultivation and strength are more than enough to explore that place.
After a long silence, Lin Tian let out a sigh and gave a slight nod. Qi light appeared at his fingertips as he stored the wooden puppet containing the white restriction rune inside his bag of holding.
"Very well. You can come with me," Lin Tian said.
A bright smile spread across Li Qingxue’s face. Relief washed over her now that she’d been allowed to accompany him.
The reason she wanted to go with Lin Tian was because of the guilt weighing on her heart.
Lin Tian’s soul had been injured because he’d helped remove the restriction rune from her body.
Since the only way to restore his soul was by going to the Soul Spring in that valley, Li Qingxue felt it was her responsibility to escort him there.
"Grand Elder Han!" Li Qingxue called, her elegant voice echoing throughout the sect.
Grand Elder Han Xin, who was still inside the sect’s main hall, heard her call. In an instant, he appeared outside the guest house where Lin Tian had been cultivating.
"You called for me, Sect Master Li?"
"For the time being, I’m appointing you as the acting leader of the Yunlan Sect," Li Qingxue said, startling Han Xin.
"What? But why are you handing the sect over to me, Sect Master Li?"
Li Qingxue turned toward him. Han Xin was still standing there with his head lowered respectfully.
"Sect Master Yuntian’s restriction has been removed from my body. I finally have a chance to break through to the Soul Formation Realm," Li Qingxue replied, "I don’t want to waste this precious opportunity."
"I’m going with Lin Tian to the Saintess Spring Valley. I plan to seek heavenly enlightenment there with the Saintess’s blessing," she said firmly.
Grand Elder Han Xin’s eyes widened. Anxiety was written all over his face as memories of that place resurfaced.
"Please reconsider, Sect Master Li. The Qin Sect Alliance has declared that place a forbidden zone. No one’s allowed to go there," Han Xin explained.
Han Xin’s words immediately caught Lin Tian’s attention. He narrowed his eyes and stepped forward until he was standing beside Li Qingxue, staring directly at Han Xin.
"What made them forbid that place?"
Han Xin stood straight and looked at Lin Tian. He briefly glanced at Li Qingxue, who responded with a slight nod, giving him permission to tell Lin Tian everything.
"Seven months ago, a terrible tragedy occurred in the Saintess Spring Valley."
"More than a dozen famous Nascent Soul cultivators from the Alliance disappeared without leaving behind a single body. They all carried teleportation tokens, but for some mysterious reason, the tokens didn’t work."
"As a result, very few of them managed to escape."
"What caused it all?" Lin Tian asked.
"That..."
Han Xin looked toward Li Qingxue again. Li Qingxue let out a quiet sigh before turning toward Lin Tian.
Seeing her gesture, Lin Tian looked back at her.
Instead of Han Xin continuing the explanation, Li Qingxue spoke.
"This is secret information known only to the Alliance’s sect masters. Still, I don’t mind telling you first."
"The reason so many cultivators died was because soul demon runes had been planted throughout several areas of the valley," she revealed.
"The Alliance’s three major sects suspect... the Yuanmo Sect was responsible for the tragedy."
Lin Tian showed no reaction. Cao Ying, however, stared in shock.
"The Yuanmo Sect? Weren’t they just a mythical sect from the Empire’s Golden Age?"
Li Qingxue nodded, "Not anymore. Several sects and clans have discovered traces of them. It seems they’re secretly gathering strength by using a life essence draining aura."
Lin Tian narrowed his eyes when he heard the words life essence draining aura.
That was clearly a demonic technique used to steal the life essence of mortals and cultivators.
Yet it felt strangely familiar.
Life essence draining aura... could it be...
"That’s dangerous. According to the legends, they inherited a heaven-defying demonic legacy. They were the empire’s eternal enemy during that era," Cao Ying said.
"Now, no sect or clan possesses power comparable to that great empire," she added, still visibly shaken.
"That’s why the Alliance is extremely sensitive toward demonic sects," Li Qingxue said.
In the middle of their conversation, Lin Tian interrupted with the question that had been bothering him.
"Do you know what that life essence draining aura looks like?"
Li Qingxue turned toward him, "It’s pitch-black, overwhelmingly oppressive, and anyone affected by it develops a black skull mark on their forehead."
There’s no mistake... That’s the same black skull aura I encountered in Xu City.
I thought it was the Moiyi Sect’s doing.
Turns out it’s something far worse.
"I’ve seen it before," Lin Tian said, shocking the other three.
"You have? Where?" Li Qingxue asked.
"On the way to Xu City. It had infected the mortals there."
"Cases like that have been happening frequently. The Yuanmo Sect is probably extracting their life essence to increase their strength or refine pills," Li Qingxue said.
"Even so, there aren’t many techniques capable of extracting that black aura. Every extraction attempt has failed and ended with the victim’s death."
Lin Tian fell silent for a moment.
Xu Mei of the Xu Clan had told him the same thing. She’d even said that his extraction technique was valuable enough to exchange for one of the Xu Clan’s signature techniques.
"We can only hope the Alliance finds a way to..."
Li Qingxue stopped speaking as Lin Tian suddenly produced two blank tokens in front of her.
She stared at him in confusion, while Cao Ying and Han Xin also turned to look.
Lin Tian formed a series of hand seals, directing streams of spiritual qi into both tokens.
The tokens released a small burst of qi before glowing blue.
"What are those, Lin Tian?" Cao Ying asked.
"I extracted that black aura back in Xu City. The mortal survived."
"This contains the Foreign Aura Extraction Art. Learn it so you can deal with this problem whenever I’m not around," Lin Tian replied.
He handed one token to Cao Ying for use in the Lingxian Sect. The other was given to Han Xin for the Yunlan Sect.
"Does it really work?" Li Qingxue asked curiously.
"You can test it on any mortal infected by that aura. Every time I’ve used it, the extraction succeeded and the victims survived."
Han Xin accepted the token and examined it with his spiritual qi. His eyes lit up with excitement. He couldn’t wait to test it on infected mortals.
"If this technique really works, then the Yuanmo Sect’s threat can finally be dealt with."
"I doubt it’ll solve the root of the problem," Lin Tian replied.
He turned toward the mountain sky above the guest house, "I’ve got a feeling... they’ve been hiding inside the Saintess Spring Valley all this time."
"That’s why they’ve been able to move freely through the valley and slaughter so many cultivators."
Cao Ying was startled, "If that’s really true... then..."
Lin Tian nodded, "That’s right."
He turned back to face the three of them, "This journey will be a life-or-death fight."