Chapter 113 - Sorting the Seeds
It was Su Ming, his mortal enemy. Driven by a mixture of shock and hatred, he had decided to follow him, using a recently discovered secret technique that completely hid his presence, along with anyone he was physically touching. He had not expected the others to ambush Su Ming first.
Looking at the disguised Su Ming, the Princess whispered, "Is that the evil, lecherous fraud who framed you?"
"Yes," Lin Fan agreed, his voice cold.
The Princess gritted her teeth in disgust. "To think he uses innocent girls like that. How can the righteous Heavenly Cloud Sect allow such a degenerate to remain as an elder?"
"Sect politics are corrupt," Lin Fan replied. "He has status, so his actions are protected."
In the alley, one of the Golden Core elders grew impatient. "Courting death!" he roared, charging forward with his Qi surging.
Su Ming did not draw a weapon. He did not even raise his hands. He simply released his Void Dragon Will.
An invisible, draconic pressure descended, and the four Golden Core elders froze mid-step. The immense burst of draconic aura instantly disrupted their Qi pathways, causing them to collapse and foam at the mouth.
Situ Lang gasped as the sudden realization hit him like a truck; his knees gave up. He recognised this unassuming cultivator in front of him.
His mind flashed back to the peerless elder of the White Lotus Sect who had descended like an immortal, helped capturing the Demon King, with absolute majesty. In the Frost Blade Sect, that elder had become a hero. All the female disciples had formed a fan club, whispering of his deeds with red cheeks, while the male disciples idolized him, desperately wishing to master his strength. Situ Lang himself was a devoted follower, dreaming of matching that legendary sword technique.
Now he realized that the buyer of Room Nine, whom they had dismissed as a foolish Golden Core fraud, was, in fact, the Nascent Soul hero.
’It is... it is him!’ Situ Lang realized in absolute shock, his eyes wide. He wanted to clear all the misunderstandings, opening his mouth to call out. "Elder—"
Before the word could leave his throat, Su Ming used his Sovereign Will. A second wave of invisible force slammed down, cutting his voice off instantly. The heavy pressure drove Situ Lang and Shen Tianyu face-first into the dirt, knocking them both unconscious.
Su Ming walked past their fallen bodies, his expression peaceful as he exited the alley. Once he was clear of the busy streets, he summoned his flying sword and took to the sky, flying back toward the Heavenly Cloud Sect. By the time he reached the familiar peaks of the sect, the sun had begun to dip below the horizon.
Under the concealment barrier, Lin Fan trembled, his face pale. Although Su Ming’s external aura appeared to be only at the early Golden Core stage, Lin Fan was absolutely certain it was a disguise. Defeating four Golden Core elders with such ease would be impossible otherwise. He felt the terrifying Nascent Soul aura beneath the mask, and a faint resonance with his own Death Dragon Physique.
’Nascent Soul...’ Lin Fan thought, his fists clenching. ’He is hiding his true cultivation. He is far stronger than he looks. I cannot confront him yet. I must find the Imperial Inheritance first.’
***
In his private study, Su Ming sat at the wooden desk as he waved his hand to close the door. He took out the Kongtan Bamboo Slip from his spatial ring. The yellowed wood was bound by thin silver threads, with a complex restriction array sealing the contents.
Su Ming did not rush. He closed his eyes and activated his Essence Sight. The restriction array on the bamboo slip was intricate, but it could not hide its structure from him. He then called upon the Halo of Insight from the Twilight Nether Lantern.
An ancient energy filled his mind. The complex nodes of the array began to unravel. Within a few moments, the silver threads clicked and loosened. The restriction faded away.
Su Ming unrolled the bamboo slip. He looked at the characters, but his brow soon furrowed. The text was written in an obsolete script, and many of the characters were heavily worn out. It took him a long time to translate even a single line.
After hours of careful study, he managed to decipher the first section. It was the daily diary of an outer disciple of the Green Lotus Valley. The disciple wrote of weeding the herb gardens, the small tasks assigned by the elders, and his complaints about his daily chores. There was no secret alchemical formula. There was no legendary technique.
Su Ming sighed, leaning back in his chair. A wave of disappointment washed over him. He had paid one hundred thousand spirit stones for a diary of daily chores.
’A hundred thousand stones for this,’ he thought, rubbing his temples. ’I guess even ancient sects had lazy outer disciples.’
However, he did not put the slip away yet. He continued to scan the worn characters near the end. One brief entry caught his attention. Unlike the rest of the mundane notes, this one was written in a hurried, trembling hand.
"Today was the inauguration of the stone statue dedicated to the founder’s teacher. Rumor has it he met her once during her travels, and she taught him alchemy, though he was never taken in as a formal student. The Sect Master himself once told us that his teacher did not use fire or a cauldron, yet the pills she made were better than anything he could refine. He then bowed and called her teacher, but she only laughed and said she was just a passing shadow. I wonder if she was indeed an Immortal Rank alchemist."
Su Ming stared at the words, feeling a cold sweat break out on his forehead.
’An Immortal Rank alchemist...’ he thought, his heart pounding. ’And the Sect Master... the founder of Green Lotus Valley was known in the historical records as an Alchemy King.’
The realization hit him like a physical blow. If an Alchemy King had bowed and called her teacher, she had to be at least an Alchemy Emperor, or perhaps even an Alchemy Immortal.
These were ranks he had only seen in ancient legends.