Chapter 148 - 146: Ming Sect
Chen Yuan stared at the Shennong Cauldron without blinking, memorizing the positions where the array had flashed. He was slightly astonished. ’This person’s methods are truly impressive.’
It wasn’t hard to incapacitate the four alchemists at the same time. The difficult part was doing so without them ever realizing it.
In the original story, the culprit tampered with the array, causing the Shennon Cauldron to explode.
Chen Yuan had subconsciously assumed they had simply destroyed a part of the array.
But now, it seemed he had been too quick to assume. They hadn’t destroyed part of the array; they had *modified* it!
No matter how lax and negligent the people of Medicine King Valley were, they wouldn’t fail to notice if the array had been damaged.
Especially since Zong Siyuan himself would be personally conducting the alchemy in the final moments. It was inconceivable that even he wouldn’t notice a damaged array.
The two flashes from the array just now didn’t look like damage; they looked like a slight alteration to the array’s flow.
Although Chen Yuan was no expert in arrays, he at least knew some of the basics.
To modify an array so smoothly, one would either have to be an Array Dao Grandmaster with earth-shattering Array Dao Cultivation...
...or someone who understood Medicine King Valley’s array extremely well, perhaps even having obtained its Array Map.
A quarter of an hour passed, but Chen Yuan remained motionless.
He was hiding here, a full thousand zhang away from the Shennong Cauldron. He had suppressed his aura to the absolute limit and was relying solely on his keen eyesight for observation.
Chen Yuan wasn’t worried about his aura giving him away, but if the culprit hadn’t gone far, moving from his spot would risk exposure.
After half an hour, Chen Yuan was finally ready to leave. But just then, he noticed that the four alchemists, who had been chatting idly moments before, had all frozen in place, as if time itself had momentarily stopped.
Just then, a figure in black appeared and brazenly strode up to the Shennong Cauldron, placing something inside.
After the figure vanished, the four alchemists resumed their previous conversation, completely oblivious that anything was wrong.
Chen Yuan’s pupils contracted sharply.
’Two different groups tampering with the Shennong Cauldron? This deviates from the original story.’
’This Medicine King Valley is as leaky as a sieve; anyone can just come and meddle.’
’And those four alchemists guarding the Shennong Cauldron are like sleeping husbands, completely oblivious to the chaos erupting right outside.’
’The problem now is that in the original story, the Shennong Cauldron was supposed to produce both a Strongest Divine Pill and a world-shattering Poison Pill. With someone adding more ingredients, can the Divine Pill still be successfully created?’
Chen Yuan wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t intervene. He could only take things one step at a time and, for now, stick to the plan from the original story.
After waiting another half an hour and seeing nothing else unusual, Chen Yuan began to move with extreme caution, making his way down from the cliff.
But just then, a mocking voice suddenly spoke from behind him.
"Young Friend, you certainly are patient. I had a sudden feeling that someone was watching me, and it seems my intuition wasn’t wrong. I waited half an hour, and now I’ve finally caught you."
A chill shot through Chen Yuan’s heart. He whipped around to find a person completely shrouded in a black robe standing behind him, who had appeared there at some unknown time.
"Be more careful in your next life. Since you waited for half an hour, you should have kept waiting. If you had waited another half an hour, I might have left."
The black-robed person stretched out a hand, and an eerie, emerald-green light coalesced in their palm.
Chen Yuan’s Qi Blood surged as he prepared to activate the Corpse Tower Forest’s Divine Artifact Incarnation.
’This person’s strength is unfathomable, definitely an existence above the Primordial Pill Realm!’
At this moment, only by using the Corpse Tower Forest could he be confident in blocking a single strike.
As long as he could withstand one blow, the resulting commotion would alert the people in Medicine King Valley, giving him a chance to escape.
But just then, seeing the power in the black-robed person’s hand, Chen Yuan suddenly remembered something and said in a low voice, "Heaven and Earth inverted, our Sect brings a new sky! The people’s tribulations end, the sun and moon will rise!"
As he spoke these words, the Corpse Tower Forest in his arm was already on the verge of activating.
Hearing this, however, the black-robed person abruptly suppressed the power in their hand. The suppression was so hasty that it caused a backlash through their meridians, forcing out a muffled grunt.
"You recognize the Cyan Heaven Dragon Transformation Technique? Are you a disciple of our Ming Sect?"
The black-robed person’s voice trembled with surprise and excitement, but they still kept it low.
Chen Yuan instantly sighed in relief and suppressed the Corpse Tower Forest’s Divine Artifact Incarnation, which had been ready to activate.
"A disciple of the Celestial Fire Hall greets this senior."
The black-robed person pulled Chen Yuan close and whispered, "This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go to my room."
Seeing their attitude, Chen Yuan finally felt truly at ease.
When the person had used that power just now, Chen Yuan had found it somewhat familiar.
Thinking back carefully, he realized it was the power of the Cyan Heaven Dragon Transformation Technique, the legacy Cultivation Technique of the Cyan Wood Hall, one of the Five Elements Hall under the Great Brightness Sect.
The reason Chen Yuan recognized this power was because the Spiritual Jade left by Pang Xizhen contained not only the Cultivation Technique but also some arrangements for the Celestial Fire Hall.
Among these arrangements was a method to identify other Ming Sect disciples by the power of their techniques. It specifically mentioned that the Cyan Wood Hall’s Hall Master, ’Cyan Emperor’ Si Hao, was Pang Xizhen’s sworn brother, and that the Celestial Fire Hall could seek help from the Cyan Wood Hall if they were in trouble.
Chen Yuan was led to the person’s room. The black-robed figure pulled back their hood, revealing the lean, gaunt face of a middle-aged man with a goatee.
During the day, Chen Yuan had already memorized some of the people who had come to observe the ceremony from the viewing stands.
Upon seeing the man’s face, Chen Yuan recognized him immediately. This was Bei Tianya, the Pavilion Master of Heaven’s Edge Sea Pavilion, which had trade relations with Medicine King Valley. He was known to outsiders as Mr. Bei.
Chen Yuan also removed his mask. Seeing Chen Yuan’s face, realization dawned on Bei Tianya. "It really is you! When you expelled the Poison Technique from Lu Chuanshan during the day, I felt that the aura you revealed was very familiar, yet there was also a hint of strangeness to it. I never imagined you were one of our Ming Sect, Young Friend."
"Disciples of the Celestial Fire Hall haven’t appeared in the Jianghu for several hundred years. I thought the lineage had been completely broken, but to think there’s still a successor like you."
Bei Tianya was slightly emotional.
He was familiar with the auras of the Great Brightness Sect’s techniques. The reason he found Chen Yuan’s aura familiar during the day was because the Celestial Fire Secret Manual was a Great Brightness Sect technique. The unfamiliarity, however, stemmed from the fact that he hadn’t seen a disciple of the Celestial Fire Hall—or felt the aura of the Celestial Fire Secret Manual—in several hundred years.
But now that he knew Chen Yuan carried the lineage of the Celestial Fire Hall, he could immediately match it to the descriptions in the records. This was, without a doubt, the aura of the Celestial Fire Secret Manual!
The Great Brightness Sect’s legacy was scattered across the Jianghu, fragmented and incomplete. It was already a rare fortune to encounter a single fellow member.
What was even more precious was that this person was from the Celestial Fire Hall.
Five hundred years ago, within the Great Brightness Sect’s Five Elements Hall, Pang Xizhen and Cyan Wood Hall’s Hall Master Si Hao had been the closest of friends. As a result, the disciples of their two halls were as close as family, like brothers.
At this moment, Bei Tianya looked at Chen Yuan as if he were his own nephew, his eyes filled with pleasant surprise and admiration.
"Excellent, excellent. To think that not only has the Celestial Fire Hall’s lineage survived, but it has also produced an outstanding young talent like you."
"Thirtieth on the Hidden Dragon Rankings is enough to rival the talented disciples from the top Sects and Families."
"And joining the Zhenwu Hall was indeed a good idea."
"The Zhenwu Hall rose to prominence too recently and lacks a deep foundation. It’s a chaotic mix of all sorts of people, making it much safer for you to hide there than in any other Sect."
Chen Yuan: "..."
The truth was that he had joined the Zhenwu Hall first and only obtained the Celestial Fire Hall’s legacy later, but there was clearly no need to explain this. Bei Tianya’s assumptions worked out just fine.
"By the way, Young Friend Chen, why has your branch of the Celestial Fire Hall not appeared for several hundred years? Even if you were hiding, you did an exceptionally good job of it. Besides you, are there any other brothers from our sect in the Celestial Fire Hall?"
Chen Yuan shook his head. "To be honest, after Hall Master Pang Xizhen fell, the Celestial Fire Hall disintegrated. It should have been completely wiped out. We weren’t hiding; there was simply no one left."
"I found the ruins left behind by Hall Master Pang Xizhen and inherited the legacy of the Celestial Fire Hall directly from him."
"So that’s how it was."
The light in Bei Tianya’s eyes as he looked at Chen Yuan grew even brighter.
If Chen Yuan had inherited a branch lineage established by one of the Celestial Fire Hall’s disciples, he would just be an ordinary Ming Sect member.
But he had inherited Pang Xizhen’s Cultivation Technique directly. Strictly speaking, he could be considered Pang Xizhen’s Direct Disciple, possessing an absolutely pure and orthodox lineage. In terms of inheritance, one could even say his standing was higher than Bei Tianya’s.
"By the way, Senior Bei, what is the current situation of our Ming Sect? How many disciples are left?"
In the original story, the Great Brightness Sect rarely made an appearance. Even when they did, only a few scattered successors and hall branches would show up.
Therefore, Chen Yuan also wanted to know the current strength of the Great Brightness Sect. This would help him decide what kind of stance he should take toward them.
"We are all fellow members of the same sect; calling me ’Senior’ is too formal. For years, I have moved about as the Pavilion Master of Heaven’s Edge Sea Pavilion, and outsiders call me Mr. Bei. You may call me that as well."
Bei Tianya corrected Chen Yuan before continuing, "Our Ming Sect was crushed by the Court and suppressed by the major powers. Our strength and influence are incomparable to what they were at our peak."
"However, as the saying goes, a centipede dies but never falls. In recent years, the Great Xia Court has grown corrupt and decadent, which has lessened their persecution of our Ming Sect. We’ve managed to catch our breath these past few decades."
"At our peak, our Ming Sect had the Five Elements, Seven Stars, Ten Great Battle Halls, and Six Major Auxiliary Halls."
"But today, the Five Elements Hall only consists of my Cyan Wood Hall, the Houtu Hall, and the Profound Gold Hall. Oh, and now your Celestial Fire Hall. The lineage of the Cold Water Hall has been completely severed."
"Within the Seven Stars Hall, only the Dubhe, Merak, Kaiyang, and Yao Guang Halls remain. Of the Ten Great Battle Halls, four are left. And of the Six Major Auxiliary Halls, the Pharmacist Hall, the Thousand Mechanisms Hall, and the Celestial Soldier Hall survive."
"It might seem like more than half of our overall structure remains, but the number of people in each hall is small."
Bei Tianya sighed. "Our Ming Sect’s identity is a sensitive one, which makes recruiting new disciples even more so. We must be certain of a candidate’s reliability and loyalty before we dare to officially accept them. Because of this, we can’t recruit on a large scale."
"Furthermore, our Ming Sect techniques have an extremely high ceiling. Even if an ordinary person is loyal enough, they might not be able to cultivate our techniques, and can only become outer disciples."
"I am the current Hall Master of the Cyan Wood Hall, but we have fewer than twenty Core Disciples. We also have about a hundred loyal outer disciples with more mediocre aptitudes."
"And that’s only because I run the Heaven’s Edge Sea Pavilion as a front, giving me the opportunity to come into contact with many talented Jianghu People. Some halls have been reduced to a single line of succession, where a Hall Master has only a single disciple. Situations like that are common."