Chapter 1292 - 1226: Discovered!
The palace was very large inside, but there wasn’t a single table or chair, no decorations either, only one wide seat placed in the very center, making the place seem incomparably empty.
The seat was pitch-black throughout, forged from some kind of jade.
On the backrest coiled a black divine dragon, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, vivid as life.
And on both armrests, a pair of dragon heads were inlaid.
At this moment.
A middle‑aged man sat upright on the seat.
His black hair hung over his shoulders, and he wore a black robe that wrapped his entire body. A silver‑white mask covered half his face.
Though one couldn’t see his features, couldn’t see his expression, his gaze was extremely cold, extremely vicious, clearly not a good sort.
"Lord Valley Master, I’ve brought them back."
"One Alchemist with Ninth Level spiritual power, and seven martial prodigies."
The Crane Immortal walked into the great hall and stopped a dozen meters from the Valley Master, bowing.
The Valley Master looked toward Wang Lin and the others.
That indifferent gaze was like a blade, pressing down so hard the eight of them could hardly breathe.
A moment later.
The Valley Master withdrew his gaze and looked at the Crane Immortal, saying, "Ninth Level spiritual power is indeed rare, but her future achievements on the path of Alchemy won’t be too high. There’s no need to waste resources."
The Crane Immortal asked, "My lord, you mean?"
A trace of killing intent flashed through the old man’s eyes.
The Valley Master shook his head and said, "Since she has Ninth Level spiritual power, her cultivation talent is certainly not bad either. Killing her would be a pity. Let her, like the others, focus solely on studying martial arts."
"Understood."
The Crane Immortal nodded.
"Even Ninth Level spiritual power doesn’t catch his eye. That’s way too arrogant!"
The White-Eyed Wolf muttered, a cold light flashing in his fierce eyes.
At the same time.
The Valley Master swept his big hand, and a terrifying might surged toward Wang Lin and the others.
Pain instantly flooded the small faces of the eight children.
"No matter how much it hurts, you must endure it. Don’t cry out."
The Crane Immortal said.
The eight gritted their teeth, faces ashen.
"What is he going to do?"
The Wolf King asked in shock and doubt.
"I don’t know."
Qin Feiyang shook his head, took out an Image Crystal Stone, and recorded this scene.
He didn’t know, but that didn’t mean others didn’t.
Like Luk Zheng.
Born into an ancient clan, he definitely knew more than they did.
"Ah..."
One of the boys couldn’t help but scream miserably.
At the same time.
A drop of blood floated out from each of the eight children’s bodies.
Seeing those eight drops of blood, the Valley Master’s gaze sharpened. He placed his hands before his chest and formed a seal.
The next instant!
The eight drops of blood actually turned into eight blood‑red imprints, then transformed into streaks of flowing light that merged into the Valley Master’s top of the head.
"Hoo!"
The Valley Master let out a long breath. With a sweep of his big hand, the might shrouding Wang Lin and the others vanished without a trace.
The eight of them immediately collapsed to the ground, their little faces deathly pale.
"Take them away. Within two years, if they can’t break through to War King, handle them the same as before: get rid of them directly."
The Valley Master said indifferently.
"Get rid of them!"
Qin Feiyang’s heart trembled.
Get rid of them was the same as executing them!
Such a cruel sentence, yet he could say it so casually. This was far too heartless.
He treated human lives like weeds.
Was he not human himself?
"Yes!"
The Crane Immortal, however, was already used to it. He turned, wrapped Wang Lin and the others up, and flew out of the palace, continuing deeper into the mountain range.
"What do we do?"
The White-Eyed Wolf transmitted his voice.
Qin Feiyang gave the Valley Master a long, deep look, put away the Image Crystal Stone, and thought, "Follow them first and see where the Crane Immortal takes them."
With that, he turned and darted out of the palace. The palace doors slowly closed.
A short while later!
Following behind the Crane Immortal, Qin Feiyang arrived above a stretch of forest. The forest was over ten li in diameter, and it was crawling with vicious beasts.
But the beasts here weren’t strong.
Most were Martial Artist, martial master, and Martial Ancestor‑level beasts.
Whoosh!
The Crane Immortal landed in the center of the forest with Wang Lin and the others.
"Immortal Grandpa, where is this place?"
The group of children scanned their surroundings, faces full of panic.
"Now that you’ve entered the Celestial Sect, naturally you must begin cultivating."
"And this forest is the first stop on your cultivation path."
"Within two months, you must walk out of this forest."
"During that time, no matter what beasts you encounter, no matter what danger you run into, I will not save you."
"Simply put, from this moment on, you will go through slaughter, despair, and pain you’ve never experienced before."
"If you want to live, you must strive."
After speaking, the Crane Immortal took out several hundred pills from his Qiankun Bag and tossed them on the ground in front of the eight, saying, "These are for you. They’re called Qi Gathering Pills. They can help you gather qi and step onto the path of cultivation."
With that said.
The Crane Immortal turned around and left without looking back, leaving Wang Lin and the others standing there in a daze.
They were completely dumbfounded.
Vicious beasts...
Cultivation...
Slaughter...
They had never experienced any of this before, didn’t have the slightest bit of experience. Now that all of it had suddenly appeared, they had no way to adapt, no way to understand.
Wasn’t this the Celestial Sect?
Wasn’t a Celestial Sect supposed to be peaceful and serene?
So why slaughter?
Because they were still young, still just innocent, carefree children, and knew nothing about the path of cultivation, they couldn’t understand.
Watching all this, the Wolf King clenched his paws tightly and said in a low voice, "They’re letting them live or die on their own!"
"In their hearts, the Celestial Sect was carefree and desireless, but now, confronted with this cruel reality, who knows how helpless they feel inside."
Qin Feiyang sighed.
"Let’s help them!"
"With their current mental fortitude and combat experience, their hope of walking out alive is far too slim."
The Wolf King said.
You have to know.
The diameter of this jungle is more than a dozen li, which means its radius is seven or eight li!
Such a long distance, even hurrying on the road with no burden, would take a long time, not to mention that the jungle is crawling with ferocious beasts.
For these children, this place is a grave of death.
Qin Feiyang nodded. With a thought, he appeared in front of the group of children.
"Huh?"
"Brother Jian Fei!"
"Why are you here too?"
"Brother Jian Fei, can you help us?"
"This place is so strange. They said it was a Celestial Sect, but it’s totally different from what we imagined a Celestial Sect to be."
"We want to go home, Brother Jian Fei, can you take us home?"
The children were helpless, so when they saw Qin Feiyang appear, they immediately grabbed onto him like a life-saving straw, crowding around him and chattering nonstop.
"Alright, big brother will take you home."
Qin Feiyang squatted down, rubbed their little heads, and nodded with a smile.
"Thank you, Brother Jian Fei."
Everyone instantly beamed with joy.
Qin Feiyang sighed inwardly. If he hadn’t come along this time, who knows what these children would have gone through?
"Big brother still has something to do right now. I’ll send you to a place first. Remember, don’t make trouble there."
Qin Feiyang said with a smile.
"Don’t worry, big brother, we’ll definitely behave."
A young boy grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, looking innocent and lively.
Qin Feiyang rubbed the boy’s head, then scratched his own and looked at the Wolf King, saying, "I might have to fight them in a bit. For your safety, you’d better go to the castle too."
"Aren’t you just嫌弃 that I’m a burden now?"
The Wolf King snorted coldly.
Qin Feiyang smiled helplessly and waved his hand, sending the Wolf King and the eight children to the castle.
"Hm?"
Just as Qin Feiyang sent Wang Lin and the others to the castle, in a palace hundreds of li away, the Valley Master was resting with his eyes closed, but suddenly, he snapped his eyes open, filled with shock and doubt.
Immediately after.
He abruptly got up, opened a teleportation gate, and stepped in.
The next moment!
He appeared above that jungle, looked down, and immediately spotted Qin Feiyang!
"Who are you?"
The Valley Master roared, the pressure of a Nine-Star War Emperor surging toward Qin Feiyang.
"How did I get discovered?"
Qin Feiyang was shocked and puzzled. He didn’t dare hesitate in the slightest and dove headfirst into a patch of tall grass without looking back.
The grass was taller than a person, enough to cover his tracks.
"Still want to run?"
The Valley Master was furious and shot down like lightning in pursuit.
But when he landed above that patch of grass, Qin Feiyang’s figure had already vanished.
"Bastard!"
The Valley Master was seething with rage.
With a wave of his hand, terrifying Battle Intent swept out in all directions, blotting out the sky.
All the flowers, plants, trees, vicious beasts, and savage birds in the jungle were reduced to ashes in an instant, leaving only a barren stretch of land.
But looking around, he still couldn’t find a trace of Qin Feiyang.
Swoosh!
At this moment.
The Crane Immortal rushed over after hearing the commotion. Seeing the scene below, his old face was full of confusion. Then he landed behind the Valley Master and asked, "My lord, what happened?"
"That’s a question I should be asking you!"
The Valley Master turned and stared at the Crane Immortal, cold light surging in his eyes.
"Asking me?"
The Crane Immortal looked utterly baffled.
The Valley Master said, "Just now, those few youngsters suddenly disappeared."
"Impossible!"
"They’re just mortals. How could they suddenly disappear?"
The Crane Immortal shook his head.
"Would I lie to you?"
"When I rushed over, I saw a man standing right here."
"Tell me, why would someone have infiltrated this place?"
The Valley Master said in a deep voice.
"A man?"
The Crane Immortal was startled and asked, "What did he look like?"
The Valley Master said, "He had his head lowered and his back to me at the time, so I didn’t see his face. But his back looked very unfamiliar. I’ve never seen him before."
"This..."
The Crane Immortal was stunned. Someone actually slipped in?
"You had just left, and this person rescued those children. He must have snuck in today."
"And today, only you have gone out!"
"Tell me, did you bring him in?"
The Valley Master said darkly, killing intent flashing in his eyes.
"My lord, I didn’t!"
The Crane Immortal hastily dropped to his knees, calling out anxiously.
"You didn’t?"
"There’s only one entrance here. Not only is it guarded, but there are mechanisms too. If no one helped him, how could he possibly get in?"
The Valley Master bellowed.
"I’m being wronged, my lord!"
"My life is in your hands. How would I dare betray you?"
"Please, see the truth clearly, my lord!"
The Crane Immortal kowtowed again and again.
The Valley Master stared at the Crane Immortal without saying a word.
But if one were to remove his mask, they would see that his face was shifting between gloom and uncertainty.
"Doesn’t look like you have the guts."
After a moment.
The Valley Master said coldly, then asked, "When you went to the village, did you notice anything suspicious? Or when you returned, did anyone follow you?"
The Crane Immortal let out a sigh of relief, thought for a bit, and said, "Everything in the village was normal. I didn’t notice anything suspicious."
"As for someone following me, that’s even more impossible."
"Because I used a teleportation gate to come back. Even if someone was tailing me, there’s no way they could follow me here."
After he finished, the Crane Immortal added, "Besides, outside the Ice Valley the various Elders are guarding. Unless this person knows the Invisibility Technique, it’s impossible for him to sneak in without anyone noticing."
"Then how did he get in?"
The Valley Master furrowed his brows tightly, clearly irritated.