Chapter 460:

Chapter 460:

Inside the Heavenly Sword Sect, at the Inner Gate.

Cui Hao stood outside the light curtain, humbly recounting the events, "Reporting to Elder Liu, this is how it happened. That day, I specifically arranged for disciples to wait outside the sect, and they personally witnessed Shen Yi from Nanyang boarding the Qingyue Treasure Ship."

"Did Qingyue Sect make a move?" A familiar voice came from within the light curtain, belonging to the owner of the Dao plaque that had previously hung outside the Southern Yang Sect.

"It can't be considered a move. Only Executive Zheng Qian, Inner Sect disciple Yan Wencheng, and Elder Liu's daughter, Liu Qianyun, were there."

Cui Hao raised his head and said softly, "According to my analysis, it's possible that Shen Yi took the initiative for Ye Wenxuan, but this is unlikely. After all, Shen Yi has only been out for a few months. Even if he has some private connections with these people, he definitely wouldn't be willing to follow him to his death."

"The more likely possibility is that Elder Liu, although he didn't show up, gave Liu Qianyun some other means of self-defense, such as a treasure... or even a decree."

After Cui Hao finished speaking, there was silence within the light curtain for a long time. Eventually, a burst of laughter came from within, "Liu Shiqian wouldn't really think that the ownership of the Nanyang treasure land could be decided by that Shen boy, would he? Wanting to take a different approach and use this friendly gesture to compete for the treasure land is truly foolish."

"Rest assured, I've sent people to stake out near the Chen family. As long as there's any trace of Elder Liu, I'll bring you the evidence as quickly as possible."

Cui Hao respectfully cupped his hands.

The current situation is actually quite simple. All the White Jade Capital cultivators want the Nanyang treasure land, but they're all waiting for someone else to break the stalemate.

If Liu Shiqian takes the initiative to be the first.

Then the other elders and their direct disciples can freely take action.

"Well done. It's a pity to be an executive. You may go." The final words of praise came from within the light curtain.

"Thank you for your kindness, Elder Liu."

Cui Hao bowed deeply again and then turned to leave.

Only after walking away did a rich smile appear on his face.

Cui Hao was truly fed up with the executive position. Even after enduring for many years and successfully breaking through the sixth layer of Returning to the Void, he could only become an Outer Gate Elder at best.

Although this position also carries the title of "Elder."

In reality, it's just a menial job for the sect.

Within the entire sect, regardless of their titles, these menials are there to gather resources. Only direct disciples are the ones who enjoy the resources.

If one's talent is insufficient, then they rely on connections.

Elder Liu's words from earlier.

As long as this matter is handled well, then his own affairs will be settled.

Cui Hao looked deeply at the surrounding cave mansions with a hint of envy, shook his head, and then headed towards the Executive Hall.

He wondered if the disciples he sent out had obtained any important information.

Not long after, Cui Hao's expression suddenly changed.

Outside the Executive Hall, several familiar figures were standing and chatting happily.

Their relaxed and cheerful expressions, when seen by Cui Hao, made him frown subconsciously. Then, as if realizing something, a smile also appeared on his face.

Not a single injury on their bodies, yet their auras were so abundant.

They must have borrowed Liu Shiqian's hand to come and slap him, Cui Hao, in the face.

Since that's the case, he'll indulge them.

Using a mere thin face to exchange for a bright future, what a bargain.

At this thought, Cui Hao put on a puzzled expression and slowly walked over, "How did you guys come back? Don't tell me you're treating the sect's affairs as a joke and want to back out."

"Back out your grandpa!"

Zheng Qian let out a cold laugh and casually tossed over the tribute they received from the Chen family, "Count it. The extra portion is their compensation. From now on, for these minor matters, please trouble you old executives to take action and stop bullying the newcomers."

"..."

Cui Hao infused his spiritual sense into the storage pouch and timely displayed an expression of uncertainty.

Then, with a grim expression, he raised his head and asked, "How did you manage to do it?"

"What does it have to do with you?"

Zheng Qian raised her eyebrows, acting as arrogantly as possible.

Hearing these words, Cui Hao's heart rejoiced again.

Since it's a method that can't be disclosed, it's probably close to his guess.

"Here's another one. You better keep it safe. I won't let you off if there's even one missing drop of the Scarlet-Eyed Phoenix Essence Blood!" Zheng Qian's current actions to vent her anger weren't without reason.

The logic is simple.

If Shen Yi hadn't hidden a bunch of tricks, relying solely on their few people's strength on the surface, they might not have lost their lives, but losing face and backing down was inevitable.

Once they lost face for the seven sons of Southern Hong outside, and messed things up.

After returning, there would be no future to speak of.

"..."

Cui Hao remained silent for a moment before finally letting out a cold huff. He turned around and entered the Executive Hall, "Follow me."

He diligently recorded the events in the book and then took out a jade slip, whispering a few times.

Soon, an Outer Gate Elder arrived on a cloud, stepping into the hall. He gently waved his sleeves, placing five exquisite jade bottles on the table, "These are the essence blood extracted by Blood Master when he was fifty thousand years old. It has been stored using a secret technique, and the medicinal effects are abundant."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Cui Hao slightly cupped his hands towards the Outer Gate Elder and then frowned at the group, "Take the items and leave quickly. Don't let me see you again!"

Seeing his attitude, Zheng Qian was delighted, her face full of joy, "The matter isn't over yet. Don't forget about the jade slip of my sister Ye's executive."

"I don't need your reminder." Cui Hao turned around and entered the inner chamber.

"..." Ye Wenxuan also cupped her hands towards Zheng Qian, "Thank you, Senior Zheng."

"It's nothing. I just wanted to annoy you a bit." Zheng Qian waved her hand, finally releasing her pent-up anger. Then, with a face full of helplessness, she left the Executive Hall with Liu Qianyun and Yan Wencheng.

The three of them walked out of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Yan Wencheng suddenly stopped in his tracks and said softly, "Executive Cui, you're not the type of cultivator who shows your emotions so easily. I feel something is amiss."

The remaining two stopped and looked at each other, their faces filled with doubt.

Could there be another trap inside?

"..."

In a side hall of the Executive Hall.

Cui Hao leaned lazily against a chair, leisurely flipping through the pages of a book.

He actually didn't like reading.

But many of the White Jade Capital elders had this habit.

So he followed suit.

Not long after, two figures hurriedly rushed into the side hall and raised their hands in salute, "Executive Cui..."

Cui Hao raised his eyes and suppressed the excitement in his heart, forcing himself to remain calm, "Tell me, what exactly did Elder Liu reward them with?"

"No!"

The side hall echoed with a unanimous reply.

Two disciples' voices trembled as they spoke, "Although we don't know what happened to the Chen family, we indeed didn't sense any aura related to Elder Liu... This is not important. After receiving the message, the Dragon Palace has issued a decree, rewarding the Chen family's land to the Dragonfish Pavilion, and the precious underwater treasures have already been delivered to the Heavenly Sword Sect."

"..."

Cui Hao was still immersed in the word "no."

He was momentarily lost in thought.

Upon hearing this, his face paled slightly.

This task had been assigned by him, how could it be related to the Dragon Palace? This was bad news!

"Say it all at once!"

Cui Hao abruptly straightened up, losing his usual composure.

"Well... the only daughter of the Dragonfish Pavilion's master is dead... Everyone knows that the Chen family is our Heavenly Sword Sect's vassal... Now, not a single person is left alive in that place, and there's not even a witness!"

The two disciples wiped the cold sweat from their brows and raised their heads, only to see Executive Cui, completely drained, slumping back into his chair.

"You..."

Cui Hao trembled as he extended his finger, almost fainting on the spot.

The Dragonfish Pavilion was not a significant concern for the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Even the entire Southern Dragon Palace couldn't do anything about the Seven Sons of Southern Hong.

But Cui Hao was merely an executive, and now the sect was being implicated in a scandal, losing a piece of land in the process. How could he have the face to handle this?

"Get out! All of you, scram!"

Cui Hao frantically took out a jade slip and began contacting Elder Liu.

After explaining the situation, he started to incoherently shift the blame onto Shen Yi and the others.

However, no matter how he explained, the other side of the jade slip remained eerily silent, causing unease.

Finally, just before Cui Hao fainted,

Elder Liu's indifferent words floated out, "Accept the items sent by the Aquatic Clan, and in the future, don't overstep your boundaries. It's inappropriate for an executive like you to directly contact me. As punishment, you will copy the sect rules three thousand times."

Upon hearing this, Cui Hao's face turned deathly pale.

With just those words from Elder Liu, he feared he would be stuck in the executive position for life.

However, he dared not show any signs of unusual behavior and could only bitterly reply, "Disciple understands."

"Hmm."

In a light curtain somewhere within the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Liu Xingshan placed the white jade Dao token on the table, his status as one of the White Jade Capital's elders was unquestioned.

Very few things in the world could stir his heart and mind.

But within a short span of a few months, first, the Nanyang treasure land reappeared, then Qingyue Sect's Liu Shiqian showed kindness to the natives, and even the numerous White Jade Capital cultivators began to have thoughts of their own.

These events left him somewhat dissatisfied.

However, today's incident not only annoyed Liu Xingshan but also made him feel slightly uneasy.

The backgrounds of those Qingyue Sect youngsters were no secret to his eyes.

Whether it was their strength, courage, or the reasons for their actions, none of it was enough to justify their private killing of the Dragonfish Pavilion's people.

The only variable was that young man with the surname Shen.

But when they first met, he was merely a late-stage Huashen native.

Could it be that he had misjudged the situation?

That casual remark about the dragon's body was actually true?

"..."

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Liu Xingshan's eyes.

In an instant, his expression transformed from that of a revered elder to a starving wolf.

He couldn't wait any longer! He had to muddy the waters first!

He gripped the Dao token once more.

At the same time, the Dao tokens on several Great Sages of the White Jade Capital began to flicker.

...

In the Ancestor Hall of the Southern Yang Sect.

Li Xuanqing knelt on a cushion, glancing curiously at the person beside him, "What happened when you went out? Ever since you returned, I've sensed a hint of disdain in your eyes."

"No, you're mistaken."

Shen Yi shook his head; it wasn't disdain.

He was merely recalling the moment he took action, wondering if he had followed the whispers in his mind.

If he had...

Shen Yi slowly clenched his fist, a trace of sorrow in his eyes.

He couldn't connect the gentle wooden man before him with the arrogant offender in his mind's eye.

He felt like he couldn't even look at the other person directly.

"I was young once too."

Li Xuanqing seemed to understand and self-deprecatingly smiled, "Take me as a mirror, walk the path of cultivation carefully, slowly... and quietly."

"Rest assured, I'm not good at that."

Shen Yi lightly nodded. The killings on his hands were numerous, but they were all for survival.

He genuinely had no interest in revealing himself to others.

"The effects of Heavenly Derivation Nine-Nine have exceeded my imagination." Shen Yi sighed, suddenly feeling that his vision was still too narrow.

"..."

Li Xuanqing was taken aback, his expression becoming slightly odd, "You've already learned it?

"With your guidance, I barely managed to grasp the basics." Shen Yi glanced sideways.

Li Xuanqing remained silent for a long time. Although he couldn't recall the specifics of Heavenly Derivation Nine-Nine, he vaguely remembered it as a not-so-easy fist and palm technique.

He calculated the time in his mind.

Then, he lifted his head to look at Shen Yi, speaking sincerely, "You're being modest; you're actually quite skilled."

The two chatted for a while longer.

However, they both tacitly avoided mentioning Xuanqing's past.

A proud Celestial Prodigy like him had become what he was now; the complexity of it all might just bore them to death.

It was only when news from Liu Qianyun and the others outside the sect reached them that Shen Yi stood up to bid farewell and left the Ancestor Hall.

He went outside the sect to collect the previously agreed-upon five portions of the Scarlet-Eyed Phoenix Essence and the borrowed precious elixir, only then finding a suitable spot within the Southern Yang Sect.

This was the difference between sect disciples and loose cultivators.

Shen Yi sat cross-legged and opened the panel again.

From the Chen family incident, he had gained several new powerful demon subordinates, but the most terrifying aspect was their demonic lifespans.

Before leaving, he had only 115,000 years.

Those fifty or so Hunchuan realm shrimp soldiers and crab generals provided nearly 250,000 years, the few Return to Void realm guards added another 370,000 years, and the girl in the red skirt contributed 370,000 years.

[Remaining Demonic Lifespan: 729,000 years]



Shen Yi glanced at the jade bottle, opening it slightly to find that it didn't contain the essence blood of a twelfth-layer Return to Void demon as he had imagined, but at most a sixth-layer one.

Although slightly disappointed, he could understand.

The Chen family's situation only produced a sixth-layer Return to Void aquatic demon, which was beyond expectations, so it was impossible to obtain the most precious essence blood reward.

"Is this enough?"

Shen Yi wasn't sure if he could rely on this essence blood to perfect the Phoenix Immortal Body.

Let's ascend to the palace first.

He began to condense the Tranquilizing Stones decisively, then gathered the Demonic Origin.

After going out a few times, Shen Yi no longer felt the heartache he once did. He discovered that this Nanhong region was much richer than the Treasure Land.

As long as one's strength was sufficient, demons seemed endless.

It was easier to go from frugality to luxury.

Six Tranquilizing Stones appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

All the chosen individuals were from Dragonfish Pavilion.

Although it was called Dragonfish Pavilion, only the red-skirted girl and the sixth-layer Return to Void guard could be considered true dragonfish; the other five guards were various fish demons he had never heard of.

Using the Demonic Mortal Lifespan, he reshaped the demonic souls one by one.

It had to be said that these guards beside the red-skirted girl were carefully selected, and their talents were quite good, and they were also young.

On average, a demonic soul only required eight or nine Demonic Origins.

The most was the sixth-layer Return to Void dragonfish, which consumed twelve.

A total of fifty-four.

Shen Yi extracted all the demonic flesh and blood, watching as they turned into a river flowing into his forehead.

Six Tranquilizing Stones formed simultaneously.

Among them, the dragonfish princess's demonic body and the sixth-layer Return to Void guard were sealed in the same Tranquilizing Stone.

As for the remaining crab generals, as long as they were of the same race as the guards, they were also infused into the Tranquilizing Stones, better than nothing.

"Hmm."

Shen Yi calmed his emotions. In fact, with so many experiences of gathering Tranquilizing Stones, the Measurement Pillar Ruler was just a routine, and he could also check if there were any fish with astonishing bloodlines that had slipped through the net.

He summoned the ruler and carefully moved it over.

Soon, he measured the grades of the six Tranquilizing Stones.

Although Xuanqing had said that he only needed one second-rank Tranquilizing Stone to ascend to the third layer of the Heavenly Palace, successfully breaking through the watershed and reaching the fourth layer of Return to Void.

But this person's words were unreliable.

Just barely second-rank, and close to first-rank, were both considered second-rank in Xuanqing's words, but the gap between them was too great.

When the results came out.

The remaining five Tranquilizing Stones were as Shen Yi had expected, all being upper-middle third-rank.

On the contrary, the dragonfish Tranquilizing Stone gave Shen Yi a pleasant surprise.

It seemed the red-skirted girl's bloodline was quite good. Although she only had second-layer Return to Void strength, she helped this Tranquilizing Stone surpass the second-rank line and even advanced about one-third of the way beyond it.

"That's about it."

Shen Yi closed his eyes and began to activate the Ascension Technique again.

The same commotion ensued.

The Infinite Demon Emperor Palace swept through the clouds.

The Tranquilizing Stones peeled away, and six great pillars appeared out of thin air.

At the same time.

In the Ancestor Hall.

Li Xuanqing wasn't sure if Shen Yi would return, so he didn't immediately enter a meditative state.

He stared blankly at the Ancestor statue, not knowing what he was thinking.

Suddenly, a familiar Blood Sea aura surged into the hall, even adding a hint of blood-stained aura to the serene Ancestor statue.

"..."

Li Xuanqing waved his hand to disperse the bloody aura.

He broke off a few branches from his body, used them as incense, lit them, and inserted them into the incense burner to make amends to the Ancestor.

After finishing what he was doing.

He stood up and walked step by step onto the long stairs outside the hall.

Looking at the two strands of Primordial Purple Qi in the distant sky.

Li Xuanqing's wooden face suddenly showed a hint of complexity.

As if he had seen something he couldn't understand.

"Why?"

He muttered to himself.

He had thought that under the Fusion Dao, all the laws of this world would be thoroughly understood by him.

But when he looked at the rising Infinite Demon Emperor Palace, he was inexplicably shrouded in bewilderment.

Until the six great pillars were completely formed!

A new layer of the palace appeared out of thin air, as if soaring into the clouds.

The celestial music started again, as if immortal birds were strolling in the clouds.

They had once celebrated Xuanqing, but now they were here for someone else.

When he saw the third strand of purple Qi surging from the edge of the sky.

Li Xuanqing's eyes gradually became clear, and he stood with his hands behind his back, standing on the Nanyang Relief.

Although it was a simple wooden body, his silhouette seemed to have suddenly grown taller.

"Master, I saw another Xuanqing."

Li Xuanqing slowly turned around and knelt before the Ancestor statue.

In that instant, a faint smile appeared on his lips: "They've been hungry for a long time, and I understand, but this piece of meat, I want to keep it for our own family to eat."

"If he's willing."

"This Nanyang Treasure Land, Xuanqing has protected."

As his words fell, he bowed deeply to the ground.

The Ancestor statue remained like a lifeless object, giving no response.

But Li Xuanqing wasn't Zhang Laifu.

Here, his words could replace the Master's orders.

After finishing the kowtows.

Li Xuanqing stood up again and called out to the distance: "Do you want to be the Nanyang Sect Master?!"

A voice, more serious than before, quickly echoed throughout the entire Nanyang Sect's inner gate!

On a distant mountain peak.

The black-robed figure slowly opened his eyes, his deep black pupils filled with purple intent.

Shen Yi glanced back at the distant figure, hesitated for a moment, and said indifferently, "Is there anyone more suitable than me?"

Across the sky.

Li Xuanqing let out a light laugh, lowered his gaze to look at his wooden body, and said with a carefree sigh, "It seems there isn't."

The next moment, he suddenly thrust his palm towards his heart.

The hard wooden body was forcibly broken open.

Right at the heart position.

A white jade Dao token was suspended there.

He had always had the key to return home.

He just didn't dare to use it, nor did he have the face to use it.

"You can take it."

Li Xuanqing held the White Jade Dao Token, reactivated the Sect Gate Array, then bent down and placed the jade token on the ground.

He then left the Nanyang Sect.

It was time for the Southern Hong Seven Sons to remember that among the seven sects, there was also Nanyang.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end