Chapter 603: A Misunderstanding
Chapter 603: A Misunderstanding
Demon Tyrant Lord never imagined that a Spirit Mine would lure him here.
Standing in the eighth mine, he looked at the Core Formation Cultivator with the black mole, who was still dazed, and coldly demanded, "Tell me what happened that day!"
The Core Formation Cultivator with the black mole was still unclear about the situation, so he turned to look behind him.
He saw the Nascent Soul Cultivator, Elder Zhang, but Elder Cao was nowhere to be found.
He vaguely realized that something seemed amiss.
It seemed that instead of the expected reward, something unusual had occurred.
However, facing the Demon Tyrant Lord, he naturally did not dare to hide anything.
He honestly replied, "That day, I led the sect's disciples into the eighth mine..."
The Core Formation Cultivator with the black mole recounted in detail how he had led everyone into the mine and discovered High-grade Spirit Stones, even Supreme-grade Spirit Stones.
Then, "Elder Cao" instructed him and the others to stay in the mine.
"After that, did Cao Tianming ever return?" the Demon Tyrant Lord asked again.
The Core Formation Cultivator with the black mole dared not hide the truth and shook his head.
"No, since that day, I haven't seen Senior Cao."
The Demon Tyrant Lord also asked the other mining Core Formation Cultivators, and they all gave the same answer, leaving him with no further doubts.
At this moment, he turned to the Nascent Soul Cultivator, Elder Zhang, beside him.
"Didn't you notice anything suspicious?"
Elder Zhang shook his head.
"I asked around in the mine, and everyone said they saw Elder Cao on the day the eighth mine was opened.
After that day, no one has seen him again."
After listening, the Demon Tyrant Lord's lips twitched slightly.
"I just checked his cultivation chamber, and the seal was intact, with no signs of a struggle.
Even the items inside the chamber were neatly arranged, with nothing left behind.
It seems that Cao Tianming really escaped with all the Spirit Stones!"
By the end of his sentence, the Demon Tyrant Lord was almost grinding his teeth.
The Nascent Soul Cultivator, Elder Zhang, standing beside him, also paled at these words.
Over a hundred High-grade Spirit Stones and three Supreme-grade Spirit Stones.
If they had a chance to use the High-grade Spirit Stones, it would be a different story.
But Supreme-grade Spirit Stones were not something Nascent Soul Cultivators like them could use.
These treasures, almost extinct in this world, would tempt even Demigod Cultivators.
After all, for Demigod Cultivators, breaking through bottlenecks becomes even more challenging.
If the Demon Tyrant Lord obtained these Supreme-grade Spirit Stones, he might even surpass other Demigod Cultivators.
Perhaps it was because of this that Cao Tianming, knowing that they had no chance of obtaining the stones, couldn't resist the temptation and took the risk.
"After all, in a few years, he'll face the bottleneck of advancing to the late-stage Nascent Soul," Elder Zhang sighed inwardly.
At this moment, he also heard the Demon Tyrant Lord's voice, cold as if it came from the depths of an ice cave.
"Inform all sect members that Cao Tianming has betrayed the sect and stolen our precious treasures. He is now a wanted man!
If anyone discovers his whereabouts, report it immediately, and I, the Demon Tyrant Lord, will personally take action!"
"Yes!" Elder Zhang responded promptly.
In the mine, the Core Formation Cultivator with the black mole, upon hearing the Demon Tyrant Lord's words clearly, suddenly paled.
He never expected that his senior fellow disciple would betray the sect.
Not only would he not receive the promised reward for mining the Spirit Stones, but he might also be heavily punished for his association.
Not just him, but the nearly hundred other Core Formation Cultivators also had grim expressions.
However, the Demon Tyrant Lord, at this moment, had no intention of taking his anger out on them.
After Elder Zhang's response, the Demon Tyrant Lord, with a dark expression, left the Spirit Mine.
Recently, the Demon Tyrant Lord had been facing some annoying situations.
Although his previous plan had worked, and the Gale Wind Dagger had indeed interfered with the use of the ancient teleportation array, he didn't see anyone afterward.
The Demigod Cultivator had teleported away, and the other Northern Cold Cultivator, the prime suspect in the murder of the Demon Tyrant Lord's grand elder, Huang Kui, had also disappeared without a trace.
After spreading the news for so long, there was still no information about this person's whereabouts.
Finally, some good news came from the Spirit Mine—the discovery of High-grade Spirit Stones.
But then, a Nascent Soul Cultivator from the sect betrayed them and stole the High-grade and Supreme-grade Spirit Stones.
The Demon Tyrant Lord had no doubts that a sect member had stolen these treasures.
After all, Demon Cultivators who practiced demonic arts were often selfish and extreme, and their sense of loyalty to the sect was not strong.
It was normal for them to be unable to resist such treasures.
The Demon Tyrant Lord circled back and arrived above the ancient teleportation array again.
He initially wanted to destroy the array, but upon further thought, he couldn't bear to do so, considering the difficulty of its setup.
Despite the potential for destruction, the sect had arranged for its members to guard the gate.
Even though he knew it was unlikely, he couldn't help but ask the guards about any unusual circumstances.
After confirming that nothing was amiss, he flew away without hesitation.
"To truly find that Northern Cold Cultivator and seek revenge, the other party must reappear.
Otherwise, we can only repair this ancient teleportation array and go directly to the North Cold Region."
Demon Tyrant Lord's brows furrowed.
"However, many of the crucial array tools for this teleportation array are missing or damaged, likely due to years of neglect.
Moreover, the frequent use over the years, especially the recent interference from the Gale Wind Dagger affecting the spatial force fluctuations, has impacted the array."
"Furthermore, even if the array is repaired, I can't go to the North Cold Region rashly. After all, that Demigod Cultivator seems to be a challenge even for Spirit Wind and Dark Demon.
My sudden departure might not yield favorable results.
Instead, if I leave for too long, the Demon Vortex Sect might face trouble.
Even now, with me guarding the sect, there are still instances of betrayal.
This matter requires careful consideration!"
Demon Tyrant Lord, being a Demigod Cultivator, had cultivated for many years and experienced much.
Soon, he regained his composure.
However, Demon Tyrant Lord never imagined that the person causing him this trouble was the same one.
At this moment, Chu Ning was almost out of the Demon Vortex Sect's territory, flying towards the northwest.
He sensed that the number of cultivators in the Demon Vortex Sect's territory had increased, and they were strictly inspecting incoming and outgoing cultivators.
But with his cultivation and abilities, he could easily evade all the cultivators unnoticed.
He left safely and headed north.
Three months later, Chu Ning appeared near the Endless Sea region of the Skylid Continent.
When Chu Ning first entered the Skylid Continent, he flew from the Horizon Grassland.
However, the direction to the North Cold Region was inconsistent with the West Alliance Continent, so he needed to enter from the northwest of the Skylid Continent.
With about a thousand miles left to reach the Endless Sea, Chu Ning decided not to continue.
The journey to the North Cold Region was not short, and Chu Ning had experienced the endless flight over the Endless Sea, which was a considerable ordeal even for him.
However, after carefully scanning the area, Chu Ning found that there were very few Spirit Qi Mountain Ranges nearby.
Only a few of these mountains had sects, and some large market towns were located near the sects.
Perhaps due to the relatively thin Spirit Qi near the Endless Sea, the sects were generally not large in scale.
Therefore, there were fewer cultivators and cities in this area compared to other places. Instead, there were some large and small market towns, similar to those in the Eastern Sacred Continent.
"
With this in mind, Chu Ning entered a market town called Wanshunji.
Upon entering, Chu Ning casually browsed and managed to purchase several types of Spirit Fruits.
Although their effects couldn't compare to the Spirit Fruits he had obtained from various treasure sites, they were still useful in emergencies.
M
As he exited a market town, Chu Ning was about to look for a place to rest.
Unintentionally, he glanced across the street and noticed a market town that caught his attention.
"Omnipresent Shop, specializing in the sale of array tools."
Upon seeing this shop, Chu Ning's eyes flickered, and he proactively entered the store.
"Senior, what are you looking to buy?"
As Chu Ning stepped into the store, a middle-aged cultivator approached him.
At this moment, Chu Ning revealed his cultivation at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, nearing the Nascent Soul stage.
After all, he had come to this market town to purchase some valuable items, and his cultivation level was crucial in determining what he could buy.
The middle-aged cultivator before him was at the late Foundation Establishment stage and naturally showed more respect upon seeing Chu Ning's cultivation.
Chu Ning surveyed the entire store, which wasn't particularly large, and then asked the middle-aged cultivator:
"Shopkeeper, this place is called Omnipresent Shop, specializing in array tools.
May I ask what is your relationship with the Omnipresent Sect?"
"Oh? Senior, you've heard of our Omnipresent Sect?"
Upon hearing Chu Ning's question, a smile flashed across the middle-aged cultivator's face.
Chu Ning nodded slightly.
"I've heard that the Omnipresent Sect is a well-known sect in the Skylid Continent, specializing in arrays, with a long heritage.
I wonder if your Omnipresent Sect is the one I'm referring to."
The middle-aged shopkeeper, upon hearing Chu Ning's words, laughed and said:
"I didn't expect that there are still seniors in the Skylid Continent who have heard of our Omnipresent Sect.
Not bad, our sect does have a heritage of over ten thousand years.
However, over the years, the sect has slightly declined and can only be considered a minor power.
Speaking of it, it's indeed shameful."
The middle-aged shopkeeper spoke with a hint of sigh in his tone.
Upon hearing this, Chu Ning's face showed a faint smile.
The name 'Ten Thousand Phenomena Sect' was something he first heard from Di Yan on Yunyin Island in the North Frigid Region years ago.
At that time, Di Yan was nearing his end, so he entrusted Chu Ning with bringing back the heritage array of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Sect to the Skylid Continent.
After arriving on the Skylid Continent, Chu Ning did indeed search for the Ten Thousand Phenomena Sect.
However, although the sect had some reputation thousands of years ago, it later disappeared without a trace for unknown reasons.
Chu Ning couldn't even find any information about the sect on the map he obtained from the Sky Vault Palace.
Moreover, as he spent most of his time cultivating on Purple Light Island, he eventually forgot about this matter.
Unexpectedly, right before his departure, he stumbled upon the existence of this sect.
Since he had promised Di Yan on his deathbed, Chu Ning felt that it was fate that he encountered the sect.
Without further ado, Chu Ning asked the middle-aged shopkeeper:
"Shopkeeper, may I ask where your sect's headquarters are located, and who is your current Sect Leader?"
"I'd like to meet them in person."
Upon hearing Chu Ning's words, the middle-aged shopkeeper was slightly taken aback.
"Senior, you wish to meet our Sect Leader?"
"Indeed, I have been entrusted with returning some old items to your sect."
As Chu Ning spoke, he took out a jade slip and recorded one of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Sect's representative arrays, then handed it to the shopkeeper.
"If you don't believe me, you can bring this jade slip with the array to your Sect Leader."
The middle-aged shopkeeper took the jade slip, and upon scanning it with his divine sense, his expression changed slightly.
He had some expertise in arrays, and with just a glance, he could tell that this was an extremely profound array.
What shocked him even more was that although this array was far beyond his current capabilities, he could see that it shared similarities with many of the sect's arrays.
The middle-aged shopkeeper didn't dare to be negligent and immediately said to Chu Ning:
"Senior, please wait here for a moment while I report to the Sect Leader."
Then, the middle-aged shopkeeper called another Foundation Establishment Cultivator to lead Chu Ning to a quiet room while he hurriedly left.
After about an hour, the middle-aged shopkeeper returned to the Ten Thousand Phenomena Shop.
"I have reported to the Sect Leader, and he invites you to come and chat.
The Sect Leader originally wanted to come and personally invite you, but doing so might attract too much attention.
Please don't mind."
Chu Ning didn't mind and followed the middle-aged shopkeeper out of the market town.
Then, he took out a flying magical treasure and, following the shopkeeper's instructions, flew away.
With Chu Ning's speed, he was naturally much faster than the Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
In just a short while, Chu Ning arrived at the foot of a Spirit Mountain.
Hovering at the mountain gate, Chu Ning looked at the sect, which was enveloped by an array, and was slightly surprised.
The sect's area was indeed small; not only compared to the Nineflower Sect but also to the Qingxi Sect where Chu Ning initially stayed.
However, the array surrounding the sect's periphery was indeed one of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Sect's arrays.
But in Chu Ning's eyes, the strength of this array was rather ordinary.
As Chu Ning was observing, several figures flew out from within the mountain gate.
Leading them was a late-stage Core Formation Cultivator, an elder with white hair and a blue robe.
Beside him were three other male Core Formation Cultivators, two of them younger with early-stage Core Formation cultivation.
The female cultivator among them had reached the middle stage of Core Formation.
As the four of them exited the mountain gate, their gazes immediately fell upon Chu Ning.
The white-haired, blue-robed elder cupped his hands and said:
"I am Xu Qingbai of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Sect. Greetings, fellow cultivator!"
"I am Li Qun. Greetings, Sect Leader Xu and fellow cultivators."
Chu Ning bowed slightly in response.
Knowing that the Demon Vortex Sect and even the Sky One Sect might cause him trouble, Chu Ning didn't want to bring any unnecessary attention to the Ten Thousand Phenomena Sect.
He decided not to reveal his name to them.
"So, it's fellow cultivator Li. Xu apologizes for not receiving you properly. Please come in!"
Chu Ning didn't decline and followed Xu Qingbai through the mountain gate.
"The array on the jade slip you gave is one of our sect's lost arrays.
I wonder...""
As soon as they entered the mountain gate, Xu Qingbai couldn't help but ask, his expression showing a hint of excitement.
Chu Ning smiled faintly and said:
"It's a long story."
When his divine sense unintentionally scanned the entire mountain gate, he was slightly surprised.
"There's an ancient teleportation array within this sect!"
(End of Chapter)
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