https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-71-Revisiting-Old-Grounds-the-Celestial-Master-s-Seal-Clue/12586298/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-73-73-Not-Letting-Any-Benefits-Slip-Away/12586314/
Chapter 72: A Blessing in Disguise
Chapter 72: A Blessing in Disguise
Both within and outside the Celestial Masters' Mansion, everyone was preoccupied with the search for the missing Heavenly Master's Seal.
Elder Sister Xu Yuanzhen had looked for it in the past.
Master Yuan Mobai was also mindful of this task.
Even their rival, Huang Tiandao, was in pursuit of the seal.
As far as Lei Jun knew, Elders Hongyu and Ziyang, as well as the Young Celestial Master Li Zhengxuan, were doing the same.
Over the years, during his apprenticeship under Yuan Mobai, Lei Jun had heard bits and pieces about the events of the past.
Four or five years ago, during their initiation ceremony, Chen Yi, Shangguan Hong, and Li Ying had all submitted petitions to the heavens, hoping to become the personal disciples of the Celestial Master, aside from Tang Xiaotang.
Of course, in the end, they were all left hanging by the Celestial Master.
After that, Chen Yi had hoped to receive similar treatment to Tang Xiaotang.
His reliance was on the wish that he would be able to make outstanding contributions to the Celestial Masters' Mansion and thus be granted an exception.
For this reason, a secret meeting of the senior disciples was held to review the matter.
Unfortunately, in the end, it did not go through.
According to Yuan Mobai later on, Chen Yi did have merit, and his contribution was finding some clues related to the whereabouts of the Heavenly Master's Seal.
As a result, Elders Li Hongyu and Yao Yuan from the High Achievement Realm supported making an exception for Chen Yi.
In the end, it was unsuccessful due to Elder Ziyi's objection.
The reason for her objection was also valid.
Chen Yi's clues were similar to the ones she possessed, and one could even say that they completely overlapped with Chen Yi's discovery.
Thus, his contribution could hardly be considered extraordinary.
The matter of making an exception for Chen Yi was thus dropped.
The details of the incident were still largely confidential to the outside, and Chen Yi ended up becoming a disciple of Elder Yao, where he remains to this day.
For the outer disciples, it was as if the incident had never happened, and everything remained the same.
However, for the senior members of the Celestial Masters' Mansion, the search for the lost Heavenly Master's Seal continued, but unfortunately, there was not much progress.
Now, as the Celestial Masters' Mansion faced a great disaster, the Heavenly Master's Seal seemed to be drawing closer to Longhushan instead?
Rather than a blessing in disguise, Lei Jun felt that it was more like irony.
Of course, the Heavenly Master's Seal was merely acting on its own accord and was not truly finding its way home.
How it would eventually return and to whose hands was still unknown.
Lei Jun reined in his wandering thoughts and focused on cleaning up the area, collecting the scattered artifacts and spiritual objects related to Huang Tiandao.
"Roar!!"
Unexpectedly, as he was busy, there came another roar of a tiger!
Lei Jun was taken aback and looked up in the direction of the sound.
This time, the tiger's roar did not originate from the mountain range being excavated beneath his feet but from the distance.
Lei Jun looked far into the horizon and once again saw a gigantic fire tiger of azure color, appearing at the edge of the sky.
The giant tiger was composed of azure earth flames, and as it roared, the flames blazed fiercely, like a fiery sea covering the long horizon.
Then it headed towards Lei Jun's direction.
But it was not attacking Lei Jun; instead, it was pursuing other targets.
Several disciples of Huang Tiandao were in a dire state, having fled to this desolate mountain range.
They had come to join their fellow disciples who were excavating the mountains, hoping to gather their strength to counter a formidable foe.
In principle, the discovery of clues related to the Heavenly Master's Seal was a highly confidential matter, and utmost secrecy should have been maintained.
Yet, these disciples of Huang Tiandao were fleeing in such a disorderly manner, indicating that the pressure from their pursuers was immense and had almost crushed their rationality.
Unfortunately, when they arrived near the desolate mountains, they discovered that the original group of Huang Tiandao disciples who had been excavating here had already perished.
The new arrivals were immediately filled with despair.
The arrogant Nine Abyss Flame Ancestor, however, paused slightly in its pursuit.
The azure giant tiger spoke in a human language, its tone filled with surprise, "Sister's doing?"
The surging azure flames suddenly scattered, leaving the group of Huang Tiandao disciples bewildered.
The giant fire tiger disappeared, and in its place, a tall and beautiful woman appeared in the sky. It was none other than Tang Xiaotang.
Seeing Lei Jun, her expression turned even more surprised, "What are you doing here?"
Lei Jun remained calm, "I encountered a group of Huang Tiandao disciples acting suspiciously on my way here, so I secretly followed them to investigate.
I never expected them to come to this place and start digging up the mountains. As a result, they were all annihilated by the Nine Abyss Flame Ancestor left here by Senior Sister."
Tang Xiaotang had heard from Xu Yuanzhen and Lei Jun about their first encounter, and she was astonished, "Right here?"
Lei Jun pointed to the group of Huang Tiandao disciples who were being pursued by her, "Junior Sister, given the situation, shall we talk later?"
The group of Huang Tiandao disciples, who had been despairing, saw that Tang Xiaotang had stopped to chat and was no longer attacking, and a glimmer of hope emerged in their desperation. They immediately seized the opportunity to flee in different directions.
"Where are you running?"
Tang Xiaotang laughed, "Since Senior Sister has shown her hand here, I can't fall behind!"
As she spoke, her entire body was engulfed in a brilliant golden light, and her hair and eyebrows turned a pale gold color.
The next moment, fiery golden light blazed in all directions.
"Roar!!"
The tiger's roar once again shook the heavens and the earth.
But this time, a golden fire tiger appeared before everyone.
Lei Jun raised his eyebrows at the sight.
Unlike the azure flames of the Pure Yin Spirit Tiger, this golden inferno was intensely hot, fierce, and blazing with yang energy! The dazzling light made Lei Jun feel as if he were facing the sun at close range.
This was no longer the Nine Abyss Flame Ancestor passed down by the Tian Shi Fu, nor was it the Yin Fire Tiger.
It was a Yang Fire Tiger!
The burning golden flame tiger roared as it pounced towards the Huang Tiandao disciples, sweeping through them with even more ferocity than the previous azure flame tiger.
The enemies had no chance to fight back, and most of them perished in the first clash.
"Leave one alive for interrogation!" Lei Jun reminded.
The golden flame tiger raised one of its massive paws and stepped on an elder of Huang Tiandao, who was wearing a deep red daoist robe.
As the light faded, Tang Xiaotang appeared, her golden hair blowing in the wind.
She paid no heed to the distant fleeing disciples of Huang Tiandao and instead held the captured elder in one hand, walking towards Lei Jun with a smile.
"How's that? I said I don't play with small fries. If I'm going to do something, I'll go big. Am I right?"
Lei Jun nodded seriously, "Junior Sister's talent is extraordinary and rarely seen."
With a divine body and a calm and insightful nature, she was undoubtedly one of the most talented individuals in Tian Shi Fu and perhaps even in all of the Great Tang Dynasty.
Tang Xiaotang was the type to take offense if someone called her fat, and she smiled proudly, "This is just the beginning; I have even bigger plans..."
"Junior Sister?" Lei Jun raised his hand and gestured around his eyebrows and hair.
Tang Xiaotang realized her mistake, "Oh, I forgot again."
Her golden hair and eyebrows faded back to black.
Lei Jun asked, "Junior Sister, how did you end up here? What's the situation like at Longhushan?"
Tang Xiaotang replied, "I've been chasing and killing Huang Tiandao's lackeys along the way. There are only a few of them left, and I didn't pay much attention to the path, so I ended up here."
Overall, the situation at Longhushan was gradually stabilizing.
The contemporary Celestial Master, Li Qingfeng, had perished.
Before the new Celestial Master took their place, the Wanfa Zongtan would remain closed.
Fortunately, the two greatest treasures, the Celestial Master's Sword and Robe, were still safe.
Xu Yuanzhen was chasing the mysterious expert who had ambushed the Celestial Master, and both of them had disappeared without a trace.
Other forces, including the Great Tang Imperial Family, were currently more focused on the Jiangzhou Lin Clan, which had also lost its clan head.
This gave Tian Shi Fu at Longhushan a much-needed breather, allowing them to concentrate their efforts on dealing with Huang Tiandao.
Led by the seven grand masters, Li Song, Li Hongyu, Li Ziyang, Yao Yuan, Shangguan Ning, Yuan Mobai, and Li Zhengxuan, along with the special case of Tang Xiaotang, Tian Shi Fu not only withstood Huang Tiandao's offensive but also began to push back.
However, they had to divide their attention to guard against unexpected interventions from other enemies besides Huang Tiandao.
Therefore, Tian Shi Fu had not yet launched a full-scale counterattack, except for Tang Xiaotang, who was more aggressive in her assaults and had begun clearing out the peripheral members of Huang Tiandao.
Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang chatted briefly and then interrogated the captured Huang Tiandao elder.
From him, they learned a piece of intelligence: In addition to attacking the main headquarters at Longhushan and some branch veins, Huang Tiandao had also assaulted Chi Yuandongtian, one of Tian Shi Fu's external blessed land caves, located outside of Longhushan.
Unlike the newly established Xuanyang Cave, Chi Yuandongtian was a well-developed and critical core blessed land under Longhushan's control.
"Hey, you guys are really stirring up trouble everywhere," Tang Xiaotang turned to Lei Jun, "Want to come with me to Chi Yuandongtian?"
Lei Jun did not answer immediately.
The light sphere in his mind lit up once more:
"Seeing through the situation like observing fire, distinguishing truth from falsehood, the path diverges into three routes, one should make a decisive judgment at the critical moment."
[Understand the situation clearly, discern truth from falsehood, the path divides into three, seize the opportunity.]
Three possible fortunes appeared:
[Upper-Middle Fortune: Pursue the remnants of Huang Tiandao. This path contains danger, but caution will bring a Fifth-Rank opportunity. Auspicious.]
[Upper-Middle Fortune: Return to Longhushan immediately. Gain a Sixth-Rank opportunity. No risks, no worries. Auspicious.]
[Middle Fortune: Proceed to Chi Yuandongtian. The blessed land is safe, but there are no gains or risks. Neutral.]
Hmm? Lei Jun read through the fortunes once more.
Indeed, two of them were upper-middle fortunes.
(End of Chapter)
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