Chapter 143
Because of this, Master Pang devoted so much effort to teaching his disciples, yet the strengths of the two factions remained largely equal—after all, the resources available to Master Pang's faction were indeed somewhat lacking.
It was no wonder they felt dissatisfied with Sister Zhang.
Sister Zhang's actions were, on one hand, aimed at restoring order in the market. On the other hand, it was also a concession.
"I underestimated the breadth of Sister Zhang's vision," Master Pang said after a long silence, nodding gently. "In that case, who among you is willing to go? You can follow Zheng Shizhi later."
After Master Pang finished speaking, he glanced at Zheng Fa and suddenly asked, "You've reached the sixth level of Qi Refinement?"
"Yes!" Zheng Fa replied, lowering his head slightly.
He had been progressing steadily, and with the abundant spiritual energy at Sister Zhang's place these past few days, his breakthrough came naturally.
"While others slow down as they break through, you seem to be speeding up..." Master Pang paused for a moment. "Your rate of advancement has already caught up with Sister Zhang's back in her day."
Zheng Fa was taken aback; he had no idea how fast Sister Zhang had progressed—but he did know that she was the fastest among the Hundred Immortals Alliance in establishing her foundation...
But upon reflection, it made sense—
The "Fuda Zhi Ji Fa" (符道筑基法) had helped him far more than it had Sister Zhang.
Considering the modern era, he had also spent a considerable amount of time training.
Now, he was living in the area of Jiushan Sect with the most abundant spiritual energy.
"With your progress, as your elder, I must reward you," Master Pang said, his hand flashing as a jade tube appeared. "This 'Dongxu Lingyan' (洞虚灵眼) contains some cultivation secrets. Take it back and discuss it with Sister Zhang."
Zheng Fa was momentarily stunned, looking at Master Pang—so you really do have some secrets hidden away?
Of course, he understood this was Master Pang's way of reciprocating kindness.
...
"You mean to say? Someone's watching me?"
Zheng Fa was taken aback; he had just hired a few security guards for the market when he received this major news—and it wasn't even about the market, but about himself.
"Yes." Seeing Zheng Fa's confusion, Sun Daoyu explained, "Our faction has always been responsible for the safety of Jiushan Sect, and some disciples patrol within the sect—we instructed them to pay extra attention to the situation around you."
Zheng Fa was momentarily stunned and couldn't help but express his gratitude, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother."
Sun Daoyu waved his hand dismissively, "Junior Brother, you let us earn some spirit stones. We don't have any secret techniques like Master, so we can only do small things."
Zheng Fa forced a smile, "This is no small matter."
He hadn't expected Sister Zhang's foresight to help him avoid trouble.
Sun Daoyu led him to an inn at the street corner.
At that moment, several senior brothers were already there, conversing with the innkeeper.
"Zheng Zhenren!" The innkeeper wasn't a disciple of Jiushan Sect; he seemed to be a relative of a senior brother who had opened the inn to make a living.
"Did you discover something, Innkeeper?"
"Of course! As soon as those two entered our inn, they stayed in their room without coming out—I have no idea what they were doing." The innkeeper nodded, "I know which room it is; the window faces the small courtyard of your home."
"When these Zhenren came to ask if there were any suspicious individuals near your home, I immediately thought of those two." The innkeeper's expression turned a bit troubled, "I was just a little suspicious; I never thought they would have ill intentions. I noticed that the younger one seemed quite fond of our Jiushan Sect."
"Fond?"
"Yes, that person read 'Rescuing Little Cultivator Pang Qian' and whenever he met me, he liked to chat about how great Jiushan Sect is, sounding quite envious..."
Zheng Fa and Sun Daoyu exchanged glances.
"Do you really believe that?" Sun Daoyu asked slowly.
"More than I do," the innkeeper replied, looking equally puzzled.
Even Zheng Fa didn't know what to say; after the play was released, most people in Jiushan Sect just found it entertaining, without any strong brainwashing effect—he never expected it would actually touch someone with ill intentions.
Distance truly creates beauty.
"Where are they now?"
"We went to knock on the door to ask, but as soon as those two saw us, they ran..." One senior brother said, "A few of us chased after them, but it seems their movement technique is the rumored 'Tianmo Jueying' (天魔绝影)."
Sun Daoyu was taken aback, his expression growing serious. "Tianmo Jueying is a secret technique of the Great Freedom Demon Sect. Zheng Shidi, I need to report this to Master. What do you think?"
"I'll go see the Sect Leader too."
...
"Tianmo Jueying?" On the Ninth Peak, the Sect Leader frowned slowly upon hearing the name of the technique, a rare look of concern crossing his face. "The Great Freedom Demon Sect?"
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly turned to Zheng Fa. "Have you been involved with their Saintess?"
"..."
What a case of big disciple PTSD.
"...No, it can't be." The Sect Leader shook his head.
Zheng Fa felt a strange sense of relief—this old man still trusted his character!
"Sister Zhang won't give you that opportunity."
"..."
Beside them, Sister Yuan nodded, her gaze fixed on Zheng Fa with caution.
"Master, what kind of existence is the Great Freedom Demon Sect?"
"...A demon sect," the Sect Leader sighed. "You all know that the Great Freedom Demon Sect was founded by those surviving cultivators from the last great calamity."
Zheng Fa and Sister Yuan nodded.
"According to legend, some of those cultivators are still alive."
"Ah?"
That seemed a bit too far-fetched.
The last great calamity happened at least a million years ago.
Could anyone really have lived until now?
"Including the Great Freedom Demon Sect, there are said to be thirteen major demon sects—meaning thirteen ancient cultivators passed down their bloodlines, collectively known as the demon sects."
"These individuals are referred to as the Thirteen Demon Ancestors, and some of them may still be alive—the most likely being the founder of the Great Freedom Demon Sect."
"...Master, I have one question: how did our immortal sect survive?"
According to the rules of the Xuanwei Realm, the older one gets, the stronger one becomes.
If someone could live for so long, what were they still doing?
"From the records, the last calamity was indeed the era of the demon sects, but the Tianhe Venerable single-handedly wielded his sword to annihilate the thirteen major sects and contend with some hidden giants in history, thus unifying Xuanwei."
"...So this calamity is the era of the immortal sects, and we have always been committed to suppressing the demon sects."
The Sect Leader sighed. "Now that traces of the Great Freedom Demon Sect have appeared, it is truly bad news."
"Master... why are these demon ancestors so obsessed with continuing their bloodlines?" Zheng Fa couldn't help but ask.
This was something he found most difficult to understand.
Cultivating for longevity, procreation seemed less important.
Especially for beings that had clearly lived for millions of years—this bloodline connection was quite distant.
"The demon sect's techniques all originate from the Thirteen Demon Ancestors, and only their bloodlines can cultivate them. I haven't seen these techniques, but some powerful beings have said— for the demon ancestors, these descendants are both their offspring and their furnace, and in the end, they might even become their blood food."
"There are also rumors that some demon ancestors have relied on seizing the best bloodlines to survive for so long."
Zheng Fa was taken aback, understanding, "Is this to deal with the decline of spiritual energy... cultivating a kind of spiritual plant that only they can use?"
"...What you say makes sense, but it sounds a bit frightening."
The Sect Leader fell silent for a long time before finally speaking.
...
The two who were monitoring Zheng Fa fled in a panic, running for their lives.
Tianmo Jueying was indeed an excellent escape technique, but unfortunately, among their pursuers, someone had called for a Golden Core disciple. The two not only failed to escape but found their pursuers closing in on them.
"Uncle? Where do we run to?"
"The Young Master once said that if we are exposed, we should go to a secret place to meet him, and he will come to rescue us." The middle-aged man said while running, "That place isn't far from here; we'll be there soon."
They reached a bend by the river, where there was a small hut, likely used by fishermen.
"That's it!"
The middle-aged man pointed at the hut.
However, as they reached the door, he suddenly stopped his nephew and handed him a blood-red pill.
"Uncle?" The young man was taken aback.
"If something happens once we enter the hut, swallow this Burning Heart Pill immediately."
After saying this, the middle-aged man took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
A flash of mysterious light passed through the hut, and the middle-aged man's loud voice echoed, "Quick, take the pill!"
Upon hearing this, the young man immediately swallowed the Burning Heart Pill he was holding.
In the next moment, his blood began to coagulate, and his heart slowly started to stop beating—
He suddenly realized that there was no Young Master in the hut; it was most likely just a reminder formation.
As soon as they entered, the Young Master would know that they had been exposed.
At this moment, it was the Young Master calling upon the spirit of the Holy Ancestor to sever the lives of the uncle and nephew.
Within the Great Freedom Demon Sect, those with pure bloodlines and high cultivation could, through this method, kill them without even lifting a finger!
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