Chapter 157
He also understood why Senior Sister Zhang had hidden herself in the Thunder Pool.
In simple terms, she intended to use her extensive experience in low-level combat to take down this shameless group of Yuanying cultivators.
“Has Junior Sister Huang found Senior Sister Zhang?”
“No, she’s been battling several Yuanying from the Demon Sect and has ventured deep into the Thunder Pool,” the sect leader said, frowning. “The disciples who got separated from her have suffered significant losses as well.”
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
Though it wasn’t as urgent as Senior Sister Yuan had made it seem, it was still a difficult situation to handle.
Not only was Senior Sister Zhang crucial to Jiushan Sect, but there was also the bigger issue of the Demon Sect’s secret realm—Taiyang County was considered Jiushan Sect’s territory, and having a Demon Sect secret realm pop up there was quite alarming.
“I will seek assistance from the Hundred Immortals Alliance regarding this matter,” the sect leader decisively stated. “Such a significant issue with the Demon Sect cannot be shouldered by Jiushan Sect alone!”
Zheng Fa nodded.
His master’s words were clear; when dealing with the Demon Sect, there was no room for chivalry—everyone had to stand together!
However, Uncle Pang looked a bit reluctant. “But… there are spirit stone mines in that spiritual cave, and the Thunder Pool.”
“The spirit stone mines need to be discussed among us Yuanying cultivators, but I think the Thunder Pool is even more important… We need to send some disciples below the Foundation Establishment stage,” the sect leader hesitated. “We must retrieve Senior Sister Zhang; given the current environment of the Thunder Pool, it would be better for lower-level disciples to go.”
“On the other hand, the Thunder Pool is highly beneficial for our sect’s supreme technique, the ‘Shenxiao Yulei Zhenfa.’ If we can occupy the Thunder Pool, Jiushan Sect might just regain its former glory.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
Uncle Pang nodded slowly.
Zheng Fa could feel everyone in the room secretly watching him.
He understood what they were thinking.
The Thunder Pool was extremely advantageous for him—
Although he was still only at the Qi Refinement stage, his spiritual sense was already comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and his talismans had the power of Foundation Establishment spells. Moreover, he had practiced the ‘Wulei Fashen,’ which emphasized withstanding thunder.
If anyone from Jiushan Sect could thrive in the Thunder Pool, it would have to be him.
He even believed that everyone present was aware of this fact.
“Master, I’ll lead a team…”
“You can’t!” the sect leader suddenly interjected. “I’m not letting you go.”
“Huh?”
Zheng Fa looked at his master, feeling a bit bewildered.
He was clearly the most suitable candidate.
“While Senior Sister Zhang is indeed important, your talent is not inferior to hers,” the sect leader hesitated. “She’s already missing, and I won’t let you take risks.”
“But…”
“You are my disciple!” the sect leader suddenly adopted a stern tone. “Listen to me.”
Seeing the old man’s serious expression, Zheng Fa didn’t know what to say.
Uncle Pang, on the other hand, nodded in agreement. “That’s true. We still don’t know the situation with Senior Sister Zhang. At the very least, let’s wait until we find her before making any rash decisions, Zheng Fa.”
Seeing Uncle Pang oppose him as well, Zheng Fa pursed his lips and fell silent.
With him no longer speaking, the sect leader and Uncle Pang exchanged glances, seemingly satisfied.
“Then who should we send?” Uncle Pang frowned. “The person’s cultivation level can’t be too high, preferably below Foundation Establishment—but they need to have some prestige in the sect to keep the other disciples in line.”
There weren’t many candidates.
Jiushan Sect had only two lineages.
Senior Sister Zhang’s lineage was best suited for Zheng Fa, but the sect leader wouldn’t allow him to go.
So they had to look within Uncle Pang’s lineage.
Uncle Pang assessed the disciples nearby, Zhou Qianyuan and Sun Daoyu.
Among their disciples, only a few had any prestige, and these two were among them.
They were the most suitable candidates.
“Qianyuan… your cultivation is still only at the Qi Refinement stage, and you have a single spirit root… not quite right,” Uncle Pang seemed a bit reluctant. “Not suitable.”
He turned to Sun Daoyu beside him.
“Daoyu, you have a dual spirit root—wait, you’re at the Foundation Establishment stage! You go!”
Sun Daoyu: “?”
…
Once everyone else had left, Zheng Fa followed his master into the thatched cottage.
Neither of them spoke.
“What’s wrong? Do you have something to say to me?” the sect leader suddenly asked when he noticed Zheng Fa wasn’t leaving. “Do you want to go find your Senior Sister Zhang?”
“Not really…” Zheng Fa paused for a moment before voicing his thoughts. “Master, why won’t you let me go? I’m clearly the most suitable.”
“Suitable?” the sect leader muttered, curling his lip. “You are my disciple.”
“…”
“In my lifetime, I’ve only taken in three direct disciples.”
“…”
“Two of them died while out on missions.”
“…”
Zheng Fa finally understood why the old man was so reluctant to let him leave Jiushan Sect.
He was clearly haunted by past regrets.
“Senior Sister Zhang is undoubtedly talented and extremely important to Jiushan Sect; she is the future of our sect, but she is Huang Junior Sister’s disciple,” the sect leader suddenly gazed out the door. “Right now, you are my only disciple.”
“…”
“Actually, it’s not that I don’t want you to go. Even without the matter of Senior Sister Zhang, you should go to the Thunder Pool when your ‘Wulei Fashen’ reaches its peak.”
“Hmm?”
“The fifth step of the ‘Wulei Fashen’ requires you to summon heavenly thunder to refine your body. Even if you’ve practiced the first four steps, it’s still somewhat dangerous for you,” the sect leader explained. “The Thunder Pool is beneficial because it not only has many thunder-type spiritual plants suitable for the ‘Shenxiao Yulei Zhenfa,’ but it also contains various levels of heavenly thunder, allowing you to safely use heavenly thunder to refine your body.”
“Well then…”
“Let your Uncle Pang’s disciples scout the area first. You can practice for a while longer, and wait until you reach the tenth layer of Qi Refinement before going,” the sect leader said thoughtfully. “Right now, it’s a chaotic situation there, and it’s unclear how many people from the Demon Sect are present.”
“Thank you for your protection, Master.”
Zheng Fa remained silent for a moment before speaking softly.
It was only today that he truly realized his master was looking out for him.
“Actually, this isn’t just my decision. Senior Sister Zhang came to see me before she left.”
“Hmm?”
“She said that if anything happened to her, I should stop you first.”
“Ah?”
Zheng Fa blinked, surprised that Senior Sister Zhang had left such instructions.
“She said you would make a good sect leader, better than me and better than her,” the sect leader seemed to be reminiscing about Senior Sister Zhang’s words. “For Jiushan Sect, you are more important than her.”
Zheng Fa slowly descended from the Ninth Peak and arrived at Senior Sister Zhang’s courtyard.
He strolled slowly through the courtyard, moving from the study to the back garden, sitting in the pavilion in the back and listening to the waterfall thundering behind him.
After sitting for a long time, he stood up again and walked through the garden.
The path he took was exactly the same as the one he and Senior Sister Zhang had walked when discussing ideas.
As he reached the end, Zheng Fa felt as if Senior Sister Zhang was right beside him.
He couldn’t help but turn his head, but he didn’t see her familiar figure.
(End of this chapter)
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Chapter 158: Not Bad
In Senior Sister Zhang’s courtyard, Lin Bufan and Han Qi exchanged glances, looking at Zheng Fa in the study with concern in their eyes.
“Has the young master not come out yet?”
“Yeah, he’s been in seclusion for three days straight,” Lin Bufan shook his head. “He hasn’t stepped outside.”
“As for Senior Sister Zhang… sigh, I’ll head to the market to keep watch,” Han Qi shook his head, seemingly understanding Zheng Fa’s choice. “You should advise the young master not to be too hasty.”
…
In the study, Zheng Fa’s spiritual sense was immersed in his dantian.
On the seventh petal of the dual lotus platform in his dantian, a new talisman had appeared—the Thunder Chain Talisman.
This was a relatively obscure type of talisman; in fact, thunder talismans were generally rare because they were extremely unstable, and most people wouldn’t dare to use them.
He had been hesitating for a long time about what kind of talisman to condense for the seventh talisman diagram.
According to the order of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, this time the condensed talisman diagram should belong to the Yang metal element.
Such talisman diagrams were generally focused on attack and defense.
What Zheng Fa truly needed were healing and illusion-type talismans.
Thus, he had hesitated for quite a while over this talisman diagram—just a few days ago, he had almost settled on the Golden Armor Talisman.
After all, in terms of offensive power, he already had the Frost Blade Talisman.
For travel, he had the Ascending Cloud Talisman.
Choosing a defensive talisman this time would complete his combat system.
But just yesterday, he changed his mind and chose the Thunder Chain Talisman.
As the name suggests, this talisman could summon a chain formed by lightning, primarily used to restrict the opponent’s actions and additionally paralyze them.
The Frost Blade Talisman was more about killing enemies.
The Thunder Chain Talisman leaned more towards restraining enemies, which also refined his combat style.
Of course, the main reason he chose the Thunder Chain Talisman was to prepare for the Thunder Pool.
Zheng Fa was inclined to go to the Thunder Pool as soon as possible.
On one hand, it was certainly for Senior Sister Zhang.
On the other hand, he couldn’t avoid it.
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