Chapter 253 – Fishing
In the Savanna Wasteland, Zhong Yue removed his disguise and as his mind moved, fire rose around his body, making him look extremely wild. Even his hair was covered with fire and floated in the air.
The fire of the sun!
In an instant, he was shrouded with fire, just like a fiery being.
Flames then emerged behind him and whenever he walked, he would leave flame behind him, as if there were huge amount of oil in the underground that allowed the flames to burn nonstop. The flame then started to spread across the plains little by little and after a while, it looked like a fiery dragon had just descended onto the plains, causing them to burn.
Zhong Yue then suddenly dashed away, riding on the flames towards the Savanna Wasteland.
—
About four or five days after he left, the ground of the Savanna Wasteland rumbled vigorously as one after another huge Pan Aos surged towards the plains and started looking for tracks and traces via sniffing around on the ground. These Pan Aos had followed the scent of Zhong Yue to the plains, but here, they completely lost track of Zhong Yue as the entire plains were burnt down by Zhong Yue, leaving only the smell of charred grass and ash.
The Pan Aos then looked around for a moment before they scattering everywhere to continue their search for Zhong Yue.
There were even some of them that flew into the air, trying to find something in the air flowing through the sky, but to no avail.
“Strange….”
An incredibly huge Pan Ao even among the other huge Aos suddenly walked towards the center of the plains. When it spun around, it turned into a white-robed priest. It was the Xiao Mang Celestial Race’s Celestial Temple’s Xiao Chuyun, and in his eyes, one could clearly see confusion.
The huge Pan Aos around him suddenly ran towards him and merged into his body continuously and quickly, leaving him standing alone in the burned plains.
These Pan Aos were all formed from the dragon scales on his body, something similar to how Zhong Yue formed his Jiao Dragons with his psyche, which made them one of the best ways to look for something or someone.
This Long Yue brat’s scent disappeared exactly right here. Where could he have gone to?, thought Xiao Chuyun.
“Elder, Zhong Yue is still somewhere around Gu Xia City.”
Suddenly, a voice was heard and Lang Qingyun could be seen walking towards Xiao Chuyun with a soul lantern in his hand. That soul lantern was Zhong Yue’s soul lantern, and Lang Qingyun laughed as he said, “You are pursuing him in the wrong direction.”
Xiao Chuyun smirked and replied, “If the soul lantern was of some use, you would have killed him long ago. Qingyun, the soul lantern is useless when it comes to him, you will never be able to track him through the soul lantern.”
Lang Qingyun was stunned and after a brief moment of thinking, he asked, “So he has a way to hide himself from the detection of soul lanterns? No wonder I lost track of him suddenly back then in Xian Kong Saint city.”
“Soul lanterns are not unstoppable and there are indeed ways to hide from the detection of soul lanterns. This Long Yue must have received some way to hide himself from the soul lanterns through the teachings of some of the magnate figures in the dragon race, and we will not be able to catch him with the soul lantern!”
Xiao Chuyun continued coldly, “And now, he burned the plains here to destroy the scent he left behind. With this, he managed to get away! This method was exactly the same as the method used by the murderer of Xiao Chuqing to destroy the evidence, which means that he must be the one who murdered Xiao Chuqing!”
He looked around and observed, “The Savanna Wasteland is connected with the West and East Barren, as well as the Great Wilderness. Now, we have no idea where he went! Qingyun, return to the city and I will look around myself. I will rush towards the location of Long Yue as soon as his whereabouts are known!”
Lang Qingyun nodded and left the scene quickly.
——
Meanwhile, Zhong Yue has arrived at the bottom of Swords Gate Mountain and the Four Ken Beast residing on the golden summit of the Swords Gate Mountain immediately noticed him. It quickly notified the headmaster. Not long after, Elder Pu came down on from the mountain and quickly brought Zhong Yue back up into the mountain. Then, he led Zhong Yue to the Heart Questioning Palace and announced that due to the many problems occuring around Swords Gate, the headmaster changed his mind and let Zhong Yue out earlier.
“Elder Pu, what happened during the death of Lei Hong?” asked Zhong Yue as he could not hold back his curiosity anymore.
Elder Pu hesitated and replied as he shook his head, “This matter has caused quite a shock around Swords Gate. Feng Wuji was about to advance into the True Spirit level, but with the mess caused by Lei Hong, he almost lost control of himself, which then inflicted heavy injuries on him. The Qi Practitioners of the Lei Hu Clan are now living in fear ,as they are afraid of the headmaster blaming them for what Lei Hong did. After all, Feng Wuji and the headmaster are both from the Feng Clan…”
Zhong Yue then pressed, “I want to know the whereabouts of Shui Qingyan after the death of lei Hong.”
“Shui Qingyan?” Elder Pu then said, “This was quite a huge thing. She managed to reach the Atman Body level and now, she is the second hallmaster in place in the Seal Suppression Hall. There was also one disciple that improved as fast as her and you know this disciple as well, Qiu Jin’er. She is also an Atman Body level Qi Practitioner now and she too, was given the same position as Shui Qingyan. Oh right, what is your level now?”
Zhong Yue however, was not paying attention to Elder Pu anymore as soon as he heard that Shui Qingyan had become the second hallmaster in place in the Seal Suppression Hall and he thought, Tian Myriad Mother is acting so high profile in the Swords Gate and she even became a hallmaster… Who gave her the bravery to do this?”
He then shivered and reached a conclusion, Lei Hong is just a scapegoat! There’s someone behind all of this!
There was obviously something off with the speed of Shui Qingyan’s improvements, which were not any slower than the Innate Spirit Body individuals.
Although Zhong Yue was fast in his improvements as well, he knew what was going on with himself. While the others thought that he was a Innate Sun Innate Spirit Body, he was actually taught and guided by Xin Huo with the addition of the countless intensified battles he encountered on the outside. It was not exaggerating to say that his strengths were all gained and he trained himself through betting his life on the front line!
But for Shui Qingyan to pull this off, then something odd must have happened, yet it did not garner any attention. Someone even assigned her such a heavy position, which meant that the celestial messenger possessed incredible power in Swords Gate!
Who is this, who is the real celestial messenger? This celestial messenger is really good at hiding his true identity, as he managed to exploit and toy with Lei Hong to such an extent that even when he was about to die, Lei Hong did not expose the celestial messenger’s identity… Wait a minute, something’s not right!
Zhong Yue then thought of something. He once suspected that the celestial messenger was among one of the four young aces of Swords Gate, because Jun Sixie got ambushed and was almost killed. But what if the celestial messenger was not one of them, but instead, one of them was a spy?
The headmaster once said that the greed in Lei Hong was very strong, which ultimately got Lei Hong killed. Then if Lei Hong was the human spy working with the celestial messenger, the celestial messenger must be someone else!
A moment of realization struck Zhong Yue as he continued thinking, The celestial messenger must be someone in Swords Gate that holds high power and a high position. He wants to take advantage of the dying old headmaster so that he can usurp and become the Swords Gate’s headmaster!
Elder Pu did not mind Zhong Yue not paying attention to him as he continued saying, “Since you are out, it is better if you pay a visit to the headmaster first. After all these days of hard work, he has gotten even older, and heaven knows how much time he has left…”
Zhong Yue followed him as they walked towards the golden summit while he thought, He must have an overwhelming power in Swords Gate, such that he could even bring Tian Myriad Mother out of the Demon Ruins, permit the Shui Tu Clan’s elders to allow Tian Myriad Mother to possess Shui Qingyan, frame Shui Zian, and even has the power to access the safe path in the Divine Battlefield.
He could even control Lei Hong! Lei Hong might be indebted to him, which allowed him to exploit Lei Hong’s gratitude, and the same goes to the Crocodile Dragon back then!
He has such huge power in Swords Gate that he could use someone suspicious like Shui Qingyan without fearing anything, and place her insuch an important position!
So what was such a big deal with the Seal Suppression Hall?
Zhong Yue might not have been to the Seal Suppression Hall yet, but he had heard stories about the past of this hall. The Seal Suppression Hall was the place that suppressed many dangerous beings and items. For example, demons and monsters that had rampaged all over the Great Wilderness, or even traitors from the Swords Gate!
He also heard that back then, when the Swords Gate was formed by the first headmaster, there were even godly spirits from the West Barren that were sealed in the Seal Suppression Hall!
Therefore, how could such important place be placed under the watch of Tian Myriad Mother, who was extremely dangerous and filled with suspicion?
Who could this person that hold such great power in Swords Gate be?
As soon as he thought of this, he suddenly heard another old yet gentle voice saying, “Zhong Shan Clan’s member, so the headmaster let you out in advance?”
Zhong Yue looked up at the old man that appeared suddenly and his heart thumped quickly, causing him to stand there blankly and do nothing. Upon seeing his, Elder Pu quickly explained, “Junior martial brother Zhong just heard of the incidents regarding Lei Hong, which shocked him greatly. The headmaster let him out so that he could lecture him for a while so that he would not stray from his path like Lei Hong, please forgive him for not being able to answer your question.”
This old man was the head of the Elder Council, Elder Yu. When he heard the explanation of Elder Pu, he sighed and said, “I am extremely saddened by what happened with Lei Hong. I watched him grew up and back then, he was very naughty and I poured in quite a lot of effort in cultivating him. Speaking of that, I can be considered as half of his mentor. I just returned from Lei Mountain and comforting Elder Lei Shan. Because of what happened with Lei Hong, he has gotten much older… Sigh….”
Elder Yu then looked at Zhong Yue and said strictly, “Zhong Shan Clan’s member, you have the Sun Innate Spirit Body, which is even stronger than the five Innate Spirit Bodies, but a sword master must first train his heart. If his heart is broken or tainted even by the slightest bit, then he will sway from his path, just like Lei Hong! Do you understand?”
Zhong Yue looked at Elder Yu, put up a strict and righteous face, and nodded with an empty mind.
“I heard that you did not visit the Sword Heart Palace when you were in the inner hall, I am worried about that!”
The voice of Elder Yu was incredibly ear-piercing and he said, “The headmaster threw you into the Heart Questioning Palace for your own good, he wants you to refine your will and heart so that you will not stray into the path of no return in the future, do you understand?”
Zhong Yue then bowed and said, “Understood.”
Elder Yu then smiled and said with a nod, “Good, good. It is not too late now to realize your own mistake. Train harder and do not fail me, the headmaster, and all of Swords Gate. I will now go and visit Feng Wuji to see how is he recovering from the unnecessary injuries he inflicted to himself. This time, it remains a question if he will be able to breach through his limits and advance into the True Spirit level in the future…”
Zhong Yue sent Elder Yu off with his eyes. After that, Elder Pu, who was leading Zhong Yue to the Golden Summit said, “The headmaster once said that with Elder Yu and Elder Shui Zian, our Swords Gate will not be defeated easily. Fortunately after the death of Elder Shui, Elder Yu managed to suppress the uproar caused by Lei Hong and prevented conflicts between the Feng and Lei Hu Clans, or Swords Gate would be shattered by our own internal conflicts.”
Zhong Yue remained silent and followed him into the Golden Summit. They found the old man sitting beside the pond at the garden in the palace located in Golden Summit. When they got there, the old man was fishing quietly.
Fishing, fishing, Elder Yu…
Zhong Yue shook his head and his random thoughts off while the old man waved his hand, signaling Elder Pu to leave them alone as he said without turning his head, “So you’re back?”
Zhong Yue replied humbly, “I have returned, headmaster. Fishing?”
“Fishing, indeed,” the old man replied with a laugh as he turned around, exposing the only teeth left in his mouth.
